3365. 'And Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines, to Gerar' means matters of doctrine concerning faith. This is clear from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Lord as regards the Divine Rational, dealt with in 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630 - 'Isaac' being the Lord's Divine Rational as regards Divine Good, 3012, 3194, 3210, and also as regards Divine Truth, which is represented by Isaac's marriage to Rebekah, 3012, 3013, 3077, so that 'Isaac' here represents the Lord as regards the Divine Truth joined to the Divine Good of the Rational, since Isaac was accompanied by Rebekah, and she was called his sister; from the representation of 'Abimelech' as the doctrine of faith which has regard to rational concepts, 2504, 2509, 2510, 2533; from the meaning of 'the king of the Philistines' as matters of doctrine - 'the king' in the internal sense being truth that is the truth of doctrine, see 1672, 2015, 2069, and 'the Philistines' the knowledge of cognitions, which are also matters of doctrine, 1197, 1198; and from the meaning of 'Gerar' as faith, 1209, 2504. From these meanings one may see what 'Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines, to Gerar' means, namely that the Lord is the source of the doctrine of faith which has regard to rational concepts, or what amounts to the same, to matters of doctrine concerning faith.

[2] The expression 'matters of doctrine' is used to describe all those things that constitute doctrine, and insofar as that doctrine is able to be received and to be acknowledged in heaven by angels and on earth by men it is said to have regard to rational concepts. Actually it is the rational that receives and acknowledges them; but the rational is such that it cannot possibly comprehend Divine things, for it is finite, and what is finite cannot comprehend anything of what is Infinite. For this reason Divine truths from the Lord present themselves before the rational by means of appearances. This is why matters of doctrine are no more than the appearances of Divine truth, that is, no more than celestial and spiritual vessels that hold what is Divine within them. And because they hold the Divine, that is, the Lord, within them, they therefore stir a person's affection, and thereby the Lord is joined to angels and to men.

1468. 'That he said to Sarai his wife' means that He thought in the following way about truths to which celestial things were allied. This is clear from the meaning of 'Sarai' when she is called 'a wife'. In the internal sense of the Word 'a wife' means nothing other than truth joined to good, for truth joined to good is altogether like a marriage. When the noun 'husband' (maritus) is used in the Word it means good and 'wife' means truth. But when instead of this another noun for 'husband' (vir) is used, it in that case means truth, and 'wife' means good; and this is a consistent usage in the Word, as also stated already in 915. Since 'Abram' has been mentioned by name in this passage, 'Sarai his wife' means truth. Thus the meaning of 'he said to Sarai his wife' is in the internal sense that He thought in the following way about truths to which celestial things were allied. It is true historically that when he travelled into Egypt Abram spoke to his wife in this way; but, as has been stated, all the historical events recorded in the Word are representative and every word carries a spiritual meaning. No other historical details have been brought in, and those that have are not presented in any other sequence, nor expressed in any other words than such as in the internal sense may express these arcana.