Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 12:3
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AC 1421. Verse 3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and will curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all the families of the ground be blessed. "I will bless them that bless thee," signifies all happiness to those who acknowledge the Lord from the heart; "and will curse him that curseth thee," signifies unhappiness to those who do not acknowledge Him; "and in thee shall all the families of the ground be blessed," signifies that all things true and good are from the Lord.

AC 1422. I will bless them that bless thee. That this signifies all happiness to those who acknowledge the Lord from the heart, is evident from the signification of a "blessing," as involving all and each of the things that are from the Lord, as well those that are good as those that are true; thus celestial, spiritual, natural, worldly, and corporeal things; and because in the universal sense "blessing" embraces all these, it may be seen in each passage, from the connection, what is signified by "to bless;" for this adapts itself to the things of which it is predicated. From this it is evident that "I will bless them that bless thee," signifies all happiness to those who acknowledge the Lord from the heart; for in the internal sense, as already said, the Lord is here treated of.

[2] Among the ancients, "to bless Jehovah," or the Lord," was a customary form of speech, as is evident from the Word. Thus in David:--

Bless ye God in the congregations, the Lord from the fountain of Israel (Ps. 68:26).

Again

Sing to Jehovah, bless His name, proclaim His salvation from day to day (Ps. 96:2).

In Daniel:--

Then was the secret revealed in a vision of the night; therefore Daniel blessed the God of the heavens; he said, Blessed be the name of God Himself for ever and ever, for wisdom and power are His (Daniel 2:19, 20).

Of Zacharias and Simeon we also read that they "blessed God" (Luke 1:64; 2:28). Here it is evident that "to bless the Lord" is to sing to Him, to proclaim the good tidings of His salvation, to preach His wisdom and power, and thus to confess and acknowledge the Lord from the heart. They who do this cannot but be blessed by the Lord, that is, be gifted with those things which belong to blessing, namely, with celestial, spiritual, natural, worldly, and corporeal good; these, when they follow each other in this order, are the goods in which there is happiness.

[3] As "to bless Jehovah," or "the Lord," and "to be blessed by Jehovah," or "the Lord," was a common form of speech, it was therefore common also to say "Blessed be Jehovah." As in David:--

Blessed be Jehovah, because He hath heard the voice of my supplications (Ps. 28:6).

Blessed be Jehovah, for He hath made His mercy wonderful to me (Ps. 31:21).

Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayers, for His mercy from me (Ps. 66:20).

Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things and blessed be His glorious name forever, and let the whole earth be filled with His glory (Ps. 72:18, 19).

Blessed art Thou, O Jehovah teach me Thy statutes (Ps. 119:12).

Blessed be Jehovah, my Rock, that teacheth my bands (Ps. 144:1).

In Luke:--

Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying, Blessed be the God of Israel, for He hath visited and wrought deliverance for His people (Luke 1:67, 68).

AC 1423. And will curse him that curseth thee. That this signifies the unhappiness of those who do not acknowledge the Lord, is evident from the signification of "being cursed," and of cursing," as being to turn one’s self away from the Lord, as has been shown before (n. 245, 379), and consequently not to acknowledge Him; for they who do not acknowledge, turn themselves away. Thus "to curse" here involves all things opposite to those involved in "blessing."

AC 1424. And in thee shall all the families of the ground be blessed. That this signifies that all goods and truths are from the Lord, is evident from the signification of "to bless," which is treated of in this verse and the preceding; also from the signification of "the families of the ground," as being all good and truth; for in the Word "families" signify the like as do "nations" and "peoples," being predicated of both; and it is said, " families of the nations," and "families of the peoples." "Nations," as has been shown, signify goods and "peoples," as has also been shown, signify truths (n. 1259); and therefore "families" signify goods and also truths (n. 1261). The reason why these are called "all the families of the ground," is that all goods and truths are of the faith of love, which is of the church. That by "the ground" is signified the church, consequently the faith of the church, was shown above (n. 566).

GENESIS 12:3    previous  -  next  -  text  -  summary  -  Genesis  -  Full Page

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772). Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002. www.BibleMeanings.info