5200. 'And fat-fleshed' means which are embodiments of charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'fat' or 'fatness' as that which is celestial and which is used here to refer to good which flows from love and charity, dealt with in 353; and from the meaning of 'flesh' as the will part of the mind when made living by good received from the Lord, 148, 149, 780, 999, 3812, 3813, and thus also good which flows from love and charity. From this it follows that 'fat-fleshed' means matters of charity, while 'beautiful in appearance' means matters of faith. Thus the truths belonging to the natural, meant by 'the cows', are described here - what they are so far as form is concerned and what they are essentially. In form they are matters of faith, in essence they are matters of charity. The truth of this cannot be seen from the sense of the letter.

3795. 'For she was a shepherdess' or one who feeds the flock means that the affection for interior truth contained in the Word is that which teaches. This is clear from the meaning of 'a shepherd' or one who feeds the flock ¹ as one who leads and teaches, dealt with in 343, and from the representation of Rachel, to whom 'she' refers here, as the affection for interior truth, dealt with just above in 3793. The reason why interior truth is said to come from the Word is that it was the well to which Rachel came with the flock - 'a well' meaning the Word, see 3765. What is more, it is the affection for interior truth that teaches, for it is by virtue of that affection that the Church is the Church and a shepherd or pastor is a pastor. The reason 'a shepherd' and one who feeds the flock means in the Word those who lead and teach is that 'the flock' means those who are led and taught, and therefore means Churches and also the doctrines which a Church teaches, 3767, 3768, 3783. The fact that shepherd or pastor and flock have these meanings is very well known in the Christian world, for these are the terms used for those who teach and those who learn. It is therefore superfluous to confirm these points from the Word.

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