1600. The men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly. That this signifies the cupidities to which the memory-knowledges extended themselves, is evident from the signification of “Sodom,” explained before, as being cupidities; and from the signification of “the men [viri],” as being intellectual and rational things, here, memory-knowledges, because they are predicated of the external man when separated from the internal. That “men” signify intellectual and rational things, was also shown above (n. 265, 749, 1007). Memory-knowledges are said to extend themselves to cupidities, when they are learned with no other end than that the man may become great; not that they may serve him for use, that he may thereby become good. All memory-knowledges are for the end that a man may become rational, and thus wise; and that thereby he may serve the internal man.

265. That by “man [vir]” is signified the rational, appears from verse 6 of this chapter, in that the woman gave to her man with her, and he did eat, by which is meant his consent; and the same is also evident from what was said of the man in n. 158, where by him is meant one who is wise and intelligent. Here however “man” denotes the rational, because in consequence of the destruction of wisdom and intelligence by eating of the tree of knowledge, nothing else was left, for the rational is imitative of intelligence, being as it were its semblance.