The Bible

 

Genesis 15

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1 Nogen Tid efter kom HE ENS Ord til Abram i et Syn således: "Frygt ikke, Abram, jeg er dit Skjold; din Løn skal blive såre stor!"

2 Men Abram svarede: "Herre", HE E, hvad kan du give mig, når jeg dog går barnløs bort, og en Mand fra Damaskus, Eliezer, skal arve mit Hus."

3 Og Abram sagde: "Du har jo intet Afkom givet mig, og se, min Hustræl kommer til at arve mig!"

4 Og se, HE ENs Ord kom til ham således: "Han kommer ikke til at arve dig, men den, der udgår af dit Liv, han skal arve dig."

5 Derpå førte han ham ud i det fri og sagde: "Se op mod Himmelen og prøv, om du kan tælle Stjernerne!" Og han sagde til ham: "Således skal dit Afkom blive!"

6 Da troede Abram HE EN, og han regnede ham det til etfærdighed.

7 Derpå sagde han til ham: "Jeg er HE EN, som førte dig bort fra Ur Kasdim for at give dig dette Land i Eje!"

8 Men han svarede: "Herre, HE E, hvorpå kan jeg kende, at jeg skal få det i Eje?"

9 Da sagde han til ham: "Tag mig en treårs Kvie, en treårs Ged og en treårs Væder, en Turteldue og en Småfugl!"

10 Så tog han alle disse Dyr skar dem midt over og lagde Halvdelene over for hinanden; dog skar han ikke Fuglene over.

11 Da slog der ovfugle ned på de døde Kroppe, men Abram skræmmede dem bort.

12 Da Solen så var ved at gå ned, faldt der Dvale over Abram, og se, ædsel faldt over ham, et stort Mørke.

13 Og han sagde til Abram: "Vide skal du, at dit Afkom skal bo som fremmede i et Land, der ikke er deres eget; de skal trælle for dem og mishandles af dem i 400 År.

14 Dog vil jeg også dømme det Folk, de kommer til at trælle for, og siden skal de vandre ud med meget Gods.

15 Men du skal fare til dine Fædre i Fred og blive jordet i en god Alderdom.

16 I fjerde Slægtled skal de vende tilbage hertil; thi endnu er Amoriternes Syndeskyld ikke fuldmoden."

17 Da Solen var gået ned og Mørket faldet på, viste der sig en rygende Ovn med en flammende Ildslue, der skred frem mellem de sønderskårne Kroppe.

18 På den Dag sluttede HE EN Pagt med Abram, idet han sagde: "Dit Afkom giver jeg dette Land fra Ægyptens Bæk til den store Flod, Eufratfloden,

19 det er Keniterne, Henizziterne, Kadmoniterne,

20 Hetiterne, Perizziterne, efaiterne,

21 Amoriterne, Kana'anæerne, Girgasjiterne, Hivviterne og Jebusiterne."

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1860

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1860. That 'there was thick darkness' means when hatred existed in place of charity is clear from the meaning of 'thick darkness'. In the Word 'darkness' means falsities, while 'thick darkness' means evils, as explained immediately below. 'Darkness' is when falsity exists in place of truth, and 'thick darkness' when evil exists in place of good, or what amounts entirely to the same, when hatred exists in place of charity. When hatred exists in place of charity the darkness is so thick that the person is not even aware of its being an evil, let alone of its being so great an evil as to thrust him down in the next life into hell; indeed people who are steeped in hatred find a certain delight and so to speak life in it. This very delight and life have the effect that he hardly knows other than that hatred is good. Whatever favors a person's pleasure and desire, because it favors his love, he feels as good - so much so that when he is told it is of hell he can hardly believe it. Even less can he believe it when he is told that such delight and life is converted in the next life into an utterly foul and corpse-like stench. Even less still can he believe that he is becoming a devil and a dreadful replica of hell; for hell consists of nothing else than varieties of hatred and other such forms.

[2] But of this anyone may know who has any power of thought; for if he were to describe hatred, or to represent it, or to portray it if he were able to in any way, he would not do so except by the use of devil-like forms such as these persons steeped in evil also assume after death. And what is extraordinary, such people can still declare that in the next life they will go to heaven, in some cases for merely saying that they have faith - though in fact the only forms occurring in heaven are those of charity, the nature of which may be seen in what has been told from experience in 553. Let those people now consider how these two forms - of hatred and of charity - can be in agreement in the same place.

[3] That 'darkness' means falsity and 'thick darkness' evil becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

Behold, darkness is covering the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. Isaiah 60:2.

In Joel,

Let all the inhabitants of the earth tremble, for the day of Jehovah is coming, a day of darkness and thick darkness. Joel 2:1-2.

In Zephaniah,

A day of wrath is that day, a day of vastation and desolation, a day of darkness and thick darkness. Zephaniah 1:15.

In Amos,

Is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light, and thick darkness, and no brightness in it? Amos 5:20.

In these places 'the day of Jehovah' stands for the final period of the Church, which is also the subject here. 'Darkness' stands for falsities, 'thick darkness' for evils; hence both are mentioned. Otherwise there would be a repetition of the same thing, or a pointless excess of words. The term used in the original language however to express thick darkness in this verse embodies both within itself - falsity as well as evil, or gross falsity that produces evil, as well as gross evil that produces falsity.

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