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Genesis 28

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1 And Isaac calleth unto Jacob, and blesseth him, and commandeth him, and saith to him, `Thou dost not take a wife of the daughters of Caanan;

2 rise, go to Padan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father, and take for thyself from thence a wife, of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother;

3 and God Almighty doth bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and thou hast become an assembly of peoples;

4 and He doth give to thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee, to cause thee to possess the land of thy sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.'

5 And Isaac sendeth away Jacob, and he goeth to Padan-Aram, unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramaean, brother of Rebekah, mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 And Esau seeth that Isaac hath blessed Jacob, and hath sent him to Padan-Aram to take to himself from thence a wife -- in his blessing him that he layeth a charge upon him, saying, Thou dost not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan --

7 that Jacob hearkeneth unto his father and unto his mother, and goeth to Padan-Aram --

8 and Esau seeth that the daughters of Canaan are evil in the eyes of Isaac his father,

9 and Esau goeth unto Ishmael, and taketh Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, sister of Nebajoth, unto his wives, to himself, for a wife.

10 And Jacob goeth out from Beer-Sheba, and goeth toward Haran,

11 and he toucheth at a [certain] place, and lodgeth there, for the sun hath gone in, and he taketh of the stones of the place, and maketh [them] his pillows, and lieth down in that place.

12 And he dreameth, and lo, a ladder set up on the earth, and its head is touching the heavens; and lo, messengers of God are going up and coming down by it;

13 and lo, Jehovah is standing upon it, and He saith, `I [am] Jehovah, God of Abraham thy father, and God of Isaac; the land on which thou art lying, to thee I give it, and to thy seed;

14 and thy seed hath been as the dust of the land, and thou hast broken forth westward, and eastward, and northward, and southward, and all families of the ground have been blessed in thee and in thy seed.

15 `And lo, I [am] with thee, and have kept thee whithersoever thou goest, and have caused thee to turn back unto this ground; for I leave thee not till that I have surely done that which I have spoken to thee.'

16 And Jacob awaketh out of his sleep, and saith, `Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew not;'

17 and he feareth, and saith, `How fearful [is] this place; this is nothing but a house of God, and this a gate of the heavens.'

18 And Jacob riseth early in the morning, and taketh the stone which he hath made his pillows, and maketh it a standing pillar, and poureth oil upon its top,

19 and he calleth the name of that place Bethel, [house of God,] and yet, Luz [is] the name of the city at the first.

20 And Jacob voweth a vow, saying, `Seeing God is with me, and hath kept me in this way which I am going, and hath given to me bread to eat, and a garment to put on --

21 when I have turned back in peace unto the house of my father, and Jehovah hath become my God,

22 then this stone which I have made a standing pillar is a house of God, and all that Thou dost give to me -- tithing I tithe to Thee.'

   

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Arcana Coelestia #3691

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3691. And went toward Haran. That this signifies to the good and truth of that degree, is evident from the signification of “Haran,” as being external good and truth, for by “Haran” is signified what is external, and by “Laban” who dwelt there, good and truth; thus by “Haran” is here meant external good and truth. (That this is the signification of “Haran” may be seen above, n. 1430, 3612.) It follows that by “Jacob went forth from Beersheba and went to Haran,” in the internal sense is signified that he betook himself further from Divine doctrinal things; thus to external good and truth.

[2] It is said “to good and truth of that degree,” because goods and truths are perfectly distinguished from each other according to degrees; interior goods and truths being in a higher degree, and exterior ones in a lower degree. In a higher degree are the goods and truths of the rational; in a lower degree are the goods and truths of the natural; and in the lowest are the sensuous goods and truths of the body. Interior goods and truths, or those of a higher degree, flow into exterior goods and truths, or those of a lower degree, and exhibit therein an image of themselves, almost as man’s interior affections exhibit themselves in the countenance and its changes. From this it is manifest that interior goods and truths are completely separate from exterior goods and truths, or what is the same, those in a higher degree from those in a lower one; so separate that it is possible for the interior ones, or those in a higher degree, to exist quite apart from the exterior ones, or those in a lower degree. He who has not a distinct notion of degrees cannot have a distinct notion of interior and exterior goods, nor how the case is with man’s soul, or with his spirit and body, nor how it is with the heavens in the other life.

[3] That there are three heavens is known, and that one heaven is more interior than another, and that the third heaven is inmost. These heavens are most distinct from each other according to degrees. They who are in the inmost or third heaven are nearest the Lord; they who are in the interior or second heaven are more remote; and they who are in the exterior or first heaven are still more remote. No other communication between these heavens is possible than such as is that of man’s inmosts with his exteriors; for the man who is in love to the Lord and in charity toward his neighbor is a little heaven that in an image corresponds to the three heavens, and he receives the influx of good and truth out of the three heavens from the Lord according to the same degrees. The relative nature of these degrees to one another may be seen from the two cases adduced above (n. 3688, 3690).

[4] They who are in real love to the Lord, so as to have a perception of it, are in a higher degree of good and truth, and are in the inmost or third heaven; thus are nearer to the Lord, and are called celestial angels. They who are in charity toward the neighbor so as to have a perception of charity, and not so much a perception of love to the Lord, are in a lower degree of good and truth, and are in the interior or second heaven; thus are more remote from the Lord, and are called spiritual angels. But they who are in charity toward the neighbor merely from the affection of truth, so as not to have a perception of charity itself toward the neighbor, except from the truth with which they are affected, are in a still lower degree of good and truth, and are in the exterior or first heaven; thus are still more remote from the Lord, and are called good spirits.

[5] From this it may in some measure be evident how the case is in respect to degrees; namely, that those things which are in a higher degree exhibit themselves in an image in those which are in the degree next lower. In love to the Lord there is a proximate image of the Lord, which is called a “likeness,” wherefore they who are in love itself to the Lord are called His “likenesses.” In charity there is also an image of the Lord (only more remote), for in true charity the Lord is present; and therefore they who are therein are called His “images” (n. 50, 51, 1013); while they who are in the affection of truth, and thence in a certain species of charity toward the neighbor, are also images of the Lord, but still more remotely. The three heavens are distinguished into these degrees, and according to these degrees the Lord flows in with Divine good and truth, thus with wisdom and intelligence, and with heavenly joy and happiness.

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