883. 'The dove returned to him at evening time' means that these started to show themselves a little; and 'evening time' is similar to pre-morning twilight. This in like manner becomes clear from that has been stated already at verse 8, and also from the fact that here it is called 'evening time'. Concerning 'evening', see what has been stated in Genesis 1, where six times the statement is made 'there was evening and there was morning'. 'Evening' is a word that has to do with regeneration and indeed with that state when a person is still in near-darkness, or when there is still only a tiny quantity of light showing itself to him. Morning itself is described in verse 13 below by 'he removed the roof from the ark and saw out'. Because 'evening' meant the pre-morning twilight, mention of the evening is made so many times in the Jewish Church. This also is why sabbaths and festivals began from evening onwards, and why Aaron was commanded to light the sacred lamp 'in the evening', Exodus 27:21.

4387. 'And Esau returned on that day on his own way, to Seir' means the state at that time of Divine Natural Good to which the goods of truth had been linked. This is clear from the meaning of 'day' as state, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462 - hence 'he returned on that day' means the state which it assumed at that point; from the representation of 'Esau' as Divine Natural Good, dealt with above in 4340; from the meaning of 'way' as truth, dealt with in 627, 2333, in this case the good of truth, which is truth in will and action, 4337, 4353; and from the meaning of 'Seir' as the joining of truth to good, dealt with above in 4384. These different meanings when drawn together to give one overall sense show that the words used here mean the state at that time of Divine Natural Good to which the goods of truth had been linked.

[2] It is not at all apparent from the historical sense of these words that such ideas are meant by them. All the same, it is just these ideas that those words hold within them in the spiritual or internal sense. For heaven, which is within man - that is, the angels who reside with him - do not have the slightest interest in details to do with the history of the world. Neither do they know who or what Esau was, who or what Seir was. Nor do they have any thought of the day when Esau returned or of the way to Seir; instead they gather ideas of the spiritual things which correspond to those historical facts, instantly deriving such a spiritual meaning from them. For correspondences work in the following way: They are very much like a person talking in a foreign language to someone else who instantly understands what is meant as if in his own language, the sounds and pronunciation of the words actually used being no hindrance to him. So it is with the internal sense of the Word, which sense is in perfect agreement with the universal language which angels use, that is, with the spiritual speech which is expressive of their thought. Their speech is spiritual because their thought is a product of the light of heaven which shines from the Lord.