“Peace has in it confidence in the Lord: that He directs all things, provides all things, and that He leads to a good end.” - Arcana Caelestia §8455
Kempton New Church

Week 5
Day 1

    Listen:

Betrothal

The words which in the sense of the letter in [Genesis 24] treat of the betrothal and marriage of Rebekah with Isaac, in the internal sense treat of the initiation and conjunction of good and truth; for the initiation and conjunction of good and truth are spiritual betrothal and spiritual marriage. (Arcana Coelestia 3158)

The Ancient Rite of Betrothal

Shalt thou not go to my land, and to my birth place; and take a woman for my son, for Isaac?

And [the servant] said, O Jehovah God of my lord Abraham, cause it to happen, I pray, before me today; and do mercy with my lord Abraham. Behold, I stand up by the fount of waters; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw waters. And it shall be, the maiden to whom I shall say, Incline thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink, and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also, her hast Thou destined for Thy servant Isaac; and thereby I shall know that Thou hast done mercy with my lord. And it was that scarcely had he completed speaking, and behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham, with her pitcher on her shoulder….

And the servant brought out vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments, and gave to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. ( Genesis 24: 4, 12–15, 53 )

AC 3164. And the servant brought forth vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments. That this signifies truth and good, and their adornments, is evident from the signification of “vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and garments,” in the internal sense. (That “silver” signifies truth, may be seen above, n. 1551, 2048; also that “gold” signifies good, n. 113, 1551, 1552.) “Vessels” of silver and “vessels” of gold are here mentioned, because they are predicated of the affection of truth, which here is “Rebekah;” for regarded in itself truth is but a vessel or recipient of good (n. 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269, 3068); “vessels of silver” specifically are memory-knowledges, for these are recipients of truth; “vessels of gold” specifically are truths, for these are recipients of good; and that “garments” denote adornments, is evident without explication. In ancient times such things were given to a virgin when she was betrothed; and this because of the representation and signification in order that the betrothed virgin might represent the truth of the church that is to be conjoined with good.

AC 9182:4 Betrothals before marriage have been in use from ancient times, and represented the first conjunction, which is that of the internal man apart from the external. The subsequent marriages themselves represented the second conjunction, which is that of the internal man with the external; for during man’s regeneration by means of the goods and truths of faith, the internal man is regenerated first, and afterward the external, because the external is regenerated by the internal (n. 3286, 3321, 3493, 3882, 8746).

AC 5317. And Pharaoh took off his ring from upon his hand. That this signifies a confirming of the power the natural previously had, is evident from the representation of Pharaoh, as being the natural … and from the signification of a “ring,” as being that which confirms … and from the signification of the “hand,” as being power (see n. 878, 3091, 3387, 4931–4937, 5296). From this it is plain that by his “taking off his ring from upon his hand” is signified that the natural gave up the power it had before; and that by his “putting it upon Joseph’s hand,” as below, is signified that the natural yielded all the power to the celestial of the spiritual. … [T]his signification of a ring upon the hand is evident from the rites that have come down to us from ancient times, as from the rites of betrothals and unions, and also of inaugurations, in which rings are put upon the hand, and by them is signified confirmation of power.

Questions
  1. Betrothals began in ancient times and are vestiges of a practice from the Ancient Church (see AC 3164). We read in Conjugial Love 81 that “conjugial love will be raised up anew by the Lord after His advent as it was with the ancients.” What connections do you see between the ancient origins of betrothal and the raising up anew of conjugial love in the New Church?
  2. Gold, silver and rings are mentioned in the readings as tokens given as part of a betrothal. What do you think is a good token of betrothal?
  3. How does the explanation of a betrothal in AC 9182.4 apply to everyone whether married of not?
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