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Josué 17

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1 Y tuvo también suerte la tribu de Manasés, porque fue primogénito de José. Maquir, primogénito de Manasés, y padre de Galaad, el cual fue hombre de guerra, tuvo a Galaad y a Basán.

2 Tuvieron también suerte los otros hijos de Manasés conforme a sus familias: los hijos de Abiezer, y los hijos de Helec, y los hijos de Asriel, y los hijos de Siquem, y los hijos de Hefer, y los hijos de Semida; éstos fueron los hijos varones de Manasés hijo de José, por sus familias.

3 Pero Zelofehad, hijo de Hefer, hijo de Galaad, hijo de Maquir, hijo de Manasés, no tuvo hijos, sino hijas, los nombres de las cuales son éstos: Maala, Noa, Hogla, Milca, y Tirsa.

4 Estas vinieron delante de Eleazar sacerdote, y de Josué hijo de Nun, y de los príncipes, y dijeron: El SEÑOR mandó a Moisés que nos diese herencia entre nuestros hermanos. Y él les dio herencia entre los hermanos del padre de ellas, conforme al dicho del SEÑOR.

5 Y cayeron a Manasés diez suertes a más de la tierra de Galaad y de Basán, que está al otro lado del Jordán;

6 porque las hijas de Manasés poseyeron herencia entre sus hijos; y la tierra de Galaad fue de los otros hijos de Manasés.

7 Y fue el término de Manasés desde Aser hasta Micmetat, la cual está delante de Siquem; y va este término a la mano derecha, a los que habitan en En-Tapúa.

8 Y la tierra de Tapúa fue de Manasés; pero la Tapúa que está junto al término de Manasés, es de los hijos de Efraín.

9 Y desciende este término al arroyo de Caná, hacia el mediodía del arroyo. Estas ciudades de Efraín están entre las ciudades de Manasés; y el término de Manasés es desde el norte del mismo arroyo, y sus salidas son al mar.

10 Efraín al mediodía, y Manasés al norte, y el mar es su término; y se encuentran con Aser a la parte del norte, y con Isacar al oriente.

11 Tuvo también Manasés en Isacar y en Aser a Bet-seán y sus aldeas, e Ibleam y sus aldeas, y los moradores de Dor y sus aldeas, y los moradores de Endor y sus aldeas, y los moradores de Taanac y sus aldeas, y los moradores de Meguido y sus aldeas; tres provincias.

12 Mas los hijos de Manasés no pudieron echar a los de aquellas ciudades; antes el cananeo quiso habitar en la tierra.

13 Pero cuando los hijos de Israel tomaron fuerzas, hicieron tributario al cananeo, mas no lo echaron.

14 Y los hijos de José hablaron a Josué, diciendo: ¿Por qué me has dado por heredad una sola suerte y una sola parte, siendo yo un pueblo tan grande y que el SEÑOR me ha así bendecido hasta ahora?

15 Y Josué les respondió: Si eres pueblo tan grande, sube tú al monte, y corta para ti allí en la tierra del ferezeo y de los gigantes, pues que el monte de Efraín es angosto para ti.

16 Y los hijos de José dijeron: No nos bastará a nosotros este monte; y todos los cananeos que habitan la tierra de la campiña, tienen carros herrados; los que están en Bet-seán y en sus aldeas, y los que están en el valle de Jezreel.

17 Entonces Josué respondió a la casa de José, a Efraín y Manasés, diciendo: Tú eres gran pueblo, y tienes gran fuerza; no tendrás una sola suerte;

18 mas aquel monte será tuyo; que bosque es, y tú lo cortarás, y serán tuyos sus términos; porque tú echarás al cananeo, aunque tenga carros herrados, y aunque sea fuerte.

   

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Exploring the Meaning of Joshua 17

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff, Julian Duckworth

Joshua 17: The tribe of Manasseh receives the western half of its territory.

The previous chapter (Joshua 16) dealt with the territory given to Ephraim, Manasseh’s younger brother; this one covers the western half of Manasseh (the other half tribe of Manasseh was bound to live across the Jordan).

Interestingly, this chapter mentions many people by name, instead of only describing locations as we’ve seen before. Verses 1 and 2 list all seven of Manasseh’s sons and their families. Then verse 3 mentions Zelophehad, the great-grandson of Manasseh, who had had five daughters, but no sons. When Zelophehad died on the journey through the wilderness, his daughters came to Joshua to claim the inheritance Moses had promised them (see Numbers 27). So, both the sons and daughters of Manasseh’s family received land.

After the area given to Manasseh was outlined, the people of Ephraim and Manasseh came to Joshua and complained that they deserved more land, because of their important standing among the tribes of Israel (verse 14). They claimed that they had been specially blessed, and should receive much more.

Joshua told them that if they were such a great people, they should go to the forest country and seize land from the Perrizites and the giants living there. The people were not pleased, and told Joshua that the Canaanites who still roamed there were strong, and had chariots of iron. Even so, Joshua told them again to cut down the wood and use it, because they would eventually be able to drive out the Canaanites.

The spiritual meaning of this story is all about the relationship between good and truth. Again, there are many names to indicate the geography of the area of “West Manasseh”, and the meaning of these names very often links in with the spiritual meaning of the tribe. Beyond that, the specific area in Canaan given to a tribe is spiritually important. Ephraim and Manasseh are right in the middle of the land because they stand for truth and good, for truth leading to good, for good coming from truth.

The story about Zelophehad’s five daughters also relates to the place of truth and good. This is because sons stand for truths, often for truths which fight for us during our temptations, while daughters stand for the good in our spiritual life which bears ‘children’ (see Swedenborg’s work, Arcana Caelestia 8993 [3,4]).

Verses 5 and 6 describe this union of good and truth very beautifully: “Ten portions were given to Manasseh because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons; and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead.” It is worth noting here that the spiritual meaning of the number ‘ten’ has to do with wholeness, and also ‘remains,’ or memories, which the Lord imparts to us when we are very young (Arcana Caelestia 4638).

When the people of Ephraim and Manasseh complained to Joshua, it is much like us wanting our spiritual life to be easy. We want it to be something given to us, and not something which we will need to work on and even fight for in ourselves.

Finally, the meaning of using wooden chariots to fight the Canaanites means to fight from our love of what is good. This is because wood corresponds to good, since it is alive and has grown. ‘Iron’ here stands for the harshness of truth without any good, which appears invincible, but in reality is weaker than the power of goodness and love (Arcana Caelestia 426[3]).

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Arcana Coelestia # 8993

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8993. 'And when a man sells his daughter to be a female slave' means an affection for truth springing from natural delight. This is clear from the meaning of 'a man's daughter' as an affection for truth, for an affection is meant by 'daughter', dealt with in 2362, 3963, while truth is meant by 'a man', 3134, as it also is by an Israelite, whom 'a man' refers to here, 5414, 5879, 5951, 7957, 8234; and from the meaning of 'a female slave' as an external or natural affection, dealt with in 2567, 3835, 3849. Consequently 'a man's daughter sold as a female slave' means an affection for truth springing from natural affection and delight.

[2] By natural delight one should understand delight emanating from self-love and love of the world. The people with an affection for truth emanating from these kinds of love are those who learn the teachings of the Church, called the truths of faith, either for the sake of gain or for the sake of important positions, and not for the sake of the life they should lead. Since affections such as this do not emanate from spiritual good but from natural delight they are represented by the daughter of an Israelite man sold as a female slave or servant-girl. For whatever owes its origin to self-love or love of the world is not freedom but slavery. What freedom and slavery are, see 892, 905, 1947, 2870-2893, 6205. The nature of affection for truth arising from those kinds of love is described in the internal sense of what follows next.

[3] It should be borne in mind that a genuine affection for truth consists in willing and desiring to know the real truths of faith with a view to putting them to good use and for the sake of the life one should lead. But an affection for truth which is not genuine consists in willing and desiring truths for selfish reasons, that is, in order to acquire important positions and make monetary gain. Those with an affection for truth that has this origin do not care whether the truths they learn are genuine or not, provided that they are such as can be palmed off as truths. This being so, they confine themselves to endorsing the teachings of the Church in which they were born, regardless of whether those teachings are true or not. They are also in the dark so far as real truths are concerned; for worldly ends or gains, and selfish 1 ends or important positions make people completely blind.

[4] But those with a genuine affection for truth, that is, those who desire to know truths to put them to good use and for the sake of the life they ought to lead, they too keep to the teachings of the Church, until they reach the age when they begin to think for themselves. Then they examine the Scriptures and pray to the Lord for enlightenment; and when they receive it, their hearts rejoice. For they know that if they had been born where the teachings of the Church are different, indeed where the greatest heresy exists, then - if they had not examined Scripture from a genuine affection for truth - they would have remained in it, as for example they would have done if they had been born Jews, or they had been born Socinians. All this shows who exactly those people are, and what they are like, who have a genuine affection for truth, and who they are, and what they are like, who have an affection for truth that is not genuine. Those with a genuine affection for truth are meant in the representative sense by the daughters of Israelite men; but those with an affection for truth that is not genuine are meant in the representative sense by female slaves from among the daughters of Israel, who are the subject at present.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, bodily

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