The Bible

 

Genesis 28

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1 Da kaldte Isak Jakob til sig og velsignede ham, idet han bød ham: "Du må ikke tage dig en Hustru blandt Kana'ans Døtre.

2 Drag til Paddan-Aram, til din Morfader Betuels Hus, og tag dig der en af din Morbroder Labans Døtre til Hustru!

3 Gud den Almægtige velsigne dig og gøre dig frugtbar og give dig et talrigt Afkom, så du bliver til Stammer i Hobetal.

4 Han give dig og dit Afkom med dig Abrahams Velsignelse, så du får din Udlændigheds Land i Eje, det, Gud skænkede Abraham!"

5 Så lod Isak Jakob fare, og han drog til Paddan-Aram, til Aramæeren Laban, Betuels Søn, som var Broder til ebekka, Jakobs og Esaus Moder.

6 Men Esau fik at vide, at Isak havde velsignet Jakob og sendt ham til Paddan-Aram for at tage sig en Hustru der, og at han, da han velsignede ham, havde pålagt ham ikke at tage sig en Hustru blandt Kana'ans Døtre,

7 og at Jakob havde adlydt sin Fader og Moder og var draget til Paddan-Aram.

8 Da skønnede Esau, at Kana'ans Døtre vakte hans Fader Isaks Mishag,

9 og han gik til Ismael og tog Mahalat, en Datter af Abrahams Søn Ismael og Søster til Nebajot, til Hustru ved Siden af sine andre Hustruer.

10 Så drog Jakob bort fra Be'ersjeba og vandrede ad Karan til.

11 På sin Vandring kom han til det hellige Sted og overnattede der, da Solen var gået ned; og han tog en af Stenene på Stedet og brugte den som Hovedgærde og lagde sig til, Hvile der.

12 Da drømte han, og se, på Jorden stod en Stige, hvis Top nåede til Himmelen, og se, Guds Engle steg op og ned ad den;

13 og HE EN stod foran ham og sagde: "Jeg er HE EN, din Fader Abrahams og Isaks Gud! Det Land, du hviler på, giver jeg dig og dit Afkom;

14 dit Afkom skal blive som Jordens Støv, og du skal brede dig mod Vest og Øst, mod Nord og Syd; og i dig og i din Sæd skal alle Jordens Slægter velsignes;

15 se, jeg vil være med dig og vogte dig, hvorhen du end går og føre dig tilbage til dette Land; thi jeg vil ikke forlade dig, men opfylde alt, hvad jeg har lovet dig!"

16 Da Jakob vågnede af sin Søvn, sagde han: "Sandelig, HE EN er på dette Sted, og jeg vidste det ikke!"

17 Og han blev angst og sagde: "Hvor forfærdeligt er dog dette Sted! Visselig, her er Guds Hus, her er Himmelens Port!"

18 Tidligt næste Morgen tog Jakob den Sten, han havde brugt som Hovedgærde rejste den som en Stenstøtte og gød Olie over den.

19 Og han kaldte dette Sted Betel; før hed Byen Luz.

20 Derpå gjorde Jakob følgende Løfte: "Hvis Gud er med mig og vogter mig på den Vej, jeg skal vandre, og giver mig Brød at spise og Klæder at iføre mig,

21 og hvis jeg kommer uskadt tilbage til min Faders Hus, så skal HE EN være min Gud,

22 og denne Sten, som jeg har rejst som en Støtte, skal være Guds Hus, og af alt, hvad du giver mig, vil jeg give dig Tiende!"

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3702

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3702. 'And behold, Jehovah was standing above it' means the Lord at the highest point. This becomes clear from the fact that the Lord is called Jehovah so many times in the Old Testament Word, see 1736, 3023, 3035, and that in the New Testament Word He is not referred to anywhere as Jehovah but as the Lord instead, 2921. As regards the meaning of 'standing above it' as being at the highest point, this is clear without explanation. The arcanum concealed in the internal sense of these words is that every good and truth come down from the Lord and go up to Him, that is, He is the First and the Last. For the human being has been so created that Divine things that are the Lord's may come down through him even to the lowest things of the natural order, and from the lowest things of the natural order may go up to Him. Thus the human being was created to be the means through which the Divine was linked to the natural world, and the natural world was linked to the Divine, and in this way through the human being as the means linking the two together, the lowest degree of the natural order might receive life from the Divine - which would be a reality if mankind had lived in accordance with Divine order.

[2] The creation of the human being in this particular form is evident from the fact that his body is a world in miniature, because every arcanum that is part of the natural world is also stowed in the body. Each arcanum present in the ever-changing sky is also stowed in the eye; and each one in the air is also stowed in the ear. Anything floating unseen and active in the air is stowed - where it is detected - in the organ of smell, anything unseen that is present in water or any other fluid is stowed in the organ of taste. And actual changes of state likewise occur in the sense of touch throughout the body. Besides these even further arcana are stored away in the body which could be detected by a person within his interior organs if his life accorded with order. From this it is evident that a descent of the Divine through the human being into the lowest degree of the natural order would take place, and from the lowest degree of the natural order an ascent to the Divine, if only the human being with heartfelt faith, that is, with love, acknowledged the Lord as his Final and Primary end.

[3] A state such as this existed with the most ancient people, who were celestial, for whatever they discerned with any of their senses was to them a means to thought about things which are the Lord's, and so about the Lord and His kingdom. This was the source of the delight they gained from worldly and earthly things, see 1409, 2896, 2897, 2995. Furthermore whenever these people contemplated in this fashion the lower and the lowest things of the natural order, such things appeared to them to have life in them; for the life from which these came down existed in those people's internal sight and perception. The objects which they saw with their eyes were so to speak images of that life, and although those images were inanimate they were nevertheless animate to those people. This is the kind of perception that celestial angels have of every thing in the world, as I have often been allowed to perceive, and it is also the source of the kind of perception which young children have, see 2297, 2298. This shows what those people are like through whom Divine things that are the Lord's come right down to the lowest things of the natural order, and from the lowest things of the natural order rise up to Him - people that represent Divine communication and the consequent joining together, meant in the highest sense by 'the angels going up and coming down the stairway set up on the earth, and its top reaching to heaven, with Jehovah standing above it'.

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

The Bible

 

Exodus 28:2

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2 You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.