Bible

 

Genesis 15

Studie

   

1 After these words*, the word of Jehovah was to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram; I am a shield for thee, thy reward is multiplied exceedingly.

2 And Abram said, Lord Jehovih*, what wilt Thou give to me, and I am walking childless, and the son, the steward of my house, he is Eliezer the Damascene?

3 And Abram said, Lo, to me Thou hast not given seed, and behold a son of my house is the heir with me.

4 And behold the word of Jehovah was to him, saying, This one shall not be thine heir; for he that shall go·​·out from thy bowels shall be thine heir.

5 And He brought· him ·forth outside, and said, Look now toward the heavens, and number the stars, if thou be·​·able to number them; and He said to him, Thus shall thy seed be.

6 And he believed in Jehovah, and He reckoned* it to him for justice.

7 And He said to him, I am Jehovah who brought· thee ·out from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give to thee this land, to possess her.

8 And he said, Lord Jehovih, By what shall I know that I shall possess her?

9 And He said to him, Take for me a heifer of·​·three years, and a she-goat of·​·three years, and a ram of·​·three years, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

10 And he took to him all these and parted them in the midst, and put each part to meet its companion; and the birds he did not part.

11 And the swooping fowls came·​·down upon the corpses, and Abram caused them to fly* away.

12 And it was that the sun set* and a deep·​·sleep fell on Abram; and behold a terror of great darkness falling on him.

13 And He said to Abram, Knowing thou shalt know that thy seed shall be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

14 And also upon the nation whom they shall serve will I make·​·judgment; and after thus shall they go·​·out with great acquisition.

15 And thou shalt come to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age*.

16 And in the fourth generation they shall return hither, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not consummated* even·​·until now.

17 And it was that the sun set*, and there was deep·​·darkness; and behold, a smoking oven, and a torch of fire that passed between those pieces that·​·were·​·severed.

18 In that day Jehovah cut a covenant with Abram, saying, To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates;

19 the Kenite, and the Kenezzite, and the Kadmonite;

20 and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim;

21 and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.

   


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

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 1795

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

1795. 'And the steward of my house' means the external Church. This is clear from the meaning in the internal sense of 'steward of the house', that is, in reference to the Church. The external Church is called 'the steward of the house' when the internal Church itself is 'the house' and the head of the household is the Lord. The position which the external Church occupies is nothing other than this, for all stewardship belongs to the external side of the Church, such as the performance of rituals and many other duties connected with the Temple and the Church itself, that is, Jehovah's or the Lord's House.

[2] The external things of the Church when they are without the internal things are of no value. It is to those internal things that they owe their existence, and in character they are the same as those internal things. The situation with them is as it is with man: with him what is external or bodily is in itself something valueless unless that which is internal exists to give it soul and life. As is the character therefore of that which is internal, so is the character of that which is external; or, as is the character of the disposition and mind (animus et mens), so is the worth of all the things which come forth through that which is external or bodily. The things of the heart make man, not those of the lips and gestures. It is the same with the internal things of the Church. Nevertheless the external things of the Church are as the external things with man, in that they serve as stewards or overseers; or what amounts to the same, the external or bodily man may be called the steward or overseer of the house when 'the house' is that which belongs to interior things. From this it is evident what 'childless' means, namely a time when no internal dimension of the Church exists, only an external, as it was at the time regarding which the Lord made complaint.

  
/ 10837  
  

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