3605. 'Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him' means that natural good found the conjunction with truth - inverted as regards order - repugnant. This is clear from the meaning of 'hating' here in the internal sense as repugnance, dealt with below; from the representation of 'Esau' as natural good, and of 'Jacob' as natural truth, dealt with above; and from the meaning of 'a blessing' as conjunction, dealt with above in 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584. As regards its being a conjunction with truth - inverted as regards order - that is represented by Jacob, this is clear from what has been stated and shown above in 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603.

[2] The reason why 'hating' in the internal sense means repugnance is that it has reference to good, represented by 'Esau', and good does not even know what hatred is, since it is the complete opposite of it. Things that are opposites cannot possibly coexist in the same subject. But instead of hatred, good - or the person in whom good is present - feels a certain kind of repugnance, and this is why hatred here in the internal sense means repugnance. Actually the internal sense is intended primarily for those who are in heaven, and therefore when it comes down from there and passes into the literal sense, the feeling of repugnance enters into words that denote hatred when historical narratives refer to hatred. Yet at the same time no idea of hatred is present in the minds of those in heaven. This is similar to what has been told from experience in Volume One, in 1875, about the words in the Lord's Prayer, Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. The idea of temptation and evil is rejected until something purely angelic, that is to say, good, devoid of any idea of temptation or evil remains. And coupled with this purely angelic idea there is a kind of indignation and a repugnance to any thought of evil when thinking about the Lord.

[3] It is similar with those places in the Word where one reads about Jehovah or the Lord hating, as in Zechariah,

Let none of you in your hearts think evil of his companion, nor love any lying oath, for all these things I hate, says Jehovah. Zechariah 8:17.

In Moses,

You shall not erect for yourself a pillar, which Jehovah your God hates. Deuteronomy 16:22.

In Jeremiah,

My heritage has become to Me like a lion in the forest It has lifted up its voice against Me, therefore I hate it. Jeremiah 12:8.

In Hosea,

In Gilgal I hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house; I will love them no more. Hosea 9:15.

Here 'the hatred' that is attributed to Jehovah or the Lord is not in the internal sense hatred but mercy, for the Divine is mercy. But when that mercy flows down to someone who is under the influence of evil he is exposed to the punishment that goes with evil, in which case mercy looks like hatred. And because it looks like hatred it is also called such in the sense of the letter.

[4] The same applies when in the Word anger, wrath, or fury are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord, dealt with in 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1683, 1874, 2335, 2395, 2447. The Jewish and Israelitish people more than all others were such that as soon as they detected any enmity present even with allies they believed that they were entitled to treat them cruelly, not only killing them but also exposing their bodies to wild animals and birds. And because the Lord's inflowing mercy was converted in this way into such hatred with them, a hatred directed, as has been stated, not only against enemies but also against allies, they inevitably believed that Jehovah too was capable of hating, being angry, wrathful, and furious. This is the reason why the Word has spoken in this way according to the appearance. For what a person is in himself determines how he sees the Lord, 1838, 1861, 2706. But the nature of hatred in the case of these in whom love and charity, that is, good, are present, is clear from the Lord's words in Matthew,

You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who hurt and persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:43-45.

1616. That 'Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt in the oak groves of Mamre which are in Hebron' means that the Lord arrived at a perception more interior still is clear from the meaning of 'moving one's tent', that is, moving it and pitching it once again, as the process of being joined together; for 'a tent' is the holiness of worship, as shown already in 414, 1452, by which the external man is joined to the internal. It is also clear from the meaning of 'an oak-grove' as perception, dealt with already in 1442, 1443, where the phrase that occurred was 'the oak-grove of Moreh', meaning a first perception, whereas here the plural 'the oak-groves of Mamre' is used, which means a fuller, that is, more interior perception. This perception is called 'the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron'. Mamre is also mentioned elsewhere in the Word, as in Genesis 14:13; 18:1; 23:17-19; 35:27; and Hebron too, in Genesis 35:27; 37:14; Joshua 10:36, 39; 14:13-15; 15:13, 54; 20:7; 21:11, 13; Judges 1:10, 20; and elsewhere. But what Mamre and Hebron mean where they are so mentioned will in the Lord's Divine mercy be seen when these other parts of the Word are explained.

[2] The implications of 'the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron' meaning perception more interior still are as follows: To the extent that those things belonging to the external man are joined to celestial things belonging to the internal man perception grows and becomes more interior. Conjunction with celestial things confers perception, for within the celestial things that belong to love to Jehovah dwells the life itself of the internal man, or what amounts to the same, within celestial things which belong to love, that is, within celestial love, Jehovah is present. This presence is not perceived in the external man however until the conjunction has taken place. All perception is the result of conjunction.

[3] From the internal sense here it is clear what the situation was in the Lord's case: His External Man, or Human Essence, was joined step by step to the Divine Essence as cognitions multiplied and became fruitful. No one can ever, insofar as he is human, be joined to Jehovah, or the Lord, except by means of cognitions, for it is by means of cognitions that a person is made human. This applied to the Lord too since He was born as any other is born, and received instruction as any other does. Yet in the cognitions He had as receptacles celestial things were being instilled continually, with the result that His cognitions were constantly being made into the recipient vessels of celestial things; and these vessels also were themselves made celestial.

[4] Constantly the Lord advanced in this manner towards the celestial things of infancy, for, as stated already, the celestial things which belong to love are being instilled in a person from earliest infancy to childhood and on into adolescence as well. Since he is a human being, at that time and later on he is endowed with knowledge and cognitions. If a person is such that he can be regenerated, that knowledge and those cognitions are filled with celestial things that belong to love and charity, and are accordingly implanted within the celestial things he was endowed with from infancy through to childhood and adolescence, and in this way his external man is joined to his internal. First of all they are implanted in the celestial things he was endowed with in adolescence, then in those he was endowed with in childhood, and finally in those he was endowed with in infancy. At that point he is 'the little child' regarding whom the Lord said 'of such is the kingdom of God'. This implanting is done by the Lord alone, and therefore nothing celestial with man either does or can exist with man that does not come from, and belong to, the Lord.

[5] The Lord however from His own power joined His External Man to His Internal Man and filled His cognitions with celestial things, and He implanted them in celestial things, doing so according to Divine Order. First of all He implanted them in the celestial things of childhood, then in the celestial things of the age of childhood and back to infancy, and finally in the celestial things of His infancy. In this way He at the same time became as regards the Human Essence Innocence itself and Love itself, from which derive all innocence and all love in heaven and on earth. Such Innocence is true Infancy because it is simultaneously Wisdom. But the innocence of infancy is of no use at all unless by means of cognitions it becomes the innocence of wisdom, and this is why little children in the next life are endowed with cognitions. As the Lord implanted cognitions in celestial things, so He had perception, for, as stated, all perception is the result of conjunction. He had His first perception when He implanted the facts acquired in childhood, a perception meant by 'the oak-grove of Moreh'; and He had His second, which is the subject here, and which is more interior, when He implanted cognitions, a perception meant by 'the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron'.