5348. 'And to Joseph were born two sons' means the good and truth born from this, that is to say, from the influx of the celestial of the spiritual into the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'being born' as being reborn, and so the birth of truth derived from good or faith derived from charity, dealt with in 4070, 4668, 5160 (for the generations described in the Word are spiritual ones, see 1145, 1255, 1330, 3263, 3279, 3860, 3866); and from the meaning of 'sons', who in this case are Manasseh and Ephraim, as good and truth, dealt with immediately below. For 'Manasseh' means the area of will belonging to the new natural, while 'Ephraim' means the area of understanding belonging to it. Or what amounts to the same, 'Manasseh' means the good present in the new natural, since good exists as an attribute of the will, while 'Ephraim' means the truth present there, since truth exists as an attribute of the understanding. One reads in other places about the birth of two sons. Good is meant by one, truth by the other, as for instance with Esau and Jacob. 'Esau' means good, see 3302, 3322, 3494, 3504, 3576, 3599, while 'Jacob' means truth, 3305, 3509, 3525, 3546, 3576. The like is meant by Judah's two sons by Tamar, Perez and Zerah, 4927-4929; and the same applies here in the case of Manasseh and Ephraim. The birth of these is dealt with here because the subject in what went immediately before this was the influx of the celestial of the spiritual into the natural and the consequent rebirth of it, which is effected solely by means of good and truth.

2304. Many may suppose that young children stay as young children in the next life, and are as young children among the angels. Those who do not know what an angel is may have become confirmed in that notion by the images seen here and there in places of worship, and in other places where young children are portrayed to represent angels. But in fact it is not at all as they suppose. What makes an angel is intelligence and wisdom, and as long as young children do not possess these, though they do indeed reside with angels, they themselves are not angels. But as soon as they have become intelligent and wise, they now become angels for the first time. Indeed what has amazed me, they no longer appear as young children but as adults, for their disposition is no longer that of a young child but of a more adult angelic disposition. Such is the effect produced by intelligence and wisdom, for it may be clear to anyone that it is understanding and judgement, and the life from these, which cause a person to seem to himself and to others to be an adult. I have not only been told by angels that this is so but also have spoken to a certain person who had died as a small child and yet after that appeared as an adult. The same also spoke to his brother who had died when an adult; and he did so out of so much mutual brotherly love that his brother who could not help weeping declared that he perceived nothing else than that this was love itself which was speaking. There are other examples besides this which there is no need to mention.