8858. A person's whole character is determined by the nature of whatever dominates his life; this is what marks him off from others. His heaven is formed in accordance with it if he is good, or his hell if he is bad. For it constitutes his true will and so the true being of his life, which is unchangeable after death. From all this one may see what the life is like in a person who has been regenerated, and what it is like in one who has not been regenerated.

9287. 'You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread' means worship and thanksgiving on account of purification from falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'the feast' as worship of the Lord and thanksgiving on account of deliverance from damnation, dealt with immediately above in 9286; and from the meaning of 'unleavened bread' as purification from falsities, for 'yeast' means falsity, 7906, 8051, so that what has been made without yeast or is 'unleavened' means good purified from falsities, 2342, 8058. Regarding this feast, which was also called the Passover, see below in 9292, 9294.

4510. 'And their women' means charity. This is clear from the meaning of the words for 'woman' and 'wife' (femina, mulier, uxor) as affections for truth and affections for good. Affections for truth are meant when the partner is mentioned or when the expression 'husband' is used, affections for good when the partner is not mentioned or when the term 'man' is used, 915, 1468, 2517, 3236. At present affections for good are meant because the women belonged to the men of the city, who meant truths, 4478 (end), and because the city is everywhere called the city of Shechem, who represented the truth of the Church among the Ancients, 4454. The affection for spiritual good is the same as charity, and this is why 'women' here means charity.