9807. And his sons. That this signifies the Divine truth that proceeds from the Divine good, is evident from the signification of “sons,” as being truths (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704), here the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord’s Divine good, because they were the sons of Aaron, and by Aaron as high-priest was represented the Lord as to Divine good (as has been shown just above). That “sons” denote truths, is because all things in the internal sense of the Word are spiritual; and in the spiritual sense “sons” denote those who are born anew from the Lord, thus who are in truths from good, consequently abstractedly from persons, the truths themselves which are from good. These therefore are what are meant in the Word by “the sons of God,” “the sons of a king,” and “the sons of the kingdom.” They are also “the sons of the new birth,” or regeneration. Moreover, the truths and goods with a regenerated man, or one born anew from the Lord, are exactly like families in a large and long series from one father. There are those which bear relation to sons and daughters, to grandsons and granddaughters, to sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, and thus to relationships of many degrees, and therefore of many kinds. Truths and goods thus arranged are what in the spiritual sense are “sons,” “daughters,” “grandsons,” “granddaughters,” “sons-in-law,” “daughters-in-law,” in a word, relations of various degrees, and consequently of various kinds. That spiritual generations are in such an order has been shown by living experience, and at the same time it was said that the truths and goods with a regenerate man are in such an order for the reason that the angelic societies in heaven are in the same, and the truths and goods with man correspond to these societies; wherefore also the man whose truths and goods are in such a correspondence is a heaven in the least form.

[2] Anyone who knows that by “sons” are signified truths, and by “daughters” goods, can see many arcana in the Word, especially in the prophetic Word, that otherwise would be hidden; as also what is meant in particular by “the Son of man,” which the Lord often calls Himself in the Word. That the Divine truth which proceeds from His Divine Human is meant, is evident from the passages in which He is so named, and which may be here cited for the purpose of confirming at the same time that a “son” denotes truth; as in John:

The crowd said unto Jesus, How sayest Thou, the Son of man must be exalted? Who is this Son of man? Jesus answered them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness take you. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light (John 12:34-36).

From these words it is evident that by “the Son of man” is signified the like as by “the light,” for when they inquired, Who is this Son of man? the Lord answered that He was the light in which they should believe (that this “light” denotes the Divine truth, see the places cited in n. 9548, 9684); thus it also denotes the Son of man.

[3] In Luke:

Blessed are ye when men shall hate you for the Son of man’s sake (Luke 6:22); where “for the Son of man’s sake” denotes for the sake of the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord; Divine truth is everything of faith in, and of love to, the Lord, and “being hated for the sake of this” is “blessedness.” Again:

The days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, but ye shall not see it. Then they shall say unto you, Lo here! or Lo there! go not away, nor make search (Luke 17:22-23);

“to desire to see one of the days of the Son of man” denotes to see one of the states of Divine truth which is genuine. The subject here treated of is the end of the church, when there is no longer any faith, because no charity; at which time all genuine truth Divine will perish; and because truth Divine is signified by “the Son of man,” therefore it is said, “then they shall say, Lo here! or Lo there! search not,” which can be said of truth Divine from the Lord, but not of the Lord Himself.

[4] Again:

When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8).

That is, when truth Divine shall be revealed from heaven, it will not be believed. “The Son of man” here also denotes the Lord as to truth Divine, that is, the truth Divine which proceeds from the Lord. “The coming of the Lord” denotes the revelation of truth Divine at the end of the church.

[5] In Matthew:

As the lightning goeth forth from the east, and appeareth even unto the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. Then shall appear the sign, and then shall all the tribes of the earth wail, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory (Matthew 24:27, 30);

“the coming of the Son of man” denotes the revelation of truth Divine in the consummation of the age, that is, at the end of the church; “all the tribes of the earth which shall then wail,” denote all the truths and goods of faith and of love from the Lord, and thus to the Lord, in the complex; “the clouds of heaven in which He will come,” denote the literal sense of the Word; “power and glory” denote the internal sense, in the inmost of which the subject treated of is the Lord alone (see the further explication of these words in n. 4060).

[6] In like manner elsewhere:

I say unto you, Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming upon the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64).

From henceforth shall the Son of man be sitting at the right hand of the power of God (Luke 22:69).

“The Son of man” denotes the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord; “sitting at the right hand of power” denotes that He has omnipotence, for Divine good has omnipotence by means of Divine truth; its being said that “from henceforth they shall see it” signifies that Divine truth was in its omnipotence after the Lord in the world had conquered the hells, and had reduced all things therein and in the heavens into order, and that in this way those could be saved who would receive Him in faith and love (see n. 9715). (That “sitting at the right hand” denotes omnipotence, see n. 3387, 4592, 4933, 7518, 8281, 9133; that good has all power through truth, see n. 6344, 6423, 8304, 9327, 9410, 9639, 9643; that the Divine power itself is Divine truth, n. 6948; that “the clouds in which the Son of man,” that is, Divine truth, “will come,” denote the Word in the letter, see the preface to Genesis 18 [in 2135]; and n. 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8443, 8781; and that “glory” denotes the Divine truth itself, such as it is in the internal sense of the Word, see the preface to Genesis 18;and n. 4809, 5922, 8267, 9429.)

[7] From all this it can now be seen what is signified by these words in the book of Revelation:

I saw and behold a white cloud; and on the cloud one sitting like, unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown (Revelation 14:14).

I saw in the night visions, and behold there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto the Son of man (Daniel 7:13).

The Father gave Him to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man (John 5:27).

As all judgment is effected from truth, it is said that it was “given to the Lord to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man;” “the Son of man,” as before said, denotes the Divine truth; the Father from whom it proceeds, denotes the Divine good (n. 2803, 3704, 7499, 8328, 8897). As it pertains to Divine truth to execute judgment, therefore it is said that “when He shall come, the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of His glory” (Matthew 1 9:28; 25:31); and that “the Son of man shall render to everyone according to his deeds” (Matthew 16:27).

[8] Further:

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the seed are the sons of the kingdom; the tares are the sons of the evil one (Matthew 13:37-38);

“the good seed” denotes truth Divine, therefore it is said that “the Son of man soweth it;” “the sons of the kingdom” denote truths Divine in heaven and in the church, for a “son” denotes truth (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623), and in the opposite sense, falsity, which also is “the son of the evil one;” “the kingdom” denotes heaven, and likewise the church.

[9] In John:

No man hath ascended into heaven, but He that came down from heaven, the Son of man who is in the heavens (John 3:13);

from this it is evident that “the Son of man” denotes the Divine truth in the heavens; for this comes down, and therefore ascends, because no one can ascend into heaven unless Divine truth comes down into him from heaven, because the influx is Divine, and not the other way about. And because the Lord is this truth, therefore He calls Himself “the Son of man who is in the heavens.”

In Matthew:

The Son of man hath not where to lay His head (Matthew 8:20);

here “the Son of man” denotes the Divine truth; “not having where to lay His head,” means that Divine truth had no place anywhere, or with any man, at that time.

[10] That “the Son of man was to suffer, and to be put to death” (Matthew 17:12, 23; 20:18; 26:2, 24, 45; Mark 8:31; 9:12, 31elsewhere), involves that such was the treatment of Divine truth, and consequently of the Lord, who was the Divine truth itself, as also He Himself teaches in John:

I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

No man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man stay therein (Jeremiah 49:18, 33).

In the cities shall no man dwell, neither shall any son of man pass through them (Jeremiah 51:43).

Anyone not acquainted with the spiritual sense of the Word will believe that by “cities” are here meant cities, and that by “man” and “the son of man” are meant a man and a son; and that the cities would be so desolated that no one would dwell there; but it is the state of the church in respect to the doctrine of truth which is described by these words; for “cities” denote the doctrinal things of the church (n. 402, 2449, 3216, 4492, 4493); “a man,” the truth itself of the church conjoined with good (n. 3134, 7716, 9007); therefore “the son of man” denotes truth.

[11] As by “the Son of man” was signified the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord, therefore also the prophets, through whom it was revealed, were called “sons of man,” as in Daniel 8:17; in Ezekiel 2:1, 3, 6, 8; 3:1, 3-4, 10, 17, 25; 4:1, 16; 8:5-6, 8, 12, 15; 12:2-3, 9, 18, 22, 27; and in many other passages.

[12] As most expressions in the Word have also an opposite sense, it is the same with the signification of “the son of man,” which in this sense denotes the falsity that is opposite to truth, as in Isaiah:

Who art thou, that thou art afraid of man that dieth, and of the son of man who is given as grass? (Isaiah 51:12); where “the son of man given as grass” denotes the memory-knowledge through which falsity arises.

In David:

Put not your trust in princes, in the son of man, in whom there is no salvation (Psalms 146:3); where “princes” denote primary truths (n. 2089, 5044), thus in the opposite sense, primary falsities; and “the son of man” denotes the falsity itself.

4061. GENESIS 31

1. And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken all that was our father’s; and from that which was our father’s hath he made all this abundance.

2. And Jacob saw the faces of Laban, and behold he was not at all with him as yesterday and the day before.

3. And Jehovah said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy nativity, and I will be with thee.

4. And Jacob sent, and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock.

5. And he said unto them, I see your father’s faces, that he is not at all toward me as yesterday and the day before; and the God of my father hath been with me.

6. And ye know that with all my strength I have served your father.

7. And your father hath deceived me, and hath changed my reward ten ways, and God hath not suffered him to do evil with me.

8. If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy reward, then all the flock bare speckled; and if he said thus, The party-colored shall be thy reward, then all the flock bare party-colored.

9. And God hath taken away the acquisition of your father, and hath given it to me.

10. And it came to pass at the time that the flock grew warm, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were party-colored, speckled, and grizzled.

11. And the angel of God said unto me in the dream, Jacob; and I said, Behold me!

12. And he said, Lift up I pray thine eyes, and see all the he-goats which leap upon the flock, party-colored, speckled, and grizzled; for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.

13. I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst a pillar, where thou vowedst a vow unto me; now arise, go forth out of this land, and return unto the land of thy nativity.

14. And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Have we any longer a portion and inheritance in our father’s house?

15. Are we not counted of him strangers? For he hath sold us, and devouring hath also devoured our silver.

16. For all the riches which God hath taken away from our father, they are ours and our sons’; and now all that God hath said unto thee, do.

17. And Jacob arose, and lifted his sons and his women upon the camels.

18. And he carried away all his acquisition, and all his substance which he had gathered, the acquisition of his purchase, which he had gathered in Paddan-aram, to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

19. And Laban was gone to shear his flock; and Rachel stole the teraphim which were her father’s.

20. And Jacob stole the heart of Laban the Aramean, in that he told him not that he was fleeing.

21. And he fled, he and all that he had; and he arose and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead.

22. And it was told Laban on the third day, that Jacob was fled.

23. And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him a way of seven days, and joined him in the mountain of Gilead.

24. And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed to thyself lest thou speak with Jacob from good even to evil.

25. And Laban came up with Jacob, and Jacob pitched his tent in the mountain; and Laban pitched with his brethren in the mountain of Gilead.

26. And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen my heart, and hast carried away my daughters as captives of the sword?

27. Wherefore hast thou concealed thyself to flee? and hast stolen me? and hast not told me? And I would have sent thee away with gladness, and with songs, with timbrel, and with harp.

28. And thou hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters; now thou hast acted foolishly.

29. Let my hand be to God to do you evil! And the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take heed to thyself that thou speak not with Jacob from good even to evil.

30. And now going thou hast gone, because longing thou hast longed toward thy father’s house; wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

31. And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid, for I said, Perchance thou wilt take away thy daughters from me by force.

32. With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall not live before our brethren; search thou what is with me, and take it to thee. And Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

33. And Laban came into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two handmaids, and found them not; and he went out of Leah’s tent, and came into Rachel’s tent.

34. And Rachel had taken the teraphim, and put them in the camel’s straw, and sat upon them; and Laban felt about all the tent, and found them not.

35. And she said to her father, Let there not be anger in the eyes of my lord, that I cannot rise up before thee, for the way of women is upon me. And he searched and found not the teraphim.

36. And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban; and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? What is my sin, in that thou hast hotly pursued after me?

37. Whereas thou hast felt about all my vessels, what hast thou found of all the vessels of thy house? Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, and let them judge between us two.

38. These twenty years have I been with thee, thy sheep and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.

39. The torn I brought not unto thee, I bare the loss of it, from my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

40. Thus I was; in the day the heat consumed me, and the cold in the night, and my sleep has been chased from mine eyes.

41. These twenty years have I served thee in thy house, fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock, and thou hast changed my reward ten ways.

42. Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Dread of Isaac, had been with me, surely now hadst thou sent me away empty. God hath seen my misery and the weariness of my hands, and judged yesternight.

43. And Laban answered, and said unto Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flock is my flock, and all that thou seest is mine; and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their sons which they have borne?

44. And now come, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and let it be for a witness between me and thee.

45. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.

46. And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made a heap, and they did eat there upon the heap.

47. And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.

48. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day; therefore he called the name of it Galeed;

49. And Mizpah; for he said, Jehovah watch between me and thee, for we shall be hidden a man from his fellow.

50. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, and if thou shalt take women over my daughters, there is no man with us; see God is witness between me and thee.

51. And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have set up between me and thee.

52. This heap be witness, and the pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap to me, and this pillar, for evil.

53. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor judge between us, the God of their father; and Jacob swear by the Dread of his father Isaac.

54. And Jacob sacrificed a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread; and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mountain.

55. And in the morning Laban arose early, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them; and Laban departed and returned to his place.

THE CONTENTS.

The subject here treated of in the internal sense is the separation of the good and truth represented by Jacob and his women, from the good signified by “Laban,” in order that the former might be conjoined with the Divine from a direct Divine stock; and also the state of both as regards the separation.