3613. And tarry with him some days. That this signifies what is successive, is evident from the signification of “to tarry,” as being the like as “to dwell,” thus as “to live” (concerning which n. 1293, 2268, 2451, 2712, 3384), but “to tarry” is predicated of the life of truth with good, and “to dwell,” of the life of good with truth; and from the signification of “days,” as being times and states (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 2788, 3462); thus it is the life of subsequent times and states, consequently what is successive, that is here signified by “tarrying with him some days.” This successive condition-that is, the tarrying of Jacob with Laban-is treated of in the chapters which follow.

2451. And all the inhabitants of the cities. That this signifies that all goods were taken away from them, in order that they might have nothing but evils, is evident from the signification of “inhabitants,” when predicated of a city, as being goods; which may be confirmed by many things in the Word. The same is also evident from the fact that when a “city” signifies truth (as already shown), an “inhabitant” denotes good; for truth is that in which good dwells; and truth in which there is no good, is like a city empty, or without an inhabitant. Moreover as regards the fact that all goods are separated from the evil, so that they may have nothing but evils, see above (n. 2449).