9916. 'And the hole of a corslet it must have, so that it does not tear' means so that it has been made strong and safe from damage. This is clear from the meaning of 'a corslet' as something strongly woven; and this is why it says 'so that it does not tear', that is, in order that it may be safe from damage. Something strongly woven is meant by the actual word used in the original language. An idea of that kind of weaving may be gained from correspondence. The subject at this point in the internal sense is the flow of celestial good into spiritual good; this inflow is what is meant by 'the robe's hole for the head' and what is described by 'the work of a weaver' and 'of a corslet'. To this flow from one heaven into another the flow of life in the human being corresponds, that is, the flow from the head by way of the neck into the body, 9913, 9914. The network of strong sinews belonging to the neck, and the circle so to speak of interwoven bones below the neck, both of which keep the flow of life safe from any harm, therefore have correspondence with that flow from one heaven to another. From such correspondence, as has been stated, an idea may be gained regarding the details in this verse, that is to say, an idea of what is meant by a hole for the head in the middle, by a border which the hole has round about, by the work of a weaver, and by the hole of a corslet which the robe must have so that it does not tear. It should be remembered that all representative objects on the natural level are related in some way to the human form, and that their meaning is determined by that relationship, 9496. Every garment covering the body takes its meaning from that part of the body it serves to cover, 9827, as applies also to this upper part of the robe which encircles and covers the neck.

1876. The names of men, kingdoms, or cities that occur in the Word, as with the expressions of human speech, disappear at the very threshold of their progress upwards; for those names are earthly, bodily, and material, being things of which souls entering the next life gradually divest themselves and of which those entering heaven do so altogether. Angels do not retain the least idea of any person, nor therefore of his name. What Abram is, what Isaac is, or Jacob, they do not know any longer. Instead they form an idea for themselves from the things that are represented and meant by those characters in the Word. Names and expressions are like dust or like scales that fall off when they enter heaven. From this it becomes clear that names in the Word mean nothing other than real things. On these matters I have spoken many times to angels, who have informed me fully regarding the truth. The speech that spirits employ among themselves does not consist of verbal expressions but of ideas, like those comprising human thought without words, and is therefore the universal language of all languages. But when they speak to man their speech falls into the expressions of human language, as stated in 1635, 1637, 1639.

[2] When discussing this matter with spirits I have been given to say that when they are conversing among themselves they are not able to utter one single word of human language, still less utter any name. Astonished by this some went away and tried to do so, but on returning they said that they had been unable to pronounce them because those words were so grossly material that they belonged below their own sphere, for such words were produced by an audible emission of air articulated by organs of the body, or else by means of an influx into the same organs by an internal route leading to the organ of hearing. From this it also became perfectly clear that no part of any expression which occurs in the Word was able to pass over to spirits. Still less could it pass over to angelic spirits, whose speech is even more universal, 1642. And least of all could it pass over to angels, 1643, with whom nothing remains of even the first ideas that spirits possess; instead angels have spiritual truths and celestial goods. Such truths and goods are varied in an indescribable manner in their least forms - which are continuous and knit together in a harmonious sequence - together with the first springs of representatives whose very great delightfulness and beauty flow from the happiness belonging to mutual love, and whose happiness flows from all their delight and beauty, because the Lord's life is inspired into them