4277. 'And he touched the hollow of his thigh' means where celestial-spiritual good is joined to natural good meant by 'Jacob'. This is clear from the meaning of 'the thigh' as conjugial love, and consequently as all celestial and spiritual love, since these are derived from conjugial love as offspring from their parent, dealt with in 3021; and from the meaning of 'the hollow' or socket or cavity of it - that is to say, of the thigh - as the place where the joining together exists, and here therefore where celestial-spiritual good is joined to natural good meant by 'Jacob'. But no one can be told anything about that conjunction unless he knows first of all what celestial-spiritual good, meant by 'Israel', is, and what natural good, meant by 'Jacob', is. It will be told below at verse 28 where Jacob, who at that point is named Israel, is the subject and also further on where Jacob's descendants are the subject.
Arcana Coelestia #5353
5353. 'And all my father's house' means the removal of hereditary evils. This is clear from the meaning of 'father's house' here as hereditary evils. In the internal sense 'house' means a person, more particularly his mind, either his rational mind or his natural mind. But specifically the will part there is meant, consequently good or evil since either of these can exist as an attribute of the will, see 710, 2233, 2234, 3128, 4973, 4982, 5023. This being so, 'father's house' here means hereditary evils. The essential nature meant by 'Manasseh' is contained in these words and in those immediately before them. In the original language Manasseh means forgetfulness, and so in the internal sense a removal is meant. That is to say, a removal of evils, both those of one's own doing and those which are hereditary; for once those evils have been removed a new area of will arises. This new will comes into being through an inflow of good from the Lord. Such an inflow of good from the Lord takes place constantly with a person, but evils exist there - both those of his own doing and those which he has inherited - which hinder and stand in the way of the reception of it. But once these have been removed a new area of will comes into being. Its coming into being at this time is clearly evident with those who suffer misfortunes, tribulations, or illnesses. During these experiences self-love and love of the world from which all evils spring are removed, and then a person entertains thoughts about God and about the neighbour that are good, and also desires his neighbour's welfare. It is similar with temptations, which are spiritual forms of distress and therefore inward experiences of tribulation and of despair. These experiences serve primarily to remove evils, and after these have been removed heavenly good from the Lord enters in, from which a new area of will is formed in the natural, which in the representative sense is 'Manasseh'.
Jeremiah 31
1
At that time, says Yahweh, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
2
Thus says Yahweh, The people who were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
3
Yahweh appeared of old to me, [saying], Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you.
4
Again will I build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: again you shall be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who make merry.
5
Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy [its fruit].
6
For there shall be a day, that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise, and let us go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.
7
For thus says Yahweh, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations: publish, praise, and say, Yahweh, save your people, the remnant of Israel.
8
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, [and] with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together: a great company shall they return here.
9
They shall come with weeping; and with petitions will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10
Hear the word of Yahweh, you nations, and declare it in the islands afar off; and say, He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as shepherd does his flock.
11
For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
12
They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
13
Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14
I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says Yahweh.
15
Thus says Yahweh: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.
16
Thus says Yahweh: Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says Yahweh; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17
There is hope for your latter end, says Yahweh; and [your] children shall come again to their own border.
18
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself [thus], You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed [to the yoke]: turn me, and I shall be turned; for you are Yahweh my God.
19
Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I struck on my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
20
Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says Yahweh.
21
Set up road signs, make guideposts; set your heart toward the highway, even the way by which you went: turn again, virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities.
22
How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? for Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man.
23
Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring again their captivity: Yahweh bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.
24
Judah and all its cities shall dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks.
25
For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul have I replenished.
26
On this I awakened, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.
27
Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of animal.
28
It shall happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, says Yahweh.
29
In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
30
But everyone shall die for his own iniquity: every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31
Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32
not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says Yahweh.
33
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
34
and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all Know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.
35
Thus says Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar; Yahweh of Armies is his name:
36
If these ordinances depart from before me, says Yahweh, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.
37
Thus says Yahweh: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says Yahweh.
38
Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that the city shall be built to Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner.
39
The measuring line shall go out further straight onward to the hill Gareb, and shall turn about to Goah.
40
The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy to Yahweh; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever.
