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Genesis 35

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1 Derpå sagde Gud til Jakob: "Drag op til Betel og bliv der og byg der et Alter for Gud, som åbenbarede sig for dig, da du flygtede for din Broder Esau!"

2 Jakob sagde da til sit Hus og alle sine Folk: "Skaf de fremmede Guder, der findes hos eder, bort, rens eder og skift Klæder,

3 og lad os drage op til Betel, for at jeg der kan bygge et Alter for Gud, der bønhørte mig i min Trængselstid og var med mig på den Vej, jeg vandrede!"

4 De gav så Jakob alle de fremmede Guder, de førte med sig, og alle de inge, de havde i Ørene, og han gravede dem ned under Egen ved Sikem.

5 Derpå brød de op; og en Guds ædsel kom over alle Byerne rundt om, så de ikke forfulgte Jakobs Sønner.

6 Og Jakob kom med alle sine Folk til Luz i Kana'ans Land, det er Betel;

7 og han byggede et Alter der og kaldte Stedet: Betels Gud, thi der havde Gud åbenbaret sig for ham, da han flygtede for sin Broder.

8 døde ebekkas Amme Debora, og hun blev jordet neden for Betel under Egen; derfor kaldte han den Grædeegen.

9 Gud åbenbarede sig atter for Jakob efter hans Hjemkomst fra Paddan Aram og velsignede ham;

10 og Gud sagde til ham: "Dit Navn er Jakob; men herefter skal du ikke mere hedde Jakob; Israel skal være dit Navn!" Og han gav ham Navnet Israel.

11 Derpå sagde Gud til ham: "Jeg er Gud den Almægtige! Bliv frugtbar og mangfoldig! Et Folk,ja Folk i Hobetal skal nedstamme fra dig, og.Konger skal udgå af din Lænd;

12 det Land, jeg gav Abraham og Isak, giver jeg dig, og dit Afkom efter dig giver jeg Landet!"

13 Derpå for Gud op fra ham på det Sted, hvor han havde talet med ham;

14 og Jakob rejste en Støtte på det Sted, hvor han havde talet med ham, en Stenstøtte, og hældte et Drikofer over den og udgød Olie på den.

15 Og Jakob kaldte det Sted, hvor Gud havde talet med ham, Betel.

16 Derpå brød de op fra Betel, Da de endnu var et Stykke Vej fra Efrat, skulde akel føde, og hendes Fødselsveer var hårde.

17 Midt under hendes hårde Fødselsveer sagde Jordemoderen til hende: "Frygt ikke, thi også denne Gang får du en Søn!"

18 Men da hun droges med Døden thi det kostede hende Livet gav hun ham Navnet Ben'oni; men Faderen kaldte ham Benjamin".

19 døde akel og blev jordet på Vejen til Efrat, det er Betlehem;

20 og Jakob rejste en Stenstøtte på hendes Grav; det er akels Gravstøtte, som står endnu den Dag i Dag.

21 Derpå brød Israel op og opslog sit Telt hinsides Migdal Eder.

22 Men medens Israel boede i den Egn, gik uben hen og lå hos sin Faders Medhustru Bilha; og det kom Israel for Øre. Jakobs Sønner var tolv i Tal;

23 Leas Sønner: uben, Jakobs førstefødte, Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issakar og Zebulon;

24 akels Sønner: Josef og Benjamin;

25 akels Trælkvinde Bilhas Sønner: Dan og Naftali;

26 Leas Trælkvinde Zilpas Sønner: Gad og Aser. Det var Jakobs Sønner, der fødtes ham i Paddan Aram.

27 Og Jakob kom til sin Fader Isak i Mamre i Kirjat Arba, det er Hebron, hvor Abraham og Isak havde levet som fremmede.

28 Isaks Leveår var 180;

29 så gik Isak bort; han døde og samledes til sin Slægt, gammel og mæt af Dage. Og hans Sønner Esau og Jakob jordede ham,

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4563

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4563. 'Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died' means that hereditary evil was cast out. This is clear from the meaning of 'dying' as the end or something ceasing to be such as it has been, dealt with in 494, 3253, 3259, 3276, and here therefore, since the subject is hereditary evil, that this was cast out; and from the representation of 'Deborah, who was Rebekah's nurse' as hereditary evil. Inasmuch as she nourishes and suckles an infant, 'a nurse' strictly speaking means the instilling of innocence by means of what is celestial-spiritual, for 'milk' means that which is celestial-spiritual, 2184, and the infant whom she suckles means innocence, 430, 1616, 2126, 2305, 2306. But in this verse 'Deborah, Rebekah's nurse' means that which was received from the mother and nourished from infancy. This was the hereditary evil from the mother which the Lord fought against, as may be seen from what has been shown regarding that heredity, 1414, 1444, 1573, which heredity He cast out, so that at length He was not Mary's son, 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036.

[2] It is well known that a person derives evil from both parents and that this evil is called hereditary evil. He is therefore born with that evil, but it does not show itself until he grows up and acts from his understanding and his will based on his understanding. In the meantime it lies hidden, especially during early childhood. Now because in the Lord's mercy no one can come to be blamed for his hereditary evil, only for the evil of his own doing, 966, 2308, and hereditary evil cannot become evil of his own doing until he acts from his own understanding and his own will, young children are therefore guided by the Lord by means of young children and angels. It is for this reason that they are seen to live in a state of innocence; yet hereditary evil lies hidden within each particular thing they do, 2300, 2307, 2308. This hereditary evil even provides them with nourishment, that is, it acts like a nurse until they reach the age of discretion, 4063. Then, if they are being regenerated, they are brought by the Lord into the state of a new infancy, and at length into heavenly wisdom, and so into genuine infancy, which innocence is; for genuine infancy, or innocence, dwells within wisdom, 2305, 3183. The difference is that the innocence of infancy is present outwardly and hereditary evil inwardly, whereas the innocence of wisdom is present inwardly and evil - hereditary and that of the person's own doing - outwardly. From these considerations, and many others mentioned previously, it is evident that hereditary evil serves so to speak as nourishment from earliest infancy to the age of the new infancy. This explains why 'a nurse' means hereditary evil, as well as meaning the instillation of innocence by means of that which is celestial-spiritual.

[3] Since the arrangement or ordering of truths by good within the Lord's Natural, and consequently the progression towards aspects more interior, 4536, is the subject in the internal sense of this chapter therefore the casting out of hereditary evil is dealt with too. This is the reason why in this verse the death of Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, and her burial under an oak tree are recorded, which are matters that would be too unimportant to interrupt the sequence of events described here if they did not embody the kind of the things that have been mentioned.

[4] The actual arcanum meant specifically by Rebekah's nurse cannot as yet be disclosed. One must first know about the nature of the influx of the rational into the natural, which is an influx from the good of the rational directly into the good of the natural, and an influx from the good of the rational indirectly by way of the truth there into the good of natural truth. 'Rebekah' is the truth of the rational, 3012, 3013, 3077, whereas 'Isaac' is the good of the rational, 3012, 3194, 3210. 'Esau' is the good of the natural resulting from direct influx from the good of the rational, meant by 'Isaac', and 'Jacob' is the good - that is, the good of natural truth - resulting from an indirect influx through the truth of the rational, meant by 'Rebekah'. Regarding this indirect and direct influx see 3314, 3573. This must be known first before anyone can have specific knowledge of the arcanum why 'Rebekah's nurse' means and describes hereditary evil here. It is from such knowledge about influx that one is able to see the nature of that hereditary evil.

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