4719. 'And he said, I am looking for my brothers; tell me now, where they are pasturing [the flock]' means knowledge of what the situation was and what their state was - in line with the meaning of these words in the proximate sense, which is, What the situation was with those teaching from faith, and his knowledge of their state. For 'brothers' means those who teach from faith, 4712; 'looking for (or seeing) their peace' means what the situation was with them, 4712, 4713; 'where' means the state, for in the internal sense everything denoting place means state, 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 4321; and 'those pasturing [the flock]' means those who teach, 343, 3767, 3768, 3772, 3783.

3772. 'And water the flock' means that the doctrine was drawn from it. This is clear from the meaning of 'watering', or giving a drink, as giving instruction, dealt with in 3069, 3768, and from the meaning of 'the flock' as people who are governed by the goods and truths of faith, dealt with in 343, 3767. Thus 'watering it' means giving instruction from the Word, and therefore from doctrine.