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Génesis 29

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1 Y alzó Jacob sus pies, y fue a la tierra de los orientales.

2 Y miró, y vio un pozo en el campo; y he aquí tres rebaños de ovejas que yacían cerca de él; porque de aquel pozo abrevaban los ganados; y había una gran piedra sobre la boca del pozo.

3 Y se juntaban allí todos los rebaños; y revolvían la piedra de sobre la boca del pozo, y abrevaban las ovejas; y volvían la piedra sobre la boca del pozo a su lugar.

4 Y les dijo Jacob: Hermanos míos, ¿de dónde sois? Y ellos respondieron: De Harán somos.

5 Y él les dijo: ¿Conocéis a Labán, hijo de Nacor? Y ellos dijeron: Sí, le conocemos.

6 Y él les dijo: ¿Tiene paz? Y ellos dijeron: Paz; y he aquí Raquel su hija viene con el ganado.

7 Y él dijo: He aquí el día es aún grande; no es tiempo todavía de recoger el ganado; abrevad las ovejas, e id a apacentarlas.

8 Y ellos respondieron: No podemos, hasta que se junten todos los rebaños, y remuevan la piedra de sobre la boca del pozo, para que abrevemos las ovejas.

9 Estando aún él hablando con ellos, Raquel vino con el ganado de su padre, porque ella era la pastora.

10 Y sucedió que , cuando Jacob vio a Raquel, hija de Labán, hermano de su madre, y a las ovejas de Labán, el hermano de su madre, se acercó Jacob, y removió la piedra de sobre la boca del pozo, y abrevó el ganado de Labán, hermano de su madre.

11 Y Jacob besó a Raquel, y alzó su voz, y lloró.

12 Y Jacob dijo a Raquel como él era hermano de su padre, y como era hijo de Rebeca; y ella corrió, y dio las nuevas a su padre.

13 Y así que oyó Labán las nuevas de Jacob, hijo de su hermana, corrió a recibirlo, y lo abrazó, y lo besó, y lo trajo a su casa; y él contó a Labán todas estas cosas.

14 Y Labán le dijo: Ciertamente hueso mío y carne mía eres. Y estuvo con él un mes de días.

15 Entonces dijo Labán a Jacob: ¿Por ser tú mi hermano, me has de servir de balde? Declárame qué será tu salario.

16 Y Labán tenía dos hijas: el nombre de la mayor era Lea, y el nombre de la menor, Raquel.

17 Y los ojos de Lea eran tiernos, pero Raquel era de lindo semblante y de hermoso parecer.

18 Y Jacob amó a Raquel, y dijo: Yo te serviré siete años por Raquel, tu hija menor.

19 Y Labán respondió: Mejor es que te la dé a ti, y no que la dé a otro hombre; estáte conmigo.

20 Así sirvió Jacob por Raquel siete años; y le parecieron como pocos días, porque la amaba.

21 Y dijo Jacob a Labán: Dame mi mujer, porque mi tiempo es cumplido para que entre a ella.

22 Entonces Labán juntó a todos los varones de aquel lugar, e hizo banquete.

23 Y sucedió que a la noche tomó a Lea su hija, y se la trajo; y él entró a ella.

24 Y dio Labán su sierva Zilpa a su hija Lea por criada.

25 Y venida la mañana, he aquí que era Lea; y él dijo a Labán: ¿Qué es esto que me has hecho? ¿No te he servido por Raquel? ¿Por qué, pues, me has engañado?

26 Y Labán respondió: No se hace así en nuestro lugar, que se dé la menor antes de la mayor.

27 Cumple la semana de ésta, y se te dará también la otra, por el servicio que hicieres conmigo otros siete años.

28 E hizo Jacob así, y cumplió la semana de aquella; y él le dio a Raquel su hija por mujer.

29 Y dio Labán a Raquel su hija por criada a su sierva Bilha.

30 Y entró también a Raquel; y la amó también más que a Lea; y sirvió con él aún otros siete años.

31 Y vio el SEÑOR que Lea era aborrecida, y abrió su matriz; pero Raquel era estéril.

32 Y concibió Lea, y dio a luz un hijo, y llamó su nombre Rubén, porque dijo: Porque vio el SEÑOR mi aflicción; ahora por tanto me amará mi marido.

33 Y concibió otra vez, y dio a luz un hijo, y dijo: Por cuanto oyó el SEÑOR que yo era aborrecida, me ha dado también éste. Y llamó su nombre Simeón.

34 Y concibió otra vez, y dio a luz un hijo, y dijo: Ahora esta vez será juntado mi marido conmigo, porque le he dado a luz tres hijos: por tanto, llamó su nombre Leví.

35 Y concibió otra vez, y dio a luz un hijo, y dijo: Esta vez alabaré al SEÑOR; por esto llamó su nombre Judá; y dejó de dar a luz.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3854

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3854. 'Jehovah saw' means the Lord's foresight and providence. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' in reference to the Lord as foresight and providence, dealt with in the next verse where Reuben is the subject, who was so named from the expression 'to see' - 'Jehovah' being the Lord, see 1343, 1736, 1793, 2156, 2329, 2921, 3023, 3035.

[2] As regards foresight and providence in general, foresight has reference more to man, providence more to the Lord. The Lord foresaw from eternity what the human race was going to be like in the future and what every member of it was going to be like, and that evil was going to increase all the time, so that at length man, of himself, would rush headlong into hell. That being so, the Lord has provided not only the means by which He makes it possible for him to be diverted from hell and led towards heaven, but also does in His providence divert and lead him all the time. The Lord also foresaw that it would be impossible for any good to take root in man except in his freedom, for that which does not take root in freedom is dispelled at the first sign of evil and of temptation. This the Lord foresaw, as well as the fact that of himself, that is, from his own freedom, man would be inclined towards the deepest hell. That being so, the Lord provided that if he would not allow himself to be led in freedom towards heaven he could still be diverted towards a milder hell; but if he would allow himself to be led in freedom towards good then he could be diverted towards heaven. From these considerations one may see what foresight is and what providence is, and that appropriate provisions are made for things that are foreseen.

[3] From this it may be seen how far someone errs who believes that the Lord has not foreseen and does not see the smallest individual thing with man, or that within the smallest individual thing He does not foresee and lead, when in fact the Lord's foresight and providence are present within the tiniest details of all the smallest individual things with him, and in details so tiny that it is impossible to comprehend in any manner of thought one in many millions of them. For every smallest fraction of a moment of a person's life entails a chain of consequences extending into eternity. Indeed every one is like a new beginning to those that follow, and so every single moment of the life both of his understanding and of his will is a new beginning. And since the Lord foresaw from eternity what man was going to be like in the future and even into eternity it is clear that providence is present in the smallest individual things, and, as has been stated, is governing him and diverting him so that he may be such, this being achieved by constant re-shaping of his freedom. But this subject will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed further later on.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #7779

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7779. 'From Pharaoh's firstborn who is to sit on his throne' means falsified truths of faith that occupy the first place. This is clear from the meaning of 'firstborn' as faith, dealt with in 352, 2435, 6344, 7035; from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as factual knowledge in general perverting the Church's truths, dealt with in 6015, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692, so that 'Pharaoh's firstborn' is faith consisting of such truths, that is, faith consisting of falsified truths of faith; and from the meaning of 'throne' as the rule of truth, and in the contrary sense the rule of falsity, dealt with in 5313. The fact that 'Pharaoh's firstborn who is to sit on his throne' means falsified truths of faith that occupy the first place is evident from the use of the words 'even to the firstborn of the servant-girl who is behind the mill', which mean falsified truths of faith that occupy the very last place; besides which the king's son means that which is primary since the king is the head.

[2] Falsified truths occupying the first place are those which are taken to be essential truths, such as these: Faith saves a person irrespective of the life he has been leading; it saves a person in the final hour of his life; he is at that point pure and free from sins, which means that these are removed in an instant like dirt on the hands by water. Those falsified truths posit that faith does exist without charity, that so far as a person's salvation is concerned it does not matter what kind of life he leads, and also that a person who is a devil can become an angel of God in an instant. Such notions and others like them are the falsified truths occupying the first place; those that are immediately derived from them occupy the second place; and those which are remotely derived from them occupy the last place. For every truth has a long wide-ranging sequence of derivations, some of which are in a direct line from it, some at an angle, while those that merely touch on that truth stand on the outermost edges.

[3] The fact that such notions and others like them are falsified truths of faith is very plain to see. Does anyone who thinks properly not know that the life of faith makes a person spiritual, not faith except to the extent that it has been integrated into his life? A person's life is his love, and what he loves, that he wills and intends; and what he wills and intends, that he does. This is the essential nature (esse) of the person, not what he knows, or what he thinks but does not will. That essential nature of a person cannot possibly be changed into a different one by his thinking about mediation and salvation, only by new birth, which is being effected throughout a large part of his life. For he must be conceived, be born, and mature anew; and this is not effected by thinking and speaking, but by willing and acting.

[4] These matters have been stated because 'Pharaoh's firstborn' and 'the firstborn of the Egyptians' mean faith separated from charity, which - as has been shown in what has gone before - is not faith but the knowledge of such things as constitute faith. The reason why 'the firstborn of the Egyptians' represented that kind of faith is that the Egyptians, more than all others who constituted the representative Church after the time of the Flood, possessed a knowledge of the religious observances of the Church, 4749, 4964, 4966, 6004. At that time all ceremonies were representative of spiritual realities in heaven. The Egyptians had a greater knowledge of these than all others had; but in course of time they began to love merely their knowledge of them. They now began to think, as one finds at the present day, that the Church consisted entirely in knowing the kinds of things that have to do with the Church, and no longer in a charitable life. Thus they turned the whole order of the Church upside down; and once this had been turned upside down truths which are called the truths of faith were inevitably falsified. For if truths are applied in ways contrary to Divine order - as happens when they are applied to evils, or in the case of the Egyptians to acts of magic - they are no longer truths with those people but acquire from the evils to which they are applied the nature of falsities.

[5] Let the calf-worship among Egyptians serve to illustrate this. They knew what a calf represented, namely the good of charity. As long as they knew this and had this in mind, then when they saw calves, or when they prepared calves at charitable feasts, such as the ancients held, or later on when calves were used in sacrifices, they thought in a way that was sane and at the same time in company with the angels in heaven since a calf is for them the good of charity. But when they began to make calves of gold, place them in their temples, and worship them, they thought in an insane manner and at the same time in company with the hells. In that way they turned a true representative into a false one.

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