3401. 'And Abimelech commanded all the people, saying' means a decree. This is clear from the meaning of 'commanding' as making a decree; from the representation of 'Abimelech' as people who possess the doctrine of faith, dealt with in 3392, and in the highest sense the Lord, 3393; and from the meaning of 'people' as those who belong to the spiritual Church, dealt with in 3398. From this it is evident that 'Abimelech commanded all the people' means a decree from the Lord made within the spiritual Church. The decree itself is what follows next, which is that Divine Truth and Divine Good are not to be exposed, insomuch that not even any approach is to be made towards them by faith, because of the danger of eternal condemnation if they are made profane. This point is dealt with next.

3392. 'And behold Isaac was laughing with Rebekah his wife' means that Divine Good was present within Divine Truth, that is, to Divine Good Divine Truth was allied. This is clear from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Divine Good of the Lord's Rational, dealt with in 3012, 3194, 3210; from the meaning of 'laughing' as the love of truth or affection for it, dealt with in 2072, 2216; and from the representation of 'Rebekah' as the Divine Truth of the Lord's Rational, dealt with in 3012, 3013, 3077. From this it is evident that 'Isaac was laughing with Rebekah his wife' means that Divine Good was present together with Divine Truth. The meaning that these words have in the whole train of thought is that at first spiritual truth is received because it is called Divine, but that subsequently it is received because it holds within it that which is Divine and is clearly visible to those who are being regenerated and becoming members of the spiritual Church. These are the ones who are meant by 'Abimelech', that is, those who possess the doctrine of faith and have regard to the truths held within cognitions, dealt with just above in 3391.