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Génesis 26

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1 Y hubo hambre en la tierra, además de la primera hambre que fue en los días de Abraham; y se fue Isaac a Abimelec rey de los filisteos, en Gerar.

2 Y se le apareció el SEÑOR, y le dijo: No desciendas a Egipto; habita en la tierra que yo te diré;

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

4 Y multiplicaré tu simiente como las estrellas del cielo, y daré a tu simiente todas estas tierras; y todos los gentiles de la tierra serán benditos en tu simiente.

5 Por cuanto oyó Abraham mi voz, y guardó mi observancia, 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; por ventura, dijo , los varones del lugar me matarían por causa de Rebeca; porque era de hermoso aspecto.

8 Y sucedió que , después que él estuvo allí muchos días, Abimelec, rey de los filisteos, mirando por una ventana, vio a Isaac que jugaba con Rebeca su mujer.

9 Y llamó Abimelec a Isaac, y dijo: He aquí ella es de cierto tu mujer; ¿cómo, pues, dijiste: Es mi hermana? E Isaac le respondió, porque dije: Por ventura moriré por causa de ella.

10 Y Abimelec 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 Abimelec mandó a todo el pueblo, diciendo: El que tocare a este hombre o a su mujer, de cierto morirá.

12 Y sembró Isaac en aquella tierra, y halló aquel año ciento por uno; y le bendijo el SEÑOR.

13 Y el varón se engrandeció, y fue adelantando y engrandeciéndose, hasta hacerse muy grande;

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 siervos de Abraham su padre en sus días, los filisteos los habían cerrado y llenado de tierra.

16 Y dijo Abimelec a Isaac: Apártate de nosotros, porque mucho más fuerte que nosotros te has hecho.

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

18 Y volvió a abrir Isaac los pozos de agua que habían abierto en los días de Abraham su padre, y que los filisteos habían cerrado, muerto Abraham; y los llamó 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 Sitna.

22 Y se apartó de allí, y abrió otro pozo, y no riñeron sobre él; y llamó su nombre Rehobot, y dijo: Porque ahora nos ha hecho ensanchar el SEÑOR y fructificaremos en la tierra.

23 Y de allí subió a Beerseba.

24 Y se le apareció el SEÑOR 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 causa de Abraham mi siervo.

25 Y edificó allí un altar, e invocó el nombre del SEÑOR, y tendió allí su tienda; y abrieron allí los siervos de Isaac un pozo.

26 Y Abimelec vino a él desde Gerar, y Ahuzat, amigo suyo, y Ficol, capitán de su ejército.

27 Y les dijo Isaac: ¿Por qué venís a mí, pues que me habéis aborrecido, y me enviaste, que no estuviese con vosotros?

28 Y ellos respondieron: Hemos visto que el SEÑOR es contigo; y dijimos: Haya ahora juramento entre nosotros, entre nosotros y tú, 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 del SEÑOR.

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

31 Y madrugaron por la mañana, y juraron el uno al otro; e Isaac los envió, y ellos se partieron de él en paz.

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

33 Y lo llamó Seba, por cuya causa el nombre de aquella ciudad es Beerseba hasta este día.

34 Y cuando Esaú fue de cuarenta años, tomó por mujer a Judit hija de Beeri, el heteo, y a Basemat hija de Elón, el heteo:

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

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3470

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3470. 'And he took for a wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite' means the wedding to it of natural truth from a source other than genuine truth itself. This is clear from the meaning of 'a wife' as truth wedded to good, dealt with where Sarah and where Rebekah are the subject, 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198, 2507, 2904, 3012, 3013, 3077, here natural truth wedded to the natural good that is the subject here; and from the representation of 'Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite' as truth from a source other than genuine truth itself. The Hittites were one of the upright nations in the land of Canaan, among whom Abraham dwelt and from whom he bought as a grave the cave of Machpelah, Genesis 23:3-end. The Hittites also represent the spiritual Church among the nations in that land, see 2913, 2986. And because that Church does not possess truth that is from the Word the same persons mean truth not derived from genuine truth itself. For a nation which represents a Church also means truth and good, as these exist with that Church, since it is by virtue of truth and good that a Church is a Church. When therefore a Church is spoken of, its truth and good are meant, and vice versa.

[2] The implications of this are that natural good of truth is not spiritual good, that is, it is not the good of faith nor the good of charity until it has been reformed. Natural good comes from parents, as stated immediately above in 3469, but spiritual good comes from the Lord. To receive spiritual good therefore a person has to undergo regeneration. At first, while this is taking place truths from a source other than genuine truth itself are allied to him, such as do not remain permanently with him but merely serve as the means by which genuine truths are brought in. Once these have been brought in, truths that are not genuine are separated. It is akin to the stages through which children pass: At first they learn very many things, including those that are childish - games and so on - not to make them wise but to prepare the way for them to receive the useful things that lead to wisdom. Once they have received the latter the former things are separated, indeed they are put away. Or it is like fruit which at first is filled with sour juice before it is able to receive sweet. The sour juice, which is not the genuine, is the means by which the sweet is brought in. As the latter comes in the former is dispelled.

[3] So it is with the natural part of man's mind when this is being regenerated, for natural good is such that of itself it is unwilling to obey and serve the rational as a slave does his master but wishes to take command. To render it submissive and subservient however it is chastened by means of states of vastation and temptation to the point when its cravings die down. At that point it is moderated by means of an influx from the Lord, by way of the internal man, of the good of faith and charity, even to the point where good acquired by heredity is gradually rooted out and a new good implanted in place of it. Into this new good truths of faith are introduced, like new fibres into the human heart, along which fibres new fluid is borne in, until a new heart has slowly been developed. The truths that are borne in at first cannot come from the genuine fount of truth because evils and falsities exist within the good present previously, which is natural good. Instead they are the kind of seeming truths or appearances of truth that have some affinity with genuine truths, and through which little by little the opportunity and place for those genuine truths to insert themselves is provided. Genuine good is like the blood in blood vessels or the fluid in fibres, bringing truths along and giving them shape. The good which takes shape in this way in the natural or external man is general, structured or joined together so to speak from particular and individual facets of spiritual good coming by way of the rational or internal man from the Lord, who alone forms and creates things anew. This explains why so many times in the Word the Lord is called One who forms and Creator.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2913

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2913. 'And spoke to the sons of Heth, saying' means those with whom a new spiritual Church was to exist. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'Heth' and of Hittite. Many were the nations inhabiting the land of Canaan who are mentioned one by one in various places in the Word, among them the Hittites, see Genesis 15:20; Exodus 3:8, 17; 13:5; 23:23; Deuteronomy 7:1; 20:17; Joshua 3:10; 11:1, 3; 12:8; 24:11; 1 Kings 9:20; and elsewhere. Most of them belonged to the Ancient Church which was spread through many lands, including the land of Canaan, see 1238, 2385. All who belonged to that Church acknowledged charity as the chief thing, and everything they taught was about charity or life. People who cultivated teachings about faith were called Canaanites and were separate from the rest of the inhabitants in the land of Canaan, Numbers 13:29 - see 1062, 1063, 1076.

[2] The Hittites belonged among those in the land of Canaan who were more acceptable. This is also made clear by the fact that Abraham, and subsequently Isaac and Jacob, dwelt among them and had a burial-place there, and also by the fact that they treated Abraham with greatest respect, as is quite clear from what is recorded about them in this chapter, especially verses 5-6, 10-11, 14-15. Since they were an upright nation they therefore represent and mean the spiritual Church, or the truth of the Church. But it happened that like all the others who belonged to the Ancient Church the Hittites fell away in the course of time from charity or good that goes with faith; and this explains why later on they mean the falsity of the Church, as in Ezekiel 16:3, 45, and elsewhere. Yet the Hittites did belong among those who were more honourable, as may be seen from the fact that David had Hittites with him, such as Ahimelech, 1 Samuel 26:6, and Uriah, who was a Hittite, 2 Samuel 11:3, 6, 17, 21 - by whose wife Bathsheba David begot Solomon, 2 Samuel 12:24. 'Heth' means exterior cognitions that have regard to life and which constitute the external truths of the spiritual Church, 1 see 1203.

[3] The subject in the present verse is a new Church which the Lord establishes when the previous one breathes its last, and in the verses which follow the subject is the reception of faith among those people. The subject is not some particular Church among the sons of Heth but in general the re-establishment by the Lord of a spiritual Church after its predecessor fades away and approaches its end. The sons of Heth are simply those who represent and carry a spiritual meaning. Please see what has been stated already about Churches in the following places:

In course of time a Church goes into decline and decay, 494, 501, 1327, 2422.

It departs from charity, and brings forth evils and falsities, 1834, 1835.

At that point the Church is said to be vastated and made desolate, 407-411, 2243.

The Church is established among gentiles; the reason why, 1366.

Within a Church undergoing vastation something of the Church is always preserved as a nucleus, 468, 637, 931, 2422.

If the Church did not exist in the world the human race would perish, ibid.

The Church is like the heart and lungs in that vast body, of which every member of the human race is a part, 637, 931, 2054, 2853.

The nature of the spiritual Church, 765, 2669.

Charity constitutes the Church, not faith separated from charity, 809, 916.

If all possessed charity the Church would be one even though they differ in matters of doctrine and in forms of worship, 1285, 1316, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 2385.

All people on earth who belong to the Lord's Church, though they are scattered throughout the entire world, still so to speak make a single whole, as is the case in heaven, 2853.

Every Church is internal and external, and both together constitute a single Church, 409, 1083, 1098, 1100, 1242.

The external Church is valueless if there is no internal Church, 1795.

The Church is compared to the rise and the setting of the sun, to the seasons of the year, and also to the periods of the day, 1837.

The Last Judgement is the final period of the Church, 900, 931, 1850, 2117, 2118.

Footnotes:

1. Or, reading what Swedenborg has in his rough draft the truths of the external spiritual Church

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