Arcana Coelestia, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1749-56], tr. by John F. Potts [1905-10], at sacred-texts.com
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...CHAPTER 12 1. And Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy land, and from thy birth, and from thy father's house, to the land that I will cause thee to see. 2. And I will make thee into a great nation; and I will bless thee, and will make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. 3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and will curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all the families of the ground be blessed. 4. And Abram went as Jehovah had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was a son of five years and seventy years, when he went forth out of Haran. 5. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gotten, and the soul that they had gained in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. 6. And Abram passed through the land, even unto the place Shechem, even unto the oak-grove Moreh: and the Canaanite was then in the land. 7. And Jehovah was seen of Abram, and said, To thy seed will I give this land. And there he built an altar to Jehovah, who was seen of him. 8. And he removed from thence into the mountain on the east of Bethel, and spread his tent; having Bethel toward the sea, and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to Jehovah, and called on the name of Jehovah. 9. And Abram journeyed, going and journeying, toward the south. 10. And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; because the famine was grievous in the land. 11. And it came to pass that when he drew nigh to come into Egypt, he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold I pray, I know that thou art a woman beautiful to look upon: 12. And it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, and will make thee to live. 13. Say, I pray, thou art my sister; that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live because of thee. 14. And it came to pass when Abram was come into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15. And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. 16. And he did well unto Abram for her sake; and he had flock and herd, and he-asses and menservants, and maidservants and she-asses, and camels. 17. And Jehovah smote Pharaoh with great plagues, and his house, because of the word of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she is thy wife? 19. Why saidst thou, She is my sister? and I might have taken her to me for a woman. And now, behold thy wife; take her, and go. 20. And Pharaoh commanded the men concerning him; and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
THE CONTENTS. True historical things begin here, all of which are representative, and each word significative. The things related in this chapter concerning Abram represent the Lord's state from earliest childhood up to youth. As the Lord was born in the same way as other men, He also advanced from an obscure state to one more lucid. "Haran" is the first state, which was obscure; "Shechem" is the second; "the oak-grove Moreh" is the third; "the mountain which had Bethel toward the sea and Ai on the east," is the fourth; and the "journey thence toward the south into Egypt," is the fifth.
The things told of Abram's sojourn in Egypt represent and signify the Lord's first instruction. "Abram" is the Lord; "Sarai," as a wife, is truth to be adjoined to the celestial; "Sarai," as a sister, is intellectual truth; "Egypt" is memory-knowledge. The progress from memory-knowledges even to celestial truths is described; this was according to Divine order, that the Lord's Human Essence might be conjoined with His Divine Essence, and at the same time become Jehovah.
THE INTERNAL SENSE. From the first chapter of Genesis up to this point, or rather to the mention of Eber, the historicals have not been true but made-up historicals, which in the internal sense signify celestial and spiritual actualities. But in this chapter and in those which follow, the historicals are not made-up but true historicals; and in the internal sense these in like manner signify celestial and spiritual actualities, as anyone may see from the single consideration that it is the Word of the Lord.
In these things now before us, which are true historicals, all the statements and words both in general and in particular have in the internal sense an entirely different signification from that which they bear in the sense of the letter; but the historicals themselves are representative. Abram, who is first treated of, represents in general the Lord, and specifically the celestial man; Isaac, who is afterwards treated of, in like manner represents in general the Lord, and specifically the spiritual man; Jacob also in general represents the Lord, and specifically the natural man. Thus they represent the things which are of the Lord, of His kingdom, and of the church.
But the internal sense, as has already been clearly shown, is of such a nature that all things in general and in particular are to be understood abstractly from the letter, just as if the letter did not exist; for in the internal sense is the Word's soul and life, which does not become manifest unless the sense of the letter as it were vanishes. Thus, from the Lord, do the angels perceive the Word when it is being read by man.
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