4195. 'Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha' means the nature of it on the part of the good represented by 'Laban'. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling' and 'calling the name' as the essential nature, dealt with in 144, 145, 1754, 2009, 2724, 3421. 'Jegar Sahadutha' means 'heap of the testimony' in the language of Syria, where Laban came from. Such heaps in ancient times stood as a sign or else as a witness, and later on played a part in worship too. The heap referred to here stood as a sign and as a witness - as a sign that the boundary came there, and as a witness that the covenant had been made there and that neither of them would pass beyond that boundary to do harm to the other, as is also clear from Laban's words in verse 52,

This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and that you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm.

From this one may see what the name Jegar Sahadutha, or heap of the testimony, implies. But in the internal sense it means the nature of the good confirmed by truths on the part of 'Laban', that is, on the part of those who perform works that are inherently good, that is, on the part of the gentiles.

144. As to 'calling by name' meaning recognizing their nature, it must be realized that the ancients understood nothing else by 'a name than the essential nature of a real thing, and by 'seeing and calling them by name' recognizing the nature of such. This was why they gave their sons and daughters names in keeping with the things that were meant by them; for there was something unique to every name, as a means of knowing the origin and nature of those children, as will also be seen later on where, in the Lord's Divine mercy, the twelve sons of Jacob are dealt with. Since therefore a name embodied a person's origin and nature nothing else was meant by 'calling by name'. This manner of speaking was customary among them; but anyone who does not understand is sure to wonder whether they do have these meanings.