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.

2232. That “sons” are those who are in truths, is evident from the signification of a “son” in the Word as being truth (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147). By “sons” in the abstract sense are signified truths; but as applied to man, “sons” denote all those who are in truths.

3294. And two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels. That this signifies that truth is thence derived, is evident from the signification of “people,” as being truth (see n. 1259, 1260); and from the signification of being “separated from the bowels,” as being to originate thence. In the Word, where birth is treated of, when it is from the mother it is expressed as “coming forth from the womb” or “belly;” but when from the father, as being “separated from the bowels.” For the womb and the loins are predicated of the things of love, that is, of good; but when the expression “separated from the bowels” is used, the origin of truth is signified; therefore here, when good is treated of, it is said that “two nations are from thy womb;” and when truth is treated of, that “two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels,” whereby is signified, in the internal sense, the origin of truth from good.

“Two peoples” are spoken of, because as good is interior and exterior (n. 3293), so also is truth. Interior truth in the natural is that which is conjoined with the interior good of the natural; but exterior truth is that which is conjoined with the exterior good of the natural; the interior truth is called natural truth, but the exterior truth is called sensuous. But how the case is with these kinds of truths, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy appear from what follows, where Jacob is treated of; for by Jacob is represented this truth as to both kinds.