Bible

 

Genesis 20

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1 Odtud bral se Abraham do země polední, aby bydlil mezi Kádes a Sur; i byl pohostinu v Gerar;

2 Kdežto pravil Abraham o Sáře manželce své: Sestra má jest. Tedy poslav Abimelech, král Gerarský, vzal Sáru.

3 Ale přišed Bůh k Abimelechovi ve snách v noci, řekl jemu: Aj, ty již umřeš pro ženu, kterouž jsi vzal, poněvadž jest vdaná za muže.

4 Abimelech pak nepřiblížil se k ní; protož řekl: Pane, zdaž také spravedlivý národ zabiješ?

5 Zdaliž mi sám nepravil: Sestra má jest? A ona též pravila: Bratr můj jest. V upřímnosti srdce svého a v nevinnosti rukou svých učinil jsem to.

6 I řekl jemu Bůh ve snách: Jáť také vím, že v upřímnosti srdce svého učinil jsi to, a já také zdržel jsem tě, abys nezhřešil proti mně; protož nedalť jsem se jí dotknouti.

7 Nyní tedy, navrať ženu muži tomu; nebo prorok jest, a modliti se bude za tebe, a živ budeš. Pakli jí nenavrátíš, věz, že smrtí umřeš ty i všecko, což tvého jest.

8 A vstav Abimelech ráno, svolal všecky služebníky své, a vypravoval všecka slova ta v uši jejich. I báli se ti muži velmi.

9 Potom povolav Abimelech Abrahama, řekl jemu: Co jsi nám to učinil? A co jsem zhřešil proti tobě, že jsi uvedl na mne a na království mé hřích veliký? Učinils mi, čehož jsi učiniti neměl.

10 A řekl opět Abimelech Abrahamovi: Cos myslil, žes takovou věc učinil?

11 Odpověděl Abraham: Řekl jsem: Jistě že není bázně Boží na místě tomto, a zabijí mne pro ženu mou.

12 A také v pravdě jest sestra má, dcera otce mého, však ne dcera matky mé; a pojal jsem ji sobě za manželku.

13 Když pak vyvedl mne Bůh z domu otce mého, abych pohostinu bydlil, tedy řekl jsem jí: Toto mi dobrodiní učiníš: Na každém místě, kamž půjdeme, prav o mně: Bratr můj jest.

14 Tedy vzav Abimelech ovce a voly, služebníky také a děvky, dal je Abrahamovi; a navrátil mu Sáru manželku jeho.

15 A řekl Abimelech: Aj, zeměpřed tebou; kdežť se koli příhodné býti vidí, tu přebývej.

16 Sáře pak řekl: Aj, dal jsem tisíc stříbrných bratru tvému, hle, onť jest tobě zástěrou očí u všech, kteříž jsou s tebou. A všemi těmito věcmi Sára poučena byla.

17 I modlil se Abraham Bohu, a uzdravil Bůh Abimelecha, a ženu jeho, a děvky jeho; i rodily.

18 Nebo byl zavřel Hospodin každý život ženský v domě Abimelechově, pro Sáru manželku Abrahamovu.

   

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Abraham

  
Représentation d'Abraham, by Joseph Villiet

Abraham (or Abram, as he was named in the beginning of his story) was the ancestor of all the Children of Israel, through his son Isaac, and of the Arabs, through his son Ishmael.

Abraham represents the Divine good or love. His story foreshadows the life of Jesus, and our spiritual lives, too.

His life can be usefully seen as being divided into three periods. The first period includes the unknown early years from his birth in Ur, and his later move to Haran with his father Terah. The second section starts with Abram's being called by Jehovah to go to Canaan. It includes the adventures he had there, and continues until the events of the 17th chapter of Genesis where he is said to be 99 years old, rich, and powerful - but without a son by his wife Sarai. Once again the Lord appears to him, promises that his progeny will become a great nation, institutes the rite of circumcision, and changes his name to Abraham, adding the "ah" sound from Jehovah. The third and last period of his life sees the birth of Isaac, the death of Sarah (whose name was also changed), and the finding of a wife for Isaac from among Abraham's relatives back in Mesopotamia. Abraham is said to be 175 years old when he dies, as recorded in the 25th chapter of Genesis.

What we are here interested in is the deep representation of Abraham because he prophesies or foreshadows the inmost part of Jesus' life after He is born to Mary centuries after the man Abraham lived on the earth. Abraham represents the Divine good or love. The internal sense of the Word tells us that God himself provided the life into an ovum within Mary, so she could provide a natural body and a natural heredity from the Jewish religion, while the soul of Jesus was kept as a direct possessor of divine life. During Jesus' early life, probably up to adolescence, Jesus lived out those representative actions of Abraham in the innermost parts of his mind and spirit. Abraham as he pastured his sheep and ran his large household had no idea at all that this was true, and early in Jesus' life He didn't realize it either. There must have been perceptions as Jesus grew up, witness his visit to the temple when He was 12, but not a complete understanding until He was fully grown. And further, it isn't only Abraham. When Abraham dies, the representation attaches to Isaac, who represents the rational level of the mind, and then to both Jacob and Esau who represent the natural mind as to truth and good in the mind respectively. And then the trials of the twelve tribes, the kings, and all the sayings of the prophets become that same representation. So Jesus could say to the two disciples that He met on the road to Emmaus, "O fools and slow of heart... and beginning at Moses and all the Prophets He expounded to them in all the scriptures all the things concerning Himself." (The following references are chronologic as Abraham gets older, and are in biblical sequence.) And furthermore, the progress of mental and spiritual life in each one of us is a dim and finite image of that represented by Abraham's life if, that is, we are trying to follow the Lord's laws and precepts to love one another. We too have within us a journey to the land of Canaan, a hardworking sojourn in Egypt, a struggle in the wilderness, and a Saul, a David, and an Ahab. We have our home-grown Amalekites and Philistines. The whole of the Old Testament is a picture of how our spiritual life works.

In Genesis 20:7, Abraham signifies celestial truth, or doctrine from a celestial origin. (Arcana Coelestia 2533)

In Genesis 12:4, As ABRAHAM he represents the Lord as to His Human and Divine Essence; as ABRAM he represents the Lord as to His human essence only. (Arcana Coelestia 1426)

In Genesis 17:5, The name was changed by adding the letter H, so that the Divine Human could he represented, for H is the only letter which involves the Divine: it means I AM, or BEING. (Arcana Coelestia 1416[2])

(Odkazy: Genesis 17, 25)