3465. And he called it Shibah. That this signifies the conjunction of confirmed truth by means of these things, is evident from the signification of “calling by name,” as being the quality (see n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 3421 and that “names” thus signify a thing or state, n. 1946, 2643, 3422), here therefore the conjunction of confirmed truth by means of doctrinal things; for in the original tongue “Shibah” means “an oath,” which signifies confirmation (n. 2842, 3375). That is called the conjunction of confirmed truth, when interior truths conjoin themselves with exterior truth, which are doctrinal things from the literal sense of the Word. That with such persons there is conjunction by means of the truths which are of faith, and not so much by means of the goods which are of charity, was stated above (n. 3463).

144. That to “call by name” signifies to know the quality, is because the ancients, by the “name” understood the essence of a thing, and by “seeing and calling by name” they understood to know the quality. The reason was that they gave names to their sons and daughters according to the things which were signified, for every name had something peculiar in it, from which, and by which, they might know the origin and the nature of their children, as will be seen in a future part of this work, when, of the Lord’s Divine mercy, we come to treat of the twelve sons of Jacob. As therefore the names implied the source and quality of the things named, nothing else was understood by “calling by name.” This was the customary mode of speaking among them, but one who does not understand this may wonder that such things should be signified.