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Genesis 34

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1 And Dina the daughter of Lia went out to see the women of that country.

2 And when Sichem the son of Hemor the Hevite, the prince of that land, saw her, he was in love with her: and took her away, and lay with her, ravishing the virgin.

3 And his soul was fast knit unto her, and whereas she was sad, he comforted her with sweet words.

4 And going to Hemor his father, he said: Get me this damsel to wife.

5 But when Jacob had heard this, his sons being absent, and employed in feeding the cattle, he held his peace till they came back.

6 And when Hemor the father of Sichem was come out to speak to Jacob,

7 Behold his sons came from the field: and hearing what had passed, they were exceeding angry, because he had done a foul thing in Israel, and committed an unlawful act, in ravishing Jacob's daughter,

8 And Hemor spoke to them: The soul of my son Sichem has a longing for your daughter: give her him to wife:

9 And let us contract marriages one with another: give us your daughters and take you our daughters,

10 And dwell with us: the land is at your command, till, trade,and possess it.

11 Sichem also said to her father and to her brethren: Let me find favor in your sight: and whatsoever you shall appoint I will give.

12 Raise the dowery,, and ask gifts, and I will gladly give what you shall demand: only give me this damsel to wife.

13 The sons of Jacob answered Sichem and his father deceitfully, being enraged at the deflowering of their sister:

14 We cannot do what you demand, nor give our sister to one that is uncircumcised, which with us is unlawful and abominable.

15 But in this way may we be allied with you, if you will be like us, and all the male sex among you be circumcised:

16 Then will we mutually give and take your daughters, and ours: and we will dwell with you, and will be one people:

17 But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter and depart:

18 Their offer pleased Hemor, and Sichem his son:

19 And the young man made no delay, but forthwith fulfilled what was required, for he loved the damsel exceedingly, and he was the greatest man in all his father's house.

20 And going into the gate of the city they spoke to the people:

21 These men are peaceable and willing to dwell with us: let them trade in the land, and till it, which being large and wide wanteth men to till it: we shall take their daughters for wives, and we will give them ours.

22 One thing there is for which so great a good is deferred: We must circumcise every male among us, following the manner of the nation.

23 And their substance, and cattle, and all that they possess, shall be ours: only in this let us condescend, and by dwelling together, we shall make one people.

24 And they all agreed, and circumcised all the males.

25 And behold the third day, when the pain of the wound was greatest, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dina, taking their swords, entered boldly into the city, and slew all the men:

26 And they killed also Hemor and Sichem, and took away their sister Dina, out of Sichem's house.

27 And when they were gone out, the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain; and plundered the city in revenge of the rape.

28 And they took their sheep and their herds and their asses, wasting all they had in their houses and in the fields.

29 and their children and wives they took captive,

30 And when they had boldly perpetrated these things, Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: You have troubled me, and made me hateful to the Chanaanites and Pherezites, the inhabitants of this land: we are few: they will gather themselves together and kill me; and both I, and my house, shall be destroyed.

31 They answered: Should they abuse our sister as a strumpet?

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2643

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2643. 'Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle sons?' means that by His own power the Lord implanted the Human within the Divine. This is clear from the representation of 'Abraham' and also of 'Sarah', and from the meaning of 'suckling', and of 'sons'. It has been shown already that 'Abraham' represents Divine Good and 'Sarah' Divine Truth. 'Milk' means that which is spiritual from a celestial origin, that is, truth deriving from good, see 2184, so that 'suckling' means implanting that truth; And 'sons' means truths, here truths that exist in the Rational, as is clear from the meaning of 'sons', 489-491, 533. The reason why in the internal sense the words under consideration mean that the Lord by His own power implanted the Human within the Divine is that Divine Truth is one and the same as the Divine Human, and when in reference to this it is said 'to suckle sons for Abraham' the meaning is that He implanted the Human within the Divine; and as it was the Human He implanted, He did so by His own power. But scarcely any clearer and more intelligible explanation of these matters is possible. To say more would obscure still further what is meant; for these are Divine matters, which can be presented to angels alone by means of celestial and spiritual things. If presented to men in some more exalted manner those matters would fall into the material and bodily ideas which men possess.

[2] What is more, it should be recognized that it is the nature of the Lord's Divine Rational when it was first born that is being described by these words, 'God has made laughter for me; everyone that hears will laugh for me; and she said, Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle sons?' For this was in keeping with an ancient custom that when an infant was born it was given a name which served to mean the state; and at the same time a description of that state was added, as when Cain was born to Eve and Adam, Genesis 4:1, and when Seth was born to the same, Genesis 4:25; and as when Noah was born to Lamech, Genesis 5:29, Esau and Jacob to Isaac, Genesis 25:25-26, the twelve sons to Jacob, Genesis 29:32-35; 30:6, 8, 11, 13, 18, 20, 24; 35:18, Perez and Zerah to Tamar, Genesis 38:29-30, Manasseh and Ephraim to Joseph, Genesis 41:51-52, and Gershom and Eliezer to Moses, Exodus 2:22; 18:4. What all these represent, and what they mean in the internal sense, was embodied in the descriptions added to the names that were given. The same is the case here with what Isaac represents and means. What this name embodies is evident to some small extent from this brief explanation that has been given, but deeper arcana are nevertheless concealed there since they are Divine matters, which no sentences or phrases can be formed to express.

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