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.

866. 'A raven' means falsities. This in a general way becomes clear from what has been stated and shown already about birds meaning intellectual concepts, rational concepts, and facts, and in like manner the opposite of these, which are reasonings and falsities. Both sets of things are described in the Word by various species of birds, things of a true understanding by harmless, beautiful, and clean birds, those of a false understanding however by harmful, ugly, and unclean ones, each depending on the species of truth or falsity under description. Gross and impenetrable falsities are described by 'owls' and 'ravens' - by owls because they live in the darkness of the night, by ravens because they are black; as in Isaiah,

The owl and the raven will dwell in it. Isaiah 34:11.

Here the subject is the Jewish Church, and the fact that nothing but falsities, described as 'the owl and the raven', resided in it.