Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3687

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3687. 'And Esau went to Ishmael, and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son' means the joining of that good to truth from a Divine source. This is clear from the representation of 'Esau' as the good of the natural, dealt with above, and from the representation of 'Ishmael the son of Abraham' as truth from a Divine source - 'Ishmael' representing the Lord's spiritual Church, and consequently truth, see 1949-1951, 2078, 2691, 2699, 3268, and 'Abraham' the Lord's Divine, which is called 'the Father', 2010, 3251, 3439. Consequently 'Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son' means truth from a Divine source. That 'taking a wife' means being brought into association or joined together is self-evident. From this it is clear that 'Esau went to Ishmael, and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son' means the joining of that good to truth from a Divine source.


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