3623. Wherefore have I lives? That this signifies that thus there would not be conjunction, is evident from the signification of “lives,” as being conjunction through truths and goods; for when no truth from a common stock or genuine source could be adjoined to natural truth, then neither would there be the adjunction of the natural to the truth of the rational; thus to the rational its life would appear as no life (n. 3493, 3620); hence by the words, “wherefore have I lives?” is signified that thus there would not be conjunction. The reason why here and in other passages lives are spoken of in the plural, is that there are two faculties of life in man; one of which is called the understanding, and is of truth; and the other of which is called the will, and is of good; these two lives or faculties of life make a one when the understanding is of the will, or what is the same, when truth is of good. This is the reason why in the Hebrew tongue frequent mention is made of “life,” and also of “lives.” That mention is made of “lives,” is evident from the following passages in Genesis:

And Jehovah God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7).

And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree that is desirable to the sight, and good for food; and the tree of lives in the midst of the garden (Genesis 2:9).

Behold I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of lives (Genesis 6:17).

And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two, two, of all flesh wherein is the breath of lives (Genesis 7:15, n. 780).

All in whose nostrils was the breathing of the breath of lives died (Genesis 6:22).

And in David:

I believe to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of lives (Psalms 27:13).

Again:

What man is he that desireth lives, and loveth days that he may see good (Psalms 34:12)?

Again:

With Thee is the fountain of lives; in Thy light shall we see light (Psalms 36:9).

In Malachi:

My covenant was with Leviticus of lives and peace (Malachi 2:5).

In Jeremiah:

Thus saith Jehovah, Behold I set before you the way of lives, and the way of death (Jeremiah 21:8).

In Moses:

To love Jehovah thy God, and to obey His voice, and to cleave unto Him for He Is thy lives, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land (Deuteronomy 30:20).

And again:

It is not a vain word from you, because it is your lives, and through this word ye shall prolong your days upon the land (Deuteronomy 32:47); and in other places.

“Lives” are spoken of in the plural because they are two, as was said, and yet a one; as also in the Hebrew tongue are “heavens,” which are many, and yet a one; in like manner “waters,” those above and those beneath (Genesis 1:6-7, 9), which are spiritual things pertaining to the rational and the natural, and which also are to be a one through conjunction. In respect to “lives,” they signify in the plural both what is of the will and what is of the understanding, consequently what is of good and what is of truth; for the life of man is nothing else than good and truth wherein is life from the Lord, inasmuch as man, without good and truth, and life therein, is no man; for man without these would not be able to will anything or think anything, all his faculty of willing being from what is good or what is not good, and his faculty of thinking from what is true or what is not true; hence man has lives, which are one life when his thinking is from his willing, that is, when the truth which is of faith is from the good which is of love.

3493. And his eyes were dim that he could not see. That this signifies when the rational desired to enlighten the natural with the Divine, is evident from the signification of “eyes,” as being the interior or rational sight (see n. 2701); and from the signification of “seeing,” as being to perceive and understand (n. 2150, 2325, 2807); hence when the eyes are said to be dim,” it signifies that there is no longer any perception, here, no perception of those things which are in the natural; and this being the signification of these words, it is signified that the rational desired to enlighten the natural with the Divine. How the case herein is may be seen from what has been said and shown before concerning the rational and natural in man when he is being regenerated, namely, that the rational is regenerated before the natural, for the reason that the rational is more interior and thus nearer to the Divine; and also because it is purer, and thus fitter to receive the Divine than is the natural; and further because the natural is to be regenerated through the rational, as may be seen above (n. 3286, 3288, 3321).

[2] When therefore the rational has been regenerated and not the natural, the former appears to itself to be dim-sighted, because there is not correspondence; for the rational has its sight from the light of heaven, and the natural has its sight from the light of the world; and unless there is correspondence, the rational can see nothing which is in the natural, all therein being to it as shade, or even as thick darkness. But when there is correspondence, then the things in the natural appear to the rational in light, because the things which are of the light of the world are then enlightened by those which are of the light of heaven, and thereupon become as it were translucent. But these things appear better from what has been before said and shown concerning correspondence (n. 2987, 2989, 2991, 2996, 3002, 3138, 3167, 3222, 3223, 3225, 3337, 3485). Hence it may in some sort be apprehended that by the words, “the eyes of Isaac were dim that he could not see,” is signified that the rational desired to enlighten the natural with the Divine, that is, to make it also Divine, for in the supreme sense the Lord is treated of; which may consequently be illustrated by what takes place with man when being regenerated, as before mentioned, for the regeneration of man is an image of the Lord’s glorification (n. 3043, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490).