9043. 'And her offspring come out' means if in spite of this it is made stronger in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming out' - when it refers to good that is being formed out of truths - as the passing of that good from the internal or spiritual man into the external or natural man, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'offspring' as forms of good that have developed out of truths and then been acknowledged because they are both known and perceived and thereby been made stronger. For 'bearing offspring' in the spiritual sense means acknowledging in faith and action, 3905, 3915, 3919, 6585. The situation is that a person who is conceived anew, carried so to speak in the womb, and born - that is, who is being regenerated - first of all takes in from the teachings of the Church or from the Word matters of faith and charity. These are stored away at this time among items of knowledge in the memory that belongs to the external or natural man. From there they are summoned into the internal man and stored away in the memory belonging to the internal man. Regarding both these memories a person possesses, see 2469-2494. This is the beginning of spiritual life with a person; but the person is not as yet regenerate. For him to be regenerate his external or natural man must be subservient, and as a result must be in agreement with his internal man.

A person has not been regenerated until his external or natural man has also been regenerated, see 8742-8747.

The external man is regenerated by the Lord by means of the internal, 3286, 3321, 3493, 4588, 5651, 6299, 8746.

The whole person has been regenerated when his natural has been, 7442-7443.

[2] Now seeing that aspects of regeneration are expressed in the Word by the phases of a person's generation or birth from his parents in the world, one may recognize from the process of regeneration described above what is understood or meant in the spiritual sense by 'conception', 'being carried in the womb', 'going out of the womb', and 'offspring'. That is to say, 'going out of the womb' means passing from the internal man into the external or natural man; and 'offspring' means spiritual good, or the good of charity springing from the truths of faith, that comes from the internal man and is present in the external or natural. When good is present in the natural, then the person is new. Good now constitutes his life, and truths emanating from good constitute his outward form He is like an angel, for good constitutes angels' life and truths their outward form, which is the human form. But this makes no sense to the natural man.

3915. 'And let her bear [a child] upon my knees' means acknowledgement by the affection for interior truth, in which affection the joining begins. This is clear from the meaning of 'bearing' as acknowledging in action as well as in faith, dealt with above in 3905, and from the meaning of 'the knees' or the thighs as things which belong to conjugial love, dealt with in 3021, and so to things to do with the joining of the truth of faith to the good of love, since this joining of truth and good is the fundamental marriage in the Lord's kingdom. Thus 'bearing upon my knees' means an acknowledgement of interior truth represented by 'Rachel'. The custom among the ancients of acknowledging as legitimate sons and daughters those who, with the consent of the wife, were borne by servant-girls, and who were born upon their [wives'] knees so that they would be acknowledged as such, was a custom that derived from the Ancient Church whose worship consisted in religious practices which were representatives and meaningful signs of celestial and spiritual things. Since 'bearing' meant the acknowledgement of truth, and 'knees' conjugial love, and so the joining of good and truth from affection, such a practice was followed in that Church when a wife was childless, to prevent her representing the dead who do not rise again to life, in accordance with what was stated just above in 3908.

[2] These words mean in the internal sense a second degree of affirmation or acknowledgement resulting from affection, for affection has to be present in acknowledgement or affirmation if the joining together is to be effected. Indeed all conjunction is effected by means of affection, for without affection truths do not have any life. For example, knowing the truths that the neighbour ought to be loved, and that charity consists in that love, and spiritual life in charity, is no more than knowledge if affection is not present, that is, if there is no desire in the heart for any of this. Without affection these truths have no life, and no matter how well a person knows them he still does not love the neighbour but himself more than the neighbour, and is leading a natural life, not a spiritual one. In his case natural affection has dominion over spiritual affection, and as long as natural affection predominates a person is called 'dead', for the life he has in him is the reverse of heavenly life - heavenly life being true life.