Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 23:11
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AC 2944. Verse 11. Nay, my lord, hear me; the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee; to the eyes of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead. "Nay, my lord, hear me," signifies that first state, described before; "the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee," signifies preparation by themselves as to the things that are of the church and of faith; "in the eyes of the sons of my people give I it thee," signifies according to the understanding of all; "bury thy dead," signifies that they may come forth from night and be raised up.

AC 2945. Nay, my lord, hear me. That this signifies that first state, described above (n. 2935, 2936), namely, that they were in obscurity of faith, is evident from the refusal, in that they were not willing to listen to Abraham, that he should give silver in full (verse 9), which means in the internal sense that they should be redeemed by the Lord), but desired to prepare themselves as to the things of the church and of faith, that is, to reform themselves. These words, "Nay, my lord, hear me," involve their state; that is, the state of their thought about redemption and reformation; for a proposal immediately follows.

AC 2946. The field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee. That this signifies preparation by themselves as to the things that are of the church and of faith, is evident from the signification of "field," as being the church (n. 368, 2936); from the signification of the "cave" therein, that is, in the field, as being obscurity of faith (n. 2935); and from the signification of "giving the field" and "giving the cave," or what is the same, not receiving silver from Abraham, as being not to desire to be redeemed by the Lord, but by themselves, and thus to desire to prepare themselves as to these things. Such is the first state of all who are being reformed and made spiritual, namely, that they do not believe that they are reformed by the Lord but by themselves, that is, they believe all of the will of good and of the thought of truth to be from themselves; they are also left in this state by the Lord, since in no other way can they be reformed. For if before they have been regenerated it should be said to them that they cannot do anything of good from themselves, or think anything of truth from themselves, they would then either fall into the error of thinking that they must wait for influx into the will and influx into the thought, and if this does not take place must attempt nothing; or into the error of thinking that if good and truth were from any other source than themselves, nothing would be imputed to them for righteousness; or into the idea that so they would be as it were machines, and not their own masters, or in control of themselves; or into some other error. It is therefore permitted them at that time to think that good and truth are from themselves.

[2] But after they are regenerate, then by degrees the knowledge is insinuated into them that the case is otherwise, and that all good and truth are solely from the Lord; and still further, when they are becoming more perfected, that whatever does not come from the Lord is evil and false. To the regenerate, if not in the life of the body still in the other life, it is given not only to know this, but also to perceive it; for all the angels are in the perception that it is so. (See what was said above on these subjects, namely, that all good and truth are from the Lord, (n. 1614, 2016); that all intelligence and wisdom are from the Lord, (n. 109, 112, 121, 124); that man of himself can do nothing of good and think nothing of truth, (n. 874-876); that nevertheless every one ought to do good as if from what is his own, and not hang down his hands, (n. 1712); and that if a man compels himself to resist evil and to do good, as from himself, he receives from the Lord a heavenly Own, (n. 1937, 1947).

AC 2947. To the eyes of the sons of my people give I it thee. That this signifies as to the understanding of all, is evident from the signification of the "eyes," as being the understanding (n. 2701); and from the signification of "sons of the people," as being all; "sons of the people" are those who for the first time are initiated into truths, for "people" are those who are in truths (n. 1259, 1260); therefore it is not said "to the eyes of my people," but "to the eyes of the sons of my people."

AC 2948. Bury thy dead. That this signifies that they may come forth from night and be raised up, is evident from the signification of being "buried," as being to rise again, or what is the same, to be raised up; and from the signification of "dead," as being night as to the goods and truths of faith (n. 2917, 2923, 2925, 2931), where are the same words.

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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