IBhayibheli

 

1 Mosebok 28

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1 Da kalte Isak Jakob til sig og velsignet ham og bød ham og sa til ham: Du skal ikke ta nogen av Kana'ans døtre til hustru.

2 Gjør dig rede og dra til Mesopotamia, til din morfar Betuels hus, og hent dig en hustru derfra, en av din morbror Labans døtre!

3 Og Gud den allmektige velsigne dig og gjøre dig fruktbar og gi dig en tallrik ætt, så du blir til en hel skare av folkeslag,

4 han gi dig Abrahams velsignelse, både dig og din ætt, så du kommer til å eie det land hvor du nu bor som fremmed, det som Gud gav Abraham!

5 Så lot Isak Jakob reise; og han drog til Mesopotamia, til arameeren Laban, Betuels sønn, som var bror til ebekka, Jakobs og Esaus mor.

6 Da Esau så at Isak hadde velsignet Jakob og sendt ham til Mesopotamia for å hente sig en hustru derfra - at han hadde velsignet ham og gitt ham den befaling: Du skal ikke ta nogen av Kana'ans døtre til hustru -

7 og at Jakob hadde adlydt sin far og sin mor og var reist til Mesopotamia,

8 og da Esau så at Kana'ans døtre mishaget Isak, hans far,

9 så gikk han til Ismael og tok Mahalat, datter til Abrahams sønn Ismael, Nebajots søster, til hustru foruten sine andre hustruer.

10 Jakob tok ut fra Be'erseba og gav sig på veien til Karan.

11 Og han kom til et sted hvor han blev natten over, for solen var gått ned; og han tok en av stenene som lå der, og la den under sitt hode, og så la han sig til å sove der.

12 Da drømte han og så en stige som var stilt op på jorden, og hvis topp nådde til himmelen, og se, Guds engler steg op og steg ned på den.

13 Og se, Herren stod øverst på den og sa: Jeg er Herren, din far Abrahams Gud og Isaks Gud; det land som du nu ligger i, det vil jeg gi dig og din ætt.

14 Og din ætt skal bli som støvet på jorden, og du skal utbrede dig mot vest og mot øst og mot nord og mot syd, og i dig og i din ætt skal alle jordens slekter velsignes

15 Og se, jeg er med dig og vil bevare dig hvor du så går, og jeg vil føre dig tilbake til dette land; jeg vil ikke forlate dig før jeg har gjort det jeg har lovt dig.

16 Da Jakob våknet av sin søvn, sa han: Sannelig, Herren er på dette sted, og jeg visste det ikke.

17 Og det kom en frykt over ham, og han sa: Hvor forferdelig er ikke dette sted ! Her er visselig Guds hus, her er himmelens port.

18 Morgenen efter stod Jakob tidlig op og tok den sten han hadde lagt under sitt hode, og reiste den op som en minnesten, og han helte olje over den.

19 Og han kalte dette sted Betel*; før hette byen Luz. / {* Guds hus.}

20 Og Jakob gjorde et løfte og sa: Dersom Gud vil være med mig og bevare mig på denne min ferd og gi mig brød å ete og klær å klæ mig med,

21 og jeg kommer vel hjem igjen til min fars hus, så skal Herren være min Gud,

22 og denne sten som jeg har reist op som en minnesten, skal være et Guds hus, og av alt det du gir mig, vil jeg gi dig tiende.

   

Okususelwe Emisebenzini kaSwedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #8945

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

8945. And thou shalt not go up on steps unto the altar. That this signifies no elevation to interior things which are celestial, is evident from the signification of “going up by steps,” as being to raise oneself to higher or interior things (whether we say “interior things,” or “higher things,” it is the same, for interior things appear as higher, see n. 2148, 3084, 4210, 4599); and from the signification of “an altar,” as being the chief representative of the the Lord, (n. 921, 2777, 2811); thus by “going up on steps unto Mine altar” is signified to raise oneself to the Lord, consequently to interior things which are celestial; for the Lord is more present in interior things. Those things are called celestial which are in the inmost heaven, and those spiritual which are in the middle heaven. For heaven is distinguished into two kingdoms, namely, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. They who are in the celestial kingdom are in the inmost or third heaven, thus nearest to the Lord; for they who are there are in love to the Lord and in innocence, consequently in wisdom above all the other angels. But they who are in the spiritual kingdom are in the middle or second heaven, thus more remote from the Lord; they who are there are in charity toward the neighbor, and through charity are with the Lord. (Concerning these two kingdoms and the difference between them, see n. 2048, 2088, 2227, 2507, 2669, 2708, 2715, 2718, 3235, 3246, 3374, 3887, 4448, 4585, 4938, 4939, 5113, 5922, 6367, 6435, 7877)

[2] It is to be explained in a few words how the case is with respect to the elevation toward interior things, thus toward celestial things, which is signified by “going up on steps unto the altar.” It is not granted anyone in the other life to be raised higher into heaven than to the degree of good in which he is; for if he is raised higher, his defilements, that is, the evils of his loves and the falsities therefrom, are made manifest. For the more interior, the more pure and holy, it is in heaven. They who are in a more impure state are kept in a lower sphere, where their impurities are not perceived and do not appear, because they are in a grosser good, and a more obscure truth.

[3] It sometimes happens that they who come into heaven desire to come into a more interior heaven, believing that so they will enjoy greater joy. In order that this desire which clings to them may be removed, they are indeed raised into a more interior heaven; but when they come thither, they begin to be distressed by reason of the evils of their loves, which evils then come to their perception, and they also become ugly by reason of the falsities from the evils with them. On perceiving these things, they cast themselves down from the more interior heaven, and do not return into a tranquil and peaceful state until they come into their former station. These are the things which are signified by the statute, “Thou shalt not go up on steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered upon it.”

[4] The case is similar with those who are beneath heaven. If these desire to ascend into heaven before they have been prepared, when they are raised there they feel torment almost infernal, and appear to themselves like carcasses. Even the very life with them labors, like the life of those who are in the death agony; and therefore they cast themselves down headlong, and afterward no more desire to ascend above the state of life in which they are.

[5] Be it known that in the other life heaven is denied by the Lord to no one, and that as many as desire can be admitted. (Heaven consists of societies of angels who are in the good of love toward the neighbor and of love to the Lord; and when any are admitted into heaven, they are let into such societies.) But when the sphere of their life, that is, when the life of their love, is not in agreement, then conflict arises, from which they have anguish and downcasting. In this way they are instructed about the life of heaven, and the state of their own life in comparison, also about the fact that no one has heaven merely by being received or admitted (as is the common opinion in the world), and that by his life in the world a man may become of such a character that he can be with those who are in heaven (see what has been already said and shown on this subject from experience, n. 3938, 4225, 4226, 4299, 4674, 5057, 5058, 7186, 7519, 8794, 8797). These are the things which are signified by the statute, “Thou shalt not go up on steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered upon it;” and also by a similar statute in Exodus 28:42-43.

[6] It is said “go up on steps,” for the reason that elevation to interior things appears in the world of spirits, where celestial and spiritual things are presented in forms like those of the world, as an ascent by steps. This representative it has often been given me to see. For this reason also it was that the angels were seen by Jacob in his dream going up to the Lord by the steps of a ladder (Genesis 28:12). Therefore also by “steps” in the Word is signified ascent to higher things, that is, to interior things, as in Ezekiel 40:6, 22, 26, 31, 34; and in Amos:

The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth buildeth His steps in the heavens (Amos 9:6).

  
Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

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

Okususelwe Emisebenzini kaSwedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #5114

Funda lesi Sigaba

  
Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

5114. And in the vine were three shoots. That this signifies the derivations thence even to the last, is evident from the signification of the “vine,” as being the intellectual part (of which just above, n. 5113); and from the signification of “three,” as being what is complete and continuous even to the end (n. 2788, 4495); and from the signification of “shoots,” as being derivations. For as the “vine” is the intellectual part, the “shoots” are nothing else than derivations thence; and as “three” signifies what is continuous even to the end, or from the first even to the last, by “three shoots” are signified the derivations from the intellectual part down to the last, which is the sensuous; for the first in order is the intellectual part, and the last is the sensuous. The intellectual part in general is the sight of the internal man, which sees from the light of heaven, which is from the Lord, and all that it sees is spiritual and celestial. But the sensuous in general is of the external man, here the sensuous of the sight, because this corresponds and is subordinate to the intellectual; this sensuous sees from the light of the world, which is from the sun, and all that it sees is worldly, bodily, and earthly.

[2] There are in man derivations from the intellectual part, which is in the light of heaven, down to the sensuous, which is in the light of the world; unless this were so, the sensuous could not have any human life. The sensuous of man has no life in consequence of seeing from the light of the world, for the light of the world has no life in it; but in consequence of seeing from the light of heaven, for this light has life in it. When this light falls with man into those things which are from the light of the world, it vivifies them and causes him to see objects intellectually, thus as a man; and from this, by knowledges born from things he has seen and heard in the world, thus from things that have entered through the senses, man has intelligence and wisdom, and from these has civil, moral, and spiritual life.

[3] As regards the derivations specially, in man they are of such a nature that they cannot be briefly set forth. They are steps or degrees as of a ladder between the intellectual part and the sensuous, but no one can apprehend these degrees unless he knows that they are most distinct from one another, so distinct that the interior can exist and subsist without the exterior, but not the exterior without the interior. For example: the spirit of man can subsist without the material body, and also actually does so subsist when by death it is separated from the body. The spirit of man is in an interior degree, and the body is in an exterior degree. It is similar with the spirit of man after death: if he is among the blessed, he is in the last degree among them when in the first heaven, in an interior degree when in the second, and in the inmost when in the third; and when he is in this, he is indeed at the same time in the rest, but these are quiescent in him, almost as the bodily part in man is quiescent in sleep, but with this difference, that with the angels the interiors are then in the highest wakefulness. Therefore there are as many distinct degrees in man as there are heavens, besides the last, which is the body with its sensuous things.

[4] From this it may in some measure appear how the case is with the derivations from first to last, or from the intellectual part down to the sensuous. The life of man, which is from the Lord’s Divine, passes through these degrees from the inmost down to the last or ultimate degree, and in each degree it is derived from what is prior, becoming more and more general, and in the ultimate degree most general. The derivations in the lower degrees are merely compositions, or rather combinations [conformationes], of the singulars and particulars of the higher degrees in succession, together with an addition from purer nature, and then from grosser nature, of such things as may serve for containing vessels; and if these vessels are decomposed, the singulars and particulars of the interior degrees, which had been combined therein, return to the degree next higher. And as with man there is a connection with the Divine, and his inmost is of such a nature that he can receive the Divine, and not only receive it, but also make it his own by acknowledgment and affection, thus by reciprocation, he therefore can never die, because he has thus been implanted in the Divine, and is therefore in what is eternal and infinite, not merely through the influx thence, but also through the reception of it.

[5] From this it may be seen how unlearnedly and inanely those think about man who compare him to the brute animals, and believe that he will not live after death any more than they-not considering that with the brute animals there is no reception, nor through acknowledgment and affection any reciprocal appropriation, of the Divine, and consequent conjunction with it; and not considering that in consequence of the state of animals being of this nature, the recipient forms of their life cannot but be dissipated; for with them the influx passes through their organic forms down into the world, and there terminates and vanishes, and never returns.

  
Yiya esigabeni / 10837  
  

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