3299. 'And behold, there were twins in her womb' means that the two were conceived simultaneously. This is clear from the meaning of 'twins' as the two, that is to say, good represented by 'Esau' and truth represented by Jacob', and from the meaning of 'in the womb' as conception, dealt with above in 3293. With regard to the two, that is to say, the good and the truth of the natural, being conceived simultaneously, the situation is that anything that is born owes its being (esse) to the father but its manifestation (existere) to the mother. Both are necessary if anything is to come into existence. As regards good the natural is conceived from the good of the rational as the father, and as regards truth from the truth of the rational as the mother, 3286, 3288. It is good that confers life, but it does so through truth. Though both are called the soul good is nevertheless primarily the soul, while truth clothes it in a kind of thin casing or body, so that the good resides within the truth. This is what is meant by 'twins in her womb'.

3288. 'And Rebekah his wife conceived' means from Divine Truth as the mother. This is clear from the representation of 'Rebekah' as the Divine Truth of the Rational, dealt with in the previous chapter, and from the meaning of 'conceiving' as the first beginnings of the rise of the Divine Natural, as from the mother. For as stated just above, the Divine Natural came into being from the Divine Good of the Rational as father and from the Divine Truth of the Rational as mother. Scarcely anybody knows that this is so, especially since few know that the rational is distinct and separate from the natural. None but those who are truly rational know of that distinctness, and none are truly rational but those who have been regenerated by the Lord. People who have not been regenerated do not grasp it since to them the rational and the natural are one and the same.