9817. And thou shalt speak unto all the wise in heart. That this signifies the influx of the Lord through the Word into all who are in the good of love, is evident from the signification of “speaking,” as being influx (see n. 2951, 5481, 5743, 5797, 7270); and from the signification of “the wise in heart,” as being those who are in the good of love (of which in what follows). That the influx of the Lord through the Word is signified, is because the Lord flows in with the man of the church chiefly through the Word. The reason is that the Word is of such a nature that each and all things therein correspond to the Divine spiritual and Divine celestial things that are in the heavens; whence there is a communication of the affections and thoughts of man with the angels, insomuch that they are as it were a one. From this it is that the world is conjoined with heaven through the Word; but only with those who are in the good of faith and of love. From all this it can be seen that the influx of the Lord with the man of the church is through the Word; for in the heavens the Lord is everything, because the Divine which proceeds from Him and is received by the angels makes heaven.

[2] The reason why “the wise in heart” denote those who are in the good of love, is that wisdom is predicated of the life of heaven in man, and also that by “the heart” is signified the good of love. The life of heaven in man is expressed in the Word by “spirit” and by “heart;” by “spirit” is meant the life of man’s intellectual part, and by “heart” the life of his will part. To the intellectual part belongs truth, and to the will part belongs good. Truth belongs to faith, and good to love; for the understanding receives the truths which are of faith, and the will the goods which are of love. From this it is plain that by “the wise in heart” are signified those who are in the good of love from the Lord. The good of love is celestial good, through which is spiritual good; and spiritual good is that which covers celestial good, as garments cover the body. And as by the garments of Aaron was represented the spiritual kingdom of the Lord joined to His celestial kingdom, and the former comes forth through the latter, therefore it is here said that “the wise in heart,” that is, they who are in the good of love from the Lord, “shall make the garments for Aaron and his sons” (as in what follows). (That “the heart” denotes the good of love, or celestial good, see n. 3635, 3880, 3883-3896, 9050; and that on this account it denotes the will, n. 2930, 3888, 7542, 8910, 9113, 9300, 9495)

3246. And to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts. That this signifies the spiritual adopted by the Lord’s Divine Human, that they have allotted places in His spiritual kingdom, is evident from the signification of the “sons of the concubines,” as denoting those who are spiritual (concerning whom in what follows); from the representation here of Abraham, as being the Lord’s Divine Human; so that by the words “which Abraham had,” is signified that they (namely, the spiritual) were adopted by the Lord’s Divine Human; and from the signification of the “gifts” which Abraham gave them, as being allotted places in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom.

[2] From what has already been shown in several places (as n. 3235, and elsewhere) concerning those who constitute the Lord’s spiritual kingdom and are called the spiritual, it can be seen that they are not sons born of the marriage itself of good and truth, but of a certain covenant not so conjugial; they are indeed from the same father, but not from the same mother; that is, they are from the same Divine good, but not from the same Divine truth. For as the celestial are from the very marriage of good and truth, they have good and thence truth; wherefore they never inquire what is true, but perceive it from good; and they discourse not about truth beyond affirming that it is so-according to what the Lord teaches in Matthew:

Let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, Nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matthew 5:37); whereas the spiritual, because they are from a covenant not so conjugial, do not know from any perception what truth is, but call that true which they have been told to be so by parents and masters; and therefore in them there is not the marriage of good and truth; but still the truth which they thus believe is adopted by the Lord for truth when they are in the good of life (concerning this see n. 1832). Therefore it is that those who are spiritual are here called the “sons of the concubines,” and by these are meant all the sons of Keturah hitherto enumerated, and also the sons of Hagar, who will be named immediately below, from the twelfth to the eighteenth verse.

[3] In former times, in order that both the celestial and the spiritual might be represented in marriages, it was permissible for a man to have a concubine in addition to a wife; such concubine being given to the husband by the wife, and she was then called his “woman,” or was said to be “given to him for a woman,” as when Hagar the Egyptian was given to Abraham by Sarah (Genesis 16:3); when Bilhah the handmaid was given by Rachel to Jacob (Genesis 30:4), and the handmaid Zilpah to Jacob by Leah (Genesis 30:9). They are there called “women,” but elsewhere they are called “concubines,” as Hagar the Egyptian in this verse, and Bilhah in Genesis 35:22, also Keturah herself in 1 Chronicles 1:32.

[4] That those ancients had concubines besides a wife, as was the case not only with Abraham and Jacob, but also with their descendants, as Gideon (Judges 8:31), Saul (2 Samuel 3:7), David (2 Samuel 5:13; 15:16), and Solomon (1 Kings 11:3), was of permission, for the sake of the representation, namely, of the celestial church by a wife, and of the spiritual church by a concubine: this was of permission because they were such that they had no conjugial love, neither was marriage to them marriage, but only a carnal coupling for the sake of procreating offspring. To such there might be permissions without injury to conjugial love, and consequently to its covenant; but never to those who are in good and truth, and who are or can become internal men; for as soon as man is in good and truth, and in things internal, such things cease. For this reason it is not allowable for Christians, as it was for the Jews, to take to themselves a concubine together with a wife, for this is adultery. That the spiritual were adopted by the Lord’s Divine Human, may be seen from what has been stated and shown before on the same subject (n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834).