3048. The servant took ten camels, of the camels of his lord, and departed. That this signifies general memory-knowledges in the natural man, is evident from the signification here of “servant,” as being the natural man (see above, n. 3019, 3020) and from the signification of “ten,” as being remains (that these are goods and truths with man stored up by the Lord, may be seen above, n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 1050, 1906, 2284; and that “ten,” or remains, when predicated of the Lord, are the Divine things which the Lord acquired for Himself, n. 1738, 1906); and also from the signification of “camels,” as being general memory-knowledges; and because these were Divine, or acquired by the Lord, it is said that they were “ten,” and then it is said that they were “camels, of the camels of his lord.” That he “departed,” signifies the initiation thereby which is treated of in this chapter.

[2] The subject here is the process of the conjunction of truth with good in the Lord’s Divine rational; first, the process of initiation (n. 3012-3013), the nature of which is described in a series; here, that the Lord separated in the natural man the things which were from Himself, that is, which were Divine, from those which were of the maternal. The things which were from Himself, or which were Divine, are the things by which the initiation was effected; and they are here the “ten camels, of the camels of his lord.” And hence it is that in the following verses much mention is made of “camels” as that he made the camels fall on their knees without the city (verse 11); that Rebekah also gave drink to the camels (verses 14, 19-20); that they were brought into the house, and that straw and provender were given them (verses 31-32); and further, that Rebekah and her girls rode upon the camels (verse 61); and that Isaac saw the camels coming; and when Rebekah saw Isaac, that she alighted off her camel (verses 63-64). Camels are mentioned so often because of the internal sense, in which they signify the general memory-knowledges in the natural man, from which comes the affection of truth which is to be initiated into the affection of good in the rational, and this in the usual way, as shown above; for the rational as to truth cannot possibly be born and perfected without memory-knowledges and knowledges.

[3] That “camels” signify general memory-knowledges is evident from other passages in the Word where they are mentioned, as in Isaiah:

The prophecy of the beasts of the south: In the land of straitness and distress; from whence come the young lion and the old lion, the viper and the flying fire serpent; they carry their riches upon the shoulder of young asses, and their treasures upon the hump of camels, to a people that shall not profit; for Egypt shall help in vain and to no purpose (Isaiah 30:6-7).

The “beasts of the south” denote those who are in the light of knowledges, or in knowledges, but in a life of evil; “carrying their riches upon the shoulder of young asses” denotes the knowledges pertaining to their rational (that a “young ass” is rational truth may be seen above, n. 2781); “their treasures upon the hump of camels,” denotes the knowledges pertaining to their natural; the camels’ “hump” is what is natural; the “camels” themselves signify the general memory-knowledges which are there; the “treasures” are the knowledges which they hold as precious; that “Egypt shall help in vain and to no purpose” denotes that memory-knowledges are of no use to them; that “Egypt” is memory-knowledge may be seen above (n. 1164-1165, 1186, 1462, 2588 the end). That “camels” here are not camels is plain; for it is said “the young lion and the old lion carry their treasures upon the hump of camels”; and anyone can see that some arcanum of the church is hereby signified.

[4] Again:

The prophecy of the wilderness of the sea: Thus hath the Lord said, Go, set a watchman; let him declare what he seeth: and he saw a chariot, a pair of horsemen, a chariot of an ass, a chariot of a camel, and he hearkened diligently. And he answered and said, Babel is fallen, is fallen (Isaiah 21:1, 6-7, 9).

The “wilderness of the sea” here denotes the emptiness of memory-knowledges that are not for use; a “chariot of an ass,” a collection of particular memory-knowledges; a “chariot of a camel,” a collection of general memory-knowledges in the natural man. It is the empty reasonings with those signified by “Babel” which are thus described.

[5] Again:

Thy heart shall be enlarged because the multitude of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the wealth of the nations shall come unto thee. The abundance of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah (Isaiah 60:5-6).

This is concerning the Lord, and concerning the Divine celestial and spiritual things in His natural: the “multitude of the sea” denotes the immense supply of natural truth; the “wealth of the nations,” the immense supply of natural good; the “abundance of camels,” the abundant supply of general memory-knowledges; “gold and frankincense,” goods and truths, which are the “praises of Jehovah;” “from Sheba” is from the celestial things of love and faith (see n. 113, 117, 1171). That:

The queen of Sheba came to Solomon to Jerusalem with exceeding great riches, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones (1 Kings 10:1-2)

represented the wisdom and intelligence which came to the Lord, who in the internal sense here is “Solomon.” The “camels bearing spices, gold, and precious stones” are the things of wisdom and intelligence in the natural man.

[6] In Jeremiah:

To Arabia, and to the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel smote: Arise ye, go up to Arabia, and lay waste the sons of the East. Their tents shall they take, and they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels. And their camels shall be a booty, and I will scatter them to every wind (Jeremiah 49:28-29, 32).

Here “Arabia and the kingdoms of Hazor,” in the opposite sense, denote those who are in knowledges of celestial and spiritual things, but for the end of no other use than that they may be esteemed wise and intelligent by themselves and the world; the “camels which should be taken away from them, and should be for a booty, and should be scattered to every wind,” are in general the memory-knowledges and the knowledges of good and truth which are also taken away from them in the life of the body by their believing contrary things, and in the other life wholly.

[7] In Zechariah:

And this shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah will smite all the peoples that shall fight against Jerusalem; thus shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of every beast (Zech. 14:12, 15).

Here the “plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass,” denotes the privation of intellectual things, which thus succeed in order from rational things to natural things (what is meant by the “horse,” may be seen above, n. 2761, 2762; what by the “mule” n. 2781; and what by the “ass,” n. 2781); “camels” denote the general memory-knowledges in the natural man. The like was signified by the murrain in Egypt, which was “Upon the cattle in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels,cupon herd and upon flock” (Exodus 9:2-3).

[8] From these passages it is evident that by “camels” in the internal sense of the Word are signified the general memory-knowledges of the natural man. General memory-knowledges are those which include in themselves many particulars, and these singulars; and they form in general the natural man as to the intellectual part of it.

9323. And He shall bless thy bread, and thy waters. That this signifies the increase of the good of love and truth of faith, is evident from the signification of “being blessed by Jehovah,” as being to be made fruitful in goods, and multiplied in truths (see n. 2846, 3406, 4981, 6091, 6099, 8939), thus increase in such things as belong to love and faith; from the signification of “bread,” as being the good of love (see n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 6118, 8410); and from the signification of “water,” as being the truth of faith (n. 680, 739, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 6346, 7307, 8568). As “bread” signified all the good of love, and “water” all the truth of faith, in the complex, and as “to be blessed of Jehovah” signifies all increase in these, therefore it was a customary devout wish in the Ancient Churches that Jehovah would “bless the bread and the water;” and it was also a common form of speaking to say “bread and water,” to express all natural food and all natural drink, and to mean thereby all spiritual good and all spiritual truth; for these are what nourish the spiritual life, as bread and water nourish the natural life (see n. 4976).

[2] Such is the signification of “bread and water” in the following passages.

In Isaiah:

Behold Jehovah Zebaoth doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the whole staff of bread, and the whole staff of water (Isaiah 3:1);

“the staff of bread” denotes power and life from good; and “the staff of water,” power and life from truth.

In Ezekiel:

Behold, I break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; that they may eat bread by weight, and in disquiet; and drink water by measure, and with amazement; that they may be in want of bread and water, and be desolated a man and his brother, and pine away because of their iniquity (Ezekiel 4:16-17).

That “to be in want of bread and water” denotes to be deprived of the good of love and truth of faith, is very evident; for it is said “that they may be desolated a man and his brother, and pine away because of iniquity.”

[3] In like manner in the same:

They shall eat their bread with disquiet, and drink their water with amazement, that the land may be laid waste from the fullness thereof, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein (Ezekiel 12:19).

Behold the days come that I will send a famine in the land; not a famine for bread, nor a thirst for water; but for hearing the words of Jehovah (Amos 8:11).

The man of God said to Jeroboam, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place; for so Jehovah commanded, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way that thou camest. But the prophet from Bethel told him that Jehovah had said that he should eat bread with him, and drink water, lying unto him. And he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house and drink water; wherefore he was torn in pieces by a lion (1 Kings 13:8-9, 16-19, 24).

That he “should not eat bread and drink water with Jeroboam” signified that he should abhor the good there, and also the truth, because these had been profaned; for Jeroboam profaned the altar and all the holy things of worship, as is plain from the historical narrative of the Word in that chapter.

[4] The lack of spiritual good and truth was signified by rain not being given for three years and a half during the reign of Ahab, insomuch that bread and water failed; and then Elijah went to a widow in Sarepta and asked from her a little water to drink, and a morsel of bread to eat (1 Kings 17 an. 18); for, as before said, by “bread” was signified all the good of the church, and by “water” all the truth of the church. As at that time such things were represented because the representative of a church existed among them, and because the Word, even the historical Word, was to be written by representatives, therefore the devastation of good and truth was represented by a lack of bread and water. As “bread” signified all the good of love in the complex, the sacrifices were called “bread” (n. 2165); and the Lord also calls Himself “the bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:48, 50-51); for the Lord is the good of love itself.