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Genesis 34

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1 And Dinah, daughter of Leah, whom she hath borne to Jacob, goeth out to look on the daughters of the land,

2 and Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, a prince of the land, seeth her, and taketh her, and lieth with her, and humbleth her;

3 and his soul cleaveth to Dinah, daughter of Jacob, and he loveth the young person, and speaketh unto the heart of the young person.

4 And Shechem speaketh unto Hamor his father, saying, `Take for me this damsel for a wife.'

5 And Jacob hath heard that he hath defiled Dinah his daughter, and his sons were with his cattle in the field, and Jacob kept silent till their coming.

6 And Hamor, father of Shechem, goeth out unto Jacob to speak with him;

7 and the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard, and the men grieve themselves, and it [is] very displeasing to them, for folly he hath done against Israel, to lie with the daughter of Jacob -- and so it is not done.

8 And Hamor speaketh with them, saying, `Shechem, my son, his soul hath cleaved to your daughter; give her, I pray you, to him for a wife,

9 and join ye in marriage with us; your daughters ye give to us, and our daughters ye take to yourselves,

10 and with us ye dwell, and the land is before you; dwell ye and trade [in] it, and have possessions in it.'

11 And Shechem saith unto her father, and unto her brethren, `Let me find grace in your eyes, and that which ye say unto me, I give;

12 multiply on me exceedingly dowry and gift, and I give as ye say unto me, and give to me the young person for a wife.'

13 And the sons of Jacob answer Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and they speak (because he defiled Dinah their sister),

14 and say unto them, `We are not able to do this thing, to give our sister to one who hath a foreskin: for it [is] a reproach to us.

15 `Only for this we consent to you; if ye be as we, to have every male of you circumcised,

16 then we have given our daughters to you, and your daughters we take to ourselves, and we have dwelt with you, and have become one people;

17 and if ye hearken not unto us to be circumcised, then we have taken our daughter, and have gone.'

18 And their words are good in the eyes of Hamor, and in the eyes of Shechem, Hamor's son;

19 and the young man delayed not to do the thing, for he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he is honourable above all the house of his father.

20 And Hamor cometh -- Shechem his son also -- unto the gate of their city, and they speak unto the men of their city, saying,

21 `These men are peaceable with us; then let them dwell in the land, and trade [in] it; and the land, lo, [is] wide before them; their daughters let us take to ourselves for wives, and our daughters give to them.

22 `Only for this do the men consent to us, to dwell with us, to become one people, in every male of us being circumcised, as they are circumcised;

23 their cattle, and their substance, and all their beasts -- are they not ours? only let us consent to them, and they dwell with us.'

24 And unto Hamor, and unto Shechem his son, hearken do all those going out of the gate of his city, and every male is circumcised, all those going out of the gate of his city.

25 And it cometh to pass, on the third day, in their being pained, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, take each his sword, and come in against the city confidently, and slay every male;

26 and Hamor, and Shechem his son, they have slain by the mouth of the sword, and they take Dinah out of Shechem's house, and go out.

27 Jacob's sons have come in upon the wounded, and they spoil the city, because they had defiled their sister;

28 their flock and their herd, and their asses, and that which [is] in the city, and that which [is] in the field, have they taken;

29 and all their wealth, and all their infants, and their wives they have taken captive, and they spoil also all that [is] in the house.

30 And Jacob saith unto Simeon and unto Levi, `Ye have troubled me, by causing me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanite, and among the Perizzite: and I [am] few in number, and they have been gathered against me, and have smitten me, and I have been destroyed, I and my house.'

31 And they say, `As a harlot doth he make our sister?'

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 4471

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4471. Verses 18-24 And their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem, Hamor's son. And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob's daughter; and he was honoured above all those of his father's house. And Hamor came, then Shechem his son, to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the men of their city, saying, These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and carry on trade throughout it; behold, the land is broad and spacious before them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives (femina), and let us give our daughters to them. Only on this [condition] will the men consent to us to dwell with us, to be one people: That every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. Their acquisition, 1 and their purchase, and all their beasts, will these not be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us. And they listened to Hamor and Shechem his son, all who went out of the gate of his city; and they circumcised every male, all who went out of the gate of his city.

'Their words were good in the eyes of Hamor' means conformity in life. 'And in the eyes of Shechem, Hamor's son' means in doctrine. 'And the young man did not delay to do the thing' means a strong desire to accept. 'Because he delighted in Jacob's daughter' means the semblance of religion in that Church. 'And he was honoured above all those of his father's house' means the foremost of the truths of the Church among the Ancients. 'And Hamor came, then Shechem his son, to the gate of their city' means the goods and truths of the Church among the Ancients which lay within their doctrine. 'And they spoke to the men of their city, saying' means persuasion. 'These men are at peace with us' means agreement. 'Let them dwell in the land' means in life. 'And carry on trade throughout it' means in doctrine. 'Behold, the land is broad and spacious before them' means extension. 'Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give our daughters to them' means a joining together. 'Only on this [condition] will the men consent to us to dwell with us' means that they would agree in life. 'To be one people' means in doctrine. 'That every male be circumcised, as they are circumcised' means provided they were introduced by this means into their representatives and meaningful signs, solely into the external observances involved in these. 'Their acquisition, and their purchase' means their truths. 'And all their beasts' means goods. 'Will these not be ours?' means that these two kinds of goods and truths would be alike and take the same form. 'Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us' means, If we conform to this. 'And they listened to Hamor and Shechem his son' means consent. 'All who went out of the gate of his city' means that they departed from the doctrine of the Church among the Ancients. 'And they circumcised every male, all who went out of the gate of his city' means the acceptance of externalities.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. i.e. small cattle - see 4487

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

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Two

  

The number "two" has two different meanings in the Bible. In most cases "two" indicates a joining together or unification. This is easy to see if we consider the conflicts we tend to have between our "hearts" and our "heads" -- between what we want and what we know. Our "hearts" tell us that we want pie with ice cream for dinner; our "heads" tell us we should have grilled chicken and salad. If we can bring those two together and actually want what's good for us, we'll be pretty happy. We're built that way -- with our emotions balanced against our intellect -- because the Lord is built that way. His essence is love itself, or Divine Love, the source of all caring, emotion and energy. It is expressed as Divine Wisdom, which gives form to that love and puts it to work, and is the source of all knowledge and reasoning. In His case the two aspects are always in conjunction, always in harmony. It's easy also to see how that duality is reflected throughout creation: plants and animals, food and drink, silver and gold. Most importantly, it's reflected in the two genders, with women representing love and men representing wisdom. That's the underlying reason why conjunction in marriage is such a holy thing. So when "two" is used in the Bible to indicate some sort of pairing or unity, it means a joining together. In rare cases, however, "two" is used more purely as a number. In these cases it stands for a profane or unholy state that comes before a holy one. This is because "three" represents a state of holiness and completion (Jesus, for instance, rose from the tomb on the third day), and "two" represents the state just before it.