2559. 'It happened, when God caused me to depart from my father's house' means when He left behind factual knowledge and the appearances that arise from this, together with their delights, meant here by 'father's house'. This is clear from the meaning of 'departing' as leaving behind, and from the meaning of 'house' as good, 2233, here the good that consists in the delight received from the appearances that go with factual knowledge and rational concepts, for all delight appears as good. The reason 'father's house' here means the delights received from factual knowledge and rational concepts, and therefore from the appearances that go with these, is that they are spoken of in reference to Abraham when he departed from his father's house, for at that time, together with his father's house, Abraham worshipped other gods; see 1356, 1992. This explains why the verb in the clause God caused me to depart is plural. This clause, as is also in keeping with the original language, could be rendered, the gods caused me to wander, but because the Lord is represented by Abraham it must be rendered, 'God caused me to depart'. Now it is because the factual knowledge that existed initially with the Lord, and also the rational concepts formed from that knowledge, were human - steeped as they were in what had been inherited from the mother - and so were not purely Divine, that they are represented by 'Abraham's' first state. But how far representations go, see 665, 1097 (end), 1361, 1992.

2048. That 'he who is born in the houses means celestial people, and 'he who is the purchase of silver' spiritual people, and so those who are inside the Church, is clear from the meaning of 'him born in the house' as those inside the house. In the Word 'a house' means that which is celestial because this is inmost. Consequently 'the house of God' means in the universal sense the Lord's kingdom, in a less universal sense the Church, and in a particular sense the individual himself in whom the Lord's kingdom or Church exists. When a person is called 'a house' it means the celestial side of faith with him, but when he is called 'a temple' it means the truth of faith with him. So 'he who is born in the house' here means celestial people. That 'the purchase of silver' or one bought with silver means spiritual people however is clear from the meaning of 'silver' as truth, and so the spiritual side of faith, dealt with in Volume One, in 1551.

[2] The expression celestial is used of those who are governed by love to the Lord, and because the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood was governed by that love it was a celestial Church. The expression spiritual is used of those who are governed by love towards the neighbour and so by the truth of faith. This was the character of the Ancient Church that existed after the Flood. The difference between celestial people and spiritual has been dealt with many times in Volume One. Anyone may see that there are heavenly arcana here, that is to say, in the requirement to circumcise those born in the house and those bought with silver, also sons who were foreigners, and in the fact that those persons are mentioned repeatedly, for example, in verses 13, 23, 27, that follow. These arcana are not apparent however except from the internal sense, that is to say, that those born in the house and those bought with silver mean celestial people and spiritual, and so those inside the Church - while 'the son who is a foreigner and not of your seed' means those outside the Church.