5147. There was some of every kind of food for Pharaoh' means full of celestial good for nourishing the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'food' as celestial good, dealt with below; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the interior natural, dealt with in 5080, 5095, and also the natural in general, since the interior natural and the exterior natural make one when they correspond. And because food exists to provide nourishment, 'every kind of food for Pharaoh' means full of celestial good for nourishing the natural. It is said that this food was in the highest basket, meaning that the inmost degree of the will was full of celestial good. For good from the Lord flows in by way of the inmost degree in a person; and from there it passes degree by degree, so to speak down a flight of steps, to what is more exterior. For in relation to other degrees the inmost one exists in the most perfect state, and can therefore receive good from the Lord directly, in a way the lower ones cannot. If these were to receive good from the Lord directly, they would either obscure it or pervert it, since they are less perfect in comparison with the inmost degree.

[2] As regards the influx of celestial good from the Lord and the reception of it, it should be recognized that the will part of the human mind is the receiver of good and the understanding part is the receiver of truth. The understanding part cannot possibly receive truth so as to make this its own unless at the same time the will part receives good; and vice versa. For one flows as a result into the other and disposes that other to be receptive. All that constitutes the understanding may be compared to forms which are constantly varying, and all that constitutes the will may be compared to the harmonies resulting from those variations. Consequently truths may be compared to variations, and forms of good may be compared to the delights which those variations bring. And this being pre-eminently the case with truths and forms of good it is evident that one cannot exist without the other, as well as that one cannot be brought forth except by means of the other.

[3] The reason 'food' means celestial good is that angels' food consists in nothing else than forms of the good of love and charity, and that these serve to enliven angels and to rejuvenate them. Especially when they are expressed in action or practice do those forms of good cause angels to feel rejuvenated, for they are the desires they have; for it is a well known fact that when a person's desires are expressed in action he feels rejuvenated and enlivened. Those desires also nourish a person's spirit when material food supplies nourishment to his body, as may be recognized from the fact that when no delight is taken in food it is not very nutritious, but when delight is taken in it, it is nutritious. The delight taken in food is what opens the meatus or channels which serve to convey it into the blood, whereas the opposite closes them. Among angels those delights are forms of the good of love and charity, and from this one may deduce that these are spiritual kinds of food which correspond to earthly ones. Also, just as forms of good are meant by different kinds of food, so truths are meant by 'drink'.

[4] In the Word 'food' is mentioned in many places, yet someone unacquainted with the internal sense will inevitably suppose that in those places ordinary food is meant. In fact spiritual food is meant, as in Jeremiah,

All the people groan as they search for bread. They have given their desirable things for food to restore the soul. Lamentations 1:11.

In Isaiah,

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1.

In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is near, and as destruction from the thunderbolt-hurler will it come. [s not the food cut off before our eyes, gladness and joy from the house of our God? The grains have rotted under their clods, the storehouses have been laid waste, the granaries have been destroyed, because the grain has failed. Joel 1:15-17.

In David,

Our storehouses are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks are thousands, and ten thousands in our streets. There is no outcry in our streets. Blessed are the people for whom it is thus. Psalms 144:13-15.

In the same author,

They all look to You, that You may give them their food in due season. You give to them - they gather it up; You open Your hand - they are satisfied with good. Psalms 104:27-28.

[5] In these places celestial and spiritual food is meant in the internal sense when material food is referred to in the sense of the letter. From this one may see how the interior features of the Word and its exterior features correspond to one another, that is, how what belongs inwardly to its spirit and what belongs to its letter do so; so that while man understands those things according to the sense of the letter, the angels present with him understand the same things according to the spiritual sense. The Word has been written in such a way that it may serve not only the human race but heaven also, and for this reason all expressions are used to mean heavenly realities, and every matter described there is representative of these realities. This is so with the Word even to the tiniest jot.

[6] Furthermore the Lord Himself explicitly teaches that good is meant in the spiritual sense by 'food': In John,

Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:27.

In the same gospel,

My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. John 6:55.

'Flesh' means Divine Good, 3813, and 'blood' Divine Truth, 4735. And in the same gospel,

Jesus said to the disciples, I have food to eat of which you do not know. The disciples said to one another, Has anyone brought Him [anything] to eat? Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. John 4:33-34.

'Doing the will of the Father and finishing His work' means Divine Good when expressed in actions or practice, which in the genuine sense is 'food', as stated above.

4811. Genesis 38

1. And it happened at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned aside even to a man, an Adullamite; and his name was Hirah.

2. And there Judah saw the daughter of a man, a Canaanite, and his name was Shua; and he took her and came [in] to her.

3. And she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.

4. And she conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.

5. And yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah; and he was in Kezib as she was giving birth to him.

6. And Judah took a wife (mulier) for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

7. And Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah caused him to die.

8. And Judah said to Onan, Come [in] to your brother's wife (uxor) and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her, and raise up seed for your brother.

9. And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and so it was, when he came [in] to his brother's wife (uxor), that he spilled it on the ground, ¹ so that he should not provide seed for his brother.

10. And what he had done was evil in the eyes of Jehovah; and He caused him to die also.

11. And Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in your father's house, until Shelah my son is grown up; for he said, In case he also dies, like his brothers. And Tamar went and remained in her father's house.

12. And the days were multiplied, and Shua's daughter died, the wife of Judah; and Judah was comforted, and he went up to the shearers of his flock, he and his companion Hirah the Adullamite, to Timnah.

13. And it was pointed out to Tamar, saying, Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his flock.

14. And she took off the clothes of her widowhood from upon her, and covered herself with a veil, and concealed herself, and sat in the gate of the fountains, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife.

15. And Judah saw her and supposed that she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face.

16. And he turned aside to her at the wayside, and said, Allow me now to come [in] to you; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What do you give me for coming [in] to me?

17. And he said, I will send a kid of the she-goats from the flock. And she said, If you give a pledge until you send it.

18. And he said, What is the pledge which I am to give you? And she said, Your seal, your cord, and your rod which is in your hand. And he gave them to her, and came [in] to her; and she conceived from him.

19. And she rose up and went, and took off her veil from upon her and put on the clothes of her widowhood.

20. And Judah sent the kid of the she-goats by the hand of his companion the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand; and he did not find her.

21. And he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the harlot in the fountains on the wayside? And they said, There has been no harlot there.

22. And he returned to Judah and said, I did not find her; and also the men of the place said, There has been no harlot there.

23. And Judah said, Let her keep [them]; maybe we shall be put to shame. Behold, I sent this kid, and you did not find her.

24. And so it was about three months later, that it was pointed out to Judah, saying, Tamar your daughter-in-law has committed whoredom, and also, behold, she is pregnant owing to acts of whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her out, and let her be burnt.

25. She was brought out; and she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man to whom these belong I am pregnant. And she said, Acknowledge now to whom these belong, the seal and the cord and the rod.

26. And Judah acknowledged them and said, She is more righteous than I am, seeing that I have not given her to Shelah my son. And he did not know her ever again.

27. And it happened at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were twins in her womb.

28. And it happened as she was giving birth, that one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a twice-dyed thread, saying, This one came out first.

29. And it happened as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out; and she said, Why have you made a breach upon yourself? And he called his name Perez.

30. And afterwards his brother came out, on whose hand was the twice-dyed thread; and he called his name Zerah.

CONTENTS

The internal sense deals in this chapter with the Jewish Church and the genuine Church. The Jewish Church is described by means of Judah, and the genuine Church by Tamar.

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