Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 20:9
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AC 2544. Verse 9. And Abimelech called Abraham and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and wherein have I sinned against thee that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou hast done unto me deeds that ought not to be done. "Abimelech called Abraham and said unto him," signifies the Lord‘s thought from the doctrine of faith; "what hast thou done unto us? and wherein have I sinned against thee?" signifies self-conviction for having so thought; "that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin," signifies that thereby the doctrine of faith and all doctrinal things would be in danger; "thou hast done unto me deeds that ought not to be done," signifies horror.

AC 2545. Abimelech called Abraham and said unto him. That this signifies the Lord’s thought from the doctrine of faith, is evident from the representation of Abimelech, and also of Abraham, and from the signification of "saying," which have all been explained several times. What it is to think from the doctrine of faith cannot be explained to the apprehension; for the perception of this can fall into angelic ideas only; but to these it is presented in a light so great, attended with heavenly representatives, that scarcely anything of it can be described; as is evident when we say that the Lord‘s thought was from intellectual truth, which was above that rational which He looked upon therefrom; but that the perception from which He thought was from Divine truth.

AC 2546. What hast thou done unto us? and wherein have I sinned against thee? That this signifies self-conviction for having so thought, is evident from the emotion and zeal in these words (n. 2543), on account of the faculties of reason and memory-knowledge desiring to rise up and enter, and thus to have some share in the doctrine of faith, which is Divine.

AC 2547. That thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin. That this signifies that thereby the doctrine of faith and all doctrinal things would be in danger, is evident from the signification of "Abimelech," here meant by "me," as being the doctrine of faith; and from the signification of "kingdom," as being the truth of doctrine or that which is doctrinal. That in the internal sense "kingdom" signifies the truths of doctrine; and in the opposite sense, falsities of doctrine, is evident from the Word; as in Jeremiah:--

here "Israel" denotes the spiritual church; and "nation" the good of that church or of doctrine. That "nations" denote goods may be seen above, (n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849). "Kingdom" denotes its truths. It is evident that something else than nations and kingdoms is here meant by "nations and kingdoms," for it is said of the sons of Israel or of the Israelites that they are to be "gathered and brought back into the land," the fact being that when dispersed among the nations they were transformed into Gentiles.

[3] In Isaiah:--

where "Egypt" denotes reasonings from memory-knowledges concerning the truths of faith (n. 1164, 1165, 1186); "city" denotes doctrine, here one that is heretical (n. 402, 2268, 2449); "kingdom" denotes the falsity of doctrine; so that "city against city, and kingdom against kingdom" denotes that heresies and falsities will fight among themselves; in like manner as is denoted by what the Lord said in regard to the consummation of the age, in Matthew:--

denoting evils against evils, and falsities against falsities.

[4] That which Daniel prophesied in regard to the four kingdoms (Daniel 2:37-46; 7:17-28); and concerning the kingdoms of Media and Persia (Daniel 8:20-27); and concerning the kingdoms of the king of the south and the king of the north (Daniel 11:1); and that which John prophesied in the Revelation concerning kings and kingdoms, have no other signification: "kingdoms" there merely mean the states of the church in respect to truths and falsities. States of monarchs and of the kingdoms of the earth in the sense of the letter, are in the internal sense states of the church and of the Lord’s kingdom; in which sense there are none other than spiritual and celestial things; for regarded in itself the Lord‘s Word is solely spiritual and celestial; but in order that it may be read and apprehended by every man whatever, the things of heaven are set forth by such things as are on earth.

AC 2548. Thou hast done unto me deeds that ought not to be done. That this signifies horror, is evident from the emotion in the words; as well as from the series, namely, that the Lord was averse (n. 2543); that He reproved Himself from zeal (n. 2546); and here that He felt horror.

Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.

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