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Génesis 28

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1 Entonces Isaac llamó a Jacob, y lo bendijo, y le mandó diciendo: No tomes mujer de las hijas de Canaán.

2 Levántate, ve a Padan-aram, a casa de Betuel, padre de tu madre, y toma de allí para ti mujer de las hijas de Labán, hermano de tu madre.

3 Y el Dios omnipotente te bendiga y te haga fructificar, y te multiplique, hasta venir a ser congregación de pueblos;

4 y te dé la bendición de Abraham, y a tu simiente contigo, para que heredes la tierra de tus peregrinaciones, que Dios dio a Abraham.

5 Así envió Isaac a Jacob, el cual fue a Padan-aram, a Labán, hijo de Betuel, el arameo, hermano de Rebeca, madre de Jacob y de Esaú.

6 Y vio Esaú como Isaac había bendecido a Jacob, y le había enviado a Padan-aram, para tomar para sí mujer de allí; y que cuando le bendijo, le había mandado, diciendo: No tomarás mujer de las hijas de Canaán;

7 y que Jacob había escuchado a su padre y a su madre, y se había ido a Padan-aram.

8 Vio asimismo Esaú que las hijas de Canaán parecían mal a Isaac su padre;

9 y se fue Esaú a Ismael, y tomó para sí por mujer a Mahalet, hija de Ismael, hijo de Abraham, hermana de Nebaiot, además de sus otras mujeres.

10 Y salió Jacob de Beerseba, y fue a Harán;

11 y se encontró con un lugar, y durmió allí porque ya el sol se había puesto; y tomó de las piedras de aquel lugar y puso a su cabecera, y se acostó en aquel lugar.

12 Y soñó, y he aquí una escalera que estaba apoyada en tierra, y su cabeza tocaba en el cielo; y he aquí ángeles de Dios que subían y descendían por ella.

13 Y he aquí, el SEÑOR estaba encima de ella, el cual dijo: Yo soy el SEÑOR Dios de Abraham tu padre, y el Dios de Isaac; la tierra en que estás acostado te la daré a ti y a tu simiente.

14 Y será tu simiente como el polvo de la tierra, y te multiplicarás al occidente, y al oriente, y al aquilón, y al mediodía; y todas las familias de la tierra serán benditas en ti y en tu simiente.

15 Y he aquí, yo soy contigo, y yo te guardaré por dondequiera que fueres, y yo te volveré a esta tierra; porque no te dejaré hasta tanto que haya hecho lo que te he dicho.

16 Y despertó Jacob de su sueño, y dijo: Ciertamente el SEÑOR está en este lugar, y yo no lo sabía.

17 Y tuvo miedo, y dijo: ¡Cuán espantoso es este lugar! No es otra cosa que casa de Dios, y puerta del cielo.

18 Y madrugó Jacob por la mañana, y tomó la piedra que había puesto a su cabecera, y la puso por título, y derramó aceite encima de ella.

19 Y llamó el nombre de aquel lugar Bet-el, bien que Luz era el nombre de la ciudad primero.

20 E hizo Jacob voto, diciendo: Si fuere Dios conmigo, y me guardare en este viaje donde voy, y me diere pan para comer y vestido para vestir,

21 y si tornare en paz a casa de mi padre, el SEÑOR será mi Dios,

22 y esta piedra que he puesto por título, será casa de Dios; y de todo lo que me dieres, la décima parte lo he de apartar para ti.

   

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Jacob or Israel (the man)

  

Jacob is told twice that his name will now be Israel. The first time is when he wrestles with an angel on his journey to meet Esau, and the angel tells him that his name will be changed. After he is reconciled with Esau, they go their separate ways. Jacob moves to Shechem and then on to Bethel, where he builds an altar to the Lord. The Lord appears to him there, renews the covenant He first made with Abraham and again tells him that his name will be Israel (Genesis 35). The story goes on to tell of Benjamin's birth and Rachel's death in bearing him, and then of Jacob's return to Isaac and Isaac's death and burial. But at that point the main thread of the story leaves Israel and turns to Joseph, and Israel is hardly mentioned until after Joseph has risen to power in Egypt, has revealed himself to his brothers and tells them to bring all of their father's household down to Egypt. There, before Israel dies, he blesses Joseph's sons, plus all his own sons. After his death he is returned to the land of Canaan for burial in Abraham's tomb. In the story of Jacob and Esau, Jacob represents truth, and Esau good. Jacob's stay in Padan-Aram, and the wealth he acquired there, represent learning the truths of scripture, just as we learn when we read the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount. The change of name from Jacob to Israel represents the realization that what we learn should not simply be knowledge, but should be the rules of our life, to be followed by action. This action is the good that Esau has represented in the story up to that time, but after the reconciliation between Jacob and Esau, Jacob as Israel now represents the truth and the good, together. It is interesting that even after his name change Jacob is rarely called Israel. Sometimes he is called one and sometimes the other, and sometimes he is called both Jacob and Israel in the same verse (Genesis 46:2, 5, & 8 also Psalm 14:7). This is because Jacob represents the external person and Israel the internal person, and even after the internal person comes into being, we spend much of our lives living on the external level.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 4274, 4292, 4570, 5595, 6225, 6256, Genesis 2:5, 46:8)

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Arcana Coelestia # 6256

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6256. 'And the eyes of Israel were weak' means his obscurity of discernment. This is clear from the meaning of 'the eyes' as the sight of the understanding, dealt with in 2701, 4087, 4379, 4403-4421, also meant by 'seeing', as above in 6249; from the representation of 'Israel' as spiritual good within the natural, dealt with above in 6253; and from the meaning of 'being weak', when used in reference to the eyes, as obscurity, thus obscurity of discernment. The reason Why Israel's discernment had become obscure when he blessed Joseph's sons was that he had reached the final phase of his representation, though a more general reason is that an obscurity of perception exists in the spiritual good which 'Israel' represents; for that good comes from the natural, in which inferior natural light predominates, not superior heavenly light in which spiritual and celestial good from the rational dwells. Such is the nature of the external man, also called the natural man. When the expression 'spiritual good from the natural' is used, people whose good is such are meant. They are those who belong to the Lord's spiritual Church, which also is why 'Israel' represents that Church, 4286; and compared with celestial people, members of that Church, who are spiritual people, live in obscurity, see 2708, 2715, 2716, 2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3246, 4402. And since they live in obscurity they also put the truth of faith in the first place, even as Israel did here, in that he made Ephraim take precedence over Manasseh.

[2] The reason why spiritual people believe that the truth of faith takes precedence is that it is by means of truth that they are led on to good, 2954; and while they are being led to it they have no perception of good because good flows from within into an affection for truth, and so does not enter their discernment until they have been regenerated. This also explains why they call the good deeds of charity the fruits of faith, though little concern is shown for such fruits by those who suppose that faith alone without good works saves a person, even in the final hour when he dies, irrespective of the life he had led before that. This way of thinking is clearly an obscurity of discernment regarding goodness and truth. But be that as it may, those who make faith take precedence over charity on doctrinal grounds and yet lead a charitable life are people who belong to the Lord's spiritual Church and are saved. For in life they make the good of charity take precedence, but in doctrine the truth of faith.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.