3947. 'And will you take also my son's dudaim?' means that in that case the conjugial element linking natural good to external truth would be taken away. This is clear from the meaning of 'taking' here as taking away; from the meaning of 'dudaim' as the conjugial element, dealt with in 3942; and from the meaning of 'son' as truth, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, in this case external truth since it is Leah who is speaking and who, as shown above, means external truth.

533. Since nothing further is mentioned about Lamech apart from the fact that be beget sons and daughters, who are the conceptions and births of such a Church, there is no need to pause any longer over him. What these births, or sons and daughters, were, becomes clear from the Church, for the character of a Church determines that of its offspring. Both those Churches called Methuselah and Lamech breathed their last just before the flood.