4198. 'And Mizpah, for he said, Let Jehovah watch between me and you' means the presence of the Lord's Divine Natural, that is to say, within the good that 'Laban' represents now. This is clear from the meaning of 'watching' or keeping watch as presence, for one who keeps watch on another, or sees him from high up in a watchtower, is present with his sense of sight with him below. What is more, when used in reference to the Lord, 'seeing' means Foresight and Providence, 2837, 2839, 3686, 3854, 3863, and so presence too, but through Foresight and Providence.

[2] As regards the Lord's presence, the Lord is present with everyone, yet only to the extent He is received; for all receive their life from the Lord alone. The life in people who receive His presence within good and truth is the life of intelligence and wisdom, whereas the life of those who do not receive His presence within good and truth but within evil and falsity is the life of insanity and foolishness. All the same, the latter have the capacity to be intelligent and wise. The fact that they do have that capacity is shown by their knowing how to counterfeit and imitate the outward appearance of what is good and true and to win people over by means of that outward appearance. This would not be possible if they did not have that capacity. The nature of the presence is meant by 'Mizpah', at this point the nature of it with those whose works are inherently good, that is, with the gentiles, who are represented here by 'Laban'. Indeed the name Mizpah in the original language is derived from the verb 'to watch'.

144. As to 'calling by name' meaning recognizing their nature, it must be realized that the ancients understood nothing else by 'a name than the essential nature of a real thing, and by 'seeing and calling them by name' recognizing the nature of such. This was why they gave their sons and daughters names in keeping with the things that were meant by them; for there was something unique to every name, as a means of knowing the origin and nature of those children, as will also be seen later on where, in the Lord's Divine mercy, the twelve sons of Jacob are dealt with. Since therefore a name embodied a person's origin and nature nothing else was meant by 'calling by name'. This manner of speaking was customary among them; but anyone who does not understand is sure to wonder whether they do have these meanings.