4548. 'Who answered me on the day of my distress' means within the state in which truth is placed above good. This is clear from the meaning of 'day' as state, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785. As for 'the day of my distress' meaning a state in which truth is placed above good, this becomes clear from what has been stated above in 4542, for the expression 'the day of distress' used here embodies the same as the words used there, 'When you fled from before Esau your brother'.

4542. 'When you fled from before Esau your brother' means when truth was placed above good. This is clear from the representation of 'Esau' as the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Natural, dealt with in 3322, 3494, 3504, 3576, 3599. This meaning - when truth was placed above good - may be seen from the explanations - given at Chapter 27 of Genesis - of the events which led to Jacob's flight from Esau. The reason he fled from him was that Jacob had stolen the birthright from Esau, by which action truth's placing itself above good is meant; for in that chapter Jacob represents the truth, and Esau the good, of the Lord's Natural. The reason why truth placed itself above good was that while a person is being regenerated truth seemingly occupies the first place, but once he is regenerated good occupies the first place and truth the last, for which see 3324, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3610, 3701, 4243, 4244, 4247, 4337. This explains why 'when you fled from before Esau your brother' means when truth was placed above good.