41. Anything that is man's own has no life in it; and when depicted visually it looks like something hard as a bone and black. But anything that comes from the Lord does contain life. It has that which is spiritual and celestial within it, and when depicted visually it looks human and alive. It is perhaps incredible, but nevertheless absolutely true, that every expression, every idea, and every least thought of an angelic spirit is alive. In even the most detailed areas of his thought there is an affection that comes from the Lord, who is life itself. Consequently all that derives from the Lord has life within it, for it contains faith in Him, and is here meant by 'a living creature'. It then has the outward appearance of a body, meant here by that which is moving, or creeping. To man these matters remain arcana, but since the subject here is the living and moving creature, they ought at least to be mentioned here.

6683. 'And the midwives said to Pharaoh' means a discernment regarding that true factual knowledge in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' in the historical narratives of the Word as a discernment, dealt with often; from the meaning of 'the midwives' as true factual knowledge in the natural, dealt with just above in 6681; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as false factual knowledge in general, also dealt with above, in 6679, 6681.