4303. 'Therefore the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of that which was displaced, which is on the hollow of the thigh' means that no truths containing falsities were assimilated. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as being joined to and made one's own, dealt with in 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513, 3596, 3832, and from the meaning of 'the sinew' as truth, for truths within good are like sinews within the flesh, and truths are also meant in the spiritual sense by 'sinews' and good by 'flesh', 3579, 3813. 'Sinews' and 'flesh' have a similar meaning in Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih to these bones, I will lay sinews upon you and cover you with flesh, and I will put spirit within you I looked, and behold, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up. Ezekiel 37:6, 8.

Here the new creation of man, that is, the regeneration of him, is the subject. But once truths have been distorted they cease to be truths any longer; and the more they are distorted into the reverse of truths the nearer they get to falsities. This is why 'the sinew of that which was displaced' means falsity. For 'the hollow of the thigh' means the point where conjugial love is joined to natural good, and therefore the point where the influx of spiritual truth into natural good takes place, see 4277, 4280. From this it is evident that 'therefore the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of that which was displaced, which is on the hollow of the thigh' means that no truths containing falsities were assimilated. The reason why these things are said concerning the children of Israel is that 'Israel' means the Divine celestial-spiritual, 4286, while 'children' or 'sons' means truths, 489, 491, 2623. So the meaning is that the truths belonging to the Divine celestial-spiritual did not assimilate any falsities as part of themselves.

56. Verse 29 And God said, Behold, I give you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face ¹ of the whole earth, and every tree in which there is fruit, the tree producing seed will be for you for food. A celestial man takes delight in none but celestial things, and because these suit his life they are called celestial food. A spiritual man takes delight in spiritual things, and because they suit his life they are called spiritual food. The same applies to a natural man and natural things, and because they suit his life they too are called food, and are chiefly facts. Here, since the subject is the spiritual man, his spiritual food is described by representatives, that is to say, spiritual food is represented by 'the plant yielding seed' and by 'the tree in which there is fruit', which in general are called 'the tree producing seed'. His natural food is described in the next verse.

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