3304. 'And his hand was grasping Esau's heel' means the lowest level of natural good, to which [truth] clung with some power. This is clear from the meaning of 'the hand' as power, dealt with in 878, and as having reference to truth, 3091; from the meaning of 'grasping' as clinging to; from the meaning of 'the heel' as the lowest part of the natural, dealt with in 259; and from the representation of 'Esau' as the good of the natural, dealt with in 3302. From these meanings it is evident that 'his hand was grasping Esau's heel' means the lowest level of natural good, which truth clung to with some power.

[2] The implications of truth clinging with some power to the lowest good of the natural are that when the natural, or the natural man, is being regenerated, the conception of good and truth there is from the rational man, that is, from the spiritual man by way of the rational man, prior to this from the celestial man by way of the spiritual man, and prior to this from the Divine by way of the celestial man. Thus it is an influx which starts with the Divine and, passing through consecutive degrees, terminates in the lowest part of the natural, that is, in the worldly and bodily part. When the lowest natural has been contaminated by what is inherited from the mother, truth is unable to be united to good. It can do no more than cling to it with some power. Nor is truth united to good until the contamination has been eliminated. This is the reason why good but not truth is bred within a human being, and why small children therefore are devoid of all knowledge of truth and why truth has to be acquired through learning and after that joined to good, see 1831, 1832. This also explains why it is said that they struggled together within her, that is, they conflicted, 3289. Consequently when first conceived truth supplants good, as is said regarding Jacob, that he supplanted Esau,

Does he not call his name Jacob, and he has supplanted me these two times. Genesis 27:36.

And in Hosea,

He will make a visitation on Jacob over his ways and requite him according to his deeds; in the womb he supplanted his brother. Hosea 12:2-3.

[3] Those whose attention is fixed solely on the historical details and who cannot take it off these know no more than this, that the details contained here, and also those that have gone before [regarding the circumstances of the twins' birth], foretell what took place between Esau and Jacob, as is also corroborated by what follows. But the Lord's Word is such that the historical details follow their own sequence, while the spiritual details, which belong to the internal sense, follow theirs, so that the historical details are seen by the external man, but the spiritual details by the internal man. This being so a correspondence exists between the two, that is to say, between the external man and the internal man; and this is effected by means of the Word, for the Word serves to unite heaven and earth, as shown many times. Thus when anyone in a holy frame of mind reads the Word, a union is effected of his external man which is on earth with his internal man which is in heaven.

6914. 'And I will give this people favour in the eyes of the Egyptians means fear, on account of the plagues, which those steeped in falsities had of those belonging to the spiritual Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'giving favour' as fear on account of the plagues, dealt with below; from the representation of the children of Israel, to whom 'people' refers here, as those belonging to the spiritual Church, dealt with in 6637; and from the representation of 'the Egyptians' as those who are steeped in falsities, often dealt with already. The fact that 'giving favour in the eyes of the Egyptians' means fear on account of the plagues that is present in those steeped in falsities is clear when one understands the matters described in the internal sense; for the subject is those who are steeped in falsities, meant by 'the Egyptians' - with the truths and forms of good which are to be taken away from them and passed on to those who belong to the spiritual Church. And since the subject is those who are steeped in falsities, 'favour' does not mean favour, for people who are steeped in falsities and evils do not feel in any way at all disposed to show favour towards anyone. If they treat anyone well or do not treat him badly they do so through fear of 'plagues'; these are the reason for their show of favour. This favour is the kind meant here in the internal sense. The internal sense displays things as they really are, not as they are made to stand in the letter, and makes every detail relevant to the subject. The truth of this is also evident from what follows regarding the Egyptians, where it is evident that they did not let the children of Israel go out of any disposition to show them favour, only out of fear on account of further plagues, Exodus 11:1; 12:33.

[2] These two verses, when they say that the women of Israel were to ask the Egyptian women for silver, gold, and clothes, refer to 'the plundering' of the Egyptians. And because what is meant by this cannot at all be known except from a revelation describing things that take place in the next life - for the internal sense contains the kinds of things that take place among angels and spirits - the matter must therefore be discussed. Before the Lord's Coming the lower parts of heaven had been occupied by evil genii and spirits; but afterwards they were driven out from there and that region was given to those who belonged to the spiritual Church, see above in 6858. As long as the evil genii and spirits were there they were under constant watch by angels belonging to a higher heaven and were thereby restrained from committing evil deeds openly. At the present day too some who are more devious than others because they mislead people by their pretence of innocence and charity are under watch by celestial ones, and so long as they are under it they are held back from their unspeakable tricks. They are directly overhead; but the celestial angels under whose watch they are kept are even higher. This has allowed me to know what the situation was like of the evil genii and spirits who occupied the lower region of heaven before the Lord's Coming; during that time they were held back by angels belonging to a higher heaven from committing evil deeds openly.

[3] But as for the way in which they were held back from committing evil deeds openly, this too I have been allowed to know. They were kept in check by external restraints, which were fear of the loss of position and reputation, and fear that they would be deprived of places they hold in that region of heaven and would be thrust down into hell; and at that time good yet simple spirits were attached to them. It was like what happens with people in the world. Even though inwardly they may be devils those external restraints force them to keep up a pretence of honourableness and righteousness and to do good. And to ensure that they go on behaving in these ways spirits who are governed by simple good are attached to them. The situation was similar with the evil who were in the lower region of heaven before the Lord's Coming. At that time too they could be driven by selfish kinds of love to speak what was true and do what was good. They were not unlike wicked priests, indeed even very wicked ones, who inwardly are devils, but who can proclaim the teachings of their Church with such passion and seeming zeal that they move the hearts of their hearers to godliness. Yet all the while they are ruled by self-love and love of the world, for the thought of their own position and gain reigns in every part of them and is what fires them to proclaim those teachings in such a way. There are evil spirits present with them, ruled by the same kind of love and consequently thinking in the same kind of way, who lead them; but good yet simple spirits are attached to them. From all this one may recognize what the state of heaven was like before the Lord's Coming.

[4] But after the Lord's Coming the states of heaven and hell were completely altered; for then the evil genii and spirits who occupied the lower region of heaven were cast down and were replaced by those raised up there who belonged to the spiritual Church. At that time the evil who were cast down had the external restraints taken away from them, which, as stated above, were fear of the loss of position and gain and deprivation of places they hold in that region. They were thus left to their inner selves, which were entirely devilish and hellish, and so were banished to the hells. The removal of external restraints is effected in the next life by withdrawing the good spirits who have been attached to them; and when they have been withdrawn the evil can no more maintain any pretence of goodness, righteousness, or honourableness, but can only behave in accord with what they had been like inwardly in the world, that is, in accord with what they had really thought and desired, which they had concealed from others there, their only wish being to do what is evil. The good yet simple spirits who were withdrawn from those evil spirits were assigned or attached to those who belonged to the spiritual Church, to whom that region of heaven was given as a possession. This is why they were enriched with the truths and forms of good which the evil genii and spirits had had previously. Enrichment with truths and forms of good is effected in the next life by means of the attachment of spirits with whom truth and goodness are present; for communication is effected through them.

[5] These things are what are meant by the statement that the children of Israel would not go out of Egypt empty-handed, and that a woman should ask of her female neighbour, and of the female guest in her house, vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and clothes, and in so doing would plunder the Egyptians. Anyone can see that unless the kinds of things described above had been represented the Divine would never have commanded them to use that kind of guile against the Egyptians; for all behaviour like that is very far removed from the Divine. But since those people were completely representative they were allowed by the Divine, because such a thing would be done to the evil in the next life, to act in that kind of way. It should be recognized that very many things which were commanded by Jehovah or the Lord do not in the internal sense mean things that were commanded by Him but those that were permitted.