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1 Mose 24:14

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14 Wenn nun eine Dirne kommt, zu der ich spreche: Neige deinen Krug und laß mich trinken, und sie sprechen wird: Trinke, ich will deine Kamele auch tränken, daß sie die sei, die du deinem Diener Isaak bescheret habest, und ich daran erkenne, daß du Barmherzigkeit an meinem HERRN getan hast.

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Arcana Coelestia # 3109

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3109. Verses 23-25 And he said, Whose daughter are you? Tell me now, is there at your father's house a place for us to spend the night? And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milkah, whom she bore to Nahor. And she said to him, There is both straw and also much fodder with us, and a place to spend the night.

'He said, Whose daughter are you?' means further investigation concerning innocence. 'Tell me now, is there at your father's house a place for us to spend the night?' means investigation concerning the good of charity. 'And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milkah, whom she bore to Nahor' means here, as previously, the whole origin of it. 'And she said to him' means perception. 'There is both straw' means factual truths. 'And also much fodder with us' means the goods that go with these. 'And a place to spend the night' means that state.

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

Komentář

 

Much

  
You do so much for me, thank you

Intellectual things -- ideas, knowledge, facts, even insight and understanding -- are more separate and free-standing than emotional things, and it's easier to imagine numbering them as individual things. Our loves and affections tend to be more amorphous -- they can certainly be powerful, but would be harder to measure. Using words like “much,” “many,” myriad” and “multitude” to describe a collection of things gives the sense that there is an exact number, even if we don't know what it is and don't want to bother trying to count. These words, then, are used in the Bible in reference to intellectual things -- our thoughts, knowledge and concepts. Words that indicate largeness without the idea of number -- “great” is a common one -- generally refer to loves, affections and the desire for good. Here's one way to think about this: Say you want to take some food to a friend who just had a baby. That's a desire for good (assuming you're doing it from genuinely good motives). To actually do it, though, takes dozens of thoughts, ideas, facts and knowledges. What does she like to eat? What do you have to cook? What do you cook well? Can you keep it hot getting to her house? Is it nutritious? Does she have any allergies? So one good desire can bring a multitude of ideas into play.