8732. And he went to himself unto his own land. That this signifies to the Divine Itself, is evident from the signification of “going unto his own land,” as being to the former state, thus to the Divine. Moreover by “land” in the internal sense is signified the church, and also heaven; therefore in the supreme sense is signified the Divine. (That by “land” in the internal sense is signified the church, thus also the kingdom of the Lord in heaven, see n. 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011.) That by “land” in the supreme sense is signified the Divine, is because Jethro represented the Divine good, thus the Divine Itself, the returning whereto cannot otherwise be expressed in the historic sense of the letter than by “going unto his own land.” For the significatives in the Word accommodate themselves to the thing represented, the signification which properly belongs to the expression still remaining, as for instance the signification of “land,” which properly signifies the church, for the reason that they who are in heaven do not think of land when it is read of in the Word, but of the spiritual state of the nation which is in the land, thus of the religion there; and therefore when a “land” is read of where the church is, then they have an idea of the church there; and when an idea of the church, they have also an idea of the Lord’s kingdom, consequently of heaven; and when an idea of heaven, they have also an idea of the Divine there. But when the thing represented treats of any other holy thing in the church or in heaven, then that thing can be understood by “land”—as love, charity, good, faith. Hence it is evident that the signification still remains which properly belongs to the expression; as when good is signified, or love or charity, still through all there remains the signification of the church; for these things are the essentials of the church, and make it to be the church.

1732. Blessed be Abram to God Most High. That this signifies the Lord’s interior man, that it came into the enjoyment of goods from His internal man, is in like manner evident from the signification of “blessing” as being the enjoyment of goods, as before said; also from the signification of “Abram” here, as being the interior or rational man, treated of above (at verse 13); and also from the signification of “God Most High,” as being the Lord’s internal, which subject also has been treated of before. By “Abram,” as before said, is signified the interior or rational man which is to be united to the internal man or Jehovah, and this by the combats of temptations and victories. For with the interior man the case is as follows. The interior man, as before said, is intermediate between the internal and the external man, and enables the internal man to flow into the external; for without the interior man there is no communication. There is thus effected a communication of celestial things, and of spiritual. When the communication was of celestial things, the interior man was called “Melchizedek;” but when there is a communication of spiritual things, it is called “Abram the Hebrew.”