Die Bibel

 

Genesis 26

Lernen

   

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

2 And Jehovah appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt. Dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of.

3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee. For unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father.

4 And I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

5 Because that 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 of his wife. And he said, She is my sister. For he feared to say, My wife. Lest, [said he], the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah. Because she was fair to look upon.

8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.

9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife. And how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die because of her.

10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? One of the people might easily have lain with thy wife, and thou wouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

11 And Abimelech charged all the people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year a hundredfold. And Jehovah blessed him.

13 And the man waxed great, and grew more and more until he became very great.

14 And he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great household. And the Philistines envied him.

15 Now all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth.

16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us. For thou art much mightier than we.

17 And Isaac departed thence, and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father. For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. And he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

20 And the herdsmen of Gerar strove with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours. And he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.

21 And they digged another well, and they strove for that also. And he called the name of it Sitnah.

22 And he removed from thence, and digged another well. And for that they strove not. And he called the name of it Rehoboth. And he said, For now Jehovah hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

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

24 And Jehovah appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father. Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of Jehovah, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants digged a well.

26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his host.

27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore are ye come unto me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?

28 And they said, We saw plainly that Jehovah was with thee. And we said, Let there now be an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee,

29 that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace. Thou art now the blessed of Jehovah.

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

31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another. And Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.

33 And he called it Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.

34 And when Esau was forty years old he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

35 And they were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

   

Aus Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #3686

studieren Sie diesen Abschnitt

  
/ 10837  
  

3686. And Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father. That this signifies the Lord’s foresight and providence, that the affections of that truth with which natural good had been heretofore conjoined would not conduce to conjunction, is evident from the signification here of “seeing,” as being foresight and providence (see n. 2837, 2839); and from the representation of Esau, as being the Lord in respect to the Divine good of the natural (concerning which see above); from the signification of the “daughters of Canaan,” here the daughters of Heth, as being the affections of truth from a ground not genuine (n. 3470, 3620-3621, 3622); and from the signification of “being evil in the eyes of Isaac his father,” as being not to conduce to conjunction, namely, through the good of the natural, which is “Esau,” with the good of the rational, which is “Isaac.” From all this it is evident that by these words is signified the Lord’s foresight and providence, that the affections of that truth, because not from a genuine ground, would not conduce to conjunction. How the case herein is, may be seen from the explication at chapter 26, verses 34-35, where the daughters of Heth are treated of whom Esau had taken to himself for women; and at chapter, 27 verse 46, where it is said of Jacob that he should not take to himself a woman of the daughters of Canaan [Heth]. That by the “daughters of Canaan” are here signified the affections of truth from a ground not genuine, and above by the “daughters of Canaan,” the affections of falsity and evil (n. 3662, 3683), is because the Hittites were of the Church of the Gentiles in the land of Canaan, and were not so much in falsity and evil as were the other nations there-the Canaanites, Amorites, and Perizzites. Hence also by the Hittites there was represented the Lord’s spiritual church among the Gentiles (n. 2913, 2986).

[2] That the Most Ancient Church, which was celestial and existed before the flood, was in the land of Canaan, may be seen above (n. 567); and that the Ancient Church, which was after the flood, was also in that land, and moreover in a number of other kingdoms, see above (n. 1238, 2385). From this it came to pass that all the nations in that land, and likewise all the regions and all the rivers thereof, became representative; for the most ancient people, who were celestial men, by means of all the objects which they saw, perceived such things as are of the Lord’s kingdom (n. 920, 1409, 2896, 2897, 2995); thus also by means of the regions and rivers of that land. After their times these representatives remained in the Ancient Church, thus also the representatives of the places in that land. The Word in the Ancient Church (n. 2897-2899), also had thence the names of places representative, as had also the Word after their time which is called “Moses and the Prophets;” and because this was so, Abraham was commanded to go thither, and a promise was made him that his posterity should possess that land; and this not because of their being better than other nations, for they were among the worst of all (n. 1167, 3373), but in order that by them a representative church might be instituted, in which no attention should be paid to person or to place, but to the things that were represented (n. 3670); and that thereby also the names used in the Most Ancient and the Ancient Church might be retained.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

Aus Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #3373

studieren Sie diesen Abschnitt

  
/ 10837  
  

3373. And unto thy seed. That this signifies truth, is evident from the signification of “seed,” as being truth (see n. 29, 255, 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940, 2848, 3310); thus it signifies the truth which is from the Lord’s Divine, which is “thy seed.” They who apprehend the Word only according to the sense of the letter cannot know but that “seed” denotes posterity, consequently here the posterity of Isaac from Esau and Jacob, and chiefly from Jacob, because the Word was in that nation and it contains so many historical facts concerning them. But in the internal sense by “seed” there is not meant any posterity from Isaac, but all those who are sons of the Lord, thus the sons of His kingdom, or what is the same, who are in good and truth from the Lord; and because these are “seed,” it follows that the very good and truth from the Lord are “seed,” for hence come the sons; wherefore also the very truths from the Lord are called the “sons of the kingdom,” in Matthew:

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom (Matthew 13:37-38);

hence also by “sons” in general are signified truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623).

[2] Everyone who thinks somewhat more deeply or interiorly may know that in the Divine Word by the “seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,” so often mentioned, and concerning which it is so frequently said that it should be blessed, and this above all nations and people in the world, cannot be signified their posterity; for above all nations they were least of all in the good of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, and were not even in any truth of faith; for they were utterly ignorant of what the Lord is, what His kingdom, thus what heaven is, and what the life after death, both because they did not want to know, and because if they had learned about these things, they would at heart have totally denied them, and would thus have profaned interior goods and truths, just as they so frequently profaned exterior ones by becoming open idolaters; which is the reason why in the sense of the letter of the Word of the Old Testament any interior things so rarely stand forth to view. Being of this nature, the Lord has said concerning them, quoting Isaiah:

He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them (John 12:40);

and again when they said:

We are Abraham’s seed; Abraham is our father; Jesus said unto them, If ye were Abraham’s sons, ye would do the works of Abraham; ye are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father ye will to do (John 8:33, 39, 44);

by “Abraham” here is meant the Lord, as everywhere in the Word; and that the Jews were not his seed, or sons, but the seed of the devil, is plainly stated. All this shows very plainly that by the “seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob” as mentioned in the historical and prophetical Word, are by no means meant their posterity-for the Word throughout is Divine-but all those who are the Lord’s “seed,” that is, who are in the good and truth of faith in Him. (That from the Lord alone comes heavenly seed, that is, all good and truth, may be seen above n. 1438, 1614, 2016, 2803, 2882-2883, 2891, 2892, 2904, 3195)

  
/ 10837  
  

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