2811. And Abraham built there the altar. That this signifies the preparation of the Lord’s Human Divine, is evident from the signification of an “altar,” and of “building an altar.” “Altars” signified all worship in general, because they were the primary things of the worship of the representative church (n. 921); and as they signified all worship in general, they signified the Lord’s Divine Human, for the Lord’s Divine Human is all worship and all doctrine; so much so as to be worship itself and doctrine itself; as may be seen also from the Holy Supper, which succeeded to altars, or to burnt-offerings and sacrifices (n. 2165, 2187, 2343, 2359), and which is the primary thing of external worship, because it is the Lord’s Divine Human which is there given. That to “build an altar” is to prepare the Human Divine, is evident from the above, and thus without explication. The final preparation of the Lord’s Human Divine for undergoing the last degrees of temptation is treated of in this verse, and is described by Abraham laying the wood in order, binding Isaac his son, and placing him on the altar upon the wood.

1893. Sarai, Abram’s wife, did not bear unto him. That this signifies that the rational man was not yet, will be evident from what follows, where Isaac is treated of. For, as has been said, there are in every man an internal man, a rational man that is intermediate, and an external, which is properly called the natural man. With the Lord these were represented by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the internal man by Abraham, the rational by Isaac, and the natural by Jacob. The internal man in the Lord was Jehovah Himself, for He was conceived of Jehovah; on this account He so often called Him His “Father,” and in the Word He is called the “Only-begotten of God,” and the only “Son of God.” The rational man is not born with man, but only the capacity for becoming rational, as all may see from the fact that new-born infants are not endowed with any reason, but become rational in process of time by means of things of sense external and internal, as they are imbued with knowledges [scientiae et cognitiones]. In children indeed there is an appearance of rationality, yet it is not rationality, but is only a kind of rudiment of it, which is known from the fact that reason belongs to adults and men of years.

[2] The rational man in the Lord is treated of in this chapter. The Divine Rational itself is represented by Isaac; but the first rational before it was made Divine, by Ishmael; and therefore that “Sarai, Abram’s wife, did not bear unto him” here signifies that hitherto there was no Divine rational. As before said, the Lord was born as are other men, and as regards all that He drew from Mary the mother He was like other men; and as the rational is formed by means of knowledges [scientifica et cognitiones], which enter through things of the external senses, or those of the external man, therefore His first rational was born as with any other man; but as by His own power He made Divine all the human things that appertained to Him, so did He also make the rational Divine. His first rational is described in this chapter, and also in chapter 21, where Hagar and Ishmael are likewise treated of (from verses 9 to 21), and it is said that Ishmael was expelled when Isaac grew up, by whom is represented the Divine rational.