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.

3052. 'To the city of Nahor' means kindred matters of doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'a city' as doctrine, dealt with in 402, 2449, and from the representation of 'Nahor' as that which is kindred; for Nahor was Abram's brother, from whom Bethuel descended, and from him Rebekah. Facts and matters of doctrine are distinct and separate from each other in that matters of doctrine are formed out of facts. Matters of doctrine look to a use and are acquired through reflecting on facts. They are called kindred here because of their derivation from things that are Divine.