Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6539

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6539. 'And wailed there with great and extremely loud wailing means grief. This is clear from the meaning of 'wailing' as grief. The grief that is meant here is a grief that goes with the introduction referred to just above in 6537; for before the cognitions of good and truth which come at the initial stage can be implanted in good and so become part of the Church's good, grief exists; for a different state must be brought about in the natural, and the known facts must be rearranged into a different order there. Thus what a person has loved formerly must be destroyed, which means that he will also have to undergo temptations. This is what gives rise to the grief that is represented by 'the loud wailing with which they wailed'.


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