4287. 'For as a prince you have contended with God and with men, and have prevailed' means repeated victories in conflicts over truths and goods. This is clear from the meaning of 'contending as a prince' as overcoming in conflicts, in this case conflicts that accompany temptations since these are the subject at present; and from the meaning of 'with God and with men' as conflicts over truths and goods, to be dealt with below.

[2] The subject in the highest sense being the Lord, it is He who is meant in that sense by 'one contending as a prince with God and with men', for by His own power He suffered all temptations and through them overcame the hells. Indeed He allowed into Himself all the hells in their order, and even the angels, as will be explained later on. In so doing he brought into order everything in the heavens and in the hells, and at length glorified Himself, that is, made the Human within Him Divine.

[3] From this it is evident that in the highest sense the Lord is meant by Jacob and Israel, as shown immediately above in 4286. Not only has He Himself 'contended as a prince', that is, has suffered all the conflicts brought about by temptations and has overcome in them, but also He suffers them in every individual human being. But see what has been stated many times already on these matters in the following references,

The Lord suffered the severest temptations, greater than anybody else has done, 1663, 1668, 1787, 2776, 2786, 2795, 2816.

Unlike any others the Lord fought out of Divine love, 1690, 1691 (end), 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820.

The Lord fought against hereditary evil from the mother, so that at length He was not her son; even so, no evil of His own doing was attached to Him, 1444, 1573, 2025, 2574, 2649, 3318 (end).

Through the conflicts brought about by temptations and through repeated victories the Lord arranged all things into the form which heaven possesses, 1928.

And through repeated victories in conflicts brought about by temptations He united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, 1616, 1737, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2500, 2523, 2632, 2776.

The Lord suffers the temptations that take place in man, subduing evil and the hells, 987, 1661, 1692 (end).

[4] The arcanum that 'contending with God and with men' means being tempted over truths and over goods is one that is not open to view in the letter. It is clear to anyone, and will also be evident from the explanation given below, that it was not God with whom Jacob contended, for it cannot be said of anyone that he contends with God and prevails. But the internal sense teaches what 'God' and 'men' mean here - that 'God' means truth, and 'men' good. The reason for this is that 'God' in the internal sense means truth, and therefore whenever truth is dealt with the name God is used, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, whereas the term 'man' is used to mean good. And 'man' means good because the Lord is the only Man and anyone else is called such by virtue of Him, 49, 288, 565, 1894. A further reason is that by virtue of Him heaven is man and is called the Grand Man, 684, 1276, 3624-3649, 3741-3750. And this also was why the Most Ancient Church which was governed by celestial good was referred to as Man, 478.

[5] Therefore whenever good is dealt with in the Word, 'man' (homo) means good, as in Isaiah,

I will make the male person (vir homo) more rare than gold, and man (homo) than the gold of Ophir. Isaiah 13:12.

In the same prophet,

The inhabitants of the land will be scorched and few male persons (vir homo) left. Isaiah 24:6.

'Male persons' stands for spiritual good or the good of truth. 'Man' stands for good. In the same prophet, The highways have been laid waste, the wayfarer has ceased. He has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities, he has no regard for the male person (vir homo). Isaiah 33:8.

In Jeremiah,

I looked to the earth, and behold, that which is void and empty, and towards the heavens, and they had no light I looked, and behold, there was no man; and all the birds of the air had flown away. Jeremiah 4:23, 25.

In the same prophet, behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, in which I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. Jeremiah 31:27.

In Ezekiel,

Your merchants [traded] in the souls of men and vessels of bronze, giving these for your merchandise. Ezekiel 27:13.

In the same prophet, You, O my flock, the flock of My pasture, you are men; I am your God. Ezekiel 34:31.

In the same prophet, They will be cities laid waste, filled with the flock of mankind. Ezekiel 36:38.

In these places 'man' (homo) stands for people who are governed by good, and so stands for good, since good is what causes anyone to be 'man'. Truth however which is grounded in good is referred to in the Word as 'a male person' (vir homo) and also as 'the son of man'.

3267. 'By their names, according to their births' means interior characteristics according to derivatives of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'name' as the essential nature, or of 'names' as the essential characteristics, dealt with immediately above in 3266, here interior characteristics since the words used are 'these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names'. In the first case 'the names' means the general characteristics, but here in the second case specific characteristics residing within those general ones are meant, that is, those which in relation to the general are interior. The word 'names' also means interior characteristics because these characteristics go according to derivatives of faith, meant by 'according to their births' - 'births' meaning derivatives of faith, and so of the Church, see 1145, 1255, 1330, 3263.

[2] The situation with the Lord's spiritual Church is that it is spread throughout the whole world, and wherever it exists varies so far as matters of belief or truths of faith are concerned. Those variations are the derivatives meant by 'births', which occur either simultaneously or consecutively. The same applies to the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens - that is to say, in matters of faith variety is so great that not one community, nor even one member of a community, is in complete agreement with any other in the things which constitute the truths of faith, 3241. But for all that, the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens is one, the reason being that with everyone charity is the chief thing, for charity makes the spiritual Church, not faith, unless you say that faith is charity.

[3] Anyone who has charity loves the neighbour, and when the latter differs from him in matters of belief he thinks nothing of it provided he leads a life that is good and true. Neither also does he condemn upright gentiles, in spite of the fact that they have no knowledge of the Lord and do not know any truth of faith. For the person who has charity, that is, who leads a good life, receives such truths from the Lord as agree with his good, and gentiles receive such things as can be turned in the next life into the truths of faith, 2599-2603. But the person who has no charity, that is, who does not lead a good life, cannot receive any truth. He can indeed know the truth, but it is not implanted in his life. He is indeed able to speak that truth with his lips, but not have it in his heart, for truth cannot be joined to evil. For this reason also, although they are in the Church because they were born in it, those who know truths which they call matters of belief and yet do not lead a charitable or good life nevertheless do not belong to the Church. For they have nothing of the Church within them, that is, no good at all to which truth may be joined.