6297. And his seed shall be the fullness of the nations. That this signifies that the truth which is of faith shall reign, is evident from the signification of “seed,” as being faith and charity (see n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940, 2848, 3187, 3310, 3373, 3671), here faith, because predicated of Ephraim; and from the signification of the “fullness of the nations,” as being abundance, thus that the truth of faith shall reign. “Fullness” in the Word signifies all, and where it does not signify all, it signifies abundant, and is predicated both of truth and of good; for “multitude” is predicated of truth, but “magnitude” of good, thus “fullness of both,” as in Jeremiah:

Behold waters rise up out of the north, which shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and the fullness thereof, the city and them that dwell therein (Jeremiah 47:2);

“the land and the fullness” denote all, both truth and good, that is of the church. For this reason it is added, “the city and them that dwell therein;” for by “city” are signified truths, and by “them that dwell therein,” goods (n. 2268, 2451, 2712).

[2] In Ezekiel:

They shall eat their bread with solicitude, and drink their waters with amazement, that the land thereof may be devastated from its fullness (Ezekiel 12:19).

The “land” denotes the church, and the “fullness” the good and truth there. That both are signified is evident from what precedes, that “they should eat bread with solicitude, and drink waters with amazement;” for by “bread” is signified the good of love, and by “waters” the truth of faith, which are called the “fullness of the earth.”

[3] In like manner in Amos:

The pride of Jacob, and his palaces, I hate, therefore will I shut up the city and the fullness thereof (Amos 6:8).

In David:

The heavens are Thine, the earth also is Thine; the world and the fullness thereof Thou hast founded (Psalms 89:11).

The earth is Jehovah’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the streams (Psalms 24:1-2); where also the “fullness” denotes truth and good; the “earth,” the church in a specific, and the “world,” the church in a universal sense. That “Jehovah founded the world upon the seas” denotes upon the things that are of memory-knowledge (n. 28); and that “He established it upon the streams” denotes upon the things that are of intelligence (n. 3051). Who cannot see that it is not meant that Jehovah founded the world upon the seas, and established it upon the streams, for the world is not founded and established thereon; and therefore he who reflects can see that by “seas” and by “streams” something else is signified, and that this something else is the spiritual or internal of the Word.

3187. And may thy seed inherit the gate of those that hate thee. That this signifies the Lord’s spiritual kingdom derived from the marriage of good and truth in the Divine Human, to which kingdom pertain charity and faith where before were evil and falsity, may appear from what was said and explained above (n. 2851), where nearly the same words occur. That “seed” denotes those who are called the spiritual, thus in the universal sense all who constitute the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, or what is the same, that kingdom itself, is evident from the signification of “seed,” as being charity and faith (see n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940), and accordingly those who are in charity through faith (for that these are the spiritual, may be seen above, n. 2088, 2184, 2507, 2708, 2715, 2954; also that these have charity and faith from the marriage of good and truth in the Lord’s Divine Human, thus that they have salvation therefrom, n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834).

[2] In the Ancient Church this was a customary devout wish to a betrothed virgin, when she was going to be married: “Be thou for thousands of ten thousands, and may thy seed inherit the gate of thine enemies,” or of “them that hate thee;” but the wise ones of that church by these words understood spiritual things; namely, that when they entered into the marriage of good and truth, that is, when they were regenerate, then goods and truths would be fructified to thousands of ten thousands, that is, immeasurably; and that charity and faith would succeed in the place where evil and falsity were before; but when the wisdom of the Ancient Church expired, they then no longer received from this devout wish any spiritual sense, but a wholly worldly sense, namely, that the posterity might be innumerable, and that it might take possession of and inherit the land of the Gentiles. Pre-eminently did the descendants of Jacob so understand these words; and they confirmed themselves in so doing by the fact that they not only increased immensely, but also inherited the land, which was to them the gate of their enemies; not knowing that all these things were representative, that is, representative of the Lord’s celestial and spiritual kingdom, and that on the expulsion thence of evils and falsities there would succeed in their place good and truth; which meaning will clearly appear when of the Lord’s Divine mercy these representatives are opened.

[3] In particular, that is, with every man who becomes a kingdom of the Lord, the case also is this: Before he becomes this kingdom, that is, before he is being regenerated, he is inwardly nothing but evil and falsity; and infernal and diabolical spirits have possession of that which is called the “gate” (concerning which see n. 2851); but when he is becoming a kingdom of the Lord, that is, when he is being regenerated, then evils and falsities, or what is the same, infernal and diabolical spirits, are driven out, and good and truth enter and inherit that place; and then there is in him a conscience of good and truth. And as the case is in particular, so also is it in general. From all this it is evident what is meant in the internal sense by the above words.