Hearken
'To hearken,' as mentioned in Genesis 30:22, signifies providence. 'To hearken to father and mother,' as mentioned in Genesis 28:7, signifies obedience from affection.
See Obedience.
(Notae: Arcana Coelestia 3684)
Heaven and Hell #226
226. All preachers are appointed by the Lord, and have therefore a gift for preaching. No one else is allowed to teach in the temples. They are called preachers, but not priests. They are not priests because the priesthood of heaven is the celestial kingdom, for priesthood signifies the good of love to the Lord, and those in the celestial kingdom are in that good. The royalty of heaven, however, is the spiritual kingdom, for royalty signifies truth from good in which are those who are in the spiritual kingdom (see above 24). 1
V:
1. [Swedenborg's footnote] Priests represented the Lord as to Divine Good, kings as to Divine Truth (Arcana Coelestia 2015, 6148).
Therefore, in the Word, a "priest" signifies those who are in the good of love to the Lord, thus the "priesthood" that good (Arcana Coelestia 9806, 9809).
A "king" in the Word signifies those who are in Divine Truth, and "royalty" truth from good (Arcana Coelestia 1672, 2015, 2069, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044).
