2422. Lot said unto them, Nay I pray my lords. That this signifies weakness, so that he could not, is evident from the affection in the very words, as also from what follows. There is here treated of the third state of the church represented in this chapter by Lot, which is that they no longer think and act from the affection of good, but from the affection of truth; which state succeeds, when the affection of good begins to be diminished, and as it were to recede. Good is indeed present, but has withdrawn itself more toward the interiors, and therefore is in obscurity; and yet it manifests itself in a certain affection, which is called the affection of truth. (What the affection of good is, and what the affection of truth, may be seen above, n. 1997, and in what presently follows, n. 2425.) That there are these states is not apparent to man, still less what is the nature of them; but they are apparent to the angels as in clear light, for the angels are in every good affection of man; and they are apparent also to man himself when he comes into the other life. It is in accordance with these affections, and the quality of them, that the good are distinguished into societies (n. 685).

1997. I will multiply thee very exceedingly. That this signifies the fruitfulness to infinity of the affection of truth, may be seen from the signification of “to be multiplied,” as being predicated of truth (explained, n. 43, 55, 913, 983); and as the Lord is treated of, it signifies the fruitfulness to infinity of the truth that is from good (as before, n. 1940). There are two affections, namely, the affection of good, and the affection of truth. The affection of good is to do what is good from the love of good, and the affection of truth is to do what is good from the love of truth. At the first view these two affections appear to be the same; but in reality they are distinct from each other both as to essence and as to origin. The affection of good, or doing what is good from the love of good, is properly of the will; but the affection of truth, or doing what is good from the love of truth, is properly of the understanding. Thus these two affections are distinct from each other in the same way as are the will and the understanding. The affection of good is from celestial love, but the affection of truth is from spiritual love.

[2] The affection of good can be predicated solely of the celestial man, but the affection of truth, of the spiritual man. What the celestial or the celestial man is, and what the spiritual or the spiritual man, has been sufficiently shown in Part First. The Most Ancient Church, which existed before the flood, was in the affection of good; but the Ancient Church, which existed after the flood, was in the affection of truth; for the former was a celestial church, but the latter a spiritual church. All the angels in the heavens are distinguished into the celestial and the spiritual. The celestial are they who are in the affection of good, the spiritual are they who are in the affection of truth; to the former the Lord appears as a sun, but to the latter as a moon (n. 1529-1531, 1838). This latter affection, of truth, the Lord united to the affection of good, which is to do what is good from the love of good, when He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence. Hence by “multiplying very exceedingly,” is signified the fruitfulness to infinity of the truth that is from good.