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Genesis 13

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1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, towards the south.

2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

3 And he went on his journeys from the south as far as Bethel; as far as the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai;

4 to the place of the altar that he had made there at the first. And there Abram called on the name of Jehovah.

5 And Lot also who went with Abram had flocks, and herds, and tents.

6 And the land could not support them, that they might dwell together, for their property was great; and they could not dwell together.

7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land.

8 And Abram said to Lot, I pray thee let there be no contention between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen, for we are brethren.

9 Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if to the left, then I will take the right; and if to the right, then I will take the left.

10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of the Jordan that it was thoroughly watered, before Jehovah had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; as the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt, as one goes to Zoar.

11 And Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan; and Lot went toward the east. And they separated the one from the other:

12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan; and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched tents as far as Sodom.

13 And the people of Sodom were wicked, and great sinners before Jehovah.

14 And Jehovah said to Abram, after that Lot had separated himself from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward;

15 for all the land that thou seest will I give to thee, and to thy seed for ever.

16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if any one can number the dust of the earth, thy seed also will be numbered.

17 Arise, walk through the land according to the length of it and according to the breadth of it; for I will give it to thee.

18 Then Abram moved [his] tents, and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron. And he built there an altar to Jehovah.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 1610

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1610. That 'I will make your seed as the dust of the earth' means being multiplied beyond measure is clear without explanation. Here it is said that his seed would be made as 'the dust of the earth', in other parts of the Word as 'the dust of the sea', and in yet other parts as 'the stars of heaven'. Each of these phrases has its own particular meaning. 'Dust of the earth' has regard to those things that are celestial, for, as shown already, 'the earth' means the celestial aspect of love; 'dust of the sea' has regard to those things that are spiritual, for 'the sea', as has also been shown, means the spiritual aspect of love; while 'as the stars of heaven' means both but in a higher degree. And because these things cannot be numbered they therefore became common expressions to describe growth and multiplication beyond measure.

[2] The statement that his seed, that is, the faith that is the expression of love, or simply love, was to be multiplied beyond measure means in the highest sense the Lord, and in particular His Human Essence, for the Lord as regards the Human Essence is called 'the seed of the woman', dealt with in 256. When the Lord's Human Essence is meant, the infinite celestial and spiritual is understood by the words 'multiplied beyond measure'; but when faith that is the expression of charity, or simply charity, among the human race is meant by 'the seed', the multiplication without measure of that seed in everyone who leads a charitable life is understood. Such multiplication takes place in the next life with everyone who leads a charitable life. With him the multiplication of charity and of the faith deriving from it, together with their associated happiness, is so great that one can only describe it as being beyond measure and defying description. When the human race is meant by 'the seed', the multiplication of this in the Lord's kingdom is also beyond measure - not only from those who are inside the Church, and their children, but also from those who are outside the Church, and their children. Consequently the Lord's kingdom or heaven is boundless. That boundlessness will in the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken of elsewhere.

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