3139. Verses 31-33 And he said, Come, O blessed of Jehovah; why do you stand outside? And I have swept the house, and there is a place for the camels. And the man came to the house. And he ungirded the camels, and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. And [food] was set before him to eat, and he said, I am not eating until I have spoken my words. And he said, Speak on!

'He said, Come, O blessed of Jehovah' means an invitation to the Divine within Himself. 'Why do you stand outside?' means at some distance away. 'And I have swept the house' means all things had been prepared and filled with forms of good. 'And there is a place for the camels' means a state for all the things which were to serve Him. 'And the man came to the house' means influx into the good there. 'And he ungirded the camels' means freedom for the things that were to be subservient. 'And gave straw and fodder to the camels' means instruction in truths and goods. 'And water to wash his feet' means purification there. 'And the feet of the men who were with him' means purification of all things that were His in the natural man. 'And [food] was set before him to eat' means that [the affection for] good in the natural man wished to make Divine things its own. 'And he said, I am not eating' means refusal. 'Until I have spoken my words' means until it had received instruction. 'And he said, Speak on!' means desire for it.

562. Where she might be nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent. This symbolically means, because of the cunning of those leading astray, to provide vigilantly for the New Church to spread among more people, until it grows to its appointed state.

To nourish, when mentioned in connection with the New Church, means, symbolically, to provide that it spread among more people, as we said in no. 547 above. "A time and times and half a time" means, symbolically, to the end and a new beginning, thus until it grows from a few people to many more, till it reaches its appointed state, as we said also in no. 547 above. The face of the serpent symbolizes the cunning of those leading astray - the face symbolizing the cunning, and the serpent those who lead astray.

That a serpent symbolizes people who lead astray is apparent from these words in this chapter:

The great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old..., which leads the whole world astray. (Revelation 12:9)

And elsewhere:

He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old..., and he cast him into the bottomless pit..., so that he should lead the nations no more astray... (Revelation 20:2-3)

The meaning here is the same as that of the serpent which led Eve and Adam astray, of which it is said,

Now the serpent became more cunning than any beast of the field... And the woman said (to Jehovah), "The serpent led me astray...." (Genesis 3:1, 13)

[2] A face in the Word symbolizes what lies within a person, because the face reflects his character, its expression being formed in correspondence with it. The face of a serpent, therefore, symbolizes anger, hatred and cunning.

"A time, times and half a time" here has the same symbolic meaning as the one thousand two hundred and sixty days in verse 6, which says,

Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. (Revelation 12:6)

An explanation of the meaning may be seen in no. 547 above.

The same is also the meaning of the three and a half days in Revelation 11:9, 11, and of the three years and six months of famine in Luke 4:25.

It is also the meaning of the appointed time of appointed times and a half in Daniel, "when they shall completely disperse the hands of the holy people" (Daniel 12:7).