2802. Isaac said unto Abraham his father; and he said, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son. That this signifies the Lord conference from love—of the Divine Truth with the Divine Good-is evident from the signification of “Isaac the son,” as being the Divine Truth; and from the signification of “Abraham the father,” as being the Divine Good; which are treated of in what presently follows; and from the affection that is in these words, as being from love on both sides. Hence it is manifest that it is a conference of the Lord with His Father. That more arcana lie hid in these words than can come to human perception, is evident from the fact that the words “he said” occur four times in this verse. It is usual in the Word, when any new thing is begun, to say, “and he said” (see n. 2061, 2238, 2260). The same is evident from the fact that the words are words of love; and when such come to the perception of the celestial angels who are in the inmost sense, they form for themselves from them most celestial ideas; for they form for themselves luminous ideas from the affections in the Word, whereas the spiritual angels do so from the significations of the words and of the things (n. 2157, 2275); and thus from these words, in which there are four distinct periods and affections of love, the celestial angels form such things as can in no wise come down to human apprehension, nor can be put into words; and this with ineffable abundance and variety. Hence we can see what the quality of the Word is in its internal sense, even where it appears simple in the letter, as in this verse.

2275. And he said, Oh let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak. That this signifies anxiety concerning the state of the human race, may be seen, not so much from the words, as from the affection that belongs to them. The internal sense of the Word contains within it two things, to wit, what is spiritual, and what is celestial. That which is spiritual consists in there being comprehended, abstractedly from the letter, actual things to which the literal sense serves as an object, just as do those things which the eye sees, when they serve as objects for suggesting thought about matters of a more exalted nature. That which is celestial consists in there being solely perceived the affection that belongs to the actual things that are in the internal sense. In the former are the spiritual angels, in the latter are the celestial angels. They who are in the latter, that is, in the affection, perceive at once from the affection alone what the letter involves when it is being read by man, and from it they form for themselves celestial ideas, and this with endless variety, and in an ineffable manner, in accordance with the onflowing harmony of the celestial things of love that are in the affection. From this we may see what the Word of the Lord contains within its remote recesses. When therefore these words are read: “Oh let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak,” the celestial angels at once perceive a certain anxiety, and indeed the anxiety of love toward the human race; and at the same time there are insinuated into them innumerable and ineffable things in regard to the anxiety of love which the Lord felt when He thought about the state of the human race.