. And he lifted up his eyes. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification of "lifting up the eyes," as being perception (n. 4083, 4339).
. And saw the women and the children. That this signifies of the affections of truth, and of the truths belonging thereto, is evident from the signification of the "women," here the handmaids, and of Leah and Rachel, as being the affections of truth (n. 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819, 4344); and from the signification of "children" or "sons," as being truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373), here the truths that belong to the affections.
. And said, Who are these to thee? That this signifies acknowledgment, may be seen from the fact that interrogations in the sense of the letter are not interrogations in the supreme sense; for the Lord, who is treated of in this sense, has no need to interrogate man, because He knows all things both in general and in particular. Hence this interrogation, "Who are these to thee?" signifies acknowledgment. For by Esau is represented the Lord as to Divine good natural; and Divine good immediately acknowledges the truths that it conjoins with itself. And moreover all good does this, for good cannot have being without what it calls truths, nor can truths without that which they call good. They conjoin themselves of themselves; but such as the good is, such are the truths it conjoins with itself. It is good that acknowledges them, and couples itself as a husband with a wife; for the conjunction of good with truths is marriage in the spiritual sense (n. 2508, 2618). Good acknowledges its own truth, and truth its own good, and they are conjoined, (n. 3101, 3102, 3161, 3179, 3180).
. And he said, The children whom God hath graciously bestowed upon thy servant. That this signifies truths from the Divine Providence, is evident from the signification of "children" or "sons," as being truths (n. 4357); and from the signification of the words, "whom God hath graciously bestowed," as being from the Divine Providence; for whatever God bestows is of His Providence.
. And the handmaids drew near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. That this signifies sensuous knowledges and their truths, and their submission, is evident from the signification of "handmaids," as being the affections of memory knowledges and of the knowledges which are of the external man (n. 4344), consequently sensuous memory-knowledges; from the signification of "children" or "sons," as being truths (n. 4357); and from the signification of "bowing one’s self," as being submission. The sensuous memory-knowledges signified by the "handmaids" are the memory-knowledges of the external things of the world, and therefore are the most general of all knowledges (n. 4345), and are those which enter immediately through the external senses, and are perceived by the sense itself. In these are all little children; and moreover they serve as planes to the knowledges of spiritual things, for spiritual things are founded upon natural, and are represented in them. As truths are conjoined with good according to order, beginning with the more general (n. 4345), therefore it is here mentioned that the handmaids and their children bowed themselves, that is, submitted, first.
. And Leah also and her children drew near, and they bowed themselves. That this signifies the affection of the truth of faith as to exterior things, and their truths, and their submissive introduction, is evident from the representation of Leah, as being the affection of exterior truth (n. 3793, 3819), and therefore the affection of the truth of faith as to exterior things; from the signification of "children" or "sons," as being truths; and from the signification of "bowing one‘s self," as being submission; that is, submissive introduction into the Divine good natural which is represented by Esau.
. And afterwards Joseph and Rachel drew near and they bowed themselves. That this signifies the affections of the truth of faith as to interior things, and their submissive introduction, is evident from the representation of Joseph, as being the celestial spiritual (n. 4286); from the representation of Rachel, as being the affection of interior truth (n. 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819); and from the signification of "bowing one’s self," as being submissive introduction (n. 4361). How these things are circumstanced has been explained above at (verse 2).
GENESIS 33:5-7previous
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