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創世記 17

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1 亞伯蘭歲的時候,耶和華向他顯現,對他:我是全能的神。你當在我面前作完全人,

2 我就與你立約,使你的後裔極其繁多。

3 亞伯蘭俯伏在地;又對他

4 我與你立約:你要作多國的父。

5 從此以後,你的名不再亞伯蘭,要亞伯拉罕,因為我已立你作多國的父。

6 我必使你的後裔極其繁多;國度從你而立,君從你而出。

7 我要與你並你世世代裔堅立我的約,作永遠的約,是要作你和你裔的

8 我要將你現在寄居的,就是迦南,賜你和你的永遠為業,我也必作他們的

9 又對亞伯拉罕:你和你的裔必世世代遵守我的約。

10 你們所有的男子都要受割禮;這就是我與你並你的裔所立的約,是你們所當遵守的。

11 你們都要受割禮(原文作割陽皮;14,23,24,25節同);這是我與你們立約的證據。

12 你們世世代的男子,無論是家裡生的,是在你後裔之外用子從外人買的,生下來第八日,都要受割禮

13 你家裡生的和你用子買的,都必須受割禮。這樣,我的約就立在你們體上作永遠的約。

14 但不受割禮的男子必從民中剪除,因他背了我的約。

15 又對亞伯拉罕:你的妻子撒萊不可再撒萊,他的名要撒拉。

16 我必賜福他,也要使你從他得一個兒子。我要賜福他,他也要作多國之母;必有百姓的君從他而出。

17 亞伯拉罕就俯伏在地喜笑,:一歲的人還能得孩子麼?撒拉已經九十歲了,還能生養麼?

18 亞伯拉罕:但願以實瑪利活在你面前。

19 :不然,你妻子撒拉要給你生一個兒子,你要給他起名以撒。我要與他堅定所立的約,作他永遠的約。

20 至於以實瑪利,我也應允你:我必賜福他,使他昌盛,極其繁多。他必生十二個族長;我也要使他成為國。

21 到明年這時節,撒拉必給你生以撒,我要與他堅定所立的約。

22 亞伯拉罕完了話,就離開他上升去了。

23 正當那日,亞伯拉罕遵著的命,給他的兒子以實瑪利和家裡的一切男子,無論是在家裡生的,是用子買的,都行了割禮

24 亞伯拉罕割禮的時候年歲。

25 兒子以實瑪利割禮的時候年十三歲。

26 正當那日,亞伯拉罕和他兒子以實瑪利一同受了割禮

27 家裡所有的人,無論是在家裡生的,是用子從外人買的,也都一同受了割禮

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2049

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2049. From every son that is a stranger who is not of thy seed. That this signifies those who are outside the church, is evident from the signification of “son that is a stranger,” as being those who are not born within the church, thus are not in the goods and truths of faith, because not in the knowledges of them. “Sons that are strangers” also signify those who are in external worship (concerning whom, n. 1097); but where this is the meaning, those who are within the church are treated of, whereas in the passage before us the Lord’s church in the universal is treated of, and therefore “sons that are strangers” signify those who are not born within the church, as is the case with the Gentiles. Gentiles, who are outside the church, may be in truths, but not in the truths of faith. Their truths, like the precepts of the Decalogue, are that parents are to be honored, that men are not to kill, steal, commit adultery, or covet things that belong to others; also that the Deity is to be worshiped. But the truths of faith are all doctrinal things concerning eternal life, the Lord’s kingdom, and the Lord Himself, which cannot be known to the Gentiles because they have not the Word.

[2] These are they who are signified by “sons that are strangers who are not of thy seed,” and yet were to be circumcised, that is purified, together with them. This shows that they can be purified, equally with those within the church; as was represented by their being circumcised. They are purified when they reject filthy loves, and live with one another in charity; for then they live in truths, since all truths are of charity; but in the truths already mentioned. They who live in these truths readily imbibe the truths of faith, if not in the life of the body, yet in the other life, because the truths of faith are the interior truths of charity, and they then love nothing more than to be admitted into the interior truths of charity. The interior truths of charity are those in which the Lord’s kingdom consists (see n. 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328, 1366)

[3] In the other life a memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith is of no avail, for the worst, nay, the infernals, can be in the memory-knowledge of them, sometimes more than others; but that which avails is a life according to the knowledges, for all knowledges have life as their end. Unless knowledges were learned for the sake of life, they would be of no use except that men might talk about them, and thereby be esteemed learned in the world, be exalted to honors, and gain reputation and wealth. From this it is evident that a life of the knowledges of faith is no other than a life of charity; for the Law and the Prophets, that is, the universal doctrine of faith together with all its knowledges, consists in love to the Lord and in love toward the neighbor; as is manifest to all from the Lord’s words in Matthew 22:34-39 and Mark 12:28-35

[4] But still doctrinal things, that is, the knowledges of faith, are most necessary for forming the life of charity, which cannot be formed without them. This is the life that saves after death, and by no means any life of faith without it; for without charity there cannot be any life of faith. They who are in the life of love and charity are in the Lord’s life, and by no other life can anyone be conjoined with Him. Hence also it is evident that the truths of faith can never be acknowledged as truths, that is, the acknowledgment of them so much talked of is impossible, except outwardly, and by the mouth, unless they are implanted in charity; for inwardly or in the heart they are denied, since, as already said, they all have charity as their end; and if this is not within them they are inwardly rejected. When the exteriors are taken away-as is done in the other life-the interiors are manifest in their true character, in that they are utterly contrary to all the truths of faith. When men have had no life of charity-that is, no mutual love-during their bodily life, it is utterly impossible to receive it in the other life, because they are averse to and hate it, for after death the same life remains with us that we have lived here. When such persons merely approach a society where there is the life of mutual love, they tremble, shudder, and feel torture.

[5] Such persons, although born within the church, are called “sons that are strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh,” who are not to be admitted into the sanctuary, that is, into the Lord’s kingdom; and who are also meant in Ezekiel:

No son that is a stranger, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary (Ezekiel 44:7, 9).

Again:

To whom art thou thus become like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? and thou shalt be brought down with the trees of Eden into the lower earth, thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword (Ezekiel 31:18); where Pharaoh is treated of, by whom are signified memory-knowledges in general (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); by “the trees of Eden” with which they should go down into the lower earth, are also signified memory-knowledges, but those of the knowledges of faith. All this shows what “the uncircumcised” is in the internal sense, namely, one who is in filthy loves and the life of them.

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