7556. 'And now send, assemble your livestock' means that the truth of good should be gathered. This is clear from the meaning of 'assembling' as gathering; and from the meaning of 'livestock' as the good of truth, and also the truth of good, dealt with in 6016, 6045. What the truth of good and the good of truth are, see 2063, 3295, 3332, 3669, 3688, 3882, 4337, 4353, 4390, 5526, 5733. The subject in this and the next two verses is the goodness and truth which the Lord places in safe keeping even within the evil. For goodness and truth which have not been linked to evils and falsities are not laid waste but are stored away interiorly by the Lord and at a later time brought out for use. The goodness and truth placed in safe keeping within a person by the Lord are meant in the Word by 'the remnant', regarding which, see 468, 530, 560, 561, 576, 661, 798, 1738, 1906, 2284, 5135, 5342, 5344, 5897-5899, 6156.

3332. 'Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil pottage' means that the good of life was given the good of truth and the good of doctrine. This is clear from the representation of 'Esau' as the good of life, dealt with in 3300, 3322; from the meaning of 'bread' as in general the good of love - both celestial and spiritual good - dealt with in 276, 680, 2165, 2177, and so also the good of truth, this being spiritual good; and from the meaning of 'lentil pottage' as the good of doctrine, for 'pottage' or soup means the massing together of matters of doctrine, 3316, but 'lentils' the good that exists essentially in these. Jacob's giving them to Esau means in the internal sense that those goods come through the doctrine of truth, which Jacob represents, 3305.

[2] These words and those that follow in this final verse describe progress made in regard to truth and good. They describe the situation with the spiritual man while being regenerated, that is to say, how he first learns matters of doctrine concerning truth; how next he is stirred by an affection for them, which is the good of doctrine; how after that, through insight into the matters of doctrine, he is stirred by an affection for the truths which they hold within them, which is the good of truth; and how at length he desires to live according to them, which is the good of life. Thus while undergoing regeneration the spiritual man advances from the doctrine of truth towards the good of life. But once he has reached that point the order is reversed - that good is the point from which he sees the good of truth, the latter the point from which he sees the good of doctrine, and this good in turn the point from which he sees matters of doctrine concerning truth. From these considerations it may be known how, from being sensory-minded, a person becomes spiritual, and what he is like when he has become spiritual.

[3] Those varieties of good, that is to say, the good of life, the good of truth, and the good of doctrine, are all distinct from one another, as becomes clear to those who weigh the matter up. The good of life is that which issues from the will, the good of truth that which issues from the understanding, while the good of doctrine is that which issues from knowledge. Doctrinal teaching is such that it includes all three. It is clear that 'lentils' means the good of doctrine from the fact that wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt are such things as are meant by bread, though with specific differences. The fact that 'bread' in general means good is evident from what has been stated and shown in 276, 680, 2165, 2177; and so specific kinds of good are meant by the grains and beans that have been mentioned - nobler kinds of good by wheat and barley, but less noble by beans and lentils, as also becomes evident from these words in Ezekiel,

You, take for yourself wheat and barley, and beans and lentils, and millet and spelt, and put them into a single vessel, and make them into bread for yourself. Ezekiel 4:9, 12-13.