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Génesis 12

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1 EMPERO Jehová había dicho á Abram: Vete de tu tierra y de tu parentela, y de la casa de tu padre, á la tierra que te mostraré;

2 Y haré de ti una nación grande, y bendecirte he, y engrandeceré tu nombre, y serás bendición:

3 Y bendeciré á los que te bendijeren, y á los que te maldijeren maldeciré: y serán benditas en ti todas las familias de la tierra.

4 Y fuése Abram, como Jehová le dijo; y fué con él Lot: y era Abram de edad de setenta y cinco años cuando salió de Harán.

5 Y tomó Abram á Sarai su mujer, y á Lot hijo de su hermano, y toda su hacienda que habían ganado, y las almas que habían adquirido en Harán, y salieron para ir á tierra de Canaán; y á tierra de Canaán llegaron.

6 Y pasó Abram por aquella tierra hasta el lugar de Sichêm, hasta el valle de Moreh: y el Cananeo estaba entonces en la tierra.

7 Y apareció Jehová á Abram, y le dijo: A tu simiente daré esta tierra. Y edificó allí un altar á Jehová, que le había aparecido.

8 Y pasóse de allí á un monte al oriente de Bethel, y tendió su tienda, teniendo á Bethel al occidente y Hai al oriente: y edificó allí altar á Jehová é invocó el nombre de Jehová.

9 Y movió Abram de allí, caminando y yendo hacia el Mediodía.

10 Y hubo hambre en la tierra, y descendió Abram á Egipto para peregrinar allá; porque era grande el hambre en la tierra.

11 Y aconteció que cuando estaba para entrar en Egipto, dijo á Sarai su mujer: He aquí, ahora conozco que eres mujer hermosa de vista;

12 Y será que cuando te habrán visto los Egipcios, dirán: Su mujer es: y me matarán á mí, y á ti te reservarán la vida.

13 Ahora pues, di que eres mi hermana, para que yo haya bien por causa tuya, y viva mi alma por amor de ti.

14 Y aconteció que, como entró Abram en Egipto, los Egipcios vieron la mujer que era hermosa en gran manera.

15 Viéronla también los príncipes de Faraón, y se la alabaron; y fué llevada la mujer á casa de Faraón:

16 E hizo bien á Abram por causa de ella; y tuvo ovejas, y vacas, y asnos, y siervos, y criadas, y asnas y camellos.

17 Mas Jehová hirió á Faraón y á su casa con grandes plagas, por causa de Sarai mujer de Abram.

18 Entonces Faraón llamó á Abram y le dijo: ¿Qué es esto que has hecho conmigo? ¿Por qué no me declaraste que era tu mujer?

19 ¿Por qué dijiste: Es mi hermana? poniéndome en ocasión de tomarla para mí por mujer? Ahora pues, he aquí tu mujer, tómala y vete.

20 Entonces Faraón dió orden á sus gentes acerca de Abram; y le acompañaron, y á su mujer con todo lo que tenía.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #1444

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1444. And the Canaanite was then in the land. That this signifies the evil heredity from the mother, in His external man, is evident from what has been already said concerning that which was inherited by the Lord; for He was born as are other men, and inherited evils from the mother, against which He fought, and which He overcame. It is well known that the Lord underwent and endured the most grievous temptations (concerning which, of the Lord’s Divine mercy hereafter), temptations so great that He fought alone and by His own power against the whole of hell. No one can undergo temptation unless evil adheres to him; he who has no evil cannot have the least temptation; evil is what the infernal spirits excite.

[2] In the Lord there was not any evil that was actual, or His own, as there is in all men, but there was hereditary evil from the mother, which is here called “the Canaanite then in the land.” Concerning this, see what was said above, at verse 1 n. 1414), namely, that there are two hereditary natures connate in man, one from the father, the other from the mother; that which is from the father remains to eternity, but that which is from the mother is dispersed by the Lord while the man is being regenerated. The Lord’s hereditary nature from His Father, however, was the Divine. His heredity from the mother was evil, and this is treated of here, and is that through which He underwent temptations (see Mark 1:12-13; Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1-2). But, as already said, He had no evil that was actual, or His own, nor had He any hereditary evil from the mother after He had overcome hell by means of temptations; on which account it is here said that there was such evil at that time, that is, that the “Canaanite was then in the land.”

[3] The Canaanites were those who dwelt by the sea and by the coast of Jordan, as is evident in Moses. The spies on their return said:

We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it. Howbeit the people that dwelleth in the land is strong, and the cities are fenced, very great; and moreover we saw the children of Anak there; Amalek dwelleth in the south; and the Hittite and the Jebusite and the Amorite dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanite dwelleth by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan (Numbers 13:27-29).

That the Canaanites dwelt by the sea and by the coast of Jordan, signified evil thence in the external man, such as is the heredity from the mother; for the sea and the Jordan were boundaries.

[4] That such evil is signified by “the Canaanite,” is also evident in Zechariah:

In that day there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah Zebaoth (Zechariah 14:21); where the Lord’s kingdom is treated of, and it is signified that the Lord will conquer the evil meant by the Canaanite and will expel it from His kingdom. All kinds of evils are signified by the idolatrous nations in the land of Canaan, among which were the Canaanites (see Genesis 15:15, 19, 21; Exodus 3:8; 3:17; 23:23; 23:28; 33:2; 34:11; Deuteronomy 7:1; 20:17; Joshua 3:10; 24:11; Judges 3:5). What evil is signified by each nation specifically, shall of the Lord’s Divine mercy be told elsewhere.

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