3239. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. That these represent the general classes of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom in the heavens and on earth, cannot so well be established from the Word, because none of these men are elsewhere mentioned, with the exception of Midian, of whom something will be said hereafter. Yet this may be seen from the fact that all persons named in the Word represent something; as is sufficiently evident from all those mentioned hitherto, from the first chapter of Genesis. (That in the internal sense of the Word names, both of persons and of kingdoms, provinces, and cities, signify actual things, may be seen above, n. 768, 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888, and in many other places where this is in particular confirmed from the Word.) The reason why none of these except Midian are mentioned elsewhere in the Word, is that they are of the sons of the east, who are sometimes mentioned in the Word. (That in general the “sons of the east” signify those who are of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, may be seen below, at verse 6 of this chapter.)

[2] That these sons of Abraham by Keturah have this representation, is evident from the fact that Abraham and Keturah represent the Lord as to the Divine spiritual, namely, Abraham the Lord as to Divine good spiritual, and Keturah as to Divine truth spiritual conjoined with this good (concerning which see just above, n. 3235, 3236). From this it follows that their sons represent the general classes or lots of the kingdom which is from the Lord’s Divine spiritual. They are called general classes or lots because the Lord’s kingdom is represented by land, which is distributed by lots among those to whom it is given to be possessed as an inheritance, just as the land of Canaan was allotted to the sons of Israel. There are in general twelve classes, for by “twelve” are signified all the things of charity and of the derivative faith, which are of the Lord’s kingdom (concerning which see below, at verse 16); but here there are six, thus one-half the number; but the half of a number involves the same as the whole, for provided a like thing is involved, multiplication and division do not vary the thing itself as to what is essential.

3235. And Abraham added, and took a woman. That this signifies another state of the Lord, whom Abraham represents, and that Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord as to the Divine celestial, and Abraham and Keturah as to the Divine spiritual, is evident from the things hitherto said and shown concerning Abraham and Sarah his wife, and from those here related concerning Abraham and Keturah. But as it is said that Abraham here represents another state of the Lord, and that Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord as to the Divine celestial, but Abraham and Keturah the Lord as to the Divine spiritual, it should be known what the Divine celestial is, and what the Divine spiritual.

[2] The Divine celestial and the Divine spiritual are such in respect to those who receive the Divine of the Lord, for the Lord appears to everyone according to the nature of him who receives, as may be seen from what has been said above (n. 1838, 1861), and is clearly manifest from the fact that the Lord appears in one way to the celestial, but in another to the spiritual; for to the celestial He appears as a sun, but to the spiritual as a moon (n. 1529-1531, 1838). The Lord appears to the celestial as a sun, because they are in celestial love, that is, in love to the Lord; but to the spiritual as a moon, because they are in spiritual love, that is, in charity toward the neighbor. The difference is like that between the light of the sun in the daytime and the light of the moon by night; it is also like the difference between the heat of the one and the heat of the other, from which springs vegetation. This is what is meant in the first chapter of Genesis by the words:

And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night (Genesis 1:16).

[3] Speaking generally, the Lord’s kingdom is both celestial and spiritual; that is, it consists of those who are celestial, and of those who are spiritual. And it is because the Divine of the Lord appears to the celestial as celestial, and to the spiritual as spiritual, that it is here said that Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord as to the Divine celestial, and that Abraham and Keturah represented Him as to the Divine spiritual. But as scarcely any know what the celestial is and what the spiritual, or who the celestial and the spiritual are, see what has already been said and shown concerning them, namely: What the celestial is, and what the spiritual (n. 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2184, 2227, 2507): Who are celestial and who are spiritual (n. 2088, 2669, 2708, 2715): That the celestial man is a likeness of the Lord and does good from love, and the spiritual man is an image of the Lord and does good from faith (n. 50-52, 1013): That the celestial perceive truth from good, and that they never reason concerning truth (n. 202, 337, 607, 895, 1121, 2715): That in the celestial man good is implanted in his will part, but in the spiritual man it is implanted in his intellectual part, and that in this part a new will is created in those who are spiritual (n. 863, 875, 895, 897, 927, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2256): That the celestial from good itself see indefinite things, but that the spiritual, because they reason whether a thing is so, cannot attain to the first boundary of the light of the celestial (n. 2718): That the spiritual are in relative obscurity (n. 1043, 2708, 2715): That the Lord came into the world in order to save the spiritual (n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834).