3424. 'Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of living water' means the Word as regards the literal sense, which holds the internal sense within it. This is clear from the meaning of 'digging in the valley' as investigating lower down to discover where truths are, for 'digging' is investigating, and 'a valley' is that which is lower down, 1723, 3417; and from the meaning of 'a well of living water' as the Word in which Divine truths are present, thus the Word as regards the literal sense which holds the internal sense within it. It is well known that the Word is called 'a spring', in particular 'a spring of living waters'. The reason why the Word is also called 'a well' is that in relation to its other senses the sense of the letter is like a well, and that where spiritual people are concerned the Word is not a spring but a well, see 2702, 3096. Since a valley is that which is lower down, or what amounts to the same, that which is more external, and it was in the valley that the spring was found; and since the literal sense is the lower or more external sense of the Word, it is the literal sense that is therefore meant. But because that sense holds the internal sense, that is, the heavenly and Divine sense, its waters are for that reason called 'living', as also were the waters which went out under the threshold of the new house in Ezekiel,

And it will happen, that every wild creature that creeps, wherever the river comes to, is living; and there will be very many fish, for those waters go there, and become fresh; and everything is living where the river goes. Ezekiel 47:8-9.

Here 'the river' is the Word, 'the waters which cause everything to live' are the Divine Truths within it, 'fish' are facts, 40, 991.

[2] The Lord teaches that the Word of the Lord is such that it gives life to him who is thirsty, that is, to one who desires life, and that it is a spring whose waters are living, in John,

Jesus said to the woman from Samaria at Jacob's well, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, Give Me a drink, you would ask from Him, and He would give you living water. He who drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life. John 4:10, 14.

The reason why the Word is living and therefore confers life is that in its highest sense the subject is the Lord, while in the inmost sense it is His kingdom in which the Lord is everything. And this being so it is life itself which the Word contains and which flows into the minds of those who read the Word devoutly. This is why the Lord, in regard to the Word which comes from Himself, calls Himself 'a spring of water welling up into eternal life'; see also 2702.

[3] The fact that the Word of the Lord is called 'a well' in addition to 'a spring' is clear in Moses,

Israel sang the song: Spring up, O well! Answer to it! The well which the princes dug, which the chiefs of the people dug out, as directed by the Lawgiver, ¹ with their staves. Numbers 21:17-18.

These words were sung at the place Beer, that is, the place of the well. In this case 'a well' means the Word which existed with the Ancient Church, as is evident from what has been said previously about the Word in 2897. 'The princes' means the first and foremost truths of which [the Word] consists - 'princes' being first and foremost truths, see 1482, 2089 - 'nobles of the people' lower truths such as those present in the literal sense, 1259, 1260, 2928, 3295. 'The Lawgiver' is clearly the Lord, 'staves' the powers which those truths possessed.

Poznámky pod čarou:

3417. 'And camped in the Valley of Gerar and dwelt there' means that He did so for lower rational concepts, that is, He abandoned interior appearances for exterior. This is clear from the meaning of 'camping' as arranging into order, from the meaning of 'the Valley of Gerar' as lower rational concepts or exterior appearances of truth - for 'a valley' means lower things, or what amounts to the same, exterior things, 1723, while 'Gerar' means matters of faith and so of truth, 1209, 2504, 3365, 3384, 3385; and from the meaning of 'dwelling' as having one's being and life, dealt with in 3384. From this it is evident that 'he camped in the Valley of Gerar and dwelt there' means that the Lord arranged truths so that they would also be suitable for the mental grasp and the disposition of those who are not concerned so much with life as they are with matters of doctrine concerning faith, as may be seen from the Word, in which likewise truths are suited to people's ability to grasp them.

[2] For example, people who are concerned with matters of doctrine and not so much with life do not know anything other than this, that the heavenly kingdom is like kingdoms on earth, in that people are made great there when they govern others. The delight that comes from this is the only delight they know of; and this they prefer to all other delight. For this reason the Lord has also spoken in the Word according to that appearance, as in Matthew,

He who does and teaches so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19.

And in David,

I said, You are gods, and sons of the Most High, all of you. Psalms 82:6; John 10:34-35.

And because at first the disciples themselves did not have any other conception of the heavenly kingdom than that of greatness and position over others, like that on earth - as is clear in Matthew 18:1; Mark 9:34; Luke 9:46, and also the idea of their sitting on the right hand and on the left of a king, Matthew 20:20-21, 24; Mark 10:37 - the Lord therefore replied according to their mental grasp and also inclination of mind when an argument arose among them about which one of them was to be greatest,

You will eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Luke 22:24, 30; Matthew 19:28.

For at that time they did not know that the delight of heaven is not the delight that goes with being great and having position over others, but the delight that goes with being humble and with the affection for serving others; and so it does not consist in wishing to be the greatest but to be the least, as the Lord teaches in Luke,

Whoever presents himself as least among you all will be great. Luke 9:48.

[3] Thus people who have a knowledge of cognitions but are devoid of the life of charity cannot know of the existence of any other delight than that which results from having position over others. And since that delight alone occupies their minds and constitutes the whole of their life, therefore they do not have any knowledge at all of the heavenly delight which results from humility and from the affection for serving others. That is, they do not know the delight that accompanies love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, and the consequent bliss and happiness. The reason why the Lord adapted what He had to say to their imperfect outlook was so that they could be aroused and led on to good, to learn it, to teach it, and to do it. And yet He does teach what greatness and position actually are in heaven, as in Matthew 19:30; 20:16, 25-28; Mark 10:31, 42-45; Luke 9:48; 13:30; 22:25-28. These and other ideas like them belong to the lower degree of appearances of truth, for in relation to others those in heaven are made great, and are given positions, power, and authority over others, in that one single angel is more powerful than ten thousands of spirits in hell, yet not so from himself but from the Lord. And he has that power from the Lord in the measure that he believes he can achieve nothing from himself and is accordingly the least. And he is able to have such a belief in the measure that humility and an affection for serving others exist in him, that is, insofar as the good that is essentially love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour is present in him.