871. 'He sent out a dove from himself to see' means a state of receiving the truths and good of faith. This becomes clear from the train of thought and also from what follows, where the subject is the three states following temptations in the regeneration of this man, states meant by his sending out the dove three times. Taken almost literally these words imply that he made investigations, for it is said that he sent out the dove from himself 'to see', that is to say, as the phrase following shows, to see 'whether the waters had abated', which was seeing whether the falsities were still so great that goods and truths of faith could not be received. With the Lord however, because He knows every single thing, no such investigation is necessary. Consequently these words in the internal sense do not mean an investigation but a state, here a first state when falsities were still a hindrance. Such falsities are meant by the words 'whether the waters had abated'.