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1 Mose 25

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1 Abraham nahm wieder ein Weib, die hieß Ketura.

2 Die gebar ihm Simran und Joksan, Medan und Midian, Jesbak und Suah.

3 Joksan aber zeugte Saba und Dedan. Die Kinder aber von Dedan waren: die Assuriter, die Letusiter und die Leumiter.

4 Die Kinder Midians waren: Epha, Epher, Henoch, Abida und Eldaa. Diese alle sind Kinder der Ketura.

5 Und Abraham gab all sein Gut Isaak.

6 Aber den Kindern, die er von den Kebsweibern hatte, gab er Geschenke und ließ sie von seinen Sohn Isaak ziehen, dieweil er noch lebte, gegen Aufgang in das Morgenland.

7 Das aber ist Abrahams Alter, das er gelebt hat: hundertfünfundsiebzig Jahre.

8 Und er nahm ab und starb in einem ruhigen Alter, da er alt und lebenssatt war, und ward zu seinem Volk gesammelt.

9 Und es begruben ihn die Söhne Isaak und Ismael in der zwiefachen Höhle auf dem Acker Ephrons, des Sohnes Zohars, des Hethiters, die da liegt Mamre gegenüber,

10 in dem Felde, das Abraham von den Kindern Heth gekauft hatte. Da ist Abraham begraben mit Sara, seinem Weibe.

11 Und nach dem Tode Abrahams segnete Gott Isaak, seinen Sohn. Und er wohnte bei dem Brunnen des Lebendigen und Sehenden.

12 Dies ist das Geschlecht Ismaels, des Sohnes Abrahams, den ihm Hagar gebar, die Magd Saras aus Ägypten;

13 und das sind die Namen der Kinder Ismaels, davon ihre Geschlechter genannt sind: der erstgeborene Sohn Ismaels, Nebajoth, -Kedar, Abdeel, Mibsam,

14 Misma, Duma, Massa,

15 Hadar, Thema, Jetur, Naphis und Kedma.

16 Dies sind die Kinder Ismaels mit ihren Namen in ihren Höfen und Zeltdörfern, zwölf Fürsten über ihre Leute.

17 Und das ist das Alter Ismaels: hundert und siebenunddreißig Jahre. Und er nahm ab und starb und ward gesammelt zu seinem Volk.

18 Und sie wohnten von Hevila an bis gen Sur vor Ägypten und bis wo man nach Assyrien geht. Er ließ sich aber nieder gegen alle seine Brüder.

19 Dies ist das Geschlecht Isaaks, des Sohnes Abrahams: Abraham zeugte Isaak.

20 Isaak aber war vierzig Jahre alt, da er Rebekka zum Weibe nahm, die Tochter Bethuels, des Syrers, von Mesopotamien, Labans, des Syrers Schwester.

21 Isaak aber bat den HERRN für sein Weib, denn sie war unfruchtbar. Und der HERR ließ sich erbitten, und Rebekka, sein Weib, ward schwanger.

22 Und die Kinder stießen sich miteinander in ihrem Leibe. Da sprach sie: Da mir's also sollte gehen, warum bin ich schwanger geworden? und sie ging hin, den HERRN zu fragen.

23 Und der HERR sprach zu ihr: Zwei Völker sind in deinem Leibe, und zweierlei Leute werden sich scheiden aus deinem Leibe; und ein Volk wird dem andern Überlegen sein, und der Ältere wird dem Jüngeren dienen.

24 Da nun die Zeit kam, daß sie gebären sollte, siehe, da waren Zwillinge in ihrem Leibe.

25 Der erste, der herauskam, war rötlich, ganz rauh wie ein Fell; und sie nannten ihn Esau.

26 Darnach kam heraus sein Bruder, der hielt mit seiner Hand die Ferse des Esau; und sie hießen ihn Jakob. Sechzig Jahre alt war Isaak, da sie geboren wurden.

27 Und da nun die Knaben groß wurden, ward Esau ein Jäger und streifte auf dem Felde, Jakob aber ein sanfter Mann und blieb in seinen Hütten.

28 Und Isaak hatte Esau lieb und aß gern von seinem Weidwerk; Rebekka aber hatte Jakob lieb.

29 Und Jakob kochte ein Gericht. Da kam Esau vom Felde und war müde

30 und sprach zu Jakob: Laß mich kosten das rote Gericht; denn ich bin müde. Daher heißt er Edom.

31 Aber Jakob sprach: Verkaufe mir heute deine Erstgeburt.

32 Esau antwortete: Siehe, ich muß doch sterben; was soll mir denn die Erstgeburt?

33 Jakob sprach: So schwöre mir heute. Und er schwur ihm und verkaufte also Jakob seine Erstgeburt.

34 Da gab ihm Jakob Brot und das Linsengericht, und er und trank und stand auf und ging davon. Also verachtete Esau seine Erstgeburt.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #3316

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3316. 'Jacob boiled pottage' means matters of doctrine when massed together. This is clear from the representation of 'Jacob' as the doctrine of natural truth, dealt with in 3305, and so as matters of doctrine within the natural man, and from the meaning of 'pottage' as a massing together of such matters of doctrine. Indeed 'boiling pottage' is massing together; for the verb in the original language is strictly speaking the noun for 'pottage' - as if you were to say 'he pottaged pottage', that is, he massed it together. It is the first state in the joining together of good and truth that is described in this verse and in those that follow to the end of the chapter. The first state of one who is being regenerated - that is, with whom truth is being joined to good - is a state in which first of all matters of doctrine regarding what is true are massed together, without any definite order, in his natural man, that is, in the storehouse there called the memory. The matters of doctrine present there at that time may be compared to the undigested particles of some ingredient, not compounded with anything else but massed together, and may be compared to a kind of chaos. But the chaos exists to the end that they may be brought into an ordered condition; for with anything that is brought into an ordered condition chaos exists at first. This is what is meant by the pottage that Jacob boiled, that is, massed together. Those matters of doctrine are not brought into an ordered condition by anything within themselves but by the good that must enter into them; and the amount of good entering into them, also the essential nature of that good, determine how far they become ordered and the nature of their then ordered condition. When good first craves and desires matters of doctrine, to the end that they may be joined to itself, it is seen in the form of an affection for truth. These are the considerations meant by 'Esau said to Jacob, Let me sip now from the red [pottage], this red [pottage]'.

[2] Such considerations do indeed appear to be quite remote from the sense of the letter, but nevertheless when man reads these words and understands them according to the sense of the letter, the angels who reside with him at the time do not have any [natural] idea at all of pottage, or of Jacob, or of Esau, or of red, or of sipping from red [pottage]. Instead they have a spiritual idea of them, which is altogether different and remote from that natural idea. The idea of those persons and objects is instantly converted into a spiritual idea. And so it is with everything else in the Word, such as, for example, when one reads of bread there the angels do not perceive bread but instead of bread instantly perceive celestial love and things that belong to celestial love, which is love to the Lord. And when one reads in the Word of wine they do not perceive wine but instead of wine spiritual love and the things that belong to that love, which is love towards the neighbour. Accordingly when one reads of pottage or soup they do not perceive pottage or soup but matters of doctrine that are not as yet joined to good, and thus a disordered massing together of them. This shows the essence and character of angels' thought and perception, and how remote these are from man's thought and perception. If a person when in a holy frame of mind were to think as they do - such as during the Holy Supper - and instead of bread were to perceive love to the Lord, and instead of wine love towards the neighbour, his thought and perception would then be similar to the angels' who in that case would draw nearer to him till at length it would be possible for them to share their thoughts with him, though only insofar as good was at the same time present in that person.

[3] That 'pottage' or soup means a massing together may be seen also from what is said about the sons of the prophets and Elisha in the Book of Kings,

Elisha came again to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. And the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets. And one of them went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine, and gathered from it wild gourds his lap full, and came and cut them up into the pot of pottage, for they did not know [what they were]. And they poured out for the men to eat. And it happened, while they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, There is death in the pot, O man of God! And they could not eat it. And he said, Then bring flour. And he threw it into the pot, and said, Pour out for the people. And they ate, and there was no harm in the pot. 2 Kings 4:38-41.

In the internal sense these words have an altogether different meaning from what they do in the sense of the letter, that is to say, 'a famine in the land' means a dearth of cognitions of good and truth, 1460; 'the sons of the prophets' means those who teach, 2543; 'pottage' facts badly massed together; 'flour' truth which is obtained from good, or that which is spiritual obtained from that which is celestial, 2177. Thus the description of Elisha throwing the flour into the pot, at which point it ceased to contain anything harmful, means that those facts, massed together so, were put right by means of spiritual truth from the Lord's Word - for 'Elisha' represented the Lord as to the Word, 2762. Devoid of this spiritual sense the story about the pottage and the change effected by the flour would not have been worthy of mention in the most holy Word. As with the rest of the miracles in the Word, all of which conceal what is Divine within them, this miracle was performed for the sake of representing those things.

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