Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 24:62-63
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AC 3193. Verses 62, 63. And Isaac came from coming from Beer-lahai-roi; and he dwelt in the land of the south. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold there were camels coming. "Isaac came from coming from Beer-lahai-roi," signifies Divine good rational born from the Divine truth itself: "and he dwelt in the land of the south," signifies consequently in Divine light; "and Isaac went out to meditate in the field," signifies the state of the rational in good; "toward evening," signifies relatively to those things which are beneath; "and he lifted up his eyes and saw," signifies attention; "and behold there were camels coming," signifies directed to the general memory-knowledges in the natural man.

AC 3194. Isaac came from coming from (or to) Beer-lahai-roi. That this signifies Divine good rational born from Divine truth itself, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord‘s Divine rational (n. 2083, 2630); here, as to the Divine good therein, because Divine truth called forth out of the natural (which Divine truth is represented by Rebekah) was not as yet conjoined with good; this conjunction is treated of in the verses which follow;-and also from the signification of "to come from coming from Beer-lahai-roi," as denoting to be born from Divine truth; Beer-lahai-roi in the original tongue signifies "the fountain to the Living One that seeth me;" as above (Gen. 16:13, 14) where we read:--Hagar called the name of Jehovah that was speaking unto her, "Thou art the God that seeth me for she said, Have I also here seen after Him that seeth me I Therefore she called the fountain Beer-lahai-roi (the fountain to the Living One that seeth me). What is signified by these words may be seen above (n. 1952-1958); where also it is evident that the "fountain" is Divine truth; and that the "Living One that seeth me" is Divine good rational, which is there called the Lord’s interior man, from Divine truth. The case in regard to this very deep arcanum is this: The veriest Divine has Good and Truth; the Lord as to the Divine Human came forth from the Divine good, and was born of the Divine truth; or what is the same, the very esse (or being) of the Lord was Divine good, and the very existere (or manifestation) was Divine truth; and this was the source of the Lord‘s Divine good rational, with which He conjoined the Divine truth from the Human.

AC 3195. And he dwelt in the land of the south. That this signifies consequently in Divine light, is evident from the signification of "dwelling," as being to live (n. 1293), and as being predicated of good (n. 2268, 2451, 2712); and from the signification of the "land of the south," as being Divine light; for the "south" signifies light, and indeed the light of intelligence, which is wisdom (n. 1458); but the "land of the south" signifies the place and state where this light is; so here, that " Isaac came from coming from Beer-lahai-roi, and he dwelt in the land of the south," signifies that Divine good rational, because born from Divine truth, was in Divine light.

[2] In the Word frequent mention is made of "light," and by this in the internal sense is signified the truth which is from good but in the supreme internal sense there is signified the Lord Himself, because He is good and truth itself. Moreover there actually is light in heaven, but infinitely brighter than the light on earth (n. 1053, 1117, 1521-1533, 1619-1632); and in this light spirits and angels see one another, and by means of it is displayed all the glory which is in heaven. In regard to its lucidity, this light does indeed appear like the light in the world; but still it is not like it, for it is not natural, but spiritual, having in it wisdom; so that it is nothing else than wisdom which so shines before the eyes of the angels; and therefore the wiser the angels are, the brighter is the light in which they are (n. 2776). Moreover this light illumines the understanding of man, especially that of a regenerate man; but it is not perceived by man so long as he is in the life of the body, because of the light of the world, which then is regnant. Moreover the evil spirits in the other life see one another, and also see many representatives which exist in the world of spirits, and this indeed they do from the light of heaven; but their lumen is such as proceeds from a fire of coals, for the light of heaven is changed into such a lumen when it comes to them.

[3] As regards the very origin of light, this has been from eternity from the Lord alone; for Divine good itself and Divine truth, from which light comes, is the Lord. The Divine Human, which was from eternity (John 17:5), was this light itself. And whereas this light could no longer affect the human race, which had removed itself so far from good and truth, thus from light, and had cast itself into darkness, therefore the Lord willed to put on by birth the human itself; for thus He could illumine not only the rational but also the natural things of man; for He made both the rational and the natural in Himself Divine, in order that He might also he a light to those who were in such gross darkness.

[4] That the Lord is light, that is, good itself and truth itself, and that thus from Him is all intelligence and wisdom, consequently all salvation, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in John:--

The "Word" was the Divine truth, thus the Lord Himself as to the Divine Human, concerning which it is said that "that Word was with God, and God was the Word."

[5] In the same Evangelist:--

where "light" denotes the Divine truth. Again:--

Again:--

Again:--

In Luke:--

This is the prophecy of Simeon concerning the Lord when He’ was born.

[6] In Matthew:--

from which passages it is very plain that the Lord as to the Divine good and truth in the Divine Human, is called "light." Also in the prophecies of the Old Testament, as in Isaiah:--

Again:--

Again:--

Again:--

[7] That all the light of heaven, consequently wisdom and intelligence, is from the Lord, is thus taught in John:--

Again, speaking of the same:--

[8] Again in Isaiah:--

The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee," denotes that this will be the case with the things not of natural, but of spiritual light, which is signified by "Jehovah being an everlasting light." That "Jehovah," as mentioned here and elsewhere in the Old Testament, is the Lord, may be seen above (n. 1343, 1736, 2156, 2329, 2921, 3023, 3035).

[9] And that He is the light of heaven He also manifested to the three disciples, Peter, James, and John, at His transfiguration, when His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment became as the light (Matt. 17:2). His "face as the sun" was the Divine good; His "raiment as the light" was the Divine truth. Hence it may be known what is meant by the expression in the benediction:--

that the "faces of Jehovah" are mercy, peace, and good, may be seen above (n. 222, 223); and that the "sun" is the Divine love; thus that it is the Divine love of the Lord which appears as a sun in the heaven of angels, may also be seen above (n. 30-38, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2441, 2495).

AC 3196. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field. That this signifies the state of the rational in good, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Divine rational (concerning which often above); and from the signification of "meditating in the field," as being its state in good; for meditating is a state of the rational when it applies the mind intently; but a "field" is doctrine and the things of doctrine (n. 368); thus the things of the church as to good (n. 2971); hence came the ancient form of expression, "to meditate in the field," denoting to cogitate in good; which is the act of a man not married, when thinking about a wife.

AC 3197. Toward evening. That this signifies in respect to those things which are beneath, is evident from the signification of "evening," as being what is obscure (n. 3056); and whereas those things with man which are beneath, namely, those which are of the natural mind, relatively to those which are above, that is, in the rational mind, are obscure, therefore by "evening" is signified what is relatively in obscurity, as is evident from the series of things in the internal sense; for the subject here treated of is truth from the natural, which was to be conjoined with good in the rational; and whereas this conjunction is here treated of, and the enlightenment of the natural man thereby, therefore by "meditating in the field toward evening," is signified the state of the rational in good relatively to those things which are beneath; the state in good being described by "dwelling in the land of the south," that is, in Divine light, relatively to which the things beneath were in the "evening," that is, before the conjunction of truth and good was effected, and before the natural also was made Divine.

AC 3198. And he lifted up his eyes and saw. That this signifies attention, is evident from the signification of "lifting up the eyes," as being to think (n. 2789, 2829), here attention, because it is said, " he lifted up his eyes and saw," and it is predicated of rational good, with which truth from the natural was not yet conjoined.

AC 3199. And behold there were camels coming. That this signifies directed to the general memory-knowledges in the natural man, is evident from the signification of "camels," as being general memory-knowledges in the natural man (n. 3048, 3071) attention was directed to these because truth was expected to come from them, as is evident from what has been frequently said and shown above in this chapter.

AC 3200. In these two verses is described the state of rational good when it is in expectation of the truth that is to be conjoined with it as a bride to a husband. In the two verses which immediately follow, is described the state of truth when it is near, and perceives the good with which it is to be conjoined. But it is to be known that these states did not come forth once only, but continually during the Lord‘s whole life in the world, until He was glorified. The case is the same with the regenerate; for they are not regenerated at once, but continually during their whole life, and even in the other life; for man can never be perfected.

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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