3332. 'Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil pottage' means that the good of life was given the good of truth and the good of doctrine. This is clear from the representation of 'Esau' as the good of life, dealt with in 3300, 3322; from the meaning of 'bread' as in general the good of love - both celestial and spiritual good - dealt with in 276, 680, 2165, 2177, and so also the good of truth, this being spiritual good; and from the meaning of 'lentil pottage' as the good of doctrine, for 'pottage' or soup means the massing together of matters of doctrine, 3316, but 'lentils' the good that exists essentially in these. Jacob's giving them to Esau means in the internal sense that those goods come through the doctrine of truth, which Jacob represents, 3305.

[2] These words and those that follow in this final verse describe progress made in regard to truth and good. They describe the situation with the spiritual man while being regenerated, that is to say, how he first learns matters of doctrine concerning truth; how next he is stirred by an affection for them, which is the good of doctrine; how after that, through insight into the matters of doctrine, he is stirred by an affection for the truths which they hold within them, which is the good of truth; and how at length he desires to live according to them, which is the good of life. Thus while undergoing regeneration the spiritual man advances from the doctrine of truth towards the good of life. But once he has reached that point the order is reversed - that good is the point from which he sees the good of truth, the latter the point from which he sees the good of doctrine, and this good in turn the point from which he sees matters of doctrine concerning truth. From these considerations it may be known how, from being sensory-minded, a person becomes spiritual, and what he is like when he has become spiritual.

[3] Those varieties of good, that is to say, the good of life, the good of truth, and the good of doctrine, are all distinct from one another, as becomes clear to those who weigh the matter up. The good of life is that which issues from the will, the good of truth that which issues from the understanding, while the good of doctrine is that which issues from knowledge. Doctrinal teaching is such that it includes all three. It is clear that 'lentils' means the good of doctrine from the fact that wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt are such things as are meant by bread, though with specific differences. The fact that 'bread' in general means good is evident from what has been stated and shown in 276, 680, 2165, 2177; and so specific kinds of good are meant by the grains and beans that have been mentioned - nobler kinds of good by wheat and barley, but less noble by beans and lentils, as also becomes evident from these words in Ezekiel,

You, take for yourself wheat and barley, and beans and lentils, and millet and spelt, and put them into a single vessel, and make them into bread for yourself. Ezekiel 4:9, 12-13.

1748. 'That not a thread, nor even the latchet of a shoe' means all things, natural and bodily, that were unclean. This is clear from the meaning of 'the latchet of a shoe'. In the Word 'the sole of the foot, and the heel' means the lowest part of the natural, as shown already in 259. The shoe is that which covers the sole and the heel, and therefore 'a shoe' means something still more natural, thus the bodily itself. The exact meaning of a shoe depends on the actual subject. When it has reference to goods it is used in a good sense, but when it has reference to evils it is used in a bad sense, as it is here where the subject is the acquisitions of the king of Sodom, who means evil and falsity. 'The latchet of a shoe' therefore means things, natural and bodily, that are unclean. 'The thread of a shoe' means falsity, and 'the latchet of a shoe' evil, and because the expression denotes something very small the most degraded of all is meant.

[2] That these things are meant by a shoe is clear also from other places in the Word, such as when Jehovah appeared to Moses from the middle of the bush and said to Moses,

Do not come near here; put off your shoes from on your feet, for the place or which you are standing is holy ground. Exodus 3:5.

Similarly, in what the commander of Jehovah's army said to Joshua,

Put off your shoe from on your foot, for the place on which you are standing is holy. Joshua 5:15.

From this anyone may see that a shoe would not take away anything from the holiness provided the individual were holy in himself, but that this was said because 'a shoe' represented the lowest natural and bodily that was to be cast off.

[3] That it is the unclean natural and bodily is also clear in David,

Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom I will cast My shoe. Psalms 60:8.

The commandment to the disciples embodies the same,

If anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Matthew 10:14; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5.

Here 'dust of your feet' is similar in meaning to a shoe, for 'the sole of the foot' means the lowest natural, that is to say, uncleanness resulting from evil and falsity. They were commanded to do this because at that time they lived in an age of representatives, and imagined that heavenly arcana were stored away solely in these and not in naked truths.

[4] Because 'the shoe' meant the lowest natural, shedding, that is, 'taking off the shoe' meant that the lowest things of nature were to be shed, as in the case, mentioned in Moses, of any man who refused to fulfill the obligations of a brother-in-law,

He who refuses to fulfill the obligations of a brother-in-law - his sister-in-law shall go up to him in the sight of the elders, and she shall remove his shoe from upon his foot and spit in his face; ¹ and she shall answer and say, So will it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house. And his name will be called in Israel, The house of him who has his shoe taken off. Deuteronomy 25:5-10.

This stands for being devoid of all natural charity.

[5] That 'a shoe' means as well, in a good sense, the lowest natural is clear from the Word, as in Moses when referring to Asher,

Blessed above sons be Asher; let him be acceptable to his brothers, and dipping his foot in oil. Your ² shoe will be iron and bronze. Deuteronomy 33:24-25.

Here 'shoe' stands for the lowest natural - 'iron shoe' for natural truth, 'bronze shoe' for natural good - as is clear from the meaning of iron and bronze, 425, 426. And because the shoe meant the lowest natural and bodily part, it therefore became a figurative expression for the least and basest thing of all, for the lowest natural and bodily part is the basest of all in man; and this is what John the Baptist meant when he said,

There is coming one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to untie. Luke 3:16; Mark 1:7; John 1:27.

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