4183. Verse 43. And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flock is my flock, and all that thou seest is mine; and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their sons which they have borne? “And Laban answered, and said unto Jacob,” signifies an obscure state of perception; “the daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flock is my flock,” signifies that all the affections of truth, and all the truths and goods, were its own; “and all that thou seest is mine,” signifies that so was all the perceptive and intellectual faculty; “and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their sons which they have borne?” signifies that it did not dare to claim them for itself.

1737. Who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. That this signifies victory, may be seen without explication. The conjunction of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence was procured and effected by the Lord by continual combats of temptations and victories, and this from His own power. He who apprehends the mode of the conjunction and union in any other way is much mistaken. By this He became righteousness. The conjunction or union was effected with the Celestial of Love, that is, with Love itself, which, as before said, is Jehovah. The conjunction of men with the Lord is also effected by temptations, and by the implanting of faith in love. Unless faith is implanted in love, that is, unless a man by the things that are of faith receives the life of faith, that is, charity, there is no conjunction. This alone is to follow Him, namely, to be conjoined with the Lord just as the Lord as to His Human Essence was conjoined with Jehovah. Hence also all such are called “sons of God,” from the Lord who was the only Son of God, and hence they become images of Him.