5832. And ye will make my gray hairs go down in evil to the grave. That this signifies that spiritual good, and thus the internal of the church, would perish, is evident from the representation of Israel, as being spiritual good (n. 5807, 5812, 5813, 5817, 5819, 5825), and the internal of the spiritual church (n. 4286); from the signification of “gray hairs,” as being the ultimate of the church; and from the signification of “going down in evil to the grave,” as being to perish (n. 4785). “To go down in good into the grave” is to rise again and to be regenerated (n. 2916, 2917, 5551), wherefore “to go down in evil into the grave” is the opposite, thus to perish. As to the internal of the church perishing if the truth represented by Benjamin were to perish, the case is this. In order that good may be good it must have its own truths; and truths must have their own good in order to be truths. Good without truths is not good, and truths without good are not truths. Together they form a marriage, which is called the heavenly marriage. Wherefore if one departs, the other perishes; and the one may depart from the other through a tearing in pieces by evils and falsities.

4785. And he said, For I shall go down to the grave to my son mourning. That this signifies that the Ancient Church would perish, is evident from the representation of Jacob, who says this of himself, as being the Ancient Church (of which above, n. 4680, 4700, 4772); and from the representation of Joseph who here is “my son,” as being the Divine spiritual, or the Divine truth, of which above; and from the signification of “going down to the grave mourning,” as being to die, and when predicated of the church and also of Divine truth, to perish.