The Bible

 

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 #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.