The Bible

 

Genesis 16

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1 And Sarai Abram's wife did not bear him [children]. And she had an Egyptian maidservant; and her name was Hagar.

2 And Sarai said to Abram, Behold now, Jehovah has shut me up, that I do not bear. Go in, I pray thee, to my maidservant: it may be that I shall be built up by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar, the Egyptian, her maidservant, at the end of ten years that Abram had dwelt in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram, as his wife.

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

5 And Sarai said to Abram, My wrong be on thee! I have given my maidservant into thy bosom; and now she sees that she has conceived, I am lightly esteemed in her eyes. Jehovah judge between me and thee!

6 And Abram said to Sarai, Behold, thy maidservant is in thy hand: do to her what is good in thine eyes. And Sarai oppressed her; and she fled from her face.

7 And the Angel of Jehovah found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.

8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maidservant, whence comest thou? and whither art thou going? And she said, I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.

9 And the Angel of Jehovah said to her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

10 And the Angel of Jehovah said to her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

11 And the Angel of Jehovah said to her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, because Jehovah hath hearkened to thy affliction.

12 And he will be a wild-ass of a man, his hand against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell before the face of all his brethren.

13 And she called the name of Jehovah who spoke to her, Thou art the ùGod who reveals himself, for she said, Also here have I seen after he has revealed himself.

14 Therefore the well was named Beer-lahai-roi: behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

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

16 And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1954

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1954. You are a God who sees me' means influx. This is clear from what has just been stated. The act of seeing from what is higher into what is lower, or what amounts to the same, from interior into exterior, is called influx, for it takes place by means of influx. This is how it is with man's inner sight. Unless his inner sight were entering in constantly into his external sight, that of the eye, the eye would never be able to fix itself on and make out any object; for it is the interior sight which, through the eye, fixes itself on the things seen by the eye. It is in no way the eye that does so, though that seems to be the case. From these considerations it also becomes clear how much a person is swayed by the illusions of the senses who believes that the eye sees, when in fact it is the sight of his spirit, his interior sight, which sees by means of the eye.

[2] Spirits present with me have seen things in the world through my eyes as clearly as I myself have done, regarding which see 1880. Some of them however who were still swayed by the illusions of the senses supposed that they had been seeing through their own eyes. But they were shown that this was not so, for when my eyes were closed they saw nothing existing in this physical world. So also with man; it is not the eye which sees but his spirit by means of the eye. The same point is also evident from dreams in which one sometimes sees as though in the daytime. It is very similar with this interior sight, which is that of the spirit. This too does not see of itself but from a sight more interior still, which is that of the rational. Nor again does the rational see of itself, but there is a sight more interior still, which is that of the internal man, referred to in 1940. Yet not even this internal man sees of itself; it is the Lord who does so by means of the internal man. He Alone sees, since He Alone has life and enables man to see, and to seem to himself to see of himself. Such is the situation with influx.

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