6012. 'And the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father' means that truths which were spiritual ones caused natural truth to move ahead. This is clear from the representation of 'the sons of Israel' as spiritual truths, dealt with in 5414, 5879; and from the representation of 'Jacob' as natural truth, dealt with in 3305, 3509, 3525, 3546, 3599, 3775, 4009, 4234, 4520, 4538. The reason 'they carried' means that they caused it to move ahead is that the expression is used of spiritual truths in relation to natural truth. Nor can anything else than what is spiritual cause natural truth to move ahead, for what is spiritual is the source of its life and power of action. This now explains why Jacob's sons here are called 'the sons of Israel' but Jacob himself 'Jacob'.

3776. 'My brothers, where are you from?' means, What is the origin of the charity there? This is clear from the meaning of 'brothers' as people governed by good, and consequently as good itself and therefore as charity, dealt with in 367, 2360, 3303, 3459, and from the meaning of 'Where are you from?' as, What is the origin? From these considerations it is also evident that the matters which in the sense of the letter are expressed as a question and have reference to persons fall in the internal sense into a mental image which has no reference to any person. For when the historical descriptions that belong to the letter leave man and pass into heaven they cease to be anything among the angels in heaven. From this it is clear that Jacob's question addressed to the men of Haran, 'My brothers, where are you from?' means, What is the origin of the charity there? The implications of this are that charity which looks like charity in outward appearance is not always charity inwardly. It is from the end in view that one recognizes which kind of charity it is and where it originates. Charity which springs from a selfish or a worldly end in view is not charity inwardly. Nor indeed ought it to be called charity. But charity which springs from the neighbour, the common good, heaven, and so the Lord, as the end in view is charity itself and contains the affection for doing good from the heart, and therefore contains the delight of life, which in the next life becomes a blessed delight. It is highly important for a person to know this if he is to know what the Lord's kingdom is within himself. Inquiry concerning this charity, or what amounts to the same, concerning this good, is the subject in the present verses. And the question is first put here, What is the origin of the charity there? meant by the question, 'My brothers, where are you from?'