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Genesis第23章

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1 And the life of Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years: [these were] the years of the life of Sarah.

2 And Sarah died in Kirjath-Arba: that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

3 And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,

4 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me a possession of a sepulchre with you, that I may bury my dead from before me.

5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,

6 Hear us, my lord: thou art a prince of God among us: in the choicest of our sepulchres bury thy dead: none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre for burying thy dead.

7 And Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth,

8 and spoke to them, saying, If it be your will that I should bury my dead from before me, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar,

9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which is his, which is at the end of his field; for the full money let him give it to me amongst you for a possession of a sepulchre.

10 And Ephron was dwelling among the sons of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, in the ears of the sons of Heth, [even] of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,

11 No, my lord: hear me. The field give I thee; and the cave that is in it, to thee I give it; before the eyes of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.

12 And Abraham bowed down before the people of the land;

13 and he spoke to Ephron, in the ears of the people of the land, saying, But if only thou wouldst listen to me, I give the money for the field: take [it] of me, and I will bury my dead there.

14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,

15 My lord, hearken to me. A field of four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

16 And Abraham hearkened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the money that he had named in the ears of the sons of Heth -- four hundred shekels of silver, current with the merchant.

17 So the field of Ephron, which was at Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all its borders round about,

18 were assured to Abraham for a possession before the eyes of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.

19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah, opposite to Mamre: that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan.

20 And the field and the cave that was in it were assured to Abraham for a possession of a sepulchre by the sons of Heth.

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#2946

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2946. 'The field I give to you, and the cave that is in it I give to you' means preparation from themselves as regards the things that belong to the Church and to faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'a field' as the Church, dealt with in 368, 2936; from the meaning of 'the cave that is in it', that is to say, in the field, as the obscurity of faith, dealt with in 2935; and from the meaning of 'giving the field and giving the cave' - or what amounts to the same, not taking any payment from Abraham - as not wishing to be redeemed by the Lord, but to achieve it by themselves and so to prepare themselves in these matters. Such is the first state of all who are being reformed and becoming spiritual; that is to say, they do not believe that they are reformed by the Lord but by themselves, that is, that all will of good and all thought of truth originate in themselves. What is more, the Lord maintains them in that state, for if He does not they are not able to be reformed. Indeed if they were told before regeneration has taken place that they are incapable by themselves of doing anything good, or by themselves of thinking anything true, they would either lapse into the mistake of supposing that they must wait for an influx into the will and an influx into thought, and not attempt a thing, if that influx does not take place; or into the mistake of supposing that if good and truth have any other origin but themselves, nothing would ever be attributed to them as righteousness; or into the mistake that in this case they would be like machines without a mind or any control of their own; or into further mistakes. Therefore they are allowed to think that good and truth originate in themselves.

[2] But after they have been regenerated, the recognition that the situation is different is gradually instilled into them - that everything true comes wholly from the Lord. And as they grow more perfect it is also instilled into them that whatever does not come from the Lord is evil and false. Those who have been regenerated are led, if not during their lifetime then in the next life, not only to know this but also to see it with perception, for all angels enjoy the perception that this is so. Please see what has been stated already about these matters in the following places:

Everything good and true comes from the Lord, 1614, 2016.

All intelligence and wisdom come from the Lord, 109, 112, 121, 124.

Of himself man cannot achieve anything good or think anything true, 874-876.

Nevertheless everyone ought to do good as if from his proprium or own self, and not stay his hands, 1712.

If man compels himself to withstand evil and to do good as if from himself he receives a heavenly proprium from the Lord, 1937, 1947.

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