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Genesis第44章

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1 And he commandeth him who [is] over his house, saying, `Fill the bags of the men [with] food, as they are able to bear, and put the money of each in the mouth of his bag;

2 and my cup, the silver cup, thou dost put in the mouth of the bag of the young one, and his corn-money;' and he doth according to the word of Joseph which he hath spoken.

3 The morning is bright, and the men have been sent away, they and their asses --

4 they have gone out of the city -- they have not gone far off -- and Joseph hath said to him who [is] over his house, `Rise, pursue after the men; and thou hast overtaken them, and thou hast said unto them, Why have ye recompensed evil for good?

5 Is not this that with which my lord drinketh? and he observeth diligently with it; ye have done evil [in] that which ye have done.'

6 And he overtaketh them, and speaketh unto them these words,

7 and they say unto him, `Why doth my lord speak according to these words? far be it from thy servants to do according to this word;

8 lo, the money which we found in the mouth of our bags we brought back unto thee from the land of Canaan, and how do we steal from the house of thy lord silver or gold?

9 with whomsoever of thy servants it is found, he hath died, and we also are to my lord for servants.'

10 And he saith, `Now, also, according to your words, so it [is]; he with whom it is found becometh my servant, and ye are acquitted;'

11 and they hasten and take down each his bag to the earth, and each openeth his bag;

12 and he searcheth -- at the eldest he hath begun, and at the youngest he hath completed -- and the cup is found in the bag of Benjamin;

13 and they rend their garments, and each ladeth his ass, and they turn back to the city.

14 And Judah -- his brethren also -- cometh in unto the house of Joseph, and he is yet there, and they fall before him to the earth;

15 and Joseph saith to them, `What [is] this deed that ye have done? have ye not known that a man like me doth diligently observe?'

16 And Judah saith, `What do we say to my lord? what do we speak? and what -- do we justify ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants; lo, we [are] servants to my lord, both we, and he in whose hand the cup hath been found;'

17 and he saith, `Far be it from me to do this; the man in whose hand the cup hath been found, he becometh my servant; and ye, go ye up in peace unto your father.'

18 And Judah cometh nigh unto him, and saith, `O, my lord, let thy servant speak, I pray thee, a word in the ears of my lord, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant -- for thou art as Pharaoh.

19 My lord hath asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father or brother?

20 and we say unto my lord, We have a father, an aged one, and a child of old age, a little one; and his brother died, and he is left alone of his mother, and his father hath loved him.

21 `And thou sayest unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, and I set mine eye upon him;

22 and we say unto my lord, The youth is not able to leave his father, when he hath left his father, then he hath died;

23 and thou sayest unto thy servants, If your young brother come not down with you, ye add not to see my face.

24 `And it cometh to pass, that we have come up unto thy servant my father, that we declare to him the words of my lord;

25 and our father saith, Turn back, buy for us a little food,

26 and we say, We are not able to go down; if our young brother is with us, then we have gone down; for we are not able to see the man's face, and our young brother not with us.

27 `And thy servant my father saith unto us, Ye -- ye have known that two did my wife bare to me,

28 and the one goeth out from me, and I say, Surely he is torn -- torn! and I have not seen him since;

29 when ye have taken also this from my presence, and mischief hath met him, then ye have brought down my grey hairs with evil to sheol.

30 `And now, at my coming in unto thy servant my father, and the youth not with us (and his soul is bound up in his soul),

31 then it hath come to pass when he seeth that the youth is not, that he hath died, and thy servants have brought down the grey hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to sheol;

32 for thy servant obtained the youth by surety from my father, saying, If I bring him not in unto thee -- then I have sinned against my father all the days.

33 `And now, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of the youth a servant to my lord, and the youth goeth up with his brethren,

34 for how do I go up unto my father, and the youth not with me? lest I look on the evil which doth find my father.'

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#5895

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5895. 'In which there will be no ploughing and harvest' means that in the meanwhile no good will be seen nor any truth derived from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'ploughing' as the preparation made by good for the reception of truths, dealt with in what follows below; and from the meaning of 'harvest' as truths derived from good, for a harvest is grain that has ripened by the time it is gathered in, so that 'harvest' means truth derived from good. Before this truth is produced truths are indeed to be seen, but they are truths that lead to good, not truths derived from good. When truth guides a person in his actions his truths are truths leading to good; but when good guides him in them his truths are truths derived from good. The reason why 'ploughing' is said to mean good is that 'the field' which is ploughed means the Church as regards good, 2971, and so the good which constitutes the Church, 3310, 3317, 4982. Consequently 'ploughing' is the preparation made by good for the reception of truths; and 'the oxen' too that were used in ploughing means forms of good within the natural, 2180, 2566, 2781.

[2] Because 'ploughing' had this meaning people in the representative Church were forbidden 'to plough with an ox and an ass together', Deuteronomy 22:10. They would never have been forbidden to do this if there had not been some cause of a more internal nature, thus a cause existing in the spiritual world. Without it what would have been wrong with the two ploughing together? And what value would such a law have in the Word? That cause of a more internal nature, a cause existing in the spiritual world, is that 'ploughing with an ox' means good within the natural, and 'ploughing with an ass' means the truth there, 'an ass' being truth contained in factual knowledge, thus truth within the natural, see 5492, 5741. The more internal or spiritual cause behind the existence of this prohibition was that the angels could not have a separate idea of good and truth. The two must be joined together and make one. For this reason the angels were unwilling to see any kind of ploughing done by an ox and an ass. Celestial angels refuse even to think about truth separate from good, for all truth with them exists within good, so that also for them truth is good. It was for the same reason that people were also forbidden to wear a garment made from a mixture of wool and linen, Deuteronomy 22:11; for 'wool' meant good, and 'linen' truth.

[3] The fact that 'ploughing', also 'harrowing', 'sowing', and 'reaping', mean the kinds of activities that are connected with good and the truth that goes with it is clear in Hosea,

I will make Ephraim ride, Judah will plough, Jacob will harrow for him. Sow for yourselves in keeping with righteousness, reap in keeping with godliness, break up 'your fallow ground; and it is time to seek Jehovah, until He comes and teaches righteousness. Hosea 10:11-12.

'Riding' is used in reference to Ephraim because 'riding' means having the use of an understanding, 'Ephraim' being the Church's gift of understanding. But 'ploughing' is used in reference to Judah because 'Judah' is the good which exists in the Church.

[4] In Amos,

Will horses run upon the rock? Will one plough with oxen? in that you have turned judgement into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. Amos 6:11-12.

'Will horses run upon the rock?' stands for Will there be any understanding of the truth of faith? For 'rock' in the spiritual sense is faith, Preface to Genesis 22, while 'horses' means the powers of understanding, 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321. 'Will one plough with oxen?' stands for Will there be any doing of good? For 'oxen' means good in the natural, see 2180, 2566, 2781. The fact that no doing of it was possible is meant by the words that follow - 'because you have turned judgement into poison'.

[5] In Luke,

Jesus said, No one putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62.

These words have the same meaning as those spoken by the Lord in Matthew,

Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his clothes. Matthew 24:17-18.

The meaning of these words is that a person governed by good should not depart from it and resort to matters of doctrine concerning faith; see 3652, where those words spoken by the Lord have been explained. Thus 'one who puts his hand to the plough' is a person governed by good; but 'looking back' means someone who then looks to matters of doctrine concerning faith and in so doing forsakes good. This explains why Elijah was displeased with Elisha who, ploughing in the field when he received his call, asked whether he might first kiss his father and mother; for Elijah said,

Go away; go back again; for what have I done to you? 1 Kings 19:19-21.

In the contrary sense 'ploughing' means evil that destroys good, and so means a laying waste, as in Jeremiah,

Zion will be ploughed [like] a field, and Jerusalem will be heaps, and the mountain of the house [will be turned] into the heights of the forest. Jeremiah 26:18; Micah 3:12.

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