3496. Verses 2-4 And he said, Behold now, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. And now take, I beg you, your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt venison for me. And make me savoury food such as I love, and bring it to me, and I will eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.

'He said, Behold now, I am old' means that the state was reached. 'I do not know the day of my death' means the life within the natural. 'And now take, I beg you, your weapons, your quiver and your bow' means the matters of doctrine concerning good which were in his possession. 'And go out to the field' means where a good ground exists. 'And hunt venison for me' means truth acquired from good. 'And make me savoury food such as I love' means the forms of pleasantness received from that truth, because it is acquired from good. 'And bring it to me, and I will eat' means making it its own. 'So that my soul may bless you' means allying it to its own life. 'Before I die' means the first state of awakening in the natural.

'Soft raiment,' as in Matthew 11:9, represents the internal sense of the Word.

(Referenser: Arcana Coelestia 9372)