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.

1754. 'Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre' means the things residing with them. This is clear from what has been stated about the same three at verse 13 above, that is to say, that by the names of these men are meant the goods and truths from which the battle was fought rather than the angels themselves; for, as has been stated, angels are meant by the expressions 'young men' and 'men', since angels do not ever have personal names but are distinguished from one another by the kinds of goods and truths with them. This is why in the Word nothing else is meant by 'a name' than the essence and the nature or character of the named, as shown already in 144, 145, 340, and as becomes clear also in Isaiah, where the Lord is spoken of,

His name will be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6-7.

'Name' is here used to mean His nature, that is to say, that He is Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace.

[2] In Jeremiah, where also the Lord is spoken of,

This is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. Jeremiah 23:5-6.

Here it is quite clear that the 'name' is Righteousness. Then in Moses, where also the Lord is spoken of,

He will not endure your transgression for My name is in the midst of Him. Exodus 23:21.

Here too 'name' stands for Essence - that it is Divine. The same is in addition clear from many other places in the Word where it is said that men called on the name of Jehovah, that they should not take Jehovah's name in vain; and in the Lord's Prayer, Hallowed be Your name. The same applies with the names of angels, as it does here with the names Eshkol, Aner, and Mamre, who represent angels, in that those names mean the things that exist with angels.