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Genesis 26

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1 Da der opstod Hungersnød i Landet - en anden end den forrige på Abrahams Tid - begav Isak sig til Filisterkongen Abimelek i Gerar.

2 Og HE EN åbenbarede sig for ham og sagde: "Drag ikke ned til Ægypten, men bliv i det Land, jeg siger dig;

3 bo som fremmed i det Land, så vil jeg være med dig og velsigne dig; thi dig og dit Afkom vil jeg give alle disse Lande og stadfæste den Ed, jeg tilsvor din Fader Abraham;

4 og jeg vil gøre dit Afkom talrigt som Himmelens Stjerner og give dit Afkom alle disse Lande, og i din Sæd skal alle Jordens Folk velsignes,

5 fordi Abraham adlød mine Ord og holdt sig mine Forskrifter efterrettelig, mine Bud, Anordninger og Love."

6 Så blev Isak boende i Gerar.

7 Da nu Mændene der på Stedet forhørte sig om hans Hustru, sagde han: "Det er min Søster!" Thi han turde ikke sige, at hun var hans Hustru, af Frygt for at Mændene der på Stedet skulde slå ham ihjel for ebekkas Skyld; thi hun var meget smuk.

8 Men da han havde boet der en Tid lang, hændte det, at Filisterkongen Abimelek lænede sig ud af Vinduet og så Isak kærtegne sin Hustru ebekka.

9 Så lod Abimelek Isak kalde og sagde: "Hun er jo din Hustru; hvor kunde du da sige, at hun er din Søster" Isak svarede: "Jo, jeg tænkte: Jeg vil ikke udsætte mig for at miste Livet for hendes Skyld."

10 Men Abimelek sagde: "Hvad er det dog, du har gjort imod os! Hvor let kunde det ikke være sket, at en af Folket havde ligget hos din Hustru, og så havde du bragt Skyld over os!"

11 Så bød Abimelek alt Folket: "Hver den, der rører denne Mand eller hans Hustru, skal lide Døden."

12 Isak såede der i Landet og fik samme År 100 Fold; og HE EN velsignede ham,

13 så han blev en mægtig Mand og stadig gik frem, indtil han blev såre mægtig,

14 og han havde Småkvæg og Hornkvæg og Trælle i Mængde. Derover blev Filisterne skinsyge på ham.

15 Alle de Brønde, hans Faders Trælle havde gravet i hans Fader Abrahams Dage, kastede Filisterne til.og fyldte dem med Jord;

16 og Abimelek sagde til Isak: "Drag bort fra os, thi du er blevet os for stærk!"

17 Så drog Isak bort og slog Lejr i Gerars Dal og bosatte sig der.

18 Men Isak lod atter de Brønde udgrave, som hans Fader Abrahams Trælle havde gravet, og som Filisterne havde tilkastet efter Abrahams Død, og gav dem de samme Navne, som hans Fader havde givet dem.

19 Da nu Isaks Trælle gravede i Dalen, stødte de på en Brønd med rindende Vand;

20 men Gerars Hyrder yppede Kiv med Isaks og sagde: "Dette Vand tilhører os!" Derfor kaldte han Brønden Esek, thi der stredes de med ham.

21 Så flyttede han derfra og lod grave en ny Brønd; og da de også yppede Kiv om den, kaldte han den Sitna.

22 Så flyttede han derfra og lod grave en ny Brønd; og da de ikke yppede Kiv om den, kaldte han den ehobot, idet han sagde: "Nu har HE EN skaffet os Plads, så vi kan blive talrige i Landet"

23 Så drog han derfra til Be'ersjeba.

24 Samme Nat åbenbarede HE EN sig for ham og sagde: "Jeg er din Fader Abrahams Gud; frygt ikke, thi jeg er med dig, og jeg vil velsigne dig og gøre dit Afkom talrigt for min Tjener Abrahams, Skyld!"

25 Da byggede Isak et Alter der og påkaldte HE ENs Navn; og der opslog han sit Telt, og hans Trælle gravede der en Brønd.

26 Imidlertid kom Abimelek til ham fra Gerar med sin Ven Ahuzzat og sin Hærfører Pikol.

27 Isak sagde til dem: "Hvorfor kommer I til mig, når I dog hader mig og har jaget mig bort fra eder?"

28 Men de svarede: "Vi ser tydeligt, at HE EN er med dig, derfor har vi tænkt: Lad der blive et Edsforbund mellem os og dig, og lad os slutte en Pagt med dig,

29 at du ikke vil gøre os noget ondt, ligesom vi ikke har voldet dig Men, men kun handlet vel imod dig og ladet dig fare i Fred; du er og bliver jo HE ENs velsignede!"

30 Så gjorde han et Gæstebud for dem, og de spiste og drak.

31 Næste Morgen svor de hinanden Eder, og derefter tog Isak Afsked med dem, og de drog bort i Fred.

32 Samme Dag kom Isaks Trælle og bragte ham Melding om den Brønd, de havde gravet, og sagde: "Vi har fundet Vand!"

33 Så kaldte han den Sjib'a; og derfor hedder Byen den Dag i Dag Be'ersjeba.

34 Da Esau var fyrretyve År gammel, tog han Judit, en Datter af Hetiten Be'eri, og Basemat, en Datter af Hetiten Elon, til Ægte.

35 Det var Isak og ebekka en Hjertesorg.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3368

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3368. Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land of which I tell thee. That this signifies that He should not go down to memory-knowledges, but to rational things which being enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth, is evident from the signification of “Egypt,” as being memory-knowledge (n. 1164-1165, 1186, 1462); and from the signification of “land,” as being here rational things which when enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth; for the land which is here meant is Gerar, where Abimelech king of the Philistines was, and by “Gerar” is signified faith; by “Abimelech,” the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things; and by the “king of the Philistines,” doctrinal things (n. 3363, 3365); so that the “land,” namely, Gerar where Abimelech was, has the above signification in the internal sense.

[2] For the signification of “land” is various (n. 620, 636, 1066), denoting the quality of the nation of which it is predicated (n. 1262). But in the proper sense “land” signifies the church (n. 3355); and because it signifies the church, it signifies also those things which are of the church, consequently the doctrinal things of charity and faith; thus also rational things which being enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth; for that these appearances are the truths of the church, thus its doctrinal things, may be seen above (n. 3364, 3365). Whether you say rational things enlightened by the Divine, or appearances of truth, or celestial and spiritual truths such as are in the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens, or in heaven, and such as are in His kingdom on the earths, or in the church, comes to the same thing; and the same are also called doctrinal things, but this from the truths that are in them. The angelic and human rational is and is called rational from appearances of truth that are enlightened by the Divine, and without these it is not rational; thus rational things are these appearances of truth.

[3] The reason why it is here said that He should not go down into Egypt, that is, not to memory-knowledges, is that memory-knowledges have already been treated of; for Abraham’s sojourning in Egypt represented the Lord’s instruction in His childhood in memory-knowledges (n. 1502). As regards the arcanum that He should not go down into Egypt, but should sojourn in the land of Gerar, that is, that He should not look to memory-knowledges, but to rational things, the case is this: All appearances of truth that have what is Divine in them belong to the rational, insomuch that rational truths and appearances of truth are the same; whereas memory-knowledges belong to the natural, insomuch that natural truths and memory-truths are the same. Rational truths, or appearances of truth, cannot possibly be and come forth except from the influx of the Divine into the rational, and through rational things into the memory-knowledges which are of the natural. The things which then take place in the rational appear in the natural; just as an image of many things appears all together in a mirror; and thereby they are presented before the man, and also before an angel; before an angel however they are not presented so evidently in the natural as they are with those who are in the world of spirits and are in the spiritual natural, and hence these have representatives of truth.

[4] The case is similar with every man, for as before said the man who is in good is a little heaven, or what is the same is an image of the Grand Heaven; and because Divine truth cannot inflow immediately into memory-knowledges, which are of the natural man, but only through rational things, as before said, therefore it is here said that Isaac should not go down into Egypt, but should reside in the land of Gerar. But a clear idea cannot be had concerning these things unless the nature of influx is known, and also the nature of ideas; and therefore of the Lord’s Divine mercy these things will be treated of at the close of the chapters, where experiences are related.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3365

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3365. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar. That this signifies the doctrinal things of faith, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord as to the Divine rational (see above, n. 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630; and that “Isaac” is the Lord’s Divine rational as to Divine good, n. 3012, 3194, 3210; and also as to Divine truth, which is represented by the marriage of Isaac with Rebekah, n. 3012, 3013, 3077); thus by Isaac is here represented the Lord as to Divine truth conjoined with the Divine good of the rational; for Rebekah was with Isaac, and was called “sister;” from the representation of Abimelech, as being the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things (n. 2504, 2509, 2510, 2530); and from the signification of the “king of the Philistines,” as being doctrinal things (that in the internal sense a “king” denotes the truth which is of doctrine, may be seen above, n. 1672, 2015, 2069; and that the “Philistines” signify the memory-knowledge of knowledges, which also is that of doctrinal things, n. 1197, 1198); and from the signification of “Gerar,” as being faith (n. 1209, 2504).

This shows what is signified by Isaac’s going to Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar, namely, that from the Lord comes the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things; or what is the same, the doctrinal things of faith. All those things are called doctrinal which are of doctrine, and which insofar as they can be received and acknowledged in heaven by angels, and on earth by men, are said to look to rational things, for it is the rational that receives and acknowledges them. But the rational is such that it cannot possibly apprehend Divine things, for it is finite, and the finite cannot apprehend what is of the infinite; and consequently truths Divine from the Lord are presented before the rational by means of appearances. Hence it is that doctrinal things are nothing but appearances of truth Divine, that is, nothing but celestial and spiritual vessels, within which is what is Divine; and because the Divine, that is, the Lord, is in them, they affect us, whence comes the conjunction of the Lord with angels and men.

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