Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 27:5-7
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AC 3506. Verses 5-7. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son; and Esau went to the field to hunt for a hunting, to bring it. And Rebekah said unto Jacob her son, saying Behold I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me a hunting, and make me dainties, and I will eat, and will bless thee before Jehovah before my death. " And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son," signifies the affection of truth and life from it; "and Esau went to the field to hunt for a hunting, to bring it," - signifies the endeavor of the affection of good to procure truth which might be adjoined to the Divine rational; "and Rebekah said unto Jacob her son, saying," signifies the perception of the Lord from Divine truth concerning natural truth; "behold I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying," signifies that the Divine good of the Divine rational desired the affection of good; " bring me a hunting," signifies the truth of good and make me dainties," signifies the desire and delight from the pleasantness thence "and I will eat," signifies appropriation thus "and will bless thee before Jehovah," signifies conjunction thereby "before my death," signifies thus life in the natural.

AC 3507. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. That this signifies the affection of truth and life therefrom, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Lord’s Divine rational as to Divine truth conjoined with the Divine good therein, thus the very affection of truth and from the signification of "hearing Isaac speak," as being life from it; for in the internal sense "to hear speak" denotes influx, because in the representative sense "to hear" denotes to obey (n. 2542) and to speak" denotes to will and flow in (n. 2626, 2951, 3037) thus in the supreme sense "to hear speak‘ denotes life therefrom, namely, the life of Divine truth from Divine good to his son," in the internal sense denotes concerning the good of the natural, and thence the truth of the natural. That this is the sense of these words does not so plainly appear, because it is widely removed from the sense of the letter, which is historical; nevertheless such is the case, for angelic ideas are altogether unlike human ideas. angelic ideas are spiritual, and when they penetrate inwardly they are celestial; but human ideas are natural, and when derived from historicals, are sensuous. And yet the Lord effects through the Word such a correspondence between spiritual things which are of heaven and natural things which are of the world, that natural ideas may be changed into spiritual, and this in a moment. From this comes the conjunction of heaven with the world through man, and indeed through the Word, consequently through the church in which is the Word. That there is a correspondence between natural and spiritual things in each and all of those things which can possibly be apprehended and perceived by the mind, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy become evident from what is related from experience concerning the Grand Man, at the end of the following chapters.

AC 3508. And Esau went to the field to hunt for a hunting, to bring it. That this signifies the endeavor of the affection of good to procure truth which might be conjoined with the Divine rational, is evident from the representation of Esau, as being the good of the natural; hence comes the affection of good of the rational in the natural, for the good which is in the natural is not of the natural, but is of the rational in the natural (n. 3498) and from the signification of going to the field to limit for a hunting, to bring it," as being the endeavor to procure truth for itself; for a "field" is where there is good ground (n. 3500); a "hunting" is truth which is from good (n. 3501); and "to bring it," is to procure it, thus to adjoin it to the Divine rational. As before said, in the supreme sense the glorification of the Lord‘s natural is here treated of; and in the representative sense the regeneration of the natural in man (n. 3490). It is according to order that this should be accomplished through truth, that is, through the knowledges of good and truth, for without these the natural cannot be enlightened by the rational, or through the rational thus it cannot be regenerated, knowledges being the vessels recipient of the good and truth flowing in from the rational; and according to the quality and quantity which the vessels receive, such is the enlightenment. The vessels which receive good and truth from the rational are the very truths of the natural, which are nothing else than memory-knowledges, knowledges, and doctrinal things. Goods come from the order of the things which flow in, and from the order among themselves of the things which are there; hence comes the good of the natural.

AC 3509. And Rebekah said unto Jacob her son. That this signifies the Lord’s perception from Divine truth concerning natural truth, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Divine truth of the Lord‘s Divine rational (n. 3012, 3013, 3077); from the signification of "saying," as being to perceive (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2506, 2515, 2552, 2619); and from the representation of Jacob, as being the Lord’s natural as to truth (n. 3305); from all which it is manifest that by "Rebekah said unto Jacob her son," is signified the Lord‘s perception from Divine truth concerning natural truth. That the Lord from the Divine good of the Divine rational which is represented by Isaac, willed to procure truth for Himself through the good of the natural which is represented by Esau, whereby He might glorify or make Divine His natural; but that the Lord from the Divine truth of the Divine rational which is represented by Rebekah willed to procure for Himself through the truth of the natural which is represented by Jacob the truth by means of which the rational might be glorified or made Divine, cannot be apprehended unless it is illustrated by the things that come to pass in man while being regenerated or made new by the Lord; nor indeed even by this unless it is know" how the case is with the rational as to the good and as to the truth therein-which must therefore be briefly stated -

[2] The rational mind is distinguished into two faculties, one faculty being called the will, and the other the understanding. During man’s regeneration, that which proceeds from the will is called good, and that which proceeds from the understanding is called truth. Before man has been regenerated the will does not act as one with the understanding; but the former wills good, while the latter wills truth; insomuch that an effort of the will is perceived as being quite distinct from one of the understanding. This however is perceived only in those who reflect, and who know what the will is and the things that belong thereto, and what the understanding is and the things that belong thereto; but it is not perceived by those who do not know these things and therefore who do not reflect, for the reason that the natural mind is regenerated through the rational mind (n. 3493), and this according to an order such that the good of the rational does not flow immediately into the good of the natural and regenerate it, but through the truth which is of the understanding, thus in appearance from the truth of the rational. These are the things treated of in this chapter in the internal sense; for "Isaac" is the rational mind as to the good which is of the will, "Rebekah" being the same with respect to the truth which is of the understanding; "Esau" is the good of the natural that comes forth from the good of the rational; and "Jacob" is the truth of the natural that comes forth from the good of the rational through the truth therein.

[3] From these things it may be seen what arcana are contained in the internal sense of the Word but still there are very few which can be described to human apprehension; while those which transcend it, and cannot be described, are without limit; for in proportion as the Word penetrates more deeply, that is, more interiorly, into heaven, the more innumerable and ineffable the arcana become, not only to man, but also to the angels of the lower heaven; and when it reaches the inmost heaven, the angels there perceive that the arcana are infinite, and are altogether incomprehensible to them, because they are Divine. Such is the Word.

AC 3510. Behold I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying. That this signifies that the Divine good of the Divine rational desired the affection of good, is evident from the representation of Isaac, who is here the "father," as being the Divine good of the Divine rational; from the signification of "speaking," as being to desire (n. 2626, 2951, 3037); and from the representation of Esau, as being the affection of good in the natural (n. 3508).

AC 3511. Bring me a hunting. That this signifies the truth of good, is evident from the signification of a "hunting," as being the truth of good (n. 3501).

AC 3512. And make me dainties. That this signifies the desire and delight from the pleasantness thence, is evident from the signification of "dainties," as being what is pleasing (n. 3502), thus desire and delight from the pleasantness thereof, that is, from truth; for as before said in the number cited, truths are introduced into the natural of man by what is pleasing and in agreement therewith and those which are not so introduced do not inhere, and thus are not conjoined with the rational by correspondence. Moreover, like all other memory-knowledges, truths are allotted their place in the memory that belongs to the natural man in accordance with the pleasant and delightful things that introduced them; as is evident from the fact that when these pleasant and delightful things return, the things that were introduced by them also return; and also on the other hand that when these things are recalled, there are at the same time excited the delightful and pleasant things to which they had been adjoined.

AC 3513. And I will eat. That this signifies appropriation thus, is evident from the signification of "eating," as being to appropriate (n. 2187, 2343, 3168, 3503). Appropriation is effected when truths, or the knowledges of good and truth, are insinuated into the natural by means of things that are pleasant and delightful; and when these truths are adjoined to good there, there is then effected a communication with the truth and good of the rational, thus with the rational; and this communication is what is called appropriation, inasmuch as the truth and good are of the rational in the natural; for the things in the rational relatively to those in the natural are as particulars relatively to generals. It is known that from particulars there comes forth what is general, and that without particulars no general could come into existence. The general of the particulars of the rational is that which is exhibited in the natural and because it is a general, it appears under another form, and this according to the order of the particulars which compose it, thus according to the form thence derived. If the singulars and derivative particulars of celestial good and spiritual truth are what form the general in the natural, there then comes forth a celestial and spiritual form, and in a certain image there is represented something of heaven in every single thing of the general; but if the singulars and particulars are not those of good and truth, but of evil and falsity, which form the generals in the natural, there is then represented in an image something of hell in every single thing of the general.

[2] Such are the things which are signified by the eating and drinking in the Holy Supper, where also by "eating and drinking" is signified appropriation namely, by "eating" the appropriation of good, and by drinking" the appropriation of truth. If good, that is, love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, form the internal or rational man, and through this the external or natural man corresponding to it, then the man becomes in particular and in general an image of heaven, consequently an image of the Lord; but if contempt for the Lord and for the good and truth of faith, and hatred toward the neighbor, form the internal man, then the man becomes in particular and in general an image of hell; and especially when at the same time this is done in what is holy, for thence comes profanation. Thus it is that to those who eat and drink worthily, eternal life is appropriated; while they who eat and drink unworthily, appropriate death unto themselves.

AC 3514. And will bless thee before Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction thereby, is evident from the signification of "blessing thee," as being adjunction to his life (n. 3504) and whereas it is here said, " I will bless thee before Jehovah," it signifies conjunction. Adjunction is predicated of the communication of the truth of the natural with the good of the rational; but conjunction, of the communication of the good of the natural with the good of the rational; for there is a parallelism between the Lord and man as to the celestial things which are of good, but not as to the spiritual things which are of truth (n. 1832).

AC 3515. Before my death. That this signifies thus life in the natural, is evident from the signification of "death," as being resuscitation to life (n. 3498, 3505).

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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