Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 22:15-16
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AC 2840. Verses 15, 16. And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said, By Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only one. "The angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven," signifies still greater consolation of the Lord from the Divine; "and said, My Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah," signifies irrevocable confirmation from the Divine "because thou hast done this thing," signifies the thing accomplished; "and hast not kept back thy son, thine only one," signifies the unition of the Human with the Divine by the utmost of temptation.

AC 2841. The Angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven. That this signifies still greater consolation of the Lord, is evident from the signification of "calling out of heaven," as being to console and from the signification of the "angel of Jehovah," as being the Lord‘s Divine Itself (n. 2821). This is said a "second time," because there is greater consolation. The first consolation is contained in (verses 12, 13, 14), where the subject is the Lord’s providence that those from the human race who are called the spiritual should be adopted. The second consolation, which is greater, is contained in the (verses 17, 18), namely, that the spiritual should be multiplied as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand upon the sea shore; and that not they only should be saved, but also all who are in good. These were things of the Lord‘s love, and therefore He had consolation from them. No one has consolation except from the things which are of his love.

AC 2842. And said, By Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah. That this signifies irrevocable confirmation from the Divine, namely, concerning the things which follow, is evident from the signification of "saying by Myself have I sworn," and of "saith Jehovah;" all which involve confirmation, and indeed from the Divine, that is, from Himself. The Divine cannot confirm from any other source than from Itself; and what it confirms is irrevocable, because it is eternal truth. Whatever Jehovah or the Lord speaks is eternal truth (Matt. 24:35), for it comes from the very being of truth. But His confirming it as it were by an oath is not for the reason that it may be more true, but for the reason that it is said to such as do not receive truth Divine unless it is so confirmed; for they have no other idea of Jehovah or the Lord than as of a man, who can say, and change, as we frequently read in the Word; but in the internal sense it is very different. Every one may know that Jehovah or the Lord never confirms anything by an oath; but when the Divine truth itself, and its confirmation, passes down to a man of such nature, it is turned into the semblance of an oath. The case herein is as it was with the devouring fire and smoke that appeared upon Mount Sinai before the eyes of the people, when Jehovah or the Lord came down (Exod. 19:18; Deut. 4:11, 12; 5:19-21): His glory in heaven, even mercy itself, appeared in this manner before the people there, who were in evil and falsity (n. 1861); and the case is the same with many things called the sayings and doings of Jehovah that are spoken of in the Word. It may be seen from this that the expression, "by Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah," is significative of irrevocable confirmation from the Divine.

[2] That to "swear," when predicated of Jehovah, signifies to confirm with a man who is of such nature, may be seen from many other passages in the Word; as in David:--

The case is the same with a covenant as with an oath, in that Jehovah or the Lord does not make a covenant with man, but when conjunction by love and charity is treated of, this is set forth in act as a covenant (n. 1864). In the same:--

This is said concerning the Lord, and "Jehovah hath sworn" denotes irrevocable confirmation from the Divine, that is, that it is eternal truth.

[3] In the same:--

This also is concerning the Lord: to "make a covenant with the chosen," and to "swear unto David," denote irrevocable confirmation or eternal truth; "David" denotes the Lord (n. 1888); to "make a covenant" regards the Divine good; to "swear," the Divine truth. In the same:--

where also "David" denotes the Lord; the "covenant" here likewise has regard to the Divine good; and the "thing that has gone out of My lips," to the Divine truth, and this on account of the marriage of good and truth which is in everything in the Word (n. 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712).

[4] In the same:--

"Jehovah hath sworn unto David in truth" manifestly denotes the confirmation of eternal truth; and therefore it is said, "He will not turn from it; "that by David is meant the Lord has been stated already; the oath was still "to David," because he was of such a character that he believed that the confirmation was concerning himself and his posterity; for David was in the love of himself and of his posterity, and hence believed that it was concerning him; that is, as said above, that his seed should be established forever, and his throne to generation and generation; but this was said of the Lord.

[5] In Isaiah:--

where to "swear" denotes making a covenant and confirming it by an oath. That it was a covenant, and not an oath, may be seen in (Genesis 9:11). In the same:--

In the same:--

In Jeremiah:--

In the same:--

In the same:--

In Amos:--

In the same:--

[6] In these passages, "Jehovah swearing by His right hand," by His great name," by " Himself," by His "soul," by His "holiness," by the "excellency of Jacob," signifies the confirmation there is in Jehovah or the Lord. A confirmation by Jehovah can be given only from Himself. The "right hand of Jehovah," the "great name of Jehovah," the "soul of Jehovah," the "holiness of Jehovah," the "excellency of Jacob," signify the Lord’s Divine Human: "swearing" thereby was confirmation.

[7] Jehovah or the Lord "swearing" to give the land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or to their posterity, signifies in the internal sense the confirmation that He would give the heavenly kingdom to those who are in love to Him and faith in Him. It is they who are meant in the internal sense of the Word by the sons and the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or of the fathers; which was also actually represented by the fact that the land of Canaan was given to their posterity, and that the church at that time with them represented the Lord‘s heavenly kingdom, as the land itself also did. That "land" and the "land of Canaan" in the internal sense is the Lord’s kingdom, see (n. 1413, 1437, 1607). It is from this that it is said in Moses:--

From these passages it must now be evident that Jehovah‘s "swearing" was representative of confirmation, and indeed of an irrevocable one. This is still more plainly manifest in Isaiah:--

[8] Moreover it was enjoined upon those who were of the representative Jewish Church, that when they confirmed covenants by an oath, and likewise vows, also promises, and sureties, they should "swear by the name of Jehovah." The reason why this was enjoined upon them, although it was only permitted, was that the confirmation of the internal man also would thus be represented; so that oaths at that time in the name of Jehovah, were as other things were, namely, representative. That it was enjoined, that is, permitted, is evident in Moses:--

Again in the same:--

In Isaiah:--

In Jeremiah:--

In the same:--

That they also swore "by the name of Jehovah," or swore "to Jehovah," may be seen in Isaiah:--

In the same:--

In Joshua:--

[9] From this it is evident that they were permitted to swear by the name of Jehovah, or by Jehovah; yet it is evident that this was nothing else than a representative of the confirmation of the internal man. But it is known that internal men, that is, those who have conscience, have no need to confirm anything by an oath; and that they do not thus confirm. To them oaths are a cause of shame. They can indeed say with some asseveration that a thing is so, and can also confirm the truth by reasons; but to swear that it is so, they cannot. They have an internal bond by which they are bound, namely, that of conscience. To superadd to this an external bond, which is an oath, is like imputing to them that they are not upright in heart. The internal man is also of such a character that he loves to speak and act from freedom, but not from compulsion; for with them the internal compels the external, but not the reverse. On this account they who have conscience do not swear; still less do they who have perception of good and truth, that is, celestial men. These do not even confirm themselves or one another by reasons, but merely say that a thing is so, or is not so (n. 202, 337, 2718); wherefore they are still further removed from taking an oath.

[10] For these reasons, and because oaths were among the representatives which were to be abrogated, the Lord taught that we are not to swear at all, in these words in Matthew:--

By these words is meant that we are not to swear at all by Jehovah, nor by anything which is of Jehovah or the Lord.

AC 2843. Because thou hast done this thing. That this signifies the thing accomplished, is evident without explication.

AC 2844. And hast not withheld thy son, thine only one. That this signifies the unition of the Human with the Divine by the utmost of temptation, is evident from what was said above (n. 2827), where the same words occur, except that we do not here read "from Me," by which is signified that there will be a still further unition. That there was always a further unition of the Lord‘s Human Essence with His Divine Essence, even to a plenary unition, may be seen above (n. 1864, 2033).

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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