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He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
1826. And a turtle-dove and a young pigeon. That this signifies the representatives of the spiritual things of the church, is evident from the signification of birds in general and of turtle-doves and pigeons in particular. That “birds” signify spiritual things, which are those of faith or of truth, and therefore are intellectual and rational things, was shown above (n. 40, 745, 776, 991); also that “doves” signify the goods and truths of faith (n. 870). What they signified in the sacrifices shall of the Lord’s Divine mercy be stated in what follows, where the sacrifices are treated of. In the Word, especially in the prophetic part, when celestial things are spoken of, spiritual things also are spoken of, and in this way they are conjoined; because the one is from the other, so that the one is the other’s (as before said, n. 639, 680, 683, 707, 793, 801).
745. That by the “fowl” or “bird” in general are signified thoughts, may be seen from what has been said before concerning birds-that they signify things of the understanding, or things rational. But there they were called “fowls of the heavens” and here only “the fowl;” and therefore they signify thoughts in general. For there are many kinds of birds, both clean and unclean, which are distinguished in the fourteenth verse (Genesis 7:14) into the “fowl” the “flying thing” and the “winged thing.” The clean birds are thoughts of truth; the unclean are false thoughts; concerning which, of the Lord’s Divine mercy hereafter.