3676. To Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean. That this signifies collateral good, is evident from the representation of Laban, as being collateral good of a common stock (concerning which see also above, n. 3665); and from the representation of Bethuel, as being the good of the Gentiles of the first class (see n. 2865, 3665), from which as from a common stock comes the good which is represented by Laban. The reason why Bethuel is here surnamed the “Aramean,” is that by “Aram” or “Syria” are signified the knowledges of good and truth (see n. 1232, 1234, 3249), which are here treated of. External truth, from which is the good here represented by Jacob, is nothing else than knowledges; for these are the truths which are learned first of all, and are also accounted as truths by those who are in the beginning of regeneration. Yet knowledges are not truths in themselves, but from the Divine things within them; and when these Divine things shine forth, the knowledges for the first time become truths. Meanwhile they are like general vessels, through which and in which truths can be received, like those spoken of above (n. 3665), and like all the memory-knowledges that are first learned.

1232. That by “Aram,” or Syria, are signified the knowledges of good, follows; and is seen also from the Word, as in Ezekiel:

Aram was thy trader, in the multitude of thy works; in chrysoprase, crimson, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and carbuncle; they gave them in thy tradings (Ezekiel 27:16),

where Tyre is treated of, or the possession of knowledges; and “works, chrysoprase, crimson, broidered work, fine linen, coral, and carbuncle,” here signify nothing else than the knowledges of good.

In Hosea:

Jacob fled into the field of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept guard; and by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he kept. Ephraim hath provoked to anger with bitternesses (Hosea 12:12-14).

“Jacob” here denotes the external church, and “Israel,” the internal spiritual church; “Aram,” the knowledges of good; “Egypt,” memory-knowledge that perverts; “Ephraim,” intelligence perverted. What these signify in series cannot be seen from the literal sense, but only from the internal sense, where names signify actual things of the church, as has been said.

In Isaiah:

Behold Damascus is rejected from being a city, and is become a ruinous heap. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Aram shall be as the glory of the sons of Israel (Isaiah 17:1, 3).

“The remnant of Aram” here denotes the knowledges of good, which are called “the glory of Israel.” “Aram,” or Syria, in the opposite sense, denotes the knowledges of good perverted; for it is a usual thing in the Word that the expressions are used in both senses (Isaiah 7:4-6; 9:11-12; Deuteronomy 26:5).