330. Out of every tribe and tongue. That this signifies from all those who are in truths as to doctrine and as to life, is clear from the signification of a tribe, as denoting all truths and goods in the aggregate (concerning which see above, n. 39); for those things are signified by the twelve tribes, and hence by every tribe is signified something of truth and good, therefore by out of every tribe is signified from all those who are in any kind of truth and good; and from the signification of tongue as denoting the doctrine of life and faith. That tribes signify all truths and goods in the aggregate, will be shown more fully in its proper article below. Similarly, that tongue signifies the doctrine of life and faith, thus religion. (Those [passages] only shall be adduced here that are shown in the Arcana Coelestia concerning the signification of the tribes, namely, the twelve tribes of Israel represented, and thence signified, all truths and goods in the aggregate, n. 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335; similarly the twelve apostles of the Lord the like, n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 6397. There were twelve, because twelve signifies all, n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913. Because the twelve tribes represented, and thence signified, all truths and goods in the aggregate, therefore they represented heaven and the church, n. 6337, 6637, 7836, 7891, 7996. The twelve tribes signify various things according to the order in which they are named, and thus also all things of heaven and the church with variety, n. 3862, 3926, 3939, 4603 et seq., 6337, 6640, 10335; therefore, replies could be given and were given by the Urim and Thummim, on which the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were engraven in precious stones, n. 3858, 6335, 6640, 9863, 9865, 9873, 9874, 9905.)

3509. 'And Rebekah said to Jacob her son - she said' means the Lord's perception from Divine Truth concerning natural truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Rebekah' as the Divine Truth of the Lord's Divine Rational, dealt with in 3012, 3013, 3077; from the meaning of 'saying' as perceiving, dealt with in 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2506, 2515, 2552, 2619; and from the representation of 'Jacob' as the Lord's Natural as regards truth, dealt with in 3305. From this it is evident that 'Rebekah said to Jacob her son' means the Lord's perception from Divine Truth concerning natural truth. For on the one hand the Lord wished to acquire truth from the Divine Good of the Divine Rational, represented by 'Isaac', through the good of the Natural, represented by 'Esau', by means of which truth He would glorify, or make Divine, the Natural. But on the other hand the Lord wished to acquire truth from the Divine Truth of the Divine Rational, represented by 'Rebekah', through the truth of the Natural, represented by 'Jacob', by means of which truth He would glorify, or make Divine, the Rational. But these two wishes of His cannot be grasped unless light is thrown on the subject from what happens with man when being regenerated or made new by the Lord. And even then it cannot be grasped unless one knows the situation with the rational as regards good and as regards truth there. So let this matter be discussed briefly.

[2] The rational mind is distinguished into two separate mental powers, one called the will, the other the understanding. That which goes forth from the will when someone is being regenerated is called good, and that which goes forth from the understanding is called truth. Until a person has been regenerated the will does not act in unison with the understanding. Instead the will desires good whereas the understanding desires truth; and so different is each desire from the other that the effort of the will is perceived to be quite distinct and separate from that of the understanding. This is perceived however only by those who stop to reflect, knowing what the will is and the things that constitute this, and what the understanding is and the things that constitute that. But it is not perceived by those who do not know those things and therefore do not stop to reflect. And there is the added reason that the natural mind is regenerated by way of the rational mind, see 3493, and indeed according to order as follows: The good of the rational does not pass directly into the good of the natural and regenerate it but by way of truth which belongs to the understanding, thus giving the appearance that it enters in from the truth of the rational. These are the matters which this chapter deals with in the internal sense; for 'Isaac' is the rational mind as regards good present in the will, 'Rebekah' as regards truth present in the understanding. 'Esau' is the good of the natural springing from the good of the rational, 'Jacob' the truth of the natural springing from the good of the rational by way of the truth there.

[3] These considerations show the kind of arcana contained in the internal sense of the Word; yet there are very few which can be described in a way intelligible to the human mind. The number of those which are beyond man's comprehension and defy description is unlimited. For the more deeply the Word goes, that is, the more interiorly into heaven, the more unlimited and also the more indescribable do they become not only to man but also to angels of the lower heaven. And when it reaches the inmost heaven the angels there perceive that the arcana are infinite and, being Divine are quite beyond their comprehension. Such is the nature of the Word.