3854. 'Jehovah saw' means the Lord's foresight and providence. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' in reference to the Lord as foresight and providence, dealt with in the next verse where Reuben is the subject, who was so named from the expression 'to see' - 'Jehovah' being the Lord, see 1343, 1736, 1793, 2156, 2329, 2921, 3023, 3035.

[2] As regards foresight and providence in general, foresight has reference more to man, providence more to the Lord. The Lord foresaw from eternity what the human race was going to be like in the future and what every member of it was going to be like, and that evil was going to increase all the time, so that at length man, of himself, would rush headlong into hell. That being so, the Lord has provided not only the means by which He makes it possible for him to be diverted from hell and led towards heaven, but also does in His providence divert and lead him all the time. The Lord also foresaw that it would be impossible for any good to take root in man except in his freedom, for that which does not take root in freedom is dispelled at the first sign of evil and of temptation. This the Lord foresaw, as well as the fact that of himself, that is, from his own freedom, man would be inclined towards the deepest hell. That being so, the Lord provided that if he would not allow himself to be led in freedom towards heaven he could still be diverted towards a milder hell; but if he would allow himself to be led in freedom towards good then he could be diverted towards heaven. From these considerations one may see what foresight is and what providence is, and that appropriate provisions are made for things that are foreseen.

[3] From this it may be seen how far someone errs who believes that the Lord has not foreseen and does not see the smallest individual thing with man, or that within the smallest individual thing He does not foresee and lead, when in fact the Lord's foresight and providence are present within the tiniest details of all the smallest individual things with him, and in details so tiny that it is impossible to comprehend in any manner of thought one in many millions of them. For every smallest fraction of a moment of a person's life entails a chain of consequences extending into eternity. Indeed every one is like a new beginning to those that follow, and so every single moment of the life both of his understanding and of his will is a new beginning. And since the Lord foresaw from eternity what man was going to be like in the future and even into eternity it is clear that providence is present in the smallest individual things, and, as has been stated, is governing him and diverting him so that he may be such, this being achieved by constant re-shaping of his freedom. But this subject will in the Lord's Divine mercy be discussed further later on.

3576. 'And he blessed him' means conjunction thereby. This is clear from the meaning of 'being blessed' as conjunction, dealt with in 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565. From these details which refer to Esau and Jacob it becomes clear that the good of the rational joined itself inmostly to the good of the natural, and then through the good of the natural to the truth there. For 'Isaac' represents the rational as regards good, 'Rebekah' the rational as regards truth, while 'Esau' represents the good of the natural and 'Jacob' the truth of the natural. The idea that the rational as regards good, which is 'Isaac', joined itself inmostly to the good of the natural, which is 'Esau', but not to the truth of the natural, which is 'Jacob', except indirectly, is evident from the consideration that Isaac had Esau in mind when pronouncing the blessing on Jacob. At that time he was not thinking of Jacob but of Esau. When anyone pronounces a blessing he is blessing the person of whom he is thinking, not someone of whom he is not thinking. All blessing comes forth from something interior, for though pronounced with the lips it receives its life from the will and the thought of the person pronouncing it. It belongs essentially therefore to the individual to whom he wishes to impart it and of whom he is thinking. If anyone intercepts it and so makes it his own it is like something stolen which ought to be restored to the other person. The fact that Isaac, when pronouncing the blessing, was thinking of Esau and not of Jacob becomes clear from every single detail that goes before this - from verses 18-19, where Isaac said to Jacob,

Who are you, my son? And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau your firstborn.

Then from verses 21-23,

Isaac said to Jacob, Come near now, and I will feel you, my son, whether you are my son Esau, or not.

And after feeling him he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, and the hands Esau's hands; and he did not recognize him.

Also from verse 24,

And he said. Are you my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

And at length, when kissing him,

He smelled the odour of his clothes.

That is to say, he smelled Esau's clothes, at which point he blessed him and said,

See, the odour of my son.

From all this it is clear that by the son whom he blessed he meant none other than Esau. This also was why when he heard from Esau that it had been Jacob,

Isaac trembled very greatly. Verse 33.

And he said, Your brother came in deceitfully. Verse 35.

The reason why Jacob retained the blessing however, according to what is said in verses 33-37, was that truth represented by 'Jacob' would from the point of view of time apparently have dominion, as shown frequently above.

[2] But once the time of reformation and regeneration is completed good itself which has been Lying hidden in the inmost parts and from there has been disposing every single thing which seemed to be a matter of truth, that is, which truth had ascribed to itself, comes to the fore and openly has dominion. And this is what Isaac's words addressed to Esau mean,

By your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother. And it will be when you have dominion over him, that you will break his yoke from above your neck, Verse 40.

The internal sense of these words is that all the time truth is joined to good, good appears to be in the lower position but will eventually be in the higher. At this point there will be a joining together of the rational with the good of the natural, and through the good of the natural with the truth. Truth will thus become the truth of good. In this case 'Esau' will consequently represent the good itself of the natural and 'Jacob' the truth of the natural, both joined to the rational. Accordingly in the highest sense they will represent the Lord's Divine Natural - 'Esau' as regards the Divine Good there and 'Jacob' as regards the Divine Truth.