7230. Verses 14-25 These are the heads of their fathers' houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Enoch ¹ and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. And the sons of Simeon were Jemuel and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their births: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. And the years of Levi's life were one hundred and thirty-seven years. The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei, according to their families. And the sons of Kohath were Amram and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of Kohath's life were one hundred and thirty-three years. And the sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their births. And Amram took Jochebed his father's sister as wife, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of Amram's life were one hundred and thirty-seven years. And the sons of Izhar were Korah and Nepheg, and Zichri. And the sons of Uzziel were Mishael and Elzaphan, and Sithri. And Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him Nadab, and Abihu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar. And the sons of Korah were Assir and Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. And Eleazar, Aaron's son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.

[2] 'These are the heads of their fathers' houses' means the chief aspects of the Church. 'The sons of Reuben were Enoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi' means aspects of faith present in the understanding. 'These are the families of Reuben' means the truths of faith. 'And the sons of Simeon were Jemuel and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar' means aspects of faith expressed in action. 'And Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman' means aspects of truth expressed in action outside the Church. 'These are the families of Simeon' means the truths and forms of the good belonging to that faith. 'And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their births: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari' means aspects of charity. 'And the years of Levi's life were one hundred and thirty-seven years' means the essential nature and state.

[3] 'The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei, according to their families' means the first group of the forms of goodness and truth that derive from charity. 'And the sons of Kohath were Amram and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel' means the second group of the forms of goodness and truth that derive from charity. 'And the years of Kohath's life were one hundred and thirty-three years' means the essential nature and state. 'And the sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi' means the third group of the forms of goodness and truth that derive from charity. 'These are the families of Levi according to their births' means that these are the forms of good and of truth that spring from charity. 'And Amram took Jochebed his father's sister as wife' means good derived from charity joined to kindred truth. 'And she bore him Aaron and Moses' means that from this union the teachings of the Church and the law from God came to them. 'And the years of Amram's life were one hundred and thirty-seven years' means the essential nature and state.

[4] 'And the sons of Izhar were Korah and Nepheg, and Zichri' means the good, and the truth from that good, which belong to one part of the next generation descending from the second group. 'And the sons of Uzziel were Mishael and Elzaphan, and Sithri' means the good within truth belonging to another part of the next generation descending from the same group. 'And Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as wife' means the teachings of the Church and the way in which goodness and truth were joined together within them. 'And she bore him Nadab, and Abihu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar' means forms of faith and charity descending from that group and their essential nature.

[5] 'And the sons of Korah were Assir and Elkanah, and Abiasaph' means yet another generation descending from the second group. 'These are the families of the Korahites' means the essential nature of forms of goodness and truth. 'And Eleazar, Aaron's son' means religious teachings derived from the primary doctrine of charity. 'Took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife' means goodness and truth joined together within those teachings. 'And she bore him Phinehas' means what derived from that union. 'These are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families' means the chief aspects within the Church of charity and of faith that stems from it.

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4731. 'And Reuben heard it' means the Church's confession of faith in general. This is clear from the representation of 'Reuben' as faith in the understanding, or doctrine, which is the first stage of regeneration - the truth of doctrine in its entirety by means of which one is able to arrive at the good of life, dealt with in 3861, 3866, here therefore the Church's confession of faith in general. The reason for Reuben's intervention here is that the Church which begins with faith would cease to be a Church if this Divine truth did not remain within it, namely the truth that the Lord's Human is Divine, this being the highest or inmost truth of the Church. This is the reason for Reuben's wishing to rescue Joseph, who represents that truth here, from the hands of his brothers to return him to his father - actions meaning that he wished to claim that truth for the Church. And further on, when Reuben went back to the pit and saw no Joseph there, it is said that he rent his clothes and said to his brothers, 'The lad is no more; and I, where do I go?' verses 29-30, meaning that no faith in the Lord existed any longer and so no Church.

[2] This supreme or inmost truth that the Lord's Human is Divine is denied by those within the Church who adhere to faith alone. Nevertheless because they know from the Word that there is a Divine side to the Lord and yet they do not grasp how the Human can be Divine, they therefore say He is both, by making a distinction between His Divine nature and His Human nature. But those who lead the life of faith - that is, those who have charity - worship the Lord as their God and Saviour; and while engaged in worship they think of the Lord's Divine without separating it from His Human. In so doing they acknowledge in their hearts everything in the Lord to be Divine. But because, when thinking from doctrine, they cannot grasp how the Human can be Divine, they speak purely from what doctrine teaches.