The Bible

 

創世記 34

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1 利亞給雅各所生的女兒底拿出去,要見那的女子們。

2 的主─希未人、哈抹的兒子示劍見他,就拉住他,與他行淫,玷辱他。

3 示劍的繫戀雅各的女兒底拿,喜這女子,甜言蜜語地安慰他。

4 示劍對他父親哈抹:求你為我聘這女子為妻。

5 雅各見示劍玷污了他的女兒底拿。那時他的兒子們正和群畜在田野,雅各就閉口不言,等他們回

6 示劍的父親哈抹出來見雅各,要和他商議。

7 雅各的兒子們見這事,就從田野回,人人忿恨,十分惱怒;因示劍在以色列家作了醜事,與雅各的女兒行淫,這本是不該做的事。

8 哈抹和他們商議:我兒子示劍的心戀慕這女子,求你們將他我的兒子為妻。

9 你們與我們彼此結親;你們可以把女兒我們,也可以娶我們女兒

10 你們與我們罷!這都在你們面前,只管在此居住,做買賣,置產業。

11 示劍對女兒的父親弟兄們:但願我在你們眼前蒙恩,你們向我要甚麼,我必你們。

12 任憑向我要多重的聘金和禮物,我必照你們所你們;只要把女子我為妻。

13 雅各的兒子們因為示劍玷污了他們的妹子底拿,就用詭詐的話回答示劍和他父親哈抹,

14 對他們我們不能把我們的妹子沒有受割禮的人為妻,因為那是我們的羞辱。

15 惟有一件才可以應允:若你們所有的男丁都受割禮,和我們一樣,

16 我們就把女兒你們,也娶你們的女兒我們便與你們同,兩下成為樣的人民。

17 倘若你們不我們割禮我們就帶著妹子走了。

18 哈抹和他的兒子示劍喜歡這

19 那少年人做這事並不遲延,因為他喜愛雅各的女兒;他在他父親家中也是人最尊重的。

20 哈抹和他兒子示劍到本城的門口,對本城的人

21 這些人與我們和睦,不如許他們在這居住,做買賣;這也寬闊,足可容下他們。我們可以娶他們的女兒為妻,也可以把我們女兒他們。

22 惟有件事我們必須做,他們才肯應允和我們,成為樣的人民:就是我們中間所有的男丁都要受割禮,和他們樣。

23 他們的群畜、貨財,和一切的牲口豈不都歸我們麼?只要依從他們,他們就與我們

24 凡從城出入的人就都從哈抹和他兒子示劍的話;於是凡從城出入的男丁都受了割禮

25 第三,眾正在疼痛的時候,雅各的兩個兒子,就是底拿的哥哥西緬和利未,各拿刀,趁著眾想不到的時候到城中,把一切殺了,

26 又用刀殺了哈抹和他兒子示劍,把底拿從示劍家裡帶出來就走了。

27 雅各的兒子們因為他們的妹子受了玷污,就被殺的人那裡,擄掠那城,

28 奪了他們的羊群牛群,和,並城裡田間所有的;

29 又把他們一切貨財、孩子、婦女,並各房中所有的,都擄掠去了。

30 雅各西緬和利未:你們連累我,使我在這居民中,就是在迦南人和比利洗人中,有了名。我的人丁既然稀少,他們必聚集來擊殺我,我和全家的人都必滅絕。

31 他們:他豈可待我們的妹子如同妓女麼?

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4493

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4493. 'And they circumcised every male, all who went out of the gate of his city' means the acceptance of externalities. This is clear from the meaning of 'circumcising every male' as being introduced into the representatives and meaningful signs of that people (that is, into those of Jacob's descendants) - solely into the external observances involved in these, dealt with in 4486; and from the meaning of 'going out of the gate of the city' as departing from the doctrine of the Church among the Ancients, dealt with immediately above in 4492. And as the departure from doctrine and the acceptance of externalities is meant, the expression 'those who went out of the gate of his city' occurs twice, without any reference at the same time, as is so elsewhere, to those who went into it. For 'going in' means an acceptance of doctrine and a departure from externalities; but the reverse of this is described here.

[2] The implications of this must now be stated. Members of the Most Ancient Church, the remnants of which Hamor and Shechem with their families were a part, had an entirely different mental constitution and different disposition from adherents to the Ancient Church. The will in the case of the members of the Most Ancient Church contained that which was whole; but this was not so with adherents to the Ancient Church. Because of this the Lord was able with members of the Most Ancient Church to flow in through the will, and therefore by an internal way, but not so with adherents to the Ancient Church, since in these the will had been destroyed. But the Lord flowed into their understanding, and so not by an internal way but by an external one, as stated above in 4489. Flowing in through the will involves flowing in through the good of love, for all good belongs to the will part of the mind, whereas flowing in through the understanding involves flowing in through the truth of faith, for all truth belongs to the understanding part. Within the latter - the understanding - the Lord formed, in the case of adherents to the Ancient Church, a new will when He regenerated them. For goods and truths were implanted in the will part of the mind of members of the Most Ancient Church, see 895, 927, but in the understanding part of that of adherents to the Ancient Church, 863, 875, 895, 927, 2124, 2256, 4328. The new will is formed within the understanding part of the mind, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 4328. A parallelism exists between the Lord and the good residing with man, but not between Him and the truth there, 1831, 1832, 2718, 3514. As a consequence adherents to the Ancient Church dwelt in obscurity compared with members of the Most Ancient, 2708, 2715, 2935, 2937, 3246, 3833. From all this it may be seen that members of the Most Ancient Church had an entirely different mental constitution and different disposition from adherents to the Ancient Church.

[3] It was for this reason that those who belonged to the Most Ancient Church were internal people and had no external forms of worship, while those who belonged to the Ancient Church were external people and did have them. For the former saw external things in the light of internal ones, as if by the light of the sun in the daytime, whereas the latter saw internal things in the light of external ones, as if by the light of the moon or stars at night. This also explains why the Lord is seen by the former in heaven as the Sun, but by the latter as the Moon, 1521, 1529-1531, 2441, 2495, 4060. The former are those who in explanations above are called celestial, the latter those who are called spiritual.

[4] To illustrate the essential difference between the two let an example be taken. If a member of the Most Ancient Church had read the Word, the historical or the prophetical, he would have seen its internal sense without prior instruction or any explanation. He would have seen it so perfectly that the celestial and spiritual things belonging to the internal sense would have instantly met his eyes, and scarcely anything belonging to the sense of the letter. Thus the internal sense would have been for him in brightness, but the sense of the letter in obscurity. He would be like someone listening to a person speaking, and taking in only the sense and paying no attention to the words used by the speaker. But if a member of the Ancient Church had read the Word he would not have been able, without prior instruction or explanation, to see its internal sense, and so the internal sense would have been for him in obscurity but the sense of the letter in brightness. He would be like someone listening to a person speaking and in thought hanging on to the words used by him, all the while paying no attention to the sense of them, which would therefore be lost on him. But when a member of the Jewish Church reads the Word he does not understand anything beyond the sense of the letter. He does not know of and also denies the existence of any internal sense. And it is similar with the member of the Christian Church at the present day.

[5] These considerations show the essential difference between those represented here by Hamor and Shechem who, being part of the remnants of the Most Ancient Church, were interested in internal things and not in external ones, and those meant by the sons of Jacob who were interested in external things and not in internal ones. Those considerations show in addition that Hamor and Shechem could not have acceded to external things and accepted those which existed among the sons of Jacob unless their internals were closed. But if these had been closed they would have perished for ever.

[6] This is the hidden reason why Hamor and Shechem with their families were slain, a deed that would not otherwise have been allowed. Not that this absolves the sons of Jacob from blame for having committed that hideous crime. They had no knowledge of that hidden reason, nor did they have that as their end in view. Everyone is judged according to the end he has in view, that is, his intention; and it is plainly stated in verse 13 that their intention was deceitful. When the Lord allows any such crime as this it is carried out by the evil and by those in hell who instigate it. But all evil which the evil intend and do to the good the Lord converts into good, as is the case here in that Hamor and Shechem with their families were [eternally] saved.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2715

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2715. Two arcana exist here, the first being that, compared with the good of the celestial man, that of the spiritual man is obscure, the second that this obscurity is brightened by light from the Lord's Divine Human. As regards the first of these - that the good residing with the spiritual man is obscure compared with the celestial man's - this may be seen from what has been stated above in 2708 about the state of the spiritual man in comparison with that of the celestial man. From a comparison of the two states the fact of that obscurity is quite evident. With those who are celestial good itself exists implanted in the will part of their mind, and from there light enters the understanding part. But with those who are spiritual the whole of the will part is corrupted, so that they have no good at all from there, and therefore the Lord implants good in the understanding part of their mind, see 863, 875, 895, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2124, 2256. The will part is, in the main, the part of man's mind that possesses life, whereas the understanding part receives life from the will. Since therefore the will part in the case of the spiritual man is so corrupted as to be nothing but evil, and yet evil is flowing in from there unceasingly and constantly into the understanding part, that is, into his thought, it is clear that the good there is obscure compared with the celestial man's good.

[2] As a consequence those who are spiritual do not have love to the Lord, as those who are celestial do; nor therefore does that humility exist with them which is essential in all worship and by means of which good can flow in from the Lord; for a heart that is haughty is not at all receptive, only one that is humble. Nor do those who are spiritual have love towards the neighbour, as those who are celestial do, because self-love and love of the world are constantly flowing in from the will part of their mind, bringing obscurity into the good that goes with that love towards the neighbour. This may also become clear to one who reflects from the fact that when he helps another he does so for worldly reasons; thus though he may not consciously have it in mind he is nevertheless thinking about what he will get in return either from those he helps or in the next life from the Lord, which being so his good is still defiled with merit-seeking. It may also become clear to him from the fact that when he has done anything good and is able to speak about it to others and so set himself up above others, he is in his element. But those who are celestial love the neighbour more than they love themselves, and do not ever think about repayment or in any way set themselves up above others.

[3] The good residing with those who are spiritual is in addition made obscure by persuasive beliefs that are the product of various assumptions, which likewise have their origin in self-love and love of the world. For the nature of their persuasive beliefs even in matters of faith, see 2682, 2689 (end). This too is a product of the influx of evil from the will part of their mind.

[4] It may in addition become clear that the good residing with the spiritual man is obscure compared with the celestial man's, from the fact that he does not know what truth is, as those who are celestial do, from any perception. Instead he knows what truth is from what he has learned from parents and teachers, and also from the doctrine into which he was born. And when he adds to this anything from himself and from his own thinking, it is for the most part the senses and the illusions of the senses, also the rational and the appearances present within the rational, that predominate, and these make it barely possible for him to acknowledge any pure truth like that acknowledged by those who are celestial. But in spite of this, within things that are seemingly true the Lord implants good, even though these truths are mere illusions or else appearances of truth. But this good is made obscure by such truths, for it derives its specific nature from the truths to which it is joined. It is like the light of the sun falling upon objects. The nature of the objects receiving the light causes the light to be seen within those objects in the form of colours, which are beautiful if the nature of the recipient form and the manner of its receiving are fitting and correspondent, hideous if the nature of the recipient form and the manner of its receiving are not fitting and so not correspondent. In the same way good itself acquires a specific nature from the truth [to which it is joined].

[5] The same arcanum is also evident from the fact that the spiritual man does not know what evil is. He scarcely believes that any other evils exist than actions contrary to the Ten Commandments. Of evils present in affection and thought, which are countless, he has no knowledge nor does he reflect on them or call them evils. All delights whatever that go with evil desires and pleasures he does not regard as other than good; and the actual delights that are part of self-love he both pursues, approves of, and excuses, without knowing that such things have an effect on his spirit and that he becomes altogether such in the next life.

[6] From this it is in a similar way clear that although the whole of the Word deals with scarcely any other matter than the good which goes with love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, the spiritual man does not know that that good is the sum and substance of faith, nor even what the essential nature of love and charity is. It is also clear that though something which is a matter of faith may be known to him - faith being considered by him to be essential in itself - he nevertheless discusses whether it is true, unless he has been confirmed by much experience of life. Those who are celestial do not discuss the same because they know and have a perception that it is true hence the Lord's statement in Matthew,

Let your words be, Yes, yes; No, no; anything beyond this is from evil. 1 Matthew 5:37.

For those who are celestial are immersed in the truth itself about which those who are spiritual dispute. Consequently because those who are celestial are immersed in the truth itself, they are able to see from it numberless facets of that truth, and so from light to see so to speak heaven in its entirety. But those who are spiritual, because they dispute whether it is true, cannot - so long as they do so - arrive at the remotest boundary of the light existing with those who are celestial, let alone behold anything from their light.

Footnotes:

1. or from the evil one

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