4338. Verses 1-3. And Jacob lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. And he divided the sons over towards Leah, and over towards Rachel, and over towards the two servant-girls. And he put the servant-girls and their sons first, and Leah and her sons further back, and Rachel and Joseph even further back. And he himself passed over in front of them, and bowed to the ground seven times, until he came right up to his brother.

'Jacob lifted up his eyes and saw' means the perception and the attention of the good of truth, meant by 'Jacob'. 'And behold, Esau was coming' means Divine Natural Good. 'And four hundred men with him' means a state. 'And he divided the sons over towards Leah' means the deployment of external truths beneath their own specific affection. 'And over towards Rachel' means the deployment of interior truths beneath their own specific affection. 'And over towards the two servant-girls' means beneath the affection for the things that serve those two affections. 'And he put the servant-girls and their sons first, and Leah and her sons further back, and Rachel and Joseph even further back' means an ordering beginning with general things in which all else is included. 'And he himself passed over in front of them' means that which is universal, and so means all things. 'And bowed to the ground seven times' means the submission of all things. 'Until he came right up to his brother' means a joining on the part of good that develops from truth, meant by 'Jacob'.

3548. 'He went to his father, and said, My father. And he said, Behold, here I am; who are you, my son?' means a state of perception resulting from the presence of that truth. This becomes clear from the representation of Isaac, to whom 'father' refers here, and from the representation of Jacob, to whom 'son' refers, dealt with several times already; and also from the meaning of 'saying' as perceiving, also dealt with already. From these and all the other expressions used it is evident that it is a state of perception resulting from the presence of the truth represented by 'Jacob'. But the nature of this truth represented at this point by Jacob is evident from the internal sense of what comes before and after - that in outward form it is like the good and the truth acquired from good which are represented by 'Esau' and meant by his venison, but it is not so in inward form. With one who is being regenerated, that is, prior to his having been regenerated, the truth of the natural presents this outward appearance. Not indeed that the person himself sees it, for he is quite unaware of the presence of good and truth with him while he is being regenerated; but the eyes of angels who see such things in the light of heaven do behold it. Man is not even aware of what the good and the truth of the natural are, and being unaware of what they are he cannot perceive them. And because he does not perceive them in general nor is able to perceive them in particular, he does not perceive their differences, let alone their changes of state. Not perceiving these he is scarcely able to grasp from any description of them what this good and its truth are like. But as they are the subject in this chapter, an explanation is going to be given, so far as this can be made intelligible.