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Genesis 17

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1 And Abram is a son of ninety and nine years, and Jehovah appeareth unto Abram, and saith unto him, `I [am] God Almighty, walk habitually before Me, and be thou perfect;

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

3 And Abram falleth upon his face, and God speaketh with him, saying,

4 `I -- lo, My covenant [is] with thee, and thou hast become father of a multitude of nations;

5 and thy name is no more called Abram, but thy name hath been Abraham, for father of a multitude of nations have I made thee;

6 and I have made thee exceeding fruitful, and made thee become nations, and kings go out from thee.

7 `And I have established My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, to their generations, for a covenant age-during, to become God to thee, and to thy seed after thee;

8 and I have given to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, the whole land of Canaan, for a possession age-during, and I have become their God.'

9 And God saith unto Abraham, `And thou dost keep My covenant, thou and thy seed after thee, to their generations;

10 this [is] My covenant which ye keep between Me and you, and thy seed after thee: Every male of you [is] to be circumcised;

11 and ye have circumcised the flesh of your foreskin, and it hath become a token of a covenant between Me and you.

12 `And a son of eight days is circumcised by you; every male to your generations, born in the house, or bought with money from any son of a stranger, who is not of thy seed;

13 he is certainly circumcised who [is] born in thine house, or bought with thy money; and My covenant hath become in your flesh a covenant age-during;

14 and an uncircumcised one, a male, the flesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised, even that person hath been cut off from his people; My covenant he hath broken.'

15 And God saith unto Abraham, `Sarai thy wife -- thou dost not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [is] her name;

16 and I have blessed her, and have also given to thee a son from her; and I have blessed her, and she hath become nations -- kings of peoples are from her.'

17 And Abraham falleth upon his face, and laugheth, and saith in his heart, `To the son of an hundred years is one born? or doth Sarah -- daughter of ninety years -- bear?'

18 And Abraham saith unto God, `O that Ishmael may live before Thee;'

19 and God saith, `Sarah thy wife is certainly bearing a son to thee, and thou hast called his name Isaac, and I have established My covenant with him, for a covenant age-during, to his seed after him.

20 As to Ishmael, I have heard thee; lo, I have blessed him, and made him fruitful, and multiplied him, very exceedingly; twelve princes doth he beget, and I have made him become a great nation;

21 and My covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah doth bear to thee at this appointed time in the next year;'

22 and He finisheth speaking with him, and God goeth up from Abraham.

23 And Abraham taketh Ishmael his son, and all those born in his house, and all those bought with his money -- every male among the men of Abraham's house -- and circumciseth the flesh of their foreskin, in this self-same day, as God hath spoken with him.

24 And Abraham [is] a son of ninety and nine years in the flesh of his foreskin being circumcised;

25 and Ishmael his son [is] a son of thirteen years in the flesh of his foreskin being circumcised;

26 in this self-same day hath Abraham been circumcised, and Ishmael his son;

27 and all the men of his house -- born in the house, and bought with money from the son of a stranger -- have been circumcised with him.

   

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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.