368. The reason for this kind of union of husband and wife on the deepest levels of their minds goes back to creation itself. The male is born to focus on cognitive processes, and therefore bases his thinking on his intellect. In contrast, the woman is born to focus on intentions, and therefore bases her thinking on her volition. We can see this from the tendency or innate nature of each as well as from their form. As to innate nature, men do act on the basis of reason, while women act on the basis of their feelings. As to form, the man has a rougher and less attractive face, a deeper voice, and a stronger body, while the woman has a softer and more attractive face, a gentler voice, and a softer body. This is like the difference between intellect and volition or between thought and affection. It is also like the difference between what is true and what is good or between faith and love, since truth and faith are matters of intellect, while good and love are matters of volition.

This is why a boy or a man, in the spiritual sense of the Word, means the discernment of truth, while a girl or woman means an affection for what is good. It is also why the church is called a woman or a girl on the basis of its affection for what is good and true and why everyone who is absorbed in an affection for what is good is called a young woman, as in the Book of Revelation 14:4. ¹

അടിക്കുറിപ്പുകൾ:

6731. 'And her maidservants were going along the side of the river means things which minister to this kind of religion involving the use of falsity. This is clear from the meaning of 'maidservants' as things which minister, for when 'the daughter of Pharaoh' means a kind of religion, things which minister to that religion are meant by 'her maidservants'; and from the meaning of 'the river' as falsity, as immediately above in 6730. Thus it is things which minister to a kind of religion involving the use of falsity that are meant by 'the maidservants going along the side of the river'.