The Bible

 

Genesis 10

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1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: these are the sons which they had after the great flow of waters

2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras.

3 And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah.

4 And the sons of Javan: Elishah and Tarshish, the Kittim and the Dodanim.

5 From these came the nations of the sea-lands, with their different families and languages.

6 And the sons of Ham: Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan.

7 And the sons of Cush: Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

8 And Cush was the father of Nimrod, who was the first of the great men of the earth.

9 He was a very great bowman, so that there is a saying, Like Nimrod, a very great bowman.

10 And at the first, his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

11 From that land he went out into Assyria, building Nineveh with its wide streets and Calah,

12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah, which is a very great town.

13 And Mizraim was the father of the Ludim and Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim;

14 And Pathrusim and Casluhim and Caphtorim, from whom came the Philistines.

15 And Canaan was the father of Zidon, who was his oldest son, and Heth,

16 And the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite,

17 And the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite,

18 And the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; after that the families of the Canaanites went far and wide in all directions;

19 Their country stretching from Zidon to Gaza, in the direction of Gerar; and to Lasha, in the direction of Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim.

20 All these, with their different families, languages, lands, and nations, are the offspring of Ham.

21 And Shem, the older brother of Japheth, the father of the children of Eber, had other sons in addition.

22 These are the sons of Shem: Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad and Lud and Aram.

23 And the sons of Aram: Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash.

24 And Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber.

25 And Eber had two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, because in his time the peoples of the earth became separate; and his brother's name was Joktan.

26 And Joktan was the father of Almodad and Sheleph and Hazarmaveth and Jerah

27 And Hadoram and Uzal and Diklah

28 And Obal and Abimael and Sheba

29 And Ophir and Havilah and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.

30 And their country was from Mesha, in the direction of Sephar, the mountain of the east.

31 These, with their families and their languages and their lands and their nations, are the offspring of Shem.

32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, in the order of their generations and their nations: from these came all the nations of the earth after the great flow of waters.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #1178

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1178. He was mighty in hunting before Jehovah. That this signifies that he persuaded many, is evident from its being so with faith separated from charity; and also from the signification of “hunting” in the Word. Faith separated from charity is of such a nature that men are easily persuaded. The greater part of mankind do not know what internal things are, but only external things; and most men abide in things of sense, in pleasures and in cupidities, and have in view themselves and the world; and therefore they are easily captivated by such a religion. From the signification of “hunting:” in the Word “hunting” signifies in general persuading; specifically, captivating the minds of men by favoring their sensuous inclinations, pleasures, and cupidities, by using doctrinals which they explain at their own pleasure in accordance with their temper and that of the other, and with a view to their own self-exaltation and enrichment, thus by persuading.

[2] As is made evident in Ezekiel:

Woe to them that sew cushions upon all the joints of My hands, and that make veils upon the head, of every stature, to hunt souls. Do ye hunt souls for My people, and make souls alive for yourselves? And ye have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to make the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to My people that listen unto a lie. Behold, I am against your cushions wherewith ye there hunt souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls go, the souls that ye hunt to make them fly, and your veils also will I tear, and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand, to be hunted (Ezekiel 13:18-21).

What is meant by “hunting” is here explained, that it is captivating by persuasions, and by knowledges which they pervert, and interpret in favor of themselves, and in accommodation to the temper of another.

[3] In Micah:

The merciful man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among man; they all lie in wait for bloods; they hunt every man his brother with a net, when they do evil with the hands instead of doing good, the prince asketh and judgeth for the sake of reward, and the great man, he uttereth the perversity of his soul, and they wrest it (Micah 7:2-3).

Here likewise what is meant by “hunting” is explained, that it is to lie in wait for the sake of self, or to call the false true, and utter perversity, and distort, and thereby to persuade.

In David:

A man of tongue shall not be established in the earth; evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him (Psalms 140:11).

This is said of the wicked who persuade by means of falsities, think evilly and talk blandly for the purpose of deceiving; “tongue” here denotes falsehood.

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