The Bible

 

Genesis 30

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1 Viduci pak Ráchel, že by nerodila Jákobovi, záviděla sestře své, a řekla Jákobovi: Dej mi syny; pakli nedáš, umru.

2 Pročež rozhněval se velmi Jákob na Ráchel, a řekl: Zdali já jsem za Boha, kterýžť nedal plodu života?

3 Řekla ona: Hle, děvka má Bála; vejdi k ní, aby rodila na kolena má, a budu míti já také syny z ní.

4 I dala mu Bálu děvku svou za ženu; a všel k ní Jákob.

5 Tedy počavši Bála, porodila Jákobovi syna.

6 I řekla Ráchel: Soudil Bůh při mou, a uslyšel také hlas můj, a dal mi syna. Protož nazvala jméno jeho Dan.

7 Opět počavši Bála, děvka Ráchel, porodila syna druhého Jákobovi.

8 I řekla Ráchel: Tuhé jsem odpory měla s sestrou svou, a všakť jsem přemohla. A nazvala jméno jeho Neftalím.

9 Viduci pak Lía, že by přestala roditi, vzala Zelfu děvku svou, a dala ji Jákobovi za ženu.

10 A porodila Zelfa, děvka Líe, Jákobovi syna.

11 Protož řekla Lía: Již přišel zástup. A nazvala jméno jeho Gád.

12 Porodila také Zelfa děvka Líe syna druhého Jákobovi.

13 A řekla Lía: To na mé štěstí; nebo šťastnou mne nazývati budou ženy. A nazvala jméno jeho Asser.

14 Vyšel pak Ruben v čas žně pšeničné, a nalezl pěkná jablečka na poli, a přinesl je Líe matce své. I řekla Ráchel Líe: Dej mi, prosím, těch jableček syna svého.

15 Jížto ona odpověděla: Máloť se snad zdá, že jsi vzala muže mého; chceš také užívati jableček syna mého? I řekla Ráchel: Nechažť tedy spí s tebou této noci za jablečka syna tvého.

16 Když pak navracoval se Jákob s pole večer, vyšla Lía proti němu, a řekla: Ke mně vejdeš; nebo ze mzdy najala jsem tě za jablečka syna svého. I spal s ní té noci.

17 A uslyšel Bůh Líu; kterážto počala a porodila Jákobovi syna pátého.

18 I řekla Lía: Dal mi Bůh mzdu mou, i potom, když jsem dala děvku svou muži svému. Pročež nazvala jméno jeho Izachar.

19 A počala opět Lía, a porodila šestého syna Jákobovi.

20 I řekla Lía: Obdařil mne Bůh darem dobrým; již nyní bydliti bude se mnou muž můj, nebo porodila jsem mu šest synů. A nazvala jméno jeho Zabulon.

21 Potom porodila dceru; a nazvala jméno její Dína.

22 A rozpomenuv se Bůh na Ráchel,uslyšel jí, a otevřel život její.

23 Tedy počala a porodila syna, a řekla: Odjal Bůh pohanění mé.

24 A nazvala jméno jeho Jozef, řkuci: Přidejž mi Hospodin syna jiného.

25 Stalo se pak, když porodila Ráchel Jozefa, řekl Jákob Lábanovi: Propusť mne, ať odejdu na místo své a do země své.

26 Dej mi ženy mé a dítky mé, za kteréž jsem sloužil tobě, ať odejdu; nebo ty znáš službu mou, kterouž jsem sloužil tobě.

27 I řekl mu Lában: Jestliže nyní nalezl jsem milost před očima tvýma, zůstaň se mnou, nebo v skutku jsem poznal, že požehnal mi Hospodin pro tebe.

28 Řekl také: Oznam mi ze jména mzdu svou a dámť ji.

29 Jemužto odpověděl: Ty víš, jak jsem sloužil tobě, a jaký byl dobytek tvůj při mně.

30 Nebo to málo, kteréž jsi měl přede mnou, zrostlo velmi, a požehnalť Hospodin, jakž jsem k tobě nohou vkročil. A nyní, kdy pak já své hospodářství opatrovati budu?

31 A řekl: Coť mám dáti? Odpověděl Jákob: Nedávej mi nic. Jestliže mi učiníš toto, zase pásti budu a ostříhati dobytka tvého:

32 Projdu skrze všecka stáda tvá dnes, vyměšuje z nich každé dobytče peřesté a strakaté, a každé dobytče načernalé mezi ovcemi, a strakaté a peřesté mezi kozami; a takové budou mzda má.

33 A osvědčena potom bude spravedlnostpřed tebou, když přijde na mzdu mou: Cožkoli nebude peřestého, neb strakatého mezi kozami, a načernalého mezi ovcemi, za krádež bude mi to počteno.

34 I řekl Lában: Hle, ó by tak bylo, jakž jsi mluvil.

35 A odloučil toho dne kozly přepásané na nohách a strakaté, a všecky kozy peřesté a strakaté, všecko, na čemž byla místa bílá, všecko také načernalé mezi dobytkem, a dal v ruce synů svých.

36 Uložil pak mezi sebou a Jákobem místo vzdálí tří dní cesty; a Jákob pásl ostatek dobytka Lábanova.

37 Nabral pak sobě Jákob prutů topolových zelených, a lískových a kaštanových; a poobloupil s nich po místech kůru až do bělosti, kteráž byla na prutech.

38 A nakladl těch prutů tak obloupených do žlábků a koryt, (v nichž bývá voda, k nimž přicházel dobytek, aby pil), proti dobytku, aby počínaly, když by přicházely píti.

39 I počínaly ovce, hledíce na ty pruty, a rodily jehňata přepásaná na nohách, a peřestá i strakatá.

40 Potom ta jehňata odloučil Jákob, a dobytek stáda Lábanova obrátil tváří k těm přepásaným na nohách, a ke všemu načernalému; a své stádo postavil obzvlášť, a neobrátil ho k stádu Lábanovu.

41 A bylo, že kdyžkoli silnější připouštíny bývaly, kladl Jákob ty pruty před oči ovcem do koryt, aby počínaly, hledíce na pruty.

42 Když pak pozdní dobytek připouštín býval, nekladl jich; a tak býval pozdní Lábanův a ranný Jákobův.

43 Vzrostl tedy muž ten náramně velmi, a měl dobytka mnoho, děvek i služebníků, velbloudů i oslů.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #349

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349. Sealed out of every tribe of Israel. This symbolizes the heaven and Lord's church formed from those people.

A tribe symbolizes religion as regards goodness of life, and every tribe symbolizes the church in respect to every good of love and every truth springing from that good, which produces goodness of life. For there are two elements which form the church: the goodness of love and doctrinal truth. The marriage of these two constitutes the church. The twelve tribes of Israel represented and so symbolized the church with respect to that marriage, and each tribe represented and so symbolized some universal truth accompanying goodness or some goodness accompanying truth present in that marriage.

But what each tribe symbolized has not been revealed previously to anyone, nor could it have been revealed, lest an ill-connected exposition profane the holiness that lies within these things when joined together, since their symbolism depends on their conjunction.

[2] They have one symbolism in the order in which they are listed according to their births (Genesis 29, 30, 35:18). The order there is: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin.

They have another symbolism in the order in which they are listed when they went into Egypt, namely, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali (Genesis 46:8-25).

Still another symbolism in the order in which they were blessed by their father Israel, namely, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, Benjamin (Genesis 49).

Still another symbolism in the order in which they were blessed by Moses, namely, Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Ephraim, Manasseh, Zebulun, Gad, Dan, Naphtali, Asher (Deuteronomy 33) - Ephraim and Manasseh being listed there, and not Simeon or Issachar.

[3] Still another symbolism in the order in which they encamped and set out, namely, the tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun on the east side, the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Gad on the south side, the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin on the west side, and the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphtali on the north side, with the tribe of Levi in the middle (Numbers 2:1-34).

And still another symbolism in the order in which they are listed elsewhere, as in Genesis 35:23-26, Numbers 1:5-16; 7:1-89; 13:4-15; 26:5-57; 34:17-28, Deuteronomy 27:12-13, Joshua 15; 16; 17; 18; 19, Ezekiel 48:1-35.

Consequently, when Balaam saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, he said, "How good are your tents, O Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel" (Numbers 24:1-4ff.).

[4] On the breastpiece of judgment, namely, the Urim and Thummim, containing twelve precious stones according to the names of the children of Israel (Exodus 28:15-21), the symbolism of the tribes in their arrangement depended on the inquiry to which they provided a response.

But what they symbolized in the order in which they are mentioned here in the book of Revelation, which is still another order, will be told in what follows.

Tribes symbolize religion, and the twelve tribes the church and everything pertaining to it, because "tribe" and "scepter" are, in Hebrew, the same word, 1 and a scepter means a kingdom, and the Lord's kingdom is heaven and the church.

Footnotes:

1. Hebrew מַטֶּה or שֵׁבֶט, and also מַשְׁעֵנָה.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Ezekiel 48

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1 Now these are the names of the tribes: From the north end, beside the way of Hethlon to the entrance of Hamath, Hazar Enan at the border of Damascus, northward beside Hamath, (and they shall have their sides east [and] west), Dan, one [portion].

2 By the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, Asher, one [portion].

3 By the border of Asher, from the east side even to the west side, Naphtali, one [portion].

4 By the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west side, Manasseh, one [portion].

5 By the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the west side, Ephraim, one [portion].

6 By the border of Ephraim, from the east side even to the west side, Reuben, one [portion].

7 By the border of Reuben, from the east side to the west side, Judah, one [portion].

8 By the border of Judah, from the east side to the west side, shall be the offering which you shall offer, twenty-five thousand [reeds] in breadth, and in length as one of the portions, from the east side to the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in its midst.

9 The offering that you shall offer to Yahweh shall be twenty-five thousand [reeds] in length, and ten thousand in breadth.

10 For these, even for the priests, shall be the holy offering: toward the north twenty-five thousand [in length], and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length: and the sanctuary of Yahweh shall be in its midst.

11 [It shall be] for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept my instruction, who didn't go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.

12 It shall be to them an offering from the offering of the land, a thing most holy, by the border of the Levites.

13 Answerable to the border of the priests, the Levites shall have twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be twenty-five thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.

14 They shall sell none of it, nor exchange it, nor shall the first fruits of the land be alienated; for it is holy to Yahweh.

15 The five thousand that are left in the breadth, in front of the twenty-five thousand, shall be for common use, for the city, for dwelling and for suburbs; and the city shall be in its midst.

16 These shall be its measures: the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.

17 The city shall have suburbs: toward the north two hundred fifty, and toward the south two hundred fifty, and toward the east two hundred fifty, and toward the west two hundred fifty.

18 The remainder in the length, answerable to the holy offering, shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward; and it shall be answerable to the holy offering; and its increase shall be for food to those who labor in the city.

19 Those who labor in the city, out of all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it.

20 All the offering shall be twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand: you shall offer the holy offering foursquare, with the possession of the city.

21 The residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, answerable to the portions, it shall be for the prince: and the holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in its midst.

22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, it shall be for the prince.

23 As for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side, Benjamin, one [portion].

24 By the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon, one [portion].

25 By the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar, one [portion].

26 By the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun, one [portion].

27 By the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side, Gad, one [portion].

28 By the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar to the waters of Meribath Kadesh, to the brook [of Egypt], to the great sea.

29 This is the land which you shall divide by lot to the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their several portions, says the Lord Yahweh.

30 These are the exits of the city: On the north side four thousand and five hundred [reeds] by measure;

31 and the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates northward: the gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.

32 At the east side four thousand and five hundred [reeds], and three gates: even the gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one.

33 At the south side four thousand and five hundred [reeds] by measure, and three gates: the gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one.

34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred [reeds], with their three gates: the gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one.

35 It shall be eighteen thousand [reeds] around: and the name of the city from that day shall be, Yahweh is there.