4361. 'And Leah also came near, then her sons, and they bowed down' means the affection for the truth of faith so far as exterior things and their truths are concerned, and their submissive introduction. This is clear from the representation of 'Leah' as the affection for exterior truth, dealt with in 3793, 3819, and therefore the affection for the truth of faith so far as exterior things were concerned; from the meaning of 'sons' as truths, dealt with immediately above; and from the meaning of 'bowing down' as submission, that is, a submissive introduction into Divine Natural Good, which 'Esau' represents.

The Bible generally uses two different terms for large groups: “people” and “nations.” When it uses “nation,” it is talking about a group with the desire for good as its ultimate underlying motivation; when it uses the term “people” it is talking about a group whose deep motivation is to seek true ideas and concepts. As with all symbolism in the Bible, this can be also used in a negative sense, to describe groups with the lust for evil or those driven by false concepts. It can also be used in the abstract, with “nation” representing desires for good themselves and “people” representing true ideas themselves. In a way, these meanings make sense if we look at the two words themselves. “People” brings to mind a collection of individuals, and that is somewhat how it is with ideas -- you can have many of them that inter-relate, but also stand somewhat on their own, individually. “Nation” is a more unified term, reflecting the way that a desire for good tends to unify other feelings.