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1 Mose 23

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1 Sara war hundertsiebenundzwanzig Jahre alt

2 und starb in der Hauptstadt, die heißt Hebron, im Lande Kanaan. Da kam Abraham, daß er sie klagete und beweinete.

3 Danach stund er auf von seiner Leiche und redete mit den Kindern Heths und sprach:

4 Ich bin ein Fremder und Einwohner bei euch; gebet mir ein Erbbegräbnis bei euch, daß ich meinen Toten begrabe, der vor mir liegt.

5 Da antworteten Abraham die Kinder Heths und sprachen zu ihm:

6 Höre uns, lieber HERR! Du bist ein Fürst Gottes unter uns; begrabe deinen Toten in unsern ehrlichsten Gräbern; kein Mensch soll dir unter uns wehren, daß du in seinem Grabe nicht begrabest deinen Toten.

7 Da stund Abraham auf und bückte sich vor dem Volk des Landes, nämlich vor den Kindern Heths.

8 Und er redete mit ihnen und sprach: Gefällt es euch, daß ich meinen Toten, der vor mir liegt, begrabe, so höret mich und bittet für mich gegen Ephron, dem Sohn Zoars,

9 daß er mir gebe seine zwiefache Höhle, die er hat am Ende seines Ackers; er gebe mir sie um Geld, soviel sie wert ist, unter euch zum Erbbegräbnis.

10 Denn Ephron wohnete unter den Kindern Heths. Da antwortete Ephron, der Hethiter, Abraham, daß zuhöreten die Kinder Heths, vor allen, die zu seiner Stadt Tor aus und ein gingen, und sprach:

11 Nein, mein HERR, sondern höre mir zu. Ich schenke dir den Acker, und die Höhle drinnen dazu, und übergebe dir's vor den Augen der Kinder meines Volks, zu begraben deinen Toten.

12 Da bückte sich Abraham vor dem Volk des Landes

13 und redete mit Ephron, daß zuhörete das Volk des Landes, und sprach: Willst du mir ihn lassen, so bitte ich, nimm von mir das Geld für den Acker, das ich dir gebe, so will ich meinen Toten daselbst begraben.

14 Ephron antwortete Abraham und sprach zu ihm:

15 Mein HERR, höre doch mich! Das Feld ist vierhundert Sekel Silbers wert; was ist das aber zwischen mir und dir? Begrabe nur deinen Toten.

16 Abraham gehorchte Ephron und wog ihm das Geld dar, das er gesagt hatte, daß zuhöreten die Kinder Heths nämlich vierhundert Sekel Silbers, das im Kauf gang und gäbe war.

17 Also ward Ephrons Acker, darin die zwiefache Höhle ist, gegen Mamre über, Abraham zum eigenen Gut bestätiget, mit der Höhle darinnen und mit allen Bäumen auf dem Acker umher,

18 daß die Kinder Heths zusahen und alle, die zu seiner Stadt Tor aus und ein gingen.

19 Danach begrub Abraham Sara, sein Weib, in der Höhle des Ackers, die zwiefach ist, gegen Mamre über, das ist, Hebron, im Lande Kanaan.

20 Also ward bestätiget der Acker und die Höhle darinnen Abraham zum Erbbegräbnis von den Kindern Heths.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2966

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2966. Four hundred shekels of silver. That this signifies the price of redemption, was shown above (n. 2959); but what the price of redemption is shall now be told. Redemption is of the Lord alone, and so too is the price of redemption; and this price is also predicated of the reception by man, with whom the price is great according to the reception. The price of redemption is the Lord’s merit and righteousness through the most grievous temptations, whereby He united the Human Essence to the Divine, and the Divine Essence to the Human, and this by His own power; and by this unition saved the human race, and especially those who are of the spiritual church. (That the Lord was made righteousness through the most grievous temptations, may be seen above, n. 1813, 2025-2027; also that He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, and the Divine to the Human, n. 1725, 1729, 1733, 1737, 1813, 2083; and that He did this from His own power, n. 1616, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2083, 2500, 2523, 2632; and by this unition saved the human race, and especially those who are of the spiritual church, n. 2661, 2716.) These are the things which are signified by the “price of redemption.”

[2] That this price is also predicated of the reception with man, with whom it is great in proportion to his reception, is evident from the fact that it is the Lord’s Divine which makes the church with man; for nothing is called the church that is not the Lord’s own; for it is the good which is of love and charity, and it is the truth which is of faith, which make that which is called the church. That all good is from the Lord, and that all truth is from Him, is well known; good and truth that are from man are not good and truth; and from this it is plain that the price of redemption with a man is great in proportion to his reception.

[3] As with the Jews the Lord’s redemption was so little esteemed as to be scarcely anything, it is said in Zechariah:

I said unto them, If it be good in your eyes, give me my hire, and if not, forbear. And they weighed my hire, thirty pieces of silver. And Jehovah said unto me, Cast it unto the potter, the goodly price that I was priced at of them (Zech. 11:12-13).

And in Matthew:

They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was priced, whom they had bought from the sons of Israel, and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me (Matthew 27:9-10).

That “thirty” denotes what is so little as to be scarcely anything, may be seen above (n. 2276); thus this passage denotes that the Jews placed no value on the merit and redemption of the Lord. But with those who believe all good and all truth to be from the Lord, the price of redemption is signified by “forty,” and in a higher degree by “four hundred.”

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2500

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2500. Abraham journeyed thence toward the land of the south. That this signifies the Lord’s progression in the goods and truths of faith, is evident from the signification of “journeying,” as being to progress (see n. 1457); and from the signification of the “land of the south,” as being the good and truth of faith (see n. 1458). It has already been stated concerning Abraham, in the twelfth chapter, that he “journeyed, going and journeying toward the south,” when he went into Egypt (verses 9-10); by which was signified in the internal sense that the Lord when a child progressed into goods and truths in respect to the memory-knowledge of knowledges (n. 1456, 1459); 1 and here it is said that he journeyed “toward the land of the south,” by which there is signified a further and more interior progression, which is into goods and truths in respect to the doctrine of faith; on which account it is here said the “land” of the south, because “land” in its proper sense signifies the church, for the sake of which is doctrine (n. 566, 662, 1066, 2117, 2118).

[2] As regards the Lord’s instruction in general, the nature of it is very clear in the internal sense of this chapter; namely, that it was by continual revelations, and thus by Divine perceptions and thoughts from Himself, that is, from His Divine; which perceptions and thoughts He implanted in Divine intelligence and wisdom, and this even to the perfect union of His Human with His Divine. This way of growing wise is not possible with any man; for it flowed in from the Divine itself, which was His inmost, being of the Father, of whom He was conceived; thus from the Divine Love itself, which the Lord alone had, and which consisted in His desire to save the universal human race.

[3] It is an arcanum which is as yet known to scarcely anyone, that within love itself there are wisdom and intelligence; these being such as is the love. That wisdom and intelligence are within love comes from the fact that all influx takes place into the love, or what is the same, into the good, thus into man’s very life. This is the source of the wisdom and intelligence of the angels, which is ineffable. It is also the source of the wisdom and intelligence of men who are in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor; who, although they have no perception of it in themselves while they are living in the body, nevertheless come into it after death, for the reason that it is within this very love and charity (see n. 2494). But as regards the Lord’s love, it was infinitely above the love in which the angels are, for it was the Divine love itself; and therefore He had in Himself a supereminence of all wisdom and intelligence; into which however because He was born a man, and was to progress as a man according to Divine order, He introduced Himself by successive steps, in order that He might thus unite His Human to the Divine, and make it Divine; and this by His own power.

Footnotes:

1. That is in respect to possessing a mere memory acquaintance with the knowledges of what is good and true. [Reviser.]

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