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Genesis 24

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1 And Abraham [is] old, he hath entered into days, and Jehovah hath blessed Abraham in all [things];

2 and Abraham saith unto his servant, the eldest of his house, who is ruling over all that he hath, `Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh,

3 and I cause thee to swear by Jehovah, God of the heavens, and God of the earth, that thou dost not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanite, in the midst of whom I am dwelling;

4 but unto my land and unto my kindred dost thou go, and hast taken a wife for my son, for Isaac.'

5 And the servant saith unto him, `It may be the woman is not willing to come after me unto this land; do I at all cause thy son to turn back unto the land from whence thou camest out?'

6 And Abraham saith unto him, `Take heed to thyself, lest thou cause my son to turn back thither;

7 Jehovah, God of the heavens, who hath taken me from the house of my father, and from the land of my birth, and who hath spoken to me, and who hath sworn to me, saying, To thy seed I give this land, He doth send His messenger before thee, and thou hast taken a wife for my son from thence;

8 and if the woman be not willing to come after thee, then thou hast been acquitted from this mine oath: only my son thou dost not cause to turn back thither.'

9 And the servant putteth his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord, and sweareth to him concerning this matter.

10 And the servant taketh ten camels of the camels of his lord and goeth, also of all the goods of his lord in his hand, and he riseth, and goeth unto Aram-Naharaim, unto the city of Nahor;

11 and he causeth the camels to kneel at the outside of the city, at the well of water, at even-time, at the time of the coming out of the women who draw water.

12 And he saith, `Jehovah, God of my lord Abraham, cause to meet, I pray Thee, before me this day -- (and do kindness with my lord Abraham;

13 lo, I am standing by the fountain of water, and daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;

14 and it hath been, the young person unto whom I say, Incline, I pray thee, thy pitcher, and I drink, and she hath said, drink, and I water also thy camels) -- her Thou hast decided for Thy servant, for Isaac; and by it I know that Thou hast done kindness with my lord.'

15 And it cometh to pass, before he hath finished speaking, that lo, Rebekah (who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, wife of Nahor, brother of Abraham) is coming out, and her pitcher on her shoulder,

16 and the young person [is] of very good appearance, a virgin, and a man hath not known her; and she goeth down to the fountain, and filleth her pitcher, and cometh up.

17 And the servant runneth to meet her, and saith, `Let me swallow, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher;'

18 and she saith, `Drink, my lord;' and she hasteth, and letteth down her pitcher upon her hand, and giveth him Drink.

19 And she finisheth giving him drink, and saith, `Also for thy camels I draw till they have finished drinking;'

20 and she hasteth, and emptieth her pitcher into the drinking-trough, and runneth again unto the well to draw, and draweth for all his camels.

21 And the man, wondering at her, remaineth silent, to know whether Jehovah hath made his way prosperous or not.

22 And it cometh to pass when the camels have finished drinking, that the man taketh a golden ring (whose weight [is] a bekah), and two bracelets for her hands (whose weight [is] ten [bekahs] of gold),

23 and saith, `Whose daughter [art] thou? declare to me, I pray thee, is the house of thy father a place for us to lodge in?'

24 And she saith unto him, `I [am] daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, whom she hath borne to Nahor.'

25 She saith also unto him, `Both straw and provender [are] abundant with us, also a place to lodge in.'

26 And the man boweth, and doth obeisance to Jehovah,

27 and saith, `Blessed [is] Jehovah, God of my lord Abraham, who hath not left off His kindness and His truth with my lord; -- I [being] in the way, Jehovah hath led me to the house of my lord's brethren.'

28 And the young person runneth, and declareth to the house of her mother according to these words.

29 And Rebekah hath a brother, and his name [is] Laban, and Laban runneth unto the man who [is] without, unto the fountain;

30 yea, it cometh to pass, when he seeth the ring, and the bracelets on the hands of his sister, and when he heareth the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, `Thus hath the man spoken unto me,' that he cometh in unto the man, and lo, he is standing by the camels by the fountain.

31 And he saith, `Come in, O blessed one of Jehovah, why standest thou without, and I -- I have prepared the house and place for the camels!'

32 And he bringeth in the man into the house, and looseth the camels, and giveth straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men who [are] with him:

33 and setteth before him to eat; but he saith, `I do not eat till I have spoken my word;' and he saith, `Speak.'

34 And he saith, `I [am] Abraham's servant;

35 and Jehovah hath blessed my lord exceedingly, and he is great; and He giveth to him flock, and herd, and silver, and gold, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and camels, and asses;

36 and Sarah, my lord's wife, beareth a son to my lord, after she hath been aged, and he giveth to him all that he hath.

37 `And my lord causeth me to swear, saying, Thou dost not take a wife to my son from the daughters of the Canaanite, in whose land I am dwelling.

38 If not -- unto the house of my father thou dost go, and unto my family, and thou hast taken a wife for my son.

39 `And I say unto my lord, It may be the woman doth not come after me;

40 and he saith unto me, Jehovah, before whom I have walked habitually, doth send His messenger with thee, and hath prospered thy way, and thou hast taken a wife for my son from my family, and from the house of my father;

41 then art thou acquitted from my oath, when thou comest unto my family, and if they give not [one] to thee; then thou hast been acquitted from my oath.

42 `And I come to-day unto the fountain, and I say, Jehovah, God of my lord Abraham, if Thou art, I pray Thee, making prosperous my way in which I am going --

43 (lo, I am standing by the fountain of water), then the virgin who is coming out to draw, and I have said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee, a little water from thy pitcher,

44 and she hath said unto me, Both drink thou, and also for thy camels I draw -- she is the woman whom Jehovah hath decided for my lord's son.

45 `Before I finish speaking unto my heart, then lo, Rebekah is coming out, and her pitcher on her shoulder, and she goeth down to the fountain, and draweth; and I say unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee,

46 and she hasteth and letteth down her pitcher from off her and saith, Drink, and thy camels also I water; and I Drink, and the camels also she hath watered.

47 `And I ask her, and say, Whose daughter [art] thou? and she saith, Daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor, whom Milcah hath borne to him, and I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands,

48 and I bow, and do obeisance before Jehovah, and I bless Jehovah, God of my lord Abraham, who hath led me in the true way to receive the daughter of my lord's brother for his son.

49 `And now, if ye are dealing kindly and truly with my lord, declare to me; and if not, declare to me; and I turn unto the right or unto the left.'

50 And Laban answereth -- Bethuel also -- and they say, `The thing hath gone out from Jehovah; we are not able to speak unto thee bad or good;

51 lo, Rebekah [is] before thee, take and go, and she is a wife to thy lord's son, as Jehovah hath spoken.'

52 And it cometh to pass, when the servant of Abraham hath heard their words, that he boweth himself towards the earth before Jehovah;

53 and the servant taketh out vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and giveth to Rebekah; precious things also he hath given to her brother and to her mother.

54 And they eat and drink, he and the men who [are] with him, and lodge all night; and they rise in the morning, and he saith, `Send me to my lord;'

55 and her brother saith -- her mother also -- `Let the young person abide with us a week or ten days, afterwards doth she go.'

56 And he saith unto them, `Do not delay me, seeing Jehovah hath prospered my way; send me away, and I go to my lord;'

57 and they say, `Let us call for the young person, and ask at her mouth;'

58 and they call for Rebekah, and say unto her, `Dost thou go with this man?' and she saith, `I go.'

59 And they send away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men;

60 and they bless Rebekah, and say to her, `Thou [art] our sister; become thou thousands of myriads, and thy seed doth possess the gate of those hating it.'

61 And Rebekah and her young women arise, and ride on the camels, and go after the man; and the servant taketh Rebekah and goeth.

62 And Isaac hath come in from the entrance of the Well of the Living One, my Beholder; and he is dwelling in the land of the south,

63 and Isaac goeth out to meditate in the field, at the turning of the evening, and he lifteth up his eyes, and looketh, and lo, camels are coming.

64 And Rebekah lifteth up her eyes, and seeth Isaac, and alighteth from off the camel;

65 and she saith unto the servant, `Who [is] this man who is walking in the field to meet us?' and the servant saith, `It [is] my lord;' and she taketh the veil, and covereth herself.

66 And the servant recounteth to Isaac all the things that he hath done,

67 and Isaac bringeth her in unto the tent of Sarah his mother, and he taketh Rebekah, and she becometh his wife, and he loveth her, and Isaac is comforted after [the death of] his mother.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2959

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2959. Land of four hundred shekels of silver. That this signifies the price of redemption by means of truth, is evident from the signification of “four hundred shekels” (concerning which presently); and from the signification of “silver” as being truth (see n. 1551, 2048, 2937). That “four hundred shekels” signifies the price of redemption, is because “four hundred” signifies vastation; and “shekel” signifies the price. What vastation is may be seen above (n. 2455, 2682, 2694, 2699, 2701, 2704), namely, that it is twofold; of one kind when a church altogether perishes, that is, when there is no longer any charity or faith, and when it is said to be “devastated” or laid waste;” and of the other kind when they who are of the church are reduced to a state of ignorance, and also of temptation, in order that the evils and falsities with them may be separated and as it were dispersed. They who emerge from this kind of vastation are they who are specifically called the redeemed, for they are then instructed in the goods and truths of faith, and are reformed and regenerated by the Lord (concerning whom see the passages cited). Now whereas “four hundred” when predicated of time, as “four hundred years,” signifies the duration and state of vastation, so when predicated of shekels it signifies the price of redemption; and when mention is made of silver at the same time, there is signified the price of redemption by means of truth.

[2] That “four hundred years” signifies the duration and state of vastation, may also be seen from what was said to Abram:

Jehovah said unto Abram, Knowing thou shalt know that thy seed shall be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years (Genesis 15:13); where it seems that by “four hundred years” is meant the stay of the sons of Israel in Egypt. But that their stay in Egypt is not what is signified, but something else which is not manifest to anyone except from the internal sense, is evident from the fact that the stay of the sons of Israel in Egypt was but half of that time; as is clearly evident from the generations from Jacob to Moses; for from Jacob came Levi; from Levi, Kohath; from Kohath, Amram; and from Amram, Aaron and Moses (Exodus 6:16-20). Leviticus and his son Kohath came with Jacob into Egypt (Genesis 46:11); Moses was of the second generation after this, and he was eighty years old when he spoke to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:7); from all which it is evident that from the coming of Jacob into Egypt to the going forth of his sons was about two hundred and fifteen years.

[3] It is still further evident that by “four hundred” in the Word something else is signified than what is meant by the number itself in the historic sense, from its being said:

The dwelling of the sons of Israel which they dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years; and it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, in the selfsame day it came to pass that all the armies of Jehovah went out from the land of Egypt (Exodus 12:40-41);

when nevertheless the stay of the sons of Israel there was but half that number of years; but it was four hundred and thirty years counting from Abraham’s entrance into Egypt; and therefore it was so said for the sake of the internal sense that lies concealed in the words. In the internal sense, by the sojourning of the sons of Jacob in Egypt is represented and signified the vastation of the church; the state and duration of which is described by the number “four hundred and thirty years”; by “thirty” the state of vastation of Jacob’s sons, that it was none at all, because they were such that they could not be reformed by any state of vastation (concerning the signification of the number thirty, see n. 2276); and by “four hundred years,” the general state of vastation of those who were of the church.

[4] Therefore they who go forth from this vastation are they who are called the “redeemed” as is also plain from the words spoken to Moses:

Wherefore say unto the sons of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments (Exodus 6:6).

Jehovah brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of servants, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt (Deuteronomy 7:8; 13:5).

Thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, but Jehovah thy God redeemed thee (Deuteronomy 15:15; 24:18).

In Samuel:

Thy people whom thou hast redeemed to thee out of Egypt (2 Samuel 7:23).

Because those who emerge from the state of vastation are called the “redeemed,” therefore by “four hundred shekels” is signified the price of redemption.

[5] That a “shekel” signifies the price or estimation is evident from the following passages in the Word; in Moses:

And all thy estimation shall be in the shekel of the holiness (Leviticus 27:25).

And in another place:

When a soul hath committed a trespass, and sinned in error from the holy things of Jehovah, he shall bring his guilt offering to Jehovah, a ram without blemish out of the flock, according to thy estimation, in silver of shekels, after the shekel of holiness (Leviticus 5:15).

From these passages it is plain that by a “shekel” is signified the price or estimation. It is said the “shekel of holiness,” because the price or estimation has regard to truth and good from the Lord; and truth and good from the Lord are the holy itself in the church. For this reason it is called the “shekel of holiness” in other places also (as in Exodus 30:24; Leviticus 27:3; Numbers 3:47, 50; 7:13, 19, 25, 31, 37, 43, 49, 55, 61, 67, 73; 18:16).

[6] That the “shekel” denotes the price of what is holy, is clearly evident in Ezekiel, where the Holy Land and the Holy City are treated of. It is there said of the shekel:

The shekel shall there be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh [pound] (Ezekiel 45:12).

That here by “shekel,” and by “pound,” and by the numbers, are signified holy things, that is, good and truth, anyone can see; for the Holy Land, and the Holy City in it (or the New Jerusalem there treated of) is no other than the kingdom of the Lord, where neither shekel nor gerah nor pound, nor the counting by them, but the number itself, from its signification in the internal sense, determines the estimation or the price of what is good and what is true.

[7] In Moses:

They shall give every man an expiation for his soul lest there should be a plague, half a shekel, after the shekel of holiness: the shekel is twenty gerahs and the half shekel for a therumah [an oblation] to Jehovah (Exodus 30:12-13); where ten gerahs, which are the “half shekel,” denote the remains which are from the Lord. (Remains are goods and truths stored up with man, and these are signified by “ten,” as may be seen above, n. 576, 1738, 1906, 2284; and also that remains are goods and truths from the Lord stored up with man, n. 1906, 2284). These therefore are called an “oblation to Jehovah,” and it is said that by them there shall be an expiation for the soul. The reason why it is so often said that the shekel was twenty gerahs (as in the passages quoted, and also in Leviticus 27:25; Numbers 3:47; 18:16, and elsewhere) is that the “shekel which is twenty gerahs” signifies the estimation of the good of remains (that “twenty” signifies the good of remains may be seen above, n. 2280). On this account the shekel was likewise a weight, according to which the value both of gold and of silver was estimated (see Genesis 24:22; Exodus 38:24; Ezekiel 4:10; 45:12); the value of gold, because “gold” signifies good (n. 113, 1551, 1552); and of silver, because “silver” signifies truth (n. 1551, 2048). From all this it is now plain that by “land of four hundred shekels of silver” is signified the price of redemption by means of truth. It is called “land” because the subject is the spiritual church, which is reformed and regenerated by means of truth from the the Lord, (n. 2954). (That by “land” is signified the church, may be seen above, n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 at the end.)

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