4602. Verses 22-26 And the sons of Jacob were twelve. The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant-girl: Dan and Naphtali. And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant-girl: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram.
'The sons of Jacob were twelve' means a state in which all things were now present in the Divine Natural. 'The sons of Leah' means external Divine Goods and Truths in their proper order. 'Reuben, Jacob's firstborn' means the good of faith. 'And Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun' means the essential characteristics of these. 'The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin' means interior goods and truths. 'And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant-girl: Dan and Naphtali' means secondary goods and truths which serve the interior ones. 'And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant-girl: Gad and Asher' means those that serve the exterior ones. 'These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram' means the origin and the state of these at this point.
