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Genesis第39章

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1 And Joseph hath been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh, head of the executioners, an Egyptian man, buyeth him out of the hands of the Ishmaelites who have brought him thither.

2 And Jehovah is with Joseph, and he is a prosperous man, and he is in the house of his lord the Egyptian,

3 and his lord seeth that Jehovah is with him, and all that he is doing Jehovah is causing to prosper in his hand,

4 and Joseph findeth grace in his eyes and serveth him, and he appointeth him over his house, and all that he hath he hath given into his hand.

5 And it cometh to pass from the time that he hath appointed him over his house, and over all that he hath, that Jehovah blesseth the house of the Egyptian for Joseph's sake, and the blessing of Jehovah is on all that he hath, in the house, and in the field;

6 and he leaveth all that he hath in the hand of Joseph, and he hath not known anything that he hath, except the bread which he is eating. And Joseph is of a fair form, and of a fair appearance.

7 And it cometh to pass after these things, that his lord's wife lifteth up her eyes unto Joseph, and saith, `Lie with me;'

8 and he refuseth, and saith unto his lord's wife, `Lo, my lord hath not known what [is] with me in the house, and all that he hath he hath given into my hand;

9 none is greater in this house than I, and he hath not withheld from me anything, except thee, because thou [art] his wife; and how shall I do this great evil? -- then have I sinned against God.'

10 And it cometh to pass at her speaking unto Joseph day [by] day, that he hath not hearkened unto her, to lie near her, to be with her;

11 and it cometh to pass about this day, that he goeth into the house to do his work, and there is none of the men of the house there in the house,

12 and she catcheth him by his garment, saying, `Lie with me;' and he leaveth his garment in her hand, and fleeth, and goeth without.

13 And it cometh to pass when she seeth that he hath left his garment in her hand, and fleeth without,

14 that she calleth for the men of her house, and speaketh to them, saying, `See, he hath brought in to us a man, a Hebrew, to play with us; he hath come in unto me, to lie with me, and I call with a loud voice,

15 and it cometh to pass, when he heareth that I have lifted up my voice and call, that he leaveth his garment near me, and fleeth, and goeth without.'

16 And she placeth his garment near her, until the coming in of his lord unto his house.

17 And she speaketh unto him according to these words, saying, `The Hebrew servant whom thou hast brought unto us, hath come in unto me to play with me;

18 and it cometh to pass, when I lift my voice and call, that he leaveth his garment near me, and fleeth without.'

19 And it cometh to pass when his lord heareth the words of his wife, which she hath spoken unto him, saying, `According to these things hath thy servant done to me,' that his anger burneth;

20 and Joseph's lord taketh him, and putteth him unto the round-house, a place where the king's prisoners [are] bound; and he is there in the round-house.

21 And Jehovah is with Joseph, and stretcheth out kindness unto him, and putteth his grace in the eyes of the chief of the round-house;

22 and the chief of the round-house giveth into the hand of Joseph all the prisoners who [are] in the round-house, and of all that they are doing there, he hath been doer;

23 the chief of the round-house seeth not anything under his hand, because Jehovah [is] with him, and that which he is doing Jehovah is causing to prosper.

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#4966

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4966. 'The chief of the attendants' means which facts come first and foremost in explanations. This is clear from the meaning of 'the chief of the attendants' as the facts which come first and foremost in explanations, dealt with in 4790. Ones which come first and foremost in explanations are those which are pre-eminently suitable for explaining the Word, and so for coming to understand teachings drawn from the Word about love to God and charity towards the neighbour. It should be recognized that the factual knowledge of the people of old was entirely different from that existing at the present day. As stated above, the factual knowledge of the people of old had to do with the correspondences of things in the natural world with realities in the spiritual world. Knowledge which at the present day is called philosophical knowledge, such as Aristotelian systems and their like, did not exist among them. This is also evident from the books written by ancient authors, most of which consisted of descriptions of such things as were signs of, represented, and corresponded to more internal realities, as may be seen from the following evidence, and ignoring all else.

[2] They envisaged Helicon on a mountain and took it to mean heaven, and Parnassus on a hill below that, and took it to mean factual knowledge. They spoke of a flying horse, called Pegasus by them, which broke open a fountain there with its hoof; they called branches of knowledge virgins; and so on. For with the help of correspondences and representatives they knew that 'a mountain' meant heaven, 'a hill' the heaven beneath this, which is heaven as it exists among men, a horse' the power of understanding, 'its wings with which it flew' spiritual things, 'its hoof' that which was natural, 'a fountain' intelligence, while three virgins called 'the Graces' meant affections for good, and virgins who were named 'the Heliconians and 'the Parnassians' meant affections for truth. To the sun they likewise allotted horses, whose food they called ambrosia and whose drink they called nectar; for they knew that 'the sun' meant heavenly love, 'horses' powers of the understanding which sprang from that love, while 'food' meant celestial things and 'drink' spiritual ones.

[3] The Ancients are also the originators of customs that are still followed when kings are crowned. The king has to sit on a silver throne, wear a purple robe, and be anointed with oil. He has to wear a crown on his head, while holding in his hands a sceptre, a sword, and keys. He has to ride in regal splendour on a white horse shed with horseshoes made of silver; and he has to be waited on at table by the chief nobles of the kingdom. And many other customs are followed besides these. The Ancients knew that 'a king' represented Divine Truth that is rooted in Divine Good, and from this they knew what was meant by a silver throne, a purple robe, anointing oil, crown, sceptre, sword, keys, white horse, horseshoes made of silver, and what was meant by being waited on at table by the chief nobles. Who at the present day knows the meaning of any of these customs, or where the information exists to show him their meaning? People refer to them as symbols, but they know nothing at all about correspondence or representation. All this evidence shows what the factual knowledge possessed by the Ancients was like, and that this knowledge gave them a discernment of spiritual and heavenly realities, which at the present day are scarcely known to exist.

[4] The factual knowledge that has replaced that of the Ancients, and which strictly speaking is called philosophical knowledge, tends to draw the mind away from knowing such things because such knowledge can also be employed to substantiate false ideas. Furthermore, even when used to substantiate true ones it introduces darkness into the mind, because for the most part mere terms are used to substantiate them, which few people can understand and which the few who do understand them argue about. From this it may be seen how far the human race has departed from the learning of the Ancients, which led to wisdom. Gentiles received their factual knowledge from the Ancient Church, whose external worship consisted in representatives and meaningful signs and whose internal worship consisted in the realities represented and meant by these. This was the kind of factual knowledge that is meant in the genuine sense by 'Egypt'.

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