5196. 'And behold, he was standing next to the river' means from boundary to boundary. This is clear from the meaning of 'the river' - which in this case is the River of Egypt, or the Nile - as a boundary. The reason 'the river' means a boundary is that the major rivers, the Euphrates, the Jordan, and the Nile, and besides these the sea, were the final boundaries of the land of Canaan. Because the land of Canaan itself represented the Lord's kingdom, and all locations in that land therefore represented various features of that kingdom, the rivers accordingly represented its final limits or boundaries, see 1866, 4116, 4240. The Nile or River of Egypt represented sensory impressions subject to the understanding part of the mind and so represented factual knowledge gained from those impressions; for that factual knowledge is the final limit of spiritual things that belong to the Lord's kingdom. The reason why from boundary to boundary is meant is that, referring to Pharaoh, it says 'he was standing next to the river'; and 'Pharaoh' represents the natural in general, 5160. Viewing something from within through to its final outward limit is represented by 'standing next to the river', as happens in the spiritual world. And because in the present context such a view extends from boundary to boundary, that is what is therefore meant in the internal sense.

5160. 'On Pharaoh's birthday' means when the natural was to be regenerated. This is clear from the meaning of 'being born' as being regenerated, dealt with below; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the interior natural, dealt with in 5080, 5095, in this case the natural in general because among regenerate persons the agreement of the interior natural with the exterior natural causes the two to act as one. The reason 'being born' means being regenerated is that in the internal sense spiritual matters are meant, and spiritual birth is regeneration, which is also called rebirth. When therefore birth is spoken of in the Word no other birth is understood in heaven than a birth effected through water and the spirit, that is, through faith and charity. For being born again or regenerated makes a person truly human and entirely different from animals, because in this case he becomes a son and heir of the Lord's kingdom. As regards the births which are mentioned in the Word meaning spiritual births, see 1145, 1255, 3860, 3868, 4070, 4668.