broad-way, and street, are predicated of truths, because they lead to truth; as also in Jeremiah: "They have caused them to stumble in their ways, the ancient by-ways, to walk in paths, a way not cast up," (xviii. 15.) In like manner in the book of Judges: "In the days of Jael the highways ceased, and they that walked in paths went through winding by-paths; streets ceased in Israel," (v. 6.)

628. The internal sense here is, that every man, whosoever was on the earth, where the church was, corrupted his way, so that he did not understand truth, because every man was become corporeal; not only those who are treated of in the foregoing verse, but also those who are called Noah, and who are particularly treated of in this and in the following verse; for such were they before regeneration. This previous description is given of them, because their regeneration is treated of in the following verses; and whereas little of the church remained, the name God is here used, and not Jehovah. In this verse is signified that there was nothing true; in the subsequent verse, that there was nothing good; only in the remains which were with those who are called Noah, for without remains regeneration is impossible; also in the doctrinals with which they were acquainted; but there was no understanding of truth, which never is given except where there is a will of good; where there is no will, neither is there understanding, and as is the will, so is also the understanding. The most ancient people had the will of good, because they had love towards the Lord, and thence had the understanding of truth, but this understanding perished utterly with the will: a species of rational truth, and natural good remained with those who are called Noah, and therefore they were capable of regeneration.

629. Verse 13. And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me, because the earth is filled with violence from their faces, and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. By God's saying, is signified, that it was so: the end of all flesh is come before me, signifies, that mankind must of necessity perish; because the earth is filled with violence, signifies, that there was no longer any will of goodness; behold I will destroy them with the earth, signifies, that mankind, with the church, would perish.

630. By God's saying, is signified, that it was so, is evident from this consideration, that with Jehovah, to be [esse] is all and every thing.

631. The end of all flesh is come before me, signifies, that mankind must of necessity perish, as is evident from the words themselves, and also from the signification of flesh, as denoting every man in general, and the corporeal man in particular, ac cording to what was shown above.

632. By the earth's being filled with violence, is signified.

that there was no longer any will of goodness, is plain from what was said and shown above, verse 11, concerning the sig nification of violence: in the preceding verse it is stated of the anderstanding of truth, and here of the will of goodness, that both perished with the man of the church.

633. The fact is, that there is with no man any understanding of truth, and will of goodness, not even with those who were of the Most Ancient Church; but when they become celestial, it appears as if the will of goodness, and the understanding of truth, were with them, when nevertheless they are of the Lord alone, which such celestial men know, acknowledge, and perceive; as is the case also with the angels, insomuch that whosoever does not know, acknowledge, and perceive it to be so, is totally destitute of the understanding of truth, and the will of goodness. With every celestial man, and with every angel, even the most celestial, his proprium is nothing but what is false and evil; for it is a known thing, that the heavens are not pure before the Lord, and that all good and all truth are of the Lord alone: but in proportion as a man and an angel is in a capacity of being perfected, so by the divine mercy of the Lord he is perfected, and, as it were, receives the understanding of truth, and the will of good: but that he possesses them is only an appearance. Every one is capable of being perfected, and consequently of receiving this gift of the Lord's mercy, according to his actual life. modified by the hereditary evil implanted in him from his parents.

634. It is, however, a very difficult matter to explain to the apprehension, what the understanding of truth and the will of good are in a proper sense, because whatever a man thinks, he supposes to be of the understanding, because he so terms it; and whatever he desires, he supposes to be of will, because he so terms it; and it is the more difficult to explain this point to the apprehension, because most people at this day are also ignorant, that the intellectual principle is distinct from the will; for when they think any thing, they say that they will, and when they will any thing, they say that they think. One cause of the difficulty arises from their using such terms to express themselves, and another is, because mankind are immersed solely in things corporeal, or their life is in outermost principles. Owing to these causes they are also ignorant, that there is in every man an interior principle, and something still more interior, yea, an inmost; and that his corporeal and sensual principle is the outermost or lowest: cupidities and things of memory are the first interiors; affections and things rational are still more interior; and the will of good, and the understanding of truth are inmost; and all these things are as distinct from each other as possible. The corporeal man makes all these things a one, and confounds them, which is the reason of his believing, when

his corporeal part dies, that every thing will die with it; when, nevertheless, he then first begins to live, and to live by his interiors in an orderly succession. Unless the interiors were thus distinct, and did thus succeed each other, it would be impossible for men to become spirits, or angelic spirits, or angels, in another life, for they are thus distinguished according to the interiors:hence the three heavens are perfectly distinct from each ther From these observations then it may in some dégree appear, what the understanding of truth and the will of good are in a proper sense, and that they can only be predicated of the celestial man, or of the angels of the third heaven.

635. In the end of the days of the antediluvian church, all understanding of truth and will of good perished, as is signified by what was said in the foregoing and present verses. This occurred to such a degree with the antediluvians who were infected with direful persuasions and filthy lusts, that there did not appear the smallest vestige or trace of understanding and will; but with those who were called Noah, there was a reserve of remains, which nevertheless could not form any thing of understanding and will, but only rational truth, and natural good: for such as the man is, such is the operation of remains. By remains they were in a capacity of being regenerated, nor did persuasions oppose and absorb the operation of the Lord by remains. Persuasions, or principles grounded and rooted in what is false, impede all divine operations, and unless they are first extirpated, it is impossible for man to become regenerate: but of this, by the divine mercy of the Lord, more will be said presently.

636. By destroying them with the earth is signified, that mankind, with the church, would perish, as is manifest from this consideration, that it is here said, with the earth; for the earth in its extended sense signifies love, as was before observed, consequently the celestial things of the church; in the present case, since no love, nor any thing celestial remained, it signifies selflove, and what is contrary to the celestial church. Still however there existed a man of the church, because he possessed the doctrinals of faith; for as was observed, earth is the continent of ground, and ground of field, as love is the continent of faith, and faith of the knowledges of faith.

637. With respect to this signification of the words I will destroy them with the earth, it may be observed, that if the Lord's Church were utterly extinct on the earth, mankind could in no wise exist, but all and each of them must needs perish. The church is like the heart in the natural body, as was before observed, and so long as the heart lives, the neighboring viscera and members may live also, but as soon as the heart dies, all and every part of the body die with it. The church of the Lord on earth being thus as a heart, the whole race of

mankind, even those who are out of the church, derive life thence. The cause of this is at the present day utterly unknown, but that some idea may be formed concerning it, it may be observed, that the whole race of mankind on earth resembles the natural body with its several parts, in which the church is like the heart, and unless there were a church, with which, as with a sort of heart, the Lord might be united through heaven and the world of spirits, a disjunction would ensue, and in consequence of such disjunction from the Lord, mankind would instantly perish. And this is the reason why, since the first creation of man, there has always existed some church or other; and whenever any church began to decline, yet still it remained with some. This also was the cause of the Lord's coming into the world; for unless, out of his divine mercy, he had come, the whole race of man on this earth must have perished, inasmuch as the church at that time was in ultimates, and scarcely any good and truth remained. That mankind cannot possibly live, unless they have conjunction with the Lord through heaven and the world of spirits, is, becausc man regarded in himself is much viler than the brutes; and were he left to himself, he would rush headlong to his own destruction and that of all others, since he desires nothing but the ruin of himself and of others. The law of order respecting him ought to be, that each should love another as himself; but if man be left to himself, he loves himself more than others, and consequently hates all others in comparison with himself. With the brutes it is otherwise; for they live according to their order, thus altogether, but man altogether contrary to his order, wherefore unless the Lord had compassion upon him, and joined him to Himself by the angels, he would never be able to live a single moment. Of this man is ignorant.

638. Verse 14. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; mansions shalt thou make the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. By the ark is signified the man of this church; by gopher wood his concupiscences; by mansions are signified the two parts of man which are of the will and the understanding; by pitching it within and without with pitch is signified preservation from the overflowing of lusts.

639. By the ark is signified the man of this church, or the church called Noah, as is sufficiently plain from its description in the following verses, and also from this consideration, that the Word of the Lord involves spiritual and celestial things in every part, that is, the Word of the Lord is spiritual and celestial. If the ark, with its pitching, dimensions, and construction, as also the flood, had no other signification than what the letter presents, there would be nothing at all spiritual and celestial in the account of them, but only a kind of history, which would be of no more use to mankind than a similar history

composed by profane writers. But since the Word of the Lord, in its bosom, or recess, contains and involves things spiritual and celestial in every part of it, it is most evident, that by the ark, and by all things which are said concerning it, are signified arcana never heretofore discovered. The like observation holds good in other instances, as in that of the little ark, wherein Moses was hid, and which was placed in the flags near the banks of the river, Exod. ii. 3; and still more eminently in respect to the holy ark in the wilderness, which was constructed according to the type shown to Moses on Mount Sinai; in which, unless all and every thing relating thereto had been representa tive of the Lord and of His kingdom, it would have been nothing else but a kind of idol, and the worship idolatrous. The same is true of the temple of Solomon, which was by no means holy of itself, or by virtue of the gold, silver, cedar, and stone, of which it was composed, but by virtue of the particular things represented thereby. Here, likewise, unless the ark and its construction, with every particular circumstance thereof, signified some arcanum of the church, the Word would not be the Word of the Lord, but a kind of dead letter, like the production of any profane writer. Hence it is evident that the ark signifies the man of the church, or the church which was called Noah.

640. By gopher wood, or woods of gopher, are signified concupiscences, and by mansions the two parts of the man here treated of, which relate to the will and the understanding, is not as yet known to any person; nor is it possible for any one to know how such things are signified, unless it be first declared how that church was circumstanced. The Most Ancient Church, as has been frequently observed, knew, by love, whatever related to faith, or, what is the same, by the will of good had the understanding of truth; but their descendants inclining through hereditary corruption to the dominion of their lusts, immersed therein also the doctrinals of faith, and hence became Nephilim. When therefore the Lord foresaw, that should man continue to be of such a nature, he would perish eternally, it was ordered and provided by Him, that the will-principle should be separated from the intellectual, and man should be formed, not as before by the will of good, but that by the understanding of truth he should be gifted with charity, which appears like the will of good. This new church, which is called Noah, was thus dealt with, and therefore was altogether of a different genius and temper from the Most Ancient Church. Besides this church there were also others at that time, as the church called Enoch, spoken of above, chap. iv. 25, 26, and several besides, the mention and description whereof are not extant: the church Noah, is here alone described, as being of a genius and character entirely differing from the Most Ar ciert Church