The Bible

 

1 Mose 28

Study

   

1 Da rief Isaak seinen Sohn Jakob und segnete ihn und gebot ihm und sprach zu ihm: Nimm nicht ein Weib von den Töchtern Kanaans;

2 sondern mache dich auf und ziehe nach Mesopotamien zum Hause Bethuels, des Vaters deiner Mutter, und nimm dir ein Weib daselbst von den Töchtern Labans, des Bruders deiner Mutter.

3 Aber der allmächtige Gott segne dich und mache dich fruchtbar und mehre dich, daß du werdest ein Haufe Völker,

4 und gebe dir den Segen Abrahams, dir und deinem Samen mit dir, daß du besitzest das Land, darin du ein Fremdling bist, das Gott Abraham gegeben hat.

5 Also fertigte Isaak den Jakob ab, daß er nach Mesopotamien zog zu Laban, Bethuels Sohn, in Syrien, dem Bruder Rebekkas, seiner und Esaus Mutter.

6 Als nun Esau sah, daß Isaak Jakob gesegnet hatte und abgefertigt nach Mesopotamien, daß er daselbst ein Weib nähme, und daß er, indem er ihn segnete, ihm gebot und sprach: Du sollst nicht ein Weib nehmen von den Töchtern Kanaans,

7 und daß Jakob seinem Vater und seiner Mutter gehorchte und nach Mesopotamien zog,

8 sah auch, daß Isaak, sein Vater, nicht gerne sah die Töchter Kanaans:

9 ging er hin zu Ismael und nahm zu den Weibern, die er zuvor hatte, Mahalath, die Tochter Ismaels, des Sohnes Abrahams, die Schwester Nebajoths, zum Weibe.

10 Aber Jakob zog aus von Beer-Seba und reiste gen Haran

11 und kam an einen Ort, da blieb er über Nacht; denn die Sonne war untergegangen. Und er nahm einen Stein des Orts und legte ihn zu seinen Häupten und legte sich an dem Ort schlafen.

12 Und ihm träumte; und siehe, eine Leiter stand auf der Erde, die rührte mit der Spitze an den Himmel, und siehe, die Engel Gottes stiegen daran auf und nieder;

13 und der HERR stand obendarauf und sprach: Ich bin der HERR, Abrahams, deines Vaters, Gott und Isaaks Gott; das Land darauf du liegst, will ich dir und deinem Samen geben.

14 Und dein Same soll werden wie der Staub auf Erden, und du sollst ausgebreitet werden gegen Abend, Morgen, Mitternacht und Mittag; und durch dich und deinen Samen sollen alle Geschlechter auf Erden gesegnet werden.

15 Und siehe, ich bin mit dir und will dich behüten, wo du hin ziehst, und will dich wieder herbringen in dies Land. Denn ich will dich nicht lassen, bis daß ich tue alles, was ich dir geredet habe.

16 Da nun Jakob von seinem Schlaf aufwachte, sprach er: Gewiß ist der HERR an diesem Ort, und ich wußte es nicht;

17 und fürchtete sich und sprach: Wie heilig ist diese Stätte! Hier ist nichts anderes als Gottes Haus, und hier ist die Pforte des Himmels.

18 Und Jakob stand des Morgens früh auf und nahm den Stein, den er zu seinen Häupten gelegt hatte, und richtete ihn auf zu einem Mal und goß Öl obendarauf

19 und hieß die Stätte Beth-El; zuvor aber hieß die Stadt Lus.

20 Und Jakob tat ein Gelübde und sprach: So Gott wird mit mir sein und mich behüten auf dem Wege, den ich reise, und mir Brot zu essen geben und Kleider anzuziehen

21 und mich in Frieden wieder heim zu meinem Vater bringen, so soll der HERR mein Gott sein;

22 und dieser Stein, den ich aufgerichtet habe zu einem Mal, soll ein Gotteshaus werden; und von allem, was du mir gibst, will ich dir den Zehnten geben.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10559

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

10559. And Moses said unto Jehovah. That this signifies indignation that the Divine was not with them, thus not the church itself, is evident from the signification of “saying,” as here being indignation, for “saying” involves the things which follow, because these are what he said, and the things which follow are things of indignation on this account, that the Divine would not be with them, thus that the church would not be with them, whereby they might be rendered pre-eminent to all that were upon the face of the earth, as is plain from verse sixteen which follows. The reason why the words of Moses to Jehovah were words of indignation on that account, was that Moses here bears relation to the head of the Israelitish nation (see above, n. 10556); wherefore he speaks for himself and for that nation, for he says, “I and the people” (verse 16). And because he here bears relation to that nation as its head, therefore by “Moses said unto Jehovah” is signified indignation; for a man who is such as was that nation, is indignant against God if he does not obtain his desires.

[2] This is done by all those who are in external things without what is internal, for if they reverence and adore God, and as it were love Him, it is not for His own sake, but for the sake of themselves, because they desire nothing else than eminence above others and wealth beyond others, this being the fire which excites their reverence and adoration, and as it were their love. But if they do not obtain what they desire, they forsake God. That that nation was of such a character is very evident from the historicals of the Word. The like is signified by the words of Jacob:

Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way wherein I walk, and will give me bread to eat, and a garment to put on, and I return in peace to my father’s house, then Jehovah shall be to me for God (Genesis 28:20-21).

These words mean that if he should receive these things, he would acknowledge Jehovah for his God; but if he should not receive them, he would not acknowledge Him. Such also was the nation descended from him. From this it is that that nation so often fell away, and worshiped other gods, until at last they were for this reason cast out from the land of Canaan, first the Israelitish nation, and afterward the Jewish. It is evident that the cause of the indignation above spoken of was that if Jehovah did not go with them they would not become preeminent to all in the whole world.

[3] That it was also a cause of indignation that the church itself was not with them, follows from the fact that to be brought by Jehovah into the land of Canaan denotes to become the church. The reason of this is that the church had been in the land of Canaan from the most ancient times, and that the Word could not have been written elsewhere, thus except with the nation which possessed that land; and where the Word is, there is the church. That the Word could not have been written anywhere else was because all the places that were in the whole of that land, and that were round about it, such as the mountains, the valleys, the rivers, the forests, and all the rest, had become representative of celestial and spiritual things; and it was necessary that the sense of the letter of the Word, in both the historical and the prophetical parts, should consist of such things, because the interior things of the Word, which are celestial and spiritual, must close in such things, and as it were stand on them like a house upon its foundation; for unless the Word in respect to the sense of the letter, which is its ultimate, stood upon such things, it would be like a house without a foundation. That this is so is evident from the Word, in that mention is so often made of the places of that land, all of which, having become representative, signify the things of heaven and of the church.

[4] From this it is that to be brought into the land of Canaan signifies the setting up of the church, and that the indignation of Moses involves this also, although he did not think of it. (That the church was in the land of Canaan from the most ancient times, and that consequently all the places therein became representative, see n. 3686, 4447, 454, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6306, 6516, 8317, 9320, 9325; and that from this “the land of Canaan” in the Word signifies the church, see the places cited in n. 9325)

  
/ 10837  
  

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