3795. 'For she was a shepherdess' or one who feeds the flock means that the affection for interior truth contained in the Word is that which teaches. This is clear from the meaning of 'a shepherd' or one who feeds the flock ¹ as one who leads and teaches, dealt with in 343, and from the representation of Rachel, to whom 'she' refers here, as the affection for interior truth, dealt with just above in 3793. The reason why interior truth is said to come from the Word is that it was the well to which Rachel came with the flock - 'a well' meaning the Word, see 3765. What is more, it is the affection for interior truth that teaches, for it is by virtue of that affection that the Church is the Church and a shepherd or pastor is a pastor. The reason 'a shepherd' and one who feeds the flock means in the Word those who lead and teach is that 'the flock' means those who are led and taught, and therefore means Churches and also the doctrines which a Church teaches, 3767, 3768, 3783. The fact that shepherd or pastor and flock have these meanings is very well known in the Christian world, for these are the terms used for those who teach and those who learn. It is therefore superfluous to confirm these points from the Word.

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3839. 'And he said to Laban, What is this you have done to me?' means indignation. This is clear from the affectional content of these words and of those that follow; for as accords with the sequence of events in this historical narrative it is the feeling of indignation that is expressed in these words. There are two elements which constitute the internal sense of the Word - affections and subject-matter. The affections lying within expressions of the Word are not visible to man but are concealed there inmostly. Nor can they be visible since man during his lifetime is governed by worldly and bodily affections, which have nothing in common with the affections present in the internal sense of the Word. That sense contains affections which belong to spiritual and celestial love, affections which mankind is that much less capable of perceiving because those in whom they exist are few, and the few in whom they do exist are for the most part simple people who have no ability to reflect on affections. All others do not even know what genuine affection is. These affections that belong to celestial and spiritual love manifest themselves in charity towards the neighbour and in love to God. Those in whom such affections do not exist do not believe that they are anything at all, when in fact those affections fill the whole of heaven, doing so in varying ways beyond description. These are the affections, together with the variations of them, which have been stored away in the internal sense of the Word, residing not only in every sentence but also in every expression, indeed in every detail. And they reveal themselves to angels when the Word is read by people in whom simple good and at the same time innocence are present; and they reveal themselves, as has been stated, in ways unendingly various.

[2] There are principally two kinds of affections which shine out of the Word for angels to see - affections for truth and affections for good. Affections for truth reveal themselves to spiritual angels, affections for good to celestial angels. The latter, namely affections for good, which belong to love to the Lord, are altogether indescribable to man and are consequently incomprehensible too. But affections for truth, which belong to mutual love, are to some extent comprehensible in their most general aspects, though only to people in whom mutual love is present. And even those general aspects are not comprehensible to them from any internal perception except one that is obscure.

[3] Take for example the affection or feeling of indignation referred to in this verse. Anyone who does not know what charitable affection is, for the reason that this is not present in him, can have no other idea of what it is but the kind of indignation that is aroused in a person when some wrong is done to him - which in reality is a feeling of anger. But that kind of indignation does not exist with angels but an altogether different kind, which is not the expression of anger but of zeal, and holds nothing evil in it at all. This indignation is as far away from hatred, or revenge, or repaying evil with evil, as heaven is from hell; for it wells up out of good. But the nature of that indignation, as has been stated, cannot be expressed by any words. The situation is similar with all other affections which originate in good and truth and which belong to good and truth.

[4] This is also evident from the fact that angels are concerned solely with ends in view, and with the purposes engendered by those ends, 1317, 1645, 3645. Ends in view are nothing else than loves or affections, 1317, 1568, 1571, 1909, 3425, 3796; for what a person loves he has as his end in view. This being so, angels are acquainted with the affections enclosed in the subject-matter of the Word; and this entails every variation according to the types of affections present in the angels. From this it becomes quite clear how holy the Word is, for Divine love, that is, love coming from the Divine, has holiness within it, and so therefore do the subjects within the Word.

343. 'A shepherd of the flock' means someone who practises good flowing from charity. Anyone can know this, for it is a recurrent feature of the Old Testament and of the New. He who leads and teaches is called the Shepherd, those who are led and taught are called the flock. One who does not lead to good flowing from charity, and does not teach that good is not a true shepherd; and one who is not being led to good and learning it is not the flock. Really it is superfluous to confirm from the Word that this is the meaning of the Shepherd and flock; but even so let the following be referred to: In Isaiah,

The Lord will give rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and bread of the produce of the ground. On that day, He will pasture your cattle in a broad grassland. Isaiah 30:23.

Here 'bread, the produce of the ground' means charity. In the same the prophet, The Lord Jehovih will pasture His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs into His arm, and will carry them in His bosom: He will gently lead those that are with young. ¹ Isaiah 40:11.

In David,

Harken, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock. You who are seated on the cherubim, shine forth. Psalms 80:1.

In Jeremiah,

I have likened the daughter of Zion to one comely and delicately bred. Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents near her round about; they will pasture each in his own space. Jeremiah 6:2-3.

In Ezekiel,

The Lord Jehovah has said, I will multiply them like the flock of mankind, like the flock of holy things, like the flock of Jerusalem, in her appointed seasons. Thus will the deserted cities be filled with the flock of mankind. Ezekiel 36:37-38.

In Isaiah,

The whole flock of Arabia will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will minister to you. Isaiah 60:7

Those who lead the flock to the good of charity are those who 'gather the flock together', but those who do not lead to such good are those who scatter it, for all bringing together and unity is the product of charity, while all scattering and disunity result from the lack of it.

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