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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 #4293

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4293. In the internal historical sense 'for as a prince you have contended with God and with men, and have prevailed' means on account of the stubborn perverseness which was a product of their false delusions and evil desires. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'God' and the meaning of 'men' as truths and goods, dealt with above in 4287, though here the selfsame words have the opposite meaning because in this internal historical sense they are expressions used in reference to the descendants of Jacob, with whom no truths or goods were present interiorly, as shown above, only falsities and evils. Falsities are false delusions because they are the product of such delusions, and evils are evil desires because they are the product of such desires.

[2] As regards that nation's insistence that they should play the representative part, that is, that they themselves should constitute the Church in preference to all nations throughout the whole world, see above in 4290. More than this it is the fact that they were allowed to do so on account of the stubborn perverseness which was a product of their false delusions and of their evil desires that is meant here. No one can know the nature of those delusions and desires unless he has some contact with them in the next life. To enable me to know, such contact has been granted to me, for I have talked on several occasions to those people there. They love themselves and worldly wealth more than anybody else does, and above all they fear loss of position as well as loss of gain more than anybody else does. Consequently today as in former times they despise everyone else in comparison with themselves; they are also utterly intent on the acquisition of wealth, and in addition are full of fear. Because that nation has been like this since ancient times they were better able than others to be kept in external holiness devoid of all internal holiness, and so in outward form to represent things that constituted the Church It was these false delusions and evil desires that produced such stubborn perverseness.

[3] This is also apparent from many things which are mentioned regarding them in the historical narratives of the Word. After being punished they were able to demonstrate an external humility such as no other nation could do, for they were able for whole days to lie prostrate on the ground and to roll themselves in the dust and not get up until the third day. They were also able for many days to beat their breasts, and to go around in sackcloth, in tattered garments, with ashes or dust sprinkled over their head. They were able to fast continuously for many days, and during that time to burst into bitter tears. But these were the expressions solely of bodily and earthly love, and a fear of losing their pre-eminence and worldly wealth. For there was not anything internal which moved them since they did not know at all, and did not even wish to know, what the internal was, such as the matter of a life after death, or that of eternal salvation.

[4] From this it may be seen that because their nature was such they had to be dispossessed of all internal holiness, for this holiness accords in no way at all with the kind of external holiness that has just been described; indeed the two are utterly contrary to each other. It may also be seen that they were better able than others to play the part of a representative of the Church, that is to say, to represent holy things in external form, devoid of all internal holiness; and that thus by means of that nation some kind of communication with the heavens was possible, see 4288.

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