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Genesis第27章

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1 And it cometh to pass that Isaac [is] aged, and his eyes are too dim for seeing, and he calleth Esau his elder son, and saith unto him, `My son;' and he saith unto him, `Here [am] I.'

2 And he saith, `Lo, I pray thee, I have become aged, I have not known the day of my death;

3 and now, take up, I pray thee, thy instruments, thy quiver, and thy bow, and go out to the field, and hunt for me provision,

4 and make for me tasteful things, [such] as I have loved, and bring in to me, and I do eat, so that my soul doth bless thee before I die.'

5 And Rebekah is hearkening while Isaac is speaking unto Esau his son; and Esau goeth to the field to hunt provision -- to bring in;

6 and Rebekah hath spoken unto Jacob her son, saying, `Lo, I have heard thy father speaking unto Esau thy brother, saying,

7 Bring for me provision, and make for me tasteful things, and I do eat, and bless thee before Jehovah before my death.

8 `And now, my son, hearken to my voice, to that which I am commanding thee:

9 Go, I pray thee, unto the flock, and take for me from thence two good kids of the goats, and I make them tasteful things for thy father, [such] as he hath loved;

10 and thou hast taken in to thy father, and he hath eaten, so that his soul doth bless thee before his death.

11 And Jacob saith unto Rebekah his mother, `Lo, Esau my brother [is] a hairy man, and I a smooth man,

12 it may be my father doth feel me, and I have been in his eyes as a deceiver, and have brought upon me disesteem, and not a blessing;'

13 and his mother saith to him, `On me thy disesteem, my son; only hearken to my voice, and go, take for me.'

14 And he goeth, and taketh, and bringeth to his mother, and his mother maketh tasteful things, [such] as his father hath loved;

15 and Rebekah taketh the desirable garments of Esau her elder son, which [are] with her in the house, and doth put on Jacob her younger son;

16 and the skins of the kids of the goats she hath put on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck,

17 and she giveth the tasteful things, and the bread which she hath made, into the hand of Jacob her son.

18 And he cometh in unto his father, and saith, `My father;' and he saith, `Here [am] I; who [art] thou, my son?'

19 And Jacob saith unto his father, `I [am] Esau thy first-born; I have done as thou hast spoken unto me; rise, I pray thee, sit, and eat of my provision, so that thy soul doth bless me.'

20 And Isaac saith unto his son, `What [is] this thou hast hasted to find, my son?' and he saith, `That which Jehovah thy God hath caused to come before me.'

21 And Isaac saith unto Jacob, `Come nigh, I pray thee, and I feel thee, my son, whether thou [art] he, my son Esau, or not.'

22 And Jacob cometh nigh unto Isaac his father, and he feeleth him, and saith, `The voice [is] the voice of Jacob, and the hands hands of Esau.'

23 And he hath not discerned him, for his hands have been hairy, as the hands of Esau his brother, and he blesseth him,

24 and saith, `Thou art he -- my son Esau?' and he saith, `I [am].'

25 And he saith, `Bring nigh to me, and I do eat of my son's provision, so that my soul doth bless thee;' and he bringeth nigh to him, and he eateth; and he bringeth to him wine, and he drinketh.

26 And Isaac his father saith to him, `Come nigh, I pray thee, and kiss me, my son;'

27 and he cometh nigh, and kisseth him, and he smelleth the fragrance of his garments, and blesseth him, and saith, `See, the fragrance of my son [is] as the fragrance of a field which Jehovah hath blessed;

28 and God doth give to thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of corn and wine;

29 peoples serve thee, and nations bow themselves to thee, be thou mighty over thy brethren, and the sons of thy mother bow themselves to thee; those who curse thee [are] cursed, and those who bless thee [are] blessed.'

30 And it cometh to pass, as Isaac hath finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob is only just going out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother hath come in from his hunting;

31 and he also maketh tasteful things, and bringeth to his father, and saith to his father, `Let my father arise, and eat of his son's provision, so that thy soul doth bless me.'

32 And Isaac his father saith to him, `Who [art] thou?' and he saith, `I [am] thy son, thy first-born, Esau;'

33 and Isaac trembleth a very great trembling, and saith, `Who, now, [is] he who hath provided provision, and bringeth in to me, and I eat of all before thou comest in, and I bless him? -- yea, blessed is he.'

34 When Esau heareth the words of his father, then he crieth a very great and bitter cry, and saith to his father, `Bless me, me also, O my father;'

35 and he saith, `Thy brother hath come with subtilty, and taketh thy blessing.'

36 And he saith, `Is it because [one] called his name Jacob that he doth take me by the heel these two times? my birthright he hath taken; and lo, now, he hath taken my blessing;' he saith also, `Hast thou not kept back a blessing for me?'

37 And Isaac answereth and saith to Esau, `Lo, a mighty one have I set him over thee, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants, and [with] corn and wine have I sustained him; and for thee now, what shall I do, my son?'

38 And Esau saith unto his father, `One blessing hast thou my father? bless me, me also, O my father;' and Esau lifteth up his voice, and weepeth.

39 And Isaac his father answereth and saith unto him, `Lo, of the fatness of the earth is thy dwelling, and of the dew of the heavens from above;

40 and by thy sword dost thou live, and thy brother dost thou serve; and it hath come to pass when thou rulest, that thou hast broken his yoke from off thy neck.'

41 And Esau hateth Jacob, because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau saith in his heart, `The days of mourning [for] my father draw near, and I slay Jacob my brother.'

42 And the words of Esau her elder son are declared to Rebekah, and she sendeth and calleth for Jacob her younger son, and saith unto him, `Lo, Esau thy brother is comforting himself in regard to thee -- to slay thee;

43 and now, my son, hearken to my voice, and rise, flee for thyself unto Laban my brother, to Haran,

44 and thou hast dwelt with him some days, till thy brother's fury turn back,

45 till thy brother's anger turn back from thee, and he hath forgotten that which thou hast done to him, and I have sent and taken thee from thence; why am I bereaved even of you both the same day?'

46 And Rebekah saith unto Isaac, `I have been disgusted with my life because of the presence of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these -- from the daughters of the land -- why do I live?'

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#3540

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3540. 'And she put the skins of the kids of the she-goats' means the external truths clothing homeborn good. This is clear from the meaning of 'skins' as external things, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'the kids of the she-goats', coming as they did from the flock bred within the homestead, as the truths which clothe homeborn good, dealt with in 3518, 3519, where it is also evident what homeborn good is and what truths from that source are. Any good whatever has its own truths, and any truths whatever have their own good. And they must be joined together - good to truths - if anything at all is to exist. The reason why 'skins' means external things is that the skin is the outer covering of an animal to which its exterior parts extend, even as the skin or the cuticles is such with a human being. The latter receives its spiritual meaning from what is representative in the next life, where there are people who belong to the province of the skin. These will in the Lord's Divine mercy be described at the ends of chapters below where the Grand Man will be presented as a separate subject. They are people in whom none but external good and the truths which go with this are present. This is why the skin, human or animal, means things that are external. The same is also evident from the Word, as in Jeremiah,

On account of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts have been uncovered, your heels have suffered violence. Can the Ethiopian change his skin and the leopard its spots? Also are you able to do good, having been taught to do evil? Jeremiah 13:22-23.

Here 'skirts' means external truths, 'heels' the lowest goods - 'the heel' and 'shoes' being the lowest natural things, see 259, 1748. And because those truths and goods, as it is said, spring from evil, they are compared to an 'Ethiopian', who was black, and his 'skin', and also to 'a leopard and its spots'.

[2] In Moses,

If you take your neighbour's clothing as a pledge you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down; for this is his only covering; it is his clothing for his skin, in which he will lie down. Exodus 22:26-27.

Inasmuch as all the laws contained in the Word, including civil and judicial ones, have a correspondence with laws in heaven concerning what is good and true, and from this correspondence came to be laid down, so it was with the law just quoted. For why else would it have ever been laid down that they were to restore clothing that had been pledged before the sun went down, and why else is it said that 'it is his clothing for his skin, in which he lies down'? The correspondence is evident from the internal sense, which is that people were not to cheat their neighbour of external truths, which are the matters of doctrine by which they conduct their lives, and also religious observances - 'clothing' meaning such truths, see 297, 1073, 2576, and 'the sun' the good of love or of life that ensues from those truths, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495. The prevention of that good from perishing is meant by the statement about the restoration of the pledge before the sun went down. And since the things laid down in those laws are the external coverings of interior things, or the outermost aspects of these, the words 'his clothing for his skin in which he lies down' are used.

[3] Because 'skins' meant external things it was commanded that there should be for the tent a covering made of red ram skins and over that a covering of badger skins, Exodus 26:14. For the tent was representative of the three heavens, and so of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom. The curtains enveloping it represented natural things, which are external, 3478; and these are the ram skins and the badger skins. And since external things are those which cover internal, or natural things are those which cover spiritual and celestial, in the way that the body does the soul, that command was therefore given. It was for a like reason commanded that when the camp was on the move Aaron and his sons were to cover the ark of the testimony with the veil and were to place a badger-skin covering over it. And over the table and what was on it they were to spread a twice-dyed scarlet cloth and then cover that with a badger-skin covering. They were likewise required to place the lampstand and all its vessels under a covering made of badger skin - also all the vessels for ministering they were to place under a violet cloth, and then cover them with a badger-skin covering, Numbers 4:5-6, 8, 10-12. Anyone who thinks about the Word in a devout way may see that Divine things were represented by all these objects, such as the ark, the table, the lampstand, and the vessels for ministering, also the coverings of twice-dyed scarlet and of violet, as well as the coverings of badger skin, and that these objects represented Divine things contained within external ones.

[4] Because the prophets represented those who teach, and therefore represented teaching from the Word concerning what is good and true, 2534; and because Elijah represented the Word itself, 2762, as also did John, who for that reason is called the Elijah who is to come, Matthew 17:10-13; and in order that these might represent the nature of the Word in its external form, that is, in the letter,

Elijah wore a skin girdle around his loins. 2 Kings 1:8. And John had a garment of camel hair and a skin girdle around his waist. Matthew 3:4.

Because animal 'skin' and human 'skin' means external things, which in relation to spiritual and celestial are natural things, and because it was customary in the Ancient Church to speak and to write by means of meaningful signs, reference is also made to both types of skin, and with the same meaning, in Job, a book of the Ancient Church. This becomes clear from a number of places in that book, including the following,

I know my Redeemer; He is alive; and at the last He will rise above the dust; and afterwards these things will be encompassed by my skin, and out of my flesh shall I see God. Job 19:25-26.

'Encompassed by skin' stands for the natural as it exists with someone after he has died, dealt with in 3539. 'Out of one's flesh seeing God' is doing so from a proprium made alive. For the proprium is meant by 'flesh', see 148, 149, 780; and the Book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church, a fact which is evident, as has been stated, from its style which draws on representatives and meaningful signs. It is not however one of the books called the Law and the Prophets, the reason being that it has no internal sense in which the one subject is the Lord and His kingdom. For it is this alone that determines whether any book is a Book of the true Word.

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