4827. 'And he was in Kezib as she was giving birth to him' means the state. This is clear from the meaning of 'Kezib' as the state, namely that of idolatry meant by 'Shelah' which existed among the Jewish nation, and from the meaning of 'giving birth' as being joined in action, dealt with in 3905, 3915, 3919. And because it was joined to the evil present in that idolatry, it is said that 'she' called his name Shelah, as is evident from the original language; for 'she' - the daughter of Shua - means evil begotten by falsity springing from evil, 4818, 4819.

3905. 'Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob [any children]' means that interior truth was not yet acknowledged. This is clear from the representation of 'Rachel' as the affection for interior truth, or as interior truth itself, dealt with in 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819; from the meaning of 'bearing' as acknowledging in action as well as in faith, dealt with below; and from the representation of 'Jacob' as the good of natural truth, dealt with in 3669, 3677, 3829, and in the whole of the previous chapter. The reason why 'bearing' means acknowledging in action as well as in faith is that births in the Word mean spiritual births, 1145, 1255, 3860, 3868. Spiritual birth is the acknowledgement of and faith in truth and good, in this verse acknowledgement in action as well as in faith, that is to say, an acknowledgement of the interior truth represented by 'Rachel'. Since something is not acknowledged in faith until a person is living according to it the phrase 'acknowledgement in action as well as in faith' is therefore used. Truths of faith which are not learned for the sake of putting them into action but solely for the sake of knowing them attach themselves to affections for evil and falsity, and as a consequence are not the truths of faith with the person who learns them but within him go against faith.