6442. He shall seize in the morning, he shall devour the spoil. That this signifies that when the Lord is present it shall be done, is evident from the signification of “morning,” as being in the supreme sense the Lord (see n. 2405, 2780), hence that “he shall seize in the morning” denotes that when the Lord is present, then shall be rescuing and deliverance of the good; and from the signification of “devouring the spoil,” as being to appropriate to Himself those whom He has rescued and delivered. (That “devouring” denotes to appropriate and conjoin with oneself, see n. 3168, 3513, 3596, 5643; that the “spoil” denotes those who have been rescued and delivered, is manifest.) That “seizing,” “rapine,” “spoil,” and “prey” are also spoken of the Lord in the Word because of His rescuing and delivering the good, is evident from what was said above (verse 9) about Judah: “Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up,” by which is signified that from the Lord through what is celestial is deliverance from hell (n. 6368). Also from other passages in the Word, as in Isaiah:

The roaring of Jehovah is like that of a lion, He roareth like young lions, and growleth, and layeth hold of the prey, so that there is none rescuing (Isaiah 5:29).

Again:

As a lion roareth, and the young lion over his rapine, so shall Jehovah come down to fight upon the mountain of Zion (Isaiah 31:4).

In Jeremiah:

I will rescue thee in that day, rescuing I will rescue thee; but thy soul is to thee for a spoil, because thou hast trusted in Me (Jeremiah 39:17-18).

In Zephaniah:

Wait ye for Me, saith Jehovah, even unto the day that I rise up unto the prey (Zeph. 3:8).

And in Isaiah:

I will divide to Him among many, that He may divide the spoil with the strong ones (Isaiah 53:12); where the Lord is spoken of in the whole chapter.

[2] That “to devour the rapine or spoil” is to appropriate goods which have been seized by evils, is evident from the prophetic utterance of Balaam, in Moses:

Behold, the people shall rise up as an old lion, and as a young lion shall he lift himself up; he shall not rest until he eat of the spoil (Numbers 23:24).

From all this it is evident that “rapine,” “spoil,” and “prey,” denote the rescuing and deliverance of the good by the Lord. This is predicated of the truth represented by Benjamin, because to truth is attributed power (n. 3091, 4931), but that which it has from good (n. 6344, 6423).