1481. Verse 15 And Pharaoh's princes saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house.

'Pharaoh's princes saw' means the first and foremost commandments, which are 'pharaoh's princes'. 'And they praised her to Pharaoh' means that they were pleasing. 'And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house' means that they sought to capture the mind (animus).

9412. 'And ate and drank' means being told about the good and truth of worship. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as being joined to and making good their own, dealt with in 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 3832, 4745, 5643; and from the meaning of 'drinking' as being joined to and making truth their own, dealt with in 3089, 3168, 4017, 4018, 5709, 8562. The reason why being told about is also meant - that is to say, being told about good is meant by 'eating', and being told about truth by 'drinking' - is that spiritual food consists in every good of faith that is a source of wisdom, while spiritual drink consists in every truth of faith that is a source of intelligence, 56-58, 681, 1480, 3069, 3114, 3168, 3772, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5487, 5576, 5579, 5582, 5588, 5655, 5915, 8562, 9003. This explains why feasts, banquets, midday meals, and suppers were instituted among the ancients, to the end that such good and truth belonging to wisdom and intelligence might bind them into fellowship with one another, 3596, 3832, 5161, 7836, 7996, 7997.

[2] It also explains why banquets, midday meals, and suppers in the Word mean instances of being bound together in faith and love, as in Matthew,

Many will come from the east and the west and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 8:11.

In Luke,

Jesus said to the disciples, You will eat and drink at My table in My kingdom. Luke 22:30.

In the same gospel,

Blessed are the servants whom the Lord comes and finds watching. Truly, I say to you that He will gird Himself and make them sit down, and He Himself will come and minister to them. Luke 12:37.

In John,

The disciples asked Jesus, saying, Master, eat. But He said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know. John 4:31-32.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. John 6:51.

Heavenly bread is plainly meant here. Heavenly bread consists in all the good of love and faith which comes from the Lord, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915, 6118, 9323.

[3] The fact that being told about the good and truth of faith is meant by 'eating and drinking' is clear from the following places: In Luke,

Then you will begin to say, We ate in Your presence and we drank; and You taught in our streets. But He will say, I say to you, I do not know where you come from; depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity. Luke 13:26-27.

'Eating and drinking in the Lord's presence' stands for giving instruction from the Word regarding forms of the good and the truths of faith. 'Teaching in the streets' stands for preaching truths from the Lord's Word, for in former times preaching took place in the streets, because truths composing the teachings of the Church are meant by 'the streets', 2336.

[4] In Isaiah,

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money on that which is not bread, and your labour on that which does not satisfy? Pay thorough attention to Me and eat what is good, that your soul may delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live. Lo, I have given Him as a witness to the peoples, a Prince and Lawgiver to the peoples. ¹ Isaiah 55:1-5.

Here it is evident that 'drinking' and 'eating' mean being told things by the Lord, and that 'the waters', 'wine', 'milk', 'bread', and 'fatness' are forms of the truth and the good of faith which come from Him, for it says, 'Incline your ear, come to Me; hear, that your soul may live. Lo, I have given Him as a witness to the peoples, a Prince and a Lawgiver to the peoples'.

[5] In Ezekiel,

Behold, I am breaking the rod of bread in Jerusalem, so that they may eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and with dismay, and may be in want of bread and water, and waste away on account of their iniquity. Ezekiel 4:16-17.

'Eating bread' and 'drinking water' stand for receiving instruction in forms of the good and the truths of faith, 9323. Something similar occurs in Amos,

Behold, the days are going to come, in which I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah. Amos 8:11.

'A famine of bread' and 'a thirst for water' are a scarcity and lack of the cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, see 3364, 4958, 5277, 5279, 5281, 5300, 5360, 5376, 5415, 5568, 5579, 5893, 6110, 8576. All this now makes clear what the meaning is of the words which say that the disciples' eyes were opened and they recognized the Lord when the Lord broke the bread and gave it to them, Luke 24:29-31. For in the spiritual world 'breaking the bread and giving it to them' means instructing them in the good and truth of faith, by means of which the Lord is seen. It also makes clear what the meaning is of 'the bread and wine' and 'eating and drinking' in the Holy Supper, and what the meaning is of the Lord's words to the disciples, after He had instituted that Supper, that He would not drink of that fruit of the vine until the day when He would drink it new with them in the Father's kingdom, Matthew 26:26-29. The reason why 'eating and drinking' means being told about the good and truth of worship is that after they had offered sacrifices they also ate and drank from them, and sacrifices represented all worship in general, 9391.

Footnotes:

4189. 'Now come, let us make a covenant, I and you, [and let it be a witness between me and you]' means a joining of the Divine Natural to works inherently good that are done by people on the sidelines, that is, by the gentiles. This is clear from the meaning of 'a covenant' as a joining together, dealt with in 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021; from the representation of Laban here, to whom 'I' refers, as works that are inherently good, dealt with below; and from the representation of Jacob, to whom 'you' refers here, as the Divine Natural.

[2] The reason why 'Laban' here means works inherently good that are done by people on the sidelines, that is, by the gentiles, is that now Laban has been separated from Jacob, that is, intermediate good from the Divine good of the Natural, he is no longer able to represent intermediate good. But since he has served as a means he therefore represents some good - to be exact, good on the sidelines, or a parallel good. For prior to his becoming joined thus to Jacob 'Laban' represented that parallel good, see 3612, 3665, 3778. He therefore means good that is on the sidelines, the nature of which good however is to be discussed below. The situation with Laban is similar to that with Lot and that with Ishmael. As long as Lot was with Abraham he represented the Lord as regards the external sensory man, 1428, 1434, 1547, 1597, 1598, 1698. But once he was separated from Abraham he represented those whose worship was external but who nevertheless had charity, 2317, 2324, 2371, 2399, as well as representing many consecutive states of the Church, 2422, 2459.

[3] As long as Ishmael likewise was with Abraham he represented the Lord's first rational, 1893, 1949-1951; but after that, once he was separated from him, he represented those who were spiritual, 2078, 2691, 2699, 3263, 3268. And the situation involving Laban is similar, for the reason that although separation had taken place, intermediate good was still joined to the Divine Natural, yet not in the way it had been previously. This is why in this verse and in those immediately following 'Laban' represents works that are inherently good, such as are performed by people on the sidelines, that is, by gentiles. Gentiles are said to be on the sidelines, or to be governed by a parallel good, because they are outside the Church. Those within the Church who are governed by good and truth do not belong to a parallel line but to the direct line of descent since they possess the Word, and by means of the Word they have a direct communication with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord. This is not so with gentiles since they do not have the Word and do not know the Lord. That is why they are said to be on the sidelines. But those particular gentiles are meant here who do works that are inherently good, that is, who perform deeds of an external nature which have the good of charity within them. Their deeds are not called good works but works that are inherently so. For though it cannot be so in the case of works that are inherently good, good works can be devoid of any good within them.