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Genesis 33

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1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. And he distributed the children to Leah, and to Rachel, and to the two maidservants:

2 and he put the maidservants and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindmost.

3 And he passed on before them, and bowed to the earth seven times, until he came near to his brother.

4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept.

5 And he lifted up his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, The children that God has graciously given thy servant.

6 And the maidservants drew near, they and their children, and they bowed.

7 And Leah also, with her children, drew near, and they bowed. And lastly Joseph drew near, and Rachel, and they bowed.

8 And he said, What [meanest] thou by all the drove which I met? And he said, To find favour in the eyes of my lord.

9 And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; let what thou hast be thine.

10 And Jacob said, No, I pray thee; if now I have found favour in thine eyes, then receive my gift from my hand; for therefore have I seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou hast received me with pleasure.

11 Take, I pray thee, my blessing which has been brought to thee; because God has been gracious to me, and because I have everything. And he urged him, and he took [it].

12 And he said, Let us take our journey, and go on, and I will go before thee.

13 And he said to him, My lord knows that the children are tender, and the suckling sheep and kine are with me; and if they should overdrive them only one day, all the flock would die.

14 Let my lord, I pray thee, pass on before his servant, and I will drive on at my ease according to the pace of the cattle that is before me, and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord, to Seir.

15 And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee [some] of the people that are with me. And he said, What need? Let me find favour in the eyes of my lord.

16 And Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.

17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house, and for his cattle he made booths. Therefore the name of the place was called Succoth.

18 And Jacob came safely [to the] city Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-Aram; and he encamped before the city.

19 And he bought the portion of the field where he had spread his tent, of the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred kesitahs.

20 And there he set up an altar, and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2943

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2943. 'To all entering into the gate of his city, saying' means matters of doctrine through which one comes to faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'a gate' as a place of entry and so as that which, in the same way as a door, leads in, dealt with in 2145, 2152, 2356, 2385, and from the meaning of 'a city' as truth, which constitutes faith, dealt with in 402, 2268, 2449, 2451, 2712. In the Ancient Church a city was not like the city of later or of modern times. That is to say, a city did not consist of a collection or gathering together of individuals but of separate families living side by side. A family descended from the same forefather constituted a city. The city of Nahor, for example, to which Abraham's servant went to betroth Rebekah to Isaac, Genesis 24:10, consisted of the family of Nahor which was there. And Shalem, the city of Shechem, to which Jacob came after his departure from Paddan Aram, Genesis 33:18 and the whole of Chapter 34, consisted of the family of Hamor and Shechem which was there. And the same was so with all other cities in those times.

[2] And as it had come down to them from the most ancient people that nations and families represented heavenly communities, and so the things of love and charity, 685, 1159, therefore when a city is mentioned instead of a family, and a people instead of a nation, truth that constitutes faith is meant. It is also why in the genuine sense the city of God and the holy city mean faith in the Lord. And as 'a city' meant faith, 'the gate of the city' means matters of doctrine through which one comes to faith. The same was also meant in the Jewish representative Church by the judges and elders sitting in the gate of the city and giving judgement there, as is evident from historical sections of the Word, and also in Zechariah,

These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth, everyone to his companion; judge in your gates the truth and the judgement of peace. Zechariah 8:16.

And in Amos,

Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgement in the gate. Amos 5:15.

'A gate' also means the place of entry into the rational mind, and the rational mind is compared to a city, see 2851.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #5774

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5774. 'And each one loaded his ass, and they returned to the city' means that truths were brought back up from sensory impressions to known facts. This is clear from the meaning of an ass' as factual knowledge, dealt with in 5492, and of 'loading' it as bringing back up from sensory impressions since 'causing one's pouch to come down to the earth' means bringing the contents of the natural down to the level of sensory impressions, 5767 (raising 'the pouch' up from these is what 'loading' implies here); and from the meaning of 'the city' as truth present in doctrine, dealt with in 402, 2449, 2947, 3216.

[2] A brief explanation must be given of what bringing truths back up from sensory impressions to known facts is. Sensory impressions are one thing, known facts another, and truths yet another; they are consecutive to one another, for sensory impressions give rise to factual knowledge, and factual knowledge leads on to truths. Images that come in through the senses are stored in a person's memory; then he uses those images either to deduce a fact or to gain a perception of some fact he is learning about. After that he uses these facts either to deduce certain truths or to gain a perception of some truth he is learning about. This is the way everyone develops onwards from childhood. While he is a child a person's thought and grasp of things relies on sensory impressions; as he grows older his thought and grasp of things relies on factual knowledge, and after that on truths. This is the path leading to the power of judgement a person enters into as he matures.

[3] From this one may see that sensory impressions, known facts, and truths are distinct and separate. Indeed the three remain so distinct that sometimes a person's attention is fixed on sensory impressions, as happens when he gives thought only to what impinges on his senses; sometimes his attention is fixed on facts, as happens when he rises above sensory impressions and thinks more deeply; and at other times his attention is fixed on truths which have been inferred from facts, as happens when he thinks more deeply still. Anyone who stops to reflect can know these things from what is present within himself. In addition a person can bring truths down into known facts and see those truths within them, even as he can bring facts down into sensory impressions and consider them within these. And he can do the opposite. From all this one may see what is meant by bringing the contents of the natural down to the level of sensory impressions, and bringing truths back up from sensory impressions to known facts.

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