Swedenborg Arcana Caelestia Vol. V (1750)

...are of faith, and the essential things are those of charity; that this is so, is not apparent from the literal sense original: sensu literæ.

5201. And they fed in the sedge original: ulva—marsh grass or reeds, which signifies instruction. This is established from the meaning of "feeding," which is to be instructed (as follows), and from the meaning of "sedge," or the large grass that grows near rivers, which represents factual knowledge original: scientificia—the collection of facts and information stored in the natural memory belonging to the natural person. That "grass" or "herbage" refers to such factual knowledge is clear from the Word. Therefore, "feeding in the sedge" means to be instructed in factual knowledge, and through that knowledge, to learn about truths and goods.

Factual knowledge serves as a medium—it acts like a mirror in which the image of interior things reflects itself. In this image, as if in a second mirror, the truths and goods of faith represent themselves; these are what we call spiritual and heavenly things. However, because this image is interior, it only appears to those who possess faith rooted in charity. This is the genuine meaning of "feeding in the sedge."

The fact that "feeding" means to be instructed is evident from various places in the Word, such as in Isaiah:

“Then He will give rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and bread of the increase of the earth, and it will be fat and rich; in that day your cattle will feed in a broad meadow,” 30:23.

"Cattle" original: pecora stands for those who are in good and truth; "feeding in a broad meadow" stands for being instructed abundantly. In the same author:

“I have given You for a covenant of the people, to restore the earth, to distribute the devastated inheritances, to say to the prisoners, ‘Go out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They shall feed along the ways, and their pasture shall be in all high places,” 49:8, 9.

This refers to the coming of the Lord. "Feeding along the ways" means being instructed in truths (for "ways" signify truths; see sections 627 and 2333). "Pasture" signifies the instruction itself. In Jeremiah:

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the flock of my pasture! Therefore thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who feed my people,” 23:1, 2.

"Shepherds" stands for those who instruct, and "the flock" for those who are being instructed (sections 343, 3795); thus, "to feed" means to instruct. Because it is customary to call teachers "shepherds" and learners "the flock," it has also become a common figure of speech to say "to feed" when talking about preaching or instruction from doctrine or the Word. However, in common speech, this is used as a comparison, whereas in the Word, it is used significantly term: "significantly"—meaning the word itself corresponds to a specific spiritual reality. The reason "feeding" is used this way in the Word is that when instruction and doctrine are discussed in heaven, green meadows with grass, herbs, and flowers—along with flocks—appear in the world of spirits where spiritual things take on a natural appearance. This appears with every variety according to the quality of the heavenly conversation about instruction. In the same author:

“I will bring Israel back to his home, that he may feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead,” 50:19.

"Feeding on Carmel and Bashan" means being instructed in the goods of faith and charity. Again in Jeremiah:

“All her beauty has departed from the daughter of Zion; her princes have become like harts that find no pasture,” Lamentations 1:6. original: Thren: i: 6

In Ezekiel:

“I will feed them in a good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel; there they shall lie down in a good fold, and feed in a fat pasture on the mountains of Israel,” 34:14.

In Hosea:

“Now Jehovah will feed them like a sheep in a broad place,” 4:16.

To "feed in a broad place" original: latitudine means to instruct in truths, for "breadth" signifies truth (see sections 1613, 3433, 3434, 4482). In Micah:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah... out of you shall come forth to Me one who will be Ruler...