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Genesis 11

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1 And all the earth was of one lip*, and their words one.

2 And it was when they journeyed from the east, that they found a vale in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.

3 And they said, a man to his companion, Come, let us make bricks*, and let us fire them for a firing*. And they had brick for stone, and they had tar` for clay.

4 And they said, Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower, and its head in the heavens; and let us make for ourselves a name, lest perhaps* we be scattered on the faces of all the earth.

5 And Jehovah came·​·down to see the city and the tower which the sons of man were building.

6 And Jehovah said, Behold, the people are one, and all of them have one lip, and this is what they begin to do; and now there will not be held·​·back from them anything which they scheme to do.

7 Come, let us go·​·down, and there confuse their lip, that they hear not, a man the lip of his companion.

8 And Jehovah scattered them from thence on the faces of all the earth; and they stopped building the city.

9 Therefore He called the name of it Babel, for there did Jehovah confuse* the lip of all the earth; and from thence did Jehovah scatter them on the faces of all the earth.

10 These are the births of Shem: Shem was a son of a hundred years, and begot Arpachshad, two·​·years after the flood.

11 And Shem lived after he begot Arpachshad five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

12 And Arpachshad lived five and thirty years, and begot Shelach.

13 And Arpachshad lived after he begot Shelach three years and four hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

14 And Shelach lived thirty years, and begot Eber.

15 And Shelach lived after he begot Eber three years and four hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begot Peleg.

17 And Eber lived after he begot Peleg thirty years and four hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu.

19 And Peleg lived after he begot Reu nine years and two·​·hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begot Serug.

21 And Reu lived after he begot Serug seven years and two·​·hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor.

23 And Serug lived after he begot Nahor two·​·hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Terah.

25 And Nahor lived after he begot Terah nineteen years and a hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 And these are the births of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot.

28 And Haran died upon the faces of Terah, his father*, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

29 And Abram and Nahor took to themselves wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

30 And Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 And Terah took Abram his son; and Lot the son of Haran, the son of his son; and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son; and they went·​·out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans, to go to the land of Canaan; and they came even to Haran, and dwelt there.

32 And the days of Terah were five years and two·​·hundred years; and Terah died in Haran.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 1799

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1799. 'Behold, a son of my house is my heir' means that in the Lord's kingdom there would be only that which is external. This is clear from the meaning in the internal sense of 'an heir' and of 'inheriting'. 'Becoming an heir' or inheriting means eternal life in the Lord's kingdom. All who are in the Lord's kingdom are heirs, for the source of the life in them is the Lord's life, which is the life of mutual love, and for that reason they are called 'sons'. The Lord's sons or heirs consist of all who have His life in them, for it is from Him that their life comes, and it is from Him that they have been born, that is, regenerated. Those born of another are that other's heirs; and so it is with all who are being regenerated by the Lord, for in that case they are receiving the life that is the Lord's.

[2] In the Lord's kingdom there are those who are external, those who are more interior, and those who are internal. Good spirits who dwell in the first heaven are external, angelic spirits who dwell in the second heaven are more interior, and angels who dwell in the third heaven are internal. Those who are external are not as close to or near the Lord as those who are more interior, and these in turn are not so close or near as those who are internal. Out of Divine love, or mercy, the Lord wills to have everyone near to Himself, so that they do not stand outside, that is, in the first heaven. His will is that they should dwell in the third heaven, and if possible not merely with Him but abiding in Him. Such is the nature of Divine or the Lord's love. But since at that time none but external things existed with the Church, He complained of this in the words that occur here - 'Behold, a son of my house is my heir' - by which is meant that in His kingdom there would thus be only that which is external. But comfort followed, and a promise of internal things, as described in the verses that follow next. What the external aspect of the Church is has been stated already in 1083, 1098, 1100, 1151, 1153.

[3] By itself doctrine does not constitute the external aspect of the Church, still less the internal, as stated above. Nor on the Lord's part is it its teachings that make one Church distinct and separate from another, but its life in accordance with those teachings, all of which, as long as they present what is true, regard charity as their basic principle. What else does doctrine do but teach men the kind of people they ought to be?

[4] In the Christian world it is their doctrines that cause Churches to be distinct and separate, and because of these they call themselves Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists or the Reformed, and Evangelicals, among other names. It is solely by reason of their doctrines that they are called by these names. This situation would never exist if they were to make love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour the chief thing of faith. In this case their doctrinal differences would be no more than shades of opinion concerning the mysteries of faith which truly Christian people would leave to individual conscience, and in their hearts would say that a person is truly a Christian when he lives as a Christian, that is, as the Lord teaches. If this were so all the different Churches would become one, and all the disagreements which stem from doctrine alone would disappear. Indeed the hatred one man holds against another would be dispelled in an instant, and the Lord's kingdom on earth would come.

[5] The Ancient Church which existed immediately after the Flood, though scattered among many kingdoms, was of this nature. That is to say, people differed much from one another in matters of doctrine, but for all that, they made charity the chief thing. Also they regarded worship, not from the standpoint of doctrinal teachings which are matters of faith, but from that of charity which is a matter of life. This is what is meant by 'they all had one lip and their words were one', Genesis 11:1, regarding which see 1285.

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