Arcana Coelestia #1172
1172. 'Dedan' means cognitions of lower celestial things that exist in ritual forms. This is clear from the following places in the Word: In Ezekiel,
The sons of Dedan were your traders, many islands were the merchandise of your hand; horns of ivory, and ebony they brought as your present. Ezekiel 27:15
'Horns of ivory, and ebony' in the internal sense means the exterior goods that constitute forms of worship or ritual. In the same prophet,
Dedan, she was your trader in chariot-cloaks, 1 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar Ezekiel 27:20-21.
Here 'chariot-cloaks' 1 in like manner means exterior goods, or those that constitute forms of ritual. In Jeremiah,
Their wisdom has become rotten. Flee! they have turned themselves away, they have taken themselves down to dwell in the deep, O inhabitants of Dedan. Jeremiah 49:7-8.
Here 'Dedan' in the proper sense stands for forms of ritual which have no internal worship, that is, no worship of the Lord from the heart within them, and which are spoken of as 'turning themselves back, and taking themselves down to dwell in the deep'. From the quotations above it is now clear that 'the sons of Cush' means cognitions of spiritual things, and 'the sons of Raamah' cognitions of celestial.
Footnotes:
1. literally, garments of liberty for the chariot - possibly garments with loose sleeves
Genesis 9
1
God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
2
The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that the ground teems with, and all the fish of the sea are delivered into your hand.
3
Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As the green herb, I have given everything to you.
4
But flesh with its life, its blood, you shall not eat.
5
I will surely require your blood of your lives. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of man.
6
Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image.
7
Be fruitful and multiply. Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it."
8
God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
9
"As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you,
10
and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ship, even every animal of the earth.
11
I will establish my covenant with you: all flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood, neither will there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth."
12
God said, "This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
13
I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.
14
It will happen, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud,
15
and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16
The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
17
God said to Noah, "This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
18
The sons of Noah who went forth from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan.
19
These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the whole earth was populated.
20
Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard.
21
He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent.
22
Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
23
Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn't see their father's nakedness.
24
Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him.
25
He said, "Canaan is cursed. He will be servant of servants to his brothers."
26
He said, "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant.
27
May God enlarge Japheth. Let him dwell in the tents of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant."
28
Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood.
29
All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years, then he died.
