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Genesis 20

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1 Der På brød Abraham op derfra til Sydlandet og slog sig ned mellem Kadesj og Sjur og boede som fremmed i Gerar.

2 Da nu Abraham sagde om sin Hustru Sara, at hun var hans Søster, sendte Kong Abimelek af Gerar Bud og lod Sara hente til sig.

3 Men Gud kom til Abimelek i en Drøm om Natten og sagde til ham: "Se, du skal for den Kvindes Skyld, som du har taget, thi hun er en anden Mands Hustru!"

4 Abimelek var imidlertid ikke kommet hende nær; og han sagde: "Herre, vil du virkelig.slå retfærdige Folk ihjel?

5 Har han ikke sagt mig, at hun er hans Søster? Og hun selv har også sagt, at han er hendes Broder; i mit Hjertes Troskyldighed og med rene Hænder har jeg gjort dette."

6 Da sagde Gud til ham i Drømmen: "Jeg ved, at du har gjort det i dit Hjertes Troskyldighed, og jeg har også hindret dig i at synde imod mig; derfor tilstedte jeg dig ikke at røre hende.

7 Men send nu Mandens Hustru tilbage, thi han er en Profet, så han kan gå i Forbøn for dig, og du kan blive i Live; men sender du hende ikke tilbage, så vid, at du og alle dine er dødsens!"

8 Tidligt næste Morgen lod Abimelek alle sine Tjenere kalde og fortalte dem det hele, og Mændene blev såre forfærdede.

9 Men Abimelek lod Abraham kalde og sagde til ham: "Hvad har du dog gjort imod os? Og hvad har jeg forbrudt imod dig, at du bragte denne store Synd over mig og mit ige? Du har gjort imod mig, hvad man ikke bør gøre!"

10 Og Abimelek sagde til Abraham: "Hvad bragte dig til at handle således?"

11 Abraham svarede: "Jo, jeg tænkte: Her er sikkert ingen Gudsfrygt på dette Sted, så de vil slå mig ihjel for min Hustrus Skyld.

12 Desuden er hun virkelig min Søster, min Faders Datter, kun ikke min Moders; men hun blev min Hustru.

13 Og da nu Gud lod mig flakke om fjernt fra min Faders Hus, sagde jeg til hende: Den Godhed må du vise mig, at du overalt, hvor vi kommer hen, siger, at jeg er din Broder."

14 Derpå tog Abimelelk Småkvæg og Hornkvæg, Trælle og Trælkvinder og gav Abraham dem og sendte hans Hustru Sara tilbage til ham;

15 og Abimelek sagde til ham: "Se, mit Land ligger åbent for dig; slå dig ned, hvor du lyster!"

16 Men til Sara sagde han: "Jeg har givet din Broder 1000 Sekel Sølv, det skal være dig Godtgørelse for alt, hvad der er tilstødt dig. Hermed har du fået fuld Oprejsning."

17 Men Abraham gik i Forbøn hos Gud, og Gud helbredte Abimelek og hans Hustru og Medhustruer, så at de atter fik Børn.

18 HE EN havde nemlig lukket for ethvert Moderliv i Abimeleks Hus for Abrahams Hustru Saras Skyld.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2574

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2574. 'And to Sarah he said' means perception from spiritual truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Sarah when a wife' as Divine spiritual truth, dealt with in 2507, and of the same character when 'a sister' as rational truth, dealt with in 2508, and from the meaning of 'saying' as perceiving, dealt with in 2506. Here Sarah is addressed as 'a wife' and also as 'a sister' - as 'a wife' because she had been restored [to Abraham], 2569, as 'a sister' because it is said, 'I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother'. Also, in that what was said by Abimelech was perceived by Sarah in her wifely status, therefore 'saying to Sarah' means perceiving from spiritual truth.

[2] These words, it is evident, embody deeper arcana than can be disclosed intelligibly. And if they were to be disclosed merely to a limited extent it would be necessary to explain many things first of all, which are as yet unknown, such as what spiritual truth is; what perception from spiritual truth is; the fact that the Lord alone has had perception from spiritual truth; the fact that just as the Lord implanted rational truth within rational good so He implanted spiritual truth within celestial good, and in so doing was constantly implanting the Human within the Divine in order that in every thing the marriage might exist of the Human with the Divine, and of the Divine with the Human. These things and many more must come first before the things within this verse can be presented intelligibly. Those things are primarily suited to the minds of angels which have the ability to understand them and for the sake of which minds the internal sense of the Word exists. To them these matters are represented in a heavenly manner; and by means of those matters and of the things within this chapter, an idea is instilled of how the Lord by degrees cast aside the human which He had from the mother until at length He was no longer her son (the fact that He did not acknowledge her as His mother is evident in Matthew 12:46-49; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:20-21; John 2:4) and also an idea of how by His own power He made the Human Divine until He was one with the Father, as He Himself teaches in John 14:6, 8-11, and elsewhere.

[3] By means of myriads of ideas and representations, all of which are beyond description, the Lord presents such matters to angels in clear light. The reason, as has been stated, is that these are suited to their minds, and when conscious of them they experience the bliss of intelligence and the happiness of wisdom. What is more, there are angels who, while they were men, formed ideas of the Lord's Human as they did of that of any other person. In order that these angels may exist together with celestial angels in the next life - for in that life ideas inspired by an affection for good join people together - such erroneous ideas as they have had about the Lord are dispelled by means of the internal sense, and in this way they are perfected. This shows how precious to angels those things are within the internal sense of the Word, though they may perhaps seem of small importance to man whose idea of such things is so obscure as to be scarcely any idea at all.

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