The Bible

 

Genesis 22:2

Study

       

2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2827

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

2827. And thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from Me. That this signifies the unition of the Human with the Divine by the utmost of temptation, is evident from the signification of “thy son,” namely, Isaac, as being the Divine rational (explained before), or the Divine Human, for this begins in the rational (n. 2106, 2194); which is called the “only one,” because it was the only-begotten (see n. 2772); and from the signification of “not withholding from me” as being to cause it to be united, namely, to the Divine Itself. That the unition was effected by the utmost of temptation, is manifest from all that precedes.

  
/ 10837  
  

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