ACV6 S25 Diagram of Gen 36: Esau’s Generations

Click here to view colour pdf diagram of Gen 36.

Click here for printable black and white version of the above diagram

The pdf above provides an outline of Genesis Chpt. 36 in a diagrammatic form. I pulled this together so that I could hold onto the names and relations as I read. I’ve included the meaning of the names from the Mechanical Translation. It was helpful for me in that regard so it may help some of you who like visual representations.

The diagram suggests those things that are perhaps serviceable as means to the Lord’s Divine Natural Good – the names in black – versus what is more directly linked through the Canaanite women Esau took for wives – Adah and Oholibamah (their lines are indicated by the deeper red colour). These two lines we are told “means the first joining of Natural good (Esau) to the affection for apparent truths (4643). Of note is that the Adah is a Hittite and Oholibamah is a Hivite, thus spiritually they represent remains belonging to the Ancient Church. Hittites have to do with its truths, while Hivites, relate to its external rites and rituals.

The line through Ishmael’s daughter Basemath (indicated with a brighter red colour) is of a more internal quality being described as “the second joining – to the affection for truth from a Divine stem” (4643). The Esau-Basemath line is in a different red due to the fact that Ishmael is a son of Abraham. So this line describes a good of a more internal quality due to its direct link back to the Divine. So while we are told repeatedly that the things here are beyond even the ability of angels to comprehend in any detail we can see a general principle of the Lord first drawing to Himself the affections for apparent truths of the spiritual Church (both internal and external) before linking with what is of a deeper quality in the process of glorifying His Human.

This general principle is able to be seen in our own lives as the Word, the Lord within our minds, works to draw or excite affections belonging to what is of the spiritual (Ancient Church) in us. These remains through truths from the Word inspire a good which is love towards the neighbour, and this is seen in being willing to use our understanding of truths from the Word to live a life of charity which in LP terms is self-examination and repentance, this being the first of Charity. From this, there is the possibility for a deeper love/good to be inspired as a general influence within the mind which may be characterised as love to the Lord from the Lord represented by the Esau-Basemath line.

Wishing you well in your work.

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Janna King
Janna King
5 years ago

OHHHHHH! Now I see the color version as well as the explanation. This is terrifically helpful!

Michael Chester
5 years ago

Thanks David. This is very comprehensive compared to what I found on the internet. In regards to the following I counted 14 chiefs compared to twelve according to Swedenborg. Are you able to sort out this discrepancy? One way is that Korah is mentioned twice. This gives 13. Could Swedenborg be leaving out Amalek to give 12? 4647. “These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau,” signifies the principal truths of good; “the sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau; chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek,” (7) signifies the first classification,… Read more »

Mary Smuts
Mary Smuts
5 years ago

What an amazing piece of work David ! Thank you.

Laurel Odhner Powell
Laurel Odhner Powell
5 years ago

Thank you! I was wishing to do this, but not ambitious enough.
Odd that in the last list of chiefs, some are wives’ names, and it’s quite a different list from earlier ones. Do you suppose there were female chiefs? Or are the Hebrew names not gender-specific?

Green background makes this hard to read when printed black&white.