In the Bible, “captains,” “commanders” and “chiefs”, and the armies they lead, represent large collections of spiritual desires and large collections of spiritual ideas. The leaders represent the first and foremost desires or ideas in these collections - the ones that summarize and bring together all the others.

Captains and rulers in Jeremiah 51:23 signify principal evils and falsities.

Captains and rulers in Ezekiel 33:6 signify principal truths.

See Chief Captains.

4383. 'And at the walking-pace of the children' means as determined by the truths situated within. This is clear from the meaning of 'children' or sons as truths, dealt with a number of times above. The truths situated within are truths present within the things that are general. Actually these general things are those which have been compared above, in 4378, to the egg, for general things contain particular ones, and the particular contain specific ones, 4325 (end), 4329, 4345. In the first state - that of infancy - the particular are present within in potentiality, and the specific within these. But later on they come forth and display themselves in action, thus successively. This is the way in which people who are being regenerated are led by the Lord, for they are endowed with general things having within them those which follow later, which also come forth successively, doing so in an order and sequence beyond description. For every single thing is foreseen by the Lord, even as its nature will be for evermore. For this reason no other general truths are joined to good with one who is being regenerated except those that can have particular truths inserted into them, and specific truths within the particular.

[2] Nevertheless these particular truths, and indeed the specific ones that go with these, are themselves entirely general when considered in relation to even further truths that exist; for specific truths include an incalculable number of individual ones. Although their wisdom in contrast to man's is so great that the things which they know and perceive are indescribable, angels nevertheless confess that, compared with what is above their knowledge, the truths they know are very general, while those which they do not know are limitless. They do not dare to call them infinite since finite and infinite are completely different from each other and cannot be measured one against the other. From this one can also deduce the nature of the Word. Being Divine the Word contains within itself things that are infinite which come from its first source, and as a consequence contains things beyond description such as constitute angelic wisdom; but in its lowest form it contains only such things as those that man is able to grasp.