199. The fruit from the tree from which they were allowed to eat means the good and truth of faith, that is, the cognitions of faith, revealed to them from the Most Ancient Church. This becomes clear from the fact that reference is made to 'the fruit from the tree of the garden' from which they were to eat, and not merely, as previously in 2:16 where the subject was the celestial man or Most Ancient Church, 'from the tree of the garden'. As was stated at that point, the tree of the garden means perception, that is, the perception of good and truth. And because this good and truth are the product, it is here called fruit, as is also the meaning of 'fruit' many times in the Word.

Flesh has several meanings just in its most obvious form. It can mean all living creatures as when the Lord talks about the flood "destroying all flesh"(Genesis 7:21), or it can mean all of mankind (Genesis 6:3), or it can mean something soft and yielding such as the heart of flesh to replace the stony heart (Ezekiel 11:19) But spiritually it means the loves that dwell in the will of a person, and seem to belong to that person, to be that person. This person may be one who has not started to regenerate (or never will), or one who is in the middle of the process, or one who is near the end. In the highest sense flesh means the loves that are in the Lord's will, which are divine. This meaning is clear in the Lord's words in the gospel of John (John 6:53-56).