8520. 'And the house of Israel called its name Man' means its essential nature among them. This is clear from the meaning of 'name' and 'calling the name' as the essential nature of a thing, dealt with in 144, 145, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3421, 6674. The fact that it was called Man because they did not know what it was, and that it means the good of truth, which is the good of those belonging to the spiritual Church, see 8462, 8464.

1896. 'Her name was Hagar' means the life of the exterior or natural man. This becomes clear from what has been stated already, and also from the meaning of Hagar' as a foreign woman or one living in foreign parts. 'Foreigners' represented people who were to receive instruction, and living in foreign parts represented instruction, and also rules of life, as shown already in 1463. When it is stated in the Word what a person's name is, as here, that 'her name was Hagar', it means that the name embodies something to which attention should be paid, for 'calling by name' is knowing a person's character, as shown already in 144, 145, 340. Not one particle exists in the Word without a reason and without meaning some real thing in the internal sense.