As with many common verbs, the meaning of “to say” in the Bible is highly dependent on context. Who is speaking? Who is hearing? What is it about? Is it a command, a message, an apology, instruction? All these things enter into the meaning of “say.” In general, though, “saying” has to do with sharing truth at various levels -- from the most exalted power people can have to perceive the Lord's desires directly to the most basic of orders issued to people at their lowest.

2587. 'Because of the matter of Sarah' means through the rational if it had joined itself. This is clear from the representation of 'Sarah when a sister' as rational truth, dealt with in 2508. 'The matter of Sarah' means the whole affair, that is to say, of her being called a sister, and of Abimelech's taking her, but not going near her. What more is meant by these things will be stated in what follows immediately below.