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1 Mose 23

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1 Sara ward hundertsiebenundzwanzig Jahre alt

2 und starb in Kirjat-Arba, das Hebron heißt, im Lande Kanaan. Da kam Abraham, daß er sie beklagte und beweinte.

3 Darnach stand er auf von seiner Leiche und redete mit den Kindern Heth und sprach:

4 Ich bin ein Fremder und Einwohner bei euch; gebt mir ein Erbbegräbnis bei euch, daß ich meinen Toten begrabe, der vor mir liegt.

5 Da antworteten Abraham die Kinder Heth und sprachen zu ihm:

6 Höre uns, lieber Herr! Du bist ein Fürst Gottes unter uns, begrabe deinen Toten in unsern vornehmsten Gräbern; kein Mensch soll dir unter uns wehren, daß du in seinem Grabe begrabest deinen Toten.

7 Da stand Abraham auf und bückte sich vor dem Volk des Landes, vor den Kindern Heth.

8 Und er redete mit ihnen und sprach: Gefällt es euch, daß ich meinen Toten, der vor mir liegt, begrabe, so hört mich und bittet für mich Ephron, den Sohn Zohars,

9 daß er mir gebe seine zwiefache Höhle, die er hat am Ende seines Ackers; er gebe sie mir um Geld, soviel sie wert ist, unter euch zum Erbbegräbnis.

10 Ephron aber saß unter den Kindern Heth. Da antwortete Ephron, der Hethiter, Abraham, daß zuhörten die Kinder Heth, vor allen, die zu seiner Stadt Tor aus und ein gingen, und sprach:

11 Nein, mein Herr, sondern höre mir zu! Ich schenke dir den Acker und die Höhle darin dazu und übergebe dir's vor den Augen der Kinder meines Volkes, zu begraben deinen Toten.

12 Da bückte sich Abraham vor dem Volk des Landes

13 und redete mit Ephron, daß zuhörte das Volk des Landes, und sprach: Willst du mir ihn lassen, so bitte ich, nimm von mir das Geld für den Acker, das ich dir gebe, so will ich meinen Toten daselbst begraben.

14 Ephron antwortete Abraham und sprach zu ihm:

15 Mein Herr, höre doch mich! Das Feld ist vierhun dert Lot Silber wert; was ist das aber zwischen mir und dir? Begrabe nur deinen Toten!

16 Abraham gehorchte Ephron und wog ihm das Geld dar, das er gesagt hatte, daß zuhörten die Kinder Heth, vierhundert Lot Silber, das im Kauf gang und gäbe war.

17 Also ward Ephrons Acker, darin die zwiefache Höhle ist, Mamre gegenüber, Abraham zum eigenen Gut bestätigt mit der Höhle darin und mit allen Bäumen auf dem Acker umher,

18 daß die Kinder Heth zusahen und alle, die zu seiner Stadt Tor aus und ein gingen.

19 Darnach begrub Abraham Sara, sein Weib, in der Höhle des Ackers, die zwiefach ist, Mamre gegenüber, das ist Hebron, im Lande Kanaan.

20 Also ward bestätigt der Acker und die Höhle darin Abraham zum Erbbegräbnis von den Kindern Heth.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2913

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2913. 'And spoke to the sons of Heth, saying' means those with whom a new spiritual Church was to exist. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'Heth' and of Hittite. Many were the nations inhabiting the land of Canaan who are mentioned one by one in various places in the Word, among them the Hittites, see Genesis 15:20; Exodus 3:8, 17; 13:5; 23:23; Deuteronomy 7:1; 20:17; Joshua 3:10; 11:1, 3; 12:8; 24:11; 1 Kings 9:20; and elsewhere. Most of them belonged to the Ancient Church which was spread through many lands, including the land of Canaan, see 1238, 2385. All who belonged to that Church acknowledged charity as the chief thing, and everything they taught was about charity or life. People who cultivated teachings about faith were called Canaanites and were separate from the rest of the inhabitants in the land of Canaan, Numbers 13:29 - see 1062, 1063, 1076.

[2] The Hittites belonged among those in the land of Canaan who were more acceptable. This is also made clear by the fact that Abraham, and subsequently Isaac and Jacob, dwelt among them and had a burial-place there, and also by the fact that they treated Abraham with greatest respect, as is quite clear from what is recorded about them in this chapter, especially verses 5-6, 10-11, 14-15. Since they were an upright nation they therefore represent and mean the spiritual Church, or the truth of the Church. But it happened that like all the others who belonged to the Ancient Church the Hittites fell away in the course of time from charity or good that goes with faith; and this explains why later on they mean the falsity of the Church, as in Ezekiel 16:3, 45, and elsewhere. Yet the Hittites did belong among those who were more honourable, as may be seen from the fact that David had Hittites with him, such as Ahimelech, 1 Samuel 26:6, and Uriah, who was a Hittite, 2 Samuel 11:3, 6, 17, 21 - by whose wife Bathsheba David begot Solomon, 2 Samuel 12:24. 'Heth' means exterior cognitions that have regard to life and which constitute the external truths of the spiritual Church, 1 see 1203.

[3] The subject in the present verse is a new Church which the Lord establishes when the previous one breathes its last, and in the verses which follow the subject is the reception of faith among those people. The subject is not some particular Church among the sons of Heth but in general the re-establishment by the Lord of a spiritual Church after its predecessor fades away and approaches its end. The sons of Heth are simply those who represent and carry a spiritual meaning. Please see what has been stated already about Churches in the following places:

In course of time a Church goes into decline and decay, 494, 501, 1327, 2422.

It departs from charity, and brings forth evils and falsities, 1834, 1835.

At that point the Church is said to be vastated and made desolate, 407-411, 2243.

The Church is established among gentiles; the reason why, 1366.

Within a Church undergoing vastation something of the Church is always preserved as a nucleus, 468, 637, 931, 2422.

If the Church did not exist in the world the human race would perish, ibid.

The Church is like the heart and lungs in that vast body, of which every member of the human race is a part, 637, 931, 2054, 2853.

The nature of the spiritual Church, 765, 2669.

Charity constitutes the Church, not faith separated from charity, 809, 916.

If all possessed charity the Church would be one even though they differ in matters of doctrine and in forms of worship, 1285, 1316, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 2385.

All people on earth who belong to the Lord's Church, though they are scattered throughout the entire world, still so to speak make a single whole, as is the case in heaven, 2853.

Every Church is internal and external, and both together constitute a single Church, 409, 1083, 1098, 1100, 1242.

The external Church is valueless if there is no internal Church, 1795.

The Church is compared to the rise and the setting of the sun, to the seasons of the year, and also to the periods of the day, 1837.

The Last Judgement is the final period of the Church, 900, 931, 1850, 2117, 2118.

Fußnoten:

1. Or, reading what Swedenborg has in his rough draft the truths of the external spiritual Church

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