5160. 'On Pharaoh's birthday' means when the natural was to be regenerated. This is clear from the meaning of 'being born' as being regenerated, dealt with below; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the interior natural, dealt with in 5080, 5095, in this case the natural in general because among regenerate persons the agreement of the interior natural with the exterior natural causes the two to act as one. The reason 'being born' means being regenerated is that in the internal sense spiritual matters are meant, and spiritual birth is regeneration, which is also called rebirth. When therefore birth is spoken of in the Word no other birth is understood in heaven than a birth effected through water and the spirit, that is, through faith and charity. For being born again or regenerated makes a person truly human and entirely different from animals, because in this case he becomes a son and heir of the Lord's kingdom. As regards the births which are mentioned in the Word meaning spiritual births, see 1145, 1255, 3860, 3868, 4070, 4668.

3861. 'And she called his name Reuben' means the essential nature of it, which is described. This is clear from the meaning of 'name' and 'calling the name' as the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3421. That nature itself is described by the statement, 'Because Jehovah has seen my affliction, for now my husband will love me', the literal meaning of the name Reuben. Spiritually however all names in the Word mean real things, as has been shown often, see 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888; and among me ancients when a name was given it meant some state, 340, 1946, 2643, 3422. Here it will be seen that the names of all the sons of Jacob mean the universal attributes of the Church. Also one specific universal attribute has been combined within each name, but what that attribute is no one can possibly know unless he knows the internal sense embodied in the words from which each son's name is derived. That is, he needs to know the internal sense embodied in 'has seen' from which Reuben is derived, and in 'has heard' from which Simeon is derived, and in 'has clung to' from which Levi is derived, and in 'to confess' from which Judah is derived, and so on with all the other sons.