8914. 'And all the people saw the voices and torches' means perception of God's truths that spring from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as understanding and perceiving, dealt with in 2150, 2325, 2807, 3764, 3863, 3869, 4403-4421, 4567, 4723, 5400; from the meaning of 'voices', or claps of thunder, as God's truths, dealt with in 7573, 8813; and from the meaning of 'torches', or lightning, as the brilliant flashes emitted by truths that spring from the good of love, which have a sharp and penetrating effect, dealt with in 8813.

[2] The expression 'God's truths that spring from good' is used here to mean all the Ten Commandments which were declared from Mount Sinai amid thundering and lightning. These took place at that time because claps of thunder were signs of God's truths, which are also for that reason called voices, while flashes of lightning were signs of the brilliant flashes that truths from good possess, which are also for that reason called torches or flames, 'flames' being Divine Truths emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, see 6832.

4567. 'God was seen by Jacob again, when he was coming from Paddan Aram; and He blessed him' means interior natural perception. This is clear from the meaning of 'God was seen' as interior perception. 'Seeing' means understanding and perceiving, see 2150, 2807, 3764, 3863, 4403-4421, and therefore the words 'God was seen' used in reference to the Lord mean perception from the Divine, which is the same as interior perception. The possession by the natural of this perception is meant by 'God was seen by Jacob', for 'Jacob' represents the Lord's natural, as has been shown many times. 'Again, when he was coming from Paddan Aram' means after He had absorbed cognitions of good and truth, which, being meant by 'Paddan Aram', are dealt with in 3664, 3680, 4112. 'He blessed him' means progress towards the more interior aspects of the natural, and the joining together there of good and truth. For 'blessing' is used to refer to all the good which anyone has conferred on him by the Divine, 1420, 1422, 2846, 3017, 3406; in particular the expression refers to the joining together of good and truth, 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584.