3910. 'And he said, Am I in God's place' means that that good was powerless. This is clear from the meaning of 'not being in God's place' as powerlessness, for the name 'God' is derived from potentiality (posse) or power (potentia), whereas the name 'Jehovah' is derived from being (esse) or essence (essentia), see 300. Consequently 'God' is used when truth is the subject and 'Jehovah' when good is the subject, 2769, 2807, 2822, since potentiality (posse) is used in reference to truth, and being (esse) to good. Indeed it is through truth that good has any power, for it is through truth that good can effect anything that comes into being. From this it may be seen that the words 'Am I in God's place' in the internal sense mean that natural good was powerless.

2822. 'And said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here I am' means a perception of comfort in the Divine Good of the Rational following temptation. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'saying' in historical parts of the Word as perceiving, often dealt with already. The reason why here it is a perception in the Divine Good of the Rational is that 'Abraham' here means the Divine Good within the Lord's Rational or Human. What perception in the Divine Good of the Rational is cannot be explained intelligibly, for prior to any explanation of it an idea of the Lord's Divine Human must be formed from knowledge of many things. Until such an idea has been formed all things offered by way of explanation would fall into ideas that were either empty or obscure, which would either pervert truths or bring these among ideas out of keeping with them.

[2] In this verse the Lord's first state following temptation is the subject, which is a state of comfort. This explains why the name God is not now used any more but Jehovah, for God is used when reference is being made to the truth from which the battle is fought, but Jehovah when reference is being made to the good from which comfort springs, 2769. All comfort following temptation is instilled into good, for good is the source of all joy, and from the good it passes over into truth. Here therefore 'Abraham' means the Divine Good of the Rational, as he also does in other places, and wherever the name Jehovah occurs in the same verse.