The Bible

 

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 #6306

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6306. 'Which I took out of the hand of the Amorite' means because of the victory over evil. This is clear from the representation of 'the Amorite' as evil, dealt with in 1857; and from the meaning of 'taking out of the hand' as acquiring through victory. As regards 'the Amorites', it should be recognized that they mean evil, just as 'the Canaanites' and all the other nations in the land that are mentioned in the Word mean various kinds of evil and also of falsity. Such things were represented by the nations when the children of Israel were taking possession of the land of Canaan. The reason for this was that whenever the children of Israel represented the things of heaven those nations represented the things of hell; thus the land of Canaan represented every state that exists in the next life. Also, because the nations represented the things of hell they were utterly destroyed; and entrance into any treaty with those who might remain was forbidden.

[2] The action of the children of Israel, of their taking possession of and dwelling in the land of those who represented the hells, was representative. It represented what happened around the time of the Lord's Coming, when spirits from hell had possession of a large part of heaven but He, by coming into the world and making the human within Himself Divine, cast them out of there and down into hell, and thereby delivered heaven from them, which He then gave as an inheritance to those who belonged to His spiritual kingdom.

[3] The representation of the Amorite nation as evil in general is evident from the places where it is referred to, as in Ezekiel, Thus said the Lord Jehovih to Jerusalem, 1 Your tradings and your births are of the land of the Canaanite. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. Ezekiel 16:3, 45.

'Father' in the internal sense means the Church's good, or in the contrary sense evil, and 'mother' means the Church's truth, or in the contrary sense falsity; and this is why it is said, 'Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite'.

[4] In Amos,

I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and whose strength was like the oaks. I led you in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. Amos 2:9-10.

Here also 'the Amorite' stands for evil, for the evil of self-love is described by 'the height of the cedars' and 'the strength of an oak'. The reason why 'the Amorite' means evil in general is that the entire land of Canaan was called 'the land of the Amorite'; for it says, 'I led you in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite'. In addition the second Book of Kings says,

Manasseh king of Judah did what was evil, greater than all the evil which the Amorites did, who were before him. 2 Kings 21:11.

[5] 'With my sword' means through truth engaged in conflict. This is clear from the meaning of 'sword' as truth engaged in conflict, dealt with in 2799, 4499.

'And my bow' means received from doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'bow' as doctrine, dealt with in 2686, 2709.

[6] The words used here, 'the portion which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow' were, it is quite evident, uttered by Israel on account of the internal sense; for Jacob did not take that portion from the Amorite with sword or bow. He bought it from the sons of Hamor, as is evident from Genesis 33, where these words occur, Jacob came to Salem, the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, as he was coming from Paddan Aram; and he encamped towards the face of the city. And he bought the portion of the field where he had stretched his tent, from the hand of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitahs. Genesis 33:18-19.

The fact that this field was the portion he gave to Joseph is clear in Joshua,

The bones of Joseph which the children of Israel caused to be brought up out of Egypt they buried in Shechem, in the part of the field which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitahs; and they had become an inheritance for the children of Joseph. Joshua 24:32.

From this it is evident that the portion had been bought, and that this is what was given to Joseph. Nor was the city of Shechem nearby meant, the city in which Simeon and Levi killed every male and which they took with the sword, Genesis 34. This is made clear by the fact that Jacob detested what they did and for that reason cursed Simeon and Levi, completely dissociating himself from the crime. He said,

Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of violence are their swords. Into their secret place let my soul not come; in their congregation let not my glory be united; for in their anger they killed a man, and in their pleasure they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was hard. 2 I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. Genesis 49:5-7.

From all this it may now be seen that the words 'the portion which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow' were uttered by him, when the spirit of prophecy rested on him, for the sake of the internal sense.

Footnotes:

1. The Latin means O Jerusalem but the Hebrew means to Jerusalem, which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse (and possibly in his rough draft here).

2. i.e. cruel

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

The Bible

 

Genesis 22

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1 It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" He said, "Here I am."

2 He said, "Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of."

3 Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him.

4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off.

5 Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you."

6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together.

7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, "My father?" He said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

8 Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they both went together.

9 They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood.

10 Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.

11 The angel of Yahweh called to him out of the sky, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" He said, "Here I am."

12 He said, "Don't lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."

13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

14 Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide. As it is said to this day, "On Yahweh's mountain, it will be provided."

15 The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of the sky,

16 and said, "I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,

17 that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies.

18 In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."

19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba.

20 It happened after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, "Behold, Milcah, she also has borne children to your brother Nahor:

21 Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,

22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel."

23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.