6778. 'To water their father's flock' means to the end that those governed by good might receive instruction from there. This is clear from the meaning of 'watering' as giving instruction, dealt with in 3772; from the meaning of 'the flock' as those who learn about and are led to the good of charity, dealt with in 343, 3772, 5913, 6048; and from the representation of Reuel, to whom 'father' refers here, and who was a priest, as the good of that Church, a Church where those people are who are guided by the truth that goes with simple good, people dealt with above in 6773, 6775.

5913. 'And your flocks, and your herds' means natural good, interior and exterior. This is clear from the meaning of 'flock' as interior good, dealt with in 2566, in this case interior natural good since the flocks belonged to Israel, who represents spiritual good from the natural, 5906; and from the meaning of 'herd' as exterior natural good. The reason why 'herd' means exterior good and 'flocks' interior good is that the animals which constituted a herd, such as oxen and young bulls, were signs, when used in sacrifices, of external forms of the good of charity and also of the forms of good present in the external man. But the animals constituting flocks, such as lambs, sheep, she-goats, were signs of internal forms of the good of charity and also of the forms of good present in the internal man. Consequently people in whom these forms of good are present are referred to in the Word by the single term 'flock', and the one who leads them by the term 'pastor' or 'shepherd'.