4277. 'And he touched the hollow of his thigh' means where celestial-spiritual good is joined to natural good meant by 'Jacob'. This is clear from the meaning of 'the thigh' as conjugial love, and consequently as all celestial and spiritual love, since these are derived from conjugial love as offspring from their parent, dealt with in 3021; and from the meaning of 'the hollow' or socket or cavity of it - that is to say, of the thigh - as the place where the joining together exists, and here therefore where celestial-spiritual good is joined to natural good meant by 'Jacob'. But no one can be told anything about that conjunction unless he knows first of all what celestial-spiritual good, meant by 'Israel', is, and what natural good, meant by 'Jacob', is. It will be told below at verse 28 where Jacob, who at that point is named Israel, is the subject and also further on where Jacob's descendants are the subject.

3009. As to the second point - that Messiah, Anointed, or King is the same as Divine Truth - this is clear from very many places in the Word, and has been shown frequently in explanations; as in 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069. The Lord Himself also teaches the same in John,

Pilate said to Jesus, Are you not then a king? Jesus answered, You say it, because I am a King. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. John 18:37.

From this it is clear that the Divine Truth itself is at the root of the Lord's being called 'the King'. The reason why kings were anointed and consequently called the anointed was that 'the oil' with which they were anointed meant good, 886, 2832. Also the truth, meant by 'king', was derived from good and was accordingly truth grounded in good, so that the kingly office with them represented the Lord as regards Divine Truth which is derived from Divine Good, and so represented the Divine marriage of good within truth, whereas the priestly function represented the Divine marriage of truth within good. The latter is meant by Jesus, the former by Christ.

1672. 'And the kings who were with him' means the apparent truth that goes with that good. This is clear from the meaning of 'kings' in the Word. Kings, kingdoms, and peoples in the historical and prophetical sections of the Word mean truths and the things that belong to truths, as may be confirmed from many places. In the Word a careful distinction is made between people and nation, 'people' meaning truths, 'nation' goods, as shown already in 1259, 1260. Kings have reference to peoples, and not so much to nations. The children of Israel, before they sought to have kings, were 'a nation' and represented good, or that which is celestial; but after they desired a king and received one, they became 'a people' and represented not good or that which is celestial, but truth or that which is spiritual, and this was the reason why this was ascribed to them as a fault in 1 Samuel 8:7-end. This, in the Lord's Divine mercy, will be explained elsewhere. In the present verse, since 'Chedorlaomer' is referred to, and then the phrase 'the kings who were with him' is added, both good and truth are meant - good by 'Chedorlaomer' and truth by 'the kings'. But what kind of good and truth it was when the Lord's temptations first began has been stated above.