Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 26:1
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AC 3362. In the twenty-first chapter Abimelech was treated of, in that he made a covenant with Abraham, and that then Abraham reproved him concerning a well of waters which his servants had seized. In the present chapter a nearly similar occurrence is repeated between Abimelech and Isaac, resembling it also in this respect, that just as Abraham had said that his wife was his sister, so also said Isaac; from which it is evident that some Divine arcanum therein is the reason why these things occurred a second time, and were again related; and also that on both occasions mention is made of wells, concerning which it would little concern us to know, unless something Divine were concealed therein. But the internal sense teaches what is therein, and that the subject is the conjunction through truths of the Lord with those who are in His kingdom in the heavens and on earth; with the angels through appearances of truth of a higher degree; and with men through appearances of truth of a lower degree; consequently through the Word, in the internal and external senses of which are contained these appearances. For truths Divine themselves are such that they can never be comprehended by any angel, still less by any man, because they surpass every faculty of their understanding. Yet in order that there may be conjunction of the Lord with them, truths Divine flow in with them in appearances; and when truths Divine are with them in such appearances, they can be both received and acknowledged. This is effected by adaptation to the comprehension of each person; and therefore appearances, that is, truths angelic and human, are of three degrees. These are the Divine arcana contained in the internal sense of that which was related in a former chapter concerning the doings of Abimelech and Abraham; and in this chapter concerning those of Abimelech and Isaac.

AC 3363. Verse 1. And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar. "And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham," signifies a lack of the knowledges of faith; "and Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar," signifies the doctrinal things of faith; "Abimelech" is the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things; the "king of the Philistines" denotes doctrinal things and "Gerar" is faith.

AC 3364. And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. That this signifies a lack of the knowledges of faith, is evident from the signification of "famine," as being a lack of knowledges (n. 1460). That it is a lack of the knowledges of faith, is evident from what presently follows, that is, from the representation of Abimelech, and from the signification of "Gerar," as being that which is of faith. The "famine" in the days of Abraham, (Gen. 12:10), and explained above (n. 1460), denoted a lack of the knowledges which are of the natural man but the "famine" here spoken of denotes a lack of the knowledges which are of the rational man; and therefore it is said that there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham." In the internal sense the subject here treated of is the Lord, in that from His Divine are all the doctrinal things of faith; for there is no doctrinal thing, nor the smallest part of one, that is not from the Lord, because the Lord is doctrine itself. Hence it is that the Lord is called the "Word," because the "Word" is doctrine; but as everything that is in the Lord is Divine, and the Divine cannot be comprehended by any created being, therefore in so far as they appear before created beings, the doctrinal things that are from the Lord are not truths purely Divine, but are appearances of truth; nevertheless within such appearances there are truths Divine; and because they have these truths within them, the appearances also are called truths; and these are now treated of in this chapter.

AC 3365. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar. This signifies the doctrinal things of faith, which is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord as to the Divine rational (n. 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630); and "Isaac" is the Lord’s Divine rational as to Divine good, (n. 3012, 3194, 3210); and also as to Divine truth, which is represented by the marriage of Isaac with Rebekah, (n. 3012, 3013, 3077); thus by Isaac is here represented the Lord as to Divine truth conjoined with the Divine good of the rational for Rebekah was with Isaac, and was called "sister;"-from the representation of Abimelech, as being the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things (n. 2504, 2509, 2510, 2530); and from the signification of the "king of the Philistines," as being doctrinal things. In the internal sense a "king" denotes the truth which is of doctrine, (n. 1672, 2015, 2069); and the " Philistines" signify the memory-knowledge of knowledges, which also is that of doctrinal things, (n. 1197, 1198);--and from the signification of "Gerar," as being faith (n. 1209, 2504). This shows what is signified by Isaac‘s going to Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar, namely, that from the Lord comes the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things; or what is the same, the doctrinal things of faith. All those things are called doctrinal which are of doctrine, and which in so far as they can be received and acknowledged in heaven by angels, and on earth by men, are said to look to rational things, for it is the rational that receives and acknowledges them. But the rational is such that it cannot possibly apprehend Divine things, for it is finite, and the finite cannot apprehend what is of the infinite; and consequently truths Divine from the Lord are presented before the rational by means of appearances. Hence it is that doctrinal things are nothing but appearances of truth Divine, that is, nothing but celestial and spiritual vessels, within which is what is Divine; and because the Divine, that is, the Lord, is in them, they affect us, whence comes the conjunction of the Lord with angels and men.

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Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772). Design:  I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002. www.BibleMeanings.info