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Genesis 24

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1 Kui Aabraham oli vana ja elatanud ning Issand oli Aabrahami kõigiti õnnistanud,

2 siis ütles Aabraham vanimale sulasele oma peres, kes valitses kõige üle, mis tal oli: 'Pane nüüd oma käsi mu puusa alla!

3 Mina vannutan sind Issanda, taeva Jumala ja maa Jumala juures, et sa mu pojale ei võta naist kaananlaste tütreist, kelle keskel ma elan,

4 vaid et sa lähed minu maale ja mu sugulaste juurde ning võtad sealt naise mu pojale Iisakile!'

5 Aga sulane ütles temale: 'Võib-olla naine ei taha mulle järgneda siia maale. Kas ma siis tõesti pean su poja viima tagasi maale, kust sa oled ära tulnud?'

6 Siis ütles Aabraham temale: 'Hoia, et sa ei vii mu poega sinna tagasi!

7 Issand, taeva Jumal, kes minu võttis mu isakojast ja mu sünnimaalt ja kes mulle rääkis ning vandus, öeldes: Sinu soole ma annan selle maa! - tema ise läkitab oma ingli sinu ees, et saaksid sealt mu pojale naise võtta.

8 Aga kui naine ei taha sulle järgneda, siis oled sa sellest mu vandest vaba. Ainult ära vii mu poega sinna tagasi!'

9 Siis sulane pani käe oma isanda Aabrahami puusa alla ja vandus temale selle kõne kohaselt.

10 Ja sulane võttis oma isanda kaamelitest kümme kaamelit ning läks, ja tal oli oma isandalt kaasas kõiksugu kalleid asju; ta võttis kätte ja läks Mesopotaamiasse Naahori linna.

11 Seal laskis ta õhtul kaamelid põlvili heita väljaspool linna veekaevu juures sel ajal, kui veeviijad välja tulid,

12 ning ütles: 'Issand, minu isanda Aabrahami Jumal, lase ometi see mul täna korda minna ja tee head mu isandale Aabrahamile!

13 Vaata, ma seisan veeallika juures ja linnaelanike tütred tulevad vett viima.

14 Sündigu siis, et tütarlaps, kellele ma ütlen: Kalluta oma kruusi, et ma saaksin juua! ja kes vastab: Joo, ja ma joodan ka su kaameleid! - on see, kelle sa oled määranud oma sulasele Iisakile. Sellest ma siis tean, et sa mu isandale oled head teinud.'

15 Ja veel enne kui ta rääkimise oli lõpetanud, vaata, siis tuli välja Rebeka, kes oli sündinud Betuelile, Aabrahami venna Naahori naise Milka pojale; ja tal oli kruus õlal.

16 Ja tütarlaps oli väga ilusa välimusega, alles neitsi ja mehe poolt puutumata. Ta läks alla allika juurde, täitis kruusi ja tuli üles.

17 Siis jooksis sulane temale vastu ning ütles: 'Anna mulle oma kruusist pisut vett rüübata!'

18 Tema vastas: 'Joo, mu isand!' Ja ta tõstis kähku kruusi alla oma käele ning andis temale juua.

19 Ja olles temale juua andnud, ütles ta: 'Ma ammutan ka su kaamelitele, kuni needki on joonud.'

20 Ja ta tühjendas kähku oma kruusi künasse ning jooksis jälle kaevule vett ammutama ja ammutas kõigile ta kaamelitele.

21 Mees aga silmitses teda vaikides, et mõista, kas Issand oli ta teekonna lasknud korda minna või mitte.

22 Ja kui kaamelid olid joonud, võttis mees kuldrõnga, pooleseeklilise, ja kaks käevõru ta käte jaoks, kümme kuldseeklit väärt,

23 ning küsis: 'Kelle tütar sa oled? Ütle ometi mulle! On su isa kojas meile ööbimispaika?'

24 Ja ta vastas temale: 'Mina olen Betueli, Naahori ja Milka poja tütar.'

25 Ta ütles temale veel: 'Niihästi õlgi kui muud loomasööta on meil küllalt, ööbimispaikki on olemas.'

26 Siis mees kummardas ja heitis Issanda ette

27 ning ütles: 'Kiidetud olgu Issand, mu isanda Aabrahami Jumal, kes mu isandale ei ole keelanud oma heldust ja tõde! Issand on mind teekonnal juhtinud mu isanda vendade kotta!'

28 Aga tütarlaps jooksis ning teatas oma ema perele, mis oli sündinud.

29 Ja Rebekal oli vend, Laaban nimi; ja Laaban jooksis välja, mehe juurde allikale.

30 Sest kui ta nägi rõngast ja käevõrusid oma õe kätel, ja kui ta oli kuulnud oma õe Rebeka sõnu, kes ütles: 'Nõnda rääkis mulle see mees,' - siis ta läks selle mehe juurde, ja ennäe, see seisis kaamelite juures allikal.

31 Ja ta ütles: 'Tule sisse, Issanda õnnistatu! Miks sa väljas seisad? Ma olen korda seadnud koja ja kaamelite paiga.'

32 Mees tuli siis kotta ja Laaban päästis kaamelid lahti, andis õlgi ja toitu kaamelitele ning tõi vett tema ja temaga kaasas olevate meeste jalgade pesemiseks.

33 Siis pandi temale rooga ette. Aga ta ütles: 'Ma ei söö enne, kui ma oma asja olen rääkinud.' Ja talle vastati: 'Räägi!'

34 Siis ta ütles: 'Mina olen Aabrahami sulane.

35 Issand on mu isandat väga õnnistanud, nõnda et ta on jõukaks saanud: ta on temale andnud lambaid, kitsi ja veiseid, hõbedat ja kulda, sulaseid ja teenijaid, kaameleid ja eesleid.

36 Ja Saara, mu isanda naine, on vanas eas mu isandale poja ilmale toonud, ja sellele on ta andnud kõik, mis tal on.

37 Ja mu isand vannutas mind, öeldes: Sa ei tohi võtta mu pojale naist kaananlaste tütarde seast, kelle maal ma elan,

38 vaid sa pead minema mu isakotta ja mu suguvõsa juurde ning sealt võtma naise mu pojale!

39 Aga mina ütlesin oma isandale: Võib-olla naine ei tule minuga?

40 Siis ta vastas mulle: Issand, kelle palge ees ma olen käinud, läkitab oma ingli sinuga ja laseb su teekonna korda minna, et saad mu pojale naise võtta minu suguvõsast ja minu isakojast.

41 Mu vandest sa vabaned sel juhul, kui sa tuled mu suguvõsa juurde, aga nemad ei anna sulle, siis oled mu vandest vaba.

42 Ma jõudsin täna allika juurde ja ütlesin: Issand, mu isanda Aabrahami Jumal, kui sa nüüd tahad korda saata mu teekonna, mida ma käin,

43 siis vaata, ma seisan veeallika juures. Kui üks neitsi tuleb vett viima ja ma temale ütlen: Anna mulle oma kruusist pisut vett juua!

44 ja kui tema mulle vastab: Joo ise, ja ma ammutan ka su kaamelitele!, siis on tema see naine, kelle Issand on määranud mu isanda pojale.

45 Veel enne kui olin kõneluse iseenesega lõpetanud, vaata, siis tuli Rebeka, kruus õlal, ja läks alla allika juurde ning ammutas vett. Ja ma ütlesin temale: Anna mulle juua!

46 Siis ta tõstis kähku kruusi õlalt alla ning ütles: Joo, ja ma joodan ka su kaameleid! Ja mina jõin ning tema jootis mu kaameleid.

47 Ja ma küsisin temalt ning ütlesin: Kelle tütar sa oled? Ja tema vastas: Betueli, Naahori ja Milka poja tütar. Siis ma panin temale rõnga ninasse ja käevõrud kätele,

48 kummardasin ning heitsin Issanda ette ja kiitsin Issandat, oma isanda Aabrahami Jumalat, kes mind oli juhatanud õigele teele, et saaksin võtta oma isanda vennatütre ta pojale.

49 Ja kui te nüüd tahate osutada heldust ja truudust mu isandale, siis öelge mulle. Aga kui mitte, öelge sedagi mulle, ja ma pöördun siis kas paremat või vasakut kätt!'

50 Seepeale vastasid Laaban ja Betuel ning ütlesid: 'Issandalt on see asi alguse saanud. Me ei või sulle sõnagi lausuda, ei halba ega head.

51 Vaata, Rebeka on su ees, võta tema ja mine! Saagu ta naiseks su isanda pojale, nõnda nagu Issand on öelnud!'

52 Kui Aabrahami sulane kuulis nende sõnu, siis ta kummardas maani Issanda ees.

53 Ja sulane võttis välja hõbe- ja kuldriistad ja riided ning andis Rebekale; ka tema vennale ja emale andis ta kalleid asju.

54 Siis nad sõid ja jõid, tema ja mehed, kes koos temaga olid, ja nad ööbisid seal. Aga hommikul, kui nad olid tõusnud, ütles ta: 'Saatke mind nüüd mu isanda juurde!'

55 Aga tütarlapse vend ja ema vastasid: 'Jäägu tütarlaps veel mõneks ajaks, kas või kümneks päevakski meie juurde. Siis sa võid minna.'

56 Kuid tema ütles neile: 'Ärge mind viivitage, sest Issand on lasknud mu teekonna korda minna. Saatke mind teele, et saaksin minna oma isanda juurde!'

57 Siis nad ütlesid: 'Me kutsume tütarlapse ja küsime tema suust.'

58 Ja nad kutsusid Rebeka ning küsisid temalt: 'Kas tahad minna koos selle mehega?' Ja ta vastas: 'Ma lähen!'

59 Siis nad saatsid ära oma õe Rebeka ja tema imetaja, ja Aabrahami sulase ja tema mehed.

60 Ja nad õnnistasid Rebekat ning ütlesid temale: 'Õeke, sinust tulgu tuhat korda kümme tuhat, ja sinu sugu vallutagu oma vihameeste väravad!'

61 Siis Rebeka ja tema tüdrukud tõusid, istusid kaamelite selga ning järgnesid mehele. Nõnda võttis sulane Rebeka ja läks.

62 Iisak aga oli tulemas Lahhai-Roi kaevu poolt, sest ta elas Lõunamaal.

63 Ja Iisak oli vastu õhtut läinud väljale mõtisklema; ja kui ta oma silmad üles tõstis ja vaatas, ennäe, siis tulid kaamelid.

64 Kui Rebeka oma silmad üles tõstis ja nägi Iisakit, siis ta laskus kaameli seljast

65 ning küsis sulaselt: 'Kes on see mees, kes meile väljal vastu tuleb?' Ja sulane vastas: 'See on mu isand!' Siis Rebeka võttis loori ja kattis ennast.

66 Ja sulane jutustas Iisakile kõigest, mis ta oli teinud.

67 Ja Iisak viis Rebeka oma ema Saara telki; ja ta võttis Rebeka, see sai tema naiseks ja ta armastas teda. Nõnda leidis Iisak troosti pärast oma ema surma.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2986

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2986. 'From the sons of Heth' means that it consisted of gentiles. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'the sons of Heth'. The sons of Heth were not those among whom the Church was established but those by whom that Church is represented, for all things in the Word are representative and do not mean the actual persons whose names are mentioned but things that belong to the Lord's kingdom and Church. It has been stated in various places already that 'the sons of Heth' means a new Church, or what amounts to the same, those who belong to that new Church. But that it was a new Church consisting of or drawn from the gentiles is evident from what Abraham said to the sons of Heth, 'I am a stranger and an inhabitant among you', verse 4, which meant that the Lord was not known to them, yet He was nevertheless able to be with them, 2915. From this it is evident that 'the sons of Heth' means a Church consisting of gentiles. It cannot be said of any others that the Lord is not known to them.

[2] Furthermore it should be recognized that when any Church ceases to be a Church, that is, when charity perishes, and a new one is established by the Lord, rarely if ever is this done among those with whom the old Church existed. Instead it is established among those with whom no Church existed previously, that is, among gentiles. This is what happened when the Most Ancient Church perished. At that time a new one which was called Noah, or the Ancient Church following the Flood, was established among gentiles, that is, among those where no Church existed previously. It was similar when this Church perished. At that time the semblance of a Church was introduced among Abraham's descendants through Jacob, and so again among gentiles; for Abraham at the time of his call was a gentile, see 1356, 1992, 2559. The actual descendants of Jacob in Egypt became more gentile still, so much so that they had no knowledge at all of Jehovah or consequently of any Divine worship. After this semblance of a Church had come to an end, the Primitive Church was established from among the gentiles, the Jews having been rejected. It will be similar with the Church existing at present called the Christian Church.

[3] The reason why it is among gentiles that the Lord establishes a new Church is that they do not possess any false assumptions that are contrary to the truths of faith, for they have no knowledge of the truths of faith. False assumptions absorbed from early childhood and subsequently confirmed must first of all be dispelled before a person can be regenerated and become a member of the Church. 1 Indeed gentiles are not able to profane holy things by means of evils of life, for no one can profane what is holy if he does not know what it is, 593, 1008, 1010, 1059. As gentiles do not have such knowledge, there are no stumbling-blocks to hinder them. Thus their state is such that they are better able to receive truths than those who belong to the Church; and all those among them who are leading a good life receive truths without difficulty, see 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328, 1366, 2049, 2051, 2589-2604.

Bilješke:

1. Or, reading what Sw has in his rough draft become the Church

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

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Arcana Coelestia #1327

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1327. 'Jehovah confounded the lip of the whole earth' means the state of this Ancient Church, that internal worship started to perish. This is clear from the fact that the phrase used is 'the lip of the whole earth' and not, as previously in verse 7, the lip of those who started to build a city and a tower. 'The face of the whole earth' means the state of the Church since 'the earth' is the Church, as shown already in 662, 1066. The story of the Churches after the Flood is as follows: There were three Churches which receive specific mention in the Word - the first Ancient Church which took its name from Noah, the second Ancient Church which took its name from Eber, and the third Ancient Church which took its name from Jacob, and subsequently from Judah and Israel.

[2] As regards the first Ancient Church, that called Noah, this was the parent so to speak of those that followed, and as is usually the case with Churches in their earliest phases, it was more untarnished and innocent, as is also clear from verse 1 of this chapter which says that it had one lip, that is, one doctrine. That is to say, everyone regarded charity as the essential. But in the course of time, as usually happens to Churches, that Church also started to decline, chiefly because many people started to divert worship to themselves so as to set themselves above others, as is clear from verse 4 above - 'they said, Let us build ourselves a city and a tower, and its head in heaven, and let us make a name for ourselves'. In the Church such people were inevitably like some fermenting agent, or like firebrands that start a fire. When the danger of profaning what is holy was consequently near at hand, referred to in 571, 582, the state of this Church was, in the Lord's Providence, altered. That is to say, its internal worship perished but its external worship remained, which here is meant by the statement that 'Jehovah confounded the lip of the whole earth'. From this it is also clear that the kind of worship called Babel was not prevalent in the first Ancient Church but in those that followed when people started to be worshipped in place of gods, especially after they had died. This was the origin of so many pagan deities.

[3] The reason internal worship was allowed to perish and external remain was to prevent what is holy being profaned. The profanation of what is holy carries eternal condemnation with it. Nobody is able to profane what is holy unless he possesses cognitions of faith and also acknowledges them. Anyone who does not possess them cannot acknowledge them, still less profane them. It is internal things which may be profaned, for it is in internal things, not external, that holiness resides. The situation is similar with someone who does evil but does not have evil in mind. The evil he does cannot be attributed to him any more than to someone who does not deliberately intend evil, or to anyone devoid of rationality. Thus anyone who does not believe in the existence of a life after death, but who nevertheless has external worship, cannot profane the things that belong to eternal life because he does not believe that they exist. The situation is different with those who do know and acknowledge them.

[4] This too is why a person is allowed rather to live engrossed in lusts and pleasures, and so to isolate himself from internal things, than to enter into a knowledge and acknowledgement of internal things and so profane them. The Jews of today therefore are allowed to immerse themselves in avarice so that in this way they may be removed from an acknowledgement of internal things, for they are the kind of people who, if they acknowledged them, would inevitably profane them. Nothing does more to isolate a person from internal things than avarice, for this is the lowest of all earthly desires. The same applies to many inside the Church, and to gentiles outside, though gentiles, least of all people, are able to profane anything. This then is the reason for the statement here that 'Jehovah confounded the lip of the whole earth', and the reason why these words mean that the state of the Church was altered, that is to say, its worship became external, having no internal worship within it.

[5] The same situation was represented and meant by the Babylonish captivity into which the Israelites, and later on the Jews, were carried away. This is spoken of in Jeremiah as follows,

And there will be a nation and a kingdom that will not serve the king of Babel, and who will not put its neck in the yoke of the king of Babel. With the sword and famine and pestilence I will visit this people, until I have consumed it by his hand. Jeremiah 27:8 and following verses.

'Serving the king of Babel and putting its neck in his yoke' is being utterly deprived of the knowledge and acknowledgement of the good and the truth of faith, and so of internal worship.

[6] The point is clearer still in the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah to all the people in this city, your brethren who did not go out with you into captivity, thus said Jehovah Zebaoth, Behold, I am sending on them the sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like rotten figs. Jeremiah 29:16-17.

'Remaining in the city and not going out to the king of Babel' represented and meant people who possessed the cognitions of internal things, that is, of the truths of faith, and who profaned them - people on whom, it is said, He was sending 'the sword, famine, and pestilence', which are forms of punishment for profanation, and whom He was making 'like rotten figs'.

[7] That 'Babel' means people who deprive others of all knowledge and acknowledgement of truth was also represented and meant by the following words in the same prophet,

I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babel, and he will carry them off to Babel, and will smite them with the sword. And I will give over all the wealth of this city, and all its labour, and all its precious things; and I will give all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them and seize them. Jeremiah 20:4-5.

Here 'all its wealth, all its lab our, all its precious things, all the treasures of the kings of Judah' means in the internal sense cognitions of faith.

[8] In the same prophet,

With the families of the north I will bring the king of Babel against this land and against its inhabitants, and against all those nations round about, and I will utterly destroy them and make them into a ruin, a hissing, and everlasting wastes. And this whole land will be a waste. Jeremiah 25:9, 11.

Here 'Babel' is used to describe the vastation of the interior things of faith, that is, of internal worship. Indeed, as shown already, anyone whose worship is worship of self possesses no truth of faith. He destroys and lays waste, and leads off into captivity, everything that is true. This is why Babel is also called 'a destroying mountain' in Jeremiah 51:25.

For more concerning Babel, see what has been stated already in 1182.

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