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Genesis第21章

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1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had spoken.

2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.

4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days old, as God had commanded him.

5 And Abraham was a hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born to him.

6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.

7 And she said, Who would have said to Abraham, that Sarah shall nurse children? for I have borne him a son in his old age.

8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the day that Isaac was weaned.

9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had borne to Abraham, mocking.

10 Wherefore, she said to Abraham, Cast out this bond-woman, and her son: for the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight, because of his son.

12 And God said to Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight, because of the lad, and because of thy bond-woman; in all that Sarah hath said to thee, hearken to her voice: for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

13 And also of the son of the bond-woman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.

14 And Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar (putting it on her shoulder) and the child, and sent her away; and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

16 And she went, and sat her down over against him, a good way off, as it were a bow-shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and raised her voice, and wept.

17 And God heard the voice of the lad: and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand: for I will make him a great nation.

19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water: and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took for him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

22 And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, spoke to Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:

23 Now therefore swear to me here by God, that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land in which thou hast sojourned.

24 And Abraham said, I will swear.

25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech, because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.

26 And Abimelech said, I know not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet have I heard of it, but to-day.

27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech: and both of them made a covenant.

28 And Abraham set seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves.

29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What mean these seven ewe-lambs, which thou hast set by themselves?

30 And he said, For these seven ewe-lambs shalt thou take from my hand, that they may be a witness to me, that I have digged this well.

31 Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba: because there they swore both of them.

32 Thus they made a covenant at Beer-sheba: Then Abimelech arose, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.

34 And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#2669

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2669. 'Also, the son of the servant-girl I will make into a nation' means the spiritual Church which was to receive the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'the son of the servant-girl' and also of 'a nation'. 'The son of the servant-girl' or Ishmael, while he was in Abraham's house, that is, while he was with Abraham, represented the Lord's first rational, as shown in 2652, 2653, 2657, 2658. But now he has been separated he takes on another representation, namely that of the spiritual Church, 2666. A similar change of representation occurred previously with Lot who while with Abraham represented the Lord's external man, 1428, 1429, 1434, 1547, 1597, 1598, 1698, but once he had been separated from Abraham he represented the external Church and many states of that Church, 2324, 2371, 2399, 2422, 2459, and in the whole of Chapter 19. As regards 'nation' meaning good, see 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849. Here the good of faith is meant since it has reference to the spiritual Church. Hence the words used here, 'Also, the son of the servant-girl I will make into a nation', mean the spiritual Church which was to receive the good of faith, which is charity.

[2] The Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth is celestial and spiritual, and therefore angels are distinguished into those who are celestial and those who are spiritual, see 202, 337. To celestial angels the Lord appears as the Sun, to spiritual as the Moon, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531. Men in a similar way are distinguished into those who are celestial and those who are spiritual. Those who belonged to the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood were celestial, dealt with in 607, 608, 784, 895, 920, 1114-1125, while those who belonged to the Ancient Church which existed after the Flood were spiritual, dealt with in 609, 640, 641, 765. For what the difference was between those two Churches, see 567, 607, and for what the difference is between what is celestial and what is spiritual, 81, 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2069, 2088, 2227, 2507. The celestial are referred to by the Lord in the following,

He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. And when He has led out His own sheep He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.

The spiritual however are referred to in these words,

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. John 10:3-4, 16.

The good of love is that which constitutes the celestial Church, but the good of faith that which constitutes the spiritual Church. The truth of faith does not constitute the Church but leads into it.

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