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Genesis 21

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1 HE EN så til Sara, som han havde lovet, og HE EN gjorde ved Sara, som han havde sagt,

2 og hun undfangede og fødte Abraham en Søn i hans Alderdom, til den Tid Gud havde sagt ham.

3 Abraham kaldte den Søn, han fik med Sara, Isak;

4 og Abraham omskar sin Søn Isak, da han var otte Dage gammel, således som Gud havde pålagt ham.

5 Abraham var 100 År gammel, da hans Søn Isak fødtes ham.

6 Da sagde Sara: "Gud ham beredt mig Latter; enhver, der hører det, vil le ad mig."

7 Og hun sagde: "Hvem skulde have sagt Abraham, at Sara ammer Børn! Sandelig, jeg har født ham en Søn i hans Alderdom!"

8 Drengen voksede til og blev vænnet fra, og Abraham gjorde et stort Gæstebud, den dag Isak blev vænnet fra.

9 Men da Sara så Ægypterinden Hagars Søn, som hun havde født Abraham, lege med hendes Søn Isak,

10 sagde hun til Abraham: "Jag den Trælkvinde og hendes Søn bort, thi ikke skal denne Trælkvindes Søn arve sammen med min Søn, med Isak!"

11 Derover blev Abraham såre ilde til Mode for sin Søns Skyld;

12 men Gud sagde til Abraham: "Vær ikke ilde til Mode over Drengen og din Trælkvinde, men adlyd Sara i alt, hvad hun siger dig, thi efter Isak skal dit Afkom nævnes;

13 men også Trælkvindens Søn vil jeg gøre til et stort Folk; han er jo dit Afkom!"

14 Tidligt næste Morgen tog da Abraham Brød og en Sæk Vand og gav Hagar det, og Drengen satte han på hendes Skulder, hvorpå han sendte hende bort. Som hun nu vandrede af Sted, for hun vild i Be'ersjebas Ørken,

15 og Vandet slap op i hendes Sæk; da lagde hun Drengen hen under en af Buskene

16 og gik hen og satte sig i omtrent et Pileskuds Afstand derfra, idet hun sagde ved sig selv: "Jeg kan ikke udholde at se Drengen !" Og således sad hun, medens Drengen græd højt.

17 Da hørte Gud Drengens Gråd, og Guds Engel råbte til Hagar fra Himmelen og sagde til hende: "Hvad fattes dig, Hagar? Frygt ikke, thi Gud har hørt Drengens øst der, hvor,han ligger;

18 rejs dig, hjælp Drengen op og tag ham ved Hånden, thi jeg vil gøre ham til et stort Folk!"

19 Da åbnede Gud hendes Øjne, så hun fik Øje på en Brønd med Vand; og hun gik hen og fyldte Sækken med Vand og gav Drengen at drikke.

20 Og Gud var med Drengen, og han voksede til; og han bosatte sig i Ørkenen og blev Bueskytte.

21 Han boede i Parans Ørken, og hans Moder tog ham en Hustru fra Ægypten.

22 Ved den Tid sagde Abimelek og hans Hærfører Pikol til Abraham: "Gud er med dig i alt, hvad du tager dig for;

23 tilsværg mig derfor her ved Gud, at du aldrig vil være troløs mod mig eller mine Efterkommere, men at du vil handle lige så venligt mod mig og det Land, du gæster, som jeg har handlet mod dig!"

24 Da svarede Abraham: "Jeg vil sværge!"

25 Men Abraham krævede Abimelek til egnskab for en Brønd, som Abimeleks Folk havde tilranet sig.

26 Da svarede Abimelek: "Jeg ved intet om, hvem der har gjort det; hverken har du underrettet mig derom, ej heller har jeg hørt det før i Dag!"

27 Da tog Abraham Småkvæg og Hornkvæg og gav Abimelek det, og derpå sluttede de Pagt med hinanden.

28 Men Abraham satte syv Lam til Side,

29 og da Abimelek spurgte ham: "Hvad betyder de syv Lam, du der har sat til Side?"

30 svarede han: "Jo, de syv Lam skal du modtage af min Hånd til Vidnesbyrd om, at jeg har gravet denne Brønd."

31 Derfor kaldte man dette Sted Be'ersjeba, thi der svor de hinanden Eder;

32 og de sluttede Pagt ved Be'ersjeba. Så brød Abimelek og hans Hærfører Pikol op og vendte tilbage til Filisternes Land.

33 Men Abraham plantede en Tamarisk i Be'ersjeba og påkaldte der HE EN den evige Guds Navn.

34 Og Abraham boede en Tid lang; som fremmed i Filisternes Land.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

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Food

  
"The Chef" by Unknown Master, Spanish (active 17th century)

Just as natural food feeds the natural body, so too does spiritual food feed the spiritual body. And since our spiritual body is the expression of what we love, then spiritual food is what feeds our state of love: It is the desire for good, the delight of being good, the understanding of what it is to be good and the knowledge of all that's true and leads to what is good. So when food is talked about in the Bible, that's what it means, and the huge variety of forms food can take represent the huge variety of good we can seek in life and the huge variety of thought we can have leading to it.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 680, 1695, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5576, 9003)

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Arcana Coelestia # 5576

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5576. 'And the famine grew more serious' means the desolation resulting from the dearth of spiritual things. This is clear from the meaning of 'the famine' as an absence of cognitions of goodness and truth, dealt with in 3364, 5277, 5279, 5181, 5300, and the consequent desolation, 5360, 5376, 5415. And because desolation can arise from a shortage and consequent dearth of spiritual realities, 'the famine' has this meaning too. A famine in the spiritual world or heaven is not a hunger for [bodily] food, for angels do not feed on material food, which is the food for that body which a person carries around in the world. Rather it is a hunger for the kind of food that nourishes their minds, and this, which is called spiritual food, consists in understanding what is true and in having a wise discernment of what is good. And what is amazing, angels are nourished with this food.

[2] This has been made clear to me by the fact that after young children, who have died as young children, have been furnished in heaven with truths that are the constituents of intelligence and with forms of good that are the essence of wisdom, they no longer look like young children but adults, increasingly so as goodness and truth increase with them. The nourishment of angels by spiritual food has also been made clear to me by the fact that they have a constant desire for those things that are the constituents of intelligence and wisdom. At their eveningtime, that is, when they pass through a state in which they lack what they desire, that state compared with other states holds no happiness for them. In that state there is nothing that they hunger and long for more than a new dawning of morning light upon them and their return to the life filled with happiness that comes with intelligence and wisdom.

[3] It may also be seen by anyone who stops to reflect on the matter that understanding what is true and desiring what is good constitute spiritual food. If someone who is enjoying material food that serves to nourish the body is at the same time in a cheerful state of mind and is engaged in conversation about the kinds of things that accord with that state of mind, the material food for the body becomes all the more nourishing. This is an indication of the existence of a correspondence between spiritual food, which feeds the soul, and material food, which feeds the body. The same is clear in addition from the experience of someone who has the desire to furnish his mind with ideas that constitute knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom. If he is denied these he begins to feel sad and distressed, and like somebody in time of famine he has the desire to return to his spiritual food and so to the nourishment of his soul.

[4] It may also be seen from the Word that spiritual food is what nourishes the soul in the way material food nourishes the body, as in Moses,

Man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every utterance of the mouth of Jehovah. Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4.

In general 'utterance of the mouth of Jehovah' is the Divine Truth which goes forth from the Lord, and so is every truth contained in wisdom; specifically it is the Word, the foundation and source of ideas constituting wisdom. And in John,

Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:17.

This 'food' is clearly the truth that is contained in wisdom and that goes forth from the Lord.

[5] From this one may also recognize what is meant by these words of the Lord recorded in the same chapter,

My flesh is truly food, and My blood truly is drink. John 6:55.

That is to say, 'the Lord's flesh' is Divine Good, 3813, and 'His blood' Divine Truth, 4735. For now that the Lord has made His Human completely Divine, His 'flesh' is nothing else than Divine Good, and His 'blood' nothing else than Divine Truth. One has to understand that in the Divine there is nothing material; therefore in the highest sense, that is, where it has reference to the Lord, 'food' is the Good of Divine Love directed towards the salvation of the human race. This food is also the kind that is meant by the Lord's words in John,

Jesus said to the disciples, I have food to eat of which you do not know. My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. John 4:32, 34.

'Doing the will of Him who sent Me, and finishing His work' is saving the human race; and the Divine attribute which motivates this is Divine Love.

From all this one may now see what is meant in the spiritual sense by 'the famine'.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.