The Bible

 

Genesis 17:20

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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;

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1991

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1991. 'He said to him' means perception. This is clear from the Lord's perception which came from Jehovah, dealt with already in 1919, and from the fact that in the internal sense 'Jehovah saying' or 'God saying' means perceiving, 1602, 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1822

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1822. That 'He said to him' means perception is clear from what has been stated above at verses 2 and 7. Perception itself is nothing else than a certain form of conversing that takes place inwardly, but which makes itself known whenever the spoken word is grasped perceptively. Every form of inward dictate, even conscience, is nothing else; but perception is a higher or more interior degree of it.

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