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Genesis 13

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1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

2 And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver.

3 And he returned by the way that he came, from the south to Bethel, to the place where before he had pitched his tent between Bethel and Hai:

4 In the place of the altar which he had made before; and there he called upon the name of the Lord.

5 But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds of beasts, and tents.

6 Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together.

7 Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite dwelled in that country.

8 Abram therefore said to Lot: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen: for we are brethren.

9 Behold the whole land is before thee: depart from me I pray thee: if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: if thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.

10 And Lot, lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor.

11 And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from the other.

12 Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan; and Lot abode in the towns that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.

13 And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the face of the Lord, beyond measure.

14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him: Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west.

15 All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy seed for ever.

16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man be able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number thy seed also.

17 Arise and walk through the land in the length, and in the breadth thereof: for I will give it to thee.

18 So Abram removing his tent came and dwelt by the vale of Mambre, which is in Hebron: and he built there an altar to the Lord.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #1589

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1589. Like the land of Egypt in coming to Zoar. That this signifies memory-knowledges from the affections of good, is evident from the signification of “Egypt” (see n. 1164, 1165; in a good sense, n. 1462) as being memory-knowledge; and from the signification of “Zoar,” as being the affection of good. Zoar was a city not far from Sodom, whither also Lot fled when rescued by the angels from the burning of Sodom (described, Genesis 19:20, 22, 30). Zoar is also named in other places (Genesis 14:2, 8 (Genesis 14:8); Deuteronomy 34:3; Isaiah 15:5; Jeremiah 48:34), where also it signifies affection and as it signifies the affection of good, it also, in the opposite sense, as is common, signifies the affection of evil.

[2] There are three faculties which constitute the external man, namely, the rational, that of memory-knowledge, and the external sensuous. The rational is interior, the faculty of memory-knowledge is exterior, and this sensuous is outermost. It is the rational by means of which the internal man is conjoined with the external; and such as is the rational, such is the conjunction. The external sensuous, here, is the sight and the hearing. But in itself the rational is nothing, unless affection flows into it and makes it active, and causes it to live. It follows from this that the rational is such as is the affection. When the affection of good flows in, it becomes in the rational the affection of truth. The contrary is the case when the affection of evil flows in. As the faculty of memory-knowledge applies itself to the rational, and is an instrumentality for it, it follows that the affection inflows into this also, and disposes it; for nothing but affection ever lives in the external man. The reason of this is that the affection of good comes down from the celestial, that is, from celestial love, which vivifies everything into which it flows; it even vivifies the affections of evil, or cupidities.

[3] For the good of love from the Lord continually flows in through the internal man into the external; but the man who is in the affection of evil, or in cupidity, perverts the good; but still there remains life from it. This may be perceived by comparison with the objects which receive the rays of the sun. There are some that receive these rays most beautifully, and turn them into most beautiful colors, as do the diamond, the ruby, the jacinth, the sapphire, and other precious stones; but there are others which do not so receive them, but turn them into most disagreeable colors. The same may also be seen from the different genius of different men. There are those who receive goods from another with all affection; and there are those who turn them into evils. This shows what is that memory-knowledge from the affections of good that is signified by “the land of Egypt in coming to Zoar,” when the rational is “like the garden of Jehovah.”

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