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Genesis 49

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1 Jacob called to his sons, and said: "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.

2 Assemble yourselves, and hear, you sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father.

3 "Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; excelling in dignity, and excelling in power.

4 Boiling over as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father's bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch.

5 "Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence.

6 My soul, don't come into their council. My glory, don't be united to their assembly; for in their anger they killed men. In their self-will they hamstrung cattle.

7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

8 "Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's sons will bow down before you.

9 Judah is a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up?

10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be.

11 Binding his foal to the vine, his donkey's colt to the choice vine; he has washed his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.

12 His eyes will be red with wine, his teeth white with milk.

13 "Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea. He will be for a haven of ships. His border will be on Sidon.

14 "Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the saddlebags.

15 He saw a resting place, that it was good, the land, that it was pleasant. He bows his shoulder to the burden, and becomes a servant doing forced labor.

16 "Dan will judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

17 Dan will be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path, That bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward.

18 I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.

19 "A troop will press on Gad, but he will press on their heel.

20 "Asher's food will be rich. He will yield royal dainties.

21 "Naphtali is a doe set free, who bears beautiful fawns.

22 "Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a spring. His branches run over the wall.

23 The archers have severely grieved him, shot at him, and persecute him:

24 But his bow remained strong. The arms of his hands were made strong, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, (from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),

25 even by the God of your father, who will help you; by the Almighty, who will bless you, with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.

26 The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of your ancestors, above the boundaries of the ancient hills. They will be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers.

27 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the spoil."

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his blessing.

29 He instructed them, and said to them, "I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place.

31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah:

32 the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth."

33 When Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the spirit, and was gathered to his people.

   

De obras de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #3653

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3653. From all this it is now evident that in these verses there is fully described the state of devastation of the church in respect to the goods of love and the truths of faith, and that at the same time there is given an exhortation to those who are in these goods and truths in regard to what they ought then to do. There are three kinds of men within the church; namely, those who are in love to the Lord; those who are in charity toward the neighbor; and those who are in the affection of truth. Those who belong to the first class, who are in love to the Lord, are specifically signified in the words, “let them that are in Judea flee into the mountains.” Those in the second class, who are in charity toward their neighbor, are specifically signified in the words, “let him that is upon the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.” Those in the third class, who are in the affection of truth, are specifically signified in the words, “and let him that is in the field not return back to take his garment.” (See what has been said and explained above in regard to these words, n. 2454; and what is meant by “returning back,” and “looking behind him.”)

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

De obras de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #1038

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1038. This is the sign of the covenant. That this signifies an indication of the presence of the Lord in charity, is evident from the signification of a “covenant” and of a “sign of a covenant.” That a “covenant” signifies the presence of the Lord in charity, has been shown before (Genesis 6:18, and above in the present chapter, verse 9). That a “covenant” is the presence of the Lord in love and charity, is evident from the nature of a covenant. Every covenant is for the sake of conjunction, that is, for the sake of living in mutual friendship, or love. Marriage also is for this reason called a covenant. There is no conjunction of the Lord with man except in love and charity; for the Lord is love and mercy itself. He wills to save everyone and to draw him with mighty power to heaven, that is, to Himself. From this everyone may know and conclude that no one can ever be conjoined with the Lord except through that which He Himself is, that is, except by becoming like or making one with Him-in other words, by loving the Lord in return and loving the neighbor as himself. By this alone is the conjunction effected. This is the veriest essence of a covenant. When there is conjunction from this, it then follows manifestly that the Lord is present. There is indeed the very presence of the Lord with every man, but it is nearer or more remote exactly according to the approach to love or the distance from love.

[2] Because the “covenant” is the conjunction of the Lord with man by love, or what is the same, the presence of the Lord with man in love and charity, it is called in the Word the “covenant of peace;” for “peace” signifies the kingdom of the Lord, and the kingdom of the Lord consists in mutual love, in which alone is peace. As in Isaiah:

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My mercy shall not depart from thee, neither shall My covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee (Isaiah 54:10), where mercy, which is of love, is called a “covenant of peace.”

In Ezekiel:

I will raise up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd; and I will make with them a covenant of peace (Ezekiel 34:23, 25), where by “David” is plainly meant the Lord; and His presence with the regenerate man is described by His feeding” them.

[3] Again:

My servant David shall be king over them; and there shall be to them all one shepherd, and I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will set them, and will cause them to multiply, and will put My sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Ezekiel 37:24, 26-27), where in like manner the Lord is meant by “David;” love, by “His sanctuary in the midst of them;” the presence and conjunction of the Lord in love, by “His being their God and by their being His people” which is called a “covenant of peace” and an “everlasting covenant.”

In Malachi:

Ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that My covenant might be with Levi, saith Jehovah of armies; My covenant was with him of lives and peace; and I gave them to him in fear, and he shall fear Me (Malachi 2:4-5).

“Levi” in the supreme sense is the Lord, and hence the man who has love and charity, and therefore the covenant of lives and peace with Leviticus is in love and charity.

[4] In Moses, speaking of Phinehas:

Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace; and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an eternal priesthood (Numbers 25:12-13), where by “Phinehas” is not meant Phinehas, but the priesthood which was represented by him, which signifies love and what is of love, as does all the priesthood of that church. Everyone knows that Phinehas did not have an eternal priesthood.

Again:

Jehovah thy God, He is God; the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments, to the thousandth generation (Deuteronomy 7:9, 12), where it is plain that the presence of the Lord with man in love is the “covenant” for it is said that He keepeth it with them that love Him and keep His commandments.

[5] Since a “covenant” is the conjunction of the Lord with man by love, it follows that it is also by all things that pertain to love, which are the truths of faith, and are called precepts; for all precepts, indeed the Law and the Prophets, are founded on the one Law, to love the Lord above all things and the neighbor as oneself, as is evident from the words of the Lord (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34). And therefore the tables on which were written the ten commandments, are called the “Tables of the Covenant.” Since a covenant, or conjunction, is effected through the laws or precepts of love, it was effected also through the laws of society given by the Lord in the Jewish Church, which are called “testimonies;” and also through the rites of the church enjoined by the Lord, called “statutes.” All these things are said to be of the “covenant” because they regard love and charity, as we read of Josiah the king:

The king stood upon the pillar, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all the heart and with all the soul, to establish the words of this covenant (2 Kings 23:3).

[6] From these things it is now evident what a “covenant” is, and that the covenant is internal; for the conjunction of the Lord with man takes place by what is internal, and never by what is external separate from what is internal. External things are only types and representatives of internal, as the action of a man is a type representative of his thought and will; and as the work of charity is a type representative of the charity which is within, in the heart and mind. So all the rites of the Jewish Church were types representative of the Lord, consequently of love and charity, and of all things therefrom. Wherefore it is through the internals of man that a covenant and conjunction is made, and externals are only signs of the covenant, as indeed they are called. That a covenant and conjunction is made through internals is plainly evident, as in Jeremiah:

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, forasmuch as they made vain My covenant but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days, saith Jehovah; I will put My law in their inward parts and write it on their heart (Jeremiah 31:31-33), where a new church is treated of. It is clearly stated that the veriest covenant is through the internals, and indeed in conscience on which the Law is inscribed, all of which is of love, as has been said.

[7] That external things are not the “covenant” unless internal things are adjoined to them, and thus by union act as one and the same cause; but are only “signs” of the covenant by means of which as by representative types the Lord might be kept in remembrance, is evident from the fact that the Sabbath and circumcision are called “signs” of the covenant. That the Sabbath is so called, we read in Moses:

The sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant; it is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel eternally (Exodus 31:16-17).

And that circumcision also is so called, in the same:

This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee; that every male be circumcised unto you; and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and you (Genesis 17:10-11).

Hence also blood is called the “blood of the covenant” (Exodus 24:7-8).

[8] External rites are called “signs of a covenant” for the reason chiefly that interior things may be kept in mind by them, that is, the things signified by them. All the rites of the Jewish Church were nothing else. And for this reason they were also called “signs” that the people might be reminded by them of interior things-as for instance, the binding of the chief commandment on the hand and on the forehead, as in Moses:

Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might; and these words thou shalt bind for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes (Deuteronomy 6:5, 8; 11:13, 18).

Here “hand” signifies the will because it signifies power, for power is of the will; “frontlets between the eyes” signify the understanding; thus the “sign” signifies remembrance of the chief commandment, or of the Law in sum, that it may be continually in the will and in the thought, that is, that the presence of the Lord and of love may be in all the will and in all the thought. Such is the presence of the Lord and of mutual love from Him with the angels, which continual presence will be further described, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, hereafter. In like manner, in the present verse its being said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you: I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth” signifies no other sign than an indication of the presence of the Lord in charity, thus the remembrance of Him in man. But how there is thence, or from the bow in the cloud, a sign and remembrance, will be told, of the Lord’s Divine mercy, in what follows.

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