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Génesis 41

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1 Y aconteció que pasados dos años tuvo el Faraón un sueño: Y he aquí que estaba sobre el río;

2 y que del río subían siete vacas, hermosas a la vista, y muy gordas, que pacían en el prado.

3 Y he aquí otras siete vacas subían tras ellas del río, de fea vista, y enjutas de carne, y se pararon cerca de las vacas hermosas a la orilla del río.

4 Y que las vacas de fea vista y enjutas de carne tragaban a las siete vacas hermosas y muy gordas. Y despertó el Faraón.

5 Se durmió de nuevo, y soñó la segunda vez: He aquí, siete espigas llenas y hermosas subían de una sola caña.

6 Y he aquí otras siete espigas menudas y abatidas del solano, salían después de ellas.

7 Y las siete espigas menudas tragaban a las siete espigas gruesas y llenas. Y despertó el Faraón, y le pareció que era sueño.

8 Y acaeció que a la mañana su espíritu se atormentó; y envió e hizo llamar a todos los magos de Egipto, y a todos sus sabios: y les contó el Faraón sus sueños, mas no había quién los declarase al Faraón.

9 Entonces el príncipe de los maestresalas habló al Faraón, diciendo: De mis pecados me acuerdo hoy:

10 El Faraón se enojó contra sus siervos, y a mí me echó en la cárcel de la casa del capitán de los de la guardia, a mí y al príncipe de los panaderos.

11 Y yo y él soñamos sueño una misma noche: cada uno soñó conforme a la declaración de su sueño.

12 Y estaba allí con nosotros un joven hebreo, siervo del capitán de los de la guardia; y se lo contamos, y él nos declaró nuestros sueños, y declaró a cada uno conforme a su sueño.

13 Y aconteció que como él nos declaró, así fue: a mí me hizo volver a mi asiento, e hizo colgar al otro.

14 Entonces el Faraón envió y llamó a José; y le hicieron salir corriendo de la cárcel, y le cortaron el pelo, y mudaron sus vestidos, y vino al Faraón.

15 Y dijo el Faraón a José: Yo he soñado un sueño, y no hay quién lo declare; mas he oído decir de ti, que oyes sueños para declararlos.

16 Y respondió José al Faraón, diciendo: No está en mí; Dios será el que responda paz al Faraón.

17 Entonces el Faraón dijo a José: En mi sueño, he aquí, que estaba a la orilla del río;

18 y que del río subían siete vacas gruesas de carne y hermosas de forma, que pacían en el prado.

19 Y que otras siete vacas subían después de ellas, flacas y de muy feo aspecto; tan extenuadas, que no he visto otras semejantes en toda la tierra de Egipto en fealdad.

20 Y las vacas flacas y feas tragaban a las siete primeras vacas gruesas;

21 y entraban en sus entrañas, mas no se conocía que hubiesen entrado en ellas, porque su parecer era aún malo, como de primero. Y yo desperté.

22 Vi también soñando, y he aquí siete espigas subían en una misma caña llenas y hermosas;

23 y que otras siete espigas menudas, marchitas, abatidas del solano, subían después de ellas.

24 Y las espigas menudas tragaban a las siete espigas hermosas; y lo he dicho a los magos, mas no hay quién me lo declare.

25 Entonces respondió José al Faraón: El sueño del Faraón es uno mismo: Dios ha mostrado al Faraón lo que él hace.

26 Las siete vacas hermosas siete años son; y las espigas hermosas son siete años: el sueño es uno mismo.

27 También las siete vacas flacas y feas que subían tras ellas, son siete años; y las siete espigas menudas y marchitas del solano, siete años serán de hambre.

28 Esto es lo que respondo al Faraón. Lo que Dios hace, lo ha mostrado al Faraón.

29 He aquí vienen siete años de gran abundancia en toda la tierra de Egipto.

30 Y se levantarán tras ellos siete años de hambre; y toda la abundancia será olvidada en la tierra de Egipto; y el hambre consumirá la tierra;

31 y aquella abundancia no se echará de ver a causa del hambre siguiente, la cual será gravísima.

32 Y el suceder el sueño al Faraón dos veces, significa que la cosa es firme de parte de Dios, y que Dios se apresura a hacerla.

33 Por tanto, provéase ahora el Faraón de un varón prudente y sabio, y póngalo sobre la tierra de Egipto.

34 Haga esto el Faraón, y ponga gobernadores sobre la provincia, y quinte la tierra de Egipto en los siete años de la abundancia;

35 y junten toda la provisión de estos buenos años que vienen, y alleguen el trigo bajo la mano del Faraón para mantenimiento de las ciudades; y guárdenlo.

36 Y esté aquella provisión en depósito para la tierra, para los siete años del hambre que serán en la tierra de Egipto; y la tierra no perecerá de hambre.

37 Y el negocio pareció bien a Faraón, y a sus siervos.

38 Y dijo el Faraón a sus siervos: ¿Hemos de hallar otro hombre como éste, en quien haya Espíritu de Dios?

39 Y dijo el Faraón a José: Pues que Dios te ha hecho saber todo esto, no hay entendido ni sabio como tú.

40 Tú serás sobre mi casa, y por tu dicho se gobernará todo mi pueblo; solamente en el trono seré yo mayor que tú.

41 Dijo más el Faraón a José: He aquí yo te he puesto sobre toda la tierra de Egipto.

42 Entonces el Faraón quitó su anillo de su mano, y lo puso en la mano de José, y lo hizo vestir de ropas de lino finísimo , y puso un collar de oro en su cuello;

43 y lo hizo subir en su segundo carro, y pregonaron delante de él: Abrech Padre tierno-a este honre como a padre carísimo ; y lo puso sobre toda la tierra de Egipto.

44 Y dijo el Faraón a José: Yo soy el Faraón; y sin ti ninguno alzará su mano ni su pie en toda la tierra de Egipto.

45 Y llamó el Faraón el nombre de José, Zafnat-panea; y le dio por mujer a Asenat, hija de Potifera, sacerdote de On. Y salió José por toda la tierra de Egipto.

46 Y era José de edad de treinta años cuando fue presentado delante del Faraón, rey de Egipto: y salió José de delante del Faraón, y pasó por toda la tierra de Egipto.

47 E hizo la tierra en aquellos siete años de abundancia a montones.

48 Y él juntó todo el mantenimiento de los siete años que fueron en la tierra de Egipto, y guardó mantenimiento en las ciudades, poniendo en cada ciudad el mantenimiento del campo de sus alrededores.

49 Y acopió José trigo como arena del mar, mucho en extremo, hasta no poderse contar, porque no tenía número.

50 Y nacieron a José dos hijos antes que viniese el primer año del hambre, los cuales le dio a luz Asenat, hija de Potifera, príncipe de On.

51 Y llamó José el nombre del primogénito Manasés; porque Dios (dijo) me hizo olvidar de todo mi trabajo, y de toda la casa de mi padre.

52 Y el nombre del segundo lo llamó Efraín; porque Dios (dijo) me hizo crecer en la tierra de mi aflicción.

53 Y se cumplieron los siete años de la abundancia, que hubo en la tierra de Egipto.

54 Y comenzaron a venir los siete años del hambre, como José había dicho; y hubo hambre en todas las provincias, mas en toda la tierra de Egipto había pan.

55 Y hubo hambre en toda la tierra de Egipto, y el pueblo clamó al Faraón por pan. Y dijo el Faraón a todo los egipcios: Id a José, y haced lo que él os dijere.

56 Y había hambre por toda la faz de la tierra. Entonces abrió José todo granero donde había, y vendía a los egipcios; porque el hambre había crecido en la tierra de Egipto.

57 Y toda la tierra venía a Egipto para comprar de José, porque por toda la tierra había crecido el hambre.

   

Van Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #5365

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5365. 'And the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread' means the need of good which was felt by truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'crying out' as the expression of someone enduring pain and grief, and so of someone in need; from the meaning of 'people' as truth, dealt with in 1259, 1260, 3295, 3581; from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the natural, dealt with in 5079, 5080, 5095, 5160; and from the meaning of 'bread' as the celestial element of love, and so good, dealt with in 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976. From these meanings it follows that 'the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread' means the need of good that was felt by truth in the natural. This meaning seems, it is true, to be remote from the historical sense of the letter. Nevertheless, since people acquainted with the internal sense understand 'crying out', 'the people', 'Pharaoh', and 'bread' in no other way than mentioned above, such is the meaning that emerges from those words.

[2] What is implied by the need of good which was felt by truth must be stated. Truth has a need of good, and good has a need of truth; also, when truth has a need of good, truth is joined to good, and when good has a need of truth, good is joined to truth. The reciprocal joining together of good and truth - that is to say, the joining of truth to good, and of good to truth - is the heavenly marriage. During the initial phases when a person is being regenerated truth is multiplied, but good less so. And because at these times truth has no good to which it is joined, truth is therefore drawn into and deposited within the interior parts of the natural, so that it may be called forth from there in the measure that good is increased. In this state truth stands in need of good, and in the measure that good enters the natural a joining of truth to good is effected. Even so, this joining together does not lead to any fruitfulness. But once the person has been regenerated good increases, and as it does so it stands in need of truth and also acquires truth to itself and becomes joined to it. This is a joining of good to truth, and when this takes place truth is made fruitful by good, and good by truth.

[3] This process is one about which people in the world are totally ignorant, whereas those in heaven have a very good knowledge of it. If people in the world however knew, and not only knew but also had a perception of what celestial love or love to the Lord was, and what spiritual love or charity towards the neighbour was, they would also know what good was; for all good is the object of those loves. Above all they would know that good had a desire for truth, and truth had a desire for good, and that this desire and the essential nature of it determine the extent to which the two are joined together. Such would be evident to them from the fact that whenever they are thinking about truth, good presents itself linked together with that truth; and when good is stimulated, truth presents itself linked together with that good. And whenever both present themselves together they are accompanied by affection, desire, delight. or sacred yearning, from which they would then know what the joining together was essentially like. But because no knowledge is acquired by them as a result of an inner awareness or perception of what good is, such matters do not begin to be recognized by them. For what people know nothing about is unintelligible to them even if it happens to them.

[4] Also, because people are ignorant of what spiritual good is - that it is charity towards the neighbour - controversy therefore exists in the world, especially among the learned, over what the highest good may be. Scarcely anyone says 1 it is the feeling of delight, bliss, blessedness, and happiness which flows from mutual love that does not have any selfish or worldly end in view attached to it and which constitutes heaven itself. From this it is also evident that the world at the present day knows nothing at all about what spiritual good is. Still less does it know that good and truth form themselves into a marriage, or that heaven consists in this marriage, or that those in whom the marriage exists possess wisdom and intelligence, or that they enjoy feelings of bliss and happiness in endless, indescribable variety. The world knows nothing about even a single one of those variations; consequently it neither acknowledges nor believes that any such thing exists, when in fact it is heaven itself or heavenly joy itself, about which the Church has so much to say.

Voetnoten:

1. Reading dicit (says), which Swedenborg has in his rough draft, for dixit (has said)

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

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Arcana Coelestia #2165

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2165. That 'I will take a piece of bread' means something heavenly or celestial to go with [that something natural] is clear from the meaning of 'bread' as that which is celestial, dealt with already in 276, 680, 681, 1798. The reason 'bread' here means that which is celestial is that bread means all food in general, and so in the internal sense all heavenly or celestial food. What celestial food is has been stated in Volume One, in 56-58, 680, 681, 1480, 1695. That 'bread' means all food in general becomes clear from the following places in the Word: One reads of Joseph telling the man in charge of his house to bring the men, that is, his brothers, into the house, and then to slaughter what needed to be slaughtered and made ready. And after that, when these things had been made ready and the men were to eat them, he said, Set on bread, Genesis 43:16, 31, by which he meant that the table was to be made ready by them. Thus 'bread' stood for all the food that made up the entire meal. Regarding Jethro one reads that Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God, Exodus 18:12. Here also 'bread' stands for all the food that made up the entire meal. And regarding Manoah, in the Book of Judges,

Manoah said to the angel of Jehovah, Let us now detain you, and let us make ready a kid before you. And the angel of Jehovah said to Manoah, If you detain me I will not eat your bread. Judges 13:15-16.

Here 'bread' stands for the kid. When Jonathan ate from the honeycomb the people told him that Saul had commanded the people with an oath, saying,

Cursed be the man who eats bread this day. 1 Samuel 14:27-28.

Here 'bread' stands for all food. Elsewhere, regarding Saul,

When Saul sat down to eat bread he said to Jonathan, Why has not the son of Jesse come either yesterday or today, to bread? 1 Samuel 20:24, 27.

This stands for coming to the table, where there was food of every kind. Regarding David who said to Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son,

You will eat bread at my table always. 2 Samuel 9:7, 10.

Similarly regarding Evil-Merodach who said that Jehoiachin the king of Judah was to eat bread with him always, all the days of his life, 2 Kings 25:29. Regarding Solomon the following is said,

Solomon's bread for each day was thirty cors 1 of fine flour, sixty cors of meal, ten fatted oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, and a hundred sheep, besides harts and wild she-goats and roebucks and fatted fowl. 1 Kings 4:22-23.

Here 'bread' plainly stands for all the provisions that are mentioned.

[2] Since then 'bread' means every kind of food in general it consequently means in the internal sense all those things that are called heavenly or celestial foods. This becomes even clearer still from the burnt offerings and sacrifices that were made of lambs, sheep, 2 she-goats, kids, he-goats, young bulls, and oxen, which are referred to by the single expression bread offered by fire to Jehovah, as is quite clear from the following places in Moses where the various sacrifices are dealt with and which, it says, the priest was to burn on the altar as the bread offered by fire to Jehovah for an odour of rest, Leviticus 3:11, 16. All those sacrifices and burnt offerings were called such. In the same book,

The sons of Aaron shall be holy to their God, and they shall not profane the name of their God, for it is the fire-offerings to Jehovah, the bread of their God, that they offer. You shall sanctify him, for it is the bread of your God that he offers. No man of Aaron's seed who has a blemish in himself shall approach to offer the bread of his God. Leviticus 21:6, 8, 17, 21.

Here also sacrifices and burnt offerings are referred to as 'bread', as they are also in Leviticus 22:25. Elsewhere in the same author,

Command the children of Israel, and say to them, My gift, My bread, for fire-offerings of an odour of rest, you shall take care to offer to Me at their appointed times. Numbers 28:2.

Here also 'bread' stands for all the sacrifices that are mentioned in that chapter. In Malachi,

Offering polluted bread on My altar. Malachi 1:7.

This also has regard to sacrifices. The consecrated parts of the sacrifices which they ate were called 'bread' as well, as is clear from these words in Moses,

The person who has touched anything unclean shall not eat any of the consecrated offerings, but he shall surely bathe his flesh in water, and when the sun has set he will be clean. And afterwards he shall eat of the consecrated offerings, because it is his bread. Leviticus 22:6-7.

[3] Burnt offerings and sacrifices in the Jewish Church represented nothing else than the heavenly things of the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church. They also represented the things of the Lord's kingdom or Church as it exists with every individual; and in general they represented all those things that are composed of love and charity, for those things are celestial or of heaven. In addition each type of sacrifice represented some specific thing. In those times all of the sacrifices were called 'bread', and therefore when the sacrifices were abolished and other things serving for external worship took their place, the use of bread and wine was commanded.

[4] From all this it is now clear what is meant by that 'bread', namely that it means all those things which were represented in the sacrifices, and thus in the internal sense means the Lord Himself. And because 'bread' there means the Lord Himself it means love itself towards the whole human race and what belongs to love. It also means man's reciprocal love to the Lord and towards the neighbour. Thus the bread now commanded means all celestial things, and wine accordingly all spiritual things, as the Lord also explicitly teaches in John,

They said, Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. They said to Him, Lord, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them, I am the Bread of life he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. John 6:31-35.

And in the same chapter,

Truly I say to you, He who believes in Me has eternal life. I am the Bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the Bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living Bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this Bread he will live for ever. John 6:47-51.

[5] Now because this 'Bread' is the Lord it exists within the celestial things of love which are the Lord's, for the Lord is the celestial itself, because He is love itself, that is, mercy itself. This being so, 'bread' also means everything celestial, that is, all the love and charity existing with a person, for these are derived from the Lord. People who are devoid of love and charity therefore do not have the Lord within them, and so are not endowed with the forms of good and of happiness which are meant in the internal sense by 'bread'. This external symbol [of love and charity] was commanded because the worship of the majority of the human race is external, and therefore without some external symbol scarcely anything holy would exist among them. Consequently when they lead lives of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour, that which is internal exists with them even though they do not know that such love and charity constitute the inner core of worship. Thus in their external worship they are confirmed in the kinds of good which are meant by 'the bread'.

[6] In the Prophets as well 'bread' means the celestial things of love, as in Isaiah 3:1, 7; 30:23; 33:15-16; 55:2; 58:7-8; Lamentations 5:9; Ezekiel 4:16-17; 5:16; 14:13; Amos 4:6; 8:11; Psalms 105:16. Those things are in a similar way meant by 'the loaves of the Presence' on the table, referred to in Leviticus 24:5-9; Exodus 25:30; 40:23; Numbers 4:7; 1 Kings 7:48.

Voetnoten:

1. A cor, or a homer, was a Hebrew measure of about 6 bushels or 220 litres.

2. The Latin has a word meaning oxen (boves), but comparison with other places where Swedenborg gives the same list of animals suggests that he intended sheep (oves).

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