4586. 'And Rachel gave birth, and suffered severely in giving birth' means the temptations endured by interior truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'giving birth' as the coming into being of spiritual entities, which are those of truth, and of celestial entities, which are those of good - for in the internal sense 'giving birth' does not mean anything else than things connected with spiritual birth, see 1145, 1255, 2584, 3860, 3868, 3905, 3915, 3919, 4070; from the representation of 'Rachel' as the affection for interior truth, dealt with in 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819; and from the meaning of 'suffering severely' as undergoing temptations. For when used in reference to truths and goods, or spiritual and celestial entities, 'suffering severely' does not mean anything else, since nobody can come to those things except through temptations. Indeed in times of temptation interior goods and truths clash with the evils and falsities which are a product of a person's heredity and of his own actions. That is to say, at such times the Lord acts from within to preserve the goods and truths in him, while an attack is mounted by the evils and falsities which erupt from his heredity and are present as a result of his own actions. That is, the attack is mounted by spirits and genii who are present within those evils and falsities and who dwell with that person. This is how temptations arise, and they lead not only to the casting aside and removal of evils and falsities when these are conquered but also to the strengthening of goods and truths. These are the things which are meant by the statement that Rachel gave birth and suffered severely in giving birth.

3860. 'Leah conceived and bore a son' means spiritual conception and birth from what is external to what is internal. This is clear from the meaning of 'conceiving and bearing' in the internal sense as being regenerated, for a person who is being regenerated is conceived and born anew. Regeneration is for' this reason called rebirth, but that rebirth is spiritual. A person is indeed born a human being from his parents, but he does not become truly human until he is born again from the Lord. Spiritual and celestial life is what makes a person truly human, for that life distinguishes him from animals. This conception and birth is what is meant in the Word by the conceptions and births of all who are mentioned there, and by the words used here, 'Leah conceived and bore a son'. As to its being the generations and births of faith and love that are meant, see 613, 1145, 1255, 2020, 2584, 3856. Those conceptions and births take place from what is external to what is internal, and this is meant by 'Leah conceived and bore', for 'Leah' represents the affection for external truth, 3793, 3819, and 'Reuben' the truth of faith, which is the first stage of regeneration and the external from which it begins. The implications of all this will be evident from all that follows regarding Jacob's children by Leah and by Rachel.