4641. 'These are the generations of Esau' means the derivatives within the Lord's Divine Natural Good. This is clear from the meaning of 'generations' as derivatives, that is to say, derivatives of good and truth, dealt with in 1330, 3263, 3279, 3860, 3868, 4070, and from the representation of 'Esau' as the Lord's Divine Natural Good, dealt with in 3302, 3322, 3494, 3504, 3576, 3599. This Good is the subject now in this chapter. But because its nature is such that it does not come within the range of understanding which any man possesses, and scarcely within that of any angel, mere names are therefore used to describe this Good. The Lord's Divine Natural Good represented by 'Esau' is that which was Divine and which He had from when He was born; for He had been conceived from Jehovah and therefore had what was Divine even from birth. It existed in Him as His soul and was consequently the central core of His life.

[2] Outwardly this had been clothed with what He took upon Himself from His mother. But since that which He took from her was not good but essentially evil, He cast this out by means of His own power, in particular by means of the conflicts that came with temptations. Then after that He joined this Human which He made new within Himself to the Divine Good which He had had from when He was born. 'Jacob' represented the good which He acquired to Himself by His own power and which has been the subject in the chapters immediately before the present one. This acquired good is what He joined to the Divine Good; and in this way He made the entire Human within Him Divine. The Good which 'Esau' represents was coming in by an internal route, through rational good directly into the Natural. But the good which 'Jacob' or 'Israel' represents was coming in by an external route to be met by the Divine coming through rational good, though indirectly through the truth of the Rational into the Natural. 'Isaac' represents the rational good, and 'Rebekah' the rational truth; see what has been stated already concerning them in 3334, 3573, 4563 (end).

3915. 'And let her bear [a child] upon my knees' means acknowledgement by the affection for interior truth, in which affection the joining begins. This is clear from the meaning of 'bearing' as acknowledging in action as well as in faith, dealt with above in 3905, and from the meaning of 'the knees' or the thighs as things which belong to conjugial love, dealt with in 3021, and so to things to do with the joining of the truth of faith to the good of love, since this joining of truth and good is the fundamental marriage in the Lord's kingdom. Thus 'bearing upon my knees' means an acknowledgement of interior truth represented by 'Rachel'. The custom among the ancients of acknowledging as legitimate sons and daughters those who, with the consent of the wife, were borne by servant-girls, and who were born upon their [wives'] knees so that they would be acknowledged as such, was a custom that derived from the Ancient Church whose worship consisted in religious practices which were representatives and meaningful signs of celestial and spiritual things. Since 'bearing' meant the acknowledgement of truth, and 'knees' conjugial love, and so the joining of good and truth from affection, such a practice was followed in that Church when a wife was childless, to prevent her representing the dead who do not rise again to life, in accordance with what was stated just above in 3908.

[2] These words mean in the internal sense a second degree of affirmation or acknowledgement resulting from affection, for affection has to be present in acknowledgement or affirmation if the joining together is to be effected. Indeed all conjunction is effected by means of affection, for without affection truths do not have any life. For example, knowing the truths that the neighbour ought to be loved, and that charity consists in that love, and spiritual life in charity, is no more than knowledge if affection is not present, that is, if there is no desire in the heart for any of this. Without affection these truths have no life, and no matter how well a person knows them he still does not love the neighbour but himself more than the neighbour, and is leading a natural life, not a spiritual one. In his case natural affection has dominion over spiritual affection, and as long as natural affection predominates a person is called 'dead', for the life he has in him is the reverse of heavenly life - heavenly life being true life.