3095. 'And she hastened and emptied her pitcher into the trough' means the separation of the affection for truth which was being introduced into Divine good. This is clear from the meaning of 'emptying the pitcher' as separating truth (for 'a pitcher', being a containing vessel, means not only factual knowledge that has truth in it but also truth that has good in it, see 3068, 3079. In this instance truth that was being introduced into Divine good is meant, since introduction is the subject. And because truth itself is never joined to good except by means of its own affection, 3024, 3066 - for within the affection there is the life which enables them to be joined together - it is the affection for truth that is meant here); and also from the meaning of 'a trough' or channel to accommodate water, as truth which rests in good, for 'the water' in the trough means truth, 739, 2702, while the trough itself is similar in meaning to wood, namely good, 2784, 2812. Truth which rests in good is that which is produced from good by means of truth, and is like offspring born from truth as mother and from good as father. All genuine good in the natural man originates in this way, that is, from the marriage of good and truth in the rational. This good is that which is called truth that rests in good and is meant in the Word by 'a bough' or channel to accommodate water.

40. 'Creeping things which the waters bring forth' means facts which belong to the external man, while 'birds' generally means rational concepts and also intellectual concepts, of which the latter belong to the internal man. That creeping things from the waters, or fish, mean facts is clear in Isaiah,

I came, and there was no man. By My rebuke I will dry up the sea, I will make the rivers a desert. Their fish will stink because there is no water and will die of thirst. I will clothe the heavens with darkness. Isaiah 50:2-3.

[2] This is plainer still in Ezekiel where the Lord describes the new temple, or new Church in general, and the member of the Church, or person who has been regenerated, for every regenerate person is a temple of the Lord,

The Lord Jehovih ¹ said to me, Those waters which will go out to the boundary eastwards will come towards the sea, having been directed into the sea, and the waters will be fresh. And it will be that every living creature which swarms will live, wherever the water of the rivers reaches, and there will be very many fish, for these waters are going there and will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes. And it will be that fishermen from En-gedi to En-eglaim will stand beside it, with nets spread out. Its fish according to their kinds will be very many, like the fish of the great sea. Ezekiel 47:8-10.

'Fishermen from En-gedi to En-eglaim with their nets stretched out' means people who are to teach the natural man about the truths of faith.

[3] In the Prophets 'birds' invariably means rational concepts and intellectual concepts, as in Isaiah,

Calling a bird of prey from the east, a man of My counsel from a distant land. Isaiah 46:11.

In Jeremiah,

I looked, and behold there was no man, and all the birds of the air ² had fled. Jeremiah 4:25.

In Ezekiel,

I will plant the sprig of a lofty cedar, and it will bring forth a branch, and bear fruit, and it will become a noble cedar, and under it will dwell every bird of every sort, ³ in the shade of its branches they will dwell. Ezekiel 17:23.

And in Hosea, when the subject is a new Church, or regenerate person,

And I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, ² and with things moving on the ground. Hosea 2:18.

Anyone may see that because the Lord 'is making a new covenant' with them, 'wild animal' is not used to mean a wild animal, nor 'bird' to mean a bird.

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