Die Bibel

 

1 Mosebok 12

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1 Og Herren sa til Abram: Dra bort fra ditt land og fra din slekt og fra din fars hus til det land som jeg vil vise dig!

2 Og jeg vil gjøre dig til et stort folk; jeg vil velsigne dig og gjøre ditt navn stort, og du skal bli en velsignelse!

3 Og jeg vil velsigne dem som velsigner dig, og den som forbanner dig, vil jeg forbanne; og i dig skal alle jordens slekter velsignes

4 Så drog Abram bort som Herren hadde sagt til ham, og Lot drog med ham. Og Abram var fem og sytti år gammel da han drog ut fra Karan.

5 Og Abram tok med sig Sarai, sin hustru, og Lot, sin brorsønn, og all deres eiendom som de hadde vunnet, og de folk som de hadde fått i Karan; og de drog ut for å reise til Kana'ans land, og de kom til Kana'ans land.

6 Og Abram drog gjennem landet til Sikem-bygden, til Mores terebintelund; og kana'anittene bodde dengang der i landet.

7 Da åpenbarte Herren sig for Abram og sa: Din ætt vil jeg gi dette land. Og han bygget der et alter for Herren, som hadde åpenbaret sig for ham.

8 Derfra flyttet han til fjellene østenfor Betel og slo op sitt telt med Betel i vest og Ai i øst; og han bygget der et alter for Herren og påkalte Herrens navn.

9 Og Abram drog efter hvert videre til sydlandet*. / {* d.e. den sydligste del av Kana'an.}

10 Så blev det hungersnød i landet; og Abram drog ned til Egypten for å opholde sig der, for hungersnøden var stor i landet.

11 Og da han ikke hadde langt igjen til Egypten, sa han til Sarai, sin hustru: Jeg vet jo at du er en vakker kvinne.

12 Når nu egypterne får se dig, vil de si: Dette er hans hustru, og så slår de mig ihjel og lar dig leve.

13 Kjære, si at du er min søster, så det kan gå mig vel, og mitt liv kan bli spart for din skyld!

14 Da nu Abram kom til Egypten, så egypterne at kvinnen var meget vakker.

15 Også Faraos høvdinger så henne og roste henne for Farao, og så blev kvinnen hentet til Faraos hus.

16 Og han gjorde vel imot Abram for hennes skyld, og han fikk både småfe og storfe og asener og træler og trælkvinner og aseninner og kameler.

17 Men Herren hjemsøkte Farao og hans hus med store plager for Abrams hustru Sarais skyld.

18 Da kalte Farao Abram til sig og sa: Hvad er det du har gjort imot mig? Hvorfor lot du mig ikke vite at hun er din hustru?

19 Hvorfor sa du: Hun er min søster, så jeg tok henne til hustru? Se, her har du din hustru, ta henne og gå!

20 Og Farao gav nogen menn befaling til å følge ham på veien med hans hustru og alt det han eide.

   

Aus Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #921

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921. 'Noah built an altar to Jehovah' means a representative of the Lord. This is clear from what has been stated just above. All the religious observances of the Ancient Church were representative of the Lord, as also were those of the Jewish Church. But the chief representative in later times was the altar, and also the burnt offering, which, because it was made from clean beasts and clean birds, represented the same as that of which it was the meaningful sign. Clean beasts represented goods that stem from charity, and clean birds the truths of faith. And when offering these, members of the Ancient Church meant that they were offering gifts of those goods or truths to the Lord. Nothing else can be offered up to the Lord that will please Him. But their descendants, like the gentiles, and also the Jews, corrupted these offerings, for they did not even know that these had such a meaning. They confined worship solely to things of an external nature.

[2] That the altar was the chief representative of the Lord becomes clear also from the consideration that there were altars even among gentiles before all the other religious observances were established, before the Ark [of the Covenant] was made, and before the Temple was built. This is clear from Abram's going on to the mountain east of Bethel, erecting an altar, and calling on the name of Jehovah, Genesis 12:8; from his being commanded to offer Isaac as a burnt offering on an altar, Genesis 22:2, 9, from Jacob's building an altar in Luz, which was Bethel, Genesis 35:6-7; and from Moses' building an altar at the foot of Mount Sinai and offering sacrifice, Exodus 24:4-6. Each of these events took place before the establishment of the sacrificial system and before the construction of the Ark, the place where worship was at a later time celebrated in the wilderness. The fact that gentiles too had altars is clear from what is said about Balaam telling Balak to build seven altars and to prepare seven young bulls and seven rams, Numbers 23:1-7, 15-18, 29-30, and also from the command to destroy the altars of the nations, as in Deuteronomy 7:5; Judges 2:2. Consequently Divine worship involving the use of altars and sacrifices was not something new when it was established among the Jews. Indeed men were building altars, especially those for commemorative purposes, before they ever knew of immolating young bulls and other animals on them.

[3] That 'altars' means a representative of the Lord, and 'burnt offerings' consequent worship of Him, is quite clear from the Prophets and also in Moses where Levi to whom the priesthood was entrusted is the subject,

They will teach Jacob Your judgements and Israel Your law. They will put incense in Your nostrils, and whole (burnt offering) upon Your altar. Deuteronomy 33:10.

This stands for the whole of worship. 'Teaching Jacob His judgements, and Israel His law' stands for internal worship, while 'putting incense in His nostrils, and whole [burnt offering] on the altar' stands for corresponding external worship, and so for the whole of worship. In Isaiah,

On that day a man will look to his Maker and his eyes will regard the Holy One of Israel. And he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands. Isaiah 17:7-8.

Here 'looking to the altars' clearly means representative worship in general, which was to be abolished. In the same prophet,

On that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at its border to Jehovah. Isaiah 19:19.

Here too 'altar' stands for external worship.

[4] In Jeremiah,

The Lord has abandoned His altar, He has abhorred His sanctuary. Lamentations 2:7.

'Altar' stands for representative worship which had become idolatrous. In Hosea,

Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they have been to him altars for sinning. Hosea 8:11.

'Altars' here stands for all representative worship separated from internal, and so stands for what is idolatrous. In the same prophet,

The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. Thorn and thistle will grow up on their altars. Hosea 10:8.

Here too 'altars' stands for idolatrous worship. In Amos,

On the day I visit Israel for his transgressions, I will visit the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar will be cut off. Amos 3:14.

Here also 'altars' stands for representative worship that had become idolatrous.

[5] In David,

They will bring me to Your holy mountain, and to Your dwellings! Then I will go in to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy. Psalms 43:3-4.

Here 'altar' clearly stands for the Lord. So the making of an altar in the Ancient and the Jewish Churches stood for a representative of the Lord. Because worship of the Lord was carried out principally by means of burnt offerings and sacrifices, and these principally meant representative worship, it is clear that the altar itself means representative worship itself.

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