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:

10280. 'And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying' means instruction given to those who belong to the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'the children of Israel' as the Church, dealt with in the places referred to in 9340; and from the meaning of 'speaking' and 'saying', when what is said comes from Jehovah, as instruction, dealt with in 6879, 6881, 6883, 6891, 7186, 7226, 7241, 7267, 7304, 7380, 7517, 8127.