2841. 'The angel of Jehovah called to Abraham a second time out of heaven' means a still greater comfort received by the Lord [from the Divine]. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling out of heaven' as giving comfort to, and from the meaning of 'the angel of Jehovah' as the Lord's Divine itself, dealt with above in 2821, where the same words occur. The expression a second time is used here because a greater comfort is received. The comfort received first is contained in verses 12-14, where Divine providence is the subject, that comfort being that those members of the human race who are called spiritual would be adopted. The second comfort, which is greater, is contained in the verses which follow below - in verses 17-18, and those that follow to the end of the chapter - the comfort in this case being that those spiritual ones would be multiplied as the stars of the heavens and as the sand on the seashore, and that not only those people would be saved but also all in whom goodness may be found. These things were the objects of the Lord's love, and therefore such things brought Him comfort. No one finds any comfort except in the things which are the objects of his love.

793. From this point onwards to the end of the present chapter the subject is the people before the Flood who perished. This becomes clear from the details in the description given. People who possess the internal sense can recognize instantly, and indeed from any single word, what the subject is, better still from the combination of many. When the subject changes different words instantly appear, or else the same words combined differently. The reason is that some words are peculiar to spiritual matters, others peculiar to celestial; or what amounts to the same, some are peculiar to things of the understanding, others to those of the will. For example, 'desolation' is a word used of spiritual things, 'vastation' of celestial; 'city' is used of spiritual, 'mountain' of celestial; and so on. The same applies to combinations of words. And what is bound to amaze everybody, the difference in Hebrew is frequently just a matter of vocalization. In what belongs to the class of spiritual words the first three vowels [of the alphabet] are normally prominent, but in the case of what is celestial the last two. The fact that these verses contain a different subject is also discernible from the repetition discussed already. That is to say, the statement, 'And the waters grew stronger and stronger over the earth', is a repetition of what has already been stated in the previous verse. It is also discernible from everything that follows.