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Genesis 14

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1 It happened in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim,

2 that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar).

3 All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea).

4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled.

5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to Elparan, which is by the wilderness.

7 They returned, and came to En Mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar.

8 The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim;

9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five.

10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the hills.

11 They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way.

12 They took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

13 One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. Now he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were allies of Abram.

14 When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.

15 He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

16 He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

17 The king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.

19 He blessed him, and said, "blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth:

20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." Abram gave him a tenth of all.

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, and take the goods to yourself."

22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,

23 that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich.'

24 I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion."

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1738

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1738. 'And he gave him a tenth of everything' means remnants gained from victory. This is clear from the meaning of 'tenths' as remnants, dealt with already in 576. For what remnants are however, see 468, 530, 560, 561, 661, 1050, where it is shown that they are all the states of love and charity, and all the states of innocence and peace, with which a person is endowed. He is endowed with these states from earliest childhood, though that endowment gradually diminishes as he advances into adult life. But while a person is being regenerated he receives, in addition to those he has already, new remnants, and thus new life; for it is from, or by means of, remnants that a person is enabled to be human. In fact, if devoid of the state of love and charity, and if devoid of the state of innocence - states that instill themselves into all the other states of his life-a person is no longer human, but worse than any wild animal. It is remnants acquired during the conflicts brought about by temptations that are meant in the present verse. These remnants are what the tenths given to Melchizedek by Abram mean. They are also all the celestial things of love which the Lord gathered to Himself through the constant conflicts and victories by means of which He was constantly being united to the Divine Essence until the point was reached when His Human Essence as well had become Love, or the Being (Esse) of life, that is, Jehovah.

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