3860. 'Leah conceived and bore a son' means spiritual conception and birth from what is external to what is internal. This is clear from the meaning of 'conceiving and bearing' in the internal sense as being regenerated, for a person who is being regenerated is conceived and born anew. Regeneration is for' this reason called rebirth, but that rebirth is spiritual. A person is indeed born a human being from his parents, but he does not become truly human until he is born again from the Lord. Spiritual and celestial life is what makes a person truly human, for that life distinguishes him from animals. This conception and birth is what is meant in the Word by the conceptions and births of all who are mentioned there, and by the words used here, 'Leah conceived and bore a son'. As to its being the generations and births of faith and love that are meant, see 613, 1145, 1255, 2020, 2584, 3856. Those conceptions and births take place from what is external to what is internal, and this is meant by 'Leah conceived and bore', for 'Leah' represents the affection for external truth, 3793, 3819, and 'Reuben' the truth of faith, which is the first stage of regeneration and the external from which it begins. The implications of all this will be evident from all that follows regarding Jacob's children by Leah and by Rachel.

3077. 'That behold, Rebekah came out' means the affection for truth coming from matters of doctrine. This is clear from the representation of 'Rebekah' as Divine truth that was to be joined to the Divine Good of the Rational, though here, before she has been betrothed, she takes on the representation of the affection for truth coming from matters of doctrine; for from these comes forth truth. Truth however is not truth unless it has life within it, and that life is affection, which is an attribute of love. As regards 'Rebekah' representing Divine truth that was to be joined to the Divine good of the Rational, this is clear from the details that occur in this chapter in the internal sense, and also from the fact that 'Isaac' represents the Lord's Divine Rational, 1893, 2066, 2083, 2630. Thus 'Rebekah', who became Isaac's wife, represents something within the Rational that was to be joined like a wife to a husband, and this something was clearly Divine Truth, for 'Abraham' in a similar way represented Divine Good itself, and 'Sarah his wife' Divine Truth itself joined to Divine Good, 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2904. Isaac and Rebekah represent something similar, but within the Lord's Divine Human, that is to say, within His Rational.

[2] In general 'a husband' in the Word means good and 'his wife' truth, 1468, 2517; for the essence of every marriage is derived, that is, conjugial love is derived, from the marriage of Divine Good to Truth, and of Truth to Good in the Lord, 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729, 2803. The reason the affection for truth comes from matters of doctrine is that Rebekah is said 'to have come out', that is to say, out of the city, and 'a city' means matters of doctrine, see 402, 2449. Truths too come from matters of doctrine.