2088. Behold I will bless him; and will make him fruitful very exceedingly. That this signifies that they should be imbued and gifted with the goods of faith and with the derivative truths beyond measure, is evident from the signification of being “blessed,” of being “fruitful,” and of being “multiplied.” To be “blessed” signifies to be gifted with all goods (as shown in Part First, n. 981, 1096, 1420, 1422). To be “fruitful” denotes the goods of faith with which they should be gifted; and to be “multiplied” denotes the truths thence derived (as also shown in Part First, n. 43, 55, 913, 983).

[2] Who the celestial are, and who the spiritual, it would be too tedious to describe here, and they have been described already (as may be seen n. 81, 597, 607, 765, 2069, 2078, and in many other places). In general, the celestial are those who have love to the Lord, and the spiritual those who have charity toward the neighbor. (What the distinction is between having love to the Lord, and having charity toward the neighbor, may be seen above, n. 2023.) The celestial are those who are in the affection of good from good; but the spiritual are those who are in the affection of good from truth. In the beginning all were celestial, because they were in love to the Lord; and hence they received perception, by which they perceived good, not from truth, but from the affection of good.

[3] But afterwards, when love to the Lord was no longer such as it had been, spiritual men followed, those men being called spiritual who were in love toward the neighbor, or in charity. But love toward the neighbor, or charity, was implanted by means of truth; and thereby they received conscience, and acted in accordance with it, not from the affection of good, but from the affection of truth. Charity, with the spiritual, appears like the affection of good; but it is the affection of truth. From this appearance, charity is still called good; but it is the good of their faith. These are they who are meant by the Lord in John:

I am the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture; I am the good shepherd and I know Mine own, and am known of Mine; and other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd (John 10:9, 14, 16).

913. That they may spread themselves over the earth. That this signifies the operation of the internal man on the external, and that “being fruitful” signifies increasings of good, “multiplying” increasings of truth, and “upon the earth” in the external man, is evident from the connection of the things, and also from what has been before said and shown about the signification of “being fruitful” which in the Word is predicated of goods, and about that of “multiplying” which is predicated of truths. That “earth” signifies the external man has likewise been shown before; so that we need not dwell longer on these significations in order to confirm them. Here the subject is the operation of the internal man on the external after the man has been regenerated, showing that good is for the first time made fruitful, and truth multiplied, when the external man has been reduced to correspondence or obedience. This can never be so before, because what is corporeal opposes what is good, and what is sensuous opposes what is true, the one extinguishing the love of good, and the other extinguishing the love of truth. The fructification of good and the multiplication of truth take place in the external man; the fructification of good in his affections, and the multiplication of truth in his memory. The external man is here called “the earth” over which they spread themselves, and upon which they become fruitful and multiply.