De Bijbel

 

1 Mosebok 17

Studie

   

1 Da Abram var ni og nitti år gammel, åpenbarte Herren sig for ham og sa til ham: Jeg er Gud den allmektige; vandre for mitt åsyn og vær ustraffelig!

2 Jeg vil gjøre en pakt mellem mig og dig, og jeg vil gjøre din ætt såre tallrik.

3 Da falt Abram på sitt ansikt; og Gud talte med ham og sa:

4 Se, jeg gjør en pakt med dig, og du skal bli far til en mengde folk.

5 Ditt navn skal ikke mere være Abram; men ditt navn skal være Abraham, for jeg gjør dig til far for en mengde folk.

6 Og jeg vil gjøre dig såre fruktbar, så du blir til mange folk, og konger skal utgå fra dig.

7 Og jeg vil oprette en pakt mellem mig og dig og din ætt efter dig, fra slekt til slekt, en evig pakt, så jeg vil være din Gud og Gud for din ætt efter dig.

8 Og jeg vil gi dig og din ætt efter dig det land hvor du bor som fremmed, hele Kana'ans land, til en evig eiendom; og jeg vil være deres Gud.

9 Derefter sa Gud til Abraham: Og du skal holde min pakt, du og din ætt efter dig, fra slekt til slekt.

10 Dette er den pakt mellem mig og eder og din ætt efter dig som I skal holde: Alt mannkjønn hos eder skal omskjæres

11 I skal omskjæres på eders forhud; det skal være tegnet på pakten mellem mig og eder.

12 Åtte dager gammelt skal hvert guttebarn hos eder omskjæres, slekt efter slekt, både den som er født hjemme, og den som er kjøpt for penger, alle som hører til et fremmed folk og ikke er av din ætt.

13 Omskjæres skal både den som er født i ditt hus, og den som er kjøpt for dine penger. Så skal min pakt være på eders kjøtt - en evig pakt.

14 Men en uomskåret av mannkjønn, en hvis forhud ikke blir omskåret, han skal utryddes av sitt folk; han har brutt min pakt.

15 Og Gud sa til Abraham: Sarai, din hustru, skal du ikke lenger kalle Sarai - Sara skal være hennes navn.

16 Og jeg vil velsigne henne, og jeg vil gi dig en sønn også med henne; ja, jeg vil velsigne henne, og hun skal bli til mange folk, konger over folkeslag skal fremgå av henne.

17 Da falt Abraham på sitt ansikt og lo, og han sa ved sig selv: Skulde en som er hundre år gammel, få barn? Og skulde Sara, som er nitti år gammel, føde?

18 Og Abraham sa til Gud: Måtte bare Ismael få leve for ditt åsyn!

19 Da sa Gud: Sannelig, Sara, din hustru, skal føde dig en sønn, og du skal kalle ham Isak, og jeg vil oprette min pakt med ham, en evig pakt for hans ætt efter ham.

20 Og Ismael - også om ham har jeg hørt din bønn: Se, jeg vil velsigne ham og gjøre ham fruktbar og gi ham en såre tallrik ætt; tolv høvdinger skal han bli far til, og jeg vil gjøre ham til et stort folk.

21 Men min pakt vil jeg oprette med Isak, som Sara skal føde dig på denne tid næste år.

22 Så holdt han op å tale med ham; og Gud for op igjen fra Abraham.

23 Samme dag tok Abraham Ismael, sin sønn, og alle som var født i hans hus, og alle som var kjøpt for hans penger, alt mannkjønn blandt folkene i Abrahams hus, og omskar deres forhud, således som Gud hadde sagt til ham.

24 Abraham var ni og nitti år gammel da hans forhud blev omskåret.

25 Og Ismael, hans sønn, var tretten år da hans forhud blev omskåret.

26 Denne samme dag blev de omskåret, både Abraham og Ismael, hans sønn;

27 og alle menn i hans hus, både de som var født hjemme, og de fremmede som var kjøpt for penger. blev omskåret med ham.

   

Van Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #9315

Bestudeer deze passage

  
/ 10837  
  

9315. 'When My angel goes before you' means a life in keeping with the Lord's commandments. This is clear from the meaning of 'going before you' - when it refers to the Lord, who is 'the angel of Jehovah' here - as teaching the commandments of faith and life, and therefore also a life in keeping with those commandments, ('going' and 'travelling on' mean living, see 1293, 3335, 4882, 5493, 5605, 8417, 8420, 8557, 8559); and from the meaning of 'the angel of Jehovah' as the Lord's Divine Human, dealt with above in 9303, 9306. The reason why the Lord's Divine Human is meant by 'the angel' is that the numerous angels who appeared in times before the Lord's Coming into the world were Jehovah Himself in human form, that is, in that of an angel. This is plainly evident from the fact that angels who appeared were called Jehovah, such as those who appeared to Abraham and are spoken of in Genesis 18. The fact that they were called Jehovah may be seen in verses 1, 13, 14, 17, 20, 26, 33, of that chapter, as was the one who appeared to Gideon and is spoken of in Judges 6. The fact that this angel too was called Jehovah may be seen in verses 12, 14, 16, 22-24, of that chapter. The same may be seen in other places besides these. Jehovah Himself in human form, or what amounts to the same thing, in that of an angel, was the Lord.

[2] His Divine Human appeared in those times as an angel, of whom the Lord Himself speaks in John,

Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and saw it and was glad. Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am. John 8:56, 58.

And in the same gospel,

Father, glorify Me in Your Own Self with the glory I had with You before the world was. John 17:5.

Jehovah could not have appeared in any other way, as is again clear from the Lord's words, in John,

You have never heard the Father's voice nor seen His shape. John 5:37.

And in the same gospel,

No one has seen the Father except Him who is with God, 1 He has seen the Father. John 6:46.

From all this one may see what is meant by 'the Lord from eternity'.

[3] The reason why the Lord was pleased to be born as Man (Homo) was in order that He might in reality take on a Humanity and make it Divine, to save the human race. Know therefore that the Lord is Jehovah Himself or the Father in human form, as yet again the Lord Himself teaches in John,

I and the Father are one. John 10:30.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, From now on you know and have seen the Father. He who has seen Me has seen the Father. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me. John 14:7, 9, 11.

And in the same gospel,

All Mine are Yours, and all Yours are Mine. John 17:10.

[4] This great mystery is described in John in the following words,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father. Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. John 1:1-3, 14, 18.

'The Word' is Divine Truth which has been revealed to mankind; and since it could not have been revealed except by Jehovah as Man, that is, except by Jehovah in human form, thus by the Lord, it says, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God'. It is well known in the Church that 'the Word' is used to mean the Lord, for it is explicitly stated, 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father'. The fact that Divine Truth could not have been revealed to mankind except by Jehovah in human form is also clearly stated, 'Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known'.

[5] From all this it is evident that the Lord from eternity was Jehovah or the Father in human form, but not yet so in earthly flesh, for an angel does not have such flesh. And since Jehovah or the Father wished to take on everything human in order to save the human race, He also took flesh. This is why it says, The Word was God, and the Word became flesh, and in Luke,

See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see Me have. Luke 24:39.

By this the Lord taught that He was no longer Jehovah under the form of an angel but that He was Jehovah as Man. This is also what the following words spoken by the Lord serve to mean,

I came out from the Father and have come into the world; again I am leaving the world and going off to the Father. John 16:28.

The Lord made His Human Divine when He was in the world, see 1616, 1725, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2033, 2034, 2083, 2523, 2751, 2798, 3038, 3043, 3212, 3241, 3318 (end), 3637, 3737, 4065, 4180, 4211, 4237, 4286, 4585, 4687, 4692, 4724, 4738, 4766, 5005, 5045, 5078, 5110, 5256, 6373, 6700, 6716, 6849, 6864, 6872, 7014, 7211, 7499, 8547, 8864, 8865, 8878.

And everything human received from the mother was cast out, till at length He was not Mary's son, 2159, 2649, 2776, 4963, 5157, and especially 3704, 4727, 9303, 9306, as well as the things shown regarding these matters in the places referred to in 9194, 9199.

Voetnoten:

1. The Latin means with the Father but the Greek means with God.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

Van Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #4882

Bestudeer deze passage

  
/ 10837  
  

4882. 'And went' means life. This is clear from the meaning of 'going' as living, dealt with in 3335, 3690. This meaning of 'going' in the internal sense as living does indeed seem quite remote from or unrelated to ideas man has which constitute his thought. The reason for this is that man dwells within space and time, and with these has formed the ideas comprising his thought, such as the idea of going, advancing, setting out, sojourning, or moving on. Now because these actions occur within both space and time, and as a consequence space and time have become embedded in ideas of those actions, man therefore finds it difficult to grasp that states of life are meant. But when his idea of those actions is relieved or divested of spatial and temporal elements the spiritual reality that is meant leaps out. For in the spiritual world or heaven nothing at all spatial or temporal enters the ideas they have, but instead aspects of a state of life, 1274, 1382, 2625, 2788, 2837, 3356, 3404, 3827, 4814. It does indeed appear to spirits and angels that they too move about, going from one place to another, and indeed exactly in the same way as it appears so to men. All the same, it is the changes taking place in their state of life that are responsible for this appearance. To them also, no less than to men, the appearance is that they live self-dependently, when in fact they do not live self-dependently but are dependent on the Lord's Divine, the source of every spark of life. Among angels these appearances are called real ones, because they seem in all reality to exist.

[2] I have on occasions spoken to spirits about these appearances, but those who are not governed by good, nor consequently by truth, do not wish to listen when told it is but an appearance that they live self-dependently; for their wish is to live self-dependently. But in addition to showing them from actual experience that they do not lead self-dependent lives and that every advance made from one place to another is a change to, and an advance made in, their state of life, I have also told them that for them it may be sufficient for them to know no other than that they live self-dependently, and that their life would be life no more if they did not live self-dependency. It would nevertheless be better for them to know what the situation really is, for in that case they would have the truth; and if they have the truth they also dwell in the light of heaven, since the light of heaven is the truth itself which flows from the Lord's Divine. Furthermore, if the truth existed with them in this way they would not claim that good was their own, nor would evil cling to them. Angels possessing that truth do not merely know it; they also have a perception of it.

[3] Intervals of time and space in the spiritual world are states of life, and every spark of life has its origin in the Lord, as the following experience may show. Each spirit and angel sees on his right those who are good and on his left those who are evil; this is so in whatever direction he turns himself. If he turns and looks eastwards he sees the good to the right and the evil to the left. The same happens if he turns and looks to the west, and likewise to the south or the north. This is the case with every spirit or angel, so that if there were two, and one of these turned and looked to the east and the other did so to the west, each would still see the good on his right and the evil on his left. Those far removed from, even behind the backs of, those who behold them are seen in those unchanging positions. From these considerations one may deduce clearly that every spark of life has its origin in the Lord, that is, that the Lord is within the life of everyone; for in the spiritual world the Lord is seen as the Sun, the good or sheep being on His right, and the evil or goats on His left. The same is therefore the case with each spirit or angel, for the reason, as stated, that the Lord exists in every spark of life. This is bound to look like a paradox to man, for as long as he is in the world man has ideas that are formed from worldly things, and therefore from what is spatial and temporal. But as stated above, in the spiritual world no ideas are formed from what is spatial and temporal but from the state belonging to affections and the thoughts flowing from these. It is for this reason also that the intervals of space and time in the Word mean states.

  
/ 10837  
  

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