4062. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Verses 1-3 And he ¹ heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob has taken all that belonged to our father, and from what belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth. And Jacob saw Laban's face, and behold, he was not at all friendly towards him as before. ² And Jehovah said to Jacob, Return to the land of your fathers, and to [the place of] your nativity, and I will be with you.

'He heard the words of Laban's sons, saying' means the nature of the truths belonging to the good meant by 'Laban' in comparison with the good thereby acquired in the Natural by the Lord. 'Jacob has taken all that belonged to our father' means that every aspect of good now meant by 'Jacob' had been given to Him from that source. 'And from what belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth' means that He gave it to Himself. 'And Jacob saw Laban's face' means a change of state with that good when the good meant by Jacob was departing from it. 'And behold, he was not at all friendly towards him as before' means that towards the good meant by 'Jacob' the state was completely altered; yet nothing had been taken away from that good, for it possessed what was its own as it had done previously, apart from its link with [the intermediate good]. 'And Jehovah said to Jacob' means the Lord's perception from the Divine. 'Return to the land of your fathers' means that He had now to bring Himself closer to Divine good. 'And to [the place of] your nativity' means towards the truth deriving from that good. 'And I will be with you' means that in that case it will be Divine.

Footnotes:

2861. That 'so it was, after these events' means the things that had been accomplished in regard to those within the Church is clear from the meaning of 'words' as real things. In the original language real things are called 'words', so that 'after these events' means the things that had been accomplished. The subject in what has gone before, from verse 13 to the present verse, has been the salvation of those who are spiritual by the Lord's Divine Human, and indeed of those who are endowed with good within the Church. These are ones who are able to be truly spiritual because they possess the Word and so the truths of faith. It is by means of the truths of doctrine joined to goodness of life that a person becomes spiritual. Everything spiritual originates in these when joined together. But gentiles outside the Church, because they do not possess the Word nor thus the truths of faith as long as they are in the world, even though the good of charity exists with them, are not truly spiritual until they have been taught the truths of faith. And because most gentiles in the world are not able to be taught, those who have led charitable and obedient lives one with another are, in the Lord's providence and mercy, taught in the next life. At that time they accept the truths of faith without difficulty and become spiritual. For such is the state and condition of gentiles in the next life, see 2589-2604.

[2] Since those within the Church who are saved by the Lord's Divine Human have been the subject in what has gone before, the subject in what follows from here to the end of the chapter is therefore those outside the Church who are saved. These are meant by the sons who were born to Nahor, Abraham's brother, by Milkah his wife and by Reumah his concubine. This also follows in the sequence of thought. Anyone who is unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word would imagine that these words merely presented the family-tree of the house of Terah, given on account of Rebekah, who became the wife of Isaac, and also on account of Bethuel, whose two granddaughters, Leah and Rachel, became the wives of Jacob. But in fact, as has often been stated and shown, all names in the Word mean real things, 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888. And unless they meant real things the Word would not be Divine but worldly. From this it may also become clear that the words which follow have regard in the train of thought to the Lord's spiritual Church, but that Church as it exists among gentiles. It was traced back through Nahor, Abraham's brother, so as to mean those who exist in a brotherly relationship by virtue of good, as shown below in 2863.