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Genesis 31

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1 Toen hoorde hij de woorden der zonen van Laban, zeggende: Jakob heeft genomen alles, wat onzes vaders was, en van hetgeen, dat onzes vaders was, heeft hij al deze heerlijkheid gemaakt.

2 Jakob zag ook het aangezicht van Laban aan, en ziet, het was jegens hem niet als gisteren en eergisteren.

3 En de HEERE zeide tot Jakob: Keer weder tot het land uwer vaderen, en tot uw maagschap, en Ik zal met u zijn.

4 Toen zond Jakob heen, en riep Rachel en Lea, op het veld tot zijn kudde;

5 En hij zeide tot haar: Ik zie het aangezicht uws vaders, dat het jegens mij niet is als gisteren en eergisteren; doch de God mijns vaders is bij mij geweest.

6 En gijlieden weet, dat ik met al mijn macht uw vader gediend heb.

7 Maar uw vader heeft bedriegelijk met mij gehandeld, en heeft mijn loon tien malen veranderd; doch God heeft hem niet toegelaten, om mij kwaad te doen.

8 Wanneer hij aldus zeide: De gespikkelde zullen uw loon zijn, zo lammerden al de kudden gespikkelde; en wanneer hij alzo zeide: De gesprenkelde zullen uw loon zijn, zo lammerden al de kudden gesprenkelde.

9 Alzo heeft God uw vader het vee ontrukt, en aan mij gegeven.

10 En het geschiedde ten tijde, als de kudde hittig werd, dat ik mijn ogen ophief, en ik zag in den droom; en ziet, de bokken, die de kudden beklommen, waren gesprenkeld, gespikkeld, en hagelvlakkig.

11 En de Engel Gods zeide tot mij in de droom: Jakob! En ik zeide: Zie, hier ben ik!

12 En Hij zeide: Hef toch uw ogen op, en zie! alle bokken, die de kudde beklimmen, zijn gesprenkeld, gespikkeld, en hagelvlakkig; want Ik heb gezien alles, wat Laban u doet.

13 Ik ben die God van Beth-El, alwaar gij het opgerichte teken gezalfd hebt, waar gij Mij een gelofte beloofd hebt; nu, maak u op, vertrek uit dit land, en keer weder in het land uwer maagschap.

14 Toen antwoordden Rachel en Lea, en zeiden tot hem: Is er nog voor ons een deel of erfenis, in het huis onzes vaders?

15 Zijn wij niet vreemden van hem geacht? Want hij heeft ons verkocht, en hij heeft ook steeds ons geld verteerd.

16 Want al de rijkdom, welke God onze vader heeft ontrukt, die is onze, en van onze zonen; nu dan, doe alles, wat God tot u gezegd heeft.

17 Toen maakte zich Jakob op, en laadde zijn zonen en zijn vrouwen op kemelen.

18 En hij voerde al zijn vee weg, en al zijn have, die hij gewonnen had, het vee, dat hij bezat, hetwelk hij in Paddan-Aram geworven had, om te komen tot Izak, zijn vader, naar het land Kanaan.

19 Laban nu was gegaan, om zijn schapen te scheren; zo stal Rachel de terafim, die haar vader had.

20 En Jakob ontstal zich aan het hart van Laban, den Syrier, overmits hij hem niet te kennen gaf, dat hij vlood.

21 En hij vlood, en al wat het zijne was, en hij maakte zich op, en voer over de rivier, en hij zette zijn aangezicht naar het gebergte Gilead.

22 En ten derden dage werd aan Laban geboodschapt, dat Jakob gevloden was.

23 Toen nam hij zijn broeders met zich, en jaagde hem achterna, een weg van zeven dagen, en hij kreeg hem op het gebergte van Gilead.

24 Doch God kwam tot Laban, den Syrier, in een droom des nachts, en Hij zeide tot hem: Wacht u, dat gij met Jakob spreekt, noch goed, noch kwaad.

25 En Laban achterhaalde Jakob; Jakob nu had zijn tent geslagen op dat gebergte; ook sloeg Laban met zijn broederen de zijne op het gebergte van Gilead.

26 Toen zeide Laban tot Jakob: Wat hebt gij gedaan, dat gij u aan mijn hart ontstolen hebt, en mijn dochteren ontvoerd hebt, als gevangenen met het zwaard?

27 Waarom zijt gij heimelijk gevloden, en hebt u aan mij ontstolen? en hebt het mij niet aangezegd, dat ik u geleid had met vreugde, en met gezangen, met trommel en met harp?

28 Ook hebt gij mij niet toegelaten mijn zonen en mijn dochteren te kussen; nu, gij hebt dwaselijk gehandeld, zo doende.

29 Het ware in de macht mijner hand aan ulieden kwaad te doen; maar de God van ulieder vader heeft tot mij gisteren nacht gesproken, zeggende: Wacht u, van met Jakob te spreken, of goed, of kwaad.

30 En nu, gij hebt immers willen vertrekken, omdat gij zo zeer begerig waart naar uws vaders huis; waarom hebt gij mijn goden gestolen?

31 Toen antwoordde Jakob, en zeide tot Laban: Omdat ik vreesde; want ik zeide: Opdat gij niet misschien uw dochteren mij ontweldigdet!

32 Bij wien gij uw goden vinden zult, laat hem niet leven! Onderken gij voor onze broederen, wat bij mij is, en neem het tot u. Want Jakob wist niet, dat Rachel dezelve gestolen had.

33 Toen ging Laban in de tent van Jakob, en in de tent van Lea, en in de tent van de beide dienstmaagden, en hij vond niets; en als hij uit de tent van Lea gegaan was, kwam hij in de tent van Rachel.

34 Maar Rachel had de terafim genomen, en zij had die in een kemels zadeltuig gelegd, en zij zat op dezelve. En Laban betastte die ganse tent, en hij vond niets.

35 En zij zeide tot haar vader: Dat de toorn niet ontsteke in mijns heren ogen, omdat ik voor uw aangezicht niet kan opstaan; want het gaat mij naar der vrouwen wijze; en hij doorzocht; maar hij vond de terafim niet.

36 Toen ontstak Jakob, en twistte met Laban; en Jakob antwoordde en zeide tot Laban: Wat is mijn overtreding, wat is mijn zonde, dat gij mij zo hittiglijk hebt nagejaagd?

37 Als gij al mijn huisraad betast hebt, wat hebt gij gevonden van al het huisraad uws huizes! Leg het hier voor mijn broederen en uw broederen, en laat hen richten tussen ons beiden.

38 Deze twintig jaren ben ik bij u geweest; uw ooien en uw geiten hebben niet misdragen, en de rammen uwer kudde heb ik niet gegeten.

39 Het verscheurde heb ik tot u niet gebracht; ik heb het geboet; gij hebt het van mijn hand geeist, het ware des daags gestolen, of des nachts gestolen.

40 Ik ben geweest, dat mij bij dag de hitte verteerde, en bij nacht de vorst, en dat mijn slaap van mijn ogen week.

41 Ik ben nu twintig jaren in uw huis geweest; ik heb u veertien jaren gediend om uw beide dochteren, en zes jaren om uw kudde; en gij hebt mijn loon tien malen veranderd.

42 Ten ware de God van mijn vader, de God van Abraham, en de Vreze van Izak, bij mij geweest was, zekerlijk, gij zoudt mij nu ledig weggezonden hebben! God heeft mijn ellende, en den arbeid mijner handen aangezien, en heeft u gisteren nacht bestraft.

43 Toen antwoordde Laban en zeide tot Jakob: Deze dochters zijn mijn dochters, en deze zonen zijn mijn zonen, en deze kudde is mijn kudde, ja, al wat gij ziet, dat is mijn; en wat zoude ik aan deze mijn dochteren heden doen? of aan haar zonen, die zij gebaard hebben?

44 Nu dan, kom, laat ons een verbond maken, ik en gij, dat het tot een getuigenis zij tussen mij en tussen u!

45 Toen nam Jakob een steen, en hij verhoogde die, tot een opgericht teken.

46 En Jakob zeide tot zijn broederen: Vergadert stenen! En zij namen stenen, en maakten een hoop; en zij aten aldaar op dien hoop.

47 En Laban noemde hem Jegar-Sahadutha; maar Jakob noemde denzelven Gilead.

48 Toen zeide Laban: Deze hoop zij heden een getuige tussen mij en tussen u! Daarom noemde men zijn naam Gilead,

49 En Mizpa; omdat hij zeide: Dat de HEERE opzicht neme tussen mij en tussen u, wanneer wij de een van den ander zullen verborgen zijn!

50 Zo gij mijn dochteren beledigt, en zo gij vrouwen neemt boven mijn dochteren, niemand is bij ons; zie toe, God zal getuige zijn tussen mij en tussen u!

51 Laban zeide voorts tot Jakob: Zie, daar is deze zelfde hoop, en zie, daar is dit opgericht teken, hetwelk ik opgeworpen heb tussen mij en tussen u;

52 Deze zelfde hoop zij getuige, en dit opgericht teken zij getuige, dat ik tot u voorbij deze hoop niet komen zal, en dat gij tot mij, voorbij deze hoop en dit opgericht teken, niet komen zult ten kwade!

53 De God van Abraham, en de God van Nahor, de God huns vaders richte tussen ons! En Jakob zwoer bij de Vreze zijn vaders Izaks.

54 Toen slachtte Jakob een slachting op dat gebergte, en hij nodigde zijn broederen, om brood te eten; en zij aten brood, en vernachtten op dat gebergte.

55 En Laban stond des morgens vroeg op, en kuste zijn zonen, en zijn dochteren, en zegende hen; en Laban trok heen, en keerde weder tot zijn plaats.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 3726

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3726. And set it up for a pillar. That this signifies a holy boundary, is evident from the signification of a “pillar,” concerning which in what follows. How the case herein is may be seen from what goes before; namely, that the subject is the order by which the Lord made His natural Divine; and in the representative sense, how the Lord makes new or regenerates the natural of man. The nature of this order has already been frequently stated and shown; namely, that while man is being regenerated, and truth is regarded in the first place, it is inverse; and that it is restored when man has been regenerated, and good is set in the first place, and truth in the last (see n. 3325, 3330, 3332, 3336, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3688). This was represented by the ladder by which the angels ascended and descended, where it is first said that they ascended, and afterwards that they descended (n. 3701). The ascent is now treated of; namely, that it is from the ultimate of order (concerning wh (3720-3721) ich see above, n. 3720, 3721); in the present verse that it is truth which is the ultimate of order. It is this ultimate which is called a holy boundary, and is signified by the stone which Jacob took and set for a pillar. That truth is the ultimate of order, may be seen from the fact that good cannot terminate in good, but in truth, for truth is the recipient of good (n. 2261, 2434, 3049, 3068, 3180, 3318, 3387, 3470, 3570).

[2] Good in man without truth, that is, without conjunction with truth, is such good as there is in little children, who as yet have nothing of wisdom, because they have nothing of intelligence; but insofar as a child in his advancement to adult age receives truth from good, or insofar as truth in him is conjoined with good, so far he becomes a man. This shows that good is the first of order, and truth the last; and thus it follows that man ought to begin from memory-knowledges, which are the truths of the natural man, and afterwards from doctrinal things, which are the truths of the spiritual man in his natural, in order to be initiated into the intelligence of wisdom; that is, to enter into spiritual life, whereby man becomes man (n. 3504). For example, in order that man as a spiritual man may love his neighbor, he must first learn what spiritual love or charity is, and who is his neighbor. Before he knows this he may indeed love his neighbor, but as a natural, not as a spiritual man, that is, from natural good, not from spiritual good (n. 3470, 3471); whereas after he has attained this knowledge, then spiritual good from the Lord may be implanted therein; and this is the case with all the rest of what are called knowledges, or doctrinal things, or in general, truths.

[3] It is said that good from the Lord may be implanted in knowledges, also that truth is the recipient of good. They who have no other idea of knowledges, and also of truths, than that they are abstract things (such an idea as most people have also concerning thoughts), can in no wise apprehend what is meant by good being implanted in knowledges, and by truth being the recipient of good. But be it known that knowledges and truths are things no more abstracted from the purest substances of the interior man, that is, of the spirit, than sight is abstracted from its organ the eye, or than hearing is abstracted from its organ the ear. There are purer substances, and those real, from which knowledges and thoughts come forth into manifest being; and whose variations of form when animated and modified by the influx of life from the Lord, present them to view; while their agreements and harmonies, in succession or simultaneously, affect the mind, and constitute what is called beautiful, pleasant, and delightful.

[4] Spirits themselves equally with men are forms, that is, consist of continuous forms, but of a purer nature, and not visible to the bodily sight. And because these forms or substances are not visible to the bodily eye, man at this day apprehends no otherwise than that knowledges and thoughts are abstract things; hence also comes the insanity of our age-that men do not believe that they have a spirit within them which is to live after the death of the body, when yet this spirit is a substance much more real than the material substance of its body; nay, if you will believe it, the spirit, after being freed from bodily things, is that very purified body which many say they are to have at the time of the Last Judgment, when they believe that they shall first rise again. That spirits, or what is the same, souls, have a body, see each other as in clear day, discourse together, hear each other, and enjoy much more exquisite sense than while they were in the body or in the world, may be seen very clearly from what has been so abundantly related above from experience.

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

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Arcana Coelestia # 3325

Pag-aralan ang Sipi na ito

  
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3325. Sell me as this day thy birthright. That this signifies that as to time the doctrine of truth was apparently prior, is evident from the signification of “selling,” as being to claim for one’s self; and from the signification of “as this day,” meaning as to time, for in the internal sense of the Word “this day” signifies that which is perpetual and eternal (n. 2838); and in order that it might not be so in the present case, it is said “as this day,” thus by “as” it becomes only apparently so; and from the signification of “birthright,” as being prior, namely that the doctrine of truth, which is represented by Jacob, is so (n. 3305).

[2] By prior, or priority, which is signified by “birthright,” is meant not only priority of time, but also priority of degree; that is, as to which should have the dominion, good or truth. For such is always truth before it has been conjoined with good, or what is the same, such are always those who are in truth, that before they are regenerate they believe truth to be both prior and superior to good, and so indeed it then appears. But when in them truth has been conjoined with good, that is, when they have been regenerated, they then see and perceive that truth is posterior and inferior; and then in them good has dominion over truth, which is signified by what Isaac his father said to Esau:

Behold of the fatness of the earth shall be thy dwelling, and of the dew of heaven from above; and on thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck (Genesis 27:39-40).

[3] But as within the church there are more not being regenerated than being regenerated; and as they who are not being regenerated draw conclusions from the appearance, therefore there has been a dispute even from ancient times as to whether the priority belongs to truth or to good. With those who have not been regenerated, and also with those who have not been fully regenerated, the opinion has prevailed that truth is prior, for as yet they have no perception of good; and so long as anyone has no perception of good, he is in shade or in ignorance in relation to these things. But they who have been regenerated, being in good itself, are able from the consequent intelligence and wisdom to observe what good is, and that it is from the Lord, and that it flows in through the internal man into the external, and this continually, the man being altogether unconscious of it; and that it adjoins itself to the truths of doctrinal things that are in the memory; consequently that in itself good is prior, although before it had not appeared so. Such then was the source of the dispute concerning the priority and superiority of the one over the other which was represented by Esau and Jacob; and also by Perez and Zarah, the sons of Judah by Tamar (Genesis 38:28-30); afterwards also by Ephraim and Manasseh the sons of Joseph (Genesis 48:13-14, 17-20); and this because the spiritual church is of such a nature that it must be introduced through truth into good, and at this time be devoid of the perception of good, except such and so much as lies concealed in the affection of truth, at which time good cannot be discriminated from the delight of the love of self and of the world, which is at the same time in that affection, and is believed to be good.

[4] But that good is the firstborn (that is, the good of love to the Lord, and of love toward the neighbor, for there is no other good than that which is good from these loves) is evident from the fact that there is life in good, but none in truth except the life which is from good; and that good flows into truths and causes them to live may sufficiently appear from what has been stated and shown above concerning good and truth (n. 3324). Wherefore all are called “firstborn” who are in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, and these were also represented in the Jewish Church by what is firstborn, that is, they are meant by it in the relative sense, because the Lord is the Firstborn, and all that are firstborn are His likenesses and images.

[5] That the Lord as to the Divine Human is the Firstborn, is evident from David:

He shall call unto Me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation. I also will make him the firstborn, high above the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and My covenant shall be faithful with him. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of the heavens 1 (Psalms 89:26-29); where the Lord is treated of. And in John:

From Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth (Revelation 1:5).

In order that all that had been written and represented concerning Him might be fulfilled, He was likewise by birth the firstborn (Luke 2:7, 22-23).

[6] That they too, as being His images and likenesses, are called the “firstborn” of the Lord who are in love to Him and in charity toward the neighbor, is evident in John:

The hundred and forty and four thousand bought from the earth: these are they who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins; these are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth; these were bought from among men, the firstfruits (firstborn) unto God and the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile; for they are without spot before the throne of God (Revelation 14:3-5).

The “hundred and forty and four,” or twelve times twelve, denote those who are in the faith of charity (n. 3272); “thousands” denote those who are innumerable, that is, all such (n. 2575); “virgins” denote the good of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor (n. 2362, 3081), thus those who are in innocence, which is also signified by “following the Lamb;” for the Lord is called “the Lamb” from innocence. Hence they are said to be the “firstfruits,” or firstborn.

[7] From the above passages it is manifest that the Lord as to the Divine Human was represented in the Jewish Church by that which was firstborn; and also they who are in love to Him, for these are in the Lord. But what is firstborn has in the Word a twofold representation, representing the Lord both as to Divine celestial love, and as to Divine spiritual love. The Lord’s Divine celestial love is relative to the celestial church, or to those who are of this church and are called celestial from love to the Lord; the Lord’s Divine spiritual love is relative to the spiritual church, or to those who are of this church and are called spiritual from love toward the neighbor. The Lord’s Divine love is toward all, but inasmuch as it is variously received by men, in one way by the celestial man and in another by the spiritual man, it is said to be relative.

[8] Concerning the firstborn that represented the Lord as to Divine celestial love, and also those relatively who were of the celestial church, it is thus written in Moses:

The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen and with thy flock; seven days it shall be with its dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it Me; and ye shall be men of holiness unto Me (Exodus 22:29-31).

That it should be seven days with the dam, was because the “seventh day” signified the celestial man (n. 84-87); and because from this “seven” signified what is holy (n. 395, 433, 716, 881); that it should be given to Jehovah on the eighth day, was because the “eighth day” signified what was continuous from a new beginning, namely, what was continuous of love (n. 2044).

Again:

The firstling among beasts which is made a firstling to Jehovah, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox or sheep it is Jehovah’s (Leviticus 27:26).

Again:

The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring unto Jehovah, shall be for thee (Aaron). Everything that openeth the womb of all flesh which they offer unto Jehovah, both of man and beast, shall be thine. Nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem; and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. The firstling of an ox, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy; thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire for an odor of rest to Jehovah (Numbers 18:13, 15, 17).

Again:

All the firstling males that are born of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto Jehovah thy God; thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thine ox, nor shear the firstling of thy flock. If it have any blemish, as if it be lame or blind, any evil blemish whatsoever, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto Jehovah thy God (Deuteronomy 15:19, 21).

[9] Inasmuch as the firstborn represented the Lord, and those who are the Lord’s by virtue of love to Him, therefore the tribe of Leviticus was accepted instead of every firstborn, and this because Leviticus represented the Lord as to love. “Levi” also signifies love, for “Levi” is “adhesion” and “conjunction,” and in the internal sense adhesion and conjunction are love, on which subject of the Lord’s Divine mercy hereafter (at chapter 29, verse 34). Concerning the Levites it is written in Moses:

Jehovah spake to Moses, saying, And I behold I will take the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the womb among the sons of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine; for all the firstborn are Mine; in the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto Me all the firstborn in Israel, from man even to beast; Mine they shall be (Numbers 3:11-13).

Again:

Jehovah said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn males of the sons of Israel, from the son of a month and upward, and take the number of their names. And thou shalt take the Levites for Me (I am Jehovah) instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the beast of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the beast of the sons of Israel (Numbers 3:40-41, etc.; also Numbers 8:14, 16-18);

and it is said (Numbers 8:19) that the Levites were given to Aaron, because Aaron represented the Lord as to the priesthood, that is, as to the Divine love. (That the priesthood represented the Lord’s Divine love may be seen above, n. 1728, 2015.)

[10] But concerning the firstborn who represented the Lord as to Divine spiritual love, and also those relatively who are of the spiritual church, it is written in Jeremiah:

They shall come with weeping, and with prayers will I lead them; I will bring them to fountains of waters, in the way of what is upright, wherein they shall not stumble; and I will be to Israel for a father, and Ephraim shall be My firstborn (Jeremiah 31:9); where a new spiritual church is treated of, “Israel” denoting spiritual good; “Ephraim,” spiritual truth, who is called the “firstborn” because a church about to be planted is treated of, in which the intellectual which is of truth is apparently the firstborn; for Ephraim succeeded in the place of Reuben, and was made the firstborn (Genesis 48:5, 20; 1 Chron. 5:1); and this because by Joseph, whose sons were Ephraim and Manasseh, was represented the Lord as to Divine spiritual love. But that “Israel” is essentially the “firstborn,” that is, denotes spiritual good, is evident from Moses:

Jehovah said to Moses, Thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, Israel is My son, My firstborn, and I have said unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me; and thou hast refused to let him go; behold I will slay thy son, thy firstborn (Exodus 4:21-23); where “Israel” in the supreme sense signifies the Lord as to Divine spiritual love, but in the relative sense those who are in spiritual love, that is, in charity toward the neighbor.

[11] In the spiritual church, in the beginning, or when it is about to be planted, the doctrine of truth is the firstborn with the external church, and the truth of doctrine is the firstborn with the internal church; or what is the same, the doctrine of faith is the firstborn with the external church, and faith itself with the internal church. But when the church has been planted, that is, in those with whom it exists in life and practice, the good of charity is the firstborn with the external church, and charity itself with the internal. But when the church does not suffer itself to be planted, as is the case when the man of the church can no longer be regenerated, by successive steps it recedes from charity and turns away to faith, being no longer studious of life but of doctrine; and when this is the case it casts itself into shades and falls into falsities and evils, and thus becomes no church, and is of itself extinguished. This was represented by Cain, in that he slew his brother Abel. (That “Cain” is faith separate from charity, and that “Abel” is charity, which he extinguished, may be seen above, n. 340, 342, 357, 362.) The same was afterwards represented by Ham and his son Canaan, in that he mocked at his father Noah (n. 1062, 1063, 1076, 1140, 1141, 1162, 1179); afterwards by Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, in that he defiled his father’s bed (Genesis 35:22); and lastly by Pharaoh and the Egyptians, in that they ill-treated the sons of Israel. That all of these were cursed is evident from the Word.

Concerning Cain it is said:

Jehovah said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground; and now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s bloods from thy hand (Genesis 4:10-11).

Concerning Ham and Canaan:

Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren. And Noah awoke from his wine, and he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren (Genesis 9:22, 24-25).

And concerning Reuben:

Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my strength, and the beginning of my power, excellent in honor, and excellent in might; unstable as water, thou shalt not excel because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed, then defiledst thou my couch (Genesis 49:3-4);

and therefore he was deprived of the birthright (1 Chron. 5:1).

[12] That the same was represented by Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and that therefore their firstborn and firstborn beasts were slain, is evident from their representation, as being memory-knowledges (n. 1164, 1165, 1186), by which-when man enters into the arcana of faith, and no longer believes anything but that which he can apprehend in accordance with the senses and memory-knowledge-he then perverts and extinguishes the things of the doctrine of faith, and especially the things of charity. This is what is represented in the internal sense by the firstborn of men and firstborn of beasts in Egypt being slain, concerning which it is written in Moses:

I will pass through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man even to beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments; I am Jehovah. And the blood shall be to you for a sign upon the houses where ye are, and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be upon you for a destroyer, when I smite the land of Egypt (Exodus 12:12-13).

The “firstborn of Egypt” denotes the doctrine of faith and of charity which as before said is perverted by means of memory-knowledges; the “gods of Egypt” on whom judgments were to be executed, are falsities; there being “no plague as a destroyer where blood was upon the houses,” signifies in the supreme sense where the Lord is as to Divine spiritual love, and in the relative sense, where spiritual love is, that is, charity toward the neighbor (n. 1001).

[13] Moreover concerning Pharaoh and the Egyptians it is thus written:

Moses said, Thus saith Jehovah, About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon the throne, unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beast. And against any of the sons of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, from man even to beast (Exodus 11:4-7).

And again:

It came to pass at midnight that Jehovah smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the house of the pit; and all the firstborn of beast (Exodus 12:29).

That this was done at midnight was because “night” signifies the last state of the church, when there is no longer any faith because there is no charity (n. 221, 709, 1712, 2353).

In David:

He smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the beginning of strength in the tents of Ham (Psalms 78:51).

Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. God smote all the firstborn in their land, the beginning of all their strength (Psalms 105:23, 36).

The worship of the Egyptians from principles of what is false that originate from truth separated from good, or what is the same, from faith separated from charity, is called the “tents of Ham.” (That “tents” signify worship may be seen above, n. 414, 1102, 1566, 2145, 2152, 3312; and that “Ham” is faith separated from charity, n. 1062, 1063, 1076, 1140, 1141, 1162, 1179)

[14] By this is further confirmed what is signified by the firstborn of Egypt being slain; and because all the firstborn were slain, in order that the firstborn might nevertheless represent the Lord as to Divine spiritual love, and at the same time those who are in this love, it was commanded at the time of the exodus that all the firstborn should be sanctified, concerning which we read in Moses:

Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and of beast-it is Mine. Thou shall cause to pass over unto Jehovah all that openeth the womb, and every firstling which thou hast, the progeny of a beast, the males shall be Jehovah’s. And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, thou shalt break its neck; and all the firstborn of man among thy sons thou shall redeem. And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shall say unto him, By a strong hand Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondmen; and it came to pass when Pharaoh hardened himself against letting us go, that Jehovah slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of man even to the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to Jehovah all that openeth the womb, being males, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem (Exodus 13:1-2, 12-15; 34:19-20, Numbers 8:17).

From this it is now evident what is signified in the spiritual sense by “birthright.”

Mga talababa:

1. The Latin here is saeculorum, “of the ages”; but this seems to be a misprint or slip of the pen, for the Hebrew is shamayim, which is rendered coelorum, as usual, in n. 255, 9954; Doctrine of the Lord 6, 44; Apocalypse Explained205, 253, 375, 684, 768; that is, in all the other places where this text is quoted by Swedenborg.

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

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