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Genesis 35

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1 And God saith unto Jacob, `Rise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared unto thee in thy fleeing from the face of Esau thy brother.'

2 And Jacob saith unto his household, and unto all who [are] with him, `Turn aside the gods of the stranger which [are] in your midst, and cleanse yourselves, and change your garments;

3 and we rise, and go up to Bethel, and I make there an altar to God, who is answering me in the day of my distress, and is with me in the way that I have gone.'

4 And they give unto Jacob all the gods of the stranger that [are] in their hand, and the rings that [are] in their ears, and Jacob hideth them under the oak which [is] by Shechem;

5 and they journey, and the terror of God is on the cities which [are] round about them, and they have not pursued after the sons of Jacob.

6 And Jacob cometh in to Luz which [is] in the land of Canaan (it [is] Bethel), he and all the people who [are] with him,

7 and he buildeth there an altar, and proclaimeth at the place the God of Bethel: for there had God been revealed unto him, in his fleeing from the face of his brother.

8 And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, dieth, and she is buried at the lower part of Bethel, under the oak, and he calleth its name `Oak of weeping.'

9 And God appeareth unto Jacob again, in his coming from Padan-Aram, and blesseth him;

10 and God saith to him, `Thy name [is] Jacob: thy name is no more called Jacob, but Israel is thy name;' and He calleth his name Israel.

11 And God saith to him, `I [am] God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply, a nation and an assembly of nations is from thee, and kings from thy loins go out;

12 and the land which I have given to Abraham and to Isaac -- to thee I give it, yea to thy seed after thee I give the land.'

13 And God goeth up from him, in the place where He hath spoken with him.

14 And Jacob setteth up a standing pillar in the place where He hath spoken with him, a standing pillar of stone, and he poureth on it an oblation, and he poureth on it oil;

15 and Jacob calleth the name of the place where God spake with him Bethel.

16 And they journey from Bethel, and there is yet a kibrath of land before entering Ephratha, and Rachel beareth, and is sharply pained in her bearing;

17 and it cometh to pass, in her being sharply pained in her bearing, that the midwife saith to her, `Fear not, for this also [is] a son for thee.'

18 And it cometh to pass in the going out of her soul (for she died), that she calleth his name Ben-Oni; and his father called him Benjamin;

19 and Rachel dieth, and is buried in the way to Ephratha, which [is] Bethlehem,

20 and Jacob setteth up a standing pillar over her grave; which [is] the standing pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.

21 And Israel journeyeth, and stretcheth out his tent beyond the tower of Edar;

22 and it cometh to pass in Israel's dwelling in that land, that Reuben goeth, and lieth with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heareth.

23 And the sons of Jacob are twelve. Sons of Leah: Jacob's first-born Reuben, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun.

24 Sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

25 And sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid-servant: Dan and Naphtali.

26 And sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid-servant: Gad and Asher. These [are] sons of Jacob, who have been born to him in Padan-Aram.

27 And Jacob cometh unto Isaac his father, at Mamre, the city of Arba (which [is] Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac have sojourned.

28 And the days of Isaac are a hundred and eighty years,

29 and Isaac expireth, and dieth, and is gathered unto his people, aged and satisfied with days; and bury him do Esau and Jacob his sons.

   

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Numbers 34:19

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19 `And these [are] the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;

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Arcana Coelestia # 1453

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1453. As regards 'Bethel being towards the sea and Ai towards the east, 1 ' meaning that His state was still obscure, that is to say, so far as cognitions of celestial and spiritual things were concerned, it is one thing to be governed by celestial things, another to be governed by the cognitions of celestial things. Infants and children are governed, more so than adults, by celestial things because of the presence in them of love towards their parents and of love for one another, as well as of innocence. But adults are governed, more so than infants and children, by the cognitions of those celestial things, very many adults not being governed at all by the celestial things of love. Until a person is taught the things of love and faith, he dwells in an obscure state, that is, so far as cognitions are concerned. That state is described here by the statement 'Bethel' was 'towards the sea', that is, 'towards the west', and 'Ai towards the east' 'Bethel', as stated already, means cognitions of celestial things, but 'Ai' the cognitions of worldly things. The former are said to be 'towards the west' when they are in obscurity, for in the Word 'the west' means that which is obscure, while the latter are said to be 'towards the east' when they are in brightness; for in comparison with the west the east is brightness. There is no need to confirm that west and east have these meanings, as they may be evident to anyone without confirmation.

[2] That 'Bethel' means the cognitions of celestial things however may become clear from other places where Bethel is mentioned in the Word, as in the next chapter,

Abram went according to his journeys from the south even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the start, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar that he had made there. Genesis 13:3-4.

Here 'according to his journeys from the south towards Bethel' means advancing into the light of cognitions, and this is why no reference is made in this case to 'Bethel towards the west and Ai towards the east'. When Jacob saw the stairway he said,

This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And he called the name of this place Bethel. Genesis 28:17, 19.

Here similarly 'Bethel' means knowledge of celestial things, for a person is a 'Bethel', that is, a 'House of God', and a 'Gate of heaven', when he is governed by the celestial things that have been present as cognitions. While a person is being regenerated he is undergoing introduction, which is effected by means of cognitions of spiritual and celestial things; but once he has been regenerated that introduction has been completed, and he is now governed by the celestial and spiritual things that have been present as cognitions. Further on it is said,

God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there; make there an altar to the God who appeared to you. Genesis 35:1, 6-7.

[3] Here similarly 'Bethel' means cognitions.

The presence of the Ark of Jehovah in Bethel, and the visits to that place by the children of Israel to inquire of Jehovah, Judges 20:18, 26-27; 1 Samuel 7:16, 10:3, have similar meanings. So also has the reference to the king of Assyria sending one of the priests whom he had deported from Samaria, who resided in Bethel and was teaching them how to fear Jehovah, 2 Kings 17:27-28.

In Amos,

Amaziah said to Amos, O seer, go, flee to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there. And do not prophesy any more in Bethel, for this is the king's sanctuary and this is a house of the kingdom. Amos 7:12-13.

[4] After Jeroboam had profaned Bethel, 1 Kings 12:32; 13:1-8; 2 Kings 23:15, Bethel had a contrary representation, as in Hosea 10:15; Amos 3:14-15; 5:5-7. As regards 'Ai' meaning cognitions of worldly things however this too may be confirmed from historical and prophetical parts of the Word, in Joshua 7:2; 8:1-28; Jeremiah 49:3-4.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, Bethel from the sea (an idiom for from the west) and Ai from the east

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