9371. THE INTERNAL SENSE.

Verses 1-2. And He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah, thou and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and bow yourselves afar off; and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah; and they shall not come near; and the people shall not come up with him. “And He said unto Moses,” signifies that which concerns the Word in general; “come up unto Jehovah,” signifies conjunction with the Lord; “thou and Aaron,” signifies the Word in the internal sense and the external sense; “Nadab and Abihu,” signifies doctrine from both senses; “and seventy of the elders of Israel,” signifies the chief truths of the church which are of the Word, or of doctrine, and which agree with good; “and bow yourselves afar off,” signifies humiliation and adoration from the heart, and then the influx of the Lord; “and Moses, he alone, shall come near unto Jehovah,” signifies the conjunction and presence of the Lord through the Word in general; “and they shall not come near,” signifies no separate conjunction and presence; “and the people shall not come up with him,” signifies no conjunction whatever with the external apart from the internal.

'A reed shaken with the wind,' as in Matthew 11:7, signifies the Word when explained at pleasure, because 'a reed' in the internal sense is truth in the extreme, like the Word is in the letter.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 9372; Matthew 11:8)

4722. Verses 18-22 And they saw him from a distance; and before he drew near to them they plotted against him, to put him to death. And they said, a man to his brother, Behold, that dreamer ¹ is coming. So now come, and let us kill him, and let us throw him into one of the pits, and let us say, An evil wild animal has devoured him; and we shall see what his dreams are going to be. And Reuben heard it and rescued him out of their hands, and said, Let us not strike him, [as to his] soul. ² And Reuben said to them, Do not shed blood; throw him into this pit in the wilderness and do not lay a hand on him - so that he might therefore rescue him out of their hands, to return him to his father.

'They saw him from a distance' means the Lord's Divine Human perceived remotely. 'And before he drew near to them they plotted against him, to put him to death' means that they desired to annihilate the Divine Spiritual which proceeded from the Lord's Divine Human. 'And they said, a man to his brother' means the thoughts held mutually by them. 'Behold, that dreamer is coming' means those futile ideas. 'So now come, and let us kill him' means an annihilation of the essential teaching regarding the Lord's Divine Human. 'And let us throw him into one of the pits' means among falsities. 'And let us say, An evil wild animal has devoured him' means a lie invented out of a life of evil desires. 'And we shall see what his dreams are going to be' means that declarations concerning Him were by their reckoning false ones and were seen by them as such. 'And Reuben heard it' means the Church's confession of faith in general. 'And rescued him out of their hands' means deliverance. 'And said, Let us not strike him, [as to his] soul' means that it must not be annihilated because it is the life of religion. 'And Reuben said to them' means an exhortation. 'Do not shed blood' means not to do violence to what is holy. 'Throw him into this pit in the wilderness'' means that for the time being they should conceal it among their falsities. 'And do not lay a hand on him' means, and should not do any violence to it. 'So that he might therefore rescue him out of their hands, to return him to his father' means so that it might lay claim to it for the Church.

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