The Bible

 

Génesis 34

Study

   

1 Y SALIO Dina la hija de Lea, la cual había ésta parido á Jacob, á ver las hijas del país.

2 Y vióla Sichêm, hijo de Hamor Heveo, príncipe de aquella tierra, y tomóla, y echóse con ella, y la deshonró.

3 Mas su alma se apegó á Dina la hija de Lea, y enamoróse de la moza, y habló al corazón de la joven.

4 Y habló Sichêm á Hamor su padre, diciendo: Tómame por mujer esta moza.

5 Y oyó Jacob que había Sichêm amancillado á Dina su hija: y estando sus hijos con su ganando en el campo, calló Jacob hasta que ellos viniesen.

6 Y dirigióse Hamor padre de Sichêm á Jacob, para hablar con él.

7 Y los hijos de Jacob vinieron del campo cuando lo supieron; y se entristecieron los varones, y se ensañaron mucho, porque hizo vileza en Israel echándose con la hija de Jacob, lo que no se debía haber hecho.

8 Y Hamor habló con ellos, diciendo: El alma de mi hijo Sichêm se ha apegado á vuestra hija; ruégoos que se la deis por mujer.

9 Y emparentad con nosotros; dadnos vuestras hijas, y tomad vosotros las nuestras.

10 Y habitad con nostros; porque la tierra estará delante de vosotros; morad y negociad en ella, y tomad en ella posesión.

11 Sichêm también dijo á su padre y á sus hermanos: Halle yo gracia en vuestros ojos, y daré lo que me dijereis.

12 Aumentad á cargo mío mucho dote y dones, que yo daré cuanto me dijereis, y dadme la moza por mujer.

13 Y respondieron los hijos de Jacob á Sichêm y á Hamor su padre con engaño; y parlaron, por cuanto había amancillado á Dina su hermana.

14 Y dijéronles: No podemos hacer esto de dar nuestra hermana á hombre que tiene prepucio; porque entre nosotros es abominación.

15 Mas con esta condición os haremos placer: si habéis de ser como nosotros, que se circuncide entre vosotros todo varón;

16 Entonces os daremos nuestras hijas, y tomaremos nosotros las vuestras; y habitaremos con vosotros, y seremos un pueblo.

17 Mas si no nos prestareis oído para circuncidaros, tomaremos nuestra hija, y nos iremos.

18 Y parecieron bien sus palabras á Hamor y á Sichêm, hijo de Hamor.

19 Y no dilató el mozo hacer aquello, porque la hija de Jacob le había agradado: y él era el más honrado de toda la casa de su padre.

20 Entonces Hamor y Sichêm su hijo vinieron á la puerta de su ciudad, y hablaron á los varones de su ciudad, diciendo:

21 Estos varones son pacíficos con nosotros, y habitarán en el país, y traficarán en él: pues he aquí la tierra es bastante ancha para ellos: nosotros tomaremos sus hijas por mujeres, y les daremos las nuestras.

22 Mas con esta condición nos harán estos hombres el placer de habitar con nosotros, para que seamos un pueblo: si se circuncidare en nosotros todo varón, así como ellos son circuncidados.

23 Sus ganados, y su hacienda y todas sus bestias, serán nuestras: solamente convengamos con ellos, y habitarán con nosotros.

24 Y obedecieron á Hamor y á Sichêm su hijo todos los que salían por la puerta de la ciudad, y circuncidaron á todo varón, á cuantos salían por la puerta de su ciudad.

25 Y sucedió que al tercer día, cuando sentían ellos el mayor dolor, los dos hijos de Jacob, Simeón y Leví, hermanos de Dina, tomaron cada uno su espada, y vinieron contra la ciudad animosamente, y mataron á todo varón.

26 Y á Hamor y á Sichêm su hijo los mataron á filo de espada: y tomaron á Dina de casa de Sichêm, y saliéronse.

27 Y los hijos de Jacob vinieron á los muertos y saquearon la ciudad; por cuanto habían amancillado á su hermana.

28 Tomaron sus ovejas y vacas y sus asnos, y lo que había en la ciudad y en el campo,

29 Y toda su hacienda; se llevaron cautivos á todos sus niños y sus mujeres, y robaron todo lo que había en casa.

30 Entonces dijo Jacob á Simeón y á Leví: Habéisme turbado con hacerme abominable á los moradores de aquesta tierra, el Cananeo y el Pherezeo; y teniendo yo pocos hombres, juntarse han contra mí, y me herirán, y seré destruido yo y mi casa.

31 Y ellos respondieron ¿Había él de tratar á nuestra hermana como á una ramera?

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4429

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

4429. 'To see the daughters of the land' means to get to know the affections for truth, and the Churches which arise from these. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as getting to know, dealt with frequently already; from the meaning of 'the daughters' as affections, and consequently Churches, dealt with in 2362, 3024, 3963; and from the meaning of 'the land', in this case the land of Canaan, as that area where the Church is, and therefore also the Church itself, dealt with in 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 3686, 3705.

[2] The meaning of these things contained in this verse becomes clear from those that follow, for the subject is the representative of the Church which was to be established among the descendants of Jacob. This representative among them could not be established until they had undergone complete vastation so far as interior truths were concerned, that is, until they no longer had any knowledge of them; see 4289. Interior truths are all those which are represented and meant by the religious observances which they were commanded to keep; for every religious observance represented, and was a sign meaning, something in the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and consequently something in the Lord's kingdom on earth, that is, in the Church. The things which they meant and represented are in this instance interior truths. The fact that all the things, each one, which the descendants of Jacob were commanded to observe when a representative of the Church was established among them - which things are laid down in the books of Moses, especially in Exodus and Leviticus - were representatives and meaningful signs of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom has been shown throughout the explanatory sections. None of these spiritual and celestial things were known to the descendants of Jacob, for the character of those descendants was such that if they had known them they would have profaned them, 301-303, 2520, 3398, 3479, 3769, 4281, 4293. For that reason they did not enter into those representatives until they had undergone complete vastation so far as interior things were concerned. The subject in this chapter therefore is those truths and that people's annihilation of them.

[3] The representatives which the descendants of Jacob were commanded to observe were not new, the majority being like those that had been in use formerly among the Ancients. Unlike the descendants of Jacob however, that is, unlike the Jews and Israelites, the Ancients did not worship external things but internal ones. Through internal things they acknowledged the Lord Himself. Remnants of the Church from ancient times still existed in the land of Canaan, especially among those who were called Hittites and Hivites. This is why those nations represent the truths of the Church. From all this one may now have some idea of what is meant by Dinah, the daughter of Jacob by Leah, going out to see the daughters of the land. For 'Dinah' represents the external Church such as was established among the descendants of Jacob, while 'the daughters of the land' means Churches existing among the Ancients. Everywhere in the Word Churches are meant in its internal sense by 'daughters', see 2362, 3024, where this meaning has been shown; and 'land' means an area and a nation where the Church exists, and so means the Church, 662, 1066, 1067, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 3686, 3705.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4281

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

4281. 'The hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him' means that in the descendants of Jacob that conjunction had been thoroughly damaged and the two loves pulled apart. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'wrestling' in this sense as being pulled apart and so suffering damage. It is evident from what has been stated above in 4280 that 'the hollow of the thigh' means a joining together; and that 'Jacob' in the Word means not only Jacob but also all his descendants is clear from very many places, such as Numbers 23:7, 10, 21, 23; 24:5, 17, 19; Deuteronomy 33:10; Isaiah 40:27; 43:1, 22; 44:1-2, 21; 48:12; 59:20; Jeremiah 10:16, 25; 30:7, 10, 18; 31:7, 11; 46:27-28; Hosea 10:11; Amos 7:2; Micah 2:12; 3:8; Psalms 14:7; 24:6; 59:13; 78:5; 99:4; and in other places.

[2] Jacob and his descendants were by nature such that with them celestial and spiritual love could not be joined to natural good, that is, the internal or spiritual man could not be joined to the external or natural man. This is evident from the details told in the Word concerning that nation. For they neither knew nor wished to know what the internal or spiritual man was, and therefore that matter was not revealed to them. In fact it was their belief that nothing existed with man apart from the external and natural. Nor in all their worship did they have anything else in mind, so that Divine worship with them was wholly idolatrous; for once internal worship is separated from external, it is nothing but idolatrous. The Church which was established among them was not in fact a Church but only a representative of the Church, for which reason that Church is called a representative Church. For it was possible for a representative of the Church to exist among such people, see 1361, 3670, 4208.

[3] Indeed in representations no attention is paid to the person who represents, only to the thing represented by him. Consequently not only persons represented Divine, celestial, or spiritual things, but also inanimate objects, such as Aaron's garments, the ark, the altar, the oxen and sheep which used to be sacrificed, the lampstand with its lamps, the bread of the presence on the table of gold, the oil with which they were anointed, the frankincense, and other objects like these. This was why their kings, bad ones no less than the good, represented the Lord's kingship, and why their high priests, bad ones no less than the good, represented the things that belong to the Lord's Divine priesthood, when they performed their own function in external form according to the prescribed rules and commands. In order therefore that among them a representative of the Church might come into existence they were provided through plainly visible revelation with such prescribed rules and such laws as would be entirely representative. Therefore as long as they kept to them and strictly complied with them, those people were able to play a representative role. But when they deviated from them into the prescribed rules and laws of other nations, and in particular to the worship of another god, they deprived themselves of their ability to play that representative role. For this reason they were coerced by external means - which were captivities, calamities, threats, and miracles - into obeying laws and prescribed rules that were truly representative, not by internal means, as those people are whose external worship has internal within it. These are the considerations that are meant in the internal historical sense by the words 'the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint', which sense has regard to Jacob and his descendants.

  
/ 10837  
  

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