2426. Lest peradventure the evil cleave to me, and I die. That this signifies that then it could not but come to pass that he would be at the same time in evil, and that thereby he would be condemned, is evident without explication. What these words involve may be known from what has been said and shown before (n. 301-303vvv2, 571, 582, 1001, 1327, 1328), namely, that the Lord constantly provides that evil should not be commingled with good; but that insofar as a man is in evil, so far is he removed from good; for it is better for a man to be altogether in evil, than in evil and at the same time in good. For if he is in evil and at the same time in good, he must needs be damned eternally. It is the deceitful and hypocrites within the church who are most in danger of this. Such therefore is the meaning, in the internal sense, of “lest the evil cleave to me, and I die.”

582. After that the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare to them. That this signifies that they became Nephilim when they had immersed the doctrinals of faith in their cupidities, is evident from what was said and shown above in verse 2, namely, that the “sons of God” signify the doctrinal things of faith, and that “daughters” signify cupidities. The birth thereby produced must needs make light of and profane the holy things of faith, for the cupidities of man, being those of the love of self and of the world, are altogether contrary to what is holy and true. Now in man cupidities prevail, so that when what is holy and true, and is acknowledged to be such, is immersed in cupidities, it is all over with the man, for the cupidities cannot be rooted out and separated; they cling to every idea, and in the other life it is ideas that are communicated from one to another, so that as soon as any idea of what is holy and true is brought forth, what is profane and false is joined to it, which is instantly perceived. Therefore such persons have to be separated and thrust down into hell.