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創世記第33章

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1 雅各舉目觀,見以掃來了,後頭跟著,他就把孩子們分開交給利亞、拉結,和兩個使女,

2 並且叫兩個使女和他們的孩子在前頭,利亞和他的孩子在後頭,拉結和約瑟在儘後頭。

3 他自己在他們前頭過去,一連次俯伏在才就哥哥

4 以掃跑來迎接他,將他抱住,又摟著他的頸項,與他親嘴,兩個人就哭了。

5 以掃舉目見婦人孩子,就:這些?和你同行的是誰呢?雅各:這些孩子是施恩給你的僕人的

6 於是兩個使女和他們的孩子前來下拜;

7 利亞和他的孩子也前來下拜;隨約瑟和拉結也前來下拜。

8 以掃:我所遇見的這些群畜是甚麼意思呢?雅各:是要在我面前蒙恩的。

9 以掃兄弟阿,我的已經夠了,你的仍歸你罷!

10 雅各:不然,我若在你眼前蒙恩,就求你從我裡收下這禮物;因為我見了你的面,如同見了的面,並且你容納了我。

11 求你收下我帶來給你的禮物;因為恩待我,使我充足。雅各再三地求他,他才收下了。

12 以掃我們可以起身前往,我在你前頭走。

13 雅各對他:我知道孩子們年幼嬌嫩,牛也正在乳養的時候,若是催趕一天畜都必死了

14 求我僕人前頭走,我要量著在我面前群畜和孩子的力量慢慢地前行,直走到西珥我那裡。

15 以掃:容我把跟隨我的人留幾個在你這裡。雅各:何必呢?只要在我眼前蒙恩就是了。

16 於是,以掃當日起行,回往西珥去了。

17 雅各就往疏割去,在那裡為自己蓋造房屋,又為牲畜搭棚;因此那地方疏割(就是棚的意思)。

18 雅各從巴旦亞蘭回的時候,平平安安到了迦南示劍城,在城東支搭帳棚,

19 就用一塊銀子向示劍的父親、哈抹的子孫買了支帳棚的那塊地,

20 在那裡築了一座,起名伊利伊羅伊以色列(就是神、以色列神的意思)。

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#6306

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6306. 'Which I took out of the hand of the Amorite' means because of the victory over evil. This is clear from the representation of 'the Amorite' as evil, dealt with in 1857; and from the meaning of 'taking out of the hand' as acquiring through victory. As regards 'the Amorites', it should be recognized that they mean evil, just as 'the Canaanites' and all the other nations in the land that are mentioned in the Word mean various kinds of evil and also of falsity. Such things were represented by the nations when the children of Israel were taking possession of the land of Canaan. The reason for this was that whenever the children of Israel represented the things of heaven those nations represented the things of hell; thus the land of Canaan represented every state that exists in the next life. Also, because the nations represented the things of hell they were utterly destroyed; and entrance into any treaty with those who might remain was forbidden.

[2] The action of the children of Israel, of their taking possession of and dwelling in the land of those who represented the hells, was representative. It represented what happened around the time of the Lord's Coming, when spirits from hell had possession of a large part of heaven but He, by coming into the world and making the human within Himself Divine, cast them out of there and down into hell, and thereby delivered heaven from them, which He then gave as an inheritance to those who belonged to His spiritual kingdom.

[3] The representation of the Amorite nation as evil in general is evident from the places where it is referred to, as in Ezekiel, Thus said the Lord Jehovih to Jerusalem, 1 Your tradings and your births are of the land of the Canaanite. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. Ezekiel 16:3, 45.

'Father' in the internal sense means the Church's good, or in the contrary sense evil, and 'mother' means the Church's truth, or in the contrary sense falsity; and this is why it is said, 'Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite'.

[4] In Amos,

I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and whose strength was like the oaks. I led you in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. Amos 2:9-10.

Here also 'the Amorite' stands for evil, for the evil of self-love is described by 'the height of the cedars' and 'the strength of an oak'. The reason why 'the Amorite' means evil in general is that the entire land of Canaan was called 'the land of the Amorite'; for it says, 'I led you in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite'. In addition the second Book of Kings says,

Manasseh king of Judah did what was evil, greater than all the evil which the Amorites did, who were before him. 2 Kings 21:11.

[5] 'With my sword' means through truth engaged in conflict. This is clear from the meaning of 'sword' as truth engaged in conflict, dealt with in 2799, 4499.

'And my bow' means received from doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'bow' as doctrine, dealt with in 2686, 2709.

[6] The words used here, 'the portion which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow' were, it is quite evident, uttered by Israel on account of the internal sense; for Jacob did not take that portion from the Amorite with sword or bow. He bought it from the sons of Hamor, as is evident from Genesis 33, where these words occur, Jacob came to Salem, the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, as he was coming from Paddan Aram; and he encamped towards the face of the city. And he bought the portion of the field where he had stretched his tent, from the hand of the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitahs. Genesis 33:18-19.

The fact that this field was the portion he gave to Joseph is clear in Joshua,

The bones of Joseph which the children of Israel caused to be brought up out of Egypt they buried in Shechem, in the part of the field which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitahs; and they had become an inheritance for the children of Joseph. Joshua 24:32.

From this it is evident that the portion had been bought, and that this is what was given to Joseph. Nor was the city of Shechem nearby meant, the city in which Simeon and Levi killed every male and which they took with the sword, Genesis 34. This is made clear by the fact that Jacob detested what they did and for that reason cursed Simeon and Levi, completely dissociating himself from the crime. He said,

Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of violence are their swords. Into their secret place let my soul not come; in their congregation let not my glory be united; for in their anger they killed a man, and in their pleasure they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was hard. 2 I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. Genesis 49:5-7.

From all this it may now be seen that the words 'the portion which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow' were uttered by him, when the spirit of prophecy rested on him, for the sake of the internal sense.

脚注:

1. The Latin means O Jerusalem but the Hebrew means to Jerusalem, which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse (and possibly in his rough draft here).

2. i.e. cruel

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