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44章
1
He commanded the steward of his house, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in his sack's mouth.
2
Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, with his grain money." He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
3
As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.
4
When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, 'Why have you rewarded evil for good?
5
Isn't this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.'"
6
He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them.
7
They said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!
8
Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord's house?
9
With whoever of your servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondservants."
10
He said, "Now also let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found will be my bondservant; and you will be blameless."
11
Then they hurried, and each man took his sack down to the ground, and each man opened his sack.
12
He searched, beginning with the eldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
13
Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city.
14
Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him.
15
Joseph said to them, "What deed is this that you have done? Don't you know that such a man as I can indeed divine?"
16
Judah said, "What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord's bondservants, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found."
17
He said, "Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my bondservant; but as for you, go up in peace to your father."
18
Then Judah came near to him, and said, "Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and don't let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh.
19
My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father, or a brother?'
20
We said to my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.'
21
You said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.'
22
We said to my lord, 'The boy can't leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.'
23
You said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.'
24
It happened when we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
25
Our father said, 'Go again, buy us a little food.'
26
We said, 'We can't go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man's face, unless our youngest brother is with us.'
27
Your servant, my father, said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons:
28
and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces;" and I haven't seen him since.
29
If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.'
30
Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; since his life is bound up in the boy's life;
31
it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol.
32
For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, 'If I don't bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.'
33
Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, a bondservant to my lord; and let the boy go up with his brothers.
34
For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn't with me?--lest I see the evil that will come on my father."
