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Genesis 32

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1 Aga Laaban tõusis hommikul vara, suudles oma poegi ja tütreid ning õnnistas neid; siis Laaban läks teele ja pöördus tagasi koju.

2 Ka Jaakob läks oma teed. Aga temale tulid vastu Jumala inglid.

3 Ja Jaakob ütles, kui ta neid nägi: 'See on Jumala leer!' Ja ta pani sellele paigale nimeks Mahanaim.

4 Siis Jaakob läkitas käskjalad enese eel oma venna Eesavi juurde Seirimaale Edomi väljadele

5 ja andis neile käsu, öeldes nõnda: 'Öelge mu isandale Eesavile: Nõnda ütleb su sulane Jaakob: Ma olen tänini Laabani juures võõrana elanud ja viibinud.

6 Mul on härgi ja eesleid, lambaid ja kitsi, sulaseid ja teenijaid, ja ma läkitan seda teatama oma isandale, et su silmis armu leida.'

7 Käskjalad tulid tagasi Jaakobi juurde ja ütlesid: 'Me jõudsime su venna Eesavi juurde. Ta juba tulebki sulle vastu koos neljasaja mehega.'

8 Siis Jaakob kartis väga ja tal oli kitsas käes; ja ta jaotas rahva, kes koos temaga oli, samuti lambad ja kitsed, veised ja kaamelid, kahte leeri,

9 sest ta mõtles: Kui Eesav tuleb ühe leeri kallale ja lööb selle maha, siis teine leer pääseb.

10 Ja Jaakob ütles: 'Mu isa Aabrahami Jumal ja mu isa Iisaki Jumal, Issand, kes mulle ütlesid: Mine tagasi oma maale ja oma sugulaste seltsi, siis ma teen sulle head!

11 Mina pole väärt kõiki neid heategusid ja kõike seda truudust, mida sa oma sulasele oled osutanud. Sest kepp käes läksin ma üle Jordani, aga nüüd on mul kaks leeri.

12 Päästa mind ometi mu venna Eesavi käest, sest ma kardan, et ta tuleb ja lööb mind maha koos emade ja lastega!

13 Sina ise aga oled öelnud: Ma teen sulle tõesti head ja lasen su soo saada mereliiva sarnaseks, mida ei saa ära lugeda selle rohkuse pärast!'

14 Ja ta jäi selleks ööks sinna ning võttis sellest, mis oli saanud tema omaks, oma vennale Eesavile kingituseks

15 kakssada kitse ja kakskümmend sikku, kakssada emalammast ja kakskümmend jäära,

16 kolmkümmend imetajat kaamelit ja nende varssa, nelikümmend lehma ja kümme härjavärssi, kakskümmend emaeeslit ja kümme eeslitäkku.

17 Ja ta andis need oma sulaste kätte, iga karja eraldi, ja ütles oma sulastele: 'Minge minu eel ja jätke vahemaa iga karja vahele!'

18 Ja ta käskis esimest, öeldes: 'Kui mu vend Eesav tuleb sulle vastu, küsib sinult ja ütleb: Kelle oma sa oled ja kuhu sa lähed, ja kelle omad on need, kes su ees on?,

19 siis vasta: Need on su sulase Jaakobi omad, kingitus, mis läkitatakse mu isandale Eesavile, ja vaata, ka tema ise tuleb meie taga!'

20 Ja ta käskis ka teist ja kolmandat ja kõiki muid, kes karjade järel käisid, öeldes: 'Te peate Eesavile ütlema sedasama, kui te teda kohtate!

21 Ja öelge ka: Vaata, su sulane Jaakob tuleb meie taga!' Sest ta mõtles: Ma lepitan teda kingitusega, mis mu eel läheb. Alles pärast seda ilmun ma ise tema ette, vahest võtab ta mind siis armulikult vastu.

22 Nõnda läks kingitus tema eel, aga ta ise jäi selleks ööks leeri.

23 Kuid veel selsamal ööl ta tõusis üles ja võttis oma mõlemad naised ja mõlemad teenijad ja oma üksteist poega ja läks läbi Jabboki koolme.

24 Ta võttis nad ja viis üle jõe, samuti viis ta üle, mis tal oli.

25 Aga Jaakob ise jäi üksinda maha. Siis heitles üks mees temaga, kuni hakkas koitma.

26 Aga kui see nägi, et ta ei saanud võimust tema üle, siis ta lõi tema puusaliigest; ja Jaakobi puusaliiges nihkus paigast, kui ta heitles temaga.

27 Ja mees ütles: 'Lase mind lahti, sest juba koidab!' Aga tema vastas: 'Ei ma lase sind mitte, kui sa mind ei õnnista!'

28 Siis ta küsis temalt: 'Mis su nimi on?' Ja ta vastas: 'Jaakob.'

29 Seepeale ütles tema: 'Su nimi ärgu olgu enam Jaakob, vaid olgu Iisrael, sest sa oled võidelnud Jumala ja inimestega ja oled võitnud!'

30 Siis küsis Jaakob ja ütles: 'Ütle nüüd mulle oma nimi!' Aga ta vastas: 'Miks sa mu nime küsid?' Ja ta õnnistas teda seal.

31 Ja Jaakob pani sellele paigale nimeks Penuel, sest ta ütles: 'Kuigi ma nägin Jumalat palgest palgesse, pääses siiski mu hing!'

32 Päike tõusis, kui ta puusast longates Penuelist edasi läks.

   

Aus Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #4299

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4299. 'For I have seen God face to face, and my soul is delivered' means that He suffered the severest temptations, seemingly attributable to the Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing God' as going closer to Him by means of interior things, that is to say, by means of goods and truths, and consequently as presence, dealt with in 4198; and from the meaning of 'the face' as interior things, dealt with in 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066, and so as thoughts and affections, for affections and thoughts are interior things because they belong to the disposition and mind (animus et mens) and reveal themselves in the face; and from the meaning of 'my soul is delivered' as suffering God's presence. The fact that all these words mean that He suffered the severest temptations seemingly attributable to the Divine, cannot be seen from anything else than the immediate causes and the remote causes of temptations. The evils and falsities present with a person which lead him into temptations, and therefore the evil spirits and genii who instill them are the immediate causes, 4249. Nevertheless, no one can be tempted, that is, undergo any spiritual temptation, except him who has a conscience. Indeed spiritual temptation is nothing else than the torture of a person's conscience, and consequently none can be tempted but those who are governed by celestial and spiritual good. For the latter have conscience, but all others do not; indeed they do not even know what conscience is.

[2] Conscience is a new will and a new understanding received from the Lord, and so is the Lord's presence with a person, a presence which becomes all the closer the more the person is stirred by the affection for good or for truth. If the closeness of the Lord's presence exceeds the amount of affection for good or for truth in him, he enters into temptation. The reason why is that the evils and falsities which reside with him, and which are moderated by the goods and truths residing with him, cannot suffer that closer presence. This becomes clear from the following things that happen in the next life: Evil spirits cannot by any means move towards any heavenly community without starting to feel distress and torment; also, evil spirits cannot stand angels looking at them because they are instantly tormented and collapse unconscious. And in addition there is the fact that hell is remote from heaven, for the reason that it cannot suffer heaven, that is, the Lord's presence in heaven. This explains why in the Word it is said in reference to evil spirits,

Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. Luke 23:30.

And elsewhere,

They will say to the mountains and rocks, Rush down on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne. Revelation 6:16.

Also the sphere of cloud and thick darkness which emanates from the evils and falsities of those in hell looks like a mountain or rock beneath which they are hidden, see 1265, 1267, 1270.

[3] From these considerations it can now be recognized that 'I have seen God face to face and my soul is delivered' means the severest temptations, seemingly attributable to the Divine. Temptations and torments do seem to be attributable to the Divine because they arise, as has been stated, through the Lord's Divine presence. Yet they do not originate in the Divine or the Lord but in the evils and falsities residing with the person who is being tempted or tormented. From the Lord nothing else proceeds but a holiness which is good and true and merciful, and it is this holiness - which is good, true, and merciful - that those subject to evils and falsities cannot suffer; for such evils and falsities are opposite or contrary to it. Evils, falsities, and lack of mercy are bent all the time on doing violence to those qualities belonging to holiness; and in the measure they assail these, they themselves suffer torment. And when they assail them and consequently suffer torment they imagine that it is the Divine who torments them. These are the considerations meant by 'seemingly attributable to the Divine'.

[4] It was well known to the ancients that no one can see Jehovah face to face and live, and from them knowledge of the same came down to the descendants of Jacob. This explains why they were so glad when they saw any angel and remained alive, as in the Book of Judges,

Gideon saw that he was the angel of Jehovah, therefore Gideon said, O Lord Jehovih! Inasmuch as I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. And Jehovah said to him, Peace be to you; do not fear, for you will not die. Judges 6:22-23.

In the same book, Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, for we have seen God. Judges 13:22.

And in Moses, Jehovah said to Moses, You cannot see My face, for no man will see Me and live. Exodus 33:20.

[5] The reason why it is said of Moses that he spoke to Jehovah face to face, Exodus 33:11, and that Jehovah knew him face to face, Deuteronomy 34:10, is that He showed Himself to him in a human form suited to his reception, which was an external form - as a bearded old man sitting with him, as I have learned from angels. For the same reason the Jews had no other idea of Jehovah than of one who was very old with a long white beard, who was better able to perform miracles than other gods. They did not have the idea of His being the most holy because they did not know what holiness was, let alone that they could not in any way see the holiness proceeding from Him because they were governed by bodily and earthly love devoid of internal holiness, 4289, 4293.

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