6915. 'And so it will be when you go, that you will not go empty-handed' means a life no more destitute so far as the contents of the natural mind are concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'going' as leading a life, dealt with in 3335, 4882, 5493, 5605, 6904; and from the meaning of 'you will not go empty-handed' as a life no more destitute, 'empty' meaning where there is no truth, see 4744, thus where there is spiritual destitution. The fact that it is destitution so far as the contents of the natural mind are concerned is evident from what has gone before, where it describes how those who belonged to the spiritual Church, represented by 'the children of Israel', were molested by those in possession of false factual knowledge, meant by 'the Egyptians.' It was therefore molestation so far as the contents of the natural mind are concerned, since what is contained in the natural mind is called factual knowledge. Factual knowledge is also what above all molests those who are spiritual, for their thinking takes place within factual knowledge and little at all on a level above it, see 6865.

4813. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Verses 1-5 And it happened at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned aside even to a man, an Adullamite; and his name was Hirah. And there Judah saw the daughter of a man, a Canaanite, and his name was Shua; and he took her and came [in] to her. And she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. And she conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. And yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah and he was in Kezib as she was giving birth to him.

'It happened at that time' means the state belonging to the things that follow. 'That Judah went down from his brothers' means the descendants of Jacob, in particular the tribe of Judah which was separated from the rest. 'And turned aside even to a man, an Adullamite' means a turning to falsity. 'And his name was Hirah' means the nature of that falsity. 'And there Judah saw the daughter of a man, a Canaanite' means the affection for evil begotten by falsity springing from evil. 'And his name was Shua' means the essential nature of this. 'And he took her and came [in] to her' means that the tribe of Judah joined itself to these.

'And she conceived and bore a son' means that from this came the falsity of the Church. 'And he called his name Er' means the essential nature of that falsity. 'And she conceived again and bore a son' means evil. 'And she called his name Onan' means the essential nature of this. 'And yet again she bore a son' means idolatry. 'And she called his name Shelah' means the essential nature of this. 'And he was in Kezib as she was giving birth to him' means the state.