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Genesis 21

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1 And the Lord visited Sara, as he had promised: and fulfilled what he had spoken.

2 And she conceived and bore a son in her old age, at the time that God had foretold her.

3 And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sara bore him, Isaac.

4 And he circumcised him the eighth day, as God had commanded him,

5 When he was a hundred years old: for at this age of his father was Isaac born.

6 And Sara said: God hath made a laughter for me: whosoever shall hear of it will laugh with me.

7 And again she said: Who would believe that Abraham should hear that Sara gave suck to a son, whom she bore to him in his old age.

8 And the child grew and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day of his weaning.

9 And when Sara had seen the son of Agar the Egyptian playing with Isaac her son, she said to Abraham:

10 Cast out this bondwoman, and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.

11 Abraham took this grievously for his son.

12 And God said to him: Let it not seem grievous to thee for the boy, and for thy bondwoman: in all that Sara hath said to thee, hearken to her voice: for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

13 But I will make the son also of the bondwoman a great nation, because he is thy seed.

14 So Abraham rose up in the morning, and taking bread and a bottle of water, put it upon her shoulder, and delivered the boy, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Bersabee.

15 And when the water in the bottle was spent, she cast the boy under one of the trees that were there.

16 And she went her way, and sat over against him a great way off as far as a bow can carry, for she said: I will not see the boy die: and sitting over against, she lifted up her voice and wept.

17 And God heard the voice of the boy: and an angel of God called to Agar from heaven, saying: What art thou doing, Agar? fear not: for God hath heard the voice of the boy, from the place wherein he is.

18 Arise, take up the boy, and hold him by the hand: for I will make him a great nation.

19 And God opened her eyes: and she saw a well of water, and went and filled the bottle, and gave the boy to drink.

20 And God was with him: and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became a young man, an archer.

21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Pharan, and his mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

22 At the same time Abimelech, and Phicol the general of his army said to Abraham: God is with thee in all that thou dost.

23 Swear therefore by God, that thou wilt not hurt me, nor my posterity, nor my stock: but according to the kindness that I have done to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land wherein thou hast lived a stranger.

24 And Abraham said: I will swear.

25 And he reproved Abimelech for a well of water, which his servants had taken away by force.

26 And Abimelech answered: I knew not who did this thing: and thou didst not tell me, and I heard not of it till to day.

27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech: and both of them made a league.

28 And Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock.

29 And Abimelech said to him: What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set apart?

30 But he said: Thou shalt take seven ewe lambs at my hand: that they may be a testimony for me, that I dug this well.

31 Therefore that place was called Bersabee: because both of them did swear.

32 And they made a league for the well of oath.

33 And Abimelech, and Phicol the general of his army arose and returned to the land of the Palestines. But Abraham planted a grove in Bersabee, and there called upon the name of the Lord God eternal.

34 And he was a sojourner in the land of the Palestines many days.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2547

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2547. That thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin. That this signifies that thereby the doctrine of faith and all doctrinal things would be in danger, is evident from the signification of “Abimelech,” here meant by “me,” as being the doctrine of faith; and from the signification of “kingdom,” as being the truth of doctrine or that which is doctrinal. That in the internal sense “kingdom” signifies the truths of doctrine; and in the opposite sense, falsities of doctrine, is evident from the Word; as in Jeremiah:

He is the Former of all things, and the scepter of His inheritance Jehovah Zebaoth is His name. Thou art My hammer, weapons of war; and I will scatter nations in thee, and destroy kingdoms in thee (Jeremiah 51:19-20),

where the Lord is treated of, who evidently will not scatter nations nor destroy kingdoms, but will scatter and destroy the things signified by nations and kingdoms, namely, the evils and falsities of doctrine.

[2] In Ezekiel:

Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations whither they be gone, and will gather them from every side, and bring them into their own land; I will make them one nation in the land in the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they any more be divided into two kingdoms (Ezekiel 37:21-22);

here “Israel” denotes the spiritual church; and “nation” the good of that church or of doctrine. (That “nations” denote goods may be seen above, n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849.) “Kingdom” denotes its truths. It is evident that something else than nations and kingdoms is here meant by “nations and kingdoms,” for it is said of the sons of Israel or of the Israelites that they are to be “gathered and brought back into the land,” the fact being that when dispersed among the nations they were transformed into Gentiles.

[3] In Isaiah:

I will confound Egypt with Egypt, and they shall fight every man against his brother, and every man against his companion, city against city, kingdom against kingdom (Isaiah 19:2),

where “Egypt” denotes reasonings from memory-knowledges concerning the truths of faith (n. 1164, 1165, 1186); “city” denotes doctrine, here one that is heretical (n. 402, 2268, 2449); “kingdom” denotes the falsity of doctrine; so that “city against city, and kingdom against kingdom” denotes that heresies and falsities will fight among themselves; in like manner as is denoted by what the Lord said in regard to the consummation of the age, in Matthew:

Nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom (Matthew 24:7);

denoting evils against evils, and falsities against falsities.

[4] That which Daniel prophesied in regard to the four kingdoms (Daniel 2:37-46; 7:17); and concerning the kingdoms of Media and Persia (Daniel 8:20); and concerning the kingdoms of the king of the south and the king of the north (Daniel 11:1 and that which John prophesied in the Revelation concerning kings and kingdoms, have no other signification: “kingdoms” there merely mean the states of the church in respect to truths and falsities. States of monarchs and of the kingdoms of the earth in the sense of the letter, are in the internal sense states of the church and of the Lord’s kingdom; in which sense there are none other than spiritual and celestial things; for regarded in itself the Lord’s Word is solely spiritual and celestial; but in order that it may be read and apprehended by every man whatever, the things of heaven are set forth by such things as are on earth.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #1416

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1416. I will make thee into a great nation. That this signifies the kingdom in the heavens and on the earth, is evident from the signification of a “nation,” as being in the internal sense the celestial of love and the derivative good, thus all in the universe in whom is the celestial of love and of charity; and as in the internal sense the Lord is here treated of, there is meant all the celestial and all the derivative good, thus His kingdom, which is with those who are in love and charity. In the supreme sense the Lord is Himself the “great nation,” because He is the celestial itself, and good itself; for all the good of love and of charity is from Him alone; and therefore the Lord is His kingdom itself, that is, He is the all in all of His kingdom, as is also acknowledged by all the angels in heaven. Hence now it is evident that “I will make thee into a great nation,” signifies the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens and on earth.

[2] That in the internal sense, where the Lord and the celestial things of love are treated of, a “nation” signifies the Lord and all celestial things, is evident from the things adduced above concerning the signification of a “nation,” and of “nations” n. 1258,1259). This may also be further confirmed by the following passages. Concerning Abraham it is said:

Thy name shall not any more be called Abram, and thy name shall be Abraham, for the father of a multitude of nations have I given thee (Genesis 17:5).

The letter h in “Abraham” was taken from the name Jehovah, on account of his representation of Jehovah or the Lord. In like manner it is said of Sarai:

Thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and also give thee a son of her; thus I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall be of her (Genesis 17:15-16); where “nations” denote the celestial things of love, and “kings of peoples” the spiritual things of faith thence derived, which belong to the Lord alone.

[3] Concerning Jacob in like manner:

Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name, and He called his name Israel: and God said, I am God the thunderer; increase and multiply; a nation and a congregation of nations shall be from thee, and kings shall go forth out of thy loins (Genesis 35:10-11); where “Israel” denotes the Lord, and that He Himself is “Israel” in the supreme sense, is well known to some; and when He is “Israel,” it is evident that “a nation” and “an assemblage of nations,” and “kings out of His loins,” are the celestial and the spiritual things of love, and therefore all who are in the celestial and the spiritual things of love. Concerning Ishmael, Abram’s son by Hagar, it is said:

The son of the handmaid I will make him into a nation, because he is thy seed (Genesis 21:13, 18).

What is represented by Ishmael will be seen in its place; the “seed” of Abram is love itself, and from this the term “nation” is used for those begotten of Ishmael.

[4] That a “nation” signifies the celestial things of love, is evident in Moses:

If hearing ye will hear My voice, and will keep My covenant, ye shall also be a peculiar treasure unto Me out of all peoples, and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6); where “a kingdom of priests,” which is the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens and on earth, being so named from the celestial things of love, is manifestly called “a holy nation;” whereas the Lord’s kingdom from His kingly function was named from the spiritual things of love, and is called “a holy people;” and for this reason “kings out of the loins,” in the passage quoted above, are spiritual things.

In Jeremiah:

If these statutes have departed from before Me, saith Jehovah, the seed of Israel also shall cease, that it be not a nation before Me all the days (Jeremiah 31:36);

“the seed of Israel” denotes the celestial of charity; and when this ceases, there is no longer a nation before the Lord.

[5] In Isaiah:

The people that walk in darkness have seen a great light; Thou hast multiplied the nation (Isaiah 9:2-3).

This is said of the church of the nations specifically; but in general of all who are in ignorance and live in charity; these are a “nation,” because they are of the Lord’s kingdom.

In David:

That I may see the good of Thy chosen; that I may be glad in the gladness of Thy nation, that I may glory in Thine inheritance (Psalms 106:5).

Here “nation” plainly denotes the Lord’s kingdom. As the signification of “nation” is the celestial of love and the derivative good, there originated, from a perception of this signification, the fact that the men of the Most Ancient Church were distinguished into households, families, and nations; and thereby they perceived the Lord’s kingdom, and consequently the celestial itself. From this Perceptive arose the Significative, and from this the Representative.

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