Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 23:4
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AC 2914. Verse 4. I am a sojourner and a dweller with you; give me a possession of a sepulchre with you, and I will bury my dead from before me. "I am a sojourner and a dweller with you," signifies their first state, that although the Lord was unknown to them, still He could be with them; "give me a possession of a sepulchre with you," signifies that they might be regenerated; "and I will bury my dead from before me," signifies that thus He would come forth and rise again from the night which is with them.

AC 2915. I am a sojourner and a dweller with you. That this signifies their first state, that although the Lord was unknown to them still He could be with them, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord (frequently shown above) and from the signification of being a "sojourner with them," and of being a "dweller with them," as being unknown and yet with them. That this is the internal sense is plain from what precedes and what follows; for here a new church is treated of, and in this verse its first state, which is such that first of all the Lord is unknown to them; and yet because they live in the good of charity, and in what is just and equitable as to civil life, and in what is honorable and becoming as to moral life, they are such that the Lord can be with them; for the Lord‘s presence with man is in good, and therefore in what is just and equitable, and further in what is honorable and be. coming (what is honorable being the complex of all the moral virtues; and what is becoming being simply its form) for these are goods which succeed in order, and are the planes in man on which conscience is founded by the Lord, and consequently intelligence and wisdom. But with those who are not in these goods (that is to say from the heart or affection), nothing of heaven can be inseminated; for there is no plane or ground, thus there is no recipient; and as nothing of heaven can be inseminated, neither can the Lord be present there. The Lord’s presence is predicated according to the good, that is, according to the quality of the good; the quality of the good is according to the state of innocence, of love, and of charity, in which the truths of faith have been implanted or can be implanted.

AC 2916. Give me a possession of a sepulchre with you. That this signifies that they can be regenerated, is evident from the signification of a "sepulchre," which in the internal sense of the Word signifies life or heaven, and in the opposite sense death or hell. That it signifies life or heaven, is because the angels, who are in the internal sense of the Word, have no idea of a sepulchre because they have none of death; and therefore instead of a sepulchre they perceive nothing else than continuation of life, and thus resurrection-for man rises again as to his spirit, and is buried as to his body (n. 1854). And because burial" signifies resurrection, it also signifies regeneration, for regeneration is man‘s first resurrection, as he then dies in respect to the former man, and rises again as to the new. By regeneration a man from being dead becomes alive; hence comes the signification of a "sepulchre" in the internal sense. That the idea of regeneration occurs to the angels when the idea of a sepulchre is presented, is plain also from what was said above about little children (n. 2299).

[2] That in the opposite sense a "sepulchre" signifies death or hell, is because the evil do not rise again into life; and therefore when the evil are treated of and a sepulchre is mentioned, no other idea then occurs to the angels than that of hell; this is the reason why hell in the Word is also called a "sepulchre."

[3] That a" sepulchre" signifies resurrection, and also regeneration, is plain in Ezekiel:--

where the Prophet treats of the bones that were made to live, and in the internal sense of regeneration. That he treats of regeneration is plainly evident, for it is said, "when I shall put My spirit in you and ye shall live, and I shall place you on your own ground." "Sepulchres" here denote the former man and his evils and falsities, to "open," and to "come up out of" which, is to be regenerated. Thus the idea of a sepulchre perishes and is as it were put off, when the idea of regeneration or of the new life comes in.

[4] That the sepulchres were opened, and many bodies of the saints that were sleeping arose and went forth out of their sepulchres after the Lord’s resurrection, and entered into the holy city, and appeared unto many (Matt. 27:52, 53), involves what is similar, namely resurrection because of the Lord‘s resurrection, and in a more interior sense every resurrection. That the Lord raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44) also involves the raising up of a new church from the Gentiles; for all the miracles wrought by the Lord, because they were Divine, involved states of His church. The signification also is singular where it is said that the man who was cast into the sepulchre of Elisha, when he touched his bones, revived (2 Kings 13:20, 21); for by Elisha was represented the Lord.

[5] As "burial" signified resurrection in general, and every resurrection, therefore the ancients were very solicitous about their burials and the places where they should be buried--as Abraham, that he should be buried in Hebron in the land of Canaan; also Isaac and Jacob, with their wives (Gen. 47:29-31; 49:30-32); and Joseph, that his bones should be carried from Egypt into the land of Canaan (Gen. 50:25; Exod. 13:19; Josh. 24:32); David, and the kings who came after him, that they should be buried in Zion (1 Kings 2:10; 11:43; 14:31; 15:8, 24; 22:50; 2 Kings 8:24; 12:21; 14:20; 15:7, 38; 16:20). The reason of this was that the lad of Canaan and Zion represented and signified the Lord’s kingdom, and burial represented and signified resurrection; but that the place effects nothing in regard to resurrection must be evident to every one.

[6] That "burial" signifies resurrection to life, is also plain from other representatives, as that there should be no wailing for the wicked, and that they should not be buried but cast out (Jer. 8:2; 14:16; 16:4, 6; 20:6; 22:19; 25:33; 2 Kings 9:10; Rev. 11:9); and that wicked persons who had been buried should be cast forth from their sepulchres (Jer. 8:1, 2; 2 Kings 23:16-18). In the opposite sense however, a "sepulchre" signifies death or hell (Isa. 14:19-21; Ezek. 32:21-23, 25, 27; Ps. 88:5, 6, 11, 12; Num. 19:16, 18, 19).

AC 2917. I will bury my dead from before me. That this signifies that thus He would come forth and rise again from the night in which they were, is evident from the signification of "burying," as being to rise again (n. 2916); and from the signification of "dead," as being the state of shade or of night, that is, of ignorance (n. 2908, 2912), out of which the Lord comes forth and rises with man, when He is acknowledged. Before this He is in night, because He does not appear; He rises again with every one who is being regenerated.

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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