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Genesis 23

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1 And Sara lived a hundred and twenty-seven years.

2 And she died in the city of Arbee which is Hebron, in the land of Chanaan: and Abraham came to mourn and weep for her.

3 And after he rose up from the funeral obsequies, he spoke to the children of Heth, saying:

4 I am a stranger and sojourner among you: give me the right of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead.

5 The children of Heth answered, saying:

6 My Lord, hear us, thou art a prince of God among us: bury thy dead in our principle sepulchers: and no man shall have power to hinder thee from burying thy dead in his sepulcher.

7 Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to wit the children of Heth:

8 And said to them: If it please your soul that I should bury my dead, hear me, and intercede for me to Ephron the son of Seor.

9 That he may give me the double cave, which he hath in the end of his field: for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me before you, for a possession of a buryingplace.

10 Now Ephron dwelt in the midst of the children of Heth. And Ephron made answer to Abraham in the hearing of all that went in at the gate of the city, saying:

11 Let it not be so, my lord, but do thou rather hearken to what I say: The field I deliver to thee, and the cave that is therein, in the presence of the children of my people, bury thy dead.

12 Abraham bowed down before the people of the land,

13 And he spoke to Ephron, in the presence of the people: I beseech thee to hear me: I will give money for the field: take it, and so I will bury my dead in it.

14 And Ephron answered:

15 My lord, hear me. The ground which thou desirest, is worth four hundred sicles of silver: this is the price between me and thee: but what is this? bury thy dead.

16 And when Abraham had heard this, he weighed out the money that Ephron had asked, in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred sicles of silver of common current money.

17 And the field that before was Ephron's, wherein was the double cave, looking towards Mambre, both it and the cave, and all the trees thereof in all its limits round about,

18 Was made sure to Abraham for a possession, in the sight of the children of Heth, and of all that went in at the gate of his city.

19 And so Abraham buried Sara his wife, in a double cave of the field, that looked towards Mambre, this is Hebron in the land of Chanaan.

20 And the field was made sure to Abraham, and the cave that was in it, for a possession to bury in, by the children of Heth.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 2935

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2935. That he may give me the cave of Machpelah. That this signifies obscurity of faith, is evident from the signification of a “cave,” as being what is obscure (see n. 2463); and from the signification of “Machpelah,” as being faith that is in obscurity. A “cave” signifies obscurity because it is a dark place; when a “cave of a mountain” is spoken of, it then means obscurity of good; but when it is said the “cave of the field of Machpelah,” it then means obscurity of truth. As it is here said, the “cave of Machpelah,” and Machpelah was where there was a field at the end of which was the cave, obscurity of truth is here meant, or what is the same, obscurity of faith; and hence also it is plain that “Machpelah” means faith which is in obscurity.

[2] Those who are being regenerated and being made spiritual are in the greatest obscurity as to truth. Good indeed flows in with them from the Lord, but not so much truth; wherefore between the Lord and the good with man there exist parallelism and correspondence, but not with the truth (see n. 1832). The primary cause of this is that those here treated of do not know what good is; and even if they should know, still they do not believe from the heart; and so long as good is in obscurity with them, so long is truth, for all truth is from good. But to make this more clear: They know only very obscurely that the Lord is good itself, and that all is good which is of love to Him and of charity toward the neighbor, and that all is truth which asserts this and confirms it; indeed they even cherish doubts, and admit reasonings against these things; and so long as they are in such a state, the light of truth from the Lord cannot flow in; they even think of the Lord as another man, and not as God; and they think of love to Him from some worldly love; what the genuine affection of charity toward the neighbor is they scarcely know, nor indeed what charity is and what the neighbor, when yet these are essentials. Hence it is evident how far the spiritual are in obscurity; and they are still more so before regeneration, which is the state here treated of.

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