The Bible

 

Postanak 34

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1 Dina, kći koju je Lea rodila Jakovu, iziđe da posjeti neke žene onoga kraja.

2 Opazi je Hivijac Šekem, sin Hamora, poglavice kraja, pa je pograbi i na silu s njom leže.

3 Njegovo srce prione za Dinu, Jakovljevu kćer, i on se u djevojku zaljubi. Nastojao je pridobiti djevojčino srce.

4 Šekem je govorio i svom ocu Hamoru: "Onu mi djevojku uzmi za ženu!"

5 Jakov sazna da je Šekem obeščastio njegovu kćer Dinu. Ali kako su njegovi sinovi bili uz blago na polju, Jakov nije poduzimao ništa dok oni ne dođu.

6 Uto dođe k Jakovu Šekemov otac Hamor da se s njim sporazumije,

7 upravo kad su se Jakovljevi sinovi vraćali iz polja. Kad su čuli vijest, ljudi su bili ojađeni i vrlo ljuti. Što je Šekem učinio - legavši s Jakovljevom kćeri - u Izraelu je bila sramota. To se nije smjelo trpjeti.

8 Hamor im reče. "Moj se sin Šekem svom dušom zaljubio u vašu kćer. Dajte mu je za ženu!

9 Oprijateljite se s nama: dajite nam svoje kćeri, a naše kćeri uzimajte sebi!

10 Tako možete živjeti među nama; zemlja je pred vama da se naselite, u njoj se slobodno krećete i stječete imovinu!"

11 Potom Šekem reče njezinu ocu i njezinoj braći: "Da nađem milost u vašim očima, dat ću vam što zatražite.

12 Tražite od mene koliko hoćete: sve što god zapitate dat ću, samo mi dajte djevojku za ženu."

13 Jakovljevi sinovi odgovore Šekemu i njegovu ocu Hamoru - govorili su s prijevarom jer je obeščastio njihovu sestru Dinu -

14 te im rekoše: "Ne možemo pristati da svoju sestru damo čovjeku koji nije obrezan, jer bi to za nas bila sramota.

15 Jedino ćemo je dati ako postanete kao i mi, ako obrežete sve svoje muškarce.

16 Onda vam možemo davati svoje kćeri i uzimati vaše sebi, s vama se naseliti i biti jedan rod.

17 A ako ne pristajete na obrezanje, uzet ćemo svoju kćer i otići."

18 Hamoru i Šekemu, Hamorovu sinu, njihov se zahtjev učini povoljan.

19 Mladić nije časio da zahtjev izvrši, jer je čeznuo za Jakovljevom kćeri; a bio je najuvaženiji od svih u očevu domu.

20 Tako Hamor i njegov sin Šekem dođu u svoje gradsko vijeće i obrate se svojim sugrađanima ovako:

21 "Ovaj je svijet prijazan; neka se među nama u zemlji nasele; neka se po njoj slobodno kreću; ima dosta prostora u zemlji za njih; možemo uzimati njihove kćeri sebi za žene, a njima davati svoje.

22 No ljudi će pristati da među nama žive i s nama budu jedan rod samo ako se svi naši muškarci obrežu kao što su oni obrezani.

23 Zar tako ne bi stoka koju su stekli, sve njihovo blago - bilo naše? Pristanimo, pa neka se među nama nasele!"

24 Svi odrasli muškarci koji imaju pravo izaći na gradska vrata poslušaše Hamora i njegova sina Šekema, pa bude obrezan svaki muškarac - svaki koji ima pravo izaći na gradska vrata.

25 A trećega dana, dok su oni još bili u bolovima, dva Jakovljeva sina, Šimun i Levi, Dinina braća, pograbe svaki svoj mač i nesmetano dođu u grad te poubijaju sve muškarce.

26 Sasijeku mačem Hamora i njegova sina Šekema, uzmu Dinu iz Šekemove kuće i odu.

27 Ostali Jakovljevi sinovi dođu na ubijene i opustoše grad što je njihova sestra bila obeščašćena.

28 Što je bilo krupne i sitne stoke i magaradi, u gradu i u polju, otjeraju;

29 opljačkaju sva njihova dobra, a svu im djecu i žene - sve što je bilo po kućama - odvedu u roblje.

30 Jakov reče Šimunu i Leviju: "Uveli ste me u nepriliku omrazivši me stanovnicima zemlje, Kanaancima i Perižanima. Ako se ujedine protiv mene i napadnu me, dok je nas ovako malo na broj, istrijebit će me s mojim domom."

31 Oni odgovore: "Zar da prema našoj sestri postupaju kao prema kakvoj bludnici?"

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4429

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4429. 'To see the daughters of the land' means to get to know the affections for truth, and the Churches which arise from these. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as getting to know, dealt with frequently already; from the meaning of 'the daughters' as affections, and consequently Churches, dealt with in 2362, 3024, 3963; and from the meaning of 'the land', in this case the land of Canaan, as that area where the Church is, and therefore also the Church itself, dealt with in 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 3686, 3705.

[2] The meaning of these things contained in this verse becomes clear from those that follow, for the subject is the representative of the Church which was to be established among the descendants of Jacob. This representative among them could not be established until they had undergone complete vastation so far as interior truths were concerned, that is, until they no longer had any knowledge of them; see 4289. Interior truths are all those which are represented and meant by the religious observances which they were commanded to keep; for every religious observance represented, and was a sign meaning, something in the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and consequently something in the Lord's kingdom on earth, that is, in the Church. The things which they meant and represented are in this instance interior truths. The fact that all the things, each one, which the descendants of Jacob were commanded to observe when a representative of the Church was established among them - which things are laid down in the books of Moses, especially in Exodus and Leviticus - were representatives and meaningful signs of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom has been shown throughout the explanatory sections. None of these spiritual and celestial things were known to the descendants of Jacob, for the character of those descendants was such that if they had known them they would have profaned them, 301-303, 2520, 3398, 3479, 3769, 4281, 4293. For that reason they did not enter into those representatives until they had undergone complete vastation so far as interior things were concerned. The subject in this chapter therefore is those truths and that people's annihilation of them.

[3] The representatives which the descendants of Jacob were commanded to observe were not new, the majority being like those that had been in use formerly among the Ancients. Unlike the descendants of Jacob however, that is, unlike the Jews and Israelites, the Ancients did not worship external things but internal ones. Through internal things they acknowledged the Lord Himself. Remnants of the Church from ancient times still existed in the land of Canaan, especially among those who were called Hittites and Hivites. This is why those nations represent the truths of the Church. From all this one may now have some idea of what is meant by Dinah, the daughter of Jacob by Leah, going out to see the daughters of the land. For 'Dinah' represents the external Church such as was established among the descendants of Jacob, while 'the daughters of the land' means Churches existing among the Ancients. Everywhere in the Word Churches are meant in its internal sense by 'daughters', see 2362, 3024, where this meaning has been shown; and 'land' means an area and a nation where the Church exists, and so means the Church, 662, 1066, 1067, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 3686, 3705.

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