The Bible

 

Genesis 12

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1 HE EN sagde til Abram: "Drag ud fra dit Land, fra din Slægt og din Faders Hus til det Land, jeg vil vise dig;

2 så vil jeg gøre dig til et stort Folk, og jeg vil velsigne dig og gøre dit Navn stort. og vær en Velsignelse!

3 Jeg vil velsigne dem, der velsigner dig, og forbande dem, der forbander dig; i dig skal alle Jordens Slægter velsignes!"

4 Og Abram gik,som HE EN sagde til ham, og Lot gik med ham. Abram var fem og halvfjerdsindstyve År, da han drog fra Karan;

5 og Abram tog sin Hustru Saraj og sin Brodersøn Lot og al den Ejendom, de havde samlet sig, og de Folk, de havde vundet sig i Karan, og de gav sig på Vej til Kana'ans Land og nåede derhen.

6 Derpå drog Abram gennem Landet til Sikems hellige Sted, til Sandsigerens Træ. Det var dengang Kana'anæerne boede i Landet.

7 Men HE EN åbenbarede sig for Abram og sagde til ham: "Dit Afkom giver jeg dette Land!" Da byggede han der et Alter for HE EN. som havde åbenbaret sig for ham.

8 Derpå brød han op derfra og drog til Bjergene østen for Betel, og han slog Lejr med Betel mod Vest og Aj mod Øst; og han byggede HE EN et Alter der og påkaldte HE ENs Navn.

9 Derpå drog Abram fra Plads til Plads og nåede Sydlandet.

10 Der opstod Hungersnød i Landet; og da Hungersnøden i Landet blev trykkende, drog Abram ned til Ægypten for at bo der som fremmed.

11 Da han nu nærmede sig Ægypten, sagde han til sin Hustru Saraj: Jeg ved jo, at du er en smuk Kvinde;

12 når nu Ægypterne ser dig, og de mener, at du er min Hustru, slår de mig ihjel og lader dig leve;

13 sig derfor, at du er min Søster, for at det må gå mig godt, og jeg ikke skal miste Livet for din Skyld!"

14 Da han så drog ind i Ægypten, så Ægypterne, at hun var en såre smuk Kvinde;

15 og Faraos Stormænd, der så hende, priste hende for Farao, og så blev Kvinden ført til Faraos Hus.

16 Men Abram behandlede han godt for hendes Skyld, og han fik Småkvæg, Hornkvæg og Æsler, Trælle og Trælkvinder, Aseninder og Kameler.

17 Men HE EN ramte Farao og hans Hus med svære Plager for Abrams Hustru Sarajs Skyld.

18 Da lod Farao Abram kalde og sagde: "Hvad har du gjort imod mig! Hvorfor lod du mig ikke vide, at hun er din Hustru?

19 Hvorfor sagde du, at hun var din Søster, så at jeg tog hende til Hustru? Se, her har du nu din Hustru, tag hende og gå bort!"

20 Og Farao bød sine Mænd følge ham og hans Hustru og al deres Ejendom på Vej;

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1488

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1488. 'And his house' means which He had gathered together. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'house' here as facts that are gathered together. Gathering facts together and by means of them raising and building up the external man is not unlike building a house, and therefore similar ideas are meant in various parts of the Word by 'building', and by 'building houses', as in Isaiah,

I am creating new heavens and a new earth. They will build houses and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build and another inhabit. Isaiah 65:17, 21-22.

Here 'houses' means where there are wisdom and intelligence, thus where there are the cognitions of good and truth, for the Lord's kingdom is the subject, that is, 'new heavens and a new earth'. In Jeremiah,

Build houses and inhabit them; and plant gardens and eat their fruit. Jeremiah 29:5.

Here the meaning is similar. In David,

Blessed is the man who fears Jehovah, who delights greatly in His commandments! Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness stands for ever. Psalms 112:1, 3.

Here 'wealth and riches' stands for the wealth and riches of wisdom and intelligence, thus for cognitions, which are 'in his house', that is, residing with him.

[2] 'House' is also used in the contrary sense: in Zephaniah,

I will visit those who say in their hearts, Jehovah has not done good nor has He done evil; and their wealth will be for plunder, and their houses for desolation, and they will build houses and not inhabit them, and they will plant vineyards and not drink [their] wine. Zephaniah 1:12-13.

In Haggai,

Go up into the mountain and bring wood and build the house. You looked for much, and behold it was little; and when you brought it home 1 I blew it away. For what reason? said Jehovah. Because of My house which has been left derelict while you run each to his own house. Therefore above you the heavens have withheld their dew. Haggai 1:8-10.

'Houses' stands for facts through which, by means of reasoning, falsities come. In Isaiah,

The vineyard of Jehovah is the house of Israel. 2 Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field until there is no room and you dwell alone in the midst of the land! Will not many houses be a desolation, large and good ones, without inhabitant? Isaiah 5:7-9.

Here also 'houses' stands for facts through which come falsities. In Amos,

Behold, Jehovah commands, and He will smite the great house with breaches and the little house with clefts. Will horses run upon the rock? Will one plough there with oxen? that you turn judgement into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. Amos 6:11-12.

Here similarly 'houses' stands for falsities and derivative evils, 'horses' for reasoning, 'judgement' for truths which are 'turned into poison', and 'the fruits of righteousness' for goods which are 'turned into wormwood'.

[3] Thus in various parts of the Word 'houses' stands for human minds in which intelligence and wisdom ought to be present. Here 'the house of Pharaoh' stands for facts by means of which comes intelligence and by means of this wisdom. Similar things were also meant by 'the house which Solomon built for Pharaoh's daughter', 1 Kings 7:8 and following verses. Because 'a house' stands for minds that have intelligence and wisdom within them, and that have within them affections that belong to the will, therefore the word 'house' in the Word has a wide range of meaning, but what it means in a specific instance becomes clear from the things to which it has reference. In addition man himself is called 'a house'.

Footnotes:

1. literally, into the house

2. These words seem to have been added as an afterthought and without reference. They have been restored to their correct place.

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