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Genesis 16

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1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bore him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

2 And Sarai said to Abram, Behold, now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee go in to my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

3 And Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

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

5 And Sarai said to Abram, my wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.

6 But Abram said to Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

7 And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.

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

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

11 And the angel of the LORD said to her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

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

13 And she called the name of the LORD that spoke to her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

14 Wherefore the well was called Beer-la-hai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar bore Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bore, Ishmael.

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

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1909

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1909. That 'he went in to Hagar' means the joining of the internal man to the life of the affection for knowledge is clear from the meaning of 'Hagar' as the life of the exterior or natural man, dealt with above at verse 1; and that this life is the life of the affection for knowledge is clear from the meaning of 'an Egyptian servant-girl', also dealt with above. There are many affections belonging to the exterior man, each one devoted to its own use. Superior to them all however is the affection for cognitions and knowledge when its end in view is that a person may become truly rational, for it then has good and truth as its end in view. The life itself of the internal man flows into all the affections of the natural man, but there it varies according to ends in view. When it flows into affections which have the world as the end in view, that end receives life from that life which is flowing in, and becomes worldly-minded life. When it flows into affections that have self as the end in view, that end receives life from that life which is flowing in, and becomes bodily-minded life. And so it is with all the other affections when life flows into them. It is from this that evil desires and false notions have life, but a life contrary to the affection for good and truth.

[2] As it flows in, life is not directed towards anything except the end in view, for with everyone that end is his love, and it is love alone which is living. All else in him is purely derivative, getting its life from the end in view. Anyone may see what kind of life he possesses, if only he will find out what kind of end he has in view. He does not have to find out the nature of all his ends, for these are countless, as many as his intentions and almost as many as the judgements and conclusions arrived at by his thoughts. These are merely secondary ends derived from the main one or tending towards it. All he has to find out is the end which he prefers above all others, and in comparison with which all others are as nothing. If he has self and the world as his end, let him recognize that his life is that of hell; but if he has the good of the neighbour, the common good, the Lord's kingdom, and above all the Lord Himself as his end, let him recognize that his life is that of heaven.

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