4167. 'Put it here in front of my brothers and your brothers, and let them decide between the two of us' means that judgement should be made on the basis of that which is just and fair. This is clear from the meaning of 'brothers' as goods, dealt with in 2360, 3803, 3815, 4121, from which it follows that 'my brothers and your brothers' means that which is just and fair. As regards 'let them judge between the two of us' meaning judgement, this is self-evident. The reason why 'my brothers and your brothers' means that which is just and fair is that the subject here is the natural; for to be exact that within the natural is called just and fair which within the spiritual is referred to as good and true. With man there are two bases on which celestial and spiritual things coming from the Lord are founded, the first base being more internal, the second more external. Those bases are in fact nothing else than conscience. Without such bases, that is, without conscience, nothing celestial or spiritual coming from the Lord can possibly be held in place but flows away like water through a sieve. For this reason people who lack such a base, that is, who lack conscience, do not know what conscience is; indeed they do not believe in the existence of anything spiritual or celestial.

[2] The more internal base or more internal conscience is the place where good and truth in the genuine sense reside, for good and truth flowing in from the Lord are what activate this conscience. But the more external base is the more external conscience, and this is where that which is just and fair in the proper sense resides; for a sense of what is just and fair in private and public affairs, which also flows in from Him, is what activates that conscience. There is in addition a most external base, which resembles conscience but is not conscience at all, namely the performance of what is just and fair for selfish and worldly reasons, that is, for the sake of one's own position and reputation, and for the sake of worldly wealth and possessions, as well as fear of the law. These three bases are what govern a person, that is, they are the means by which the Lord governs him. By the more internal base, or the conscience consisting of spiritual good and truth, the Lord governs those who are regenerate. By the more external base or conscience consisting of what is just and fair, that is, by means of the conscience consisting of good and truth in private and in public affairs, the Lord governs those who are not yet regenerate but who are capable of being regenerated, and are also being regenerated, if not in this life then in the next. But by means of the most external base, which resembles conscience but is not in fact this, the Lord governs all others, including the evil. But for His government of them the latter would plunge into every kind of wickedness and insanity, as they in fact do when the restraints belonging to that base are lacking. And people who do not allow themselves to be governed by those bases are either the insane or else those who are punished as laws prescribe.

[3] These three bases act as one with regenerate persons, for one flows into another, the more internal one regulating the more external. The first base, which is the conscience consisting of spiritual good and truth, is laid down within man's rational, whereas the second, or the conscience consisting of good and truth in private and public life, that is, the sense of what is just and fair, exists within man's natural. From all this one may now see what is implied by that which is just and fair, meant by 'brothers' - that which is just being meant by 'my brothers', and that which is fair by 'your brothers'. The expression 'that which is just and fair' is used because the natural man is the subject; for, to be exact, justice and fairness are attributes of the natural man.

3803. 'Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother' means the kinship of the good represented by 'Jacob' and of the good represented by 'Laban'. This is clear from the meaning of 'telling' as making known; from the representation of 'Jacob' as good, dealt with already; from the representation of 'Rachel', to whom it was made known, as the affection for interior truth, dealt with in 3793; from the meaning of 'brother', who in this place is Jacob, as good, dealt with in 367, 2360, 3303, 3459; and from the meaning of 'father', who in this place is Laban, as good also, dealt with in 3703. From these meanings and from the train of thought it is evident that 'Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother' means the kinship of the good meant by 'Jacob' and of the good meant by 'Laban'. To explain the actual kinship however and so the joining together of the two through the affection for interior truth meant by 'Rachel' would only throw the matter into obscurity, for few know what the good of the natural is and that this is distinct and separate from the good of the rational. Neither do they know what a parallel good springing from a common stock is, nor also what the affection for interior truth is. Anyone who has not by finding out for himself gathered some idea of these matters gains merely a superficial idea, if any at all, from a description of them; for a person takes in only as much of a description given by others as fits in with ideas of his own or else which he acquires by coming to see the thing in himself. All else passes him by. It is enough if one knows that countless kinships of good and truth exist, and that heavenly communities exist in accordance with those kinships, 685, 917, 2739, 3612.

[2] The reason why Jacob calls himself Laban's brother when he was in fact his sister's son is that by virtue of good all are brothers. This also is why Laban in turn calls Jacob 'brother' in verse 15. For it is good that constitutes blood-relationship and which effects any joining together, since good is an attribute of love, and love is a spiritual joining together. This also was the reason why in the ancient Churches all who were governed by good were called brothers. The same happened in the Jewish Church, but because that Church despised everybody else and imagined that they alone were the elect it spoke only of those who had been born Jews as brothers. The rest it called companions or foreigners. The primitive Christian Church also referred to as brothers all who were governed by good, but later on it confined the term to those inside its own group. But the name brother disappeared from among Christians when good did so. And when truth took the place of good, or faith the place of charity, none was able any longer to call another brother by virtue of good, only neighbour. This is also a feature of the doctrine of faith when devoid of the life of charity, in that it seems to be beneath them to exist as a brotherhood when this includes any of lower rank than themselves. For being brothers in their case does not have its origin in the Lord, and therefore in good, but in themselves, and therefore in position and gain.

[3803a] 'And that he was Rebekah's son' means the link between these kindred varieties of good. This becomes clear without explanation, for Rebekah, who was Jacob's mother and Laban's sister, was the one in whom the link existed.