894. 'At the beginning, on the first of the month' means a starting point. This is now clear from what has been said above. Everything that this statement embodies is an arcanum so deep that it cannot be described, except for just the point that no definite period of time ever exists when anyone is regenerate enough to be able to say, 'Now I am perfect'. In fact an unlimited number of states of evil and falsity exist with everyone, not only simple states but also varied and complex ones which, as has been stated, have to be disposed of in such a way that they do not recur. In some states a person can be called fairly perfect, but in countless others he cannot. People who have been regenerated during their lifetime, and in whose lives faith in the Lord and charity towards the neighbour have been present, are in the next life being perfected all the time.

4011. 'And Jacob was feeding the rest of Laban's flocks' means that from the ones that were left there were taken the goods and truths which were to be joined to the good of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'flocks' as goods and truths, dealt with in 343, 2566, 3767, 3768, 3772, 3783. The fact that 'feeding the rest of the flocks' means that from the ones that were left there were taken the goods and truths which were to be joined to the truth of good is evident from what follows below, for this is what is dealt with there.