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.

4111. 'And Rachel stole the teraphim which belonged to her father' means a change, as regards truth, of the state meant by 'Laban'. This is clear from the meaning of 'stealing' here as taking away that which is cherished and holy, and so changing the state; from the meaning of 'the teraphim' as truths, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'father', who in this case is Laban, as the good meant by him, dealt with already. 'Father' too means good, 3703. From this it is evident that 'Rachel stole the teraphim which belonged to her father' means a change, as regards truth, of the state meant by 'Laban'.

[2] What is implied in all this may be seen from the state in which spirits dwell when they are being separated. The states of good and truth in which spirits dwell are determined by the communities they are in, for as shown already, all thought flows in through others, doing so most immediately through those in whose community they are at the time. When therefore they are removed from one community and sent into another the states of their thoughts and affections are changed, and so therefore are the states of truth and good in which they dwell. If however they are sent into communities unlike themselves they take no delight in it, and consequently feel coerced; and therefore they are separated from them and taken to communities which are like themselves. This explains why the evil are unable to be present in and to stay among communities of the good, or the good to do so among communities of the evil, and also why all spirits and angels are distinguished into separate communities in accordance with those affections that belong to love. But every affection belonging to love contains many and varying features, 3078, 3189, 4005, though one feature is predominant. Each spirit therefore is capable of being in a number of communities, but he strives to get to the one in which his predominant affection reigns, and to which at length he is brought.

[3] As regards the good meant by 'Laban' and a change in the state of that good, as long as it was present with the good represented by 'Jacob' it was closer to the Divine; for 'Jacob' means that good within the Natural, and being closer to the Divine was also at that time in a more perfect state of truth and good. But when it was separated from it, it entered another state as regards truth and good, for in general changes of state in the next life are nothing else than movements towards the Divine or away from the Divine. This then shows what is understood by a change of state when the good meant by 'Laban' was separated.

[4] The reason why 'Rachel stole the teraphim which belonged to her father' means a change of state as regard truth is that by 'the teraphim' are meant his gods, as is evident from what follows below. For in verse 30 Laban says to Jacob, 'Why did you steal my gods?' and in verse 32 Jacob replies, 'Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live in the presence of our brothers'. In the internal sense 'gods' means truths, which is also the reason why the name 'God' is used in the Word when truth is the subject, see 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822.

[5] The teraphim were idols which were used when people consulted God or asked Him something. And because the replies which they received were to those people Divine truths, truths were therefore meant by them, as in Hosea,

The children of Israel sat many days with no king and with no prince and with no sacrifice, nor ephod and teraphim. Hosea 3:4.

'Ephod and teraphim' stands for Divine truths which they received through the replies given, for when they asked God something they also put on the ephod, 1 Samuel 23:9-12. In Zechariah,

The teraphim speak iniquity, and the diviners see a lie, and the dreams speak vanity. Zechariah 10:2.

Here too 'the teraphim' stands for replies, but in that state iniquitous ones.

[6] And because 'the teraphim' had this kind of meaning, some also had them in their houses, even though this was forbidden. One such person was Micah, in the Book of Judges,

Micah had a house of God and he made an ephod and teraphim, and he consecrated ¹ one of his sons to be his priest. And some of the Danites said to their brethren, Do you know that in these houses there is an ephod and teraphim, and a graven image and a molten image? And when they had entered Micah's house and took the graven image, the ephod and the teraphim, and the molten image... And the priest's heart was glad, ² and he took the ephod and the teraphim, and the graven image. And Micah pursued the children of Dan, then he said, You have taken my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away. What have I more? Judges 17:5; 18:14, 18, 20, 24.

Michal too, David's wife, had them, as described in 1 Samuel,

Michal, David's wife, took the teraphim, and placed them in the bed and covered them over with a garment. Saul's messengers came, but behold, the teraphim were in the bed. 1 Samuel 19:13, 16.

The fact that they were however idols which were forbidden is evident from what is said in reference to them in 1 Samuel 15:23; 2 Kings 23:24; Ezekiel 21:21.

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