84. Readers who pay attention to it can see that we find in the Word paired expressions which seem to be repetitious of the same idea, such as brother and companion, poor and needy, devastation and desolation, empty and void, adversary and enemy, sin and iniquity, anger and wrath, nation and people, joy and gladness, mourning and weeping, justice (or righteousness) and judgment, and so on. These pairs seem to be synonyms, but in fact they are not, for the words brother, poor, devastation, empty, adversary, sin, anger, nation, joy, mourning, and justice (or righteousness) refer to goodness, and in an opposite sense to evil, whereas the words companion, needy, desolation, void, enemy, iniquity, wrath, people, gladness, weeping, and judgment refer to truth, and in an opposite sense to falsity. Still, it seems to the reader who does not know this arcanum that brother and companion, poor and needy, devastation and desolation, empty and void, and adversary and enemy have the same meaning, and likewise sin and iniquity, anger and wrath, nation and people, joy and gladness, mourning and weeping, justice (or righteousness) and judgment. And yet these do not have the same meaning, but by their combination come to have a united one.

[2] We find in the Word many other combinations as well, such as fire and flame, gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone, bread and water, bread and wine, purple and fine linen, and so on, and this because fire, gold, bronze, wood, bread, and purple symbolize goodness, while flame, silver, iron, stone, water, wine and fine linen symbolize truth.

Similarly we are told that people are to love God with all their heart and with all their soul, and that God will create in a person a new heart and a new spirit. For the heart refers to the goodness of love, and the soul to truth springing from that goodness.

We also find words which, because they have to do with both goodness and truth, are used alone without being combined with any others.

But nothing of what we have said, and still more, is apparent except to angels, and to those who, when attending to the natural sense, attend also to the spiritual sense.