Ang Bibliya

 

Genesis 26

pag-aaral

   

1 And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.

2 And Jehovah appeared to him, and said, Go· not ·down into Egypt; inhabit the land of which I speak to thee.

3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for to thee, and to thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will raise·​·up the promise which I promised to Abraham thy father.

4 And I will cause thy seed to be multiplied as the stars of the heavens, and will give to thy seed all these lands; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,

5 because Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.

6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

7 And the men of the place asked him as·​·to his woman*; and he said, She is my sister; for he feared to say, She is my woman; lest the men of the place should kill me on·​·account of Rebekah; because she was good in appearance.

8 And it was, because the days were there prolonged to him, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked·​·out through a window, and saw, and behold Isaac was laughing with Rebekah his woman.

9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Surely behold she is thy woman. And how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, Because I said, Lest I die on·​·account·​·of her.

10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done to us, in that one of the people might have lightly lain·​·down with thy woman, and thou wouldst have brought guilt upon us?

11 And Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, He who touches this man and his woman, dying he shall die.

12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in that year a hundred measures, and Jehovah blessed him.

13 And the man became·​·great, and went on going and becoming·​·great until that he became· very ·great.

14 And he had livestock of the flock, and livestock of the herd, and much service; and the Philistines were·​·envious of him.

15 And all the wells that his father’s servants dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines blocked· them ·up, and filled them with dust.

16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go from with us; for thou art exceedingly more numerous than we.

17 And Isaac went thence, and encamped by the brook of Gerar, and dwelt there.

18 And Isaac returned, and dug again* the wells of waters which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father; and the Philistines blocked· them ·up after the death of Abraham; and he called them by names according·​·to the names which his father called them.

19 And the servants of Isaac dug in the gully, and found there a well of living waters.

20 And the shepherds of Gerar strove with Isaac’s shepherds, saying, The waters are ours; and he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.

21 And they dug another well, and they strove over that also, and he called the name of it Sitnah*.

22 And he moved·​·away from thence, and dug another well, and over it they strove not, and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now Jehovah has made us to be enlarged, and we shall be·​·fruitful in the land.

23 And he went·​·up from thence to Beer-sheba.

24 And Jehovah appeared to him in that night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, and I will bless thee, and will multiply thy seed, on account·​·of Abraham My servant.

25 And he built there an altar, and called upon the name of Jehovah, and stretched his tent there, and there the servants of Isaac dug·​·out a well.

26 And Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his companion, and Phichol the commander of his army.

27 And Isaac said to them, Wherefore have you come to me, and you have hated me, and have sent· me ·away from you.

28 And they said, Seeing we have seen that Jehovah was with thee; and we said, We pray thee, let there be an oath between us, between us and thee, and let us cut a covenant with thee.

29 If thou shalt do evil with us, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done only good with thee, and have sent· thee ·away in peace; thou art now the blessed of Jehovah.

30 And he made for them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

31 And they got·​·up·​·early in the morning, and promised a man to his brother; and Isaac sent· them ·away, and they went from him in peace.

32 And it was, in that day, that the servants of Isaac came and told him concerning the matter of the well which they had dug; and they said to him, We have found waters.

33 And he called it Shebah*; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba* even·​·to this day.

34 And Esau was a son of forty years, and he took for a woman Jehudith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

35 And they were bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

Mula sa Mga gawa ni Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia # 3375

Pag-aralan ang Sipi na ito

  
/ 10837  
  

3375. 'And I will fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham your father' means confirmation. This is clear from the meaning of 'an oath' or 'swearing' as confirmation, dealt with in 2842. Here it does not say that the covenant made with Abraham is to be fulfilled but that 'the oath' will be. The reason for this is that 'a covenant' has reference to what is celestial, which is good, whereas 'an oath' has reference to what is spiritual, namely truths, see 3037; and truths are the subject here. For the same reason also in verse 31 below it is not said of Isaac that he made a covenant with Abimelech but that 'he swore to him, a man to his brother', whereas in Genesis 21:32 it is said of Abraham that he and Abimelech 'made a covenant'; see Psalms 105:9. By the confirmation here which is meant by 'an oath' is understood the Lord's being joined to those who are in His kingdom, for an oath is the confirmation of a covenant, and by 'a covenant' is meant being joined together, 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021.

  
/ 10837  
  

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

Mula sa Mga gawa ni Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia # 1038

Pag-aralan ang Sipi na ito

  
/ 10837  
  

1038. That 'this is the sign of the covenant' means a token of the Lord's presence in charity is clear from the meaning of 'a covenant' and of 'the sign of a covenant'. That the covenant means the Lord's presence in charity has been shown already at Chapter 6:18, and above at verse 9 of the present chapter; and that a covenant is the Lord's presence in love and charity is clear from the very nature of a covenant. The purpose of any covenant is conjunction, that is to say, its purpose is that people may live together in friendship or in love. This also is why marriage is called a covenant. The Lord's conjunction with man does not exist except in love and charity, for the Lord is love itself and mercy. He wills to save everyone and by His mighty power to draw them towards heaven, that is, towards Himself. From this anyone may know and conclude that it is impossible for anybody to be joined to the Lord except by means of that which He Himself is, that is, except by acting like Him, or becoming one with Him - that is to say, by loving the Lord in return, and loving the neighbour as oneself. In this way alone is conjunction brought about; this constitutes the very essence of a covenant. When conjunction results from this, it quite plainly follows that the Lord is present. The Lord is indeed present with each individual, but that presence is closer or more remote, all depending on how near the person is to love or distant from it.

[2] Since 'the covenant' is the conjunction of the Lord with man by means of love, or what amounts to the same, the Lord's presence with man in love and charity, the covenant itself is called in the Word 'a covenant of peace', for 'peace' means the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord's kingdom consists in mutual love, in which alone peace resides, as is said in Isaiah,

The mountains will depart and the hills be removed, but My mercy will not depart from you, and the covenant of My peace will not be removed, said Jehovah, the One who takes pity on you. Isaiah 54:10.

Here mercy, which is an attribute of love, is called 'a covenant of peace'.

In Ezekiel,

I will raise up over them one shepherd, and He will pasture them - My servant David. He will pasture them and He will be a shepherd to them. And I will make with them a covenant of peace. Ezekiel 34:23, 25.

Here 'David' is plainly used to mean the Lord, and His presence with a regenerate person is described by the words 'He will pasture them'.

[3] In the same prophet,

My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. And I will make with them a covenant of peace; it will be an eternal covenant with them. And I will bless 1 them and cause them to multiply, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst for evermore. And I will be their God and they will be My people. Ezekiel 37:14, 16-17.

Here similarly the Lord is meant by David. Love is meant by the 'sanctuary in their midst', the Lord's presence and conjunction in love by the promise that 'He will be their God, and they will be His people', which is called 'a covenant of peace' and 'an eternal covenant'.

In Malachi,

You will know that I have sent this command to you, that it may be My covenant with Levi, said Jehovah Zebaoth. My covenant was with him, [a covenant] of life 2 and peace, and I have given them to him in fear, and he will fear Me. Malachi 2:4-5.

In the highest sense 'Levi' means the Lord, and from this the person who has love and charity; and this being so 'a covenant of life' and peace with Levi' means in love and charity.

[4] In Moses, in reference to Phinehas,

Behold, I am giving to him My covenant of peace, and it will be to him and his seed after him a covenant of eternal priesthood. Numbers 25:12-13.

Here 'Phinehas' is not used to mean Phinehas but the priesthood which he represented and which means love and what belongs to love, as does the entire priesthood of that Church. Everyone knows that the priesthood did not remain with Phinehas for ever.

In the same author,

Jehovah your God is God Himself, a faithful God who keeps a covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and who keep His commandments, to the thousandth generation. Deuteronomy 7:9, 12.

Here the Lord's presence with man in love is clearly meant by 'the covenant', for it is said to be 'with those who love Him and keep His commandments'.

[5] Because the covenant is the conjunction of the Lord with man by means of love, it follows that it is also achieved by means of all the things allied to love, which are the truths of faith and are called commandments. For all the commandments, indeed the Law and the Prophets, are based on that single law that men ought to love the Lord above all things and the neighbour as themselves. This is clear from the Lord's words in Matthew 22:35-40; Mark 12:28-34. This is also why the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written are called 'the tablets of the covenant'. Since a covenant or conjunction is achieved by means of the laws or commandments of love it was also achieved by means of the social laws introduced by the Lord into the Jewish Church, which are called 'testimonies', as well as by the religious observances commanded by the Lord, which are called 'statutes'. All of these are called [laws] of the covenant because they have regard to love and charity.

As is said of King Josiah,

The king stood upon the pillar, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to establish the words of the covenant. 2 Kings 23:3.

[6] From these references it is now clear what a covenant is, and that the covenant is internal, for the conjunction of the Lord with man is achieved by means of internal things, and never by means of external things separated from internal. External things are merely images and representatives of those that are internal, as the action of a person is an image representative of his thought and will, and as a charitable act is an image representative of charity present within, in intention and mind. Thus all the religious observances of the Jewish Church were images representative of the Lord, and so of love and charity, and of all things deriving from these. It is by means of the internal things of a person therefore that the covenant or conjunction is achieved. External things are no more than signs of the covenant, which also is what they are called. That internal things are the means by which the covenant or conjunction is achieved is quite clear, as in Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, when I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers, for they rendered My covenant invalid. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law in the midst of them and will write it on their hearts. Jeremiah 31:31-33.

This refers to a new Church. It is plainly stated that the covenant itself is achieved by means of internal things, and indeed within conscience on which the Law is written, the whole of which Law, as stated, is that of love.

[7] That external things do not constitute the covenant unless internal things are joined to them and so through that union act as one and the same cause, but are merely 'signs of the covenant' by means of which, as by representative images, the Lord might be called to mind, is clear from the fact that the sabbath and circumcision are called 'signs' of the covenant. That the sabbath is so called is clear in Moses,

The children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, an eternal covenant. Between Me and the children of Israel this is a sign eternally. Exodus 31:16-17.

And that circumcision is called 'a sign of the covenant' is clear in the same author,

This is My covenant which you shall keep between Me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you is to be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. Genesis 17:10-11.

For the same reason also blood is called 'the blood of the covenant', Exodus 24:7-8.

[8] The chief reason why external religious ceremonies were called signs of the covenant was so that from them people might call interior things to mind, that is, the things meant by them. All the religious observances of the Jewish Church were nothing else. For this reason they were also called signs that would serve to remind the people of interior things - for example, the practice of binding the chief commandment on the hand and of wearing frontlets, as stated in Moses,

You shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. And you shall bind these words as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 6:5, 8; 11:13, 18.

Because it means power 'the hand' here means the will, for power is an attribute of the will; while 'frontlets between the eyes' means the understanding. Thus 'a sign' means calling to mind the chief commandment, or epitome of the Law, that it may be constantly in the will and constantly in the thought, that is, that the Lord and love may be present within the whole will and the whole thought. Such is the presence of the Lord and from Him of mutual love existing with angels. That constant presence and the nature of it will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on. And in like manner here the statement, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I give between Me and you; I have given My bow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of the covenant', means no other sign than a token of the Lord's presence in charity, and so man's remembrance of Him. But in what way the bow in the cloud provides that token and so remembrance will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed later on.

Mga talababa:

1. literally, give

2. literally, of lives

  
/ 10837  
  

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