4373. 'And he urged him. and he took it' means that that affection originating in the good of truth was instilled by means of affection inspired by Divine Good. This becomes clear from the explanations given so far in 4364 onwards. Further evidence of the actual affection for truth, inspired within the good by Divine Good, is displayed by his urging him, see above in 4366. Before anything more can be said about the affection for truth which is the subject in these verses, it should be recognized that although that affection seems to derive from truth and so to exist within truth it does not derive from truth but from good; for truth has no life at all within it apart from that which comes from good. Its seeming to derive from truth is, to use a comparison, like the life which is present within the body. That life does not in fact belong to the body but to the soul, nor yet to the soul but flows in by way of the soul from the Prime source of life, that is, from the Lord, however much it seems to belong to the body It is also like an image in a mirror, which is seen within the mirror but is in fact a reflection of a shape entering from outside.

[2] To people who confine their minds to the historical details it is not indeed apparent that the internal sense of these words and those before them is anything of the kind; for their thought is of Esau, and of Jacob and the gift he sent ahead of him. They are not aware of the fact that 'Esau' represents Divine Good within the natural and 'Jacob' truth which is to be joined there to Divine Good. Nor are they aware that their friendly dialogue here means an affection inspired within truth by good. Yet the angels understand these historical details in no other way when these are read by man, for angels possess no other mental picture of things than a spiritual one. With them the historical sense is converted into that spiritual picture, and in this way angelic thoughts correspond to those of men. It is never-ending correspondences such as these that cause the Word to be holy and Divine, for as it rises up to heaven the literal sense becomes spiritual. It also rises all the way up to the Lord, where it becomes Divine. This is Inspiration.

4264. 'Thirty milking camels and their colts; forty young cows and ten young bulls; twenty she-asses and ten foals' means things that are subservient, general and specific. This is clear from the meaning of 'camels and their colts', also of 'young cows and young bulls' as well as of 'she-asses and their foals' as things which belong to the natural man. These things have been referred to several times already - 'camels' in 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145; 'young bulls' in 1824, 1825, 2180, 2781, 2830; 'she-asses' in 2781; and these things which belong to the natural man, in relation to other things are subservient, see 1486, 3019, 3020, 3167. Consequently things that are subservient, general and specific, are meant by the animals mentioned here. As regards the numbers of the animals being 200 she-goats, 20 he-goats, 200 sheep, 20 rams, 30 camels and their colts, 40 young cows, 10 young bulls, 20 she-asses and 10 foals, these are arcana which cannot be revealed without much explanation and an extensive drawing of inferences. For all numbers used in the Word mean real things, 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252; and what they mean has been shown where they have occurred in previous chapters.

[2] I have sometimes been amazed that when angels' conversing together came down into the world of spirits their conversation revealed itself in various numbers, and also that when numbers have been read in the Word the angels have understood real things. For no numerical value ever penetrates into heaven since numbers belong to measurements both of space and of time, and these belong to the world and to the natural order to which, in the heavens, states and changes of states correspond. The most ancient people, who were celestial and had communication with angels, were aware of what simple numbers and also compound numbers meant. The meanings of these were conveyed from those people to their descendants and to members of the Ancient Church. These are things which find scarcely any acceptance in the member of the Church at the present day who believes that nothing holier is concealed in the Word apart from that which is seen in the letter.