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Genesis 11

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1 And the whole earth had one language, and the same words.

2 And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there.

3 And they said one to another, Come on, let us make bricks, and burn [them] thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.

4 And they said, Come on, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, the top of which [may reach] to the heavens; and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth.

5 And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men built.

6 And Jehovah said, Behold, the people is one, and have all one language; and this have they begun to do. And now will they be hindered in nothing that they meditate doing.

7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

8 And Jehovah scattered them thence over the face of the whole earth. And they left off building the city.

9 Therefore was its name called Babel; because Jehovah there confounded the language of the whole earth. And Jehovah scattered them thence over the face of the whole earth.

10 These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood.

11 And Shem lived after he had begotten Arphaxad five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

12 And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Shelah.

13 And Arphaxad lived after he had begotten Shelah four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

14 And Shelah lived thirty years, and begot Eber.

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

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

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

18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu.

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

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

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

22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor.

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

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

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

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

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

28 And Haran died before the face of his father Terah in the land of his nativity at Ur of the Chaldeans.

29 And Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, a 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 his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth together out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to go into the land of Canaan, and came as far as Haran, and dwelt there.

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

   

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Arcana Coelestia #1295

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1295. That 'one man said to the next' means that this was started, that is, men started it, follows from the train of thought. This verse is dealing with the third state of the Church when falsities began to reign, in particular the falsities that arise from evil desires. There are two sources of falsities, the first being ignorance of the truth, the second evil desires. Falsity that arises from ignorance of the truth is not so harmful as falsity arising from evil desires, for the falsity of ignorance is the outcome either of having been so taught since early childhood, or of having been so preoccupied with various pursuits that one has never looked into whether something is true, or of not having been competent enough to judge what is true and what is false. Falsities that are the product of such ignorance do little harm provided that the person has not confirmed himself much in them, and so has not, on the instigation of some evil desire or other, persuaded himself to the point of defending those falsities. If he has he so intensifies the cloud of ignorance and converts it into darkness that he is incapable of seeing the truth.

[2] But falsity from evil desires comes into being when the origin of falsity is evil desire, that is, self-love and love of the world, as when somebody takes some point of doctrine, preaches it to captivate and take control of people's minds, and explains or twists that point of doctrine to his own advantage, and confirms it both by reasonings based on facts, and from the literal sense of the Word. The worship that results from this is unholy, however holy it may appear outwardly. For inwardly it is not worship of the Lord but worship of self. Nor does such a person acknowledge any truth, except insofar as he can explain it to his own advantage. Such worship is what is meant by 'Babel'. But the situation is different with people who, though born and brought up in such worship, do not know that it is falsity, and lead charitable lives. Their ignorance has innocence within it, and their worship has the good flowing from charity within it. The unholiness of worship is attributable not so much to the actual worship as to the nature of the worshipper.

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