6391. 'And he will see rest that it is good' means that works of goodness done without thought of recompense are filled with happiness. This is clear from the meaning of 'rest' as the things which are of heaven, thus those who ¹ have the good of charity in them, that is, who perform works of goodness without thought of recompense, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'that it is good' as the fact that they are filled with happiness. The reason 'rest' means works of goodness done without thought of recompense is that 'rest' or peace in the highest sense means the Lord, and in the relative sense heaven and thus good which comes from the Lord, see 3780, 4681, 5662. And since the things meant by 'rest' or peace reside with none but those who have the good of charity in them and so perform works of goodness without thought of recompense, these works are meant by 'rest'; for this meaning is what follows from the train of thought in the internal sense.

[2] The fact of the matter is that people who perform good deeds with no other end in view than recompense cannot possibly know that the performance of good deeds without thought of recompense holds happiness so great that it is the happiness of heaven. The reason why they cannot know is that happiness is seen by them to reside in the delight of self-love; and insofar as a person sees delight within this love he sees no delight within heavenly love, since the two are opposites. The delight which comes out of self-love entirely destroys that which comes out of heavenly love. It destroys it so completely that there is plainly no knowledge of what heavenly delight may be; or if mention is made of what it is like, this is met with unbelief and even rejection.

[3] I have been allowed to know about this from evil spirits in the next life who, when they lived in the world, performed no good deed for others or for their country except for selfish reasons. They do not believe that any delight can exist in the performance of good deeds without recompense as the end in view; for they imagine that without recompense as the end in view all delight ceases to exist. And if they are told nevertheless that when that delight ceases to exist heavenly delight starts to do so, they are dumbfounded on hearing it. And especially when they hear that that heavenly delight flows into a person by way of his inmost being and fills him interiorly with indescribable happiness, they are all the more dumbfounded, saying they cannot take it in. Indeed they say they do not want that delight, for they think that if they lose the delight of self-love their condition is utterly wretched because all the joy of life is in that case missing; and they also call those people naive whose state is different from one of self-love. Not unlike them are those whose works are performed with a view to recompense, for they do good works for their own benefit and not that of others, that is, they regard themselves in those works, not their neighbour, nor their country, nor heaven, nor the Lord, except as those who have a duty to be of benefit to them. These are the kinds of matters that this verse dealing with Issachar describes in the internal sense.

სქოლიოები:

1726. That 'king of Salem' means a state of peace as regards interior or rational things is clear from the meaning of 'Salem'. Salem in the original language means peace, and also perfection, and thus [in the internal sense] means a state of peace and a state of perfection. A state of peace is the state of the Lord's kingdom. In that state celestial and spiritual things, which are the Lord's, exist so to speak in their early morning and their spring-time, for that peace is like the dawn that breaks in the early morning, and the new life that comes in spring-time. The dawn and the spring cause everything that reaches the senses at those times to be full of joy and gladness; every object draws forth a particular affection from one's general affection for the dawn and the spring. So it is with the state of peace in the Lord's kingdom. In a state of peace everything celestial or spiritual exists so to speak in its early morn or spring-time blossom and cheer, that is, in its very happiness. Such is the manner in which the state of peace affects each particular thing, for the Lord is Peace itself. The same is also meant by 'Salem' in David,

In Judah is God known; in Israel His name is great, and in Salem is His tabernacle, and His dwelling-place in Zion. Psalms 76:1-2.

While a person is undergoing the conflicts brought about by temptations the Lord grants him by turns a state of peace, and so refreshes him. A state of peace is meant here by 'Salem' and also by 'the bread and wine' mentioned next, which means celestial and spiritual things and thus a state of celestial and spiritual things in peace, which state is refreshment itself.