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Genesis 41

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1 It happened at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and behold, he stood by the river.

2 Behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass.

3 Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river.

4 The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke.

5 He slept and dreamed a second time: and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good.

6 Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.

7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

8 It happened in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all of Egypt's magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

9 Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I remember my faults today.

10 Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker.

11 We dreamed a dream in one night, I and he. We dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.

12 There was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. To each man according to his dream he interpreted.

13 It happened, as he interpreted to us, so it was: he restored me to my office, and he hanged him."

14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh.

15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it."

16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "It isn't in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace."

17 Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, "In my dream, behold, I stood on the brink of the river:

18 and behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass,

19 and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for ugliness.

20 The thin and ugly cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle,

21 and when they had eaten them up, it couldn't be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

22 I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good:

23 and behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.

24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me."

25 Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh.

26 The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one.

27 The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine.

28 That is the thing which I spoke to Pharaoh. What God is about to do he has shown to Pharaoh.

29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt.

30 There will arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land,

31 and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous.

32 The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

33 "Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt.

34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt's produce in the seven plenteous years.

35 Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.

36 The food will be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; that the land not perish through the famine."

37 The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.

38 Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?"

39 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Because God has shown you all of this, there is none so discreet and wise as you.

40 You shall be over my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only in the throne I will be greater than you."

41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."

42 Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck,

43 and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, "Bow the knee!" He set him over all the land of Egypt.

44 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt."

45 Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-Paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

47 In the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth abundantly.

48 He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was around every city, he laid up in the same.

49 Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number.

50 To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.

51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house."

52 The name of the second, he called Ephraim: "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."

53 The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Egypt, came to an end.

54 The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

55 When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do."

56 The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

57 All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 5365

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5365. And the people cried unto Pharaoh for bread. That this signifies the need of good for truth, is evident from the signification of “crying,” as being the act of a person in grief and mourning, thus being that of a person in need; from the signification of “people,” as being truth (see n. 1259, 1260, 3295, 3581); from the representation of Pharaoh, as being the natural (n. 5079, 5080, 5095, 5160); and from the signification of “bread,” as being the celestial of love, thus good (n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976). From this it follows that by “the people cried unto Pharaoh for bread” is signified the need in the natural of good for truth. This meaning indeed appears remote from the historic sense of the letter; but still when they who are in the internal sense understand by “crying,” by “people,” by “Pharaoh,” and by “bread,” nothing else than what has been said, it follows that this meaning results therefrom.

[2] How the case is in regard to the need of good for truth, must be told. Truth has need of good, and good has need of truth; and when truth has need of good, truth is conjoined with good, and when good has need of truth, good is conjoined with truth; for the reciprocal conjunction of good and truth, namely of truth with good and of good with truth, is the heavenly marriage. In the early stages of man’s regeneration, truth is multiplied, but not good; and as truth has then no good with which to be conjoined, it is drawn in and stored up in the interiors of the natural mind, that it may be called forth thence according to the increasings of good. In this state truth is in need of good, and moreover conjunction of truth with good takes place according to the inflow of good into the natural; but still no fruitfulness is effected by this conjunction. But when man has been regenerated, then good increases; and as it increases it is in need of truth, and also procures truth for itself with which it may be conjoined, and thereupon there is a conjunction of good with truth. When this takes place, truth is made fruitful from good, and good from truth.

[3] That this is the case is entirely unknown in the world, but is very well known in heaven; and yet were it known in the world (not only by knowledge but also by perception) what celestial love or love to the Lord is, and what spiritual love or charity toward the neighbor is, it would also be known what good is, for all good is of these loves; and moreover it would be known that good desires truth, and truth good, and that they are conjoined according to the desire and its quality. This might be plain from the fact that when truth is thought of, the good adjoined to it is presented at the same time; and when good is stirred, the truth adjoined to it is presented at the present time-in both cases with affection, desire, delight, or holy aspiration; and from this the quality of the conjunction might be known. But as it is not known from any inward sensation or perception what good is, such things cannot come to knowledge; for that about which nothing is known is not understood, even when it comes to view.

[4] And as it is not known what spiritual good is, and that it is charity toward the neighbor, therefore it is a matter of dispute in the world, especially among the learned, what is the highest good; and scarcely anyone has maintained that it is that delight, satisfaction, blessedness, and happiness which is perceived from mutual love devoid of any selfish or worldly end, and which makes heaven itself. From this also it is plain that in the world at this day it is not at all known what spiritual good is, and still less that good and truth form a marriage together, and that heaven is in this marriage, and that those who are in it are in wisdom and intelligence and have satisfactions and happinesses with unlimited and inexpressible variety, not one of which is known by the world, nor is its existence even recognized and believed; when in fact it is heaven itself, or that very heavenly joy of which so much is said in the church.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 2360

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2360. That Lot calls them “brethren” because it is from good that he exhorts them, is evident from the signification of a “brother.” In the Word “brother” signifies the same as “neighbor,” for the reason that everyone ought to love his neighbor as himself; thus brethren were so called from love; or what is the same, from good. This manner of naming and addressing the neighbor comes from the fact that in heaven the Lord is the Father of all and loves all as His children; and thus that love is spiritual conjunction. From this the universal heaven resembles as it were one family derived from love and charity (n. 685, 917).

[2] Therefore as all the sons of Israel represented the Lord’s heavenly kingdom, that is, the kingdom of love and charity; among each other they were called “brethren,” and also “companions;” but the latter, that is, “companions,” not from the good of love, but from the truth of faith; as in Isaiah:

They help every man his companion, and he saith to his brother, Be of good courage (Isaiah 41:6).

In Jeremiah:

Thus shall ye say every man to his companion, and every man to his brother, What hath Jehovah answered? and what hath Jehovah spoken? (Jeremiah 23:35).

In David:

For my brethren and companions’ sakes I will say, Peace be within thee (Psalms 122:8).

In Moses:

He shall not press upon his companion or his brother, because the release of Jehovah hath been proclaimed (Deuteronomy 15:2-3).

In Isaiah:

I will confound Egypt with Egypt, and they shall fight every man against his brother, and every man against his companion (Isaiah 19:2).

In Jeremiah:

Beware every man of his companion, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every companion will slander (Jeremiah 9:4).

[3] That all who were of that church were called by the one name “brethren,” see in Isaiah:

They shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an offering unto Jehovah, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to the mountain of My holiness, Jerusalem (Isaiah 66:20).

They who know nothing beyond the sense of the letter, as was the case with the Jews, believe that no others are signified than the posterity of Jacob; thus that they will be brought back to Jerusalem upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, by those whom they call the Gentiles. But by the “brethren” are meant all who are in good; and by the “horses,” “chariots,” and “litters,” the things which are of truth and good; and by “Jerusalem” the Lord’s kingdom.

[4] In Moses:

When there shall be among thee a needy one of one of thy brethren, in one of thy gates, thou shalt not harden thy heart, and shalt not shut thy hand from thy needy brother (Deuteronomy 15:7, 11).

Again:

From among thy brethren thou shalt set a King over thee; thou mayest not put over thee a foreigner, who is not thy brother, and his heart shall not be lifted up above his brethren (Deuteronomy 17:15, 20).

Again:

A prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee; him shall ye obey (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18).

[5] From all this it is evident that the Jews and Israelites all called one another brethren; but those united by covenant they called companions. Yet as they understood nothing beyond the historical and worldly things of the Word, they believed that they called one another brethren because they were all sons of one father, or of Abraham; yet they were not called “brethren” in the Word from this circumstance, but from the good which they represented. “Abraham” also, in the internal sense, denotes nothing else than love itself, that is, the the Lord, (n. 1893, 1965, 1989, 2011), whose sons, consequently those who are “brethren,” are those who are in good, in fact all those who are called the neighbor; as the Lord teaches in Matthew:

One is your Master, Christ; all ye are brethren (Matthew 23:8).

[6] Again:

Whosoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment; whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. If thou offer a gift upon the altar, and there remember that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother (Matthew 5:22-24).

Again:

Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye? How wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye (Matthew 7:2-4)?

Again:

If thy brother sin against thee, go and show him his fault between thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother (Matthew 18:15).

Again:

Peter coming to Him said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? (Matthew 18:21).

Again:

So also will My heavenly Father do unto you, if ye from the heart forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses (Matthew 18:35).

[7] It is clear from these teachings that all in the universe who are the neighbor are called “brethren,” and this because everyone ought to love his neighbor as himself, thus they are so called from love or good. And as the Lord is good itself, and regards all from good, and is Himself the Neighbor in the highest sense, He also calls them “brethren,” as in John:

Jesus said to Mary, Go to My brethren (John 20:17).

And in Matthew:

The King answering shall say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me (Matthew 25:40).

Thus it is evident that “brother” is a term of love.

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