Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 2802

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2802. 'Isaac said to Abraham his father - he said - My father. And he said, Here I am, my son' means a conversing - which took place in the Lord and was grounded in love - between Divine Truth and Divine Good. This is clear from the meaning of 'Isaac', the son, as Divine Truth, and from the meaning of 'Abraham', the father, as Divine Good, both of which are dealt with in the paragraph following this; and from the affectional content of these expressions showing that both are grounded in love. From this it is evident that a conversing of the Lord with His Father is meant. Within these words more arcana lie concealed than can be perceived by any human mind, as may be recognized from the fact that the verb 'said' occurs four times in this verse (in the Word when something new is being introduced, the expression 'end said' is in the habit of appearing, see 2061, 2238, 2260) and also from the fact that the words in this verse are expressive of love, which, when they come to be perceived by celestial angels who understand the inmost sense, are formed by those angels into utterly heavenly ideas. For celestial angels form for themselves enlightened ideas from the affectional content of the Word, whereas spiritual angels do so from the spiritual meanings of the words and the subject matter there, 2157, 2275. Thus from the words of this verse in which there are four distinct and separate phases and affections springing from love, they form ideas such as cannot possibly come down within man's range of understanding nor find expression in words; and that formation of ideas is effected with an abundance and variety beyond words. All this shows the nature of the Word in its internal sense, even in places, like the present verse, where it appears plain and simple in the letter.


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