The Bible

 

Genesis 21

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1 At dumalaw ang Panginoon kay Sara, ayon sa sinabi niya, at ginawa ng Panginoon kay Sara ang ayon sa kaniyang sinalita.

2 At si Sara ay naglihi at nagkaanak ng isang lalake kay Abraham sa kaniyang katandaan, sa tadhanang panahong sinabi ng Dios sa kaniya.

3 At tinawag na Isaac ni Abraham ang ngalan ng kaniyang anak na ipinanganak sa kaniya, na siyang ipinanganak ni Sara.

4 At tinuli ni Abraham si Isaac ng magkaroon ng walong araw gaya ng iniutos ng Dios sa kaniya.

5 At si Abraham ay may isang daang taon, nang sa kaniya'y ipanganak si Isaac na kaniyang anak.

6 At sinabi ni Sara, Pinatawa ako ng Dios, sinomang makarinig ay makikitawa.

7 At sinabi niya, Sinong nakapagsabi kay Abraham na si Sara ay magpapasuso ng anak? sapagka't ako'y nagkaanak sa kaniya ng isang lalake sa kaniyang katandaan.

8 At lumaki ang sanggol, at inihiwalay sa suso; at nagpiging ng malaki si Abraham ng araw na ihiwalay sa suso si Isaac.

9 At nakita ni Sara ang anak ni Agar na taga Egipto, na ito'y nagkaanak kay Abraham, na tumutuya sa kaniya.

10 Kaya't sinabi niya kay Abraham, Palayasin mo ang aliping ito at ang kaniyang anak: sapagka't hindi magmamana ang anak ng aliping ito na kahati ng aking anak, sa makatuwid baga'y ni Isaac.

11 At ang bagay na ito ay naging lubhang mabigat sa paningin ni Abraham dahil sa kaniyang anak.

12 At sinabi ng Dios kay Abraham, Huwag mong mabigatin ito sa iyong paningin dahil sa iyong alipin; sa lahat na sabihin sa iyo ni Sara, ay makinig ka sa kaniyang tinig, sapagka't kay Isaac tatawagin ang iyong lahi.

13 At ang anak din naman ng alipin ay gagawin kong isang bansa, sapagka't siya'y anak mo.

14 At nagbangong maaga sa kinaumagahan si Abraham, at kumuha ng tinapay at ng isang bangang balat ng tubig, at ibinigay kay Agar, na ipinatong sa kaniyang balikat, at ang bata at siya ay pinapagpaalam, at siya'y nagpaalam at naggala sa ilang ng Beerseba.

15 At naubos ang tubig sa bangang balat, at kaniyang inilapag ang bata sa ilalim ng isa sa mabababang punong kahoy.

16 At yumaon at naupo sa tapat niya, na ang layo ay isang hilagpos ng pana; sapagka't sinabi niya, Huwag kong makita ang kamatayan ng bata. At naupo sa tapat, at naghihiyaw at umiyak.

17 At narinig ng Dios ang tinig ng bata; at tinawag ng anghel ng Dios si Agar, mula sa langit, at sa kaniya'y sinabi, Naano ka Agar? Huwag kang matakot; sapagka't narinig ng Dios ang tinig ng bata sa kinalalagyan.

18 Magtindig ka, iyong itayo ang bata, at alalayan mo siya ng iyong kamay; sapagka't siya'y gagawin kong isang bansang malaki.

19 At idinilat ng Dios ang kaniyang mga mata, at siya'y nakakita ng isang balon ng tubig: at naparoon at pinuno ng tubig ang bangang balat, at pinainom ang bata.

20 At ang Dios ay sumabata, at siya'y lumaki; at tumahan sa ilang at naging mamamana.

21 At nanahan siya sa ilang ng Paran: at ikinuha siya ng kaniyang ina ng asawa sa lupain ng Egipto.

22 At nangyari ng panahong yaon, na si Abimelech, at si Ficol na kapitan ng kaniyang hukbo ay nagsalita kay Abraham, na nagsasabi, Sumasaiyo ang Dios sa lahat mong ginagawa:

23 Ngayon nga'y ipanumpa mo sa akin dito alangalang sa Dios, na di ka maglililo sa akin, kahit sa aking anak, kahit sa anak ng aking anak; kundi ayon sa kagandahang loob na ipinakita ko sa iyo, ay gayon ang gagawin mo sa akin, at sa lupaing iyong pinakipamayanan.

24 At sinabi ni Abraham, Susumpa ako.

25 At pinagwikaan ni Abraham si Abimelech dahil sa isang balon ng tubig, na marahas na inalis sa kaniya ng mga bataan ni Abimelech.

26 At sinabi ni Abimelech, Aywan, kung sinong gumawa ng bagay na ito: na di mo man sinabi sa akin, at hindi ko man nabalitaan kundi ngayon.

27 At kumuha si Abraham ng mga tupa, at mga baka, at ibinigay kay Abimelech; at gumawa silang dalawa ng isang tipan.

28 At ibinukod ni Abraham ang pitong korderong babae sa kawan.

29 At sinabi ni Abimelech kay Abraham, Anong kahulugan nitong pitong korderong babae na iyong ibinukod?

30 At kaniyang sinabi, Itong pitong korderong babae ay iyong kukunin sa aking kamay, upang sa akin ay maging patotoo na hinukay ko ang balong ito.

31 Kaya't tinawag niya ang dakong yaong Beerseba; sapagka't doon sila kapuwa nanumpa.

32 Sa gayo'y gumawa sila ng isang tipan sa Beerseba: at nagtindig si Abimelech, at si Ficol na kapitan ng kaniyang hukbo at nagsipagbalik sa lupain ng mga Filisteo.

33 At nagtanim si Abraham ng isang punong kahoy na tamaring sa Beerseba, at sinambitla doon ang pangalan ng Panginoong Dios na walang hanggan.

34 At maraming araw na nakipamayan si Abraham sa lupain ng mga Filisteo.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2636

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2636. 'Abraham was a son a hundred years old' means a complete state of union. This is clear from the meaning of 'a hundred' as that which is complete, dealt with immediately below, and from the meaning of 'years' as state, dealt with in 482, 487, 488, 493, 893, here a state of union. What a complete state is of the Lord's Divine united to His Human, or what amounts to the same, united to the Rational - for the human has its beginnings in the inmost part of the rational, 2106, 2194 - is not easy to express in a way that can be understood, though it can nevertheless be illustrated by the things which with man are called a complete state when he is being reformed and regenerated.

[2] It is well known that a person cannot be regenerated except in adult years, for not until then is he able to exercise reason and judgement and in so doing to receive good and truth from the Lord. Before entering that state he is being prepared by the Lord through the implantation of such things as can serve him as the soil for receiving the seeds of truth and good. Implanted thus are many states of innocence and charity, also cognitions of good and truth, and consequently thoughts. This implantation occurs during many years before his regeneration takes place. When a person has been endowed with these things and so has been prepared, his state is now said to be complete, for the things that are interior have been arranged ready to receive. All those things with a person which the Lord grants him prior to regeneration and by means of which he is regenerated are called remnants, which in the Word are meant by the number ten, 576, 1738, 2284, and also by a hundred when the state for regeneration is complete, 1988.

[3] These things that are so with man may serve to illustrate what is meant by a complete state of the Human united to the Divine in the Lord. That is to say, they may illustrate the state when the Lord by His own power - through the conflicts brought about by temptations and through victories, and through the powers of Divine wisdom and intelligence - gathered to Himself within the Human, that is, within the Rational, so much of the Divine that He was able to unite the Divine itself to the Divine acquired within the Rational. And it was to represent this state that, even though Abraham had spent many years in the land of Canaan, Isaac was not born to him until he was a hundred years old. These are the arcana contained within the number 'a hundred years', which was Abraham's age.

[4] That the number 'a hundred' means that which is complete may also be seen from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

No more will there be from it an infant of days, nor an old man who has not completed his days, for the child will die a son a hundred years old, and the sinner a son a hundred years old will be accursed. Isaiah 65:20.

Here 'a hundred' clearly stands for that which is complete, for it is said, 'No more will there be an infant of days, nor an old man who has not completed his days', and, a child and a sinner will be 'a hundred years old', that is, a time when his state is complete.

[5] In Matthew,

Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields, for My name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will be allotted the inheritance of eternal life. Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:29-30.

Here 'a hundredfold' stands for that which is complete, otherwise described as 'good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over', in Luke 6:38.

[6] In Luke,

Some seed fell on good ground, and when it had grown up it brought forth fruit a hundredfold. Luke 8:8; Matthew 13:8, 23; Mark 4:20.

Here also 'a hundred' stands for that which is complete, a number which would not have been mentioned unless it had had that meaning. A similar meaning exists in the parable about the debtors, where the Lord says that one owed a hundred baths of oil and the other a hundred cors of wheat, Luke 16:5-7. The same applies in other places where a hundred is mentioned. It is similar with a thousand, regarding which number, see 2575.

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