Bibliorum

 

Genesis 25

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1 And Abraham took another wife named Keturah.

2 She became the mother of Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah.

3 And Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And from Dedan came the Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.

4 And from Midian came Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the offspring of Keturah.

5 Now Abraham gave all his property to Isaac;

6 But to the sons of his other women he gave offerings, and sent them away, while he was still living, into the east country.

7 Now the years of Abraham's life were a hundred and seventy-five.

8 And Abraham came to his death, an old man, full of years; and he was put to rest with his people.

9 And Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, put him to rest in the hollow rock of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, near Mamre;

10 The same field which Abraham got from the children of Heth: there Abraham was put to rest with Sarah, his wife.

11 Now after the death of Abraham, the blessing of God was with Isaac, his son.

12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, whose mother was Hagar the Egyptian, the servant of Sarah:

13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their generations: Ishmael's first son was Nebaioth; then Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam

14 And Mishma and Dumah and Massa,

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

16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names in their towns and their tent-circles; twelve chiefs with their peoples.

17 And the years of Ishmael's life were a hundred and thirty-seven: and he came to his end, and was put to rest with his people.

18 And their country was from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt: they took their place to the east of all their brothers.

19 Now these are the generations of Abraham's son Isaac:

20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramaean of Paddan-aram, and the sister of Laban the Aramaean, to be his wife.

21 Isaac made prayer to the Lord for his wife because she had no children; and the Lord gave ear to his prayer, and Rebekah became with child.

22 And the children were fighting together inside her, and she said, If it is to be so, why am I like this? So she went to put her question to the Lord.

23 And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your body, and Two peoples will come to birth from you: the one will be stronger than the other, and the older will be the servant of the younger.

24 And when the time came for her to give birth, there were two children in her body.

25 And the first came out red from head to foot like a robe of hair, and they gave him the name of Esau.

26 And after him, his brother came out, gripping Esau's foot; and he was named Jacob: Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

27 And the boys came to full growth; and Esau became a man of the open country, an expert bowman; but Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.

28 Now Isaac's love was for Esau, because Esau's meat was greatly to his taste: but Rebekah had more love for Jacob.

29 And one day Jacob was cooking some soup when Esau came in from the fields in great need of food;

30 And Esau said to Jacob, Give me a full meal of that red soup, for I am overcome with need for food: for this reason he was named Edom.

31 And Jacob said, First of all give me your birthright.

32 And Esau said, Truly, I am at the point of death: what profit is the birthright to me?

33 And Jacob said, First of all give me your oath; and he gave him his oath, handing over his birthright to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave him bread and soup; and he took food and drink and went away, caring little for his birthright.

   

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #3312

Studere hoc loco

  
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3312. Dwelling in tents. That this signifies the derivative worship, is evident from the signification of “tents,” as being the holy of love, and thence of worship (n. 414, 1102, 2145, 2152). That “tents” signify the holy of worship, is because in the most ancient time the man of the church who was in love to the Lord and thence in holy worship, dwelt in tents, and there performed his holy worship; and because at that time the holy of love and thence the holy of worship began to be represented by tents, it was commanded that they should make a Tent according to the pattern shown to Moses upon Mount Sinai, and should therein institute their Divine worship. Hence also the feast of tabernacles, and their then dwelling in tents, was for the sake of the representation of the holy worship which belonged to the man of the celestial church; and this shows that by “dwelling in tents” is signified worship.

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

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #1102

Studere hoc loco

  
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1102. And he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. That this signifies in order that the internals of worship may be in the externals, is evident from all that has been said before concerning Shem, namely, that “Shem” is the internal church, or internal worship, and that external worship is nothing but an inanimate affair, or else an unclean one, unless there is internal worship to vivify and hallow it. That the “tents” signify nothing else than what is holy of love, and the derivative worship, is evident from the signification of “tents” (concerning which, see above, n. 414). It was customary among the ancients to speak of “journeying” and “dwelling in tents” by which was signified in the internal sense holy worship, for the reason that the most ancient people not only journeyed with tents, but also dwelt in tents, and performed their holy worship in them. Hence also “to journey” and “to dwell” signified in the internal sense to live.

[2] That “tents” signify holy worship, the following passages—in addition to those before cited (n. 414)—may serve for confirmation.

In David:

God forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent in which He dwelt in man (Psalms 78:60), where “tent” signifies the same as “temple” in which God is said to “dwell” when He is present with man in love. Hence the man who lived in holy worship, was called by the ancients a tent, and afterwards a temple.

In Isaiah:

Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations (Isaiah 54:2), meaning enlightenment in those things which are of true worship.

In Jeremiah:

The whole land is laid waste, suddenly have My tents been laid waste, and My curtains in a moment (Jeremiah 4:20), where it is very manifest that tents are not meant, but holy worship.

In Zechariah:

Jerusalem shall yet again dwell in her own place, even in Jerusalem. Jehovah also shall save the tents of Judah (Zechariah 12:6-7), where the “tents of Judah” stand for the worship of the Lord from the holy of love.

[3] From these passages it is now evident what it is “to dwell in the tents of Shem” namely, that internal worship is in external. But because the man Japheth, or the man of the external church, does not well know what internal things are, this shall be briefly told. When a man feels or perceives in himself that he has good thoughts concerning the Lord, and that he has good thoughts concerning the neighbor, and desires to perform kind offices for him, not for the sake of any gain or honor for himself; and when he feels that he has pity for anyone who is in trouble, and still more for one who is in error in respect to the doctrine of faith, then he may know that he dwells in the tents of Shem, that is, that he has internal things in him through which the Lord is working.

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