4863. Verses 15-18 And Judah saw her and supposed that she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face. And he turned aside to her at the wayside, and said, Allow me now to come [in] to you; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What do you give me for coming [in] to me? And he said, I will send a kid of the she-goats from the flock. And she said, If you give a pledge until you send it. And he said, What is the pledge which I am to give you? And she said, Your seal, your cord, and your rod which is in your hand. And he gave them to her, and came [in] to her; and she conceived from him.

'Judah saw her' means the way in which at that time the semblance of religion existing among the Jewish nation looked on the internal features of the representative Church. 'And supposed that she was a prostitute' means that it supposed them to be nothing else than something false. 'Because she had covered her face' means that interior things were hidden from them. 'And he turned aside to her at the wayside' means that it associated itself because of what it was by nature. 'And said, Allow me now to come [in] to you' means a lustful desire to be connected with it. 'For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law' means that it did not see it as the truth of the representative Church. 'And she said, What do you give me for coming [in] to me?' means a conditional acceptance to become joined. 'And he said, I will send a kid of the she-goats from the flock' means a pledge assuring a joining together. 'And she said, If you give me a pledge until you send it' means an acceptance provided it was made a certainty. 'And he said, What is the pledge that I am to give you?' means that which made it certain. 'And she said, Your seal' means a token of consent. 'Your cord' means through truth. 'And your rod which is in your hand' means through the power of this. 'And he gave them to her' means that in this way it was made certain. 'And came [in] to her' means the joining together. 'And she conceived from him' means and so reception.