圣经文本

 

Genesis第4章

学习

   

1 And the man knew Eve his wife, and she conceiveth and beareth Cain, and saith, `I have gotten a man by Jehovah;'

2 and she addeth to bear his brother, even Abel. And Abel is feeding a flock, and Cain hath been servant of the ground.

3 And it cometh to pass at the end of days that Cain bringeth from the fruit of the ground a present to Jehovah;

4 and Abel, he hath brought, he also, from the female firstlings of his flock, even from their fat ones; and Jehovah looketh unto Abel and unto his present,

5 and unto Cain and unto his present He hath not looked; and it is very displeasing to Cain, and his countenance is fallen.

6 And Jehovah saith unto Cain, `Why hast thou displeasure? and Why hath thy countenance fallen?

7 Is there not, if thou dost well, acceptance? and if thou dost not well, at the opening a sin-offering is crouching, and unto thee its desire, and thou rulest over it.'

8 And Cain saith unto Abel his brother, [`Let us go into the field;'] and it cometh to pass in their being in the field, that Cain riseth up against Abel his brother, and slayeth him.

9 And Jehovah saith unto Cain, `Where [is] Abel thy brother?' and he saith, `I have not known; my brother's keeper -- I?'

10 And He saith, `What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood is crying unto Me from the ground;

11 and now, cursed [art] thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive the blood of thy brother from thy hand;

12 when thou tillest the ground, it doth not add to give its strength to thee -- a wanderer, even a trembling one, thou art in the earth.'

13 And Cain saith unto Jehovah, `Greater is my punishment than to be borne;

14 lo, Thou hast driven me to-day from off the face of the ground, and from Thy face I am hid; and I have been a wanderer, even a trembling one, in the earth, and it hath been -- every one finding me doth slay me.'

15 And Jehovah saith to him, `Therefore -- of any slayer of Cain sevenfold it is required;' and Jehovah setteth to Cain a token that none finding him doth slay him.

16 And Cain goeth out from before Jehovah, and dwelleth in the land, moving about east of Eden;

17 and Cain knoweth his wife, and she conceiveth, and beareth Enoch; and he is building a city, and he calleth the name of the city, according to the name of his son -- Enoch.

18 And born to Enoch is Irad; and Irad hath begotten Mehujael; and Mehujael hath begotten Methusael; and Methusael hath begotten Lamech.

19 And Lamech taketh to himself two wives, the name of the one Adah, and the name of the second Zillah.

20 And Adah beareth Jabal, he hath been father of those inhabiting tents and purchased possessions;

21 and the name of his brother [is] Jubal, he hath been father of every one handling harp and organ.

22 And Zillah she also bare Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron; and a sister of Tubal-Cain [is] Naamah.

23 And Lamech saith to his wives: -- `Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, give ear [to] my saying: For a man I have slain for my wound, Even a young man for my hurt;

24 For sevenfold is required for Cain, And for Lamech seventy and sevenfold.'

25 And Adam again knoweth his wife, and she beareth a son, and calleth his name Seth, `for God hath appointed for me another seed instead of Abel:' for Cain had slain him.

26 And to Seth, to him also a son hath been born, and he calleth his name Enos; then a beginning was made of preaching in the name of Jehovah.

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#3398

学习本章节

  
/10837  
  

3398. 'One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us' means that it could have been adulterated and so profaned. This is clear from the meaning of 'lying wish' as being perverted or adulterated; from the meaning of 'one of the people' as one who belongs to the Church, that is to say, to the spiritual Church, dealt with in 2928; from the meaning of 'wife' - who is Rebekah here - as Divine Truth, dealt with above; and from the meaning of 'guilt' as blame for the profanation of truth. From this it is evident that 'one of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us' means that Divine Truth could easily have been adulterated by someone within the Church and so he would have made himself culpable of the profanation of truth. It has been stated above in 3386 that the reason why Abraham on two occasions spoke of Sarah his wife as his sister - first of all in Egypt, and then, when dwelling with Abimelech, in Gerar - and why Isaac in a similar way spoke of Rebekah his wife as his sister, when he too was dwelling with Abimelech, and why those three occasions are mentioned in the Word, is a very deep arcanum. The actual arcanum contained in these words is evident in the internal sense, and it is this: 'A sister' means rational truth, and 'a wife' Divine Truth; and rational truth is called this - that is, 'a sister' - to prevent Divine Truth, which is 'a wife' (Rebekah in this case) from being adulterated and so perverted.

[2] With regard to the profanation of truth the position is that Divine Truth cannot possibly be profaned except by those who have already acknowledged it. For these people have first of all, through acknowledgement and faith, come to the truth, and so have been introduced into it. If after this they depart from that truth there remains within them a permanent imprint of it, which is recalled together with falsity and evil whenever these are recalled. And being attached to falsity and evil that truth is consequently made profane. People therefore with whom this happens have within them permanently that which is condemning, and so the hell which is their own. Indeed when those in hell draw near a sphere where good and truth are present they instantly experience their own hell, for they run into that which they hate, and as a consequence into torment. People therefore who have profaned truth dwell permanently with that which torments them - the intensity of torment depending on the degree of profanation. This being so, the Lord makes the greatest provision to prevent Divine Good and Truth being made profane. He does so especially with anyone who is such that he cannot help profaning them, by keeping him as far back as possible from acknowledgement of and faith in truth and good. For as has been stated, no one is able to profane them except him who has already acknowledged and come to believe them.

[3] This was the reason why internal truths were not disclosed to the descendants of Jacob - to the Israelites and Jews. Not even the existence of anything internal within man, nor thus any kind of internal worship was openly declared to them, and scarcely anything about life after death, or about the heavenly kingdom of the Lord or the Messiah whom they awaited. The reason why these truths were not declared was, as foreseen, that if they had been disclosed to them, the Jews and Israelites were such as could not help profaning them; for they had no desire for anything other than what was earthly. And because those descendants were such, and are so still, they are still allowed to remain without any belief at all in internal truths. For if at one point they had given their assent to them and then had withdrawn it they would inevitably have ended up in the worst hell of all.

[4] This was also the reason why the Lord did not come into the world and reveal the internal features of the Word until the time when no good at all, not even natural good, remained with them. For at that point they were no longer capable of receiving any truth and acknowledging it internally - for good is what receives - and so were no longer capable of profaning it. It is this state that is meant by the fulness of time, and by the close of the age, and also by the last day, spoken of many times in the Prophets.

[5] It is for the same reason also that at the present time the arcana belonging to the internal sense of the Word are being revealed, for today scarcely any faith exists because charity is non-existent, so that the close of the age is here. When these conditions prevail these arcana can be revealed without any risk of profanation since they are not acknowledged interiorly. It is for the sake of this arcanum that in the Word mention is made of Abraham and of Isaac, of how, when dwelling in Gerar with Abimelech, each called his wife his sister. See in addition what has been stated and shown already on the same subject, to the effect that those who acknowledge are able to profane, but not those who do not acknowledge, still less those who do not even know, 593, 1008, 1010, 1059. How much danger lies in profaning sacred things and the Word, see 571, 582. People inside the Church are able to profane sacred things, but not those outside, 2051. The Lord provides against the occurrence of profanation, 1001, 2426. Worship may become external to prevent the profaning of internal worship, 1327, 1328. People are kept in ignorance to prevent the truths of faith being made profane, 301-303.

  
/10837  
  

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