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Genesis 26

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1 Orta autem fame super terram post eam sterilitatem, quæ acciderat in diebus Abraham, abiit Isaac ad Abimelech regem Palæstinorum in Gerara.

2 Apparuitque ei Dominus, et ait : Ne descendas in Ægyptum, sed quiesce in terra quam dixero tibi,

3 et peregrinare in ea : eroque tecum, et benedicam tibi : tibi enim et semini tuo dabo universas regiones has, complens juramentum quod spopondi Abraham patri tuo.

4 Et multiplicabo semen tuum sicut stellas cæli : daboque posteris tuis universas regiones has : et benedicentur in semine tuo omnes gentes terræ,

5 eo quod obedierit Abraham voci meæ, et custodierit præcepta et mandata mea, et cæremonias legesque servaverit.

6 Mansit itaque Isaac in Geraris.

7 Qui cum interrogaretur a viris loci illius super uxore sua, respondit : Soror mea est : timuerat enim confiteri quod sibi esset sociata conjugio, reputans ne forte interficerent eum propter illius pulchritudinem.

8 Cumque pertransissent dies plurimi, et ibidem moraretur, prospiciens Abimelech rex Palæstinorum per fenestram, vidit eum jocantem cum Rebecca uxore sua.

9 Et accersito eo, ait : Perspicuum est quod uxor tua sit : cur mentitus es eam sororem tuam esse ? Respondit : Timui ne morerer propter eam.

10 Dixitque Abimelech : Quare imposuisti nobis ? potuit coire quispiam de populo cum uxore tua, et induxeras super nos grande peccatum. Præcepitque omni populo, dicens :

11 Qui tetigerit hominis hujus uxorem, morte morietur.

12 Sevit autem Isaac in terra illa, et invenit in ipso anno centuplum : benedixitque ei Dominus.

13 Et locupletatus est homo, et ibat proficiens atque succrescens, donec magnus vehementer effectus est :

14 habuit quoque possessiones ovium et armentorum, et familiæ plurimum. Ob hoc invidentes ei Palæstini,

15 omnes puteos, quos foderant servi patris illius Abraham, illo tempore obstruxerunt, implentes humo :

16 in tantum, ut ipse Abimelech diceret ad Isaac : Recede a nobis, quoniam potentior nobis factus es valde.

17 Et ille discedens, ut veniret ad torrentem Geraræ, habitaretque ibi,

18 rursum fodit alios puteos, quos foderant servi patris sui Abraham, et quos, illo mortuo, olim obstruxerant Philisthiim : appellavitque eos eisdem nominibus quibus ante pater vocaverat.

19 Foderuntque in torrente, et repererunt aquam vivam.

20 Sed et ibi jurgium fuit pastorum Geraræ adversus pastores Isaac, dicentium : Nostra est aqua, quam ob rem nomen putei ex eo, quod acciderat, vocavit Calumniam.

21 Foderunt autem et alium : et pro illo quoque rixati sunt, appellavitque eum Inimicitias.

22 Profectus inde fodit alium puteum, pro quo non contenderunt : itaque vocavit nomen ejus Latitudo, dicens : Nunc dilatavit nos Dominus, et fecit crescere super terram.

23 Ascendit autem ex illo loco in Bersabee,

24 ubi apparuit ei Dominus in ipsa nocte, dicens : Ego sum Deus Abraham patris tui : noli timere, quia ego tecum sum : benedicam tibi, et multiplicabo semen tuum propter servum meum Abraham.

25 Itaque ædificavit ibi altare : et invocato nomine Domini, extendit tabernaculum, præcepitque servis suis ut foderunt puteum.

26 Ad quem locum cum venissent de Geraris Abimelech, et Ochozath amicus illius, et Phico, dux militum,

27 locutus est eis Isaac : Quid venistis ad me, hominem quem odistis, et expulistis a vobis ?

28 Qui responderunt : Vidimus tecum esse Dominum, et idcirco nos diximus : Sit juramentum inter nos, et ineamus fœdus,

29 ut non facias nobis quidquam mali, sicut et nos nihil tuorum attigimus, nec fecimus quod te læderet : sed cum pace dimisimus auctum benedictione Domini.

30 Fecit ergo eis convivium, et post cibum et potum

31 surgentes mane, juraverunt sibi mutuo : dimisitque eos Isaac pacifice in locum suum.

32 Ecce autem venerunt in ipso die servi Isaac annuntiantes ei de puteo, quem foderant, atque dicentes : Invenimus aquam.

33 Unde appellavit eum Abundantiam : et nomen urbi impositum est Bersabee, usque in præsentem diem.

34 Esau vero quadragenarius duxit uxores, Judith filiam Beeri Hethæi, et Basemath filiam Elon ejusdem loci :

35 quæ ambæ offenderant animum Isaac et Rebeccæ.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 3387

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3387. 'For he was afraid to say, My wife, [thinking,] The men of the place may perhaps kill me on account of Rebekah' means that it was impossible for Divine Truths themselves to be disclosed, and so for Divine Good to be received. This is clear from the meaning of 'being afraid to say' as an inability to disclose; from the meaning of 'wife', who is Rebekah here, as the Lord's Divine Rational in respect to Divine Truth, dealt with in 3012, 3013, 3077; from the meaning of 'killing me' as good not being received, for 'Isaac', to whom 'me' refers here, represents the Divine Good of the Lord's Rational, 3012, 3194, 3210 - good being said 'to be killed' or to perish when it is not received, for it ceases to exist with that person; and from the meaning of 'the men of the place' as people who possess matters of doctrine concerning faith, dealt with just above in 3385. From these meanings it is now evident what the internal sense of these words is, namely: If Divine truths themselves were disclosed they would not be received by those who possess matters of doctrine concerning faith because those truths go beyond the whole range of their rational grasp of things, and so go beyond the whole of their faith, and as a consequence of this no good at all could flow in from the Lord. For good from the Lord, or Divine good, cannot flow in except into truths, for truths are the vessels for good, as shown many times.

[2] Truths or appearances of truth are given to a person to enable Divine Good to develop the understanding part of his mind, and so the person himself, for truths exist to the end that good may flow in. Indeed without vessels or receptacles good has nowhere to go, for it can find no condition answering to itself. Where no truths exist therefore, that is, where they have not been received, neither does any rational or human good exist; and as a consequence the person does not possess any spiritual life. Therefore, so that a person may nevertheless possess truths, and from these receive spiritual life, appearances of truth are given, to everyone according to his ability to grasp them; and these appearances are acknowledged as truths because they have the capacity to hold Divine things within them.

[3] So that it may be known what appearances are and that they are what serve a person as Divine truths, let the following be used by way of illustration: If man were told that in heaven angels have no concept of place, and so no concept of distance, but that instead they have concepts of state, he could not possibly grasp it, for he would suppose from this that nothing distinct and separate existed but that everything was fused together, that is to say, all the angels were together in a single place. Yet everything there is so distinct and separate that nothing could ever be more so. Places, distances, and intervals of space which exist in the natural order exist in heaven as states, see 3356. From this it is evident that all the things that are stated in the Word about places and intervals of space between objects, also ideas that are formed from these and expressed through them, are appearances of truth; and unless everything were stated by means of those appearances it would in no way be received and would as a consequence be scarcely anything; for the concept of space and time is present in almost every single detail of a person's thought as long as he is in the world, that is, living within space and time.

[4] The fact that the Word speaks according to appearances involving space is clear from almost every single part of it, as in Matthew,

Jesus said, How is it that David says, The Lord [said] to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool? Matthew 22:43-44.

Here the expression 'sitting at the right hand' is derived from the concept of place and so according to the appearance - when in fact it is a state of the Lord's Divine power which is described by that expression. In the same gospel,

Jesus said, Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Matthew 26:64.

Here similarly 'sitting at the right hand' and also 'coming on clouds' are expressions derived from men's concept of place, whereas the concept angels have is one of the state of the Lord's power. In Mark,

The sons of Zebedee said to Jesus, Grant us to sit in Your glory, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left. Jesus replied, To sit at My right hand and at My left is not Mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. Mark 10:37, 40.

From this it is evident what kind of concept the disciples had of the Lord's kingdom, that is to say, one that involved sitting on the right hand and on the left. Such being the concept they had of it the Lord also replied to them in a way they could understand and so by an appearance that could be seen by them.

[5] In David,

Like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, he rejoices as a mighty man to run the course. From the end of the heavens is His going forth, and His circuit to the ends of them. Psalms 19:5-6.

This refers to the Lord, the state of whose Divine power is described by means of such things as belong to space. In Isaiah,

How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawn! You said in your heart, I will go up into the heavens, above the stars of God 1 I will raise my throne. I will go up above the heights of the clouds. Isaiah 14:12-14.

'Falling from heaven', 'going up the heavens', 'raising a throne above the stars of God', 'going up above the heights of the clouds' are all expressions derived from the concept and appearance of space or a place, and are used to describe self-love profaning holy things. Since celestial and spiritual things are presented to man by means of and according to visual objects like these, heaven too is therefore described as being on high when in fact it is not on high but in that which is internal, 450, 1380, 2148.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. The Latin means heaven; but the Hebrew means God which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse.

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