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Genesis 17

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1 And when Abram was ninety and nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

6 And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee; and kings shall proceed from thee.

7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant; to be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee.

8 And I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land in which thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

9 And God said to Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee, in their generations.

10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee; Every male-child among you shall be circumcised.

11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male-child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, who is not of thy seed.

13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

14 And the uncircumcised male-child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

15 And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also by her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall proceed from her.

17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?

18 And Abraham said to God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to thee at this set time in the next year.

22 And he ceased talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin, in the same day, as God had said to him.

24 And Abraham was ninety and nine years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

26 In the same day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

27 And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #9659

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9659. And there shall be eight planks, and their bases of silver. That this signifies support in every way by good, and through the truth which is from good, is evident from the signification of “eight,” as being in every way, of which in what follows; from the signification of “planks,” as being the good which supports (see n. 9634); and from the signification of “bases of silver,” as being support through the truth which is from good (n. 9643).

[2] That “eight” denotes in every way is because by this number is signified the same as by “two,” and by “four,” for it arises from these multiplied together, and by “two” and “four” is signified conjunction to the full (n. 5194, 8423, 8877), and from this also what is full (see n. 9103), and consequently in every way; for that which is in fullness is also in every way. By “eight” is also signified what is full and in every way, from the fact that by a “week” is signified an entire period from beginning to end (n. 2044, 3845); consequently by “the eighth day” is signified a full state, from which there is afterward made a new beginning. From this it was that male children were circumcised when eight days old (Genesis 17:12; 21:4); for by “circumcision” was signified purification from filthy loves by means of the truth of faith (n. 2039, 2046, 2799, 3412-3413, 4462); the foreskin corresponded to the defilement of good by these loves (n. 4462, 7045, 7225); and “the sword of stone,” with which the circumcision was performed, signified the truth of faith by means of which purification is effected (n. 2039, 2046, 2799, 7044).

[3] What is full and in every way is also signified by “eight” after “seven,” in Micah:

When Asshur shall come into our land, and shall tread our palaces, then shall we set over him seven shepherds and eight princes of men. And they shall feed on the land of Asshur with the sword; and He shall deliver us from Asshur (Micah 5:5-6);

“Asshur” denotes reasoning about the goods and truths of the church from man’s own intelligence; total or complete deliverance from the falsity thence, is signified by the “eight princes of men who shall destroy;” the “princes of men” denote the primary truths of good.

[4] That “eight” denotes what is full, and in every way, is also plain from experience concerning the admission and reception of societies into heaven (as may be seen above, n. 2130). The societies that were first received appeared up to twelve in number, and afterward eight; for those who are admitted and received into heaven are those who have been purified from earthly things, and therefore from the loves of them, and who have afterward been instructed; by the number “eight” was then signified what is full.

[5] The like is signified by “eight” in other parts of the Word, as by the porch of the gate from the house being “eight ells,” and by there being “eight steps” to the house, in Ezekiel 40:9, 31, 41. A new house is there treated of, by which is signified a New Church of the Lord; the truths which lead to good, and from good to truths, are signified by the porch and by the steps.

[6] He who knows not that in the Word numbers infold realities, is bound to get the idea that where the tabernacle, the temple of Solomon, and afterward a new house, and a new temple, and a new earth, are described in Ezekiel, the measurements and numbers have no real meaning, and therefore no holiness, although in the Word not a syllable is void of meaning. Let him who has intelligence consider the measurements and numbers in Ezekiel, from chapter 40 to chapter 48, and the measurements and numbers given by John in the Revelation, chapter 21, where also it is said that “the angel measured the wall of the New Jerusalem a hundred forty and four cubits,” and that “this measure is that of a man, that is, of an angel” (verse 17); also in another passage: “He that hath intelligence, let him compute the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred and sixty-six” (Revelation 13:18); besides those given in many other passages. (That all the numbers mentioned in the Word signify real things, see n. 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 5291, 5335, 5708, 6175, 7973; and in the places where it has been shown what is signified by some numbers in particular.)

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