In a general sense, being "born" in the Bible represents one spiritual state producing another, usually some form of love or affection producing or "giving birth" to truth or to desires for good. This is not hard to see: If you love someone, that love naturally gives birth to ideas on how to be good to that person and make him or her happy. This is why sons and daughters in the Bible represent true ideas and desires for good. On a higher level, though, being born represents what the Writings call "regeneration," or the life-long process of putting off our natural thoughts and desires and embracing spiritual life from the Lord. This is what the Bible means when it talks about being "born again" – if we live our lives from the Lord, He will eventually take away our evil desires so that we can be "born" as angels in heaven, free of evil desires and dark thoughts. Of course, these two levels of meaning are really one: The Lord is love itself, and if we align with Him we become forms of love and truth ourselves, expressions of His love just as the desire to do something good might be the expression of your love for a friend.

96. "'And the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not.'" This symbolizes their false speaking in saying that they have among them goods of love, when in fact they do not.

Blasphemy here means, symbolically, false speaking. Jews do not mean Jews, but people who possess the goodness of love, and abstractly goods of love themselves. Consequently the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not means, symbolically, their false speaking in saying that they have among them goods of love, when in fact they do not.

Jews mean people who possess the goodness of love because in the highest sense in the Word, Judah means the Lord in respect to the Divine goodness of His Divine love, and Israel means the Lord in respect to the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom. Therefore Jews symbolize people who possess the goodness of love from the Lord, and Israel people who possess Divine truths from the Lord.

That Jews mean people of this character can be seen from many passages in the Word, which will be cited in no. 350 below. See also some remarks in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture51.

Jews abstractly mean goods of love because the spiritual sense is abstracted from person, as may be seen in no. 78, 79 above.

When reading the Word in the Prophets, someone may be much deluded if he does not know that in the Word Jews mean people who belong to the Lord's celestial church, who are people prompted by love toward Him. But see no. 350 below.