3677. The brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. That this signifies the affinity from the mother with the good of truth which is “Jacob” and with the truth of good which is “Esau,” is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Lord’s Divine rational as to Divine truth (of which frequently above); and from the representation of Jacob, as being the good of truth, or the good which is from truth in the natural; and from the representation of Esau, as being the truth of good, or the good from which is truth in the natural (see a bove, n. 3669). And because all the goods and truths that are in the natural or external man are conceived and born of the rational or internal man; that is, of the good of the rational as a father, and of the truth thereof as a mother (n. 3314, 3573, 3616), therefore by the above words is signified the affinity from the mother with the good of truth which is “Jacob” and with the truth of good which is “Esau.”

[2] Moreover they are circumstanced in precisely the same way; but to explain these things to the apprehension is very difficult, because even the most general facts in regard to the subject are at this day unknown-as for instance, what spiritual good is and what its truth, and that there are innumerable genera of good and its truth, and still more innumerable species, also that they are conjoined with each other by degrees as it were of consanguinity and affinity. These most general things being unknown, a description of the degrees and affinities would fall into mere shade, and the more so because the learned of the day do not desire to know such things, for they love to stray in the mere shell; and to dispute, not concerning the quality of such things, but whether they exist or not; and so long as they are in this state they desire to know nothing whatever concerning these innumerable kinds of good and truth.

3548. And he came unto his father and said, My father; and he said, Behold me, who art thou my son? That this signifies a state of perception from the presence of that truth, is evident from the representation of Isaac, who is here the “father;” and from the representation of Jacob, who is here the “son,” concerning which several times before; also from the signification of “saying,” as being to perceive, concerning which likewise above. From these and from the rest of the expressions it is evident that the signification herein is a state of perception from the presence of that truth which is represented by Jacob; but what is the quality of this truth which is now represented by Jacob is manifest from the internal sense of what goes before and of what follows, namely, that in outward form it appears like the good and the truth of good which are represented by Esau and are signified by his hunting, but that it is not such in its internal form. The natural as to truth in the man who is being regenerated, that is, before he has been regenerated, appears of this character, not indeed in the sight of man, for he knows nothing about the good and truth with him during regeneration; but in the sight of the angels, who see such things in the light of heaven. Man does not even know what the good and truth of the natural are; and because he does not know this, he cannot perceive it; and because he does not perceive it in general, neither can he perceive it in particular; thus he cannot perceive the differences, and still less the changes of their state; and this being so, he can with difficulty comprehend from any description how the case is with this good and its truth. But as these matters are what are treated of in this chapter, therefore in what follows the subject is to be unfolded insofar as it can be apprehended.