2632. 'Abraham circumcised his son Isaac' means purification of the rational. This is clear from the meaning of 'being circumcised' as being purified, dealt with in 2039, and from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Divine Rational, dealt with in 2630.

[2] The Lord's first rational was born in the way it is with others, that is to say, by means of facts and cognitions. This has been stated already where Ishmael, who represents that rational, is the subject. Because it was born, as with others, by means of facts and cognitions, thus by the external way, which is that of the senses, this rational inevitably included many things that were worldly in origin, for it is from those things that the ideas which the rational possesses are acquired. This was even more so the case with the Lord on account of the heredity He had from the mother. It was those worldly things and this heredity which the Lord gradually cast out of His rational until it was such that it was able to receive the Divine, 2624, 2625. At this point the Lord's Divine Rational, represented by 'Isaac', was born, 2630, not indeed by the external way, which is that of the senses - as was the case with the previous rational - but by the internal way from the Divine itself, 2628, 2629. As this was not accomplished all at once but gradually, 1690, 2033, the rational was purified, and constantly so. It is this purification that is meant by 'Abraham circumcised his son, a son eight days old'. That the Lord gradually made His Rational Divine and purified it constantly is clear also in John,

Jesus said, Father, glorify Your name. A voice therefore came from heaven, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. John 12:28.

'Glorifying' is making Divine, see 1603, 1999.

[3] In the Ancient Church nothing else was represented and meant by circumcision than that a person should be purified from self-love and love of the world, which is also effected gradually and constantly, see 2039, 2046 (end), 2049, 2056, especially when a person has been born anew or regenerated. For at that time the Lord is flowing in by the internal way, that is, through the good that forms part of conscience; and He gradually and constantly separates the things which cling to that person both as a result of hereditary evil and of the evil of his own doing.

2628. 'Abraham called the name of his son born to him' means the nature of the Rational was such that it was Divine. This is clear from the representation of 'Abraham' as the Lord as regards the Divine celestial or Divine Good, dealt with many times already; from the meaning of 'calling the name' as the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009; and from the meaning of 'a son' as the rational, dealt with in 2623, as well as from the meaning of 'born to him' as being manifested from the Divine. From this it is evident that 'Abraham called the name of his son born to him' means that the nature of the Rational was such that it was Divine. From these few words the following three arcana shine through to those who possess the internal sense. The first is that the Lord's Divine Human was a manifestation from the Divine itself, an arcanum which is explained further in this verse; the second is that the Lord's Divine Human was not only conceived but also born from Jehovah, and therefore the Lord as regards the Divine Human is called the Son of God and the Only Begotten, John 1:14, 18, 49; 3:16, 18, 35-36; 5:19-27; 6:69; 9:35; 10:36; 11:27; 14:13-14; 17:1; 20:31; and similarly in the other Evangelists; and the third arcanum is that the Lord's Divine Human is meant by the name of Jehovah, that is, His nature, see John 12:28.