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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 gave·​·birth·​·to a son for Abraham for his old·​·age, at the appointed·​·time, of which God had spoken with him.

3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, to whom Sarah gave·​·birth for him, Isaac.

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

5 And Abraham was a son of a hundred years when Isaac his son was·​·born to him.

6 And Sarah said, God has made laughter for me, everyone that hears will laugh with me.

7 And she said, Who would have stated to Abraham, Sarah shall nurse sons? For I have given·​·birth to a son for his old·​·age.

8 And the child was growing·​·up, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast, on the day when 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, Drive·​·out this maidservant and her son; for the son of this maidservant shall not possess with my son, with Isaac.

11 And the word was· exceedingly ·evil in the eyes of Abraham, on account of his son.

12 And God said to Abraham, Let it not be·​·evil in thine eyes on·​·account·​·of the lad, and on·​·account·​·of thy maidservant; all that Sarah says to thee, hearken to her voice, for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

13 And also the son of the maidservant I will set for a nation, because he is thy seed.

14 And Abraham rose·​·early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave them to Hagar, and set them on her shoulder, and the child, and sent· her ·away; and she went and strayed in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

15 And the water was·​·all·​·gone from the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

16 And she went and sat by herself, withdrawing herself a distance of about a bowshot from his presence; for she said, Let me not see the death of the child; and she sat away from his presence; and she lifted up her voice, and wept.

17 And God heard the voice of the lad, and the angel of God called to Hagar out·​·of the heavens, and said to her, What ails thee, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad, where he is.

18 Arise, lift the lad, and make· thy hand ·firm with him, for I will set him for a great nation.

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

20 And God was with the lad, and he was growing·​·up, and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became a shooter of the bow.

21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.

22 And it was at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the commander of his army said to Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou art doing.

23 And now promise to me here by God, that thou wilt not do·​·falsely to me, nor to my son, nor to my grandson; according·​·to the mercy that I have done with thee, thou shalt do with·​·me, and with the land in which thou hast sojourned.

24 And Abraham said, I will promise.

25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech, on account of the well of waters which Abimelech’s servants had taken·​·by·​·robbery.

26 And Abimelech said, I know not who has done this thing, and even thou didst not tell me, and even I did not hear of it, until today.

27 And Abraham took flock and herd, and gave to Abimelech, and the two of them cut a covenant.

28 And Abraham stood seven ewe-lambs of the flock by·​·themselves.

29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What are these seven ewe-lambs, these which thou hast stood by themselves?

30 And he said, For these seven ewe-lambs thou shalt take from my hand, so·​·that it may be a testimony for me that I have dug this well.

31 Therefore he called that place Beer-sheba*, for there the two of them promised.

32 And they cut a covenant in Beer-sheba; and Abimelech arose, and Phichol the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.

33 And he planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of Jehovah, the God of eternity.

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

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia #9659

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9659. 'And there shall be eight boards and their bases [made] from silver' means support in every respect from good and through truth that springs from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'eight' as what is so in every respect, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'boards' as good that lends support, dealt with in 9634; and from the meaning of 'bases [made] from silver' as support provided through truth from good, dealt with in 9643.

[2] 'Eight' means in every respect because this number has the same meaning as two and four, being the product of these when multiplied together. 'Two' and 'four' mean being joined together, completely so, 5194, 8423, 8877, and consequently also mean what is complete, 9103, and therefore what is so in every respect; for what exists in completeness does so in every respect. Another reason why 'eight' means what exists in completeness and in every respect is that since 'a week' means a whole period from beginning to end, 2044, 3845, 'the eighth day' means a complete state, from which a new beginning then commences. This explains why males had to be circumcised on the eighth day, Genesis 17:12; 21:4, for circumcision was a sign of purification from foul kinds of love by means of the truth of faith, 2039, 2046 (end), 2799, 3412, 3413, 4462. The foreskin corresponded to the defilement of good by those kinds of love, 4462, 7045, 7225, and the knife of flint with which circumcision was carried out was a sign of the truth of faith by means of which purification was accomplished, 2039 (end), 2046 (end), 2799, 7044.

[3] What exists in completeness and in every respect is also meant by 'eight' following 'seven' in Micah,

When Asshur comes into our land and treads our palaces we will set up over him seven shepherds and eight princes of men (homo), and they will feed 1 the land of Asshur with the sword; and he will deliver [us] from Asshur. Micah 5:5-6.

'Asshur' stands for reasoning on the basis of one's own intelligence about the Church's forms of good and its truths. Deliverance totally or in every respect from consequent falsity is meant by 'eight princes of men' who will bring destruction, 'princes of men' being the leading truths that rise out of good.

[4] The fact that 'eight' means completeness and in every respect is also clear from an experience I had involving the admission and reception of some communities into heaven, about which see 2130. I saw as many as twelve communities received first, and after them as many as eight more; for people admitted and received into heaven are those who have been purified from earthly things, that is, from all love of them, and have gone on to receive instruction. The number eight on that occasion was a sign of that which was complete.

[5] 'Eight' has a similar meaning elsewhere in the Word, for example where it says that the portico of the gateway was 'eight cubits' long from the house, and that there were 'eight steps' up to the house, in Ezekiel 40:9, 31, 41. The description there is of the new house, by which the Lord's New Church is meant, truths leading to good and from good back to truths being meant by 'the portico' and 'the steps'.

[6] Anyone who does not know that spiritual realities or real things are implied by the numbers used in the Word cannot possibly see any such reality nor thus anything holy in the measures and numbers where the tabernacle, Solomon's temple, and after these the new house, new temple, and new land in Ezekiel, are described, when yet not a syllable in the Word is devoid of spiritual meaning. Let all who have intelligence weigh up in their mind what the measures and numbers in Chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel really mean, also the measures and numbers in John, at Revelation 21:17, where it says that the angel measured the wall of the new Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, and that this measure was that of a man (homo), that is, of an angel, and also in the following, besides many other places,

Let him who has intelligence reckon the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man (homo), that is, its number is six hundred and sixty-six. Revelation 13:18.

For more about all numbers in the Word, that they mean spiritual realities or real things, see 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 5291, 5335, 5708, 6175, 7973, and places where the specific meaning of certain numbers has been shown.

Notes de bas de page:

1. i.e. destroy

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

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Arcana Coelestia #755

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755. That 'the six hundredth year, the second month, and the seventeenth day' means the second state of temptation follows from what has been stated so far, for verse 6 down to this present verse 11 has dealt with the first state of temptation, which was temptation involving things of his understanding. Now however the second state is dealt with, namely temptation involving things of the will. This is the reason why his age is repeated. Previously it was said that 'he was a son of six hundred years', here that the Flood took place in 'the six hundredth year of his life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day'. No one would ever imagine that Noah's age, worked out to the exact year, month, and day, is used to mean a state of temptation involving things of the will. Yet, as has been stated, this was how the most ancient people spoke and wrote. And they found their chief delight in being able to work out periods of time and names and then to organize them into a semblance of history. It was in this that their wisdom consisted.

[2] It was shown at verse 6 above however that 'six hundred years' means nothing other than an initial state of temptation. Here similarly 'six hundred years' is mentioned. But so that it might mean a second state of temptation, months and days have been added - two months in fact, or rather 'in the second month', which means conflict itself, as becomes clear from the meaning of the number two given already at verse 6 of this chapter. As has been shown and may be seen there, two has the same meaning as six, that is, labour and conflict and also dispersion. The number seventeen however means not only the onset of temptation but also the end of temptation, the reason being that it is the sum of the numbers seven and ten. When this number means the onset of temptation it then entails 'seven days' or a week, which means the onset of temptation, as shown already at verse 4 of this chapter. But when it means the end of temptation, as it does later on in 8:4, seven is then a holy number to which ten, meaning remnants, has been added; for without remnants nobody is able to be regenerated.

[3] That seventeen means the onset of temptation is clear in Jeremiah's being commanded to buy the field from Hanamel his cousin who was in Anathoth, and to weigh out seventeen shekels of silver, Jeremiah 32:9. What comes after that in this chapter of the prophet shows that this number also means their captivity in Babylon, which represents the temptation of people who have faith and the devastation of those who have not. Indeed it represents the onset of temptation and at the same time the end of temptation, which is liberation. That captivity is mentioned in Jeremiah 32:36, and the liberation in Verse 37 onwards. Such a number, like every other word that is used, would never have appeared in this prophet if it did not embody arcana.

[4] That seventeen means the onset of temptation becomes clear also from the age of Joseph, who was seventeen years old when he was sent off to his brothers and was sold into Egypt, Genesis 37:2. His being sold into Egypt represents the same kinds of things, as will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown in that chapter. There the representative historical events did take place as described; here however they are made-up historical events carrying a spiritual meaning, which did not actually take place as described in the sense of the letter. Nevertheless the former embody arcana of heaven, right down to every word, as is the case here. This is bound to seem strange, for when any historical event occurs, true or made-up, the mind (animus) is confined to the letter from which it cannot extricate itself. Hence the conviction that nothing else is meant or represented.

[5] Yet it may become clear to anyone who is intelligent that some internal sense exists which has the life of the Word in it, but not in the letter, which devoid of the internal sense is dead. Without the internal sense what would any historical description be but history as found in any secular author? And so what would be the use of knowing Noah's exact age, or the month and day when the Flood took place, if it did not embody a heavenly arcanum? And who cannot see that 'all the fountains of the great deep were split open, and the floodgates of heaven were opened' is a prophetic utterance, as is much else besides?

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