New Christian Bible Study

The Bible

 

Genesis 13

Study

   

1 ἀνέβη δὲ αβραμ ἐξ αἰγύπτου αὐτὸς καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντα τὰ αὐτοῦ καὶ λωτ μετ' αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν ἔρημον

2 αβραμ δὲ ἦν πλούσιος σφόδρα κτήνεσιν καὶ ἀργυρίῳ καὶ χρυσίῳ

3 καὶ ἐπορεύθη ὅθεν ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ἕως βαιθηλ ἕως τοῦ τόπου οὗ ἦν ἡ σκηνὴ αὐτοῦ τὸ πρότερον ἀνὰ μέσον βαιθηλ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον αγγαι

4 εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου οὗ ἐποίησεν ἐκεῖ τὴν ἀρχήν καὶ ἐπεκαλέσατο ἐκεῖ αβραμ τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου

5 καὶ λωτ τῷ συμπορευομένῳ μετὰ αβραμ ἦν πρόβατα καὶ βόες καὶ σκηναί

6 καὶ οὐκ ἐχώρει αὐτοὺς ἡ γῆ κατοικεῖν ἅμα ὅτι ἦν τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτῶν πολλά καὶ οὐκ ἐδύναντο κατοικεῖν ἅμα

7 καὶ ἐγένετο μάχη ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ποιμένων τῶν κτηνῶν τοῦ αβραμ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ποιμένων τῶν κτηνῶν τοῦ λωτ οἱ δὲ χαναναῖοι καὶ οἱ φερεζαῖοι τότε κατῴκουν τὴν γῆν

8 εἶπεν δὲ αβραμ τῷ λωτ μὴ ἔστω μάχη ἀνὰ μέσον ἐμοῦ καὶ σοῦ καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ποιμένων μου καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ποιμένων σου ὅτι ἄνθρωποι ἀδελφοὶ ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν

9 οὐκ ἰδοὺ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ ἐναντίον σού ἐστιν διαχωρίσθητι ἀπ' ἐμοῦ εἰ σὺ εἰς ἀριστερά ἐγὼ εἰς δεξιά εἰ δὲ σὺ εἰς δεξιά ἐγὼ εἰς ἀριστερά

10 καὶ ἐπάρας λωτ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ εἶδεν πᾶσαν τὴν περίχωρον τοῦ ιορδάνου ὅτι πᾶσα ἦν ποτιζομένη πρὸ τοῦ καταστρέψαι τὸν θεὸν σοδομα καὶ γομορρα ὡς ὁ παράδεισος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ὡς ἡ γῆ αἰγύπτου ἕως ἐλθεῖν εἰς ζογορα

11 καὶ ἐξελέξατο ἑαυτῷ λωτ πᾶσαν τὴν περίχωρον τοῦ ιορδάνου καὶ ἀπῆρεν λωτ ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν καὶ διεχωρίσθησαν ἕκαστος ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ

12 αβραμ δὲ κατῴκησεν ἐν γῇ χανααν λωτ δὲ κατῴκησεν ἐν πόλει τῶν περιχώρων καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν σοδομοις

13 οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι οἱ ἐν σοδομοις πονηροὶ καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐναντίον τοῦ θεοῦ σφόδρα

14 ὁ δὲ θεὸς εἶπεν τῷ αβραμ μετὰ τὸ διαχωρισθῆναι τὸν λωτ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἀναβλέψας τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς σου ἰδὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ τόπου οὗ νῦν σὺ εἶ πρὸς βορρᾶν καὶ λίβα καὶ ἀνατολὰς καὶ θάλασσαν

15 ὅτι πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἣν σὺ ὁρᾷς σοὶ δώσω αὐτὴν καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος

16 καὶ ποιήσω τὸ σπέρμα σου ὡς τὴν ἄμμον τῆς γῆς εἰ δύναταί τις ἐξαριθμῆσαι τὴν ἄμμον τῆς γῆς καὶ τὸ σπέρμα σου ἐξαριθμηθήσεται

17 ἀναστὰς διόδευσον τὴν γῆν εἴς τε τὸ μῆκος αὐτῆς καὶ εἰς τὸ πλάτος ὅτι σοὶ δώσω αὐτήν

18 καὶ ἀποσκηνώσας αβραμ ἐλθὼν κατῴκησεν παρὰ τὴν δρῦν τὴν μαμβρη ἣ ἦν ἐν χεβρων καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν ἐκεῖ θυσιαστήριον κυρίῳ

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1608

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

1608. 'And to your seed even for ever' means people who were to have faith in Him. This is clear from the meaning of 'seed' as faith, and indeed faith that is the expression of charity, dealt with already in 255, 256, 1025. That it was to His 'seed', that is, to those who have faith in Him, that the heavenly kingdom would be given, is quite clear from the Lord's own words in John,

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life. John 3:35-36.

[2] And in the same gospel,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. John 1:12-13.

From these places it is clear what faith, or believing in Him, is, that is to say, that it resides with those who receive Him and believe in Him, and who are born 'not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man'. 'The will of the flesh' is that which-is contrary to love and charity, for that is what 'flesh'' means, 999; and 'the will of man (vir)' is that which is contrary to faith stemming from love or charity, for this is what 'man' means. Indeed the will of the flesh and the will of man are such as cause division, whereas love and the faith that comes from it are such as serve to join. People therefore with whom love and the faith that comes from it reside are those who are 'born of God'. And because they are born of God they are called 'the sons of God' and are His 'seed' to whom the heavenly kingdom is given, which is the meaning in this verse of the statement, 'All the land which you see I will give to you, and to your seed even for ever'.

[3] The fact that the heavenly kingdom cannot be given to people whose faith is devoid of charity, that is, who say they have faith but hate their neighbour, may become clear to anyone provided he is willing to reflect on the matter. For there can be no life to such faith when hatred, that is, hell, constitutes the life, for hell consists solely of forms of hatred, not of those forms of it which a person receives through heredity but of the forms of the hatred which he has acquired to himself through his own actions in life.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

©2024 New Christian Bible Study Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed from newchristianbiblestudy.org