3803. 'Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother' means the kinship of the good represented by 'Jacob' and of the good represented by 'Laban'. This is clear from the meaning of 'telling' as making known; from the representation of 'Jacob' as good, dealt with already; from the representation of 'Rachel', to whom it was made known, as the affection for interior truth, dealt with in 3793; from the meaning of 'brother', who in this place is Jacob, as good, dealt with in 367, 2360, 3303, 3459; and from the meaning of 'father', who in this place is Laban, as good also, dealt with in 3703. From these meanings and from the train of thought it is evident that 'Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother' means the kinship of the good meant by 'Jacob' and of the good meant by 'Laban'. To explain the actual kinship however and so the joining together of the two through the affection for interior truth meant by 'Rachel' would only throw the matter into obscurity, for few know what the good of the natural is and that this is distinct and separate from the good of the rational. Neither do they know what a parallel good springing from a common stock is, nor also what the affection for interior truth is. Anyone who has not by finding out for himself gathered some idea of these matters gains merely a superficial idea, if any at all, from a description of them; for a person takes in only as much of a description given by others as fits in with ideas of his own or else which he acquires by coming to see the thing in himself. All else passes him by. It is enough if one knows that countless kinships of good and truth exist, and that heavenly communities exist in accordance with those kinships, 685, 917, 2739, 3612.

[2] The reason why Jacob calls himself Laban's brother when he was in fact his sister's son is that by virtue of good all are brothers. This also is why Laban in turn calls Jacob 'brother' in verse 15. For it is good that constitutes blood-relationship and which effects any joining together, since good is an attribute of love, and love is a spiritual joining together. This also was the reason why in the ancient Churches all who were governed by good were called brothers. The same happened in the Jewish Church, but because that Church despised everybody else and imagined that they alone were the elect it spoke only of those who had been born Jews as brothers. The rest it called companions or foreigners. The primitive Christian Church also referred to as brothers all who were governed by good, but later on it confined the term to those inside its own group. But the name brother disappeared from among Christians when good did so. And when truth took the place of good, or faith the place of charity, none was able any longer to call another brother by virtue of good, only neighbour. This is also a feature of the doctrine of faith when devoid of the life of charity, in that it seems to be beneath them to exist as a brotherhood when this includes any of lower rank than themselves. For being brothers in their case does not have its origin in the Lord, and therefore in good, but in themselves, and therefore in position and gain.

[3803a] 'And that he was Rebekah's son' means the link between these kindred varieties of good. This becomes clear without explanation, for Rebekah, who was Jacob's mother and Laban's sister, was the one in whom the link existed.

7231. Since these verses consist of mere names detailed explanation can be dispensed with, especially as it has been shown already what Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Aaron, and Moses represent, and their sons and grandsons who are named here are simply further generations descending from those things they represent.

'Reuben' represents faith present in the understanding, see 3861, 3866, 4731, 4734, 4761.

'Simeon' represents faith present in the will and expressed in action, 3869-3872, 4497, 4502, 4503, 5482, 5626, 5630.

'Levi' represents charity, 3875, 3877, 4497, 4503.

'Aaron' represents the teachings of the Church, 6998, 7009, 7089.

'Moses' represents the law from God, 6771, 6827.

The reason why Reuben, Simeon, Levi and their sons are mentioned here, and not the remaining fathers of the tribes together with their sons in their proper order, cannot be known except from the internal sense. One can see that the list of names has been provided in this chapter to make known the matter of Aaron and Moses' parentage and birth. Yet the genealogy of Levi would have been sufficient to do this, for nothing whatever about Reuben and Simeon, or about their sons, helps to make that matter known. But the reason why these are mentioned, which is evident only from the internal sense, is that the spiritual Church, which is represented by 'the children of Israel', is the subject.

[2] That Church is brought into being with a person through faith present within what he knows and then within his understanding, the kind of faith that is represented by 'Reuben and his sons'. After this, when the Church with the person grows, that faith passes into his will, and from will into action. At this point the person has the truth of faith in his will and puts it into practice because it is what has been commanded in the Word. This phase of faith is represented by 'Simeon'. Finally within his will, that is, his new will, an affection characteristic of charity is perceptible, so that his wish to do what is good is motivated not by faith, as it was previously, but by charity towards the neighbour. For when a person's regeneration has come that far he is a member of the spiritual Church, since he now has that Church within him. This charity and the affection belonging to it is what' Levi' represents.

This then explains why the families of Reuben and also of Simeon are listed, and finally the family of Levi, who, as has been stated, represents charity, which is what gives the Church its spiritual character. 'Aaron' represents the external dimension of that Church, and 'Moses' the internal dimension. The internal dimension of the Church is referred to as the law from God, the external dimension as teachings derived from it. The law from God - the internal dimension of the Church - is also the Word in its internal sense, and the teachings derived from it are the Word in its external sense. For Moses and Aaron's representation of these, see 7089.