218. Bread. When the context concerns the Lord, "bread" means the divine goodness of his divine love, and also a reciprocal love for him in the people who "eat the bread": 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 9323, 9545. "Bread" in a general sense includes and means food of all kinds: 2165, 6118. "Food" means everything that nourishes our spiritual life: 4976, 5147, 5915, 6277, 8418. So "bread" means heavenly and spiritual food of all kinds (276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 6118, 8410), and therefore, as the Lord says in Matthew 4:4, it means every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (681). In a general sense bread means good actions that come from love: 2165, 2177, 10686. Wheat, from which bread is made, has the same meaning: 3941, 7605. When the Word mentions bread and water, they mean good actions that come from love and truths that belong to our religious faith: 9323. In the ancient churches breaking bread represented mutual love: 5405. Spiritual food consists of knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, and therefore of goodness and truth, because the former come from the latter (3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 8562, 9003), and because knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom nourish the mind (4459, 5293, 5576, 6277, 8418). When someone in the Word is sustained by food, it means spiritual nourishment and the inflow of goodness and truth from the Lord: 4976, 5915, 6277.

[2] The bread on the table in the tabernacle meant the divine goodness of the Lord's divine love: 3478, 9545. The grain offerings in sacrifices, which took the form of unleavened cakes and wafers, meant worship from the goodness of love: 4581, 10079, 10137. The specific meanings of the grain offerings of various kinds: 7978, 9992, 9993, 9994, 10079.

[3] When the ancients spoke of bread in a general sense, they meant food of all kinds. See Genesis 43:16, 31; Exodus 18:12; Judges 13:15, 16; 1 Samuel 14:28, 29; 20:24, 27; 2 Samuel 9:7, 10; 1 Kings 4:22, 23; 2 Kings 25:29.