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Genesis 20

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1 And Abraham departed thence towards the south country, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned at Gerar.

2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech the king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art [but] a dead man, because of the woman that thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.

4 But Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, Lord, wilt thou also kill a righteous nation?

5 Did he not say to me, She is my sister? and she, even she said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and in the innocency of my hands have I done this.

6 And God said to him in a dream, I also knew that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart, and I, too, have withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore have I not suffered thee to touch her.

7 And now, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and will pray for thee, that thou mayest live. And if thou do not restore [her], know that thou shalt certainly die, thou and all that is thine.

8 And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and spoke all these words in their ears; and the men were greatly afraid.

9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, What hast thou done to us? And in what have I sinned against thee, that thou hast brought on me, and on my kingdom, a great sin? Thou hast done to me deeds that ought not to be done.

10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What hast thou seen that thou hast done this?

11 And Abraham said, Because I said, Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will kill me for my wife's sake.

12 But she is also truly my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

13 And it came to pass when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, Let this be thy kindness which thou shalt shew to me: at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

14 And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and bondmen and bondwomen, and gave [them] to Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.

15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it is good in thine eyes.

16 And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand [pieces] of silver; behold, let that be to thee a covering of the eyes, in respect of all that are with thee, and with all; and she was reproved.

17 And Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife and his handmaids, and they bore [children].

18 For Jehovah had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah Abraham's wife.

   

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Silver

  

'Silver' signifies spiritual good or truth from a celestial origin. It also represents the truth of faith, or the truth acquired from self-hood, or proprium. 'Silver' means scientific truth. In Genesis 20:16, it signifies rational truth. 'A piece of silver' signifies a truth, or a knowledge of truth. In the internal sense of the Word, it signifies truth, but also falsity.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 1551; Exodus 16, 20; Psalms 6, 12, 12:6)


Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Conjugial Love # 310

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310. 14. After the wedding the marriage of the spirit becomes also one of the body and thus complete. Everything that a person does in the body flows in from his spirit. For as we know, the mouth does not speak of itself, but the thought of the mind by means of it. Neither do the hands act or the feet move of themselves, but the will of the mind by means of them. Consequently we see that it is the mind that speaks in the body by means of its organ of speech, and the mind that acts in the body by means of its organs of action. It is apparent therefore that as the mind is, such are the utterances of the mouth and actions of the body.

It follows as a conclusion from this that the mind continually flows into the body and directs the body toward activities in harmony with it and its development. Accordingly, viewed in themselves, human bodies are simply replicas of minds outwardly organized to carry out the bidding of the soul.

This much is said by way of introduction to make perceptible why it is that a couple's minds or spirits should be united to each other and as though married first, before they are united also in respect to the body; namely, that the marriage may be a marriage of the spirit when it becomes one of the body; consequently, that the partners may love each other because of the spirit and in body as a result of that.

[2] From this perspective let us now consider marriage. When conjugial love joins a couple's minds and molds them into a marriage, it also then joins and molds their bodies for it; for as said, the form of the mind is also, inwardly, the form of the body, with the single difference, that the form of the body is outwardly organized to carry out the ends to which its interior form is directed by the mind. When the mind has been molded by conjugial love, moreover, not only is it inwardly present in the whole body so as to radiate throughout, but it is inwardly present further in the organs dedicated to reproduction, which are situated in their own area below the other areas of the body. In people who are united by conjugial love, their cast of mind finds final expression there. Consequently the affections and thoughts of their minds are channeled to them. In this the operations of their minds differ from those arising from other loves, loves which do not extend to those organs.

It follows in conclusion from this that as conjugial love is in a couple's minds or spirits, such is it inwardly in the organs belonging to it.

Besides, it is evident in itself that a marriage of the spirit after the wedding becomes also one of the body, thus complete. Consequently, that if the marriage is chaste in spirit and draws its quality from its sanctity in the spirit, it is of the same character when it comes into its complete expression in the body; and of the opposite character if the marriage in spirit is unchaste.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.