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Genesis 19

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1 And the two angels came to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face to the earth;

2 and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn aside, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

3 And he urged them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, [even] the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old, all the people from every quarter;

5 and they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men that came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

6 And Lot went out unto them to the door, and shut the door after him.

7 And he said, I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly.

8 Behold now, I have two daughters that have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing, forasmuch as they are come under the shadow of my roof.

9 And they said, Stand back. And they said, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and drew near to break the door.

10 But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of the place:

13 for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxed great before Jehovah: and Jehovah hath sent us to destroy it.

14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for Jehovah will destroy the city. But he seemed unto his sons-in-law as one that mocked.

15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are here, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16 But he lingered; and the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters, Jehovah being merciful unto him; and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the Plain; Escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my lord:

19 behold now, thy servant hath found favor in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy lovingkindness, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die:

20 behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape thither (is it not a little one?), and my soul shall live.

21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken.

22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot came unto Zoar.

24 Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven;

25 and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Jehovah:

28 and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the Plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

31 And the first-born said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:

32 come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the first-born went in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the first-born said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

35 And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

37 And the first-born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

38 And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

   

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #2444

Studere hoc loco

  
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2444. 'Jehovah rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah brimstone and fire' means the hell of those governed by the evils of self-love, and by falsities deriving from these. This is clear from the meaning of 'raining on' as to be condemned, of 'brimstone' as the hell of the evils of self-love, and of 'fire' as the hell of falsities deriving from these, dealt with in the paragraphs that follow this; and also from the meaning of 'Sodom' as evil that stems from self-love, and of 'Gomorrah' as falsity deriving from this evil, dealt with in 2220, 2246, 2322. Here 'Gomorrah' as well is mentioned; no previous mention of it has been made in this chapter for the reason that 'Gomorrah' means falsity, which is the product of the evil of self-love. For inside the Church, whose final period or judgement is the subject at this point, this is the evil which in the main acts against good, and falsity deriving from evil which acts against truth. These two are joined together in such a way that anybody who is subject to the one is subject to the other, and indeed in a like ratio and to a like degree. It does indeed seem to be other than this, but the reality reveals itself in the next life if not in this world. Regarding the nature of self-love, and how great the evils are which arise from it, and that the hells have their origin in it, see 693, 694, 760, 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 2041, 2045, 2051, 2057, 2219.

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

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #2220

Studere hoc loco

  
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2220. That 'Sodom' is every evil that stems from self-love is clear from the meaning of 'Sodom' in the Word. Although in the next chapter it seems as if Sodom means the evil that consists in the worst form of adultery, nevertheless nothing else is meant by it in the internal sense than evil that stems from self-love. In the Word also the dreadful things that well up out of self-love are represented by various kinds of adultery. That 'Sodom' means in general every evil that stems from self-love, and 'Gomorrah' every falsity derived from this, has been shown in Volume One, in 1212, 1663, 1682, 1689, and may become clearer still from the following places in the Word:

In Jeremiah,

A sword over the Chaldeans and over the inhabitants of Babel as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and its neighbours, said Jehovah. No man will live there, and no son of man will abide in it. Jeremiah 50:35, 40.

This refers to those meant by 'the Chaldeans' whose worship consists in profane falsity, as shown already in 1368, and also to those meant by 'Babel' whose worship consists in profane evil, 1182, 1326. Their condemnation is described by the overthrow of Sodom, that is, of evil in general, and by the overthrow of Gomorrah, that is, of falsity in general, since their worship too consists in evil that stems from self-love, and in falsity derived from this.

[2] In Amos,

I overthrew you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you became as a brand plucked out of the burning. Amos 4:11.

This refers to Samaria, by which is meant the perverted spiritual Church, which as regards evils in general contrary to the goods of charity is called 'Sodom', as regards falsities in general contrary to truths of faith is called 'Gomorrah', and as regards both is described here, as in the previous quotation, as 'the overthrowing of God'. In Zephaniah,

Moab will be like Sodom, and the children of Ammon like Gomorrah, a place abandoned to the nettle, and a saltpit, and a desolation even for ever. This will be theirs for their arrogance because they taunted and magnified themselves against the people of Jehovah Zebaoth. Zephaniah 2:9-10.

Here 'Sodom' stands for evil stemming from self-love, and 'Gomorrah' for falsity derived from this, both of which are referred to here as 'a desolation', as they were 'an overthrowing' in the two previous quotations. 'Arrogance' is self-love, 'taunting the people of Jehovah Zebaoth' is bringing evil against truths, and 'magnifying themselves against the people' is bringing falsity against them.

[3] In Ezekiel,

Your elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters, dwelling on your left hand; and your younger sister, dwelling on your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters Your sister Sodom has not done, she and her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom; she and her daughters had pride, surfeit of bread, and prosperous ease, but she did not strengthen the hand of the wretched and needy. And they became haughty and did abominable things before Me. Ezekiel 16:46, 48-50.

This refers to the abominations of Jerusalem, which are described as Samaria and Sodom 'Samaria', used instead of Gomorrah, describing the abominations involving falsities, and 'Sodom' those involving evils. What is meant specifically by 'Sodom' is also stated, for it is said, 'this was the iniquity of Sodom', namely that it was self-love, meant here by 'pride'. Their rejection of the goods of charity is meant by 'surfeit of bread', and their satisfaction taken in those [falsities and evils] by 'prosperous ease'. Their lack of compassion is described by the statement that they did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy, and the impregnation with self-love of their desires resulting from this is described by the statement that the daughters became haughty - such desires being meant by 'daughters'.

[4] From this it is quite clear what Sodom means - that its meaning is not the same as what occurs in the historical sense in the next chapter, and that by Sodom in the next chapter such things are meant in the internal sense as are described here in Ezekiel, namely things belonging to self-love. But the description of Sodom here is milder because reference is made to the abominations of Jerusalem having been greater than those of Sodom, as is evident also from the Lord's words in Matthew,

Truly I say to you, It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that city. Matthew 10:15; Mark 6:11; Luke 10:12.

In John,

Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. Revelation 11:8.

Here it is clear that 'Sodom' is not used to mean Sodom nor 'Egypt' to mean Egypt, for it is said that 'spiritually it is called Sodom and Egypt'. 'Sodom' stands for every evil stemming from self-love, and 'Egypt', used instead of Gomorrah, for every falsity derived from this.

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