Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 24:3-4
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AC 3022. Verses 3, 4. And I will make thee swear by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite, in the midst of whom I dwell; but thou shalt go unto my land, and to my nativity; and take a woman for my son for Isaac. " And I will make thee swear by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth," signifies a most holy pledging to the Divine which is in the highest and in that which is therefrom; "that thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite," signifies that the Divine rational was not to be conjoined with any affection disagreeing with truth; "in the midst of whom I dwell," signifies the discordant things in the maternal human, that encompass "but thou shalt go unto my land, and to my nativity," signifies to the Divine celestial and spiritual things which the Lord had acquired to Himself; "and take a woman for my son for Isaac," signifies that thence was the affection of truth which should be conjoined with the affection of good of the rational.

AC 3023. I will make thee swear by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth. That this signifies a most holy pledging to the Divine which is in the highest and in that which is therefrom, is evident from the signification of "causing to swear," as being to pledge by oath; for to cause to swear is nothing else than to pledge; and this is most holy when it is by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that is, to the Divine which is above and which is beneath, or what is the same, to the Divine which is in the highest and in that which is therefrom. "Jehovah the God of heaven," being said of the Lord, denotes Jehovah Himself who is called the Father, from whom He was conceived, thus who was His Divine Essence; for the conception itself gave the veriest essence from which He was. "Jehovah the God of the earth" in this case means Jehovah who is called the Son, thus His Human essence; this came forth from the Divine essence when the Lord made it also Divine. Thus by "Jehovah the God of heaven" is signified the Divine that is in the highest; and by "Jehovah the God of the earth" is signified the Divine that is in that which is therefrom But the Lord is called "Jehovah the God of heaven" from His Divine that is in the heavens; and He is called the "God of the earth" from His Divine that is on earth. The Divine in the heavens is also that which is with man in his internals; but the Divine on earth is that which is in his externals; for the internals of man are his heaven, because by them he is conjoined with the angels; but his externals are his earth, for by them he is conjoined with men (n. 82, 913, 1411, 1733). When a man is regenerate, the internals flow into the externals, and the externals are from the internals. Hence also it may be known what the internals of the church are, and what its externals.

AC 3024. That thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite. That this signifies that the Divine rational was not to be conjoined with any affection disagreeing with truth, is evident from the signification of "taking a woman," as being to be conjoined by a covenant of marriage; from the signification of "my son," namely Isaac, as being the Lord‘s Divine rational (n. 1893, 2066, 2083, 2630); from the signification of "daughters," as being affections (n. 489-491, 568, 2362); and from the signification of the "Canaanite," as being evil (n. 1444, 1573, 1574); from which it is that the "daughters of the Canaanite" are affections that do not agree with truth. The subject here treated of is the Divine truth that was to be adjoined to the Divine good of the Lord’s rational, (n. 3013). By the "woman" who was to be associated by a covenant of marriage, is meant that truth itself, which was to be called forth from the natural man by the common way; by "my son" is meant the Lord‘s rational in respect to good, to which it was to be adjoined or associated; hence it may be known that by "not taking a woman from the daughters of the Canaanite," is signified that this rational was not to be conjoined with any affection that disagreed with truth. All conjunction of truth with good is effected by means of affection; for no truth can possibly enter into man’s rational and be conjoined there, except by means of affection; for in affection is the good of love, which alone conjoins (n. 1895); as may also be known to anyone who reflects.

[2] That the "daughters of the Canaanite" signify affections which disagree with truth, that is, affections of what is false, is evident from the signification of "daughters;" for daughters are mentioned in many passages of the Word, and every one can see that daughters are not there meant,-as where it is said, the "daughter of Zion," the "daughter of Jerusalem," the "daughter of Tarshish," the "daughter of My people." That by these are signified affections of good and of truth, has been shown in passages quoted above. And because they are affections of good and of truth, they are also churches, for churches are churches from these affections. Thus by the "daughter of Zion" is signified the celestial church, and this from the affection of good; but by the "daughter of Jerusalem" is signified the spiritual church, from the affection of truth (n. 2362); this is also signified by the "daughter of My people" (Isa. 22:4; Jer. 6:14, 26; 8:19, 21-22; 14:17; Lam. 2:11; 4:6; Ezek. 13:17).

[3] From this it is evident what is signified by the "daughters" of the nations; as by the "daughters of the Philistines," the "daughters of Egypt," the "daughters of Tyre and of Zidon," the "daughters of Edom," the "daughters of Moab," the "daughters of the Chaldeans" and "of Babel," and the "daughters of Sodom," namely, the affections of evil and falsity from which were their religious systems, and thus the religious systems themselves. That such is the signification of "daughters," may be seen from the passages that follow. In Ezekiel:--

The "daughters of the famous nations" denote the affections of evil. In Samuel:--

In Ezekiel:--

That daughters are not meant here, anyone can see; but the religiosities of such as are signified by the Philistines, which are of such a kind that they tale much about faith and lead no life of faith (n. 1197, 1198); for this reason they are also called the "uncircumcised," that is, those who are devoid of charity.

[4] In Jeremiah:--

The "daughter of Egypt" denotes the affection of reasoning from memory-knowledges concerning the truths of faith, as to whether they be so; thus she denotes the kind of religion that arises from this, which is such that nothing is believed except that which is comprehended by the senses, and thus nothing of the truth of faith (n. 215, 232, 233, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1385, 2196, 2203, 2209, 2568, 2588).

[5] In Isaiah:--

And in David:--

What is meant by the "daughter of Zidon" and the "daughter of Tyre," is evident from the signification of Zidon and of Tyre (n. 1201). In Jeremiah:--

In Isaiah:--

Again:--

In Jeremiah:--

Again:--

In Zechariah:--

In David:--

In Ezekiel:--

[6] Any one can see that in these passages by "daughters" are not meant daughters, but affections that disagree with truth, and thus religiosities that come from this source; but what these religiosities are, is evident from the signification of the peoples named,-as Edom, Moab, the Chaldeans, Babel, Sodom, and Samaria, which have been treated of in many places in the explications of the foregoing chapters of Genesis. Hence now it is evident what is here meant by the "daughters of the Canaanite."

[7] That the Israelites were not to contract marriages with the daughters of the Canaanites, also had regard to the spiritual laws that good and falsity, and evil and truth are not to be joined together; for thence comes profanation. The prohibition was also representative of the matter concerning which we read in (Deuteronomy 7:3); and in Malachi:--

AC 3025. In the midst of whom I dwell. That this signifies things discordant in the maternal human which encompass, is evident from the signification of "dwelling in the midst," her( of the Canaanite, as referring to the things that are round about, or that encompass; and that these are in disagreement with truth is evident from what was said above respecting the signification of the " daughters of the Canaanite." That these are the things which the Lord received hereditarily from the mother, and which He afterwards expelled when He made His Human Divine, is evident from what has been said and shown before on the same subject (n. 1414, 1444, 1573, 2159, 2574, 2649).

AC 3026. But thou shalt go unto my land and to my nativity. That this signifies to the Divine celestial and spiritual things which the Lord acquired to Himself, is evident from the signification of "land," as being the celestial of love (n. 1413, 1607); and from the signification of "nativity," as being the spiritual of love (n. 1145, 1255); here Divine celestial and spiritual things, because the Lord is treated of; and that He acquired these to Himself by His own power, may be seen above (n. 1815, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2083, 2500).

AC 3027. And take a woman for my son for Isaac. That this signifies that thence was the affection of truth that was to be conjoined with the affection of good of the rational, is evident from what was said above (n. 3024).

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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