665、“立约”表示他将要重生。这从以下事实很明显地看出来：唯独藉由爱和信的结合才是能存在于主与人之间的那种约。因此，约表示结合；事实上，天堂的婚姻是至高无上的约。然而，天堂的婚姻或结合只存在于那些正在重生的人身上。所以从最广泛的意义上讲，约表示重生本身。主在使人重生时，便与人立约；所以在古人当中，约并非代表别的。字义只给人这样的印象，与亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各，因而多次与他们的后代所立的约仅涉及这些人物；而他们却具有这种性质，他们无法重生；因为他们的敬拜仅专注于外在事物，他们以为没有与内在事物相联的外在事物是神圣的。因此，与他们所立的约仅仅是重生的代表。他们的仪式，以及代表爱和信之事物的亚伯拉罕，以撒和雅各本人也一样。大祭司和祭司们同样如此，无论他们品性如何，甚至包括邪恶的，他们都能代表天上最神圣的祭司职分。在代表中，不要关注这个人，而要关注他所代表的事物。因此，以色列和犹大的众王，包括最坏的，都能代表主的王权，甚至提拔约瑟治理埃及地的法老也可以。从这些，以及蒙主的神性怜悯，后面所论述的其它许多考虑明显可知，如此频繁地与雅各之子所立的约，只是具有代表性的宗教仪式。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]665. The meaning of setting up a pact as the fact that they would be reborn can be seen clearly from this: No pact can mediate between the Lord and humanity except that of being united by love and faith. So a pact symbolizes union. This kind of union is the heavenly marriage, which is the truest compact. The heavenly marriage, or union, can exist only in those who are reborn, and accordingly a pact in the broadest sense symbolizes rebirth itself. The Lord enters into a compact with us when he regenerates us, and for this reason the ancients saw a pact as representing nothing but regeneration.
The literal meaning gives no clue that the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and so often renewed with their descendants had to do with any others than those actual people. But they were people incapable of rebirth, since they equated worship with outward observances alone. They also saw holiness in external elements without considering any connection to internal values. So the pacts struck with them could do no more than represent regeneration.
None of their rituals did more than this. Neither did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob themselves, who represented different aspects of love and faith. These men were like the priests and high priests, who were able to represent a heavenly and very holy priesthood no matter what their character was — even those who were criminal. When people serve to represent something, no thought is given to their personality, only to the quality represented. By the same token, all the monarchs of Israel and Judah — even the worst ones — represented the Lord's royal power. In fact the pharaoh who raised Joseph up over the land of Egypt also represented that power.
This consideration and many others (to be mentioned later, by the Lord's divine mercy) show that the numerous covenants with the children of Jacob were nothing more than rituals that held a representative meaning.{*1}
Footnotes:
{*1} For passages that may be the fulfillment of Swedenborg's promise of further discussion of the "other considerations" indicating that covenants with the children of Jacob were representative, see 1864 (which says that the covenants represent the Lord's union with Jehovah the Father) and 2039-2042, 6804:11 (which say that circumcision, as an affirmation of a covenant, represents purification). See also 2842, where covenants sworn by God are described as accommodation to those who do not accept divine truth without such an external representation. [LSW]
Potts(1905-1910) 665
665. That to "set up a covenant" signifies that he would be regenerated, is very evident from the fact that there can be no covenant between the Lord and man other than conjunction by love and faith, and therefore a "covenant" signifies conjunction. For it is the heavenly marriage that is the veriest covenant; and the heavenly marriage, or conjunction, does not exist except with those who are being regenerated; so that in the widest sense regeneration itself is signified by a "covenant." The Lord enters into a covenant with man when He regenerates him; and therefore among the ancients a covenant represented nothing else. Nothing can be gathered from the sense of the letter but that the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and so many times with their descendants, was concerned with them personally, whereas they were such that they could not be regenerated; for they made worship consist in external things, and supposed the externals of worship to be holy, without internal things being adjoined to them. And therefore the covenants made with them were only representatives of regeneration. It was the same with their rites, and with Abraham himself, and with Isaac, and Jacob, who represented the things of love and faith. Likewise the high priests and priests, whatever their character, even those that were wicked, could represent the heavenly and most holy priesthood. In representatives the person is not regarded, but the thing that is represented. Thus all the kings of Israel and of Judah, even the worst, represented the royalty of the Lord; and even Pharaoh too, who set Joseph over the land of Egypt. From these and many other considerations-concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter-it is evident that the covenants so often entered into with the sons of Jacob were only religious rites that were representative.
Elliott(1983-1999) 665
665. That establishing a covenant' means that he would be regenerated becomes quite clear from the fact that the only kind of covenant that can exist between the Lord and man is conjunction by virtue of love and faith. And so a covenant means conjunction; indeed it is the heavenly marriage that is the supreme covenant of all. The heavenly marriage or conjunction does not show itself however except with people who are being regenerated. Regeneration itself therefore in the broadest sense is meant by a covenant. The Lord enters into a covenant with man when He regenerates him, and consequently among men of old a covenant had no other representation. From the sense of the letter no other impression is gained than that the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and so often with their descendants, concerned just those personages. But those people were by nature such as to be incapable of being regenerated, for they focused worship exclusively on things that were external, and imagined external things to be sacred without things that are internal allied to them. Consequently the covenants made with them were no more than representations of regeneration, as were all their religious ceremonies, and as were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob themselves who represented the things of love and faith. In a similar way priests or high priests, whatever their character, including infamous ones, could represent the heavenly and most holy priesthood. In representations no attention is paid to the person who represents but to that which is represented by him. Thus all the kings of Israel and Judah, including the worst of them, represented the Lord's kingship, and so indeed did the Pharaoh who promoted Joseph over the land of Egypt. These and many other considerations which in the Lord's Divine mercy will be dealt with later on show that the covenants made so often with the sons of Jacob were nothing more than religious ceremonies which were representative.
Latin(1748-1756) 665
665. Quod 'erigere foedus' significet quod regeneraretur, manifeste constare potest ex eo quod non aliud foedus intercedere possit inter Dominum et hominem quam conjunctio per amorem et fidem; ita 'foedus' significat conjunctionem; est enim conjugium caeleste quod est ipsissimum foedus; conjugium caeleste seu conjunctio non existit nisi apud illos qui regenerantur; ita ipsa regeneratio in latissimo sensu significatur per foedus; Dominus 'foedus cum homine init' cum eum regenerat; quare foedus cum antiquis nihil aliud repraesentavit: ex sensu litterae non aliud capitur quam quod foedus cum Abrahamo, Isaco et Jacobo, et toties cum posteris eorum pactum, spectet eos; sed ii tales fuerunt ut non regenerari potuerint, nam solum in externis cultum ponebant, et externa sancta putabant, absque quod interna adjuncta forent; quare foedera cum iis pacta non erant nisi quam repraesentationes regenerationis; sicut omnes ritus; et sicut ipse Abrahamus, Isacus et Jacobus, qui repraesentabant illa quae sunt amoris et fidei; similiter ac pontifices et sacerdotes, qualescumque essent, etiam qui scelesti, repraesentare potuerunt sacerdotium caeleste et sanctissimum; in repraesentationibus nihil reflectitur super personam, sed super rem quae repraesentatur; ita omnes reges Israelis et Jehudae, etiam pessimi, repraesentabant regium Domini; immo quoque Pharaoh, qui Josephum super terram Aegypti exaltavit. Inde et ex pluribus aliis, de quibus, ex Divina Domini Misericordia, in sequentibus, constare potest quod foedera toties cum filiis Jacobi pacta nihil fuerint nisi ritualia quae repraesentabant.