1410. The implications of 'Jehovah said to Abram' meaning a first awareness of all things are as follows: The historical incident is representative, but the actual words describing it carry a spiritual meaning. Such was the style in the Ancient Church that if something was true people would say 'Jehovah said' or 'Jehovah spoke', which, as shown already, meant that it was so. Subsequently however when things carrying a spiritual meaning were converted into representatives, Jehovah - that is, the Lord - at that point spoke to them directly. And when it is then said that 'Jehovah said' or 'Jehovah spoke' to somebody, it has the same meaning as previously, for the Lord's words in the true historical narratives embody within them the same as the Lord's words in the made-up ones. The only difference is that the latter contain that which has been made up to be like true narrative whereas the former have not been made up. 'Jehovah said to Abram' therefore means nothing other than a first awareness, as when in the Ancient Church someone through conscience, or through some other dictate, or through their Word, was made aware that something was so, the expression 'Jehovah said' would be used.

913. 'Let them spread out into the earth' means the action of the internal man into the external, while 'be fruitful' means increases in good, 'and multiply' increases in truth, and 'over the earth' means with the external man. This is clear from the train of thought and also from what has been stated and shown already about the meaning in the Word of 'being fruitful' as having reference to goods, and of 'multiplying' to truths. That 'the earth' means the external man has in like manner been shown already, so there is no need to pause and confirm these points. Here the subject is the action of the internal man into the external after a person has been regenerated. That is to say, when good starts 'to be fruitful' and truth 'to multiply', the external man is rendered correspondent or obedient. Until then this is not possible because the desires of the body are incompatible with goods, and the illusions of the senses with truths. The former annihilate the love of good, the latter the love of truth. The fruitfulness of good and the multiplication of truth take place in the external man - the fruitfulness of good in his affections, the multiplication of truth in his memory. The external man is here called 'the earth' into which mankind spreads out and over which they are fruitful and multiply.