3933. 'And Zilpah, Leah's servant-girl, bore Jacob a son' means acknowledgement, that is to say, of external truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'bearing' as acknowledgement; from the meaning of 'a servant-girl' as an affirmative means joining two together; and from the meaning of 'a son' as truth, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147.

1339. Verse 12 And Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and he begot Shelah.

'Arpachshad lived thirty-five years' means the beginning of the second state of this Church, and also the second state itself, 'Arpachshad' here, as previously, meaning knowledge. 'And he begot Shelah' means a derivative from that, 'Shelah' being a nation so named which means that which comes from knowledge.