De Bijbel

 

Genesis 32

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1 Aga Laaban tõusis hommikul vara, suudles oma poegi ja tütreid ning õnnistas neid; siis Laaban läks teele ja pöördus tagasi koju.

2 Ka Jaakob läks oma teed. Aga temale tulid vastu Jumala inglid.

3 Ja Jaakob ütles, kui ta neid nägi: 'See on Jumala leer!' Ja ta pani sellele paigale nimeks Mahanaim.

4 Siis Jaakob läkitas käskjalad enese eel oma venna Eesavi juurde Seirimaale Edomi väljadele

5 ja andis neile käsu, öeldes nõnda: 'Öelge mu isandale Eesavile: Nõnda ütleb su sulane Jaakob: Ma olen tänini Laabani juures võõrana elanud ja viibinud.

6 Mul on härgi ja eesleid, lambaid ja kitsi, sulaseid ja teenijaid, ja ma läkitan seda teatama oma isandale, et su silmis armu leida.'

7 Käskjalad tulid tagasi Jaakobi juurde ja ütlesid: 'Me jõudsime su venna Eesavi juurde. Ta juba tulebki sulle vastu koos neljasaja mehega.'

8 Siis Jaakob kartis väga ja tal oli kitsas käes; ja ta jaotas rahva, kes koos temaga oli, samuti lambad ja kitsed, veised ja kaamelid, kahte leeri,

9 sest ta mõtles: Kui Eesav tuleb ühe leeri kallale ja lööb selle maha, siis teine leer pääseb.

10 Ja Jaakob ütles: 'Mu isa Aabrahami Jumal ja mu isa Iisaki Jumal, Issand, kes mulle ütlesid: Mine tagasi oma maale ja oma sugulaste seltsi, siis ma teen sulle head!

11 Mina pole väärt kõiki neid heategusid ja kõike seda truudust, mida sa oma sulasele oled osutanud. Sest kepp käes läksin ma üle Jordani, aga nüüd on mul kaks leeri.

12 Päästa mind ometi mu venna Eesavi käest, sest ma kardan, et ta tuleb ja lööb mind maha koos emade ja lastega!

13 Sina ise aga oled öelnud: Ma teen sulle tõesti head ja lasen su soo saada mereliiva sarnaseks, mida ei saa ära lugeda selle rohkuse pärast!'

14 Ja ta jäi selleks ööks sinna ning võttis sellest, mis oli saanud tema omaks, oma vennale Eesavile kingituseks

15 kakssada kitse ja kakskümmend sikku, kakssada emalammast ja kakskümmend jäära,

16 kolmkümmend imetajat kaamelit ja nende varssa, nelikümmend lehma ja kümme härjavärssi, kakskümmend emaeeslit ja kümme eeslitäkku.

17 Ja ta andis need oma sulaste kätte, iga karja eraldi, ja ütles oma sulastele: 'Minge minu eel ja jätke vahemaa iga karja vahele!'

18 Ja ta käskis esimest, öeldes: 'Kui mu vend Eesav tuleb sulle vastu, küsib sinult ja ütleb: Kelle oma sa oled ja kuhu sa lähed, ja kelle omad on need, kes su ees on?,

19 siis vasta: Need on su sulase Jaakobi omad, kingitus, mis läkitatakse mu isandale Eesavile, ja vaata, ka tema ise tuleb meie taga!'

20 Ja ta käskis ka teist ja kolmandat ja kõiki muid, kes karjade järel käisid, öeldes: 'Te peate Eesavile ütlema sedasama, kui te teda kohtate!

21 Ja öelge ka: Vaata, su sulane Jaakob tuleb meie taga!' Sest ta mõtles: Ma lepitan teda kingitusega, mis mu eel läheb. Alles pärast seda ilmun ma ise tema ette, vahest võtab ta mind siis armulikult vastu.

22 Nõnda läks kingitus tema eel, aga ta ise jäi selleks ööks leeri.

23 Kuid veel selsamal ööl ta tõusis üles ja võttis oma mõlemad naised ja mõlemad teenijad ja oma üksteist poega ja läks läbi Jabboki koolme.

24 Ta võttis nad ja viis üle jõe, samuti viis ta üle, mis tal oli.

25 Aga Jaakob ise jäi üksinda maha. Siis heitles üks mees temaga, kuni hakkas koitma.

26 Aga kui see nägi, et ta ei saanud võimust tema üle, siis ta lõi tema puusaliigest; ja Jaakobi puusaliiges nihkus paigast, kui ta heitles temaga.

27 Ja mees ütles: 'Lase mind lahti, sest juba koidab!' Aga tema vastas: 'Ei ma lase sind mitte, kui sa mind ei õnnista!'

28 Siis ta küsis temalt: 'Mis su nimi on?' Ja ta vastas: 'Jaakob.'

29 Seepeale ütles tema: 'Su nimi ärgu olgu enam Jaakob, vaid olgu Iisrael, sest sa oled võidelnud Jumala ja inimestega ja oled võitnud!'

30 Siis küsis Jaakob ja ütles: 'Ütle nüüd mulle oma nimi!' Aga ta vastas: 'Miks sa mu nime küsid?' Ja ta õnnistas teda seal.

31 Ja Jaakob pani sellele paigale nimeks Penuel, sest ta ütles: 'Kuigi ma nägin Jumalat palgest palgesse, pääses siiski mu hing!'

32 Päike tõusis, kui ta puusast longates Penuelist edasi läks.

   

Van Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #4111

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4111. 'And Rachel stole the teraphim which belonged to her father' means a change, as regards truth, of the state meant by 'Laban'. This is clear from the meaning of 'stealing' here as taking away that which is cherished and holy, and so changing the state; from the meaning of 'the teraphim' as truths, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'father', who in this case is Laban, as the good meant by him, dealt with already. 'Father' too means good, 3703. From this it is evident that 'Rachel stole the teraphim which belonged to her father' means a change, as regards truth, of the state meant by 'Laban'.

[2] What is implied in all this may be seen from the state in which spirits dwell when they are being separated. The states of good and truth in which spirits dwell are determined by the communities they are in, for as shown already, all thought flows in through others, doing so most immediately through those in whose community they are at the time. When therefore they are removed from one community and sent into another the states of their thoughts and affections are changed, and so therefore are the states of truth and good in which they dwell. If however they are sent into communities unlike themselves they take no delight in it, and consequently feel coerced; and therefore they are separated from them and taken to communities which are like themselves. This explains why the evil are unable to be present in and to stay among communities of the good, or the good to do so among communities of the evil, and also why all spirits and angels are distinguished into separate communities in accordance with those affections that belong to love. But every affection belonging to love contains many and varying features, 3078, 3189, 4005, though one feature is predominant. Each spirit therefore is capable of being in a number of communities, but he strives to get to the one in which his predominant affection reigns, and to which at length he is brought.

[3] As regards the good meant by 'Laban' and a change in the state of that good, as long as it was present with the good represented by 'Jacob' it was closer to the Divine; for 'Jacob' means that good within the Natural, and being closer to the Divine was also at that time in a more perfect state of truth and good. But when it was separated from it, it entered another state as regards truth and good, for in general changes of state in the next life are nothing else than movements towards the Divine or away from the Divine. This then shows what is understood by a change of state when the good meant by 'Laban' was separated.

[4] The reason why 'Rachel stole the teraphim which belonged to her father' means a change of state as regard truth is that by 'the teraphim' are meant his gods, as is evident from what follows below. For in verse 30 Laban says to Jacob, 'Why did you steal my gods?' and in verse 32 Jacob replies, 'Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live in the presence of our brothers'. In the internal sense 'gods' means truths, which is also the reason why the name 'God' is used in the Word when truth is the subject, see 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822.

[5] The teraphim were idols which were used when people consulted God or asked Him something. And because the replies which they received were to those people Divine truths, truths were therefore meant by them, as in Hosea,

The children of Israel sat many days with no king and with no prince and with no sacrifice, nor ephod and teraphim. Hosea 3:4.

'Ephod and teraphim' stands for Divine truths which they received through the replies given, for when they asked God something they also put on the ephod, 1 Samuel 23:9-12. In Zechariah,

The teraphim speak iniquity, and the diviners see a lie, and the dreams speak vanity. Zechariah 10:2.

Here too 'the teraphim' stands for replies, but in that state iniquitous ones.

[6] And because 'the teraphim' had this kind of meaning, some also had them in their houses, even though this was forbidden. One such person was Micah, in the Book of Judges,

Micah had a house of God and he made an ephod and teraphim, and he consecrated 1 one of his sons to be his priest. And some of the Danites said to their brethren, Do you know that in these houses there is an ephod and teraphim, and a graven image and a molten image? And when they had entered Micah's house and took the graven image, the ephod and the teraphim, and the molten image... And the priest's heart was glad, 2 and he took the ephod and the teraphim, and the graven image. And Micah pursued the children of Dan, then he said, You have taken my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away. What have I more? Judges 17:5; 18:14, 18, 20, 24.

Michal too, David's wife, had them, as described in 1 Samuel,

Michal, David's wife, took the teraphim, and placed them in the bed and covered them over with a garment. Saul's messengers came, but behold, the teraphim were in the bed. 1 Samuel 19:13, 16.

The fact that they were however idols which were forbidden is evident from what is said in reference to them in 1 Samuel 15:23; 2 Kings 23:24; Ezekiel 21:21.

Voetnoten:

1. literally, filled the hand

2. literally, good

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