The Bible

 

Postanak 12

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1 I reče Gospod Avramu: Idi iz zemlje svoje i od roda svog i iz doma oca svog u zemlju koju ću ti ja pokazati.

2 I učiniću od tebe velik narod, i blagosloviću te, i ime tvoje proslaviću, i ti ćeš biti blagoslov.

3 Blagosloviću one koji tebe uzblagosiljaju, i prokleću one koji tebe usproklinju; i u tebi će biti blagoslovena sva plemena na zemlji.

4 Tada pođe Avram, kao što mu kaza Gospod, i s njim pođe Lot. A beše Avramu sedamdeset i pet godina kad pođe iz Harana.

5 I uze Avram Saru ženu svoju i Lota sina brata svog sa svim blagom koje behu stekli i s dušama koje behu dobili u Haranu; i pođoše u zemlju hanansku, i dođoše u nju.

6 I pođe Avram tu zemlju do mesta Sihema i do ravnice moreške; a behu tada Hananeji u toj zemlji.

7 I javi se Gospod Avramu i reče: Tvom semenu daću zemlju ovu. I Avram načini onde žrtvenik Gospodu, koji mu se javio.

8 Posle otide odande na brdo, koje je prema istoku od Vetilja, i onde razape šator svoj, te mu Vetilj beše sa zapada a Gaj s istoka; i onde načini Gospodu žrtvenik, i prizva ime Gospodnje.

9 Odande otide Avram dalje idući na jug.

10 Ali nasta glad u onoj zemlji, te Avram siđe u Misir da se onde skloni; jer glad beše velika u onoj zemlji.

11 A kad se približi da većuđe u Misir, reče Sari ženi svojoj: Gle, znam da si žena lepa u licu.

12 Zato kad te vide Misirci reći će: Ovo mu je žena. Pa će me ubiti, a tebe će ostaviti u životu.

13 Nego hajde kaži da si mi sestra, te će meni biti dobro tebe radi i ostaću u životu uz tebe.

14 I kad dođe Avram u Misir, videše Misirci ženu da je vrlo lepa.

15 I videše je knezovi Faraonovi, i hvališe je pred Faraonom. I uzeše je u dvor Faraonov.

16 I on činjaše dobro Avramu nje radi, te imaše ovaca i goveda i magaraca i sluga i sluškinja i magarica i kamila.

17 Ali Gospod pusti velika zla na Faraona i na dom njegov radi Sare žene Avramove.

18 Tada dozva Faraon Avrama i reče mu: Šta mi to učini? Zašto mi nisi kazao da ti je žena?

19 Zašto si kazao: Sestra mi je? Te je uzeh za ženu. Sad eto ti žene, uzmi je, pa idi.

20 I Faraon zapovedi ljudima za nj, te ga ispratiše i ženu njegovu i šta god imaše.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1444

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1444. 'And the Canaanite was at that time in the land' means the hereditary evil from the mother, in His external man. This becomes clear from what has been stated already about the Lord's heredity; for He was born as any other is born and from the mother acquired evils which He fought against and overcame. It is well known that the Lord underwent and endured very severe temptations - which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be described further on - temptations so great in fact that He fought by Himself and from His own power against the whole of hell. Nobody can undergo temptation unless he has evil clinging to him. The person who has no evil cannot experience the smallest temptation, for it is evil that spirits from hell stir up.

[2] With the Lord no evil of His own doing or that was His own was present, as there is with all human beings, only hereditary evil from the mother, which is here called 'the Canaanite at that time in the land'. For this matter see what has been stated above in verse 1, in 1414, to the effect that people are born with two heredities in them, the first from the father, the second from the mother. What comes from the father remains for ever, but what comes from the mother is dispelled by the Lord when the person is being regenerated. The Lord's heredity from His Father however was Divine, while the heredity from the mother was the hereditary evil referred to here, through which He underwent temptations. Regarding His temptations, see Mark 1:12-13; Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1-2. But, as has been stated, He had no evil of His own doing or which was His own, nor did He have any hereditary evil from the mother after He had overcome hell by means of temptations. It is for this reason that the expression at that time occurs here, that is to say, 'the Canaanite was at that time in the land'.

[3] The Canaanites were people who dwelt by the sea and by the bank of the Jordan, as is clear in Moses,

The spies returned and said, We came into the land to which you sent us, and it is indeed flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people dwelling in the land are powerful and the cities are very strongly fortified, and also we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekite dwells in the south, and the Hittite, Jebusite, and Amorite dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanite dwells by the sea and by the bank of the Jordan. Numbers 13:27-29.

'The Canaanite dwelt by the sea and by the bank of the Jordan' meant evil consequently residing with the external man, such as that acquired by heredity from the mother, for the sea and the Jordan were boundaries.

[4] That this kind of evil is meant by 'the Canaanite' is clear also in Zechariah,

And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah Zebaoth on that day. Zechariah 14:21.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom. It means that the Lord overcame the evil meant by 'the Canaanite' and drove it out of His kingdom. Evils of every kind are meant by the idolatrous nations in the land of Canaan, among which were the Canaanites, Genesis 15:19-21; Exodus 3:8, 17; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deuteronomy 7:1; 20:17; Joshua 3:10; 24:11; Judges 3:5. Which evil is meant by each nation specifically will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated elsewhere.

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