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1 Mose 24:38

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38 sondern zeuch hin zu meines Vaters Hause und zu meinem Geschlecht; daselbst nimm meinem Sohn ein Weib.

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Arcana Coelestia #3186

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3186. 'Our sister, may you become thousands of myriads' means infinite fruitfulness of the affection for truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'sister', who is Rebekah, as the affection for truth, dealt with in 3077, 3179, 3182, and from the meaning of 'may you become thousands of myriads' as infinite fruitfulness. Here 'thousands of myriads' means that which is infinite because the subject is the Lord in whom every single thing is infinite. With man the situation is that goods are not fruitful with him and truths are not multiplied until truth and good have become joined together in his rational, that is, until he has been regenerated. For at that point fruits or offspring from the rightful or heavenly marriage, which is the marriage of good and truth, come into being. Prior to this the goods which he puts into practice, it is true, look like goods, and truths like truths; but these are not genuine, since the soul which is good that has innocence from the Lord within it is not present in them. Thus they do not stir any affection in him nor do they bring him happiness. The affection that accompanies love and charity, together with happiness, is the soul, and that affection is imparted by the Lord to a person when being regenerated.

[2] 'A thousand' meaning much, also that which is infinite - see 2575 - 'a myriad' means that which is even more, and 'thousands of myriads' that which is even more again, as also elsewhere. In Moses,

When the Ark came to rest he said, Return, O Jehovah, to the myriads of the thousands of Israel. Numbers 10:36.

Here also 'the myriads of thousands' means that which is infinite because it has reference to the Lord, who is Jehovah here. In the same author,

Jehovah dawned from Seir upon them, He shone from Mount Paran, and came out of myriads of holiness. Deuteronomy 33:2.

'Myriads' again stands for that which is infinite. In David,

The chariots of God are myriads of thousands of peacemakers. Psalms 68:17.

'The chariots of God' stands for things which belong to the Word and to doctrine drawn from it, 'myriads of thousands' for infinite things present there. In John,

I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, numbering myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands. Revelation 5:11.

This stands for the fact that they were countless.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #3077

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3077. 'That behold, Rebekah came out' means the affection for truth coming from matters of doctrine. This is clear from the representation of 'Rebekah' as Divine truth that was to be joined to the Divine Good of the Rational, though here, before she has been betrothed, she takes on the representation of the affection for truth coming from matters of doctrine; for from these comes forth truth. Truth however is not truth unless it has life within it, and that life is affection, which is an attribute of love. As regards 'Rebekah' representing Divine truth that was to be joined to the Divine good of the Rational, this is clear from the details that occur in this chapter in the internal sense, and also from the fact that 'Isaac' represents the Lord's Divine Rational, 1893, 2066, 2083, 2630. Thus 'Rebekah', who became Isaac's wife, represents something within the Rational that was to be joined like a wife to a husband, and this something was clearly Divine Truth, for 'Abraham' in a similar way represented Divine Good itself, and 'Sarah his wife' Divine Truth itself joined to Divine Good, 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2904. Isaac and Rebekah represent something similar, but within the Lord's Divine Human, that is to say, within His Rational.

[2] In general 'a husband' in the Word means good and 'his wife' truth, 1468, 2517; for the essence of every marriage is derived, that is, conjugial love is derived, from the marriage of Divine Good to Truth, and of Truth to Good in the Lord, 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729, 2803. The reason the affection for truth comes from matters of doctrine is that Rebekah is said 'to have come out', that is to say, out of the city, and 'a city' means matters of doctrine, see 402, 2449. Truths too come from matters of doctrine.

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