Det finns många fall i Bibeln som beskriver människor som vänder sig tillbaka, ser tillbaka eller går tillbaka. I de flesta fall är det ett negativt, ibland förödande så (som hos Lots fru, vände sig till en saltpelare när hon tittade tillbaka på Sodoms förstörelse). I allmänhet representerar detta vårt tillstånd när vi avancerar till en ny andlig nivå och befinner oss som önskar komforten och lättheten hos den gamla - att gå tillbaka representerar en återgång till ett tidigare, underlägset stadium.

Betydelsen av ”tillbaka” är mer bokstavlig när den är ansluten till föremål. När någon tar tillbaka något eller ger tillbaka något, är den andliga betydelsen mestadels centrerad på det aktuella objektet och de personer som utför handlingen.

(რეკომენდაციები: Himmelska Hemligheter 1717, 2417, 2454, 3614, 3712, 5624)

3712. 'And will bring you back to this ground' means conjunction with doctrine that is Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing back' as joining together once again, and from the meaning of 'the ground' as the doctrine of good and truth within the natural man, dealt with in 268, 566, 990, in this case Divine doctrine since Jacob's sojourning with Laban represents the intervening means through which the Lord made Divine the Natural, and Jacob's being brought back or resumed to the land of Canaan represents the end of the intervening means, that is to say, when He had made the Natural Divine. Accordingly 'I will bring you back to this ground' means conjunction with Divine doctrine. Divine doctrine is Divine Truth, and Divine Truth is the Word of the Lord in its entirety. Divine doctrine itself constitutes the Word in the highest sense, in which the only subject is the Lord. As a consequence Divine doctrine also constitutes the Word in the internal sense, in which the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth is the subject.

[2] Divine doctrine constitutes in addition the Word in the literal sense, in which things in the world and on earth are the subject. Now because the literal sense contains the internal sense, and this in turn contains the highest sense, and because the literal corresponds entirely by means of representatives and meaningful signs, doctrine drawn from that sense too is therefore Divine. Since 'Jacob' represents the Lord's Divine Natural he also represents the literal sense of the Word, for as is well known the Lord is the Word, that is, Divine Truth in its entirety. The natural degree of the Word does not present itself as anything other than the literal sense of the Word, for in relation to the other senses the literal is the cloud, see the Preface to Chapter 18. The rational degree of the Word however, that is, the interior spiritual degree of it, presents itself as its internal sense; and insomuch as the Lord is the Word it may be said that this sense is represented by 'Isaac'. But the highest sense is represented by 'Abraham'. This shows what conjunction with Divine doctrine is where the Lord's Divine Natural which is represented by 'Jacob' is concerned. These distinct degrees of truth do not however exist in the same way within the Lord because everything in Him is Divine Good, not Divine Truth, still less Divine Natural Truth. Divine Truth is the manifestation of Divine Good to angels in heaven and to men on earth. Though only the manifestation it is nonetheless Divine Truth because it flows from Divine Good, even as light is a manifestation of the sun because it flows from the sun, see 3704.