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Genesis 20

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1 And Abraham journeyed from thence towards the south country, and dwelt between Kadash and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.

2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, she is my sister: And Abimelech 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, on account of the woman whom 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 slay a righteous nation?

5 Said he not to me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself Said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart, and innocence of my hands have I done this.

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

7 Now therefore restore to the man his wife, for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou shalt not restore her, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are thine.

8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were greatly afraid.

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

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

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

12 And yet indeed she is my sister: she is 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, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show to me; At every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

14 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and women-servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored to him Sarah his wife.

15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.

16 And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, to all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.

17 So Abraham prayed to God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maid-servants, and they bore children.

18 For the LORD had made barren all the females of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 2524

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2524. 'She herself also said, He is my brother' means that the rational itself so declared that celestial good should be coupled with it. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'a sister', to whom 'she herself' refers here, as the rational, 1495, 2508, and from the meaning of 'a brother' as good that stands related to truth, 367, 2508. For the implications of this are as follows: Divine Good and Divine Truth are united to each other as if in a marriage. From this comes the heavenly marriage, and also conjugial love, even down to the natural world below. But the good and truth of the rational are not joined to each other as if in a marriage but as in a blood relationship like that of brother and sister. For as regards truth, the rational is conceived from an influx of Divine Good into the affection for knowledge and cognitions, see 1895, 1902, 1910, whereas the good of the rational comes through an influx of Divine Good into that truth, which then becomes that good itself which belongs to charity and is 'the brother' of faith, or what amounts to the same, of truth, 367.

[2] As regards the way in which the good and truth of the rational are acquired, its good comes from Divine good, but not its truth from Divine truth, for the truth of the rational is acquired through knowledge and cognitions which are implanted by means of the senses, external and internal, and so by an external route. Consequently many illusions that result from sensory impressions cling to the truths of that rational which cause those truths not to be truths. Nevertheless when Divine Good flows into them and takes hold of them they are in that case seen as truths and are acknowledged as truths, even though they are no more than appearances of truth. The good itself within those truths undergoes modification determined by the shadows there and comes to have the same nature as the truth. This is one arcanum which lies concealed in these words, that the rational so declared that celestial good should be coupled with it.

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