3367. 'Jehovah appeared to him, and said' means thought coming from the Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'appearing', when said of the Lord who is Jehovah, as the Divine itself which was within Him. The fact that Jehovah was within the Lord, and that the Lord Himself was Jehovah, has been shown in many places already, see 1343, 1725, 1729, 1733, 1736, 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1902, 1921, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2156, 2329, 2447, 2921, 3023, 3035, 3061; and that to the extent the Lord had united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence He spoke to Jehovah as though to Himself, 1745, 1999. Thus 'Jehovah's appearing to him' in the internal sense means coming from the Divine. The fact that it was thought doing so is clear from the meaning of 'saying' as perceiving and also thinking, as has been shown quite often.

1822. That 'He said to him' means perception is clear from what has been stated above at verses 2 and 7. Perception itself is nothing else than a certain form of conversing that takes place inwardly, but which makes itself known whenever the spoken word is grasped perceptively. Every form of inward dictate, even conscience, is nothing else; but perception is a higher or more interior degree of it.