3507. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. That this signifies the affection of truth and life therefrom, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Lord’s Divine rational as to Divine truth conjoined with the Divine good therein, thus the very affection of truth and from the signification of “hearing Isaac speak,” as being life from it; for in the internal sense “to hear speak” denotes influx, because in the representative sense “to hear” denotes to obey (see n. 2542); and “to speak” denotes to will and flow in (n. 2626, 2951, 3037); thus in the supreme sense “to hear speak” denotes life therefrom, namely, the life of Divine truth from Divine good; “to his son” in the internal sense denotes concerning the good of the natural, and thence the truth of the natural. That this is the sense of these words does not so plainly appear, because it is widely removed from the sense of the letter, which is historical; nevertheless such is the case, for angelic ideas are altogether unlike human ideas. Angelic ideas are spiritual, and when they penetrate inwardly they are celestial; but human ideas are natural, and when derived from historicals, are sensuous. And yet the Lord effects through the Word such a correspondence between spiritual things which are of heaven and natural things which are of the world, that natural ideas may be changed into spiritual, and this in a moment. From this comes the conjunction of heaven with the world through man, and indeed through the Word, consequently through the church in which is the Word. That there is a correspondence between natural and spiritual things in each and all of those things which can possibly be apprehended and perceived by the mind, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy become evident from what is related from experience concerning the Grand Man, at the end of the following chapters.

2542. And spoke all these words in their ears. That this signifies an exhortation to the things thence derived that confirm, even until they should become obedient, is evident from the series in the internal sense, as well as from the signification of “ears.” From the series: There are many confirmatory things that support whatever the rational acknowledges; for it is precisely from these confirmatory things that its acknowledgment comes; and therefore it is that when rational things are being reduced to obedience exhortation is made to the things that confirm; for these are ever pressing in, and as it were rising up. From the signification of “ears:” In the internal sense of the Word “ears” signify obedience, by reason of the correspondence between hearing and obeying; which correspondence is moreover latent in the very word “hear,” and still more in “hearken;” the origin of which correspondence is from the other life, where they who are willing and obedient belong to the province of the ear, and indeed correspond to the hearing itself; which is an arcanum not yet known. But these things will become more clearly manifest when in what follows, of the Lord’s Divine mercy, correspondence will be treated of. That “ears” have this signification is evident from many passages in the Word. For the present we may adduce a single passage from Isaiah:

Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest peradventure they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and their heart should understand (Isaiah 6:10).

Here to “see with the eyes” is to understand; and to “hear with the ears” is to perceive with affection, consequently to obey. And nothing else is signified where the Lord says, “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15, 13:9, 43; Luke 8:8; 14:35).