6150. 'And ate their fixed portion which Pharaoh had given them' means that they did not make any forms of good their own beyond what had been decreed. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as making one's own, dealt with in 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 3872, 4745; and from the meaning of 'fixed portion' as that which has been decreed, as immediately above in 6149, so that 'eating a fixed portion' means not making any forms of good one's own beyond what has been decreed. This decree was made by the natural, represented by 'Pharaoh'. that is, in the natural under the control of the internal, see also immediately above in 6149.

3597. Verses 34-40 Even as Esau heard his father's words, he cried out with a great and exceedingly bitter cry, and said to his father, Bless me, me also, my father. And he said, Your brother came in deceitfully, and has taken away your blessing. And he said, Does he not call his name Jacob? And he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Have you not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered, and said to Esau, Behold, I have made him lord over you, and have given all his brothers to him as servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. And for you therefore, what shall I do, my son? And Esau said to his father, Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, my father. And Esau raised his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered, and said to him, Behold, of the fatness of the land will be your dwelling-place, and of the dew of heaven from above. And by your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother; and it will be when you have dominion over him, that you will break his yoke from above your neck.

'Esau heard his father's words' means the discernment of natural good from Divine good. 'And he cried out with a great and exceedingly bitter cry' means the great change that accompanied the inversion of state. 'And said to his father, Bless me, me also, my father' means that natural good desired to be joined to Divine good, even though through it truth was already joined. 'And he said, Your brother came in deceitfully' means the reversal of order. 'And has taken away your blessing' means the conjunction thus effected. 'And he said, Does he not call his name Jacob?' means the nature of natural truth. 'And he has supplanted me these two times' means that order was reversed by this 'He took away my birthright' means the prior position that it occupied. 'And behold, now he has taken away my blessing' means conjunction 'And he said, Have you not reserved a blessing for me?' means, Was not natural good joined in any way at all in that previous state? 'And Isaac answered, and said to Esau' means an informing. 'Behold, I have made him lord over you' means that in that state natural truth would have dominion over natural good. 'And have given all his brothers to him as servants' means that in this case affections for good were to outward appearances subordinate to the affection for truth. 'And I have sustained him with grain and new wine' means, as previously, its good and truth. 'And for you therefore, what shall I do, my son?' means that in that state good has nothing else 'And Esau said to his father' means the discernment of natural good. 'Have you but one blessing, my father?' means, Was it not possible in that case for anything from natural good to be linked to it? 'Bless me, me also, my father' means that it desired to be joined even though through it truth was already joined. 'And Esau raised his voice, and wept' means a further state in the change that took place. 'And Isaac his father answered, and said to him' means a perception that natural good would be made Divine. 'Behold, of the fatness of the land will be your dwelling-place' means life received from Divine Good. 'And of the dew of heaven from above' means from Divine Truth. 'And by your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother' means that all the time truth was joined to good, that good would to outward appearance occupy the lower position. 'And it will be when you have dominion over him' means that it will come to occupy the prior position. 'That you will break his yoke from above your neck' means that good would now be the means through which any joining together was effected - and that truth would be the truth of good.