4360. 'And the servant-girls came near, they and their sons, and bowed down' means sensory knowledge and its truths, and their submission. This is clear from the meaning of 'the servant-girls' as affections for knowledge and for cognitions which belong to the external man, dealt with above in 4344, and therefore sensory knowledge, the nature of which is discussed below; from the meaning of 'sons' as truths, dealt with above in 4357; and from the meaning of 'bowing down' as submission. Sensory knowledge, meant by 'the servant-girls', is factual knowledge about external things which belong to the world, and is therefore the most general kind of all, 4345. It consists in the things which enter immediately through the external senses and which are perceived by that sensory awareness. The knowledge which everyone possesses in early childhood is sensory knowledge, and this serves as a basis not only for cognitions of interior natural things but also later on for cognitions of spiritual things. For spiritual things are founded on natural ones and are represented within them. It is because truths are joined to good in conformity with an ordering that begins with things that are quite general, as shown above in 4345, that the reference is made at this point to the servant-girls and their sons bowing down first, that is, they were submissive.

4357. 'And saw the women and their sons' means, of the affections for truth and of the truths which belong to those affections. This is clear from the meaning of 'the women', who in this case are Leah and Rachel's servant-girls, as affections for truth, dealt with in 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819, 4344, and from the meaning of 'sons' as truths, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373, in this case the truths which belong to those affections.