1899. 'Behold, now, Jehovah has prevented me from bearing' means the state prior to the birth of the Interior or Divine Rational Man. This is clear from what has been stated already about the conception and birth of the Rational Man, that is to say, that the Lord's Divine Rational Man is represented by Isaac, whereas the first rational man which became Divine is represented by Ishmael. It was to represent these considerations that Sarai remained barren for so long a time until Ishmael had grown to be a boy, referred to in Chapter 21. This is the reason for the statement here that Jehovah prevented her from bearing.