3825. And Laban said, It is better that I should give her to thee than give her to another man; abide with me. That this signifies a means of conjunction through interior truth with that good, is evident from the signification of “reward,” in regard to which the reply and affirmation are made in these words, as being a means of conjunction (see n. 3816). That “Rachel,” who is here meant by “her,” is interior truth; and that “Jacob,” who is here meant by “thee,” is good, has been shown above. In regard to the conjunction of the good which is “Jacob,” with the good which is “Laban,” by means of interior truth which is “Rachel,” this is an arcanum which cannot easily be described to the apprehension; for in the first place there must be a clear idea of each good, and also of the affection of interior truth. Moreover, the understanding of every subject is according to the ideas; being none if there is no idea; obscure if the idea is obscure; perverted if the idea is perverted; and clear if the idea is clear. It is also according to the affections, by which the idea, even if clear, is varied. We shall merely state that in every man who is being regenerated the good of his natural, such as is here represented by Jacob, is conjoined first with good such as is here represented by Laban, through the affection of interior truth which is here represented by Rachel, and afterwards with the good of the rational and the truth thereof, which are Isaac and Rebekah. By means of this first conjunction, a man is in a state capable of receiving the internal or spiritual truths which are the means of the conjunction of the natural with the rational; that is, of the external man with the internal.