3623. 'What would life hold for me?' means, and so there would not be any conjunction. This is clear from the meaning of 'life' as conjunction by means of truths and goods. For when it was not possible for any truth from a common stem or genuine source to be joined to natural truth, there could not be any alliance of the natural to the truth of the rational, in which case it seemed to the rational as though its own life were no life, 3493, 3620. This is why here 'what would life hold for me?' means, and so there would not be any conjunction. Here and in other places the word 'life' in the original language is plural, and the reason for this is that in man there are two powers of life. The first is called the understanding and is the receptacle of truth, the second is called the will and is the receptacle of good. These two forms or powers of life make one when the understanding is rooted in the will, or what amounts to the same, when truth is grounded in good. This explains why in Hebrew the noun 'life' is sometimes singular, sometimes plural. The plural form of that noun is used in all the following places, Jehovah God formed the man, dust from the ground; and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7. Jehovah God caused to spring up out of the ground every tree desirable to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the middle of the garden. Genesis 2:9. Behold, I am bringing a flood of waters over the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the spirit of life. Genesis 6:17.

They went in to Noah into the ark, two by two from all flesh in which there is the spirit of life. Genesis 7:15 (in 780).

Everything which had the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils breathed its last. Genesis 7:12.

In David,

I believe [I am going] to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living. Psalms 27:13.

In the same author,

Who is the man who desires life, who loves [many] days, that he may see good? Psalms 34:12

In the same author,

With You, O Jehovah, is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light. Psalms 36:9.

In Malachi,

My covenant with Levi was [a covenant] of life and peace. Malachi 2:5.

In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. Jeremiah 21:8.

In Moses,

To love Jehovah your God, to obey His voice, and to cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land. Deuteronomy 30:20.

In the same author,

It is not an empty word from you; for it is your life, and through this word you will prolong your days in the land. Deuteronomy 32:47.

And in other places too the plural form of the noun 'life' is used in the original language because, as has been stated, there are two kinds of life which yet make one. It is similar with the word 'heavens' in the Hebrew language, in that the heavens are many and yet make one, or like the expression 'waters' above and below, in Genesis 1:7-9 , by which spiritual things in the rational and in the natural are meant which ought to be one through being joined together. As for the plural form of 'life', when this is used both the life of the will and that of the understanding are meant, and therefore both the life of good and that of truth are meant. For man's life consists in nothing else than good and truth which hold life from the Lord within them. Devoid of good and truth, and of the life which these hold within them, no one is human. For devoid of these no one would ever have been able to will or to think anything. Everything that a person wills originates in good or in that which is not good, and everything he thinks originates in truth or in that which is not truth. Consequently man possesses two kinds of life and these make one when his thinking flows from his willing, that is, when truth which is the truth of faith flows from good which is the good of love.

10022. 'Before the tent of meeting' means to purification, the reception of truth from heaven, and the joining of it to good. This is clear from the representation of 'the tent of meeting' as heaven where the Lord is, dealt with in 9457, 9481, 9485. The reason why purification, the implantation of truth, and the joining of it to good are also meant here is that the young bull was led to that place to be sacrificed, and by sacrifices not only purification but also the implantation of truth and good and joining together of them are meant. For sacrifices represented purifications from evils and falsities, and expiations, see 9990, 9991, and the place before the tent, called its door, represented the joining together of truth and good, which is called the heavenly marriage, 10001. So it is then that 'you shall bring the young bull near before the tent of meeting' means the time when the external or natural man, as this exists in its infancy, applies itself to being purified from evils and falsities, and so to receiving truth from heaven and joining it to good.

[2] Since sacrifices and burnt offerings are the subject in what follows directly after this in the present chapter, what was represented by them in general must be stated. Burnt offerings and sacrifices in general represented purification from evils and falsities; and since purification was represented, so too was the implantation of goodness and truth from the Lord, and also the joining together of them. For when a person has been purified from evils and falsities, which is brought about by the removal of them, goodness and truth from the Lord flow in; and to the extent that goodness and truth flow in, in that state, they are implanted and joined together. For the Lord is unceasingly present with goodness and truth with every person, but He is received only to the extent that evils and falsities are removed, thus to the extent that the person is purified from them. The joining together of truth and good is regeneration. From this it may be seen what burnt offerings and sacrifices in general represented; but what each represented specifically is clear from the different kinds of living creatures that were sacrificed.

[3] Because these three - purification from evils and falsities, the implantation of truth and good, and the joining together of them - were represented by sacrifices and burnt offerings, all worship springing from the truth of faith and the good of love is also meant by them, 6905, 8680, 8936; for the end in view of all worship is that a person may be purified from evils and falsities, consequently that he may have forms of goodness and truth from the Lord implanted in him, and so may be regenerated, which is accomplished by the joining together of that goodness and truth. These joined together constitute heaven or the Lord's kingdom with a person.