The Bible

 

Bereshit 16

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1 ושרי אשת אברם לא ילדה לו ולה שפחה מצרית ושמה הגר׃

2 ותאמר שרי אל אברם הנה נא עצרני יהוה מלדת בא נא אל שפחתי אולי אבנה ממנה וישמע אברם לקול שרי׃

3 ותקח שרי אשת אברם את הגר המצרית שפחתה מקץ עשר שנים לשבת אברם בארץ כנען ותתן אתה לאברם אישה לו לאשה׃

4 ויבא אל הגר ותהר ותרא כי הרתה ותקל גברתה בעיניה׃

5 ותאמר שרי אל אברם חמסי עליך אנכי נתתי שפחתי בחיקך ותרא כי הרתה ואקל בעיניה ישפט יהוה ביני וביניך׃

6 ויאמר אברם אל שרי הנה שפחתך בידך עשי לה הטוב בעיניך ותענה שרי ותברח מפניה׃

7 וימצאה מלאך יהוה על עין המים במדבר על העין בדרך שור׃

8 ויאמר הגר שפחת שרי אי מזה באת ואנה תלכי ותאמר מפני שרי גברתי אנכי ברחת׃

9 ויאמר לה מלאך יהוה שובי אל גברתך והתעני תחת ידיה׃

10 ויאמר לה מלאך יהוה הרבה ארבה את זרעך ולא יספר מרב׃

11 ויאמר לה מלאך יהוה הנך הרה וילדת בן וקראת שמו ישמעאל כי שמע יהוה אל עניך׃

12 והוא יהיה פרא אדם ידו בכל ויד כל בו ועל פני כל אחיו ישכן׃

13 ותקרא שם יהוה הדבר אליה אתה אל ראי כי אמרה הגם הלם ראיתי אחרי ראי׃

14 על כן קרא לבאר באר לחי ראי הנה בין קדש ובין ברד׃

15 ותלד הגר לאברם בן ויקרא אברם שם בנו אשר ילדה הגר ישמעאל׃

16 ואברם בן שמנים שנה ושש שנים בלדת הגר את ישמעאל לאברם׃

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1957

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1957. 'The spring of the Living One who sees me' means the truth that was thus clearly visible. This too is clear from what has been stated, namely that the Lord saw clearly what the situation was with the truth belonging to this rational - that it was not good. The Lord's Interior Man from which He saw is called 'the Living One who sees' because it was joined to the Internal Man, which is Jehovah, who Alone has life and who Alone sees, as shown just above in 1954.

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

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.