2584. 'And they gave birth' means fertileness This is clear from the meaning of 'bearing' and 'childbirth'. In the internal sense of the Word none but spiritual and celestial things are meant, and therefore where the expressions conception or conceiving, childbirth or giving birth, birth or being born, generation or generating, are used, and when those who beget as father and mother, and those who are begotten as sons and daughters, are spoken of, such are not meant in any but a spiritual sense, for in itself the Word is spiritual and celestial. The same applies here also to 'giving birth', which means fertileness as regards matters of doctrine.

[2] The fact that no other kinds of childbirths are meant in the Word by childbirths may become clear from the following places: In Samuel,

Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, and those who were hungry have ceased to be so, until the barren has borne seven, and she who has many has left off. Jehovah takes life and He gives life; He causes [some] to go down into hell and [others] to come up. 1 Samuel 2:5-6.

In Jeremiah,

The bearer of seven languishes, she breathes her last. Her sun is going down while it is still day. Jeremiah 15:9.

In Isaiah,

Sing, O barren one, who did not bear, break forth into singing and shout, who has not gone into labour; for the sons of her that is desolate are more than the sons of her that is married, said Jehovah. Isaiah 54:1.

In David,

The voice of Jehovah causes the hinds to calve, and He strips the forests bare; and in His temple everyone says, Glory. Psalms 29:9.

In Isaiah,

Blush, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not gone into labour, I have not given birth, nor have I reared young men or brought up young women. As when the report comes to Egypt, they go into labour over the report of Tyre. Isaiah 23:4-5.

In the same prophet,

Before she went into labour she gave birth, and before pain came to her she brought forth a male child. Who has heard of such a thing as this? Who has seen such? Does a land give birth in one day? And shall I [bring to the point of birth and not] cause to give birth? said Jehovah. Shall I who cause to give birth shut up [the womb]? said your God. Isaiah 66:7-9.

In Jeremiah,

Ask, now, and see whether a male can bear. Why then have I seen every man, hands on loins, like one giving birth? Jeremiah 30:6.

In Ezekiel,

I will send fire on Egypt, and Sin will certainly go into labour, and No will be [breached]. Ezekiel 30:16.

In Hosea,

As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird, away from birth, and from the womb, and from conception. Hosea 9:11.

In the same prophet,

The pains of childbirth have come upon Ephraim, he is an unwise son, for now he will not present himself at the mouth of the womb of sons. Hosea 13:13.

In John,

A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Carrying in the womb she cried out in labour, and was in anguish to give birth. A dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she had given birth to her child he might devour it. She gave birth therefore to a male child, who was to rule ¹ all nations with an iron rod. But the boy was caught up to God and His throne. Revelation 12:1-2, 4-5.

[3] From all these places anyone may see that no other conceptions and births are meant than those which are conceptions and births of the Church. The same may also be seen from the things said about Abimelech, that 'God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his women servants, and they gave birth'; and that 'Jehovah had completely closed every womb in Abimelech's house on account of the matter of Sarah, Abraham's wife'. What is meant in the internal sense by these words may become clear from the explanation of them, namely the character of the doctrine of faith when regarded from Divine truths, and the character of it when regarded from the rational. That is to say, when regarded from Divine truths, that is, from the Word, every single thing, both rational and factual, is confirmatory. But it is different when it is regarded from human things, that is from reason and knowledge. When regarded from the latter no good or truth at all is conceived; for to regard things from the Word is to do so from the Lord, but to regard them from reason and knowledge is to do so from man. The former gives rise to all intelligence and wisdom, the latter to all insanity and stupidity.

Fotnoter:

2621. That 'conceived and bore' means received essential being and was given manifestation - that is to say, the Divine Rational received and was given these from the Lord's Divine spiritual united to His Divine celestial - is clear from the meaning of 'conceiving and bearing'. The fact that no other kind of conceptions and bearings or childbirths is meant in the internal sense of the Word but spiritual and celestial ones, see 2584. But here Divine conceivings and bearings are meant because the subject is the Lord's Rational when it had been made Divine; to Him, that is, to the Lord, are Being and Manifestation pre-eminently attributable since He alone has [underived] Being and Manifestation. In addition to this, Being and Manifestation appear to be almost the same as each other, but they are not. Every person or thing receives Being by conception but Manifestation by being born; so that Being is prior to Manifestation as conception is prior to birth.

[2] The soul constitutes a person's essential Being, while the powers of the senses or the body constitute the Manifestation of it; for the former manifests itself in the latter. Celestial and spiritual love is the Being itself of one who is being regenerated, while the rational part and the sensory part of him - when these are endowed with that love - are the Manifestation of it. The same may be said of every single thing in the universe, for nothing ever exists without conception to give it Being and birth to give it Manifestation. This may also be illustrated for learned people from the idea that every effect has its cause, and every cause has its end. The end is the Being of the cause, and the cause is the Manifestation of the end. In the same way the cause is the Being of the effect, and the effect is the Manifestation of the cause.