8996. 'So that he does not betroth her' means so that it cannot be Joined to it. This is clear from the meaning of 'being betrothed' as being joined to; for they that are betrothed are joined together. In the internal sense the proper meaning of 'being betrothed' is the compatibility of minds or inclinations which precedes being joined together in marriage. And since in the spiritual world compatibility is conjunctive and incompatibility is disjunctive, 'being betrothed' here means being joined together.