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Genesis 21

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1 And Jehovah visited Sarah as he had said, and Jehovah did to Sarah as he had spoken.

2 And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.

3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.

4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days old, as God had commanded him.

5 And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

6 And Sarah said, God has made me laugh: all that hear will laugh with me.

7 And she said, Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle children? For I have borne [him] a son in his old age.

8 And the child grew, and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.

10 And she said to Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son -- with Isaac.

11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.

12 And God said to Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and because of thy handmaid: [in] all that Sarah hath said to thee hearken to her voice, for in Isaac shall a seed be called to thee.

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

14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a flask of water, and gave [it] to Hagar, putting [it] on her shoulder -- and the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

15 And the water was exhausted from the flask; and she cast the child under one of the shrubs,

16 and she went and sat down over against [him], a bow-shot off; for she said, Let me not behold the death of the child. And she sat over against [him], and lifted up her voice and wept.

17 And God heard the voice of the lad. And the Angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her, What [aileth] thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad there, where he is.

18 Arise, take the lad, and hold him in thy hand; for I will make of him a great nation.

19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the flask with water, and gave the lad drink.

20 And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

22 And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech, and Phichol the captain of his host, spoke to Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest.

23 And now swear to me here by God that thou wilt not deal deceitfully with me, nor with my son, nor with my grandson. According to the kindness that I have done to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land in which thou sojournest.

24 And Abraham said, I will swear.

25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water that Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.

26 And Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this, neither hast thou told me [of it], neither have I heard [of it] but to-day.

27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.

28 And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves.

29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What [mean] these seven ewe-lambs, these which thou hast set by themselves?

30 And he said, That thou take the seven ewe-lambs of my hand, that they may be a witness to me that I have dug this well.

31 Therefore he called that place Beer-sheba, because there they had sworn, both of them.

32 And they made a covenant at Beer-sheba. And Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the captain of his host, and returned into the land of the Philistines.

33 And [Abraham] planted a tamarisk in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of Jehovah, the Eternal ùGod.

34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2667

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2667. The subject in verses 1-7 of this chapter has been the Lord's Human existing united to His Divine, and His Divine united to His Human, and how from that union the Lord's Human was made Divine. For what each particular verse contains, see 2649. The subject after that was the merely human rational, that it was to be separated (verse 8), because it was not in agreement with the Divine Rational (verse 9), and could not possess the same life as the Divine Rational, neither as to truth nor as to good (verse 10); that at first that separation was something over which the Lord was to grieve (verse 11), but that from the Divine He perceived that there was no other way in which the human race could have been saved (verse 12). What follows next has to do with those who belonged to the spiritual Church and who are meant by Hagar's son after he had been sent away.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #2004

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2004. 'And you will be the father of a multitude of nations' means union of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence. This cannot be shown so easily from an explanation of individual expressions in the internal sense unless they are seen within a general overall picture by which this sense is presented. This is frequently the case with the internal sense, and when it is it may be called more universal because it is more remote. From an explanation of individual expressions this proximate sense is the result - that everything true and everything good comes from the Lord, for as will be discussed belong 'father' means that which comes from Him, that is, from the Lord, 'multitude' means truth, and 'of nations' resulting good. But because the latter, that is to say, truths and goods, are the means by which the Lord united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, that more universal and more remote sense emerges from such an explanation. This is the way in which angels perceive these words; and at one and the same time they perceive a reciprocal union, namely that of the Lord's Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence. For as has been stated, 'As for Me, My covenant is with you' means union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, the words that follow consequently meaning that of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence.

[2] It is an arcanum not yet disclosed that union was accomplished reciprocally, an arcanum that can hardly be explained intelligibly, for as yet the nature of influx has not been known to anyone, and without a knowledge of influx no idea can possibly be gained of what reciprocal union is. It is possible to shed light to some extent on the matter however from influx as it takes place with man, for with man too reciprocal conjunction exists. From the Lord by way of man's internal, which is dealt with just above in 1999, life is flowing in constantly into man's rational, and by way of the rational into the external and even into the facts and cognitions he has. These it not only adapts to receive life but also sets them in order and so enables man to think and ultimately to be rational. Such is the conjunction of the Lord with man, and without it man would never be able to think, let alone be rational. This may become clear to anyone from the fact that present within a person's thought there are countless arcana belonging to the science and art of analysis, so countless that even to all eternity it is not possible to explore them thoroughly. Such arcana do not flow in through the senses or the external man, but through the internal man. Man for his part however, through facts and cognitions, goes to meet this life flowing from the Lord, and in so doing joins himself reciprocally.

[3] But as for the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence, this was infinitely superior, for the Lord's Internal was Jehovah Himself, and so Life itself, whereas man's internal is not the Lord, and so not life but a recipient of life. The Lord's relationship with Jehovah was union, whereas that of man with the Lord is not union but conjunction. The Lord united Himself to Jehovah by His own power and on that account became righteousness as well, whereas man in no way joins himself to Him by his own power but by the Lord's. This being so, it is the Lord who joins man to Himself. Such reciprocal union is what the Lord means where He attributes what is His own to the Father, and what is the Father's to Himself, as in John,

Jesus said, He who believes in Me believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me I have come as light into the world in order that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness. John 12:44-46.

These words conceal very deep arcana - arcana in fact regarding the union of good with truth, and of truth with good, or what amounts to the same, regarding the union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of Human Essence with Divine Essence. Hence His declaration, 'He who believes in Me believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me', and shortly after, 'He who believes in Me', in between which two statements comes another concerning that union in which He says, 'He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me'.

[4] In the same gospel,

The words that I speak to you I do not speak from Myself; the Father who dwells within Me He does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me. Truly I say to you, He who believes in Me [will also do] the works that I do. John 14:10-12.

These words hold the same arcana within them, that is to say, those relating to the union of good with truth, and of truth with good; or what amounts to the same, of the Lord's Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence. Hence His declaration, 'The words that I speak to you I do not speak from Myself; the Father who is within Me, He does the works', and shortly afterwards, 'The works that I do', in between which two statements likewise comes another concerning the union, in which He says, 'I am in the Father and the Father in Me'. This is the mystical union that many people speak about.

[5] From this it is clear that He was not someone other than the Father even though He spoke of the Father as though He were someone other. The reason for His doing so was the reciprocal union that was going to be accomplished and was accomplished, for He openly states so many times that He is one with the Father, as He does in the places just quoted -

He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. John 12:45.

Also,

The Father who dwells within Me; believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me. John 14:10-11.

And in the same gospel,

If you knew Me you would know my Father also. John 8:19.

In the same gospel,

If you know Me you know My Father also. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, Show us the Father. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long and yet you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. So why do you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? John 14:7-10.

And in the same gospel,

I and the Father are one. John 10:30.

This is why in heaven they know no other Father than the Lord since the Father is within Him, and He is one with the Father; and when they see Him they see the Father, as He Himself has said; see 15.

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