3262. Verse 12. And these are the births of Ishmael the son of Abraham, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham. “And these are the births of Ishmael the son of Abraham,” signifies the derivations of the spiritual church represented by Ishmael; “whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham,” signifies the birth of the spiritual man from Divine influx into the affection of memory-knowledges.

533. As nothing more is related concerning Lamech than that he begat sons and daughters, which are the conceptions and births of such a church, we shall dwell no longer on the subject. What the births were, or the “sons and daughters” appears from the church; for such as is the church, such are the births from it. Both the churches called “Methuselah” and “Lamech” expired just before the flood.