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Genesis 34

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1 And Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

2 And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and humbled her.

3 And his soul fastened on Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the maiden, and spoke consolingly to the maiden.

4 And Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, Take me this girl as wife.

5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; but his sons were with his cattle in the fields, and Jacob said nothing until they came.

6 And Hamor the father of Shechem came out to Jacob, to speak to him.

7 And the sons of Jacob came from the fields when they heard [it]; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had wrought what was disgraceful in Israel, in lying with Jacob's daughter, which thing ought not to be done.

8 And Hamor spoke to them, saying, My son Shechem's soul cleaves to your daughter: I pray you, give her to him as wife.

9 And make marriages with us: give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to you.

10 And dwell with us, and the land shall be before you: dwell and trade in it, and get yourselves possessions in it.

11 And Shechem said to her father and to her brethren, Let me find favour in your eyes; and what ye shall say to me I will give.

12 Impose on me very much as dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say to me; but give me the maiden as wife.

13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and spoke -- because he had defiled Dinah their sister --

14 and said to them, We cannot do this, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that [were] a reproach to us.

15 But only in this will we consent to you, if ye will be as we, that every male of you be circumcised;

16 then will we give our daughters to you, and take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and be one people.

17 But if ye do not hearken to us, to be circumcised, then will we take our daughter and go away.

18 And their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son.

19 And the youth did not delay to do this, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter. And he was honourable above all in the house of his father.

20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke to the men of their city, saying,

21 These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade in it. And the land -- behold, it is of wide extent before them. We will take their daughters as wives, and give them our daughters.

22 But only in this will the men consent to us to dwell with us, to be one people -- if every male among us be circumcised, just as they are circumcised.

23 Their cattle, and their possessions, and every beast of theirs, shall they not be ours? only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.

24 And all that went out at the gate of his city hearkened to Hamor and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised -- all that went out at the gate of his city.

25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.

26 And Hamor and Shechem his son they slew with the edge of the sword; and took Dinah out of Shechem's house; and went out.

27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.

28 Their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and what [was] in the city, and what [was] in the field they took;

29 and all their goods, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and plundered them, and all that was in the houses.

30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me, in that ye make me odious among the inhabitants of the land -- among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and I am few men in number, and they will gather themselves against me and smite me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

31 And they said, Should people deal with our sister as with a harlot?

   

De obras de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #4367

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4367. 'And Jacob said, No, I beg of you' means the birth of that affection. This becomes clear from what has been stated immediately above, that is to say, that the refusal to accept a gift instills affection, which is manifested here in his saying 'No, I beg of you'. From this it is evident that the birth of an affection is meant here.

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

De obras de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #2689

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2689. 'And lifted up her voice and wept' means a further degree of grief. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'lifting up the voice and weeping' as the utmost extremity of grief, for weeping with a loud voice is nothing else. Described in this verse is a state of desolation of truth and of withdrawal from truths, as experienced by those who are becoming spiritual. What this state is like must be explained briefly: People who are not able to be reformed have no knowledge at all of what it is to grieve on account of being deprived of truths, for they imagine that no one can possibly become distressed for a reason such as that. The only circumstances, they believe, which can lead to such distress exist when someone is deprived of those good gifts to men that are of a bodily and worldly kind, such as health, position, reputation, wealth, and life. But those who are able to be reformed believe altogether differently. They are maintained by the Lord in the affection for good and in the thought of truth, and therefore come to be distressed when deprived of these.

[2] It is well known that all distress and grief are the result of a person's being deprived of the things for which he has affection, that is, which he loves. Those whose affection is solely for bodily and worldly things, that is, who love solely these, grieve when deprived of them, whereas those whose affection is for spiritual goods and truths, and who love these, grieve when deprived of them. The life in any person is nothing else than affection or love. From this one may see the nature of the state of those who are desolated as regards the goods and truths for which they have affection, that is, which they love; that is to say, one may see that their state of grief, being more interior, is more severe, and that in being deprived of good and truth it is not death of the body which they are bothered about but eternal death. It is their state which is described here.

[3] So that it may also be known which people can be maintained by the Lord in the affection for good and truth and so be reformed and become spiritual, and which ones cannot, this too must be explained briefly. In childhood everyone, when being for the first time endowed with goods and truths, is maintained by the Lord in the affirmative attitude that anything said or taught by parents and teachers is true. With those who are able to become spiritual this affirmative attitude is strengthened by means of facts and cognitions, for whatever they learn and is relevant introduces itself into the affirmative outlook and strengthens it, leading more and more towards affection for it. These are ones who become spiritual in accordance with the essence of the truth in which they have faith, and who are victorious in temptations. But it is quite different with those who are not able to become spiritual. Although in childhood an affirmative attitude exists with them, when they are older they allow doubts to enter in which thus destroy the affirmative attitude towards good and truth. And when they reach adult years they allow denials to enter in, and even the affection for what is false to enter in. If such people were led into temptations they would give in completely. Consequently they are kept free from them.

[4] But the real reason why they allow doubts and subsequently denials to enter in may be traced back to their life of evil. People who lead a life of evil cannot possibly do otherwise. The life in any person, as has been stated, is affection or love, and as is the nature of that affection or love so is the nature of his thought. The affection for evil and the thought of truth never join themselves together. In cases where they seem to join themselves, they do not in fact do so, for the thought of truth exists without the affection for it. With such people therefore truth is not truth, but merely a sound or something on the lips, from which the heart is far away. Even very wicked people can know such truth, better than anybody else sometimes. Some are also so strongly persuaded by truth of that kind that no one can see it as other than genuine. But it is not genuine truth if the life of good is absent. It is affection belonging to self-love or love of the world which causes that strong persuasion of it, which they also defend with a vehemence that is evidence of apparent zeal; indeed they go so far as to condemn people who do not receive it or believe it in a similar way. But this kind of truth varies from one person to another according to his basic way of thinking, the strength of that truth depending on the strength of his self-love or his love of the world. It is, it is true, born together with evil, but it does not join itself to evil, and therefore in the next life is rooted out. It is different in the case of those who lead a life of good; in them the truth itself finds its soil, and its ability to grow, and from the Lord its life.

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