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Genesis 35

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1 At sinabi ng Dios kay Jacob, Tumindig ka, umahon ka sa Bethel, at tumahan ka roon; at gumawa ka roon ng isang dambana sa Dios na napakita sa iyo nang ikaw ay tumatakas mula sa harap ng iyong kapatid na si Esau.

2 Nang magkagayo'y sinabi ni Jacob sa kaniyang sangbahayan, at sa lahat niyang kasama. Ihiwalay ninyo ang mga dios ng iba na nangasa inyo, at magpakalinis kayo, at magbago kayo ng inyong mga suot:

3 At tayo'y magsitindig at magsisampa tayo sa Bethel; at gagawa ako roon ng dambana sa Dios na sumagot sa akin sa araw ng aking kahapisan, at sumaakin sa daan na aking nilakaran.

4 At kanilang ibinigay kay Jacob ang lahat ng ibang pinaka dios na nasa kamay nila, at ang mga hikaw na nasa kanilang mga tainga; at itinago ni Jacob sa ilalim ng punong encina na malapit sa Sichem.

5 At sila'y naglakbay; at ang isang malaking sindak mula sa Dios ay sumabayan na nasa mga palibot nila, at hindi nila hinabol ang mga anak ni Jacob.

6 Sa gayo'y naparoon si Jacob sa Luz, na nasa lupain ng Canaan (na siyang Bethel), siya at ang buong bayang kasama niya.

7 At siya'y nagtayo roon ng isang dambana at tinawag niya ang dakong yaon na El-beth-el; sapagka't ang Dios ay napakita sa kaniya roon, nang siya'y tumatakas sa harap ng kaniyang kapatid.

8 At namatay si Debora na yaya ni Rebeca, at nalibing sa paanan ng Bethel, sa ilalim ng encina, na ang pangalan ay tinawag na Allon-bacuth.

9 At ang Dios ay napakita uli kay Jacob, nang siya'y manggaling sa Padan-aram, at siya'y pinagpala.

10 At sinabi sa kaniya ng Dios, Ang pangalan mo'y Jacob; ang pangalan mo'y hindi na tatawagin pang Jacob kundi Israel ang itatawag sa iyo: at tinawag ang kaniyang pangalan na Israel.

11 At sinabi sa kaniya ng Dios, Ako ang Dios na Makapangyarihan sa lahat; ikaw ay lumago at dumami ka; isang bansa at isang kapisanan ng mga bansa ang magmumula sa iyo, at mga hari ay lalabas sa iyong balakang;

12 At ang lupaing ibinigay ko kay Abraham at kay Isaac, ay ibibigay ko sa iyo, at sa iyong lahi pagkamatay mo ay ibibigay ko ang lupain.

13 At ang Dios ay napailanglang mula sa tabi niya sa dakong pinakipagusapan sa kaniya.

14 At si Jacob ay nagtayo ng isang batong pinakaalaala sa dakong pinakipagusapan sa kaniya ng Dios, haliging bato: at binuhusan niya ng isang inuming handog at binuhusan niya ng langis.

15 At tinawag ni Jacob na Bethel ang dakong pinakipagusapan sa kaniya ng Dios.

16 At sila'y naglakbay mula sa Bethel; at may kalayuan pa upang dumating sa Ephrata: at nagdamdam si Raquel, at siya'y naghihirap sa panganganak.

17 At nangyari, nang siya'y naghihirap sa panganganak, na sinabi sa kaniya ng hilot, Huwag kang matakot, sapagka't magkakaroon ka ng isa pang anak na lalake.

18 At nangyari, nang nalalagot ang kaniyang hininga (sapagka't namatay siya), ay kaniyang pinanganlang Benoni: datapuwa't pinanganlan ng kaniyang ama na Benjamin.

19 At namatay si Raquel at inilibing sa daang patungo sa Ephrata (na siyang Bethlehem).

20 At nagtayo si Jacob ng isang batong pinakaalaala sa ibabaw ng kaniyang libingan: na siyang batong pinakaalaala ng libingan ni Raquel hanggang ngayon.

21 At naglakbay si Israel at iniladlad ang kaniyang tolda sa dako pa roon ng moog ng Eder.

22 At nangyari, samantalang tumatahan si Israel sa lupaing yaon, na si Ruben ay yumaon at sumiping kay Bilha, na babae ng kaniyang ama; at ito'y nabalitaan ni Israel. Labing dalawa nga ang anak na lalake ni Jacob.

23 Ang mga anak ni Lea, ay: si Ruben, na panganay ni Jacob, at si Simeon, at si Levi, at si Juda at si Issachar, at si Zabulon.

24 Ang mga anak ni Raquel, ay: si Jose at si Benjamin:

25 At ang mga anak ni Bilha, na alila ni Raquel, ay: si Dan at si Nephtali:

26 At ang mga anak ni Zilpa na alilang babae ni Lea, ay: si Gad at si Aser: ito ang mga anak ni Jacob na ipinanganak sa kaniya sa Padan-aram.

27 At naparoon si Jacob kay Isaac na kaniyang ama, sa Mamre, sa Kiriat-arba (na siyang Hebron), na doon tumahan si Abraham at si Isaac.

28 At ang mga naging araw ni Isaac ay isang daan at walong pung taon.

29 At nalagot ang hininga ni Isaac at namatay, at siya'y nalakip sa kaniyang bayan, matanda at puspos ng mga araw: at inilibing siya ng kaniyang mga anak na si Esau at si Jacob.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4552

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4552. 'And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem' means an eternal casting away. This is clear from the meaning of 'hiding' as casting away and burying as dead, and from the meaning of 'under the oak' as for ever, for being a tree that lives to a very great age, 'the oak' meant, when anything was hidden under it, that which is everlasting. It also had the meaning of that which is tangled up, and above all that which is deceptive and false, because compared with everything above it the lowest part of the natural is tangled up and deceptive, inasmuch as it relies on the physical senses, and so on deceptive ideas, for its knowledge and delight. Specifically 'the oak' means the lowest part of the natural, and therefore in the good sense means the truths and goods there, and in the contrary sense the evils and falsities there.

[2] Furthermore, when falsities are being removed in the case of a regenerate person they are cast away to the lowest part of the natural. For this reason when anyone has become mature in judgement and clear-sighted, and especially when he has become intelligent and wise, those things in the natural seem to be far removed from the interior sight he has. For with one who is regenerate truths are present within the inmost part of his natural alongside the good there, which is like a small sun. Other kinds of truths which are dependent on these are distanced from them by, so to speak, their relationships by blood or through marriage to good. Deceptive truths exist in the more outlying parts, and falsities are cast away to the outermost parts. These remain with a person for ever, arranged - when he allows himself to be led by the Lord - into the kind of order that has just been described. For that ordering is a heavenly one since heaven itself is ordered in a similar way. But when a person does not allow himself to be led by the Lord but by evil, a contrary ordering exists. In his case evil together with falsities is at the centre; truths have then been cast away to the surrounding parts, and actual Divine truths to the ultimate parts. This ordering is a hellish one since hell itself is ordered in a similar way. The most outlying parts constitute the lowest of the natural.

[3] The reason why 'the oak' means falsities which are the lowest parts of the natural is that in the Ancient Church, when external worship representative of the Lord's kingdom existed, all trees of every kind had some spiritual or else celestial meaning. The olive, for example, and consequently olive oil, meant those things which belonged to celestial love; the vine and consequently wine those things that belonged to charity and from this to faith; and so on with every other kind of tree, such as the cedar, the fig, the poplar, the beech, and the oak, which too had their own individual meanings, as shown in various places in explanatory sections. It is because of the meaning these trees had in the Ancient Church that they are mentioned so many times in the Word, as also in general are gardens, groves, and forests, and that people held their worship in these, under particular trees. But because that worship became idolatrous, and the descendants of Jacob, among whom a representative of the Church was to be established, were inclined to idolatrous practices and therefore set up so many idols in such places, they were forbidden to hold worship in gardens and groves, under the trees there. Even so, these trees retained their spiritual or celestial meanings. Consequently not only the more noble trees, such as olives, vines, and cedars, but also the poplar, the beech, and the oak, when mentioned in the Word, have the same meanings as they had in the Ancient Church.

[4] 'Oaks' in the good sense means the truths and forms of good that make up the lowest parts of the natural, and in the contrary sense the falsities and evils which do so, as is clear from places where they are mentioned in the Word and understood in the internal sense, as in Isaiah,

Those forsaking Jehovah will be consumed, for they will be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired. And you will be like an oak, casting down its leaves and like a garden that has no water. Isaiah 1:28-30.

In the same prophet,

The day of Jehovah Zebaoth upon everyone uplifted or lowly, and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, and upon all the oaks of Bashan. Isaiah 2:12-13.

Anyone may recognize that 'the day of Jehovah' is not going to be a visitation upon cedars and oaks but upon people meant by those trees. In the same prophet,

He who fashions a god cuts down cedars for himself, and takes a beech and an oak and strengthens himself among the trees of the forest. Isaiah 44:10, 14.

[5] In Ezekiel,

You will acknowledge that I am Jehovah, when their slain lie in the midst of the idols around their altars, upon every high hill, on all the mountain-tops, and under every green tree, and under every entangled oak, in the place where they offered an odour of rest to all their idols. Ezekiel 6:13.

The ancients also worshipped on hills and mountains because 'hills and mountains' means heavenly love - though when idolaters do the same, self-love and love of the world are meant, 795, 796, 1430, 2722, 4210 - and also under trees because, as stated above, each had a meaning of its own depending on what kind of tree it was. 'Under an entangled oak' here means worship based on falsities constituting the lowest parts of the natural, for they exist there in an entangled condition, 2831. In Hosea,

They offer sacrifice on mountain-tops and burn incense on hills, under oak, poplar, and hard oak, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. Hosea 4:13.

'Committing whoredom' means falsifying truths, and 'committing adultery' perverting forms of good - see 2466, 2729, 3399. In Zechariah,

Open your doors, O Lebanon, and let fire consume your cedars, for the cedar is fallen, for the magnificent ones are ruined. Howl, O oaks of Bashan, for the forest of Bazir has come down. Zechariah 11:1-2.

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