2940. 'Ephron was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth' means those who were primarily able to receive the good and truth of faith. This is clear from the representation of 'Ephron', and also from the meaning of 'the sons of Heth' as those with whom the good and truth of faith could be received and with whom a new Church existed, dealt with in 2913, 2933; and from the meaning of 'the middle' or 'in the midst' as that which is primary or the chief thing, and also that which is inmost, dealt with in 1074. 'The middle' in the internal sense means that which is primary or the chief thing, and also that which is inmost, by reason of the representatives in the next life. When anything good is represented there by means of spiritual ideas, the purest of the good is in the middle and the less and less pure in consecutive degrees from the middle, until lastly at the circumference there is that which is not good at all. And this is why 'in the midst' means both that which is primary or the chief thing and also that which is inmost. The ideas comprising thought are also represented in the same manner, and so are affections too. And all changes of state are represented in that manner, in that everything good or evil is altered as to its position towards the middle. This has its origin in the form possessed by spiritual and celestial things, which is such.

A company might have executives setting policy and strategy, engineers designing products, managers handling personnel and others handling various functions. They all do different things -- but if they're doing them with a shared underlying purpose, the company -- and the individuals in it -- will likely be successful. The Lord wants all human society to function in a similar way. We have different skills and individual loves, but if we all share a mutual love -- a love of serving others -- then society will function as one, will be a reflection of heaven and will be a good receptacle for the Lord's love. This can also happen within each of us, as we unify our talents and ideas around a central love. And in an abstract sense, it illustrates how a wide collection of varying ideas can be unified around a shared good intention. That is the kind of love pictured when “one” is used in the Bible, either as a specific number or in the sense of several people or objects “being one.” In more casual references -- when used to identify a specific person or object -- the meaning is relatively literal, and is connected to that person or object.