AC 3861, 3862 - The Sons of Jacob; AC 3866 - Reuben

AC 3861

. . . the names of all the sons of Jacob
mean the universal attributes of the Church.
Also one specific universal attribute
has been combined within each name,
but what that attribute is no one can possibly know
unless he knows the internal sense
embodied in the words
from which each son's name is derived.
That is, he needs to know the internal sense
embodied in 'has seen' from which Reuben is derived,
and in 'has heard' from which Simeon is derived,
and in 'will adhere' from which Levi is derived,
and in 'will confess' from which Judah is derived,
and so on with all the other sons.

AC 3862 [3]

But what of truth and good
is meant by each son of Jacob,
will be seen from the explanation; namely,
by "Reuben" is meant faith from the Lord;
by "Simeon" faith of the will which is from the Lord;
by "Levi" spiritual love or charity;
by "Judah" the Divine of love
and the Lord's celestial kingdom.
What is meant by the eight remaining sons,
will be stated in the following chapter.
Their order according to birth
is what is here described,
which is as follows:
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher,
Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin).
This order is according to
the state of the subject here treated of,
which is the regeneration of a person;
for this starts with the truth of faith,
meant by 'Reuben',
progresses from this towards the willing of truth,
meant by 'Simeon',
and from this to charity,
meant by 'Levi',
and so on to the Lord,
who is meant in the highest sense by 'Judah'.


AC 3866

From the internal sense of the words
which Leah uttered concerning Reuben at his birth:
"Jehovah has seen mine affliction,
for now my man will love me,"
it may be seen what of the church "Reuben" means,
or the tribe which took its name from Reuben,
namely, that which is the first of regeneration,
or which is the first
when a person is becoming a church;
and that this is the truth of doctrine
whereby he may attain to the good of life.