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550. And in those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it.- That this signifies, that in such case they will desire to destroy the faculty of understanding truth, but that still they cannot, is evident from the signification of in those days, as denoting at that time, namely, when the man of the church from internal becomes external, or from rational becomes sensual; and from the signification of seeking death, as denoting a desire to destroy the faculty of understanding truth, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of not finding it, as denoting not to be able to destroy. That by seeking death is here signified a desire to destroy the faculty of understanding truth, is clear from what precedes, because it follows as a consequence; for it was said, that the locusts should hurt the men only who had not the seal of God on their foreheads, and afterwards, that to them it was given that they should not kill them, but should torment them, which signifies that they should injure only the understanding of truth and the perception of good with those who are not in truths from good from the Lord, but that still they should not deprive them of the faculty of understanding truth, and perceiving good; see above (n. 546, 547). It therefore follows, that by the death which they seek, and desire, is signified the privation of the faculty of understanding truth and perceiving good, and to destroy these would be to destroy that life which is properly human; for in such case a man would be no longer a man, but a beast, as said above; and hence it is evident, that the privation of that life is what is signified here by death. They desire to destroy the two faculties of that life which is truly human, because sensual men, from the persuasion concerning the falsities of evil in which they are, do not desire to understand truth and perceive good, for they are delighted with their own falsities of evil, and hence with thinking from the delight of falsity, and with willing from the delight of evil, wherefore they avert themselves from good and truth, because these are the opposites; some are sad because of them, some feel disgust at them, and some reject them with anger, every one according to the quantity and quality of the falsity of which he is persuaded. In a word, such a sensual man does not admit rational considerations from the understanding against the falsities of evil in which he is, and therefore he does not desire to understand and to become rational, although he has the power of becoming so, because he is a man. This, therefore, is the signification of "they shall seek death, and shall not find it."
550. Verse 6. And in those days shall the men seek death, and shall not find it, signifies that they then wish to destroy the faculty to understand truth, but still are not able. This is evident from the signification of "in those days," as being then, namely, when the man of the church from internal becomes external, or from rational becomes sensual; also from the signification of "to seek death," as being a wish to destroy the faculty to understand truth (of which presently); also from the signification of "not to find it," as being not to be able to destroy. That "to seek death" here signifies a wish to destroy the faculty to understand truth, is evident from what precedes, because it is consequent upon it; for it was said that "the locusts should hurt the men only that have not the seal of God on their foreheads," and afterwards, that "it was given to them that they should not kill them, but that they should torment them," which signifies that they should do harm to the understanding of truth and the perception of good in those only who are not in truths from good from the Lord, but yet that these should not be deprived of the faculty to understand truth and perceive good (as may be seen above, n. 546, 547). From this it now follows, that the "death" which they seek and which they desire signifies the deprivation of the faculty to understand truth and perceive good, for the destruction of these is the destruction of the life properly human; for man would then be no longer a man but a beast, as has been said above; evidently then it is the loss of this life that is signified by "death." Such wish to destroy the two faculties of the truly human life, because sensual men, from the persuasion of the falsities of evil in which they are, have no wish to understand truth or perceive good, for they find delight in their falsities of evil, and thus in thinking from the enjoyment of falsity, and willing from the enjoyment of evil, and consequently they turn themselves away from truth and good because these are the opposites; by these some are made sad, some are made sick, and some reject them with anger, each according to the quality and amount of falsity of which he has persuaded himself; in a word, 1such a sensual man does not admit reasons from the understanding against the falsities of evil in which he is, thus he has no wish to understand and become rational, although he can become so because he is a man. This, therefore, is what is signified by "they shall seek death and shall not find it."
Footnotes:
1. Latin has "persuaded himself from the Word."
550. [Vers. 6.] "Et in diebus illis quaerent homines mortem et non invenient illam." - Quod significet quod tunc perdere velint facultatem intelligendi verum, sed quod usque non possint, constat ex significatione "in diebus illis", quod sit tunc, nempe cum homo ecclesiae ab interno factus sit externus, seu a rationali sensualis; ex significatione "quaerere mortem", quod sit velle perdere facultatem intelligendi verum (de qua sequitur); et ex significatione "non invenire illam", quod sit non posse perdere. Quod per "quaerere mortem", hic significetur velle perdere facultatem intelligendi verum, patet a praecedentibus, quia est consequens; dictum enim est quod "locustae laederent homines solos quicunque non haberent sigillum Dei super frontibus suis", et dein quod "datum illis sit ut non occiderent illos, sed cruciarent", per quae significatur quod modo damno afficerent intellectum veri et perceptionem boni apud illos qui non in veris ex bono a Domino sunt; at quod usque non deprivarentur facultate intelligendi verum et percipiendi bonum, videatur supra (n. 546, 547): inde nunc sequitur quod per "mortem" quam quaerent, et quam cupient, significetur privatio facultatis intelligendi verum et percipiendi bonum; nam hanc et illam perdere, est vitam proprie humanam, sic enim homo non amplius homo est, sed bestia, ut supra dictum est; inde patet quod privatio illius vitae sit quae per "mortem" hic significatur. Quod velint perdere binas facultates vitae vere humanae, est quia sensuales homines, ex persuasione de falsis mali in quibus sunt, non volunt intelligere verum et percipere bonum; delectantur enim suis falsis mali, et inde ex jucundo falsi cogitare, et ex jucundo mali velle; quare ad verum et ad bonum, quia opposita sunt, se avertunt; quidam contristantur, quidam ad illa nauseant, et quidam illa rejiciunt cum ira, quisque secundum quale et quantum falsi quod sibi persuasit: 1
verbo, sensualis homo talis non admittit rationes ex intellectu contra falsa mali in quibus est, ita non vult intelligere et rationalis fieri, tametsi potest fieri, quia est homo. Hoc itaque est quod significatur per quod "quaerent mortem et non invenient illam."
Footnotes:
1. The editors made a correction or note here.