The Bible

 

Genesis 4

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1 And Man knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore Cain, and said, I have acquired a Man with Jehovah.

2 And she further bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, but Cain was a husbandman.

3 And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to Jehovah.

4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat. And Jehovah looked upon Abel, and on his offering;

5 and upon Cain, and on his offering, he did not look. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

6 And Jehovah said to Cain, Why art thou angry, and Why is thy countenance fallen?

7 If thou doest well, will not [thy countenance] look up [with confidence]? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door; and unto thee [shall be] his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

8 And Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

9 And Jehovah said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: am I my brother's keeper?

10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.

11 And now be thou cursed from the ground, which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand.

12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield thee its strength; a wanderer and fugitive shalt thou be on the earth.

13 And Cain said to Jehovah, My punishment is too great to be borne.

14 Behold, thou hast driven me this day from the face of the ground, and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a wanderer and fugitive on the earth; and it will come to pass, [that] every one who finds me will slay me.

15 And Jehovah said to him, Therefore, whoever slayeth Cain, it shall be revenged sevenfold. And Jehovah set a mark on Cain, lest any finding him should smite him.

16 And Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, toward the east of Eden.

17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city; and he called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch.

18 And to Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael; and Mehujael begot Methushael; and Methushael begot Lemech.

19 And Lemech took two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the second, Zillah.

20 And Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of those who dwell in tents, and [breed] cattle.

21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of those who handle the harp and pipe.

22 And Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, the forger of every kind of tool of brass and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

23 And Lemech said to his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice, Ye wives of Lemech, listen to my speech. For I have slain a man for my wound, and a youth for my bruise.

24 If Cain shall be avenged seven-fold; Lemech seventy and seven fold.

25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son, and called his name Seth: ... For God has appointed me another seed instead of Abel, because Cain has slain him.

26 And to Seth, to him also was born a son; and he called his name Enosh. Then people began to call on the name of Jehovah.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #414

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414. 'Dwelling in a tent' means the holiness of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'tents' in the Word, as in David,

O Jehovah, who will sojourn in Your tent? Who will dwell on Your holy mountain! He who walks blameless and performs righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart. Psalms 15:1-2.

Here the holy things of love, which are 'walking blameless and performing righteousness' are described by 'dwelling in a tent' or 'on the holy mountain'. In the same author,

Their line has gone out into all the earth, and their speech to the end of the world. In them He has set a tent for the sun. Psalms 19:4.

Here 'sun' stands for love. In the same author,

I will dwell in Your tent for ever, I will put my trust in the shelter of Your wings. Psalms 61:4

Here 'tent' stands for what is celestial, and 'shelter of Your wings' for what is spiritual deriving from it. In Isaiah,

In compassion a throne was established, and on it there sat in truthfulness in the tent of David, one who judges and who seeks judgement, and hastens in righteousness. Isaiah 16:5

Here again 'tent' stands for the holiness of love, which the phrases judging judgement' and 'hastening in righteousness' are used to describe. In the same prophet,

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feast. May your eyes see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent which is not moved. Isaiah 33:10.

This refers to the heavenly Jerusalem.

[2] In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, Behold, I will bring back the captivity of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings. And the city will be built upon its mound. Jeremiah 30:18.

'The captivity of the tents' stands for the vastation of celestial things, that is, of holy things of love. In Amos,

On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen down, and I will close up their breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old. Amos 9:11.

Here similarly 'a tabernacle' stands for celestial things and the holy things that go with them. In Jeremiah,

The whole land has been laid waste. Swiftly My tents have been laid waste, suddenly My curtains. Jeremiah 4:20.

And elsewhere in Jeremiah,

My tent has been laid waste, and all My cords torn away. My sons have gone away from Me, and they are not. There is no one stretching out My tent any more, and setting up My curtains. Jeremiah 10:20.

Here 'tent' stands for celestial things, 'curtains' and 'cords' for spiritual things deriving from them. In the same prophet,

They will seize their tents and flocks, their curtains and all their vessels, and take away the camels for themselves. Jeremiah 49:29

This refers to Arabia and the sons of the east, who represent people who are in possession of celestial things, that is, things that are holy. In the same prophet,

The Lord has poured out His fierce anger like fire on the tent of the daughter of Zion. Lamentations 2:4.

This stands for the vastation of the celestial or holy things of faith.

[3] The reason 'a tent' stands in the Word for the celestial or holy things of love is that in ancient times people carried out holy worship, each within his own tent. When however they started to render their tents unholy by profane acts of worship the Tabernacle was built, and later on the Temple. Consequently that which 'the Tabernacle' meant, and later on 'the Temple', was also what 'tents' meant. And someone who was holy was therefore called a tent, also a tabernacle, and the Lord's temple as well. That 'tent', 'tabernacle', and 'temple' all have the same meaning is clear in David,

One thing have I sought from Jehovah, that will I ask for, that I may remain in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold Jehovah in His beauty, and visit Him every morning in His temple. For He will shelter me in His tabernacle on the day of evil. He will hide me in the hiding-place of His tent, He will lift me up upon a rock and now my head will be lifted up against my enemies round about me, and I will sacrifice in His tent the sacrifices of shouts of joy. Psalms 27:4-6.

[4] In the highest sense it is the Lord as regards His Human Essence who is the Tent, the Tabernacle, and the Temple. And every one who is celestial is consequently referred to in the same way, as well as every thing which is celestial and holy. Now because the Most Ancient Church was the Lord's beloved more than the Churches that followed, and because in those times people used to live independently, that is, each within his own family, celebrating holy worship each in his own tent, tents were consequently considered to be more holy than the temple which had been profaned. To remind people of this point the Feast of Tabernacles was therefore instituted when they had to gather in the produce of the earth. During this feast they were required to live in tabernacles as the most ancient people had done, Leviticus 23:39-44; Deuteronomy 16:13; Hosea 12:9.

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