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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, into the south.

2 And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver.

3 And he returned by the way that he came, from the south to Bethel, to the place where before he had pitched his tent between Bethel and Hai:

4 In the place of the altar which he had made before; and there he called upon the name of the Lord.

5 But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds of beasts, and tents.

6 Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together.

7 Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite dwelled in that country.

8 Abram therefore said to Lot: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen: for we are brethren.

9 Behold the whole land is before thee: depart from me I pray thee: if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: if thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.

10 And Lot, lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor.

11 And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from the other.

12 Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan; and Lot abode in the towns that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.

13 And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the face of the Lord, beyond measure.

14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him: Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west.

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

16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man be able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number thy seed also.

17 Arise and walk through the land in the length, and in the breadth thereof: for I will give it to thee.

18 So Abram removing his tent came and dwelt by the vale of Mambre, which is in Hebron: and he built there an altar to the Lord.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 1568

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1568. The land was not able to bear them that they might dwell together. This signifies that the things belonging to the internal celestial things could not be together with the others, that is, with those here signified by “Lot.” Abram, as before said, represents the Lord, here His internal man; but Lot represents His external man, here the things that were to be separated from the external man, with which the internal things could not dwell.

There are many things in the external man with which the internal man can dwell, such as affections of good, and the delights and pleasures thence originating; for these are the effects of the goods of the internal man, and of its joys and happiness; and when they are the effects, they altogether correspond; and they are then of the internal man and not of the external. For the effect, as is known, is not of the effect, but of the effecting cause; as, for example, the charity which shines forth from the face is not of the face, but is of the charity that is within, and which so forms the face, and presents the effect; or as the innocence of little children that shows itself in their looks, gestures, and play with each other, is not of the countenance or the gesture, but is of the innocence of the Lord that flows in through their souls; so that the manifestations of innocence are effects; and it is the same in all other cases.

[2] From this it is evident that there are many things in the external man that can dwell together and agree with the internal man. But there are also very many which do not agree, or together with which the internal man cannot dwell; this is the case with all things that spring from the love of self, and from the love of the world, for all such things regard self as the end, and the world as the end. With these the celestial things which are of love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor cannot agree; for these look to the Lord as the end, and to His kingdom and all things that are of Him and His kingdom as the ends. The ends of the love of self and the love of the world look outward or downward; but the ends of love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor look inward or upward; from all which it is evident that they disagree so much that they cannot possibly be together.

[3] That it may be known what makes the correspondence and agreement of the external man with the internal, and what makes the disagreement, one needs only to reflect upon the ends which reign; or what is the same, upon the loves which reign; for the loves are the ends; for whatever is loved is looked to as the end. It will thus be evident of what quality the life is, and what it will be after death; for, from the ends, or what is the same, from the loves which reign, the life is formed; the life of every man is nothing else. The things that disagree with eternal life-that is, with spiritual and celestial life, which is eternal life-if not removed in the life of the body, must be removed in the other life; and if they cannot be removed, the man cannot be otherwise than unhappy to eternity.

[4] These things are now said that it may be known that there are things in the external man which agree with the internal man, and things which disagree; and that those which agree cannot possibly be together with those that disagree; and further, that the things in the external man which agree, are from the internal man, that is, through the internal man from the Lord; like a face that beams from charity, or a face of charity; or like the innocence in the countenance and gestures of little children, as before said. But the things which disagree are of the man and what is his own. From what has been said it may be known what is signified by the words, “the land was not able to bear them that they might dwell together.” In the internal sense, the Lord is here treated of; and because the Lord, every likeness and image of Him is also treated of-His kingdom, the church, and every man of His kingdom or church; and it is for this reason that the things which are in men are here set forth. The things appertaining to the Lord, before He from His own power overcame evil, that is, the devil and hell, and so became celestial, Divine, and Jehovah, as to His Human essence also, are to be considered relatively to the state in which He then was.

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