2868. His concubine, whose name was Reumah. That this signifies Gentiles who are in idolatrous worship and in good, is evident from the things which precede; for in the former place are the Gentiles who are signified by the sons who were born to Nahor from his wife, and in this place are the Gentiles signified by those born from his concubine. By those from the wife were signified (as before shown) the Gentiles out of the church who are in brotherhood from good (n. 2863); those now signified are those out of the church who are in idolatrous worship and in good; thus these are not from so legitimate a stock as the former. Nevertheless they are as if legitimate; for at that time children who were born of maidservants were adopted as legitimate (as is evident from the sons of Jacob who were born of the maidservants Bilhah and Zilpah, Genesis 30:4-12; from whom tribes were derived equally as from those who were born of Leah and Rachel, and indeed without any difference). But that still there was a difference is evident from Genesis 33:1-2, 6-7. The maidservants who were at that time given to the husband by the wife for the sake of procreating children were called concubines; as is manifest from Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, who is also called Jacob’s concubine (Genesis 35:22).

That men should procreate children from maidservants or concubines was tolerated at that time, in order that those who are out of the church might thus be represented, and also those who are in a lower degree within the church. The name of this concubine being said to be “Reumah” involves her quality (n. 1896, 2009); which here is exaltation, this being the meaning of the word “Reumah.” (Concerning the state and lot of the nations and peoples who are out of the church, see above, n. 593, 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328, 1366, 2049, 2051, 2284, 2589-2604)

468. THE INTERNAL SENSE.

From what has been said and shown in the foregoing chapter, it is evident that by names are signified heresies and doctrines. Hence it may be seen that by the names in this chapter are not meant persons, but things, and in the present instance doctrines, or churches, which were preserved, notwithstanding the changes they underwent, from the time of the Most Ancient Church even to “Noah.” But the case with every church is that in course of time it decreases, and at last remains among a few; and the few with whom it remained at the time of the flood were called “Noah.”

[2] That the true church decreases and remains with but few, is evident from other churches which have thus decreased. Those who are left are in the Word called “remains” and a “remnant” and are said to be “in the midst” or “middle” “of the land.” And as this is the case in the universal, so also it is in the particular, or as it is with the church, so it is with every individual man; for unless remains were preserved by the Lord in everyone, he must needs perish eternally, since spiritual and celestial life are in the remains. So also in the general or universal-if there were not always some with whom the church, or true faith, remained, the human race would perish; for, as is generally known, a city, nay, sometimes a whole kingdom, is saved for the sake of a few. It is in this respect with the church as it is with the human body; so long as the heart is sound, life is possible for the neighboring viscera, but when the heart is enfeebled, the other parts of the body cease to be nourished, and the man dies. The last remains are those which are signified by “Noah;” for (as appears from Genesis 6:12, as well as from other places) the whole earth had become corrupt.

[3] Of remains as existing in each individual as well as in the church in general, much is said in the Prophets; as in Isaiah:

He that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy to Him, even everyone that is written unto lives in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have washed away the bloods of Jerusalem from the midst thereof (Isaiah 4:3-4),

in which passage holiness is predicated of the remains, by which are signified the remains of the church, and also of a man of the church; for “those left” in Zion and Jerusalem could not be holy merely because they were “left.” Again:

It shall come to pass in that day, that the remains of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon Jehovah the Holy One of Israel in truth. The remains shall return, the remains of Jacob, unto the mighty God (Isaiah 10:20-21).

In Jeremiah:

In those days, and in that time, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon him whom I shall make a remnant (Jeremiah 50:20).

In Micah:

The remains of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, as the dew from Jehovah, as the showers upon the grass (Micah 5:7).

[4] The residue or remains of a man, or of the church, were also represented by the tenths, which were holy; hence also a number with ten in it was holy, and “ten” is therefore predicated of remains; as in Isaiah:

Jehovah shall remove man, and many things [shall be] left in the midst of the land; and yet in it [shall be] a tenth part, and it shall return, and shall be for exterminating; as an oak, and an ilex, when the stock is cast forth from them, the holy seed is the stock thereof (Isaiah 6:12-13); where the residue is called a “seed of holiness.” And in Amos:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, The city that goeth forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which goeth forth a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel (Amos 5:3).

In these and many other passages, in the internal sense are signified the “remains” of which we have been speaking. That a city is preserved for the sake of the remains of the church, is evident from what was said to Abraham concerning Sodom:

Abraham said, Peradventure ten may be found there; and He said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake (Genesis 18:32).