4121. 'And he took his brothers with him' means forms of good replacing those which it had lost. This is clear from the meaning of 'brothers' as forms of good, dealt with in 2360, 3160, 3303, 3459, 3803, 3815. In the internal sense 'brothers' means people who are governed by the same kind of goodness and truth, that is, they share the same affection for these. Indeed all in the next life are grouped together in different communities on the basis of their affections; and those so grouped together in any community constitute a brotherhood. They do so not because they call themselves brothers but because they are such through their being joined to one another. In the next life it is goodness and truth that lie behind that which on earth is called a blood-relationship and a relationship by marriage, and for this reason the latter correspond to that goodness and truth. Indeed regarded in themselves forms of goodness and truth acknowledge no other father than the Lord, for they exist from Him alone, and therefore all who are governed by forms of goodness and truth exist in a brotherly relationship with one another. Yet degrees of affinity exist, determined by the particular nature of each form of goodness or truth. In the Word these degrees are meant by brothers, sisters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandsons, granddaughters, and many other names for relatives in a family.

[2] On earth however these names are given to people because they have the same parents, no matter how much these people differ from one another in affection. But that kind of brotherly relationship and affinity is dissolved in the next life, and unless on earth they have been governed by the same affection they all enter different brotherly relationships. Such people, it is true, do as a general rule come together initially, but in a short while they are parted. For in the next life it is not money that holds people together but, as has been stated, affections, the nature of which are plain to see as if in clear daylight, as also is the nature of the affection which one person has had for another. Since affections are so plain to see there, and since everyone's affection attracts him towards the community that is his, the association with one another of people whose mental dispositions have not been in agreement is therefore broken. In that case all ties of brotherly relationship and of friendship possessed by the external man are eliminated in both parties, while those which had existed with the internal man remain. The reason why 'he took his brothers with him' means forms of good replacing those which it had lost is that when one community is being separated from another, as stated above in 4077, 4110, 4111, it moves towards another and so towards other forms of good which replace the former.

3815. 'And Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my brother' means, because they are kindred, by virtue of good. This is clear from the representation of 'Laban' as a parallel good that springs from a common stock, and from the representation of 'Jacob' as the good of the natural, both dealt with above; and from the meaning of 'brother' as good, dealt with in 3803, in this case that which is kindred since these words are spoken by Laban to Jacob, and therefore by good to good. Furthermore every kinship has its origin in good, for good is related to love. It is the nearest degree of love in the line of descent that is called kindred, and is meant in the proper sense by 'brother'. In the spiritual world or in heaven no other kinships or relationships by marriage exist except those of love to the Lord and of love towards the neighbour, or what amounts to the same, those of good. This has been made clear to me by the fact that all the communities that constitute heaven, and that are countless, are quite distinct and separate from one another according to degrees and differences of love and of faith deriving from this, see 685, 917, 2739, 3612.

[2] This has also been made clear to me by the fact that in heaven they do not acknowledge one another because of any family relationship that had been theirs during their lifetime but solely on the basis of good and attendant truth. A father does not acknowledge a son or daughter, a brother does not acknowledge a brother or sister, and even a husband does not acknowledge his wife, unless they have been governed by similar good. They do, it is true, meet when they first enter the next life, but they part company after that; for good itself - that is, love and charity - determines whichever community a person is sent to. Kinship begins in the community in which each person belongs and spreads from there into all places round about.