9372. And He said unto Moses. That this signifies that which concerns the Word in general, is evident from the representation of Moses, as being the Word (of which below); and from the signification of “He said,” as involving those things which follow in this chapter, thus those which concern the Word (see n. 9370). (That Moses represents the Word, can be seen from what has been often shown before about Moses, as from the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 4859, 5922, 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382, 8601, 8760, 8787, 8805.) Here Moses represents the Word in general, because it is said of him in what follows, that he alone should come near unto Jehovah (verse 2); and also that, being called unto out of the midst of the cloud, he entered into it, and went up the mount (verses 16-18).

[2] In the Word there are many who represent the Lord in respect to truth Divine, or in respect to the Word; but chief among them are Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist. That Moses does so, can be seen in the explications just cited above; that so do Elijah and Elisha, can be seen in the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 2762, 5247; and that John the Baptist does so is evident from the fact that he was “Elias who was to come.” He who does not know that John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, cannot know what all those things infold and signify which are said about him in the New Testament; and therefore in order that this secret may stand open, and that at the same time it may appear that Elias, and also Moses, who were seen when the Lord was transfigured, signified the Word, some things may here be quoted which are spoken about John the Baptist; as in Matthew:

After the messengers of John had departed, Jesus began to speak concerning John, saying, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed shaken by the wind? But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft things are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, even more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold I send Mine angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee. Verily I say unto you, Among those who are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist; nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he. All the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye are willing to believe, he is Elias who was to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (Matthew 11:7-15; and also Luke 7:24-28).

No one can know how these things are to be understood, unless he knows that this John represented the Lord as to the Word, and unless he also knows from the internal sense what is signified by “the wilderness” in which he was, also what by “a reed shaken by the wind,” and likewise by “soft raiment in kings’ houses;” and further what is signified by his being “more than a prophet,” and by “none among those who are born of women being greater than he, and nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he,” and lastly by his being “Elias.” For without a deeper sense, all these words are uttered merely from some comparison, and not from anything of weight.

[3] But it is very different when by John is understood the Lord as to the Word, or the Word representatively. Then by “the wilderness of Judea in which John was” is signified the state in which the Word was at the time when the Lord came into the world, namely, that it was “in the wilderness,” that is, it was in obscurity so great that the Lord was not at all acknowledged, neither was anything known about His heavenly kingdom; when yet all the prophets prophesied about Him, and about His kingdom, that it was to endure forever. (That “a wilderness” denotes such obscurity, see n. 2708, 4736, 7313.) For this reason the Word is compared to “a reed shaken by the wind” when it is explained at pleasure; for in the internal sense “a reed” denotes truth in the ultimate, such as is the Word in the letter.

[4] That the Word in the ultimate, or in the letter, is crude and obscure in the sight of men; but that in the internal sense it is soft and shining, is signified by their “not seeing a man clothed in soft raiment, for behold those who wear soft things are in kings’ houses.” That such things are signified by these words, is plain from the signification of “raiment,” or “garments,” as being truths (n. 2132, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 6914, 6918, 9093); and for this reason the angels appear clothed in garments soft and shining according to the truths from good with them (n. 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216). The same is evident from the signification of “kings’ houses,” as being the abodes of the angels, and in the universal sense, the heavens; for “houses” are so called from good (n. 2233, 2234, 3128, 3652, 3720, 4622, 4982, 7836, 7891, 7996, 7997); and “kings,” from truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 6148). Therefore by virtue of their reception of truth from the Lord, the angels are called “sons of the kingdom,” “sons of the king,” and also “kings.”

[5] That the Word is more than any doctrine in the world, and more than any truth in the world, is signified by “what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet;” and by, “there hath not arisen among those who are born of women a greater than John the Baptist;” for in the internal sense “a prophet” denotes doctrine (n. 2534, 7269); and “those who are born,” or are the sons, “of women” denote truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3704, 4257).

[6] That in the internal sense, or such as it is in heaven, the Word is in a degree above the Word in the external sense, or such as it is in the world, and such as John the Baptist taught, is signified by, “he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he;” for as perceived in heaven the Word is of wisdom so great that it transcends all human apprehension. That the prophecies about the Lord and His coming, and that the representatives of the Lord and of His kingdom, ceased when the Lord came into the world, is signified by, “all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” That the Word was represented by John, as by Elijah, is signified by his being “Elias who is to come.”

[7] The same is signified by these words in Matthew:

The disciples asked Jesus, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? He answered and said, Elias must needs first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias hath come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them. And they understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13).

That “Elias hath come, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished” signifies that the Word has indeed taught them that the Lord is to come, but that still they did not wish to comprehend, interpreting it in favor of the rule of self, and thus extinguishing what is Divine in it. That they would do the same with the truth Divine itself, is signified by “even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them.” (That “the Son of man” denotes the Lord as to truth Divine, see n. 2803, 2813, 3704)

[8] From all this it is now evident what is meant by the prophecy about John in Malachi:

Behold I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh (Malachi 4:5).

Moreover, the Word in the ultimate, or such as it is in the external form in which it appears before man in the world, is described by the “clothing” and “food” of John the Baptist, in Matthew:

John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, had His clothing of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:1, 4).

In like manner it is described by Elijah in the second book of Kings:

He was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins (2 Kings 1:8).

By “clothing,” or a “garment,” when said of the Word, is signified truth Divine there in the ultimate form; by “camel’s hair” are signified memory-truths such as appear there before a man in the world; by the “leathern girdle” is signified the external bond connecting and keeping in order all the interior things; by “food” is signified spiritual nourishment from the knowledges of truth and of good out of the Word; by “locusts” are signified ultimate or most general truths; and by “wild honey” their pleasantness.

[9] That such things are signified by “clothing” and “food” has its origin in the representatives of the other life, where all appear clothed according to truths from good, and where food also is represented according to the desires of acquiring knowledge and growing wise. From this it is that “clothing,” or a “garment,” denotes truth (as may be seen from the citations above; and that “food” or “meat” denotes spiritual nourishment, n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562, 9003; that “a girdle” denotes a bond which gathers up and holds together interior things, n. 9341; that “leather” denotes what is external, n. 3540; and thus “a leathern girdle” denotes an external bond; that “hairs” denote ultimate or most general truths, n. 3301, 5569-5573; that “a camel” denotes memory-knowledge in general, n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145, 4156; that “a locust” denotes nourishing truth in the extremes, n. 7643; and that “honey” denotes the pleasantness thereof, n. 5620, 6857, 8056). It is called “wild honey,” or “honey of the field,” because by “a field” is signified the church (n. 2971, 3317, 3766, 7502, 7571, 9139, 9295). He who does not know that such things are signified, cannot possibly know why Elijah and John were so clothed. And yet that these things signified something peculiar to these prophets, can be thought by everyone who thinks well about the Word.

[10] Because John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, therefore also when he spoke of the Lord, who was the Word itself, he said of himself that he was “not Elias, nor the prophet,” and that he was “not worthy to loose the latchet of the Lord’s shoe,” as in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The Jews from Jerusalem, priests and Levites, asked John who he was. And he confessed, and denied not, I am not the Christ. Therefore they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? But he said, I am not. Art thou the prophet? He answered, No. They said therefore unto him, Who art thou? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet. They said therefore, Why then baptizest thou, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? He answered, I baptize with water; in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not; He it is who is to come after me, who was before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose. When he saw Jesus, he said, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man who was before me; for he was before me (John 1:1, 14, 19-30).

From these words it is plain that when John spoke about the Lord Himself, who was Truth Divine itself, or the Word, he said that he himself was not anything, because the shadow disappears when the light itself appears, that is, the representative disappears when the original itself makes its appearance. (That the representatives had in view holy things, and the Lord Himself, and not at all the person that represented, see n. 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4307, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.) One who does not know that representatives vanish like shadows at the presence of light, cannot know why John denied that he was Elias and the prophet.

[11] From all this it can now be seen what is signified by Moses and Elias, who were seen in glory, and who spoke with the Lord when transfigured, of His departure which He should accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:29-31); namely, that they signified the Word (“Moses” the historic Word, and “Elias” the prophetic Word), which in the internal sense throughout treats of the Lord, of His coming into the world, and of His departure out of the world; and therefore it is said that “Moses and Elias were seen in glory,” for “glory” denotes the internal sense of the Word, and the “cloud” its external sense (see the preface to Genesis 18, and n. 5922, 8427).

3143. And there is room for the camels. That this signifies a state for all things that would be serviceable to Him, is evident from the signification of “room,” as being state (see above, n. 1273-1277, 1376-1381, 2625); and from the signification of “camels,” as being general memory-knowledges (see n. 3048, 3071). That these are things for service may be seen above (n. 1486, 3019, 3020); for all things that belong to the natural man are for no other use than to serve the spiritual; wherefore also menservants, maidservants, camels, and asses, in the internal sense chiefly signify the things which belong to the natural man.

6108. Verses 13-26 And there was no bread in all the land, for the famine was extremely serious; and the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished from the presence of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the silver found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they were buying; and Joseph caused the silver to come to Pharaoh's house. And when the silver was used up in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all Egypt came to Joseph, saying, Give us bread; and why should we die near by you because the silver is lacking? And Joseph said, Give your livestock, and I will give you [bread] in exchange for your livestock, if the silver is lacking. And they caused their livestock to come to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for livestock of the flock, and for livestock of the herd, and for asses; and he provided them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year. And that year ended, and they came to him in the second year, and said to him, We will not hide from [my] lord, that since the silver has been used up and the livestock of the beasts has passed to [my] lord, nothing is left before [my] lord apart from our bodies and our ground. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our ground? Buy us and our ground for bread, and we will live, and our ground, as Pharaoh's slaves; and give us seed so that we may live and not die, and the ground may not become a waste. And Joseph bought all the ground of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold, each one his field, because the famine overwhelmed them; and the land was Pharaoh's. And the people, he transferred them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt to the other end of it. Only the ground of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed portion from Pharaoh and ate their fixed portion which Pharaoh had given them; therefore they did not sell their ground. And Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have bought you today, and your ground, for Pharaoh; look, here is seed for you, and you may sow the ground. And so it will be at ingatherings, ¹ that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four portions shall be yours, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for those in your households, and for food for your young children. And they said, You have bestowed life on us; let us find favour in the eyes of [my] lord, and we will be Pharaoh's slaves. And Joseph made it a statute even to this day regarding the ground of Egypt, that a fifth went to Pharaoh. Only the ground of the priests, theirs alone, did not belong to Pharaoh.

'And there was no bread in all the land' means that good was not apparent any longer. 'For the famine was extremely serious' means desolation. 'And the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished from the presence of the famine' means that this was so in the natural [where factual knowledge resides], and within the Church. 'And Joseph gathered up all the silver' means all factual knowledge that held truth in it and was appropriate. 'Found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan' means that was present in the natural and in the Church. 'For the corn which they were buying' means that they were to be sustained by this. 'And Joseph caused the silver to come to Pharaoh's house' means that factual knowledge was brought into association with the general whole within the natural. 'And when the silver was used up in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan' means that factual knowledge that held truth in it and was appropriate could be seen no longer in the natural or within the Church on account of the desolation. 'And all Egypt came to Joseph' means a turning to the internal. 'Saying, Give us bread' means a plea for the sustainment of spiritual life. 'And why should we die near by you because the silver is lacking?' means that otherwise spiritual death takes place because of the lack of truth. 'And Joseph said' means the internal from which the response came. 'Give your livestock, and I will give you [bread] in exchange for your livestock' means that they were to offer forms of the good of truth and would be sustained. 'If the silver is lacking' means if truth could no longer be seen by them. 'And they caused their livestock to come to Joseph' means that forms of the good of truth were offered. 'And Joseph gave them bread' means the sustainment of spiritual life. 'In exchange for horses' means factual knowledge supplied from the understanding. 'And for livestock of the flock and for livestock of the herd' means forms of the good of truth, interior and exterior ones. 'And for asses' means things of a subservient nature. 'And he provided them with bread in exchange for all their livestock' means the sustainment by means of an influx of good from the internal. 'That year' means the period covered by that state. 'And that year ended' means the desolation that followed the period covered by this state. 'And they came to him in the second year' means the beginning of the next state. 'And said to him, We will not hide from [my] lord' means a perception that it is well known to the internal. 'Since the silver has been used up' means that truth can be seen no longer because of the desolation. 'And the livestock of the beasts has passed to [my] lord' means similarly the good of truth. 'Nothing is left before [my] lord apart from our bodies and our ground' means that the receptacles of goodness and truth have been made completely desolate. 'Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our ground?' means that if they have been made desolate there is no longer any spiritual life beneath the internal. 'Buy us and our ground for bread' means it should make both its own so that they may be sustained with good. 'And we will live, and our ground, as Pharaoh's slaves' means total submission. 'And give us seed' means an influx, as a result of this, of the good of charity and the truth of faith. 'So that we may live and not die' means spiritual life from them, and the fear no longer of damnation. 'And the ground may not become a waste' means that the mind must be cultivated with the facts known to the Church. 'And Joseph bought all the ground of Egypt for Pharaoh' means that the internal made the entire natural mind where factual knowledge resides its own and placed it under its overall control. 'And the Egyptians sold, each one his field' means a renunciation and surrender of everything of service to the Church. 'Because the famine overwhelmed them' means because the desolation reached the point of despair. 'And the land was Pharaoh's' means that all things were made subject to the natural, which was under the control of the internal. 'And the people, he transferred them to the cities' means that facts holding truths within them were assigned to different areas of doctrine. 'From one end of the border of Egypt to the other end of it' means a spread throughout the whole natural where factual knowledge resides. 'Only the ground of the priests he did not buy' means that the internal obtained for itself from the natural every capacity to receive good, because every such capacity came from itself. 'For the priests had a fixed portion from Pharaoh' means that this had (therefore] been decreed by the natural, which was under the control of the internal. 'And ate their fixed portion which Pharaoh had given them' means that they did not make any forms of good their own beyond what had been decreed. 'Therefore they did not sell their ground' means that for this reason they had no need to renounce those things or surrender them. 'And Joseph said to the people' means an influx of the internal into the facts that have truths within them. 'Behold, I have bought you today, and your ground, for Pharaoh' means that it had obtained those things for itself and had made them subject to the general whole in the natural, which was under the control of the internal. 'Look, here is seed for you, and you may sow the ground' means the good of charity and the truth of faith that are to be implanted. 'And so it will be at ingatherings' means the fruits from this. 'That you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh' means that remnants are to be assigned to the general whole, which is under the control of the internal. 'And four portions shall be yours' means those things which have not yet become remnants. 'For seed of the field' means for mental nourishment. 'And for your food, and for those in your households' means so that the good of truth may therefore be present within every single part. 'And for food for your young children' means in those things that are forms of innocence. 'And they said, You have bestowed life on us' means spiritual life, in no other way and from no other source. 'Let us find favour in the eyes of [my] lord' means a willingness to be made subject in this way, and self-abasement. 'And we will be Pharaoh's slaves' means that they should renounce what is properly their own and become submissive to the natural, which is under the control of the internal. 'And Joseph made it a statute' means a conclusion based on consent. 'Even to this day' means lasting for ever. 'Regarding the ground of Egypt, that a fifth went to Pharaoh' means remnants, as previously. 'Only the ground of the priests, theirs alone, did not belong to Pharaoh' means every capacity to receive good came directly from the internal.

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