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Genesis 4

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1 And the man knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man with [the help of] Jehovah.

2 And again she bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Jehovah.

4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

5 but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

6 And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

7 If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door: and unto thee shall be its desire, but do thou rule over it.

8 And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

9 And Jehovah said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: am I my brother's keeper?

10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

11 And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

12 when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.

13 And Cain said unto Jehovah, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the ground; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever findeth me will slay me.

15 And Jehovah said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And Jehovah appointed a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should smite him.

16 And Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methushael; and Methushael begat Lamech.

19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents and [have] cattle.

21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and pipe.

22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

23 And Lamech said unto his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: For I have slain a man for wounding me, And a young man for bruising me:

24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth. For, [said she], God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel; for Cain slew him.

26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh. Then began men to call upon the name of Jehovah.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 353

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353. 'Fat' means the celestial itself, which also is the Lord's. The celestial consists in everything that is an aspect of love. Faith too is celestial when it has its origin in love. Charity is the celestial, and all good stemming from charity is celestial. All of these were represented by 'the fat' in sacrifices, especially by the fat on the liver or omentum, by the fat on the kidneys, by the fat covering the entrails, and by that actually on the entrails. These were consecrated and burnt on the altar, Exodus 29:13, 22; Leviticus 3:3-4, 14; 4:8-9, 19, 26, 31, 35; 8:16, 25, and were consequently called 'the bread offered by fire for an odour of rest' for Jehovah, 1 Leviticus 3:15-16. For this reason the Jewish people were forbidden to eat any of the fat from animals, and this was called 'a perpetual statute throughout their generations', Leviticus 3:17; 7:23, 25. They were forbidden to do so because that Church was such that it did not acknowledge anything internal, still less anything celestial.

[2] That 'fat' means celestial things and goods that flow from charity is clear in the Prophets, as in Isaiah,

Why do you weigh out silver for 2 that which is not bread, and your labour on that which does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will find its delight in fatness. Isaiah 55:2.

In Jeremiah,

I will fill the soul of the priests with fat, and My people will be satisfied with My goodness. Jeremiah 31:14.

Here it is quite clear that 'fat' is not used to mean fat but celestial-spiritual good. In David,

They will be filled with the fat of Your house, and You givest them drink from the river of Your delights; for with You is the fountain of life, in Your light do we see light. Psalms 36:8-9.

Here 'fat' and 'the fountain of life' stand for the celestial, which consists in love, and 'river of delights' and 'light' stand for the spiritual, which consists in faith deriving from love. In the same author,

My soul will be satisfied with fat and fatness, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips. 3 Psalms 63:5.

Here similarly 'fat' stands for the celestial, 'joyful lips' 3 for the spiritual. It is quite clear that the celestial is meant for the reason that 'the soul will be satisfied'. And first-fruits, which were the firstborn of the earth, are for the same reason called 'fat' in Numbers 18:12.

[3] Since there are countless genera of celestial things, and still more countless species of them, they are described in general in the words of the song which Moses recited to the people,

Butter from the cattle, and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs and rams, the breed 4 of Bashan, and of goats, with the kidney-fat of wheat; and of the blood of the grape you will drink unmixed wine. Deuteronomy 32:14.

Nobody can possibly know what these expressions mean except from the internal sense. Without the internal sense nobody is able to know what butter from the cattle means, or milk from the flock, or the fat of lambs, or the fat of rams and of goats, or the breed 4 of Bashan, or the kidney-fat of wheat, or the blood of the grape. Without the internal sense they would be mere words and nothing more. In reality every single thing mentioned there means the genera and species of celestial things.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The Latin here means for a rest to Jehovah but comparison with the original Hebrew suggests that Swedenborg intended for an odour of rest, as in 2165:2, 5943:3.

2. or Why do you spend money on

3. literally, lips of songs

4. literally, sons

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

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Leviticus 3:16

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16 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a sweet savor; all the fat is Jehovah's.