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Genèse 34

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1 Or Dina, la fille que Léa avait enfantée à Jacob, sortit pour voir les filles du pays.

2 Et Sichem, fils d'Hémor Hévien, Prince du pays, la vit, et l'enleva, et coucha avec elle, et la força.

3 Et son cœur fut attaché à Dina fille de Jacob, et il aima la jeune fille, et parla selon le cœur de la jeune fille.

4 Sichem aussi parla à Hémor son père, en disant : Prends-moi cette fille pour être ma femme.

5 Et Jacob apprit qu'il avait violé Dina sa fille. Or ses fils étaient avec son bétail aux champs; et Jacob se tut jusqu'à ce qu'ils fussent revenus.

6 Et Hémor, père de Sichem vint à Jacob pour parler avec lui.

7 Et les fils de Jacob étant revenus des champs, et ayant appris [ce qui était arrivé], ils en eurent une grande douleur, et furent fort irrités de l'infamie que [Sichem] avait commise contre Israël, en couchant avec la fille de Jacob, ce qui ne se devait point faire.

8 Et Hémor leur parla, en disant : Sichem mon fils a mis son affection en votre fille; donnez-la-lui, je vous prie, pour femme.

9 Et alliez-vous avec nous, donnez-nous vos filles, et prenez nos filles pour vous.

10 Et habitez avec nous, et le pays sera à votre disposition; demeurez-y, et y trafiquez, et ayez-y des possessions.

11 Sichem dit aussi au père et aux frères de la fille : Que je trouve grâce devant vous, et je donnerai tout ce que vous me direz.

12 Demandez-moi telle dot, et tel présent que vous voudrez, et je les donnerai comme vous me direz; et donnez-moi la jeune fille pour femme.

13 Alors les enfants de Jacob répondirent à Sichem et à Hémor son père; et agissant avec ruse (parce qu'il avait violé Dina leur sœur :)

14 Ils leur dirent : Nous ne pourrons point faire cela, de donner notre sœur à un homme incirconcis; car ce Nous serait un opprobre.

15 Mais nous nous accommoderons avec vous, pourvu que vous deveniez semblables à nous en circoncisant tous les mâles qui sont parmi vous.

16 Alors nous vous donnerons nos filles, et nous prendrons vos filles pour nous, et nous demeurerons avec vous, et nous ne serons qu'un seul peuple.

17 Mais si vous ne consentez pas d'être circoncis, nous prendrons notre fille, et nous nous en irons.

18 Et leurs discours plurent à Hémor et à Sichem, fils d'Hémor.

19 Et le jeune homme ne différa point à faire [ce qu'on lui avait proposé]; car la fille de Jacob lui agréait beaucoup; et il était le plus considéré de tous ceux de la maison de son père.

20 Hémor donc et Sichem son fils vinrent à la porte de leur ville, et parlèrent aux gens de leur ville, en leur disant :

21 Ces gens-ci sont paisibles, ils sont avec nous; qu'ils habitent au pays, et qu'ils y trafiquent; car voici, le pays est d'une assez grande étendue pour eux. nous prendrons leurs filles pour nos femmes, et nous leur donnerons nos filles.

22 Et ces gens s'accommoderont à nous en ceci pour habiter avec nous, [et] pour devenir un même peuple; pourvu que tout mâle qui est parmi nous soit circoncis, comme ils sont circoncis.

23 Leur bétail, et leurs biens, et toutes leurs bêtes, ne seront-ils pas à nous? Seulement accommodons-nous à eux, et qu'ils demeurent avec nous.

24 Et tous ceux qui sortaient par la porte de leur ville obéirent à Hémor, et à Sichem son fils; et tout mâle d'entre tous ceux qui sortaient par la porte de leur ville fut circoncis.

25 Mais il arriva au troisième jour, quand ils étaient dans la douleur, que deux des enfants de Jacob, Siméon et Lévi, frères de Dina, ayant pris leurs épées, entrèrent hardiment dans la ville, et tuèrent tous les mâles.

26 Ils passèrent aussi au tranchant de l'épée Hémor et Sichem son fils, et emmenèrent Dina de la maison de Sichem, et sortirent.

27 Et ceux-là étant tués, les fils de Jacob vinrent, et pillèrent la ville, parce qu'on avait violé leur sœur.

28 Et ils prirent leurs troupeaux, leurs bœufs, leurs ânes, et ce qui était dans la ville, et aux champs :

29 Et tous leurs biens, et tous leurs petits enfants, et emmenèrent prisonnières leurs femmes; et les pillèrent, avec tout ce qui était dans les maisons.

30 Alors Jacob dit à Siméon et Lévi : Vous m'avez troublé, en me mettant en mauvaise odeur parmi les habitants du pays, tant Cananéens que Phéréziens, et je n'ai que peu de gens; ils s'assembleront donc contre moi, et me frapperont, et me détruiront, moi et ma maison.

31 Et ils répondirent : Fera-t-on de notre sœur comme d'une paillarde?

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #238

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238. And miserable and poor. That this signifies that neither do they know that these have neither knowledges of truth nor knowledges of good, is evident from the signification of misery, or miserable, as being those who are destitute of the knowledges of truth; and from the signification of poor, as being those who are without the knowledges of good. That the terms miserable and poor have such signification is evident from many passages in the Word, and moreover from this consideration, that spiritual misery and poverty are nothing else but a defect of the knowledges of truth and good, for when such defect exists, the spirit is both miserable and poor; but when these knowledges are possessed, the spirit is rich and opulent; therefore by riches and wealth in the Word are signified spiritual riches and wealth, which are the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good, as was shown above (n. 236).

[2] Miserable and poor are terms used in many passages in the Word; but when the spiritual sense of these terms is not known, it is believed that only those are meant who are miserable and poor as to the things of the world; when nevertheless these are not meant, but those who are not in truths and goods and in the knowledges thereof. Indeed, by the miserable are meant those who are not in truths because not in the knowledges of them, and by the poor, those who are not in goods because they are not in the knowledges thereof. Because truths and goods, are meant by these two expressions, therefore in many places both are mentioned, as in David:

"I am miserable and poor, Lord, remember me" (Psalms 40:17; 70:5).

Again:

"Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, answer; for I am miserable and poor" (Psalms 86:1).

That by the miserable and poor are not meant those who are so as to worldly riches, but as to spiritual riches, is clear, because David spoke this concerning himself; therefore he also said, "Jehovah, incline thine ear, and answer."

[3] Again:

"The wicked make bare the sword, and bend their bow, to cast down the miserable and poor" (Psalms 37:14).

That by the miserable and poor are here also meant those who are spiritually such but yet desire the knowledges of truth and good is evident, for it is said that the wicked make bare the sword, and bend their bow; the sword signifying falsity fighting against truth and endeavouring to destroy it; and the bow, the doctrine of falsity against the doctrine of truth; therefore it is said that they do this to cast down the miserable and poor. (That by sword is signified truth fighting against falsity, and, in an opposite sense, falsity fighting against truth, may be seen above, n. 131; and that by bow is signified doctrine in both senses, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 2686, 2709.)

[4] Again:

The wicked "persecuted the miserable and poor, and the dejected in heart to slay him" (Psalms 109:16).

In Isaiah:

"The fool speaketh foolishness, and his heart doeth iniquity to practise hypocrisy and to speak error against Jehovah, to make empty the hungry soul, and to make him who thirsteth for drink to faint. He deviseth wicked devices to destroy the miserable with words of falsehood, even when the poor speaketh judgment" (32:6, 7).

In this passage, also, by the miserable and poor are meant those who are destitute of the knowledges of truth and good; therefore it is said that the wicked deviseth wicked devices to destroy the miserable with words of falsehood, even when the poor speaketh judgment; words of falsehood denote falsities, and to speak judgment denotes what is right. Because such are here treated of, it is also said that they practise hypocrisy and utter error against Jehovah, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause him that thirsteth for drink to faint. To practise hypocrisy and to utter error denotes to do evil from falsity, and to speak falsity from evil; to make empty the soul of the hungry denotes to deprive of the knowledges of good those who desire them, and to cause the thirsty to faint for drink is to deprive of the knowledges of truth those who desire them. Again:

"The miserable shall have joy in Jehovah, and the poor of men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel" (29:19).

By the miserable and poor are here also signified those with whom there is a deficiency of truth and good, and who, nevertheless, desire them; of these it is said that they "shall have joy in Jehovah, and exult in the Holy One of Israel," and not of those who are miserable and poor as to worldly wealth.

[5] From these considerations it is evident what is signified by the miserable and poor in other passages in the Word, as in the following:

"The poor shall not always be forgotten; and the hope of the miserable shall not perish for ever" (Psalms 9:18).

Again:

"God shall judge the miserable of the people, he shall keep the sons of the poor. He shall liberate the poor when he crieth; the miserable also. He shall spare the poor and the needy, and shall save the souls of the poor" (Psalms 72:4, 12, 13).

Again:

"The miserable shall see, those seeking Jehovah shall be glad, because Jehovah heareth the poor" (Psalms 69:32, 33).

Again:

"Jehovah delivereth the miserable from him that is too strong for him, and the poor from him that spoileth him?" (Psalms 35:10).

Again:

"The miserable and poor praise thy name" (74:21; 109:22).

"I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the miserable, and the judgment of the poor" (Psalms 140:12).

And also elsewhere; as in Isaiah 10:2; Jeremiah 22:16; Ezekiel 16:49; 18:12; 22:29; Amos. 8:4; Deuteronomy 15:11; 24:14. The reason why both the miserable and the poor are mentioned in the passages adduced above, is, that it is according to the style of the Word that where truth is treated of good is also treated of; and, in the opposite sense, where falsity is treated of evil is also treated of, because they form one, and are like a marriage. On this account the miserable and the poor are mentioned together; for by the miserable are meant those who are deficient in the knowledges of truth, and by the poor those who are deficient in the knowledges of good. (That there is such a marriage almost everywhere in the prophetical parts of the Word, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712, 3004, 3005, 3009, 4138, 5138, 5194, 5502, 6343, 7022, 7945, 8339, 9263, 9314.) On this account also it is said in what follows: "And blind and naked;" for by the blind are meant those who have no understanding of truth, and by the naked those who have no understanding and will of good. Also, in the verse following, it is said, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed;" for by gold tried in the fire is meant the good of love, and by white raiment the truths of faith. And further, it is said, "That the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see," by which is meant lest the evils and falsities should be seen. The case is the same in other passages; but that such a marriage exists in every part of the Word, none can see but those who are acquainted with its internal sense.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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