3623. 'What would life hold for me?' means, and so there would not be any conjunction. This is clear from the meaning of 'life' as conjunction by means of truths and goods. For when it was not possible for any truth from a common stem or genuine source to be joined to natural truth, there could not be any alliance of the natural to the truth of the rational, in which case it seemed to the rational as though its own life were no life, 3493, 3620. This is why here 'what would life hold for me?' means, and so there would not be any conjunction. Here and in other places the word 'life' in the original language is plural, and the reason for this is that in man there are two powers of life. The first is called the understanding and is the receptacle of truth, the second is called the will and is the receptacle of good. These two forms or powers of life make one when the understanding is rooted in the will, or what amounts to the same, when truth is grounded in good. This explains why in Hebrew the noun 'life' is sometimes singular, sometimes plural. The plural form of that noun is used in all the following places, Jehovah God formed the man, dust from the ground; and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7. Jehovah God caused to spring up out of the ground every tree desirable to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the middle of the garden. Genesis 2:9. Behold, I am bringing a flood of waters over the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the spirit of life. Genesis 6:17.

They went in to Noah into the ark, two by two from all flesh in which there is the spirit of life. Genesis 7:15 (in 780).

Everything which had the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils breathed its last. Genesis 7:12.

In David,

I believe [I am going] to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living. Psalms 27:13.

In the same author,

Who is the man who desires life, who loves [many] days, that he may see good? Psalms 34:12

In the same author,

With You, O Jehovah, is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light. Psalms 36:9.

In Malachi,

My covenant with Levi was [a covenant] of life and peace. Malachi 2:5.

In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. Jeremiah 21:8.

In Moses,

To love Jehovah your God, to obey His voice, and to cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land. Deuteronomy 30:20.

In the same author,

It is not an empty word from you; for it is your life, and through this word you will prolong your days in the land. Deuteronomy 32:47.

And in other places too the plural form of the noun 'life' is used in the original language because, as has been stated, there are two kinds of life which yet make one. It is similar with the word 'heavens' in the Hebrew language, in that the heavens are many and yet make one, or like the expression 'waters' above and below, in Genesis 1:7-9 , by which spiritual things in the rational and in the natural are meant which ought to be one through being joined together. As for the plural form of 'life', when this is used both the life of the will and that of the understanding are meant, and therefore both the life of good and that of truth are meant. For man's life consists in nothing else than good and truth which hold life from the Lord within them. Devoid of good and truth, and of the life which these hold within them, no one is human. For devoid of these no one would ever have been able to will or to think anything. Everything that a person wills originates in good or in that which is not good, and everything he thinks originates in truth or in that which is not truth. Consequently man possesses two kinds of life and these make one when his thinking flows from his willing, that is, when truth which is the truth of faith flows from good which is the good of love.

8868. A brief statement must also be made about truths which come from a source other than the Lord. In general they are those which do not have the Lord within them. The truths a person knows do not have the Lord within them when he refuses to accept Him and His Divinity, or else when he does accept Him and yet believes that what is good and true does not begin in Him but in himself, as a result of which he claims righteousness for himself. Nor do those truths have the Lord within them which are taken from the Word, in particular from the sense of the letter there, and interpreted in favour of personal dominion and personal gain. In themselves these are truths because they come from the Word yet they are not truths because they are interpreted wrongly and thereby perverted. Such perversions of them are what the Lord means by the following in Matthew,

If anyone says, Behold, here is the Christ! or There! do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead into error, if possible, even the elect. Matthew 24:23-26.

See 3900. And in Luke,

See that you are not led astray. For many will come in My name, saying, I am He; The time is near. Therefore do not go after them. Luke 21:8.

[2] Truths which come from the Lord never cease to be truths from the Lord in their inward form. But truths which do not come from the Lord appear to be truths only in their outward form, not in their inward form - for inwardly they are either empty, false, or evil. To be the truth, truth must have life within it; for truth devoid of life is not the truth of faith with a person, and life comes from no other source than good, that is, from the Lord by way of good. If therefore the Lord is not within truth it is truth devoid of life, and so is not truth. And if there is falsity or evil within it the actual truth with a person is falsity or evil. For what exists inwardly constitutes its essential nature, and also in the next life shines through the outward appearance. From all this one may now see how to understand the explanation that there must be no thought about truths from any source other than the Lord.

[3] Since few know about the nature of truths which are truths in their inward form, and so which have life from the Lord, something will be said from experience regarding them. In the next life when anyone speaks there others perceive plainly what lies concealed in the words he utters, such as whether inwardly it is closed or open, and also what kind of affection there is within it. If there is an affection for good it is inwardly soft, if there is an affection for evil it is inwardly hard; and so on. With the angels of heaven the whole content of what they say is open all the way to the Lord. This is not only clearly perceived to be so but is audible from the softness of their speech, indeed from the particular nature of its softness. From this too what lies concealed inwardly in truths is known, whether it is the Lord or not. Truths which have the Lord within them are truths that have life, but truths which do not have the Lord within them are truths that have no life. Those which have life are truths of faith grounded in love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. Those which have no life are not truths, because inwardly they have self-love and love of the world in them. In this way spirits or angels in the next life can be told apart, for each individual's possession of truth is determined by the life he leads, that is, by that which reigns universally in him.