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Genesis第25章

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1 And Abraham married another wife, named Cetura:

2 Who bore to him Zamran, and Jecsan, and Madan, and Madian, and Jesboc, and Sue.

3 Jecsan also begot Saba and Dadan. The children of Dadan were Assurim, and Latusim, and Loomin.

4 But of Madian was born Epha, and Opher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaa: all these were the children of Cetura.

5 And Abraham gave all his possessions to Isaac.

6 And to the children of the concubines he gave gifts, and separated them from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, to the east country.

7 And the days of Abraham's life were a hundred and seventy-five years.

8 And decaying he died in a good old age, and having lived a long time, and being full of days: and was gathered to his people.

9 And Isaac and Ismael his sons buried him in the double cave, which was situated in the field of Ephron the son of Seor the Hethite, over against Mambre;

10 Which he had bought of the children of Heth: there was he buried, and Sara his wife.

11 And after his death, God blessed Isaac his son, who dwelt by the well named Of the living and seeing.

12 These are the generations of Ismael the son of Abraham, whom Agar the Egyptian, Sara's servant, bore unto him:

13 And these are the names of his children according to their calling and generations. The firstborn of Ismael was Nabajoth, then Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam.

14 And Masma, and Duma, and Massa,

15 Hadar, and Thema, and Jethur, and Naphis, and Cedma.

16 These are the sons of Ismael: and these are their names by their castles and towns, twelve princes of their tribes.

17 And the years of Ismael's life were a hundred and thirty-seven, and decaying he died, and was gathered unto his people.

18 And he dwelt from Hevila as far as Sur, which looketh towards Egypt, to them that go towards the Assyrians. He died in the presence of all his brethren.

19 These also are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac:

20 Who when he was forty years old, took to wife Rebecca the daughter of Bathuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia, sister to Laban.

21 And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and he heard him, and made Rebecca to conceive.

22 But the children struggled in her womb: and she said: If it were to be so with me, what need was there to conceive? And she went to consult the Lord.

23 And he answering said: Two nations are in thy womb, and Two peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.

24 And when her time was come to be delivered, behold twins were found in her womb.

25 He that came forth first was red, and hairy like a skin: and his name was called Esau. Immediately the other coming forth, held his brother's foot in his hand, and therefore he was called Jacob.

26 Isaac was threescore years old when the children were born unto him.

27 And when they were grown up, Esau became a skillful hunter, and a husbandman, but Jacob a plain man dwelt in tents.

28 Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his hunting: and Rebecca loved Jacob.

29 And Jacob boiled Pottage: to whom Esau, coming faint out of the field,

30 Said: Give me of this red pottage, for I am exceeding faint. For which reason his name was called Edom.

31 And Jacob said to him: Sell me thy first birthright.

32 He answered: Lo I die, what will the first birthright avail me.

33 Jacob said: Swear therefore to me. Esau swore to him, and sold his first birthright.

34 And so taking bread and the pottage of lentils, he ate, and drank, and went his way; making little account of having sold his first birthright.

   

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Arcana Coelestia#3309

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3309. 'And Esau was a man skilled in hunting' means the good of life that has its origin in sensory truths and factual truths. This is clear from the representation of 'Esau' as the good of life, dealt with above, and from the meaning of 'a man skilled in hunting' as those who have the affection for truth, dealt with in what follows - for 'a skilled man' has reference to the affection for truth, that is, to those who have that affection for truth, whereas 'hunting' means truths themselves, though truths which belong to the natural man and in which goods have their origin. Now because the truths of the natural man are called factual, 3293, and factual truths are primarily of two kinds or two degrees - sensory and factual proper - 'hunting' here means both of these. Sensory truths occur with children, factual with those same children when they are growing up, for factual truths cannot exist with anyone before he has received sensory truths because the ideas that make up factual truths are acquired from sensory truths. Then, from those factual truths, other truths even more interior can be learned and grasped, which are called matters of doctrine, meant by 'a man of the field', dealt with below in the next paragraph.

[2] The reason why 'hunting' means the sensory truths and factual truths that are taught to those in whom the good of life is present and who have the affection for those truths is that the word 'hunting' in a broad sense refers to creatures caught through hunting, such as rams, he-goats, she-goats, and the like, by which are meant spiritual goods, see 2180, 2830; and also because the weapons used in hunting, which were the quiver, the bow, and darts, mean matters of doctrine upholding what is true, 2685, 2686, 2709. These are the things meant by 'hunting', as may be seen from what Isaac his father told Esau, in Chapter 27 below,

Take now your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt venison for me, and make me savoury food such as I love. Genesis 27:3-4; and, in the same chapter, from what he told Jacob, who was posing as Esau,

Bring it to me that I may eat from my son's venison, so that my soul may bless you. Genesis 27:25.

These quotations show what 'hunting' or 'venison' means.

[3] Consequently 'hunting' is teaching [what is true] or else inducing a belief in what is false, and in both senses, that is to say, acting from an affection for truth or from an affection for falsity. Acting from an affection for truth is described in Jeremiah,

I will bring them back over their land which I gave to their fathers. Behold, I am sending to many fishermen, and they will fish them; and after that I will send to many hunters and they will hunt them from upon every mountain, and from upon every hill, and from the holes in the rocks. Jeremiah 16:15-16.

'Fishermen' stands for those whose teaching is drawn from sensory truths, 40, 991, 'hunters' those whose teaching is drawn from factual truths, and also from matters of doctrine. 'Upon every mountain, and upon every hill' stands for teaching people who are stirred by the affection for good and by the affection for truth - 'mountain' and 'hill' carrying such meanings, see 795, 796, 1430. 'Hunting in the field', as in Genesis 27:3, implies the same. Inducing others to believe what is false and doing so from the affection for falsity is described in Ezekiel,

Behold, I am against your little pillows with which you there hunt the souls to make them fly away, and I will tear them from on your arms, and I will let the souls go that you hunt, souls to fly away; and I will tear off your veils and deliver My people out of your hand, and they will be no more in your hand to be hunted. Ezekiel 13:18-21.

For the meaning of 'hunting' in this sense, see 1178, though nets are normally associated with this type of hunting.

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