The Bible

 

Genesis 32

Study

   

1 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

2 And Jacob said when he saw them, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom.

4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye say unto my lord Esau: Thus saith thy servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now:

5 and I have oxen, and asses, [and] flocks, and men-servants, and maid-servants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in thy sight.

6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed: and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies;

8 and he said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the company which is left shall escape.

9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Jehovah, who saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good:

10 I am not worthy of the least of all the lovingkindnesses, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two companies.

11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children.

12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

13 And he lodged there that night, and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother:

14 two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

15 thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals.

16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.

17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?

18 then thou shalt say [They are] thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, he also is behind us.

19 And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him;

20 and ye shall say, Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me.

21 So the present passed over before him: and he himself lodged that night in the company.

22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven children, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok.

23 And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.

24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him.

26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, [said he], I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

31 And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Penuel, and he limped upon his thigh.

32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4256

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

4256. 'Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him' means the state of truth in relation to good, in which truth has made itself first. This becomes clear from what has been stated in various places above, especially from those which deal with the birthright which Jacob acquired to himself by means of the lentil pottage and with the blessing which he took from Esau by the use of deceit. What is represented and meant by those two incidents may be seen in the places dealing with them, where it is shown that truth seems to occupy the first position when a person is being regenerated and good the second, but that in reality good occupies the first and truth the second, as is plainly so once he has been regenerated. These matters are dealt with in 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4243, 4244, 4247. When therefore order is being turned around and good plainly takes up the first position, that is, when it starts to have dominion over truth, the natural man experiences fear and distress, 4249, and also enters into temptations.

[2] The reason for this is that when truth occupied the first position, that is, when it seemed to itself to have dominion over good, falsities intermingled themselves. For truth is not able to see from itself whether it is the truth, but has to do so from good; and where falsities exist so does fear when good draws near. Furthermore all who are governed by good start to experience fear when falsities are seen in the light received from good, for they fear falsities and want to have them rooted out. But they cannot be rooted out if they are well established, except by Divine means provided by the Lord. This explains why, following the experience of fear and distress, those who are to be regenerated enter into temptations too; for temptations are the Divine means by which falsities are removed. And this reason why a person who is being regenerated undergoes spiritual temptations is a most profound one. Yet it is not seen at all by the person himself because it lies beyond his range of discernment, as does everything which stirs, pricks, and torments his conscience.

  
/ 10837  
  

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