517. And the rest were terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven, signifies that they who had adjoined some goods of charity to faith, when they saw their destruction, acknowledged the Lord, and were separated. By "the rest" are here meant they who adjoined some goods of charity to faith; by "being terrified" is signified through fear, when they saw the destruction of the others; by "giving glory to the God of heaven" is signified to acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth; by "giving glory" is signified to acknowledge and worship; and by "the God of heaven and earth" is meant the Lord, because He is the God of heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18). These, because they acknowledged the Lord from fear, were separated, in order that they might be explored as to the origin from which they did good, whether from themselves or from the Lord. All they do good from themselves who do not shun evils as sins, that is, who do not live according to the commandments of the Decalogue; but they do good from the Lord, who so shun and live.