8356.“水就变甜了”表这些真理由此变得令人愉快。这从“甜”和“水”的含义清楚可知：“甜”是指愉快，因为“甜”在灵义上表示生活的甜蜜，这甜蜜和愉快是一回事；“水”是指真理，如刚才所述（8355节）。此处的情形是这样：人对真理的情感来自良善；因为良善和真理如在一个婚姻中那样结合在一起，因此，一方爱另一方，如同配偶爱配偶。这也解释了为何在圣言中，良善与真理的结合被比作一个“婚姻”，由该婚姻所生的真理与良善被称作“儿女”。由此可见，属于对真理的情感的快乐，唯独追溯到良善。这一点从经历也明显看出来，因为过着良善生活，也就是爱神爱邻的人也爱信之真理。正因如此，只要良善流入并被接受，真理就显得令人愉快。一旦良善停止流入，也就是邪恶开始占主导地位，并阻止良善的流注时，真理就立刻被感觉为不快乐；因为真理和邪恶相互排斥、彼此厌恶。由此可见为何经上吩咐要把一块木头丢在苦水里；又为何这些水因着被丢进来的木头而变甜。神永远不会吩咐采取这种行动，除非它表示这类事。因为神无需木头就能把这些水变甜。
Potts(1905-1910) 8356
8356. And the waters were made sweet. That this signifies that from this truths were made delightful, is evident from the signification of "sweet," as being what is delightful, for in the spiritual sense "sweet" denotes the sweetness of life, which is one with delight; and from the signification of "waters," as being truths (of which just above, n. 8355). The case herein is thus. That a man is affected with truth, is from good; for good and truth have been conjoined as in a marriage, consequently the one loves the other as consort loves consort. From this also the conjunction of good and of truth is compared in the Word to a "marriage," and the truths and goods which are born from it are called "sons and daughters." From all this it can be seen that the delight of the affection of truth has its cause in no other source than good. This is also evident from experience, for they who are in the good of life, that is, who love God and the neighbor, these also love the truths of faith. Hence it is that so long as good flows in and is received, so long truth appears to be delightful; but as soon as good does not flow in, that is, as soon as evil begins to predominate, and to hold off the influx of good, there is at once felt a want of delight in truth; for truth and evil mutually reject and are averse to each other. From all this it can now be seen why it was commanded that a piece of wood should be cast into the bitter waters; and also why those waters were made sweet by virtue of the piece of wood that was cast into them. These things would never have been commanded by the Divine unless they had signified such things; for the Divine could have rendered those waters sweet without a piece of wood as the means.
Elliott(1983-1999) 8356
8356. 'And the waters became sweet' means that as a result the truths were made pleasant. This is clear from the meaning of 'sweet' as pleasant, for 'sweet' in the spiritual sense means sweetness of life, which is the same thing as pleasantness; and from the meaning of 'the waters' as truths, dealt with immediately above in 8355. The situation here is that a person's feeling of affection for truth comes from good. For goodness and truth have been joined together as if in marriage, and therefore one loves the other in the way that married partner loves married partner. This also explains why in the Word, when goodness and truth are joined together, they are likened to a marriage, and why the truths and forms of good born from that marriage are called sons and daughters. From this it becomes clear that the pleasantness belonging to the affection for truth traces its origin back solely to good. Experience too demonstrates this; for people who lead a good life, that is, who love God and their neighbour, also love the truths of faith. That being so, as long as good is flowing in and being received, truth appears pleasant. But as soon as good ceases to flow in, that is, as soon as evil begins to predominate and the inflow of good to be held back, truth is immediately sensed to be unpleasant; for truth and evil repel and loathe each other. From all this one may now see why the order was given to throw wood into the bitter waters, and also why the waters were made sweet by the wood that had been thrown into them. God would never have commanded such an action to be taken if those kinds of things had not been meant by it. For God could have rendered those waters sweet without the use of wood.
Latin(1748-1756) 8356
8356. `Et dulces factae aquae': quod significet quod inde vera jucunda facta, constat ex significatione `dulcis' quod sit jucundum, nam `dulce' in spirituali sensu est dulce vitae, quod unum est cum jucundo; et ex significatione `aquarum' quod sint vera, de qua mox supra n. 8355. Cum hoc ita se habet: quod homo afficiatur vero est ex bono, nam {1}bonum et verum conjuncta sunt sicut conjugio, {2}proinde amat unum alterum sicut conjux conjugem, inde quoque conjunctio boni et veri comparatur in Verbo conjugio, (c)ac vera (c)et bona quae inde nascuntur vocantur filii et filiae; ex his constare potest quod jucundum (x)affectionis veri non aliunde causam ducat quam a bono; {3}hoc etiam ab experientia patet; qui enim in bono vitae sunt, hoc est, qui amant Deum et proximum, illi etiam amant vera fidei; inde est quod quamdiu bonum influit et recipitur, tamdiu verum {4}appareat jucundum; sed ut primum bonum non influit, hoc est, ut primum malum praedominari {5}et influxum boni arcere incipit, ilico pro vero sentitur injucundum, nam verum et malum se mutuo rejiciunt et aversantur. Ex his nunc constare potest cur jussum {3}ut in aquas amaras projiceretur lignum, tum {6}cur aquae illae ex injecto ligno dulces factae {7}sunt; haec nequaquam a Divino mandata fuissent nisi talia significavissent, nam Divinum potuit absque ligno medio aquas illas dulces reddere. @1 verum et bonum$ @2 ita$ @3 quod$ @4 apparet$ @5 aut$ @6 unde$ @7 sint$