ACV8 S23 6328-6350

Click to Print Reading Genesis 49 1. And Jacob called his sons, and said, Gather ye yourselves together, and I will tell you what shall befall you in the end of the days. 2. Assemble yourselves and hear, ye sons of Jacob, and hear unto Israel your father. 3. Reuben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my forces, excellent in eminence, and excellent in power. 4. Light as water thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest up on thy father's bed, then profanedst thou it; he went up on my couch. 5. Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of violence are their swords. 6. Into their secret let not my soul come; in their assembly let not my glory be united; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their good pleasure they unstrung an ox. 7. Cursed be their anger for it was vehement, and their wrath for it was hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. 8. Judah, thy brethren shall celebrate thee, thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies, thy father's sons shall bow down to thee. 9. Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey my son thou art gone up; he bowed, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 10. The scepter shall not be removed from Judah, and a lawgiver from between his feet, even until Shiloh come; and to him is the obedience of the peoples. 11. He binds his young ass unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washes his clothing in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes: 12. His eyes are red with wine, and his teeth are white with milk. 13. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the seas, and he shall be at a haven of ships, and his side shall be toward Zidon. 14. Issachar is a bony ass, lying down between the burdens. 15. And he shall see rest that it is good, and the land that it is pleasant; and he shall bow his shoulder to bear, and shall be a servant to tribute. 16. Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. 17. Dan shall be a serpent upon the way, an arrow-snake upon the path, biting the horse's heels, and his rider shall fall backward. 18. I wait for Thy salvation, O Jehovah. 19. Gad, a troop shall ravage him, and he shall ravage the heel. 20. From Asher, his bread is fat, and he shall yield the delights of a king. 21. Naphtali is a hind let loose, giving discourses of elegance. 22. Joseph is the son of a fruitful one, the son of a fruitful one over a fountain, of a daughter, she marches upon the wall. 23. And embitter him, and shoot at him, and hate him, the archers. 24. And he shall sit in the strength of his bow, and the arms of his hands are made strong by the hands of the mighty Jacob; from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel. 25. By the God of thy father, and He shall help thee, and with Shaddai, and He shall bless thee, with the blessings of heaven above, with blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, with blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26. The blessings of thy father shall prevail above the blessings of my progenitors, even to the desire of the hills of an age: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of the Nazirite of his brethren. 27. Benjamin is a wolf; he shall seize in the morning, he shall devour the spoil, and at even he shall divide the prey. 28. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel; and this is what their father spake to them and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them. 29. And he commanded them, and said unto them, I am being gathered unto my people; bury me unto my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite; 30. In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is upon the faces of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a sepulcher. 31. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah: 32. The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the sons of Heth. 33. And Jacob finished commanding his sons, and he gathered up his feet unto the bed, and expired, and was gathered unto his peoples. 6328. The Contents In this chapter the subject treated of in the internal sense is not the descendants of Jacob, and what would befall them; but the truths of faith and the goods of love which the twelve tribes named from the sons of Jacob represent and signify. 6329. It first treats of faith separated from charity, which is utterly rejected. This faith is "Reuben," "Simeon," and "Levi." 6330. It then treats of the celestial church, which is the "tribe of Judah," and in the supreme sense there, of the Divine Human of the Lord. 6331. Then of the rest of the tribes according to the states of good and truth which they represent. 6332. Lastly of the celestial spiritual church* which is "Joseph;" and here also in the supreme sense of the Divine Human of the Lord. * The Latin here is "de Ecclesia Coelesti Spiritualis, quae Josephus." Literally translated this would read, "Of the celestial of the spiritual church, which is Joseph." But this is ambiguous, and would by most readers be understood to refer to the celestial principle or degree of the spiritual church, whereas it really refers to the degree called "the celestial of the spiritual" which is represented by Joseph. This is clear in the Latin as it stands. In order therefore to avoid all obscurity it has seemed best to slightly vary the rendering, and thus make it clear, while also harmonizing it with the expression used by Swedenborg himself in n. 6417, where speaking of the very same thing he says that it signifies "the spiritual church." The "celestial of the spiritual" which is represented by Joseph is the highest part of the spiritual kingdom of heaven and of the spiritual church on earth, and therefore Joseph stands well for the spiritual church in general, as Judah does for the celestial church. 6333. The Internal Sense From the things said by Jacob in this chapter it may be clearly seen that there is another sense in the Word than that which appears in the letter; for Jacob, who was then Israel, says that he will tell what shall befall his sons in the end of the days (verse 1), and yet the things he tells and that he predicts did not at all befall them; such as that the descendants of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi should be cursed more than the rest; and that Simeon and Levi should be divided in Jacob, and be scattered in Israel (verses but the contrary befell Levi, namely, that he was blessed, for the priesthood was allotted to him. [2] Neither did that befall Judah which is said of him, except that the representative of the church remained longer with him than with the rest of the tribes; and moreover such things are said of him as no one can know the meaning of, except from another sense which is hidden within, as that he should bow himself and couch as a lion; should bind his young ass unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; that he should wash his clothing in wine, and his covering in the blood of grapes; that his eyes should be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk (verses 9, 11, 12). All these things are of such a nature as to cause everyone to see that there is something within them that is known in heaven, and that cannot be made known to man, except from thence. [3] It is the same with what Israel said of the rest of his sons; as of Zebulun, that he should dwell at the haven of the seas and of ships, and that his side should be toward Zidon; of Issachar, that he should be a bony ass lying down between the burdens, stooping his shoulder to bear a burden; of Dan, that he should be a serpent in the way, an arrow-snake upon the path, biting the horse's heels, and that his rider will fall backward; and so on with the rest. From all this it is very evident that as already said the Word has an internal sense. The Word is given in order to unite heaven and earth, or angels with men; and therefore it has been so written that it may be spiritually apprehended by the angels, when naturally apprehended by man, and that in this way what is holy may flow in through the angels, by which means union is effected. Such is the Word in both the historical and the prophetical parts; but the internal sense is less apparent in the historical than in the prophetical parts, because the historical parts have been written in a different style, yet still by means of significatives. [4] The historical parts have been given in order that infants and children may thereby be initiated into the reading of the Word; for the historical parts are delightful, and rest in their minds, whereby communication is given them with the heavens; and this communication is grateful, because they are in a state of innocence and mutual charity. This is the reason why there is an historical Word. There is a prophetical Word, because when it is read, it is not understood by man except obscurely, and when it is understood obscurely by such men as there are now, it is perceived clearly by the angels, as it has been given me to know from much experience, of which by the Lord's Divine mercy elsewhere. 6334. Verses 1, 2. And Jacob called his sons, and said, Gather ye yourselves together, and I will tell you what shall befall you in the end of the days. Assemble yourselves and hear ye sons of Jacob, and hear unto Israel your father. "And Jacob called his sons," signifies the setting in order of the truths of faith and goods of love in the natural; "and said, Gather ye yourselves together," signifies all of them in general together; "and I will tell you what shall befall you in the end of the days," signifies the quality of the state of the church in the order in which they then were; "assemble yourselves," signifies that they should set themselves in order; "and hear, ye sons of Jacob," signifies the truths and goods in the natural; "and hear unto Isr