241. Verse 18. I counsel thee, signifies the means of reformation of those who are in the doctrine of faith alone. This is evident from what now follows, for the reformation of those who are in that doctrine is now treated of; therefore "I counsel thee" implies precepts as to how such must live that they may be reformed and thus saved.

6779. 'And the shepherds came and drove them away' means that teachers steeped in evils set themselves against them. This is clear from the meaning of 'the shepherds' as those who teach and lead to the good of charity, dealt with in 343, 3795, 6044, here those who teach but, being steeped in evils, do not lead to the good of charity, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'driving away' as setting themselves against; and from the meaning of the daughters, the ones whom they drove away, as things belonging to the Church, dealt with above in 6775. Here 'shepherds' does indeed mean those who teach, but they are those who do not lead to the good of charity because they are steeped in evils. For those steeped in evils never acknowledge that charity and its works contribute to salvation, because they are incapable of acknowledging things contrary to the life they lead. To do so would be to go against themselves. Being steeped in evils they are not even aware of what charity is, or thus of what the works of charity are. Faith is what they teach, saying that faith is what makes people righteous and what holds the promise of heaven. These are the ones who set themselves against the teachings about charity drawn from the Word, and therefore against people guided by the truth that goes with simple good - the people meant by the daughters of the priest of Midian who, after they had drawn water and filled the troughs to water the flock, were driven away by the shepherds from the well.

4017. 'In the troughs of water where the flocks came to drink' means affections for truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'water' as cognitions and facts, which are the truths of the natural, dealt with in 28, 2702, 3058; from the meaning of 'troughs' or water-holders, which, since they are containers of water, in the internal sense mean the goods that go with truth, for these goods are the holders of truth, dealt with in 3095- and from the meaning of 'coming to drink' as the affection for truth. The reason why 'coming to drink' means the affection for truth is that it implies thirst, and 'thirst' in the Word means appetite and desire, and so the affection for knowing and taking in truth. It has this meaning because 'water' means truth in general. 'Hunger' however means appetite and desire, and so the affection for assimilating good. It does so because 'bread', which is used to denote food in general, 2165, means good. From this it is evident that these words mean affections for truth.