The Bible

 

Genesis 25

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1 And Abraham took another wife named Keturah.

2 And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.

3 And Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan; and the sons of Dedan were the Asshurim, and the Letushim, and the Leummim.

4 And the sons of Midian were Ephah, and Epher, and Enoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah.

5 And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac.

6 And to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and, while he yet lived, sent them away from Isaac his son, eastward to the east country.

7 And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived: a hundred and seventy-five years.

8 And Abraham expired and died in a good old age, old and full [of days]; and was gathered to his peoples.

9 And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which was opposite to Mamre --

10 the field that Abraham had purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at Beer-lahai-roi.

12 And these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's bondwoman, bore to Abraham.

13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their names according to their generations: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,

14 and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,

15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedmah.

16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, in their hamlets and their encampments -- twelve princes of their peoples.

17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael: a hundred and thirty-seven years; and he expired and died, and was gathered to his peoples.

18 And they dwelt from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite to Egypt, as one goes towards Assyria. He settled before the face of all his brethren.

19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begot Isaac.

20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian.

21 And Isaac entreated Jehovah for his wife, because she was barren; and Jehovah was entreated of him, and Rebecca his wife conceived.

22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If [it be] so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of Jehovah.

23 And Jehovah said to her, Two nations are in thy womb, And Two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels; And one people shall be stronger than the other people, And the elder shall serve the younger.

24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

25 And the first came out red -- all over like a hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.

26 And after that came his brother out; and his hand took hold of Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

27 And the boys grew, and Esau became a man skilled in hunting, a man of the field; and Jacob was a homely man, dwelling in tents.

28 And Isaac loved Esau, because venison was to his taste; and Rebecca loved Jacob.

29 And Jacob had cooked a dish; and Esau came from the field, and he was faint.

30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with the red -- the red thing there, for I am faint. Therefore was his name called Edom.

31 And Jacob said, Sell me now thy birthright.

32 And Esau said, Behold, I am going to die, and of what use can the birthright be to me?

33 And Jacob said, Swear unto me now. And he swore unto him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.

34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and the dish of lentils; and he ate and drank, and rose up and went away. Thus Esau despised the birthright.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2726

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2726. That 'Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days' means that the Lord allied to the doctrine of faith very many things drawn from a knowledge of human cognitions is clear from the meaning of 'sojourning' as giving instruction, dealt with in 1463, 2025, from the representation of 'Abraham' as the Lord, dealt with in 1965, 1989, 2011, 2501, from the meaning of 'the land of the Philistines' or Philistia as knowledge of cognitions, dealt with in 1197, 1198, and from the meaning of 'days' as the state of whatever it is that is the subject, 23, 487, 488, 493, 893. Here because the subject is the cognitions from which the facts and rational ideas are obtained, and because the expression 'many days' is used, the meaning is relatively 'very many things' From verse 22 onwards the subject has been the rational ideas based on human factual knowledge, which were allied to the doctrine of faith, as is evident from the explanation given. The present verse forms the conclusion to these considerations. As regards the actual subject, since this in itself is rather profound, and since the same subject is dealt with extensively further on, in Chapter 26, let any further explanation here be put off till that chapter.

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