Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1960

Previous Number Next Number Next Translation See Latin 

1960. That 'Hagar bore Abram a son' means the rational man born from that coming together and conception is clear from the representation and meaning of 'Hagar', 'Abram', and 'son'. 'Hagar' means the life which is present in the affection for knowledge and which belongs to the exterior man, as stated above in 1895, 1896; 'Abram' means the Lord's Internal Man, 1893, 1950; and 'a son' means truth, and so the truth which this rational possessed, 264, 489, 491, 533, 1147. Consequently the words 'Hagar bore for Abram' mean the rational man born from that conception and coming together. This is the sense into which the sense of the letter is converted when it comes to or resides with angels.


This page is part of the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

© 2000-2001 The Academy of the New Church