56. Verse 29 And God said, Behold, I give you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face ¹ of the whole earth, and every tree in which there is fruit, the tree producing seed will be for you for food. A celestial man takes delight in none but celestial things, and because these suit his life they are called celestial food. A spiritual man takes delight in spiritual things, and because they suit his life they are called spiritual food. The same applies to a natural man and natural things, and because they suit his life they too are called food, and are chiefly facts. Here, since the subject is the spiritual man, his spiritual food is described by representatives, that is to say, spiritual food is represented by 'the plant yielding seed' and by 'the tree in which there is fruit', which in general are called 'the tree producing seed'. His natural food is described in the next verse.

Footnotes:

7153. 'And you shall deliver the tally of bricks' means the falsities which are to be introduced in abundance. This is clear from what has been stated above in 7116, where similar words occur. Such then are the [arcana] which these verses contain in the internal sense, things which perhaps seem to man to be of little importance and also unconnected with one another. Nevertheless each one is essential to the subject that is being dealt with; and all hang together in a very beautiful way. Angels perceive this to be true, for they see in the light of heaven the ways in which things follow one another and are linked together, and they see countless arcana formed out of interior truths, which gives those things a very beautiful and very lovely appearance. Man cannot do the same thing at all because interior truths are hidden from him. Nor therefore can he connect together the details contained in these verses; it seems to him as though they are disjointed, which is why, as has been stated, they seem to him to be of little importance.