58. Verse 30 And to every wild animal of the earth and to every bird of the air, ¹ and to everything creeping over the earth in which there is a living soul [I give] every plant for food; and it was so.

The natural food of this same [spiritual man] is being described here. His natural level is here meant by 'wild animal of the earth' and by 'bird of the air, to which 'the edible and green plant ² has been given for food'. Both kinds of food, natural and spiritual, are referred to in David as follows,

Jehovah causes the grass to grow for the beast, and the plant for man's service, that he may bring forth bread from the earth. Psalms 104:14.

Here 'beast' stands for both wild animals of the earth and birds of the air, ¹ both being mentioned in verses 11-12 of that Psalm.

Бележки под линия:

5806. 'And he alone is left to his mother' means that this is the only truth the Church possesses. This is clear from the representation of Benjamin, to whom 'the only one left' refers here, as new truth, dealt with just above in 5804; and from the meaning of 'mother' as the Church, dealt with in 289, 2691, 2717, 5581. With regard to the fact that this truth - represented here by 'Benjamin', and described above in 5804 - is the only truth the Church possesses, the situation is this: Such truth is truth springing from spiritual good, which is 'Israel'; and it is what 'Benjamin' represents when he is with his father, whereas truth even more interior is represented by him when he is with Joseph. The truth which Benjamin represents when he is with his father and which is called new truth is the only truth that enables a person to be a Church, for this new truth or those truths [spoken of in 5804] hold life received from good within them. That is, the person with whom the truths of faith exist rooted in good is a Church, not so the person with whom the truths of faith but no good of charity exist. With the latter person the truths are dead, even though they may have been the same truths. From all this one may see what the situation is with regard to the fact that this truth is the only truth the Church possesses.