860. From these considerations it also becomes clear that all regeneration advances from evening to morning, as is mentioned six times in Genesis 1 where the regeneration of man is the subject. Here the evening is described in verses 2-3, the morning in verses 4-5. The present verse describes the first ray of light or the morning of this state as 'the tops of the mountains appearing'.

3664. 'Go to Paddan Aram' means the cognitions of such truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'Aram' or Syria as cognitions, dealt with in 1232, 1234, 3249. The reason 'Paddan Aram' means cognitions of truth is that it was situated in Syria of the [Two] Rivers, where Nahor, Bethuel, and Laban lived; for 'Syria' means the cognitions of truth, see 3051. Paddan Aram has also been referred to previously in 25:20, and is mentioned again in 31:18 below; and in those places too it means cognitions of truth.