Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5993

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5993. From all that has now been said it may be seen that to be in touch with the spiritual world a person must have two spirits from hell and two angels from heaven linked to him, and that without them he would not have any life at all. For the human being cannot by any means receive his life from general influx, like living creatures devoid of reason, which are dealt with in 5850, because his entire life is contrary to order. That being his state, if he were moved by general influx alone he would be moved inevitably by hell, not by heaven. And if not moved by heaven he would not have any interior life, nor thus any thought or will at all such as a human being possesses, not even any such as an animal possesses. For the human being is born without any use of reason and cannot be led into it except through influx from heaven.

[2] From what has been brought forward here it is also clear that a person cannot live without communication with the hells through spirits from there, for his entire life which he derives by heredity from his parents, and all that he adds of what is his own, consists of self-love and love of the world, not of love of the neighbour, still less of love of God. And because a person's entire life from what is properly his own consists of self-love and love of the world, it accordingly consists of contempt for others in comparison with self and of hatred felt for and revenge taken on all who do not show him favour. It therefore consists too of cruelty, for anyone harbouring hatred of others wishes to kill them, and is supremely delighted by the ruination of them. Unless spirits like this, who cannot come from anywhere but hell, were attached to those evils, and unless a person were led by those spirits in ways that accord with the delights of his life, he could not possibly be diverted towards heaven, for initially those actual delights of his are used to divert him. They are also used to place him in a state of freedom, thus finally to give him the power of choice.

46

GENESIS 46

  1. And Israel travelled on and all that he had; and he came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
  2. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Behold, here I am.
  3. And He said, I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.
  4. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will certainly cause you to come up also; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes.
  5. And Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their young children, and their wives, in the carts which Pharaoh sent to carry him.
  6. And they took their livestock, and the acquisitions they had made in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt - Jacob and all his seed with him.
  7. His sons and his sons' sons with him, his daughters and his sons' daughters, and all his seed he brought with him to Egypt.
  8. And these are the names of the sons of Israel who were coming to Egypt - of Jacob and his sons: Jacob's firstborn was Reuben.
  9. And the sons of Reuben were Enoch,a and Pallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
  10. And the sons of Simeon were Jemuel and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.
  11. And the sons of Levi were Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
  12. And the sons of Judah were Er and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zerah; and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
  13. And the sons of Issachar were Tola, and Puvah, and Job, and Shimron.
  14. And the sons of Zebulun were Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
  15. These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, and Dinah his daughter. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.
  16. And the sons of Gad were Ziphion and Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri and Arodi, and Areli.
  17. And the sons of Asher were Jimnah, and Jishvah, and Jishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel.
  18. These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob. They were sixteen souls.
  19. The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife, were Joseph and Benjamin.
  20. And born to Joseph in the land of Egypt were those whom Asenath the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On bore to him, Manasseh and Ephraim.
  21. And the sons of Benjamin were Bela and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim and Huppim, and Ard.
  22. These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob. All the souls were fourteen.
  23. And the sons of Dan were Hushim.
  24. And the sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
  25. And these are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob. All the souls were seven.
  26. Every soul coming, that belonged to Jacob, to Egypt - those who had come out of his thigh, not counting Jacob's sons' wives - all the souls were sixty-six.
  27. And Joseph's sons, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls; all the souls belonging to the house of Jacob who was coming to Egypt were seventy.
  28. And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show [the way] before him to Goshen; and they came to the land of Goshen.
  29. And Joseph harnessed his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he was seen towards him,b and he fell on his neck,c and wept on his neckc a long while.
  30. And Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die,d after I have seen your face, that you are still alive.
  31. And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's house, I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, My brothers and my father's house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.
  32. And the men are Shepherds of the flock, for they are keeperse of livestock; and their flocks and their herds, and all they have, they have made to come.
  33. And it may be that Pharaoh may call you and say, What are your works?f
  34. And you are to say, Your servants have been keeperse of livestock from ourg boyhoods and right up to now, both we and our fathers - so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd of the flock is an abomination to the Egyptians.

Notes

a In most English versions this name appears as Hanoch, but in the Latin, as in the original Hebrew, the spelling is the same as that of the one mentioned in Gen 4:17, 18; 5:18-24. Cp. Gen 25:4.
b i.e. Joseph presented himself to his father
c lit. necks
d lit. Let me die this once
elit. men
f i.e. What is your occupation?
g The Latin means their, but the Hebrew means our.


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