The Bible

 

Génesis 33

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1 Y alzando Jacob sus ojos miró, y he aquí venía Esaú, y los cuatrocientos hombres con él; entonces repartió él los niños entre Lea y Raquel y las dos siervas.

2 Y puso las siervas y sus niños delante; luego a Lea y a sus niños; y a Raquel y a José los postreros.

3 Y él pasó delante de ellos, y se inclinó a tierra siete veces, hasta que llegó a su hermano.

4 Y Esaú corrió a su encuentro, y le abrazó, y se echó sobre su cuello, y le besó; y lloraron.

5 Y alzó sus ojos, y vio las mujeres y los niños, y dijo: ¿Quiénes son éstos? Y él respondió: Son los niños que Dios ha dado a tu siervo.

6 Y se llegaron las siervas, ellas y sus niños, y se inclinaron.

7 Y vino Lea con sus niños, y se inclinaron; y después llegó José y Raquel, y también se inclinaron.

8 Y él dijo: ¿Qué te propones con todas estas cuadrillas que he encontrado? Y él respondió: El hallar gracia en los ojos de mi señor.

9 Y dijo Esaú: Suficiente tengo yo, hermano mío; sea para ti lo que es tuyo.

10 Y dijo Jacob: No, yo te ruego, si he hallado ahora gracia en tus ojos, toma mi presente de mi mano, que por eso he visto tu rostro, como si hubiera visto el rostro de Dios; y hazme placer.

11 Toma, te ruego, mi bendición que te es traída; porque Dios me ha hecho merced, y todo lo que hay aquí es mío. Y porfió con él, y la tomó.

12 Y dijo: Anda, y vamos; y yo iré delante de ti.

13 Y él le dijo: Mi señor sabe que los niños son tiernos, y que tengo ovejas y vacas paridas; y si las fatigan, en un día morirán todas las ovejas.

14 Pase ahora mi señor delante de su siervo, y yo me iré poco a poco al paso de la hacienda que va delante de mí, y al paso de los niños, hasta que llegue a mi señor a Seir.

15 Y Esaú dijo: Dejaré ahora contigo de la gente que viene conmigo. Y él dijo: ¿Para qué esto? Halle yo gracia en los ojos de mi señor.

16 Así se volvió Esaú aquel día por su camino a Seir.

17 Y Jacob partió a Sucot, y edificó allí casa para sí, e hizo cabañas para su ganado; por tanto llamó el nombre de aquel lugar Sucot.

18 Y vino Jacob sano a la ciudad de Siquem, que está en la tierra de Canaán, cuando venía de Padan-aram; y se asentó delante de la ciudad.

19 Y compró una parte del campo, donde tendió su tienda, de mano de los hijos de Hamor, padre de Siquem, por cien piezas de moneda.

20 Y asentó allí un altar, y lo llamó: El Fuerte Dios de Israel.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #4391

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4391. 'And made booths for his cattle' means a similar increase in good and truth at that time. This is clear from the meaning of 'cattle' as goods and truths in general, and from the meaning of 'making booths', which are tents, as something similar to what is meant by 'building a house', namely receiving an increase of good from truth. The two phrases differ in that 'building a house' means that which is less general, and so rather more internal, while 'making booths', or tents, means that which is more general, and so rather more external. The house was intended for themselves, that is to say, for Jacob, his womenfolk and children, the booths for the servants, flocks and herds. In the Word 'booths' or tents, strictly speaking, means the holiness of truth, and they are distinguished from tabernacles, which too are called tents, by the fact that the latter mean the holiness of good, 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 4128. The word in the original language for booths is 'succoth', whereas that for tabernacles is 'ohalim'. The holiness of truth is the good which springs from truth.

[2] This meaning carried by the booths or tents called 'succoth' is further evident from the following places in the Word: In David,

Jehovah God rode on a cherub, and flew, and was borne on the wings of the wind. He made darkness His hiding-place, and His surroundings His tent - darkness of waters, clouds of the heavens. Psalms 18:10-11.

And elsewhere,

He bowed the heavens when He came down, and thick darkness was under His feet. And He rode on a cherub, and new, and was borne on the wings of the wind. And He made tents of darkness around Him, clusters of water, clouds of the heavens. 2 Samuel 22:10-12.

This refers to Divine revelation, or the Word. 'Bowing the heavens when He came down' stands for hiding the interior truths of the Word. 'Thick darkness under His feet' stands for the fact that compared with interior truths, those visible to man are like darkness, the literal sense of the Word being of such a nature. 'Riding on a cherub' stands for the fact that it was provided in this way. 'Making tents of the darkness around Him' or 'making His surroundings His tent' stands for the holiness of truth concealed in its hiding-place, that is to say, inwardly - within the literal sense. 'Clusters of waters and clouds of the heavens' means the Word in the letter. Regarding 'clouds of the heavens' meaning the Word in the letter, see Preface to Chapter 18 of Genesis, and 4060.

[3] The same is meant by the following in Isaiah,

Jehovah will create over every habitation of mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tent for shade by day, and for a refuge and hiding-place from deluge and rain. Isaiah 4:5-6.

Here again 'cloud' means the literal sense of the Word and 'the glory' the internal sense, as they do in Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27. Again also 'a tent' stands for the holiness of truth. Interior truths are said to be in a hiding-place for the reason that if they had been revealed they would have been made profane, see 3398, 3399, 4289, a point that is also expressed in the following words in David,

In the hiding-place of Your face You conceal them from the treacherous plans of man; You hide them in a tent from the strife of tongues. Psalms 31:20.

[4] The fact that 'a tent' means the holiness of truth is also evident in Amos,

On that day I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen down, and I will close up the breaches, and I will raise up its destroyed places, and I will build it as in the days of old. Amos 9:11.

'Raising up the tent of David that is fallen down' stands for reestablishing the holiness of truth after it has perished. 'David' stands for the Lord as regards Divine Truth, 1888, since 'a king' means Divine Truth, 2015, 2069, 3009. Because 'tent' meant the holiness of truth and 'dwelling in tents' means worship that was the product of this, the feast of tents, called the feast of tabernacles, was established in the Jewish and Israelitish Church, Leviticus 23:34, 42-43; Deuteronomy 16:13, 16, where also that feast is called the feast of succoth, or of tents.

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