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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.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #3246

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3246. And to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts. That this signifies the spiritual adopted by the Lord’s Divine Human, that they have allotted places in His spiritual kingdom, is evident from the signification of the “sons of the concubines,” as denoting those who are spiritual (concerning whom in what follows); from the representation here of Abraham, as being the Lord’s Divine Human; so that by the words “which Abraham had,” is signified that they (namely, the spiritual) were adopted by the Lord’s Divine Human; and from the signification of the “gifts” which Abraham gave them, as being allotted places in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom.

[2] From what has already been shown in several places (as n. 3235, and elsewhere) concerning those who constitute the Lord’s spiritual kingdom and are called the spiritual, it can be seen that they are not sons born of the marriage itself of good and truth, but of a certain covenant not so conjugial; they are indeed from the same father, but not from the same mother; that is, they are from the same Divine good, but not from the same Divine truth. For as the celestial are from the very marriage of good and truth, they have good and thence truth; wherefore they never inquire what is true, but perceive it from good; and they discourse not about truth beyond affirming that it is so-according to what the Lord teaches in Matthew:

Let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, Nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matthew 5:37); whereas the spiritual, because they are from a covenant not so conjugial, do not know from any perception what truth is, but call that true which they have been told to be so by parents and masters; and therefore in them there is not the marriage of good and truth; but still the truth which they thus believe is adopted by the Lord for truth when they are in the good of life (concerning this see n. 1832). Therefore it is that those who are spiritual are here called the “sons of the concubines,” and by these are meant all the sons of Keturah hitherto enumerated, and also the sons of Hagar, who will be named immediately below, from the twelfth to the eighteenth verse.

[3] In former times, in order that both the celestial and the spiritual might be represented in marriages, it was permissible for a man to have a concubine in addition to a wife; such concubine being given to the husband by the wife, and she was then called his “woman,” or was said to be “given to him for a woman,” as when Hagar the Egyptian was given to Abraham by Sarah (Genesis 16:3); when Bilhah the handmaid was given by Rachel to Jacob (Genesis 30:4), and the handmaid Zilpah to Jacob by Leah (Genesis 30:9). They are there called “women,” but elsewhere they are called “concubines,” as Hagar the Egyptian in this verse, and Bilhah in Genesis 35:22, also Keturah herself in 1 Chronicles 1:32.

[4] That those ancients had concubines besides a wife, as was the case not only with Abraham and Jacob, but also with their descendants, as Gideon (Judges 8:31), Saul (2 Samuel 3:7), David (2 Samuel 5:13; 15:16), and Solomon (1 Kings 11:3), was of permission, for the sake of the representation, namely, of the celestial church by a wife, and of the spiritual church by a concubine: this was of permission because they were such that they had no conjugial love, neither was marriage to them marriage, but only a carnal coupling for the sake of procreating offspring. To such there might be permissions without injury to conjugial love, and consequently to its covenant; but never to those who are in good and truth, and who are or can become internal men; for as soon as man is in good and truth, and in things internal, such things cease. For this reason it is not allowable for Christians, as it was for the Jews, to take to themselves a concubine together with a wife, for this is adultery. That the spiritual were adopted by the Lord’s Divine Human, may be seen from what has been stated and shown before on the same subject (n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834).

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