3579. 'And God will give to you of the dew of heaven' means from Divine Truth; 'and of the fatness of the land' means from Divine Good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the dew of heaven' as truth, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'fatness' as good, dealt with in 353. In the highest sense in which they have reference to the Lord both are Divine. As for the multiplication of truth and the fruitfulness of good, they involve this: When the rational flows into the natural its own good presented by it in the natural appears in a general form. Through this good it produces truths there, almost in the way that life develops tissues in man and organizes them into different forms according to the functions they perform. By means of these truths organized into a heavenly order, this good produces further good, and through this further truths, which are derivatives. It is possible to have a natural idea such as this concerning the formation of truth from good, and of further good through that truth, through which yet again truth is formed. But it is not possible for anyone to have a spiritual idea except those in the next life, for in that life ideas are formed from the light of heaven, which light holds intelligence within it.

[2] As regards 'the dew' meaning truth, this too is clear from other places in the Word, as in Zechariah,

The seed of peace, the vine will give its fruit, and the land will give its increase, and the heavens will give their dew. Zechariah 8:12.

This refers to a new Church. 'The vine will give its fruit' stands for the fact that the spiritual element of the Church, which is the truth of faith, will yield good, while 'the land will give its increase' stands for the fact that the celestial element of the Church, which is the good of charity, will yield truth, 'the dew which the heavens will give' being that good and truth. In Haggai,

Because of My house which lies waste the heavens above you have withheld their dew, and the earth has withheld its increase. Haggai 1:9-10.

'The dew of the heavens' and 'the increase of the earth' which were held back stand for similar things.

[3] In David,

From the womb of the dawn You have the dew of Your nativity. Psalms 110:3-4.

This refers to the Lord. 'The dew of nativity' stands for the celestial element of love. In Moses,

Blessed by Jehovah is his land, of the precious things of heaven, of the dew, of the deep also Lying below. Deuteronomy 33:13.

This refers to Joseph. 'The precious things of heaven' are spiritual things, 3166, which are 'the dew', 'the deep Lying below' being natural things. In the same author,

Israel dwelt securely. alone at Jacob's spring, in a land of grain and new wine; even his heavens distilled dew. Deuteronomy 33:28.

Here 'even his heavens distilled dew' stands for spiritual things, which are those of truth.

[4] 'Dew' in the genuine sense is the truth of good which is the product of a state of innocence and peace, for by 'the morning' or dawn when the dew comes down are meant those states of innocence and peace, 2333, 2405, 2540, 2780. This also was why the manna from heaven accompanied the dew which used to come down in the morning time, as becomes clear in Moses,

In the morning there was a deposit of dew around the camp, and when the deposit of dew went up, behold, on the face of the wilderness a round congealed thing, a congealed thing like hoar frost on the earth. Exodus 16:13-14.

When the dew came down over the camp at night, the manna came down on it. Numbers 11:9.

Because 'the manna' was heavenly bread it meant in the highest sense the Lord as regards Divine Good, and consequently with men the celestial element of love, for this originates in the Lord's Divine, 276, 680, 1798, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478. 'The dew' on which and with which the manna came down stands in the highest sense for Divine Truth, and in the relative sense for spiritual truth with men. 'The morning time' is the state of peace in which those goods and truths are present, 92, 93, 1726, 2780, 3170.

[5] Because 'the dew' means truth which comes from good, or what amounts to the same, that which is spiritual originating in that which is celestial, spiritual truth is for that reason also compared in the Word to the dew, for the objects used as signs of spiritual things are also used as comparisons with those same things, as in Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah to me, I will be still and I will behold in My dwelling-place; like clear warmth on the light, like a cloud of dew when the harvest is warm. Isaiah 18:4.

In Hosea,

What shall I do to you, O Ephraim? What shall I do to you, O Judah? For your holiness - like a dawn cloud, and like the dew that falls in the morning - [is going away]. Hosea 6:4; 13:3.

In the same prophet,

I will be as the dew to Israel, he will blossom ¹ as the lily, and strike root like Lebanon. Hosea 14:5.

In Micah,

The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from Jehovah, like raindrops on the grass. Micah 5:7.

In David,

It is like the good oil upon the head, that runs down over the collar ² of Aaron's robes. It is like the dew of Hermon which runs down over the mountains of Zion, for there Jehovah has commanded the blessing of life even for evermore. Psalms 133:2-3.

In Moses,

My doctrine will flow down like the rain, My word will distill like the dew, like showers on the tender grass, and like raindrops on the grass. Deuteronomy 32:2.

Here 'the dew' stands for the multiplication of truth that comes from good, and for the fruitfulness of good through truth. And because the dew is that which every morning causes field and vineyard to be fruitful, good and truth themselves are meant by the grain and new wine referred to next in this verse.

Notas de rodapé:

4865. 'And supposed that she was a prostitute' means that it supposed them to be nothing else than something false. This is clear from the meaning of 'a prostitute' as that which is false, dealt with in 2466, 2729, 3399, and so as the fact that with its semblance of religion the Jewish nation looked on the internal aspect of the Church as nothing else than something false. The reason 'a prostitute' means that which is false is that a marriage represents the heavenly marriage, which is that of good and truth. The husband represents good and the wife truth, and therefore sons represent truths and daughters forms of good, while a son-in-law and a daughter-in-law, a father-in-law and a mother-in-law, and many others as determined by their degrees of affinity, represent aspects of the heavenly marriage. Therefore, being opposites of these, acts of adultery and prostitution mean evil and falsity, and are in all reality the opposite of them, for people who spend their lives committing adultery or behaving as prostitutes have no concern at all for what is good and true. The reason for this is that genuine conjugial love comes down from the heavenly marriage, that is, from the marriage of good and truth, whereas adultery and prostitution spring from evil and falsity joined together - from hell; see 2727-2759.

[2] The fact that the Jewish nation looked, as also at the present day it looks, on the internal features of the Church as nothing else than falsities is meant by Judah's supposition that Tamar his daughter-in-law was no one else than a prostitute and by his connection with her as with a prostitute. This origin of that nation represents the origin and also the essential nature of their semblance of religion. It is plain to see that this nation looks on the internal aspect of the Church as a harlot, that is, as something false. For example, if anyone tells them it is an internal truth of the Church that the Messiah, who is foretold in the prophetical parts of the Word and whom they await, is the Lord, they completely reject this as something false. If anyone tells them it is an internal truth of the Church that the Messiah's kingdom is not a worldly and temporal but a heavenly and eternal one, they declare this too to be something false. If anyone tells them that the ritual observances of their Church represented the Messiah and His heavenly kingdom they have no idea what this is.

[3] If anyone tells them that the internal aspect of the Church is the good of charity and the truth of faith, both in doctrine and at the same time in life, they regard this as nothing else than a falsity. And so it is with every other truth told them. Indeed at the mere suggestion of an internal aspect of the Church they laugh nonsensically. The reason for this is that they are immersed solely in things of an external nature, and indeed in the lowest of these, which consist in the love of earthly things; for more than all others they are steeped in avarice, which is utterly worldly. Such people cannot possibly look on the interior features of the Church in any other way, since they are further removed than all others from the light of heaven, and so more than all others dwell in thickest darkness.