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Genesis第38章

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1 At that time Juda went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Odollamite, named Hiras.

2 And he saw there the daughter of a man of Chanaan, called Sue: and taking her to wife, he went in unto her.

3 And she conceived, and bore a son, and called his name Her.

4 And conceiving again, she bore a son, and called him Onan.

5 She bore also a third: whom she called Sela. after whose birth, she ceased to bear any more.

6 And Juda took a wife for Her his firstborn, whose name was Thamar.

7 And Her, the firstborn of Juda, was wicked in the sight of the Lord: and was slain by him.

8 Juda, therefore add to Onan his son: Go in to thy brother's wife and marry her, that thou mayst raise seed to thy brother.

9 He knowing that the children should not be his, when he went in to his brother's wife, spilled his seed upon the ground, lest children should be born in his brother's name.

10 And therefore the Lord slew him, be- cause he did a detestable thing.

11 Wherefore Juda said to Thamar his daughter in law: Remain a widow in thy father's house, till Sela my son grow up: for he was afraid lest he also might die, as his brethren did. She went her way and dwelt in her father's house.

12 And after many days were past, the daughter of Sue the wife of Juda died: and when he had taken comfort after his mourning, he went up to Thamnas, to the shearers of his sheep, he and Hiras the Odollamite the shepherd of his flock.

13 And it was told Thamar that her father in law was come up to Thamnas to shear his sheep.

14 And she put off the garments of her widowhood, and took a veil: and changing her dress, sat in the cross way, that leadeth to Thamnas: because Sela was grown up, and she had not been married to him.

15 When Juda saw her, he thought she was a harlot: for she had covered her face, lest she should be known.

16 And going to her, he said: Suffer me to lie with thee: for he knew her not to be his daughter in law. And she answered: What wilt thou give me to en joy my company?

17 He said: I will send thee a kid out of the flock. And when she said again: I will suffer what thou wilt, if thou give a pledge, till thou send what thou promisest,

18 Juda said: What wilt thou have for a pledge ? She answered: Thy ring and bracelet, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand. The woman therefore at one copulation conceived.

19 And she arose and went her way: and putting off the apparel which she had taken, put on the garments of her widowhood.

20 And Juda sent a kid by his shepherd, the Odollamite, that he might receive the pledge again, which he had given to the woman: but he, not finding her,

21 asked the men of that place : Where is the woman that sat in the cross way? And when they all made answer: There was no harlot in this place,

22 He returned to Juda, and said to him: I have not found her; moreover the men of that place said to me, that there never sat a harlot there.

23 Juda said : Let her take it to herself ; surely she cannot charge us with a,lie: I sent the kid which I promised: and thou didst not find her.

24 And behold after three months they told a lie, saying: Thamar, thy daughter in law hath played the harlot, and she appeareth to have a big belly. And Juda said : Bring her out that she may be burnt.

25 But when she was led to execution, she sent to her father in law, saying: By the man, to whom these things belong, I am with child. See whose ring, and bracelet, and staff this is.

26 But he acknowledging the gifts, said: She is juster than I: because I did not give her to Sela, my son. However, he knew her no more.

27 And when she was ready to be brought to bed, there appeared twins in her womb: and in the very delivery of the infants, one put forth a hand, whereon the midwife tied a scarlet thread, saying:

28 This shall come forth the first.

29 But he drawing back his hand, the other came forth: and the woman said: Why is the partition divided for thee? and therefore called his name Phares.

30 Afterwards his brother came out, on whose hand was the scarlet thread: and she called him Zara.

   

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Arcana Coelestia#4876

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4876. 'And your rod which is in your hand' means through the power of this, that is, of this truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a rod' as power, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the hand' too as power, dealt with in 876, 3091, 3387, 3563. The phrase 'which is in your hand' is used because the power of that truth, namely lowest truth, is meant, like that present with the semblance of religion among the Jewish nation, meant here by 'Judah'. Regarding the attribution of power to truth, see 3091, 3563. Frequent mention is made in the Word of 'a rod', yet surprisingly few at the present day know that something in the spiritual world was represented by it, as for instance when Moses was commanded, every time a miracle was performed, to lift up his rod and so it was accomplished. The existence of such knowledge even among gentiles may be recognized from their myths in which rods are assigned to magicians. The reason 'a rod' means power is that it is a support, for it gives support to the hand and arm, and through these to the whole body. This being so, a rod takes on the meaning of the part to which it immediately gives support, namely that of the hand and the arm, both of which mean in the Word the power of truth. Also, the hand and arm correspond to that power in the Grand Man, as will be seen at the ends of chapters.

[2] That 'a rod' represented power is evident, as has been stated, from what is recorded about Moses,

He was commanded to take a rod and use it to perform miracles; so he took the rod of God in his hand. Exodus 4:17, 20.

When the waters in Egypt were struck with the rod, they turned to blood.

Exodus 7:15, 19.

When the rod was stretched out over the streams, frogs came forth. Exodus 8:5-15.

When the dust was struck by the use of the rod, it turned into lice. Exodus 8:16-20.

When the rod was stretched out towards heaven, hail fell. Exodus 9:23.

When the rod was stretched out over the earth, locusts came forth. Exodus 10:3-21.

Since 'the hand', which means power, comes first, while 'a rod' is merely its instrument, the following references to 'the hand' also occur:

The miracles happened when Moses' hand was stretched out. Exodus 10:12-13. When he stretched out his hand towards heaven, thick darkness came over the land of Egypt. Exodus 10:21-22. When he stretched out his hand over the Sea Suph, an east wind made the sea dry land; and when again he stretched out his hand, the waters returned. Exodus 14:21, 26-27.

[3] Reference is in addition made to the rod being used to strike the rock at Horeb, after which water flowed out, Exodus 17:5-6; Numbers 20:7-10. Also, when Joshua was about to fight against Amalek,

Moses said to Joshua, Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, with God's rod in my hand. And it happened, that when Moses lifted up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed. Exodus 17:9-11.

From these references it is quite plain that 'a rod', like the hand, represented power, and in the highest sense the Lord's Divine almighty power. It is also evident that at that time representatives constituted the external features of the Church, and that its internal features - which were spiritual and celestial realities such as exist in heaven - corresponded to those external ones, which owed their efficacy to that correspondence. From this it is also evident how crazy those people are who believe that power had been infused into and therefore dwelt in Moses' rod or hand.

[4] The meaning in the spiritual sense of 'a rod' as power is also evident from many places in the Prophets, as in Isaiah,

Behold, the Lord Jehovah Zebaoth is taking away from Jerusalem rod and stay, the whole rod of bread, and the whole rod of water. Isaiah 3:1.

'The rod of bread' stands for the support and power provided by the good of love, 'the rod of water' for the support and power provided by the truth of faith. For 'bread' means the good of love, see 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735; and 'water' the truth of faith' 28, 680, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424. 'The rod of bread' is used with a similar meaning in Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13; Psalms 105:16.

[5] In addition to this, in Isaiah,

The Lord, Jehovih Zebaoth, said, Do not be afraid - O My people, inhabitant of Zion - of Asshur, who will smite you with a stick and will lift up the rod over you in the way of Egypt. Jehovah will lift up the scourge against him, as when Midian was smitten in the rock of Oreb, and his rod will be over the sea, which he will lift up in the way of Egypt. Isaiah 10:24, 26.

Here 'the rod' stands for power provided by reasoning and knowledge, like that which those people possess who, with ideas based on factual knowledge, reason against the truths of faith and pervert these or else treat them as worthless. This is what is meant by 'the stick with which Asshur will smite' and by 'the rod which he will lift up in the way of Egypt'. For 'Asshur' means reasoning, see 1186, and 'Egypt' knowledge, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462.

[6] Similarly in Zechariah,

The pride of Asshur will be thrown down, and the rod of Egypt will depart. Zechariah 10:11.

In Isaiah,

You relied on the rod of a bruised reed, on Egypt, which, when anyone leans on it, goes into his hand and pierces it. Isaiah 36:6.

'Egypt' stands for factual knowledge, as above; and power in spiritual things which is received from that knowledge is meant by 'the rod of a bruised reed'. By 'the hand which it enters and pierces' is meant power received from the Word. In the same prophet,

Jehovah has broken the rod of the wicked, the stick of those who have dominion. Isaiah 14:5

'The rod' and 'the stick' plainly stand for power.

[7] In Jeremiah,

Grieve, all regions surrounding Moab; say, How is the rod of strength, the rod of beauty, broken! Jeremiah 48:17.

'The rod of strength' stands for power received from good, and 'the rod of beauty' for power received from truth.

[8] In Hosea,

My people enquire of their piece of wood, and their rod gives them a reply, for the spirit of whoredom has led them astray. Hosea 4:12.

'Inquiring of a piece of wood' stands for consulting evils, 'the rod gives reply' for the fact that falsity results from these, its power being derived from the evil to which they give support. 'The spirit of whoredom' stands for the life of falsity resulting from evil. In David,

Even when I walk in the valley of the shadow I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your stick and Your rod comfort me. Psalms 23:4.

'Your stick and your rod' stands for Divine truth and good, which have power. In the same author,

The rod of the wicked will not rest on the lot of the righteous. Psalms 125:3.

[9] In the same author,

You will break them in pieces with a stick of iron, you will dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Psalms 2:9.

'A stick of iron' stands for the power of spiritual truth within the natural, for all natural truth that has spiritual truth present within it possesses power. 'Iron' means natural truth, 425, 426. Similarly in John,

He who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations to rule 1 them untie a stick of iron as when earthen pots are broken in pieces. Revelation 2:26-27. (Also Revelation 12:5; 19:15.)

[10] Because 'a rod' represented the power of truth, that is, the power of good expressed by means of truth, kings therefore had sceptres; and those sceptres were shaped like short rods. For kings represent the Lord as regards truth, while kingship itself means Divine Truth, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3670, 4581. The sceptre means the power which is theirs not by virtue of their high position but of truth which must reign. Nor must this be any other kind of truth than that which is grounded in good, and so is primarily Divine Truth, and among Christians is the Lord, the source of all Divine Truth.

脚注:

1. literally, pasture

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