4301. 'As he passed over Penuel' means a state of truth within good. This is clear from the meaning of 'Penuel' as a state of truth within good. It was the Jabbok that Jacob passed over first when he entered the land of Canaan, by which the first instillation of the affections for truth is meant, see 4270, 4271, whereas it is Penuel which he passes over now. Hence 'Penuel' means a state of truth that has been instilled into good. The subject is also the joining of the one kind of good to the other; but good is not good unless it has truth within it, for good derives its specific nature as well as its form from truth' so much so that good cannot with anyone be called good unless truth is present within it. But truth acquires its essence and consequently its life from good. This being so and the joining of the one kind of good to the other being the subject, the state of truth within good is dealt with too.

[2] As for the state of truth within good, this can indeed be described but no one can grasp what it is except those who have celestial perception. People who do not have this perception cannot even have any concept of the joining of truth to good, since for them truth lies in obscurity. Indeed they call the truth that which they have learned from matters of doctrine, and they call good that which is done in accordance with that truth. But those who do have perception have an understanding or mental sight that dwells in heavenly light, and they take delight in truths which are joined to good, just as the eye or physical sight takes delight in flowers growing in gardens and meadows in springtime. And people who have interior perception take delight so to speak in the lovely scent coming from them. Such is the angelic state, and therefore those angels perceive all the differences and all the variations that go with the instillation of truth into good and the joining together of them one within the other. So they perceive immeasurably more than man does, for man does not even know of any such instillation and joining together and that it is in this way that man becomes spiritual.

[3] But so that people may have some concept of this matter a brief statement must be made about it. There are two things which constitute the internal man - understanding and will. To the understanding truths belong and to the will goods, for that which a person knows and understands to be true he calls the truth, and that which he does from the will, and so that which he wills, he calls good. These two abilities must constitute a single unit. This may be illustrated by comparison with the sight of the eye and with the pleasure and delight which is experienced through the use of this sight. When the eye beholds objects it takes pleasure and delight in their form and colour and the resulting beauty which these bring to the objects as a whole and to the individual parts; in short it takes delight in the order or patterns in these. That pleasure and delight does not belong to the eye but to the mind (animus) and its affection. And insofar as a person has any affection for them he beholds them and retains them in his memory. But things which the eye beholds without any affection for them slip away and are not sown in the memory and so made part of it.

[4] From this it is evident that the objects of external sight are implanted insofar as there exists the pleasure and delight that go with affections for them, and that those objects are present in that pleasure and delight. For whenever much the same pleasure or delight occurs such objects return with them; and likewise whenever much the same objects are seen again such pleasure and delight returns with them, though with variations that depend on the states involved. A similar situation exists with the understanding, which is internal sight. The objects of that sight am spiritual and are called truths, for the field in which those objects are active is the memory, and the pleasure and delight associated with that sight is good. So it is good in which truths are sown and implanted. From this one may gain some idea of what the instillation of truth into good is and the joining together of them one within the other, also some idea of what that good is which is the subject here, a kind of good about which angels perceive countless things, whereas man perceives scarcely anything.

3986. 'And Jehovah has blessed you since I set foot here' means resulting from the Divine endowment which the natural possessed. This is clear from the meaning of 'Jehovah blessing' as being endowed with good, dealt with in 3406, and as a joining together, 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584. 'Jehovah blessing' accordingly means being endowed with Divine good by means of a joining together, at this point a joining to the good of the natural represented by 'Jacob', the natural being meant by 'the foot'. As regards 'the foot' meaning the natural, see 2162, 3147, 3761; and this will be clear in addition from the correspondence of the Grand Man with every part of the human being, the subject in the sections at the ends of chapters. From this it is evident that 'Jehovah has blessed you since I set foot here' means originating in the Divine which the natural possessed.

[2] The arcanum which lies concealed in these words and in those immediately before them is known to few, if any, and is therefore to be revealed. The goods present with people both inside the Church and outside it vary in every case. They vary so much that no one person's good is ever exactly like another's. These variations arise out of the truths to which those goods are joined, for the nature of every type of good is received from truths, and truths derive their essential nature from goods. Such variations also arise out of the affections that belong to each person's love, and which become rooted in a person and are made his own through the life he leads. Few genuine truths exist even with someone inside the Church, and fewer still with one outside. Consequently affections for genuine truth seldom exist with anyone.

[3] All the same, people who lead good lives, that is, who live in love to God and in charity towards the neighbour, are saved. The reason they are able to be saved is that the Lord's Divine is present within good that stems from love to God and within good that stems from charity towards the neighbour. And when the Divine is inwardly present everything is being arranged into order so that it can be joined to genuine goods and genuine truths which exist in the heavens. The truth of this may be proven from the communities constituting heaven, which are countless. Every single community varies as regards good and truth, and yet all of them taken together form one complete heaven. They are like the members and organs of the human body which, though varying in every case, still constitute one complete human being. For no complete whole is ever made up of any identical or entirely similar individual parts, but of varying parts harmoniously joined together. Varying parts joined together harmoniously present a single whole. The same applies to goods and truths in the spiritual world. Although these vary so much as never to be exactly similar with one person as with another, nevertheless from the Divine through love and charity they make one since love and charity are spiritual conjunction. Their variation is a heavenly harmony which produces such accord that they are one in the Divine, that is, in the Lord.

[4] Furthermore, however much truths may vary, and however much affections for truth may do so, good that stems from love to God and good that stems from charity towards the neighbour are nevertheless capable of receiving genuine truth and good, as they are not so to speak hard and resistant but soft and yielding. They allow themselves to be led by the Lord and in so doing to be turned towards good, and through good to be turned towards Him. It is different with those in whom self-love and love of the world reign. They do not allow themselves to be led and turned by the Lord towards the Lord but strongly resist, since each wishes to be his own leader, even more so when they have become subject to false and firmly established assumptions. As long as they are such they do not allow the Divine to come in.

[5] These considerations now make clear what is meant in the internal sense by these words which Jacob addressed to Laban, for 'Laban' means the kind of good which is not genuine because it does not have genuine truths planted within it but is nevertheless capable of having these joined to it and of having the Divine present within it. This kind of good is what normally exists with young children before they have received genuine truths. It is also the kind of good present with simple people within the Church who know few truths of faith but who nevertheless lead a charitable life. It is in addition the kind of good present with upright gentiles who offer holy worship to their gods. By means of such good, genuine truths and goods are able to be introduced, as may be seen from what has been stated about young children and simple people inside the Church in 3690, and about upright gentiles outside the Church in 2598-2603.