The Bible

 

Genesis 10

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1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah; Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and to them were sons born after the flood.

2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.

4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha; and the sons of Raamah, Sheba, and Dedan.

8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

11 Out of that land went forth Ashur, and built Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,

12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.

13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim.

14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.

15 And Canaan begat Sidon his first-born, and Heth,

16 And the Jebusite, and the Emorite, and the Girgasite,

17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,

18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites dispersed.

19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, to Gaza; as thou goest to Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even to Lashah.

20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.

21 To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.

22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Ashur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.

23 And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.

24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.

25 And to Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.

26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,

27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah.

28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,

29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.

30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest to Sephar, a mount of the east.

31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.

32 These are the families of the sons of Noah after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #1195

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1195. That “Mizraim” or “Egypt” is memory-knowledge, was shown at verse 6 of this chapter. That “Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, and Naphtuhim” are so many rituals which are merely memory-knowledges, is evident from what has just been stated. Those are said to have rituals which are merely memory-knowledges, who explore spiritual and celestial things by means of reasonings, and thereby devise a worship for themselves. The rituals of this worship, being from reasonings and memory-knowledges, are called rituals of memory-knowledge [ritualia scientifica], 1 wherein there was nothing spiritual and celestial, because they were from themselves. Hence came the idols of Egypt, and its magic. And because their rituals were from this origin, they totally rejected, nay, loathed and hated, the rites of the Ancient Church, as is evident from what is said in Genesis 43:32; 46:34; Exodus 8:22. Because these things are signified, they are said to be begotten of Mizraim, or of Egypt, that is, of memory-knowledges; and as their memory-knowledges were diverse, the derivative rituals also became different. These diversities, in general, are signified by so many nations. That such things are meant by the Ludim, or Lydians, appears in Jeremiah:

Egypt riseth up like the river, and like the rivers the waters are troubled; and he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. Come up, ye horses, and rage, ye chariots, and let the mighty come forth, Cush and Put, that handle the shield, and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow (Jeremiah 46:8-9).

The “rivers of Egypt” here are diverse memory-knowledges which are false; “to go up and cover the earth” is to enter into the things that pertain to the church or to faith by means of memory-knowledges; “to destroy the city” is to destroy truths; “Cush and Put” are knowledges; “the Lydians” are the rituals of memory-knowledge spoken of above; “to handle and bend the bow” is to reason.

Footnotes:

1. These Ritualia scientifica were evidently sacred rites that were so framed as to be the formal expressions of the learning of the nations in question, which learning consisted in a mere memory-knowledge of the correspondences and spiritual truths known in the Ancient Church. It is impossible to render the phrase into satisfactory English without a circumlocution. “Scientific rituals,” the usual rendering, is ludicrously misleading. [Reviser.]

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