19. 'The Spirit of God' is used to mean the Lord's mercy, which is said 'to hover', like a hen over eggs, over what the Lord stores away in man and which in the Word are frequently called 'remnants'. These remnants are cognitions of truth and good which never come to light or into daylight until external things have been laid waste. These cognitions are here called 'the face ¹ of the waters'.

Footnotes:

9744. 'From fine twined linen' means coming out of the understanding. This is clear from the meaning of 'fine linen' as truth from a celestial origin, dealt with in 5319, 9469. Consequently 'fine twined linen' means the understanding since this consists of and has been so to speak twined out of truths from a celestial origin. For there are two realities with which everything in the whole of creation has connection, truth and good. This is why a person has two mental powers, one dedicated to the reception of truth, the other to the reception of good. The power dedicated to the reception of truth is called the understanding, and the power dedicated to the reception of good is called the will. To the extent therefore that the understanding has been formed from real truths it excels and is 'fine twined linen'; for 'fine linen' is truth from the Divine, 5319. As regards 'fine twined linen', that it therefore means the understanding, see also 9596.