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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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Arcana Coelestia # 1502

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1502. From these considerations it is now evident that Abram's sojourning in Egypt represents and means nothing else than the Lord, in particular His instruction during childhood. This is also confirmed by what is stated in Hosea,

Out of Egypt I called My son. Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:15.

And further still from what is said in Moses,

The dwelling of the sons of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And it happened at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, on that very day it happened that all the hosts of Jehovah went out of the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:40-41.

Those four hundred and thirty years were measured not from the time that Jacob entered Egypt but from Abram's sojourning in Egypt. Thus 'My son out of Egypt' in Hosea 11:1 means, in the internal sense, the Lord. The matter gains further confirmation from the fact that 'Egypt' in the Word means nothing other than knowledge, as shown in 1164, 1165, 1462.

[2] And that these arcana are contained in this section may become additionally clear from the fact that similar things are said of Abram when he sojourned in Philistia, namely that he called his wife his sister, Genesis 20:1-end, and also of Isaac, who, when he too sojourned in Philistia, called his wife his sister, Genesis 26:6-13. These actions would never have been recorded in the Word, and set in almost identical circumstances, unless these arcana had been lying hidden within. Furthermore this is the Word of the Lord which cannot possibly have any life unless there is an internal sense which has regard to Him.

[3] The arcana which lie hidden in this section, and in those regarding Abram and Isaac in Philistia, have to do with the way in which the Lord's Human Essence was joined to His Divine Essence, or what amounts to the same, how the Lord became Jehovah as regards His Human Essence also. They also have to do with the fact that His initiation, which is the subject in this chapter, began in childhood. Besides all this these descriptions also embody more arcana than anyone can possibly believe, and those that can be mentioned are so few as to be scarcely anything at all. In addition to the very deep arcana concerning the Lord, they also embody arcana concerning the instruction and regeneration of a person so that he may become celestial, as well as his instruction and regeneration so that he may become spiritual; and not only concerning the individual in particular but also concerning the Church in general. The descriptions here also embody arcana regarding the instruction of young children in heaven. In short they have to do with all who become images and likenesses of the Lord. These arcana are not at all clearly visible in the sense of the letter, the reason being that historical details engulf and obscure them; but they are clearly visible in the internal sense.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.