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Genesis 17

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1 And Abram was a son of ninety years and nine years; and Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am God Shaddai*; walk thou before Me, and be thou perfect.

2 And I will give My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee very exceedingly.

3 And Abram fell on his faces; and God spoke with him saying:

4 I, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be for a father of a multitude of nations.

5 And thy name shall no more be called Abram; and thy name shall be Abraham, for as the father of a multitude of nations have I given thee.

6 And I will make· thee ·fruitful very exceedingly, and I will make thee into nations, and kings shall go·​·out from thee.

7 And I will raise·​·up My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee, to their generations, for an eternal covenant, to be to thee for God, and to thy seed after thee.

8 And I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an eternal possession; and I will be to them for God.

9 And God said to Abraham, And thou shalt keep My covenant, thou and thy seed after thee, to their generations.

10 This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee: every male shall be circumcised to you.

11 And you shall cut·​·off the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and you.

12 And a son of eight days shall be circumcised to you, every male in your generations, he that is born of the house, and he that is bought with silver from every son of a foreigner who is not of thy seed.

13 Circumcising he shall be circumcised that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy silver; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an eternal covenant.

14 And the uncircumcised male, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut·​·off from his peoples; he has made· My covenant ·of·​·none·​·effect.

15 And God said to Abraham, Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name.

16 And I will bless her, and will also give to thee a son from her; and I will bless her, and she shall be for nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.

17 And Abraham fell upon his faces, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall one be·​·born to a son of a hundred years? And shall Sarah, who is a daughter of ninety years, give·​·birth?

18 And Abraham said to God, Would·​·that Ishmael might live before Thee!

19 And God said, Indeed Sarah, thy wife, shall give·​·birth to a son for thee, and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will raise·​·up My covenant with him for an eternal covenant, to his seed after him.

20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; behold I will bless him, and will make· him ·fruitful, and will multiply him very exceedingly; twelve chiefs shall he beget, and I will make him into a great nation.

21 And My covenant will I raise·​·up with Isaac, to whom Sarah shall give·​·birth for thee at this appointed·​·time in the year after.

22 And He completed speaking with him; and God went·​·up from over Abraham.

23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his silver, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in this same day, as God spoke with him.

24 And Abraham was a son of ninety and nine years, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

25 And Ishmael his son was a son of thirteen years, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

26 In this same day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

27 And all the men of his house, he that was born in the house, and he that was bought with silver from the son of a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 5628

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5628. 'And may God Shaddai' means the comfort that follows hardships. This is clear from the meaning of 'Shaddai' as temptation, also the comfort that follows temptation, dealt with in 1992, 4572, here therefore the comfort which followed all the hardships they experienced in Egypt. The meaning here - the comfort that follows severe sufferings - is also evident from the words 'grant you mercy before the man' which immediately follow. The reason why 'Shaddai' means temptation, also the comfort that follows temptation, is that the ancients gave the one and only God various illustrious names which were descriptive of the various things that came from Him; and because they believed that even temptations came from Him they called Him 'God Shaddai'. They did not understand some other God by this name but the one and only God so far as temptations were concerned. When however the Ancient Church went downhill they began to worship as many gods as there were names of the one and only God; indeed they increased the number of them with many more which they themselves invented. This trend continued until at length each family had its own god whom that family kept quite distinct and separate from all other gods worshipped by other families.

[2] The family of Terah, which Abraham came from, worshipped Shaddai as its particular god, see 1356, 1992, 2559, 3667. Consequently not only Abraham but Jacob too recognized Shaddai as their god; and they did so in the land of Canaan. But to avoid any compulsion of them to forsake the form of religion they had - for no one is compelled to forsake what for him is holy - they were allowed to keep to it. However, because the ancients had meant Jehovah Himself or the Lord by the name Shaddai, which they used when they underwent temptations, Jehovah or the Lord took this name in His dealings with Abraham, as is evident from Genesis 17:1, and-also in His dealings with Jacob, Genesis 35:11.

[3] The reason why not only temptation but also comfort is meant by 'Shaddai' is that comfort follows all spiritual temptations, as I have been allowed to know from experience in the next life. When anyone there is subjected to hardships at the hands of evil spirits, who attack him, incite him to evil practices, and persuade him to accept falsities, he is subsequently received by angels, once the evil spirits have been turned away, and he is brought into a state of consolation by means of some delight in keeping with his character.

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