It says “daughters” and not “sons” because the essence of sexual modesty (seni‘ut) depends on the feminine, for [women] must be modest, and by means of this the men will be modest and the children will emerge with a disposition of modesty. Therefore, the beginning of the damage sprouted from the licentiousness of the daughters, and thus it says “and daughters were born to them.” And from here the sexual immorality (perisut) began to produce a bad result, estranged children …. The explanation for the blessed copulation is related to the fact that the holy soul is garbed within it, and it must be like the supernal copulation, for just as the supernal copulation is hidden in secrecy, such that no created being can experience it, so too the lower copulation must be in concealment (seni‘ut) such that it is not known by any creature in the world. Consequently, the holy soul, which is made from the supernal copulation, will descend, but when the copulation is in the open and in public no supernal holiness dwells there.

Translated by Elliot Wolfson in “Occultation of the Feminine and the body of Secrecy in Medieval Kabbalah,” in Rending the Veil- Concealment and Revelation of Secrets in the History of Religions, 113-154. Edited by Elliot R. Wolfson, New York and London- Seven Bridges Press, 1999.