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Genesis 14

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1 And it cometh to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goyim,

2 they have made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, which [is] Zoar.

3 All these have been joined together unto the valley of Siddim, which [is] the Salt Sea;

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

5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings who [are] with him, and they smite the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

6 and the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-Paran, which [is] by the wilderness;

7 and they turn back and come in unto En-Mishpat, which [is] Kadesh, and smite the whole field of the Amalekite, and also the Amorite who is dwelling in Hazezon-Tamar.

8 And the king of Sodom goeth out, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, which [is] Zoar; and they set the battle in array with them in the valley of Siddim,

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

10 And the valley of Siddim [is] full of bitumen-pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah flee, and fall there, and those left have fled to the mountain.

11 And they take the whole substance of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the whole of their food, and go away;

12 and they take Lot, Abram's brother's son (seeing he is dwelling in Sodom), and his substance, and go away.

13 And one who is escaping cometh and declareth to Abram the Hebrew, and he is dwelling among the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner, and they [are] Abram's allies.

14 And Abram heareth that his brother hath been taken captive, and he draweth out his trained domestics, three hundred and eighteen, and pursueth unto Dan.

15 And he divideth himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smiteth them, and pursueth them unto Hobah, which [is] at the left of Damascus;

16 and he bringeth back the whole of the substance, and also Lot his brother and his substance hath he brought back, and also the women and the people.

17 And the king of Sodom goeth out to meet him (after his turning back from the smiting of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings who [are] with him), unto the valley of Shaveh, which [is] the king's valley.

18 And Melchizedek king of Salem hath brought out bread and wine, and he [is] priest of God Most High;

19 and he blesseth him, and saith, `Blessed [is] Abram to God Most High, possessing heaven and earth;

20 and blessed [is] God Most High, who hath delivered thine adversaries into thy hand;' and he giveth to him a tenth of all.

21 And the king of Sodom saith unto Abram, `Give to me the persons, and the substance take to thyself,'

22 and Abram saith unto the king of Sodom, `I have lifted up my hand unto Jehovah, God Most High, possessing heaven and earth --

23 from a thread even unto a shoe-latchet I take not of anything which thou hast, that thou say not, I -- I have made Abram rich;

24 save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who have gone with me -- Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre -- they take their portion.'

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2714

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2714. That 'Paran' means enlightenment coming from the Lord's Divine Human is clear from the meaning of 'Paran' as the Lord's Divine Human, as is evident from those places in the Word where this name is used, as in the prophet Habakkuk,

O Jehovah, I have heard Your fame; I was afraid. O Jehovah, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known. In zeal You will remember mercy. God will come out of Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His fame has covered the heavens, and the earth has been filled with His praise. And His brightness will be as the light; He has horns going out of His hand, and there the hiding-place of His strength will be. Habakkuk 3:2-4.

This plainly refers to the Lord's Coming, which is meant by 'reviving in the midst of the years' and 'making known in the midst of the years'. His Divine Human is described by the words 'God will come out of Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran'. He is said to come 'out of Teman' in regard to celestial love, and 'from Mount Paran' in regard to spiritual love; and the springing of these from enlightenment and power is meant by the words 'His brightness will be as the light; He has horns going out of His hand'. 'Brightness' and 'light' mean enlightenment, 'horns' power.

[2] In Moses,

Jehovah came from Sinai, and dawned from Seir upon them; He shone from Mount Paran, and came from myriads of holiness From His right hand came a fiery law for them. He indeed loves the peoples. All His holy ones are in your hand and have been joined together at your feet; and He will receive of your words. Deuteronomy 33:2-3.

This also refers to the Lord, whose Divine Human is described by the words 'He dawned from Seir' and 'He shone from Mount Paran' - 'from Seir' being used in regard to celestial love, 'from Mount Paran' to spiritual love. Those who are spiritual are meant by 'the peoples whom He loves' and by 'those joined together at your feet', 'the foot' meaning that which is lower, and so more obscure, in the Lord's kingdom.

[3] In the same author,

Chedorlaomer and the kings with him smote the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as El-paran, which is over into the wilderness. Genesis 14:5-6.

As regards the Lord's Divine Human being meant there by 'Mount Seir' and by 'El-paran', see 1675, 1676. In the same author,

So it was, in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day in the month, that the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony. And the children of Israel travelled according to their travels from the wilderness of Sinai, and the cloud settled in the wilderness of Paran. Numbers 10:11-12.

[4] The truth that all the travels of the people in the wilderness mean the state of the Church militant, and its temptations, in which a person goes under but the Lord conquers on his behalf, and the truth that consequently they mean the Lord's own actual temptations and victories, will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown elsewhere. And because the Lord underwent temptations by reason of His Divine Human, the Lord's Divine Human is in a similar way meant here by 'the wilderness of Paran'. The same is also meant by the following in the same author,

After that the people travelled from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran. And Jehovah spoke to Moses and said, Send men and let them explore the land of Canaan which I am giving to the children of Israel. And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran as spoken by the mouth of Jehovah. And they returned to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran in Kadesh; and they brought back word to them, and showed them the fruit of the land. Numbers 12:16; 13:1-3, 26.

Their travelling from the wilderness of Paran to explore the land of Canaan means that by means of the Lord's Divine Human these people - the children of Israel, by whom were meant those who are spiritual - have access to the heavenly kingdom, meant by the land of Canaan. But their faltering also at that time means their weakness, on account of which the Lord fulfilled everything in the Law, underwent temptations and was victorious, so that those with whom faith grounded in charity resides, also those who undergo temptations in which the Lord is victorious, have salvation from His Divine Human. This also explains why, when the Lord was tempted, He was in the wilderness, Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1; see above in 2708.

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

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