3659. 'Isaac called to Jacob' means perception by the Lord regarding the nature of the good of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling to someone' as perception of the nature of a thing, dealt with in 3609, from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Lord as regards the Divine Good of the Divine Rational, dealt with in 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630, 3012, 3194, 3210, and from the representation of 'Jacob' as the Lord as regards natural truth, dealt with in 1893, 3305, 3509, 3525, 3546, 3576, 3599. Here however and in the rest of this chapter 'Jacob' represents the good of that truth. From this it is evident that these words 'Isaac called to Jacob' mean perception by the Lord of the nature of the good of truth.

[2] The reason why 'Jacob' here represents the good of that truth is that by now he had taken Esau's birthright, and also his blessing, and in so doing had assumed Esau's identity; yet it was still no more than the good of that truth, which truth he had represented previously. For every kind of truth that exists holds good within it, because truth is not truth unless it arises out of good and for this reason is called truth. By means of the birthright which he took, and by means of the blessing, Jacob acquired for his descendants, in precedence over Esau, a succession to the promise made to Abraham and Isaac concerning the land of Canaan. In so doing he represented the Lord's Divine Natural, even as 'Isaac' represented the Divine Rational, and 'Abraham' His Divine itself. In order therefore that the representative might rest on one person he was thus allowed to take away the birthright from Esau, and after that the blessing. This is why Jacob now represents the good of the natural, though at first in this chapter he represents the good of that truth, which truth he represented immediately before. Esau is also dealt with further still, as in verses 6-9 below, to the end that the good of truth and the interior truth of good of the Lord's Natural - which cannot as yet be represented by 'Jacob' - may nevertheless be represented. What the good of truth, represented here by 'Jacob' is, and the nature of it, will be clear from what follows.

3509. 'And Rebekah said to Jacob her son - she said' means the Lord's perception from Divine Truth concerning natural truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Rebekah' as the Divine Truth of the Lord's Divine Rational, dealt with in 3012, 3013, 3077; from the meaning of 'saying' as perceiving, dealt with in 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2506, 2515, 2552, 2619; and from the representation of 'Jacob' as the Lord's Natural as regards truth, dealt with in 3305. From this it is evident that 'Rebekah said to Jacob her son' means the Lord's perception from Divine Truth concerning natural truth. For on the one hand the Lord wished to acquire truth from the Divine Good of the Divine Rational, represented by 'Isaac', through the good of the Natural, represented by 'Esau', by means of which truth He would glorify, or make Divine, the Natural. But on the other hand the Lord wished to acquire truth from the Divine Truth of the Divine Rational, represented by 'Rebekah', through the truth of the Natural, represented by 'Jacob', by means of which truth He would glorify, or make Divine, the Rational. But these two wishes of His cannot be grasped unless light is thrown on the subject from what happens with man when being regenerated or made new by the Lord. And even then it cannot be grasped unless one knows the situation with the rational as regards good and as regards truth there. So let this matter be discussed briefly.

[2] The rational mind is distinguished into two separate mental powers, one called the will, the other the understanding. That which goes forth from the will when someone is being regenerated is called good, and that which goes forth from the understanding is called truth. Until a person has been regenerated the will does not act in unison with the understanding. Instead the will desires good whereas the understanding desires truth; and so different is each desire from the other that the effort of the will is perceived to be quite distinct and separate from that of the understanding. This is perceived however only by those who stop to reflect, knowing what the will is and the things that constitute this, and what the understanding is and the things that constitute that. But it is not perceived by those who do not know those things and therefore do not stop to reflect. And there is the added reason that the natural mind is regenerated by way of the rational mind, see 3493, and indeed according to order as follows: The good of the rational does not pass directly into the good of the natural and regenerate it but by way of truth which belongs to the understanding, thus giving the appearance that it enters in from the truth of the rational. These are the matters which this chapter deals with in the internal sense; for 'Isaac' is the rational mind as regards good present in the will, 'Rebekah' as regards truth present in the understanding. 'Esau' is the good of the natural springing from the good of the rational, 'Jacob' the truth of the natural springing from the good of the rational by way of the truth there.

[3] These considerations show the kind of arcana contained in the internal sense of the Word; yet there are very few which can be described in a way intelligible to the human mind. The number of those which are beyond man's comprehension and defy description is unlimited. For the more deeply the Word goes, that is, the more interiorly into heaven, the more unlimited and also the more indescribable do they become not only to man but also to angels of the lower heaven. And when it reaches the inmost heaven the angels there perceive that the arcana are infinite and, being Divine are quite beyond their comprehension. Such is the nature of the Word.