5836. 'It will be, when he sees that the boy is not there, that he will die' means that spiritual good will perish, that is, if the truth which is 'Benjamin' were to depart. This is clear from the representation of 'Israel' as spiritual good, dealt with previously, and from the meaning of 'dying' as ceasing to be what it once was, 494, and so perishing. As regards the perishing of good if its truth were to depart, see above in 5830, 5832, 5837.

1645. But angels' speech is beyond description. Being superior to the speech of angelic spirits it is far superior to the speech of spirits, and cannot in any way be understood by man as long as he lives in the body. Spirits in the world of spirits are unable to form any idea of it since it is above that which they are able to perceive in their thought. Angels' speech does not consist of things represented by means of any ideas like those which spirits and angelic spirits have, but consists of ends in view and of uses flowing from these, which are the first beginnings and the essentials of things. It is into these ends and uses that angelic thoughts are gently introduced, and there they undergo endless variation. And every single part of that speech has within it an interior and happy delight produced by the good of mutual love from the Lord, and that which is beautiful and delightful produced by the truth of faith originating in that good. Ends in view and the uses arising from them are so to speak very delicate recipient vessels, and are delightful and ever-varying spiritual realities existing in celestial and spiritual forms beyond comprehension. In these they are kept by the Lord, for the Lord's kingdom is wholly a kingdom of ends and uses. For this reason also the angels present with a person pay no attention to anything other than his ends and uses, and elicit nothing else from the person's thought. All other things, which belong to mental and material levels, they do not care about since these are far beneath their own sphere.