9176. 'Its owner not being with it' means if the good of that truth does not exist along with the general good. This is clear from the meaning of 'owner' as good, dealt with in 9167; and from the meaning of 'not being with it' as not existing along with the general good. The implications of this are made clear by what has been shown above in 9154 regarding truths in good, namely that all truths in general are arranged into order under good. But in the present verse borrowed truths are the subject, that is, truths received from another, see 9174. These truths are either accompanied or not accompanied by their own good. Those accompanied by their own good are truths which stir a person's affections when he hears them, whereas those unaccompanied do not stir his affections then. Truths accompanied by their own good are meant by borrowed things that are broken or die, when the owner is with them; but truths unaccompanied by their own good are meant by borrowed things that are broken or die, when the owner is not with them.

[2] It is indeed possible to provide a description of these truths, but it will be unintelligible except to those who are in the light of heaven coming from the Lord. All others who see things solely in the light of the world, that is, in natural illumination, will find those things incomprehensible, because such people are in thick darkness so far as heavenly realities are concerned. And if they did seem to themselves to comprehend them, they would do so with the help of illusions and material ideas which do more to obscure things and put them in the shade than to cast light on them. It is enough to know simply that the truths of faith joined to their own good or not joined to it are the subject. Truths not joined to it are those that are learned from others but sink in no further than the memory, where they remain as factual knowledge. There is no perception of them as there is of the truths arranged in general under good. From all this one can know to a small extent what those things are like in which angelic wisdom consists; for angels not only comprehend the nature of them but also countless details about them. Thus they comprehend things which man does not even know to exist, let alone know anything about. For angels dwell in the light of heaven, and the light of heaven holds within it an infinite number of things, since the light of heaven is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord.

2586. 'For Jehovah had completely closed every womb of Abimelech's house' means sterility, that is to say, of doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'completely closing the womb' as preventing conception itself, and from the meaning of 'Abimelech's house' as the good that belongs to the doctrine of faith, from which it is evident that sterility is meant. The reason why in this chapter the name 'God' is used up to this point, and 'Jehovah' for the first time now, is that 'God' is used when truth is the subject but 'Jehovah' when good is the subject. Doctrine is conceived wholly from good as the father, but birth is given to it through truth as the mother, as stated several times already. Here it is the conception of it that is dealt with, and because it is conceived from good the name 'Jehovah' is used; but above it is the birth of it that is dealt with, and because it is given birth through truth the name 'God' is used, as in the previous verse, 'God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his women servants, and they gave birth'.

[2] Similarly in other places in the Word where conception is referred to, as in Isaiah,

Jehovah has called me from the womb. Jehovah who formed me from the womb has said.... I will at that time be precious to Jehovah, and my God will be my strength. Isaiah 49:1, 5.

'Strength' has reference to truth and therefore 'God' is used. In the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah, your Maker, and He who formed you from the womb. Isaiah 44:2, 24.

And elsewhere. For the same reason also the phrase 'Abimelech's house' is used, which means the good that belongs to the doctrine of faith. As regards 'a house' meaning good, see 2048, 2233, and 'Abimelech' the doctrine of faith, 2509, 2510. The statements that 'they gave birth' and 'the wombs of Abimelech's house were closed on account of Sarah', it is evident, hold a Divine arcanum within them, but this arcanum cannot possibly be disclosed except by means of the internal sense.