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Genesis第39章

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1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, a chamberlain of Pharaoh, the captain of the life-guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites who had brought him down thither.

2 And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

3 And his master saw that Jehovah was with him, and that Jehovah made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

4 And Joseph found favour in his eyes, and attended on him; and he set him over his house, and all that he had he gave into his hand.

5 And it came to pass from the time he had set him over his house and all that he had, that Jehovah blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of Jehovah was on all that he had in the house and in the field.

6 And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and took cognizance of nothing with him, save the bread that he ate. And Joseph was of a beautiful form and of a beautiful countenance.

7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph, and said, Lie with me!

8 But he refused, and said to his master's wife, Behold, my master takes cognizance of nothing with me: what is in the house, and all that he has, he has given into my hand.

9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither has he withheld anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife; and how should I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

10 And it came to pass as she spoke to Joseph day by day and he hearkened not to her, to lie with her [and] to be with her,

11 that on a certain day he went into the house to do his business, and there was none of the men of the house there in the house.

12 Then she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me! But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran out.

13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled forth,

14 that she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, See, he has brought in a Hebrew man to us, to mock us: he came in to me, to lie with me; and I cried with a loud voice;

15 and it came to pass when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went out.

16 And she laid his garment by her until his lord came home.

17 And she spoke to him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew bondman that thou hast brought to us came in to me to mock me;

18 and it came to pass as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled forth.

19 And it came to pass when his lord heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying, After this manner did thy bondman to me, that his wrath was kindled.

20 And Joseph's lord took him and put him into the tower-house, [the] place where the king's prisoners were confined; and he was there in the tower-house.

21 And Jehovah was with Joseph, and extended mercy to him, and gave him favour in the eyes of the chief of the tower-house.

22 And the chief of the tower-house committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the tower-house; and whatever they had to do there he did.

23 The chief of the tower-house looked not to anything under his hand, because Jehovah was with him; and what he did, Jehovah made it prosper.

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#5028

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5028. That he left his garment with me' means proof. This is clear from the meaning of 'leaving his garment with her' as evidence that an approach had been made, dealt with in 5019. 'A garment' in the internal sense means truth, and 'leaving a garment' means removing outermost truth, 5008. The reason why evidence or proof that an approach had been made is meant here is that when outermost truth is left behind or removed it supplies to the natural man evidence against the spiritual man. For it seems as though the spiritual man is joined to the natural man by means of outermost truth, but it is not in fact so joined, see 5008 - the reason being that when the spiritual man explains that truth the lack of any similarity between the two becomes apparent. But let the examples introduced previously in 5008 serve to illustrate this.

[2] The spiritual man says, just as the natural man does, that good should be done to the poor, widows, and orphans; but the spiritual man thinks that good should not be done to the poor, widows, or orphans who are evil, or who call themselves poor when in fact they are rich; for then they would mislead simply by the words they use. From this the spiritual man is led to deduce that the poor, widows, and orphans mentioned in the Word mean those who are spiritually so. But the natural man thinks that good should be done to the poor, widows, and orphans who are literally called such, and that none other than these are meant in the Word; nor is he interested in whether they are evil or good people. What the poor, widows, and orphans may be on a spiritual level he neither knows nor wishes to know. From this one may see that this outermost truth - that good should be done to the poor, widows, and orphans - appears to be the same with both the spiritual man and the natural man; but when it is explained no such similarity exists. But when the lack of any similarity comes out, the two are consequently parted from each other, and then outermost truth serves the natural man as evidence or proof that an approach has been made. Therefore it speaks falsely against the spiritual man who no longer has anything with which to protect himself. Accordingly this example too serves to show why and in what way 'a garment' means evidence or proof.

[3] Take another example. The spiritual man says, just as the natural man does, that good should be done to the neighbour. He also says that everyone is his neighbour, yet he thinks that one person is his neighbour in a different respect and degree from another, and that to do good to an evil person because he calls himself his neighbour is to do evil to the neighbour. The natural man joins the spiritual man in subscribing to that outermost truth - the truth that good should be done to the neighbour, and also the truth that everyone is the neighbour. But he supposes that the neighbour is anyone who is favourably disposed towards him; and he has no interest in whether that person is good or evil. This example too shows that the two appear to be joined together so far as outermost truth is concerned, but that there is no real joining together, also that as soon as that truth is explained they become parted from each other. Once they are parted outermost truth serves the natural man as evidence against the spiritual man that the latter has been making sport of it so to speak. The same can be seen in all the other examples [in 5008].

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