属天的奥秘 # 7781
7781. “以及一切头生的牲畜” 表信之被玷污的良善. 这从 “头生的” 和 “牲畜” 的含义清楚可知: “头生的” 是指信; “牲畜” 是指对良善的情感, 在反面意义上是指对邪恶的情感 (参看45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 776, 2179, 2180, 3519, 5198节). “牲畜” 具有这种含义是由于来世的代表 (3218节). 因此, 用于祭祀的牲畜也表示这类事物 (2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3519节). 由于 “牲畜” 具有这种含义, 所以 “头生的牲畜” 表示真理之良善, 在此表示被玷污的良善, 因为它属于埃及人, 而埃及人因将一切真理和良善用于邪恶的目的或功用而败坏了它们.
Firstborn
Firstborn, in a supreme sense, represents the Lord as to divine celestial love, and also peope who were of the celestial church. The sanctification of the firstborn, as in Exodus 13, signifies faith in the Lord. The firstborn, in the spiritual sense of the Word, is good, for with infants the good of innocence is first infused by the Lord, by virtue of which man first becomes a man. Since good is of love, and man does not reflect upon his own love, but only upon the thoughts of his memory, and since good has not at first a quality, but acquires one when it is formed in truths, and without a quality nothing is perceived, hence it was unknown that good was the primary principle, or firstborn. Good is first conceived from the Lord in man, and is produced by truths, in which good is manifested, in its own form and effigy. Firstborn, as in Psalm 89:28, signifies the Lord's humanity.