Swedenborg Arcana Caelestia Vol. III (1750)

24. And his concubine, and her name was Reumah, and she also bore Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah.

CONTENTS

2764. This chapter, in the internal sense, deals with the most serious and intimate temptations of the Lord, through which He united the Human Essence with the Divine; and with the salvation of those who constitute the Lord’s Spiritual Church, through that union.

2765. It treats of the most serious and intimate temptations of the Lord, verses 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11. Of the union of the Human Essence with the Divine, or Glorification, through them, verses 2, 11, 12, 16. Of the salvation of spiritual people through the Lord’s Divine Human—those who are in charity and faith within the Church—verses 2, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. And of those who are in good outside the Church, verses 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.

THE INTERNAL SENSE

2766. VERSE 1. And it came to pass after these words, and God tempted Abraham, and said to him, Abraham; and he said, Behold, here I am. "It came to pass after these words" signifies things that had occurred. "And God tempted Abraham" signifies the most serious and intimate temptations of the Lord. "And said to him, Abraham" signifies the Lord’s perception from Divine Truth. "And he said, Behold, here I am" signifies thought and reflection.

2767. That "it came to pass after these words" signifies things that had occurred is clear without explanation. The matters previously discussed involve Abimelech and Abraham, specifically that they made a covenant in Beersheba, and finally that Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba. This signified that the human rational faculties were joined to the Doctrine of faith, which is Divine in itself. Now, the subject is the Lord’s temptation regarding the Rational, which is signified by Isaac; for through temptations the Lord made His Human—and thus the Rational, in which the human begins (see n. 2106, 2194)—Divine, by chastising and expelling everything in the Rational that was merely human or maternal. This is the connection between the events of the preceding chapter and those of this chapter, hence it is said, "It came to pass after these words, and God tempted Abraham."

2768. That "God tempted Abraham" signifies the most serious and intimate temptations of the Lord is evident from what follows; for by Abraham...