3302. 'And they called his name Esau' means its essential nature, that is to say, of the Natural as regards good. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling the name' or calling by name, as knowing the essential nature of a person or thing, and so knowing that nature itself, dealt with in 144, 145, 440, 768, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, and from the fact that names in the Word, however many these may be, in the internal sense mean spiritual realities, 1224, 1888, so that 'Esau' is some spiritual reality. That reality is the Lord's Divine Natural as regards Divine Good when first conceived, as is clear from what has been stated and from what follows concerning Esau, as well as from other places in the Word. But as Esau and Edom are very similar in meaning - the difference being that 'Edom' is the Divine Natural as regards good to which doctrinal matters concerning truth have been allied - confirmation from places in the Word will in the Lord's Divine mercy therefore be provided at verse 30 below, where Esau is called Edom.