Arcana Coelestia#4539
4539. 'Rise up, go up to Bethel' means concerning the Divine Natural, that is to say, the perception concerning this. This is clear from the meaning of 'rising up' as implying some kind of raising up, dealt with in 2401, 2785, 2912, 2927, 3171, 4103, here a raising up of the Natural towards the Divine; from the meaning of 'going up' as doing so towards aspects even more interior, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'Bethel' as the Divine within the natural, that is, within the ultimate degree of order, dealt with in 4089. In the original language Bethel means the house of God, and since 'the house of God' is a place where the cognitions of good and truth exist, 'Bethel' accordingly means, in the proximate sense, those cognitions, as shown in 1453. But because interior degrees are enveloped by and terminate in the parts which constitute the ultimate degree of order where they come together and so to speak inhabit the same house, and because man's natural is the ultimate degree, enveloping interior ones, 'Bethel' or the house of God therefore means, strictly speaking, the Natural, 3729, 4089, and in particular the good there. For 'a house' in the internal sense means good, 2233, 2234, 3720, 3729. It is also within the natural or the ultimate degree of order that cognitions exist.
[2] The reason why 'going up' means a raising up towards more interior aspects is that things which are interior are spoken of as those that are higher, 2148, and therefore when the subject in the internal sense is an advance towards things that are more interior the expression 'going up' is used. Examples of this usage are, going up from Egypt to the land of Canaan; going up into the interior parts of the land of Canaan itself; going up from any part there to Jerusalem; and when in Jerusalem itself, going up to the house of God there. Going up from Egypt to the land of Canaan is referred to in Moses,
Pharaoh said to Joseph, Go up and bury your father. And Joseph went up. And there went up with him all Pharaoh's servants. And there went up with him chariot and horseman. Genesis 50:6-9.
And in the Book of Judges,
The angel of Jehovah went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and he said, I caused you to go up out of Egypt. Judges 2:1.
In the internal sense 'Egypt' means factual knowledge which helps people to have some conception of things belonging to the Lord's kingdom, while 'the land of Canaan' means the Lord's kingdom. And because facts are lower, or what amounts to the same, exterior, while things belonging to the Lord's kingdom are higher, or what amounts to the same, interior, the Word therefore speaks of 'going up' from Egypt to the land of Canaan, or - when travelling in the opposite direction - of 'going down' from the land of Canaan to Egypt, as in Genesis 42:2-3; 43:4-5, 15; and elsewhere.
[3] Going up into the interior parts of the land of Canaan itself is spoken of in Joshua,
Joshua said, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai, and they resumed to Joshua and said to him, Do not let all the people go up; let about 2000 men or about 3000 men go up. Therefore there went up of the people about 3000 men. Joshua 7:2-4.
Because 'the land of Canaan' means the Lord's kingdom, parts further in from its border regions meant things that are interior; hence the use in this quotation of the verb 'to go up'. The same is true of Jerusalem in relation to all the regions surrounding it, and of the house of God in relation to Jerusalem within which it stood, 1 Kings 12:27-28; 2 Kings 20:5, 8; Matthew 20:18; Mark 10:33; Luke 18:31; and in many other places besides these. For Jerusalem was the inmost part of the land because the Lord's spiritual kingdom was meant by it, and the house of God was the inmost part of Jerusalem because the Lord's celestial kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord Himself were meant by it. This is why one speaks of 'going up' to these places. From all this one can see what is meant by 'rise up, go up to Bethel', namely that 'going up' means an advance towards things that are more interior, the subject dealt with in the present chapter, [see] 4536.
Genesis第43章
1
The famine was severe in the land.
2
It happened, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little more food."
3
Judah spoke to him, saying, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, 'You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.'
4
If you'll send our brother with us, we'll go down and buy you food,
5
but if you'll not send him, we'll not go down, for the man said to us, 'You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.'"
6
Israel said, "Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?"
7
They said, "The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down?'"
8
Judah said to Israel, his father, "Send the boy with me, and we'll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones.
9
I'll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don't bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever,
10
for if we hadn't delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now."
11
Their father, Israel, said to them, "If it must be so, then do this. Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds;
12
and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.
13
Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man.
14
May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved."
15
The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
16
When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and prepare; for the men will dine with me at noon."
17
The man did as Joseph commanded, and the man brought the men to Joseph's house.
18
The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, "Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time, we're brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys."
19
They came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,
20
and said, "Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food.
21
When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, each man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand.
22
We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don't know who put our money in our sacks."
23
He said, "Peace be to you. Don't be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money." He brought Simeon out to them.
24
The man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder.
25
They prepared the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.
26
When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to him to the earth.
27
He asked them of their welfare, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?"
28
They said, "Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive." They bowed the head, and did homage.
29
He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?" He said, "God be gracious to you, my son."
30
Joseph hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there.
31
He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, "Serve the meal."
32
They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians, that ate with him, by themselves, because the Egyptians don't eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.
33
They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled one with another.
34
He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.
