Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 20:12-13
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AC 2555. Verses 12, 13. And moreover truly she is my sister, being the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. And it came to pass when God caused me to depart from my father‘s house, that I said unto her, This is thy goodness which thou shalt do unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother. "And moreover truly she is my sister," signifies that rational truth had such an affinity; "the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother," signifies that the rational was conceived of celestial good as a father, but not of spiritual truth as a mother; "and she became my wife," signifies that spiritual truth was conjoined with the celestial by the mediumship of rationality; "and it came to pass when God caused me to depart from my father’s house," signifies when He left what is of memory-knowledge and the appearances therefrom, together with their delights, which are here the "house of his father;" "that I said unto her," signifies the thought at the time; "this is thy goodness which thou shalt do unto me," signifies that He would then have therefrom this comfort; "at every place whither we shall come," signifies all that He should afterwards conclude concerning rational truth; "say of me, he is my brother," signifies that it should be said that rational truth had been adjoined to celestial good.

AC 2556. And moreover truly she is my sister. That this signifies that rational truth had such an affinity, is evident from the representation of Sarah as a sister, as being rational truth (n. 2508); as well as from what now follows concerning the birth of the rational, and its consequent affinity. It is to be held in general that all things in a truly rational, that is, a regenerate man-all the things of his affections, of his perceptions, and of his thoughts-are conjoined with one another as if by blood-relationship and affinity; for they have been so disposed that they mutually regard one another as do the families of one house, and this in the most distinct manner; and hence they are reproduced in accordance with these affinities. This they derive from the influx of heaven, that is, of the Lord through heaven. With the man who is truly rational, that is, regenerate, all things have been disposed into order such as exists in heaven, and this from influx. From this there is given man a faculty of thinking, concluding, judging, and reflecting so wonderful as to exceed all mere human knowledge and wisdom, and immeasurably to surpass the analyses which human industry has drawn from these sources. The reason why these things have been hitherto unknown, is that it has not been believed that all things of the affections, perceptions, and thoughts flow in (the evil from hell, and the good from heaven), thus that these have a connection with the things which are without them; when yet the truth is that man is so conjoined as to his spirit with those who are without him, that if he were deprived of this connection he would not live a single moment; as may also be known from the fact that anything unconnected is impossible, and that anything unconnected perishes in a moment.

AC 2557. The daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. That this signifies that the rational was conceived of celestial good as a father, but not of spiritual truth as a mother, is evident from the conception of the rational, namely, that this is effected by the influx of Divine celestial good into the affection of memory-knowledges (n. 1895, 1902, 1910). Two arcana are contained herein; one, that man‘s rational is conceived of Divine celestial good as a father, and that otherwise no rational would exist; the other, that the rational is not conceived of spiritual truth as a mother. As regards the first, namely, that man’s rational is conceived of Divine celestial good as a father, and that otherwise no rational would exist, this is evident from what has been said above (n. 1895, 1902, 1910), and also from what may be known to every man if he reflects.

[2] For it is known that a man is born into no knowledge and into nothing of reason, but only into the faculty of receiving them; and also that he afterwards learns and imbues himself with all things by degrees, and this principally through the sensuous things of the hearing and sight; and as he learns and imbues himself with these, he so becomes rational. That these things take place by the way of the body, that is, by an external way, because through the hearing and sight, is manifest; but the reason why man has not become acquainted with this (on account of not reflecting upon it) is that there is something constantly flowing in from within that receives the things which thus enter and are insinuated from without, and disposes them into order. That which flows in and receives and disposes them, is Divine celestial good, which is from the Lord. Thence comes the life of these things, thence their order, and thence the kinships and affinities among them severally, as before said. All this shows that man‘s rational is from Divine celestial good as a father, in accordance with the words in this verse: "she is the daughter of my father."

[3] As regards the other arcanum, namely, that the rational is not conceived of spiritual truth as a mother; this is evident from what was said above (n. 1902). For if spiritual truth were to flow in from within, as good does, man would then be born into everything of reason, and at the same time into everything of knowledge, so that he would have no need to learn anything. But as man is such that he is hereditarily in all evil, and thence in all falsity, and therefore if truths themselves also were to flow in would adulterate and falsify them, and thereby the man would eternally perish, it has been provided by the Lord that nothing of truth flows in through man’s internal, but only through his external. From this it is evident that man‘s rational is not from spiritual truth as a mother, in accordance with the words in this verse: "she is not the daughter of my mother." It was the Lord’s pleasure that His rational should be formed according to the same order, to the end that from His own power He might make what was human in Himself Divine, and might implant and unite Divine spiritual truth to Divine celestial good, and Divine celestial good to Divine spiritual truth.

AC 2558. And she became my wife. That this signifies that spiritual truth was conjoined with the celestial by the mediumship of rationality, is evident from the representation of Sarah as Abraham‘s wife, as being spiritual truth conjoined with celestial good (n. 2507); and from the representation of the same as his sister, as being rational truth (n. 2508). Hence that she became his wife, from being his sister, signifies that by rationality as a medium spiritual truth was conjoined with the celestial. How these things are circumstanced is evident from what has been said just above, (n. 2557).

AC 2559. And it came to pass when God caused me to depart from my fathers house. That this signifies when He left what is of memory-knowledge, and the appearances therefrom, together with their delights, which here are the "house of his father," is evident from the signification of "departing," as being to leave; and from the signification of "house," as being good (n. 2231, 2233), here the good of the delight from the appearances of the things of memory-knowledge and of rational things for all delight appears as good. That by the "house of his father" are here signified the delights of memory-knowledges and of rational things, consequently of their appearances, comes from the fact that they are predicated of Abraham when he departed from the house of his father; for then Abraham together with the house of his father worshiped other gods (n. 1356, 1992). Hence it is that it is said in the plural, "God (Elohim) caused me to depart." It might also be rendered according to the original tongue "the gods caused me to wander;" but as the Lord is represented by Abraham it must be rendered "God caused me to depart." As with the Lord the first memory-knowledges and the rational things derived from them were human, being imbued with what was hereditary from the mother, and thus were not purely Divine, they are therefore represented by Abraham’s first state But how far representations go, see (n. 665, 1907, 1361, 1992).

AC 2560. That I said unto her. That this signifies the thought at the time, is evident from the signification of "saying" as being to think, as explained several times before.

AC 2561. This is thy goodness which thou shalt do unto me. That this signifies that He would then have therefrom this comfort, is evident from what goes before and from what follows, and thus without further explication.

AC 2562. At every place whither we shall come. That this signifies all that He should afterwards conclude respecting rational truth, is evident from the signification of "place," as being state (n. 1273-1275, 1377). The state of the thing here treated of is the state of concluding concerning rational truth (that it should be said that rational truth was adjoined to celestial good), as follows.

AC 2563. Say of me, He is my brother. That this signifies that it should be said that rational truth was adjoined to celestial good, is evident from what was said above (n. 2524), where nearly the same words occur.

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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