3063. 'And deal mercifully' means an influx of love. This is clear from the consideration that the essence of mercy is love. Love itself is converted into mercy and becomes mercy when anyone in need of help is regarded with love or charity. Consequently mercy is the expression of love towards those who are needy and wretched. But here in the internal sense 'mercy' is used to mean love and 'dealing mercifully' an influx of love, since it was an influx from the Lord's Divine itself into His Divine Human. In fact it was by means of Divine love that is the Lord's that He made His Human Divine, for love is the very being (esse) of life, while Divine love exists in none but the Lord. See what has been stated already about the Lord's love in the following places:

The Lord's life was a love towards the whole human race, 2253, and from that love He did battle, 1690, 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820.

It surpasses all understanding, 1799, 2077.

The Lord is Divine love itself, 2077, 2500, 2572.

Jehovah is love, 1735.

Nothing apart from love has life, 1589.

Anyone who possesses mutual love possesses the Lord's life, 1799, 1802, 1803.

Love and charity are the celestial itself, 1419, 1824.

2253. 'Will You also destroy and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous persons who are in the midst of it?' means intercession made from love that they should not perish. This is clear from the meaning of 'fifty', also of 'righteous', as well as of 'the midst of it', that is, of the city, dealt with above in 2252. All these expressions together imply intercession made from love, and that those persons should not perish. Regarding this intercession, see above in 2250. That it is made from love is also evident. With the Lord, when He was in the world, no other life was present than the life of love towards the whole human race, which He passionately desired to save eternally. That life is wholly celestial life, by which He united Himself to the Divine, and the Divine to Himself - for Being (Esse) itself, or Jehovah, is nothing else than mercy, which is the manifestation of love towards the whole human race - and that life was the life of pure love, which life cannot possibly exist with any human being. People who do not know what life is, and that the nature of the life is determined by that of the love, do not comprehend this. From this it is evident that in the measure anyone loves the neighbour he draws on the life that is the Lord's.