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Genesis 23

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1 And the life of Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years: [these were] the years of the life of Sarah.

2 And Sarah died in Kirjath-Arba: that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

3 And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,

4 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me a possession of a sepulchre with you, that I may bury my dead from before me.

5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,

6 Hear us, my lord: thou art a prince of God among us: in the choicest of our sepulchres bury thy dead: none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre for burying thy dead.

7 And Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth,

8 and spoke to them, saying, If it be your will that I should bury my dead from before me, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar,

9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which is his, which is at the end of his field; for the full money let him give it to me amongst you for a possession of a sepulchre.

10 And Ephron was dwelling among the sons of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, in the ears of the sons of Heth, [even] of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,

11 No, my lord: hear me. The field give I thee; and the cave that is in it, to thee I give it; before the eyes of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.

12 And Abraham bowed down before the people of the land;

13 and he spoke to Ephron, in the ears of the people of the land, saying, But if only thou wouldst listen to me, I give the money for the field: take [it] of me, and I will bury my dead there.

14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,

15 My lord, hearken to me. A field of four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

16 And Abraham hearkened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the money that he had named in the ears of the sons of Heth -- four hundred shekels of silver, current with the merchant.

17 So the field of Ephron, which was at Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all its borders round about,

18 were assured to Abraham for a possession before the eyes of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.

19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah, opposite to Mamre: that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan.

20 And the field and the cave that was in it were assured to Abraham for a possession of a sepulchre by the sons of Heth.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2979

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2979. 'Abraham buried Sarah his wife' means that they received truth joined to good from the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'burying' as regenerating, dealt with above in 2916, 2917 - the fact that man was regenerate once he had received truth joined to good from the Lord will be discussed next; from the representation of 'Abraham' as the Lord, often dealt with already; and from the representation of 'Sarah as a wife' as truth joined to good, dealt with in 2063, 2065, 2507.

[2] The regeneration of the spiritual man proceeds as follows: At first he is taught the truths of faith, during which time the Lord maintains his affection for truth. At the same time the good of faith, which is charity towards the neighbour, is instilled into him, though in such a way that he hardly knows it because that good lies concealed within the affection for truth. All this takes place to the end that the truth of faith may be joined to the good of charity. As time goes by the affection for the truth of faith increases and truth is seen because of its end in view, which is good, or what amounts to the same, life. That affection grows more and more. In this way is truth instilled into good, and while it is being instilled the person absorbs into himself the good of life in accordance with the truth that has been instilled into it. Thus he acts, or seems to himself to act, from good. Prior to this the truth of faith has been for him the chief thing, but after this the good of life becomes the chief thing.

[3] At this point the person is regenerate, but regenerate according to the nature and extent of truth instilled into good. And when truth and good act as one, he is regenerate according to the nature and extent of the good. This is how regeneration proceeds. Regeneration is carried out to the end that a person may be received into heaven - heaven being nothing else than the marriage of truth and good, and of good and truth, see 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729. Unless the marriage of truth and good is effected in a person he cannot be in the heavenly marriage, that is, be in heaven.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #2508

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2508. 'She is my sister' means rational truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a sister' as rational intellectual truth, dealt with in 1495. That rational truth is meant by 'a sister' cannot be seen by anyone except from the heavenly marriage; for the things that descend from that marriage have links with one another - resembling the ties of blood-relationships and relationships by marriage on earth, concerning which see 685, 917 - and in ways endlessly varying. The heavenly marriage exists solely between Divine Good and Divine Truth. Conceived from that marriage there exist with man the capacities to understand, to be rational, and to have knowledge; for without this conception from the heavenly marriage no one can possibly be endowed with understanding, reason, or knowledge, and cannot consequently be a human being. Insofar therefore as he draws from the heavenly marriage he is human. The heavenly marriage exists within the Lord Himself, so that the Lord is that marriage itself; for He is Divine Good itself and at the same time Divine Truth. The heavenly marriage exists with angels and men insofar as love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, and consequently insofar as faith derived from these exist with them, that is, insofar as the Lord's good and the truth derived from this do so. When this is the case with them they are called 'daughters and sons', and in relation to one another 'sisters and brothers', but with differences. The reason rational truth is called 'a sister' is that it is conceived from the influx of Divine Good into the affection for rational truths. The good conceived in this way in the rational is called 'a brother', and the truth 'a sister'. But this will be clearer from the words spoken by Abraham in verse 12 of this chapter, 'And also she is truly my sister, my father's daughter but not my mother's daughter; and she became my wife'.

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