54. Male and female He created them. What 'male and female' is used to mean in the internal sense was very well known in the Most Ancient Church, but when among later generations the interior sense of the Word was lost, so too was this particular arcanum. Marriages gave them their highest forms of happiness and delight; and they used to liken to a marriage anything that could be likened to it, in order that from it they might feel the happiness of marriage. And because they were internal men they took delight solely in internal things. As to external things, they did no more with them than take them in with their eyes, but their thoughts involved what those things represented - so much so that external things meant nothing to them except insofar as they could reflect internal things in them, and in those internal things reflect celestial things, and in so doing reflect the Lord, who was to them everything. Consequently they reflected the heavenly marriage in those things, which, they perceived, was the source of the happiness in their own marriages. For this reason they called the understanding in the spiritual man Male and the will Female, and when the two acted as one, they called it Marriage. From that Church sprang the common usage of referring to the Church itself, because of its affection for good, as 'a daughter', and also 'a virgin' - as in Virgin of Zion, Virgin of Jerusalem - and 'a wife' as well. On these matters however see verse 23 of the next chapter, and Chapter 3:15.

Generally, in the Word, writing signifies making something permanent or serious.

If knowing what’s right were the same as doing what’s right, we would all be thin, healthy, hard-working, law-abiding, faithful to our spouses and free of addiction, and the idea of a New Year’s resolution would not exist. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to know what’s right, say what’s right, even believe what’s right and still do what’s wrong. If we don’t internalize it, make it a part of us, commit to it it doesn’t mean anything. That is essentially what “writing” means in the Bible – when something was written down, that meant it was permanent, taken to heart, impressed or inscribed on someone’s life – much more meaningful than what was simply said. Such a meaning is still reflected in modern language. If we’re serious about what we’re saying, we might tell someone to “write it down.” Things that are sure might be “written in stone,” harking back to ancient times. Police still want written confessions, and those in love still treasure hand-written notes. All that, of course, is in an age where everyone’s literate and writing is mostly electronic. Writing had far more significance in Biblical times, when few could write and writing materials were clumsy and expensive. For something to be written was significant.