Arcana Coelestia #3139
3139. Verses 31-33 And he said, Come, O blessed of Jehovah; why do you stand outside? And I have swept the house, and there is a place for the camels. And the man came to the house. And he ungirded the camels, and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. And [food] was set before him to eat, and he said, I am not eating until I have spoken my words. And he said, Speak on!
'He said, Come, O blessed of Jehovah' means an invitation to the Divine within Himself. 'Why do you stand outside?' means at some distance away. 'And I have swept the house' means all things had been prepared and filled with forms of good. 'And there is a place for the camels' means a state for all the things which were to serve Him. 'And the man came to the house' means influx into the good there. 'And he ungirded the camels' means freedom for the things that were to be subservient. 'And gave straw and fodder to the camels' means instruction in truths and goods. 'And water to wash his feet' means purification there. 'And the feet of the men who were with him' means purification of all things that were His in the natural man. 'And [food] was set before him to eat' means that [the affection for] good in the natural man wished to make Divine things its own. 'And he said, I am not eating' means refusal. 'Until I have spoken my words' means until it had received instruction. 'And he said, Speak on!' means desire for it.
Genesis 23
1
Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years. This was the length of Sarah's life.
2
Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.
3
Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the children of Heth, saying,
4
"I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
5
The children of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,
6
"Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead."
7
Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
8
He talked with them, saying, "If it be 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 has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me among you for a possession of a burying-place."
10
Now Ephron was sitting in the middle of the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying,
11
"No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead."
12
Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land.
13
He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, "But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there."
14
Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
15
"My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead."
16
Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants' standard.
17
So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded
18
to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19
After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan.
20
The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the children of Heth.
