4062. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Verses 1-3 And he ¹ heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob has taken all that belonged to our father, and from what belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth. And Jacob saw Laban's face, and behold, he was not at all friendly towards him as before. ² And Jehovah said to Jacob, Return to the land of your fathers, and to [the place of] your nativity, and I will be with you.

'He heard the words of Laban's sons, saying' means the nature of the truths belonging to the good meant by 'Laban' in comparison with the good thereby acquired in the Natural by the Lord. 'Jacob has taken all that belonged to our father' means that every aspect of good now meant by 'Jacob' had been given to Him from that source. 'And from what belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth' means that He gave it to Himself. 'And Jacob saw Laban's face' means a change of state with that good when the good meant by Jacob was departing from it. 'And behold, he was not at all friendly towards him as before' means that towards the good meant by 'Jacob' the state was completely altered; yet nothing had been taken away from that good, for it possessed what was its own as it had done previously, apart from its link with [the intermediate good]. 'And Jehovah said to Jacob' means the Lord's perception from the Divine. 'Return to the land of your fathers' means that He had now to bring Himself closer to Divine good. 'And to [the place of] your nativity' means towards the truth deriving from that good. 'And I will be with you' means that in that case it will be Divine.

脚注:

3612. 'Flee to Laban my brother, to Haran' means in the direction of the affection for external or bodily good. This is clear from the representation of 'Laban' as the affection for good in the natural man, dealt with in 3129, 3130, 3160, and from the meaning of 'Haran' as that which is external and therefore obscure in comparison with other things, dealt with in 1430. But what precisely 'Laban' and 'Haran' mean here becomes clear from what appears further on where Laban and Haran are mentioned; that is to say, a parallel good that springs from a common stock is meant. Indeed goods and truths are interrelated as parents, brothers, blood relatives, and relatives by marriage are in families, 685, 917, 2508, 2524, 2556, 2739. But these matters are completely concealed from anyone in whom the life of good is not present. He does not even know what good is, nor consequently what truth is. If he first knew these - that is to say, knew from doctrine coupled to life, or from life coupled to doctrine - he would know and discern countless things concerning good and truth, gradually knowing them more and more distinctly. He would eventually come to know and discern their various links and relationships to each other and at length their close ties to each other within their lines of descent, and again in each close relationship countless more things He would in the end accordingly know and discern heaven and the form it takes, that is, its beauty and happiness.