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1 Mosebok 13

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1 Så drog Abram fra Egypten op til sydlandet med sin hustru og alt det han eide, og Lot var med ham.

2 Og Abram var meget rik på buskap og på sølv og gull.

3 Og han drog i dagsreiser fra sydlandet, til han kom til Betel, til det sted hvor hans telt før hadde vært, mellem Betel og Ai,

4 der hvor det alter var som han hadde bygget første gang han var der; og der påkalte Abram Herrens navn.

5 Men også Lot, som drog med Abram, hadde småfe og storfe og telt.

6 Og landet kunde ikke rumme dem, så de kunde bo sammen; for deres eiendom var for stor til at de kunde bo sammen.

7 Så blev det trette mellem Abrams hyrder og Lots hyrder; og kana'anittene og ferisittene bodde dengang i landet.

8 Da sa Abram til Lot: Kjære, la det ikke være trette mellem mig og dig og mellem mine hyrder og dine hyrder! Vi er jo brødre.

9 Ligger ikke hele landet åpent for dig? Skill dig heller fra mig! Drar du til venstre, vil jeg dra til høire, og drar du til høire, vil jeg dra til venstre.

10 Da så Lot ut over landet, og han så at hele Jordan-sletten like til Soar overalt var rik på vann, som Herrens have, som Egyptens land - det var før Herren hadde ødelagt Sodoma og Gomorra.

11 Og Lot valgte for sig hele Jordan-sletten. Så drog Lot østover, og de skiltes fra hverandre.

12 Abram blev boende i Kana'ans land, og Lot bodde i byene på sletten og drog med sine telt like bort til Sodoma.

13 Men mennene i Sodoma var onde og syndet storlig mot Herren.

14 Og Herren sa til Abram efterat Lot hadde skilt sig fra ham: Løft dine øine og se fra det sted hvor du står, mot nord og mot syd og mot øst og mot vest!

15 For hele det land du ser, vil jeg gi dig og din ætt til evig tid.

16 Og jeg vil la din ætt bli som støvet på jorden; kan nogen telle støvet på jorden, så skal også din ætt kunne telles.

17 Stå op, og dra gjennem landet så langt og så bredt som det er! For dig vil jeg gi det.

18 Og Abram flyttet sine telt og kom til Mamres terebinte-lund i Hebron; der bosatte han sig, og han bygget der et alter for Herren.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2909

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2909. 'In Kiriath Arba, which is Hebron in the land of Canaan' means within the Church. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'Kiriath Arba' as the Church as regards truth, and from the meaning of 'Hebron in the land of Canaan' as the Church as regards good. In the Word, especially the prophetical part, whenever truth is the subject, good also is included, on account of the heavenly marriage that exists in every detail of the Word, see 683, 793, 801, 2173, 2516, 2712. Here therefore when Kiriath Arba is mentioned, so also is 'Hebron in the land of Canaan'. The land of Canaan is the Lord's kingdom, 1413, 1437, 1607, and locations in that land were in varying ways representative, 1585, 1866.

[2] As regards 'Kiriath Arba, which is Hebron', this was a region where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob dwelt. Abraham's dwelling there is evident from what has gone before,

Abraham came and dwelt in [the oak-groves of] Mamre, which are in Hebron. Genesis 13:18.

And Isaac and Jacob's dwelling there too is evident from what comes further on, Jacob came to Isaac his father in Mamre, to Kiriath Arba, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. Genesis 35:27.

Joseph was sent by Jacob his father to his brothers, from the Valley of Hebron. Genesis 37:14.

From the representation dealt with already of those three personages it is clear that 'Kiriath Arba, which is Hebron' represented the Church before Jerusalem did so.

[3] In the course of time every Church deteriorates until it ceases to possess any faith or charity at all, at which point it is destroyed. This too was represented by 'Kiriath Arba, which is Hebron', that is to say, when this place was occupied by the Anakim, by whom dreadful false persuasions were meant, 581, 1673, regarding which occupation by the Anakim, see Numbers 13:21-22; Joshua 11:21; 14:15; 15:13-14; Judges 1:10. As regards the end or close of the Church and its destruction, this was represented by Joshua's utterly destroying everything in that place, Joshua 10:36-37; 11:21, and by Judah and Caleb's smiting the Anakim, Judges 1:10; Joshua 14:13-15; 15:13-14. The establishment again of a new Church was represented by the allotment of its fields and villages to Caleb as his inheritance, Joshua 21:12. The city itself however became a city of refuge, Joshua 20:7; 21:13, and a city for priests, for the sons of Aaron, Joshua 21:10-11, within the inheritance of Judah, Joshua 15:54.

[4] From this it is evident that Hebron represented the Lord's spiritual Church in the land of Canaan. For the same reason also David was ordered by Jehovah's command to go to Hebron and was there anointed king over the house of Judah; and after he had reigned there for seven years and six months he went to Jerusalem and took possession of Zion, see 2 Samuel 2:1-11; 5:5; 1 Kings 2:11, at which point the Lord's spiritual Church now began to be represented by Jerusalem, and His celestial Church by Zion.

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