Verses 1-4 And a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived and bore a son; and she saw that he was good,^a and hid him three months. And she could not hide him any longer; and she took for him a box made of rush, and coated it with bitumen and pitch, and put the child in it, and put [him] in the weed at the bank of the river. And his sister stood at a distance, to know what would happen to him.

'A man from the house of Levi went' means truth which has its origin in good. 'And married a daughter of Levi' means its being joined to good. 'And the woman conceived' means the very beginnings. 'And bore a son means the law of God at its earliest stages. 'She saw that he was good' means the discernment that it came by way of heaven. 'And hid him three months' means a complete period of time in which it was not seen. 'And she could not hide him any longer' means the time when it had to be seen. 'And she took for him a box made of rush' means a container which, though crude, was nevertheless derived from truth. 'And coated it with bitumen and pitch' means good mingled with evils and falsities. 'And put the child in it' means that inmostly present in it was the law of God at its earliest stages. 'And put him in the weed at the bank of the river' means that at first it was among false factual knowledge. 'And his sister stood at a distance, to know what would happen to him' means the Church's truth far away from there, and observation.

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