even until they were no longer capable of acknowledging any truth.
304. From all this it is evident what is meant by the words, "lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of lives, and eat, and live to eternity." To "take of the tree of lives and eat," is to know even so as to acknowledge whatever is of love and faith; for "lives" in the plural denote love and faith, and to "eat" signifies here as before, to know. To "live to eternity," is not to live in the body to eternity, but to live after death in eternal damnation. A man who is "dead" is not so called because he is to die after the life of the body, but because he will live a life of death, for "death" is damnation and hell. The expression to "live," is used with a similar signification by Ezekiel:—
Ye hunt souls for My people, and save souls alive for yourselves, and ye have profaned Me among My people, to slay souls that will not die, and to make souls live that will not live (xiii. 18, 19).
305. Verse 23. Therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. To be "cast out of the garden of Eden," is to be deprived of all intelligence and wisdom; and to "till the ground from which he was taken," is to become corporeal, as he was previous to regeneration.
That to be "cast out of the garden of Eden" is to be deprived of all intelligence and wisdom, is evident from the signification of a "garden," and of "Eden," as above; for a "garden" signifies intelligence, or the understanding of truth; and "Eden," being significative of love, signifies wisdom, or the will of good.
That to "till the ground from which he was taken" signifies to become corporeal, such as he was before regeneration, has been shown above (verse 19), where similar words occur.
306. Verse 24. And He cast out the man; and He made to dwell from the east toward the garden of Eden cherubim, and the flame of a sword turning itself, to keep the way of the tree of lives. To "cast out the man," is to entirely deprive him of all the will of good and understanding of truth, insomuch that he is separated from them, and is no longer man. To "make
