9918. 'Pomegranates' means factual knowledge of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'pomegranates' as factual knowledge of good, dealt with in 9552. The reason why pomegranates were placed on the hem of the robe was that 'the hem' meant the last and lowest or most external things of heaven and the Church, and the last or most external things there consist in factual knowledge, as is clear from what has been stated above, in 9915, 9917, about the order in which degrees of good and truth follow one another in heaven and with the individual human being. Factual knowledge of good and truth, which is meant by 'pomegranates', consists of matters of doctrine drawn from the Word; these matters of doctrine exist as factual knowledge to the extent that they are present in the memory which resides in the external or natural man. But when they pass into the memory which resides in the internal or spiritual man, which happens when a person's life is led in accord with them, the matters of doctrine that have to do with truth become matters of faith, and those that have to do with good become impulses of charity, and are called spiritual. When this happens they virtually disappear from the external or natural memory and seem to be as though instinctive, because they have been implanted in the person's life, just as anything through frequent practice becomes second nature. From all this it is evident what factual knowledge is and what use it serves, consequently what use matters of doctrine serve so long as they are retained merely as items of knowledge. For when they are retained merely as items of knowledge they occupy a position underneath intelligence and wisdom and do not rise up or pass into life until they become matters of faith and charity in the internal man.

9552. 'Its pomegranates' means factual knowledge of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'pomegranates' as factual knowledge of good. There is factual knowledge of good and factual knowledge of truth; the former is meant by 'pomegranates' and the latter by 'flowers' which embellished the lampstand all around. The fact that factual knowledge of good is meant by 'pomegranates' is clear from other places where they are mentioned, as in Moses,

A land of wheat and barley, and of the vine and of the fig and of the pomegranate. Deuteronomy 8:8.

And in Haggai,

Is seed not as yet in the barn? And [has nothing whatever borne fruit,] even to the vine, or the fig tree, or the pomegranate? Haggai 2:19.

'Wheat and barley' and 'seed in the barn' mean things that are celestial, both internal and external, 'the vine, the fig tree, and the pomegranate' those that are spiritual and natural, in their proper order. The lowest of these is factual knowledge, which exists on the natural and sensory level of the human mind; and this is why 'the pomegranate' is mentioned last.

[2] In Zephaniah,

Jehovah will destroy Asshur. Flocks will repose in the midst of her, every wild animal of [that] nation. The spoonbill also and the duck will lodge in its pomegranates. ¹ Zephaniah 2:13-14.

'The spoonbill and the duck in its pomegranates' stands for falsities arising from evil that are present in factual knowledge of good. In Amos,

I saw the Lord standing over the altar, and He said, Strike the pomegranate, ² that the posts may shake; that is, split them all on the head. The last of them I will kill with the sword. Amos 9:1.

'Striking the pomegranate' stands for destroying factual knowledge of good by means of falsities arising from evil. 'The posts' are said 'to shake' then because 'the posts' are the truths of the natural, 7847. 'Killing the last with the sword' stands for destroying in that way the lowest of these; for 'the sword' is truth battling against falsity and destroying it, or falsity battling against truth and destroying it, 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294.

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