5279. 'And the famine will consume the land' means even to the point of despair. This is clear from the meaning of 'famine' as an absence of religious knowledge or cognitions and a consequent deprivation of truth, dealt with above in 5277, 5278; and from the meaning of 'the land', in this case the land of Egypt, as the natural mind, also dealt with above, in 5276, 5278. The reason even to the point of despair is meant is that the words 'the famine will consume the land' are used. Since 'the land' means the natural mind, and 'famine' the deprivation of truth, nothing else than despair is meant, for at that time, in a spiritual manner, a consuming takes place. The description here is of a state of desolation owing to a deprivation of truth, the final stage of that state being despair. The reason despair is the final stage of that state is that despair is the means by which the delight that belongs to self-love and love of the world is removed, and the delight connected with the love of what is good and true is instilled in place of it. The despair experienced by those who are to be regenerated has to do with the attainment of spiritual life and with being deprived of truth and good. For when such people are deprived of truth and good they are in despair about the attainment of spiritual life; consequently they have feelings of delight and bliss when they come out of their despair.

The Hebrew of the Old Testament has six different common words which are generally translated as "wife," which largely overlap but have different nuances. Swedenborg uses two different Latin words, which largely overlap but have different nuances. Meanwhile, "wife" is often paired with "man" or "husband," which are also catch-all translations for a basket of Hebrew and Latin terms. So it's hard to pin down one universal meaning for "wife"; context and subject matter have a large effect.

In general, though, marriage in the Bible represents the union we all seek between our hearts and our minds. If we know what is right and pursue it faithfully, the Lord will ultimately help us love doing what is good, and the two aspects of ourselves will be unified. On a higher level, marriage represents the union we can have with the Lord, both individually and collectively as a church. As an intrinsic part of the marriage, the wife plays a key role in that meaning. But that meaning is different depending on what is being described.

If the marriage is describing a person who is spiritual in nature – "spiritual" being the second degree of heavenly life, in which people are led by intellect and knowledge with the desire for good following – the wife represents the desire for good, the affections that drive the person. If the marriage is describing someone who is celestial in nature – "celestial" being the highest degree of heavenly life, in which people are led from love, with the intellect and ideas following – the wife represents the true ideas held by the person or church. If the marriage is describing the union between the Lord and the church, the wife represents the church.

In a way, these are symbolic meanings that actually have little to do with gender. When "wife" describes a church, obviously that church can include both male and female people. When "wife" describes an aspect of a person, that person can obviously be either male or female.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 915, 1468, 1904 [1-2], 3246 [3-4], 3398, 4823 [2])