22. Verse 5 And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.

What 'evening' means, and what 'morning', is recognized from what is said above. 'Evening' means every prior state, because it is a state of shade, that is, of falsity and of absence of faith, while 'morning' is every subsequent state, because it is one of light, that is, of truth and of cognitions of faith. 'Evening' in general means all the things that are man's own, whereas 'morning' means all those that are the Lord's, as is said through David,

The Spirit of Jehovah has spoken within me, and His word is upon my tongue. The God of Israel has said, the Rock of Israel has spoken to me. He is like the morning light, when the sun is rising on a cloudless morning, shining bright, as when after rain tender grass [springs up] from the earth. 2 Samuel 23:4.

Because 'evening' is a time when there is no faith, and 'morning' when there is, the Lord's Coming into the world is called 'the morning', and the time at which He comes, since faith does not exist at that point, is called 'the evening', as in Daniel,

The Holy One said to me, Up to the evening when it is becoming morning, two thousand three hundred times. Daniel 8:13-14.

In the Word, 'morning' stands in a similar way for every coming of the Lord, and so is a term describing the new creation.

3825. 'And Laban said, It is better for me to give her to you than for me to give her to another man; remain with me' means the means by which interior truth is joined to that good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the reward', of which the words in this reply are a definite promise, as the means by which the two are joined together, dealt with in 3816 - Rachel, to whom 'her' refers here, representing interior truth, and Jacob, to whom 'you' refers, representing good, as shown already. As regards the joining of the good represented by 'Jacob' to the good represented by 'Laban' through interior truth represented by 'Rachel', this is an arcanum which cannot be described easily and intelligibly. A clear mental image of both kinds of good, and also of the affection for interior truth, must be gained first. Furthermore the understanding of any subject is dependent on the ideas about it. No understanding exists if there is no idea at all about it; an obscure understanding if the idea is obscure; a perverted understanding if the idea is perverted; and a clear understanding if the idea is clear. The understanding is also dependent on the affections which cause the idea, even if clear, to be varied.

[2] Let it be stated briefly that with everyone who is being regenerated the good of his natural, like that represented here by 'Jacob', is first of all joined to good like that represented here by 'Laban', through the affection for interior truth, which is represented here by 'Rachel', and subsequently together with the good of the rational and its truth, which are 'Isaac and Rebekah'. By means of that initial conjunction a person is in a right state for receiving internal or spiritual truths, which are the means by which the natural is joined to the rational, that is, the external man to the internal.