5349. 'before the year of the famine came' means which were born through the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'before the year of the famine came' as while the state lasted when truth derived from good was multiplied. This state is meant by 'the years of abundance of corn', and so that which came before the state of desolation meant by 'the years of famine'. Because in the state that came first truth derived from good was multiplied in the natural, so that good and truth were born to the celestial of the spiritual through the natural, that which followed as a consequence is therefore meant by the words used here.