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Genesis 25

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1 And Abraham took another wife named Keturah.

2 And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.

3 And Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan; and the sons of Dedan were the Asshurim, and the Letushim, and the Leummim.

4 And the sons of Midian were Ephah, and Epher, and Enoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah.

5 And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac.

6 And to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and, while he yet lived, sent them away from Isaac his son, eastward to the east country.

7 And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived: a hundred and seventy-five years.

8 And Abraham expired and died in a good old age, old and full [of days]; and was gathered to his peoples.

9 And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which was opposite to Mamre --

10 the field that Abraham had purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at Beer-lahai-roi.

12 And these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's bondwoman, bore to Abraham.

13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their names according to their generations: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,

14 and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,

15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedmah.

16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, in their hamlets and their encampments -- twelve princes of their peoples.

17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael: a hundred and thirty-seven years; and he expired and died, and was gathered to his peoples.

18 And they dwelt from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite to Egypt, as one goes towards Assyria. He settled before the face of all his brethren.

19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begot Isaac.

20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian.

21 And Isaac entreated Jehovah for his wife, because she was barren; and Jehovah was entreated of him, and Rebecca his wife conceived.

22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If [it be] so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of Jehovah.

23 And Jehovah said to her, Two nations are in thy womb, And Two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels; And one people shall be stronger than the other people, And the elder shall serve the younger.

24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

25 And the first came out red -- all over like a hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.

26 And after that came his brother out; and his hand took hold of Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

27 And the boys grew, and Esau became a man skilled in hunting, a man of the field; and Jacob was a homely man, dwelling in tents.

28 And Isaac loved Esau, because venison was to his taste; and Rebecca loved Jacob.

29 And Jacob had cooked a dish; and Esau came from the field, and he was faint.

30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with the red -- the red thing there, for I am faint. Therefore was his name called Edom.

31 And Jacob said, Sell me now thy birthright.

32 And Esau said, Behold, I am going to die, and of what use can the birthright be to me?

33 And Jacob said, Swear unto me now. And he swore unto him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.

34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and the dish of lentils; and he ate and drank, and rose up and went away. Thus Esau despised the birthright.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 3300

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3300. 'And the first came out, ruddy all over, like a hairy garment' 1 means good constituting the life of natural truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming out' as being born, from the meaning of 'ruddy' as good constituting the life, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'a hairy garment' as the truth of the natural, also dealt with below. His being 'the first' means that in essence good is prior, as stated above in 3299. It is also called 'a hairy garment' so as to mean that good was clothed with truth as in a thin casing or body, as also stated above in 3299. In the Word 'a tunic' means nothing else in the internal sense than something that clothes another thing, and that also is why truths are compared to garments, 1073, 2576.

[2] The reason why 'ruddy' or 'red' means good constituting the life is that all good flows from love, and love itself is celestial and spiritual fire. Love is also compared to and actually called fire, see 933-936, as well as being compared to and actually called blood, 1001. Because both fire and blood are red, good that flows from love is meant by 'ruddy' and 'red', as may also be seen from the following places in the Word: In the prophecy of Jacob, who by then was Israel,

He will wash his clothing in wine and his garment in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be redder than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. Genesis 49:11-12.

This refers to Judah, who is used here to mean the Lord, as may be clear to anyone. 'Clothing' here and 'garment' are the Lord's Divine Natural. 'wine' and 'the blood of grapes' are the Divine Good and Divine Truth of the Natural - Divine Good being spoken of as 'eyes redder than wine', and Divine Truth as 'teeth whiter than milk'. It is the joining together of good and truth within the Natural that is described in this fashion.

[3] In Isaiah,

Who is this who is coming from Edom, red as to his clothing, and his clothes like his that treads in the winepress? Isaiah 63:1-2.

Here 'Edom' stands for the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Natural, as will be evident later on. 'Red as to clothing' is the good of truth, and 'clothes like his that treads in the winepress' the truth of good. In Jeremiah,

Her Nazirites were brighter than snow, they were whiter than milk. They were ruddier in body 2 than rubies, polished like sapphire. 3 Lamentations 4:7.

'Nazirites' represented the Lord's Divine Human, in particular the Divine Natural, and so the good of the latter was represented by their being 'ruddier in body than rubies'.

[4] Because 'red' meant good, in particular the good of the natural, the Jewish Church - in which every single thing was representative of the Lord, and from this of His kingdom, and consequently of good and truth which are the source of the Lord's kingdom - was therefore commanded to have a covering for the tabernacle of red-rams' skins, Exodus 25:5; 26:14; 35:5-7, 23; 36:19. That Church was also commanded to prepare the water for making atonement from the ashes of the red heifer that had been burnt, Numbers 19:2 and following verses. Unless the colour red had been a sign of something heavenly in the Lord's kingdom, it would never have been commanded that the rams should be red and that the heifer should be red. The fact that they represented sacred things anyone acknowledges who considers the Word to be sacred. Because the colour red had that meaning, therefore also the coverings of the Tabernacle were interwoven with, and had loops made of, scarlet, purple, and violet yarn, Exodus 35:6.

[5] Seeing that almost everything also has a contrary sense, as often stated, so too has 'red'. In the contrary sense 'red' means evil that is the outcome of self-love, the reasons for this being that the desires belonging to self-love are compared to and actually called fire, 934 (end), 1297, 1527, 1528, 1861, 2446, and are likewise compared to and actually called blood, 374, 954, 1005. Consequently 'red' in the contrary sense means those things, as in Isaiah,

Jehovah said, Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, 4 they will be as wool. Isaiah 1:18.

In Nahum,

The shields of the mighty men of Belial have been made red, the mighty men are in crimson!; enveloped in the fire of torches are the chariots on the day [of preparation]. Nahum 2:3.

In John,

Another sign appeared in heaven, Behold, a great fiery-red dragon having seven heads, and on his heads seven jewels. Revelation 12:3.

In the same book,

I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; to him a crown was given; he went out conquering and to conquer. Then there came out another horse, fiery-red; and he who sat on the horse was permitted to take peace away from the earth, and so that men would slay one another. Therefore to him was given a great sword. After that a black horse came out, and at length a pale horse, whose name is death. Revelation 6:2-8.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The Latin word is tunica, which is discussed in 4677.

2. literally, bone

3. literally, sapphire their polishing

4. literally, purple

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