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Genesis 25

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1 Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.

2 And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.

3 And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim and Leummim.

4 And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

5 And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac.

6 But to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son (while he yet lived) eastward, to the east country.

7 And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, a hundred and seventy five years.

8 Then Abraham expired, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

9 And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;

10 The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac: and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi.

12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bore to Abraham.

13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The first-born of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,

14 And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,

15 Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:

16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.

17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael; a hundred and thirty and seven years: and he expired and died, and was gathered to his people.

18 And they dwelt from Havilah to Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest towards Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.

19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac:

20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.

21 And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

22 And the children struggled together within her: and she said, If it is so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD.

23 And the LORD said to her, Two nations are in thy womb, and Two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels: and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

25 And the first was born red, all over like a hairy garment: and they called his name Esau.

26 And after that his brother was born, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents.

28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 And Jacob boiled pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint.

30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.

31 And Jacob said, Sell to me this day thy birth-right.

32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birth-right bring to me?

33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he swore to him: and he sold his birth-right to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way: thus Esau despised his birth-right.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #4923

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4923. 'Saying, This one came out first' means that it had priority of place. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming out first', or being the firstborn, as priority of place and a higher position, dealt with in 3325. Dealt with here and in the remainder of this chapter is the birthright. Anyone unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word may suppose that merely the birthright, and consequently the privileges which the firstborn might lawfully acquire, are dealt with. But one who does have some knowledge of the internal sense may see plainly enough that something of higher significance also lies concealed in this description. He may see this not only from the actual fact that one of the infants put out a hand and then drew it back, at which point the other infant came out, but also from the fact that they received their names from this, and from the fact that the midwife bound a twice-dyed thread on the hand of him who was first. Other descriptions may also lead him to see the same, such as the incident very like the present one when, after Esau and Jacob had struggled together in the womb, Esau came out first with Jacob grasping his - Esau's - heel, Genesis 25:23-24, 26. In addition to this there is the incident involving the two sons of Joseph; when blessing them Jacob placed his right hand on the younger and his left on the older, Genesis 48:17-19.

[2] The Jews and also some Christians do, it is true, believe that these, along with all other descriptions in the Word, contain some hidden meaning which they call mystical, the reason for that belief being the holiness, so far as the Word is concerned, which has been impressed on them since early childhood. But when asked what that mystical meaning may be, they do not know. One may tell them that because the Word is Divine the mystical meaning within it must of necessity be the kind of meaning the angels in heaven understand, and that the Word cannot have any other mystical content, or if it does, that content would be either mythical, magical, or idolatrous. One may in addition tell them that this mystical meaning understood by the angels in heaven is nothing else than what is called spiritual and celestial, the sole subject of which is the Lord, His kingdom and the Church, and consequently good and truth, and that if they knew what good and truth were, or what love and faith were, they would also be acquainted with that mystical sense. Yet scarcely any Jew or Christian believes any of this when told it. Indeed members of the Church are so lacking in knowledge at the present day that any mention of that which is celestial and spiritual is barely intelligible to them. But even so, because in the Lord's Divine mercy I have been allowed to be simultaneously in heaven as a spirit and on earth as a man, and consequently to talk to angels, doing so now without a break for many years, what else can I do but disclose those things which are called the mystical contents of the Word, that is, its interiors, which are the spiritual and celestial things of the Lord's kingdom? What the details recorded here hold within them in the internal sense - the details regarding Tamar's two sons - will be stated in what follows below.

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