4456. 'Increase the dowry and gift to any size, and I will give whatever you tell me' means that he will accept the things which exist with them and will make those things his own; that it is to say, he will accept the external things of the Church which are theirs and make those things his own together with the internal ones which are his own, and in this way they will constitute one Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'giving whatever you tell me' as making one with them in truth and good; dealt with immediately above in 4455. The actual 'dowry and gift' which he told them to increase to any size means a consenting to become one, for the dowry that was given to a virgin who was to be betrothed was a token of the consent given by both parties. One reason why he tells them to increase the dowry and gift to any size - and so to go above the statutory requirement, which was fifty pieces of silver - is that he lay with her before his adoption of their semblance of religion, and therefore it was a matter for Jacob either to consent or to refuse, in accordance with the law also known to the ancients which is set out in Exodus 22:16-17. But the chief reason why he tells them to do so was the desire for the joining together, that is to say, for the joining of interior truth meant by 'Shechem' to the affection for exterior truth meant by 'Dinah'. The reason why a dowry was a token of consent and so a strengthening of the first stage is that weighing or giving silver was a sign that a thing was one's own, and so that the virgin was his; and the acceptance of the silver was a sign of reciprocation. It was accordingly a sign that the bride was the bridegroom's, and the bridegroom the bride's.

3980. 'If now I have found grace in your eyes' means a strong inclination. This is clear from the meaning of 'finding grace in somebody's eyes' as a strong inclination. Strong inclination is used in reference to the good meant by 'Laban' when it desires to be present. Anyone who reflects or is able to reflect on the affections present in himself for what is good and for what is true, and also on the delight and pleasure that accompany them, becomes aware of a strong inclination towards one rather than towards the other. But without such reflection these and other things like them are not apparent.