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Genesis 21

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1 And Jehovah visited Sarah as he had said, and Jehovah did to Sarah as he had spoken.

2 And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.

3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.

4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days old, as God had commanded him.

5 And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

6 And Sarah said, God has made me laugh: all that hear will laugh with me.

7 And she said, Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle children? For I have borne [him] a son in his old age.

8 And the child grew, and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.

10 And she said to Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son -- with Isaac.

11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.

12 And God said to Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and because of thy handmaid: [in] all that Sarah hath said to thee hearken to her voice, for in Isaac shall a seed be called to thee.

13 But also the son of the handmaid will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.

14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a flask of water, and gave [it] to Hagar, putting [it] on her shoulder -- and the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

15 And the water was exhausted from the flask; and she cast the child under one of the shrubs,

16 and she went and sat down over against [him], a bow-shot off; for she said, Let me not behold the death of the child. And she sat over against [him], and lifted up her voice and wept.

17 And God heard the voice of the lad. And the Angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her, What [aileth] thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad there, where he is.

18 Arise, take the lad, and hold him in thy hand; for I will make of him a great nation.

19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the flask with water, and gave the lad drink.

20 And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

22 And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech, and Phichol the captain of his host, spoke to Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest.

23 And now swear to me here by God that thou wilt not deal deceitfully with me, nor with my son, nor with my grandson. According to the kindness that I have done to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land in which thou sojournest.

24 And Abraham said, I will swear.

25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water that Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.

26 And Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this, neither hast thou told me [of it], neither have I heard [of it] but to-day.

27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.

28 And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves.

29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What [mean] these seven ewe-lambs, these which thou hast set by themselves?

30 And he said, That thou take the seven ewe-lambs of my hand, that they may be a witness to me that I have dug this well.

31 Therefore he called that place Beer-sheba, because there they had sworn, both of them.

32 And they made a covenant at Beer-sheba. And Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the captain of his host, and returned into the land of the Philistines.

33 And [Abraham] planted a tamarisk in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of Jehovah, the Eternal ùGod.

34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 2723

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2723. As regards Beersheba however, 'Beersheba' means the state and the essential nature of the doctrine, that is to say, it is Divine doctrine to which merely human rational ideas have been allied. This becomes clear from the train of thought in verse 22 to the present verse, 2613, 2614, and also from the meaning of the actual expression in the original language as 'the well of the oath' and 'the well of seven'. 'A well' means the doctrine of faith, see 2702, 2720, 'an oath' means a joining together, 2720, as does 'the covenant established with an oath', 1996, 2003, 2021, 2037; and 'seven' means that which is holy and so that which is Divine, 395, 433, 716, 881. From these meanings it may become clear that 'Beersheba' means doctrine which in itself is Divine together with merely human rational ideas or appearances allied to it.

[2] The fact that this is how the name Beersheba was derived is evident from Abraham's words,

Abraham said, Because you will take the seven ewe-lambs from my hand, that they may be a witness for me that I dug this well. Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath. And they made a covenant in Beersheba (verses 30-32).

Similarly from Isaac's words recorded in Chapter 26,

So it was on that day, that Isaac's servants came and pointed out to him the reasons for the well which they had dug, and they said to him, We have found water. And he called it Shibah ('an oath' and 'seven'); therefore the name of the city is Beersheba even to this day. Genesis 26:32-33.

This too has to do with wells, about which there was disagreement with Abimelech, and with a covenant made with him. 'Beersheba' means merely human rational ideas which were again allied to the doctrine of faith, and because they were allied to it again and the doctrine was in that way made such that the human mind could grasp it, it is called 'a city' - 'a city' being doctrine in its entirety, see 402, 2268, 2449, 2451. What is more, the name Beersheba is used with a similar meaning in the internal sense in Genesis 22:19; 26:23; 28:10; 46:1, 5; Joshua 15:28; 19:1-2; 1 Samuel 8:2; 1 Kings 19:3, and in the contrary sense in Amos 5:5; 8:13-14. The whole range of celestial and spiritual things taught by doctrine is meant in the internal sense where the land of Canaan is said to range from 'Dan even to Beersheba'; for the land of Canaan means the Lord's kingdom, also the Church, and therefore means the celestial and spiritual things taught by doctrine, as in the Book of Judges.

All the children of Israel came out, and the congregation assembled as one man from Dan even to Beersheba. Judges 20:1.

In the Book of Samuel,

All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba. 1 Samuel 3:20.

Elsewhere in Samuel,

To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba, 2 Samuel 3:10.

Elsewhere in Samuel,

Hushai said to Absalom, Let all Israel be assembled together, from Dan even to Beersheba. 2 Samuel 17:11.

Elsewhere in Samuel, David told Joab to go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan even to Beersheba. 2 Samuel 24:2, 7.

Elsewhere in Samuel,

There died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men. 2 Samuel 24:15.

In the Book of Kings,

Judah dwelt under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 1 Kings 4:25.

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