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Genesis 26

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1 And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.

2 And Jehovah appeared to him, and said, Go· not ·down into Egypt; inhabit the land of which I speak to thee.

3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for to thee, and to thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will raise·​·up the promise which I promised to Abraham thy father.

4 And I will cause thy seed to be multiplied as the stars of the heavens, and will give to thy seed all these lands; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,

5 because Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.

6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

7 And the men of the place asked him as·​·to his woman*; and he said, She is my sister; for he feared to say, She is my woman; lest the men of the place should kill me on·​·account of Rebekah; because she was good in appearance.

8 And it was, because the days were there prolonged to him, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked·​·out through a window, and saw, and behold Isaac was laughing with Rebekah his woman.

9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Surely behold she is thy woman. And how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, Because I said, Lest I die on·​·account·​·of her.

10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done to us, in that one of the people might have lightly lain·​·down with thy woman, and thou wouldst have brought guilt upon us?

11 And Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, He who touches this man and his woman, dying he shall die.

12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in that year a hundred measures, and Jehovah blessed him.

13 And the man became·​·great, and went on going and becoming·​·great until that he became· very ·great.

14 And he had livestock of the flock, and livestock of the herd, and much service; and the Philistines were·​·envious of him.

15 And all the wells that his father’s servants dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines blocked· them ·up, and filled them with dust.

16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go from with us; for thou art exceedingly more numerous than we.

17 And Isaac went thence, and encamped by the brook of Gerar, and dwelt there.

18 And Isaac returned, and dug again* the wells of waters which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father; and the Philistines blocked· them ·up after the death of Abraham; and he called them by names according·​·to the names which his father called them.

19 And the servants of Isaac dug in the gully, and found there a well of living waters.

20 And the shepherds of Gerar strove with Isaac’s shepherds, saying, The waters are ours; and he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.

21 And they dug another well, and they strove over that also, and he called the name of it Sitnah*.

22 And he moved·​·away from thence, and dug another well, and over it they strove not, and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now Jehovah has made us to be enlarged, and we shall be·​·fruitful in the land.

23 And he went·​·up from thence to Beer-sheba.

24 And Jehovah appeared to him in that night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, and I will bless thee, and will multiply thy seed, on account·​·of Abraham My servant.

25 And he built there an altar, and called upon the name of Jehovah, and stretched his tent there, and there the servants of Isaac dug·​·out a well.

26 And Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his companion, and Phichol the commander of his army.

27 And Isaac said to them, Wherefore have you come to me, and you have hated me, and have sent· me ·away from you.

28 And they said, Seeing we have seen that Jehovah was with thee; and we said, We pray thee, let there be an oath between us, between us and thee, and let us cut a covenant with thee.

29 If thou shalt do evil with us, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done only good with thee, and have sent· thee ·away in peace; thou art now the blessed of Jehovah.

30 And he made for them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

31 And they got·​·up·​·early in the morning, and promised a man to his brother; and Isaac sent· them ·away, and they went from him in peace.

32 And it was, in that day, that the servants of Isaac came and told him concerning the matter of the well which they had dug; and they said to him, We have found waters.

33 And he called it Shebah*; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba* even·​·to this day.

34 And Esau was a son of forty years, and he took for a woman Jehudith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

35 And they were bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.

   


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

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Exploring the Meaning of Genesis 26

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff

Here are some excerpts from Swedenborg's "Arcana Coelestia" that help explain the inner meaning of this chapter:

AC 3357. In the internal sense of this chapter the subject treated of is appearances of truth of three degrees, and how these were adjoined to truth Divine in order that truths and their doctrinal things might be received; and that a church might come into existence.

AC 3358. In (verses 1 to 6) are described the appearances of truth of a higher degree which are in the internal sense of the Word, in which appearances are the angels, and in which there is Divine truth and good. And that Divine good and truth cannot be comprehended, thus cannot be received, unless they are in appearances (verses 7 to 13).

AC 3359. Appearances of truth of a lower degree, which are in the interior sense of the Word-in which appearances those men may be who are of the internal church-are then treated of (verses 14 to 17).

AC 3360. Afterwards, appearances of truth are described of a still lower degree, which are of the literal sense of the Word, in which appearances those men may be who are of the external church (verses 18 to 25); and that through these there may still be conjunction with the Lord (verses 26 to 33).

AC 3361. Concerning truths of the memory adjoined to good therein (verses 34, 35).

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Arcana Coelestia # 3490

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3490. Genesis 27

1. And so it was, that Isaac was old and his eyes were becoming dark so that he could not see; and he called Esau his elder son and said to him, My son; and he said to him, Here I am.

2. And he said, Behold now, I am old; I do not know the day of my death.

3. And now take, I beg you, your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt venison for me.

4. And make me savoury food such as I love, and bring it to me, and I will eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.

5. And Rebekah was listening to Isaac while he spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, to bring it [home].

6. And Rebekah said to Jacob her son - she said - Behold, I listened to your father speaking to Esau your brother, saying,

7. Bring me venison, and make me savoury food, and I will eat, and I will bless you before Jehovah, before my death.

8. And now, my son, hearken to my voice, to what I command you.

9. Go now to the flock, and take for me from there two good kids of the she-goats, and I will make them into savoury food for your father, such as he loves.

10. And bring it to your father, and let him eat, so that he may bless you before his death.

11. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.

12. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall be in his eyes as one who misleads, and I shall bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.

13. And his mother said to him, Upon me be your curse, my son; only hearken to my voice, and go, take them for me.

14. And he went and took them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savoury food such as his father loved.

15. And Rebekah took the best clothes 1 of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.

16. And she put the skins of the kids of the she-goats on his hands and on the smooth of his neck.

17. And she gave the savoury food and the bread which she had made into the hand of Jacob her son.

18. And he went to his father, and said, My father. And he said, Behold, here I am; who are you, my son?

19. And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau your firstborn; I have done what you told me. Rise up now; sit, and eat from my venison, so that your soul may bless me.

20. And Isaac said to his son, Why have you found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because Jehovah your God caused it to come before my face.

21. And Isaac said to Jacob, Come near now, and I will feel you, my son, whether you are my son Esau, or not.

22. And Jacob came near to Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, and the hands Esau's hands.

23. And he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau his brother; and he blessed him.

24. And he said, Are you my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

25. And he said, Bring it to me, and I will eat from my son's venison, so that my soul may bless you. And he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

26. And Isaac his father said to him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.

27. And he came near and kissed him. And he smelled the odour of his clothes, and he blessed him, and he said, See, the odour of my son, like the odour of the field that Jehovah has blessed.

28. And God will give to you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the land, and abundance of grain and of new wine.

29. Peoples will serve you, and peoples will bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and your mother's sons will bow down to you. Cursed are those cursing you, and blessed those blessing you.

30. And so it was, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had only just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31. And he too made savoury food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, Let my father arise, and eat from his son's venison, so that your soul may bless me.

32. And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he said, I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.

33. And Isaac trembled very greatly, and he said, Who then is he who has hunted venison and brought it to me, and I have eaten from all of it before you came in, and have blessed him? Indeed, he will be blessed!

34. Even as Esau heard his father's words, he cried out with a great and exceedingly bitter cry, and said to his father, Bless me, me also, my father.

35. And he said, Your brother came in deceitfully, and has taken away your blessing.

36. And he said, Does he not call his name Jacob? And he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Have you not reserved a blessing for me?

37. And Isaac answered, and said to Esau, Behold, I have made him lord over you, and have given all his brothers to him as servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. And for you therefore, what shall I do, my son?

38. And Esau said to his father, Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, my father. And Esau raised his voice, and wept.

39. And Isaac his father answered, and said to him, Behold, of the fatness of the land will be your dwelling, and of the dew of heaven from above.

40. And by your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother; and it will be when you have dominion over him, that you will break his yoke from above your neck.

41. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are approaching, and I will kill Jacob my brother.

42. And the words of Esau her elder son were pointed out to Rebekah, and she sent and summoned Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Behold, Esau your brother is consoling himself concerning you [by planning] to kill you.

43. And now, my son, hearken to my voice, and arise, flee to Laban my brother, to Haran.

44. And stay with him for a few days, until your brother's wrath turns back,

45. Until your brother's anger turns back from you, and he forgets what you have done to him, and I send and fetch you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?

46. And Rebekah said to Isaac, I loathe my life on account of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these of the daughters of the land, what would life hold for me?

CONTENTS

Previously, where Isaac and Rebekah were the subject, the internal sense dealt with the Rational and how the Lord had made it Divine within Himself. The internal sense now deals with the Natural and how the Lord made that Divine within Himself. Esau is the good, Jacob the truth, of the Natural, for while He was in the world the Lord did indeed make Divine within Himself His entire Human, both that which is interior, namely the Rational, and that which is exterior, namely the Natural, and the Bodily as well. He did so according to Divine order. According to the same order also the Lord renews or regenerates man, and this is why the representative sense here deals with a person's regeneration as regards his natural. In that sense also Esau is the good of the natural, and Jacob its truth. Nevertheless both are Divine because all good and truth that a regenerate person has come from the Lord.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, clothes of desires

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