584. Verse 5 And Jehovah saw that the evil of man had been increased on the earth, and all the imagination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the day long.

'Jehovah saw that the evil of man had been increased on the earth' means that the will for good started to go out of existence. 'All the imagination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the day long' means that there was no perception of truth and good.

War in the Word represents the combat of temptation when good loves are assaulted by evil loves or false ideas. The evil that attacks comes from one of the many societies of hell, and it operates by arousing a selfish love in our mind that is contrary to what we know is right. Then our selfish love attacks the love that nourishes the wish to be a good person, and there is war in our minds. This is represented by wars that the children of Israel fought in and around the land of Canaan, of which there is a long history in the old testament. The selfish loves abound in our minds from our heredity, and the good loves come along with our conscience as it develops. If we had no conscience we couldn't be tempted; we would immediately follow the wishes of our selfishness and give in. But then the end result is that we are in slavery to the hells and will do whatever they want.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 1659 [3], 1664, 1683, 1788 [2])