3700. 'And its top reaching to heaven' means with the Divine, that is to say, communication with Him. This is clear from the meaning of 'the top of the stairway', or the uppermost part of it, as the highest point, and from the meaning of 'heaven' as the Divine. For in the highest sense, where the Lord is the subject, heaven is the Divine Himself; but in the representative sense, where the person who is being regenerated is the subject, it is inmost good and attendant truth from the Lord such as exist in heaven and from which heaven itself is formed. Heaven too is called Divine because it has its origin in the Lord. For heaven is the Lord, or what amounts to the same, the Divine coming from the Lord alone, who is the All in all of heaven. Anything which does not derive from the Divine there is not part of heaven. This is why it has been frequently stated already that the Lord is heaven itself, and that those who are in heaven abide in the Lord.
Arcana Coelestia # 3494
3494. 'And he called Esau his elder son' means the affection for natural good, or the good of life. This is clear from the representation of 'Esau' as the Divine Good of the Natural, dealt with in 3300, 3302, 3322. And because the good of the natural is that which manifests itself in affection and life, it is accordingly the affection for natural good, or the good of life, that 'Esau' represents here. The affection for good in the natural and consequently the good of life is that which is called 'the elder son', whereas the affection for truth and consequently the doctrine of truth is that which is called 'the younger son'. The fact that the affection for good and consequently the good of life is the elder son, that is, the firstborn, is quite evident from the consideration that good reigns in anyone's children at first. Indeed they are in a state of innocence, and a state of love towards their parents or nursemaid, and a state of mutual charity towards playmates, so that good is the firstborn with everyone. This good which is fostered in this state within a person when he is a small child remains with him, for whatever is instilled in infancy acquires life to itself; and because it remains it becomes the good of life. Indeed if a person were devoid of such good as he has had with him from earliest childhood he would not be human but would be more savage than any wild animal of the forest. Not that its presence is apparent, for everything that has been instilled in earliest childhood inevitably appears to be something natural, as is quite evident from being able to walk, from all our other bodily movements, and from the right and proper ways to behave among other people; also from being able to talk, and from so many other abilities. From this it may be seen that good is 'the elder son', that is, the firstborn, and truth therefore 'the younger son', or one born later, for truth is not learned until childhood, adolescent, and adult years are reached.
[2] Each of them, good and truth in the natural or external man, is 'a son', that is to say, a son of the rational or internal man, for whatever comes into being in the natural or external man flows in from the rational or internal man, and from there comes into being and is born. That which does not come into being and is not born from there is not living and human, but is like what you might call body and senses without a soul. Hence both good and truth are called 'sons', and indeed sons of the rational. Yet it is not the rational that produces and gives birth to the natural, but an influx by way of the rational into the natural, an influx coming from the Lord. His 'sons' therefore are all the young children who are born, and after that time whenever they become wise. Also, insofar as the latter are at that time 'young children' - that is, insofar as the innocence of a young child, the love of a child for its parent (who is now the Lord), and mutual charity towards playmates (who are now the neighbour) exist in them, they are adopted by the Lord as 'sons'.
Genesis 2
1
The heavens and the earth were finished, and all their vast array.
2
On the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3
God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work which he had created and made.
4
This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens.
5
No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground,
6
but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground.
7
Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8
Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9
Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10
A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became four heads.
11
The name of the first is Pishon: this is the one which flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12
and the gold of that land is good. There is aromatic resin and the onyx stone.
13
The name of the second river is Gihon: the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush.
14
The name of the third river is Hiddekel: this is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15
Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16
Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
17
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die."
18
Yahweh God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
19
Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
20
The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21
Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
22
He made the rib, which Yahweh God had taken from the man, into a woman, and brought her to the man.
23
The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called 'woman,' because she was taken out of man."
24
Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
25
They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
