4. As long as the mind confines itself to the sense of the letter alone one cannot possibly see that its contents are such. Take for instance these first sections of Genesis: From the sense of the letter the only subject matter people recognize is the creation of the world, and the Garden of Eden which is called Paradise, and Adam as the first man to be created. Who thinks anything different? The fact that these things contain arcana however which have never been revealed up to now will be sufficiently clear from what follows - especially clear from the fact that the subject of Genesis 1 is, in the internal sense, the NEW CREATION of man, that is, in general his REGENERATION, and in particular the Most Ancient Church. And the subject is presented in such a way that not the smallest part of any expression fails to have a representation, carry a spiritual meaning, or embody something within itself.

9162. 'When a man delivers to his companion an ass, or an ox, or a member of the flock, or any beast for safe keeping' means truth and good, exterior and interior, in the memory, and anything there belonging to an affection for them. This is clear from the meaning of 'ass', 'ox', and 'member of the flock' as truth, exterior and interior, dealt with above in 9135; from the meaning of 'beast' as an affection for good and truth, dealt with in 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714-716, 719, 1823, 2179, 2180, 2781, 3218, 3519, 5198, 7424, 7523, 9090; and from the meaning of 'being delivered for safe keeping' as being stored and held in the memory, dealt with above in 9149, 'man' [and] 'companion' being not two different persons but two [forms of truth] within a single person, 9149.