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Genesis 32

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1 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

2 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother, to the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak to my lord Esau: Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there till now:

5 And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and men-servants, and women-servants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid, and distressed: and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and herds, and camels, into two bands;

8 And said, If Esau shall come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left, will escape.

9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who saidst to me, Return to thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee;

10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shown to thy servant: for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands.

11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he shall come and smite me, and the mother with the children.

12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

13 And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau, his brother;

14 Two hundred she-goats, and twenty he-goats, Two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals.

16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said to his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.

17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau, my brother, meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?

18 Then thou shalt say, They are thy servant Jacob's: it is a present sent to my lord Esau: and behold also he is behind us.

19 And so he commanded the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, In this manner shall ye speak to Esau, when ye find him.

20 And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.

21 So the present went over before him; and he himself lodged that night in the company.

22 And he arose that night, and took his two wives, and his two women-servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.

23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that which he had.

24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him, until the breaking of the day.

25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh: and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh; And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

27 And he said to him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God, and with men, and hast prevailed.

29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name: And he said, why is it that thou dost ask after my name? and he blessed him there.

30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

31 And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.

32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrunk, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, to this day; because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrunk.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 4270

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4270. 'And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two servant-girls, and his eleven sons, and passed over at the passage of Jabbok' means the first instillation of the affections for truth, together with truths that had been acquired. This is clear from the meaning of 'the two wives', who in this case are Rachel and Leah, as affections for truth, dealt with in 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819; from the meaning of 'the two servant-girls', who in this case are Bilhah and Zilpah, as exterior affections for truth that serve as means, dealt with in 3849, 3931; from the meaning of 'sons' as truths, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373; and from the meaning of 'the passage of Jabbok' as the first instillation. The reason why 'Jabbok' means the first instillation is that it was a boundary to the land of Canaan. All the boundaries of that land were signs meaning the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, the distance and position of them determining their exact meanings, see 1585, 1866, 4116, 4240. The same applies to 'the ford (or passage) of Jabbok', which in relation to the land of Canaan was across the Jordan and was the boundary of the inheritance of the children of Reuben and Gad, as becomes clear from Numbers 21:24; Deuteronomy 2:36-37; 3:16-17; Joshua 12:2; Judges 11:13, 22. The reason why that territory had fallen to them as an inheritance was that Reuben represented faith in the understanding, or doctrine, which is the first stage of regeneration, or the truth of doctrine as a whole, by means of which the good of life is arrived at, see 3861, 3866; while Gad represented the works of faith, 3934. That is to say, those truths of faith or matters of doctrine, and these works of faith which are the works performed first, are the ones by means of which a person who is being regenerated is led on into good. This is why 'the passage of Jabbok' means the first instillation.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 489

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489. 'Sons and daughters' means the truths and goods which they perceived, 'sons to be exact meaning the truths and 'daughters' the goods. This becomes clear from very many places in the Prophets. For in the Word, as happened in earliest times, conceptions and births of the Church are called 'sons and daughters', as in Isaiah,

Nations will walk to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather and they come towards you. Your sons will come from far, and your daughters will be nursed at your side. Then you will see and abound, and your heart will be astounded and enlarged. Isaiah 60:3-5.

Here 'sons' stands for truths and 'daughters' for goods.

In David,

Rescue me and snatch me from the hand of sons of the foreigner, whose mouths speak lies. Our sons are like plants made large in their youth, our daughters like corner-pillars cut in the form of the temple. Psalms 144:11-12.

'Sons of the foreigner' stands for spurious truths, which are falsities, 'our sons' for matters of doctrine concerning truth, and 'daughters' for matters of doctrine concerning good.

In Isaiah,

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Do not withhold. Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the earth. Bring forth the blind people, and they will have eyes, and the deaf, who will have ears. Isaiah 43:6, 8.

Here 'sons' stands for truths, 'daughters' for goods, 'the blind' for people who will see truths, and 'the deaf' for those who comply with them.

In Jeremiah,

From our youth shame is devouring the work of our fathers - their flocks, their herds, their sons, and their daughters. Jeremiah 3:24.

Here 'sons and daughters' stands for truths and goods.

[2] 'Male children' and 'sons' stand for truths in the following in Isaiah,

Jacob will no more be ashamed, and no more will his face grow pale. For when he sees his male children, the work of My hands, in his midst they will sanctify My name, and they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Israel. Those who err in spirit will know understanding Isaiah 29:12-24.

'The Holy One of Jacob, the God of Israel' stands for the Lord, 'male children' for regenerate people who have an understanding of good and truth, as is also explicitly stated.

In the same prophet,

Sing, O barren one, who did not bear, for the sons of her that is desolate are more than the sons of her that is married. Isaiah 54:1

'The sons of her that is desolate' stands for truths of the Primitive Church, or Church among gentiles, while 'the sons of her that is married' stands for truths of the Jewish Church.

In Jeremiah,

My tent has been laid waste, and all My cords torn away; My sons have gone away from Me, and they are not. Jeremiah 10:20.

'Sons' stands for truths.

In the same prophet,

Their sons will be as they were of old, and their congregation will be established before Me. Jeremiah 30:10

Here 'sons' stands for the truths of the Ancient Church.

In Zechariah,

I will rouse your sons, O Zion, together with your sons, O Jehovah, and I will set you as the sword of one who is powerful. Zechariah 9:13.

Here 'sons' stands for truths of faith inherent in love.

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