Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 17:10
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AC 2036. Verse 10. This is My covenant, which ye shall keep between Me and you, and thy seed after thee, that every male be circumcised unto you. "This is My covenant which ye shall keep between Me and you," signifies a token of the conjunction of all with the Lord; "and thy seed after thee," signifies those who have faith in Him; "that every male be circumcised unto you," signifies purity.

AC 2037. This is My covenant, which ye shall keep between Me and you. That this signifies a token of the conjunction of all with the Lord, is evident from the signification of a "covenant," as being conjunction, as explained before. That it is here the token of conjunction, is evident from the next verse, where it is called "a sign of a covenant:" "Ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and you." All the external rites of the church were signs of the covenant, and were to be sacredly observed, because internal things were signified by them. Circumcision-which is treated of here-was nothing but a representative and significative rite, and as such is explained in what follows; nevertheless in various passages of the Word such rites are called the " covenant," for the reason that external things represented and thereby signified internal things. The internal things are what belong to the covenant, because they are effective of conjunction, and the external things are not so except by means of the internal ones. The external things were merely signs of the covenant, or tokens of he conjunction, by means of which they might call to mind the internal things and thereby be conjoined by means of these. Respecting the signs of the covenant, (n. 1308). All the internal things that belong to the covenant, or that are effective of conjunction, relate to love and charity, and proceed from love and charity; for on these two things, namely, loving God more than one‘s self, and loving the neighbor as one’s self, hang all the law and the prophets," that is, the universal doctrine of faith (Matt. 22:34-39; Mark 12:28-35).

AC 2038. And thy seed after thee. That this signifies those who have faith in Him, is evident from the signification of "seed," as being the faith of charity, concerning which above.

AC 2039. That every male be circumcised. That this signifies purity, is evident from the representation and derivative signification in the internal sense of " circumcising." Circumcision, or the cutting off of the foreskin, signified the removal and wiping away of those things that were impeding and defiling celestial love, and which are the evils of cupidities (especially the evils of the cupidities of the love of self) and the derivative falsities. The reason of this signification is that the organs of generation, in both sexes, represent celestial love. There are loves of three kinds that constitute the celestial things of the Lord‘s kingdom, namely, conjugial love, love for infants, and the love for society, or mutual love. Conjugial love is the principal love of all, because it has within it the end of greatest use, namely, the propagation of the human race, and thereby of the Lord’s kingdom, of which it is the seminary. Love toward infants follows next, being derived from conjugial love; and then comes the love for society, or mutual love. Whatever covers up, obstructs, and defiles these loves, is signified by the foreskin; and the cutting off of this, or circumcision, was therefore made representative; for in so far as the evils of cupidities, and the falsities derived from them are removed, in so far the man is purified; and in so far celestial love can appear. How contrary to celestial love, and how filthy, is the love of self, has been stated and shown above (n. 760, 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 2045, 2057). From what has now been said, it is clear that in the internal sense "circumcision" signifies purity.

[2] That circumcision is only a sign of covenant, or of conjunction, may be plainly seen from considering that the circumcision of the foreskin amounts to nothing at all without the circumcision of the heart; and that it is the circumcision of the heart, or purification from the filthy loves above referred to that is signified by it, as is plainly evident from the following passages in the Word. In Moses:--

from which it is evident that to " circumcise the heart" is to be purified from filthy loves, in order that Jehovah God, or the Lord, may be loved with all the heart and with all the soul.

[3] In Jeremiah:--

to " circumcise one‘s self to Jehovah, and remove the foreskin of the heart," is to remove such things as obstruct heavenly love; all which shows that the circumcision of the heart is an interior thing that is signified by the circumcision of the foreskin. In Moses:--

where also it is clear that to " circumcise the foreskin of the heart" is to be purified from the evils of filthy loves and from the falsities derived from them. The celestial things of love are described by these works of charity, namely, "doing the judgment of the orphan and the widow," and "loving the stranger to give him bread and raiment."

[4] In Jeremiah:--

where it is evident that circumcision is significative of purification, for they are called the " circumcised in the foreskin," but still are reckoned among the uncircumcised nations, as are even the Jews; and Israel is said to be "uncircumcised in heart." And it is the same in Moses:--

[5] That by the "foreskin" and by "one that is uncircumcised" is signified uncleanness, is evident in Isaiah:--

By Zion" is meant the celestial church, and by "Jerusalem" the spiritual church, into which what is "uncircumcised," that is, the "unclean," shall not enter.

[6] That circumcision is a sign of a covenant, or a token of conjunction, is clearly evident from the fact that the like was represented by means of the fruits of trees, which also were to be circumcised, concerning which in Moses:--

"fruits," like the "heart," represent and signify charity, as may be seen from many passages in the Word; and thus their "foreskin" signifies the uncleanness which obstructs and contaminates charity.

[7] Wonderful to say, when the angels who are in heaven have the idea of purification from natural defilements, with the utmost rapidity there is represented in the world of spirits something like circumcision; for the angelic ideas pass over into representatives in the world of spirits. In the Jewish Church some of the representative rites originated in this source, and some did not. Those with whom that quick circumcision was represented in the world of spirits, were in the desire to be admitted into heaven; and before they were admitted, there was this representation. This shows why Joshua was commanded to circumcise the people, when, having passed over Jordan, they were entering the land of Canaan; for the entrance of the people into the land of Canaan represented this very admission of the faithful into heaven.

[8] For this reason circumcision was commanded a second time, concerning which in Joshua:--Jehovah said unto Joshua, Make thee swords of rocks, and circumcise the sons of Israel the second time and Joshua made him swords of rocks, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins and Jehovah said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you; and he called the name of that place Gilgal (Rolling-off) (Joshua 5:2, 3, 9); the " swords of rocks" signify the truths with which they were to be imbued, in order that thereby they might castigate and disperse filthy loves; for without the knowledges of truth no purification is possible. (That a "stone" or "rock" signifies truths (n. 643, 1298); and that a "sword" is predicated of the truths by which evils may be castigated, is evident from the Word).

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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