The Bible

 

Genesis 23

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1 And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.

2 And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

3 And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,

4 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

5 And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,

6 Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

7 And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

8 And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,

9 That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you.

10 And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,

11 Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.

12 And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.

13 And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.

14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,

15 My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

16 And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

17 And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure

18 Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.

19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.

20 And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3102

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3102. 'And so it was, when the camels finished drinking' means acknowledgement resulting from enlightenment in general facts. This is clear from the fact that the two expressions 'it was' and 'they finished' mean a subsequent stage and imply the end of the activity which precedes, and the beginning of the activity which follows, dealt with above in 3093, and so mean acknowledgement, as shown above; from the meaning of 'the camels' as general facts, dealt with in 3048, 3071; and from the meaning of 'drinking' here as the same as that meant by 'drawing water', as above in 3058, 3097, and also by 'being given a drink', as above in 3071, that is to say, being enlightened. From this it is evident that the words 'and so it was, when the camels finished drinking' means acknowledgement - that is to say, of Divine truth - resulting from the enlightenment in general facts.

[2] The real situation is as follows: Every truth that is raised up from the natural man - that is, out of facts, or cognitions and matters of doctrine since these belong in the natural man - into the rational man, and is received there, must first be acknowledged as to what sort it is, whether it accords with the good that is there or not. If it does accord it is received, but if it does not it is rejected. The apparent truths in an attendant group of them are many, but only those are joined which acknowledge the good that is there, and so which love good and are loved by good. But in order that they may be acknowledged as such there has to be the enlightenment in the natural man by means of which every single thing in the natural man can be seen simultaneously, and so a choice be made. Enlightenment such as this in the natural man comes from good, yet does so by way of truth, see 3094. This enlightenment is what is meant by Rebekah's drawing for the camels, causing them to drink, or giving them a drink.

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