The Bible

 

Genesis 20

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1 Abraham removed from thence to the south country, and dwelt between Cedes and Sur, and sojourned in Gerara.

2 And he said of Sara his wife: She is my sister. So Abimelech the king of Oerara sent, and took her.

3 And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and he said to him: Lo thou shalt die for the woman thou hast taken: for she hath a husband.

4 Now Abimelech had not touched her, and he said : Lord, wilt thou slay a nation, that is ignorant and justl

5 Did not he say to me : She is my sister: and she say, He is my brother? in the simplicity of my heart, and cleanness of my hands have I done this.

6 And God said to him: And I know that thou didst it with a sincere heart: and therefore I withheld thee from sinning against me, and I suffered thee not to touch her.

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

8 And Abimelech forthwith rising up in the night, called all his servants: and spoke all these words in their hearing, and all the men were exceedingly afraid.

9 And Abimelech called also for Abraham, and said to him: What hast thou done to us? what have we offended thee in, that thou hast brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done to us what thou oughtest not to do.

10 And again he expostulated with him, and said, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this?

11 Abraham answered: I thought with myself, saying: Perhaps there is not the fear of God in this place: and they will kill me for the sake of my wife:

12 Howbeit, otherwise also she is truly my sister, the daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother, and I took her to wife.

13 And after God brought me out of my father's house, I said to her: I Thou shalt do me this kindness: In every place, to which we shall come, thou shalt say that I am thy brother.

14 And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and servants and handmaids, and gave to Abraham: and restored to him Sara, his wife.

15 And said: The land is before you, dwell wheresoever it shall please thee.

16 And to Sara he said: Behold I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: this shall serve thee for a covering of thy eyes to all that are with thee, and whithersoever thou shalt go: and remember thou wast taken.

17 And when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they bore children:

18 For the Lord had closed up every womb of the house of Abimelech on ac- count of Sara, Abraham's wife.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2507

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2507. Of Sarah his wife. That this signifies spiritual truth conjoined with the celestial, is evident from the signification of “Sarah” as a wife, as being intellectual truth conjoined with the Divine good, or what is the same, spiritual truth conjoined with the celestial (see n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198). What the spiritual is, and what the celestial, has often been stated before (see n. 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2088). That is called Celestial, which is of good, that is, which is of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor; and that Spiritual, which is of truth, that is, which is of faith derived from those loves.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2173

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2173. That “Sarah” is here the Lord as to truth, is evident from the representation of Sarah, as being intellectual truth adjoined to good; here, as being rational truth, for the same reason as just now stated in regard to Abraham. (That Sarah represents truth may be seen above, n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065). In the historicals of the Word good and truth cannot be represented otherwise than by a marriage, for this is really the case with them, for there is a Divine marriage between things celestial and spiritual, or what is the same, between those which are of love and those which are of faith, or again what is the same, between those of the will and those of the understanding. The former are of good, the latter are of truth. There is such a marriage in the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens; such also in the Lord’s kingdom on the earth (that is, in the church); such a marriage in every man, in every single thing of him, nay, in the veriest singulars of all. That which is not in such a marriage does not live. Nay, from that Divine marriage there is such a marriage in universal nature, and in every particular of it, but under other form and appearance, otherwise nothing whatever would there subsist. Because there is such marriage in everything, therefore with the Prophets every matter is expressed in a twofold manner, especially in Isaiah-one expression referring to what is celestial, or to good, and the other to what is spiritual, or to truth (see n. 683, 793, 801). That in everything there is a resemblance of a marriage, may be seen above (n. 718, 747, 917, 1432). Hence it is that the Lord’s good is represented by Abraham, and His truth by Sarah.

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