GENESIS

To Abram her husband, to be his woman [or wife]. original: "Abramo viro suo, illi in mulierem" Sarai, Abram's wife, took signifies the affection for truth, which in its genuine sense is represented by Sarai the wife. Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid signifies the life of the external person and the affection for scientific knowledge original: "affectionem scientiarum"; in this context, "science" refers to the broad category of factual or sensory knowledge. After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan signifies the remnants of good and the resulting truth which the Lord acquired for Himself, through which that rational part was conceived. And gave her to Abram her husband to be his woman [or wife] signifies a conjunction prompted by the affection for truth.

1904. Sarai, Abram's wife, took—that this signifies the affection for truth (which in its genuine sense is Sarai the wife) is clear from the meaning of Sarai as Truth joined to Good, and from the meaning of wife as "affection," as discussed previously in entries 915 and 1468.

There are two distinct types of affection: the affection for good and the affection for truth. When a person is being regenerated term: "regenerated"; the spiritual process of being reborn or made new by God, the affection for truth comes first, for one is moved by truth for the sake of good. However, once a person is regenerated, the affection for good comes first, and from that good, one is moved by truth.

The affection for good belongs to the will; the affection for truth belongs to the understanding. The most ancient people established a kind of marriage between these two affections: they called "Good" (or the love of good) the "man" or "husband," and "Truth" (or the love of truth) the "woman" or "wife." This comparison of good and truth to marriage originates from the Heavenly Marriage.

Good and Truth, viewed in themselves, have no life of their own; they draw life from love or affection. They are merely the instruments of life. Therefore, the life of a person is determined by the quality of the love that influences their good and truth, for all life belongs to love or affection. This is why "Sarai the wife," in its genuine sense, signifies the affection for truth. In this specific verse, because the intellectual part desired a rational part (like a parent desiring a child), and because it is the desire or affection that is "speaking" through these actions, the text explicitly says: "Sarai, Abram’s wife... gave [her] to Abram her husband." It would not have been necessary to repeat these titles—which would otherwise be redundant—unless they involved such secrets in the internal sense.

Intellectual Truth is distinguished from Rational Truth, and Rational Truth from Scientific Truth term: "Scientific Truth"; knowledge gained through the senses and study, rather than through direct spiritual perception, much like the Internal, Middle, and External.

• Intellectual Truth is internal.
• Rational Truth is middle.
• Scientific Truth is external.

These are highly distinct from one another because one is more internal than the other. In any person, Intellectual Truth (which is internal or at their innermost core) does not belong to the person but is the Lord's presence with them. From there, the Lord flows into the Rational part, where truth first appears as if it belongs to the person; from there, it flows into the Scientific (external) knowledge.

From this, it is clear that a person can never think from Intellectual Truth as if it were their own. Instead, they think from Rational and Scientific Truth, because these appear to be their own. Only the Lord, when He lived in the world, thought from Intellectual Truth, because that was His own Divinity joined to Good—or His Divine Spiritual joined to His Divine Celestial. In this, the Lord was distinct from every other person. Thinking from the Divine as if from Himself is never possible for a human, nor can it exist in a human; it was possible only in Him who was conceived by Jehovah. Because He thought from Intellectual Truth—that is, from the love or affection for Intellectual Truth—He also desired the Rational part from it. This is why it is said here that Sarai, Abram's wife (the affection for intellectual truth), took Hagar the Egyptian and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. The remaining secrets contained here are beyond the grasp...