5247. “他就剃头, 刮胡子” 表就外层属世层的覆盖物而言的抛弃和所作的改变. 这从 “剃头, 刮胡子” 的含义清楚可知, “剃头, 刮胡子” 是指抛弃外层属世层的覆盖物; 因为所剃的 “头发” 表示外层属世层 (参看3301节). 毛发, 无论头上的, 还是胡须上的, 在大人中对应于外层属世层. 这解释了为何在天堂之光中, 感官人, 即那些除了属世之物外什么也不信, 也不想去明白除了他们能用感官觉知的东西外, 更内在或更纯粹的事物如何会存在的人在来世显得多毛. 他们看上去毛烘烘的, 以致他们的脸除了胡须外, 几乎什么都不是. 我经常看见这种满是毛发的脸. 但理性人, 也就是属灵人, 因属世层在他们里面处于恰当的从属地位, 故看似有整洁的头发. 事实上, 在来世, 凭头发就能知道灵人在属世层方面的品质或性质. 灵人头上之所以出现头发, 是因为在来世, 灵人看上去和世人一模一样. 正因如此, 圣言有时也描述人们所看见的天使的头发.

综上所述, 明显可知 “剃头, 刮胡子” 表示什么, 如以西结书:

祭司利未人撒督的子孙当脱下供职的衣服, 放在圣屋内, 穿上别的衣服, 免得因他们的衣服使民成圣. 不可剃头, 也不可留长发, 只可剪头发. (以西结书 44:15, 19-20)

这论及新殿和新祭司职分, 也就是新教会. “穿上别的衣服” 表示神圣真理; “不可剃头, 也不可留长发, 只可剪头发” 表示不抛弃属世层, 只采取措施使它变得和谐一致, 从而使它变得顺从. 凡相信圣言神圣的人都能看出, 先知所提到的描述新地, 新城, 新殿和新祭司职分的这些和其它所有细节都不可照字面来理解. 如祭司利未人撒督的子孙当脱下供职的衣服, 穿上别的衣服, 只可剪头发就不是字面上的意思; 相反, 先知所给出的每一个和一切细节都表示诸如属于一个新教会的那类事物.

在摩西五经中, 关于大祭司, 亚伦的子孙和利未人的条例若不包含神圣之物在里面, 也不会被制定:

在弟兄中作大祭司, 头上倒了膏油, 又承接圣职, 穿了圣衣的, 不可剃头, 也不可撕裂衣服. (利未记 21:10)

亚伦的子孙不可使头光秃, 不可剃除胡须的周围; 要归他们的神为圣, 不可亵渎他们神的名. (利未记 21:5-6)

你洁净利未人当这样行. 用除罪水弹在他们身上, 又叫他们用剃头刀刮全身, 洗衣服, 洁净自己. (民数记 8:7)

这些条例若非含有神圣观念在里面, 永远不会被赋予. 在这些条例中 (即大祭司不可剃头, 也不可撕裂衣服; 亚伦的子孙不可使头光秃, 不可剃除胡须的周围; 洁净利未人要叫他们用剃头刀刮全身) 能有什么神圣之物, 或教会之物呢? 确切地说, 拥有顺从内在人或属灵人的外在人或属世人, 进而拥有顺从神性的这二者, 就是这些条例里面的神圣观念; 也是当世人阅读这些圣言经文时, 天使所觉察到的.

这也适用于归耶和华为圣的拿细耳人:

若在他旁边忽然有人碰巧死了, 以致沾染了他离俗的头, 他要在得洁净的日子剃头, 就是在第七日剃头. 离俗的日子满了, 拿细耳人要在会幕门口剃离俗的头; 把头发放在平安祭下的火上. (民数记 6:9, 13, 18)

至于何为拿细耳人, 他代表哪方面的神圣, 可参看前文 (3301节). 若不藉着对应知道 “头发” 是什么意思, 因而知道拿细耳人的头发对应于哪方面的神圣, 没有人能理解为何神圣之物居于他的头发. 同样, 谁也不明白参孙力气的源头如何在他的头发中; 在以下描述中, 参孙将其告诉了大利拉:

剃头刀向来就没有上过我的头, 因为我自出母胎就归神作拿细耳人; 若我剃了, 我的力气就离开我, 我便软弱像别人一样. 大利拉叫了一个人来剃除他头上的七条发绺, 他的力气就离开他了. 后来他的头发被剃之后, 又开始渐渐长起来了, 力气便又回到他身上. (士师记 16:17, 19, 22)

若没有对应的任何知识, 谁能明白主的神性属世层由拿细耳人代表, 或 “离俗” 没有其它含义, 参孙的力气是由于这种代表?

不知道圣言拥有一个内义, 字义用来代表包含在内义中的真实事物之人, 尤其不相信的人, 几乎不承认这些事物有任何神圣之物; 而事实上, 最神圣之物就在它们里面. 人若不知道, 尤其不相信圣言拥有神圣的内义, 就不可能知道以下经文里面包含什么, 如耶利米书:

真理已经灭绝, 从他们的口中剪除. 要剪掉你离俗的头发, 把它扔掉! (耶利米书 7:28-29)

以赛亚书:

到那日, 主必用大河外赁的剃头刀, 就是亚述王, 剃头和脚上的毛, 并要剃净胡须. (以赛亚书 7:20)

弥迦书:

你使头光秃, 为你所喜爱的儿女剪除你的头发, 你要剃头, 要大大地光秃, 如同秃鹰, 因为他们都必流亡而离开你. (弥迦书 1:16)

他不知道有何神圣包含在有关以利亚的记载中, 因为以利亚是长满毛发的人, 腰束皮带 (列王纪下 1:8); 也不知道为何戏笑以利沙秃头的童子被林中出来的母熊撕裂 (列王纪下 2:23, 24).

以利亚和以利沙都代表圣言方面的主, 因而代表圣言本身, 尤其代表先知部分 (参看创世记 18章序言, 2762节). “长满毛发” 和 “皮带” 表示字义, “长满毛发的人” 表示就真理而言的字义, 腰间的 “皮带” 表示就良善而言的字义. 事实上, 圣言的字义就是它的属世意义, 因为它采用的观念是由世上的事物形成的; 而内义是属灵意义, 因为它采用的观念是由天上的事物形成的. 这两种意义就像人的内在与外在那样彼此关联. 不过, 由于内在离了外在无法存在, 因为外在是内在持续存在所在的次序最后和最低层级, 所以戏笑以利沙 “秃头” 是对圣言的毁谤, 暗示它缺乏外在, 因而圣言没有适合人理解的那层意义.

由此可见, 圣言的一切细节都是神圣的. 然而, 没有人能发现圣言里面的这种神圣, 除非他熟悉内义; 然而, 它的一点迹象会从天堂流入相信圣言为神圣的人. 这种流注通过天使所知的内义实现; 这内义虽然不能被人理解, 却仍在他里面激发一种情感, 因为知道内义的天使所感受到的情感会传给他. 由此也明显可知, 圣言已被赋予世人, 以便他能与天堂交流, 并且天堂里的神性真理能通过流入他而在他里面激发情感.

3913. 'She said, Behold, my maidservant Bilhah' means the affirming means, which has its place between natural truth and interior truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a maidservant', and also of 'a servant-girl' as the affection for the cognitions which belong to the exterior man, dealt with in 1895, 2567, 3835, 3849, and in this particular case since that affection is the means by which interior truths become joined to natural or external truths, 'a maidservant' therefore describes the affirming means that has its place between these; and from the representation of 'Bilhah' as the nature of that means. The two servant-girls which Rachel and Leah gave to Jacob as wives for producing offspring represented and meant in the internal sense nothing else than something which is of service, in this case something serving as the means by which those two things are joined together, namely interior truth with external truth, for 'Rachel' represents interior truth, 'Leah' external, 3793, 3819. Indeed by means of the twelve sons of Jacob twelve general or principal requisites are described here by which a person is introduced into spiritual and celestial things while he is being regenerated or becoming the Church.

[2] Actually when a person is being regenerated or becoming the Church, that is, when from being a dead man he is becoming a living one, or from being a bodily-minded man is becoming a heavenly-minded one, he is led by the Lord through many states. These general states are specified by those twelve sons, and later by the twelve tribes, so that the twelve tribes mean all aspects of faith and love - see what has been shown in 3858. For any general whole includes every particular and individual detail, and each detail exists in relation to the general whole. When a person is being regenerated the internal man is to be joined to the external man, and therefore the goods and truths which belong to the internal man are to be joined to those which belong to the external man, for it is truths and goods that make a person a human being. These cannot be joined together without means. These means consist in such things as take something from one side and something from the other, and act in such a way that insofar as a person moves closer to one the other plays a subordinate role. These means are meant by the servant-girls - Rachel's servant-girls being the means available from the internal man, Leah's the means available from the external man.

[3] The necessity for means by which the joining together is effected may be recognized from the consideration that of himself the natural man does not agree at all with the spiritual but disagrees so much as to be utterly opposed to the spiritual. For the natural man regards and loves self and the world, whereas the spiritual man does not, except insofar as to do so leads to the rendering of services in the spiritual world, and so he regards service to it and loves this service because of the use that is served and the end in view. The natural man seems to himself to have life when he is promoted to high positions and so to pre-eminence over others, but the spiritual man seems to himself to have life in self-abasement and in being the least. Not that he despises high positions, provided they are means by which he is enabled to serve the neighbour, society as a whole, and the Church. Neither does the spiritual man view the important positions to which he is promoted in any selfish way but on account of the services rendered which are his ends in view. Bliss for the natural man consists in his being wealthier than others and in his possessing worldly riches, whereas bliss for the spiritual man consists in his having cognitions of truth and good which are the riches he possesses, and even more so in the practice of good in accordance with truths. Not however that he despises riches, because these enable him to render a service in the world.

[4] These few considerations show that on account of their different ends in view the state of the natural man and the state of the spiritual are the reverse of each other, but that the two can be joined one to the other. That conjunction is effected when things which belong to the external man become subordinate and are subservient to the ends which the internal man has in view. In order that a person may become spiritual therefore it is necessary for the things belonging to the external man to be brought into a position of subservience, and so for ends that have self and the world in view to be cast aside and those that have the neighbour and the Lord's kingdom to be adopted. The former cannot possibly be cast aside or the latter adopted, and so the two cannot be joined, except through means. It is these means that are meant by the servant-girls, and specifically by the four sons born to the servant-girls.

[5] The first means is one that affirms, or is affirmative towards, internal truth; that is to say, it affirms that it really is internal truth. Once this affirmative attitude is present, a person is in the first stage of regeneration, good from within being at work and leading to that spirit of affirmation. That good cannot pass into a negative attitude, nor even into one of doubt, until this becomes affirmative. After this, that good manifests itself in affection; that is to say, it causes the person to feel an affection for, and delight in, truth - first through his coming to know this truth, then through his acting in accordance with it. Take for example the truth that the Lord is the human race's salvation. If the person does not develop an affirmative attitude towards this truth, none of the things which he has learned about the Lord from the Word or in the Church and which are included among the facts in his natural memory can be joined to his internal man, that is, to the truths that are able to be truths of faith there. Nor can affection accordingly enter in, not even into the general aspects of this truth which contribute to the person's salvation. But once he develops an affirmative attitude countless things are added and are filled with the good that is flowing in. For good is flowing in constantly from the Lord, but where no affirmative attitude exists it is not accepted. An affirmative attitude is therefore the first means and so to speak first dwelling-place of the good flowing in from the Lord. And the same is so with all other truths called the truths of faith.