8979. 'If he is master of a woman' means truth together with delight linked to it. This is clear from the meaning of 'master' as truth, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'a woman' as good, but at this point as delight, also dealt with below. The reason why 'master' is truth is that 'master' in this instance is used to refer to the slave as the man (or husband) of a woman, and in the internal sense both 'slave' and 'man (or husband) of a woman' mean truth - regarding 'slave', see above in 8974, and regarding 'man', 3134, 3309, 3459, 7716. The reason why 'a woman' is delight is that 'the woman (or wife) of a man' in the internal sense means good, 915, 2517, 4823, 6014, 8337. But since a member of the external Church, who indeed possesses the truth of religious teachings but not its complementary good, is represented by a slave from the Israelite people, 8974; and since he does not do the truth for its own sake, or good for its own sake, but for reward, there lies within the truth or good he does the thought of self. This thought of self has no association with good, only with delight; for nothing else is called good in the spiritual sense except that which is a form of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour. This good does, it is true, present itself also as delight in the natural man; but the spiritual within it is what causes it to be good.

[2] To know more about the nature of all this it should be kept in mind that the actions of a member of the internal Church spring from charity, thus from affection and love towards the neighbour, whereas the actions of a member of the external Church do not spring from the good of charity but from the truth of faith, thus not from affection and love towards the neighbour but from obedience because such actions are commanded. Consequently the member of the internal Church is free, whereas the member of the external Church in comparison is a slave; for one whose actions spring from love and affection acts in freedom, 2870-2893. But someone whose actions spring from obedience does not act in freedom, for acting in obedience is not freedom. This is the reason why one whose actions spring from the good of charity is a true member of the spiritual Church; he therefore is represented in the Word by Israel. Someone however whose actions do not spring from the good of charity but from the truth of faith is not a true member of the spiritual Church, but is in comparison one who serves him. He therefore was represented by the slave who was called 'a Hebrew slave' because he had been bought from the children of Israel.

3309. 'And Esau was a man skilled in hunting' means the good of life that has its origin in sensory truths and factual truths. This is clear from the representation of 'Esau' as the good of life, dealt with above, and from the meaning of 'a man skilled in hunting' as those who have the affection for truth, dealt with in what follows - for 'a skilled man' has reference to the affection for truth, that is, to those who have that affection for truth, whereas 'hunting' means truths themselves, though truths which belong to the natural man and in which goods have their origin. Now because the truths of the natural man are called factual, 3293, and factual truths are primarily of two kinds or two degrees - sensory and factual proper - 'hunting' here means both of these. Sensory truths occur with children, factual with those same children when they are growing up, for factual truths cannot exist with anyone before he has received sensory truths because the ideas that make up factual truths are acquired from sensory truths. Then, from those factual truths, other truths even more interior can be learned and grasped, which are called matters of doctrine, meant by 'a man of the field', dealt with below in the next paragraph.

[2] The reason why 'hunting' means the sensory truths and factual truths that are taught to those in whom the good of life is present and who have the affection for those truths is that the word 'hunting' in a broad sense refers to creatures caught through hunting, such as rams, he-goats, she-goats, and the like, by which are meant spiritual goods, see 2180, 2830; and also because the weapons used in hunting, which were the quiver, the bow, and darts, mean matters of doctrine upholding what is true, 2685, 2686, 2709. These are the things meant by 'hunting', as may be seen from what Isaac his father told Esau, in Chapter 27 below,

Take now 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. Genesis 27:3-4; and, in the same chapter, from what he told Jacob, who was posing as Esau,

Bring it to me that I may eat from my son's venison, so that my soul may bless you. Genesis 27:25.

These quotations show what 'hunting' or 'venison' means.

[3] Consequently 'hunting' is teaching [what is true] or else inducing a belief in what is false, and in both senses, that is to say, acting from an affection for truth or from an affection for falsity. Acting from an affection for truth is described in Jeremiah,

I will bring them back over their land which I gave to their fathers. Behold, I am sending to many fishermen, and they will fish them; and after that I will send to many hunters and they will hunt them from upon every mountain, and from upon every hill, and from the holes in the rocks. Jeremiah 16:15-16.

'Fishermen' stands for those whose teaching is drawn from sensory truths, 40, 991, 'hunters' those whose teaching is drawn from factual truths, and also from matters of doctrine. 'Upon every mountain, and upon every hill' stands for teaching people who are stirred by the affection for good and by the affection for truth - 'mountain' and 'hill' carrying such meanings, see 795, 796, 1430. 'Hunting in the field', as in Genesis 27:3, implies the same. Inducing others to believe what is false and doing so from the affection for falsity is described in Ezekiel,

Behold, I am against your little pillows with which you there hunt the souls to make them fly away, and I will tear them from on your arms, and I will let the souls go that you hunt, souls to fly away; and I will tear off your veils and deliver My people out of your hand, and they will be no more in your hand to be hunted. Ezekiel 13:18-21.

For the meaning of 'hunting' in this sense, see 1178, though nets are normally associated with this type of hunting.