3709. And in thee shall all the families of the ground be blessed. That this signifies that all the truths of the good of doctrine should be conjoined with good, is evident from the signification of being blessed,” as being to be conjoined (see n. 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584); from the signification of “families,” as being goods, and also truths of good (n. 1159, 1261) and from the signification of “ground,” as being that which is of the church, consequently the doctrine of good and truth in the natural or external man, which man is here represented by Jacob (n. 268, 566, 990, 3671). All this shows that by the words “in thee shall all the families of the ground be blessed,” is signified that all the truths of the good of doctrine should be conjoined with good. Truths of the good of doctrine are the doctrinal things of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, which are said to be conjoined with good in the natural man when to know them for the sake of doing them is a pleasure and a delight.

268. That the “ground” signifies the external man, is evident from what was previously stated concerning “earth” “ground” and “field.” When man is regenerate, he is no longer called “earth” but “ground” because celestial seed has been implanted in him; he is also compared to “ground” and is called “ground” in various parts of the Word. The seeds of good and truth are implanted in the external man, that is, in his affection and memory, and not in the internal man, because there is nothing of one’s Own in the internal man, but only in the external. In the internal man are goods and truths, and when these no longer appear to be present, the man is external or corporeal; they are however stored up in the internal man by the Lord, without the man’s knowledge, as they do not come forth except when the external man as it were dies, as is usually the case during temptations, misfortunes, sicknesses, and at the hour of death. The rational belongs also to the external man n. 118), and is in itself a kind of medium between the internal man and the external; for the internal man, through the rational, operates on the corporeal external. But when the rational consents, it separates the external man from the internal, so that the existence of the internal man is no longer known, nor consequently the intelligence and wisdom which are of the internal.