3041. Verses 8-9 And if the woman is not willing to go after you, you are clear from this my oath; only do not take my son back there. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

'If the woman is not willing to go after you' means here, as previously, if the affection for truth were not separated. 'You are clear from my oath' means the freedom that the natural man has. 'Only do not take my son back there' means here, as previously, no resulting conjunction. 'And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master' means here, as previously, that the natural man was bound, as regards its power, to the good of conjugial love. 'And swore to him concerning this matter' means a very solemn undertaking.

A "house" is essentially a container -- for a person, a family, several families or even a large group with shared interests (think of the term "houses of worship.") In the Bible, a "house" is also a container, but for spiritual things rather than natural things. In various uses a "house" can represent part of the mind, the whole mind, a whole person or even a church. The other nuance to the word "house" is that it is generally used in regards to our affections and desires rather than our thoughts and principles. This makes sense; we tend to engage our thoughts and rationality when we are out in the world doing our work, but when we are inside our houses we are driven most by love for our families and the desire to be good to those we love. So "house" tends to represent the things we want and care about -- which are ultimately the things that define us.