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Genesis 32

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1 men Jakob fortsatte sin ejse. Og Guds Engle mødte ham;

2 og da Jakob så dem, sagde han: "Her er Guds Lejr!" derfor kaldte han Stedet Mahanajim.

3 Derpå sendte Jakob Sendebud i Forvejen til sin Broder Esau i Se'irs LandEdoms Højslette,

4 og han bød dem: "Sig til min Herre Esau: Din Træl Jakob lader dig vide, at jeg har levet som Gæst hos Laban og boet der indtil nu;

5 jeg har samlet mig Okser,Æsler og Småkvæg, Trælle og Trælkvinder; og nu sender jeg Bud til min Herre med Efterretning herom i Håb om at finde Nåde for dine Øjne!"

6 Men Sendebudene kom tilbage til Jakob og meldte: "Vi kom til din Broder Esau, og nu drager han dig i Møde med 400 Mand!"

7 Da blev Jakob såre forfærdet, og i sin Angst delte han sine Folk, Småkvæget, Hornkvæget og Kamelerne i to Lejre,

8 idet han tænkte: "Hvis Esau møder den ene Lejr og slår den, kan dog den anden slippe bort."

9 Derpå bad Jakob: "Min Fader Abrahams og min Fader Isaks Gud, HE E, du, som sagde til mig: Vend tilbage til dit Land og din Hjemstavn, så vil jeg gøre vel imod dig!

10 Jeg er for ringe til al den Miskundhed og Trofasthed, du har udvist mod din Tjener; thi med min Stav gik jeg over Jordan der, og nu er jeg blevet til to Lejre;

11 frels mig fra min Broder Esaus Hånd, thi jeg frygter for, at han skal komme og slå mig, både Moder og Børn!

12 Du har jo selv sagt, at du vil gøre vel imod mig og gøre mit Afkom som Havets Sand, der ikke kan tælles for Mængde!"

13 Og han blev der om Natten. Af hvad han havde, udtog han så en Gave til sin Broder Esau,

14 200 Geder og 20 Bukke, 200 Får og 20 Vædre,

15 34 diegivende Kamelhopper med deres Føl, 40 Køer og 10 Tyre, 20 Aseninder og 10 Æselhingste;

16 han delte dem i flere Hjorde og overlod sine Trælle dem, idet han sagde til dem: "Gå i Forvejen og lad en Plads åben mellem Hjordene!"

17 Og han bød den første: "Når min Broder Esau møder dig og spørger, hvem du tilhører, hvor du skal hen, og hvem din Drift tilhører,

18 skal du svare: Den tilhører din Træl Jakob; det er en Gave. han sender min Herre Esau; selv kommer han bagefter!"

19 Og han bød den anden og den tredje og alle de andre, der fulgte med Hjordene, at sige det samme til Esau, når de traf ham:

20 "Din Træl Jakob kommer selv bagefter!" Thi han tænkte: "Jeg vil søge at forsone ham ved den Gave. der drager foran, og først bagefter vil jeg træde frem for ham; måske han da tager venligt imod mig!"

21 Så drog Gaven i Forvejen, medens han selv blev i Lejren om Natten.

22 Samme Nat tog han sine to Hustruer, sine to Trælkvinder og sine elleve Børn og gik over Jakobs Vadested;

23 han tog dem og bragte dem over Bækken; ligeledes bragte han alt. hvad han ejede, over.

24 Men selv blev Jakob alene tilbage. Da var der en, som brødes, med ham til Morgengry;

25 og da han så, at han ikke kunde få Bugt med ham, gav han ham et Slag på Hofteskålen; og Jakobs Hofteskål gik af Led, da han brødes med ham.

26 Da sagde han: "Slip mig, thi Morgenen gryr!" Men han svarede: "Jeg slipper dig ikke, uden du velsigner mig!"

27 Så spurgte han: "Hvad er dit Navn?" Han svarede: "Jakob!"

28 Men han sagde: "Dit Navn skal ikke mere være Jakob, men Israel; thi du har kæmpet med Gud og Mennesker og sejret!"

29 Da sagde Jakob:"Sig mig dit Navn!" Men han svarede: "Hvorfor spørger du om mit Navn?" Og han velsignede ham der.

30 Og Jakob kaldte Stedet Peniel, idet han sagde: "Jeg har skuet Gud Ansigt til Ansigt og har mit Liv frelst."

31 Og Solen stod op, da han drog forbi Penuel, og da haltede han på Hoften.

32 Derfor undlader Israeliterne endnu den Dag i Dag at spise Hoftenerven, der ligger over Hofteskålen, thi han gav Jakob et Slag på Hofteskålen, på Hoftenerven.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4163

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4163. Verses 36-42 And Jacob was incensed and wrangled with Laban; and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my transgression, what is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me? Because you have felt around all my vessels, what have you found belonging to all the vessels of your house? Put it here in front of my brothers and your brothers, and let them decide between the two of us. These twenty years I have been with you; your sheep and your she-goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. That which was torn [by beasts] I did not bring to you; I myself bore the loss of it; from my hand you required it - that stolen by day and that stolen by night. This is how I was: By day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night; and my sleep was banished from my eyes. These twenty years I have served you in your house - fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock; and you have changed my wages in ten ways. Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Dread of Isaac, had been with me, you would now have sent me away empty-handed. My affliction and the tiredness of my hands 1 God has seen, and has given judgement last night.

'Jacob was incensed and wrangled with Laban' means the zeal of the natural. 'And Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my transgression, what is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me?' means that it was not because of evil that it had separated itself. 'Because you have felt all around my vessels, what have you found belonging to all the vessels of your house?' means that no truths had been that good's very own but all had been given. 'Put it here in front of my brothers and your brothers, and let them decide between the two of us' means that judgement should be made on the basis of that which is just and fair. 'These twenty years I have been with you' means the proprium. 'Your sheep and your she-goats have not miscarried' means its state as regards good and the good of truth. 'And I have not eaten the rams of your flock' means the truth of good, in that He took nothing of his. 'That which was torn [by beasts] I did not bring to you' means that evil for which He was not blameworthy resided with that good. 'I myself bore the loss of it' means that good came out of it. 'From my hand you required it' means that it came from Himself. 'That stolen by day and that stolen by night' means the evil of merit-seeking in a similar way. 'This is how I was: By day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night; and my sleep was banished from my eyes' means temptations. 'These twenty years I have served you in your house' means the proprium. 'Fourteen years for your two daughters' means the first period, the purpose of which was that He might acquire to Himself the affections for truth. 'And six years for your flock' means the purpose of which was that He might acquire good after that. 'And you have changed my wages in ten ways' means its state towards Him when He was linking those goods to Himself. 'Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Dread of Isaac, had been with me' means but for the Divine and the Divine Human. 'You would now have sent me away empty-handed' means that it would have claimed all things to itself. 'My affliction and the tiredness of my hands God has seen, and has given judgement last night' means that all things were effected by Him by His own power.

Footnotes:

1. literally, palms

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