Arcana Coelestia #872
872. 'The face 1 of the ground' means those things that reside with the member of the Church, and the expression 'the ground' is used because it is the first stage at which man comes to be the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ground', dealt with already, as the member of the Church who is at that point called 'the ground' when the goods and truths of faith can be sown within him. Previously he is called 'the land', as in Genesis 1 where 'the land' refers to man prior to his becoming celestial, while Chapter 2, when he has become celestial, refers to him as 'the ground' and 'the field'. It is similar in the present chapter. The expression 'the land' and the expression 'the ground' are sufficient by themselves to enable someone to recognize what is meant in the internal sense, not only here but also anywhere else in the Word. 'The ground' in the universal sense means the Church, and as the Church is meant so too is the member of the Church for, as stated already, every member of the Church is the Church.
Footnotes:
1. literally, The faces
Arcana Coelestia #3058
3058. The reason 'drawing water' means instruction and also consequent enlightenment, as in later verses of this chapter, is that 'water in the internal sense means the truths of faith, 2702. Thus 'drawing water' is nothing else than receiving instruction in the truths of faith and so being enlightened, as is also the meaning elsewhere in the Word, as in Isaiah,
With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation, and [you will say] or that day, Confess Jehovah. Isaiah 12:3-4.
'Drawing water' stands for receiving instruction, having intelligence, and being wise. In the same prophet,
To the thirsty bring water, O inhabitants of the land of Tema. Isaiah 21:14.
'Bringing water to the thirsty' stands for giving instruction. In the same prophet,
The wretched and the needy are seeking water, and there is none; their tongue is parched with thirst. Isaiah 41:17.
'Those seeking water' stands for those desiring instruction in truths, 'and there is none' stands for the fact that nobody had any. In addition 'drawers of water' in the Jewish Church represented those who constantly seek to know truths but to no other end than just knowing them, and who consequently pay no attention to their purpose. Such persons were rated among the lowest of all. The Gibeonites mentioned in Joshua 9:21, 23, 27, represented them.
