4391. And made booths for his acquisition. ¹ That this signifies likewise in general an increase in good and truth then, is evident from the signification of “acquisition,” as being goods and truths in general; and from the signification of “making booths” or tents, as being like that of building a house, namely, to receive an increase of good from truth, with the difference that “building a house” is less general, thus is more interior; and “making booths” or tents is more general, thus more external. The former was for themselves (that is, for Jacob, his women and children), the latter was for the servants, the flocks, and the herds. “Booths” or “tents” in the Word properly signify the holy of truth, and are distinguished from tabernacles, which are also called, “tents,” by the fact that the latter signify the holy of good (n. 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 4128). In the original language the former are called “Succoth,” but the latter “Ohalim.” The holy of truth is the good which is from truth.

[2] That this is the signification of the booths or tents which are called “Succoth,” is evident also from the following passages in the Word.

In David:

Jehovah God rode upon a cherub and did fly, and was carried upon the wings of the wind; He made darkness His hiding place, and His surroundings His tent [succoth], darkness of waters, clouds of the heavens (Psalms 18:11-12).

And again:

He bowed the heavens when He came down, and thick darkness was under His feet; and He rode upon a cherub and did fly, and was carried upon the wings of the wind; and He put darkness round about Him for tents (succoth), bindings of the waters, clouds of the heavens (2 Samuel 22:10-12); where the subject treated of is Divine revelation or the Word. To “bow the heavens when He came down” denotes to hide the interiors of the Word; “thick darkness under His feet” denotes that the things which appear to man are relatively darkness (such is the literal sense of the Word.) To “ride upon a cherub” denotes that it was so provided; to “put darkness round about Him for tents,” or “His surroundings for His tent,” denotes the holy of truth in its hiding place, namely, within the literal sense; the “bindings of the waters” and “clouds of the heavens,” denote the Word in the letter. (That the “clouds of the heavens” denote the Word in the letter, may be seen above, preface to Genesis 18, and n. 4060.)

[3] The like is signified by these words in Isaiah:

Jehovah will create over every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and over her convocations, a cloud by day, and a smoke and the shining of a flame of fire by night; for over all the glory there shall be a covering. And there shall be a tent [succah] for a shade by day, and for refuge and hiding against flood and rain (Isaiah 4:5-6);

a “cloud” here also denotes the literal sense of the Word; and “glory,” the internal sense; as also in Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; a “tent” here also denotes the holy of truth. Interior truths are said to be in “hiding,” for the reason that if they had been revealed, they would in that case have been profaned (see n. 3398, 3399, 4289); which is also set forth by these words in David:

Thou hidest them in the hiding place of Thy faces from the ensnaring counsels of a man; Thou hidest them in a tent [succah] by reason of the strife of tongues (Psalms 31:21).

[4] That a “tent” denotes the holy of truth is evident also in Amos:

In that day will I set up the tent [succah] of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches, and I will set up the ruins, and I will build according to the days of eternity (Psalms 9:11);

to “set up the tent of David that is fallen,” denotes to restore the holy of truth after it has perished; “David” denotes the Lord relatively to Divine truth (n. 1888), for a “king” denotes Divine truth (n. 2015, 2069, 3009). As a “tent” signified the holy of truth, and “dwelling in tents,” the derivative worship, therefore the feast of tents, which is called the “feast of tabernacles,” was instituted in the Jewish and Israelitish Church (Leviticus 23:34, 42-43; Deuteronomy 16:13, 16); where also this feast is called the “feast of Succoth,” or “of tents.”

Fußnoten:

4353. And kissed him. That this signifies interior conjunction from love, is evident from the signification of “kissing,” as being conjunction from love (see n. 3573, 3574, 4215), here interior conjunction. In this verse the conjunction of the Divine good of the natural which is “Esau,” with the truth there which is “Jacob,” is treated of in general; but in what follows this conjunction is described specifically. As regards the conjunction itself, it is this which effects man’s regeneration; for man is regenerated by the fact that the truths in him are being conjoined with good, that is, that the things which belong to faith are being conjoined with those which belong to charity. The process is fully described in these and the following verses. The Lord is indeed the subject treated of how He made His natural Divine, consequently how He united Divine good to the truth in His natural. But as man’s regeneration is an image of the Lord’s glorification (n. 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490), this regeneration is also treated of at the same time in the internal sense. And as regeneration can fall into man’s idea, but not so fully the Lord’s glorification, the latter may be illustrated by the former.

[2] It is manifest from what has been explained that the conjunction of good with truths (by which regeneration is effected) progresses more and more interiorly; that is, truths are successively conjoined more interiorly with good. For the end of regeneration is that the internal man may be conjoined with the external, thus the spiritual with the natural through the rational. Without the conjunction of both of these there is no regeneration. Nor can this conjunction be effected until good has first been conjoined with truths in the natural; for the natural must be the plane, and the things that are in the natural must correspond. This is the reason why when the natural is being regenerated, the conjunction of good with truths becomes successively more interior. For the spiritual conjoins itself first with the things which are inmost in the natural, and then by means of these with those which are more exterior. Nor can man’s internal conjoin itself with his external, unless the truth in the external becomes the good of truth, that is, truth in will and act (n. 4337); for then for the first time they can be conjoined, inasmuch as the Lord flows in with man through his internal man, and in fact through the good therein. This good can be conjoined with good in the external man, but not good with truth immediately.

[3] From this it may be seen that the truth in man must first become truth in will and act (that is, the good of truth), before the conjunction of the rational with the natural, or the internal man with the external, can take place. But how truth becomes the good of truth, must be evident to everyone who pays attention. All Divine truth regards these two precepts-to love God above all things, and the neighbor as one’s self. It is these precepts from which and for the sake of which truths are, and to which truths tend, more nearly and more remotely. Therefore when truths are put into act, they are instilled successively into their beginning and their end, namely, into charity toward the neighbor, and into love to the Lord; and thereby truth becomes good, which is called the good of truth; and when this takes place, it can then be conjoined with the internal man, which conjunction becomes successively more interior, in proportion as more interior truths are implanted in this good. Act precedes, man’s willing follows; for that which a man does from the understanding, he at last does from the will, and finally puts it on as a habit; and it is then instilled in his rational or internal man. And when it has been instilled in this, the man no longer does good from truth, but from good; for he then begins to perceive therein somewhat of blessedness, and as it were somewhat of heaven. This remains with him after death, and by means of it he is uplifted into heaven by the Lord.