4277. 'And he touched the hollow of his thigh' means where celestial-spiritual good is joined to natural good meant by 'Jacob'. This is clear from the meaning of 'the thigh' as conjugial love, and consequently as all celestial and spiritual love, since these are derived from conjugial love as offspring from their parent, dealt with in 3021; and from the meaning of 'the hollow' or socket or cavity of it - that is to say, of the thigh - as the place where the joining together exists, and here therefore where celestial-spiritual good is joined to natural good meant by 'Jacob'. But no one can be told anything about that conjunction unless he knows first of all what celestial-spiritual good, meant by 'Israel', is, and what natural good, meant by 'Jacob', is. It will be told below at verse 28 where Jacob, who at that point is named Israel, is the subject and also further on where Jacob's descendants are the subject.

6266. 'And bowed down, his face to the earth' means an expression of humility by them. This is clear from the meaning of 'bowing down, face to the earth' as an expression of interior humility, dealt with in 5682. For that kind of bowing down is an action performed by the body corresponding to humility of mind; and it explains why people who worship God in their hearts bow down in that manner. It is said that Joseph 'bowed down' because he was acting in place of them; yet he did not bow down before Israel but before the Lord, from whom the blessing came through Israel.

[2] Joseph did it in place of them because of the situation in spiritual things. Good belonging to the will and truth belonging to the understanding within the natural possess no ability on their own to humble themselves before the Lord; they can possess it only if it flows in from the internal. In fact without an inflow through the internal into the natural, nothing at all of the powers of will and understanding are present there, nor indeed any life since the internal is the means through which life from the Lord comes to be there.

3612. 'Flee to Laban my brother, to Haran' means in the direction of the affection for external or bodily good. This is clear from the representation of 'Laban' as the affection for good in the natural man, dealt with in 3129, 3130, 3160, and from the meaning of 'Haran' as that which is external and therefore obscure in comparison with other things, dealt with in 1430. But what precisely 'Laban' and 'Haran' mean here becomes clear from what appears further on where Laban and Haran are mentioned; that is to say, a parallel good that springs from a common stock is meant. Indeed goods and truths are interrelated as parents, brothers, blood relatives, and relatives by marriage are in families, 685, 917, 2508, 2524, 2556, 2739. But these matters are completely concealed from anyone in whom the life of good is not present. He does not even know what good is, nor consequently what truth is. If he first knew these - that is to say, knew from doctrine coupled to life, or from life coupled to doctrine - he would know and discern countless things concerning good and truth, gradually knowing them more and more distinctly. He would eventually come to know and discern their various links and relationships to each other and at length their close ties to each other within their lines of descent, and again in each close relationship countless more things He would in the end accordingly know and discern heaven and the form it takes, that is, its beauty and happiness.