3099. Verses 21-22 And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether Jehovah had prospered his way or not. And so it was, when the camels finished drinking, that the man took a gold nose-jewel, half a shekel in weight, and two bracelets to go on her hands, ten [shekels] of gold in weight.

'The man, wondering at her, remained silent' means a state of perception regarding those things. 'So as to know whether Jehovah had prospered his way or not' means regarding Divine Truth, as to what sort it was. 'And so it was, when the camels finished drinking' means acknowledgement resulting from enlightenment in general facts. 'That the man took a gold nose-jewel' means Divine Good. 'Half a shekel in weight' means the amount needed for the introduction. 'And two bracelets' means Divine Truth. 'To go on her hands' means the power of the affection for truth. 'Ten [shekels] of gold in weight' means the full amount involved in the introduction.

560. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Before one can go any further, reference must be made to the Church as it was before the Flood. In general it went the same way as subsequent Churches, as the Jewish Church before the Lord's Coming and the Christian Church after; that is, people corrupted and adulterated the cognitions of true faith. In particular as regards the member of the Church before the Flood, he conceived dreadful persuasions in the process of time and immersed the goods and truths of faith in filthy desires, to such an extent that scarcely any remnants resided with him. And once they had become such those people suffocated themselves so to speak, for nobody can live without remnants. Indeed, as already stated, it is remnants that make man's life superior to that of animals; it is from remnants, or from the Lord through them, that anyone is enabled to be a human being, to know what good and truth are, and to reflect on individual things, and so to think and to reason. For remnants alone are what contain spiritual and celestial life.