3440. And I will bless thee, and will multiply thy seed. That this signifies that thence would be an increase of good and truth, is evident from the signification of “blessing thee,” as being an increase of good (n. 3406); and from the signification of “multiplying thy seed” as being an increase of truth (n. 43, 55, 913, 983, 2846, 2847; that “seed” denotes truth, of which “multiplying” is predicated, may be seen above, n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 2848, 3038, 3373, 3380). That there is an increase of good and truth with man from the literal sense of the Word also, is that in this sense also each and all things are Divine, as just stated (n. 3439), and also because in many passages of the literal sense the internal sense is open; as for instance in the Prophets of the Old Testament that the Lord would come who would be the salvation of the human race; that the whole Law and Prophets consist in loving God and the neighbor; and that “to kill” is to bear hatred, because the man who hates kills every moment, this being in his will and in the delight of his life. These are of the internal sense in the literal sense, besides many other such things.

43. Verse 22. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and the fowl shall be multiplied in the earth. Everything that has in itself life from the Lord fructifies and multiplies itself immensely; not so much while the man lives in the body, but to an amazing degree in the other life. To “be fruitful” in the Word, is predicated of the things that are of love, and to “multiply” of the things that are of faith; the “fruit” which is of love contains “seed” by which it so greatly multiplies itself. The Lord’s “blessing” also in the Word signifies fructification and multiplication, because they proceed from it. verse 23. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.