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Genesis 36

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1 Now these are the generations of Esau, that is to say, Edom.

2 Esau's wives were women of Canaan: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite,

3 And Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.

4 Adah had a son Eliphaz; and Basemath was the mother of Reuel;

5 Oholibamah was the mother of Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the sons of Esau, whose birth took place in the land of Canaan.

6 Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters, and all the people of his house, and his beasts and his cattle and all his goods which he had got together in the land of Canaan, and went into the land of Seir, away from his brother Jacob.

7 For their wealth was so great that the land was not wide enough for the two of them and all their cattle.

8 So Esau made his living-place in the hill-country of Seir (Esau is Edom).

9 And these are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites in the hill-country of Seir:

10 These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, the son of Esau's wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau's wife Basemath.

11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

12 And Eliphaz, the son of Esau, had connection with a woman named Timna, who gave birth to Amalek: all these were the children of Esau's wife Adah.

13 And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: they were the children of Esau's wife Basemath.

14 And these are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon: she was the mother of Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

15 These were the chiefs among the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz, Esau's first son: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,

16 Korah, Gatam, Amalek: all these were chiefs in the land of Edom, the offspring of Eliphaz, the seed of Adah.

17 And these are the sons of Esau's son Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, Mizzah: these were the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom, the children of Esau's wife Basemath.

18 And these are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah: these were the chiefs who came from Esau's wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah.

19 These were the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these were their chiefs.

20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite who were living in that country; Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan: these are the chiefs of the Horites, offspring of Seir in the land of Edom.

22 The children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; Lotan's sister was Timna.

23 And these are the children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

24 And these are the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; that same Anah who made the discovery of the water-springs in the waste land, when he was looking after the asses of his father Zibeon.

25 And these are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah his daughter.

26 These are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.

27 These are the children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

28 These are the children of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

29 These were the Horite chiefs: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. Such were the Horite chiefs in their order in the land of Seir.

31 And these are the kings who were ruling in the land of Edom before there was any king over the children of Israel.

32 Bela, son of Beor, was king in Edom, and the name of his chief town was Dinhabah.

33 At his death, Jobab, son of Zerah of Bozrah, became king in his place.

34 And at the death of Jobab, Husham, from the country of the Temanites, became king in his place.

35 And at the death of Husham, Hadad, son of Bedad, who overcame the Midianites in the field of Moab, became king; his chief town was named Avith.

36 And at the death of Hadad, Samlah of Masrekah became king.

37 And at the death of Samlah, Shaul of Rehoboth by the River became king in his place.

38 And at the death of Shaul, Baal-hanan, son of Achbor, became king.

39 And at the death of Baal-hanan, Hadar became king in his place; his chief town was named Pau, and his wife's name was Mehetabel; she was the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-zahab.

40 These are the names of the chiefs of Esau in the order of their families and their places: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,

41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,

42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,

43 Magdiel, Iram; these are the Edomite chiefs, in their places in their heritage; this is Esau, the father of the Edomites.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #4545

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4545. 'And be purified, and change your garments' means the holiness that was to be put on. This is clear from the meaning of 'being purified' or being cleansed as being made holy, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'changing one's garments' as putting on, in this case putting on holy truths, for in the internal sense of the Word truths are meant by 'garments'. It is quite evident that 'changing one's garments' was an accepted representative within the Church, but what that custom represented no one can know unless he knows what 'garments' means in the internal sense - namely truths, see 2576. Because in the internal sense the casting aside of falsities and the arrangement by good of truths within the natural is the subject here, it is therefore recorded that Jacob commanded them to change their garments.

[2] 'Changing their garments' was representative of the need to put on holy truths, as may also be seen from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion, put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for there will no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Isaiah 52:1.

Since 'Zion' means the celestial Church and 'Jerusalem' the spiritual Church, and the celestial Church is that which dwells in good by virtue of its love to the Lord, and the spiritual Church in truth by virtue of its faith and charity, 'strength' is therefore used in reference to Zion, and 'garments' in reference to Jerusalem. And when clothed with these the two are 'clean'.

[3] In Zechariah,

Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and so stood before the angel. And [the angel] answered and said to those standing before him - he said - Remove the filthy garments from upon him. And he said to him, See, I have caused your iniquity to pass away from upon you, by putting on you a change of garments Zechariah 3:3-4.

From this place too it is evident that 'removing garments' and 'putting on a change of garments' represented purification from falsities, for the words 'I have caused your iniquity to pass away from upon you' are used. This also explains why people had changes of garments - which they called simply 'changes', an expression occurring in various places in the Word - because different representations were set forth by means of those changes.

[4] Because the kinds of things mentioned here were represented by changes of garments it is therefore said in Ezekiel, in the description of the new Temple, which in the internal sense means a new Church,

When the priests enter they shall not go out of the holy place to the outer court, but there shall lay aside their garments in which they have ministered, for these are holy, 1 and they shall put on other garments and go near the things which are for the people. Ezekiel 42:14.

And in the same prophet,

When they go out to the outer court, to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, and they shall not sanctify the people in their own garments. 2 Ezekiel 44:19.

[5] Anyone may see that a new temple and the holy city and land which are referred to by the prophet in this chapter, and in the chapters before and after it, are not used to mean any new temple, new city, or new land. For reference is made to sacrifices and religious ceremonies being introduced anew, when in fact these had to be brought to an end; and mention is also made of how the tribes of Israel, referred to by name, were to divide the land among themselves into inheritances, when in fact they were dispersed and never returned to the land. From this it is evident that the religious ceremonies referred to in those chapters mean the spiritual and celestial things constituting the Church. Much the same is meant by Aaron's change of garments when he was going to minister, to offer a burnt offering; in Moses,

He shall put on his linen robe, and linen breeches. He shall place the ashes at the side of the altar. After he takes off his own garments and puts on other garments he shall carry away the ashes to a clean place outside the camp. Leviticus 6:9-12.

This was what he had to do when offering the burnt offering.

[6] As regards 'being cleansed' meaning being made holy, this may be seen from the cleansings that were commanded, such as the command to wash their flesh and their garments, and the command to be sprinkled with the waters of separation. Everyone who knows anything about the spiritual man may also recognize that nobody is made holy by carrying out commands such as these. For what does iniquity or sin have to do with the garments a person is wearing? Yet it is stated several times that after people had cleansed themselves they would be holy. From this it is also evident that such rituals which the Israelites were commanded to carry out were in no way holy except by virtue of their representation of holy things, and that as a consequence people who served as representers did not on that account become holy persons. It was the holiness they represented, quite apart from them as actual persons, that stirred the affections of the spirits present with them, and through these the affections of the angels in heaven, 4307.

[7] For in order that the human race may be kept in being, human beings must of necessity live in communication with heaven; and that communication is effected through the Church. Otherwise human beings would become like animals, lacking any restraints internally or externally, so that all would plunge unchecked into the destruction of others and would annihilate one another. And because in the time of the Israelites no communication through any Church was possible, the Lord therefore provided in an amazing way for a communication to be effected by means of representatives. It is evident from many places in the Word that being made holy was represented by the ritual observance of washing and cleansing, as when Jehovah came down on Mount Sinai and then said to Moses,

Make them holy today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready on the third day. Exodus 19:10-11.

In Ezekiel,

I will sprinkle clean water over you, and you will be cleansed from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit will I give in the midst of you. Ezekiel 36:25-26.

Here it is plain that 'sprinkling clean water' represented purification of the heart, so that 'being cleansed' means being made holy.

Notes de bas de page:

1. literally, holiness

2. The Latin means they shall sanctify the people in other garments, but the Hebrew means they shall not sanctify the people in their own garments, which Swedenborg has in another place where he quotes this verse.

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