Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 50:10-11
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AC 6536. Verses 10, 11. And they came to the threshing-floor Atad, which is in the passage of the Jordan, and they wailed there a very great and grievous wailing; and he made a mourning for his father seven days. And the inhabitant of the land, the Canaanite, saw the mourning in the threshing-floor Atad, and they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians; wherefore they called the name of it Abel-mizraim, which is in the passage of the Jordan. "And they came to the threshing-floor Atad," signifies the first state; "which is in the passage of the Jordan," signifies which is a state of initiation into the knowledges of good and truth; "and they wailed there a very great and grievous wailing," signifies grief; "and he made a mourning for his father seven days," signifies the end of the grief; "and the inhabitant of the land, the Canaanite, saw the grievous mourning in the threshing-floor Atad," signifies a perception of grief by the good of the church; "and they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians," signifies that memory-knowledges have grief before they are initiated into the truths of the church; "wherefore they called the name of it Abel-mizraim," signifies the quality of the grief.

AC 6537. And they came to the threshing-floor Atad. That this signifies the first state, is evident from the signification of "threshing-floor," as being where the good of truth is, for in a threshing-floor there is grain, and by "grain" is signified the good that is from truth (n. 5295, 5410), and also the truth of good (n. 5959); and from the signification of "Atad," as being the quality of this state, according to the signification of names of places elsewhere. That by the "threshing-floor Atad" is signified a state, namely as to the good and truth of the church, is because it was at the passage of the Jordan, and by this passage is signified initiation into the knowledges of good and truth. For the Jordan was the first boundary in respect to the land of Canaan; and as by the "land of Canaan" is signified the church, therefore by the "Jordan" is signified those things which are the first of the church, or by means of which entrance to the church is opened.

[2] Hence it is that by the "threshing-floor Atad" is signified the first state; and as the first state was signified, mourning was made near the threshing-floor, because it was on their side of the Jordan, and the land, of Canaan, by which is signified the church, was there in sight. That a "threshing-floor" signifies where are the good of truth and the truth of good, thus where are the things of the church, is evident in Joel:--

where the "sons of Zion" denote truths from good; the "threshing-floors full of grain," the abundance of truths and goods.

[3] In Hosea:--

where "committing whoredom and loving harlot hire" denotes falsifying truths and loving what is falsified; "grain-floors" denote the truths of good falsified.

[4] As a "threshing-floor" signified good and also truth, therefore at the time when they gathered from the floor, they celebrated the feast of tabernacles, of which in Moses:--

the "feast of tabernacles" signified holy worship, thus worship from good and truth (n. 3312, 4391).

AC 6538. Which is in the passage of the Jordan. That this signifies which is a state of initiation into the knowledges of good and truth, is evident from the signification of the "Jordan," as being initiation into the knowledges of good and truth, thus that which is first of the Lord’s kingdom and church in respect to entrance, and last in respect to exit (n. 4255); The rivers bounding the land of Canaan were representative of the ultimates in the Lord‘s kingdom, (n. 1585, 4116, 4240), hence by the "passage of Jordan" is signified initiation into the knowledges of good and truth, for the knowledges of good and truth are the first things whereby man is initiated into the things that belong to the church.

AC 6539. And they wailed there a very great and grievous wailing. That this signifies grief, is evident from the signification of a "wailing," as being grief. The grief here signified is the grief of initiation (n. 6537); for before the knowledges of good and truth, which are the initiaments, can be planted in good, and thus become the good of the church, there is grief; because another state must be induced on the natural, and the memory-knowledges there must be set in a different order; thus those which the man had previously loved must be destroyed; and therefore he must undergo temptations. Hence comes the grief which is represented by the grievous wailing which they wailed.

AC 6540. And he made a mourning for his father seven days. That this signifies the end of the grief, is evident from the signification of "mourning" as being grief before the knowledges of good and truth have been implanted (n. 6539); and from the signification of "seven days," as being an entire period from beginning to end (n. 728, 2044, 3845, 6508) here therefore the end, because when those days were finished, they passed over the Jordan.

AC 6541. And the inhabitant of the land, the Canaanite, saw the grievous mourning in the threshing-floor Atad. That this signifies a perception of grief by the good of the church, is evident from the signification of "seeing," as being a perception (n. 2150, 3764, 4723, 5400); from the signification of "inhabitant," as being good (n. 2268, 2451, 2712, 3613); from the signification of "land," here the land of Canaan, where was its "inhabitant the Canaanite," as being the church (n. 1413, 1437, 1607, 1866, 3038, 3481, 3705); from the signification of "mourning," as being grief (n. 6539, 6540); and from the signification of the "threshing-floor Atad," as being the first state, namely that of initiation (n. 6537, 6538). Hence it is plain that by the "inhabitant of the land, the Canaanite, saw the grievous mourning in the threshing-floor Atad," is signified a perception of grief by the good of the church.

AC 6542. And they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians. That this signifies that memory-knowledges have grief before they are initiated into the truths of the church, is evident from what has been said above (n. 6539), where these words were unfolded.

AC 6543. Wherefore they called the name of it Abel-mizraim. That this signifies the quality of the grief, is evident from the signification of a "name" and of "calling by name," as being the quality (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3421), and because in old time names were given which signified things and states, thus the quality (n. 1946, 3422, 4298); therefore the quality itself is signified by "Abel-mizraim," by which name in the original tongue is meant "the mourning of the Egyptians."

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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