3623. 'What would life hold for me?' means, and so there would not be any conjunction. This is clear from the meaning of 'life' as conjunction by means of truths and goods. For when it was not possible for any truth from a common stem or genuine source to be joined to natural truth, there could not be any alliance of the natural to the truth of the rational, in which case it seemed to the rational as though its own life were no life, 3493, 3620. This is why here 'what would life hold for me?' means, and so there would not be any conjunction. Here and in other places the word 'life' in the original language is plural, and the reason for this is that in man there are two powers of life. The first is called the understanding and is the receptacle of truth, the second is called the will and is the receptacle of good. These two forms or powers of life make one when the understanding is rooted in the will, or what amounts to the same, when truth is grounded in good. This explains why in Hebrew the noun 'life' is sometimes singular, sometimes plural. The plural form of that noun is used in all the following places, Jehovah God formed the man, dust from the ground; and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7. Jehovah God caused to spring up out of the ground every tree desirable to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the middle of the garden. Genesis 2:9. Behold, I am bringing a flood of waters over the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the spirit of life. Genesis 6:17.

They went in to Noah into the ark, two by two from all flesh in which there is the spirit of life. Genesis 7:15 (in 780).

Everything which had the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils breathed its last. Genesis 7:12.

In David,

I believe [I am going] to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living. Psalms 27:13.

In the same author,

Who is the man who desires life, who loves [many] days, that he may see good? Psalms 34:12

In the same author,

With You, O Jehovah, is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light. Psalms 36:9.

In Malachi,

My covenant with Levi was [a covenant] of life and peace. Malachi 2:5.

In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. Jeremiah 21:8.

In Moses,

To love Jehovah your God, to obey His voice, and to cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land. Deuteronomy 30:20.

In the same author,

It is not an empty word from you; for it is your life, and through this word you will prolong your days in the land. Deuteronomy 32:47.

And in other places too the plural form of the noun 'life' is used in the original language because, as has been stated, there are two kinds of life which yet make one. It is similar with the word 'heavens' in the Hebrew language, in that the heavens are many and yet make one, or like the expression 'waters' above and below, in Genesis 1:7-9 , by which spiritual things in the rational and in the natural are meant which ought to be one through being joined together. As for the plural form of 'life', when this is used both the life of the will and that of the understanding are meant, and therefore both the life of good and that of truth are meant. For man's life consists in nothing else than good and truth which hold life from the Lord within them. Devoid of good and truth, and of the life which these hold within them, no one is human. For devoid of these no one would ever have been able to will or to think anything. Everything that a person wills originates in good or in that which is not good, and everything he thinks originates in truth or in that which is not truth. Consequently man possesses two kinds of life and these make one when his thinking flows from his willing, that is, when truth which is the truth of faith flows from good which is the good of love.

5807. 'And his father loves him' means that this truth exists joined to spiritual good from the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'love' as a joining together, dealt with below; from the representation of Israel, who here is the one who 'loves him', as spiritual good from the natural, dealt with in 4286, 4598; and from the representation of Benjamin, who is the one whom 'his father loves', as new truth, dealt with above in 5804, 5806. The existence of this truth joined to that good is what is meant by 'his father loves him'; and to this truth that good cannot fail to be joined since such truth has its origin in that good. This truth and good exist joined together like father and son, and also like the mental powers of will and understanding since all good has a place in the will and all truth in the understanding. When the will wills what is good this good is implanted in the understanding, where it is given a specific form fashioned according to the essential nature of that good. This form is truth; and as this new truth is born in that manner one can see that it cannot fail to be joined to that good.

[2] As regards love, that it is a joining together, it should be recognized that love is a spiritual joining since it is a joining together of two people's minds, that is, of their thought and will. From this it is evident that regarded essentially love is something purely spiritual, the natural counterpart of which is the delight that comes with companionship and that kind of togetherness. Essentially love is the harmony that results from changes of state and from variations in the forms or substances from which the human mind is built. If that harmony originates in the heavenly form it is heavenly love. From this one may see that love cannot have its origin in anything other than genuine Divine love, which is received from the Lord. This means that love is the Divine flowing into forms and so arranging them that their changes of state and variations may exist in the harmony of heaven.

[3] But loves contrary to this - self-love and love of the world - are not joinings together but separations. They do, it is true, appear to be joinings together; but this is due to one person considering another to be one with him as long as he co-operates with him in making gain, acquiring important positions, or in taking revenge on and persecuting those who oppose him. But as soon as one ceases to show the other person favour, they separate. Heavenly love is different. This is totally averse to doing good to another for selfish reasons; rather it does it for the sake of the good which resides with that other person and which he receives from the Lord, consequently for the sake of the Lord Himself, the Source of that good.