Heaven and Hell (Harley) n. 237

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237. Angelic language has nothing in common with human languages except certain words that are the sounds of a specific affection. Yet this is true not of the words themselves but of their sounds; on which subject something will be said in what follows. That angelic language has nothing in common with human languages is evident from the fact that angels are unable to utter a single word of human language. This was tried but they could not do it, because they can utter nothing except what is in entire agreement with their affections; whatever is not in agreement is repugnant to their very life, for life belongs to affection, and their speech is from that. I have been told that the first language of men on our earth was in agreement with angelic language because they had it from heaven; and that the Hebrew language agrees with it in some respects.


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