The Bible

 

Genesis 17

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1 And Abram is a son of ninety and nine years, and Jehovah appeareth unto Abram, and saith unto him, `I [am] God Almighty, walk habitually before Me, and be thou perfect;

2 and I give My covenant between Me and thee, and multiply thee very exceedingly.'

3 And Abram falleth upon his face, and God speaketh with him, saying,

4 `I -- lo, My covenant [is] with thee, and thou hast become father of a multitude of nations;

5 and thy name is no more called Abram, but thy name hath been Abraham, for father of a multitude of nations have I made thee;

6 and I have made thee exceeding fruitful, and made thee become nations, and kings go out from thee.

7 `And I have established My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, to their generations, for a covenant age-during, to become God to thee, and to thy seed after thee;

8 and I have given to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, the whole land of Canaan, for a possession age-during, and I have become their God.'

9 And God saith unto Abraham, `And thou dost keep My covenant, thou and thy seed after thee, to their generations;

10 this [is] My covenant which ye keep between Me and you, and thy seed after thee: Every male of you [is] to be circumcised;

11 and ye have circumcised the flesh of your foreskin, and it hath become a token of a covenant between Me and you.

12 `And a son of eight days is circumcised by you; every male to your generations, born in the house, or bought with money from any son of a stranger, who is not of thy seed;

13 he is certainly circumcised who [is] born in thine house, or bought with thy money; and My covenant hath become in your flesh a covenant age-during;

14 and an uncircumcised one, a male, the flesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised, even that person hath been cut off from his people; My covenant he hath broken.'

15 And God saith unto Abraham, `Sarai thy wife -- thou dost not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [is] her name;

16 and I have blessed her, and have also given to thee a son from her; and I have blessed her, and she hath become nations -- kings of peoples are from her.'

17 And Abraham falleth upon his face, and laugheth, and saith in his heart, `To the son of an hundred years is one born? or doth Sarah -- daughter of ninety years -- bear?'

18 And Abraham saith unto God, `O that Ishmael may live before Thee;'

19 and God saith, `Sarah thy wife is certainly bearing a son to thee, and thou hast called his name Isaac, and I have established My covenant with him, for a covenant age-during, to his seed after him.

20 As to Ishmael, I have heard thee; lo, I have blessed him, and made him fruitful, and multiplied him, very exceedingly; twelve princes doth he beget, and I have made him become a great nation;

21 and My covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah doth bear to thee at this appointed time in the next year;'

22 and He finisheth speaking with him, and God goeth up from Abraham.

23 And Abraham taketh Ishmael his son, and all those born in his house, and all those bought with his money -- every male among the men of Abraham's house -- and circumciseth the flesh of their foreskin, in this self-same day, as God hath spoken with him.

24 And Abraham [is] a son of ninety and nine years in the flesh of his foreskin being circumcised;

25 and Ishmael his son [is] a son of thirteen years in the flesh of his foreskin being circumcised;

26 in this self-same day hath Abraham been circumcised, and Ishmael his son;

27 and all the men of his house -- born in the house, and bought with money from the son of a stranger -- have been circumcised with him.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #5374

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5374. To buy. That this signifies appropriation therefrom, is evident from the signification of “buying,” as being to procure for one’s self, thus to appropriate. Procuring and appropriating spiritually are effected by means of good and truth. To this corresponds the procuring and appropriating that in the world are effected by means of silver and gold; for in the spiritual sense “silver” is truth, and “gold” is good. Hence “buying” signifies appropriation, as also in the following passages in the Word:

Everyone that thirsteth come ye to the waters, and he that hath no silver; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without silver and without price (Isaiah 55:1; and also in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 13:1-2, 11).

In Matthew:

The kingdom of the heavens is like unto treasure hid in the field; which when a man hath found, he hideth, and in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like unto a merchantman, seeking goodly pearls, and he went and sold all that he had, and bought it (Matthew 13:44-46).

Again:

The prudent virgins said to the foolish ones, Go ye to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came (Matthew 25:9-10).

[2] As “buying” signifies appropriation, therefore in the Word the things bought with silver are well distinguished from those otherwise obtained. Moreover, the servants bought with silver were as one’s own, and in a lower degree like those born in the house; and therefore they are often mentioned together, as in Genesis:

Circumcising he shall be circumcised that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy silver (Genesis 17:13);

and in Leviticus:

If a priest buy any soul with the purchase of silver, he and one that is born in his house, they shall eat of his bread (Leviticus 22:11).

Hence it is evident what is signified by the “redeemed (or those bought back) of Jehovah,” in the Word, namely, those who have received good and truth, and thus those to whom the things of the Lord have been appropriated.

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