1470. Behold I pray, I know that thou art a woman beautiful to look upon. That this signifies that truth from a celestial origin is delightful, is evident from the signification of “a woman beautiful to look upon.” All truth that is celestial, or that is produced from the celestial, is happy in the internal man, and delightful in the external, and with the celestial angels is so perceived; but it is altogether otherwise when it is not from a celestial origin. There are two kinds of happiness in the internal man, to which correspond two kinds of delight in the external man; one is of good, the other is of truth; celestial happiness and delight are of good, spiritual happiness and delight are of truth. It is also known that truth itself is attended with happiness and delight, but these are essentially such only when the truth is from what is celestial, for then the truth itself also becomes celestial, and is called celestial truth. To speak comparatively, truth is then like the light of the sun in the springtime, which has heat in its bosom, from which all things on the earth are made to vegetate, and are as it were animated. This celestial truth is the beautiful itself, or beauty itself. This is the truth which is here called “a woman beautiful to look upon.” What further arcana are involved in these words, will be manifest from what follows.
