The Bible

 

Exodo 4

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1 At si Moises ay sumagot at nagsabi, Datapuwa't, narito, hindi nila paniniwalaan ako, ni didinggin ang aking tinig sapagka't kanilang sasabihin, Ang Panginoon ay hindi napakita sa iyo.

2 At sinabi sa kaniya ng Panginoon, Ano iyang nasa iyong kamay? At kaniyang sinabi, Isang tungkod.

3 At kaniyang sinabi, Ihagis mo sa lupa. At kaniyang inihagis sa lupa, at naging isang ahas; at si Moises ay tumakas sa harap ng ahas.

4 At sinabi ng Panginoon kay Moises, Iunat mo ang iyong kamay, at sunggaban mo sa buntot: (at kaniyang iniunat ang kaniyang kamay, at kaniyang hinawakan, at naging isang tungkod sa kaniyang kamay).

5 Upang sila'y maniwala, na ang Dios ng iyong mga magulang, ang Dios ni Abraham, ang Dios ni Isaac, at ang Dios ni Jacob ay napakita sa iyo.

6 At sinabi pa sa kaniya ng Panginoon, Ipasok mo ang iyong kamay, sa iyong sinapupunan. At kaniyang ipinasok ang kamay niya sa kaniyang sinapupunan: at nang kaniyang ilabas, ay narito, ang kaniyang kamay ay may ketong, na maputing parang niebe.

7 At kaniyang sinabi, Ipasok mo uli ang iyong kamay sa iyong sinapupunan. (At kaniyang ipinasok uli ang kamay niya sa kaniyang sinapupunan, at nang kaniyang ilabas sa kaniyang sinapupunan, ay narito, nagsauling gaya ng kaniyang dating laman).

8 At mangyayari, na kung sila'y hindi maniniwala sa iyo, ni makikinig sa tinig ng unang tanda, ay kanilang paniniwalaan ang tinig ng huling tanda.

9 At mangyayari na kung sila'y hindi maniniwala sa dalawang tandang ito, ni hindi makikinig sa iyong tinig, ay kukuha ka ng tubig sa ilog, at iyong ibubuhos sa tuyong lupa, at ang tubig na iyong kukunin sa ilog ay magiging dugo sa tuyong lupa.

10 At sinabi ni Moises sa Panginoon, Oh Panginoon, ako'y hindi marikit mangusap, kahit ng panahong nakaraan, kahit mula ng magsalita ka sa iyong lingkod: sapagka't ako'y kimi sa pangungusap at umid sa dila.

11 At sinabi sa kaniya ng Panginoon, Sinong gumawa ng bibig ng tao? o sinong gumawa ng pipi, o bingi, o may paningin, o bulag sa tao? Hindi ba akong Panginoon?

12 Ngayon nga'y yumaon ka, at ako'y sasaiyong bibig, at ituturo ko sa iyo kung ano ang iyong sasalitain.

13 At kaniyang sinabi, Oh Panginoon, magsugo ka, isinasamo ko sa iyo, sa pamamagitan ng kamay niyaong iyong susuguin.

14 At ang galit ng Panginoon ay nagningas laban kay Moises, at kaniyang sinabi, Wala ba si Aarong kapatid mo na Levita? Nalalaman kong siya'y makapagsasalitang mabuti. At saka, narito, siya'y lumalabas upang salubungin ka; at pagkakita niya sa iyo, ay matutuwa sa kaniyang puso.

15 At ikaw ay magsasalita sa kaniya, at iyong isasabibig niya ang mga salita; at ako'y sasaiyong bibig at sasakaniyang bibig, at aking ituturo sa inyo, kung ano ang inyong gagawin.

16 At siya ang makikipagusap sa lagay mo sa bayan: at mangyayari na siya'y magiging sa iyo'y bibig, at ikaw ay magiging sa kaniya'y parang Dios.

17 At tatangnan mo sa iyong kamay ang tungkod na ito, na iyong ipaggagawa ng mga tanda.

18 At si Moises ay yumaon, at bumalik kay Jethro na kaniyang biyanan, at nagsabi sa kaniya, Pahintulutan mo akong yumaon, isinasamo ko sa iyo, at bumalik sa aking mga kapatid na nasa Egipto, at titingnan ko, kung sila'y nabubuhay pa. At sinabi ni Jethro kay Moises, Yumaon kang payapa.

19 At sinabi ng Panginoon kay Moises sa Madian, Yumaon ka, bumalik ka sa Egipto: sapagka't namatay na ang lahat ng tao, na nagmimithi ng iyong buhay.

20 At ipinagsama ni Moises ang kaniyang asawa at ang kaniyang mga anak, at kaniyang ipinagsasakay sa isang asno, at siya'y bumalik sa lupain ng Egipto: at tinangnan ni Moises ang tungkod ng Dios sa kaniyang kamay.

21 At sinabi ng Panginoon kay Moises, Pagkabalik mo sa Egipto, iyong gawin nga sa harap ni Faraon ang lahat ng kababalaghan na aking itiniwala sa iyong kamay: datapuwa't aking papagmamatigasin ang kaniyang puso, at hindi niya tutulutang yumaon ang bayan.

22 At iyong sasabihin kay Faraon, Ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon, Ang Israel ay aking anak, aking panganay:

23 At aking sinabi sa iyo, Pahintulutan mong ang aking anak ay yumaon, upang siya'y makapaglingkod sa akin; at ayaw mo siyang payaunin, narito, aking papatayin ang iyong anak, ang iyong panganay.

24 At nangyari sa daan, sa dakong panuluyanan, na sinalubong ng Panginoon siya, at pinagsikapang patayin siya.

25 Nang magkagayo'y sumunggab si Sephora ng isang batong matalim, at pinutol ang balat ng masama ng kaniyang anak, at inihagis sa kaniyang paanan; at kaniyang sinabi, Tunay na ikaw sa akin ay isang asawang mabagsik.

26 Sa gayo'y kaniyang binitiwan siya. Nang magkagayo'y kaniyang sinabi, Isang asawa kang mabagsik, dahil sa pagtutuli.

27 At sinabi ng Panginoon kay Aaron, Pumaroon ka sa ilang na salubungin mo si Moises. At siya'y pumaroon, at nasalubong niya sa bundok ng Dios, at kaniyang hinagkan.

28 At isinaysay ni Moises kay Aaron ang lahat ng salita ng Panginoon, na ipinagbilin sa kaniyang sabihin, at ang lahat ng tandang ipinagbilin sa kaniyang gawin.

29 At si Moises at si Aaron ay naparoon at tinipon ang lahat ng matanda sa mga anak ni Israel:

30 At sinalita ni Aaron ang lahat ng salita na sinalita ng Panginoon kay Moises, at ginawa ang mga tanda sa paningin ng bayan.

31 At ang bayan ay naniwala: at nang kanilang marinig na dinalaw ng Panginoon ang mga anak ni Israel, at kaniyang nakita ang kanilang kapighatian, ay iniyukod nga nila ang kanilang mga ulo at sumamba.

   

Commentary

 

Jacob or Israel (the man)

  

Jacob is told twice that his name will now be Israel. The first time is when he wrestles with an angel on his journey to meet Esau, and the angel tells him that his name will be changed. After he is reconciled with Esau, they go their separate ways. Jacob moves to Shechem and then on to Bethel, where he builds an altar to the Lord. The Lord appears to him there, renews the covenant He first made with Abraham and again tells him that his name will be Israel (Genesis 35). The story goes on to tell of Benjamin's birth and Rachel's death in bearing him, and then of Jacob's return to Isaac and Isaac's death and burial. But at that point the main thread of the story leaves Israel and turns to Joseph, and Israel is hardly mentioned until after Joseph has risen to power in Egypt, has revealed himself to his brothers and tells them to bring all of their father's household down to Egypt. There, before Israel dies, he blesses Joseph's sons, plus all his own sons. After his death he is returned to the land of Canaan for burial in Abraham's tomb. In the story of Jacob and Esau, Jacob represents truth, and Esau good. Jacob's stay in Padan-Aram, and the wealth he acquired there, represent learning the truths of scripture, just as we learn when we read the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount. The change of name from Jacob to Israel represents the realization that what we learn should not simply be knowledge, but should be the rules of our life, to be followed by action. This action is the good that Esau has represented in the story up to that time, but after the reconciliation between Jacob and Esau, Jacob as Israel now represents the truth and the good, together. It is interesting that even after his name change Jacob is rarely called Israel. Sometimes he is called one and sometimes the other, and sometimes he is called both Jacob and Israel in the same verse (Genesis 46:2, 5, & 8 also Psalm 14:7). This is because Jacob represents the external person and Israel the internal person, and even after the internal person comes into being, we spend much of our lives living on the external level.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 4274, 4292, 4570, 5595, 6225, 6256, Genesis 2:5, 46:8)

The Bible

 

Genesis 46

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1 Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac.

2 God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, "Jacob, Jacob!" He said, "Here I am."

3 He said, "I am God, the God of your father. Don't be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.

4 I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph will close your eyes."

5 Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

6 They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt--Jacob, and all his seed with him,

7 his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and he brought all his seed with him into Egypt.

8 These are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn.

9 The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.

11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron.

14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.

16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.

18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, even sixteen souls.

19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin.

20 To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.

21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

23 The son of Dan: Hushim.

24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

25 These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls were seven.

26 All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct descendants, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were sixty-six.

27 The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy.

28 He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen.

29 Joseph prepared his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

30 Israel said to Joseph, "Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive."

31 Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father's house, "I will go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and will tell him, 'My brothers, and my father's house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.

32 These men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.'

33 It will happen, when Pharaoh summons you, and will say, 'What is your occupation?'

34 that you shall say, 'Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:' that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians."