Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6416

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6416. Verses 22-26 The son of a fertile one is Joseph, the son of a fertile one beside a spring; daughters, [each one] marches onto the wall. And they exasperate him and shoot at him and hate him, do the archers. And he will sit in the strength of his bow, and the arms of his hands are made strong by the hands of the powerful Jacob - from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel - by the God of your father, who will help you, and together with Shaddai, who will bless you with the blessings of heaven from above, the blessings of the deep lying beneath, the blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father will prevail over the blessings of my ancestors, even as far as the desire of the everlasting hills. They will be on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of the Nazirite among his brothers.

'The son of a fertile one is Joseph' means the spiritual Church, in the highest sense the Lord's Divine spiritual. 'The son of a fertile one beside a spring' means the fruitfulness of truth from the Word. 'Daughters, [each one] marches onto the wall' means going out to fight against falsities. 'And they exasperate him' means resistance offered by falsities. 'And shoot at him' means that they use those falsities to fight with. 'And hate him, do the archers' means with utter hostility. 'And he will sit in the strength of his bow' means that he is protected by the militancy of the truth of doctrine. 'And the arms of his hands are made strong' means the power that the forces involved in fighting possess. 'By the hands of the powerful Jacob' means received from the almighty power of the Lord's Divine Human. 'From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel' means that from this springs all the goodness and truth which the spiritual kingdom possesses. 'By the God of your father, who will help you' means that He was the God of the Ancient Church. 'And together with Shaddai' means the Lord, bringer of benefits after temptations. 'Who will bless you with the blessings of heaven from above' means blessing with goodness and truth from a source within. 'The blessings of the deep lying beneath' means with factual knowledge which belongs in the natural. 'The blessings of the breasts' means with affections for goodness and truth. 'And of the womb' means these two joined together. 'The blessings of your father will prevail over the blessings of my ancestors' means that this Church will have spiritual good from the natural, but not from the rational. 'Even as far as the desire of the everlasting hills' means as far as celestial mutual love. 'They will be on the head of Joseph' means those things with respect to the interiors. 'And on the crown of the head of the Nazirite among his brothers' means with respect to the exteriors.


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