The Bible

 

Genesis 34

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1 Vyšla pak Dína, dcera Líe, kterouž porodila Jákobovi, aby se dívala na dceryzemě.

2 Kteroužto uzřev Sichem, syn Emora Hevejského, knížete v krajině té, vzal ji, i ležel s ní, a ponížil jí.

3 I připojila se duše jeho k Díně, dceři Jákobově; a zamilovav děvečku, mluvil k srdci jejímu.

4 Mluvil potom Sichem k Emorovi, otci svému, těmito slovy: Vezmi mi děvečku tuto za manželku.

5 Uslyšev pak Jákob, že poškvrnil Díny dcery jeho, (a synové jeho byli s stádem na poli), mlčel, až oni přišli.

6 Tedy vyšel Emor, otec Sichemův, k Jákobovi, aby mluvil s ním o to.

7 A v tom synové Jákobovi přišli s pole; a uslyšavše o tom, bolestí naplněni jsou muži ti, a rozhněvali se velmi, proto že hanebnou věc učinil v Izraeli, ležav se dcerou Jákobovou, čehož činiti nenáleželo.

8 I mluvil Emor s nimi na tento způsob: Sichem, syn můj, hoří milostí k vaší dceři; prosím, dejte mu ji za manželku.

9 A spřízněte se s námi: Dcery své dávejte nám, a naše Dcery pojímejte sobě.

10 A bydlete s námi, nebo všecka země bude před vámi; osaďte se a obchod veďte v ní, a vládněte jí.

11 Mluvil i Sichem otci jejímu, a bratřím jejím: Nechť naleznu milost před očima vašima, dám, co mi koli díte.

12 Jmenujte mi věno i dary jak chcete veliké, dám, jak mi koli řeknete; jen mi tu děvečku dejte za manželku.

13 Odpovídajíce pak synové Jákobovi Sichemovi a Emorovi, otci jeho, lstivě mluvili, proto že poškvrnil Díny sestry jich.

14 A řekli jim: Nemůžeme učiniti toho, abychom dali sestru svou za muže neobřezaného; nebo to ohavnost jest u nás.

15 Než na tento způsob vám povolíme: Jestliže se chcete srovnati s námi, aby obřezán byl každý z vás pohlaví mužského:

16 Tedy budeme dávati dcery své vám, a dcery vaše bráti sobě; a budeme bydliti s vámi, a budeme lid jeden.

17 Pakli neuposlechnete nás, abyste se obřezali, vezmeme zase dceru svou a odejdeme.

18 Tedy líbila se řeč jejich Emorovi i Sichemovi, synu Emorovu.

19 A nemeškal mládenec učiniti toho; nebo se mu zalíbila dcera Jákobova. A on byl nejvzácnější ze všech v domě otce svého.

20 I přišel Emor a Sichem, syn jeho, k bráně města svého; a mluvili mužům města svého, řkouce:

21 Muži tito pokojně se mají k nám, nechť tedy bydlí v zemi této, a obchod vedou v ní, (nebo země jest dosti široká a prostranná před nimi;) dcery jejich budeme sobě bráti za manželky, a dcery své budeme dávati jim.

22 Než na tento způsob přivolí nám ti muži k tomu, aby bydlili s námi, a abychom byli jeden lid: Jestliže obřezán bude každý pohlaví mužského mezi námi, tak jako oni jsou obřezáni.

23 Dobytek jejich a statek jejich, i všecka hovada jejich, zdaliž nebudou naše? Toliko v tom jim povolme, a budou bydliti s námi.

24 I uposlechli Emora a Sichema, syna jeho, všickni vycházející branou města jeho; a obřezali se všickni pohlaví mužského, což jich koli vycházelo z brány města jeho.

25 A toť dne třetího, když oni největší bolest měli, dva synové Jákobovi, Simeon a Léví, bratří Díny, vzav každý z nich meč svůj, vpadli do města směle, a pomordovali všecky pohlaví mužského.

26 Emora také a Sichema, syna jeho, zamordovali mečem, a vzavše Dínu z domu Sichemova, odešli.

27 Potom synové Jákobovi přišedše na zbité, vzebrali město, proto že poškvrnili sestry jejich.

28 Stáda jejich, a voly i osly jejich, a což bylo v městě i po poli, pobrali.

29 K tomu i všecko jmění jejich, a všecky malé dítky jejich, a ženy jejich zajali, a vybrali, co kde v domích bylo.

30 Řekl pak Jákob Simeonovi a Léví: Zkormoutili jste mne, a zošklivili jste mne u obyvatelů krajiny této, u Kananejských a Ferezejských, a já jsem s malým počtem lidí. Seberou-li se na mne, zbijí mne, a tak vyhlazen budu já i dům můj.

31 A oni odpověděli: A což měli jako nevěstky zle užívati sestry naší?

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6306

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6306. 'Which I took out of the hand of the Amorite' means because of the victory over evil. This is clear from the representation of 'the Amorite' as evil, dealt with in 1857; and from the meaning of 'taking out of the hand' as acquiring through victory. As regards 'the Amorites', it should be recognized that they mean evil, just as 'the Canaanites' and all the other nations in the land that are mentioned in the Word mean various kinds of evil and also of falsity. Such things were represented by the nations when the children of Israel were taking possession of the land of Canaan. The reason for this was that whenever the children of Israel represented the things of heaven those nations represented the things of hell; thus the land of Canaan represented every state that exists in the next life. Also, because the nations represented the things of hell they were utterly destroyed; and entrance into any treaty with those who might remain was forbidden.

[2] The action of the children of Israel, of their taking possession of and dwelling in the land of those who represented the hells, was representative. It represented what happened around the time of the Lord's Coming, when spirits from hell had possession of a large part of heaven but He, by coming into the world and making the human within Himself Divine, cast them out of there and down into hell, and thereby delivered heaven from them, which He then gave as an inheritance to those who belonged to His spiritual kingdom.

[3] The representation of the Amorite nation as evil in general is evident from the places where it is referred to, as in Ezekiel, Thus said the Lord Jehovih to Jerusalem, 1 Your tradings and your births are of the land of the Canaanite. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. Ezekiel 16:3, 45.

'Father' in the internal sense means the Church's good, or in the contrary sense evil, and 'mother' means the Church's truth, or in the contrary sense falsity; and this is why it is said, 'Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite'.

[4] In Amos,

I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and whose strength was like the oaks. I led you in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. Amos 2:9-10.

Here also 'the Amorite' stands for evil, for the evil of self-love is described by 'the height of the cedars' and 'the strength of an oak'. The reason why 'the Amorite' means evil in general is that the entire land of Canaan was called 'the land of the Amorite'; for it says, 'I led you in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite'. In addition the second Book of Kings says,

Manasseh king of Judah did what was evil, greater than all the evil which the Amorites did, who were before him. 2 Kings 21:11.

[5] 'With my sword' means through truth engaged in conflict. This is clear from the meaning of 'sword' as truth engaged in conflict, dealt with in 2799, 4499.

'And my bow' means received from doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'bow' as doctrine, dealt with in 2686, 2709.

[6] The words used here, 'the portion which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow' were, it is quite evident, uttered by Israel on account of the internal sense; for Jacob did not take that portion from the Amorite with sword or bow. He bought it from the sons of Hamor, as is evident from Genesis 33, where these words occur, Jacob came to Salem, the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, as he was coming from Paddan Aram; and he encamped towards the face of the city. And he bought the portion of the field where he had stretched his tent, from the hand of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitahs. Genesis 33:18-19.

The fact that this field was the portion he gave to Joseph is clear in Joshua,

The bones of Joseph which the children of Israel caused to be brought up out of Egypt they buried in Shechem, in the part of the field which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitahs; and they had become an inheritance for the children of Joseph. Joshua 24:32.

From this it is evident that the portion had been bought, and that this is what was given to Joseph. Nor was the city of Shechem nearby meant, the city in which Simeon and Levi killed every male and which they took with the sword, Genesis 34. This is made clear by the fact that Jacob detested what they did and for that reason cursed Simeon and Levi, completely dissociating himself from the crime. He said,

Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of violence are their swords. Into their secret place let my soul not come; in their congregation let not my glory be united; for in their anger they killed a man, and in their pleasure they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was hard. 2 I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. Genesis 49:5-7.

From all this it may now be seen that the words 'the portion which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow' were uttered by him, when the spirit of prophecy rested on him, for the sake of the internal sense.

Footnotes:

1. The Latin means O Jerusalem but the Hebrew means to Jerusalem, which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse (and possibly in his rough draft here).

2. i.e. cruel

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