2444. Jehovah caused it to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire. That this signifies the hell of those who are in the evils of the love of self and the falsities thence derived, is evident from the signification of “raining,” as being to be damned; of “brimstone,” as being the hell of the evils of the love of self; and of “fire,” as being the hell of the falsities thence derived, concerning which presently; also from the signification of “Sodom,” as being the evil of the love of self; and of “Gomorrah,” as being the falsity thence derived (see n. 2220, 2246, 2322).

[2] Here “Gomorrah” is also mentioned, for the first time in this chapter, for the reason that “Gomorrah” signifies the falsity that comes from the evil of the love of self. For within the church, whose last period or Judgment is here treated of, this evil is that which chiefly acts against good, and its falsity is that which acts against truth; and these two things are so conjoined that he who is in the one is also in the other, and indeed in a like ratio and a like degree. It does indeed appear otherwise, but yet is plainly so in the other life, if not in the world. (As regards the love of self, its nature, the vastness of the evils that come from it, and that it is the source of the hells, see n. 693, 694, 760, 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 2041, 2045, 2051, 2057, 2219).

2246. They went toward Sodom. That this signifies thought concerning the human race as being in such great evil, is evident from the signification of “Sodom,” as being evil from the love of self (see above, n. 2220); and of “looking forth toward the faces of Sodom,” as being toward the state of the human race (n. 2219). That “Sodom” signifies the state of the human race as being in such great evil, is because by “Sodom” is not meant Sodom, but all those in the universal world who are in the love of self; and by the description of Sodom is represented the state of all who are in that evil, as is evident from what follows. That the love of self is the fountain of all evils, thus evil itself, is evident from what was said and shown of it before (n. 2045, 2057, 2219), and therefore it is here said that they were in such great evil.