4279.目前对这两节的解释就是它们在至高意义和内在意义上所包含的事物。但就论述雅各及其后代本质的较低意义而言，它们具有不同的含义。圣言因源于主，并从主经由天堂降至世人，故具有这样的性质：它在每个细节上都是神性。它既从主降下，那么也会上升，也就是被提升到主那里，经由天堂返回。众所周知，天堂分为三层，至内在天堂被称为第三层天堂，中间天堂被称为第二层天堂，最低天堂被称为第一层天堂。因此，当圣言沿着降下来的路径上升时，它在主里面是神性；在第三层天堂是属天的，因为这层天堂是属天天堂；在第二层天堂是属灵的，因为这层天堂是属灵天堂；在第一层天堂是属天-属世和属灵-属世的，这层天堂取名为属天-属世和属灵-属世。但在人里面的教会，圣言就其字义而言，是属世的，也就是属尘世和世俗的。
由此可见圣言的性质，以及当在神圣状态下，也就是处于良善与真理之人阅读圣言时，它是何情形。因为这时，在他看来，圣言似乎是世俗的，或是历史文献，其实里面是神圣的。但在第一层天堂，它看似属天-属世和属灵-属世，然而里面却是神性。在第二层天堂，它是属灵的；在第三层天堂，它是属天的；而在主里面，它就是神性。圣言的意义因各天堂而不同；圣言的至高意义论述主，是为至内在或第三层天堂而存在的；内在意义论述主的国度，是为中间或第二层天堂而存在的；但较为低级的意义（内在意义在这层意义中被局限于那里所提到的民族）是为最低或第一层天堂而存在的。最低级的意义，或字义则是为仍活在世上的人而存在的。然而，人具有这样的性质：内层意义、内在意义和至高意义都能传到他那里。因为人与这三层天堂相通；事实上，他就是照着这三层天堂的形像而被造的，以至于当对主之爱和对邻之仁构成他的生命时，他就是一个最小形式的天堂。因此，这种人拥有主的国度在里面，如主在路加福音所教导的：
看哪，神的国就在你们里面。（路加福音17:21）
阐述这些事是为了叫人们知道，圣言不仅包含至高意义和内在意义，还包含较为低级的意义，并且在这层意义中，内在意义被局限于那里所提到的民族；这样之后，这层意义从整个思路就变得显而易见了。显然，这人与雅各摔跤，并且雅各的大腿扭了、错了位，也论及雅各及其后代。既如此，我就照这层意义来解释这些话。在下文，这层意义被称为内在历史意义。它之所以被如此称呼，还有另外一个原因，即：在第一层天堂，时不时以某种具有生气而取了可见形式的事物来表现这层意义是习以为常的事，我也曾数次被允许看到这一幕（参看4272节后半部分的解释）。
Potts(1905-1910) 4279
4279. These things which have been unfolded thus far are thus to be understood in the supreme sense and in the internal sense; but it is otherwise in the lower sense in which the quality of Jacob and of his posterity is treated of. As the Word is from the Lord, and descends from Him through heaven to man, it is therefore such that it is Divine as to every particular; and as it has descended from the Lord, so it ascends, that is, is uplifted to Him, and this through the heavens. It is known that there are three heavens, and that the inmost heaven is called the third heaven, the middle heaven the second heaven, and the lowest the first heaven; and therefore when the Word ascends as it descends, in the Lord it is Divine; in the third heaven it is celestial (for this heaven is the celestial heaven); in the second heaven it is spiritual (for this heaven is the spiritual heaven); and in the first heaven it is celestial and spiritual natural, and the same heaven is also so termed. But in the church with man, the Word as regards the sense of its letter is natural, that is, worldly and earthly. [2] From this it is manifest what the nature of the Word is, and how the case is with the Word when it is being read by a man who is in what is holy, that is, in good and truth. For it then appears to him as worldly, or as historical, within which there is nevertheless what is holy; but in the first heaven it appears as celestial and spiritual natural, within which there is nevertheless what is Divine; in the second heaven it is spiritual; in the third heaven it is celestial; and in the Lord it is Divine. The sense of the Word is circumstanced in accordance with the heavens; the supreme sense of the Word, in which the subject treated of is the Lord, is for the inmost or third heaven; its internal sense, in which the subject treated of is the Lord's kingdom, is for the middle or second heaven; but the lower sense of the Word, in which the internal sense is determined to the nation that is named, is for the lowest or first heaven; and the lowest or literal sense is for man while still living in the world, and who is nevertheless of such a nature that the interior sense, and even the internal and the supreme senses, can be communicated to him. For man has communication with the three heavens, because he is created after the image of the three heavens, even so that when he lives in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, he is a heaven in the least form. Hence it is that within man is the Lord's kingdom, as the Lord Himself teaches in Luke: Behold, the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). [3] These things have been said in order that it may be known that in the Word there is not only the supreme sense, and the internal sense, but also a lower sense, and that in the lower sense the internal sense is determined to the nation there named; and when this is done, the sense manifestly appears from the series of things. That this wrestling of the man with Jacob, and the dislocation and displacement of his thigh, are predicated also of Jacob and his posterity, is manifest; and therefore I may unfold these same words according to this sense. This sense will be called in what follows the INTERNAL HISTORICAL SENSE, and this for the additional reason that it is wont to be occasionally represented to the life and in form in the first heaven, as also I have sometimes been permitted to see. (See the explication premised in the second paragraph of number 4272.)
Elliott(1983-1999) 4279
4279. The explanations given so far to these two verses present what they contain in the highest sense and in the internal sense. But in the lower sense they have a different meaning. There the essential nature of Jacob and his future descendants is the subject. Because the Word originates in the Lord and comes down from Him by way of heaven to man its nature is therefore such that it is Divine in every detail. And as it has come down from the Lord so it goes up, that is, is raised up to Him, returning by way of the heavens. It is well known that there are three heavens, and that the inmost is termed the third heaven, that the middle one is called the second heaven, while the lowest is referred to as the first heaven. Consequently since it goes up by the same path as it comes down the Word as it exists in the Lord is Divine, celestial as it exists in the third heaven since that heaven is the celestial heaven, spiritual as it exists in the second heaven since that heaven is the spiritual heaven, but celestial-natural and spiritual-natural as it exists in the first heaven, which is also given the names celestial-natural and spiritual-natural. As it exists in the Church with man however, the Word in the sense of the letter is natural, that is, worldly and earthly.
[2] From this one may see the nature of the Word and what happens to it when a person reads it with a holy mind, that is, one in whom good and truth are present. For when he reads it, it is seen by him as something existing in this world or as a historical document, but which nevertheless is inwardly holy. But in the first heaven it is seen as something celestial-natural and spiritual-natural, which however is inwardly Divine In the second heaven it is spiritual, and in the third celestial; and in the Lord it is Divine. The sense in the Word varies according to whatever heaven it may be. The highest sense of the Word, whose subject is the Lord, exists for the inmost or third heaven; the internal sense, whose subject is the Lord's kingdom, exists for the middle or second heaven; the lower sense, in which the internal sense is narrowed down to the nation referred to there, exists for the lower or first heaven. But the lowest or literal sense exists for man while he is still living in the world. Yet man's nature is such that the more interior sense, and also the internal and highest sense, can be communicated to him. For man has communication with the three heavens; indeed he is created on the pattern of the three heavens, so much so that when love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour constitute his life he is heaven in miniature. Consequently such a person has the Lord's kingdom within him, as the Lord Himself teaches in Luke,
Behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:21.
[3] These things have been stated so that people may know that the Word contains not only a highest sense and an internal sense but also a lower sense, and that in this sense, that is to say, in the lower, the internal sense is narrowed down to the nation referred to there; and when this is done that sense is plain to see from the train of thought. At present it is self-evident that the man's wrestling with Jacob and the disjointing and displacing of his thigh also has reference to Jacob and his descendants. That being so, let these same words be explained according to that sense. In what follows below this sense will be termed the INTERNAL HISTORICAL SENSE. It will be called this for the added reason that it is quite usual for this sense to be represented from time to time in the first heaven as something animate and taking visible form, as also I have been allowed to see several times. See the explanation given already in the latter part of 4272.
Latin(1748-1756) 4279
4279. Haec quae hactenus explicata sunt, ita se habent in sensu supremo et in sensu interno, sed in sensu inferiore aliter; in hoc sensu agitur {1} de Jacobo qualis fuit et de ejus posteris quales erunt. Verbum {2} quia est ex Domino ac ab Ipso descendit per caelum ad hominem, ideo tale est ut quoad singula sit Divinum, et sicut descenderat a Domino, ita ascendat, hoc est, elevetur ad Ipsum et hoc per caelos; quod (t)tres caeli sint, notum est, et quod intimum caelum vocetur tertium caelum, et quod medium (o)caelum appelletur secundum caelum, et quod infimum dicatur primum caelum, quare Verbum cum ascendit sicut descendit, in Domino est Divinum, in tertio caelo est caeleste, nam illud caelum est caeleste caelum, in secundo caelo est spirituale, nam illud caelum est spirituale caelum, in primo autem caelo est caeleste et spirituale naturale, ac idem caelum ita quoque nuncupatur; in Ecclesia autem apud hominem est Verbum quoad sensum litterae naturale, hoc est, mundanum (c)et terrestre; [2] inde patet quale Verbum est et quomodo se cum Verbo habet cum legitur ab homine qui in sancto, hoc est, in bono et vero (o)est, tunc enim apud illum apparet id ut mundanum aut ut historicum in quo tamen sanctum, at {3} in primo caelo apparet ut caeleste et spirituale naturale in quo tamen Divinum; in secundo autem caelo est spirituale; et in tertio caelo est caeleste; ac in Domino est Divinum: Verbi sensus secundum caelos {4} se habet; sensus Verbi supremus in quo agitur de Domino, est pro intimo seu tertio caelo; sensus ejus internus in quo agitur de regno Domini, est pro medio seu secundo caelo; sensus autem Verbi inferior, in quo determinatur sensus internus ad illam gentem quae ibi nominatur, est pro infimo seu primo caelo; at sensus infimus seu litteralis est pro homine dum adhuc vivit in mundo; qui tamen usque talis est ut ei communicari possit sensus interior, tum quoque internus (c)et supremus; nam homo communicat cum tribus caelis, est enim homo {5} ad imaginem trium caelorum creatus, usque adeo ut dum in amore in Dominum et in charitate erga proximum vivit, sit caelum in exigua forma; inde est quod intra hominem illum sit regnum Domini {6}, quemadmodum (o)Ipse Dominus docet apud Lucam, Ecce regnum Dei intra vos est, xvii 21. [3] Haec dicta sunt ut sciatur quod in Verbo non solum sit sensus supremus, ac sensus internus, sed etiam sensus inferior, et quod in hoc, nempe in sensu inferiore, determinetur sensus internus ad illam gentem quae ibi nominatur; quod quando fit, apparet manifeste ex serie rerum; quod hic luctatio viri cum Jacobo et femoris ejus luxatio et emotio etiam praedicetur de Jacobo et ejus posteris, patet: quapropter licet eadem haec {7} secundum illum sensum explicare. Hic sensus in sequentibus appellabitur SENSUS INTERNUS HISTORICUS, et hoc quoque ex causa quia repraesentari solet ille quandoque ad vivum et in forma in primo caelo, quod etiam aliquoties mihi videre datum est. Videatur expositio praemissa n. 4272, in nova periodo. {8} @1 i hic$ @2 i enim$ @3 i tunc$ @4 i illos$ @5 ille$ @6 Dei$ @7 i quoque$ @8 A had, but deletes Quia ita est, similiter explicanda sunt haec quae de luctatione viri cum Jacobo memorantur, in sensu interno historico, in quo, ut dictum, eadem spectant Jacobum, et ejus posteros; et hoc quoque secundum expositionem praemissam n. 4272 in nova periodo ibi.$