9061. He shall let him go free for his eye. That this signifies that it can no longer serve the internal man, is evident from the signification of “letting go free,” as being to dismiss from service; and from the signification of “for his eye,” which he had destroyed in the manservant, as being on account of the truth of faith extinguished in the external or natural man; for “the eye” denotes the intellectual, and consequently the truth of faith (see n. 9058, 9059), “to destroy” denotes to extinguish (n. 9060), and a “manservant” denotes the external or natural man (n. 9058). How the case herein is cannot be known unless it is known how the case is with the internal man relatively to the external man. The internal man cannot live a spiritual life unless the external man is in agreement; and therefore a man cannot be regenerated unless the natural man also is regenerated. From this it follows that if the truth of faith in the natural or external man shall be extinguished, it cannot any longer serve the internal man.

[2] It is the same with the external sight relatively to the internal sight. If the external sight has been injured, it cannot any longer serve the internal sight; for if the external sight distorts objects, the internal cannot see by means of it except with distortion. The case is the same with all the other members which are subject to the will, as with the arms, the hands, the fingers, the feet. If these are distorted, the will cannot act through them except in a distorted way. It is the same in the case of the natural or external man relatively to the internal man: if the memory-truths in the external or natural man are perverted or extinguished, the internal man cannot see truth, thus cannot think and perceive except pervertedly or falsely. From all this it is evident why the natural man must be regenerated in order that the man may be regenerated. (See also what has been shown above on this subject, n. 3286, 3321, 3469, 3493, 3573, 3620, 3623, 3679, 4588, 4618, 4667, 5165, 5168, 5427, 5428, 5477, 6299, 6564, 8742-8747, 9043)

4588. That the midwife said unto her, Fear not. That this signifies perception from the natural, is evident from the signification of “saying” in the historicals of the Word as being perception (see n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862, 3395, 3509); and from the signification of a “midwife,” as being the natural. The reason why “midwife” here denotes the natural is that when interior temptations are being undergone, that is, when the interior man is undergoing temptations, the natural is then like a midwife; for unless the natural affords aid, it is impossible for any birth of interior truth to take place; for when interior truths are born, it is the natural which receives them into its bosom, because it affords the opportunity for them to work their way out. It is always the case with the things of spiritual birth, that their reception must be wholly in the natural; and this is the reason why when a man is being regenerated, the natural is first prepared to receive; and insofar as this is made receptive, so far interior truths and goods can be brought forth and multiplied. This is also the reason why if during the bodily life the natural man has not been prepared to receive the truths and goods of faith, he cannot receive them in the other life, consequently cannot be saved. This is what is meant by the common saying that as the tree falls, so it lies; or as man dies, such he will be. For man has with him in the other life all his natural memory, or that of his external man (although not there permitted to use it, n. 2469-2494), so that it is there as a foundation plane, into which interior truths and goods fall; and if this plane is not a receptacle of the goods and truths which flow in from within, these interior goods and truths are either extinguished, or perverted, or rejected. From all this it is evident that the natural is like a midwife.

[2] That insofar as the natural is a recipient when the interior man brings forth, it is like a midwife, may be seen also from the internal sense of the things related of the midwives who contrary to the command of Pharaoh saved alive the sons of the Hebrew women, of which we read in Moses:

The king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrew women, and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him, but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt spoke to them, but saved the male children alive. And the king of Egypt called the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this word, and have saved the male children alive? And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, for they are lively, and have brought forth ere the midwife come unto them. And God did well to the midwives, and the people were multiplied, and became very numerous. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses (Exodus 1:15-21);

by the daughters and sons the Hebrew women brought forth, are represented the goods and truths of a new church; by the midwives, the natural insofar as it is a recipient of goods and truths; by the king of Egypt, memory-knowledge in general (see n. 1164, 1165, 1186), which extinguishes truths when it enters into the things of faith by an inverted way, believing nothing except what the senses and memory-knowledge dictate. That the “midwives” here are receptions of truth in the natural, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be confirmed when the contents of that chapter come to be unfolded.