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.

2176. 'Take quickly three measures of meal of fine flour, knead it, and make cakes' means the celestial existence of His love in that state. This is clear from the meaning of 'meal', 'fine flour', and 'a cake', dealt with in the paragraph immediately after this. That such matters are embodied here no one can possibly believe who fixes his mind on the literal sense, or sense of the words, even less if he fixes it on the historical events described by them; for he will be thinking not only about what Sarah was told to prepare but also about the men who came to Abraham and not about there being deeper things hidden within these descriptions. This is the reason why he is able to believe still less that arcana lie concealed in the historical sections of the Word as much as they do in prophetical parts. For historical descriptions draw the attention of the mind very much to themselves and obscure the things that are interior. Nevertheless the fact that arcana are present within those descriptions, hidden deeply within them, becomes clear from the single consideration that it is the Lord's Word, which has been written not only for man's benefit but at the same time for heaven's as well. Indeed it has been written in such a way that when man reads it, angels at the same time gain heavenly ideas from it; so that by means of the Word heaven is joined to the human race. What 'meal', 'fine flour', and 'cakes' are used to mean in the internal sense follows next.