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創世記第29章

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1 雅各起行,到了東方人之

2 見田間有一,有臥在旁;因為人飲羊群都是用那裡的上的石頭的。

3 常有羊群在那裡聚集,牧人把石頭轉離,隨後又把石頭放在的原處。

4 雅各對牧人弟兄們,你們是那裡來的?他們:我們是哈蘭來的。

5 他問他們:拿鶴的孫子拉班,你們認識麼?他們:我們認識。

6 雅各:他平安麼?他們:平安。看哪,他女兒拉結領著來了

7 雅各:日頭還,不是羊群聚集的時候,你們不如飲,再去放一放。

8 他們:我們不能,必等羊群聚齊,人把石頭轉離才可飲

9 雅各正和他們說話的時候,拉結領著他父親來了,因為那些是他牧放的。

10 雅各見母舅拉班的女兒拉結和母舅拉班的羊群,就上前把石頭轉離,飲他母舅拉班的羊群

11 雅各與拉結親嘴,就放聲而哭。

12 雅各告訴拉結,自己是他父親的外甥,是利百加的兒子,拉結就跑去告訴他父親

13 拉班見外甥雅各的信息,就跑去迎接,抱著他,與他親嘴,領他到自己的家。雅各將一切的情由告訴拉班

14 拉班對他:你實在是我的。雅各就和他同一個月

15 拉班雅各:你雖是我的骨肉(原文作弟兄),豈可白白地服事我?請告訴我,你要甚麼為工價?

16 拉班有兩個女兒,大的名叫利亞,小的名叫拉結。

17 利亞的眼睛沒有神氣,拉結卻生得美貌俊秀。

18 雅各拉結,就:我願為你小女兒拉結服事你年。

19 拉班:我把他你,勝似,你與我同罷!

20 雅各就為拉結服事了年;他因為深愛拉結,就看這年如同幾

21 雅各拉班:日期已經滿了,求你把我的妻子給我,我好與他同房。

22 拉班就擺設筵席,請齊了那地方的眾人。

23 晚上,拉班將女兒利亞送給雅各,雅各就與他同房。

24 拉班又將婢女悉帕女兒利亞作使女。

25 到了早晨,雅各一看是利亞,就對拉班:你向我做的是甚麼事呢?我服事你,不是為拉結麼?你為甚麼欺哄我呢?

26 拉班:大女兒還沒有人,先把小女兒人,在我們這地方沒有這規矩。

27 你為這個滿了日,我就把那個也你,你再為他服事我年。

28 雅各就如此行。滿了利亞的七日,拉班便將女兒拉結雅各為妻。

29 拉班又將婢女辟拉女兒拉結作使女。

30 雅各也與拉結同房,並且拉結勝似利亞,於是又服事了拉班年。

31 耶和華見利亞失寵(原文作被恨;下同),就使他生育,拉結卻不生育。

32 利亞懷孕生子,就給他起名流便(就是有兒子的意思),因而耶和華見我的苦情,如今我的丈夫我。

33 他又懷孕生子,就耶和華因為見我失寵,所以又賜我這個兒子,於是他起名西緬(就是見的意思)。

34 他又懷孕生子,起名利未(就是聯合的意思),:我給丈夫生了兒子,他必與我聯合。

35 他又懷孕生子,:這回我要讚美耶和華,因此給他起名猶大(就是讚美的意思)。這才停了生育。

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#3875

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3875. 'And she said, Now this time my husband will cling to me' means in the highest sense love and mercy, in the internal sense charity, in the external sense a joining together - spiritual love being meant here. This is clear from the meaning of 'clinging to'. As regards 'clinging' in the external sense, or inner sense nearest to the literal, meaning a joining together, this may be seen without explanation; and as regards 'clinging' in the internal sense meaning charity, this is evident from the consideration that charity, or what amounts to the same, mutual love, is a spiritual joining together. For mutual love is a joining together of affections belonging to the will and a consequent agreement of thoughts belonging to the understanding, and so is a joining of minds as to both parts. That 'clinging' in the highest sense means love and mercy is evident from this, for when the description 'infinite and eternal' is applied to charity or spiritual love the attribute of mercy is meant, mercy being Divine love directed towards the human race engulfed in such great miseries. For man of himself is nothing but evil, and what is within him, insofar as this has its origin in himself, is altogether from hell. Yet the Lord beholds him with Divine Love, and therefore the raising up of him from the hell in which of himself he dwells and his deliverance from it is called mercy. And because that mercy is an attribute of Divine Love, 'clinging' in the highest sense therefore means both love and mercy.

[2] As regards 'clinging' in the internal sense meaning spiritual love, or what amounts to the same, charity towards the neighbour, this may also be seen from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Do not let the son of the foreigner who has clung to Jehovah say, Jehovah surely separates me from being with His people. The sons of the foreigner who cling to Jehovah, to minister to Him and to delight in the name of Jehovah, will be His servants. Isaiah 56:3, 6.

'Clinging to Jehovah' stands for keeping His commandments, which is an act of spiritual love, for no one at heart keeps God's commandments except him in whom good that flows from charity towards the neighbour is present. In Jeremiah,

In those days the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah weeping as they come; and they will seek Jehovah their God. They will ask Zion concerning the way, their faces towards it, [saying,] Come and let us cling to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant that is not forgotten. Jeremiah 50:4-5.

'Clinging to Jehovah' in like manner stands for keeping His commandments at heart, that is, doing so from good that flows from charity.

[3] In Zechariah,

Many nations will cling to Jehovah on that day and will be My people. Zechariah 2:11.

Here the meaning is similar. In Isaiah,

Jehovah will have compassion on Jacob, and will again choose Israel, and will set them on their own land. And the sojourner will cling to them, and they will join themselves to the house of Jacob. Isaiah 14:1.

'The sojourner clinging to them' stands for having a similar allegiance to the law. 'Joining themselves to the house of Jacob' stands for the good that flows from charity, which is present in those meant by 'the house of Jacob'. In Matthew,

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will cling to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24.

Here the celestial form of love is meant by 'loving', the spiritual form by 'clinging to'. Both of these expressions are used because those two forms of love are distinct and separate. Otherwise one expression would have been sufficient.

[4] People who are stirred by spiritual love are therefore called 'the sons of Levi', as in Malachi,

Who can endure the day of His coming, and who will stand when He appears? He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and purge them like gold, and like silver. Malachi 3:2-3.

In the highest sense the Lord is meant by 'Levi' by virtue of Divine love and of mercy towards those in whom spiritual love is present. This may be seen in the same prophet,

That you may know that I have sent this command to you, to be My covenant with Levi, said Jehovah Zebaoth. My covenant with him will be [a covenant] of life and peace. You have turned back from the way; you have caused many to stumble at the law, you have corrupted the covenant of Levi; therefore I have made you despised. Malachi 2:4-5, 8-9.

And because in the highest sense the Lord's Divine Love or His Mercy was meant by 'Levi', and in the internal sense spiritual love, the tribe of Levi was therefore established as the priesthood; for in the internal sense of the Word 'the priesthood' is nothing other than the holiness of love and 'kingship' the holiness of faith, 1728, 2015 (end), 3670.

[5] Because the expression 'cringing to' from which Levi received his name means spiritual love, which is the same as mutual love, the same expression in the original language is used to mean lending and borrowing. 1 And these two - lending and borrowing - in the Jewish Church represented mutual love, a representation which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with elsewhere. Mutual love is different from friendship inasmuch as mutual love has a person's good in view, and in directing itself towards that good is directed towards the person in whom good is present. Friendship however has the person in view, which is also mutual love when it looks at that person from the point of view of, that is, on account of, that good. But when it does not look at him from the point of view of good or on account of that good but on account of self which it calls good, friendship is not in that case mutual love but something close to the love of self. And insofar as it is close to this it is opposed to mutual love. In itself mutual love is nothing else than charity towards the neighbour, for in the internal sense 'the neighbour' means nothing else than good, and in the highest sense the Lord because all good originates in Him and He is Good itself, see 2425, 3419. This mutual love or charity towards the neighbour is what is understood by spiritual love and meant by 'Levi'. What is more, in the Word celestial love, and also conjugial love, is expressed in the sense of the letter as 'clinging to', but this is derived from a different expression in the original language from that from which the name Levi is obtained.

[6] This other expression means an even closer joining together, as in the following places: In Moses,

You shall fear Jehovah your God: you shall serve Him and cling to Him. Deuteronomy 10:20.

You shall go after Jehovah your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and hear His voice, and serve Him, and cling to Him. Deuteronomy 13:4.

To love Jehovah your God, to go in all His ways, and to cling to Him. Deuteronomy 11:22.

To love Jehovah your God, to obey His voice, and to cling to Him, for He is your life. Deuteronomy 30:20.

In Joshua,

Take good care to carry out the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, to love Jehovah your God, and to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and to cling to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Joshua 22:5.

In the second Book of Kings,

King Hezekiah trusted in Jehovah the God of Israel. He clung to Jehovah; he did not turn back from going after Him, and he kept His commandments which

Jehovah had commanded Moses. 2 Kings 18:5-6.

In Jeremiah,

As a waistcloth clings to the loins of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me, to be for Me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory; but they were not obedient. Jeremiah 13:11.

[7] The fact that conjugial love as well is expressed by 'clinging to' is evident from the following,

Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and will cling to his wife, and they will be one flesh. Genesis 2:24.

On account of your hardness of heart Moses wrote this commandment, but from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man (homo) will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two will be one flesh. What therefore God has joined together man (homo) must not put asunder. Mark 10:5-9; Matthew 19:5.

The soul of Shechem clung to Dinah, Jacob's daughter. He loved the girl, and spoke to the girl's heart. Genesis 34:3.

Solomon loved many foreign women. Solomon clung to these in love. 1 Kings 11:1-2.

These quotations show then that 'clinging to' is an expression descriptive of love which was adopted in ancient times by Churches in which meaningful signs were prominent, and that it means nothing else in the internal sense than a spiritual joining together, which is charity and love.

脚注:

1. literally, mutually giving and receiving

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