3239. 'She bore to him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah' represents general divisions of the Lord's spiritual kingdom in heaven and on earth. This is less clear from the Word since none of these names is mentioned anywhere else, except Midian, who is dealt with further on. The meaning becomes sufficiently clear however from the consideration that, without exception, all the persons named in the Word each have some representation, as with all those mentioned so far from the beginning of Genesis and onwards. In the internal sense of the Word the names both of persons and of kingdoms, and also of regions and cities, mean real things - see 768, 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888, and many times elsewhere, where this matter in particular is confirmed from the Word. The reason why the rest of these names apart from Midian are not mentioned elsewhere in the Word is that they are the names of 'the sons of the east' who are referred to in various places in the Word and who in general mean members of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, as will be seen below at verse 6 of this chapter.

[2] It is clear that these sons of Abraham by Keturah have this representation from the consideration that Abraham and Keturah represent the Lord's Divine Spiritual; that is to say, 'Abraham' represents the Lord's Divine Spiritual Good, 'Keturah' His Divine Spiritual Truth joined to that Good, dealt with just above in 3235, 3236. And because Abraham and Keturah represent the Lord's Divine Spiritual, their sons therefore represent general divisions of the kingdom which originates in the Lord's Divine Spiritual. The expression 'general divisions' is used because the Lord's kingdom is represented by 'the land' which is divided up among those to whom it is given to possess as an inheritance, as the land of Canaan was given to the children of Israel. There are in general twelve divisions, for twelve means all things of charity and of faith derived from this which constitute the Lord's kingdom, dealt with below at verse 16. Six, thus half that number, is mentioned here; but half of a number embodies the same as the whole number, for provided that which it embraces is similar, multiplying and dividing does not vary the essential character of the thing itself.

1172. 'Dedan' means cognitions of lower celestial things that exist in ritual forms. This is clear from the following places in the Word: In Ezekiel,

The sons of Dedan were your traders, many islands were the merchandise of your hand; horns of ivory, and ebony they brought as your present. Ezekiel 27:15

'Horns of ivory, and ebony' in the internal sense means the exterior goods that constitute forms of worship or ritual. In the same prophet,

Dedan, she was your trader in chariot-cloaks, ¹ Arabia and all the princes of Kedar Ezekiel 27:20-21.

Here 'chariot-cloaks' ¹ in like manner means exterior goods, or those that constitute forms of ritual. In Jeremiah,

Their wisdom has become rotten. Flee! they have turned themselves away, they have taken themselves down to dwell in the deep, O inhabitants of Dedan. Jeremiah 49:7-8.

Here 'Dedan' in the proper sense stands for forms of ritual which have no internal worship, that is, no worship of the Lord from the heart within them, and which are spoken of as 'turning themselves back, and taking themselves down to dwell in the deep'. From the quotations above it is now clear that 'the sons of Cush' means cognitions of spiritual things, and 'the sons of Raamah' cognitions of celestial.

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