Arcana Coelestia #3829
3829. And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my woman. 1 That this signifies that from general good there was now conjunction with the affection of interior truth, is evident from the representation of Jacob, as being the good of the natural (concerning which see above); in the present case general good, because the things of the natural are relatively general, there being innumerable things which flow from the internal man into the natural or external man which appear in this latter as one general thing, and still more so before the particulars of the generals have been received, as in the present case. For this reason the good which is represented by Jacob is now called general good. That conjunction with the affection of interior truth is signified, is manifest, for Rachel, who is here called “my woman,” represents the affection of interior truth, as before shown.
Footnotes:
1. Although the term “woman” in this connection is offensive to the ears of English speaking people, it is necessary to keep to the word that is used in the original, which is mulier and not uxor. Moreover Rachel and Leah were not the wives of Jacob, but merely his “women,” because there is no marriage possible except that of “one man with one wife” (n. 1907), and Jacob was a polygamist. [Reviser.]
