Bible

 

Genesis 16

Studie

   

1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, Jehovah hath restrained me from bearing; go in, I pray thee, unto my handmaid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

3 And Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife.

4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I gave my handmaid into they bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: Jehovah judge between me and thee.

6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her that which is good in thine eyes. And Sarai dealt hardly with her, and she fled from her face.

7 And the angel of Jehovah found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, whence camest thou? and whither goest thou? And she said, I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.

9 And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

10 And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

11 And the angel of Jehovah said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son; and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because Jehovah hath heard thy affliction.

12 And he shall be [as] a wild ass among men; his hand [shall be] against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell over against all his brethren.

13 And she called the name of Jehovah that spake unto her, Thou art a God that seeth: for she said, Have I even here looked after him that seeth me?

14 Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bare, Ishmael.

16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

   

Komentář

 

Behind

  

To be behind, (Genesis 18:10), signifies not to be joined together, but at his back. What is separated from any one, this is represented in another life, by a kind of rejection, as it were, to the back. (Arcana Coelestia 2196)

In Genesis 19:17, this signifies being away from doctrinal things. (Arcana Coelestia 2417)

In Genesis 16:13, Here, behind, or after, signifies within or above, or an interior or superior principle.

In Revelation 1:10, 'behind' signifies that people who do not approach the Lord only (Apocalypse Revealed 42)

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 1955)

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Apocalypse Revealed # 42

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 962  
  

42. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. (1:12) This symbolizes a turning around of the state of those people who possess goodness of life, in respect to their perception of the truth in the Word, when they turn to the Lord.

John says that he heard the voice behind him (verse 10), and now that he turned to see the voice, and secondly, that having turned he saw seven lampstands. From this it is apparent that he heard the voice in back of him, and that he turned to see where it was coming from.

Clearly in this lies an arcanum. The secret to it is that before a person turns to the Lord and acknowledges Him as God of heaven and earth, he cannot see the Divine truth in the Word. That is because God is one both in person and in essence, in whom is the Trinity, that God being the Lord. People who accept a trinity of persons, therefore, look primarily to the Father, and some to the Holy Spirit, but rarely to the Lord; and if they do look to the Lord, they think of His humanity in the same way that they do an ordinary person. When a person does this, he can by no means be enlightened in the Word, for the Lord embodies the Word, since it comes from Him and has Him as its subject. Therefore people who do not turn to the Lord alone regard Him and His Word as being behind them and not before them, or as being in back of them and not in front of them.

This is the secret that lies concealed in these words, that John heard the voice behind him, that he turned to see the voice, and that having turned he saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of them the Son of Man. For the voice that he heard came from the Son of Man, who is the Lord.

[2] That the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth, He now teaches in a clear statement, for He says,

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come...." (Revelation 1:8)

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last." (Revelation 1:11)

And later,

"I am the First and the Last." (Revelation 1:17, cf. 2:8)

To be shown that a voice, when coming from the Lord, means Divine truth, see no. 37 above; and that John means those people of the church who possess goodness of life, see nos. 5 and 6 above.

It can now be seen from this that these words, "Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me," symbolize a turning around of the state of those people who possess goodness of life, in respect to their perception of the truth in the Word, when they turn to the Lord.

  
/ 962  
  

Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.