9167. '[To see] whether or not its owner has put his hand into his companion's property and taken it' means being joined together under [the influence of] good. This is clear from the meaning of 'whether or not he has put a hand into his companion's property' - when said in reference to truth and good, exterior and interior - as whether these have entered into it, dealt with above in 9155, thus whether those things have been joined together under [the influence of] good (as regards being joined together under [the influence of] good, see 9154); and from the meaning of 'owner' or 'master' as good, dealt with in 9154, so that 'whether or not its owner has taken it' means whether good has made those things its own by being joined to them. The reason why 'owner' means good is that with a spiritual person good occupies the first place and truth the second; and that which occupies first place is the owner. Furthermore the character of the good determines the way in which all the truths present with a person are arranged, as a house by the owner or 'lord'. ¹

[2] This explains why 'lord' in the Word is used to mean the Lord in respect of Divine Good, and 'god', 'king', and 'master' to mean the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, as in Moses,

Jehovah your God, He is God of gods, and Lord of lords. Deuteronomy 10:17.

In John,

The Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings. Revelation 17:14.

In the same book,

He has on His robe and on His thigh the name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Revelation 19:16.

The fact that the Lord is called 'God' in respect of Divine Truth, see 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 4402, 7268, 8988, and also that He is called 'King' in respect of Divine Truth, 2015 (end), 3009, 3670, 4581, 4966, 5068, 6148. And from this it is evident that the Lord is called 'Lord' in respect of Divine Good; for when truth is referred to in the Word, good as well is referred to, 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2618, 2712, 2803, 3004, 4138 (end), 5138, 5502, 6343, 8339 (end). In John,

You call Me Master and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. I your Lord and Master have washed your feet. John 13:13-14.

Here again the Lord is called 'Lord' by virtue of Divine Good, and 'Master' by virtue of Divine Truth. In Malachi,

Suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Malachi 3:1.

In these words which refer to the Lord's Coming He is called 'the Lord' by virtue of Divine Good, and 'the angel' by virtue of Divine Truth, 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 4295, 6280.

[3] This explains why in the Old Testament when people entreat the Lord they very often say Lord Jehovih, by which 'O Good Jehovah' is meant, 1793, 2921, and why in the New Testament the name Lord is used instead of Jehovah, 2921. From all this one can also see what the following words in Matthew are used to mean,

No one can serve two lords, for either he will hate the one and love the other ... Matthew 6:24.

'Two lords' are good and evil. For a person must be governed by good or else by evil; he cannot be governed by both simultaneously. Many truths can reside with him, but they are truths arranged under the influence of one good. Good constitutes heaven with a person, whereas evil constitutes hell. He must have heaven within himself or hell, not both, or something half-way in between. All this now shows what 'lord' or 'owner' is used to mean in the Word.

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4294. Verses 29-32 And Jacob asked and said, Tell me, I pray, your name. And he said, Why is it that you ask my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, [saying,] For I have seen God face to face, and my soul is delivered. And the sun rose on him as he passed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of that which was displaced, which is on the hollow of the thigh, even to this day, because he touched, in the hollow of Jacob's thigh, the sinew of that which was displaced.

'Jacob asked and said, Tell me, I pray, your name' means the angelic heaven and the nature of that heaven. 'And he said, Why is it that you ask my name?' means that heaven was unwilling to reveal itself. 'And he blessed him there' means a joining to the Divine celestial-spiritual. 'And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel' means a state of temptations. 'For I have seen God face to face, and my soul is delivered' means that He suffered the severest temptations, seemingly attributable to the Divine. 'And the sun rose on him' means when the one kind of good was joined to the other. 'As he passed over Penuel' means a state of truth within good. 'And he was limping on his thigh' means that truths were not yet arranged into such an order that together with good they could all enter celestial-spiritual good. 'Therefore the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of that which was displaced, which is on the hollow of the thigh' means that no truths containing falsities were assimilated. 'Even to this day' means that, perpetually so, falsities would not be attached. 'Because he touched, in the hollow of Jacob's thigh, the sinew of that which was displaced' means for the reason that they were indeed falsities.

[2] In the internal historical sense, where the descendants of Jacob are the subject, 'Jacob asked and said, Tell me, I pray, your name' means evil, spirits 'He said, Why is it that you ask my name?' means that they did not acknowledge evil spirits to be the origin. 'He blessed him there' means that so it was done. 'Jacob called the name of the place Peniel' means a state in which they took on representations. 'For I have seen God face to face, and my soul is delivered' means His presence through representations. 'The sun rose on him' means when they entered into representations. 'As he passed over Penuel' means when they entered the land of Canaan. 'He was limping on his thigh' means that with those descendants goods and truths had been destroyed completely. 'Therefore the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of that which was displaced, which is on the hollow of the thigh' means that those descendants ought to know this. 'Even to this day' means that their nature was perpetually so. 'Because he touched, in the hollow of Jacob's thigh, the sinew of that which was displaced' means because of their heredity which could not be rooted out through regeneration because they would not allow that to happen.