5144. 'And behold, three baskets' means consecutive degrees forming the will. This is clear from the meaning of 'three' as complete and continuous even to the end, dealt with in 2788, 4495, 5114, 5122, thus things that are consecutive; and from the meaning of 'baskets' as degrees forming the will. The reason 'baskets' means degrees forming the will is that they are vessels which serve to contain food, and 'food' means celestial and spiritual kinds of good, which are contained in the will. For all good belongs to the will, and all truth to the understanding. As soon as anything goes forth from the will it is perceived as good. Up to this point the subject has been the sensory power subject to the understanding, which has been represented by 'the cupbearer'; but now the subject is the sensory power subject to the will, which is represented by 'the baker', see 5077, 5078, 5082.

[2] The consecutive or continuous degrees of the understanding were represented by the vine, its three shoots, blossom, clusters, and grapes; and then truth which belongs properly to the understanding was represented by 'the cup', 5120. But the consecutive degrees forming the will are represented by the three baskets on the baker's head, in the highest of which 'there was some of every kind of food for Pharaoh, the work of the baker'. By consecutive degrees of the will are meant degrees in consecutive order, beginning with the one inmostly present with a person and ending with the outermost degree where sensory awareness resides. Those degrees are like a flight of steps from the inmost parts to the outermost, 5114. Good from the Lord flows into the inmost degree, then through the rational degree into the interior natural, and from there into the exterior natural, or the sensory level. That good passes down a flight of steps so to speak, the nature of it being determined at each distinct and separate level by the way it is received. But more will be said later on about the nature of this influx and those consecutive degrees it passes through.

[3] Elsewhere in the Word 'baskets' again means degrees of the will, in that forms of good are contained in these, as in Jeremiah,

Jehovah showed me, when behold, there were two baskets of figs, set before the temple of Jehovah; in one basket extremely good figs, like first-ripe figs, but in the other basket extremely bad figs, which could not be eaten because of their badness. Jeremiah 24:1-3.

In this case a different word is used in the original language for 'a basket', ¹ which is used to describe the natural degree of the will. The figs in the first basket are forms of good in the natural, but those in the second are forms of evil there.

[4] In Moses,

When you have come into the land which Jehovah your God will give you, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the land, which you shall bring from your land, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place which Jehovah has chosen. Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand, and place it before the altar of Jehovah your God. Deuteronomy 26:1-4.

Here yet another word for 'a basket' is used', which means a new will within the understanding part of the mind. 'The first of the fruit of the land' are the forms of good produced from that new will.

[5] In the same author,

To consecrate Aaron and his sons, Moses was to take unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil; he was to make them of fine wheat flour. And he was to put them in one basket, and to bring them near in the basket. Aaron, then his sons, were to eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread in the basket, at the door of the tent of meeting. Exodus 29:2-3, 32.

In this case the same word is used for 'a basket' as here [in the baker's dream]. It means the will part of the mind, which has within it forms of good that are meant by bread, cakes, oil, wafers, flour, and wheat. The expression 'the will part of the mind' describes that which serves as a container; for good from the Lord flows into those interior forms within an, as the proper vessels to contain it. If those forms have been set to receive it they are 'baskets' containing such good.

[6] In the same author, when a Nazirite was being inaugurated,

He shall take a basket of unleavened [loaves] of fine flour, cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, together with their minchah and their drink-offerings. He shall also offer a ram as a sacrifice of peace-offerings to Jehovah, in addition to the basket of unleavened things. And the priest shall take the cooked shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake from the basket, and one wafer from the unleavened, and he shall place them on the hand of the Nazirite, and [the priest] shall wave them as a wave-offering before Jehovah. Numbers 6:15, 17, 19-20.

Here also 'a basket' stands for the will part of the mind serving as a container. Cakes, wafers, oil, minchah, cooked shoulder of the ram serve to represent forms of celestial good; for a Nazirite represented the celestial man, 3301.

[7] In those times things like these which were used in worship were carried in baskets; even the kid which Gideon brought to the angel under the oak tree was carried in one, Judges 6:19. The reason for this was that 'baskets' represented things serving as containers, while the things in those baskets represented the actual contents.

Mga talababa:

3605. 'Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him' means that natural good found the conjunction with truth - inverted as regards order - repugnant. This is clear from the meaning of 'hating' here in the internal sense as repugnance, dealt with below; from the representation of 'Esau' as natural good, and of 'Jacob' as natural truth, dealt with above; and from the meaning of 'a blessing' as conjunction, dealt with above in 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584. As regards its being a conjunction with truth - inverted as regards order - that is represented by Jacob, this is clear from what has been stated and shown above in 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603.

[2] The reason why 'hating' in the internal sense means repugnance is that it has reference to good, represented by 'Esau', and good does not even know what hatred is, since it is the complete opposite of it. Things that are opposites cannot possibly coexist in the same subject. But instead of hatred, good - or the person in whom good is present - feels a certain kind of repugnance, and this is why hatred here in the internal sense means repugnance. Actually the internal sense is intended primarily for those who are in heaven, and therefore when it comes down from there and passes into the literal sense, the feeling of repugnance enters into words that denote hatred when historical narratives refer to hatred. Yet at the same time no idea of hatred is present in the minds of those in heaven. This is similar to what has been told from experience in Volume One, in 1875, about the words in the Lord's Prayer, Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. The idea of temptation and evil is rejected until something purely angelic, that is to say, good, devoid of any idea of temptation or evil remains. And coupled with this purely angelic idea there is a kind of indignation and a repugnance to any thought of evil when thinking about the Lord.

[3] It is similar with those places in the Word where one reads about Jehovah or the Lord hating, as in Zechariah,

Let none of you in your hearts think evil of his companion, nor love any lying oath, for all these things I hate, says Jehovah. Zechariah 8:17.

In Moses,

You shall not erect for yourself a pillar, which Jehovah your God hates. Deuteronomy 16:22.

In Jeremiah,

My heritage has become to Me like a lion in the forest It has lifted up its voice against Me, therefore I hate it. Jeremiah 12:8.

In Hosea,

In Gilgal I hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house; I will love them no more. Hosea 9:15.

Here 'the hatred' that is attributed to Jehovah or the Lord is not in the internal sense hatred but mercy, for the Divine is mercy. But when that mercy flows down to someone who is under the influence of evil he is exposed to the punishment that goes with evil, in which case mercy looks like hatred. And because it looks like hatred it is also called such in the sense of the letter.

[4] The same applies when in the Word anger, wrath, or fury are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord, dealt with in 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1683, 1874, 2335, 2395, 2447. The Jewish and Israelitish people more than all others were such that as soon as they detected any enmity present even with allies they believed that they were entitled to treat them cruelly, not only killing them but also exposing their bodies to wild animals and birds. And because the Lord's inflowing mercy was converted in this way into such hatred with them, a hatred directed, as has been stated, not only against enemies but also against allies, they inevitably believed that Jehovah too was capable of hating, being angry, wrathful, and furious. This is the reason why the Word has spoken in this way according to the appearance. For what a person is in himself determines how he sees the Lord, 1838, 1861, 2706. But the nature of hatred in the case of these in whom love and charity, that is, good, are present, is clear from the Lord's words in Matthew,

You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who hurt and persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:43-45.