The Bible

 

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.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2534

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2534. 'For he is a prophet' means that thus it was to be taught. This is clear from the meaning of 'a prophet'. One reads the word 'prophet' many times in the Word, and in the sense of the letter it means those to whom revelation is given, and also - abstractedly from persons - revelation itself. But in the internal sense that word means one who teaches, and also - abstractedly - doctrine itself. And because, as has been stated, the Lord is doctrine itself, or the Word which teaches, He is called 'a Prophet', as also in Moses,

Jehovah your God will raise up a Prophet like me from the midst of you, from your brothers; Him shall you obey. Deuteronomy 18:15, 18.

The words 'like me' are used because the Lord was represented by Moses, as He also was by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and many more. And because people awaited Him it is therefore said in John,

When the people saw the sign which Jesus had done, they said, This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world. John 6:14.

[2] Since the Lord in the highest sense is 'the Prophet' and 'the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy', Revelation 19:10, 'a prophet' therefore means in the internal sense of the Word a person who teaches, and also - abstractedly - doctrine, as becomes quite clear from the following places: In Luke,

You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High. Luke 1:76.

Zechariah said this in reference to his son, John the Baptist, who was not the prophet but one preparing the way by teaching and preaching the good news about the Lord's Coming, as he himself says,

They asked him, What are you? Are you Elijah? But he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, No. Therefore they said to him. Who are you? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord. John 1:21-23.

[3] In Matthew,

Many will say on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Matthew 7:22.

Here it is evident that 'prophesying' means teaching. In John,

You must again prophesy over many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. Revelation 10:11.

'Prophesying' stands for teaching. What 'peoples', 'nations', 'tongues', and 'kings' mean has been stated and shown in various places. In the same book,

The nations will trample the holy city for forty-two months, but I will grant My two witnesses to prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. Revelation 11:2-3.

Here also 'prophesying' stands for teaching. In Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. Exodus 7:1.

Here 'prophet' stands for one teaching or saying what Moses would have to say. In Joel,

I will pour out My spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Joel 2:28.

'They will prophesy' stands for they will teach.

[4] In Isaiah,

Jehovah has poured out over you a spirit of sleep, and has closed your eyes; the prophets and your heads, the seers, He has covered; and the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a sealed book which men give to one who is able to read, saying, Read this, now; and he will say, I cannot, for it is sealed. Isaiah 29:10-11.

Here 'the prophets' is used to mean those who teach truth, and 'the seers' those who see truth. Their heads are said to be 'covered' when they know no truth at all and see none at all. Because in ancient times those who taught were called prophets, they were also called 'seers', for 'seeing' meant understanding, 2150, 2325. The fact that they were called 'seers', see 1 Samuel 9:9; 2 Samuel 24:11. They were also called 'men (vir) of God' because of the meaning 'man' carried, dealt with in 158, 265, 749, 915, 1007, 2517. The fact that they were called 'men of God', see 2 Kings 1:9-16; 4:7, 9, 16, 21-22, 25, 27, 40, 42; 5:8, 14, 20; 13:19; 23:16-17.

[5] That 'prophets' means in the internal sense those who teach is clear in the whole of Jeremiah 23 and the whole of Ezekiel 13, where prophets are referred to specifically, and also in many other places where they are mentioned. This also explains why 'pseudoprophets' means those who teach falsities, as in Matthew,

At the close of the age many pseudoprophets will arise and lead many astray. False Christs and false prophets 1 will arise and will show great signs, and will lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Matthew 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22.

No others are meant here by 'pseudoprophets' and 'false prophets', nor likewise by the pseudoprophet in Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10.

[6] How much the internal sense of the Word is obscured by ideas that have been conceived from the representatives of the Jewish Church becomes clear from the fact that every time a prophet is mentioned in the Word the idea of prophets like those who lived in those times immediately springs to mind, an idea which impedes greatly any discernment of what is meant by them. But the wiser anyone is, the more easily is an idea conceived from such representatives banished. For example, when the temple is mentioned, people who are more wise in their thinking do not envisage the temple in Jerusalem but the temple of the Lord; when Mount Zion, or simply Zion, is mentioned, they do not envisage a location in Jerusalem but the Lord's kingdom; and when Jerusalem is mentioned, they do not envisage the Jerusalem situated in the tribe of Benjamin and Judah but the holy and heavenly Jerusalem.

Footnotes:

1. Here, apparently following Schmidius' Latin version of the Scriptures, Swedenborg has two similar but not identical expressions - pseudoprophetae and falsi prophetae. But in the original Greek the same word occurs in both places.

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