8982. 'And [she has borne him] sons or daughters' means truths and forms of good which are derived from that good. This is clear from the meaning of 'sons' as truths, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704, 4257; and from the meaning of 'daughters' as forms of good, dealt with in 489-491, 2362, 3024. The fact that they are derived truths and forms of good is self-evident, because 'the woman', the mother from whom they were born, means spiritual good, 8981, and 'generations' means derivatives in the internal sense, 1330, 3263, 3279.

491. The same things are meant by 'sons and daughters' in verses 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 26, 30, of this chapter, but the character of a Church determines that of its 'sons and daughters', or goods and truths. Here they are truths and goods that men perceived most clearly, for they have regard to the Most Ancient Church, the head and forefather of all other Churches that followed after it.