The Bible

 

Genesis 21

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

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

3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.

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

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

6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh. Every one that heareth will laugh with me.

7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should give children suck? 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 unto Abraham, mocking.

10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son. For the son of this handmaid shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

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

12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy handmaid. In all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice. For in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

13 And also of 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 bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and [gave her] the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

15 And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot. For she said, Let me not look upon 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 out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not. For God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand. For I will make him 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 grew. And he dwelt in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, 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 Phicol the captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest.

23 Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son. But according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.

24 And Abraham said, I will swear.

25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of the well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.

26 And Abimelech said, I know not who hath done this thing. Neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to-day.

27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech. And they two made a covenant.

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

29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?

30 And he said, These seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that it may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.

31 Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba. Because there they sware both of them.

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

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

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

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1890

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1890. Genesis 16

1. And Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no child. And she had an Egyptian servant-girl, and her name was Hagar.

2. And Sarai said to Abram, Behold, now, Jehovah has prevented me from bearing; go in now to my servant-girl; perhaps I shall be built up from her; and Abram hearkened to Sarai's voice.

3. And Sarai, Abram's wife (uxor), took Hagar her Egyptian servant-girl, after Abram had been dwelling ten years in the land of Canaan, and she gave her to Abram her husband (vir) as his wife (mulier).

4. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And she saw that she had conceived, and her mistress was despised in her eyes.

5. And Sarai said to Abram, May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant-girl into your bosom, and she saw that she had conceived, and I am despised in her eyes. May Jehovah judge between me and you!

6. And Abram said to Sarai, Behold, your servant-girl is in your hand; do to her what is good in your eyes. And Sarai humiliated her, and she fled from her face.

7. And the angel of Jehovah found her near a spring of water in the desert, near the spring on the road to Shur.

8. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's servant-girl, where are you coming from, and where are you going? And she said, From the face of Sarai my mistress I am fleeing.

9. And the angel of Jehovah said to her, Return to your mistress and humble yourself beneath her hands.

10. And the angel of Jehovah said to her, I will multiply your seed greatly and it will not be numbered for multitude.

11. And the angel of Jehovah said to her, Behold, you are with child, and you will bear a son, and you will call his name Ishmael because Jehovah has hearkened to your affliction.

12. And he will be a wild-ass man; his hand will be against all, and the hand of all against him; and he will dwell in opposition to 1 all his brothers.

13. And she called the name of Jehovah who spoke to her, You are a God who sees me; for she said, Have I not also here seen after Him who sees me?

14. Therefore she called the spring, The spring of the Living One who sees me; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bared.

15. And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

16. And Abram was a son of eighty-six years when Hagar bore Ishmael for Abram.

CONTENTS

The subject in this chapter is the first rational with the Lord which was conceived from the influx of the Internal Man into the External Man's affection for knowledge. The Internal Man is Abram, while the External Man's affection for knowledge is Hagar the Egyptian servant-girl; and the rational born from these two is Ishmael. The nature of this rational is described, and further on, in Chapter 21, it is said that it was 'driven out of the house' after the Lord's Divine Rational represented by Isaac had been born.

Footnotes:

1. literally, against the faces of

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