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Genesis 20

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1 At mula roon ay naglakbay si Abraham sa dakong lupain ng Timugan, at tumahan sa pagitan ng Cades at Shur; at siya'y nakipamayan sa Gerar.

2 At sinabi ni Abraham tungkol kay Sara na kaniyang asawa, Siya'y aking kapatid; at si Abimelech na hari sa Gerar, ay nagsugo at kinuha si Sara.

3 Datapuwa't naparoon ang Dios kay Abimelech sa panaginip sa gabi, at sa kaniya'y sinabi, Narito, ikaw ay dili iba't isang patay dahil sa babaing iyong kinuha; sapagka't siya'y asawa ng isang lalake.

4 Nguni't si Abimelech ay hindi pa, nakasisiping sa kaniya: at nagsabi, Panginoon, papatayin mo ba pati ng isang bansang banal?

5 Hindi ba siya rin ang nagsabi sa akin, Siya'y aking kapatid? at si Sara man ay nagsabi, Siya'y aking kapatid; sa katapatang loob ng aking puso, at kawalang sala ng aking mga kamay, ay ginawa ko ito.

6 At sinabi sa kaniya ng Dios sa panaginip: Oo, talastas ko, na sa katapatang loob ng iyong puso ay ginawa mo ito, at hinadlangan din naman kita sa pagkakasala ng laban sa akin: kaya't hindi ko ipinahintulot sa iyong galawin mo siya.

7 Ngayon nga'y isauli mo ang asawa ng lalaking ito; sapagka't siya'y profeta, at ikaw ay ipananalangin niya, at mabubuhay ka: at kung di mo siya isauli, ay talastasin mong walang pagsalang mamamatay ka, ikaw at ang lahat ng iyo.

8 At si Abimelech ay bumangong maaga ng kinaumagahan at tinawag ang lahat niyang bataan, at sinabi sa kanilang pakinig ang lahat ng bagay na ito: at ang mga tao'y natakot na mainam.

9 Nang magkagayo'y tinawag ni Abimelech si Abraham, at sa kaniya'y sinabi, Anong ginawa mo sa amin? at sa ano ako nagkasala laban sa iyo, na dinalhan mo ako at ang aking kaharian ng isang malaking kasalanan? Ginawan mo ako ng mga gawang di marapat gawin.

10 At sinabi ni Abimelech kay Abraham, Anong nakita mo na ginawa mo ang bagay na ito?

11 At sinabi ni Abraham, Sapagka't inisip ko. Tunay na walang takot sa Dios sa dakong ito: at papatayin nila ako dahil sa aking asawa.

12 At saka talagang siya'y kapatid ko, na anak ng aking ama, datapuwa't hindi anak ng aking ina; at siya'y naging asawa ko:

13 At nangyari, na nang ako'y palayasin ng Dios sa bahay ng aking ama, na sinabi ko sa kaniya, Ito ang magandang kalooban mo na maipakikita sa akin; sa lahat ng dakong ating datnin, ay sabihin mo tungkol sa akin, Siya'y aking kapatid.

14 At si Abimelech ay kumuha ng mga tupa at mga baka, at mga aliping lalake at babae, at ipinagbibigay kay Abraham, at isinauli sa kaniya si Sara na kaniyang asawa.

15 At sinabi ni Abimelech, Narito ang lupain ko ay nasa harapan mo: tumahan ka kung saan mo magalingin.

16 At kay Sara'y sinabi niya, Narito, nagbigay ako ng isang libong putol na pilak sa iyong kapatid: narito, ito sa iyo'y piring sa mga mata ng lahat ng kasama mo; at sa harap ng lahat ay nagbangong puri ka.

17 At nanalangin si Abraham sa Dios; at pinagaling ng Dios si Abimelech, at ang kaniyang asawa, at ang kaniyang mga aliping babae, na ano pa't nagkaanak sila.

18 Sapagka't sinarhang lubos ng Panginoon ang lahat ng bahay-bata sa bahay ni Abimelech, dahil kay Sara, na asawa ni Abraham.

   

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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)