4609. And the sons of Zilpah Leah's handmaid, Gad and Asher. That this signifies those which are of service to exterior goods and truths, is evident from the representation of Zilpah Leah's handmaid, as being the subsequent affection that is of service as a means to the affection of exterior truth (see n. 3835). A "handmaid" denotes a means that is of service for conjunction (as just above, n. 4608), and her "sons" denote such means, the essential things of which are represented by Gad and Asher; by Gad in the supreme sense omnipotence and omniscience, in the internal sense the good of faith, and in the external sense works (n. 3934); by Asher in the supreme sense eternity, in the internal sense the happiness of eternal life, and in the external sense the delight of the affection (n. 3938, 3939). These are the things which the enumeration of the sons of Jacob at this time involves; but how they cohere together and one follows another, and one is contained within another, cannot be seen in the light of the world unless it is enlightened by the light of heaven. Yet the things which then appear are still such as not to fall into words, for human words are from ideas formed from the things which are in the light of the world. The ideas which are from the light of heaven transcend these to such a degree that they cannot be expressed, but only to some extent thought of by those to whom it has been given to withdraw their mind from things of sense.