6726. 'And put him in the weed at the bank of the river' means that at first it was among false factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'the weed' as factual knowledge, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the river of Egypt' as falsity, dealt with in 6697. For what this really means, that those who are introduced into God's truth are at first put among falsities, see just above in 6724. The reason why 'the weed' means factual knowledge is that every small plant mentioned in the Word means some type of factual knowledge. 'The weed' which grows at the bank of a river is inferior factual knowledge, as also in Isaiah,

The rivers will recede, and the streams of Egypt will dry up; reed and weed will wither. Isaiah 19:6.

'The rivers' stands for matters of intelligence, 2702, 3051; 'the streams of Egypt will dry up' stands for matters of knowledge; 'reed and weed' stands for the lowest forms of factual knowledge, which are sensory impressions. 'The weed' stands for false factual knowledge in Jonah,

The waters surrounded me, even to my soul, the deep closed around me, weed was wrapped about my head. Jonah 2:5.

This prophecy describes a state of temptations. The waters which surrounded him, even to his soul, are falsities, 'deluges of water' being temptations and desolations, see 705, 739, 790, 5725. The deep which closed around him is the evil of falsity. The weed that was wrapped about his head stands for false factual knowledge that beset truth and goodness. This is how it is in a state of desolations.

909. 'Birds' means things of his understanding and 'beasts' those of his will, [both of] which belong to the internal man; and 'every creeping thing that creeps over the earth' means corresponding things of a like nature residing with his external man. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'a bird', dealt with already in 40, 776, and of 'a beast' in 45, 46, 142, 143, 246. That 'creeping thing that creeps over the earth' means corresponding things residing with the external man is clear from this. Indeed 'creeping thing that creeps' here stands in relation both to 'birds', or things of the understanding, and to 'beasts', or those of the will. The most ancient people used to call the sensory powers and the appetites of the body 'creeping things that creep' because they are indeed just like reptiles that creep along the ground. They also likened the human body to the earth or to the ground. Indeed they actually called it the earth or the ground, as in the present verse where nothing other than the external man is meant by 'the earth'.