New Christian Bible Study

The Bible

 

Oseas 12

Study

   

1 Ang Ephraim ay kumakain ng hangin, at sumusunod sa hanging silanganan: siya'y laging nagpaparami ng mga kabulaanan at kasiraan; at sila'y nakikipagtipan sa Asiria, at ang langis ay dinadala sa Egipto.

2 Ang Panginoon ay may pakikipagkaalit din sa Juda, at parurusahan niya ang Jacob ayon sa kaniyang mga lakad; ayon sa kaniyang mga gawa ay gagantihan niya siya.

3 Sa bahay-bata ay kaniyang hinawakan sa sakong ang kaniyang kapatid; at sa kaniyang kabinataan ay nagtaglay ng kapangyarihan ng Dios:

4 Oo, siya'y nagtaglay ng kapangyarihan sa anghel, at nanaig: siya'y tumangis, at namanhik sa kaniya: nasumpungan niya siya sa Beth-el, at doo'y nakipagsalitaan siya sa atin.

5 Sa makatuwid baga'y ang Panginoon, ang Dios ng mga hukbo; ang Panginoon ay kaniyang alaala.

6 Kaya't magbalik-loob ka sa iyong Dios magingat ka ng kaawaan at ng kahatulan, at hintayin mong lagi ang iyong Dios.

7 Mangangalakal siya na may timbangang magdaraya sa kaniyang kamay: maibigin ng pagpighati.

8 At sinabi ng Ephraim, Tunay na ako'y naging mayaman, ako'y nakasumpong ng kayamanan; sa lahat ng aking gawin, walang masusumpungan sila sa akin na kasamaan,

9 Nguni't ako ang Panginoon mong Dios mula sa lupain ng Egipto, akin pa kitang patatahanin uli sa mga tolda, gaya sa mga kaarawan ng takdang kapistahan.

10 Ako rin naman ay nagsalita sa mga propeta, at ako'y nagparami ng mga pangitain; at sa pangangasiwa ng mga propeta ay gumamit ako ng mga talinhaga.

11 Ang Galaad baga'y kasamaan? sila'y pawang walang kabuluhan; sa Gilgal ay nangaghahain sila ng mga toro; oo, ang kanilang dambana ay parang mga bunton sa mga bungkal ng bukid.

12 At si Jacob ay tumakas na napatungo sa parang ng Aram, at naglingkod si Israel dahil sa isang asawa, at dahil sa isang asawa ay nagalaga ng mga tupa.

13 At sa pamamagitan ng isang propeta ay isinampa ng Panginoon ang Israel mula sa Egipto, at sa pamamagitan ng isang propeta, siya'y naingatan.

14 Ang Ephraim ay namungkahi ng di kawasang galit: kaya't ang kaniyang dugo ay maiiwan sa kaniya, at ibabalik ng kaniyang Panginoon sa kaniya ang kakutyaan sa kaniya.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3304

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

3304. 'And his hand was grasping Esau's heel' means the lowest level of natural good, to which [truth] clung with some power. This is clear from the meaning of 'the hand' as power, dealt with in 878, and as having reference to truth, 3091; from the meaning of 'grasping' as clinging to; from the meaning of 'the heel' as the lowest part of the natural, dealt with in 259; and from the representation of 'Esau' as the good of the natural, dealt with in 3302. From these meanings it is evident that 'his hand was grasping Esau's heel' means the lowest level of natural good, which truth clung to with some power.

[2] The implications of truth clinging with some power to the lowest good of the natural are that when the natural, or the natural man, is being regenerated, the conception of good and truth there is from the rational man, that is, from the spiritual man by way of the rational man, prior to this from the celestial man by way of the spiritual man, and prior to this from the Divine by way of the celestial man. Thus it is an influx which starts with the Divine and, passing through consecutive degrees, terminates in the lowest part of the natural, that is, in the worldly and bodily part. When the lowest natural has been contaminated by what is inherited from the mother, truth is unable to be united to good. It can do no more than cling to it with some power. Nor is truth united to good until the contamination has been eliminated. This is the reason why good but not truth is bred within a human being, and why small children therefore are devoid of all knowledge of truth and why truth has to be acquired through learning and after that joined to good, see 1831, 1832. This also explains why it is said that they struggled together within her, that is, they conflicted, 3289. Consequently when first conceived truth supplants good, as is said regarding Jacob, that he supplanted Esau,

Does he not call his name Jacob, and he has supplanted me these two times. Genesis 27:36.

And in Hosea,

He will make a visitation on Jacob over his ways and requite him according to his deeds; in the womb he supplanted his brother. Hosea 12:2-3.

[3] Those whose attention is fixed solely on the historical details and who cannot take it off these know no more than this, that the details contained here, and also those that have gone before [regarding the circumstances of the twins' birth], foretell what took place between Esau and Jacob, as is also corroborated by what follows. But the Lord's Word is such that the historical details follow their own sequence, while the spiritual details, which belong to the internal sense, follow theirs, so that the historical details are seen by the external man, but the spiritual details by the internal man. This being so a correspondence exists between the two, that is to say, between the external man and the internal man; and this is effected by means of the Word, for the Word serves to unite heaven and earth, as shown many times. Thus when anyone in a holy frame of mind reads the Word, a union is effected of his external man which is on earth with his internal man which is in heaven.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

©2024 New Christian Bible Study Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed from newchristianbiblestudy.org