2960. 'What is that between me and you?' means that he gave his assent yet still wished to achieve it by himself, that is to say, to be prepared or reformed. This becomes clear from the sense of the letter when applied to the internal sense in which reformation is the subject. Above, Ephron said, 'The field I give to you, and the cave that is in it I give to you' verse 11, and by this was meant their will to prepare themselves as regards those things that constitute the Church and faith, that is, to reform themselves. For the first state of those who are being reformed is such, see 2946; but when they are more advanced in cognitions of truth or faith, they have entered their second state. Then they do indeed give assent, yet they still wish to achieve it by themselves. It is this state which is dealt with in this verse, while the third state when they believe that their reformation is effected by the Lord will be described next.

[2] The reason these people are such at first has been stated above in 2946. But when they become more advanced in cognitions of truth or faith they do indeed acknowledge that their reformation is effected by the Lord, yet they still wish to achieve it by themselves. One reason for this is that the cloud of ignorance is dispersed only gradually; another is that it takes time for truth to be corroborated; and another is that the perfection of good comes with the acquisition of cognitions of truth. Good itself that has truth implanted in it leads people not only to acknowledge but also to believe that reformation comes from the Lord. This state is the third, and a fourth follows it, that is to say, a state when they perceive that it comes from the Lord. Few however attain it during their lifetime since it is an angelic state; but those who are regenerate do attain it in the next life. From this it is evident that in the internal sense here the member of the spiritual Church is described - the nature of his state when he has yet to develop, the nature of it when he starts to develop, and at length when he has developed.

2937. 'For the full price' means redemption by means of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'silver' as truth, dealt with in 1551, and from the meaning of 'let him give it to me in - that is, for - silver', as buying, and in the spiritual sense as redeeming. For spiritual people are called 'those bought with silver', see 2048; that is, they are redeemed by means of truth. The reason for this is that they are being regenerated, that is to say, are being initiated into good, by means of the truth of faith. For the spiritual man, unlike the celestial, does not have any perception of good. Instead he knows through truth, and after that acknowledges from truth, that which is good. And when he acknowledges and believes, truth to him becomes good and he experiences it as good whose essential nature is the same as the truth with him. This is why spiritual people are called those redeemed by means of truth. Yet the essential nature of the good is not born and produced from truth, but from the influx of good into truth of that nature.