3101. 'So as to know whether Jehovah had prospered his way or not' means regarding Divine Truth, as to what sort it was. This is clear from the meaning of 'way' as truth, dealt with in 627, 2333. The Divine nature of that truth is meant by the words 'whether Jehovah had prospered' which amounts to the same as, whether it was from Jehovah, that is, from the Divine. Accordingly what sort of truth is meant, for the truths that are summoned from the natural man into the rational man are not all received, only those that accord with the good there, and on being sown and implanted in this way act as one with that good. The rest, even though they may have appeared as truths prior to being raised up, are nevertheless not received because they are not acknowledged. Good is that which acknowledges its own truth, and truth that which acknowledges its own good. That it was an acknowledgement of what sort of truth it was, and that thus this truth was received, is also evident from what follows next.

3299. 'And behold, there were twins in her womb' means that the two were conceived simultaneously. This is clear from the meaning of 'twins' as the two, that is to say, good represented by 'Esau' and truth represented by Jacob', and from the meaning of 'in the womb' as conception, dealt with above in 3293. With regard to the two, that is to say, the good and the truth of the natural, being conceived simultaneously, the situation is that anything that is born owes its being (esse) to the father but its manifestation (existere) to the mother. Both are necessary if anything is to come into existence. As regards good the natural is conceived from the good of the rational as the father, and as regards truth from the truth of the rational as the mother, 3286, 3288. It is good that confers life, but it does so through truth. Though both are called the soul good is nevertheless primarily the soul, while truth clothes it in a kind of thin casing or body, so that the good resides within the truth. This is what is meant by 'twins in her womb'.