The Bible

 

Genesis 33

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1 Kui Jaakob oma silmad üles tõstis ja vaatas, ennäe, siis tuli Eesav ja koos temaga nelisada meest. Ta jaotas nüüd lapsed Lea ja Raaheli ja mõlema teenija vahel,

2 seadis teenijad ja nende lapsed ette, Lea ja tema lapsed nende järele, Raaheli ja Joosepi viimaseiks.

3 Ta ise aga läks nende eel ja kummardas seitse korda maani, kuni ta jõudis oma venna juurde.

4 Aga Eesav jooksis temale vastu ja süleles teda, langes temale kaela ja suudles teda; ja nad nutsid.

5 Siis ta tõstis oma silmad üles ja nägi naisi ja lapsi, ja ta küsis: 'Kes need sul on?' Ja tema vastas: 'Need on lapsed, keda Jumal su sulasele armulikult on andnud.'

6 Ka teenijad astusid ligi, nemad ise ja nende lapsed, ja nad kummardasid.

7 Siis astus ligi ka Lea koos oma lastega ja nad kummardasid; lõppeks astusid ligi Joosep ja Raahel ja kummardasid.

8 Siis ta küsis: 'Mida sa kavatsed kogu selle leeriga, keda ma kohtasin?' Ja tema vastas: 'Oma isanda silmis armu leida!'

9 Aga Eesav ütles: 'Mul eneselgi on küllalt, mu vend. Jäägu sulle, mis sul on!'

10 Kuid Jaakob vastas: 'Sugugi mitte! Kui ma nüüd su silmis olen armu leidnud, siis võta mu kingitus minult vastu! Sest ma olen ju tohtinud näha su palet, otsekui näeks Jumala palet, ja sa oled olnud mu vastu lahke.

11 Võta nüüd minu tervituskink, mis sulle toodi, sest Jumal on olnud mu vastu armuline ja mul on kõike küllalt!' Ja ta käis temale peale, kuni ta võttis.

12 Siis ütles Eesav: 'Hakkame liikuma ja lähme, ja mina käin sinuga rinnu.'

13 Aga Jaakob vastas temale: 'Mu isand näeb ju, et lapsed on väetid ja minu hooleks on imetajad lambad ja lehmad; kui neid liiga kiiresti aetakse ühegi päeva, siis sureb kogu kari.

14 Mingu aga mu isand oma sulase eel ja mina liigun pikkamisi oma ees käiva karja kannul ja laste kannul, kuni ma jõuan oma isanda juurde Seiri.'

15 Eesav ütles: 'Ma jätan siis sinu juurde osa rahvast, kes koos minuga on.' Aga tema vastas: 'Mispärast nõnda? Kui ma ainult oma isanda silmis armu leiaksin!'

16 Ja Eesav läks selsamal päeval oma teed tagasi Seiri.

17 Aga Jaakob liikus Sukkotti, ehitas enesele koja ja tegi oma karjadele lehtkatused; seepärast pandi sellele paigale nimeks Sukkot.

18 Ja Jaakob jõudis Mesopotaamiast tulles õnnelikult Sekemi linna, mis on Kaananimaal, ja lõi linna ees leeri üles.

19 Ta ostis selle väljaosa, kuhu ta oma telgi oli üles löönud, Sekemi isa Hamori lastelt saja rahatüki eest.

20 Ja ta püstitas sinna altari ning pani sellele nimeks 'Jumal, Iisraeli Jumal'.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4395

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4395. 'As he was coming from Paddan Aram' means that which happened after the previous state. This is clear from the meaning of 'as he was coming' as that which happened after, and from the meaning of 'Paddan Aram' as cognitions of good and truth, dealt with in 3664, 4107, 4112, though exterior cognitions which serve in the introduction of genuine goods and truths; for Laban dwelt there, and he represents the affection for that kind of good, see 3612, 3665, 3778, 3974, 3982, 3986 (end), 4063, 4189, 4206. Consequently the words 'as he was coming from Paddan Aram' are used because the point was reached when external truths and goods gave way to interior, and so when the previous state gave way to the present one.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3974

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3974. 'Give me my womenfolk' means that the affections for truth belonged to that natural, 'and my children' means as did the truths born from those affections. This is clear from the meaning of 'womenfolk' or 'wives' as affections for truth - his wife 'Leah' meaning the affection for external truth, and 'Rachel' the affection for internal truth, both dealt with often above; and from the meaning of 'children' as truths born from those affections. For 'sons' means truths, 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373, and the children born of the womenfolk truths that spring from those affections.

It was a regulation among the Ancients that women given to slaves belonged to the master with whom they served, and so did the children born from them, as may be seen in Moses,

If you buy a Hebrew slave he shall serve for six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If his master has given him a wife and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out by himself. 1 Exodus 21:2, 4.

It was because this was also a regulation in the Ancient Church and was therefore well known to Laban that he laid claim to Jacob's wives and children, as is evident in the next chapter,

Laban said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flock is my flock, and all that you see belongs to me. Genesis 31:43.

And because Jacob knows this he says to Laban, 'Give me my womenfolk and my children'. But this regulation as stated in Moses in the verses quoted above represented the right of the internal or rational man to the goods and truths of the external or natural man which the latter has obtained for itself. For a slave represented the truth of the natural man as that truth exists at first before genuine truths are instilled. The truth which is present at first is not truth but the outward appearance of it. Nevertheless it serves as the means by which genuine truths and goods are introduced, as has been shown already. For this reason once goods and truths have been instilled through that truth present at first, that is, through the service it renders, it is dispensed with, but the genuine truths obtained in that way are retained. It was for the sake of this representation that this law about slaves was laid down.

[2] But as for Jacob, he was not a slave who had been purchased, but a man from a more distinguished family than Laban. He himself - that is to say, Jacob - purchased Laban's daughters, and so also the children by them, through the service he rendered; for they were his instead of wages. Consequently Laban's assumptions concerning them were not correct. Furthermore 'a Hebrew slave' means the truth which serves to introduce genuine goods and truths, and his wife the affection for natural good. But Jacob's position was different from that of a slave. He represented the good of natural truth, and his wives the affections for truth. Nor does Laban have the same representation as the master in the law that has been quoted relating to a Hebrew slave. That is to say, he does not represent the rational, but a parallel good, 3612, 3665, 3778, which is such that it is not genuine good but the outward appearance of the genuine, serving to introduce truths, 3665, 3690, which were accordingly 'Jacob's'.

[3] These details which have been presented are indeed such as fall within the mental grasp of none but a very few, for most people do not know what the truth and good of the natural are, and that these are different from the truth and good of the rational. Still less do they know that goods and truths which are not genuine but only so to external appearance serve to introduce genuine truths and goods, especially at the outset of regeneration. All the same, as these details are contained in the internal sense of these words, and also in the internal sense of those that follow concerning Laban's flock from which Jacob obtained a flock for himself, they ought not to be passed over in silence. There will perhaps be some who grasp them. Any who have a strong desire to know such things, that is, who are stirred by an affection for spiritual good and truth, receive enlightenment in such matters.

Footnotes:

1. literally, with his own body

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