3162. Verses 52-54 And so it was, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he bowed down to the earth to Jehovah. And the servant brought out vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; and he gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. And they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed the night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me to my master.

'So it was, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he bowed down to the earth to Jehovah' means the perception of joy in the natural man. 'And the servant brought out vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments' means truth and good, and the adornment of these. 'And gave them to Rebekah' means which passed at that point to the affection for truth. 'And he gave precious things to her brother' means spiritual things passing from there to natural good. 'And to her mother' means to natural truth also. 'And they ate and drank' means making one's own the good and truth introduced in this way. 'He and the men who were with him' means the things which were in the natural man. 'And they stayed the night' means its peace. 'And they rose up in the morning' means a degree of raising up. 'And he said, Send me to my master' means the affection desiring the joining together.

1226. That 'the sons of Shem' means the attributes of wisdom is clear merely from the fact that 'Shem' is the internal Church whose sons mean nothing else than attributes of wisdom. The expression wisdom is used for everything that springs from charity, for it comes by way of charity from the Lord, the source of all wisdom because He is Wisdom itself. From that Wisdom true intelligence derives, also true knowledge, and true cognition. All of these are 'sons' of charity, that is, the Lord's sons begotten by means of charity. And because they are the Lord's sons begotten by means of charity, each one is referred to as wisdom, for each one has within itself wisdom from which it draws its life; so much so in fact that neither intelligence nor knowledge, nor cognition, receives any life except from the wisdom that belongs to charity, which is the Lord's.