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551. And shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.- That this signifies, that they desire to destroy the faculty of perceiving the good which pertains to spiritual life, but in vain, is evident from the signification of dying, which here denotes to destroy the faculty of perceiving good, of which we shall speak presently, and from the signification of death shall flee from them, as denoting that they cannot destroy, thus that they desire in vain. By dying is here signified to destroy the faculty of perceiving good, and by dying mentioned above is signified to destroy the faculty of understanding truth, because every man has two lives, the life of the understanding, and the life of the will. The life of the understanding is the faculty of understanding truth, and the life of the will is the faculty of perceiving good; hence death is the deprivation of both the one and the other. Death in the first case signifies the deprivation of the faculty of understanding truth, and in the second, the deprivation of the faculty of perceiving good, because both these lives are the subject of that which precedes, and because, in the Word, where truth is treated of, good is also treated of, and this on account of the marriage of good and truth in every detail of it; see above (n. 238, 288, 484). It is therefore evident that by the death here mentioned, is signified the deprivation of the faculty of perceiving good. It is for this reason that two nearly similar expressions are used together, and also that to seek death is stated of those things that belong to the understanding, and to desire death, of those which belong to the will. For since the spiritual life proper to man rests in these two faculties, therefore also it is signified that they desire to destroy spiritual life. To every man there is also given the faculty of perceiving good, as well as that of understanding truth. For truth loves good, and good loves truth, and therefore they continually desire to be conjoined, and they are conjoined, as will and understanding, or as affection and thought; when this conjunction takes place, then the understanding thinks truth from the affection of thinking it, and then the understanding sees it, and the will perceives it. To perceive truth from the affection of the will is to perceive good, for truth is changed into good, when man wills it or is affected by it, that is, while he loves it; for this reason every thing that is loved is called good.
551. And they shall long to die, and death shall flee from them, signifies that they wish to destroy the faculty to perceive good, which is of spiritual life, but in vain. This is evident from the signification of "to die," as being here to destroy the faculty to perceive good (of which presently); also from the signification of "death shall flee from them," as being that they are unable to destroy, thus that they wish in vain. Here "to die" signifies to destroy the faculty to perceive good, but above "to die" signifies to destroy the faculty to understand truth, because every man has two lives, the life of the understanding, and the life of the will; the life of the understanding is the faculty to understand truth, and the life of the will is the faculty to perceive good; thence "death" means the loss of the one or the other. In the first instance "death" signifies the loss of the faculty to understand truth, and in the second instance the deprivation of the faculty to perceive good, because in what precedes both these lives are treated of, and in the Word, where truth is treated of, good also is treated of, because of the marriage of good and truth in every particular of the Word (on which see above (n. 238, 288, 484). This makes evident that "death" here signifies the deprivation of the faculty to perceive good. This is why two expressions nearly alike are made use of, and why "to seek death" is predicated of what belongs to the understanding, and "to long for death" of what belongs to the will; and because the spiritual life proper to man consists of these faculties, so their wish to destroy spiritual life is also signified. Moreover, the faculty to perceive good, like the faculty to understand truth, is given to every man, for truth loves good and good loves truth; these, therefore, constantly wish to be conjoined, and they are conjoined like the will and the understanding, or like affection and thought. When they are conjoined then the understanding thinks truth from the affection of thinking it, and then the understanding also sees the truth and the will perceives it. To perceive truth from the affection of the will is to perceive good, for truth is changed into good when man wills it or is affected by it, that is, when he loves it; and for this reason everything that is loved is called good.
551. "Et cupient mori et fugiet mors ab illis." - Quod significet quod velint perdere facultatem percipiendi bonum, quae est vitae spiritualis, sed incassum, constat ex significatione "mori", quod hic sit perdere facultatem percipiendi bonum (de qua sequitur); et ex significatione "fugiet mors ab illis", quod sit quod non possint perdere, ita quod incassum velint. Quod hic per "mori" significetur perdere facultatem percipiendi bonum, ac quod supra per "mori" significetur perdere facultatem intelligendi verum, est quia binae vitae cuivis homini sunt, vita intellectus et vita voluntatis; vita intellectus est facultas intelligendi verum, ac vita voluntatis est facultas percipiendi bonum; inde "mors" est deprivatio unius et alterius.
Quod "mors" in primo loco significet deprivationem facultatis intelligendi verum, et in secundo loco deprivationem facultatis percipiendi bonum, est quia in praecedentibus de utraque illa vita actum est, et quia in Verbo ubi agitur de vero etiam agitur de bono, propter conjugium boni et veri in singulis ejus (de qua re videatur supra, n. 238, 288 [b] , 484); inde constare potest quod hic per "mortem" significetur deprivatio facultatis percipiendi bonum: ex illa causa est quod paene similia bis dicantur, et quoque "quaerere mortem" praedicatur de illis quae intellectus sunt, et "cupere mortem" de illis quae voluntatis sunt. Quia vita spiritualiS homini propria in binis illis facultatibus consistit, ideo etiam significatur quod vitam spiritualem velint perdere. Data etiam est cuivis homini facultas percipiendi bonum, sicut est data facultas intelligendi verum; nam verum amat bonum, et bonum amat verum, et ideo continuo volunt conjungi, et conjunguntur sicut voluntas et intellectus, aut sicut affectio et cogitatio. Quando conjuncta sunt, tunc intellectus cogitat verum ex affectione cogitandi illud, et tunc intellectus videt illud, et voluntas percipit illud. Percipere verum ex affectione voluntatis est percipere bonum; vertitur enim verum in bonum dum homo vult seu afficitur illo, hoc est, dum amat illud, ex causa quia omne quod amatur vocatur bonum.