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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.

   

Aus Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #1335

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1335. That 'two years after the Flood' means the second Church after the Flood becomes clear from the fact that in the Word 'a year', as also 'a day' and 'a week', means an entire period, long or short, consisting of few or of many years. Indeed it means a period considered in the abstract, as may be seen from the places quoted already in 488, 893. The same applies here to 'two years after the Flood', which means the second period of the Church, which was when this second Ancient Church came into being.

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

Aus Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #488

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488. As has been stated, 'days' means states in general, and 'years' states in particular. This too becomes clear from the Word, as in Ezekiel,

You have brought your days near, and you have come even to your years. Ezekiel 22:4.

This refers to people who behave abominably and sin to the fullest extent, and so 'days' has reference in this case to such people's state in general, 'years' to that state in particular.

In David,

You will add days to the king's days; and his years as generation after generation! Psalms 61:6.

This refers to the Lord and His kingdom, where again 'days' and 'years' stand for the state of His kingdom.

In the same author,

I have considered the days of old, the years of long ago. Psalms 77:5.

Here 'days of old' is states of the Most Ancient Church, and 'years of long ago' states of the Ancient Church. In Isaiah,

The day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come. Isaiah 63:4.

This stands for the final times, where 'the day of vengeance' stands for a state of condemnation, and 'the year of the redeemed' for a state of blessedness.

Similarly, in the same prophet,

To proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure, and the day of vengeance for our God; to comfort all who mourn. Isaiah 61:2.

Here again 'days' and also 'years' are mentioned and mean states.

In Jeremiah,

Renew our days as of old. Lamentations 5:21.

Here 'days' plainly stands for state.

[2] In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is coming, for it is near, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a tiny of cloud and gloom, as has never happened of old, nor will be again after it through the years of generation after generation. Joel 2:1-2, 11.

Here 'day' stands for a state of darkness, thick darkness, cloud and gloom - a state of individuals in particular and of all in general.

In Zechariah,

I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. On that day you will shout, each to his companion, under his vine and under his fig tree. Zechariah 3:9-10.

And elsewhere in Zechariah,

There will be one tiny, it is known to Jehovah, which is neither day nor night, and at evening time there will be light. Zechariah 14:7.

State is clearly meant here, for it is said that 'it will be a day, which is neither day nor night; at evening time there will be light'.

The same meaning is also clear from the following in the Decalogue,

Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged, and that it may be well with you in the land. Deuteronomy 5:16; 25:15.

Here 'a prolonging of days' does not mean living on into old age but a state that is happy.

[3] In the sense of the letter 'day' cannot be seen to mean anything other than a period of time, but in the internal sense it means a state. Angels, who abide in the internal sense of the Word, do not know what a period of time is, for the activity of the sun and moon with them does not produce divisions of time. As a consequence they do not know what a day or a year is, but only what states and changes of state are. This is why among angels, who abide in the internal sense of the Word, anything connected with matter, space, and time, goes unnoticed, as with the following usages in the sense of the letter in Ezekiel,

The day is near, even the day of Jehovah is near, a day of cloud; it will be a time of the nations. Ezekiel 30:3.

And in Joel,

Alas for the day! For the day of Jehovah is near, and as destruction. Joel 1:15.

Here 'a day of cloud' stands for cloud or falsity, 'a day of the nations' for the nations or wickedness, and 'the day of Jehovah' for vastation. When the concept of time is removed there remains the concept of the state of the things existing during that period of time. The same applies to the days and the years that are mentioned so many times in this chapter.

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