The Bible

 

Genesis 11

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1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:

13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:

17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:

19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:

21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:

23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:

25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1195

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1195. That 'Mizraim' or Egypt is knowledge has been shown already at verse 6 of this chapter; that 'Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, and Naphtuhim' are just so many forms of ritual that exist merely as items of knowledge is clear from what has just been stated. People who probe into spiritual and celestial things by means of reasonings and who thereby produce a form of worship for themselves are said to possess forms of ritual that exist merely as items of knowledge. Because the forms of ritual belonging to such worship originate in reasonings and in factual knowledge they are called fact-constituted forms of ritual, which have nothing spiritual or celestial within them because they originate in self. Such was the origin of Egyptian idols and so of magic. And such being the origin of those people's ritual forms they utterly rejected the religious practices of the Ancient Church; indeed they were repelled by them and loathed them, as is clear from Genesis 43:32; 46:34; Exodus 8:26. Because those things are meant, they are said to be begotten from Mizraim or Egypt, that is, from facts. And because their facts were diversified, so also were the ritual forms originating in them. These diversities in general were meant by just so many nations. That the Ludim or Lydians mean such things is clear from Jeremiah,

Egypt comes up like the river, and like the rivers the waters are tossed about; and he said, I will go up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and those who dwell in it Go up, O horses, and rage, O chariots, and let the mighty men go forth, Cush and Put, that handle the shield, and the Ludim that handle and bend the bow. Jeremiah 46:8-9.

Here 'the rivers of Egypt' are diverse facts that are false 'Going up and covering the earth' is entering into those things that constitute the Church or faith by means of facts 'Destroying the city' is destroying truths. 'Cush and Put' are cognitions 'The Lydians' are fact-constituted forms of ritual, the subject of the present verse. 'Handling and bending the bow' is engaging in reasoning.

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