4563. 'Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died' means that hereditary evil was cast out. This is clear from the meaning of 'dying' as the end or something ceasing to be such as it has been, dealt with in 494, 3253, 3259, 3276, and here therefore, since the subject is hereditary evil, that this was cast out; and from the representation of 'Deborah, who was Rebekah's nurse' as hereditary evil. Inasmuch as she nourishes and suckles an infant, 'a nurse' strictly speaking means the instilling of innocence by means of what is celestial-spiritual, for 'milk' means that which is celestial-spiritual, 2184, and the infant whom she suckles means innocence, 430, 1616, 2126, 2305, 2306. But in this verse 'Deborah, Rebekah's nurse' means that which was received from the mother and nourished from infancy. This was the hereditary evil from the mother which the Lord fought against, as may be seen from what has been shown regarding that heredity, 1414, 1444, 1573, which heredity He cast out, so that at length He was not Mary's son, 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036.

[2] It is well known that a person derives evil from both parents and that this evil is called hereditary evil. He is therefore born with that evil, but it does not show itself until he grows up and acts from his understanding and his will based on his understanding. In the meantime it lies hidden, especially during early childhood. Now because in the Lord's mercy no one can come to be blamed for his hereditary evil, only for the evil of his own doing, 966, 2308, and hereditary evil cannot become evil of his own doing until he acts from his own understanding and his own will, young children are therefore guided by the Lord by means of young children and angels. It is for this reason that they are seen to live in a state of innocence; yet hereditary evil lies hidden within each particular thing they do, 2300, 2307, 2308. This hereditary evil even provides them with nourishment, that is, it acts like a nurse until they reach the age of discretion, 4063. Then, if they are being regenerated, they are brought by the Lord into the state of a new infancy, and at length into heavenly wisdom, and so into genuine infancy, which innocence is; for genuine infancy, or innocence, dwells within wisdom, 2305, 3183. The difference is that the innocence of infancy is present outwardly and hereditary evil inwardly, whereas the innocence of wisdom is present inwardly and evil - hereditary and that of the person's own doing - outwardly. From these considerations, and many others mentioned previously, it is evident that hereditary evil serves so to speak as nourishment from earliest infancy to the age of the new infancy. This explains why 'a nurse' means hereditary evil, as well as meaning the instillation of innocence by means of that which is celestial-spiritual.

[3] Since the arrangement or ordering of truths by good within the Lord's Natural, and consequently the progression towards aspects more interior, 4536, is the subject in the internal sense of this chapter therefore the casting out of hereditary evil is dealt with too. This is the reason why in this verse the death of Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, and her burial under an oak tree are recorded, which are matters that would be too unimportant to interrupt the sequence of events described here if they did not embody the kind of the things that have been mentioned.

[4] The actual arcanum meant specifically by Rebekah's nurse cannot as yet be disclosed. One must first know about the nature of the influx of the rational into the natural, which is an influx from the good of the rational directly into the good of the natural, and an influx from the good of the rational indirectly by way of the truth there into the good of natural truth. 'Rebekah' is the truth of the rational, 3012, 3013, 3077, whereas 'Isaac' is the good of the rational, 3012, 3194, 3210. 'Esau' is the good of the natural resulting from direct influx from the good of the rational, meant by 'Isaac', and 'Jacob' is the good - that is, the good of natural truth - resulting from an indirect influx through the truth of the rational, meant by 'Rebekah'. Regarding this indirect and direct influx see 3314, 3573. This must be known first before anyone can have specific knowledge of the arcanum why 'Rebekah's nurse' means and describes hereditary evil here. It is from such knowledge about influx that one is able to see the nature of that hereditary evil.

1616. That 'Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt in the oak groves of Mamre which are in Hebron' means that the Lord arrived at a perception more interior still is clear from the meaning of 'moving one's tent', that is, moving it and pitching it once again, as the process of being joined together; for 'a tent' is the holiness of worship, as shown already in 414, 1452, by which the external man is joined to the internal. It is also clear from the meaning of 'an oak-grove' as perception, dealt with already in 1442, 1443, where the phrase that occurred was 'the oak-grove of Moreh', meaning a first perception, whereas here the plural 'the oak-groves of Mamre' is used, which means a fuller, that is, more interior perception. This perception is called 'the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron'. Mamre is also mentioned elsewhere in the Word, as in Genesis 14:13; 18:1; 23:17-19; 35:27; and Hebron too, in Genesis 35:27; 37:14; Joshua 10:36, 39; 14:13-15; 15:13, 54; 20:7; 21:11, 13; Judges 1:10, 20; and elsewhere. But what Mamre and Hebron mean where they are so mentioned will in the Lord's Divine mercy be seen when these other parts of the Word are explained.

[2] The implications of 'the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron' meaning perception more interior still are as follows: To the extent that those things belonging to the external man are joined to celestial things belonging to the internal man perception grows and becomes more interior. Conjunction with celestial things confers perception, for within the celestial things that belong to love to Jehovah dwells the life itself of the internal man, or what amounts to the same, within celestial things which belong to love, that is, within celestial love, Jehovah is present. This presence is not perceived in the external man however until the conjunction has taken place. All perception is the result of conjunction.

[3] From the internal sense here it is clear what the situation was in the Lord's case: His External Man, or Human Essence, was joined step by step to the Divine Essence as cognitions multiplied and became fruitful. No one can ever, insofar as he is human, be joined to Jehovah, or the Lord, except by means of cognitions, for it is by means of cognitions that a person is made human. This applied to the Lord too since He was born as any other is born, and received instruction as any other does. Yet in the cognitions He had as receptacles celestial things were being instilled continually, with the result that His cognitions were constantly being made into the recipient vessels of celestial things; and these vessels also were themselves made celestial.

[4] Constantly the Lord advanced in this manner towards the celestial things of infancy, for, as stated already, the celestial things which belong to love are being instilled in a person from earliest infancy to childhood and on into adolescence as well. Since he is a human being, at that time and later on he is endowed with knowledge and cognitions. If a person is such that he can be regenerated, that knowledge and those cognitions are filled with celestial things that belong to love and charity, and are accordingly implanted within the celestial things he was endowed with from infancy through to childhood and adolescence, and in this way his external man is joined to his internal. First of all they are implanted in the celestial things he was endowed with in adolescence, then in those he was endowed with in childhood, and finally in those he was endowed with in infancy. At that point he is 'the little child' regarding whom the Lord said 'of such is the kingdom of God'. This implanting is done by the Lord alone, and therefore nothing celestial with man either does or can exist with man that does not come from, and belong to, the Lord.

[5] The Lord however from His own power joined His External Man to His Internal Man and filled His cognitions with celestial things, and He implanted them in celestial things, doing so according to Divine Order. First of all He implanted them in the celestial things of childhood, then in the celestial things of the age of childhood and back to infancy, and finally in the celestial things of His infancy. In this way He at the same time became as regards the Human Essence Innocence itself and Love itself, from which derive all innocence and all love in heaven and on earth. Such Innocence is true Infancy because it is simultaneously Wisdom. But the innocence of infancy is of no use at all unless by means of cognitions it becomes the innocence of wisdom, and this is why little children in the next life are endowed with cognitions. As the Lord implanted cognitions in celestial things, so He had perception, for, as stated, all perception is the result of conjunction. He had His first perception when He implanted the facts acquired in childhood, a perception meant by 'the oak-grove of Moreh'; and He had His second, which is the subject here, and which is more interior, when He implanted cognitions, a perception meant by 'the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron'.