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Genesis 4

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1 αδαμ δὲ ἔγνω ευαν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ συλλαβοῦσα ἔτεκεν τὸν καιν καὶ εἶπεν ἐκτησάμην ἄνθρωπον διὰ τοῦ θεοῦ

2 καὶ προσέθηκεν τεκεῖν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν αβελ καὶ ἐγένετο αβελ ποιμὴν προβάτων καιν δὲ ἦν ἐργαζόμενος τὴν γῆν

3 καὶ ἐγένετο μεθ' ἡμέρας ἤνεγκεν καιν ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν τῆς γῆς θυσίαν τῷ κυρίῳ

4 καὶ αβελ ἤνεγκεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπὸ τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν προβάτων αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν στεάτων αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπεῖδεν ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ αβελ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις αὐτοῦ

5 ἐπὶ δὲ καιν καὶ ἐπὶ ταῖς θυσίαις αὐτοῦ οὐ προσέσχεν καὶ ἐλύπησεν τὸν καιν λίαν καὶ συνέπεσεν τῷ προσώπῳ

6 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῷ καιν ἵνα τί περίλυπος ἐγένου καὶ ἵνα τί συνέπεσεν τὸ πρόσωπόν σου

7 οὐκ ἐὰν ὀρθῶς προσενέγκῃς ὀρθῶς δὲ μὴ διέλῃς ἥμαρτες ἡσύχασον πρὸς σὲ ἡ ἀποστροφὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ σὺ ἄρξεις αὐτοῦ

8 καὶ εἶπεν καιν πρὸς αβελ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ διέλθωμεν εἰς τὸ πεδίον καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ καὶ ἀνέστη καιν ἐπὶ αβελ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπέκτεινεν αὐτόν

9 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς πρὸς καιν ποῦ ἐστιν αβελ ὁ ἀδελφός σου ὁ δὲ εἶπεν οὐ γινώσκω μὴ φύλαξ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μού εἰμι ἐγώ

10 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός τί ἐποίησας φωνὴ αἵματος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου βοᾷ πρός με ἐκ τῆς γῆς

11 καὶ νῦν ἐπικατάρατος σὺ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἣ ἔχανεν τὸ στόμα αὐτῆς δέξασθαι τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου ἐκ τῆς χειρός σου

12 ὅτι ἐργᾷ τὴν γῆν καὶ οὐ προσθήσει τὴν ἰσχὺν αὐτῆς δοῦναί σοι στένων καὶ τρέμων ἔσῃ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

13 καὶ εἶπεν καιν πρὸς τὸν κύριον μείζων ἡ αἰτία μου τοῦ ἀφεθῆναί με

14 εἰ ἐκβάλλεις με σήμερον ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου σου κρυβήσομαι καὶ ἔσομαι στένων καὶ τρέμων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἔσται πᾶς ὁ εὑρίσκων με ἀποκτενεῖ με

15 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ κύριος ὁ θεός οὐχ οὕτως πᾶς ὁ ἀποκτείνας καιν ἑπτὰ ἐκδικούμενα παραλύσει καὶ ἔθετο κύριος ὁ θεὸς σημεῖον τῷ καιν τοῦ μὴ ἀνελεῖν αὐτὸν πάντα τὸν εὑρίσκοντα αὐτόν

16 ἐξῆλθεν δὲ καιν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ὤ|κησεν ἐν γῇ ναιδ κατέναντι εδεμ

17 καὶ ἔγνω καιν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ συλλαβοῦσα ἔτεκεν τὸν ενωχ καὶ ἦν οἰκοδομῶν πόλιν καὶ ἐπωνόμασεν τὴν πόλιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ενωχ

18 ἐγενήθη δὲ τῷ ενωχ γαιδαδ καὶ γαιδαδ ἐγέννησεν τὸν μαιηλ καὶ μαιηλ ἐγέννησεν τὸν μαθουσαλα καὶ μαθουσαλα ἐγέννησεν τὸν λαμεχ

19 καὶ ἔλαβεν ἑαυτῷ λαμεχ δύο γυναῖκας ὄνομα τῇ μιᾷ αδα καὶ ὄνομα τῇ δευτέρᾳ σελλα

20 καὶ ἔτεκεν αδα τὸν ιωβελ οὗτος ἦν ὁ πατὴρ οἰκούντων ἐν σκηναῖς κτηνοτρόφων

21 καὶ ὄνομα τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ ιουβαλ οὗτος ἦν ὁ καταδείξας ψαλτήριον καὶ κιθάραν

22 σελλα δὲ ἔτεκεν καὶ αὐτὴ τὸν θοβελ καὶ ἦν σφυροκόπος χαλκεὺς χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδήρου ἀδελφὴ δὲ θοβελ νοεμα

23 εἶπεν δὲ λαμεχ ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ γυναιξίν αδα καὶ σελλα ἀκούσατέ μου τῆς φωνῆς γυναῖκες λαμεχ ἐνωτίσασθέ μου τοὺς λόγους ὅτι ἄνδρα ἀπέκτεινα εἰς τραῦμα ἐμοὶ καὶ νεανίσκον εἰς μώλωπα ἐμοί

24 ὅτι ἑπτάκις ἐκδεδίκηται ἐκ καιν ἐκ δὲ λαμεχ ἑβδομηκοντάκις ἑπτά

25 ἔγνω δὲ αδαμ ευαν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ συλλαβοῦσα ἔτεκεν υἱὸν καὶ ἐπωνόμασεν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ σηθ λέγουσα ἐξανέστησεν γάρ μοι ὁ θεὸς σπέρμα ἕτερον ἀντὶ αβελ ὃν ἀπέκτεινεν καιν

26 καὶ τῷ σηθ ἐγένετο υἱός ἐπωνόμασεν δὲ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ενως οὗτος ἤλπισεν ἐπικαλεῖσθαι τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #424

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424. 'A craftsman' in the Word means a person who has wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge. Here 'a craftsman in bronze and iron' means people who have a knowledge of natural good and truth. In John,

Babylon the great city will be thrown down with violence and will be found no more; and the sound of harpers, and minstrels, and flute players, and trumpeters will be heard in you 1 no more. And every craftsman of every craft will be found in you 1 no more. Revelation 18:21-22.

As previously, 'harpers' stands for truths, 'trumpeters' for the goods of faith. A 'craftsman of every craft' stands for one who has knowledge, that is, knowledge of truth and good. In Isaiah,

The craftsman casts an idol, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts silver chains for it. He seeks for himself a wise craftsman to make ready an idol, that is immovable. Isaiah 40:19-20.

This stands for people who fabricate falsity - an idol - for themselves out of delusions and teach it in such a way that it looks like truth. In Jeremiah,

They are at one and the same time foolish and stupid; that wood is a way of learning vanities! Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, gold from Uphaz; the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the moulder. Their clothing is violet and [purple]. These are all the work of the wise. Jeremiah 10:3, 8-9.

These statements mean the person who teaches falsities and who compiles material from the Word to produce some figment of the imagination. This is why it is called 'a way of learning vanities' and the 'work of the wise'. In the past such people were represented as craftsmen fashioning idols (falsities) which they decorated with 'gold' (imitation good) and with 'silver' (imitation truth) and with 'violet and [purple] clothing' (natural things which are seemingly in agreement).

Footnotes:

1. The Latin here means in it but at Revelation 18:22 in AE and AR it means in you in accord with the original Greek.

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

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