The Bible

 

Genesis 9

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1 At binasbasan ng Dios si Noe at ang kaniyang mga anak, at sa kanila'y sinabi, Kayo'y magpalaanakin, at magpakarami at inyong kalatan ang lupa.

2 At ang takot sa inyo at sindak sa inyo ay mapapasa bawa't hayop sa lupa, at sa bawa't ibon sa himpapawid; lahat ng umuusad sa lupa, at lahat ng isda sa dagat, ay ibinibigay sa inyong kamay.

3 Bawa't gumagalaw na nabubuhay ay magiging pagkain ninyo; gaya ng mga sariwang pananim na lahat ay ibinibigay ko sa inyo.

4 Nguni't ang lamang may buhay, na siya niyang dugo, ay huwag ninyong kakanin.

5 At tunay na hihingan ko ng sulit ang inyong dugo, ang dugo ng inyong mga buhay: sa kamay ng bawa't ganid ay hihingan ko ng sulit; at sa kamay ng tao, sa kamay ng bawa't kapatid ng tao ay hihingan ko ng sulit ang buhay ng tao.

6 Ang magbubo ng dugo ng tao, sa pamamagitan ng tao ay mabububo ang kaniyang dugo: sapagka't sa larawan ng Dios nilalang ang tao.

7 At kayo'y magpalaanakin at magpakarami; magsilago kayo ng sagana sa lupa, at kayo'y magsidami riyan.

8 At nagsalita ang Dios kay Noe, at sa kaniyang mga anak na kasama niya, na sinasabi,

9 At ako, narito, aking pinagtitibay ang aking tipan sa inyo, at sa inyong binhi na susunod sa inyo;

10 At sa bawa't nilikhang may buhay na kasama ninyo, ang mga ibon, ang hayop at bawa't ganid sa lupa na kasama ninyo; sa lahat ng lumunsad sa sasakyan pati sa bawa't ganid sa lupa.

11 At aking pagtitibayin ang aking tipan sa inyo; ni hindi ko na lilipulin ang lahat ng laman sa pamamagitan ng tubig ng baha; ni hindi na magkakaroon pa ng bahang gigiba ng lupa.

12 At sinabi ng Dios, Ito ang tanda ng tipang ginawa ko sa inyo, at sa bawa't kinapal na may buhay na kasama ninyo sa buong panahon:

13 Ang aking bahaghari ay inilalagay ko sa alapaap, at siyang magiging tanda ng tipan ko at ng lupa.

14 At mangyayari, pagka ako'y magbababa ng isang alapaap sa ibabaw ng lupa, na makikita ang bahaghari sa alapaap.

15 At aalalahanin ko ang aking tipan, na inilagda ko sa akin at sa inyo, at sa bawa't kinapal na may buhay sa lahat ng laman; at ang tubig ay hindi na magiging bahang lilipol ng lahat ng laman.

16 At ang bahaghari ay pasa sa alapaap, at aking mamasdan, upang aking maalaala, ang walang hanggang tipan ng Dios at ng bawa't kinapal na may buhay sa lahat ng lamang nasa ibabaw ng lupa.

17 At sinabi ng Dios kay Noe, Ito ang tanda ng tipang inilagda ko sa akin at sa lahat ng laman na nasa ibabaw ng lupa.

18 At ang mga anak ni Noe na nagsilunsad sa sasakyan ay si Sem, at si Cham at si Japhet: at si Cham ay siyang ama ni Canaan.

19 Ang tatlong ito ay mga anak ni Noe: at sa mga ito'y nakalatan ang buong lupa.

20 At nagpasimula si Noe na maging mangbubukid, at naglagay ng isang ubasan.

21 At uminom ng alak at nalango; at siya'y nahubaran sa loob ng kaniyang tolda.

22 At si Cham na ama ni Canaan ay nakakita ng kahubaran ng kaniyang ama, at isinaysay sa kaniyang dalawang kapatid na nangasa labas.

23 At kumuha si Sem at si Japhet ng isang balabal, at isinabalikat nilang dalawa, at lumakad ng paurong, at tinakpan ang kahubaran ng kanilang ama; at ang mukha nila ay patalikod, at hindi nila nakita ang kahubaran ng kanilang ama.

24 At nagising si Noe sa kaniyang pagkalango sa alak, at naalaman ang ginawa sa kaniya ng kaniyang bunsong anak.

25 At sinabi, Sumpain si Canaan! Siya'y magiging alipin ng mga alipin sa kaniyang mga kapatid.

26 At sinabi niya, Purihin ang Panginoon, ang Dios ni Sem! At si Canaan ay maging alipin niya.

27 Pakapalin ng Dios si Japhet. At matira siya sa mga tolda ni Sem; At si Canaan ay maging alipin niya.

28 At nabuhay si Noe pagkaraan ng bahang gumunaw, ng tatlong daan at limang pung taon.

29 At ang lahat ng naging araw ni Noe ay siyam na raan at limang pung taon: at namatay.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1093

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1093. That 'cursed be Canaan' means that external worship separated from internal turned itself away from the Lord is clear from the meaning of 'Canaan' and from the meaning of 'being cursed'. That 'Canaan' is external worship separated from internal is clear from what has been stated already about Canaan, also from his being called 'cursed'; and from what follows about his being 'a slave of slaves'. And being a slave both to Shem and to Japheth cannot mean anything other than something separated from the Church itself, such as worship that is wholly external. This is clear from the meaning of 'being cursed' as turning oneself away, for the Lord in no way curses anybody, or is even angry. Instead it is man who brings the curse upon himself by turning himself away from the Lord. On these points see what has been shown already in 223, 245, 592. The Lord is as far from cursing or being angry with anyone as the sky is from the earth. Who can believe that the Lord, who is all-knowing and all-powerful, who with wisdom rules the universe, and so who is infinitely superior to all [human] weaknesses, is angry with such pitifully worthless dust, that is, with human beings who scarcely know anything of what they do and who of themselves are incapable of anything other than evil? With the Lord therefore anger is never present, only mercy.

[2] That arcana are contained here can be seen merely from the consideration that even though it was Ham who saw his father's nakedness and pointed it out to his brothers, he was not cursed but his son Canaan, who was not his only son nor even the firstborn but the fourth in line, as is clear from Chapter 10, verse 6 later on, where the sons of Ham are mentioned as being Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. It can in addition be seen from the Divine Law that no son was to bear his father's iniquity, as is clear in Ezekiel,

The soul that has sinned will die. The son will not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquity of the son. Ezekiel 18:20; Deuteronomy 14:16; 2 Kings 14:6.

And the same can also be seen from the consideration that this iniquity of merely seeing his father's nakedness and pointing it out to his brothers seems too slight for all of his descendants ever to have been cursed on that account. From these considerations it is clear that arcana are contained here.

[3] The reason Ham is not mentioned here but Canaan is that Ham means faith separated from charity in the spiritual Church, which cannot be cursed because in that Church faith has holiness present within it because truth is present there. And although there is no faith when there is no charity, it is still possible - since it is by means of the cognitions of faith that a person is regenerated - for separated faith to be allied to charity, and in this way to be in some sense 'a brother' or may become one. This was why Canaan was cursed and not Ham. Furthermore the inhabitants of the land of Canaan were for the most part people such as made all worship consist in external things, the Jews there as much as the gentiles. These are the arcana contained here, but for which Canaan would never have been substituted for Ham. That external worship separated from internal turns itself away and so brings a curse on itself is quite clear from the fact that people whose worship is external have no regard for anything other than worldly, bodily, and earthly things. Thus they look downwards, and immerse their minds (animus) and life in those things; such will be dealt with a little further on.

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