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.

6265. 'And Joseph brought them away from his thighs' means that the good belonging to the will and the truth belonging to the understanding were brought away from an affection originating in love on the part of spiritual good. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with in 5869, 5877; from the representation of Manasseh and Ephraim, the ones here whom 'Joseph brought away', as the good belonging to the will and the truth belonging to the understanding, dealt with in 5354, 6222; from the meaning of 'the thighs' as an affection originating in love, dealt with in 3021, 4277, 4280, 4575, 5050-5062; and on the part of spiritual good is meant because they were brought away from Israel, who represents spiritual good, 6253. The words used here mean that the internal celestial took good belonging to the will and truth belonging to the understanding away from spiritual good, that is, away from the affection arising from its love; they have this meaning because 'Israel', who represents spiritual good, had made that goodness and truth draw near him. Besides this they had to be brought to him by Joseph, who represents the internal celestial; for that reason they were brought away and after that, as described in what follows, were brought to him again by Joseph.

[2] The explanation for all this is that the inflow of love came to that goodness and truth from the internal celestial by way of spiritual good - in keeping with true order. That external procedure had therefore to be strictly adhered to when they were going to be blessed; for they were being presented to the Lord, the Source of the foretelling meant here by the blessing, 6254. This now explains why Joseph brought his sons away from his father's thighs, and why he himself after that brought them to him again.

9349. The subject in Chapters 20-23 has been the laws, judgements, and statutes that were declared from Mount Sinai. It has been shown what these hold within them in the internal sense, and so how they are understood in heaven, namely not according to their literal but according to their spiritual meaning, which though not evident in the letter is nevertheless present within them. But anyone who is unaware of how the matter stands may suppose that this makes the literal sense of the Word unimportant, for no attention is paid to it in heaven. But let it be known that it does not at all make the literal sense of the Word unimportant; rather, it adds strength to it. Indeed all its individual words carry weight and are holy by virtue of the spiritual sense within them; for the literal sense is the foundation and support on which the spiritual sense rests, and with which it is directly linked, so directly that not even a jot, nor a tittle, that is, small part of a letter in the literal sense of the Word fails to hold what is holy and Divine within it, according to the Lord's words in Matthew,

Truly I say to you, Even until heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one small part of a letter will not pass from the law till all things are done. Matthew 5:18.

And in Luke,

It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the Law to fall. Luke 16:17.

'The Law' is the Word, see 6752, 7463.

[2] Therefore also in the Lord's Divine Providence it has happened that every jot and tittle of the Word, especially in the Old Testament, has been preserved since it was written. I have been shown from heaven that in the Word not only each word but also each letter, indeed - incredibly so - each small part of a letter in the original language has an inner holiness, as angels of the inmost heaven are able to perceive. I can positively declare this to be so, but I realize that it surpasses belief. From this it is evident that outward religious observances of the Church, which represented the Lord and the inner realities of heaven and the Church which begin in the Lord, and about which one reads in the Old Testament Word, have indeed for the most part been abrogated. But it continues to be the Word with its Divine holiness, because all the details there, as has been stated, continue to hold within themselves holy and Divine things, which are perceived in heaven when that Word is read. For it has in all its details an inner, holy content, which is its internal sense , or heavenly and Divine sense. This sense is the soul of the Word; it is God's truth itself emanating from the Lord, and so it is the Lord Himself.

[3] All this makes clear what the situation is with the laws, judgements, and statutes which were declared by the Lord from Mount Sinai, and are contained in Chapters 20-23 which have now been dealt with. That is to say, it makes clear that every single regulation there is holy because its inward form is holy. Nevertheless some of them have been abrogated so far as practices by the Church at the present day, which is an internal Church, are concerned; some of them are such that the Church may practise them if it wishes to do so; and some of them must be altogether observed and carried out. Even so, those which have been abrogated so far as practices by the Church are concerned, those which it may practise if it so wishes, and those which must be altogether observed and carried out are all equally holy by virtue of their inner and holy content. For the whole of the Word internally is Divine. That inner and holy content is what the internal sense teaches, and it is identical with the inner virtues of the Christian Church, with which teachings about charity and faith are concerned.

[4] To make all this more intelligible let the laws, judgements, and statutes dealt with in the above-mentioned chapters serve as examples. Regulations which must be altogether observed and carried out are those contained in 20:3-5, 7-8, 12-17, 23; 21:12, 14-15, 20; 22:18-20, 28; 23:1-3, 6-8, 24-25, 32.

Regulations which [the Church] may practise if it so wishes are such as those contained in 20:10; 21:18-19, 22-25, 33-36; 22:1-14, 17, 21-23, 25-27, 31; 23:4-5, 9, 12-16, 33.

Regulations which have been abrogated so far as practices by the Church at the present day are concerned, in 20:24-26; 21:2-11, 16, 21, 26-29, 31-32; 22:15, 29-30; 23:10-11, 17-19.

But, as stated above, all these are equally holy, or equally the Divine Word.