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.

3314. 'And Rebekah loved Jacob' means that the Divine Truth of the Divine Rational loved the doctrine of truth This is clear from the representation of 'Rebekah' as the Divine Truth of the Divine Rational, dealt with in 3012, 3013, 3077, and in the whole of the previous chapter where Rebekah is the subject, and from the representation of 'Jacob' as the doctrine of natural truth, and in the highest sense the Lord's Divine Natural as regards truth, dealt with in 3305. With regard to the Divine Good of the Rational loving the Good belonging to the Natural, and the Divine Truth of the Divine Rational loving the Truth belonging to the Natural, the position is that there are good and truth that constitute the rational, and there are also good and truth that constitute the natural. The good of the rational flows into the good of the natural both independently of truth, thus into it directly, and also by way of truth, thus into it indirectly. But the good of the rational flows into the truth of the natural both by way of the truth of the rational, thus indirectly, and also by way of the good of the natural, thus again indirectly. Consequently rational good is joined more closely to natural good than to natural truth, a conjunction meant by 'Isaac loved Esau'; and rational truth is joined more closely to natural truth than to natural good, a conjunction meant by 'Rebekah loved Jacob'.

[2] These considerations are such indeed as can be grasped only with great difficulty, in particular because the most general features of all regarding this matter are unknown in the world, even among the learned. The world does not know, for example, that the rational is quite distinct and separate from the natural, or that good and truth are what constitute the rational and what constitute the natural, let alone that the rational flows into the natural enabling a person to think and to will what he thinks. As long as these very general features remain unknown, one can understand only with great difficulty what the influx described above is. Yet these are things in which angels have light, things in which they perceive countless details. And they do this with the delight which is theirs when they are permitted at the same time to think about the Lord's Divine in relation to His Human. Anyone who is governed by good, and who, though still in the body, has what is angelic within him, is also given some light by the Lord in these matters and others like them. But anyone who is not governed by good finds it irksome when he thinks about such matters, the more so when he thinks about those things as they apply to the Divine which belongs to the Lord's Human. It is better therefore if such people turn their minds away from those matters, for they have no grasp of them at all - indeed they reject them, saying at heart, What value is any of this to me? It doesn't bring me any honour, or any material gain.