10652. And his daughters commit whoredom after their gods, and make thy sons commit whoredom after their gods. That this signifies in this manner the profanation of good and of truth, is evident from the signification of “committing whoredom,” as being unlawful conjunction (of which above, n. 10648); from the signification of “his daughters,” or the daughters of the inhabitant of the land, as being the affections of evil; from the signification of “their gods,” as being the falsities of the affections of evil conjoined with truths, for by “their gods” are meant the gods of the daughters of the inhabitant of the land conjoined with sons of the Israelitish nation (see just above at n. 10651), which conjunction is the profanation of good; and from the signification of “making thy sons commit whoredom after their gods,” as being the conjunction of truth with falsities, which is the profanation of truth. (That “gods” denote falsities, see n. 4402, 4544, 7873, 8867; and that “sons” denote truths, n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 3373, 4257, 9807, 10490.)

[2] These things are so said because the first conjunction of the affections of evil with truths, which is signified by “taking the daughters of the inhabitant of the land for thy sons,” is not as yet profanation; but the second conjunction is profanation, because this takes place when evil is applied to truth, and truth to evil, which is done by means of a wrong interpretation of truth, and the application of it to evil, and thus by the insertion of the one into the other. From this, truth no longer remains truth; but is killed and profaned.

[3] This profanation is also signified by “the whoredom of the people with the daughters of Moab,” of which we read in Moses:

Israel settled in Shittim, where the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people did eat, and bowed themselves down to their gods. Therefore Jehovah said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up to Jehovah before the sun. And the people were smitten; and there died from this plague twenty-four thousand (Numbers 25:1-2, 4-5, 9).

By “Moab” are signified those who adulterate goods (n. 2468, 8315); and by his “daughters,” the affections of this evil; and by “whoredom with them,” profanation; consequently the penalty was the hanging of the heads of the people before the sun, and the death of twenty-four thousand. For the sun of the world denotes the love of self (n. 10584); “hanging before it” denotes the total extinction of heavenly good; and “twenty-four thousand” denotes all the truths and goods of truth in the complex, in like manner as “twelve thousand” (n. 2089, 3913, 7973); their death denotes the extinction of all truths. This takes place with those who profane.

4988. That his lord’s wife lifted up her eyes to Joseph. That this signifies truth natural not spiritual adjoined to natural good, and its perception, is evident from the signification of a “wife,” as being truth adjoined to good (n. 1468, 2517, 3236, 4510, 4823), here truth natural not spiritual adjoined to natural good, because this truth and this good are treated of, that good to which this truth is conjoined being here the “lord” (n. 4973); and from the signification of “lifting up the eyes,” as being thought, intention, and also perception (n. 2789, 2829, 3198, 3202, 4339).

[2] By the “wife” is here signified truth natural, but not truth spiritual natural; and by the husband, who is here the “lord,” is signified good natural, but not good spiritual natural. It must therefore be explained what is meant by good and truth natural not spiritual, and good and truth spiritual natural. Good in man is from a twofold source-from what is hereditary and hence additional, and also from the doctrine of faith and of charity, or with the Gentiles from their religiosity. Good ¹ from the former origin is good natural not spiritual, while good from the latter origin is good spiritual natural. From a like origin is truth, because all good has its own truth adjoined to it.

[3] Good natural from the former origin, that is, from what is hereditary and hence adventitious, has much that is akin to good natural from the second origin, that is, from the doctrine of faith and charity, or from some religiosity, but only in the external form, being entirely different in the internal form. Good natural from the former origin may be compared to the good that exists with gentle animals; but good natural from the second origin is proper to the man who acts from reason, and consequently knows how to dispense what is good in various ways in accordance with uses. This dispensing of what is good is taught by the doctrine of what is just and fair, and in a higher degree by the doctrine of faith and charity, and with those who are truly rational is also confirmed in many ways by reason.

[4] They who do good from the former origin are borne blindly along as it were by instinct into the exercise of charity; but they who perform what is good from the second origin are borne along by an internal obligation, and as it were with their eyes open. In a word, they who do what is good from the former origin, do it from no conscience of what is just and fair, still less from any conscience of spiritual truth and good; whereas they who do what is good from the second origin, do it from conscience. (See what has been said before on this subject, n. 3040, 3470, 3471, 3518, and wha t follows, n. 4992.) But how the case is with these things can by no means be explained to the apprehension; for everyone who is not spiritual, or who has not been regenerated, sees good from its external form, and this for the reason that he does not know what charity is, or what the neighbor is; and the reason why he does not know these things is that he has no doctrinals of charity. In the light of heaven these things appear most distinctly, and hence they appear distinctly also with the spiritual or regenerate, because these are in the light of heaven.

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