3030. 'Perhaps the woman is not willing to go after me to this land' means doubt in the natural man as to whether that affection was separable. This is clear from the meaning of 'the woman' as truth, here truth from the natural, that was to be joined to the Divine good of the Rational, though as all joining together is effected by means of affection, as stated above in 3024, 'the women' accordingly means the affection for that truth; and from the meaning of 'going after me', or following, 'to this land' as being separated from the natural and joined to the Rational, for 'land' here, as above in 3026, means the good of love which belongs to the Rational. The fact that doubt is meant may be seen from the remark 'perhaps she is not willing to'. From what has been stated above one may see what is embodied in these words and those that follow to verse 8, and beyond that. Yet to make them even more intelligible let a little more be stated here.

[2] The genuine rational derives its being from good but its manifestation from truth. Good flows in by an internal route, but truth by an external route. In this manner good joins itself in the rational to truth and causes it to be the rational. Unless good is joined there to truth it is not the rational, even though it may seem to be because of the person's ability to reason, 1944. This is the normal way in which the rational is formed with man.

[3] Now because the Lord was born like any other, and was willing to be taught like any other, He was also willing in a like manner to make His Rational Divine, that is to say, to make it Divine as regards good through influx from His Divine by the internal route, and as regards truth through influx by the external route. The Rational was therefore so formed as regards good that it was in a state ready to receive truth. (That forming is meant by the opening words of this chapter, 'Abraham, being old, was advanced in years, and Jehovah blessed Abraham in all things', namely, when the state was reached for the Lord's Human to become Divine, and all things had been re-arranged by the Lord into Divine order, see 3016, 3017.) And there now follows the consideration that truth was to be joined to the good of the Rational. And this, as has been stated, was effected in the normal way, that is, by means of facts and cognitions summoned from the natural man.

[4] The good itself of the rational which is formed by the internal route is the ground itself, while truth is the seed that is to be sown in the ground. The genuine rational is born in no other way. So that the Rational might be formed in the same way in the Lord and be made Divine by His own power, the Lord came into the world and was willing to be born like any other. Otherwise he could have assumed a human presence without being born at all as He had done on many occasions in ancient times when He had appeared to men. These are the considerations contained in this chapter, namely the following: The way in which truth was summoned from the natural man to be joined to the good of the rational; and - since the good there was Divine - the truth there was to become Divine too. To man, especially to one who does not know that the rational is anything distinct and separate from the natural and who therefore does not know that the rational is formed by consecutive stages, by means of cognitions, all of this is so utterly obscure as to be unintelligible to him. But to those who do know something about the rational and the natural man, and have some enlightenment, such considerations are among those that are quite easy to grasp. And angels see them plainly as if in broad daylight. To gain some idea of them, see the following points that have been stated and shown already:

As to truth the rational is formed through influx into knowledge and cognitions, 1495, 1563, 1900, 1964.

It is not born from knowledge and cognitions but from the affection for these, 1895, 1900.

Knowledge and cognitions are merely vessels for good, 1469, 1496.

Empty facts have to be destroyed, 1489, 1492, 1499, 1500.

In the rational the affection for good is present as the soul within the affection for truth, 2072.

What the affection for rational truth and for factual truth are, 2503.

By means of cognitions the external man is joined to the internal man, that is, the rational man to the natural man, when cognitions are implanted in the celestial things of love and charity, 1450, 1451, 1453, 1616.

1496. 'I might have taken her to be my wife (mulier)' means that this being so He could have done violence to the truth that was to be joined to what is celestial. This becomes clear from what has just been stated as well as from what was stated above at verse 13. As to truth being joined to that which is celestial, the situation is that regarded in itself truth learned in childhood is nothing else than a vessel adapted for that which is celestial to be introduced into it. By itself truth has no life except from the celestial flowing in. The celestial consists in love and charity, and all truth exists from these; and because all truth exists from these it is nothing else than a kind of vessel. What is more, truths themselves are plainly manifested as such in the next life, for there it is not the truths themselves that are seen but the life they have within them, that is, the celestial things within them that consist of love and charity. It is from these that truths are made celestial and are called celestial truths. From this it may now become clear what intellectual truth is, and also that intellectual truth opened a way to celestial things residing with the Lord. Factual truth is one thing, rational truth another, and intellectual truth yet another. They follow on consecutively. Factual truth is a matter of knowledge; rational truth is factual truth confirmed by reason; while intellectual truth is joined to an internal perception that the thing is so. This kind of truth resided with the Lord in childhood, and with Him opened the way to celestial things.