The Bible

 

Genesis 35

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1 God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother."

2 Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, change your garments.

3 Let us arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went."

4 They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

5 They traveled, and a terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they didn't pursue the sons of Jacob.

6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.

7 He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there God was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

8 Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth.

9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him.

10 God said to him, "Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel." He named him Israel.

11 God said to him, "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body.

12 The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your seed after you will I give the land."

13 God went up from him in the place where he spoke with him.

14 Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.

15 Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him "Bethel."

16 They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor.

17 When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, for now you will have another son."

18 It happened, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.

19 Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem).

20 Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the Pillar of Rachel's grave to this day.

21 Israel traveled, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

22 It happened, while Israel lived in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.

23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

25 The sons of Bilhah (Rachel's handmaid): Dan and Naphtali.

26 The sons of Zilpah (Leah's handmaid): Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

27 Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (which is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac lived as foreigners.

28 The days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years.

29 Isaac gave up the spirit, and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. Esau and Jacob, his sons, buried him.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4537

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4537. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Verses 1-4 And God said to Jacob, Rise up, go up to Bethel and settle there, and make there an altar to the God who appeared to you when you fled from before Esau your brother. And Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, Remove the gods of the foreigner which am in the midst of you, and be purified, and change your garments. And let us rise up and go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar to the God who answered me on the day of my distress, and was with me in the way that I went. 1 And they gave to Jacob all the gods of the foreigner which were in their hand, and the jewels which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

'God said to Jacob' means the perception which the kind of natural good that 'Jacob' now represents received from the Divine. 'Rise up, go up to Bethel' means concerning the Divine Natural. 'And settle there' means life. 'And make there an altar to the God who appeared to you' means that which is holy there. 'When you fled from before Esau your brother' means when truth was placed above good. 'And Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him' means the arrangement within the kind of natural good that existed at that point. 'Remove the gods of the foreigner which are in the midst of you' means that falsities were to be cast aside. 'And be purified, and change your garments' means the holiness that was to be put on. 'And let us rise up and go up to Bethel' means the Divine Natural. 'And I will make there an altar to the God' means the holiness by which interior things are enveloped. 'Who answered me on the day of my distress' means within the state in which truth is placed above good. 'And was with me in the way that I went' means His Divine Providence. 'And they gave to Jacob all the gods of the foreigner which were in their hand' means that [natural good] did, as far as possible, cast aside all falsities. 'And the jewels which were in their ears' means realized in actions. 'And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem' means an eternal casting away, 'the oak of Shechem' meaning the deceptive natural.

Footnotes:

1. literally, walked

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