The Bible

 

Génesis 28

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1 ENTONCES Isaac llamó á Jacob, y bendíjolo, y mandóle diciendo: No tomes mujer de las hijas de Canaán.

2 Levántate, ve á Padan-aram, á casa de Bethuel, padre de tu madre, y toma allí mujer de las hijas de Labán, hermano de tu madre.

3 Y el Dios omnipotente te bendiga y te haga fructificar, y te multiplique, hasta venir á ser congregación de pueblos;

4 Y te dé la bendición de Abraham, y á tu simiente contigo, para que heredes la tierra de tus peregrinaciones, que Dios dió á Abraham.

5 Así envió Isaac á Jacob, el cual fué á Padan-aram, á Labán, hijo de Bethuel Arameo, hermano de Rebeca, madre de Jacob y de Esaú.

6 Y vió Esaú cómo Isaac había bendecido á Jacob, y le había enviado á Padan-aram, para tomar para sí mujer de allí; y que cuando le bendijo, le había mandado, diciendo: No tomarás mujer de las hijas de Canaán;

7 Y que Jacob había obedecido á su padre y á su madre, y se había ido á Padan-aram.

8 Vió asimismo Esaú que las hijas de Canaán parecían mal á Isaac su padre;

9 Y fuése Esaú á Ismael, y tomó para sí por mujer á Mahaleth, hija de Ismael, hijo de Abraham, hermana de Nabaioth, además de sus otras mujeres.

10 Y salió Jacob de Beer-seba, y fué á Harán;

11 Y encontró con un lugar, y durmió allí porque ya el sol se había puesto: y tomó de las piedras de aquel paraje y puso á su cabecera, y acostóse en aquel lugar.

12 Y soñó, y he aquí una escala que estaba apoyada en tierra, y su cabeza tocaba en el cielo: y he aquí ángeles de Dios que subían y descendían por ella.

13 Y he aquí, Jehová estaba en lo alto de ella, el cual dijo: Yo soy Jehová, el Dios de Abraham tu padre, y el Dios de Isaac: la tierra en que estás acostado te la daré á ti y á tu simiente.

14 Y será tu simiente como el polvo de la tierra, y te extenderás al occidente, y al oriente, y al aquilón, y al mediodía; y todas las familias de la tierra serán benditas en ti y en tu simiente.

15 Y he aquí, yo soy contigo, y te guardaré por donde quiera que fueres, y te volveré á esta tierra; porque no te dejaré hasta tanto que haya hecho lo que te he dicho.

16 Y despertó Jacob de su sueño dijo: Ciertamente Jehové está en este lugar, y yo no lo sabía.

17 Y tuvo miedo, y dijo: ­Cuán terrible es este lugar! No es otra cosa que casa de Dios, y puerta del cielo.

18 Y levantóse Jacob de mañana, y tomó la piedra que había puesto de cabecera, y alzóla por título, y derramó aceite encima de ella.

19 Y llamó el nombre de aquel lugar Beth-el, bien que Luz era el nombre de la ciudad primero.

20 E hizo Jacob voto, diciendo: Si fuere Dios conmigo, y me guardare en este viaje que voy, y me diere pan para comer y vestido para vestir,

21 Y si tornare en paz á casa de mi padre, Jehová será mi Dios,

22 Y esta piedra que he puesto por título, será casa de Dios: y de todo lo que me dieres, el diezmo lo he de apartar para ti.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3691

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3691. 'And went to Haran' means closer to that degree of good and truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'Haran' as external good and truth, for 'Haran' means that which is external, and 'Laban' who lived there means that which is good and true, so that 'Haran' here means external good and truth. That this is what 'Haran' means, see 1430, 3612. From this it is evident that 'Jacob went out from Beersheba and went to Haran' means in the internal sense that he took himself to a position more remote from matters of doctrine that were Divine and so closer to external good and truth.

[2] The reason why the phrase 'that degree of good and truth' is used is that goods and truths are quite distinct and separate from one another according to the degrees they belong to. Interior goods and truths exist in a higher degree, exterior goods and truths in a lower one. In a higher degree are the goods and truths which belong to the rational, in a lower one the goods and truths that belong to the natural, and in the lowest degree are the sensory goods and truths that belong to the body. Interior goods and truths, or those which exist in the higher degree, flow into exterior goods and truths, or those existing in the lower degree, and present an image of themselves there, almost as a person's interior affections present themselves in his face and in the changing expressions seen there. From this it is evident that interior goods and truths are entirely separate from exterior goods and truths, or what amounts to the same, those which exist in the higher degree are entirely separate from those in the lower one, so separate that those which are interior or existing in the higher degree are able to manifest themselves independently of those that are exterior or existing in the lower one. Anyone who does not have a clear-cut idea of degrees cannot have a clear-cut idea of interior and exterior goods and truths, or of how a person's soul or spirit and his body are related to each other, or of how in the next life the heavens are related to one another.

[3] It is well known that there are three heavens, that one heaven is interiorly within another, and that the third heaven is the inmost. These heavens are utterly distinct and separate, each a separate degree from the others. Members of the inmost or third are closer to the Lord; members of the less interior or second are more remote; and members of the exterior or first are more remote still. No communication between those heavens is possible other than a communication like that of the inmost parts of the human being with the exterior parts of him, for anyone who is governed by love to the Lord and by charity towards the neighbour is a miniature heaven, corresponding in image to the three heavens. In addition, he receives from those three heavens an influx, in three similar degrees, of good and truth from the Lord. What each of these is like compared with the other two becomes clear from the two examples introduced above in 3688, 3690.

[4] Those who are governed by true love to the Lord, so much so that they have a perception of that love, are in the higher degree of good and truth. They are in the inmost or third heaven, thus closer to the Lord, and are called celestial angels. Those however who are governed by charity towards the neighbour, so much so that they have a perception of that charity but not so much a perception of love to the Lord, are in a lower degree of good and truth. They are in the interior or second heaven, accordingly more remote from the Lord, and are referred to as spiritual angels. Those however who are governed by charity towards the neighbour that arises solely from an affection for truth, so much so that they do not have any perception of that charity towards the neighbour except from the truth for which they have an affection, are in a still lower degree of good and truth. They are in the exterior or first heaven, accordingly more remote still from the Lord, and are termed good spirits.

[5] This shows to some extent the relationship of these degrees to one another, that is to say, it shows that things existing in a higher degree present an image of themselves that is formed from the things belonging to the degree immediately below them. Love to the Lord contains the closest image of the Lord. That image is called a likeness and therefore people who are governed by true love to the Lord are called likenesses of Him. Charity too contains an image of the Lord, though in a more remote way - for within genuine charity the Lord is present - and therefore people who are governed by such charity are referred to as His images, see 50, 51, 1013. But those who are governed by the affection for truth and consequently by a certain kind of charity towards the neighbour are also images of the Lord, yet in a more remote way still. Into these separate degrees the three heavens are distinguished, and in accordance with those same degrees the Lord flows in with Divine Good and Truth, and so with wisdom and intelligence, together with heavenly joy and happiness.

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