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Genesis 28

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1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

2 Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.

3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land in which thou art a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.

5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padan-aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

6 When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padan-aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him, he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;

7 And that Jacob obeyed his father, and his mother, and was gone to Padan-aram;

8 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;

9 Then went Esau to Ishmael, and took to the wives which he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

10 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went towards Haran.

11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set: and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

12 And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

13 And behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land on which thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

15 And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land: for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have declared to thee.

16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.

17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is no other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

18 And Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it.

19 And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:

22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth to thee.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #1453

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1453. Having Bethel toward the sea, and Ai on the East, signifies that the Lord’s state was still obscure, that is to say, in regard to the knowledges of celestial and spiritual things; for it is one thing to be in celestial things, and another to be in the knowledges of celestial things. Infants and children are in celestial things more than adults, because they are in love toward their parents, and in mutual love, and also in innocence; but adults are in the knowledges of celestial things more than infants and children, while very many of them are not in the celestial things of love. Before man is instructed in the things of love and faith, he is in an obscure state, that is, in regard to knowledges; which state is here described by having Bethel toward the sea, that is on the west, and Ai on the east. By “Bethel,” as has been said, is signified the knowledges of celestial things; but by “Ai” the knowledges of worldly things. The knowledges of celestial things are said to be “on the west” when they are in obscurity, for in the Word “the west” signifies what is obscure; and the knowledges of worldly things are said to be “on the east” when they are in clearness, for relatively to the west, the east is clearness. That the west and the east have this signification needs no confirmation, for it is evident to everyone without confirmation.

[2] And that “Bethel” signifies the knowledges of celestial things, may be seen from other passages in the Word where Bethel is named; as in the next chapter, where it is said that

Abram went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent was in the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, unto the place of the altar which he made there (Genesis 13:3-4); where “on his journeys from the south to Bethel,” signifies progression into the light of knowledges, on which account it is not here said that Bethel was on the west and Ai on the east. When Jacob saw the ladder, he said:

This is none other but the House of God, and this is the gate of heaven; and he called the name of that place Bethel (Genesis 28:17, 19); where the knowledge of celestial things is in like manner signified by “Bethel;” for man is a Bethel, that is a House of God, and also a gate of heaven, when he is in the celestial things of knowledges. When a man is being regenerated, he is introduced by means of the knowledges of spiritual and celestial things; but when he has been regenerated, he has then been introduced, and is in the celestial and spiritual things of the knowledges. Afterwards:

God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there; make there an altar to God who appeared unto thee (Genesis 35:1, 6-7); where in like manner “Bethel” signifies knowledges.

[3] That the ark of Jehovah was in Bethel, and that the sons of Israel came thither and inquired of Jehovah (Judges 20:18, 26-27; 1 Samuel 7:16; 10:3) signify similar things; also that the king of Assyria sent one of the priests whom he had brought from Samaria, and he dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Jehovah (2 Kings 17:27-28).

In Amos:

Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and there shalt thou prophesy; but prophesy not again any more at Bethel, for this is the king’s sanctuary, and this is the house of the kingdom (Amos 7:12-13).

[4] After Jeroboam had profaned Bethel (1 Kings 12:32; 13:1-8; 2 Kings 23:15) it had an opposite representation (see Hosea 10:15; Amos 3:14-15; 4:5-7). But that “Ai” signifies the knowledges of worldly things, may also be confirmed from the historical and the prophetical parts of the Word (see Joshua 7:2; 8:1-28; Jeremiah 49:3-4).

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