8983. 'The woman and her children shall be her master's' means that the good attached by the spiritual to truth, and the truths and the forms of good derived from that good, must not be assigned to truth as its own. This is clear from the meaning of 'the woman' as spiritual good attached to truth during conflict, dealt with above in 8981; from the meaning of 'the children' as derived truths and forms of good, dealt with immediately above in 8982; and from the meaning of 'shall be her master's' as that they must belong to the spiritual from which they spring, and not to truth. For 'the master' is the spiritual, 8981, and 'the slave' is truth without complementary good, 8974, which is why those things must not be assigned to this truth. 'Man and woman' in the internal sense means good and truth joined together; for marriage on earth represents the heavenly marriage, which is that of good and truth, and also conjugial love corresponds to this marriage, 2727-2759, 2803.

[2] But between a slave and a woman provided by his master there is no marriage, only a coupling together like that of man and concubine; and this coupling does not correspond to the heavenly marriage. Therefore also it is dissolved when the slave goes out; for then the woman and children become the master's. The reason why their relationship is only a coupling is that the truth represented by 'the slave' exists in the external man, while the good represented by 'the woman' exists in the internal man; and the good belonging to the internal man cannot be joined to the truth belonging to the external man unless a joining together has taken place first in the internal man. Till then they cannot be joined together because the slave represents the merely external man, which does not possess compatible good and cannot have such assigned to it. What has been stated about human regeneration in 3321, 3469, 3493, 3573, 3616, 3882, 4353, shows how impossible it is for the good of the internal man to be joined to the truth of the external man unless a joining together has taken place first in the internal man; for regeneration involves the joining together of goodness and truth.

4353. 'And kissed him' means an interior joining together brought about by love. This is clear from the meaning of 'kissing' as a joining together brought about by love, dealt with in 3573, 3574, 4215, in this case an interior joining together. The present verse deals with the joining of Divine Natural Good, meant by 'Esau', to Natural Truth, meant by 'Jacob'. It deals with this in general, whereas the verses which follow deal more specifically with that joining together. As regards the actual joining together, it is that which brings about a person's regeneration, for he is regenerated through the joining of the truths he knows to the good he cherishes, that is, through the joining of matters of faith to the deeds of charity. The process of that joining together is described fully in this verse and in those that follow. The subject, it is true, is the Lord - how He made His Natural Divine and therefore how He united Divine Good to Truth within the Natural; but because the regeneration of man is an image of the glorification of the Lord, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, that regeneration too is at the same time the subject in the internal sense. And because man can get an idea of regeneration more easily than he can of the Lord's glorification, let His glorification be illustrated by means of man's regeneration.

[2] It is evident from the explanations which have been given that the joining together of good and truths which leads to regeneration is a process that grows more and more interior; that is, truths are joined step by step more interiorly to good. For the object of regeneration is that the internal man may be joined to the external, and so the spiritual man be joined to the natural through the rational. Unless the two are joined together no regeneration is accomplished. Nor can that joining together be effected until good has first been joined to the truths within the natural; for the natural has to exist as the underlying groundwork, and things within the natural have to exist in correspondence with those above them. This is the reason why, when the natural is being regenerated, the joining together of good and truths becomes step by step more interior; for the spiritual first joins itself to the things that are inmost in the natural, and after that through these to those that are more exterior. Nor can man's internal join itself to his external unless the truth within that external becomes the good of truth, that is, becomes truth in will and action, 4337. Only then can they be joined together, for the Lord flows into a person through his internal man, especially through the good there. The good there is able to be joined to the good in the external man, but not directly to the truth.

[3] From this it becomes clear that the truth residing with man must first of all become truth in will and action, that is, become the good of truth, before the joining together of the rational and the natural, or of the internal man and the external, can come about. But in what way truth becomes the good of truth may be clear to anyone who gives his attention to it. Every Divine truth is related to the following two commandments: Love God above all things, and love your neighbour as yourself. These two commandments are the base from which truths are derived, the reason why truths exist, and the end to which truths lead - immediately or remotely. Therefore when truths are translated into action they are introduced step by step into their beginning and into their end, that is to say, into charity towards the neighbour and love to the Lord, and as a consequence truth becomes the good which is called the good of truth. Once truth becomes such it is able to be joined to the internal man, a conjunction which becomes step by step more interior as truths that are more interior are implanted within that good. Action comes first, then the desire for it in the person's will follows. For when a person is led by his understanding to carry out any action, he is at length led by his will to do it, till at last he has taken it on as an action performed habitually. When this point is reached it is introduced into the rational or internal man; and once it has been introduced, truth is no longer that which motivates him when he does a good action but good. For now he begins to feel within it something of what is blessed and so to speak of heaven. This remains with him after death, and by means of it the Lord raises him up to heaven.