2867. Verse 24. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah; she also bare Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah. “His concubine whose name was Reumah,” signifies Gentiles who are in idolatrous worship and in good; “she also bare Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah,” signifies their various religions: these constitute a third class of the spiritual who are saved.

1896. And her name was Hagar. That this signifies the life of the exterior or natural man, may be seen from what has been said, and also from the meaning of “Hagar,” which is “a stranger” or “sojourner.” Strangers represented those who were to be instructed, and sojourning represented instruction and also principles of life [vitae instituta], as shown above (n. 1463). When anyone’s name is stated in the Word, as here that “her name was Hagar,” it signifies that something is involved in the name to which attention should be given, for to “call by name” means to know a person’s quality (as before shown, n. 144, 145, 340). No syllable in the Word is there without a cause, or without a signification in the internal sense of some actual thing.