4981. 'And the blessing of Jehovah was' means increases. This is clear from the meaning of 'the blessing of Jehovah'. In the genuine sense 'the blessing of Jehovah' means love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, for those who are endowed with these are called 'the blessed of Jehovah' since they are in that case endowed with heaven and eternal salvation. Consequently 'the blessing of Jehovah' in the external sense, that is, in the sense which has to do with a person's state in the world, means resting content in God and on that account being content with one's position in society and with the amount of wealth one possesses, whether one is among the highly honoured and is wealthy or among the not so honoured and the poor. For the person who rests content in God regards positions and wealth as means to fulfill useful purposes; and when he thinks about these and at the same time about eternal life, he rates them as nothing and eternal life as that which is essential.

[2] Because 'the blessing of Jehovah (or the Lord)' implies such increases in the genuine sense, blessing also implies countless other benefits and consequently means the various gifts which flow from it, such as enrichment with spiritual and celestial good, 981, 1731; fruitfulness resulting from the affection for truth, 2846; undergoing rearrangement into heavenly order, 3017; being endowed with the good of love and thereby being joined to the Lord, 3406, 3504, 3514, 3530, 3584; and joy, 4216. What is meant by 'blessing' therefore in any specific instance becomes clear from the context in which it appears. Here the meaning of 'the blessing of Jehovah' as increases in good and truth, that is, in life and doctrine, is evident from what follows it, for there it says that this blessing of Jehovah was 'in the house and in the field', and 'house' means good which is the good of life, while 'field' means truth which is the truth of doctrine. From this it is evident that increases in these are meant in this case by 'the blessing of Jehovah'.

3584. 'Cursed be those cursing you' means that the person who separates himself will be separated, while 'blessed be those blessing you' means that the person who joins himself will be joined. This is clear from the meaning of 'being cursed' as being separated from, and of 'being blessed' as being joined to, dealt with in 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565. These expressions have reference to truths - 'those cursing' meaning falsities, which sever themselves from truths, and 'those blessing' meaning truths, which link themselves to all other truths. For truths and goods are such that they form themselves into a community and at length constitute so to speak a single political unit. In the same way also such units group themselves together. The origins of all this lie in the form heaven takes. Within that form angels are positioned according to the blood relationships and relationships by marriage that exist between good and truth. In this way all the angels together constitute one kingdom or a single political unit. It is from this heavenly form that truths and goods flow in with man and become so positioned there that a similar form is produced, all of which is effected by the Lord alone. But what is involved here will be seen far more clearly from the correspondence of the Grand Man, which is heaven, with every single thing that exists with man. This correspondence will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with at the ends of chapters. From these considerations it is now evident what Isaac's blessing, pronounced over Jacob but meant for Esau, embodies, namely the fruitfulness of good through the multiplication of truth, and of further fruitfulness of the latter.