The Bible

 

Génesis 26

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1 Y HUBO hambre en la tierra, además de la primera hambre que fué en los días de Abraham: y fuése Isaac á Abimelech rey de los Filisteos, en Gerar.

2 Y apareciósele Jehová, y díjole: No desciendas á Egipto: habita en la tierra que yo te diré;

3 Habita en esta tierra, y seré contigo, y te bendeciré; porque á ti y á tu simiente daré todas estas tierras, y confirmaré el juramento que juré á Abraham tu padre:

4 Y multiplicaré tu simiente como las estrellas del cielo, y daré á tu simiente todas estas tierras; y todas las gentes de la tierra serán benditas en tu simiente.

5 Por cuanto oyó Abraham mi voz, y guardó mi precepto, mis mandamientos, mis estatutos y mis leyes.

6 Habitó, pues, Isaac en Gerar.

7 Y los hombres de aquel lugar le preguntaron acerca de su mujer; y él respondió: Es mi hermana; porque tuvo miedo de decir: Es mi mujer; que tal vez, dijo, los hombres del lugar me matarían por causa de Rebeca; porque era de hermoso aspecto.

8 Y sucedió que, después que él estuvo allí muchos días, Abimelech, rey de los Filisteos, mirando por una ventana, vió á Isaac que jugaba con Rebeca su mujer.

9 Y llamó Abimelech á Isaac, y dijo: He aquí ella es de cierto tu mujer: ¿cómo, pues, dijiste: Es mi hermana? E Isaac le respondió: Porque dije: Quizá moriré por causa de ella.

10 Y Abimelech dijo: ¿Por qué nos has hecho esto? Por poco hubiera dormido alguno del pueblo con tu mujer, y hubieras traído sobre nosotros el pecado.

11 Entonces Abimelech mandó á todo el pueblo, diciendo: El que tocare á este hombre ó á su mujer, de cierto morirá.

12 Y sembró Isaac en aquella tierra, y halló aquel año ciento por uno: y bendíjole Jehová.

13 Y el varón se engrandeció, y fué adelantando y engrandeciéndose, hasta hacerse muy poderoso:

14 Y tuvo hato de ovejas, y hato de vacas, y grande apero; y los Filisteos le tuvieron envidia.

15 Y todos los pozos que habían abierto, los criados de Abraham su padre en sus días, los Filisteos los habían cegado y llenado de tierra.

16 Y dijo Abimelech á Isaac: Apártate de nosotros, porque mucho más poderoso que nosotros te has hecho.

17 E Isaac se fué de allí; y asentó sus tiendas en el valle de Gerar, y habitó allí.

18 Y volvió á abrir Isaac los pozos de agua que habían abierto en los días de Abraham su padre, y que los Filisteos habían cegado, muerto Abraham; y llamólos por los nombres que su padre los había llamado.

19 Y los siervos de Isaac cavaron en el valle, y hallaron allí un pozo de aguas vivas.

20 Y los pastores de Gerar riñeron con los pastores de Isaac, diciendo: El agua es nuestra: por eso llamó el nombre del pozo Esek, porque habían altercado con él.

21 Y abrieron otro pozo, y también riñeron sobre él: y llamó su nombre Sitnah.

22 Y apartóse de allí, y abrió otro pozo, y no riñeron sobre él: y llamó su nombre Rehoboth, y dijo: Porque ahora nos ha hecho ensanchar Jehová y fructificaremos en la tierra.

23 Y de allí subió á Beer-seba.

24 Y apareciósele Jehová aquella noche, y dijo: Yo soy el Dios de Abraham tu padre: no temas, que yo soy contigo, y yo te bendeciré, y multiplicaré tu simiente por amor de Abraham mi siervo.

25 Y edificó allí un altar, é invocó el nombre de Jehová, y tendió allí su tienda: y abrieron allí los siervos de Isaac un pozo.

26 Y Abimelech vino á él desde Gerar, y Ahuzzath, amigo suyo, y Phicol, capitán de su ejército.

27 Y díjoles Isaac: ¿Por qué venís á mí, pues que me habéis aborrecido, y me echasteis de entre vosotros?

28 Y ellos respondieron: Hemos visto que Jehová es contigo; y dijimos: Haya ahora juramento entre nosotros, entre nosotros y ti, y haremos alianza contigo:

29 Que no nos hagas mal, como nosotros no te hemos tocado, y como solamente te hemos hecho bien, y te enviamos en paz: tú ahora, bendito de Jehová.

30 Entonces él les hizo banquete, y comieron y bebieron.

31 Y se levantaron de madrugada, y juraron el uno al otro; é Isaac los despidió, y ellos se partieron de él en paz.

32 Y en aquel día sucedió que vinieron los criados de Isaac, y diéronle nuevas acerca del pozo que habían abierto, y le dijeron: Agua hemos hallado.

33 Y llamólo Seba: por cuya causa el nombre de aquella ciudad es Beer-seba hasta este día.

34 Y cuando Esaú fué de cuarenta años, tomó por mujer á Judith hija de Beeri Hetheo, y á Basemat hija de Elón Hetheo:

35 Y fueron amargura de espíritu á Isaac y á Rebeca.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3382

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3382. 'And practiced My observances, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws' means through revelations constantly coming from Himself; that is to say, as by means of temptations, so also by means of those revelations He united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence. This becomes clear from the fact that 'practicing observances, commandments, statutes, and laws' implies all aspects of the Word - 'observances' being everything in general there, 'commandments' the internal aspects, 'statutes' the external, and 'laws' every specific detail. Because all these are attributed to the Lord who from eternity has been the Word and is the author of them all, the meaning in the internal sense cannot be His practice of them but that He revealed them to Himself when His state was one in which the Human and the Divine had become united.

[2] At first sight these matters do indeed seem to be quite remote from the sense of the letter, or even from the internal sense closest to the letter. All the same, when these words are read by man, this is the meaning those same words have in heaven, for as stated several times already, and as may be seen from the examples in 1873, 1874, the sense of the letter is laid aside as it rises up towards heaven and another heavenly sense takes its place, with the result that this latter sense cannot be recognized as that which arises out of the former. For the idea in the minds of those in heaven is that everything in the internal sense of the Word has to do with the Lord, and also that everything in the Word comes from the Lord. Also in their minds is the idea that even when He was in the world He thought from the Divine, and so from Himself, and acquired all intelligence and wisdom to Himself through revelations constantly coming from the Divine. Consequently they do not perceive anything other than this from the words used here. For the practice of all things of the Word, internal as well as external, meant by 'practicing the observances, commandments, statutes, and laws' is not applicable to the Lord because He Himself was the Word and therefore He Himself was the observance that was to be practiced; He Himself was the commandment, also the statute, and the law. For all these have regard to Him as the First from whom they spring and the Last to whom they lead. In the highest sense therefore these words can mean nothing else than the uniting of the Lord's Divine to His Human by means of revelations constantly coming from Himself. For unlike any others the Lord thought from the Divine, and so from Himself, see 1904, 1914, 1935, and acquired intelligence and wisdom to Himself by means of revelations constantly coming from the Divine, 1616, 2500, 2523, 2632.

[3] As regards 'practicing observances' meaning in the genuine sense all aspects of the Word in general, 'commandments' the internal aspects of the Word, 'statutes' the external aspects of the Word, and 'laws' every specific detail in the Word, this becomes clear from many places when seen in the internal sense. Let some of these be brought in here, such as the following in David,

Blessed are the blameless in the way, walking in the law of Jehovah; blessed are those who keep His testimonies. O that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! I will keep Your statutes; do not forsake me utterly. With my whole heart I have sought You; cause me not to wander from Your commandments. I have laid up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Jehovah; teach me Your statutes! With my lips I have declared all the judgements of Your mouth. I take delight in the way of Your testimonies. I meditate on Your commands and look to Your ways. I delight in Your statutes, I do not forget Your Word. Recompense Your servant that I may live and keep Your Word. Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things out of Your law. Do not hide Your commandments from me. Quicken me according to Your Word. Teach me Your statutes. Make me understand the way of [Your] commands. Psalms 119:1-27.

The subject in the whole of this psalm is the Word and the things that constitute the Word, which plainly are commandments, statutes, judgements, testimonies, commands, and ways. But the specific meaning of each of these cannot possibly be seen from the sense of the letter. In that sense they are scarcely more than repetitions of the same thing, but it may be seen from the internal sense in which 'commandments' has an altogether different meaning from 'statutes'; and 'judgements', 'testimonies', 'commands', and 'ways' each have a different meaning again. Something similar occurs elsewhere in the same author,

The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple; the commands of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of Jehovah is clean, standing for ever; the judgements of Jehovah are truth. Psalms 19:7-9.

And in the Book of Kings,

David said to Solomon, You shall practise the observance of your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgements, and His testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses. 1 Kings 2:3.

'Practicing an observance' stands for all aspects of the Word in general, for this expression comes first, and those that follow are related to it as less general aspects. Actually 'practicing observances' means the same as 'keeping what has to be kept'. In Moses,

You shall love Jehovah your God, and you shall practice His observance, and His statutes and judgements, and His commandments, all your days. Deuteronomy 11:1.

Here 'practising an observance' or keeping something that is to be kept in a similar way stands for all aspects of the Word in general, 'statutes' for the external aspects of the Word such as forms of ritual, and things that are representatives and meaningful signs of the internal sense, but 'commandments' for the internal aspects of the Word such as matters of life and teaching, especially those that belong to the internal sense. But the meaning of commandments and statutes will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed elsewhere.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1904

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1904. That 'Sarai, Abram's wife, took' means the affection for truth, which in the genuine sense is 'Sarai the wife', is clear from the meaning of 'Sarai' as truth allied to good, and from the meaning of 'wife' as affection, dealt with already in 915, 1468. There are two affections, distinct and separate - the affection for good and the affection for truth. While a person is being regenerated the affection for truth takes the lead, for it is an affection for truth for the sake of good that moves him; but once he has been regenerated the affection for good takes the lead, and it is now an affection for truth originating in good that moves him. The affection for good belongs to the will, the affection for truth to the understanding. The most ancient people established a marriage so to speak between these two affections. They used to refer to good (or the love of good) and truth (or the love of truth) as Man, calling the former 'the husband' and the latter 'the wife'. The comparison of good and truth to a marriage has its origins in the heavenly marriage.

[2] Regarded in themselves good and truth do not possess any life, but they derive their life from love or affection. They are merely the instruments that serve life. Consequently as is the love producing the affection for good and truth, so is the life; for the whole of life constitutes the whole of love or affection. This is why 'Sarai his wife' in the genuine sense means the affection for truth. And because the Intellectual desired the Rational as its offspring, and because what she says is an expression of that desire or affection, this verse contains the explicit wording, 'Sarai, Abram's wife, gave to Abram her husband' which would be an unnecessary repetition - for in themselves these words would be quite superfluous - if such matters were not embodied within the internal sense.

[3] Intellectual truth is distinct and separate from rational truth, and rational truth from factual truth, just as what is internal, what is intermediate, and what is external are. Intellectual truth is internal, rational truth is intermediate, while factual truth is external. These are quite distinct and separate because one is interior to another. With everyone intellectual truth, which is internal, or that present within the inmost part of him, is not his own but is the Lord's with him. From this the Lord flows into the rational, where truth first appears as if it were the person's own, and through the rational into his faculty of knowing. From these considerations it is clear that nobody can possibly think as of himself from intellectual truth, but from rational truth and factual truth because these do appear as if they were his.

[4] Only the Lord, when He lived in the world, thought from intellectual truth, for that truth was His own Divine truth joined to good, or the Divine spiritual joined to the Divine celestial. In this respect the Lord was different from all others. Man in no way possesses the ability to think from the Divine existing within himself as his essential self, nor can that ability possibly exist within man, only within Him who was conceived from Jehovah. Because He thought from intellectual truth, that is, from the love or affection for intellectual truth, from that truth also He desired the Rational. This is why it is stated here that 'Sarai, Abram's wife', by whom is meant the affection for intellectual truth, 'took Hagar the Egyptian and gave her to Abram her husband as his wife (mulier)'.

[5] No other arcana concealed here can be brought out and explained intelligibly because the human being dwells in very great obscurity regarding his own internals. Indeed he has no conception of these, for he identifies the rational and the intellectual degrees of the mind with the factual degree, not knowing that these degrees are distinct and separate, so distinct in fact that the intellectual is able to exist without the rational, as also can the rational, while subordinate to the intellectual, exist without the factual. This must inevitably seem absurd to those wholly immersed in factual knowledge, but it is nevertheless the truth. It is not possible however for anyone to have truth present in the factual degree of his mind, that is to say, to have an affection for it and a belief in it, if truth is not present in the rational, into which and through which the Lord flows in from the intellectual degree. These arcana do not lie open to man's view except in the next life.

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