The Bible

 

Genesis 30

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1 At nang makita ni Raquel, na hindi siya nagkakaanak kay Jacob, ay nainggit si Raquel sa kaniyang kapatid; at sinabi kay Jacob, Bigyan mo ako ng anak, o kung hindi ay mamamatay ako!

2 At nagningas ang galit ni Jacob laban kay Raquel; at nagsabi, Ako ba'y nasa kalagayan ng Dios, na nagkait sa iyo ng bunga ng bahay-bata?

3 At sinabi niya, Narito ang aking alilang si Bilha, sumiping ka sa kaniya; upang manganak sa ibabaw ng aking mga tuhod, at magkaroon din naman ako ng anak sa pamamagitan niya.

4 At ibinigay niyang asawa si Bilha na kaniyang alila: at sinipingan ni Jacob.

5 At naglihi si Bilha, at nagkaanak kay Jacob, ng isang lalake.

6 At sinabi ni Raquel, Hinatulan ako ng Dios, at dininig din naman ang aking tinig, at binigyan ako ng anak: kaya't pinanganlang Dan.

7 At si Bilhang alila ni Raquel ay naglihi uli at ipinanganak ang kaniyang ikalawang anak kay Jacob.

8 At sinabi ni Raquel, Ako'y nakipagbaka ng malaking pakikipagbaka sa aking kapatid, at ako'y nanaig: at siya'y pinanganlang Nephtali.

9 Nang makita ni Lea, na siya'y hindi na nanganganak, ay kinuha si Zilpa na kaniyang alila at ibinigay na asawa kay Jacob.

10 At si Zilpa na alila ni Lea ay nagkaanak ng isang lalake kay Jacob.

11 At sinabi ni Lea, Kapalaran! at pinanganlang Gad.

12 At ipinanganak ni Zilpa na alila ni Lea, ang kaniyang ikalawang anak kay Jacob.

13 At sinabi ni Lea, Mapalad ako! sapagka't tatawagin akong mapalad ng mga babae: at tinawag niya ang kaniyang pangalan na Aser.

14 At yumaon si Ruben nang panahon ng paggapas ng trigo, at nakasumpong ng mga mandragoras sa bukid, at dinala sa kaniyang inang kay Lea. Nang magkagayo'y sinabi ni Raquel kay Lea, Ipinamamanhik ko sa iyo na bigyan mo ako ng mga mandragoras ng iyong anak.

15 At kaniyang sinabi, Kakaunti pa bang bagay na iyong kinuha ang aking asawa? at ibig mo pa ring kunin ang mga mandragoras ng aking anak? At sinabi ni Raquel, Kaya't sisiping siya sa iyo ngayong gabi, dahil sa mga mandragoras ng iyong anak.

16 At si Jacob ay umuwing galing sa bukid ng hapon, at sinalubong siya ni Lea, at sa kaniya'y sinabi, Sa akin ka dapat sumiping; sapagka't tunay na ikaw ay aking inupahan ng mga mandragoras ng aking anak. At sumiping siya sa kaniya ng gabing yaon.

17 At dininig ng Dios si Lea: at siya'y naglihi at kaniyang ipinanganak kay Jacob ang kaniyang ikalimang anak.

18 At sinabi ni Lea, Ibinigay sa akin ng Dios ang aking kaupahan, sapagka't ibinigay ko ang aking alila sa aking asawa: at kaniyang pinanganlang Issachar.

19 At naglihi uli si Lea, at kaniyang ipinanganak ang kaniyang ikaanim na anak kay Jacob.

20 At sinabi ni Lea, Binigyan ako ng Dios ng isang mabuting kaloob; ngayo'y makikisama na sa akin ang aking asawa, sapagka't nagkaanak ako sa kaniya ng anim na lalake: at kaniyang pinanganlang Zabulon.

21 At pagkatapos ay nanganak siya ng babae, at kaniyang pinanganlang Dina.

22 At naalala ng Dios si Raquel, at dininig ng Dios, at binuksan ang kaniyang bahay-bata.

23 At siya'y naglihi at nanganak ng lalake; at kaniyang sinabi, Inalis ng Dios sa akin ang kakutyaan ko:

24 At kaniyang tinawag ang pangalan niya na Jose, na sinasabi, Dagdagan pa ako ng Panginoon ng isang anak.

25 At nangyari, nang maipanganak ni Raquel si Jose, na sinabi ni Jacob kay Laban, Papagpaalamin mo ako upang ako'y makaparoon sa aking dakong tinubuan at sa aking lupain.

26 Ibigay mo sa akin ang aking mga asawa at ang aking mga anak, na siyang kadahilanan ng ipinaglingkod ko sa iyo, at papagpaalamin mo ako: sapagka't talastas mo ang paglilingkod na ipinaglingkod ko sa iyo.

27 At sinabi sa kaniya ni Laban, Kung ako'y nakasumpong ng biyaya sa harap ng iyong mga mata, matira ka: aking napagkilala, na pinagpala ako ng Panginoon dahil sa iyo.

28 At kaniyang sinabi, Sabihin mo sa akin ang iyong kaupahan, at ibibigay ko sa iyo.

29 At sinabi niya sa kaniya, Nalalaman mo kung paanong pinaglingkuran kita, at kung anong lagay ng iyong mga hayop dahil sa akin.

30 Sapagka't kakaunti ang tinatangkilik mo bago ako dumating, at naging isang karamihan; at pinagpala ka ng Panginoon saan man ako pumihit; at ngayo'y kailan naman ako maghahanda ng sa aking sariling bahay?

31 At sa kaniya'y sinabi, Anong ibibigay ko sa iyo? At sinabi ni Jacob, Huwag mo akong bigyan ng anoman: kung ito'y iyong gawin sa akin, ay muli kong papastulin at aalagaan ang iyong kawan.

32 Dadaanan ko ang lahat mong kawan ngayon, na aking ihihiwalay doon ang lahat ng batikbatik at may dungis, at ang lahat na maitim sa mga tupa, at ang may dungis at batikbatik sa mga kambing: at siyang magiging aking kaupahan.

33 Gayon ako sasagutan ng aking katuwiran sa haharapin, pagparito mo, tungkol sa aking kaupahan, na nasa harap mo; yaong lahat na walang batik at walang dungis sa mga kambing, at hindi maitim sa mga tupa, na masusumpungan sa akin, ay maibibilang mong nakaw.

34 At sinabi ni Laban, Narito, mangyari nawa ayon sa iyong sabi.

35 At inihiwalay ni Laban ng araw ding yaon ang mga lalaking kambing na may batik at may dungis, at ang lahat ng babaing kambing na may batik at may dungis, lahat ng mayroong kaunting puti, at lahat ng maitim sa mga tupa, at ibinigay sa mga kamay ng kaniyang mga anak;

36 At siya'y naglakad ng tatlong araw ang pagitan kay Jacob; at pinakain ni Jacob ang nalabi sa mga kawan ni Laban.

37 At kumuha si Jacob ng mga sanga ng alamo, at almendro at kastano; at pinagbabakbakan ng mga batik na mapuputi, at kaniyang pinalitaw na gayon ang puti na nasa mga sanga.

38 At kaniyang inilagay ang mga sangang kaniyang binakbakan sa mga bangbang, sa harap ng kawan, sa mga pinagpapainuman; na pinaparoonan ng mga kawan upang uminom; at nangaglilihi pagka nagsisiparoon upang uminom.

39 At nangaglilihi ang mga kawan sa harap ng mga sanga at nanganganak ang mga kawan ng mga may guhit, may batik at may dungis.

40 At ang mga korderong ito ay inihihiwalay ni Jacob, at inihaharap ang kawan sa dakong may batik, at ang lahat ng maitim sa kawan ni Laban; sa kaniyang ibinukod ang mga kawan niya rin, at hindi isinama sa kawan ni Laban.

41 At nangyari, na kailan ma't maglilihi ang mga malakas sa kawan, ay inilalagay ni Jacob ang mga sanga sa harap ng mga mata ng kawan sa mga bangbang, upang sila'y papaglihihin sa gitna ng mga sanga.

42 Datapuwa't pagka ang kawan ay mahina ay hindi niya inilalagay, kaya't ang mahina ay nagiging kay Laban at ang malakas ay kay Jacob.

43 At ang lalake ay lumagong mainam; at nagkaroon ng malalaking kawan, at ng mga aliping babae at lalake, at ng mga kamelyo at ng mga asno.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3913

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3913. 'She said, Behold, my maidservant Bilhah' means the affirming means, which has its place between natural truth and interior truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a maidservant', and also of 'a servant-girl' as the affection for the cognitions which belong to the exterior man, dealt with in 1895, 2567, 3835, 3849, and in this particular case since that affection is the means by which interior truths become joined to natural or external truths, 'a maidservant' therefore describes the affirming means that has its place between these; and from the representation of 'Bilhah' as the nature of that means. The two servant-girls which Rachel and Leah gave to Jacob as wives for producing offspring represented and meant in the internal sense nothing else than something which is of service, in this case something serving as the means by which those two things are joined together, namely interior truth with external truth, for 'Rachel' represents interior truth, 'Leah' external, 3793, 3819. Indeed by means of the twelve sons of Jacob twelve general or principal requisites are described here by which a person is introduced into spiritual and celestial things while he is being regenerated or becoming the Church.

[2] Actually when a person is being regenerated or becoming the Church, that is, when from being a dead man he is becoming a living one, or from being a bodily-minded man is becoming a heavenly-minded one, he is led by the Lord through many states. These general states are specified by those twelve sons, and later by the twelve tribes, so that the twelve tribes mean all aspects of faith and love - see what has been shown in 3858. For any general whole includes every particular and individual detail, and each detail exists in relation to the general whole. When a person is being regenerated the internal man is to be joined to the external man, and therefore the goods and truths which belong to the internal man are to be joined to those which belong to the external man, for it is truths and goods that make a person a human being. These cannot be joined together without means. These means consist in such things as take something from one side and something from the other, and act in such a way that insofar as a person moves closer to one the other plays a subordinate role. These means are meant by the servant-girls - Rachel's servant-girls being the means available from the internal man, Leah's the means available from the external man.

[3] The necessity for means by which the joining together is effected may be recognized from the consideration that of himself the natural man does not agree at all with the spiritual but disagrees so much as to be utterly opposed to the spiritual. For the natural man regards and loves self and the world, whereas the spiritual man does not, except insofar as to do so leads to the rendering of services in the spiritual world, and so he regards service to it and loves this service because of the use that is served and the end in view. The natural man seems to himself to have life when he is promoted to high positions and so to pre-eminence over others, but the spiritual man seems to himself to have life in self-abasement and in being the least. Not that he despises high positions, provided they are means by which he is enabled to serve the neighbour, society as a whole, and the Church. Neither does the spiritual man view the important positions to which he is promoted in any selfish way but on account of the services rendered which are his ends in view. Bliss for the natural man consists in his being wealthier than others and in his possessing worldly riches, whereas bliss for the spiritual man consists in his having cognitions of truth and good which are the riches he possesses, and even more so in the practice of good in accordance with truths. Not however that he despises riches, because these enable him to render a service in the world.

[4] These few considerations show that on account of their different ends in view the state of the natural man and the state of the spiritual are the reverse of each other, but that the two can be joined one to the other. That conjunction is effected when things which belong to the external man become subordinate and are subservient to the ends which the internal man has in view. In order that a person may become spiritual therefore it is necessary for the things belonging to the external man to be brought into a position of subservience, and so for ends that have self and the world in view to be cast aside and those that have the neighbour and the Lord's kingdom to be adopted. The former cannot possibly be cast aside or the latter adopted, and so the two cannot be joined, except through means. It is these means that are meant by the servant-girls, and specifically by the four sons born to the servant-girls.

[5] The first means is one that affirms, or is affirmative towards, internal truth; that is to say, it affirms that it really is internal truth. Once this affirmative attitude is present, a person is in the first stage of regeneration, good from within being at work and leading to that spirit of affirmation. That good cannot pass into a negative attitude, nor even into one of doubt, until this becomes affirmative. After this, that good manifests itself in affection; that is to say, it causes the person to feel an affection for, and delight in, truth - first through his coming to know this truth, then through his acting in accordance with it. Take for example the truth that the Lord is the human race's salvation. If the person does not develop an affirmative attitude towards this truth, none of the things which he has learned about the Lord from the Word or in the Church and which are included among the facts in his natural memory can be joined to his internal man, that is, to the truths that are able to be truths of faith there. Nor can affection accordingly enter in, not even into the general aspects of this truth which contribute to the person's salvation. But once he develops an affirmative attitude countless things are added and are filled with the good that is flowing in. For good is flowing in constantly from the Lord, but where no affirmative attitude exists it is not accepted. An affirmative attitude is therefore the first means and so to speak first dwelling-place of the good flowing in from the Lord. And the same is so with all other truths called the truths of faith.

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