3160. And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The word hath gone forth from Jehovah; we cannot speak unto thee evil or good. That this signifies acknowledgment that it was of the Lord alone, may be seen from the explication of the several words as to the internal sense; but that this is the conclusion from them, is evident without such explication. That “the word hath gone forth from Jehovah,” signifies from the Lord, is evident; for by “Jehovah,” so often named in the Old Testament, no other is ever meant than the Lord (see n. 1343, 1736, 1815, 2156, 2329, 2921, 3023, 3035). That these things involve arcana, is evident from the fact that here Laban made answer, who was a brother, and then Bethuel who was the father; but not the father and mother; and that the virgin did not answer till afterwards. The reason of this is that by Laban as a brother is represented the affection of good in the natural man (see n. 3129, 3130); and by Bethuel, the origin of the affection of good. The affection of good and the affection of truth in the natural man are as brother and sister; and the affection of truth called forth from the natural man into the rational and there conjoined with good, is as a married woman.

[2] The secret reason why Laban and Bethuel answered, that is, the brother first and then the father, is that while good from the rational man is flowing into the natural, it does not flow immediately into the truth there, but into the good there, and through the good into the truth; and unless there is this influx the affection of truth cannot come into actual being. The affection of good in the natural man is that which acknowledges, and thus is that which first consents; for there is an immediate communication between rational good and natural good, but not between rational good and natural truth (concerning the parallelism of these see above, n. 1831, 1832). Two ancient formulas of speech are found here, namely, “The word hath gone forth from Jehovah,” meaning that it was done of Jehovah; and “We cannot speak unto thee evil or good,” meaning that they neither dared to deny nor to affirm. Concerning the acknowledgment that it was of the Lord alone, see what now follows.

2156. My Lord. That this signifies the Trine in a One, namely, the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy proceeding, which Trine is in a One, is evident from its being here said “Lord,” in the singular number. So too in verses 27, 31, “Behold I pray I have taken upon me to speak unto my Lord,” and in verses 30, 32, “Let not I pray my Lord be angry.” The three men are also called “Jehovah,” in verse 13, “Jehovah said unto Abraham;” in verse 14, “Shall anything be wonderful for Jehovah?” in verse 22, “Abraham was yet standing before Jehovah;” and in verse 33, “And Jehovah went when He left off speaking to Abraham.” Hence it is evident that the three men (that is, the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy proceeding), are the same as the Lord, and the Lord the same as Jehovah. In the Christian Faith, called the Creed, the same is acknowledged, where it is said in plain words, “There are not three Uncreate, nor three Infinite, nor three Eternal, nor three Almighty, nor three Lords, but One.” There are none who separate this Trine which is in a One except those who say that they acknowledge one Supreme Existence [Ens], the Creator of the Universe; which is forgiven those who are outside of the church. But they who are within the church, and say this, although they say it and sometimes think it, do not in fact acknowledge any God; still less do they acknowledge the Lord.