The Bible

 

Genesis 25

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1 προσθέμενος δὲ αβρααμ ἔλαβεν γυναῖκα ᾗ ὄνομα χεττουρα

2 ἔτεκεν δὲ αὐτῷ τὸν ζεμραν καὶ τὸν ιεξαν καὶ τὸν μαδαν καὶ τὸν μαδιαμ καὶ τὸν ιεσβοκ καὶ τὸν σωυε

3 ιεξαν δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν σαβα καὶ τὸν θαιμαν καὶ τὸν δαιδαν υἱοὶ δὲ δαιδαν ἐγένοντο ραγουηλ καὶ ναβδεηλ καὶ ασσουριιμ καὶ λατουσιιμ καὶ λοωμιμ

4 υἱοὶ δὲ μαδιαμ γαιφα καὶ αφερ καὶ ενωχ καὶ αβιρα καὶ ελραγα πάντες οὗτοι ἦσαν υἱοὶ χεττουρας

5 ἔδωκεν δὲ αβρααμ πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ ισαακ τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ

6 καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν παλλακῶν αὐτοῦ ἔδωκεν αβρααμ δόματα καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ ισαακ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ἔτι ζῶντος αὐτοῦ πρὸς ἀνατολὰς εἰς γῆν ἀνατολῶν

7 ταῦτα δὲ τὰ ἔτη ἡμερῶν ζωῆς αβρααμ ὅσα ἔζησεν ἑκατὸν ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε ἔτη

8 καὶ ἐκλιπὼν ἀπέθανεν αβρααμ ἐν γήρει καλῷ πρεσβύτης καὶ πλήρης ἡμερῶν καὶ προσετέθη πρὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ

9 καὶ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν ισαακ καὶ ισμαηλ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον τὸ διπλοῦν εἰς τὸν ἀγρὸν εφρων τοῦ σααρ τοῦ χετταίου ὅ ἐστιν ἀπέναντι μαμβρη

10 τὸν ἀγρὸν καὶ τὸ σπήλαιον ὃ ἐκτήσατο αβρααμ παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν χετ ἐκεῖ ἔθαψαν αβρααμ καὶ σαρραν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ

11 ἐγένετο δὲ μετὰ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν αβρααμ εὐλόγησεν ὁ θεὸς ισαακ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ κατῴκησεν ισαακ παρὰ τὸ φρέαρ τῆς ὁράσεως

12 αὗται δὲ αἱ γενέσεις ισμαηλ τοῦ υἱοῦ αβρααμ ὃν ἔτεκεν αγαρ ἡ παιδίσκη σαρρας τῷ αβρααμ

13 καὶ ταῦτα τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν υἱῶν ισμαηλ κατ' ὄνομα τῶν γενεῶν αὐτοῦ πρωτότοκος ισμαηλ ναβαιωθ καὶ κηδαρ καὶ ναβδεηλ καὶ μασσαμ

14 καὶ μασμα καὶ ιδουμα καὶ μασση

15 καὶ χοδδαδ καὶ θαιμαν καὶ ιετουρ καὶ ναφες καὶ κεδμα

16 οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ υἱοὶ ισμαηλ καὶ ταῦτα τὰ ὀνόματα αὐτῶν ἐν ταῖς σκηναῖς αὐτῶν καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἐπαύλεσιν αὐτῶν δώδεκα ἄρχοντες κατὰ ἔθνη αὐτῶν

17 καὶ ταῦτα τὰ ἔτη τῆς ζωῆς ισμαηλ ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα ἑπτὰ ἔτη καὶ ἐκλιπὼν ἀπέθανεν καὶ προσετέθη πρὸς τὸ γένος αὐτοῦ

18 κατῴκησεν δὲ ἀπὸ ευιλατ ἕως σουρ ἥ ἐστιν κατὰ πρόσωπον αἰγύπτου ἕως ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ἀσσυρίους κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ κατῴκησεν

19 καὶ αὗται αἱ γενέσεις ισαακ τοῦ υἱοῦ αβρααμ αβρααμ ἐγέννησεν τὸν ισαακ

20 ἦν δὲ ισαακ ἐτῶν τεσσαράκοντα ὅτε ἔλαβεν τὴν ρεβεκκαν θυγατέρα βαθουηλ τοῦ σύρου ἐκ τῆς μεσοποταμίας ἀδελφὴν λαβαν τοῦ σύρου ἑαυτῷ γυναῖκα

21 ἐδεῖτο δὲ ισαακ κυρίου περὶ ρεβεκκας τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτοῦ ὅτι στεῖρα ἦν ἐπήκουσεν δὲ αὐτοῦ ὁ θεός καὶ ἔλαβεν ἐν γαστρὶ ρεβεκκα ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ

22 ἐσκίρτων δὲ τὰ παιδία ἐν αὐτῇ εἶπεν δέ εἰ οὕτως μοι μέλλει γίνεσθαι ἵνα τί μοι τοῦτο ἐπορεύθη δὲ πυθέσθαι παρὰ κυρίου

23 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος αὐτῇ δύο ἔθνη ἐν τῇ γαστρί σού εἰσιν καὶ δύο λαοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας σου διασταλήσονται καὶ λαὸς λαοῦ ὑπερέξει καὶ ὁ μείζων δουλεύσει τῷ ἐλάσσονι

24 καὶ ἐπληρώθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ τεκεῖν αὐτήν καὶ τῇδε ἦν δίδυμα ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ αὐτῆς

25 ἐξῆλθεν δὲ ὁ υἱὸς ὁ πρωτότοκος πυρράκης ὅλος ὡσεὶ δορὰ δασύς ἐπωνόμασεν δὲ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ησαυ

26 καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἐξῆλθεν ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ἐπειλημμένη τῆς πτέρνης ησαυ καὶ ἐκάλεσεν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ιακωβ ισαακ δὲ ἦν ἐτῶν ἑξήκοντα ὅτε ἔτεκεν αὐτοὺς ρεβεκκα

27 ηὐξήθησαν δὲ οἱ νεανίσκοι καὶ ἦν ησαυ ἄνθρωπος εἰδὼς κυνηγεῖν ἄγροικος ιακωβ δὲ ἦν ἄνθρωπος ἄπλαστος οἰκῶν οἰκίαν

28 ἠγάπησεν δὲ ισαακ τὸν ησαυ ὅτι ἡ θήρα αὐτοῦ βρῶσις αὐτῷ ρεβεκκα δὲ ἠγάπα τὸν ιακωβ

29 ἥψησεν δὲ ιακωβ ἕψεμα ἦλθεν δὲ ησαυ ἐκ τοῦ πεδίου ἐκλείπων

30 καὶ εἶπεν ησαυ τῷ ιακωβ γεῦσόν με ἀπὸ τοῦ ἑψέματος τοῦ πυρροῦ τούτου ὅτι ἐκλείπω διὰ τοῦτο ἐκλήθη τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ εδωμ

31 εἶπεν δὲ ιακωβ τῷ ησαυ ἀπόδου μοι σήμερον τὰ πρωτοτόκιά σου ἐμοί

32 εἶπεν δὲ ησαυ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ πορεύομαι τελευτᾶν καὶ ἵνα τί μοι ταῦτα τὰ πρωτοτόκια

33 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ιακωβ ὄμοσόν μοι σήμερον καὶ ὤμοσεν αὐτῷ ἀπέδοτο δὲ ησαυ τὰ πρωτοτόκια τῷ ιακωβ

34 ιακωβ δὲ ἔδωκεν τῷ ησαυ ἄρτον καὶ ἕψεμα φακοῦ καὶ ἔφαγεν καὶ ἔπιεν καὶ ἀναστὰς ὤ|χετο καὶ ἐφαύλισεν ησαυ τὰ πρωτοτόκια

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4290

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4290. In the internal historical sense 'he said, I will not let you go unless you bless me' means that they insisted on being representative, for being insistent is meant by 'I will not let you' and the representative of the Church by 'being blessed'. This particular matter - the insistence of Jacob's descendants that they should be representative of the Church, though they were no more the elect than any other nation - is not very clear, it is true, from the historical narratives of the Word contained in the sense of the letter. It is not clear because those narratives hold the arcana of heaven within them, which accordingly follow one another in a connected sequence, and also because the actual names there are used to mean spiritual realities, many of which names indeed are used in the highest sense to mean the Lord. Examples of these are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who mean in the highest sense the Lord, as has been shown many times in what has gone before; see also 1965, 1989, 2011, 3245, 3305 (end), 3439.

[2] The fact that Jacob's descendants were not the elect, yet they insisted that the Church should have its existence among themselves, may be seen from the internal historical sense in many places in the Word, openly so in the following statements in Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, Go up from here, you and the people which you made to go up out of the land of Egypt, into the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, To your seed I will give it. I will not go up in your midst, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way. When the people heard this bad news, 1 they mourned and took off every one his ornament from upon him. And Moses took a tent and pitched it for himself outside the camp, far away from the camp. Moses said to Jehovah, See, You say to me, Make this people go up, when You have not made known to me whom You will send with me. Now therefore, if, I pray, I have found favour in Your eyes, make known to me, I pray, Your ways, so that I may know of You, that I have found favour in Your eyes. See also that this nation is Your people. He said therefore, My presence will go [with you], until I give you rest. Exodus 33:1, 3-4, 7, 12-14.

In this chapter of Exodus it is said that Moses made the people go up out of Egypt and then that they took off their ornaments and mourned, and that Moses pitched the tent outside the camp and that Jehovah gave His assent. This shows plainly that they themselves were insistent.

[3] In the same author,

Jehovah said to Moses, How long will this people provoke Me? And how long will they not believe, for all the signs which I have performed in their midst? I will strike them down with pestilence and annihilate them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are. But Moses entreated Jehovah, who being appeased said, I will be gracious according to your word. But yet, I am the living One, and all the earth will be filled with the glory of Jehovah; for as for all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the desert, and despite this have tempted Me these ten times and have not obeyed My voice, they will not see the land which I swore to their fathers; all who provoke Me will not see it. In this desert will your bodies fall, but I will bring in your children. Numbers 14[11-13, 20-23, 29, 31].

From these verses also it is evident that Jehovah was willing to annihilate them and therefore not to establish the Church among them, but that they insisted it should be established among them, and therefore it was done. And there were many other occasions besides this when Jehovah would have wiped out that repeatedly rebellious nation but repeatedly He allowed Himself to be appeased by their entreaties.

[4] The same is also implied by the fact that Balaam was not allowed to curse that people, in 22 Chapters, 24 of Numbers; in addition to other places where it is said that Jehovah repented of having brought that people in; also that Jehovah was appeased, as well as that He repeatedly made a new covenant with them. These are the kinds of things that are meant in the internal historical sense by the words 'I will not let you go unless you bless me'. Something similar is also meant by Jacob's taking the birthright from Esau as well as taking the blessing by deceit from him, in Chapters 25, 27 of Genesis.

Footnotes:

1. literally, evil word

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

The Bible

 

Exodus 34

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1 Yahweh said to Moses, "Chisel two stone tablets like the first: and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.

3 No one shall come up with you; neither let anyone be seen throughout all the mountain; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mountain."

4 He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets.

5 Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Yahweh.

6 Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, "Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,

7 keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children's children, on the third and on the fourth generation."

8 Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.

9 He said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us; although this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance."

10 He said, "Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among which you are shall see the work of Yahweh; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you.

11 Observe that which I command you this day. Behold, I drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

12 Be careful, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare in the midst of you:

13 but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherim;

14 for you shall worship no other god: for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

15 "Don't make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice;

16 and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods.

17 "You shall make no cast idols for yourselves.

18 "You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib; for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt.

19 "All that opens the womb is mine; and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of cow and sheep.

20 The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb: and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. No one shall appear before me empty.

21 "Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.

22 "You shall observe the feast of weeks with the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of harvest at the year's end.

23 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel.

24 For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before Yahweh, your God, three times in the year.

25 "You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the Passover be left to the morning.

26 "You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of Yahweh your God. "You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk."

27 Yahweh said to Moses, "Write you these words: for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel."

28 He was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

29 It happened, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mountain, that Moses didn't know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him.

30 When Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come near him.

31 Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them.

32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them all of the commandments that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.

33 When Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face.

34 But when Moses went in before Yahweh to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and he came out, and spoke to the children of Israel that which he was commanded.

35 The children of Israel saw Moses' face, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.