304. From these observations it is clear that the following is the meaning of the statement, 'By chance he will put out his hand and also take from the tree of life' and eat, and live for ever'. 'Taking from the tree of life' and eating' is knowing to the point of acknowledging anything that belongs to love and faith, for the plural noun 'lives' means love and faith. Here as previously, 'eating' means knowing, while 'living for ever' is not living forever in the body but living after death in eternal condemnation. The person who is dead is not therefore called 'dead' because he is going to die at the end of life in this world but because he is going to live the life of death, 'death' being condemnation and hell. 'Living' has a similar meaning in Ezekiel,

You hunt souls for My people, and you keep souls alive for yourselves, and have desecrated Me among My people, to slay souls that will not die, and to keep alive souls that will not live. Ezekiel 13:18-19.