Arcana Coelestia #3623
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.
Psalms 69
1
Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
2
I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3
I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4
They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
5
O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
6
Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O GOD of Israel.
7
Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
8
I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
9
For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
10
When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
11
I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.
12
They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
13
But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
14
Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15
Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16
Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
17
And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.
18
Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.
19
Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.
20
Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
21
They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22
Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
23
Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
24
Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
25
Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
26
For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
27
Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.
28
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
29
But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30
I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31
This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
32
The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
33
For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
34
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein.
35
For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.
36
The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
