2253. Wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are in the midst of it? That this signifies intercession from love-that they should not perish-is evident from the signification of “fifty,” and of “righteous,” as also of “the midst of it,” that is, of the city (concerning which just above, n. 2252), all of which things involve intercession from love, and that they should not perish. (As regards the intercession, see above, n. 2250.) That it was from love is also manifest. With the Lord, when He was in the world, there was no other life than the life of love toward the universal human race, which He ardently desired to eternally save. This is the veriest celestial life, by which He united Himself to the Divine, and the Divine to Himself-for Esse itself, or Jehovah, is nothing else than Mercy, which is of love to the universal human race-and that life was one of pure love, which is never possible with any man. They who do not know what life is, and that the life is such as the love, do not comprehend this. This shows that insofar as anyone loves his neighbor, insofar he partakes of the Lord’s life.