19. Verse 4. John signifies the Lord in respect to doctrine. This is evident from the representation of "John," as being the good of love (of which above, n. 8). Because he represents the good of love, he also in the highest sense represents the Lord, since all the good of love is from the Lord. Man, spirit, and angel, are only recipients, and they who are recipients are said to signify that which is from the Lord. It is similar with many others in the Word, as with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Elijah, Elisha, John the Baptist, Peter, and the other apostles; each one of whom signifies some good or truth of heaven and the church, yet all of them, in the highest sense, signify the Lord. For instance, "David," in the internal sense, signifies Divine truth in the spiritual kingdom, which is called the royalty of the Lord; for this reason, David in the highest sense signifies the Lord in respect to that truth and in respect to royalty; on which account it is said of David in the Word, that he is to come and reign over the sons of Israel (Ezekiel 37:24, 25; Hosea 3:5).

In like manner Elijah and Elisha, who, because in the internal sense they signify the Word, in the highest sense signify the Lord, from whom the Word is. (That "Elijah" and "Elisha" signify the Word, thus the Lord in respect to the Word, see Arcana Coelestia 2762, 5247; likewise "John the Baptist," who is therefore called "Elijah," n. 7643, 9372. That "Peter" signifies faith, and therefore the Lord in respect to faith, because faith is from the Lord, see above, n. 9) From this it can be seen why "John" signifies the Lord. He signifies the Lord in respect to doctrine because it is said, "John to the seven churches," and by "the seven churches," in the internal sense, are meant all who are in truths from good, or in faith from charity; for it is these that constitute the church; and doctrine is what teaches these truths. From this it is that as the Lord is the Word, so is He also the doctrine of the church, for all doctrine is from the Word. (That the Lord is the doctrine of the church, because all truth that is of doctrine is from the Word, thus from the Lord, see Arcana Coelestia 2531, 2859, 3712)

5741. 'And the men were sent away, they and their asses' means the external natural man was to some extent removed, together with its truths and factual knowledge. This is clear from the representation of Jacob's ten sons, to whom 'the men' refers here, as truths known to the Church which are present in the natural, dealt with in 5403, 5419, 5427, 5458, 5512, and therefore the external natural man, 5680; from the meaning of 'asses' as factual knowledge, dealt with in 5492; and from the meaning of 'sent away and 'not far distant' as the fact that it - the external natural man - was to some extent removed. From all this it is evident that 'the men were sent away, they and their asses, not far distant' means that the external man was to some extent removed, together with its truths and factual knowledge - removed from the internal celestial, which is represented by 'Joseph'.

[2] As to the meaning of 'asses', it should be realized that something different is meant by them when they served as animals that were ridden on; for judges, kings, and their sons used to ride on asses, she-asses, and also mules. At such times 'asses' were a sign of rational truth and good, and also of natural truth and good, see 2781. This explains why, when as judge and king the Lord entered Jerusalem, He rode on a she-ass with her colt, this being a sign indicating His offices of judge and king. But 'asses' had another meaning when they served as beasts of burden, as they did here. In this case they were a sign of factual knowledge. Factual knowledge is just like such a beast of burden. Anyone who, when he thinks about what constitutes a person interiorly, looks no further than factual knowledge contained in a person's memory, presumes that there is no more to a human being than such knowledge. He does not know that factual knowledge constitutes the lowest level of the human personality and is such that most of it becomes hidden from view when the body dies, 2475-2477, 2479, 2480. But What the knowledge contains within itself remains, namely truth and goodness, together with affections for them, or in the case of evil people, falsity and evil, together with affections for these. Factual knowledge is so to speak the body for those things. As long as a person is living in the world, these things - truth and goodness, or else falsity and evil - are held within his factual knowledge since it is their container. And because factual knowledge contains and thus so to speak carries interior things with it, that is therefore meant by asses that serve to carry burdens.