Verse 29. And the soul remains in an external state till the truths received in the first stage of regeneration are fully implanted.

3564. 'And he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau his brother' means that from the will which occupied an external position he perceived that it was natural good. This is evident from the fact that he did not recognize Jacob as Jacob, that is, as the truth which 'Jacob' represents, but perceived him as Esau, that is, as natural good which exists outwardly. He did so because of an influx, dealt with immediately above in 3563. For between interior good and exterior good a communication takes place by virtue of parallelism, 1831, 1832, 3514, but not between good and truth unless the influx of good into truth is such as that described immediately above.