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1 Mosebok 28

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1 Da kalte Isak Jakob til sig og velsignet ham og bød ham og sa til ham: Du skal ikke ta nogen av Kana'ans døtre til hustru.

2 Gjør dig rede og dra til Mesopotamia, til din morfar Betuels hus, og hent dig en hustru derfra, en av din morbror Labans døtre!

3 Og Gud den allmektige velsigne dig og gjøre dig fruktbar og gi dig en tallrik ætt, så du blir til en hel skare av folkeslag,

4 han gi dig Abrahams velsignelse, både dig og din ætt, så du kommer til å eie det land hvor du nu bor som fremmed, det som Gud gav Abraham!

5 Så lot Isak Jakob reise; og han drog til Mesopotamia, til arameeren Laban, Betuels sønn, som var bror til ebekka, Jakobs og Esaus mor.

6 Da Esau så at Isak hadde velsignet Jakob og sendt ham til Mesopotamia for å hente sig en hustru derfra - at han hadde velsignet ham og gitt ham den befaling: Du skal ikke ta nogen av Kana'ans døtre til hustru -

7 og at Jakob hadde adlydt sin far og sin mor og var reist til Mesopotamia,

8 og da Esau så at Kana'ans døtre mishaget Isak, hans far,

9 så gikk han til Ismael og tok Mahalat, datter til Abrahams sønn Ismael, Nebajots søster, til hustru foruten sine andre hustruer.

10 Jakob tok ut fra Be'erseba og gav sig på veien til Karan.

11 Og han kom til et sted hvor han blev natten over, for solen var gått ned; og han tok en av stenene som lå der, og la den under sitt hode, og så la han sig til å sove der.

12 Da drømte han og så en stige som var stilt op på jorden, og hvis topp nådde til himmelen, og se, Guds engler steg op og steg ned på den.

13 Og se, Herren stod øverst på den og sa: Jeg er Herren, din far Abrahams Gud og Isaks Gud; det land som du nu ligger i, det vil jeg gi dig og din ætt.

14 Og din ætt skal bli som støvet på jorden, og du skal utbrede dig mot vest og mot øst og mot nord og mot syd, og i dig og i din ætt skal alle jordens slekter velsignes

15 Og se, jeg er med dig og vil bevare dig hvor du så går, og jeg vil føre dig tilbake til dette land; jeg vil ikke forlate dig før jeg har gjort det jeg har lovt dig.

16 Da Jakob våknet av sin søvn, sa han: Sannelig, Herren er på dette sted, og jeg visste det ikke.

17 Og det kom en frykt over ham, og han sa: Hvor forferdelig er ikke dette sted ! Her er visselig Guds hus, her er himmelens port.

18 Morgenen efter stod Jakob tidlig op og tok den sten han hadde lagt under sitt hode, og reiste den op som en minnesten, og han helte olje over den.

19 Og han kalte dette sted Betel*; før hette byen Luz. / {* Guds hus.}

20 Og Jakob gjorde et løfte og sa: Dersom Gud vil være med mig og bevare mig på denne min ferd og gi mig brød å ete og klær å klæ mig med,

21 og jeg kommer vel hjem igjen til min fars hus, så skal Herren være min Gud,

22 og denne sten som jeg har reist op som en minnesten, skal være et Guds hus, og av alt det du gir mig, vil jeg gi dig tiende.

   

Aus Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #3691

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3691. 'And went to Haran' means closer to that degree of good and truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'Haran' as external good and truth, for 'Haran' means that which is external, and 'Laban' who lived there means that which is good and true, so that 'Haran' here means external good and truth. That this is what 'Haran' means, see 1430, 3612. From this it is evident that 'Jacob went out from Beersheba and went to Haran' means in the internal sense that he took himself to a position more remote from matters of doctrine that were Divine and so closer to external good and truth.

[2] The reason why the phrase 'that degree of good and truth' is used is that goods and truths are quite distinct and separate from one another according to the degrees they belong to. Interior goods and truths exist in a higher degree, exterior goods and truths in a lower one. In a higher degree are the goods and truths which belong to the rational, in a lower one the goods and truths that belong to the natural, and in the lowest degree are the sensory goods and truths that belong to the body. Interior goods and truths, or those which exist in the higher degree, flow into exterior goods and truths, or those existing in the lower degree, and present an image of themselves there, almost as a person's interior affections present themselves in his face and in the changing expressions seen there. From this it is evident that interior goods and truths are entirely separate from exterior goods and truths, or what amounts to the same, those which exist in the higher degree are entirely separate from those in the lower one, so separate that those which are interior or existing in the higher degree are able to manifest themselves independently of those that are exterior or existing in the lower one. Anyone who does not have a clear-cut idea of degrees cannot have a clear-cut idea of interior and exterior goods and truths, or of how a person's soul or spirit and his body are related to each other, or of how in the next life the heavens are related to one another.

[3] It is well known that there are three heavens, that one heaven is interiorly within another, and that the third heaven is the inmost. These heavens are utterly distinct and separate, each a separate degree from the others. Members of the inmost or third are closer to the Lord; members of the less interior or second are more remote; and members of the exterior or first are more remote still. No communication between those heavens is possible other than a communication like that of the inmost parts of the human being with the exterior parts of him, for anyone who is governed by love to the Lord and by charity towards the neighbour is a miniature heaven, corresponding in image to the three heavens. In addition, he receives from those three heavens an influx, in three similar degrees, of good and truth from the Lord. What each of these is like compared with the other two becomes clear from the two examples introduced above in 3688, 3690.

[4] Those who are governed by true love to the Lord, so much so that they have a perception of that love, are in the higher degree of good and truth. They are in the inmost or third heaven, thus closer to the Lord, and are called celestial angels. Those however who are governed by charity towards the neighbour, so much so that they have a perception of that charity but not so much a perception of love to the Lord, are in a lower degree of good and truth. They are in the interior or second heaven, accordingly more remote from the Lord, and are referred to as spiritual angels. Those however who are governed by charity towards the neighbour that arises solely from an affection for truth, so much so that they do not have any perception of that charity towards the neighbour except from the truth for which they have an affection, are in a still lower degree of good and truth. They are in the exterior or first heaven, accordingly more remote still from the Lord, and are termed good spirits.

[5] This shows to some extent the relationship of these degrees to one another, that is to say, it shows that things existing in a higher degree present an image of themselves that is formed from the things belonging to the degree immediately below them. Love to the Lord contains the closest image of the Lord. That image is called a likeness and therefore people who are governed by true love to the Lord are called likenesses of Him. Charity too contains an image of the Lord, though in a more remote way - for within genuine charity the Lord is present - and therefore people who are governed by such charity are referred to as His images, see 50, 51, 1013. But those who are governed by the affection for truth and consequently by a certain kind of charity towards the neighbour are also images of the Lord, yet in a more remote way still. Into these separate degrees the three heavens are distinguished, and in accordance with those same degrees the Lord flows in with Divine Good and Truth, and so with wisdom and intelligence, together with heavenly joy and happiness.

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