4167. 'Put it here in front of my brothers and your brothers, and let them decide between the two of us' means that judgement should be made on the basis of that which is just and fair. This is clear from the meaning of 'brothers' as goods, dealt with in 2360, 3803, 3815, 4121, from which it follows that 'my brothers and your brothers' means that which is just and fair. As regards 'let them judge between the two of us' meaning judgement, this is self-evident. The reason why 'my brothers and your brothers' means that which is just and fair is that the subject here is the natural; for to be exact that within the natural is called just and fair which within the spiritual is referred to as good and true. With man there are two bases on which celestial and spiritual things coming from the Lord are founded, the first base being more internal, the second more external. Those bases are in fact nothing else than conscience. Without such bases, that is, without conscience, nothing celestial or spiritual coming from the Lord can possibly be held in place but flows away like water through a sieve. For this reason people who lack such a base, that is, who lack conscience, do not know what conscience is; indeed they do not believe in the existence of anything spiritual or celestial.

[2] The more internal base or more internal conscience is the place where good and truth in the genuine sense reside, for good and truth flowing in from the Lord are what activate this conscience. But the more external base is the more external conscience, and this is where that which is just and fair in the proper sense resides; for a sense of what is just and fair in private and public affairs, which also flows in from Him, is what activates that conscience. There is in addition a most external base, which resembles conscience but is not conscience at all, namely the performance of what is just and fair for selfish and worldly reasons, that is, for the sake of one's own position and reputation, and for the sake of worldly wealth and possessions, as well as fear of the law. These three bases are what govern a person, that is, they are the means by which the Lord governs him. By the more internal base, or the conscience consisting of spiritual good and truth, the Lord governs those who are regenerate. By the more external base or conscience consisting of what is just and fair, that is, by means of the conscience consisting of good and truth in private and in public affairs, the Lord governs those who are not yet regenerate but who are capable of being regenerated, and are also being regenerated, if not in this life then in the next. But by means of the most external base, which resembles conscience but is not in fact this, the Lord governs all others, including the evil. But for His government of them the latter would plunge into every kind of wickedness and insanity, as they in fact do when the restraints belonging to that base are lacking. And people who do not allow themselves to be governed by those bases are either the insane or else those who are punished as laws prescribe.

[3] These three bases act as one with regenerate persons, for one flows into another, the more internal one regulating the more external. The first base, which is the conscience consisting of spiritual good and truth, is laid down within man's rational, whereas the second, or the conscience consisting of good and truth in private and public life, that is, the sense of what is just and fair, exists within man's natural. From all this one may now see what is implied by that which is just and fair, meant by 'brothers' - that which is just being meant by 'my brothers', and that which is fair by 'your brothers'. The expression 'that which is just and fair' is used because the natural man is the subject; for, to be exact, justice and fairness are attributes of the natural man.