The Bible

 

Postanak 30

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1 Vidjevši Rahela da Jakovu ne rađa djece, postade zavidna svojoj sestri pa reče Jakovu: "Daj mi djecu! Inače ću svisnuti!"

2 Jakov se razljuti na Rahelu te reče. "Zar sam ja namjesto Boga koji ti je uskratio plod utrobe?"

3 A ona odgovori: "Evo moje sluškinje Bilhe: uđi k njoj, pa neka rodi na mojim koljenima, da tako i ja steknem djecu po njoj."

4 Dade mu dakle svoju sluškinju Bilhu za ženu, i Jakov priđe k njoj.

5 Bilha zače te Jakovu rodi sina.

6 Tada Rahela reče: "Jahve mi je dosudio pravo. Uslišao je moj glas i dao mi sina." Stoga mu nadjenu ime Dan.

7 Rahelina sluškinja Bilha opet zače i rodi Jakovu drugoga sina.

8 Tada Rahela reče: "Žestoko sam se borila sa sestrom, ali sam pobijedila." Tako mu nadjenu ime Naftali.

9 A vidjevši Lea da je prestala rađati, uzme svoju sluškinju Zilpu pa je dade Jakovu za ženu.

10 I kad je Leina sluškinja Zilpa rodila Jakovu sina,

11 Lea uskliknu: "Koje sreće!" Tako mu nadjenu ime Gad.

12 Leina sluškinja Zilpa rodi Jakovu i drugog sina,

13 i Lea opet uskliknu: "Blago meni! Žene će me zvati blaženom!" Tako mu nadjenu ime Ašer.

14 Jednoga dana, u vrijeme pšenične žetve, namjeri se Ruben u polju na ljubavčice te ih donese svojoj majci Lei. I Rahela reče Lei: "Daj mi od ljubavčica svoga sina!"

15 A Lea odgovori: "Zar ti nije dosta što si mi oduzela muža pa još hoćeš da od mene uzmeš i ljubavčice moga sina?" Rahela odgovori: "Pa dobro, neka s tobom noćas leži u zamjenu za ljubavčice tvog sina."

16 Kad je Jakov navečer stigao iz polja, Lea mu iziđe u susret pa reče: "Treba da dođeš k meni, jer sam te unajmila za ljubavčice moga sina." One je noći on s njom ležao.

17 Bog usliša Leu; ona zače te Jakovu rodi petog sina.

18 Onda Lea reče: "Bog mi je uzvratio nagradom što sam ustupila svoju sluškinju svome mužu." Stoga sinu nadjenu ime Jisakar.

19 Lea opet zače i rodi Jakovu šestoga sina.

20 Onda Lea reče: "Bog me obdari dragocjenim darom; sada će mi moj muž dati darove: tÓa rodila sam mu šest sinova." Tako mu nadjenu ime Zebulun.

21 Zatim rodi kćer te joj nadjenu ime Dina.

22 Uto se Bog sjeti Rahele: Bog je usliša i otvori njezinu utrobu.

23 Ona zače i rodi sina te reče: "Ukloni Bog moju sramotu!"

24 Nadjene mu ime Josip, rekavši: "Neka mi Jahve pridoda drugog sina!"

25 Pošto je Rahela rodila Josipa, Jakov reče Labanu: "Pusti me da idem u svoj zavičaj!

26 Daj mi moje žene za koje sam te služio i moju djecu da mogu otići: tÓa dobro znaš kako sam te služio."

27 A Laban mu odgovori: "Ne idi, ako si mi prijatelj. Znam da me Jahve blagoslivljao zbog tebe."

28 I nadoda: "Odredi plaću koju želiš od mene, i dat ću ti."

29 On mu odgovori: "Ti dobro znaš što je moja služba značila za te i kako je tvome blagu bilo sa mnom.

30 Malenkost što si je imao prije nego sam ja došao povećala se vrlo mnogo, jer kuda god sam prolazio Jahve te blagoslivljao na mojim koracima. A sad je vrijeme da poradim i za svoj dom."

31 On upita: "Koliko da ti platim?" Jakov odgovori: "Nemoj mi platiti ništa! Ako mi učiniš ovo, opet ću na pašu goniti i čuvati tvoje stado.

32 Daj da prođem danas kroz tvoje stado i od njega izlučim svaku garavu ovcu i svaku šarenu ili napruganu kozu! Neka to bude moja plaća!

33 A ubuduće kad budeš svojim očima provjeravao moju naplatu, moje će poštenje biti svjedok za mene: nađe li se među mojim kozama ijedna koja ne bude šarena ili naprugana, ili među ovcama koja ne bi bila garava, neka se smatra ukradenom!"

34 Laban reče: "Dobro, neka bude kako si kazao."

35 Ali toga dana Laban izluči naprugane i šarene jarce i sve riđaste i šarene koze - svaku koja je na sebi imala bijelo - i sve garave ovce pa ih preda svojim sinovima.

36 I odande gdje je Jakov pasao ostatak Labanova stada udalji se za koja tri dana hoda.

37 A Jakov uzme zelenih mladica od topola, badema i platana; na njima izreza bijele pruge, otkrivši bjeliku na mladicama.

38 Pruće tako isprugano postavi u korita, u pojila iz kojih se stoka napajala. A kako se stoka parila kad je na vodu dolazila,

39 to su se jarci parili uz pruće, pa su koze kozile prugaste, riđaste i šarene kozliće.

40 Tako je i ovce Jakov bio izlučio i glave im okrenuo prema prugastima ili posve garavima što su bile u Labanovu stadu. Tako je za se namicao posebna stada koja nije miješao s Labanovim stadima.

41 Osim toga, kad bi se god dobro uzrasla stoka parila, Jakov bi stavio pruće u korita, baš pred oči živine, tako da se pari pred prućem.

42 Ali ga pred kržljavu marvu nije stavljao. Tako je kržljava zapadala Labana, a dobro razvijena Jakova.

43 Čovjek se tako silno obogatio, stekao mnogu stoku, sluge i sluškinje, deve i magarad.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3957

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3957. 'And she called his name Issachar' means the essential nature of it. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling the name' as the essential nature, as above in 3923, 3935. For he was given the name Issachar from the word 'reward', a name which therefore embodies the things stated above concerning 'reward', and at the same time the things meant by the rest of the words uttered by Leah. Since 'Issachar' means reward, and 'reward' in the external sense is mutual love and in the internal sense the joining together of good and truth, let it be said that very few nowadays in the Christian world know that 'reward' has such a meaning. And the reason why they do not know is that they do not know what mutual love is, still less that good has to be joined to truth if the heavenly marriage is to exist in a person. I have been allowed in the next life to talk about this to very many who were from the Christian world, including the more learned. But what is surprising, scarcely any one of those I talked to knew anything about it, even though they could have come to know much about those matters for themselves if only they had been willing to use their reason. But because they were not concerned about life after death, only about life in the world, they were not interested in such matters. The things they could have known for themselves if only, as has been stated, they had been willing to use their reason were the following:

[2] a When a person is stripped of the body he has a far more enlightened power of understanding than when he is living in the body, the reason being that when he is in the body worldly and bodily interests occupy his thoughts and bring obscurity there. But once he has been stripped of the body those worldly and bodily interests do not get in the way, but through the removal of his mind from sensory experiences of external things he is like those whose thought is more interior. From this consideration they could have known that in the state after death a person is far more clear-sighted and enlightened than in the state before death, and that when a person dies he passes from shade into that which, in comparison with it, is light, because he passes from the things which belong to the world to those which belong to heaven, and from those which belong to the body to those which belong to the spirit. But what is amazing, although people have the ability to understand these things they still think the contrary. That is to say, they think it is in the state of life within the body that a person enjoys clear-sightedness, as compared with the state of life after being stripped of the body, which to them is a state of obscurity.

[3] b They are able to know, if only they use their reason, that the life which a person acquires to himself in the world follows him when he dies, that is, his life is the same after death. For they are able to know that nobody can cast aside the life he has acquired to himself since earliest childhood except by death itself, and that that life cannot be transformed in a moment into any other life, let alone into a contrary life. For example: Someone who has acquired to himself a life of deceit and finds the delight of his life in that deceit cannot cast aside the life of deceit but goes on with that life after death. Or to take another example, people who are governed by self-love and consequently by forms of hatred and revenge against those who are not subservient, or by other similar traits, continue to be governed by these after the life of the body, for they are the things which they love and which constitute the delights of their life and so their very life itself. Such traits cannot therefore be taken away from them unless everything making up their life is wiped out at the same time. And the same applies to all other kinds of life that people have acquired.

[4] c A person is able to know for himself that when he passes into the next life he leaves many things behind him. He knows - since they have no place there - that he leaves behind, for example, anxious cares over food, clothing, accommodation, and the acquisition of money and wealth, as well as anxious cares about his promotion to positions of importance - matters to which a person gives so much thought during the life of the body. Indeed he knows that other things which do not belong to the earthly kingdom take the place of these.

[5] d From this he is able to know that anyone who in the world has thought about nothing else than worldly things such as these, so much so that they have taken a complete hold on him, and who has acquired a delight of life in those things alone, is not suited to be among those who delight to think of heavenly matters, that is, of things of heaven.

[6] e From this in turn he is able to know that if the external things of the body and of the world are taken away from those people, the individual is in that case such as he has been inwardly, that is to say, he thinks and wills as he did previously. If the thoughts within had at that time been deceits, schemings, aspirations after positions of importance, gain, and reputation on account of these; if hatred and revenge and similar passions have been present within, he goes on thinking such things, and so thinking the things of hell, though to achieve those ends he has concealed his thoughts from other people and to outward appearance has seemed honourable and produced in others the conviction that he was not turning such thoughts over in his mind. Knowledge that such outward appearance or presence at being honourable is removed in the next life may also be had from the fact that outward things are cast aside along with the body and have no further use. From this anyone can decide for himself that a person's real character will then be visible to the angels.

[7] f A person is also able to know that heaven, or the Lord by means of heaven, is constantly at work, flowing in with good and truth. But if there is not within a person's interior man that lives after death of the body some solid surface or some plane so to speak to receive good and truth, these cannot be received at all when they flow in. Therefore while a person is living in the world he ought to be anxious to obtain such an interior plane within himself. But he cannot obtain this unless he thinks of good towards his neighbour, desires for him that which is good, and consequently does this for him, and so acquires to himself the delight of life in such actions. This plane is acquired by means of charity towards the neighbour, that is, by mutual love; and it is what is called conscience. Into this plane good and truth from the Lord are able to flow in and be received there. But where charity does not exist, and so conscience does not exist, good and truth flowing in pass through and are converted into evil and falsity.

[8] g A person is able to know for himself that love to God and love towards the neighbour are what make a person a human being, different from animals, and that those things constitute heavenly life or heaven itself and their opposites hellish life or hell itself. But these things are not known by a person because, for one thing, he has no wish to know them since he is leading a life to the contrary; for another, he does not believe in the existence of life after death; and for yet another, ideas about faith but none about charity have taken hold of him, and therefore he believes, as many teach, that if there is a life after death he can be saved by faith, no matter what kind of life he has led, and that he can be saved if faith is received by him only in his last hour when he is dying.

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