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.

4792. As food and nourishment correspond to spiritual food and nourishment, therefore taste corresponds to the perception and affection of this food. Spiritual food is knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, for from these, spirits and angels live and are nourished, and they desire and have appetite for them just as men who are hungry desire and have appetite for food. Hence appetite corresponds to this desire. And wonderful to say, from this food they grow to maturity; for little children who die appear in the other life no otherwise than as little children, and also are such as to understanding; but as they increase in intelligence and wisdom, they appear not as little children, but as advancing in age, and at last as adults. I have conversed with some who had died in infancy, and were seen by me as young men, because they were then intelligent. From this it is evident what spiritual food and nourishment are.

5405. 'And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt' means that truths can be acquired through factual knowledge. This becomes clear from the explanation just above in 5402, where 'that there was corn in Egypt' means the intention to acquire truths to itself through factual knowledge, which is 'Egypt'. What is meant by factual knowledge, which is 'Egypt', may also be seen in the same place. 'Corn' here stands for a word in the original language which means a breaking, and also for a similar word meaning to buy or to sell, when it is said that Jacob's sons 'bought' corn in Egypt and that Joseph 'sold' it there. The reason for this is that in the Ancient Church bread was broken when it was given to another, by which action was meant the sharing of what was one's own and the passing of good from oneself to another to be his own. Thus it meant making love mutual. For when someone breaks bread and gives it to another he is sharing with him what is his own. Or when a loaf is broken and shared among many, the single loaf becomes one shared mutually by all, and all are consequently joined together through charity.

[2] From this it is evident that the breaking of bread was a sign that meant mutual love. Because this had become an accepted and customary practice in the Ancient Church, the common availability of corn was therefore meant by such a breaking. 'Bread' means the good of love, see

276, 680, 1798, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976; and this explains why, when the Lord gave bread, He broke it, as in Matthew,

Jesus taking the five loaves and the two fish, looking up to heaven, said a blessing, and breaking it gave the bread to the disciples. Matthew 14:19; Mark 6:41; Luke 9:16.

In the same gospel,

Taking the seven loaves and the fish, giving thanks, Jesus broke and gave them to His disciples, and the disciples to the crowd. Matthew 15:36; Mark 8:6.

In the same gospel,

Taking bread, saying a blessing, Jesus broke and gave to the disciples and said, Take, eat, this is My body. Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19.

In Luke,

It happened, when the Lord was at table with them, that taking bread He said a blessing, and breaking it gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. The disciples told how the Lord was known to them in the breaking of bread. Luke 24:30-31, 35.

In Isaiah,

This is the fast that I choose, to break your bread for the hungry. Isaiah 58:6-7.