'Reuben,' in the highest sense, signifies omniscience. In a spiritual sense, he signifies wisdom, intelligence, science, and faith. In a natural sense, he signifies sight. In Revelation 7:5, 'Reuben' signifies wisdom because he comes after Judah, who signifies celestial love, and celestial love produces wisdom because no love exists without its consort, which is science, intelligence, and wisdom. The consort of natural love is science, the consort of spiritual love is intelligence, and the consort of celestial love is wisdom. 'Reuben' signifies these things because he was named for 'seeing' or 'sight,' and spiritual-natural sight is science, spiritual sight is intelligence, and celestial sight is wisdom. Also, 'Reuben' was the firstborn of Jacob, and was therefore called his 'might, the beginning of [his] strength, excelling in eminence, and excelling in worth.' This is the nature of wisdom originating in celestial love. Because 'Reuben' was the firstborn, he represents and signifies the wisdom of the people of the church. This is why he urged his brothers not to kill Joseph, and grieved when Joseph was not found in the pit in Genesis 37:21, 22. This is also why his tribe camped in the south, and was called 'the camp of Reuben.' The south also signifies wisdom originating in love, which is people in this wisdom in heaven dwell to the south. 'The tribe of Reuben' in an opposite sense symbolizes wisdom divorced from love, and faith divorced from charity. This is why his father Israel cursed him in Genesis 49:3, 4. He was also deprived of his birthright in 1 Chronicles 5:1. For the same reason the tribe was given an inheritance across the Jordan and not in the land of Canaan. Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph's sons, were also acknowledged in place of Reuben and Simeon in Genesis 48:5. Nevertheless, he still retains the positive representation and symbolism of wisdom.

(Odkazy: Apocalypse Revealed 351; Numbers 2:10-16)

6655. 'Come, let us use prudence with them' means guile. This is clear from the meaning of 'prudence' - when that word is used by the evil who are alienated from truth and goodness - as guile, for the evil speak of what they accomplish by the use of guile, and also of deceit, as prudence. Let something about the guile meant by 'prudence' be mentioned here. All who are under the influence of evil speak of guile as prudence and do not consider intelligence and wisdom to consist in anything else. People who are like this in the world become worse in the next life, where by the use of guile they constantly act in opposition to whatever is good and true. And those among them are thought of as the intelligent and wise who are able, as they themselves see it, to employ falsities to break down and demolish truths, behaving in any artful or malicious way they can to accomplish this. From this one can see what people within the Church are like when they identify prudence with guile; one can see that such people are in touch with the hells. But those who are true members of the Church are so far removed from guile that they utterly abhor it; and those among them who are like angels are willing, if at all possible, to have their minds laid open so that anyone may see plainly what they are thinking. For they intend nothing but good towards their neighbour; and if they notice anything bad in someone they make allowances for it. It is different with those who are governed by evil. They are afraid of having anything they think or will brought to light, for they intend nothing but ill for their neighbour, or if they do intend good it is for their own benefit. If they actually perform anything good, it is merely an outward appearance of good, done so that others may see them, for the sake of their own monetary gain and high position. For they know that whatever is good and true, just and fair, and also honourable, has a strong and hidden power within it to attract people's minds, even those of the wicked.