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Genesis 30

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1 Da akel så, at hun ikke fødte Jakob noget Barn, blev hun skinsyg på sin Søster og sagde til Jakob: "Skaf mig Børn, ellers dør jeg!"

2 Men Jakob blev vred på akel og sagde: "Er jeg i Guds Sted? Det er jo ham, der har nægtet dig Livsfrugt!"

3 sagde hun: "Der er min Trælkvinde Bilha; gå ind til hende, så hun kan føde på mine Knæ og jeg få Sønner ved hende!"

4 Og hun gav ham sin Trælkvinde Bilha til Hustru, og Jakob gik ind til hende.

5 Så blev Bilha frugtsommelig og fødte Jakob en Søn,

6 og akel sagde: "Gud har hjulpet mig til min et, han har hørt min øst og givet mig en Søn." Derfor gav hun ham Navnet Dan.

7 Siden blev akels Trælkvinde Bilha frugtsommelig igen og fødte Jakob en anden Søn;

8 og akel sagde: "Gudskampe har jeg kæmpet med min Søster og sejret." Derfor gav hun ham Navnet Naftali.

9 Men da Lea så, at hun ikke fik flere Børn, tog hun sin Trælkvinde Zilpa og gav Jakob hende til Hustru;

10 og da Leas Trælkvinde Zilpa fødte Jakob en Søn,

11 sagde Lea: "Hvilken Lykke!" Derfor gav hun ham Navnet Gad.

12 Siden fødte Leas Trælkvinde Zilpa Jakob en anden Søn;

13 og Lea sagde: "Held mig! Kvinderne vil prise mit Held!" Derfor gav hun ham Navnet Aser.

14 Men da uben engang i Hvedehøstens Tid gik på Marken, fandt han nogle Kærlighedsæbler og bragte dem til sin Moder Lea. Da sagde akel til Lea: "Giv mig nogle af din Søns Kærlighedsæbler!"

15 Lea svarede: "Er det ikke nok, at du har taget min Mand fra mig? Vil du nu også tage min Søns Kærlighedsæbler?" Men akel sagde: "Til Gengæld for din Søns Kærlighedsæbler må han ligge hos dig i Nat!"

16 Da så Jakob kom fra Marken om Aftenen, gik Lea ham i Møde og sagde: "kom ind til mig i Nat, thi jeg har købt dig for min Søns Kærlighedsæbler!" Og han lå hos hende den Nat.

17 Så bønhørte Gud Lea, og hun blev frugtsommelig og fødte Jakob en femte Søn;

18 og Lea sagde: "Gud har lønnet mig, fordi jeg gav min Mand min Trælkvinde." Derfor gav hun ham Navnet Issakar.

19 Siden blev Lea frugtsommelig igen og fødte Jakob en sjette Søn;

20 og Lea sagde: "Gud har givet mig en god Gave, nu vil min Mand blive hos mig, fordi jeg har født ham seks Sønner." Derfor gav hun ham Navnet Zebulon.

21 Siden fødte hun en Datter, som hun gav Navnet Dina.

22 Så kom Gud akel i Hu, og Gud bønhørte hende og åbnede hendes Moderliv,

23 så hun blev frugtsommelig og fødte en Søn; og hun sagde: "Gud har borttaget min Skændsel."

24 Derfor gav hun ham Navnet Josef; thi hun sagde: "HE EN give mig endnu en Søn!"

25 Da akel havde født Josef. sagde Jakob til Laban: "Lad mig fare, at jeg kan drage til min Hjemstavn og mit Land;

26 giv mig mine Hustruer og mine Børn som jeg har tjent dig for, og lad mig drage bort; du ved jo selv, hvorledes jeg har tjent dig!"

27 Men Laban svarede: "Måtte jeg have fundet Nåde for dine Øjne! Jeg har udfundet, at HE EN bar velsignet mig for din Skyld."

28 Og han sagde: "Bestem, hvad du vil have i Løn af mig, så vil jeg give dig den!"

29 sagde Jakob: "Du ved jo selv, hvorledes jeg har tjent dig, og hvad din Ejendom er blevet til under mine Hænder;

30 thi før jeg kom, ejede du kun lidet, men nu har du Overflod; HE EN har velsignet dig, hvor som helst jeg satte min Fod. Men når kan jeg komme til at gøre noget for mit eget Hus?"

31 Laban svarede: "Hvad skal jeg da give dig?" Da sagde Jakob: "Du skal ikke give mig noget; men hvis du går ind på, hvad jeg nu foreslår dig, vedbliver jeg at være Hyrde for dine Hjorde og vogte dem.

32 Jeg vil i Dag gå hele din Hjord igennem og udskille alle spættede og blakkede Dyr alle de sorte Får og de blakkede eller spættede Geder skal være min Løn;

33 i Morgen den Dag skal min etfærdighed vidne for mig: Når du kommer og syner den Hjord, der skal være min Løn, da er alle de" Geder, som ikke er spættede eller blakkede, og de Får, som ikke er sorte, stjålet af mig."

34 Laban svarede: "Vel, lad det blive, som du siger!"

35 Så udskilte han samme Dag de stribede og blakkede Bukke og de spættede og blakkede Geder, alle dem der havde hvide Pletter, og alle de sorte Får og overgav dem til sine Sønner,

36 og han lod der være tre Dagsrejser mellem dem og Jakob; og Jakob vogtede esten af Labans Hjord.

37 Men Jakob tog friske Grene af Hvidpopler, Mandeltræer og Plataner og afskrællede Barken således, at der kom hvide Striber på Grenene;

38 og de afskrællede Grene stillede han op i Trugene foran Dyrene, i Vandrenderne, hvor Dyrene kom hen og drak; og de parrede sig, når de kom for at drikke;

39 Dyrene parrede sig foran Grenene og fødte så stribet, spættet og blakket Afkom.

40 Og Lammene udskilte Jakob. Og han lod Dyrene vende Hovedet mod de stribede og alle de sorte dyr i Labans Hjord. På den Måde fik han sine egne Hjorde, som han ikke bragte sammen med Labans.

41 Og hver Gang de kraftige Dyr parrede sig, stillede Jakob Grenene op foran dem i Vandrenderne, for at de skulde parre sig foran Grenene;

42 men når det var de svage Dyr, stillede han dem ikke op; således kom de svage til at tilhøre Laban, de kraftige Jakob.

43 På den Måde blev Manden overmåde rig og fik Småkvæg i Mængde, Trælkvinder og Trælle, Kameler og Æsler.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4108

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4108. 'To come to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan' means so as to be joined to the Divine Good of the Rational, in order that the Human might be made Divine. This is clear from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Divine Rational, dealt with in 1893, 2066, 2083, 2630, and specifically as the Divine Good of the Rational, 3012, 3194, 3210; and from the meaning of 'the land of Canaan' as the Lord's heavenly kingdom, dealt with in 1607, 3481, and in the highest sense - that is, when the subject is the Lord - as His Divine Human, 3038, 3705. From these meanings it is evident that 'to come to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan' means so as to be joined to the Divine Good of the Rational, in order that the Human might be made Divine.

[2] As regards the joining together of the rational and the natural in man's case, it should be realized that the rational constitutes the internal man and the natural the external man, and that the joining together of these produces the human. The nature of that human is determined by that of the joining together of the two; and they exist joined together when they act as one. And they act as one when the natural acts as the servant and is subservient to the rational. With man this is not possible unless it is done by the Lord, but with the Lord He did it by Himself.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3705

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3705. 'The land on which you are lying I will give to you' means that the good on which the Natural rested was His own in origin. This is clear from the meaning of 'the land' here as the good of the natural, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'on which you are lying' as on which it rested; and from the meaning of 'giving it to you' as His own in origin, also dealt with below. The reason 'the land' means the good of the natural, which Jacob will represent from now on, is that 'the land of Canaan' means the Lord's kingdom, 1413, 1437, 1585, 1607, 1866. And since it means the Lord's kingdom it also means in the highest sense the Lord, 3038 - for the Lord is the All in all of His kingdom, and anything there which does not originate in Him and have regard to Him is not part of His kingdom. The Lord's kingdom is also meant in the Word by 'heaven and earth', 1 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), though in this case the interior of that kingdom is meant by 'heaven' and the exterior by 'earth', 82, 1411, 1733, 3355 (end). Consequently 'heaven' in the highest sense means the Lord as regards His Divine Rational and 'earth' as regards His Divine Natural. Here therefore 'the land on which you are lying' means the Good of the Natural on which the Natural, represented by 'Jacob', rested. For 'Jacob' represents the Lord's Divine Natural, as stated many times above.

[2] Furthermore the word 'land' has various meanings, see 620, 636, 1066, 2571, 3368, 3379, the reason being that Canaan, which is called the Holy Land, means the Lord's kingdom in general; and when 'heaven' is mentioned together with 'earth', 'heaven' in that case means, as has been stated, that which is interior, 'earth' that which is exterior. This being so it also means the Lord's kingdom on earth, that is, the Church; and having that meaning, it also means a person who is the Lord's kingdom or who is the Church. With that person 'heaven' accordingly means that which is interior, 'earth' that which is exterior; or what amounts to the same, 'heaven' is the rational and 'earth' the natural since the rational exists more interiorly with man and the natural more exteriorly. And since 'land' [or 'earth'] has all these meanings it also means that which a person puts into effect - namely the good of love which he receives from the Divine - so that he may become the Lord's kingdom. From this it is evident in what way the meaning of 'land' in the Word varies.

[3] 'I will give to you' means that in origin it was His own. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'giving' in the Word when used in reference to the Lord, for as shown just above, the Lord is Divine Good and also Divine Truth, the former being called 'the Father' and the latter 'the Son'. Now because Divine Good is His and consequently that which is His own, it follows that 'giving to you', when spoken by Jehovah and used in reference to the Lord, means that which was His own in origin. From this one may see what is meant in the internal sense by the Lord's frequent reference to the Father's having given to Him - that is to say, to Himself, the Lord - as in John,

Father, glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him power over all flesh, in order that all You have given Him, to them He may give eternal life. I have glorified You on earth; I have accomplished the work which You gave Me to do. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; Yours they were, and You gave them to Me. Now they know that everything which You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them. I am praying for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours; for all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine. John 17:1-2, 4, 6-10.

Each reference here to the Father's giving means originating in the Divine Good that was His, and so in that which was His own.

[4] From this one may see how great an arcanum lies within the particular words spoken by the Lord, and also how greatly different the sense of the letter is from the internal sense, and more so from the highest sense. The Lord spoke in this fashion in order that mankind which at that time had no knowledge at all of any Divine truth might nevertheless be enabled in its own way to grasp and so accept the Word, while angels did so in theirs, for the angels knew that Jehovah and He were one and that the Father was Divine Good. For this reason also they knew that when He spoke of the Father giving to Him He would be giving to Himself and so drawing on what was His own.

Footnotes:

1. or land

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