4363. Verses 8-11 And he said, What do you mean by all this camp which I met? And he said, To find favour in the eyes of my lord. And Esau said, I have much, my brother; let what is yours be yours. And Jacob said, No, I beg of you; if now I have found favour in your eyes, then take my gift from my hand; inasmuch as I have seen your face, as though seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. Take now my blessing which is brought to you, because God has graciously bestowed much on me, and because I have everything. And he urged him, and he took it.

'He said, What do you mean by all this camp which I met?' means the specific things which came from the good of truth. 'And he said, To find favour in the eyes of my lord' means an introduction that went favourably. 'And Esau said, I have much, my brother; let what is yours be yours' means a tacit acceptance, in order that in this way He might instill the affection for good that develops out of truth. 'And Jacob said, No, I beg of you' means the birth of that affection. 'If now I have found favour in your eyes, then take my gift from my hand' means the reciprocation of that affection, in order that it might be instilled. 'Inasmuch as I have seen your face, as though seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me' means the affection itself within that perception by which it was instilled reciprocally. 'Take now my blessing which is brought to you' means the Divine goods and truths which were to become linked to Divine Natural Good. 'Because God has graciously bestowed much on me' means conferred by Providence. 'And because I have everything' means his spiritual riches. 'And he urged him, and he took it' means that that affection originating in the good of truth was instilled by means of affection inspired by Divine Good.

In most cases, the meaning of "before" is pretty straightforward, both as a way of assessing relative time, and in its use meaning "in someone's presence." It takes on a deeper significance, though, when used in connection with the Lord. To be "before" the Lord means not just in His presence, but also receiving the desire for good and the understanding of truth from Him, and living according to them. And when used as an assessment of time in connection with the Lord, "before" means "from eternity," and refers to a spiritual state rather than time as we experience it.

(Verweise: Apocalypse Revealed 366, 617; Arcana Coelestia 6983, 8439, 9888)