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1 Mosebok 39

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1 Josef blev ført ned til Egypten; og Potifar, en egypter, som var hoffmann hos Farao og høvding over livvakten, kjøpte ham av ismaelittene som hadde hatt ham med sig dit.

2 Men Herren var med Josef, så alt lyktes for ham; og han vedblev å være i huset hos sin herre egypteren.

3 Da hans herre så at Herren var med ham, og at Herren lot alt det han gjorde, lykkes for ham,

4 fant Josef nåde for hans øine og fikk gå ham til hånde; og han satte ham over sitt hus, og alt det han hadde, la han i hans hender.

5 Og helt fra den tid han hadde satt ham over sitt hus og over alt det han hadde, velsignet Herren egypterens hus for Josefs skyld, og Herrens velsignelse var over alt det han hadde, både i huset og på marken.

6 Og han overlot alt det han hadde, i Josefs hender, og han så ikke til med ham i noget, uten med den mat han selv åt. Og Josef var vakker av skapning og vakker å se til.

7 Og nogen tid efter hendte det at hans herres hustru kastet sine øine på Josef og sa: Kom og ligg hos mig!

8 Men han vilde ikke og sa til sin herres hustru: Min herre ser ikke til med mig i nogen ting i hele sitt hus, og alt det han eier, har han lagt i mine hender;

9 han har ikke mere å si her i huset enn jeg, og han har ikke nektet mig noget uten dig, fordi du er hans hustru. Hvorledes skulde jeg da gjøre denne store ondskap og synde mot Gud?

10 Som hun nu dag efter dag talte til Josef, og han ikke føide henne i å ligge hos henne og være sammen med henne,

11 så hendte det en dag at han kom inn i huset for å gjøre sitt arbeid, mens ingen av husets folk var inne.

12 Da grep hun fatt i hans kappe og sa: Ligg hos mig! Men han lot sin kappe efter sig i hennes hånd og flyktet ut av huset.

13 Og da hun så at han hadde latt sin kappe efter sig i hennes hånd og var flyktet ut av huset,

14 ropte hun på sine husfolk og sa til dem: Se, her har han ført en hebraisk mann hit til oss for å føre skam over oss; han kom inn til mig for å ligge hos mig, men jeg ropte så høit jeg kunde,

15 og da han hørte at jeg satte i å rope, lot han sin kappe efter sig hos mig og flyktet ut av huset.

16 Så lot hun hans kappe bli liggende hos sig til hans herre kom hjem.

17 Da talte hun likedan til ham og sa: Den hebraiske træl som du har ført hit til oss, kom inn til mig for å føre skam over mig;

18 men da jeg satte i å rope, lot han sin kappe efter sig hos mig og flyktet ut av huset.

19 Da nu hans herre hørte hvad hans hustru fortalte, hvorledes hun sa: Således har din træl gjort mot mig, da optendtes hans vrede.

20 Og Josefs herre tok og satte ham i fengslet, der hvor kongens fanger holdtes fengslet; og han blev sittende der i fengslet.

21 Men Herren var med Josef og lot ham vinne alles hjerter og gav ham yndest hos fengslets overopsynsmann.

22 Og fengslets overopsynsmann satte Josef til å se efter alle fangene som var i fengslet; og alt det som skulde gjøres der, det gjorde han.

23 Fengslets overopsynsmann så ikke efter nogen ting som han hadde under hender, fordi Herren var med ham; og hvad han gjorde, gav Herren lykke til.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #4977

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4977. 'And he put him in charge over his house' means that this good applied itself to that factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of his 'lord', who put him in charge, as good, dealt with above in 4977, and from the meaning of 'putting him in charge over his house' as applying itself to it - to factual knowledge or natural truth. This meaning is evident from what follows, where it says that 'whatever he had he gave into his hand', meaning that all belonging to that good was seemingly subject to the other's power and control. For good is the lord and truth its minister, and when it says that the lord put the minister in charge, that is, that good put truth in charge, the meaning in the internal sense is not that the lordship ceased to rest with that good but that it applied itself to the truth. For in the internal sense one perceives what a thing really is, whereas the sense of the letter presents it in the form of an appearance. The lordship always rests with good, but good applies itself so that truth may be joined to it.

[2] While a person is governed by truth, as happens before he has been regenerated, he knows scarcely anything at all about good. For truth flows in by an external route, or that of the senses, whereas good flows in by an internal route. Before he has been regenerated a person is aware of that which flows in by the external route, but not of that which comes by the internal one. Consequently unless in that state which comes first the lordship seemed to be given to truth, that is, unless good applied itself to it, that truth could never become attached to this good as its own. This is the same factor as has been presented many times before - that truth seemingly occupies the first place, that is, it is so to speak the lord, while a person is being regenerated, but that good plainly occupies the first place and is the lord once he has been regenerated, for which see 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3607, 3701, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #3576

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3576. 'And he blessed him' means conjunction thereby. This is clear from the meaning of 'being blessed' as conjunction, dealt with in 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565. From these details which refer to Esau and Jacob it becomes clear that the good of the rational joined itself inmostly to the good of the natural, and then through the good of the natural to the truth there. For 'Isaac' represents the rational as regards good, 'Rebekah' the rational as regards truth, while 'Esau' represents the good of the natural and 'Jacob' the truth of the natural. The idea that the rational as regards good, which is 'Isaac', joined itself inmostly to the good of the natural, which is 'Esau', but not to the truth of the natural, which is 'Jacob', except indirectly, is evident from the consideration that Isaac had Esau in mind when pronouncing the blessing on Jacob. At that time he was not thinking of Jacob but of Esau. When anyone pronounces a blessing he is blessing the person of whom he is thinking, not someone of whom he is not thinking. All blessing comes forth from something interior, for though pronounced with the lips it receives its life from the will and the thought of the person pronouncing it. It belongs essentially therefore to the individual to whom he wishes to impart it and of whom he is thinking. If anyone intercepts it and so makes it his own it is like something stolen which ought to be restored to the other person. The fact that Isaac, when pronouncing the blessing, was thinking of Esau and not of Jacob becomes clear from every single detail that goes before this - from verses 18-19, where Isaac said to Jacob,

Who are you, my son? And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau your firstborn.

Then from verses 21-23,

Isaac said to Jacob, Come near now, and I will feel you, my son, whether you are my son Esau, or not.

And after feeling him he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, and the hands Esau's hands; and he did not recognize him.

Also from verse 24,

And he said. Are you my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

And at length, when kissing him,

He smelled the odour of his clothes.

That is to say, he smelled Esau's clothes, at which point he blessed him and said,

See, the odour of my son.

From all this it is clear that by the son whom he blessed he meant none other than Esau. This also was why when he heard from Esau that it had been Jacob,

Isaac trembled very greatly. Verse 33.

And he said, Your brother came in deceitfully. Verse 35.

The reason why Jacob retained the blessing however, according to what is said in verses 33-37, was that truth represented by 'Jacob' would from the point of view of time apparently have dominion, as shown frequently above.

[2] But once the time of reformation and regeneration is completed good itself which has been Lying hidden in the inmost parts and from there has been disposing every single thing which seemed to be a matter of truth, that is, which truth had ascribed to itself, comes to the fore and openly has dominion. And this is what Isaac's words addressed to Esau mean,

By your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother. And it will be when you have dominion over him, that you will break his yoke from above your neck, Verse 40.

The internal sense of these words is that all the time truth is joined to good, good appears to be in the lower position but will eventually be in the higher. At this point there will be a joining together of the rational with the good of the natural, and through the good of the natural with the truth. Truth will thus become the truth of good. In this case 'Esau' will consequently represent the good itself of the natural and 'Jacob' the truth of the natural, both joined to the rational. Accordingly in the highest sense they will represent the Lord's Divine Natural - 'Esau' as regards the Divine Good there and 'Jacob' as regards the Divine Truth.

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