4338. Verses 1-3. And Jacob lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. And he divided the sons over towards Leah, and over towards Rachel, and over towards the two servant-girls. And he put the servant-girls and their sons first, and Leah and her sons further back, and Rachel and Joseph even further back. And he himself passed over in front of them, and bowed to the ground seven times, until he came right up to his brother.

'Jacob lifted up his eyes and saw' means the perception and the attention of the good of truth, meant by 'Jacob'. 'And behold, Esau was coming' means Divine Natural Good. 'And four hundred men with him' means a state. 'And he divided the sons over towards Leah' means the deployment of external truths beneath their own specific affection. 'And over towards Rachel' means the deployment of interior truths beneath their own specific affection. 'And over towards the two servant-girls' means beneath the affection for the things that serve those two affections. 'And he put the servant-girls and their sons first, and Leah and her sons further back, and Rachel and Joseph even further back' means an ordering beginning with general things in which all else is included. 'And he himself passed over in front of them' means that which is universal, and so means all things. 'And bowed to the ground seven times' means the submission of all things. 'Until he came right up to his brother' means a joining on the part of good that develops from truth, meant by 'Jacob'.

3556. 'And he said, Because Jehovah your God caused it to come before my face' means provision. This too becomes clear without explanation. The provision referred to here is that in which good and truths from that good are re-arranged into proper order in a person while he is being regenerated. That is to say, they are re-ordered so that they appear outwardly, or manifest themselves on the surface, as though they were genuine good and genuine truths from that good. In actual fact they are not such but, as stated above, are homeborn good and truths from this good, which serve solely to aid a person's regeneration, and so to bring in goods and truths of a grosser nature because such are conducive to his regeneration.