The Bible

 

Genesis 10

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1 And these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and to them were sons born after the flood.

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, Kittim, and Dodanim.

5 From these came the distribution of the isles of the nations, according to their lands, every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

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

7 And the sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

8 And Cush begot Nimrod: he began to be mighty on the earth.

9 He was a mighty hunter before Jehovah; therefore it is said, As Nimrod, the mighty hunter before Jehovah!

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

11 From that land went out Asshur, and built Nineveh, and Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah,

12 and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah: this is the great city.

13 -- And Mizraim begot the Ludim, and the Anamim, and the Lehabim, and the Naphtuhim,

14 and the Pathrusim, and the Casluhim, out of whom came the Philistines, and the Caphtorim.

15 -- And Canaan begot Sidon, his firstborn, 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. And afterwards the families of the Canaanites spread themselves abroad.

19 And the border of the Canaanite was from Sidon, as one goes to Gerar, up to Gazah; as one goes to Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, up to Lesha.

20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, in their nations.

21 And to Shem -- to him also were [sons] born; he is the father of all the sons of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder.

22 The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.

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

24 -- And Arphaxad begot Shelah; and Shelah begot Eber.

25 And to Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.

26 And Joktan begot 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 sons of Joktan.

30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as one goes to Sephar, the eastern mountain.

31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.

32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations. And from these came the distribution of the nations on the earth after the flood.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #1330

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1330. These are the births of Shem. That this signifies the derivations of the Second Ancient Church, is evident from the signification of “births,” as being the origin and derivation of doctrinal things and of worships (as before said, n. 1145). Here, and elsewhere in the Word, the “births” are no other than those of the church, that is, of doctrinal things and of worships. The internal sense of the Word enfolds nothing else; and therefore when any church is born, it is said that “these are its births,” as for instance when the Most Ancient Church was born: “These are the births of the heavens and of the earth” (Genesis 2:4); and in like manner with the other churches which followed, before the flood: “This is the book of the births” (Genesis 5:1). In like manner with the churches after the flood, which were three-the First called Noah, the Second named from Eber, the Third from Jacob, and afterwards from Judah and Israel. When the First of these churches is described, the record begins in a similar manner: “These are the births of the sons of Noah” (verse 1 of the preceding chapter). So with this Second church, named from Eber, in this verse: “These are the births of Shem.” And with the Third also, in the twenty-seventh verse of this chapter: “These are the births of Terah.” So that “births” signify nothing else than the origins and derivations of the doctrinal things and of the worships of the church that is being described. The reason why the births of this Second church are derived from Shem, or why its beginning is described by “Shem,” is that “Shem” signifies internal worship, here, the internal worship of this church. Not that the internal worship of this church was such internal worship as that which was signified by “Shem” in the preceding chapter; but merely that it is the internal worship of the church.

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