202、上古之人，也就是属天人具有这种性质：他们不仅被禁止“吃知识树”，也就是从感官事物和记忆知识去学习属于信的事物，甚至不被允许触碰那树，也就是基于感官事物和记忆知识去思想信的任何事物，免得他们从属天的生命滑落到属灵的生命，乃至不断滑落。这也是属天天使的生活，其中更内在的属天天使甚至不允许提及信，也不允许提及任何具有属灵品质，而非属天品质的东西。如果其他人提到信，他们以一种唯独他们自己知道的改变形式而感知为爱，而非感知为信；因此，他们认为凡与信有关之物都源于爱和仁。他们更不能忍受去听关于信的任何推理，最不能忍受去听关于信的任何记忆知识。这是因为他们通过爱而从主获得对良善与真理的感知；凭借这种感知，他们立刻知道一件事是不是这样。因此，当听见关于信的任何讨论时，他们只回答这是真的，或这不是真的，因为他们从主感知到这一点。这就是主在马太福音所说这句话的意思：
你们的话，是就是是，不是就是不是；若再多说，就是出于邪恶。（马太福音5:37）
创世记的这一节经文说，他们甚至不可以摸知识树的果子，因为他们若摸了，就会陷入邪恶，也就是说，他们会因此死亡。尽管如此，属天天使和其他天使一样，也彼此谈论各种话题，不过是以属天的语言来谈论的；属天的语言是从爱形成的，并源于爱，比属灵天使的语言更难以形容。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]202. The earliest church, which was a heavenly person, was such that it did not eat from the tree of knowledge; it was not from sense impressions and facts that people learned what belongs to faith. In fact they were not allowed even to touch that tree; they were not allowed even to think about any matter of faith on the basis of sense impressions or facts. Had they done so, they would have slipped from a heavenly life into a spiritual life and lower.
Heavenly angels live this same way. Those who are more profoundly heavenly do not even allow faith to be mentioned, nor anything that has a spiritual [rather than heavenly] quality. (If others do mention faith, in its place they perceive love, in an altered form known to themselves alone; whatever has to do with faith they see as stemming from love and goodwill.) They have a still harder time listening to a logical treatment of faith, and least of all can they stand to hear a coldly factual treatment. This is because the Lord gives them a perception through love of what is good and true. From perception they recognize immediately whether a thing is so or not. Consequently when they hear any discussion of faith, they have no other response than "That's true" or "That's not true," because they perceive so from the Lord. Here lies the meaning of the Lord's words in Matthew:
Your conversation shall be "Yes, yes," "No, no." Anything beyond these comes from evil. (Matthew 5:37)
Such is the meaning of the prohibition on even touching the fruit of the tree of knowledge, since these humans would have fallen prey to evil if they had — which is to say they would have died from it.
Heavenly angels, by the way, discuss all kinds of things, just as others do, but their speech, being formed and derived from love, is heavenly. It is harder to describe than the speech of spiritual angels.
Potts(1905-1910) 202
202. The Most Ancient Church, which was a celestial man, was of such a character as not only to abstain from "eating of the tree of knowledge" that is, from learning what belongs to faith from sensuous things and memory-knowledges [scientifica], but was not even allowed to touch that tree, that is, to think of anything that is a matter of faith from sensuous things and memory-knowledges, lest they should sink down from celestial life into spiritual life, and so on downward. Such also is the life of the celestial angels, the more interiorly celestial of whom do not even suffer faith to be named, nor anything whatever that partakes of what is spiritual; and if it is spoken of by others, instead of faith they have a perception of love, with a difference known only to themselves; thus whatever is of faith they derive from love and charity. Still less can they endure listening to any reasoning about faith, and least of all to anything of memory-knowledge [scientificum] respecting it; for, through love, they have a perception from the Lord of what is good and true; and from this perception they know instantly whether a thing is so, or is not so. Therefore when anything is said about faith, they answer simply that it is so, or that it is not so, because they perceive it from the Lord. This is what is signified by the Lord's words in Matthew:
Let your communication be Yea, yea; nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matt. 5:37). This then is what was meant by their not being allowed to touch the fruit of the tree of knowledge; for if they touched it, they would be in evil, that is, they would in consequence "die." Nevertheless the celestial angels converse together on various subjects like the other angels, but in a celestial language, which is formed and derived from love, and is more ineffable than that of the spiritual angels.
Elliott(1983-1999) 202
202. The Most Ancient Church, which was celestial man, was not only forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge, that is, to learn that which comprised faith from sensory evidence and from facts; it was not even allowed 'to touch that tree', that is, even to think from sensory evidence and from facts about anything that was a matter of faith. This was to prevent them slumping from celestial to spiritual life, and in this way going down further still. The life of celestial angels is also the same. Those of them who are more interiorly celestial do not even allow faith to be mentioned or anything whatever which has a spiritual origin. If others mention it they perceive love instead of faith, with a difference known only to themselves. Thus anything that is a matter of faith they derive from love and charity. Still less do they allow themselves to listen to anything of a rational nature concerning faith, and least of all to anything of a factual nature; for they possess from the Lord by way of love a perception of what good and truth are. From perception they know instantly whether something is so or not so. Consequently when any statement about faith is made their response is either That is so, or That is not so, for they are perceiving from the Lord. This is what the Lord's words mean in Matthew, Let your words be, YES, YES, NO, NO; anything beyond this is from evil.a Matt 5:37. The present verse in Genesis says that they were not allowed even to touch the fruit of the tree of knowledge, for if they did touch it, they would be subject to evil, that is, they would consequently die. All the same, celestial angels, like others, discuss various matters among themselves, but they do so in celestial language that is formed by, and derived from, love, a language that is more indescribable than the language of spiritual angels.
Latin(1748-1756) 202
202. Antiquissima Ecclesia, quae caelestis homo, talis erat ut non solum 'non comederet de arbore scientiae,' hoc est, disceret e sensualibus et scientificis quid fidei, sed ne quidem licebat eis 'tangere istam arborem,' hoc est, cogitare ex sensualibus et scientificis aliqui quod esset fidei, ne a vita caelesti in vitam spiritualem, et sic porro, delaberentur. Talis quoque est vita angelorum caelestium; qui eorum intimus caelestes sunt, ne quidem admittunt ut nominetur fides aut quicquid aliquid a spirituali trahit; sique nominatur ab aliis, pro fide percipiunt amorem cum differentia iis solum cognita; ita quicquid est fidei, derivant ab amore et charitate; minus adhuc audire sustinent aliquid rationale et minime aliquid scientificum de fide; nam perceptionem habent a Domino per amorem quid bonum et verum; ex perceptione norunt ilico an ita sit vel non ita sit; quare cum de fide dicitur quid, non aliud respondent quam quod ita sit vel non ita sit, quia a Domino percipiunt: hoc est quod significant verba Domini apud Matthaeum, Erit sermo vester, Etiam etiam, Non non; quod ultra haec est, ex malo est, v 37;hoc nunc est quod ne quidem tangere eis licuerit fructum arboris scientiae; nam si tangerent, in malo essent, seu inde morerentur. Praeterea, angeli caelestes inter se loquuntur sicut alii de variis, sed loquela caelesti, formata et derivata ex amore, quae ineffabilior est quam loquela angelorum spiritualium.