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Genesis 23

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

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

3 And Abraham stood 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 burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

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

6 Hear us, my lord; thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchers bury thy dead: none of us will withhold from thee his sepulcher, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

7 And Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, to the children of Heth.

8 And he communed with them, saying, If it is your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,

9 That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me, for a possession of a burying-place among you.

10 And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, of all that entered the gates of his city, saying,

11 Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I to thee, and the cave that is in it, I give it to thee; in the presence of the sons of my people I give it to thee: bury thy dead.

12 And Abraham bowed himself before the people of the land.

13 And he spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee 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: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

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

17 And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure

18 To Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that entered the gate of his city.

19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.

20 And the field, and the cave that is in it were made sure to Abraham for a possession of a burying-place, by the sons of Heth.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #3103

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3103. And the man took a jewel of gold. That this signifies Divine good, is evident from the signification of a “jewel of gold,” as being good; and here, because in the internal sense the Lord is treated of, it signifies the Divine good; and because this is from the rational, the term “man” [vir] is used (that a “man” denotes the rational, may be seen above, n. 265, 749, 1007). In ancient times, when the forms of worship in churches were representative, and it was known what they signified, when marriages were being entered upon it was customary to give the bride a jewel of gold and bracelets, because the church was represented by the bride, its good by the jewel, and its truth by the bracelets; and because it was known that the conjugial love with the bride and the wife descends from the marriage of the Lord’s Divine good and Divine truth (n. 2508, 2618, 2727-2729). The jewel of gold was put upon the nose, as is evident also from what is said afterwards, that he “put the jewel upon her nose” (verse 47), for the reason that the nose signified the life of good, from the respiration there, which in the internal sense is life, and also from the fragrance, which is what is grateful to the love, the good of which it is (n. 96, 97).

[2] That the “jewel” was the badge of marriage as to good, is evident also from other passages of the Word as in Ezekiel:

I decked thee with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain upon thy throat; and I put a jewel upon thy nose (Ezekiel 16:11-12); concerning the Ancient Church, here called “Jerusalem,” which is described as a bride, to whom were given bracelets, a chain, and a jewel. “Bracelets upon the hands” were a badge representative of truth; and a “jewel upon the nose” was a badge representative of good.

[3] In Isaiah:

Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, the Lord will make bald the crown of their head, and will take away the rings, and the nose jewels, the changes of garments, and the mantles (Isaiah 3:16-18, 21-22).

The “daughters of Zion who are haughty,” denote the affections of evil within the church (n. 2362, 3024); the “rings and the nose jewels which will be removed,” denote good and its badges; the “changes of garments and the mantles,” truth and its badges.

[4] In Hosea:

I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim to which she burned incense; and she put on her nose jewel and her ornaments, and went after her lovers (Hos. 2:13);

treating of the perverted church, and the new church after it. The “nose jewel” here also denotes a badge of the good of the church. When these jewels were fitted to the ears, they also signified good, but good in act; and in the opposite sense evil in act (as in Genesis 35:4; Exodus 32:2-3).

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