Verses 1-5. The general subject of the whole chapter is the glorification of the Lord, and, at the same time, the regeneration of man.

Verse 6. And first, with regard to the Lord, there is the putting off of the Human from the mother, and with regard to man purification from actual evil by repentance

Verses 7-13. Then it follows that there is the reception of Divine Truths in successive order, and the conjunction of truth with good giving wisdom and enlightenment

Verses 14-17. Also the natural affections must be purified, in order that they may be brought into harmony with the higher affections

Verses 18-21. Moreover, the spiritual affections must be wholly consecrated to the Lord, and thus the good of innocence must be realized internally as well as externally

Verses 22-30. And now, therefore, the regenerated man is fully inaugurated into the realization of good, and thus into a life of good acting by truth, and consequently into the active life of charity followed by the reciprocal conjunction of truth with good

Verses 31-36. After which there is the full and perpetual appropriation of good without any admixture of evil; and thus is accomplished the glorification of the Lord and the regeneration of man, first by complete separation from all evil, and secondly by the reception of all good and truth embodied in perfect obedience, according to the laws of Divine Order by influx from the Lord and by co-operation on the part of man.

2500. 'Abraham travelled from there towards the land of the south' means the Lord's advances in goods and truths of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'travelling' as advancing, dealt with in 1457, and from the meaning of 'the land of the south' as the good and truth of faith, dealt with in 1458. Previously in Chapter 12 it was said of Abraham when entering Egypt that 'he travelled, going on and travelling towards the south', verses 9-10, which meant in the internal sense that the Lord, when a boy, made advances into goods and truths as regards knowledge consisting of cognitions, 1456, 1459. Now in the present chapter it is said that he travelled towards the land of the south, which means further and more interior advances, made this time into goods and truths as regards the doctrine of faith. This is why the expression 'the land of the south' is used here, for 'land' in its proper sense means the Church, for whose sake doctrine exists, 566, 662, 1066, 2117, 2118.

[2] As regards the Lord's instruction in general, the nature of it is quite plain from the internal sense of this chapter. From that sense it is plain that He was taught through a whole succession of revelations and so through Divine perceptions and thoughts from Himself, that is, from His Divine. These perceptions and thoughts He implanted in Divine intelligence and wisdom, and continued to do so until the perfect union of His Human and His Divine had been effected. This way of becoming wise is not at all open to anyone else, for it sprang from the Divine itself, which was His inmost, being the Father's, from whom He had been conceived. Thus it sprang from the Divine Love itself which the Lord alone possessed and which constituted His desire to save the entire human race.

[3] It is an arcanum as yet known by scarcely anyone that love itself holds wisdom and intelligence within it, but that the nature of these is determined by that of the love. The reason wisdom and intelligence exist within love is that all influx takes place into the love, or what amounts to the same, into the good, and so into the life itself of man. This is the source of the wisdom and intelligence possessed by angels, which are beyond description. It is the source also of the wisdom and intelligence possessed by men who are governed by love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. Although during their lifetime the latter do not discern at all the presence with them of such wisdom and intelligence, they nevertheless enter into these after death for the reason that they exist within love itself and within charity itself, see 2494. As for the Lord's love however, this was infinitely higher than the love which exists in angels, for it was Divine Love itself, and therefore He had within Himself the acme of all wisdom and intelligence. Yet into the possession of this, because He was born a human being (homo) and advanced as a human being does according to Divine order, He entered by successive degrees so that He might in that way unite His Human to the Divine and make it Divine, doing so by His own power.