5339. 'And in the seven years of abundance of corn the land yielded bunches' means initial states when series of truths were multiplied. This is clear from the meaning of 'seven years' as initial states (for seven years in which there was an abundance of corn came first, followed by seven years in which there was famine - 'years' meaning states, see 482, 487, 488, 493, 893); from the meaning of 'an abundance of corn' as a multiplication of truth, dealt with in 5276, 5280, 5292 ('the land yielded' meaning that this multiplication took place in the natural - 'the land' here being the natural, as immediately above in 5338); and from the meaning of 'bunches' as series.

The role which the series meant by 'bunches' play is this: With a person who is undergoing reformation general truths are introduced first, then the particular aspects of those general truths, and after that the specific details of these particular aspects. Particular aspects are ranged in order beneath general truths, and specific details beneath particular aspects, 2384, 3057, 4269, 4325 (end), 4329 (middle), 4345, 4383, 5208.

[2] These arrays or ordered arrangements of truths are meant in the Word by bundles, which at this point are called handfuls or 'bunches'. They are nothing else than truths which have been multiplied and are then arrayed in or arranged into series. With people who are regenerate these series follow the same ordered patterns as those in which the communities in heaven exist; but in the case of those who are not regenerate and are incapable of becoming such they follow the patterns in which the communities in hell exist. Consequently a person who is governed by evil, and by falsity rooted in evil, is a miniature hell, whereas one who is governed by good, and by truth rooted in good, is a miniature heaven. But more, in the Lord's Divine mercy, will be stated elsewhere about these series.

218. Bread. When the context concerns the Lord, "bread" means the divine goodness of his divine love, and also a reciprocal love for him in the people who "eat the bread": 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 9323, 9545. "Bread" in a general sense includes and means food of all kinds: 2165, 6118. "Food" means everything that nourishes our spiritual life: 4976, 5147, 5915, 6277, 8418. So "bread" means heavenly and spiritual food of all kinds (276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 6118, 8410), and therefore, as the Lord says in Matthew 4:4, it means every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (681). In a general sense bread means good actions that come from love: 2165, 2177, 10686. Wheat, from which bread is made, has the same meaning: 3941, 7605. When the Word mentions bread and water, they mean good actions that come from love and truths that belong to our religious faith: 9323. In the ancient churches breaking bread represented mutual love: 5405. Spiritual food consists of knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, and therefore of goodness and truth, because the former come from the latter (3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 8562, 9003), and because knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom nourish the mind (4459, 5293, 5576, 6277, 8418). When someone in the Word is sustained by food, it means spiritual nourishment and the inflow of goodness and truth from the Lord: 4976, 5915, 6277.

[2] The bread on the table in the tabernacle meant the divine goodness of the Lord's divine love: 3478, 9545. The grain offerings in sacrifices, which took the form of unleavened cakes and wafers, meant worship from the goodness of love: 4581, 10079, 10137. The specific meanings of the grain offerings of various kinds: 7978, 9992, 9993, 9994, 10079.

[3] When the ancients spoke of bread in a general sense, they meant food of all kinds. See Genesis 43:16, 31; Exodus 18:12; Judges 13:15, 16; 1 Samuel 14:28, 29; 20:24, 27; 2 Samuel 9:7, 10; 1 Kings 4:22, 23; 2 Kings 25:29.