E. Swedenborg. ARCANA COELESTIA

 

HEAVENLY SECRETS
contained in
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES OR
WORD OF GOD
UNFOLDED
Beginning with the Book of Genesis
together with
Wonderful Things Seen in the World of Spirits
and in the Heaven of Angels

by
Emanuel Swedenborg
(Published in London 1749 through 1756)


Chapter 1

1. From the mere letter of the Word of the Old Testament no one would ever discern the fact that this part of the Word contains deep secrets of heaven, and that everything within it both in general and in particular bears reference to the Lord, to His heaven, to the church, to religious belief, and to all things connected therewith; for from the letter or sense of the letter all that any one can see is that, to speak generally, everything therein has reference merely to the external rites and ordinances of the Jewish Church. Yet the truth is that everywhere in that Word there are internal things which never appear at all in the external things except a very few which the Lord revealed and explained to the Apostles; such as that the sacrifices signify the Lord; that the land of Canaan and Jerusalem signify heaven, on which account they are called the Heavenly Canaan and Jerusalem, and that Paradise has a similar signification.

2. The Christian world however is as yet profoundly unaware of the fact that all things in the Word both in general and in particular, nay, the very smallest particulars down to the most minute iota, signify and enfold within them spiritual and heavenly things, and therefore the Old Testament is but little cared for. Yet that the Word is really of this character might be known from the single consideration that being the Lord's and from the Lord it must of necessity contain within it such things as belong to heaven, to the church, and to religious belief, and that unless it did so it could not be called the Lord's Word, nor could it be said to have any life in it. For whence comes its life except from those things that belong to life, that is to say, except from the fact that everything in it both in general and in particular bears reference to the Lord, who is the very Life itself; so that anything which does not inwardly regard Him is not alive; and it may be truly said that any expression in the Word that does not enfold Him within it, that is, which does not in its own way bear reference to Him, is not Divine.

3. Without such a Life, the Word as to the letter is dead. The case in this respect is the same as it is with man, who - as is known in the Christian world - is both internal and external. When separated from the internal man, the external man is the body, and is therefore dead; for it is the internal man that is alive and that causes the external man to be so, the internal man being the soul. So is it with the Word, which, in respect to the letter alone, is like the body without the soul.

4. While the mind cleaves to the literal sense alone, no one can possibly see that such things are contained within it. Thus in these first chapters of Genesis, nothing is discoverable from the sense of the letter other than that the creation of the world is treated of, and the garden of Eden which is called Paradise, and Adam as the first created man. Who supposes anything else? But it will be sufficiently established in the following pages that these matters contain arcana which have never yet been revealed; and in fact that the first chapter of Genesis in the internal sense treats in general of the new creation of man, or of his regeneration, and specifically of the Most Ancient Church; and this in such a manner that there is not the least expression which does not represent, signify, and enfold within it these things.

5. That this is really the case no one can possibly know except from the Lord. It may therefore be stated in advance that of the Lord's Divine mercy it has been granted me now for some years to be constantly and uninterruptedly in company with spirits and angels, hearing them speak and in turn speaking with them. In this way it has been given me to hear and see wonderful things in the other life which have never before come to the knowledge of any man, nor into his idea. I have been instructed in regard to the different kinds of spirits; the state of souls after death; hell, or the lamentable state of the unfaithful; heaven, or the blessed state of the faithful; and especially in regard to the doctrine of faith which is acknowledged in the universal heaven; on which subjects, of the Lord's Divine mercy, more will be said in the following pages.

 

GENESIS 1:1-31

1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2. And the earth was a void and emptiness, and thick darkness was upon the faces of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the faces of the waters.

3. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.

4. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God distinguished between the light and the darkness.

5. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

6. And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it distinguish between the waters in the waters.

7. And God made the expanse, and made a distinction between the waters which were under the expanse, and the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

8. And God called the expanse heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together in one place, and let the dry (land) appear; and it was so.

10. And God called the dry (land) earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He seas; and God saw that it was good.

11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the tender herb, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so.

12. And the earth brought forth the tender herb, the herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree bearing fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

13. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14. And God said, Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to distinguish between the day and the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years.

15. And let them be for luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth; and it was so.

16. And God made two great luminaries, the greater luminary to rule by day, and the lesser luminary to rule by night; and the stars.

17. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth;

18. And to rule in the day, and in the night, and to distinguish between the light and the darkness; and God saw that it was good.

19. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20. And God said, Let the waters cause to creep forth the creeping thing, the living soul; and let fowl fly above the earth upon the faces of the expanse of the heavens.

21. And God created great whales, and every living soul that creepeth, which the waters caused to creep forth after their kinds, and every winged fowl after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

22. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and the fowl shall be multiplied in the earth.

23. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living soul after its kind; the beast, and the thing moving itself, and the wild animal of the earth, after its kind; and it was so.

25. And God made the wild animal of the earth after its kind, and the beast after its kind, and everything that creepeth on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the beast, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.

28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.

29. And God said, Behold, I give you every herb bearing seed which is upon the faces of all the earth, and every tree in which is fruit; the tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for food.

30. And to every wild animal of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth wherein is a living soul, every green herb for food; and it was so.

31. And God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

 

THE CONTENTS

6. The six days, or periods, which are so many successive states of the regeneration of man, are in general as follows.

7. The first state is that which precedes, including both the state from infancy, and that immediately before regeneration. This is called a "void", "emptiness", and "thick darkness". And the first motion, which is the Lord's mercy, is "the Spirit of God moving upon the faces of the waters".

8. The second state is when a distinction is made between those things which are of the Lord, and those which are proper to man. The things which are of the Lord are called in the Word "remains", and here are especially knowledges of faith, which have been learned from infancy, and which are stored up, and are not manifested until the man comes into this state. At the present day this state seldom exists without temptation, misfortune, or sorrow, by which the things of the body and the world, that is, such as are proper to man, are brought into quiescence, and as it were die. Thus the things which belong to the external man are separated from those which belong to the internal man. In the internal man are the remains, stored up by the Lord unto this time, and for this use.

9. The third state is that of repentance, in which the man, from his internal man, speaks piously and devoutly, and brings forth goods, like works of charity, but which nevertheless are inanimate, because he thinks they are from himself. These goods are called the "tender grass", and also the "herb yielding seed", and afterwards the "tree bearing fruit".

10. The fourth state is when the man becomes affected with love, and illuminated by faith. He indeed previously discoursed piously, and brought forth goods, but he did so in consequence of the temptation and straitness under which he labored, and not from faith and charity; wherefore faith and charity are now enkindled in his internal man, and are called two "luminaries".

11. The fifth state is when the man discourses from faith, and thereby confirms himself in truth and good: the things then produced by him are animate, and are called the "fish of the sea", and the "birds of the heavens".

12. The sixth state is when, from faith, and thence from love, he speaks what is true, and does what is good: the things which he then brings forth are called the "living soul" and the "beast". And as he then begins to act at once and together from both faith and love, he becomes a spiritual man, who is called an "image". His spiritual life is delighted and sustained by such things as belong to the knowledges of faith, and to works of charity, which are called his "food and his natural life is delighted and sustained by those which belong to the body and the senses; whence a combat arises, until love gains the dominion, and he becomes a celestial man.

13. Those who are being regenerated do not all arrive at this state. The greatest part, at this day, attain only the first state some only the second; others the third, fourth, or fifth; few the sixth; and scarcely any one the seventh.

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

14. In the following work, by the name Lord is meant the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ, and Him only; and He is called "the Lord" without the addition of other names. Throughout the universal heaven He it is who is acknowledged and adored as Lord, because He has all sovereign power in the heavens and on earth. He also commanded His disciples so to call Him, saying,

"Ye call Me Lord, and ye say well, for I am" (John 13:13).

And after His resurrection His disciples called Him "the Lord".

15. In the universal heaven they know no other Father than the Lord, because He and the Father are one, as He Himself has said: -

I am the way, the truth, and the life. Philip saith, Show us the Father; Jesus saith to him, Am I so long time with you, and hast thou not known Me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me (John 14:6, 8-11).

16. Verse 1. In the beginning God created the heavens (coelum) and the earth. The most ancient time is called "the beginning". By the prophets it is in various places called the "days of old (antiquitatis)" and also the "days of eternity". The "beginning" also involves the first period when man is being regenerated, for he is then born anew, and receives life. Regeneration itself is therefore called a "new creation" of man. The expressions to "create", to "form", to "make", in almost all parts of the prophetic writings signify to regenerate, yet with a difference in the signification. As in Isaiah: -

Every one that is called by My name, I have created him for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him (Isaiah 43:7).

And therefore the Lord is called the "Redeemer", the "Former from the womb", the "Maker", and also the "Creator;" as in the same Prophet: -

I am Jehovah your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King (Isaiah 43:15).

In David: -

The people that is created shall praise Jah (Ps. 102:18).

Again: -

Thou sendest forth Thy spirit, they are created, and Thou renewest the faces of the ground (Ps. 104:30).

That "heaven" signifies the internal man; and "earth" the external man before regeneration, may be seen from what follows.

17. Verse 2. And the earth was a void and emptiness, and darkness was upon the faces of the deep (abyssi); and the Spirit of God was brooding upon the faces of the waters. Before his regeneration, man is called the "earth void and empty", and also the "ground" wherein nothing of good and truth has been sown; "void" denotes where there is nothing of good, and "empty" where there is nothing of truth. Hence comes "thick darkness", that is, stupidity, and an ignorance of all things belonging to faith in the Lord, and consequently of all things belonging to spiritual and heavenly life. Such a man is thus described by the Lord through Jeremiah: -

My people is stupid, they have not known Me; they are foolish sons, and are not intelligent; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and lo a void and emptiness, and the heavens, and they had no light (Jeremiah 4:22, 23).

18. The "faces of the deep"' are the cupidities of the unregenerate man, and the falsities thence originating, of which he wholly consists, and in which he is totally immersed. In this state, having no light, he is like a "deep", or something obscure and confused. Such persons are also called "deeps", and "depths of the sea", in many parts of the Word, which are "dried up", or "wasted", before man is regenerated. As in Isaiah: -

Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art not thou it that drieth up the sea, the waters of the great deep, that maketh the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? Therefore the redeemed of Jehovah shall return (Isaiah 51:9-11).

Such a man also, when seen from heaven, appears like a black mass, destitute of vitality. The same expressions likewise in general involve the vastation of man, frequently spoken of by the Prophets, which precedes regeneration; for before man can know what is true, and be affected with what is good, there must be a removal of such things as hinder and resist their admission; thus the old man must needs die, before the new man can be conceived.

19. By the "Spirit of God" is meant the Lord's mercy, which is said to "move", or "brood", as a hen broods over her eggs. The things over which it moves are such as the Lord has hidden and treasured up in man, which in the Word throughout are called remains or a remnant, consisting of the knowledges of the true and of the good, which never come into light or day, until external things are vastated. These knowledges are here called "the faces of the waters".

20. Verse 3. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. The first state is when the man begins to know that the good and the true are something higher. Men who are altogether external do not even know what good and truth are; for they fancy all things to be good that belong to the love of self and the love of the world; and all things to be true that favor these loves; not being aware that such goods are evils, and such truths falsities. But when man is conceived anew, he then begins for the first time to know that his goods are not goods, and also, as he comes more into the light, that the Lord is, and that He is good and truth itself. That men ought to know that the Lord is, He Himself teaches in John: -

Except ye believe that I am, ye shall die in your sins (John 8:24).

Also, that the Lord is good itself, or life, and truth itself, or light, and consequently that there is neither good nor truth except from the Lord, is thus declared: -

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness. He was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world (John 1:1, 3, 4, 9).

21. Verses 4, 5. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God distinguished between the light and the darkness. And God called the light day, and the dark He called night. Light is called " good", because it is from the Lord, who is good itself, The "darkness" means all those things which, before man is conceived and born anew, have appeared like light, because evil has appeared like good, and the false like the true; yet they are darkness, consisting merely of the things proper to man himself, which still remain. Whatsoever is of the Lord is compared to "day", because it is of the light; and whatsoever is man's own is compared to "night", because it is of darkness. These comparisons frequently occur in the Word.

22. Verse 5. And the evening and the morning were the first day. What is meant by "evening", and what by "morning", can now be discerned, "Evening" means every preceding state, because it is a state of shade, or of falsity and of no faith; "morning" is every subsequent state, being one of light, or of truth and of the knowledges of faith, "Evening", in a general sense, signifies all things that are of man's own; but "morning", whatever is of the Lord, as is said through David: -

The spirit of Jehovah spake in me, and His word was on my tongue the God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me; He is as the light of the morning, when the sun ariseth, even a morning without clouds, when from brightness, from rain, the tender herb springeth out of the earth (2 Sam. 23:2-4).

As it is "evening" when there is no faith, and "morning" when there is faith, therefore the coming of the Lord into the world is called "morning;" and the time when He comes, because then there is no faith, is called " evening", as in Daniel: -

The Holy One said unto me, Even unto evening when it becomes morning, two thousand and three hundred (Daniel 8:14, 26).

In like manner "morning" is used in the Word to denote every coming of the Lord, consequently it is an expression of new creation.

23. Nothing is more common in the Word than for "day" to be used to denote time itself. As in Isaiah: -

The day of Jehovah is at hand. Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place, in the day of the wrath of Mine anger. Her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged (Isaiah 13:6, 9, 13, 22).

And in the same Prophet: -

Her antiquity is of ancient days. And it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king (Isaiah 23:7, 15).

As "day" is used to denote time, it is also used to denote the state of that time, as in Jeremiah: -

Woe unto us, for the day is gone down, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out (Jeremiah 6:4).

And again: -

If ye shall make vain My covenant of the day, and My covenant of the night, so that there be not day and night in their season (Jeremiah 33:20, 25).

And again: -

Renew our days, as of old (Lam. 5:21).

24. Verse 6. And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it distinguish between the waters in the waters. After the spirit of God, or the Lord's mercy, has brought forth into day the knowledges of the true and of the good, and has given the first light, that the Lord is, that He is good itself, and truth itself, and that there is no good and truth but from Him, He then makes a distinction between the internal man and the external, consequently between the knowledges (cognitiones) that are in the internal man, and the memory-knowledges (scientifica) that belong to the external man. The internal man is called an "expanse;" the knowledges (cognitiones) which are in the internal man are called "the waters above the expanse;" and the memory-knowledges of the external man are called "the waters beneath the expanse".

[2] Man, before he is being regenerated, does not even know that any internal man exists, much less is he acquainted with its nature and quality. He supposes the internal and the external man to be not distinct from each other. For, being immersed in bodily and worldly things, he has also immersed in them the things that belong to his internal man, and has made of things that are distinct a confused and obscure unit. Therefore it is first said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters", and then, "Let it distinguish between the waters in the waters;" but not, Let it distinguish between the waters which are "under" the expanse and the waters which are "above" the expanse, as is said in (verses 7 and 8): And God made the expanse, and made a distinction between the waters which were under the expanse, and the waters which were above the expanse and it was so. And God called the expanse heaven.

[3] The next thing therefore that man observes in the course of regeneration is that he begins to know that there is an internal man, or that the things which are in the internal man are goods and truths, which are of the Lord alone. Now as the external man, when being regenerated, is of such a nature that he still supposes the goods that he does to be done of himself, and the truths that he speaks to be spoken of himself, and whereas, being such, he is led by them of the Lord, as by things of his own, to do what is good and to speak what is true, therefore mention is first made of a distinction of the waters under the expanse, and afterwards of those above the expanse. It is also an arcanum of heaven, that man, by things of his own, as well by the fallacies of the senses as by cupidities, is led and bent by the Lord to things that are true and good, and thus that every movement and moment of regeneration, both in general and in particular, proceeds from evening to morning, thus from the external man to the internal, or from "earth" to "heaven". Therefore the expanse, or internal man, is now called "heaven".

25. To "spread out the earth and stretch out the heavens", is a common form of speaking with the Prophets, when treating of the regeneration of man. As in Isaiah: -

Thus saith Jehovah thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb; I am Jehovah that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself (Isaiah 44:24).

And again, where the advent of the Lord is openly spoken of: -

A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench; He shall bring forth judgment unto truth (Isaiah 42:3);

that is, He does not break fallacies, nor quench cupidities, but bends them to what is true and good; and therefore it follows,

Jehovah God createth the heavens, and stretcheth them out; He spreadeth out the earth, and the productions thereof; He giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein (Isaiah 42:5).

Not to mention other passages to the same purport.

26. Verse 8. And the evening and the morning were the second day. The meaning of "evening", of "morning", and of "day", was shown in (verse 5) of this chapter.

27. Verse 9. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together to one place, and let the dry (land) appear; and it was so. When it is known that there is both an internal and an external man, and that truths and goods flow in from, or through, the internal man to the external, from the Lord, although it does not so appear, then those truths and goods, or the knowledges of the true and the good in the regenerating man, are stored up in his memory, and are classed among its knowledges (scientifica); for whatsoever is insinuated into the memory of the external man, whether it be natural, or spiritual, or celestial, abides there as memory-knowledge (scientificum), and is brought forth thence by the Lord. These knowledges are the "waters gathered together into one place", and are called "seas", but the external man himself is called the "dry (land)", and presently "earth", as in what follows.

28. Verse 10. And God called the dry (land) earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He seas; and God saw that it was good. It is a very common thing in the Word for "waters" to signify knowledges (cognitiones et scientifica), and consequently for "seas" to signify a collection of knowledges. As in Isaiah: -

The earth shall be full of the knowledge (scientia) of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9).

And in the same Prophet, where a lack of knowledges (cognitionum et scientificorum) is treated of: -

The waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be dried up and become utterly dry, and the streams shall recede (Isaiah 19:5, 6).

In Haggai, speaking of a new church: -

I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry (land); and I will shake all nations; and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory (Haggai 2:6, 7).

And concerning man in the process of regeneration, in Zechariah: -

There shall be one day, it is known to Jehovah; not day, nor night; but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light; and it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, part of them toward the eastern sea, and part of them toward the hinder sea (Zechariah 14:7, 8).

David also, describing a vastated man who is to be regenerated and who will worship the Lord: -

Jehovah despiseth not His prisoners; let the heavens and the earth praise Him, the seas and everything that creepeth therein (Ps. 69:33, 34).

That the "earth" signifies a recipient, appears from Zechariah: -

Jehovah stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man in the midst of him (Zechariah 12:1).

29. Verses 11, 12. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the tender herb, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so. And the earth brought forth the tender herb, the herb yielding seed after its kind, and the tree bearing fruit, whose seed was in itself, after its kind; and God saw that it was good. When the "earth", or man, has been thus prepared to receive celestial seeds from the Lord, and to produce something of what is good and true, then the Lord first causes some tender thing to spring forth, which is called the "tender herb;" then something more useful, which again bears seed in itself, and is called the "herb yielding seed;" and at length something good which becomes fruitful, and is called the "tree bearing fruit, whose seed is in itself", each according to its own kind. The man who is being regenerated is at first of such a quality that he supposes the good which he does, and the truth which be speaks, to be from himself, when in reality all good and all truth are from the Lord, so that whosoever supposes them to be from himself has not as yet the life of true faith, which nevertheless he may afterwards receive; for he cannot as yet believe that they are from the Lord, because he is only in a state of preparation for the reception of the life of faith. This state is here represented by things inanimate, and the succeeding one of the life of faith, by animate things.

[2] The Lord is He who sows, the "seed" is His Word, and the "earth" is man, as He himself has deigned to declare (Matt. 13:19-24, 37-39; Mark 4:14-21; Luke 8:11-16). To the same purport He gives this description: -

So is the kingdom of God, as a man when he casteth seed into the earth, and sleepeth and riseth night and day, and the seed groweth and riseth up, he knoweth not how; for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear (Mark 4:26-28).

By the "kingdom of God", in the universal sense, is meant the universal heaven; in a sense less universal, the true church of the Lord; and in a particular sense, every one who is of true faith, or who is regenerate by a life of faith. Wherefore such a person is also called "heaven", because heaven is in him; and likewise the "kingdom of God", because the kingdom of God is in him; as the Lord Himself teaches in Luke: -

Being demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them, and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for behold, the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:20, 21).

This is the third successive stage of the regeneration of man, being his state of repentance, and in like manner proceeding from shade to light, or from evening to morning; wherefore it is said (verse 13), and the evening and the morning were the third day.

30. Verses 14-17. And God said, Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to distinguish between the day and the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years; and let them be for luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth; and it was so. And God made two great luminaries, the greater luminary to rule by day, and the lesser luminary to rule by night; and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth. What is meant by "great luminaries" cannot be clearly understood unless it is first known what is the essence of faith, and also what is its progress with those who are being created anew. The very essence and life of faith is the Lord alone, for he who does not believe in the Lord cannot have life, as He himself has declared in John: -

He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life, but he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God shall abide upon him (John 3:36).

[2] The progression of faith with those who are being created anew is as follows. At first they have no life, for it is only in the good and the true that there is life, and none in the evil and the false; afterwards they receive life from the Lord by faith, first by faith of the memory, which is a faith of mere knowledge (fides scientifica); next by faith in the understanding, which is an intellectual faith; lastly by faith in the heart, which is the faith of love, or saving faith, The first two kinds of faith are represented from (verse 3-13), by things inanimate, but faith vivified by love is represented from (verse 20-25), by animate things. For this reason love, and faith thence derived, are now here first treated of, and are called "luminaries;" love being "the greater luminary which rules by day;" faith derived from love "the lesser luminary which rules by night;" and as these two luminaries ought to make a one, it is said of them, in the singular number, "Let there be luminaries (sit luminaria), and not in the plural (sint luminaria).

[3] Love and faith in the internal man are like heat and light in the external corporeal man, for which reason the former are represented by the latter. It is on this account that luminaries are said to be "set in the expanse of heaven", or in the internal man; a great luminary in its will, and a lesser one in its understanding; but they appear in the will and the understanding only as does the light of the sun in its recipient objects. It is the Lord's mercy alone that affects the will with love, and the understanding with truth or faith.

31. That the "great luminaries" signify love and faith, and are also called "sun, moon, and stars", is evident from the Prophets, as in Ezekiel: -

When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens and make the stars thereof black; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light; all the luminaries of the light of heaven will I make black over thee, and I will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 32:7, 8).

In this passage Pharaoh and the Egyptians are treated of, by whom are meant, in the Word, the principle of mere sense and of mere knowledge (sensuale et scientificum); and here, that by things of sense and of mere knowledge (sensualia et scientifica), love and faith had been extinguished. So in Isaiah: -

The day of Jehovah cometh to set the land in desolation, for the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun is darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine (Isaiah 13:9, 10).

Again, in Joel: -

The day of Jehovah cometh, a day of darkness and of thick darkness; the earth trembleth before Him, the heavens are in commotion; the sun and the moon are blackened, and the stars withdraw their brightness (Joel 2:1, 2, 10).

[2] Again, in Isaiah, speaking of the advent of the Lord and the enlightening of the Gentiles, consequently of a new church, and in particular of all who are in darkness, and receive light, and are being regenerated: -

Arise, shine, for thy light is come; behold darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness the peoples, and Jehovah shall arise upon thee, and the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising, Jehovah shall be to thee a light of eternity, thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for Jehovah shall be to thee a light of eternity (Isaiah 60:1-3, 20).

So in David: -

Jehovah in intelligence maketh the heavens, He stretcheth out the earth above the waters; He maketh great luminaries; the sun to rule by day, the moon and stars to rule by night (Ps. 136:5-9).

And again: -

Glorify ye Jehovah, sun and moon; glorify Him, all ye stars of light; glorify Him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that are above the heavens (Ps. 148:3, 4).

[3] In all these passages, "luminaries" signify love and faith. It was because "luminaries" represented and signified love and faith toward the Lord that it was ordained in the Jewish Church that a perpetual luminary should be kept burning from evening till morning, for every ordinance in that church was representative of the Lord. Of this luminary it is written: -

Command the sons of Israel that they take oil for the luminary, to cause the lamp to ascend continually: in the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before the testimony, shall Aaron and his sons order it from evening even until morning, before Jehovah (Exod. 27:20, 21).

That these things signify love and faith, which the Lord kindles and causes to give light in the internal man, and through the internal man in the external, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be shown in its proper place.

32. Love and faith are first called "great luminaries", and afterwards love is called a "greater luminary", and faith a "lesser luminary;" and it is said of love that it shall "rule by day", and of faith that it shall "rule by night". As these are arcana which are hidden, especially in this end of days, it is permitted of the Lord's Divine mercy to explain them. The reason why these arcana are more especially concealed in this end of days is that now is the consummation of the age, when there is scarcely any love, and consequently scarcely any faith, as the Lord Himself foretold in the Evangelists in these words: -

The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matt. 24:29).

By the "sun" is here meant love, which is darkened; by the "moon" faith, which does not give light; and by the "stars", the knowledges of faith, which fall from heaven, and which are the "virtues and powers of the heavens".

[2] The Most Ancient Church acknowledged no other faith than love itself. The celestial angels also do not know what faith is except that which is of love. The universal heaven is a heaven of love, for there is no other life in the heavens than the life of love. From this is derived all heavenly happiness, which is so great that nothing of it admits of description, nor can ever be conceived by any human idea. Those who are under the influence of love, love the Lord from the heart, but yet know, declare, and perceive, that all love, and consequently all life - which is of love alone - and thus all happiness, come solely from the Lord, and that they have not the least of love, of life, or of happiness, from themselves. That it is the Lord from whom all love comes, was also represented by the great luminary or "sun", at His transfiguration, for it is written: -

His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light (Matt. 17:2).

Inmost things are signified by the face, and the things that proceed from them, by the raiment. Thus the Lord's Divine was signified by the "sun", or love; and His Human by the "light", or wisdom proceeding from love.

33. It is in every one's power very well to know that no life is possible without some love, and that no joy is possible except that which flows from love. Such however as is the love, such is the life, and such the joy: if you were to remove loves, or what is the same thing, desires-for these are of love-thought would instantly cease, and you would become like a dead person, as has been shown me to the life. The loves of self and of the world have in them some resemblance to life and to joy, but as they are altogether contrary to true love, which consists in a man's loving the Lord above all things, and his neighbor as himself, it must be evident that they are not loves, but hatreds, for in proportion as any one loves himself and the world, in the same proportion he hates his neighbor, and thereby the Lord. Wherefore true love is love to the Lord, and true life is the life of love from Him, and true joy is the joy of that life. There can be but one true love, and therefore but one true life, whence flow true joys and true felicities, such as are those of the angels in the heavens.

34. Love and faith admit of no separation, because they constitute one and the same thing; and therefore when mention is first made of "luminaries" they are regarded as one, and it is said, "let there be (sit) luminaries in the expanse of the heavens". Concerning this circumstance it is permitted me to relate the following wonderful particulars. The celestial angels, by virtue of the celestial love in which they are from the Lord, are from that love in all the knowledges of faith, and are such a life and light of intelligence that scarcely anything of it can be described. But, on the other hand, spirits who are in the knowledge of the doctrinals of faith, without love, are in such a coldness of life and obscurity of light that they cannot even approach the first threshold of the court of the heavens, but flee back again. Some of them, while not living according to His precepts, say that they have believed in the Lord, and it was of such that the Lord said in Matthew: -

Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he that doeth My will: many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied through Thy name (Matthew 7:21, 22, 23-29).

[2] Hence it is evident that those who are in love are also in faith, and thereby in heavenly life, but not those who say they are in faith, and are not in the life of love. The life of faith without love is like the light of the sun without heat, as in the time of winter, when nothing grows, but all things are torpid and dead; whereas faith proceeding from love is like the light of the sun in the time of spring, when all things grow and flourish in consequence of the sun's fructifying heat. It is precisely similar in regard to spiritual and heavenly things, which are usually represented in the Word by such as exist in the world and on the face of the earth. No faith; and faith without love, are also compared by the Lord to "winter", where He foretells the consummation of the age, in Mark: -

Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, for those shall be days of affliction (Mark 13:18, 19).

"Flight" means the last time, and also that of every man when he dies. " Winter" is a life destitute of love; the "day of affliction" is its miserable state in the other life.

35. Man has two faculties: will and understanding. When the understanding is governed by the will they together constitute one mind, and thus one life, for then what the man wills and does he also thinks and intends. But when the understanding is at variance with the will (as with those who say they have faith, and yet live in contradiction to faith), then the one mind is divided into two, one of which desires to exalt itself into heaven, while the other tends toward hell; and since the will is the doer in every act, the whole man would plunge headlong into hell if it were not that the Lord has mercy on him.

36. They who have separated faith from love do not even know what faith is. When thinking of faith, some imagine it to be mere thought, some that it is thought directed toward the Lord, few that it is the doctrine of faith. But faith is not only a knowledge and acknowledgment of all things that the doctrine of faith comprises, but especially is it an obedience to all things that the doctrine of faith teaches. The primary point that it teaches, and that which men should obey, is love to the Lord, and love toward the neighbor, for if a man is not in this, he is not in faith. This the Lord teaches so plainly as to leave no doubt concerning it, in Mark: -

The foremost of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the foremost commandment; and the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; there is none other commandment greater than these (Mark 12:29-31).

In Matthew, the Lord calls the former of these the "first and great commandment", and says that "on these commandments hang all the law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:37-41). The "law and the Prophets" are the universal doctrine of faith, and the whole Word.

37. It is said that the luminaries shall be "for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years". In these words are contained more arcana than can at present be unfolded, although in the literal sense nothing of the kind appears. Suffice it here to observe that there are alternations of things spiritual and celestial, both in general and in particular, which are compared to the changes of days and of years. The changes of days are from morning to midday, thence to evening, and through night to morning; and the changes of years are similar, being from spring to summer, thence to autumn, and through winter to spring. Hence come the alternations of heat and light, and also of the productions of the earth. To these changes are compared the alternations of things spiritual and celestial. Life without such alternations and varieties would be uniform, consequently no life at all; nor would good and truth be discerned or distinguished, much less perceived. These alternations are in the Prophets called "ordinances (statuta)", as in Jeremiah: -

Said Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night (Jeremiah 31:35, 36).

And in the same Prophet: -

Said Jehovah, If My covenant of day and night stand not, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth (Jeremiah 33:25).

But concerning these things, of the Lord's Divine mercy, at (Genesis 8:22).

38. Verse 18. And to rule in the day, and in the night, and to distinguish between the light and the darkness; and God saw that it was good. By the "day" is meant good, by the "night", evil; and therefore goods are called works of the day, but evils works of the night; by the "light" is meant truth, and by the "darkness" falsity, as the Lord says: -

Men loved darkness rather than light. He that doeth truth cometh to the light (John 3:19, 21).

Verse 19. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

39. Verse 20. And God said, Let the waters cause to creep forth the creeping thing, the living soul; and let fowl fly above the earth upon the faces of the expanse of the heavens. After the great luminaries have been kindled and placed in the internal man, and the external receives light from them, then the man first begins to live. Heretofore he can scarcely be said to have lived, inasmuch as the good which he did he supposed that he did of himself, and the truth which he spoke that he spoke of himself; and since man of himself is dead, and there is in him nothing but what is evil and false, therefore whatsoever he produces from himself is not alive, insomuch that he cannot, from himself, do good that in itself is good. That man cannot even think what is good, nor will what is good, consequently cannot do what is good, except from the Lord, must be plain to every one from the doctrine of faith, for the Lord says in Matthew: -

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man (Matthew 13:37).

Nor can any good come except from the real Fountain of good, which is one only, as He says in another place: -

None is good save one, God (Luke 18:19).

[2] Nevertheless when the Lord is resuscitating man, that is, regenerating him, to life, He permits him at first to suppose that he does what is good and speaks what is true from himself, for at that time he is incapable of conceiving otherwise, nor can he in any other way be led to believe, and afterwards to perceive, that all good and truth are from the Lord alone. While man is thinking in such a way his truths and goods are compared to the "tender grass", and also to the "herb yielding seed", and lastly to the "tree bearing fruit", all of which are inanimate; but now that he is vivified by love and faith, and believes that the Lord works all the good that he does and all the truth that he speaks, he is compared first to the "creeping things of the water", and to the "fowls which fly above the earth", and also to "beasts", which are all animate things, and are called "living souls".

40. By the "creeping things which the waters bring forth", are signified the memory-knowledges (scientifica) which belong to the external man; by "birds" in general, rational and intellectual things, of which the latter belong to the internal man. That the "creeping things of the waters", or "fishes", signify memory-knowledges, is plain from Isaiah: -

I came and there was no man; at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish shall stink because there is no water and shall die for thirst; I clothe the heavens with blackness (Isaiah 50:2, 3).

[2] But it is still plainer from Ezekiel, where the Lord describes the new temple, or a new church in general, and the man of the church, or a regenerate person; for every one who is regenerate is a temple of the Lord: -

The Lord Jehovah said unto me, These waters that shall issue to the boundary toward the east, and shall come toward the sea, being led into the sea, and the waters shall be healed; and it shall come to pass that every living soul that shall creep forth, whithersoever the water of the rivers shall come, shall live, and there shall be exceeding much fish, because those waters shall come thither, and they shall heal, and everything shall live whither the river cometh; and it shall come to pass that fishers shall stand upon it from En-gedi to En-eglaim, with the spreading of nets shall they be; their fish shall be according to its kind, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many (Ezekiel 47:8-10).

"Fishers from En-gedi unto En-eglaim", with the "spreading of nets", signify those who shall instruct the natural man in the truths of faith.

[3] That "birds" signify things rational and intellectual, is evident from the Prophets; as in Isaiah: -

Calling a bird from the east, the man of My counsel from a distant land (Isaiah 46:11).

And in Jeremiah: -

I beheld and lo there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled (Jeremiah 4:25).

In Ezekiel: -

I will plant a shoot of a lofty cedar, and it shall lift up a branch, and shall bear fruit, and be a magnificent cedar; and under it shall dwell every fowl of every wing, in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell (Ezekiel 17:22, 23).

And in Hosea, speaking of a new church, or of a regenerate man: -

And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild beast of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the moving thing of the ground (Hosea 2:18).

That "wild beast" does not signify wild beast, nor "bird" bird, must be evident to every one, for the Lord is said to "make a new covenant" with them.

41. Whatever is proper to man has no life in itself, and whenever it is made manifest to the sight it appears hard, like a bony and black substance; but whatever is from the Lord has life, containing within it that which is spiritual and celestial, which when presented to view appears human and living. It may seem incredible but is nevertheless most true, that every single expression, every single idea, and every least of thought in an angelic spirit, is alive, containing in its minutest particulars an affection that proceeds from the Lord, who is life itself. And therefore whatsoever things are from the Lord, have life in them, because they contain faith toward Him, and are here signified by the "living soul:" they have also a species of body, here signified by "what moves itself", or "creeps". These truths however are as yet deep secrets to man, and are now mentioned only because the "living soul", and the "thing moving itself", are treated of.

42. Verse 21. And God created great whales, and every living soul that creepeth, which the waters made to creep forth, after their kinds, and every winged fowl after its kind; and God saw that it was good. "Fishes", as before said, signify memory-knowledges, now animated by faith from the Lord, and thus alive. " Whales" signify their general principles, in subordination to which, and from which, are the particulars; for there is nothing in the universe that is not under some general principle, as a means that it may exist and subsist. "Whales", or "great fishes", are sometimes mentioned by the Prophets, and they there signify the generals of memory-knowledges. Pharaoh the king of Egypt (by whom is represented human wisdom or intelligence, that is, knowledge (scientia) in general), is called a "great whale". As in Ezekiel: -

Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great whale that lieth in the midst of his rivers, that hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made myself (Ezekiel 29:3).

[2] And in another place: -

Take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art as a whale in the seas, and hast gone forth in thy rivers, and hast troubled the waters with thy feet (Ezekiel 32:2),

by which words are signified those who desire to enter into the mysteries of faith by means of memory-knowledges, and thus from themselves. In Isaiah: -

In that day Jehovah, with His hard and great and strong sword, shall visit upon leviathan the longish (oblongum) serpent, even leviathan the crooked serpent, and He shall slay the whales that are in the sea (Isaiah 27:1).

By "slaying the whales that are in the sea", is signified that such persons are ignorant of even the general principles of truth. So in Jeremiah: -

Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath troubled me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me as a whale, he hath filled his belly with my delicacies, he hath cast me out (Jeremiah 51:34),

denoting that he had swallowed the knowledges of faith, here called "delicacies", as the whale did Jonah; a "whale" denoting those who possess the general principles of the knowledges of faith as mere memory-knowledges, and act in this manner.

43. Verse 22. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and the fowl shall be multiplied in the earth. Everything that has in itself life from the Lord fructifies and multiplies itself immensely; not so much while the man lives in the body, but to an amazing degree in the other life. To "be fruitful", in the Word, is predicated of the things that are of love, and to "multiply", of the things that are of faith; the "fruit" which is of love contains "seed", by which it so greatly multiplies itself. The Lord's "blessing" also in the Word signifies fructification and multiplication, because they proceed from it. (Verse 23). And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

44. Verses 24, 25. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living soul after its kind, the beast, and the moving thing, and the wild animal of the earth after its kind; and it was so. And God made the wild animal of the earth after its kind, and the beast after its kind, and everything that creepeth on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. Man, like the earth, can produce nothing of good unless the knowledges of faith are first sown in him, whereby he may know what is to be believed and done. It is the office of the understanding to hear the Word, and of the will to do it. To hear the Word and not to do it, is like saying that we believe when we do not live according to our belief; in which case we separate hearing and doing, and thus have a divided mind, and become of those whom the Lord calls "foolish" in the following passage: -

Whosoever heareth My words, and doeth them, I will liken unto a wise man who built his house upon a rock: but every one that heareth My words, and doeth them not, I liken to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand (Matt. 7:24, 26).

The things that belong to the understanding are signified by the "creeping things which the waters bring forth", and also by the "fowl upon the earth", and "upon the faces of the expanse;" but those which are of the will are signified here by the "living soul which the earth produces", and by the "beast" and "creeping thing", and also by the "wild animal of that earth".

45. Those who lived in the most ancient times thus signified the things relating to the understanding and to the will; and therefore in the Prophets, and constantly in the Word of the Old Testament, the like things are represented by different kinds of animals. Beasts are of two kinds; the evil, so called because they are hurtful; and the good, which are harmless. Evils in man are signified by evil beasts, as by bears, wolves, dogs; and the things which are good and gentle, by beasts of a like nature, as by heifers, sheep, and lambs. The "beasts" here referred to are good and gentle ones, and thus signify affections, because it here treats of those who are being regenerated. The lower things in man, which have more connection with the body, are called "wild animals of that earth", and are cupidities and pleasures.

46. That "beasts" signify man's affections - evil affections with the evil, and good affections with the good - is evident from numerous passages in the Word, as in Ezekiel: -

Behold, I am for you, and I will look back to you, that ye may be tilled and sown, and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall be multiplied and bring forth fruit; and I will cause you to dwell as in your ancient times (Ezekiel 36:9, 11),

treating of regeneration. In Joel: -

Be not afraid ye beasts of My field, for the dwelling-places of the wilderness are become grassy (Joel 2:22).

In David also: -

So foolish was I, I was as a beast before Thee (Ps. 73:22).

In Jeremiah, treating of regeneration: -

Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast, and I will watch over them to build and to plant (Jeremiah 31:27, 28).

[2] "Wild animals" have a similar signification, as in Hosea: -

In that day will I make a covenant for them with the will animal of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the earth (Hosea 2:18).

In Job: -

Thou shalt not be afraid of the wild animals of the earth, for thy covenant is with the stones of the field, and the wild animals of the field shall be at peace with thee (Job 5:22, 23).

In Ezekiel: -

I will make with you a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil wild animal to cease out of the land, that they may dwell confidently in the wilderness (Ezekiel 34:25).

In Isaiah: -

The wild animals of the field shall honor me, because I have given waters in the wilderness (Isaiah 43:20).

In Ezekiel: -

All the fowls of the heavens made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the wild animals of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations (Ezekiel 31:6).

This is said of the Assyrian, by whom is signified the spiritual man, and who is compared to the garden of Eden. In David: -

Glorify ye Him, all His angels, glorify Jehovah from the earth, ye whales, fruit-trees, wild animal, and every beast, creeping thing, and flying fowl (Ps. 148:2, 7, 9, 10).

Here mention is made of the same things - as "whales", the "fruit-tree", "wild animal", the "beast", "creeping thing", and "fowl", which, unless they had signified living principles in man, could never have been called upon to glorify Jehovah.

[3] The Prophets carefully distinguish between "beasts" and "wild animals" "of the earth", and "beasts" and "wild animals" "of the field". Nevertheless goods in man are called "beasts", just as those who are nearest the Lord in heaven are called "animals", both in Ezekiel and in John: -

All the angels stood round about the throne, and the elders, and the four animals, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped the Lamb (Rev. 7:11; 19:4).

Those also who have the gospel preached to them are called "creatures", because they are to be created anew: -

Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).

47. That these words contain arcana relating to regeneration, is evident also from its being said in the foregoing verse that the earth should bring forth "the living soul, the beast, and the wild animal of the earth", whereas in the following verse the order is changed, and it said that God made "the wild animal of the earth", and likewise "the beast;" for at first, and afterwards until he becomes celestial, man brings forth as of himself; and thus regeneration begins from the external man, and proceeds to the internal; therefore here there is another order, and external things are mentioned first.

48. Hence then it appears that man is in the fifth state of regeneration when he speaks from a principle of faith, which belongs to the understanding, and thereby confirms himself in the true and in the good. The things then brought forth by him are animate, and are called the "fishes of the sea", and the "fowl of the heavens". He is in the sixth state, when from faith, which is of the understanding, and from love thence derived, which is of the will, he speaks truths, and does goods; what he then brings forth being called the "living soul", and the "beast". And as he then begins to act from love, as well as from faith, he becomes a spiritual man, who is called an "image of God", which is the subject now treated of.

49. Verse 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the beast, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. In the Most Ancient Church, with the members of which the Lord conversed face to face, the Lord appeared as a Man; concerning which much might be related, but the time has not yet arrived. On this account they called no one "man" but the Lord Himself, and the things which were of Him; neither did they call themselves "men", but only those things in themselves-as all the good of love and all the truth of faith- which they perceived they. had from the Lord. These they said were "of man", because they were of the Lord.

[2] Hence in the Prophets, by "man" and the "Son of man", in the supreme sense, is meant the Lord; and in the internal sense, wisdom and intelligence; thus every one who is regenerate. As in Jeremiah: -

I beheld the earth, and lo, it was void and emptiness, and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld and lo there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled (Jeremiah 4:23, 25).

In Isaiah, where, in the internal sense, by "man", is meant a regenerate person, and in the supreme sense, the Lord himself, as the One Man: -

Thus saith Jehovah the Holy One of Israel, and his Former, I have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their army have I commanded (Isaiah 45:11, 12).

[3] The Lord therefore appeared to the prophets as a man, as in Ezekiel: -

Above the expanse, as the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne, and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it (Ezekiel 1:26).

And when seen by Daniel He was called the "Son of man", that is, the man, which is the same thing: -

I saw, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him; and there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, and nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13, 14).

[4] The Lord also frequently calls Himself the "Son of man", that is, the man, and, as in Daniel, foretells His coming in glory: -

Then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matt. 24:30).

The "clouds of heaven" are the literal sense of the Word; "power and great glory" are the internal sense of the Word, which in all things both in general and in particular has reference solely to the Lord and His kingdom; and it is from this that the internal sense derives its power and glory.

50. The Most Ancient Church understood by the "image of the Lord" more than can be expressed. Man is altogether ignorant that he is governed of the Lord through angels and spirits, and that with every one there are at least two spirits, and two angels. By spirits man has communication with the world of spirits, and by angels with heaven. Without communication by means of spirits with the world of spirits, and by means of angels with heaven, and thus through heaven with the Lord, man could not live at all; his life entirely depends on this conjunction, so that if the spirits and angels were to withdraw, he would instantly perish.

[2] While man is unregenerate he is governed quite otherwise than when regenerated. While unregenerate there are evil spirits with him, who so domineer over him that the angels, though present, are scarcely able to do anything more than merely guide him so that he may not plunge into the lowest evil, and bend him to some good - in fact bend him to good by means of his own cupidities, and to truth by means of the fallacies of the senses. He then has communication with the world of spirits through the spirits who are with him, but not so much with heaven, because evil spirits rule, and the angels only avert their rule.

[3] But when the man is regenerate, the angels rule, and inspire him with all goods and truths, and with fear and horror of evils and falsities. The angels indeed lead, but only as ministers, for it is the Lord alone who governs man through angels and spirits. And as this is done through the ministry of angels, it is here first said, in the plural number, "Let us make man in our image;" and yet because the Lord alone governs and disposes, it is said in the following verse, in the singular number, "God created him in His own image". This the Lord also plainly declares in Isaiah: -

Thus saith Jehovah thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I Jehovah make all things, stretching forth the heavens alone, spreading abroad the earth by Myself (Isaiah 44:24).

The angels moreover themselves confess that there is no power in them, but that they act from the Lord alone.

51. As regards the "image", an image is not a likeness, but is according to the likeness; it is therefore said, " Let us make man in our image, after our likeness". The spiritual man is an "image", and the celestial man a "likeness", or similitude. In this chapter the spiritual man is treated of; in the following, the celestial. The spiritual man, who is an "image", is called by the Lord a "son of light", as in John: -

He that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light (John 12:35, 36).

He is called also a "friend:" -

Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you (John 15:14, 15).

But the celestial man, who is a "likeness", is called a "son of God", in John: -

As many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on His name; who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12, 13).

52. So long as man is spiritual, his dominion proceeds from the external man to the internal, as is here said: "Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the beast, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth". But when he becomes celestial, and does good from love, then his dominion proceeds from the internal man to the external, as the Lord, in David, describes Himself, and thereby also the celestial man, who is His likeness: -

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet, the flock and all cattle, and also the beasts of the feilds, the fowl of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas (Ps. 8:6-8).

Here therefore " beasts" are first mentioned, and then " fowl", and afterwards the "fish of the sea", because the celestial man proceeds from love, which belongs to the will, differing herein from the spiritual man, in describing whom "fishes" and "fowl" are first named, which belong to the understanding, and this to faith; and afterwards mention is made of "beasts".

53. Verse 27. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him. The reason why "image" is here twice mentioned, is that faith, which belongs to the understanding, is called "His image;" whereas love, which belongs to the will, and which in the spiritual man comes after, but in the celestial man precedes, is called the "image of God".

54. Male and female created He them. What is meant by "male and female", in the internal sense, was well known to the Most Ancient Church, but when the interior sense of the Word was lost among their posterity, this arcanum also perished. Their marriages were their chief sources of happiness and delight, and whatever admitted of the comparison they likened to marriage, in order that in this way they might perceive its felicity. Being also internal men, they were delighted only with internal things. External things they merely saw with the eyes, but thought of what was represented. So that outward things were nothing to them, save as these could in some measure be the means of causing them to turn their thoughts to internal things, and from these to celestial things, and so to the Lord who was their all, and consequently to the heavenly marriage, from which they perceived the happiness of their marriages to come. The understanding in the spiritual man they therefore called male, and the will female, and when these acted as a one they called it a marriage. From that church came the form of speech which became customary, whereby the church itself, from its affection of good, was called "daughter" and "virgin"-as the "virgin of Zion", the "virgin of Jerusalem"-and also "wife". But on these subjects see (Genesis 2:23; 3:15).

55. Verse 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth. As the most ancient people called the conjunction of the understanding and the will, or of faith and love, a marriage, everything of good produced from that marriage they called "fructifications", and everything of truth, "multiplications". Hence they are so called in the Prophets, as for instance in Ezekiel: -

I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful, and I will cause you to dwell as in your ancient times, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah, yea, I will cause man to walk upon you, even My people Israel (Ezekiel 36:11, 12).

By "man" is here meant the spiritual man who is called Israel; by "ancient times", the Most Ancient Church; by "beginnings", the Ancient Church after the flood. The reason why "multiplication", which is of truth, is first mentioned, and "fructification", which is of good, afterwards, is that the passage treats of one who is to become regenerated, and not of one who is already regenerated.

[2] When the understanding is united with the will, or faith with love, the man is called by the Lord "a married land", as in Isaiah: -

Thy land shall be no more termed waste, but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah (My delight is in her), and thy land Beulah (married), for Jehovah delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married (Isaiah 62:4).

The fruits thence issuing, which are of truth, are called "sons", and those which are of good are called "daughters", and this very frequently in the Word.

[3] The earth is "replenished", or filled, when there are many truths and goods; for when the Lord blesses and speaks to man, that is, works upon him, there is an immense increase of good and truth, as the Lord says in Matthew: -

The kingdom of the heavens is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heavens come and build their nests in the branches thereof (Matthew 13:31, 32).

A "grain of mustard-seed" is man's good before he becomes spiritual, which is "the least of all seeds", because he thinks that he does good of himself, and what is of himself is nothing but evil. But as he is in a state of regeneration, there is something of good in him, but it is the least of all.

[4] At length as faith is joined with love it grows larger, and becomes an "herb;" and lastly, when the conjunction is completed, it becomes a "tree", and then the "birds of the heavens" (in this passage also denoting truths, or things intellectual) "build their nests in its branches", which are memory knowledges. When man is spiritual, as well as during the time of his becoming spiritual, he is in a state of combat, and therefore it is said, "subdue the earth and have dominion".

56. Verse 29. And God said, Behold, I give you every herb bearing seed which is upon the faces of all the earth; and every tree in which is fruit; the tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for food. The celestial man is delighted with celestial things alone, which being in agreement with his life are called celestial food. The spiritual man is delighted with spiritual things, and as these are in agreement with his life they are called spiritual food. The natural man in like manner is delighted with natural things, which, being of his life, are called food, and consist chiefly of memory-knowledges. As the spiritual man is here treated of, his spiritual food is described by representatives, as by the "herb bearing seed", and by the "tree in which is fruit", which are called, in general, the "tree yielding seed". His natural food is described in the following verse.

57. The "herb bearing seed" is every truth which regards use; the "tree in which is fruit" is the good of faith; "fruit" is what the Lord gives to the celestial man, but "seed producing fruit" is what He gives to the spiritual man and therefore it is said, the "tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for food". That celestial food is called fruit from a tree, is evident from the following chapter, where the celestial man is treated of. In confirmation of this we will here cite only these words of the Lord from Ezekiel: -

By the river, upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, there cometh up every tree of food, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed; it is born again in its month; because there its waters issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for medicine (Ezekiel 47:12).

"Waters issuing out of the sanctuary", signify the life and mercy of the Lord, who is the "sanctuary". "Fruit" is wisdom, which shall be food for them; the "leaf" is intelligence which shall be for their use, and this use is called "medicine". But that spiritual food is called "herb", appears from David: -

My shepherd, I shall not want; Thou makest me to lie down in pastures of herb (Ps. 23:1, 2).

58. Verse 30. And to every wild animal of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, I give every green herb for food; and it was so. The natural meat of the same man is here described. His natural is signified by the "wild animal of the earth" and by the "fowl of the heavens", to which there are given for food the vegetable and the green of the herb. Both his natural and his spiritual food are thus described in David: -

Jehovah causeth the grass to grow for the beast, and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth bread out of the earth (Ps. 104:14),

where the term "beast" is used to express both the wild animal of the earth and the fowl of the heavens which are also mentioned in (Ps. 104:11, 12).

59. The reason why the "vegetable and the green of the herb" only are here described as food for the natural man, is this. In the course of regeneration, when man is being made spiritual, he is continually engaged in combat, on which account the church of the Lord is called "militant;" for before regeneration cupidities have the dominion, because the whole man is composed of mere cupidities and the falsities thence derived. During regeneration these cupidities and falsities cannot be instantaneously abolished, for this would be to destroy the whole man, such being the only life which he has acquired; and therefore evil spirits are suffered to continue with him for a long time, that they may excite his cupidities, and that these may thus be loosened, in innumerable ways, even to such a degree that they can be inclined by the Lord to good, and the man be thus reformed. In the time of combat, the evil spirits, who bear the utmost hatred against all that is good and true, that is, against whatever is of love and faith toward the Lord-which things alone are good and true, because they have eternal life in them-leave the man nothing else for food but what is compared to the vegetable and the green of the herb; nevertheless the Lord gives him also a food which is compared to the herb bearing seed, and to the tree in which is fruit, which are states of tranquillity and peace, with their joys and delights; and this food the Lord gives the man at intervals.

[2] Unless the Lord defended man every moment, yea, even the smallest part of every moment, he would instantly perish, in consequence of the indescribably intense and mortal hatred which prevails in the world of spirits against the things relating to love and faith toward the Lord. The certainty of this fact I can affirm, having been now for some years (notwithstanding my remaining in the body) associated with spirits in the other life, even with the worst of them, and I have sometimes been surrounded by thousands, to whom it was permitted to spit forth their venom, and infest me by all possible methods, yet without their being able to hurt a single hair of my head, so secure was I under the Lord's protection. From so many years' experience I have been thoroughly instructed concerning the world of spirits and its nature, as well as concerning the combat which those being regenerated must needs endure, in order to attain the happiness of eternal life. But as no one can be so well instructed in such subjects by a general description as to believe them with an undoubting faith, the particulars will of the Lord's Divine mercy be related in the following pages.

60. Verse 31. And God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. This state is called "very good", the former ones being merely called "good;" because now the things which are of faith make a one with those which are of love, and thus a marriage is effected between spiritual things and celestial things.

61. All things relating to the knowledges of faith are called spiritual, and all that are of love to the Lord and our neighbor are called celestial; the former belong to man's understanding, and the latter to his will.

62. The times and states of man's regeneration in general and in particular are divided into six, and are called the days of his creation; for, by degrees, from being not a man at all, he becomes at first something of one, and so by little and little attains to the sixth day, in which he becomes an image of God.

63. Meanwhile the Lord continually fights for him against evils and falsities, and by combats confirms him in truth and good. The time of combat is the time of the Lord's working; and therefore in the Prophets the regenerate man is called the work of the fingers of God. Nor does He rest until love acts as principal; then the combat ceases. When the work has so far advanced that faith is conjoined with love, it is called "very good;" because the Lord then actuates him, as His likeness. At the end of the sixth day the evil spirits depart, and good spirits take their place, and the man is introduced into heaven, or into the celestial paradise; concerning which in the following chapter.

64. This then is the internal sense of the Word, its veriest life, which does not at all appear from the sense of the letter. But so many are its arcana that volumes would not suffice for the unfolding of them. A very few only are here set forth, and those such as may confirm the fact that regeneration is here treated of, and that this proceeds from the external man to the internal. It is thus that the angels perceive the Word. They know nothing at all of what is in the letter, not even the proximate meaning of a single word; still less do they know the names of the countries, cities, rivers, and persons, that occur so frequently in the historical and prophetical parts of the Word. They have an idea only of the things signified by the words and the names. Thus by Adam in paradise they perceive the Most Ancient Church, yet not that church, but the faith in the Lord of that church. By Noah they perceive the church that remained with the descendants of the Most Ancient Church, and that continued to the time of Abram. By Abraham they by no means perceive that individual, but a saving faith, which he represented; and so on. Thus they perceive spiritual and celestial things entirely apart from the words and names.

65. Certain ones were taken up to the first entrance-court of heaven, when I was reading the Word, and from there conversed with me. They said they could not there understand one whit of any word or letter therein, but only what was signified in the nearest interior sense, which they declared to be so beautiful, in such order of sequence, and so affecting them, that they called it Glory.

66. There are in the Word, in general, four different styles. The first is that of the Most Ancient Church. Their mode of expression was such that when they mentioned terrestrial and worldly things they thought of the spiritual and celestial things which these represented. They therefore not only expressed themselves by representatives, but also formed these into a kind of historical series, in order to give them more life; and this was to them delightful in the very highest degree. This is the style of which Hannah prophesied, saying: -

Speak what is high! high! Let what is ancient come out of your mouth (1 Sam. 2:3).

Such representatives are called in David, "Dark sayings of old" (Ps. 78:2-4). These particulars concerning the creation, the garden of Eden, etc., down to the time of Abram, Moses had from the descendants of the Most Ancient Church.

[2] The second style is historical, which is found in the books of Moses from the time of Abram onward, and in those of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and the Kings. In these books the historical facts are just as they appear in the sense of the letter; and yet they all contain, in both general and particular, quite other things in the internal sense, of which, by the Lord's Divine mercy, in their order in the following pages. The third style is the prophetical one, which was born of that which was so highly venerated in the Most Ancient Church. This style however is not in connected and historical form like the most ancient style, but is broken, and is scarcely ever intelligible except in the internal sense, wherein are deepest arcana, which follow in beautiful connected order, and relate to the external and the internal man; to the many states of the church; to heaven itself; and in the inmost sense to the Lord. The fourth style is that of the Psalms of David, which is intermediate between the prophetical style and that of common speech. The Lord is there treated of in the internal sense, under the person of David as a king.


Chapter 2

67. As of the Lord's Divine mercy it has been given me to know the internal meaning of the Word, in which are contained deepest arcana that have not before come to any one's knowledge, nor can come unless the nature of the other life is known (for very many things of the Word's internal sense have regard to, describe, and involve those of that life), I am permitted to disclose what I have heard and seen during some years in which it has been granted me to be in the company of spirits and angels.

68. I am well aware that many will say that no one can possibly speak with spirits and angels so long as he lives in the body; and many will say that it is all fancy, others that I relate such things in order to gain credence, and others will make other objections. But by all this I am not deterred, for I have seen, I have heard, I have felt.

69. Man was so created by the Lord as to be able while living in the body to speak with spirits and angels, as in fact was done in the most ancient times; for, being a spirit clothed with a body, he is one with them. But because in process of time men so immersed themselves in corporeal and worldly things as to care almost nothing for aught besides, the way was closed. Yet as soon as the corporeal things recede in which man is immersed, the way is again opened, and he is among spirits, and in a common life with them.

70. As it is permitted me to disclose what for several years I have heard and seen, it shall here be told, first, how the case is with man when he is being resuscitated; or how he enters from the life of the body into the life of eternity. In order that I might know that men live after death, it has been given me to speak and be in company with many who were known to me during their life in the body; and this not merely for a day or a week, but for months, and almost a year, speaking and associating with them just as in this world. They wondered exceedingly that while they lived in the body they were, and that very many others are, in such incredulity as to believe that they will not live after death; when in fact scarcely a day intervenes after the death of the body before they are in the other life; for death is a continuation of life.

71. But as these matters would be scattered and disconnected if inserted among those contained in the text of the Word, it is permitted, of the Lord's Divine mercy, to append them in some order, at the beginning and end of each chapter; besides those which are introduced incidentally.

72. At the end of this chapter, accordingly, I am allowed to tell how man is raised from the dead and enters into the life of eternity.

 

GENESIS 2:1-17

1. And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the army of them.

2. And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.

3. And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it, because that in it He rested from all His work which God in making created.

4. These are the nativities of the heavens and of the earth when He created them, in the day in which Jehovah God made the earth and the heavens.

5. And there was no shrub of the field as yet in the earth, and there was no herb of the field as yet growing, because Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth. And there was no man to till the ground.

6. And He made a mist to ascend from the earth, and watered all the faces of the ground.

7. And Jehovah God formed man, dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, and man became a living soul.

8. And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.

9. And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree desirable to behold, and good for food; the tree of lives also, in the midst of the garden; and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and was into four heads.

11. The name of the first is Pishon; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

12. And the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

13. And the name of the second river is Gihon; the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush.

14. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel; that is it which goeth eastward toward Assyria; and the fourth river is Euphrates.

15. And Jehovah God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden, to till it and take care of it.

16. And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden eating thou mayest eat.

17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die.

 

THE CONTENTS

73. When from being dead a man has become spiritual, then from spiritual he becomes celestial, as is now treated of (verse 1).

74. The celestial man is the seventh day, on which the Lord rests (verses 2, 3).

75. His knowledge and his rationality (scientificum et rationale ejus) are described by the shrub and the herb out of the ground watered by the mist (verses 5, 6).

76. His life is described by the breathing into him of the breath of lives (verse 7).

77. Afterwards his intelligence is described by the garden in Eden, in the east; in which the trees pleasant to the sight are perceptions of truth, and the trees good for food are perceptions of good. Love is meant by the tree of lives, faith by the tree of knowledge (scientiae) (verses 8, 9).

78. Wisdom is meant by the river in the garden. From thence were four rivers, the first of which is good and truth; the second is the knowledge (cognitio) of all things of good and truth, or of love and faith. These are of the internal man. The third is reason, and the fourth is memory-knowledge (scientia), which are of the external man. All are from wisdom, and this is from love and faith in the Lord (verses 10-14).

79. The celestial man is such a garden. But as the garden is the Lord's, it is permitted this man to enjoy all these things, and yet not to possess them as his own (verse 15).

80. He is also permitted to acquire a knowledge of what is good and true by means of every perception from the Lord, but he must not do so from himself and the world, nor search into the mysteries of faith by means of the things of sense and of memory-knowledge (sensualia et scientifica); which would cause the death of his celestial nature (verses 16, 17).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

81. This chapter treats of the celestial man, as the preceding one did of the spiritual, who was formed out of a dead man. But as it is unknown at this day what the celestial man is, and scarcely what the spiritual man is, or a dead man, it is permitted me briefly to state the nature of each, that the difference may be known. First, then, a dead man acknowledges nothing to be true and good but what belongs to the body and the world, and this he adores. A spiritual man acknowledges spiritual and celestial truth and good; but he does so from a principle of faith, which is likewise the ground of his actions, and not so much from love. A celestial man believes and perceives spiritual and celestial truth and good, acknowledging no other faith than that which is from love, from which also he acts.

[2] Secondly: The ends which influence a dead man regard only corporeal and worldly life, nor does he know what eternal life is, or what the Lord is; or should he know, he does not believe. The ends which influence a spiritual man regard eternal life, and thereby the Lord. The ends which influence a celestial man regard the Lord, and thereby His kingdom and eternal life.

[3] Thirdly: A dead man, when in combat almost always yields, and when not in combat, evils and falsities have dominion over him, and he is a slave. His bonds are external, such as the fear of the law, of the loss of life, of wealth, of gain, and of the reputation which he values for their sake. The spiritual man is in combat, but is always victorious; the bonds by which he is restrained are internal, and are called the bonds of conscience. The celestial man is not in combat, and when assaulted by evils and falsities, he despises them, and is therefore called a conqueror. He is apparently restrained by no bonds, but is free. His bonds, which are not apparent, are perceptions of good and truth.

82. Verse 1. And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the army of them. By these words is meant that man is now rendered so far spiritual as to have become the " sixth day;" "heaven" is his internal man, and "earth" his external; "the army of them" are love, faith, and the knowledges thereof, which were previously signified by the great luminaries and the stars. That the internal man is called "heaven", and the external "earth", is evident from the passages of the Word already cited in the preceding chapter, to which may be added the following from Isaiah: -

I will make a man more rare than solid gold, even a man than the precious gold of Ophir; therefore I will smite the heavens with terror, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place (Isaiah 13:12, 13).

Thou forgettest Jehovah thy Maker, that stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth; but I will put My words in thy mouth, and I will hide thee in the shadow of My hand, that I may stretch out the heaven, and lay the foundation of the earth (Isaiah 51:13, 16).

From these words it is evident that both "heaven" and "earth" are predicated of man; for although they refer primarily to the Most Ancient church, yet the interiors of the Word are of such a nature that whatever is said of the church may also be said of every individual member of it, who, unless he were a church, could not possibly be a part of the church, just as he who is not a temple of the Lord cannot be what is signified by the temple, namely, the church and heaven. It is for this reason that the Most Ancient Church is called "man", in the singular number.

83. The "heavens and the earth and all the army of them" are said to be "finished", when man has become the "sixth day", for then faith and love make a one. When they do this, love, and not faith, or in other words the celestial principle, and not the spiritual, begins to be the principal, and this is to be a celestial man.

84. Verses 2, 3. And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God in making created. The celestial man is the "seventh day", which, as the Lord has worked during the six days, is called "His work;" and as all combat then ceases, the Lord is said to "rest from all His work". On this account the seventh day was sanctified, and called the Sabbath, from a Hebrew word meaning "rest". And thus was man created, formed, and made. These things are very evident from the words.

85. That the celestial man is the "seventh day", and that the seventh day was therefore hallowed, and called the Sabbath, are arcana which have not hitherto been discovered. For none have been acquainted with the nature of the celestial man, and few with that of the spiritual man, whom in consequence of this ignorance they have made to be the same as the celestial man, notwithstanding the great difference that exists between them, as may be seen in (n. 81). As regards the seventh day, and as regards the celestial man being the "seventh day" or "Sabbath", this is evident from the fact that the Lord Himself is the Sabbath; and therefore He says: -

The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27),

which words imply that the Lord is Man himself, and the Sabbath itself. His kingdom in the heavens and on the earth is called, from Him, a Sabbath, or eternal peace and rest.

[2] The Most Ancient Church, which is here treated of, was the Sabbath of the Lord above all that succeeded it. Every subsequent inmost church of the Lord is also a Sabbath; and so is every regenerate person when he becomes celestial, because he is a likeness of the Lord. The six days of combat or labor precede. These things were represented in the Jewish church by the days of labor, and by the seventh day, which was the Sabbath; for in that church there was nothing instituted which was not representative of the Lord and of His kingdom. The like was also represented by the ark when it went forward, and when it rested, for by its journeyings in the wilderness were represented combats and temptations, and by its rest a state of peace; and therefore, when it set forward, Moses said: -

Rise up, Jehovah, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thy faces. And when it rested, he said, Return, Jehovah, unto the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel (Num. 10:35, 36).

It is there said of the ark that it went from the Mount of Jehovah "to search out a rest for them" (Num. 10:33).

[3] The rest of the celestial man is described by the Sabbath in Isaiah: -

If thou bring back thy foot from the Sabbath, so that thou doest not thy desire in the day of My holiness, and callest the things of the Sabbath delights to the holy of Jehovah, honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own desire, nor speaking a word; then shalt thou be delightful to Jehovah, and I will cause thee to be borne over the lofty things of the earth, and will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob (Isaiah 58:13, 14).

Such is the quality of the celestial man that he acts not according to his own desire, but according to the good pleasure of the Lord, which is his "desire". Thus he enjoys internal peace and happiness-here expressed by "being uplifted over the lofty things of the earth"-and at the same time external tranquillity and delight, which is signified by "being fed with the heritage of Jacob".

86. When the spiritual man, who has become the "sixth day", is beginning to be celestial, which state is here first treated of, it is the "eve of the Sabbath", represented in the Jewish Church by the keeping holy of the Sabbath from the evening. The celestial man is the "morning" to be spoken of presently.

87. Another reason why the celestial man is the " Sabbath", or "rest", is that combat ceases when he becomes celestial. The evil spirits retire, and good ones approach, as well as celestial angels; and when these are present, evil spirits cannot possibly remain, but flee far away. And since it was not the man himself who carried on the combat, but the Lord alone for the man, it is said that the Lord "rested".

88. When the spiritual man becomes celestial, he is called the "work of God", because the Lord alone has fought for him, and has created, formed, and made him; and therefore it is here said, "God finished His work on the seventh day;" and twice, that "He rested from all His work". By the Prophets man is repeatedly called the "work of the hands and of the fingers of Jehovah;" as in Isaiah, speaking of the regenerate man: -

Thus hath said Jehovah the Holy One of Israel, and his Former, Seek ye signs of Me, signs concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their army have I commanded. For thus hath said Jehovah that createth the heavens, God Himself that formeth the earth and maketh it; He establisheth it, He created it not a void, He formed it to be inhabited; I am Jehovah and there is no God else besides Me (Isaiah 45:11, 12, 18, 21).

Hence it is evident that the new creation, or regeneration, is the work of the Lord alone. The expressions to "create", to "form", and to "make", are employed quite distinctively, both in the above passage - "creating the heavens, forming the earth, and making it" - and in other places in the same Prophet, as: -

Every one that is called by My name, I have created him for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him (Isaiah 43:7),

and also in both the preceding and this chapter of Genesis; as in the passage before us: "He rested from all His work which God in making created". In the internal sense this usage always conveys a distinct idea; and the case is the same where the Lord is called "Creator", "Former", or "Maker".

89. Verse 4. These are the nativities of the heavens and of the earth, when He created them, in the day in which Jehovah God made the earth and the heavens. The "nativities of the heavens and of the earth", are the formations of the celestial man. That his formation is here treated of is very evident from all the particulars which follow, as that no herb was as yet growing; that there was no man to till the ground, as well as that Jehovah God formed man, and afterwards, that He made every beast and bird of the heavens, notwithstanding that the formation of these had been treated of in the foregoing chapter; from all which it is manifest that another man is here treated of. This however is still more evident from the fact, that now for the first time the Lord is called "Jehovah God", whereas in the preceding passages, which treat of the spiritual man, He is called simply "God;" and, further, that now "ground" and "field" are mentioned, while in the preceding passages only "earth" is mentioned. In this verse also "heaven" is first mentioned before "earth", and afterwards "earth" before "heaven;" the reason of which is that "earth" signifies the external man, and "heaven" the internal, and in the spiritual man reformation begins from "earth", that is, from the external man, while in the celestial man, who is here treated of, it begins from the internal man, or from "heaven".

90. Verses 5, 6. And there was no shrub of the field as yet in the earth, and there was no herb of the field as yet growing, because Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth; and there was no man to till the ground. And He made a mist to ascend from the earth, and watered all the faces of the ground. By the "shrub of the field", and the "herb of the field", are meant in general all that his external man produces. The external man is called "earth" while he remains spiritual, but "ground" and also "field" when he becomes celestial. "Rain", which is soon after called "mist", is the tranquillity of peace when combat ceases.

91. But what these things involve cannot possibly be perceived unless it is known what man's state is while from being spiritual he is becoming celestial, for they are deeply hidden. While he is spiritual, the external man is not yet willing to yield obedience to and serve the internal, and therefore there is a combat; but when he becomes celestial, then the external man begins to obey and serve the internal, and therefore the combat ceases, and tranquillity ensues. (n. 87). This tranquillity is signified by "rain" and "mist", for it is like a vapor with which the external man is watered and bedewed from the internal; and it is this tranquillity, the offspring of peace, which produces what are called the "shrub of the field", and the "herb of the field", which, specifically, are things of the rational mind and of the memory (rationalia et scientifica) from a celestial spiritual origin.

92. The nature of the tranquillity of peace of the external man, on the cessation of combat, or of the unrest caused by cupidities and falsities, can be known only to those who are acquainted with a state of peace. This state is so delightful that it surpasses every idea of delight: it is not only a cessation of combat, but is life proceeding from interior peace, and affecting the external man in such a manner as cannot be described; the truths of faith, and the goods of love, which derive their life from the delight of peace, are then born.

93. The state of the celestial man, thus gifted with the tranquillity of peace-refreshed by the rain-and delivered from the slavery of what is evil and false, is thus described by the Lord in Ezekiel: -

I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil wild beast to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell confidently in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods; and I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the rain to come down in his season; rains of blessing shall they be. And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be upon their ground in confidence, and shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the reins of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that make them to serve them; and ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, ye are a man, and I am your God (Ezekiel 34:25-27, 31).

And that this is effected on the "third day", which in the Word signifies the same as the "seventh", is thus declared in Hosea: -

After two days will He vivify us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him; and we shall know, and shall follow on to know Jehovah: His going forth is prepared as the dawn, and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the late rain watering the earth (Hosea 6:2, 3).

And that this state is compared to the "growth of the field", is declared by Ezekiel, when speaking of the Ancient Church: -

I have caused thee to multiply as the growth of the field, and thou hast increased and hast grown up, and hast come to excellent ornaments (Ezekiel 16:7).

And it is also compared to A shoot of the Lords planting, and a work of the hands of Jehovah God (Isa. 60:21).

94. Verse 7. And Jehovah God formed man, dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath (spiraculum) of lives, and man became a living soul. To "form man, dust from the ground", is to form his external man, which before was not man; for it is said in (verse 5) that there was "no man to till the ground". To "breathe into his nostrils the breath of lives", is to give him the life of faith and love; and by "man became a living soul", is signified that his external man also was made alive.

95. The life of the external man is here treated of-the life of his faith or understanding in the two former verses, and the life of his love or will in this verse. Hitherto the external man has been unwilling to yield to and serve the internal, being engaged in a continual combat with him, and therefore the external man was not then "man". Now, however, being made celestial, the external man begins to obey and serve the internal, and it also becomes "man", being so rendered by the life of faith and the life of love. The life of faith prepares him, but it is the life of love which causes him to be "man".

96. As to its being said that "Jehovah God breathed into his nostrils", the case is this: In ancient times, and in the Word, by "nostrils" was understood whatever was grateful in consequence of its odor, which signifies perception. On this account it is repeatedly written of Jehovah, that He "smelled an odor of rest" from the burnt-offerings, and from those things which represented Him and His kingdom; and as the things relating to love and faith are most grateful to Him, it is said that "He breathed through his nostrils the breath of lives". Hence the anointed of Jehovah, that is, of the Lord, is called the "breath of the nostrils" (Lam. 4:20). And the Lord Himself signified the same by "breathing on His disciples", as written in John: -

He breathed on them and said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).

97. The reason why life is described by "breathing" and by "breath", is also that the men of the Most Ancient Church perceived states of love and of faith by states of respiration, which were successively changed in their posterity. Of this respiration nothing can as yet be said, because at this day such things are altogether unknown. The most ancient people were well acquainted with it, and so are those who are in the other life, but no longer any one on this earth, and this was the reason why they likened spirit or life to "wind". The Lord also does this when speaking of the regeneration of man, in John: -

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, and knowest not whence it cometh, or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the spirit (John 3:8).

So in David: -

By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the army of them by the breath of His mouth (Ps. 33:6).

And again: -

Thou gatherest their breath, they expire, and return to their dust; Thou sendest forth Thy spirit, they are created, and Thou renewest the faces of the ground (Ps. 104:29, 30).

That the "breath (spiraculum)" is used for the life of faith and of love, appears from Job: -

He is the spirit in man, and the breath of Shaddai giveth them understanding (Job 32:8).

Again in the same: -

The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of Shaddai hath given me life (Job 33:4).

98. Verse 8. And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward (ab oriente) in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. By a "garden" is signified intelligence; by "Eden", love; by the "east", the Lord; consequently by the "garden of Eden eastward", is signified the intelligence of the celestial man, which flows in from the Lord through love.

99. Life, or the order of life, with the spiritual man, is such that although the Lord flows in, through faith, into the things of his understanding, reason, and memory (in ejus intellectualia, rationalia, et scientifica), yet as his external man fights against his internal man, it appears as if intelligence did not flow in from the Lord, but from the man himself, through the things of memory and reason (per scientifica et rationalia). But the life, or order of life, of the celestial man, is such that the Lord flows in through love and the faith of love into the things of his understanding, reason, and memory (in ejus intellectualia, rationalia, et scientifica), and as there is no combat between the internal and the external man, he perceives that this is really so. Thus the order which up to this point had been inverted with the spiritual man, is now described as restored with the celestial man, and this order, or man, is called a "garden in Eden in the east". In the supreme sense, the "garden planted by Jehovah God in Eden in the east" is the Lord Himself. In the inmost sense, which is also the universal sense, it is the Lord's kingdom, and the heaven in which man is placed when he has become celestial. His state then is such that he is with the angels in heaven, and is as it were one among them; for man has been so created that while living in this world he may at the same time be in heaven. In this state all his thoughts and ideas of thoughts, and even his words and actions, are open, even from the Lord, and contain within them what is celestial and spiritual; for there is in every man the life of the Lord, which causes him to have perception.

100. That a "garden" signifies intelligence, and "Eden" love, appears also from Isaiah: -

Jehovah will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places, and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found therein, confession and the voice of singing (Isaiah 51:3).

In this passage, "wilderness", "joy", and "confession", are terms expressive of the celestial things of faith, or such as relate to love; but "desert", "gladness", and "the voice of singing", of the spiritual things of faith, or such as belong to the understanding. The former have relation to "Eden", the latter to "garden;" for with this Prophet two expressions constantly occur concerning the same thing, one of which signifies celestial, and the other spiritual things. What is further signified by the "garden in Eden", may be seen in what follows at (verse 10).

101. That the Lord is the "east" also appears from the Word, as in Ezekiel: -

He brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh the way of the east, and behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east; and His voice was as the voice of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory (Ezekiel 43:1, 2, 4).

It was in consequence of the Lord's being the "east" that a holy custom prevailed in the representative Jewish Church, before the building of the temple, of turning their faces toward the east when they prayed.

102. Verse 9. And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree desirable to behold, and good for food; the tree of lives also, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge (scientiae) of good and evil. A "tree" signifies perception; a "tree desirable to behold", the perception of truth; a "tree good for food", the perception of good; the "tree of lives", love and the faith thence derived; the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil", faith derived from what is sensuous, that is, from mere memory-knowledge (scientia).

103. The reason why "trees" here signify perceptions is that the celestial man is treated of, but it is otherwise when the subject is the spiritual man, for on the nature of the subject depends that of the predicate.

104. At this day it is unknown what Perception is. It is a certain internal sensation from the Lord alone, as to whether a thing is true and good; and it was very well known to the Most Ancient church. This perception is so perfect with the angels, that by it they are aware and have knowledge of what is true and good; of what is from the Lord, and what from themselves; and also of the quality of any one who comes to them, merely from his approach, and from a single one of his ideas. The spiritual man has no perception, but has conscience. A dead man has not even conscience; and very many do not know what conscience is, and still less what perception is.

105. The "tree of lives" is love and the faith thence derived; "in the midst of the garden", is in the will of the internal man. The will, which in the Word is called the "heart", is the primary possession of the Lord with man and angel. But as no one can do good of himself, the will or heart is not man's, although it is predicated of man; cupidity, which he calls will, is man's. Since then the will is the "midst of the garden", where the tree of lives is placed, and man has no will, but mere cupidity, the "tree of lives" is the mercy of the Lord, from whom come all love and faith, consequently all life.

106. But the nature of the "tree of the garden", or perception; of the "tree of lives", or love and the faith thence derived; and of the "tree of knowledge", or faith originating in what is sensuous and in mere memory-knowledge, will be shown in the following pages.

107. Verse 10. And a river went out of Eden, to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and was into four heads. A "river out of Eden", signifies wisdom from love, for "Eden" is love; "to water the garden", is to bestow intelligence; to be "thence parted into four heads", is a description of intelligence by means of the four rivers, as follows.

108. The most ancient people, when comparing man to a "garden", also compared wisdom, and the things relating to wisdom, to "rivers;" nor did they merely compare them, but actually so called them, for such was their way of speaking. It was the same afterwards in the Prophets, who sometimes compared them, and sometimes called them so. As in Isaiah: -

Thy light shall arise in darkness, and thy thick darkness shall be as the light of day; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like an outlet of waters, whose waters lie not (Isaiah 58:10, 11).

Treating of those who receive faith and love. Again, speaking of the regenerate: -

As the valleys are they planted, as gardens by the river's side; as lignaloes which Jehovah hath planted, as cedar-trees beside the waters (Num. 24:6).

In Jeremiah: -

Blessed is the man who trusteth in Jehovah; he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that sendeth forth her roots by the river (Jeremiah 17:7, 8).

In Ezekiel the regenerate are not compared to a garden and a tree, but are so called: -

The waters made her to grow, the deep of waters uplifted her, the river ran round about her plant, and sent out its channels to all the trees of the field; she was made beautiful in her greatness, in the length of her branches, for her root was by many waters. The cedars in the garden of God did not hide her; the fir-trees were not like her boughs, and the plane-trees were not like her branches, nor was any tree in the garden of God equal to her in her beauty; I have made her beautiful by the multitude of her branches, and all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied her (Ezekiel 31:4, 7-9).

From these passages it is evident that when the most ancient people compared man, or the things in man, to a "garden", they added the "waters" and "rivers" by which he might be watered, and by these waters and rivers meant such things as would cause his growth.

109. That although wisdom and intelligence appear in man, they are, as has been said, of the Lord alone, is plainly declared in Ezekiel by means of similar representatives: -

Behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward for the face of the house is the east; and he said, These waters issue out to the border toward the east, and go down into the plain, and come to the sea, which being led into the sea, the waters shall be healed; and it shall come to pass that every living soul which creepeth, whithersoever the water of the rivers shall come, shall live. And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, there come up all trees for food, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed; it is born again in its months, because these its waters issue out of the sanctuary, and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for medicine (Ezekiel 47:1, 8, 9, 12).

Here the Lord is signified by the "east", and by the "sanctuary", whence the waters and rivers issued. In like manner in John: -

He showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, going forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street thereof, and of the river on this side and that, was the tree of life, which bare twelve (manner of) fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaf of the tree was for the healing of the nations (Rev. 22:1, 2).

110. Verses 11, 12. The name of the first is Pishon; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone. The " first" river, or "Pishon", signifies the intelligence of the faith that is from love "the land of Havilah" signifies the mind; "gold" signifies good; "bdellium and the onyx stone", truth. " Gold" is mentioned twice because it signifies the good of love and the good of faith from love; and "bdellium and the onyx stone" are mentioned because the one signifies the truth of love, and the other the truth of faith from love. Such is the celestial man.

111. It is however a very difficult matter to describe these things as they are in the internal sense, for at the present day no one knows what is meant by faith from love, and what by the wisdom and intelligence thence derived. For external men scarcely know of anything but memory-knowledge (scientia), which they call intelligence and wisdom, and faith. They do not even know what love is, and many do not know what the will and understanding are, and that they constitute one mind. And yet each of these things is distinct, yea, most distinct, and the universal heaven is ordinated by the Lord in the most distinct manner according to the differences of love and faith, which are innumerable.

112. Be it known moreover that there is no wisdom which is not from love, thus from the Lord; nor any intelligence except from faith, thus also from the Lord; and that there is no good except from love, thus from the Lord; and no truth except from faith, thus from the Lord. What are not from love and faith, and thus from the Lord, are indeed called by these names, but they are spurious.

113. Nothing is more common in the Word than for the good of wisdom or of love to be signified and represented by "gold". All the gold in the ark, in the temple, in the golden table, in the candlestick, in the vessels, and upon the garments of Aaron, signified and represented the good of wisdom or of love. So also in the Prophets, as in Ezekiel: -

In thy wisdom and in thine intelligence thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver in thy treasures (Ezekiel 18:4),

where it is plainly said that from wisdom and intelligence are "gold and silver", or the good and the true, for " silver here signifies truth, as it does also in the ark and in the temple. In Isaiah: -

The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come, they shall bring gold and incense, and they shall show forth the praises of Jehovah (Isaiah 60:6).

Thus also: -

The wise men from the east, who came to Jesus when He was born, fell down and worshiped Him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh (Matt. 2:1, 11).

Here also "gold" signifies good; "frankincense and myrrh", things that are grateful because from love and faith, and which are therefore called "the praises of Jehovah". Wherefore it is said in David: -

He shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba; prayer also shall be made for him continually, and every day shall He bless him (Ps. 72:15).

114. The truth of faith is signified and represented in the Word by precious "stones", as by those in the breast-plate of judgment, and on the shoulders of Aaron's ephod. In the breast-plate, "gold, blue, bright crimson, scarlet double-dyed, and fine-twined linen", represented such things as are of love, and the precious "stones" such as are of faith from love; as did likewise the two "stones of memorial" on the shoulders of the ephod, which were onyx stones, set in ouches of gold (Exod. 28:9-22). This signification of precious stones is also plain from Ezekiel, where, speaking of a man possessed of heavenly riches, which are wisdom and intelligence, it is said: -

Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty, thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the ruby, the topaz, the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; the sapphire, the chrysoprase, the emerald, and gold; the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was in thee; in the day that thou wast created they were prepared; thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created (Ezekiel 28:12, 13, 15),

which words it must be evident to every one do not signify stones, but the celestial and spiritual things of faith; yea, each stone represented some essential of faith.

115. When the most ancient people spoke of "lands", they understood what was signified by them, just as those at the present day who have an idea that the land of Canaan and Mount Zion signify heaven, do not so much as think of any land or mountain when these places are mentioned, but only of the things which they signify. It is so here with the "land of Havilah", which is mentioned again in (Genesis 25:18), where it is said of the sons of Ishmael, that they "dwelt from Havilah even unto Shur, which is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria". Those who are in a heavenly idea perceive from these words nothing but intelligence, and what flows from intelligence. So by to "compass"-as where it is said that the river Pishon "compasseth the whole land of Havilah"-they perceive a flowing in; as also in the onyx stones on the shoulders of Aaron's ephod being encompassed with ouches of gold (Exod. 28:11), they perceive that the good of love should inflow into the truth of faith. And so in many other instances.

116. Verse 13. And the name of the second river is Gihon; the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush. The "second river", which is called "Gihon", signifies the knowledge (cognitio) of all things that belong to the good and the true, or to love and faith, and the "land of Cush" signifies the mind or faculty. The mind is constituted of the will and the understanding; and what is said of the first river has reference to the will, and what of this one to the understanding to which belong the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and of truth.

117. The "land of Cush", or Ethiopia, moreover, abounded in gold, precious stones, and spices, which, as before said, signify good, truth, and the things thence derived which are grateful, such as are those of the knowledges of love and faith. This is evident from the passages above cited (n. 113) from (Isa. 60:6; Matt. 2:1, 11; Ps. 72:15). That similar things are meant in the Word by "Cush" or "Ethiopia", and also by " Sheba", is evident from the Prophets, as in Zephaniah, where also the " rivers of Cush" are mentioned: -

In the morning He will give His judgment for light; for then will I turn to the people with a clear language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve Him with one shoulder; from the passage of the rivers of Cush My suppliants shall bring Mine offering (Zephaniah 3:5, 9, 10).

And in Daniel, speaking of the king of the north and of the south: -

He shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the desirable things of Egypt; and the Lybians and the Ethiopians shall be under his steps (Daniel 11:43),

where "Egypt" denotes memory-knowledges (scientifica), and the "Ethiopians" knowledges (cognitiones).

[2] So in Ezekiel: -

The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, these were thy merchants, in the chief of all spices, and in every precious stone, and in gold (Ezekiel 27:22),

by whom in like manner are signified knowledges (cognitiones) of faith. So in David, speaking of the Lord, consequently of the celestial man: -

In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace until there shall be no moon; the kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer a gift (Ps. 72:7, 10).

These words, as is plain from their connection with the preceding and subsequent verses, signify celestial things of faith. Similar things were signified by the queen of Sheba, who came to Solomon, and proposed hard questions, and brought him spices, gold, and precious stones (1 Kings 10:1, 2). For all things contained in the historical parts of the Word, as well as in the Prophets, signify, represent, and involve arcana.

118. Verse 14. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel; that is it which goeth eastward toward Asshur; and the fourth river it is Phrath. The "river Hiddekel" is reason, or the clearsightedness of reason. "Asshur" is the rational mind; the " river which goeth eastward toward Asshur", signifies that the clearsightedness of reason comes from the Lord through the internal man into the rational mind, which is of the external man "Phrath", or Euphrates, is memory-knowledge (scientia), which is the ultimate or boundary.

119. That "Asshur" signifies the rational mind, or the rational of man, is very evident in the Prophets, as in Ezekiel: -

Behold, Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and a shady grove, and lofty in height; and her offshoot was among the thick boughs. The waters made her grow, the deep of waters uplifted her, the river ran round about her plant (Ezekiel 31:3, 4).

The rational is called a "cedar in Lebanon;" the "offshoot among the thick boughs", signifies the knowledges of the memory, which are in this very plight. This is still clearer in Isaiah: -

In that day shall there be a path from Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur shall come into Egypt, and Egypt into Asshur, and the Egyptians shall serve Asshur. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the land, that Jehovah Zebaoth shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance (Isaiah 19:23-25).

By "Egypt" in this and various other passages is signified memory-knowledges, by "Asshur" reason, and by "Israel" intelligence.

120. As by "Egypt", so also by "Euphrates", are signified memory-knowledges (scientiae seu scientifica), and also the sensuous things from which these knowledges come. This is evident from the Word in the Prophets, as in Micah: -

My she-enemy hath said, Where is Jehovah thy God? The day in which He shall build thy walls (macerias), that day shall the decree be far removed; that day also He shall come even to thee from Asshur, and to the cities of Egypt, and to the river (Euphrates) (Micah 7:10-12).

So did the prophets speak concerning the coming of the Lord who should regenerate man so that he might become like the celestial man. In Jeremiah: -

What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Asshur, to drink the waters of the river (Euphrates)? (Jeremiah 2:18),

where "Egypt" and "Euphrates" likewise signify memory-knowledges, and "Asshur" reasonings thence derived. In David: -

Thou hast made a vine to go forth out of Egypt; Thou hast cast out the nations; Thou hast planted her; Thou hast sent out her shoots even to the sea, and her twigs to the river (Euphrates) (Ps. 80:8, 11),

where also the "river Euphrates" signifies what is sensuous and of the memory (sensuali et scientifico). For the Euphrates was the boundary of the dominions of Israel toward Assyria, as the knowledge of the memory is the boundary of the intelligence and wisdom of the spiritual and celestial man. The same is signified by what was said to Abraham: -

Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates (Gen. 15:18).

These two boundaries have a like signification.

121. The nature of celestial order, or how the things of life proceed, is evident from these rivers, namely, from the Lord, who is the "East", and that from Him proceeds wisdom, through wisdom intelligence, through intelligence reason, and so by means of reason the knowledges of the memory are vivified. This is the order of life, and such are celestial men; and therefore, since the elders of Israel represented celestial men, they were called "wise, intelligent, and knowing" (Deut. 1:13, 15). Hence it is said of Bezaleel, who constructed the ark, that he was Filled with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge (scientia), and in all work (Exod. 31:3; 35:31; 36:1, 2).

122. Verse 15. And Jehovah God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden, to till it and take care of it. By the "garden of Eden" are signified all things of the celestial man, as described; by to "till it and take care of it", is signified that it is permitted him to enjoy all these things, but not to possess them as his own, because they are the Lord's.

123. The celestial man acknowledges, because he perceives, that all things both in general and in particular are the Lord's. The spiritual man does indeed acknowledge the same, but with the mouth, because he has learned it from the Word. The worldly and corporeal man neither acknowledges nor admits it; but whatever he has he calls his own, and imagines that were be to lose it, he would altogether perish.

124. That wisdom, intelligence, reason, and knowledge (scientia), are not of man, but of the Lord, is very evident from all that the Lord taught; as in Matthew, where the Lord compares Himself to a householder, who planted a vineyard, and hedged it round, and let it out to husbandmen (Matthew 21:33); and in John: -

The Spirit of truth shall guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself, but what things soever He shall hear, He shall speak; He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall declare it unto you (John 16:13, 14).

And in another place: -

A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven (John 3:27).

That this is really so is known to every one who is acquainted with even a few of the arcana of heaven.

125. Verse 16. And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden, eating thou mayest eat. To "eat of every tree", is to know from perception what is good and true; for, as before observed, a "tree" signifies perception. The men of the Most Ancient Church had the knowledges of true faith by means of revelations, for they conversed with the Lord and with angels, and were also instructed by visions and dreams, which were most delightful and paradisal to them. They had from the Lord continual perception, so that when they reflected on what was treasured up in the memory they instantly perceived whether it was true and good, insomuch that when anything false presented itself, they not only avoided it but even regarded it with horror: such also is the state of the angels. In place of this perception of the Most Ancient Church, however, there afterwards succeeded the knowledge (cognitio) of what is true and good from what had been previously revealed, and afterwards from what was revealed in the Word.

126. Verse 17. But of the tree of the knowledge (scientia) of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die. These words, taken together with those just explained, signify that it is allowable to become acquainted with what is true and good by means of every perception derived from the Lord, but not from self and the world; that is, we are not to inquire into the mysteries of faith by means of the things of sense and of the memory (per sensualia et scientifica), for in this case the celestial of faith is destroyed.

127. A desire to investigate the mysteries of faith by means of the things of sense and of the memory, was not only the cause of the fall of the posterity of the Most Ancient Church, as treated of in the following chapter, but it is also the cause of the fall of every church; for hence come not only falsities, but also evils of life.

128. The worldly and corporeal man says in his heart, If I am not instructed concerning the faith, and everything relating to it, by means of the things of sense, so that I may see, or by means of those of the memory (scientifica), so that I may understand, I will not believe; and he confirms himself in this by the consideration that natural things cannot he contrary to spiritual. Thus he is desirous of being instructed from things of sense in what is celestial and Divine, which is as impossible as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle; for the more he desires to grow wise by such means, the more he blinds himself, till at length he believes nothing, not even that there is anything spiritual, or that there is eternal life. This comes from the principle which he assumes. And this is to "eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil", of which the more any one eats, the more dead he becomes. But he who would be wise from the Lord, and not from the world, says in his heart that the Lord must be believed, that is, the things which the Lord has spoken in the Word, because they are truths; and according to this principle he regulates his thoughts. He confirms himself by things of reason, of knowledge, of the senses, and of nature (per rationalia, scientifica, sensualia et naturalia), and those which are not confirmatory he casts aside.

129. Every one may know that man is governed by the principles he assumes, be they ever so false, and that all his knowledge and reasoning favor his principles; for innumerable considerations tending to support them present themselves to his mind, and thus he is confirmed in what is false. He therefore who assumes as a principle that nothing is to be believed until it is seen and understood, can never believe, because spiritual and celestial things cannot be seen with the eyes, or conceived by the imagination. But the true order is for man to be wise from the Lord, that is, from His Word, and then all things follow, and he is enlightened even in matters of reason and of memory-knowledge (in rationalibus et scientificis). For it is by no means forbidden to learn the sciences, since they are useful to his life and delightful; nor is he who is in faith prohibited from thinking and speaking as do the learned of the world; but it must be from this principle-to believe the Word of the Lord, and, so far as possible, confirm spiritual and celestial truths by natural truths, in terms familiar to the learned world. Thus his starting-point must be the Lord, and not himself; for the former is life, but the latter is death.

130. He who desires to be wise from the world, has for his "garden" the things of sense and of memory-knowledge (sensualia et scientifica); the love of self and the love of the world are his "Eden; his " east" is the west, or himself; his "river Euphrates" is all his memory-knowledge (scientificum), which is condemned; his "second river", where is "Assyria", is infatuated reasoning productive of falsities; his "third river", where is "Ethiopia", is the principles of evil and falsity thence derived, which are the knowledges of his faith; his "fourth river" is the wisdom thence derived, which in the Word is called "magic". And therefore "Egypt"-which signifies memory-knowledge (scientia) - after the knowledge became magical, signifies such a man, because, as may be seen from the Word, he desires to be wise from self. Of such it is written in Ezekiel: -

Thus hath said the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great whale that lieth in the midst of his rivers, who hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made myself. And the land of Egypt shall be for a solitude, and a waste, and they shall know that I am Jehovah, because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made (Ezekiel 29:3, 9).

Such men are also called "trees of Eden in hell", in the same Prophet, where also Pharaoh, or the Egyptian, is treated of in these words: -

When I shall have made him descend into hell with them that descend into the pit; to whom art thou thus made like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be made to descend with the trees of Eden into the lower earth, in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his crew (Ezekiel 31:16, 18),

where the "trees of Eden" denote knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones) from the Word, which they thus profane by reasonings.

 

GENESIS 2:18-25

18. And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him a help as with him.

19. And Jehovah God formed out of the ground every beast of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and brought it to the man to see what he would call it; and whatsoever the man called every living soul, that was the name thereof.

20. And the man gave names to every beast, and to the fowl of the heavens, and to every wild animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a help as with him.

21. And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in the place thereof.

22. And the rib which Jehovah God had taken from the man, He built into a woman, and brought her to the man.

23. And the man said, This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; therefore she shall be called wife, because she was taken out of man (vir).

24. Therefore shall a man (vir) leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.

25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

 

THE CONTENTS

131. The posterity of the Most Ancient Church, which inclined to their Own, is here treated of.

132. Since man is such as not to be content to be led by the Lord, but desires to be led also by himself and the world, or by his Own, therefore the Own which was granted him is here treated of (verse 18).

133. And first it is given him to know the affections of good and the knowledges of truth with which he is endowed by the Lord; but still he inclines to his Own (verses 19, 20).

134. Wherefore he is let into a state of his Own, and an Own is given him, which is described by the rib built into a woman (verses 21 to 23).

135. Celestial and spiritual life are adjoined to the man's Own, so that they appear as a one (verse 24).

136. And innocence from the Lord is insinuated into this Own, so that it still might not be unacceptable (verse 25).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

137. The first three chapters of Genesis treat in general of the Most Ancient Church which is called "Man" (homo), from its first period to its last, when it perished: the preceding part of this chapter treats of its most flourishing state, when it was a celestial man; here it now treats of those who inclined to their Own, and of their posterity.

138. Verse 18. And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help as with him. By "alone" is signified that he was not content to be led by the Lord, but desired to be led by self and the world; by a "help as with him", is signified man's Own, which is subsequently called a "rib built into a woman".

139. In ancient times those were said to "dwell alone" who were under the Lord's guidance as celestial men, because such were no longer infested by evils, or evil spirits. This was represented in the Jewish Church also by their dwelling alone when they had driven out the nations. On this account it is sometimes said of the Lord's church, in the Word, that she is "alone", as in Jeremiah: -

Arise, get you up to a quiet nation that dwelleth confidently, saith the Lord, which hath neither gates nor bar; they dwell alone (Jeremiah 49:31).

In the prophecy of Moses: -

Israel hath dwelt confidently alone (Deut. 33:28).

And still more clearly in the prophecy of Balaam: -

Lo, the people dwelleth alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations (Num. 23:9),

where "nations" signify evils. This posterity of the Most Ancient Church was not disposed to dwell alone, that is, to be a celestial man, or to be led by the Lord as a celestial man, but, like the Jewish Church, desired to be among the nations. And because they desired this, it is said, "it is not good that the man should be alone", for he who desires is already in evil, and it is granted him.

140. That by "a help as with him" is signified man's Own, is evident both from the nature of this Own, and from what follows. As however the man of the church who is here treated of was well disposed, an Own was granted him, but of such a kind that it appeared as it were his own, and therefore it is said "a help as with him".

141. Innumerable things might be said about man's Own in describing its nature with the corporeal and worldly man, with the spiritual man, and with the celestial man. With the corporeal and worldly man, his Own is his all, he knows of nothing else than his Own, and imagines, as before said, that if he were to lose this Own he would perish. With the spiritual man also his Own has a similar appearance, for although he knows that the Lord is the life of all, and gives wisdom and understanding, and consequently the power to think and to act, yet this knowledge is rather the profession of his lips than the belief of his heart. But the celestial man discerns that the Lord is the life of all and gives the power to think and to act, for he perceives that it is really so. He never desires his Own, nevertheless an Own is given him by the Lord, which is conjoined with all perception of what is good and true, and with all happiness. The angels are in such an Own, and are at the same time in the highest peace and tranquillity, for in their Own are those things which are the Lord's, who governs their Own, or them by means of their Own. This Own is the veriest celestial itself, whereas that of the corporeal man is infernal. But concerning this Own more hereafter.

142. Verses 19, 20. And Jehovah God formed out of the ground every beast of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and brought it to the man to see what he would call it; and whatsoever the man called every living soul, that was the name thereof. And the man gave names to every beast, and to the fowl of the heavens, and to every wild animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a help as with him. By "beasts" are signified celestial affections, and by " fowls of the heavens", spiritual affections; that is to say, by "beasts" are signified things of the will, and by "fowls" things of the understanding. To "bring them to the man to see what he would call them", is to enable him to know their quality, and his "giving them names", signifies that he knew it. But notwithstanding that he knew the quality of the affections of good and of the knowledges of truth that were given him by the Lord, still he inclined to his Own, which is expressed in the same terms as before-that "there was not found a help as with him".

143. That by "beasts" and "animals" were anciently signified affections and like things in man, may appear strange at the present day; but as the men of those times were in a celestial idea, and as such things are represented in the world of spirits by animals, and in fact by such animals as they are like, therefore when they spoke in that way they meant nothing else. Nor is anything else meant in the Word in those places where beasts are mentioned either generally or specifically. The whole prophetic Word is full of such things, and therefore one who does not know what each beast specifically signifies, cannot possibly understand what the Word contains in the internal sense. But, as before observed, beasts are of two kinds evil or noxious beasts, and good or harmless ones-and by the good beasts are signified good affections, as for instance by sheep, lambs, and doves; and as it is the celestial, or the celestial spiritual man, who is treated of, such are here meant. That "beasts" in general signify affections, may be seen above, confirmed by some passages in the Word (n. 45, 46), so that there is no need of further confirmation.

144. That to "call by name" signifies to know the quality, is because the ancients, by the "name", understood the essence of a thing, and by "seeing and calling by name", they understood to know the quality. The reason was that they gave names to their sons and daughters according to the things which were signified, for every name had something peculiar in it, from which, and by which, they might know the origin and the nature of their children, as will be seen in a future part of this work, when, of the Lord's Divine mercy, we come to treat of the twelve sons of Jacob. As therefore the names implied the source and quality of the things named, nothing else was understood by "calling by name". This was the customary mode of speaking among them, but one who does not understand this may wonder that such things should be signified.

145. In the Word also by "name" is signified the essence of a thing, and by "seeing and calling by name" is signified to know the quality. As in Isaiah: -

I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, Jehovah, who call thee by thy name am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel My chosen, I have even called thee by thy name, I have surnamed thee, and thou hast not known Me (Isaiah 45:3, 4).

In this passage, to "call by name", and to "surname" signifies to foreknow the quality. Again: -

Thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall declare (Isaiah 62:2),

signifying to become of another character, as appears from the preceding and subsequent verses. Again: -

Fear not, O Israel, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine (Isaiah 43:1),

denoting that He knew their quality. Again in the same Prophet: -

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their army by number. He will call them all by name (Isaiah 40:26),

meaning that He knew them all. In the Revelation: -

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments: he that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels (Revelation 3:4, 5).

And in another place: -

Whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life (Revelation 13:8).

By "names" in these passages are by no means meant names, but qualities; nor is the name of any one ever known in heaven, but his quality.

146. From what has been stated, the connection of what is signified may be seen. In (verse 18) it is said, "It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him a help as with him", and presently "beasts" and "birds" are spoken of, which nevertheless had been treated of before, and immediately it is repeated that "for the man there was not found a help as with him", which denotes that although he was permitted to know his quality as to the affections of good, and knowledges of truth, still he inclined to his Own; for those who are such as to desire what is their own, begin to despise the things of the Lord, however plainly they may be represented and shown to them.

147. Verse 21. And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in the place thereof. By a "rib", which is a bone of the chest, is meant man's Own, in which there is but little vitality, and indeed an Own which is dear to him; by "flesh in the place of the rib", is meant an Own in which there is vitality; by a "deep sleep" is meant the state into which he was let so that he might seem to himself to have what is his own, which state resembles sleep, because while in it he knows not but that he lives, thinks, speaks, and acts, from himself. But when he begins to know that this is false, he is then roused as it were out of sleep, and becomes awake.

148. The reason why what is man's own (and indeed an Own which is dear to him) is called a "rib", which is a bone of the chest, is that among the most ancient people the chest signified charity, because it contains both the heart and the lungs; and bones signified the viler things, because they possess a minimum of vitality; while flesh denoted such as had vitality. The ground of these significations is one of the deepest arcana known to the men of the most Ancient Church, concerning which of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

149. In the Word also, man's Own is signified by "bones", and indeed an Own vivified by the Lord, as in Isaiah: -

Jehovah shall satisfy thy soul in droughts, and make thy bones alert, and thou shalt be like a watered garden (Isaiah 58:11).

Again: -

Then shall ye see, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall sprout as the blade (Isaiah 66:14).

In David: -

All my bones shall say, Jehovah, who is like unto Thee? (Ps. 35:10).

This is still more evident from Ezekiel, where he speaks of bones receiving flesh, and having spirit put into them: -

The hand of Jehovah set me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones; and He said to me, prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah; thus saith the Lord Jehovih to these bones; behold, I bring breath (spiritus) into you, and ye shall live, and I will lay sinews upon you, and will make flesh come upon you, and cover you with skin, and I will put breath (spiritus) in you, and ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah (Ezekiel 37:1, 4-6).

[2] The Own of man, when viewed from heaven, appears like a something that is wholly bony, inanimate, and very ugly, consequently as being in itself dead, but when vivified by the Lord it looks like flesh. For man's Own is a mere dead thing, although to him it appears as something, indeed as everything. Whatever lives in him is from the Lord's life, and if this were withdrawn he would fall down as dead as a stone for man is only an organ of life, and such as is the organ, such is the life's affection. The Lord alone has what is His Own; by this Own He redeemed man, and by this Own He saves him. The Lord's Own is Life, and from His Own, man's Own, which in itself is dead, is made alive. The Lord's Own is also signified by the Lord's words in Luke: -

A spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have (Luke 24:39).

It was also meant by not a bone of the paschal lamb being broken (Exod. 12:46).

150. The state of man when in his Own, or when he supposes that he lives from himself, is compared to "deep sleep", and indeed by the ancients was called deep sleep; and in the Word it is said of such that they have "poured out upon them the spirit of deep sleep" (Isa. 29:10), and that they sleep a sleep (Jer. 51:57). That man's Own is in itself dead, and that no one has any life from himself, has been shown so clearly in the world of spirits, that evil spirits who love nothing but their Own, and obstinately insist that they live from themselves, were convinced by sensible experience, and were forced to confess that they do not live from themselves. For a number of years I have been permitted in an especial manner to know how the case is with what is man's own, and it has been granted to me to perceive clearly that I could think nothing from myself, but that every idea of thought flows in, and sometimes I could perceive how and whence it flowed in. The man who supposes that he lives from himself is therefore in what is false, and by believing that he lives from himself appropriates to himself everything evil and false, which he would never do if his belief were in accordance with the real truth of the case.

151. Verse 22. And the rib which Jehovah God had taken from the man He built into a woman, and brought her to the man. By to "build" is signified to raise up what has fallen; by the "rib", man's Own not vivified; by a "woman", man's own vivified by the Lord; by "He brought her to the man", that what is his own was granted him. The posterity of this church did not wish, like their parents, to be a celestial man, but to be under their own self-guidance; and, thus inclining to their Own, it was granted to them, but still an Own vivified by the Lord, and therefore called a "woman", and afterwards a " wife".

152. It requires but little attention in any one to discern that woman was not formed out of the rib of a man, and that deeper arcana are here implied than any person has heretofore been aware of. And that by the "woman" is signified man's Own, may be known from the fact that it was the woman who was deceived; for nothing ever deceives man but his Own, or what is the same, the love of self and of the world.

153. The rib is said to be "built into a woman", but it is not said that the woman was "created", or "formed", or "made", as before when treating of regeneration. The reason of this is that to "build" is to raise up that which has fallen; and in this sense it is used in the Word, where to "build" is predicated of evils; to "raise up", of falsities; and to "renew", of both; as in Isaiah: -

They shall build the wastes of eternity, they shall set up again the ancient desolations, and they shall renew the cities of the waste, the desolations of generation and generation (Isaiah 61:4).

"Wastes" in this and other passages signify evils; "desolations", falsities; to "build" is applied to the former, to "set up again" to the latter, and this distinction is carefully observed in other places by the prophets, as where it is said in Jeremiah: -

Yet still will I build thee, and thou shall be built, O virgin of Israel (Jeremiah 31:4).

154. Nothing evil and false is ever possible which is not man's Own, and from man's Own, for the Own of man is evil itself, and consequently man is nothing but evil and falsity. This has been evident to me from the fact that when the things of man's Own are presented to view in the world of spirits, they appear so deformed that it is impossible to depict anything more ugly, yet with a difference according to the nature of the Own, so that he to whom the things of the Own are visibly exhibited is struck with horror, and desires to flee from himself as from a devil. But truly the things of man's Own that have been vivified by the Lord appear beautiful and lovely, with variety according to the life to which the celestial of the Lord can be applied; and indeed those who have been endowed with charity, or vivified by it, appear like boys and girls with most beautiful countenances; and those who are in innocence, like naked infants, variously adorned with garlands of flowers encircling their bosoms, and diadems upon their heads, living and sporting in a diamond-like aura, and having a perception of happiness from the very inmost.

155. The words "a rib was built into a woman", have more things inmostly concealed in them than it is possible for any one ever to discover from the letter; for the Word of the Lord is such that its inmost contents regard the Lord Himself and His kingdom, and from this comes all the life of the Word. And so in the passage before us, it is the heavenly marriage that is regarded in its inmost contents. The heavenly marriage is of such a nature that it exists in the Own, which, when vivified by the Lord, is called the "bride and wife" of the Lord. Man's Own thus vivified has a perception of all the good of love and truth of faith, and consequently possesses all wisdom and intelligence conjoined with inexpressible happiness. But the nature of this vivified Own, which is called the "bride and wife" of the Lord, cannot be concisely explained. Suffice it therefore to observe that the angels perceive that they live from the Lord, although when not reflecting on the subject they know no other than that they live from themselves; but there is a general affection of such a nature that at the least departure from the good of love and truth of faith they perceive a change, and consequently they are in the enjoyment of their peace and happiness, which is inexpressible, while they are in their general perception that they live from the Lord. It is this Own also that is meant in Jeremiah, where it is said: -

Jehovah hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man (Jeremiah 31:22)

It is the heavenly marriage that is signified in this passage also, where by a "woman" is meant the Own vivified by the Lord, of which woman the expression "to compass" is predicated, because this Own is such that it encompasses, as a rib made flesh encompasses the heart.

156. Verse 23. And the man said, This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; therefore she shall be called wife, because she was taken out of man (vir). "Bone of bones and flesh of flesh", signify the Own of the external man; "bone", this Own not so much vivified, and "flesh", the Own that is vivified. Man (vir), moreover, signifies the internal man, and from his being so coupled with the external man as is stated in the subsequent verse, the Own which was before called " woman", is here denominated "wife". "Now", signifies that it was thus effected at this time because the state was changed.

157. Inasmuch as "bone of bones and flesh of flesh" signified the Own of the external man in which was the internal, therefore in ancient times all those were called "bone of bones and flesh of flesh" who could be called their own (proprii), and were of one house, or of one family, or in any degree of relationship. Thus Laban said of Jacob,

Surely thou art my bone and my flesh (Gen. 29:14).

And Abimelech said of his mother's brethren, and of the family of the house of his mother's father,

Remember that I am your bone and your flesh (Judges 9:2).

The tribes of Israel also said of themselves to David,

Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh (2 Sam. 5:1).

158. That man (vir) signifies the internal man, or what is the same, one who is intelligent and wise, is plain from Isaiah: -

I behold, and there is no man (vir), even among them, and there is no counselor (Isaiah 41:28),

meaning none wise and intelligent. Also in Jeremiah: -

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see if ye can find a man, if there be any executing judgment, seeking the truth (Jeremiah 5:1)

"One who executes judgment" means a wise person; and "one who seeks the truth", an intelligent one.

159. But it is not easy to perceive how the case is with these things unless the state of the celestial man is understood. In the celestial man the internal man is distinct from the external, indeed so distinct that the celestial man perceives what belongs to the internal man, and what to the external, and how the external man is governed through the internal by the Lord. But the state of the posterity of this celestial man, in consequence of desiring their Own, which belongs to the external man, was so changed that they no longer perceived the internal man to be distinct from the external, but imagined the internal to be one with the external, for such a perception takes place when man inclines to his Own.

160. Verse 24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. To "leave father and mother", is to recede from the internal man, for it is the internal which conceives and brings forth the external; to " cleave unto his wife", is that the internal may be in the external; to "be one flesh", that they are there together; and because before, the internal man, and the external from the internal, was spirit, but now they have become flesh. Thus was celestial and spiritual life adjoined to the Own, that they might be as one.

161. This posterity of the Most Ancient Church was not evil, but was still good; and because they desired to live in the external man, or in their Own, this was permitted them by the Lord, what is spiritual celestial however being mercifully insinuated therein. How the internal and external act as a one, or how they appear as a one, cannot be known unless the influx of the one into the other is known. In order to conceive some idea of it, take for example an action. Unless in an action there is charity, that is, love and faith, and in these the Lord, that action cannot be called a work of charity, or the fruit of faith.

162. All the laws of truth and right flow from celestial beginnings, or from the order of life of the celestial man. For the whole heaven is a celestial man because the Lord alone is a celestial man, and as He is the all in all of heaven and the celestial man, they are thence called celestial. As every law of truth and right descends from celestial beginnings, or from the order of life of the celestial man, so in an especial manner does the law of marriages. It is the celestial (or heavenly) marriage from and according to which all marriages on earth must be derived; and this marriage is such that there is one Lord and one heaven, or one church whose head is the Lord. The law of marriages thence derived is that there shall be one husband and one wife, and when this is the case they represent the celestial marriage, and are an exemplar of the celestial man. This law was not only revealed to the men of the Most Ancient Church, but was also inscribed on their internal man, wherefore at that time a man had but one wife, and they constituted one house. But when their posterity ceased to be internal men, and became external, they married a plurality of wives. Because the men of the Most Ancient Church in their marriages represented the celestial marriage, conjugial love was to them a kind of heaven and heavenly happiness, but when the Church declined they had no longer any perception of happiness in conjugial love, but in pleasure from a number, which is a delight of the external man. This is called by the Lord "hardness of heart", on account of which they were permitted by Moses to marry a plurality of wives, as the Lord Himself teaches: -

For the hardness of your heart Moses wrote you this precept, but from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh; wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh; what therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder (Mark 10:5-9).

163. Verse 25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Their being "naked, and not ashamed", signifies that they were innocent, for the Lord had insinuated innocence into their Own, to prevent its being unacceptable.

164. The Own of man, as before stated, is mere evil, and when exhibited to view is most deformed, but when charity and innocence from the Lord are insinuated into the Own, it then appears good and beautiful (n. 154). Charity and innocence not only excuse the Own (that is, what is evil and false in man), but as it were abolish it, as may be observed in little children, in whom what is evil and false is not merely concealed, but is even pleasing, so long as they love their parents and one another, and their infantile innocence shows itself. Hence it may be known why no one can be admitted into heaven unless he possesses some degree of innocence; as the Lord has said: -

Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them (Mark 10:14-16).

165. That the "nakedness of which they were not ashamed" signifies innocence, is proved by what follows, for when integrity and innocence departed they were ashamed of their nakedness, and it appeared to them disgraceful, and they therefore hid themselves. The same is evident also from the representations in the world of spirits, for when spirits wish to exculpate themselves and prove their guiltlessness, they present themselves naked in order to testify their innocence. Especially is it evident from the innocent in heaven, who appear as naked infants decorated with garlands according to the nature of their innocence; while those who have not so much innocence are clad in becoming and shining garments (of diamond silk as you might say), as the angels were occasionally seen by the prophets.

166. Such are some of the things contained in this chapter of the Word, but those here set forth are but few. And as the celestial man is treated of, who at the present day is known to scarcely any one, even these few things cannot but appear obscure to some.

167. If any one could know how many arcana each particular verse contains, he would be amazed, for the number of arcana contained is past telling, and this is very little shown in the letter. To state the matter shortly: the words of the letter, exactly as they are, are vividly represented in the world or spirits, in a beautiful order. For the world of spirits is a world of representatives, and whatever is vividly represented there is perceived, in respect to the minute things contained in the representatives, by the angelic spirits who are in the second heaven; and the things thus perceived by the angelic spirits are perceived abundantly and fully in inexpressible angelic ideas by the angels who are in the third heaven, and this in boundless variety in accordance with the Lord's good pleasure. Such is the Word of the Lord.

 

CONCERNING THE RESUSCITATION OF MAN FROM THE DEAD, AND HIS ENTRANCE INTO ETERNAL LIFE

168. Being permitted to describe in connected order how man passes from the life of the body into the life of eternity, in order that the way in which he is resuscitated might be known, this has been shown me, not by hearing, but by actual experience.

169. I was reduced into a state of insensibility as to the bodily senses, thus almost into the state of dying persons, retaining however my interior life unimpaired, attended with the power of thinking, and with sufficient breathing for life, and finally with a tacit breathing, that I might perceive and remember what happens to those who have died and are being resuscitated.

170. Celestial angels were present who occupied the region of the heart, so that as to the heart I seemed united with them, and so that at length scarcely anything was left to me except thought, and the consequent perception, and this for some hours.

171. I was thus removed from communication with spirits in the world of spirits, who supposed that I had departed from the life of the body.

172. Besides the celestial angels, who occupied the region of the heart, there were also two angels sitting at my head, and it was given me to perceive that it is so with every one.

173. The angels who sat at my head were perfectly silent, merely communicating their thoughts by the face, so that I could perceive that another face was as it were induced upon me; indeed two, because there were two angels. When the angels perceive that their faces are received, they know that the man is dead.

174. After recognizing their faces, they induced certain changes about the region of the mouth, and thus communicated their thoughts, for it is customary with the celestial angels to speak by the province of the mouth, and it was permitted me to perceive their cogitative speech.

175. An aromatic odor was perceived, like that of an embalmed corpse, for when the celestial angels are present, the cadaverous odor is perceived as if it were aromatic, which when perceived by evil spirits prevents their approach.

176. Meanwhile I perceived that the region of the heart was kept very closely united with the celestial angels, as was also evident from the pulsation.

177. It was insinuated to me that man is kept engaged by the angels in the pious and holy thoughts which he entertained at the point of death; and it was also insinuated that those who are dying usually think about eternal life, and seldom of salvation and happiness, and therefore the angels keep them in the thought of eternal life.

178. In this thought they are kept for a considerable time by the celestial angels before these angels depart, and those who are being resuscitated are then left to the spiritual angels, with whom they are next associated. Meanwhile they have a dim idea that they are living in the body.

179. As soon as the internal parts of the body grow cold, the vital substances are separated from the man, wherever they may be, even if inclosed in a thousand labyrinthine interlacings, for such is the efficacy of the Lord's mercy (which I had previously perceived as a living and mighty attraction), that nothing vital can remain behind.

180. The celestial angels who sat at the head remained with me for some time after I was as it were resuscitated, but they conversed only tacitly. It was perceived from their cogitative speech that they made light of all fallacies and falsities, smiling at them not indeed as matters for derision, but as if they cared nothing about them. Their speech is cogitative, devoid of sound, and in this kind of language they begin to speak with the souls with whom they are at first present.

181. As yet the man, thus resuscitated by the celestial angels, possesses only an obscure life; but when the time comes for him to be delivered to the spiritual angels, then after a little delay, when the spiritual angels have approached, the celestial depart; and it has been shown me how the spiritual angels operate in order that the man may receive the benefit of light, as described in the continuation of this subject prefixed to the following chapter.


Chapter 3

CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE ENTRANCE INTO ETERNAL LIFE OF THOSE WHO ARE RAISED FROM THE DEAD

182. When the celestial angels are with a resuscitated person, they do not leave him, for they love every one; but when the soul is of such a character that he can no longer be in the company of the celestial angels, he is eager to depart from them; and when this takes place the spiritual angels arrive, and give him the use of light, for previously he had seen nothing, but had only thought.

183. I was shown how these angels work. They seemed to as it were roll off the coat of the left eye toward the septum of the nose, in order that the eye might be opened and the use of light be granted. To the man it appears as if this were really done, but it is only an appearance.

184. After this little membrane has been thus in appearance rolled off, some light is visible, but dim, such as a man sees through his eyelids when he first awakes out of sleep; and he who is being resuscitated is in a tranquil state, being still guarded by the celestial angels. There then appears a kind of shadow of an azure color, with a little star, but I perceived that this takes place with variety.

185. Afterwards there seems to be something gently unrolled from the face, and perception is communicated to him, the angels being especially cautious to prevent any idea coming from him but such as is of a soft and tender nature, as of love; and it is now given him to know that he is a spirit.

186. He then commences his life. This at first is happy and glad, for he seems to himself to have come into eternal life, which is represented by a bright white light that becomes of a beautiful golden tinge, by which is signified his first life, to wit, that it is celestial as well as spiritual.

187. His being next taken into the society of good spirits is represented by a young man sitting on a horse and directing it toward hell, but the horse cannot move a step. He is represented as a youth because when he first enters upon eternal life he is among angels, and therefore appears to himself to be in the flower of youth.

188. His subsequent life is represented by his dismounting from the horse and walking on foot, because he cannot make the horse move from the place; and it is insinuated to him that he must be instructed in the knowledges of what is true and good.

189. Afterwards pathways were seen sloping gently upward, which signify that by the knowledges of what is true and good, and by self-acknowledgment, he should be led by degrees toward heaven; for no one can be conducted thither without such self-acknowledgment, and the knowledges of what is true and good. A continuation of this subject may be seen at the end of this chapter.

 

GENESIS 3:1-13

1. And the serpent was more subtle than any wild animal of the field which Jehovah God had made; and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the tree of the garden;

3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.

5. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.

6. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to give intelligence, and she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and she gave also to her man (vir) with her, and he did eat.

7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves girdles.

8. And they heard the voice of Jehovah God going to itself in the garden in the air of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the face of Jehovah God in the midst of the tree of the garden.

9. And Jehovah God cried unto the man (homo), and said unto him, Where art thou?

10. And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

11. And He said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12. And the man (homo) said, The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13. And Jehovah God said unto the woman, Why hast thou done this? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

 

THE CONTENTS

190. The third state of the Most Ancient Church is treated of, which so desired its Own as to love it.

191. Because from the love of self, that is, their own love, they began to believe nothing that they did not apprehend by the senses, the sensuous part is represented by the "serpent;" the love of self, or their own love, by the "woman;" and the rational by the "man".

192. Hence the "serpent", or sensuous part, persuaded the woman to inquire into matters pertaining to faith in the Lord in order to see whether they are really so, which is signified by "eating of the tree of knowledge;" and that the rational of man consented, is signified by "the man that he did eat" (verses 1-6).

193. But they perceived that they were in evil; from which remnant of perception, signified by their "eyes being opened", and by their "hearing the voice of Jehovah" (verses 7, 8), and from the fig-leaves of which they made themselves girdles (verse 7), and from their shame or hiding in the midst of the tree of the garden (verses 8, 9), as well as from their acknowledgment and confession (verses 10-13), it is evident that natural goodness still remained in them.

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

194. Verse 1. And the serpent was more subtle than any wild animal of the field which Jehovah God had made; and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? By the "serpent" is here meant the sensuous part of man in which he trusts; by the "wild animal of the field", here, as before, every affection of the external man; by the "woman", man's Own; by the serpent's saying, "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree?" that they began to doubt. The subject here treated of is the third posterity of the Most Ancient Church, which began not to believe in things revealed unless they saw and felt that they were so. Their first state, that it was one of doubt, is described in this and in the next following verse.

195. The most ancient people did not compare all things in man to beasts and birds, but so denominated them; and this their customary manner of speaking remained even in the Ancient Church after the flood, and was preserved among the prophets. The sensuous things in man they called "serpents", because as serpents live close to the earth, so sensuous things are those next the body. Hence also reasonings concerning the mysteries of faith, founded on the evidence of the senses, were called by them the "poison of a serpent", and the reasoners themselves "serpents;" and because such persons reason much from sensuous, that is, from visible things (such as are things terrestrial, corporeal, mundane, and natural), it is said that "the serpent was more subtle than any wild animal of the field".

[2] And so in David, speaking of those who seduce man by reasonings: -

They sharpen their tongue like a serpent; the poison of the asp is under their lips (Ps. 140:3).

And again: -

They go astray from the womb, speaking a lie. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent, like the deaf poisonous asp that stoppeth her ear, that she may not hear the voice of the mutterers, of a wise one that charmeth charms (sociantis sodalitia ) (Ps. 58:3-6).

Reasonings that are of such a character that the men will not even hear what a wise one says, or the voice of the wise, are here called the "poison of a serpent". Hence it became a proverb among the ancients, that "The serpent stoppeth the ear". In Amos: -

As if a man came into a house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness and not light? even thick darkness, and no brightness in it? (Amos 5:19, 20).

The "hand on the wall" means self-derived power, and trust in sensuous things, whence comes the blindness which is here described.

[3] In Jeremiah: -

The voice of Egypt shall go like a serpent, for they shall go in strength, and shall come to her with axes as hewers of wood. They shall cut down her forest, saith Jehovah, because it will not be searched, for they are multiplied more than the locust, and are innumerable. The daughter of Egypt is put to shame, she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north (Jeremiah 46:22-24).

"Egypt" denotes reasoning about Divine things from sensuous things and memory-knowledges (scientifica). Such reasonings are called the "voice of a serpent;" and the blindness thereby occasioned, the "people of the north". In Job: -

He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall slay him. He shall not see the brooks, the flowing rivers of honey and butter (Job 20:16, 17).

"Rivers of honey and butter" are things spiritual and celestial, which cannot be seen by mere reasoners; reasonings are called the "poison of the asp" and the "viper's tongue". See more respecting the serpent below, at (verses 14 and 15).

196. In ancient times those were called "serpents" who had more confidence in sensuous things than in revealed ones. But it is still worse at the present day, for now there are persons who not only disbelieve everything they cannot see and feel, but who also confirm themselves in such incredulity by knowledges (scientifica) unknown to the ancients, and thus occasion in themselves a far greater degree of blindness. In order that it may be known how those blind themselves, so as afterwards to see and hear nothing, who form their conclusions concerning heavenly matters from the things of sense, of memory-knowledge, and of philosophy, and who are not only "deaf serpents", but also the "flying serpents" frequently spoken of in the Word, which are much more pernicious, we will take as an example what they believe about the spirit.

[2] The sensuous man, or he who only believes on the evidence of his senses, denies the existence of the spirit because he cannot see it, saying, "It is nothing because I do not feel it: that which I see and touch I know exists". The man of memory-knowledge (scientificus), or he who forms his conclusions from memory-knowledges (scientiae), says, What is the spirit, except perhaps vapor or heat, or some other entity of his science, that presently vanishes into thin air? have not the animals also a body, senses, and something analogous to reason? and yet it is asserted that these will die, while the "spirit of man" will live. Thus they deny the existence of the spirit.

[3] Philosophers also, who would be more acute than the rest of mankind, speak of the spirit in terms which they themselves do not understand, for they dispute about them, contending that not a single expression is applicable to the spirit which derives anything from what is material, organic, or extended; thus they so abstract it from their ideas that it vanishes from them, and becomes nothing. The more sane however assert that the spirit is thought; but in their reasonings about thought, in consequence of separating from it all substantiality, they at last conclude that it must vanish away when the body expires. Thus all who reason from the things of sense, of memory-knowledge, and of philosophy, deny the existence of the spirit, and therefore believe nothing of what is said about the spirit and spiritual things. Not so the simple in heart: if these are questioned about the existence of spirit, they say they know it exists, because the Lord has said that they will live after death; thus instead of extinguishing their rational, they vivify it by the Word of the Lord.

197. Among the most ancient people, who were celestial men, by the "serpent" was signified circumspection, and also the sensuous part through which they exercised circumspection so as to be secure from injury. This signification of a "serpent" is evident from the Lord's words to His disciples: -

Behold, I send you forth as sheep into the midst of wolves; be ye therefore prudent as serpents, and simple as doves (Matt. 10:16).

And also from the "brazen serpent" that was set up in the wilderness, by which was signified the sensuous part in the Lord, who alone is the celestial man, and alone takes care of and provides for all; wherefore all who looked upon it were preserved

198. Verses 2, 3. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the tree of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. The "fruit of the tree of the garden", is the good and truth revealed to them from the Most Ancient Church; the "fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, of which they were not to eat", is the good and truth of faith, which they were not to learn from themselves; "not to touch it", is a prohibition against thinking of the good and truth of faith from themselves, or from what is of sense and memory-knowledge (sensuali et scientifico) "lest ye die", is because thus faith, or all wisdom and intelligence, would perish.

199. That the "fruit of the tree of which they might eat", signifies the good and truth of faith revealed to them from the Most Ancient Church, or the knowledges (cognitiones) of faith, is evident from the fact that it is said to be the "fruit of the tree of the garden of which they might eat", and not the "tree of the garden", as before when treating of the celestial man, or the Most Ancient Church (Gen. 2:16). The "tree of the garden", as it is there called, is the perception of what is good and true; which good and truth, because they are from that source, are here called "fruit", and are also frequently signified by "fruit" in the Word.

200. The reason why the "tree of knowledge" is here spoken of as being "in the midst of the garden", although previously (Gen. 2:9), the tree of lives was said to be in the midst of the garden, and not the tree of knowledge, is that the "midst" of the garden signifies the inmost; and the inmost of the celestial man, or of the Most Ancient Church, was the "tree of lives", which is love and the faith thence derived; whereas with this man, who may be called a celestial spiritual man, or with this posterity, faith was the "midst" of the garden, or the inmost. It is impossible more fully to describe the quality of the men who lived in that most ancient time, because at the present day it is utterly unknown, their genius being altogether different from what is ever found with any one now. For the purpose however of conveying some idea of their genius, it may be mentioned that from good they knew truth, or from love they knew what is of faith. But when that generation expired, another succeeded of a totally different genius, for instead of discerning the true from the good, or what is of faith from love, they acquired the knowledge of what is good by means of truth, or what is of love from the knowledges of faith, and with very many among them there was scarcely anything but knowledge (quod scirent). Such was the change made after the flood to prevent the destruction of the world.

201. Seeing therefore that such a genius as that of the most ancient people anterior to the flood is not found and does not exist at the present day, it is no easy matter to explain intelligibly what the words of this passage in their genuine sense imply. They are however perfectly understood in heaven, for the angels and angelic spirits who are called celestial are of the same genius as the most ancient people who were regenerate before the flood; while the angels and angelic spirits who are termed spiritual are of a similar genius to the regenerate after the flood, although in both cases with indefinite variety.

202. The Most Ancient Church, which was a celestial man, was of such a character as not only to abstain from "eating of the tree of knowledge", that is, from learning what belongs to faith from sensuous things and memory-knowledges (scientifica), but was not even allowed to touch that tree, that is, to think of anything that is a matter of faith from sensuous things and memory-knowledges, lest they should sink down from celestial life into spiritual life, and so on downward. Such also is the life of the celestial angels, the more interiorly celestial of whom do not even suffer faith to be named, nor anything whatever that partakes of what is spiritual; and if it is spoken of by others, instead of faith they have a perception of love, with a difference known only to themselves; thus whatever is of faith they derive from love and charity. Still less can they endure listening to any reasoning about faith, and least of all to anything of memory-knowledge (scientificum) respecting it; for, through love, they have a perception from the Lord of what is good and true; and from this perception they know instantly whether a thing is so, or is not so. Therefore when anything is said about faith, they answer simply that it is so, or that it is not so, because they perceive it from the Lord. This is what is signified by the Lord's words in Matthew: -

Let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matthew 5:37).

This then is what was meant by their not being allowed to touch the fruit of the tree of knowledge; for if they touched it, they would be in evil, that is, they would in consequence "die". Nevertheless the celestial angels converse together on various subjects like the other angels, but in a celestial language, which is formed and derived from love, and is more ineffable than that of the spiritual angels.

203. The spiritual angels, however, converse about faith, and even confirm the things of faith by those of the intellect, of the reason, and of the memory (per intellectualia, rationalia, et scientifica), but they never form their conclusions concerning matters of faith on such grounds: those who do this are in evil. They are also endowed by the Lord with a perception of all the truths of faith, although not with such a perception as is that of the celestial angels. The perception of the spiritual angels is a kind of conscience which is vivified of the Lord and which indeed appears like celestial perception, yet is not so, but is only spiritual perception.

204. Verses 4, 5. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. Their "eyes being opened by eating of the fruit of the tree", signifies that if they were to examine the things of faith from what is of sense and knowledge (ex sensuali et scientifico), that is, from themselves, they would plainly see those things as if erroneous. And that they would be "as God, knowing good and evil", denotes that if they did so from themselves, they would be as God, and could guide themselves.

205. Every verse contains a particular state, or change of state, in the church: the preceding verses, that although thus inclined they nevertheless perceived it to be unlawful; these verses, an incipient doubt whether it might not be lawful for them, since they would thus see whether the things they had heard from their forefathers were true, and so their eyes would be opened. At length, in consequence of the ascendancy of self-love, they began to think that they could lead themselves, and thus be like the Lord; for such is the nature of the love of self that it is unwilling to submit to the Lord's leading, and prefers to be self-guided, and being self-guided to consult the things of sense and of memory-knowledge as to what is to be believed.

206. Who have a stronger belief that their eyes are open, and that as God they know what is good and evil, than those who love themselves, and at the same time excel in worldly learning? And yet who are more blind? Only question them, and it will be seen that they do not even know, much less believe in, the existence of spirit; with the nature of spiritual and celestial life they are utterly unacquainted; they do not acknowledge an eternal life; for they believe themselves to be like the brutes which perish; neither do they acknowledge the Lord, but worship only themselves and nature. Those among them who wish to be guarded in their expressions, say that a certain Supreme Existence (Ens) of the nature of which they are ignorant, rules all things. These are the principles in which they confirm themselves in many ways by things of sense and of memory-knowledge, and if they dared, they would do the same before all the universe. Although such persons desire to be regarded as gods, or as the wisest of men, if they were asked whether they know what it is not to have anything of their own, they would answer that it is to have no existence, and that if they were deprived of everything that is their own, they would be nothing. If they are asked what it is to live from the Lord, they think it a phantasy. If asked whether they know what conscience is, they would say it is a mere creature of the imagination, which may be of service in keeping the vulgar under restraint. If asked whether they know what perception is, they would merely laugh at it and call it enthusiastic rubbish. Such is their wisdom, such "open eyes" have they, and such "gods" are they. Principles like these, which they think clearer than the day, they make their starting-point, and so continue on, and in this way reason about the mysteries of faith; and what can be the result but an abyss of darkness? These above all others are the "serpents" who seduce the world. But this posterity of the Most Ancient Church was not as yet of such a character. That which became such is treated of from (verse 14-19) of this chapter.

207. Verse 6. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to give intelligence, and she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and she gave also to her husband (vir) with her, and he did eat. "Good for food", signifies cupidity; " pleasant to the eyes", phantasy; and" desirable to give intelligence", pleasure: these are of the Own, or "woman:" by the "husband eating", is signified the consent of the rational (n. 265).

208. This was the fourth posterity of the Most Ancient Church, who suffered themselves to be seduced by self-love (amore proprio) and were unwilling to believe what was revealed, unless they saw it confirmed by the things of sense and of memory-knowledge.

209. The expressions here employed, as that "the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desirable for giving intelligence", are such as were adapted to the genius of those who lived in that most ancient time, having especial reference to the will, because their evils streamed out from the will. Where the Word treats of the people who lived after the flood, such expressions are used as relate not so much to the will as to the understanding; for the most ancient people had truth from good, but those who lived after the flood had good from truth.

210. What man's Own is may be stated in this way. Man's Own is all the evil and falsity that springs from the love of self and of the world, and from not believing in the Lord or the Word but in self, and from supposing that what cannot be apprehended sensuously and by means of memory-knowledge (sensualiter et scientifice) is nothing. In this way men become mere evil and falsity, and therefore regard all things pervertedly; things that are evil they see as good, and things that are good as evil; things that are false they see as true, and things that are true as false; things that really exist they suppose to be nothing, and things that are nothing they suppose to be everything. They call hatred love, darkness light, death life, and the converse. In the Word, such men are called the "lame" and the "blind". Such then is the Own of man, which in itself is infernal and accursed.

211. Verse 7. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. Their "eyes being opened", signifies their knowing and acknowledging, from an interior dictate, that they were "naked", that is, no longer in innocence, as before, but in evil.

212. That by having the "eyes opened" is signified an interior dictate, is evident from similar expressions in the Word, as from what Balaam says of himself, who in consequence of having visions calls himself the "man whose eyes are opened" (Num. 24:3). And from Jonathan, who when he tasted of the honey-comb and had a dictate from within that it was evil, said that his "eyes saw", that is, were enlightened, so that he saw what he knew not (1 Sam. 14:29). Moreover in the Word, the "eyes" are often used to denote the understanding, and thus an interior dictate therefrom, as in David: -

Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death (Ps. 13:3),

where "eyes" denote the understanding. So in Ezekiel, speaking of those who are not willing to understand, who "have eyes to see, and see not" (Ezekiel 12:2). In Isaiah: -

Shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes (Isaiah 6:10),

denotes that they should be made blind, lest they should understand. So Moses said to the people,

Jehovah hath not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear (Deut. 29:4),

where "heart" denotes the will, and "eyes" denote the understanding. In Isaiah it is said of the Lord, that "He should open the blind eyes" (Isaiah 42:7). And in the same Prophet: "The eyes of the blind shall see out of thick darkness and out of darkness" (Isaiah 29:18).

213. By "knowing that they were naked" is signified their knowing and acknowledging themselves to be no longer in innocence as before, but in evil, as is evident from the last verse of the preceding chapter, where it is said "and they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed", and where it may be seen that "not to be ashamed because they were naked" signifies to be innocent. The contrary is signified by their "being ashamed", as in this verse, where it is said that they "sewed fig-leaves together, and hid themselves;" for where there is no innocence, nakedness is a scandal and disgrace, because it is attended with a consciousness of thinking evil. For this reason "nakedness" is used in the Word as a type of disgrace and evil, and is predicated of a perverted church, as in Ezekiel: -

Thou wast naked and bare, and trampled on in thy blood (Ezekiel 16:22).

Again: -

They shall leave her naked and bare, and the nakedness shall be uncovered (Ezekiel 23:29).

In John: -

I counsel thee to buy of Me white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear (Rev. 3:18).

And concerning the last day: -

Blessed is he who watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame (Rev. 16:15).

In Deuteronomy: -

If a man hath found some nakedness in his wife, let him write her a bill of divorcement (Deuteronomy 24:1).

For the same reason Aaron and his sons were commanded to have linen breeches when they came to the altar, and to minister, to "cover the flesh of their nakedness, lest they should bear iniquity, and die" (Exod. 28:42, 43).

214. They are called "naked" because left to their Own; for they who are left to their Own, that is, to themselves, have no longer anything of intelligence and wisdom, or of faith, and consequently are "naked" as to truth and good, and are therefore in evil.

215. That man's Own is nothing but evil and falsity has been made evident to me from the fact that whatever spirits have at any time said from themselves has been so evil and false that whenever it was made known to me that they spoke from themselves I at once knew that it was false, even though while speaking they were themselves so thoroughly persuaded of the truth of what they said as to have no doubt about it. The case is the same with men who speak from themselves. And in the same way, whenever any persons have begun to reason concerning the things of spiritual and celestial life, or those of faith, I could perceive that they doubted, and even denied, for to reason concerning faith is to doubt and deny. And as it is all from self or their Own, they sink into mere falsities, consequently into an abyss of thick darkness, that is, of falsities, and when they are in this abyss the smallest objection prevails over a thousand truths, just as a minute particle of dust in contact with the pupil of the eye shuts out the universe and everything it contains. Of such persons the Lord says in Isaiah: -

Woe unto those who are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent before their own faces (Isaiah 5:21).

And again: -

Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath turned thee away, and thou hast said in thine heart, I, and none else besides me; and evil shall come upon thee, thou shalt not know from whence it riseth, and mischief shall fall upon thee, which thou shalt not be able to expiate, and vastation shall come upon thee suddenly, of which thou art not aware (Isaiah 47:10, 11).

In Jeremiah: -

Every man is made stupid by knowledge (scientia), every founder is confounded by the graven image, for his molten image is falsehood, neither is there breath in them (Jeremiah 51:17).

A "graven image" is the falsity, and a "molten image" the evil, of man's Own.

216. And they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves girdles. To "sew leaves together", is to excuse themselves; the "fig-tree" is natural good; and to "make themselves girdles", is to be affected with shame. Thus spake the most ancient people, and thus they described this posterity of the church, signifying that instead of the innocence they had formerly enjoyed, they possessed only natural good, by which their evil was concealed; and being in natural good, they were affected with shame.

217. That the "vine" is used in the Word to signify spiritual good, and the "fig-tree" natural good, is at this day utterly unknown, because the internal sense of the Word has been lost; nevertheless, wherever these expressions occur, they signify or involve this meaning; as also in what the Lord spake in parables concerning a "vineyard" and a "fig-tree;" as in Matthew: -

Jesus seeing a fig-tree in the way, came to it, but found nothing thereon save leaves only, and He said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee hence-forward forever; and presently the fig-tree withered away (Matthew 21:19),

by which is meant, that no good, not even natural good, was to be found upon the earth. Similar is the meaning of the "vine" and "fig-tree" in Jeremiah: -

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, and they knew not how to blush; therefore I will surely gather them, saith Jehovah; there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf hath fallen (Jeremiah 8:12, 13),

by which is signified that all good, both spiritual and natural, had perished, since they were so depraved as to have lost even the sense of shame, like those at the present day who are in evil, and who, so far from blushing for their wickedness, make it their boast. In Hosea: -

I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first-ripe in the fig-tree in the beginning (Hosea 9:10).

And in Joel: -

Be not afraid, ye beasts of My fields, for the tree shall bear its fruit, the fig-tree and the vine shall yield their strength (Joel 2:22).

The "vine" here denotes spiritual good, and the "fig-tree" natural good.

218. Verse 8. And they heard the voice of Jehovah God going to itself in the garden in the air of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the face of Jehovah God in the midst the tree of the garden. By the "voice of Jehovah God going to itself in the garden", is signified an internal dictate which caused them to feel afraid, this dictate being the residue of the perception which they had possessed; by the "air" or "breath" of the "day", is denoted a period when the church still possessed some residue of perception; to "hide themselves from the face of Jehovah God", is to fear the dictate, as is wont to be the case with those who are conscious of evil; by the "midst of the tree of the garden", in which they hid themselves, is signified natural good; that which is inmost is called the "midst;" the "tree" denotes perception as before; but because there was little perception remaining, the tree is spoken of in the singular number, as if there were only one remaining.

219. That by the "voice of Jehovah God going to itself in the garden", is meant an internal dictate of which they were afraid, is evident from the signification of "voice" in the Word, where the "voice of Jehovah" is used to designate the Word itself, the doctrine of faith, conscience or a taking notice inwardly, and also every reproof thence resulting; whence it is that thunders are called the "voices of Jehovah", as in John: -

The angel cried with a loud voice, as a lion roareth, and when he had cried seven thunders uttered their voices (Rev. 10:3),

denoting that there was then a voice both external and internal. Again: -

In the days of the voice of the seventh angel the mystery of God shall be consummated (Rev. 10:7).

In David: -

Sing unto God, sing praises unto the Lord, who rideth upon the heavens of heavens which were of old; lo, He shall send out His voice, a voice of strength (Ps. 68:32, 33).

The "heavens of heavens which were of old", denote the wisdom of the Most Ancient Church; "voice", revelation, and also an internal dictate. Again: -

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters; the voice of Jehovah is in power; the voice of Jehovah is in glory; the voice of Jehovah breaketh the cedars; the voice of Jehovah divideth the flames of fire; the voice of Jehovah maketh the wilderness to shake; the voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to calve, and uncovereth the forests (Ps. 29:3-5, 7-9).

And in Isaiah: -

Jehovah shall cause the excellency of His voice to be heard, for through the voice of Jehovah shall Asshur be beaten down (Isaiah 30:30, 31).

220. By the "voice going to itself", is meant that there was but little perception remaining, and that alone as it were by itself and unheard, as is manifest also from the following verse where it is said, "Jehovah called to the man". So in Isaiah: -

The voice of one crying in the wilderness; the voice said, Cry (Isaiah 40:3, 6).

The "wilderness" is a church where there is no faith; the "voice of one crying", is the annunciation of the Lord's advent, and in general every announcement of His coming, as with the regenerate, with whom there is an internal dictate.

221. That by the "air" or "breath" "of the day", is signified a period when the church had still somewhat of perception remaining, is evident from the signification of "day" and of "night". The most ancient people compared the states of the church to the times of the day and of the night, to the times of the day when the church was still in light, wherefore this state is compared to the breath or air "of the day", because there was still some remnant of perception by which they knew that they were fallen. The Lord also calls the state of faith "day", and that of no faith "night;" as in John: -

I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work (John 9:4).

The states of the regeneration of man were for the same reason called "days" in chapter 1.

222. That to "hide themselves from the face of Jehovah, means to be afraid of the dictate, as is wont to be the case with those who are conscious of evil, is evident from the reply (verse 10): "I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked". The "face of Jehovah", or of the Lord, is mercy, peace, and every good, as is clearly evident from the benediction: -

Jehovah make His faces to shine upon thee, and be merciful unto thee; Jehovah lift up His faces upon thee, and give thee peace (Num. 6:25, 26).

And in David: -

God be merciful unto us, and bless us, and cause His faces to shine upon us (Ps. 67:1).

And in another place: -

There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Jehovah, lift Thou up the light of Thy faces upon us (Ps. 4:6).

The mercy of the Lord is therefore called the "angel of faces", in Isaiah: -

I will make mention of the mercies of Jehovah; He hath requited them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His mercies; and He became their Saviour. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His faces saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them (Isaiah 63:7-9).

223. As the "face of the Lord" is mercy, peace, and every good, it is evident that He regards all from mercy, and never averts His countenance from any; but that it is man, when in evil, who turns away his face, as is said by the Lord in Isaiah: -

Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you (Isaiah 59:2);

and here, "they hid themselves from the face of Jehovah, because they were naked".

224. Mercy, peace, and every good, or the "faces of Jehovah", are the cause of the dictate with those who have perception, and also, although in a different manner, with those who have conscience, and they always operate mercifully, but are received according to the state in which the man is. The state of this man, that is, of this posterity of the Most Ancient Church, was one of natural good; and they who are in natural good are of such a character that they hide themselves through fear and shame because they are naked: while such as are destitute of natural good do not hide themselves, because they are insusceptible of shame; concerning whom, in (Jeremiah 8:12, 13). (n. 217).

225. That the "midst of the tree of the garden", signifies natural good, in which there is some perception which is called a "tree", is also evident from the "garden" in which the celestial man dwelt; for everything good and true is called a "garden", with a difference according to the man who cultivates it. Good is not good unless its inmost is celestial, from which, or through which, from the Lord, comes perception. This inmost is here called the "midst", as also elsewhere in the Word.

226. Verses 9, 10. And Jehovah God cried unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. The meaning of "crying", of the "voice in the garden", of their "being afraid because they were naked", and of "hiding themselves", has been previously explained. It is common in the Word for man to be first asked where he is and what he is doing, although the Lord previously knew all things; but the reason for asking is that man may acknowledge and confess.

227. As it is desirable that the origin of perception, internal dictate, and conscience, should be known, and as at the present day it is altogether unknown, I may relate something on the subject. It is a great truth that man is governed by the Lord by means of spirits and angels. When evil spirits begin to rule, the angels labor to avert evils and falsities, and hence arises a combat. It is this combat of which the man is rendered sensible by perception, dictate, and conscience. By these, and also by temptations, a man might clearly see that spirits and angels are with him, were he not so deeply immersed in corporeal things as to believe nothing that is said about spirits and angels. Such persons, even if they were to feel these combats hundreds of times, would still say that they are imaginary, and the effect of a disordered mind. I have been permitted to feel such combats, and to have a vivid sense of them, thousands and thousands of times, and this almost constantly for several years, as well as to know who, what, and where they were that caused them, when they came, and when they departed; and I have conversed with them.

228. It is impossible to describe the exquisite perception whereby the angels discover whether anything gains admission that is contrary to the truth of faith and the good of love. They perceive the quality of what enters, and when it enters, a thousand times more perfectly than the man himself, who scarcely knows anything about it. The least of thought in a man is more fully perceived by the angels than the greatest is by himself. This is indeed incredible, yet is most true.

229. Verses 11-13. And He said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And Jehovah God said unto the woman, Why hast thou done this? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. The signification of these words is evident from what has been explained before, namely, that the rational of man suffered itself to be deceived by its Own, because this was dear to him (that is, by the love of self), so that he believed nothing but what he could see and feel. Every one can see that Jehovah God did not speak to a serpent, and indeed that there was no serpent, neither did He address the sensuous part that is signified by the "serpent;" but that these words involve a different meaning, namely, that they perceived themselves to be deluded by the senses, and yet, in consequence of self-love, were desirous of ascertaining the truth of what they had heard concerning the Lord, and concerning faith in Him, before they believed it.

230. The ruling evil of this posterity was the love of self, without their having at the same time so much of the love of the world as exists at the present day; for they dwelt within their own households and families, and had no desire to accumulate wealth.

231. The evil of the Most Ancient Church which existed before the flood, as well as that of the Ancient Church after the flood, and also that of the Jewish Church, and subsequently the evil of the new church, or church of the Gentiles, after the coming of the Lord, and also that of the church of the present day, was and is that they do not believe the Lord or the Word, but themselves and their own senses. Hence there is no faith, and where there is no faith there is no love of the neighbor, consequently all is false and evil.

232. At this day however it is much worse than in former times, because men can now confirm the incredulity of the senses by memory-knowledges (scientifica) unknown to the ancients, and this has given birth to an indescribable degree of darkness. If men knew how great is the darkness from this cause they would be astounded.

233. To explore the mysteries of faith by means of memory-knowledges (scientifica) is as impossible as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, or for a rib to govern the finest fibrils of the chest and of the heart. So gross, yea, much more so, is that which pertains to our senses and memory-knowledge (sensuale et scientificum) relatively to what is spiritual and celestial. He who would investigate the hidden things of nature, which are innumerable, discovers scarcely one, and while investigating them falls into errors, as is well known. How much more likely is this to be the case while investigating the hidden truths of spiritual and celestial life, where myriads of mysteries exist for one that is invisible in nature!

[2] As an illustration take this single example: Of himself man cannot but do what is evil, and turn away from the Lord. Yet man does not do these things, but the evil spirits who are with him. Nor do these evil spirits do them, but the evil itself which they have made their own. Nevertheless man does evil and turns himself away from the Lord, and is in fault; and yet he lives only from the Lord. So on the other hand, of himself man cannot possibly do what is good, and turn to the Lord, but this is done by the angels. Nor can the angels do it, but the Lord alone. And yet man is able as of himself to do what is good, and to turn himself to the Lord. These facts can never be apprehended by our senses, memory-knowledge, and philosophy, but if these are consulted will be denied in spite of their truth. And it is the same all through.

[3] From what has been said it is evident that those who consult sensuous things and memory-knowledges (sensualia et scientifica) in matters of belief, plunge themselves not only into doubt, but also into denial, that is, into thick darkness, and consequently into all cupidities. For as they believe what is false, they also do what is false. And as they believe that what is spiritual and celestial has no existence, so they believe that there is nothing else but what is of the body and the world. And so they love all that belongs to self and the world, and in this way do cupidities and evils spring from what is false.

 

GENESIS 3:14-19

14. And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above every beast, and above every wild animal of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.

15. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; He shall trample upon thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.

16. And unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth sons, and thine obedience shall be to thy man (vir), and he shall rule over thee.

17. And unto the man He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in great sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.

18. And the thorn and the thistle shall it bring forth unto thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.

19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

 

THE CONTENTS

234. The subsequent state of the church down to the flood is here described; and as at that time the church utterly destroyed itself, it is foretold that the Lord would come into the world and save the human race.

235. Being unwilling to believe anything that could not be apprehended by the senses, the sensuous part which is the "serpent", cursed itself, and became infernal (verse 14).

236. Therefore to prevent all mankind from rushing into hell, the Lord promised that He would come into the world (verse 15).

237. The church is further described by the "woman", which so loved self or the Own as to be no longer capable of apprehending truth, although a rational was given them that should "rule" (verse 16).

238. The quality of the rational is then described, in that it consented, and thus cursed itself, and became infernal, so that reason no longer remained, but ratiocination (verse 17).

239. The curse and vastation are described, and also their ferine nature (verse 18).

240. Next, their aversion to everything of faith and love; and that thus from being man they became not men (verse 19).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

241. The most ancient people, being celestial men, were so constituted that every object they beheld in the world or upon the face of the earth, they indeed saw, but they thought about the heavenly and Divine things the objects signified or represented. Their sight was merely an instrumental agency, and so consequently was their speech. Any one may know this was from his own experience, for if he attends closely to the meaning of a speaker's words, he does indeed hear the words, but is as if he did not hear them, taking in only the sense; and one who thinks more deeply does not attend even to the sense of the words, but to a more universal sense. But the posterities that are here treated of were not like their fathers, for when they beheld the objects in the world and on the face of the earth, as they loved them, their minds cleaved to them, and they thought about them, and from them about things heavenly and Divine. Thus with them what is sensuous began to be the principal, and not as with their fathers the instrumental. And when that which is of the world and of the earth becomes the principal, then men reason from this about the things of heaven, and so blind themselves. How this is may also be known by any one from his own experience; for he who attends to the words of a speaker, and not to the sense of the words, takes in but little of the sense, and still less of the universal import of the sense, and sometimes judges of all that a man says from a single word, or even from a grammatical peculiarity.

242. Verse 14. And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above every beast, and above every wild animal of the field; upon thy belly shall thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. By "Jehovah God said unto the serpent", is signified that they perceived their sensuous part to be the cause (of their fall). "The serpent cursed above every beast and above every wild animal of the field", signifies that their sensuous part averted itself from that which is heavenly, and turned itself to that which is of the body, and thus cursed itself; the "beast", and the "wild animal of the field", here signify affections, as before. The "serpent going upon its belly", signifies that their sensuous part could no longer look upward to the things of heaven, but only downward, to those of the body and the earth. Its "eating dust all the days of its life", signifies that their sensuous part became such that it could not live from anything but that which is of the body and the earth, that is to say, it became infernal.

243. In the most ancient celestial men the sensuous things of the body were of such a character as to be compliant and subservient to their internal man, and beyond this they did not care for them. But after they had begun to love themselves, they set the things of sense before the internal man, and therefore those things were separated, became corporeal, and so were condemned.

244. Having before shown that by "Jehovah God speaking to the serpent" is signified their perceiving the sensuous part to be the cause of their fall, no more need be said in regard to these words.

245. That "He said to the serpent, Thou art cursed above every beast, and above every wild animal of the field", signifies that the sensuous part averted itself from that which is heavenly, turned itself to that which is of the body, and thus cursed itself, may be clearly shown from the internal sense of the Word. Jehovah God or the Lord never curses any one. He is never angry with any one, never leads any one into temptation, never punishes any one, and still less does He curse any one. All this is done by the infernal crew, for such things can never proceed from the Fountain of mercy, peace, and goodness. The reason of its being said, both here and in other parts of the Word, that Jehovah God not only turns away His face, is angry, punishes, and tempts, but also kills and even curses, is that men may believe that the Lord governs and disposes all and everything in the universe, even evil itself, punishments, and temptations; and when they have received this most general idea, may afterwards learn how He governs and disposes all things by turning the evil of punishment and of temptation into good. In teaching and learning the Word, the most general truths must come first; and therefore the literal sense is full of such things.

246. That the "beast and the wild animal of the field" signify affections, is evident from what was previously said concerning them (n. 45, 46), to which it is permitted to add the following passage from David: -

Thou, O God, dost send the rain of Thy kindnesses; Thou confirmest Thy laboring inheritance; Thy wild animal shall dwell therein (Ps. 68:9, 10),

where also "wild animal" denotes the affection of good, because it is said that it shall "dwell in the inheritance of God". The reason why here, and also in (Genesis 2:19, 20), the "beast and the wild animal of the field" are mentioned, while in (Genesis 1:24, 25), the "beast and the wild animal of the earth" are named, is that the present passage treats of the church or regenerated man, whereas the first chapter related to what was as yet not a church, or to man about to become regenerate; for the word "field" is applied to the church, or to the regenerate.

247. That the "serpent going on his belly" denotes that their sensuous part could no longer look upward to the things of heaven, but only downward to those of the body and the earth, is evident from the fact that in ancient times by the "belly" such things are signified as are nearest to the earth; by the "chest" such as are above the earth; and by the "head", what is highest. It is here said that the sensuous part which in itself is the lowest part of man's nature, "went upon its belly", because it turned to what is earthly. The depression of the belly even to the earth, and the sprinkling of dust on the head, had a similar signification in the Jewish Church. Thus we read in David: -

Wherefore hidest Thou Thy faces, and forgettest our misery and our oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust, and our belly cleaveth to the earth. Arise, a help for us, and redeem us for Thy mercy's sake (Ps. 44:24-26),

where also it is evident that when man averts himself from the face of Jehovah, he "cleaves by his belly to the dust and to the earth". In Jonah likewise, by the "belly"' of the great fish, into which he was cast, are signified the lower parts of the earth, as is evident from his prophecy: -

Out of the belly of hell cried I, and Thou heardest my voice (Jonah 2:2),

where "hell" denotes the lower earth.

248. And therefore when man had regard to heavenly things, he was said to "walk erect", and to "look upward", or "forward", which means the same; but when he had regard to corporeal and earthly things, he was said to be "bowed to the earth", and to "look downward" or "backward". As in Leviticus: -

I am Jehovah your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bonds of your yoke, and made you to go erect (Leviticus 26:13).

In Micah: -

Ye shall not thence remove your necks, neither shall ye go erect (Micah 2:3).

In Jeremiah: -

Jerusalem hath sinned a sin, therefore they despise her, because they have seen her nakedness; yea, she groaned and hath turned backward. From on high hath He sent fire into my bones, and hath made me to return backward; He hath made me desolate (Lam. 1:8, 13).

And in Isaiah: -

Jehovah thy Redeemer, that turneth wise men backward, and maketh foolish their knowledge (Isaiah 44:24, 25).

249. That to "eat dust all the days of its life" signifies that their sensuous part became such that it could not live from anything except that which is of the body and the earth, that is to say, that it became infernal, is evident also from the signification of "dust" in the Word; as in Micah: -

Feed thy people as in the days of eternity. The nations shall see and shall blush at all their might; they shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall be shaken out of their holds like creeping things (serpentes) of the earth (Micah 7:14, 16, 17).

The "days of eternity", mean the Most Ancient Church; the "nations", those who trust in their Own, of whom it is predicated that "they shall lick the dust like a serpent". In David: -

Barbarians shall bow themselves before God, and His enemies shall lick the dust (Ps. 72:9).

"Barbarians" and "enemies" are those who regard only earthly and worldly things. In Isaiah: -

Dust shall be the serpent's bread (Isaiah 65:25).

As "dust" signifies those who do not regard spiritual and celestial things, but only what is corporeal and earthly, therefore the Lord enjoined His disciples that if the city or house into which they entered was not worthy, they should "shake off the dust of their feet" (Matt. 10:14). That "dust" signifies what is condemned and infernal, will be further shown at (verse 19).

250. Verse 15. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; He shall trample upon thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel. Every one is aware that this is the first prophecy of the Lord's advent into the world; it appears indeed clearly from the words themselves, and therefore from them and from the prophets even the Jews knew that a Messiah was to come. Hitherto however no one has understood what is specifically meant by the "serpent", the "woman", the "serpent's seed", the " woman's seed", the "head of the serpent which was to be trodden upon", and the "heel which the serpent should bruise". They must therefore be explained. By the "serpent" is here meant all evil in general, and specifically the love of self; by the "woman" is meant the church; by the "seed of the serpent", all infidelity; by the "seed of the woman", faith in the Lord; by "He", the Lord Himself; by the "head of the serpent", the dominion of evil in general, and specifically that of the love of self; by to "trample upon", depression, so that it should "go upon the belly and eat dust;" and by the "heel", the lowest natural (as the corporeal), which the serpent should "bruise".

251. The reason why the "serpent" means all evil in general, and specifically the love of self, is that all evil has had its rise from that sensuous part of the mind, and also from that memory-knowledge (scientifico), which at first were signified by the "serpent;" and therefore it here denotes evil of every kind, and specifically the love of self, or hatred against the neighbor and the Lord, which is the same thing. As this evil or hatred was various, consisting of numerous genera and still more numerous species, it is described in the Word by various kinds of serpents, as "snakes", " cockatrices", "asps", "adders", "fiery serpents", "serpents that fly"' and "that creep", and "vipers", according to the differences of the poison, which is hatred. Thus we read in Isaiah: -

Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, because the rod which smiteth thee is broken, for out of the serpent's root shall go forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a flying fire-serpent (Isaiah 14:29).

The "serpent's root" denotes that part of the mind, or that principle, which is connected with the senses and with memory-knowledge (est sensuale et scientificum); the "cockatrice" denotes evil originating in the falsity thence derived; and the "flying fire-serpent", the cupidity that comes from the love of self. By the same Prophet also similar things are elsewhere thus described: -

They hatch cockatrice's eggs, and weave the spider's web; he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and when it is crushed there cometh out a viper (Isaiah 59:5).

The serpent described here in Genesis is called in the Revelation the "great and red dragon", and the "old serpent", and also the "devil and satan", that "deceives the whole world" (Revelation 12:3, 9; 20:2), where, and also in other places, by the "devil" is not meant any particular devil who is prince over the others, but the whole crew of evil spirits, and evil itself.

252. That by the "woman" is meant the church, is evident from what was said above (n. 155) concerning the heavenly marriage. Such is the nature of the heavenly marriage, that heaven, and consequently the church, is united to the Lord by its Own, insomuch that these are in their Own, for without their Own there can be no union. When the Lord in mercy insinuates innocence, peace, and good into this Own, it still retains its identity, but becomes heavenly and most happy (n. 164). The quality of a heavenly and angelic Own from the Lord, and the quality of an Own, which, because from self, is infernal and diabolical, cannot be told. The difference is like that between heaven and hell.

253. It is by virtue of a heavenly and angelic Own that the church is called a "woman", and also a "wife", a "bride", a "virgin", and a "daughter". She is called a "woman" in the Revelation: -

A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And the dragon persecuted the woman who brought forth the man child (Revelation 12:1, 4-13).

In this passage by a "woman" is meant the church by the "sun", love; by the "moon", faith; by "stars", as before, the truths of faith, all of which evil spirits hate, and persecute to the utmost. The church is called a "woman", and also a "wife", in Isaiah: -

Thy Maker is thy Husband, Jehovah of Armies is His name, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth is He called; for as a woman forsaken and afflicted in spirit hath Jehovah called thee, and as a wife of youth (adolescentiarum) (Isaiah 54:5, 6),

where the "Maker" is called also the "husband", because united to the Own; and a "woman afflicted", and a "wife of youth", signify specifically the Ancient and Most Ancient Churches. Likewise in Malachi: -

Jehovah hath borne witness between thee and the wife of thy youth (adolescentiarum) (Malachi 2:14).

She is called a "wife" and a "bride" in the Revelation: -

I saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband: come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife (Revelation 21:2, 9).

The church is called a "virgin" and a "daughter" throughout the Prophets.

254. That by the "seed of the serpent" is meant all infidelity, is evident from the signification of a "serpent", as being all evil; "seed" is that which produces and is produced, or that which begets and is begotten; and as the church is here spoken of, this is infidelity. In Isaiah, in reference to the Jewish Church in its perverted state, it is called a "seed of evil doers", a "seed of adultery", a "seed of falsehood": -

Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, sons that are destroyers; they have forsaken Jehovah, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel, they have estranged themselves backward (Isaiah 1:4).

Again: -

Draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer. Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood? (Isaiah 57:3, 4).

And again, speaking of the "serpent" or "dragon", who is there called Lucifer: -

Thou art cast out of thy sepulchre like an abominable shoot, because thou hast corrupted thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil doers shall not be called to eternity (Isaiah 14:19, 20).

255. That the "seed of the "woman" signifies faith in the Lord, is evident from the signification of "woman" as being the church, whose "seed" is nothing but faith, for it is from faith in the Lord that the church is called the church. In Malachi, faith is called the "seed of God": -

Jehovah hath witnessed between thee and the wife of thy youth (adolescentiarum); and not one hath done so who had a residue of the spirit; and wherefore one, seeking the seed of God? but observe ye in your spirit, lest he deal treacherously against the wife of thy youth (Malachi 2:14, 15).

In this passage the "wife of youth" is the Ancient and Most Ancient Churches, of whose "seed" (or faith) the prophet speaks. In Isaiah also, in reference to the church: -

I will pour waters upon the thirsty, and floods upon the dry; I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring (Isaiah 44:3).

In the Revelation: -

The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who were keeping the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17).

And in David: -

I have made a covenant with Mine elect, I have sworn unto David My servant, even to eternity will I establish thy seed, and his seed will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of the heavens; his seed shall endure to eternity, and his throne as the sun before me (Ps. 89:3, 4, 29, 36),

where by "David" is meant the Lord; by "throne", His kingdom; by the "sun", love; and by "seed", faith.

256. Not only is faith, but also the Lord Himself is called the "seed of the woman", both because He alone gives faith, and thus is faith, and because He was pleased to be born, and that into such a church as had altogether fallen into an infernal and diabolical Own through the love of self and of the world, in order that by His Divine power He might unite the Divine celestial Own with the human Own in His human essence, so that in Him they might be a one; and unless this union had been effected, the whole world must have utterly perished. Because the Lord is thus the seed of the woman, it is not said "it", but "He".

257. That by the "head of the serpent" is meant the dominion of evil in general, and specifically of the love of self, is evident from its nature, which is so direful as not only to seek dominion, but even dominion over all things upon earth; nor does it rest satisfied with this, but aspires even to rule over everything in heaven, and then, not content with this, over the Lord himself, and even then it is not satisfied. This is latent in every spark of the love of self. If it were indulged, and freed from restraint, we should perceive that it would at once burst forth and would grow even to that aspiring height. Hence it is evident how the "serpent", or the evil of the love of self, desires to exercise dominion, and how much it hates all those who refuse its sway. This is that "head of the serpent" which exalts itself, and which the Lord "tramples down", even to the earth, that it may "go upon its belly, and eat dust", as stated in the verse immediately preceding. Thus also is described the "serpent" or "dragon" called "Lucifer" in Isaiah: -

O Lucifer, thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the cloud, I will be made equal to the Most High; yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit (Isaiah 14:12-15).

The "serpent" or "dragon" is also described in the Revelation in regard to the way in which he exalts his head: -

A great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and many diadems upon his heads; but he was cast into the earth (Revelation 12:3, 9).

In David: -

The saying of Jehovah to my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool: Jehovah shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion, He shall judge the nations, He hath filled with dead bodies, He hath bruised the head over much land; He shall drink of the brook in the way, therefore shall He lift up the head (Ps. 110:1, 2, 6, 7).

258. That by "trampling on" or "bruising", is meant depression, so as to compel it to "go on the belly and eat the dust", is now evident from this and the preceding verses. So likewise in Isaiah: -

Jehovah hath cast down them that dwell on high; the exalted city He will humble it; He will humble it even to the earth; He will prostrate it even to the dust; the foot shall tread it down (Isaiah 26:4-6).

Again: -

He shall cast down to the earth with the hand; they shall be trampled on by feet - a crown of pride (Isaiah 28:2, 3).

259. That by the "heel" is meant the lowest natural or corporeal cannot be known unless the way in which the most ancient people considered the various things in man is known. They referred his celestial and spiritual things to the head and face; what comes forth from these (as charity and mercy), to the chest; natural things, to the feet; lower natural things, to the soles of the feet; and the lowest natural and corporeal things, to the heel; nor did they merely refer them, but also so called them. The lowest things of reason, that is, memory-knowledges (scientifica), were also meant by what Jacob prophesied concerning Dan: -

Dan shall be a serpent upon the way, an adder upon the path, biting the horses heels, and his rider falls backward (Gen. 49:17).

Also in David: -

The iniquity of my heels hath compassed me about (Ps. 49:5).

In like manner by what is related of Jacob, when he came forth from the womb, That his hand laid hold of Esau's heel, whence he was called Jacob (Gen. 25:26), for the name "Jacob" comes from the "heel", because the Jewish Church, signified by "Jacob", injured the heel. A serpent can injure only the lowest natural things, but unless it is a species of viper, not the interior natural things in man, still less his spiritual things, and least of all his celestial things, which the Lord preserves and stores up in man without his knowledge. What are thus stored up by the Lord are called in the Word "remains". The mode in which the serpent destroyed those lowest natural things in the people before the flood, by the sensuous principle and the love of self; and among the Jews, by sensuous things, traditions, trifles, and by the love of self and of the world; and how at this day he has destroyed and continues to destroy them by the things of sense, of memory-knowledge, and of philosophy, and at the same time by the same loves, shall of the Lord's Divine mercy be told hereafter.

260. From what has been said it is evident that it was revealed to the church of that time that the Lord would come into the world to save them.

261. Verse 16. And unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth sons, and thine obedience shall be to thy man (vir), and he shall rule over thee. By the "woman" is now signified the church as to proprium, which it loved; by "greatly multiplying her sorrow", is signified combat, and the anxiety it occasions; by "conception", every thought; by the "sons whom she would bring forth in sorrow", the truths which she would thus produce; by "man", here as before, the rational which it will obey, and which will rule.

262. That the church is signified by the "woman", has been previously shown, but here the church perverted by the Own which was itself formerly signified by the "woman", because the posterity of the Most Ancient Church, which had become perverted, is now treated of.

263. When therefore the sensuous part averts itself or curses itself, the consequence is that evil spirits begin to fight powerfully, and the attendant angels to labor, and therefore this combat is described by the words, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, in relation to the conception and birth of sons", that is, as to the thoughts and productions of truth.

264. That the "conception and birth of sons", in the Word, are taken in a spiritual sense - "conception" for the thought and device of the heart, and "sons" for truths, is evident from Hosea: -

As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb: and from the conception; though they shall have brought up their sons, yet will I bereave them, that they be not man; yea, woe also to them when I depart from them (Hosea 9:11, 12),

where "Ephraim" signifies the intelligent, or the understanding of truth; and "sons", truths themselves. It is likewise said elsewhere concerning Ephraim, or one who is intelligent, who has become foolish: -

The sorrows of one in travail have come upon him, he is an unwise son, for at the time he will not stand in the breach of the womb of sons (Hosea 13:13).

And in Isaiah: -

Blush, O Zidon, for the sea hath spoken, the fortress of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, nor have I brought up young men, nor caused girls to grow up; as at the report concerning Egypt, they shall bring forth according to the report of Tyre (Isaiah 23:4, 5),

where "Zidon" means those who have been in the knowledges of faith, but have destroyed them by memory-knowledges (scientifica), and so have become barren.

[2] Again in the same prophet, treating of regeneration, and where likewise the truths of faith are signified by "sons:" -

Before she travailed she bringeth forth; and before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child; who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? shall the earth bring forth in one day? and shall I not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah; shall I cause to bring forth, and close up? saith thy God (Isaiah 66:7-9).

Goods and truths, being conceived and born of the heavenly marriage, are therefore called "sons" by the Lord in Matthew: -

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; and the seed are the sons of the kingdom (Matthew 13:37, 38).

And the goods and truths of a saving faith He calls "sons of Abraham" (John 8:39); for "seed" (n. 255) denotes faith, wherefore "sons", which are of the "seed", are the goods and truths of faith. Hence also the Lord, as being Himself the seed", called Himself the "Son of man", that is, the faith of the church.

265. That by "man (vir)" is signified the rational, appears from (verse 6) of this chapter, in that the woman gave to her man with her, and he did eat, by which is meant his consent; and the same is also evident from what was said of the man in (n. 158), where by him is meant one who is wise and intelligent. Here however "man" denotes the rational, because in consequence of the destruction of wisdom and intelligence by eating of the tree of knowledge, nothing else was left, for the rational is imitative of intelligence, being as it were its semblance.

266. As every law and precept comes forth from what is celestial and spiritual, as from its true beginning, it follows that this law of marriage does so, which requires that the wife, who acts from desire, which is of what is her own, rather than from reason, like the man, should be subject to his prudence.

267. Verse 17. And unto the man He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake, in great sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. By the "man hearkening to the voice of his wife", is signified the consent of the man (vir), or rational, by which it also averted or cursed itself, and consequently the whole external man, denoted by "cursed is the ground for thy sake". To "eat thereof in sorrow", means that the future state of his life would be miserable, and this even to the end of that church, or "all the days of his life".

268. That the "ground" signifies the external man, is evident from what was previously stated concerning "earth", "ground", and "field". When man is regenerate, he is no longer called "earth", but "ground", because celestial seed has been implanted in him; he is also compared to "ground" and is called "ground" in various parts of the Word. The seeds of good and truth are implanted in the external man, that is, in his affection and memory, and not in the internal man, because there is nothing of one's Own in the internal man, but only in the external. In the internal man are goods and truths, and when these no longer appear to be present, the man is external or corporeal; they are however stored up in the internal man by the Lord, without the man's knowledge, as they do not come forth except when the external man as it were dies, as is usually the case during temptations, misfortunes, sicknesses, and at the hour of death. The rational belongs also to the external man (n. 118), and is in itself a kind of medium between the internal man and the external; for the internal man, through the rational, operates on the corporeal external. But when the rational consents, it separates the external man from the internal, so that the existence of the internal man is no longer known, nor consequently the intelligence and wisdom which are of the internal.

269. That Jehovah God (that is, the Lord) did not "curse the ground", or the external man, but that the external man averted or separated itself from the internal, and thus cursed itself, is evident from what was previously shown (n. 245).

270. That to "eat of the ground in great sorrow" signifies a miserable state of life, is evident from what precedes and follows, not to mention that to "eat", in the internal sense, is to live. The same is evident also from the fact that such a state of life ensues when evil spirits begin to fight, and the attendant angels to labor. This state of life becomes more miserable when evil spirits begin to obtain the dominion; for they then govern the external man, and the angels only the internal man, of which so little remains that they can scarcely take anything thence with which to defend the man; hence arise misery and anxiety. Dead men are seldom sensible of such misery and anxiety, because they are no longer men, although they think themselves more truly so than others; for they know no more than the brutes of what is spiritual and celestial, and what is eternal life, and like them they look downward to earthly things, or outward to worldly ones; they favor only their Own, and indulge their inclinations and senses with the entire concurrence of the rational. Being dead, they sustain no spiritual combat or temptation, and were they exposed to it their life would sink under its weight, and they could thereby curse themselves still more, and precipitate themselves still more deeply into infernal damnation: hence they are spared this until their entrance into the other life, where, being no longer in danger of dying in consequence of any temptation or misery, they endure most grievous sufferings, which likewise are here signified by the ground being cursed, and eating of it in great sorrow.

271. That "all the days of thy life" signifies the end of the days of the church, is evident from the fact that the subject here treated of is not an individual man, but the church and its state. The end of the days of that church was the time of the flood.

272. Verse 18. And the thorn and the thistle shall it bring forth unto thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. By the "thorn and the thistle", are meant curse and vastation; and by "thou shalt eat the herb of the field", is signified that he should live as a wild animal. Man lives like a wild animal when his internal man is so separated from his external as to operate upon it only in a most general manner, for man is man from what he receives through his internal man from the Lord, and is a wild animal from what he derives from the external man, which, separated from the internal, is in itself no other than a wild animal, having a similar nature, desires, appetites, phantasies, and sensations, and also similar organic forms. That nevertheless he is able to reason, and, as it seems to himself, acutely, he has from the spiritual substance by which he receives the influx of life from the Lord, which is however perverted in such a man, and becomes the life of evil, which is death. Hence he is called a dead man.

273. That the "thorn and the thistle" signify curse and vastation, is evident from harvest and fruit-tree denoting the opposites, which are blessings and multiplications. That the "thorn", the "thistle", the "brier", the "bramble", and the "nettle", have such a signification, is evident from the Word, as in Hosea: -

Lo, they are gone away because of the vastation; Egypt shall gather them; Memphis shall bury them; their desirable things of silver, the nettle shall inherit them; the bramble shall be in their tents (Hosea 9:6).

Here "Egypt" and "Memphis" denote such as seek to understand Divine things from themselves and their own memory-knowledges. In the same Prophet: -

The lofty places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed; the thorn and the thistle shall come up upon their altars (Hosea 10:8),

where the "lofty places of Aven", signify the love of self; and the "thorn and thistle on the altars", profanation. In Isaiah: -

Mourning upon the paps for the fields of desire, for the fruitful vine; upon the ground of My people shall come up the briery thorn (Isaiah 32:12, 13).

And in Ezekiel: -

There shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor a painful thorn from all that are round about them (Ezekiel 28:24).

274. That to "eat the herb of the field" (that is, wild food) denotes to live like a wild animal, is evident from what is said of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel: -

They shall drive thee from man, and thy dwelling shall be with the beast of the field; they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee (Daniel 4:25).

And in Isaiah: -

Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and from the days of old have I formed it; now have I brought it to pass, and it shall be to lay waste bulwarks, fenced cities, in heaps; and their inhabitants, short of hand, were dismayed and put to shame; they were made the grass of the field, and the green (olus) of the herb, the grass of the house-tops, and a field parched before (coram) the standing corn (Isaiah 37:26, 27).

Here it is explained what is signified by the "grass of the field", the "green of the herb", the "grass on the house-tops", and a "field parched;" for the subject here treated of is the time before the flood, which is meant by "long ago", and the "days of old".

275. Verse 19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. By "eating bread in the sweat of the face", is signified to be averse to what is celestial; to "return to the ground from whence he was taken", is to relapse into the external man, such as he was before regeneration; and "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return", signifies that he is condemned and infernal.

276. That to "eat bread in the sweat of the face" signifies to be averse to what is celestial, is evident from the signification of "bread". By "bread" is meant everything spiritual and celestial, which is the food of the angels, on the deprivation of which they would cease to live as certainly as men deprived of bread or food. That which is celestial and spiritual in heaven also corresponds to bread on earth, by which moreover they are represented, as is shown by many passages in the Word. That the Lord is "bread", because from Him proceeds whatever is celestial and spiritual, He Himself teaches in John: -

This is the bread that cometh down from heaven; he that eateth of this bread shall live to eternity (John 6:58).

Wherefore also bread and wine are the symbols employed in the Holy Supper. This celestial is also represented by the manna. That what is celestial and spiritual constitutes the food of angels, is manifest from the Lord's words: -

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4),

that is, from the life of the Lord, from which comes everything celestial and spiritual.

[2] The last posterity of the Most Ancient Church, which existed immediately before the flood, and is here treated of, had become so thoroughly lost and immersed in sensuous and bodily things, that they were no longer willing to hear what was the truth of faith, what the Lord was, or that He would come and save them; and when such subjects were mentioned they turned away. This aversion is described by "eating bread in the sweat of the face". So also the Jews, in consequence of their being of such a character that they did not acknowledge the existence of heavenly things, and desired only a worldly Messiah, could not help feeling an aversion for the manna, because it was a representation of the Lord, calling it "vile bread", on which account fiery serpents were sent among them (Num. 21:5, 6). Moreover the heavenly things imparted to them in states of adversity and misery, when they were in tears, were called by them the "bread of adversity", the "bread of misery", and the "bread of tears". In the passage before us, that which was received with aversion is called the "bread of the sweat of the face".

277. This is the internal sense. He who keeps close to the letter, understands no other than that man must procure bread for himself out of the ground by labor, or by the sweat of his face. "Man" however does not here mean any one man, but the Most Ancient Church; nor does "ground" mean ground, nor "bread" bread, nor "garden" garden, but celestial and spiritual things, as has been sufficiently shown.

278. That by "returning to the ground whence he was taken" is signified that the church would return to the external man such as it was before regeneration, is evident from the fact that "ground" signifies the external man, as previously stated. And that "dust" signifies what is condemned and infernal, is also evident from what was said of the serpent, which in consequence of being cursed is said to "eat dust". In addition to what was there shown as to the signification of "dust", we may add the following passages from David: -

All those who go down to the dust shall bow before Jehovah, and those whose soul He hath not made alive (Ps. 22:29).

And in another place: -

Thou hidest Thy faces, they are troubled; Thou takest away their breath, they expire, and return to their dust (Ps. 104:29),

which means that when men turn away from the face of the Lord, they expire or die, and thus "return to the dust", that is, are condemned and become infernal.

279. All these verses then, taken in a series, involve that the sensuous part averted itself from the celestial (verse 14); that the Lord would come into the world for the purpose of reuniting them (verse 15); that combat arose in consequence of the external man averting itself (verse 16); whence resulted misery (verse 17); condemnation (verse 18); and at length hell (verse 19). These things followed in succession in that church, from the fourth posterity down to the flood.

 

GENESIS 3:20-24

20. And the man (homo) called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

21. And Jehovah God made for the man and for his wife coats of skin, and clothed them.

22. And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, knowing good and evil; and now lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of lives, and eat, and live to eternity,

23. Therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.

24. And He cast out the man; and He made to dwell from the east toward the garden of Eden cherubim, and the flame of a sword turning itself, to keep the way of the tree of lives.

 

THE CONTENTS

280. The Most Ancient Church, and those who fell away, are here summarily treated of; thus also its posterity down to the flood, when it expired.

281. Of the Most Ancient Church which was celestial, and from the life of faith in the Lord, called "Eve", and the "mother of all living" (verse 20).

282. Of its first posterity, in which there was celestial spiritual good; and of its second and third, in which there was natural good, signified by the "coat of skin which Jehovah God made for the man and his wife" (verse 21).

283. Of the fourth posterity, in which natural good began to be dissipated, and which, had they been created anew or instructed in the celestial things of faith, would have perished, which is meant by, "Lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of lives, and eat, and live to eternity" (verse 22).

284. Of the fifth posterity, which was deprived of all good and truth, and was reduced to the state in which they had been previous to regeneration, which is meant by his being "sent forth out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken" (verse 23).

285. Of the sixth and seventh posterities, in that they were deprived of all memory-knowledge (scientia) of what is good and true, and were left to their own filthy loves and persuasions; this being provided lest they should profane the holy things of faith,-which is signified by his being "driven out, and cherubim being made to dwell at the garden, with the flame of a sword, to keep the way of the tree of lives" (verse 24).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

286. This and the preceding chapters, down to the verses now under consideration, treat of the most ancient people and of their regeneration first, of those who lived like wild animals, but at length became spiritual men; then of those who became celestial men, and constituted the Most Ancient Church; afterwards of those who fell away, and their descendants, in regular order through the first, second, and third posterities and their successors, down to the flood. In the verses following, which conclude the chapter, we have a recapitulation of what occurred from the period when the man of the Most Ancient Church was formed, until the flood; thus it is a conclusion to all that goes before.

287. Verse 20. And the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. By the "man (homo)" is here meant the man of the Most Ancient Church, or the celestial man, and by the "wife" and the "mother of all living" is meant the church. She is called "mother", as being the first church; and "living", in consequence of possessing faith in the Lord, who is life itself.

288. That by "man" is meant the man of the Most Ancient Church, or the celestial man, was previously shown; and at the same time it was also shown that the Lord alone is Man, and that from Him every celestial man is man, because in His likeness. Hence every member of the church, without exception or distinction, was called a "man", and at length this name was applied to any one who in body appeared as a man, to distinguish him from beasts.

289. It has also been shown above that by "wife" is meant the church, and in the universal sense the kingdom of the Lord in the heavens and on earth; and from this it follows that the same is meant by "mother". In the Word the church is very frequently called "mother", as in Isaiah: -

Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement? (Isaiah 50:1).

In Jeremiah: -

Your mother is greatly ashamed: she that bare you was suffused with shame (Jeremiah 50:12).

In Ezekiel: -

Thou art thy mother's daughter that loathed her man and her sons; your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite (Ezekiel 16:45),

where "man (vir)" denotes the Lord and all that is celestial; "sons", the truths of faith; a "Hittite", what is false: and an "Amorite", what is evil. In the same: -

Thy mother is like a vine in thy likeness, planted near the waters; she was fruitful and full of leaves because of many waters (Ezekiel 19:10).

Here "mother" denotes the Ancient Church. The term "mother" is more especially applicable to the Most Ancient Church, because it was the first church, and the only one that was celestial, and therefore beloved by the Lord more than any other.

290. That she was called the "mother of all living" in consequence of possessing faith in the Lord, who is Life itself, is also evident from what has been already shown. There cannot be more than one Life, from which is the life of all, and there can be no life, which is life, except through faith in the Lord, who is the Life; nor can there be faith in which is life, except from Him, consequently unless He is in it. On this account, in the Word, the Lord alone is called "Living", and is named the "Living Jehovah" (Jer. 5:2; 12:16; 16:14, 15; 23:7; Ezek. 5:11); "He that liveth to eternity" (Dan. 4:34;Rev. 4:10; 5:14; 10:6); the "Fountain of Life" (Ps. 36:9); the "Fountain of living waters" (Jer. 17:13). Heaven (which lives by or from Him) is called the "Land of the living" (Isa. 38:11; 53:8; Ezek. 26:20; 32:23-27, 32; Ps. 27:13; 52:5; 142:5). And those are called "Living", who are in faith in the Lord; as in David: -

Who putteth our soul among the living (Ps. 66:9).

And those who possess faith are said to be "in the Book of lives" (Ps. 69:28), and "in the book of life" (Rev. 13:8; 17:8; 20:15). Wherefore also those who receive faith in Him are said to be "made alive" (Hos. 6:2; Ps. 85:6). On the other hand it follows that those who are not in faith are called "dead;" as in Isaiah: -

The dead shall not live; the Rephaim shall not rise again, because Thou hast visited and destroyed them (Isaiah 26:14),

meaning those who are puffed up with the love of self; to "rise again" signifies to enter into life. They are also said to be "pierced" (Ezek. 32:23-26, 28-31). They are also called "dead" by the Lord (Matt. 4:16; John 5:25; 8:21, 24, 51, 52) Hell also is called "death" (Isa. 25:8; 28:15).

291. In this verse is described the first time, when the church was in the flower of her youth, representing the heavenly marriage, on which account she is described by a marriage, and is called " Eve", from a word meaning "life".

292. Verse 21. And Jehovah God made for the man (homo) and for his wife coats of skin, and clothed them. These words signify that the Lord instructed them in spiritual and natural good; His instructing them is expressed by "making" and "clothing", and spiritual and natural good, by the "coat of skin".

293. It could never appear from the letter that these things are signified; and yet there is evidently here enfolded some deeper meaning, for every one must be aware that Jehovah God did not make a coat of skin for them.

294. Neither would it be evident to any one that a "coat of skin" signifies spiritual and natural good, except by a revelation of the internal sense, and a subsequent comparison of passages in the Word where similar expressions occur. The general term "skin" is here used, but that of a kid, sheep, or ram, is understood, which animals in the Word signify affections of good, charity, and that which is of charity, as was likewise signified by the sheep used in the sacrifices. Those are called "sheep" who are endowed with the good of charity, that is, with spiritual and natural good, and hence the Lord is called the "Shepherd of the sheep", and those who are endowed with charity are called His "sheep", as everybody knows.

295. The reason why they are said to be "clothed with a coat of skin", is that the most ancient people were said to be "naked", on account of their innocence; but when they lost their innocence they became conscious that they were in evil, which also is called "nakedness". That all things might appear to cohere historically (in accordance with the way of speaking of the most ancient people), they are here said to be "clothed lest they should be naked", or in evil. Their being in spiritual and natural good is evident from what was remarked above concerning them, from (verse 1-13) of this chapter, as well as from its being here related that "Jehovah God made them a coat of skin, and clothed them;" for it here treats of the first-and more especially of the second and third-posterities of the church, who were endowed with such good.

296. That the skins of kids, sheep, goats, badgers, and rams signify spiritual and natural goods, is evident from the internal sense of the Word, where Jacob is treated of, and also where the ark is treated of. Of Jacob it is said that he was "clothed with the raiment of Esau", and on his hands and on his neck, where he was naked, "with skins of kids of the goats", and when Isaac smelled them, he said, "the smell of my son is as the smell of a field" (Gen. 27:15, 16, 27). That these skins signify spiritual and natural goods, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be seen in that place. Of the ark it is said that the covering of the tent was "of rams' skins and badgers' skins" (Exod. 26:14; 36:19), and that when they set forward Aaron and his sons covered the ark with a covering "of badgers' skins", and likewise the table and its vessels, the candlestick and its vessels, the altar of gold, and the vessels of ministry and of the altar (Num. 4:6-14). Of the Lord's Divine mercy it will in that place also be seen that these skins signify spiritual and natural good, for whatever was in the ark, the tabernacle, or the tent, yea, whatever was upon Aaron when clothed with the garments of holiness, signified what is celestial spiritual, so that there was not the least thing that had not its own representation.

297. Celestial good is not clothed, because it is inmost, and is innocent; but celestial spiritual good is that which is first clothed, and then natural good, for these are more external, and on that account are compared to and are called "garments;" as in Ezekiel, speaking of the Ancient Church: -

I clothed thee with broidered work, and shod thee with badger, I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk (Ezekiel 16:10).

In Isaiah: -

Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the city of holiness (Isaiah 52:1).

In the Revelation: -

Who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy (Revelation 3:4, 5),

where it is likewise said of the four and twenty elders that they were "clothed in white raiment" (Revelation 4:4). Thus the more external goods, which are celestial spiritual, and natural, are "garments;" wherefore also those who are endowed with the goods of charity appear in heaven clothed in shining garments; but here, because still in the body, with a "coat of skin".

298. Verse 22. And Jehovah God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, knowing good and evil; and now lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of lives, and eat, and live to eternity. The reason "Jehovah God" is first mentioned in the singular, and afterwards in the plural number, is that by "Jehovah God" is meant the Lord, and at the same time the angelic heaven. The man's "knowing good and evil", signifies that he had become celestial, and thus wise and intelligent; "lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of lives", means that he must not be instructed in the mysteries of faith, for then never to all eternity could he be saved, which is to "live to eternity".

299. Here are two arcana: first, that "Jehovah God" signifies the Lord, and at the same time heaven; secondly, that had they been instructed in the mysteries of faith they would have perished eternally.

300. As regards the first arcanum, - that by "Jehovah God" is meant the Lord and at the same time heaven, - it is to be observed that in the Word, always for a secret reason, the Lord is sometimes called merely "Jehovah", sometimes "Jehovah God", sometimes "Jehovah" and then "God", sometimes the "Lord Jehovih", sometimes the "God of Israel", and sometimes "God" only. Thus in the first chapter of Genesis, where it is also said, in the plural, "Let us make man in our image", He is called "God" only, and He is not called "Jehovah God" until the following chapter, where the celestial man is treated of. He is called "Jehovah" because He alone is or lives, thus from Essence; and "God", because He can do all things, thus from Power; as is evident from the Word, where this distinction is made (Isa. 49:4, 5; 55:7; Ps. 18:2, 28, 29, 31; 31:14). On this account every angel or spirit who spoke with man, and who was supposed to possess any power, was called " God", as appears from David: -

God hath stood in the congregation of God, He will judge in the midst of the gods (Ps. 82:1)

and in another place: -

Who in the sky shall be compared unto Jehovah? who among the sons of the gods shall be likened to Jehovah? (Ps. 89:6).

Again: -

Confess ye to the God of gods, confess ye to the Lord of lords (Ps. 136:2, 3).

Men also as being possessed of power are called "gods", as in (Ps. 82:6; John 10:34, 35). Moses also is said to be "a god to Pharaoh" (Exod. 7:1). For this reason the word "God" in the Hebrew is in the plural number - "Elohim". But as the angels do not possess the least power of themselves, as indeed they acknowledge, but solely from the Lord, and as there is but one God, therefore by "Jehovah God" in the Word is meant the Lord alone. But where anything is effected by the ministry of angels, as in the first chapter of Genesis, He is spoken of in the plural number. Here also because the celestial man, as man, could not be put in comparison with the Lord, but with the angels only, it is said, the man "is become as one of us, knowing good and evil", that is, is wise and intelligent.

301. The other arcanum is that had they been instructed in the mysteries of faith they would have perished eternally, which is signified by the words, "now lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of lives, and eat, and live to eternity". The case is this: When men have become inverted orders of life, and are unwilling to live, or to become wise, except from themselves and from their Own, they reason about everything they hear respecting faith, as to whether it is so, or not; and as they do this from themselves and from their own things of sense and of memory-knowledge, it must needs lead to denial, and consequently to blasphemy and profanation, so that at length they do not scruple to mix up profane things with holy. When a man becomes like this, he is so condemned in the other life that there remains for him no hope of salvation. For things mixed up by profanation remain so mixed up, so that whenever any idea of something holy presents itself, an idea of something profane that is conjoined with it is also there, the consequence of which is that the person cannot be in any society except one of the damned. Whatever is present in any idea of thought in consequence of being conjoined with it, is most exquisitely perceived in the other life, even by spirits in the world of spirits, and much more so by angelic spirits, so exquisitely indeed that from a single idea they know a person's character. The separation of profane and holy ideas when thus conjoined cannot be effected except by means of such infernal torment that if a man were aware of it he would as carefully avoid profanation as he would avoid hell itself.

302. This is the reason why the mysteries of faith were never revealed to the Jews. They were not even plainly told that they were to live after death, nor that the Lord would come into the world to save them. So great were the ignorance and stupidity in which they were kept, and still are kept, that they did not and do not know of the existence of the internal man, or of anything internal, for if they had known of it, or if they now knew of it, so as to acknowledge it, such is their character that they would profane it, and there would be no hope of any salvation for them in the other life. This is what is meant by the Lord in John: -

He hath blinded their eyes, and stopped up their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and convert themselves, and I should heal them (John 12:40).

And by the Lord speaking to them in parables without explaining to them their meaning, lest (as He Himself says),

Seeing they should see, and hearing they should hear, and should understand (Matt. 13:13).

For the same reason all the mysteries of faith were hidden from them, and were concealed under the representatives of their church, and for the same reason the prophetic style is of the same character. It is however one thing to know, and another to acknowledge. He who knows and does not acknowledge, is as if he knew not; but it is he who acknowledges and afterwards blasphemes and profanes, that is meant by these words of the Lord.

303. A man acquires a life by all the things he is persuaded of, that is, which he acknowledges and believes. That of which he is not persuaded, or does not acknowledge and believe, does not affect his mind. And therefore no one can profane holy things unless he has been so persuaded of them that he acknowledges them, and yet denies them. Those who do not acknowledge may know, but are as if they did not know, and are like those who know things that have no existence. Such were the Jews about the time of the Lord's advent, and therefore they are said in the Word to be "vastated" or "laid waste", that is, to have no longer any faith. Under these circumstances it does men no injury to have the interior contents of the Word opened to them, for they are as persons seeing, and yet not seeing; hearing, and yet not hearing; and whose hearts are stopped up; of whom the Lord says in Isaiah: -

Go and tell this people, Hearing hear ye, but understand not, and seeing see ye, but know not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and smear their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, so that they be healed (Isaiah 6:9, 10).

That the mysteries of faith are not revealed until men are in such a state, that is, are so vastated that they no longer believe (in order, as before said, that they may not be able to profane them), the Lord also plainly declares in the subsequent verses of Isaiah: -

Then said I, Lord, how long? And He said, Even until the cities are desolated, so that there be no inhabitant; and the houses, so that there be no man, and the ground be utterly desolated, and Jehovah have removed man (Isaiah 6:12).

He is called a "man" who is wise, or who acknowledges and believes. The Jews were thus vastated, as already said, at the time of the Lord's advent; and for the same reason they are still kept in such vastation by their cupidities, and especially by their avarice, that although they hear of the Lord a thousand times, and that the representatives of their church are significative of Him in every particular, yet they acknowledge and believe nothing. This then was the reason why the antediluvians were cast out of the garden of Eden, and vastated even until they were no longer capable of acknowledging any truth.

304. From all this it is evident what is meant by the words, "lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of lives, and eat, and live to eternity". To "take of the tree of lives and eat", is to know even so as to acknowledge whatever is of love and faith; for lives" in the plural denote love and faith, and to "eat" signifies here as before, to know. To "live to eternity", is not to live in the body to eternity, but to live after death in eternal damnation. A man who is "dead" is not so called because he is to die after the life of the body, but because he will live a life of death, for "death" is damnation and hell. The expression to "live", is used with a similar signification by Ezekiel: -

Ye hunt souls for My people, and save souls alive for yourselves, and ye have profaned Me among My people, to slay souls that will not die, and to make souls live that will not live (Ezekiel 13:18, 19).

305. Verse 23. Therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. To be "cast out of the garden of Eden", is to be deprived of all intelligence and wisdom; and to "till the ground from which he was taken", is to become corporeal, as he was previous to regeneration. That to be "cast out of the garden of Eden" is to be deprived of all intelligence and wisdom, is evident from the signification of a "garden", and of "Eden", as above; for a "garden" signifies intelligence, or the understanding of truth; and "Eden", being significative of love, signifies wisdom, or the will of good. That to "till the ground from which he was taken" signifies to become corporeal, such as he was before regeneration, has been shown above (verse 19), where similar words occur.

306. Verse 24. And He cast out the man; and He made to dwell from the east toward the garden of Eden cherubim, and the flame of a sword turning itself to keep the way of the tree of lives. To "cast out the man", is to entirely deprive him of all the will of good and understanding of truth, insomuch that he is separated from them, and is no longer man. To "make cherubim from the east to dwell", is to provide against his entering into any secret thing of faith; for the "east toward the garden of Eden", is the celestial, from which is intelligence; and by "cherubim" is signified the providence of the Lord in preventing such a man from entering into the things of faith. By the "flame of a sword turning itself", is signified self-love (amor proprius) with its insane desires and consequent persuasions, which are such that he indeed wishes to enter, but is carried away to corporeal and earthly things, and this for the purpose of "keeping the way of the tree of lives", that is, of preventing the profanation of holy things.

307. It here treats of the sixth and seventh posterities, which perished by the flood, and were altogether "cast out of the garden of Eden", that is, from all understanding of truth, and became as it were not men, being left to their insane cupidities and persuasions.

308. As the signification of the "east" and of the "garden of Eden" were given above, it is needless to dwell longer on them; but that " cherubim" denote the providence of the Lord lest man should insanely enter into the mysteries of faith from his Own, and from what is of the senses and of memory-knowledge (sensuali et scientifico), and should thus profane them, and destroy himself, is evident from all the passages in the Word where mention is made of "cherubim". As the Jews were of such a quality that if they had possessed any clear knowledge concerning the Lord's coming, concerning the representatives or types of the church as being significative of Him, concerning the life after death, concerning the interior man and the internal sense of the Word, they would have profaned it, and would have perished eternally; therefore this was represented by the " cherubim" on the mercy-seat over the ark, upon the curtains of the tabernacle, upon the vail, and also in the temple; and it was signified that the Lord had them in keeping (Exod. 25:18-21; 26:1, 31; 1 Kings 6:23-29, 32). For the ark, in which was the testimony, signified the same as the tree of lives in this passage, namely, the Lord and the celestial things which belong solely to Him. Hence also the Lord is so often called the "God of Israel sitting on the cherubim", and hence He spake with Moses and Aaron "between the cherubim" (Exod. 25:22; Num. 7:89). This is plainly described in Ezekiel, where it is said: -

The glory of the God of Israel was uplifted from upon the cherub whereon He was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, and said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men who groan and sigh for all the abominations done in the midst thereof. And to the others He said, Go ye after him through the city, and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity; slay to blotting out the old man, and the young man, and the virgin, the infant, and the women; defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain (Ezekiel 9:3-7).

And again: -

He said to the man clothed in linen, Go in between the wheel to beneath the cherub, and fill thy palms with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city; the cherub put forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire which was between the cherubim, and took thereof, and put it into the palms of him that was clothed in linen, who took it and went out (Ezekiel 10:2, 7).

From these passages it is evident that the providence of the Lord in preventing men from entering into the mysteries of faith is signified by the "cherubim;" and that therefore they were left to their insane cupidities, here also signified by the "fire that was to be scattered over the city", and that "none should be spared".

309. That by the "flame of a sword turning itself", is signified self-love (amor proprius) with its insane cupidities and persuasions, which are such that they desire to enter (into the mysteries of faith), but are carried away to corporeal and earthly things, might be confirmed by so many passages from the Word as would fill pages; but we will cite only these from Ezekiel: -

Prophesy and say, Thus saith Jehovah, Say a sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also burnished to make a sore slaughter; it is sharpened that it may be as lightning. Let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of his slain; the sword of a great slaughter, which entereth into their bed-chambers, that their heart may melt, and their offenses be multiplied, I have set the terror of the sword in all their gates. Alas! it is made as lightning (Ezekiel 21:9, 10, 14, 15).

A "sword" here signifies the desolation of man such that he sees nothing that is good and true, but mere falsities and things contrary, denoted by "multiplying offenses". It is also said in Nahum, of those who desire to enter into the mysteries of faith, "The horseman mounting, and the flame of the sword, and the flash of the spear, and a multitude of the slain" (Nahum 3:3).

310. Each particular expression in this verse involves so many arcana of deepest import (applicable to the genius of this people who perished by the flood, a genius totally different from that of those who lived subsequent to the flood), that it is impossible to set them forth. We will briefly observe that their first parents, who constituted the Most Ancient Church, were celestial men, and consequently had celestial seeds implanted in them; whence their descendants had seed in them from a celestial origin. Seed from a celestial origin is such that love rules the whole mind and makes it a one. For the human mind consists of two parts, the will and the understanding. Love or good belongs to the will, faith or truth to the understanding; and from love or good those most ancient people perceived what belongs to faith or truth, so that their mind was a one. With the posterity of such a race, seed of the same celestial origin necessarily remains, so that any falling away from truth and good on their part is most perilous, since their whole mind becomes so perverted as to render a restoration in the other life scarcely possible. It is otherwise with those who do not possess celestial but only spiritual seed, as did the people after the flood, and as also do the people of the present day. There is no love in these, consequently no will of good, but still there is a capability of faith, or understanding of truth, by means of which they can be brought to some degree of charity, although by a different way, namely, by the insinuation of conscience from the Lord grounded in the knowledges of truth and the derivative good. Their state is therefore quite different from that of the antediluvians, concerning which state, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. These are arcana with which the present generation are utterly unacquainted, for at the present day none know what the celestial man is nor even what the spiritual man is, and still less what is the quality of the human mind and life thence resulting, and the consequent state after death.

311. In the other life, the state of those who perished by the flood is such that they cannot be in the world of spirits, or with other spirits, but are in a hell separated from the hells of others, and as it were under a certain mountain. This appears as an intervening mountain in consequence of their direful phantasies and persuasions. Their phantasies and persuasions are such as to produce so profound a stupor in other spirits that they do not know whether they are alive or dead, for they deprive them of all understanding of truth, so that they perceive nothing. Such also was their persuasive power during their abode in the world; and because it was foreseen that in the other life they would be incapable of associating with other spirits without inducing on them a kind of death, they all became extinct, and the Lord of His Divine mercy induced other states on those who lived after the flood.

312. In this verse, the state of these antediluvians is fully described, in that they were "cast out", or separated from celestial good, and in that "cherubim were placed from the east toward the garden of Eden". This expression, "from the east toward the garden of Eden", is applicable only to them, and could not be used in relation to those who lived afterwards, of whom it would have been said, "from the garden of Eden toward the east". In like manner, had the words "the flame of a sword turning itself" been applied to the people of the present day, they would have been "the sword of a flame turning itself". Nor would it have been said the "tree of lives,", but the "tree of life;" not to mention other things in the series that cannot possibly be explained, being understood only by the angels, to whom the Lord reveals them; for every state contains infinite arcana, not even one of which is known to men.

313. From what is here said of the first man, it is evident that all the hereditary evil existing at the present day did not come from him, as is falsely supposed. For it is the Most Ancient Church that is here treated of under the name of "man;" and when it is called "Adam", it signifies that man was from the ground, or that from being non-man he became man by regeneration from the Lord. This is the origin and signification of the name. But as to hereditary evil, the case is this. Every one who commits actual sin thereby induces on himself a nature, and the evil from it is implanted in his children, and becomes hereditary. It thus descends from every parent, from the father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and their ancestors in succession, and is thus multiplied and augmented in each descending posterity, remaining with each person, and being increased in each by his actual sins, and never being dissipated so as to become harmless except in those who are being regenerated by the Lord. Every attentive observer may see evidence of this truth in the fact that the evil inclinations of parents remain visibly in their children, so that one family, and even an entire race, may be thereby distinguished from every other.

 

CONTINUATION CONCERNING MAN'S ENTRANCE INTO ETERNAL LIFE

314. After the use of light has been given to the resuscitated person, or soul, so that he can look about him, the spiritual angels previously spoken of render him all the kindly services he can in that state desire, and give him information about the things of the other life, but only so far as he is able to receive it. If he has been in faith, and desires it, they show him the wonderful and magnificent things of heaven.

315. But if the resuscitated person or soul is not of such a character as to be willing to be instructed, he then desires to be rid of the company of the angels, which they exquisitely perceive, for in the other life there is a communication of all the ideas of thought. Still, they do not leave him even then, but he dissociates himself from them. The angels love every one, and desire nothing more than to render him kindly services, to instruct him, and to convey him to heaven. In this consists their highest delight.

316. When the soul thus dissociates himself, he is received by good spirits, who likewise render him all kind offices while he is in their company. If however his life in the world has been such that he cannot remain in the company of the good, he desires to be rid of these also, and this process is repeated again and again, until he associates himself with those who are in full agreement with his former life in the world, among whom he finds as it were his own life. And then, wonderful to say, he leads with them a life like that which he had lived when in the body. But after sinking back into such a life, he makes a new beginning of life; and some after a longer time, some after a shorter, are from this borne on toward hell; but such as have been in faith toward the Lord, are from that new beginning of life led step by step toward heaven.

317. Some however advance more slowly toward heaven, and others more quickly. I have seen some who were elevated to heaven immediately after death, of which I am permitted to mention only two instances.

318. A certain spirit came and discoursed with me, who, as was evident from certain signs, had only lately died. At first he knew not where he was, supposing himself still to be in the world; but when he became conscious that he was in the other life, and that he no longer possessed anything, such as house, wealth, and the like, being in another kingdom, where he was deprived of all he had possessed in the world, he was seized with anxiety, and knew not where to betake himself, or whither to go for a place of abode. He was then informed that the Lord alone provides for him and for all; and was left to himself, that his thoughts might take their wonted direction, as in the world. He now considered (for in the other life the thoughts of all may be plainly perceived) what he must do, being deprived of all means of subsistence; and while in this state of anxiety he was brought into association with some celestial spirits who belonged to the province of the heart, and who showed him every attention that he could desire. This being done, he was again left to himself, and began to think, from charity, how he might repay kindness so great, from which it was evident that while he had lived in the body he had been in the charity of faith, and he was therefore at once taken up into heaven.

319. I saw another also who was immediately translated into heaven by the angels, and was accepted by the Lord and shown the glory of heaven; not to mention much other experience respecting others who were conveyed to heaven after some lapse of time.


Chapter 4

ON THE NATURE OF THE LIFE OF THE SOUL OR SPIRIT

320. With regard to the general subject of the life of souls, that is, of novitiate spirits, after death, I may state that much experience has shown that when a man comes into the other life he is not aware that he is in that life, but supposes that he is still in this world, and even that he is still in the body. So much is this the case that when told he is a spirit, wonder and amazement possess him, both because he finds himself exactly like a man, in his senses, desires, and thoughts, and because during his life in this world he had not believed in the existence of the spirit, or, as is the case with some, that the spirit could be what he now finds it to be.

321. A second general fact is that a spirit enjoys much more excellent sensitive faculties, and far superior powers of thinking and speaking, than when living in the body, so that the two states scarcely admit of comparison, although spirits are not aware of this until gifted with reflection by the Lord.

322. Beware of the false notion that spirits do not possess far more exquisite sensations than during the life of the body. I know the contrary by experience repeated thousands of times. Should any be unwilling to believe this, in consequence of their preconceived ideas concerning the nature of spirit, let them learn it by their own experience when they come into the other life, where it will compel them to believe. In the first place spirits have sight, for they live in the light, and good spirits, angelic spirits, and angels, in a light so great that the noonday light of this world can hardly be compared to it. The light in which they dwell, and by which they see, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be described hereafter. Spirits also have hearing, hearing so exquisite that the hearing of the body cannot be compared to it. For years they have spoken to me almost continually, but their speech also will of the Lord's Divine mercy be described hereafter. They have also the sense of smell, which also will Of the Lord's Divine mercy be treated of hereafter. They have a most exquisite sense of touch, whence come the pains and torments endured in hell; for all sensations have relation to the touch, of which they are merely diversities and varieties. They have desires and affections to which those they had in the body cannot be compared, concerning which of the Lord's Divine mercy more will be said hereafter. Spirits think with much more clearness and distinctness than they had thought during their life in the body. There are more things contained within a single idea of their thought than in a thousand of the ideas they had possessed in this world. They speak together with so much acuteness, subtlety, sagacity, and distinctness, that if a man could perceive anything of it, it would excite his astonishment. In short, they possess everything that men possess, but in a more perfect manner, except the flesh and bones and the attendant imperfections. They acknowledge and perceive that even while they lived in the body it was the spirit that sensated, and that although the faculty of sensation manifested itself in the body, still it was not of the body; and therefore that when the body is cast aside, the sensations are far more exquisite and perfect. Life consists in the exercise of sensation, for without it there is no life, and such as is the faculty of sensation, such is the life, a fact that any one may observe.

323. At the end of the chapter, several examples will be given of those who during their abode in this world had thought otherwise.

 

GENESIS 4:1-26

1. And the man knew Eve his wife, and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man (vir), Jehovah.

2. And she added to bear his brother Abel; and Abel was a shepherd of the flock, and Cain was a tiller of the ground.

3. And at the end of days it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to Jehovah.

4. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And Jehovah looked to Abel, and to his offering:

5. And unto Cain and unto his offering He looked not, and Cain's anger was kindled exceedingly, and his faces fell.

6. And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why are thy faces fallen?

7. If thou doest well, art thou not exalted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door; and to thee is his desire, and thou rulest over him.

8. And Cain talked to Abel his brother; and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

9. And Jehovah said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not, am I my brother's keeper?

10. And He said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's bloods crieth to Me from the ground.

11. And now art thou cursed from the ground, which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother's bloods from thy hand.

12. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.

13. And Cain said unto Jehovah, Mine iniquity is greater than can be taken away.

14. Behold, Thou hast cast me out this day from the faces of the ground; and from Thy faces shall I be hid, and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me.

15. And Jehovah said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And Jehovah set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should smite him.

16. And Cain went out from the faces of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, toward the east of Eden.

17. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bare Enoch; and he was building a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.

18. And unto Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begat Mehujael; and Mehujael begat Methusael; and Methusael begat Lamech.

19. And Lamech took unto him two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

20. And Adah bare Jabal; he was the father of the dweller in tents, and of cattle.

21. And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of every one that playeth upon the harp and organ.

22. And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron; and the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

23. And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, and with your ears perceive my speech, for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a little one to my hurt.

24. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

25. And the man knew his wife again, and she bare a son, and called his name Seth; for God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel; for Cain slew him.

26. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh: then began they to call upon the name of Jehovah.

 

THE CONTENTS

324. Doctrines separated from the church, or heresies, are here treated of; and a new church that was afterwards raised up, called "Enosh".

325. The Most Ancient Church had faith in the Lord through love; but there arose some who separated faith from love. The doctrine of faith separated from love was called "Cain;" and charity, which is love toward the neighbor, was called "Abel" (verses 1, 2).

326. The worship of each is described, that of faith separated from love, by the "offering of Cain;" and that of charity, by the "offering of Abel" (verses 3, 4). That worship from charity was acceptable, but not worship from separated faith (verses 4, 5).

327. That the state of those who were of separated faith became evil, is described by Cain's "anger being kindled, and his countenance falling" (verses 5, 6).

328. And that the quality of the faith is known from the charity; and that charity wishes to be with faith, if faith is not made the principal, and is not exalted above charity (verse 7).

329. That charity was extinguished in those who separated faith, and set it before charity, is described by Cain slaying his brother Abel" (verses 8, 9).

330. Charity extinguished is called the "voice of bloods" (verse 10); perverted doctrine, the "curse from the ground" (verse 11); the falsity and evil originating thence, the "fugitive and wanderer in the earth" (verse 12). And as they had averted themselves from the Lord, they were in danger of eternal death (verses 13, 14). But as it was through faith that charity would afterwards be implanted, faith was made inviolable, and this is signified by the "mark set upon Cain" (verse 15). And its removal from its former position is denoted by "Cain dwelling toward the east of Eden" (verse 16).

331. The amplification of this heresy is called "Enoch" (verse 17).

332. The heresies that sprang from this one are also called by their names, in the last of which, called "Lamech", there was nothing of faith remaining (verse 18).

333. A new church then arose, which is meant by "Adah and Zillah", and is described by their sons "Jabal", Jubal", and "Tubal-Cain;" the celestial things of the church by "Jabal", the spiritual by "Jubal", and the natural by "Tubal-Cain" (verses 19-22).

334. That this church arose when everything of faith and charity was extinguished, and had violence done to it, which was in the highest degree sacrilegious, is described (verses 23, 24).

335. A summary of the subject is given: that after faith, signified by "Cain", had extinguished charity, a new faith was given by the Lord, whereby charity was implanted. This faith is called "Seth" (verse 25).

336. The charity implanted by faith is called "Enosh", or another "man" (homo), which is the name of that church (verse 26).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

337. As this chapter treats of the degeneration of the Most Ancient Church, or the falsification of its doctrine, and consequently of its heresies and sects, under the names of Cain and his descendants, it is to be observed that there is no possibility of understanding how doctrine was falsified, or what was the nature of the heresies and sects of that church, unless the nature of the true church be rightly understood. Enough has been said above concerning the Most Ancient Church, showing that it was a celestial man, and that it acknowledged no other faith than that which was of love to the Lord and toward the neighbor. Through this love they had faith from the Lord, or a perception of all the things that belonged to faith, and for this reason they were unwilling to mention faith, lest it should be separated from love, as was shown above (n. 200, 203).

[2] Such is the celestial man, and such he is described by representatives in David, where the Lord is spoken of as the king, and the celestial man as the king's son: -

Give the king Thy judgments, and Thy righteousness to the king's son. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the hills in righteousness. They shall fear Thee with the sun, and toward the faces of the moon, generation of generations. In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace, until there be no moon (Ps. 72:1, 3, 5, 7).

By the "sun" is signified love; by the "moon", faith; by "mountains" and "hills", the Most Ancient Church; by "generation of generations", the churches after the flood; "until there be no moon", is said because faith shall be love. See also what is said in (Isaiah 30:26).

[3] Such was the Most Ancient Church, and such was its doctrine. But the case is far different at this day, for now faith takes precedence of charity, but still through faith charity is given by the Lord, and then charity becomes the principal. It follows from this that in the most ancient time doctrine was falsified when they made confession of faith, and thus separated it from love. Those who falsified doctrine in this way, or separated faith from love, or made confession of faith alone, were then called "Cain;" and such a thing was then regarded as an enormity.

338. Verse 1. And the man knew Eve his wife, and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man (vir), Jehovah. By the "man and Eve his wife" is signified the Most Ancient Church, as has been made known; its first offspring, or firstborn, is faith, which is here called "Cain;" her saying "I have gotten a man, Jehovah", signifies that with those called "Cain", faith was recognized and acknowledged as a thing by itself.

339. In the three foregoing chapters it has been sufficiently shown that by the "man and his wife" is signified the Most Ancient Church, so that it cannot be doubted, and this being admitted, it is evident that the conception and the birth effected by that church were of the nature we have indicated. It was customary with the most ancient people to give names, and by names to signify things, and thus frame a genealogy. For the things of the church are related to each other in this way, one being conceived and born of another, as in generation. Hence it is common in the Word to call things of the church "conceptions", "births", " offspring", "infants", "little ones", "sons", "daughters", "young men", and so on. The prophetical parts of the Word abound in such expressions.

340. That the words "I have gotten a man, Jehovah", signify that with such as are called "Cain" faith is recognized and acknowledged as a thing by itself, is evident from what was said at the beginning of this chapter. Previously, they had been as it were ignorant of what faith is, because they had a perception of all the things of faith. But when they began to make a distinct doctrine of faith, they took the things they had a perception of and reduced them into doctrine, calling it "I have gotten a man, Jehovah", as if they had found out something new; and thus what was before inscribed on the heart became a mere matter of knowing. In ancient times they gave every new thing a name, and in this way set forth the things involved in the names. Thus the signification of the name Ishmael is explained by the saying, "Jehovah hath heard her affliction" (Gen. 16:11); that of Reuben, by the expression, "Jehovah hath looked upon my affliction" (Gen. 29:32); the name Simeon, by the saying, "Jehovah hath heard that I was less dear" (Gen. 29:33); and that of Judah by, "This time will I praise Jehovah" (Genesis 29:35); and an altar built by Moses was called, "Jehovah my banner" (Exod. 17:15). In like manner the doctrine of faith is here denominated "I have gotten a man, Jehovah", or "Cain".

341. Verse 2. And she added to bear his brother Abel; and Abel was a shepherd of the flock, and Cain was a tiller of the ground. The second offspring of the church is charity, signified by "Abel" and "brother;" a "shepherd of the flock", denotes one who exercises the good of charity; and a "tiller of the ground", is one who is devoid of charity, however much he may be in faith separated from love, which is no faith.

342. That the second offspring of the church is charity, is evident from the fact that the church conceives and brings forth nothing else than faith and charity. The same is signified by the first children of Leah from Jacob; "Reuben" denoting faith; " Simeon", faith in act; and "Levi", charity (Gen. 29:32, 33, 34), wherefore also the tribe of Levi received the priesthood, and represented the "shepherd of the flock". As charity is the second offspring of the church, it is called "brother", and is named "Abel".

343. That a "shepherd of the flock" is one who exercises the good of charity, must be obvious to every one, for this is a familiar figure in the Word of both Old and New Testaments. He who leads and teaches is called a "shepherd", and those who are led and taught are called the "flock". He who does not lead to the good of charity and teach it, is not a true shepherd; and he who is not led to good, and does not learn what is good, is not of the flock. It is scarcely necessary to confirm this signification of "shepherd" and "flock" by quotations from the Word; but the following passages may be cited. In Isaiah: -

The Lord shall give the rain of thy seed, wherewith thou sowest the ground, and bread of the increase of the ground; in that day shall He feed thy cattle in a broad meadow (Isaiah 30:23),

where "bread of the increase of the ground", denotes charity. Again: -

The Lord Jehovih shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs into His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young (Isaiah 40:11).

In David: -

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that sittest on the cherubim, shine forth (Ps. 80:1).

In Jeremiah: -

I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman; the shepherds and their flocks shall come unto her, they shall pitch tents near her round about, they shall feed every one his own space (Jeremiah 6:2, 3).

In Ezekiel: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, I will multiply them as a flock of man, as a hallowed flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed times; so shall the waste cities be filled with the flock of man (Ezekiel 36:37, 38).

In Isaiah: -

All the flocks of Arabia shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee (Isaiah 60:7).

They who lead the flock to the good of charity are they who "gather the flock;" but they who do not lead them to the good of charity "scatter the flock;" for all gathering together and union are of charity, and all dispersion and disunion are from want of charity.

344. What avails faith, that is, the memory-knowledge (scientia), the knowledge (cognitio), and the doctrine of faith, but that the man may become such as faith teaches? And the primary thing that it teaches is charity (Mark 12:28-35; Matt. 22:34-39). This is the end of all it has in view, and if this be not attained, what is all knowledge or doctrine but a mere empty nothing?

345. That a "tiller of the ground" is one who is devoid of charity, however much he may be in faith separated from love, which is no faith, is evident from what follows: that Jehovah had no respect to his offering, and that he slew his brother, that is, destroyed charity, signified by "Abel". Those were said to "till the ground" who look to bodily and earthly things, as is evident from what is said in (Gen. 3:19, 23), where we read that the man was "cast out of the garden of Eden to till the ground".

346. Verse 3. And at the end of days it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to Jehovah. By the "end of days" is meant in process of time; by the "fruit of the ground", the works of faith without charity; and by "an offering to Jehovah", worship thence derived.

347. That by the "end of days" is signified in process of time, is evident to all. At first, and while there was simplicity in it, the doctrine here called "Cain" does not appear to have been so unacceptable as it became afterwards, as is evident from the fact that they called their offspring a "man Jehovah". Thus at first faith was not so far separated from love as at the "end of days", or in process of time; as is wont to be the case with every doctrine of true faith.

348. That by the "fruit of the ground" are meant the works of faith without charity, appears also from what follows; for the works of faith devoid of charity are works of no faith, being in themselves dead, for they are solely of the external man. Of such it is written in Jeremiah: -

Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Thou hast planted them, they also have taken root; they have gone on, they also bear fruit; Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins; how long shall the land mourn, and the herb of every field wither? (Jeremiah 12:1, 2, 4).

"Near in the mouth, but far from the reins", denotes those who are of faith separated from charity, concerning whom it is said that "the land mourns". In the same Prophet such works are called the "fruit of works:" -

The heart is deceitful (supplantativum) above all things, and it is desperate, who can know it? I Jehovah search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his works (Jer. 17:9, 10).

In Micah: -

The land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their works (Micah 7:13).

That such "fruit" is no fruit, or that the "work" is dead, and that both fruit and root perish, is thus declared in Amos: -

I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath (Amos 2:9).

And in David: -

Their fruit shalt Thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from the sons of man (Ps. 21:10).

But the works of charity are living, and of them it is declared that they "take root downward, and bear fruit upward;" as in Isaiah: -

The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward (Isaiah 37:31).

To "bear fruit upward", is to act from charity. Such fruit is called the "fruit of excellence", in the same Prophet: -

In that day shall the shoot of Jehovah be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel (Isa. 4:2).

It is also the "fruit of salvation", and is so called by the same Prophet: -

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth the fruit of salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I Jehovah will create it (Isa. 45:8).

349. That by an "offering" is meant worship, is evident from the representatives of the Jewish Church, in which, sacrifices of every kind, as well as the first fruits of the earth and of all its produce, and the oblation of the firstborn, were called "offerings", in which their worship consisted. And as they all represented heavenly things, and all had reference to the Lord, it must be obvious to every one that true worship was signified by these offerings. For what is a representative without the thing it represents? or what is an external religion without an internal but a kind of idol and a thing of death? The external has life from things internal, that is, through these from the Lord. From these considerations it is evident that all the offerings of a representative church signify the worship of the Lord; and concerning these of the Lord's Divine mercy we shall treat in particular in the following pages. That by "offerings" in general is meant worship, is evident in the Prophets throughout, as in Malachi: -

Who shall abide the day of His coming? He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, and they shall offer unto Jehovah an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and of Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of eternity, and as in ancient years (Malachi 3:2, 3, 4).

An "offering in righteousness" is an internal offering, which the "sons of Levi", that is, holy worshipers, will offer. The "days of eternity", signify the Most Ancient Church, and the "ancient years", the Ancient Church. In Ezekiel: -

In the mountain of My holiness, in the mountain of the height of Israel, there shall all the house of Israel, all that land, worship Me; there will I accept them, and there will I require your oblations, and the first-fruits of your offerings, in all your sanctifyings (Ezekiel 20:40).

"Oblations", and the "first fruits of the offerings in the sanctifyings", are likewise works sanctified by charity from the Lord. In Zephaniah: -

From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My suppliants shall bring Mine offering (Zephaniah 3:10).

"Ethiopia" denotes those who are in possession of celestial things, which are love, charity, and the works of charity.

350. Verse 4. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof; and Jehovah looked to Abel, and to his offering. By "Abel" here as before is signified charity; and by the "firstlings of the flock" is signified that which is holy, which is of the Lord alone; by "fat" is signified the celestial itself, which also is of the Lord; and by "Jehovah looking unto Abel, and to his offering", that the things of charity, and all worship grounded in charity, were well-pleasing to the Lord.

351. That "Abel" signifies charity has been shown before. By charity is meant love toward the neighbor, and mercy; for he who loves his neighbor as himself is also compassionate toward him in his sufferings, as toward himself.

352. That the "firstlings of the flock" signify that which is of the Lord alone, is evident from the firstlings or firstborn in the representative church, which were all holy, because they had relation to the Lord, who alone is the "firstborn". Love and the faith thence derived are the "firstborn". All love is of the Lord, and not one whit of it is of man, therefore the Lord alone is the "firstborn". This was represented in the ancient churches by the firstborn of man and of beast being sacred to Jehovah (Exod. 13:2, 12, 15); and by the tribe of Levi, which in the internal sense signifies love-though Levi was born after Reuben and Simeon who in the internal sense signify faith- being accepted instead of all the firstborn, and constituting the priesthood (Num. 3:40-45; 8:14-20). Of the Lord as the firstborn of all, with respect to His human essence, it is thus written in David: -

He shall call Me, My Father, My God, and the rock of My salvation. I will also make Him My firstborn, high above the kings of the earth (Ps. 89:26, 27).

And in John: -

Jesus Christ the firstborn of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5).

Observe that the firstborn of worship signify the Lord, and the firstborn of the church, faith.

353. By "fat" is signified the celestial itself, which is also of the Lord. The celestial is all that which is of love. Faith also is celestial when it is from love. Charity is the celestial. All the good of charity is the celestial. All these were represented by the various kinds of fat in the sacrifices, and distinctively by that which covered the liver, or the caul; by the fat upon the kidneys; by the fat covering the intestines, and upon the intestines; which were holy, and were offered up as burnt-offerings upon the altar (Exod. 29:13, 22; Lev. 3:3, 4, 14; 4:8, 9, 19, 26, 31, 35; 8:16, 25). They were therefore called the "bread of the offering by fire for a rest unto Jehovah" (Lev. 3:14, 16). For the same reason the Jewish people were forbidden to eat any of the fat of the beasts by what is called "a perpetual statute throughout your generations" (Lev. 3:17; 7:23, 25). This was because that church was such that it did not even acknowledge internal, much less celestial things.

[2] That "fat" signifies celestial things, and the goods of charity, is evident in the Prophets; as in Isaiah: -

Wherefore do ye weigh silver for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Attend ye diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness (Isaiah 55:2).

And in Jeremiah: -

I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satiated with My good (Jeremiah 31:14),

where it is very evident that fatness is not meant, but celestial spiritual good. So in David: -

They are filled with the fatness of Thy house, and Thou makest them drink of the river of Thy deliciousnesses. For with Thee is the fountain of lives; in Thy light we see light (Ps. 36:8, 9).

Here " fatness" and the "fountain of lives" signify the celestial, which is of love; and the "river of deliciousnesses", and "light", the spiritual, which is of faith from love. Again in David: -

My soul shall be satiated with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise Thee with lips of songs (Ps. 63:5),

where in like manner "fat" denotes the celestial, and "lips of songs" the spiritual. That it is what is celestial is very evident, because it will satiate the soul. For the same reason the first fruits, which were the firstborn of the earth, are called "fat" (Num. 18:12).

[3] As celestial things are of innumerable genera, and still more innumerable species, they are described in general in the song which Moses recited before the people: -

Butter of kine, and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs and of rams, the sons of Bashan, and of goats, with the fat of the kidneys of wheat; and thou shalt drink the blood of the grape, unmixed (Deut. 32:14).

It is impossible for any one to know the signification of these expressions except from the internal sense. Without the internal sense, such expressions as the "butter of kine", the "milk of sheep", the "fat of lambs", the "fat of rams and goats", the "sons of Bashan", the "fat of the kidneys of wheat", and the "blood of the grape", would be words and nothing more, and yet they all and each signify genera and species of celestial things.

354. That "Jehovah looked to Abel, and to his offering", signifies that the things of charity, and all worship grounded therein, are pleasing to the Lord, has been explained before, as regards both "Abel", and his "offering".

355. Verse 5. But to Cain and his offering He looked not; and Cain's anger was kindled exceedingly, and his faces fell. By "Cain", as has been stated, is signified faith separated from love, or such a doctrine as admits of the possibility of this separation; by his "offering not being looked to", is signified as before that his worship was unacceptable. By "Cain's anger being kindled exceedingly, and his faces falling", is signified that the interiors were changed. By "anger" is denoted that charity had departed; and by the "faces", the interiors, which are said to "fall" when they are changed.

356. That by "Cain" is signified faith separated from love, or a doctrine that admits of this separation; and that "to his offering He looked not", signifies that his worship was not acceptable, has been shown before.

357. That "Cain's anger was kindled" signifies that charity had departed, is evident from what is afterwards related of his killing his brother Abel, by whom is signified charity. Anger is a general affection resulting from whatever is opposed to self-love and its cupidities. This is plainly perceived in the world of evil spirits, for there exists there a general anger against the Lord, in consequence of evil spirits being in no charity, but in hatred, and whatever does not favor self-love (amori proprio) and the love of the world, excites opposition, which is manifested by anger. In the Word, "anger", "wrath", and even "fury", are frequently predicated of Jehovah, but they are of man, and are attributed to Jehovah because it so appears, for a reason mentioned above. Thus it is written in David: -

He sent against them the anger of His nostril, and wrath, and fury, and trouble, and an immission of evil angels; He hath weighed a path for His anger, He withheld not their soul from death (Ps. 78:49, 50).

Not that Jehovah ever sends anger upon any one, but that men bring it upon themselves; nor does He send evil angels among them, but man draws them to himself. And therefore it is added, that He "hath weighed a path for His anger, and withheld not their soul from death;" and therefore it is said in Isaiah, "To Jehovah shall he come, and all that were incensed against Him shall be ashamed" (Isaiah 45:24), whence it is evident that "anger" signifies evils, or what is the same, a departure from charity.

358. That by the "faces falling" is signified that the interiors were changed, is evident from the signification of the "face" and of its "falling". The face, with the ancients, signified internal things, because internal things shine forth through the face; and in the most ancient times men were such that the face was in perfect accord with the internals, so that from a man's face every one could see of what disposition or mind he was. They considered it a monstrous thing to show one thing by the face and think another. Simulation and deceit were then considered detestable, and therefore the things within were signified by the face. When charity shone forth from the face, the face was said to be "lifted up;" and when the contrary occurred, the face was said to "fall;" wherefore it is also predicated of the Lord that He "lifts up His faces upon man", as in the benediction (Num. 6:26; Ps. 4:6), by which is signified that the Lord gives charity to man. What is meant by the "face falling", appears from Jeremiah: -

I will not make My face to fall toward you, for I am merciful, saith Jehovah (Jeremiah 3:12).

The "face of Jehovah" is mercy, and when He "lifts up His face" upon any one, it signifies that out of mercy He gives him charity; and the reverse when He "makes the face to fall", that is, when man's face falls.

359. Verse 6. And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why is thine anger kindled? and why are thy faces fallen? "Jehovah said unto Cain", means that conscience dictated; that his "anger was kindled, and that his countenance fell", signifies as before that charity had departed, and that the interiors were changed.

360. That "Jehovah said unto Cain" means that conscience dictated, needs no confirmation, as a similar passage was explained above.

361. Verse 7. If thou doest well, is there not an uplifting? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door; and to thee is his desire, and thou rulest over him. "If thou doest well, an uplifting", signifies that if thou art well disposed thou hast charity "if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door", signifies that if thou art not well disposed thou hast no charity, but evil. " To thee is his desire, and thou rulest over him", signifies that charity is desirous to be with thee, but cannot because thou desires to rule over it.

362. The doctrine of faith called "Cain" is here described, which in consequence of separating faith from love, separated it also from charity, the offspring of love. Wherever there is any church, there arise heresies, because while men are intent on some particular article of faith they make that the main thing; for such is the nature of man's thought that while intent on some one thing he sets it before any other, especially when his imagination claims it as a discovery of his own, and when the love of self and of the world puff him up. Everything then seems to agree with and confirm it, until at last he will swear that it is so, even if it is false. Just in this way those called "Cain" made faith more essential than love, and as they consequently lived without love, both the love of self and the phantasy thence derived conspired to confirm them in it.

363. The nature of the doctrine of faith that was called "Cain", is seen from the description of it in this verse, from which it appears that charity was capable of being joined to faith, but so that charity and not faith should have the dominion. On this account it is first said, "If thou doest well art thou not uplifted?" signifying, If thou art well disposed, charity may be present; for to "do well" signifies, in the internal sense, to be well disposed, since doing what is good comes from willing what is good. In ancient times action and will made a one; from the action they saw the will, dissimulation being then unknown. That an "uplifting" signifies that charity is present, is evident from what has been already said about the face, that to "lift up the face" is to have charity, and that for the "face to fall" is the contrary.

364. Secondly, it is said, "If thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door", which signifies, If thou art not well disposed, there is no charity present, but evil. Everybody can see that "sin lying at the door" is evil ready and desirous to enter; for when there is no charity there are unmercifulness and hatred, consequently all evil. Sin in general is called the "devil", who, that is, his crew of infernals, is ever at hand when man is destitute of charity; and the only means of driving away the devil and his crew from the door of the mind, is love to the Lord and toward the neighbor.

365. In the third place it is said, "Unto thee is his desire, and thou rulest over him", by which is signified that charity is desirous to abide with faith, but cannot do so because faith wishes to rule over it, which is contrary to order. So long as faith seeks to have the dominion, it is not faith, and only becomes faith when charity rules; for charity is the principal of faith, as was shown above. Charity may be compared to flame, which is the essential of heat and light, for heat and light are from it; and faith in a state of separation may be compared to light that is without the heat of flame, when indeed there is light, but it is the light of winter in which everything becomes torpid and dies.

366. Verse 8. And Cain spake to Abel his brother; and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. "Cain spake to Abel" signifies an interval of time. "Cain", as before stated, signifies faith separated from love; and "Abel" charity, the brother of faith, on which account he is here twice called his "brother". A "field" signifies whatever is of doctrine. "Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him", signifies that separated faith extinguished charity.

367. It is unnecessary to confirm these things by similar passages from the Word, except so far as to prove that charity is the "brother" of faith, and that a "field" signifies whatever is of doctrine. That charity is the "brother" of faith is evident to every one from the nature or essence of faith. This brotherhood was represented by Esau and Jacob, and was the ground of their dispute about the birthright and the consequent dominion. It was also represented by Pharez and Zarah, the sons of Tamar by Judah (Gen. 38:28, 29, 30); and by Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. 48:13, 14); and in both of these, as well as in other similar cases, there is a dispute about the primogeniture and the consequent dominion. For both faith and charity are the offspring of the church. Faith is called a "man", as was Cain, in (verse 1) of this chapter, and charity is called a "brother", as in (Isa. 19:2; Jer. 13:14). The union of faith and charity is called "the covenant of brethren" (Amos 1:9). Similar to the signification of Cain and Abel, was that of Jacob and Esau, as just said; in that Jacob also was desirous of supplanting his brother Esau, as is evident also in Hosea: -

To visit upon Jacob his ways, according to his doings will He recompense him; he supplanted his brother in the womb (Hosea 12:2, 3).

But that Esau, or the charity represented by Esau, should nevertheless at length have the dominion, appears from the prophetic prediction of their father Isaac: -

By thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass, when thou hast the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck (Gen. 27:40).

Or what is the same, the Church of the Gentiles, or new church, is represented by Esau, and the Jewish Church is represented by Jacob; and this is the reason for its being so often said that the Jews should acknowledge the Gentiles as brethren; and in the Church of the Gentiles, or primitive church, all were called brethren, from charity. Such as hear the Word and do it are likewise called brethren by the Lord (Luke 8:21); those who hear are such as have faith; those who do are such as have charity; but those who hear, or say that they have faith, and do not, or have not charity, are not brethren, for the Lord likens them unto fools (Matt. 7:24, 26).

368. That a "field" signifies doctrine, and consequently whatever belongs to the doctrine of faith and charity, is evident from the Word, as in Jeremiah: -

O My mountain in the field, I will give thy possessions (facultates) and all thy treasures for a spoil (Jeremiah 17:3).

In this passage "field" signifies doctrine; "possessions" and "treasures" denote the spiritual riches of faith, or the things that belong to the doctrine of faith. In the same: -

Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of My field? (Jeremiah 18:14).

It is declared concerning Zion, when destitute of the doctrine of faith, that she shall be "plowed like a field" (Jer. 26:18; Micah 3:12). In Ezekiel: -

He took of the seed of the land, and set it in a field of sowing (Ezekiel 17:5),

treating of the church and of its faith; for doctrine is called a "field" from the seed in it. In the same: -

And let all the trees of the field know that I Jehovah bring down the high tree (Ezekiel 17:24).

In Joel: -

The field is laid waste, the ground mourneth, for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth, the husbandmen are ashamed, the harvest of the field is perished, all the trees of the field are withered (Joel 1:10, 11, 12),

where the "field" signifies doctrine, "trees" knowledges, and "husbandmen" worshipers. In David: -

The field shall exult and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the forest sing (Ps. 96:12),

where it is perfectly evident that the field cannot exult, nor the trees of the forest sing; but things that are in man, which are the knowledges of faith. In Jeremiah: -

How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of every field wither? (Jeremiah 12:4),

where it is also evident that neither the land nor the herbs of the field can mourn; but that the expressions relate to some thing in man while in a state of vastation. A similar passage occurs in Isaiah: -

The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12).

The Lord also in His prediction concerning the consummation of the age calls the doctrine of faith a "field:" -

Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left (Matt. 24:40; Luke 17:36),

where by a "field" is meant the doctrine of faith, both true and false. As a "field" signifies doctrine, whoever receives any seed of faith, whether a man, the church, or the world, is also called a "field".

369. From this then it follows that the words "Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him, when they were in the field together", denote that while both faith and charity were from the doctrine of faith, yet faith separate from love could not but disregard and thereby extinguish charity; as is the case at the present day with those who maintain that faith alone saves, without any work of charity, for in this very supposition they extinguish charity, although they know and confess with their lips that faith is not saving unless there is love.

370. Verse 9. And Jehovah said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not, am I my brother's keeper? "Jehovah said unto Cain", signifies a certain perceptivity from within that gave them a dictate concerning charity or the brother Abel". Cain's reply, "I know not, am I my brother's keeper?" signifies that faith considered charity as nothing, and was unwilling to be subservient to it, consequently that faith altogether rejected everything of charity. Such did their doctrine become.

371. By the "speaking of Jehovah" the most ancient people signified perception, for they knew that the Lord gave them the faculty to perceive. This perception could continue no longer than while love was the principal. When love to the Lord ceased, and consequently love toward the neighbor, perception perished; but in so far as love remained, perception remained. This perceptive faculty was proper to the Most Ancient Church, but when faith became separated from love, as in the people after the flood, and charity was given through faith, then conscience succeeded, which also gives a dictate, but in a different way, of which, by the Lord's Divine mercy, hereafter. When conscience dictates, it is in like manner said in the Word that "Jehovah speaks;" because conscience is formed from things revealed, and from knowledges, and from the Word; and when the Word speaks, or dictates, it is the Lord who speaks; hence nothing is more common, even at the present day, when referring to any matter of conscience, or of faith, than to say, "the Lord says".

372. To be a "keeper" signifies to serve, like the "door-keepers" and "porters" (that is, the keepers of the threshold), in the Jewish Church. Faith is called the "keeper" of charity, from the fact that it ought to serve it, but it was according to the principles of the doctrine called "Cain", that faith should rule, as was said in (verse 7).

373. Verse 10. And He said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's bloods crieth to Me from the ground. The "voice of thy brother's bloods", signifies that violence had been done to charity; the "crying of bloods", is the accusation of guilt, and "ground" signifies a schism, or heresy.

374. That the "voice of bloods" signifies that violence had been done to charity, is evident from many passages in the Word, in which "voice" denotes anything that accuses, and "blood" any kind of sin, and especially hatred; for whosoever bears hatred toward his brother, kills him in his heart; as the Lord teaches: -

Ye have heard that it was said to them of old, Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment; but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother rashly shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire (Matt. 5:21, 22),

by which words are meant the degrees of hatred. Hatred is contrary to charity, and kills in whatever way it can, if not with the hand, yet in spirit, and is withheld only by external restraints from the deed of the hand. Therefore all hatred is "blood", as in Jeremiah: -

Why makest thou thy way good to seek love? Even in thy skirts are found the bloods of the souls of the needy innocent ones (Jeremiah 2:33, 34).

[2] And as hatred is denoted by "blood", so likewise is every kind of iniquity, for hatred is the fountain of all iniquities. As in Hosea: -

Swearing falsely, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they rob, and bloods, in bloods have they touched; therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish (Hosea 4:2, 3).

And in Ezekiel, speaking of unmercifulness: -

Wilt thou judge the city of bloods, and make known to her all her abominations? a city that sheddeth bloods in the midst of it. Thou art become guilty through thy blood that thou hast shed (Ezekiel 22:2, 3, 4, 6, 9).

In the same: -

The land is full of the judgment of bloods, and the city is full of violence (Ezekiel 7:23).

And in Jeremiah: -

For the sins of the prophets of Jerusalem, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the righteous in the midst of her, they wander blind in the streets, they have been polluted with blood (Lam. 4:13, 14).

In Isaiah: -

When the Lord shall wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the bloods of Jerusalem from the midst, with the spirit of judgment, and with the spirit of burning (Isaiah 4:4).

And again: -

Your palms are defiled in blood, and your fingers in iniquity (Isaiah 59:3).

In Ezekiel, speaking of the abominations of Jerusalem, which are called "bloods:" -

I passed by thee, and saw thee trampled in thine own bloods, and I said unto thee, Live in thy bloods, yea, I said unto thee, Live in thy bloods (Ezekiel 16:6, 22).

[3] The unmercifulness and hatred of the last times are also described by "blood" in the (Revelation 16:3, 4). "Bloods" are mentioned in the plural, because all unjust and abominable things gush forth from hatred, as all good and holy ones do from love. Therefore he who feels hatred toward his neighbor would murder him if he could, and indeed does murder him in any way he can; and this is to do violence to him, which is here properly signified by the "voice of bloods".

375. A "voice crying", and the "voice of a cry", are common forms of expression in the Word, and are applied to every case where there is any noise, tumult, or disturbance, and also on the occasion of any happy event (Exod. 32:17, 18; Zeph. 1:9, 10; Isa. 65:19; Jer. 48:3). In the present passage it denotes accusation.

376. From this it follows that the "crying of bloods" signifies the accusation of guilt; for those who use violence are held guilty. As in David: -

Evil shall slay the wicked, and they that hate the righteous shall be guilty (Ps. 34:21).

In Ezekiel: -

Thou city art become guilty by the blood which thou hast shed (Ezekiel 22:4).

377. That the "ground" here signifies a schism or heresy, is evident from the fact that a "field" signifies doctrine, and therefore the "ground", having the field in it, is a schism. Man himself is the "ground", and also the "field", because these things are inseminated in him, for man is man from what is inseminated in him, a good and true man from goods and truths, an evil and false man from evils and falsities. He who is in any particular doctrine or heresy is named from it, and so in the passage before us the term "ground" is used to denote a schism or heresy in man.

378. Verse 11. And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother's bloods from thy hand. "Cursed art thou from the ground", signifies that through the schism he had become averted; "which hath opened its mouth", signifies that the heresy taught them; to "receive thy brother's bloods from thy hand", signifies that it did violence to charity, and extinguished it.

379. That these things are signified, is evident from what has gone before; and that to be "cursed" is to be averse to good, has been already shown (n. 245). For iniquities and abominations, or hatreds, are what avert man, so that he looks downward only, that is, to bodily and earthly things, thus to those which are of hell. This takes place when charity is banished and extinguished, for then the bond which connects the Lord with man is severed, since only charity, or love and mercy, are what conjoin us with Him, and never faith without charity, for this is no faith, being mere knowledge, such as the infernal crew themselves may possess, and by which they can craftily deceive the good, and feign themselves angels of light; and as the most wicked preachers are sometimes wont to do, with a zeal like that of piety, although nothing is further from their hearts than that which proceeds from their lips. Can any one be of judgment so weak as to believe that faith alone in the memory, or the thought thence derived, can be of any avail, when everybody knows from his own experience that no one esteems the words or assenting of another, no matter of what nature, when they do not come from the will or intention? It is this that makes them pleasing, and that conjoins one man with another. The will is the real man, and not the thought or speech which he does not will. A man acquires his nature and disposition from the will, because this affects him. But if any one thinks what is good, the essence of faith, which is charity, is in the thought, because the will to do what is good is in it. But if he says that he thinks what is good, and yet lives wickedly, he cannot possibly will anything but what is evil, and there is therefore no faith.

380. Verse 12. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth. To "till the ground", signifies to cultivate this schism or heresy; "it shall not yield unto thee its strength", signifies that it is barren. To be a " fugitive and a wanderer in the earth", is not to know what is good and true.

381. That to "till the ground" means to cultivate this schism or heresy, appears from the signification of "ground", of which we have just now spoken; and that its "not yielding its strength" denotes its barrenness, is evident both from what was said concerning ground, and from the words themselves, as well as from this consideration, that those who profess faith without charity, profess no faith, as was said above.

382. That to be a "fugitive and a wanderer in the earth" signifies not to know what is good and true, is evident from the signification of "wandering" and "fleeing away" in the Word. As in Jeremiah: -

The prophets and priests wander blind in the streets, they have been polluted in blood; the things they cannot do they touch with garments (Lam. 4:13, 14),

where "prophets" are those who teach, and "priests", those who live accordingly; to "wander blind in the streets", is not to know what is true and good.

[2] In Amos: -

A part of the field was rained upon, and the part of the field whereupon it rained not withered; so two or three cities shall wander unto one city to drink waters, and shall not be satisfied (Amos 4:7, 8),

where by the "part of the field on which it rained" is signified the doctrine of faith from charity; and by the "part" or "piece" "of the field on which it did not rain", the doctrine of faith without charity. To "wander to drink the waters", likewise denotes to seek after truth.

[3] In Hosea: -

Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit; my God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations (Hosea 9:16, 17).

"Ephraim" here denotes the understanding of truth, or faith, because he was the firstborn of Joseph; the "root which was dried up", denotes charity that cannot hear fruit; "wanderers among the nations", are those who do not know what is true and good.

[4] In Jeremiah: -

Go ye up against Arabia, and devastate the sons of the east. Flee, wander ye exceedingly; the inhabitants of Hazor have let themselves down into the deep for a habitation (Jeremiah 49:28, 30).

"Arabia" and the "sons of the east", signify the possession of celestial riches, or of the things that are of love, which, when vastated, are said to "flee", and "wander", that is, to be "fugitives and wanderers", when they do nought of what is good. Of the "inhabitants of Hazor", or those who possess spiritual riches, which are those of faith, it is said that they "let themselves down into the deep", that is, they perish.

[5] In Isaiah: -

All thy foremost ones wander together, they are bound before the bow, they have fled from far (Isaiah 22:3),

speaking of the "valley of vision", or the phantasy that faith is possible without charity. Hence appears the reason why it is said, in a subsequent (verse 14), that he who professes faith that is apart from charity is a "fugitive and a wanderer", that is, knows nothing of good and truth.

383. Verse 13. And Cain said unto Jehovah, Mine iniquity is greater than can be taken away. "Cain said unto Jehovah", signifies a certain confession that he was in evil, induced by some internal pain; "mine iniquity is greater than can he taken away", signifies despair on that account.

384. Hence it appears that something of good still remained in Cain; but that all the good of charity afterwards perished is evident from what is said of Lamech (verses 19, 23, 24).

385. Verse 14. Behold Thou hast cast me out this day from the faces of the ground, and from Thy faces shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me. To be "cast out from the faces of the ground", signifies to be separated from all the truth of the church; to be "hid from Thy faces", signifies to be separated from all the good of faith of love; to be a "fugitive and a wanderer in the earth", is not to know what is true and good; "every one that findeth me shall slay me", signifies that all evil and falsity would destroy him.

386. That to be "cast out from the faces of the ground" is to be separated from all the truth of the church, is evident from the signification of "ground", which, in the genuine sense, is the church, or the man of the church, and therefore whatever the church professes, as shown above. The meaning of a word necessarily varies with the subject treated of, and therefore even those who wrongly profess faith, that is who profess a schism or heresy, are also called "ground". Here however to be "driven out from the faces of the ground" signifies to be no longer in the truth of the church.

387. That to be "hid from Thy faces" signifies to be separated from all the good of the faith of love, is evident from the signification of the "faces of Jehovah". The "face of Jehovah", as before said, is mercy, from which proceed all the goods of the faith of love, and therefore the goods of faith are here signified by His "faces".

388. To be a "fugitive and a wanderer in the earth", means as before not to know what is true and good.

389. That "every one finding him would slay him" signifies that every evil and falsity would destroy him, follows from what has been said. For the case is this. When a man deprives himself of charity, he separates himself from the Lord, since it is solely charity, that is, love toward the neighbor, and mercy, that conjoin man with the Lord. Where there is no charity, there is disjunction, and where there is disjunction, man is left to himself or to his Own; and then whatever he thinks is false, and whatever he wills is evil. These are the things that slay man, or cause him to have nothing of life remaining.

390. Those who are in evil and falsity are in continual dread of being slain, as is thus described in Moses: -

Your land shall be a desolation, and your cities a waste, and upon them that are left of you I will bring softness into their heart in the land of their enemies, and the sound of a driven leaf shall chase them, and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when none pursueth, and shall stumble every one upon his brother, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth (Lev. 26:33, 36, 37).

In Isaiah: -

The treacherous deal treacherously, yea, in the treachery of the treacherous they deal treacherously. And it shall come to pass that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit, and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again (Isaiah 24:16-20).

In Jeremiah: -

Behold, I bring a dread upon thee, from all thy circuits shall ye be driven out every man toward his faces, and none shall gather up him that wandereth (Jeremiah 49:5).

In Isaiah: -

We will flee upon the horse, therefore shall ye flee; and, We will ride upon the swift, therefore shall they that pursue you be rendered swift; one thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one, at the rebuke of five shall ye flee (Isaiah 30:16, 17).

In these and other passages of the Word, those who are in falsity and evil are described as "fleeing", and as in "fear of being slain". They are afraid of everybody, because they have no one to protect them. All who are in evil and falsity hate their neighbor, so that they all desire to kill one another.

391. The state of evil spirits in the other life shows most clearly that those who are in evil and falsity are afraid of everybody. Those who have deprived themselves of all charity wander about, and flee from place to place. Wherever they go, if to any societies, these at once perceive their character by their mere coming, for such is the perception that exists in the other life; and they not only drive them away, but also severely punish them, and with such animosity that they would kill them if they could. Evil spirits take the greatest delight in punishing and tormenting one another; it is their highest gratification. Not until now has it been known that evil and falsity themselves are the cause of this, for whatever any one desires for another returns upon himself. Falsity has in itself the penalty of falsity, and evil has in itself the penalty of evil, and consequently they have in themselves the fear of these penalties.

392. Verse 15. And Jehovah said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And Jehovah set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should smite him. By "vengeance being taken sevenfold on any one who slays Cain" is signified that to do violence to faith even when thus separated would be a sacrilege; "Jehovah set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should smite him", signifies that the Lord distinguished faith in a particular manner, in order that it might he preserved.

393. Before we proceed to elucidate the internal sense of the words before us, it is necessary to know how the case is with faith. The Most Ancient Church was of such a character as to acknowledge no faith except that which is of love, insomuch that they were unwilling even to mention faith, for through love from the Lord they perceived all things that belong to faith. Such also are the celestial angels of whom we have spoken above. But as it was foreseen that the human race could not be of this character, but would separate faith from love to the Lord, and would make of faith a doctrine by itself, it was provided that they should indeed be separated, but in such a way that through faith, that is, through the knowledges of faith, men might receive from the Lord charity, so that knowledge (cognitio) or hearing should come first, and then through knowledge or hearing, charity, that is, love toward the neighbor, and mercy, might be given by the Lord, which charity should not only be inseparable from faith, but should also constitute the principal of faith. And then instead of the perception they had in the Most Ancient Church, there succeeded conscience, acquired through faith joined to charity, which dictated not what is true, but that it is true, and this because the Lord has so said in the Word. The churches after the flood were for the most part of this character, as also was the primitive or first church after the Lord's advent, and by this the spiritual angels are distinguished from the celestial.

394. Now as this was foreseen, and was provided, lest the human race should perish in eternal death, it is here declared that none should do violence to Cain, by whom is signified faith separated from charity; and further that a mark was set upon him, which means that the Lord distinguished faith in a particular manner, in order to secure its preservation. These are arcana hitherto undiscovered, and are referred to by the Lord in what He said respecting marriage, and eunuchs, in Matthew: -

There are eunuchs who were so born from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs of men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of God's sake; he that is able to receive it let him receive it (Matthew 19:12).

Those in the heavenly marriage are called "eunuchs;" those so "born from the womb", are such as resemble the celestial angels; those "made of men", are such as are like the spiritual angels; and those "made so by themselves", are like angelic spirits, who act not so much from charity as from obedience.

395. That the words "whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold", signify that to do violence to faith even when thus separated would be sacrilege, is evident from the signification of "Cain", which is faith separated from charity, and from the signification of "seven", which is what is sacred. The number "seven" was esteemed holy, as is well known, by reason of the six days of creation, and of the seventh, which is the celestial man, in whom is peace, rest, and the sabbath. Hence this number occurs so frequently in the rites of the Jewish Church, and is everywhere held sacred, and hence also both greater and less periods of time were distinguished into sevens, and were called "weeks", such as the great intervals of time to the coming of the Messiah (Dan. 9:24, 25); and the time of seven years called a "week" by Laban and Jacob (Gen. 29:27, 28). For the same reason, wherever it occurs, the number seven is accounted holy or inviolable. Thus we read in David: -

Seven times a day do I praise Thee (Ps. 119:164).

In Isaiah: -

The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days (Isaiah 30:26),

where the "sun" denotes love, and the "moon" faith from love, which should be as love. As the periods of man's regeneration are distinguished into six, before the seventh arrives, that is, the celestial man, so also are the periods of his vastation, up to the time when nothing celestial remains. This was represented by the several captivities of the Jews, and by the last or Babylonish captivity, which lasted seven decades, or seventy years. It is also said several times that the earth should rest on its sabbaths. The same is represented by Nebuchadnezzar, in Daniel: -

His heart shall be changed from man, and a beast's heart shall he given unto him, and seven times shall pass over him (Daniel 4:16, 23, 32).

And in John, concerning the vastation of the last times: -

I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels, having the seven last plagues (Rev. 15:1, 6, 7, 8);

and that

The Gentiles should tread the holy city under foot forty and two months, or six times seven (Rev. 11:2).

And again: -

I saw a book written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals (Rev. 5:1).

For the same reason the severities and augmentations of punishment were expressed by the number seven; as in Moses: -

If ye will not yet for all this obey Me, then I will chastise you sevenfold for your sins (Lev. 26:18, 21, 24, 28).

And in David: -

Render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom (Ps. 79:12).

Now as it was a sacrilege to do violence to faith-since as has been said it was to be of service-it is said that "whosoever should slay Cain, vengeance should be taken on him sevenfold".

396. That "Jehovah set a mark on Cain, lest any should smite him", signifies that the Lord distinguished faith in a particular manner in order that it might he preserved, is evident from the signification of a "mark", and of "setting a mark" on any one, as being a means of distinction. Thus in Ezekiel: -

Jehovah said, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark (that is, "mark out") upon the foreheads of the men groaning and sighing for all the abominations (Ezekiel 9:4),

where by "marking out the foreheads", is not meant a mark or line upon the front part of their heads, but to distinguish them from others. So in John, it is said that

The locusts should hurt only those men who had not the mark of God on their foreheads (Rev. 9:4),

where also to have the mark means to be distinguished.

[2] And in the same book we read of a "mark on the hand and on the forehead" (Rev. 13:16). The same thing was represented in the Jewish Church by binding the first and great commandment on the hand and on the forehead, concerning which we read in Moses: -

Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah; and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and thou shalt bind these words for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes (Deut. 6:4, 8; 11:13, 18).

By this was represented that they should distinguish the commandment respecting love above every other, and hence the signification of "marking the hand and the forehead" becomes manifest.

[3] So in Isaiah: -

I come to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see My glory; and I will set a mark upon them (Isaiah 66:18, 19).

And in David: -

O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me, give Thy strength unto Thy servant, and save the son of Thy handmaid. Set upon me a mark for good, and they that hate me shall see and be ashamed (Ps. 86:16, 17).

From these passages the meaning of a mark is now evident. Let no one therefore imagine that any mark was set upon a particular person called Cain, for the internal sense of the Word contains things quite different from those contained in the sense of the letter.

397. Verse 16. And Cain went out from the faces of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, toward the east of Eden. By the words "Cain went out from the faces of Jehovah" is signified that faith was separated from the good of the faith of love; "he dwelt in the land of Nod", signifies outside of truth and good; "toward the east of Eden", is near the intellectual mind, where love reigned before.

398. That to "go out from the faces of Jehovah" signifies to be separated from the good of the faith of love, may be seen in the explication of (verse 14); that to "dwell in the land of Nod" signifies outside of truth and good, is evident from the signification of the word "Nod", which is to be a wanderer and a fugitive; and that to be "a wanderer and a fugitive" is to be deprived of truth and good, may be seen above. That "toward the east of Eden" signifies near the intellectual mind, where love had previously reigned, and also near the rational mind, where charity had previously reigned, is evident from what has been said of the signification of "the east of Eden", namely, that "the east" is the Lord, and "Eden" love. With the men of the Most Ancient Church, the mind, consisting of the will and the understanding, was one; for the will was the all in all, so that the understanding was of the will. This was because they made no distinction between love, which is of the will, and faith, which is of the understanding, because love was the all in all, and faith was of love. But after faith was separated from love, as was the case with those who were called "Cain", no will reigned any longer, and as in that mind the understanding reigned instead of the will, or faith instead of love, it is said that he "dwelt toward the east of Eden;" for as was just now observed faith was distinguished, or "had a mark set upon it", that it might he preserved for the use of mankind.

399. Verse 17. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and bare Enoch; and he was building a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. The words "Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bare Enoch", signify that this schism or heresy produced another from itself that was called "Enoch". By "the city which he built" is signified all that was doctrinal and heretical therefrom, and because the schism or heresy was called "Enoch", it is said that "the name of the city was called after the name of his son, Enoch".

400. That "Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and bare Enoch", signifies that this schism or heresy produced another from itself, is evident from what has been previously said, as well as from what is stated in the first verse, that the Man and Eve his wife produced Cain; so that the things which now follow are similar conceptions and births, whether of the church, or of heresies, whereof they formed a genealogy, for these are similarly related to each other. From one heresy that is conceived there are born a host of them.

401. That it was a heresy with all its doctrinal or heretical teaching that was called "Enoch", is in some measure evident from this name, which means the instruction so begun or initiated.

402. That by the "city that was built" is signified all the doctrinal and heretical teaching that came from that heresy, is evident from every passage of the Word in which the name of any city occurs; for in none of them does it ever mean a city, but always something doctrinal or else heretical. The angels are altogether ignorant of what a city is, and of the name of any city; since they neither have nor can have any idea of a city, in consequence of their ideas being spiritual and celestial, as was shown above. They perceive only what a city and its name signify. Thus by the "holy city", which is also called the "holy Jerusalem", nothing else is meant than the kingdom of the Lord in general, or in each individual in particular in whom is that kingdom. The "city" and "mountain" "of Zion" also are similarly understood; the latter denoting the celestial of faith, and the former its spiritual.

[2] The celestial and spiritual itself is also described by "cities", "palaces", "houses", "walls", "foundations of walls", "ramparts", " gates", "bars", and the "temple" in the midst; as in (Ezekiel 48:30-35); in the (Revelation 21:15-27), where it is also called the Holy Jerusalem, (Revelation. 21:2, 10); and in (Jeremiah 31:38). In David it is called "the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High" (Ps. 46:4); in Ezekiel,"the city, Jehovah there" (Ezekiel 48:35), and of which it is written in Isaiah: -

The sons of the stranger shall build thy walls, all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet, and they shall call thee the city of Jehovah, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 60:10, 14).

In Zechariah: -

Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth; and the mountain of Zion, the mountain of holiness (Zechariah 8:3),

where the "city of truth", or " Jerusalem", signifies the spiritual things of faith; and the "mountain of holiness", or "of Zion", the celestial things of faith.

[3] As the celestial and spiritual things of faith are represented by a city, so also are all doctrinal things signified by the cities of Judah and of Israel, each of which when named has its own specific signification of something doctrinal, but what that is no one can know except from the internal sense. As doctrinal things are signified by "cities", so also are heresies, and in this case every particular city, according to its name, signifies some particular heretical opinion. At present we shall only show from the following passages of the Word, that in general a "city" signifies something doctrinal, or else heretical.

[4] Thus we read in Isaiah: -

In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking with the lip of Canaan, and swearing to Jehovah Zebaoth; one shall be called the city Heres (Isaiah 19:18),

where the subject treated of is the memory-knowledge (scientia) of spiritual and celestial things at the time of the Lord's advent. So again, when treating of the valley of vision, that is, of phantasy: -

Thou art full of tumults, a tumultuous city, an exulting city (Isaiah 22:2).

In Jeremiah, speaking of those who are "in the south", that is, in the light of truth, and who extinguish it: -

The cities of the south have been shut up, and none shall open them (Jeremiah 13:19).

Again: -

Jehovah hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; therefore He maketh the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together. Her gates are sunk into the ground; He hath destroyed and broken her bars (Lam. 2:8, 9),

where any one may see that by a "wall", a "rampart", "gates", and "bars", doctrinal things only are meant.

[5] In like manner in Isaiah: -

This song shall be sung in the land of Judah, We have a strong city; salvation will set the walls and the bulwark; open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth fidelities may enter in (Isaiah 26:1, 2).

Again: -

I will exalt thee, I will confess to Thy name, for Thou hast made of a city a heap, of a defenced city a ruin; a palace of strangers shall not be built of the city forever. Therefore shall the strong people honor Thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear Thee (Isaiah 25:1, 2, 3),

in which passage there is no reference to any particular city. In the prophecy of Balaam: -

Edom shall be an inheritance, and out of Jacob shall one have dominion, and shall destroy the residue of the city (Num. 24:18, 19),

where it must be plain to every one that "city" here does not mean a city. In Isaiah: -

The city of emptiness is broken; every house is shut, that the cry over wine in the streets cannot enter (Isaiah 24:10, 11),

where the " city of emptiness" denotes emptinesses of doctrine; and "streets" signify here as elsewhere the things which belong to the city, whether falsities or truths. In John: -

When the seventh angel poured out his vial, the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell (Rev. 16:17, 19).

That the "great city" denotes something heretical, and that the "cities of the nations" do so too, must be evident to every one. It is also explained that the great city was the woman that John saw (Rev. 17:18); and that the woman denotes a church of that character has been shown before.

403. We have now seen what a "city" signifies. But as all this part of Genesis is put into an historical form, to those who are in the sense of the letter it must seem that a city was built by Cain, and was called Enoch, although from the sense of the letter they must also suppose that the land was already populous, notwithstanding that Cain was only the firstborn of Adam. But as we observed above, the most ancient people were accustomed to arrange all things in the form of a history, under representative types, and this was to them delightful in the highest degree, for it made all things seem to be alive.

404. Verse 18. And unto Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begat Mehujael, and Mehujael begat Methusael, and Methusael begat Lamech. All these names signify heresies derived from the first, which was called "Cain;" but as there is nothing extant respecting them, except the names, it is unnecessary to say anything about them. Something might be gathered from the derivations of the names; for example, "Irad" means that he "descends from a city", thus from the heresy called "Enoch", and so on.

405. Verse 19. And Lamech took unto him two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. By "Lamech", who was the sixth in order from Cain, is signified vastation, in consequence of there being no longer any faith; by his "two wives" is signified the rise of a new church; by "Adah", the mother of its celestial and spiritual things; and by "Zillah", the mother of its natural things.

406. That by "Lamech" is signified vastation, or that there was no faith, is evident from the following (verses 23, 24), in which it is said that he "slew a man to his wounding, and a little one to his hurt;" for thereby a "man" is meant faith, and by a "little one" or "little child", charity.

407. The state of a church in general is thus circumstanced. In process of time it departs from the true faith until at last it comes to be entirely destitute of faith, when it is said to be "vastated". This was the case with the Most Ancient Church among those who were called Cainites, and also with the Ancient Church after the flood, as well as with the Jewish Church. At the time of the Lord's advent this last was in such a state of vastation that they knew nothing about the Lord, that He was to come into the world for their salvation, and they knew still less about faith in Him. Such was also the case with the primitive Christian Church, or that which existed after the Lord's advent, and which at this day is so completely vastated that there is no faith remaining in it. Yet there always remains some nucleus of a church, which those who are vastated as to faith do not acknowledge; and thus it was with the Most Ancient Church, of which a remnant remained until the time of the flood, and continued after that event. This remnant of the Church is called "Noah".

408. When a church has been so vastated that there is no longer any faith, then and not before, it begins anew, that is, new light shines forth, which in the Word is called the "morning.' The reason why the new light or "morning" does not shine forth until the church is vastated, is that the things of faith and of charity have been commingled with things profane; and so long as they remain in this state it is impossible for anything of light or charity to be insinuated, since the "tares" destroy all the "good seed". But when there is no faith, faith can no longer be profaned, because men no longer believe what is declared unto them; and those who do not acknowledge and believe, but only know, cannot profane, as was observed above. This is the case with the Jews at the present day, who in consequence of living among Christians must be aware that the Lord is acknowledged by Christians to be the Messiah whom they themselves have expected, and still continue to expect, but yet they cannot profane this because they do not acknowledge and believe it. And it is the same with the Mohammedans and Gentiles who have heard about the Lord. It was for this reason that the Lord did not come into the world until the Jewish Church acknowledged and believed nothing.

409. The case was the same with the heresy called "Cain", which in process of time was vastated, for although it acknowledged love, yet it made faith the chief and set it before love, and the heresies derived from this one gradually wandered from it, and Lamech, who was the sixth in order, altogether denied even faith. When this time arrived, a new light, or morning, shone forth, and a new church was made which is here named "Adah and Zillah", who are called the "wives of Lamech". They are called the wives of Lamech, although he possessed no faith, just as the internal and external church of the Jews, who also had no faith, are also in the Word called "wives", being represented by Leah and Rachel, the two wives of Jacob-Leah representing the external church and Rachel the internal. These churches, although they appear like two, are yet only one; for the external or representative, separate from the internal, is but as something idolatrous, or dead, whereas the internal together with the external constitute a church, and even one and the same church, as Adah and Zillah do here. As however Jacob and his posterity, like Lamech, had no faith, the church could not remain with them, but was transferred to the Gentiles, who lived not in infidelity but in ignorance. The church rarely, if ever, remains with those who when vastated have truths among them (apud se), but is transferred to those who know nothing at all of truths, for these embrace the faith much more easily than the former.

410. Vastation is of two kinds; first, of those who know and do not wish to know, or who see and do not desire to see, like the Jews of old, and the Christians of the present day; and secondly, of those who, in consequence of their ignorance, neither know nor see anything, like both the ancient and modern Gentiles. When the last time of vastation comes upon those who know and do not desire to know, that is, who see and do not desire to see, then a church arises anew, not among them, but with those whom they call Gentiles. This occurred with the Most Ancient Church that was before the flood, with the Ancient Church that was after that event, and also with the Jewish Church. The reason why new light shines forth then and not before is, as has been said, that then they can no longer profane the things revealed, because they do not acknowledge and believe that they are true.

411. That the last time of vastation must exist before a new church can arise, is frequently declared by the Lord in the Prophets, and is there called "vastation" or "laying waste", in reference to the celestial things of faith; and " desolation", in relation to the spiritual things of faith. It is also spoken of as "consummation" and "cutting off". (Isa. 6:9, 11, 12; 23:8-18; 24:1-23; 42:15-18; Jer. 25:1-38; Dan. 8:1-27; 9:24-27; Zeph. 1:1-18; Deut. 32:1-52; Rev. 15:1-8; 16:1-21.)

412. Verse 20. And Adah bare Jabal; he was the father of the dweller in tents, and of cattle. By "Adah" is signified, as before, the mother of the celestial and spiritual things of faith; by "Jabal", the father of the dweller in tents, and of cattle", is signified doctrine concerning the holy things of love, and the goods thence derived, which are celestial.

413. That by "Adah" is signified the mother of the celestial things of faith, is evident from her firstborn Jabal being called the "father of the dweller in tents, and of cattle", which are celestial because they signify the holy things of love and the goods thence derived.

414. That to "dwell in tents" signifies what is holy of love, is evident from the signification of "tents" in the Word. As in David: -

Jehovah, who shall abide in Thy tent? Who shall dwell in the mountain of Thy holiness? He that walketh upright, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart (Ps. 15:1, 2),

in which passage, what it is to "dwell in the tent", or "in the mountain of holiness", is described by holy things of love, namely, the walking uprightly, and working righteousness. Again: -

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their discourse to the end of the world. In them hath He set a tent for the sun (Ps. 19:4),

where the "sun" denotes love. Again: -

I will abide in Thy tent to eternities, I will trust in the covert of Thy wings (Ps. 61:4),

where the "tent" denotes what is celestial, and the "covert of wings" what is spiritual thence derived. In Isaiah: -

By mercy the throne has been made firm, and one hath sat upon it in truth, in the tent of David, judging and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness (Isaiah 16:5),

where also the "tent" denotes what is holy of love, as may be seen by the mention of "judging judgment", and "hasting righteousness". Again: -

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feast; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be moved away (Isaiah 33:20),

speaking of the heavenly Jerusalem.

[2] In Jeremiah: -

Thus said Jehovah, Behold, I bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and will have mercy on his dwelling places, and the city shall be builded upon her own heap (Jeremiah 30:18);

the "captivity of tents" signifies the vastation of what is celestial, or of the holy things of love. In Amos: -

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David which is fallen, and will fence up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of eternity (Amos 9:11),

where the "tabernacle" in like manner denotes what is celestial and the holy things thereof. In Jeremiah: -

The whole land is laid waste, suddenly are My tents laid waste, and My curtains in a moment (Jeremiah 4:20).

And in another place: -

My tent is laid waste, and all My cords are plucked out, My sons are gone forth from Me, and they are not; there is none to stretch My tent any more, and to set up My curtains (Jeremiah 10:20),

where the "tent' signifies celestial things, and "curtains" and "cords" spiritual things thence derived. Again: -

Their tents and their flocks shall they take; they shall carry off for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels (Jeremiah 49:29),

speaking of Arabia and the sons of the east, by whom are represented those who possess what is celestial or holy. Again: -

Into the tent of the daughter of Zion the Lord hath poured out His wrath like fire (Lam. 2:4),

speaking of the vastation of the celestial or holy things of faith.

[3] The reason why the term "tent" is employed in the Word to represent the celestial and holy things of love, is that in ancient times they performed the holy rites of worship in their tents. But when they began to profane the tents by profane kinds of worship, the tabernacle was built, and afterwards the temple, and therefore tents represented all that was subsequently denoted first by the tabernacle, and afterwards by the temple. For the same reason a holy man is called a "tent", a "tabernacle", and a "temple" of the Lord. That a "tent", a "tabernacle", and a "temple" have the same signification, is evident in David: -

One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will I seek after, that I may remain in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold Jehovah in sweetness, and to visit early in His temple; for in the day of evil He shall hide me in His tabernacle; in the secret of His tent shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall my head be lifted up against mine enemies round about me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices of shouting (Ps. 27:4, 5, 6).

[4] In the supreme sense, the Lord as to His Human essence is the "tent", the " tabernacle", and the "temple;" hence every celestial man is so called, and also everything celestial and holy. Now as the Most Ancient Church was better beloved of the Lord than the churches that followed it, and as men at that time lived alone, that is, in their own families, and celebrated so holy a worship in their tents, therefore tents were accounted more holy than the temple, which was profaned. In remembrance thereof the feast of tabernacles was instituted, when they gathered in the produce of the earth, during which, like the most ancient people, they dwelt in tents (Lev. 23:39-44; Deut. 16:13; Hosea 12:9).

415. That by the "father of cattle" is signified the good that is derived from the holy things of love, is evident from what was shown above, at (verse 2) of this chapter, where it was shown that a "shepherd of the flock" signifies the good of charity. Here however the term "father" is employed instead of "shepherd", and "cattle" instead of "flock;" and the word "cattle", of which Jabal is said to be the "father", follows immediately after "tent", whence it is evident that it signifies the good that comes from the holy of love, and that there is meant a habitation or fold for cattle, or the father of them that dwell in tents and in folds for cattle. And that these expressions signify goods from the celestial things of love, is evident from various passages in the Word. As in Jeremiah: -

I will gather the remnants of My flock out of all lands whither I have scattered them, and I will bring them again to their folds, that they may be fruitful and multiply (Jeremiah 23:3).

In Ezekiel: -

I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be; there shall they lie down in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 34:14),

where "folds" and "pastures" denote the goods of love, of which "fatness" is predicated. In Isaiah: -

He shall give the rain of thy seed wherewith thou shalt sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground shall be fat and full of oil; in that day shall He feed thy cattle in a broad meadow (Isaiah 30:23),

where by "bread" is signified what is celestial, and by the "fat" whereon the cattle should feed, the goods thence derived. In Jeremiah: -

Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the good of Jehovah, for the wheat, and for the new wine, and for the oil, and for the sons of the flock, and of the herd; and their soul shall be as a watered garden (Jeremiah 31:11, 12),

where the Holy of Jehovah is described by "wheat" and "oil", and the goods derived from it by "new wine" and the "sons of the flock and of the herd", or of "cattle". Again: -

The shepherds and the flocks of their cattle shall come unto the daughter of Zion; they shall pitch their tents toward her round about; they shall feed every one his own space (Jeremiah 6:3).

The "daughter of Zion" denotes the celestial church, of which "tents" and "flocks of cattle" are predicated.

416. That the holy things of love and the derivative goods are signified, is evident from the fact that Jabal was not the first of those who "dwelt in tents and in folds of cattle", for it is said likewise of Abel, the second son of Adam and Eve, that he was "a shepherd of the flock", and Jabal was the seventh in the order of descent from Cain.

417. Verse 21. And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of every one that playeth upon the harp and organ. By "his brother's name was Jubal" is signified the doctrine of the spiritual things of the same church; by the "father of every one that playeth upon the harp and organ" are signified the truths and goods of faith.

418. The former verse treated of celestial things which are of love, but this verse treats of spiritual things which are of faith, and these are expressed by the "harp and organ". That by stringed instruments, such as harps and the like, are signified the spiritual things of faith, is evident from many considerations. Similar instruments, and also the singing, in the worship of the representative church, represented nothing else, and it was on this account that there were so many singers and musicians, the cause of this representation being that all heavenly joy produces gladness of heart, which was expressed by singing, and in the next place by stringed instruments that emulated and exalted the singing. Every affection of the heart is attended with this: that it produces singing, and consequently what is connected with singing. The affection of the heart is celestial, but the consequent singing is spiritual. That singing and that which resembles it denote what is spiritual, has been evident to me from the angelic choirs, which are of two kinds, celestial and spiritual. The spiritual choirs are easily distinguished from the celestial by their vibrant singing tone (sono canoro alato), comparable to the sound of stringed instruments, of which, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, we shall speak hereafter. The most ancient people referred what was celestial to the province of the heart, and what was spiritual to that of the lungs, and consequently to whatever pertains to the lungs, as do the singing voice and things like it, and therefore the voices or sounds of such instruments. The ground of this was not merely that the heart and lungs represent a kind of marriage, like that of love and faith, but also because the celestial angels belong to the province of the heart, and the spiritual angels to that of the lungs. That such things are meant in the passage before us, may also be known from the fact that this is the Word of the Lord, and that it would be destitute of life if nothing more were implied than that Jubal was the father of such as play upon the harp and the organ; nor is it of any use to any one to know this.

419. As celestial things are the holy things of love and the derivative goods, so spiritual things are the truths and goods of faith; for it belongs to faith to understand not only what is true, but also what is good. The knowledges of faith involve both. But to be such as faith teaches is celestial. As faith involves both of these, they are signified by two instruments, the harp and the organ. The harp, as every one knows, is a stringed instrument, and therefore signifies spiritual truth; but the organ, being intermediate between a stringed instrument and a wind instrument, signifies spiritual good.

420. In the Word mention is made of various instruments, each having its own signification, as will be shown, of the Lord's Divine mercy, in its proper place; here however we shall adduce only what is said in David: -

I will sacrifice in the tent of Jehovah sacrifices of shouting, I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto Jehovah (Ps. 27:6),

where by "tent" is expressed what is celestial, and by "shouting", "singing", and "singing praises", what is spiritual thence derived. Again: -

Sing unto Jehovah, O ye righteous, for His praise is comely for the upright. Confess ye to Jehovah on the harp, sing unto Him with the psaltery, an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto Him a new song, play skillfully with a loud noise; for the Word of Jehovah is right, and all His work is in the truth (Ps. 33:1-4),

denoting the truths of faith, concerning which these things are said.

[2] Spiritual things, or the truths and goods of faith, were celebrated with the harp and psaltery, with singing and analogous instruments, but the holy or celestial things of faith were celebrated with wind instruments, such as trumpets and the like; and this was why so many instruments were used about the temple and so often, in order that this or that subject might be celebrated with certain instruments; and in consequence of this the instruments came to be taken and understood for the subjects that were celebrated with them.

[3] Again: -

I will confess to Thee with the psaltery, even Thy truth, O my God; unto Thee will I sing praises with the harp, O Thou Holy One of Israel; my lips shall sing when I sing praises unto Thee, and my soul which Thou hast redeemed (Ps. 71:22, 23),

where also the truths of faith are signified. Again: -

Answer to Jehovah in confession, sing praises upon the harp unto our God (Ps. 147:7);

"confession" has respect to the celestial things of faith, and therefore mention is made of "Jehovah;" and to "sing praises upon the harp" has reference to the spiritual things of faith, wherefore "God" is spoken of. Again: -

Let them praise the name of Jehovah in the dance, let them sing praises unto Him with the timbrel and harp (Ps. 149:3),

where the "timbrel" signifies good, and the "harp" truth, which they praise.

[4] Again: -

Praise God with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with the psaltery and harp; praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and the organ; praise Him upon the loud cymbals; praise Him upon the cymbals of shouting (Ps. 150:3, 4, 5).

These instruments denote the goods and the truths of faith which were the subjects of praise; for let no one believe that so many different instruments would have been here mentioned unless each had a distinct signification. Again, referring to the knowledges of good and truth: -

O send out Thy light and Thy truth, let them lead me, let them bring me unto the mountain of Thy holiness, and to Thy habitations, and I will go in to the altar of God, unto God, the gladness of my exultation; yea, I will confess unto Thee upon the harp, O God, my God (Ps. 43:3, 4).

[5] In Isaiah, referring to the things that are of faith, and the knowledges thereof: -

Take a harp, go about the city, play well, sing many songs, that thou mayest be called to remembrance (Isaiah 23:16).

The same is expressed still more plainly in John: -

The four animals and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of incense offerings, which are the prayers of the saints (Rev. 5:8),

where it must be evident to every one that the animals and elders had not harps, but that by "harps" are signified the truths of faith, and by "golden vials full of incense offerings", the goods of faith. In David the performances on the instruments are called "praises" and "confessions" (Ps. 42:5; 69:31). And in another place in John: -

I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps, and they sang a new song (Rev. 14:2, 3).

And in another place: -

I saw them standing by the sea of glass having the harps of God (Rev. 15:2).

It is worthy of mention that angels and spirits distinguish sounds according to their differences with respect to good and truth, not only those produced in singing and by instruments, but also those of voices; and they admit none but such as are in accord, so that there may be a concord of the sounds, and consequently of the instruments, with the nature and essence of the good and the true.

421. Verse 22. And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron; and the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah. By "Zillah" is signified, as previously stated, the mother of the natural things of the new church; by "Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron", the doctrine of natural good and truth, "brass" denoting natural good, and "iron" natural truth. By "Naamah, the sister of Tubal-Cain", is signified a similar church, or the doctrine of natural good and truth outside of that church.

422. How the case was with this new church may be seen from the Jewish Church, which was both internal and external; the internal church consisting of celestial and spiritual things, and the external church of natural things. The internal church was represented by Rachel, and the external by Leah. But as Jacob, or rather his posterity understood by "Jacob" in the Word, were such as to desire only external things, or worship in externals, therefore Leah was given to Jacob before Rachel; and by blear-eyed Leah was represented the Jewish Church, and by Rachel a new church of the Gentiles. For this reason "Jacob" is taken in both senses in the Prophets, in one denoting the Jewish Church in its perverted state, and in the other the true external church of the Gentiles. When the internal church is signified, he is called "Israel;" but of these matters, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, more will be said hereafter.

423. Tubal-Cain is called the "instructor of every artificer", and not the "father", as was the case with Jabal and Jubal; and the reason is that before there were no celestial and spiritual or internal things. And the term "father" is applied to Jabal and Jubal, to denote that such internal things then first began to exist; whereas natural or external things did exist before, but were now applied to internal things, so that Tubal-Cain is not called the "father", but the "instructor, of every artificer".

424. By an "artificer" in the Word is signified a wise, intelligent, and well-informed (sciens) man, and here by "every artificer in brass and iron" are signified those who are acquainted with natural good and truth. As in John: -

With violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in her; and no artificer, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more in her (Rev. 18:21, 22).

"Harpers" here as above signify truths; "trumpeters", the goods of faith; an "artificer of any craft", one who knows, or the memory-knowledge (scientia) of truth and good. In Isaiah: -

The artificer melteth a graven image, and the smelter spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains; he seeketh unto him a wise artificer, to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved (Isaiah 40:19, 20),

speaking of those who from phantasy forge for themselves what is false-a "graven image"-and teach it so that it appears true. In Jeremiah: -

At the same time as they are infatuated they grow foolish, the doctrine of vanities, it is but a stock. Silver beaten out is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer, and of the lands of the smelter; blue and raiment; they are all the work of the wise (Jeremiah 10:1, 8, 9),

signifying one who teaches falsities, and collects from the Word things with which to forge his invention, wherefore it is called a "doctrine of vanities", and the "work of the wise". Such persons were represented in ancient times by artificers who forge idols, that is, falsities, which they adorn with gold, that is, with a semblance of good; and with silver, or an appearance of truth; and with blue and with raiment, or such natural things as are in apparent agreement.

425. It is unknown to the world at the present day that "brass" signifies natural good, and also that every metal mentioned in the Word has a specific signification in the internal sense-as "gold", celestial good; "silver", spiritual truth; "brass", natural good; "iron", natural truth; and so on with the other metals, and in like manner "wood" and "stone". Such things were signified by the "gold", "silver", "brass", and "wood", used in the ark and in the tabernacle and in the temple, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. That such is their signification is manifest from the Prophets, as from Isaiah: -

Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thy tribute peace, and thine exactors righteousness (Isaiah 60:16, 17),

treating of the Lord's advent, of His kingdom, and of the celestial church. "For brass gold", signifies for natural good celestial good; "for iron silver", signifies for natural truth spiritual truth; "for wood brass", signifies for corporeal good natural good; "for stones iron", signifies for sensuous truth natural truth. In Ezekiel: -

Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, these were thy merchants, in the soul of man, and vessels of brass they gave thy trading (Ezekiel 27:13),

speaking of Tyre, by which are signified those who possess spiritual and celestial riches; "vessels of brass" are natural goods. In Moses: -

A land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains thou mayest hew brass (Deut. 8:9),

where also "stones" denote sensuous truth; "iron", natural, that is, rational truth; and "brass", natural good. Ezekiel saw Four living creatures, or cherubs, whose feet sparkled like the appearance of burnished brass (Ezekiel 1:7), where again "brass" signifies natural good, for the "foot" of man represents what is natural. In like manner there appeared to Daniel,

A man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz, his body also was like the beryl, and his arms and his feet like the appearance of burnished brass (Daniel 10:5, 6).

That the "brazen serpent" (Num. 21:9) represented the sensuous and natural good of the Lord, may be seen above.

426. That "iron" signifies natural truth, is further evident from what Ezekiel says of Tyre: -

Tarshish was thy trader by reason of the multitude of all riches; in silver, iron, tin, and lead, they gave thy traffickings. Dan, and Javan, and Meusal furnished bright iron in thy tradings; cassia and calamus were in thy mart (Ezekiel 27:12, 19).

From these words, as well as from what is said both previously and subsequently in the same chapter, it is very evident that celestial and spiritual riches are signified; and that every particular expression, and even the names mentioned, have some specific signification, for the Word of the Lord is spiritual, and not verbal.

[2] In Jeremiah: -

Can one break iron, even iron from the north, and brass? Thy substance (facultates) and thy treasures will I give for a spoil without price, and this for all thy sins (Jeremiah 15:12, 13),

where "iron" and "brass" signify natural truth and good; that it came from the "north", signifies what is sensuous and natural; for what is natural, relatively to what is spiritual and celestial, is like thick darkness (that is, the "north") relatively to light or the " south;" or like shade, which is also signified here by "Zillah", who is the "mother". That the "substance" and "treasures" are celestial and spiritual riches, is also very evident.

[3] Again in Ezekiel: -

Take thou unto thee a pan of iron, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city, and set thy faces toward it, and let it be for a siege, and thou shalt straiten against it (Ezekiel 4:3),

where also it is evident that "iron" signifies truth. Strength is attributed to truth, because it cannot be resisted, and for this reason it is said of iron-by which is signified truth, or the truth of faith-that it "breaks in pieces" and "crushes;" as in (Daniel 2:34, 40), and in John: -

He that overcometh, to him will I give sovereign power over the nations, that he may pasture them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers (Rev. 2:26, 27).

Again: -

The woman brought forth a man child, who should pasture all nations with a rod of iron (Rev. 12:5).

[4] That a "rod of iron" is the truth which is of the Word of the Lord, is explained in John: -

I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse, and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and fight; He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God; out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations; and He shall pasture them with a rod of iron (Rev. 19:11, 13, 15).

427. Verse 23. And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, and with your ears perceive my speech; for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a little one to my hurt. By "Lamech" is signified vastation, as before; that he "said unto his wives Adah and Zillah, with your ears perceive my speech", signifies confession, which can only be made where there is a church, which, as has been said, is signified by his "wives". "I have slain a man to my wounding", signifies that he had extinguished faith, for by a "man" is signified faith; "a little one to my hurt", signifies that he had extinguished charity. By a "wound" and a "hurt" (or "bruise") is signified that there was no more soundness; by a "wound", that faith was desolated; by a "hurt", that charity was devastated.

428. From the contents of this and the following verse, it is very evident that by "Lamech" is signified vastation; for he says that he had "slain a man", and a " little child", and that Cain should be avenged sevenfold, and Lamech "seventy and sevenfold".

429. That by a "man (vir)" is signified faith, is evident from the (verse 1) of this chapter, in that Eve said, when she bare Cain, "I have gotten a man Jehovah;" by whom was meant the doctrine of faith, called a "man Jehovah". It is evident also from what was shown above concerning a man or male, that he signifies understanding, which is of faith. That he had also extinguished charity, here called a "little one", or a "little child", follows, for he who denies and murders faith, at the same time also denies and murders the charity that is born from faith.

430. A "little one", or "little child", in the Word, signifies innocence, and also charity, for true innocence cannot exist without charity, nor true charity without innocence. There are three degrees of innocence, distinguished in the Word by the terms "sucklings", "infants", and "little children;" and as there is no true innocence without true love and charity, therefore also by "sucklings", "infants", and "little children", are signified the three degrees of love: namely, tender love, like that of a suckling toward its mother or nurse; love like that of an infant toward its parents; and charity, similar to that of a little child toward its instructor. Thus it is said in Isaiah: -

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them (Isaiah 11:6).

Here a "lamb", a "kid", and a "calf", signify the three degrees of innocence and love; a "wolf", a "leopard", and a "young lion", their opposites; and a "little child", charity. In Jeremiah: -

Ye commit this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and wife, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you no remains (Jeremiah 44:7).

"Man and wife" denote things of the understanding and of the will, or of truth and of good; and "infant and suckling", the first degrees of love. That an " infant" and a "little child" denote innocence and charity, is very evident from the Lord's words in Luke: -

They brought unto Him little children that He should touch them. And Jesus said, Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein (Luke 18:15, 17).

The Lord Himself is called a "little one", or "child" (Isa. 9:6), because He is innocence itself and love itself, and in the same passage He is spoken of as "Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace".

431. That by a "wound" and a "bruise" is signified that here was soundness no longer, by a "wound" that faith was desolated, and by a "bruise" that charity was devastated, is evident from the fact that "wound" is predicated of a "man", and "bruise" of a "little one". The desolation of faith and the vastation of charity are described in the same terms in Isaiah: -

From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wound and bruise and a fresh sore; they have not been pressed out, neither bound up, neither mollified with oil (Isaiah 1:6).

In this passage "wound" is predicated of faith desolated, "bruise" of charity devastated, and "sore" of both.

432. Verse 24. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. These words signify that they had extinguished the faith meant by "Cain", to do violence to which was sacrilege, and at the same time had extinguished the charity which should be born through faith, a far greater sacrilege, and that for this there was condemnation, that is, a seventy and sevenfold avengement".

433. That Cain's being "avenged sevenfold" signifies that it was sacrilege to do violence to that separated faith which is meant by "Cain", has been already shown at (verse 15). And that by a "seventy and sevenfold avengement" is signified a far greater sacrilege the consequence of which is damnation, is evident from the signification of "seventy and sevenfold". That the number "seven" is holy, originates in the fact that the "seventh day" signifies the celestial man, the celestial church, the celestial kingdom, and, in the highest sense, the Lord Himself. Hence the number "seven", wherever it occurs in the Word, signifies what is holy, or most sacred; and this holiness and sanctity is predicated of, or according to, the things that are being treated of. From this comes the signification of the number "seventy", which comprises seven ages; for an age, in the Word, is ten years. When anything most holy or sacred was to be expressed, it was said "seventy-sevenfold", as when the Lord said that a man should forgive his brother not until seven times, but until seventy times seven (Matt. 18:22), by which is meant that they should forgive as many times as he sins, so that the forgiving should be without end, or should be eternal, which is holy. And here, that Lamech should "be avenged seventy and sevenfold" means damnation, because of the violation of that which is most sacred.

434. Verse 25. And the man (homo) knew his wife again, and she bare a son, and called his name Seth; for God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, for Cain slew him. The "man" and his "wife" here mean the new church signified above by "Adah and Zillah;" and by her "son", whose name was Seth, is signified a new faith, by which charity might be obtained. By "God appointed another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew", is signified that charity, which Cain had separated and extinguished, was now given by the Lord to this church.

435. That the "man" and his "wife" here mean the new church signified above by Adah and Zillah no one could know or infer from the literal sense, because the "man and his wife" had previously signified the Most Ancient Church and its posterity; but it is very evident from the internal sense, as well as from the fact that immediately afterwards, in the following chapter (Genesis 5:1-4), the man and his wife, and their begetting Seth, are again mentioned, but in entirely different words, and in this case there is signified the first posterity of the Most Ancient Church. If nothing else were signified in the passage before us, there would be no need to say the same thing here: in like manner as in the first chapter the creation of man, and of the fruits of the earth, and of the beasts, is treated of, and then in the second chapter they are treated of again, for the reason, as has been said, that in the first chapter it is the creation of the spiritual man that is treated of, whereas in the second chapter the subject is the creation of the celestial man. Whenever there is such a repetition in the mention of one and the same person or thing, it is always with a difference of signification, but what it is that is signified cannot possibly be known except from the internal sense. Here, the connection itself confirms the signification that has been given, and there is the additional consideration that man (homo) and wife are general terms which signify the parent church that is in question.

436. That by her "son", whom she named Seth, is signified a new faith, by which charity may be attained, is evident from what has been previously stated, as well as from its being related of Cain that a "mark was set upon him, lest any one should slay him". For the subject as it stands in a series is as follows: Faith separated from love was signified by "Cain;" charity, by "Abel;" and that faith in its separated state extinguished charity, was signified by Cain slaying Abel. The preservation of faith in order that charity might be thereby implanted by the Lord, was signified by Jehovah's setting a mark on Cain lest any one should slay him. That afterwards the Holy of love and the good thence derived were given by the Lord through faith, was signified by Jabal whom Adah bare; and that the spiritual of faith was given, was signified by his brother Jubal; and that from these there came natural good and truth was signified by Tubal-Cain whom Zillah bare. In these two concluding verses of Genesis 4 we have the conclusion, and thus the summary, of all these matters, to this effect, that by the "man and his wife" is signified that new church which before was called Adah and Zillah, and that by "Seth" is signified the faith through which charity is implanted; and in the verse which now follows, by "Enosh" is signified the charity that is implanted through faith.

437. That "Seth" here signifies a new faith, through which comes charity, is explained by his name, which it is said was given him because God "appointed another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew". That God "appointed another seed" means that the Lord gave another faith; for "another seed" is the faith through which comes charity. That "seed" signifies faith, may be seen above (n. 255).

438. Verse 26. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh: then began they to call upon the name of Jehovah. By "Seth" is signified the faith through which comes charity, as was said above; by his "son", whose name was "Enosh", is signified a church which regarded charity as the principal of faith; by beginning then to "call on the name of Jehovah", is signified the worship of that church from charity.

439. That by "Seth" is signified the faith through which comes charity, was shown in the preceding verse. That by his "son, whose name was Enosh", is signified a church that regarded charity as the principal of faith, is also evident from what has been said before, as well as from the fact that it is called "Enosh", which name also means a "man", not a celestial man, but that human spiritual man which is here called "Enosh". The same is evident also from the words that immediately follow:-" then began they to call upon the name of Jehovah".

440. That by the words just quoted is signified the worship of that church from charity, is evident from the fact that to "call upon the name of Jehovah" is a customary and general form of speech for all worship of the Lord; and that this worship was from charity is evident from the fact that "Jehovah" is here mentioned, whereas in the preceding verse He was called "God", as well as from the fact that the Lord cannot be worshiped except from charity, since true worship cannot proceed from faith that is not of charity, because it is merely of the lips, and not of the heart. That to "call on the name of Jehovah" is a customary form of speech for all worship of the Lord, appears from the Word; thus it is said of Abraham, that "he built an altar to Jehovah, and called on the name of Jehovah" (Gen. 12:8; 13:4); and again, that he "planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of Jehovah, the God of eternity" (Gen. 21:33). That this expression includes all worship, is plain from Isaiah: -

Jehovah the Holy One of Israel hath said, Thou hast not called upon Me, O Jacob, but thou hast been weary of Me, O Israel. Thou hast not brought to Me the small cattle of thy burnt-offerings, neither hast thou honored Me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense (Isaiah 43:22, 23),

in which passage a summary is given of all representative worship.

441. That the invocation of the name of Jehovah did not commence at this time, is sufficiently evident from what has already been said above in regard to the Most Ancient Church, which more than any other adored and worshiped the Lord; and also from the fact that Abel brought an offering of the firstlings of the flock; so that in this passage by "calling upon the name of Jehovah", nothing else is signified than the worship of the new church, after the former church had been extinguished by those who are called "Cain" and "Lamech".

442. From the contents of this chapter as above explained, it is evident that in the most ancient time there were many doctrines and heresies separate from the church, each one of which had its name, which separate doctrines and heresies were the outcome of much more profound thought than any at the present day, because such was the genius of the men of that time.

 

SOME EXAMPLES DRAWN FROM EXPERIENCE WITH SPIRITS CONCERNING WHAT THEY HAD THOUGHT DURING THEIR LIFE IN THE BODY ABOUT THE SOUL OR SPIRIT

443. In the other life it is given to perceive clearly what opinions people had entertained while they lived in the body concerning the soul, the spirit, and the life after death; for when kept in a state resembling that of the body they think in the same way, and their thought is communicated as plainly as if they spoke aloud. In the case of one person, not long after his decease, I perceived (what he himself confessed) that he had indeed believed in the existence of the spirit, but had imagined that it must live after death an obscure kind of life, because if the life of the body were withdrawn there would remain nothing but what is dim and obscure; for he had regarded life as being in the body, and therefore he had thought of the spirit as being a phantom; and he had confirmed himself in this idea from seeing that brutes also have life, almost as men have it. He now marveled that spirits and angels live in the greatest light, and in the greatest intelligence, wisdom, and happiness, attended with a perception so perfect that it can scarcely be described; consequently that their life, so far from being obscure, is most perfectly clear and distinct.

444. Conversing with one who while he lived in this world had believed that the spirit has no extension, and on that ground would admit of no word that implied extension, I asked him what he now thought of himself, seeing that now he was a soul or spirit, and possessed sight, hearing, smell, an exquisite sense of touch, desires, thoughts, insomuch that he supposed himself to be exactly as if in the body. He was kept in the idea which he had when he had so thought in the world, and he said that the spirit is thought. I was permitted to ask him in reply, whether, having lived in the world, he was not aware that there can be no bodily sight without an organ of vision or eye? and how then can there be internal sight, or thought? Must it not have some organic substance from which to think? He then acknowledged that while in the bodily life he had labored under the delusion that the spirit is mere thought, devoid of everything organic or extended. I added that if the soul or spirit were mere thought, man would not need so large a brain, seeing that the whole brain is the organ of the interior senses; for if it were not so the skull might be hollow, and the thought still act in it as the spirit. From this consideration alone, as well as from the operation of the soul into the muscles, giving rise to so great a variety of movements, I said that he might be assured that the spirit is organic, that is, an organic substance. Whereupon he confessed his error, and wondered that he had been so foolish.

445. It was further remarked, that the learned have no other belief than that the soul which is to live after death, that is, the spirit, is abstract thought. This is very manifest from their unwillingness to admit of any term that implies extension and what belongs to extension, because thought abstractedly from a subject is not extended, whereas the subject of the thought, and the objects of the thought, are extended; and as for those objects which are not extended, men define them by boundaries and give extension to them, in order that they may comprehend them. This shows very clearly that the learned have no other conception of the soul or spirit than that it is mere thought, and so cannot but believe that it will vanish when they die.

446. I have discoursed with spirits concerning the common opinion that prevails among men at the present day, that the existence of the spirit is not to be credited because they do not see it with their eyes, nor comprehend it by their memory-knowledges (scientias), and so they not only deny that the spirit has extension, but also that it is a substance, disputing as to what substance is. And as they deny that it has extension, and also dispute about substance, they also deny that the spirit is in any place, and consequently that it is in the human body; and yet the most simple might know that his soul or spirit is within his body. When I said these things, the spirits, who were some of the more simple ones, marveled that the men of the present day are so foolish. And when they heard the words that are disputed about, such as "parts without parts", and other such terms, they called them absurd, ridiculous, and farcical, which should not occupy the mind at all, because they close the way to intelligence.

447. A certain novitiate spirit, on hearing me speak about the spirit, asked, "What is a spirit?" supposing himself to be a man. And when I told him that there is a spirit in every man, and that in respect to his life a man is a spirit; that the body is merely to enable a man to live on the earth, and that the flesh and bones, that is, the body, does not live or think at all; seeing that he was at a loss, I asked him whether he had ever heard of the soul. "What is a soul?" he replied, "I do not know what a soul is". I was then permitted to tell him that he himself was now a soul, or spirit, as he might know from the fact that he was over my head, and was not standing on the earth. I asked him whether he could not perceive this, and he then fled away in terror, crying out, "I am a spirit! I am a spirit!" A certain Jew supposed himself to be living wholly in the body, insomuch that he could scarcely be persuaded to the contrary. And when he was shown that he was a spirit, he still persisted in saying that he was a man, because he could see and hear. Such are they who, during their abode in this world, have been devoted to the body. To these examples very many more might be added, but these have been given merely in order to confirm the fact, that it is the spirit in man, and not the body, which exercises sensation.

448. I have conversed with many who had been known to me in this life (and this I have done for a long time-for months and years), in as clear a voice, although an inward one, as with friends in this world. The subject of our conversation has sometimes been the state of man after death, and they have wondered exceedingly that during the bodily life no one knows or believes that he is so to live when the bodily life is over, when yet there is then a continuation of life, and such a continuation that the man passes from an obscure life into a clear one, and those who are in faith in the Lord into a life that is more and more clear. They have desired me to tell their friends that they are alive, and to write and tell them what their condition is, even as I had related to themselves many things about that of their friends here. But I replied that were I to tell their friends such things, or to write to them about them, they would not believe, but would call them delusions, would scoff at them, and would ask for signs or miracles before they would believe; and I should merely expose myself to their derision. And that these things are true, perchance but few will believe. For at heart men deny the existence of spirits, and even those who do not deny it are unwilling to hear that any one can speak with spirits. In ancient times there was no such state of belief in regard to spirits, but so it is now when by crazy ratiocination men try to find out what spirits are, and by their definitions and suppositions deprive them of all the senses, and do this the more, the more learned they desire to be.


Chapter 5

CONCERNING HEAVEN AND HEAVENLY JOY

449. Hitherto the nature of heaven and of heavenly joy has been known to none. Those who have thought about them have formed an idea concerning them so general and so gross as scarcely to amount to any idea at all. What notion they have conceived on the subject I have been able to learn most accurately from spirits who had recently passed from the world into the other life; for when left to themselves, as if they were in this world, they think in the same way. I may give a few examples.

450. Some who during their abode in this world had seemed to be pre-eminently enlightened in regard to the Word, had conceived so false an idea about heaven that they supposed themselves to be in heaven when they were high up, and imagined that from that position they could rule all things below, and thus be in self-glory and pre-eminence over others. On account of their being in such a phantasy, and in order to show them that they were in error, they were taken up on high, and from there were permitted in some measure to rule over things below; but they discovered with shame that this was a heaven of phantasy, and that heaven does not consist in being on high, but is wherever there is any one who is in love and charity, or in whom is the Lord's kingdom; and that neither does it consist in desiring to be more eminent than others, for to desire to be greater than others is not heaven, but hell.

451. A certain spirit, who during his life in the body had possessed authority, retained in the other life the desire to exercise command. But he was told that he was now in another kingdom, which is eternal; that his rule on earth was dead; and that where he was now no one is held in estimation except in accordance with the good and truth, and the mercy of the Lord, in which he is; and further, that it is in that kingdom as it is on earth, where every one is rated according to his wealth, and his favor with his sovereign; and that there good and truth are wealth, and favor with the sovereign is the Lord's mercy; and that if he desired to exercise command in any other way, he was a rebel, seeing that he was now in the kingdom of another. On hearing this he was ashamed.

452. I have conversed with spirits who supposed heaven and heavenly joy to consist in being the greatest. But they were told that in heaven he is greatest who is least, because he who would be the least has the greatest happiness, and consequently is the greatest, for what is it to be the greatest except to be the most happy? it is this that the powerful seek by power, and the rich by riches. They were told, further, that heaven does not consist in desiring to be the least in order to be the greatest, for in that case the person is really aspiring and wishing to be the greatest; but that heaven consists in this, that from the heart we wish better for others than for ourselves, and desire to be of service to others in order to promote their happiness, and this for no selfish end, but from love.

453. Some entertain so gross an idea of heaven that they suppose it to be mere admission, in fact that it is a room into which they are admitted through a door, which is opened, and then they are let in by the doorkeepers.

454. Some think that heaven consists in a life of ease, in which they are served by others; but they are told that there is no possible happiness in being at rest as a means of happiness, for so every one would wish to have the happiness of others made tributory to his own happiness; and when every one wished this, no one would have happiness. Such a life would not be an active life, but an idle one, in which they would grow torpid, and yet they might know that there is no happiness except in an active life. Angelic life consists in use, and in the goods of charity; for the angels know no greater happiness than in teaching and instructing the spirits that arrive from the world; in being of service to men, controlling the evil spirits about them lest they pass the proper bounds, and inspiring the men with good; and in raising up the dead to the life of eternity, and then, if the souls are such as to render it possible, introducing them into heaven. From all this they perceive more happiness than can possibly be described. Thus are they images of the Lord; thus do they love the neighbor more than themselves; and for this reason heaven is heaven. So that angelic happiness is in use, from use, and according to use, that is, it is according to the goods of love and of charity. When those who have the idea that heavenly joy consists in living at ease, idly breathing in eternal joy, have heard these things, they are given to perceive, in order to shame them, what such a life really is, and they perceive that it is a most sad one, that it is destructive of all joy, and that after a short time they would loathe and nauseate it.

455. One who in this world had been most learned in regard to the Word, had the idea that heavenly joy consists in being in a glorious light, like that which exists when the solar rays appear of a golden hue, so that he too supposed it to consist in a life of ease. In order that he might know himself to be in error, such a light was granted him, and he, being in the midst of the light, was as delighted as if he were in heaven, as indeed he said. But he could not remain long in it, for it gradually wearied him and became no joy at all.

456. The best instructed of them all said that heavenly joy consists solely in praising and glorifying the Lord, being a life destitute of any doing of the goods of charity, and that this is an active life. But they were told that praising and celebrating the Lord is not such an active life as is meant, but is an effect of that life; for the Lord has no need of praises, but wills that they should do the goods of charity, and that it is according to these that they will receive happiness from the Lord. But still these best instructed persons could form no idea of joy, but of servitude, in doing these goods of charity. But the angels testified that such a life is the freest of all, and that it is conjoined with happiness unutterable.

457. Almost all who pass from this world into the other life suppose that hell is the same for every one, and that heaven is the same for every one. And yet in both there are endless, diversities and varieties, and neither the heaven nor the hell of one person is ever exactly like that of another; just as no man, spirit, or angel is ever exactly like another. When I merely thought of there being two exactly alike or equal, horror was excited in the inhabitants of the world of spirits and of the angelic heaven, and they said that every one is formed by the harmony of many components, and that such as is the harmony, such is the one, and that it is impossible for anything to subsist that is absolutely a one, but only a one that results from a harmony of component parts. Thus every society in the heavens forms a one, and so do all the societies together, that is, the universal heaven, and this from the Lord alone, through love. A certain angel enumerated the most universal only of the genera of the joys of spirits, that is, of the first heaven, to about four hundred and seventy-eight, from which we may infer how innumerable must be the less universal genera and the species in each genus. And as there are so many in that heaven, how, illimitable must be the genera of happinesses in the heaven of angelic spirits, and still more so in the heaven of angels.

458. Evil spirits have sometimes supposed that there is another heaven besides that of the Lord, and they have been permitted to seek for it wherever they could, but to their confusion they could never find any other heaven. For evil spirits rush into insanities both from the hatred they bear against the Lord, and from their infernal suffering, and catch at such phantasies.

459. There are three heavens: the first is the abode of good spirits; the second, of angelic spirits; and the third, of angels. Spirits, angelic spirits, and angels are all distinguished into the celestial and the spiritual. The celestial are those who through love have received faith from the Lord, like the men of the Most Ancient Church treated of above. The spiritual are those who through knowledges of faith have received charity from the Lord, and who act from what they have received. A continuation of this subject will follow at the end of this chapter.

 

GENESIS 5:1-32

1. This is the book of the births of Man. In the day that God created Man, in the likeness of God made He him.

2. Male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Man, in the day when they were created.

3. And Man lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat into his likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth.

4. And the days of Man after he begat Seth were eight hundred years; and he begat sons and daughters.

5. And all the days that Man lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.

6. And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and begat Enosh.

7. And Seth lived after he begat Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

8. And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.

9. And Enosh lived ninety years, and begat Kenan.

10. And Enosh lived after he begat Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years; and begat sons and daughters.

11. And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.

12. And Kenan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalalel.

13. And Kenan lived after he begat Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters.

14. And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

15. And Mahalalel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared.

16. And Mahalalel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

17. And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety and five years; and he died.

18. And Jared lived a hundred sixty and two years, and begat Enoch.

19. And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

20. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years; and he died.

21. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah.

22. And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

23. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years.

24. And Enoch walked with God, and he was no more, for God took him.

25. And Methuselah lived a hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech.

26. And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters.

27. And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years; and he died.

28. And Lamech lived a hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son;

29. And he called his name Noah, saying, He shall comfort us from our work, and the toil of our hands, out of the ground which JEHOVAH hath cursed.

30. And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters.

31. And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years; and he died.

32. And Noah was a son of five hundred years; and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

 

THE CONTENTS

460. This chapter treats specifically of the propagation of the Most Ancient Church through successive generations, almost to the flood.

461. The Most Ancient Church itself, which was celestial, is what is called "Man (homo)", and a "likeness of God" (verse 1).

462. A second church which was not so celestial as the Most Ancient Church, is called "Seth" (verses 2, 3).

463. A third church was called "Enosh" (verse 6); a fourth "Kenan" (verse 9); a fifth "Mahalalel" (verse 12); a sixth " Jared" (verse 15); a seventh "Enoch" (verse 18); and an eighth church "Methuselah" (verse 21).

464. The church called " is described as framing doctrine from what was revealed to and perceived by the Most Ancient Church, which doctrine, although of no use at that time, was preserved for the use of posterity. This is signified by its being said that "Enoch" was no more, because God took him" (verses 22, 23, 24).

465. A ninth church was called "Lamech" (verse 25).

466. A tenth, the parent of three churches after the flood, was named "Noah". This church is to be called the Ancient Church (verses 28, 29).

467. "Lamech" is described as retaining nothing of the perception which the Most Ancient Church enjoyed; and "Noah" is described as a new church (verse 29).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

468. From what has been said and shown in the foregoing chapter, it is evident that by names are signified heresies and doctrines. Hence it may be seen that by the names in this chapter are not meant persons, but things, and in the present instance doctrines, or churches, which were preserved, notwithstanding the changes they underwent, from the time of the Most Ancient Church even to "Noah". But the case with every church is that in course of time it decreases, and at last remains among a few; and the few with whom it remained at the time of the flood were called "Noah".

[2] That the true church decreases and remains with but few, is evident from other churches which have thus decreased. Those who are left are in the Word called "remains", and a "remnant", and are said to be " in the midst", or "middle", "of the land". And as this is the case in the universal, so also it is in the particular, or as it is with the church, so it is with every individual man; for unless remains were preserved by the Lord in every one, he must needs perish eternally, since spiritual and celestial life are in the remains. So also in the general or universal-if there were not always some with whom the church, or true faith, remained, the human race would perish; for, as is generally known, a city, nay, sometimes a whole kingdom, is saved for the sake of a few. It is in this respect with the church as it is with the human body; so long as the heart is sound, life is possible for the neighboring viscera, but when the heart is enfeebled, the other parts of the body cease to be nourished, and the man dies. The last remains are those which are signified by "Noah;" for the whole earth had become corrupt (Genesis 6:12).

[3] Of remains as existing in each individual as well as in the church in general, much is said in the Prophets; as in Isaiah: -

He that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy to Him, even every one that is written unto lives in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have washed away the bloods of Jerusalem from the midst thereof (Isaiah 4:3, 4),

in which passage holiness is predicated of the remains, by which are signified the remains of the church, and also of a man of the church; for "those left" in Zion and Jerusalem could not be holy merely because they were "left". Again: -

It shall come to pass in that day, that the remains of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon Jehovah the Holy One of Israel in truth. The remains shall return, the remains of Jacob, unto the mighty God (Isaiah 10:20, 21).

In Jeremiah: -

In those days, and in that time, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon him whom I shall make a remnant (Jeremiah 50:20).

In Micah: -

The remains of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, as the dew from Jehovah, as the showers upon the grass (Micah 5:7).

[4] The residue or remains of a man, or of the church, were also represented by the tenths, which were holy; hence also a number with ten in it was holy, and "ten" is therefore predicated of remains; as in Isaiah: -

Jehovah shall remove man, and many things (shall be) left in the midst of the land; and yet in it (shall be) a tenth part, and it shall return, and shall be for exterminating; as an oak, and an ilex, when the stock is cast forth from them, the holy seed is the stock thereof (Isaiah 6:12, 13);

where the residue is called a "seed of holiness". And in Amos: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, The city that goeth forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which goeth forth a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel (Amos 5:3).

In these and many other passages, in the internal sense are signified the "remains" of which we have been speaking. That a city is preserved for the sake of the remains of the church, is evident from what was said to Abraham concerning Sodom: -

Abraham said, Peradventure ten may be found there; and He said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake (Gen. 18:32).

469. Verse 1. This is the book of the births of Man. In the day that God created Man, in the likeness of God made He him. The "book of the births", is an enumeration of those who were of the Most Ancient Church; "in the day that God created Man", denotes his being made spiritual; and "in the likeness of God made He him", signifies that he was made celestial: thus it is a description of the Most Ancient Church.

470. That the "book of the births" is an enumeration of those who were of the Most Ancient Church, is very evident from what follows, for from this to the eleventh chapter, that is, to the time of Eber, names never signify persons, but actual things. In the most ancient time mankind were distinguished into houses, families, and nations; a house consisting of the husband and wife with their children, together with some of their family who served; a family, of a greater or lesser number of houses, that lived not far apart and yet not together; and a nation, of a larger or smaller number of families.

471. The reason why they dwelt thus alone by themselves, distinguished only into houses, families, and nations, was that by this means the church might be preserved entire, that all the houses and families might be dependent on their parent, and thereby remain in love and in true worship. It is to be remarked also that each house was of a peculiar genius, distinct from every other; for it is well known that children, and even remote descendants, derive from their parents a particular genius, and such marked characteristics that they can be distinguished by the face, and by many other peculiarities. Therefore, in order that there might not be a confounding, but an exact distinction, it pleased the Lord that they should dwell in this manner. Thus the church was a living representative of the kingdom of the Lord; for in the Lord's kingdom there are innumerable societies, each one distinct from every other, according to the differences of love and faith. This, as observed above, is what is meant by "living alone", and by "dwelling in tents". For the same reason also it pleased the Lord that the Jewish Church should be distinguished into houses, families, and nations, and that every one should contract marriage within his own family; but concerning this, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

472. That by the "day in which God created Man", is signified his being made spiritual, and that by "God making him in His likeness", is signified his being made celestial, appears from what was said and shown above. The expression to "create" properly relates to man when he is being created anew, or regenerated; and the word "make", when he is being perfected; wherefore in the Word there is an accurate distinction observed between "creating", "forming", and "making", as was shown above in the second chapter, where it is said of the spiritual man made celestial that "God rested from all His work, which God created in making;" and in other passages also, to "create" relates to the spiritual man, and to "make", that is, to perfect, to the celestial man. (n. 16, 88).

473. That a "likeness of God" is a celestial man, and an "image of God", a spiritual man, has also been previously shown. An "image" is preparatory to a "likeness", and a "likeness" is a real resemblance, for a celestial man is entirely governed by the Lord, as His "likeness".

474. Since therefore the subject here treated of is the birth or propagation of the Most Ancient Church, this is first described as coming from a spiritual to a celestial state, for the propagations follow from this.

475. Verse 2. Male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Man, in the day when they were created. By "male and female", is signified the marriage between faith and love; by "calling their name Man", is signified that they were the church, which, in an especial sense, is called "Man (homo)".

476. That by "male and female" is signified the marriage between faith and love was declared and proved above, where it was shown that the male or man (vir) signifies the understanding and whatever belongs to it, consequently everything of faith; and that the female or woman signifies the will, or the things appertaining to the will, consequently whatever has relation to love; wherefore she was called Eve, a name signifying life, which is of love alone. By the female therefore is also signified the church, as has been previously shown; and by the male, a man (vir)of the church. The subject here is the state of the church when it was spiritual, and which was afterwards made celestial, wherefore "male" is mentioned before "female", as also in (Genesis 1:26, 27). The expression to "create" also has reference to the spiritual man; but afterwards when the marriage has been effected, that is, when the church has been made celestial, it is not said "male and female", but "man (homo)", who, by reason of their marriage, signifies both; wherefore it presently follows, "and He called their name Man", by which is signified the church.

477. That "Man" is the Most Ancient Church has been often said and shown above; for in the supreme sense the Lord Himself alone is Man. From this the celestial church is called Man, as being a likeness, and from this the spiritual church is afterwards so called because it was an image. But in a general sense every one is called a man who has human understanding; for man is man by virtue of understanding, and according thereto one person is more a man than another, although the distinction of one man from another ought to be made according to his faith as grounded in love to the Lord.

[2] That the Most Ancient Church, and every true church, and hence those who are of the church, or who live from love to the Lord and from faith in Him, are especially called "man", is evident from the Word, as in Ezekiel: -

I will cause man to multiply upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; I will cause to multiply upon you man and beast, that they may be multiplied and bear fruit; and I will cause you to dwell according to your antiquities; and I will do better unto you than at your beginnings; and I will cause man to walk upon you, My people Israel (Ezekiel 36:10, 11, 12),

where by "antiquities" is signified the Most Ancient Church; by "beginnings", the Ancient Churches; by the "house of Israel" and "people Israel", the primitive church, or Church of the Gentiles; all which churches are called "man".

[3] So in Moses: -

Remember the days of eternity, understand ye the years of generation and generation; when the Most High would give the nations an inheritance, when He would set apart the sons of man, He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel (Deut. 32:7, 8),

where by the "days of eternity" is meant the Most Ancient Church; by "generation and generation", the Ancient Churches; the "sons of man" are those who were in faith toward the Lord, which faith is the "number of the sons of Israel". That a regenerate person is called "man", appears from Jeremiah: -

I beheld the earth, and lo it was empty and void; and the heavens, and they had no light; I beheld, and lo, no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled (Jeremiah 4:23, 25),

where "earth" signifies the external man; "heaven" the internal; "man" the love of good; the "birds of the heavens" the understanding of truth.

[4] Again: -

Behold the days come that I will sow the house of Israel, and the house of Judah, with the seed of man, and with the seen of beast (Jeremiah 31:27),

where "man" signifies the internal man, "beast" the external. In Isaiah: -

Cease ye from man in whose nostrils is breath, for wherein is he to be accounted of (Isaiah 2:22),

where by "man" is signified a man of the church. Again: -

Jehovah shall remove man far away, and many things shall be left in the midst of the land (Isaiah 6:12),

speaking of the vastation of man, in that there should no longer exist either good or truth. Again: -

The inhabitants of the earth shall be burned, and man shall be left very little (Isaiah 24:6),

where "man" signifies those who have faith. Again: -

The paths have been desolated, the farer on the path hath ceased, he hath made vain the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he hath not regarded man, the earth mourneth and languisheth (Isaiah 33:8, 9),

denoting the man who in the Hebrew tongue is "Enosh". Again: -

I will make a man more precious than fine gold, and a man than the gold of Ophir; therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall be moved out of her place (Isaiah 13:12, 13),

where the word for man in the first place is "Enosh", and in the second is "Adam".

478. The reason why he is called "Adam" is that the Hebrew word "Adam" signifies "man;" but that he is never properly called "Adam" by name, but "Man", is very evident from this passage and also from former ones, in that (in some cases) he is not spoken of in the singular number, but in the plural, and also from the fact that the term is predicated of both the man and the woman, both together being called "Man". That it is predicated of both, every one may see from the words, for it is said, "He called their name Man, in the day that they were created;" and in like manner in the first chapter: "Let us make man in our image, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea" (Genesis 1:27, 28). Hence also it may appear that the subject treated of is not the creation of some one man who was the first of mankind, but the Most ancient Church.

479. By "calling a name", or "calling by name", is signified in the Word to know the quality of things, as was shown above, and in the present case it has relation to the quality of the Most Ancient Church, denoting that man was taken from the ground, or regenerated by the Lord, for the word "Adam" means "ground;" and that afterwards when he was made celestial he became most eminently "Man", by virtue of faith originating in love to the Lord.

480. That they were called "Man" in the day that they were created, appears also from the first chapter, (Genesis 1:26, 27), that is, at the end of the sixth day, which answers to the evening of the sabbath, or when the sabbath or seventh day began; for the seventh day, or sabbath, is the celestial man, as was shown above.

481. Verse 3. And Man lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat into his likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth. By a "hundred and thirty years" there is signified the time before the rise of a new church, which, being not very unlike the Most Ancient, is said to be born "into its likeness, and after its image;" but the term "likeness" has relation to faith, and "image" to love. This church was called "Seth".

482. What the "years", and the "numbers of years", which occur in this chapter, signify in the internal sense, has hitherto been unknown. Those who abide in the literal sense suppose them to be secular years, whereas from this to the twelfth chapter there is nothing historical according to its appearance in the literal sense, but all things in general and every single thing in particular contain other matters. And this is the case not only with the names, but also with the numbers. In the Word frequent mention is made of the number three, and also of the number seven, and wheresoever they occur they signify something holy or most sacred in regard to the states which the times or other things involve or represent; and they have the same signification in the least intervals of time as in the greatest, for as the parts belong to the whole, so the least things belong to the greatest, for there must be a likeness in order that the whole may properly come forth from the parts, or the greatest from its leasts. Thus in Isaiah: -

Now hath Jehovah spoken, saying, within three years, as the years of a hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be rendered worthless (Isaiah 16:14).

Again: -

Thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall be consumed (Isaiah 21:16),

where both the least and the greatest intervals are signified. in Habakkuk: -

Jehovah, I have heard Thy renown, and was afraid; O Jehovah, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known (Habakkuk 3:2),

where the "midst of the years" signifies the Lord's advent. In lesser intervals it signifies every coming of the Lord, as when man is being regenerated; in greater, when the church of the Lord is arising anew. It is likewise called the "year of the redeemed", in Isaiah: -

The day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come (Isaiah 63:4).

So also the thousand years in which Satan was to be bound (Rev. 20:2, 7), and the thousand years of the first resurrection (Rev. 20:4, 5, 6), by no means signify a thousand years, but their states; for as "days" are used to express states, as shown above, so also are "years", and the states are described by the number of the years. Hence it is evident that the ties in this chapter also involve states; for every church was in a different state of perception from the rest, according to the differences of genius, hereditary and acquired.

483. By the names which follow: "Seth", "Enosh", "Kenan", "Mahalalel", "Jared", "Enoch", " Methuselah", "Lamech", "Noah", are signified so many churches, of which the first and principal was called "Man". The chief characteristic of these churches was perception, wherefore the differences of the churches of that time were chiefly differences of perception. I may here mention concerning perception, that in the universal heaven there reigns nothing but a perception of good and truth, which is such as cannot be described, with innumerable differences, so that no two societies enjoy similar perception; the perceptions there existing are distinguished into genera and species, and the genera are innumerable, and the species of each genus are likewise innumerable; but concerning these, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. Since then there are innumerable genera, and innumerable species in each genus, and still more innumerable varieties in the species, it is evident how little-so little that it is almost nothing the world at this day knows concerning things celestial and spiritual, since they do not know even what perception is, and if they are told, they do not believe that any such thing exists; and so with other things also. The Most Ancient Church represented the celestial kingdom of the Lord, even as to the generic and specific differences of perception; but whereas the nature of perception, even in its most general aspect, is at this day utterly unknown, any account of the genera and species of the perceptions of these churches would necessarily appear dark and strange. They were at that time distinguished into houses, families, and nations, and contracted marriage within their houses and families, in order that genera and species of perceptions might exist, and be derived from the parents precisely as are the propagations of native character; wherefore those who were of the Most Ancient Church dwell together in heaven.

484. That the church called "Seth" was very nearly like the Most Ancient Church, is evident from its being said that the man begat in his likeness, according to his image, and called his name Seth; the term "likeness" having relation to faith, and "image" to love; for that this church was not like the Most Ancient Church with regard to love and its derivative faith, is plain from its being said just before, "Male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Man", by which is signified the spiritual man of the sixth day, as was said above, so that the likeness of this man was to the spiritual man of the sixth day, that is, love was not so much the principal, but still faith was conjoined with love.

485. That a different church is here meant by "Seth" from that which was described above (Genesis 4:25), may be seen at (n. 435). That churches of different doctrine were called by the same name, is evident from those which in the foregoing chapter (Genesis 4:17, 18) were called "Enoch" and "Lamech", while here other churches are in like manner called "Enoch" and "Lamech" (Genesis 5:21, 30).

486. Verse 4. And the days of Man after he begat Seth were eight hundred years, and he begat sons and daughters. By "days" are signified times and states in general; by "years", times and states in special; by "sons and daughters" are signified the truths and goods which they perceived.

487. That by "days" are signified times and states in general, was shown in the first chapter, where the "days" of creation have no other signification. In the Word it is very usual to call all time "days", as is manifestly the case in the present verse, and in those which follow (verses 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 31); and therefore the states of the times in general are likewise signified by "days;" and when "years" are added, then by the seasons of the years are signified the qualities of the states, thus states in special. The most ancient people had their numbers, by which they signified various things relating to the church, as the numbers " three", " seven", "ten", "twelve", and many that were compounded of these and others, whereby they described the states of the church; wherefore these numbers contain arcana which would require much time to explain. It was an account or reckoning of the states of the church. The same thing occurs in many parts of the Word, especially the prophetical. In the rites of the Jewish Church also there were numbers, both of times and measures, as for instance in regard to the sacrifices, meat-offerings, oblations, and other things, which everywhere signify holy things, according to their application. The things here involved, therefore, in the number "eight hundred", and in the next verse, in the number "nine hundred and thirty", and in the numbers of years in the verses following-namely, the changes of state of their church as applied to their own general state-are too many to be recounted. In a future part of this work, of the Lord's Divine mercy we shall take occasion to show what the simple numbers up to " twelve" signify, for until the signification of these is known, it would he impossible to apprehend the signification of the compound numbers.

488. That "days" signify states in general, and "years" states in special, appears from the Word, as in Ezekiel: -

Thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years (Ezekiel 22:4),

speaking of those who commit abominations, and fill up the measure of their sins, of whose state in general are predicated "days", and in special "years". So in David: -

Thou shalt add days to the days of the king, and his years as of generation and generation (Ps. 61:6),

speaking of the Lord and of His kingdom, where also "days" and "years" signify the state of His kingdom. Again: -

I have considered the days of old, the years of the ages (Ps. 77:5),

where "days of old" signify states of the Most Ancient Church, and "years of the ages", states of the Ancient Church. In Isaiah: -

The day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come (Isaiah 63:4),

speaking of the last times, where the "day of vengeance" signifies a state of damnation, and the "year of the redeemed" a state of blessedness. Again: -

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn (Isaiah 61:2),

where both "days" and "years" signify states. In Jeremiah: -

Renew our days as of old (Lam. 5:21),

where state is plainly meant.

[2] In Joel: -

The day of Jehovah cometh, for it is nigh at hand, a day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and of obscurity; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be after it, even to the years of generation and generation (Joel 2:1, 2),

where "day" signifies a state of darkness and of thick darkness, of cloud and of obscurity, with each one in particular, and with all in general. In Zechariah: -

I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day; in that day shall ye cry a man to his companion under the vine, and under the fig-tree (Zechariah 3:9, 10).

And in another place: -

It shall be one day which is known to Jehovah, not day nor night, and it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light (Zechariah 14:7),

where it is plain that state is meant, for it is said that there shall be a day that is "neither day nor night, at evening time it shall be light". The same appears from expressions in the Decalogue: -

Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may be well with thee upon the ground (Deut. 5:16 25:15),

where to have the "days prolonged" does not signify length of life, but a happy state.

[3] In the literal sense it must needs appear as if "day" signifies time, but in the internal sense it signifies state. The angels, who are in the internal sense, do not know what time is, for they have no sun and moon that distinguish times; consequently they do not know what days and years are, but only what states are and the changes thereof; and therefore before the angels, who are in the internal sense, everything relating to matter, space, and time disappears, as in the literal sense of this passage in Ezekiel: -

The day is near, even the day of Jehovah is near, a day of cloud; it shall be the time of the nations (Ezekiel 30:3),

and of this in Joel: -

Alas for the day for the day of Jehovah is at hand, and as vastation shall it come (Joel 1:15),

where a "day of cloud" signifies a cloud, or falsity; the "day of the nations" signifies the nations, or wickedness; the "day of Jehovah" signifies vastation. When the notion of time is removed, there remains the notion of the state of the things which existed at that time. The case is the same with regard to the "days" and "years" that are so often mentioned in this chapter.

489. That by "sons and daughters" are signified the truths and goods which they had a perception of, and indeed by "sons" truths, and by "daughters" goods, is evident from many passages in the Prophets; for in the Word, as also in olden time, the conceptions and births of the church are called " sons and daughters", as in Isaiah: -

The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising; lift up thine eyes round about and see; all they gather themselves together and come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side; then thou shalt see and flow together, and thy heart shall be amazed, and shall be enlarged (Isaiah 60:3, 4, 5),

in which passage "sons" signify truths, and of "daughters" goods.

[2] In David: -

Deliver me and rescue me from the hand of the sons of the stranger, whose mouth speaketh vanity; that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth, that our daughters may be as corner-stones hewn in the form of a temple (Ps. 44:11, 12),

where the "sons of the stranger" signify spurious truths, or falsities; "our sons" signify doctrinals of truth; "our daughters", doctrinals of good.

[3] In Isaiah: -

I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Keep not back; bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth; bring forth the blind people, and they shall have eyes; the deaf, and they shall have ears (Isaiah 43:6, 8),

in which passage "sons" signify truths; "daughters", goods; the "blind", those who would see truths; and the "deaf", those who would obey them.

[4] In Jeremiah: -

Shame hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth; their flocks, their herds, their sons, and their daughters (Jeremiah 3:24),

where "sons" and "daughters" signify truths and goods. That "children" and "sons" signify truths, is plain from Isaiah: -

Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale; for when he shall see his children the work of My hands in the midst of him, they shall sanctify My name, and shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel; they also that erred in spirit shall know understanding (Isaiah 29:22, 23, 24),

where the "Holy One of Jacob, the God of Israel", signifies the Lord; "children" signify the regenerate, who have the understanding of good and truth, as is indeed explained.

[5] Again: -

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear, for more are the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married wife (Isaiah 54:1),

where the "sons of the desolate" signify the truths of the primitive Church, or that of the Gentiles; the "sons of the married wife", the truths of the Jewish Church.

[6] In, Jeremiah: -

My tent is laid waste and all My cords are plucked out; My sons are gone forth of Me, and are not (Jeremiah 10:20),

where "sons" signify truths. Again: -

His sons shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before Me (Jeremiah 30:20),

where "sons" signify the truths of the Ancient Church. In Zechariah: -

I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, with thy sons, O Javan, and make thee as the sword of a mighty man (Zechariah 9:13),

signifying the truths of the faith of love.

490. In the Word "daughters" frequently denote goods; as in David: -

Kings' daughters were among thy precious ones; at thy right hand doth stand the queen in the best gold of Ophir; the daughter of Tyre with a gift; the king's daughter is all glorious within of eyelet work of gold is her raiment; instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons (Ps. 45:10-17),

where the good and beauty of love and faith are described by the "daughter". Hence churches are called "daughters" by virtue of goods, as the "daughter of Zion" and the "daughter of Jerusalem" (Isa. 37:22); they are also called "daughters of My people" (Isa. 22:4), the "daughter of Tarshish" (Isa. 23:10), the "daughter of Sidon" (Isaiah 23:12), and "daughters in the field" (Ezek. 26:6, 8).

491. The same things are signified by "sons" and "daughters" in this chapter (verses 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 26, 30), but such as is the church, such are the "sons and daughters", that is, such are the goods and truths; the truths and goods here spoken of are such as were distinctly perceived, because they are predicated of the Most Ancient Church, the principal and parent of all the other and succeeding churches.

492. Verse 5. And all the days that Man lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died. By "days" and "years" are here signified times and states, as above; by "Man's dying" is signified that such perception no longer existed.

493. That by "days" and "years" are signified times and states needs no further explication, except to say that in the world there must needs be times and measures, to which numbers may be applied because they are in the ultimates of nature; but whenever they are applied in the Word, the numbers of the days and years, and also of the measures, have a signification abstractedly from the times and measures, in accordance with the signification of the number; as where it is said that there are six days of labor, and that the seventh is holy, of which above; that the jubilee should be proclaimed every forty-ninth year, and should be celebrated in the fiftieth; that the tribes of Israel were twelve, and the apostles of the Lord the same; that there were seventy elders, and as many disciples of the Lord; and so in many other instances where the numbers have a special signification abstractedly from the things to which they are applied; and when thus abstracted, then it is states that are signified by the numbers.

494. That he "died", signifies that there was no longer such perception, is evident from the signification of the word "die", which is, that a thing ceases to be such as it has been. This in John: -

Unto the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things saith He that hath the seven spirits, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou art said to live, but art dead; be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God (Rev. 3:1, 2).

In Jeremiah: -

I will cast out thy mother that bare thee, into another country where ye were not begotten, and there shall ye die (Jeremiah 22:26),

where "mother" signifies the church. For as we have said, the case with the church is that it decreases and degenerates, and loses its pristine integrity, chiefly by reason of the increase of hereditary evil, for every succeeding parent adds new evil to that which he has inherited. All the actual evil in the parents puts on a kind of nature, and when it often recurs, becomes natural to them, and is added to their hereditary evil, and is transmitted into their children, and so to posterity. In this way the hereditary evil is immensely increased in the descendants. That this is so is evident from the fact that the evil dispositions of children are exactly like those of their progenitors. Quite false is the opinion of those who think that there is no hereditary evil except that which they allege to have been implanted in us from Adam (n. 313). The truth is that every one makes hereditary evil by his own actual sins, and adds it to the evils that he has inherited, and in this way it accumulates, and remains in all the descendants, nor is it abated except in those who are being regenerated by the Lord. In every church this is the principal cause of degeneration, and it was so in the Most Ancient Church.

495. How the Most Ancient Church decreased cannot appear unless it be known what perception is, for it was a perceptive church, such as at this day does not exist. The perception of a church consists in this, that its members perceive from the Lord what is good and true, like the angels; not so much what the good and truth of civic society is, but the good and truth of love to the Lord and of faith in Him. From a confession of faith that is confirmed by the life it can be seen what perception is, and whether it has any existence.

496. Verse 6. And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and begat Enosh. "Seth", as was observed, is a second church, less celestial than the Most Ancient Church, its parent, yet one of the most ancient churches; that he "lived a hundred and five years", signifies, as before, times and states; that he "begat Enosh", signifies that from them there descended another church that was called "Enosh".

497. That "Seth" is a second church less celestial than the Most Ancient Church, its parent, yet one of the most ancient churches, may appear from what was said above concerning Seth (verse 3). The case with churches, as we have said, is that by degrees, and in process of time, they decrease as to essentials, owing to the cause above mentioned.

498. That he "begat Enosh" signifies that from them there descended another church called "Enosh", is evident from the fact that in this chapter the names signify nothing else than churches.

499. Verses 7, 8. And Seth lived after he begat Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died. The "days" and numbers of "years" signify here as before the times and states. "Sons and daughters" too have the same signification as before; and so likewise has the statement that he "died".

500. Verse 9. And Enosh lived ninety years, and begat Kenan. By "Enosh", as before said, is signified a third church, still less celestial than the church "Seth", yet one of the most ancient churches; by "Kenan" is signified a fourth church, which succeeded the former ones.

501. As regards the churches that in course of time succeeded one another, and of which it is said that one was born from another, the case with them was the same as it is with fruits, or with their seeds. In the midst of these, that is, in their inmosts, there are as it were fruits of the fruits, or seeds of the seeds, from which live as it were in regular order the successive parts. For the more remote these are from the inmost toward the circumference, the less of the essence of the fruit or of the seed is there in them, until finally they are but the cuticles or coverings in which the fruits or seeds terminate. Or as in the case of the brain, in the inmost parts of which are subtle organic forms called the cortical substances, from which and by which the operations of the soul proceed; and from which in regular order the purer coverings follow in succession, then the denser ones, and finally the general coverings called meninges, which are terminated in coverings still more general, and at last in the most general of all, which is the skull.

502. These three churches, "Man", "Seth", and "Enosh", constitute the Most Ancient Church, but still with a difference of perfection as to perceptions: the perceptive faculty of the first church gradually diminished in the succeeding churches, and became more general, as observed concerning fruit or its seed, and concerning the brain. Perfection consists in the faculty of perceiving distinctly, which faculty is diminished when the perception is less distinct and more general; an obscurer perception then succeeds in the place of that which was clearer, and thus it begins to vanish away.

503. The perceptive faculty of the Most Ancient Church consisted not only in the perception of what is good and true, but also in the happiness and delight arising from well-doing; without such happiness and delight in doing what is good the perceptive faculty has no life, but by virtue of such happiness and delight it receives life. The life of love, and of the derivative faith, such as the Most Ancient Church enjoyed, is life while in the performance of use, that is, in the good and truth of use: from use, by use, and according to use, is life given by the Lord; there can be no life in what is useless, for whatever is useless is cast away. In this respect the most ancient people were likenesses of the Lord, and therefore in perceptive powers they became images of Him. The perceptive power consists in knowing what is good and true, consequently what is of faith: he who is in love is not delighted in knowing, but in doing what is good and true, that is, in being useful.

504. Verses 10, 11. And Enosh lived after he begat Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters, And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died. Here in like manner the "days" and numbers of "years", and also "sons and daughters", and his "dying", signify like things.

505. "Enosh", as before observed, is a third church, yet one of the most ancient churches, but less celestial, and consequently less perceptive, than the church "Seth;" and this latter was not so celestial and perceptive as the parent church, called "Man". These three are what constitute the Most Ancient Church, which, relatively to the succeeding ones, was as the kernel of fruits, or seeds, whereas the succeeding churches are relatively as the membranaceous parts of these.

506. Verse 12. And Kenan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalalel. By "Kenan" is signified a fourth church, and by "Mahalalel" a fifth.

507. The church called "Kenan" is not to be so much reckoned among those three more perfect ones, inasmuch as perception, which in the former churches had been distinct, began now to become general, comparatively as are the first and softer membranes relatively to the kernel of fruits or seeds; which state is not indeed described, but still is apparent from what follows, as from the description of the churches called "Enoch" and "Noah".

508. Verses 13, 14. And Kenan lived after he begat Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died. The "days" and numbers of "years" have the same signification here as before. "Sons and daughters" here also signify truths and goods, whereof the members of the church had a perception, but in a more general manner. That he "died" signifies in like manner the cessation of such a state of perception.

509. It is here only to be remarked, that all things are determined by their relation to the state of the church.

510. Verse 15. And Mahalalel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared. By "Mahalalel" is signified, as before said, a fifth church; by "Jared" a sixth.

511. As the perceptive faculty decreased, and from being more particular or distinct, became more general or obscure, so also did the life of love or of uses; for as is the life of love or of uses, so is the perceptive faculty. From good to know truth is celestial; the life of those who constituted the church called "Mahalalel" was such that they preferred the delight from truths to the delight from uses, as has been given me to know by experience among their like in the other life.

512. Verses 16, 17. And Mahalalel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety and five years, and he died. It is the same with these words as with the like words before.

513. Verse 18. And Jared lived a hundred sixty and two years, and begat Enoch. By "Jared", as before said, is signified a sixth church; by "Enoch" a seventh.

514. Concerning the church called "Jared" nothing is related; but its character may be known from the church "Mahalalel" which preceded it, and the church "Enoch" which followed it, between which two it was intermediate.

515. Verses 19, 20. And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years, and he died. The signification of these words also is similar to that of the like words above. That the ages of the antediluvians were not so great, as that of Jared nine hundred and sixtytwo years, and that of Methuselah nine hundred and sixty-nine years, must appear to every one, especially from what of the Lord's Divine mercy will be said at (Genesis 6:3) of the next chapter, where we read, "Their days shall be a hundred and twenty years;" so that the number of the years does not signify the age of any particular man, but the times and states of the church.

516. Verse 21. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah. By "Enoch", as before said, is signified a seventh church; and by "Methuselah" an eighth.

517. The quality of the church "Enoch" is described in the following verses.

518. Verse 22. And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. To "walk with God" signifies doctrine concerning faith. That he "begat sons and daughters" signifies doctrinal matters concerning truths and goods.

519. There were some at that time who framed doctrines from the things that had been matters of perception in the most ancient and succeeding churches, in order that such doctrine might serve as a rule whereby to know what was good and true: such persons were called "Enoch". This is what is signified by the words, "and Enoch walked with God;" and so did they call that doctrine; which is likewise signified by the name "Enoch", which means to "instruct". The same is evident also from the signification of the expression to "walk", and from the fact that he is said to have "walked with God", not "with Jehovah:" to "walk with God" is to teach and live according to the doctrine of faith, but to "walk with Jehovah" is to live the life of love. To "walk" is a customary form of speaking that signifies to live, as to "walk in the law", to "walk in the statutes", to "walk in the truth". To "walk" has reference properly to a way, which has relation to truth, consequently to faith, or the doctrine of faith. What is signified in the Word by "walking", may in some measure appear from the following passages.

[2] In Micah: -

He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do judgment and the love of mercy, and to humble thyself by walking with thy God? (Micah 6:8),

where to "walk with God" signifies to live according to the things here indicated; here however it is said "with God", while of Enoch another word is used which signifies also "from with God", so that the expression is ambiguous. In David: -

Thou hast delivered my feet from impulsion, that I may walk before God in the light of the living (Ps. 56:13),

where to "walk before God" is to walk in the truth of faith, which is the "light of the living". In like manner in Isaiah: -

The people that walk in darkness see a great light (Isaiah 9:1).

So the Lord says by Moses: -

I will walk in the midst, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people (Lev. 26:12),

signifying that they should live according to the doctrine of the law.

[3] In Jeremiah: -

They shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and to the armies of the heavens, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought (Jeremiah 8:2),

where a manifest distinction is made between the things of love, and those of faith; the things of love being expressed by "loving" and "serving;" and those of faith by "walking" and "seeking". In all the prophetical writings every expression is used with accuracy, nor is one term ever used in the place of another. But to "walk with Jehovah", or "before Jehovah", signifies, in the Word, to live the life of love.

520. Verses 23, 24. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was no more, for God took him. By "all the days of Enoch being three hundred sixty and five years", is signified that they were few. By his "walking with God", is signified, as above, doctrine concerning faith. By "he was no more, for God took him", is signified the preservation of that doctrine for the use of posterity.

521. As to the words "he was no more, for God took him" signifying the preservation of that doctrine for the use of posterity, the case with Enoch, as already said, is that he reduced to doctrine what in the Most Ancient Church had been a matter of perception, and which in the time of that church was not allowable; for to know by perception is a very different thing from learning by doctrine. They who are in perception have no need to learn by formulated doctrine that which they know already. For example: he who knows how to think well, has no occasion to be taught to think by any rules of art, for in this way his faculty of thinking well would be impaired, as is the case with those who stick fast in scholastic dust. To those who learn by perception, the Lord grants to know what is good and true by an inward way; but to those who learn from doctrine, knowledge is given by an external way, or that of the bodily senses; and the difference is like that between light and darkness. Consider also that the perceptions of the celestial man are such as to admit of no description, for they enter into the most minute and particular things, with all variety according to states and circumstances. But as it was foreseen that the perceptive faculty of the Most Ancient Church would perish, and that afterwards mankind would learn by doctrines what is true and good, or by darkness would come to light, it is here said that "God took him", that is, preserved the doctrine for the use of posterity.

522. The state and quality of the perception with those who were called "Enoch" have also been made known to me. It was a kind of general obscure perception without any distinctness; for in such a case the mind determines its view outside of itself into the doctrinal things.

523. Verse 25. And Methuselah lived a hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech. By "Methuselah" is signified an eighth church, and by "Lamech" a ninth.

524. Nothing is mentioned concerning the quality of this church; but that its perceptive faculty was general and obscure, is evident from the description of the church called "Noah;" so that perfection decreased, and with perfection wisdom and intelligence.

525. Verses 26, 27. And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty and nine years, and he died. These words have a like signification.

526. Verse 28. And Lamech lived a hundred eighty and ten years, and begat a son. By "Lamech" is here signified a ninth church, wherein the perception of truth and good was so general and obscure that it was next to none, so that the church was vastated. By the "son" is signified the rise of a new church.

527. That by "Lamech" is signified a church wherein the perception of truth and good was so general and obscure as to be next to none, consequently a church vastated, appears from what was said in the preceding chapter, and from what follows in the next verse. "Lamech" in the preceding chapter has nearly the same signification as in this, namely, vastation (Genesis 4:18, 19, 23, 24); and he who begat him is also called by nearly the same name, "Methuselael", so that the things signified by the names are nearly the same. By " Methuselael" and "Methuselah" is signified something that is about to die; and by "Lamech" what is destroyed.

528. Verse 29. And he called his name Noah, saying, He shall comfort us from our work, and the toil of our hands, out of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed. By "Noah" is signified the Ancient Church. By "comforting us from our work and the toil of our hands, out of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed", is signified doctrine, whereby what had been perverted would be restored.

529. That by "Noah" is signified the Ancient Church, or the parent of the three churches after the flood, will appear from the following pages, where Noah is largely treated of.

530. By the names in this chapter, as we have said, are signified churches, or what is the same, doctrines; for the church exists and has its name from doctrine; thus by "Noah" is signified the Ancient Church, or the doctrine that remained from the Most Ancient Church. How the case is with churches or doctrines has already been stated, namely, that they decline, until there no longer remains anything of the goods and truths of faith, and then the church is said in the Word to be vastated. But still remains are always preserved, or some with whom the good and truth of faith remain, although they are few; for unless the good and truth of faith were preserved in these few, there would be no conjunction of heaven with mankind. As regards the remains that are in a man individually, the fewer they are the less can the matters of reason and knowledge that he possesses be enlightened, for the light of good and truth flows in from the remains, or through the remains, from the Lord. If there were no remains in a man he would not be a man, but much viler than a brute; and the fewer remains there are, the less is he a man, and the more remains there are, the more is he a man. Remains are like some heavenly star, which, the smaller it is the less light it gives, and the larger, the more light. The few things that remained from the Most Ancient Church were among those who constituted the church called Noah; but these were not remains of perception, but of perfection, and also of doctrine derived from the things of perception in the most ancient churches; and therefore a new church was now raised up by the Lord, which being of an entirely different native character from the most ancient churches, is to be called the Ancient Church-Ancient from the fact that it existed at the close of the ages before the flood, and during the first period after it. Of this church, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, more will be said hereafter.

531. That by "comforting us from our work and the toil of our hands, out of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed", is signified doctrine, whereby what had been perverted would be restored, will also appear, of the Lord's Divine mercy, in the following pages. By "work" is signified that they could not perceive what is true except with labor and distress. By the "toil of the hands out of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed", is signified that they could do nothing good. Thus is described "Lamech", that is, the vastated church. There is "work and labor of the hands" when, from themselves or from their Own, men must seek out what is true and do what is good. That which comes of this is the "ground which Jehovah hath cursed", that is, nothing comes of it but what is false and evil. But what is signified by Jehovah cursing, see (n. 245). To "comfort" has reference to the "son", or Noah, whereby is signified a new regeneration, thus a new church, which is the Ancient Church. By this church, or "Noah", is therefore likewise signified rest, and comfort that comes from rest, just as it was said of the Most Ancient Church that it was the seventh day, in which the Lord rested. (n. 84-88).

532. Verses 30, 31. And Lamech lived after he begat that Noah (illum Noachum) five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years, and he died. By "Lamech", as before said, is signified the church vastated. By "sons and daughters", are signified the conceptions and births of such a church.

533. As nothing more is related concerning Lamech than that he begat sons and daughters, which are the conceptions and births of such a church, we shall dwell no longer on the subject. What the births were, or the "sons and daughters", appears from the church; for such as is the church, such are the births from it. Both the churches called "Methuselah" and "Lamech" expired just before the flood.

534. Verse 32. And Noah was a son of five hundred years; and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. By "Noah", as has been said, is signified the Ancient Church. By "Shem, Ham, and Japheth" are signified three Ancient Churches, the parent of which was the Ancient Church called "Noah".

535. That the church called "Noah" is not to be numbered among the churches that were before the flood, appears from (verse 29), where it is said that it should "comfort them from their work and the toil of their hands, out of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed". The "comfort" was that it should survive and endure. But concerning Noah and his sons, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

536. As in the foregoing pages much has been said about the perception possessed by the churches that existed before the flood, and as at this day perception is a thing utterly unknown, so much so that some may imagine it to be a kind of continuous revelation, or to be something implanted in men; others that it is merely imaginary, and others other things; and as perception is the very Celestial itself given by the Lord to those who are in the faith of love, and as there is perception in the universal heaven of endless variety: therefore in order that there may be among men some conception of what perception is, of the Lord's Divine mercy I may in the following pages describe the principal kinds of perception that exist in the Heavens.

CONTINUATION CONCERNING HEAVEN AND HEAVENLY JOY

537. A certain spirit attached himself to my left side, and asked me whether I knew how he could get into heaven. I was permitted to tell him that admission into heaven belongs solely to the Lord, who alone knows what a man's quality is. Very many arrive from the world who make it their sole pursuit to get into heaven, being quite ignorant of what heaven is, and of what heavenly joy is, that heaven is mutual love, and that heavenly joy is the derivative joy. Therefore those who do not know this are first instructed about it by actual experience. For example, there was a certain spirit, newly arrived from the world, who in like manner longed for heaven, and in order that he might perceive what the nature of heaven is, his interiors were opened so that he should feel something of heavenly joy. But as soon as he felt it he began to lament and to writhe, and begged to be delivered, saying that he could not live on account of the anguish; and therefore his interiors were closed toward heaven, and in this way he was restored. From this instance we may see with what pangs of conscience and with what anguish those are tortured who not being prepared for it are admitted even but a little way.

538. There were some who sought admission into heaven without knowing what heaven is. They were told that unless they were in the faith of love, to enter heaven would be as dangerous as going into a flame; but still they sought for it. When they arrived at the first entrance court, that is to say, the lower sphere of angelic spirits, they were smitten so hard that they threw themselves headlong back, and in this way were taught how dangerous it is merely to approach heaven until prepared by the Lord to receive the affections of faith.

539. A certain spirit who during his life in the body had made light of adulteries, was in accordance with his desire admitted to the first threshold of heaven. As soon as he came there he began to suffer and to be sensible of his own cadaverous stench, until he could endure it no longer. It seemed to him that if he went any farther he should perish, and he was therefore cast down to the lower earth, enraged that he should feel such torment at the first threshold of heaven, merely because he had arrived in a sphere that was contrary to adulteries. He is among the unhappy.

540. Almost all who come into the other life are ignorant of the nature of heavenly happiness and bliss, because they know not the nature and quality of inward joy. They form a conception of it merely from the delights and joys of the body and the world. What they are ignorant of they suppose to be nothing, the truth being that bodily and worldly joys are relatively non-existent and foul. In order therefore that those who are well disposed may learn and may know what heavenly joy is, they are taken in the first place to paradises that surpass every conception of the imagination (concerning which, of the Lords Divine mercy hereafter), and they suppose that they have arrived in the paradise of heaven; but they are taught that this is not true heavenly happiness, and are therefore permitted to experience interior states of joy which are perceptible to their inmost being. They are then transported into a state of peace, even to their inmost being, and they confess that nothing of it is at all expressible or conceivable. And finally they are introduced into a state of innocence, also to their inmost feeling. In this way are they permitted to learn the nature of true spiritual and celestial good.

541. Certain spirits who were ignorant of the nature of heavenly joy were unexpectedly taken up into heaven after they had been brought into such a state as to render this possible, that is to say a state in which their bodily things and fanciful notions were lulled into quiescence. From there I heard one saying to me that now for the first time he felt how great is the joy in heaven, and that he had been very greatly deceived in having a different idea of it, but that now he perceived in his inmost being a joy immeasurably greater than he had ever felt in any bodily pleasure such as men are delighted with in the life of the body, and which he called foul.

542. They who are taken up into heaven in order that they may know its quality either have their bodily things and fanciful notions lulled to quiescence-for no one can enter heaven with the bodily things and fanciful notions that they take with them from this world-or else they are surrounded by a sphere of spirits who miraculously temper such things as are impure and that cause disagreement. With some the interiors are opened. In these and other ways they are prepared, according to their lives and the nature thereby acquired.

543. Certain spirits longed to know the nature of heavenly joy, and were therefore allowed to perceive the inmost of their own, to such a degree that they could bear no more; and yet it was not angelic joy, being scarcely equal to the least angelic joy, as was given me to perceive by a communication of their joy. It was so slight as to be as it were chilly, and yet being their inmost joy they called it most heavenly. From this it was evident not only that there are degrees of joys, but also that the inmost of one scarcely approaches the outmost or middle of another, and that when any one receives his own inmost joy, he is in his heavenly joy, and cannot endure that which is still more interior, for it becomes painful.

544. Certain spirits who were admitted into the heaven of innocence of the first heaven spoke to me thence, and confessed that the state of joy and gladness was such as they never could have conceived any idea of. Yet this was only in the first heaven, and there are three heavens, and states of innocence in each, with their innumerable varieties.

545. But in order that I might know the nature and quality of heaven and of heavenly joy, for long and often I have been permitted by the Lord to perceive the delights of heavenly joys, so that as I know them from actual experience I can indeed know them, but can by no means describe them. However, in order to give some idea of it I may say that heavenly joy is an affection of innumerable delights and joys that form one general simultaneous joy, in which general joy, that is, in which general affection, there are harmonies of innumerable affections that do not come distinctly to perception, but obscurely, because the perception is very general. Yet I was permitted to perceive that there are things innumerable within it, in such order as can never be described, these innumerable things being such as flow from the order of heaven. Such order exists in every least thing of the affection, all of which together are presented and perceived as a very general one according to the capacity of him who is the subject of it. In a word, in every general joy or affection there are illimitable things ordinated in a most perfect form, and there is nothing that is not alive or that does not affect even the inmost things of our being, for heavenly joys proceed from inmost things. I perceived also that the joy and deliciousness came as if from the heart, and very softly diffused themselves through all the inmost fibers, and so into the congregated fibers, with such an inmost sense of delight that the fiber is as it were nothing but joy and deliciousness, and the whole derivative perceptive and sensitive sphere the same, being alive with happiness. In comparison with these joys the joy of bodily pleasures is like gross and pungent dust as compared with a pure and gentle breeze.

546. In order that I might know how the case is with those who desire to be in heaven and are not such that they can be there, once when I was in some heavenly society, an angel appeared to me as an infant with a chaplet of bright blue flowers about its head, and girded about the breast with wreaths of other colors. By this I was given to know that I was in some society where there was charity. Some well-disposed spirits were then admitted into the same society, who the moment they entered became much more intelligent, and spoke like angelic spirits. Afterwards some were admitted who desired to be innocent from themselves, whose state was represented to me by an infant that vomited milk out of its mouth. Such is their state. Then some were admitted who supposed that they were intelligent from themselves, and their state was represented by their faces, which appeared sharp, but fair enough; and they seemed to wear a peaked hat from which a sharp point projected, but their faces did not appear to be of human flesh, but as if carved out and devoid of life. Such is the state of those who believe that they are spiritual from themselves, that is, able from themselves to have faith. Other spirits were admitted who could not remain there, but were dismayed, became distressed, and fled away.


Chapter 6

CONCERNING HEAVEN AND HEAVENLY JOY

547. The souls who come into the other life are all ignorant of the nature of heaven and of heavenly joy. Very many suppose it to be a kind of joy into which any can be admitted no matter how they have lived, even those who have borne hatred against their neighbor and have passed their lives in adulteries, being quite unaware of the fact that heaven is mutual and chaste love, and that heavenly joy is the derivative happiness.

548. I have sometimes spoken with spirits fresh from the world concerning the state of eternal life, telling them how important it was for them to know who is the Lord of that kingdom, and what is the nature and form of its government, just as those in this world who go into another kingdom are especially interested to know who and of what sort is the king, what is the nature of the government, and many other things that belong to the kingdom; and how much more should they be interested in this kingdom, where they are to live forever. I told them that the Lord alone rules both heaven and the universe, for He who rules the one must rule the other; and that the kingdom in which they were now is the Lord's kingdom, the laws of which are eternal truths, all of which are based on the one great law that men shall love the Lord above all things and their neighbor as themselves, and now even more than themselves, for if they would be as the angels this is what they must do. To all this they could make no reply because in their bodily life they had heard something of the kind, but had not believed it. They marvelled that there is such love in heaven, and that it is possible for any one to love his neighbor more than himself, seeing that they had heard that they were to love their neighbor as themselves. But they were instructed that in the other life all goods are immeasurably increased, and that the life in the body is such that men can go no further than loving the neighbor as themselves, because they are in the things of the body, but that when these are removed, the love becomes purer, and at last angelic, which consists in loving the neighbor more than themselves. The possibility of such love is evident from the conjugial love that exists with some persons, who would suffer death rather than let their married partner be injured; and also from the love of parents for their children, in that a mother will endure starvation rather than see her infant hunger, and this even among birds and animals; and likewise from sincere friendship, in that perils will be undergone for our friends; and even from polite and feigned friendship, that would emulate real friendship in offering the better things to those to whom we wish well, making great professions even when they do not come from the heart. And finally its possibility is evident from the very nature of love, which finds its joy in being of service to others, not for the sake of self but for the love's own sake. But all this could not be comprehended by those who loved themselves more than others, and who in the bodily life had been greedy for gain, and least of all by the avaricious.

549. The angelic state is such that every one communicates his own bliss and happiness to others. For in the other life there is a most exquisite communication and perception of all the affections and thoughts, so that each person communicates his joy to all, and all to each, so that each one is as it were the center of all. This is the heavenly form. And therefore the more there are who constitute the Lord's kingdom, the greater is the happiness, for it increases in proportion to the numbers, and this is why heavenly happiness is unutterable. There is this communication of all with each and of each with all when every one loves others more than himself. But if any one wishes better for himself than for others the love of self reigns, which communicates nothing to others from itself except the idea of self, which is very foul, and when this is perceived the person is at once banished and rejected.

550. Just as in the human body all things both in general and particular contribute to the general and individual uses of all the rest, so is it in the Lord's kingdom, which is constituted like a man, and in fact is called the Grand Man. In this way every one there contributes either more nearly or more remotely, and in many ways, to the happiness of all, and this in accordance with the order instituted and consequently maintained by the Lord alone.

551. From the universal heaven bearing relation to the Lord, and all there in both general and particular bearing relation to the Very and Only Being both in the universal as a whole and in its most individual constituents, there comes order, there comes union, there comes mutual love, and there comes happiness; for so each person regards the welfare and happiness of all, and all that of each one.

552. That all the joy and happiness in heaven are from the Lord alone, has been shown me by many experiences, of which the following may be related. I saw that with the utmost diligence some angelic spirits were fashioning a lampstand with its lamps and flowers of the richest ornamentation in honor of the Lord. For an hour or two I was permitted to witness with what great pains they labored to make everything about it beautiful and representative, they supposing that they were doing it of themselves. But to me it was given to perceive that of themselves they could devise nothing at all. At last after some hours they said that they had formed a very beautiful representative candelabrum in honor of the Lord, whereat they rejoiced from their very hearts. But I told them that of themselves they had devised and formed nothing at all, but the Lord alone for them. At first they would scarcely believe this, but being angelic spirits they were enlightened, and confessed that it was so. So it is with all other representative things, and with everything of affection and thought in both general and particular, and also with heavenly joys and felicities-the very smallest bit of them is from the Lord alone.

553. They who are in mutual love in heaven are continually advancing to the springtime of their youth, and to a more and more gladsome and happy spring the more thousands of years they live, and this with continual increase to eternity, according to the advance and degree of mutual love, charity, and faith. Those of the female sex who have died in old age and enfeebled with years, and who have lived in faith in the Lord, in charity toward the neighbor, and in happy conjugial love toward the neighbor, and in happy conjugial love with their husbands, after a succession of years come more and more into the bloom of youth and early womanhood, and into a beauty that surpasses all idea of beauty such as is ever perceptible to the natural sight; for it is goodness and charity forming and presenting their own likeness, and causing the delight and beauty of charity to shine forth from every least feature of the countenance, so that they are the very forms of charity: some have beheld them and been amazed. The form of charity, as is seen to the life in the other world, is such that it is charity itself that portrays and is portrayed, and this in such a manner that the whole angel, and especially the face, is as it were charity, the charity both plainly appearing to the view and being perceived by the mind. When this form is beheld, it is unutterable beauty that affects with charity the very inmost life of the beholder's mind. Through the beauty of this form the truths of faith are presented to view in an image, and are even perceived from it. Such forms, or such beauties, do those become in the other life who have lived in faith in the Lord, that is, in the faith of charity. All the angels are such forms, with countless variety, and of such is heaven.

 

GENESIS 6:1-8

1. And it came to pass that man began to multiply himself upon the faces of the ground, and daughters were born unto them.

2. And the sons of God saw the daughters of man that they were good; and they took to themselves wives of all that they chose.

3. And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not reprove man forever, for that he is flesh; and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

4. There were Nephilim in the earth in those days; and most especially after the sons of God went in unto the daughters of man, and they bare to them; the same became mighty men, who were of old, men of renown.

5. And Jehovah saw that the evil of man was multiplied on the earth, and that all the imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil every day.

6. And it repented Jehovah that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart.

7. And Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I have created, from upon the faces of the ground, both man and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the heavens; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.

8. And Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah.

 

THE CONTENTS

554. The subject here treated of is the state of the people before the flood.

555. That with man, where the church was, cupidities, which are the "daughters"-began to reign. Also that they conjoined the doctrinal things of faith with their cupidities, and thus confirmed themselves in evils and falses, which is signified by "the sons of God taking to themselves wives of the daughters of man" (verses 1, 2).

556. And whereas there were thus no remains of good and truth left, it is foretold that man should be differently formed, in order that he might have remains, which are "a hundred and twenty years" (verse 3).

557. Those who immersed the doctrinal things of faith in their cupidities, and in consequence of this as well as of the love of self conceived dreadful persuasions of their own greatness in comparison with others, are signified by the "Nephilim" (verse 4).

558. In consequence of this there no longer remained any will or perception of good and truth (verse 5).

559. The mercy of the Lord is described by "repenting and grieving at heart" (verse 6). That they became such that their cupidities and persuasions must needs prove fatal to them (verse 7). Therefore in order that the human race might be saved, a new church should arise, which is "Noah" (verse 8).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

560. Before proceeding further we may mention how the case was with the church before the flood. Speaking generally, it was as with succeeding churches, as with the Jewish Church before the Lord's advent, and the Christian Church after His advent, in that it had corrupted and adulterated the knowledges of true faith; but specifically, as regards the man of the church before the flood, he in course of time conceived direful persuasions, and immersed the goods and truths of faith in foul cupidities, insomuch that there were scarcely any remains in them. When they came into this state they were suffocated as if of themselves, for man cannot live without remains; for, as we have said, it is in the remains that the life of man is superior to that of brutes. From remains, that is, through remains from the Lord, man is able to be as man, to know what is good and true, to reflect upon matters of every kind, and consequently to think and to reason; for in remains alone is there spiritual and celestial life.

561. But what are remains? They are not only the goods and truths that a man has learned from the Lord's Word from infancy, and has thus impressed on his memory, but they are also all the states thence derived, such as states of innocence from infancy; states of love toward parents, brothers, teachers, friends; states of charity toward the neighbor, and also of pity for the poor and needy; in a word, all states of good and truth. These states together with the goods and truths impressed on the memory, are called remains, which are preserved in man by the Lord and are stored up, entirely without his knowledge, in his internal man, and are completely separated from the things that are proper to man, that is, from evils and falsities. All these states are so preserved in man by the Lord that not the least of them is lost, as I have been given to know from the fact that every state of a man, from his infancy to extreme old age, not only remains in the other life, but also returns, in fact his states return exactly as they were while he lived in this world. Not only do the goods and truths of memory thus remain and return, but also all states of innocence and charity. And when states of evil and falsity recur-for each and all of these, even the smallest, also remain and return-then these states are tempered by the Lord by means of the good states. From all this it is evident that if a man had no remains he must necessarily be in eternal damnation. (n. 468).

562. The people before the flood were such that at last they had almost no remains, because they were of such a genius that they became imbued with direful and abominable persuasions concerning all things that occurred to them or came into their thought, so that they would not go back from them one whit, for they were possessed with the most enormous love of self, and supposed themselves to be as gods, and that whatever they thought was Divine. No such persuasion has ever existed in any people before or since, for it is deadly or suffocative, and therefore in the other life the antediluvians cannot be with any other spirits, for when they are present they take away from them all power of thought by injecting their fearfully determined persuasions, not to mention other matters which of the Lord's Divine mercy shall be spoken of in what follows,

563. When such a persuasion takes possession of a man, it is like a glue which catches in its sticky embrace the goods and truths that otherwise would be remains, the result of which is that remains can no longer be stored up, and those which have been stored up can be of no use; and therefore when these people arrived at the summit of such persuasion they became extinct of their own accord, and were suffocated by an inundation not unlike a flood; and therefore their extinction is compared to a "flood", and also, according to the custom of the most ancient people, is described as one.

564. Verse 1. And it came to pass that man began to multiply himself upon the faces of the ground, and daughters were born unto them. By "man (homo)" is here signified the race of mankind existing at that time. By the "faces of the ground" is signified all that tract where the church was. By "daughters" are here signified the things appertaining to the will of that man, consequently cupidities.

565. That by "man" is here signified the race of mankind existing at that time, and indeed a race which was evil or corrupt, appears from the following passages: "My spirit shall not reprove man forever, for that he is flesh" (verse 3). "The evil of man was multiplied on the earth, and the imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil" (verse 5). "I will destroy man whom I have created" (verse 7); and in the following chapter (Genesis 7:21, 22), "All flesh died that crept upon the earth, and every man, in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of lives". Of man it has already been said that the Lord alone is Man, and that from Him every celestial man, or celestial church, is called "man". Hence all of other churches are called men; and so is every one, no matter of what faith, to distinguish him from the brutes. But still a man is not a man, and distinct from the brutes, except by virtue of remains, which are of the Lord. From these also a man is called man, and inasmuch as he is so called by reason of remains, which belong to the Lord, it is from Him that he has the name of man be he ever so wicked, for a man is by no means man, but the vilest of brutes, unless he has remains.

566. That by the "faces of the ground" is signified all that region where the church was, is evident from the signification of "ground;" for in the Word there is an accurate distinction made between "ground" and "earth;" by "ground" is everywhere signified the church, or something belonging to the church; and from this comes the name of "man", or "Adam", which is "ground;" by "earth" in various places is meant where there is no church, or anything belonging to the church, as in the first chapter, where "earth" only is named, because as yet there was no church, or regenerate man. The "ground" is first spoken of in the second chapter, because then there was a church. In like manner it is said here, and in the following chapter (Genesis 7:4, 23), that "every substance should be destroyed from off the faces of the ground", signifying in the region where the church was; but in (Genesis 7:3), speaking of a church about to be created, it is said, "to keep seed alive on the faces of the ground". "Ground" has the same signification everywhere in the Word; as in Isaiah: -

Jehovah will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and will set them upon their own ground, and the peoples shall take them, and shall bring them to their place, and the house of Israel shall inherit them on the ground of Jehovah (Isaiah 14:1, 2),

speaking of the church that has been made; whereas where there is no church it is in the same chapter called "earth" (Isaiah 14:9, 12, 16, 20, 21, 25, 26).

[2] Again: -

And the ground of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt; in that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking with the lip of Canaan (Isaiah 19:17, 18),

where "ground" signifies the church, and "land" where there is no church. In the same: -

The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard; Jehovah shall visit upon the army of the height in the height, and upon the kings of the ground on the ground (Isaiah 24:20, 21).

In Jeremiah: -

Because of the ground that is worn, because there was no rain on the earth, the husbandmen were ashamed, they covered their heads, yea, the hind also calved in the field (Jeremiah 14:4, 5),

where "earth" is that which contains the "ground", and "ground" that which contains the "field".

[3] In the same: -

He brought the seed of the house of Israel from the northern land, from all the lands whither I have driven them, and they shall dwell on their own ground (Jeremiah 23:8),

where "land" and "lands" are where there are no churches; "ground" where there is a church or true worship. Again: -

I will give the remains of Jerusalem, them that are left in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt, and I will deliver them to commotion, for evil to all the kings of the earth, and I will send the sword, the famine, and pestilence among them, till they be consumed from off the ground which I gave to them and to their fathers (Jeremiah 24:8, 9, 10),

where "ground" signifies doctrine and the worship thence derived; and in like manner in (Jeremiah 25:5).

[4] In Ezekiel: -

I will gather you out of the lands wherein ye have been scattered, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah when I shall bring you again into the ground of Israel, into the land for which I lifted up My hand to give it to your fathers (Ezekiel 20:41, 42),

where "ground" signifies internal worship; it is called "land" when there is no internal worship. In Malachi: -

I will rebuke him that consumeth for your sakes, and he shall not corrupt for you the fruit of the ground, nor shall the vine be bereaved for you in the field; and all nations shall call you blessed, because ye shall be a delightsome land (Malachi 3:11, 12),

where "land" denotes the containant, and therefore it plainly denotes man, who is called "land" when "ground" denotes the church, or doctrine.

[5] In Moses: -

Sing, O ye nations, His people, He will make expiation for His ground, His people (Deut. 32:43),

evidently signifying the Church of the Gentiles, which is called "ground". In Isaiah: -

Before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the ground shall be forsaken, which thou abhorrest in presence of both her kings (Isaiah 7:16),

speaking of the advent of the Lord; that the "ground will be forsaken" denotes the church, or the true doctrine of faith. That "ground" and "field" are so called from being sown with seed, is evident; as in Isaiah: -

Then shall he give rain of thy seed wherewith thou shalt sow the ground; the oxen also and the young asses that labor on the ground (Isaiah 30:23, 24).

And in Joel: -

The field is laid waste, and the ground hath mourned, because the corn is laid waste (Joel 1:10).

Hence then it is evident that "man", who in the Hebrew tongue is called "Adam", from "ground", signifies the church.

567. All that region is called the region of the church where those live who are instructed in the doctrine of true faith; as the land of Canaan, when the Jewish Church was there, and Europe, where the Christian Church now is; the lands and countries outside of this are not the region of the church, or the "faces of the ground". Where the church was before the flood, may also appear from the lands which the rivers encompassed that went forth from the garden of Eden, by which in various parts of the Word are likewise described the boundaries of the land of Canaan; and also from what follows concerning the Nephilim that were "in the land;" and that these Nephilim dwelt in the land of Canaan is evident from what is said of the sons of Anak: that they were "of the Nephilim" (Num. 13:33).

568. That "daughters" signify such things as are of the will of that man, consequently cupidities, is evident from what was said and shown concerning "sons and daughters" in the preceding chapter (Genesis 5:4), where "sons" signify truths, and "daughters", goods. "Daughters", or goods, are of the will, but such as a man is, such is his understanding and such his will, thus such are the "sons and daughters". The present passage treats of man in a corrupt state, who has no will, but mere cupidity instead of will, which is supposed by him to be will, and is also so called. What is predicated is in accordance with the quality of the thing whereof it is predicated, and that the man of whom the daughters are here predicated was a corrupt man, has been shown before. The reason why "daughters" signify the things of the will, and, where there is no will of good, cupidities; and why "sons" signify the things of the understanding, and, where there is no understanding of truth, phantasies, is that the female sex is such, and so formed, that the will or cupidity reigns in them more than the understanding. Such is the entire disposition of their fibers, and such their nature, whereas the male sex is so formed that the intellect or reason rules, such also being the disposition of their fibers and such their nature. Hence the marriage of the two is like that of the will and the understanding in every man; and since at this day there is no will of good, but only cupidity, and still something intellectual, or rational, can be given, this is why so many laws were enacted in the Jewish Church concerning the prerogative of the husband (vir), and the obedience of the wife.

569. Verse 2. And the sons of God saw the daughters of man that they were good, and they took to themselves wives of all that they chose. By the "sons of God" are signified the doctrinal things of faith. By "daughters", here as before, cupidities. By the "sons of God seeing the daughters of man that they were good, and taking to themselves wives of all that they chose", is signified that the doctrinal things of faith conjoined themselves with cupidities, in fact with any cupidities whatever.

570. That by the "sons of God" are signified doctrinal things of faith, is evident from the signification of "sons" (concerning which just above, and also in the preceding chapter, (Genesis 5:4), where "sons" signify the truths of the church). The truths of the church are doctrinal things, which regarded in themselves were truths because those here treated of had them by tradition from the most ancient people, and therefore they are called the "sons of God;" they are so called also relatively, because cupidities are called the "daughters of man". The quality of the members of this church is here described, namely, that they immersed the truths of the church, which were holy, in their cupidities, and thereby defiled them; and in this way they confirmed the principles of which they were so strongly persuaded. How this occurred may be easily conceived by any one, from observing what passes in himself and others: those who persuade themselves in regard to any subject, confirm themselves in such persuasion by everything which they imagine to be true, even by what they find contained in the Word of the Lord; for while they cling to principles which they have received, and have become persuaded of, they make everything favor and assent to them. And the more any one is under the influence of self-love, the more firmly he holds them. Such was this race, concerning whom of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter, when we come to treat of their direful persuasions, which strange to say are such that they are never allowed to flow in by reasonings, but only from cupidities, for otherwise they would kill everything rational in the spirits present. Hence it appears what is signified by the "sons of God seeing the daughters of man that they were good, and taking to themselves wives of all that they chose", namely, that they conjoined the doctrinal things of faith with their cupidities, in fact with any cupidities.

571. When a man is of such a character that he immerses the truths of faith in his insane cupidities, he then profanes the truths, and deprives himself of remains, which although they remain cannot be brought forth, for as soon as they are brought forth they are again profaned by things that are profane; for profanations of the Word produce as it were a callosity, which causes an obstruction, and absorbs the goods and truths of remains. Therefore let man beware of the profanation of the Word of the Lord, which contains the eternal truths wherein is life, although one who is in false principles does not believe that they are truths.

572. Verse 3. And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not reprove man forever, for that he is flesh; and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years. By "Jehovah's saying My spirit shall not always reprove man", is signified that man would not be so led any longer; "for that he is flesh", signifies because he had become corporeal; "and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years", signifies that he ought to have remains of faith. It is also a prediction concerning a future church.

573. That by Jehovah's saying My spirit shall not forever reprove man is signified that man would not be so led any longer, is evident from what has gone before and from what follows; from what has gone before in that men had become such, through the immersion of the doctrinal things or truths of faith in cupidities, that they could no longer be reproved, that is, know what evil is; all capacity to perceive truth and good having been extinguished through their persuasions; so that they believed that only to be true that was in conformity with their persuasions; and in regard to what follows, that after the flood the man of the church became different, in that with him conscience succeeded in place of perception, through which he could be reproved. "Reproof by the spirit of Jehovah" therefore signifies an inward dictate, a perception, or a conscience; and the "spirit of Jehovah" signifies the influx of what is true and good; as also in Isaiah: -

I will not contend to eternity, neither will I be forever wroth, for the spirit would overwhelm before me, and the souls I have made (Isaiah 57:16).

574. That "flesh" signifies that man had become corporeal, appears from the signification of "flesh" in the Word, where it is used to signify both every man in general, and also, specifically, the corporeal man. It is used to signify every man, in Joel: -

I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy (Joel 2:28),

where "flesh" signifies man, and "spirit" the influx of truth and good from the Lord. In David: -

Thou that hearest prayers, unto Thee shall all flesh come (Ps. 65:2),

where "flesh" denotes every man. In Jeremiah: -

Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm (Jeremiah 17:5),

where "flesh" signifies man, and "arm" power. In Ezekiel: -

That all flesh may know (Ezekiel 21:4, 5).

In Zechariah: -

Be silent, all flesh, before Jehovah (Zechariah 2:13),

where "flesh" denotes every man.

[2] That it signifies specifically the corporeal man, is evident from Isaiah: -

The Egyptian is man and not God, and his horses are flesh and not spirit (Isaiah 31:3),

signifying that their memory-knowledge (scientificum) is corporeal; "horses" here and elsewhere in the Word denoting the rational. Again: -

He shall withdraw to the right hand, and shall be hungry; and he shall devour on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every one the flesh of his own arm (Isaiah 9:20),

signifying such things as are man's own, which are all corporeal. In the same: -

He shall consume from the soul, and even the flesh (Isaiah 10:18),

where "flesh" signifies corporeal things. Again: -

The glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; the voice said, Cry; and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass (Isaiah 40:5, 6),

"flesh" here signifies every man who is corporeal.

[3] In the same: -

In fire will Jehovah dispute, and with His sword with all flesh, and the slain of Jehovah shall be multiplied (Isaiah 66:16),

where "fire' signifies the punishment of cupidities; the "sword", the punishment of falsities and "flesh" the corporeal things of man. In David: -

God remembered that they were flesh, a breath that passeth away, and cometh not again (Ps. 78:39),

speaking of the people in the wilderness desiring flesh, because they were corporeal; their desiring flesh represented that they desired only things corporeal (Num. 11:32, 33, 34).

575. That by the days of man being a hundred and twenty years is signified that he ought to have remains of faith, appears from what has been said in (Genesis 5:3, 4), concerning "days" and "years" signifying times and states; and also from the circumstance of the most ancient people from numbers variously compounded signifying states and changes of states in the church; but the nature of their ecclesiastical computation is now totally lost. Here in like manner numbers of years are mentioned, whose signification it is impossible for any one to understand, unless he be first acquainted with the hidden meaning of each particular number from "one" to "twelve", and so on. It plainly appears that they contain within them something else that is secret, for that men were to live a "hundred and twenty years" has no connection with the preceding part of the verse, nor did they live one hundred and twenty years, as is evident from the people after the flood (chapter 11),where it is said of Shem that "he lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years;" and that Arphaxad lived after be begat Selah "four hundred and three years;" and that Selah lived after he begat Eber "four hundred and three years;" and that Eber lived after he begat Peleg "four hundred and thirty years;" and that Noah lived after the flood "three hundred and fifty years" (Genesis 9:28), and so on. But what is involved in the number "one hundred and twenty", appears only from the meaning of "ten" and "twelve", which being multiplied together make one hundred and twenty, and from the signification of these component numbers it may be seen that "one hundred and twenty" signifies the remains of faith. The number "ten" in the Word, as also "tenths", signify and represent remains, which are preserved by the Lord in the internal man, and which are holy, because they are of the Lord alone; and the number "twelve" signifies faith, or all things relating to faith in one complex; the number therefore that is compounded of these, signifies the remains of faith

576. That the number "ten", and also "tenths", signify remains, is evident from the following passages of the Word: -

Many houses shall be a desolation, great and fair, without an inhabitant; for ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah (Isa. 5:9, 10),

speaking of the vastation of things spiritual and celestial: "ten acres of vineyard making a bath", signifies that the remains of things spiritual were so few; and "the seed of a homer yielding an ephah", signifies that there were so few remains of things celestial. In the same: -

And many things are forsaken in the midst of the land, yet in it shall be a tenth part, and it shall return, and nevertheless it shall be consumed (Isaiah 6:12, 13);

where the "midst of the land" signifies the internal man; a "tenth part" signifies the smallness of the remains. In Ezekiel: -

Ye shall have balances of justice, and an ephah of justice, and a bath of justice: the ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, the bath to contain the tenth of a homer, and an ephah the tenth of a homer; the measure thereof shall be after the homer; and the ordinance of oil, a bath of oil, the tenth of a bath out of a kor, ten baths to the homer, for ten baths are a homer (Ezekiel 14:10, 11, 14);

in this passage the holy things of Jehovah are treated of by measures, whereby are signified the kinds of the holy things; by "ten" are here signified the remains of celestial and of the derivative spiritual things; for unless such holy arcana were contained herein, what could be the use or intent of describing so many measures determined by numbers, as is done in this and the former chapters in the same Prophet, where the subject is the heavenly Jerusalem and the New Temple?

[2] In Amos: -

The virgin Israel is fallen, she shall no more rise. Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred remaining, and that which went out a hundred, shall have ten remaining to the house of Israel (Amos 5:2, 3),

where, speaking of remains it is said that very little would be left, being only a "tenth part", or remains of remains. Again:-

I abhor the pride of Jacob and his palaces, and will shut up the city, and its fullness, and it shall come to pass if there shall be left ten men in one house they shall even die (Amos 6:8, 9),

speaking of remains which should scarcely remain. In Moses: -

An Ammonite or Moabite shall not come into the congregation of Jehovah, even the tenth generation of them shall not come into the congregation of Jehovah to eternity (Deut. 23:3);

"an Ammonite and a Moabite", signify the profanation of the celestial and spiritual things of faith, the "remains" of which are spoken of in what precedes.

[3] Hence it appears also that "tenths" represent remains. And so in Malachi: -

Bring ye all the tithes (tenths) into the treasure-house, that there may be booty in My house, and let them prove Me, bestir ye in this, if I will not open for you the cataracts of heaven, and pour you out a blessing (Malachi 3:10);

"that there may be booty in My house", signifies remains in the internal man, which are compared to "booty", because they are insinuated as by stealth among so many evils and falsities; and it is by these remains that all blessing comes. That all man's charity comes by the remains which are in the internal man, was also represented in the Jewish Church by this statute:

that when they had made an end of tithing all the tithes, they should give to the Levite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow (Deut. 26:12).

[4] Inasmuch as remains are of the Lord alone, therefore the tenths are called "holiness to Jehovah"; as in Moses: -

All the tenths of the land, of the seed of the land, of the fruit of the tree, they are Jehovah's, holiness to Jehovah: all the tenths of the herd and of the flock, whatsoever passeth under the (pastoral) rod, the tenth shall be holiness to Jehovah (Lev. 27:30, 31).

That the Decalogue consisted of "ten" precepts, or "ten" words, and that Jehovah wrote them on tables (Deut. 10:4), signifies remains, and their being written by the hand of Jehovah signifies that remains are of the Lord alone; their being in the internal man was represented by the tables.

577. That the number "twelve" signifies faith, or the things of love and the derivative faith in one complex, might also be confirmed by many passages from the Word, as from the "twelve" sons of Jacob and their names, the "twelve" tribes of Israel, and the Lord's "twelve" apostles; but concerning these of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter, especially in Genesis 29 and 30.

578. From these numbers alone it is evident what the Word of the Lord contains in its bosom and interior recesses, and how many arcana are concealed therein which do not at all appear to the naked eye. And so it is everywhere: there are like things in every word.

579. That with the antediluvians here treated of there were few and almost no remains, will be manifest from what, of the Lord's Divine mercy, will be said of them hereafter; and as no remains could be preserved among them, it is here foretold of the new church called "Noah" that it should have remains; concerning which also, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

580. Verse 4. There were Nephilim in the earth in those days; and especially after the sons of God went in unto the daughters of man, and they bare to them, the same became mighty men, who were of old, men of renown. By "Nephilim" are signified those who through a persuasion of their own loftiness and pre-eminence made light of all things holy and true; "and especially after the sons of God went in unto the daughters of man, and they bare to them", signifies that this occurred when they immersed the doctrinals of faith in their cupidities, and formed persuasions of what is false; they are called "mighty men" from their love of self; "of old, men of renown", signifies that there had been such before.

581. That by the "Nephilim" are signified those who through a persuasion of their own loftiness and pre-eminence made light of all things holy and true, appears from what precedes and what follows, namely, that they immersed the doctrinals of faith in their cupidities, signified by the "sons of God going in unto the daughters of man, and their bearing unto them". Persuasion concerning self and its phantasies increases also according to the multitude of things that enter into it, till at length it becomes indelible; and when the doctrinals of faith are added thereto, then from principles of the strongest persuasion they make light of all things holy and true, and become "Nephilim". That race, which lived before the flood, is such that they so kill and suffocate all spirits by their most direful phantasies (which are poured forth by them as a poisonous and suffocating sphere) that the spirits are entirely deprived of the power of thinking, and feel half dead; and unless the Lord by His coming into the world had freed the world of spirits from that poisonous race, no one could have existed there, and consequently the human race, who are ruled by the Lord through spirits, would have perished. They are therefore now kept in a hell under as it were a misty and dense rock, under the heel of the left foot, nor do they make the slightest attempt to rise out of it. Thus is the world of spirits free from this most dangerous crew, concerning which and its most poisonous sphere of persuasions, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. These are they who are called "Nephilim", and who make light of all things holy and true. Further mention is made of them in the Word, but their descendants were called "Anakim" and "Rephaim". That they were called "Anakim" is evident from Moses: -

There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, of the Nephilim, and we were in our own eyes as grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes (Num. 13:33).

That they were called "Rephaim" appears also from Moses: -

The Emim dwelt before in the land of Moab, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim, who also were accounted Rephaim, as the Anakim, and the Moabites call them Emim (Deut. 2:10, 11).

The Nephilim are not mentioned any more, but the Rephaim are, who are described by the prophets to be such as are above stated; as in Isaiah: -

Hell low down has been in commotion for thee, to meet thee in coming, it hath stirred up the Rephaim for thee (Isaiah 14:9),

speaking of the hell which is the abode of such spirits. In the same: -

Thy dead shall not live, the Rephaim shall not arise, because thou hast visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish (Isaiah 26:14),

where also their hell is referred to, from which they shall no more rise again. In the same: -

Thy dead shall live, my corpse, they shall rise again; awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust, for the dew of herbs is thy dew; but thou shalt cast out the land of the Rephaim (Isaiah 26:19);

"the land of the Rephaim" is the hell above spoken of. In David: -

Wilt Thou show a wonder to the dead? Shall the Rephaim arise, shall they confess to Thee? (Ps. 88:10),

speaking in like manner concerning the hell of the Rephaim, and that they cannot rise up and infest the sphere of the world of spirits with the very direful poison of their persuasions. But it has been provided by the Lord that mankind should no longer become imbued with such dreadful phantasies and persuasions. Those who lived before the flood were of such a nature and genius that they could be imbued, for a reason as yet unknown, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

582. After that the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare to them. That this signifies that they became Nephilim when they had immersed the doctrinals of faith in their cupidities, is evident from what was said and shown above in (verse 2), namely, that the "sons of God" signify the doctrinal things of faith, and that "daughters" signify cupidities. The birth thereby produced must needs make light of and profane the holy things of faith, for the cupidities of man, being those of the love of self and of the world, are altogether contrary to what is holy and true. Now in man cupidities prevail, so that when what is holy and true, and is acknowledged to be such, is immersed in cupidities, it is all over with the man, for the cupidities cannot be rooted out and separated; they cling to every idea, and in the other life it is ideas that are communicated from one to another, so that as soon as any idea of what is holy and true is brought forth, what is profane and false is joined to it, which is instantly perceived. Therefore such persons have to be separated and thrust down into hell.

583. That the Nephilim are called "mighty men" from the love of self, is evident from various passages of the Word, where such are called "mighty; " as in Jeremiah: -

The mighty ones of Babel have ceased to fight, they sit in their holds, their might faileth, they are become as women (Jeremiah 51:30),

where the "mighty ones of Babel" denote those who are eaten up with the love of self. In the same: -

A sword is against the liars, and they shall be insane, a sword is against her mighty ones, and they shall be dismayed (Jeremiah 50:36).

Again: -

I saw them dismayed, and turning away back, their mighty ones were broken in pieces, and have been put to flight, and looked not back, fear was round about, the swift shall not flee away, nor the mighty one escape; come up, ye horses, and rage, ye chariots, and let the mighty ones go forth, Cush, Put, the Lydians (Jeremiah 46:5, 6, 9),

speaking of persuasion from reasonings. Again: -

How say ye, We are mighty, and men of strength for war? Moab is laid waste (Jeremiah 48:14, 15).

Again: -

The city is taken, and the strongholds, it has been seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Mob in that day is become as the heart of a woman in her pangs (Jeremiah 48:41).

In like manner it is said: -

The heart of the mighty ones of Edom (Jeremiah 49:22).

Again: -

Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and hath avenged him from the hand of him that was mightier than he (Jeremiah 31:11),

where "mighty" is expressed by another term. That the Anakim, who were of the Nephilim, were called "mighty ones", is evident from Moses: -

Thou passest over Jordan to-day, to go in to possess nations greater and more numerous than thyself, cities great and fortified to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard; who shall stand before the sons of Anak? (Deut. 9:1, 2).

584. Verse 5. And Jehovah saw that the evil of man was multiplied in the earth, and that all the imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil every day. "Jehovah saw that the evil of man was multiplied on the earth", signifies that there began to be no will of good; "all the imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil every day", signifies that there was no perception of truth and good.

585. That by the evil of man being multiplied in the earth is signified that there began to be no will of good, is evident from what was said above, namely, that there was no longer any will, but only cupidity; and from the signification of "man in the earth". In the literal sense the "earth" is where man is. In the internal sense it is where the love is, and as love is of the will, or of the cupidity, the earth is taken to mean the will itself of man. For man is man from willing, and not so much from knowing and understanding, because these flow out from his will; whatever does not flow out from his will he is willing neither to know nor understand; nay, even when he is speaking or doing something that he does not will, still there is something of the will remote from the speech or action that governs him. That the "land of Canaan", or the "holy land", denotes love, and consequently the will of the celestial man, might be confirmed by many passages from the Word; in like manner, that the lands of various nations denote their loves, which in general are the love of self and the love of the world; but as this subject so often recurs, it need not be dwelt upon here. Hence it appears that by "the evil of man on the earth" is signified his natural evil, which is of the will, and which is said to be "multiplied" because it was not so depraved in all but that they wished good for others, yet for the sake of themselves; but that the perversion became complete, is signified by the "imagination of the thoughts of the heart".

586. The imagination of the thoughts of the heart was only evil every day, signifies that there was no perception of truth and good, for the reason, as before said and shown, that they immersed the doctrinal things of faith in their filthy cupidities, and when this occurred all perception was lost, and in place thereof a dreadful persuasion succeeded, that is, a most deep-rooted and deadly phantasy, which was the cause of their extinction and suffocation. This deadly persuasion is here signified by "the imagination of the thoughts of the heart;" but by "the imagination of the heart", without the word "thoughts", is signified the evil of the love of self, or of cupidities, as in the following chapter, where Jehovah said, after Noah had offered a burnt offering: "I will not again curse the ground for man's sake, because the imagination of the heart of man is evil from his childhood" (Gen. 8:21). An "imagination" is that which man invents for himself, and of which he persuades himself; as in Habakkuk: -

What profiteth a graven image, that the fashioner thereof hath graven it? the molten image and teacher of lies, that the fashioner trusteth to his imagination, to make dumb idols (Habakkuk 2:18)

a "graven image" signifies false persuasions originating in principles conceived and hatched out by one's self; the "fashioner" is one who is thus self-persuaded, of whom this "imagination" is predicated. In Isaiah: -

Your overturn: shall the potter be reputed as the clay, that the work should say to him that made it, He made me not; and the thing fashioned say to him that fashioned it, He had no understanding? (Isaiah 29:16);

the "thing fashioned" here signifies thought originating in man's Own, and the persuasion of what is false thence derived. A "thing fashioned" or "imagined", in general, is what a man invents from the heart or will, and also what he invents from the thought or persuasion, as in David: -

Jehovah knoweth our fashioning (figmentum), He remembereth that we are dust (Ps. 103:14).

In Moses: -

I know his imagination that he doeth this day, before I bring him into the land (Deut. 31:21).

586a. Verse 6. And it repented Jehovah that He made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. That He "repented", signifies mercy; that He "grieved at the heart", has a like signification; to "repent" has reference to wisdom; to "grieve at the heart" to love.

587. That it repented Jehovah that He made man on the earth signifies mercy, and that " He grieved at the heart" has a like signification, is evident from this, that Jehovah never repents, because He foresees all things from eternity both in general and in particular; and when He made man, that is, created him anew, and perfected him till he became celestial, He also foresaw that in process of time he would become such as is here described, and because He foresaw this He could not repent. This appears plainly from what Samuel said: -

The invincible one of Israel doth not lie, nor repent, for He is not a man that He should repent (1 Sam. 15:29).

And in Moses: -

God is not a man that He should lie, or the son of man that He should repent; hath He said, and shall He not do? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good? (Num. 23:19).

But to " repent" signifies to be merciful. The mercy of Jehovah, or of the Lord, includes everything that is done by the Lord toward mankind, who are in such a state that the Lord pities them, each one according to his state; thus He pities the state of him whom He permits to be punished, and pities him also to whom He grants the enjoyment of good; it is of mercy to be punished, because mercy turns all the evil of punishment into good; and it is of mercy to grant the enjoyment of good, because no one merits anything that is good; for all mankind are evil, and of himself every one would rush into hell, wherefore it is of mercy that he is delivered thence; nor is it anything but mercy, inasmuch as He has need of no man. Mercy has its name from the fact that it delivers man from miseries and from hell; thus it is called mercy in respect to mankind, because they are in such a state of misery, and it is the effect of love toward them all, because all are so.

588. But it is predicated of the Lord that He "repents", and " is grieved at heart", because there appears to be such a feeling in all human mercy, so that what is said here of the Lord's " repenting" and "grieving", is spoken according to the appearance, as in many other passages in the Word. What the mercy of the Lord is none can know, because it infinitely transcends the understanding of man; but what the mercy of man is we all know to be to repent and grieve;and unless a man were to form his idea of mercy according to his own apprehension, he could not have any conception of it, and thus he could not be instructed; and this is the reason why human properties are often predicated of the attributes of Jehovah or the Lord, as that Jehovah or the Lord punishes, leads into temptation, destroys, and is angry; when yet He never punishes any one, never leads any into temptation, never destroys any, and is never angry. But as even such things as these are predicated of the Lord, it follows that repentance also and grief may be predicated of Him; for the predication of the one follows from that of the other, as plainly appears from the following passages in the Word.

[2] In Ezekiel: -

Mine anger shall be consummated, I will make my wrath to rest, and it shall repent Me (Ezekiel 5:13).

Here, because "anger" and "wrath" are predicated, " repentance" is predicated also. In Zechariah: -

As I thought to do evil when your fathers provoked Me to anger, saith Jehovah Zebaoth, and it repented Me not, so again I will think in those days to do good unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah (Zechariah 8:14, 15).

Here it is said that Jehovah "thought to do evil", and yet He never thinks to do evil to any, but good to all and to every one. In Moses, when he prayed forbearance of the face of Jehovah: -

Turn from the wrath of Thine anger and repent Thee of this evil against Thy people; and Jehovah repented of the evil which He said He would do unto His people (Exod. 32:12, 14).

Here also the "wrath of anger" is attributed to Jehovah, and consequently "repentance". In Jonah, the king of Nineveh said: -

Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn from the heat of His anger, that we perish not? (Jonah 3:9).

In like manner here "repentance" is predicated because "anger" is.

[3] In Hosea: -

My heart is turned within me My repentings are kindled together; I will not execute the wrath of Mine anger (Hosea 11:8, 9);

where likewise it is said of the heart that" repentings were kindled", just as in the passage we are considering it is said that He "grieved at heart" "Repentings" plainly denote great mercy. So in Joel: -

Turn unto Jehovah your God; for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy, and repenteth of the evil (Joel 2:13)

where also to "repent" manifestly denotes mercy. In Jeremiah: -

If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, and it repent Me of the evil (Jeremiah 26:3);

signifying to have mercy. Again: -

If that nation turn from their evil, it shall repent Me of the evil (Jeremiah 18:8);

where also to "repent" denotes to have mercy provided they would turn. For it is man who turns the Lord's mercy away from himself: the Lord never turns it away from man.

589. From these and many other passages it is evident that the Word was spoken according to the appearances with man. Whoever therefore desires to confirm false principles by the appearances according to which the Word was spoken, can do so by passages without number. But it is one thing to confirm false principles by the Word, and another to believe in simplicity what is in the Word. He who confirms false principles, first assumes a principle which he will not at all recede from, nor in the least yield, but scrapes together and accumulates confirmations wherever he can, thus also from the Word, until he so strongly persuades himself that he can no longer see the truth. But he who simply or with simple heart believes, does not first assume principles, but thinks that because the Lord has thus said it is true; and if instructed from other sayings of the Word how it is to be understood, he acquiesces and rejoices in his heart. Even the man who in simplicity believes that the Lord is angry, punishes, repents, and grieves, and so believing is afraid of evil and does good, takes no harm; for this belief causes him to believe also that the Lord sees everything; and being in such a belief he is afterwards enlightened in other matters of faith, if not before, then in the other life. Very different is the case with those who in agreement with a foul love of self or of the world persuade themselves to believe certain things that are deduced from the principles they have already adopted.

590. That "repenting" has reference to wisdom, and "grieving at heart", to love, cannot be explained to human apprehension, save in accordance with the things that are with man, that is, by means of appearances. In every idea of thought in man there is something from the understanding and from the will, or from his thought and his love. Whatever idea does not derive anything from his will or love is not an idea, for otherwise than from his will he cannot think at all. There is a kind of marriage, perpetual and indissoluble, between the thought and the will, so that in the ideas of man's thought there inhere or adhere the things that are of his will or his love. From this state of things in man it may as it were be known, or rather it seems possible to form some idea of what is contained in the Lord's mercy, namely, wisdom and love. Thus in the Prophets, especially in Isaiah, there are almost everywhere double expressions concerning everything; one involving what is spiritual, the other what is celestial. The spiritual of the Lord's mercy is wisdom; the celestial is love.

591. Verse 7. And Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I have created from upon the faces of the ground; both man and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the heavens; for it repenteth Me that I have made them. "Jehovah said, I will destroy man", signifies that man would extinguish himself; "whom I have created, from upon the faces of the ground", signifies the man of the posterity of the Most Ancient Church; "both man and beast and creeping thing", signifies that whatsoever is of the will would extinguish him; "and fowl of the heavens", is whatever is of the understanding or thought; "for it repenteth Me that I have made them", signifies as before, compassion.

592. Jehovah said, I will destroy man. That this signifies that man would extinguish himself, is evident from what has been explained before, namely, that it is predicated of Jehovah or the Lord that He punishes, that He tempts, that He does evil, that He destroys or kills, and that He curses. As for example, that He slew Er, Judah's firstborn; and Onan, another son of Judah (Gen 38:7, 10); that Jehovah smote all the firstborn of Egypt (Exodus 12:12, 29). And so in Jeremiah: -

Whom I have slain in Mine anger and in My wrath (Jeremiah 33:5).

In David: -

He cast upon them the wrath of His anger; vehement anger, and fury and straitness, a sending of evil angels (Ps. 78:49).

In Amos: -

Shall evil befall a city, and Jehovah hath not done it? (Amos 3:6).

In John: -

Seven golden vials full of the wrath of God who liveth forever and ever (Rev. 15:1, 7; 16:1).

All these things are predicated of Jehovah, although entirely contrary to His nature. They are predicated of Him for the reason explained before; and also in order that men may first form the very general idea that the Lord governs and disposes all things both in general and in particular; and may afterwards learn that nothing of evil is from the Lord, much less does He kill; but that it is man who brings evil upon himself, and ruins and destroys himself although it is not man, but evil spirits who excite and lead him; and yet it is man, because he believes that he is himself the doer. So now here it is said of Jehovah that He would "destroy man", when in fact it was man who would destroy and extinguish himself.

[2] The state of the case may be very evident from those in the other life who are in torment and in hell, and who are continually lamenting and attributing all the evil of punishment to the Lord. So in the world of evil spirits there are those who make it their delight, even their greatest delight, to hurt and punish others; and those who are hurt and punished think it is from the Lord. But they are told, and it is shown them, that not the least of evil is from the Lord, but they bring it upon themselves; for such is the state and such the equilibrium of all things in the other life that evil returns upon him who does evil, and he comes the evil of punishment; and for the same reason it is inevitable. This is said to be permitted for the sake of the amendment of the evil. But still the Lord turns all the evil of punishment into good; so that there is never anything but good from the Lord. But hitherto no one has known what permission is; what is permitted is believed to be done by Him who permits, because He permits. But the fact is quite otherwise, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

593. Whom I have created, from upon the faces of the ground. That this signifies the man from the posterity of the Most Ancient Church, is evident not only from its being said, the man whom He had "created", that is, whom He had regenerated; and afterwards whom He had "made", that is, had perfected, or regenerated until he became celestial; but also from its being said "from upon the faces of the ground". The "ground" is where the church is, as has been shown before. The same is evident from the fact that those are treated of who immersed the doctrinal things of faith in their cupidities; and those who had not doctrinal things of faith could not do so. They who are outside the church are in ignorance of truth and good, and those who are in ignorance may be in a kind of innocence while speaking and acting somewhat contrary to the truths and goods of faith; for they may act from a certain zeal for the worship with which they have been imbued from infancy, and which they therefore believe to be true and good. But the case is entirely different with those who have the doctrine of faith among them. These can mingle truths with falsities, and holy things with profane. Hence their lot in the other life is much worse than the lot of those who are called Gentiles, concerning whom, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

594. Both man and beast, and creeping thing. That this signifies that whatsoever is of the will would extinguish him, is evident from the signification of "man", of "beast", and of "creeping" thing". Man is man solely from the will and understanding, by which he is distinguished from brutes; in all other respects he is very similar to them. In the case of these men all will of good and understanding of truth had perished. In place of a will of good there followed insane cupidities; in place of an understanding of truth insane phantasies; and these were commingled with their cupidities, so that after they had thus as it were destroyed remains, they could not but be extinguished. That all things of the will are called "beasts" and creeping things", is evident from what has been said before concerning beasts and creeping things. But here, because of the character of the man treated of, good affections are not signified by "beasts", but evil, consequently cupidities and by "creeping things", pleasures, both bodily and sensuous. That such things are signified by "beasts" and "creeping things" needs no further confirmation from the Word, because they have been treated of before (n. 45, 46, 142, 143).

595. That the fowl of the heavens signifies whatever is of the understanding, that is, of thought, may also be seen above (n. 40).

596. Verse 8. And Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah. By "Noah" is signified a new church. That he "found grace in the eyes of Jehovah", signifies that the Lord foresaw that the human race might thus be saved.

597. By "Noah" is signified a new church, which is to be called the Ancient Church, for the sake of distinction between the Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood, and that which was after the flood. The states of these two churches were entirely different. The state of the Most Ancient Church was such that they had from the Lord a perception of good and the derivative truth. The state of the Ancient Church, or "Noah", became such that they had a conscience of good and truth. Such as is the difference between having perception and having conscience, such was the difference of state of the Most Ancient and the Ancient Churches. Perception is not conscience: the celestial have perception; the spiritual have conscience. The Most Ancient Church was celestial, the Ancient was spiritual.

[2] The Most Ancient Church had immediate revelation from the Lord by consort with spirits and angels, as also by visions and dreams; whereby it was given them to have a general knowledge of what was good and true; and after they had acquired a general knowledge, these general leading principles, as we may call them, were confirmed by things innumerable, by means of perceptions; and these innumerable things were the particulars or individual things of the general principles to which they related. Thus were the general leading principles corroborated day by day; whatever was not in agreement with the general principles they perceived not to be so; and whatever was in agreement with them they perceived to be so. Such also is the state of the celestial angels.

[3] The general principles of the Most Ancient Church were heavenly and eternal truths,-as that the Lord governs the universe, that all good and truth is from the Lord, that all life is from the Lord, that man's Own is nothing but evil, and in itself is dead; with many others of similar character. And they received from the Lord a perception of countless things that confirmed and supported these truths. With them love was the principal of faith. By love it was given them of the Lord to perceive whatever was of faith, and hence with them faith was love, as was said before. But the Ancient Church became entirely different, concerning which of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

598. He found grace in the eyes of Jehovah, signifies that the Lord foresaw that the human race might thus be saved. The Lord's mercy involves and looks to the salvation of the whole human race; and it is the same with His "grace", and therefore the salvation of the human race is signified. By "Noah" is signified not only a new church, but also the faith of that church, which was the faith of charity. Thus the Lord foresaw that through the faith of charity the human race might be saved (concerning which faith hereafter).

[2] But there is a distinction in the Word between "mercy" and "grace", and this in accordance with the difference that exists in those who receive them; "mercy" being applied to those who are celestial, and "grace" to those who are spiritual; for the celestial acknowledge nothing but mercy, and the spiritual scarcely anything but grace. The celestial do not know what grace is; the spiritual scarcely know what mercy is, which they make one and the same with grace. This comes from the ground of the humiliation of the two being so different; they who are in humiliation of heart implore the Lord's mercy; but they who are in humiliation of thought beseech His grace; and if these implore mercy, it is either in a state of temptation, or is done with the mouth only and not from the heart. Because the new church called "Noah" was not celestial but spiritual, it is not said to have found "mercy", but "grace", in the eyes of Jehovah.

[3] That there is a distinction in the Word between "mercy', and "grace", is evident from many passages where Jehovah is called "merciful and gracious" (Ps. 103:8; 111:4; 145:8; Joel 2:13). The distinction is likewise made in other places, as in Jeremiah: -

Thus saith Jehovah, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness, when I went to give rest to him, to Israel. Jehovah appeared unto me from afar; and I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore in mercy have I drawn thee (Jeremiah 31:2, 3),

where "grace" is predicated of the spiritual, and "mercy" of the celestial. In Isaiah: -

Therefore will Jehovah wait that He may give grace unto you, and therefore will He exalt Himself that He may have mercy upon you (Isaiah30:18).

Here likewise "grace" regards the spiritual, and "mercy" the celestial. So in the chapter presently following, where Lot says to the angel: -

Behold I pray thy servant hath found grace in thine eyes, and thou hast made great thy mercy which thou hast wrought with me, to make alive my soul (Gen. 19:19).

That "grace" relates to spiritual things, which are of faith, or of the understanding, is evident here also in that it is said, he "hath found grace in thine eyes;" and that "mercy" relates to celestial things which are of love, or of the will, is evident from the fact that the angel is said to have "wrought mercy", and to have "made alive the soul".

 

GENESIS 6:9-22

9. These are the births of Noah; Noah was a man righteous and perfect in his generations: Noah walked with God.

10. And Noah begat three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11. And the earth was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence.

12. And God saw the earth, and behold it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.

13. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence from their faces, and behold I will destroy them with the earth.

14. Make thee an ark of gopher woods; mansions shalt thou make the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

15. And thus shalt thou make it: three hundred cubits the length of the ark, fifty cubits its breadth, and thirty cubits its height.

16. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and to a cubit shalt thou finish it from above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lowest, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

17. And I, behold I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of lives from under the heavens; everything that is in the earth shall expire.

18. And I will set up My covenant with thee; and thou shalt enter into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

19. And of every living thing of all flesh, pairs of all shalt thou make to enter into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

20. Of the fowl after its kind, and of the beast after its kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, pairs of all shall enter unto thee, to keep them alive.

21. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee, and it shall be for food for thee and for them.

22. And Noah did according to all that God commanded him; so did he.

 

THE CONTENTS

599. The subject here treated of is the state of the church called "Noah", before its regeneration.

600. The man of that church is described, that he was such that he could be regenerated (verse 9); but that there arose thence three kinds of doctrine, which are "Shem, Ham, and Japheth" (verse 10).

601. That the man who was left from the Most Ancient Church could not be regenerated, on account of his direful persuasions and foul cupidities (verses 11, 12); whereby he would utterly destroy himself (verse 13).

602. But the man of the church called "Noah", who is described by the "ark", was not so (verse 14); and the remains with him are described by the measures (verse 15); the things of his understanding, by the "window", "door", and "mansions" (verse 16).

603. That he would be preserved when the rest would perish by an inundation of evil and falsity (verse 17).

604. And that the truths and goods which were with him would be saved (verse 18); and thus whatever was of the understanding and whatever was of the will, by regeneration (verses 19, 20); for receiving which he was to be prepared (verse 21); and that it was so done (verse 22).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

605. The subject now treated of is the formation of a new church, which is called "Noah;" and its formation is described by the ark into which living things of every kind were received. But as is wont to be the case, before that new church could arise it was necessary that the man of the church should suffer many temptations, which are described by the lifting up of the ark, its fluctuation, and its delay upon the waters of the flood. And finally, that he became a true spiritual man and was set free, is described by the cessation of the waters, and the many things that follow. No one can see this who adheres to the sense of the letter only, in consequence (and especially is this the case here) of all things being historically connected, and presenting the idea of a history of events. But such was the style of the men of that time, and most pleasing to them it was that all things should be wrapped up in representative figures, and that these should be arranged in the form of history; and the more coherent the historical series, the better suited it was to their genius. For in those ancient times men were not so much inclined to memory-knowledges (scientiis) as at this day, but to profound thoughts, of which the offspring was such as has been described. This was the wisdom of the ancients.

606. That the "flood", the "ark", and therefore the things described in connection with them, signify regeneration, and also the temptations that precede regeneration, is in some degree known among the learned at this day, who also compare regeneration and temptations to the waters of a flood.

607. But the character of this church will be described hereafter. That an idea of it may be presented here, it shall be briefly said that the Most Ancient Church was celestial, as already shown, but this church became spiritual. The Most Ancient Church had a perception of good and truth; this, or the Ancient Church, had not perception, but in its place another kind of dictate, which may be called conscience.

[2] But what is as yet unknown in the world, and is perhaps difficult to believe, is that the men of the Most Ancient Church had internal respiration, and only tacit external respiration. Thus they spoke not so much by words, as afterwards and as at this day, but by ideas, as angels do; and these they could express by innumerable changes of the looks and face, especially of the lips. In the lips there are countless series of muscular fibres which at this day are not set free, but being free with the men of that time, they could so present, signify, and represent ideas by them as to express in a minute's time what at this day it would require an hour to say by articulate sounds and words, and they could do this more fully and clearly to the apprehension and understanding of those present than is possible by words, or series of words in combination. This may perhaps seem incredible, but yet it is true. And there are many others, not of this earth, who have spoken and at this day speak in a similar manner; concerning whom, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

[3] It has been given me to know the nature of that internal respiration, and how in process of time it was changed. As these most ancient people had a respiration such as the angels have, who breathe in a similar manner, they were in profound ideas of thought, and were able to have such perception as cannot be described; and even if it could be described such as it really was, it would not be believed, because it would not be comprehended. But in their posterity this internal respiration little by little came to an end; and with those who were possessed with dreadful persuasions and phantasies, it became such that they could no longer present any idea of thought except the most debased, the effect of which was that they could not survive, and therefore all became extinct.

608. When internal respiration ceased, external respiration gradually succeeded, almost like that of the present day; and with external respiration a language of words, or of articulate sound into which the ideas of thought were determined. Thus the state of man was entirely changed, and became such that he could no longer have similar perception, but instead of perception another kind of dictate which may be called conscience, for it was like conscience, though a kind of intermediate between perception and the conscience known to some at this day. And when such determination of the ideas of thought took place, that is to say, into spoken words, they could no longer be instructed, like the most ancient man, through the internal man, but through the external. And therefore in place of the revelations of the Most Ancient Church, doctrinal things succeeded, which could first be received by the external senses, and from them material ideas of the memory could be formed, and from these, ideas of thought, by which and according to which they were instructed. Hence it was that this church which followed possessed an entirely different genius from that of the Most Ancient Church, and if the Lord had not brought the human race into this genius, or into this state, no man could have been saved.

609. As the state of the man of this church which is called "Noah" was altogether changed from that of the man of the Most Ancient Church, he could no longer - as said before - be informed and enlightened in the same way as the most ancient man; for his internals were closed, so that he no longer had communication with heaven, except such as was unconscious. Nor, for the same reason, could he be instructed except as before said by the external way of sense or of the senses. On this account, of the Lord's providence, doctrinal matters of faith, with some of the revelations to the Most Ancient Church, were preserved for the use of this posterity. These doctrinal things were first collected by "Cain", and were stored up that they might not be lost; and therefore it is said of Cain that a "mark was set upon him, lest any one should slay him" (concerning which see what was said at that place, (Genesis 4:15). These doctrinal matters were afterwards reduced into doctrine by "Enoch;" but because this doctrine was of use to no one at that time, but was for posterity, it is said that "God took him". (Genesis 5:24). These doctrinal matters of faith are what were preserved by the Lord for the use of this posterity or church; for it was foreseen by the Lord that perception would be lost, and therefore it was provided that these doctrinal things should remain.

610. Verse 9. These are the births of Noah; Noah was a man righteous and perfect in his generations: Noah walked with God. By "the births of Noah", is signified a description of the reformation or regeneration of the new church. That "Noah was a man just and perfect in his generations", signifies that he was such that he could be endowed with charity; "just" (or "righteous") has relation to the good of charity, and "perfect" to the truth of charity. The "generations" are those of faith. To "walk with God" signifies here as before, when said of Enoch, the doctrine of faith.

611. That by "the births of Noah" is signified a description of the reformation or regeneration of the new church, is evident from what has been said before (Genesis 2:4; 5:1).

612. Noah was a man righteous and perfect in his generations. That this signifies that he was such that he could be endowed with charity, is evident from the signification of "just and perfect", "just" (or "righteous") having regard to the good of charity, and "perfect" to the truth of charity; and also from the essential of that church being charity, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. That "just" (or "righteous") has regard to the good of charity, and "perfect" to the truth of charity, is evident from the Word, as in Isaiah: -

They will seek Me daily and desire knowledge of My ways, as a nation that doeth righteousness, and forsaketh not the judgment of their God; they will ask of Me the judgments of righteousness, and will long for the approach of God (Isaiah 58:2).

Here "judgment" denotes the things which are of truth, and "righteousness" those which are of good. "Doing judgment and righteousness" became as it were an established formula for doing what is true and good (Isa. 56:1; Jer. 22:3, 13, 15; 23:5; 33:14, 16, 19). The Lord said: -

The righteous shall shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of My Father (Matt. 13:43),

"the righteous" meaning those who are endowed with charity; and concerning the consummation of the age He said: -

The angels shall go forth and shall sever the wicked from among the righteous (Matthew 13:49).

Here also the "righteous" denote those who are in the good of charity.

[2] But "perfect" signifies the truth which is from charity, for there is truth from many another origin; but that which is from the good of charity from the Lord is called "perfect" and a "perfect man", as in David: -

Who shall sojourn in Thy tent, who shall dwell in the mountain of Thy holiness? He that walketh perfect, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart (Ps. 15:1, 2).

The "perfect" (or "complete") man is here described. Again: -

With the holy Thou wilt show Thyself holy; with the perfect man Thou wilt show Thyself perfect (Ps. 18:25),

where the "perfect man" is one who is so from holiness, or the good of charity. And again: -

Jehovah will withhold no good from them that walk in perfectness (integritate) (Ps. 84:11).

[3] That a "perfect man" is one who is true from good, or who speaks and does truth from charity, is evident from the words "walk" and "way" being often applied to what is perfect, that is, to wholeness or entirety, and also the words "upright" or "uprightness", which words pertain to truth. As in David: -

I will teach the perfect in the way how far he shall come unto me. I will walk within my house in the perfectness of my heart (Ps. 101:2);

and in the sixth verse: -

He that walketh in the way of the perfect, he shall minister unto me (Ps. 101:6).

Again: -

Blessed are the perfect in the way, who walk in the law of Jehovah (Ps. 119:1).

And again: -

Perfectness and uprightness shall guard me (Ps. 25:21).

And in another place: -

Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace (Ps. 37:37).

It is evident from these passages that he is called "righteous" who does what is good, and that he is called "perfect" who does what is true therefrom, which also is to "do righteousness and judgment". "Holiness" and "righteousness" are the celestial of faith; "perfectness" and "judgment" are the spiritual thence derived.

613. That the "generations" are those of faith, does not appear from the sense of the letter, which is historical; but as internal things only are here treated of, generations of faith are signified. It is also evident from the connection that the generations here are no others. It is the same in other passages of the Word, as in Isaiah: -

They that shall be of thee shall build the waste places of old; thou shalt raise up the foundations of generation and generation; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in (Isaiah 58:12).

All these things signify what is of faith; the "waste places of old" signify celestial things of faith; the "foundations of generation and generation", spiritual things of faith, which had lapsed from the ancient times that are likewise signified. Again: -

They shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, they shall renew the waste cities, the desolations of generation and generation (Isaiah 61:4);

with similar signification. And again: -

They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them (Isaiah 65:23).

Here also "bringing forth (generare)" is predicated of the things of faith; "laboring", of those of love. Of the latter it is said that they are "the seed of the blessed of Jehovah;" of the former, that they are "offspring".

614. That "to walk with God" signifies the doctrine of faith, may be seen from what was said before respecting Enoch (Genesis 5:22, 24), of whom also it is said that he "walked with God;" and there it signifies the doctrine of faith preserved for the use of posterity. And as this is the posterity for whose use it was preserved, the subject is now here taken up again.

615. The quality of the man of this church is here described in general; not that he was such as yet - for his formation is treated of in what follows - but that such he might become: that is to say, that by knowledges of faith he could be endowed with charity, and so act from charity, and from the good of charity know what is true. For this reason the good of charity or "righteous" precedes, and the truth of charity or "perfect" follows. Charity, as before said, is love toward the neighbor and mercy; and it is a lower degree of the love of the Most Ancient Church, which was love to the Lord. Thus love now descended and became more external, and is to be called charity.

616. Verse 10. And Noah begat three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. "Noah begat three sons", signifies that three kinds of doctrine thence arose, which are meant by "Shem, Ham, and Japheth".

617. Noah begat three sons. That this signifies that three kinds of doctrine thence arose, is evident from all that has been shown before about names signifying nothing else than churches, or, what is the same, doctrines. So it is here; but here they are merely mentioned for the sake of the series or connection with the things that precede, which are, that it was foreseen by the Lord that the man of this genius could be endowed with charity; but yet that three kinds of doctrines would thence have birth, which doctrines, of the Lord's Divine mercy, shall be described hereafter, where Shem, Ham, and Japheth are treated of.

618. That "Noah was righteous and perfect", that he "walked with God", and in this verse that he "begat three sons", is all said in the past tense, and yet these expressions look to the future. It should be known that the internal sense is such that it has no relation to times; and this the original language favors, where sometimes one and the same word is applicable to any time whatever, without using different words, for by this means interior things appear more evidently. The language derives this from the internal sense, which is more manifold than any one could believe; and therefore it does not suffer itself to be limited by times and distinctions.

619. Verse 11. And the earth was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence. By the "earth" is signified the race mentioned before. It is said to be "corrupt" on account of their dreadful persuasions; and to be "filled with violence", on account of their foul cupidities. Here and in the following verses of this chapter it is said "God", because there was now no church.

620. That by the "earth" is signified the race which has been treated of before, is evident from what has already been told respecting the signification of "earth" and of "ground". The "earth" is a term very often used in the Word; and by it is signified the "land" where the true church of the Lord is, as the "land" of Canaan; also a "land" where there is not a church, as the "land" of Egypt, and of the Gentiles. Thus it denotes the race that dwells there; and as it denotes the race, it denotes likewise every one of the race who is there. The church is called the "land" from celestial love, as the "land of Canaan;" and the "land of the Gentiles" from impure loves. But it is called "ground" from faith which is implanted; for, as has been said, the land or country is the containant of the ground, and the ground is the containant of the field, just as love is the containant of faith, and faith is the containant of the knowledges of faith which are implanted. Here the "earth" is taken for a race in which everything of celestial love and of the church had perished. What is predicated is known from the subject.

621. That the earth is said to be "corrupt" on account of their dreadful persuasions, and "filled with violence" because of their foul cupidities, is evident from the signification of the verb to "corrupt" and of the word "violence". In the Word one term is never taken for another, but uniformly that word is employed which fitly expresses the thing of which it is predicated; and this so exactly that from the words alone which are used, what is in the internal sense at once appears, as here from the words "corrupt" and "violence". "Corrupt" is predicated of the things of the understanding when it is desolated; "violence", of the things of the will, when vastated. Thus "to corrupt" is predicated of persuasions; and "violence", of cupidities.

622. That "to corrupt" is predicated of persuasions, is evident in Isaiah: -

They shall not hurt, nor corrupt, in all the mountain of My holiness; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah (Isaiah 11:9);

and so in (Isaiah 65:25), where "to hurt" has relation to the will, or to cupidities, and "to corrupt" to the understanding, or to persuasions of falsity. Again: - Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, sons that are corrupters (Isaiah1:4). Here, as in other places, "nation" and the "seed of evildoers" denote evils which are of the will, or of cupidities; "people", and "sons that are corrupters", falsities which are of the understanding, or of persuasions. In Ezekiel: -

Thou wast more corrupt than they in all thy ways (Ezekiel 16:47).

Here "corrupt" is predicated of things of the understanding, of the reason, or of the thought; for "way" is a word that signifies truth. In David: -

They have done what is corrupt, and have done abominable work (Ps. 14:1).

Here "what is corrupt" denotes dreadful persuasions, and "abominable" the foul cupidities which are in the work, or from which the work is done. In Daniel: -

After sixty and two weeks shall the Messiah be cut off, and there shall be none belonging to Him; and the people of the leader that shall come shall corrupt the city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with a flood (Daniel 9:26).

Here likewise "to corrupt" denotes persuasions of what is false, of which a "flood" is predicated.

623. The earth was filled with violence. That this is said on account of their foul cupidities, and most of all on account of those which come of the love of self, or of inordinate arrogance, is evident from the Word. It is called "violence" when men do violence to holy things by profaning them, as did these antediluvians who immersed the doctrinal things of faith in all kinds of cupidities. As in Ezekiel: -

My faces will I turn from them, and they shall profane My secret (place), and robbers shall enter into it and profane it. Make the chain; for the land is full of the judgment of bloods, and the city is full of violence (Ezekiel 7:22, 23).

The "violent" are here described as to who they are, and that they are such as we have stated. Again: -

They shall eat their bread in solicitude, and drink their waters in desolation, that her land may be devastated from its fullness, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein (Ezekiel 12:19).

The "bread which they shall eat in solicitude", is the celestial things, and the " waters which they shall drink in desolation" are the spiritual things, to which they have done violence, or which they have profaned.

[2] In Isaiah: -

Their webs shall not be for garments; neither shall they be covered in their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the deed of violence in their hands (Isaiah 59:6).

Here " webs" and "garments" are predicated of things of the understanding, that is, of the thought; " iniquity" and "violence", of things of the will, that is, of works. In Jonah: -

Let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands (Jonah 3:8),

where the "evil way" is predicated of falsities, which are of the understanding; and "violence", of evils, which are of the will. In Jeremiah: -

A rumor shall come in one year, and violence in the land (Jeremiah 51:46).

"A rumor" denotes things which are of the understanding, "violence", those which are of the will. In Isaiah: -

He hath done no violence, neither was there any deceit in His mouth (Isaiah 53:9)

. Here also "violence" denotes the things of the will; "deceit in His mouth", those of the understanding.

624. That a state not of the church is here treated of, is evident from the fact that here and in the following verses of this chapter the name "God" is used, but in preceding verses "Jehovah". When there is not a church "God" is the term used, and when there is a church "Jehovah;" as in the first chapter of Genesis, when there was no church, it is said "God;" but in the second chapter, when there was a church, it is said "Jehovah God". The name "Jehovah" is most holy, and belongs only to the church; but the name "God" is not so holy, for there was no nation that had not gods, and therefore the name God was not so holy. No one was permitted to speak the name "Jehovah" unless be had knowledge (cognitio) of the true faith; but any one might speak the name "God".

625. Verse 12. And God saw the earth, and behold it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. "God saw the earth", signifies that God knew man; "it was corrupt", signifies that there was nothing but falsity; "for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth", signifies that the corporeal nature of man had destroyed all the understanding of truth.

626. God saw the earth. That this signifies that God knew man, is evident to every one; for God who knows all things and everything from eternity, has no need to see whether man is such. To "see" is human, and therefore - as has been said at the sixth verse and elsewhere - the Word is spoken in accordance with the appearance of things to man; and this to such a degree that God is even said to "see with eyes".

627. For all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. That this signifies that man's corporeal nature had destroyed all the understanding of truth, is evident from the signification of "flesh" concerning which at (verse 3), which in general means every man, and in particular the corporeal man, or all that is of the body; and from the signification of a "way" as being the understanding of truth, that is, truth itself. That a "way" is predicated of the understanding of truth, that is, of truth, is evident from passages which have been adduced in different places before, and also from the following. In Moses: -

Jehovah said, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people have corrupted themselves; they have suddenly turned back out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image (Deut. 9:12, 16),

meaning that they had turned away from the commandments, which are truths.

[2] In Jeremiah: -

Whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of man, to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his works (Jeremiah 32:19).

The "ways" here are a life according to the commandments; the "fruit of his works", is a life from charity. Thus a "way" is predicated of truths, which are those of the precepts and commandments. And the meaning of "son of man" (homo) and of "man" (vir) is as has been shown above. So in (Jeremiah 7:3; 17:10). In Hosea: -

I will visit upon him his ways, and render to him his works (Hosea 4:9).

In Zechariah: -

Return ye from your evil ways, and from your evil works. Like as Jehovah Zebaoth thought to do unto us according to our ways, and according to our works (Zechariah 1:4, 6).

Here the sense is similar, but the opposite of the former, because they are evil "ways" and evil "works". In Jeremiah: -

I will give them one heart, and one way (Jeremiah 32:39).

"Heart" denotes goods, and "way" truths. In David: -

Make me to understand the way of Thy commandments; remove from me the way of falsehood; and grant me Thy law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth. I will run the way of Thy commandments (Ps. 119:27, 29, 30, 32).

Here the "way of the commandments" is called the "way of truth"- opposite to which is the "way of falsehood".

[3] Again: -

Make known to me Thy ways, O Jehovah, teach me Thy paths. Lead my way in Thy truth, and teach me (Ps. 25:4, 5).

Here likewise a "way" manifestly denotes truth. In Isaiah: -

With whom did Jehovah take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge (scientia), and made Him to know the way of understanding (Isaiah40:14),

manifestly for the understanding of truth. In Jeremiah: -

Thus hath said Jehovah, Stand ye upon the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and go therein (Jeremiah 6:16).

Here likewise "way" is put for the understanding of truth. In Isaiah: -

I will lead the blind in a way that they knew not, in paths that they have not known I will lead them (Isaiah 42:16).

The terms "way", "path (semita)", "path (trames)", "street (platea)", and "street (vicus)", are predicated of truth, because they lead to truth; as also in Jeremiah: -

They have caused them to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in by-paths, in a way not cast up (Jeremiah 18:15).

So in the book of Judges: -

In the days of Jael the paths ceased, and they that walked in paths went through crooked paths. The streets ceased in Israel (Judges 5:6).

628. The internal sense here is that every man whatsoever, in the land where the church was, "had corrupted his way", so that he did not understand truth. For every man had become corporeal, not only those referred to in the preceding verse, but also those called "Noah", who are specifically treated of here and in the following verse, for such they were before they were regenerated. These things are said first, because in the following verses their regeneration is treated of. And because but little of the church remained, "God" is now named, not "Jehovah". In this verse is signified that there was nothing true, and in the following verse, that there was nothing good, except in the remains which they had who are called "Noah" (for without remains there is no regeneration), and also in the doctrinal matters that they knew. But there was no understanding of truth, as there never can be except where there is a will of good. Where the will is not, there is no understanding; and as the will is, such is the understanding. The most ancient people had a will of good, because they had love to the Lord; and from this they had an understanding of truth, but this understanding wholly perished with the will. A kind of rational truth however, as well as natural good, remained with those who are called "Noah", and therefore they could be regenerated.

629. Verse 13. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence from their faces, and behold I destroy them with the earth. "God said", signifies that it was so; "the end of all flesh is come before Me", signifies that the human race could not but perish; "for the earth is filled with violence", signifies that they no longer had a will of good; "behold I destroy them with the earth", signifies that the human race would perish with the church.

630. That "God said" signifies that it was so, is evident from the fact that in Jehovah there is nothing but Being (Esse).

631. That the end of all flesh is come before Me signifies that the human race could not but perish, is evident from the words themselves, and from the signification of "flesh", which means every man in general, and specifically the corporeal man, as already shown.

632. That the earth is filled with violence signifies that they no longer had a will of good, is evident from what has been said and shown before concerning the signification of "violence" (verse 11). In the preceding verse the understanding of truth was spoken of, and here the will of good, because both had perished with the man of the church.

633. The case is this: With no man is there any understanding of truth and will of good, not even with those who were of the Most Ancient Church. But when men become celestial it appears as if they had a will of good and understanding of truth, and yet this is of the Lord alone, as they also know, acknowledge, and perceive. So is it with the angels also. So true is this that whoever does not know, acknowledge, and perceive that it is so, has no understanding of truth or will of good whatever. With every man, and with every angel, even the most celestial, that which is his own is nothing but falsity and evil; for it is known that the heavens are not clean before the Lord (Job 15:15), and that all good and all truth are of the Lord alone. But so far as a man or an angel is capable of being perfected, so far of the Lord's Divine mercy he is perfected, and receives as it were an understanding of truth and a will of good; but his having these is only an appearance. Every man can be perfected - and consequently receive this gift of the Lord's mercy - in accordance with the actual doings of his life, and in a manner suited to the hereditary evil implanted by his parents.

634. But it is extremely difficult to say, in a manner to be apprehended, what is the understanding of truth and the will of good in the proper sense, for the reason that a man supposes everything he thinks to be of the understanding, since he calls it so; and everything that he desires he supposes to be of the will, since he calls it so. And it is the more difficult to explain this so as to be apprehended, because most men at this day are also ignorant of the fact that what is of the understanding is distinct from what is of the will, for when they think anything they say they will it, and when they will a thing they say they think it. This is one cause of the difficulty, and another reason why this subject can with difficulty be comprehended is that men are solely in what is of the body, that is, their life is in the most external things.

[2] And for these reasons they do not know that there is in every man something that is interior, and something still interior to that, and indeed an inmost; and that his corporeal and sensuous part is only the outermost. Desires, and things of the memory, are interior; affections and rational things are interior still to these; and the will of good and understanding of truth are inmost. And these are so distinct from each other that nothing can ever be more distinct. The corporeal man makes all these into a one, and confounds them. This is why he believes that when his body dies all things are to die; though in fact he then first begins to live, and this by his interiors following one another closely in their order. If his interiors were not thus distinct, and did not thus succeed each other, men could never be in the other life spirits, angelic spirits, and angels, who are thus distinguished according to their interiors. For this reason there are three heavens, most distinct from each other. From these considerations it may now in some measure be evident what, in the proper sense, are the understanding of truth and the will of good; and that they can be predicated only of the celestial man, or of the angels of the third heaven.

635. What is said in the preceding verse and in this signifies that in the end of the days of the antediluvian church all understanding of truth and will of good had perished, so that among the antediluvians who were imbued with dreadful persuasions and filthy cupidities not even a vestige appeared. But with those who are called "Noah" there continued to be remains, which however could not bring forth anything of understanding and will, but only rational truth and natural good. For the operation of remains is according to the nature of the man. Through remains these people could be regenerated; and persuasions did not obstruct and absorb the Lord's operation through remains. Persuasions, or principles of falsity, when rooted in impede all operation; and unless these are first eradicated the man can never be regenerated, concerning which subject, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

636. I will destroy them with the earth. That this signifies that together with the church the human race would perish, is evident from its being said "with the earth;" for the "earth" in a wide sense signifies love, as before said, and thus the celestial of the church. Here, since no love and nothing whatever that is celestial remained, the "earth" signifies the love of self, and whatever is contrary to the celestial of the church. And yet there was a man of the church, for they had doctrinal things of faith. For, as before stated, the earth is the containant of the ground, and the ground is the containant of the field; as love is the containant of faith, and faith is the containant of the knowledges of faith.

637. That "I will destroy them with the earth" signified that together with the church the human race would perish, is on this account: If the Lord's church should be entirely extinguished on the earth, the human race could by no means exist, but one and all would perish. The church, as before said, is as the heart: so long as the heart lives, the neighboring viscera and members can live; but as soon as the heart dies, they one and all die also. The Lord's church on earth is as the heart, whence the human race, even that part of it which is outside the church, has life. The reason is quite unknown to any one, but in order that something of it may be known, it may be stated that the whole human race on earth is as a body with its parts, wherein the church is as the heart; and that unless there were a church with which as with a heart the Lord might be united through heaven and the world of spirits, there would be disjunction; and if there were disjunction of the human race from the Lord, it would instantly perish. This is the reason why from the first creation of man there has always been some church, and whenever the church has begun to perish it has yet remained with some.

[2] This was also the reason of the Lord's coming into the world. If in His Divine mercy He had not come, the whole human race on this earth would have perished, for the church was then at its last extremity, and there was scarcely any good and truth surviving. The reason why the human race cannot live unless it is conjoined with the Lord through heaven and the world of spirits, is that in himself regarded man is much viler than the brutes. If left to himself he would rush into the ruin of himself and of all things; for he desires nothing else than what would be for the destruction of himself and of all. His order should be that one should love another as himself; but now every one loves himself more than others, and thus hates all others. But with brute animals the case is quite different: their order is that according to which they live. Thus they live quite according to the order in which they are, and man entirely contrary to his order. Therefore unless the Lord should have compassion on him, and conjoin him with Himself through angels, he could not live a single moment; but this he does not know.

638. Verse 14. Make thee an ark of gopher woods, mansions shalt thou make the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. By the "ark" is signified the man of that church; by "gopher wood" his concupiscences; by the "mansions" are signified the two parts of the man, which are the will and the understanding; by "pitching it within and without" is signified his preservation from an inundation of cupidities.

639. That by the "ark" is signified the man of that church, or the church called "Noah", is sufficiently evident from the description of it in the following verses; and from the fact that the Lord's Word everywhere involves spiritual and celestial things; that is, that the Word is spiritual and celestial. If the ark with its coating of pitch, its measurement, and its construction, and the flood also, signified nothing more than the letter expresses, there would be nothing at all spiritual and celestial in the account of it, but only something historical, which would be of no more use to the human race than any similar thing described by secular writers. But because the Word of the Lord everywhere in its bosom or interiors involves and contains spiritual and celestial things, it is very evident that by the ark and all the things said about the ark, are signified hidden things not yet revealed.

[2] It is the same in other places, as in the case of the little ark in which Moses was concealed, which was placed among the sedge by the river side (Exod. 2:3); and to take a more lofty instance, it was the same with the holy ark in the wilderness, that was made after the pattern shown to Moses on Mount Sinai. If each and all things in this ark had not been representative of the Lord and His kingdom, it would have been nothing else than a sort of idol, and the worship idolatrous. In like manner the temple of Solomon was not holy at all of itself, or on account of the gold, silver, cedar, and stone in it, but on account of all the things which these represented. And so here - if the ark and its construction, with its several particulars, did not signify some hidden thing of the church, the Word would not be the Word of the Lord, but a kind of dead letter, as in the case of any profane writer. Therefore it is evident that the ark signifies the man of the church, or the church called "Noah".

640. That by "gopher woods" are signified concupiscences, and by the "mansions" the two parts of this man, which are the will and the understanding, no one has hitherto known. Nor can any one know how these things are signified, unless he is first told how the case was with that church. The Most Ancient Church, as has often been said, knew from love whatever was of faith; or what is the same, from a will of good had understanding of truth. But their posterity received also by inheritance that cupidities, which are of the will, ruled over them, in which they immersed the doctrinal things of faith, and thus became "Nephilim". When therefore the Lord foresaw that if man continued to be of such a nature he would perish eternally, He provided that the will should be separated from the understanding, and that man should be formed, not as before by a will of good, but through an understanding of truth should be endowed with charity, which appears as a will of good. Such did this new church become which is called "Noah", and thus it was of an entirely different nature from the Most Ancient Church. Besides this church, there were other churches also at that time, as that which is called "Enosh" (Genesis 4:26), and others also of which no such mention and description is extant. Only this church "Noah" is here described, because it was of another and entirely different nature from the Most Ancient Church.

641. As this man of the church must be reformed as to that part of man which is called the understanding, before he could be reformed as to the other part which is called the will, it is here described how the things of the will were separated from those of the understanding, and were as it were covered over and reserved, lest anything should touch the will. For if things of the will, that is of cupidity, had been excited, the man would have perished, as will appear, of the Lords Divine mercy, hereafter. These two parts - the will and the understanding - are so distinct in man that nothing could be more distinct, as has been given me also to know with certainty from the fact that things of the understanding of spirits and angels flow into the left part of the head or brain, and things of the will into the right; and it is the same with respect to the face. When angelic spirits flow in, they do so gently like the softest breaths of air; but when evil spirits flow in, it is like an inundation into the left part of the brain with dreadful phantasies and persuasions, and into the right with cupidities, their influx being as it were an inundation of phantasies and cupidities.

642. From all this it is evident what this first description of the ark involves, with its construction of gopher wood, its mansions, and its coating within and without with pitch, namely, that one part, that of the will, was preserved from inundation; and only that part opened which is of the understanding, and is described, in (verse 16), by the window, the door, and the lowest, second, and third stories. These things are not easily believed, because hitherto no one has had any idea of them. And yet they are most true. But these are the least and most general of the hidden meanings which man is ignorant of. If the individual particulars were told him, he could not apprehend even one of them.

643. But as regards the signification itself of the words: that "gopher wood" signifies concupiscences, and the "mansions" the two parts of man, is evident from the Word. Gopher wood is a wood abounding in sulphur, like the fir, and others of its kind. On account of its sulphur it is said that it signifies concupiscences, because it easily takes fire. The most ancient people compared things in man (and regarded them as having a likeness) to gold, silver, brass, iron, stone, and wood - his inmost celestial to gold, his lower celestial to brass, and what was lowest, or the corporeal therefrom, to wood. But his inmost spiritual they compared (and regarded as having a likeness) to silver, his lower spiritual to iron, and his lowest to stone. And such in the internal sense is the signification of these things when they are mentioned in the Word, as in Isaiah: -

For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thine officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness (Isaiah 60:17).

Here the Lord's kingdom is treated of, in which there are not such metals, but spiritual and celestial things; and that these are signified is very evident from the mention of "peace" and "righteousness". "Gold", "brass", and "wood" here correspond to each other, and signify things celestial or of the will, as before said; and "silver", "iron", and "stone" correspond to each other, and signify things spiritual or of the understanding.

[2] In Ezekiel: -

They shall make a spoil of thy riches and make a prey of thy merchandise; thy stones, and thy wood (Ezekiel 26:12).

It is very manifest that by "riches" and "merchandise" are not meant worldly riches and merchandise, but celestial and spiritual; and the same by the "stones" and "wood"-the "stones" being those things which are of the understanding, and the "wood" those which are of the will. In Habakkuk: -

The stone crieth out of the wall, and the beam out of the wood answereth (Habakkuk 2:11).

The "stone" denotes the lowest degree of the understanding; and the "wood" the lowest of the will, which "answers" when anything is drawn from sensuous knowledge (scientifico sensuali). Again: -

Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; and to the dumb stone, Arise, this shall teach. Behold it is fastened with gold and silver, and there is no breath in the midst of it. But Jehovah is in the temple of His holiness (Habakkuk 2:19, 20).

Here also "wood" denotes cupidity; "stone" denotes the lowest of the understanding, and therefore to be "dumb" and to "teach" are predicated of it; "there is no breath in the midst of it", signifies that it represents nothing celestial and spiritual, just as a temple wherein are stone and wood, and these bound together with gold and silver, is to those who think nothing of what they represent.

[3] In Lamentations: -

We drink our waters for silver; our wood cometh for price (Lam. 5:4).

Here "waters" and "silver" signify the things of the understanding; and "wood" those of the will. Again: -

Saying to wood, Thou art my father; and to the stone, Thou hast brought us forth (Jer. 2:27).

Here "wood" denotes cupidity, which is of the will, whence is the conception; and "stone" the sensuous knowledge (scientifico sensuali), from which is the "bringing forth". Hence, in different places in the Prophets, "serving wood and stone" is put for worshiping graven images of wood and stone, by which is signified that they served cupidities and phantasies; and also "committing adultery with wood and stone", as in (Jeremiah 3:9). In Hosea: -

My people inquire of their wood, and the staff thereof declareth unto them; because the spirit of whoredoms hath led them away (Hosea 4:12),

meaning that they make inquiry of graven images of wood, or of cupidities.

[4] In Isaiah: -

Topheth is prepared from yesterday, the pile thereof is fire and much wood, the breath of Jehovah is like a stream of burning sulphur (Isaiah 30:33).

Here "fire", "sulphur", and "wood" stand for foul cupidities. In general, "wood" signifies the things of the will which are lowest; the precious woods, such as cedar and the like, those which are good, as for example the cedar wood in the temple, and the cedar wood employed in the cleansing of leprosy (Lev. 14:4, 6, 7) also the wood cast into the bitter waters at Marah, whereby the waters became sweet (Exod. 15:25), concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy in those places. But woods that were not precious, and those which were made into graven images, as well as those used for funeral piles and the like, signify cupidities; as in this place does the gopher wood, on account of its sulphur. So in Isaiah: -

The day of vengeance of Jehovah; the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into sulphur, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch (Isaiah34:9).

"Pitch" stands for dreadful phantasies; "sulphur" for abominable cupidities.

644. That by the "mansions" are signified the two parts of man, which are the will and the understanding, is evident from what has been stated before: that these two parts, the will and the understanding, are most distinct from each other, and that for this reason, as before said, the human brain is divided into two parts, called hemispheres. To its left hemisphere pertain the intellectual faculties, and to the right those of the will. This is the most general distinction. Besides this, both the will and the understanding are distinguished into innumerable parts, for so many are the divisions of the intellectual things of man, and so many those of the will, that they can never be described or enumerated even as to the universal genera, still less as to their species. A man is a kind of least heaven, corresponding to the world of spirits and to heaven, wherein all the genera and all the species of the things of the understanding and of the will are distinguished by the Lord in the most perfect order, so that not even the least of them is undistinguished, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. In heaven these divisions are called Societies, in the Word "habitations", and by the Lord "mansions" (John 14:2). Here also they are called "mansions", because they are predicated of the ark, which signifies the man of the church.

645. That to "pitch it within and without with pitch", signifies preservation from an inundation of cupidities, is evident from what has been said before. For the man of this church was first to be reformed as to the things of his understanding, and therefore he was preserved from an inundation of cupidities, which would destroy all the work of reformation. In the original text it is not indeed said that it was to be "pitched with pitch", but a word is used which denotes "protection", derived from "expiate" or " propitiate", and therefore it involves the same. The expiation or propitiation of the Lord is protection from the inundation of evil.

646. Verse 15. And thus shalt thou make it: three hundred cubits the length of the ark, fifty cubits its breadth, and thirty, cubits its height. By the numbers here as before are signified remains, that they were few; the "length" is their holiness, the " breadth" their truth, and the "height" their good.

647. That these particulars have such a signification, as that the numbers "three hundred", "fifty", and "thirty" signify remains, and that they are few; and that "length", "breadth", and "height" signify holiness, truth, and good, cannot but appear strange to every one, and very remote from the letter. But in addition to what was said and shown above concerning numbers at (verse 3) of this chapter, that a "hundred and twenty" there signify remains of faith), it may be evident to every one also from the fact that they who are in the internal sense, as are good spirits and angels, are beyond all such things as are earthly, corporeal, and merely of the world, and thus are beyond all matters of number and measure, and yet it is given them by the Lord to perceive the Word fully, and this entirely apart from such things. And this being true, it may therefore be very evident that these particulars involve things celestial and spiritual which are so remote from the sense of the letter that it cannot even appear that there are such things. Such are celestial and spiritual things both in general and in particular. And from this a man may know how insane it is to desire to search into those things which are matters of faith, by means of the things of sense and knowledge (sensualia et scientifica); and to be unwilling to believe unless he apprehends them in this way.

648. That in the Word numbers and measures signify things celestial and spiritual, is very evident from the measurement of the New Jerusalem and of the Temple, in John, and in Ezekiel. Any one may see that by the "New Jerusalem" and the "new Temple" is signified the kingdom of the Lord in the heavens and on earth, and that the kingdom of the Lord in the heavens and on earth is not subject to earthly measurement; and yet its dimensions as to length, breadth, and height are designated by numbers. From this any one may conclude that by the numbers and measures are signified holy things, as in John: -

There was given me a reed like unto a rod; and the angel stood, and said unto me, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein (Rev. 11:1).

And concerning the New Jerusalem: -

The wall of the New Jerusalem was great and high, having twelve gates, and over the gates twelve angels, and names written, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, on the west three gates. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. He that talked with me had a golden reed, to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. The city lieth four square, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth. And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs; the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal. He measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel (Rev. 21:12-17).

[2] The number "twelve" occurs here throughout, which is a very holy number because it signifies the holy things of faith (verse 3), and as will be shown at the twenty-ninth and thirtieth chapters of Genesis. And therefore it is added that this measure is the "measure of a man, that is, of an angel". It is the same with the new Temple and new Jerusalem in Ezekiel which are also described as to their measures (Ezekiel 40:3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 22, 25, 30, 36, 42, 47; 41:1-26; 42:5-15; Zech. 2:1, 2). Here too regarded in themselves the numbers signify nothing but the holy celestial and spiritual abstractedly from the numbers. So with all the numbers of the dimensions of the ark (Exod. 25:10); of the mercy seat; of the golden table; of the tabernacle; and of the altar (Exod. 25:10, 17, 23; 26:1-37; 27:1); and all the numbers and dimensions of the temple (1 Kings 6:2, 3), and many others.

649. But here the numbers or measures of the ark signify nothing else than the remains which were with the man of this church when he was being reformed, and that they were but few. This is evident from the fact that in these numbers five predominates, which in the Word signifies some or a little, as in Isaiah: -

There shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the branches of a fruitful one (Isaiah 17:6)

, where "two or three" and "five" denote a few. Again: -

One thousand at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee; until ye be left as a pole upon the top of a mountain (Isaiah 30:17),

where also "five" denotes a few. So too the least fine, after restitution, was a "fifth part" (Lev. 5:16; 6:5; 22:14; Num. 5:7). And the least addition when they redeemed a beast, a house, a field, or the tithes, was a "fifth part" (Lev. 27:13, 15, 19, 31).

650. That "length" signifies the holiness, "breadth" the truth, and "height" the good of whatever things are described by the numbers, cannot so well be confirmed from the Word, because they are each and all predicated according to the subject or thing treated of. Thus "length" as applied to time signifies perpetuity and eternity, as "length of days" in (Ps. 23:6; 21:4); but as applied to space it denotes holiness, as follows therefrom. And the same is the case with "breadth" and "height". There is a trinal dimension of all earthly things, but such dimensions cannot be predicated of celestial and spiritual things. When they are predicated, greater or less perfection is meant, apart from the dimensions, and also the quality and quantity; thus here the quality, that they were remains; and the quantity, that they were few.

651. Verse 16. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and to a cubit shalt thou finish it from above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lowest, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. By the "window" which was to be finished "to a cubit from above", is signified the intellectual part; by the "door at the side", is signified hearing; by the "lowest, second, and third stories", are signified the things of knowledge, of reason, and of understanding (scientifica, rationalia, et intellectualia).

652. That the "window" signifies the intellectual part, and the "door" hearing, and thus that in this verse the intellectual part of man is treated of, is evident from what has been stated before: that the man of that church was reformed in this way. There are two lives in man; one is of the will, the other of the understanding. They become two lives when there is no will, but cupidity in place of a will. Then it is the other or intellectual part that can be reformed; and afterwards through this a new will can be given, so that the two may still constitute one life, namely, charity and faith. Because man was now such that he had no will, but mere cupidity in place of it, the part which belongs to the will was closed - as stated at (verse 14) - and the other or intellectual part was opened; which is the subject treated of in this verse.

653. The case is this: When a man is being reformed, which is effected by combats and temptations, such evil spirits are associated with him as excite nothing but his things of knowledge and reason (scientifica ejus et rationalia); and spirits that excite cupidities are kept entirely away from him. For there are two kinds of evil spirits, those who act upon man's reasonings, and those who act upon his cupidities. The evil spirits who excite a man's reasonings bring forth all his falsities, and endeavor to persuade him that they are true, and even turn truths into falsities. A man must fight against these when he is in temptation; but it is really the Lord who fights, through the angels who are adjoined to the man. As soon as the falsities are separated, and as it were dispersed, by these combats, the man is prepared to receive the truths of faith. For so long as falsities prevail, a man never can receive the truths of faith, because the principles of falsity stand in the way. When he has thus been prepared to receive the truths of faith, then for the first time can celestial seeds be implanted in him, which are the seeds of charity. The seeds of charity can never be implanted in ground where falsities reign, but only where truths reign. Thus is it with the reformation or regeneration of the spiritual man, and so it was with the man of this church which is called "Noah". Hence it is that here the "window" and "door" of the ark are spoken of, and its "lowest, second, and third stories", which all pertain to the spiritual or intellectual man.

654. This agrees with what is at this day known in the churches: that faith comes by hearing. But faith is by no means the knowledge (cognitio) of the things that are of faith, or that are to be believed. This is only memory-knowledge (scientia); whereas faith is acknowledgment. There can however be no acknowledgment with any one unless the principal of faith is in him, which is charity, that is, love toward the neighbor and mercy. When there is charity, then there is acknowledgment, or faith. He who apprehends otherwise is as far away from a knowledge of faith as earth is from heaven. When charity is present, which is the goodness of faith, then acknowledgment is present, which is the truth of faith. When therefore a man is being regenerated according to the things of knowledge, of reason, and of understanding, it is to the end that the ground may be prepared - that is, his mind - for receiving charity; from which, or from the life of which, he thereafter thinks and acts. Then he is reformed or regenerated, and not before.

655. That the "window" which was to be "made perfect to a cubit from above" signifies the intellectual part, any one may see from what has now been said; and also from the fact that when the construction of the ark is being treated of, and by the "ark" is signified the man of the church, the intellectual part cannot be otherwise compared than to a "window from above". And so in other parts of the Word: the intellectual part of man, that is, his internal sight, whether it be reason, or mere reasoning, is called a "window". Thus in Isaiah: -

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest and not comforted, I will make thy suns (windows) of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy border of pleasant stones (Isaiah 54:11, 12)

. Here "suns" are put for "windows", from the light that is admitted, or transmitted. The "suns" or "windows" in this passage are intellectual things that come from charity, and therefore they are likened to a "ruby;" the "gates" are rational things thence derived; and the "border" is that which is of knowledge and the senses (scientificum et sensuale). The Lord's church is here treated of.

[2] All the windows of the temple at Jerusalem represented the same: the highest of them the intellectual things; the middle, rational things; and the lowest, the things of knowledge and the senses; for there were three stories (1 Kings 4, 6, 8). Likewise the windows of the new Jerusalem in (Ezekiel 40:16, 22, 25, 33, 36). In Jeremiah: -

Death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the little child from the street, the young men from the streets (vicis) (Jeremiah 9:21).

Windows of the middle story are here meant, which are rational things, it being meant that they are extinguished; the "little child in the street", is truth beginning.

[3] Because "windows" signify things intellectual and rational that are of truth, they signify also reasonings that are of falsity. Thus in the same Prophet: -

Woe unto him that buildeth his house in what is not righteousness, and his chambers in what is not judgment; who saith, I will build me a house of measures, and spacious chambers, and he cutteth him out windows, and it is floored with cedar, and painted with vermilion (Jeremiah 22:13, 14).

Here "windows" denote principles of falsity. In Zephaniah: -

Droves of beasts shall lie down in the midst of her, every wild animal of his kind (gentis), both the cormorant and the bittern (chippod) shall lodge in the pomegranates thereof; a voice shall sing in the window; wasting shall be upon the threshold (Zephaniah 2:14).

This is said of Asshur and Nineveh; "Asshur" denotes the understanding, here vastated; a "voice singing in the windows", reasonings from phantasies.

656. That by the "door at the side" is signified hearing is now therefore evident, and there is no need that it should be confirmed by similar examples from the Word. For the ear is to the internal organs of sense as a door at the side is to a window above; or what is the same, the hearing which is of the ear, is so to the intellectual part which is of the internal sensory.

657. That by the "lowest, second, and third stories", are signified things of knowledge, of reason, and of understanding (scientifica, rationalia, et intellectualia), follows also from what has been shown. There are three degrees of things intellectual in man; the lowest is that of knowledge (scientificum); the middle is the rational; the highest, the intellectual. These are so distinct from each other that they should never be confounded. But man is not aware of this, for the reason that he makes life consist in what is of sense and knowledge only; and while be cleaves to this, he cannot even know that his rational part is distinct from that which is concerned with knowing (scientificum); and still less that his intellectual part is so. And yet the truth is that the Lord flows through man's intellectual into his rational, and through his rational into the knowledge of the memory, whence comes the life of the senses of sight and of hearing. This is the true influx, and this is the true intercourse of the soul with the body. Without influx of the Lord's life into the things of the understanding in man - or rather into things of the will and through these into those of understanding - and through things of understanding into things rational, and through things rational into his knowledges which are of the memory, life would be impossible to man. And even though a man is in falsities and evils, yet there is an influx of the Lord's life through the things of the will and of the understanding; but the things that flow in are received in the rational part according to its form; and this influx gives man the ability to reason, to reflect, and to understand what truth and good are. But concerning these things, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter; and also how the case is with the life that pertains to brutes.

658. These three degrees, which in general are called those of man's intellectual things, namely, understanding, reason, and memory-knowledge, are likewise signified, as before said, by the windows of the three stories of the temple at Jerusalem (1 Kings 6:4, 6, 8), and also as above by the rivers which went forth out of the Garden of Eden in the east. The "east" there signifies the Lord; "Eden" love, which is of the will; the " garden" intelligence thence derived; the "rivers" wisdom, reason, and memory-knowledge, concerning which see what was said before (Genesis 2:10-14).

659. Verse 17. And I, behold I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of lives from under the heavens; everything that is on the earth shall expire. By the "flood" is signified an inundation of evil and falsity; "to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of lives from under the heavens", signifies that the whole posterity of the Most Ancient Church would destroy themselves; "everything that is in the earth shall expire", signifies those who were of that church and had become such.

660. That by the "flood" is signified an inundation of evil and falsity, is evident from what has been stated before concerning the posterity of the Most Ancient Church: that they were possessed with foul cupidities, and that they immersed the doctrinal things of faith in them, and in consequence had persuasions of falsity which extinguished all truth and good, and at the same time closed up the way for remains, so that they could not operate; and therefore it could not be otherwise than that they would destroy themselves. When the way for remains is closed, the man is no longer man, because he can no longer be protected by angels, but is totally possessed by evil spirits, whose sole study and desire it is to extinguish man. Hence came the death of the antediluvians, which is described by a flood, or total inundation. The influx of phantasies and cupidities from evil spirits is not unlike a kind of flood; and therefore it is called a "flood" or inundation in various places in the Word, as of the Lord's Divine mercy will be seen in what is premised to the following chapter.

661. To destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of lives from under the heavens. That this signifies that the whole posterity of the Most Ancient Church would destroy themselves, is evident from what is said above, and from the description of them given before: that they derived by inheritance from their parents in succession such a genius that they more than others were imbued with direful persuasions; and especially for the reason that they immersed the doctrinal things of faith that they possessed in their cupidities. It is otherwise with those who have no doctrinal things of faith, but live entirely in ignorance; these cannot so act, and therefore cannot profane holy things, and thereby close up the way for remains; and consequently they cannot drive away from themselves the angels of the Lord.

[2] Remains, as has been said, are all things of innocence, all things of charity, all things of mercy, and all things of the truth of faith, which from his infancy a man has had from the Lord, and has learned. Each and all of these things are treasured up; and if a man had them not, there could be nothing of innocence, of charity, and of mercy, and therefore nothing of good and truth in his thought and actions, so that he would be worse than the savage wild beasts. And it would be the same if he had had the remains of such things and had closed up the way by foul cupidities and direful persuasions of falsity, so that they could not operate. Such were the antediluvians who destroyed themselves, and who are meant by "all flesh wherein is the breath of lives, under the heavens".

[3] "Flesh", as before shown, signifies every man in general, and the corporeal man in particular. The "breath of lives" signifies all life in general, but properly the life of those who have been regenerated, consequently in the present case the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church. Although there was no life of faith remaining among them, yet as they derived from their parents something of seed therefrom which they stifled, it is here called the "breath of lives", or, "in whose nostrils was the breathing of the breath of lives". (Genesis 7:22) "Flesh under the heavens", signifies what is merely corporeal; the "heavens" are the things of the understanding that are of truth and the things of the will that are of good, on the separation of which from the corporeal a man can no longer live. What sustains man is his conjunction with heaven, that is, through heaven with the Lord.

662. Everything that is in the earth shall expire. This signifies those who were of that church and had become of this quality. It has been shown before that the "earth" does not mean the whole world, but only those who were of the church. Thus no deluge was meant here, still less a universal deluge, but the expiring or suffocation of those who existed there, when they were separated from remains, and thereby from the things of the understanding that are of truth and the things of the will that are of good, and therefore from the heavens. That the "earth" signifies the region where the church is, and therefore those who live there, may be confirmed by the following passages from the Word, in addition to those already cited. In Jeremiah: -

Thus hath said Jehovah, The whole earth shall be desolate; yet will I not make a consummation. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above shall be black (Jeremiah 4:27, 28).

Here the "earth" denotes those who dwell where the church is that is vastated. In Isaiah: -

I will move the heavens, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place (Isaiah 13:13).

The "earth" denotes the man who is to be vastated, where the church is. In Jeremiah: -

The slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from the end of the earth even unto the end of the earth (Jeremiah 25:33).

Here the "end of the earth" does not signify the whole world, but only the region where the church was, and consequently the men who were of the church. Again: -

I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth; a tumult shall come even to the end of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the nations (Jeremiah 25:29, 31).

In this passage, in like manner, the whole world is not meant, but only the region where the church is, and therefore the inhabitant or man of the church; the "nations" here denote falsities. In Isaiah: -

Behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of His place to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth (Isaiah 26:21).

Here the meaning is the same. Again: -

Have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood the foundations of the earth? (Isaiah 40:21).

Again: -

Jehovah, that createth the heavens, God Himself that formeth the earth and maketh it, He establisheth it (Isaiah 45:18).

The "earth" denotes the man of the church. In Zechariah: -

The saying of Jehovah, who stretcheth out the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man in the midst of him (Zechariah 12:1),

where the "earth" manifestly denotes the man of the church. The "earth" is distinguished from the "ground" as are the man of the church and the church itself, or as are love and faith.

663. Verse 18. And I will set up My covenant with thee; and thou shalt enter into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons wives with thee. To "set up a covenant", signifies that he would be regenerated; that "he, and his sons, and his sons' wives", should "come into the ark", signifies that he would be saved. "Sons" are truths; "wives" are goods.

664. In the preceding verse those who destroyed themselves were treated of, but here those who were to be regenerated and thus saved, who are called "Noah".

665. That to "set up a covenant" signifies that he would be regenerated, is very evident from the fact that there can be no covenant between the Lord and man other than conjunction by love and faith, and therefore a "covenant" signifies conjunction. For it is the heavenly marriage that is the veriest covenant; and the heavenly marriage, or conjunction, does not exist except with those who are being regenerated; so that in the widest sense regeneration itself is signified by a "covenant". The Lord enters into a covenant with man when He regenerates him; and therefore among the ancients a covenant represented nothing else. Nothing can be gathered from the sense of the letter but that the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and so many times with their descendants, was concerned with them personally, whereas they were such that they could not be regenerated; for they made worship consist in external things, and supposed the externals of worship to be holy, without internal things being adjoined to them. And therefore the covenants made with them were only representatives of regeneration. It was the same with their rites, and with Abraham himself, and with Isaac, and Jacob, who represented the things of love and faith. Likewise the high priests and priests, whatever their character, even those that were wicked, could represent the heavenly and most holy priesthood. In representatives the person is not regarded, but the thing that is represented. Thus all the kings of Israel and of Judah, even the worst, represented the royalty of the Lord; and even Pharaoh too, who set Joseph over the land of Egypt. From these and many other considerations - concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter - it is evident that the covenants so often entered into with the sons of Jacob were only religious rites that were representative.

666. That a "covenant" signifies nothing else than regeneration and the things pertaining to regeneration, is evident from various passages in the Word where the Lord Himself is called the "Covenant", because it is He alone who regenerates, and who is looked to by the regenerate man, and is the all in all of love and faith. That the Lord is the Covenant itself is evident in Isaiah: -

I Jehovah have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and will give thee for a covenant to the people, for a light of the nations (Isaiah 42:6),

where a " covenant" denotes the Lord; "a light of the nations" is faith. Also in (Isaiah 49:6, 8). In Malachi: -

Behold I send Mine angel, and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Angel of the covenant whom ye desire; behold He cometh; who may abide the day of His coming? (Malachi 3:1, 2),

where the Lord is called the "Angel of the Covenant". The sabbath is called a "perpetual covenant" (Exod. 31:16), because it signifies the Lord Himself, and the celestial man regenerated by Him.

[2] Since the Lord is the very covenant itself, it is evident that all that which conjoins man with the Lord is of the covenant-as love and faith, and whatever is of love and faith-for these are of the Lord, and the Lord is in them; and so the covenant itself is in them, where they are received. These have no existence except with a regenerated man, with whom whatever is of the Regenerator or of the Lord is of the covenant, or is the covenant. As in Isaiah: -

My mercy shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed away (Isaiah 54:10),

where "mercy" and the "covenant of peace" denote the Lord and what belongs to Him. Again: -

Incline your ear and come unto Me, hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make a covenant of eternity with you, the sure mercies of David; behold, I have given Him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and a lawgiver to the nations (Isaiah 55:3, 4).

"David" here denotes the Lord; the "covenant of eternity" is in those things and by those things which are of the Lord, and these are meant by going to Him and hearing, that the soul may live.

[3] In Jeremiah: -

I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear Me all the days, for good to them, and to their sons after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put My fear in their heart (Jeremiah 32:39, 40).

This is said of those who are to be regenerated, and of things that belong to them, namely, "one heart and one way", that is, charity and faith, which are of the Lord and so of the covenant. Again: -

Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, for they rendered My covenant vain: but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days; I will put My law in the midst of them, and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Jeremiah 31:31-33).

Here the meaning of a "covenant" is clearly explained, that it is the love and faith in the Lord which is with those who are to be regenerated.

[4] And again in Jeremiah, love is called the "covenant of the day", and faith the "covenant of the night" (Jeremiah 33:20). In Ezekiel: -

I, Jehovah, will be their God, and My servant David a prince in the midst of them, and I will make with them a covenant of peace, and I will make the evil beast to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell secure in the wilderness, and sleep in the forests (Ezekiel 34:24, 25).

Here regeneration is evidently treated of. "David" denotes the Lord. Again: -

David shall be a prince to them to eternity; I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be a covenant of eternity with them; I will set My sanctuary in the midst of them to eternity (Ezekiel 37:25, 26).

Here likewise regeneration is treated of. "David" and the "sanctuary" denote the Lord. And again: -

I entered into a covenant with thee, and thou wast Mine; and I washed thee with waters, and washed away thy bloods from upon thee, and I anointed thee with oil (Ezekiel 16:8, 9),

where regeneration is plainly meant. In Hosea: -

In that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild beast of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the earth (Hosea 2:18),

meaning regeneration; the "wild beast of the field", denotes the things that are of the will; "the fowl of the heavens", those that are of the understanding. In David: -

He hath sent redemption unto His people; He hath commanded His covenant to eternity (Ps. 111:9),

also meaning regeneration. It is called a "covenant" because it is given and received.

[5] But of those who are not regenerated, or what is the same, who make worship consist in external things, and esteem and worship themselves and what they desire and think as if they were gods, it is said that they render the covenant vain, because they separate themselves from the Lord. And in Jeremiah: -

They have forsaken the covenant of Jehovah their God, and have bowed themselves down to other gods, and served them (Jeremiah 22:9).

In Moses: -

He who should transgress the covenant by serving other gods - the sun, the moon, the army of the heavens - should be stoned (Deut. 17:2).

The "sun" denotes the love of self; the "moon" principles of falsity; the "army of the heavens" falsities themselves. From all this it is now evident what the "ark of the covenant" signified wherein was the "covenant", or "testimony", namely, that it signified the Lord Himself; and that the "book of the covenant" also signified the Lord Himself (Exod. 24:4-7; 34:27; Deut. 4:13, 23); and likewise that by the "blood of the covenant" (Exod. 24:6, 8) was signified the Lord Himself, who alone is the Regenerator. Hence the "covenant" denotes regeneration itself.

667. Thou shalt enter into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. That this signifies that he would be saved, is evident from what has been said before and from what follows: that he was saved because regenerated.

668. That "sons" signify truths, and "daughters" goods, has also been shown in (Genesis 5:4) - where "sons" and "daughters" were spoken of. But here it is "sons" and "wives", because "wives" are the goods that are adjoined to truths; for no truth can be produced unless there is a good or delight from which it is. In good and in delight there is life; but not in truth, except that which it has from good and delight. From this, truth is formed and begotten, and so is faith, which is of truth, formed and begotten by love, which is of good. It is with truth exactly as it is with light: except from the sun or a flame there is no light; it is from this that light is formed. Truth is only the form of good; and faith is only the form of love. Truth is formed from good according to the quality of the good, and faith is formed from love according to the quality of the love or charity. This then is the reason why a "wife" and " wives" are mentioned, which signify goods adjoined to truths. And hence it is said in the following verse that pairs of all were to enter into the ark, a male and a female; for without goods adjoined to truths there is no regeneration.

669. Verse 19. And of every living thing of all flesh, pairs of all shalt thou make to enter into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. By the "living soul" are signified the things of the understanding; by "all flesh", those of the will; "pairs of all shalt thou make to enter into the ark", signifies their regeneration the " male" is truth; the "female", good.

670. That by the "living soul" are signified the things of the understanding, and by "all flesh" those of the will, is evident from what has been said before, and from what follows. By "living soul" in the Word is signified every living creature in general, of whatever kind (Gen. 1:20-24; 2:19); but here, being immediately connected with "all flesh", it signifies the things which are of the understanding; for the reason before advanced that the man of this church was to be regenerated first as to intellectual things. And therefore in the following verse the "fowl" (which signifies intellectual or rational things) is mentioned first, and afterwards the "beasts", which are things of the will. "Flesh" specifically signifies that which is corporeal, which is of the will.

671. Pairs of all shalt thou make to enter into the ark, to keep them alive. That this signifies their regeneration, is evident from what has been said in connection with the preceding verse: that truths cannot be regenerated except through goods and delights; nor therefore the things of faith, except through those which are of charity. And for this reason it is said here that "pairs" of all should enter in, that is, both of truths which are of the understanding, and of goods which are of the will. A man who is not regenerated has no understanding of truth or will of good, but only what appear to be such, and in common speech are so called. He can however receive truths of reason and of knowledge (vera rationalia et scientifica), but they are not living. He may also have a kind of goods of the will, such as exist in the Gentiles, and even in brutes, but neither are these living; they are merely analogous. Such goods in man are not living until he is regenerated and they are thus made alive by the Lord. In the other life it is very manifestly perceived what is not alive and what is alive. Truth that is not alive is instantly perceived as something material, fibrous, closed up; and good not alive, as something woody, bony, stony. But truth and good made living by the Lord are open, vital, full of the spiritual and celestial, open and manifest even from the Lord; and this in every idea and in every act, yea, in the least of either of them. This then is why it is said that pairs should enter into the ark, to keep them alive.

672. That the male means truth and the female good, has been said and shown before. In every least thing of man there is the likeness of a kind of marriage. Whatever is of the understanding is thus coupled with something of the will, and without such a coupling or marriage nothing at all is brought forth.

673. Verse 20. Of the fowl after its kind, and of the beast after its kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, pairs of all shall enter unto thee, to keep them alive. The "fowl", signifies things intellectual; the "beast", things of the will; the "creeping thing of the ground", signifies both, but what is lowest of them; "pairs of all shall come unto thee, to keep them alive", signifies, as before, their regeneration.

674. That the "fowl" signifies things intellectual or rational has been shown before (n. 40), and that the "beast" signifies things of the will, or affections (n. 45, 46, 143, 144, 246). That the " creeping thing of the ground" signifies both, but what is lowest of them, may be plain to any one from the fact that creeping on the ground is what is lowest. That "pairs of all shall enter unto thee, to keep them alive" signifies their regeneration, has been shown in the preceding verse.

675. As to its being said "the fowl after its kind", "the beast after its kind", and "the creeping thing after its kind", be it known that in every man there are innumerable genera, and still more innumerable species, of the things of understanding and of will, and that all these are most distinct from one another, although man does not know it. But during the regeneration of man the Lord draws them out, each and all in their order, and separates and disposes them so that they may be bent toward truths and goods and may be conjoined with them, and this with diversity according to the states, which also are innumerable. All these things can never be made perfect even to eternity, as each genus, each species, and each state, comprehends things illimitable even when uncompounded, and still more in combination. A man does not so much as know this fact; still less can he know in what manner he is regenerated. This is what the Lord says to Nicodemus concerning man's regeneration: -

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, or whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the spirit (John 3:8).

676. Verse 21. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee; and it shall be for food, for thee and for them. That he should "take to himself of all food that is eaten", signifies goods and delights; that he should "gather to himself", signifies truths; that it should be "for food for him and for them", signifies both.

677. As regards the food of the man who is to be regenerated, the case is this: Before a man can be regenerated he needs to be furnished with all things that may serve as means - with the goods and delights of the affections as means for the will; and with truths from the Word of the Lord, and also with confirmatory things from other sources, as means for the understanding. Until a man is furnished with such things he cannot be regenerated; these being for food. This is the reason why man is not regenerated until he comes to adult age. But each man has his peculiar and as it were his own food, which is provided for him by the Lord before he is regenerated.

678. That his "taking to himself of all food that is eaten" signifies goods and delights, is evident from what has been said above: that goods and delights constitute man's life; and not so much truths, for truths receive their life from goods and delights. From infancy to old age nothing of knowledge or of reason is ever insinuated except by means of what is good and delightful, and such things are called "food", because the soul lives and derives its sustenance from them; and they are food, for without them a man's soul cannot possibly live, as any one may know if he will but pay attention to the matter.

679. That "gathering to himself" means truths, is therefore evident; for "gathering" is predicated of the things that are in man's memory, where they are gathered together. And the expression further implies that both goods and truths should be gathered in man before he is regenerated; for without goods and truths gathered together, through which as means the Lord may operate, a man can never be regenerated, as has been said. From this then it follows that "it shall be for food for thee and for them", signifies both goods and truths.

680. That goods and truths are the genuine foods of man must be evident to every one, for he who is destitute of them has no life, but is dead. When a man is spiritually dead the foods with which his soul is fed are delights from evils and pleasantnesses from falsities - which are foods of death - and are also those which come from bodily, worldly, and natural things, which also have nothing of life in them. Moreover, such a man does not know what spiritual and celestial food is, insomuch that whenever "food" or "bread" is mentioned in the Word he supposes the food of the body to be meant; as in the Lord's prayer, the words "Give us our daily bread", he supposes to mean only sustenance for the body; and those who extend their ideas further say it includes also other necessaries of the body, such as clothing, property, and the like. They even sharply deny that any other food is meant; when yet they see plainly that the words preceding and following involve only celestial and spiritual things, and that the Lord's kingdom is spoken of; and besides, they might know that the Word of the Lord is celestial and spiritual.

[2] From this and other similar examples it must be sufficiently evident how corporeal is man at the present day; and that, like the Jews, he is disposed to take everything that is said in the Word in the most gross and material sense. The Lord Himself clearly teaches what is meant in His Word by "food" and "bread". Concerning "food" He thus speaks in John: -

Jesus said, Labor not for the meat (or food) which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you (John 6:27).

And concerning "bread" He says, in the same chapter: -

Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the Bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living Bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this Bread he shall live eternally (John 6:49-51, 58).

But at the present day there are men like those who heard these words and said: "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" and who "went back and walked no more with Him" (John. 6:60, 66), to whom the Lord said: "The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life" (John 6:63).

[3] And so with respect to "water", which signifies the spiritual things of faith, and concerning which the Lord thus speaks in John: -

Jesus said, Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life (John 4:13, 14).

But at the present day there are those who are like the woman with whom the Lord spoke at the well, and who answered, "Lord, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw" (John 4:15).

[4] That in the Word "food" means no other than spiritual and celestial food, which is faith in the Lord, and love, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in Jeremiah: -

The enemy hath spread out his hand upon all the desirable things of Jerusalem; for she hath seen that the nations are entered into her sanctuary, concerning whom Thou didst command that they should not enter into Thy congregation. All the people groan, they seek bread; they have given their desirable things for food to refresh the soul (Lam. 1:10, 11).

No other than spiritual bread and food are here meant, for the subject is the sanctuary. Again: -

I have cried out for my lovers, they have deceived me; my priests and mine elders in the city expired, for they sought food for themselves, to refresh their soul (Lam. 1:19),

with the same meaning. In David: -

These wait all upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them their food in its season; Thou givest them, they gather; Thou openest thine hand, they are satisfied with good (Ps. 104:27, 28).

Here likewise spiritual and celestial food is meant.

[5] In Isaiah: -

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no silver; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without silver, and without price (Isaiah 55:1),

where "wine" and "milk" denote spiritual and celestial drink. Again: -

A virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and thou shalt call His name Immanuel; butter and honey shall He eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good; and it shall come to pass that for the abundance of milk that they shall give they shall eat butter; for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the midst of the land (Isaiah 7:14, 15, 22).

Here to "eat honey and butter" is to appropriate what is celestial spiritual; "they that are left" denote remains, concerning whom also in Malachi: -

Bring ye all the tithes into the treasure-house, that there may be food in My house (Malachi 3:10).

"Tithes" denote remains. Concerning the signification of "food", see above, (n. 56-58, 276.)

681. The nature of celestial and spiritual food can best be known in the other life. The life of angels and spirits is not sustained by any such food as there is in this world, but by "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord", as the Lord teaches in (Matthew 4:4). The truth is that the Lord alone is the life of all, and that from Him come all things both in general and in particular that angels and spirits think, say, and do, and also what evil spirits think, say, and do. The reason why these latter say and do evil things is that they so receive and pervert all the goods and truths that are of the Lord. Reception and affection are according to the form of the recipient. This may be compared to the various objects that receive the light of the sun, some of which turn the light received into unpleasing and disagreeable colors, while others turn it into pleasing and beautiful colors, according to the form, determination, and disposition of their parts. The whole heaven and the entire world of spirits thus live by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, and from this each individual has his life; and not only the whole heaven and the world of spirits, but also the whole human race. I know that these things will not be believed, nevertheless from the continuous experience of years I can assert that they are most true. Evil spirits in the world of spirits are not willing to believe that this is so; and therefore it has often been demonstrated to them-to the life-even until they have acknowledged with indignation that it is true. If angels, spirits, and men were deprived of this food they would expire in a moment.

682. Verse 22. And Noah did according to all that God commanded him; so did he. "Noah did according to all that God commanded him", signifies that thus it came to pass. That it is twice said he "did" involves both (good and truth).

683. As regards the repetition of "did", that it involves both [good and truth], it should be known that in the Word, especially in the Prophets, one thing is described in a twofold manner. Thus in Isaiah: -

He passed through in peace, a way that He had not gone with his feet; who hath wrought and done it? (Isaiah 41:3, 4),

where one expression relates to good, and the other to truth; or, one relates to what is of the will, and the other to what is of the understanding; that is to say, "he passed over in peace", involves what is of the will, and "away he had not gone with his feet", involves what is of the understanding; and it is the same with the words "wrought" and "done". Thus the things that pertain to the will and to the understanding, or to love and faith, or what is the same, celestial and spiritual things, are so conjoined together in the Word that in each and every thing there is a likeness of a marriage, and a relation to the heavenly marriage. It is so here, in that the one word is repeated.

 

CONCERNING THE SOCIETIES WHICH CONSTITUTE HEAVEN

684. There are three heavens: the First is the abode of good spirits, the Second of angelic spirits, and the Third of angels. And one heaven is more interior and pure than another, so that they are most distinct. Each heaven, the first, the second, and the third, is distinguished into innumerable societies; and each society consists of many individuals, who by their harmony and unanimity constitute as it were one person; and all the societies together are as one man. The societies are distinct from one another according to the differences of mutual love, and of faith in the Lord. These differences are so innumerable that not even the most universal genera of them can be computed; and there is not the least of difference that is not disposed in most perfect order, so as to conspire most harmoniously to a common unity, and the common unity to unanimity of individuals, and thereby to the happiness of all from each, and of each from all. Each angel and each society is therefore an image of the universal heaven, and is as it were a little heaven.

685. There are wonderful consociations in the other life which may be compared to relationships on earth: that is to say, they recognize one another as parents, children, brothers, and relations by blood and by marriage, the love being according to such varieties of relationship. These varieties are endless, and the communicable perceptions are so exquisite that they cannot be described. The relationships have no reference at all to the circumstance that those who are there had been parents, children, or kindred by blood and marriage on earth; and they have no respect to person, no matter what any one may have been. Thus they have no regard to dignities, nor to wealth, nor to any such matters, but solely to varieties of mutual love and of faith, the faculty for the reception of which they had received from the Lord while they had lived in the world.

686. It is the Lord's mercy, that is, His love toward the universal heaven and the universal human race, thus it is the Lord alone who determines all things both in general and in particular into societies. This mercy it is which produces conjugial love, and from this the love of parents for children, which are the fundamental and principal loves. From these come all other loves, with endless variety, which are arranged most distinctly into societies.

687. Such being the nature of heaven, no angel or spirit can have any life unless he is in some society, and thereby in a harmony of many. A society is nothing but a harmony of many, for no one has any life separate from the life of others. Indeed no angel, or spirit, or society can have any life (that is, be affected by good, exercise will, be affected by truth, or think), unless there is a conjunction thereof through many of his society with heaven and with the world of spirits. And it is the same with the human race: no man, no matter who and what he may be, can live (that is, be affected by good, exercise will, be affected by truth, or think), unless in like manner he is conjoined with heaven through the angels who are with him, and with the world of spirits, nay, with hell, through the spirits that are with him. For every man while living in the body is in some society of spirits and of angels, though entirely unaware of it. And if he were not conjoined with heaven and with the world of spirits through the society in which he is, he could not live a moment. The case in this respect is the same as it is with the human body, any portion of which that is not conjoined with the rest by means of fibers and vessels, and thus by means of functions, is not a part of the body, but is instantly separated and rejected, as having no vitality. The very societies in and with which men have been during the life of the body, are shown them when they come into the other life. And when, after the life of the body, they come into their society, they come into their veriest life which they had in the body, and from this life begin a new life; and so according to their life which they have lived in the body they either go down into hell, or are raised up into heaven.

688. As there is such conjunction of all with each and of each with all, there is also a similar conjunction of the most individual particulars of affection and the most individual particulars of thought.

689. There is therefore an equilibrium of all and of each with respect to celestial, spiritual, and natural things; so that no one can think, feel, and act except from many, and yet every one supposes that he does so of himself, most freely. In like manner there is nothing which is not balanced by its opposite, and opposites by intermediates, so that each by himself, and many together, live in most perfect equilibrium. And therefore no evil can befall any one without being instantly counterbalanced; and when there is a preponderance of evil, the evil or evildoer is chastised by the law of equilibrium, as of himself, but solely for the end that good may come. Heavenly order consists in such a form and the consequent equilibrium; and that order is formed, disposed, and preserved by the Lord alone, to eternity.

690. It should be known, moreover, that there is never one society entirely and absolutely like another, nor is there one person like another in any society, but there is an accordant and harmonious variety of all; and the varieties are so ordered by the Lord that they conspire to one end, which is effected through love and faith in Him. Hence their unity. For the same reason the heaven and heavenly joy of one is never exactly and absolutely like that of another; but according to the varieties of love and faith, such are the heaven and the heavenly joy in those varieties.

691. These things in general respecting the heavenly societies are from manifold and daily experience, concerning which specifically, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.


Chapter 7

CONCERNING HELL

692. As with regard to heaven, so with regard to hell, man has only a very general idea, which is so obscure that it is almost none at all. It is such as they who have not been beyond their huts in the woods may have of the earth. They know nothing of its empires and kingdoms, still less of its forms of government, of its societies, or of the life in the societies. Until they know these things they can have but the most general notion of the earth, so general as to be almost none. The case is the same in regard to people's ideas about heaven and hell, when yet in each of them there are things innumerable and indefinitely more numerous than in any earthly world. How numberless they are may be evident from this alone: that just as no one ever has the same heaven, so no one has the same hell as another, and that all souls whatever who have lived in the world since the first creation come there and are gathered together.

693. As love to the Lord and toward the neighbor, together with the joy and happiness thence derived constitute heaven, so hatred against the Lord and the neighbor, together with the consequent punishment and torment, constitute hell. There are innumerable genera of hatreds, and still more innumerable species; and the hells are just as innumerable.

694. As heaven from the Lord, through mutual love, constitutes as it were one man, and one soul, and thus has regard to one end, which is the conservation and salvation of all to eternity, so, on the other hand, hell, from man's Own, through the love of self and of the world, that is, through hatred, constitutes one devil and one mind (animus), and thus also has regard to one end, which is the destruction and damnation of all to eternity. That such is their endeavor has been perceived thousands and thousands of times, so that unless the Lord preserved all every instant, they would perish.

695. But the form and the order imposed by the Lord on the hells is such that all are held bound and tied up by their cupidities and phantasies, in which their very life consists; and this life, being a life of death, is turned into dreadful torments, so severe that they cannot be described. For the greatest delight of their life consists in being able to punish, torture, and torment one another, and this by arts unknown in the world, whereby they know how to induce exquisite suffering, just as if they were in the body, and at the same time dreadful and horrid phantasies, with terrors and horrors and many such torments. The diabolical crew take so great a pleasure in this that if they could increase and extend the pains and torments to infinity, they would not even then be satisfied, but would burn yet again to infinity; but the Lord takes away their endeavors, and alleviates the torments.

696. Such is the equilibrium of all things in the other life in both general and particular that evil punishes itself, so that in evil there is the punishment of evil. It is the same with falsity, which returns upon him who is in the falsity. Hence every one brings punishment and torment upon himself, and rushes at the same time among the diabolical crew who inflict such torment. The Lord never sends any one to hell, but would lead all away from hell, and still less does He lead into torment. But as the evil spirit rushes into it himself, the Lord turns all the punishment and torment to good, and to some use. No penalty is ever possible unless the Lord has in view some end of use; for the Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of ends and uses. But the uses which the infernals can perform are the lowest uses; and when they are engaged in them they are not in so much torment, but on the cessation of the use they are sent back into hell.

697. There are with every man at least two evil spirits and two angels. Through the evil spirits the man has communication with hell; and through the angels, with heaven. Without communication with both no man can live a moment. Thus every man is in some society of infernals, although he is unaware of it. But their torments are not communicated to him, because he is in a state of preparation for eternal life. The society in which a man has been is sometimes shown him in the other life; for he returns to it, and thereby into the life that he had in the world; and from thence he either tends toward hell, or is raised up toward heaven. Thus a man who does not live in the good of charity, and does not suffer himself to be led by the Lord, is one of the infernals, and after death also becomes a devil.

698. Besides the hells there are also vastations, concerning which there is much in the Word. For in consequence of actual sins a man takes with him into the other life innumerable evils and falsities, which he accumulates and joins to himself. It is so even with those who have lived uprightly. Before these can be taken up into heaven, their evils and falsities must be dissipated, and this dissipation is called Vastation. There are many kinds of vastations, and longer and shorter periods of vastation. Some are taken up into heaven in a comparatively short time, and some immediately after death.

699. That I might witness the torment of those who are in hell, and the vastation of those who are in the lower earth, I have at different times been let down thither. To be let down into hell is not to be carried from one place to another, but to be let into some infernal society, the man remaining in the same place. But I may here relate only this experience: I plainly perceived that a kind of column surrounded me, and this column was sensibly increased, and it was intimated to me that this was the "wall of brass" spoken of in the Word. The column was formed of angelic spirits in order that I might safely descend to the unhappy. When I was there I heard piteous lamentations, such as, O God! O God! take pity on us! take pity on us! and this for a long time. I was permitted to speak to those wretched ones, and this for a considerable time. They complained especially of evil spirits in that they desired and burned for nothing else than to torment them. They were in despair, saying that they believed their torment would be eternal; but I was permitted to comfort them.

700. The hells being as we have stated so numerous, in order to give some regular account of them, they shall be treated of as follows:-

I. Concerning the hells of those who have lived a life of hatred, revenge, and cruelty.

II. Concerning the hells of those who have lived in adulteries and lasciviousnesses; and concerning the hells of the deceitful, and of sorceresses.

III. Concerning the hells of the avaricious; and the filthy Jerusalem there, and the robbers in the wilderness; also concerning the excrementitious hells of those who have lived in mere pleasures.

IV. Afterwards concerning other hells which are distinct from the above.

V. Finally concerning those who are in vastation. The description of these will be found prefixed and appended to the following chapters.

 

GENESIS 7:1-24

1. And Jehovah said unto Noah, Enter thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation.

2. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the man (vir) and his wife; and of the beast that is not clean by twos, the man and his wife.

3. Of the fowl of the heavens also by sevens, male and female, to keep seed alive upon the faces of the whole earth.

4. For in yet seven days I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every substance that I have made will I destroy from off the faces of the ground.

5. And Noah did according to all that Jehovah commanded him.

6. And Noah was a son of six hundred years, and the flood of waters was upon the earth.

7. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sonss wives with him, into the ark, from before the waters of the flood.

8. Of the clean beast, and of the beast that is not clean, and of the fowl, and of everything that creepeth upon the ground.

9. There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

10. And it came to pass after the seven days that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

11. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, in that day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the cataracts of heaven were opened.

12. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

13. In the self-same day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark.

14. They, and every wild animal after its kind, and every beast after its kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind; and every fowl after its kind, every flying thing, every winged thing.

15. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of lives.

16. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him. And Jehovah shut after him.

17. And the flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up from off the earth.

18. And the waters were strengthened, and were increased exceedingly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

19. And the waters were strengthened very exceedingly upon the earth, and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered.

20. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail, and covered the mountains.

21. And all flesh died that creepeth upon the earth, as to fowl, and as to beast, and as to wild animal, and as to every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; and every man.

22. All in whose nostrils was the breathing (flatus) of the breath of lives, of all that was in the dry (land), died.

23. And He destroyed every substance that was upon the faces of the ground, from man even to beast, even to creeping thing, and even to the fowl of the heavens; and they were destroyed from the earth; and Noah only was left, and that which was with him in the ark.

24. And the waters were strengthened upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.

 

THE CONTENTS

701. The subject here treated of in general is the preparation of a new church. As the subject before was the intellectual things of that church, so here it is the things of the will (verses 1 to 5).

702. Next its temptations are treated of, which are described as to its intellectual things from (verses 6 to 10), and as to the things of the will in (verses 11, 12).

703. Afterwards the protection of this church is treated of, and its preservation (verses 13 to 15). But what its state was, that it was fluctuating, is described in (verses 16 to 18).

704. Finally the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church is treated of in regard to its character: that it was possessed by persuasions of falsity and by cupidities of the love of self to such a degree that it perished (verses 19 to 24).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

705. The subject here specifically treated of is the "flood", by which is signified not only the temptations which the man of the church called "Noah" had to undergo before he could be regenerated, but also the desolation of those who could not be regenerated. Both temptations and desolations are compared in the Word to "floods" or "inundations" of waters, and are so called. Temptations are denoted in Isaiah: -

For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but in great compassions will I gather thee again. In an inundation of anger I hid my faces from thee for a moment; but in the mercy of eternity will I have compassion upon thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer. For this is the waters of Noah unto Me, to whom I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee and rebuke thee, O thou afflicted and tossed with tempests and not comforted (Isaiah 54:7-9, 11).

This is said of the church that is to be regenerated, and concerning its temptations, which are called the "waters of Noah".

[2] The Lord Himself also calls temptations an "inundation", in Luke: -

Jesus said, Every one that cometh unto Me, and heareth My sayings and doeth them is like unto a man building a house, who digged, and went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when an inundation came, the stream beat upon that house, but could not shake it, because it had been founded upon the rock (Luke 6:47, 48).

That temptations are here meant by an "inundation" must be evident to every one. Desolations are also denoted in Isaiah: -

The Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, the king of Asshur and all his glory; and he riseth up above all his channels, and shall go over all his banks: and he shall go through Judah; he shall inundate and go through; he shall reach even to the neck (Isaiah 8:7, 8).

"The king of Asshur" here stands for phantasies, principles of falsity, and the derivative reasonings, which desolate man, and which desolated the antediluvians.

[3] In Jeremiah: -

Thus hath said Jehovah, Behold waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an inundating stream, and shall inundate the land and the fullness thereof, the city and them that dwell therein (Jeremiah 47:2, 3).

This is said of the Philistines, who represent those who take up false principles, and reason from them concerning spiritual things, which reasonings inundate man, as they did the antediluvians. The reason why both temptations and desolations are compared in the Word to "floods" or "inundations" of waters, and are so called, is that they are similarly circumstanced; it being evil spirits who flow in with their persuasions and the false principles in which they are, and excite such things in man. With the man who is being regenerated, these are temptations; but with the man who is not being regenerated they are desolations.

706. Verse 1. And Jehovah said unto Noah, Enter thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation. "Jehovah said unto Noah", signifies that so it came to pass ("Jehovah" is named because charity is now treated of) "enter thou and all thy house into the ark", signifies the things that are of the will, which is the "house;" to "enter into the ark", here signifies to be prepared; "for thee have I seen righteous in this generation", signifies that he had good whereby he might be regenerated.

707. Here, as far as (verse 5), are found almost the same things that were said in the previous chapter, merely changed in some little measure, and it is the same in the verses that follow. One who is not acquainted with the internal sense of the Word cannot but think that this is merely a repetition of the same thing. Similar instances occur in other parts of the Word, especially in the Prophets, where the same thing is expressed in different words; and sometimes is also taken up again and described a second time. But, as before said, the reason is that there are two faculties in man which are most distinct from each other-the will, and the understanding-and the two are treated of in the Word distinctively. This is the reason of the repetition. That this is the case here will be evident from what follows.

708. Jehovah said unto Noah. That this signifies that so it came to pass, is evident from the consideration that with Jehovah there is nothing else than Being (Esse): that which He says comes to pass and is done; just as in the preceding chapter (Genesis 6:13), and elsewhere, where the expression "Jehovah said" means that it came to pass and was done.

709. The name "Jehovah" is here used because the subject now treated of is charity. In the preceding chapter (Genesis 6:8-22) it is not said "Jehovah", but "God", for the reason that the subject there treated of is the preparation of "Noah" (that is, of the man of the church called "Noah") as to the things of his understanding, which relate to faith; whereas the subject here treated of is his preparation as to the things of the will, which are of love. When the things of the understanding, or the truths of faith, are the subject treated of, the name "God" is used, but when the things of the will, or the goods of love are treated of, the name "Jehovah"' is used. For the things of the understanding, or of faith, do not constitute the church, but the things of the will, which are of love. Jehovah is in love and charity and not in faith unless it is a faith of love or of charity. And therefore in the Word faith is compared to "night", and love to "day " as in the first chapter of Genesis, where the "great lights" are spoken of, it is said that the "greater light", or the sun, which signifies love, should rule the day, and the "lesser light", or the moon, which signifies faith, should rule the night (Gen. 1:14, 16); and it is the same in the Prophets (Jer. 31:35; 33:20; Ps. 136:8, 9; Rev. 8:12).

710. Enter thou and all thy house into the ark. That this signifies the things that are of the will, is therefore evident. In the preceding chapter, where the things of the understanding are meant, it is expressed differently, namely: "Thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee" (verse 18). That a "house" signifies the will and what is of the will, is evident in various places in the Word; as in Jeremiah: -

Their houses shall be turned over unto others, their fields and their wives together (Jeremiah 6:12).

Here "houses" and also "fields" and "wives" relate to things which are of the will. Again: -

Build ye houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them (Jeremiah 29:5, 28).

Here "building houses and dwelling in them" relates to the will; "planting gardens", to the understanding: and it is the same in other passages. And the "house of Jehovah" is frequently mentioned as signifying the church wherein love is the principal; the "house of Judah", as signifying the celestial church; and the "house of Israel", as signifying the spiritual church. As "house" signifies the church, the mind of the man of the church (wherein are the things of the will and of the understanding, or of charity and faith), is also signified by "house".

711. That to "enter into the ark", is to be prepared, has been stated before in the preceding chapter (Genesis 6:18). But there it signified that he was prepared for salvation as to things of the understanding, which are truths of faith; but here as to things of the will, which are goods of charity. Unless a man is prepared, that is, furnished with truths and goods, he can by no means be regenerated, still less undergo temptations. For the evil spirits who are with him at such a time excite his falsities and evils; and if truths and goods are not present, to which they may be bent by the Lord, and by which they may be dispersed, he succumbs. These truths and goods are the remains which are reserved by the Lord for such uses.

712. For thee have I seen righteous in this generation. That this signifies that he had good whereby he might be regenerated, was stated and shown at (Genesis 6:9). In that place "righteous" or "just" signifies the good of charity; and "perfect" the truth of charity. It is there said "generations", in the plural, because things of the understanding are treated of; and here, "generation", in the singular, because things of the will are treated of. For the will comprehends in itself the things of the understanding, but the understanding does not comprehend in itself those of the will.

713. Verse 2. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the man and his wife; and of the beast that is not clean by twos, the man and his wife. By "every clean beast", are signified affections of good; by "sevens", is signified that they are holy; by "man and his wife", that the truths were conjoined with goods. By the "beast not clean", are signified evil affections; by "two", that they are relatively profane; by "man and wife", falsities conjoined with evils.

714. That affections of good are signified by "every clean beast" is evident from what has been said and shown before respecting beasts (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246). The reason why affections are thus signified is that man in himself, and regarded in what is his own, is nothing but a beast. He has very similar senses, appetites, desires; and all his affections are very similar. His good, nay, even his best loves, are very similar; as the love for companions of his own kind, the love of his children, and of his wife; so that they do not at all differ. But his being man, and more than beast, consists in his having an interior life, which beasts never have nor can have. This life is the life of faith and love from the Lord. And if this life were not within everything that he has in common with beasts, he would not be anything else. Take only one example-love toward companions: if he should love them only for the sake of himself, and there were nothing more heavenly or Divine in his love, he could not from this be called a man, because it is the same with beasts. And so with all the rest. If therefore there were not the life of love from the Lord in his will, and the life of faith from the Lord in his understanding, he would not be a man. By virtue of the life which he has from the Lord he lives after death; because the Lord adjoins him to Himself. And thus he can be in His heaven with the angels, and live to eternity. And even if a man lives as a wild beast, and loves nothing whatever but himself and what regards himself, yet so great is the Lord's mercy-for it is Divine and Infinite-that He does not leave him, but continually breathes into him His own life, through the angels; and even supposing that he receives it no otherwise, it still causes him to be able to think, to reflect, to understand whether a thing is good or evil-in relation to what is moral, civil, worldly, or corporeal-and therefore whether it is true or false.

715. As the most ancient people knew, and when they were in self-humiliation acknowledged, that they were nothing but beasts and wild beasts, and were men solely by virtue of what they had from the Lord, therefore whatever pertained to themselves they not only likened to but called beasts and birds; things of the will they compared to beasts, and called beasts; and things of the understanding they compared to and called birds. But they distinguished between good affections and evil affections. Good affections they compared to lambs, sheep, kids, she-goats, he-goats, rams, heifers, oxen-for the reason that they were good and gentle, and serviceable to life, since they could be eaten, and their skins and wool could furnish clothing. These are the principal clean beasts. But those which are evil and fierce, and not serviceable to life, are unclean beasts.

716. That holy things are signified by "seven" is evident from what has been said before respecting the seventh day, or the sabbath (n. 84-87), namely, that the Lord is the seventh day; and that from Him every celestial church, or celestial man, is a seventh day, and indeed the celestial itself, which is most holy because it is from the Lord alone. For this reason, in the Word, "seven" signifies what is holy; and in fact, as here, in the internal sense partakes not at all of the idea of number. For they who are in the internal sense, as angels and angelic spirits are, do not even know what number is, and therefore not what seven is. Therefore it is not meant here that seven pairs were to be taken of all the clean beasts; or that there was so much of good in proportion to evil as seven to two; but that the things of the will with which this man of the church was furnished were goods, which are holy, whereby he could be regenerated, as was said above.

[2] That "seven" signifies what is holy, or holy things, is evident from the rituals in the representative church, wherein the number seven so frequently occurs. For example, they were to sprinkle of the blood and the oil seven times, as related in Leviticus: -

Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them; and he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its vessels, to sanctify them (Leviticus 8:10, 11).

Here "seven times" would be entirely without significance if what is holy were not thus represented. And in another place: When Aaron came into the holy place it is said: -

He shall take of the blood of the bullock and sprinkle with his finger upon the faces of the mercy-seat toward the east; and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times (Lev. 16:14).

And so at the altar: -

He shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and sanctify it (Lev. 16:19).

The particulars here, each and all, signify the Lord Himself, and therefore the holy of love; that is to say, the "blood", the "mercy-seat", and also the "altar", and the "east", toward which the blood was to be sprinkled, and therefore also "seven".

[3] And likewise in the sacrifices, of which in Leviticus: -

If a soul shall sin through error, and if the anointed priest shall sin so as to bring guilt on the people, he shall slay the bullock before Jehovah, and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before Jehovah, toward the veil of the sanctuary (Leviticus 4:2, 3, 6).

Here in like manner "seven" signifies what is holy; because the subject treated of is expiation, which is of the Lord alone, and therefore the subject treated of is the Lord. Similar rites were also instituted in respect to the cleansing of leprosy, concerning which in Leviticus: -

Of the blood of the bird, with cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop, the priest shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall make him clean. In like manner he was to sprinkle of the oil that was upon the palm of his left hand seven times before Jehovah. And so in a house where there was leprosy, he was to take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and with the blood of the bird sprinkle seven times (Leviticus 14:6, 7, 27, 51).

Here any one may see that there is nothing at all in the "cedar wood", the "scarlet", the "oil", the "blood of a bird", nor yet in "seven", except from the fact that they are representative of holy things. Take away from them what is holy, and all that remains is dead, or profanely idolatrous. But when they signify holy things there is Divine worship therein, which is internal, and is only represented by the externals. The Jews indeed could not know what these things signified; nor does any one at the present day know what was signified by the "cedar wood", the "hyssop", the "scarlet", and the "bird". But if they had only been willing to think that holy things were involved which they did not know, and so had worshiped the Lord, or the Messiah who was to come, who would heal them of their leprosy-that is, of their profanation of holy things-they might have been saved. For they who so think and believe are at once instructed in the other life, if they desire, as to what each and all things represented.

[4] And in like manner it was commanded respecting the red heifer: -

The priest shall take of her blood with his finger and sprinkle of her blood toward the face of the tent of meeting seven times (Num. 19:4).

As the "seventh day" or "sabbath" signified the Lord, and from Him the celestial man, and the celestial itself, the seventh day in the Jewish Church was of all religious observances the most holy; and hence came the "sabbath of sabbath", in the seventh year (Lev. 25:4), and the "jubilee" that was proclaimed after the seven sabbaths of years, or after seven times seven years (Lev. 25:8, 9). That in the highest sense "seven" signifies the Lord, and hence the holy of love, is evident also from the golden candlestick and its seven lamps (Exod. 25:31-33, 37; 37:17-19, 23; Num. 8:2, 3; Zech. 4:2) and of which it is thus written by John: -

Seven golden lampstands; and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like unto the Son of man (Rev. 1:12, 13).

It very clearly appears in this passage that the "lampstand with the seven lamps" signifies the Lord, and that the "lamps" are the holy things of love, or celestial things; and therefore they were "seven".

[5] And again: -

Out of the throne went forth seven torches of fire, burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God (Rev. 4:5).

Here the "seven torches" that went forth out of the throne of the Lord are the seven lights, or lamps. The same is signified wherever the number "seven" occurs in the Prophets, as in Isaiah: -

The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth up the breach of His people (Isaiah 30:26).

Here the "sevenfold light, as the light of seven days", does not signify sevenfold, but the holy of the love signified by the "sun". See also what was said and shown above respecting the number "seven" (Genesis 4:15). From all this again it is clearly evident that whatever numbers are used in the Word never mean numbers as was also shown before (Genesis 6:3).

717. It is also evident from all this that the subject here treated of is the things of man's will, or the good and holy things in him which are predicated of the will. For it is said that he should "take of the clean beast by sevens;" and the same is said in the following verse concerning the "fowl". But in the preceding chapter (Genesis 6:19, 20), it is not said that he should "take by sevens", but by "twos", or pairs; because there things of the understanding are treated of, which are not holy in themselves, but are holy from love, which is of the will.

718. That by "man (vir) and wife" is signified that the truths were conjoined with goods, is evident from the signification of "man" as being truth, which is of the understanding, and from the signification of "wife" as being good, which is of the will (concerning which before), and also from the fact that man has not the least of thought, nor the least of affection and action, in which there is not a kind of marriage of the understanding and the will. Without a kind of marriage, nothing ever exists or is produced. In the very organic forms of man, both composite and simple, and even in the most simple, there is a passive and an active, which, if they were not coupled as in a marriage, like that of man and wife, could not even be there, still less produce anything, and the case is the same throughout universal nature. These incessant marriages derive their source and origin from the heavenly marriage; and thereby there is impressed upon everything in universal nature, both animate and inanimate, an idea of the Lord's kingdom.

719. That evil affections are signified by the "beasts not clean", is evident from what has been said and shown before respecting the clean beasts. They are called "clean" because they are gentle, good, and useful. The unclean-of which there are genera and species-are the contrary, being fierce, evil, and not useful. In the Word also they are described as wolves, bears, foxes, swine, and many others; and various cupidities and evil dispositions are signified by them. As to its being here said that unclean beasts also (that is, evil affections) should be brought into the ark, the truth is that the man of that church is here described such as he was in character, and this by the ark, and therefore by the things that were in the ark, or that were brought into the ark; that is to say, the things are described that were in the man before he was regenerated. There were in him the truths and goods with which he had been furnished and gifted by the Lord before regeneration; for without truths and goods no one can ever be regenerated. But here the evils that were in him are spoken of, and are signified by the unclean beasts. There are evils in man which must be dispersed while he is being regenerated, that is, which must be loosened and attempered by goods; for no actual and hereditary evil in man can be so dispersed as to be abolished. It still remains implanted; and can only be so far loosened and attempered by goods from the Lord that it does not injure, and does not appear, which is an arcanum hitherto unknown. Actual evils are those which are loosened and attempered, and not hereditary evils; which also is a thing unknown.

720. That "pairs" signify things relatively profane, is evident from the signification of the number "two". A "pair", or "two", not only signifies marriage (and is, when predicated of the heavenly marriage, a holy number), but it also signifies the same as "six". That is to say, as the six days of labor are related to the seventh day of rest, or the holy day, so is the number "two" related to "three;" and therefore the third day in the Word is taken for the seventh, and involves almost the same, on account of the Lord's resurrection on the third day. And hence the Lord's coming into the world, and in glory, and every coming of the Lord, is described equally by the "seventh" and by the "third" day. For this reason the two days that precede are not holy, but relatively are profane. Thus in Hosea: -

Come and let us return unto Jehovah, for He hath wounded, and He will heal us; He hath smitten and He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him (Hosea 6:1, 2).

And in Zechariah: -

It shall come to pass in all the land, saith Jehovah, that two parts therein shall be cut off and die, and the third shall be left therein; and I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined (Zechariah 13:8, 9).

And that silver was most pure when purified seven times appears in (Psalms 12:6); from all of which it is plain that as "seven" does not signify seven, but things that are holy, so by "pairs" are signified not pairs, but things relatively profane; and therefore the meaning is not that the unclean beasts, or evil affections, in comparison with the clean beasts, or good affections, were few in the proportion of two to seven, for the evils in man are far more numerous than the goods.

721. That by "man and wife" are signified falsities conjoined with evils, is evident from what was said just above. For here "man and wife" is predicated of the unclean beasts; but before of the clean; and therefore the expression there signified truths conjoined with goods, but here falsities conjoined with evils. Such as is the subject, such is the predication.

722. Verse 3. Of the fowl of the heavens also by sevens, male and female, to keep seed alive upon the faces of the whole earth. By "the fowl of the heavens", are signified things of the understanding; by "sevens", those which are holy; by "male and female", truths and goods; "to keep seed alive upon the faces of the whole earth", signifies truths of faith.

723. That the "fowl of the heavens" signifies things of the understanding, has been shown before, and therefore need not be dwelt upon.

724. Likewise that "sevens" signifies things that are holy, and here holy truths, which are holy from the fact that they come from goods. No truth is holy unless it comes from good. A man may utter many truths from the Word, and thus from memory, but if it is not love or charity that brings them forth, nothing holy can be predicated of them. But if he has love and charity, then he acknowledges and believes, and this from the heart. And it is the same with faith, of which so many say that it alone saves: if there is no love or charity from which the faith comes, there is no faith. Love and charity are what make faith holy. The Lord is in love and charity, but not in faith that is separated from charity. In faith separated is the man himself, in whom there is nothing but uncleanness. For when faith is separated from love, his own praise, or his own advantage, is the moving cause that is in his heart, and from which he speaks. This every one may know from his own experience. Whoever tells any one that he loves him, that he prefers him to others, that he acknowledges him as the best of men, and the like, and yet in heart thinks otherwise, does this only with his mouth, and in heart denies, and sometimes makes sport of him. And it is the same with faith. This has been made very well known to me by much experience. They who in the life of the body have preached the Lord and faith with so much eloquence, together with feigned devoutness, as to astonish their hearers, and have not done it from the heart, in the other life are among those who bear the greatest hatred toward the Lord, and who persecute the faithful.

725. That by "male and female" are signified truths and goods, is evident from what has been said and shown before, namely, that "man" and "male" signify truth, and "wife" and "female" good. But "male and female" are predicated of things of the understanding, and "man and wife", of things of the will, for the reason that marriage is represented by man and wife, and not so much by male and female. For truth can never of itself enter into marriage with good, but good can with truth; because there is no truth which is not produced from good and thus coupled with good. If you withdraw good from truth, nothing whatever remains but words.

726. To keep seed alive upon the faces of the whole earth. That this signifies truths of faith, is evident from the seed being kept alive by this church. By "seed" is meant faith. The rest of the descendants of the Most Ancient Church destroyed the celestial and spiritual seed within them, by foul cupidities and direful persuasions. But that celestial seed might not perish, they who are called "Noah" were regenerated, and this by means of spiritual seed. These are the things which are signified. Those are said to be "kept alive" who receive the Lord's life, because life is in those things only which are of the Lord, as must be evident to every one from the fact that there is no life in those things which are not of eternal life, or which do not look to eternal life. Life that is not eternal is not life, but in a brief time perishes. Nor can being (esse) be predicated of things that cease to be, but only of those that never cease to be. Thus living and being are within those things only which are of the Lord, or Jehovah; because all being and living, to eternity, is of Him. By eternal life is meant eternal happiness, respecting which see what was said and shown above (n. 290).

727. Verse 4. For in yet seven days I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every substance that I have made will I destroy from off the faces of the ground. "In yet seven days", signifies the beginning of temptation; "to rain", signifies temptation; "forty days and nights", signifies the duration of temptation; "I will destroy every substance that I have made from off the faces of the ground", signifies the Own of man, which is as it were destroyed when he is being regenerated. The same words signify also the extinction of those of the Most Ancient Church who destroyed themselves.

728. That "in yet seven days" here signifies the beginning of temptation, is evident from the internal sense of all things mentioned in this verse, in that the temptation of the man called "Noah" is treated of. It treats in general both of his temptation and of the total vastation of those who were of the Most Ancient Church and had become such as has been described. Therefore "in yet seven days", signifies not only the beginning of temptation, but also the end of vastation. The reason why these things are signified by "in yet seven days", is that " seven" is a holy number, as was said and shown before (Gen. 7:2; 4:15, 24); (n. 84-87). "In seven days", signifies the Lord's coming into the world, also His coming into glory, and every coming of the Lord in particular. It is an attendant feature of every coming of the Lord that it is a beginning to those who are being regenerated, and is the end of those who are being vastated. Thus to the man of this church the Lord's coming was the beginning of temptation; for when man is tempted he begins to become a new man and to be regenerated. And at the same time it was the end of those of the Most Ancient Church who had become such that they could not but perish. Just so when the Lord came into the world-the church at that time was in its last state of vastation, and was then made new.

[2] That these things are signified by "in yet seven days", is evident in Daniel: -

Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people, and upon the city of thy holiness, to consummate the transgression, to seal up sins, and to purge away iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies. Know therefore and perceive, from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks (Daniel 9:24, 25).

Here "seventy weeks" and "seven weeks" signify the same as "seven days", namely, the coming of the Lord. But as here there is a manifest prophecy, the times are still more sacredly and certainly designated by septenary numbers. It is evident then not only that "seven" thus applied to times signifies the coming of the Lord, but that the beginning also of a new church at that time is signified by the "anointing of the holy of holies", and by Jerusalem being "restored and built". And at the same time the last vastation is signified by the words, "Seventy weeks are decreed upon the city of holiness, to consummate the transgression, and to seal up sins".

[3] So in other places in the Word, as in Ezekiel, where be says of himself: -

I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that sat by the river Chebar, and I sat there astonished among them seven days; and it came to pass at the end of seven days that the word of Jehovah came unto me (Ezekiel 3:15, 16).

Here also "seven days" denote the beginning of visitation; for after seven days, while he sat among those who were in captivity, the word of Jehovah came unto him. Again: -

They shall bury Gog, that they may cleanse the land, seven months; at the end of seven months they shall search (Ezekiel 39:12, 14).

Here likewise "seven" denotes the last limit of vastation, and the first of visitation. In Daniel: -

The heart of Nebuchadnezzar shall they change from man, and the heart of a beast shall be given unto him, and seven times shall pass over him (Daniel 4:16, 25, 32),

denoting in like manner the end of vastation, and the beginning of a new man.

[4] The "seventy years" of Babylonish captivity represented the same. Whether the number is "seventy" or "seven" it involves the same, be it seven days or seven years, or seven ages which make seventy years. Vastation was represented by the years of captivity; the beginning of a new church by the liberation and the rebuilding of the temple. Similar things were also represented by the service of Jacob with Laban, where these words occur: -

I will serve thee seven years for Rachel; and Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and Laban said, Fulfill this week, and I will give thee her also, for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years; and Jacob did so, and fulfilled this week (Gen. 29:18, 20, 27, 28).

Here the "seven years" of service involve the same, and also that after the days of seven years came the marriage and freedom. This period of seven years was called a "week", as also in Daniel.

[5] The same was represented too in the command that they should compass the city of Jericho "seven times", and the wall would then fall down; and it is said that: -

On the seventh day they rose with the dawn and compassed the city after the same manner seven times, and it came to pass at the seventh time the seven priests blew the seven trumpets and the wall fell down (Josh. 6:10-20).

If these things had not likewise had such a signification, the command that they should compass the city seven times, and that there should be seven priests and seven trumpets would never have been given. From these and many other passages (Job 2:13; Rev. 15:1, 6, 7; 21:9),

it is evident that "in seven days" signifies the beginning of a new church, and the end of the old. In the passage before us, as it treats both of the man of the church called "Noah" and his temptation, and of the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church, which destroyed itself, "in yet seven days", can have no other signification than the beginning of Noah's temptation and the end or final devastation and expiration of the Most Ancient Church.

729. That by "raining" is signified temptation, is evident from what was said and shown in the introduction to this chapter, namely, that a "flood" or "inundation" of waters, which is here described by "rain", signifies not only temptation, but also vastation. And the same will also appear from what is to be said concerning the flood in the following pages.

730. That by "forty days and nights" is signified the duration of temptation, is plainly evident from the Word of the Lord. That "forty" signifies the duration of temptation, comes from the fact that the Lord suffered Himself to be tempted for forty days (Matthew 4:1, 2; Luke 4:2; Mark 1:13). And as the things instituted in the Jewish and the other representative churches before the coming of the Lord were each and all types of Him, so also were the forty days and nights,-in that they represented and signified in general all temptation, and specifically the duration of the temptation, whatever that might be. And because a man when in temptation is in vastation as to all things that are of his Own, and of the body (for the things that are of his Own and of the body must die, and this through combats and temptations, before he is born again a new man, or is made spiritual and heavenly), for this reason also "forty days and nights" signify the duration of vastation; and it is the same here where the subject is both the temptation of the man of the new church, called "Noah", and the devastation of the antediluvians.

[2] That the number "forty" signifies the duration of both temptation and vastation, whether greater or less, is evident in Ezekiel: -

Thou shalt lie on thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days, each day for a year have I appointed it unto thee (Ezekiel 4:6).

"Forty" denotes here the duration of the vastation of the Jewish Church, and also a representation of the Lord's temptation; for it is said that he should " bear the iniquity of the house of Judah". Again: -

I will make the land of Egypt wastes, a waste of desolation; no foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, and it shall not be inhabited forty years; and I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the desolate lands, and her cities in the midst of the cities that are laid waste shall be a solitude forty years (Ezekiel 29:10-12).

Here also "forty" denotes the duration of vastation and desolation; and in the internal sense forty years are not meant, but only, in general, the desolation of faith, whether within a less or greater time. In John: -

The court that is without the temple cast out and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations, who shall tread the holy city under foot forty and two months (Rev. 11:2).

[3] And again: -

There was given unto the beast a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given unto him power to make war forty and two months (Rev. 13:5),

denoting the duration of vastation, for any one may know that forty-two months of time is not meant. But the origin of the use of the number "forty-two" in this passage (which has the same signification as the number "forty") is that "seven days" signify the end of vastation, and a new beginning, and "six days" signify labor, from the six days of labor or combat. Seven are therefore multiplied by six, and thus give rise to the number forty-two, which signifies the duration of the vastation and the duration of the temptation, or the labor and combat, of the man who is to be regenerated, in which there is holiness. But, as is evident from these passages in the Apocalypse, the round number "forty" was taken for the not so round number "forty-two".

[4] That the Israelitish people were led about for forty years in the wilderness before they were brought into the land of Canaan, in like manner represented and signified the duration of temptation, and also the duration of vastation; the duration of temptation, by their being afterwards brought into the holy land; the duration of vastation, by the fact that all above the age of twenty years, who went out of Egypt, except Joshua and Caleb, died in the wilderness (Num. 14:33-35; 32:8-14). The things against which they so often murmured signify temptations, and the plagues and destruction that so frequently came upon them signify vastations. That these signify temptations and vastations will of the Lord's Divine mercy be shown in that place. Of these things it is written in Moses: -

Thou shalt remember all the way which Jehovah thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to afflict thee, to tempt thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments, or no (Deut. 8:2, 3, 16).

That Moses was forty days and forty nights upon Mount Sinai, likewise signifies the duration of the temptation, that is, it signifies the Lord's temptation, as is evident from his abiding in the mount forty days and forty nights, neither eating bread nor drinking water, supplicating for the people that they might not be destroyed (Deut. 9:9, 11, 18, 25-29; 10:10).

[5] The reason why "forty days" signify the duration of temptation is, as just said, that the Lord suffered Himself to be tempted of the devil forty days. And therefore-as all things were representative of the Lord-when the idea of temptations was present with the angels, that idea was represented in the world of spirits by such things as are in this world, as is the case with all angelic ideas during their descent into the world of spirits: they being presented representatively. And in the same way the idea of temptation was presented by the number "forty" because the Lord was to be tempted forty days. With the Lord, and consequently with the angelic heaven, it is the same whether a thing is present or is to come; what is to come is present, or what is to be done is done. From this came the representation of temptations, as also of vastations, in the representative church, by "forty". But these things cannot as yet be very well comprehended, because the influx of the angelic heaven into the world of spirits is not known, nor that such is the nature of this influx.

731. Every substance that I have made will I destroy from off the faces of the ground. That this signifies man's Own, which is as if destroyed when vivified, is evident from what has been said before respecting this Own. Man's Own is all evil and falsity. So long as this continues, the man is dead; but when he comes into temptations it is dispersed, that is, loosened and tempered by truths and goods from the Lord, and thus is vivified and appears as if it were not present. That it does not appear and is no longer hurtful, is signified by "destroyed;" and yet it is not destroyed, but remains. It is almost as with black and white, which when variously modified by the rays of light are turned into beautiful colors-such as blue, yellow, and purple- whereby, according to their arrangement are presented lovely and agreeable tints, as in flowers, yet remaining radically and fundamentally black and white. But as here at the same time the final vastation of those who were of the Most Ancient Church is treated of, by "I will destroy every existing thing that I have made, from off the face of the ground", are signified those who perished, as likewise in the following (verse 23). The "substance that I have made", is all that, or every man, in which there was heavenly seed, or who was of the church; and therefore, both here and in the following verse, "ground" is mentioned, which signifies the man of the church in whom good and truth have been implanted. This seed, in those called "Noah"-evils and falsities being dispersed, as before said-gradually grew up; but with the antediluvians who perished it was extinguished by tares.

732. Verse 5. And Noah did according to all that Jehovah commanded him. This signifies as before, that thus it came to pass. Compare the preceding chapter (Genesis 6:22), where it is said twice that Noah "did", here only once; and there the name "God" is used, but here "Jehovah". The reason is that there things of the understanding are treated of, and here those of the will. Things of the understanding regard those of the will as being different and distinct from themselves; but things of the will regard those of the understanding as being united, or as one, with them; for the understanding is from the will. This is the reason why it is there twice said he "did", and here only once; and also why the name "God" is used, and here "Jehovah".

733. Verse 6. And Noah was a son of six hundred years, and the flood of waters was upon the earth. "Noah was a son of six hundred years", signifies his first state of temptation; "the flood of waters was upon the earth", signifies the beginning of temptation.

734. In the preceding chapter (Genesis 6:13-22) the truths of the understanding are treated of, in which the man of the church called "Noah" was instructed by the Lord before he was regenerated; and next in this chapter (verses 1-5), the goods of the will are treated of, with which also he was endowed by the Lord. As both are treated of, it appears like a repetition. But now in (verses 6 to 11) his temptation is treated of, and here the first state and thus the beginning of temptation; and, as every one can see, a repetition occurs again. For it is said in this verse that "Noah was a son of six hundred years", when the flood came upon the earth; and in (verse 11) that it was "in the six hundredth year of his life, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month". And so in (verse 7) it is said that Noah went into the ark with his sons and their wives, and likewise in (verse 13). Again it is said in (verses 8 and 9) that the beasts went in unto Noah into the ark; and also in (verses 14 to 16). From which it is evident that here too there is a repetition of what was said before. Those who abide in the sense of the letter alone cannot know but that it is a matter of history thus repeated. But here as elsewhere there is not the least word that is superfluous and vain; for it is the Word of the Lord. There is therefore no repetition, except with another signification. And here, in fact, as before, the signification is that it is the first temptation, which is temptation as to things of his understanding; but afterwards it is his temptation as to things of the will. These temptations follow one after the other with him who is to be regenerated. For to be tempted as to things of the understanding is quite another thing from being tempted as to what is of the will. Temptation as to things of the understanding is light; but temptation as to things of the will is severe.

735. The reason why temptation as to things of the understanding, or as to the falsities in a man, is light, is that man is in the fallacies of the senses, and the fallacies of the senses are such that they cannot but enter, and are therefore also easily dispelled. Thus it is with all who abide in the sense of the letter of the Word where it speaks according to the apprehension of man, and therefore according to the fallacies of his senses. If they simply have faith in these things because it is the Word of the Lord, then notwithstanding their being in fallacies they easily suffer themselves to be instructed. As for example: a man who believes that the Lord is angry and punishes and does evil to the wicked, as he has derived this belief from the sense of the letter, he can easily be informed what the real truth is. And so if one simply believes that he can do good of himself, and that if of himself he is good he will receive reward in the other life, he also can easily be instructed that the good which he does is from the Lord, and the Lord in His mercy gives the reward gratuitously. And therefore when such come into temptation as to matters of the understanding, or as to such fallacies, they can be only lightly tempted. And this is the first temptation-and it hardly appears as temptation-which is now treated of. But it is otherwise with those who do not in simplicity of heart believe the Word, but confirm themselves in fallacies and falsities because they favor their cupidities; and who being impelled by this motive bring together many reasonings from themselves and their memory-knowledges (scientificis), and afterwards confirm the same by the Word, and thus impress upon themselves, and persuade themselves, that what is false is true.

736. As regards "Noah", or the man of this new church, he was of such character that he believed in simplicity what he had from the Most Ancient Church, which were matters of doctrine, collected and reduced to some doctrinal form by those who were called "Enoch". And he was of an entirely different genius from the antediluvians who perished, called "Nephilim", who immersed the doctrinal things of faith in their foul cupidities, and thereby conceived direful persuasions, from which they would not recede, however much instructed by others and shown the falsity of those persuasions. There are at this day also men of the one genius, or nature, and men of the other. Those of the one may easily be regenerated, but those of the other with difficulty.

737. Noah was a son of six hundred years. That this signifies his first state of temptation, is evident, because here and as far as to Heber in the eleventh chapter, numbers and periods of years and names mean nothing else than actual things; just as do also the ages and all the names in the fifth chapter. That "six hundred years" here signify the first state of temptation, is evident from the dominant numbers in six hundred, which are ten and six, twice multiplied into themselves. A greater or less number from the same factors changes nothing. As regards the number "ten", it has been shown already (Gen. 6:3) that it signifies remains; and that "six" here signifies labor and combat is evident from many passages in the Word. For the case is this: In what has gone before the subject is the preparation of the man called "Noah" for temptation-that he was furnished by the Lord with truths of the understanding and goods of the will. These truths and goods are remains, which are not brought out so as to be recognized until the man is being regenerated. In the case of those who are being regenerated through temptations, the remains in a man are for the angels that are with him, who draw out from them the things wherewith they defend the man against the evil spirits who excite the falsities in him, and thus assail him. As the remains are signified by "ten", and the combats by "six", for this reason the years are said to be "six hundred", in which the dominant numbers are ten and six, and signify a state of temptation.

[2] As regards the number "six" in particular that it signifies combat is evident from the first chapter of Genesis, where the six days are described in which man was regenerated, before he became celestial, and in which there was continual combat, but on the seventh day, rest. It is for this reason that there are six days of labor and the seventh is the sabbath, which signifies rest. And hence it is that a Hebrew servant served six years, and the seventh year was free (Exod. 21:2; Deut. 15:12; Jer. 34:14); also that six years they sowed the land and gathered in the fruits thereof, but the seventh year omitted to sow it (Exod. 23:10-12), and dealt in like manner with the vineyard; and that in the seventh year was "a sabbath of sabbath unto the land, a sabbath of Jehovah" (Lev. 25:3, 4). As "six" signifies labor and combat, it also signifies the dispersion of falsities, as in Ezekiel: - Behold six men came from the way of the upper gate which looketh toward the north, and every one had his weapon of dispersion in his hand (Ezekiel 9:2); and again, against Gog: -

I will make thee to turn again, and will make thee a sixth, and will cause thee to come up from the sides of the north (Ezekiel 39:2).

Here "six" and "to reduce to a sixth", denote dispersion; the "north", falsities; "Gog", those who derive matters of doctrine from things external, whereby they destroy internal worship. In Job: -

In six troubles He shall deliver thee, yea, in the seventh there shall no evil touch thee (Job 5:19),

meaning the combat of temptations.

[3] But "six" occurs in the Word where it does not signify labor, combat, or the dispersion of falsities, but the holy of faith, because of its relation to "twelve", which signifies faith and all things of faith in one complex; and to "three", which signifies the holy; whence is derived the genuine signification of the number "six;" as in (Ezekiel 40:5), where the reed of the man, with which he measured the holy city of Israel, was "six cubits;" and in other places. The reason of this derivation is that the holy of faith is in the combats of temptation, and that the six days of labor and combat look to the holy seventh day.

738. Noah is here called "a son of six hundred years", because a "son" signifies truth of the understanding, as before shown. But in (verse 11) he is not called a "son", because there his temptation as to things of the will is treated of.

739. That by the "flood of waters" is signified the beginning of temptation, is evident from temptation as to things of the understanding being here treated of, which temptation precedes, and, as before said, is light; and for this reason it is called a "flood of waters", and not simply "a flood" as in (verse 17). For "waters" signify especially the spiritual things of man, the intellectual things of faith, and the opposites of these, which are falsities; as may be confirmed by very many passages from the Word.

[2] That a "flood" or "inundation" of waters signifies temptation, is evident from what was shown in the introduction to this chapter. So also in Ezekiel: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, I will make a stormy wind to break through in My fury, and an inundating rain shall there be in Mine anger, and hailstones in wrath, unto the consummation, that I may destroy the wall that ye have daubed with what is unfit (Ezekiel 13:13, 14).

Here a "stormy wind", and an "inundating rain", denote the desolation of falsities; the "wall daubed with what is unfit", denotes fiction appearing as truth. In Isaiah: -

Jehovah God is a protection from inundation, a shadow from the heat, for the breath of the violent is as an inundation against the wall (Isaiah 25:4)

. An "inundation" here denotes temptation as to things of the understanding, and is distinguished from temptation as to things of the will, which is called "heat".

[3] Again: -

Behold the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, as an inundation of hail, a destroying storm, as an inundation of mighty waters, overflowing (Isaiah 28:2),

where degrees of temptation are described. And again: -

When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned, and the flame shall not kindle upon thee (Isaiah 43:2).

"Waters" and "rivers" here denote falsities and phantasies, "fire" and "flame" evils and cupidities. In David: -

For this shall every one that is holy pray unto Thee at a time of finding: so that in the inundation of many waters they shall not reach unto him; Thou art my hiding place; Thou wilt preserve me from trouble (Ps. 32:6, 7),

where the "inundation of waters" denotes temptation which is also called a "flood". In the same: -

Jehovah sitteth at the flood; yea, Jehovah sitteth King forever (Ps. 29:10).

From these passages, and from what was premised at the beginning of this chapter, it is evident that a "flood" or "inundation" of waters signifies nothing else than temptations and vastations, although described historically, after the manner of the most ancient people.

740. Verse 7. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, from before the waters of the flood. "Noah went into the ark, from before the waters of the flood", signifies that he was protected in temptation; by "sons" are signified truths, as before; by "wife", goods; by "sons" "wives", truths conjoined with goods.

741. Noah went into the ark from before the waters of the flood. That this signifies that he was protected, must be evident to every one. Temptations are nothing else than combats of evil spirits with the angels who are with a man. Evil spirits call up all the wrong things that from his infancy a man has either done or even thought, thus both his evils and his falsities, and condemn him, and there is nothing that gives them greater delight than to do this, for the very delight of their life consists therein. But through angels the Lord guards the man, and restrains the evil spirits and genii from ranging beyond bounds and inundating the man beyond what he is able to bear.

742. That by "sons" are signified truths, by "wife" goods, and by "sons" "wives" truths conjoined with goods, has been explained before at (Genesis 6:18), where the same words occur. By truths and goods (though here called "sons" and "wives") are meant those things which were in the man called "Noah", and by means of which he was protected. Such is the most ancient style of the Word, connected in the manner of history, but involving heavenly arcana.

743. Verses 8, 9. Of the clean beast, and of the beast that is not clean, and of the fowl, and of everything that creepeth upon the ground, there went in two and two, to Noah into the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. By "the clean beast", affections of good are signified as before; by "the beast that is not clean", cupidities; by "the fowl", in general, thoughts; by "everything that creepeth upon the ground", the sensuous part and its every pleasure; "two and two", signify things corresponding; that they "went into the ark", signifies that they were protected; "male and female", signify as before truth and good; "as God commanded Noah", signifies that so it came to pass.

744. That affections of good are signified by "the clean beast", has been stated and explained before, at (verse 2) of this chapter, and therefore need not be dwelt upon; as also that cupidities, that is, evil affections, are signified by "the beast not clean".

745. That by the "fowl", or "bird", in general are signified thoughts, may be seen from what has been said before concerning birds-that they signify things of the understanding, or things rational. But there they were called "fowls of the heavens", and here only "the fowl;" and therefore they signify thoughts in general. For there are many kinds of birds, both clean and unclean, which are distinguished in (verse 14) into the "fowl", the "flying thing", and the "winged thing". The clean birds are thoughts of truth; the unclean are false thoughts; concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

746. Everything that creepeth upon the ground. That this signifies the sensuous part and its every pleasure, has also been said and shown before. The most ancient people compared and likened the sensuous things of man and his pleasures to reptiles and creeping things, and even called them so, because they are the outermost things, and as it were creep on the surface of a man, and must not be permitted to raise themselves higher.

747. That "two and two" signify things that correspond, any one may see from their being pairs; they cannot be pairs unless they correspond to each other, as do goods and truths, and evils and falsities. For there is in all things a semblance of a marriage, or a coupling, as of truths with goods, and of evils with falsities, because there is a marriage of the understanding with the will, or of the things of the understanding with those of the will. And indeed everything has its marriage or its coupling, without which it could not possibly subsist.

748. That their "going into the ark" signifies that they were protected, was stated before in (verse 7), where it is said concerning Noah and his sons and their wives.

749. That "male and female" signify truth and good, may be seen from what has been said before, in (verses 2 and 3) of this chapter, where "male and female" are predicated of fowls, and "man and wife" of beasts. The reason was also then stated, namely, that there is a marriage of the things of the will with those of the understanding, and not so much of the things of the understanding, in themselves regarded, with those of the will. The former are related as man and wife, the latter as male and female. And because the subject here, as before said, is the temptation of that man as to the things of his understanding, it is said "male and female", and there is meant a combat or temptation as to the things of the understanding.

750. As God commanded Noah. That this signifies that so it came to pass, has been shown at (Genesis 6:22) of the preceding chapter, and in this chapter at (verse 5).

751. As the subject here treated of is the temptation of the man of the new church called "Noah", and as few if any know the nature of temptations (because at this day there are few who undergo such temptations, and those who do undergo them know not but that it is something inherent in themselves which thus suffers), the subject shall be briefly explained. There are evil spirits who as before said in times of temptation call up a man's falsities and evils, and in fact call forth from his memory whatever he has thought and done from his infancy. Evil spirits do this with a skill and a malignity so great as to be indescribable. But the angels with the man draw out his goods and truths, and thus defend him. This combat is what is felt and perceived by the man, causing the pain and remorse of conscience.

[2] There are two kinds of temptations, one as to things of the understanding, the other as to those of the will. When a man is tempted as to things of the understanding, the evil spirits call up only the evil things he has been guilty of (here signified by the "unclean beasts"), and accuse and condemn him; they do indeed also call up his good deeds (here signified by the "clean beasts"), but pervert them in a thousand ways. At the same time they call up what he has thought (here signified by the "fowl"), and such things also as are signified by "everything that creepeth upon the ground".

[3] But this temptation is light, and is perceived only by the recalling of such things to mind and a certain anxiety therefrom. But when a man is tempted as to the things of the will, his thoughts and doings are not so much called up, but there are evil genii (as evil spirits of this kind may be called) who inflame him with their cupidities and foul loves with which he also is imbued, and thus combat by means of the man's cupidities themselves, which they do so maliciously and secretly that it could not be believed to be from them. For in a moment they infuse themselves into the life of his cupidities, and almost instantly invert and change an affection of good and truth into an affection of evil and falsity, so that the man cannot possibly know but that it is done of his own self, and comes forth of his own will. This temptation is most severe, and is perceived as an inward pain and tormenting fire. Of this more will be said hereafter. That such is the case has been given me to perceive and know by manifold experience; and also when and how the evil spirits or genii were flowing in and inundating, and who and whence they were; concerning which experiences, of the Lord's Divine mercy special and particular mention will be made hereafter.

752. Verse 10. And it came to pass after the seven days that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. This signifies, as before, the beginning of temptation.

753. That by "seven days" is signified the beginning of temptation was shown above at (verse 4); and it has reference to what has gone before, namely, that this temptation, which was of the things of his understanding, was the beginning of temptation, or the first temptation; and it is the conclusion thus expressed. And because this first temptation was as to things of the understanding, it is described by the "waters of the flood", as above at (verse 7), and by the "flood of waters" at (verse 6), which properly signify such temptation, as was there shown.

754. Verse 11. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, in that day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the cataracts of heaven were opened. By "the six hundredth year, the second month, and the seventeenth day", is signified the second state of temptation; "all the fountains of the great deep were broken up", signifies the extreme of temptation as to the things of the will; "the cataracts of heaven were opened", signifies the extreme of temptation as to the things of the understanding.

755. That by "the six hundredth year, the second month, and seventeenth day", is signified the second state of temptation, follows from what has hitherto been said; for from (verse 6-11) the first state of temptation is treated of, which was temptation as to things of his understanding. And that now the second state is treated of, namely, as to things of the will, is the reason why his age is told again. It was said before that he was "a son of six hundred years", and here that the flood came "in the six hundredth year of his life, in the second month, and in the seventeenth day". No one could suppose that by the years of Noah's age, of which the years, months, and days are specified, a state of temptation as to things of the will is meant. But as has been said, such was the manner of speech and of writing among the most ancient people; and especially were they delighted in being able to specify times and names, and thereby construct a narrative similar to actual history; and in this consisted their wisdom.

[2] Now it has been shown above, at (verse 6), that the "six hundred years" signify nothing else than the first state of temptation, and so do the "six hundred years" here; but in order that the second state of temptation might be signified, "months" and "days" are added; and indeed two months or "in the second month", which signifies combat itself, as is evident from the signification of the number "two" in (verse 2) of this chapter, where it is shown that it signifies the same as "six", that is, labor and combat, and also dispersion. But the number "seventeen" signifies both the beginning of temptation and the end of temptation, because it is composed of the numbers seven and ten. When this number signifies the beginning of temptation, it involves the days up to seven, or a week of seven days; and that this signifies the beginning of temptation has been shown above, at (verse 4) of this chapter. But when it signifies the end of temptation (Genesis 8:4), then "seven" is a holy number; to which "ten" (which signifies remains) is adjoined, for without remains man cannot be regenerated.

[3] That the number "seventeen" signifies the beginning of temptation, is evident in Jeremiah, when that prophet was commanded to buy a field from Hanamel his uncle's son, which was in Anathoth; and he weighed him the money, seventeen shekels of silver (Jeremiah 32:9). That this number also signifies the Babylonish captivity, which represents the temptation of the faithful and the devastation of the unfaithful, and so the beginning of temptation and at the same time the end of temptation, or liberation, is evident from what follows in the same chapter,-the captivity in (Jeremiah 32:36), and the liberation in (Jeremiah 32:37) and following verses. No such number would have appeared in the prophecy if it had not, like all the other words, involved a hidden meaning.

[4] That "seventeen" signifies the beginning of temptation, is also evident from the age of Joseph, who was a "son of seventeen years" when he was sent to his brothers and sold into Egypt (Gen. 37:2). His being sold into Egypt has a similar signification, as of the Lord's Divine mercy will be shown in the explication of that chapter. There the historical events are representative, which actually took place as described; but here significative historical incidents are composed, which did not take place as described in the sense of the letter. And yet the actual events involve arcana of heaven, in fact every word of them does so, exactly as do these made-up histories. It cannot but appear strange that this is so, because where any historical fact or statement is presented, the mind is held in the letter and cannot release itself from it, and so thinks that nothing else is signified and represented.

[5] But that there is an internal sense in which the life of the Word resides (and not in the letter, which without the internal sense is dead), must be evident to every intelligent man. Without the internal sense how does any historical statement in the Word differ from history as told by any profane writer? And then of what use would it be to know the age of Noah, and the month and day when the flood took place, if it did not involve a heavenly arcanum? And who cannot see that this saying: "all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the cataracts of heaven were opened", is a prophetical one? Not to mention other like considerations.

756. That "all the fountains of the great deep were broken up", signifies the extreme of temptation as to things of the will, is evident from what has been said just above respecting temptations, that they are of two kinds, one as to things of the understanding, the other as to things of the will, and that the latter relatively to the former are severe; and it is evident likewise from the fact that up to this point temptation as to things of the understanding has been treated of. The same is evident from the signification of the "deep", namely, cupidities and the falsities thence derived (n. 18), and it is evident also from the following passages in the Word. In Ezekiel: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and many waters shall cover thee (Ezekiel 26:19),

where the "deep" and "many waters" denote the extreme of temptation. In Jonah: -

The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; the deep was round about me (Jonah 2:5),

where likewise the "waters" and the "deep" denote the extreme of temptation. In David: -

Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy water-spouts; all Thy breakers and all Thy waves are over me (Ps. 42:7),

where also the "deep" manifestly denotes the extreme of temptation Again: -

He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; and He made them go through the deeps as in the wilderness, and He saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy, and the waters covered their adversaries (Ps. 106:9-11),

where the "deep" denotes the temptations in the wilderness.

[2] In ancient times, hell was meant by the "deep;" and phantasies and persuasions of falsity were likened to waters and rivers, as also to a smoke out of the deep. And the hells of some appear so, that is, as deeps and as seas; concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. From those hells come the evil spirits that devastate, and also those that tempt man; and their phantasies that they pour in, and the cupidities with which they inflame a man, are as inundations and exhalations therefrom. For as before said, through evil spirits man is conjoined with hell, and through angels with heaven. And therefore when it is said that "all the fountains of the deep were broken up", such things are signified. That hell is called the "deep" and that the foul emanations therefrom are called "rivers", is evident in Ezekiel: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, In the day when he went down into hell I caused a mourning, I covered the deep above him, and I restrained the rivers thereof, and the great waters were stayed (Ezekiel 31:15).

Hell is also called the "deep", or "abyss", in John (Rev. 9:1, 2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3).

757. The cataracts of heaven were opened. That this signifies the extreme of temptation as to things of the understanding, is also evident from the above. Temptation as to things of the will, or as to cupidities, can by no means be separated from temptation as to things of the understanding; for if separated there would not be any temptation, but an inundation, such as there is with those who live in the fires of cupidities, in which they, like infernal spirits, feel the delights of their life. They are called the "cataracts of heaven" from the inundation of falsities or reasonings; concerning which also in Isaiah: -

He who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and be that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the cataracts from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth do shake (Isaiah 24:18).

758. Verse 12. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. This signifies that the temptation continued. "Rain" is temptation; "forty days and forty nights", denotes its duration.

759. That the "rain" here is temptation is evident from what has been said and shown above, concerning a "flood" and an "inundation;" and also from the signification of the "fountains of the deep were broken up", and the "cataracts of heaven were opened", as being temptations.

760. That the "forty days and forty nights", signify its duration, was shown above, at (verse 4). By "forty", as before said, is signified every duration of temptation, whether greater or less, and indeed severe temptation, which is of the things of the will. For by continual pleasures, and by the loves of self and of the world, consequently by the cupidities that are the connected activities of these loves, man has acquired a life for himself of such a kind that it is nothing but a life of such things. This life cannot possibly accord with heavenly life; for no one can love worldly and heavenly things at the same time, seeing that to love worldly things is to look downward, and to love heavenly things is to look upward. Much less can any one love himself and at the same time the neighbor, and still less the Lord. He who loves himself, hates all who do not render him service; so that the man who loves himself is very far from heavenly love and charity, which is to love the neighbor more than one's self, and the Lord above all things. From this it is evident how far removed the life of man is from heavenly life, and therefore he is regenerated by the Lord through temptations, and is bent so as to bring him into agreement. This is why such temptation is severe, for it touches a man's very life, assailing, destroying, and transforming it, and is therefore described by the words: "the fountains of the deep were broken up, and the cataracts of heaven were opened".

761. That spiritual temptation in man is a combat of the evil spirits with the angels who are with him, and that this combat is commonly felt in his conscience, has been stated before, and concerning this combat it should also be known that angels continually protect man and avert the evils which evil spirits endeavor to do to him. They even protect what is false and evil in a man, for they know very well whence his falsities and evils come, namely, from evil spirits and genii. Man does not produce anything false and evil from himself, but it is the evil spirits with him who produce it, and at the same time make the man believe that he does it of himself. Such is their malignity. And what is more, at the moment when they are infusing and compelling this belief, they accuse and condemn him, as I can confirm from many experiences. The man who has not faith in the Lord cannot be enlightened so as not to believe that he does evil of himself, and he therefore appropriates the evil to himself, and becomes like the evil spirits that are with him. Such is the case with man. As the angels know this, in the temptations of regeneration they protect also the falsities and evils of a man, for otherwise he would succumb. For there is nothing in a man but evil and the falsity thence derived, so that he is a mere assemblage and compound of evils and their falsities.

762. But spiritual temptations are little known at this day. Nor are they permitted to such a degree as formerly, because man is not in the truth of faith, and would therefore succumb. In place of these temptations there are others, such as misfortunes, griefs, and anxieties, arising from natural and bodily causes, and also sicknesses and diseases of the body, which in a measure subdue and break up the life of a man's pleasures and cupidities, and determine and uplift his thoughts to interior and religious subjects. But these are not spiritual temptations, which are experienced by those only who have received from the Lord a conscience of truth and good. Conscience is itself the plane of temptations, wherein they operate.

763. Thus far temptations have been treated of; and now follows the end or purpose of the temptation, which was that a new church might arise.

764. Verse 13. In the self-same day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark. That they "entered into the ark", signifies here as before that they were saved; "Noah" signifies what was of the church; "Shem, Ham, and Japheth", what was of the churches that were thence derived; "the sons of Noah", signify doctrinal things "the three wives of his sons with them", signify the churches themselves that were thence derived.

765. Thus far the temptation of the man of the church called "Noah" has been treated of: first, his temptation as to things of the understanding, which are truths of faith (verses 6 to 10); and then his temptation as to things of the will, which have regard to the goods of charity (verses 11, 12). The end or purpose of the temptations was that a man of the church or a new church might be born again by their means; seeing that the Most Ancient Church had perished. This church called "Noah" was as before said of a different character from that of the Most Ancient Church; that is to say, it was spiritual, the characteristic of which is that man is born again by means of doctrinal matters of faith, after the implantation of which a conscience is insinuated into him, lest he should act against the truth and good of faith; and in this way he is endowed with charity, which governs the conscience from which he is thus beginning to act. From this it is evident what a spiritual man is: that he is not one who believes faith without charity to be saving, but one who makes charity the essential of faith, and acts from it. That such a man or such a church might arise, was the end in view, and therefore that church itself is now treated of. That the church is now treated of is evident also from the repetition as it were of the same matter; for it is said here: "in the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;" and likewise above in (verse 7), but in these words: "and Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark". But now, because the church is treated of, the sons are named, "Shem, Ham, and Japheth", who when thus named signify the man of the church, but when called "sons", without names, signify truths of faith. Besides, that which was said in (verses 8 and 9) about the beasts and the fowls that went into the ark is repeated again, in (verses 14 to 16), but here with a difference accordant with and applicable to the subject of the church.

766.

767. They entered into the ark. That this signifies that they were saved (namely, the man of the church, who was "Noah", and the other churches descending and derived from him which are here spoken of), is evident from what has been said before about "entering into the ark".

768. That by "Noah" is signified what was of the church, and by "Shem, Ham, and Japheth" what pertained to the churches that were derived therefrom, is evident from the fact that here they were not called merely his "sons", as before in (verse 7), but are called by their names. When thus named they signify the man of the church. The man of the church is not merely the church itself, but is everything that belongs to the church. It is a general term comprehending whatever is of the church, as was said before of the Most Ancient Church, which was called "Man", and likewise of the other churches that were named. Thus by "Noah", and by "Shem, Ham, and Japheth", is signified whatever is of the church and of the churches that were derived from it, in one complex.

[2] Such is the style and manner of speaking in the Word. Thus where "Judah" is named, in the Prophets, the celestial church is mostly signified, or whatever is of that church; where "Israel" is named, the spiritual church is mostly signified, or whatever is of that church; where "Jacob" is named, the external church is signified; for with every man of the church there is an internal and an external of the church, the internal being where the true church is, and the external being what is derived therefrom, and this latter is "Jacob".

[3] But the case is different when the men are not named. The reason why this is so is that when named they refer representatively to the kingdom of the Lord. The Lord is the only Man, and is the all of His kingdom; and as the church is His kingdom on earth, the Lord alone is the all of the church. The all of the church is love or charity; and therefore a man (or what is the same, one called by name), signifies love or charity, that is, the all of the church; and then his "wife" signifies simply the church thence derived. So it is here. But what kind of churches are signified by "Shem, Ham, and Japheth" will of the Lord's Divine mercy be stated hereafter.

769. That by the "sons of Noah" are signified doctrinal things, is evident from the signification of "sons", as shown before; for there can be no church without doctrinal things. And therefore they are not only named, but it is also added that they are his "sons".

770. That by Noah's "wife" is signified the church itself, and by the "three wives of his sons with them", the churches themselves that were derived from that church, is evident from what has been said before, namely, that when the man of the church is named, the all of the church is meant, or, as it is termed, the head of the church; and then his "wife" is the church itself, as shown before (n. 252, 253). It is otherwise when "man and wife", or "male and female", are named in the Word, for then by "man" and "male" are signified the things of the understanding, or the truths of faith; and by "wife" and "female", the things of the will, or the goods of faith.

771. As every expression in the Word is from the Lord, and therefore has what is Divine within it, it is evident that there is no word, nor even an iota, that does not signify and involve something. And so it is here, when it is said "three wives", and the wives "of his sons", and also "with them". But what the particulars involve it would take too long to explain. It is sufficient to give only a general idea of their most general import.

772. Verses 14, 15. They, and every wild animal after its kind, and every beast after its kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind; and every fowl after its kind, every flying thing, every winged thing. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two, of all flesh wherein is the breath of lives. By "they" is signified the man of the church in general; by "every wild animal after its kind", is signified every spiritual good; by "every beast after its kind", every natural good; by "every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind", every sensuous and corporeal good; by "fowl after its kind", every spiritual truth; by "flying thing", natural truth; by "winged thing", sensuous truth. That "they went in unto Noah into the ark", signifies as before that they were saved; "two and two", signifies as before, pairs; "of all flesh wherein is the breath of lives", signifies a new creature, or that they received new life from the Lord.

773. That by "they" is signified the man of the church in general, or all that was of that church, is evident from its referring to those who were named just before, that is, to Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who, although they are four, yet together constitute a one. In "Noah", by whom the Ancient Church in general is meant, are contained, as in a parent or seed, the churches that were derived from that church; and for this reason by "they" is signified the Ancient Church. All those churches which were called "Shem, Ham, and Japheth", together constitute the church which is called the Ancient Church.

774. That by the "wild animal after its kind", is signified every spiritual good, and by "beast after its kind", every natural good, and by "creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth", every sensuous and corporeal good, has been stated and shown before (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246). At first view it may appear as if it could not be that the "wild animal" signifies spiritual good; yet that this is the true signification appears from the series of expressions, in that mention is first made of "they", meaning the man of the church; next of "wild animal;" then of "beast;" and lastly of "creeping thing". So that "wild animal" involves what is of higher worth and excellence than "beast", the reason of which is that in the Hebrew language the expression "wild animal" means also an animal in which there is a living soul. And so it does not here mean every wild animal, but every animal in which there is a living soul, for it is the same word. That by "animals", "beasts", and "creeping things that creep upon the earth", are signified things pertaining to the will, has been stated and shown before, and will be further shown in what presently follows, where birds will be spoken of.

775. It is said of each "after its kind", because there are genera and species of all goods, both spiritual and natural, and also of the derivative sensuous and corporeal goods. So many genera are there of spiritual goods, and so many genera likewise of spiritual truths, that they cannot be numbered; still less can the species of the genera. In heaven all goods and truths, celestial and spiritual, are so distinct in their genera, and these in their species, that there is not the least of them which is not most distinct; and so innumerable are they, that the specific differences may be said to be unlimited. From this it may be seen how poor and almost nonexistent is human wisdom, which scarcely knows that there is such a thing as spiritual good or spiritual truth, much less what it is. From celestial and spiritual goods and their derivative truths, issue and descend natural goods and truths. For there is never any natural good and truth that does not spring from spiritual good, and this from celestial, and also subsist from the same. If the spiritual should withdraw from the natural, the natural would be nothing. The origin of all things (rerum) is in this wise: all things, both in general and in particular, are from the Lord; from Him is the celestial; from Him through the celestial comes forth the spiritual; through the spiritual the natural; through the natural the corporeal and the sensuous. And as they all come forth from the Lord in this way, so also do they subsist from Him, for, as is well known, subsistence is a perpetual coming into existence. They who have a different conception of the coming into existence and rise of things, like those who worship nature and deduce from her the origins of things, are in principles so deadly that the phantasies of the wild beasts of the forest may be called far more sane. Such are very many who appear to themselves to excel others in wisdom.

776. That "every fowl after its kind" signifies every spiritual truth, "flying thing" natural truth, and "winged thing" sensuous truth, is evident from what has been stated and shown before concerning "birds" (n. 40). The most ancient people likened man's thoughts to birds, because relatively to the things of the will, thoughts are like birds. As mention is made here of "fowl", "flying thing", and "winged thing", and of these in succession, like things intellectual, rational, and sensuous in man, in order that no one may doubt that they signify these things, some passages from the Word may be adduced in confirmation, from which it will also be plain that "beasts" signify such things as have been stated.

[2] Thus in David: -

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands: Thou hast put all things under his feet; all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the fields, the fowl of the heaven, and the fish of the sea (Ps. 8:6-8).

This is said of the Lord, whose dominion over man, and over the things pertaining to man, is thus described. Otherwise what would be the dominion over "beasts" and "fowls?" Again: -

Fruitful trees and all cedars, the wild animal and every beast, creeping things and flying fowl, let them praise the name of Jehovah (Ps. 148:9, 10, 13).

The "fruitful tree" denotes the celestial man the "cedar", the spiritual man. The "wild animal", and "beast", and "creeping thing", are their goods, as in the history before us; the "flying fowl" is their truths; from all of which they can "praise the name of Jehovah". By no means can the wild animal, the beast, the creeping thing, and the bird do this. In profane writings such things may be said by hyperbolism, but there are no hyperbolisms in the Word of the Lord, but things significative and representative.

[3] In Ezekiel: -

The fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the wild animal of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at My presence (Ezekiel 38:20).

That such things are here signified by "beasts" and "fowls" is very manifest; for how would it be to the glory of Jehovah if fishes, birds, and beasts should shake? Can any one suppose that such sayings would be holy if they did not involve holy things? In Jeremiah: -

I beheld, and lo there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled (Jeremiah 4:25),

denoting all good and truth; "man" also denotes here the good of love. Again: -

They are burned up, so that none passeth through, neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled, they are gone (Jeremiah 9:10),

denoting in like manner that all truth and good have departed.

[4] And again: -

How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of every field wither? for the wickedness of them that dwell therein the beasts are consumed and the birds, because they said, He shall not see our latter end (Jeremiah 12:4).

Here the "beasts" denote goods, and the "birds" truths, which perished. In Zephaniah: -

I will consume man and beast, I will consume the fowls of the heaven and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the ground (Zephaniah 1:3).

Here "man and beast" denote the things which are of love and of its good; the "fowls of the heaven and the fishes of the sea", the things which are of the understanding, thus which are of truth. These are called "stumbling blocks" because goods and truths are stumbling blocks to the wicked, but not beasts and birds; and they are also plainly spoken of "man". In David: -

The trees of Jehovah are satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted, where the birds make their nests (Ps. 104:16, 17).

The "trees of Jehovah" and the "cedars of Lebanon" denote the spiritual man; the "birds" his rational or natural truths, which are as "nests".

[5] It was moreover a common form of expression that "birds would make their nests in the branches", signifying truths, as in Ezekiel: -

In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it, and it shall lift up its bough, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar; and under it shall dwell every bird of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell (Ezekiel 17:23),

denoting the Church of the Gentiles, which was spiritual. This is "the goodly cedar;" the "bird of every wing" denotes truths of every kind. Again: -

All the birds of the heavens made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches all the wild animals of the field brought forth, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations (Ezekiel 31:6).

This is said of Asshur, which is the spiritual church and is called a "cedar;" the " birds of the heavens" denote its truths; the "beasts" its goods. In Daniel: -

The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and it was meat for all; the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of heaven dwelt in the branches thereof (Daniel 4:12, 21).

Here the "beasts" denote goods, the "fowls of the heavens" truths, as must be evident to every one; for otherwise of what concern is it that the bird and the beasts dwelt there? And it is the same with what the Lord says: -

The kingdom of God is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and cast into his garden, and it grew, and became a tree, and the birds of the heaven lodged in the branches thereof (Luke 13:19; Matt. 13:31, 32; Mark 4:31, 32).

777. It is now evident that the "fowl" signifies spiritual truth, the "flying thing" natural truth, and the "winged thing" sensuous truth; and that truths are distinguished in this way. Sensuous truths, which are those of the sight and hearing, are called "winged things", because they are outermost; and such is the signification of "wing" as applied to other things also.

778. Now as the "fowls of the heavens" signify truths of the understanding, and thus thoughts, they also signify their opposites, such as phantasies or falsities, which being of man's thought are also called "fowls", as for example when it is said that the wicked "shall be given for meat to the fowls of heaven and to the wild beasts", meaning phantasies and cupidities (Isa. 18:6; Jer. 7:33; 16:4; 19:7; 34:20; Ezek. 29:5; 39:4). The Lord Himself also compares phantasies and false persuasions to "fowls", where He says: - The seed that fell by the wayside was trodden under foot, and the fowls of heaven came and devoured it (Matt. 13:4; Luke 8:5; Mark 4:4, 15), where the "fowls of heaven" are nothing else than falsities.

779. And they went in unto Noah into the ark. That this signifies that they were saved, has been already shown. That "two and two" signify pairs, and what they are, may be seen at (Genesis 6:19).

780. Of all flesh wherein is the breath of lives. That this signifies a new creature, or that they received new life from the Lord, is evident from the signification of "flesh" as being in general all mankind, and specifically the corporeal man, as before said and shown. Hence "flesh wherein is the breath of lives", signifies a regenerated man, for in his Own there is the Lord's life, which is the life of charity and faith. Every man is only "flesh;" but when the life of charity and faith is breathed into him by the Lord, the flesh is made alive, and becomes spiritual and celestial, and is called a "new creature" (Mark 16:15), from having been created anew.

781. Verse 16. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him; and Jehovah shut after him. "They that went in", signifies the things that were with the man of the church; "went in male and female of all flesh", signifies that there were with him truths and goods of every kind; "as God had commanded", signifies for the reception of which he had been prepared; "and Jehovah shut after him", signifies that man no longer had such communication with heaven as had the man of the celestial church.

782. Thus far, down to (verse 11), the church has been described as having been preserved in those who were called "Noah". The state of the church then follows, which is described, and first in this passage, as already explained. Then is described the quality of this state of the church. The single verses and even single words involve peculiarities of its state. And because the state of the church is now treated of, what was said just before is repeated, being said twice; here, in the words "and they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh;" while in the verse just preceding it is said, "and they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two, of all flesh". This repetition in the Word signifies that another state is treated of. Otherwise, as any one may comprehend, it would be an entirely useless repetition.

783. That "they that went in", signifies the things that were with the man of the church, is therefore evident; and it also follows that "went in male and female, of all flesh", signifies that there were with him goods and truths of every kind, for it has been stated and shown several times before that the "male" and the "female" signify truths and goods. "As God commanded him". That this signifies that he had been prepared to receive them, has also been mentioned below. With the Lord, to "command" is to prepare and do.

784. And Jehovah shut after him. That this signifies that man no longer had such communication with heaven as had the man of the celestial church, appears from the following statement of the case. The state of the Most Ancient Church was such that they had internal communication with heaven, and so through heaven with the Lord. They were in love to the Lord. Those who are in love to the Lord are like angels, with the difference only that they are clothed with a body. Their interiors were uncovered, and were opened even from the Lord. But this new church was different. They were not in love to the Lord, but in faith, and through faith were in charity toward the neighbor. Such cannot have internal communication, like the most ancient man, but external. But the nature of internal and of external communication it would take too long to explain. Every man, even the wicked, has communication with heaven, through the angels with him (but with a difference as to degree, that is, nearer or more remote), for otherwise man could not exist. The degrees of this communication are without limit. A spiritual man cannot possibly have such communication as can the celestial man, for the reason that the Lord is in love, and not so much in faith. And this is what is signified by "Jehovah shut after him".

[2] And since those times heaven has never been open in the way it was to the man of the Most Ancient Church. It is true that many afterwards spoke with spirits and angels: as Moses, Aaron, and others, but in an entirely different way, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. The reason why heaven was closed is deeply hidden, and why it is so closed at this day that man does not even know that there are spirits, still less that there are angels, with him, and supposes himself to be entirely alone when without companions in the world, and when he is thinking by himself. And yet he is continually in the company of spirits, who observe and perceive what the man is thinking, and what he intends and devises, as fully and plainly as if it were manifest before all in the world. This the man is ignorant of, so closed to him is heaven, and yet it is most true. The reason is that if heaven were not so closed to him while he is in no faith, still less in the truth of faith, and still less in charity, it would be most perilous to him. This is also signified by the words: -

Jehovah God drove out the man, and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden the cherubim, and the flame of a sword that turned itself to keep the way of the tree of lives (Genesis 3:24);

see also what is said (n. 301-303).

785. Verses 17, 18. And the flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up from off the earth; and the waters were strengthened, and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. By "forty days", is signified the duration of the church called "Noah;" by "the flood", falsities which still inundated it; that "the waters increased and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up from off the earth", signifies that such was its fluctuation; "the waters were strengthened and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark went upon the face of the waters", signifies that its fluctuations thus increased in frequency and strength.

786. That by "forty days" is signified the duration of the church called "Noah", was shown above at (verse 4). Here it is "forty days", there "forty days and forty nights;" because in that place the duration of temptation was signified, in which the "nights" are anxieties.

787. That by the "flood" are signified falsities which still inundated the church, also follows from what was shown above; for a "flood" or "inundation" is nothing else than an inundation of falsities. Before at (verse 6), the "flood of waters" signified temptation, as was there shown; which also is an inundation of falsities that evil spirits then excite in man. The case is the same here, but without temptation, and therefore it is said here simply the "flood", not the "flood of waters".

788. The waters increased and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up from off the earth. That this signifies that such was its fluctuation, and that "the waters were strengthened and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark went upon the face of the waters", signifies that its fluctuations thus increased in frequency and strength, cannot be evident unless there be first explained what was the state of this church which is called "Noah". "Noah" was not the Ancient Church itself, but was as the parent or seed of that church, as before said. "Noah" together with "Shem, Ham, and Japheth", constituted the Ancient Church, which immediately succeeded the Most Ancient. Every man of the church called "Noah" was of the posterity of the Most Ancient Church, and with respect to hereditary evil was therefore in a state nearly like that of the rest of the posterity, which perished; and those who were in such a state could not be regenerated and made spiritual as could those who did not derive such quality by inheritance. What their hereditary quality was, has been stated above (n. 310).

[2] For example (that the matter may be more clearly understood): they who, like the Jews, are of the seed of Jacob, cannot so well be regenerated as can the Gentiles, for they have an inherent opposition to faith, not only from principles imbibed from infancy and afterwards confirmed, but from hereditary disposition also. That this inheres also from hereditary disposition, may in some measure be evident from their being of a different genius, of different manners, and also of different features, from other men, whereby they are distinguishable from others; and these characteristics they have from inheritance. And it is the same with the interior qualities, for manners and features are types of the interiors. Therefore converted Jews fluctuate more than others between truth and falsity. It was the same with the first men of the Ancient Church, who were called "Noah" because they were of the race and seed of the most ancient men. These are the fluctuations described here, and also in what follows: that Noah was a husbandman and planted a vineyard; and that he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and lay uncovered within his tent (Genesis 9:20, 21). That they were few, was made evident from the fact that the man of that church was represented in the world of spirits as a tall and slender man, clothed in white, in a chamber of small dimensions. And yet it was they who preserved and had among them the doctrinal things of faith.

789. The fluctuations of the man of this church are described here; first, by its being said that the "waters (that is, falsities) increased;" then, that they "bare up the ark", and that it was "lifted up from off the earth;" afterwards, that the "waters were strengthened, and increased greatly upon the earth;" and finally, that the "ark went upon the face of the waters". But to explain each degree of the fluctuation would be too prolix, and unnecessary. It is sufficient to know that they are here described. We will merely mention what is signified by the statement that the ark was lifted up from off the earth, and went upon the face of the waters. As no one can know this unless he is informed how man is withheld from evils and falsities, and as this is a hidden thing, it shall be briefly explained. Speaking generally, every man, even the regenerate, is such that if the Lord did not withhold him from evils and falsities he would cast himself headlong into hell. The very moment he is not withheld, be rushes headlong into it. This has been made known to me by experience, and was also represented by a horse (n. 187, 188). This withholding from evils and falsities is in effect a lifting up, so that evils and falsities are perceived below, and the man above. Concerning this elevation, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. It is this elevation which is signified by the "ark being lifted up from off the earth, and going upon the face of the waters".

790. That the "waters" here and in the following verses signify falsities, is evident from the passages of the Word adduced at the beginning of this chapter, and at (verse 6), where a "flood" or inundation of waters is treated of. It is there shown that inundations of waters signify desolations and temptations, which involve the same as falsities; for desolations and temptations are nothing else than inundations of falsities that are excited by evil spirits. That such "waters" signify falsities, is because in the Word "waters" in general signify what is spiritual, that is, what is of understanding, of reason, and of memory-knowledge (intellectuale, rationale, et scientificum); and as they signify these they also signify their contraries, for every falsity is a something pertaining to memory-knowledge, and appears as a thing of reason and understanding, because it is of the thought.

[2] That "waters" signify spiritual things, is evident from many passages in the Word; and that they also signify falsities, let the following passages, in addition to those already cited, serve for confirmation. In Isaiah: -

This people hath refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly; therefore behold the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, and he shall go over all his banks (Isaiah 8:6, 7).

The "waters that go softly", here denote things spiritual, "waters strong and many", falsities. Again: -

Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; that sendeth ambassadors upon the sea, and in vessels of papyrus upon the waters. Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled (Isaiah 18:1, 2),

denoting the falsities which are of the "land shadowing with wings".

[3] Again: -

When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee (Isaiah 43:2).

The "waters" and "rivers" denote difficulties, and also falsities. In Jeremiah: -

What hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? And what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? (Jeremiah 2:18),

where "waters" denote falsities from reasonings. Again: -

Who is this that riseth up as a river? as the rivers his waters are in commotion. Egypt riseth up as a river, and as the rivers his waters toss themselves; and he said, I will rise up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof (Jeremiah 46:7, 8),

where again "waters" denote falsities from reasonings.

[4] In Ezekiel: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and the great waters shall cover thee, then will I bring thee down with them that descend into the pit (Ezekiel 26:19, 20).

"Waters" here denote evils and the falsities therefrom. In Habakkuk: -

Thou didst tread the sea with thine horses, the mire of many waters (Habakkuk 3:15),

where "waters" denote falsities. In John: -

And the serpent cast forth after the woman, out of his mouth, water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream (Rev. 12:15, 16).

Here "waters" denote falsities and lies. In David: -

Send Thine hand from above, rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, out of the hand of the sons of the stranger, whose mouth speaketh a lie, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood (Ps. 144:7, 8).

" Great waters" here manifestly denote falsities; the "sons of the stranger" also signify falsities.

791. Thus far "Noah" has been treated of, or the regenerate men called "Noah", who were in the "ark", and were "lifted up above the waters". The subject will now be those descendants of the Most Ancient Church who were under the waters, or were submerged by the waters.

792. Verses 19, 20. And the waters were strengthened very exceedingly upon the earth, and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail, and covered the mountains. "And the waters were strengthened very exceedingly upon the earth", signifies that persuasions of falsity thus increased; "and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered", signifies that all goods of charity were extinguished; "fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail, and covered the mountains", signifies that nothing of charity remained; "fifteen" signifies so few as to be scarcely any.

793. The subject now treated of, up to the end of this chapter, is the antediluvians who perished, as is evident from the particulars of the description. They who are in the internal sense can know instantly, and indeed from a single word, what subject is treated of; and especially can they know this from the connection of several words. When a different subject is taken up, at once the words are different, or the same words stand in a different connection. The reason is that there are words peculiar to spiritual things, and words peculiar to celestial things; or, what is the same, there are words peculiar to matters of understanding, and others to matters of will. For example: the word "desolation" is predicated of spiritual things, and " vastation" of celestial things; "city" is predicated of spiritual things, "mountain" of celestial things; and so on. The case is the same with the connective expressions. And (what cannot fail to be a matter of surprise) in the Hebrew language the words are very often distinguishable by their sound; for in those which belong to the spiritual class the first three vowels are usually dominant, and in words that are of the celestial class, the last two vowels. That in these verses a different subject is now treated of, appears also from the repetition already spoken of (in that it is here again said, as in the preceding verse, "and the waters were strengthened very exceedingly upon the earth"), and the same is evident also from what follows.

794. And the waters were strengthened very exceedingly upon the earth. That this signifies that persuasions of falsity thus increased, is evident from what has been said and shown just above about "waters", namely, that the waters of a flood, or inundations, signify falsities. Here, because falsities or persuasions of what was false were still more increased, it is said that the "waters were strengthened very exceedingly", which in the original language is the superlative. Falsities are principles and persuasions of what is false, and that these had increased immensely among the antediluvians, is evident from all that has been said before concerning them. Persuasions immensely increase when men mingle truths with cupidities, or make them favor the loves of self and of the world; for then in a thousand ways they pervert them and force them into agreement. For who that has imbibed or framed for himself a false principle does not confirm it by much that he has learned; and even from the Word? Is there any heresy that does not thus lay hold of things to confirm it? and even force, and in divers ways explain and distort, things that are not in agreement, so that they may not disagree?

[2] For example, he who adopts the principle that faith alone is saving, without the goods of charity; can he not weave a whole system of doctrine out of the Word? and this without in the least caring for, or considering, or even seeing, what the Lord says, that "the tree is known by its fruit", and that "every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire" (Matt. 3:10; 7:16-20; 12:33). What is more pleasing than to live after the flesh, and yet be saved if only one knows what is true, though he does nothing of good? Every cupidity that a man favors forms the life of his will, and every principle or persuasion of falsity forms the life of his understanding. These lives make one when the truths or doctrinals of faith are immersed in cupidities. Every man thus forms for himself as it were a soul, and such after death does his life become. Nothing therefore is of more importance to a man than to know what is true. When he knows what is true, and knows it so well that it cannot be perverted, then it cannot be so much immersed in cupidities and have such deadly effect. What should a man have more at heart than his life to eternity? If in the life of the body he destroys his soul, does he not destroy it to eternity?

795. All the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. That this signifies that all the goods of charity were extinguished, is evident from the signification of mountains among the most ancient people. With them mountains signified the Lord, for the reason that they held their worship of Him on mountains, because these were the highest places on earth. Hence "mountains" signified celestial things (which also were called the "highest"), consequently love and charity, and thereby the goods of love and charity, which are celestial. And in the opposite sense those also are called "mountains" who are vain glorious; and therefore a "mountain" stands for the very love of self. The Most Ancient Church is also signified in the Word by "mountains", from these being elevated above the earth and nearer as it were to heaven, to the beginnings of things.

[2] That "mountains" signify the Lord, and all things celestial from Him, or the goods of love and charity, is evident from the following passages in the Word, from which it is plain what they signify in particular cases, for all things in the Word, both in general and in particular, have a signification according to the subject to which they are applied. In David: -

The mountains shall bring peace, and the hills, in righteousness (Ps. 72:3).

"Mountains" denote here love to the Lord; "hills", love toward the neighbor, such as was with the Most Ancient Church, which because of this character is also signified in the Word by "mountains" and "hills". In Ezekiel: -

In the mountain of My holiness, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovih, there shall all the house of Israel serve Me, that whole land (Ezekiel 20:40).

The "mountain of holiness" here denotes love to the Lord; the "mountain of the height of Israel", charity toward the neighbor. In Isaiah: -

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills (Isaiah 2:2),

where "mountains" denote the Lord, and thence all that is celestial. Again: -

In this mountain shall Jehovah Zebaoth make unto all peoples a feast of fat things, and He will take away in this mountain the face of the covering (Isaiah 25:6, 7).

"Mountain" here denotes the Lord, and hence all that is celestial.

[3] Again: -

And there shall be upon every lofty mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers, streams of waters (Isaiah 30:25),

where "mountains" denote goods of love; "hills", goods of charity, from which are truths of faith, which are the "rivers and streams of waters". Again: -

Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of Jehovah, to the flock of Israel (Isaiah 30:29).

The "mountain of Jehovah" here denotes the Lord with reference to the goods of love; the "Rock of Israel", the Lord with reference to the goods of charity. Again: -

Jehovah Zebaoth shall come down to fight upon Mount Zion and upon the hill thereof (Isaiah31:4).

"Mount Zion", here and elsewhere in many places, denotes the Lord, and hence all that is celestial and which is love; and "hills" denote what is celestial of lower degree, which is charity.

[4] Again: -

O Zion that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength (Isaiah 40:9).

To "go up into the high mountain and bring good tidings", is to worship the Lord from love and charity, which are inmost, and are therefore also called "highest", because what is inmost is called highest. Again: -

Let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains (Isaiah 42:11).

The "inhabitants of the rock" denote those who are in charity; to "shout from the top of the mountains" is to worship the Lord from love. Again: -

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation (Isaiah 52:7).

To "bring good tidings upon the mountains", is likewise to preach the Lord from the doctrine of love and charity, and from these to worship Him. Again: -

The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12)

denoting worship of the Lord from love and charity, which are "the mountains and the hills;" and from the faith thence derived, which are the "trees of the field".

[5] Again: -

I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be exalted (Isaiah 49:11)

where "mountains" denote love and charity; and "way" and "highways", the truths of faith thence derived, which are said to be "exalted" when they are from love and charity as their inmost. Again: -

He that putteth his trust in Me shall possess the land as a heritage, and shall inherit the mountain of My holiness (Isaiah 57:13)

denoting the Lord's kingdom, wherein is nothing but love and charity. Again: -

I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of My mountains, and Mine elect shall possess it (Isaiah 65:9).

"Mountains" here denote the Lord's kingdom and celestial goods; "Judah", the celestial church. And again: -

Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place (Isaiah 57:15).

"High" here denotes what is holy; and hence it is that on account of their height above the earth, mountains signify the Lord and His holy celestial things. And it was for this reason that the Lord promulgated the Law from Mount Sinai. Love and charity are also meant by the Lord, by "mountains", where, speaking of the consummation of the age, He says: -

Then let them that are in Judea flee into the mountains (Matt. 24:16; Luke 21:21; Mark 13:14),

where "Judea" denotes the vastated church.

796. As the Most Ancient Church held holy worship upon mountains, the Ancient Church did the same. And hence in all the representative churches of that time, and in all the nations too, the custom prevailed of sacrificing upon mountains and of building high places, as is evident from what is related of Abram (Gen. 12:1; 22:2); and of the Jews before the building of the temple (Deut. 27:4-7; Josh. 8:30; 1 Sam. 9:12-14, 19; 10:5; 1 Kings 3:2-4); of the nations (Deut. 12:2; 2 Kings 17:9-11); and of the idolatrous Jews (Isa. 57:7; 1 Kings 11:7; 14:23; 22:43; 2 Kings 12:3; 14:4; 15:3, 4, 34, 35; 16:4; 17:9-11; 21:5; 23:5, 8, 9, 13, 15).

797. From all this it is now evident what is signified by the "waters with which the mountains were covered", namely, persuasions of falsity, which extinguished all the good of charity.

798. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail, and covered the mountains. That this signifies that nothing of charity remained; and that "fifteen" signifies so few as to be scarcely any, is evident from the signification of the number "five" (Genesis 6:15), where it was shown that in the style of the Word, or in the internal sense, "five" signifies a few; and since the number "fifteen" is composed of five, signifying a few, and of ten, which signifies remains (Genesis 6:3), therefore "fifteen" signifies remains, which with this people were scarcely any. For so many were the persuasions of falsity that they extinguished every good. As for the remains with man, the fact was, as already said, that principles of falsity, and still more, persuasions of falsity, such as were with these antediluvians, had so entirely shut in and hidden away the remains that these could not be brought out, and if brought out they would forthwith have been falsified. For such is the life of persuasions that it not only rejects every truth and absorbs every falsity, but also perverts every truth that comes near.

799. Verses 21, 22. And all flesh died that creepeth upon the earth, as to fowl, and as to beast, and as to wild animal, and as to every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; and every man; all in whose nostrils was the breathing of the breath of lives, of all that was in the dry land, died. "All flesh died that creepeth upon the earth", signifies that they who were of the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church became extinct; "as to fowl, and as to beast, and as to wild animal, and as to every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth", signifies their persuasions, wherein the "fowl" signifies affections of what is false, "beast" cupidities, "wild animal" pleasures, and "creeping thing" corporeal and earthly things. These in one complex are called "every man". "All in whose nostrils was the breathing of the breath of lives", signifies the men who were of the Most Ancient Church in whose nostrils was the "breathing of the breath of lives", that is, in whom was the life of love and of the derivative faith; "of all that was in the dry land", signifies those men in whom there was no longer such life; that they "died", signifies that they expired.

800. And all flesh died that creepeth upon the earth. That this signifies that they who were of the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church became extinct, is evident from what follows, where they are described as to their persuasions and their cupidities. They are here first called " flesh that creepeth upon the earth", for the reason that they had become altogether sensuous and corporeal. Sensuous and corporeal things, as has been said, were likened by the most ancient men to creeping things; and therefore when "flesh moving upon the earth" is spoken of, such a man is signified as has become merely sensuous and corporeal. That "flesh" signifies all mankind in general, and specifically the corporeal man, has been said and shown before.

801. From the description of these antediluvians as here given, it is evident what was the style of writing among the most ancient people, and thus what the prophetic style was. They are described here and up to the end of this chapter; in these verses they are described in respect to their persuasions, and in (verse 23) in respect to their cupidities; that is, they are first described in respect to the state of the things of their understanding, and then in respect to the state of the things of their will. And although with them there were in reality no things of understanding or of will, still the things contrary to them are so to be called; that is to say, such things as persuasions of falsity, which are by no means things of understanding, and yet are things of thought and reason; and also such things as cupidities, which are by no means things of will. The antediluvians are described, I say, first as to their false persuasions, and then as to their cupidities, which is the reason why the things contained in (verse 21) are repeated in (verse 23), but in a different order. Such also is the prophetic style.

[2] The reason is that with man there are two lives: one, of the things of the understanding; the other, of the things of the will, and these lives are most distinct from each other. Man consists of both, and although at this day they are separated in man, nevertheless they flow one into the other, and for the most part unite. That they unite, and how they unite, can be established and made clear by many illustrations. Since man therefore consists of these two parts (the understanding and the will, of which the one flows into the other), when man is described in the Word, he is described with distinctiveness as to the one part and as to the other. This is the reason of the repetitions, and without them the description would be defective. And the case is the same with every other thing as it is here with the will and the understanding, for things are circumstanced exactly as are their subjects, seeing that they belong to their subjects because they come forth from their subjects; a thing separated from its subject, that is, from its substance, is no thing. And this is the reason why things are described in the Word in a similar way in respect to each constituent part, for in this way the description of each thing is full.

802. That persuasions are here treated of, and cupidities in (verse 23), may be known from the fact that in this verse "fowl"is first mentioned, and then "beast". For "fowl" signifies what is of the understanding, or of reason, and "beast" what is of the will. But when things belonging to cupidities as described, as in (verse 23), "beast" is first mentioned, and then "fowl;" and this for the reason, as was said, that the one thus reciprocally flows into the other, and so the description of them is full.

803. As to fowl, and as to beast, and as to wild animal, and as to every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. That these signify the persuasions of those in whom "fowl" signifies affections of what is false, "beast" cupidities, "wild animal" pleasures, and "creeping thing" things corporeal and earthly, is evident from what has been already shown respecting the signification of "fowls" and of "beasts" (concerning "fowls" in n. 40, and above at (verses 14 and 15) of this chapter; concerning "beasts" also in the same place, and in (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246). As "fowls" signify things of understanding, of reason, and of memory-knowledge, they signify also the contraries of these, as what is of perverted reason, falsities, and affections of what is false. The persuasions of the antediluvians are here fully described, namely, that there were in them affections of what is false, cupidities, pleasures, things corporeal and earthly. That all these are within persuasions, man is not aware, believing a principle or a persuasion of what is false to be but a simple thing, or one general thing; but he is much mistaken, for the case is very different. Every single affection of a man derives its existence and nature from things of his understanding and at the same time from those of his will, so that the whole man, both as to all things of his understanding and all things of his will, is in his every affection, and even in the most individual or least things of his affection.

[2] This has been made evident to me by numerous experiences, as for example (to mention only one) that the quality of a spirit can be known in the other life from one single idea of his thought. Indeed angels have from the Lord the power of knowing at once, when they but look upon any one, what his character is, nor is there any mistake. It is therefore evident that every single idea and every single affection of a man, even every least bit of his affection, is an image of him and a likeness of him, that is, there is present therein, nearly and remotely, something from all his understanding and from all his will. In this way then are described the direful persuasions of the antediluvians: that there were in them affections of what is false, and affections of what is evil, or cupidities, and also pleasures, and finally things corporeal and earthly. All these are within such persuasions; and not only in the persuasions in general, but also in the most individual or least things of the persuasions, in which things corporeal and earthly predominate. If man should know how much there is within one principle and one persuasion of what is false, he would shudder. It is a kind of image of hell. But if it be from innocence or from ignorance, the falsities therein are easily shaken off.

804. It is added, "every man", by which is signified that these things were in that man. This is a general concluding clause which includes all that goes before. Such clauses are often added.

805. All in whose nostrils was the breathing of the breath of lives. That this signifies the men who were of the Most Ancient Church in whose nostrils was the breathing of the breath of lives, that is, the life of love and of the derivative faith, is evident from what has been said before (n. 96, 97). Among the most ancient people, life was signified by the "breath in the nostrils", or by "breathing", which is the life of the body corresponding to spiritual things, as the motion of the heart is the life of the body corresponding to celestial things.

[2] It is here said, "in whose nostrils was the breathing of the breath of lives", because the antediluvians are treated of, in whom by inheritance from their progenitors there was seed from the celestial, but extinct or suffocated. There is also a deeper meaning that lies hidden in these words, of which we have already spoken (n. 97), namely, that the man of the Most Ancient Church had internal respiration, and thus respiration concordant with and similar to that of angels, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. This respiration was varied in accordance with all the states of the internal man. But in process of time it was changed in their posterity, until this last generation, wherein all that was angelic perished. Then they could no longer respire with the angelic heaven. This was the real cause of their extinction; and therefore it is now said that they "expired", and that they in whose nostrils was the breathing of the breath of lives, "died".

[3] After these times internal respiration ceased, and with it communication with heaven and thereby celestial perception, and external respiration succeeded. And because communication with heaven thus ceased, the men of the Ancient (or new) Church could no longer be celestial men like the Most Ancient, but were spiritual. But concerning these things, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

806. Of all that was in the dry (land). That this signifies those in whom there was no longer such life, and that their "dying" signifies that they expired, now follows from what has been shown. And because all the life of love and faith was extinguished, it is here said the "dry (land)". "Dry (land)" is where there is no water, that is, where there is no longer anything spiritual, still less celestial. A persuasion of falsity extinguishes and as it were suffocates everything spiritual and celestial; as every one may know from much experience, if he pays attention. They who have once conceived opinions, though most false, cling to them so obstinately that they are not even willing to hear anything that is contrary to them; so that they never suffer themselves to be informed, even if the truth be placed before their eyes. Still more is this the case when they worship the false opinion from a notion of its sanctity. Such are they who spurn every truth, and that which they admit they pervert, and thus immerse in phantasies. It is they who are signified here by the "dry (land)", wherein there is no water and no grass. So in Ezekiel: -

I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land desolate, and the fullness thereof (Ezekiel 30:12).

To "make the rivers dry", signifies that there is no longer anything spiritual. And in Jeremiah: -

Your land is become dry (land) (Jeremiah 44:22).

"Dry (land)" here denotes land that is desolated and laid waste, so that there is no longer anything of truth and good.

807. Verse 23. And He destroyed every substance that was upon the faces of the ground, from man even to beast, even to creeping thing, and even to the fowl of the heavens; and they were destroyed from the earth; and Noah only was left and that which was with him in the ark. "And He destroyed every substance", signifies cupidities which are of the love of self; "that was upon the faces of the ground", signifies the posterity of the Most Ancient Church; "from man even to beast, even to creeping thing, and even to the fowl of the heavens", signifies the nature of their evil; "man" that nature itself, "beast" cupidities, "creeping thing" pleasures, "fowl of the heavens" falsities therefrom; "and they were destroyed from the earth", is the conclusion-that the Most Ancient Church expired. "Noah only was left, and that which was with him in the ark", signifies that they who constituted the new church were preserved; "that which was with him in the ark", signifies all things that were of the new church.

808. And he destroyed every substance. That this signifies cupidities which are of the love of self, is evident from what follows, where they are described by representatives. "Substance" is predicated of the things of the will, because from the will all things with man arise, that is, come into existence and subsist. The will is the very substance of man, or the man himself. The cupidities of the antediluvians were of the love of self. There are two most universal kinds of cupidities: one kind belongs to the love of self, the other to the love of the world. A man desires nothing else than what he loves, and therefore cupidities belong to his love. With these men the love of self reigned, and consequently its cupidities. For they so loved themselves that they believed themselves to be gods, not acknowledging any God above themselves; and of this they persuaded themselves.

809. That was upon the faces of the ground. That this signifies the posterity of the Most Ancient Church, is evident from the signification of "ground" (of which before) as being the church, and therefore what is of the church. Here, as "every substance that was upon the faces of the ground" is said to be "destroyed", the meaning is that they who were of the Most Ancient Church, and were of such a character, were destroyed. Here it is said "ground", though in (verse 21) it is said "earth", for the reason that the church is never predicated of things of the understanding, but of things of the will. Religious knowledge and its attendant rational convictions (scientificum et rationale fidei) by no means constitute the church or man of the church, but charity, which is of the will. All that is essential comes from the will; and consequently neither does what is doctrinal make the church, unless both in general and in particular it looks to charity, for then charity becomes the end. From the end it is evident what kind of doctrine it is, and whether it is of the church or not. The church of the Lord, like the kingdom of the Lord in the heavens, consists of nothing but love and charity.

810. Both man and beast, and crying thing, and fowl of the heavens. That these words signify the nature of their evil; "man", that nature itself; "beast", cupidities; "creeping thing", pleasures and "fowl of the heavens", falsities thence derived, is evident from the signification of all these things as given above, wherefore there is no need to dwell upon them.

811. And they were destroyed from the earth. That this is the conclusion, namely, that the Most Ancient Church expired; and that by "Noah only was left, and that which was with him in the ark", is signified that they were preserved who constituted the new church; and that by "that which was with him in the ark", are signified all things that were of the new church, needs no further explication, being self-evident.

812. Verse 24. And the waters were strengthened upon the earth a hundred and fifty days. This signifies the last limit of the Most Ancient Church; "a hundred and fifty" is the last limit, and the first.

813. That this signifies the last limit of the Most Ancient Church, and that "a hundred and fifty" is the last limit, and the first, cannot indeed be so well confirmed from the Word as can the more simple numbers, which are frequently occurring. And yet it is evident from the mention of the number "fifteen" concerning which above at (verse 20), which signifies so few as to be scarcely any; and this is still more the case with the number a "hundred and fifty", composed of fifteen multiplied by ten, which last signifies remains. The multiplication of a few (like the multiplication of a half, a fourth, or a tenth), makes it still less, so that at length it becomes almost none, consequently the end or last limit. The same number occurs in the following chapter (Genesis 8:3), where it is said: "the waters receded at the end of a hundred and fifty days", with the same signification.

[2] The numbers mentioned in the Word are to be understood in a sense entirely abstracted from that of the letter. They are introduced merely to connect together the historic series that is in the sense of the letter. Thus where "seven" occurs, it signifies what is holy, entirely apart from the times and measures with which the number is commonly joined. For the angels, who perceive the internal sense of the Word, know nothing of time and measure, still less of the number designated; and yet they understand the Word fully, when it is being read by man. When therefore a number anywhere occurs, they can have no idea of any number, but of the thing signified by the number. So here by this number they understand that it denotes the last limit of the Most Ancient Church; and in the following chapter (Genesis 8:3), that it denotes the first limit of the Ancient or new Church.

 

CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE HELLS. HERE, CONCERNING THE HELLS OF THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED THEIR LIFE IN HATREDS, REVENGES, AND CRUELTIES

814. Such spirits as cherish deadly hatred, and hence breathe out vengeance and nothing less than death to another, knowing no rest till then, are kept in the deepest cadaverous hell, where there is a noisome stench as of carcasses; and, wonderful to say, such spirits are so delighted with the stench there that they prefer it to the most pleasing odors. Such is their dreadful nature, and their consequent phantasy. A like stench actually exhales from that hell. When the hell is opened (which occurs rarely, and then only for a short time), so great a stench pours forth from it that spirits cannot remain in the neighborhood. Certain genii, or rather furies, who were sent forth thence in order that I might know their quality, infected the sphere with such poisonous and pestilent breath that the spirits about me could not stay; and at the same time it so affected my stomach that I vomited. They manifested themselves under the appearance of a little child, of not uncomely face, with a concealed dagger, whom they sent to me, bearing a cup in his hand. From this it was given me to know that they had a mind to murder, either with the dagger or with poison, under a show of innocence. Yet they themselves had naked bodies, and were very black. But presently they were sent back into their cadaverous hell, and it was then given me to observe how they sank down. They went on to the left, in the plane of the left temple, and to a great distance, without descending, and afterwards sank down; first into what appeared as a fire, then into a fiery smoke as of a furnace, and then under that furnace, toward the front, where were many most gloomy caverns tending downward. On the way they were continually revolving and intending evils, and chiefly against the innocent, without cause. When they sank down through the fire they greatly lamented. That they may be well distinguished as to whence and what they are, when they are sent out they have a kind of ring to which are affixed points as of brass, which they press with the hands and twist about. This is a sign that they are of this nature, and are bound.

815. They who so delight in hatred and the consequent revenge that they are not content to kill the body only, but desire to destroy the soul, which yet the Lord has redeemed, are sent down through a very dark opening toward the lowest parts of the earth, to a depth proportionate to the degree of their hatred and vindictiveness; and there they are struck with grievous terror and horror, and at the same time are kept in the lust for revenge; and as this increases they are sent down to lower depths. Afterwards they are sent into a place beneath Gehenna, where great and dreadful thick-bellied serpents appear (so vividly that it is just as if they were real), by whose bites they are tormented, feeling them acutely. Such things are keenly felt by spirits, answering to their life just as things of the body do to the life of those who are in the body. Meanwhile they live in direful phantasies for ages, until they no longer know that they have been men. Their life, which they have derived from such hatreds and revenges, cannot otherwise be extinguished.

816. As there are innumerable genera of hatreds and revenges, and species still more innumerable, and one genus has not the same hell as another, and as it is therefore impossible to recount them singly in their order, I may refer to what have been seen. One came to me who appeared to be a noble. (Those who appeared to me were seen as in clear daylight, and even more clearly, but by my internal sight; for of the Lord's Divine mercy it has been given me to be in company with spirits.) At his first approach he pretended by signs that he had much he wished to communicate to me, asking whether I was a Christian; to which I replied that I was. He said that he was too, and asked that he might be alone with me, to tell me something that others might not hear. But I answered that in the other life people cannot be alone, as men think they are on earth, and that many spirits were present. He now came nearer and approached stealthily behind me to the back of my head, and then I perceived that he was an assassin. While he was there I felt as it were a stab through the heart, and presently in the brain - such a blow as might easily be the death of a man. But as I was protected by the Lord, I feared nothing. What device he used I do not know. Thinking me dead, he told others that he had just come from a man whom he had killed in that way, and by a deadly stroke from behind, saying that he was so skillful in the art that a man would not know until he fell down dead, and it would not be doubted that he himself was innocent. It was given me to know from this that he had but lately departed from life, where he had committed such a deed. The punishment of such is dreadful. After they have suffered infernal torments for ages, they at length come to have a detestable and most monstrous face - such as is not a face, but a ghastly thing as of tow. Thus they put off everything human, and then every one shudders at the sight of them, and so they wander about like wild beasts, in dark places.

817. There came one to me out of an infernal apartment at the left side and spoke with me. It was given me to perceive that he was of a villainous crew. What he had done in the world was disclosed in the following manner. He was sent down somewhat deep into the lower earth, in front, a little to the left, and there he began to dig a grave, as is done for the dead who are to be buried. From this arose a suspicion that in the life of the body he had perpetrated some deadly deed. Then there appeared a funeral bier covered with a black cloth. Presently one rising from the bier came to me, and in a devout manner related that he had died, and that he believed he had been killed by that man with poison, and that he had thought so at the hour of his death, but did not know whether it was more than a suspicion. When the infamous spirit heard this, he confessed that he had committed such a deed. After the confession, punishment followed. He was twice rolled about in the dark hole he had dug, and became as black as an Egyptian mummy, both face and body, and in that state was taken up on high and carried about before spirits and angels, and the cry was heard: What a devil! He also became cold, thus one of the cold infernals, and was sent down into hell.

818. There is a dreadful hell beneath the buttocks, where they seem to stab one another with knives, aiming the knives at one another's breasts like furies, but in the act of striking the knife is continually taken away from them. They are those who have held others in such hatred that they burned to kill them cruelly; and from this they had derived a nature so direful. This hell was opened to me (but only a little on account of their direful cruelties), so that I might see the nature of deadly hatred.

819. There is at the left, in a plane with the lower parts of the body, a kind of stagnant lake, large, and of greater length than breadth. About its bank in front there appear to those who are there monstrous serpents, such as inhabit stagnant waters, with pestilent breath. Farther away, on the left bank, appear those who eat human flesh, and devour one another, fastening with their teeth on one another's shoulders. Still farther away to the left appear great fishes, enormous whales, which swallow a man and vomit him out again. In the farthest distance, or on the opposite shore, appear very ugly faces, too monstrous to be described, chiefly those of old women, who run about as if frenzied. On the right bank are those who are trying to butcher each other with cruel instruments, which vary in accordance with the direful feelings of their hearts. In the middle of the lake it is everywhere black, as if stagnant. Sometimes I have been surprised to see spirits brought to this lake, but was informed by some who came from it and told me, that they were those who had cherished intestine hatred against the neighbor; and that their hatred burst forth as often as occasion offered, in which they perceived their greatest delight; and that nothing had pleased them more than to bring a neighbor to judgment and cause punishment to be inflicted on him, and, if the penalties of the law had not deterred them, to put him to death. Into such things are the hatreds and cruelties of men turned after the life of the body. The phantasies to which their hatreds and cruelties give rise have to them the reality of life.

820. In the other life those who have practised robbery and piracy love rank and fetid urine above all other liquids, and seem to themselves to dwell among such things, and among stagnant and stinking pools. A certain robber approached me, gnashing his teeth, the sound of which was as plainly heard as if it had proceeded from a man, which was strange, since they have no teeth. He confessed that he would rather live in urinous filth than by the clearest waters, and that the smell of urine was what he delighted in. He said he would rather stay and have his home in urinous vats than anywhere else.

821. There are those who outwardly present an honorable face and life, so that no one could suspect them of being other than honorable, studying in every way to appear so, for the sake of being raised to honors, and of acquiring wealth without the loss of reputation. They therefore do not act openly; but through others by deceitful artifices they deprive men of their goods, caring nothing if the families they despoil perish of hunger; and they would themselves be personal agents in this villainy, without any conscience, if they could escape public notice, so that they really are of the same character as if they perpetrated it by their own act. They are hidden robbers, and the kind of hatred peculiar to them is joined with scornful contempt for others, greed of gain, unmercifulness, and deceit. In the other life such men desire to be esteemed blameless, saying that they have done nothing wrong, because it was not detected. And to show themselves guiltless, they put off their garments and present themselves naked - in this way attesting their innocence. Yet while they are being examined their quality is thoroughly well perceived from every single word and every single idea of their thought, without their being aware of it. Such, in the other life, desire without any conscience to murder whatever companions they fall in with. They have also an axe with them, and a maul in their hand, and seem to have another spirit with them whom they strike, when on his back; but not to the shedding of blood, for they are afraid of death. And they cannot cast these weapons out of their hands although they strive to do so with all their might, in order to prevent the actual ferocity of their disposition from appearing before the eyes of spirits and angels. They are at a middle distance under the feet, toward the front.

822. There is a kind of hatred against the neighbor, which finds its delight in injuring and harassing every one; and the more mischief they can do the more delighted they are. There are very many such from the lowest of the common people. And there are those not of the common people who have a similar disposition, but outwardly are of better manners, from having been brought up in good society, and also from fear of legal penalties. After death, the upper part of the body of these spirits appears naked, and their hair dishevelled. They annoy one another by rushing forward and placing the palms of their hands on each others shoulders, and they then leap over their heads, and soon come back and make a severe attack with their fists. Those of whom it was said that they have better manners act in a similar way, but first exchange greetings, then go round behind their neighbor's back, and so attack with the fist; but when they see each other face to face they make a salutation, and again go round behind his back and strike him with the fist. In this way they keep up appearances. These appear at some distance toward the left side, at a middle height.

823. Whatever a man has done in the life of the body successively returns in the other life, and so does all that he has even thought. When his enmities, hatreds, and deceits return, the persons against whom he has indulged hatred and has clandestinely plotted are made present to him, and this in a moment. Such is the case in the other life; but concerning this presence, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. The thoughts a man has harbored against others make their appearance openly, for there is a perception of all thoughts. Hence come lamentable states, for there concealed hatreds break out openly. With the evil all their evil deeds and thoughts thus return, to the life; but it is not so with the good. With these all their good states of friendship and love return, attended with the highest delight and happiness.


Chapter 8

CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE HELLS. HERE CONCERNING THE HELLS OF THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED THEIR LIVES IN ADULTERIES AND LASCIVIOUSNESS. ALSO CONCERNING THE HELLS OF THE DECEITFUL, AND OF SORCERESSES

824. Beneath the heel of the right foot is a hell inhabited by those who have delighted in cruelty and at the same time in adulteries, and have felt in them the greatest delight of their lives. It is remarkable that those who have been cruel in the life of the body have been also, more than others, adulterers. Such are those who are in this hell, where they practise unspeakable methods of cruelty. By their phantasies they make themselves vessels as for braying, like those used for braying herbs, and pestles, wherewith they bray and torture whomsoever they can; and also as it were broad axes, like those of executioners; and augers, with which they do cruel violence to one another; not to mention other direful cruelties. Some of the Jews are there who in former times so cruelly treated the Gentiles. And at this day that hell is increasing, especially from those who come from the so-called Christian world and have had all the delight of their life in adulteries, who also are for the most part cruel. Sometimes their delight is turned into the stench of human excrement, which exhales excessively when that hell is opened. I perceived it in the world of spirits, and at the time almost fell into a swoon from the effect of it. This noisome, excrementitious smell by turns fills the hell, and by turns ceases; for it is their delight from adulteries which is turned into such offensiveness. In process of time, when they have passed through a given period in such things, they are left alone and sit in torment, becoming like unsightly skeletons, but still living.

825. In the plane of the soles of the feet, at a considerable distance in front, there is a hell which is called Gehenna, where are shameless women who have placed all their delight in adulteries, and have regarded adulteries as not only permissible but honorable, and who under various pretenses of honorableness have allured the guileless and innocent to such things. A kind of fiery glow appears there, such as overcasts the sky from a great conflagration; and it is attended with fiery heat, as it was given me to feel by the warmth from it on my face; and there is a stench exhaled therefrom, as from burning bones and hair. Sometimes this hell is changed into direful serpents, which bite them; and then they long for death, but cannot die. Certain women released therefrom came to me and said there was a fiery heat there; but that when they are allowed to draw near to any society of good spirits the heat is changed to intense cold; and then burning heat and cold alternate with them, from one extreme to the other, by which they are miserably tormented. But yet they have their intervals during which they are in the heat of their fiery lust. But, as was said, their states vary.

826. There were some, of both sexes, from the so-called Christian world, who in their life of the body had believed adulteries to be not only lawful but even holy, and so held communist marriages, as they impiously call them, under a show of sanctity. I saw that they were sent into Gehenna; but when they came there a change took place; the fieriness of Gehenna, which is ruddy, at their coming became whiter; and it was perceived that they could not agree together. This execrable troop was therefore separated and driven away into a region behind (into another world, it was said), where they would be immersed in stagnant pools, and from there would be conveyed into a new Gehenna appointed for them. There was heard in Gehenna a kind of hissing that cannot be described; but the hiss or buzz of Gehenna was grosser than that of those who had defiled holiness by their adulteries.

827. Those who ensnare by pretended regard for conjugial love and love for children, so deporting themselves that the husband shall have no suspicion but that his guests are chaste, guileless, and friendly, and under such and various other pretenses the more safely commit adultery, are in a hell under the buttocks, in the filthiest excrement; and are vastated until they become as bones, because they rank with the deceitful. Such do not even know what conscience is. I have talked with them, and they were surprised that any one should have conscience and should say that adulteries are contrary to conscience. They were told that it is as impossible for such conscienceless adulterers to come into heaven as it is for fishes to rise into the air, or birds into the ether, because if they but approach they have a feeling of suffocation, and their delight is turned into a noisome stench; and that they cannot but be thrust down into hell, and become at last as of bone, with little life, because they have acquired to themselves a life of such a character that when they lose it, very little of truly human life remains.

828. They who are possessed with the lust of defloration, and who find their greatest delight in virginities and the theft of them, without any purpose of marriage and offspring, and who when they have robbed virginity of its flower, afterwards forsake, loathe, and prostitute their victims, suffer the most grievous punishment in the other life, because such a life is contrary to order-natural, spiritual, and celestial; and because it is not only contrary to conjugial love, which is held in heaven to be most holy, but is also contrary to innocence, which they violate and kill by enticing the innocent, who might otherwise be imbued with conjugial love, into a meretricious life; for it is the first flower of love which introduces virgins into chaste conjugial love, and conjoins the minds of a married pair. And because the holiness of heaven is founded in conjugial love and in innocence, and such men are therefore interior murderers, they seem to themselves to be sitting upon a furious horse, which tosses them up so that they are thrown from the horse, to the peril of their life as it seems - such terror seizes them. Afterwards they appear to themselves to be under the belly of the furious horse, and presently seem to themselves to go through the hinder part of the horse into his belly; and then suddenly it appears to them as if they were in the belly of a filthy harlot, which harlot is changed into a great dragon, and there they remain wrapped in torment. This punishment returns many times during hundreds and thousands of years, until they are imbued with a horror of such desires. Respecting their offspring I have been told that they are worse than other children, because they derive from the father something of a like heredity; and therefore children are rarely born from such intercourse, and those that are born do not remain long in this life.

829. They who in the life of the body think lasciviously, and give a lascivious turn to whatever others say, even to holy things, and this even in adult and old age when nothing of natural lasciviousness incites, do not desist or think and speak differently in the other life; and as there their thoughts are communicated, and sometimes come forth into obscene representations before other spirits, they give offense. Their punishment is, that in the presence of the spirits whom they have offended they are thrown prostrate and rapidly rolled over and over like a roller from left to right, and then transversely in another position, and so in another-naked before all, or half naked, according to the nature of their lasciviousness, and at the same time they are inspired with shame. Then they are whirled about by the head and feet, horizontally, as upon an axis. Resistance is induced, and at the same time pain; for there are two forces acting, one whirling around, the other backward, so that the punishment is attended with the pain of being torn asunder. After undergoing these penalties, an opportunity is afforded the miserable sufferer of withdrawing himself from the sight of other spirits, and a sense of shame is instilled into him. Yet there are those who try him to see whether he still persists in such things; but so long as he is in a state of shame and distress he is on his guard. Thus he seems to himself to be hidden, although they know where he is. This punishment appeared in front, at some distance. There are also boys, youths, and young men who from the madness and hot desire of their age have conceived abominable principles: as that wives, especially those that are young and beautiful, ought not to be for a husband, but for themselves and their like, the husband remaining only head of the house hold and educator of the children. These are distinguished in the other life by the boyish sound of their speech. They are behind at some height there. Those of them who have confirmed themselves in such principles, and in actual life conformable thereto, are grievously punished in the other life, by having their joints put out of place and back again, or twisted one way and the other, by spirits who can by their art induce upon them the phantasy of being in the body, and at the same time make them feel bodily pain. By these violent alternations, together with their struggles in resistance, they are so rent that they seem to themselves as if dismembered and torn to bits, with frightful pain; and this time after time, until being struck with horror at such principles of life they cease to think in that way.

830. They who beguile men by subtle deceit, wearing a pleasant face and manner of speech, but concealing envenomed guile within, and thus captivating men for the purpose of ruining them, are in a hell more dreadful than the hells of others, even more dreadful than the hell of murderers. They seem to themselves to live among serpents; and the more pernicious their deceit has been, the more dreadful and venomous and the more numerous the serpents appear which surround and torment them. They know not but that they are serpents; they feel similar pains and similar torments. Few perhaps will believe this, but yet it is true. These are they who practice deceit with premeditation, and feel therein the delight of their life. The punishments of the deceitful are various, each according to the nature of the deceit. In general such persons are not tolerated in societies, but are expelled; for whatever a spirit thinks, they who are near instantly know and perceive; thus they perceive whether there is anything of deceit, and what sort of deceit. Therefore, being at length expelled from societies, they sit in solitude; and they then appear with a broad face, the breadth equalling that of four or five faces of others, and with a broad fleshy cap turning white, sitting as images of death, in torment. There are others who are deceitful by nature, thus not so much from premeditation, and not clandestinely under a feigned countenance. They are known at once, and their thought is plainly perceived. They even boast of it, as if they would appear shrewd. These have not such a hell. But, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, more will be said about the deceitful hereafter.

831. There are women who have lived in the indulgence of their natural inclinations, caring only for themselves and the world, and making the whole of life and the delight of life to consist in outward decorum, in consequence of which they have been highly esteemed in polite society. They have thus, by practice and habit, acquired the talent of insinuating themselves into the desires and pleasures of others, under the pretense of what is honorable, but with the purpose of gaining control over them. Their life therefore became one of dissimulation and deceit. Like others they frequented churches, but for no other end than that they might appear virtuous and pious; and moreover they were without conscience, and very prone to shameful acts and adulteries, so far as these could be concealed. Such women think in the same way in the other life, knowing not what conscience is, and ridiculing those who speak of it. They enter into the affections of others, whatever these may be, by simulating virtue, piety, pity, and innocence, which are their means of deceiving; but whenever outward restraints are removed, they rush into things most wicked and obscene.

[2] These are the women who become enchantresses or sorceresses in the other life, some of whom are those called Sirens; and they there become expert in arts unknown in the world. They are like sponges that imbibe nefarious artifices; and are of such talent that they quickly put them in practice. The arts unknown in this world which they learn in the other are these. They can speak as though they were in another place, so that their voice is heard there as from good spirits. They can as it were be with many at the same time, thus persuading others that they are as if present everywhere. They can speak as several persons at the same time, and in several places at the same time. They can turn aside what flows in from good spirits, even what flows in from angelic spirits, and in divers ways pervert it instantly in favor of themselves. They can put on the likeness of another, by the ideas of him which they conceive and fashion. They can inspire any one with an affection for themselves, by insinuating themselves into the very state of another's affection. They can withdraw suddenly out of sight, and escape unseen. They can represent before the eyes of spirits a white flame about the head, which is an angelic sign, and this before many. They can in divers ways feign innocence, even by representing infants whom they kiss. They also excite others, whom they hate, to kill them (for they know they cannot die), and then divulge it and accuse them of murder.

[3] They have called up out of my memory whatever of evil I have thought and done, and this most skillfully. While I was asleep they have talked with others, just as if from me, so that the spirits were persuaded of it, thus of things false and obscene. And many other arts they have. Their nature is so persuasive that no room is left therein for any doubt; therefore their ideas are not communicated like those of other spirits. And their eyes are like those ascribed to serpents, seeing and paying attention every way at once. These sorceresses or sirens are grievously punished, some in Gehenna, some in a kind of court among snakes; some by wrenchings and various collisions, attended with the greatest pain and torture. In course of time they are separated from all society and become like skeletons from head to foot. A continuation of the subject follows at the end of the chapter.

 

GENESIS 8:1-22

1. And God remembered Noah, and every wild animal, and every beast that was with him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged.

2. The fountains also of the deep, and the cataracts of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained.

3. And the waters receded from off the earth, going and returning; and after the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters failed.

4. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

5. And the waters were going and failing until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.

6. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

7. And he sent forth a raven, and it went forth, going and returning, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

8. And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the faces of the ground.

9. And the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark, for the waters were on the faces of the whole earth; and he put forth his hand and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark.

10. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

11. And the dove came back to him at eventide; and lo in her mouth an olive leaf plucked off; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

12. And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove, and she returned not again unto him any more.

13. And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the beginning, on the first of the month, that the waters were dried up from off the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and saw, and behold, the faces of the ground were dry.

14. In the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dry.

15. And God spake unto Noah, saying,

16. Go forth from the ark, thou and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

17. Every wild animal that is with thee of all flesh, as to fowl, and as to beast, and as to every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, bring forth with thee, that they may spread themselves in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

18. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him.

19. Every wild animal, every creeping thing, and every fowl, every thing that creepeth upon the earth, according to their families, went forth out of the ark.

20. And Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.

21. And Jehovah smelled an odor of rest; and Jehovah said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more on man's account; because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.

22. During all the days of the earth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease.

 

THE CONTENTS

832. The subject which now follows in due connection is the man of the new church, who is called "Noah;" and in fact the subject is his state after temptation, even to his regeneration, and thereafter.

833. His first state after temptation, and his fluctuation between what is true and what is false, until truths begin to appear, is treated of (verses 1 to 5).

834. His second state which is threefold: first, when the truths of faith are not yet; next, when there are truths of faith together with charity; and afterwards, when the goods of charity shine forth (verses 6 to 14).

835. His third state, when he begins to act and think from charity, which is the first state of the regenerate (verses 15 to 19).

836. His fourth state, when he acts and thinks from charity, which is the second state of the regenerate (verses 20, 21).

837. Lastly, the new church, raised up in the place of the former is described (verses 21, 22).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

838. In the two preceding chapters, the new church called "Noah", or the man of that church, was treated of: first, his preparation for receiving faith, and by faith, charity; next, his temptation; and afterwards, his protection, when the Most Ancient Church was perishing. What here follows is his state after temptation, which is described exactly in the order in which it was effected, both with him and with all who become regenerate; for the Word of the Lord is such that wherever it treats of one person, it treats of all men, and of every individual, with a difference according to the disposition of each: this being the universal sense of the Word.

839. Verse 1. And God remembered Noah, and every wild animal, and every beast that was with him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged. "And God remembered", signifies the end of temptation and beginning of renovation; by "Noah" is signified, as before, the man of the Ancient Church; by "every wild animal and every beast that was with him in the ark", are signified all things that he had; and by "God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged", is signified the disposal of all things into their order.

840. And God remembered. That this signifies the end of temptation and the beginning of renovation, is evident from what precedes and follows. "God remembered" signifies, specifically, that He is merciful, for His remembrance is mercy; and this is especially predicated after temptation, because new light then shines forth. So long as temptation continues, the man supposes the Lord to be absent, because he is troubled by evil genii so severely that sometimes he is reduced to despair, and can scarcely believe there is any God. Yet the Lord is then more closely present than he can ever believe. But when temptation ceases, the man receives consolation, and then first believes the Lord to be present. Therefore in the passage before us, the words "God remembered", expressed according to the appearance, signify the end of temptation, and the beginning of renovation. "God" is said to remember, and not "Jehovah", because as yet the man was in a state antecedent to regeneration; but when he is regenerated, then "Jehovah" is named as at the end of this chapter, (verses 20, 21). The reason is that faith is not yet conjoined with charity, for man is for the first time said to be regenerated when he acts from charity. In charity Jehovah is present, but not so much in faith before it is joined to charity. Charity is the very being and life of man in the other world; and as Jehovah is Being and Life itself, so before man is and lives, "Jehovah" is not said to be with him, but "God".

841. That by " Noah" is signified, as before, the man of the Ancient Church; and by "every wild animal, and every beast that was with him in the ark", everything that belonged to him, is evident from what was previously stated concerning Noah, and concerning the signification of "wild animal", and "beast". In the Word "wild animal" is taken in a twofold sense, namely, for those things in man which are alive, and for those which are dead. It stands for what is alive, because the word in the Hebrew tongue signifies a living thing; but as the most ancient people in their humiliation acknowledged themselves to be as wild animals, the word became also a type of what is dead in man. In the present passage, by "wild animal" is meant both what is alive and what is dead in one complex, in accordance with what is usually the case with man after temptation, in whom the living and the dead, or the things which are of the Lord, and those which are man's own, appear so confounded that he scarcely knows what is true and good; but the Lord then reduces and disposes all things into order, as is evident from what follows. That a "wild animal" signifies what is alive in man, may be seen in the preceding chapter (Genesis 7:14), and in the present chapter (verses 17, 19); that it also signifies what is dead in man, is evident from what has been shown above respecting wild animals and beasts (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246).

842. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged. That this signifies the disposal of all things into their order, is evident from the signification of "wind" in the Word. All spirits, both good and evil, are compared and likened to and are also called "winds;" and in the original tongue " spirits" are expressed by the same word that means "winds". In temptations (which are here the "waters that assuaged", as was shown above), evil spirits cause an inundation, by inflowing in crowds with their phantasies, and exciting similar phantasies in man; and when these spirits or their phantasies are dispersed, it is said in the Word to be done by a "wind", and indeed by an "east wind".

[2] It is the same with one man during temptation and when the commotions or waters of temptation cease, as it is with man in general, as I have learned by repeated experience; for evil spirits in the world of spirits sometimes band together in troops, and thereby excite disturbances until they are dispersed by other bands of spirits, coming mostly from the right, and so from the eastern quarter, who strike such fear and terror into them that they think of nothing but flight. Then those who had associated themselves are dispersed into all quarters, and thereby the societies of spirits formed for evil purposes are dissolved. The troops of spirits who thus disperse them are called the East Wind; and there are also innumerable other methods of dispersion, also called "east winds", concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. When evil spirits are thus dispersed, the state of commotion and turbulence is succeeded by serenity, or silence, as is also the case with the man who has been in temptation; for while in temptation he is in the midst of such a band of spirits, but when they are driven away or dispersed, there follows as it were a calm, which is the beginning of the disposal of all things into order.

[3] Before anything is reduced into a state of order, it is most usual that things should be reduced into a confused mass, or chaos as it were, so that those which do not well cohere together may be separated, and when they are separated, then the Lord disposes them into order. This process may be compared with what takes place in nature, where all things in general and singly are first reduced to a confused mass, before being disposed into order. Thus, for instance, unless there were storms in the atmosphere, to dissipate whatever is heterogeneous, the air could never become serene, but would become deadly by pestiferous accumulations. So in like manner in the human body, unless all things in the blood, both heterogeneous and homogeneous, did continuously and successively flow together into one heart, to be there commingled, there would be deadly conglutinations of the liquids, and they could in no way be distinctly disposed to their respective uses. Thus also it is with man in the course of his regeneration.

[4] That "wind", and especially the "east wind", signifies nothing else than the dispersion of falsities and evils, or, what is the same, of evil spirits and genii, and afterwards a disposal into order, may be seen from the Word, as in Isaiah: -

Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah41:16).

Here dispersion is compared to "wind", and scattering to a "whirlwind", which is said of evils; then they who are regenerate shall rejoice in Jehovah. In David: -

Lo, the kings assembled themselves, they passed by together; they saw it, then were they amazed; they were dismayed, they hasted away; trembling took hold of them there, pain as of a woman in travail; with the east wind Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish (Ps. 48:4-7).

Here is described the terror and confusion occasioned by an east wind, the description being taken from what passes in the world of spirits, which is involved in the internal sense of the Word.

[5] In Jeremiah: -

To make their land an astonishment: I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy, I will look upon their neck, and not their face, in the day of their calamity (Jeremiah 18:16, 17).

Here in like manner the "east wind" stands for the dispersion of falsities. Similar also was the representation of the east wind by which the Red Sea was dried up, that the sons of Israel might pass over, as described in Exodus: -

Jehovah caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided (Exodus 14:21).

The signification of the waters of the Red Sea was similar to that of the waters of the flood in the present passage, as is evident from the fact that the Egyptians (by whom are represented the wicked) were drowned therein, while the sons of Israel (by whom are represented the regenerate, as by "Noah" here) passed over. By the "Red Sea", the same as by the "flood", is represented damnation, as also temptation; and thus by the "east wind" is signified the dissipation of the waters, that is, of the evils of damnation, or of temptation, as is evident from the song of Moses after they had passed over (Exod. 15:1-19); and also from Isaiah: -

Jehovah shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river, and shall smite it into seven streams, and cause men to march over dryshod. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of His people which shall remain, from Assyria, like as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt (Isaiah11:15, 16).

Here "a highway for the remnant of the people which shall remain, from Assyria", signifies a disposing into order.

843. Verse 2. The fountains also of the deep and the cataracts of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. These words signify that temptation ceased; "the fountains also of the deep", signify evils of the will; "the cataracts of heaven", falsities of the understanding; and "rain" signifies temptation itself in general.

844. From this to (verse 6) the first state of the man of this church is treated of, after temptation; and what is said in the present verse signifies the cessation of temptation. His temptation, both as to what is of the will and as to what is of the understanding, has been previously treated of; and its cessation as to what is of the will is here meant by "the fountains of the deep being stopped;" and its cessation as to what is of the understanding, by "the cataracts of heaven being stopped". That these expressions have such a signification has been stated and shown in the preceding chapter (Genesis 7:11); and also that "rain" signifies temptation itself (Genesis 7:12), wherefore there is no need to dwell longer in confirmation.

845. The reason why the "fountains of the deep" signify temptation as to what is of the will, and the " cataracts of heaven", temptation as to what is of the understanding, is that it is what is of the will of man that is influenced by hell, and not so much what is of the understanding, unless this has been immersed in cupidities, which are of the will. Evils, which are of the will, are what condemn man and thrust him down to hell, and not so much falsities, unless they become conjoined with evils, for then the one follows the other. The truth of this statement may be seen from the case of very many of those who are in falsities, and are yet saved, which is the case with many among the Gentiles, who have lived in natural charity and in mercy, and with Christians who have believed in simplicity of heart. Their ignorance and simplicity excuse them, because in these there can be innocence. But it is otherwise with those who have confirmed themselves in falsities, and have thus contracted such a life of falsity that they refuse and reject all truth; for this life of falsity must be vastated before anything of truth and thus of good can be inseminated. It is however still worse with those who have confirmed themselves in falsities under the influence of their cupidities, so that the falsities and the cupidities have come to constitute one life; for these are they who plunge themselves into hell. This is the reason why temptation as to what is of the will is signified by the "fountains of the deep", which are the hells, and temptation as to what is of the understanding by the "cataracts of heaven,". which are the clouds, from which comes rain.

846. Verse 3. And the waters receded from off the earth, going and returning; and after the end of a hundred and fifth days the waters failed. "The waters receded from off the earth, going and returning", signifies fluctuations between what is true and what is false; and "after the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters failed", signifies that the temptations ceased; "a hundred and fifty days", here as above signify a termination.

847. And the waters receded from off the earth, going and returning. That this signifies fluctuations between what is true and what is false, is evident from what has been said: that the waters of the flood, or inundations, with respect to Noah, signified temptations; for as the subject is here the first state after temptation, the "waters receding, going and returning", can signify nothing else than fluctuation between truths and falsities. The nature of this fluctuation however cannot be known unless it is known what temptation is, for such as is the temptation, such is the fluctuation after it. When the temptation is celestial, then the fluctuation is between good and evil; when it is spiritual, the fluctuation is between what is true and what is false; and when it is natural, the fluctuation is between the things that belong to and those which are contrary to the cupidities.

[2] There are many kinds of temptations, which are in general the celestial, the spiritual, and the natural; and these ought never to be confounded. Celestial temptations can exist only with those who are in love to the Lord, and spiritual ones with those only who are in charity toward the neighbor. Natural temptations are altogether distinct from these, and indeed are not temptations, but merely anxieties arising from natural loves being assailed by misfortunes, diseases, or a depraved condition of the blood and other fluids of the body. From this brief account it may in some degree be known what temptation is, namely, anguish and anxiety occasioned by whatever opposes one's loves. Thus with those who are in love to the Lord, whatever assails this love produces an inmost torture, which is celestial temptation; with those who are in love toward the neighbor, or charity, whatever assails this love occasions torment of conscience, and this is spiritual temptation;

[3] but with those who are natural, what they frequently call temptations and the pangs of conscience, are not temptations, but only anxieties arising from their loves being assailed, as when they foresee and are sensible of the loss of honor, of the good things of the world, of reputation, pleasures, bodily life, and the like; nevertheless these troubles are wont to be productive of some good. Temptations are moreover experienced by those who are in natural charity, and consequently by all kinds of heretics, Gentiles, and idolaters, arising from assaults on the life of their faith which they cherish. But these are distresses that are merely emulous of spiritual temptations.

848. When the temptations are over, there is as it were a fluctuation, and if the temptation was spiritual, it is a fluctuation between what is true and what is false, which may be sufficiently evident from this, that temptation is the beginning of regeneration; and as all regeneration has for its end that man may receive new life, or rather that he may receive life, and from being no man may become man, or from dead be made living, therefore when his former life, which is merely animal, is destroyed by temptations, he cannot but fluctuate between what is true and what is false. Truth is of the new life, falsity of the old; and unless the former life is destroyed, and this fluctuation takes place, it is impossible for any spiritual seed to be sown, because there is no ground.

[2] When however the former life is destroyed and such fluctuation results, the man scarcely knows what is true and good, and indeed scarcely whether there is any such thing as truth. Thus, for example, when he reflects about the goods of charity, or, as they are called, good works, and considers whether or no he can do them from himself and have merit in himself, he is in such obscurity and darkness, that when informed that no one can do good from himself or from his Own, and that still less can any one possess merit, but that all good is from the Lord, and all merit is His alone, he must be lost in wonder. And so it is in all other matters of faith; but still the obscurity and darkness of his mind become sensibly and gradually enlightened.

[3] It is with regeneration exactly as with man's birth as an infant. His life is then very obscure; he knows almost nothing, and therefore at first receives only general impressions of things, which by degrees become more distinct as particular ideas are inserted in them, and in these again still more minute particulars. Thus are generals illustrated by particulars, so that the child may learn not only the existence of things, but also their nature and quality. So it is with every one who emerges out of spiritual temptation; and the state of those in the other life who have been in falsities and are being vastated, is also similar. This state is called Fluctuation, and is here described by "the waters receding, going and returning".

849. And after the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters failed. That this signifies that temptations ceased, now follows plainly from what has been said. That "a hundred and fifty days" signifies a termination, is evident from what was said of this number in the foregoing chapter (Genesis 7:24); thus here it is the termination of the fluctuation and the beginning of a new life

850. Verse 4. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. "The ark rested", signifies regeneration; "the seventh month", signifies what is holy; "the seventeenth day of the month", signifies what is new; and "the mountains of Ararat", signifies light.

851. That "the ark rested" signifies regeneration, is evident from the fact that the "ark" signifies the man of this church; and that all the things which it contained signify all the things that were in him, as has been fully shown before. When therefore the ark is said to "rest", it means that this man was being regenerated. The connection of the literal sense may indeed seem to imply that by the ark's "resting" is signified the cessation of the fluctuations that follow temptation (spoken of in the preceding verse); but fluctuations, which are doubts and obscurities concerning what is true and good, do not so cease, but persist for along time, as will be evident from what follows. Hence it is evident that the continuity of things is different in the internal sense; and as they are arcana, it is permitted here to unfold them; and they are that the spiritual man, like the celestial, after enduring temptations, becomes in like manner the "rest" of the Lord; and further, that he in like manner becomes the seventh (not the seventh day, like the celestial man, but the seventh) month. Concerning the celestial man as being the rest of the Lord, or the Sabbath, and the seventh day, see above, (n. 84-88). As however there is a difference between the celestial man and the spiritual man, the "rest" of the former is expressed in the original language by a word which means the Sabbath, while the "rest" of the latter is expressed by another term, from which he is named "Noah", which properly means "rest".

852. That the "seventh month" signifies what is holy, is abundantly evident from what has been shown before (n. 84-87, 395, 716). This holiness corresponds to what was said with reference to the celestial man (Genesis 2:3): that the seventh day was sanctified, because God rested therein.

853. That the "seventeenth day" signifies what is new, is evident from what has been said and shown concerning the same number in the preceding chapter (Genesis 7:11); (n. 755), where it signifies a beginning; and every beginning is new.

854. That the "mountains of Ararat" signify light (lumen), is evident from the signification of a "mountain", as being the good of love and charity (n. 795) and from the signification of "Ararat", as being light, and indeed the light of the regenerate. New light, or the first light of the regenerate, never derives its existence from the knowledges of the truths of faith, but from charity. The truths of faith are like rays of light; love or charity is like flame; and the light of him who is being regenerated is not from the truths of faith, but from charity, the truths of faith themselves being rays of light therefrom. Thus it is evident that the "mountains of Ararat" signify such light. This is the first light perceived after temptation, and being the first, it is obscure, and is called lumen, not lux.

855. From these things it is now evident what this verse in the internal sense signifies, namely, that the spiritual man is a holy "rest", by virtue of a new intellectual light that is derived from charity. These truths are perceived by angels in a variety so wonderful, and in an order so delightful, that could man but obtain a single such idea, there would be thousands and thousands of things in a manifold series that would enter and affect him, and in fact such things as could not possibly be described. Such is the Word of the Lord in its internal sense throughout, even when it appears in the letter to be crude history, as when it is here said that "the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat".

856. Verse 5. And the waters were going and failing until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared. "And the waters were going and failing", signifies that falsities began to disappear; "in the tenth month", signifies the truths which are of remains; "on the first day of the month the tops of the mountains appeared", signifies the truths of faith, which then began to be seen.

857. And the waters were going and failing. That this signifies that falsities began to disappear, is evident from the words themselves, as well as from what was shown above (verse 3), where it is said that "the waters receded, going and returning". Here however it is said that "the waters were going and failing", and by this, as by the former phrase, are signified fluctuations between what is true and what is false, but here that these fluctuations were decreasing. The case with fluctuations after temptation is that the man does not know what truth is, but that as by degrees the fluctuations cease, so the light of truth appears. The reason of this is that so long as the man is in such a state, the internal man, that is, the Lord through the internal man, cannot operate upon the external. In the internal man are remains, which are affections of what is good and true, as before described; in the external are cupidities and their derivative falsities; and so long as these latter are not subdued and extinguished, the way is not open for goods and truths from the internal, that is, through the internal from the Lord.

[2] Temptations, therefore, have for their end that the externals of man may be subdued and thus be rendered obedient to his internals, as may be evident to every one from the fact that as soon as man's loves are assaulted and broken (as during misfortunes, sickness, and grief of mind), his cupidities begin to subside, and he at the same time begins to talk piously; but as soon as he returns to his former state, the external man prevails and he scarcely thinks of such things. The like happens at the hour of death, when corporeal things begin to be extinguished; and hence every one may see what the internal man is, and what the external; and also what remains are, and how cupidities and pleasures, which are of the external man, hinder the Lord's operation through the internal man. From this it is also plain to every one what temptations, or the internal pains called the stings of conscience, effect, namely, that the external man is made obedient to the internal. The obedience of the external man is nothing else than this: that the affections of what is good and true are not hindered, resisted, and suffocated by cupidities and their derivative falsities. The ceasing of the cupidities and falsities is here described by "the waters which were going and failing".

858. That the "tenth month" signifies the truths which are of remains, is evident from the signification of "ten", as being remains (n. 576); and from what was said above concerning the remains in the internal man.

859. That "on the first day of the month the tops of the mountains appeared" signifies the truths of faith which then begin to be seen, is evident from the signification of "mountains" (n. 795), as being the goods of love and of charity. Their tops begin to be seen when man is being regenerated, and is being gifted with conscience, and thereby with charity; and he who supposes that he sees the tops of the mountains, or the truths of faith, from any other ground than from the goods of love and of charity, is quite mistaken; since without these, Jews and profane Gentiles may see them in the same way. The "tops of the mountains" are the first dawnings of light which appear.

860. From these things it is also evident that all regeneration proceeds from evening to morning, as is stated six times over in the first chapter of Genesis, where the regeneration of man is treated of, and where evening is described in (Genesis 1:2, 3); and morning in (Genesis 1:4, 5). In the present verse the first dawning of light, or the morning of this state, is described by "the tops of the mountains appearing".

861. Verse 6. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. "And it came to pass at the end of forty days", signifies the duration of the former state, and the beginning of the following one; "that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made", signifies a second state, when the truths of faith appeared to him.

862. And it came to pass at the end of forty days. That this signifies the duration of the former state, and the beginning of the following one, is evident from the signification of "forty", which was explained at (n. 730); where, the subject being temptation, it is said "forty days and forty nights", signifying the duration of the temptation. But because the subject here is the state following temptation, it is said "forty days", but not forty nights. The reason is, that charity, which in the Word is compared to "day" and called "day", now begins to appear; and faith which precedes being not yet so conjoined with charity, is compared to "night" and called "night" (Genesis 1:16). In the Word faith is also called "night", from its receiving its light from charity, as the moon does from the sun; and hence faith is compared to the "moon" and called the "moon", and love or charity is compared to the "sun" and called the "sun". "Forty days" (or the duration which they signify) have respect both to what precedes and to what follows, wherefore it is said, "at the end of forty days;" thus they signify the duration of the former state and the beginning of that now treated of. Here then commences the description of the second state of the man of this church after temptation.

863. That Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. That this signifies a second state when the truths of faith appeared to him, is evident from the last words of the preceding verse: "the tops of the mountains appeared;" and from their signification, as also from the signification of a "window" (n. 655) as being the understanding, or, what is the same, the truth of faith; and likewise from this being the first dawning of light. Concerning the understanding, or the truth of faith, signified by a "window", it may be observed here as above, that no truth of faith is possible except from the good of love or of charity, as there can be no true understanding except from what is of the will. If you remove what is of the will, there is no understanding, as has been often shown before; and so if you remove charity, there is no faith; but as the will of man is mere cupidity, in order to prevent the immersion of what is of his understanding, or the truth of faith, in his cupidity, the Lord has wonderfully provided that what is of the understanding should be separated from what is of the will of man, by a certain medium, which is conscience, and in which He may implant charity. Without this wonderful providence no one could ever have been saved.

864. Verse 7. And he sent forth a raven, and it went forth, going and returning, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. "And he sent forth a raven, and it went forth, going and returning", signifies that falsities still made disturbance; by a "raven" are signified falsities; and by "going forth, going and returning", is signified that such was their state; "until the waters were dried up from off the earth", signifies the apparent dissipation of falsities.

865. And he sent forth a raven, and it went forth, going and returning. That by this is signified that falsities still made disturbance, is evident from the signification of a "raven" and of "going forth, going and returning", concerning which more will be said hereafter. In this passage is described the second state of the man who is to be regenerated, after temptation, when the truths of faith, like the first dawning of light, begin to appear. Such is the nature of this state that falsities are continually making disturbance, so that it resembles the morning twilight, while somewhat of the obscurity of night still remains, as is here signified by a "raven". Falsities with the spiritual man, especially before his regeneration, are like the dense spots of a cloud. The reason is that he can know nothing of the truth of faith except from what is revealed in the Word, where all things are stated in a general way; and generals are but as the spots of a cloud, for every general comprehends in it thousands and thousands of particulars, and each particular thousands and thousands of singulars, all generals being illustrated by the singulars of the particulars. These have never been so revealed to man, because they are both indescribable and inconceivable, and so can neither be acknowledged nor believed in; for they are contrary to the fallacies of the senses in which man is, and which he does not easily permit to be destroyed.

[2] It is altogether otherwise with the celestial man, who possesses perception from the Lord; for in him particulars and singulars of particulars can be insinuated. For example: that true marriage is that of one man with one wife; and that such marriage is representative of the heavenly marriage, and therefore heavenly happiness can be in it, but never in a marriage of one man with a plurality of wives. The spiritual man, who knows this from the Word of the Lord, acquiesces in it, and hence admits as a matter of conscience that marriage with more wives than one is a sin; but he knows no more. The celestial man however perceives thousands of things which confirm this general, so that marriage with more wives than one excites his abhorrence. As the spiritual man knows generals only, and has his conscience formed from these, and as the generals of the Word have been accommodated to the fallacies of the senses, it is evident that innumerable falsities, which cannot be dispersed, will adjoin and insinuate themselves into them. These falsities are here signified by "the raven which went forth, going and returning".

866. That a "raven" signifies falsities, is evident in a general way from what has been said and shown above concerning birds, that they signify things of understanding, of reason, and of memory-knowledge, and also the opposite, which are reasonings and falsities. Both of these are described in the Word by various species of birds; truths of understanding by birds which are gentle, beautiful, and clean; and falsities by those which are ravenous, ugly, and unclean, in each case varying according to the species of truth or falsity. Gross and dense falsities are described by owls and ravens; by owls because they live in the darkness of night, and by ravens, because they are of a black color. As in Isaiah: -

The owl also and the raven shall dwell therein (Isaiah 34:11),

there the Jewish Church is described as being the habitation of mere falsities, represented by the owl and the raven.

867. That "going and returning" signifies that such was their state, is evident from the falsities with man while in his first and second state after temptation, namely, that the falsities thus fly about, going and returning, for the reason mentioned above, that man at that time is and can be only in the knowledge of the most general things, into which flow phantasies arising from corporeal, sensuous, and worldly things, which do not agree with the truths of faith.

868. Until the waters were dried up from off the earth. That this signifies the apparent dissipation of falsities, is evident from the state of man when he is being regenerated. Every one believes at the present day that the evils and falsities in man are entirely separated and abolished during regeneration, so that when he becomes regenerate, nothing of evil or falsity remains, but he is clean and righteous, like one washed and purified with water. This notion is, however, utterly false; for not a single evil or falsity can be so shaken off as to be abolished; but whatever has been hereditarily derived from infancy, and acquired by act and deed, remains; so that man, notwithstanding his being regenerate, is nothing but evil and falsity, as is shown to the life to souls after death. The truth of this may be sufficiently manifest from the consideration, that there is nothing of good and nothing of truth in man except from the Lord, and that all evil and falsity are man's from his Own; and that man, and spirit, and even angel, if left in the least to himself, would rush of himself into hell; wherefore also it is said in the Word that heaven is not pure. This is acknowledged by angels, and he who does not acknowledge it cannot be among angels. It is the Lord's mercy alone that liberates them, and even draws them out of hell and keeps them from rushing thither of themselves. That they are kept by the Lord from rushing into hell, is manifestly perceived by the angels, and even in a measure by good spirits. Evil spirits however, like men, do not believe this; but it has often been shown them, as of the Lord's Divine mercy will be told from experience hereafter.

[2] Since therefore the state of man is such that no evil and falsity can ever be so shaken off as to be abolished, because the life that is proper to him consists in evil and falsity, the Lord, from Divine mercy, while He regenerates man, through temptations so subdues his evils and falsities that they appear as if dead, though they are not dead, but are only subdued so that they cannot fight against the goods and truths which are from the Lord. At the same time also the Lord through temptations gives man a new faculty of receiving goods and truths, by gifting him with ideas and affections of good and of truth, to which evils and falsities can be bent, and by inserting in his generals (of which above) particulars, and in these singulars, which are stored up in man and which he knows nothing about, for they are interior to the sphere of his apprehension and perception. These are of a nature to serve for receptacles or vessels, so that charity can be insinuated into them by the Lord, and into charity innocence. By their wonderful tempering with man, spirit, and angel, a kind of rainbow may be represented, and for this reason the rainbow was made the sign of the covenant (Genesis 9:12-17), concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy we shall speak under that chapter. When man has been thus formed, he is said to be regenerate, all his evils and falsities still remaining, yet at the same time all his goods and truths being preserved. With an evil man all his evils and falsities, just as he had them in the life of the body, return in the other life and are turned into infernal phantasies and punishments. But with a good man, all his states of good and truth, such as those of friendship, of charity, and of innocence, are recalled in the other life, and together with their delights and happinesses, are there immensely augmented and multiplied. These things then are what is signified by the drying of the waters, which is the apparent dissipation of falsities.

869. Verse 8. And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the faces of the ground. By "a dove" are signified the truths and goods of faith with him who is to be regenerated; "and he sent forth a dove from him to see", signifies the state of receiving the truths and goods of faith; "if the waters were abated", signifies falsities which impede; "the faces of the ground", signifies the things which are in the man of the church; it is said "ground" because this is the first state when man becomes a church

870. That by a "dove" are signified the truths and goods of faith with him who is to be regenerated, is evident from the signification of a "dove" in the Word, especially the dove which came upon Jesus when He was baptized, of which we read in Matthew: -

Jesus when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and lo the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and coming upon Him (Matthew 3:16; John 1:32; Luke 3:21, 22; Mark 1:10, 11).

Here the "dove" signified nothing else than the holy of faith; and the "baptism" itself, regeneration; so that there was signified, in the new church which was to arise, the truth and good of faith which is received by regeneration from the Lord. Similar things were represented and involved by the young pigeons or turtledoves that were offered for sacrifice and burnt-offering in the Jewish Church, of which we read in (Leviticus 1:14-17; 5:7-10; 12:6, 8; 14:21, 22; 15:14, 29, 30; Num. 6:10, 11; Luke 2:22-24), as is evident from the several passages That they had such a signification every one may comprehend from the sole consideration that they must needs represent something; for otherwise they would have no meaning and would be in no respect Divine, for what is external of the church is an inanimate affair, but lives from what is internal, and this from the Lord.

[2] That a "dove" in general signifies the intellectual things of faith, is also evident in the Prophets, as in Hosea: -

Ephraim will be like a silly dove, without heart; they called Egypt, they went unto Assyria (Hosea 7:11).

And again, concerning Ephraim: -

They shall be afraid, as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria (Hosea 11:11).

Here "Ephraim" denotes one who is intelligent, "Egypt" one who has knowledge, "Assyria" one who is rational, a "dove" what is of the intellectual things of faith; and here also the subject is the regeneration of the spiritual church. Again in David: -

O Jehovah, deliver not the soul of Thy turtledove unto the wild beast (Ps. 74:19);

where "wild beast" denotes those who are of no charity; the "soul of the turtledove", the life of faith. See also what has been said and shown before about birds, that they signify intellectual things: gentle, beautiful, clean, and useful birds, intellectual truths and goods; but fierce, ugly, unclean, and useless birds, the opposite, or falsities, such as the raven, which is here opposed to the dove.

871. And he sent forth a dove from him to see. That this signifies a state of receiving the truths and goods of faith, is evident from the connection of the things, as also from what follows, where the three states of the regeneration of this man after temptations are treated of, which are signified by his sending forth the dove three times. Here the words proximately involve his exploration; for it is said that he "sent forth the dove from him to see", namely, whether the waters were abated; that is, whether the falsities were still so abundant that goods and truths could not be received. But with the Lord there is no exploration, because He knows all things both in general and in particular. In the internal sense therefore, the words signify, not exploration, but state, and here the first state, when falsities were still hindering, which is signified by the words, "whether the waters were abated".

872. That the "faces of the ground" mean those things which are in the man of the church, and that the "ground" is mentioned because this is the first state when the man is becoming a church, is evident from the signification of "ground", as being the man of the church, who is called "ground" when the goods and truths of faith can be sown in him, but before this he is called "earth". So in the first chapter of Genesis, before the man became celestial, "earth" is predicated of him; but when he became celestial, as described in the second chapter, "ground" and "field" are predicated of him. It is similar in the present chapter. Merely from the word "earth" and the word "ground" may be seen what is signified in the internal sense, not only here, but everywhere in the Word. By "ground" in the universal sense is signified the church; and because the church, the man of the church is also signified; for, as said before, each man of the church is a church.

873. Verse 9. And the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark, for the waters were on the faces of the whole earth; and he put forth his hand and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark. "And the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot", signifies that nothing of the good and truth of faith could yet take root; "and she returned unto him to the ark", signifies good and truth appearing with him as though they were of faith; "for the waters were on the faces of the whole earth", signifies that falsities were still overflowing; "and he put forth his hand", signifies his own power; "and took her and brought her in unto him into the ark", signifies that he did what was good and thought what was true from himself.

874. Here is described the first state of the regeneration of the man of this church after temptation, which state is common to all who are being regenerated, namely, that they suppose they do what is good and think what is true from themselves; and because they are as yet in great obscurity, the Lord also leaves them so to imagine. But still all the good they do and all the truth they think while in such imagination, is not the good and truth of faith. For whatever man produces of himself cannot be good, because it is from himself, that is, from a fountain which is impure and most unclean. From this impure and unclean fountain no good can ever go forth, for the man is always thinking of his own merit and righteousness; and some go so far as to despise others in comparison with themselves, as the Lord teaches in (Luke 18:9-14), and others err in other ways. Man's own cupidities intermingle themselves, so that while it appears outwardly to be good, it is inwardly filthy. For this reason the good which man does in this state is not the good of faith, and the case is the same with the truth that he thinks, for although that which he thinks may be very true, yet so long as it is from what is his own it is indeed in itself the truth of faith, but the good of faith is not in it; and all truth, in order to be the truth of faith, must have in it from the Lord the good of faith. Then for the first time there are good and truth.

875. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot. That this signifies that nothing of the good and truth of faith could yet take root, is evident from the signification of a "dove", as being the truth of faith, and from the signification of "rest for the sole of the foot", as being to take root. The reason that it could not take root is told in what follows, namely, that falsities were still overflowing. But how this is cannot be understood unless it be known how the regeneration of the spiritual man is effected.

[2] With this man the knowledges of faith are to be implanted in his memory from the Word of the Lord, or from doctrinal things therefrom (which the Ancient Church had from what was revealed to the Most Ancient Church), and thereby his intellectual mind is to be instructed. But as long as falsities overflow therein, the truths of faith, howsoever sown, cannot take root. They remain on the surface only, that is, in the memory; nor does the ground become fit for them until the falsities have been shaken off so as not to appear, as before said.

[3] The real "ground" with this man is prepared in his intellectual mind, and when it has been prepared the good of charity is insinuated by the Lord, and from this, conscience, from which he afterwards acts, that is, through which the Lord works the good and truth of faith. Thus the Lord makes the intellectual things of this man distinct from those of his will, so that they are never united; for if they should be united, he could not but perish eternally.

[4] With the man of the Most Ancient Church the things of the will were united to those of the understanding, as they also are with the celestial angels. But with the man of this Ancient Church they were not united, nor are they with any spiritual man. It appears indeed as if the good of charity which he does were of his will, but this is only an appearance and fallacy. All the good of charity that he does is of the Lord alone, not through the will, but through conscience. If the Lord should let go ever so little and suffer the man to act from his own will, instead of good he would do evil from hatred, revenge, and cruelty.

[5] The case is the same with the truth that the spiritual man thinks and speaks: unless he were to think and speak from conscience, and thus from the good that is of the Lord, he could never think and speak truth otherwise than as do the devils of hell when they feign themselves angels of light. All this is clearly manifest in the other life. From these things it is evident in what manner regeneration is effected, and what the regeneration of the spiritual man is: that in fact it is the separation of his intellectual part from the will part, by means of conscience, which is formed by the Lord in his intellectual part; and whatever is done from this appears as if done by the man's will, but is really done by the Lord.

876. And she returned unto him to the ark. That this signifies good and truth appearing as though they were of faith, is evident from what has been said, and also from what follows. In the internal sense, to "return to the ark" does not signify liberation, for this is signified by being sent forth from the ark and not returning, as is evident from what follows, in (verse 12), that he sent forth the dove and she returned not again to him any more; and further from (verses 15 and 16), that Noah was commanded to go forth from the ark; and from the eighteenth, that he went forth. The "ark" signifies the state of the man of this church before regeneration, in which he was in captivity, or in prison, beset on all sides by evils and falsities, or by the waters of the flood. And so the dove's returning unto Noah to the ark, signifies that the good and truth meant by the dove returned again to the man. For whatever good a man supposes that he does from himself, returns to him, since it regards himself; as he does it either that it may appear before the world, or before the angels, or that he may merit heaven, or that he may be greatest in heaven. Such things are in man's Own and in every one of its ideas, though in outward form there is an appearance as of the good and truth of faith. The good and truth of faith is inwardly good and true from the very inmosts; that is, all the good and truth of faith flows in from the Lord through man's inmosts. But when what a man does is from his Own, or from merit, then the interiors are filthy and the exteriors appear clean; just as with a filthy harlot who appears fair in the face; or like an Ethiopian, or rather an Egyptian mummy, wrapped in a white garment.

877. For the waters were on the faces of the whole earth. That this signifies that falsities were still overflowing, is evident from the signification of the "waters" of the flood, as being falsities (which has been sufficiently shown before), and also from the very words.

878. And he put forth his hand and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark. That this signifies his own power, and that he did what was good and thought what was true from himself, is evident from the signification of "hand", as being power, and thus here his own power from which he did these things. For to "put forth his hand and take the dove and bring her in to himself", is to apply and attribute to himself the truth meant by the "dove". That by "hand" is signified power, also authority (potestas), and the derivative self confidence, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in Isaiah: -

I will visit upon the fruit of the greatness of heart of the king of Assyria, because he hath said, By the strength of my hand I have done it and by my wisdom, for I am intelligent (Isaiah 10:12, 13),

where "hand" manifestly denotes his own strength to which he attributed what he did, and this was the cause of the visitation upon him. Again: -

Moab shall spread forth his hands in the midst of him, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim, and he shall lay low his pride together with the cataracts of his hands (Isaiah 25:11);

where "hands" denote man's own power, from regarding himself as above others, thus from pride.

[2] Again: -

Their inhabitants were short of hand, they were dismayed and put to shame (Isaiah 37:27);

"short of hand" meaning of no power. Again: -

Shall the clay say to the potter, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? (Isaiah 45:9).

Here "he hath no hands", means that he has no power. In Ezekiel: -

The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with stupefaction, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled (Ezekiel 7:27),

where "hands" denote power. In Micah: -

Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds; when the morning is light they practise it, because their hand is their god (Micah 2:1),

where "hand" denotes their own power in which they trust as their god. In Zechariah: -

Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock; the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened (Zechariah 11:17).

[3] Because "hands" signify powers, man's evils and falsities are continually called in the Word "the works of his hands". Evils are from the Own of man's will, falsities are from the Own of his understanding. That this is the source of evils and falsities is evident enough from the nature of man's Own, which is nothing but evil and falsity (n. 39, 41, 141, 150, 154, 210, 215). As "hands" in general signify power, "hands" are many times in the Word attributed to Jehovah, or the Lord, and then by "hands" is understood in the internal sense Omnipotence, as in Isaiah: -

Jehovah, Thy hand is lifted up (Isaiah 26:11),

denoting the Divine power. Again: -

Jehovah stretched out His hand, all are consumed (Isaiah 31:3),

denoting the Divine power. Again: -

Concerning the work of My hands command ye Me; My hands have stretched out the heavens and all their army have I commanded (Isaiah 45:11, 12),

denoting the Divine power. The regenerate are often called in the Word "the work of the hands of Jehovah". In the same: -

Mine hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath measured the heavens with the palm (Isaiah 48:13),

where "hand" and "right hand" denote omnipotence.

[4] Again: -

Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? (Isaiah 50:2),

denoting the Divine power. In Jeremiah: -

Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and by Thy stretched out arm; and didst bring forth Thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm (Jeremiah 32:17, 21),

denoting the Divine power; "power" being named in (verse 17), and "band" in the twenty-first. That Israel was brought out of Egypt with "a strong hand and with a stretched out arm", is often said. In Ezekiel: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up Mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made My self known unto them in the land of Egypt; I lifted up Mine hand unto them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt (Ezekiel 20:5, 6, 23).

In Moses: -

Israel saw the great hand which Jehovah executed upon the Egyptians (Exod. 14:31).

[5] That by "hand" is signified power is now plainly manifest from these passages. Indeed "hand" was so significant of power that it became also its representative, as is evident from the miracles that were done in Egypt, when Moses was commanded to stretch forth his rod, or hand, and so they were done; as in Exodus: -

Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven, and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt (Exodus 9:22, 23);

Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and there was a thick darkness (Exodus 10:21, 22);

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Jehovah made the sea dry land; and Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned (Exodus 14:21, 27).

No one with mental capacity for right thinking can believe that there was any such power in the hand or rod of Moses, but because the lifting up and stretching forth of the hand signified the Divine power, it became a representative in the Jewish Church.

[6] It was similar when Joshua stretched out his javelin, as in Joshua: -

And Jehovah said unto Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand; and Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city, and they entered into the city and took it; for Joshua drew not back his hand, wherewith he stretched out the javelin, until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai (Joshua 8:18, 26).

From this it is also evident how the case is with the representatives that were the externals of the Jewish Church; and also how it is with the Word: that the things in its external sense do not appear to be representative of the Lord and His kingdom, as here the stretching forth of the hand, and likewise all the other things, which bear no appearance of being representative while the mind is fixed only on the historic details of the letter. It is evident also how far the Jews had fallen away from a true understanding of the Word and of the rites of the church, while making all worship consist in externals only, even to the extent of attributing power to the rod of Moses and the javelin of Joshua, when yet there was no more power in them than in wood. But because the omnipotence of the Lord was signified, and this was understood in heaven when they stretched forth their hand or rod, the signs and miracles followed.

[7] So too it was when Moses on the top of the hill held up his hands, and Joshua prevailed; and when he let down his hands, and Joshua was overcome; and therefore they stayed up his hands (Exod. 17:9-13). Thus it was that hands were laid upon those who were being consecrated, as on the Levites by the people (Num. 8:9, 10, 12), and on Joshua by Moses, when he was substituted in his place (Numbers 27:18, 23), in order that power might so be given. Hence also come the rites still observed of inauguration and benediction by the laying on of hands. To what extent the hand signified and represented power, is evident from what is said in the Word concerning Uzzah and Jeroboam. Concerning Uzzah it is said that he put forth (his hand) to the ark of God, and took hold of it, and therefore he died (2 Sam. 6:6, 7). The "ark" represented the Lord, thus all that is holy and celestial. Uzzah's putting forth (his hand) to the ark, represented man's own power, or what is his own; and as this is profane, the word "hand" is understood, but is not expressed in the original, lest it should be perceived by the angels that such a profane thing had touched what is holy.

[8] And because Uzzah put it forth, he died. Concerning Jeroboam it is said: -

And it came to pass, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him; and his hand which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him; and he said unto the man of God, Intreat now the faces of Jehovah thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again; and the man of God intreated the faces of Jehovah, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before (1 Kings 13:4-6).

Here in like manner by "putting forth the band" is signified man's own power, or his Own, which is profane, and that it wished to violate what is holy by putting forth the hand against the man of God; wherefore the hand was dried up; but as Jeroboam was an idolater and therefore could not commit profanation, his hand was restored. That the "hand" signifies and represents power, is evident from the representatives in the world of spirits, where a naked arm sometimes comes into view, in which there is strength enough to crush one's bones and squeeze their inmost marrow to nothing, causing such terror as to melt the heart; and in fact this strength is actually in it.

879. Verses 10, 11. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came back to him at eventide; and lo in her mouth an olive leaf plucked off; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. "And he stayed yet other seven days", signifies the beginning of the second state of regeneration; "seven days" signify what is holy, because now charity is treated of; "and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark", signifies a state of receiving the goods and truths of faith; "and the dove came back to him at eventide", signifies that little by little they began to appear; "eventide" means as in the twilight before morning; "and lo in her mouth an olive leaf plucked off", signifies some little of the truth of faith; "a leaf", is truth; "olive", the good of charity; "plucked off", means that the truth of faith is therefrom; "in her mouth", means that it was shown; "so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth", signifies that these things were so because the falsities that impeded were less abundant than before.

880. And he stayed yet other seven days. That this signifies the beginning of a second state of regeneration, may be evident from the fact that the time is thus described which intervenes between the first state, described in (verses 8 and 9) and this second state (described here in (verses 10 and 11). In order to maintain the historic connection, this intervening time is expressed by his "staying". How the case is with the second state of regeneration may be seen in some degree from what has been said and shown about the first state, which was that the truths of faith could not yet take root, because falsities hindered. The truths of faith are first rooted when man begins to acknowledge and believe, and they are not rooted before. What man hears from the Word and holds in memory, is only the sowing; the rooting does by no means begin until the man accepts and receives the good of charity. All the truth of faith is rooted by the good of faith, that is, by the good of charity. This is as with seed that is cast into the ground while it is still winter and the ground is cold; there indeed it lies, but does not take root. But as soon as the heat of the sun warms the earth in the time of early spring, the seed begins first to push its root within itself, and afterwards to send it forth into the ground. The case is the same with spiritual seed that is being implanted: this is never rooted until the good of charity as it were warms it; then for the first time it pushes its root within itself, and afterwards sends it forth.

[2] There are three things in man which concur and unite together, namely, the Natural, the Spiritual, and the Celestial. His natural never receives any life except from the spiritual, and the spiritual never except from the celestial, and the celestial from the Lord alone, who is life itself. But in order that a still fuller idea may be gained: the natural is the receptacle that receives the spiritual, or is the vessel into which the spiritual is poured; and the spiritual is the receptacle which receives, or is the vessel into which is poured, the celestial. Thus, through things celestial, life comes from the Lord. Such is the influx. The celestial is all the good of faith; in the spiritual man it is the good of charity. The spiritual is truth, which never becomes the truth of faith unless there is in it the good of faith, that is, the good of charity, in which there is life itself from the Lord. That a yet clearer idea may be gained: man's natural is what does the Work of Charity, by hand or by mouth, and thus by the organs of the body; but this work in itself is dead, and does not live except from the spiritual that is in it; and the spiritual does not live except from the celestial, which lives from the Lord. From this the work is said to be good, since there is nothing good except from the Lord.

[3] This being the case, it must be evident to every one that in every work of charity the work itself is nothing but a material affair, and that the work is living is attributable to the truth of faith that is in it; and further that neither is the truth of faith anything but an inanimate affair, and that the truth of faith is living is attributable to the good of faith; moreover that the good of faith is not living except from the Lord only, who is Good itself and Life itself. This shows why the celestial angels are unwilling to hear about faith, and are still more unwilling to hear about work (n. 202). For the celestial angels ascribe to love both the faith and the work, making faith to be from love, and making even the work of faith to be from love, so that with them both the work and the faith vanish, and there remains nothing but love and its derivative good, and within their love is the Lord. In consequence of having ideas so heavenly these angels are distinct from those angels who are called spiritual, their very thought (together with the speech that is derived from this thought) being much more incomprehensible than are the thought and the speech of the spiritual angels.

881. That "seven" signifies what is holy, because charity is now treated of, is evident from the signification of "seven" (n. 395, 716). Moreover "seven" is inserted here for the coherence of all things historically, as "seven" and "seven days", in the natural sense add nothing but a certain holiness, which this second state has from the celestial, that is, from charity.

882. And again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. That this signifies a state of receiving the goods and truths of faith, is evident from what was said at (verse 8), where similar words occur, but with the difference that it is there said, he sent forth the dove "from him;" for the reason there explained, that at that time he did what was true and good from himself, that is, he believed it to be from his own power, which is meant by the words "from him".

883. And the dove came back to him at eventide. That this signifies that little by little the goods and truths of faith began to appear, and that "eventide" means as in the twilight before morning, is likewise evident from what has been said above, at (verse 8); as well as from the fact that the time of evening is here mentioned. In regard to "evening", see what was said under the first chapter of Genesis, where it is said six times, "there was evening and there was morning". "Evening" is a term of regeneration, and indeed of that state of it when the man is still in shade, or when as yet only a little light is apparent to him. The morning itself is described in (verse 13) by Noah's removing the covering of the ark and seeing. It was because "evening" signified the twilight before morning, that "evening" is so many times mentioned in connection with the Jewish Church. For the same reason also they began their sabbaths and their feasts in the evening, and Aaron was commanded to light the holy lamp in the evening (Exod. 27:20, 21).

884. And lo in her mouth an olive leaf plucked off. That this signifies some little of the truth of faith; that "leaf" is truth, and "olive" the good of charity; that "plucked off" means the truth of faith therefrom, and "in her mouth" that it was shown, is evident from the signification of an olive-tree, and is obvious from the very words. And that there was only a little, appears from there being only a leaf.

885. That a "leaf" signifies truth, is evident from many passages in the Word where man is compared to a tree, or is called a tree, and where "fruits" signify the good of charity, and a "leaf" the truth therefrom (which indeed they are like); as in Ezekiel: -

And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, there cometh up every tree for food, whose leaf doth not fall, neither is the fruit consumed, it is reborn every month, because the waters thereof issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for medicine (Ezekiel 47:12; Rev. 22:2).

Here "tree" denotes the man of the church in whom is the kingdom of the Lord; its "fruit", the good of love and of charity; its "leaf", the truths therefrom, which serve for the instruction of the human race and for their regeneration, for which reason the leaf is said to be for "medicine". Again: -

Shall He not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof that it wither? it shall wither in all the plucked off (leaves) of its shoot (Ezekiel 17:9).

This is said of the vine, that is, the church, in a state of vastation, whose good, which is the "fruit", and whose truth, which is the "plucked off (leaf) of the shoot", thus withers.

[2] In Jeremiah: -

Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah; he shall be like a tree planted by the waters; his leaf shall be green; and he shall not be anxious in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit (Jeremiah 17:7, 8);

where the "green leaf" denotes the truth of faith, thus the very faith which is from charity. So in (Ps. 1:3); and again in Jeremiah: -

There shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf is fallen (Jeremiah 8:13);

"grapes on the vine", denote spiritual good; "figs on the fig-tree", natural good; "leaf", truth, which in this case is "fallen". Likewise in (Isaiah 34:4). The same is meant by the fig-tree which Jesus saw and found nothing thereon but leaves, and which therefore withered away (Matt. 21:19, 20; Mark 11:13, 14, 20). Specifically, by this fig-tree there was meant the Jewish Church, in which there was no longer anything of natural good; and the religious teaching or truth that was preserved in it, are the "leaves;" for a vastated church is such that it knows truth, but is not willing to understand it. Similar are those who say that they know truth or the things of faith, yet have nothing of the good of charity: they are only fig-leaves, and they wither away.

886. That the "olive" signifies the good of charity, is evident from the signification in the Word not only of an "olive", but also of "oil". It was with olive oil, together with spices, that the priests and kings were anointed, and it was with olive oil that the lamps were trimmed (Exod. 30:24; 27:20). The reason olive oil was used for anointing and for lamps was that it represented all that is celestial, and therefore all the good of love and of charity; for the oil is the very essence of the tree, and is as it were its soul, just as the celestial, or the good of love and of charity, is the very essence or the very soul of faith; and hence oil has this representation. That "oil" signifies what is celestial, or the good of love and of charity, may be confirmed from many passages of the Word; but as it is the olive-tree that is mentioned here, we will merely present some passages that confirm its signification. As in Jeremiah: -

Jehovah called thy name a green olive-tree, fair with goodly fruit (Jeremiah 11:16),

where the Most Ancient or Celestial Church is so called, which was the foundation church of the Jewish Church; and therefore all the representatives of the Jewish Church had regard to celestial things, and through these to the Lord.

[2] In Hosea: -

His branches shall spread, and his honor shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as of Lebanon (Hosea 14:6),

which is said of the church that is to be planted, whose honor is the "olive-tree", that is, the good of love and of charity; the smell as of Lebanon", being the affection of the truth of faith therefrom. "Lebanon" stands for its cedars, which signified spiritual things, or the truths of faith. In Zechariah, speaking of the lampstand: -

Two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof; these are the two sons of the pure oil that stand by the Lord of the whole earth (Zechariah 4:3, 11, 14).

Here the "two olive-trees" denote the celestial and the spiritual, thus love, which is of the celestial church, and charity, which is of the spiritual church. These are on the "right hand" and on the "left hand" of the Lord. The "lampstand" here signifies, as in the Jewish Church it represented, the Lord; its "lamps" signify celestial things from which are spiritual, as from a flame proceed rays of light, or light. In David: -

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine in the sides of thy house; thy sons like olive-plants (Ps. 128:3);

where "wife as a vine", denotes the spiritual church; "sons" the truths of faith, which are called "olive-plants", because from the goods of charity. In Isaiah: -

Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the branch (Isaiah 17:6);

where the subject treated of is the remains in man; "of an olive-tree", denoting celestial remains. In Micah: -

Thou shalt tread the olive, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine (Micah 6:15).

And in Moses: -

Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt not drink of the wine; thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy border, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil (Deut. 28:39, 40),

where the subject is the abundance of doctrinal teachings about the goods and truths of faith, which by reason of their character, those people rejected. From these passages it is evident that a "leaf" signifies the truth of faith, and an "olive" the good of charity; and that like things are signified by the "olive-leaf" which the dove brought in her mouth; that is, that there now appeared in the man of the Ancient Church some little of the truth of faith from the good of charity.

887. That the waters were abated from off the earth. That this signifies that these things were so because the falsities that impeded were less abundant than before, is evident from the signification of the same words above, at (verse 8). As to the falsities that impeded being less abundant in the second state, which is now treated of, the case is that all the falsities which man has acquired remain, so that not one is abolished, as before said; but when man is being regenerated, there are truths implanted to which the falsities are bent by the Lord, and thus appear as if shaken off, and this by means of the goods with which the man is being gifted.

888. Verse 12. And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove, and she returned not again unto him any more. "And he stayed yet other seven days", signifies the beginning of a third state; "seven days", signify what is holy; "and sent forth the dove", signifies a state of receiving the goods and truths of faith; "and she returned not again unto him any more", signifies a free state.

889. And he stayed yet other seven days. That this signifies the beginning of a third state, and that "seven" signifies what is holy, is evident from what has just now been said about the second state, where similar words are used.

890. And sent forth the dove. That this signifies a state of receiving the goods and truths of faith, is likewise evident from what was said at (verse 10), where are the same words and the same meaning, except that there the second state, and here the third state, is treated of. The third state is described by the dove's not returning, and also by Noah's removing the covering of the ark, and at length by his going forth from the ark because the face of the ground was dried and the earth was dry.

891. And she returned not again unto him any more. That this signifies a free state, follows, and indeed from the fact that the dove (or the truth of faith) and the other birds, as also the beasts, and Noah himself, were no longer kept in the ark on account of the waters of the flood. So long as he was in the ark, he was in a state of slavery, or of bondage or imprisonment, tossed about by the waters of the flood, or falsities. This state, together with the state of temptation, is described in the preceding chapter (Genesis 7:17), by the waters increasing and bearing up the ark, and by the ark being lifted up above the earth; also in the next verse by the waters being strengthened and the ark going on the face of the waters. In the present chapter (verses 15 to 18) the man's state of freedom is described by Noah going forth from the ark, and all that were with him, the dove first of all (that is, the truth of faith from good), for all freedom is from the good of faith, that is, from the love of good.

892. When man has been regenerated, he then for the first time comes into a state of freedom, having before been in a state of slavery. It is slavery when cupidities and falsities rule, and freedom when the affections of good and truth do so. How this is, no man ever perceives so long as he is in a state of slavery, but only when he comes into a state of freedom. When he is in a state of slavery, that is, when cupidities and falsities rule, the man who is under subjection to them supposes that he is in a state of freedom; but this is a gross falsity, for he is then carried away by the delight of the cupidities and their pleasures, that is, by the delight of his loves; and because this is done by delight, it appears to him to be freedom. Every man, while he is led by any love, and while following whithersoever it carries him, supposes himself to be free, whereas it is the diabolical spirits in whose company, and so to speak torrent, he is, that are carrying him away. This the man supposes to be the greatest freedom, so much so that he believes that the loss of this state would bring him into a life most wretched, indeed into no life at all; and he believes this not merely because he is unaware of the existence of any other life, but also because he is under the impression that no one can come into heaven except through miseries, poverty, and the loss of pleasures. But that this impression is false has been given me to know by much experience, of which by the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. Man never comes into a state of freedom until he has been regenerated, and is led by the Lord through love for what is good and true. When he is in this state, then for the first time can he know and perceive what freedom is, because he then knows what life is, and what the true delight of life is, and what happiness is. Before this he does not even know what good is, sometimes calling that the greatest good which is the greatest evil. When those who are in a state of freedom from the Lord see, and still more when they feel, a life of cupidities and falsities, they abhor it as do those who see hell open before their eyes. But as it is quite unknown to very many what a life of freedom is, it may be here briefly defined. A life of freedom, or freedom, is simply and solely being led by the Lord. But as there are many things which hinder man from being able to believe that this is a life of freedom, both because men undergo temptations, which take place in order that they may be set free from the dominion of diabolical spirits; and because they know of no other delight than that of cupidities from the love of self and of the world, as well as from their having conceived a false opinion in regard to all things of the heavenly life, so that they cannot be taught by description so well as by living experiences, therefore, of the Lord's Divine mercy, we may adduce such experiences hereafter.

893. Verse 13. And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the beginning, on the first of the month, that the waters were dried up from off the earth; and Noah removed the concerning of the ark, and saw, and behold, the faces of the ground were dry. "And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year", signifies a last boundary (or close); "in the beginning, on the first of the month", signifies a first boundary (or recommencement); "the waters were dried up from off the earth" signifies that falsities did not then appear; "and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked", signifies on the removal of falsities there was the light of the truths of faith, which he acknowledged and in which he had faith; "and behold the faces of the ground were dry", signifies regeneration. And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year. That this signifies a last boundary, is evident from the signification of the number "six hundred", concerning which in the preceding chapter (Genesis 7:6); (n. 737), as being a beginning, and there indeed the beginning of temptation, its end being here designated by the same number, a whole year having passed, so that what took place was at the end of the year, and therefore it is added, "in the beginning, on the first of the month", by which is signified a first boundary (or recommencement). Any whole period is designated in the Word as a "day", a "week", a "month", a "year", even though it be a hundred or a thousand years, as the "days" in the first chapter of Genesis, by which are meant periods of the regeneration of the man of the Most Ancient Church; for "day" and "year" in the internal sense signify nothing else than a time, and because they signify a time they signify a state, and therefore in the Word a "year" is continually used with the meaning of a time and a state. As in Isaiah: -

To proclaim the acceptable year of Jehovah, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn (Isaiah 61:2),

where the coming of the Lord is treated of. Again: -

For the day of vengeance was in Mine heart, and the year of My redeemed had come (Isaiah 63:4),

where also "day" and "year" denote a time and state. In Habakkuk: -

O Jehovah, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known (Habakkuk 3:2),

where "years" denote a time and state. In David: -

Thou art God Himself, and Thy years are not consumed (Ps. 102:27),

where "years" denote times, and it is shown that with God there is no time. So in the passage before us, the year of the flood by no means signifies any particular year, but a time not determined by fixed years, and at the same time a state. See what has been said before about "years", (n. 482, 487, 488, 493).

894. In the beginning, on the first of the month. That this signifies a first boundary (or recommencement), is now evident from what has been shown. What is further involved in these words is too deeply hidden to be described any further than that there is no definite period of time within which man's regeneration is completed, so that he can say, "I am now perfect;" for there are illimitable states of evil and falsity with every man, not only simple states but also states in many ways compounded, which must be so far shaken off as no longer to appear, as said above. In some states the man may be said to be more perfect, but in very many others not so. Those who have been regenerated in the life of the body and have lived in faith in the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, are continually being perfected in the other life.

895. The waters were dried up from off the earth. That this signifies that falsities did not then appear, is evident from what has been said. Specifically it signifies that falsities have been separated from the things of the will of the man of this church. The "earth" here signifies man's will, which is nothing but cupidity; wherefore it is said that "the waters were dried up from off the earth". His "ground", as said above, is in his intellectual part, in which truths are sown - never in his will part, which in the spiritual man is separate from the intellectual; wherefore it is said afterwards in this verse that the face of the "ground" was dried. With the man of the Most Ancient Church there was ground in his will, in which the Lord sowed goods, and then from the goods the man could know and perceive truth, or from love could have faith; but if this method were followed now, man could not but perish eternally, for his will is wholly corrupted. How the case is with this sowing in man's will part, or - as is the case now - in his intellectual part, is evident from considering that revelations were made to the man of the Most Ancient Church by means of which he from his infancy was initiated into a perception of goods and truths, but as those revelations were sown in his will part, he without new instruction perceived innumerable things, so that from one general principle he knew from the Lord the particulars and the singulars which now men have to learn and so know, and yet after all they can know scarcely a thousandth part of them. For the man of the spiritual church knows nothing but what he learns, and what he knows in this way he retains and believes to be true. Indeed even if he learns what is false, and this is impressed on his mind as true, he believes it, because he has no other perception than that it is so, for so is he persuaded. Those who have conscience have from conscience a certain dictate, but no other than that a thing is true because they have so heard and learned. This is what forms their conscience, as is evident from those who have a conscience of what is false.

896. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and saw. That this signifies, on the removal of falsities the light of the truths of faith, which he acknowledged and in which he had faith, is evident from the signification of "removing the covering", as being to take away what obstructs the light. As by the "ark" is signified the man of the Ancient Church who was to be regenerated, by the "covering" nothing else can be signified than what obstructs or prevents from seeing heaven, or the light. What prevented was falsity; wherefore it is said that he "saw". In the Word "to see" signifies to understand and to have faith. Here it means that the man acknowledged truths and had faith in them. It is one thing to know truths, and quite another to acknowledge them, and still another to have faith in them. To know is the first thing of regeneration, to acknowledge is the second, to have faith is the third. What difference there is between knowing, acknowledging, and having faith is evident from the fact that the worst men may know, and yet not acknowledge, like the Jews and those who attempt to destroy doctrinal things by specious reasoning; and that unbelievers may acknowledge, and in certain states preach, confirm, and persuade with zeal; but none can have faith who are not believers.

[2] Those who have faith, know, acknowledge, and believe, they have charity, and they have conscience; and therefore faith can never be predicated of any one, that is, it cannot be said that he has faith, unless these things are true of him. This then it is to be regenerate. Merely to know what is of faith is of a man's memory, without the concurrence of his reason. To acknowledge what is of faith is a rational consent induced by certain causes and for the sake of certain ends. But to have faith is of conscience, that is, of the Lord working through conscience. This is abundantly evident from those who are in the other life. Those who only know are many of them in hell. Those who acknowledge are also many of them there, because their acknowledgment in the life of the body has been in certain states only, and when in the other life they perceive that what they had preached, taught, and persuaded others is true, they wonder greatly and acknowledge it only when it is recalled to their memory as what they had preached. But those who have had faith are all in heaven.

897. In this place, the subject being the man of the Ancient Church when regenerated, by "seeing" is signified acknowledging and having faith. That "seeing" has this signification is evident from the Word; as in Isaiah: -

Ye looked not unto the Maker thereof, and the Former thereof from afar ye have not seen (Isaiah 22:11),

speaking of the city of Zion; "not to see the Former from afar" is not to acknowledge, still less to have faith. Again: -

Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and smear over their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and their heart should understand, and turn again, and he healed (Isaiah 6:10);

"to see with their eyes", denotes acknowledging and having faith. Again: -

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light (Isaiah 9:2),

said of the Gentiles who received faith; as it is here said of Noah, that he "removed the covering and saw". Again: -

And in that day shall the deaf hear the word of the Book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of thick darkness and out of darkness (Isaiah 29:18),

speaking of the conversion of the Gentiles to faith; "to see" denotes to receive faith. Again: -

Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see (Isaiah 42:18),

where the meaning is similar. In Ezekiel: -

Who have eyes to see, and see not, who have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious house (Ezekiel 12:2),

meaning who can understand, acknowledge, and have faith, and yet will not. That "to see" signifies to have faith, is evident from the representation of the Lord by the brazen serpent in the wilderness, on seeing which all were healed; as in Moses: -

Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard; and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live; and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived (Num. 21:8, 9);

from which passage every one can see that "to see" signifies faith; for what would seeing avail in this case, except as a representative of faith in the Lord? Hence also it is evident that Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, being so called from "seeing", signifies in the internal sense faith. See what was said before about the firstborn of the church, (n. 352, 367).

898. And behold, the faces of the ground were dry. That this signifies regeneration, is evident from the signification of "ground", as being the man of the church, which has been repeatedly shown above. The face of the ground is said to be "dry" when falsities no longer appear.

899. Verse 14. In the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dry. "The second month", signifies the whole state before regeneration; "on the seven and twentieth day of the month", signifies what is holy; "was the earth dry", signifies that he was regenerate. These words are a conclusion to what goes before, and a beginning to what follows.

900. In the second month. That this signifies the whole state before regeneration, is evident from the signification of "two" in the Word. "Two" signifies the same as "six", that is, the combat and labor which precede regeneration; thus here the whole state which precedes the completion of man's regeneration. Periods of time, great and small, are commonly distinguished in the Word as "threes" or " sevens", and are called "days", "weeks", "months", "years", or "ages". "Three" and "seven" are holy, "two" and "six", which precede, are not holy, but are relatively profane, as before shown (n. 720). "Three" and "seven" are both sacred for the additional reason that they are predicated of the last judgment, which is to come on the "third", or on the "seventh" day. The last judgment comes to every one when the Lord comes, both in general and in particular. For example, there was a last judgment when the Lord came into the world, and there will be a last judgment when He shall come in glory; there is a last judgment when He comes to any man whatever in particular; and there is also a last judgment for every one when he dies. This last judgment is what is meant by the "third day" and the "seventh day", which is holy to those who have lived well, but not holy to those who have lived ill. Thus the "third day", or the "seventh day", is predicated as well of those who are adjudged to death, as of those who are adjudged to life; and therefore these numbers signify what is not holy to those who are adjudged to death, and what is holy to those who are adjudged to life. "Two" and "six", preceding three and seven, have relation to and signify in general all that state which precedes. This is the signification of "two" and of "six" in application to any subject, and to any matter that is the subject of which they are predicated, as is more clearly evident from what now follows about the number twenty-seven.

901. That the "seven and twentieth day" signifies what is holy, is evident from what has just been said, since it is composed of three multiplied by itself twice. Three multiplied by itself is nine, and nine multiplied again by three is twenty-seven. In "twenty-seven" therefore three is the ruling number. Thus did the most ancient people compute their numbers, and understood by them nothing but actual things (res). That "three" has the same signification as "seven", is evident from what has been just said. There is a hidden reason why the Lord rose on the third day. The Lord's resurrection itself involves all holiness, and the resurrection of all, and therefore in the Jewish Church this number became representative, and in the Word is holy; just as it is in heaven, where no numbers are thought of, but instead of "three" and "seven" they have a general holy idea of the resurrection and of the coming of the Lord.

[2] That "three" and "seven" signify what is holy, is evident from the following passages in the Word. In Moses: -

He that toucheth the dead shall be unclean seven days; the same shall expiate himself therefrom on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he expiate not himself on the third day, on the seventh day he shall not be clean. He that toucheth one slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days; the clean shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall expiate him, and he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even (Num. 19:11, 12, 16, 19).

That these things are representative, or that the outward things signify internal ones, is very evident, as that one would be unclean who had touched a dead body, one slain, a bone of a man, a grave. All these things signify in the internal sense things proper to man, which are dead and profane. So also the washing in water and being clean at even were representative, and also the third day and the seventh day, which signify what is holy because on those days he was to be purified and would thus be clean.

[3] In like manner concerning those who returned from battle against the Midianites: -

Encamp ye without the camp seven days; whosoever hath slain a soul, and whosoever hath touched one slain, ye shall expiate yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day (Num. 31:19).

If this were but a ritual, and the third day and the seventh were not representative and significative of holiness, or of expiation, it would be a dead thing, like that which is without a cause, and like a cause without an end, or like a thing separated from its cause, and this cause from its end, and thus in no way Divine. That the "third day" was representative, and thus significative, of what is holy, is very evident from the coming of the Lord upon Mount Sinai, for which it was thus commanded: -

And Jehovah said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and to-morrow, and let them wash their garments, and be ready against the third day; for on the third day Jehovah will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:10, 11, 14, 15).

[4] For a similar reason Joshua crossed the Jordan on the third day: -

Joshua commanded, Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals, for within three days ye are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to inherit the land (Josh. 1:11; 3:2).

The crossing of the Jordan represented the introduction of the sons of Israel, that is, of those who are regenerate, into the kingdom of the Lord; Joshua, who led them in, represented the Lord; and this was done on the third day. Because the third day was holy, as was the seventh, it was ordained that the year of tithes should be the third year, and that then the people should show themselves holy by works of charity (Deut. 26:12-15); the "tithes" represented remains, which because they are of the Lord alone, are holy. That Jonah was three days and three nights in the bowels of the fish (Jonah 1:17) manifestly represented the burial and resurrection of the Lord on the third day (Matt. 12:40).

[5] That "three" signifies that holy thing is evident also in the Prophets, as in Hosea: -

After two days will Jehovah revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him (Hosea 6:2),

where also the "third day" plainly denotes the coming of the Lord and His resurrection. In Zechariah: -

It shall come to pass that in all the land two parts therein shall be cut off and expire, but the third shall be left therein, and I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried (Zechariah 13:8, 9),

where the "third part", like "three", denotes what is holy. The same is involved by the third part as by three, and also by the third part of the third part, as in the present passage, for three is the third of the third of twenty-seven.

902. That the earth's being "dry" signifies that the man was regenerate, is evident from what was said before about the waters being dried up from off the earth, and the face of the ground being dried, in (verses 7 and 13).

903. Verses 15, 16. And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth from the ark, thou and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. "And God spake unto Noah", signifies the presence of the Lord with the man of this church; "Go forth from the ark", signifies freedom; "thou and thy wife", signifies the church; "and thy sons and thy sons' wives with thee", signifies the truths, and the goods conjoined with truths, that were in him.

904. And God spake unto Noah. That this signifies the presence of the Lord with the man of this church, is evident from the internal sense of the Word. The Lord speaks with every man, for whatever a man wills and thinks that is good and true, is from the Lord. There are with every man at least two evil spirits and two angels. The evil spirits excite his evils, and the angels inspire things that are good and true. Every good and true thing inspired by the angels is of the Lord; thus the Lord is continually speaking with man, but quite differently with one man than with another. With those who suffer themselves to be led away by evil spirits, the Lord speaks as if absent, or from afar, so that it can scarcely be said that He is speaking; but with those who are being led by the Lord, He speaks as more nearly present; which may be sufficiently evident from the fact that no one can ever think anything good and true except from the Lord.

[2] The presence of the Lord is predicated according to the state of love toward the neighbor and of faith in which the man is. In love toward the neighbor the Lord is present, because He is in all good; but not so much in faith, so called, without love. Faith without love and charity is a separated or disjoined thing. Wherever there is conjunction there must be a conjoining medium, which is nothing else than love and charity, as must be evident to all from the fact that the Lord is merciful to every one, and loves every one, and wills to make every one happy to eternity. He therefore who is not in such love that he is merciful to others, loves them, and wills to make them happy, cannot be conjoined with the Lord, because he is unlike Him and not at all in His image. To look to the Lord by faith, as they say, and at the same time to hate the neighbor, is not only to stand afar off, but is also to have the abyss of hell between themselves and the Lord, into which they would fall if they should approach nearer, for hatred to the neighbor is that infernal abyss which is between.

[3] The presence of the Lord is first possible with a man when he loves the neighbor. The Lord is in love; and so far as a man is in love, so far the Lord is present; and so far as the Lord is present, so far He speaks with the man. Man knows no otherwise than that he thinks from himself, whereas he has not a single idea, nor even the least bit of an idea, from himself; but he has what is evil and false through evil spirits from hell, and what is good and true through angels from the Lord. Such is the influx with man, from which is his life and the intercourse of his soul with the body. From these things it is evident what is meant by the words "God spake unto Noah". His "saying" to any one means one thing (Gen. 1:29; 3:13, 14, 17; 4:6, 9, 15; 6:13; 7:1), and His "speaking" means another. Here, His speaking to Noah denotes being present, because the subject is now the regenerated man, who is gifted with charity.

905. Go forth from the ark. That this signifies freedom, is evident from what has been said before, and from the connection itself of the context. So long as Noah was in the ark and surrounded with the waters of the flood, the signification was that he was in captivity, that is, he was tossed about by evils and falsities, or what is the same thing, by evil spirits, from whom is the combat of temptation. Hence it follows that to "go forth from the ark" signifies freedom. The presence of the Lord involves freedom, the one following the other. The more present the Lord, the more free the man; that is, the more a man is in the love of good and truth, the more freely he acts. Such is the influx of the Lord through the angels. But on the other hand, the influx of hell through evil spirits is forcible, and impetuous, striving to dominate; for such spirits breathe nothing but the utter subjugation of the man, so that he may be nothing, and that they may be everything; and when they are everything the man is one of them, and scarcely even that, for in their eyes he is a mere nobody. Therefore when the Lord is liberating the man from their dominion and from their yoke there arises a combat; but when the man has been liberated, that is, regenerated, he, through the ministry of angels, is led by the Lord so gently that there is nothing whatever of yoke or of dominion, for he is led by means of his delights and his happinesses, and is loved and esteemed. This is what the Lord teaches in Matthew: -

My yoke is easy, and My burden is light (Matthew 11:30),

and is the reverse of a man's state when under the yoke of evil spirits, who, as just said, account the man as nothing, and, if they were able, would torment him every moment. This it has been given me to know by much experience, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

906. That "thou and thy wife" signifies the church, is in like manner evident from the connection, as also that "thy sons and thy sons' wives with thee", signifies the truths, and the goods conjoined with truths, that were in him. That "thou" signifies the man of the church, is evident, and that his "wife" signifies the church, and his "sons" truths, and his "sons' wives" goods conjoined with the truths, has been shown repeatedly before and need not be dwelt on here.

907. Verse 17. Every wild animal that is with thee of all flesh, as to fowl, and as to beast, and as to every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, bring forth with thee, that they may spread themselves over the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. "Every wild animal that is with thee of all flesh", signifies all that was made living in the man of this church; "fowl" signifies here as before the things of his understanding; "beast" the things of his will, which are both of the internal man; "every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth", signifies the like corresponding things in the external man; "bring forth with thee", signifies their state of freedom; "that they may spread themselves over the earth", signifies the operation of the internal man upon the external; "and be fruitful", signifies increasings of good; "and multiply", signifies increasings of truth; "upon the earth", signifies in the external man.

908. Every wild animal that is with thee of all flesh. That this signifies all that was made living in the man of this church, is evident from the fact that "wild animal" is predicated of Noah, or of the man of this church, now regenerated, and manifestly refers to what follows, namely, fowl, beast, and creeping thing; for it is said, "every wild animal that is with thee of all flesh, as to fowl, and as to beast, and as to every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth". The word in the original tongue here rendered "wild animal" signifies properly life, or what is living; but in the Word it is used both for what is living and for what is as it were not living, or a wild animal; so that unless one knows the internal sense of the Word, he is sometimes unable to see what is meant. The reason of this twofold meaning is that the man of the Most Ancient Church, in his humiliation before the Lord, acknowledged himself as not living, not even as a beast, but only as a wild animal; for those people knew man to be such when regarded in himself, or in what is his own. Hence this same word means what is living, and also means "wild animal".

[2] That it means "what is living" is evident in David: -

Thy wild animal shall dwell therein (that is, in God's inheritance); Thou, O God, wilt confirm the poor with Thy good (Ps. 68:10).

Here by "wild animal", because he shall dwell in the inheritance of God, no other is meant than the regenerated man; and so here, as in the verse we are considering, what is living in this man is meant. Again: -

Every wild animal of the forest is Mine, and the beasts upon the mountains where thousands are; I know all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild animals of My field are with Me (Ps. 50:10, 11).

Here "the wild animals of My field with Me", or with God, denote the regenerated man, thus what is living in him. In Ezekiel: -

All the fowls of the heavens made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches all the wild animals of the field brought forth (Ezekiel 31:6),

where the spiritual church is signified, as implanted, and what is living, in the man of that church. In Hosea: -

In that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild animal of the field and with the fowl of the heavens (Hosea 2:18),

where those who are to be regenerated are meant, with whom a covenant is to be made. Indeed, so fully does "wild animal" signify "what is living", that the cherubim, or angels, seen by Ezekiel, are called the "four wild animals", or "living creatures" (Ezek. 1:5, 13-15, 19; 10:15).

[3] That "wild animal" in the opposite sense is taken in the Word for what is not living, is evident from many passages, of which only the following will be cited, for confirmation. In David: -

O deliver not the soul of Thy turtle-dove unto the wild animal (Ps. 74:19).

In Zephaniah: -

How is the city become a desolation, a place for wild animals to lie down in (Zephaniah 2:15).

In Ezekiel: -

And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the wild animal of the earth eat them (Ezekiel 34:28).

Again: -

Upon his ruin all the fowl of the heavens shall dwell, and every wild animal of the field shall be upon his branches (Ezekiel 31:13).

In Hosea: -

There will I consume them like a lion; the wild animal of the field shall tear them (Hosea 13:8).

In Ezekiel: -

I have given thee for meat to the wild animals of the earth, and to the fowl of the heaven (Ezekiel 29:5),

an expression often occurring. And since the Jews remained in the sense of the letter only, and understood by "wild animal" a wild animal, and by "fowl" a fowl, not knowing the interior things of the Word, nor having any willingness to acknowledge them and so to be instructed, they were so cruel and such wild animals that they found their delight in not burying enemies killed in battle, but exposing them to be devoured by birds of prey and wild beasts; which also shows what a wild animal man is.

909. That the "fowl" signifies the things of his understanding, and the "beast" the things of his will, which are of the internal man, and that "every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" signifies like corresponding things in his external man, is evident from the signification of "fowl", as shown above (n. 40, 776), and of "beast" (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246). That the "creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" signifies corresponding things in the external man, is now evident, for the creeping thing here bears relation both to the "fowl", or things of the understanding, and to the "beast", or things of the will. The most ancient people called sensuous things and the pleasures of the body creeping things that creep, because they are just like creeping things that creep on the earth. They also likened man's body to the earth or ground, and even called it earth or ground, as in this passage, where nothing else than the external man is signified by the "earth".

910.

911. As to "the creeping thing that creeps" signifying like corresponding things in the external man, the case is this. In the regenerated man external things correspond to internal things, that is, do their bidding. External things are reduced to obedience when man is being regenerated, and he then becomes an image of heaven. But before man has been regenerated, external things rule over internal, and he is then an image of hell. Order consists in celestial things ruling over spiritual things, through these over natural things, and through these over corporeal things; but when corporeal and natural things rule over spiritual and celestial things, order is destroyed, and then the man is an image of hell; and therefore the Lord restores order by means of regeneration, and then the man becomes an image of heaven. Thus does the Lord draw a man out of hell, and thus does He uplift him to heaven.

[2] A few words shall be said about the correspondence of the external man to the internal. Every regenerated man is a kind of little heaven, that is, he is an effigy or image of the universal heaven, and therefore in the Word his internal man is called "heaven". There is such order in heaven that the Lord rules spiritual things through celestial things, and natural things through spiritual things, and in this way He rules the universal heaven as one man, for which reason heaven is called the Grand Man; and there is the like order in every one who is in heaven. Man too, when like this, is a little heaven, or, what is the same, he is a kingdom of the Lord, because the kingdom of the Lord is in him; and then in him external things correspond to internal, that is, they obey them, just as they do in heaven; for in the heavens (which are three, and all of which together stand related as one man) spirits constitute the external man, angelic spirits the interior man, and angels the internal man (n. 459).

[3] It is the reverse with those who make life consist solely in corporeal things, that is, in cupidities, pleasures, appetites, and matters of sense, perceiving no delight other than that which is of the love of self and of the world, that is to say, which is of hatred against all who do not favor and serve them. With such, because corporeal and natural things rule over spiritual and celestial things, there is not only no correspondence or obedience of external things, but the very reverse, and thus order is utterly destroyed; and because order is so destroyed, they cannot be other than images of hell.

912. Bring forth with thee. That this signifies their state of freedom, is evident from what was said under the preceding verse about "going forth from the ark", as signifying freedom.

913. That they may spread themselves over the earth. That this signifies the operation of the internal man on the external, and that "being fruitful" signifies increasings of good, " multiplying", increasings of truth, and "upon the earth", in the external man, is evident from the connection of the things, and also from what has been before said and shown about the signification of "being fruitful", which in the Word is predicated of goods, and about that of "multiplying", which is predicated of truths. That "earth" signifies the external man has likewise been shown before; so that we need not dwell longer on these significations in order to confirm them. Here the subject is the operation of the internal man on the external after the man has been regenerated, showing that good is for the first time made fruitful, and truth multiplied, when the external man has been reduced to correspondence or obedience. This can never be so before, because what is corporeal opposes what is good, and what is sensuous opposes what is true, the one extinguishing the love of good, and the other extinguishing the love of truth. The fructification of good and the multiplication of truth take place in the external man; the fructification of good in his affections, and the multiplication of truth in his memory. The external man is here called "the earth", over which they spread themselves, and upon which they become fruitful and multiply.

914. Verse 18, 19. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him; every wild animal, every creeping thing, and every fowl, everything that creepeth upon the earth, according to their families, went forth out of the ark. "Went forth", signifies that it was so done; by "Noah and his sons", is signified the man of the Ancient Church; by "his wife and his sons' wives with him", is signified that church itself. " Every wild animal, every creeping thing", signify his goods "wild animal" the goods of the internal man; " creeping thing" the goods of the external man; "and every fowl, everything that creepeth upon the earth", signify truths; "fowl" the truths of the internal man; "that creepeth upon the earth", the truths of the external man; "according to their families", signifies pairs; "went forth out of the ark", signifies as before that it was so done, and at the same time it signifies a state of freedom.

915. That by his "going forth" is signified that it was so done; that by "Noah and his sons" is signified the man of the Ancient Church; and that by "his wife and his sons' wives" is signified that church itself, is evident from the series of the things, which involves that thus was the Ancient Church formed, for these are the last or closing statements to what has gone before. When the church is described in the Word, it is described either by "man (vir) and wife", or by "man (homo) and wife;" when by "man (vir) and wife", by "man" is signified what is of the understanding, or truth, and by "wife" what is of the will, or good; when by "man (homo) and wife", by "man" is signified the good of love, or love, and by "wife" the truth of faith, or faith, thus by "man (homo)" is signified what is essential of the church, and by "wife" the church itself. It is so throughout the Word. In this place, because up to this point the formation of a new church has been treated of, on the perishing of the Most Ancient Church, by "Noah and his sons" is signified the man (homo) of the Ancient Church, and by his "wife and his sons' wives with him" that church itself. Here therefore they are named in an order different from that in the previous (verse 16), where it is said: "Go forth from the ark, thou and thy wife, and thy sons and thy sons' wives with thee", where "thou" and " thy "wife" are joined together, and "thy sons" and "thy sons' wives", and thus by "thou" and "sons" is signified truth, and by "wife" and "sons' wives" good. But in the verse we are now considering the order is different, for the reason, as we have said, that by "thou and thy sons" is signified the man of the church, and by "his wife and his sons' wives" the church itself, since it is the conclusion to what goes before. Noah did not constitute the Ancient Church, but his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, as said before. For three churches, so to speak, formed this Ancient Church, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. And these churches came forth as the offspring of one, which is called "Noah;" hence it is here said, "thou and thy sons", and also "thy wife and thy sons' wives".

916. That "every wild animal and every creeping thing", signify the goods of the man of the church; "wild animal", the goods of the internal man; " creeping thing", those of the external man; and that "every fowl and everything that creepeth upon the earth", signify truths; "fowl", the truths of the internal man and "thing that creepeth upon the earth", those of the external man, is evident from what was said and shown under the preceding verse in regard to wild animal, fowl, and creeping thing, where it is said "creeping thing that creepeth", because both good and truth of the external man were signified. Inasmuch as what is here said is the conclusion to what goes before, these things which are of the church are added, namely, its goods and truths; and by them is indicated the quality of the church, that it is spiritual, and that it became such that charity or good was the principal thing; and therefore "wild animal and creeping thing" are here first mentioned, and afterwards "fowl and thing that creepeth".

[2] The church is called spiritual when it acts from charity, or from the good of charity-never when it says that it has faith without charity, for then it is not even a church. For what is the doctrine of faith but the doctrine of charity? And to what purpose is the doctrine of faith, but that men should do what it teaches? It cannot be merely to know and think what it teaches, but only that what it teaches should be done. The spiritual church is therefore first called a church when it acts from charity, which is the very doctrine of faith. Or, what is the same thing, the man of the church is then first a church. Just in the same way, what is a commandment for? not that a man may know, but that he may live according to the commandment. For then he has in himself the kingdom of the Lord, since the kingdom of the Lord consists solely in mutual love and its happiness.

[3] Those who separate faith from charity, and make salvation consist in faith without the good works of charity, are Cainites who slay the brother Abel, that is, charity. And they are like birds which hover about a carcass; for such faith is a bird, and a man without charity is a carcass. Thus they also form for themselves a spurious conscience, so that they may live like devils, hold the neighbor in hatred and persecute him, pass their whole life in adulteries, and yet be saved, as is well known in the Christian world. What can be more agreeable to a man than to hear and be persuaded that he may be saved, even if he live like a wild beast? The very Gentiles perceive that this is false, many of whom abhor the doctrine of Christians because they see their life. The real quality of such a faith is evident also from the fact that nowhere is there found a life more detestable than in the Christian world.

917. According to their families. That this signifies pairs, is evident from what was said before, namely, that there entered into the ark "of the clean by sevens", and "of the unclean by twos" (Genesis 7:2, 3, 15); while here it is said that they went out of it "according to their families", the reason of which is that all things had now been so reduced into order by the Lord that they could represent families. In the regenerated man, goods and truths, or the things of charity and faith, are related to each other as with relationships by blood and by marriage, thus as families from one stock or parent, in like manner as they are in heaven (n. 685), an order into which goods and truths are brought by the Lord. Specifically, it is here signified that all goods both in general and in particular have regard to their own truths, as though these were conjoined with them in marriage; and just as in general charity regards faith, so in every particular good regards truth; for the general, unless it exists from the particular, is not the general, seeing that it is from the particulars that the general has its existence, and from them is called general. So in every man, such as is the man in general, such is he in the minutest particulars of his affection and of his idea. Of these he is composed, or of these he becomes such as he is in general; and therefore they who have been regenerated become such in the smallest particulars as they are in general.

918. Went forth out of the ark. That this involves also a state of freedom, is evident from what was said above at (verse 16) about going out of the ark. The quality of the freedom of the spiritual man appears from the consideration that he is ruled by the Lord through conscience. He who is ruled by conscience, or who acts according to conscience, acts freely. Nothing is more repugnant to him than to act against conscience. To act against conscience is hell to him, but to act according to conscience is heaven to him; and from this any one may see that acting according to conscience is freedom. The Lord rules the spiritual man through a conscience of what is good and true; and this conscience is formed, as already said, in man's understanding, and is thus separated from what is of his will. And because it is wholly separated from what is of the will, it is very evident that man never does anything good of himself; and since all the truth of faith is from the good of faith, it is evident that man never thinks anything true from himself, but that this is from the Lord alone. That he seems to do these things from himself is only an appearance; and because it is so, the really spiritual man acknowledges and believes it. From this it is evident that conscience given to the spiritual man by the Lord is as it were a new will, and thus that the man who has been created anew is endowed with a new will and from this with a new understanding.

919. Verse 20. And Noah builded an altar into Jehovah; and took of every clean beast, and of every, clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar. "Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah", signifies a representative of the Lord; "and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl", signifies the goods of charity and of faith; "and offered burnt-offerings on the altar", signifies all the worship therefrom.

920. In this verse there is described the worship of the Ancient Church in general, and this by the "altar" and the "burnt-offering", which were the principal things in all representative worship. In the first place, however, we will describe the worship that existed in the Most Ancient Church, and from that show how there originated the worship of the Lord by means of representatives. The men of the Most Ancient Church had no other than internal worship, such as there is in heaven; for with them heaven was in communication with man, so that they made a one; and this communication was perception, of which we have often spoken before. Thus being angelic they were internal men, and although they sensated the external things of the body and the world, they cared not for them; for in each object of sense they perceived something Divine and heavenly. For example, when they saw a high mountain, they perceived an idea, not of a mountain, but of elevation, and from elevation, of heaven and the Lord, from which it came to pass that the Lord was said to dwell in the highest, He himself being called the "Most High and Lofty One;" and that afterwards the worship of the Lord was held on mountains. So with other things; as when they observed the morning, they did not then perceive the morning of the day, but that which is heavenly, and which is like a morning and a dawn in human minds, and from which the Lord is called the "Morning", the "East", and the "Dawn" or "Day-spring". So when they looked at a tree and its leaves and fruit, they cared not for these, but saw man as it were represented in them; in the fruit, love and charity, in the leaves faith; and from this the man of the church was not only compared to a tree, and to a paradise, and what is in him to leaves and fruit, but he was even called so. Such are they who are in a heavenly and angelic idea.

[2] Every one may know that a general idea rules all the particulars, thus all the objects of the senses, as well those seen as those heard, so much so that the objects are not cared for except so far as they flow into the man's general idea. Thus to him who is glad at heart, all things that he hears and sees appear smiling and joyful; but to him who is sad at heart, all things that he sees and hears appear sad and sorrowful; and so in other cases. For the general affection is in all the particulars, and causes them to be seen in the general affection; while all other things do not even appear, but are as if absent or of no account. And so it was with the man of the Most Ancient Church: whatever he saw with his eyes was heavenly to him; and thus with him everything seemed to be alive. And this shows the character of his Divine worship, that it was internal, and by no means external.

[3] But when the church declined, as in his posterity, and that perception or communication with heaven began to be lost, another state of things commenced. Then no longer did men perceive anything heavenly in the objects of the senses, as they had done before, but merely what is worldly, and this to an increasing extent in proportion to the loss of their perception; and at last, in the closing posterity which existed just before the flood, they apprehended in objects nothing but what is worldly, corporeal, and earthly. Thus was heaven separated from man, nor did thy communicate except very remotely; and communication was then opened to man with hell, and from thence came his general idea, from which flow the ideas of all the particulars, as has been shown. Then when any heavenly idea presented itself, it was as nothing to them, so that at last they were not even willing to acknowledge that anything spiritual and celestial existed. Thus did the state of man become changed and inverted.

[4] As the Lord foresaw that such would be the state of man, He provided for the preservation of the doctrinal things of faith, in order that men might know what is celestial and what is spiritual. These doctrinal things were collected from the men of the Most Ancient Church by those called "Cain", and also by those called "Enoch", concerning whom above. Wherefore it is said of Cain that a mark was set upon him lest any one should kill him (Genesis 4:5); (n. 393, 394); and of Enoch that he was taken by God (Genesis 5:24). These doctrinal things consisted only in significative, and thus as it were enigmatical things, that is, in the significations of various objects on the face of the earth; such as that mountains signify celestial things, and the Lord; that morning and the east have this same signification; that trees of various kinds and their fruits signify man and his heavenly things, and so on. In such things as these consisted their doctrinal things, all of which were collected from the significatives of the Most Ancient Church; and consequently their writings also were of the same nature. And as in these representatives they admired, and seemed to themselves even to behold, what is Divine and heavenly, and also because of the antiquity of the same, their worship from things like these was begun and was permitted, and this was the origin of their worship upon mountains, and in groves in the midst of trees, and also of their pillars or statues in the open air, and at last of the altars and burnt-offerings which afterwards became the principal things of all worship. This worship was begun by the Ancient Church, and passed thence to their posterity and to all nations round about, besides many other things, concerning which of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

921. And Noah builded an altar into Jehovah. That this signifies a representative of the Lord, is evident from what has just been said. All the rites of the Ancient Church were representative of the Lord, as also the rites of the Jewish Church. But the principal representative in later times was the altar, and also the burnt-offering, which being made of clean beasts and clean birds, had its representation according to their signification, clean beasts signifying the goods of charity, and clean birds the truths of faith. When men of the Ancient Church offered these, they signified that they offered gifts of these goods and truths to the Lord. Nothing else can be offered to the Lord that will be grateful to Him. But their posterity, as the Gentiles and also the Jews, perverted these things, not even knowing that they had such a signification, and making their worship consist in the externals only.

[2] That the altar was the principal representative of the Lord, is evident from the fact that there were altars, even among Gentiles, before other rites were instituted, and before the ark was constructed, and before the temple was built. This is evident from Abram, as that when he came upon the mountain on the east of Bethel he raised an altar and called upon the name of Jehovah (Gen. 12:8); and afterwards he was commanded to offer Isaac for a burnt-offering on an altar (Genesis 22:2, 9). So Jacob built an altar at Luz, or Bethel (Genesis 35:6, 7); and Moses built an altar under Mount Sinai, and sacrificed (Exod. 24:4-6). All this was before the (Jewish) sacrifices were instituted, and before the ark was constructed at which worship was afterwards performed in the wilderness. That there were altars likewise among the Gentiles, is evident from Balaam, who said to Balak that he should build seven altars and prepare seven bullocks and seven rams (Num. 23:1-7, 14-18, 29, 30); and also from its being commanded that the altars of the nations should be destroyed (Deut. 7:5; Judg. 2:2). Thus Divine worship by altars and sacrifices was not a new thing instituted with the Jews. Indeed altars were built before men had any idea of slaying oxen and sheep upon them, but as memorials.

[3] That altars signify a representative of the Lord, and burnt-offerings the worship of Him thereby, is plainly evident in the Prophets, as also in Moses when it is said of Levi, to whom the priesthood belonged: -

They shall teach Jacob Thy judgments, and Israel Thy law; they shall put incense in Thy nostrils, and whole burnt-offering upon Thine altar (Deut. 33:10),

meaning all worship; for "to teach Jacob judgments, and Israel the law" denotes internal worship; and "to put incense in Thy nostrils, and whole burnt-offering on Thine altar" denotes corresponding external worship. In Isaiah: -

In that day shall a man look unto his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel; and he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hand (Isaiah 17:7, 8),

where "looking to the altars", plainly signifies representative worship in general, which was to be abolished. Again: -

In that day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Jehovah (Isaiah 19:19),

where also "an altar" stands for external worship.

[4] In Jeremiah: -

The Lord hath cast off His altar, He hath abhorred His sanctuary (Lam. 2:7);

"altar" denoting representative worship which had become idolatrous. In Hosea: -

Because Ephraim hath multiplied altars to sin, altars have been unto him to sin (Hosea 8:11);

"altars" denote here all representative worship separate from internal, thus what is idolatrous. Again: -

The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed; the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars (Hosea 10:8),

where "altars" denote idolatrous worship. In Amos: -

In the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off (Amos 3:14),

where again "altars" denote representative worship become idolatrous.

[5] In David: -

Let them bring me unto the mountain of Thy holiness, and to Thy tabernacles. And I will go unto the altar of God, unto God the gladness of my joy (Ps. 43:3, 4),

where "altar" manifestly denotes the Lord. Thus the building of an altar in the Ancient and in the Jewish Church was for a representative of the Lord. As the worship of the Lord was performed principally by burnt-offerings and sacrifices, and thus these things signified principally representative worship, it is evident that the altar itself signifies this representative worship itself.

922. And took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl. That this signifies the goods of charity and the truths of faith, has been shown above; that "beast" signifies the goods of charity (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246); and that "fowl" signifies the truths of faith (n. 40, 776). Burnt-offerings were made of oxen, of lambs and goats, and of turtle-doves and young pigeons (Lev. 1:3-17; Num. 15:2-15; 28:1-31). These were clean beasts, and each one of them signified some special heavenly thing. And because they signified these things in the Ancient Church and represented them in the churches that followed, it is evident that burnt-offerings and sacrifices were nothing else than representatives of internal worship; and that when they were separated from internal worship they became idolatrous. This any one of sound reason may see. For what is an altar but something of stone, and what is burnt-offering and sacrifice but the slaying of a beast? If there be Divine worship, it must represent something heavenly which they know and acknowledge, and from which they worship Him whom they represent.

[2] That these were representatives of the Lord no one can be ignorant, unless he is unwilling to understand anything about the Lord. It is by internal things, namely, charity and the faith therefrom, that He who is represented is to be seen and acknowledged and believed, as is clearly evident in the Prophets, for example, in Jeremiah: -

Thus saith Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, Add your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat ye flesh; for I spake not unto your fathers, and I commanded them not in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices; but this thing I commanded them, saying, Hearken unto My voice, and I will be your God (Jeremiah 7:21-23).

To "hearken to", or obey, "the voice", is to obey the law, which all relates to the one command: to love God above all things, and the neighbor as one's self; for in this is the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 22:35-40; 7:12). In David: -

O Jehovah, sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required; I have desired to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart (Ps. 40:7, 9).

[3] In Samuel, who said to Saul,

Hath Jehovah as great pleasure in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in hearkening to the voice of Jehovah? behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams (1 Sam. 15:22).

What is meant by " hearkening to the voice" may be seen in Micah: -

Shall I come before Jehovah with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself in walking with thy God? (Micah 6:6-8).

This is what is signified by "burnt-offerings and sacrifices of clean beasts and birds". So in Amos: -

Though you offer me your burnt-offerings and gifts I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offering of your fat ones; let judgment flow like waters, and righteousness like a mighty river (Amos 5:22, 24).

"Judgment" is truth, and "righteousness" is good, both from charity, and these are the "burnt-offerings and sacrifices" of the internal man. In Hosea: -

For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings (Hosea 6:6).

From these passages it is evident what sacrifices and burnt-offerings are where there is no charity and faith; and it is also evident that clean beasts and clean birds represented, because they signified, the goods of charity and of faith.

923. And he offered burnt-offerings on the altar. That this signifies all worship therefrom, is evident from what has been already said. Burnt-offerings were the principal things of the worship of the representative church, and so thereafter were sacrifices, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. That "burnt-offerings" taken in the complex signify representative worship, is evident also in the Prophets, as in David: -

Jehovah will send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; He will remember all thy offerings, and accept as fat thy burnt-offering (Ps. 20:2, 3).

In Isaiah: -

Whoso keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, them will I bring in to My holy mountain; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar (Isaiah 56:6, 7),

where "burnt-offerings and sacrifices" denote all worship; "burnt-offerings" worship from love, "sacrifices" worship from the derivative faith. As is usual in the Prophets, internal things are here described by external.

924. Verse 21. And Jehovah smelled an odor of rest; and Jehovah said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more on man's account; because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done. "And Jehovah smelled an odor of rest", signifies that worship therefrom was grateful to the Lord, that is, worship from charity and the faith of charity; "and Jehovah said in His heart", signifies that it would happen so no more; "I will not again curse the ground any more", signifies that man would not any more so turn himself away; "on man's account", signifies as did the man of the posterity of the Most Ancient Church; "because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth", signifies that man's will is altogether evil; "neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done", signifies that man would not be able any more so to destroy himself.

925. And Jehovah smelled an odor of rest. That this signifies that worship therefrom was grateful to the Lord, that is, worship from charity and the faith of charity, which is signified by "burnt-offering", has been stated under the preceding verse. It is often said in the Word that Jehovah "smelled an odor of rest", especially from burnt-offerings; and this always means what is grateful or acceptable; as that He "smelled an odor of rest" from burnt-offerings (Exod. 29:18, 25, 41; Lev. 1:9, 13, 17; 23:12, 13, 18; Num. 28:6, 8, 13; 29:2, 6, 8, 13, 36), and also from other sacrifices (Lev. 2:2, 9; 6:15, 21; 8:21, 28; Num. 15:3, 7, 13). They are also called "made by fire for an odor of rest unto Jehovah", by which is signified that they are from love and charity. "Fire" in the Word and "made by fire", when predicated of the Lord and of the worship of Him, signifies love. So also does "bread", and for this reason representative worship by burnt-offerings and sacrifices is called "the bread of the offering made by fire for an odor of rest" (Lev. 3:11, 16).

[2] That an "odor" signifies what is grateful and acceptable, and thus that an odor in the Jewish Church was a representative of what is grateful, and is ascribed to Jehovah or the Lord, is because the good of charity and the truth of faith from charity correspond to sweet and delightful odors. The fact of this correspondence and the nature of it is demonstrable from the spheres of spirits and angels in heaven, where there are spheres of love and faith which are plain perceived. The spheres are such that when a good spirit or angel, or a society of good spirits or of angels, comes near, then, whenever the Lord pleases, it is at once perceived, even at a distance, but more sensibly on a nearer approach, what is the quality in respect to love and faith of that spirit, angel, or society. This is incredible, yet is perfectly true. Such is the communication in the other life, and such is the perception. Wherefore, when it pleases the Lord, there is no need to explore in many ways the quality of a soul or spirit; for it may be known at his first approach. To these spheres correspond the spheres of odors in the world. That they do so correspond is evident from the fact that when it pleases the Lord the spheres of love and faith in the world of spirits are turned into spheres of sweet and pleasing odors, and are plainly perceived.

[3] From these things it is now evident whence and why "an odor of rest" signifies what is grateful, and why an odor became representative in the Jewish Church, and why "an odor of rest" is here ascribed to Jehovah or the Lord. An odor of rest is one of peace, or a grateful sense of peace. Peace taken in the complex embraces all things of the Lord's kingdom both in general and in particular, for the state of the Lord's kingdom is a state of peace, and in a state of peace there come forth all the happy states that result from love and faith in the Lord. From what has now been said it is plain not only how it is with representatives, but also why in the Jewish Church incense was used, for which there was an altar before the veil and the mercy-seat; why there were offerings of frankincense in the sacrifices; also why so many spices were used in the incense, in the frankincense, and in the oil for anointing; and thus what is signified in the Word by "an odor of rest", "incense", and "spices", namely, the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith therefrom; in general, whatever is grateful from love and faith.

[4] As in Ezekiel: -

In the mountain of My holiness, in the mountain of the height of Israel, there shall all the house of Israel in the whole land serve Me; there will I accept them, and there will I seek your oblations and the first fruits of your gifts, with all your holy things; as an odor of rest will I accept you (Ezekiel 20:40, 41).

Here "an odor of rest" is predicated of burnt-offerings and gifts, that is, of worship from charity and its faith, which is signified by the burnt-offerings and gifts, and is consequently acceptable, which is meant by the "odor". In Amos: -

I hate, I have rejected your feasts, and I will not receive the odor of your holidays, for if ye shall offer Me your burnt-offerings and gifts, they shall not be acceptable (Amos 5:21, 22).

Here "odor" manifestly signifies what is grateful or acceptable. Of Isaac when blessing Jacob instead of Esau it is said: -

And Jacob came near, and he kissed him; and be smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Jehovah hath blessed (Gen. 27:27).

The "smell of his raiment" signifies natural good and truth, which is grateful from its agreement with celestial and spiritual good and truth, the gratefulness of which is described by the "smell of a field".

926. Jehovah said in His heart. That this signifies that it would happen so no more, is evident from what follows. When it is predicated of Jehovah that He "says", nothing else is meant than that what He says is or takes place so, or not so, for of Jehovah nothing else can be said than that He is. Whatever is predicated of Jehovah in various places in the Word, is so expressed for the sake of those who can apprehend nothing except from such things as are in man, and therefore the sense of the letter is of this nature. The simple in heart may be instructed from the appearances with man, for they scarcely go beyond the knowledges that are derived from things of sense, and therefore the language of the Word is adapted to their apprehension; as here, where it is said that "Jehovah said in His heart".

927. I will not again curse the ground any more on man's account. That this signifies that man would not any more so turn away, as did the man of the posterity of the Most Ancient Church, is evident from what has been said before about this posterity. That "to curse" signifies in the internal sense to turn one's self away, may be seen above (n. 223, 245). How the case is with this and with what follows: that man would not any more so turn away, as did the man of the Most Ancient Church, and that he would not again be able so to destroy himself, is evident from what has been already said about the posterity of the Most Ancient Church who perished, and about the new church which is called "Noah".

[2] It has been shown that the man of the Most Ancient Church was so Constituted that the will and understanding with him formed one mind, or that with him love was implanted in his will part, and thus at the same time faith, which filled the other or intellectual part of his mind. From this their posterity inherited the condition that the will and the understanding made a one; and therefore when the love of self and the consequent insane cupidities began to take possession of their will part (where previously there had been love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor), not only did their will part or will become utterly perverted, but so also together with it did their intellectual part or understanding, and this was still more the case when the last posterity immersed their falsities in their cupidities, and so became "Nephilim", for thereby they became of such a nature that they could not be restored, because both parts of the mind (that is, the whole mind) had been ruined. But as this had been foreseen by the Lord, He had also provided for man's upbuilding, in this way, that he might be reformed and regenerated in respect to the second or intellectual part of the mind, in which there might be implanted a new will which is conscience, and through which the Lord might work the good of love (that is, of charity), and the truth of faith. Thus of the Lord's Divine mercy has man been restored. These are the things that are signified in this verse by, "I will not again curse the ground any more on man's account; because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I smite any more everything living, as I have done".

928. Because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. That this signifies that man's will part is utterly evil, is evident from what has just been said. The "imagination of the heart" signifies nothing else. Man supposes that he has a will for what is good, but he is quite mistaken. When he does good, it is not from his will, but from a new will which is the Lord's; thus it is from the Lord that he does it. Consequently when he thinks and speaks what is true, it is from a new understanding, which is from the new will, and it is from the Lord that he does this also. For the regenerate man is an altogether new man formed by the Lord, and this is why he is said to be created anew.

929. Neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done. That this signifies that man would not be able any more so to destroy himself, is now evident, for such is the case when man is regenerated, seeing that he is then withheld from the evil and falsity that is with him, and then perceives no otherwise than that he does what is good and thinks what is true from himself. This however is an appearance, or fallacy, owing to his being withheld (as indeed he is, powerfully), and in consequence of being thus withheld from evil and falsity, he cannot destroy himself; but if he were in the least let go, or left to himself, he would rush into all evil and falsity.

930. Verse 22. During all the days of the earth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease. "During all the days of the earth", signifies all time; "seed-time and harvest", signifies the man who is to be regenerated, and hence the church; "cold and heat", signifies the state of the man when he is being regenerated, which is like this in respect to the reception of faith and charity; "cold", signifies no faith and charity, "heat", faith and charity; " summer and winter", signifies the state of the regenerate man in respect to what is of his new will, the alternations of which are as summer and winter; "day and night", signifies the state of the same regenerate man in respect to what is of his understanding, the alternations of which are as day and night; "shall not cease", means that this shall be the case in all time.

931. During all the days of the earth. That this signifies all time, is evident from the signification of "day", as being a time (n. 23, 487, 488, 493); wherefore "the days of the earth", here mean all time so long as there is earth (terra), or inhabitant upon the earth (tellure). An inhabitant first ceases to be on the earth when there is no longer any church. For when there is no church, there is no longer any communication of man with heaven, and when this communication ceases, every inhabitant perishes. As we have seen before, it is with the church as with the heart and lungs in man: so long as the heart and lungs are sound, so long the man lives; and such also is the case with the Grand Man, which is the universal heaven, so long as the church lives; and therefore it is here said "during all the days of the earth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease". From this it also may appear that the earth will not endure to eternity, but that it too will have its end; for it is said, "during all the days of the earth", that is, as long as the earth endures.

[2] But as to believing that the end of the earth will be the same thing as the last judgment, foretold in the Word - where the consummation of the age, the day of visitation, and the last judgment are described - this is a mistake; for there is a last judgment of every church when it has been vastated, or when there is no longer in it any faith. The last judgment of the Most Ancient Church was when it perished, as in its last posterity just before the flood. The last judgment of the Jewish Church was when the Lord came into the world. There will also be a last judgment when the Lord shall come in glory; not that the earth and the world are then to perish, but that the church perishes; and then a new church is always raised up by the Lord; as at the time of the flood was the Ancient Church, and at the time of the coming of the Lord the primitive church of the Gentiles.

[3] So also will there be a new church when the Lord shall come in glory, which is also meant by the new heaven and new earth, in like manner as with every regenerate man, who becomes a man of the church, or a church, and whose internal man, when he has been created anew, is called a new heaven, and his external man a new earth. Moreover there is also a last judgment for every man when he dies, for then, according to what he has done in the body, he is adjudged either to death or to life. That nothing else is meant, consequently not the destruction of the world, by the consummation of the age, the end of days, or the last judgment, is clearly evident from the words of the Lord in Luke: -

In that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken and the other shall be left; there shall be two women grinding together, the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left (Luke 17:34-36),

where the last time is called "night", because there is no faith, that is, no charity; and where by some being "left" it is clearly indicated that the world will not then perish.

932. That "seed-time and harvest" signify man who is to be regenerated, and thus the church, there is no need to confirm from the Word, because it occurs so often that man is compared and likened to a field, and thus to a sowing or seed-time, and the Word of the Lord to seed, and the effect to the produce or harvest, as every one comprehends from the forms of speech thus made familiar. In general every man is here treated of - that there never will be lacking to him the sowing of seed from the Lord, whether he be within the church or without; that is, whether he be acquainted with the Word of the Lord, or be not acquainted with it. Without seed sown by the Lord, man can do nothing of good. All the good of charity, even with the Gentiles, is seed from the Lord; and although with these there is not the good of faith, as there may be within the church, yet there may come the good of faith; for in the other life those Gentiles who have lived in charity, as Gentiles are wont to do in this world, when instructed by angels, embrace and receive the doctrine of true faith and the faith of charity much more easily than do Christians; concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. Specifically, however, the subject treated of here is the man who is to be regenerated, that is to say, that there will be no such thing as a failure of the church to come forth somewhere on the earth, which is here signified by there being seed-time and harvest all the days of the earth. That seed-time and harvest, or the church, will always come into existence, has regard to what was said in the preceding verse, namely, that man will no more be able so to destroy himself as was done by the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church.

933. That "cold and heat" signifies the state of man when he is being regenerated, which is like this in regard to the reception of faith and charity, and that "cold" signifies no faith and charity, and "heat" charity, is evident from the signification of "cold" and "heat" in the Word, where they are predicated of a man about to be regenerated, or being regenerated, or of the church. The same is also evident from the connection, that is, from what precedes and what follows; for the subject is the church (in the preceding verse that man would not again be able so to destroy himself, in this verse that some church will always come into existence), which is first described as to the way it comes into existence, that is, when the man is being regenerated so as to become a church, and then the quality of the regenerated man is treated of; so that the treatment of the subject covers every state of the man of the church.

[2] That his state when regenerated is as described, namely, a state of cold and heat, or of no faith and charity, and again of faith and charity, may not be so evident to any one except from experience, and indeed from reflection in regard to the experience. And because there are few who are being regenerated, and among those who are being regenerated few if any who reflect, or who are able to reflect on the state of their regeneration, we may say a few words on the subject. When man is being regenerated, he receives life from the Lord; for before this he cannot be said to have lived, the life of the world and of the body not being life, but only that which is heavenly and spiritual. Through regeneration man receives real life from the Lord; and because he had no life before, there is an alternation of no life and of real life, that is, of no faith and charity, and of some faith and charity; no charity and faith being here signified by "cold", and some faith and charity by "heat".

[3] As regards this subject the case is this: Whenever man is in his corporeal and worldly things, there is then no faith and charity, that is, there is "cold", for then corporeal and worldly things, consequently those which are his own, are at work, and so long as the man is in these, he is absent or remote from faith and charity, so that he does not even think about heavenly and spiritual things. The reason of this is that heavenly and corporeal things can never be together in a man, for man's will has been utterly ruined. But when the things of man's body and will are not at work, but are quiescent, then the Lord works through his internal man, and then he is in faith and charity, which is here called "heat". When he again returns into the body he is again in cold; and when the body, or what is of the body, is quiescent, and as nothing, he is then in heat, and so on in alternation. For such is the condition of man that heavenly and spiritual things cannot be in him along with his corporeal and worldly things, but there are alternations. This is what takes place with every one who is to be regenerated, and it goes on as long as he is in a state of regeneration; for in no other way is it possible for man to be regenerated, that is, from being dead to be made alive, for the reason, as already said, that his will has been utterly ruined, and is therefore completely separated from the new will, which he receives from the Lord and which is the Lord's and not the man's. Hence now it is evident what is here signified by "cold and heat".

[4] That such is the case every regenerated man may know from experience, that is to say, that when he is in corporeal and worldly things, he is absent and remote from internal things, so that he not only takes no thought about them, but feels in himself cold at the thought of them; but that when corporeal and worldly things are quiescent, he is in faith and charity. He may also know from experience that these states alternate, and that therefore when corporeal and worldly things begin to be in excess and to want to rule, he comes into straits and temptations, until he is reduced into such a state that the external man becomes compliant to the internal, a compliance it can never render until it is quiescent and as it were nothing. The last posterity of the Most Ancient Church could not be regenerated, because, as before said, with them the things of the understanding and of the will constituted one mind; and therefore the things of their understanding could not be separated from those of their will, so that they might in this manner be by turns in heavenly and spiritual things, and in corporeal and worldly things; but they had continual cold in regard to heavenly things and continual heat in regard to cupidities, so that they could have no alternation.

934. That "cold" signifies no love, or no charity and faith, and that "heat", or "fire", signifies love, or charity and faith, is evident from the following passages in the Word. In John it is said to the church in Laodicea: -

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot; so because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth (Rev. 3:15, 16).

where "cold" denotes no charity, and "hot" much charity. In Isaiah: -

Thus hath Jehovah said unto me, I will be still, and I will behold in My place; like the clear heat upon the light, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest (Isaiah 18:4),

where the subject is the new church to be planted; "heat upon the light", and "heat of harvest", denote love and charity. Again: -

Saith Jehovah, whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem (Isaiah 31:9),

where "fire" denotes love. Of the cherubim seen by Ezekiel it is said: -

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches; it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning (Ezek. 1:13).

[2] And again it is said of the Lord, in the same book: -

And above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of a throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it; and I saw as the appearance of burning coal, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of His loins and upward; and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about Him (Ezekiel 1:26, 27; 8:2).

Here again "fire" denotes love. In Daniel: -

The Ancient of days did sit; His throne was flames of fire, and the wheels thereof burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him, a thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him (Daniel 7:9, 10).

Here "fire" denotes the Lord's love. In Zechariah: -

For I, saith Jehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire round about (Zechariah 2:5),

where the new Jerusalem is treated of. In David: -

Jehovah maketh His angels spirits, His ministers a flaming fire (Ps. 104:4),

"a flaming fire" denoting the celestial spiritual.

[3] Because "fire" signified love, fire was also made a representative of the Lord, as is evident from the fire on the altar of burnt-offering, which was never to be extinguished (Lev. 6:12, 13), representing the mercy of the Lord. On this account, before Aaron went in to the mercy-seat, he was to burn incense with fire taken from the altar of burnt-offering (Lev. 11:12-14). And for the same reason, that it might be signified that worship was accepted by the Lord, fire was sent down from heaven and consumed the burnt-offering (Lev. 9:24, and elsewhere). By "fire" is also signified in the Word self-love and its cupidity, with which heavenly love cannot agree; and therefore the two sons of Aaron were consumed by fire, because they burned incense with strange fire (Lev. 10:1, 2). "Strange fire" is all the love of self and of the world, and all the cupidity of these loves. Moreover heavenly love appears to the wicked no otherwise than as a burning and consuming fire, and therefore in the Word a consuming fire is predicated of the Lord, as the fire on Mount Sinai, which represented the love, or mercy, of the Lord, and that was seen by the people as a consuming fire, and therefore they desired Moses not to let them hear the voice of Jehovah God, and see that great fire, lest they should die (Deut. 18:16). The love or mercy of the Lord has this appearance to those who are in the fire of the loves of self and of the world.

935. That "summer and "winter" signify the state of the regenerate man as to his new will, the alternations of which are as summer and winter, is evident from what has been said about cold and heat. The alternations with those who are to be regenerated are likened to cold and heat, but the alternations with those who have been regenerated are likened to summer and winter. That in the former case the man who is to be regenerated is treated of, and in the present case the man who has been regenerated, is evident from this, that in the one case cold is named first, and heat second; whereas in the other case summer is first named, and winter second. The reason is that a man who is being regenerated begins from cold, that is, from no faith and charity; but when he has been regenerated, he begins from charity.

[2] That there are alternations with the regenerate man - now no charity, and now some charity - is clearly evident for the reason that in every one, even when regenerated, there is nothing but evil, and everything good is the Lord's alone. And since there is nothing but evil in him, he cannot but undergo alternations and now be as it were in summer, that is in charity, and now in winter, that is, in no charity. Such alternations exist in order that man may be perfected more and more, and thus be rendered more and more happy, and they take place with the regenerate man not only while he lives in the body, but also when he comes into the other life, for without alternations as of summer and winter as to what is of his will, and as of day and night as to what is of his understanding, he cannot possibly be perfected and rendered more happy; but in the other life these alternations are like those of summer and winter in the temperate zones, and those of day and night in springtime.

[3] These states are also described in the Prophets by "summer and winter", and by "day and night;" as in Zechariah: -

And it shall come to pass in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter shall it be (Zechariah 14:8),

where the New Jerusalem is treated of, or the kingdom of the Lord in heaven and on earth, that is, its state of both kinds, which is called "summer and winter". In David: -

The day is Thine, the night also is Thine; Thou hast prepared the light and the sun, Thou hast set all the borders of the earth, Thou hast made summer and winter (Ps. 74:16, 17),

where like things are involved. So in Jeremiah: -

That the covenant of the day, and the covenant of the night be not made vain, that there may be day and night in their season (Jeremiah 33:20).

936. That "day and night" signify the state of the same, that is, of the regenerate man, as to the things of the understanding, the alternations of which are as day and night, is evident from what has just been said. "Summer and winter" are predicated of what is of the will, from their cold and heat; for so it is with the things of the will. But "day and night" are predicated of what is of the understanding, from their light and darkness; for so it is with the things of the understanding. As these things are self-evident, there is no need to confirm them by other like passages from the Word.

937. From all this it is evident what the nature of the Lord's Word is in the internal sense. In the sense of the letter it appears so unpolished as to give no hint of anything being spoken of but seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night, when yet all these things involve arcana of the Ancient, that is, of the Spiritual, Church. The very words in the sense of the letter are of this character, thus are so to speak most general vessels, each one of which contains so many and such great arcana of heaven as to be inexhaustible even as to the one ten-thousandth part of it; for in these most general words, taken as they are from earthly things, the angels - from the Lord - can see, in illimitable variety, the whole process of regeneration, and the state of the man who is to be and who has been regenerated, while man can see scarcely anything.

 

CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE HELLS. HERE, CONCERNING THE HELLS OF THE AVARICIOUS, THE FILTHY JERUSALEM, AND THE ROBBERS IN A DESERT. ALSO CONCERNING THE EXCREMENTITIOUS HELLS OF THOSE WHO HAVE LIVED IN MERE PLEASURES

938. The avaricious are of all men the most sordid, and think the least about the life after death, the soul, and the internal man. They do not even know what heaven is, because of all men they least elevate their thoughts, but sink them and immerse them wholly in corporeal and earthly things. Wherefore when they come into the other life they do not know for a long time that they are spirits, but suppose that they are still altogether in the body. The ideas of their thought which from their avarice have become as it were corporeal and earthly, are turned into direful phantasies. It seems incredible, yet is true, that in the other life the sordidly avaricious seem to themselves to be busy in cellars where their money is, and to be infested there by mice; yet however they may be infested they do not withdraw until they are wearied out, and so at last they work their way out of these tombs.

939. What sordid phantasies the ideas of thought of those who have been sordidly avaricious are turned into, is evident from their hell, which is deep under foot. A vapor exhales from it like that from hogs whose bristles are being scraped off in a scalding trough. There are the homes of the avaricious. Those who come thither at first appear black, but by the scraping off of their hair, as is done with hogs, they seem to themselves to become white. So they then appear to themselves, but still there remains therefrom a mark by which they are known wherever they go. A certain black spirit who had not yet been brought to his own hell, because he had to make a longer stay in the world of spirits, being let down thither (although he had not been so avaricious as the rest, and yet had in his lifetime wickedly panted for the wealth of others), on his arrival the avaricious there fled away, saying that he was a robber, because he was black, and would kill them. For the avaricious flee from such spirits, being especially fearful of losing their lives. At length, having found out that he was not such a robber, they told him that if he wished to become white he merely had to have the hair taken off, like the swine - which were in full view - and then he would be white. But as he did not desire this, he was taken up among spirits.

940. In this hell are for the most part Jews who have been sordidly avaricious, whose presence too when they come to other spirits is perceived as the stench of mice. In regard to the Jews something may be said about their cities and the robbers in the desert, to show how miserable is their state after death, especially that of those who have been sordidly avaricious and have despised others in comparison with themselves in consequence of their inborn arrogance in thinking themselves to be the only chosen people. In consequence of having conceived and confirmed in themselves, during their life in the body, the phantasy that they shall go to Jerusalem, and the Holy Land, to possess it (not being disposed to understand that by the New Jerusalem is meant the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on earth), there appears to them, when they come into the other world, a city on the left of Gehenna, a little in front, to which they flock in crowds. This city, however, being miry and fetid, is called the filthy Jerusalem; and here they run about the streets, over the ankles in dirt and mud, pouring out complaints and lamentations. They see these cities - indeed I have sometimes seen them myself - and the streets therein, with all their defilements, represented as in open day. There once appeared to me a certain spirit of a dusky hue coming from this filthy Jerusalem, the gate seeming as it were to be opened. He was encompassed about with wandering stars, especially on his left side; wandering stars around a spirit signifying in the spiritual world falsities, but it is different when the stars are not wandering. He approached, and applied himself to the upper part of my left ear, which he seemed to touch with his mouth, in order to speak with me; but he did not speak in a sonorous tone of voice like others, but within himself, nevertheless in such a manner that I could hear and understand. He said that he was a Jewish Rabbi, adding that he had been in that miry city for a long time, and that the streets thereof were nothing but mud and dirt. He said also there was nothing to eat in it but dirt, and on my asking why he who was a spirit desired to eat, he replied that he did eat, and that when he desired to eat, nothing was offered him but mud, which grieved him exceedingly. He inquired what he must do, having in vain tried to meet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I related to him some particulars respecting them, informing him it was in vain to seek for them, and that even if they were found, they could not possibly afford him any assistance. After adverting to matters of deeper import, I said that no one ought to be sought after but the Lord alone, who is the Messiah whom they had despised on earth; and that He rules the universal heaven and the universal earth, and that help comes from Him alone. He then asked anxiously and repeatedly where the Lord was. I replied that He is to be found everywhere, and that He hears and knows all men. But at that instant other Jewish spirits drew him away.

941. There is also another city on the right of Gehenna, or between Gehenna and the Lake, where the better sort of the Jews seem to themselves to dwell. But this city is changed to them according to their phantasies, sometimes being turned into villages, at others into a lake, and again into a city: and its inhabitants are much afraid of robbers, but so long as they remain in the city they are secure. Between the two cities there is a kind of triangular space, dark, where are robbers, who are Jews, but of the worst sort, who cruelly torture whomsoever they meet. The Jews out of fear call these robbers the Lord, and the desert in which they reside they call the Land. As a security against the robbers, at the entrance into the city, on the right, there is a good spirit stationed, in the extreme corner, who receives all comers, and before whom, as they arrive, they bow themselves toward the earth. They are admitted under his feet, this being the ceremony of admittance into this city. A certain spirit approaching me suddenly, I demanded whence he came? He replied that he was making his escape from the robbers, whom he feared, because they kill, slaughter, burn, and boil men, inquiring where he might be safe. I asked whence and from what country he came? In his terror he dared not give me any other answer than that it was the Lord's Land, for they call that desert the Land, and the robbers the Lord. Afterwards the robbers presented themselves. They were very black, and spoke in a deep tone of voice like giants, and, strange to say, when they come they induce a sense of dread and horror. I asked them who they were? They said they were in quest of plunder. I inquired what they meant to do with their plunder, and whether they did not know that they were spirits, and therefore could neither seize upon nor amass plunder, and that such notions are the phantasies of the evil? They replied, that they were in the desert in quest of booty, and that they torture whomsoever they meet. At last they acknowledged, while they were with me, that they were spirits, but still could not be brought to believe that they were not still living in the body. Those who thus wander about are Jews, who threaten to kill, slaughter, burn, and boil whomsoever they meet, even though they are Jews, and friends. Their disposition was thus made known, although in the world they dare not divulge it.

942. Not far from the filthy Jerusalem there is still another city, which is called the Judgment of Gehenna, where those dwell who claim heaven as due to their own righteousness, and condemn others who do not live according to their phantasies. Between this city and Gehenna there appears as if there were a rather handsome bridge, of a pale or gray color; where there is a black spirit, whom they fear, and who prevents their passing over, for on the other side of the bridge appears Gehenna.

943. Those who in the life of the body have made mere pleasures their end and aim, loving merely to indulge their natural propensities, and to live in luxury and festivity, caring only for themselves and the world, without any regard to things Divine, and who are devoid of faith and charity, are after death first introduced into a life similar to that which they had in the world. There is a place in front toward the left, at a considerable depth, where all is pleasure, sports, dancing, feasting, and chatting together. Hither such spirits are conveyed, and then they know no otherwise than that they are still in the world. After a short time however the scene is changed, and then they are carried down to a hell beneath the buttocks which is merely excrementitious; for in the other life such exclusively corporeal pleasure is turned into what is excrementitious. I have seen them there carrying dung and bemoaning their lot.

944. Women who from low and mean condition have become rich, and in their pride have given themselves up to pleasures and a life of delicacy and ease, reclining on couches like queens, sitting at tables and banquets, and caring for nothing else, when they come into the other life have wretched quarrels with one another - they beat and tear each other, they drag each other by the hair, and become like furies.

945. It is otherwise with those who have been born into the pleasures and enjoyments of life, and who have been educated in such things from childhood, such as queens, and others of noble family, and also those of wealthy parentage. These, though they have lived in luxury, splendor, and elegance, provided they have lived at the same time in faith in the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, are among the happy in the other life. For to deprive one's self of the enjoyments of life, of power, and of riches, and to think thus to merit heaven by wretchedness, is a false course. But to esteem pleasures and power and riches as nothing in comparison with the Lord, and the life of the world as nothing in comparison with heavenly life, this is what is meant in the Word by renouncing these things.

946. I have spoken with spirits concerning the fact that possibly few will believe in the existence of so many and such wonderful things in the other life, in consequence of the absence of any but a very general and obscure conception - amounting to none at all - of the life after death, and in which men have confirmed themselves by the consideration that they do not see a soul or spirit with their eyes. Even the learned, although they say there is a soul or spirit, so cleave to artificial words and terms - which rather obscure or even extinguish the understanding of things than assist it - and so devote themselves to self and the world, and but rarely to the general welfare and to heaven, that they believe still less than do sensuous men. The spirits to whom I spoke marveled that men should be of such a character, seeing that they are well aware of the existence in nature itself, and in each of its kingdoms, of many wonderful and varied things about which they are ignorant, as for example those in the internal human ear, concerning which a book might be filled with things amazing and unheard of, and in the existence of which every one has faith. But if anything is said about the spiritual world, from which come forth all things in the kingdoms of nature both in general and in particular, scarcely any one gives credence to it, on account of the preconceived and confirmed opinion that because it is not seen it is nothing.


Chapter 9

CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE HELLS. HERE, CONCERNING OTHER HELLS, DISTINCT FROM THOSE PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED

947. Those who are deceitful and who suppose that they can obtain all things by deceitful craft, and who have confirmed themselves in this idea by their success in the life of the body, seem to themselves to dwell in a kind of tun or vat at the left, which is called the Infernal Tun, over which there is a covering, and outside of it a small globe on a pyramidal base, which they conceive to be the universe, under their inspection and rule. Precisely thus does it appear to them. Those of them who have deceitfully persecuted the innocent are there for ages. I was told that some have remained there already for twenty ages. When they are let out they are possessed with such phantasy that they suppose the universe to be a globe about which they walk and which they trample with their feet, believing themselves to be gods of the universe. I have seen them at times and spoken with them about their phantasy; but as they had been of this nature in the world, they could not be withdrawn from it. I have also at times perceived with what subtle deceit they could pervert the thoughts, turning them in a moment in other directions, and substituting others, so that it could hardly be known that it was done by them, and this so naturally as to be beyond belief. Being of this character, these spirits are never admitted to men, for they infuse their poison so clandestinely and secretly as not to be noticeable.

948. There is at the left another tun - as it appears to them - in which are some who in the life of the body had supposed that when they did evil they did good, and the converse; so that they had made good to consist in evil. These remain there for a while, and then are deprived of rationality, on the loss of which they are as if asleep, and what they then do is not imputed to them; but yet they seem to themselves to be awake. On their rationality being restored to them they return to themselves and are as other spirits.

949. Toward the left and in front there is a certain chamber in which there is no light, but mere darkness, from which it is called the Dark Chamber. In it are those who have longed for the goods of others, continually hankering after them, and also whenever possible getting possession of them under some specious claim, in the most conscienceless manner. There are some there who when they lived in this world had been in stations of much dignity, but had based the respect due to sagacity on wily practices. In that chamber they consult together-just as when they lived in the body-how to take other people in. The darkness there they call delicious. I was shown the appearance of those who are there and had acted fraudulently. As in clear daylight I saw what they at last come to. Their faces are more hideous than those of the dead, ghastly in hue like a corpse, and pitted with horrible cavities, the result of living in the torment of anxiety.

950. There was a phalanx of spirits rising up from the side of Gehenna on high toward the front, from whose sphere it was perceived - for the quality of spirits may be perceived from their sphere alone, at their first approach - that they accounted the Lord as vile, and held all Divine worship in contempt. Their speech was undulatory. One of them spoke in a scandalous way against the Lord, and was at once cast down toward one side of Gehenna. They were being carried from the front up over head, in the endeavor to meet with some with whom they might conjoin themselves in an attempt to reduce others to subjection, but they were retarded on the way, and were told to desist, because the attempt would be hurtful to them, so they came to a halt. Then they were seen. They had black faces, and had a white bandage round their heads, by which is signified that they regard Divine worship - and therefore the Lord's Word - as black, and useful only to keep the vulgar under the restraint of conscience. Their abode is near Gehenna, where are flying dragons, not venomous, from which it is called the Habitation of Dragons. But because they are not deceitful, their hell is not so grievous. Such spirits ascribe all things to themselves and their own prudence, and boast that they fear no one. But they were shown that a mere hiss would terrify them and put them to flight, for on a hiss being heard they thought in their terror that all hell was rising to carry them off, and from heroes they suddenly became like women.

951. Those who in the life of the body have thought themselves holy, are in the lower earth before the left foot. At times they there appear to themselves to have a shining face, which flows from their idea of their own holiness. But the outcome with them is that they are kept in the most intense desire to ascend into heaven, which they suppose to be on high. This desire is increased and is turned more and more into anxiety, which grows immensely until they acknowledge that they are not holy; and when they are taken out of that place, they are enabled to perceive their own stench, which is very offensive.

952. A certain spirit supposed that he had lived holily in the world because he was esteemed as holy by men and so merited heaven. He said that he had led a pious life, and had spent much time in prayer, supposing it to be sufficient for each person to look out for his own interests. He also said that he was a sinner, and was willing to suffer even to being trodden under foot by others, which he called Christian patience; and that he was willing to be the least, in order that he might become the greatest in heaven. When examined in order to see whether he had performed or had been willing to perform anything of good, that is, any works of charity, he said that he did not know what these were; but only that he had lived a holy life. But because he had as his end his own pre-eminence over others, whom he accounted vile in comparison with himself, at first, because he supposed himself to be holy he appeared in a human form shining white down to the loins, but was turned first to a dull blue, and then to black; and as he desired to rule over others, and despised them in comparison with himself, he became blacker than others. (Concerning those who desire to be greatest in heaven, see above, n. 450, 452.)

953. I was led through some abodes of the first heaven, from which I was permitted to see afar off a great sea swelling with mighty waves, the boundaries of which stretched beyond the range of vision, and I was told that those have such phantasies, and see such a sea, with fear of being sunk in it, who have desired to be great in the world, caring nothing whether by right or by wrong, provided they could secure their own glory and renown.

954. The phantasies which have been indulged in the life of the body are turned in the next life into others, which however correspond to the first. For example, with those who have been violent and merciless on earth, their violence and unmercifulness are turned into incredible cruelty; and they seem to themselves to kill whatever companions they meet, and to torture them in various ways, wherein they take what is to them the greatest possible delight. Those who have been bloodthirsty take delight in torturing other spirits, even to bloodshed, for they suppose spirits to be men, not knowing otherwise. At the sight of blood- for such is their phantasy that they as it were see blood-they are greatly delighted. From avarice there break forth phantasies as if they were infested with mice, and the like, according to the species of avarice. Those who have been delighted with mere pleasures, having these as their ultimate end, as their highest good, and as it were their heaven, find their highest delight in staying in privies, perceiving there what is most enjoyable. Some take delight in urinous and noisome pools, some in miry places, and so on.

955. Moreover there are penalties of various kinds with which in the other life the evil are most grievously punished, and into which they run when they return to their foul cupidities, and by which they contract shame, terror, and horror for such things, until at last they desist from them. The penalties are various, being in general those of laceration, of discerption or pulling to pieces, of sufferings under veils, and many others.

956. Those who are tenacious of revenge and who think themselves greater than all others, regarding them as of no account in comparison with themselves, suffer the punishment of laceration in the following manner: They are mangled in face and body until there is scarcely anything human left; the face becomes like a broad round cake, the arms look like rags, and these being stretched out, the man is whirled around on high and all the time toward heaven, while his character is proclaimed in the presence of all until shame penetrates him to the inmost. Thus, a suppliant, he is compelled to beg for pardon in terms that are dictated to him. Afterwards he is carried to a miry lake, which is near the filthy Jerusalem, and is plunged and rolled in it till he becomes a figure of mud; and this is done repeatedly, until such cupidity is taken away. In this miry lake there are malicious women belonging to the province of the bladder.

957. Those who in the life of the body have contracted a habit of saying one thing and thinking another, especially those who under the appearance of friendship have longed for the possessions of others, wander about, and wherever they come ask whether they may stay there, saying that they are poor; and when they are received they from innate desire long for all they see. As soon as their character is detected they are driven out and fined; and sometimes they are miserably racked in various ways in accordance with the nature of the deceitful simulation which they have contracted, some being racked in the whole body, some in the feet, some in the loins, some in the breast, some in the head, and some only in the region of the mouth. They are knocked backward and forward in a way that is indescribable; there are violent collisions of the parts, thus pullings asunder, so that they believe themselves to be torn into small bits; and resistance is induced, to increase the pain. Such punishments of discerption take place with great variety, and at intervals are repeated again and again, until the sufferers are penetrated with fear and horror at false statements made with an intention to deceive. Each punishing takes away something. The discerptors said that they are so delighted to punish that they are not willing to desist, even should it go on to eternity.

958. There are troops of spirits who wander about and whom other spirits greatly dread. They apply themselves to the lower part of the back, and inflict torture by rapid movements to and fro which no one can prevent, and which are attended with sound, and they direct the constrictive and expansive movement upward in the form of a cone with its point at the top; and whoever is introduced within this cone, especially toward the top of it, is miserably racked in every particle of his limbs. It is deceitful pretenders who are introduced into it and so punished.

959. I awoke in the night from my sleep, and heard spirits about me who desired to ambush me in my sleep, yet presently dozing I had a sad dream. But having awaked, punishing spirits were suddenly present - at which I wondered - and miserably punished the spirits who had ambushed me in my sleep. They induced on them as it were bodies - visible ones - and bodily senses, and thus tortured them by violent collisions of the parts to and fro, with pains induced by resistance. The punishers would have killed them if they could, so that they used the most extreme violence. Those guilty were for the most part sirens (n. 831). The punishment lasted a long time, and extended around me to many troops, and to my astonishment all those who had ambushed me were found, though they wanted to hide themselves. Being sirens, they tried with many arts to elude the penalty, but could not. Now they sought to withdraw into interior nature, now to induce the belief that they were others, now to transfer the punishment to others by a transference of ideas, now they counterfeited infants who would thus be tortured, now good spirits, now angels, besides making use of many other artifices, but all in vain. I was surprised that they should be so grievously punished, but perceived that the crime is enormous from the necessity of man's being able to sleep in safety, without which the human race would perish; so that it is of necessity that there should be so great a penalty. I perceived that the same takes place around other men whom they attempt to assail insidiously in their sleep, although the men know nothing about it. For one to whom it is not given to speak with spirits and to be with them by inner sense, can hear nothing of the kind, still less see it, when yet the same things happen with all. The Lord guards man with most especial care during his sleep.

960. There are certain deceitful spirits who while they lived in the body practised their wiles in secret, and some of them in order to deceive have by pernicious arts feigned being as it were angels. In the other life these learn to withdraw themselves into a finer or more interior realm of nature (in subtiliorem naturam), and to snatch themselves away from the eyes of others, and in this way they suppose themselves to be safe from every penalty. But these, just like others, undergo the penalty of discerption in accordance with the nature and the wickedness of their deceit, and in addition to this they are glued together, and when this happens the more they desire to loose themselves- that is, to tear themselves away from one another- the more tightly they are fastened. This penalty is attended with a more intense torture because it answers to their more hidden deceptions.

961. Some persons from habit, and some from contempt, make use in familiar conversation of the things contained in Holy Scripture as an aid or formula for joking and ridicule, thinking thus to give point thereto. But such things of Scripture when thus thought and spoken add themselves to their corporeal and filthy ideas, and in the other life bring upon them much harm; for they return together with the profane things. These persons also undergo the punishment of discerption, until they become disused to such things.

962. There is also a penalty of discerption in respect to the thoughts, so that the interior thoughts fight with the exterior, which is attended with interior torment.

963. Among punishments a frequent one consists in the throwing over the sufferers of a veil, and is as follows. By means of phantasies that are impressed on them the sufferers seem to themselves to be under a veil that is stretched out to a great distance. It is like a closely clinging cloud that increases in density in proportion to the phantasy, and under which, incited by the desire to burst out of it, they run hither and thither at various rates of speed, until they are wearied out. This usually lasts for the space of an hour, more or less, and is attended with different degrees of torment in proportion to the degree of the desire for extrication. The veil is for those who although they see the truth, yet under the influence of the love of self are unwilling to acknowledge it, and feel constant indignation that the truth should be so. When under the veil some feel such anxiety and terror that they despair of the possibility of their deliverance, as I was informed by one who had himself been delivered from it.

964. There is an additional kind of veil in which the sufferers are wrapped up as it were in a cloth, so that they seem to themselves to be bound in hand, in foot, and in body, and there is injected into them a burning desire to unwrap themselves. As the sufferer has been wrapped round only once, he supposes that he will easily be unwrapped, but when he begins to unwrap himself the veil increases in length, and the unwrapping goes on without end, until he despairs.

965. These things relate to the hells and to penalties. Infernal torments are not the stings of conscience, as some suppose, for those who are in hell have had no conscience, and therefore cannot suffer torment of conscience. Those who have had conscience are among the happy.

966. It is to be observed that in the other life no one under. goes any punishment and torture on account of his hereditary evil, but only on account of the actual evils which he himself has committed.

967. When the evil are being punished, angels are always present who moderate the punishment and alleviate the pains of the sufferers, but cannot take them away. For there is such an equilibrium of all things in the other life that evil punishes itself, and unless it could be taken away by means of punishment, those in whom it exists could not but be kept in some hell to eternity, for they would otherwise infest the societies of the good, and offer violence to the order instituted by the Lord, wherein lies the safety of the universe.

968. Certain spirits had brought with them from the world the idea that they must not speak with the devil, but flee from him. But they were instructed that it would do no harm at all to those whom the Lord protects, even if they should be encompassed by all hell, both within and without. This it has been given me to know by much and by marvelous experience, so that at length I came to have no fear of even the worst of the infernal crew, to hinder my speaking with them; and this was granted in order that I might become acquainted with their character. To those who have wondered that I spoke with them, I have been permitted to say not only that this would do me no harm, but also that the devils in the other life are such as have been men, and who when they lived in the world passed their life in hatred, revenge, and adultery, some of them being then pre-eminently esteemed; nay, that among them are some I had known in the bodily life; and that the devil means nothing else than such a crew of hell. And furthermore, that men, while they live in the body, have with them at least two spirits from hell, as well as two angels from heaven; and that these infernal spirits rule with the evil, but with the good have been subjugated and are compelled to serve. Thus it is false to suppose that there has been a devil from the beginning of creation, other than such as were once men. When they heard these things they were amazed, and confessed that they had held a totally different opinion in regard to the devil and the diabolical crew.

969. In so great a kingdom, where all the souls of men from the first creation flock together, from this earth alone nearly a million coming every week, and each person among them all having his own individual genius and nature; and where there is a communication of all the ideas of every one; and where notwithstanding all this, all things both in general and in particular must be reduced into order, and this continually; it cannot be but that numberless things exist there which have never entered into the idea of man. And as in relation to hell, as well as in relation to heaven, scarcely any one has conceived more than one single obscure idea, it cannot be but that these things will appear strange and wonderful, especially from the fact that men suppose spirits to have no sense of feeling, although the truth is that they feel more exquisitely than do men, and what is more have induced on them by evil spirits, by artifices unknown in this world, a sense of feeling almost like that of the body, but much more gross.

970. The subject of Vastations will follow on at the end of this chapter.

 

GENESIS 9:1-29

1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

2. And let the fear of you and the terror of you be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of heaven; even to everything that the ground maketh to creep forth, and to all the fishes of the sea, into your hands let them be given.

3. Every creeping thing that liveth shall be food for you; as the esculent herb (olus herbae) have I given it all to you.

4. Only the flesh with the soul thereof, the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

5. And surely your blood with your souls will I require; at the hand of every wild beast will I require it; and at the hand of man (homo), even at the hand of the man (vir) his brother, will I require the soul of man (homo).

6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood in man, his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God made He man.

7. And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and be ye multiplied therein.

8. And God said unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,

9. And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

10. And with every living soul that is with you, the fowl, the beast, and the wild animal of the earth with you; of all that go out of the ark, even every wild animal of the earth.

11. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

12. And God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living soul that is with you, for the generations of an age:

13. I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.

14. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud,

15. And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living soul of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will see it, that I may remember the eternal covenant between God and every living soul of all flesh that is upon the earth.

17. And God said unto Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

18. And the sons of Noah, that went forth from the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth; and Ham is the father of Canaan.

19. These three were the sons of Noah; and from these was the whole earth overspread.

20. And Noah began to be a man of the ground, and he planted a vineyard:

21. And he drank of the wine and was drunken; and he was uncovered in the midst of his tent.

22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

23. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon their shoulders, both of them, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

24. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

25. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren.

26. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

27. May God enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

28. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

29. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

 

THE CONTENTS

971. The subject that now follows on is the state of the regenerate man; first, concerning the dominion of the internal man, and the submission of the external.

972. Namely, that all things of the external man have been made subject to and serviceable to the internal (verses 1 to 3), but that especial care must be taken lest the man should immerse the goods and truths of faith in cupidities, or by the goods and truths which are of the internal man should confirm evils and falsities, which must of necessity condemn him to death, and punish him (verses 4 and 5); and thus destroy the spiritual man, or the image of God, with him (verse 6). That if these things are avoided, all will go well (verse 7).

973. It next treats of the state of man after the flood, whom the Lord had so formed that He might be present with him by means of charity, and thus prevent his perishing, like the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church (verses 8 to 11).

974. Afterwards the state of man subsequent to the flood, who is in the capacity to receive charity, is described by the "bow in the cloud", which he resembles (verses 12 to 17). This "bow" has regard to the man of the church, or the regenerate man (verses 12, 13); to every man in general (verses 14, 15); specifically, to the man who is in the capacity of being regenerated (verse 16); and consequently not only to man within but also to man without the church (verse 17).

975. It treats lastly of the Ancient Church in general; by "Shem" is meant internal worship; by "Japheth", corresponding external worship; by "Ham", faith separated from charity; and by "Canaan", external worship separated from internal from (verse 19). This church, through the desire to investigate from itself the truths of faith, and by reasonings, first lapsed into errors and perversions (verses 19 to 21). Those who are in external worship separated from internal, deride the doctrine of faith itself, in consequence of such errors and perversions (verse 22); but those who are in internal worship, and in the external worship thence derived put a good interpretation on such things, and excuse them (verse 23). Those who are in external worship separated from internal, are most vile (verses 24, 25); and yet they are able to perform vile services in the church (verses 26, 27).

976. Lastly, the duration and state of the first Ancient Church are described by the years of Noah's age (verses 28, 29).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

977. As the subject here treated of is the regenerate man, a few words shall be said about what he is relatively to the unregenerate man, for in this way both will be apprehended. With the regenerate man there is a conscience of what is good and true, and he does good and thinks truth from conscience; the good which he does being the good of charity, and the truth which he thinks being the truth of faith. The unregenerate man has no conscience, or if any, it is not a conscience of doing good from charity, and of thinking truth from faith, but is based on some love that regards himself or the world, wherefore it is a spurious or false conscience. With the regenerate man there is joy when he acts according to conscience, and anxiety when he is forced to do or think contrary to it; but it is not so with the unregenerate, for very many such men do not know what conscience is, much less what it is to do anything either according or contrary to it, but only what it is to do the things that favor their loves. This is what gives them joy, and when they do what is contrary to their loves, this is what gives them anxiety. With the regenerate man there is a new will and a new understanding, and this new will and new understanding are his conscience, that is, they are in his conscience, and through this the Lord works the good of charity and the truth of faith. With an unregenerate man there is not will, but instead of will there is cupidity, and a consequent proneness to every evil; neither is there understanding, but mere reasoning and a consequent falling away to every falsity. With the regenerate man there is celestial and spiritual life; but with the unregenerate man there is only corporeal and worldly life, and his ability to think and understand what is good and true is from the Lord's life through the remains before spoken of, and it is from this that he has the faculty of reflecting. With the regenerate the internal man has the dominion, the external being obedient and submissive; but with the unregenerate the external man rules, the internal being quiescent, as if it had no existence. The regenerate man knows, or has a capacity of knowing on reflection, what the internal man is, and what the external; but of these the unregenerate man is altogether ignorant, nor can he know them even if he reflects, since he is unacquainted with the good and truth of faith originating in charity. Hence may be seen what is the quality of the regenerate, and what of the unregenerate man, and that they differ from each other like summer and winter, and light and darkness; wherefore the regenerate is a living, but the unregenerate a dead man.

978. What the internal man is, and what the external, is at this day known to few, if any. It is generally supposed that they are one and the same, and this chiefly because men believe that they do good, and think truth from what is their own, for it is the nature of man's Own to believe this; whereas the internal man is as distinct from the external as heaven is from earth. Both the learned and the unlearned, when reflecting on the subject, have no other conception respecting the internal man than as being thought, because it is within; and of the external man that it is the body, with its life of sense and pleasure, because this is without. Thought, however, which is thus ascribed to the internal man, does not belong thereto; for in the internal man there are nothing but goods and truths which are the Lord's, and in the interior man conscience has been implanted by the Lord; and yet the evil, and even the worst of men, have thought, and so have those who are devoid of conscience, which shows that man's thought does not belong to the internal, but to the external man. That the body, with its life of sense and pleasure, is not the external man, is evident from the fact that spirits equally possess an external man, although they have no such body as they had during their life in this world. But what the internal man is, and what the external, no one can possibly know unless he knows that there is in every man a celestial and a spiritual that correspond to the angelic heaven, a rational that corresponds to the heaven of angelic spirits, and an interior sensuous that corresponds to the heaven of spirits. For there are three heavens, and as many in man, which are most perfectly distinct from each other; and hence it is that after death the man who has conscience is first in the heaven of spirits, afterwards is elevated by the Lord into the heaven of angelic spirits, and lastly into the angelic heaven, which could not possibly take place unless there were in him as many heavens, with which and with the state of which he has the capacity of corresponding. From this I have learned what constitutes the internal, and what the external man. The internal man is formed of what is celestial and spiritual; the interior or intermediate man, of what is rational; and the external man of what is sensuous, not belonging to the body, but derived from bodily things; and this is the case not only with man, but also with spirits. To speak in the language of the learned, these three, the internal, the interior, and the external man, are like end, cause, and effect; and it is well known that there can be no effect without a cause, and no cause without an end. Effect, cause, and end, are as distinct from each other as are what is exterior, what is interior, and what is inmost. Strictly speaking, the sensuous man- or he whose thought is grounded in sensuous things- is the external man, and the spiritual and celestial man is the internal man, and the rational man is intermediate between the two, being that by which the communication of the internal and the external man is effected. I am aware that few will apprehend these statements, because men live in external things, and think from them. Hence it is that some regard themselves as being like the brutes, and believe that on the death of the body they will die altogether, although they then first begin to live. After death, those who are good, at first live a sensuous life in the world or heaven of spirits, afterwards an interior sensuous life in the heaven of angelic spirits, and lastly an inmost sensuous life in the angelic heaven, this angelic life being the life of the internal man, and concerning which scarcely anything can be said that is comprehensible by man. The regenerate may know that there is such a life by reflecting on the nature of the good and the true, and of spiritual warfare, for it is the life of the Lord in man, since the Lord- through the internal man- works the good of charity and the truth of faith in his external man. What is thence perceived in his thought and affection is a certain general which contains innumerable things that come from the internal man, and which the man cannot possibly perceive until he enters the angelic heaven. Concerning this general and its nature, see above, (n. 545) The things here said about the internal man, being above the apprehension of very many, are not necessary to salvation. It is sufficient to know that there is an internal and an external man, and to acknowledge and believe that all good and truth are from the Lord.

979. These observations on the state of the regenerate man, and on the influx of the internal man into the external, have been premised, because this chapter treats of the regenerate man, of the dominion of the internal man over the external, and of the submission of the external man.

980. Verse 1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. "God blessed", signifies the presence and grace of the Lord; "Noah and his sons", signifies the Ancient Church; "be fruitful", signifies the goods of charity; "and multiply", signifies the truths of faith, which were now to be increased; "replenish the earth", signifies in the external man.

981. That "God blessed" signifies the presence and grace of the Lord, is evident from the signification of "to bless". "To bless", in the Word, in the external sense signifies to enrich with every earthly and corporeal good, according to the explanation of the Word given by those who abide in the external sense-as the ancient and modern Jews, and also Christians, especially at the present day-wherefore they have made the Divine blessing to consist in riches, in an abundance of all things, and in self-glory. But in the internal sense, "to bless" is to enrich with all spiritual and celestial good, which blessing is and never can be given except by the Lord, and on this account it signifies His presence and grace, which necessarily bring with them such spiritual and celestial good. It is said presence, because the Lord is present solely in charity, and the subject treated of here is the regenerate spiritual man, who acts from charity. The Lord is indeed present with every man, but in proportion as a man is distant from charity, in the same proportion the presence of the Lord is - so to speak - more absent, that is, the Lord is more remote. The reason why grace is mentioned, and not mercy, is for the reason - which as I conjecture, has been hitherto unknown - that celestial men do not speak of grace, but of mercy, while spiritual men do not speak of mercy, but of grace. This mode of speaking is grounded in the circumstance that those who are celestial acknowledge the human race to be nothing but filthiness, and as being in itself excrementitious and infernal; wherefore they implore the mercy of the Lord, for mercy is predicated of such a condition. Those, however, who are spiritual, although they know the human race to be of such a nature, yet they do not acknowledge it, because they remain in their Own, which they love, and therefore they speak with difficulty of mercy, but easily of grace. This difference in language results from the difference in the humiliation. In proportion as any one loves himself, and thinks that he can do good of himself, and thus merit salvation, the less capable is he of imploring the Lord's mercy. The reason why some can implore grace is that it has become a customary form of speaking, in which there is but little of the Lord and much of self, as any one may discover in himself while he names the grace of the Lord.

982. That by "Noah and his sons" is signified the Ancient Church, has been said and shown above, and is evident also from what follows.

983. That "be fruitful" signifies the good of charity, and "multiply" the truths of faith, which were now about to be increased, is evident from the signification of these two expressions in the Word, where "to be fruitful", or to produce fruit, is constantly predicated of charity, and "to multiply", of faith, as was shown above, (n. 43, 55), and in further confirmation of which we may adduce the following passages from the Word: -

Turn, O backsliding sons; I will give you shepherds according to Mine heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and intelligence; and it shall be that ye shall be multiplied and made fruitful in the earth (Jer. 3:14-16),

where "to be multiplied" manifestly denotes growth in knowledge and intelligence, that is, in faith, and "to be made fruitful" denotes the goods of charity; for it there treats of the implantation of the church, in which faith or "multiplication" comes first. Again: -

I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all lands whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and multiplied (Jeremiah 23:3),

speaking of a church already planted, consequently to be "made fruitful" as to the goods of charity and to be "multiplied" as to the truths of faith. So in Moses: -

Moreover I will look to you, and make you to be fruitful, and I will make you to be multiplied, and establish My covenant with you (Lev. 26:9),

speaking in the internal sense of the celestial church, wherefore "to be fruitful" is predicated of the goods of love and charity, and "to be multiplied", of the goods and truths of faith. In Zechariah: -

I will redeem them, and they shall be multiplied as they have been multiplied (Zechariah 10:8);

that "to be multiplied" is here predicated of the truths of faith, is evident from their being to "be redeemed". In Jeremiah: -

The city shall be builded upon her own heap, and out of them shall proceed confession, and the voice of them that make merry, and I will cause them to be multiplied, and they shall not be diminished; their sons also shall be as aforetime (Jeremiah 30:18-20),

speaking of the affections of truth, and of the truths of faith; the former being denoted by "confession, and the voice of them that make merry", and the latter by "being multiplied;" "sons" also here denote truths.

984. That to "replenish the earth" signifies in the external man, is evident from the signification of the "earth" as being the external man, which has been already shown several times. In reference to the goods of charity and the truths of faith in the regenerate man, it may be observed that they are implanted in his conscience; and as they are implanted by means of faith, or by the hearing of the Word, they are at first in his memory, which belongs to the external man. When the man has been regenerated, and the internal man acts, the same takes place with respect to fructification and multiplication, the goods of charity putting themselves forth in the affections of the external man, and the truths of faith in his memory, increasing and multiplying in each case. The nature of this multiplication may be known to every regenerate person, for things that confirm constantly accrue, from the Word, from the rational man, and from knowledges (scientifica), by which he becomes more and more confirmed, this being an effect of charity, the Lord alone doing the work through charity.

985. Verse 2. And let the fear of you and the terror of you be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of heaven, even to everything which the ground causeth to creep forth, and to all the fishes of the sea; into your hands let them be given. "The fear of you and the terror of you", signifies the dominion of the internal man; "fear" having reference to evils; and "terror" to falsities; "upon every beast of the earth", signifies upon the cupidities which are of the mind (animus); "and upon every bird of heaven", signifies upon the falsities which belong to reasoning; "to everything which the ground causeth to creep forth", signifies affections of good; "to all the fishes of the sea", signifies memory-knowledges (scientfica); "let them be given into your hands", signifies the possession of the internal man in the external.

986. The fear of you and the terror of you. That this signifies the dominion of the internal man, "fear" having reference to evils, and "terror" to falsities, is evident from the state of the regenerate man. The state of man before regeneration is such that cupidities and falsities, which are of the external man, continually predominate, and hence arises a combat; but after regeneration the internal man has dominion over the external, that is, over its cupidities and falsities, and then the man is in fear of evils and in terror of falsities, both of which are contrary to conscience, and to act in opposition to this affects him with horror. Howbeit, it is not the internal but the external man that fears evils and dreads falsities, wherefore it is here said "let the fear of you and the terror of you be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the heaven", that is, upon all cupidities, here signified by "beasts", and upon all falsities, here meant by the "bird of heaven". This "fear" and this "terror" appear as if they were the man's own, but they arise from the following cause. As has been previously stated, there are with every man at least two angels, through whom he has communication with heaven, and two evil spirits, through whom he has communication with hell. When the angels rule - as is the case with the regenerate man - then the attendant evil spirits dare not attempt to do anything contrary to what is good and true, because they are in bonds; for, on their attempting to do anything evil, or to speak what is false - that is, to excite it - they are instantly seized with a kind of infernal fear and terror. This fear and terror are what are perceived in the man as a fear and terror for what is contrary to conscience; and therefore as soon as he does or speaks anything contrary to conscience, he comes into temptation, and into the pangs of conscience, that is, into a kind of infernal torment. As to "fear" being predicated of evils, and "terror" of falsities, the case is this: the spirits with a man do not so much fear to do evils as they do to speak falsities, because man is born again and receives conscience through the truths of faith, and therefore the spirits are not allowed to excite false things. With every one of them there is nothing but evil, so that they are in evil; their very nature, and all their effort therefrom is evil; and since they are in evil, and their proper life consists in evil, they are pardoned for doing evil when they are serving any use. But it is not permitted them to speak anything false, and this in order that they may learn what is true, and thus so far as possible be amended, so that they may serve some low use; but concerning this subject, of the Lord's Divine mercy, more hereafter. Similar is the case with the regenerate man, for his conscience is formed of the truths of faith, and therefore his conscience is a conscience of what is right, what is false being to him the very evil of life, because it is contrary to the truth of faith. It was otherwise with the man of the Most Ancient Church, who had perception. He perceived evil of life as evil, and falsity of faith as falsity.

987. Upon every beast of the earth. That this signifies over the cupidities of the lower mind, is evident from the signification of "beasts" in the Word, where they signify either affections or cupidities, affections of good being signified by gentle, useful, and clean beasts; and affections of evil, or cupidities, by those that are fierce, useless, and unclean (concerning which see above, (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 776). Here, as cupidities are signified, they are called "beasts of the earth", not beasts of the field. With regard to the rule of the regenerate man over cupidities, it is to be known that those are in the greatest error, and are by no means the regenerate, who believe that they can of themselves rule over evils. For man is nothing but evil; he is a mass of evils; all his will being merely evil; which is what is said in the preceding chapter (Genesis 8:21): that "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth". It has been shown me by living experience that a man and a spirit, even an angel, in himself regarded, that is, as to all that is his own, is but vilest excrement; and that left to himself he breathes nothing but hatred, revenge, cruelty, and most foul adultery.

[2] These things are his own; these are his will; as must also be evident to every one if be reflects, merely from this, that man when born is, among all wild animals and beasts, the vilest creature living. And when he grows up and becomes his own master, if not hindered by outward bonds of the law, and bonds which he imposes on himself for the purpose of gaining great honor and wealth, he would rush into every crime, and not rest until he had subjugated all in the universe, and raked together the wealth of all in the universe; nor would he spare any but those who submitted to be his humble servants. Such is the nature of every man, although those are unaware of it who are powerless and to whom such attempts are impossible, and also those who are in the bonds above mentioned. But let the possibility and power be given, and the bonds be relaxed, and they would rush on to the extent of their ability. Wild animals never show such a nature. They are born into a certain order of their nature. Those which are fierce and rapacious inflict injury on other creatures, but only in self-defense; and their devouring other animals is to allay their hunger, and when this is allayed they do harm to none. But it is altogether different with man. From all this it is evident what is the nature of man's Own and will.

[3] Since man is such mere evil and excrement, it is evident that he can never of himself rule over evil. It is an utter contradiction for evil to be able to rule over evil, and not only over evil, but also over hell; for every man is in communication through evil spirits with hell, and thereby the evil in him is excited. From all this every one may know, and he who has a sound mind may conclude, that the Lord alone rules over evil in man and over hell with him. In order that the evil in man may be subjugated, that is, hell, which strives every moment to rush in upon him and destroy him forever, man is regenerated by the Lord and endowed with a new will, which is conscience, through which the Lord alone performs all good. These are points of faith: that man is nothing but evil; and that all good is from the Lord. They are therefore not only known by man, but also acknowledged and believed; and if he does not so acknowledge and believe in the life of the body, it is shown him to the life in the life to come.

988. And upon every bird of heaven. That this signifies upon falsities of reasoning, is evident from the signification of "bird". In the Word "birds" signify intellectual things: those which are gentle, useful, and beautiful, signifying intellectual truths; and those which are fierce, useless, and ugly, signifying intellectual falsities, or falsities of reasoning. (That they signify intellectual things may be seen above, (n. 40, 776, 870). From this it is also evident that "birds" signify reasonings and their falsities. That there may be no doubt let the following passages, in addition to those cited about the raven, (n. 866) serve for confirmation. In Jeremiah: -

I will visit upon them in four kinds, saith Jehovah; the sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, and the fowl of heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy (Jeremiah 15:3).

In Ezekiel: -

Upon his ruin all the fowls of the heaven shall dwell, and all the wild animals of the field shall be upon his branches (Ezekiel 31:13).

In Daniel: -

At last upon the bird of abominations shall be desolation (Daniel 9:27).

In John: -

Babylon is become a hold of every unclean and hateful bird (Rev. 18:2).

Many times it is said in the Prophets that carcasses should be given for meat to the fowl of the air and to the beast of the field (Jer. 7:33; 19:7; 34:20; Ezek. 29:5; 39:4; Ps 79:2; Isa. 18:6). By this has signified that they should be destroyed by falsities, which are "birds of heaven", and by evils, or cupidities, which are the "beasts of the earth".

989. As regards dominion over falsities, it is the same as with dominion over evils: man cannot of himself have the least dominion over them. Since the subject is here the dominion of the regenerated man over cupidities, or the "beast of the earth", and over falsities, or the "bird of heaven", it is to be known that no one can ever say that he is regenerate unless he acknowledges and believes that charity is the primary thing of his faith, and unless he is affected with love toward the neighbor, and has mercy on him. Of charity his new will is formed. Through charity the Lord brings about good, and thereby truth, but not through faith without charity. There are some who perform works of charity from obedience alone, that is, because it is so commanded by the Lord, and yet are not regenerate. These if they do not place righteousness in their works are regenerated in the other life.

990. Even to everything that the ground maketh to creep forth. That this signifies affections of good is evident both from what precedes and from the signification of the "ground", from which they are produced or creep forth; from what precedes, since there evils and falsities are treated of, over which the regenerate man rules, and therefore here affections of good, which are given into his hands; and from the signification of the "ground", from which they are produced or creep forth, since the "ground" is in general the man of the church and whatever is of the church, and thus here whatever is produced by the Lord through the internal man in the external. The ground itself is in the external man, in his affections and memory. It appears as if man produced what is good, and therefore it is said "everything that the ground maketh to creep forth;" but this is only the appearance; good is produced through the internal man by the Lord, since, as has been said, there is nothing of good and truth except from the Lord.

991. And to all the fishes of the sea. That this signifies memory-knowledges (scientifica), is evident from the signification of a fish. "Fishes" in the Word signify memory-knowledges, which spring from things of sense. For memory-knowledges (scientifica) are of three kinds: intellectual, rational, and sensuous. All these are planted in the memory, or rather memories, and in the regenerate man are called forth thence by the Lord, through the internal man. These memory-knowledges which are from things of sense come to man's sensation or perception when he lives in the body, for he thinks from them. The rest, which are interior, do not come so much to perception until man puts off the body and enters the other life. That "fishes" or the creeping things which the waters produce, signify memory-knowledges, may be seen above (n. 40); and that a " whale" or "sea monster" signifies the generals of these knowledges (n. 42). Moreover the same is evident from the following passages in the Word. In Zephaniah: -

I will make man and beast to fail; I will make the fowls of the heavens and the fishes of the sea to fail (Zephaniah 1:3),

where the "fowls of the heavens" denote things of reason, and the "fishes of the sea" lower rational things, that is, man's thought from sensuous memory-knowledges.

[2] In Habakkuk: -

Thou makest man as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping thing that has no ruler over them (Habakkuk 1:14),

where "making man as the fishes of the sea" means that he is altogether sensuous. In Hosea: -

Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the wild animal of the field and the fowl of the heavens; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be gathered (Hosea 4:3),

where the "fishes of the sea" denote memory-knowledges from things of sense. In David: -

Thou hast put all things under his feet; all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas (Ps. 8:6-8),

speaking of the dominion of the Lord in man, the "fish of the sea" denote memory-knowledges. That "seas" signify the gathering together of knowledges (scientificorum seu cognitionum), may be seen above (n. 28). In Isaiah: -

The fishers shall lament, and all they that cast a hook into the river shall mourn, and they that spread a net upon the faces of the waters shall languish (Isaiah 19:8);

"fishers" denoting those who trust only in things of sense, and out of these hatch falsities; the subject being Egypt, or the realm of memory-knowledge.

992. Into your hands let them be given. That this signifies the possession of the internal man in the external, is evident from what has been already said, and from the signification of "hand" (n. 878). It is said "into your hands let them be given", because such is the appearance.

993. Verse 3. Every creeping thing that liveth shall be food for you; as the esculent herb have I given it all to you. "Every creeping thing that liveth", signifies all pleasures in which there is good which is living; "shall be food for you", signifies their delight, which they enjoy; "as the esculent herb", signifies what is vile of delights; "have I given it all to you", signifies enjoyment on account of use.

994. Every creeping thing that liveth. That this signifies all pleasures in which there is good which is living, is evident from the signification of a "creeping thing", as shown before. That creeping things here mean all clean beasts and birds, is evident to every one, for it is said that they are given for food. Creeping things in their proper sense are such as are vilest of all (Lev. 11:23, 29, 30), and were unclean. But in a broad sense, as here, animals are meant which are given for food; yet here they are called "creeping things", because they signify pleasures. Man's affections are signified in the Word by clean beasts, as already said; but since his affections are perceived only in his pleasures, so that he calls them pleasures, they are here called "creeping things".

[2] Pleasures are of two kinds: those of the will, and those of the understanding. In general there are the pleasures of possession of land and wealth, the pleasures of honor and office in the state, the pleasures of conjugial love and of love for infants and children, the pleasures of friendship and of converse with companions, the pleasures of reading, of writing, of knowing, of being wise; and many others. There are also the pleasures of the senses: as the pleasure of hearing, which is in general that from the sweetness of music and song; and that of seeing, which is in general that of various and manifold beauties; and of smelling, which is from the sweetness of odors; and of tasting, which is from the agreeableness and wholesomeness of foods and drinks; and of touch, from many pleasing sensations. These kinds of pleasures, being felt in the body, are called pleasures of the body. But no pleasure ever exists in the body unless it exists and subsists from an interior affection, and no interior affection exists except from one more interior, in which is the use and the end.

[3] These things which, in regular order, are interior, commencing from those which are inmost, are not perceived by man while he lives in the body, and most men hardly know that they exist, still less that they are the source of pleasures; when yet nothing can ever exist in externals except from things interior in order. Pleasures are only ultimate effects. The interior things do not lie open to view so long as men live in the body, except to those who reflect upon them. In the other life they for the first time come forth to view, and indeed in the order in which they are elevated by the Lord toward heaven. Interior affections with their delights manifest themselves in the world of spirits, the more interior with their delights in the heaven of angelic spirits, and the still more interior with their happiness in the heaven of angels; for there are three heavens, one more interior, more perfect, and more happy than another (n. 459, 684). These interiors unfold and present themselves to perception in the other life; but so long as man lives in the body, since he is all the time in the idea and thought of corporeal things, these interior things are as it were asleep, being immersed in the corporeal things. But yet it may be evident to any one who reflects, that all pleasures are such as are the affections that are more and more interior in order, and that they receive from these all their essence and quality.

[4] Since the affections that are more and more interior in order are felt in the extremes or outermost things, that is, in the body, as pleasures, they are called "creeping things", but they are only corporeal things affected by internal ones, as must be evident to every one merely from sight and its pleasures. Except there be interior sight, no eye can ever see. The sight of the eye exists from interior sight, and for this reason after the death of the body man sees equally as well and even better than when he lived in the body- not indeed worldly and corporeal things, but those of the other life. Those who were blind in the life of the body, see in the other life as well as those who had keen vision. So too when man sleeps, he sees in his dreams as clearly as when awake. It has been given me to see by internal sight the things in the other life more clearly than I see the things in the world. From all this it is evident that external sight comes forth from interior sight, and this from sight still more interior, and so on. It is similar with every other sense and with every pleasure.

[5] Pleasures are likewise in other parts of the Word called "creeping things", with a distinction between the clean and the unclean, that is, between pleasures the delights of which are living, or heavenly, and pleasures the delights of which are dead or infernal. As in Hosea: -

In that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild animal of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the ground (Hosea 2:18).

That here the wild animal of the field, the fowl of the heavens, and the creeping thing, signify such things in man as have been said, is evident from the subject being a new church. In David: -

Let the heavens and the earth praise Jehovah, the seas, and everything that creepeth therein (Ps. 69:34).

The seas and the things that creep therein cannot praise Jehovah, but the things in man that are signified by them and are living, thus from what is living within them. Again: -

Praise Jehovah ye wild animal and every beast, creeping thing and winged fowl (Ps. 148:10),

with a similar meaning.

[6] That here by "creeping thing" nothing else is meant than good affections from which are pleasures, is evident also from creeping things being with this people unclean, as will be plain from what follows. Again: -

O Jehovah the earth is full of Thy riches; this sea, great and wide, wherein are things creeping without number; these wait all upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them their food in due season; Thou givest them, they gather; Thou openest Thy hand, they are satiated with good (Ps. 104:24-28).

Here in the internal sense by "seas" are signified spiritual things, by "things creeping", all things that live therefrom; the enjoyment is signified by giving them food in due season, and by their being satiated with good. In Ezekiel: -

And it shall come to pass that every living soul that creepeth, in every place whither the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters are come thither, and they shall be healed, and everything shall live whithersoever the river cometh (Ezekiel 47:9).

Here are meant the waters of the New Jerusalem; these waters denote spiritual things from a celestial origin; "the living soul that creepeth", the affections of good, and the pleasures therefrom, both of the body and of the senses; that these live from the "waters", or from spiritual things from a celestial origin, is very evident.

[7] That filthy pleasures too, which have their origin in what is man's own, thus in the foul cupidities thereof, are also called "creeping things", is evident in Ezekiel: -

So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping thing and of beast, the abomination, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about (Ezekiel 8:10).

Here the "form of creeping thing" signifies unclean pleasures whose interiors are cupidities, and the interiors of these, hatreds, revenges, cruelties, and adulteries; such are the "creeping things", or delights of pleasures from the love of self and of the world, or from man's Own, which are their "idols" because they regard them as delightful, love them, have them for gods, and thus adore them. In the representative church, these creeping things, because they had such a vile signification, were likewise so unclean that it was not permitted even to touch them; and he who but touched them was unclean (Lev. 5:2; 11:31-33; 22:5, 6).

995. Shall be food for you. That this signifies its delight which they should enjoy, is evident from this, that any pleasure not only affects man, but also sustains him, like food. Pleasure without delight is not pleasure, but is something without life, and only from delight is and is called pleasure. Such also as is the delight, such is the pleasure. Corporeal and sensuous things are in themselves only material, lifeless, and dead; but from delights which come in order from the interiors, they have life. From this it is evident that such as is the life of the interiors, such is the delight in the pleasures, for in the delight there is life. The delight in which there is good from the Lord is alone living, for it is then from the very life of good; for which reason it is here said, "every creeping thing that liveth shall be food for you", that is, for enjoyment.

[2] Some think that no one ought ever to live in the pleasures of the body and its senses who wishes to be happy in the other life, but that all these should be renounced on the ground that they are corporeal and worldly, withdrawing man and keeping him away from spiritual and heavenly life. But those who think so and therefore reduce themselves to voluntary misery while they live in the world, are not well-informed as to what the real case is. No one is forbidden to enjoy the pleasures of the body and its senses, that is, the pleasures of possession of lands and wealth; the pleasures of honor and office in the state; the pleasures of conjugial love and of love for infants and children; the pleasures of friendship and of intercourse with companions; the pleasures of hearing, or of the sweetness of singing and music; the pleasures of sight, or of beauties, which are manifold, as those of becoming dress, of elegant dwellings with their furniture, beautiful gardens, and the like, which are delightful from harmony of form and color; the pleasures of smell, or of fragrant odors; the pleasures of taste, or of the flavors and benefits of food and drink; the pleasures of touch. For these are most external or bodily affections arising from interior affections, as already said.

[3] Interior affections, which are living, all derive their delight from good and truth; and good and truth derive their delight from charity and faith, and in this case do so from the Lord, thus from life itself; wherefore the affections and pleasures therefrom are living. And since genuine pleasures have this origin, they are denied to no one. Indeed, when they are from this origin their delight indefinitely surpasses delight not from this source, which is in comparison unclean. For example, the pleasure of conjugial love, when it has its origin from true conjugial love, surpasses immeasurably pleasure that has not this origin, so much so that those who are in true conjugial love are in heavenly delight and happiness, since it comes down from heaven. This was acknowledged by the men of the Most Ancient Church. The delight from adulteries felt by adulterers was to those men so abominable that when they thought of it they shuddered. From all this it is evident what is the nature of the delight that does not flow from the true fountain of life, or from the Lord.

[4] That the pleasures above mentioned are never denied to man, and that so far from being denied they are then first really pleasures when they come from their true origin, may also be seen from the fact that very many who have lived in power, dignity, and opulence in the world, and who had all pleasures in abundance, both of the body and of the senses, are among the blessed and happy in heaven, and with them now the interior delights and happinesses are living, because they have had their origin in the goods of charity and the truths that are of faith in the Lord. And since they had regarded all their pleasures as coming from charity and faith in the Lord, they regarded them from use, which was their end. Use itself was the most delightful thing to them, and from this came the delight of their pleasures. (n. 945.)

996. That the "esculent herb" signifies the vile things of delights is evident from what has been said. They are called the esculent herb because they are only worldly and corporeal, or external. For, as already said, the pleasures that are in the bodily or outermost things of man have their origin in delights that are successively more and more interior. The delights that are perceived in those outermost or bodily things are relatively vile, for it is the nature of all delight to become more vile in proportion as it progresses toward the externals, and more happy in proportion as it advances toward the internals. For this reason, as before said, in proportion as the externals are stripped off, or rolled away, the delights become more pleasant and happy, as may be evident enough from man's delight in pleasures being vile while he lives in the body, in comparison with his delight after the life of the body, when he comes into the world of spirits; so vile indeed that good spirits utterly spurn the delights of the body, nor would they return to them if all in the whole world should be given them.

[2] The delight of these spirits in like manner becomes vile when they are taken up by the Lord into the heaven of angelic spirits; for they then throw off these interior delights and enter into those that are still more interior. So again to angelic spirits the delight which they have had in their heaven becomes vile when they are taken up by the Lord into the angelic or third heaven, in which heaven, since internal things are there living, and there is nothing but mutual love, the happiness is unspeakable. See what is said of interior delight or happiness above, (n. 545). From these things it is evident what is signified by "as the esculent herb have I given it all to you". Inasmuch as creeping things signify both pleasures of the body and pleasures of the senses, of which the esculent herb is predicated, the word in the original language is one which signifies both "esculent" and "green" - "esculent" in reference to pleasures of the will, or of celestial affections, and "green" in reference to pleasures of the understanding, or of spiritual affections.

[3] That the "esculent herb" and "green herb" signify what is vile, is evident in the Word, as in Isaiah: -

The waters of Nimrim shall be desolate; for the grass is dried up, the herbage is consumed, there is no green thing (Isaiah 15:6).

Again: -

Their inhabitants were short of hand, they were dismayed, and put to shame; they became the herb of the field, and the green herbage, the grass on the house tops (Isaiah 37:27),

the "green herbage" denoting what is most vile. In Moses: -

The land whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs (Deut. 11:10),

where a "garden of herbs" denotes what is vile. In David: -

The evil are as grass, suddenly are they cut down, and will be consumed as the green herbage (Ps. 37:2),

where "grass" and the "green herbage" denote what is most vile.

997. Have I given it all to you. That this signifies enjoyment on account of use, is because it is "for food;" for whatever is given for food is for use. With regard to use: those who are in charity, that is, in love to the neighbor (from which is the delight in pleasures that is alive), pay no regard to the enjoyment of pleasures except on account of the use. For there is no charity apart from works of charity; it is in its practice or use that charity consists. He who loves the neighbor as himself perceives no delight in charity except in its exercise, or in use; and therefore a life of charity is a life of uses. Such is the life of the whole heaven; for the kingdom of the Lord, because it is a kingdom of mutual love, is a kingdom of uses. Every pleasure therefore which is from charity, has its delight from use. The more noble the use, the greater the delight. Consequently the angels have happiness from the Lord according to the essence and quality of their use.

[2] And so it is with every pleasure-the more noble its use, the greater its delight. For example, the delight of conjugial love: because this love is the seminary of human society, and thereby of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, which is the greatest of all uses, it has in it so much delight that it is the very happiness of heaven. It is the same with all other pleasures, but with a difference according to the excellence of the uses, which are so manifold that they can scarcely be classed in genera and species, some having regard more nearly and directly, and some more remotely and indirectly, to the kingdom of the Lord, or to the Lord. From these things it is further evident that all pleasures are granted to man, but only for the sake of use; and that they thus, with a difference from the use in which they are, partake of heavenly happiness and live from it.

998. Verse 4. Only the flesh with the soul thereof, the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. "Flesh" signifies the will part of man; the "soul" signifies the new life; the "blood" signifies charity; "not to eat" signifies not to mingle together; wherefore by "not eating flesh with the soul thereof, the blood thereof", is meant not mingling profane things with holy.

999. That "flesh" signifies the will part of man, is evident from the signification of "flesh" in its proper sense in reference to man when corrupt. "Flesh", in general, signifies the whole man, and specifically the corporeal man, as may be seen above (n. 574); and since it signifies the whole man, and specifically the corporeal man, it signifies what is proper to man, consequently his will part. Man's will part, or will, is nothing but evil; and therefore "flesh", predicated of man, because he is such, signifies all cupidity, or all concupiscence, for man's will is nothing but cupidity, as occasionally shown before. And because "flesh" has this signification, such was also the representation of the flesh which the people lusted after in the desert- as in Moses: -

The mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting; whence they wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? (Num. 11:4).

Here flesh is plainly called lust, for it is said that they fell a lusting, saying, Who shall give us flesh? The same is likewise evident from what follows: -

While the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the anger of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague; and the name of that place was called the Graves of Lust, because there they buried the people that lusted (Numbers 11:33, 34).

[2] It must be evident to every one that such a plague would never have been sent among the people on account of their lusting after flesh, thus not on account of a lust for flesh, since this is natural when a man has been kept from eating it for a long time, as the people then had in the wilderness. But a deeper reason lies hidden, which is spiritual, namely, that the people were of such a nature as to loathe what was signified and represented by the manna - as is evident also from (verse 6)-and to desire only such things as were signified and represented by "flesh", the things of their own will, which are of those of cupidities, and in themselves are excrementitious and profane. It was because that church was representative, from the representation of such things, that the people were afflicted with so great a plague; for what was done among the people was represented spiritually in heaven. The manna represented in heaven what is heavenly, and the flesh which they lusted after, the unclean things of their own will. For this reason, because they were of such a nature, they were punished. From these and other passages in the Word, it is evident that by "flesh" is signified what is of the will, and here of the will of man, the uncleanness of which may be seen under (verse 2) of this chapter, where the beast of the earth is treated of.

1000. That the "soul" signifies life, is evident from the signification of "soul" in the Word, in many places. "Soul" in the Word signifies in general all life, as well internal, or that of the internal man, as external, or that of the external man. And because it signifies all life, it signifies such life as is that of the man of whom the soul is predicated. Here it is predicated of the life of the regenerate man, which is separate from man's will; for, as already said, the new life which the regenerate spiritual man receives from the Lord is entirely separate from the will or Own of the man, that is, from the life that is his own, which is not life, though so called, but is death, because it is infernal life. Here therefore "flesh with the soul thereof", which they should not eat, signifies flesh together with its soul; that is, they should not mingle this new life, which is of the Lord, with the evil or excrementitious life which is of man, that is, with his will or Own.

1001. That the "blood" signifies charity, is evident from many things. Thus it signifies the new will part which the regenerate spiritual man receives from the Lord, and which is the same as charity, for the new will is formed of charity. Charity or love is the very essential or life of the will, for no one can say that he wills anything, except from choosing or loving it. To say that one thinks a thing is not to will it, unless willing is in the thought. This new will which is of charity is here the "blood", and this will is not the man's, but the Lord's in the man. And because it is the Lord's, it is never to be mingled with the things of man's will, and which are so foul, as has been shown. For this reason it was commanded in the representative church that they should not eat flesh with the soul or blood thereof, that is, should not mingle the two together.

[2] The "blood", because it signified charity, signified what is holy; and the "flesh", because it signified man's will, signified what is profane. And because these things are separate, being contrary, they were forbidden to eat blood; for by eating flesh with the blood was then represented in heaven profanation, or the mingling of what is sacred with what is profane; and this representation in heaven could not then but strike the angels with horror; for at that time all things existing with the man of the church were turned, among the angels, into corresponding spiritual representations, in accordance with the signification of the things in the internal sense. As the nature of all things is determined by that of the man of whom they are predicated, so also is the signification of "blood". Relatively to the regenerate spiritual man, "blood" signifies charity, or love toward the neighbor; relatively to the regenerate celestial man it signifies love to the Lord; but relatively to the Lord it signifies all His Human essence, consequently Love itself, that is, His mercy toward the human race. Hence "blood", in general, because it signifies love and what is of love, signifies celestial things, which are of the Lord alone; and thus relatively to man the celestial things which he receives from the Lord. The celestial things which the regenerate spiritual man receives from the Lord, are celestial spiritual-of which, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, elsewhere.

[3] That "blood" signifies what is celestial, and in the supreme sense signified the Human essence of the Lord, thus love itself, or His mercy toward the human race, is evident from the sanctity in which it was commanded that blood should be held in the Jewish representative church. For this reason blood was called the blood of the covenant, and was sprinkled upon the people, as also upon Aaron and his sons, together with the anointing oil; and the blood of every burnt-offering and sacrifice was sprinkled upon and around the altar (Exod. 12:7, 13, 22, 23; 24:6, 8; Lev. 1:5, 11, 15; 4:6, 7, 17, 18, 25, 30, 34; 5:9; 16:14, 15, 18, 19; Num. 18:17; Deut. 12:27).

[4] And because blood was held so sacred and man's will is so profane, the eating of blood was severely prohibited, on account of its representation of the profanation of what is holy. As in Moses: -

It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that ye shall eat neither fat nor blood (Lev. 3:17).

"Fat" here denotes celestial life, and "blood" celestial spiritual life. The celestial spiritual is the spiritual which is from the celestial; as in the Most Ancient Church love to the Lord was their celestial, because implanted in their will; their celestial spiritual was the faith therefrom, of which see above (n. 30-38, 337, 393, 398). With the spiritual man, however, the celestial does not exist, but the celestial spiritual, because charity has been implanted in his intellectual part. Again in Moses: -

Whosoever of the house of Israel, or of the sojourner sojourning among them, eateth any manner of blood, I will set My faces against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people; for the soul of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. The soul of all flesh, it is the blood thereof; whosoever eateth it shall be cut off (Lev. 17:10, 11, 14).

Here it is plainly shown that the soul of the flesh is in the blood, and that the soul of the flesh is the blood, or the celestial, that is, the holy, which is the Lord's.

[5] Again: -

Be sure that thou eat not the blood; for the blood is the soul, and thou shalt not eat the soul with the flesh (Deut. 12:23-25).

From this passage also it is evident that the blood is called the soul, that is, celestial life, or the celestial, which was represented by the burnt-offerings and sacrifices of that church. And in the same way, that what is celestial, which is the Lord's Own (Domini Proprium) - which alone is celestial and holy, was not to be commingled with that which is man's own, which is profane-was also represented by the command that they should not sacrifice or offer the blood of the sacrifice on what was leavened (Exod. 23:18; 34:25). What was leavened signified what is corrupt and defiled. That blood is called the soul and signifies the holy of charity, and that the holy of love was represented in the Jewish Church by blood, is because the life of the body consists in the blood. And as the life of the body consists in the blood, this is its ultimate soul, so that the blood may be said to be the corporeal soul, or that in which is the corporeal life of man; and inasmuch as in the representative churches internal things were represented by external, the soul or celestial life was represented by the blood.

1002. Shall ye not eat. That this signifies not to mingle together, follows from what has just been said. Eating the flesh of animals, regarded in itself, is something profane, for in the most ancient time they never ate the flesh of any beast or bird, but only seeds, especially bread made from wheat, also the fruit of trees, vegetables, various milks and what was made from them, such as various butters. To kill animals and eat their flesh was to them a wickedness, and like wild beasts. They took from them only service and use, as is evident from (Genesis 1:29, 30). But in process of time, when men began to be as fierce as wild beasts, and even fiercer, they then for the first time began to kill animals and eat their flesh; and because such was man's nature, it was permitted him to do this, and is still permitted, to this day; and so far as he does it from conscience, so far it is lawful for him, since his conscience is formed of all that he supposes to be true and thus lawful. No one therefore is at this day condemned because of eating flesh.

1003. From these things it is now evident that "not to eat flesh with the soul thereof, the blood thereof", is not to mingle profane things with holy. Profane things are not mingled with holy by one's eating blood with flesh, as the Lord clearly teaches in Matthew: -

Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man for the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart (Matthew 15:11, 18-20).

But in the Jewish Church it was forbidden because, as has been said, by the eating of blood with the flesh there was then in heaven represented profanation. All things done in that church were turned in heaven into corresponding representatives-blood into the holy celestial; flesh, outside of the sacrifices, because it signified cupidities, into what is profane; and the eating of both into the mingling of the holy with the profane. For this reason it was then so severely interdicted. But after the coming of the Lord, when external rites were abolished, and thus representatives ceased, such things were no longer turned in heaven into corresponding representatives. For when man becomes internal and is instructed about internal things, external ones are of no account to him. He then knows what the holy is, namely, charity and the faith therefrom. According to these are his external things then regarded, that is to say, according to the amount of charity and faith in the Lord there is in them. Since the coming of the Lord, therefore, man is not regarded in heaven from external things, but from internal ones. And if any one is regarded from external things it is because he is in simplicity, and in his simplicity there are innocence and charity, which are in his external things, that is, in his external worship, from the Lord, without the man's knowledge.

1004. Verse 5. And surely your blood with your souls will I require; from the hand of every wild beast will I require it; and from the hand of man, from the hand of the man his brother will I require the soul of man. "And surely your blood with your souls will I require", signifies that violence inflicted upon charity will punish itself; "your blood" here, is violence; "souls" are they who inflict violence; "from the hand of every wild beast", signifies from all that is violent in man; "from the hand of man", is from all his will; "from the hand of the man his brother", is from all his understanding; "will I require the soul of man", is to avenge profanation.

1005. And surely your blood with your souls will I require. That this signifies that violence inflicted upon charity will punish itself, and that "blood" is violence, and "souls" they who inflict violence, is evident from what precedes and what follows, as also from the signification of "blood" in the opposite sense, and from the signification of "soul" in the opposite sense. From what precedes, because in the preceding verse the eating of blood is treated of, by which is signified profanation, as has been shown. From what follows, as the next verse treats of the shedding of blood; and therefore here the subject is the state and punishment of him who mingles what is sacred with what is profane. From the signification of blood" in the opposite sense, because in the genuine sense "blood" signifies what is celestial, and in reference to the regenerate spiritual man charity, which is his celestial; but in the opposite sense "blood" signifies violence inflicted upon charity, consequently what is contrary to charity, and therefore all hatred, revenge, cruelty, and especially profanation, as may be seen from the passages in the Word cited above (n. 374, 376). From the signification of "soul" in the opposite sense, since "soul" in the Word signifies in general life, thus every man who lives; but since such as man is such is his life, it signifies also the man who brings violence, as may be confirmed by many passages from the Word, but here only by this from Moses: -

He that eateth blood, I will set My faces against the soul that eateth blood, and I will cut it off from among his people; for the soul of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that will make atonement for the soul (Lev. 17:10, 11, 14).

Here the " soul" denotes the life in a threefold sense, as often elsewhere. That violence inflicted upon charity will bring punishment on itself, will be evident from what follows.

1006. From the hand of every wild beast. That this signifies from all that is violent in man, is evident from the signification of "wild beast". In the Word "wild beast (fera)" signifies what is living (n. 908), but in the opposite sense it signifies what is like a wild beast, thus whatever is ferine in man. Therefore it signifies a man of such life, namely, a violent man, or one who inflicts violence on charity; for he is like a wild beast. Man is a man from love and charity, but he is a wild beast from hatred, revenge, and cruelty.

1007. From the hand of man (homo). That this is from all of his will, and that "from the hand of the man brother (viri fatris)", is from all of his intellectual, is evident from the signification of "man" - for the essential and life of man is his will, and such as the will is, such is the man - and from the signification of a "man brother". The intellectual in man is called "man brother", as shown before (n. 367). Whether it be a true intellectual, a spurious intellectual, or a false intellectual, it is still called a "man brother;" for the understanding is called "man (vir)" (n. 158, 265), and the "brother" of the will (n. 367). "Man (homo)" and "man (vir) brother" are here mentioned, and the unclean will and unclean intellectual are so called, because profanation is here treated of, no mention or representation of which is tolerated in heaven, but is at once rejected. For this reason such mild terms are here used, and the meaning of the words of this verse is in a manner ambiguous, that it may not be known in heaven that such things are contained in it.

1008. Will I require the soul of man. That this means to avenge profanation, is evident from what has been said in the preceding verse and in this verse, for the subject is the eating of blood, by which is signified profanation. What profanation is, few know, and still less what its punishment is in the other life. Profanation is manifold. He who utterly denies the truths of faith does not profane them, as do not the nations which live outside of the church and of knowledges. But he profanes them who knows the truths of faith, and especially he who acknowledges them, bears them in his mouth, preaches them, and persuades others to adopt them, and yet lives in hatred, revenge, cruelty, robbery, and adultery, which he confirms in himself by many things that he extracts from the Word, perverting them and thus immersing them in these foul evils. He it is who profanes. And it is such profanity chiefly that brings death to a man, as may be evident from this, that in the other life what is profane and what is holy are entirely separated-what is profane in hell and what is holy in heaven. When such a man comes into the other life, in every idea of his thought, just as in the life of the body, what is holy adheres to what is profane. He cannot there bring forth a single idea of what is holy without what is profane being seen adhering, as clearly as in daylight, there is such perception of another's ideas in the other life. Thus in everything he thinks profanation is manifest, and since heaven abhors profanation, he cannot but be thrust down into hell.

[2] The nature of ideas is known to hardly any one. It is supposed that they are something simple; but in each idea of thought there are things innumerable, variously conjoined so as to make a certain form, and hence pictured image of the man, which is all perceived and even seen in the other life. Merely for example- when the idea of a place occurs, whether of a country, a city, or a house, then an idea and image of all things the man has ever done there comes forth, and they are all seen by angels and spirits; or when the idea of a person whom he has held in hatred, then the idea comes forth of all things which he has thought, spoken, and done against him. And so it is with all other ideas; when they come up, all things in general and particular that he has conceived and impressed on himself in regard to the subject in question lie open to view. As when the idea of marriage arises, if he has been an adulterer, all filthy and obscene things of adultery, even of thought about it, come forth; likewise all things with which he has confirmed adulteries- whether from things of sense, from things of reason, or from the Word-and how he has adulterated and perverted the truths of the Word.

[3] Moreover, the idea of one thing flows into the idea of another and colors it, as when a little black is dropped into water and the whole volume of water is darkened. Thus is the spirit known from his ideas, and, wonderful to say, in every idea of his there is an image or likeness of himself, which when presented to view is so deformed as to be horrible to see. From this it is evident what is the state of those who profane holy things, and what is their appearance in the other life. But it can never be said that those profane holy things who in simplicity have believed what is said in the Word, even if they have believed what was not true; for things are said in the Word according to appearances, as may be seen above (n. 589).

1009. Verse 6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood in man, his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God made He man. "Sheddeth man's blood in man", signifies extinguishing charity; "in man", is with man; "his blood shall be shed", signifies his condemnation; "for in the image of God made He man", signifies charity, which is the "image of God".

1010. Whoso sheddeth man's blood in man. That this signifies extinguishing charity, and that "in man" is with man, is evident from the signification of "blood"-concerning which above-as being the holy of charity, and from its being said "man's blood in man". This means his internal life, which is not in him, but with him; for the life of the Lord is charity, which is not in man, because he is filthy and profane, but is with man. That "shedding blood" is inflicting violence on charity, is evident from passages in the Word, as from those adduced before (n. 374, 376), where it was shown that violence inflicted upon charity is called "blood". "Shedding blood" is in the literal sense killing, but in the internal sense it is bearing hatred against the neighbor, as the Lord teaches in Matthew: -

Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment; but I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment (Matthew 5:21, 22).

Here "being angry" signifies receding from charity (on which see n. 357), and consequently hatred.

[2] He who is in hatred, not only has no charity, but also inflicts violence on charity, that is, "sheds blood". In hatred lies actual murder, as is manifest from this, that he who is in hatred desires nothing so much as that the one he hates should be killed; and if he were not withheld by outward restraints, he would kill him. For this reason the "killing of a brother and the shedding of his blood", is hatred; and since it is hatred, there is this in every idea of his against him. It is the same with profanation. He who profanes the Word, as has been said, not only holds truth in hatred, but also extinguishes, or kills it. This is manifest from those in the other life who have committed profanation; no matter how upright, wise, and devout they have appeared outwardly during their life in the body, in the other life they hold the Lord in deadly hatred, and also all the goods of love and truths of faith, for the reason that these are opposed to their inward hatred, robbery, and adultery, which they have veiled with a show of holiness, and while adulterating the goods of love and truths of faith to favor themselves.

[3] That "blood" means profanation, is evident not only from the passages adduced above (n. 374), but also from the following in Moses: -

What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it without the camp, and hath not brought it unto the door of the tent of meeting, to offer it as an oblation unto Jehovah before the tabernacle of Jehovah, blood shall be imputed unto that man, he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people (Lev. 17:3, 4).

Sacrificing in any other place than on the altar, which has near the tabernacle, represented profanation; for sacrificing was a holy thing, but profane if in the camp or without the camp.

1011. His blood shall be shed. That this signifies his condemnation, is evident from what has been said. It is according to the sense of the letter that the shedder of blood, or the slayer, should be punished with death. But in the internal sense the meaning is that he who has hatred against the neighbor is thereby condemned to death, that is, to hell, as the Lord also teaches in Matthew: -

Whosoever shall say to his brother, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire (Matthew 5:22).

For when charity is extinguished, the man is left to himself and to his Own, and is ruled by the Lord no longer through internal bonds, which are of conscience, but through external bonds, which are of laws, such as he himself makes for the sake of his own wealth and power. And when these bonds are relaxed, as is the case in the other life, he rushes into the greatest cruelty and obscenity, thus into his own condemnation. That the blood shall be shed of him who sheddeth blood is a law of retaliation well known to the ancients, according to which they judged crimes and wrongs, as is evident from many passages in the Word. This law has its origin in the universal law that one should not do to another what he would not that another should do to him (Matt. 7:12) as also from this, that it is the order universal in the other life that evil punishes itself, and likewise falsity thus that in evil and falsity is its own punishment. And because there is such order that evil punishes itself, or what is the same, that an evil man rushes into punishment answering to his evil, the ancients deduced from this their law of retaliation - as is here also signified by the declaration that whoso sheddeth blood, his blood shall be shed, that is, he will rush into condemnation.

1012. The literal meaning of the words: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood in man, his blood shall be shed", is one who sheds another's blood; but in the internal sense it is not another's blood, but charity in one's self. For this reason it is said "man's blood in man". Sometimes when two are spoken of in the literal sense, only one is meant in the internal sense. The internal man is man in man. Whoso therefore extinguishes charity, which is of the internal man, or is the internal man himself, his blood shall be shed, that is, he condemns himself.

1013. For in the image of God made He man. That this signifies charity, which is the "image of God", follows as a consequence. In the preceding verse charity was treated of, which was signified by "blood", and that it should not be extinguished was signified by "not shedding blood". Here now it follows that He made man into the image of God; from which it is evident that charity is the image of God. What the image of God is, hardly any one knows at the present day. They say that the image of God was lost in the first man, whom they call Adam, and that it was a certain perfection of the nature of which they are ignorant. And indeed there was perfection, for by "Adam", or "Man", is meant the Most Ancient Church, which was a celestial man, and had perception, such as had no church after it; by reason of which it was also a likeness of the Lord. A likeness of the Lord signifies love to Him.

[2] After this church perished in the course of time, the Lord created a new church, which was not a celestial but a spiritual church. This was not a likeness, but an image of the Lord. An "image" signifies spiritual love, that is, love to the neighbor, or charity, as has been shown before (n. 50, 51). That this church was, from spiritual love, or charity, an image of the Lord, is evident from this verse; and that charity is itself an image of the Lord is evident from its being said, "for in the image of God made He man", that is to say, charity itself made him so. That charity is the "image of God" is most clearly evident from the very essence of love, or charity. Nothing else than love and charity can make an image and likeness of any one. It is the essence of love and charity to make of two as it were one. When one person loves another as himself, and more than himself, he then sees the other in himself, and himself in the other. This may be known to every one if he only directs his attention to love, or to those who love each other - the will of the one is the will of the other, they are interiorly as it were joined together, and only in body distinct the one from the other.

[3] Love to the Lord makes man one with the Lord, that is, a likeness of Him. So does charity, or love toward the neighbor, make him one with the Lord, but as an image. An image is not a likeness, but is according to or after a likeness (est ad similitudinem). This oneness arising from love the Lord describes in John: -

I pray that they all may be one; even as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; and the glory which Thou hast given unto Me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me (John 17:21-23).

This "being one" is that mystical union which some think about, and which is by love alone. Again:

I live, and ye shall live; in that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you; he that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; if a man love Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him (John 14:19-23).

Hence it is evident that it is love which conjoins, and that the Lord has His abode with him who loves Him, and also with him who loves his neighbor, for this is love of the Lord.

[4] This union, which makes a likeness and image, cannot be so well seen among men, but is seen in heaven, where from mutual love all the angels are as a one. Each society, which consists of many, constitutes as it were one man. And all the societies together - or the universal heaven - constitute one man, which is also called the Grand Man (n. 457, 549). The universal heaven is a likeness of the Lord, for the Lord is the all in all who are therein. So also is each society a likeness, and so is each angel. The celestial angels are likenesses, the spiritual angels are images. Thus heaven consists of as many likenesses of the Lord as there are angels, and this solely through mutual love - one loving another more than himself (n. 548, 549). For in order that the general or universal heaven may be a likeness, the parts, or individual angels, must be likenesses, or images that are according to likenesses. Unless the general consists of parts like itself, it is not a general that makes a one. From these things it may be seen as from an archetype, or pattern, what makes a likeness and image of God, namely, love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor; consequently, that every regenerate spiritual man, from love or charity, which is from the Lord alone, is His image. And he who is in charity from the Lord, is in "perfection;" of which perfection, by the Divine mercy of the Lord hereafter.

1014. Verse 7. And you, be fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and be ye multiplied therein. "Be ye fruitful and multiply", signifies here, as before, increase of good and truth in the interior man; "to be fruitful" being predicated of goods, and "to be multiplied" of truths; "bring forth abundantly in the earth, and be ye multiplied therein", signifies increase of good and truth in the external man, which is the "earth;" "to bring forth abundantly" is predicated of goods, and "to be multiplied" of truths.

1015. Be ye fruitful and multiply. That this signifies increase of good and truth in the interior man, and that "to be fruitful" is predicated of goods, and "to multiply" of truths, is evident from what has been shown before at (verse 1) of this chapter, where the same words occur. That the increase is in the interior man, is evident from what follows, where it is said again "be ye multiplied", which repetition would be needless, because superfluous, if it did not signify something special, distinct from what goes before. From this and from what was said above it is evident that being fruitful and multiplying are here predicated of goods and truths in the interior man. It is said the interior man because, as was shown above, in respect to what is celestial and spiritual, which is of the Lord alone, man is an internal man; but as to what is rational he is an interior or middle man, intermediate between the internal man and the external; and in respect to the affections of good and knowledges of the memory he is an external man. That such is the nature of man has been shown in what is premised to this chapter (n. 978); but his not knowing it while he lives in the body is because he is in the things of the body, and hence does not even know that there are interior things, still less that they are set in this distinct and separate order. Yet on reflecting the fact will be quite evident to him, when he is in thought withdrawn from the body and is thinking as it were in his spirit. The reason fruitfulness and multiplication are predicated of the interior or rational man is that the working of the internal man is not perceived, except in the interior man in a very general manner. For in the interior man an innumerable host of particulars are presented to view as one general thing; most extremely general in fact. How innumerable the particulars are, what is their nature, and how they present an obscure general whole, is evident from what has been shown above (n. 545).

1016. Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and be ye multiplied therein. That this signifies increase of good and truth in the external man, which is the earth; and that " to bring forth abundantly" is predicated of goods, and "to be multiplied", of truths, is evident from what has now been said, and also from the signification of "earth", as being the external man, concerning which significations see what was said and shown at (verse 1) of this chapter (n. 983). As to its being said, "Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and be ye multiplied therein", the case is this: nothing is multiplied with the regenerate man in his external man, that is, nothing of good and truth receives increase, except as the effect of charity. Charity is like heat in the time of spring or summer, which causes grass and plants and trees to grow. Without charity, or spiritual heat, nothing grows, and for this reason it is here said in the first place, " Bring forth abundantly in the earth", which is predicated of the goods that are of charity, by means of which there is multiplication of good and truth. Any one may understand how this is; for nothing is increased and multiplied in man unless there be some affection, for it is the delight of the affection that causes it not only to take root, but also to increase, and everything depends upon the influence of the affection. What a man loves he freely learns, retains, and cherishes - thus all things that favor any affection. Those which do not favor, the man cares nothing for, regards as nothing, and even rejects. But such as the affection is, such is the multiplication. With the regenerate man the affection is that of good and truth from the charity that is given by the Lord. Whatever therefore favors the affection of charity he learns, retains, and cherishes, and thus confirms himself in goods and truths. This is signified by, "Bring forth abundantly in the earth and be ye multiplied therein".

1017. To show that the multiplication is such as is the affection, take for example a man who accepts the principle that faith alone saves even if he does no work of charity, that is, even if he has no charity, and who thus separates faith from charity - not only on account of this principle received from childhood, but also because he supposes that if one should call the works of charity, or charity itself, an essential part of faith, and should on this account live aright, he could not but place merit in works, though this is a false supposition. Thus he rejects charity and makes the works of charity of no account, abiding only in the idea of faith, which is no faith without its essential, namely, charity. In confirming this principle in himself, he does it not at all from the affection of good, but from the affection of pleasure, that he may live in the indulgence of his cupidities. And any one belonging to this class of people who confirms faith alone by many things, does so not from any affection of truth, but for his own glory, that he may seem greater, more learned, and more exalted than others, and may thus take a high place among those in wealth and honor; thus he does it from the delight of the affection, and this delight causes the multiplication of the confirmatory things; for, as has been said, such as the affection is, such is the multiplication. In general, when the principle is false, nothing but falsities can follow from it; for all things conform themselves to the first principle. Indeed - as I know from experience, of which by the Divine mercy of the Lord hereafter - those who confirm themselves in such principles about faith alone, and are in no charity, care nothing for, and are as if they did not see, all that the Lord said so many times about love and charity (Matt. 3:8, 9; 5:7, 43-48; 6:12, 15; 7:1-20; 9:13; 12:33; 13:8, 23; 18:21-23; 19:19; 22:34-39; 24:12, 13; 21:34, 40, 41, 43; Mark 4:18-20; 11:13, 14, 20; 12:28-35; Luke 3:8, 9; 6:27-39; 43-49; 7:47; 8:8, 14, 15; 10:25-28; 12:58, 59; 13:6-10; John 3:19, 21; 5:42; 13:34, 35; 14:14, 15, 20, 21, 23; 15:1-19; 21:15-17).

1018. The reason why it is here said again, "Be ye fruitful, and multiply", as in (verse 1) of the chapter, is that here is the conclusion, and that all things will go well, and will be fruitful and multiply, if men shun what is signified by eating blood and by shedding blood, that is, if they do not extinguish charity by hatreds and profanations.

1019. Verse 8. And God said unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying. "God said unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying", signifies the truth of the things that follow in regard to the spiritual church, which is meant by "Noah and his sons with him".

1020. That these things are signified is evident from the fact that all things put historically, from the first chapter of Genesis to Eber in the eleventh chapter, signify things quite different from those which appear in the letter, and the historical series is only made-up history, after the manner of the most ancient people, who when they would attest the truth of a thing, declared that "Jehovah said" it. Here however it is said that "God" said, because the subject treated of is the spiritual church. They used the same form of speaking when anything true was coming to pass, or had done so.

1021. That by "Noah and his sons with him" is signified the Ancient Church, has been shown before, and will be evident in what follows in this chapter, so that there is no need to confirm it now.

1022. Verses 9, 10. And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living soul that is with you, the fowl, the beast, and every wild animal of the earth with you; of all that go out of the ark, even every wild animal of the earth. "And I, behold, I establish My covenant", signifies the presence of the Lord in charity; "with you", signifies the regenerate spiritual man; "and with your seed after you", signifies those who are being created anew; "and with every living soul that is with you", signifies in general all things in man that have been regenerated; "the fowl", signifies specifically the things of his understanding; "the beast", the things of his new will; "and every wild animal of the earth", signifies the lower things of his understanding and those of his will therefrom; "with you", signifies here as before what is in the regenerate spiritual man; "of all that go out of the ark", signifies the men of the church; "even every wild animal of the earth", signifies the men outside of the church.

1023. And I, behold, I establish My, covenant. That this signifies the presence of the Lord in charity, is evident from the signification of "covenant", as shown above (n. 666), where it was shown that a "covenant" signifies regeneration, and indeed the conjunction of the Lord with the regenerate man by love; and that the heavenly marriage is that veriest covenant itself, and consequently so is the heavenly marriage with every regenerate man. This marriage or covenant has been treated of before. With the man of the Most Ancient Church the heavenly marriage was in the Own of his will part, but with the man of the Ancient Church the heavenly marriage was effected in the Own of his intellectual part. For when man's will part had become wholly corrupt, the Lord miraculously separated the Own of his intellectual part from that corrupt Own of his will part, and in the Own of his intellectual part He formed a new will, which is conscience, and into the conscience insinuated charity, and into the charity innocence, and thus conjoined Himself with man, or what is the same made a covenant with him. So far as the Own of man's will part can be separated from this Own of the intellectual part, the Lord can be present with him, or conjoin Himself, or enter into a covenant with him. Temptations and the like means of regeneration cause the Own of man's will part to be quiescent, to become as nothing, and as it were to die. So far as this is done the Lord through conscience implanted in the Own of man's intellectual part can work In charity. And this is what is here called a "covenant".

1024. With you. That this signifies the regenerate spiritual man, is evident from what has been said before, namely, that Noah and his sons signify the spiritual church which succeeded the Most Ancient celestial church; and since the church is signified, so also is each man of the church, thus the regenerate spiritual man.

1025. And with your seed after you. That this signifies those who are being created anew, is evident from the signification of "seed", and also from what follows. From the signification of "seed", inasmuch as "seed" signifies in the literal sense posterity, but in the internal sense faith; and since, as has been often said, there is no faith except where there is charity, it is charity itself which is meant in the internal sense by "seed". From what follows it is evident that not only the man who is within the church is meant, but also the man who is without the church, thus the whole human race. Wherever there is charity, even among nations most remote from the church, there is "seed", for heavenly seed is charity. No man can do anything of good from himself, but all good is from the Lord. The good which the Gentiles do is also from the Lord, of whom, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, hereafter. That the "seed of God" is faith, has been shown before (n. 255). By faith there, and elsewhere, is meant the charity from which is faith; for there is no other faith that is faith, than the faith of charity.

[2] It is the same also in other places in the Word where "seed" is named, as the "seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob", by which is signified love or charity. For Abraham represented the celestial love, and Isaac the spiritual love, which are of the internal man. Jacob represented the same, but that of the external man. It is so not only in the prophetic, but also in the historic parts of the Word. The history in the Word is not perceived in heaven, but what is signified by it. The Word was written not only for man, but also for angels. When man reads the Word and takes from it nothing but the literal sense, angels then take not the literal, but the internal sense. The material, worldly, and corporeal ideas which man has when he reads the Word, become with angels spiritual and heavenly ideas - as when man reads about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the angels do not think at all of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but of what is represented and thus signified by them.

[3] So with Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the angels do not know of these persons, nor perceive anything else than the Ancient Church; and the interior angels do not even perceive the church, but the faith of that church, and according to the connection the state of the things treated of. Thus when "seed" is mentioned in the Word (as here the seed of Noah, that a covenant was made with them and with their seed after them), angels do not perceive such a posterity; for there was no Noah, but the Ancient Church was so called; and by "seed" angels understand charity, which was the essential of the faith of that church. And again when in the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob their "seed" is spoken of, angels never understand the posterity of these men, but all in the universe, both in the church and out of it, in whom there is heavenly seed, or charity; and the interior angels perceive love itself - abstractedly - which is heavenly seed.

[4] That by "seed" is signified love, and also every one in whom there is love, is evident from the following passages in Genesis: -

And Jehovah appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land (Genesis 12:7);

and again: -

All the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever; and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth (Genesis 13:15, 16).

Those who are in the sense of the letter do not apprehend anything else than that by "seed" is meant the posterity of Abram, and by this "land", the land of Canaan, especially as this land was given to his posterity. But those who are in the internal sense, as is the whole heaven, by the "seed of Abram" perceive nothing else than love; by the "land of Canaan" nothing else than the kingdom of the Lord in the heavens and on the earth; and in the land's being given them they perceive nothing but its representation, of which, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, elsewhere. And again it is said of Abram: -

Jehovah led him forth abroad, and said, Look up now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them; and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be (Gen. 15:15).

Here likewise Abram is named because he represented love, or saving faith; and by his "seed" no other posterity is meant, in the internal sense, than all in the universe who have love.

[5] Again: -

And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee, and I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be to them for God; this is My covenant, which thou shalt keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee, that every male be circumcised unto you (Gen. 17:7, 8, 10).

Here "establishing His covenant" likewise signifies the conjunction of the Lord with men throughout the universe by love, which love was represented by Abram. From this it is evident what is signified by his "seed", namely, all in the universe who have love. The covenant here treated of was circumcision, by which is never understood in heaven circumcision of the flesh, but circumcision of the heart, which those have who have love. Circumcision was a representative of regeneration by love, as is clearly explained in Moses: -

And Jehovah thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live (Deut. 30:6),

from which it is evident what circumcision is in the internal sense; and therefore wherever circumcision is mentioned, nothing else is meant than love and charity, and the life therefrom.

[6] That by the "seed of Abraham" all in the universe who have love are signified, is evident also from the words of the Lord to Abraham and to Isaac. To Abraham, after he was willing to sacrifice Isaac as commanded, the Lord said: -

In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 22:17, 18),

where it is plainly evident that by "seed" are meant all in the universe who have love.

[7] As Abraham represented celestial love, as already said, so Isaac represented spiritual love; and therefore by the "seed of Isaac" nothing else is signified than every man in whom there is spiritual love, or charity. Of him it is said: -

Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands; and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and will give unto thy seed all these lands' and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 26:3, 4, 24),

where it is manifest that all nations are meant who are in charity. Celestial love was represented by Abraham as the father of the spiritual love that was represented by Isaac; for the spiritual is born of the celestial, as shown above.

[8] As Jacob represented the externals of the church, which come forth from the internals, and thus all things springing in the external man from love and charity, by his "seed" are signified all in the universe who have external worship in which is internal, and who do works of charity in which there is charity from the Lord. Of this "seed" it was said to Jacob after he had seen the ladder in his dream: -

I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the ground be blessed (Gen. 28:13, 14; 32:12; 48:4).

[9] That such is the signification of "seed" is evident from the passages of the Word cited above (n. 255); and also from the following. In Isaiah: -

But thou, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, My friend (Isaiah 41:8),

where the subject is the regeneration of man; and, as is often the case, a distinction is made between Israel and Jacob, and by "Israel" is signified the internal spiritual church, by "Jacob" the externals of the same church, and both are called the "seed of Abraham", that is, of the celestial church, because the celestial, spiritual, and natural follow one another in succession. In Jeremiah: -

I had planted thee a wholly noble vine, a seed of truth; how then art thou turned into the degenerate ones of a strange vine unto Me? (Jeremiah 2:21).

This is said of the spiritual church, which is a "noble vine", whose charity, or faith of charity, is called a "seed of truth".

[10] Again: -

As the army of the heavens cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites that minister unto Me (Jeremiah 33:22),

where "seed" plainly denotes heavenly seed, for by David is signified the Lord. That the seed of David was not as the army of the heavens that cannot be numbered, neither as the sand of the sea that cannot be measured, is known to every one. Again: -

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous offshoot, and He shall reign as king and shall act intelligently, and shall do judgment and righteousness in the land; in His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently; and this is His name whereby He shall be called, Jehovah our righteousness; therefore behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that they shall no more say, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country (Jeremiah 23:5-8).

Here things very different from those appearing in the letter are signified. David is not meant by "David", nor Judah by "Judah", nor Israel by "Israel;" but by "David" is signified the Lord, by "Judah" what is celestial, by "Israel" what is spiritual; and therefore by "the seed of Israel" those who have charity, or the faith of charity.

[11] In David: -

Ye that fear Jehovah, praise Him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and stand in awe of Him, all ye the seed of Israel (Ps. 22:23),

where by "the seed of Israel" no other seed is meant than the spiritual church. In Isaiah: -

A seed of holiness is the stock thereof (Isaiah 6:13),

meaning remains which are holy, because they are the Lord's. Again: -

I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah a possessor of My mountains; and Mine elect shall possess it, and My servants shall dwell there (Isaiah 65:9),

where the celestial church, external and internal, is treated of. Again: -

They shall not generate for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them (Isaiah 65:23),

where the subject is the new heavens and the new earth, or the kingdom of the Lord. Those who are therein, being "generated" from love, or regenerated, are called the "seed of the blessed of Jehovah".

1026. And with every living soul that is with you. That this signifies in general all things in man that are regenerated, is evident from what precedes and from what follows, and also from the signification or "living".' Everything is called "living" that has received life from the Lord, and everything a "living soul" that lives therefrom in the regenerate man. For according to the life which the regenerate man receives, everything in him is living, as well the things of his reason as his affections; and this life is apparent in everything of his thought and speech in the sight of angels, but not in that of man.

1027. The fowl. That this signifies specifically the things of his understanding, is evident from what has been said and shown before about fowls (n. 40, 776).

1028. The beast. That this signifies specifically the things of his new will, is evident also from what has been said and shown before concerning beasts and their signification (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 776).

1029. And every wild animal of the earth. That this signifies the lower things of his understanding and those of his will therefrom, is evident also from what has been said and shown before as to the signification of a "wild animal". For with every man there are things interior and things exterior. The interior are things of reason, here signified by "the fowl", and also affections, signified by the "beast". The exterior are things of knowledge (scientifica) and pleasures, which are here signified by the "wild animal of the earth". That by "fowl, beast, and wild animal", is not signified any fowl, beast, or wild animal, but what is living in the regenerate man, any one may know and conclude from this, that a covenant cannot be made by God with brute animals (yet it is said, "I establish My covenant with every living soul that is with you, the fowl, the beast, and the wild animal of the earth with you"), but with man, who is described by them in this way as to his interiors and exteriors.

1030. Of all that go out of the ark. That this signifies the men of the church, and that "even every wild animal of the earth" signifies the man who is outside the church, is evident from the series of things in the internal sense; for all that went forth from the ark have been named before - as every living soul, the fowl, the beast, and the wild animal of the earth - and here it is said again, "of all that go out of the ark, even every wild animal of the earth". Thus the "wild animal of "he earth" is named a second time, and there would not be this repetition unless something else were here meant. And there also follows: "I will establish My covenant with you", as was said before. From this it is evident that by "those going out of the ark" are signified the regenerate, or the men of the church, and by the "wild animal of the earth" are signified all in the universe who are outside the church.

[2] The "wild animal of the earth", in the Word, when living things are not meant by it, signifies those things which are more vile and partake more or less of the ferine nature, and this in accordance with the subject of which it is predicated. When it is predicated of what is in man, then the "wild animal of the earth" signifies lower things which are of the external man and of the body, as presently in this same verse, and thus what is more vile. When it is predicated of an entire society, which is called a composite man or person, then the "wild animal of the earth" signifies those who are not of the church, because they are more vile; and so in other cases according to the subject of which it is predicated. As in Hosea: -

In that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild animal of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the earth (Hosea 2:18).

In Isaiah: -

The wild animal of the field shall honor Me, because I give waters in the wilderness (Isaiah 43:20).

In Ezekiel: -

All the birds of the heavens made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches all the wild animals of the field brought forth, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations (Ezekiel 31:6).

1031. Verse 11. And I will establish My covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. "And I will establish My covenant with you", signifies the presence of the Lord with all who have charity, and refers to those who go forth from the ark and to every wild animal of the earth, that is, to men within the church and men without the church; "neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood", signifies that they shall not perish like the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church; "neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth", signifies that there shall not come forth any such deadly and suffocating persuasion.

1032. And I will establish my covenant with you. That this signifies the presence of the Lord with all who have charity, and refers to those who go forth from the ark and to every wild animal of the earth, that is, to men within the church and men without, is evident from what has been said just above. That the Lord enters into a covenant, or conjoins Himself by charity, with Gentiles also who are outside the church, shall now be shown. The man of the church supposes that all who are out of the church, and are called Gentiles, cannot be saved, because they have no knowledges of faith, and are therefore wholly ignorant of the Lord, saying that without faith and without knowledge of the Lord there is no salvation, and thus he condemns all who are out of the church. Indeed many of this sort who are in some doctrine, even if it be heresy, suppose that all outside this, that is, all who do not hold the same opinion, cannot be saved; when in fact the case is not so at all. The Lord has mercy toward the whole human race, and wills to save and draw to Himself all who are in the universe.

[2] The mercy of the Lord is infinite, and does not suffer itself to be limited to those few who are within the church, but extends itself to all in the whole world. Their being born out of the church and being thus in ignorance of faith, is not their fault; and no one is ever condemned for not having faith in the Lord when he is ignorant of Him. Who that thinks aright will ever say that the greatest part of the human race must perish in eternal death because they were not born in Europe, where there are comparatively few? And who that thinks aright will say that the Lord suffered so great a multitude to be born to perish in eternal death? This would be contrary to the Divine, and contrary to mercy. And besides, those who are out of the church, and are called Gentiles, live a much more moral life than those who are within the church, and embrace much more easily the doctrine of true faith, as is still more evident from souls in the other life. The worst of all come from the so-called Christian world, holding the neighbor in deadly hatred, and even the Lord. Above all others in the whole world they are adulterers.

[3] It is not so with those from other parts of the world. Very many of those who have worshiped idols are of such a disposition as to abhor hatred and adultery, and to fear Christians because of their being of this character and desirous of tormenting every one. Indeed Gentiles are so disposed as to listen readily, when taught by angels about the truths of faith, and that the Lord rules the universe, and to be easily imbued with faith and thus to reject their idols. For this reason Gentiles who have lived a moral life and in mutual charity and innocence, are regenerated in the other life. While they live in the world the Lord is present with them in charity and innocence, for there is nothing of charity and innocence except from the Lord. The Lord also gives them a conscience of what is right and good according to their religion, and insinuates innocence and charity into that conscience; and when there is innocence and charity in the conscience, they easily suffer themselves to be imbued with the truth of faith from good. The Lord Himself said this, in Luke: -

And one said unto Him, Lord, are they few that be saved? and He said unto them, Ye shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and yourselves cast forth without; and they shall come from the east and the west, and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God; and behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last (Luke 13:23, 28-30).

By "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" are here meant all who have love, as shown above.

1033. With regard to a conscience of what is right and good being given to Gentiles according to their religion, the case is this: Conscience, in general, is either true, spurious, or false. True conscience is that which is formed by the Lord of the truths of faith. When a man has been gifted with this, he fears to act contrary to the truths of faith, because he would thus act contrary to conscience. This conscience no one can receive who is not in the truths of faith, and therefore there are not very many in the Christian world who receive it, for each one sets up his own dogma as the truth of faith. But still those who are being regenerated receive conscience together with charity, for the very ground of conscience is charity. Spurious conscience is that which is formed with Gentiles from their religious worship into which they have been born and educated, to act contrary to which is to them to act contrary to conscience. When their conscience has been founded in charity and mercy, and in obedience, they are in such a state that they can receive true conscience in the other life, and they also do receive it; for they love nothing before and beyond the truth of faith. False conscience is that which is formed, not from internal but from external things, that is, not from charity but from the love of self and of the world. For there are those who seem to themselves to act contrary to conscience when they act against the neighbor, and also seem to themselves to be then inwardly pained; and yet it is for the reason that they perceive in their thought that their life, honor, fame, wealth, or gain, is thus imperiled, and therefore they themselves are injured. Some inherit such a softness of heart, some acquire it; but it is a false conscience.

1034. Neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood. That this signifies that they should not perish, as did the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church, is evident from what has been said before about those before the flood, who perished, being signified by those who were cut off by the waters of the flood. It has been shown before (n. 310) how the case was, namely, that the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church was of such a nature that both the will part and the intellectual part of their mind had become corrupt, so that the intellectual could not be separated from the will, and a new will be formed in the intellectual, since both parts of their mind cohered together. And because this was foreseen, it was also provided by the Lord that the intellectual in man might be separated from the will, and thus be renewed. And therefore because it was provided that such men as were that race before the flood should not afterwards exist, therefore it is here said, "neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood".

1035. Neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. That this signifies that such a deadly and suffocating persuasion should no longer come forth, is evident from the signification of "a flood" relatively to the antediluvians who perished, as described above; as well as from their direful persuasions (n. 311, 563, 570, 581, 586); as also from what has been shown of the succeeding church, called "Noah;" and further from what follows concerning the rainbow.

1036. Verses 12-13. And God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living soul that is with you, for the generations of an age: I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. "And God said", signifies that it was so; "this is the sign of the covenant", signifies an indication of the presence of the Lord in charity; "which I make between Me and you", signifies the conjunction of the Lord with man by charity; "and every living soul that is with you", signifies as before all things in man that have been regenerated; "for the generations of an age", signifies all perpetually who are being created anew; "I have set My bow in the cloud", signifies the state of the regenerated spiritual man, which is like a rainbow; "the cloud" signifies the obscure light in which is the spiritual man relatively to the celestial; "and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth", signifies as before an indication of the presence of the Lord in charity; "the earth" is here that which is man's own. All these things regard the regenerate spiritual man, or the spiritual church.

1037. And God said. That this signifies that it was so, has been said and shown before; for the "saying of God" or "of Jehovah", signifies that it was so. The most ancient people arranged the things of the church in the form of history; and when they wished to affirm that a thing was so, they said that "God said", or "Jehovah said", and this was their form of asseveration and confirmation.

1038. This is the sign of the covenant. That this signifies an indication of the presence of the Lord in charity, is evident from the signification of a "covenant" and of a "sign of a covenant". That a "covenant" signifies the presence of the Lord in charity, has been shown before (Genesis 6:18), and above in the present chapter, (verse 9). That a "covenant" is the presence of the Lord in love and charity, is evident from the nature of a covenant. Every covenant is for the sake of conjunction, that is, for the sake of living in mutual friendship, or love. Marriage also is for this reason called a covenant. There is no conjunction of the Lord with man except in love and charity; for the Lord is love and mercy itself. He wills to save every one and to draw him with mighty power to heaven, that is, to Himself. From this every one may know and conclude that no one can ever be conjoined with the Lord except through that which He Himself is, that is, except by becoming like or making one with Him-in ether words, by loving the Lord in return and loving the neighbor as himself. By this alone is the conjunction effected. This is the veriest essence of a covenant. When there is conjunction from this, it then follows manifestly that the Lord is present. There is in deed the very presence of the Lord with every man, but it is nearer or more remote exactly according to the approach to love or the distance from love.

[2] Because the "covenant" is the conjunction of the Lord with man by love, or what is the same, the presence of the Lord with man in love and charity, it is called in the Word the covenant of peace " for "peace" signifies the kingdom of the Lord, and the kingdom of the Lord consists in mutual love, in which alone is peace. As in Isaiah: -

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My mercy shall not depart from thee, neither shall My covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee (Isaiah54:10),

where mercy, which is of love, is called a covenant of peace". In Ezekiel

I will raise up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd and I will make with them a covenant of peace (Ezekiel 34:23, 25),

where by "David" is plainly meant the Lord; and His presence with the regenerate man is described by His feeding" them.

[3] Again: -

My servant David shall be king over them and there shall be to them all one shepherd, and I will make a covenant of peace with them it shall be an everlasting covenant with them and I will set them, and will cause them to multiply, and will put My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Ezekiel 37:24, 20, 27),

where in like manner the Lord is meant by "David;" love, by "His sanctuary in the midst of them;" the presence and conjunction of the Lord in love, by" His being their God and by their being His people", which is called a " covenant of peace", and an "everlasting covenant". In Malachi: -

Ye shall know that I have sent this commandment into you, that My covenant might be with Levi, saith Jehovah of armies My covenant was with him of lives and peace; and I gave them to him in fear, and he shall fear Me (Malachi 2:4, 5).

"Levi in the supreme sense is the Lord, and hence the man who has love and charity, and therefore the covenant of lives and peace with Levi is in love and charity.

[4] In Moses, speaking of Phinehas

Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace; and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an eternal priesthood (Num. 25:12, 13),

where by "Phinehas" is not meant Phinehas, but the priesthood which was represented by him, which signifies love and what is of love, as does all the priesthood of that church. Every one knows that Phinehas did not have an eternal priesthood. Again Jehovah thy God, He is God; the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments, to the thousandth generation (Deut. 7:9, 12), where it is plain that the presence of the Lord with man in love is the covenant", for it is said that He keepeth it with them that love Him and keep His commandments.

[5] Since a "covenant' is the conjunction of the Lord with man by love, it follows that it is also by all things that pertain to love, which are the truths of faith, and are called precepts; for all precepts, indeed the Law and the Prophets, are founded on the one Law, to love the Lord above all things and the neighbor as one's self, as is evident from the words of the Lord (Matt. 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34). And therefore the tables on which were written the ten commandments, are called the "Tables of the Covenant". Since a covenant, or conjunction, is effected through the laws or precepts of love, it was effected also through the laws of society given by the Lord in the Jewish Church, which are called "testimonies;" and also through the rites of the church enjoined by the Lord, called "statutes". All these things are said to be of the "covenant" because they regard love and charity, as we read of Josiah the king: -

The king stood upon the pillar, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all the heart and with all the soul, to establish the words of this covenant (2 Kings 23:3).

[6] From these things it is now evident what a "covenant" is, and that the covenant is internal; for the conjunction of the Lord with man takes place by what is internal, and never by what is external separate from what is internal. External things are only types and representatives of internal, as the action of a man is a type representative of his thought and will; and as the work of charity is a type representative of the charity which is within, in the heart and mind. So all the rites of the Jewish Church were types representative of the Lord, consequently of love and charity, and of all things therefrom. Wherefore it is through the internals of man that a covenant and conjunction is made, and' externals are only signs of the covenant, as indeed they are called. That a covenant and conjunction is made through internals is plainly evident, as in Jeremiah: -

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, forasmuch as they made vain My covenant but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days, saith Jehovah; I will put My law in their inward parts and write it on their heart (Jeremiah 31:31-33),

where a new church is treated of. It is clearly stated that the veriest covenant is through the internals, and indeed in conscience on which the Law is inscribed, all of which is of love, as has been said

[7] That external things are not the "covenant", unless internal things are adjoined to them, and thus by union act as one and the same cause; but are only " signs" of the covenant by means of which as by representative types the Lord might be kept in remembrance, is evident from the fact that the Sabbath and circumcision are called" signs" of the covenant. That the Sabbath is so called, we read in Moses: -

The sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant it is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel eternally (Exod. 31:16, 17).

And that circumcision also is so called, in the same: -

This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee that every male be circumcised unto you and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and you (Gen. 17:10, 11).

Hence also blood is called the "blood of the covenant" (Exod. 24:7, 8).

[8] External rites are called "signs of a covenant", for the reason chiefly that interior things may be kept in mind by them, that is, the things signified by them. All the rites of the Jewish Church were nothing else. And for this reason they were also called "signs", that the people might be reminded by them of interior things-as for instance, the binding of the chief commandment on the hand and on the forehead, as in Moses: -

Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might and these words thou shalt bind for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes (Deut. 6:5, 8; 11:13, 18).

Here "hand" signifies the will because it signifies power, for power is of the will; " frontlets between the eyes", signify the understanding thus the " sign" signifies remembrance of the chief commandment, or of the Law in sum, that it may be continually in the will and in the thought, that is, that the presence of the Lord and of love may be in all the will and in all the thought. Such is the presence of the Lord and of mutual love from Him with the angels, which continual presence will be further described, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, hereafter. In like manner, in the present verse its being said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you: I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth", signifies no other sign than an indication of the presence of the Lord in charity, thus the remembrance of Him in man. But how there is thence, or from the bow in the cloud, a sign and remembrance, will be told, of the Lord's Divine mercy, in what follows.

1039. Which I make between Me and you. That this signifies the conjunction of the Lord with man by charity, is evident from what has now been said of the covenant and the sign of the covenant. For the "covenant" is the presence of the Lord in charity. "Between Me and you", is conjunction therefrom. "Making" is causing to be.

1040. And every living soul that is that with you. That this signifies all things in man that have been regenerated, is evident from the signification of "living soul", shown above at (verse 10). For "soul" in the Word signifies, as before said, all man's life both internal and external, and even that of animals from their signifying what is in man. But that is properly a "living soul" which receives life from the Lord, that is, which is regenerate, because this alone is living. And because "soul" signifies man's life both internal and external, "living soul" signifies in one complex all things in man that have been regenerated. In man there are things of the will and things of the understanding, the two being most distinct; and with a living man all of these both in general and in particular are also living; for the fact is that such as a man is, such are all things in him both in general and in particular; his general life itself is in everything.

[2] For every general is derived from all the component items, as from its own particulars; in no other way can any general come into existence, for it is called a general because it comes forth from particulars. Therefore such as is a man's life in general, such is it in the most minute atoms of his effort and intention-that is, of his will and in the most minute atoms of his thought; so that there cannot be the smallest bit of an idea in which the life is not the same. As for example with a haughty man in every single effort of his will and in every single idea of his thought there is haughtiness; with him who is covetous there is in like manner covetousness, and so with him who hates his neighbor; just as with the stupid man there is stupidity in everything of his will and everything of his thought, and with him who is insane there is insanity. Since this is the nature of man, in the other life his quality is known from a single idea of his thought.

[3] When a man has been regenerated, then all things in him, both in general and in particular, have also been regenerated, that is, have life, and the life they have bears an exact proportion to the degree in which his own will-which is foul and dead-could be separated from the new will and intellectual that he has received from the Lord. Therefore as the subject here treated of is the regenerated man, the "living soul" signifies all things in the man that have been regenerated, which, in general, are all the things of his understanding and of his will, both interior and exterior, and which were expressed before, in (verse 10), by the "fowl, the beast, and the wild animal of the earth;" for it is said, "I establish My covenant with every living soul that is with you, the fowl, the beast, and the wild animal of the earth".

1041. For the generations of an age. That this signifies all perpetually who are being created anew, is evident from the signification of the "generations of an age". "Generations" are posterities which are from those which have preceded, as from their parents. " Of an age", is what is perpetual. The subject here is the things that have been regenerated, and therefore by the "generations of an age" are meant those who thereby are perpetually being regenerated, that is, who are being created anew. In the internal sense, all things bear a signification that is determined by what is being treated of.

1042. I have set My bow in the cloud. This signifies the state of the regenerated spiritual man, which is like a rainbow. Any one may wonder that the "bow in the cloud", or the rainbow, is taken in the Word for a token of the covenant, seeing that the rainbow is nothing but an appearance arising from the modification of the rays of sunlight in raindrops, and thus only something natural, unlike other signs of the covenant in the church, mentioned just above. And that the "bow in the cloud" represents regeneration, and signifies the state of the regenerated spiritual man, cannot be known to any one unless it be given him to see and hence to know how the case is. Spiritual angels, who have all been regenerated men of the spiritual church, when presented to sight as such in the other life, appear with as it were a rainbow about the head. But the rainbows seen are in accordance with their state, and thus from them their quality is known in heaven and in the world of spirits. The reason that the appearance of a rainbow is seen is that their natural things corresponding to their spiritual present such an appearance. It is a modification of spiritual light from the Lord in their natural things. These angels are those who are said to be regenerated "of water and the spirit", but the celestial angels are said to be regenerated "with fire".

[2] As regards natural colors, the existence of color requires something both dark and light, or black and white. When rays of sunlight fall on this, according to the varied tempering of the dark and the light, or of the black and the white, from the modification of the inflowing rays of light colors are produced, some of which partake more and some less of the dark and black, and some more and some less of the light and white; and hence is their diversity. To speak comparatively, it is the same in spiritual things. The darkness in this case is the Own of man's intellectual part, or falsity; and the blackness is the Own of his will part, or evil; which absorb and extinguish the rays of light. But the lightness and whiteness is the truth and good that the man supposes he does of himself, which reflects and throws back from itself the rays of light. The rays of light that fall upon these, and as it were modify them, are from the Lord, as from the Sun of wisdom and intelligence; for rays of spiritual light are no other and from no other source. It is because natural things correspond to spiritual that when what is about a regenerate spiritual man is presented to view in the other life, it appears like the bow in the cloud, this bow being the representation of his spiritual things in his natural things There is in the regenerate spiritual man an Own of the understanding into which the Lord insinuates innocence, charity and mercy. According to the reception of these gifts by the man is the appearance of his rainbow when presented to view-beautiful in proportion to the degree in which the Own of his will is removed, subdued, and reduced to obedience.

[3] By the prophets also, when they were in the vision of God, there was seen a bow as in a cloud. As by Ezekiel: -

Above the expanse that was over the head of the cherubs was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a Man upon it above and I saw as the appearance of burning coal, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of His loins and upward and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about Him as the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah (Ezekiel 1:26-28).

It must be evident to every one that it is the Lord who was thus seen, and also that by Him was represented heaven, for He is heaven, that is, He is the all in all things of heaven. He is the "Man" here spoken of; the "throne" is heaven; the "burning coal as the appearance of fire from the loins and upward" is the celestial of live; the "brightness as of fire round about from the loins downward, as the bow in the cloud", is the celestial spiritual. Thus the celestial heaven, or the heaven of the celestial angels, is represented from the loins upward, and the spiritual heaven, or the heaven of the spiritual angels, is represented from the loins downward. For in the Grand Man what is below, from the loins down through the feet to the soles, signifies what is natural. Hence also it is evident that the natural things of man thus illuminated by spiritual light from the Lord, appear as the bow in the cloud. The like was seen also by John (Rev. 4:2, 3; 10:1).

1043. That the "cloud" signifies the obscure light in which is the spiritual man as compared with the celestial man, is evident from what has just been said about the "bow;" for the bow, or the color of the bow, has no existence except in the cloud. As before said, it is the darkness of the cloud, through which the sun's rays shine, that is turned into colors; and thus the color is such as is the darkness which is touched by the brightness of the rays. The case is the same with the spiritual man. With him, the darkness which is here called a "cloud", is falsity, which is the same as the Own of his understanding. When innocence, charity, and mercy are insinuated into this Own by the Lord, then this cloud appears no longer as falsity, but as an appearance of truth, together with truth from the Lord. Hence there is the likeness of a colored bow. There is a certain spiritual modification which can by no means be described, and unless it be perceived by man by means of colors and their origin, I do not know how it can be set forth to his apprehension.

[2] The nature of this " cloud" with the regenerate man may be seen from his state before regeneration. Man is regenerated through what he supposes to be truths of faith. Every one supposes his own dogma to be true, and from this he acquires a conscience, for which reason after he has acquired a conscience, to act contrary to what has been impressed upon him as truths of faith, is to him contrary to conscience. Such is every regenerated man. For many are regenerated by the Lord in every dogma, and when they have been regenerated they do not receive any immediate revelation, but only what is insinuated into them through the Word and the preaching of the Word. But because they receive charity, the Lord works through charity upon their cloud, from which there springs light, as when the sun strikes a cloud, which then becomes more luminous and is variegated with colors. Thus also there arises in the cloud the likeness of a bow. The thinner the cloud, that is, the more numerous are the intermingled truths of faith of which it consists, the more beautiful is the bow. But the denser the cloud, that is, the fewer the truths of faith of which it consists, the less beautiful is the bow. Innocence adds much to its beauty, giving as it were a living brightness to the colors.

[3] All appearances of truth are clouds in which man is when he is in the sense of the letter of the Word, for the language of the Word is according to appearances. But when he believes the Word with simplicity, and has charity, even though he remains in appearances, this cloud is comparatively thin. It is in this cloud that conscience is formed by the Lord with a man who is within the church. All ignorances of truth are also clouds, in which man is when he does not know what the truth of faith is; in general, when he does not know what the Word is, and still more when he has not heard about the Lord. In this cloud conscience is formed by the Lord with a man who is outside the church; for in his very ignorance there may be innocence, and thus charity. All falsities also are clouds; but these clouds are darkness, and are either with those who have a false conscience described elsewhere-or with those who have none. These are, in general, the qualities of clouds. As regards their mass, there are with man clouds so great and so dense that if he knew of them, he would wonder that rays of light could ever shine through from the Lord, and that man could be regenerated. He who supposes himself to have the least cloud, has sometimes a very great one; and he who believes that he has very much cloud, has less.

[4] There are such clouds with the spiritual man, but not so great with the celestial, because he has love to the Lord implanted in his will part, and therefore receives from the Lord, not conscience, as does the spiritual man, but perception of good and thence of truth. When man's will part is such that it can receive the rays of celestial Same, then his intellectual part is enlightened thereby, and from love he knows and perceives all things that are truths of faith. His will part is then like a little sun, from which rays shine into his intellectual part. Such was the man of the Most Ancient Church. But when man's will part is wholly corrupt and infernal, and therefore a new will, which is conscience, is formed in his intellectual part (as was the case with the man of the Ancient Church, and is so with every regenerated man of the spiritual church), then his cloud is dense, for he needs to learn what is good and true, and has no perception whether it is so. Then also falsity continually flows in (which is the darkness of cloud) from his black will part, that is, through it from hell. This is the reason why the intellectual part can never be enlightened in the spiritual man as it is in the celestial. Hence it is that the "cloud" here signifies the obscure light in which the spiritual man is in comparison with the celestial.

1044. And it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. That this signifies a sign of the presence of the Lord in charity, and that the "earth" here denotes the Own of man, is evident from what has been already said. That the "earth" signifies the Own of man, is evident also from the internal sense and from the connection in which it here occurs. For it was said before: "this is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living soul that is with you", by which was signified whatever has been regenerated. But here it is said, differently "it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth". From this, and also from the repetition of the words "sign of a covenant", it is plain that here something else is signified, and in fact that the "earth" means that which is not and can not be regenerated, which is the Own of man's will part.

[2] For man when regenerated is as to the intellectual part the Lord's, but as to his will part is his own, these two parts in the spiritual man being opposed. But though the will part of man is opposed, yet it cannot but be present for all the obscurity in his intellectual part, or all the density of his cloud, is from it. It continually flows in from it, and in proportion as it flows in, the aloud in his intellectual part is thickened; but in proportion as it is removed, the cloud is made thin. Thus it is that by the "earth" is here signified the Own of man. (That by the "earth" is signified the corporeal part of man, as well as many other things, has been shown before.)

[3] This condition of things between the will and the understanding is as if two who were formerly conjoined by a covenant of friendship, as were the will and the understanding in the man of the Most Ancient Church, had their friendship broken, and enmity had arisen-as took place when man wholly corrupted his will part-and then when a covenant is again entered into, the hostile part is set forth as if the covenant were with it, but it is not with it, because it is utterly opposite and contrary, but it is with that which flows in from it-as already said-that is, with the Own of the understanding. The "token" or " sign" of the covenant is this, that in proportion as there is the presence of the Lord in the Own of the understanding, in the same proportion the Own of the will be removed. The case herein is exactly as it is with heaven and hell. The intellectual part of the regenerated man, from charity, in which the Lord is present, is heaven; his will part is hell. So far as the Lord is present in this heaven, so far is this hell removed. For of himself man is in hell, and of the Lord is in heaven. And man is being continually uplifted from hell into heaven, and so far as he is uplifted, so far his hell is removed. The "sign" therefore, or indication, that the Lord is present, is that man's will part is being removed. The possibility of its removal is effected by means of temptations, and by many other means of regeneration.

1045. What has now been presented regards the regenerated spiritual man, or the spiritual church. What is to follow regards all men in general; and afterwards, specifically, the man who can be regenerated.

1046. Verses 14, 15. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living soul of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. "And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth", signifies when on account of the Own of man's will part the faith of charity does not appear; "that the bow shall be seen in the cloud", signifies when man is still such that he can be regenerated; "and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you", signifies the mercy of the Lord specifically toward the regenerate and those who can be regenerated; "and every living soul of all flesh", signifies the whole human race; "and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh", signifies that man's intellectual part should no more be able to put on such a persuasion for its destruction as did the posterity of the Most Ancient Church. These things regard all men in general.

1047. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth. That this signifies when on account of the Own of man's will part the faith of charity does not appear, is evident from what has been said just above about the earth or the Own of man's will part-namely, that it is of such a nature that it continually pours into the intellectual part of man what is obscure, or false, which is a clouding over" and is the source of all falsity. This is sufficiently evident from the fact that the loves of self and of the world-which are of man's will-are nothing but hatred. For in so far as any one loves himself, so far he hates the neighbor. And because these loves are so contrary to heavenly love, such things must needs continually flow in from them as are contrary to mutual love, and in the intellectual part all these are falsities. Thence comes all its darkness and obscurity. Falsity beclouds truth, just as a dark cloud does the light of the sun. And because falsity and truth cannot be together, just as darkness and light cannot, it plainly follows that the one departs as the other comes. And since this happens with alternation, it is therefore said here, "When I bring a cloud over the earth", that is, when through the Own of the will part, the faith of charity, or truth with its derivative good, does not appear, and still less good with its derivative truth.

1048. That the bow shall be seen in the cloud. That this signifies when man is still such that he can be regenerated, is evident from the signification of the "bow in the cloud", which is a sign or indication of regeneration, as said above. With regard to the bow in the cloud, the case further is this. The quality of a man, or of a soul after the death of the body, is known at once; by the Lord it is known from eternity, and what it will be to eternity. By the angels his quality is perceived the moment he comes near. There is a certain sphere which exhales-so to speak-from his nature, or from everything in him; and this sphere, wonderful to say, is such that from it is perceived in what faith and in what charity the man is. It is this sphere that becomes visible as a bow when it so pleases the Lord. (Concerning this sphere, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.) Hence it is evident what is here signified by the bow when seen in the cloud, namely, when man is such that he can be regenerated.

1049. And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you. That this signifies the mercy of the Lord, specifically toward the regenerate and those who can be regenerated, also follows, for, with the Lord, to "remember" is to have mercy. Remembering cannot be predicated of the Lord, because from eternity He knows all things both in general and in particular; but to have mercy is what is predicated of Him, because He knows that such is man's character-that is to say, as before said-that man's Own is infernal, and that it is his very hell. For by the Own of his will, man communicates with hell, and from hell and from itself this Own desires nothing so much and so strongly as to cast itself down into hell; nor is it content with this, but desires to cast down all in the universe. Since man of himself is such a devil, and the Lord knows this, it follows that His "remembering the covenant" means nothing else than having mercy on man, and by Divine means regenerating him, and drawing him to heaven by a mighty force, so far as the man is such as to render this possible.

1050. And every living soul of all flesh. That this signifies the whole human race, is evident from the signification of "living soul of all flesh". Every man is called a living soul from what is living in him. No man can ever live, still less as a man, if he has not something living in him, that is, if he has not something of innocence, of charity, and of mercy, or something from it like or emulating it. This something of innocence, charity, and mercy man receives from the Lord during infancy and childhood, as is evident from the state of infants and also from that of childhood. What the man then receives is preserved in him, and the things that are preserved are called in the Word "remains", and are of the Lord alone in the man. What is thus preserved is what causes the man, when he comes to adult age, to be capable of being a man. (Concerning remains see what is said above, (n. 468, 530, 560-563, 576).

[2] That the states of innocence, charity, and mercy which a man has had in infancy and during the years of childhood, cause him to be capable of being a man, is plainly evident from this, that man is not born into any exercise of life, as brute animals are, but has everything to learn, and what he learns becomes by exercise habitual, and thus as it were natural to him. He cannot even walk or speak until he learns, and so with everything else. By use these things become as it were natural to him. And such is the case also with the states of innocence, charity, and mercy with which he is in like manner imbued from infancy, and without which states he would be much viler than a brute. Yet these are states which man does not learn, but receives as a gift from the Lord, and which the Lord preserves in him. Together with the truths of faith, they are also what are called "remains", and are of the Lord alone. In so far as a man in adult age extinguishes these states, he becomes dead. When a man is being regenerated, these states are the beginnings of regeneration, and he is led into them; for the Lord works through the remains, as already stated.

[3] These remains with every man are what are here called the "living soul of all flesh". That "all flesh" signifies every man, and thus the whole human race, is evident from the signification of "flesh" everywhere in the Word. See what was shown in (n. 574). As in Matthew: -

Except those days should be shortened, no flesh would be saved (Matthew 24:22; Mark 13:20).

In John: -

Jesus said, Father glorify Thy Son, as Thou hast given Him power over all flesh (John 17:2).

In Isaiah: -

And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together (Isaiah 40:5).

And again: -

And all flesh shall know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour (Isaiah 49:26).

1051. And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. That this signifies that man's intellectual part should no more be able to put on such a persuasion for its destruction as did the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church, is evident from what has been frequently said and shown before in regard to the waters of the flood, and also in regard to those before the flood who perished; namely, that with them not only the will part was destroyed and made infernal, but also the intellectual part; so that they could not be regenerated, that is, have a new will formed in their intellectual part.

1052. Verse 16. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will see it, that I may remember the eternal covenant between God and every living soul of all flesh that is upon the earth. "And the bow shall be in the cloud", signifies man's state; "and I will see it", signifies that it is such that he can be regenerated; "that I may remember the eternal covenant", signifies that the Lord can be present with him in charity; "between God and every living soul of all flesh that is upon the earth", signifies with every man with whom this is possible. These things specifically regard the man who can be regenerated.

1053. And the bow shall be in the cloud. That this signifies man's state, is evident from what has been said and shod above concerning the bow in the cloud, namely, that a man or a soul in the other life is known among angels from his sphere, and that this sphere, whenever it pleases the Lord, is represented by colors, like those of the rainbow, in variety according to the state of each person relatively to faith in the Lord, thus relatively to the goods and truths of faith. In the other life colors are presented to view which from their brightness and resplendence immeasurably surpass the beauty of the colors seen on earth; and each color represents something celestial and spiritual. These colors are from the light of heaven, and from the variegation of spiritual light, as said above. For angels live in light so great that the light of the world is nothing in comparison. The light of heaven in which angels live, in comparison with the light of the world, is as the noonday light of the sun in comparison with candlelight, which is extinguished and becomes a nullity on the rising of the sun. In heaven there are both celestial light and spiritual light. Celestial light-to speak comparatively-is like the light of the sun, and spiritual light is like the light of the moon, but with every difference according to the state of the angel who receives the light. It is the same with the colors, because they are from the light. The Lord Himself is to the heaven of the celestial angels a Sun, and to the heaven of the spiritual angels, a Moon. These things will not be credited by those who have no conception of the life which souls live after death, and yet they are most true.

1054. And I will see it. That this signifies that he is such that he can be regenerated, is evident from the fact that to "see" any one, when predicated of the Lord, means to know his quality. For the Lord knows all from eternity, and has no need to see what any one is. When any one is such that he can be regenerated, then it is said of the Lord that He " sees" him, as also that He "lifts up His countenance" upon him. But when he cannot be regenerated, it is not said that the Lord sees him, or lifts up His countenance upon him, but that He "turns away His eyes", or " His face", from him, although it is not the Lord who turns them away, but the man. Hence in (verse 14), where the whole human race was treated of, in which there are many who cannot be regenerated, it is not said, when "I" see the bow in the cloud, but when the bow "shall be seen" in the cloud. As regards the Lord, the case is the same with "seeing" as it is with "remembering", which in the internal sense signifies to have mercy. (Concerning this see above, (n. 840, 1049, 626.)

1055. That I may remember the eternal covenant. That this signifies that the Lord can be present with him in charity, is evident from what has been said and shown about the signification of a "covenant", namely, that there is no other "eternal covenant" than love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor. This is eternal, because from eternity to eternity. The universal heaven is founded in love, and so is universal nature; for in nature nothing whatever is possible-in which there is any union and conjunction, whether it be animate or inanimate-that does not derive its origin from love. For every natural thing comes into existence from something spiritual, and the spiritual from the celestial, as said above. Hence love, or a semblance of love, has been implanted in all things in general and in particular; with man alone there is not love, but the contrary, because man has destroyed in himself the order of nature. When however he can be regenerated, or restored again to order, and can receive mutual love, then there is "the covenant", or conjunction by charity, that is here treated of.

1056. Between God and every living soul of all flesh that is upon the earth. That this signifies with every man with whom this is possible, is evident from what has been said, namely, that the subject here treated of is those who can be regenerated. No others, therefore, are signified by "every living soul of all flesh".

1057. Verse 17. And God said unto Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth. "And God said unto Noah", signifies that the church should know this; "this is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth", signifies that the indication of the presence of the Lord in charity was not only with the man of the church, but also with the man who is outside the church.

1058. And God said unto Noah. That this signifies that the church should know this, is evident from the series of things treated of, which does not appear except from the internal sense, in which these things are thus connected: first, the regenerated spiritual man within the church is treated of; second, every man, universally; third, every man who can be regenerated; and this is the conclusion, namely, that the church should know this. That "Noah" is the church was shown before, and here indeed he is the spiritual church in general, because Noah alone is named. What the church should know, now follows.

1059. his is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth. That this signifies that the indication of the Lord's presence in charity was not only with the man of the church, but also with the man outside the church, is evident from the signification of "all flesh", as being every man, and consequently the whole human race. That the whole human race is meant, both within the church and without the church, is evident not only from its being said "all flesh", but also from its not being said as before, "every living soul of all flesh;" and this is made still plainer from its being added, " that is upon the earth". That with those who are outside the church, and are called Gentiles, the Lord is equally present in charity as with those who are within the church, you may see stated above (n. 932, 1032). He is even more present, for there is not so great a cloud in their intellectual part as there is in general with those who are called Christians. For the Gentiles are ignorant of the Word, nor do they know what the Lord is, consequently not what the truth of faith is; and therefore they cannot be against the Lord and against the truth of faith. Hence their "cloud" is not against the Lord and the truth of faith; and such a cloud may be easily dispersed when they are enlightened. But the cloud of Christians is against the Lord and against the truths of faith, and this cloud is so dense as to be darkness. And when there is hatred in place of charity, then it is thick darkness. Still darker is it with those who profane the truths of faith, which the Gentiles cannot do because they live in ignorance of the truth of faith. No one can profane that of which he does not know the nature or the existence. This is why more of the Gentiles are saved than of Christians, accordance with what the Lord also said in (Luke 13:23, 28-30), besides that their children all belong to the Lord's kingdom (Matt. 18:10, 14; 19:14; Luke 18:16).

1060. Verse 18. And the sons of Noah, that went forth from the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth; and Ham is the father of Canaan. "The sons of Noah, that went forth from the ark", signify those who constituted the Ancient Church; "that went forth from the ark", signifies those who are regenerate; " Shem", signifies the internal church; "Ham", signifies the church corrupted; "Japheth", signifies the external church; "and Ham is the father of Canaan", signifies that from the corrupted church sprang worship in externals without internals, which worship is signified by "Canaan".

1061. And the sons of Noah, that went forth from the ark. That these signify those who constituted the Ancient Church, and that they "that went forth from the ark" are those who are regenerate, is evident from all that follows; from which it will be plain how the case is.

1062. That "Shem" signifies the internal church, "Ham" the church corrupted, and "Japheth" the external church, is also evident from what follows, where their quality is described. As in every church, so in the Ancient there were men who were internal, men who were internal and corrupted, and men who were external. Those who are internal are those who make charity the principal of their faith; those who are internal and corrupted make faith without charity the principal of their faith; and those who are external think little about the internal man, but still perform works of charity and sacredly observe the rites of the church. Besides these three kinds of men there are no others who are to be called men of the spiritual church; and because they were all men of the church, they are said to have "gone forth from the ark". Those in the Ancient Church who were internal men, that is, who made charity the principal of their faith, were called " Shem;" those who were internal and corrupted, who made faith without charity the principal, were called "Ham;" while those who were external and thought little about the internal man, but still performed works of charity and sacredly observed the rites of the church, were called "Japheth". The nature of each will be seen from the particulars in what follows.

1063. And Ham is the father of Canaan. That this signifies that from the corrupted church sprang worship in externals without internals, which worship is signified by "Canaan", is likewise evident from what follows for what is contained in this verse is premised to what is in the following verses. That "Ham" signifies the corrupted church, that is, those who make faith separate from charity the principal of their faith, is evident in David: -

He smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the beginning of strength, in the tents of Ham (Ps. 78:51).

By "the firstborn in Egypt" was represented faith without charity. That faith is called the firstborn of the church may be seen above (n. 352, 367); and that faith is thence called the "beginning of strength", as here in David, may be seen in (Genesis 49:3), in what is said of Reuben, who represented faith because he was the firstborn of Jacob, and is called the "beginning of strength". The "tents of Ham" are the worship therefrom. That "tents" signify worship may be seen above (n. 414). Egypt is hence called the "land of Ham" (Ps. 105:23, 27; 106:22). Such men, who in the Ancient Church were called "Ham", because they lived a life of all cupidities, merely prating that they could be saved by faith howsoever they lived, appeared to the ancient people black from the heat of cupidities, and from this were called "Ham". Ham is said to be the "father of Canaan" for the reason that such men care nothing how a man lives, provided he frequents sacred rites - for they do still desire some worship. But external worship is the only worship for them; internal worship, which belongs solely to charity, they reject. Hence Ham is said to be "the father of Canaan".

1064. Verse 19. These three were the son's of Noah; and from these was the whole earth overspread. " These three were the sons of Noah", signify these three kinds of doctrines, which are those of churches in general; "and from these was the whole earth overspread", signifies that from them have been derived all doctrines, both true and false.

1065. These three were the sons of Noah. That these signify these three kinds of doctrines, which are those of churches in general, has been shown just above. There are indeed innumerable less universal kinds of doctrines, but there are not more kinds that are universal. Those who do not acknowledge charity and faith, nor external worship, are not of any church. They are not treated of here, because it is the church that is treated of.

1066. And from these was the whole earth overspread. That this signifies that from them were derived all doctrines, both true and false, is evident from the signification of "earth". "Earth", or "land", in the Word, is used with various meanings. In the universal sense it denotes the place or region where the church is, or where it has been, as the land of Canaan, the land of Judah, the land of Israel. Thus it denotes universally every one that belongs to the church, since the land is predicated of the man who is in it, as we know in common speech. In ancient times therefore when men spoke of the "whole earth", they did not mean the whole globe, but only the land where the church was, and thus the church itself; as is evident from the following passages in the Word. In Isaiah: -

Behold, Jehovah maketh the earth empty the earth shall be utterly emptied the earth shall mourn and be confounded the earth also shall be polluted under the inhabitants thereof therefore shall the curse devour the earth; therefore the inhabitants of the earth shall be burned, and man shall be left feeble. The cataracts from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth do shake the earth is utterly broken; the earth is clean dissolved; the earth is moved exceedingly the earth reeling shall reel like a drunken man, and shall be moved to and fro like a hut, and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again (Isaiah 24:1, 3-6, 18-20).

The "earth" here denotes the people who are in it, and in fact the people of the church, thus the church itself, and the vastated things of the church, of which when vastated it is said that they are "emptied", "moved exceedingly", "reel like a drunken man", "move to and fro", and "fall, not to rise again".

[2] That by "earth" or "land" is signified man, consequently the church, which is of man, may be seen in Malachi: -

All nations shall call you happy; for ye shall be a delightsome land (Malachi 3:12).

That "earth" denotes the church is seen in Isaiah: -

Have ye not understood the foundations of the earth? (Isaiah 40:21),

where the "foundations of the earth" denote the foundations of the church. Again: -

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; Rev. 21:1).

"New heavens and a new earth" denote the kingdom of the Lord and the church. In Zechariah: -

Jehovah, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him (Zechariah 12:1),

meaning the church. Also, as before, in Genesis: -

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

And the heavens and the earth were finished (Genesis 2:1)

These are the nativities of the heavens and of the earth (Genesis 2:4),

everywhere denoting the church created, formed, and made. In Joel: -

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon were darkened (Joel 2:10),

meaning the church and the things of the church; when these are vastated, "heaven and earth" are said to quake, and the "sun and moon" to grow dark, that is, love and faith.

[3] In Jeremiah: -

I beheld the earth, and lo a void and emptiness and the heavens, and they had no light (Jeremiah 4:23).

Here the "earth" plainly denotes the man in whom there is not anything of the church. Again: -

The whole earth shall be desolate yet will I not make a full consummation for this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black (Jeremiah 4:27, 28).

Here also the church is meant, whose exteriors are the "earth", and the interiors the " heavens", of which it is said that they shall be black, with no light in them, when there is no longer wisdom of good and intelligence of truth. Then the earth also is empty and void; and in like manner the man of the church who should be a church. That by the "whole earth" is meant in other places also only the church, may be seen in Daniel: -

The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces (Daniel 7:23);

the "whole earth" denotes the church and what is of the church; for the Word does not treat, like profane writings, of monarchial sovereignties, but of the holy things and states of the church, which are here signified by the "kingdoms of the earth".

[4] In Jeremiah: -

A great tempest shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth; and the slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth (Jeremiah 25:32, 33);

here "from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth", means the church and everything that is of the church. In Isaiah: -

The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; they break forth into singing (Isaiah 14:7),

where the "whole earth" denotes the church. In Ezekiel: -

When the whole earth rejoiceth (Ezekiel 35:14),

where also the "whole earth" denotes the church. In Isaiah: -

I have sworn that the water of Noah should no more go over the earth (Isaiah 54:9),

where the "earth" denotes the church, because the church is there treated of.

[5] Because "land" or "earth" in the Word signifies the church, it signifies also what is not the church, for every such word has contrary or opposite meanings; as for example the various lands of the Gentiles; in general all lands outside the land of Canaan. "Land" is therefore taken also for the people and for the man outside the church, and hence for the external man, for his will, his Own, and so forth. The term is rarely used in the Word for the whole world, except when the whole human race is meant as regards their state, whether of the church or not of the church. And because the earth is the containant of the ground, which also signifies the church, and the ground is the containant of the field, the word "earth" signifies, because it involves, many things; and what it signifies is evident from the subject treated of, which is that of which the term is predicated. From all this it is evident that by the "whole earth" that was overspread by the sons of Noah, is not signified the whole world, or the whole human race, but all the doctrines both true and false that were of the churches.

1067. Verse 20. And Noah began to be a man of the ground, and he planted a vineyard. "And Noah began to be a man of the ground", signifies, in general, man instructed from the doctrinal things of faith; "and he planted a vineyard", signifies a church therefrom; a "vineyard", is the spiritual church.

1068. And Noah began to be a man of the ground. That this signifies in general man instructed from the doctrinal things of faith, is evident from the signification of "ground", concerning which above, (n. 268, 566), namely, the man of the church, or what is the same, the church; for that there may be a church, the man must be a church. The church is called "ground" because it receives the seeds of faith, or the truths and goods of faith. "Ground" is distinguished from "earth" - which, as shown, also signifies the church - as faith is distinguished from charity. Just as charity is the containant of faith, so is "earth" the containant of "ground". When therefore the church is treated of in general, it is called "earth;" and when specifically, it is called "ground", as in this verse; for the general is the complex of the things derived from it. The doctrinals possessed by the man of the Ancient Church were, as before said, from the revelations and perceptions of the cost Ancient Church, which had been preserved; and in these they had faith as at this day we have in the Word. These doctrinal things were their Word. Noah's beginning to be "a man of the ground", signifies therefore man instructed in the doctrinals of faith.

1069. And he planted a vineyard. That this signifies a church therefrom, and that a "vineyard" is the spiritual church, is evident from the signification of a "vineyard". In the Word churches are frequently described as "gardens", and also as the "trees of a garden", and are even so named. This is from their fruits, which signify the things belonging to love and charity; and therefore it is said that a man is "known by his fruit". The comparing of churches to "gardens", "trees", and "fruits", originates from representations in heaven, where gardens of inexpressible beauty are sometimes presented to view, in accordance with the spheres of the faith. From the same origin the celestial church was described by the Paradisal Garden, in which were trees of every kind; and by the "trees" of that garden were signified the perceptions of that church, and by the "fruits" the goods of love of every kind. But the Ancient Church, being spiritual, is described by a "vineyard", from its fruits, which are grapes, and which represent and signify the works of charity.

[2] This is clearly evident from many passages of the Word, as in Isaiah: -

I will sing for My beloved a song of My beloved touching his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard in a horn of the son of oil; and he made a hedge about it, and fenced it with stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a wine-press therein and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes; and now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt Me and My vineyard: the vineyard of Jehovah of armies is the house of Israel (Isaiah 5:1-3, 7).

Here the "vineyard" signifies the Ancient Church, thus the spiritual church, and it is plainly said to be the house of Israel; for by "Israel" in the Word is signified the spiritual church, and by "Judah" the celestial church. In Jeremiah: -

Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: again shalt thou deck thy timbrels, and shalt go forth in the dance of them that make merry again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria (Jeremiah 31:4, 5),

where "vineyards" denote the spiritual church; and the subject is Israel, by whom is signified the spiritual church, as just said.

[3] In Ezekiel: -

then I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples, they shall dwell upon the land in confidence, and they shall build houses, and plant vineyards (Ezekiel 28:25, 26).

Here a "vineyard" is the spiritual church, or "Israel;" and "to plant vineyards" is to be instructed in the truths and goods of faith. In Amos: -

I have smitten you with blasting and mildew the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-yards hath the palmer-worm devoured thus will I do unto thee, O Israel (Amos 4:9, 12).

"Gardens" here denote the things of the church, "vineyards" the spiritual things of the church, "fig-trees" the natural things, "olive-yards: the celestial things; thus "vineyards" denote the things of the spiritual church, or Israel. Again: -

I will bring again the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof, they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them (Amos 9:14).

"Planting vineyards" denotes the planting of the spiritual church; thus a "vineyard" means the spiritual church, or Israel.

[4] As a "vineyard" signifies the spiritual church, so also does a "vine;" for a vine is a part of a vineyard; so that they are as the church and a man of the church, and the signification is the same. In Jeremiah: -

Is Israel a servant? if he was born of the house, why is he become a prey? I had planted thee a wholly noble vine, a seed of truth; how then art thou turned into the averted branches of a strange vine unto Me? (Jeremiah 2:14, 21),

where a "vine" denotes the spiritual church, or "Israel". In Ezekiel: -

Take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel; thy mother was like a vine, in thy likeness, planted by the waters, fruitful and full of leaves by reason of many waters (Ezekiel 19:1, 10).

A "vine" here denotes the Ancient Spiritual Church, which is the "mother;" thus "Israel", which is therefore said to be "in thy likeness". In Hosea: -

Israel is an empty vine, which putteth forth fruit like himself (Hosea 10:1).

A "vine" denotes the spiritual church, or "Israel", here desolated. Again: -

O Israel, return unto Jehovah thy God; I will be as the dew unto Israel they that dwell in his shadow shall return they shall revive the corn, and blossom as the vine; his memory shall be as the wine of Lebanon (Hosea 14:1, 5, 7),

where the "vine" denotes the spiritual church, or "Israel". In Moses: -

Until Shiloh come binding His young ass to the vine, and His ass's colt unto the choice vine (Genesis 49:10, 11).

This is a prophecy of the Lord; the "vine" and the "choice vine, denote spiritual churches.

[5] The Lord's parables of the laborers in the vineyards in like manner signified spiritual churches (Matt. 20:1-16; 21:33-44; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-16). Since the" vine" signifies the spiritual church, and the primary thing of the spiritual church is charity, in which the Lord is present, and by means of which He conjoins Himself with man, and Himself alone works every good, therefore the Lord compares Himself to a vine, and describes the man of the church, or the spiritual church, in these words, in John: -

I am the true vine and My Father is the husbandman every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit, He will prune it, that it may bear more fruit; abide in Me, and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, except ye abide in Me I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing; this is My commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you (John 15:1-5, 12)

from these words it is evident what the spiritual church is.

1070. Verse 21. And he drank of the wine and was drunken; and he was uncovered in the midst of his tent. "And he drank of the wine", signifies that he desired to investigate the things which are of faith; "and was drunken", signifies that he thereby fell into errors; "and he was uncovered in the midst of his tent", signifies the consequent perverted things; the "midst of a tent", is the principal of faith.

1071. And he drank of the wine. That this signifies that he desired to investigate the things which are of faith, is evident from the signification of "wine". The "vineyard", or the "vine", as has been shown, is the spiritual church, or the man of the spiritual church; the "grape", "bunches", and clusters" are its fruit, and signify charity and what is of charity. But "wine" signifies the faith thence derived, and all things that belong to it. Thus the "grape" is the celestial of that church, and the "wine" is the spiritual of that church. The former, or the celestial, is of the will, as has been said before the latter, or the spiritual, is of the understanding. That his "drinking of the wine" signifies that he desired to investigate the things of faith, and this by reasonings, is evident from his becoming drunken, that is, fallen into errors. For the man of this church had no perception, as had the man of the Most Ancient Church, but had to learn what was good and true from the doctrinal things of faith collected and preserved from the perception the Most Ancient Church, which doctrinal things were the Word of the Ancient Church. Like the Word, the doctrinal things of faith were in many cases such as without perception could not be believed; for spiritual and celestial things infinitely transcend human apprehension, and hence arises reasoning. But he who will not believe them until he apprehends them, can never believe, as has been often shown before. (n. 128-130, 195, 196, 215, 232, 233).

[2] That "grapes" in the Word signify charity and what is of charity, and that "wine" signifies the faith thence derived and the things that belong to it, is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah:

My beloved had a vineyard in a horn of the son of oil, and he that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes (Isaiah 5:1, 2, 4),

where grapes" denote charity and its fruits. In Jeremiah: -

Gathering I will gather them, saith Jehovah there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree (Jeremiah 7:13),

where the "vine" denotes the spiritual church; "grapes" charity. In Hosea: -

I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first-ripe in the fig-tree, at the beginning (Hosea 9:10).

"Israel" denotes the Ancient Church,; "grapes", its being endued with charity. The sense is opposite when "Israel" denotes the sons of Jacob. In Micah: -

There is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first-ripe fig. The holy man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men (Micah 7:1).

"Cluster" denotes charity, or what is holy; "first-ripe fig" faith, or what is right.

[3] In Isaiah: -

Thus saith Jehovah, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it (Isaiah 65:8)

where "cluster" denotes charity, and "new wine" the goods of charity and the truths thence derived. In Moses: -

He washed His garment in wine, and His vesture in the blood of grapes (Gen. 49:11);

a prophecy relating to the Lord. "Wine" denotes the spiritual from the celestial, the "blood of grapes" the celestial relatively to spiritual churches. Thus "grapes" denote charity itself, "wine" faith itself. In John: -

The angel said, Put forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe (Rev. 14:18).

Here the subject is the last times when there is no faith, that is, when there is no charity; for faith is no other than of charity, and essentially is charity itself; so that when it is said that there is no longer any faith, as in the last times, it is meant that there is no charity.

[4] As "grapes" signify charity, so "wine" signifies the faith thence derived, for wine is from grapes. This will be evident from the passages already cited about the vineyard and the vine, and also from the following. In Isaiah: -

Gladness is taken away, and exultation, from Carmel; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither joyful noise; no treader shall tread out wide in the presses; I have made the vintage shout to cease (Isaiah 16:10),

meaning that the spiritual church, which is "Carmel", is vastated; "not treading out wine in the presses", means that there are no longer any who are in faith. Again: -

The inhabitants of the earth are burned, and man shall be left feeble the new wine shall mourn, the vine shall languish; they shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it; there is a crying in the streets because of the wine (Isaiah 24:6, 7, 9, 11).

The subject here is the vastated church, and "wine" denotes the truths of faith, there held to be of no value. In Jeremiah: -

They will say to their mothers, where is the corn and the wine? when they faint as one wounded in the streets of the city (Lam. 2:12).

"Where is the corn and the wine", signifies where is love and faith; the "streets of the city", signify here, as elsewhere in the Word, truths; "being wounded in them", signifies not to know what the truths of faith are.

[5] In Amos: -

I will bring again the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof (Amos 9:14).

This is said of the spiritual church, or "Israel", of which planting vineyards and drinking the wine thereof is predicated, when it becomes such as to have faith from charity. In Zephaniah: -

They shall build houses, but shall not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but shall not drink the wine thereof (Zephaniah 1:13; Amos 5:11).

Here is described the opposite condition, when the spiritual church is vastated. In Zechariah: -

They shall be as the mighty Ephraim, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine yea, their sons shall see it and be glad (Zechariah 10:7);

said of the house of Judah, that it should be such from the goods and truths of faith. In John: -

That they were not to hurt the oil and the wine (Rev. 6:6),

meant that no injury is to be done to the celestial and the spiritual, or to what is of love and faith.

[6] As "wine" signified faith in the Lord, in the Jewish Church faith was represented in the sacrifices by a libation of wine (Num. 15:2-15; 28:11-15, 18-31; 29:7-39; Lev. 23:12, 13; Exod. 29:40). Wherefore it is said in Hosea: -

The threshing-floor and the wine-press shall not feed them, and the new wine shall deceive therein they shall not dwell in the land of Jehovah; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat what is unclean in Assyria they shall not pour out wine to Jehovah, neither shall (their libations) he pleasing to Him (Hosea 9:2-4).

Here the subject is Israel, or the spiritual church, and those in it who pervert and defile the holy and true things of faith by desiring to investigate them by means of knowledges and reasonings. "Egypt" is memory-knowledge, "Assyria" reasoning, "Ephraim" one who reasons.

1072. And was drunken. That this signifies that he thereby fell into errors, is evident from the signification of a "drunkard" in the Word. They are called "drunkards" who believe nothing but what they apprehend, and for this reason search into the mysteries of faith. And because this is done by means of sensuous things, either of memory or of philosophy, man being what he is, cannot but fall thereby into errors. For man's thought is merely earthly, corporeal, and material, because it is from earthly, corporeal, and material things, which cling constantly to it, and in which the ideas of his thought are based and terminated. To think and reason therefore from these concerning Divine things, is to bring one's self into errors and perversions; and it is as impossible to procure faith in this way as for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. The error and insanity from this source are called in the Word "drunkenness". Indeed the souls or spirits who in the other life reason about the truths of faith and against them, become like drunken men and act like them; concerning whom, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

[2] Spirits are perfectly well distinguished from each other, as to whether they are in the faith of charity or not. Those who are in the faith of charity do not reason about the truths of faith, but say that the thing is so, and also as far as possible confirm it by things of sense and of memory, and by the analysis of reason; but as soon as anything obscure comes in their way the truth of which they do not perceive, they defer it, and never suffer such a thing to bring them into doubt, saying that there are but very few things they can apprehend, and therefore to think that anything is not true because they do not apprehend it, would be madness. These are they who are in charity. But - on the contrary - those who are not in the faith of charity desire merely to reason whether a thing be so, and to know how it is, saying that unless they can know how it is, they cannot believe it to be so. From this alone they are known at once as being in no faith, a mark of which is that they not only doubt concerning all things, but also deny in their hearts; and when they are instructed how the case is, they still cling to their disbelief and start all kinds of objections, and never acquiesce, were it to eternity. Those who thus persist in their contumacy heap errors upon errors.

[3] These, or such as these, are they who are called in the Word "drunken with wine or strong drink". As in Isaiah: -

These err through wine, and through strong drink are gone astray; the priest and the prophet err through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are gone astray through strong drink; they err in vision; all tables are full of vomit and filthiness. Whom will He teach knowledge? and whom will He make to understand the report? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts (Isaiah 28:7-9).

That such are meant here is evident. Again: -

How say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? where then are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now; Jehovah hath mingled a spirit of perversities in the midst of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work thereof, as a drunken man goeth astray in his vomit (Isaiah 19:11, 12, 14).

A "drunken man" here denotes those who desire, from memory-knowledges (scientifica), to investigate spiritual and celestial things. "Egypt" signifies these knowledges, and therefore calls itself the "son of the wise". In Jeremiah: -

Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more (Jeremiah 25:27),

meaning falsities.

[4] In David: -

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and all their wisdom is swallowed up (Ps. 107:27).

In Isaiah: -

Come ye, I will take wine, and we will be drunken with strong drink; and there shall be to-morrow, as this day, great abundance (Isaiah 56:12),

said of what is contrary to the truths of faith. In Jeremiah: -

Every bottle shall be filled with wine all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness (Jeremiah 13:12, 13);

"wine" denotes faith; "drunkenness" errors. In Joel: -

Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth for a nation is come up upon My land; he hath laid My vine waste (Joel 1:5-7),

said of the church when vastated as to the truths of faith. In John: -

Babylon hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. They that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication (Rev. 14:8, 10; 16:19; 17:2; 18:3; 19:15).

The "wine of fornication" means adulterated truths of faith, of which "drunkenness" is predicated. So in Jeremiah: -

Babylon hath been a golden cup in the hand of Jehovah, that made all the earth drunken; the nations have drunk of her wine, therefore the nations are mad (Jeremiah 51:7).

[5] Because "drunkenness" signified insanities about the truths of faith, it also became representative and was forbidden to Aaron and his sons, thus: -

Drink no wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of meeting, that ye die not; that ye may put a difference between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean (Lev. 10:8, 9).

Those who believe nothing but what they apprehend by things of sense and memory (scientifica) are also called "heroes to drink". In Isaiah: -

Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent before their own faces woe unto them that are heroes to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink! (Isaiah 5:21, 22).

They are called "wise in their own eyes and intelligent before their own faces", because those who reason against the truths of faith think themselves wiser than others.

[6] But those who care nothing for the Word and the truths of faith, and thus are not willing to know anything about faith, denying its first principles, are called "drunken without wine". In Isaiah: -

They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink; for Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes (Isaiah 29:9, 10).

That such is their quality is evident from what goes before and what follows, in that Prophet. Such "drunken men" think themselves more wide awake than others, but they are in deep sleep. That the Ancient Church in the beginning was such as is described in this verse, especially those who were of the stock of the Most Ancient Church, is evident from what has been said before (n. 788).

1073. And he was uncovered in the midst of his tent. That this signifies things thereby perverted, is evident from the signification of "uncovered", that is, naked. For he is called "uncovered and naked from the drunkenness of wine", in whom there are no truths of faith, and still more so is he in whom they are perverted. The truths of faith themselves are compared to garments which cover the goods of charity, or charity itself; for charity is the body itself, and therefore truths are its garments; or what amounts to the same thing, charity is the soul itself and the truths of faith are as the body, which is the clothing of the soul. The truths of faith are also called in the Word "garments", and a "covering", and therefore it is said in (verse 23) that Shem and Japheth took a garment and covered the nakedness of their father. Spiritual things relatively to celestial are as a body that clothes the soul, or as garments that clothe the body; and in heaven they are represented by garments. In this verse, because it is said that he lay uncovered, it is signified that he stripped himself of the truths of faith by desiring to investigate them by means of the things of sense and by reasonings therefrom. The like is signified in the Word by lying naked from drunkenness with wine, as in Jeremiah: -

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked (Lam. 4:21).

And in Habakkuk: -

Woe unto him that maketh his companion drink, and also maketh him drunken, in order to look upon their nakednesses (Habakkuk 2:15).

1074. That "the midst of a tent" signifies the principal of faith, is evident from the signification of the "midst", and from that of a "tent". In the Word the "midst" signifies the inmost, and a "tent" charity, or worship from charity. Charity is the inmost, that is, is the principal of faith and of worship, and thus is "the midst of the tent". (That the "midst" signifies the inmost, has been shown before, and that a "tent" is the holy of love, that is, is charity, may be seen above, (n. 414).

1075. Verse 22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. "Ham" and "Canaan" have the same signification here as before; "Ham", the church corrupted; "Canaan", worship in externals without internal worship; "saw the nakedness of his father", signifies that he observed the errors and perversions mentioned above; "and told his two brethren without", signifies that he derided. They are called his "brethren" because he professed faith.

1076. That "Ham" signifies the church corrupted, is evident from what has been said before about Ham. A church is said to be corrupted when it acknowledges the Word and has a certain worship like that of a true church, but yet separates faith from charity, thus from its essential and from its life, whereby faith becomes a kind of dead affair; the result of which necessarily is that the church is corrupted. What the men of the church then become, is evident from the consideration that they can have no conscience; for conscience that is really conscience cannot possibly exist except from charity. Charity is what makes conscience, that is, the Lord through charity. What else is conscience than not to do evil to any one in anyway; that is, to do well to all in every way? Thus conscience belongs to charity, and never to faith separated from charity. If such persons have any conscience, it is a false conscience (concerning which see above); and because they are without conscience, they rush into all wickedness, so far as outward bonds are relaxed. They do not even know what charity is, except that it is a word significant of something. And as they are without charity, they do not know what faith is. When questioned, they can only answer that it is a kind of thinking; some, that it is confidence; others, that it is the knowledges of faith; a few, that it is life according to these knowledges, and scarcely any that it is a life of charity or of mutual love. And if this is said to them, and opportunity is given them for reflection, they answer only that all love begins from self, and that he is worse than a heathen who does not take care of himself and his own family. They therefore study nothing but themselves and the world. Hence it comes to pass that they live in their Own, the nature of which has been described before. These are they who are called "Ham".

1077. That they who are here called "Ham", and "Canaan", that is, those who separate faith from charity and hence make worship consist in externals alone, cannot know what and whence is conscience, needs to be briefly shown. Conscience is formed by means of the truths of faith, for that which a man has heard, acknowledged, and believed makes the conscience in him; and afterwards to act contrary to this is to him to act contrary to conscience, as may be sufficiently evident to every one; so that unless it is the truths of faith that a man hears, acknowledges, and believes, he cannot possibly have a true conscience. For it is through the truths of faith (the Lord working in charity) that man is regenerated, and therefore it is through the truths of faith that he receives conscience, conscience being the new man himself. From this it is evident that the truths of faith are the means by which this may take place, that is, that the man may live according to what faith teaches, the principal of which is to love the Lord above all things, and the neighbor as himself. If he does not so live, what is his faith but an empty affair, and a mere high-sounding word, or a thing that is separated from heavenly life, and in which when thus separated there is no possible salvation?

[2] For to believe that no matter how a man lives, he may yet be saved provided he has faith, is to say that he may be saved if he has no charity, and no conscience (that is, if he passes his life in hatred, revenge, robbery, adultery, in a word, in all things contrary to charity and conscience) provided only that he has faith, even if it be but at the hour of death. Let such persons consider, when they are in such a false principle, what truth of faith there is that can form their conscience, and whether it be not what is false. If they suppose that they have anything of conscience, it must be only outward bonds - such as fear of the law, of loss of honor, of gain, or of reputation for the sake of these - that make, with them, what they call conscience, and which lead them not to injure the neighbor, but to do him good. But as this is not conscience, because not charity, therefore when these restraints are loosened or taken away, such persons rush into most wicked and obscene things. Very different is the case with those who, although they have declared that faith alone saves, have still lived a life of charity; for in their faith there has been charity from the Lord.

1078. That the "father of Canaan" signifies worship in externals without internal worship, has been stated before. From faith separated from charity no other worship can come forth; for the internal man is charity, never faith without charity; so that he who is destitute of charity can have no other worship than external worship without internal. And because such worship comes forth from faith separated from charity, Ham is called "the father of Canaan", and in what follows Ham is not treated of, but Canaan.

1079. Saw the nakedness of his father. That this signifies that he observed the errors and perversions, is evident from the signification of "nakedness", concerning which see just above, and also before at (n. 213, 214), as being what is evil and perverted. Here, those who are in faith separated from charity are described by "Ham", in his "seeing the nakedness of his father", that is, his errors and perversions for they who are of this character see nothing else in a man; whereas - very differently - those who are in the faith of charity observe what is good, and if they see anything evil and false, they excuse it, and if they can, try to amend it in him, as is here said of Shem and Japheth. Where there is no charity, there there is the love of self, and therefore hatred against all who do not favor self. Consequently such persons see in the neighbor only what is evil, and if they see anything good, they either perceive it as nothing, or put a bad interpretation upon it. It is just the other way with those who are in charity. By this difference these two kinds of men are distinguished from one another, especially when they come into the other life; for then with those who are in no charity, the feeling of hatred shines forth from every single thing; they desire to examine every one, and even to judge him; nor do they desire anything more than to find out what is evil, constantly cherishing the disposition to condemn, punish, and torment. But they who are in charity scarcely see the evil of another, but observe all his goods and truths, and put a good interpretation on what is evil and false. Such are all the angels, which they have from the Lord, who bends all evil into good.

1080. And told his two brethren without. That this signifies that he derided, follows as a consequence from what has been said. For with those who are in no charity, there is continual contempt for others, or continual derision, and on every occasion a publishing of their errors. That they do not act openly, is solely owing to the restraining influence of external bonds, namely, fear of the law, of loss of life, of honor, of gain, and of reputation, on their account; and this is why they inwardly cherish such things, while outwardly they pretend friendship. In this way they acquire two spheres, which are plainly perceived in the other life: the one, interior, full of hatreds; the other, exterior, simulative of what is good. These spheres, being as they are utterly discordant, cannot but be in conflict with each other; and therefore when the exterior sphere is taken away from them, so that they cannot dissemble, they rush into all wickedness; and when it is not taken away, hatred lurks in every word they utter; and this is perceived. From this come their punishments and torments.

1081. That they are called his "brethren" because he professed faith, is evident from what has been shown above (n. 367), namely, that charity is the brother of faith.

1082. Verse 23. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon the shoulder, both of them, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their fathers nakedness. By "Shem", as before said, is signified the internal church; by "Japheth", the external church corresponding thereto; "took a garment", signifies that they interpreted for good; "and laid it upon the shoulder, both of them", signifies that they did this with all their might; "and went backward", signifies that they did not attend to the errors and perversions; "and covered the nakedness of their father", signifies that they thus excused them; "and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness", signifies that so it ought to be done, and that such things as errors and mistakes from reasonings should not be attended to.

1083. That by "Shem" is signified the internal church and by "Japheth" the external church corresponding thereto, has been stated before. Where there is a church, there must needs be what is internal and what is external for man, who is the church, is internal and external. Before he becomes a church, that is, before he has been regenerated, man is in externals and when he is being regenerated he is led from externals, nay, by means of externals, to internals; and afterwards, when he has been regenerated, all things of the internal man are terminated in the externals. The of necessity every church must be both internal and external, as was the Ancient Church, and as at this day is the Christian Church.

[2] The internals of the Ancient Church were all the things of charity and of the derivative faith - all humiliation, all adoration of the Lord from charity, all good affection toward the neighbor, and other such things. The externals of the Ancient Church were sacrifices, libations, and many other things, all of which by representation had reference to the Lord and regarded Him. Hence there were internals in the externals, and they made one church. The internals of the Christian Church are exactly like the internals of the Ancient Church, but other externals have succeeded in their place, namely, in place of sacrifices and the like, the sacraments (symbolica), from which in like manner the Lord is regarded; and thus, again, internals and externals make a one.

[3] The Ancient Church did not differ one whit from the Christian Church as to internals, but only as to externals. Worship of the Lord from charity can never differ, howsoever externals are varied. And since, as has been said, there cannot be a church unless there are both what is internal and what is external, the internal without an external would be something interminate, unless it were terminated in some external. For man for the most part is such that he does not know what the internal man is, and what belongs to the internal man; and therefore unless there were external worship, he would know nothing whatever of what is holy. When such men have charity and the derivative conscience, they have internal worship within themselves in the external worship; for in them the Lord works, in charity and in conscience, and causes all their worship to partake of what is internal. It is otherwise with those who have no charity and no derivative conscience. They may have worship in externals, but separated from internal worship, as they have faith separated from charity. Such worship is called "Canaan", and such faith is called "Ham". And because this worship comes forth from faith separated, Ham is called the "father of Canaan".

1084. Took a garment. That this signifies that they interpreted for good, is evident from what has been already said To "take a garment and cover the nakedness" of any one, can have no other signification, seeing that "being uncovered" and "nakedness" signify errors and perversions.

1085. And laid it upon the shoulder. That this signifies that they did this - that is, interpreted for good and excused - with all their might, is evident from the signification of "shoulder", as being all power. "Hand" in the Word signifies power, as shown before; "arm" signifies still greater power; and "shoulder" signifies all power, as is evident from the following passages in the Word in Ezekiel: -

Ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased sheep with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad (Ezekiel 34:21).

"With side and with shoulder", means with all the soul and all the might, and "pushing with their horns", means with all the strength.

[2] Again: -

That all the inhabitants of Egypt may know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel; in their taking hold of thee in the hand thou shalt be broken, and shalt rend for them every shoulder (Ezekiel 29:6, 7).

This is said of those who desire to explore spiritual truths by means of memory-knowledges (scientifica). The "staff of reed" denotes such power "taking in the hand" means trusting therein; "rending every shoulder" means being deprived of all power so as to know nothing.

[3] In Zephaniah: -

That they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve Him with one shoulder (Zephaniah 3:9)

meaning with one soul, thus with one might. In Zechariah: -

But they refused to hearken, and turned a stubborn shoulder (Zechariah 7:11)

meaning that they resisted with all their might. In Isaiah: -

They hire a goldsmith, who maketh gold and silver into a god they adore, yea, they bow down they bear it upon the shoulder, they carry it (Isaiah 46:6, 7);

meaning that they adore their idol with all their might, which is "bearing it on the shoulder".

[4] Again: -

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

This is said of the Lord, and of His power and might; and therefore it is said, "upon His shoulder". Again: -

The key of the house of David will I lay upon His shoulder; and He shall open, and none shall shut; and He shall shut and none shall open (Isaiah 22:22).

This likewise is said of the Lord, and "to lay upon His shoulder the key of the house of David", means His power and authority.

1086. And went backward. That this signifies that they did not attend to the errors and perversions, is evident from the signification of "going backward", as being to avert the eyes and not see; which is plain from what follows, where it is said that they did not see the nakedness of their father. "Not to see", in the internal sense is not to attend to.

1087. And covered the nakedness of their father. That this signifies that they excused them, is evident both from the connection, and from the signification of "nakedness", that is, perversions.

1088. And their faces were backward, and they saw not the nakedness of their father. That this signifies that so it ought to be done, and that such things as errors and mistakes from reasonings should not be attended to, is evident from the repetition; for nearly the same things are said here as just before, and therefore these words make at the same time a conclusion. For such was the character of this parent church, or of the man of this church, that he did not act in this way from malice, but from simplicity, as is evident from what presently follows, where it is said that "Noah awoke from his wine", that is, was better instructed. As regards the matter here treated of, we may say that those who are in no charity think nothing but evil of the neighbor, and say nothing but evil; if they say anything good, it is for their own sake, or for the sake of him whom they flatter under the appearance of friendship; whereas those who are in charity think nothing but good of their neighbor and speak only well of him, and this not for their own sake or the favor of another whom they flatter, but from the Lord thus working in charity. The former are like the evil spirits, the latter are like the angels, who are with a man. The evil spirits excite nothing but what is evil and false in the man, and condemn him; but the angels excite nothing but what is good and true, and excuse what is evil and false. From this it is evident that with those who are in no charity the evil spirits rule, through whom the man communicates with hell; and that with those who are in charity the angels rule, through whom he communicates with heaven.

1089. Verse 24. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. "And Noah awoke from his wine", signifies when he was better instructed; "and knew what his younger son had done unto him", signifies that external worship separate from internal is such that it derides.

1090. And Noah awoke from his wine. That this signifies when he was better instructed, is evident from the signification of "awaking" after drunkenness. When he was "drunken" (verse 21) it signified that he had fallen into errors, and therefore his "awaking" is nothing else than coming out of errors.

1091. What his younger son had done unto him. This signifies that external worship separate from internal is such that it derides. From the literal or historic sense it appears as if Ham were meant by his younger son, but from the following verse it is evident that Canaan is meant, for it is said, "Cursed be Canaan", and in the subsequent (verses 26 and 27), it is said that Canaan should be a servant. The reason nothing is said of Ham will be explained under the next verse. Here we shall merely mention why the order is such that Shem is named first, Ham second, Japheth third, and Canaan fourth. Charity is the first of the church, or Shem; faith is the second, or Ham; worship from charity is the third, or Japheth; worship in externals without faith and charity is the fourth, or Canaan. Charity is the brother of faith, and therefore so also is worship from charity; but worship in externals without charity is "a servant of servants".

1092. Verse 25. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren. "Cursed be Canaan", signifies that external worship separate from internal averts itself from the Lord; "a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren", signifies the vilest thing in the church.

1093. Cursed be Canaan. That this signifies that external worship separate from internal averts itself from the Lord, is evident from the signification of "Canaan" and from that of "being cursed". That "Canaan" is external worship separate from internal, is evident from what has been said before about Canaan, and also from his being said to be "cursed", and from what follows about his being a servant of servants; moreover one who is a servant to both Shem and Japheth cannot signify anything else than something that is separated from the church itself, such as is worship in externals alone. This is evident from the signification of being "cursed", as being to avert one's self, because the Lord never curses any one, nor is even angry; but it is man who curses himself by averting himself from the Lord. See what was stated and shown above, (n. 223, 245, 592). The Lord is as far from cursing any one and being angry with him as heaven is from earth. Who can believe that the Lord, who is omniscient and omnipotent, and by His wisdom rules the universe, and is thus infinitely above all infirmities, is angry with such wretched dust as men, who scarcely know anything of what they do, and can of themselves do nothing but evil? It is, therefore, never possible for the Lord to be angry, or be other than merciful.

[2] That arcana are here contained, may be seen merely from this, that Ham is not cursed, when yet it was he who saw the nakedness of his father and told it to his brethren, but his son Canaan, who was not his only son nor his firstborn, but the fourth in order, as is evident from (Genesis 10:6), where the sons of Ham are named Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. It was also of the Divine Law that a son should not bear the iniquity of his father, as is evident in Ezekiel: -

The soul that sinneth, it shall die the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son (Ezekiel 18:20; Deut. 24:16; 2 Kings 14:6).

The same appears also from the consideration that this iniquity seems so light (that is to say, Ham's seeing the nakedness of his father and telling it to his brethren), that a whole posterity could not be cursed for it. From all this it is evident that there are arcana contained here.

[3] That "Ham" is not now named, but "Canaan", is because "Ham" signifies faith separated from charity in the spiritual church; and this cannot be cursed, since in that church there is holiness in faith, because there is truth. Hence although there is no faith when there is no charity, still as man is regenerated by means of the knowledges of faith, this faith without charity may be joined to charity, and thus is in a certain sense a brother, or may become a brother; therefore not Ham but Canaan was cursed. Furthermore, the inhabitants of the land of Canaan were in great part of such a nature that they made all worship consist in externals, the Jews as well as the Gentiles. Such are the arcana here contained, and unless this were so, Canaan would never have been substituted in place of Ham. That external worship separated from internal averts itself and thus curses itself, is sufficiently evident from the consideration that those who are in external worship regard nothing but what is worldly, corporeal, and earthly; thus they look downward, and immerse their minds and their life in these things, of which we shall have more to say presently.

1094. A servant of servants shall he be to his brethren. That this signifies the vilest thing in the church, is evident from the nature of external worship when separated from internal. That, regarded in itself, external worship is nothing, unless there he internal worship to make it holy, must be evident to every one. For what is external adoration, without adoration of the heart, but a gesture? Or what is prayer of the lips, if the mind is not in it, but mere babbling? And what is any work, if there is no intention in it, but a thing of nought? So that in itself every external thing is an inanimate affair, and lives solely from what is internal.

[2] The nature of external worship when separated from what is internal, has been made evident to me from many things in the other life. The sorceresses there had in the world frequented churches and the sacraments equally with others; and so had the deceitful, in fact these had done so more than others; and so also had those who had been delighted with robbery, and the avaricious; and yet they are infernals, and bear the greatest hatred against the Lord and the neighbor. Their internal worship in external had been either that they might be seen by the world; or that they might gain worldly, earthly, and corporeal things which they desired; or that they might deceive under the appearance of sanctity; or from a certain acquired habit. That such persons are very prone to adore any god or any idol that favors them and their desires is very manifest, especially from the Jews, who in consequence of making their worship to consist in nothing but externals, so often lapsed into idolatry. The reason is that such worship is in itself merely idolatrous, for the external is what is worshiped by them.

[3] The Gentiles also in the land of Canaan, who worshiped Baal and other gods, had a nearly similar external worship; for they had not only temples and altars, but also sacrifices; so that their external worship differed but little from the worship of the Jews, except that they gave the names of Baal, Ashtaroth, and others, to their god; and the Jews gave to him the name Jehovah, as is the case also at this day, for they suppose that the mere naming of Jehovah will make them holy and elect; when yet this has tended rather to condemn them more than others; for in this way they have been able to profane what is holy, which the Gentiles cannot do. Such worship is what is called "Canaan", who is said to be a "servant of servants". That a "servant of servants" denotes the vilest thing in the church, may be seen in the following verse.

1095. Verse 26. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. "Blessed be Jehovah the God of Shem", signifies every good for those who worship the Lord from internals; "Shem", is the internal church; "and Canaan shall be his servant", signifies that such as make worship consist solely in externals are among those who may perform vile services to the men of the church.

1096. Blessed be Jehovah the God of Shem. That this signifies every good for those who worship the Lord from internals, is evident from the signification of "blessed". Blessing involves every good: celestial, spiritual, and natural; and all these are signified by "blessing", in the internal sense. In the external sense, by "blessing" is signified every worldly, corporeal, and earthly good; but these, if they be a blessing, must necessarily be so from internal blessing; for this alone is blessing, because it is eternal, and is conjoined with every felicity, and is the very being of blessings. For what really is, unless it is eternal? Every other being ceases to be. It was customary among the ancients to say, "Blessed be Jehovah;" by which they meant that from Him is every blessing, that is, every good; and the same was also a formula of thanksgiving because the Lord blesses, and has blessed; as in David (Ps. 28:6; 31:21; 41:13; 66:20; 68:19, 35; 72:18, 19; 89:52; 119:12; 124:6; 135:21; 144:1; and many other places).

[2] "Blessed be Jehovah" is said here because Shem, or the internal church, is the subject that is being treated of, which church is said to be internal, from charity. In charity the Lord is present, who is here called "Jehovah God". But He is not so called in the external church, for although the Lord is present in it, He is not present as He is in the man of the internal church. For the man of the external church still believes that he does the goods of charity from himself, and therefore when the subject treated of is the man of the external church, the Lord is called "God", as in the following verse concerning Japheth: "God shall enlarge Japheth". That every good is the portion of those who worship the Lord from internals, is evident also from the order of things; for the order is this: from the Lord is everything celestial, from the celestial is everything spiritual, from the spiritual is everything natural. This is the order of the coming forth of all things, and therefore it is the order of influx.

[3] The celestial is love to the Lord and toward the neighbor. Where there is no love, the connection is broken, and the Lord is not present, who flows in solely through the celestial, that is, through love. When there is no celestial, there cannot possibly be any spiritual, because everything spiritual is through the celestial from the Lord. The spiritual is faith, and therefore there is no faith except through charity, or love, from the Lord. It is similar with the natural. According to this same order do all goods flow in; from which it follows that those have every good who worship the Lord from internals, that is, from charity; whereas those who do not worship Him from charity have no good, save such as counterfeits what is good, but in itself is evil, such as the delight of hatreds and adulteries, which regarded in itself is nothing but an excrementitious delight, into which also it is turned in the other life.

1097. And Canaan shall be his servant. That this signifies that such as make worship consist solely in externals are among those who may perform vile services to the men of the church, is evident especially from the representatives in the Jewish Church. In the Jewish Church the internal church was represented by Judah and Israel; by Judah the celestial church, by Israel the spiritual church, and by Jacob the external church. But those who made worship consist solely in externals were represented by the Gentiles, whom they called strangers, and who were their servants, and performed menial services in the church. As in Isaiah: -

Strangers shall stand and feed your flock, and the sons of the stranger shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers; but ye shall be called the priests of Jehovah the ministers of our God shall ye be called; ye shall eat the wealth of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves (Isaiah 61:5, 6).

Here celestial men are called the "priests of Jehovah", spiritual men the "ministers of our God;" those who make worship consist solely in externals are called the "sons of the stranger", who should serve in their fields and vineyards.

[2] Again: -

The sons of the stranger shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee (Isaiah 60:10),

where in like manner their services are mentioned. In Joshua concerning the Gibeonites: -

Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall not be cut off from you a servant, both hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God; and Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, especially for the altar of Jehovah (Joshua 9:23, 27).

It may be seen elsewhere who were represented by the Gibeonites, because of the covenant made with them, in spite of which however they were among those who served in the church. Concerning strangers, a law was delivered, that if they would receive peace and open their gates, they should be tributary and serve (Deut. 22:2; 1 Kings 9:21, 22). Everything written in the Word concerning the Jewish Church was representative of the kingdom of the Lord. The kingdom of the Lord is such that every one in it, whosoever and whatsoever he may be, must perform some use. Nothing but use is regarded by the Lord in His kingdom. Even the infernals must perform some use, but the uses which they perform are most vile. Among those who in the other life perform vile uses are those who have had merely external worship, separated from internal.

[3] Moreover the representatives in the Jewish Church were of such a nature that there was no thought about the person that represented, but only about the thing represented thereby; as for instance in the case of the Jews, who were by no means celestial men, and yet represented them; and Israel again was by no means a spiritual man, yet represented him; and so it was with Jacob and the rest. The same was the case with the kings and priests, by whom was represented the royalty and holiness of the Lord. This is very evident from the use of inanimate things for representation, as Aaron's garments, the altar itself, the tables for bread, the lamps, the bread and wine, besides oxen, bullocks, goats, sheep, kids, lambs, pigeons, and turtledoves. And because the sons of Judah and Israel only represented the internal and external worship of the Lord's church, and yet more than others made all worship consist in externals, they above all others may be called "Canaan", according to his signification here.

1098. What is meant by "Shem", and what by "Japheth", that is, who is a man of the internal church, and who is a man of the external church; and hence what is meant by "Canaan", will be evident from the following considerations. The man of the internal church attributes to the Lord all the good that he does, and all the truth that he thinks; but the man of the external church does not know how to do this, and yet does what is good. The man of the internal church makes the worship of the Lord from charity, thus internal worship, essential, and external worship not so essential; but the man of the external church makes external worship essential, and does not know what internal worship is, although he has it. And therefore the man of the internal church believes that he is acting against his conscience if he does not worship the Lord from what is internal; while the man of the external church believes that he is acting against his conscience if he does not sacredly observe external rites. There are many things in the conscience of the man of the internal church, because he knows many things from the internal sense of the Word; but there are fewer things in the conscience of the man of the external church, because he knows few things from the internal sense of the Word. The former, that is, the man of the internal church, is he who is called "Shem;" and the latter, that is, the man of the external church, is he who is called "Japheth". But he who makes worship consist only in externals, and has no charity, consequently no conscience, is called "Canaan".

1099. Verse 27. May God enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. By "Japheth" is signified as before a corresponding external church; "May God enlarge Japheth", signifies its enlightenment; "and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem", signifies in order that the internals of worship may be in the externals; "and Canaan shall be his servant", signifies here as before that those who make worship consist solely in externals are able to perform vile services.

1100. That by "Japheth" is signified a corresponding external church, has been already stated, and also what is meant by an external church, namely, external worship, and thus those who do not know what the internal man is, nor anything that belongs to the internal man, and yet live in charity. With these the Lord is equally present, for the Lord works through charity, wherever charity exists. The case in this respect is the same as it is with little children, with whom, although they do not know what charity is, still less what faith is, the Lord is nevertheless much more present than with adults, especially when the little children live together in charity. And the case is the same with the simple who have innocence, charity, and mercy. It is utterly useless for a man to know many things if he does not live according to what be knows. For knowing has no other end than that the man may thereby become good. When he has become good, he has much more than one who knows innumerable things and yet is not good; for what the latter seeks by much knowledge, the former already has. Very different however is the case with one who knows many truths and goods, and at the same time has charity and conscience; for such a one is a man of the internal church or "Shem". Those who know little and yet have conscience are enlightened in the other life, insomuch that they become angels, and possess wisdom and intelligence inexpressible. These are signified by "Japheth".

1101. May God enlarge Japheth, signifies the enlightenment of this church. In the literal sense "to enlarge" is to extend the boundaries, but in the internal sense it is to be enlightened; for enlightenment is the enlargement, as it were, of the boundaries of wisdom and intelligence. As in Isaiah: -

Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations (Isaiah 54:2),

meaning enlightenment in spiritual things. The man of the external church is "enlarged" when he is instructed in the truths and goods of faith; and as he is in charity, he is there-by more and more confirmed; and besides, the more he is instructed, the more is the cloud of his intellectual part dispersed - of that intellectual part, that is to say, in which are charity and conscience.

1102. And he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. That this signifies in order that the internals of worship may be in the externals, is evident from all that has been said before concerning Shem, namely, that "Shem" is the internal church, or internal worship, and that external worship is nothing but an inanimate affair, or else an unclean one, unless there is internal worship to vivify and hallow it. That the "tents" signify nothing else than what is holy of love, and the derivative worship, is evident from the signification of "tents", (n. 414). It was customary among the ancients to speak of "journeying" and "dwelling in tents", by which was signified in the internal sense holy worship, for the reason that the most ancient people not only journeyed with tents, but also dwelt in tents, and performed their holy worship in them. Hence also "to journey" and " to dwell" signified in the internal sense to live.

[2] That "tents" signify holy worship, the following passages (n. 414), may serve for confirmation. In David: -

God forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent in which He dwelt in man (Ps. 78:60),

where "tent" signifies the same as "temple", in which God is said to "dwell" when He is present with man in love. Hence the man who lived in holy worship, was called by the ancients a tent, and afterwards a temple. In Isaiah: -

Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations (Isaiah 54:2),

meaning enlightenment in those things which are of true worship. In Jeremiah: -

The whole land is laid waste, suddenly have My tents been laid waste, and My curtains in a moment (Jeremiah 4:20),

where it is very manifest that tents are not meant, but holy worship. In Zechariah: -

Jerusalem shall yet again dwell in her own place, even in Jerusalem. Jehovah also shall save the tents of Judah (Zechariah 12:6, 7),

where the "tents of Judah" stand for the worship of the Lord from the holy of love.

[3] From these passages it is now evident what it is "to dwell in the tents of Shem", namely, that internal worship is in external. But because the man Japheth, or the man of the external church, does not well know what internal things are, this shall be briefly told. When a man feels or perceives in himself that he has good thoughts concerning the Lord, and that he has good thoughts concerning the neighbor, and desires to perform kind offices for him, not for the sake of any gain or honor for himself; and when he feels that he has pity for any one who is in trouble, and still more for one who is in error in respect to the doctrine of faith, then he may know that he dwells in the tents of Shem, that is, that he has internal things in him through which the Lord is working.

1103. And Canaan shall be his servant. That this signifies that those who make worship consist solely in externals are able to perform vile offices, is evident from what has been said above, under the preceding (verses 25, 26), about Canaan, as being a servant. Such men are not indeed servants in the church of the Lord on earth, for there are many of them who hold high stations, and who are set over all others, who do nothing from charity and conscience, and yet observe with much strictness the externals of the church, and even condemn those who do not observe them. But such persons, because they are in no charity and conscience, and make worship consist solely in externals without internals, are servants in the kingdom of the Lord, that is, in the other life; for they are among the unhappy. The services which they there perform are vile, and are so many that they cannot be well set forth here, but of the Divine mercy of the Lord will be described hereafter. For in the other life every one without exception must perform some use, because man is born for no other end than that he may perform use to the society in which he is and to the neighbor, while he lives in the world, and in the other life according to the good pleasure of the Lord. The case in this respect is the same as it is in the human body, every part of which must perform some use, even things which in themselves are of no value, such as humors which in themselves are excrementitious, as are the many salival fluids, the biles, and other secretions, which must be of service not only to the food, but in separating the excrements and purging the intestines. Such also are the uses of manure and dung in the fields and vineyards; and many other such things.

1104. Verses 28, 29. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years; and all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died. These words signify the duration of the first Ancient Church, and at the same time its state.

1105. That these things are signified is sufficiently evident from what has been said before concerning numbers and years (n. 482, 487, 488, 493, 575, 647, 648).

 

CONCERNING VASTATIONS

1106. There are many persons who during their life in this world from simplicity and ignorance have imbibed falsities of religious belief, and yet have had a kind of conscience in accordance with the principles of their faith, and have not like others lived in hatred, revenge, and adultery. In the other life these persons cannot be introduced into heavenly societies so long as they remain in these falsities, for they would contaminate them; and they are therefore kept for a time in the lower earth, in order that they may get rid of their false principles. The time that they remain there is longer or shorter according to the nature of the falsity, and the life contracted thereby, and according to the degree in which they have confirmed themselves in their principles. Some suffer there severely, others not severely. These sufferings are what are called Vastations, of which there is frequent mention in the Word. When the period of vastation is completed, they are taken up into heaven, and as new comers are instructed in the truths of faith, and this by the angels by whom they are received.

1107. There are some who are very willing to be vastated and thus get rid of the false principles which they have brought with them from the world. (No one can get rid of his false principles in the other life except by the lapse of time and by means provided by the Lord.) While these persons remain in the lower earth, they are kept by the Lord in the hope of deliverance, and in the thought of the end in view, which is that they may be amended and prepared to receive heavenly happiness.

1108. Some are kept in a middle state between sleep and waking, and think very little, except when they as it were awake - which takes place by alternations - and then they remember what they had thought and done in the life of the body, and again they relapse into the middle state between being awake and being asleep. In this way these are vastated. They are under the left foot, a little in front.

1109. Those who have fully confirmed themselves in false principles are reduced to complete ignorance, and then they are in obscurity and confusion, so that when they merely think of the things in which they have confirmed themselves, they have inward pain. But after some time has passed, they are as it were created anew, and are imbued with the truths of faith.

1110. Those who have assumed righteousness and merit on account of their good works, and so have attributed the efficacy of salvation to themselves, and not to the Lord and His righteousness and merit, and have confirmed themselves in this in thought and in life, in the other world have their principles of falsity turned into phantasies, so that they seem to themselves to be hewing wood: this is exactly as it appears to them. I have spoken with them. When they are engaged in their labor, and are asked whether they are not fatigued, they reply that they have not yet accomplished enough work to be able to merit heaven. When they are hewing the wood there appears to be something of the Lord under the wood, thus as if the wood were merit that they are getting. The more of the Lord there appears in the wood, the longer they remain in this condition; but when that appearance begins to cease, their vastation is drawing to an end. At length they become such that they too can be admitted into good societies, but still they long fluctuate between truth and falsity. Great care is taken of them by the Lord, because they have lived a dutiful life, and He from time to time sends angels to them. These are they who in the Jewish Church were represented by the hewers of wood (Josh. 9:23, 27).

1111. Those who have lived a good civic and moral life, but have persuaded themselves that they merit heaven by their works, and have believed that it is sufficient to acknowledge an only God as the Creator of the universe, in the other life have their false principles turned into such phantasies that they seem to themselves to be cutting grass, and are called grass-cutters. They are cold, and try to warm themselves by this cutting. Sometimes they go round and inquire among those whom they meet whether they will give them some heat, which indeed spirits can do, but the heat which they receive has no effect upon them, because it is external and what they want is internal heat; and therefore they return to their cutting, and thus gain heat by their labor. Their cold I have felt. They are always hoping to be taken up into heaven, and sometimes consult together how they may introduce themselves by their own power. As these persons have performed good works, they are among those who are vastated; and at length, after some time has passed, they are introduced into good societies, and are instructed.

1112. Those however who have been in the goods and truths of faith, and have gained therefrom a conscience and a life of charity, are taken up by the Lord into heaven immediately after death.

1113. There are girls who have been enticed into harlotry, and thus persuaded that there is no evil in it, being in other respects rightly disposed. These, because they are not yet of an age to be able to know and judge concerning such a life, have an instructor with them, quite severe, who chastises them whenever in thought they break out into such wantonness. Of him they are in great fear, and in this way are vastated. But adult women who have been harlots and have enticed other women, do not undergo vastation, but are in hell.


Chapter 10

CONCERNING THE MOST ANCIENT CHURCH, WHICH WAS CALLED MAN, OR ADAM

1114. Angels and spirits, or men after death, when permitted by the Lord, can meet all whom they have known in this world, or whom they have heard of - whomsoever they desire - can see them as present, and can converse with them. Wonderful to say, they are at hand in a moment and are most intimately present; so that it is possible to converse not only with friends, who usually find one another, but also with others that have been respected and esteemed. By the Divine mercy of the Lord it has been granted me to converse not only with those whom I had known when they lived in the body, but also with those of especial note in the Word; also with those who were of the Most Ancient Church, which was that called "Man", or "Adam", and with some who were of the subsequent churches, in order that I might know that by the names in the first chapters of Genesis churches are meant; and also that I might know what was the character of the men of the churches of that time. The accounts therefore that follow are what it has been given me to know about the Most Ancient Churches.

1115. They who were of the Most Ancient Church, which was called Man, or Adam, and were celestial men, are very high above the head, and dwell together there in the greatest happiness. They said that others rarely come to them, except some at times, as they expressed it "from the universe;" and that they were on high above the head not because they were of a lofty spirit, but in order that they might govern those who are there.

1116. Dwellings were shown me of those who were of the second and third posterities of this Most Ancient Church. They are magnificent, extending to a great length, and diversified with beautiful colors of bright crimson and azure blue. For the angels have most magnificent dwellings, such as cannot be described, as I have often seen. To their eyes so real is their appearance that nothing can be more real. But whence such real appearances come, will be shown of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. They live in an aura, so to speak, of resplendent pearly and sometimes of diamond-like light. For there are wonderful auras in the other life, of inexpressible variety. They greatly err who do not believe that such things exist there, and indefinitely more than any one ever could or can conceive. They are indeed representative, like the things sometimes seen by the prophets but yet are so real that they who are in the other life hold them to be real, and the things which are in the world to be relatively unreal.

1117. They live in the most intense light. The light of this world can scarcely be compared to that in which they live. That light was shown me by a light as of same that as it were streamed down before my eyes; and they who were of the Most Ancient Church said that the light is such with them, but still more intense.

1118. There was shown me by a certain influx which I cannot describe, what the nature of their speech was when they lived in this world-that it was not articulate, like the vocal speech of our time, but tacit; and was produced not by external but by internal respiration. It was also granted me to perceive the nature of their internal respiration-that it advanced from the navel toward the heart, and so through the lips, without sound; and that it did not enter into the ear of another and strike upon what is called the drum of the ear by an external way, but by a certain way within the mouth, in fact by a passage there which is now called the Eustachian tube. And it was shown me that by such speech they could much more fully express the sentiments of the mind and the ideas of thought than can possibly be done by articulate sounds, vocal words, which likewise are directed by the respiration, but external. For there is nothing in any word that is not directed by applications of the respiration. But with them this was done much more perfectly, because by the internal respiration; which, from the fact that it is interior, is at once far more perfect, and more applicable and conformable to the very ideas of thought. Besides, they also conversed by slight movements of the lips, and correspondent changes of the face; for being celestial men, whatever they thought shone forth from their faces and eyes, which were varied conformably. They could by no means put on an expression of countenance different from that which was in agreement with their thoughts. Simulation, and still more deceit, was to them a monstrous iniquity.

1119. It has been shown me to the life how the internal respiration of the most ancient people silently flowed into a kind of external and thus tacit speech, perceived by another in his interior man. They said that this respiration varied with them, according to the state of their love and faith in the Lord. They gave also as a reason that it could not be otherwise, be. cause they had communication with heaven; for they respired with the angels in whose company they were. Angels have a respiration to which internal respiration corresponds; and it likewise varies with them. For when anything befalls them which is contrary to love and faith in the Lord, their respiration is restrained; but when they are in the happiness of love and faith, their respiration is free and full. There is something like this also with every man, but in accordance with his corporeal and worldly loves and also with his principles. When anything opposes these, there is a restriction of the respiration; and when they are favored, the respiration is free and full. These, however, are variations of external respiration. But concerning the respiration of the angels, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

1120. It has also been shown that the internal respiration of the men of the Most Ancient Church, which was from the navel toward the interior region of the breast, in the course of time, or in their posterity, was changed, and receded more toward the back region, and toward the abdomen, thus more outward and downward; and that at length, in the last posterity of that church, which existed immediately before the flood, scarcely anything of internal respiration remained; and when at last there remained none of this in the breast, they were suffocated of their own accord; but that in some, external respiration then began, and with it articulate sound, or the language of spoken words. Thus with the men before the flood the respiration was in accordance with the state of their love and faith; and at last, when there was no love and no faith, but a persuasion of falsity, internal respiration ceased; and with this, the immediate communication with angels, and perception.

1121. I have been informed by sons of the Most Ancient Church concerning the state of their perception, that they had perception of all things that belong to faith, almost as have the angels with whom they had communication; for the reason that their interior man, or spirit, by means also of the internal respiration, was joined to heaven; and that love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor are attended with this; for man is thus conjoined with angels through their veriest life, which consists in such love. They said that they had the law written upon them, because they were in love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor; and such being the case, whatever the laws prescribe was in agreement with their perception, and whatever the laws forbid was contrary to it. Nor did they doubt that all laws, human as well as Divine, are founded in love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, and regard these as their fundamental. Wherefore, as they had this fundamental in them, from the Lord, they could not but know all things that were from it. They believe too that those who live in the world at this day, who love the Lord and the neighbor, have also the law written upon them, and are acceptable citizens everywhere on earth, as the same are in the other life.

1122. I have been further informed that the men of the Most Ancient Church had most delightful dreams, and also visions, and that it was insinuated into them at the same time what they signified. Hence their paradisal representations, and many other things. The objects of the external senses therefore, which are earthly and worldly, were nothing to them; nor had they any perception of delight in them, but only in what they signified and represented; and therefore when they looked at earthly objects they did not think about them at all, but only about the things which they signified and represented, which were most delightful to them; for they were such things as are in heaven, from which they see the Lord Himself.

1123. I have conversed with the third generation of the Most Ancient Church, who said that in their time, when they lived in the world, they expected the Lord, who would save the whole human race; and that it was then a common saying among them that the seed of the woman would tread down the serpent's head. They said that from that time the greatest delight of their life was to procreate offspring; so that their sweetest deliciousnesses were to love their consort for the sake of offspring, which they called most delightful deliciousnesses and most delicious delights, adding that the perception of these delights and deliciousnesses was from influx out of heaven, because the Lord was to be born.

1124. There were near me some of the posterity that lived before the flood-not of those who perished, but of those who were somewhat better than they. At first they flowed in gently and imperceptibly enough; but it was given me to perceive that inwardly they were evil, and that they inwardly acted contrary to love. There exhaled from them a sphere of the odor of a dead body, so that the spirits who were around me fled away. They imagined themselves to be so subtle that no one would perceive what they thought. I spoke with them about the Lord, as to whether or not they had expected Him, as their fathers did. They said that they had represented the Lord to themselves as an old man, holy, with a gray beard; and also that they became holy from Him, and in like manner bearded; whence arose such veneration for beards among their posterity. They added that now also they are able to adore Him, but from themselves. But then an angel came, whose presence they could not endure.

1125. It has also been granted me to converse with those who were of the church called "Enosh", concerning which in (Genesis 4:26). Their influx was gentle, and their conversation unassuming. They said that they live in charity with one another, and perform offices of friendship to others who come among them But it was evident that their charity was the charity of friendship. They live quietly, as good citizens, and do no injury to any one.

1126. There appeared to me a narrow room; and the door being opened a tall man came into view, clothed in white, the whiteness being intense. I wondered who he was, and was told that a man clothed in white signified those who were called "Noah", who were the first of all of the Ancient Church, which was the church after the flood; and that they were thus represented because they were few.

1127. It has been granted me to converse with those of the Ancient Church, or of the church after the flood, who were called "Shem". They inflowed gently through the region of the head into the region of the breast, toward the heart, but not to the heart. The quality of spirits can be known from their influx.

1128. There appeared one veiled over as with a cloud., about whose face were many wandering stars, which signify falsities. I was told that such were the posterity of the Ancient Church when it began to perish, especially among those who instituted worship by sacrifices, and by images.

1129. Some account of the antediluvians who perished follows at the end of this chapter.

 

GENESIS 10:1-32

1. And these are the nativities of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

2. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

3. And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.

4. And the sons of Javan: Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

5. From these were spread abroad the isles of the nations in their lands, every one according to his tongue, according to their families, as to their nations.

6. And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.

7. And the sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba, and Dedan.

8. And Cush begat Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth.

9. He was mighty in hunting before Jehovah; wherefore it was said, As Nimrod, mighty in hunting before Jehovah.

10. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

11. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and built Nineveh, and the city of Rehoboth, and Calah.

12. And Resen, between Nineveh and Calah; this is that great city.

13. And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim.

14. And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, from whom went forth the Philistines, and Caphtorim.

15. And Canaan begat Zidon, his firstborn, and Heth.

16. And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite.

17. And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite.

18. And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. And afterwards were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.

19. And the border of the Canaanites was from Zidon, in coming to Gerar, even unto Gaza; in coming to Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboiim, even unto Lasha.

20. These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their tongues, in their lands, in their nations.

21. And there was born to Shem also; he is the father of all the sons of Eber; the elder brother of Japheth.

22. The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram.

23. And the sons of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.

24. And Arpachshad begat Shelah; and Shelah begat Eber.

25. And unto Eber were born two sons; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.

26. And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah.

27. And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah.

28. And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba.

29. And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.

30. And their dwelling was from Mesha, in coming to Sephar, the mountain of the east.

31. These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their tongues, in their lands, according to their nations.

32. These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their nativities, in their nations; and from these were spread abroad the nations in the earth after the flood.

 

THE CONTENTS

1130. The subject treated of throughout this whole chapter is the Ancient Church, and its propagation (verse 1).

1131. They who had external worship corresponding to internal are the "sons of Japheth" (verse 2). They who had worship more remote from internal are the "sons of Gomer and Javan" (verses 3, 4). And they who had worship still more remote are the "isles of the nations" (verse 5).

1132. They who cultivated knowledges, memory-knowledges, and rituals, and separated them from things internal, are the "sons of Ham" (verse 6). They who cultivated the knowledges of spiritual things are the "sons of Cush;" and they who cultivated the knowledges of celestial things are the "sons of Raamah" (verse 7).

1133. Those treated of who have external worship in which are interior evils and falsities, "Nimrod" being such worship (verses 8, 9). The evils in such worship (verse 10). The falsities in such worship (verses 11, 12).

1134. Concerning those who form for themselves new kinds of worship out of memory-knowledges by means of reasonings (verses 13, 14); and concerning those who make mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith (verse 14).

1135. Concerning external worship without internal, which is "Canaan", and the derivations of this worship (verses 15 to 18); and its extension (verses 19, 20).

1136. Concerning internal worship, which is "Shem", and its extension even to the second Ancient Church (verse 21). Concerning internal worship and its derivations, which being from charity, are derivations of wisdom, of intelligence, of memory-knowledge, and of knowledges, which are signified by the "nations" (verses 22 to 24).

1137. Concerning a certain church which arose in Syria, instituted by Eber, which is to be called the second Ancient Church, the internal worship of which is "Peleg", the external "Joktan" (verse 25). Its rituals are the nations named in verses 26 to 29. The extension of this church (verse 30).

1138. That there were different kinds of worship in the Ancient Church, in accordance with the genius of each nation (verses 31, 32).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

1139. It has been stated already that there are four different styles in the Word. The first, which was that of the Most Ancient Church, is such as is that from the first chapter of Genesis to this chapter. The second is the historical style, as in the following books of Moses, and in the rest of the historical books. The third is the prophetic style. The fourth is intermediate between the prophetic style and that of common speech. Concerning these styles seen.

1140. In this chapter, and in the following one as far as Eber, the most ancient style is continued; but here it is intermediate between the style of made-up history, and that of true history. For by Noah, and his sons, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Canaan, nothing else was meant, nor is anything else meant, than the Ancient Church regarded abstractedly as to its worship-namely, by "Shem" internal worship, by "Japheth" corresponding external worship, by "Ham" internal worship corrupted, by "Canaan" external worship separated from internal. Such persons never existed; but the kinds of worship were so named because all other different kinds, or all specific differences, could be reduced to these as fundamental ones. By "Noah" therefore was meant merely the Ancient Church in general, as a parent comprehending all. And yet by the names in this chapter, except those of Eber and his posterity, are meant so many nations; and so many nations there were that constituted the Ancient Church; which church was widely spread around the land of Canaan.

1141. They who are here named "sons of Japheth" were all such as had external worship corresponding to internal; that is, who lived in simplicity, in friendship, and in mutual charity. Nor did they know any other doctrinal teachings than external rites. They who are named "`sons of Japheth" were those who had internal worship corrupted. They who are called "sons of Canaan" were those who had external worship separate from internal. They who are called "sons of Shem" were internal men, and worshiped the Lord and loved the neighbor; whose church was nearly like our true Christian Church.

1142. What manner of men they were specifically is not related in this chapter, for they are only recounted as to their names. But this appears from the writings of the prophets, where the names of these nations occur in different places, and everywhere with no other signification though sometimes in the genuine, and sometimes in the opposite sense.

1143. Although these were the names of the nations that constituted the Ancient Church, yet in the internal sense they mean actual things (res), namely, the worships themselves. In heaven nothing at all is known about the names, countries, nations, and the like; the angels have no idea of such things, but of the actual things signified by them. The Word of the Lord is living by virtue of the internal sense. This is as the soul, of which the external sense is as the body. And just as with man when his body dies the soul lives, and when the soul lives he no longer knows the things that pertain to the body, so when he comes among angels he does not know what the Word is in the sense of the letter, but only what it is in its soul. Such was the man of the Most Ancient Church; who, if he were living and read the Word at the present day, would not cleave at all to the sense of the letter; but would be as if he did not see it, but only the internal sense abstractedly from the letter; and indeed as if the letter had no existence. Thus he would be in the life or soul of the Word. It is the same everywhere in the Word, even in its historical parts, which were just such as are narrated, and yet there is not so much as one little word therein that does not, in the internal sense, enfold within it deep secrets which never appear to those who hold the mind in the historical connection. Thus in this chapter by the names, in the literal or historical sense, are meant the peoples that constituted the Ancient Church, but in the internal sense their doctrinals are signified.

1144. Verse 1. And these are the nativities of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and unto them were sons born after the flood. "These are the nativities of the sons of Noah", signifies derivations of the doctrinals and worships of the Ancient Church, which in general is "Noah;" "Shem, Ham, and Japheth" signify here as before-"Shem" true internal worship, "Ham" internal worship corrupted, and "Japheth" external worship corresponding to internal; "and unto them were sons born, "signifies doctrinals derived therefrom; "after the flood, "signifies from the time when this new church arose.

1145. These are the nativities of the sons of Noah. That these signify derivations of the doctrinals and worships of the Ancient Church, which in general is " Noah", is evident from the signification of "nativities" (of which above). In the external or literal sense, "nativities" or "births", as is known, are generations of one from another; but in the internal sense all things have regard to what is celestial and spiritual, that is, to the things of charity and of faith. Thus here the "nativities" are those of the church, consequently are doctrinal matters, as will be made more clear in what follows.

1146. Shem, Ham, and Japheth. That these signify here as before-" Shem" true internal worship, "Ham" internal worship corrupted, and "Japheth" external worship corresponding to internal, is evident from what has been previously stated concerning them; where it was shown, not only that Shem, Ham, and Japheth signify those kinds of worship, but also what is meant by true internal worship, or Shem; what by internal worship corrupted, or Ham; and what by external worship corresponding to internal, or Japheth. They need not therefore be further dwelt upon.

1147. And unto them were sons born. That these signify the doctrinals thence derived, is evident from the signification of "sons" in the internal sense, as being the truths of faith, and also the falsities, consequently doctrinal matters; by which both true and false are meant, for such are the doctrinals of churches. That " sons" have such a signification see above, (n. 264, 489, 491, 535).

1148. After the flood. That this signifies from the time when this new church arose, is evident likewise from what has been said in the preceding chapters; for the end of the Most Ancient Church is described by the flood, and also the beginning of the Ancient Church. It must be observed that the church before the flood is called the Most Ancient Church, and the church after the flood, the Ancient Church.

1149. Verse 2. The sons of Japheth: Comer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. "The sons of Japheth" signify those who had external worship corresponding to internal. "Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras" were so many nations, with whom such worship existed, by which in the internal sense are signified so many different doctrinals that were the same as rituals, which they devoutly observed.

1150. The sons of Japheth. That these signify those who had external worship corresponding to internal, has been explained before. External worship is said to correspond to internal when that which is the essential is in the worship. This essential is the adoration of the Lord from the heart; which is by no means possible unless there is charity, or love to the neighbor. In charity or love toward the neighbor the Lord is present, and then He can be adored from the heart Thus the adoration is from the Lord, for the Lord gives all the ability and all the being in the adoration. Hence it follows that such as is the charity in a man, such is his adoration or worship. All worship is adoration, because the adoration of the Lord must be in it for it to be worship. The sons of Japheth, or the nations and peoples called "sons of Japheth", lived in mutual charity with each other, in friendship, in courtesy, and in simplicity; and therefore the Lord was present in their worship. For when the Lord is present in the external worship, there is internal worship in the external, that is, there is external worship corresponding to internal. There were formerly very many such nations. And there are also at this day those who make worship consist in externals and do not know what internal worship is, or if they know, do not think about such things. If these persons acknowledge the Lord and love the neighbor, the Lord is in their worship, and they are sons of Japheth; but if they deny the Lord, and love only themselves, and do not care for the neighbor, especially if they bear hatred toward him, their worship is external separate from internal, and they are sons of Canaan, or Canaanites.

1151. Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. That these were so many nations among whom such worship existed, and that in the internal sense they signify so many doctrinals, which were the same as rituals, which they devoutly observed, is very evident from the Word, where these nations are frequently mentioned; for they everywhere signify external worship - sometimes external worship corresponding to internal, sometimes the opposite. The reason why they signify the opposite is that all churches, wherever they were, in process of time have been changed, even to their opposites. That the nations here named signify nothing but external worship, consequently their doctrinals which were rituals, can be established, as was said, from the Word in other places, especially in the Prophets.

[2] Thus, of Magog, Meshech, Tubal, and Gomer, it is written in Ezekiel: -

Son of man, set thy face toward Gog, the land of Magog, the prince, head of Meshech and Tubal; and prophesy against him and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold I am against the, O Gog, prince, head of Meshech and Tubal, and I will turn thee about, and put hooks, into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords; Persia, Cush, and Put with them; with them Gomer and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the sides of the north, and all his hordes. In the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, upon the mountains of Israel, which have been made a waste (Ezekiel 38:2-6, 8).

This whole chapter treats of the church, which became perverted, and at length made all worship consist in externals, or rituals; charity, which is signified by "the mountains of Israel", being extinguished. Here "Gog, and the land of Magog the prince and head of Meshech and Tubal", is worship in externals. Any one may see that it is not Gog and Magog that are treated of, for the Word of the Lord does not treat of worldly things, but enfolds within it Divine things.

[3] In the same: -

Prophesy upon Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold I am against thee, O Gog, prince, head of Meshech and Tubal; and I will turn thee about, and take a sixth part of thee, I will cause thee to come up from the sides of the north, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel upon the mountains of Israel thou shalt fall, thou and all thy hordes, and the people that are with thee (Ezek. 39:1, 2, 4).

The whole of this chapter, likewise, treats of external worship separated from internal, and become idolatrous, which is here signified by Gog, Meshech, and Tubal, by whom also are meant the doctrinals which they receive and afterwards confirm by the literal sense of the Word, and thus falsify truths and destroy internal worship. For, as was said, the opposite also are signified by the same nations.

[4] In John: -

When the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to war. They went up over the plain of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city (Rev. 20:7-9)

where "Gog and Magog" have a similar signification External worship separate from internal, that is, separate from love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor, is nothing else than idolatrous, which encompasses the camp of the saints, and the beloved city.

[5] Of Meshech and Tubal it is said in Ezekiel: -

There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude her graves are round about her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living (Ezekiel 32:26).

The subject here is Egypt, or the memory-knowledges where with men desire to explore spiritual things. "Meshech and Tubal" denote doctrinals which are rituals, and which, when there is no love, are called "uncircumcised". Hence they are slain with the sword, and a terror in the land of the living.

[6] Of Javan it is said in Joel: -

The sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem ye have sold Unto the sons of the Javanites that ye might remove them far from their border (Joel 3:6).

"The sons of Judah" denote celestial things of faith; "the sons of Jerusalem", spiritual things of faith - thus things internal; and "the sons of the Javanites", worship in externals separate from what is internal. Because this worship is so widely remote from what is internal, it is said that they have "removed them far from their border".

[7] Javan and Tubal denote true external worship itself in Isaiah: -

It shall come that I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall I come, and shall see My glow. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the Isles afar off, that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the nations (Isaiah 66:18, 19).

The subject here is the kingdom of the Lord and His coming. " Tubal and Javan" denote those who are in external worship corresponding to internal, who are to be instructed concerning internal things.

1152. Verses 3, 4. And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of Javan: Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By the "sons of Gomer" also are signified those who had external worship, but derived from that which existed in the nation Comer. "Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah" were so many nations, among whom there was such worship, by whom also are signified so many doctrinals which were rituals, derived from the external worship with Gomer; by the "sons of Javan" are signified still others with whom external worship existed, derived from the worship which was in the nation Javan; "Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim" were so many nations among whom such worship existed, by whom also are signified so many doctrinals which were rituals, derived from the external worship with Javan.

1153. And the sons of Gomer. That by these also are signified those who had external worship, but derived from that which existed in the nation Gomer, follows from what has been said and shown before concerning the signification of "sons;" and also from the fact that Gomer was one of those nations that had external worship corresponding to internal. There were seven nations named in the foregoing verse which were in such worship. Here again are seven nations, which are called "sons of Gomer" and "of Javan;" but what were the specific differences between them cannot be told, because here they are merely mentioned. But in the Prophets, where this and that worship of the church is treated of specifically, the differences can be distinguished. In general, all the diversities of external, as also of internal worship, are according to the adoration of the Lord in the worship; and the adoration is according to the love to the Lord and the love toward the neighbor. For the Lord is present in love, and thereby in worship; the differences of worship therefore among the nations here mentioned were of this nature.

[2] That it may be still more clearly explained how the case is in respect to diversities of worship, and how it was with the various nations in the Ancient Church, let it be known that all true worship consists in adoration of the Lord, adoration of the Lord in humiliation, and humiliation in one's acknowledgment that in himself there is nothing living, and nothing good, but that all within him is dead, yea, cadaverous; and in the acknowledgment that everything living and everything good is from the Lord. The more a man acknowledges these things, not with the mouth, but with the heart, the more he is in humiliation; and consequently the more he is in adoration, that is, in true worship, and the more he is in love and charity, and the more in happiness. The one is in the other, so conjoined as to be inseparable. From this it is evident what and of what nature are these differences of worship.

[3] Those here spoken of, and are called "sons of Gomer and Javan", are those who also had external worship corresponding to internal, but somewhat more remote than those who were named in the preceding verse. For this reason they are called "sons". The generations successively descending, or the derivations, here proceed from the interior toward the exterior. The more sensuous a man becomes, the more exterior his worship becomes, and consequently the more remote from the true worship of the Lord; for it partakes more of the world, of the body, and of the earth, and less of the spirit; and therefore it is more remote. These, who are called "sons of Gomer and Javan", being more sensuous, made worship still more to consist in externals than did their socalled parents and kindred. They therefore here constitute a second class.

1154. Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. That these were so many nations among whom there was such worship, and that they signify so many doctrinals which were rituals, derived from the external worship with Gomer, is evident from the Prophets, where the same nations are also mentioned, and by them are everywhere signified doctrinals or rituals-as usual, in each sense, sometimes in the genuine sense, sometimes in the opposite one. "Ashkenaz", in Jeremiah: -

Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, consecrate the nations against her, make to hearken against her the kingdoms of Ararath, Minni, and Ashkenaz (Jeremiah 51:27).

The subject here is the destruction of Babel, where "Ashkenaz" denotes its idolatrous worship, or external worship separate from internal, which destroys Babel. Specifically, it denotes false doctrinals, and therefore is mentioned in the opposite sense. "Togarmah", in Ezekiel: -

Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, these were thy traders in the soul of man, and furnished vessels of brass in thy commerce. They of the house of Togarmah furnished for thine aids, horses, and horsemen, and mules (Ezekiel 27:13, 14).

This is said concerning Tyre, by which they were represented who possessed the knowledges of celestial and spiritual things. "Javan, Tubal, and Meshech", denote, as before, various representative or correspondent rites; "the house of Togarmah" likewise. The external rites of the former have reference to celestial things; and those of the latter, or "the house of Togarmah", to spiritual things, as is evident from the signification of the things in which they traded. Here they are in the genuine sense. In the same: -

Gomer and all his hordes, the house of Togarmah the sides of the north, and with all his hordes (Ezek. 38:6)

denoting perverted doctrinals, which are meant also by "the sides of the north". Here the names of these nations are used in the opposite sense.

1155. And the sons of Javan. That by these are signified still others with whom there was external worship, derived from the worship which prevailed in the nation Javan, can in the same way be seen in the Prophets, where they are named in connection with the actual things (res) themselves, and therein signify nothing different from them. The reason why the sons of Gomer and the sons of Javan only are mentioned, and not the sons of the others mentioned in the second verse - where there are seven - is that the sons of the one relate to the class of spiritual things, and the sons of the other to the class of celestial things. It is evident that the sons of Gomer relate to the class of spiritual things, from the passages in the Prophets cited just above; and that the sons of Javan relate to the class of celestial things, will appear from what follows. The class of spiritual things is distinguished from the class of celestial things by this, that the former relate to truths of faith, and the latter to goods of faith, which are those of charity. Although these distinctions are entirely unknown in the world, yet they are most perfectly known in heaven, not merely as to the generic differences, but as to the specific differences also; for in heaven there is not the least difference that is not distinguished according to the most perfect order. In the world no more is known than that there are varieties of worship, and that in externals - for nothing beyond these is known - they differ from each other. But in heaven the differences, which are innumerable, themselves appear to the life, and indeed such as thee are in internals.

1156. Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. That these were so many nations, with whom there was such worship, and that they signify so many doctrinals which were rituals, derived from the external worship with Javan, may be seen from the following passages in the Prophets. Of "Elishah" it is written in Ezekiel: -

Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was thy spreading forth, that it might be to thee for an ensign; blue and crimson from the Isles of Elishah were thy covering (Ezekiel 27:7).

The subject here treated of is Tyre, by which they are signified who possess celestial and spiritual riches, or knowledges; "embroidered work from Egypt" denotes memory-knowledges, and thus rituals representative of spiritual things; "blue and crimson from the isles of Elishah", rituals corresponding to internal worship, thus representatives of celestial things. The words are here used in the genuine sense. Of "Tarshish" in Isaiah: -

I will send such as escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the Isles afar off (Isaiah 66:19).

In the same: -

Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, so that there is no house for entering in; from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them (Isaiah 23:1, 14).

And further concerning Tarshish in (Isa. 60:9; Jer. 10:9; Ezek. 27:12; Ps. 48:7) - where it denotes rituals, that is, doctrinals. Of "Kittim" in Jeremiah: -

Pass over to the isles of Kittim and see; and to Arabia, and consider diligently, whether there hath been such a thing (Jer. 2:10).

And in Isaiah: -

Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin daughter of Zidon arise, pass over to Kittim even there shalt thou have no rest (Isaiah 33:12),

where "Kittim" denotes rituals. In Ezekiel: -

Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars they have made thy planks of ivory, the daughter of steps, from the isles of Kittim (Ezekiel 27:6).

This is said of Tyre; "the planks of a ship from the isles of Kittim" denotes externals of worship - thus rituals - which have reference to the class of celestial things. In Moses: -

Ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, and they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber (Num. 24:24),

where also "Kittim" denotes external worship, or rituals. Hence it is evident that in the internal sense by all these names are signified actual things (res), which actual things stand in their own regular order and connection.

1157. Verse 5. From these were dispersed the isles of the nations in their lands, every one according to his tongue, according to their families, as to their nations. " From these were dispersed the isles of the nations in their lands", signifies that the worships of many nations sprang from these; "isles" are particular regions and thus particular worships which were still more remote from internal worship; "lands" are their generals; "every one according to his tongue, according to their families, as to their nations", signifies that these were according to the genius of each; "according to his tongue", is according to the opinion of each; "according to their families", is according to their uprightness "as to their nations", is with respect to both in general.

1158. From these were dispersed the isles of the nations in their lands. That this signifies that the worships of many nations originated from these, that "isles" are particular regions and thus particular worships which were still more remote, and that "lands" are their generals, is evident from the signification of " isles" in the Word. Thus far they have been treated of who had external worship corresponding to internal. By the seven sons of Japheth were signified those who approached nearer to true internal worship by the seven sons of Gomer and at the same time of Javan, those who were more remote from true internal worship. By " the isles of the nations" are signified those who are still more remote, and properly those who lived in mutual charity with one another, but yet in ignorance, knowing nothing about the Lord, about the doctrinals of faith of the church, and about internal worship; but who yet had a certain external worship which they religiously observed. Such are called " isles" in the Word, and therefore by " isles", in the internal sense, there is signified worship which is more remote from internal worship.

[2] They who are in the internal sense of the Word, as the angels are, have no knowledge of isles, for they no longer have any idea of such things; but instead of them they perceive a remoter worship, such as is that of the nations out of the church. And in like manner by "isles" they perceive those things within the church itself which are somewhat remote from charity, as are friendships and civilities. Friendship is not charity, and still less is politeness charity these are degrees below charity; and the more they derive from charity the more sincere they are.

[3] That such things are signified by "islands" may be seen from the following passages from the Word. In Isaiah: -

Keep silence before Me, O Islands; and let the peoples renew their strength, let them come near. The isles saw, and feared; the ends of the earth trembled they drew near, and came (Isaiah 41:1, 5).

Here "islands" denote upright nations out of the church who have religiously observed their external worship. The furthest limits of the region where the church is are called "the ends of the earth". In the same: -

He shall not be dark, and shall not break in pieces till He has set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for His law. Sing unto Jehovah a new song, His praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and the fullness thereof, the isles and the inhabitants thereof. Let them give glory to Jehovah, and declare His praise in the islands (Isa. 42:4, 10, 12).

Here also "islands" denote nations out of the church, who have lived in ignorance, simplicity, and uprightness.

[4] In the same: -

Listen, O Isles, unto Me, and hearken, ye peoples from far (Isa. 49:1),

likewise denoting those nations which are more remote from the worship of the Lord, and from the knowledges of faith wherefore it is said "from far". Again: -

The Isles shall hope in Me, and on Mine arm shall they wait (Isa. 51:6),

denoting the same. Because they are such as live in uprightness, it is said, "they shall hope in Me, and on Mine arm shall they wait". In Jeremiah: -

Hear the word of Jehovah, O ye nations, and declare it in the Isles afar off (Jeremiah 31:10),

denoting the same. In Zephaniah: -

Jehovah will be terrible unto them, for with leanness He will consume all the gods of the earth and they shall bow themselves down to Him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the nations (Zephaniah 2:11).

"The isles of the nations" denote nations more remote from the knowledges of faith.

[5] In David: -

Jehovah reigneth; let the earth rejoice let the multitude of isles be glad. Clouds and darkness are round about Him (Psalms 97:1, 2)

denoting the same. Their ignorance is here representatively expressed by "clouds and darkness;" but because they are in simplicity and uprightness it is said "round about Him". Because by "islands" are signified those things which are more remote, Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, and Javan also - by whom were signified external worships - are called "islands" (Isa. 66:19). So also Kittim (Jer. 2:10; Ezek. 27:6). When contrasted with "lands", or with "mountains", "islands" signify also the truths of faith, from being in the sea; thus they signify doctrinals which are rituals.

1159. Every one according to his tongue, according to their families, as to their nations. That this signifies that these were according to the genius of each; "according to their tongue", according to the opinion of each; "according to their families", according to their uprightness; and "as to their nations", as regards both in general, may be seen from the signification of "tongue", of "families", and of "nations", in the Word; concerning which of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. That "tongue", or "language", in the internal sense, signifies opinion, thus principles and persuasions, is because there is a correspondence of the tongue with the intellectual part of man, or with his thought, like that of an effect with its cause. Such also is not only the influx of a man's thoughts into the movements of the tongue in speaking, but also the influx of heaven, concerning which some things from experience, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, will be told elsewhere.

[2] That "families" in the internal sense signify uprightness, and also charity and love, comes from the fact that in the heavens all things which are of mutual love are circumstanced as are relationships by blood and by marriage, thus as families (n. 685). In the Word therefore the things which pertain to love or charity are expressed by "houses", and also by "families", which it is unnecessary here to stop to confirm. (That such is the signification of a "house" see (n. 710).

[3] That "nations" here signify both, in general, is evident from the signification of a nation, or nations, in the Word. In a good sense "nations" signify things of the new will and understanding, consequently the goods of love and truths of faith; but in the opposite sense they signify evils and falsities; and in like manner so also do "houses", " families", and "tongues", as may be confirmed by very many passages from the Word. The reason is that the Most Ancient Church was distinguished into houses, families, and nations. A married pair with their children, and their menservants and maidservants, constituted a house; a number of houses that were not far distant from one another constituted a family; and a number of families, a nation. Hence "nations" signified all the families taken together in the aggregate. It is much the same in heaven; but the relation of all there is according to love and faith toward the Lord (n. 685).

[4] From this then comes the signification of "nations" in the internal sense, as a general term comprising things of both the will and the understanding, or what is the same of both love and faith; but relatively to the families and houses of which they are composed. (n. 470, 471, 483). It is evident from these considerations that "nations" signify both (opinion and uprightness] in general; and that, "every one according to his tongue, according to their families, as to their nations, "signifies according to the genius of each man, family, and nation, to whom worship was derived from the Ancient Church.

1160. Verse 6. And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan. By "Ham" is signified, here as before, faith separated from charity; by "the sons of Ham", the things that belong to this separated faith; "Gush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan" were so many nations, by which are signified, in the internal sense, the knowledges, the memory-knowledges, and the worships that are of faith separated from charity.

1161. That by "Ham" is signified faith separated from charity, is evident from what was said and shown concerning Ham in the preceding chapter.

1162. That by "the sons of Ham" are signified the things that belong to this separated faith, follows from this. In order that it may be known what is meant by "Ham", and therefore by "the Sons of Ham", it must first be known what faith separated from charity is. Faith separated from charity is no faith. Where there is no faith, there is no worship, neither internal nor external. If there be any worship at all, it is corrupt worship, and therefore by "Ham" is likewise signified internal worship corrupted. They hold a false opinion who call the mere memory-knowledge of things celestial and spiritual, separated from charity, faith. For sometimes the worst of men have this knowledge more than others-as those who live in continual hatred and vindictiveness, and in adultery, and are therefore infernal, and after the life of the body become devils. It may be seen from this that memory-knowledge is not faith. But faith is the acknowledgment of the things which are of faith; and this acknowledgment is by no means external, but internal, and is the working of the Lord alone through the charity in a man. And this acknowledgment is by no means a thing of the mouth, but of the life. From the life of everyone it may be known what his acknowledgment is. All they are called "sons of Ham" who have a memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith, and have not charity, whether it be a memory-knowledge of the interior knowledges of the Word, and of its veriest mysteries, or a memory-knowledge of all things in the literal sense of the Word, or a memory-knowledge of other truths, whatever their name, from which these may be regarded, or a knowledge of all the rituals of external worship - if they have not charity, they are "sons of Ham". That they who are called" sons of Ham" are of this character, is evident from the nations now treated of.

1163. That "Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan", were so many nations, by which in the internal sense are signified knowledges, memory-knowledges, and rituals that are of faith separated from charity, may be seen from the Word, where these nations are frequently mentioned; for such things are there signified by them; that is to say, by "Cush", or "Ethiopia", are signified the interior knowledges of the Word, whereby such men confirm false principles; by "Mizraim", or "Egypt", memory-knowledges or various matters of memory, whereby men desire to explore the mysteries of faith, and from them confirm principles of falsity; by "Put", or "Lybia", knowledges from the literal sense of the Word, by which in like manner they confirm false principles; and by "Canaan", or "the Canaanites", rituals, or the things of external worship separated from internal. All these, when separated from charity, are called "sons of Ham". By the same nations are also signified simply knowledges and memory-knowledges; by Cush", the interior knowledges of the Word; by "Egypt", memory-knowledges; by "Put", knowledges from the literal sense of the Word. This is the reason why they are taken- as may be seen from the following passages-in both a bad and a good sense.

1164. That by "Cush" or "Ethiopia" are signified the interior knowledges of the Word, by which such men confirm false principles, may be seen in Jeremiah: -

Egypt riseth up like a stream, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers, and he hath said, I will go up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. Go up ye horses, and rage ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth, Cush and Put that handle the shield (Jeremiah 46:8, 9).

"Egypt" here denotes those who believe nothing unless they apprehend it from memory-knowledges, whereby everything becomes involved in doubt, denial, and falsity, which is to "go up, cover the earth, and destroy the city". "Cush" here denotes more universal and more interior knowledges of the Word, whereby men confirm received principles of falsity. "Put" denotes knowledges from the literal sense of the Word which are according to the appearances of the senses.

[2] In Ezekiel: -

A sword shall come upon Egypt, and there shall be grief in Cush, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; and they shall take her multitude, and her foundations shall be destroyed. Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Ereb and Cub, and the sons of the land of the covenant shall fall with them by the sword (Ezekiel 30:4, 5).

No one could at all know what these things mean except from the internal sense; and if the names did not signify actual things (res), there would be scarcely any sense. But here by "Egypt" are signified memory-knowledges, whereby men desire to enter into the mysteries of faith. " Cush and Put" are called "the foundations thereof" because they signify knowledges from the Word.

[3] In the same: -

In that day shall messengers go forth from before Me in ships, to make confident Cush afraid; and there shall be grief upon them, as in the day of Egypt (Ezek. 30:9).

"Cush" denotes those knowledges from the Word that confirm falsities which are hatched from memory-knowledges. In the same: -

I will make the land of Egypt into wastes, a waste of desolation, from the tower of Seveneh, even unto the border of Cush (Ezek. 29:10).

Here "Egypt" denotes memory-knowledges; and "Cush" the knowledges of the interior things of the Word, which are the boundaries as far as memory-knowledges go.

[4] In Isaiah: -

The king of Assyria shall lead the captivity of Egypt and the captivity of Cush, boys and old men, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt; and they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope, and of Egypt their glory (Isaiah 20:4, 5).

"Cush" here denotes knowledges from the Word, whereby falsities acquired through memory-knowledges are confirmed; "Asshur" is reasoning which leads men "captive". In Nahum: -

Cush and Egypt were her strength, and there was no end; Put and Lubim were thy helpers (Nahum 3:9).

This is said of the church vastated, and here in like manner "Egypt" denotes memory-knowledges, and "Cush" knowledges.

[5] "Cush and Egypt" here denote simply knowledges and memory-knowledges, which are truths, useful to those who are in the faith of charity; thus they are here used in a good sense. In Isaiah: -

Thus said Jehovah, The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Cush, and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall pass over unto thee, and they shall be thine they shall go after thee in fetters, they shall pass over and shall bow down unto thee; they shall pray unto thee; God is in thee only, and there Is no other God besides (Isaiah 14:14).

"The labor of Egypt" denotes memory-knowledge; and "the merchandise of Cush and of the Sabeans", knowledges of spiritual things which are serviceable to those who acknowledge the Lord; for all memory-knowledge and knowledge are for them.

[6] In Daniel: -

The king of the north shall have dominion over the hidden stores of gold and silver, and over all the desirable things of Egypt; and the Lubim (Put) and Cushim shall be at thy steps (Daniel 11:43).

"Put and Cush" here denote knowledges from the Word; and "Egypt", memory-knowledges. In Zephaniah: -

From the crossing of the rivers of Gush, My worshipers (Zephaniah 3:10),

denoting those who are without knowledges, that is, the Gentiles. In David: -

Great ones shall come out of Egypt; Cush shall hasten his hands unto God (Ps. 68:31).

"Egypt" here denotes memory-knowledges, and "Cush", knowledges.

[7] In the same: -

I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon as among them that know Me behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Cush; this one was born there (in the city of God) (Ps. 87:4).

"Cush" denotes knowledges from the Word; and therefore it is said that he "was born in the city of God". It is because "Cush" signifies the interior knowledges of the Word and the intelligence thence derived, that it is said that the second river that went forth from the garden of Eden "encompassed the whole land of Cush" (n. 117).

1165. That by "Mizraim", or "Egypt", in the Word, are signified the memory-knowledges (that is, the various matters of memory) wherewith men desire to explore the secrets of faith, and to confirm the principles of falsity thereby conceived; and that it also signifies simply memory-knowledges, thus such as are useful, is evident not only from the passages already adduced, but from very many others also, which, if all cited, would fill pages. (Isa. 19:1-25; 30:1-3; 31:1-3; Jer. 2:18, 36; 42:14-22; 46:1-28; Ezek. 16:26; 23:3, 8; 29:1-21; 30:1-26; Hos. 7:11; 9:3, 6; 11:1, 5, 11; Micah 7:5; Zech. 10:10, 11; Ps. 80:8-19).

1166. That by "Put", or "Lybia", in the Word, are signified the knowledges from the literal sense by which in like manner false principles are confirmed, and also simply such knowledges, is evident from the passages cited above where "Cush" is spoken of. Because by him there are in like manner signified those knowledges which are more interior, "Put" and "Cush" are mentioned together in the Word, as may be seen in the passages above cited (Jer. 46:8, 9; Ezek. 30:4, 5; Nahum 3:9; Dan. 11:43).

1167. That by "Canaan", or "the Canaanite", when mentioned in the Word, are signified rituals, that is, the things of external worship separated from internal, is evident from very many passages, especially in the historicals. Because the Canaanites were of this character at the time when the sons of Jacob were introduced into their land, it was permitted that they should be exterminated. But in the internal sense of the Word, all those are meant by "Canaanites" who have external worship separated from internal. And as the Jews and Israelites more than others were of this nature, they specifically are signified by "Canaanites" in the prophetical Word, as may be seen from these two passages only: -

They have shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was profaned with bloods, and they were defiled with their works, and went a whoring in the doings. (Ps. 106:38, 39).

"To shed the blood of sons and daughters", here signifies in the internal sense that they extinguished all truths of faith and goods of charity; "to sacrifice sons and daughters to the idols of Canaan" signifies to profane the things which are of faith and charity by external worship separate from internal, which is nothing else than idolatrous. Thus were they defiled with their works, and went a whoring in their doings. In Ezekiel: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto Jerusalem, Thy tradings and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite (Ezekiel 16:3).

Here they are plainly said to be of the land of Canaan. (That "Canaan" signifies external worship separated from internal see above, (n. 1078, 1094)

1168. Verse 7. And the sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba, and Dedan. By "the sons of Cush" are signified those who had not internal worship, but who had the knowledges of faith, in the possession of which they made religion to consist. "Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca" are so many nations with whom there were such knowledges. By the same in the internal sense the knowledges themselves are signified. By "the sons of Raamah", likewise, are signified those who had not internal worship, but had knowledges of faith, in the possession of which they made religion to consist. " Sheba and Dedan" are nations who had such knowledges. By the same in the internal sense are signified the knowledges themselves; but with the difference that by "the sons of Cush" are signified knowledges of spiritual things, and by "the sons of Raamah", knowledges of celestial things.

1169. That by "the sons of Cush" are signified those who had no internal worship, but had knowledges of faith, in the possession of which they made religion to consist, is evident from "Cush", whose sons they were, and by whom are signified interior knowledges of spiritual things, as shown above, as well as from the Word where these nations are mentioned.

1170. That "Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca" are so many nations with whom there were such knowledges, and that in the internal sense the knowledges themselves are signified by the same, may be seen from passages from the Word which will be adduced below.

1171. That by "the sons of Raamah" are in like manner signified those who had no internal worship, but knowledges of faith, in the possession of which they made religion to consist; and that "Sheba and Dedan" are nations who had such knowledges; and that in the internal sense they signify the knowledges themselves, is evident from the following passages in the Prophets. Concerning Seba, Sheba, and Raamah, from these passages - in David: -

The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring gifts the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer a present; yea, all kings shall bow themselves down unto Him (Ps. 72:10, 11).

This is said concerning the Lord, His kingdom, and the celestial church. Any one may see that here by "gifts" and "a present" are signified worships; but what these worships were, and of what quality, cannot be known unless it be understood what is meant by "Tarshish and the isles", and by "Sheba and Seba". It has been shown already that by "Tarshish and the isles" are meant external worships that correspond to internal. From this it follows that by" Sheba and Seba" are meant internal worships, namely, by " Sheba" celestial things of worship, and by " Seba" spiritual things of worship.

[2] In Isaiah: -

I have given Egypt for thy ransom, Cush and Seba for thee (Isaiah 43:3).

"Cush and Seba" denote here the spiritual things of faith. In the same: -

The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Cush, and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee (Isaiah 45:14).

"The labor of Egypt" denotes the memory-knowledge, and "the merchandise of Cush and of the Sabeans", the knowledges of spiritual things, which are of service to those who believe in the Lord.

[3] In the same: -

The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah all they from Sheba shall come they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah. All the flocks of Arabia shall be gathered together unto thee (Isa. 60:6, 7).

By " Sheba" are here meant celestial things and the derivative spiritual ones, which are "gold and frankincense;" and it is explained that these are "the praises of Jehovah", that is, they are internal worship.

[4] In Ezekiel: -

The traders of Sheba and Raamah, these were thy traders in the chief of every spice, and in every precious stone, and they gave gold for thine aids (Ezekiel 27:22, 23)

This is said of Tyre. What is signified here by "Sheba and Raamah" is evident from their merchandise, which is said to be spice, the precious stone, and gold. " Spice" in the internal sense is charity; "the precious stone" is faith from charity; and "gold" is love to the Lord, all which are celestial things signified by "Sheba". Properly the knowledges of such things are "Sheba" (and therefore they are here called "merchandise"), wherewith all who are becoming men of the church are imbued; for no one can become a man of the church without knowledges.

[5] Similar things were represented by the queen of Sheba, who came to Solomon and brought him spices, gold, and precious stones (1 Kings 10:1-3); and also by the wise men from the east who came to Jesus when He was born, and fell down and worshiped Him, and opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh (Matt. 2:1, 11), by which was signified good, celestial, spiritual, and natural. In Jeremiah: -

To what purpose cometh there to Me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet calamus from a far country? your offerings are not acceptable (Jeremiah 6:20).

Here too it is evident that by " Sheba" are signified knowledges and adorations, which are "incense" and "calamus;" but in this instance such as are devoid of charity, which are not grateful.

1172. That by "Dedan" are signified the knowledges of the lower celestial things that are in rituals, is evident from the following passages in the Word. In Ezekiel: -

The sons of Dedan were thy traders; many isles were the mart of thy hand; they brought thee for a present horns of ivory, and ebony (Ezekiel 27:15).

"Horns of ivory, and ebony" are in the internal sense exterior goods, which are of worship, or of rituals. In the same: -

Dedan was thy trader in garments of freedom for the chariot; Arabia and all the princes of Kedar (Ezekiel 27:20, 21).

Here in like manner "garments of freedom for the chariot" are exterior goods, or goods of rituals. In Jeremiah: -

Their wisdom is become stinking; flee ye, they have turned themselves away, they have let themselves down to dwell in the deep, O inhabitants of Dedan (Jeremiah 49:7, 8).

Here "Dedan" in the proper sense denotes rituals in which there is no internal worship or adoration of the Lord from the heart, of which it is said that they "turn themselves away and let themselves down to dwell in the deep". From these passages it is now evident that knowledges of spiritual things are signified by "the sons of Cush;" and knowledges of celestial things by "the sons of Raamah".

1173. Verses 8, 9. And Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was mighty in hunting before Jehovah; wherefore it was said, As Nimrod mighty in hunting before Jehovah. By "Cush" are signified here as before, interior knowledges of things spiritual and celestial; by "Nimrod" are signified those who made internal worship external; thus by "Nimrod" is signified such external worship. "Cush begat Nimrod", means that they who had knowledges of interior things instituted such worship. He was "a mighty one in the earth", signifies that such a religion prevailed in the church, "the earth" being the church, as before. "He was mighty in hunting before Jehovah", signifies that he persuaded many; "wherefore it was said, As Nimrod mighty in hunting before Jehovah", signifies that because so many were persuaded, such a form of speech became proverbial; and further, it signifies that such a religion easily captivates the minds of men.

1174. That by "Cush" are signified interior knowledges of spiritual and celestial things, is evident from what has been said and shown before concerning Cush.

1175. That by "Nimrod" are signified those who made internal worship external, and that "Nimrod" thus signifies such external worship, may be seen from what follows. It must be here stated, beforehand, what is meant by making internal worship external. It was said and shown above that internal worship, which is from love and charity, is worship itself; and that external worship without this internal worship is no worship. To make internal worship external is to make external worship essential, rather than internal, which is the reverse of the former, being as if it was said that internal worship without external is no worship, while the truth is that external worship without internal is no worship. Such is the religion of those who separate faith from charity, in that they set the things which are of faith before those which are of charity, or the things which are of the knowledges of faith before those which are of the life, thus formal things before essential ones. All external worship is a formality of internal worship, for internal worship is the very essential; and to make worship consist of that which is formal, without that which is essential, is to make internal worship external. As for example, to hold that if one should live where there is no church, no preaching, no sacraments, no priesthood, he could not be saved, or could have no worship; when yet he can worship the Lord from what is internal. But it does not follow from this that there ought not to be external worship.

[2] To make the matter yet more clear, take as a further example the setting up as the essential itself of worship the frequenting of churches, going to the sacraments, hearing sermons, praying, observing feasts, and many other things which are external and ceremonial, while, talking about faith, men persuade themselves that these are sufficient - all of which are formal things of worship. It is quite true that those who make worship from love and charity the essential, act in the same way, that is, they frequent churches, go to the sacraments, hear sermons, pray, observe feasts, and the like, and this very earnestly and diligently; but they do not make the essential of worship consist in these things. In the external worship of these men there is what is holy and living, because there is internal worship in it; but in the external worship of those referred to before there is not what is holy and not what is living. For the very essential itself is what sanctifies and vivifies the formal or ceremonial; but faith separated from charity cannot sanctify and vivify worship, because the essence and life are absent. Such worship is called "Nimrod;" and it is born of the knowledges which are "Cush", as these are born from faith separated from charity, which faith is "Ham". From "Ham", or faith separated, through the knowledges which belong to faith separated, no other worship can possibly be born. These are the things that are signified by "Nimrod".

1176. Cush begat Nimrod. That this signifies that they who had knowledges of interior things instituted such worship, is evident from what has just been said. Knowledges of interior things are what they call doctrinals, which they also distinguish from rituals. For example, their chief doctrinal is that faith alone saves; but they do not know that love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor are faith itself; and that the knowledges which they call faith exist for no other end than that by means of them men may receive from the Lord love to Him and love toward the neighbor; and that this is the faith which saves. It is those who make faith consist in knowledges alone, who beget and institute such worship as is spoken of above.

1177. He was a mighty one in the earth. That this signifies that such a religion prevailed in the church, may be seen from what presently follows. That the " earth" is the church has been shown before (n. 620, 636, 662).

1178. He was mighty in hunting before Jehovah. That this signifies that he persuaded many, is evident from its being so with faith separated from charity; and also from the signification of "hunting" in the Word. Faith separated from charity is of such a nature that men are easily persuaded. The greater part of mankind do not know what internal things are, but only external things; and most men abide in things of sense, in pleasures and in cupidities, and have in view themselves and the world; and therefore they are easily captivated by such a religion. From the signification of "hunting:" in the Word "hunting" signifies in general persuading; specifically, captivating the minds of men by favoring their sensuous inclinations, pleasures, and cupidities, by using doctrinals which they explain at their own pleasure in accordance with their temper and that of the other, and with a view to their own self-exaltation and enrichment, - thus by persuading.

[2] As is made evident in Ezekiel: -

Woe to them that sew cushions upon all the joints of My hands, and that make veils upon the head, of every stature, to hunt souls. Do ye hunt souls for My people, and make souls alive for yourselves? And ye have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to make the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to My people that listen unto a lie. behold, I am against your cushions wherewith ye there hunt souls to make them By, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls go, the souls that ye hunt to make them fly, and your veils also will I tear, and deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your land, to be hunted (Ezekiel 13:18-21).

What is meant by "hunting" is here explained, that it is captivating by persuasions, and by knowledges which they pervert, and interpret in favor of themselves, and in accommodation to the temper of another.

[3] In Micah: -

The merciful man is perished out of the earth, and there is none up right among man; they all lie in wait for bloods they hunt every man his brother with a net, when they do evil with the hands instead of doing good, the prince asketh and judgeth for the sake of reward, and the great man, he uttereth the perversity of his soul, and they wrest it (Micah 7:2, 3).

Here likewise what is meant by "hunting" is explained, that it is to lie in wait for the sake of self, or to call the false true, and utter perversity, and distort, and thereby to persuade. In David: -

A man of tongue shall not be established in the earth; evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him (Ps. 140:11).

This is said of the wicked who persuade by means of falsities, think evilly and talk blandly for the purpose of deceiving; "tongue" here denotes falsehood.

1179. Wherefore it was said, As Nimrod mighty in hunting before Jehovah. That this signifies that, because so many were persuaded, such a form of speech became proverbial and that it further signifies that such a religion easily captivates the minds of men, may be seen from all that has been said, and from the very sense of the letter. Moreover, as in ancient times they gave names to actual things, they gave this name to this worship, saying that "Nimrod" - that is, this worship "was mighty in hunting", that is, was one that captivates the minds of men. It is said "before Jehovah", because they who were in such worship called faith separated "Jehovah", or "the man Jehovah", as is evident from what has been said before (n. 340) concerning Cain, by whom in like manner there is signified faith separated from charity. But the difference between "Cain" and "Ham" is that the former was in the celestial church which had perception, and the latter in the spiritual church which had no perception; and therefore the former was more heinous than the latter. In ancient times such were called "mighty", as in Isaiah: -

All the glory of Kedar shall be consumed, and the residue of the number, the bows of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar shall be diminished (Isaiah 21:16, 17).

And in Hosea: -

Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity, ye have eaten the fruit of a lie, for thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men (Hosea 10:13)

and in other places. They called themselves "men (viri)", and " mighty", from faith; for there is a term in the original language which expresses the idea of might and at the same time of a man (vir), which term in the Word is predicated of faith, and that in both senses.

1180. Verse 10. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. "The beginning of his kingdom", signifies that thus such worship began; "Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar", signify that there were such worships in that region; and at the same time they signify the worships themselves, the externals of which appear holy, but the interiors are profane.

1181. The beginning of his kingdom. That this signifies that thus such worship began, is evident from the signification of "Babel in the land of Shinar", of which hereafter.

1182. Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. That these signify that such worships were in that region, and that at the same time they signify the worships themselves, the externals of which appear holy while the interiors are profane, is evident from the signification of "Babel", and of "the land of Shinar". Babel is much treated of in the Word, and everywhere such worship is signified by it, that is to say that the externals appear holy while the interiors are profane. But as the following chapter treats of Babel, it will be shown there that such things are signified by Babel; and that in the beginning such worship was not so profane as it became afterwards. For the quality of external worship is precisely in accordance with the interiors; the more innocent the interiors are, the more innocent is the external worship; but the more foul the interiors are, the more foul is the external worship; and the more profane the interiors are, the more profane is the external worship. In a word, the more of the love of the world and of self there is in a man who is in this external worship, the less there is that is living and holy in his worship; the more hatred toward the neighbor there is in his love of himself and of the world, the more profanity there is in his worship; the more malice in his hatred, the more still of profanity there is in his worship; and the more deceit in his malice, the more profanity yet is there in his worship. Those loves and these evils are the interiors of the external worship which is signified by "Babel", concerning which in the following chapter.

1183. What is signified in particular by "Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar", cannot so well be seen, because they are not mentioned in other parts of the Word, except Calneh in (Amos 6:2) but they are varieties of such worship. But as regards the land of Shinar in which these worships were, that external worship wherein is what is profane is signified by it in the Word is evident from its signification in the following chapter (Apoc. 11:2; Zechariah 5:11), and especially in Daniel, where these words occur: -

The Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, with part of the vessels of the house of God, and he carried them into the land of Shinar, into the house of his god and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god (Daniel 1:2),

by which is signified that holy things were profaned: "the vessels of the house of God", are holy things; "the house of the god of Babel, in the land of Shinar", is profane things, into which the holy things were brought. Although these incidents are historical, yet they involve these arcana, as do all the historical facts of the Word. The same is further evident from the profanation of the same vessels (Dan. 5:3-5). If sacred things had not been represented by them, no such events would have taken place.

1184. Verses 11, 12. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and built Nineveh, and the city of Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah; this is that great city. "Out of that land went forth Asshur", signifies that they who were in such external worship began to reason about the internals of worship; "Asshur" denotes reasoning; "and built Nineveh, and the city of Rehoboth, and Calah", signifies that thereby they formed doctrinals of faith for themselves; by "Nineveh" are signified the falsities of these doctrinals; by " Rehoboth and Calah", the same from another origin; "Resen, between Nineveh and Calah", signifies that they also formed for themselves doctrinals of life. By " Resen" are signified falsities of doctrinals thence derived; "Nineveh" is falsity from reasonings " Calah" is falsity from cupidities; "between Nineveh and Calah", is falsity from both; "this is that great city", signifies doctrinals, that these increased and prevailed.

1185. Out of that land went forth Asshur. That this signifies that they who were in such external worship began to reason about the internals of worship, may be seen from the signification of "Asshur" in the Word, as being reason and reasoning, concerning which in what presently follows. There is a twofold meaning in these words, namely, that Asshur went forth out of that land, and that Nimrod went forth from that land into Asshur, or Assyria. It is so expressed because both are signified, namely, that reasoning concerning spiritual and celestial things arises from such worship - which is that Asshur went forth out of the land of Shinar - and that such worship reasons about spiritual and celestial things - which is that Nimrod went forth from that land into Asshur, or Assyria.

1186. That "Asshur" is reasoning, is evident from the signification of Asshur or Assyria in the Word, where it is constantly taken for the things which pertain to reason, in both senses; namely, for what is of reason, and for reasonings. By reason and rational things are properly meant things that are true; and by reasoning and reasonings, those which are false. Because "Asshur" signifies reason and reasoning, it is very frequently connected with "Egypt", which signifies memory-knowledges; for reason and reasoning are from such knowledges. That "Asshur" signifies reasoning is evident in Isaiah: -

Woe unto Asshur, the rod of Mine anger, he thinketh not right, neither doth his heart meditate right, he hath said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, because I am intelligent (Isaiah 10:6, 7, 13),

where "Asshur" denotes reasoning, of whom it is therefore predicated that he neither thinketh nor doth meditate right; and it is said, "by his own wisdom, because he is intelligent".

[2] In Ezekiel: -

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom In Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth. The one committed whoredom, and doted on her lovers, on Asshur (the Assyrians) her neighbors, who were clothed in blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. The sons of Babel came to her, and they defiled her with their whoredom (Ezekiel 23:2, 3, 5, 6, 17).

Here "Egypt" denotes memory-knowledges; "Asshur", reasoning; and "the sons of Babel", falsities from cupidities.

[3] In the same: -

O Jerusalem, thou hast also committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, thou hast committed whoredom also with the sons of Asshur, and thou hast multiplied thy whoredom even into the land of Canaan unto Chaldea (Ezek. 16:26, 28, 29),

where "Egypt" in like manner denotes memory-knowledges;"Asshur", reasoning. Reasoning from memory-knowledges concerning spiritual and celestial things is called "whoredom", both here and elsewhere in the Word. That whoredom with the Egyptians and the Assyrians is not meant, any one can see.

[4] In Jeremiah: -

Israel, what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? and what hast thou to do with the way of Asshur, to drink the waters of the river (Euphrates)? (Jer. 2:18, 36).

Here likewise " Egypt" denotes memory-knowledges; and "Asshur", reasoning. In the same: -

Israel is a scattered sheep, the lions have driven him away, first the king of Asshur hath devoured him, and after that this king of Babel hath broken his bones (Jer. 50:17, 18).

"Asshur" here is reasoning concerning spiritual things.

[5] In Micah: -

This shall be the peace, when Asshur shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, we will even set over him seven shepherds, and eight princes of men, and they shall feed down the land of Asshur with the sword, and the land of Nimrod, In the gates thereof, and he shall deliver from Asshur, when he shall come into our land, and when he shall tread upon our border (Micah 5:6, 6).

The subject here is Israel, or the spiritual church, of which it is said that "Asshur shall not enter in", that is, that reasoning shall not; "the land of Nimrod" denotes such worship as is signified by Nimrod, in which the interiors are evil and false.

[6] That " Asshur" in the Word is also reason, which is in the man of the church, whereby he discerns truth and good, is evident in Hosea: -

They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Asshur (Hosea 11:11).

"Egypt" here denotes the memory-knowledge of the man of the church; and "Asshur", his reason. That a "bird" is the intellectual of the memory (scientificum intellectuale), and "a dove" rational good, has been shown before.

[7] In Isaiah: -

In that day shall there be a path from Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur shall come into Egypt, and Egypt into Asshur, and the Egyptians shall serve Asshur. In that day shall Israel he the third with Egypt and with Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the land, which Jehovah Zebaoth shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance (Isaiah 19:23-25).

The subject here is the spiritual church, which is "Israel", whose reason is "Asshur", and memory-knowledge "Egypt". These three constitute the intellectual things of the man of the spiritual church, which follow one another in this order. In other places also where Asshur is named, it signifies the rational, either true or false, as in (Isaiah 20:1-6; 23:13; 27:13; 30:31; 31:8; 36:1-22; 37:1-38; 52:4; Ezek. 27:23, 24; 31:3-18; 32:22; Micah 7:12; Zeph. 2:13; Zech. 10:11; Ps. 83:8). "Asshur" denotes reasoning in (Hosea 5:13; 7:11; 10:6; 11:5; 12:1; 14:3; Zechariah 10:10), where Ephraim is spoken of, by whom is signified the intellectual, but here, perverted.

1187. He built Nineveh, and the city of Rehoboth, and Calah. That this signifies that they thus formed doctrinals of faith for themselves, is evident from the signification of Nineveh, and Rehoboth, and Calah (concerning which in what immediately follows), and from the signification of a "city", in the Word, as being doctrine, either true or heretical (n. 402).

1188. That falsities of doctrine are signified by "Nineveh", and such things also from another origin by "Rehoboth and Calah", is evident from the signification of Nineveh in the Word, concerning which presently. Falsities of this kind are from three origins. The first is from the fallacies of the senses in the obscurity of an unenlightened understanding, and from ignorance; hence comes the falsity which is "Nineveh". The second origin is from the same cause, but with a predominant cupidity, such as that for innovation, or for pre-eminence: the falsities from this origin are "Rehoboth". The third origin is from the will and thus from cupidities, in that men are unwilling to acknowledge anything as truth that does not favor their cupidities; hence come the falsities which are called "Calah". All these falsities arise through Asshur, or reasonings concerning the truths and goods of faith.

[2] That "Nineveh" signifies falsities from the fallacies of the senses in the obscurity of an unenlightened understanding, and from ignorance, is evident in Jonah, who was sent to Nineveh, which city was pardoned because they were such, and from the particulars in Jonah concerning Nineveh, of which by the Divine mercy of the Lord in another place. The particulars there are historical, and yet prophetical, involving and representing such arcana, as do all the other historicals of the Word.

[3] Likewise in Isaiah, where it is said of the king of Asshur that he remained in Nineveh, and that when he bowed himself in the house of Nisroch his god, his sons slew him with the sword (Isaiah 37:37, 38). Although these things are historical, yet they are prophetical, involving and representing similar arcana; and here by "Nineveh" is signified external worship in which there are falsities and because this was idolatrous he was slain by his sons with the sword. " Sons" are falsities, as has been shown before; "the sword" is the punishment of falsity, as everywhere in the Word.

[4] In Zephaniah also: -

Jehovah will stretch forth His hand upon the north, and will destroy Asshur, and will make Nineveh a desolation, a dryness like the wilderness. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, every wild beast of his kind, the cormorant and the bittern also shall pass the night in the pomegranates thereof, a voice shall sing in the windows, wasteness upon the threshold, for he hath laid bare its cedar (Zephaniah 2:13, 14).

Nineveh is here described, but in the prophetic style, and the falsity itself which is signified by Nineveh. This falsity, because it is worshiped, is called "the north, the wild beast of his kind, the cormorant and the bittern in the pomegranates", and is described by "a voice singing in the windows", and by "laying bare the cedar", which is intellectual truth. All these expressions are significative of such falsity.

1189. That falsities originating from cupidities are signified by "Calah", cannot be confirmed from the prophetical, but only from the historical parts of the Word, in that the king of Asshur carried the sons of Israel into Asshur, or Assyria, and made them dwell in Calah, and in Habor, by the river Gozan, and in the cities of Media (2 Kings 17:6; 18:11). The historical facts here involve nothing else, for, as was said before, all the historicals of the Word are significative and representative. Thus "Israel" here is the perverted spiritual church; "Asshur" is reasoning; and "Calah" is such falsity.

1190. And Resen, between Nineveh and Calah. That this signifies that they also formed for themselves doctrinals of life; and that the false doctrinals thence derived are signified by "Resen", may be seen from what has just been shown respecting Nineveh and Calah; and also from the connection, in that in the preceding verse falsities of doctrine, and here falsities of life are treated of. For such is the style of the Word, especially the prophetical style, that when it treats of things of the understanding it treats also of those of the will. In the preceding verse things of the understanding, or falsities of doctrine, are treated of; but here falsities of life, which are signified by "Resen". As no further mention is made of Resen in the Word, this cannot so well be confirmed, except from the fact of Resen's being built between Nineveh and Calah, that is, between falsity from reasonings and falsity from cupidities, which produces falsity of life; and from its being called the "great city", because it is from falsities both of the understanding and of the will.

1191. This is that great city. That this signifies doctrinals, and that these increased and prevailed, is evident from the signification of a "city", as being a true doctrinal, or a false doctrinal (n. 402). And it is called the "great city" because all falsity of doctrine, and of the worship therefrom, is derived into falsity of life.

1192. In (verse 10), just above, the evils in worship, signified by "Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar", were treated of; in these two verses the falsities in worship, signified by "Nineveh, Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen", are treated of. Falsities belong to principles from reasonings; evils to cupidities from the love of the world and of self.

1193. Verses 13, 14. And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, from whom went forth the Philistines, and Caphtorim. "Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim", signifies so many nations, by which so many kinds of rituals are signified; "Mizraim" is memory-knowledge; "Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, and Naphtuhim" are so many rituals which are mere matters of memory-knowledge (scientifica); "Pathrusim and Casluhim" are nations so called, by which are signified the doctrinals of rituals from a similar origin, which were only matters of memory-knowledge; "from whom went forth the Philistines", signifies a nation thence derived, by which is signified the mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith and charity. Its being said that they "went forth" signifies that with them knowledges are mere memory-knowledges.

1194. Mizraim begat Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, and Naphtuhim. That these signify so many nations, by which so many rituals are signified, may be seen from what was shown above respecting Mizraim or Egypt (verse 6), namely, that "Egypt" signifies memory-knowledge or matters of memory (scientiam seu scientifica). They who are said to be begotten thereof could be no other or nothing else than rituals, and in fact rituals of external worship. For the Word of the Lord in its bosom and recess, that is, in its internal sense, never treats of other things than those which belong to His kingdom, and thus to the church; so that here the things that were born from memory-knowledges by reasonings are nothing else than rituals.

1195. That "Mizraim" or "Egypt" is memory-knowledge, was shown at verse 6 of this chapter. That "Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, and Naphtuhim" are so many rituals which are merely memory-knowledges, is evident from what has just been stated. Those are said to have rituals which are merely memory-knowledges, who explore spiritual and celestial things by means of reasonings, and thereby devise a worship for themselves. The rituals of this worship, being from reasonings and memory-knowledges, are called rituals of memory-knowledge (ritualia scientifica), wherein there was nothing spiritual and celestial, because they were from themselves. Hence came the idols of Egypt, and its magic. And because their rituals were from this origin, they totally rejected, nay, loathed and hated, the rites of the Ancient Church, as is evident from what is said in (Gen. 43:32; 46:34; Exod. 8:22). Because these things are signified, they are said to be begotten of Mizraim, or of Egypt, that is, of memory-knowledges; and as their memory-knowledges were diverse, the derivative rituals also became different. These diversities, in general, are signified by so many nations. That such things are meant by the Ludim, or Lydians, appears in Jeremiah: -

Egypt riseth up like the river, and like the rivers the waters are troubled; and he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. Come up, ye horses, and rage, ye chariot, and let the mighty come forth, Cush and Put, that handle the shield, and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow (Jeremiah 46:8, 9).

The "rivers of Egypt" here are diverse memory-knowledges which are false; "to go up and cover the earth" is to enter into the things that pertain to the church or to faith by means of memory-knowledges; "to destroy the city" is to destroy truths; "Cush and Put" are knowledges; "the Lydians" are the rituals of memory-knowledge spoken of above; "to handle and bend the bow" is to reason.

1196. That "the Pathrusim and Casluhim" are nations so called, and that they signify doctrinals of rituals from a similar origin, which were only matters of memory-knowledge, is evident from what has been stated; and from their following in this manner in the series. Concerning the Pathrusim see in (Isa. 11:11, 12; Ezek. 29:13-15; 30:13, 14; Jer. 44:1, 15).

1197. From whom went forth the Pelistim (Philistines). That this signifies a nation thence derived, and that by this nation is signified a mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith and charity, is evident from the Word, where the Philistines are frequently mentioned. In the Ancient Church all those were called Philistines who talked much about faith, and declared that salvation is in faith, and yet had no life of faith. Therefore they pre-eminently were called "the uncircumcised", which means those who are devoid of charity. That they were called "the uncircumcised" may be seen in (1 Sam. 14:6; 17:26, 36; 31:4; 2 Sam. 1:20). Because they were such, they could not but make the knowledges of faith matters of memory; for the knowledges of spiritual and celestial things and the very mysteries of faith themselves become nothing but matters of memory, when the man who is skilled in them is devoid of charity. The things of the memory are like things dead unless the man is such that from conscience he lives according to them. When he does this, then at the same time as they are things of memory they are also things of life; and only then do they remain with him for his use and salvation after the life of the body. Knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones) are nothing to a man in the other life, even though he may have known all the arcana that have ever been revealed, unless they have affected his life.

[2] Such are everywhere signified by "Philistines" in the prophetical parts of the Word, and also in the historical, as for example, when Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines, and made a covenant with Abimelech, the king of the Philistines (Gen. 20:1-18; 21:22-34; 26:1-34). As the knowledges of faith are here signified by the Philistines, Abraham, because he represented the celestial things of faith, sojourned there, and entered into a covenant with them; and likewise Isaac, by whom were represented the spiritual things of faith; but not jacob, because by him the externals of the church were represented.

[3] That the "Philistines" signify in general a mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith, and specifically those who make faith and salvation consist in knowledges alone, which they make matters of memory, may be seen in Isaiah: -

Rejoice not thou whole Philistia, because the rod that smote thee is broken; for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, and his fruit shall be like a fiery flying serpent (Isaiah 14:29).

Here "the root of the serpent" denotes memory-knowledges; "the basilisk", evil from the derivative falsity; and "the fruit a fiery flying serpent", is their works, which are called "a fiery flying serpent" because they come of cupidities.

[4] In Joel: -

What are ye to Me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the borders of Philistia? Will ye render a recompense upon Me? very speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head. Inasmuch as ye have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried into your temples My desirable good things; the sons also of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the sons of the Javanites, that ye might cause them to remove far from their border (Joel 3:4-6).

Here it is evident what is meant by the Philistines, and by "all Philistia", or all "the borders" of it. "Silver and gold" here are the spiritual and celestial things of faith; "desirable good things" are the knowledges of them. That they "carried them into their temples", is that they possessed and proclaimed them; and that they "sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem", signifies that they had no love and no faith; "Judah" in the Word is the celestial of faith, and "Jerusalem" is the spiritual of faith thence derived, which were "removed far from their borders". So also in other places in the Prophets, as in (Jer. 25:20, 47:1-7; Ezek. 16:27, 57; 25:15, 16; Amos 1:8; Obad. 1:19; Zeph. 2:5; Ps. 83:7; 87:4). And concerning the Caphtorim in (Deut. 2:23; Jer. 47:4; Amos 9:7).

1198. That they "went forth" signifies that with them knowledges are mere memory-knowledges, is evident from what has been stated. They are not said to have been "begotten" by those who were of Egypt, but to have "gone forth" from them, because they are not such as reason from natural memory-knowledges concerning spiritual and celestial things, and thereby frame doctrinals for themselves-like those treated of before-but they are such as learn the knowledges of faith from others, and know and retain them in the memory, with no other end in view than such as they have in learning other things which they care nothing about except merely to know them, and except for the reason that they may thereby be advanced to honors, or some other such reason. So distinct is this mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith from the memory-knowledge of natural things, that they have scarcely anything in common; and therefore it is said, not that they were "born", but that they "went forth" from them. Such being the character of the "Philistines", they cannot but pervert even the knowledges of faith by reasonings from them, and thence form for themselves false doctrinals and therefore they are among those who can with difficulty be regenerated and receive charity, both because they are uncircumcised in heart, and because principles of falsity, and consequently the life of their understanding, prevent and oppose.

1199. Verse 15. And Canaan begat Zidon, his firstborn, and Heth. "Canaan", here as before, signifies external worship in which there is nothing internal. "Zidon" signifies the exterior knowledges of spiritual things; and because they are the first things of such external worship, it is said that Zidon was "the firstborn of Canaan;" "Heth" signifies the exterior knowledges of celestial things.

1200. That "Canaan" signifies external worship in which there is nothing internal, was shown before where Canaan was treated of. The external worship which is called "Canaan" is such as was that of the Jews, both before and after the coming of the Lord. They had an external worship which they strictly observed, but yet were so ignorant of what is internal that they supposed that they lived only with the body. Of the nature of the soul, of faith, of the Lord, of spiritual and celestial life, of the life after death, they were entirely ignorant. And therefore in the time of the Lord very many of them denied the resurrection-as is evident in (Matthew 22:22-33; Mark 12:18-28; Luke 20:27-41). When a man is such that he does not believe that he will live after death, he also disbelieves that there is anything internal which is spiritual and celestial; and such are they who live in mere cupidities, because they live a mere life of the body and of the world; especially those who are immersed in loathsome avarice. They nevertheless have worship, attend their synagogues, or their churches, and observe the ceremonies, some very strictly; but as they do not believe that there is a life after death, their worship cannot be other than external worship wherein is nothing internal-like a shell without a kernel, or a tree whereon is no fruit, and not even leaves. It is such external worship that is signified by "Canaan". The other kinds of external worship, treated of above, were worships that had internal things within.

1201. That "Zidon" signifies exterior knowledges of spiritual things, is evident from the fact that it is called the "firstborn of Canaan;" for the firstborn of every church, in the internal sense, is faith (n. 352, 367). But here, where there is no faith, because no internal things, there are nothing but exterior knowledges of spiritual things which are in the place of faith; thus knowledges such as existed among the Jews, which are knowledges not only of the rites of external worship, but also of many things, such as doctrinals, which belong to that worship. That this is the signification of "Zidon" is also evident from the fact that Tyre and Zidon were extreme borders of Philistia, and were moreover by the sea; and therefore by "Tyre" interior knowledges are signified, and by "Zidon" exterior knowledges, that is, of spiritual things-which is also evident from the Word. In Jeremiah: -

On the day that cometh to lay waste all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Zidon every helper that remaineth; for Jehovah will lay waste the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor (Jer. 47:4).

Here "the Philistines" denote the mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith and charity; "Tyre" denotes the interior knowledges, and "Zidon" the exterior knowledges, of spiritual things.

[2] In Joel: -

What are ye to Me, O Tyre and Zidon, and all the borders of Philistia? Forasmuch as ye have taken My silver and gold, and have carried into your temples My desirable good things (Jer. 3:4, 5).

Here "Tyre and Zidon" evidently denote knowledges, and are called "the borders of Philistia;" "silver and gold", and "desirable good things", are knowledges. In Ezekiel: -

The princes of the north, all of them, and every Zidonian who has gone down with the slain into the pit. When he has been made to lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain with the sword; Pharaoh and all his crowd (Ezekiel 32:30, 32).

"The Zidonians" here denote exterior knowledges, which without internal things are nothing but memory-knowledges and therefore they are named in connection with Pharaoh, or Egypt, by whom memory-knowledges are signified. In Zechariah: -

Hamath also shall be bordered thereon; Tyre and Zidon, because she was very wise (Zechariah 9:2).

The subject here is Damascus; "Tyre and Zidon" denote knowledges.

[3] In Ezekiel: -

The inhabitants of Zidon and of Arvad were thy rowers; thy wise men, O Tyre, were in thee, they were thy pilots (Ezekiel 27:8).

Here "Tyre" denotes interior knowledges; wherefore her wise men are called "pilots;" and "Zidon" denotes exterior knowledges, and therefore her inhabitants are called " rowers;" for such is the relation of interior knowledges to exterior. In Isaiah: -

Let the inhabitants of the isle be silent, the merchant of Zidon, that passes over the sea, they have replenished thee. And in great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river was her revenue, and she was the mart of nations. Be ashamed, O Zidon for the sea hath spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, nor have I brought up young men, nor caused virgins to grow up (Isaiah 23:2-4)

"Zidon" here denotes exterior knowledges, which, because there is nothing internal in them, are called "the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river her revenue, the mart of the nations", and also "the sea", and "the stronghold of the sea;" and it is said that she doth not "travail and bring forth"-which could not be comprehended in the literal sense, but is all perfectly clear in the internal sense; as is the case with other passages in the Prophets. Because "Zidon" signifies exterior knowledges, it is said to be "a circuit about Israel", that is, around the spiritual church (Ezek. 28:24, 26); for exterior knowledges are like a circuit round about.

1202. That Zidon is called "the firstborn of Canaan" because these knowledges are the foremost things of such external worship, wherein is no internal worship, has just been explained, in the preceding paragraph.

1203. That "Heth" signifies exterior knowledges of celestial things is consequently evident. It is customary in the Prophets for spiritual and celestial things to be joined together, that is, where spiritual things are treated of, celestial things are also treated of; for the reason that the one is from the other, and there is a certain want of perfection if they are not conjoined; so that there is an image of the heavenly marriage in each and all things of the Word. It is also evident from this, as well as from the Word in other places, that by "Zidon" are signified exterior knowledges of spiritual things, and by "Heth" exterior knowledges of celestial things, in both senses-that is to say, without internal things, and with internal things-and also simply exterior knowledges. Spiritual things, as has often been said before, are those which are of faith; and celestial things are those which are of love; and again, spiritual things are those which are of the understanding, and celestial things are those which are of the will. That "Heth" signifies exterior knowledges without internal, is evident in Ezekiel: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih unto Jerusalem, Thy tradings and thy nativity are of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite. Thou art thy mother's daughter, that loatheth her man (vir) and her sons; and the sister of thy sisters, that loathed their husbands and their sons. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite (Ezekiel 16:3, 45).

Here external worship without internal is "Canaan;" to "loathe husbands and sons", is to reject goods and truths. Hence her mother is called "a Hittite". But "Heth" is also taken in the Word for exterior knowledges of celestial things in a good sense, as are nearly all names of countries, cities, nations, and persons, for a reason already explained. Concerning this signification of "Heth", by the Divine mercy of the Lord hereafter. Knowledges of spiritual things are those which have regard to faith, consequently to doctrine; and knowledges of celestial things are those which have regard to love, and thus to life.

1204. Verses 16-18. And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. And afterwards were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. "The Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite" were so many nations, by which are signified also so many different idolatries. "And afterwards were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad", signifies that all other forms of idolatrous worship are derived from these.

1205. The Jebusite, Amorite, Girgashite, Hivite, Arkite, Sinite, Arvadite, Zemarite, and Hamathite, were so many nations, and they also signify so many different idolatries. That idolatries were signified by these nations, is evident from many places in the Word, for they were the inhabitants of the land of Canaan who on account of their idolatries were cast out, and in part extirpated. But in the internal sense of the Word these nations are not signified, but the idolatries themselves in general, with whomsoever and wheresoever they are; specifically, among the Jews. For they who make worship consist merely in externals, and are entirely unwilling to know internal things, and when instructed reject them, are very prone to all these idolatries, as is clearly manifest from the Jews. In internal worship alone is there a bond that withholds man from idolatry; and when this ceases, there is nothing that restrains. There are however interior idolatries, as well as external ones. They who have external worship without internal rush into external idolatries; they who have external worship whose interiors are unclean rush into interior idolatries and both these kinds of idolatries are signified by these nations. Interior idolatries are so many falsities and cupidities which men love and adore, and which are thus in place of the gods and idols that existed among the Gentiles. But what particular kinds of falsities and cupidities are those which are adored, and which are signified by these nations,-the Jebusite, Amorite, Girgashite, Hivite, Arkite, Sinite, Arvadite, Zemarite, and Hamathite,-it would take too long to explain here; but of the Lord's Divine mercy it will be told in the places where their names occur.

1206. Afterwards were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. That this signifies that all other forms of idolatrous worship are derived from these, is evident without explication.

1207. Verse 19. And the border of the Canaanite was from Zidon, in coming to Gerar, even unto Gaza, in coming to Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboiim even unto Lasha. By "Zidon", here as before, exterior knowledges are signified; by "Gerar" are signified the things that are revealed concerning faith; by "Gaza" the things that are revealed concerning charity; "the border of the Canaanites was from Zidon, in coming to Gerar, even unto Gaza", signifies the extension of knowledges to truth and good, with those who have external worship without internal; "in coming to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, even unto Lasha", signifies the falsities and evils in which they terminate.

1208. That by "Zidon" are signified exterior knowledges, is evident from what was shown above, at (verse 15).

1209. That by "Gerar" are signified the things that have been revealed concerning faith, and thus in general faith itself, is evident from the passages where Gerar is mentioned (Gen. 20:1; 26:1, 17), concerning which signification of " Gerar", of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

1210. That by "Gaza" are signified the things that have been revealed concerning charity, is evident from the fact that where spiritual things are treated of in the Word, celestial things also are treated of, conjointly (that is to say, when things of faith are treated of, so also are those of charity) and the same is also evident from the Word where "Gaza" is mentioned; and still further from the consideration that knowledges extend to faith, and even to charity, which is their furthest limit.

1211. The border of the Canaanites was from Zidon, in coming to Gerar, even unto Gaza. That this signifies the extension of knowledges with those who have external worship without internal, is evident from the signification of "Gerar" and of "Gaza". Thus far do the boundaries of all knowledges that relate to worship extend, whether that worship be external or internal; for all worship is from faith and charity. What is not from these is not worship, but is idolatry. As Canaan, that is, external worship and its derivations, is the subject here treated of, the boundaries and extensions meant are those not of worship, but of knowledges.

1212. In coming to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, even unto Lasha. That these signify the falsities and evils in which they terminate, can be seen from the signification of the same in the historical and prophetical parts of the Word. There are, in general, two origins of falsities; one is the cupidities that belong to the love of self and of the world; the other is knowledges (cognitiones et scientifica), through reasonings; and the falsities which thus originate, when they would domineer over truths, are signified by "Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim". That falsities and evils from them are the boundaries of external worship which is without internal, any one may see. In such worship there is nothing but what is dead; and therefore whichever way the man who is in such worship turns, he sinks into falsities. There is nothing internal that leads and keeps him in the way of truth, but only what is external, which carries him whithersoever cupidity and phantasy lead. As Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim are mentioned in both the historical and prophetical parts of the Word, what each specifically signifies, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be there explained.

1213. Verse 20. These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their tongues, in their lands, in their nations. "The sons of Ham" signify derivations of doctrinals and of worships from the corrupt internal worship which is "Ham;" "according to their families, according to their tongues, in their lands, in their nations", signifies according to the genius of each, in particular and in general; "according to their families", is according to their morals; "according to their tongues", is according to their opinions; "in their lands", is in general relatively to their opinions; "in their nations", is in general relatively to their morals.

1214. That "the sons of Ham" signify derivations of doctrinals and of worships from the corrupt internal worship which is "Ram", is evident from the signification of "sons", as being doctrinals; and from the signification of "Ham", as being corrupt internal worship; concerning which before.

1215. According to their families, according to their tongues, in their lands, in their nations. That this signifies according to the genius of each, in particular and in general, was explained above (verse 5), where the same words occur, but in another order. The subject there was the sons of Japheth, that "From these were dispersed the isles of the nations, in their lands, every one according to his tongue, according to their families, as to their nations", signified external worships in which there was internal. In that passage therefore the things that belong to doctrine take precedence; but here those which belong to morals, or to life.

1216. That "according to their families" is according to their morals; that "according to their tongues" is according to their opinions; that "in their lands" is in general relatively to their opinions; and that "in their nations" is in general relatively to their morals, can be seen from the signification of each term in the Word-that is, of "family", "tongue", "land", and "nation"- concerning which see what was said above, at (verse 5).

1217. Verse 21. And there was born to Shem also; he is the father of all the sons of Eber; the elder brother of Japheth. By "Shem" is here signified the Ancient Church in general; "there was born to Shem", signifies that a new church sprang from the Ancient Church; by "Eber" is signified this new church, which is to be called the Second Ancient Church; "he is the father of all the sons of Eber", signifies that this second Ancient Church, and what belonged to this church, sprang from the prior Ancient Church as from its father; "the elder brother of Japheth", signifies that its worship was external.

1218. That by "Shem" is here signified the Ancient Church in general, is evident from the fact that the subject here treated of is Eber, whom Shem now bears reference to; and from his being called in this verse " the elder brother of Japheth".

1219. That "there was born to Shem" here signifies that a new church sprang from the Ancient Church, is evident from the contents of this verse, which treat of Eber, by whom that new church is meant, of which hereafter.

1220. That by "Eber" a new church is signified, which is to be called the Second Ancient Church, is evident from what follows, where Eber is specifically treated of. Eber is mentioned here because that new church was from him. How the case was with Eber and with this second church, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be told hereafter.

1221. He is the father of all the sons of Eber. That this signifies that this second Ancient Church, and what belonged to this church, sprang from the prior Ancient Church, as from its father, will likewise be seen from what follows concerning Eber, and concerning this church; for Eber is treated of from (verses 24-30) of this chapter, and from (verse 11-32) of the following chapter.

1222. The elder brother of Japheth. That this signifies that its worship was external, is evident from the signification of "Japheth", as being the external church, concerning which in the preceding chapter, in the 18th and following verses; and above, in this chapter, (verses 1-5). Here " Shem, the elder brother of Japheth", signifies, specifically, that the internal church and the external church are brothers; for such is the relation of internal worship to external worship in which there is internal. It is a blood-relationship, for in each the principal is charity. But the internal church is the elder brother, because it is prior and interior. "The elder brother of Japheth" here involves also that the second Ancient Church, called "Eber", was as a brother to the first Ancient Church. For by "Japheth", in the internal sense, nothing else is signified than external worship in which there is internal, in whatever church; thus also the worship of this new Ancient Church, which was chiefly external. Such is the internal sense of the Word that the historicals of the literal sense are not attended to when universals, which are abstract from the literal sense, are regarded; for they look toward one another in a contrary manner. Hence "the elder brother of Japheth" here signifies, in the internal sense, the worship of the new Ancient Church, that it was external. Unless this were signified, it would be needless to say here that he was the elder brother of Japheth.

1223. Verse 22. The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram. By " Shem" is signified here as before, an internal church; by "the sons of Shem", the things that are of wisdom; "Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram" were so many nations, by which are signified things that are of wisdom,-by "Elam" faith from charity, by "Asshur" the derivative reason, by "Arpachshad" the derivative memory-knowledge, by "Lud" the knowledges of truth, by "Aram" the knowledges of good.

1224. From all this it is evident what these names signify in the internal sense, namely, that the Ancient Church, which was internal, was endowed with wisdom, intelligence, memory-knowledge, and the knowledges of truth and of good. Such things are contained in the internal sense, although here are only names from which nothing else appears in the literal sense than that there were so many origins or fathers of nations, thus nothing doctrinal, much less anything spiritual and celestial. Such is the case also in the Prophets, where, whenever a series of names occurs, which in the internal sense signify actual things, they follow one another in a beautiful order.

1225. That by " Shem" is signified an internal church, has been stated and shown in the preceding chapter, at the 18th and following verses.

1226. That by "the sons of Shem" are signified the things that are of wisdom, is evident merely from Shem's being an internal church, the sons of which are none other than things of wisdom. Everything is called wisdom that is begotten of charity, because it comes by means of charity from the Lord, from whom is all wisdom, for He is wisdom itself. Hence comes true intelligence, and hence comes true memory-know, edge, and hence comes true knowledge, which are all sons of charity, that is, sons of the Lord through charity. And because they are sons of the Lord through charity, wisdom is predicated of each of them, for wisdom is in each of them, and they draw their life from it, and this in such a manner that neither intelligence, nor memory-knowledge, nor knowledge, has life except from the wisdom which is of charity, which is of the Lord.

1227. That "Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram" were so many nations, is evident from the historical and prophetical parts of the Word where they are mentioned. And that they signify things that are of wisdom, is evident from what has been said just above, and from what follows. Among these nations there was an internal church; with others, who were called sons of Japheth, there was an external church; with those who were called sons of Ham there was a corrupted internal church; and with those who were sons of Canaan there was a corrupted external church. Whether it be said internal and external worship, or an internal and an external church, it is quite the same.

1228. That by "Elam" is signified faith from charity, is evident from the essence of an internal church. A church is internal when charity is the principal of it, from which it thinks and acts. The first offspring of charity is none other than faith; for faith is from it, and from no other source. That "Elam" is faith from charity, or the faith itself which constitutes an internal church, is evident also in Jeremiah: -

The Word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four ends of the heavens, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. And I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their soul; and I will bring evil upon them, My fierce anger, and I will send the sword after them till I have consumed them. And I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes. But it shall come to pass in the latter days that I will bring back the captivity of Elam (Jeremiah 49:34-39).

[2] In this passage "Elam" denotes faith, or what is the same thing, an internal church, become perverted and corrupt; and then the same restored. Just as in the Word, Judah, Israel, and Jacob, are frequently spoken of-by whom churches are signified-by "Judah" a celestial church, by "Israel" a spiritual church, by "Jacob" an external church; of which become perverted it is said in like manner that they should be scattered, and then, being scattered by their enemies, they should be gathered again and brought back from their captivity, by which is meant the creation of a new church. So here it is said of Elam, or the internal church perverted and corrupt, that it should be scattered, and afterwards that it should be brought back; and then that Jehovah should set His throne in Elam, that is in the internal church, or in the internals of the church, which are nothing else than the things of faith from charity.

[3] In Isaiah: -

The burden of the desert of the sea. It cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. A grievous vision is declared unto Me; the treacherous one dealeth treacherously: and the waster layeth waste. Go up, O Elam, besiege, O Madai; all the sighing thereof I will make to cease (Isaiah 21:1, 2).

Here the laying waste of the church by Babel is spoken of; "Elam" is the internal church; "Madai" is the external church, or external worship in which is internal. That Madai is such a church, or such worship, is shown at (verse 2) of this chapter, where Madai is said to be a son of Japheth.

1229. That by "Asshur" is signified reason, is evident from what was shown above, at (verse 11) of this chapter.

1230. That by "Arpachshad" is signified memory-knowledge, cannot be so well confirmed from the Word, but is evident from the series of things that precede and that follow.

1231. That by "Lud" are signified the knowledges of truth, is evident from the fact that the knowledges of truth are from that source, that is, from the Lord through charity, and thus through faith, by means of reason and of memory-knowledge. So also in Ezekiel: -

Persia and Lud and Put were in thine army, thy men of war; they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thine honor (Ezekiel 27:10).

This is said of Tyre. "Lud and Put" denote knowledges, which are said to be in her army and to be her men of war, because they serve in defending truths with the aid of reason. This also is to "hang the shield and helmet". That "Put" signifies the exterior knowledges of the Word, may be seen above, at (verse 6) of this chapter.

1232. That by "Aram", or Syria, are signified the knowledges of good, follows; and is seen also from the Word, as in Ezekiel: -

Aram was thy trader, in the multitude of thy works; in chrysoprase, crimson, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and carbuncle; they gave them in thy tradings (Ezekiel 27:16),

where Tyre is treated of, or the possession of knowledges; and "works, chrysoprase, crimson, broidered work, fine linen, coral, and carbuncle", here signify nothing else than the knowledges of good. In Hosea: -

Jacob fled into the field of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept guard; and by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he kept. Ephraim hath provoked to anger with bitternesses (Hosea 12:12-14).

"Jacob" here denotes the external church, and "Israel", the internal spiritual church; "Aram", the knowledges of good; "Egypt", memory-knowledge that perverts; "Ephraim", intelligence perverted. What these signify in series cannot be seen from the literal sense, but only from the internal sense, where names signify actual things of the church, as has been said. In Isaiah: -

Behold Damascus is rejected from being a city, and is become a ruinous heap. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Aram shall be as the glory of the sons of Israel (Isaiah 17:1, 3).

"The remnant of Aram" here denotes the knowledges of good, which are called "the glory of Israel". "Aram", or Syria, in the opposite sense, denotes the knowledges of good perverted; for it is a usual thing in the Word that the expressions are used in both senses (Isa. 7:4-6; 9:11, 12; Deut. 26:5).

1233. Verse 23. And the sons of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. "Aram" here, as before, signifies the knowledges of good; "the sons of Aram" are the derivative knowledges, and that which comes of these knowledges; "Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash", signify so many kinds of these knowledges.

1234. That "Aram" signifies the knowledges of good, has been shown just above. That "the sons of Aram" are the derivative knowledges, and the things which are of knowledges, follows. These derivative knowledges are natural truths; and the things which are of knowledges are the things done according to them. That these things are signified cannot be so well confirmed from the Word, because these are not among the names that are frequently mentioned. Only Uz is mentioned, in (Jeremiah 25:20; Lam. 4:21). It follows then that "Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash" signify so many kinds of these knowledges, and of deeds according thereto.

1235. Verse 24. And Arpachshad begat Shelah; and Shelah begat Eber. "Arpachshad" was a nation so called, by which is signified memory-knowledge; " Shelah" likewise was a nation so called, by which is signified that which is derived from this memory-knowledge; by "Eber" also a nation is signified, the father of which was Eber, one who was called by this name, by whom there is signified a second Ancient Church, which was separate from the former one.

1236. That "Arpachshad" was a nation so called, and that by it is signified memory-knowledge, is evident from what was said of it just above, at (verse 22).

1237. That "Shelah" likewise was a nation, and that by it is signified that which is derived from this memory-knowledge, follows, because it is said that "Arpachshad begat Shelah".

1238. That by "Eber" is signified a nation also, whose father was Eber, one who was called by this name, is to be understood in this way. Those mentioned hitherto were the nations among whom the Ancient Church existed, and were all called sons of Shem, of Ham, of Japheth, and of Canaan, because by Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Canaan are signified the various worships of the church. Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Canaan never existed as men; but because the Ancient Church specifically, and in general every church, is such that it is true internal, corrupt internal, true external, and corrupt external, therefore the above-mentioned names were given in order that all the differences in general might be referred to them and their sons, as to their heads. Moreover the nations here named originally had such worship; and therefore are called the sons of one of the sons of Noah. And for the same reason also, such worships themselves are signified by the names of these nations in the Word.

[2] This first Ancient Church, signified by Noah and his sons, was not confined to a few, but extended over many kingdoms, as is evident from the nations mentioned, namely, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Ethiopia, Arabia, Lybia, Egypt, Philistia as far as Tyre and Sidon, and the whole land of Canaan, on this side and beyond Jordan. But afterwards in Syria a kind of external worship began, which from thence spread itself widely around, over many countries, especially over Canaan, and which was different from the worship of the Ancient Church. And as something of a church thus arose that was separate from the Ancient Church, there sprang up thence as it were a new church, which may therefore be called the Second Ancient Church. The first institutor of this was Eber, and therefore this church is called after Eber. At that time, as has been said before, all were distinguished into households, families, and nations. Each nation acknowledged one father, from whom also it was named, as is seen in various places in the Word. Thus the nation which acknowledged Eber as its father was called the Hebrew nation.

1239. That by "Eber" is signified a second Ancient Church that was separate from the former, is evident from what has just been said.

1240. Verse 25. And unto Eber were born two sons; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. Eber was the first institutor of the second Ancient Church, and by him this church is signified; unto him "were born two sons", by whom are signified the two kinds of worship, namely, internal and external. His two sons were called "Peleg" and "Joktan;" by "Peleg" is signified the internal worship of that church, and by "Joktan" its external worship; "for in his days was the earth divided", signifies that a new church then arose, "the earth" here as before signifying the church; "his brother's name Was Joktan", signifies the external worship of that church.

1241. As to Eber being the first institutor of the second Ancient Church, by whom this church is signified, the case is this. The first Ancient Church, so widely spread as has been stated, especially through the Asiatic world, in process of time degenerated-as is usual with all churches everywhere-and was adulterated by innovators, as to both its external and its internal worship, and this in various places and especially by the fact that all things significative and representative which the Ancient Church had from the mouth of the Most Ancient Church- which all bore reference to the Lord and His Kingdom-were turned into things idolatrous, and by some of the nations into things magical. That the whole church might not go to ruin, it was permitted by the Lord that significative and representative worship should be somewhere reestablished, which was done by Eber. This worship consisted chiefly in externals. The externals of worship, in addition to the priestly offices and what pertained to them, were high places, groves, statues, anointings, and many other things called statutes. The internals of worship were doctrinal things handed down from the time before the flood, especially from those who were called "Enoch", who collected the perceptive findings of the Most Ancient Church, and made doctrinal things therefrom. These were their Word; and from these internals and those externals came the worship of this church, a worship set up anew by Eber, but added to, and also changed. Especially did they begin to exalt sacrifices above other rites. In the true Ancient Church sacrifices had been unknown, except among some of the descendants of Ham and Canaan, who were idolaters, and with whom they were permitted to prevent them from sacrificing their sons and daughters. From all this the quality of this second Ancient Church, instituted by Eber and continued among his posterity who were called the Hebrew nation, is manifest.

1242. That by the two sons of Eber, who were named Peleg and Joktan, the two kinds of worship of that church, internal and external, are signified-by Peleg the internal worship and by Joktan the external worship-is evident especially from this, that in the internal sense this second Ancient Church is signified by Eber and the Hebrew nation, and that in every church there is an internal and an external. For without the internal it is not and cannot be called a church, but an idolatry. Therefore, "sons" being here predicated of the church, it is evident that by one son the internal of the church is signified, and by the other the external; as in various other places in the Word; and as is signified by Adah and Zillah, the two wives of Lamech (n. 409); by Leah and Rachel; by Jacob and Israel, of whom hereafter; and by others. The posterity of Joktan is treated of in this chapter; that of Peleg in the following chapter.

1243. For in his days was the earth divided. That this signifies that a new church then arose, is now consequently evident; for by "the earth" nothing else than the church is signified, which has been clearly shown above (n. 662, 1066).

1244. And his brother's name was Joktan. That this signifies the external worship of that church, has been shown just above. That external worship is called a "brother" may be seen above, at (verse 21) of this chapter, where it is said of Shem that he was the elder brother of Japheth. This is why the name "brother" is here added.

1245. Verses 26-29. And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah. And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah. And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba. And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. These were so many nations of the family of Eber, by which are signified so many rituals.

1246. That these were so many nations, of the families of Eber, may be seen from the state in which they lived at that period. In the most ancient time, as has been said before, nations were distinguished into families, and these into house-holds. Each nation acknowledged one father, from whom it was named. As they were multiplied, the sons of the one father in like manner constituted households, families, and nations; and so on. So it was with these sons of Joktan, as we may see it was with the sons of Jacob, who afterwards when multiplied constituted tribes, each one of which acknowledged one of the sons of Jacob, from whom it was named, as its father; and yet all taken together were from Jacob, and were called Jacob. Just so these nations were from Eber, and were called Hebrews.

1247. That by these nations are signified so many rituals, is evident from the fact that in the Word names never signify anything else than actual things; for in its internal sense the Word relates only to the Lord, to His Kingdom in the heavens and on earth, and consequently to the church and the things of the church. Such is the case with these names. And as Joktan, a son of Eber, signifies the external worship of this new church, as was said before, so his sons can signify nothing else than things of external worship, which are rituals, and in fact so many kinds of rituals. But what these kinds of rituals are, it is impossible to say, because they are determined by their relation to the worship itself, and until this is known nothing can be said about its rituals; nor would it be of any use to know them. Neither do the names recur in the Word, except Sheba, Ophir, and Havilah; and they are not of this stock; for the Sheba and Havilah elsewhere spoken of in the Word were of those who are called sons of Ham, as is evident at (verse 7) of this chapter; and the case is the same with Ophir.

1248. Verse 30. And their dwelling was from Mesha, in coming unto Sephar, a mountain of the east. By these words is signified the extension of the worship, even from the truths of faith to the good of charity. "Mesha" signifies truth; "Sephar", good; "a mountain of the east", charity.

1249. That by these words is signified the extension of the worship, even from the truths of faith to the good of charity; and that "Mesha" signifies truth, and "Sephar" good, cannot indeed be confirmed from the Word, because no mention is made of Mesha and Sephar in the Prophets. Still, this may be seen from its being the conclusion from what goes before, and especially from the fact that "a mountain of the east" is the final thing to which the words that go before bear reference, and in the Word by "a mountain of the east" is signified charity from the Lord-as will be shown in what follows and the same may be seen from the fact that all things of the church have charity in view, as their finality or end. From all which it follows that "Mesha" signifies truth, or the terminus from which the progression commences (terminus a quo); and that " Sephar" signifies good, and thereby charity, which is "a mountain of the east", or the terminus to which the progression tends (terminus ad quem).

1250. That "a mountain of the east" signifies charity, and in fact charity from the Lord, is evident from the signification of a "mountain" in the Word, as being love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, as has been shown before (n. 795). And that "the east" signified the Lord, and things celestial from Him, which are of love and charity, may be seen above (n. 101), as well as from the following passages. In Ezekiel: -

The cherubim lifted up their wings, and the glory of Jehovah went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east of the city (Ezekiel 11:22, 23).

Here "the mountain which is on the east" signifies nothing else than what is celestial, which is of love and charity, and which is of the Lord, for it is said that "the glory of Jehovah stood" thereon. Again: -

He brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh to the way of the east; and behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east (Ezek. 43:1, 2),

where "the east" has a like signification.

[2] Again: -

He brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary which looketh toward the east, and it was shut. And Jehovah said unto me, This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, neither shall any man enter in by it, but Jehovah the God of Israel shall enter in by it (Ezek. 44:1, 2).

Here likewise "the east" denotes what is celestial, which is of love, which is of the Lord alone. And again: When the prince shall make a freewill offering, a burnt-offering, and peace-offerings, a freewill offering unto Jehovah, one shall open for Him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall make his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, as he shall do on the Sabbath day (Ezek. 46:12), in like manner denoting what is celestial, which is of love to the Lord.

[3] And in another place: -

He brought me back unto the door of the house, and behold waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward, for the face of the house was toward the east (Ezek. 47:1, 8),

speaking of the New Jerusalem "the east" denotes the Lord, and thus the celestial, which is of love; " waters" are things spiritual. The same is signified in the passage before us by "a mountain of the east". moreover they who dwelt in Syria were called " sons of the east", concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

1251. Verse 31. These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their tongues, in their lands, according to their nation. "These are the sons of Shem", signifies derivations from internal worship, which is " Shem;" "according to their families, according to their tongues, in their lands, in their nations", signifies according to the genius of each in particular and in general "according to their families", is according to their differences in respect to charity; "according to their tongues", is according to the differences in respect to faith; "in their lands", is in general relatively to the things that are of faith; "in their nations", is in general relatively to the things that are of charity.

1252. That these things are signified, needs no further confirmation; for they are the same words as occur above (verse 20); see what is said there. The significations of the terms, as here of the "families, tongues, lands, and nations", are determined by the relation of the terms to the things of which they are predicated. There they are predicated of Ham, or of corrupt internal worship; but here of Shem, or of true internal worship; and therefore the "families and nations" there relate to the morals, and the "tongues and lands" to the opinions, of a corrupt internal church; while here the "families and nations" relate to the charity, and the "tongues and lands" to the faith, of a true internal church. Concerning the signification of "nations and families", see what follows in this chapter.

1253. Verse 32. These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their nativities, in their nations. "These are the families of the sons of Noah", signifies the worships of the Ancient Church in particular; "according to their nativities", signifies in proportion as they could be reformed; "in their nations", signifies the worships of that church in general.

1254. These are the families of the sons of Noah. That this signifies the worships of the Ancient Church in particular, is evident from the signification of a "family", and of "the families of the sons", as being worships, and in fact the species of the worships. The nations named in the preceding verses of this chapter signify nothing else than various worships of the Ancient Church, and therefore the families of which the nations consisted must signify the same. In the internal sense no other families can be meant than those of things spiritual and celestial.

1255. According to their nativities. That this signifies in proportion as they could be reformed, is evident from the signification of a "nativity", as being reformation. While a man is being born again, or regenerated, by the Lord, each and all things that he receives anew are nativities or births. So here, as the subject is the Ancient Church, the nativities signify in proportion as they could be reformed. As regards the reformations of the nations, they were not all in the same worship, nor in the same doctrine, for the reason that they were not all of the same genius, and were not all similarly educated and instructed from infancy. The principles which a man imbibes from infancy the Lord never breaks, but bends. If they are things that the man esteems holy, and are such as are not contrary to Divine and natural order, but are in themselves matters of indifference, the Lord lets them alone, and suffers the man to remain in them. So it was with many things in the second Ancient Church, concerning which of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

1256. In their nations. That these nations signify the various worships of that church in general, is evident from what has been said before about nations, and from what follows.

1257. And from these were spread abroad the nations in the earth after the flood. "From these were spread abroad the nations in the earth", signifies that from them came all the worships of the church in respect to goods and evils, which are signified by "the nations;" "the earth" is the church; "after the flood", signifies from the beginning of the Ancient Church.

1258. And from these were spread abroad the nations in the earth. That this signifies that from them came all the worships of the church in respect to goods and evils, and that these are meant by the nations", is evident from the signification of "nations". By a nation, as has been explained before, are meant many families together. In the Most Ancient and in the Ancient Church, the many families which acknowledged one father constituted one nation. But as to "nations" signifying in the internal sense the worships of the church, and this in respect to the goods or evils in the worship, the case is this When families and nations are viewed by the angels, they have no idea of a nation, but only of the worship in it; for they regard all from the quality itself, that is, from what they are. The quality or character of a man, from which he is regarded in heaven, is his charity and faith. This any one may clearly apprehend if he considers that when he looks at any man, or any family, or nation, he thinks for the most part of what quality they are, every one from that which is dominant in himself at the time. The idea of their quality comes instantly to mind, and in himself he estimates them from that. Still more is this the case with the Lord; and, from Him, with the angels, who cannot but regard a man, a family, and a nation, from their quality in respect to charity and faith. And hence it is that in the internal sense by "nations" nothing else is signified than the worship of the church, and this in respect to its quality, which is the good of charity and the derivative truth of faith. When the term "nations" occurs in the Word, the angels do not abide at all in the idea of a nation, in accordance with the historical sense of the letter, but in the idea of the good and truth in the nation that is named.

1259. Further, as regards nations signifying the goods and evils in worship, the case is this. In the most ancient times, as has been stated before, men lived distinguished into nations, families, and households, in order that the church on earth might represent the Lord's kingdom, wherein all are distinguished into societies, and these societies into greater ones, and these again into still greater societies, and this according to the differences of love and of faith, in general and in particular, (n. 684, 685). Thus these in like manner are distinguished as it were into households, families, and nations. And hence it is that in the Word "houses, families, and nations" signify the goods of love and of the derivative faith; and an accurate distinction is there made between "nations" and "people". A "nation" signifies good or evil, and a "people" truth or falsity, and this so constantly as never to vary, as may be seen from the following passages.

[2] In Isaiah: -

In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto it shall the nations seek, and His rest shall be a glory. In that day the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to acquire the remnant of His people, which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah (Isaiah 11:10-12).

Here "peoples" denote the truths, and "nations" the goods, of the church; and there is a manifest distinction made between them. The subject treated of is the Lord's kingdom and the church, and in a universal sense every regenerate man. The signification of the names is as stated above; and by "Israel" is signified the spiritual things of the church, and by "Judah" its celestial things. Again: -

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; Thou hast multiplied the nation, Thou hast magnified gladness for it (Isa. 9:2, 3).

The "people" here denote truths, and therefore are said to "walk in darkness", and to "see light;" the "nation" denotes goods.

[3] And again: -

What answer shall be made to the messengers of the nation? That Jehovah hath founded Zion, and in her shall the wretched ones of His people confide (Isa. 14:32).

Here likewise the "nation" denotes good, and "people" truth. And again: -

Jehovah Zebaoth will swallow up in this mountain the faces of the covering, of the covering over all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations (Isa. 25:7).

Here a new church is spoken of, or the church of the nations; "peoples" denote its truths, and "nations" its goods. Again: -

Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation that keepeth faithfulnesses may enter in (Isa. 26:2),

where "nation" manifestly denotes goods. Again: -

All the nations shall be gathered together, and the peoples shall be assembled (Isa. 43:9).

This also is said of the church of the nations; "nations" denoting its goods, and "peoples" its truths. And because they are distinct from each other, both are treated of; otherwise there would be a vain repetition. Again: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Behold I will lift up Mine hand to the nations, and will exalt My ensign to the peoples; and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and shall carry thy daughters upon their shoulder (Isa. 49:22).

This is said of the Lord's kingdom; and the "nations" in like manner denote goods, and the "peoples" truths.

[4] Again: -

Thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the nations, and they shall inhabit the desolate cities (Isa. 54:3);

treating of the Lord's kingdom, and of the church which is called the church of the nations. That the "nations" denote the goods of charity, or, what is the same, those in whom there are goods of charity, is evident from its being said that the "seed"- or faith-" shall inherit" them; "cities" denote truths. Again:

Behold I have given Him for a witness to the peoples, a prince and lawgiver to the peoples. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knewest not, and a nation that knew not thee shall run unto thee (Isa. 55:4, 5).

This is said of the Lord's kingdom; " peoples" denote truths; "nations" goods. Those in the church who are endowed with the good of charity are "nations", and those who are endowed with the truths of faith are "peoples;" for goods and truths are predicated according to the subjects in whom they are. Again: -

Nations shall walk to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Then thou shalt see and flow together, and thine heart shall be amazed and be enlarged; because the multitude of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the army of the nations shall come unto thee (Isa. 60:3, 5)

treating of the Lord's kingdom, and of the church of the nations. "Nations" here denote goods; "kings", who belong to peoples, truths.

[5] In Zephaniah: -

The remains of My people shall spoil them, and the residue of My nation shall inherit them (Zephaniah 2:9).

In Zechariah: -

Many peoples and numerous nations shall come to seek Jehovah of Armies in Jerusalem (Zechariah 8:22).

"Jerusalem" denotes the Lord's kingdom, and the church; "peoples" those who are in the truths of faith; "nations" those who are in the good of charity; and therefore they are mentioned distinctively. In David: -

Thou wilt deliver Me from the contentions of the people; Thou wilt set Me for the head of the nations; a people whom I have not known shall serve Me (Ps. 18:43).

Here likewise the "people" denote those who are in truths; and the "nations" those who are in good; and they are both mentioned because they constitute the man of the church. Again: -

The peoples shall confess Thee, O God, all the peoples shall confess Thee, the nations shall be glad and shall exult, because Thou shalt judge the peoples in uprightness, and shalt lead the nations into the land (Ps. 67:4, 5).

Here "peoples" manifestly denote those who are in the truths of faith; and "nations" those who are in the good of charity.

[6] In Moses: -

Remember the days of eternity, understand the years of generation and generation; ask thy father, and he will show thee thine elders, and they will tell thee. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, and separated the sons of man, He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel (Deut. 32:7, 8).

This is said of the Most Ancient Church, and of the Ancient Churches, which are "the days of eternity, and the years of generation and generation;" and in which they who were in the good of charity were called "nations", to whom an inheritance was given; and they who were in the derivative truths of faith were called "sons of man", and afterwards "peoples". It was because the goods of the church are signified by "nations", and its truths by "peoples", that it was said concerning Esau and Jacob, while they were yet in the womb, Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels (Gen. 25:23). From these passages it may now be seen what the church of the nations is, in its genuine sense. The Most Ancient Church was a true church of the nations, and so afterwards was the Ancient Church.

[7] Because those who are in charity are called "nations", and those who are in faith "peoples", the priesthood of the Lord is predicated of nations-because of things celestial, which are goods-and His royalty of peoples because of spiritual things, which are truths. This was also represented in the Jewish Church, where before they had kings they were a nation, but after they received kings they became a people.

1260. Because in the Most Ancient and in the Ancient Church, nations signified goods, or good men, therefore in the opposite sense they signify evils, or evil men. In like manner peoples, because they signified truths, in the opposite sense signify falsities. For in a depraved church good is turned into evil, and truth into falsity. Hence comes the signification of "nations" and of "peoples" in this opposite sense in many places in the Word, as in (Isaiah 13:4; 14:6; 18:2, 7; 30:28; 34:1, 2; Ezek. 20:32).

1261. As nations signified goods, so also did families, for each nation consisted of families; and so in like manner did households, for each family consisted of a number of households. Concerning a "household" or "house", (n. 710). "Families", however, signify goods when predicated of nations, and truths when predicated of peoples, as in David: -

All the families of the nations shall bow themselves before Thee for the kingdom is Jehovah's, and He is the ruler over the nations (Ps. 22:27, 28).

Again: -

Give unto Jehovah, ye families of the peoples, give unto Jehovah glory and strength (Ps. 96:7).

In the verse now before us, and also in the preceding verse of this tenth chapter of Genesis, "families" are predicated of goods, because they were families of the nations.

1262. From what has been said it may now be seen that by "the earth" is here signified the church; for when "earth" (or "land") is mentioned, there cannot but be a perception of the nation or people there; and when a nation or people is perceived, there must be a perception of their quality. Hence by "the earth" nothing else is signified than the church, as has been shown before (n. 662, 1066).

1263. That "after the flood" signifies from the beginning of the Ancient Church, is evident from the fact that the flood was the end of the Most Ancient Church and the beginning of the Ancient Church, as was shown before (n. 705, 739, 790).

1264. From all this it may now be seen that although in this chapter mere names of nations and families occur, yet it contains, in general, not only all the differences of worship as regards the goods of charity and truths of faith that were in the Ancient Church, but also all that are in any church; in fact it contains more than any man could ever believe. Such is the Word of the Lord.

 

CONCERNING THE ANTEDILUVIANS WHO PERISHED

1265. At some height above the head there were a number of spirits who inflowed into my thoughts and kept them as it were bound, so that I was in very much obscurity. They pressed heavily upon me. The spirits about me were likewise held as it were bound by them, so that they could scarcely think, except that which inflowed from those spirits, and this to such a degree as to excite their indignation. It was said that the spirits in question were of those who had lived before the flood; but not of those called Nephilim, and who perished, for they were not so strongly persuasive.

1266. The antediluvians who perished are in a certain hell beneath the heel of the left foot. There is a kind of misty rock with which they are covered, that is projected from their direful phantasies and persuasions, and by which they are separated from the other hells, and are kept away from the world of spirits. They are in the continual effort to rise out of it, but cannot get beyond the effort; for they are of such a nature that if they should come into the world of spirits, they, by their direful phantasies and the exhalations and venom of their persuasions, would take away the faculty of thinking from all the spirits they met, except the good. And unless the Lord, by His coming into the flesh, had liberated the world of spirits from this nefarious crew, the human race would have perished; for no spirit could have been with man, and yet if spirits and angels are not with man, he cannot live a moment.

1267. Those of them who obstinately try to emerge from that hell are cruelly treated by their companions; for they are possessed with deadly hatred against all, even against their companions. Their greatest delight consists in holding each other in subjection, and as it were in butchering each other. Those who more resolutely persist in the endeavor to force their way out, are sent down still deeper under the misty rock; for it is their innate crazy ardor to destroy all, that leads them on; hence their efforts to emerge. They wrap all they meet in a cloth, in order to take them captive, and cast them into a certain sea, as it appears to them, or otherwise treat them savagely.

1268. I was led, guarded, toward that misty rock. (To be led to such spirits is not to be led from place to place, but it is effected by means of intermediate societies of spirits and angels, the man remaining in the same place; and yet it appears to him as a letting down). As I came near the rock I was met with a coldness which gripped the lower region of my back. From there I spoke with them about their persuasions, and about what they had believed in the life of the body as regards the Lord. They answered that they had thought much about God, but had persuaded themselves that there is no God, but that men are gods, and thus they themselves were gods; and that they had confirmed themselves in these persuasions by their dreams. Their phantasies against the Lord will be spoken of below.

1269. That I might know still better what kind of men they were, it was permitted by the Lord that some of them should come up into the world of spirits. Before this took place a beautiful child appeared, clothed in shining white raiment; afterwards, in an open doorway, there appeared another child in a green garment; and then two maidservants with white headdresses. But what these things signified was not disclosed to me.

1270. Presently some were let out of that hell; but the Lord made such a disposition by means of intermediate spirits and angels that they could do me no harm. Out of that deep they came in front, and appeared to themselves to be working their way toward the front, as it were through caverns in the rock, and so upward. At last they appeared from above to the left, in order that from there, and thus from a distance, they might inflow into me. I was told that they were permitted to inflow into the right side of the head, but not into the left side; and from the right side of the head into the left side of the chest; but by no means into the left of the head, for if this occurred I should be destroyed, because they would then flow in with their persuasions, which are direful and deadly; whereas if they flowed into the right of the head, and thence into the left of the chest, it would be by means of cupidities. Such is the case with influx.

[2] Their persuasions are of such a nature that they extinguish all truth and good, so that those into whom they flow can perceive nothing whatever, and after that cannot think; and therefore the other spirits were removed. When they began to flow in I fell asleep. Then while I slept they flowed in by means of cupidities, and this with such violence that if awake I could not have resisted them. In my sleep I was sensible of the vehemence of it, which I cannot describe, save that I afterwards remembered that they tried to kill me by a suffocating afflatus, which was like a terrible nightmare. Then, waking, I observed that they were near me; and when they perceived that I was awake, they fled away to their own place above, and flowed in from thence.

[3] When they were there they appeared to me as if they were being wrapped up in a cloth, such as was spoken of before (n. 964). I thought they were being thus wrapped up, but it was others whom they were wrapping up. This is effected by means of phantasies; but yet the spirits against whom they thus work by phantasies know not but that they are really being wrapped up. It appeared as if those whom they thus wrapped up rolled down a certain rocky declivity. But those who were thus wrapped up were released and set at liberty. They were spirits who were unwilling to withdraw, and who were thus preserved by the Lord, for otherwise they would have been suffocated-although they would have revived again, but after great suffering. The spirits from that hell then went back by the rocky declivity; and there was heard from thence a sound of boring, as if many great boring instruments were at work; and it was perceived that it was from their intensely cruel phantasies against the Lord that such a sound came. They were afterwards cast down through dark caverns into their hell beneath the misty rock. While they were in the world of spirits, the constitution or order of the sphere there was changed.

1271. After this, there were certain deceitful spirits who desired that these might emerge, and inspired them to say that they were nothing, so that they might steal out. Then a tumult was heard in that hell, as of a great turbulent uprising, which was a commotion among those who desired to force their way out, and therefore it was again permitted that some of them should rise up, and be seen in the same place as the former were. From there, aided by those deceitful genii, they attempted to pour into me their deadly persuasive influence; but in vain, because I was protected by the Lord. Yet I plainly perceived that their persuasive influence was suffocating. They believed themselves to be all-powerful, and able to take away life from every one. And because they believed themselves to be all-powerful, they were thrust down by a little child, at whose presence they tottered and faltered, so that they cried out that they were in anguish, and this so sorely that they betook themselves to supplications. The deceitful spirits were also punished, first being almost suffocated by the antediluvians, and then being glued together, to make them desist from such doings; but after a time they were set free.

1272. It was afterwards shown me how their women were dressed. They wore upon the head a round black hat, projecting turret-like in front, and had a small face, whereas the men were shaggy and hairy. It was shown me also how they gloried in the great number of their children; and that they had their children with them wherever they went, who walked before them in a curved line. But they were told that the brutes also, even the worst, all have a love for their young; and that this is no evidence that there is anything good in them; but that if they had loved children, not from their love of themselves and their own glory, but that human society might be augmented, for the common good; and especially if they had loved them in order that heaven might thereby be multiplied, thus for the sake of the Lord's kingdom, then their love for children would have been genuine.


Chapter 11

CONCERNING THE SITUATION OF THE GRAND MAN; AND ALSO CONCERNING PLACE AND DISTANCE IN THE OTHER LIFE

1273. Souls newly arrived from the world, when about to leave the company of the spiritual angels to go among spirits, and so at length to come into the society in which they had been while they lived in the body, are led about by angels to many mansions or abodes, that is, to societies which are distinct and yet conjoined with others; in some of which they are received, while in other cases they are led to still other societies, and this for an indefinite time, until they come to the society in which they had been while they lived in the body; and there they remain. From this moment they experience a new beginning of life. If the man is a dissembler, a hypocrite, or deceitful, who can assume a fictitious state, and a seemingly angelic disposition, he is sometimes received by good spirits but after a short time he is dissociated, and then wanders about, without the angels, and begs to be received, but is rejected, and sometimes punished, and at last he is carried down among the infernals. Those who are taken up among angels after being vastated, also change their societies and when they pass from one society to another they are dismissed with courtesy and charity, and this until they come into the angelic society which accords with the distinctive quality or genius of their charity, piety, probity, or sincere courtesy. I in like manner have been led through such "mansions", and those who dwelt there conversed with me, that I might know how the case was in regard to this matter. It was given me at the time to reflect on the changes of place, and to see that they were nothing else than changes of state, my body remaining in the same place.

1274. Among the marvelous things in the other life are, - First, the fact that societies of spirits and angels appear distinct from one another as to situation, although places and distances in that life are nothing else than varieties of state. Second that the situations and distances are determined by their relation to the human body, so that those who are on the right appear on the right whichever way the body is turned; and the case is the same with those who are on the left and in all other directions. Third, that no spirits or angels are at so great a distance away that they cannot be seen; and yet no more come into view than so many as the Lord permits. Fourth, that spirits of whom others are thinking-for example, such as had been in some manner known to them in the life of the body-when the Lord permits it, are present in a moment, and so closely that they are at the ear, in touch, or else at some distance, greater or less, no matter should they be thousands of miles away, or even among the stars. The reason is that distance of place has no effect in the other life. Fifth, that with the angels there is no idea of time. These things are so in the world of spirits, and are still more completely so in heaven. How much more then must this be the case before the Lord, to whom all both generally and individually cannot but be most present, and under His view and providence. These things seem incredible, but yet they are true.

1275. I was in a society where there was tranquillity, that is, a society of those whose state was tranquil, approximating in a measure to a state of peace, but it was not peace. I spoke there of the state of infants; and also of place, saying that change of place and distance is only an appearance, according to the state of each one, and according to his change of state. When I was translated thither, the spirits around me appeared to be removed, and to be seen below me; and yet I could hear them speaking.

1276. As regards the situation in which spirits are in the world of spirits, and angels in heaven, the case is this. The angels are at the Lord's right hand on His left are evil spirits; in front are those of a middle kind; at the back are the malignant; above the head are those of a self-exalted spirit who aspire to high things; under the feet are the hells which correspond to those who are on high. Thus all have their situation determined relatively to the Lord; in all directions and at all altitudes, in a horizontal plane and in a vertical one, and in every oblique direction. Their situation is constant, and does not vary to eternity. The heavens there constitute as it were one man, which is therefore called the Grand Man; to which all things that are in man correspond; concerning which correspondence, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. It is from this that there is a like situation of all things around each angel; and with each man to whom heaven is opened by the Lord; for the Lord's presence is attended with this. It would not be so unless the Lord were omnipresent in heaven.

1277. The case is the very same with men, as to their souls, which are constantly bound to some society of spirits and of angels. They too have a situation in the kingdom of the Lord according to the nature of their life, and according to their state. It matters not that they are distant from each other on earth even though it were many thousands of miles-still they can be together in the same society-those who live in charity in an angelic society, and those who live in hatred and such evils in an infernal society. In like manner it matters not that there be many together on earth in one place, for still they are all distinct in accordance with the nature of their life and of their state, and each one may be in a different society. Men who are distant from each other some hundreds or thousands of miles, when they appear to the internal sense may be so near each other that some of them may touch, according to their situation. Thus if there were a number of persons on earth whose spiritual sight was opened, they might be together and converse together, though one was in India and another in Europe, which also has been shown me. Thus are all men on earth, both generally and individually, most closely present to the Lord, and under His view and providence.

1278. A continuation of the subject of situation, place, distance, and time, in the other life, will be found at the end of this chapter.

 

GENESIS 11:1-32

1. And the whole earth was of one lip, and their words were one.

2. And it came to pass when they journeyed from the east, that they found a valley in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.

3. And they said a man to his fellow, Come, let us make bricks, and let us burn them to a burning. And they had brick for stone, and bitumen had they for mortar.

4. And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower, and its head in heaven; and let us make us a name, lest peradventure we be scattered upon the faces of the whole earth.

5. And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of man were building.

6. And Jehovah said, Behold, the people are one, and they all have one lip, and this is what they begin to do; and now nothing will be withholden from them of all which they have thought to do.

7. Come, let us go down, and there confound their lip, that they hear not a man the lip of his fellow.

8. And Jehovah scattered them from thence upon the faces of all the earth; and they left off to build the city.

9. Therefore He called the name of it Babel, because there did Jehovah confound the lip of all the earth; and from thence did Jehovah scatter them upon the faces of all the earth.

10. These are the births of Shem: Shem was a son of a hundred years, and begat Arpachshad, two years after the flood.

11. And Shem lived after he begat Arpachshad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

12. And Arpachshad lived five and thirty years, and begat Shelah.

13. And Arpachshad lived after he begat Shelah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

14. And Shelah lived thirty years, and begat Eber.

15. And Shelah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

16. And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg.

17. And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

18. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu.

19. And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

20. And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug. 21. And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

22. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor.

23. And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

24. And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah.

25. And Nahor lived after he begat Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

26. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27. And these are the births of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

28. And Haran died upon the faces of Terah his father, in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

29. And Abram and Nahor took them wives; the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

30. And Sarai was barren, she had no offspring.

31. And Terah took Abram his son; and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son; and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came even unto Haran, and stayed there.

32. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

 

THE CONTENTS

1279. The subject treated of is the first Ancient Church, which was after the flood (verses 1 to 9).

1280. Concerning its first state, that all had one doctrine (verse 1); its second state, that it began to decline (verse 2); its third, that the falsities of cupidities began to reign (verse 3); its fourth, that men began to exercise dominion by means of Divine worship (verse 4) and therefore the state of the church was changed (verses 5 and 6); so that none had the good of faith (verses 7 to 9).

1281. The second Ancient Church is then treated of which was named from Eber - and its derivation and state, which finally ended in idolatry (verses 10 to 26).

1282. The origin of a third Ancient Church is treated of, which from being idolatrous became representative (verses 27 to 32).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

1283. The Ancient Church in general is now treated of, and it is shown that in course of time its internal worship was falsified and adulterated; and consequently its external worship also, for the quality of the external worship is determined by that of the internal worship. The falsification and adulteration of internal worship here is "Babel". That thus far - except what is said about Eber - the historical incidents were not true, but were made up, may be further seen from what is here said about the Babylonish tower - that men undertook to build a tower whose top should be in heaven, that their lips were confounded so that one should not hear the lip of another, and that Jehovah thus confounded them; and also from its being said that this was the origin of Babel, whereas in the preceding chapter (verse 10) it is said that Babel was built by Nimrod. It is also evident from all this that Babel does not signify a city, but a certain actual thing; and here a worship whose interiors are profane, while its externals appear holy.

1284. Verse 1. And the whole earth was of one lip, and their words were one. "And the whole earth was of one lip", signifies that everywhere there was one doctrine in general; a "lip" is doctrine; "the earth" is the church; "and their words were one", signifies that there was one doctrine in particular.

1285. The whole earth was of one lip. That this signifies that everywhere there was one doctrine in general, is evident from the signification of "lip", in the Word, concerning which presently. In this verse, and these few words, is described the state of the Ancient Church as it had been, that it had one doctrine in general; but in the following verse it is described how it began to be falsified and adulterated; and from that to the ninth verse, how it became altogether perverted, so that it no longer had any internal worship. Then, a little further on, the subject treated of is the second Ancient Church, that was begun by Eber; and, finally, the third Ancient Church, which was the beginning of the Jewish Church. For after the flood there were three churches in succession.

[2] As regards the first Ancient Church, in that although it was so widely spread over the earth it was still one in lip and one in words, that is, one in doctrine in general and in particular, when yet its worship both internal and external was everywhere different - as shown in the preceding chapter, where by each nation there named a different doctrinal and ritual were signified - the case is this. In heaven there are innumerable societies, and different, and yet they are a one, for they are all led as a one by the Lord, concerning which see what has been said before (n. 457, 551, 684, 685, 690). In this respect the case is the same as it is with man, in whom, although there are so many viscera, and so many little viscera within the viscera, organs, and members, each one of which acts in a different way, yet all and each are governed as a one, by the one soul; or as it is with the body, wherein the activities of the powers and motions are different, yet all are governed by one motion of the heart and one motion of the lungs, and make a one. That these can thus act as a one, comes from the fact that in heaven there is one single influx, which is received by every individual in accordance with his own genius; and which influx is an influx of affections from the Lord, from His mercy, and from His life; and notwithstanding that there is only one single influx, yet all things obey and follow as a one. This is the result of the mutual love in which are they who are in heaven.

[3] The case was the same in the first Ancient Church; for although there were as many kinds of worship - some being internal and some external - as in general there were nations, and as many specifically as there were families in the nations, and as many in particular as there were men of the church, yet they all had one lip and were one in words; that is, they all had one doctrine, both in general and in particular. The doctrine is one when all are in mutual love, or in charity. Mutual love and charity cause them all to be a one, although they are diverse, for they make a one out of the varieties. All men how many soever they may be, even myriads of myriads, if they are in charity or mutual love, have one end, namely, the common good, the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord Himself. Varieties in matters of doctrine and of worship are like the varieties of the senses and of the viscera in man, as has been said, which contribute to the perfection of the whole. For then, through charity, the Lord inflows and works in diverse ways, in accordance with the genius of each one; and thus, both in general and in particular, disposes all into order, on earth as in heaven. And then the will of the Lord is done, as He Himself teaches, as in the heavens, so also upon the earth.

1286. That a "lip" signifies doctrine, is evident from the following passages in the Word. In Isaiah: -

The seraphim cried and said, Holy, holy, holy, Jehovah of Armies. And the prophet said, Woe is me! for I am cut off, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of Armies. Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, and be touched my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is expiated (Isaiah 6:3, 5-7).

"Lips" here denote the interior things of man, thus internal worship, from which is adoration, as is here represented with the prophet. That his lips were touched, and that thus his iniquity was taken away and his sin expiated, any one may see was a representative of interior things that are signified by the "lips", which are things of charity and its doctrine.

[2] Again: -

Jehovah shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked (Isa. 11:4).

In the internal sense this does not mean that Jehovah smites with the rod of His mouth, and slays the wicked with the breath of His lips, but that a wicked man does this to himself; "the breath of the lips" is doctrine, which with the wicked is false. Again: -

I create the increase of the lips, peace, peace, to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith Jehovah; and I heal him (Isa. 57:19).

"The increase of the lips" denotes doctrine.

[3] In Ezekiel: -

Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak My words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people deep of lip, and heavy of tongue, but to the house of Israel; not to many peoples deep of lip and heavy of tongue, whose words thou canst not understand. If I had sent thee to them, would they not have hearkened unto thee? But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee, for they will not hearken unto Me, for all the house of Israel are of a hardened forehead, and hard of heart (Ezekiel 3:4-7).

"Deep of lip" is predicated of the nations which although in falsity of doctrine were yet in charity, and are therefore said to "hearken;" but they who are not in charity are said to be of "a hardened forehead, and a hard heart".

[4] In Zephaniah: -

Then will I turn to the people with a clear lip, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve Him with one shoulder (Zephaniah 3:9).

"A clear lip" manifestly denotes doctrine. In Malachi: -

The law of truth was in his mouth, and perversity was not found in his lips. For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the angel of Jehovah of Armies (Malachi 2:6, 7).

This is said of Levi, by whom the Lord is represented; "lips" denote doctrine from charity. In David: -

Who say, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are with us (Ps. 12:4).

Here "lips" denote falsities. Again: -

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise Thee with lips of songs (Ps. 63:5).

In Isaiah: -

In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking with the lip of Caanan, and swearing to Jehovah of Armies (Isaiah 19:18)

"lip" denotes doctrine.

1287. That "the earth" signifies the church, has been shown before (n. 662, 1066).

1288. Their words were one. That this signifies that there was one doctrine in particular, is evident from what has been said before for "a lip" signifies doctrine in general, as was shown; and "words" signify doctrine in particular, or the particulars of doctrine. For the particulars cause no disagreement, provided they look to one end, which is to love the Lord above all things and the neighbor as one's self; for then they are particulars of these generals.

[2] That a "word" signifies all doctrine concerning charity and the derivative faith, and that "words" signify the things which are of doctrine, is evident in David: -

I will confess unto Thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall learn the judgments of Thy righteousness; I will keep Thy statutes. Wherewithal shall a child make pure his path? By taking heed according to Thy word. With my whole heart have I sought Thee; make me not to wander from Thy precepts. Thy word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee. Blessed art Thou, O Jehovah; teach me Thy statutes. With my lips have I rehearsed all the judgments of Thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies. I meditate in Thy commandments, and look unto Thy ways. I delight in Thy statutes; I do not forget Thy word (Ps. 119:7-16).

"Word" here denotes doctrine in general. It is evident that a distinction is here made between "precepts", "judgments", "testimonies", "commandments", "statutes", "way", and "lips;" and that all these belong to the Word, or to doctrine. And everywhere else in the Word they signify the same distinct things.

[3] Again: -

A song of love. My heart hath willed a good word; my tongue is the pen of a rapid writer. Thou art beauteous above the sons of man; grace is poured upon thy lips. Ride upon the word of truth; and of the gentleness of righteousness; thy right hand shall teach thee wonderful things (Ps. 45:1, 2, 4).

"To ride upon the word of truth and of the gentleness of righteousness", is to teach the doctrine of truth and of good. Here, as elsewhere in the Word, the terms "word", "lip", and "tongue" signify distinct things; that they are things of doctrine concerning charity is evident, because it is called "a song of loves". Of this doctrine is predicated beauty above the sons of man, grace of lips, and a right hand that teacheth wonderful things.

[4] In Isaiah: -

Jehovah sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel (Isa. 9:8).

"A word" denotes the doctrine of internal and of external worship; "Jacob" here denotes external worship, and "Israel" internal. In Matthew: -

Jesus said, Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

Again: -

When any one heareth the word of the Kingdom and heedeth it not, then cometh the evil one and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart (Matthew 13:19)

see also concerning "the word" in the same chapter, (Matt. 13:20-23). Again: -

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away (Matthew 24:35).

In these passages, "the word" denotes the Lord's doctrine; and "words" the things that belong to His doctrine.

[5] Because the expression "words" denotes all things of doctrine, the commandments of the decalogue were called "words", in Moses: -

Jehovah wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten words (Exod. 34:28).

Again: -

He hath declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, the ten words; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone (Deut. 4:13; 10:4).

Again: -

Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the words that thine eyes have seen (Deut. 4:9)

besides other places.

1289. Verse 2. And it came to pass when they journeyed from the east, that they found a valley in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. "When they journeyed from the east", signifies when they went back from charity; "the east", is charity from the Lord; "that they found a valley in the land of Shinar", signifies that their worship became more unclean and profane "and they dwelt there", signifies their life.

1290. When they journeyed from the east. That this signifies when they went back from charity, is evident from the signification in the Word of "journeying", and of "the east". That "journeying" here signifies to go back, is evident from its being said concerning charity which is "the east" whence they journeyed.

1291. That "the east" is charity from the Lord, is evident from what has been shown before (n. 101, 1250).

1292. That they found a valley in the land of Shinar. That this signifies that their worship became more unclean and profane, is evident from the signification of "a valley", and of "the land of Shinar". In the Word, "mountains" signify love or charity, because these are the highest, or, what is the same, the inmost things in worship, as before shown (n. 795). Hence "a valley" signifies what is beneath the mountains, that is, what is lower in worship, which is the same as what is exterior therein; and "the land of Shinar", signifies external worship wherein is what is profane, as before shown (n. 1183). And so in this passage, their having found a valley in the land of Shinar signifies that their worship became more unclean and profane.

[2] In the first verse it is said of the church that it was of one lip and that its words were one, which means that it had one doctrine in general and in particular. But in this verse the decline of the church is treated of, in that it is said that they journeyed from the east, that is, they began to go back from charity; for in so far as the church, or a man of the church, goes back from charity, so far his worship goes back from what is holy, or in other words, so far his worship approaches what is unclean and profane. That their having found a valley in the land of Shinar signifies the decline of the church, or of worship, to what is profane, is because a valley is a low place between mountains, by which are signified the holy things of love or of charity in worship, as before said. This may also be seen from the signification of "a valley" in the Word, where valleys are designated, in the original language, by certain terms which signify, when used in that sense, what is more or less profane in worship.

[3] That "valleys" have such a signification is evident in Isaiah: -

The burden of the valley of vision. For it is a day of tumult, and of treading down, and of perplexity, to the Lord Jehovih of Armies, in the valley of vision (Isa. 22:1, 5).

"The valley of vision" denotes phantasies and reasonings, whereby worship is falsified and at last profaned. In Jeremiah: -

How sayest thou I am not defiled, I have not walked after the Baalim? see thy way in the valley (Jeremiah 2:23).

"The valley" denotes unclean worship. Again: -

They have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom; wherefore behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter (Jeremiah 7:31, 32; 19:6).

"The valley of Hinnom" denotes hell, and also the profanation of truth and good.

[4] In Ezekiel: -

Thus hath said the Lord Jehovih to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Behold Me, I bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places (Ezekiel 6:3).

Again: -

I will give unto Gog a place there for burial in Israel, the valley of them that pass through toward the east of the sea, and they shall call it the valley of the multitude of Gog (Ezekiel 39:11, 15).

This is said of worship in externals "a valley" denotes such worship. But when the worship has not yet become so profane, this is expressed by the Hebrew word for valley that is used in the verse before us (Gen. 11:2); and also in Isaiah: -

I will open rivers upon the slopes, and I will make fountains in the midst of the valleys, the wilderness a pool of waters, and the dry land springs of waters (Isaiah 41:18).

This is said of those who are in ignorance, or who are beyond the knowledges of faith and of charity, and yet are in charity. "Valley" as used here denotes these. In like manner does "valley" in (Ezekiel 37:1).

1293. And they dwelt there. That this signifies the derivative life, may be seen from the signification in the Word of "dwelling", which is living. The word "dwell" frequently occurs in both the prophetic and the historic parts of the Word, and in the internal sense it usually signifies to live. The reason is that the most ancient people dwelt in tents, and held their most holy worship there; and therefore in the Word "tents" signify what is holy in worship, as before shown (n. 414). And as tents signified the holy in worship, "to dwell", also, in a good sense, signifies to live, or life. In like manner, because the most ancient people journeyed with their tents, in the internal sense of the Word "to journey" signifies the modes and order of life.

1294. Verse 3. And they said a man to his fellow, Come, let us make bricks, and let us burn them to a burning. And they had brick for stone, and bitumen had they for mortar. "And they said a man to his fellow", signifies that it was begun; "Come, let us make bricks", signifies falsities which they fashioned for themselves; "and let us burn them to a burning", signifies evils from the love of self. "And they had brick for stone", signifies that they had falsity instead of truth; "and bitumen had they for mortar", signifies that they had the evil of cupidity instead of good.

1295. And they said a man to his fellow. That this signifies that it was begun, or that they had begun, follows from the connection. In this verse the third state of the church is treated of, when falsities had begun to reign; and in fact from cupidities. There are two beginnings of falsities, one from ignorance of truth, the other from cupidities. Falsity from ignorance of truth is not so pernicious as falsity from cupidities. For the falsity of ignorance arises either from one's having been so instructed from childhood, or from having been diverted by various occupations so that one has not examined whether what professes to be true is really so, or from not having had much faculty of judging concerning what is true and what is false. The falsities from these sources do not inflict much harm, provided the man has not much confirmed and thus persuaded himself, being incited thereto by some cupidity so as to defend the falsities for by doing this he would make the cloud of ignorance dense, and turn it into darkness so that he could not see the truth.

[2] But the falsity of cupidities exists when the origin of the falsity is the cupidity or love of self and of the world; as when one seizes upon some point of doctrine and professes it in order to captivate minds and lead them, and explains or perverts the doctrine in favor of self, and confirms it both by reasonings from memory-knowledges, and by the literal sense of the Word. The worship derived from this is profane, however holy it may outwardly appear; for inwardly it is not the worship of the Lord, but the worship of self. Nor does such a man acknowledge anything as true except in so far as he can explain it so as to favor himself. Such worship is that which is signified by "Babel". But the case is different with those who have been born and brought up in such worship, and who do not know that it is false, and who live in charity. In their ignorance there is innocence, and in their worship there is good from charity. The profanity in worship is not predicated so much from the worship itself, as from the quality of the man who is in the worship.

1296. Come, let us make bricks. That this signifies falsities which they fashioned for themselves, is evident from the signification of "brick". In the Word, "stone" signifies truth, and therefore "brick", because it is made by man, signifies falsity; for brick is stone artificially made. That "brick" has this signification may be further seen from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

I have spread out My hands all the day unto a refractory people, that walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense upon bricks (Isaiah 65:2, 3).

"Burning incense upon bricks" denotes worship from things fabricated and false; and therefore they are said to walk after their own thoughts. Again: -

For the elation and pride of heart of Ephraim and of the inhabitant of Samaria, that say, the bricks have fallen down, but we will build with hewn stone (Isaiah 60:9, 10).

"Ephraim" denotes an intelligent person who falls into perversities, and calls or makes to be true things that are false, or "bricks;" "hewn stone" denotes what is fabricated. In Nahum: -

Draw thee water for the siege, strengthen thy fortresses, go into the mud and tread the clay, repair the brickkiln. There shall the fire devour thee, and the sword shall cut thee off (Nahum 3:14, 15).

Here "to tread the clay" denotes falsities "to repair the brickkiln denotes the derivative worship; "the fire" is the punishment of cupidities; "the sword" is the punishment of falsities. In Ezekiel: -

Take thee a brick, and set it before thee, and grave upon it a city, even Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:1)

and he was commanded to besiege it, in which prophetic matter there is involved that the worship was falsified. That "brick" signifies falsity, may be still further seen from the signification of "stone", which is truth, concerning which presently.

1297. And let us burn them to a burning. That this signifies evils from the love of self, is evident from the signification in the Word of "to burn", of "a burning", of "fire", of "sulphur", and of "bitumen", which are predicated of cupidities, especially of those which belong to the love of self. As in Isaiah: -

Our house of holiness, and our beauty (decus), where our fathers praised Thee, hath been made a burning of fire; and all our desirable things have been made a waste (Isaiah 64:11).

Again: -

Conceive chaff, bring forth stubble; your wind is a fire that shall devour you; thus will the peoples be burnings of lime; thorns lopped off they will be kindled with fire (Isaiah 33:11, 12).

Not to mention many other similar expressions. "To be burned" and "fire" are predicated of cupidities, because the case as regards them both is much the same.

1298. And they had brick for stone. That this signifies that they had falsity for truth, is evident from the signification of "brick", just now shown to be falsity; and from the signification of "stone", which in a wide sense is truth, concerning which above (n. 643). Stones have signified truth for the reason that the boundaries of the most ancient people were marked off by stones, and that they set up stones as witnesses that the case was so and so, or that it was true; as is evident from the stone that Jacob set up for a pillar (Gen. 28:22; 35:14), and from the pillar of stones between Laban and Jacob (Gen. 31:46, 47, 52), and from the altar built by the sons of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, near the Jordan, as a witness (Josh. 22:10, 28, 34). Therefore in the Word truths are signified by "stones;" insomuch that not only by the stones of the altar, but also by the precious stones upon the shoulders of Aaron's ephod and upon the breastplate of judgment, there were signified holy truths which are of love.

[2] As regards the altar, - when the worship of sacrifices upon altars began, the altar signified the representative worship of the Lord in general; but the stones themselves represented the holy truths of that worship; and therefore it was commanded that the altar should be built of whole stones, not hewn, and it was forbidden that any iron should be moved upon them (Deut. 27:5-7; Josh. 8:31); for the reason that hewn stones, and stones on which iron has been used, signified what is artificial, and thus what is fictitious in worship; that is, what is of man's own or of the figment of his thought and heart. This was to profane worship, as is plainly said in (Exodus 20:25). For the same reason iron was not used upon the stones of the temple (1 Kings 6:7).

[3] That the precious stones upon the shoulders of Aaron's ephod, and in the breastplate of judgment, signified holy truths, has been shown before (n. 114). The same is evident in Isaiah: -

Behold I will make thy stones to lie in carbuncle, and I will lay thy foundation in sapphires, and will put rubies for thy suns (windows), and thy gates in gem-stones, and all thy border in stones of desire; and all thy sons shall be taught of Jehovah, and great shall be the peace of thy sons (Isaiah 54:11-13).

The stones here named denote holy truths, and therefore it is said "all thy sons shall be taught of Jehovah". Hence it is said in John that the foundations of the wall of the city, the holy Jerusalem, were adorned with every precious stone, and the stones are named (Rev. 21:19, 20). The "holy Jerusalem" denotes the kingdom of the Lord in heaven and on earth, the foundations of which are holy truths. In like manner the tables of stone, on which the commands of the Law, or the Ten Words, were written, signified holy truths; and therefore they were of stone, or their foundation (fundus) was stone, concerning which see (Exodus 24:12; 31:18; 34:1; Deut. 5:22; 10:1), for the commands themselves are nothing else than truths of faith.

[4] As then in ancient times truths were signified by stones, and afterwards, when worship began upon pillars and altars, and in a temple, holy truths were signified by the pillars, altars, and temple, therefore the Lord also was called "a Stone;" as in Moses: -

The Mighty One of Jacob, from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel (Gen. 49:24).

In Isaiah: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a Stone, a tried Stone of the corner, of price, of a sure foundation (Isaiah 28:16).

In David: -

The Stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner (Psalms 118:22).

The like is signified in Daniel by "the stone cut out of the rock", which brake in pieces the statue of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:34, 35, 45).

[5] That "stones" signify truths, is evident also in Isaiah: -

By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be expiated, and this shall be all the fruit, to take away his sin; when he shall put all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are scattered (Isaiah 27:9)

"the stones of the altar" denote truths in worship, which are dispersed. Again: -

Make ye level the way of the people; flatten out, flatten ye out the path; gather out the stones (Isaiah 62:10);

"Way" and "stone" denote truths. In Jeremiah: -

I am against thee, O destroying mountain; I will roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee into a mountain of burning; and they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone of foundation (Jeremiah 51:25, 26).

This is said of Babel; "a mountain of burning", is the love of self. That "a stone should not be taken from it", means that there is no truth.

1299. And bitumen had they for mortar. That this signifies that they had the evil of cupidity instead of good, is evident from the signification in the Word of "bitumen" and of "mortar". As the subject here treated of is the building of the Babylonish tower, such things are set forth as are used in building; here, bitumen, because it is sulphureous and inflammable, and in the Word by such things there are signified cupidities, especially those which belong to the love of self. Here, "bitumen" signifies both the evils of cupidities and the derivative falsities; which also are the evils wherewith the tower was built; concerning which hereafter. That such things are signified, is evident in Isaiah: -

The day of vengeance of Jehovah; the torrents shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into sulphur, and the land thereof shalt be burning pitch (Isaiah 34:8, 9).

"Pitch" and "sulphur" denote the falsities and evils of cupidities. And so in other places.

1300. That "mortar" (or "clay") signifies the good whereof the mind or the man of the church is formed, is also evident from the Word. Thus in Isaiah: -

Now, O Jehovah, Thou art our Father; we are the clay and Thou our potter, and we all are the work of Thy hand (Isaiah 64:8)

"clay" denotes the man himself of the church who is being formed, and thus the good of charity, by means of which comes all the formation of man, that is, his reformation and regeneration. In Jeremiah: -

As the clay in the potter's hand, so are we in Thy hand, the house of Israel (Jeremiah 18:6);

the meaning being similar. It is all the same whether building by means of clay, or formation, is spoken of.

1301. That these things are signified may now be seen by any one, both from the signification of all the things mentioned in this verse, and from such things being here mentioned as the kind of stones and of mortar that they used; things by no means worthy to be mentioned in the Word of the Lord, unless these arcana were contained within them.

1302. Verse 4. And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower, and its head in heaven; and let us make us a name, lest peradventure we be scattered upon the faces of the whole earth. "And they said", signifies that it came to pass; "let us build us a city and a tower", signifies that they framed a doctrine and a worship; "a city" is a doctrine, "a tower" is the worship of self; "and its head in heaven", signifies even to their having dominion over the things that are in heaven; "and let us make us a name", signifies that thereby they might have a reputation for power; "lest peradventure we be scattered upon the faces of the whole earth", signifies that otherwise they would not be acknowledged.

1303. And they said. That this signifies that it came to pass, follows from the connection, just as the preceding words, "they said a man to his fellow", signified that it was begun; for Babel is here described, and what its quality is, by the "tower".

1304. Let us build us a city and a tower. That this signifies that they framed a doctrine and a worship, may be seen from the signification of "a city", and from that of "a tower", concerning which presently. The church is of such a nature that when charity toward the neighbor departs, and the love of self succeeds in its place, the doctrine of faith is of no account except in so far as it can be turned into the worship of self; and nothing whatever is accounted holy in worship unless it is for the sake of self, and thus unless it is self-worship. All love of self is attended with this; for he who loves himself more than others, not only hates all who are not subservient to him, and shows them no favor except when they have become subservient, but also, in so far as he is not under restraint, he rushes on even until he exalts himself above God. That this is the nature of the love of self when the reins are given to it, has been shown me to the life. This is what is signified by "a city and a tower". The love of self and every derivative cupidity is of all things the most filthy and the most profane, and is the veriest infernalism; and from this any one may conclude what the quality of that worship must be which contains within it an infernalism so absolute.

1305. That "a city" signifies doctrine, or that which is doctrinal, whether genuine or heretical, has been shown before (n. 402).

1306. That "a tower" is the worship of self, is evident from the signification of "a tower". The worship of self exists when a man exalts himself above others even to the point of being worshiped. And therefore the love of self, which is arrogance and pride, is called "height", "loftiness", and "being lifted up;" and is described by all things that are high. As in Isaiah: -

The eyes of man's pride shall be humbled, and the loftiness of men shall be brought low, and Jehovah Himself alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of Jehovah of Armies is upon every one proud and high and upon every one that is lifted up, and he shall be humbled; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan; and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every lofty tower, and upon every fenced wall (Isaiah 2:11-18);

concerning the love of self, which is described by the "cedars", "oaks", "mountains", "hills", and "tower" that are "high" and "lifted up".

[2] Again: -

There shall be rivers, streams of waters, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers shall fall (Isa. 30:25)

in like manner denoting the love of self, and the exalting of self in worship. And again: -

Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not; Asshur hath founded it in tziim; they will set up their watch-towers, they will raise up their palaces, he will make it a ruin (Isa. 23:13);

said of Tyre and its vastation; "watch-towers", expressed by another word, denote the phantasies therefrom. In Ezekiel: -

I will cause many nations to come up against thee, O Tyre, and they shall ruin the walls of Tyre, and destroy her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and will make her the dryness of a rock (Ezekiel 26:3, 4);

the signification being similar.

[3] The love of self in worship, or the worship of self, is called a "tower", for the reason that a "city" signifies a doctrine (n. 402) and cities were formerly fortified with towers, in which there were watchmen; and there were also towers on the borders, which for this reason were called "towers of watchmen" (2 Kings 9:17; 17:9; 18:8), and "watch-towers" (Isa. 23:13). And besides, when the church of the Lord is compared to a "vineyard", those things which belong to worship and to its conservation are compared to a "winepress" and to "a tower in the vineyard", as is evident in (Isaiah 5:1, 2; Matt. 21:33; Mark 12:1).

1307. And its head in heaven. That this signifies even to their having dominion over the things that are in heaven, follows from what has been said. For "to have the head in heaven" is to exalt self even that far, as is evident from the description of Babel in other places in the Word; and from what has already been said about "lifting up the head" (n. 257). The love of self is that which is least of all in accord with the heavenly life; for all evils come from it, not only hatreds, but also revenges, cruelties, and adulteries; and still less does it accord when it enters into worship, and profanes it. And therefore the hells consist of such persons, who the more they would lift up their heads into heaven, the deeper they press themselves down, and the more frightful are the penalties into which they precipitate themselves.

1308. And let us make us a name. That this signifies that thereby they might have a reputation for power, may be seen from the signification of "making ones self a name". For they knew that every one desires to be in some worship; for this is common to all, and exists among all nations. For every one who beholds the universe, and still more who considers the order of the universe, acknowledges some supreme being or entity (summum ens), and as he desires his own prosperity, he pays adoration to that entity. Moreover there is something within, which dictates this, for such a dictate flows in from the Lord through the angels who are with every man. The man who is not like this, and who does not acknowledge a God, is under the dominion of infernal spirits. Knowing this, they who build Babylonish towers make themselves a name by means of doctrinal and holy things, for otherwise they could not be worshiped, which is signified in what next follows by their otherwise being scattered over the faces of the whole earth, that is, they would not be acknowledged. And from this it follows that the higher such men can lift up the head to heaven, the more they make themselves a name. Their dominion is greatest over those who have some conscience; for these they lead whithersoever they will; but as to those who have not conscience, they rule all such by means of various external bonds.

1309. Lest we be scattered upon the faces of the whole earth. That this signifies that otherwise they would not be acknowledged, follows from what has just been said; for to be "scattered abroad upon the faces of the whole earth", is to be lost to their view, and thus not to be received and acknowledged.

1310. Verse 5. And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of man were building. "Jehovah came down", signifies judgment upon them; "to see the city and the tower", signifies because they had perverted doctrine and profaned worship; "which the sons of man were building", signifies which they had devised for themselves.

1311. And Jehovah came down. That this signifies judgment upon them, is evident from what has gone before and from what follows, and also from the signification of "coming down", when predicated of Jehovah; from what has gone before, in that the subject has been the building of the city and tower of Babel; from what follows, in that the subject is the confusion of lips and of dispersion; from the signification of "coming down", when predicated of Jehovah, in that this is said when judgment takes place. Jehovah or the Lord is everywhere present and knows all things from eternity; and therefore it cannot be said of Him that He came down to see, except in the literal sense, where it is so said according to the appearances with man. But in the internal sense it is not so, for in this sense the subject is presented as it is in itself, and not according to the appearances; so that in the passage before us "to come down to see" signifies judgment.

[2] Judgment is predicated of a state when evil has reached its highest, or, as it is termed in the Word, when it is "consummated", or when "iniquity is consummated". For the case herein is that all evil has its limits as far as which it is permitted to go; but when it goes beyond these limits, it incurs the penalty of the evil. This is so both in particular and in general. The punishment of evil is what is then called a judgment. And because it appears at first as if the Lord did not see or observe that the evil exists, - for when a man does evil without punishment, he supposes that the Lord troubles not Himself about the matter, but when he undergoes the penalty he begins to think that the Lord sees, and even that the Lord inflicts the punishment, - it is therefore said, in accordance with these appearances, that Jehovah came down to see.

[3] To "come down" is predicated of Jehovah, because "the highest" is predicated of Him, that is, He is said to be in the highest, and this too according to the appearance, for He is not in things highest but in things inmost, and this is the reason why in the Word what is highest and what is inmost have the same signification. On the other hand, judgment or the penalty of evil takes place in lower and lowest things. This explains why He is said to "come down;" as also in David: -

O Jehovah, bow Thy heavens and come down; touch the mountains and they shall smoke; cast forth lightning and scatter them (Ps. 144:5, 6),

where the punishment of evil, or judgment, is signified. In Isaiah: -

Jehovah of Armies shall come down to fight upon Mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof (Isaiah 31:4).

And again: -

O that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence (Isaiah 64:1).

Here in like manner to "come down" denotes the penalty, or judgment, inflicted upon evil. In Micah: -

Jehovah cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth, and the mountains shall be molten under Him (Micah 1:3, 4).

1312. To see the city and the tower. That these words signify because they had perverted doctrine and profaned worship, is evident from the signification of a "city" and of a "tower", concerning which before.

1313. Which the sons of man were building. That this signifies which they had devised for themselves, is clear without explication. "The sons of man" here are the sons of the church; for they who are not of the church, and have not the knowledges of faith, cannot devise such things. That such as these cannot profane holy things, has been shown before (n. 301-303, 593).

1314. Verse 6. And Jehovah said, Behold, the people are one, and they all have one lip, and this is what they begin to do; and now nothing will be withholden from them of all which they have thought to do. "And Jehovah said", signifies that it was so; "Behold, the people are one, and they all have one lip", signifies that they all had one truth of faith and doctrine; "and this is what they begin to do", signifies that they now begin to become different; "and now nothing will be withholden from them of all which they have thought to do", signifies unless their state is now changed.

1315. And Jehovah said. That this signifies that it was so, is evident from the fact, that here, as has been shown before, we have not true history, but made-up history; and therefore when it is said that "Jehovah said", it can signify nothing else than that it was so, as has also been shown before.

1316. Behold, the people are one, and they all have one lip. That this signifies that they all had one truth of faith and doctrine, is evident from the signification of "people", as being the truth of faith, and from the signification of "lip", as being doctrine. It has been shown before (n. 1259), that "people" signifies the truth of faith, that is, those who are in the truth of faith; and that "lip" signifies the doctrine of faith, was shown just above at (verse 1). The people is said to be "one", and their "lip one", when all have as their end the common good of society, the common good of the church, and the kingdom of the Lord; for when this is the case the Lord is in the end, and all are a one from Him. But the Lord cannot possibly be present with a man whose end is his own good; the Own itself of man estranges the Lord, because thereby the man twists and turns the common good of society, and that of the church itself, and even the kingdom of the Lord, to himself, insomuch that it is as if it existed for him. He thus takes away from the Lord what is His, and puts himself in His place. When this condition reigns in a man, there is the like of it in every single thought he has, and even in the least particulars of his thoughts for such is the case with whatever is regnant in any man.

[2] This does not appear so manifestly in the life of the body as it does in the other life, for there whatever is regnant in any one manifests itself by a certain sphere which is perceived by all around him, and which is of this character because it exhales from every single thing in him. The sphere of him who has regard to himself in everything, appropriates to itself, and, as is said there, absorbs everything that is favorable to itself, and therefore it absorbs all the delight of the surrounding spirits, and destroys all their freedom, so that such a person has to be banished from society. But when the people is one, and the lip one, that is, when the common good of all is regarded, one person never appropriates to himself another's delight, or destroys another's freedom, but in so far as he can he promotes and increases it. This is the reason why the heavenly societies are as a one, and this solely through mutual love from the Lord; and the case is the same in the church.

1317. And this is what they begin to do. That this signifies that now they began to become different, is evident from the connection. To "begin to do", here signifies their thought or intention, and consequently their end, as also is evident from the words that next follow, "and now nothing will be withholden from them of all which they have thought to do". That in the internal sense their end is signified, is because nothing else than the end in a man is regarded by the Lord. Whatever may be his thoughts and deeds - which vary in ways innumerable - provided the end is made good, they are all good; whereas if the end is evil, they are all evil. It is the end that reigns in everything a man thinks and does. The angels with a man, being the Lord's angels, rule nothing in the man but his ends; for when they rule these, they rule also his thoughts and actions, seeing that all these are of the end. The end with a man is his very life; and all things that he thinks and does have life from the end, for, as was said, they are of the end; and therefore such as is the end, such is the man's life. The end is nothing else than the love; for a man cannot have anything as an end except that which he loves. He who thinks one thing and does another, still has as the end that which he loves in the dissimulation itself, or in the deceit, there is the end, which is the love of self or the love of the world, and the derivative delight of his life. From these considerations any one may conclude that such as is a man's love, such is his life. These therefore are the things signified by "beginning to do".

1318. And now nothing will be withholden from them of all which they have thought to do. That this signifies unless their state is now changed, may be seen from what follows. The internal sense of the Word is of such a nature that it keeps constantly in view the things that follow, and also the conclusion, although this does not appear to be so in the literal sense. As regards those who are of the character described above, unless their state were changed, they could not be withheld from doing all they thought of doing. But that their state was changed, is evident from what follows. The thought of doing is nothing else than the intention, that is, the end. The end with a man can never be withheld, that is, changed, unless his state is changed; for the end is the very life of a man, as was said. When the state is changed, the end also is changed; and with the end the thought. The nature of the change of state that took place with the man of this church, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be shown in what follows.

1319. Verse 7. Come, let us go down, and there confound their lip, that they hear not a man the lip of his fellow. "Come, let us go down", signifies that a judgment was thus effected; "and there confound their lip", signifies that not any one has the truth of doctrine; "that they hear not a man the lip of his fellow", signifies that all are at variance with one another.

1320. Come, let us go down. That this signifies that a judgment was thus effected, is evident from what was said above (verse 5) about the signification of "going down.' The reason why it is here said, in the plural, "let us go down and confound their lip", is that it is the execution of a judgment, which is effected by means of spirits, and indeed by means of evil spirits.

1321. And there confound their lip. That this signifies that not any one has the truth of doctrine, may be seen from the signification of "lip", as being doctrine, concerning which see above (verse 1). Hence it follows that to "confound the lips" is to confound the things that are of doctrine, that is, the truths of doctrine. In the internal sense, "to confound" signifies not only to darken, but also to blot out and dissipate, so that there is not any truth. When the worship of self succeeds in the place of the worship of the Lord, then all truth is not only perverted, but is even abolished, and at last falsity is acknowledged in the place of truth, and evil in the place of good. For all the light of truth is from the Lord, and all darkness is from man; and when man takes the place of the Lord in worship, the light of truth becomes thick darkness; and then the light is seen by men as thick darkness, and thick darkness is seen as the light.

[2] Such moreover is precisely the life of such persons after death; the life of falsity is to them as if it were light, but the life of truth is to them as thick darkness. But when they approach toward heaven, the light of such a life is changed into total darkness. So long as they are in the world, they can indeed speak truth, even with eloquence and apparent zeal; and as there is with all such persons a constant reflection upon self, they seem to themselves to think as they speak; but as their very end is the worship of self, their thoughts derive from the end that they do not acknowledge truth except in so far as self is in the truth. When a man in whose mouth is the truth is of such a character, it is evident that he does not possess the truth; and in the other life this is plainly evident, for there such men not only do not acknowledge the truth which they had professed in the life of the body, but hold it in hatred, and persecute it; and this just in proportion as their arrogance or their worship of self is not taken away.

1322. That they hear not a man the lip of his fellow. That this signifies that all are at variance, or that the one is against the other, is evident from the words themselves. "Not to hear one another's lip", is not to acknowledge what another says, and in the internal sense not to acknowledge what another teaches, that is, his doctrine, for "lip" is doctrine, as has been shown above (verse 1). They acknowledge it indeed with the mouth, but not with the heart; but agreement with the mouth is nothing when there is disagreement of the heart. The case in this respect is the same as it is with evil spirits in the other life, who, in like manner as the good, are distinguished into societies, but are kept conjoined together by being attached by the like phantasies and cupidities, so that they act as a one in persecuting truths and goods. Thus there is a certain common interest by which they are held together; but as soon as this common bond is dissolved, they rush one upon another, and then their delight consists in tormenting their associate or associates. The case is similar with such doctrine and worship in this world those in it acknowledge what pertains to doctrine and ritual harmoniously enough; but the common interest that holds them together is the worship of self; and so far as they can share in this common interest, they acknowledge; but so far as they cannot share or hope to share in it, they are disunited; for the reason given just above, that no one of this character possesses any truth, but every one has falsity in the place of truth, and evil in the place of good. This therefore is what is signified by their "not hearing a man the lip of his fellow".

1323. Verse 8. And Jehovah scattered them from thence upon the faces of all the earth; and they left off to build the city. "And Jehovah scattered them from thence upon the faces of all the earth", signifies here, as before, that they were not acknowledged; "and they left off to build the city", signifies that such doctrine was not received.

1324. And Jehovah scattered them upon the faces of all the earth. That this signifies that they were not acknowledged, is evident from what was said before (verse 4), where the same words occur. "And they left off to build the city". - that this signifies that such doctrine was not received, is evident from the signification of a "city", as being doctrine (n. 402); and from what was said at (verses 4 and 5) concerning the building of a city and a tower. From all this it is evident that such doctrine, or such worship, wherein interiorly there is the love of self, or the worship of self, was not permitted to this Ancient Church, and this for the reason explained in the verse that next follows.

1325. Verse 9. Therefore He called the name of it Babel, because there did Jehovah confound the lip of all the earth; and from thence did Jehovah scatter them upon the faces of all the earth. "Therefore He called the name of it Babel", signifies such worship; "because there did Jehovah confound the lip of all the earth", signifies the state of this Ancient Church, that internal worship began to perish; "the earth" is the church; "and from thence did Jehovah scatter them upon the faces of all the earth", signifies that internal worship was annihilated.

1326. Therefore He called the name of it Babel. That this signifies such worship, that is, the kind of worship signified by "Babel", is evident from what has been said hitherto; that is to say, worship in which interiorly there is the love of self, and therefore all that is filthy and profane. The love of self is nothing else than man's Own; and how filthy and profane this is may be seen from what has been shown before concerning man's Own (n. 210, 215). From self-love (philautia), that is, the love of self, or man's Own, all evils flow, such as hatreds, revenges, cruelties, adulteries, deceits, hypocrisies, impiety; and therefore when the love of self, or man's Own, is in the worship, such evils are in it, according to the difference and degree of quantity and quality that are from that love. Hence comes all the profanation of worship. In point of fact, in proportion as anything from the love of self, or from man's Own, is introduced into worship, in the same proportion internal worship departs, that is, it comes to pass that there is no internal worship. Internal worship consists in the affection of good and the acknowledgment of truth, and in proportion as the love of self, that is, in proportion as man's Own, makes its approach, or enters in, the affection of good and the acknowledgment of truth depart, or go out. The holy can never be with the profane, just as heaven cannot be with hell, but the one must take its departure from the other. Such is the state and order in the Lord's kingdom. This is the reason why there is no internal worship among such men as those whose worship is called "Babel", but only a kind of dead thing, and in fact one inwardly cadaverous, that is worshiped. From this it is evident what must be the quality of the external worship that contains such an internal within it.

[2] That such worship is "Babel", is evident from the Word in various places where Babel is described, as in Daniel, where the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon saw in a dream - the head of which was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet part of iron and part of clay - signifies that from true worship there finally comes such worship as is called "Babel;" and therefore a stone cut out of the rock brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold (Dan. 2:31-33, 44, 45). The image of gold that Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon set up, and which they worshiped, was nothing else (Dan. 3:1-30). The like is signified by the king of Babylon with his lords drinking wine out of the vessels of gold that had been brought from the temple at Jerusalem, and praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, and of stone, on which account there appeared the writing upon the wall (Dan. 5:1-31). The like is signified also by Darius the Mede commanding that he should be adored as a god (Dan. 6:7-28); and likewise by the beasts seen by Daniel in a dream (Dan. 7:1-28) and the beasts and the Babylon described by John in the Revelation.

[3] That such worship was signified and represented is very evident, not only in Daniel and John, but also in the Prophets. As in Isaiah: - Their faces are faces of flames. The stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shine not with their light; the sun is darkened in his going forth, and the moon doth not cause her light to shine. There do the Ziim couch, and their houses are filled with the Ochim; and the daughters of the night-owl dwell there, and satyrs dance there, and Iim answer in her palaces, and dragons in the buildings of pleasure (Isaiah 13:8, 10, 21, 22). This is said of Babylon, and the internal of such worship is described by "faces of flames", which are cupidities by "the stars", which are truths of faith, "not giving their light;" by "the sun", which is holy love, being "darkened;" by "the moon", which is the truth of faith, "not shining;" by "the Ziim", " Ochim", "daughters of the owl", " satyrs", "Iim", and "dragons", as being the interiors of their worship; for such things are of the love of self, that is, of man's Own. And therefore also Babylon is called in John "the mother of whoredoms and abominations" (Rev. 17:5); and also "a habitation of dragons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird" (Rev. 18:2); from all which it is evident that with such things within, there cannot be anything of good, or of the truth of faith; and that in so far as the goods of affection and the truths of faith depart, such things enter in. The same are called also "the graven images of the gods of Babylon" (Isa. 21:9).

[4] That it is the love of self, or the Own of man, that is in such worship, or that it is the worship of self, is very evident in Isaiah: -

Prophesy this parable upon the king of Babylon: Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the cloud, I will become like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be cast down to hell (Isaiah 14:4, 13-15).

Here it is manifest that "Babylon" denotes one who desires to be worshiped as a god; that is, that it is the worship of self.

[5] Again: -

Come down, and sit on the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit in the earth, without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans; thou hath trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me; thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath averted thee; thou hast said in thine heart, I, and there is none else besides like me (Isaiah 47:1, 10).

In Jeremiah: -

Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, that destroyeth all the earth; and I will stretch out My hand upon thee, and will roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee into a mountain of burning. Though Babylon should mount up to the heavens, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me shall they that lay waste come to her (Jeremiah 51:25, 53).

From this passage also it is evident that "Babylon" is the worship of self.

[6] That such persons have no light of truth, but total darkness; that is, that they have no truth of faith, is described in Jeremiah: -

The word that Jehovah spake against Babylon, against the land of the Chaldeans. Out of the north there shall ascend upon her a nation that shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell therein; from man even to beast they shall move asunder, they shall be gone (Jeremiah 50:1, 3)

"the north" denotes thick darkness, or no truth; "no man and no beast", no good. See further concerning Babel below, (verse 28), where Chaldea is treated of.

1327. There did Jehovah confound the lip of all the earth. That this signifies the state of this Ancient Church, that internal worship began to perish, is evident from its being said, "the lip of all the earth", and not, as before, at (verse 7), "the lip of those who began to build a city and a tower". By "the face of all the earth", is signified the state of the church, for "the earth" is the church (n. 662, 1066). As regards the churches after the flood, the case stood thus There were three of these churches that are specifically mentioned in the Word; namely, the First Ancient Church, which was named from Noah; the Second Ancient Church, named from Eber; and the Third Ancient Church, named from Jacob, and afterwards from Judah and Israel.

[2] As regards the first of these churches, which was named from Noah, that church was as the parent of those which succeeded it; and, as is wont to be the case with churches in their beginnings, it was more unimpaired and guiltless than its successors, as is evident also from the first verse of this chapter, in that it had "one lip", that is, one doctrine, in consequence of all its members holding charity to be the essential thing. But in process of time, like other churches, this First Ancient Church began to fall, and this chiefly from the fact that many of them began to aspire after the worship of self, so that they might take precedence of others as is evident from (verse 4), for they said "Let us build us a city and a tower, and its head in heaven; and let us make us a name". Such men in the church could not but be as a kind of ferment, or as a fire-brand causing a conflagration. As the peril of the profanation of what is holy thence impended (n. 571, 582), of the Lord's Providence the state of this church was changed, so that its internal worship perished, while its external worship remained, which is here signified by the statement that Jehovah confounded the lip of all the earth. It is also evident from this that such worship as is called "Babel" did not prevail in the First Ancient Church, but in those which followed, when men began to be worshiped as gods, especially after their death, whence arose the many gods of the Gentiles.

[3] The reason why it was permitted that internal worship should perish and external remain, was that what is holy might not be profaned; for the profanation of what is holy is attended with eternal damnation. No one can profane what is holy except one who is in possession of the knowledges of faith, and who acknowledges the truth of them. A person who does not possess them cannot acknowledge, and still less profane them. It is the internal things that can be profaned; for what is holy abides in internal, and not in external, things. The case in this respect is the same as it is with a man who does what is evil, but does not purpose what is evil. To him the evil that he does cannot be imputed, just as it cannot be imputed to one who does not do it of deliberate intention, or to one who is destitute of reason. Thus a man who does not believe that there is a life after death, and yet performs external worship, cannot profane the things that belong to eternal life, because he does not believe that there is any such life; but the case is quite different with those who know and who acknowledge these things.

[4] And this is the reason why it is permitted a man rather to live in pleasures and in cupidities, and by them to remove himself from internal things, than to come into the knowledge and acknowledgment of internal things, and profane them. For this reason the Jews are at this day permitted to immerse themselves in avarice, that in this way they may be further removed from the acknowledgment of internal things; for they are of such a character that if they were to acknowledge them, they could not but profane them. Nothing removes men further from internal things than avarice, because it is the lowest earthly cupidity. And the case is the same with many within the church; and it is the same with the Gentiles outside the church. These latter, to wit, the Gentiles, are least of all capable of profanation. This then is the reason why it is here said that Jehovah confounded the lip of all the earth, and why these words signify that the state of the church was changed, so that its worship became external, and devoid of all internal worship.

[5] The like was represented and signified by the Babylonish captivity into which the Israelites, and afterwards the Jews, were carried away, concerning which it is thus written in Jeremiah: -

And it shall come to pass, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the king of Babylon, and whoso will not put his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, upon that nation will I visit with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand (Jeremiah 27:8).

"To serve the king of Babylon and to put the neck under his yoke", is to be utterly deprived of the knowledge and acknowledgment of the good and of the truth of faith, and thereby of internal worship.

[6] This is still more plainly evident in the same Prophet: -

Thus hath said Jehovah to all the people in this city, Your brethren who have not gone forth with you into captivity, thus hath said Jehovah Zebaoth, Behold, I send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and I will make them like horrible figs (Jeremiah 29:16, 17).

"To abide in the city and not go forth to the king of Babylon", represented and signified those who were in the knowledges of internal things, or of the truths of faith, and who profaned them, upon whom it is said there would be sent the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, which are the penalties of profanation; and that they should become like horrible figs.

[7] That by "Babel" are signified those who deprive others of all the knowledge and acknowledgment of truth, was also represented and signified by these things in the same Prophet: -

I will give all Judah into the hand of the King of Babylon, and he shall carry them into Babylon, and shall smite them with the sword. Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all the toil thereof, and all the precious thing thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah, will I give into the hand of their enemies, and they shall spoil them, and take them (Jer. 20:4, 5).

Here by "all the riches, all the toil, all the precious thing, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah", are signified the knowledges of faith.

[8] Again: -

With the families of the north I will bring up the king of Babylon upon this land, and upon the inhabitants thereof, and upon all these nations round about, and I will give them to the curse, and will make them a desolation, and a hissing, and everlasting wastes; and this whole land shall be a waste (Jer. 25:9, 11).

Here the devastation of the interior things of faith, or of internal worship, is described by "Babylon". For the man who worships self possesses no truth of faith, as has been shown before. Everything that is true he destroys and lays waste, and carries away into captivity. And therefore Babylon is called "a destroying mountain" (Jer. 51:25). (n. 1182).

1328. And from thence did Jehovah scatter them upon the faces of all the earth. That this signifies that internal worship was annihilated, may be seen from the signification of "scattering", as being to dissipate. In the proximate sense, the scattering over the faces of all the earth, means the dispersion of those who desire to build the city of Babel; but as these are they who deprive others of all the knowledge of truth, as before said, the words signify, at the same time, the deprivation of internal worship; for the one is a consequence of the other; and here we have the consequence, for it is stated for the third time. That the First Ancient Church was deprived of the knowledges of truth and good, is evident from the fact that the nations which constituted that Ancient Church became for the most part idolaters, and yet had a certain external worship. The lot of those idolaters who are outside the church is much better than that of those idolaters who are within the church; for the former are external idolaters, whereas the latter are internal idolaters. That the lot of the former is better, is evident from the words the Lord spake in (Luke 13:23, 28-30; Matthew 8:11, 12). This therefore is the reason why the state of this Ancient Church was changed.

1329. Verse 10. These are the births of Shem: Shem was a son of a hundred years, and begat Arpachshad two years after the flood. " These are the births of Shem", signifies the derivations of the Second Ancient Church; " Shem" is internal worship in general; "a hundred years", signifies the state of that church at the beginning; "Arpachshad" was a nation so named, by which is signified memory-knowledge (scientia); "two years after the flood", signifies the second post-diluvian church.

1330. These are the births of Shem. That this signifies the derivations of the Second Ancient Church, is evident from the signification of "births", as being the origin and derivation of doctrinal things and of worships (n. 1145). Here, and elsewhere in the Word, the "births" are no other than those of the church, that is, of doctrinal things and of worships. The internal sense of the Word enfolds nothing else; and therefore when any church is born, it is said that "these are its births", as for instance when the Most Ancient Church was born: "These are the births of the heavens and of the earth" (Gen. 2:4); and in like manner with the other churches which followed, before the flood: "This is the book of the births" (Gen. 5:1). In like manner with the churches after the flood, which were three, - the First called Noah, the Second named from Eber, the Third from Jacob, and afterwards from Judah and Israel. When the First of these churches is described, the record begins in a similar manner: "These are the births of the sons of Noah" (Gen. 10:1). So with this Second church, named from Eber, in this verse: "These are the births of Shem". And with the Third also, in (verse 27) of this chapter: "These are the births of Terah". So that "births" signify nothing else than the origins and derivations of the doctrinal things and of the worships of the church that is being described. The reason why the births of this Second church are derived from Shem, or why its beginning is described by "Shem", is that " Shem" signifies internal worship, here, the internal worship of this church. Not that the internal worship of this church was such internal worship as that which was signified by "Shem" in the preceding chapter; but merely that it is the internal worship of the church.

1331. From what has been said it is now evident that "Shem" denotes internal worship in general. The quality of the internal worship of this church is evident from those who are named in succession after Shem, namely, that it was characterized by memory-knowledge (fuerit scientificum), as is confirmed by the numbers of the years, when they are examined and unfolded.

1332. That "a hundred years" signifies the state of that church in general, is evident from what has been stated and shown before concerning numbers and years (n. 482, 487, 488, 493, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 893), namely, that they signify times and states. But what and of what quality the states were that are signified by the number "a hundred" years, and by the numbers of years in the following verses of this chapter, it would he tedious to explain; moreover the subject is intricate.

1333.

1334. That Arpachshad was a nation so named, and that thereby is signified memory-knowledge, was stated at (verse 24) of the preceding chapter (n. 1236).

1335. Two years after the flood. That this signifies the Second post-diluvian church, may be seen from the fact that by a "year", in the Word, as also by a "day" and by a "week", is signified an entire period, greater or less, of fewer or of more years; in fact a period in the abstract, as may be seen from the paragraphs referred to above (n. 488, 493). So here with the "two years after the flood", by which is signified the second period of the church, which was when this second church began.

1336. Verse 11. And Shem lived after he begat Arpachshad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. "And Shem lived after he begat Arpachshad five hundred years", signifies the duration and state; " Shem" signifies here, as before, internal worship in general; "Arpachshad" signifies memory-knowledge; "and begat sons and daughters", signifies the doctrinal things.

1337. That these things are signified, calls for no confirmation, being evident from the signification of the same words as given above. I shall merely state that the internal worship of this church was no other than a kind of memory-knowledge (scientificum), thus a kind of love which may be called a love of truth. For when this church began, there was scarcely any charity left, and therefore scarcely any faith, which comes solely from charity; as also is evident from what was said just before concerning the city and the tower of Babel, in that Jehovah did confound the lip of all the earth (verse 9).

1338. And begat sons and daughters. That this signifies doctrinal things, is evident from the signification of "sons", as before given (n. 264, 489-491, 533).

1339. Verse 12. And Arpachshad lived five and thirty years and begat Shelah. "And Arpachshad lived five and thirty years", signifies the beginning of the second state of this church, as well as that second state itself; " Arpachshad" signifies here, as before, memory-knowledge; "and begat Shelah", signifies the derivation therefrom. Shelah was a nation so called, whereby is signified that which pertains to memory-knowledge.

1340. That these things are signified calls for no confirmation. That " Shelah" was a nation so called, whereby is signified that which pertains to memory-knowledge, has been stated before, at (Gen. 10:24).

1341. Verse 13. And Arpachshad lived after he begat Shelah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. "And Arpachshad lived after he begat Shelah four hundred and three years", signifies the duration and state; "Arpachshad" here, as before, signifies memory-knowledge; and "Shelah" is that which pertains to memory-knowledge; "and begat sons and daughters", signifies the doctrinal things.

1342. Verse 14. And Shelah lived thirty years and begat Eber. "And Shelah lived thirty years", signifies the beginning of a third state; "Shelah" here, as before, signifies that which pertains to memory-knowledge; "and begat Eber", signifies a derivation therefrom; "Eber" was a nation called, from Eber as its father, the Hebrew nation, whereby is signified the worship in general of the Second Ancient Church.

1343. That "Eber" was a nation called, from Eber as its father, the Hebrew nation, and that thereby is signified the worship in general of the Second Ancient Church, is evident from those historical parts of the Word wherein it is spoken of. From that nation, because the new worship commenced there, all were called Hebrews who had a similar worship. Their worship was of the kind that was afterwards restored among the descendants of Jacob; and its chief characteristic consisted in their calling their God "Jehovah", and in their having sacrifices. The Most Ancient Church with unanimity acknowledged the Lord, and called Him Jehovah, as is evident from the first chapters of Genesis, and elsewhere in the Word. The Ancient Church, that is, the church after the flood, also acknowledged the Lord, and called Him Jehovah, especially those who had internal worship, and were called "sons of Shem". The others, who were in external worship, also acknowledged Jehovah, and worshiped Him. But when internal worship became external, and still more when it became idolatrous, and when each nation began to have its own god whom it worshiped, the Hebrew nation retained the name Jehovah, and called their God Jehovah; and hereby were distinguished from the other nations.

[2] Together with their external worship, the descendants of Jacob in Egypt lost this also - that they called their God Jehovah; nay, Moses himself did so; and therefore they were instructed first of all that Jehovah was the God of the Hebrews, and the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; as may be seen from these words in Moses: -

Jehovah said unto Moses, Thou shalt come in, thou and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, Jehovah the God of the Hebrews hath met with us; and now let us go, we pray thee, a three days' journey into the wilderness, and we will sacrifice to Jehovah our God (Exod. 3:18).

Again: -

Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto His voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go. And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us; let us go, we pray thee, a three days' journey into the wilderness, and we will sacrifice to Jehovah our God (Exod. 5:2, 3).

[3] That together with the worship the descendants of Jacob in Egypt lost also the name of Jehovah, may be seen from these words in Moses: -

Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the sons of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM WHO I AM. And He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, Jehovah the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you this is My name to eternity (Exod. 3:13-15).

[4] From these words it is evident that even Moses did not know Jehovah; and that they were distinguished from others by the name of Jehovah the God of the Hebrews. Hence in other places also Jehovah is called the God of the Hebrews: -

Thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Jehovah the God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee (Exod. 7:16).

Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith Jehovah the God of the Hebrews (Exod. 9:1, 13).

And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah the God of the Hebrews (Exod. 10:3).

And in Jonah: -

I am a Hebrew; and I fear Jehovah the God of the heavens (Jonah 1:9).

And also in Samuel: -

The Philistines heard the voice of the shouting, and said, What meaneth the voice of this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrew? And they knew that the ark of Jehovah was come into the camp. And the Philistines said, Woe unto us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these august gods? These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all manner of plagues in the wilderness. Be like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews (1 Sam. 4:6, 8, 9).

Here also it is evident that the nations were distinguished by the gods on whose name they called, and the Hebrew nation by Jehovah.

[5] That the second essential of the worship of the Hebrew nation consisted in sacrifices, is also evident from passages cited above (Exod. 3:18; 5:2, 3); as well as from the fact that the Egyptians abominated the Hebrew nation on account of this worship, as is evident from these words in Moses: -

Moses said, It is not right so to do, for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Jehovah our God; lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? (Exod. 8:26).

For this reason the Egyptians so abominated the Hebrew nation that they would not eat bread with them (Gen. 43:32). It is also evident from all this that the posterity of Jacob was not the only Hebrew nation, but all who had such worship; and therefore in Joseph's time the land of Canaan was called the land of the Hebrews: -

Joseph said, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews (Gen. 40:15)

[6] That there were sacrifices among the idolaters in the land of Canaan, may be seen from many passages, for they sacrificed to their gods - to the Baals and others; and moreover Balaam; who was from Syria where Eber dwelt and whence the Hebrew nation came, not only offered sacrifices before the descendants of Jacob came into the land of Canaan, but also called Jehovah his God. That Balaam was from Syria, whence came the Hebrew nation, see (Numbers 23:7); that he offered sacrifices, (Numbers 22:39, 40; 23:1-3, 14, 29); that he called Jehovah his God, (Numbers 22:18), and throughout the chapter. What is said of Noah (Gen. 8:20), that he offered burnt-offerings to Jehovah, is not true history, but is history so made up, because by burnt-offerings there is signified the holy of worship, as may there be seen. From all this it is now evident what is signified by "Heber", or by the Hebrew nation.

1344. Verse 15. And Shelah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. "And Shelah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years", signifies the duration and state; " Shelah" here, as before, signifies that which pertains to memory-knowledge "Eber" here, as before, signifies the worship of this church in general; "and begat sons and daughters", signifies the doctrinal things.

1345. Verse 16. And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg. "And Eber lived four and thirty years", signifies the beginning of the fourth state of this church; "Eber" here, as before, signifies the worship of this church in general; "and begat Peleg", signifies a derivation from it. " Peleg" was a nation so called from him as its father, whereby there is signified external worship. That "Peleg" here signifies external worship, follows from the series of the derivations of worship, and thus from his derivation. In the preceding chapter, (Gen. 10:25), there is another meaning from the signification of this name, that "in his days the earth was divided", and because there he together with his brother Joktan represented that Second Ancient Church.

1346. Verse 17. And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. "And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years", signifies the duration and state; "Eber" and " Peleg" signify the same here as before; "and begat sons and daughters", signifies doctrinal things which are rituals.

1347. Verse 18. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu. "And Peleg lived thirty years", signifies the beginning of the fifth state; "Peleg" signifies the same here as before; "and begat Reu", signifies a derivation therefrom. Reu was a nation so named from him as its father, whereby there is signified a worship still more external.

1348. Verse 19. And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. "And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years", signifies the duration and state; "Peleg" and " Reu" signify the same here as before; "and begat sons and daughters", signifies rituals.

1349. Verse 20. And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug. "And Reu lived two and thirty years", signifies the beginning of the sixth state; "Reu" signifies the same here as before; "and begat Serug", signifies a derivation therefrom. Serug was a nation so named from him as its father, by which is signified worship in externals.

1350. Verse 21. And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. "And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years", signifies the duration and state; "Reu" and "Serug" signify the same here as before; "and begat sons and daughters", signifies the rituals of such worship.

1351. Verse 22. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor. "And Serug lived thirty years", signifies the beginning of the seventh state of this church; " Serug" signifies the same here as before "and begat Nahor", signifies a derivation therefrom. Nahor was a nation so named from him as its father whereby is signified worship verging to what is idolatrous.

1352. Verse 23. And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. "And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years", signifies the duration and state; "Serug" and "Nahor" signify the same here as before; "and begat sons and daughters" signifies the rituals of that worship.

1353. Verse 24. And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah. "And Nahor lived nine and twenty years", signifies the beginning of the eighth state of this church; "Nahor" signifies here, as before, worship verging to what is idolatrous; "and begat Terah", signifies a derivation therefrom. Terah was a nation so named from him as its father whereby idolatrous worship is signified.

1354. Verse 25. And Nahor lived after he begat Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. "And Nahor lived after he begat Terah a hundred and nineteen years", signifies the duration and state; "Nahor" signifies here, as before, worship verging to what is idolatrous; "Terah" signifies idolatrous worship; "and begat sons and daughters", signifies idolatrous rituals.

1355. Verse 26. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. "And Terah lived seventy years", signifies the beginning of the ninth state, which was the last; "Terah" signifies here, as before, idolatrous worship; "and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran", signifies the derivations therefrom. Abram, Nahor, and Haran were persons, from whom also nations were named that were idolaters.

1356. That by "Terah" is signified idolatrous worship, may be seen from the derivations spoken of from (verse 20) to this place. This Second Ancient Church degenerated from a kind of internal worship, and was so adulterated that at last it became idolatrous; as churches are wont to do, in that from internal things they go to external, and finally terminate in mere external things, internal things being blotted out. That such was the case with this church, insomuch that a great part of them did not acknowledge Jehovah as God, but worshiped other gods, is evident in Joshua: -

Joshua said unto all the people, Thus hath said Jehovah the God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the river, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor; and they served other gods. Now therefore fear Jehovah, and serve Him in integrity and in truth; and put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the river, and in Egypt, and serve ye Jehovah. And if it be evil in your eyes to serve Jehovah, choose ye this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods that your fathers served, that were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites (Joshua 24:2, 14, 15).

Here it is very plain that Terah, Abram, and Nahor were idolaters.

[2] That Nahor was a nation in which there was idolatrous worship, is also evident from Laban the Syrian, who dwelt in the city of Nahor, and worshiped the images or teraphim which Rachel carried away (Gen. 24:10; 31:19, 26, 32, 34). And that there was one god of Abraham, another god of Nahor, and another of their father, that is, of Terah, is evident from (Genesis 31:53). It is also plainly stated by Moses concerning Abram, that Jehovah was not known to him: -

I Jehovah appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, in God Shaddai, but by My name Jehovah I was not known to them (Exod. 6:3).

From all this it is evident how much this church fell away among this nation into the idolatrous worship which is here signified by Terah; and because it is signified by Terah, it is also signified by Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

1357. There are three universal kinds of idolatry. The first comes of the love of self; the second, of the love of the world; the third, of the love of pleasures. All idolatrous worship has one or other of these for its end. The worship of idolaters can have no other ends; for they know not and care not for eternal life; they even deny it. These three kinds of idolatry are signified by the three sons of Terah.

1358. That Abram, Nahor, and Haran were persons, from whom also nations were named that were idolaters, is evident from the historical parts of the Word. As regards Nahor this has been already shown; for the city was called the city of Nahor (Gen. 24:10). At that time cities were nothing else than families that dwelt together; and a number of families constituted a nation. That a number of nations were born of Abraham, is evident not only from the posterity of Ishmael, or the Ishmaelites, but also from that of his several sons by his wife Keturah, who are named in (Genesis 25:1-4).

1359. Verse 27. And these are the births of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. "And these are the births of Terah", signifies the origins and derivations of the idolatry from which came the representative church. Terah was the son of Nahor, and was also a nation named from him as its father. By him there is signified idolatrous worship. Abram, Nahor, and Haran were sons of Terah, and also nations named from them as their fathers. By them are here signified the idolatrous worships derived from that one. From Lot also there came two nations that were idolaters.

1360. And these are the births of Terah. This signifies the origins and derivations of the idolatry from which came the representative church. It has been shown above (verse 10) that "births" signify origins and derivations. Here now the Third Church after the flood is treated of, which succeeded when the second - treated of from (verse 10) to this - became idolatrous in Terah. It has been shown that Terah, Abram, Nahor, and Haran were idolaters, as well as the nations derived from them, as the Ishmaelites and Midianites, and others who were descendants of Abram; besides others in Syria that were derived from Nahor; and also the Moabites and Ammonites, who were descendants of Lot.

1361. That from being idolatrous the church became representative, no one can know unless he knows what a representative is. The things that were represented in the Jewish Church, and in the Word, are the Lord and His kingdom, consequently the celestial things of love, and the spiritual things of faith: these are what were represented, besides many things that pertain to these, such as all things that belong to the church. The representing objects are either persons or things that are in the world or upon the earth; in a word, all things that are objects of the senses, insomuch that there is scarcely any object that cannot be a representative. But it is a general law of representation that there is no reflection upon the person or upon the thing which represents, but only upon that thing itself which is represented.

[2] For example, every king, whoever he was, in Judah and Israel, and even in Egypt and elsewhere, could represent the Lord. Their royalty itself is what is representative. So that the worst of all kings could represent, such as the Pharaoh who set Joseph over the land of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon (Dan. 2:37, 38), Saul, and the other kings of Judah and of Israel, of whatever character they were. The anointing itself - from which they were called Jehovah's anointed - involved this. In like manner all priests, how many soever they were, represented the Lord; the priestly function itself being what is representative; and so in like manner the priests who were evil and impure; because in representatives there is no reflection upon the person, in regard to what his quality is. And not only did men represent, but also beasts, such as all that were offered in sacrifice; the lambs and sheep representing celestial things; the doves and turtledoves, spiritual things; and in like manner the rams, goats, bullocks, and oxen represented lower celestial and spiritual things.

[3] And not only were animate things used as representatives, but also inanimate things, such as the altar and even the stones of the altar, the ark and the tabernacle with all that was in them, and, as every one may know, the temple with all that was therein, such as the lamps, the breads, and the garments of Aaron. Nor these things only, but also all the rites in the Jewish Church were representative. In the Ancient Churches, representatives extended to all the objects of the senses, to mountains and hills, to valleys, plains, rivers, brooks, fountains, and pools, to groves and trees in general, and to every tree in particular, insomuch that each tree had some definite signification; all which, afterwards, when the significative church had ceased, were made representatives. From all this it may be seen what is meant by representatives. And as things celestial and spiritual that is the things of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, and of the Lord's kingdom on earth could be represented not only by men, whosoever and of what quality soever they were, but also by beasts, and even by inanimate things, it may now be seen what a representative church is.

[4] The representatives were of such an efficacy that all things that were done according to the rites commanded appeared holy before the spirits and angels, as for instance when the high priest washed himself with water, when he ministered clothed in his pontifical garments, when he stood before the burning lights, no matter what kind of man he was, even if most impure, and in his heart an idolater. The case was the same with all the other priests. For, as before said, in representatives the person was not reflected upon, but only the thing itself that was represented, quite abstractedly from the person, as it was abstractedly from the oxen, the bullocks and the lambs that were sacrificed, or from the blood that was poured round about the altar, and also abstractedly from the altar itself; and so on.

[5] This representative church was instituted-after all internal worship was lost, and when worship had become not only merely external, but also idolatrous-in order that there might be some conjunction of heaven with earth, that is, of the Lord through heaven with man, even after the conjunction by the internal things of worship had perished. But what kind of conjunction this is by representatives alone, shall of the Lord's Divine mercy be told in what follows. Representatives do not begin until the following chapter; in which, and in those that follow, all things in general and in particular are purely representative. Here, the subject treated of is the state of those who were the fathers, before certain of them and their descendants became representative; and it has been shown above that they were in idolatrous worship.

1362. That Terah was the son of Nahor, and also a nation named from him as its father, and that by him is signified idolatrous worship, has been shown before. That Terah was a nation, may be seen from the fact that the nations which originated from his sons acknowledged him as their father, just as the sons of Jacob, or the Jews and Israelites, and also the Ishmaelites, Midianites, and others, acknowledged Abraham; and the Moabites and Ammonites acknowledged Lot. Although these nations were not named from them, but from their sons, yet when all acknowledge a common father and call themselves his sons-as the sons of Terah, the sons of Abraham, or the sons of Lot-in a general sense a nation is signified by each one of these, as here by Terah, by Abram, by Nahor, and by Lot; for they are the stocks or roots of the nations. So with the descendants of Jacob, who were all named from his twelve sons, and yet were called Jacob and Israel, as also the seed and the sons of Abraham (John 8:33, 39).

1363. That Abram, Nahor, and Haran were sons of Terah, and that they were also nations named from them as their fathers, and that by them idolatrous worships are here signified, is evident from the explanations given above; and also from the fact that idolatry is signified by Terah, whose sons they were. But what idolatrous worships are here signified by the three sons of Terah, and afterwards by Lot the son of Haran, may be seen if idolatrous worships are examined according to their kinds. There are in general four idolatrous worships, one more interior than another. The three more interior ones are as the sons of one parent; the fourth is as the son of the third. Idolatrous worships are internal and external the internal are those which condemn man; the external not so much. The more interior the idolatrous worship is, the more it condemns; but the more exterior, the less. Internal idolaters do not acknowledge God, but adore themselves and the world, and make idols of all their cupidities whereas external idolaters are able to acknowledge God, although they do not know who is the God of the universe. Internal idolaters are known from the life they have acquired; and in proportion as this life departs from the life of charity, in the same proportion are they more interior idolaters. External idolaters are known solely from their worship; and, although idolaters they can still have the life of charity. Internal idolaters can profane holy things, but external idolaters cannot; and therefore external idolatry is tolerated, in order to prevent the profanation of holy things; as may be seen from what has been said before (n. 571, 582); and at (verse 9), (n. 1327).

1364. That from Lot there sprang two nations that were idolaters, is evident from his two sons, Moab and Ben-Ammi, by his daughters (Gen. 19:37, 38), from whom descended the Moabites and the Ammonites, who, as is evident from the Word, were idolaters. Lot is mentioned here as the father of the idolatrous worships signified by Moab and Ben-Ammi.

1365. Verse 28. And Haran died upon the faces of Terah his father, in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. "And Haran died upon the faces of Terah his father, in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees", signifies that interior worship was blotted out and became merely idolatrous; by "Haran" is signified interior idolatrous worship; by "Terah his father", as before, idolatrous worship in general; by "the land of his nativity", the origin whence it was derived; by Car of the Chaldees", external worship in which there are falsities.

1366. And Haran died upon the faces of Terah his father, in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. That this signifies that interior worship was blotted out and became merely idolatrous, is evident from the signification of "Haran", of "Terah", of "nativity", and of "Ur of the Chaldees;" and also from its being said that he " died upon the faces of Terah his father". As regards the fact that interior worship was blotted out, or that there came to be none, the case is this. The church cannot come forth anew among any nation until it has been so vastated that nothing of evil and falsity remains in its internal worship. So long as there is evil in its internal worship, the things that are good and true, which constitute its internal worship, are impeded; for so long as evils and falsities are present, goods and truths cannot be received. This may be seen from the fact that they who have been born in any heresy, and have so confirmed themselves in its falsities that they are entirely persuaded, can with difficulty, if ever, be brought to receive the truths which are contrary to their falsities. But with Gentiles who do not know what is the truth of faith, and yet live in charity, the case is different. This was the reason why the Lord's church could not be restored among the Jews, but among Gentiles who had no knowledges of faith. The former, by their falsities, entirely darken and thus extinguish the light of truth; but the Gentiles not so much, for they do not know what is the truth of faith; and what they do not know they cannot darken and extinguish.

[2] As a new church was now to be restored, those were taken to form it with whom goods and truths could be implanted, being those with whom all knowledge of the good and of the truth of faith had been blotted out, and who, like the Gentiles, had become external idolaters. As regards Terah and Abram, it has been shown above that they were of this character, that is to say, they worshiped other gods, and had no knowledge of Jehovah, nor consequently of what is the good and the truth of faith. They had thus become better fitted to receive the seed of truth than others in Syria among whom knowledges as yet remained. That they did remain with some is evident from Balaam, who was from Syria, and who not only worshiped Jehovah, but also offered sacrifice, and was at the same time a prophet. These therefore are the things contained in this verse, namely, that interior worship had been blotted out and had become merely idolatrous.

1367. That by "Haran" is signified interior idolatrous worship, and by "Terah" idolatrous worship in general, has been stated and shown before. That the origin is signified by "the land of his nativity " and that their idolatrous worship was thence derived, is evident from the signification of nativity", as being origin and derivation, concerning which see under (verses 10 and 27).

1368. That by "Ur of the Chaldees" is signified external worship in which there are falsities, is evident from the signification in the Word of "the Chaldeans". It has been shown above, at (verse 9), that by "Babel" is signified worship in which interiorly there are evils; but by "Chaldea" is signified worship in which interiorly there are falsities. Consequently by "Babel" is signified worship in which there in inwardly nothing of good; and by "Chaldea", worship in which there is inwardly nothing of truth. Worship in which there is inwardly nothing good and nothing true, is a worship wherein there is interiorly what is profane and idolatrous. That such worship is signified in the Word by "Chaldea", may be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people is no more; Asshur founded it in Ziim; they shall set up the watch-towers thereof, they shall raise up her palaces he shall make it a ruin (Isa. 23:13).

"The land of the Chaldeans which is not a people", denotes falsities; "Asshur founded it", denotes reasonings; "the watch-towers", phantasies. Again: -

Thus hath said Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have thrown down the bars, all of the", and the Chaldeans in whose ships is a cry (Isa. 43:14).

"Babylon" denotes worship in which inwardly there is evil; "the Chaldeans", worship in which inwardly there is falsity; the "ships" are knowledges of truth which are corrupted.

[2] Again:

Sit thou silent and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for they shall no more call thee the lady of kingdoms. I was wrath with My people, I profaned My inheritance, and gave them into thy hand; these two things shall come to thee suddenly in one day, the loss of children and widowhood together; to the full shall they come upon thee, because of the multitude of thy sorceries, and because of the greatness of thine enchantments (Isa. 47:5, 6, 9).

Here it is evident that "Chaldea" is the profanation of truth, and is called "sorceries" and "enchantments". Again Go ye forth out of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans (Isa. 48:20) that is, from the profanation of good and of truth in worship. In Ezekiel: -

Cause Jerusalem to know her abominations thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt; thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur; hence thou hast multiplied thy whoredom even into the land of Chaldea (Ezekiel 16:2, 3, 26, 28, 29).

This is said specifically of the Jewish Church; "the Sons of Egypt" denote memory-knowledges; "the sons of Assyria", reasonings; "the land of Chaldea into which she multiplied her whoredom", the profanation of truth. That countries are not meant by Egypt, Assyria, and Chaldea, and that no other whoredom is spoken Of, may be seen by any one.

[3] Again: -

Oholah hath committed whoredom, and hath doted on her lovers the Assyrians, her neighbors; and she hath not forsaken her whoredoms from Egypt; she hath added to her whoredoms; and she saw men, it was portrayed upon the wall, images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, girded with girdles upon their loins, dyed turbans hanging down on their heads, all of them leaders to look upon, the likeness of the sons of Babylon, of the Chaldeans, the land of their nativity. As soon as she saw them she loved them lewdly, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea; the sons of Babylon polluted her by their whoredoms (Ezek. 23:5, 8, 14-17).

Here the Chaldeans are called "sons of Babylon", and denote truths profaned in worship. "Oholah" denotes the spiritual church, which is called Samaria.

[4] In Habakkuk: -

I stir up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadths of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs, a horrible and a terrible one, and from itself doth its judgment and its exaltation go forth; whose horses are swifter than leopards, and keener than the evening wolves and the horsemen thereof spread themselves, yea, the horsemen thereof come from afar; they By as an eagle that hasteth to devour wholly doth it come for violence the panting desire of its faces is toward the east (Habakkuk 1:6, 9).

The Chaldean nation is here described by many representatives that are significant of the profanations of truth in worship.

[5] Moreover, Babylon and Chaldea are described in two entire chapters in Jeremiah chapters 50 and 51, where what is signified by each is plainly evident, namely, by Babylon the profanation of celestial things, and by Chaldea the profanation of spiritual things, in worship. From all this therefore it is evident what is signified by "Ur of the Chaldees", namely, external worship in which there is inwardly profane idolatry. Moreover it has been permitted that I should be instructed by themselves that such was the character of their worship.

1369. Verse 29. And Abram and Nahor took them wives; and the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. "And Abram and Nahor took them wives; and the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah", signifies marriages of evil with falsity in idolatrous worship; which stand in the relationship here indicated. By the husbands are signified evils; by the wives, falsities.

1370. That these things are signified it would take too long to set forth; for it would involve a setting forth of the genera and derivations of idolatries. These cannot be known except from the opposite things, that is, from profanations, as of the celestial things of love, of the spiritual things of the same, and of the rational things therefrom, and lastly of memory-knowledges. The profanations themselves of these things constitute the genera and species of idolatries; but not the worships of idols, which are external idolatries, and which worships can be conjoined with affections of good and truth, and thus with charity, as takes place among Gentiles who live in mutual charity. It is interior idolatrous worships that are signified in the Word by the external idolatrous worships. The births, the generations, and also the marriages of them, which are those of evil and falsity, are circumstanced precisely as are these relationships and these marriages, which have been described in (verse 27), and also in this one.

1371. Verse 30. And Sarai was barren, she had no offspring. These words signify that what was evil and false reproduced itself no further.

1372. This may be seen from the signification of "barren", concerning which elsewhere. For, as before shown, a son and a daughter signify truth and good; and in the opposite sense, evil and falsity. Hence "barren" signifies that the evil and falsity of idolatrous worship reproduced itself no further.

1373. Verse 31. And Terah took Abram his son; and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son; and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came even unto Haran, and stayed there. These words signify that those who had been in idolatrous worship were instructed in the celestial and spiritual things of faith, in order that a representative church might come forth from that source.

1374. That this is signified may be seen from what has been said above, and from what is to be said in the following chapter.

1375. Verse 32. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran. "And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years", signifies the duration and state of the idolatrous worship meant by Terah; "and Terah died in Haran", signifies the end of idolatry, and the beginning of a representative church through Abram.

 

CONTINUATION CONCERNING SITUATION AND PLACE, AND ALSO CONCERNING DISTANCE AND TIME, IN THE OTHER LIFE

1376. I have frequently conversed with spirits concerning the idea of place and of distance among them-that it is not anything real, but appears as if it were, being nothing else than their states of thought and of affection, which are thus varied, and are in this manner presented to view in the world of spirits; but not so much so in heaven among the angels, since these are not in the idea of place and time, but in that of states. But the spirits to whom bodily and earthly ideas adhere, do not apprehend this, for they suppose that the case is exactly as they see it to be. Such spirits can hardly be brought to believe otherwise than that they are living in the body, and are not willing to be persuaded that they are spirits; and thus scarcely that there is any appearance, or any fallacy, in relation to the matter, for they desire to live in fallacies. Thus do they preclude themselves from the apprehension and acknowledgment of truths and goods, which are as far as possible from fallacies. It has been shown them many times that change of place is nothing but an appearance, and also a fallacy of sense. For there are two kinds of mutation of place in the other life; one is that which has been spoken of before, when it is laid that all spirits and angels in the Grand Man constantly keep their own situation therein; which is an appearance. The other is that spirits appear in a place when in fact they are not there, which is a fallacy.

1377. That in the world of spirits place, change of place, and distance, are an appearance, has been evidenced from the fact that all souls and spirits whatever who have existed from the first creation, appear constantly in their own places, and never change their places except when their state is changed; and that as their state is changed, so are the places and distances with them varied. But as every one has a general state which is regnant, and as the particular and individual changes of state have regard to the general state, therefore after these changes all return to their own situation.

1378. I have been informed, both by conversation with angels, and by living experience, that spirits, as spirits, in regard to the organic forms which constitute their bodies, are not in the place where they are seen, but may be far away, and yet appear there. I know that they who suffer themselves to be carried away by fallacies will not believe this, but still the case is so. This has been illustrated to those spirits who have believed nothing to be true that they did not see with their eyes - even if this were mere fallacy - by the fact that something similar is exhibited among men in the world. Take for instance the sound of a speaker's voice coming to the ear of another person: if the person who hears it did not know to the contrary, by the discriminations of sound, learned by experience from infancy, and did not see the speaker at a distance, he would have no other belief than that the speaker was close to his ear. So with a man who sees remote objects: if he did not at the same time see intervening objects, and know from them, or judge of the distance by what he knows, he would believe a distant object to be near his eye. Much more is this the case with the speech of spirits, which is interior speech; and with their sight, which is interior sight.

[2] And the spirits were told, further, that when plain experience declares a fact, they ought not to doubt, and still less deny it, on the ground that it does not so appear to the senses, and that they do not perceive it. For even within the realm of nature there are many things that are contrary to the fallacies of the senses, but are believed because visible experience teaches them. For example, the sailing of a ship around the globe: they who suffer themselves to be carried away by the fallacies of the senses, might believe that ship and sailors would fall off when they came to the opposite side, and that the people at the antipodes could never stand upon their feet. Such also is the case with the subject before us, and with many things in the other life that are contrary to the fallacies of the senses, and yet are true, - as that man has no life of himself, but from the Lord; and very many other things. By these and other considerations, incredulous spirits could be brought to believe that the case is as we have stated it.

1379. From all this it may also be seen that the walking and removal of spirits from place to place, and their advancements, which are so frequently seen, are nothing but changes of state; that is to say, they appear in the world of spirits as changes of place; but in heaven, as changes of state. The case is similar with many other things that are representative, and are there presented to view, concerning which of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

1380. That in the other life place, change of place, and distance are a fallacy, has been evidenced by the fact that spirits can by phantasy be carried up on high in a moment, even to a very great height, and can also at the same moment be carried into the depths below; and also as it were from one end of the universe to the other. Nay, the sorceresses and magicians there, can by phantasies induce others to believe that when they are in one place they are also at the same time in another, even in several places, thus counterfeiting as it were a universal presence. They who in the life of the body have aspired to exalted station, and also those who have been deceitful, often appear above the head, while really they are in a hell under the feet; and as soon as their soaring arrogance is taken away, they sink down into their own hell, as has been shown me. Their appearance on high is not an appearance, but a fallacy; for, as already said, there are two kinds of mutation of place; that arising from all spirits and angels keeping constantly in their own situation, being an appearance; and their appearing in one place when their real situation is not there, being a fallacy.

1381. The souls and spirits who have not as yet been allotted a constant situation in the Grand Man, are carried to various places, now to this, now to that; now are seen on one side, now on another; now above, now below. These are called wandering souls or spirits, and are comparable to the fluids in the human body, which rise up from the stomach, sometimes to the head, sometimes to other parts, and are carried about. So is it with these spirits, until they come to their designated place, and to a situation in conformity with their general state. It is their states that are thus changed, and that are wandering.

1382. Men cannot but confound the Divine Infinity with infinity of space; and as they have no apprehension of infinity of space except as of a nothing, which in fact it is, they do not believe in the Divine Infinity. Such also is the case with the Eternity, which men cannot conceive of except as an eternity of time, since it is presented by means of time to those who are in time. The true idea of the Divine Infinity is insinuated into the angels by the fact that they are instantly present under the Lord's sight, with no intervening space or time, even though they were at the furthest extremity of the universe; and the true idea of the Divine Eternity is insinuated by the fact that thousands of years do not appear to them as time, but scarcely otherwise than as if they had lived only a minute and both ideas are insinuated by the fact that in their present they have past and future things together. Hence they have no solicitude about future things; nor have they ever any idea of death, but only the idea of life; so that in all their present there is the Lord's Eternity and Infinity.


Chapter 12

CONCERNING THE PERCEPTION OF SPIRITS AND OF ANGELS AND CONCERNING SPHERES IN THE OTHER LIFE

1383. Among the wonderful things in the other life are perceptions, Of which there are two kinds. One kind, which is angelic perception, consists in perceiving what is true and good, and what is from the Lord, and what from the persons themselves; and also in perceiving the source and quality of their thoughts, words, and actions, when these are from themselves. The other kind is common to all, to angels in the highest perfection, and to spirits according to their respective qualities, and consists in knowing the quality of another on his first approach.

1384. As regards the first kind of perception, which is angelic, and which consists in perceiving what is true and good, also what is from the Lord and what from the persons themselves; and also in perceiving the source and quality of their thoughts, words, and actions, when these are from themselves, it has been granted me to converse with the sons of the Most Ancient Church concerning their perception. They said that of themselves they neither think nor can think anything, nor of themselves will anything; but that in all things whatever which they think and will, both in general and in particular, they perceive what comes from the Lord, and what from other sources; and they perceive not only how much is from the Lord, and how much is as from themselves, but also, when it is as from themselves, they perceive whence it is, from what angels, and likewise the quality of the angels and what their thoughts are, distinguishing every difference; thus they perceive what the influx is, and numberless other things. Perceptions of this kind exist in much variety. With the celestial angels, who are in love to the Lord, there is a perception of good, and from this, of all things of truth; and as they perceive truth from good, they do not admit of any speaking, and still less of any reasoning, about truth but they say that it is so, or that it is not so. Whereas the spiritual angels, who likewise have perception, although not such as the celestial have, speak concerning truth and good; but still they perceive them, although with a difference; for there are innumerable varieties of this perception, the varieties having reference to their perception as to whether a thing is of the Lords will, as to whether it is of His leave, or as to whether it is of His permission, all of which are perfectly distinct from each other.

1385. There are spirits who belong to the province of the skin, especially the scaly skin, who desire to reason about everything; they have no perception of what is good and true; indeed the more they reason, the less they perceive; they make wisdom consist in reasoning, and on this base their claim to seem wise. They have been told that it is of angelic wisdom to perceive without reasoning whether a thing is good and true; but they do not apprehend that such perception is possible. These are they who in the life of the body had confused truth and good by means of matters of knowledge and of philosophy, and thereby had seemed to themselves to be pre-eminently learned; but as they had not previously adopted any principles of truth from the Word, they have less common sense than others.

1386. So long as spirits suppose that they are under their own guidance and think from themselves, and that they have knowledge, understanding, and wisdom from themselves, they cannot have perception, but believe it to be a fable.

1387. I have several times conversed about perception with those in the other life who, while they lived in the world, had regarded themselves as able to penetrate and understand all things telling them that angels perceive that they think and speak, and will and act from the Lord. But still they could not conceive what perception is, but supposed that if all things were to inflow in this way, they would be bereaved of all life; because in that case they would think nothing from themselves, or from what is their own; and in this they had made life to consist; and that in that case it would be another who was thinking, and not themselves; so that they would be mere organs devoid of life. But they were told that between having perception, and not having it, the difference of life is like that between light and darkness; and that men first begin to feel alive when they receive such perception; for then they live from the Lord, and also have what is their own, which is given together with all happiness and delight. It was also shown them by varied experience how the case is with perception, and at the time they acknowledged the possibility of it; but after a while they again did not know, doubted, and denied. From this it has been made evident how difficult it is for man to comprehend what perception is.

1388. The second kind of perception, as has been said, is what is common to all, in the highest perfection to angels, and to spirits according to their quality. It consists in knowing the quality of another at his first approach, even if he does not speak. He manifests himself forthwith by a certain wonderful influx. It is known of a good spirit, not only of what goodness he is, but also of what faith; and when he speaks, this is known from every word. Of an evil spirit it is known of what evil he is and of what unbelief; and when he speaks, this is known from every word, and so manifestly that there can be no mistake. Something similar appears with men, who likewise can sometimes know from another's gesture, looks, or speech, what he is thinking, even although it is contrary to what he says; and this knowledge is natural to man, deriving its origin and character from the nature of spirits, and thus from the spirit of the man himself, and its communication with the world of spirits. This communicative perception has its beginning in the fact that the Lord wills that all goods may be communicable, and that all may be affected by mutual love, and so be happy. Hence such a perception reigns universally also among spirits.

1389. Souls that have come into the other life have wondered that there is such a communication of another's thoughts, and that they at once know the quality of another person's faith, as well as that of his disposition. But they were told that the spirit receives much more excellent faculties when it has been separated from the body. During the bodily life there is an influx of the objects of the senses; and also of phantasy from those things which thence inhere in the memory; besides anxieties for the future; various cupidities that are excited by external things; cares for food, clothing, place of abode, children; and other things, concerning which they take no thought in the other life; and therefore on the removal of these obstacles and hindrances, together with the corporeal parts that are of gross sensation, they cannot but be in a more perfect state. The same faculties remain, but are much more perfect, clear, and free; especially with those who have lived in charity and faith in the Lord, and in innocence; for the faculties of all such are immensely elevated above those which they had in the body, being finally elevated even to the angelic faculties of the third heaven.

1390. Nor is there a communication merely of another's affections and thoughts, but also of his memory-knowledge, to such an extent that one spirit supposes that he has known what another knows, even if he had known nothing about such matters. Thus there is a communication of all the other's knowledge. Some spirits retain what is thus communicated, and some do not.

1391. Communications are made both by conversation with one another, and by ideas together with representations; for the ideas of thought of spirits are simultaneously representative, and by this means all things are set forth in great fullness. They can represent more by a single idea than they can utter by a thousand words. But the angels perceive what is within the idea, what the affection is, what the origin of the affection, what its end; besides other things that are interior.

1392. The delights and happiness in the other life are wont to be communicated from one to many by a real transmission that is wonderful, by which they too are affected in a similar manner; and these communications are effected without any loss to him who makes the communication. It has been granted me also thus to communicate delights to others by transmissions. From this may be seen what must be the happiness of those who love the neighbor more than themselves, and who desire nothing more than to transfer their happiness to others; a condition that originates in the Lord, who in this manner communicates felicities to the angels. The communications of happiness are such continual transmissions; but without any reflection that they are from such an active origin, and from a determination as it were open and voluntary.

1393. Communications are also effected in a wonderful way by means of removals, the nature of which cannot be perceived by man. Sad and troublesome things are removed in an instant, and thus things that give delight and happiness are presented without any hindrances; for when these have been removed, the angels flow in, and communicate their happy feelings.

1394. It is owing to the existence of such perception as enables one to know in an instant what is the quality of another in respect to love and faith, that spirits and angels are joined together into societies in accordance with their agreement, and are separated from fellowship according to their disagreement; and this so exquisitely that there is not the smallest difference which does not dissociate or consociate. Hence the societies in the heavens are so distinct from one another that nothing can be conceived to be more so; and this in accordance with all the differences of love to the Lord, and of faith in Him, which cannot be numbered. Hence comes the form of heaven, which is such as to represent one man; and this form is continually being perfected.

1395. As regards this kind of perception, I have learned many things from experience, but it would be tedious to relate them all. Often have I heard the deceitful speaking, and have perceived not only that there was deceit, but also what the deceit was, and what special wickedness there was in it. There is as it were an image of the deceit in every tone of the voice. I could also perceive whether the deceit belonged to him who was speaking, or to others who spoke through him. The case is similar with those who are in hatred: the nature of the hatred is at once perceived, and more things that are in it than man can in any wise be induced to believe. When the persons are presented against whom the hatred has been felt, a lamentable state results, for whatever had been thought and plotted against them stands forth to view.

1396. A certain spirit who while he lived in the world had desired to arrogate to himself merit for his acts and his teaching, went away to the right and came to those who were not of such a character. In order that he might be associated with them, he said that he was nothing, and that he desired to serve them; but instantly, on his first approach, and indeed while he was still far away, they perceived what he was; and they at once replied that he was not what he professed to be, but that he desired to be great, and therefore could not be in agreement with them, who were little. Being ashamed at this, he withdrew, wondering that they knew him so far away.

1397. As the perceptions are so exquisite, evil spirits cannot approach a sphere, or any society, where there are good spirits who are in mutual love. When they merely approach it they begin to be distressed, and they complain and lament. In his audacity and self confidence, a spirit who was evil obtruded himself into a certain society that is at the first threshold of heaven; but from the moment of his arrival he was scarcely able to breathe, and became sensible of a cadaverous stench from himself, and therefore fell back.

1398. There were a number of spirits about me who were not good. An angel came, and I saw that the spirits could not endure his presence; for, as he came nearer, they fell back more and more. I wondered at this, but it was given me to know that the spirits could not stay in the sphere which he had with him. From this, and also from other experience, it has been made evident that one angel can put to flight myriads of evil spirits, for they cannot endure the sphere of mutual love. And yet it was perceived that the sphere of the angel had been tempered by means of others who were associated with him: if it had not been tempered, they would all have been dissipated. From all this it is evident what a perfect perception exists in the other life; and how those who are there are associated together, and also separated from fellow ship, in accordance with the perceptions.

1399. Every spirit has communication with the interior and with the inmost heaven, though he is wholly ignorant of it, and without this communication be could not live. What he is inwardly, is known by the angels who are in his interiors, and he is also ruled by the Lord by means of these angels. Thus there are communications of his interiors in heaven, as there are of his exteriors in the world of spirits. By the interior communications he is disposed to use, to which he is led, beyond his knowledge. The case is the same with man: he likewise communicates with heaven by means of angels, although of this he is wholly ignorant-for otherwise he could not live. The things which flow in therefrom into his thoughts, are only the ultimate effects; all his life is from this source, and from this are ruled all the endeavors (conatus) of his life.

1400. A continuation concerning perceptions and the spheres that arise from them, will be found at the end of this chapter.

 

GENESIS 12:1-20

1. And Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy land, and from thy birth, and from thy father's house, to the land that I will cause thee to see.

2. And I will make thee into a great nation; and I will bless thee, and will make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.

3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and will curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all the families of the ground be blessed.

4. And Abram went as Jehovah had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was a son of five years and seventy years, when he went forth out of Haran.

5. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gotten, and the soul that they had gained in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came

6. And Abram passed through the land, even unto the place Shechem, even unto the oak-grove Moreh: and the Canaanite was then in the land.

7. And Jehovah was seen of Abram, and said, To thy seed will I give this land. And there he built an altar to Jehovah, who was seen of him.

8. And he removed from thence into the mountain on the east of Bethel, and spread his tent; having Bethel toward the sea, and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to Jehovah, and called on the name of Jehovah.

9. And Abram journeyed, going and journeying, toward the south.

10. And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; because the famine was grievous in the land.

11. And it came to pass that when he drew nigh to come into Egypt, he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold I pray, I know that thou art a woman beautiful to look upon:

12. And it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, and will make thee to live.

13. Say, I pray, thou art my sister; that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live because of thee.

14. And it came to pass when Abram was come into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.

15. And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house.

16. And he did well unto Abram for her sake; and he had flock and herd, and he-asses and menservants, and maidservants and she-asses, and camels.

17. And Jehovah smote Pharaoh with great plagues, and his house, because of the word of Sarai, Abram's wife.

18. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she is thy wife?

19. Why saidst thou, She is my sister? and I might have taken her to me for a woman. And now, behold thy wife; take her, and go.

20. And Pharaoh commanded the men concerning him; and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

 

THE CONTENTS

1401. True historical things begin here, all of which are representative, and each word significative. The things related in this chapter concerning Abram represent the Lord's state from earliest childhood up to youth. As the Lord was born in the same way as other men, He also advanced from an obscure state to one more lucid. "Haran" is the first state, which was obscure; " Shechem" is the second; "the oakgrove Moreh" is the third; "the mountain which had Bethel toward the sea and Ai on the east", is the fourth; and the "journey thence toward the south into Egypt", is the fifth.

1402. The things told of Abram's sojourn in Egypt represent and signify the Lord's first instruction. "Abram" is the Lord; " Sarai", as a wife, is truth to be adjoined to the celestial " Sarai", as a sister, is intellectual truth; "Egypt" is memory-knowledge (scientia). The progress from memory-knowledges (a scientificis) even to celestial truths is described; this was according to Divine order, that the Lord's Human Essence might be conjoined with His Divine Essence, and at the same time become Jehovah.

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

1403. From the first chapter of Genesis up to this point, or rather to the mention of Eber, the historicals have not been true but made-up historicals, which in the internal sense signify celestial and spiritual actualities. But in this chapter and in those which follow, the historicals are not made-up but true historicals; and in the internal sense these in like manner signify celestial and spiritual actualities, as any one may see from the single consideration that it is the Word of the Lord

1404. In these things now before us, which are true historicals, all the statements and words both in general and in particular have in the internal sense an entirely different signification from that which they bear in the sense of the letter; but the historicals themselves are representative. Abram, who is first treated of, represents in general the Lord, and specifically the celestial man; Isaac, who is afterwards treated of, in like manner represents in general the Lord, and specifically the spiritual man; Jacob also in general represents the Lord, and specifically the natural man. Thus they represent the things which are of the Lord, of His kingdom, and of the church.

1405. But the internal sense, as has already been clearly shown, is of such a nature that all things in general and in particular are to be understood abstractedly from the letter, just as if the letter did not exist; for in the internal sense is the Word's soul and life, which does not become manifest unless the sense of the letter as it were vanishes. Thus, from the Lord, do the angels perceive the Word when it is being read by man.

1406. What the historicals in this chapter represent, is evident from the Contents that have been premised; what is signified by the statements and the words, may be seen from what follows, where they are explained.

1407. Verse 1. And Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy land, and from thy birth, and from thy fathers house, to the land that I will cause thee to see. These and the things which follow occurred historically, as they are written; but the historicals are representative, and each word is significative. By "Abram" in the internal sense is meant the Lord, as has been said before. By "Jehovah said unto Abram", is signified the first mental advertence of all; "get thee out of thy land", signifies the corporeal and worldly things from which He was to recede; "and from thy birth", signifies the more exterior corporeal and worldly things; "and from thy father's house", signifies the more interior of such things; "to the land that I will cause thee to see", signifies the spiritual and celestial things that were to be presented to view.

1408. These and the things which follow occurred historically as they are written but the historicals are representatives and all the words are significative. The case is the same with all the historicals of the Word, not only with those in the books of Moses, but also with those in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. In all these, nothing is apparent but mere history; but although it is history in the sense of the letter, still in the internal sense there are arcana of heaven, which lie stored up and hidden there, and which can never be seen so long as the mind, together with the eye, is kept in the historicals nor are they revealed until the mind is removed from the sense of the letter. The Word of the Lord is like a body that contains within it a living soul; the things belonging to the soul do not appear while the mind is so fixed in corporeal things that it scarcely believes that there is a soul, still less that it will live after death; but as soon as the mind withdraws from corporeal things, those which are of the soul and life become manifest. And this also is the reason, not only why corporeal things must die before man can be born anew, or he regenerated, but also why the body itself must die so that he may come into heaven and see heavenly things.

[2] Such also is the case with the Word of the Lord: its corporeal things are those which are of the sense of the letter; and when the mind is kept in these, the internal things are not seen at all; but when the former are as it were dead, then for the first time are the latter presented to view. But still the things of the sense of the letter are similar to those which are with man while in the body, to wit, to the knowledges of the memory that come from the things of sense, and which are general vessels that contain interior or internal things within them. It may be known from this that the vessels are one thing, and the essentials contained in the vessels another. The vessels are natural; the essentials contained in the vessels are spiritual and celestial. So likewise the historicals of the Word, and all the expressions in the Word, are general, natural, and indeed material vessels, in which are things spiritual and celestial; and these in no wise come into view except by the internal sense.

[3] This will be evident to every one from the mere fact that many things in the Word are said according to appearances, and indeed according to the fallacies of the senses, as that the Lord is angry, that He punished curses, kills, and many other such things; when yet in the internal sense they mean quite the contrary, namely, that the Lord is in no wise angry and punishes, still less does He curse and kill. And yet to those who from simplicity of heart believe the Word as they apprehend it in the letter, no harm is done while they live in charity. The reason is that the Word teaches nothing else than that every one should live in charity with his neighbor, and love the Lord above all things. They who do this have in themselves the internal things; and therefore with them the fallacies taken from the sense of the letter are easily dispelled.

1409. That the historicals are representative, but all the words significative, is evident from what has already been said and shown concerning representatives and significatives (n. 665, 920, 1361); nevertheless, since representatives begin here, it is well to give briefly a further explanation of the subject. The Most Ancient Church, which was celestial, looked upon all earthly and worldly, and also bodily things, which were in any wise objects of the senses, as being dead things; but as each and all things in the world present some idea of the Lord's kingdom, consequently of things celestial and spiritual, when they saw them or apprehended them by any sense, they thought not of them, but of the celestial and spiritual things; indeed they thought not from the worldly things, but by means of them; and thus with them things that were dead became living.

[2] The things thus signified were collected from their lips by their posterity and were formed by them into doctrinals, which were the Word of the Ancient Church, after the flood. With the Ancient Church these were significative; for through them they learned internal things, and from them they thought of spiritual and celestial things. But when this knowledge began to perish, so that they did not know that such things were signified, and began to regard the terrestrial and worldly things as holy, and to worship them, with no thought of their signification, the same things were then made representative. Thus arose the Representative Church, which had its beginning in Abram and was afterwards instituted with the posterity of Jacob. From this it may be known that representatives had their rise from the significatives of the Ancient Church, and these from the celestial ideas of the Most Ancient Church.

[3] The nature of representatives may be manifest from the historicals of the Word, in which all the acts of the fathers, Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, and afterwards those of Moses, and of the judges and kings of Judah and Israel, were nothing but representatives. Abram in the Word, as has been said, represents the Lord; and because he represents the Lord, he represents also the celestial man; Isaac likewise represents the Lord, and thence the spiritual man; Jacob in like manner represents the Lord, and thence the natural man corresponding to the spiritual.

[4] But with representatives the character of the person is not considered at all, but the thing which he represents for all the kings of Judah and of Israel, of whatever character, represented the Lord's kingly function; and all the priests, of whatever character, represented His priestly function. Thus the evil as well as the good could represent the Lord and the celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom; for, as has been said and shown above, the representatives were altogether separated from the person. Hence then it is that all the historicals of the Word are representative; and because they are representative, it follows that all the words of the Word are significative, that is, that they have a different signification in the internal sense from that which they bear in the sense of the letter.

1410. Jehovah said unto Abram. That this signifies the first mental advertence of all, depends upon the fact that this historical is representative, and the words themselves significative. Such was the style in the Ancient Church, that when anything was true, they said "Jehovah said", or, "Jehovah spake", which signified that it was so; as has been shown above. But after significatives had been turned into representatives, then Jehovah or the Lord did actually speak with men; and when it is then said that Jehovah said, or, Jehovah spake with any one, it signifies the same as before; for the Lord's words in the true historicals involve the same as His words in the made-up ones. There is only this difference, that the latter are composed to be like true history, and the former are not so composed. Wherefore that "Jehovah said unto Abram", signifies nothing else than the first mental advertence; as when in the Ancient Church any one was admonished by conscience, or by some other dictate, or by their Word, that a thing was so, it was then said in like manner that "Jehovah said".

1411. Get thee out of thy land. That this signifies the corporeal and worldly things from which He was to recede, is evident from the signification of "land" or "earth", which is variable, adapting itself to the person or thing of which it is predicated-as in the first chapter of' Genesis, where likewise "earth" signifies the external man (n. 82, 620, 636, 913). That it here signifies corporeal and worldly things, is because these are of the external man. A "land", in the proper sense, is the land, region, or kingdom itself; it is also the inhabitant thereof; and also the people itself and the nation itself, in the land. Thus the word "land" not only signifies in a broad sense the people or the nation, but also in a limited sense the inhabitant. When the word "land" is used with reference to the inhabitant, its signification is then in accordance with the thing concerning which it is used. It is here used respecting corporeal and worldly things; for the land of his birth, out of which Abram was to go, was idolatrous. In the historical sense, therefore, the meaning here is that Abram should go out from that land; but in the representative sense, that He should recede from the things which are of the external man; that is, that external things should not resist, nor bring in disturbance; and because this is concerning the Lord, it signifies that His externals should agree with His internals.

1412. And from thy birth. That this signifies the more exterior corporeal and worldly things, and that "from thy father's house" signifies the more interior of such things, may be seen from the signification of "birth", and from the signification of a "father's house". There are in man corporeal and worldly things more exterior and more interior the more exterior are those which are proper to the body, such as pleasures and the things of sense the more internal are affections and things of memory-knowledge; and these are what are signified by "birth" and a "father's house". That these are their significations may be confirmed by many passages of the Word, but as it is evident from the connection, and from looking at the things in the internal sense, there is no need to dwell on the confirmation.

1413. To the land that I will cause thee to see. That this signifies the spiritual and celestial things that would be presented to view, is evident from the signification of "land" (n. 662, 1066), and here indeed of the land of Canaan, by which the Lord's kingdom is represented, as may be seen from many other passages in the Word. The land of Canaan is therefore called the Holy Land, and also the heavenly Canaan. And "because it represented the Lord's kingdom, it also represented and signified the celestial and spiritual things that belong to His kingdom; here, those which belong to the Lord Himself.

1414. As the Lord is here treated of, more arcana are contained than can ever be thought of and declared. For here, in the internal sense, is meant the Lord's first state, when born; which state, because most deeply hidden, cannot well be set forth to the comprehension. Suffice it to say that the Lord was like other men, except that He was conceived of Jehovah, but still was born of a virgin mother, and by birth derived infirmities from the virgin mother like those of man in general. These infirmities are corporeal, and it is said of them in this verse that He should recede from them, in order that celestial and spiritual things might be presented for Him to see. There are two hereditary natures connate in man, one from the father, the other from the mother. The Lord's hereditary from the Father was the Divine, but His hereditary from the mother was he infirm human. This infirm nature which a man derives hereditarily from his mother, is something corporeal that is dispersed when he is being regenerated, while that which a man derives from his father remains to eternity. But the Lord's hereditary from Jehovah, as was said, was the Divine. Another arcanum is that the Lord's Human also was made Divine. In Him alone there was a correspondence of all the things of the body with the Divine-a most perfect correspondence, infinitely perfect, giving rise to a union of the corporeal things with Divine celestial things, and of sensuous things with Divine spiritual things; and thus He was the Perfect Man, and the Only Man.

1415. Verse 2. And I will make thee into a great nation; and I will bless thee, and will make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. "I will make thee into a great nation" signifies the kingdom in the heavens and on the earth; it is said "a great nation", from things celestial and from goods; "and I will bless thee", signifies the fructification of celestial things and the multiplication of spiritual things; "and will make thy name great", signifies glory; "and thou shalt be a blessing", signifies that from the Lord are all things both in general and in particular.

1416. I will make thee into a great nation. That this signifies the kingdom in the heavens and on the earth, is evident from the signification of a "nation", as being in the internal sense the celestial of love and the derivative good, thus all in the universe in whom is the celestial of love and of charity; and as in the internal sense the Lord is here treated of, there is meant all the celestial and all the derivative good, thus His kingdom, which is with those who are in love and charity. In the supreme sense the Lord is Himself the "great nation", because He is the celestial itself, and good itself; for all the good of love and of charity is from Him alone; and therefore the Lord is His kingdom itself, that is, He is the all in all of His kingdom, as is also acknowledged by all the angels in heaven. Hence now it is evident that "I will make thee into a great nation", signifies the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on earth.

[2] That in the internal sense, where the Lord and the celestial things of love are treated of, a "nation" signifies the Lord and all celestial things, is evident from the things adduced above concerning the signification of a "nation", and of "nations" (n. 1258, 1259). This may also be further confirmed by the following passages. Concerning Abraham it is said: -

Thy name shall not any more be called Abram, and thy name shall be Abraham, for the father of a multitude of nations have I given thee (Gen. 17:5).

The letter h in "Abraham" was taken from the name Jehovah, on account of his representation of Jehovah or the Lord. In like manner it is said of Sarai: Thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and also give thee a son of her; thus I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall be of her (Gen. 17:15, 16); where "nations" denote the celestial things of love, and "kind of peoples" the spiritual things of faith thence derived, which belong to the Lord alone.

[3] Concerning Jacob in like manner: -

Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name, and He called his name Israel: and God said, I am God the thunderer; increase and multiply a nation and a congregation of nations shall be from thee, and kings shall go forth out of thy loins (Gen. 35:10, 11)

where "Israel" denotes the Lord, and that He Himself is "Israel" in the supreme sense, is well known to some; and when He is "Israel", it is evident that "a nation" and "an assemblage of nations", and "kings out of His loins", are the celestial and the spiritual things of love, and therefore all who are in the celestial and the spiritual things of love. Concerning Ishmael, Abram's son by Hagar, it is said: -

The son of the handmaid I will make him into a nation, because he is thy seed (Gen. 21:13, 18).

What is represented by Ishmael will be seen in its place; the "seed" of Abram is love itself, and from this the term "nation" is used for those begotten of Ishmael.

[4] That a "nation" signifies the celestial things of love, is evident in Moses: -

If hearing ye will hear My voice, and will keep My covenant, ye shall also be a peculiar treasure unto Me out of all peoples, and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation (Exod. 19:5, 6)

where "a kingdom of priests", which is the Lord's kingdom the heavens and on earth, being so named from the celestial things of love, is manifestly called "a holy nation;" whereas the Lord's kingdom from His kingly function was named from the spiritual things of love, and is called "a holy people;" and for this reason " kings out of the loins", in the passage quoted above, are spiritual things. In Jeremiah: -

If these statutes have departed from before Me, saith Jehovah, the seed of Israel also shall cease, that it be not a nation before Me all the days (Jeremiah 31:36)

"the seed of Israel" denotes the celestial of charity; and when this ceases, there is no longer a nation before the Lord.

[5] In Isaiah: -

The people that walk in darkness have seen a great light; Thou hast multiplied the nation (Isaiah 9:2, 3).

This is said of the church of the nations specifically; but in general of all who are in ignorance and live in charity; these are a "nation", because they are of the Lord's kingdom. In David: -

That I may see the good of Thy chosen that I may be glad in the gladness of Thy nation, that I may glory in Thine inheritance (Ps. 106:5)

here "nation" plainly denotes the Lord's kingdom. As the signification of nation" is the celestial of love and the derivative good, there originated, from a perception of this signification, the fact that the men of the Most Ancient Church were distinguished into households, families, and nations; and thereby they perceived the Lord's kingdom, and consequently the celestial itself. From this Perceptive arose the Significative, and from this the Representative.

1417. That "a great nation" is so called from celestial things and goods, is evident from what has just been said and shown, and also from what was said above (n. 1259). Hence it may be known what in the proper sense is the Church of the Nations.

1418. And I will bless thee. That this signifies the fructification of celestial things and the multiplication of spiritual things, is evident from the signification in the Word of "to bless", concerning which presently.

1419. And I will make thy name great. That this signifies glory, is evident without explication. In the external sense, by "making a name", and by "glory", there is signified something worldly; but in the internal sense, something celestial. This celestial is not to strive to be the greatest, but to be the least, by serving all; as the Lord Himself said in Matthew: -

It shall not be so among you but whosoever would be great among you shall be your minister and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matthew 20:26-28; Mark 10:44, 45)

It is the celestial of love not to desire to be one's own, but to belong to all; so that we desire to give others all that is our own in this consists the essence of celestial love. The Lord, being love itself, or the essence and life of the love of all in the heavens, wills to give to the human race all things that are His; which is signified by His saying that the Son of man came to give His life a ransom for many. From this it is evident that in the internal sense "name" and glory" are altogether different from what they are in the external sense. In heaven therefore all are rejected who desire to become great and the greatest; because this is contrary to the essence and life of heavenly love, which are from the Lord. Hence also it is that nothing is more contrary to heavenly love than the love of self. Concerning these things see what is related from experience above (n. 450, 452, 952).

1420. And thou shalt be a blessing. That this signifies that all things both in general and in particular are from the Lord, is evident from the signification of "a blessing". A "blessing" is predicated of all goods; in the external sense, of corporeal, worldly, and natural goods in the internal sense, of spiritual and celestial goods. "To be a blessing", is to be the source of all goods, and the giver of all goods. This can by no means be said of Abram, and hence it is evident that by Abram is represented the Lord, who alone is "a blessing". In like manner in regard to what is said of Abraham hereafter: -

Abraham shall surely become a great and numerous nation, and in him shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 18:18)

of Isaac:

In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 26:4),

and of Jacob: -

In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth he blessed (Gen. 28:14).

That nations cannot be blessed, and are not blessed, in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and in their seed, but in the Lord, may be seen by every one. This is clearly said in David: -

His name shall endure forever; before the sun shall the name of his son endure; and all nations shall be blessed in him (Ps. 72:17);

where the Lord is treated of. Again: -

Thou shalt set him for blessings forever (Ps. 21:6);

where also the Lord is treated of. In Jeremiah: -

The nations shall be blessed in Him, and in Him shall they glory (Jeremiah 4:2).

From these passages it is now evident that "a blessing" signifies the Lord, and that when He is called "a blessing", it signifies that from Him are all celestial and spiritual things, which alone are goods and because they alone are goods, they alone are truths; and therefore in proportion as there are celestial and spiritual goods in natural, worldly, and corporeal ones, in the same proportion these are goods, and are "blessed".

1421. Verse 3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and will curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all the families of the ground be blessed. "I will bless them that bless thee", signifies all happiness to those who acknowledge the Lord from the heart; "and will curse him that curseth thee", signifies unhappiness to those who do not acknowledge Him; "and in thee shall all the families of the ground be blessed", signifies that all things true and good are from the Lord.

1422. I will bless them that bless thee. That this signifies all happiness to those who acknowledge the Lord from the heart, is evident from the signification of a "blessing", as involving all and each of the things that are from the Lord, as well those that are good as those that are true; thus celestial, spiritual, natural, worldly, and corporeal things; and because in the universal sense "blessing" embraces all these, it may be seen in each passage, from the connection, what is signified by "to bless;" for this adapts itself to the things of which it is predicated. From this it is evident that "I will bless them that bless thee", signifies all happiness to those who acknowledge the Lord from the heart; for in the internal sense, as already said, the Lord is here treated of.

[2] Among the ancients, "to bless Jehovah", or the Lord", was a customary form of speech, as is evident from the Word. Thus in David: -

Bless ye God in the congregations, the Lord from the fountain of Israel (Ps. 68:26).

Again

Sing to Jehovah, bless His name, proclaim His salvation from day to day (Ps. 96:2).

In Daniel: -

Then was the secret revealed in a vision of the night; therefore Daniel blessed the God of the heavens; he said, Blessed be the name of God Himself for ever and ever, for wisdom and power are His (Daniel 2:19, 20).

Of Zacharias and Simeon we also read that they "blessed God" (Luke 1:64; 2:28). Here it is evident that "to bless the Lord" is to sing to Him, to proclaim the good tidings of His salvation, to preach His wisdom and power, and thus to confess and acknowledge the Lord from the heart. They who do this cannot but be blessed by the Lord, that is, be gifted with those things which belong to blessing, namely, with celestial, spiritual, natural, worldly, and corporeal good; these, when they follow each other in this order, are the goods in which there is happiness.

[3] As "to bless Jehovah", or "the Lord", and "to be blessed by Jehovah", or "the Lord", was a common form of speech, it was therefore common also to say "Blessed be Jehovah". As in David: -

Blessed be Jehovah, because He hath heard the voice of my supplications (Ps. 28:6).

Blessed be Jehovah, for He hath made His mercy wonderful to me (Ps. 31:21).

Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayers, for His mercy from me (Ps. 66:20).

Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things and blessed be His glorious name forever, and let the whole earth be filled with His glory (Ps. 72:18, 19).

Blessed art Thou, O Jehovah teach me Thy statutes (Ps. 119:12).

Blessed be Jehovah, my Rock, that teacheth my bands (Ps. 144:1).

In Luke: -

Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying, Blessed be the God of Israel, for He hath visited and wrought deliverance for His people (Luke 1:67, 68).

1423. And will curse him that curseth thee. That this signifies the unhappiness of those who do not acknowledge the Lord, is evident from the signification of "being cursed", and of cursing", as being to turn one's self away from the Lord, as has been shown before (n. 245, 379), and consequently not to acknowledge Him; for they who do not acknowledge, turn themselves away. Thus "to curse" here involves all things opposite to those involved in "blessing".

1424. And in thee shall all the families of the ground be blessed. That this signifies that all goods and truths are from the Lord, is evident from the signification of "to bless", which is treated of in this verse and the preceding; also from the signification of "the families of the ground", as being all good and truth; for in the Word "families" signify the like as do "nations" and "peoples", being predicated of both; and it is said, " families of the nations", and "families of the peoples". "Nations", as has been shown, signify goods and "peoples", as has also been shown, signify truths (n. 1259); and therefore "families" signify goods and also truths (n. 1261). The reason why these are called "all the families of the ground", is that all goods and truths are of the faith of love, which is of the church. That by "the ground" is signified the church, consequently the faith of the church, was shown above (n. 566).

1425. Verse 4. And Abram went as Jehovah spake unto him; and Lot went with him. And Abram was a son of five years and seventy years when he went forth out of Haran. By "Abram", as already said, is represented the Lord as to His Human Essence. "And Abram went as Jehovah spake unto him", signifies His progression toward Divine things; "and Lot went with him", signifies what is sensuous; by "Lot" is represented the Lord as to His sensuous and corporeal man; "and Abram was a son of five years and seventy years", signifies that as yet there was not very much of the Divine; "when he went forth out of Haran", signifies an obscure state of the Lord.

1426. That by "Abram" is represented the Lord as to His Human Essence, is evident from everything that is said of Abram. Afterwards he represents the Lord both as to the Human and also the Divine Essence, and he is then called "Abraham". The things that have so far been said, from the first verse, represent and signify the Lord's first mental advertence that He was to put on celestial and thus Divine things. Here there commence the progressions of His Human Essence to His Divine Essence.

1427. And Abram went as Jehovah spake unto him. That this signifies progression toward Divine things, is evident from what has just been said.

1428. And Lot went with him. That this signifies what is sensuous, and that by "Lot" is represented the Lord as to His sensuous and corporeal man, is evident from the representation of Lot in what follows, where it is said that he was separated from Abram, and was saved by angels; but afterwards, when he was separated, Lot put on another representation, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. It is evident that the Lord was born as are other men, but of a virgin mother, and that He possessed what is sensuous and corporeal as do other men; but He differed from other men in the fact that His sensuous and corporeal was afterwards united to celestial things, and was made Divine. The Lord's sensuous and corporeal itself, or what is the same, His sensuous and corporeal man, as it was in His state of childhood-not as it became when united by means of celestial things to the Divine - is represented by Lot.

1429. Abram was a son of five years and seventy years. That this signifies that as yet there was not very much of the Divine, is evident from the signification of the number "five" as being a little, and of the number "seventy" as being what is holy. That "five" denotes a little, has been shown above (n. 649); and also that " seventy", like "seven", signifies what is holy (n. 395, 433, 716, 881): here, because "seventy" is a predicated of the Lord, it signifies the holy Divine. That in the internal sense the numbers of Abram's years also signify other things, is evident from what has been said and shown before concerning years and numbers (n. 482, 487, 493, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813); and also from the fact that there is not a syllable or iota in the Word which has not an internal sense; and unless spiritual and celestial things were involved, it would not have been mentioned that Abram was then five years and seventy years old; neither would this have taken place at this age of Abram; as is evident also from other numbers, both of years and of measures, that occur in the Word.

1430. When he went forth out of Haran. That this signifies an obscure state of the Lord, like that of man's childhood, is evident from the signification of "Haran" in the preceding chapter, whither Terah first came with Abram, and where Terah the father of Abram died (Gen. 11:31, 32); and also from what follows, in that Jacob went to Haran, where Laban dwelt (Gen. 27:43; 28:10; 29:4). Haran was a region where worship was external; and indeed, as regards Terah, Abram, and Laban, it was idolatrous; yet in the internal sense the same is not signified as in the external, but only something that is obscure. When from the external sense we pass to the internal the idea of idolatry does not remain, but is wiped away, just as the idea of holy love arises from the mention of a mountain (n. 795); in passing from the external sense to the internal, the idea of a mountain first perishes, and there remains the idea of height, and by height is represented holiness. So in all other cases.

1431. Verse 5. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gotten, and the soul that they had gained in Haran: and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. "And Abram took Sarai his wife", signifies good to which truth has been adjoined; by "Abram", as has been said, is meant the Lord; here, when He was a child; by Sarai" as a "wife", is meant truth: "and Lot his brother's son", signifies sensuous truth, thus the first that is insinuated into a child; "and all their substance that they had gotten", signifies all things that are sensuous truths; "and the soul that they had gained in Haran", signifies every living essential that was possible in that obscure state; "and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan", signifies that He thus advanced to the celestial things of love; "and into the land of Canaan they came", signifies that He attained to the celestial things of love.

1432. And Abram took Sarai his wife. That this signifies good to which truth has been adjoined, is evident from that which is dignified in the Word by a man and his wife (n. 915); thus here, in the internal sense, by Sarai" is signified truth. In all things of man both in general and in particular there is an image of a marriage; nor can there possibly be anything so small as not to contain this image within it, whether it be in the external man and each and everything belonging to it, or in the internal man and each and everything belonging to it. The reason is that all things both in general and in particular come forth and subsist from the Lord, and from the unition of His Human Essence, as in a marriage, with His Divine Essence; and from the conjunction or heavenly marriage of both with His kingdom in the heavens and on earth. In the present case therefore, where there was to be represented the truth that is joined to the Lord's good, and this by historic facts concerning Abram, it could be represented in no other way than by a "wife". That there is an image of a marriage in all things both in general and in particular, may be seen above (n. 54, 55, 718, 747, 917).

1433. That by "Abram" is meant the Lord, in the present case when He was a child; and that by "Sarai his wife" is meant truth, is evident from what has been already said.

1434. And Lot his brother's son. That this signifies sensuous truth, and thus the first that was insinuated into the Lord when a child, is evident from the signification of "Lot", as being the sensuous-as stated in the explication of the preceding verse-and from the signification of "son", as being truth (n. 264, 489, 491, 533); and also from the signification of "brother", as being the truth of faith (n. 367). Thus sensuous truth is what is here signified, for in the internal sense there is no reflection on the persons and words, but only upon their signification. In heaven they do not know who Lot is, but only the quality that is represented by him; nor do they know what a son is, but the spiritual state by which one is relatively as a son; nor do they know what a brother is, except from brotherhood such as there is in heaven. As regards sensuous truth, it is the first truth that insinuates itself' for in childhood the judgment does not go higher. Sensuous truth consists in seeing all earthly and worldly things as being created by God, and each and everything for a purpose, and in all things whatsoever a certain image of God's kingdom. This sensuous truth is insinuated solely with the celestial man; and as the Lord alone was a celestial man, these and similar sensuous truths were insinuated into Him in earliest childhood: whereby He was prepared for the reception of celestial things.

1435. And all the substance that they had gotten. That this signifies all things that are sensuous truths, is evident from what has already been said. All the memory-knowledge from which a man thinks, is called "acquisition" or "substance". Without the acquisition of memory-knowledges, a man cannot as a man have any idea of thought. The ideas of thought are founded upon those things which have been impressed on the memory from the things of sense; and therefore memory-knowledges are vessels of spiritual things; and affections that are from good pleasures of the body are vessels of celestial things. All these are called "the substance got. ten", and indeed in Haran, by which is signified an obscure state, such as is that of infancy up to childhood.

1436. And the soul that they had gained in Haran. That this signifies every living essential that was possible in that obscure state, is evident from the signification of " soul", as being what is living essential; and from the signification of " Haran" as being an obscure state, concerning which see the preceding verse. The soul in the proper sense signifies that which lives in man, and thus his very life. That in man which lives is not the body, but the soul, and the body lives by means of the soul. The life itself of man, or the living part of him, is from celestial love; there cannot possibly be anything living which does not derive its origin from this; and therefore by "soul" is here signified the good which lives from celestial love, which good is the living essential itself. In the literal sense, by "soul" is here meant every man, and also every beast that was alive, and which they had procured for themselves; but in the internal sense nothing else is signified than what is living essential.

1437. And they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. That this signifies that He thus advanced to the celestial things of love, is evident from the signification of "the land of Canaan". That the land of Canaan represents the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on earth, is evident from many things in the Word. The reason is that the Representative Church was instituted there, in which all things both in general and in particular represented the Lord and the celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom. Not only were the rites representative, but everything connected with them, as well the persons who ministered, as the things by which they ministered, and also the places of the ministration. As the Representative Church was there, the land was called the Holy Land, although it was anything but holy, for it was inhabited by the idolatrous and the profane. This then is the reason why by " the land of Canaan", here and in what follows, are signified the celestial things of love; for the celestial things of love, and these alone, are in the Lord's kingdom, and constitute His Kingdom.

1438. And into the land of Canaan they came. That this signifies that He attained to the celestial things of love, is evident from what has just been said concerning the land of Canaan. There is here described the first thing in the Lord's life-from birth to childhood - namely, that He attained to the celestial things of love. The celestial things of love are the very essentials; the rest come from them. With these He was first of all imbued; for from these as from their seed were all things afterwards made fruitful. The seed itself in Him was celestial, because He was born of Jehovah; and therefore He was the only one who had this seed in Himself. All men whatever have no other seed than something filthy and infernal, in and from which is what is their own; and this is from what is inherited from the father, as is known to every one; wherefore, unless they receive from the Lord a new seed and a new Own, that is, a new will and a new understanding, they cannot be otherwise than accursed to hell; from which all men, spirits, and angels, are drawn forth, and are continually withheld by the Lord.

1439. Verse 6. And Abram passed through the land, even unto the place Shechem, even unto the oak-grove Moreh: and the Canaanite was then in the land. "Abram passed through the land, even unto the place Shechem" signifies the Lord's second state, when the celestial things of love became apparent to Him, which are signified by "Shechem;" "even unto the oak-grove Moreh", signifies the third state, namely, the first perception, which is "the oak-grove Moreh;" "and the Canaanite was then in the land", signifies the evil hereditary from the mother in His external man.

1440. Abram passed through the land, even unto the place Shechem. That this signifies the Lord's second state, when the celestial things of love became apparent to Him, is evident from what precedes and from the order of all these events, from what precedes, in that He advanced to the celestial things of love and attained to them, which is signified by "they went forth to go into the land of Canaan", and by " they came into the land of Canaan;" and from the order of the events, in that after He had advanced to celestial things and had attained to them, they then became apparent to Him. In celestial things there is the very light of the soul; because the Divine itself, that is, Jehovah Himself, is in them; and as the Lord was to conjoin the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, when He attained to celestial things it could not be otherwise than that Jehovah appeared to Him.

1441. That these things are signified by "Shechem", is also evident from the fact that Shechem is as it were the first station in the land of Canaan, in journeying from Syria, or from Haran; and as the celestial things of love are signified by "the land of Canaan", it is evident that their first appearing is signified by Shechem. When Jacob returned from Haran into the land of Canaan, he in like manner came to Shechem, as is evident from the following passage: -

Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his cattle therefore he called the name of the place Succoth. And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when be came from Paddan-aram, and encamped before the city. And he erected there an altar (Gen. 33:17-20)

where also by " Shechem" is signified the first of light. In David: -

God hath spoken in His holiness I will exult, I will divide Shechem, and will mete out the valley of Succoth; Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine, and Ephraim is the strength of Mine head Judah is My lawgiver; Moab is My washpot; upon Edom will I cast My shoe; over Philistia will I sound in triumph (Ps. 60:6-8; 108:7-9);

where the signification of " Shechem" is similar. That names signify nothing else than actual things (res), and that so also does Shechem", may be plainly seen from these prophetic sayings of David; for otherwise they would be little hut an accumulation of names. That Shechem was made a city of refuge (Josh. 20:7), and also a city of the priests (Josh. 24:21), and that a covenant was made there (Josh. 24:1, 25), involve also what is similar.

1442. Unto the oak-grove Moreh. That this signifies the first perception, is also evident from the order. As soon as Jehovah appeared to the Lord in His celestial things it is evident that He attained perception all perception is from celestial things. What perception is, has been declared and shown before (n. 104, 202, 371, 483, 495, 503, 521, 536, 865). Every one receives perception from the Lord when he comes to celestial things. They who have become celestial men, such as those of the Most Ancient Church, have all received perception, as before shown (n. 125, 597, 607, 784, 895). They who become spiritual men, that is, who receive charity from the Lord, have something analogous to perception, or rather they have a dictate of conscience, more or less clear, in proportion as they are in the celestial things of charity. The celestial things of charity are attended with this; for in them alone the Lord is present, and in them He appears to man. How much more must this have been the case with the Lord, who from infancy advanced to Jehovah, and was conjoined and united to Him, so that they were One.

1443. As regards "the oak-grove Moreh" being the first perception, the case is this. There are with man things intellectual, things rational, and things of memory (scientifica); his inmost things are intellectual, his interior things are rational, and his exterior things are those of the memory (scientifica); all these are called his spiritual things, which are in the order here given. The intellectual things of the celestial man are compared to a garden of trees of every kind; his rational things, to a forest of cedars and similar trees, such as there were in Lebanon; but his memory-knowledges (scientifica) are compared to oak-groves, and this from their intertwined branches such as are those of the oak. By trees themselves are signified perceptions as by the trees of the garden of Eden eastward, inmost perceptions, or those of intellectual things (n. 99, 100, 103) by the trees of the forest of Lebanon, interior perceptions, or those of rational things; but by the trees of an oak-grove, exterior perceptions, or those of memory-knowledges, which belong to the external man. Hence it is that "the oak-grove Moreh" signifies the Lord's first perception; for He was as yet a child, and His spiritual things were not more interior than this. Besides, the oak-grove Moreh was where the sons of Israel also first came when they passed over the Jordan and saw the land of Canaan, concerning which in Moses: - Thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal. Are they not beyond Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanite that dwelleth in the plain over against Gilgal, beside the oak-groves of Moreh (Deut. 11:29, 30) by which also is signified the first of perception, for the entrance of the sons of Israel represents the entrance of the faithful into the Lord's kingdom.

1444. And the Canaanite was then in the land. That this signifies the evil hereditary from the mother, in His external man, is evident from what has been already said concerning that which was inherited by the Lord; for He was born as are other men, and inherited evils from the mother, against which He fought, and which He overcame. It is well known that the Lord underwent and endured the most grievous temptations, temptations so great that He fought alone and by His own power against the whole of hell. No one can undergo temptation unless evil adheres to him; he who has no evil cannot have the least temptation; evil is what the infernal spirits excite.

[2] In the Lord there was not any evil that was actual, or His own, as there is in all men, but there was hereditary evil from the mother, which is here called "the Canaanite then in the land". Concerning this, see what was said above, at (verse 1) (n. 1414), namely, that there are two hereditary natures connate in man, one from the father, the other from the mother; that which is from the father remains to eternity, but that which is from the mother is dispersed by the Lord while the man is being regenerated. The Lord's hereditary nature from His Father, however, was the Divine. His hereditary from the mother was evil, and this is treated of here, and is that through which He underwent temptations (Mark 1:12, 13; Matt. 4:1; Luke 4:1, 2). But, as already said, He had no evil that was actual, or His own, nor had He any hereditary evil from the mother after He had overcome hell by means of temptations; on which account it is here said that there was such evil at that time, that is, that the "Canaanite was then in the land".

[3] The Canaanites were those who dwelt by the sea and by the coast of Jordan, as is evident in Moses. The spies on their return said: -

We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it. Howbeit the people that dwelleth in the land is strong, and the cities are fenced, very great; and moreover we saw the children of Anak there Amalek dwelleth in the south; and the Hittite and the Jebusite and the Amorite dwell in the mountains and the Canaanite dwelleth by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan (Num. 13:27-29).

That the Canaanites dwelt by the sea and by the coast of Jordan, signified evil thence in the external man, such as is the hereditary from the mother; for the sea and the Jordan were boundaries.

[4] That such evil is signified by "the Canaanite", is also evident in Zechariah: -

In that day there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah Zebaoth (Zechariah 14:21)

where the Lord's kingdom is treated of, and it is signified that the Lord will conquer the evil meant by the Canaanite and will expel it from His kingdom. All kinds of evils are signified by the idolatrous nations in the land of Canaan, among which were the Canaanites (Gen. 15:15, 19, 21; Exod. 3:8, 17; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut. 7:1; 20:17; Josh. 3:10; 24:11; Judges 3:5). What evil is signified by each nation specifically, shall of the Lord's Divine mercy be told elsewhere.

1445. Verse 7. And Jehovah was seen of Abram, and said, To thy seed will I give this land. And there he built an altar to Jehovah, who was seen of him. "Jehovah was seen of Abram", signifies that Jehovah appeared to the Lord while yet a child; "and said, To thy seed will I give this land", signifies that celestial things should be given to those who should have faith in Him; "and there he built an altar to Jehovah, who was seen of him", signifies the first worship of His Father from the celestial of love.

1446. Jehovah was seen of Abram. That this signifies that Jehovah appeared to the Lord while yet a child, is evident from the things that precede; also from the very representation of the Lord by Abram; and also from the order, in that He attained to celestial things, then to perception, from which there follows that Jehovah was seen.

1447. And said, To thy seed will I give this land. That this signifies that celestial things should be given to those who should have faith in Him, is evident from the signification of "seed", and from the signification of "land". That "seed" signifies faith in the Lord, was shown above (n. 255, 256); and that "land" signifies celestial things, was also shown above, at (verse 1) of this chapter (n. 620, 636, 662, 1066). In the sense of the letter, by "the seed of Abram" is meant his posterity from Jacob, and by "land" is meant the land of Canaan itself, which would be given them for a possession, so that they might represent the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom and church, and that the Representative Church might be instituted among them, and because the Lord was to be born there; but in the internal sense nothing else is signified by "seed" than faith in the Lord, and by "land" nothing else than celestial things, and in the present passage that celestial things should be given those who should have faith in Him. What is meant by having faith in the Lord has already been shown repeatedly.

1448. And there he built an altar to Jehovah who was seen of him. That this signifies the first worship of His Father from the celestial of love, is evident from the signification of "an altar", as being the principal representative of worship (n. 921).

1449. Verse 8. And he removed from thence into the mountain on the east of Bethel, and spread his tent; having Bethel toward the sea, and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to Jehovah, and called on the name of Jehovah. "He removed from thence into the mountain on the east of Bethel", signifies the Lord's fourth state when a child, namely, the progression of the celestial things of love, signified by being transferred to a mountain on the east of Bethel; "and spread his tent", signifies the holy things of faith; "having Bethel toward the sea, and Ai on the east", signifies that His state was still obscure; "and there he built an altar to Jehovah", signifies the external worship of His Father from that state "and called on the name of Jehovah", signifies the internal worship of His Father from that state.

1450. And he removed from thence into the mountain on the east of Bethel. That this signifies the Lord's fourth state when a child, is evident from what precedes and from what follows, and also from the order itself. The order was that the Lord should first of all be imbued from infancy with the celestial things of love. The celestial things of love are love to Jehovah and love to the neighbor, and innocence itself in these. From these, as from the veriest fountains of life, flow all other things both in general and particular, for all other things are merely derivations. These celestial things are insinuated into man chiefly in his state of infancy up to childhood, and in fact without knowledges; for they flow in from the Lord, and affect him, before the man knows what love is and what affection is; as may be seen from the state of infants, and afterwards from the state of early childhood. These things in man are the remains which have been spoken of several times; and which are insinuated by the Lord and stored up for use in after life (n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661). As the Lord was born as are other men, He was also introduced according to order into celestial things, and in fact by degrees from infancy to childhood, and afterwards into knowledges; and how the case was with Him in regard to these is described in this verse, and is represented in what follows by Abraham's sojourn in Egypt.

1451. That to be "removed into the mountain on the east of Bethel" signifies the progression of the celestial things of love, is evident from the signification of a "mountain", as being what is celestial, as has been shown above (n. 795, 796); and from the signification of "the east", as being Jehovah Himself as to love; for He is the East itself, as has also been shown above (n. 101, and elsewhere); and also from the signification of "Bethel", as being the knowledge of celestial things. Celestial things are insinuated into man both without knowledges, and with knowledges; celestial things without knowledges from infancy up to childhood, as said just above; but celestial things with knowledges from childhood onward to adult age. And as the Lord was to advance into the knowledges of celestial things, which are signified by "Bethel", it is here said that Abram passed over thence to a mountain on the east of Bethel.

1452. And spread his tent. That this signifies the holy things of faith, is evident from the signification of a "tent", as being the holy of love, and consequently the holy of faith from love, as before shown (n. 414). That "he spread his tent", there signifies that this was now beginning.

1453. Having Bethel toward the sea, and Ai on the East, signifies that the Lord's state was still obscure, that is to say, in regard to the knowledges of celestial and spiritual things; for it is one thing to be in celestial things, and another to be in the knowledges of celestial things. Infants and children are in celestial things more than adults, because they are in love toward their parents, and in mutual love, and also in innocence; but adults are in the knowledges of celestial things more than infants and children, while very many of them are not in the celestial things of love. Before man is instructed in the things of love and faith, he is in an obscure state, that is, in regard to knowledges; which state is here described by having Bethel toward the sea, that is on the west, and Ai on the east. By "Bethel", as has been said, is signified the knowledges of celestial things; but by "Ai" the knowledges of worldly things. The knowledges of celestial things are said to be "on the west" when they are in obscurity, for in the Word "the west" signifies what is obscure; and the knowledges of worldly things are said to be "on the east" when they are in clearness, for relatively to the west, the east is clearness. That the west and the east have this signification needs no confirmation, for it is evident to every one without confirmation.

[2] And that " Bethel" signifies the knowledges of celestial things, may be seen from other passages in the Word where Bethel is named; as in the next chapter, where it is said that Abram went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent was in the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, unto the place of the altar which he made there (Gen. 13:3, 4) where "on his journeys from the south to Bethel", signifies progression into the light of knowledges, on which account it is not here said that Bethel was on the west and Ai on the east. When Jacob saw the ladder, he said:

This is none other but the House of God, and this is the gate of heaven; and he called the name of that place Bethel (Gen. 28:17, 19);

where the knowledge of celestial things is in like manner signified by "Bethel;" for man is a Bethel, that is a House of God, and also a gate of heaven, when he is in the celestial things of knowledges. When a man is being regenerated, he is introduced by means of the knowledges of spiritual and celestial things; but when he has been regenerated, he has then been introduced, and is in the celestial and spiritual things of the knowledges. Afterwards: -

God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there; make there an altar to God who appeared unto thee (Gen. 35:1, 6, 7);

where in like manner "Bethel" signifies knowledges.

[3] That the ark of Jehovah was in Bethel, and that the sons of Israel came thither and inquired of Jehovah (Judges 20:18, 26, 27; 1 Sam. 7:16; 10:3) signify similar things; also that the king of Assyria sent one of the priests whom he had brought from Samaria, and he dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Jehovah (2 Kings 17:27, 28). In Amos: -

Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and there shalt thou prophesy but prophesy not again any more at Bethel, for this is the king's sanctuary, and this is the house of the kingdom (Amos 7:12, 13).

[4] After Jeroboam had profaned Bethel (1 Kings 12:32; 13:1-8; 2 Kings 23:15) it had an opposite representation (Hosea 10:15; Amos 3:14, 15; 4:5-7). But that " Ai" signifies the knowledges of worldly things, may also be confirmed from the historical and the prophetical parts of the Word (Josh. 7:2; 8:1-28; Jer. 49:3, 4).

1454. And he built an altar to Jehovah. That this signifies the external worship of His Father from that state, is evident from the signification of "an altar", as being the principal representative of worship (n. 921).

1455. And called on the name of Jehovah. That this signifies the internal worship of His Father from that state, is evident from the signification of "calling on the name of Jehovah" (n. 440). Everybody can see that it is external worship to build an altar to Jehovah, and internal to call on the name of Jehovah.

1456. Verse 9. And Abram journeyed, going and journeying toward the south. "And Abram journeyed, going and journeying", signifies further progression; "toward the south", signifies into goods and truths, and thus into a state of light as to the interiors.

1457. And Abram journeyed, going and journeying. That this signifies further progression, is evident from the signification of "to go", and "to journey". Among the ancients, travels, journeys, and sojournings, signified nothing else; hence also in the internal sense they signify nothing else in the Word. Here commence the Lord's advancements into knowledges. That the Lord was also instructed as are other men, may be seen in Luke: -

The child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of His appearing to Israel (Luke 1:80).

Again: -

The Child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was filled with wisdom, and grace was upon Him (Luke 2:40).

Again: -

Joseph and the mother of Jesus after three days found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions; and all that heard Him were amazed at His understanding and answers. Seeing Him they wondered; but He said unto them, How is it that ye sought Me? Knew ye not that I must be in the things that are My Father's? (Luke 2:46-49).

That He was then twelve years old, is stated in (Luke 2:42), of the same chapter. Again: -

Then Jesus advanced in wisdom and in age, and in grace with God and men (Luke 2:52).

1458. That "toward the south" signifies into goods and truths, and thus into a state of light as to the interiors, is evident from the signification of "the south". That "the south" signifies a state of light, comes from the fact that there are neither quarters nor times in the other life, but states which are signified by quarters and times. The states of intellectual things are as the states of the times of the day and of the year, and also as the states of the quarters. The states of the day are those of evening, night, morning, and noon; the states of the year are those of autumn, winter, spring, and summer; and the states of the quarters are those of the sun, in its relation to the west, the north, the east, and the south. Similar to these are the states of intellectual things. And, what is wonderful, in heaven those are in light who are in a state of wisdom and intelligence, exactly according to their state; those being in the greatest light who are in a state of the highest wisdom and intelligence; but the wisdom there is that of love and charity, and the intelligence is that of faith in the Lord. That in the other life there is light to which the light of the world can scarcely be compared, is to me a fact established by much experience, and because there is in heaven such a correspondence between light and intellectual things, therefore in the Word, in this and in other passages, nothing else is signified in the internal sense by "the south". "The south" here signifies the intelligence which is procured by means of knowledges. These knowledges are celestial and spiritual truths, which in heaven are so many radiations of light, and they are also presented visible by means of the light, as before stated. As the Lord was now to be imbued with knowledges in order that as to the Human Essence also He might become the very Light of heaven, it is here said that "Abram journeyed, going and journeying toward the south".

[2] That this is the signification of "the south", may be seen from similar passages in the Word, as in Isaiah: -

I will say to the north, Give; and to the south, Keep not back; bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the end of the earth (Isaiah 43:6);

"the north" denotes those who are in ignorance; "the south" those who are in knowledges; "sons" truths; and "daughters" goods. Again: -

If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in the darkness, and thy thick darkness as the noonday (or south-meridies) (Isaiah 58:10);

to "draw out the soul to the hungry and to satisfy the afflicted soul", denotes the goods of charity in general; the "light rising in the darkness", means that they shall have the intelligence of truth; and "the thick darkness as the south", means that they shall have the wisdom of good; "the south", from its heat, signifies good, and from its light, truth.

[3] In Ezekiel: -

In the visions of God brought He me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, whereon was as it were the building of a city on the south (Ezekiel 40:2)

concerning the New Jerusalem, or the Lord's kingdom, which, because it is in the light of wisdom and intelligence, is "on the south". In David: -

Jehovah shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday (Ps. 37:6).

Again: -

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror of the night, for the arrow that flieth by day, for the pestilence that walketh in the thick darkness, for the destruction that wasteth at noonday (or in the south) (Ps. 91:6, 6);

"not to fear for the destruction that wasteth in the south", means not to be afraid because of the damnation which comes upon those who are in knowledges and pervert them. In Ezekiel: -

Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop (thy word) to the south, and prophesy to the forest of the field of the south, and say to the forest of the south, All faces from the south to the north shall be burned in her (Ezekiel 20:46, 47);

"the forest of the south", denotes those who are in the light of truths, and who extinguish it, and thus those of this character who are within the church.

[4] In Daniel: -

Out of one of them there went forth a little horn, and it grew exceedingly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward beauty (decus), and it grew even to the army of the heavens (Daniel 8:9, 10);

meaning those who fight against goods and truths. In Jeremiah: -

Give glory to Jehovah your God, before He maketh it grow dark, and before your feet stumble upon the mountains of twilight and ye look for light, and He turn it into the shadow of death, He shall make it thick darkness the cities of the south shall be shut, and there is none to open (Jeremiah 13:16, 19);

"the cities of the south" denote the knowledges of truth and good. In Obadiah: -

The captivity of Jerusalem which is in Sepharad shall inherit the cities of the south (Obadiah 1:20);

"the cities of the south" denote in like manner truths and goods; hence the very truths and goods of which they are the heirs the Lord's kingdom is here treated of.

[5] That Abram's journeying, going and journeying toward the south, signifies, as before said, the Lord's progression into goods and truths, and thus into a state of light as to the interiors, is to be thus understood: knowledges are the things that open the way for seeing celestial and spiritual things; by means of knowledges the way is opened for the internal man to advance toward the external, in which latter are the receiving vessels, which are as many as are the knowledges of good and truth; into these knowledges, as into their vessels, do celestial things inflow.

1459. Verse 10. And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; because the famine was grievous in the land. "There was a famine in the land", signifies a scarcity of knowledges as yet with the Lord when a child; "and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn", signifies instruction in knowledges from the Word; "Egypt" is the memory-knowledge of knowledges (scientia cognitionum); "to sojourn" is to be instructed; "because the famine was grievous in the land", signifies much scarcity in His external man.

1460. There was a famine in the land. That this signifies a scarcity of knowledges as yet with the Lord when a child, is evident from what has been already said. During childhood the knowledges in a man never come from that which is interior, but from the objects of the senses, especially from the hearing. For, as before said, there are in the external man receiving vessels, called the things of the memory, and these are formed by means of knowledges - as everybody may know - the internal man flowing in and helping; consequently knowledges are learned and are implanted in the memory in accordance with the influx of the internal man. Thus also was it with the Lord when He was a child - for He was born as are other men and was instructed as are other men - but with Him the interiors were celestial, which adapted the vessels for the reception of the knowledges, and in such a way that the knowledges should afterwards become vessels to receive the Divine. The interiors with Him were Divine, from Jehovah His Father; the exteriors were human, from Mary His mother. Hence it may be seen that with the Lord, equally as with other men, there was in His external man, during His childhood, a scarcity of knowledges.

[2] That "famine" signifies a scarcity of knowledges, is evident from the Word in other places, as in Isaiah: -

They do not look into the work of Jehovah, and see not the doing of His hands. Therefore My people go into captivity because they have no knowledge (cognitio), and their glory are mortals of famine, and their multitude are parched with thirst (Isaiah 5:12, 13);

"mortals of famine" denote a scarcity of the knowledges of celestial things; a "multitude parched with thirst", a scarcity of the knowledges of spiritual things. In Jeremiah: -

They have lied against Jehovah, and have said, It is not He neither shall evil come upon us neither shall we see sword nor famine and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them (Jeremiah 5:12, 13);

"sword and famine" denote the deprivation of the knowledges of truth and of good; "the prophets" are those who teach, in whom the word is not. That "to be consumed by the sword and famine", is to be deprived of the knowledges of truth and of good; and that vastation is denoted, by "the sword" as to spiritual things, and by "famine" as to celestial things, is evident in various places in the Word (Jer. 14:13-16, 18; Lam. 4:9).

[3] So too in Ezekiel: -

And I will increase famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread; and I will send upon you famine, and the evil wild beast; and they shall bereave thee, and I will bring the sword upon thee (Ezek. 5:16, 17);

"famine" denotes the deprivation of the knowledges of celestial things, or of the knowledges of good, whence come falsities and evils. In David: -

And He called for a famine upon the land, He brake the whole staff of bread (Ps. 105:16);

"to break the staff of bread", signifies to be deprived of heavenly food; for the life of good spirits and angels is sustained by no other food than the knowledges of good and truth, and the goods and truths themselves, whence comes the signification of "famine" and of "bread", in the internal sense. Again: -

He hath satisfied the longing soul, and hath filled the hungry soul with good (Ps. 107:9);

denoting those who desire knowledges. In Jeremiah: -

Lift up thy hands for the soul of thy young children, who faint for hunger at the head of all the streets (Lam. 2:19)

"hunger" denotes the lack of knowledges; "the streets", truths. In Ezekiel: -

They shall dwell confidently, and none to make afraid. And I will raise up for them a plant for a name, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land (Ezekiel 34:28, 29),

denoting that they shall no longer be made destitute of the knowledges of good and truth.

[4] In John: -

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more (Rev. 7:16);

concerning the Lord's kingdom, where there is an abundance of all celestial knowledges and goods, which is "not to hunger;" and of spiritual knowledges and truths, which is "not to thirst". In like manner spake the Lord in John: -

I am the Bread of life he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst (John 6:35).

And in Luke: -

Blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled (Luke 6:21).

And again: -

He hath filled the hungry with good things (Luke 1:53);

where celestial goods and their knowledges are treated of. That "famine" signifies a scarcity of knowledges, is plainly said in Amos: -

Behold, the days are coming, that I will send a famine upon the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for waters, but of hearing the words of Jehovah (Amos 8:11, 12).

1461. And Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn. That this signifies instruction in knowledges (cognitiones) from the Word, is evident from the signification of "Egypt", and from the signification of "sojourning". That "Egypt" signifies the memory-knowledge of knowledges, and that "to sojourn" signifies to be instructed, will be seen presently. That in His childhood the Lord was instructed as are other men, is evident from the passages in Luke that were adduced in the explication of (verse 9) (n. 1457); and also from what has been said just above concerning the external man, which cannot be reduced to correspondence and agreement with the internal except by means of knowledges. The external man is corporeal and sensuous nor does it receive anything celestial and spiritual unless knowledges are implanted in it, as in ground; for in these celestial things can have their recipient vessels. But the knowledges must be from the Word. Knowledges from the Word are such that they are open from the Lord Himself; for the Word itself is from the Lord through heaven, and the Lord's life is in all things of the Word, both in general and in particular, although it does not so appear in the external form. Hence it may be seen that in His childhood the Lord did not will to imbue Himself with any other knowledges than those of the Word, which was open to Him, as before said, from Jehovah Himself, His Father, with whom He was to be united and become One; and this the more, because nothing is said in the Word that does not in its inmosts have regard to Him and that has not first come from Him; for the Human Essence was only a something that was added to His Divine Essence that was from eternity.

1462. That relatively to the Lord, "Egypt" is the memory-knowledge of knowledges, but relatively to all other men is memory-knowledge (scientia) in general, is evident from its signification in the Word (n. 1164, 1165). For the Ancient Church was in Egypt as well as in many other places (n. 1238); and when this church was there, memory-knowledges (scientiae) flourished there more than anything else; hence by Egypt has been signified memory-knowledge. But after the people desired to enter by means of memory-knowledges into the mysteries of faith, and thus from their own power to investigate the truth of Divine arcana, Egypt became addicted to magic, and signified things of memory-knowledge which pervert, whence come falsities, and from these evils, as is evident in (Isaiah 19:11).

[2] That useful memory-knowledges are signified by "Egypt", thus in the present passage the memory-knowledge of knowledges, which is able to serve as vessels for celestial and spiritual things, is evident from the following passages in the Word. In Isaiah: -

They have seduced Egypt, the corner stone of the tribes (Isaiah 19:13),

where it is called "the corner stone of the tribes", as it should serve for a support to the things that are of faith, which are signified by "the tribes". Again: -

In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak with the lip of Canaan, and swear to Jehovah Zebaoth each shall be called the city of the sun. In that day there shall be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Jehovah at the border thereof. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto Jehovah Zebaoth in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto Jehovah because of the oppressors, and He shall send them a Saviour and a Prince, and He shall deliver them; and Jehovah shall become known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day and they shall offer sacrifice and meat-offering, and shall vow a vow to Jehovah, and shall perform it. And Jehovah shall smite Egypt in smiting and in healing, and they shall return unto Jehovah, and He shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them (Isa. 19:18-22).

Here Egypt is spoken of in a good sense, denoting those who are in memory-knowledges (scientifica), that is, in natural truths, which are the vessels of spiritual truths.

[3] Again: -

In that day there shall be a path from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria shall come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve Assyria. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land, which Jehovah Zebaoth shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance (Isa. 19:23-25).

Here by "Egypt" is signified the memory-knowledge of natural truths; by "Assyria", reason or rational things; by "Israel", spiritual things; all of which succeed one another; and therefore it is said that "in that day there shall be a path from Egypt to Assyria", and that "Israel shall be the third with Egypt and with Assyria".

[4] In Ezekiel: -

Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was thine expansion, that it might be to thee for an ensign (Ezekiel 27:7);

concerning Tyre, by which is signified the possession of knowledges; "fine linen with broidered work" denotes the truths of memory-knowledges, that serve; for memory-knowledges being of the external man, ought to serve the internal man. Again: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, At the end of forty years will I gather Egypt from the peoples whither they have been scattered, and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt (Ezek. 29:13, 14);

denoting the same that is said in many places concerning Judah and Israel, in that they should be gathered from the peoples and brought back from captivity. In Zechariah: -

And it shall come to pass that whoso of the families of the earth goeth not up unto Jerusalem to worship the King Jehovah Zebaoth, upon them there shall be no rain and if the family of Egypt go not up and come not (Zechariah 14:17, 18);

also concerning Egypt in a good sense, and by which the like is meant.

[5] That memory-knowledge, or human wisdom, is signified by "Egypt", is evident also in Daniel, where the memory-knowledges of celestial and spiritual things are called "the hidden things of gold and silver", and also "the desirable things of Egypt" (Daniel 11:43). And it is said of Solomon that "his wisdom was multiplied above the wisdom of all the sons of the east, and above all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (1 Kings 4:30). The house built by Solomon for Pharaoh's daughter represented nothing else (1 Kings 7:8).

[6] That the Lord when an infant was brought into Egypt, signified the same that is here signified by Abram; and it took place for the additional reason that He might fulfill all the things that had been represented concerning Him. In the inmost sense the migration of Jacob add his sons into Egypt represented the first instruction of the Lord in knowledges from the Word, as is also manifest from the following passages. It is said of the Lord in Matthew: -

An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I tell thee. And he arose and took the young child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My son (Matthew 2:13-15, 19-21);

concerning which it is said in Hosea: -

When Israel was a child then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1);

from which it is evident that by the "child Israel", is meant the Lord; and that His instruction when a child is meant by the words, "I called My son out of Egypt".

[7] Again in Hosea: -

By a prophet the Lord made Israel to go up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he kept (Hosea 12:13, 14);

where in like manner by "Israel" is meant the Lord; by "a prophet" is signified one who teaches, and thus the doctrine of knowledges. In David: -

Turn us again, O God Zebaoth, cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Thou didst bring a vine out of Egypt, Thou didst drive out the nations, and plantedst it (Ps. 80:7, 8);

where also the Lord is treated of, who is called "a vine out of Egypt" in regard to the knowledges in which He was being instructed.

1463. That "to sojourn" means to be instructed, is evident from the signification of "sojourning" in the Word, as being to be instructed; and this for the reason that sojourning and migration, or proceeding from place to place, is in heaven nothing but change of state, as before shown (n. 1376, 1379); and therefore, whenever traveling, sojourning, and passing from place to place, occur in the Word, nothing else is suggested to the angels than such change of state as exists with them. There are changes of state of both the thoughts and the affections changes of the state of the thoughts are knowledges, and in the world of spirits these changes are presented by means of instructions; which also was the reason why the men of the Most Ancient Church, having communication with the angelic heaven, by sojourning perceived nothing else. So in the passage before us, Abram's going down into Egypt to sojourn, signifies nothing else than the instruction of the Lord.

[2] Similar, too, is the signification of Jacob and his sons' going down into Egypt; as in Isaiah: -

Thus hath said the Lord Jehovih, My people went down in the beginning into Egypt to sojourn there and Assyria oppressed them without cause (Isaiah 52:4);

where "Assyria" denotes reasonings. Hence also in the Jewish Church, those who were being instructed were called "sojourners, sojourning in the midst of them", concerning whom it was commanded that they should be treated as the home born (Exod. 12:48, 49; Lev. 24:22; Num. 15:13-16, 26, 29; 19:10). Of them it is thus written in Ezekiel: -

Ye shall divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. And it shall come to pass that ye shall divide it by lot, for an inheritance unto you and to the sojourners that sojourn in the midst of you; and they shall be unto you as the home-born among the sons of Israel with you shall they cast the lot for an inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Israel; and it shall come to pass that in what tribe the sojourner sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance (Ezekiel 47:21-23).

This is concerning the New Jerusalem, or the Lord's kingdom; by "the sojourners sojourning" are meant those who suffer themselves to be instructed, consequently the Gentiles; that those are meant who are being instructed, is evident from its being said that in the tribe with which he has sojourned, there his inheritance should be given; "tribes" denote the things that are of faith.

[3] "Sojourning" has also nearly the same signification as "journeying", and "dwelling". By "journeying" are signified the arrangements and order of life, and by "dwelling" is signified to live (n. 1293); on which account the land of Canaan is also called the land of the sojournings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 28:4; 36:7; 37:1; Exod. 6:4); and Jacob said unto Pharaoh: -

The days of the years of my sojournings, few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers, in the days of their sojournings (Gen. 47:9);

where "sojourning" denotes life and instructions.

1464. Because the famine was grievous in the land. That this signifies much scarcity in His external man, is evident from the signification of "famine", as given above in this verse. The arcana here contained are more than can be briefly told. The Lord had the power of learning above every other man; but because, unlike other men, He was to be instructed in celestial things before He was instructed in spiritual things, this is here declared; and also for the further reason that there was hereditary evil from the mother in His external man, against which He was to fight, and which He was to overcome; and also for other reasons innumerable.

1465. Verse 11. And it came to pass, when he drew nigh to come into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold I pray, I know that thou art a woman beautiful to look upon. "And it came to pass, when he drew nigh to come into Egypt", signifies when He began to learn; "Egypt", as before said, means the memory-knowledge of knowledges (scientia cognitionum); "he said unto Sarai his wife", signifies that He so thought concerning the truths to which celestial things were adjoined; "Sarai" as a wife is the truth adjoined to the celestial things that were in the Lord; "Behold I pray, I know that thou art a woman beautiful to look upon", signifies that truth from a celestial origin is delightful.

1466. And it came to pass, when he drew nigh to come into Egypt. That this signifies when He began to learn, is evident from the signification of "Egypt", as being the memory-knowledge of knowledges; and when the expression "to draw nigh" is used with reference to this, it can mean nothing else.

1467. That "Egypt" is the memory-knowledge of knowledges, is evident from what was said and shown concerning Egypt under the preceding verse.

1468. He said to Sarai his wife. That this signifies that He so thought concerning the truths to which celestial things were adjoined, is evident from the signification of Sarai when she is called a wife. A "wife", in the internal sense of the Word, signifies nothing else than truth conjoined with good; for the conjunction of truth with good is circumstanced precisely as is a marriage. In the Word, when a "husband" is mentioned, the husband signifies good, and the wife signifies truth; but when he is not called the husband, but the "man", then he signifies truth, and the wife signifies good: this is the constant usage in the Word, as before said (n. 915). In the passage before us, as Abram is named, Sarai his wife signifies truth. To say thus to Sarai his wife is, in the internal sense, to think so concerning the truths with which celestial things were conjoined. It is historically true that Abram so said to his wife, when journeying into Egypt; but as before said, all the historicals of the Word are representative, and all the words are significative. No other historicals are recorded in the Word, and in no other order, and no other words are used to express them, than such as in the internal sense may express these arcana.

1469. That " Sarai", as a wife, is the truth that was adjoined to the celestial things which were in the Lord, is evident from what has just been said concerning the signification of Sarai his wife. It is said, "the truth that was adjoined to celestial things", because the Lord possessed all truth previous to His instruction. What is celestial has truth with it, the one being inseparable from the other, as light is from flame; but this truth was stored up in the Lord's internal man, which was Divine. The knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones) that He learned are not truths (vera seu veritates), but are only recipient vessels; just as whatever is in man's memory is by no means truth, although it is so called; but the truth is therein, as in vessels. These vessels were to be formed, or rather to be opened, by the Lord, through instruction in knowledges from the Word; not only that celestial things might be insinuated into them, but also that the celestial things might in this way be made Divine; for the Lord conjoined the Divine Essence with the Human Essence in order that His Human things might likewise be made Divine.

1470. Behold I pray, I know that thou art a woman beautiful to look upon. That this signifies that truth from a celestial origin is delightful, is evident from the signification of "a woman beautiful to look upon". All truth that is celestial, or that is produced from the celestial, is happy in the internal man, and delightful in the external, and with the celestial angels is so perceived; but it is altogether otherwise when it is not from a celestial origin. There are two kinds of happiness in the internal man, to which correspond two kinds of delight in the external man; one is of good, the other is of truth; celestial happiness and delight are of good, spiritual happiness and delight are of truth. It is also known that truth itself is attended with happiness and delight, but these are essentially such only when the truth is from what is celestial, for then the truth itself also becomes celestial, and is called celestial truth. To speak comparatively, truth is then like the light of the sun in the springtime, which has heat in its bosom, from which all things on the earth are made to vegetate, and are as it were animated. This celestial truth is the beautiful itself, or beauty itself. This is the truth which is here called "a woman beautiful to look upon". What further arcana are involved in these words, will be manifest from what follows.

1471. Verse 12. And it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they will say, This is his wife and they will kill me, and will make thee to live. "And it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee", signifies the memory-knowledge of knowledges (scientia cognitionum), which is described as to what it is when they see celestial knowledges; "that they will say, This is his wife", signifies that they will call the knowledges celestial; "and they will kill me, and will make thee to live", signifies that they would not care for the celestial things, but only for the mere knowledges, which they would carry off.

1472. And it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee. That this signifies the memory-knowledge of knowledges, which is described as to what it is when they see celestial knowledges, is evident from the signification of "Egypt", which is the memory-knowledge of knowledges, as before shown; and from this it is evident what is signified by the words "when the Egyptians see", namely, that this memory-knowledge is such as is described in this verse. The memory-knowledge of knowledges is attended with this, and it is some thing natural in it, as is manifested in children when they first begin to learn, namely, that the higher things are, the more they desire them; and still more when they hear that they are celestial and Divine. But this delight is natural, and arises from a desire that is of the external man. With other men this desire causes them to feel delight in the mere memory-knowledge of knowledges, without any further end; when yet the memory-knowledge of knowledges is nothing but an instrumental agency having for its end a use, namely, that the knowledges may serve celestial and spiritual things as vessels; and when they are thus serving, they are then for the first time in their use, and receive from the use their delight. Any one can see, if he pays attention, that in itself the memory-knowledge of knowledges is nothing but a means whereby a man may become rational, and thence spiritual, and at last celestial; and that by means of the knowledges his external man may be adjoined to his internal; and when this is done, he is in the use itself. The internal man regards nothing but the use. For the sake of this end also, the Lord insinuates the delight that childhood and youth perceives in memory-knowledges. But when a man begins to make his delight consist in memory-knowledge alone, it is a bodily cupidity which carries him away, and in proportion as he is thus carried away (that is, makes his delight consist in mere memory-knowledge), in the same proportion he removes himself from what is celestial, and in the same proportion do the memory-knowledges close themselves toward the Lord, and become material. But in proportion as the memory-knowledges are learned with the end of use, - as for the sake of human society, for the sake of the Lord's church on earth, for the sake of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, and still more for the Lord's own sake, - the more are they opened toward Him. On this account also the angels, who are in the memory-knowledge of all knowledges, and indeed to such a degree that scarcely one part in ten thousand can be presented to the full apprehension of man, yet esteem such knowledge as nothing in comparison with use. From what has been said it may be seen what is signified by the words, "When the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me and will make thee to live". These things were said because the Lord when a child knew this and thought in this way, namely, that if He should be carried away by a mere desire for the memory-knowledge of knowledges, this memory-knowledge is of such a character that it would care no more for celestial things, but only for the knowledges (cognitiones) which the desire for memory-knowledge would carry away. On these subjects more follows.

1473. And they will say, This is his wife. That this signifies that they will call the knowledges celestial, is evident from the signification of a "wife", as being the truth that was adjoined to celestial things; hence "this is his wife" signifies that which is celestial.

1474. And they will kill me, and will make thee to live. That this signifies that they would not care for celestial things, but only for mere knowledges, is evident from what has just been said.

Verse 13. Say, I pray, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live because of thee". Say, I pray, thou art my sister", signifies intellectual truth which is a "sister;" "that it may be well with me for thy sake,' signifies that so the celestial could have no violence done to it; "and that my soul may live because of thee", signifies that so the celestial could be saved.

1475. Say, I pray, thou art my sister. That this signifies intellectual truth, which is a "sister", is evident from the signification of a "sister", as being intellectual truth when celestial truth is a "wife", concerning which hereafter. These things stand thus: it is the nature of memory-knowledge to desire nothing more than to introduce itself into celestial things and explore them; but this is contrary to order, for it thus does violence to celestial things. Order itself is that the celestial by means of the spiritual introduces itself into the rational, and thus into the memory-knowledge (in scientificum), and adapts this to itself; and unless this order is observed, there cannot possibly be any wisdom. In the passage before us are also contained the arcana as to how the Lord was instructed by His Father according to all order; and thus how His external man was conjoined with His internal, that is, how His external man was made Divine, like the internal; thus how He became Jehovah as to each essence; which was done by means of knowledges, which are the means. Without knowledges as means, the external man cannot even become man.

1476. That it may be well with me for thy sake. That this signifies that so the celestial could have no violence done to it, is evident from what has been said above; for as has been repeatedly said, the order is that the celestial flows into the spiritual, the spiritual into the rational, and this into the faculty of memory-knowledge. When there is this order, then the spiritual is adapted by the celestial, the rational by the spiritual, and the memory-knowledge by the rational. The memory-knowledge in general then becomes the ultimate vessel; or what is the same, memory-knowledges, specifically and particularly, become the ultimate vessels which correspond to rational things, rational things to spiritual things, and spiritual things to celestial things. When this is the order, the celestial cannot suffer any violence; otherwise, it does so suffer. As in the internal sense the Lord's instruction is here treated of, the method of His progress therein is here described.

1477. That my soul may live because of thee. That this signifies that thus the celestial could be saved, is evident from the signification of the "soul", as being the celestial; for this is the soul itself, because the very life itself. Hence it is evident what is signified by the words "that my soul may live because of thee". It will be evident from what follows, that celestial or Divine things were not so adjoined to the Lord that they made one essence, until He endured temptations, and thus expelled the evil hereditary from the mother. Here and in the following verses it is described how meanwhile the celestial itself suffered no violence, but was saved.

1478. Verse 14. And it came to pass when Abram was come into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. "It came to pass when Abram was come into Egypt", signifies when the Lord began to be instructed; "and the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful", signifies that the memory-knowledge of knowledges is of such a nature as to be highly pleasing to itself.

1479. It came to pass when Abram was come into Egypt. That this signifies when the Lord began to be instructed, is evident from the representation of Abram, which in the internal sense is the Lord when a child; and from the signification of "Egypt", as being the memory-knowledge of knowledges, as before shown, at (verse 10). Hence it is evident that "to come into Egypt' is to be instructed.

1480. And the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. That this signifies that the memory-knowledge of knowledges is of such a nature as to be highly pleasing to itself, is evident from what was before said, at (verse 11), that such is the nature of memory-knowledge during childhood; for this is as it were innate in memory-knowledge, because it is innate in man, that at the very first it pleases for no other end than for the sake of knowing. Such is every man; his spirit is greatly delighted to know, so that there is scarcely anything it desires more; this is its food, by which it is sustained and refreshed, as the external man is by earthly food. This sustenance, which is that of his spirit, is communicated to the external man, to the end that this may be adapted to the internal man. But the various foods succeed one another in the following order: celestial food is all the good of love and charity from the Lord; spiritual food is all the truth of faith: on these foods the angels live; and from them comes forth the food, likewise celestial and spiritual, but of a lower angelic degree, on which angelic spirits live; from this again there comes a still lower celestial and spiritual food, which is that of reason and thence of memory-knowledge, on which good spirits live; and lastly comes corporeal food, which is proper to man while he lives in the body. These foods correspond to one another in a wonderful manner. From this it is also evident why and how memory-knowledge is very pleasing to itself; for the case therewith is the same as it is with appetite and taste and therefore eating, with man, corresponds to memory-knowledges in the world of spirits; and appetite and taste themselves correspond to the desire for these knowledges; as is evident from experience, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

1481. Verse 15. And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. "The princes of Pharaoh saw her", signifies the primary precepts, which are "the princes of Pharaoh;" "and they praised her to Pharaoh", signifies that they were pleasing; "and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house", signifies that they captivated the lower mind (animus).

1482. The princes of Pharaoh saw her. That this signifies the primary precepts, which are "the princes of Pharaoh", is evident from the signification of "princes", and of "Pharaoh". In both the historical and prophetical parts of the Word, "princes" signify the things which are primary; and "Pharaoh" signifies the same as "Egypt;" and here "Egypt", or "Pharaoh", is used in the best sense, because predicated of the memory-knowledge of knowledges which the Lord first acquired in childhood. That they were primary precepts from the Word, is evident from the signification of these things in the internal sense. That, speaking generally, by "Pharaoh" in the Word is signified the same as by "Egypt", may be confirmed from many passages; as also that by the kings of other kingdoms, who are named, the same is signified as by the names of the kingdoms; but by "princes" are signified their primary things, as in Isaiah: -

The princes of Zoan are foolish, the wise counselors of Pharaoh; how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient king? The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived (Isaiah 19:11, 13).

Here "the princes of Zoan", and "the wise counselors of Pharaoh", denote the primary memory-knowledges; and as wisdom first flourished in Egypt, as before said, it is called "the son of the wise", and "the son of ancient kings". So "princes" frequently denote in the Word primary things.

1483. And they praised her to Pharaoh. That this signifies that they were pleasing, may be seen without explication.

1484. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. That this signifies that they captivated the lower mind, is evident from the signification of "woman", and from the signification of "house". A "woman" signifies truth, here the truth that was in the memory-knowledges with the delights of which the Lord was captivated in childhood. The delights of truth are those which come from the intellectual truth which is signified by a "sister". A "house" signifies the things that are in man, especially those which are of his will, as before shown (n. 710); here therefore those which are of the lower mind, or of the affection of knowing and learning.

1484a. Verse 16. And he did well unto Abram for her sake; and he had flock and herd, and he-asses and menservants, and maidservants and she-asses, and camels. "He did well unto Abram for her sake", signifies that memory-knowledges were multiplied with the Lord; "and he had flock and herd, and he-asses and menservants, and maidservants and she-asses, and camels", signifies all the things in general that belong to memory-knowledges.

1485. And he did well unto Abram for her sake. That this signifies that memory-knowledges were multiplied with the Lord, is evident from the signification of "doing well unto", as being to enrich. This is said of the memory-knowledge that is signified by "Pharaoh", that it did well unto Abram, that is to the Lord when a child; and this for her sake, that is, for the sake of the intellectual truth that He desired. It was this desire for truth from which the enriching came.

1486. And he had flock and herd, and he-asses and menservants, and maidservants and she-asses, and camels. That these words signify all things in general that belong to memory knowledges, is evident from the signification of all these things in the Word. But it would be too tedious to show what is signified by each in particular, as what by the "flock and herd", the "he-asses and menservants", the "maidservants and sheasses", and the "camels". Each has its own peculiar signification. In general they signify all things that belong to the memory-knowledge of knowledges, and to memory-knowledges. Regarded in themselves, memory-knowledges are "he-asses and menservants;" their pleasures are "maidservants and she-asses;" "camels" are general things of service; "flock and herd" are possessions; and so in the Word throughout. All things whatever that are in the external man, are nothing but things of service, that is, they are for the service of the internal man. So it is with all memory-knowledges, which belong solely to the external man; for they are procured from earthly and worldly things by means of sensuous impressions, in order that they may serve the interior or rational man, and this the spiritual man, this the celestial, and this the Lord. Thus are they subordinated one to another, as are the more external things to the more internal, in their order; and thus all things whatever, both in general and in particular, are, in their order, subordinated to the Lord. Memory-knowledges are therefore the lowest and outermost things, in which are terminated in their order the things that are more interior; and because they are the lowest and outermost things, they must be pre-eminently things of service. Every one may know for what such knowledges may be serviceable, if he reflects or inquires in himself for what use they are; and when he is thus reflecting upon their use, he can also apprehend the quality of the use. Every memory-knowledge must be for the sake of some use, and this is its service.

Verse 17. And Jehovah smote Pharaoh with great plagues, and his house, because of the word of Sarai, Abram's wife. "Jehovah smote Pharaoh with great plagues", signifies that the memory-knowledges were destroyed; "and his house", signifies which He had collected; "because of the word of Sarai, Abram's wife", signifies because of the truth that was to be adjoined to the celestial.

1487. And Jehovah smote Pharaoh with great plagues. That this signifies that the memory-knowledges were destroyed, is evident from the signification of "Pharaoh", as being memory-knowledge in general, consequently the memory-knowledges that belong to such knowledge; and from the signification of being "smitten with plagues", as being to be destroyed. As regards memory-knowledges the case is this. In childhood they are acquired for no other end than that of knowing; with the Lord, they were acquired from the delights and affection of truth. The memory-knowledges acquired in childhood are very numerous, but are disposed by the Lord into order so as to serve for use; first, to give the ability to think; then that they may be of use by means of thought; and lastly that this may take effect, that is to say that the very life may consist in use, and be a life of uses. These are the things performed by the memory-knowledges that are acquired in childhood; and without them the external man can never be conjoined with the internal, and at the same time become use. When man becomes use, that is, when he thinks all things from the end of use, and does all things for the end of use - if not by manifest reflection, still by tacit reflection from a nature acquired by so doing - then the memory-knowledges which have served the first use - that the man may become rational - being no longer of service, are destroyed; and so on. These are the things here meant by the words "Jehovah smote Pharaoh with great plagues".

1488. And his house. That this signifies which He had collected, is evident from the signification of a "house", as being, in this place, the memory-knowledges that are collected. To collect memory-knowledges, and by their means frame the external man, and build it up, is not unlike building a house; and therefore such things are signified in many passages of the Word by "building", and by "building houses", as in Isaiah: -

I create new heavens and a new earth they shall build houses, and inhabit them and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them they shall not build and another inhabit (Isaiah 65:17, 21, 22);

here "houses" mean where there are wisdom and intelligence, thus where there are the knowledges of good and truth; for the Lord's kingdom is here treated of, namely, the new heavens and the new earth. In Jeremiah: -

Build ye houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them (Jeremiah 29:5);

where the meaning is similar. In David: -

Blessed is the man that feareth Jehovah, that delighteth greatly in His commandments; wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endureth forever (Ps. 112:1, 3);

where "wealth and riches" denote the wealth and riches of wisdom and intelligence, thus knowledges; which are "in his house", that is, are in him.

[2] "House" is used in the opposite sense in Zephaniah: -

I will visit upon them that say in their heart, Jehovah hath not done good, and hath not done evil and their wealth shall be for a spoil, and their houses a desolation; and they shall build houses and shall not in habit them, and they shall plant vineyards but shall not drink the wine thereof (Zephaniah 1:12, 13).

In Haggai: -

Go up into the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house. Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little; and ye brought it into the house, and I did blow it away. Why? saith Jehovah. Because of My house, which is deserted, while ye run every one to his own house; therefore upon you are the heavens shut from dew (Haggai 1:8-10);

"houses" denote memory-knowledges by which, through reasoning, come falsities. In Isaiah: -

Woe unto them that join house to house, that cause field to draw near to field, till there be no place, and ye dwell alone in the midst of the land. Shall not many houses be for a desolation, great and good, without an inhabitant? The vineyard of Jehovah is the house of Israel (Isaiah 5:8, 9, 7);

also denoting memory-knowledges by means of which come falsities. In Amos: -

Behold, Jehovah commandeth, and will smite the great horse with breaches, and the little house with clefts. Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? that ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood (Amos 6:11, 12);

where "houses" denote in like manner falsities and the derivative evils; "horses", reasoning; "judgment", truths, which are "turned into gall;" and "the fruit of righteousness", goods which are "turned into wormwood".

[3] Thus throughout the Word, "houses" denote human minds, in which there should be intelligence and wisdom. In the passage before us, "the house of Pharaoh" denotes memory-knowledges by means of which comes intelligence, and thereby wisdom. The like is also signified by the house which Solomon built for the daughter of Pharaoh (1 Kings 7:8). Because "houses" denote minds, in which are intelligence and wisdom, and in which are affections belonging to the will, the word "house" in the Word is of a wide signification; but what its specific signification is, may be seen from the things of which it is predicated. Man himself is also called "a house".

1489. Because of Sarai, Abram's wife. That this signifies because of the truth that was to be adjoined to what is celestial, is evident from the signification of a "wife", and consequently of "Sarai the wife", as being truth that is to be adjoined to the celestial, concerning which above, at (verse 12). The case is this: unless the knowledges which in childhood have performed the use of making the man rational, are destroyed, so that they are as nothing, truth can never be conjoined with what is celestial. These first memory-knowledges are for the most part earthly, corporeal, and worldly. However Divine may be the precepts that a child learns, he still has no other idea concerning them than that which is obtainable from such knowledges; and therefore, so long as those lowest knowledges cling to him, from which are his ideas, his mind cannot be elevated. With the Lord it was the same, because He was born as are other men, and was to be instructed as are others, but according to Divine order, which is such as has been stated. In these things which are said concerning Abram in Egypt, there is described the Divine order - how in the Lord the external man was conjoined with the internal, so that the external also might become Divine.

1490. Verse 18. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she is thy wife? "And Pharaoh called Abram", signifies that the Lord bethought Himself; "and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me?" signifies that it grieved Him; "Why didst thou not tell me that she is thy wife?" signifies seeing that He knew that He ought not to have any other truth than that which would be conjoined with what is celestial.

1491. And Pharaoh called Abram. That this signifies that the Lord bethought Himself, is evident from the signification of "Pharaoh", as being memory-knowledge. The memory-knowledge itself (scientia), that is, the matters of memory-knowledge (scientifica), which the Lord acquired when a child, are here called "Pharaoh;" thus it is that knowledge itself which thus addresses the Lord, that is, it is Jehovah who does so by means of that knowledge. Hence it is evident that these things signify that the Lord bethought Himself. Mental advertence comes by means of memory-knowledge, thus by means of Pharaoh, by whom, as before said, this knowledge is signified.

1492. And said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? That this signifies that it grieved Him, is also evident from the very indignation in which this is said: the grief itself is thus expressed. The internal sense is such that the affection itself that lies hidden in the words is what constitutes it; the words of the letter are not attended to, but are as if they had no existence. The affection in these words is the indignation as it were of the memory-knowledge, and the Lord's grief; and in fact grief from this, that the memory-knowledges which He had learned with pleasure and delight should be thus destroyed. The case herein is like that of little children who when they love something their parents see to be hurtful to them, and it is taken away from them, are thereby grieved.

1493. That she was thy wife. That this signifies that He ought to have no other truth than that which was to be conjoined with what is celestial, is evident from the signification of a "wife", as being the truth that was to be conjoined with what is celestial (verse 12). There is here described the order in which the Lord advanced to intelligence, and thus to wisdom; so that, as He was wisdom itself as to His Divine Essence, so He should become wisdom itself as to His Human Essence.

1494. Verse 19. Why saidst thou, She is my sister? and I might have taken her to me for a woman. And now behold thy wife; take her and go. "Why saidst thou, She is my sister?" signifies that He then knew no otherwise than that He had intellectual truth; "and I might have taken her to me for a woman", signifies that so He might have done violence to the truth that was to be conjoined with what is celestial; "and now behold thy wife; take her and go", signifies that truth was to be conjoined with what is celestial.

1495. Why saidst thou, She is my sister? That this signifies that He then knew no otherwise than that He had intellectual truth, is evident from the signification of a "sister", as being intellectual truth; and also from the fact that Abram had said so (verse 13), which was done to the end that the celestial might not suffer any violence, but might be saved. From all this it is evident that when the Lord as a child learned memory knowledges, He first of all knew no otherwise than that those knowledges were solely for the sake of the intellectual man, that is, in order that He might get to know truths from them; but it was afterwards disclosed that they had existed in order that He might attain to celestial things; and this took place to prevent celestial things from suffering violence, and in order that they might be saved. When man is being instructed, there is a progression from memory-knowledges to rational truths; further, to intellectual truths; and finally, to celestial truths, which are here signified by the "wife". If the progression is made from memory knowledges and rational truths to celestial truths without intellectual truths as media, the celestial suffers violence, because there can be no connection of rational truths-which are obtained by means of memory-knowledges-with celestial truths, except by means of intellectual truths, which are the media. What celestial truths are, and what intellectual truths are, will be seen presently.

[2] That it may be known how these things stand, something shall be said respecting order. The order is for the celestial to inflow into the spiritual and adapt it to itself; for the spiritual thus to inflow into the rational and adapt it to itself; and for the rational thus to inflow into the memory-knowledge and adapt it to itself. But when a man is being instructed in his earliest childhood, the order is indeed the same, but it appears otherwise, namely, that he advances from memory-knowledges to rational things, from these to spiritual things, and so at last to celestial things. The reason it so appears is that a way must thus be opened to celestial things, which are the inmost. All instruction is simply an opening of the way; and as the way is opened, or what is the same, as the vessels are opened, there thus flow in, as before said, in their order, rational things that are from celestial spiritual things; into these flow the celestial spiritual things and into these, celestial things. These celestial and spiritual things are continually presenting themselves, and are also preparing and forming for themselves the vessels which are being opened; which may also be seen from the fact that in themselves the memory-knowledge and rational are dead, and that it is from the inflowing interior life that they seem to be alive. This can become manifest to any one from the thought, and the faculty of judgment.

[3] In these lie hidden all the arcana of analytical art and science, which are so many that they can never explored even as to the ten thousandth part; and this not with the adult man only, but also with children, whose every thought and derivative expression of speech is most full of them (although man, even the most learned, is not aware of this), and this could not possibly be the case unless the celestial and spiritual things within were coming forth, flowing in, and producing all these things.

1496. I might have taken her to me for a woman. That this signifies that so the truth that was to be conjoined with what is celestial might have suffered violence, is evident from what has just been said; and also from what was said above at (verse 13). As regards truth being conjoined with what is celestial, the case is this. Regarded in itself, the truth learned from childhood is nothing but a vessel adapted to the reception of what is celestial. Truth has no life from itself, but only from the celestial that flows in. The celestial is love and charity; all truth is thence, and because all truth is thence it is nothing but a kind of vessel; and so are truths themselves plainly presented in the other life; truths there are never regarded from truths, but from the life which is in them; that is, from the celestial things which are of love and charity in the truths; from these it is that truths become celestial, and are called celestial truths. We can now see what intellectual truth is, as also that with the Lord intellectual truth opened the way to celestial things. Truth in the memory (verum scientificum) is one thing; rational truth is another; and intellectual truth is another; they succeed one another. Truth in the memory is a matter of memory-knowledge; rational truth is this truth confirmed by reason; intellectual truth is conjoined with an internal perception that it is so. This intellectual truth existed with the Lord in His childhood, and with Him opened the way to celestial things.

1497. And now behold thy wife; take her and go. That this signifies that truth was to be conjoined with what is celestial, is evident from the signification of a "wife", as being truth that is to be conjoined with what is celestial ( at (verses 11 and 12).

1498. Verse 20. And Pharaoh commanded the men concerning him; and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had. "And Pharaoh commanded the men concerning him, (and they sent him away)", signifies that memory-knowledges left the Lord; "and his wife", signifies that they also left the truths that were conjoined with celestial things; "and all that he had", signifies that they left all things that belonged to celestial truths.

1499. And Pharaoh commanded the men concerning him, (and they sent him away). That this signifies that memory-knowledges left the Lord, is evident from the signification of "Pharaoh", as being memory-knowledge; and also from the signification of "men", as being intellectual things (n. 158). "The men" here, because attributed to Pharaoh, or to memory-knowledge, signify intellectual things adapted thereto. As regards memory-knowledges leaving the Lord, the case is this. When celestial things are being conjoined with intellectual truths, and these are becoming celestial, then all things that are empty are dissipated of themselves; this is in the nature of the celestial.

1500. And his wife. That this signifies that they left the truths that were conjoined with celestial things, that is to say, that memory-knowledges left them, is evident from the signification of "wife", as being truth conjoined with what is celestial, and also from what has just been said. Empty memory-knowledges leave celestial things, as vain things are wont to leave wisdom; they are as crusts and scales that separate themselves of their own accord.

1501. And all that he had. That this signifies that they left all things that belonged to celestial truths, follows in the series.

1502. From all this it is now evident that Abram's sojourn in Egypt represents and signifies nothing else than the Lord, and in fact His instruction in childhood. This is also confirmed by what is said in Hosea: -

Out of Egypt have I called My son (Hosea 11:1; Matt. 2:15);

and again from what is said in Moses: -

The dwelling of the sons of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was third years and four hundred years; and it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, and it came to pass on the selfsame day, that all the armies of Jehovah went out from the land of Egypt (Exod. 12:40, 41);

which years were not reckoned from Jacob's going down into Egypt, but from the sojourning of Abram in Egypt, counting from which the years were four hundred and thirty. Thus by the "son out of Egypt" (Hosea 11:1) in the internal sense is signified the Lord. This is further confirmed by the fact that in the Word "Egypt" signifies memory-knowledge (n. 1164, 1165, 1462).

[2] And that these arcana are contained is also evident from the fact that the same is said of Abram during his sojourn in Philistia, namely, that he called his wife his sister (Gen. 20:1-18); and similar things are said of Isaac when he also was sojourning in Philistia, in that he too called his wife his sister (Gen. 26:6-13). These things would not have been related in the Word, and with almost the same circumstances, unless these arcana had been concealed within them. Moreover this is the Word of the Lord, which can in no wise have any life, unless there is an internal sense that has regard to Him.

[3] The arcana which lie stored up in these things, as also in those said concerning Abram and Isaac in Philistia, are - how the Lord's Human Essence was conjoined with His Divine Essence, or what is the same, how the Lord became Jehovah as to His Human Essence also; and that His inauguration went on from childhood, which inauguration is here treated of. Moreover these things also involve more arcana than man can ever believe; but those which can be told are so few as to be almost nothing. Besides the most profound arcana concerning the Lord, they also involve arcana concerning the instruction and regeneration of man, that he may become celestial; as also concerning his instruction and regeneration, that he may become spiritual; and not only concerning the instruction of the individual man, but also concerning that of the church in general. And, further, they involve arcana concerning the instruction of little children in heaven; in a word, concerning the instruction of all who become images and likenesses of the Lord. These things do not at all appear in the sense of the letter, for the reason that the historical narrative veils them over and obscures them; but they appear in the internal sense.

 

CONTINUATION CONCERNING PERCEPTION; AND CONCERNING SPHERES IN THE OTHER LIFE

1503.

1504. It has already been said that it is known in the other life what another is on his first approach, even though he does not speak. From this it may be known that a man's interiors are in a kind of unconscious activity, and that from this the quality of the spirit is perceived. That it is so has been evidenced by the fact that this sphere of the activity not only extends itself to a distance, but that sometimes also, when the Lord permits, it is in various ways made perceptible to the senses.

1505. I have also been informed how these spheres, which in the other life become so perceptible to the senses, are acquired. Take as an example one who has formed a high opinion of himself and of his own pre-eminent excellence. He at last becomes imbued with such a habit, and as it were with such a nature, that wherever he goes, though he looks at others and speaks with them, he keeps himself in view; and this at first manifestly, but afterwards not manifestly, so that he is not aware of it; but still it is regnant, both in the particulars of his affection and thought, and in those of his bearing and speech. Men can see this in others. And this is the kind of thing that in the other life makes a sphere, which is perceived, but no more frequently than the Lord permits. The same is the case with other affections; and therefore there are as many spheres as there are affections and combinations of affections, which are innumerable. The sphere is as it were the man's image extended outside of himself, the image in fact of all things that are in him. In the world of spirits that which is presented to the view or perception is only something general; what the man is as to particulars, is known in heaven; but what as to the least particulars is known to none but the Lord.

1506. In order that the nature of spheres may be known, I may adduce some things from experience. A certain spirit who had been known to me and with whom I had conversed while he lived in the body, appeared many times afterwards among the evil; and as he had a high opinion of himself, he had acquired a sphere of pre-eminent excellence, because of which the spirits suddenly fled away, so that none appeared but himself alone; and he filled the whole surrounding sphere, which was one of self-regard. Being deprived of companions, he presently fell into another state; for in the other life one who is deprived of the society in which he is, at first becomes as if he were half dead, for his life is then supported solely by the influx of heaven into his interiors. He then began to lament and feel torment. The other spirits afterwards said that they could not endure his presence, because he desired to be greater than others. Being at last brought into association with others, he was carried up on high, so that it seemed to him that he alone governed the universe; to such a degree does the love of self puff itself up when left to itself. He was then cast down among the infernals. Such a lot awaits those who think themselves greater than others. More than any other love is the love of self contrary to mutual love, which is the life of heaven.

1507. A certain person during his bodily life had seemed to himself to be greater and wiser than others in other respects he was well disposed, and not much given to despising others in comparison with himself; but as he had been born of high rank, he had contracted a sphere of supereminence and authority. In this character he came to me, and for a long time spake not, but I noticed that he was encompassed as with a mist, which going forth from him began to cover the other spirits; at which they began to be distressed. Thereupon, addressing me, they said that they could not possibly stay there, for they were deprived of all their freedom, so that they did not dare to say anything. He also began to speak to them, calling them his sons, and at times instructing them, but with the authority that he had contracted. This showed the nature in the other life of a sphere of authority.

1508. Many times has it been given me to observe that those who in the world had been endowed with high rank, could not help contracting thereby a sphere of authority, and therefore in the other life they could neither hide nor get rid of it. In those of them who had been endowed with faith and charity, the sphere of authority is in a wonderful way conjoined with a sphere of goodness, so that it is not troublesome to any one; indeed a kind of corresponding subordination is shown them by well-behaved spirits; and in fact they have no sphere of commanding, but only a sphere that is natural to them from their high birth, and which after some delay they put off; for they are good, and strive to put it off.

1509. For several days such spirits were with me as during their life in this world had cared nothing for the good of society, but only for themselves, being useless members of the commonwealth, and who had no end but to live sumptuously, to be clothed splendidly, and to grow rich; being well practiced in simulation, and in ways of insinuating themselves by various forms of flattering assent and a display of services, but only that they might seem devoted, and be intrusted with their master's goods, while they looked down with contempt upon all who were earnestly employed. It was perceived that they had been courtiers. The effect of their sphere was to take from me the power of close application, and to make it so irksome for me to act and to think in serious matters, true and good, that at last I scarcely knew what to do. When such as these come among spirits, they induce on them a similar torpor. In the other life they are useless members, and are rejected wherever they come.

1510. Every spirit-and still more every society of spirits - has his own sphere from his principles and persuasions, which sphere is that of his principles and persuasions. Evil genii have a sphere of cupidities, and in their case the sphere of principles and persuasions is such that when acting upon another it makes truths to be as falsities and calls forth all things that are confirmatory, so as to induce a belief that falsities are truths, and that evils are goods.

[2] This has shown how easily a man may be confirmed in falsities and evils, if he has no belief in the truths which are from the Lord. Such spheres are dense in proportion to the nature of the falsities. These spheres can by no means agree with the spheres of spirits who are in truths. If they approach, there arises a repugnance; and if by permission the sphere of falsity prevails, the good come into temptation and into anxiety. I have also perceived the sphere of unbelief, which is such that those who are in it do not believe anything that is said, and scarcely what is presented to their sight. There is also the sphere of those who believe nothing but what they apprehend by the senses.

[3] A certain one was seen by me, clothed in something dark, sitting at a mill, as if grinding meal, and at the side were seen little mirrors, and I afterwards saw some things produced by phantasy, but which were aerial. I wondered who he was; but he came to me and said that he was the one who sat at the mill; and that he had such ideas, as that all things whatsoever are only phantasies, and that nothing is real. For this reason he had become such as he was.

1511. It has been made known to me by much experience, so well known that nothing can be more so, that spirits who are in falsities flow into the thought, and induce a persuasion exactly as if what is false is true, so that it cannot possibly appear otherwise, and this they do from their sphere. In like manner genii, who are in evils, inflow in the same way into the will, and produce an effect exactly as if what is evil is good, so that it cannot possibly be felt otherwise; and this also from their sphere. This influx of spirits of both kinds it has been given me to plainly perceive a thousand times; also from whom it came, and how angels from the Lord removed such things; besides many other things that cannot so well be specifically narrated; so that I have become assured, with all possible certainty, whence come the falsities and evils with man; and also that such spheres as remain after the death of the body and manifest themselves so evidently, are from principles of falsity and cupidities of evil.

1512. The spheres of phantasies, when presented in visible form, appear like clouds, more or less dense according to the quality of the phantasy. There is a certain misty rock under the left foot, where the antediluvians are, and under which they stay. That cloudiness, by which they are kept apart from all others in the other life, arises from their phantasies. From those who have lived in hatred and revenge, there exhale such spheres as cause swooning, and excite vomiting. Such spheres are as it were poisonous; and it is usual to test how poisonous they are, and how dense, by fillets of a dull azure color: as these fade away, the sphere also is lessened.

1513. A certain spirit came to me of those called the luke-warm, who bore himself as if he had repented; nor did I perceive the deceit, although I thought that he was concealing something within. But the spirits said that they could not endure his presence, and that they felt within themselves such an effect as men feel when moved to vomit, and that he was among those who are to be spewed out. He afterwards spoke abominable things; nor could he desist, however much he was persuaded not to speak so.

1514. Spheres are also made susceptible to sense by odors, which spirits smell much more exquisitely than men; for, wonderful to say, odors correspond to spheres. When the sphere of those who have indulged in the practice of simulation and have thereby contracted a nature, is turned into an odor, there is a stench of vomit. When the sphere of those who have studied eloquence to the end that everything may redound to self-admiration, is made odoriferous, it is like the odor of burnt bread. With those who have indulged in mere pleasures, and have been in no charity and faith, the odor of their sphere is like that of excrement. So is the odor of those who have spent their lives in adulteries, but this is still more offensive. When the sphere of those who have lived in deep hatred and revenge, and in cruelty, is turned into odors, there is a cadaverous stench. The stench of mice is diffused around from those who have been sordidly avaricious; the stench of bedbugs from those who persecute the innocent. These odors cannot be smelled by any man, except by one whose interior sensations are opened, so that he may be in company with spirits.

1515. The sphere of the stench of a certain woman was perceived, who was afterwards associated with sirens; and that stench exhaled for some days wherever she went. The spirits said that the stench seemed deadly; yet she perceived nothing of it. The stench of sirens is similar, because their interiors are filthy, while their exteriors are for the most part becoming and fair (n. 831). It is wonderful how quickly the sirens in the other life learn all things there, and know better than others how things are, even matters of doctrine; but all to the end that they may turn them into magic, and arrogate to themselves command over others. They enter into the affections of the good by the simulation of good and truth; but still their quality remains, which shows that what is doctrinal is nothing, unless the man becomes as it teaches, that is, unless he has the life as the end in view and besides, there are many among the infernals who had been pre-eminently skilled in doctrinal things. But they who have lived a life of charity are all in heaven.

1516. I have spoken with spirits about the sense of taste, which they said that they do not possess, but a something from which they know what taste is, and which they likened to an odor, but which they could not describe. It was brought to my recollection that taste and smell meet in a kind of third sense, as is evident also from animals which examine their food by the smell, from which they know whether it is wholesome and suitable for them.

1517. A vinous odor was perceived, and I was informed that it came from those who compliment one another from friendship and rightful love, so that there is also truth in the compliments. This odor exists with much variety, and comes from the sphere of the beautiful in forms.

1518. When the celestial angels are with the body of a deceased person who is to be raised up, the smell of the body is turned into an aromatic odor; on perceiving which, evil spirits cannot approach.

1519. The spheres of charity and faith, when perceived as odors, are most delightful; the odors are pleasant, as of flowers, lilies, and spices of various kinds, with indefinite variety. Moreover, the spheres of the angels also are sometimes made visible as atmospheres or auras, which are so beautiful, so pleasant, and so various, that they cannot possibly be described.

1520. But in regard to what has been said of the possibility of perceiving the interiors of a spirit by spheres extended and projected outside of him, as also by odors, it is to be known that these are not always perceptible and besides, they are tempered in various ways by the Lord, in order that the quality of spirits may not always be exposed before others.


Chapter 13

CONCERNING THE LIGHT IN WHICH THE ANGELS LIVE

1521. That spirits and angels possess every sense, except taste, far more exquisitely and perfectly than man ever does, has been made manifest to me in many ways. They not only see one another and converse together - the angels with the greatest happiness from mutual love - but in that world there is more to see than men could believe to be possible; the world of spirits and the heavens are full of representatives such as were seen by the prophets, and of so wonderful a nature that if a person's sight were but opened so that for a few hours he might behold them, he would be astounded. The light in heaven is such as to incredibly surpass even the midday light of our solar world. They however have no light from this world, because they are above or within the sphere of this light; but their light is from the Lord, who to them is a Sun. Even the midday light of this world is dense darkness to the angels; and when they have an opportunity to see it, it is as if they were looking at mere darkness, as I have been given to know by experience. This shows what a difference there is between the light of heaven and the light of this world.

1522. I have so frequently seen the light in which spirits and angels live, that at last I have ceased to wonder at it, because it has become familiar. But to adduce all my experience would be too tedious; let what follows suffice.

1523. That I might know the nature of that light, I have often been conducted into the abodes of good and of angelic spirits, and have seen both the spirits and the objects there. I have also seen infants and mothers in light of so great a brightness and resplendence that there could not possibly be anything brighter.

1524. An intense flaming irradiation unexpectedly poured down before my eyes, dazzling them greatly - not merely the eight of the eye, but the interior sight also. Presently there appeared a sort of obscurity, like a thick cloud, in which there was as it were something earthy. While I wondered at this it was given me to know that such is the light with the angels in heaven in comparison with that in the world of spirits and that although the spirits live in light, yet still there is such a difference; and that, as does the light, so also do the intelligence and the wisdom of the angels surpass those of spirits; and not their intelligence and wisdom only, but also all things that belong to these, such as their speech, thought, joys, and felicities; for these correspond to the light. This evidenced to me how great and of what nature are the perfections of angels as compared with men, who are in greater obscurity even than spirits.

1525. The kind of light in which those live who belong to a certain internal province of the face, was shown me. It was beautifully varied by rays of golden flame for those who are in affections of good, and by rays of silver light for those who are in affections of truth. Sometimes they see the sky - not that which appears before our eyes, but one that is represented before them - beautifully studded with little stars. The reason for the difference in the light is that all good spirits who are in the first heaven, and all angelic spirits who are in the second, and all angels who are in the third, are distinguished in general into the celestial and the spiritual; the celestial being those who are in the love of good, and the spiritual those who are in the love of truth.

1526. I was withdrawn from the ideas of particular things, or those of the body, so that I might be kept in spiritual ideas. There then appeared a vivid glow of diamond light, and this for a considerable time. I cannot describe the light in any other way; for in its least parts it was like the sparkling of the diamond. And while I was kept in that light, I perceived the particular things, which are worldly and corporeal, as it were below me, and remote; by which I was instructed how great light those are in who are withdrawn from material ideas into those which are spiritual. Moreover, the light of spirits and of angels has been seen by me so many times, that many pages would be filled if all the experiences were recounted.

1527. When the Lord pleases, good spirits appear before others, and also to one another, as bright stars that sparkle in accordance with the quality of their charity and faith; but evil spirits appear like little balls of coal fire.

1528. The life of cupidities and of the derivative pleasures sometimes appears among evil spirits like a coal fire. Into such a fieriness, as it were, is the life of the Lord's love and mercy changed that flows in with them; and the life of their phantasies appears as the light from it, which is a dim light that extends to no great distance; but at the approach of the life of mutual love, that fieriness is extinguished and turned into cold, and that dim light is turned into darkness. For evil spirits pass their lives in darkness; and, wonderful to say, some also love darkness, and hate light.

1529. It is perfectly well known in heaven, but not so well in the world of spirits, whence comes the light that is so great, namely, from the Lord; and it is a remarkable fact that the Lord appears in the third heaven to the celestial angels as a Sun, and to the spiritual angels as a Moon. The very origin of the light is this and this alone. But the angels have light in proportion to what is celestial and spiritual with them, and the quality of this determines the quality of their light. Thus the Lord's celestial and spiritual manifests itself before their external sight by means of light.

1530. That this is so the Word has shown to all; as when the Lord was made manifest to Peter, James, and John; for His face then shone as the sun, and His garments became as the light (Matt. 17:2). He so appeared to them simply because their interior sight was opened. The same is confirmed also in the Prophets; as in Isaiah, where the Lord's kingdom in the heavens is treated of: -

The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days (Isaiah 30:26).

And in John, where also the Lord's kingdom, which is called the New Jerusalem, is spoken of: -

The city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof (Rev. 21:23).

And again: -

There shall be no night there, and they have no need of a lamp, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light (Rev. 22:5).

Besides that when the Lord appeared to Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders,

They saw the God of Israel, under whose feet was as it were a work of sapphire stone, and as it were the substance of heaven in clearness (Exod. 24:10).

As the Lord's celestial and spiritual appear before the external sight of the angels as a Sun and a Moon, therefore "the sun" in the Word signifies what is celestial, and "the moon" what is spiritual.

1531. That I might be confirmed in the truth that the Lord appears to the celestial angels as a Sun, and to the spiritual angels as a Moon, my interior sight was of the Lord's Divine mercy so far opened that I plainly saw the Moon shining, which was encompassed by a number of smaller moons, the light of which was almost solar, according to the words in Isaiah: -

The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun (Isaiah 30:26).

But it was not granted me to see the Sun. The Moon appeared in front, to the right.

1532. Wonderful things appear in heaven from the Lord's light, things so beyond number that they could never be told. They are continual representatives of the Lord and of His kingdom, such as are mentioned in the Prophets, and by John in the Apocalypse; besides other significatives. With the bodily eyes no man can possibly see them, but the moment the interior sight or that of the spirit is opened by the Lord, such things become visible. The visions of the prophets were nothing else than openings of their interior sight; as when John saw the golden lampstands (Rev. 1:12, 13); and the Holy City as pure gold, with its luminary like to a stone most precious (Rev. 21:2, 10, 11); besides many things mentioned in the Prophets; from which it may be known, not only that the angels live in the brightest light, but also that there are countless things there which surpass belief.

1533. Before my sight was opened, the idea I cherished concerning the countless things that appear in the other life differed but little from that of others, that is to say, that in the other life there could be no light, and such things as exist from light, together with the things of sense; a notion derived from the phantasy entertained by the learned respecting the immateriality which they predicate so strongly of spirits and of all things pertaining to their life; from which no other conception could be had, than that, because it was immaterial, it was either so obscure that no idea of it could be grasped, or that it was nothing; for the immateriality involves such things. And yet the fact is just the reverse; for unless spirits were organized, and unless angels were organized substances, they could neither speak, nor see, nor think.

1534. That by the aid of the light from a celestial and spiritual origin from the Lord, there are in the other life presented before the sight of spirits and angels most wonderful objects, such as paradises, cities, palaces, dwellings, the most beautiful atmospheres, and others besides, see the "Continuation concerning Light" at the end of this chapter.

 

GENESIS 13:1-18

1. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, toward the south.

2. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

3. And he went according to his journeys from the south and even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent was at the first, between Bethel and Ai.

4. Unto the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning; and there Abram called on the name of Jehovah.

5. And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flock and herd, and tents.

6. And the land was not able to bear them that they might dwell together, for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

7. And there was strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle; and the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land.

8. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no contention, I pray, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we are men brethren.

9. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate, I pray, from me; if to the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

10. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was all well watered, before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt in coming to Zoar.

11. And Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed from the east; and they were separated, a man from his brother.

12. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent as far as Sodom.

13. And the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly.

14. And Jehovah said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward.

15. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed, forever.

16. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if any one can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

17. Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it.

18. And Abram pitched his tent, and came, and dwelt in the oak-groves of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and build there an altar unto Jehovah.

 

THE CONTENTS

1535. This chapter treats of the external man in the Lord which was to be conjoined with His internal man. The external man is the Human Essence, the internal is the Divine essence. The former is here represented by Lot, but the latter by Abram.

1536. There is here described the state of the external man such as it was in childhood, when first imbued with knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones) - that it thence advanced more and more to conjunction with the internal man (verses 1 to 4).

1537. But that there were still many things in His external man that impeded the conjunction (verses 5 to 7); from which, however, He desired to be separated (verses 8, 9).

1538. That the external man appeared to the Lord such as it is in its beauty when conjoined with the internal; and also such as it is when not conjoined (verses 10 to 13).)

1539. A promise that when the external man was conjoined with the internal, that is, when the Lord's Human Essence "as conjoined with His Divine Essence, all power and authority (potestas) should be given to Him (verses 14 to 17). Concerning the Lord's interior perception (verse 18).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

1540. The true historicals of the Word began, as before said, with the the twelfth chapter. Up to that point, or rather to Eber, they were made - up historicals. In the internal sense, the historicals here continued respecting Abram are significative of the Lord, and in fact of His first life, such as it was before His external man had been conjoined with the internal so as to make one thing; that is, before His external man had been in like manner made celestial and Divine. The historicals are what represent the Lord; the words themselves are significative of the things that are represented. But being historical, the mind of the reader cannot but be held in them; especially at this day, when most persons, and indeed nearly all, do not believe that there is an internal sense, and still less that it exists in every word; and it may be that in spite of the fact that the internal sense has been so plainly shown thus far, they will not even now acknowledge its existence, and this for the reason that the internal sense appears to recede so far from the sense of the letter as to be scarcely recognized in it. And yet that these historicals cannot be the Word they might know from the mere fact that when separated from the internal sense there is no more of the Divine in them than in any other history; whereas the internal sense makes the Word to be Divine.

[2] That the internal sense is the Word itself, is evident from many things that have been revealed, as, "Out of Egypt have I called My son" (Matt. 2:15); besides many others. The Lord Himself also, after His resurrection, taught the disciples what had been written concerning Him in Moses and the Prophets (Luke 24:27); and thus that there is nothing written in the Word that does not regard Him, His kingdom, and the church. These are the spiritual and celestial things of the Word; but the things contained in the literal sense are for the most part worldly, corporeal, and earthly; which cannot possibly make the Word of the Lord. At this day men are of such a character that they perceive nothing but such things; and what spiritual and heavenly things are, they scarcely know. It was otherwise with the men of the Most Ancient and of the Ancient Church, who, had they lived at this day, and had read the Word, would not have attended at all to the sense of the letter, which they would look upon as nothing, but to the internal sense. They wonder greatly that any one perceives the Word in any other way. All the books of the Ancients were therefore so written as to have in their interior sense a different meaning from that in the letter.

1541. Verse 1. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, toward the south. In the internal sense, the things here stated, and those which follow in this chapter, also represent the Lord; there being a continuation of His life from childhood. "Abram went up out of Egypt", signifies from memory-knowledges, which left the Lord. In the internal sense, "Abram" is the Lord, here the Lord when still a child; "Egypt", here as before, is memory-knowledge; "he and his wife", signifies the celestial truths that were then with the Lord; "and all that he had" signifies all things that were of the celestial things " and Lot with him", signifies what is sensuous; "toward the south", signifies into celestial light.

1542. That in the internal sense these things, and those that follow in this chapter, also represent the Lord, and that it is a continuation of His life from childhood, may be seen from what was said and shown in the preceding chapter, and also from what follows but especially from the consideration that this is the Word of the Lord, and that it has come down from Him through heaven, and therefore that not even the least bit of a word has been written that does not involve heavenly arcana. That which comes from such an origin cannot possibly be of any other nature. It has been shown already that in the internal sense the Lord's instruction when a child is treated of. There are two things with man which prevent his becoming celestial, one of which belongs to his intellectual, and the other to his will part: that which belongs to the intellectual part consists of the empty memory-knowledges he learns in childhood and youth; and that which belongs to the will part consists of pleasures from the cupidities which he favors. These are the hindrances that prevent his being able to attain to celestial things. These are first to be dispersed; and when they have been dispersed, he can then for the first time be admitted into the light of celestial things, and at last into celestial light.

[2] As the Lord was born as are other men, and was to be informed as others are, it was necessary for Him to learn memory-knowledges, which was represented and signified by Abram's sojourn in Egypt; and that the empty memory-knowledges at last left Him, was represented by Pharaoh's commanding his men respecting him, and by their sending him away, and his wife, and all that he had. (Genesis 12:20). But that the pleasures which pertain to the things of the will, and which constitute the sensuous man, but the outermost of it, also left Him, is represented in this chapter by Lot, in that he separated himself from Abram; for Lot represents such a man.

1543. And Abram went up out of Egypt. That this signifies from memory-knowledges, which left the Lord, is evident from the signification of "Abram", as representing the Lord; and also from the signification of "Egypt", which is memory-knowledge; and also from the signification of "going up", for this expression is used of emerging from the lower things, which are the memory-knowledges, to the higher, which are the celestial things; and therefore, in the Word, "to go up from Egypt into the land of Canaan" - an expression which often occurs - involves the like things.

1544. It has already been shown that here, in the internal sense, "Abram" is the Lord while still a child, and that "Egypt" is memory-knowledge.

1545. He and he wife. That this signifies the celestial truths then in the Lord, may be seen from the signification of "he", that is, of Abram, as being the Lord, and consequently the celestial that was in Him. A man is a man from the things that are in him; the Lord, from the celestial things; for He alone was celestial, so as to be the celestial itself; on which account celestial things are signified by "Abram", and still more by "Abraham". This may be further seen from the signification of a "wife", as being truth adjoined to the celestial (n. 1468). That the truths are celestial truths, or truths which are from celestial things, is evident from the fact that "he" is named first, and "his wife" afterwards. For celestial truth is one thing, and truth celestial is another; celestial truth is that which derives its origin from the celestial; truth celestial is that which is from the truth which is implanted in the celestial by means of knowledges (cognitiones).

1546. And all that he had. That this signifies all things that were of the celestial things, is evident from what has now been said.

1547. And Lot with him. That this signifies what is sensuous, has already been briefly stated (n. 1428); but as Lot is here specifically treated of, it must be known what it is in the Lord that he represents. Pharaoh represented the memory-knowledges that at last sent the Lord away; but Lot represents sensuous things, by which is meant the external man and its pleases that pertain to sensuous things, thus those things which are outermost, and which are wont to captivate man in his childhood, and draw him away from goods. For so far as a man indulges the pleasures that originate from cupidities, he is drawn away from the celestial things that are of love and charity; because in those pleasures there is love from self and from the world, with which celestial love cannot agree. There are, however, pleasures that agree perfectly with celestial things, and that likewise appear similar in external form (n. 945, 994, 995, 997). But the pleasures that originate from cupidities are to be restrained and wiped out, because they block the way to celestial things. It is these pleasures, and not the others, that are treated of in this chapter - by Lot, in that he separated himself from Abram; and here it is said that such pleasures were present, which are signified by "Lot with him". But in general by " Lot" is signified the external man, as will be evident from what follows.

1548. Toward the south. That this signifies into celestial light, is evident from the signification of "the south", as being a state of light as to the interiors (n. 1458). There are two states from which comes celestial light. The first is that into which man is introduced from infancy; for it is known that infants are in innocence and in the goods of love, which are the celestial things into which they are at first introduced by the Lord, and which are stored up in the child for use in later life, and for his use when he comes into the other life; these are what are called the first remains, spoken of in several places before. The other state is, that man is introduced into spiritual and celestial things by means of knowledges, which must be implanted in the celestial things given from infancy. With the Lord, these were implanted in His first celestial things, from which He had the light which is here called "the south".

1549. Verse 2. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. "Abram was very rich in cattle", signifies the goods with which the Lord was then enriched; "in silver", signifies the truths; "and in gold", signifies the goods from truths.

1550. Abram was very rich in cattle. That this signifies goods, is evident from the signification of "cattle", and of "flock", as being good (n. 343, 415).

1551. In silver. That this signifies truths, is evident from the signification of "silver", as being truth. The most ancient people compared the goods and truths in man to metals; the inmost or the celestial goods, which are of love to the Lord, to gold; the truths which are from these, to silver; but the lower or natural goods, to copper; and the lower truths, to iron; nor did they simply compare them, but they likewise called them so. Hence periods of time were also likened to the same metals, and were called the golden, the silver, the copper, and the iron ages; for the ages followed one another in this order. The golden age was the time of the Most Ancient Church, which was a celestial man; the silver age was the time of the Ancient Church, which was a spiritual man; the copper age was the time of the succeeding church; and to this succeeded the iron age. Similar things are also signified by the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a dream, whose "head was of good gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron" (Dan. 2:32, 33). That this was to be the series, or that the periods of the church succeeded one another in this order, is evident from the same Prophet, and in the same chapter.

[2] That in the internal sense of the Word, "silver", wherever named, signifies truth, and in the opposite sense falsity, is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron; I will also make thine officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness (Isaiah 60:17)

where it is evident what each metal means. The Lord's coming, and His celestial kingdom and church, are there treated of; "gold for brass", is celestial good instead of natural good; "silver for iron", is spiritual truth instead of natural truth; "brass for wood", is natural good instead of corporeal good; "iron for stones", is natural truth instead of sensuous truth. In the same: -

Ho, every one that thirsteth, go ye to the waters and he that hath no silver; go ye, buy and eat (Isaiah 55:1);

"he that hath no silver", is he who is in ignorance of truth, and yet in the good of charity, like many within the church, and the nations outside the church.

[3] In the same: -

The isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish in the beginning, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of Jehovah thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel (Isa. 60:9).

Here a new church, or that of the Gentiles, is treated of specifically, and the Lord's kingdom universally; "the ships from Tarshish" denote knowledges; "silver", truths; and "gold", goods; for these are the things which they shall "bring to the name of Jehovah". In Ezekiel: -

Thou didst take the vessels of thine adorning of My gold and of My silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee images of a male (Ezekiel 16:17).

Here "gold" denotes the knowledges of celestial things; "silver", those of spiritual things. In the same: -

Thou wast adorned with gold and silver, and thy raiment was fine linen and silk, and broidered work (Ezekiel 16:13).

This is said of Jerusalem, by which the Lord's church is signified, and the adornment of which is thus described. Again: -

Behold, thou art wise, there is no secret that they have hidden from thee; in thy wisdom and in thine intelligence thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures (Ezekiel 28:3, 4).

This is said of Tyre, and it is plain that here "gold" is the wealth of wisdom, and "silver" the wealth of intelligence.

[4] In Joel: -

Ye have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried into you temples My goodly desirable things (Joel 3:5).

This is said concerning Tyre, Zidon, and Philistia; by which are signified knowledges, which are "the gold and the silver" that they have carried into their temples. In Haggai: -

The choice of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory; the silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine; the glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former (Haggai 2:7-9);

where the Lord's church is treated of, concerning which "gold" and "silver" are predicated. In Malachi: -

He shall sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and shall purify the sons of Levi (Malachi 3:3);

where the Lord's coming is treated of. In David: -

The discourses of Jehovah are pure discourses, silver smelted in a crucible of earth, smelted seven times (Ps. 12:6);

the "silver purified seven times", denotes Divine truth. In respect to the command given to the sons of Israel, when they were to go out of Egypt: -

Every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and of her that is a guest in her house, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garment and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters, and shall spoil the Egyptians (Exod. 3:22; 11:2, 3; 12:35, 36);

every one can see that the sons of Israel would by no means have been told thus to steal, and to spoil the Egyptians, unless some arcana were thus to be represented; but what the arcana are may be seen from the signification of "silver", of "gold", and of "garments", and of "Egypt;" and it may also be seen that much the same was there represented as is here represented by Abram, who was rich in silver and gold from Egypt.

[5] As "silver" signifies truth, so in the opposite sense it signifies falsity; for they who are in falsity think that falsity is truth; as is also evident in the Prophets. In Moses: -

Thou shalt not covet the silver and the gold of the nations, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is an abomination to Jehovah thy God; detesting thou shalt detest it (Deut. 7:25, 26)

"the gold of the nations" denotes evils, and their "silver" falsities. Again: -

Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, and gods of gold shall ye not make unto you (Exod. 20:23);

by which in the internal sense nothing else is signified than falsities and cupidities; "gods of silver" are falsities; and "gods of gold" are cupidities. In Isaiah: -

In that day shall they cast away every man his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin (Isaiah 31:7);

"idols of silver and idols of gold", denote similar things as before; "your own hands have made them", means that they are from man's Own. In Jeremiah: -

They are become brutish and foolish; a teaching of vanities is that stock; silver beaten out is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the founder; blue and crimson are their clothing, it is all the work of the wise (Jeremiah 10:8, 9)

denoting the like things, as is very evident.

1552. And in gold. That this signifies goods from truths, is evident from the signification of "gold", as being celestial good, or the good of wisdom and of love as is evident from the things just shown, and also from those shown before (n. 113). That the goods here are from truths, follows from what was said in the foregoing chapter, that the Lord conjoined intellectual truths with celestial things.

1553. Verse 3. And he went according to his journeys, from the south and even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent was at the first, between Bethel and Ai. "He went according to his journeys", signifies according to order; "from the south and even to Bethel", signifies from the light of intelligence into the light of wisdom; "unto the place where his tent was before", signifies to the holy things which there were before He was imbued with knowledges; "between Bethel and Ai", signifies here, as before, the celestial things of knowledges, and worldly things.

1554. He went according to his journeys. That this signifies according to order, is evident from the signification of "journeys", as being further progressions (n. 1457); and as these were made according to order, "journeys" here signify nothing else. From His earliest infancy the Lord advanced according to all Divine order to celestial things, and into celestial things; and in the internal sense, the nature of this order is described by what is said concerning Abram. According to such order also are all led who are being created anew by the Lord; but this order is various with men, according to the nature and genius of each one. But the order by which a man is led while being regenerated is known to no man, and not even to the angels, except obscurely, but to the Lord alone.

1555. From the south and even to Bethel. That this signifies from the light of intelligence into the light of wisdom, is evident from the signification of "the south", as being the light of intelligence, or what is the same, a state of light as to the interiors (n. 1458); and from the signification of "Bethel", as being celestial light arising from knowledges (n. 1453). That is called the light of intelligence which is procured by means of the knowledges of the truths and goods of faith; but the light of wisdom is that of the life which is thence acquired. The light of intelligence regards the intellectual part, or the understanding; but the light of wisdom regards the will part, or the life.

[2] Few, if any, know how man is brought to true wisdom. Intelligence is not wisdom, but leads to wisdom; for to understand what is true and good is not to be true and good, but to be wise is to be so. Wisdom is predicated only of the life - that the man is such. A man is introduced to wisdom or to life by means of knowing (scire et nosse), that is, by means of knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones). In every man there are two parts, the will and the understanding; the will is the primary part, the understanding is the secondary one. Man's life after death is according to his will part, not according to his intellectual part. The will is being formed in man by the Lord from infancy to childhood, which is effected by means of the innocence that is insinuated, and by means of charity toward parents, nurses, and little children of a like age and by means of many other things that man knows nothing of, and which are celestial. unless these celestial things were first insinuated into a man while an infant and a child, he could by no means become a man. Thus is formed the first plane.

[3] But as a man is not a man unless he is endowed also with understanding, will alone does not make the man, but understanding together with will; and understanding cannot be acquired except by means of knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones) and therefore he must, from his childhood, be gradually imbued with these. Thus is formed the second plane. When the intellectual part has been instructed in knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones), especially in the knowledges of truth and good, then first can the man be regenerated; and, when he is being regenerated, truths and goods are implanted by the Lord by means of knowledges in the celestial things with which he had been endowed by the Lord from infancy, so that his intellectual things make a one with his celestial things; and when the Lord has thus conjoined these, the man is endowed with charity, from which he begins to act, this charity being of conscience. In this way he for the first time receives new life, and this by degrees. The light of this life is called wisdom, which then takes the first place, and is set over the intelligence. Thus is formed the third plane. When a man has become like this during his bodily life, he is then in the other life being continually perfected. These considerations show what is the light of intelligence, and what the light of wisdom.

1556. Unto the place where his tent was before. That this signifies to the holy things which there were before He was imbued with knowledges, is evident from the signification of a "tent", which is the holy things of faith (n. 414, 1452), and from what has just been said it thus signifies to the celestial things which the Lord had before He was imbued with knowledges, as is evident from what was said in the preceding chapter: "and Abram removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent" (verse 8); which was before he departed into Egypt, that is, before the Lord was imbued with knowledges.

1557. Between Bethel and Ai. That this signifies the celestial things of knowledges, and worldly things, is evident from the signification of "Bethel", which is the light of wisdom by means of knowledges (n. 1453); and from the signification of "Ai", which is the light from worldly things (n. 1453). From what is there said, it may be seen what the Lord's state then was namely, that it was childlike; and the state of a child is such that worldly things are present; for worldly things cannot be dispersed until truth and good are implanted in celestial things by means of knowledges; for a man cannot distinguish between celestial and worldly things until he knows what the celestial is, and what the worldly. Knowledges make a general and obscure idea distinct; and the more distinct the idea is made by means of knowledges, the more can the worldly things be separated.

[2] But still that childlike state is holy, because it is innocent. Ignorance by no means precludes holiness, when there is innocence in it; for holiness dwells in ignorance that is innocent. With all men, except with the Lord, holiness can dwell solely in ignorance; and if not in ignorance, they have no holiness. With the angels themselves, who are in the highest light of intelligence and wisdom, holiness also dwells in ignorance; for they know and acknowledge that of themselves they know nothing, but that whatever they know is from the Lord. They also know and acknowledge that all their memory-knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, is as nothing in comparison with the infinite knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom of the Lord; thus that it is ignorance. He who does not acknowledge that there are infinite things with which he is not acquainted, beyond those with which he is acquainted, cannot be in the holiness of ignorance in which are the angels.

[3] The holiness of ignorance does not consist in being more ignorant than others; but in the acknowledgment that of himself a man knows nothing, and that the things he does not know are infinite in comparison with those he does know; and especially does it consist in his regarding the things of the memory and of the understanding as being of but little moment in comparison with celestial things; that is, the things of the understanding in comparison with the things of the life. As regards the Lord, as He was conjoining things human with things Divine, He advanced according to order; and He now for the first time arrived at the celestial state such as He had when a child; in which state worldly things also were present. By advancing from this into a state still more celestial, He at length came into the celestial state of infancy, and in this He fully conjoined the Human Essence with the Divine Essence.

1558. Verse 4. Unto the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning; and there Abram called on the name of Jehovah. "Unto the place of the altar", signifies the holy things of worship; "which he had made in the beginning", signifies which He had when a child; "and there Abram called on the name of Jehovah", signifies the internal worship in that state.

1559. Unto the place of the altar. That this signifies the holy things of worship, is evident from the signification of an "altar", being the principal representative of worship (n. 921).

1560. Which he had made in the beginning. That this signifies which He had when a child, is evident from what was said in (Gen. 12:8). It is here said, "in the beginning", and in the preceding verse, "at the first", because that was before the Lord had been imbued with knowledges. All the state before a man is instructed, is "the first (initium);" and when he begins to be instructed, it is "the beginning (principium)".

1561. And there Abram called on the name of Jehovah. That this signifies the internal worship in that state, is evident from the signification of "calling on the name of Jehovah" (n. 440, 1455). Here too, because of the similarity of the states, mention is made of an "altar", and it is said that he "called on the name of Jehovah", as was the case in the preceding chapter, (Gen. 12:8); but there is this difference, that as compared with the former, the state here described is a lucid one. When knowledges are implanted in the state described above, they make it lucid; and when truth and good are conjoined with the former celestial state by means of knowledges, its activity is then described as in the words now before us; for worship itself is nothing but a certain activity coming forth from the celestial which is within. The celestial itself cannot possibly exist without activity. Worship is its first activity; for it puts itself forth in this way, because it perceives joy in it. All the good of love and of charity is essential activity itself.

1562. Verse 5. And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flock and herd, and tents. "And Lot also, who went with Abram", signifies the external man that was in the Lord' "had flock and herd, and tents", signifies those things in which the external man abounds; "flock and herd" are the external man's possessions; "tents" are his worship: these things were separating themselves from the internal man.

1563. And Lot also, who went with Abram. That this signifies the external man that was in the Lord, is evident from the representation of Lot, as being the sensuous man, or what is the same, the external man. That there is an internal and an external in every man, or what is the same, that man is internal and external, is known to every one within the church (n. 978, 994, 995, 1015). The external man receives its life principally from the internal man, that is, from the spirit or soul. Thence comes its very life in general; but this life cannot be received in its particulars, or distinctly, by the external man, unless its organic vessels are opened, which must be the recipients of the particulars and the singulars of the internal man. These organic vessels, which are to be the recipients, are not opened except by means of the senses, especially those of hearing and sight; and, as they are opened, the internal man can flow in with its particulars and singulars. They are opened with the senses as the media, by means of knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones), and also by means of pleasures and delights; those belonging to the understanding by means of knowledges, and those belonging to the will by means of pleasures and delights.

[2] From these things it may be seen that it must necessarily happen that such knowledges as cannot agree with spiritual truths will insinuate themselves into the external man; and that such pleasures and delights will insinuate themselves as cannot agree with celestial goods; as is the case with all those things which regard corporeal, worldly, and earthly things as the ends; which, when regarded as ends, draw the external man outward and downward, and so remove it from the internal man. Wherefore, unless such things are first dispersed, the internal man cannot possibly agree with the external; so that before the internal man can agree with the external, such things must first be removed. That with the Lord these things were removed or separated, is represented and signified by the separation of Lot from Abram.

1564. Had flock and herd, and tents. That this signifies the things with which the external man abounds, is evident from the signification of "flock", "herd", and "tents", explained just below. They here signify the possessions of the external man; for by Lot, as before said, is represented the Lord's external man. There are two classes of possessions in the external man, namely, such as can agree with the internal, and such as cannot agree. By "flock, herd, and tents" are here signified those things which cannot agree, as is evident from what follows - " and there was strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle" (verse 7).

1565. That "flock and herd" signify the possessions of the external man, is evident from the signification of "flock" and "herd", as being goods (n. 343 and 415); but here they signify things that are to be separated, and thus things that are not good, because they are attributed to Lot, who was being separated from Abram. That "flock" and "herd" signify also things not good, is evident from the following passages of the Word. In Zephaniah: -

I will destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. And the sea coast shall be habitations dug out for shepherds, and folds for a flock (Zephaniah 2:5, 6).

In Jeremiah: -

I will disperse in thee the shepherd and the flock; and I will disperse in thee the husbandman and his yoke (Jeremiah 51:23).

In the same: -

Go ye up to Arabia, and lay waste the sons of the east; their tents and their flocks shall they take (Jeremiah 49:28, 29).

1566. That "tents" are the worship of that which was separating itself from the internal, is evident from the signification of "tent", as being the holy of worship (n. 414); and also from the representation of Lot, as being the external man, of which "tents" - or worship - are predicated. That in the opposite sense "tents" signify worship not holy, is also evident from the following passages of the Word. In Hosea: -

The nettle shall inherit them; thorns shall be in their tents (Hosea 9:6).

In Habakkuk: -

I saw the tents of Cushan; the curtains of the land of Midian were greatly moved; Jehovah was angry against the rivers (Habakkuk 3:7, 8).

In Jeremiah: -

Shepherds with their flocks shall come unto the daughter of Zion; they shall pitch tents against her round about; they shall feed down every one his space (Jeremiah 6:3).

In David: -

He smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the beginning of strength in the tents of Ham (Ps. 78:51).

In the same: -

I had rather stand at the threshold in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness (Ps. 84:10).

1567. Verse 6. And the land was not able to bear then that they might dwell together, because their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. "The land was not able to bear them that they might dwell together", signifies that the things belonging to the internal celestial things could not be together with the others; "because their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together", signifies that the things that had been acquired by the internal man could not agree with those acquired in the external man.

1568. The land was not able to bear them that they might dwell together. This signifies that the things belonging to the internal celestial things could not be together with the others, that is, with those here signified by " Lot". Abram, as before said, represents the Lord, here His internal man; but Lot represents His external man, here the things that were to be separated from the external man, with which the internal things could not dwell. There are many things in the external man with which the internal man can dwell, such as affections of good, and the delights and pleasures thence originating; for these are the effects of the goods of the internal man, and of its joys and happiness; and when they are the effects, they altogether correspond; and they are then of the internal man and not of the external. For the effect, as is known, is not of the effect, but of the effecting cause; as, for example, the charity which shines forth from the face is not of the face, but is of the charity that is within, and which so forms the face, and presents the effect; or as the innocence of little children that shows itself in their looks, gestures, and play with each other, is not of the countenance or the gesture, but is of the innocence of the Lord that flows in through their souls; so that the manifestations of innocence are effects; and it is the same in all other cases.

[2] From this it is evident that there are many things in the external man that can dwell together and agree with the internal man. But there are also very many which do not agree, or together with which the internal man cannot dwell; this is the case with all things that spring from the love of self, and from the love of the world, for all such things regard self as the end, and the world as the end. With these the celestial things which are of love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor cannot agree; for these look to the Lord as the end, and to His kingdom and all things that are of Him and His kingdom as the ends. The ends of the love of self and the love of the world look outward or downward; but the ends of love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor look inward or upward; from all which it is evident that they disagree so much that they cannot possibly be together.

[3] That it may be known what makes the correspondence and agreement of the external man with the internal, and what makes the disagreement, one needs only to reflect upon the ends which reign; or what is the same, upon the loves which reign; for the loves are the ends; for whatever is loved is looked to as the end. It will thus be evident of what quality the life is, and what it will be after death; for, from the ends, or what is the same, from the loves which reign, the life is formed; the life of every man is nothing else. The things that disagree with eternal life - that is, with spiritual and celestial life, which is eternal life - if not removed in the life of the body, must be removed in the other life; and if they cannot he removed, the man cannot be otherwise than unhappy to eternity.

[4] These things are now said that it may be known that there are things in the external man which agree with the internal man, and things which disagree; and that those which agree cannot possibly be together with those that disagree; and further, that the things in the external man which agree, are from the internal man, that is, through the internal man from the Lord; like a face that beams from charity, or a face of charity; or like the innocence in the countenance and gestures of little children, as before said. But the things which disagree are of the man and what is his own. From what has been said it may be known what is signified by the words, "the land was not able to bear them that they might dwell together". In the internal sense, the Lord is here treated of; and because the Lord, every likeness and image of Him is also treated of - His kingdom, the church, and every man of His kingdom or church; and it is for this reason that the things which are in men are here set forth. The things appertaining to the Lord, before He from His own power overcame evil, that is, the devil and hell, and so became celestial, Divine, and Jehovah, as to His Human essence also, are to be considered relatively to the state in which He then was.

1569. Because their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. That this signifies that the things that had been acquired by the internal man could not agree with those acquired in the external, may be seen from what has just been said.

1570. Verse 7. And there was strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle; and the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land. "There was strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle", signifies that the internal man and the external man did not agree; "the herdmen of Abram's cattle", are the celestial things "the herdmen of Lot's cattle", are the sensuous things; "and the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land", signifies evils and falsities in the external man.

1571. There was strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle. That this signifies that the internal man and the external did not agree, is evident from the signification of the herdmen" (or shepherds - pastores) of cattle", as being those who teach, and thus things that are of worship, as may be known to every one; it is therefore unnecessary to confirm this from the Word. These things relate to what were called "tents" in the preceding (verse 5); and it was there pointed out that these signify worship. What is said in (verse 6), that immediately precedes these words, relates to what were called "flock and herd" in (verse 5); and in the consideration of that verse it was also pointed out that these denote possessions or acquisitions. As worship is here treated of, namely, that of the internal man and of the external, and as these did not yet agree, it is here said that "there was strife between the herdmen;" for Abram represents the internal man, and Lot the external. In worship the nature and quality of the disagreement between the internal man and the external are especially discernible, and this even in every single thing of worship; for when in worship the internal man desires to regard the ends that belong to the kingdom of God, and the external man desires to regard the ends that belong to the world, there thus arises a disagreement which manifests itself in the worship, and that so plainly that the smallest bit of such disagreement is noticed in heaven. This is what is signified by the "strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle". The cause is also subjoined, namely, that "the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land".

1572. That "the herdmen of Abram's cattle" are the celestial things which are of the internal man, and that "the herdmen of Lot's cattle" are the sensuous things which are of the external man, is evident from what has already been said. By the celestial things which are "the herdmen of Abram's cattle", are meant the celestial things in worship which are of the internal man. By "the herdmen of Lot's cattle" are meant the sensuous things that are in worship, which are of the external man, and do not agree with the celestial things of the worship of the internal man. How these things stand, is evident from what has already been shown.

1573. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land. That this signifies evils and falsities in the external man, is evident from the signification of "the Canaanite", as being the hereditary evil from the mother in the external man (n. 1444); and from the signification of "the Perizzite", as being the derivative falsity. That there was with the Lord an evil hereditary from the mother in His external man, may be seen above (n. 1414, 1444); and that there was falsity from this, is a necessary consequence for where there is hereditary evil, there is also falsity; the latter being born of the former. But the falsity that is from evil cannot be born until the man has been imbued with knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones). Evil has nothing but these into which it may operate or flow; for in this way the evil which is of the will part is turned into falsity in the intellectual part; so that this falsity also was hereditary, because it was born of what was hereditary, and yet was not the falsity that is derived from principles of falsity; but it was in the external man, and there the internal man could see it to be false.

[2] And because there was hereditary evil from the mother before the Lord had been imbued with knowledges, or before Abram sojourned in Egypt, it is said in the preceding chapter, (Gen. 12:6), that "the Canaanite was in the land", but not the Perizzite; but here, after He had been imbued with knowledges, it is said that "the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled in the land;" from which it is evident that by "the Canaanite" is signified evil, and by "the Perizzite" falsity. It is also evident from this, that the mention of the Canaanite and the Perizzite is not in any historical series, for in what goes before and in what follows they are not treated of at all; and the same is true of the mention of the Canaanite in the foregoing chapter, (Gen. 12:6); from all which it is evident that some arcanum lies hidden here which cannot be known except from the internal sense.

[3] Its being said that there was with the Lord hereditary evil from the mother may cause surprise, but as it is here so plainly declared, and as the Lord is treated of in the internal sense, it cannot be doubted that so it was. For no human being can possibly be born of another human being without thence deriving evil. But the hereditary evil derived from the father is one thing, and that from the mother is another. The hereditary evil from the father is more internal, and remains to eternity, for it cannot possibly be eradicated; but the Lord had not such evil, because He was born of Jehovah the Father, and thus as to internals was Divine or Jehovah. But the hereditary evil from the mother is of the external man; this did exist with the Lord, and it is called "the Canaanite in the land;" and the falsity from this is "the Perizzite". Thus was the Lord born as are other men, and had infirmities as have other men.

[4] That He derived hereditary evil from the mother is clearly evident from the fact that He underwent temptations; no one can possibly be tempted who has no evil; it is the evil in a man which tempts, and through which he is tempted. That the Lord was tempted, and that he underwent temptations a thousandfold more grievous than any man can ever endure; and that He endured them alone, and overcame evil, or the devil and all hell, by His own power, is also evident. Concerning these temptations we read thus in Luke: -

Jesus was led in the spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted by the devil, so that He did not eat in those days. But after the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him for a season. Thence He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee (Luke 4:1, 2, 13, 14).

[5] And in Mark: -

The Spirit impelling Jesus made Him go forth into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted, and He was with the wild beasts (Mark 1:12, 13);

where hell is signified by "the wild beasts". Moreover, He was tempted even unto death, so that His sweat was drops of blood: -

And being in an agony, He prayed the more earnestly and His sweat became as drops of blood falling down upon the earth (Luke 22:44).

[6] No angel can ever be tempted of the devil; because, while he is in the Lord, evil spirits cannot approach him, even distantly, without being instantly seized with horror and terror. Much less would hell have been able to approach the Lord if He had been born Divine; that is, without evil adhering from the mother.

[7] It is likewise a common expression with preachers, that the Lord also bore the iniquities and evils of the human race; but for Him to admit into Himself iniquities and evils, except by the hereditary way, is utterly impossible; for the Divine is not susceptible of evil. And therefore in order that He might conquer evil by His own powers - which no man has been able to do, or is able to do - and so might alone become righteousness, He was willing to be born as are other men. If it had not been for this, there would have been no need of His being born; for the Lord could have assumed the Human Essence without birth, as He did sometimes assume it, when seen by the Most Ancient Church, and likewise by the prophets, but for the additional purpose of putting on evil, against which He might fight, and which He might conquer, and might thus conjoin in Himself the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, He came into the world.

[8] But the Lord had no evil that was actual, or His own, as He also says in John: -

Which of you convicted Me of sin? (John 8:46).

From what has been said it is now clearly evident what is signified by there being "strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle", which words immediately precede. The reason was that "the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land".

1574. That "the Canaanite" signifies the hereditary evil from the mother, in the external man, was before shown (n. 1444); but that "the Perizzite" signifies the falsity that is from evil, is evident from other passages in the Word where the Perizzite is named. As in the following concerning Jacob: -

Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me, to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and I am mortals of number (i.e. few) and they will gather themselves together against me and smite me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house (Gen. 34:30);

where in like manner evil is signified by "the Canaanite", and falsity by "the Perizzite".

[2] In Joshua: -

Joshua said to the sons of Joseph, If thou be much people, get thee up to the forest, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzite and of the Rephaim, if Mount Ephraim is too narrow for thee (Joshua 17:15)

where principles of falsity are signified by "the Perizzite", and persuasions of falsity by "the Rephaim", which they were to extirpate; for in the spiritual sense "Mount Ephraim" is intelligence.

[3] In the book of Judges: -

After the death of Joshua, the sons of Israel also asked of Jehovah, Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanite, to fight against him? And Jehovah said, Judah shall go up; behold I have given the land into his hand. And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, and let us fight against the Canaanite; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. And Simeon went with him. And Judah went up; and Jehovah gave the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand (Judges 1:1-4);

where by "Judah" likewise is represented the Lord as to celestial things, and by "Simeon" as to the derivative spiritual things; "the Canaanite" is evil, and "the Perizzite" falsity, which were overcome. This was the response, or Divine oracle, which, with this explanation, is understood.

1575. Verse 8. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no contention, I pray, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we are men brethren. "Abram said unto Lot", signifies that the internal man said thus to the external. "Let there be no contention, I pray, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen", signifies that there ought to be no disagreement between the two; "for we are men brethren", signifies that in themselves they were united.

1576. Abram said unto Lot. That this signifies that the internal man said thus to the external, is evident from the representation of Abram, as being here the internal man; and from the representation of Lot, as being the external man that was to be separated. That Abram represents the internal man, is because he is spoken of relatively to Lot, who is that in the external man which was to be separated. There are in the external man, as before said, things that agree, and things that disagree. By "Lot" are here meant the things that disagree; by "Abram", therefore, are meant those which agree, including those which are in the external man; for these together with the internal man constitute one thing, and they belong to the internal man.

1577. Let there be no contention, I pray, between me and thee. That this signifies that there ought to be no disagreement between the two, is evident from what has already been said. The arcana relating to the agreement or union of the internal man with the external are more than can ever be told. With no man have the internal man and the external ever been united; nor could they be united, nor can they be, but with the Lord only, for which cause also He came into the world. With men who have been regenerated, it appears as if they were united; but these belong to the Lord; for the things which agree are the Lord's, but those which disagree are man's.

[2] There are two things in the internal man, namely, the celestial and the spiritual, which two constitute a one when the spiritual is from the celestial; or what is the same, there are two things in the internal man, good and truth; these two constitute a one when the truth is from good; or what is also the same, there are two things in the internal man, love and faith; these two constitute a one when the faith is from love; or what is again the same, there are in the internal man two things, the will and the understanding; and these two constitute a one when the understanding is from the will. This may be apprehended still more clearly by considering the sun, from which is light. If in the light from the sun there are both heat and illuminating power, as in the spring-time, all things are thereby made to vegetate and to live; but if there is not heat from the sun in the light, as in the time of winter, then all things become torpid and die.

[3] From all this it is evident what constitutes the internal man; and what constitutes the external thence appears. In the external man all is natural; for the external man itself is the same as the natural man. The internal man is said to be united to the external when the celestial spiritual of the internal man flows into the natural of the external, and makes them act as a one. As a consequence of this the natural also becomes celestial and spiritual, but a lower celestial and spiritual; or what is the same, the external man becomes celestial and spiritual, but a more external celestial and spiritual.

[4] The internal man and the external are altogether distinct, because celestial and spiritual things are what affect the internal man, but natural things are what affect the external. But though distinct, they are still united, namely, when the celestial spiritual of the internal man flows into the natural of the external, and disposes it as its own. In the Lord alone the internal man was united to the external; this is not the case in any other man, except so far as the Lord has united and does unite them. Love and charity only, or good, is what unites; and there is never any love and charity, that is, any good, except from the Lord. Such is the union that is intended in these words of Abram: "Let there be no contention between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen".

[5] It is said, "Between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen", for the case is thus as there are two things in the internal man, namely, the celestial and the spiritual, which as before said make a one, so also are there in the external man, its celestial being called natural good, and its spiritual natural truth. "Let there be no contention between me and thee", has reference to good, meaning that the good of the internal man should not disagree with the good of the external man; and "Let there be no contention between my herdmen and thy herdmen", has reference to truth, meaning that the truth of the internal man should not disagree with the truth of the external man.

1578. For we are men brethren. That this signifies that they are united together, is evident from the signification of "man brother", as being union, and in fact the union of truth and good.

1579. Verse 9. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate, I pray, from me; if to the left hand, then I will go to the right; and if to the right hand, then I will go to the left. "Is not the whole land before thee?" signifies all good. "Separate, I pray, from me", signifies that the good cannot appear unless what is discordant is made none; "if to the left hand, then I will go to the right; and if to the right hand, then I will go to the left", signifies separation.

1580. Is not the whole land before thee? That this signifies all good, is evident from the signification of "land" in a good sense, and here of the land of Canaan, which is the celestial, and therefore also good (n. 566, 620, 636, 662). The internal man here addresses the external, but those things in the external man which disagree; as a man is wont to do when he perceives some evil in himself from which he desires to be separated, as is the case in temptations and combats. For it is known to those who have been in temptations and combats, that they perceive in themselves things which disagree; from which, so long as there is combat, they cannot be separated; but still they desire separation, and sometimes to such a degree that they are angry with the evil, and desire to expel it. These are the things that are here signified.

1581. Separate, I pray, from me. That this signifies that the good cannot appear unless what is discordant is made none is evident from what has just been said; namely, that the internal man desires that which disagrees, in the external man, should separate itself; for until it has been separated, the good which continually flows in from the internal man, that is, from the Lord through the internal man, cannot appear. but as regards this separation, it is to be down that it is not separation, but quiescence. With no one, except the Lord, can the evil that is in the external man be separated. Whatever a man has once acquired, remains; but it seems to be separated when it is quiescent, for thus it appears to be none. Neither does it become quiescent so as to appear as none, except from the Lord; and when it does thus become quiescent, then for the first time do goods flow in from the Lord, and affect the external man. Such is the state of the angels; nor do they know otherwise than that evil has been separated from them; whereas there is only a withholding from the evil, thus a quiescence, so that it appears as none; consequently this is an appearance, as also the angels know when they reflect.

1582. If to the left hand, then I will go to the right; and if to the right hand, then I will go to the left. That this signifies separation, is evident from the signification of "the right" and "the left". Right and left are merely relative terms. They do not designate a fixed quarter, or a definite place; as is evident from the fact that the east as well as the west, the south as well as the north, may be on the right or on the left, according to the way in which one is looking. The same is true also of place. The land of Canaan could not be said to be on the right or on the left, except relatively. Wherever the Lord is, there is the center; and the right and the left are determined from that. Thus whether Abram, by whom the Lord was represented, withdrew this way or that way, still the representation was with him, and so also was the land; so that it was the same thing whether Abram was in the land of Canaan, or was elsewhere; just as it is with the one at table who is of the highest dignity, the highest place is wherever he sits, and the places to the right and the left are reckoned from that. To go to the right or the left, was therefore a form of offering the choice by which there was signified separation.

1583. Verse 10. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was all well watered, before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt in coming to Zoar. "And Lot lifted up his eyes", signifies that the external man was illuminated by the internal; "and saw all the plain of Jordan", signifies the goods and truths that are in the external man; "that it was all well watered", signifies that these can increase there; "before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah", signifies the external man destroyed by the cupidities of evil and the persuasions of falsity; "like the garden of Jehovah", signifies its rational things; "like the land of Egypt in coming to Zoar", signifies memory-knowledges from the affections of good. These things signify that the external man appeared to the Lord such as it is in its beauty when conjoined with the internal man.

1584. Lot lifted up his eyes. That this signifies that the external man was illuminated by the internal, is evident from the signification of "lifting up the eyes", as being to see, and, in the internal sense, to perceive, here, to be illuminated, because it is predicated of Lot, or the external man; for this, when it perceives what the external man is when conjoined with the internal, or what it is in its beauty, is then illuminated by the internal man, and is then in the Divine vision here treated of. Nor can it be doubted that the Lord when a child was as to His external man frequently in such Divine sight, because He alone was to conjoin the external man with the internal. The external man was His Human Essence; the internal man was the Divine Essence.

1585. And saw all the plain of Jordan. That this signifies those goods and truths that were in the external man, is evident from the signification of a "plain", and of "Jordan". In the internal sense "the plain of Jordan" signifies the external man as to all its goods and truths. That "the plain of Jordan" signifies this, is because the Jordan was a boundary of the land of Canaan. The land of Canaan, as before said and shown, signifies the Lord's kingdom and church, and in fact the celestial and the spiritual things thereof; on which account it has also been called the Holy Land, and the Heavenly Canaan; and because it signifies the Lord's kingdom and church, it signifies in the supreme sense the Lord Himself, who is the all in all of His kingdom and of His church.

[2] Hence all things that were in the land of Canaan were representative. Those which were in the midst of the land, or which were the inmost, represented the Lord's internal man - as Mount Zion and Jerusalem, the former the celestial things, the latter the spiritual things. Those which were further distant from the center, represented the things more remote from the internals. Those which were the furthest off, or which were the boundaries, represented the external man. The boundaries of Canaan were several; in general, the two rivers Euphrates and Jordan, and also the sea. Hence the Euphrates and the Jordan represented the externals. Here, therefore, "the plain of Jordan", signifies, as it represents, all things that are in the external man. The case is similar when the expression "land of Canaan" is applied to the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, or to the Lord's church on earth, or again to the man of His kingdom or church, or, abstractedly, to the celestial things of love, and so on.

[3] Hence it is that almost all the cities, and even all the mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, and other things, in the land of Canaan, were representative. It has already been shown (n. 120) that the river Euphrates, being a boundary, represented the things of sense and knowledge that belong to the external man. That the case is similar with the Jordan, and the plain of Jordan, may be seen from passages that now follow. In David: -

O my God, my soul is bowed down within me; therefore will I remember Thee from the land of Jordan, and the Hermons, from the mountain of littleness (Ps. 42:6)

where "the land of Jordan" denotes that which is low, thus that which is distant from the celestial, as man's externals are from his internals.

[4] That the sons of Israel crossed the Jordan when they entered the land of Canaan, and that it was then divided, likewise represented the access to the internal man through the external, and also man's entrance into the Lord's kingdom, besides other things. (Josh. 3:14-17; 4:1-24). And because the external man continually fights against the internal, and desires dominion, the "pride" or "swelling" of Jordan became a prophetic expression. As in Jeremiah: -

How shalt thou offer thyself a match for horses? And in a land of peace thou art confident; but how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? (Jeremiah 12:5).

"The swelling of Jordan" denotes the things that belong to the external man, which rise up and desire to dominate over the internal man, as reasonings do - which here are the "horses" - and the confidence that is from them.

[5] In the same: -

Edom shall be for a desolation; behold he shall come up like a lion from the pride of Jordan to the habitation of Ethan (Jer. 49:17, 19);

"the pride of Jordan" denotes the rising of the external man against the goods and truths of the internal. In Zechariah: -

Howl, O fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the magnificent ones are laid waste. Howl, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the defenced forest is come down. A voice of the howling of the shepherds, for their magnificence is laid waste; a voice of the roaring of young lions, for the swelling of Jordan is laid waste (Zechariah 11:2, 3).

That the Jordan was a boundary of the land of Canaan, is evident from (Numbers 34:12); and of the land of Judah toward the east, from (Joshua 15:5).

1586. That it was all well watered. That this signifies that goods and truths can grow there, is evident from the signification of "well watered" (n. 108).

1587. Before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. That this signifies the external man destroyed by the cupidities of evil and the persuasions of falsity, is evident from the signification of "Sodom", as being the cupidities of evil, and from the signification of "Gomorrah", as being the persuasions of falsity; for these two are what destroy the external man, and separate it from the internal, and these two were what destroyed the Most Ancient Church before the flood. The cupidities of evil are of the will, and the persuasions of falsity are of the understanding; and when these two reign, the whole external man is destroyed and when it is destroyed, it is also separated from the internal man. Not that the soul or spirit is separated from the body, but that good and truth are separated from man's soul or spirit, so as not to flow in except remotely; concerning which influx, of the Lord's Divine mercy elsewhere. And because the external man was so destroyed in the human race, and its bond with the internal, that is, with good and truth, was broken, the Lord came into the world in order that He might conjoin and unite the external man to the internal, that is, the Human Essence to the Divine. What the external man is when conjoined with the internal, is here described, namely, that before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, it was "like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt in coming to Zoar".

1588. Like the garden of Jehovah. That this signifies its rational things, is evident from the signification of "the garden of Jehovah", as being intelligence (n. 100), and consequently the rational, which is the medium between the internal and the external man. The rational is the intelligence of the external man. The expression "garden of Jehovah" is used when the rational is celestial, that is, from a celestial origin, as it was with the Most Ancient Church, concerning which in Isaiah: -

Jehovah will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness as Eden, and her desert as the garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found in her, confession and the voice of a song (Isaiah 51:3).

But the expression "garden of God" is used when the rational is spiritual, that is, from a spiritual origin, as it was in the Ancient Church, spoken of in Ezekiel: -

Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty, thou hast been in Eden the garden of God (Ezekiel 28:12, 13).

Man's rational is compared to a "garden", from the representative that is presented in heaven; it is man's rational that appears as a garden when the celestial spiritual flows into it from the Lord; and even paradises are from this presented to the sight, which in magnificence and beauty surpass every idea of human imagination, which is the effect of the influx of celestial spiritual light from the Lord (n. 1042, 1043). The pleasant and the beautiful things of these paradises are not what affect the beholder, but the celestial spiritual things that live in them.

1589. Like the land of Egypt in coming to Zoar. That this signifies memory-knowledges from the affections of good, is evident from the signification of" Egypt" (n. 1164, 1165); in a good sense (n. 1462), as being memory-knowledge; and from the signification of " Zoar", as being the affection of good. Zoar was a city not far from Sodom, whither also Lot fled when rescued by the angels from the burning of Sodom described (Gen. 19:20, 22, 30). Zoar is also named in other places (Gen. 14:2, 8; Deut. 34:3; Isa. 15:5; Jer. 48:34), where also it signifies affection and as it signifies the affection of good, it also, in the opposite sense, as is common, signifies the affection of evil.

[2] There are three faculties which constitute the external man, namely, the rational, that of memory-knowledge, and the external sensuous. The rational is interior, the faculty of memory-knowledge is exterior, and this sensuous is outermost. It is the rational by means of which the internal man is conjoined with the external; and such as is the rational, such is the conjunction. The external sensuous, here, is the sight and the hearing. But in itself the rational is nothing, unless affection flows into it and makes it active, and causes it to live. It follows from this that the rational is such as is the affection. When the affection of good flows in, it becomes in the rational the affection of truth. The contrary is the case when the affection of evil flows in. As the faculty of memory-knowledge applies itself to the rational, and is an instrumentality for it, it follows that the affection inflows into this also, and disposes it; for nothing but affection ever lives in the external man. The reason of this is that the affection of good comes down from the celestial, that is, from celestial love, which vivifies everything into which it flows; it even vivifies the affections of evil, or cupidities.

[3] For the good of love from the Lord continually flows in through the internal man into the external; but the man who is in the affection of evil, or in cupidity, perverts the good; but still there remains life from it. This may be perceived by comparison with the objects which receive the rays of the sun. There are some that receive these rays most beautifully, and turn them into most beautiful colors, as do the diamond, the ruby, the jacinth, the sapphire, and other precious stones; but there are others which do not so receive them, but turn them into most disagreeable colors. The same may also be seen from the different genius of different men. There are those who receive goods from another with all affection; and there are those who turn them into evils. This shows what is that memory-knowledge from the affections of good that is signified by "the land of Egypt in coming to Zoar", when the rational is "like the garden of Jehovah".

1590. That these things signify that to the Lord there appeared the external man such as it is in its beauty when conjoined with the internal, may be seen from the internal sense, in which the Lord as to His internal man is represented by Abram, and as to the external by Lot. What the beauty of the external man is when conjoined with the internal cannot be described, because it does not exist with any man, but with the Lord alone. What exists in man and angel is from the Lord. Only in a small degree can this appear, from the image of the Lord as to His external man that is presented in the heavens (n. 553 and 1530). The three heavens are images of the Lord's external man; but their beauty can never be described by anything so as to present to any one's apprehension an idea of what it is. As in the Lord everything is infinite, so in heaven everything is indefinite (or unlimited). The indefinite of heaven is an image of the infinite of the Lord.

1591. Verse 11. And Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed from the east; and they were separated, a man from his brother. "And Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan", signifies the external man, that it was such; "and Lot journeyed from the east", signifies the things in the external man that recede from celestial love; "and they were separated, a man from his brother", signifies that those things cause the separation.

1592. Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan. That this signifies the external man, and that it was such, is evident from the signification of "the plain of Jordan", explained in the preceding verse, which is the external man. In the preceding verse is described the beauty of the external man when it is conjoined with the internal, but its deformity when disjoined is described in this and the two following verses.

1593. And Lot journeyed from the east. That this signifies those things in the external man that recede from celestial love, is evident from the signification of "the east", as being the Lord, and thus all that is celestial (n. 101); and as the Lord is signified by the east, it follows that "the east" here is the Lord's internal man, which was Divine. Thus that the external man receded from the internal, is here signified by "Lot journeyed from the east".

1594. And they were separated, a man from his brother. That this signifies that those things cause the separation, follows from what has been said. What "a man, a brother" signifies was stated above at (verse 8), namely, union; and therefore "to be separated, a man from his brother", signifies disunion. What disunites the external man from the internal man knows not, and this for many reasons. It is partly owing to his not knowing, or if told, to his not believing, that there is any internal man; and partly to his not knowing, or if told, to his not believing, that the love of self and its cupidities are what cause the disunion; and also the love of the world and its cupidities, but not so much as the love of self.

[2] The reason why man does not know, and if told, does not believe, that there is an internal man, is that he lives in corporeal and sensuous things, which cannot possibly see what is interior. Interior things can see what is exterior, but never exterior things what is interior. Take the case of sight: the internal sight can see what the external sight is; but the external sight cannot see what the internal sight is; or again, the intellectual and the rational can perceive what the faculty of memory-knowledge is, but not the reverse. A further cause is that man does not believe that there is a spirit which is separated from the body at death; and scarcely that there is an internal life which is called the soul; for when the sensuous and corporeal man thinks about the separation of the spirit from the body, it strikes him as an impossible thing, because he places life in the body, and confirms himself in this idea from the fact that brute animals also live, but still do not live after death; besides many other things. All this is a consequence of his living in corporeal and sensuous things; which kind of life, viewed in itself, scarcely differs from the life of brute animals, with the single exception that a man has ability to think and reason about the things he meets with; but upon this faculty, which brute animals have not, he does not then reflect.

[3] This cause, however, is not what most disunites the external man from the internal, for a very great part of mankind are in such unbelief, and the most learned more than the simple. But what disunites is principally the love of self; the love of the world, also, but not so much as the love of self. The reason why man does not know this is that he lives in no charity, and when he is living in no charity it cannot be apparent to him that a life of the love of self and its cupidities is so contrary to heavenly love. There is also in the love of self and its cupidities something glowing, and consequently delightful, which so affects the life that the man hardly knows otherwise than that therein consists eternal happiness itself; and therefore many place eternal happiness in becoming great after the life of the body, and in being served by others, even by angels; while they themselves desire to serve no one, except for the sake of self, with a hidden view to being served themselves. Their saying that they desire to serve the Lord alone is false, for they who are in the love of self desire to have even the Lord serve them, and so far as this is not done they fall back. Thus they carry in their heart the desire to become lords themselves, and to reign over the universe. It is easy to conceive what kind of government this would be, when many, nay, when all, were like this. Is not that government infernal in which every one loves himself more than any other? This lies hidden in the love of self. From this we can see the nature of the love of self, and we can see it also from the fact that there is concealed within it hatred against all who do not subject themselves to it as slaves; and because there is hatred, there are also revenge, cruelties, deceits, and many other wicked things.

[4] But mutual love, which alone is heavenly, consists in a man's not only saying of himself, but acknowledging and believing, that he is utterly unworthy, and that he is something vile and filthy, which the Lord from His infinite mercy continually withdraws and holds back from hell, into which the man continually strives, nay longs, to precipitate himself. His acknowledging and believing this, is because it is true; not that the Lord, or any angel, desires him to acknowledge and believe it for the sake of his submission; but that he may not exalt himself, seeing that he is even such; for this would be as if excrement should call itself pure gold, or a fly of the dunghill should say that it is a bird of paradise. So far therefore as a man acknowledges and believes himself to be such as he really is, he recedes from the love of self and its cupidities, and abhors himself. So far as he does this, he receives heavenly love from the Lord, that is, mutual love, which consists in the desire to serve all. These are they who are meant by "the least", who become in the Lord's kingdom the greatest (Matt. 20:26-28; Luke 9:46-48).

[5] From what has been said we can see that what principally disjoins the external man from the internal is the love of self; and that what principally unites them is mutual love, which love is never possible until the love of self recedes, for these are altogether contrary to each other. The internal man is nothing else than mutual love. Man's very spirit or soul is the interior man that lives after death; and it is organic, for it is adjoined to the body while the man is living in this world. This interior man, that is, the soul or spirit, is not the internal man; but the internal man is in it when mutual love is in it. The things that are of the internal man are the Lord's; so that it may be said that the internal man is the Lord. But because to an angel or a man while he lives in mutual love, the Lord gives a heavenly Own, so that it appears no otherwise than that he does what is good of himself, the internal man is predicated of man, as if it were his. But he who is in mutual love acknowledges and believes that all that is good and true is not his, but the Lord's; and his ability to love another as himself-and what is more, if he is like the angels, his ability to love another more than himself he acknowledges and believes to be the Lord's gift; from which gift and its happiness he recedes, so far as he recedes from the acknowledgment that it is the Lord's.

1595. Verse 12. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent as, far as Sodom. "Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan", signifies that the internal man was in the celestial things of love; "and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain", signifies that the external man was in memory-knowledges; "and pitched his tent as far as Sodom", signifies extension to cupidities.

1596. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan. That this signifies that the internal man was in the celestial things of love, is evident from the signification of "the land of Canaan", as being the celestial things of love, spoken of several times before.

1597. And Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain. That this signifies that the external man was in memory-knowledges, is evident from the representation of Lot, as being the external man; and from the signification of a "city", or "cities", as being doctrinal things, which in themselves are nothing but memory-knowledges when predicated of the external man while this is separated from the internal. That "cities" signify doctrinal things, both true and false (n. 402).

1598. And pitched his tent as far as Sodom. That this signifies extension to cupidities, is evident from the signification of "Sodom", explained above at (verse 10), as being cupidity. These things correspond to those in the preceding (verse 10) - that "the plain of Jordan was all well watered, like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt in coming to Zoar;" where the external man when united to the internal was treated of; and by "the land of Egypt in coming to Zoar" was signified memory-knowledges from the affections of good. But here, that "Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent as far as Sodom", signifies the external man when not united to the internal; and by these things is signified memory-knowledges from the affections of evil, or from cupidities. For there was described the beauty of the external man when united to the internal; but here, its deformity when not united; and still more is this deformity described in the verse that follows, where it is said, "and the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly". What the deformity of the external man is when separated from the internal, may be seen by every one from what has been said concerning the love of self and its cupidities, which are what principally disunite. As great as is the beauty of the external man when united to the internal, so great is its deformity when disunited. For considered in itself the external man is as nothing else than a servant to the internal; it is a kind of instrumentality by means of which ends may become uses, and uses be presented in effect, so that there may thus be a perfection of all things. The contrary takes place when the external man separates itself from the internal, and desires to be of service to itself alone and still more is this the case when it desires to rule over the internal man, which is principally the case from the love of self and its cupidities, as has been shown.

1599. Verse 13. And the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly. The men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly", signifies the cupidities to which the memory-knowledges extended themselves.

1600. The men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly. That this signifies the cupidities to which the memory-knowledges extended themselves, is evident from the signification of "Sodom", explained before, as being cupidities; and from the signification of "the men (viri)", as being intellectual and rational things, here, memory-knowledges, because they are predicated of the external man when separated from the internal. That "men" signify intellectual and rational things, was also shown above (n. 265, 749, 1007). Memory-knowledges are said to extend themselves to cupidities, when they are learned with no other end than that the man may become great; not that they may serve him for use, that he may thereby become good. All memory-knowledges are for the end that a man may become rational, and thus wise; and that thereby he may serve the internal man.

1601. Verse 14. And Jehovah said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up, I pray, thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward. "Jehovah said unto Abram", signifies that Jehovah spake thus to the Lord; "after that Lot was separated from him", signifies when the cupidities of the external man had been removed so as not to impede; "Lift up, I pray, thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art", signifies the state in which the Lord then was, from which He could perceive things that were to come; "northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward", signifies all men, as many as there are in the universe.

1602. Jehovah said unto Abram. That this signifies that Jehovah thus spake to the Lord, may be seen from the internal sense of the Word, in which the Lord is meant by "Abram;" and also from the state itself in which He then was, which is also described here, namely, that the external things that impeded had been removed, which is signified by the words "after that Lot was separated from him". In respect to the internal man, the Lord was Divine, because born from Jehovah; and therefore when nothing impeded on the part of the external man, it follows that He saw all things that were to come; and that this then appeared as if Jehovah spake, is because it appeared before the external man. In respect to His internal man the Lord was one with Jehovah, as He Himself teaches in John: -

Philip said, Show us the Father. Jesus said, Have I been so long time with you, and hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that seeth Me seeth the Father; how sayest thou, then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:6, 8-11).

1603. After that Lot was separated from him. That this signifies when the cupidities of the external man had been removed so as not to impede, is evident from the representation of Lot, which is the external man, and from what precedes in regard to his being separated, that is, the things that would impede; and when these had been removed, the internal man, or Jehovah, acted as one with the external, or with the Lord's Human Essence. The external things that do not agree, spoken of above, are what impede the internal man, while acting into the external, from making it a one with itself. The external man is nothing else than a kind of instrument, or something organic, having in itself no life it receives life from the internal man, and then it appears as if the external man had life from itself.

[2] But with the Lord, after He had expelled the hereditary evil, and so had purified the organic things of His Human Essence, these too received life, so that the Lord, being already life in regard to His internal man, became life as to His external man also. This is what is signified by "glorification", in John: -

Jesus saith, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him (John 13:31, 32).

Again: -

Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. Now therefore O Father glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:1, 5).

Again: -

Jesus said, Father, glorify Thy name. There came therefore a voice from heaven, I have both glorified, and will glorify it again (John 12:28).

1604. Lift up, I pray, thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art. That this signifies the state in which the Lord then was, is evident from the signification of "lifting up the eyes and looking", which is to be illuminated and to perceive (verse 10); and from the signification of "place" in the internal sense, as being state. "Place" is nothing else than state (n. 1274, 1376-1379).

1605. Northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward. That this signifies all men, as many as there are in the universe, is evident from the signification of these quarters. In the Word, the "north", " south", " east", and "west", has each its own signification. The "north" signifies those who are out of the church, namely, those who are in darkness as regards the truths of faith; and it also signifies the darkness in man. But the "south" signifies those who are within the church, that is, who are in the light as regards knowledges; and it likewise signifies the light itself. The "east" signifies those who lived previously; and it also signifies celestial love, as before shown. But the "west" signifies those who are to come, and in like manner those who are not in love. The special signification of these words is seen from the connection in the internal sense. But when they are all mentioned, as here, "the north, south, cast, and west", they signify all in the whole world who are now living, and also those who have been, and those who are to come they also signify the states of the human race in regard to love and faith.

1606. Verse 15. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. "For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it", signifies the heavenly kingdom, that it should be the Lord's; "and to thy seed forever", signifies those who should have faith in Him.

1607. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it. That this signifies the heavenly kingdom, that it should be the Lord's, is evident from the signification of "the land", and here of the land of Canaan - because it is said, "the land which thou seest" - as being the heavenly kingdom. For by the land of Canaan was represented the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, that is heaven, and the Lord's kingdom on earth, or the church; which signification of "land" or "earth" has been several times treated of before. That the kingdom in the heavens and on earth has been given to the Lord, is evident from various passages of the Word. As in Isaiah: -

Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of eternity, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

In Daniel: -

I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven; and He came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a Kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages shall serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13, 14).

The Lord Himself also says the same in Matthew: -

All things are delivered unto Me of My Father (Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22).

And again in Matthew: -

All power (potestas) has been given unto Me in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18).

In John: -

Thou gavest to the Son power (potestas) over all flesh, that whatsoever Thou hast given Him, to them He should give eternal life (John 17:2, 3).

The same is also signified by His "sitting at the right hand", as in Luke: -

Now from henceforth shall the Son of man sit at the right hand of the power of God (Luke 22:69).

[2] As regards all power being given unto the Son of man in the heavens and on earth, it is to be known that the Lord had power over all things in the heavens and on earth before He came into the world; for He was God from eternity and Jehovah, as He plainly says in John: -

Now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glow which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:5);

and again: -

Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58);

for He was Jehovah and God to the Most Ancient Church that was before the flood, and was seen by them. He was also Jehovah and God to the Ancient Church that was after the flood. And it was He who has represented by all the rites of the Jewish Church, and whom they worshiped. But the reason He says that all power was given unto Him in heaven and on earth, as if it were then His for the first time, is that by "the Son of man" is meant His Human Essence; and this, when united to His Divine Essence, was also Jehovah, and at the same time had power; and this could not be the case until He had been glorified, that is, until by unition with the Divine Essence His Human Essence also had life in itself, and so became in like manner Divine and Jehovah; as He says in John: -

As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26).

[3] It is His Human Essence, or external man, that is likewise called "Son of man" in Daniel, in the passage quoted above; and of which it is said in the passage quoted from Isaiah, "A Child is born and a Son is given to us". That the heavenly kingdom should be given to Him, and all power in the heavens and on earth, He now saw, and it was now promised Him; and this is signified by the words, "all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after thee forever". This was before His Human Essence had been united to His Divine Essence, which was united when He had overcome the devil and hell, that is, when by His own power and His own might He had expelled all evil, which alone disunites.

1608. And to thy seed forever. That this signifies those who should have faith in Him, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being faith, and indeed the faith of charity (n. 255, 256, 1025). That the heavenly kingdom should be given to His seed, that is, to those who have faith in Him, is clearly evident from the words of the Lord Himself in John: -

The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life (John 3:35, 36).

[2] And again: -

As many as received Him, to them gave He power (potestas) to become the sons of God, to those that believe in His name who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man (John 1:12, 13).

From these words it is evident what faith, or believing in Him, is, namely, that it is with those who receive Him and believe in Him, not from "the will of the flesh", nor from "the will of man". "The will of the flesh" is what is contrary to love and charity, for this is signified by "flesh" (n. 999); and "the will of man" is what is contrary to the faith that is from love or charity, for this is what is signified by "man". For the will of the flesh and the will of man are what disjoin; but love and the derivative faith are what conjoin; therefore they in whom are love and the derivative faith, are they who are born of God. And because they are born of God, they are called "sons of God", and are His "seed", to whom is given the heavenly kingdom. These things are signified by the following words in this verse" all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed, forever".

[3] That the heavenly kingdom cannot be given to those who are in faith without charity, that is, to those who say that they have faith and yet hold the neighbor in hatred, may be seen by any one who is willing to reflect; for there can be no life in such faith, when hatred, that is hell, constitutes the life. For hell consists of nothing but hatreds; not of the hatreds which a man has received hereditarily, but of those which he has acquired by actual life.

1609. Verse 16. And I will make they seed as the just of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall they seed also be numbered. "I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth", signifies multiplication immeasurably; "so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered", signifies asseveration.

1610. I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth. That this signifies multiplication immeasurably, is evident without explication. It is here said that his seed should be made as the dust of the earth;" in other places in the Word, " as the sand of the sea", and in others, "as the stars of the heavens". Each expression has its own peculiar signification. "The dust of the earth" refers to things that are celestial, for "the earth", as before shown, signifies the celestial of love. "The sand of the sea" refers to things that are spiritual; for "the sea", as has also been shown, signifies the spiritual of love. "As the stars of the heavens" signifies both of these, in a higher degree; and as none of these things can be numbered, it became a customary form of speaking to express by them immeasurable fructification and multiplication.

[2] That his seed (that is, the faith of love, or love) should be immeasurably multiplied, in the supreme sense, signifies the Lord, and in fact His Human Essence; for the Lord as to His Human Essence was called "the Seed of the woman" (n. 256). And when the Lord's Human Essence is signified, by immeasurable multiplication is meant the infinite celestial and spiritual; but when the faith of charity, or charity, in the human race, is signified by "seed", it is meant that this seed in each one who lives in charity is immeasurably multiplied; as also comes to pass in the other life, with every one who lives in charity. With such a one, charity and the derivative faith, and, together with these, happiness, are multiplied to such a degree, that it can only be described as immeasurable, and beyond words. When by "seed" there is signified the human race, the multiplication of this in the Lord's Kingdom is also immeasurable, not only from those who are within the church and their children, but also from those who are without the church and their children. Hence the kingdom of the Lord, or heaven, is immeasurable. Concerning its immensity, of the Lord's Divine mercy more will be said elsewhere.

1611. Verse 17. Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it, and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it. "Arise, walk through the land", signifies that He should survey the heavenly kingdom; "in the length of it, and in the breadth of it", signifies its celestial and its spiritual: "for unto thee will I give it", signifies that it was to be His.

1612. Arise, walk through the land. That this signifies that He should survey the heavenly kingdom, is evident from the signification of "the land", as being the heavenly kingdom. To "arise and walk through the land", in the sense of the letter, is to explore and see what it is in the spiritual sense, therefore, in which by "the land", that is, the land of Canaan, is signified the kingdom of God in the heavens, or heaven, and the kingdom of God on the earth, or the church, it signifies to survey, and also to perceive.

1613. In the length of it and in the breadth of it. That this signifies the celestial and the spiritual, or what is the same, good and truth (may be seen from the signification of "length" and "breadth"). That "length" signifies good, and "breadth" truth, may be seen explained before (n. 650). The reason is that "the land" signifies the heavenly kingdom, or the church, of which no length and breadth can be predicated, but only those things which are applicable and correspondent, which are goods and truths. The celestial, or good, being primary, is compared to length; and the spiritual or truth, being secondary, is compared to breadth.

[2] That "breadth" is truth, appears plainly enough in the prophetic Word. As in Habakkuk: -

I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and swift nation, that walketh in the breadths of the land (Habakkuk 1:6);

"the Chaldeans" denote those who are in falsity; "to walk in the breadths of the land", denotes to destroy truths, for this is predicated of the Chaldeans. In David: -

O Jehovah, Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; Thou hast made my feet to stand in a broad place (Ps. 31:8);

"to stand in a broad place", denotes in truth. Again:

Out of straightness have I called upon Jah; Jah answered me in a broad place (Ps. 118:5);

"to answer in a broad place", denotes in the truth. In Hosea: -

Jehovah will feed them as a lamb, in a broad place (Hosea 4:16);

"to feed in a broad place", signifies to teach truth.

[3] In Isaiah: -

Asshur shall go through Judah, he shall overflow and pass through, he shall reach even to the neck, and the stretchings out of his wings shall be the fullness of the breadth of thy land (Isaiah 8:8);

"Asshur" denotes reasoning, which will overflow the land, or the church "the wings" denote the reasonings whence falsities arise; "the fullness of the breadth", denotes that it is full of falsities, or things contrary to truth. Because the "length" of a land signifies good, and its "breadth" truth, the New Jerusalem is said to have been measured, and to lie four-square, and its length to be as great as its breadth (Rev. 21:16), from which every one can see that the length and the breadth signify nothing else, since the New Jerusalem is nothing else than the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on earth. From the signification of things in the internal sense, modes of speaking concerning celestial and spiritual things by means of such things as are on earth, as by length and breadth, formerly became familiar; as the terms height and depth are used in common discourse at the present day, when predicated of wisdom.

1614. For unto thee will I give it. That this signifies that it should be His, is evident without explication. That "the land", or the heavenly kingdom, is the Lord's alone, is evident from what has been shown so many times, namely, that no other is the Lord of heaven; and as He is the Lord of heaven, He is the Lord of the church also. It is also evident from the fact that all the celestial and the spiritual, or good and truth, are from the Lord alone, and from these the Lord is the all in all of His heaven, and this so completely that he who has no apperception of good and truth from the Lord, is no longer in heaven. This is the sphere that reigns in the universal heaven; this also is the soul of heaven; and this is the life that inflows into all who are in good.

1615. Verse 18. And Abram pitched his tent, and came and dwelt in the oak-groves of Mamre that are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to Jehovah. "Abram pitched his tent, and came and dwelt in the oak-groves of Mamre that are in Hebron, "signifies that the Lord came to a perception still more internal; this is the sixth state; "and there he built an altar to Jehovah", signifies worship from that state.

1616. And Abram pitched his tent, and came and dwelt in the oak-groves of Mamre that are in Hebron. That this signifies that the Lord attained to a perception still more internal, is evident from the signification of "pitching a tent", that is, of moving and fixing a tent, as being to be conjoined, - for a "tent" is the holy of worship (n. 414, 1452), by which the external man is conjoined with the internal; - and from the signification of an "oak-grove", as being perception, as explained above (n. 1442, 1443), where it was "the oak-grove of Moreh", which is the first perception; but here, "the oak-groves of Mamre", in the plural, which signify more perception, that is, perception more internal. This perception is called "the oak-groves of Mamre that are in Hebron". "Mamre" is also mentioned elsewhere (Gen. 14:13; 18:1; 23:17-19; 35:27), and Hebron likewise (Gen. 35:27; 37:14; Josh. 10:36, 39; 14:13, 14, 15; 15:13, 54; 20:7; 21:11, 13; Judges 1:10, 20); but with what signification, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be seen where these passages are explained.

[2] As to "the oak-groves of Mamre that are in Hebron" signifying a still more internal perception, the case is as follows. As the things that are of the external man are conjoined with the celestial things of the internal man, so perception increases and becomes more internal. Conjunction with celestial things gives perception; for in the celestial things that are of love to Jehovah is the very life of the internal man; or what is the same, in the celestial things that are of love, that is, in celestial love, Jehovah is present, which presence is not perceived in the external man until conjunction has been effected, all perception being from conjunction.

[3] From the internal sense it is here evident how the case was with the Lord, namely, that His external man, or the Human Essence, was conjoined with the Divine Essence by degrees, according to the multiplication and fructification of knowledges. In no way can any one, as a man, be conjoined with Jehovah or the Lord, except by means of knowledges, for by means of knowledges a man becomes a man; and so the Lord, because born as are other men, was also instructed as they are, but into His knowledges as receptacles celestial things were constantly being insinuated, so that the knowledges continually became the recipient vessels of celestial things, and themselves also became celestial.

[4] He continually advanced in this way to the celestial things of infancy for, as before said, the celestial things that are of love are insinuated from the earliest infancy up to childhood, and also to youth, when being a man he is then and afterwards imbued with knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones). If the man is such that he can be regenerated, these knowledges are then filled with the celestial things that are of love and charity, and are thus implanted in the celestial things with which he has been gifted from infancy up to childhood and youth; and thus his external man is conjoined with his internal man. They are first implanted in the celestial things with which he was gifted in youth, next in those with which he was gifted in childhood, and finally in those with which he was gifted in infancy; and then he is a "little child", of whom the Lord said that "of such is the kingdom of God". This implantation is effected by the Lord alone; and for this reason nothing celestial is possible with man, nor can be, that is not from the Lord, and that is not the Lord's.

[5] But the Lord from His own power conjoined His external man with His internal man, and filled His knowledges with celestial things, and implanted them in the celestial things, and this in fact according to Divine order; first in the celestial things of His childhood, next in the celestial things of the age between childhood and infancy; and finally in the celestial things of His infancy; and thus at the same time became, as to the Human Essence, innocence itself and love itself, from which are all innocence and all love in the heavens and on earth. Such innocence is true infancy, because it is at the same time wisdom. But the innocence of infancy, unless by means of knowledges it becomes the innocence of wisdom, is of no use; and therefore in the other life infants are imbued with knowledges. As the Lord implanted knowledges in celestial things, so had He perception, for, as before said, all perception is from conjunction. He had His first perception when He implanted the memory-knowledges of childhood, which perception is signified by "the oak-grove of Moreh;" and His second, treated of here, which is more internal, when He implanted knowledges, which perception is signified by "the oak-groves of Mamre that are in Hebron".

1617. That this is the sixth state, is evident from the things contained in the preceding chapter.

1618. And there he built an altar to Jehovah. That this signifies worship from that state, is evident from the signification of "an altar", as being a representative of all worship in general (n. 921). By worship, in the internal sense, is meant all conjunction through love and charity. When a man is in love and charity he is continually in worship, external worship being merely the effect. The angels are in such worship; with them, therefore, there is a perpetual Sabbath; and from this the Sabbath, in the internal sense, signifies the Lord's kingdom. But man, while in the world, ought not to be otherwise than in external worship also; for by external worship internal things are excited, and by means of external worship external things are kept in holiness, so that internal things can flow in. And besides, man is thus imbued with knowledges, and is prepared for receiving celestial things, and is also gifted with states of holiness, although he is unaware of this; which states of holiness are preserved to him by the Lord for the use of eternal life, for in the other life all the states of his life return.

 

CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE LIGHT IN WHICH THE ANGELS LIVE: ALSO CONCERNING THEIR PARADISAL SCENES, AND THEIR DWELLINGS

1619. When man's interior sight is opened, which is the sight of his spirit, the things in the other life appear, which cannot possibly be made visible to the sight of the body. The visions of the prophets were nothing else. In heaven, as has been said, there are continual representations of the Lord and His kingdom; and there are things that are significative; and this to such an extent that nothing exists before the sight of the angels that is not representative and significative. Thence come the representatives and significatives in the Word; for the Word is from the Lord through heaven.

1620. The things presented to view in the world of spirits and in heaven are more than can be told. In this place, as the light is treated of, it is proper to tell of the things that are immediately from the light; such as the atmospheres, the paradisal and rainbow scenes, the palaces and dwellings, which are there so bright and living before the outer sight of spirits and angels, and are at the same time perceived so fully by every sense, that they say that these are real, and those in the world comparatively not real.

1621. As regards the atmospheres in which the blessed live, which are of the light because from that light, they are numberless, and are of beauty and pleasantness so great that they cannot be described. There are diamond-like atmospheres, which glitter in all their least parts, as if they were composed of diamond spherules. There are atmospheres resembling the sparkling of all the precious stones. There are atmospheres as of great pearls translucent from their centers, and shining with the brightest colors. There are atmospheres that flame as from gold, also from silver, and also from diamond-like gold and silver. There are atmospheres of flowers of variegated hue that are in forms most minute and scarcely discernible; such, in endless variety, fill the heaven of infants. There are even atmospheres as of sporting infants, in forms most minute, indiscernible, and perceptible only to an inmost idea; from which the infants receive the idea that all the things around them are alive, and are in the Lord's life; which affects their inmosts with happiness. There are other kinds besides, for the varieties are innumerable, and are also unspeakable.

1622. As regards the paradisal scenes, they are amazing. Paradisal gardens are presented to view of immense extent, consisting of trees of every kind, and of beauty and pleasantness so great as to surpass every idea of thought; and these gardens are presented with such life before the external sight that those who are there not only see them, but perceive every particular much more vividly than the sight of the eye perceives such things on earth. That I might not be in doubt respecting this, I was brought to the region where those are who live a paradisal life, and I saw it; it is in front of and a little above the corner of the right eye. Each and all things there appear in their most beautiful spring-time and flower, with a magnificence and variety that are amazing; and they are living, each and all, because they are representatives for there is nothing that does not represent and signify something celestial and spiritual. Thus they not only affect the sight with pleasantness, but also the mind with happiness.

[2] Certain souls, newcomers from the world who from principles received while they lived, doubted the possibility of such things existing in the other life, where there is no wood and stone-being taken up thither and speaking thence with me, said in their amazement that it was beyond words, and that they could in no way represent the unutterableness of what they saw by any idea, and that joys and delights shone forth from every single thing, and this with successive varieties. The souls that are being introduced into heaven are for the most part carried first of all to the paradisal regions. But the angels look upon these things with different eyes; the paradises do not delight them, but the representatives; thus the celestial and spiritual things from which these come. It was from these representatives that the Most Ancient Church had what related to paradise.

1623. As regards the rainbow scenes, there is as it were a rainbow heaven, where the whole atmosphere throughout appears to be made up of minute rainbows. Those who belong to the province of the interior eye are there, at the right in front, a little way up. There the whole atmosphere, or aura, is made up of such flashes of light, irradiated thus, as it were, in all its origins. Around is the encompassing form of an immense rainbow, most beautiful, composed of similar smaller ones that are the beauteous images of the larger. Every color is thus made up of innumerable rays, so that myriads enter into the constitution of one general perceptible ray; and this is as it were a modification of the origins of the light from the celestial and spiritual things that produce it; and which at the same time present before the sight the representative idea. The varieties and varyings of the rainbows are innumerable; some of them I have been permitted to see; and that some idea may be conceived of their variety, and that it may be seen of what innumerable rays one visible ray consists, one or two of the varieties may be described.

1624. I saw the form of a certain large rainbow, in order that from it I might know what they are in their smallest forms. The light was the brightest white, encompassed with a sort of border or circumference, in the center of which there was a dimness as it were terrene, and around this it was intensely lucid, which intense lucidity was varied and intersected by another lucidity with golden points, like little stars; besides variegations induced by means of flowers of variegated hue, that entered into the intense lucidity. The colors of the flowers did not flow forth from a white, but from a flaming light. All these things were representative of things celestial and spiritual. All the colors seen in the other life represent what is celestial and spiritual; colors from flaming light, the things that are of love and of the affection of good; and colors from shining white light, those which are of faith and of the affection of truth. From these origins come all the colors in the other life; and for this reason they are so refulgent that the colors in this world cannot be compared to them. There are also colors that have never been seen in this world.

1625. A rainbow form was also seen in the midst of which there was a green space, as of herbage; and there was perceived the semblance of a sun which was itself unseen, at one side, illuminating it, and pouring in a light of such shining whiteness as cannot be described. At the outer border or circumference, there were the most charming variations of color, on a plane of pearly light. From these and other things it has been shown what are the forms of the rainbows in their minutest parts, and that there are indefinite variations, and this in accordance with the charity, and the derivative faith, of him to whom the representations are made, and who is as a rainbow to those to whom he is presented in his comeliness and in his glory.

1626. Besides these paradisal scenes, cities are also presented to view, with magnificent palaces, contiguous to one another, resplendent in their coloring, beyond all the art of the architect. Nor is this to be wondered at; cities of similar appearance were seen also by the prophets, when their interior sight was opened, and this so clearly that nothing in the world could be more distinct. Thus was the New Jerusalem seen by John, which is also described by him in these words: -

And he carried me away in the spirit upon a mountain great and high, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem having a wall great and high, having twelve gates; and the building of the wall thereof was jasper and the city was pure gold, like unto golden glass. The foundations of the wall there adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprasus, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst (Rev. 21:10, 12, 18-20).

Such things were seen also by the prophets. Similar things, beyond number, are seen by angels and angelic spirits in clear day; and wonderful to say, they are perceived with all fullness of sense. These things cannot be credited by one who has extinguished spiritual ideas by the terms and definitions of human philosophy, and by reasonings; and yet they are most true. That they are true might have been apprehended from the fact that they have been seen so frequently by the saints.

1627. Besides the cities and palaces, I have sometimes been permitted to see their decorations, such as those of the steps and of the gates and these were moving as if alive, and continually changing, with a beauty and symmetry ever new. And I have been informed that the variations may thus succeed each other perpetually, even if it were to be to eternity, with new harmony continually, the succession itself also forming a harmony. And I have been told that these were among the very little things.

1628. All the angels have their own dwellings in the places where they are, and they are magnificent. I have been there, and have sometimes seen and marveled at them, and have there spoken with the angels. They are so distinct and clearly seen that nothing can be more so. In comparison with these, the habitations on earth amount to scarcely anything. They also call those which are on the earth dead, and not real; but their own, living and true, because from the Lord. The architecture is such that the art itself is derived from it, with a variety that knows no limit. They have said that if all the palaces in the whole world should be given them, they would not receive them in exchange for their own. What is made of stone, clay, and wood is to them dead; but what is from the Lord, and from life itself and light itself, is living; and this is the more the case that they enjoy them with all fullness of sense. For the things that are there are perfectly adapted to the senses of spirits and angels; for spirits cannot see at all by their sight the things that are in the light of the solar world; but things of stone and wood are adapted to the senses of men in the body. Spiritual things are in correspondence with those who are spiritual, and corporeal things with those who are corporeal.

1629. The habitations of good spirits and of angelic spirits commonly have porticos or long entrance halls, arched, and sometimes doubled, where they walk. The walls of these are formed with much variety, and are also decorated with flowers and garlands of flowers wonderfully woven together, and with many other ornaments, that are varied and succeed one another, as before said; these they see, now in a clearer light, and now in one less clear, but always with inward delight. Their dwellings are also changed into more beautiful ones, as the spirits who inhabit them are perfected. When they are changed, there appears something representing a window, at one side; this is enlarged, and it becomes darker within; and there opens as it were something of heaven, with stars, also a kind of cloud; which is an indication that their dwellings are to be changed into dwellings still more pleasant.

1630. Spirits are very indignant that men have no conception of the life of spirits and angels, and that they suppose them to be in an obscure state, which cannot but be most sad, and as it were in vacuity and emptiness; when yet they are in the greatest light, and in the enjoyment of all good things as to all the senses, and this with an inmost perception of them. There have also been souls who had lately come from the world, and who had brought with them, from the principles there accepted, the idea that there were no such things in the other life. They were therefore introduced into the homes of angels, and spoke with those who were there, and saw these things. When they returned, they said that they had perceived that it was so, and that the things were real; but that they had not at all believed this in the life of the body, and could not believe it; also that these must of necessity be among those wonderful things that are not believed because they are not comprehended. But as the experience is a thing of sense, but of the interior sense, this also was said to them - that still they are not to doubt because they do not apprehend; for if nothing were believed except that which is apprehended, nothing would be believed respecting the things of interior nature; still less concerning the things that are of eternal life. Hence comes the insanity of our age.

1631. They who had been rich in the life of the body, and had dwelt in magnificent palaces, placing their heaven in such things, and, being destitute of conscience and charity, had despoiled others of their goods under various pretenses, when they come into the other life, are, as before said, first introduced into the very same life that they had in the world. And there also they are sometimes allowed to dwell in palaces, as they had done in the world. For in the other life all are at first received as guests and as newcomers; and as their interiors and ends of life are not yet to be disclosed, angels from the Lord treat them with favor and kindness. But the scene is changed. The palaces are gradually dissipated, and become small houses, more and more mean, and at last none at all. And then they wander about, like those who ask alms, and beg to be received. But because they are of such a character, they are expelled from the societies; and at last they become excrementitious, and exhale a sphere of the stench of teeth.

1632. I have spoken with angels concerning representatives, to the effect that there is nothing in the vegetable kingdom on the earth that does not in some way represent the Lord's kingdom. They said that all the beautiful and graceful things in the vegetable kingdom derive their origin from the Lord through heaven; and that when the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord inflow into nature, such things have actual existence; and that this is the source of the vegetative soul or life. Hence come representatives. And as this is not known in the world, it was called a heavenly secret.

1633. I have likewise been fully informed concerning the nature of the influx into the lives of animals, all of which are dissipated after death; but concerning this subject, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.


Chapter 14

CONCERNING THE SPEECH OF SPIRITS AND ANGELS

1634. It is known from the Word of the Lord that many persons formerly spoke with spirits and angels, and that they heard and saw many things that are in the other life; but that afterwards heaven was as it were shut, insomuch that at the present day the existence of spirits and angels is scarcely credited, and still less that any one can speak with them; for men regard it as impossible to speak with the unseen, and with those whose existence they in their hearts deny. But as of the Lord's Divine mercy I have now for some years been permitted to hold converse with spirits and angels almost continually, and to be in companionship with them as one of themselves, I may now relate what it has been given me to learn concerning their speech with one another.

1635. The speech of spirits with me has been heard and perceived as distinctly as the speech of man with man; indeed, when I have spoken with them while I have been in company with men, I observed that just in the same way as I heard the men speaking sonorously, so also did I hear the spirits; insomuch that the spirits sometimes wondered that others did not hear what they said to me; for as regards the hearing there was absolutely no difference. But as the influx into the internal organs of hearing is different from that of speech with men, it could be heard only by myself; to whom of the Lord's Divine mercy these organs have been opened. Human speech passes in through the ear, by an external way, by means of the air; but the speech of spirits does not enter through the ear, nor by means of the air; but by an internal way, into the same organs of the head or brain. Consequently the hearing is the same.

1636. How difficult it is for men to be brought to believe in the existence of spirits and angels, and still more that any one can speak with them, has been evidenced to me by the following example. There were certain spirits who when they lived in the body had been among the more learned, and had then been known to me (for I have spoken with nearly all with whom I was acquainted during their bodily life, with some for several weeks, with others for a year, exactly as if they had been living in the body). These spirits were once brought into a state of thought similar to that which they had while they lived in the world: in the other life this is easily done. The inquiry was then suggested, whether they believed that any man can speak with spirits. They then said, in that state, that it was a phantasy to believe any such thing; and this they asserted very persistently. From this it was given to know with how much difficulty a man can be brought to believe that any speaking with spirits is possible to man, for the reason that men do not believe in the existence of spirits, and still less that they are themselves to come among them after death. And at this these same spirits then wondered greatly; and yet they were among the more learned, and had spoken much in public concerning the other life, and concerning heaven and the angels; so that this might have been thought to be most fully known to them as a matter of memory-knowledge, especially from the Word, where it is frequently met with.

1637. Among the wonderful things in the other life is the fact that the speech of spirits with a man is in his native tongue, which they speak as readily and skillfully as if they had been born in the same land, and had been brought up with the same language; and this whether they are from Europe, from Asia, or from any other part of the globe. The case is the same with those who lived thousands of years ago, before the language in question had come into existence. The spirits indeed know no otherwise than that the language in which they speak with a man is their own, and that of their native land. The case is the same with other languages in which the man is skilled; but beyond these languages, the spirits cannot utter a syllable of any language, unless to do this is given them by the Lord immediately. Even little children who had died before they had been taught any language, speak in the same way.

[2] But the reason is that the language with which spirits are familiar is not a language of words, but is a language of ideas of thought; and this language is the universal of all languages; and when they are with a man, their ideas of thought fall into the words that are in the man, and this in a manner so correspondent and fitting that the spirits know no otherwise than that the words themselves are theirs, and that they are speaking in their own language; when yet they are speaking in that of the man. I have occasionally spoken with spirits concerning these matters. All souls, as soon as they enter into the other life, are endowed with the gift of being able to understand the speech of all who are in the whole world, precisely as if it were their native tongue, for they perceive whatever a man thinks. They are endowed with other faculties also that are still more excellent. Hence it is that souls, after the death of the body, can converse and associate with all, of whatever region or language they may have been.

1638. The words which they speak, that is, which they call up or bring forth from the man's memory, and suppose to be their own, are well chosen and clear, full of meaning, distinctly pronounced, and applicable to the subject; and, wonderful to say, they know how to choose the words better and more promptly than the man himself; and as has been shown, they are even acquainted with the various significations of the words, and instantly apply them, without any premeditation, for the reason, as before said, that the ideas of their language flow solely into words that are fitting. The case with this is nearly like that of a man who speaks without any thought of the words he is using, being simply in the meaning of the words; then, in accordance with the meaning, his thought falls readily and spontaneously into words; the inner meaning is that which calls forth the words. In such an internal meaning, only one still more subtle and excellent, does the speech of spirits consist; and through this a man communicates with spirits, although he is unaware of it.

1639. The speech of words, as has been said, is the speech proper to man, and in fact to his corporeal memory; but the speech of ideas of thought is the speech of spirits, and in fact of the interior memory, which is the memory of the spirit. Men are not aware that they have this memory, because the memory of particulars, or of material things, which is corporeal, is everything, and obscures the interior memory; when yet without the interior memory, which is proper to his spirit, man cannot think at all. From this memory I have often spoken with spirits, thus in their own language, that is, by ideas of thought. How universal and copious this language is, may be seen from the fact that every word contains an idea of great extension; for it is well known that the single idea of a word may be set forth by many words; and this is still more true of the idea of one whole subject, and still more so of the idea of a number of such subjects, which can be brought together into one compound idea that still appears as simple; from which may be seen what is the quality of the natural speech of spirits among themselves, and by means of which speech man is conjoined with spirits.

1640. I have been enabled to perceive distinctly not only what was said to me by spirits, but also where they were when speaking; whether above the head, or below; whether at the right hand, or at the left; at the ear, or at some other point near or within the body; at what distance, whether greater or less. For they spoke with me from the various places or positions in which they were, according to their position in the Grand Man, that is, according to their state.

[2] I have also been enabled to perceive when they were coming, and when they were going away, and whither, and how far; also whether they were many or few; besides other things; and also from their speech to perceive their quality, for from their speech, in like manner as from their sphere, it is plainly manifest of what genius and of what natural disposition they are; also of what persuasion and what affection; so that if they are deceitful, even if there is no deceit while they are speaking, still the generic and specific character of their deceitfulness is perceived from every word and idea; and so with all other malignities and cupidities; so that there is no need of much exploration, for there is an image of the spirit in every word and idea.

[3] It is also perceived whether the idea of their speech is closed, or is open also what is from themselves, what from others, and what from the Lord. This is much the same as it is with a man's countenance, from which, without a word, it is often known whether there is present dissembling, or deceit, or gladness, or cheerfulness natural or affected, whether there is friendliness from the heart, whether modesty, and also whether there is insanity; sometimes also the same is apparent from the tone of the man's speech. Why then should not this be the case in the other life, where the perception greatly exceeds such apperception? Indeed, before a spirit speaks, it is known from the thought alone what he intends to say; for thought flows in with greater rapidity than speech.

1641. Spirits in the other life converse among themselves as men do on earth; and they who are good, with all familiarity of friendship and love, as I have frequently heard; and this in their own speech, by which they express more in a minute than a man can in an hour. For their speech, as before said, is the universal of all languages, being by means of ideas, the primitives of words. They speak upon subjects with such acuteness and perspicuity, by so many series of reasons following one another in order, and exercising persuasion, that if a man knew of it he would be astounded. They join persuasion and affection to their discourse, and thus give it life.

[2] Sometimes also they discourse by means of simultaneous representations before the sight, and thus to the life. As for example: let the discourse be about shame, whether it can exist without reverence: among men this cannot be discussed except by means of many reasonings from evidence and examples, and still it remains in doubt; but with a spirit all would be done within a minute, by means of the states of the affection of shame varied in their order, and by means of those of reverence also; thus by perceiving the agreements and the disagreements, and at the same time beholding them in the representatives adjoined to the speech; from which they forthwith perceive the conclusion, which thus flows of itself from the disagreements thus reduced to agreement. So in all other cases. Souls come into this faculty directly after death; and good spirits then love nothing more than to instruct those who are newly arrived, and the ignorant.

[3] The spirits themselves are not aware that they speak with one another with speech of such surpassing excellence, and that they are furnished with an endowment so preeminent, unless it is given them by the Lord to reflect upon it; for this mode of speaking is natural to them, and is then inherent. The case in this respect is the same as it is with a man when he fixes his mind on the meaning of things, and not on the words and the mode of speaking, in that, without reflection, he sometimes does not know what kind of speech he is making use of.

1642. This then is the speech of spirits; but the speech of angelic spirits is still more universal and perfect; and the speech of angels is more universal and perfect still. For there are three heavens, as before said the first is where good spirits are, the second is where angelic spirits are, and the third is where angels are. The perfections thus ascend, as from exterior things to things more interior. To use a comparison for the sake of illustration, it is almost like hearing relatively to sight, and sight relatively to thought; for what the hearing can receive through speech in an hour, can be presented before the sight in a minute, as, for example, a view of plains, palaces, and cities and all that can be seen by the eye in many hours, can be comprehended by the thought in a minute. In such a ratio does the speech of spirits stand to the speech of angelic spirits, and the speech of angelic spirits to the speech of angels; for angelic spirits distinctly comprehend more in one idea of speech or thought, than spirits by several thousand; and so it is with angels in comparison with angelic spirits. How then must it be with the Lord, from whom is all the life of affection, thought, and speech, and who alone is the Speech, and the Word!

1643. The speech of angelic spirits is beyond comprehension so that it will be treated of in few words, and only that kind which is called representative. The subject of the discourse is itself presented representatively in a wonderful form, which is withdrawn from the objects of sense, and is varied by means of the most pleasant and beautiful representatives in ways innumerable, with a continual influx of affections from the happy current of mutual love inflowing through the higher heaven from the Lord; from which influx each and all things are as it were alive. Each subject is thus presented, and this through continuous series. Not one single representative in any series can possibly be described to the understanding. These are the things that flow into the ideas of spirits but to them they are not apparent, except as something general that flows in and affects them, without their having a distinct perception of the things that are distinctly perceived by the angelic spirits.

1644. There are very many evil spirits of an interior kind, who do not speak as spirits do, but are also in the beginnings of ideas, and are thus more subtle than other spirits. There are many such spirits but they are completely separated from the angelic spirits, and cannot even approach them. These more subtle evil spirits likewise art their ideas to objects and things in an abstract way, but to such as are filthy; and in them they represent to themselves various things of a filthy nature; and they involve their ideas in such things. They are as it were silly. Their speech was made known to me, and was also represented by the unclean dregs from a vessel; and the intellectual element of their speech was represented by the hinder parts of a horse, whose forward parts did not appear; for in the world of spirits the intellectual is represented by horses. But the speech of angelic spirits was represented by a maiden of graceful carriage, becomingly attired in a robe of white, that was neatly fitted to a kind of vest.

1645. But the speech of angels is ineffable, far above the speech of spirits, for it is above that of angelic spirits, and is not intelligible in any way to man so long as he lives in the body. Nor can the spirits in the world of spirits form any idea of it, for it is above the perceptive power of their thought. This speech of angels is not of things represented by any ideas like those of spirits and angelic spirits; but it is a speech of ends and of the derivative uses, which are the primaries and the essentials of things. Into these are angelic thoughts insinuated, and are varied there with indefinite variety; and in each and all things of that speech there is an inward and happy delight from the good of mutual love from the Lord, and a beautiful and delightful one from the truth of faith from that good. Ends, and the uses from them, are as it were most delicate recipients, and are the delightful subjects of unnumbered variations; and this by means of celestial and spiritual forms that are beyond comprehension. In these they are kept by the Lord, for the Lord's kingdom is simply a kingdom of ends and uses; and for this reason also the angels who are with a man attend to nothing else than the ends and uses, and elaborate nothing else from the man's thought. All other things, which are ideal and material, they care nothing for; because these are far below their sphere.

1646. The speech of angels sometimes appears in the world of spirits, thus before the interior sight, as a vibration of light. or of resplendent Same; and this with variation according to the state of the affections of their speech. It is only the general things of their speech, as regards the states of affection, and which general things originate in numberless distinct things, that are thus represented.

1647. The speech of the celestial angels is distinct from that of the spiritual angels, and is even more ineffable and inexpressible. The celestial and good things of ends are what their thoughts are insinuated into, and they are therefore in happiness itself; and, wonderful to say, their speech is far more abounding, for they are in the very fountains and origins of the life of thought and of speech.

1648. There is a speech of good spirits, and also of angelic spirits, which is a simultaneous speech of many, especially in circles or choirs, concerning which of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. The speech in choirs has often been heard by me; it has a cadence (labens), as if in rhythm. They have no thought about the words or ideas, for into these their sentiments flow spontaneously. No words or ideas flow in which multiply the sense, or draw it away to something else, or to which anything artificial adheres, or that seems to them elegant from self, or from self-love, for such things would at once cause disturbance. They do not inhere in any word; they think of the sense; the words follow spontaneously from the sense itself. They come to a close in unities, for the most part simple; but when in those which are compound, they turn by an accent to the next. These things are the result of their thinking and speaking in society; hence the form of the speech has a cadence in accordance with the connection and unanimity of the society. Such was once the form of songs; and such is that of the Psalms of David.

1649. Wonderful to say, this kind of speech, possessing the rhythmical or harmonic cadence of songs, is natural to spirits. They speak so among themselves, although they are not aware of it. Immediately after death souls come into the habit of speaking in this way. I have been initiated into the same, and it has at last become familiar. The reason their speech is of this nature, is that they speak in society, which for the most part they are not aware of: a very clear proof that they are all distinguished into societies, and that consequently all things fall into the forms of the societies.

1650. A continuation concerning the speech of spirits, and its diversities, will be found at the end of this chapter.

 

GENESIS 14:1-24

1. And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,

2. That they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and with the king of Bela, this is Zoar.

3. All these were gathered together at the valley of Siddim, this is the Salt Sea.

4. Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

5. And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shavehkiriathaim;

6. And the Horites in their Mount Seir, even to El-paran which is over in the wilderness.

7. And they returned, and came to En-mishpat, this is Kadesh, and smote all the field of the Amalekites, and also the Amorite that dwelt in Hazazon-tamar.

8. And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, this is Zoar; and they set the battle in array with them in the valley of Siddim;

9. With Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar: four kings with five.

10. And the valley of Siddim was pits, pits of bitumen; and the king of Sodom and of Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountain.

11. And they took all the wealth of Sodom, and of Gomorrah, and all their food, and departed.

12. And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, and his substance, and departed; and he was dwelling in Sodom.

13. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; and he was dwelling in the oak-groves of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol, and the brother of Aner; and these were men of the covenant of Abram.

14. And Abram heard that his brother was made captive; and he hastened his trained men that were born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued unto Dan.

15. And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote then, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus.

16. And he brought back all the substance, and also brought back his brother Lot and his substance, and the women also, and the people.

17. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from smiting Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, this is the kings valley.

18. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine, and he was priest to GOD MOST HIGH.

19. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram to GOD MOST HIGH, Possessor of the heavens and the earth.

20. And blessed be GOD MOST HIGH, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

21. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the soul, and take the substance to thyself.

22. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand to JEHOVAH GOD MOST HIGH, Possessor of the heavens and the earth;

23. That from a thread even to the thong of a shoe, I will not take aught that is thine; lest thou shouldest say, I have enriched Abram.

24. Save only that which the boys have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

 

THE CONTENTS

1651. This chapter treats of the Lord's temptation combats, which are represented and signified by the wars here described.

1652. The goods and truths in the external man, but which only appeared as goods and truths, were the things from which the Lord fought in His childhood against evils and falsities. The apparent goods and truths are signified by the kings named in (verse 1); but the evils and falsities against which He fought are signified by the kings named in (verse 2); and these were unclean (verse 3).

1653. These evils and falsities against which He fought did not show themselves earlier than in childhood; and then they burst forth, which is signified by their previously serving Chedorlaomer (verse 4).

1654. The Lord then warred against and conquered the persuasions of falsity of all kinds, which are the Rephaim, the Zuzim, the Emim, and the Horites (verses 5, 6); next, the falsities and evils themselves, which are the Amalekite and the Amorite (verse 7) afterwards the other falsities and evils, which are the kings named in (verses 8 to 11).

1655. Apparent truths and goods, which are not in themselves truths and goods, took possession of the external man (verse 12); and the rational man which is "Abram the Hebrew", perceiving this, laid claim to it and liberated it (verses 13 to 16).

1656. After these combats, evil and falsity submitted themselves (verse 17).

1657. The Lord's internal man in the interior man, or the Divine in the rational, is Melchizedek, from whom came the benediction after the combats (verses 18 to 20). The tithes are the remains, or the states of good and truth from the combats (verse 20).

1658. The evil and infernal spirits, being overcome, begged for life, and did not care for other things; but nothing was taken from them by the Lord, because He had no strength from their evils and falsities; but they were given into the power (potestas) of good spirits and angels (verses 21-24).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

1659. The things contained in this chapter appear as if they were not representative, for it treats only of wars between several kings, and the rescue of Lot by Abram; and finally concerning Melchizedek; and thus it seems as if they contained no heavenly arcanum. But still these things, like all the rest conceal in the internal sense the deepest arcana, which also follow in a continuous series from those which go before, and connect themselves in a continuous series with those which follow.

[2] In those which precede, the Lord has been treated of, and His instruction, and also His external man, which was to be conjoined with the internal by means of knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones). But as His external man was - as before said - of such a nature that it had in it by inheritance from the mother things that hindered conjunction, and yet that were to be expelled by means of combats and temptations, before His external man could be united to His internal man, or His Human Essence to the Divine Essence, therefore these combats are treated of in this chapter; and are represented and signified in the internal sense by the wars of which it treats. It is known within the church that Melchizedek represented the Lord, and therefore that the Lord is meant in the internal sense where Melchizedek is mentioned. It may be concluded from this, that not only the things concerning Melchizedek, but all the rest also, are representative; for not a syllable can have been written in the Word which was not sent down from heaven, and consequently in which the angels do not see heavenly things.

[3] In very ancient times also, many things were represented by wars, which they called the Wars of Jehovah, and which signified nothing else than the combats of the church, and of those who were of the church, that is, their temptations, which are nothing but combats and wars with the evils in themselves, and consequently with the diabolical crew that excite the evils, and endeavor to destroy the church and the man of the church. That nothing else is meant in the Word by "wars", may be clearly seen from the fact that nothing can be treated of in the Word except the Lord and His kingdom, and the church; because it is Divine and not human, consequently heavenly and not worldly, and therefore by "wars", in the sense of the letter, nothing else can be meant in the internal sense. This will be more evident from what follows.

1660. Verses 1, 2. And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, this Zoar. "It came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim", signifies so many kinds of apparent goods and truths, which in themselves are not goods and truths, in the Lord's external man. Each of the kings and each of the nations signifies some such good and truth; "they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, this is Zoar", signifies so many kinds of cupidities of evil, and of persuasions of falsity, against which the Lord combated.

1661. And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim. That these signify so many kinds of apparent goods and truths, which in themselves are not goods and truths, that were in the Lord's external man, may be seen from the signification of all these in the internal sense, and also from what follows. For the Lord's combat against evils and falsities is treated of; here, His first combat, which took place in his childhood and earliest youth; which He then first engaged in and sustained when He had been imbued with knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones), on which account it is here said, "in the days of these".

[2] No one can ever fight against evils and falsities until he has learned to know what evil and falsity are, and therefore not until he has been instructed. A man does not know what evil is, still less what falsity is, until he has the full use of his understanding and judgment, which is the reason why a man does not come into temptations until he has arrived at adult age; thus every man in his age of manhood, but the Lord in His childhood.

[3] Every man combats first of all from the goods and truths he has received through knowledges; and from them and by them he judges about evils and falsities. Every man also, when he first begins to combat, supposes that the goods and truths from which he combats are his own; that is, he attributes them to himself, and at the same time attributes to himself the power by which he resists. This also is permitted for the man cannot then know otherwise. Until a man has been regenerated, he cannot possibly know, so as to be able to say that he knows, acknowledges, and believes, that nothing of good and truth is from himself, but that all good and truth are from the Lord; or that he cannot resist any evil and falsity from his own power; for he does not know that evil spirits excite and infuse the evils and falsities still less that by means of evil spirits he is in communication with hell; and that hell presses upon him as the sea does upon every part of a dike, which pressure of hell no man can possibly resist by his own powers. But as until he has been regenerated a man cannot but suppose that he resists by his own powers, this also is permitted; and thus he is introduced into combats or temptations; but afterwards he is more and more enlightened.

[4] When a man is in such a state that he supposes good and truth to be from himself, and that the power of resisting is his own, then the goods and truths from which he combats against evils and falsities are not goods and truths, although they appear so; for there is what is his own in them, and he places self-merit in victory, and glories as if it were he who had overcome the evil and falsity, when yet it is the Lord alone who combats and overcomes. That this is really the case, none can know but they who are being regenerated by means of temptations.

[5] And as in his earliest childhood the Lord was introduced into most grievous combats against evils and falsities, neither could He at that time suppose otherwise; and this not only because it was according to Divine order that His Human Essence should be introduced to the Divine Essence and be united to it by means of continual combats and victories, but also because the goods and truths from which He combated against evils and falsities were of the external man; and as these goods and truths were therefore not altogether Divine, they are therefore called appearances of good and truth. His Divine Essence introduced His Human in this manner, in order that it might overcome from its own power. But there are more arcana here than can possibly be described. In a word, in the first combats, the goods and truths in the Lord, from which he combated, were imbued with things inherited from the mother, and so far as they were imbued with things inherited from the mother, they were not Divine; but by degrees, as He overcame the evil and falsity, they were purified and made Divine.

1662. That each of the kings, and each of the nations, signifies such good and such truth, is evident from their signification in the internal sense, as applied to the subject here treated of; for every nation, and every land, signifies some certain thing in general, and this both in the proper and in the opposite sense; but the general signification applies itself to the subject being treated of. That apparent goods and truths are signified by the names of these kings and these nations, can be confirmed by many passages; but as this has been done so many times before, and as so many names occur here, it would be too tedious thus to explain them all one by one.

1663. They made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, this is Zoar. That these signify so many kinds of cupidities of evil and of persuasions of falsity, against which the Lord fought, may likewise be seen from the signification of the kings and nations here named, and also from what follows. What cupidity of evil and what persuasion of falsity is signified by each one, it would also be too tedious to set forth. Of the signification of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim, and of Zoar, we have already briefly treated. They are the most general or the most universal kinds of evils and falsities; and these, being signified in the internal sense, here follow in their series.

[2] That the Lord underwent and endured the most grievous temptations - temptations more grievous than have ever been endured by any one - is not so well known from the Word, where it is only mentioned that He was in the wilderness forty days, and was tempted by the devil. The temptations themselves which He then had, are described in a few words only; but these few involve them all; as that it is said in (Mark 1:12, 13), that He was there with the beasts, by which are signified the worst of the infernal crew; and the things which are mentioned (in Matthew and in Luke), that He was taken by the devil upon the pinnacles of the temple, and upon a high mountain, are nothing but representatives of most grievous temptations which He had in the wilderness; concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

1664. That the wars here mentioned signify nothing else, in the internal sense, than spiritual wars, or temptations, was said above, at the beginning of this chapter. By the wars mentioned in the Word, especially in the Prophets, nothing else is signified. The wars of men can have no place in the internals of the Word for such things are not spiritual and celestial, such as alone belong to the Word. That combats with the devil, or what is the same, with hell, are signified by the wars mentioned in the Word, may be seen from the passages that now follow, besides many others. In John: -

They are spirits of demons, doing signs, to go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of that great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:14);

where every one can see that no other war is signified, on the "great day of God Almighty".

[2] Again: -

The beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war (Rev. 11:7);

where "the abyss" is hell. Again: -

The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev. 12:17).

Again: -

It was given unto him to make war with the saints (Rev. 13:7).

All of these "wars" are combats such as are those of temptations. The wars of the kings of the south and of the north, and the other wars mentioned in Daniel chapters 10 and 11), also the things said of Michael (Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1; Rev. 12:7), mean the same.

[3] That "wars" signify nothing else, is evident also from the other Prophets. As in Ezekiel: -

Ye have not gone up into the breaches, neither have ye built up the fence for the house of Israel, to stand in the war in the day of Jehovah (Ezekiel 12:5);

where this is said concerning the prophets. In Isaiah: -

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isaiah 2:4);

where it is plain that no other wars are meant; and consequently that by the weapons of war, as by swords, spears, shields, and others, nothing else is meant in the Word than the things that pertain to such wars.

[4] Again in Isaiah: -

Bring ye water to him that is thirsty ye inhabitants of the land of Tema, meet with his bread him that is wandering; for they shall wander before the swords, before the drawn sword, and before the bent bow, and before the grievousness of war (Isaiah 21:14, 15).

In Jeremiah: -

Shepherds and their flocks shall come unto the daughter of Zion; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed down every one his space; sanctify a war against her arise, and let us go up at noon (Jeremiah 6:3-5)

where no other war is meant, for it is against the daughter of Zion, that is, the church.

[5] Again: -

How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day (Jer. 49:25, 26);

"the city of praise and of joy" denotes the things which are of the church; "the men of war", those who combat.

[6] In Hosea: -

In that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild beast of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the ground; and I will break the how, and the sword, and war out of the land, and will make them to lie down in confidence (Hosea 2:18)

where in like manner "war" denotes combats, and the various arms of war those things which pertain to spiritual combat; these are "broken" when, cupidities and falsities ceasing, the man comes into the tranquillity of Peace.

[7] In David: -

Behold the works of Jehovah, who hath made solitudes in the earth, making wars to cease unto the end of the earth He breaketh the how, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariots in the fire (Ps. 46:8, 9)

where the meaning is similar. Again

In Salem is the habitation of God, and His dwelling place in Zion. There He brake the fiery shafts of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the war (Ps. 76:2, 3).

As the priests represented the Lord, who alone combats for man, their service is called "warfare" (Num. 4:23, 35, 39, 43, 47).

[8] That Jehovah alone, that is, the Lord, combats and overcomes the devil that is with man when he is in the combats of temptations, although it does not so appear to the man, is a constant truth; for not even the smallest thing can be brought upon a man by evil spirits that is not by permission; and nothing, however small, can be averted by angels, except from the Lord; so that it is the Lord alone who sustains all the combat, and who overcomes; which also is everywhere represented by the wars waged by the sons of Israel against the nations. That it is the Lord alone, is also declared in Moses: -

Jehovah your God who walketh before you, He shall fight for you (Deut. 1:30).

again: -

Jehovah your God is He that walketh with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you (Deut. 20:4; Joshua 23:3, 5).

[9] For the wars there that were carried on against the idolatrous inhabitants of the land of Canaan, all represented the Lord's combats with hell; and consequently those of His church, and those of the men of His church. This also accords with the following words in Isaiah: -

As the lion roareth, and the young lion, over his prey, when a multitude of shepherds come running against him, he will not be dismayed at their voice, nor afflicted by their tumult so Jehovah Zebaoth shall come down to fight upon Mount Zion, and upon the bill thereof (Isaiah 31:4).

[10] For this reason, also, Jehovah or the Lord is also called a "Man of War". As in Moses: -

Jehovah is a Man of War, Jehovah is His name (Exod. 15:3).

And in Isaiah: -

Jehovah shall go forth as a Hero, He shall stir up zeal like a Man of wars; He shall cry, yea, He shall shout aloud, He shall prevail against His enemies (Isaiah 42:13).

This also is why many things that pertain to war are attributed to the Lord; as here to "cry" and" shout aloud".

[11] Spirits and angels also appear as men of war when a representation is made. As in Joshua: -

Joshua lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold there stood a man over against him, and his sword drawn in his hand. And he said unto Joshua, I am the prince of Jehovah's army. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth (Joshua 5:13, 14).

These things were so seen because they were representative; and for the same reason the posterity of Jacob called their wars the Wars of Jehovah.

[12] The same also was the case in the Ancient Churches; and among them were books which also were called The Wars of Jehovah; as is evident in Moses: -

It is said in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah (Num. 21:14, 15).

This was written in a manner not unlike that in which wars are treated of in this chapter but the wars of the church were signified. Such a mode of writing was familiar in those times; for then there were interior men, and they thought of exalted things.

1665. Verse 3. All these were gathered together at the valley of Siddim, this is the Salt Sea. "All these were gathered together at the valley of Siddim", signifies that they were in the unclean things of cupidities; "this is the Salt Sea", signifies the filthy things of the derivative falsities.

1666. All these were gathered together at the valley of Siddim. That this signifies that they were in the unclean things of cupidities, may be seen from the signification of " the valley of Siddim", concerning which see below (verse 10), where it is said that "the valley of Siddim was pits, pits, of bitumen", that is, that it was full of pits of bitumen, by which are signified the foul and unclean things of cupidities (n. 1299). The same may be seen from the fact that by Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim were signified the cupidities of evil and the persuasions of falsity, which in themselves are unclean. That they are unclean may be seen by every one within the church; and it also is actually seen in the other life. Such spirits desire nothing better than to pass their time in marshy, boggy, and excrementitious places, so that their nature carries such things with it. Such unclean things sensibly exhale from them when they approach the sphere of good spirits; especially when they desire to infest the good, that is, to gather together to attack them. From this it is evident what "the valley of Siddim" is.

[2] That "this is the Salt Sea", signifies the filthy things of the derivative falsities, may be seen from the signification of "the Salt Sea", which is as it were the same as that of the valley of Siddim; for it is said, "the valley of Siddim, this is the Salt Sea;" but these words are added for the reason that "the Salt Sea" signifies the falsities which burst forth from the cupidities; for there cannot possibly be any cupidity that does not produce falsities. The life of cupidities may be likened to a coal fire, and the falsities to the obscure light from it. As there cannot be fire without light, so neither can there be cupidity without falsity. All cupidity is of some foul love; for that which is loved is desired (cupitur), and hence is called cupidity and in cupidity itself there is the love in question in its continuity. whatever favors or dissents to this love or cupidity is called falsity. Hence it is evident why the words "the Salt Sea" are here added to the words "the valley of Siddim".

[3] As cupidities and falsities are what vastate or lay waste man, that is, deprive him of all the life of the love of good, and of the affection of truth, vastation is described in many passages by "saltness". As in Jeremiah: -

He that maketh flesh his arm shall be like a bare shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, and shall inhabit the parched places In the wilderness, a salt land, and not inhabited (Jeremiah 17:5, 6).

In Ezekiel: -

The miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt (Ezekiel 47:11).

In David: -

Jehovah turneth rivers into a wilderness, and water-springs into drought, a fruitful land into one of saltness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein (Ps. 107:33, 34).

In Zephaniah: -

Moab shall be as Sodom, and the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah, a place left to the nettle, and a pit of salt, and a desolation forever (Zephaniah 2:9).

[4] In Moses: -

The whole land is brimstone and salt, a burning; it shall not be sown and shall not sprout, neither shall any herb spring up in it as in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim (Deut. 29:23).

"The whole land brimstone and salt, a burning", denotes vastated goods and truths; "brimstone", the vastation of good; "salt", the vastation of truth; for parching and saltness destroy the land and the products of the land just as cupidity destroys goods and as falsity destroys truths. As "salt" was significative of devastation, it was also customary to sow with salt the cities which were destroyed, that they might not be rebuilt (Judges 9:45). "Salt" is used also in the opposite sense, signifying that which gives fertility, and as it were relish.

Verse 4. Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. "Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer", signifies that the evils and falsities did not appear in childhood, but that they served the apparent goods and truths; "and in the thirteenth year they rebelled", signifies the beginning of temptations in childhood.

1667. Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer. That this signifies that the evils and falsities did not appear in childhood, but that they served the apparent goods and truths, is evident from the representation and signification of "Chedorlaomer", and also of those who served (verse 1); and also from the signification of "twelve". "Chedorlaomer", together with those named above (verse 2), signifies the apparent goods and truths in the Lord, thus His external man in respect to these things. "Chedorlaomer" here denotes all that are named above (verse 2) in the complex, as is evident also from what follows, as also from the circumstance that he was king of Elam, the signification of which has been given already, as being faith from charity; here therefore truth and good; for faith and the things of faith are nothing but truths, and charity and the things of charity are goods

[2] but here the goods of infancy, which, although they appear good, are not good so long as hereditary evil contaminates them. That which is inherent and which adheres is from the love of self and the love of the world. Whatever is of the love of self and of the love of the world then appears as good, but is not good; but still it is to be called good so long as it is in an infant or a child who does not yet know what is truly good. The ignorance excuses, and the innocence makes it appear as good. But the case is different when the man has been instructed, and knows what good and evil are. Such good and truth as are in a child before he has been instructed, are signified by "Chedorlaomer".

[3] By their "serving twelve years" is signified all the time that there are such good and truth; for in the internal sense "twelve" signifies all things that pertain to the faith of charity, or to faith from charity, much the same as "Elam" (Gen. 10:22). And so long as such good and truth are in a man, whether it be in his childhood or at any other age, evils and falsities can effect nothing; that is, evil spirits do not venture to do anything, or to introduce any evil; as is evident with infants, well disposed children, and the simple in heart; with whom, even though evil spirits, or the worst of the diabolic crew, were present, they could effect nothing at all, but are in subjection; which is here signified by their serving chedorlaomer twelve years.

[4] The reason of their being then in subjection and serving is that the man has not yet acquired to himself a sphere of cupidities and falsities. For evil spirits and genii are not allowed to operate except into those thing which a man has procured to himself by his acts, and not into those which are from inheritance; and therefore before the man procures such spheres to himself, the evil spirits serve; but as soon as he procures them, they pour themselves in upon him, and endeavor to rule; for they are then in his very sphere, and find there a certain delight, or their very life. Where the carcass is, there are the eagles.

1668. And in the thirteenth year they rebelled. That this signified the beginning of temptations in childhood, is evident from the signification of "the thirteenth year", and from the signification of "rebelling". The thirteenth year is intermediate between the twelfth and the fourteenth. What is signified by "twelve" has been stated; and what by "fourteen" will be stated presently. The intermediate between no temptation and temptation is "thirteen". What "rebelling" signifies may be seen when it is predicated of the evils in a man, or of evil spirits, when they have been in subjection or are serving, and begin to rise up and infest.

[2] Evils or evil spirits rebel in proportion as the man who desires to be in good and truth confirms in himself any evils and falsities, that is, in proportion as cupidities and falsities insinuate themselves into his goods and truths. In cupidities and falsities is the life of evil spirits, and in goods and truths is the life of angels; and hence come infestation and combat. This is so with all who have conscience; and much more was it the case with the Lord when a child, who had perception. With those who have conscience there arises therefrom a dull pain; but with those who have perception, a sharp one, and the more interior the perception is, the sharper is the pain. From this we may see what was the nature of the Lord's temptation in comparison with that of men, for He had interior and inmost perception.

1669. Verse 5. And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim. In the fourteenth year", signifies the first temptation; "came Chedorlaomer", signifies the apparent good in the external man; "and the kings that were with him" signifies the apparent truth which is of that good; "and smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim", signifies the persuasions of falsity, or the hells of such, which the Lord conquered.

1670. In the fourteenth year. That this signifies the first temptation, may be seen from the signification of fourteen", or the end of the second week, concerning which, see above (n. 728), where the time of seven days or of one week signifies the beginning of temptation. "Fourteen", or the term of two weeks, signifies the same. It is here said in the fourteenth year", in reference to the twelve years which precede; by which, as before said, is signified the time of childhood.

1671. Came Chedorlaomer. That this signifies the apparent good in the external man, is evident from the signification of "chedorlaomer", explained in the preceding verse, as being apparent good and truth, here good only, because it is said also, "and the kings that were with him", and by "the kings" is signified the truth.

1672. And the kings that were with him. That this signifies the apparent truth which is of that good, is evident from the signification of "kings" in the Word. "Kings", "kingdoms", and "peoples", in the historical and the prophetical parts of the Word, signify truths and the things which are of truths, as may be abundantly confirmed. In the Word an accurate distinction is made between a "people" and a "nation;" by a "people" are signified truths, and by a "nation" goods, as before shown (n. 1259, 1260). "Kings" are predicated of peoples, but not so much of nations. Before the sons of Israel sought for kings, they were a nation, and represented good, or the celestial; but after they desired a king, and received one, they became a people, and did not represent good or the celestial, but truth or the spiritual; which was the reason why this was imputed to them as a fault (1 Sam. 8:7-22). As Chedorlaomer is named here, and it is added, "the kings that were with him", both good and truth are signified; by "Chedorlaomer", good, and by "the kings", truth. But what was the quality of the good and truth at the beginning of the Lord's temptations has already been stated.

1673. And smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim. That this signifies the persuasions of falsity, or the hells of such, which the Lord conquered, is evident from the signification of "the Rephaim", "the Zuzim", and "the Emim", as being of similar kind with "the Nephilim", who are mentioned in (Genesis 6:4); and in the exposition of that passage (n. 581) it was sufficiently and abundantly shown that by "the Nephilim" are signified persuasions of falsity, or those who from a persuasion of their own exaltation and preeminence have made nothing of all holy and true things and who have infused falsities into their cupidities as is also plain from the passages there adduced (Num. 13:33; Deut. 2:10, 11; Isa. 14:9; 26:14, 19; Ps. 88:10). The different kinds of persuasions of falsity are what are here signified by these three and by "the Horites in Mount Seir for there are many kinds of persuasions of falsity, not only according to the falsities, but also according to the cupidities to which they are adjoined, or into which they are infused, or from which they flow forth and are produced. The nature of these persuasions of falsity can never appear to any man, who scarcely knows more than that there is such a thing as persuasion of falsity and cupidity of evil; but in the other life they are most distinctly arranged into their genera and into their species.

[2] The most direful persuasions of falsity existed with those who lived before the flood, especially with those who were called "Nephilim". These Nephilim are of such a character that in the other life they by their persuasions take away from the spirits to whom they come all faculty of thinking, so that these spirits seem to themselves scarcely to live, much less to be able to think anything true. For, as before shown, there is in the other life a communication of the thoughts of all, and therefore when such a persuasiveness flows in, it cannot do otherwise than as it were murder all power of thought in others. Such were the wicked tribes against whom the Lord combated in His earliest childhood, and whom He conquered; and unless the Lord had conquered them by His coming into the world, not a man would have been left at this day upon the earth; for every man is governed by the Lord through spirits. These same Nephilim are at this day enclosed by their phantasies by what seems like a misty rock, out of which they are continually striving, but in vain, to rise up (n. 1265-1272), and in many other places above). These, and others like them, were also meant in Isaiah: -

The dead shall not live, the Rephaim shall not rise, because Thou hast visited and hast destroyed them, and hast made all their memory to perish (Isaiah 26:14).

[3] Also in David: -

Wilt Thou show a wonder to the dead? shall the Rephaim arise and praise Thee? (Psalms 88:10),

where by "the dead" are not meant the dead, but the damned. There are also those at this day, especially from the Christian world, who likewise have persuasions, but not so direful as the antediluvians had. There are certain persuasions of falsity which take possession of both the will part and the intellectual part of man; such were those of the antediluvians, and of those who are here signified by the Rephaim, the Zuzim, and the Emim. But there are other persuasions of falsity which take possession of the intellectual part only, and which arise from the principles of falsity that are confirmed in one's self. These are not so powerful, nor so deadly, as the former; but still they cause much annoyance to spirits in the other life, and take away in part their ability to think. Spirits of this kind excite in a man nothing but confirmations of what is false, so that the man sees no otherwise than that falsity is truth, and evil good. It is their sphere which is of such a character. As soon as anything of truth is called forth by angels, they suffocate and extinguish it.

[4] A man can perceive whether he is governed by such as these simply by observing whether he thinks the truths of the Word to be false, and confirms himself so that he cannot see otherwise; if such be the case, he may be pretty sure that such spirits are with him, and that they have the dominion. In like manner they who persuade themselves that their private advantage is the common good, and who regard nothing as being for the common good but what is also to their own advantage in this case also the evil spirits who are present suggest so many things in confirmation that they see no otherwise. They who are such that they regard every advantage to themselves as the common good, or who veil it over with the appearance of being the common good, do much the same in the other life in regard to the common good there. That such is the nature of the influx of spirits with man, it has been given me to know by continual experience to the life.

1674. Verse 6. And the Horites in their Mount Seir, even to El-paran, which is over in the wilderness. "The Horites in their Mount Seir", signifies the persuasions of falsity that are from the love of self; "even to El-paran, which is over in the wilderness", signifies their extension.

1675. The Horites in their Mount Seir. That this signifies the persuasions of falsity that are from the love of self, is evident from the signification of "the Horites", and from the signification of " Seir". As regards the Horites, they were those who dwelt in Mount Seir (Genesis 36:8, 20), where Esau is spoken of, who is called Edom. By "Esau" or "Edom", in the genuine sense, is sign, fled the Lord as to His Human Essence; and He is also represented by Esau or Edom, as may be seen from many passages of the Word both historical and prophetical; concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. And as they who are in persuasions of falsity were represented by the Horites, and as at that time representatives came forth into actual realization, therefore the driving out of the Horites from Mount Seir by the descendants of Esau had a similar representation.

[2] Of this it is said in Moses: -

That also is accounted a land of Rephaim; Rephaim dwelt therein aforetime and the Ammonites call them Zamzummim a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim and Jehovah destroyed them from before them, and they had them in possession, and dwelt in their place. As He did for the sons of Esau, that dwelt in Seir, in that He destroyed the Horites from before them and they had them in possession, and dwelt in their place (Deut. 2:20-22).

These things represent and signify the same as what is here related concerning Chedorlaomer, namely, that Chedorlaomer and the kings with him smote the Horites in Mount Seir; for by Chedorlaomer, as before said, are represented the Lord's good and truth in His childhood, thus the Lord's Human Essence in respect to good and truth at that time, by which He destroyed the persuasions of falsity, that is, the hells filled with such a crew of the devil, that attempted to destroy the world of spirits, and consequently the human race, by persuasions of falsity.

[3] And as Esau or Edom represented the Lord in respect to His Human Essence, Mount Seir also, and Paran, represented the things that belonged to His Human Essence, namely, the celestial things of love. This is evident from the blessing of Moses: -

Jehovah came from Sinai, and arose to them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came from the ten thousands of holiness from His right hand was a fire of law unto them, yea, He loveth the peoples (Deut. 33:2, 3)

that "Jehovah arose from Mount Seir, and shone forth from Mount Paran", signifies nothing else than the Lord's Human Essence. Every one may know that to rise from Mount Seir, and to shine forth from Mount Paran, signifies neither mountains nor their inhabitants, but Divine realities, thus the celestial things of the Lord's Human Essence, of which it is predicated that Jehovah arose and shone forth from it.

[4] That " Seir" has this signification is evident from the Song of Deborah and Barak, in the book of Judges: -

O Jehovah, when Thou wentest forth out of Seir, when Thou departedst out of the field of Edom the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped drops, the clouds also dropped water', the mountains bowed down, this Sinai before Jehovah the God of Israel (Judges 5:4, 5)

where to "go forth out of Seir", and to "depart out of the field of Edom", have no other signification.

[5] This is even more manifest in the prophecy of Balaam (who was one of the sons of the east, or from Syria, where there was a remnant of the Ancient Church), as given in Moses: -

I see Him, but not now I behold Him, but not nigh there shall are a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise up out of Israel, and Edom shall be an inheritance, Seir also shall be an inheritance, belonging to His enemies (Num. 24:17, 18)

where "to see Him, but not now", to "behold Him, but not nigh", is the Lord's coming into the world; whose Human Essence is called " a star out of Jacob", which is to arise, and also " Edom", and " Seir;" that Edom and Seir were not to be the inheritance, a plain to every one. That "Seir, belonging to His enemies", or the mountain of His enemies, should be an inheritance, means the same as in many other places, where it is said that the enemies were to be expelled, and their land possessed.

[6] That Mount Paran also, or El-paran, named in this verse, signifies the same, is evident likewise in Habakkuk: -

God will come from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His honor covered the heavens, and the earth was filled with His praise (Habakkuk 3:3).

But it is to be known that mountains and lands have and take a signification from those who inhabit them; from the Horites when the Horites dwelt there; and when these were expelled, from those who expelled them, as from Esau or Edom, and also from other sources; and therefore the signification exists in two senses, the genuine and the opposite; in the genuine the places in question denote the Lord's Human Essence; in the opposite, the love of self. The Lord's Human Essence is celestial love itself, and the opposite to celestial love is the love of self. So the Horites here signify the persuasions of falsity from the love of self.

[7] There are persuasions of falsity from the love of self, and there are persuasions of falsity from the love of the world; the persuasions that are from the love of self are most foul; but the persuasions from the love of the world are not so foul. The persuasions of falsity from the love of self are opposite to the celestial things of love; but the persuasions of falsity from the love of the world are opposite to the spiritual things of love. Persuasions from the love of self carry with them a desire to exercise command over all things; and so far as restraints are relaxed to them, they rush on, even to desire to exercise command over the universe, and even over Jehovah Himself, as has been shown. Therefore persuasions of this kind are not tolerated in the other life. But persuasions from the love of the world do not rush on so far; but only to the insanity of not being contented with one's lot. They vainly affect a heavenly joy, and desire to appropriate the goods of others, but not so much with the disposition to exercise command. But the differences that exist among these persuasions are innumerable.

1676. Even to El-paran which is in the wilderness. That this signifies their extension, may be seen from the fact that the Horites were smitten and were compelled to flee thus far. The wilderness of Paran is mentioned in (Gen. 21:21; Num. 10:12; 12:16; 13:3, 26; Deut. 1:1). What is here signified by "El-paran which is in the wilderness", cannot so well be explained, except in so far as to say that the Lord's first victory over the hells signified by those nations did not as yet extend any further, but how far it did extend is signified by "El-paran in the wilderness".

[2] He to whom it has not been given to know heavenly arcana, may suppose that there was no need of the Lord's coming into the world to fight against the hells, and by means of temptations admitted into Himself to vanquish and conquer them, when they might have been subjugated at any time by the Divine Omnipotence, and shut up in their hells but that still the fact is really so, is a certain truth. To unfold the arcana themselves merely as to the most general things would fill a whole work; and it would also give occasion for reasonings about such Divine mysteries as human minds would not comprehend, however fully they might be unfolded; and most people would not desire to comprehend them.

[3] Therefore it is sufficient for men to know, and, because it is so, to believe, that it is an eternal truth that unless the Lord had come into the world and subjugated and conquered the hells by means of temptations admitted into Himself, the human race would have perished; and that otherwise those who have been on this earth even from the time of the Most Ancient Church could not possibly have been saved.

1677. Verse 7. And they returned and came to En-mishpat, this is Kadesh, and smote all the field of the Amalekites, and also the Amorite that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar. "They returned and came to En-mishpat, this is Kadesh", signifies a continuation; " and smote all the field of the Amalekites", signifies the kinds of falsities; " and also the Amorite that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar", signifies the kinds of evils that were derived from them.

1678. They returned and came to En-mishpat, this is Kadesh. That this signifies a continuation, is evident from what goes before, and from what follows. Here now the falsities and the evils derived from them are treated of. The falsities are signified by "the Amalekite", and the evils that were derived from them are signified by "the Amorite in Hazezon-tamar". By "Kadesh" are signified truths, and also contentions about truths. Because the falsities, and the evils derived from them which the Lord conquered in His first combat, are here treated of, it is here said, " En-mishpat, this is Kadesh", because there was contention about truths.

[2] That "Kadesh" signifies truths concerning which there is contention, is evident in Ezekiel, where the boundaries of the Holy Land are described: -

The corner of the south southward from Tamar as far as the waters of Meriboth (contentions) Kadesh, an inheritance to the great sea, and the corner of the south southward (Ezekiel 47:19; 48:28)

where "the south" denotes the light of truth; its boundary, by which is signified contention about truths, is called "Kadesh".[3] Kadesh also was where Moses smote the rock, out of which waters came forth, which waters were called Meribah, from contention (Num. 20:1, 2, 11, 13).

By a "rock", as is known, the Lord is signified; by "waters", in the internal sense of the Word, are signified spiritual things, which are truths they were called "the waters of Meribah" because there was contention about them. That they were also called "the waters of the contention of Kadesh", is evident in Moses: -

Ye rebelled against My mouth in the wilderness of Zin, in the contention of the assembly, to sanctify Me by the waters in their eyes. The are the waters of contention of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin (Num. 27:14; Deut. 32:51).

So too it was to Kadesh that the spies returned from the land of Canaan, and Kadesh was the place where the Israelites murmured and contended, not being willing to enter into the land (Num. 13:26).

[4] It is evident from these things that "En-mishpat", or "the Fountain of Judgment", or "the Fountain of Mishpat-Kadesh", signifies contention about truths, and thus a continuation. As these are true historicals, and this occurred just as is here stated, it may appear as if such things were not represented and signified by the places to which Chedorlaomer came, and by the nations that he smote; but all the historicals in the Word are representative and significative. both those relating to places and nations, and also those relating to things done; as may be clearly seen from all things in both the historical and the prophetical parts of the Word.

1679. And smote all the field of the Amalekites. That this signifies the kinds of falsities, is evident from the representation and signification of the Amalekite nation. By all the nations that were in the land of Canaan there were represented different kinds of evils and falsities, as will be evident, of the Lord's Divine mercy, from what follows. Falsities were signified by " the Amalekites", and evils derived from the falsities, by "the Amorites in Hazezon-tamar". That falsities by which truths are attacked are signified by the Amalekites, may be seen from the things that are related concerning them (Exod. 17:13-16; Num. 13:29; 24:20; Deut. 25:17-19; Judges 5:13, 14; 1 Sam. 15:1-35; 27:8; Ps. 83:7, 8).

[2] By the Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, and Horites, spoken of in (verses 5, 6), were signified the persuasions of falsity that arise from cupidities of evil, that is, from evils; but by the Amalekites and the Amorite in Hazezon-tamar, are signified the falsities from which come evils. Falsity from evil is one thing, and falsity and the evil derived from it is another. Falsities spring either from cupidities, which are of the will, or from received principles, which are of the understanding. Falsities that are from the cupidities of the will are foul, nor do they suffer themselves, like others, to be easily rooted out, for they cohere with the man's very life. The very life of man is that which desires, that is, loves. While a man is confirming in himself this life, or cupidity, or love, all the things which confirm are falsities, and are implanted in his life. Such were the antediluvians.

[3] But the falsities from received principles, which are of the understanding, cannot be thus rooted in the will part of man. False or heretical doctrines, for instance, have their origin outside of the will, from the man's being imbued with such things from infancy, and afterwards from confirmation in adult age. But as they are false, they cannot but produce evils of life; as for instance in the case of a man who believes in meriting salvation by works, and confirms himself in this belief,-the merit itself, self justification, and confidence, are the evils that come from it; or on the other hand one who believes that it is impossible to have piety of life without placing merit in works,-the evil from this is that he extinguishes in himself all piety of life, and gives himself up to cupidities and pleasures. So in many other cases. Such are the falsities and the evils derived from them that are treated of in this verse.

1680. And also the Amorite that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar. That this signifies the kinds of evils derived from those falsities, is evident from what has just been said, and also from the representation and signification of the Amorites, spoken of in the next chapter, (Gen. 13:16). As regards the evils and falsities against which the Lord combated, it is to be known that what He fought against was the infernal spirits who were in the evils and falsities, that is, it was the hells filled with such spirits, which continually infested the human race. The infernals desire nothing else than to destroy every one; and they perceive no greater pleasure than in torturing others.

[2] All spirits in the other life are distinguished in the following manner: those who desire evil against others are infernal or diabolical spirits but those who desire good to others are good and angelic spirits. A man can know among which he is, whether among the infernal or among the angelic: if he intends evil to his neighbor, thinks nothing but evil concerning him, and actually does it when he can, and takes delight therein, he is among the infernals, and also becomes infernal in the other life; whereas the man who intends good to his neighbor, and thinks nothing but good respecting him, and actually does it when he can, is among the angelic spirits, and also becomes an angel in the other life. This is the distinctive characteristic. Let every one examine himself by this, in order to learn what he is.

[3] That a man does no evil when he is unable or afraid to do it, amounts to nothing; or that he does good for the sake of self; for these are external things that are removed in the other life. A man there is such as he thinks and intends. There are many who can speak well from a habit formed in the world; but it is instantly perceived whether the mind or intention agrees therewith; if not, they are rejected among the infernals of their own genus and species.

1681. Verses 8, 9. And there went out the kind of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, this is Zoar; and they set the battle in array with them in the valley of Siddim; with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five. "There went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, this is Zoar", signifies, as before, the evils and falsities that reign generally; "and they set the battle in array with them", signifies that they began the attack; " in the valley of Siddim", signifies here as before, uncleanness; " with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar", signifies the truths and goods in the external man; "Chedorlaomer king of Elam", signifies the truth; "Tidal king of Goiim", the good; and the others the things derived from these; "four kings with five", signifies the union of the last named, and the disunion of the others.

1682. There went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, this is Zoar. That these signify the evils and falsities that reign generally, is evident from what was said above, at (verse 2), concerning these kings, namely, that they are cupidities of evil and persuasions of falsity. In that verse by the same kings are signified all evils and all falsities in general, or what is the same, cupidities of evil and persuasions of falsity, and therefore it is said that war was made with them. Afterwards the war with the Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, and Horites, was treated of; also the war with the Amalekite and the Amorite; and finally with these kings who were named in the beginning. Here therefore by the same kings are signified only the reigning evils and falsities that are of a less degree.

1683. They set the battle in array with them. That this signifies that they began the attack, is evident from the signification of "setting the battle in array", as meaning to fight against; for it is said above (verse 3) that they rebelled. The same is evident also from the fact that evil spirits are those who make the assault. For it is the case that the Lord never began the combat with any hell, but the hells assaulted Him; as is also the case with every man who is in temptation, or In combat with evil spirits. In man's case the angels never make the assault, but always and continually the evil or infernal spirits do so; the angels only ward off and defend. This comes from the Lord, who never desires to bring evil upon any one, or to thrust him down into hell, even if he were the worst and the most bitter enemy of all; but it is he who brings the evil upon himself, and precipitates himself into bell. This also follows from the nature of evil, and from the nature of good. It is the nature of evil to desire to maltreat every one; but that of good to desire to maltreat no one. The evil are in their very life when they are assaulting; for they continually desire to destroy. The good are in their very life when they are assaulting no one, and when they can be of use in defending others from evils.

1684. In the valley of Siddim. That this signifies uncleanness, is evident from what was before said (verse 3) concerning the valley of Siddim and the Salt Sea.

1685. With Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar. That this signifies the truths and goods in the external man, is evident from the signification of the same in (verse 1) of this chapter. That "Chedorlaomer king of Elam signifies truths, and "Tidal king of Goiim" goods, and the others the things derived from these, is evident from the fact that the same kings are here enumerated in a different order from that of (verse 1) above. There "Chedorlaomer king of Elam" stands in the third place, but here in the first; and there "Tidal king of Goiim" is in the fourth place, but here in the second. It is truth that is first in combat, for combat is from truth; for from truth it is known what falsity is and what evil is; on which account such combats never arise until the man has been imbued with knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones) of truth and good. Hence by "Chedorlaomer", who is here named in the first place, is signified the truth that was in the Lord; which is also evident from the signification of "Elam", as being faith from charity, which is the same thing as truth, as has been shown before, (Gen. 10:29). It follows from this that "Tidal king of Goiim", or of nations", signifies good; and that the other kings signify the truths and goods that are derived from these.

1686. Four kings with five. That this signifies the union of the last named, and the disunion of the first named, may be seen from the signification of " four", and of " five". " Four" signifies union, because it is made up of pairs, as also does two when it has relation to marriages of things (n. 720). But "five" signifies disunion, because it means but little (n. 649). The signification of all things is in accordance with the subject of which they are predicated.

1687. Verse 10. And the valley of Siddim was pits, pits, of bitumen; and the king of Sodom and of Gomorrah fled, and fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountain. The valley of Siddim was pits, pits, of bitumen", signifies the uncleanness of the falsities and cupidities; " and the king of Sodom and of Gomorrah fled, and fell there", signifies that those evils and falsities were overcome; " and they that remained fled to the mountain", signifies but not all of them; "the mountain" is the love of self and of the world.

1688. The valley of Siddim was pits, pits (or full of pits), of bitumen. That this signifies the uncleanness of the falsities and cupidities, is evident from the signification of " Siddim", which is uncleanness (verse 3); also from the signification of "pits", as being falsities and of " bitumen", as being cupidities. Falsities are called " pits", from the unclean water in then'; and cupidities are called "bitumen", from the foul sulphurous smell in such water.

1689. The king of Sodom and of Gomorrah fled, and fell there. That this signifies that these evils and falsities were overcome, is evident from the signification of " Sodom" and of "Gomorrah", as being the evils of cupidities and the falsities of persuasions spoken of above. Here "the king of Sodom and of Gomorrah" denotes all the evils and falsities, even those signified by the other kings; and also from the signification of "fleeing and falling", as being to be overcome.

1690. They that remained fled to the mountain. That this signifies that not all were overcome, is evident without explication, from the fact that there was a residue that fled away. In the internal sense the temptations are treated of that the Lord sustained in His childhood, concerning which nothing is related in the Word of the New Testament, except concerning His temptation in the wilderness, or soon after He came out of the wilderness, and finally concerning His last temptation in Gethsemane and what then followed. That the Lord's life, from His earliest childhood even to the last hour of His life in the world, was continual temptation and continual victory, is evident from many things in the Word of the Old Testament; and that it did not cease with the temptation in the wilderness is evident from what is said in Luke: -

And when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from Him for a season (Luke 4:13)

as also from the fact that He was tempted even to the death on the cross, and thus to the last hour of His life in the world. Hence it is evident that the whole of the Lord's life in the world, from His earliest childhood, was continual temptation and continual victory. The last was when He prayed on the cross for His enemies, and thus for all in the whole world.

[2] In the Word of the Lord's life, in the Gospels, none but the last is mentioned, except His temptation in the wilderness. More were not disclosed to the disciples. The things that were disclosed appear in the sense of the letter so slight as to be scarcely anything; for to speak and to answer in this manner is no temptation, when yet His temptation was more grievous than can ever be comprehended and believed by any human mind. No one can know what temptation is except the one who has been in it. The temptation that is related in (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12, 13; Luke 4:1-13), contains all temptations in a summary; namely, that from love toward the whole human race, the Lord fought against the loves of self and of the world, with which the hells were filled.

[3] All temptation is an assault upon the love in which the man is, and the temptation is in the same degree as is the love. If the love is not assaulted, there is no temptation. To destroy any one's love is to destroy his very life; for the love is the life. The Lord's life was love toward the whole human race, and was indeed so great, and of such a quality, as to be nothing but pure love. Against this His life, continual temptations were admitted, as before said, from His earliest childhood to His last hour in the world. The love which was the Lord's veriest life is signified by His "hungering", and by the devils saying,

If Thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread and by Jesus answering that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God (Luke 4:2-4; Matt. 4:2-4).

[4] That He fought against the love of the world, or all things that are of the love of the world, is signified by

The devil took Him up into a high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said unto Him, All this power will I give Thee and the glory of them, for it hath been delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, I give it; if Thou therefore wilt worship before me, all shall be Thine. But Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind Me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve (Luke 4:5-8; Matt 4:8-10).

[5] That He fought against the love of self, and all things that are of the love of self, is signified by this: -

The devil took Him into the holy city, and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, If Thou art the Son of God, cast Thyself down for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee, and upon their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God (Matt. 4:5-7; Luke 4:9-12).

Continual victory is signified by its being said that after the temptations, "angels came and ministered unto Him" (Matt. 4:11; Mark 1:13).

[6] In brief, the Lord from His earliest childhood up to the last hour of His life in the world, was assaulted by all the hells, against which He continually fought, and subjugated and overcame them, and this solely from love toward the whole human race. And because this love was not human but Divine, and because such as is the greatness of the love, such is that of the temptation, it may be seen how grievous the combats were, and how great the ferocity on the part of the hells. That all this was so, I know of a certainty.

1691. That "the mountain" means the love of self and the love of the world, may be seen from the signification of a " mountain", concerning which presently. All evil and falsity come forth from the love of self and the love of the world; they have no other origin; for the love of self and the love of the world are the opposites of celestial love and spiritual love; and because they are the opposites, they are what are continually endeavoring to destroy the celestial and spiritual things of the kingdom of God. From the love of self and of the world come forth all hatreds; from hatreds, all revenges and cruelties and from these, all deceits; in short, all the hells.

[2] That in the Word by "mountains" there is signified the love of self and the love of the world, may be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

The proud eyes of man shall be humbled and the loftiness of men shall be brought low. The day of Jehovah Zebaoth is upon all that is proud and lofty, upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every lofty tower (Isaiah 2:11, 12, 14, 15)

the "high mountains" plainly denote the love of self; and the "hills that are lifted up", the love of the world.

[3] Again: -

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low (Isa. 40:4)

here also "mountain and hill'- manifestly denote the love of self and the love of the world. Again: -

I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbage (Isa. 42:15)

where also "mountains" denote the love of self, and "hills" the love of the world. In Ezekiel: -

The mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the earth (Ezekiel 38:20).

[4] In Jeremiah: -

Behold I am against thee. O destroying mountain, which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a mountain of burning (Jeremiah 51:25)

where Babel and Chaldea are spoken of, by which is signified the love of self and of the world, as before shown. In the Song of Moses:

A fire is kindled in Mine anger, and shall burn' unto the lowest hell, and shall devour" the earth and her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains (Deut. 32:22)

"the foundations of the mountains" mean the hells, as is plainly said; these are called the foundations of the mountains, because the love of self and the love of the world reign in them, and are from them.

[5] In Jonah: -

The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; the deep was round about me the seaweed was wrapped about my head; I went down to the cuttings-off of the mountains; the bars of the earth were upon me forever yet hast Thou brought up my lives from the pit, O Jehovah my God (Jonah 2:5, 6)

the Lord's temptations against the hells are thus prophetically described by Jonah, when he was in the belly of the great fish. So likewise in other passages of the Word, especially in David. He who is in temptations is in the hells; place has nothing to do with being in the hells, but state.

[6] As " mountains" and " towers" signify the love of self and of the world, it may be seen what is signified by the Lord's being taken by the devil "upon a high mountain", and "upon a pinnacle of the temple", namely, that He was led into temptation combats, the most extreme of all, against the loves of self and of the world, that is, against the hells. " Mountains" also, in the opposite sense, signify celestial and spiritual love, as before shown (n. 795, 796).

1692. Scarcely any one can know what temptations, or combats of temptations, effect. They are the means by which evils and falsities are broken up and dispersed, and by which horror of them is induced; and not only is conscience given, but it is also strengthened thereby, and so the man is regenerated, which is the reason why they who are being regenerated are let into combats, and undergo temptations and they who do not undergo them in the life of the body, do so in the other life, if they are capable of being regenerated, on which account the Lord's church is called militant. But the Lord alone sustained the most cruel combats of temptations by His own strength or His own power; for He was surrounded by all the hells, and continually conquered them.

[2] It is the Lord alone also who fights in the men who are in the combats of temptations, and who overcomes. Man from his own power can effect nothing at all against evil or infernal spirits; for they are so connected with the hells that if one were overcome, another would rush in, and so on forever. They are like the sea which presses upon every part of a dike; and if the dike should be broken through by a cleft or a crack, the sea would never cease to burst through and overflow, until nothing was left standing. So would it be with man unless the Lord alone sustained in him the combats of temptations.

1693. Verse 11. And they took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and departed. "They took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah", signifies that these were deprived of the power of doing evil; " and all their food", signifies that they were deprived of the power of thinking falsity; "and departed", signifies that so they were left.

1694. They took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah. That this signifies that these were deprived of the power of doing evil, is evident from the signification of taking away any one's wealth. By the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah nothing else is meant in the internal sense but evil and falsity. Evil is here signified by "the wealth", and falsity by "the food". Relatively to the good, spiritual wealth and riches are nothing but the goods and truths with which they are gifted and enriched by the Lord; and therefore relatively to the evil, wealth and riches are nothing but the evils and falsities they have acquired to themselves. Such things are also signified in the Word by "riches". From this it is evident that to take the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah is to deprive them of the power of doing evil.

1695. And all their food. That this signifies that they were deprived of the power of thinking falsity, is evident from the signification of "food". What the celestial, spiritual, and natural food are that are enjoyed in the other life, has been shown before (n. 56-58, 680, 681). These also correspond to the food of the body; and therefore are represented in the Word by food, and are called "food". But the food of evil and infernal spirits is that which is contrary to wisdom, intelligence, and true knowledge, which is all falsity; and wonderful to say, evil spirits are sustained by this food. The reason that it sustains them is that it is their life. Unless there is given them the means of vilifying the truth, and indeed of blaspheming it, they cannot live. But still license is given them to think and speak only that falsity which is from their evil, and not that which is contrary to their evil, for this would be deceit for in so far as they speak falsity from their evil, it is from their life; and then it is forgiven them, because their nature is such that otherwise they could not live.

[2] As to their being deprived of the power of doing evil and of thinking falsity, the case is this: In the combats of temptations the evil spirits are permitted to draw forth all the evil and falsity that are in the man, and to battle from the evil and falsity of the man; but when they have been overcome, they are no longer permitted to do so, for they instantly perceive in the man that good and truth have been confirmed. Spirits, more than men, are gifted with such perception; from the very sphere of a man who has been confirmed in truth and good, they know at once how the case is, what answer they will get, and more besides. This is plainly evident with the spiritual regenerate man, with whom there are evil spirits equally as well as with the non-regenerate, but they are subjugated and serve. This is what is meant by their being deprived of the power of doing evil and of thinking falsity.

1696. And departed. That this signifies that they were left, is evident without explication.

1697. Verse 12. And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, and his substance, and departed; and he was dwelling in Sodom. " They look Lot, Abram's brother's son, and his substance, and departed", signifies that the apparent goods and truths, which in themselves are not goods and truths, took possession of the external man, and of all things therein; "and he was dwelling in Sodom", signifies the state of the external man.

1698. And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, and his substance, and departed. That this signifies that the apparent goods and truths, which in themselves are not goods and truths, took possession of the external man, and of all things therein, is evident from the signification of "Lot". That " Lot" signifies the sensuous or external man in the Lord, has already been frequently stated and shown; but here by "Lot's is signified the external man in respect to the apparent goods and truths, which are Lot's "substance". That in the Lord's earliest childhood these goods and truths appeared to be goods and truths, but in themselves were not so, has been already explained; but that they were by degrees purified, and this in fact by means of the combats of temptations, may be seen from what has been said concerning temptations.

1699. And he was dwelling in Sodom. That this signifies the state of the external man, is evident from the signification of " Sodom".

1700. Verse 13. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew, and he was dwelling in the oak-groves of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol, and the brother of Aner; and these were men of the covenant of Abram. "There came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew", signifies that the Lord perceived from His interior man; "Abram the Hebrew" is the interior man to which the internal or Divine man is adjoined; "and he was dwelling in the oak-groves of Mamre the Amorite", signifies the state of perception from the rational man; "the brother of Eshcol, and the brother of Aner, and these were men of the covenant of Abram", signifies the state of the rational man in respect to the external man as regards the quality of its goods and truths.

1701. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew. That this signifies that the Lord perceived from His interior man, is evident from the signification of "Abram the Hebrew", as being the interior man conjoined with the internal, explained just below. And as in the internal sense these things are predicated of the Lord, and the historicals are representative, it is evident that the coming of one who had escaped, and his telling, signifies nothing else than that the Lord perceived. The interior man perceives what is going on in the external man just as if one were to tell it. The Lord, who had a perception of all things that were taking place, knew very clearly the quality and the source of all that took place in connection with Himself, as for example if anything of evil were taking possession of the affections of His external man, or anything of falsity of its thoughts, He could not but know what it was, and whence; and also what evil spirits were exciting the evil and the falsity; and how they were exciting them, besides other things; for such things, and others beyond number, are not concealed from the angels, and scarcely from men who have celestial perception, still less from the lord.

1702. That "Abram the Hebrew" is the interior man to which the internal or Divine man was adjoined, may be seen from the signification of "Abram the Hebrew", or from the surnaming of Abram, in that he is here called "the Hebrew". In what goes before, and in what follows, where Abram is spoken of, he is not called the Hebrew; he is so called in this passage only; and therefore some distinct thing in the Lord is represented and signified by "Abram the Hebrew". that is represented and signified may be seen from the internal sense, namely, that it is the interior man adjoined to the internal or Divine man, as may likewise be seen from the series of things in the internal sense. The Hebrews are named in the Word when anything of servitude is signified, whatever it may be; as may be seen from what follows. The interior man is such that it serves the internal or Divine man; and for this reason the interior man is here called "Abram the Hebrew".

[2] What the interior man is, scarcely any one knows, and it must therefore be briefly stated. The interior man is intermediate between the internal and the external man. By the interior man the internal man communicates with the external; without this medium, no communication at all is possible. The celestial is distinct from the natural, and still more from the corporeal, and unless there is a medium by which there is communication, the celestial cannot operate at all into the natural, and still less into the corporeal. It is the interior man which is called the rational man; and this man, because it is intermediate, communicates with the internal man, where there is good itself and truth itself; and it also communicates with the exterior man, where there are evil and falsity. By means of the communication with the internal man, a man can think of celestial and spiritual things, or can look upward, which beasts cannot do. By means of the communication with the exterior man, a man can think of worldly and corporeal things, or can look downward; in this differing little from the beasts, which have in like manner an' idea of earthly things. In a word, the interior or middle man is the rational man himself, who is spiritual or celestial when he looks upward, but animal when he looks downward.

[3] It is well known that a man can know that he speaks in one way while thinking in another, and that he does one thing while willing another; and that there exist simulation and deceit; also that there is reason, or the rational; and that this is something interior, because it can dissent; and also that with one who is to be regenerated there is something interior which combats with that which is exterior. This that is interior, and that thinks and wills differently from the exterior, and that combats, is the interior man. In this interior man there is conscience with the spiritual man, and perception with the celestial. This interior man conjoined with the Divine internal man that was in the Lord, is what is here called "Abram the Hebrew".

1703. That the term "Hebrew" is predicated in the Word of some form of servitude, is evident from the following passages. In Moses: -

When thy brother, a Hebrew, or a Hebrewess, shall be sold unto thee, and serve thee six yea's, then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee (Deut. 15:12)

where it is said "a Hebrew" and " a Hebrewess", because servitude is treated of. In Jeremiah: -

At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew, who hath been sold unto thee, and hath served thee six" years (Jeremiah 34:9, 14)

where in like manner the term "Hebrew" is used, because servitude is treated of otherwise the sons of Jacob are not in the Prophets called "Hebrews". In Samuel: -

The Philistines said, Be strong, and be men, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews as they have been to you (1 Sam. 4:9)

where the word is used for the same reason.

[2] In Moses: -

Jehovah said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me (Exod. 9:1, 13; 10:3)

where they are called "Hebrews" from serving. The wife of Potiphar, speaking of Joseph: -

Called unto the men of her house, and said unto them, See, he hath brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us (Gen. 39:14).

Joseph is here called "a Hebrew" because he was a servant there. The chief of the butlers said unto Pharaoh: -

There was with us a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and he interpreted to us our dreams (Gen. 41:12).

Moreover, the Egyptians called the sons of Israel Hebrews", because they were servants, or in servitude, as is known (Exod. 1:15, 16, 19).

1704. And he was dwelling in the oak-groves of Mamre the Amorite. That this signifies the state of perception from the rational man, is evident from the signification of an "oak-grove", and of "the oak-groves of Mamre the Amorite", spoken of before (n. 1442, 1443, 1616).

1705. The brother of Eshcol, and the brother of Aner, and these were men of the covenant of Abram. That by these is signified the state of the rational man in respect to the external man, as regards the quality of its goods and truths, may be seen from their signification as explained below at (verse 24), where also they are named. In brief, by Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner, are represented and signified the angels who were with the Lord when He fought in His earliest childhood, and who were adapted to the goods and truths then with the Lord. They are named from these goods and truths. In no case does an angel in heaven have any name; it is goods and truths from which names are predicated of them; for instance, "Michael" and the other angels named in the Word are not angels with such names; but they bear these names from the office they fill, whatever it may be. It is the same here with Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner; but representatively.

1706. Verse 14. And Abram heard that his brother was taken captive; and he hastened his trained men that were born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued unto Dan. "Abram heard that his brother was taken captive", signifies that the interior man perceived in what state was the external man; "and he hastened his trained men that were born in his house", signifies those goods in the external man that were now delivered from the yoke of servitude; "three hundred and eighteen", signifies their quality; "and pursued unto Dan", signifies the commencement of purification.

1707. Abram heard that his brother was taken captive. That this signifies that the interior man perceived in what state the external was, is evident from the signification of "Abram" in the verse that immediately precedes this, as being the interior man to which the internal or Divine man was adjoined; and from the signification of "Lot", as being the external man, as has been shown before; also from the signification of "hearing that his brother was captive", as being to perceive in what state the external man was, namely, as was said in (verse 12), that apparent goods and truths had possession of it.

[2] The case is this: When the interior man (meant by "Abram the Hebrew") perceived that the goods and truths from which the combat was waged were not goods and truths except apparently, and that they had possession of the whole of the external man (signified by "Lot, his brother's son"), then the interior man, or the Divine internal man through the interior, purified them. How this is done, no one can possibly know but he to whom it has been revealed; for the influx of the internal man, through the interior or middle man, into the external man, is an arcanum, especially at the present time, when few, if any, know what the interior man is, and still less what the internal man is. What the internal man is, and what the interior man, may be seen just above, at (verse 13). But here it shall be briefly stated what is the nature of the influx.

[3] The internal man in every one belongs to the Lord alone; for there the Lord stores up the goods and truths with which He gifts man from infancy. Thence through these He flows into the interior or rational man, and through this into the exterior; in this way it is given to the man to think, and to be a man. But the influx from the internal man into the interior or middle man, and so into the exterior man, is twofold; it is either by celestial things, or by spiritual things or what is the same, it is either by goods, or by truths. By celestial things, or goods, it flows in only with regenerate men, who have been gifted either with perception or with conscience; thus it flows in by perception or by conscience; for which reason the influx by celestial things has no existence except with those who are in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor. But by spiritual things, or truths, the Lord flows in with every man; and unless there were this influx the man could not think, and therefore could not speak. then a man is such that he perverts the goods and truths, and when he cares nothing for celestial and spiritual things, there is then no influx of celestial things, or goods, but the way for these is closed; and yet there is an influx of spiritual things, or truths, for a way for them is continually kept open. Hence may be seen what is the nature of the interior or middle, that is, of the rational man.

[4] The internal man in the interior or middle man is here signified by "Abram". then the celestial things, or goods, flow in from the internal man into the interior man, the internal man then appropriates to itself the interior or middle man, and makes it its own but the interior or middle man is still distinct from the internal man. The case is similar when the internal man flows in through the interior or middle man into the exterior man, for then it likewise appropriates the exterior man to itself, and makes it its own; but yet the exterior man is distinct from the interior man. So now, when the internal man perceived in the interior or middle man that the state of the external man was such, namely, that the external man was made captive, that is, that not genuine but apparent goods and truths had taken possession of it, from which it had fought against so many enemies, it then flowed in, and reduced all things to order, and liberated it from the things which infested it, and thus purified it, that is to say, so that its goods and truths were not apparent but genuine goods and truths, and were thus conjoined with the internal or Divine man; and this, as before said, by means of the interior or middle man.

[5] In this the Lord was not like any man for His interior man as to celestial things or goods was Divine, and was adjoined to His internal man even from birth. His internal man, together with this interior man, was Jehovah Himself, His Father. But He was similar to other men in this, that His interior man as to spiritual things or truths had been adjoined to His external man, and thus was Human; but this also was made Divine, that is, Jehovah, by means of combats of temptations and continual victories from its own power. The external man is what is called "Lot;" in the former state however this is called "Abram's brothers son", but in this "Abram's brother;" for it was called his brother's son when possessed by apparent goods and truths, but his brother when possessed by genuine goods and truths.

1708. And he hastened his trained men that were born in his house. That this signifies these goods and truths in the external man which were now delivered from the yoke of servitude, is evident from the signification of the "trained men", as also of those "born in Abram's house". Abram's "men in training", or novitiates, in the internal sense, are those goods in the external man which can be conjoined with the interior man; those "born in the house", in the internal sense, are the same goods and also truths, as being proper to that man. But these things contain more arcana that can be told; in the first place these- how, after the combats of temptations, apparent goods become genuine goods, and that they can then be conjoined with the interior or middle man, and through this with the internal man, and be made in like manner Divine. For the Lord adjoined His Human Essence to His Divine Essence by degrees, and this by means of combats of temptations and victories, as before said. These goods that were made genuine are what are called Abram's "men in training", or novitiates for these goods were in training, and were novitiates; and as they were procured by His own power, they are called "born in his house".

1709. Three hundred and eighteen men. That this signifies their quality, namely, that they are the holy things of combat, is involved in the number "eighteen", and also in the number "three hundred;" for these numbers are composed of three and six. "Three" signifies what is holy (n. 720, 901); and "six" combat (n. 737, 900). That Abram hastened so many, is an historical truth but still it was representative, as is all the history in the Word in the five books of Moses, in Joshua, in Judges, in Samuel, in the Kings, in Daniel, and in Jonah, where the numbers in like manner involve arcana; for nothing has been written in the Word which was not of this nature, otherwise it would not be the Word, and otherwise it would not have been related that Abram hastened three hundred and eighteen; and also that these were in training, and born in his house; besides many other things which are said in this chapter.

1710. And pursued even to Dan. That this signifies a state of purification, is evident from the connection of the things in the internal sense. To "pursue the enemies" is here to expel the evils and falsities which were with the goods and truths, and that caused them to merely appear to be goods and truths, and thus to liberate and purify them. "Even to Dan", signifies to the farthest limit of Canaan, thus to the uttermost boundaries whither they had fled. That Dan" signifies the farthest limits, or the extreme boundaries of Canaan, is evident in many places in the Word. As in Samuel: -

To transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beer-sheba (2 Sam. 3:10).

Again: -

In gathering, all Israel shall be gathered together, from Dan even to Beer-sheba (2 Sam. 17:11).

Again: -

David said to Joab, Go now to and fro through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba (2 Sam. 24:2, 15).

In the book of Kings: -

Judah and Israel dwelt in safety, every man under his vine and under this fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba (1 Kings 4:25).

From these passages it is evident that Dan was the farthest boundary of Canaan, whither the enemies were pursued which infested the goods and truths of the external man. But as Dan was a boundary of Canaan, and therefore within Canaan, lest they should stay there, they were driven further, namely, "to Hobah on the left of Damascus", as is evident from the things stated in the verse next following, and in this way purification was effected. By the land of Canaan, in a holy sense, as before said, is signified the Lord's kingdom, thus the celestial of love, or good; primarily, the good with the Lord.

1711. Verse 15. And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus. "He divided himself against them by night,' signifies the shade in which the apparent goods and truths were "he and his servants", signifies the rational man, and the things in the external man which obeyed; "and smote them", signifies vindication; "and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus", signifies as far as this extended.

1712. He divided himself against them by night. That this signifies the shade in which the apparent goods and truths were, is evident from the signification of "night", as being a state of shade. There is said to be a state of shade when it is not known whether the good and truth are apparent or are genuine. When any one is in apparent good and truth, be supposes them to be genuine good and truth; the evil and falsity that are in apparent good and truth are what cause the shade, and make them appear genuine. They who are in ignorance can know no otherwise than that the good which they do is their own, and that the truth which they think is their own, and it is the same with those who attribute to themselves the goods they do, and place merit in them, not knowing that in this case they are not good, although they appear so; and that the Own and self-merit which they place in them are the evils and falsities which obscure and darken. So in many other cases.

[2] The kind and the measure of the evil and falsity which lie concealed in them, cannot possibly be so well seen in the life of the body as in the other life, where they are presented to view as in clear light. But the case is different if this is done from ignorance that is not confirmed, for in this case those evils and falsities are easily dispersed. But if men confirm themselves in the belief that they can do good and resist evil by their own powers, and that they thus merit salvation, in this case this idea remains attached, and causes the good to be evil, and the truth to be falsity. But still it is according to order for a man to do good as of himself; and therefore he ought not to slacken his hand, with the thought, "If I can do nothing of good from myself, I ought to wait for immediate influx", and thus remain in a passive state, for this would be contrary to order but he must do good as of himself; yet, when he reflects upon the good which he does or has done, let him think, acknowledge, and believe that the Lord has done the work in him.

[3] If he slackens his effort, thinking as has been said, he is then not a subject into which the Lord can operate. The Lord cannot flow into any one who deprives himself of everything into which power can be infused. It is as if one were not willing to learn anything without a revelation to himself; or as if one would teach nothing unless the words were put into him; or as if one would attempt nothing unless he were put into action as one without will. But if these things were done. he would be still more indignant at being like an inanimate thing; when yet that which is animated by the Lord in a man is that which appears as if it were from himself. It is thus an eternal truth that a man does not live from himself, but that if he did not appear to live from himself he could not live at all.

1713. He and his servants. That this signifies the rational man, and the things in the external man which obeyed, is evident from the signification of " he", that is, of Abram, as being the interior man (explained above); and from the signification of "servants", as being the things which obey. All the things that are in the external man before it has been liberated and vindicated, are called "servants", for they do nothing but render obedience to the interior man. For example: in the exterior man there are affections and there are memory-knowledges the former are from the goods of the interior man, and the latter are from the truths of the same. When these are made to act so that they accord with the interior man, they are said to serve and obey; and therefore by "servants" nothing else is here signified than those things in the external man which obeyed.

1714. And smote them. That this signifies vindication, is evident from the connection, and without explication.

1715. And pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus. That this signifies as far as this extended, is evident from the signification of Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus". It is not known where Hobah was situated, as there is no further mention of it in the Word. But Damascus was the principal city of Syria (2 Sam. 8:5, 6; Isa. 7:8); and by it is signified almost the same as by Syria (Gen. 10:22) The farthest boundary of the land of Canaan, beyond Dan, is described as being Damascus, as in Amos: -

Ye have taken up Siccuth your king, and Chiun your images the star of your gods which ye made to yourselves, and I will cause you to go away beyond Damascus (Amos 5:26, 27).

The boundary of the holy land, or of the Lord's kingdom, toward the north, is also called the "boundary of Damascus" (Ezek. 47:16-18; 48:1). Here, where it is said that they were smitten and driven as far as Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus, there is signified the extent to which the apparent goods and truths were purified. But unless it is known what was the character of the apparent goods and truths, and by what means they were purified so as to be made genuine, it cannot be explained what is properly meant here by Hobah, on the left of Damascus; except in a general way, that they were purified.

1716. Verse 16. And he brought back all the substance, and also brought back his brother Lot and his substance, and the women also, and the people. "He brought back all the substance", signifies that the interior man reduced all things in the external man into a conforming state; "and also brought back his brother Lot and his substance", signifies the external man and all the things belonging to it; "the women and the people", signifies both the goods and the truths.

1717. And he brought back all the substance. That this signifies that the interior man reduced all things in the external man into a conforming state, may be seen from the signification of "bringing back all the substance". The "substance" here is the things which Chedorlaomer and the kings with him took from their enemies; as told in what goes before. By Chedorlaomer and the kings with him, are signified the goods and truths of the exterior man. The substance they took from their enemies was nothing else than their being deprived of the power of doing evil and thinking falsity, which was signified by the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah, and by all the food which they took (verse 11).

[2] This matter is of such a nature that it cannot be set forth in few words; but what here follows may be sufficient to give some notion of it. He who is in the combats of temptations, and overcomes, acquires to himself more and more a power (potestas) over the evil spirits, or over the diabolical crew, till at last they do not dare to tempt at all. But as often as a victory is gained, so often does the Lord reduce into order the goods and truths from which the combat was waged; and so often are they thus purified; and so far as they are purified, so far are the celestial things of love insinuated into the exterior man, and a correspondence effected. These are the things that are signified by bringing back all the substance.

[3] He who supposes that the external man can be reduced into correspondence without combats of temptations is mistaken for temptations are the means of dissipating evils and falsities, as also of introducing goods and truths, and of reducing the things which are of the external man into obedience, so that it may serve the interior or rational man, and through this the internal, that is, the Lord operating through the internal man. That these things are effected by temptations, no one can know but he who has been regenerated through temptations. But how this is done can scarcely be described even in the most general manner, since it is done without the man's knowing whence and how; for it is the Lord's Divine operation.

1718. And also brought back his brother Lot and his substance. That this signifies the external man and all that belongs to it, is evident from the signification of "Lot", which is the external man, as has been stated several times before. What the external man is, is scarcely known at this day; for it is thought that only that which belongs to the body constitutes the external man as the faculties of sense, namely, the touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight; and also the appetites and pleasures. But these constitute the outermost man, which is merely corporeal. The knowledges that belong to the memory, and the affections that are of the love, with which the man has been imbued, properly constitute the external man; also those faculties of sense which properly belong to the spirit, together with the pleasures that the spirit enjoys. That these properly constitute the external or exterior man, is evident from men in the other life, that is, spirits. These in like manner possess an external man, and in like manner an interior man, and consequently an internal man. The body is only as it were a covering, a crust, which is dissolved in order that the man may truly live, and that all things belonging to him may become more excellent.

1719. The women and the people. That this signifies both the goods and the truths, may be seen from the signification of "wives" and of "daughters", as being what is good (n. 489-491, 568, 915)-here the word "women" is used instead of wives and daughters; and from the signification of "people", as being truth (n. 1259, 1260).

1720. Verse 17. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from smiting Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, this is the king's valley. "The king of Sodom went out to meet him", signifies that the evil and falsity submitted themselves; "after his return from smiting Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him", signifies the liberation and vindication of the apparent goods and truths; "at the valley of Shaveh, this is the king's valley", signifies the state of the external man as to goods and truths at that time.

1721. The king of Sodom went out to meet him. That this signifies that the evil and falsity submitted themselves, is evident from the signification of "the king of Sodom", as being the evil and falsity against which was the combat; and from the signification of "going out to meet", as being to submit one's self. The king of Sodom is here spoken of, because the fact that evil and falsity submitted themselves occurs here in the series; but he is specially treated of in (verse 21).

1722. After his return from smiting Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him. That this signifies the liberation and vindication of the apparent goods and truths, is evident from the things which precede, and from what was said above concerning Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him.

1723. At the valley of Shaveh, this is the king's valley. That this signifies the state of the external man as to goods and truths at that time, may be seen from the signification of "the valley of Shaveh", and also of "the king's valley". "The valley of Shaveh" signifies the goods of the external man; and "the king's valley" signifies the truths of the same. The external man is called a "valley" from the fact that it is below. That which is more external is also lower, as that which is more internal is also higher. That a "king" signifies truth, has been said before (n. 1672).

1724. Verse 18. And Melchizedek king of Salem bought forth bread and wine; and he was priest to God Most High. "Melchizedek" signifies the celestial things of the interior man in the Lord; "king of Salem", signifies a state of peace as to interior or rational things; "brought forth bread", signifies celestial things and the refreshment from them; "and wine", signifies spiritual things and the refreshment from them; "and he was priest", signifies the holy of love; "to God Most High", signifies the internal man, which is Jehovah.

1725. Melchizedek. That this signifies the celestial things of the interior man in the Lord, may be seen from the signification of the name "Melchizedek", to be explained presently; and also from the things that precede and from those which follow. What the internal man is, and what the interior man, and what the external, has been sufficiently shown above; also that the internal man flows in through the interior man into the external; as also that the internal man flows into the interior man either by celestial things or by spiritual things; by celestial things with every regenerate man, that is, with those who live in love to the Lord and in love toward the neighbor; but by spiritual things with every man, whatever his quality may be; thence is his light from heaven, that is, his ability to think and speak, and to be a man. On this subject see what was said before (n. 1707).

[2] The celestial things of the interior man are all those which are of celestial love, as has often been said before. These celestial things in the Lords interior man, or the Lord's interior man as to these celestial things, is called "Melchizedek". The internal man in the Lord was Jehovah Himself. The interior man, when purified after the combats of temptations, was also made Divine and Jehovah; in like manner also the external; but now, when the interior man was in the state of the combats of temptation, and was not yet much purified by the combats of the temptations, it is called as to the celestial things "Melchizedek", that is, "King of holiness and righteousness".

[3] That this is really so, may also be seen in David, where the Lord's combats of temptations are in like manner treated of, and at last His interior man as to celestial things is called "Melchizedek". Thus in David: -

Jehovah said unto my Lord, bit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. Jehovah shall send forth the scepter of Thy strength out of Zion; rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies. Thy people are willing offerings in the day of Thy might in honors of holiness from the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of Thy birth. Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever, after My word Melchizedek. The Lord at Thy right hand smote through kings in the day of His anger (Ps. 110:1-5).

Here the Lord's combats of temptations with the hells are treated of, as in the chapter before us, as may be seen from every word. That the Lord is here treated of He Himself teaches (Matt. 22:41-43; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42-44); to "make His enemies His footstool", to "rule in the midst of His enemies", the "day of might", to " smite kings in the day of His anger", signify the combats of temptations, and victories.

1726. King of Salem. That this signifies a state of peace as to interior or rational things, is evident from the signification of "Salem". In the original language "Salem" means "peace", and also "perfection;" thus it signifies a state of peace, and a state of perfection. A state of peace is the state of the Lord's kingdom; in that state the Lord's celestial and spiritual things are as in their morning, and in their spring; for peace is like the dawn in the early morning, and like the spring in the springtime. The dawn and the spring cause all things that then meet the senses to be full of joy and gladness; every object draws an affection from the general one of the dawn and of the springtime. So is it with the state of peace in the Lord's kingdom: in the state of peace all celestial and spiritual things are as it were in their morning or springtide flower and smile, that is, in their happiness itself. So does the state of peace affect everything, for the Lord is peace itself. This is signified by Salem also in David: -

In Judah is God known, His name is great in Israel, in Salem also is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place in Zion (Ps. 76:1, 2).

When a man is in the combats of temptations, he is by turns gifted by the Lord with a state of peace, and is thus refreshed. A state of peace is here signified by "Salem;" and presently also by the "bread and wine", by which celestial and spiritual things are signified; thus a state of celestial and spiritual things in peace, which state is refreshment itself.

1727. Brought forth bread and wine. That to "bring forth bread" signifies celestial things and refreshment from them, and to "bring forth wine" signifies spiritual things and refreshment from them, is evident from the signification of "bread", as being what is celestial (n. 276, 680); and from the signification of "wine", as also of the "vine" and the "vineyard", as being what is spiritual (n. 1069, 1071). and because "bread" signifies celestial things, and " wine" spiritual things, they were made symbols also in the Holy Supper. That Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine, has here a similar signification; for bread in the Ancient Church was the representative of all celestial things, and wine the representative of all spiritual things; thus here of the Lord Himself, from whom is all that is celestial and all that is spiritual.

1728. And he was priest. That this signifies the holy of love, is evident from the signification of "priest" in the Word. There are two things which are predicated of the Lord, namely, that He is King, and that He is Priest. A king, or the royalty, signifies the holy which is true; and a priest, or the priesthood, signifies the holy which is good; the former is the Divine spiritual, the latter the Divine celestial. The Lord as King governs each and all things in the universe from Divine truth; and as Priest, from Divine good. Divine truth is the very order of His universal kingdom, all the laws of which are truths, or eternal verities Divine good is the very essential of order, all things of which are of mercy. Both of these are predicated of the Lord. If Divine truth alone were His, no mortal could be saved, for truths condemn every one to bell; but Divine good, which is of mercy, uplifts from hell to heaven. These are what the kings and priests in the Jewish Church represented and these likewise Melchizedek represented, as king of Salem, and priest to God Most High.

1729. To God Most High. That this signifies the internal man, which is Jehovah, is evident from what has been said already several times concerning the Lord's internal man, that it is Jehovah Himself, and thus that the Lord is the same as Jehovah the Father; as He Himself says in John: -

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. Philip saith, Show us the Father. Jesus saith unto him, Am I so long time with you, and dost thou not know Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? Believe Me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:6, 8-11).

[2] It is the Lord's Human Essence which is called the " Son of man;" which also, after the combats of the temptations, was united to His Divine Essence, so that it was itself also made Jehovah; wherefore in heaven they know no other Jehovah the Father than the Lord (n. 15). With the Lord all is Jehovah; not only His internal and His interior man, but also the external man, and the very body; and therefore He alone rose into heaven with the body also; as is sufficiently evident in the Gospels, where His resurrection is treated of; as also from the words of the Lord Himself: -

Wherefore do thoughts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet (Luke 24:38-40).

1730. Verse 19. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram to God Most High, Possessor of the heavens and the earth. "And he blessed him", signifies the enjoyment of celestial and spiritual things "and said, Blessed be Abram to God Most High", signifies the Lord's interior man, that it came into the enjoyment of goods from His internal man; "Possessor of the heavens and the earth", signifies the conjunction of the internal man, or Jehovah, with the interior and the exterior man.

1731. He blessed him. That this signifies the enjoyment of celestial and spiritual things, may be seen from the signification of "blessing", as being to enjoy all goods (n. 981, 1096). They are in the enjoyment of all goods who enjoy celestial and spiritual goods for all goods, of whatever name, are from these. The things which are contained in this verse declare and proclaim the conjunction of the Lord's Human Essence with His Divine Essence the blessing itself involves this.

1732. Blessed be Abram to God Most High. That this signifies the Lord's interior man, that it came into the enjoyment of goods from His internal man, is in like manner evident from the signification of "blessing" as being the enjoyment of goods, as before said; also from the signification of "Abram" here, as being the interior or rational man, treated of above (verse 13); and also from the signification of "God Most High", as being the Lord's internal, which subject also has been treated of before. By "Abram", as before said, is signified the interior or rational man which is to be united to the internal man or Jehovah, and this by the combats of temptations and victories. For with the interior man the case is as follows The interior man, as before said, is intermediate between the internal and the external man, and enables the internal man to flow into the external; for without the interior man there is no communication. There is thus effected a communication of celestial things, and of spiritual. When the communication was of celestial things, the interior man was called "Melchizedek;" but when there is a communication of spiritual things, it is called "Abram the Hebrew".

1733. Possessor of the heavens and the earth. This signifies the conjunction of the internal man or Jehovah with the interior and the exterior man, as appears from the signification of "heaven and earth". That which is interior in man is called heaven;" and that which is exterior is called " earth". The reason why "heaven" signifies that which is interior in man, is that a man as to his interiors is an image of heaven, and so is a kind of little heaven. Primarily the Lord's interior man is heaven, because the Lord is the all in all of heaven, and thus is heaven itself. It follows from this that the exterior man is called the earth. For the same reason also, by the "new heavens" and the "new earth", spoken of in the Prophets and in the Apocalypse, nothing else is meant than the Lord's kingdom, and every one who is a kingdom of the Lord, or in who')) the Lord's kingdom is. That "heaven and earth" signify these things may be seen, as to "heaven", (n. 82, 911); and as to "earth", (n. 82, 620, 636, 913).

[2] That here "God Most High, Possessor of the heavens and earth", signifies the conjunction in the Lord of the internal man with the interior and exterior man, may be seen from the fact that as to His internal man the Lord was Jehovah Himself; and because the internal man or Jehovah led and instructed the external, as a father his son, therefore relatively to Jehovah He is called, as to the external man, the "Son of God;" but relatively to the mother, He is called the " Son of man". The Lord's internal man, which is Jehovah Himself, is what is here called "God Most High;" and before plenary conjunction or union was effected, it is called " Possessor of the heavens and earth", that is, Possessor of all things which are in the interior and the exterior man; for these, as before said, are here meant by "the heavens and the earth".

1734. Verse 20. And blessed be God Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. "Blessed be God Most High", signifies the Lord's internal man; "who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand", signifies victory. "And he gave him tithes of all", signifies remains derived from victory.

1735. Blessed be God Most High. That this signifies the Lord's internal man, is evident from the things which were said just above concerning the internal man. In the Ancient Church, Jehovah was called "God Most High" for the reason that "height" represented and therefore signified what is internal, and thus "the Most High" signified what is inmost. Hence the worship of the Ancient Church was upon high places, mountains, and hills. The inmost also has the same relation to the exterior and the outermost, as the highest bears to the lower and the lowest. The Most High or the Inmost is the Celestial of Love, or Love itself. Jehovah, or he Lord's internal man, was the very Celestial of Love, that is, Love itself, to which no other attributes are fitting than those of pure Love, thus of pure Mercy toward the whole human race which is such that it wills to save all and make them happy to eternity, and to bestow on them all that it has; thus out of pure mercy to draw all who are willing to follow, to heaven, that is, to itself, by the strong force of love. This Love itself is Jehovah.

[2] Of nothing can Am or Is be predicated except of Love. From this Love-because in Love, or of Love itself-is the very Being (Esse) of all life, that is, Life itself; and because Jehovah alone is the Being of life, or Life itself, as He alone is Love, each and all things have thence their being and their life; nor can any one be and live of himself except Jehovah alone, that is, the Lord alone; and as no one can be and live of himself except the Lord alone, it is a fallacy of sense that men seem to themselves to live of themselves. The angels plainly perceive that they do not live of themselves, but from the Lord, since they live in the very being of the Lord's life, because in His love. But yet to them above all others there is given the appearance as of living from themselves, together with ineffable happiness. This therefore is to live in the Lord, which is never possible unless we live in His love, that is, in charity toward the neighbor.

1736. That the Lord is Jehovah, who is here called "God Most High", is plainly evident from the Word. In Isaiah: -

Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth is He called (Isaiah 54:5)

where it is plain that the Redeemer and the Holy One of Israel, who is the Lord alone, is "Jehovah Zebaoth" and "the God of the whole earth". Again: -

Thus said Jehovah thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah thy God (Isaiah 48:17).

Again: -

I do help thee, saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 41:14).

The expressions "the Holy One of Israel", and "the God of Israel" occur many times. That the Lord is the Holy One of Israel and the God of Israel is clearly evident in that They saw the God of Israel, and there was under His feet as it were a work of sapphire stone, and as it were the substance of heaven for clearness (Exod. 24:10).

[2] No other was acknowledged and called Jehovah by the Jewish Church, for it worshiped the one God Jehovah, and this was the more fully the case for the reason-which was unknown to most of them-that all the rites of that church represented the Lord, and all the things of the Word in the internal sense were significative of Him. In Isaiah: -

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord Jehovih will wipe away the tear from off all faces. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is Jehovah, we have waited for Him; let us exult and be glad in his salvation (Isaiah 25:8, 9),

treating of the coming of the Lord.

[3] In the same: -

Behold the Lord Jehovih will come in strength, and His arm shall rule for Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd, He shall gather the little lambs in His arm, He shall carry them in His bosom, He shall lead the sucklings (Isa. 40:10, 11).

Here the Lord is plainly spoken of, who is "the Lord Jehovih". That He "shall come in strength", and "His arm rule for Him", signifies that He would conquer the hells by His own power; to "feed His flock, gather the little lambs in His arm, carry them in His bosom, and lead the sucklings", are predicated of His love or mercy.

[4] Again: -

Thus said Jehovah that created the heavens, God Himself that formed the earth and made it, He established it, He created it not an emptiness, He formed it to be inhabited: I am Jehovah, and there is none else. Am not I Jehovah, and there is no God else besides Me? a just God, and a Saviour, there is none besides Me. Look unto Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth for I am God, and there is none else (Isa. 45:18, 21, 22).

Here the Lord is manifestly spoken of as being alone Jehovah and God. To "create the heavens and form the earth" is to regenerate, thus the Creator of heaven and earth is the Regenerator, (n. 16, 88, 472); and therefore the Lord is often called the Creator, Former, and Maker.

[5] Again:

Thou art our Father, for Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us. Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father, our Redeemer, Thy name is from everlasting (Isa. 63:16).

Here the Lord is plainly meant, who alone is the "Redeemer". In Moses: -

Take heed of His face, and hear His voice, provoke Him not, for He will not bear your transgression, for My name is in the midst of Him (Exod. 23:21).

That "name" means essence, see above (n. 144, 145); and "in the midst" means the inmost (n. 1074).

[6] In Isaiah: -

Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6),

plainly said of the Lord. In Jeremiah: -

Behold the days come that I will raise unto David a righteous offshoot, and He shall reign a King, and shall act intelligently, and shall do judgment and justice in the earth; in His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell in confidence; and this is His name whereby they shall call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5, 6),

plainly meaning the Lord. In Zechariah: -

Jehovah shall be King over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Jehovah, and His name one (Zechariah 14:9),

plainly speaking of the Lord. The "name" denotes the essence.

1737. Who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. That this signifies victory, may be seen without explication. The conjunction of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence was procured and effected by the Lord by continual combats of temptations and victories, and this from His own power. He who apprehends the mode of the conjunction and union in any other way is much mistaken. By this He became righteousness. The conjunction or union was effected with the Celestial of Love, that is, with Love itself, which, as before said, is Jehovah. The conjunction of men with the Lord is also effected by temptations, and by the implanting of faith in love. Unless faith is implanted in love, that is, unless a man by the things that are of faith receives the life of faith, that is, charity, there is no conjunction. This alone is to follow Him, namely, to be conjoined with the Lord just as the Lord as to His Human Essence was conjoined with Jehovah. Hence also all such are called "sons of God", from the Lord who was the only Son of God, and hence they become images of Him.

1738. And he gave him tithes of all. That this signifies remains derived from victory, is evident from the signification of" tithes", as being remains (n. 576). But what remains are may be seen above (n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 661, 1050), namely, that they are all the states of love and charity, and consequently all the states of innocence and peace, with which a man is gifted. These states are given to man from infancy, but less by degrees as the man advances into adult age. But when a man is being regenerated, he then receives new remains also, besides the former, thus new life. For it is from remains, or by remains, that a man is a man; for without the state of love and charity, and without the state of innocence-which states insinuate themselves into the other states of his life-a man is not a man, but is worse than any wild beast. The remains acquired in the combats of temptations are those which are here meant. These remains are what are signified by the tithes given to Melchizedek by Abram; and they are all the celestial things of love which the Lord procured to Himself by the continual combats and victories by which He was continually being united to His Divine Essence, until His Human Essence in like manner became Love, or the Being of life, that is, Jehovah.

1739. Verse 21. And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the soul, and take the substance to thyself. "The king of Sodom said", signifies the evil and falsity which were over-come; "unto Abram", signifies the Lord's rational; "Give me the soul, and take the substance to thyself", signifies that He should give them life, and they would not care for other things.

1740. The king of Sodom said. That this signifies the evil and falsity which were overcome, is evident from the signification of "Sodom", which is evil and falsity, as was shown above in this chapter. It is said in (verse 17), that the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram, by which is signified that evil and falsity submitted themselves; it is now added that they are suppliants.

[2] That evil and falsity were conquered, or that evils and falsities are conquered by the combats of temptations, and that goods and truths are thereby put on, comes from the fact that evils and falsities are thus dissipated; and when these have been dissipated goods and truths succeed in their place; and these are afterwards confirmed more and more, and are thus strengthened. For it is by evil spirits that evils and falsities are excited; and unless they are excited, the man scarcely knows that they are evils and falsities; but when excited they are manifest. And the longer the combats of temptations last, the more manifest do the evils and falsities become, until at last they are held in abhorrence.

[3] And as evils and falsities are dissipated, goods and truths take their place; and the greater the horror that is conceived for evils and falsities, the more of love for goods and truths is insinuated by the Lord. And further, the greater the horror for evils and falsities, the less do evil spirits dare to approach, for they cannot endure aversion and horror for the evils and falsities in which their life consists, and are sometimes seized with terror on their first approach. And the more of love there is for goods and truths, the more do the angels love to be with the man, and together with the angels, heaven; for they are in their own life when in the goods of love and truths of faith.

1741. To Abram. That this signifies the Lord's rational, is evident from the representation of Abram. In the two chapters which precede, Abram represented the Lord or His state in childhood here in this chapter, he represents the Lord's rational, and is then called "Abram the Hebrew;" as is evident from what has been said and shown above at (verse 13); and here the representation is the same; for in this chapter no other Abram is meant than Abram the Hebrew. The Lord's spiritual which is adjoined to His internal man is Abram the Hebrew but the celestial which is adjoined to His internal man is represented and signified by Melchizedek, as before said.

1742. Give me the soul, and take the substance to thyself. That this signifies that He should give them life, and they would not care for other things, is evident from the signification of "soul", as being life (n. 1000, 1005, 1040); and from the signification of the "substance", as being the other things that are not so properly of life, of which more will be said presently.

[2] The life which evil spirits have, and which they love extremely, is the life of the cupidities of the love of self and of the world, hence a life of hatreds, revenge, and cruelties; and they suppose that there can be no delight in any other life. They are like men-for they have been men, and they retain this belief from their life when they were men-who place all life in the delights of such cupidities, not knowing but that such life is the only life, and that when they lose it they will utterly die. But of what nature is that life which they love, is plain from those of this character in the other life, where it is turned into a fetid and excrementitious life, and wonderful to say, they perceive the stench as most enjoyable; as may be seen from what is related from experience in (n. 820, 954).

[3] It was the same with the demons, who, when the Lord cast them out of the maniac, fearing for their life, asked that they might be sent into the swine (Mark 5:7-13). That these demons were those who in the life of the body had been given up to filthy avarice, may be seen from the fact that such seem to themselves in the other life to pass their time among swine, for the reason that the life of swine corresponds to avarice, and is therefore delightful to them; as is evident from what is related from experience in (n. 939).

1743. Verse 22. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand to Jehovah God Most High, Possessor of the heavens and the earth. "Abram said to the king of Sodom", signifies the reply; "I have lifted up my hand to Jehovah", signifies the state of mind in the Lord; "Possessor of the heavens and the earth", signifies conjunction.

1744. Abram said to the king of Sodom. That this signifies the reply, is evident without explication.

1745. I have lifted up my hand to Jehovah. That this signifies the state of mind in the Lord, is evident from the signification of "lifting up the hands". The lifting up of the hand to Jehovah is a gesture of the body corresponding to an affection of the mind, as is well known. In the sense of the letter, those things which are interior, or of the mind, are expressed by external things which correspond; but in the internal sense it is internal things that are meant; here therefore the lifting up of the hand means the mind, or an affection of the mind.

[2] So long as the Lord was in a state of temptations, He spoke with Jehovah as with another; but so far as His Human Essence was united to His Divine Essence, He spoke with Jehovah as with Himself; which is evident from many passages in the Gospels, as also from many in the Prophets and in David. The cause is clearly evident from what has been said before concerning the inheritance from the mother. So far as this remained, He was as it were absent from Jehovah; but so far as this was extirpated, He was present, and was Jehovah Himself.

[3] This may be illustrated by the conjunction of the Lord with the angels. Sometimes an angel does not speak from himself, but from the Lord, and he then does not know but that he is the Lord; but then his externals are quiescent. It is otherwise when his externals are active. The reason is, that the internal man of the angels is the Lord's possession; and so far then as there are no obstructions on the part of what is their own, it is the Lord's, and even is the Lord. But in the Lord, a plenary conjunction or an eternal union with Jehovah was wrought, so that His very Human Essence also is Jehovah.

1746. Possessor of the heavens and the earth. This signifies conjunction, as appears from what was said above, at (verse 19); where the same words occur, with the same signification.

1747. Verse 23. That from a thread even to the thong of a shoe, I will not take aught that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have enriched Abram. "That from a thread even to the thong of a shoe", signifies all natural and corporeal things that were unclean; "I will not take aught that is thine", signifies that in celestial love here was nothing of the kind; "lest thou shouldest say, I have enriched Abram", signifies that the Lord derived no strength whatever from such things.

1748. That from a thread even to the thong (or latchet) of a shoe. That this signifies all natural and corporeal things that were unclean, is evident from the signification of "the thong of a shoe". In the Word the sole of the foot and the heel signify the ultimate natural (n. 259). A shoe is that which covers the sole of the foot and the heel; a "shoe" therefore signifies what is natural still further, thus the corporeal itself. The signification of a "shoe" is according to the subject. When predicated of goods it is taken in a good sense; and when of evil, in a bad sense; as here in treating of the substance of the king of Sodom, by whom evil and falsity are signified, the "thong of a shoe" signifies unclean natural and corporeal things. By the "thread of a shoe" falsity is signified, and by the "thong of a shoe" evil, and this the most worthless of all, because the word is a diminutive.

[2] That such things are signified by a "shoe", is evident also from other passages in the Word; as when Jehovah appeared to Moses out of the midst of the bush, and said to Moses: -

Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground (Exod. 3:5).

The prince of the army of Jehovah said in like manner to Joshua: -

Put off thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holiness (Josh. 5:15).

Here every one can see that the shoe would take away nothing from the holiness, provided the man were holy in himself; but that it was said for the reason that the shoe represented the ultimate natural and corporeal which was to be put off.

[3] That it is the unclean natural and corporeal, is also plain in David: -

Moab is my washpot, upon Edom will I cast My shoe (Ps. 60:8).

The command to the disciples involves what is similar:-

Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, as ye go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet (Matt. 10:14; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5)

where the "dust of the feet" has a signification like that of a "shoe", namely, uncleanness from evil and falsity, because the sole of the foot is the ultimate natural. They were commanded to do this because they were at that time in representatives, and thought that heavenly arcana were stored up in these alone, and not in naked truths.

[4] Because a "shoe" signified the ultimate natural, the putting off of the shoe, or the shoe-loosing, signified that one should be divested of the ultimate things of nature; as in the case of him who was not willing to fulfill the duty of brother-in-law, spoken of in Moses: -

If the man is not willing to fulfill the duties of a husband's brother, then his brother's wife shall come unto him in the eyes of the elders, and draw his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and Say, So shall it be done to the man that doth not build up his brother's house. And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe taken off (Deut. 25:5-10);

meaning that which is devoid of all natural charity.

[5] That a "shoe" signifies the ultimate natural, in a good sense also, is likewise evident from the Word; as in Moses, concerning Asher: -

Blessed be Asher above the sons; let him be acceptable unto his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil; iron and brass shall thy shoe be (Deut. 33:24, 25)

where the "shoe" denotes the ultimate natural; a "shoe of iron" natural truth, a "shoe of brass" natural good, as is evident from the signification of iron and brass (n. 425, 426). And because a "shoe" signified the ultimate natural and corporeal, it became a symbol of what is least and most worthless; for the ultimate natural and corporeal is the most worthless of all things in man. This was meant by John the Baptist, when be said,

There cometh One that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose (Luke 3:16; Mark 1:7; John 1:27).

1749. I will not take aught that is thine. That this signifies that in celestial love there was nothing of the kind, may be seen from the fact that it was Abram who said that he would not take aught from the king of Sodom. Abram represented the Lord, now victorious, and thus the things which were of celestial love, which He procured to Himself by the victories; and the king of Sodom represented evil and falsity, from which there was nothing in the Lord as a victor, or in celestial love.

[2] What is meant by these things in the internal sense cannot be made evident unless it be known how the case is in the other life. With evil and infernal spirits there reigns the love of self and of the world. Hence they think that they are the gods of the universe, and that they can do much. When they are vanquished, although they perceive that they can do nothing at all, there still remains the notion of power and dominion; and they think that they can contribute much to the Lord's power and dominion, and therefore in order that they may reign together with the good spirits, they offer them their services. But as the things by which they think that they can effect anything are nothing but evil and falsity; and in the Lord, or in celestial love, there is nothing but good and truth, the king of Sodom, by whom such are represented, is here told in reply that there was nothing of the bind in the Lord, or that the Lord had no power from evil and falsity.

[3] Dominion from evil and falsity is altogether contrary to dominion from good and truth. Dominion from evil and falsity consists in desiring to make all slaves; dominion from good and truth in desiring to make all free. Dominion from evil and falsity consists in destroying all; but dominion from good and truth in saving all. From which it is evident that dominion from evil and falsity is of the devil, and that dominion from good and truth is of the Lord. That the two kinds of dominion are altogether contrary to each other may be seen from the Lord's words in (Matthew 12:24-30); also from His saying that no one can serve two masters (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13).

1750. Lest thou shouldest say, I have enriched Abram. That this signifies that the Lord derived no strength whatever from such things, may be seen from the signification of "being enriched", which is to acquire power and strength. How these things are, is evident from what has just been said.

1751. Verse 24. Save only that which the lads have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me; Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, let them take their portion. "Save only that which the lads have eaten", signifies the good spirits; "and the portion of the men who went with me", signifies the angels; "Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre", signifies the things that appertained to them; "let them take their portion", signifies that they have been given into their power (potestas).

1752. Save only that which the lads have eaten. That this signifies the good spirits, is evident from what precedes, and from what follows. It is evident from what precedes, for Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner are mentioned above (verse 13) as being allies of the covenant of Abram, by whom was signified the state of the Lord's rational man as to His external man, in respect to the quality of its goods and truths; and thus it is evident that by them were signified the angels who were with the Lord when He was combating, as is plain from the explication there given. The same is evident from what follows, as will presently appear. Those who went with Abram are here called "the lads" or "children", by whom no others are meant than good spirits but by "the men", who am spoken of immediately afterwards, are meant angels. That there were angels with the Lord when He fought against the hells, is evident from the Word; as also from the consideration that when He was in the combats of temptations, it could not be otherwise than that angels should be present, to whom the Lord from His own power gave strength, and as it were power, to fight together with Him, for all the power that the angels have is from the Lord.

[2] That angels fight against the evil, may be seen from what has occasionally been said before concerning the angels with man-that they protect man, and avert the evils which are threatened by infernal spirits (n. 50, 227, 228, 697, 968) but all their power is from the Lord. The good spirits also are angels, but lower ones, for they are in the first heaven; the angelic spirits are in the second; and the angels, properly so called, are in the third (n. 459, 684). Such is the form of government in the other life that the good spirits are subordinate to the angelic spirits, and the angelic spirits to the real angels; so that they constitute one angelic society. The good spirits and the angelic spirits are those who are here called "the lads;" but the real angels, "the men".

1753. And the portion of the men who went with me. That this signifies the angels, is evident from what has just been said; and also from the fact that angels, when they have appeared to men, are in the Word called "men".

1754. Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. That these signify the things appertaining to them, is evident from what is said above in this chapter (verse 13) concerning the same, namely, that by their names are signified the goods and truths from which the combat was waged, and not so much the angels themselves, for the angels are meant by "the lads", and "the men", as has been said. For the angels never have any name given them, but are distinguished in respect to their quality by goods and truths: and on this account nothing else is signified in the Word by a name but the essence and its quality (n. 144, 145, 340). This may be seen also in Isaiah, where the Lord is spoken of: -

His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of eternity, Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6),

where by the "name" is meant of what quality He is, that is, that He is wonderful, counselor, God, a Hero, Father of eternity, Prince of peace.

[2] In Jeremiah, where also the Lord is spoken of: -

This is His name whereby they shall call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5, 6),

where it is plainly evident that the name is "Righteousness". So too in Moses, where likewise the Lord is spoken of: -

He will not bear your transgression, for My name is in the midst of Him (Exod. 23:21),

where also the "name" denotes the essence, as being Divine. So also in many other passages of the Word, where it is said that "they called on the name of Jehovah;" that "they should not take the name of Jehovah in vain;" and in the Lord's Prayer, "Hallowed be Thy name". The case is similar with the names of angels; and is so here with the names of Eshcol, Aner, and Mamre, who represent angels, in that these names signify the things appertaining to the angels.

1755. Let them take their portion. That this signifies that they had been given into their power, is evident from what was said above (verses 21-24), namely, that it was the Lord's will to receive nothing from them, because He derived no strength from any such thing. That they had been given into the power of the angels stands thus: It is the angels who rule over evil and infernal spirits, as has been made evident to me from much experience. But the Lord foresees and sees all things in both general and particular, and provides and disposes therefore but some things from permission, some from sufferance, some from leave, some from good pleasure, some from will. The desire to rule is itself something of man's own which differs from anything that the angels receive from the Lord; but still all their dominion is of love and mercy, apart from any desire to rule. But these things, being deeper arcana, cannot be stated to the understanding in a few words. It is sufficient to know that the evil and infernal spirits have been delivered into the power (potestas) of the angels, and that the Lord governs all things, both in general and in particular, down to the veriest singulars, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter, where Providence and Permissions are treated of.

1756. The foregoing are the things that are in general involved in the internal sense of this chapter; but the series or connection itself of the things, and its beauty, cannot appear when each separate thing is explained in detail according to the signification of the words, as they would if they were embraced in a single idea, for when they are all apprehended under a single idea the things that had been scattered appear beautifully coherent and connected. The case herein is like that of one who hears another speaking, and gives his attention to the words; in which case he does not so well apprehend the idea of the speaker as he would if he paid no attention to the words or their signification. For the internal sense of the Word holds nearly the same relation to the external or literal sense as speech does to its words when these are scarcely heard, still less attended to, and when the mind is kept exclusively in the sense of the things signified by the words of the speaker.

[2] The most ancient mode of writing represented subjects by using persons and words which were understood as meaning things that were quite different. Profane writers then composed their historicals in this way, even those matters which pertained to civic and moral life; and in fact so that nothing was exactly the same as it was written in the letter, but under this something else was meant; they even presented affections of every kind as gods and goddesses, to whom the heathen afterwards instituted Divine worship, as may be known to every man of letters, for such ancient books are still extant. They derived this mode of writing from the most ancient people who existed before the flood, who represented heavenly and Divine things to themselves by such as were visible on the earth and in the world, and so filled their minds and souls with joys and delights while beholding the objects of the universe, especially such as were beautiful in their form and order; and therefore all the books of the church of those times were written in this way. Such is the book of Job; and, in imitation of those books, such is Solomon's Song of Songs. Such were the two books mentioned by Moses in (Num. 21:14, 27); besides many that have perished.

[3] At a later period this style of writing was venerated on account of its antiquity, both among the Gentiles and the posterity of Jacob, to such a degree that whatever was not written in this style they did not venerate as Divine, and therefore when they were moved by the prophetic Spirit, they spoke in a similar manner; and this for many hidden reasons. This was the case with Jacob (Gen. 49:3-17); with Moses (Exod. 15:1-21; Deut. 33:2-29); with Balaam, who was of the sons of the East, from Syria where the Ancient Church still existed (Num. 23:7-10, 19-24; 24:5-9, 17-24) with Deborah and Barak (Judges 5:2-31); with Hannah (1 Sam. 2:2-10). And though very few understood or knew that their words signified the heavenly things of the Lord's kingdom and church, still, being touched and penetrated with the awe of admiration, they felt that what was Divine and holy was in them

[4] But that the historicals of the Word are similar-that is, that in respect to every name and every word they are representative and significative of the celestial and the spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom-has not yet become known to the learned world, except in that the Word is inspired as to the smallest iota, and that there are heavenly arcana in all things of it in both general and particular.

 

CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE SPEECH OF SPIRITS, AND ITS DIVERSITIES

1757. The speech of spirits with man, as before said, is effected by words; but the speech of spirits among themselves, by ideas the originaries of words, such as are the ideas of thought; these however are not so obscure as are man's ideas while he lives in the body, but are distinct, like those of speech Human thought, after the decease of the body, becomes more distinct and clear; and the ideas of thought become discrete, so as to serve for distinct forms of speech; for obscurity has been dissipated together with the body; and so the thought-being liberated from the shackles in which it was as it were entangled, and consequently from the shade in which it was involved-becomes more instantaneous; and hence the mental view, perception, and utterance of each thing is more prompt.

1758. The speech of spirits is diverse: each society or family of spirits, and even every spirit, can be distinguished from others by their speech (much as is the case with men), not only by the affections which make the life of the speech and which fill or give impulse to the words, and by the accents, but also by the tones, and by other characteristics not so easily described.

1759. The speech of celestial spirits cannot easily flow into the articulate sounds or words that appertain to man; for it cannot be suited to a word in which there is anything that sounds harshly, or in which there is a rough doubling of consonants, or in which there is an idea that is derived from memory-knowledge; on which account they rarely flow into the speech otherwise than by affections which, like a flowing stream or a gentle breeze, soften the words. The speech of spirits who are intermediate between the celestial and the spiritual is sweet, Flowing like the gentlest atmosphere, soothing the recipient organs, and softening the words themselves; it is also rapid and sure. The flow and the pleasantness of the speech come from the fact that the celestial good in their ideas is of this character, and there is nothing in the speech that dissents from the thought. All the sweet harmoniousness in the other life comes from goodness and charity. The speech of the spiritual also is flowing, but is not so soft and gentle. It is chiefly these who speak.

1760. There is also a flowing speech of evil genii; yet it is so only to the outward hearing; but inwardly it is grating, because from a pretense of good, and no affection of it. There is also a speech of these genii that is devoid of the flowing character, in which the dissent of the thoughts is perceived as something that silently creeps along.

1761. There are spirits who do not inflow in a stream-like manner, but by vibrations and movements to and fro, as it were in lines, and more or less sharp. The same inflow not only with the speech, but also with the reply. They are those who from many causes reject the interior things of the Word; looking upon man as their tool, and as of little account; and caring for themselves alone.

1762. There are spirits who do not speak, but who have expressed the sentiments of their mind by changes induced on my face, and have presented their ideas so vividly that their thought was thus made manifest as it were in a form. This was done by changes about the region of the lips, passing thence to the face; also about the eyes, while they were communicating the interior sentiments of their mind; around the left eye when they were communicating truth and affections of truth, and around the right eye when communicating good and affections of good.

1763. I have also heard a simultaneous speech of many spirits speaking together, that undulated like a roll, and flowed into the brain in varying directions. Also a speech of certain spirits that terminated in a quadruple movement, as if to the tone and sound of men threshing. These spirits are separated from others. They induce a pain in the head, as if from the suction of an air-pump. Some have been heard who spoke with a sonorous voice, but as if within, in themselves but still it came to the hearing as speech.

[2] Others who spake by a belching forth of the words as from the belly; these are such as wish to give no attention to the sense of a thing, but are forced to speak by others. I have heard some who spoke with a rough or cracked sound; these apply themselves to the left side, under the elbow; also to the left external ear. Some I heard who could not speak aloud, but as if they had a cold; these belong to the class of those who by insinuations into the delights of others worm out their secrets for the purpose of doing harm.

[3] There are spirits of low stature, who, although few, speak like a great multitude, with a sound like thunder; they were heard above the head, and I thought that there was a multitude but one of them came to me at the left side beneath the arm, and spoke in the same way with a thundering voice; he also moved away, and did the same. Whence such spirits come, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be told elsewhere. But these kinds of speech are comparatively rare. It is a remarkable fact that what is said in these various ways is heard as loudly and sonorously by one whose interior organs of hearing are opened, and also by spirits, as are sounds and the speech of men on earth; but they are not heard at all by one in whom these organs are not opened.

1764. Once also spirits conversed with me simply by representatives shown before the sight, by representing flames of various colors; lights clouds rising and falling; small houses and platforms for speaking of different kinds; vessels; persons variously dressed, and many other things, which were all significative; and merely from these it could be known what they desired to convey.

1765.

1766.


Chapter 15

CONCERNING THE OLD SCRIPTURE OR WORD; IN WHICH ARE STORED UP DIVINE THINGS, WHICH ARE OPEN BEFORE GOOD SPIRITS AND ANGELS

1767. When the Word of the Lord is being read by a man who loves the Word and lives in charity, or by a man who from simplicity of heart believes what is written and has not formed principles contrary to the truth of faith which is in the internal sense, it is presented by the Lord before the angels in such beauty and in such pleasantness, with representatives also, and this with inexpressible variety in accordance with all their state at the time, that every particular is perceived as if it had life, which life is that which is in the Word, and from which the Word had birth when it was sent down from heaven. From this cause the Word of the Lord is such, that although in the letter it appears crude, there are stored up in it spiritual and celestial things which lie open before good spirits, and before angels, when the Word is being read by man.

1768. That the Word of the Lord is so presented before good spirits and before angels, it has been given me to hear and to see; and I am therefore permitted to relate the experiences themselves.

1769. A certain spirit came to me not long after his departure from the body, as I was able to infer from the fact that he did not yet know that he was in the other life, but supposed that he was living in the world. It was perceived that he had been devoted to studies, concerning which I spoke with him. But he was suddenly taken up on high; and, surprised at this, I imagined that he was one of those who aspire to high things, for such are wont to be taken up on high; or else that he placed heaven at a great height, for such likewise are often carried up on high, that they may know from experience that heaven is not in what is high, but in what is internal.

[2] But I soon perceived that he was taken up to the angelic spirits, who were in front, a little to the right, at the entrance to heaven. He then spoke with me from thence, saying that he saw things more sublime than human minds could at all comprehend. While this was taking place, I was reading the first chapter of Deuteronomy, about the Jewish people, in that men were sent to explore the land of Canaan and what was in it. While I was reading this, he said that he perceived nothing of the sense of the letter, but the things in the spiritual sense, and that these were wonders which he could not describe. This was in the first entrance to the heaven of angelic spirits what wonders then would be perceived in that heaven itself! and what in the angelic heaven!

[3] Certain spirits who were with me, and who before had not believed that the Word of the Lord is of such a nature, then began to repent of their unbelief; they said, in that state, that they believed because they heard the spirit say that he heard, saw, and perceived that it was so.

[4] But other spirits still persisted in their unbelief, and said that it was not so, but that these things were fancies; and therefore they too were suddenly taken up, and spoke with me from thence; and they confessed that it was anything but fancy, because they really perceived that it was so; and by a more exquisite perception indeed than can ever be given to any sense during the life of the body.

[5] Soon others also were taken up into the same heaven, and among them one whom I had known in the life of the body, who testified to the same effect, saying also, among other things, that he was too much amazed to be able to describe the glory of the Word in its internal sense. Then, speaking from a kind of pity, he said that it was strange that men knew nothing at all of such things. He said further that from where he then was he could look most deeply into my thoughts and my affections, and perceived in them more things than he could tell; such as causes, influxes, whence they came, and from whom; the ideas, and how they were mixed with earthly things, and that these were to be wholly separated; besides other things.

1770. On two occasions afterwards I saw others taken up into the second heaven, among the angelic spirits; and they spoke with me thence while I was reading the third chapter of Deuteronomy from beginning to end. They said that they were solely in the interior sense of the Word; at the same time asserting that there was not a tittle in which there was not a spiritual sense that coheres most beautifully with all the rest, and further that the names signify real things. Thus they too were confirmed; because they had not believed before that each and all things in the Word have been inspired by the Lord; and this they wished to confirm before others by an oath, but it was not permitted.

1771. Certain spirits also were in unbelief concerning the Word of the Lord, as to there being such things stored up in its bosom, or within it; for in the other life spirits are in unbelief like that in which they had been in the life of the body; and this is not dissipated except by means provided by the Lord, and by living experiences. On this account, while I was reading some of the Psalms of David, the deeper insight or mind of these spirits was opened. These were not taken up among angelic spirits. They then perceived the interior things of the Word in those Psalms; and being amazed at them said that they had never believed such things.

[2] The same portion of the Word was then heard by many other spirits; but they all apprehended it in different ways. With some it filled the ideas of their thought with many pleasant and delightful things, thus with a kind of life in accordance with the capacity of each one, and at the same time with an efficacy that penetrated to their inmosts, and this to such a degree with some that they seemed to be uplifted toward the interiors of heaven, and nearer and nearer to the Lord, according to the degree in which they were affected by the truths and the goods therewith injoined.

[3] The Word was then at the same time brought to some who had no apprehension of its internal sense, but only of the external or literal sense; and to them the letter appeared to have no life. From all this it was manifest what the Word is when the Lord fills it with life-that it is of such efficacy that it penetrates to the inmosts; also what it is when He does not fill it with life-that it is then the letter only, with scarcely any life.

1772. Of the Lord's Divine mercy I too have been permitted in the same way to see the Lord's Word in its beauty in the internal sense, and this many times; not as it is while the words are being explained as to the internal sense in detail, but with all things both in general and particular brought together into a single series or connection, which may be said to be the seeing of a heavenly paradise from an earthly one.

1773. Spirits who had found delight and joy in the Word of the Lord during their life in the body, have in the other life a kind of joyous heavenly warmth which it has also been permitted me to feel. The warmth of those who had some measure of this delight was communicated to me. It was like a vernal heat, beginning in the region of the lips, and diffusing itself about the cheeks, and thence as far as the ears, ascending also to the eyes, and descending toward the middle region of the breast.

[2] The warmth of those who had been still more affected by delight in the Word of the Lord, and by the interior things of it which the Lord Himself had taught, was also communicated to me; beginning at the breast it ascended thence toward the chin, and descended toward the loins. The warmth of those who had been even more delighted and affected, was still more interiorly joyous and vernal, extending indeed from the loins upward toward the breast, and thence through the left arm to the hands. I was instructed by the angels that this is really the case, and that the approach of those spirits brings such warmths, although they themselves do not feel them, because they are in them, just as infants, children, and youths are not commonly sensible of their own warmth which they have in greater measure than adults and old people, because they are in it.

[3] I was also made sensible of the warmth of some, who had indeed been delighted with the Word, but had not been solicitous about the understanding of it; their warmth was felt in the right arm only. As regards the warmth: evil spirits also can by their artifices produce a warmth which counterfeits delight, and can communicate it to others but it is only an external warmth, without an origin from internals. Such warmth is that which putrefies and converts food into excrement, like the heat of adulterers, and that of those who have been immersed in filthy pleasures.

1774. There are spirits who do not desire to hear anything about the interior things of the Word; and even should they understand them, they are still unwilling. They are chiefly those who have placed merit in works, and who therefore have done goods from the love of self and of the world, or for the sake of the rank or wealth to be gained for themselves, and the consequent reputation, thus not for the sake of the Lord's kingdom. In the other life such desire more than others to enter heaven but they remain outside of it; for they are unwilling to be imbued with the knowledges of truth, and thereby to be affected with good. They interpret the meaning of the Word from the letter according to their fancies, and by advancing whatever favors their cupidities with its approval. Such were represented by an old woman who had a face not comely, but of even snowy paleness, with irregular features (cui inerant inordinata), which made her ugly. But those who admit and love the interior things of the Word, were represented by a girl in early maidenhood, or in the flower of youth, handsomely dressed, and adorned with garlands and heavenly ornaments.

1775. I have conversed with certain spirits concerning the Word, saying that it has been necessary that of the Lord's Divine Providence some revelation should come into existence, for a revelation or Word is the general recipient vessel of spiritual and celestial things, thus conjoining heaven and earth; and that without it they would have been disjoined, and the human race would have perished. And besides it is necessary that there should be heavenly truths somewhere, by which man may be instructed, because he was born for heavenly things, and, after the life of the body, ought to come among those who are heavenly; for the truths of faith are the laws of order in the kingdom in which he is to live forever.

1776. It may seem a paradox, but still it is most true, that the angels understand the internal sense of the Word better and more fully when little boys and girls are reading it, than when it is read by adult persons who are not in the faith of charity. The cause has been told me, and is that little boys and girls are in a state of mutual love and innocence, and thus their most tender vessels are almost heavenly, and are simply capacities for receiving, which therefore can be disposed by the Lord; although this does not come to their perception, except by a certain delight suited to their genius. It was said by the angels that the Word of the Lord is a dead letter; but that in him that reads it is vivified by the Lord according to the capacity of each one; and that it becomes living according to the life of his charity and his state of innocence, and this with inexpressible variety.

1777. A continuation follows at the end of this chapter

 

GENESIS 15:1-21

1. After these words, the word of Jehovah came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram; I am a shield to thee, thy exceeding great reward.

2. And Abram said, Lord Jehovih, what wilt Thou give me, and I am walking childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer the Damascene?

3. And Abram said, Lo to me Thou hast not given seed, and behold a son of my house is mine heir.

4. And behold the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, This one shall not be thine heir; but he that shall go forth but of thy bowels shall be thine heir.

5. And He led him forth abroad, and said, Look now coward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them; and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

6. And he believed in Jehovah, and He imputed it to him for righteousness.

7. And He said unto him, I am Jehovah who led thee forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, to inherit it.

8. And he said, Lord Jehovih, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9. And He said unto him, Take thee a heifer of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

10. And he took unto him all these and divided them in the midst, and laid each part over against the other; and the birds he did not divide.

11. And the fowls came down upon the bodies, and Abram drove them away.

12. And it came to pass when the sun was going down that a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and behold a terror of great darkness falling upon him.

13. And He said unto Abram, Knowing thou shalt know that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

14. And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge; and after that shall they go out with great substance.

15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

16. And in the fourth generation they shall return hither, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet consummated.

17. And it came to pass that the sun went down, and there was thick darkness; and behold a furnace of smoke, and a torch of fire that passed between those pieces.

18. In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

19. The Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite;

20. And the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim;

21. And the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.

 

THE CONTENTS

1778. Here in the internal sense are continued the things concerning the Lord after He had endured in childhood the most severe combats of temptations, which were directed against the love which He cherished toward the whole human race, and in particular toward the church; and therefore being anxious concerning their future state a promise was made Him but it was shown at the same time what the state of the church would become toward its end when it would begin to expire; but that still a new church should revive, which would take the place of the former, and the heavenly kingdom would be immensely increased.

1779. The Lord's consolation after the combats of temptations described (verse 1).

1780. The Lord's complaint respecting the church, that it was in externals only (verses 2, 3). A promise concerning an internal church (verse 4). Concerning its multiplication (verse 5). That the Lord is righteousness (verse 6). And unto Him alone belongs the kingdom in the heavens and on earth (verse 7).

1781. And as He desired to be assured that the human race would be saved (verse 8), it was shown Him how the case is with the church, in general, specifically, and in particular (verses 9 to 17).

1782. The "heifer", "she-goat", and "ram", are the representatives of the celestial things of the church; the "turtledove" and the "young pigeon" are the representatives of its spiritual things (verse 9). The church was on one side, and the Lord on the other (verse 10). The Lord would dissipate evils and falsities (verse 11). But the falsities would still infest it (verses 12, 13). From these there should be deliverance (verse 14). Thus the Lord received consolation (verse 15). But that evils would take possession (verse 16). And at last nothing hut falsities and cupidities would reign (verse 17). Then would come the Lord's kingdom, and a new church, the extension of which is described (verse 18). The falsities and evils to be expelled from it are the nations named (verses 19 to 21).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

1783. The things which are here contained, are as before said true historicals, namely, that Jehovah spoke thus with Abram, and that the land of Canaan was promised him as an inheritance; that he was commanded so to place the heifer, the she-goat, ram, turtledove, and young pigeon that the fowls came down upon the bodies that a deep sleep fell upon him, and in the sleep a terror of darkness; and that when the sun had set, there was seen by him as it were a furnace of smoke with a torch of fire between the parts; besides the other historicals. These are true historicals, but still each and all of them, even to the least of what was done, are representative; and the words themselves by which they are described, are, as to the smallest iota, significative. That is to say, in each and all of these things there is an internal sense; for each and all of the things contained in the Word are inspired, and being inspired they cannot but be from a heavenly origin; that is, they must necessarily store up within them celestial and spiritual things, for otherwise it could not possibly be the Word of the Lord.

[2] These are the things contained in the internal sense and when this sense lies open, the sense of the letter is obliterated, as if there were none; and on the other hand, when attention is given solely to the historical sense or that of the letter, the internal sense is obliterated, as if there were none. These two are related as is heavenly light to the light of the world; and, conversely, as is the light of the world to heavenly light. When heavenly light appears, then the light of the world is as thick darkness; as has been made known to me by experience; but when any one is in the light of the world, then heavenly light, if it appeared, would be as thick darkness; the same as with human minds: to him who places everything in human wisdom, or in memory-knowledges, heavenly wisdom appears as an obscure nothing; but to him who is in heavenly wisdom, human wisdom is as a kind of obscure general affair, which, if there were not heavenly rays in it, would be as thick darkness.

1784. Verse 1. After these words, the word of Jehovah came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to thee, thy exceeding great reward. "After these words, the word of Jehovah came unto Abram in a vision", signifies that after the combats in childhood there was revelation; "a vision" denotes inmost revelation, which is that of perception " Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to thee", signifies protection against evils and falsities, which is to be trusted; "thy great reward", signifies the end or purpose of the victories.

1785. After these words, the word of Jehovah came to Abram in a vision. That this signifies that after the combats in childhood there was revelation, is evident from the signification of "words", also of "the word of Jehovah to Abram", and also from the signification of "a vision". By "words", in the Hebrew language, are signified actual things here the things accomplished, which are the Lord's combats of temptations, treated of in the preceding chapter. "The word of Jehovah to Abram" is nothing else than the Lord's word with Himself but in childhood, and in the combats of temptations, when the Essences were not yet united as a one, it could not appear otherwise than as a revelation. What is internal, when it acts into what is external, in a state and at moments when this is far away, is presented in no other manner. This is the state which is called the Lord's state of humiliation.

1786. That "a vision" denotes inmost revelation, which is that of perception, may be seen from the nature of visions, which take place in accordance with the man's state. To those whose interiors are closed, a vision is very different from what it is to those whose interiors are open. For example: when the Lord appeared to the whole congregation in Mount Sinai, the appearing was a vision that was different to the people from what it was to Aaron, and that was different to Aaron from what it was to Moses; and again, visions were different to the prophets from what they were to Moses. There are many kinds of visions, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. The more interior the visions, the more perfect they are With the Lord they were the most perfect of all; because He then had perception of all things in the world of spirits and in the heavens, and also had immediate communication with Jehovah. This communication is represented, and in the internal sense is signified, by the vision in which Jehovah appeared to Abram.

1787. Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to thee. That this signifies protection against evils and falsities, which is to be trusted, is evident from the signification of "a shield", to be explained presently. These words, namely, that Jehovah is a shield, and that He is an exceeding great reward, are words of consolation after temptations. Every temptation is attended with some kind of despair (otherwise it is not a temptation), and therefore consolation follows. He who is tempted is brought into anxieties, which induce a state of despair as to what the end is to be. The very combat of temptation is nothing else. He who is sure of victory is not in anxiety, and therefore is not in temptation.

[2] The Lord also, as He endured the most dire and cruel temptations of all, could not but be driven into states of despair, and these He dispelled and overcame by His own power; as may be clearly seen from His temptation in Gethsemane, thus recorded in Luke: -

When Jesus was at the place, He said unto the disciples, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. But He was parted from them about a stone's cast and kneeling down He prayed, saying, Father, if Thou be willing let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, be done. And there appeared unto Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him; and being in an agony, He prayed more earnestly and His sweat became as drops of blood falling down upon the ground (Luke 22:40-45).

In Matthew: -

He began to be sorrowful and sore troubled. Then saith He unto the disciples, My whole soul is sorrowful even unto death. And going forward a little He fell on His face, praying, and saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt. Again a second time He went away, and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cup cannot pass except I drink it, Thy will be done. And He prayed a third time, saying the same word (Matthew 26:37-44).

In Mark: -

He began to be terrified, and sore troubled, and said to the disciples, My soul is encompassed with sorrow even unto death. He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from Him. He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee; remove this cup from Me; howbeit, not as I will, but as Thou wilt: and He spake thus a second time and a third (Mark 14:33-41).

[3] From these passages we may see what was the nature of the Lord's temptations-that they were the most terrible of all; and that He felt anguish from the very inmosts, even to the sweating of blood; and that He was then in a state of despair concerning the end and the event; and also that He had consolations. The words now under consideration, "I, Jehovah, am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward", involve in like manner consolation after the combats of temptations treated of in the foregoing chapter.

1788. That a "shield" means protection against evils and falsities, which is trusted in, is evident without explication; for from common usage the expression has become familiar that Jehovah is a shield and a buckler. But what is specifically signified by "a shield", may be seen from the Word, in that as regards the Lord it signifies protection, and as regards man, trust in the Lord's protection. As war" signifies temptations (n. 1664), so all the weapons of war signify some specific thing belonging to temptation, and to defence against evils and falsities, that is, against the diabolical crew that induce the temptation, and that tempt. Therefore a shield" signifies one thing, a "buckler" signifies another, and a "target" another, a "helmet" another, a "spear" and a "lance" another, a "sword" another, a "bow and arrows" another, a "coat of mail" another; concerning each of which of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

[2] The reason why a "shield" in relation to the Lord signifies protection against evils and falsities, and in relation to man trust in the Lord; is that it was a protection to the breast; and by the breast good and truth are signified good because the heart is there, and truth because the lungs are there. That this is the signification of a "shield", is evident in David: -

Blessed be Jehovah my rock, who teacheth my hands combat, my fingers war; my mercy and my fortress, my fortified citadel and my deliverer, my shield, and He in whom I trust (Ps. 144:1, 2),

where the "combat" and "war" are those of temptations, and in the internal sense, the Lord's temptations; the "shield", with reference to Jehovah, is protection; and with reference to man is trust, as is plainly evident.

[3] In the same: -

O Israel, trust thou in Jehovah; He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust ye in Jehovah; He is their help and their shield. Ye that fear Jehovah, trust in Jehovah; He is their help and their shield (Ps. 115:9-11),

where the meaning is similar. Again: -

Jehovah is my fortress, my God in whom I trust. He shall cover thee with His wing; and under His wings shalt thou trust; His truth is a shield and a buckler (Ps. 91:2, 4),

where "a shield" and "a buckler" denote protection against falsities.

[4] Again: -

Jehovah is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strong rock in whom I trust, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. Jehovah is a shield unto all that trust in Him (Ps. 18:2, 30),

where the meaning is similar. Again: -

Thou that provest the hearts and reins, a just God; my shield is upon God who saveth the upright in heart (Ps. 7:9, 10),

meaning trust. Again: -

Thou hast given me the shield of Thy salvation, and Thy right hand will hold me up (Ps. 18:35),

also signifying trust. Again: -

The shields of the earth belong unto God; He is greatly exalted (Ps. 47:9),

where trust is again meant.

[5] Again: -

Jehovah God is a sun and a shield; Jehovah will give grace and glory; good shall not be withheld from them that walk in integrity (Ps. 84:11),

signifying protection. In Moses: -

Thy blessings, O Israel; who is like unto thee, a people saved in Jehovah, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency, and thine enemies shall be mistaken in regard to thee (Deut. 33:29);

"the shield" denoting protection.

[6] As weapons of war are spoken of with reference to those who are in the combats of temptations, so also the same weapons of war are attributed to the enemies who assail and tempt, and then they signify the contrary things; thus a "shield" signifies the evils and falsities from which they fight, and which they defend, and in which they trust. As in Jeremiah: -

Make ye ready the shield and buckler, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses, and go up, ye horsemen, and stand forth in helmets, furbish the lances, put on the coats of mail (Jer. 46:3, 4).

Besides many other passages.

1789. Thy great reward. That this signifies the end and purpose of the victories, is evident from the signification of " reward", as being the prize after the combats of temptations; here the end and purpose of the victories, because the Lord never looked for any prize of victory for Himself. His prize of victories was the salvation of the whole human race; and it was from love toward the entire human race that He fought. He who fights from this love demands for himself no prize, because this love is such that it wills to give and transfer all its own to others, and to have nothing for itself; so that it is the salvation of the whole human race that is here signified by the "reward".

1790. Verse 2. And Abram said, Lord Jehovih, what wilt Thou give me, and I am walking childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer the Damascene? "Abram said, Lord Jehovih", signifies the Lord's perception; "Abram" is the interior man; the "Lord Jehovih" is the internal man relatively to the interior; "what wilt Thou give me, and I am walking childless?" signifies that there was no internal church; "and the steward of my house", signifies an external church; "is this Eliezer the Damascene" denotes the external church.

1791. Abram said, Lord Jehovih. That this signifies the Lord's perception, may be seen from the fact that the Lord had the most interior and perfect perception of all things. This perception, as before said, was a perceptive sensation and knowledge of all things that were taking place in heaven, and was a continual communication and internal conversation with Jehovah, which the Lord alone had. This is meant in the internal sense by the words "Abram said to Jehovah;" thus was represented by Abram when he spoke with Jehovah; and the like is signified in what follows wherever the expression "Abram said to Jehovah" occurs.

1792. That "Abram" denotes the interior man, or that Abram represented the Lord's interior or rational man, has been stated before. What the Lord's interior man is, was shown in the foregoing chapter.

1793. That the "Lord Jehovih" is the internal man relatively to the interior, is evident from what has been said concerning the Lord's internal man, namely, that it Was Jehovah Himself, from whom He was conceived, and whose only Son He was, and to whom the Lord's Human became united after He had by the combats of temptation purified the maternal human, that is, that which He derived from the mother. The appellation "Lord Jehovih" occurs very often in the Word; indeed, as often as Jehovah is called "Lord" He is not called "Lord Jehovah", but "Lord Jehovih", and this especially where temptations are treated of.

[2] As in Isaiah: -

Behold, the Lord Jehovih cometh in strength, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd, He shall gather the lambs in His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall lead those that give suck (Isaiah 40:10, 11),

where "the Lord Jehovih cometh in strength", relates to His victory in the combats of temptations; "His arm shall rule for Him", means that it is from His own power. What the reward is that is mentioned in the first verse of this chapter is here declared, namely, that it is the salvation of the whole human race, that is to say, "He feeds His flock like a shepherd, gathers the lambs in His arm, carries them in His bosom, and leads those that give suck;" all of which things pertain to inmost or Divine love.

[3] Again in the same Prophet: -

The Lord Jehovih hath opened Mine ear, and I was not rebellious; I have not turned away backward. I gave My body to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not My face from shame and spitting; and the Lord Jehovih will help Me; behold the Lord Jehovih will help Me (Isa. 50:5-7, 9),

where temptations are manifestly treated of.

1794. What wilt Thou give me, and I am walking childless? That this signifies that there is no internal church, may be seen from the signification of "walking childless". To "walk", in the internal sense, is to live (n. 519); but one who is childless is one who has no seed, or no posterity of his own. This is treated of in (verses 3-5), where it is explained what is meant by one who is childless, or one who has no seed.

1795. And the steward of my house. That this signifies an external church, is evident from the signification of the "steward of a house", in the internal sense, that is, in respect to the church. The external church is called "the steward of a house", when the internal church itself is the house, and the father of the family is the Lord. The external church is circumstanced no otherwise, for all stewardship belongs to the external of the church; as the administration of rituals, and of many things that pertain to the place of worship and to the church itself, that is, to the House of Jehovah or of the Lord.

[2] The externals of the church without the internals are things of naught; they have their being from the internals, and are such as the internals are. The case herein is the same as it is with man: his external or corporeal is in itself a thing of no account unless there is an internal which gives it soul and life. Such therefore as is the internal, such is the external; or such as is the mind (animus et mens), such is the worth of all things which come forth by means of the external or corporeal. The things which are of the heart make the man; not those which are of the mouth and the gestures; and such is the case with the internals of the church. But still the externals of the church are like the externals of a man, in that they take charge of and administer; or what is the same, the external or corporeal man may in like manner be called the steward or administrator of the house, when the house means the interiors. From this it is evident what "childless" means, namely, the state in which there is no internal of the church, but only an external; as was the case at the time of which the Lord complained.

1796. Is this Eliezer the Damascene. From what has just been said it is now evident that these words denote the external church; and the same appears from the signification of a "Damascene". Damascus was the principal city of Syria, where there were remains of the worship of the Ancient Church, and whence came Eber, or the Hebrew nation, with which there was nothing but the external of the church (n. 1238, 1241), thus nothing but the stewardship of the house. That there is in these words something of despair, and consequently of the Lord's temptation, is evident from the words themselves, and also from the consolation that follows respecting the internal church.

1797. Verse 3. And Abram said, Lo to me Thou hast not given seed, and behold a son of my house is mine heir. "Abram said, Lo to me Thou hast not given seed", signifies that there was no internal of the church, which is love and faith; "behold a son of my house is mine heir", signifies that there would be in the Lord's kingdom only what is external.

1798. Abram said, Lo to me Thou hast not given seed. That this signifies that there was no internal of the church, is evident from the signification of "seed", which is love and faith, spoken of above (n. 255, 256, 1025), and from the signification of an heir, as explained in what follows. That love and the faith derived from it are the internal of the church, has already been several times said and shown. No other faith is meant as being the internal of the church than that which is of love or charity, that is, which is from love or charity.

[2] Faith, in a general sense, is all the doctrinal teaching of the church. But doctrine (doctrinale) separated from love or charity, by no means makes the internal of the church, for doctrine is only knowledge which is of the memory, and this exists also with the worst men, and even with infernals. But the doctrine that is from charity, or that is of charity, does make the internal of the church, for this is of the life. The life itself is the internal of all worship; and so is all doctrine that flows from the life of charity and it is this doctrine that is of faith which is here meant. That it is this faith which is the internal of the church, may be seen from this consideration alone, that he who has the life of charity is acquainted with all things of faith. If you will, just examine all doctrinal things, and see what and of what quality they are; do they not all pertain to charity, and consequently to the faith that is from charity?

[3] Take only the Precepts of the Decalogue. The first of these is to worship the Lord God. He who has the life of love or of charity worships the Lord God, because this is his life. Another precept is to keep the Sabbath. He who is in the life of love, or in charity, keeps the Sabbath holy, for nothing is more sweet to him than to worship the Lord, and to glorify Him every day. The precept, "Thou shalt not kill", is altogether of charity. He who loves his neighbor as himself, shudders at doing anything that injures him, still more at killing him. So too the precept, "Thou shalt not steal;" for he who has the life of charity would rather give of his own to his neighbor, than take anything away from him. And so with the precept, "Thou shalt not commit adultery;" he who is in the life of charity the rather guards his neighbor's wife, lest any one should offer her such injury, and regards adultery as a crime against conscience, and such as destroys conjugial love and its duties. To covet the things that are the neighbor's is also contrary to those who are in the life of charity; for it is of charity to desire good to others from one's self and one's own; such therefore by no means covet the things which are another's.

[4] These are the precepts of the Decalogue which are more external doctrinal things of faith; and these are not only known in the memory by him who is in charity and its life, but are in his heart; and he has them inscribed upon himself, because they are in his charity, and thus in his very life; besides other things of a dogmatic nature which he in like manner knows from charity alone; for he lives according to a conscience of what is right. The right and the truth which he cannot thus understand and explore, he believes simply or from simplicity of heart to be so because the Lord has said so; and he who so believes does not do wrong, even though what he thus accepts is not true in itself, but apparent truth.

[5] As for example, if any one believes that the Lord is angry, punishes, tempts, and the like. Or if he holds that the bread and wine in the Holy Supper are significative, or that the flesh and blood are present in some way in which they explain it- it is of no consequence whether they say the one thing or the other, although there are few who think about this matter, or even if they do think about it, provided this is done from a simple heart, because they have been so instructed, and nevertheless live in charity: these, when they hear that the bread and wine in the internal sense signify the Lord's love toward the whole human race, and the things which are of this love, and man's reciprocal love to the Lord and the neighbor, they forthwith believe, and rejoice that it is so. Not so they who are in doctrinal things and not in charity; these contend about everything, and condemn all whoever they may be that do not say (they call it believe) as they do. From all this every one can see that love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor are the internal of the church.

1799. Behold a son of my house is mine heir. That this signifies that there would be only what is external in the Lord's kingdom, is evident from the signification in the internal sense of an "heir" and of "inheriting". To become an heir, or to inherit, signifies eternal life in the Lord's kingdom. All who are in the Lord's kingdom are heirs; for they live from the Lord's life, which is the life of mutual love; and from this they are called sons. The Lord's sons or heirs are all who are in His life, because their life is from Him, and they are born of Him, that is, are regenerate. They who are born of any one are heirs; and so are all who are being regenerated by the Lord, for in this case they receive His life.

[2] In the Lord's kingdom there are those who are external, those who are interior, and those who are internal. Good spirits, who are in the first heaven, are external; angelic spirits, who are in the second heaven, are interior; and angels, who are in the third, are internal. They who are external are not so closely related or so near to the Lord, as they who are interior; nor are these so closely related or so near to the Lord, as they who are internal. The Lord, from the Divine love or mercy, wills to have all near to Himself; so that they do not stand at the doors, that is, in the first heaven; but He wills that they should be in the third; and, if it were possible, not only with Himself, but in Himself. Such is the Divine love, or the Lord's love; and as the church was then only in externals, He in these words complained, saying, "Behold, a son of my house is mine heir", by which is signified that there would thus be only what is external in His kingdom. But consolation follows, and a promise concerning what is internal, in the verses that follow.

[3] What the external of the church is, has been stated before (n. 1083, 1098, 1100, 1151, 1153). What pertains to doctrine does not itself make the external, still less the internal, as before said; nor with the Lord does it distinguish churches from each other, but that which does this is a life according to doctrinals, all of which, provided they are true, look to charity as their fundamental. What is doctrine but that which teaches how a man must live?

[4] In the Christian world it is doctrinal matters that distinguish churches and from them men call themselves Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists, or the Reformed and the Evangelical, and by other names. It is from what is doctrinal alone that they are so called; which would never be if they would make love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor the principal of faith. Doctrinal matters would then be only varieties of opinion concerning the mysteries of faith, which truly Christian men would leave to every one to hold in accordance with his conscience, and would say in their hearts that a man is truly a Christian when he lives as a Christian, that is, as the Lord teaches. Thus from all the differing churches there would be made one church; and all the dissensions that come forth from doctrine alone would vanish; yea, all hatreds of one against another would be dissipated in a moment, and the Lord's kingdom would come upon the earth.

[5] The Ancient Church just after the flood, although spread through many kingdoms, was yet of this character, that is, men differed much among themselves as to doctrinal matters, but still made charity the principal; and they looked upon worship, not from doctrinal matters which pertain to faith, but from charity which pertains to life. This is meant where it is said (Gen. 11:1), that they all had one lip, and their words were one (n. 1285).

1800. Verse 4. And behold the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, This one shall not be thine heir; but he that shall go forth out of thy bowels shall be thine heir. "Behold the word of Jehovah came unto him", signifies an answer: "saying, This one shall not be thine heir" signifies that what is external shall not be the heir of His kingdom; "but he that shall go forth out of thy bowels", signifies those who are in love to Him and in love toward the neighbor; he shall be thine heir", signifies that they shall be made heirs.

1801. Behold the word of Jehovah came unto him. That this signifies an answer, namely that there should not be what is external of the church, but that there should be what is internal, is evident from what follows. "The word of Jehovah", or this answer, is the consolation.

1802. Saying, This one shall not be thine heir. That this signifies that what is external shall not be the heir of His kingdom, is evident from the signification of becoming an heir, or inheriting, explained just above. The heir of the Lord's kingdom is not what is external, but what is internal. What is external is so too, but through What is internal, for they then act as a one. That it may be known how the case herein is, it is to be kept in mind that all who are in the heavens-as well those who are in the first and in the second, as those who are in the third,-that is, as well those who are external and those who are interior, as those who are internal-are heirs of the Lord's kingdom; for they all make one heaven. In the Lord's heavens, the internals and the externals are circumstanced exactly as they are in man. The angels in the first heaven are subordinate to those in the second, and these are subordinate to the angels in the third heaven. The subordination however is not that of command, but is, as in a man, the influx of things internal into things more external; that is, the Lord's life inflows through the third heaven into the second, and through this into the first, in the order of their succession, besides that it inflows immediately into all the heavens. The inferior or subordinate angels do not know that this is so unless reflection is given them by the Lord; thus there is no subordination of command.

[2] In proportion to the existence of what is internal in an angel of the third heaven is he an heir of the Lord's kingdom; and in proportion to the same in an angel of the second heaven is he an heir; and in like manner, in proportion to the existence of what is internal in an angel of the first heaven, is he too an heir. It is that which is internal that causes any one to be an heir. With the interior angels there is more of what is internal than there is with the more external angels, and therefore the former are nearer to the Lord, and are more fully heirs. That which is internal is love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor in proportion therefore to the love and the charity which they have, in the same proportion are they sons and heirs, for in the same proportion are they partakers of the Lord's life.

[3] But no one can possibly be taken up from the first or external heaven into the second or interior heaven until he has been instructed in the goods of love and the truths of faith. So far as he has been instructed, so far he can be taken up, and can come among angelic spirits. It is the same with angelic spirits before they can be taken up or come into the third heaven, or among angels. By instruction the interiors are formed, and thereby the internals, and are adapted to receiving the goods of love and the truths of faith, and thereby the perception of what is good and true. No one can perceive what he does not know and believe, consequently he cannot be gifted with the faculty of perceiving the good of love and the truth of faith except by means of knowledges, so as to know what they are and of what nature. It is so with all, even with infants, who are all instructed in the Lord's kingdom. But these are easily instructed, because they are imbued with no principles of falsity; they are however instructed in general truths only; and when they receive these they perceive things without number or limit.

[4] The case in this respect is the same as it is with one who has been persuaded respecting any truth in general: the particulars of the general truths, and the singulars of the particulars, which are confirmatory, he easily learns, as it were of himself, or spontaneously; for he is affected by the truth in general, and thence also by the particulars and singulars of the same truth, which confirm for these enter into the general affection with delight and pleasantness, and thus constantly perfect it. These are the internal things on account of which they are called "heirs", or by means of which they can inherit the Lord's kingdom. But they first begin to be heirs, or to have a heritage, when they are in the affection of good, that is, in mutual love, into which they are introduced by the knowledges of good and truth, and by the affections of them; and in proportion as they are in the affection of good, or in mutual love, in the same proportion are they "heirs", or have an inheritance. For mutual love is the veriest life (vitale) which they receive from the Lord's essence, as from their Father. These things may be seen from what follows in the next verse.

1803. But he that shall go forth out of thy bowels. That this signifies those who are in love to the Lord and in love toward the neighbor, is evident from the signification of "bowels", and of "going forth out of the bowels", which is to be born; and here it means those who are being born of the Lord. They who are being born of the Lord, that is, who are being regenerated, receive the Lord's life. The Lord's life, as before said, is the Divine love, that is, love toward the whole human race; or His will to eternally save, if possible, the whole of it, or all men. They who have not the Lord's love, that is, who do not love the neighbor as themselves, never have the Lord's life, and therefore are never born of Him, that is, have not "come forth out of His bowels;" and therefore they cannot be heirs of His kingdom.

[2] From which it is evident that by "to go forth out of the bowels", in the internal sense, are here signified those that are in love to Him and in love toward the neighbor. So in Isaiah: -

Thus said Jehovah thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am Jehovah thy God, who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee in the way that thou shouldest walk. Oh that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments, and thy peace had been as a river, and thy righteousness as the billows of the sea, and thy seed had been as the sand, and those who go forth out of thy bowels as the gravel thereof (Isaiah 48:17-19).

The "seed as the sand", denotes good; and "those who go forth out of the bowels as the gravel", truth; thus those who have love, for these alone are in the love of good and truth.

[3] Moreover, in the Word "bowels" signify love or mercy for the reason that the bowels of generation, especially the mother's womb, represent and thus signify chaste conjugial love, and the love for children that is derived from it. As in Isaiah: -

The stirring of Thy bowels and of Thy compassions toward me have restrained themselves (Isaiah 63:15).

In Jeremiah: -

Is not Ephraim a dear son unto Me? Is he not a child of delights? Therefore My bowels are troubled for him; in mercy I will have mercy upon him (Jeremiah 31:20).

[4] It is evident from this that the Lord's love itself, or mercy itself, and compassion toward the human race, are what are signified in the internal sense by "bowels", and by "going forth out of the bowels;" consequently by "them that go forth out of the bowels" are signified those who have love. (That the Lord's kingdom is mutual love, may be seen above, n. 548, 549, 684, 693, 694).

1804. He shall be thine heir. That this signifies that they shall become heirs, is evident from the signification of an "heir", already treated of.

1805. Verse 5. And He led him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them; and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be. "He led him forth abroad", signifies the sight of the interior man which from external things sees internal; "and said, Look now toward heaven", signifies a representation of the Lord's kingdom in a mental view of the universe; "and number the stars", signifies a representation of things good and true in a mental view of the constellations "if thou canst number them", signifies the fruitfulness of love and the multiplication of faith; "and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be", signifies the heirs of the Lord's kingdom.

1806. He led him forth abroad. That this signifies the sight of the interior man which from things external sees things internal, may be seen from the signification of "leading forth abroad", in connection with what follows. Things internal are led forth, when with the eyes of the body a man contemplates the starry heaven, and thence thinks of the Lord's kingdom. Whenever a man sees anything with his eyes, and sees the things that he looks upon as if he saw them not, but from them sees or thinks of the things which are of the church or of heaven, then his interior sight, or that of his spirit or soul, is "led forth abroad". The eye itself is properly nothing but the sight of his spirit led forth abroad, and this especially to the end that he may see internal things from external; that is, that he may, from the objects in the world, reflect continually upon those which are in the other life; for this is the life for the sake of which he lives in the world. Such was the sight in the Most Ancient Church; such is the sight of the angels who are with man; and such was the Lord's sight.

1807. And said, Look now toward heaven. That this signifies a representation of the Lord's kingdom in a mental view of the universe, may be seen from the signification of "heaven". "Heaven" in the Word, in the internal sense, does not signify the heavens which appear to the eyes; but the Lord's kingdom, universally and particularly. When a man who is looking at internal things from external sees the heavens, he does not think at all of the starry heaven, but of the angelic heaven; and when he sees the sun, he does not think of the sun, but of the Lord, as being the Sun of heaven. So too when he sees the moon, and the stars also; and when he sees the immensity of the heavens, he does not think of their immensity, but of the immeasurable and infinite power of the Lord. It is the same when he sees all other things, for there is nothing that is not representative.

[2] In like manner as regards the things on the earth; as when he beholds the dawning of the day he does not think of the dawn, but of the arising of all things from the Lord, and of progression into the day of wisdom. So when he sees gardens, groves, and flower-beds, his eye remains not fixed on any tree, its blossom, leaf, and fruit; but on the heavenly things which these represent; nor on any flower, and its beauty and pleasantness; but on what they represent in the other life. For there is nothing beautiful and delightful in the skies or on the earth, which is not in some way representative of the Lord's kingdom (n. 1632). This is the "looking toward heaven" which signifies a representation of the Lord's kingdom in a mental view of the universe.

[3] The reason why all things in the sky and on earth are representative, is that they have come forth and do continually come forth, that is, subsist, from the influx of the Lord through heaven. It is with these things as it is with the human body, which comes forth and subsists by means of the soul; on which account all things in the body both in general and in particular are representative of the soul. The soul is in the use and the end; but the body is in the performance of them. All effects, whatever they may be, are in like manner representatives of the uses which are the causes; and the uses are representative of the ends which belong to the first principles.

[4] They who are in Divine ideas never come to a stand in the objects of the external sight; but from them and in them constantly see internal things. The veriest internal things themselves are those which are of the Lord's kingdom, thus those which are in the veriest end itself. It is the same with the Word of the Lord; he who is in Divine things never regards the Lord's Word from the letter; but regards the letter and the literal sense as being representative and significative of the celestial and spiritual things of the church and of the Lord's kingdom. To him the literal sense is merely an instrumental means for thinking of these. Such was the Lord's sight.

1808. And number the stars. That this signifies a representation of what is good and true in a mental view of the constellations, is evident from what has just been said; and also from the representation and signification of "the stars", as being things good and true. The "stars" are frequently mentioned in the Word, and everywhere they signify things good and true, and also, in the contrary sense, things evil and false; or what is the same, they signify angels or societies of angels, and also in the contrary sense evil spirits and their associations. When they signify angels or societies of angels, they are then fixed stars; but when evil spirits and their associations, they are wandering stars, as I have very frequently seen.

[2] That all things in the skies and on the earth are representative of celestial and spiritual things, has been evidenced by this plain indication, that things similar to those which appear before the eyes in the sky and on the earth, are also presented to view in the world of spirits, and this as plainly as in clear day; and there they are nothing but representatives. For instance, when the starry heaven appears, and the stars therein are fixed, it is instantly known that they signify things good and true; and when the stars appear wandering, it is instantly known that they signify things evil and false. From the very glow and sparkle of the stars it may also be known of what kind they are; besides numberless other things. Hence, if one is willing to think wisely, he may know what is the origin of all things on the earth, namely, that it is the Lord; and the reason why they come forth on the earth not ideally but actually, is that all things, both celestial and spiritual, which are from the Lord, are living and essential, or as they are called substantial, and therefore they come forth into actual existence in ultimate nature (n. 1632).

[3] That the stars represent and signify things good and true, may be seen from the following passages in the Word. In Isaiah: -

The stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shine not with their light; the son has been darkened in his going forth, and the moon doth not cause her light to shine; and I will visit evil upon the world, and their iniquity upon the wicked (Isaiah 13:10, 11)

where the day of visitation is treated of. Every one can see that by "the stars" and "constellations" here are not meant the stars and constellations, but things true and good; and by "the sun", love; and by "the moon", faith for the evils and falsities which cause darkness are treated of.

[4] In Ezekiel: -

When I shall extinguish thee I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof black; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine all the luminaries of light I will make black over thee, and will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 32:7, 8),

where the meaning is similar. In Joel: -

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon were blackened, and the stars withdrew their shining (Joel 2:10; 3:15),

where the meaning is similar. In David: -

Praise Jehovah, sun and moon; praise Him, all ye stars of light; praise Him, ye heavens of heavens (Ps. 148:3, 4),

meaning the same.

[5] That by the "stars" are not meant the stars, but things good and true, or what is the same, those who are in things good and true, as the angels are, is plainly said in John: -

I saw the Son of man; and He had in His right hand seven stars. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest upon My right hand, and the seven candlesticks: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches (Rev. 1:13, 16, 20).

[6] Again: -

The fourth angel sounded, so that the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day shone not for the third part of it, and the night in like manner (Rev. 8:12),

where it is clearly evident that what is good and true was darkened. In Daniel: -

There came forth a little horn, which grew exceedingly toward the south and toward the east and toward adornment (decus) and it grew even to the army of the heavens; and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the earth, and trampled upon them (Daniel 8:9, 10),

which words plainly show that "the army of the heavens" and "the stars" are things good and true, which were trampled upon.

[7] From these passages may be seen what is meant by the words of the Lord in Matthew: -

In the consummation of the age, immediately after the affliction of those days, the son shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matthew 24:29).

And in Luke: -

There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations in despair, the sea and the waves roaring (Luke 21:25);

where by "the sun" the sun is not meant at all, nor by "the moon" the moon, nor by "the stars" the stars, nor by "the sea" the sea; but the things which they represent, namely, by "the son" the celestial things of love, by "the moon" the spiritual things, by "the stars" things good and true, that is, the knowledges of what is good and true, which are thus darkened near the consummation of the age, when there is no faith, that is, no charity.

1809. If thou canst number them. That this signifies the fruitfulness of love and the multiplication of faith, or what is the same, the fruitfulness of good and the multiplication of truth, may be seen without explication; for the words plainly mean that they cannot be numbered.

1810. So shall thy seed be. That this signifies the heirs of the Lord's kingdom, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being love and the faith derived from it, or what is the same, those who are in love and faith, both angels and men. That "seed" has this signification has already in various places been stated and shown. These words signify in general the Lord's kingdom, which is so vast and numerous that no one can ever credit it; so that it can only be expressed by IMMENSE. Its immensity will of the Lord's Divine mercy be treated of elsewhere; it is what is here signified by the words of this verse, "Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou canst number them; and He said unto him, so shall thy seed be". These words also signify the innumerable goods and truths of wisdom and intelligence, together with their attendant happiness, in every angel.

1811. Verse 6. And he believed in Jehovah, and He imputed it to him for righteousness. "He believed in Jehovah", signifies the Lord's faith at that time; "and He imputed it to him for righteousness", signifies that herein the Lord first became righteousness.

1812. He believed in Jehovah. That this signifies the Lord's faith at that time, is evident from the very words, and also from the connection of things in the internal sense; which is that while He lived in the world the Lord was in continual combats of temptations, and in continual victories, from a constant inmost confidence and faith that because He was fighting for the salvation of the whole human race from pure love, He could not but conquer; which is here meant by "believing in Jehovah". From the love from which any one fights it is known what his faith is. He who fights from any other love than love toward the neighbor and toward the Lords kingdom, does not fight from faith, that is, does not "believe in Jehovah", but in that which he loves, for the love itself for which he fights is his faith. For example he who fights from the love of becoming the greatest in heaven, does not believe in Jehovah, but rather in himself; for to desire to become the greatest is to desire to command others; thus he fights for command and so in all other cases. And thus from the love itself from which any one fights, it may be known what his faith is.

[2] But in all His combats of temptations the Lord never fought from the love of self, or for Himself, but for all in the universe, consequently, not that He might become the greatest in heaven, for this is contrary to the Divine Love, and scarcely even that He might be the least; but only that all others might become something, and be saved. As He also says in Mark: -

The two sons of Zebedee said, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left, in Thy glory. Jesus said, Whoever would be great among you shall be your minister and whoever would be first among you, shall be servant of all. For the Son of man also came not to be ministered onto, but to minister, and to give His soul a ransom for many (Mark 10:37, 43-45).

This is the love, or this is the faith, from which the Lord fought, and which is here meant by "believing in Jehovah".

1813. He imputed it to him for righteousness. That this signifies that herein the Lord first became righteousness, may also be seen from the connection of things in the internal sense, in which the Lord is treated of. That the Lord alone became righteousness for the whole human race, may be seen from the fact that He alone fought from Divine love, namely, from love toward the whole human race, whose salvation was what in His combats He solely desired and burned for. In regard to His Human Essence the Lord was not born righteousness, but became righteousness through combats of temptations and victories, and this from His own power. As often as He fought and overcame, this was imputed to Him for righteousness, that is, it was added to the righteousness that He was becoming, as a continual increase, until He became pure righteousness.

[2] A man who is born of a human father, or of the seed of a human father, when fighting from himself cannot fight from any other love than the love of self and of the world, thus not from heavenly love, but from infernal love, for such is the character of his Own from his father, in addition to the Own acquired by his own conduct. Therefore he who supposes that he fights from himself against the devil is hugely mistaken. In like manner he who desires to make himself righteous by his own powers - that is, to believe that the goods of charity and the truths of faith are from himself, consequently that he merits heaven by them - acts and thinks against the good and truth of faith; for it is a truth of faith, that is, it is the truth itself, that the Lord fights. And therefore because he then acts and thinks against the truth of faith, he takes away from the Lord what is His, and makes what is the Lord's to be his own, or what is the same, he puts himself in the Lord's place, and thereby puts that which is infernal in himself. Hence it is that such men desire to become great, or the greatest, in heaven; and hence it is that they falsely believe that the Lord fought against the hells in order that He might be the greatest. What is man's own is attended with such phantasies, which appear as if they were truths, but are just the reverse.

[3] That the Lord came into the world in order to become righteousness, and that He alone is righteousness, was also foretold by the prophets and therefore this could have been known before His coming; and also that He could not become righteousness except through temptations, and victories over all evils and all the hells. As in Jeremiah: -

In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell in confidence, and this is His name whereby they shall call Him, Jehovah our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6).

In the same: -

In those days and in that time will I cause an Offshoot of righteousness to grow onto David, and He shall do judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in confidence; and this is what they shall call Him, Jehovah our righteousness (Jeremiah 33:15, 16).

In Isaiah: -

He saw, and there was no man; and He wondered that there was none to intercede; and His arm brought salvation unto Him, and His righteousness it upheld Him. And He put on righteousness as a coat of mail, and a helmet of salvation upon His head (Isaiah 59:16, 17; Isa. 63:3, 5).

"His arm" means His own power. Because the Lord alone is righteousness, the "habitation of righteousness" also is mentioned in (Jeremiah 31:23; 50:7).

1814. Verse 7. And He said unto him, I am Jehovah, who led thee forth out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it. "He said unto him, I am Jehovah", signifies the Lord's internal man, which was Jehovah, and from which He had perception; "who led thee forth out of Ur of the Chaldees", signifies the first state of the external man; "to give thee this land to inherit it", signifies the Lord's kingdom, of which He alone is the possessor.

1815. He said unto him, I am Jehovah. That this signifies the Lord's internal man, which is Jehovah, and from which He had perception, is evident from what has been already said, namely, that the Lord's Internal, that is, whatever the Lord received from the Father, was Jehovah in Him, for He was conceived from Jehovah. What a man receives from his father is one thing, and what he receives from his mother is another. From his father a man receives all that is internal, his soul itself or life being from the father; but he receives from his mother all that is external. In a word, the interior man, or spirit itself, is from the father; but the outer man, or body itself, is from the mother; which every one can comprehend merely from the fact that the soul itself is implanted by the father, and this begins to clothe itself in a little bodily form in the ovule. whatever is afterwards added, whether in the ovule or in the womb, is of the mother, for it has no increase from anywhere else.

[2] It may be seen from this that as to His internals the Lord was Jehovah. But because the external, which the Lord received from the mother, was to be united to the Divine or Jehovah, and this through temptations and victories, as before said, it could not appear otherwise to Him in those states, than that when He spoke with Jehovah it was as it were with another; when yet He spoke with Himself, that is, so far as He was in a state of conjunction. The Lord's perception, which He had in the highest perfection above all who have been born, was from His Internal, that is, from Jehovah Himself, which is here signified in the internal sense by the words, "Jehovah said unto him".

1816. Who led thee forth out of Ur of the Chaldees. That this signifies the first state of His external man, may be seen from the signification of "Ur of the Chaldees". The maternal which the Lord received from birth, or the inheritance from the mother, is what is here signified by "Ur of the Chaldees". The nature of this has been described before. It was out of this maternal, or inheritance from the mother, that He was led forth whenever He conquered evils and falsities, that is, the hells.

1817. To give thee the land, to inherit it. That this signifies the Lord's kingdom, of which He alone is the possessor, is evident from the signification of the "land", here the Holy Land or Land of Canaan, as being the heavenly kingdom; and also from the signification of "inheriting", spoken of several times before. To "inherit the land", signifying to possess the heavenly kingdom, is here predicated of the Lord's Human Essence; for as to the Divine Essence He was the Possessor of the universe, consequently of the heavenly kingdom, from eternity.

1818. Verse 8. And he said, Lord Jehovih, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? "He said, Lord Jehovih", signifies a conversation, as it were, of the Interior man with the Internal; "whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" signifies a temptation against the Lord's love, which desired to be fully assured.

1819. He said, Lord Jehovih. That this signifies a conversation, as it were, of the Interior man with the Internal, is evident from what was said in the preceding verse in connection with the words, "Jehovah said unto him;" and also from what was said (verse 2) concerning the Lord Jehovih, as denoting the conversation of the Interior man with the Internal, or Jehovah, especially when He was in temptation.

1820. Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? That this signifies a temptation against the Lord's love, which desired to be fully assured, may be seen from the doubt that is implied in the words themselves. He who is in temptation is in doubt concerning the end in view. The end in view is the love, against which the evil spirits and evil genii fight, and thereby put the end in doubt; and the greater the love is, the more do they put it in doubt. If the end which is loved were not put in doubt, and indeed in despair, there would be no temptation. Assurance respecting the result precedes the victory, and belongs to the victory.

[2] As few know how the case is with temptations, it may here be briefly explained. Evil spirits never fight against other things than those which the man loves; the more ardently he loves them, the more fiercely do they wage the combat. It is evil genii who fight against the things that pertain to the affection of good, and evil spirits that fight against those which pertain to the affection of truth. As soon as they notice even the smallest thing which a man loves, or perceive as it were by scent what is delightful and dear to him, they forthwith assault it and endeavor to destroy it, and thereby the whole man, for man's life consists in his loves. Nothing is more delightful to them than to destroy a man in this way, nor would they desist, even to eternity, unless they were driven away by the Lord. They who are malignant and crafty insinuate themselves into man's very loves by flattering them, and thus bring the man among themselves; and presently, when they have brought him in, they attempt to destroy his loves, and thereby murder the man, and this in a thousand ways that cannot be comprehended.

[3] Nor do they wage the combat simply by reasoning against things good and true, because such combats are of no account, for if they were vanquished a thousand times they would still persist, since reasonings against goods and truths can never be wanting. But they pervert the goods and truths, and inflame with a certain fire of cupidity and of persuasion, so that the man does not know otherwise than that he is in the like cupidity and persuasion; and at the same time they enkindle these with delight that they snatch from the man's delight in something else, and in this way they most deceitfully infect and infest him; and this they do with so much skill, by leading him on from one thing to another, that if the Lord did not aid him, the man would never know but that the case was really so.

[4] They act in a similar way against the affections of truth that make the conscience: as soon as they perceive anything of conscience, of whatever kind, then from the falsities and failings in the man they form to themselves an affection; and by means of this they cast a shade over the light of truth, and so pervert it; or they induce anxiety and torture him. They also hold the thought persistently in one thing, and thus fill it with phantasies; and at the same time they clandestinely clothe the cupidities with the phantasies; besides innumerable other arts, which cannot possibly be described to the apprehension. These are a few of the means, and only the most general, by which they can make their way to man's conscience, for this above all else they take the great est delight in destroying.

[5] From these few statements, and they are very few, it may be seen what temptations are, and that they are, in general, such as the loves are, and from this we may see what was the nature of the Lord's temptations, that they were the most terrible of all, for such as is the greatness of the love, such is the fearful character of the temptation. The Lord's love was the salvation of the whole human race, and was most ardent; consequently it was the whole sum of the affection of good and affection of truth in the highest degree. Against these, with the most malignant wiles and venom, all the hells waged the combat; but still the Lord conquered them all by His own power. Victories are attended with the result that the malignant genii and spirits afterwards dare not do anything; for their life consists in their being able to destroy, and when they perceive that a man is of such a character that he can resist, then at the first onset they flee away, as they are wont to do when they draw near to the first entrance to heaven, for they are at once seized with horror and terror, and hurl themselves backward.

1821. Verse 9. And He said unto him, Take thee a heifer of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. " He said unto him", signifies perception; "take a heifer of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years", signifies the representatives of the celestial things of the church; a "heifer" being representative of exterior celestial things, a "she-goat" of interior celestial things, and a "ram" of spiritual celestial things; they were to be "three years" old, because they were to involve all things of the church as to times and states; "and a turtle-dove and a young pigeon", signifies the representatives of the spiritual things of the church; a "turtledove" those which are exterior, and a "young pigeon" those which are interior.

1822. He said unto him. That this signifies perception, is evident from what was said in (verses 2, 7). Perception itself is nothing else than a kind of internal speech, which internal speech manifests itself by being perceived. All interior dictate, and even conscience, is nothing else; but perception is a higher or more interior degree of it.

1823. Take a heifer of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years. That this signifies the representatives of the celestial things of the church, is evident from the signification of the same animals in the sacrifices. No one who thinks sanely can believe that the various animals which were sacrificed signified nothing but sacrifices; or that an ox and a bullock or a calf signified the same as a sheep, a kid, and a she-goat, and these the same as a lamb; and that a turtle-dove signified the same as young pigeons; the fact being that every animal had its own special signification. This may be sufficiently evident from the fact that in no case was one offered instead of another; and that those are expressly named which were to be used in the daily burnt-offerings and sacrifices, those on the Sabbaths and festivals, those used in free-will offerings, vows, and peace-offerings, those in expiation of guilt and sin, and those in purifications; which would never have been so unless something special had been represented and signified by each animal.

[2] But what was signified by each particular kind would be too tedious to explain here; it is sufficient to know now that celestial things were signified by the animals, and spiritual things by the birds; and by each kind, some special celestial or spiritual thing. The Jewish Church itself, and all things relating to it, were representative of such things as are of the Lord's kingdom, where there is nothing but what is celestial and spiritual, that is, nothing but what is of love and of faith; as may also be sufficiently evident from the signification of the clean and useful beasts, explained above (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 776). As in the Most Ancient Churches these were significative of heavenly goods, they afterwards became representative in the church, when worship merely external, which was also representative, was valued and acknowledged.

[3] As the state of the church is here treated of, and it is foretold what that state is to be, this was shown to Abram by similar representatives, exactly as is here related; but still such things are signified in the internal sense, as indeed every one may know and think; for what would be the need of taking a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon, of dividing them into two parts, and placing them so, unless everything had been significative? But what these things signified may be seen from what follows.

1824. That "a heifer" signifies the representatives of exterior celestial things, a she-goat" the representatives of interior celestial things, and "a ram" those of spiritual celestial things, may be seen from the sacrifices, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter, where the sacrifices are treated of. There are exterior celestial things, and interior celestial things, as well as spiritual celestial things. Exterior celestial things are those which are of the external man, interior celestial things are those which are of the internal man, and spiritual celestial things are those which are derived from these. The celestial itself is love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor. This celestial flows in from the Lord, and in fact through the internal man into the external. In the interior man this is called the interior celestial; in the external man the exterior celestial. The exterior celestial is all affection of good; nay, it is also all the pleasure which comes from the affection of good. So far as the good of love and of charity is in these, that is, in the affection of good and in the pleasure derived from it, so far the celestial is in them, and also happiness. But the spiritual celestial is all the affection of truth in which there is the affection of good, or the affection of truth which is begotten by the affection of good; thus it is faith in which is charity, or faith which is begotten by charity.

1825. That "three years old" involves all things of the church as to times and states, is evident from the signification of "three" in the Word. By "three" is signified the full time of the church, from its origin even to its end, and thus all its state. The last time of the church is therefore signified by the third day, the third week, the third month, the third year and the third age, which are all the same. As the state of the church is signified by the number three, so also is the state of every one who is a church, and everything which is of the church, as may be seen from the signification of this number in the passages adduced from the Word (n. 720, 901).

[2] That "a heifer of three years" thus signifies the time or state of the church even to the last, that is, when it has been vastated or made desolate, may also be seen in Isaiah: -

My heart crieth out upon Moab; her fugitives are unto Zoar, a heifer of three years old; for by the ascent of Luhith, with weeping he shall go up in it; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of breaking to pieces (Isaiah 15:5).

Also in Jeremiah: -

Gladness and exultation are gathered from Carmel, and from the land of Moab; and I will make wine to cease from the winepresses; none shall tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting. From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, even unto Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, a heifer of three years old; for the waters of Nimrim also shall become desolations (Jeremiah 48:33, 34).

No one could possibly perceive what these things mean unless he knew what is signified by "Moab", by "Zoar", "the ascent of Luhith", "the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh", by "Jahaz", by "Horonaim", "the waters of Nimrim", and by "a heifer three years old". That this is an uttermost vastation is plain.

1826. And a turtle-dove and a young pigeon. That this signifies the representatives of the spiritual things of the church, is evident from the signification of birds in general and of turtle-doves and pigeons in particular. That "birds" signify spiritual things, which are those of faith or of truth, and therefore are intellectual and rational things, was shown above (n. 40, 745, 776, 991); also that "doves" signify the goods and truths of faith (n. 870). What they signified in the sacrifices shall of the Lord's Divine mercy be stated in what follows, where the sacrifices are treated of. In the Word, especially in the prophetic part, when celestial things are spoken of, spiritual things also are spoken of, and in this way they are conjoined; because the one is from the other, so that the one is the other's (n. 639, 680, 683, 707, 793, 801).

1827. That "a turtle-dove" signifies the representatives of exterior spiritual things, and "a young pigeon" the representatives of interior spiritual things, may be seen from what has been said respecting celestial things, of which the exterior were signified by the "heifer", the interior by the "she-goat", and the intermediate by the "ram".

1828. Verse 10. And he took unto him all these and divided them in the midst, and laid each part over against the other; and the birds he did not divide. "He took unto him all these", signifies that it was so done; "and divided them in the midst", signifies the church and the Lord; "and laid each part over against the other", signifies a parallelism and correspondence as to celestial things; "and the birds he did not divide", signifies spiritual things, wherein there was not such parallelism and correspondence.

1829. He took unto him all these. That this signifies that it was so done, is evident without explication.

1830. And divided them in the midst. That this signifies the church and the Lord, is evident from what follows; for celestial things were signified by the heifer, the she-goat, and the ram, and spiritual things by the turtle-dove and the young pigeon; and these, when divided and placed opposite to each other, can have no other signification.

1831. And laid each part over against the other. That this signifies a parallelism and correspondence as to the celestial things, may be seen from the consideration that the parts on one side signify the church, and the parts on the other the Lord; and when these are placed opposite to each other, this is nothing else than a parallelism and correspondence; and as the heifer, the she-goat, and the ram were so divided and placed, and by these celestial things are signified (verse 9), it is evident that there is a parallelism and correspondence as to celestial things. It is otherwise with spiritual things, concerning which presently. Celestial things, as has often been said, are all that pertain to love to the Lord and to love toward the neighbor. It is the Lord who gives love and charity; it is the church that receives. What unites is conscience, in which the love and charity are implanted; and therefore the middle space between the parts signifies that in man which is called perception, internal dictate, and conscience. The things which are above the perception, dictate, and conscience, are the Lord's; those which are below, are in man. Because they thereby mutually regard each other, there is said to be a parallelism; and because they correspond to each other, as the active and the passive, there is said to be correspondence.

1832. And the birds he did not divide. That this signifies spiritual things, and that in them there is not such a parallelism and correspondence, is evident from the signification of "birds", as being what is spiritual (as distinguished from what is celestial), and as treated of in (verse 9), just above and from the statement that he did not divide the birds in the midst; consequently that there is not such a parallelism and correspondence. By spiritual things are signified, as often said before, all the things of faith, consequently all doctrinal things, for these are called things of faith, although they are not of faith until they have been conjoined with charity. Between these and the Lord there is not a parallelism and correspondence, for they are such things as do not flow in by internal dictate and conscience, as do those which are of love and charity, but they flow in by instruction, and so by hearing, thus not from the interior, but from the exterior, and in this way they form their vessels or recipients in man.

[2] The greater part of them appear as if they were truths, but are not truths, such as those things which are of the literal sense of the Word, and are representatives of truth and significatives of truth, and thus are not in themselves truths; some of them even being falsities, which however can serve as vessels and recipients. But in the Lord there are none but truths that are essentially such; and therefore with these there is no parallelism and correspondence on the part of those apparent truths, but still they may be so adapted as to serve as vessels for the celestial things which are of love and charity. These apparent truths are what constitute the cloud of the intellectual part, before spoken of, into which the Lord insinuates charity, and so makes conscience.

[3] For example: with those who remain in the sense of the letter of the Word, and suppose that it is the Lord who leads into temptation and who then torments man's conscience, and who suppose that because He permits evil He is the cause of evil, and that He thrusts the evil down into hell, with other similar things: these are apparent truths, but are not truths; and because they are not truths that are such in themselves, there is no parallelism and correspondence. Still the Lord leaves them intact in man, and miraculously adapts them by means of charity so that they can serve celestial things as vessels. So also with the worship, the religious teachings and morals, and even with the idols, of the well-disposed Gentiles these likewise the Lord leaves intact, and yet adapts them by means of charity so that they also serve as vessels. The case was the same in regard to the very numerous rites in the Ancient Church, and afterwards in the Jewish Church; which in themselves were nothing but rituals in which there was not truth, but which were tolerated and permitted, and indeed commanded, because they were held as sacred by parents, and so were implanted in the minds of children and impressed upon them from infancy as truths.

[4] These and other such things are what are signified by the statement that the birds were not divided. For the things that are once implanted in a man's opinion, and are accounted as holy, the Lord leaves intact, provided they are not contrary to Divine order; and although there is no parallelism and correspondence, still He adapts them. These same things are what was signified in the Jewish Church by the birds not being divided in the sacrifices; for to divide is to place the parts opposite to each other in such a manner that they may adequately correspond; and because the things which have been spoken of are not adequately in correspondence, they are obliterated in the other life with those who suffer themselves to be instructed, and truths themselves are implanted in their affections of good. That in the Jewish Church for the sake of this representation and signification the birds were not divided, is evident in Moses: -

If his offering to Jehovah be a burnt-offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtle-doves or of the sons of the pigeon. And he shall cleave it with its wings, he shall not divide it (Lev. 1:14, 17).

And the same in the case of the sacrifices for sin (Lev. 5:7, 8).

1833. Verse 11. And the fowls came down upon the bodies, and Abram drove them away. "The fowls came down upon the bodies", signifies evils and the falsities thence derived, that were desirous to destroy; "and Abram drove them away", signifies that the Lord put them to flight.

1834. The fowls came down upon the bodies. That this signifies evils and the falsities thence derived that were desirous to destroy, is evident from the signification of " fowls", as being falsities. "Fowls" in the Word signify truth - as shown above - and also in the opposite sense falsity (for almost all such things in the Word are thus used in both senses) that " fowls" signify falsity also has been shown before (n. 778, 866, 988). Every one can see that this signifies arcana otherwise it would not have been worthy of mention. What the arcanum is has also been already stated, and is evident from the series or connection of things in the internal sense, namely, that it is concerning the state of the church.

[2] When a church is raised up by the Lord, it is in the beginning blameless, and the one then loves the other as his brother, as is known from the case of the primitive church after the Lord's coming. All the church's children then lived together as brethren, and likewise called one another brethren, and loved one another; but in process of time charity grew cold and vanished away and as it vanished, evils succeeded, and together with these falsities insinuated themselves. Hence came schisms and heresies, which would never be the case if charity were regnant and alive, for then they would not even call schism, nor heresy, but a doctrinal matter in accordance with each person's opinion; and this they would leave to each person's conscience, provided such doctrinal matter did not deny first principles, that is, the Lord, eternal life, and the Word; and provided it was not contrary to the Divine order, that is, to the precepts of the decalogue.

[3] The evils and the falsities thence derived which succeed in the church when charity vanishes, are what are here meant by the fowls which Abram drove away, that is, which the Lord, who is here represented by Abram, put to flight. Abram drove away nothing but the fowls, and nothing at all of evil and falsity; nor is Abraham known in heaven except as is any other man, who can do nothing at all of himself; but the Lord alone; as also is said by Isaiah: -

Thou art our Father, for Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us; Thou O Jehovah art our Father, our Redeemer; Thy name is from everlasting (Isaiah 63:16).

1835. And Abram drove them away. That this signifies that the Lord put them to flight, is evident from what has been said. And such also is the case with a church when it is beginning to recede from charity. Evils and the falsities thence derived are then more easily put to flight, for as yet the church is in a state that is not so far removed from charity, and thus men's minds are more easily bent. But in process of time evils and the falsities derived from them increase, and so are confirmed and strengthened; and this is treated of in what follows.

[2] So far as possible the Lord is continually putting evils and falsities to flight, but through conscience. then conscience is relaxed, there is no medium through which the Lord can flow in, for the Lord's influx with man is by means of charity into his conscience. But in place of this charity a new medium succeeds and is formed, which is external, namely, the fear of the law, fear for life, for honors and wealth, and the reputation from these. But these are not of conscience; they are only external bonds which enable a man to live in society with others, and to appear as a friend, whatsoever he may be inwardly.

[3] But this medium, or these bonds, are of no account in the other life, for there externals are removed, and every one remains as he is internally. There are very many who have lived a moral and a civic life, have injured no one, have performed acts of friendship and civility, nay, have done good to many, but only for the sake of self, with a view to honors, gain, and the like. In the other life these are among the infernals, because they have nothing of good and truth within, but only evil and falsity, nay, hatred, revenge, cruelty, adulteries, which do not appear before man, that is to say in so far as the fears just referred to, which are external bonds, prevail.

1836. Verse 12. And it came to pass when the sun was going down, that a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and behold a terror of great darkness falling upon him. "The sun was going down", signifies the time and the state before the consummation; "that a deep sleep fell upon Abram", signifies that the church was then in darkness "and behold a terror of great darkness falling upon him", signifies that the darkness was terrible; "darkness" means falsities.

1837. The sun was going down. That this signifies the time and the state before the consummation, is evident from the signification of "the sun". In the internal sense "the sun" signifies the Lord, and thence it signifies the celestial things which are of love and charity, consequently love itself and charity (n. 30-38, 1053). From this it is evident that the "going down of the sun" denotes the last time of the church, which is called the consummation, when there is no longer any charity. The Lord's church is also compared to the times of the day; its first period to the rising of the sun, or to the dawn and the morning; its last to the setting of the sun, or to the evening and the shades then prevailing, for the two things are similarly circumstanced. The church is also compared to the times of the year; its first period to the spring, when all things are in bloom that which is before the last to the autumn, when they begin to become inactive. It is even compared to the metals; its first period is called golden; its last, iron and clay (Daniel 2:31-33). From all this it is evident what is signified by "the going down of the sun", namely, that it signifies the time and the state before the consummation, seeing that the sun had not yet set. In what follows, the state of the church when the sun has set is treated of, in that there was then thick darkness and the smoke of a furnace, and that a torch of fire passed between the pieces.

1838. A deep sleep fell upon Abram. That this signifies that the church was then in darkness, is evident from the signification of " a deep sleep". A "deep sleep", relatively to one of wakefulness, denotes a dark state and this state is here attributed to the Lord, who is represented by Abram; not that there was ever with Him a deep sleep or a state of darkness, but that there was with the church. The case herein is the same as it is in the other life, where the Lord is always the Sun, and Light itself; but where before the evil He appears as darkness; for the Lord appears according to the state of each person. So here this is said of the church when it is in a state of darkness.

[2] Also take as an example, vastation, punishment, and condemnation, which are attributed to the Lord in many passages of the Word; when nevertheless they belong to the man of the church, who vastates, punishes, and condemns himself. It appears before man as if the Lord vastated, punished, and condemned; and because it appears so, it is so expressed according to the appearances for if man were not instructed by appearances, he would not suffer himself to be instructed at all. What is contrary to the appearance he does not believe or comprehend, except at a later period, when he possesses judgment and has been gifted with the faith of charity.

[3] So with the church when it is in a state of darkness, the Lord is then obscured before its people, so that He does not appear, that is, is not acknowledged; although the Lord is not at all obscured, but man, in whom and with whom the Lord should be; but still the obscuration is predicated of the Lord. So is it here with the "deep sleep", by which there is signified a dark state of the church.

1839. Behold a terror of great darkness falling upon him. That this signifies that the darkness was terrible, and that "darkness" means falsities, is evident from the signification of "darkness", as being falsities, to be explained presently. The state of the church before its consummation, when the sun was " going down", is described by the "terror of great darkness;" but its state when the sun had gone down is described by the "thick darkness" and the other things mentioned in (verse 17).

[2] The same is thus described by the Lord in Matthew: -

The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matthew 24:29).

This does not mean that the sun of the world will be darkened, but the celestial which is of love and charity; nor the moon, but the spiritual which is of faith; nor that the stars will fall from heaven, but that the knowledges of good and truth with the man of the church will do so, for these are "the powers of the heavens;" nor will these things take place in heaven, but on earth; for heaven is never darkened.

[3] That "a terror of great darkness fell upon him", means that the Lord was horrified at so great a vastation. So far as any one is in the celestial things of love, so far does he feel horror when he perceives a consummation. So it was with the Lord, above all others; for He was in love itself, both celestial and Divine.

[4] That "darkness" signifies falsities is evident from very many passages in the Word; as in Isaiah: -

Woe unto them that put darkness for light, and light for darkness (Isaiah 5:20);

"darkness" denotes falsities, and "light" truths. In the same: -

He shall look onto the land, and behold darkness, distress, and the light is darkened (Isaiah 5:30);

"darkness" denoting falsities, and "the light darkened" the truth not appearing.

[5] In the same: -

Behold, darkness covereth the earth, and thick darkness the peoples (Isaiah 60:2).

In Amos: -

The day of Jehovah, it is darkness, and not light. Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? and thick darkness and no brightness in it? (Amos 5:18, 20).

In Zephaniah: -

The great day of Jehovah is near; that day is a day of wrath, a day of straitness and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and shade (Zephaniah 1:14, 15).

In these passages, the "day of Jehovah" denotes the last time and state of the church; "darkness and thick darkness" falsities and evils.

[6] The Lord likewise calls falsities "darkness" in Matthew: -

If thine eye be evil, thy whole body is darkened. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness (Matthew 6:33).

"Darkness" here denotes the falsities which take possession of those who are in knowledges; and the meaning is, how great is this darkness above that of others, or of the Gentiles, who have not knowledges.

[7] Again in Matthew: -

The sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness (Matthew 8:12; 22:13).

"The outer darkness" denotes the more direful falsities of those who are in the church; for they darken the light, and bring up falsities against truths, which Gentiles cannot do. In John: -

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men and the light appeareth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not (John 1:4, 5).

"The darkness" here denotes falsities within the church.

[8] Falsities outside of the church are also called "darkness", but such as can be illuminated. Such are spoken of in Matthew: -

The people that sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, did light spring up (Matthew 4:16)

"darkness" here denoting the falsities of ignorance, such as are those of the Gentiles.

[9] In John: -

And this is the judgment, that the Light is come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their works were evil (John 3:19)

"the Light" denotes truths, and "the darkness" falsities; and "the Light" denotes the Lord, because all truth is from Him; and "the darkness" the hells, because all falsity is from them.

[10] Again: -

Jesus said, I am the Light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness (John 8:12).

And again: -

Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness seize upon you, for he that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. I am come a light into the world, that whosever believeth in Me may not abide in the darkness (John 12:35, 46).

"The light" denotes the Lord, from whom are all good and truth; "the darkness" falsities, which are dispersed by the Lord alone.

[11] The falsities of the last times, which are called "darkness" in the verse before us, or of which the "terror of great darkness" is predicated, were represented and signified by the darkness that came upon the whole earth, from the sixth hour to the ninth (at the crucifixion), and also by the sun being then darkened, by which was represented and signified that there was then no longer either love or faith (Matt. 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44, 45).

1840. Verse 13. And He said unto Abram, Knowing thou shall know that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. "He said unto Abram", signifies a perception; "knowing thou shalt know", signifies that it is certain; "thy seed shall be a stranger", signifies that charity and faith shall be rare; in a land that is not theirs", signifies where there is a church that is as it were not composed of those who are in charity and faith; "and they shall serve them", signifies oppression; "and they shall afflict them", signifies their severe temptations "four hundred years", signifies the duration and state.

1841. He said unto Abram. That this signifies a perception, is evident from what has been already said (verse 9) and elsewhere), where the same words have the same signification.

1842. Knowing thou shalt know. That this signifies that it is certain, is evident without explication.

1843. Thy seed shall be a stranger. That this signifies that charity and faith shall be rare, is evident from the signification of "a stranger", and of "seed". A "stranger" or "sojourner" signifies one that is not born in the land, so that he is not acknowledged as a native, and thus is looked upon as an alien. But "seed" signifies charity and its faith (n. 255, 1025), (verse 3). Because that is called "strange" which is looked upon as alien, and alien is that which is not in the land or of the land, it follows that it is that which is rare; and consequently it here means that charity and the faith of charity, which are the "seed", will be rare. It is the time before the consummation that is here treated of, when there shall be "great darkness", that is, falsities; the seed shall then be a stranger, that is, charity and faith will then be rare.

[2] That faith would be rare in the last times was foretold by the Lord when He spoke of the consummation of the age (Matt. 24:4-51; Mark 13:3-37; Luke 21:7-38), where everything that is said implies that charity and faith will be rare at those times, and that at last there will be none. The like is said by John in the Apocalypse, and also in many passages of the Prophets, besides what is said in the historical parts of the Word.

[3] But by the faith that will perish in the last times there is meant nothing but charity, for there cannot possibly be any faith but the faith of charity. He who has not charity cannot have any faith at all, for charity is the very soil in which faith is implanted; it is its heart, from which it exists and lives. The ancients therefore compared love and charity to the heart, and faith to the lungs, both of which are in the breast. This comparison involves a real likeness, seeing that if a man should pretend to a life of faith without charity, it would be like having life from the lungs alone without the heart, which is manifestly impossible and therefore the ancients called all things that pertain to charity things of the heart, and all things that pertain to faith without charity they said were of the mouth only, or of the lungs by the influx of the breathing into the speech. Thence came the ancient forms of speech concerning good and truth that they must go forth from the heart.

1844. In a land which is not theirs. That this signifies where there is a church that is as it were not composed of those who are in charity and faith, is evident from the signification of "a land", as being the church (n. 566, 662, 1066, 1067). At this day men speak of the church as existing from the mere doctrinals of faith, and thereby distinguish the churches of the Lord, not caring what life men live-whether they cherish inward hatreds, and tear one another like wild beasts, rob one another, and deprive others of reputation, honor, and wealth, and at heart deny whatever is holy. And yet with such there is no church at all; but the church is with those who love the Lord, and who love the neighbor as themselves, who have conscience, and are averse to such hatreds as have been mentioned. But among those previously described these men are like strangers, and are treated with the utmost possible abuse and persecution, or else are regarded as being simple, mean, and of no account. This then is what is meant by "thy seed shall be a stranger in the land".

1845. And they shall serve theirs. That this signifies oppression, may be seen from what has just been said.

1846. And they shall afflict them. That this signifies their severe temptations, may be seen from the signification of "afflicting", or of "affliction", as being persecution, consequently temptation. In the Word of the Lord nothing else is signified by "affliction". As in Isaiah: -

I will purge thee, and not with silver; I will choose thee in the furnace of affliction (Isaiah 48:10),

"affliction" denoting temptation. In Moses: -

Thou shalt remember all the way by which Jehovah thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, that He might afflict thee, to tempt thee. Jehovah, who fed thee in the wilderness with manna which thy fathers knew not, that He might afflict thee, and that He might tempt thee, to do thee good at thy latter end (Deut. 8:2, 16);

to "afflict" manifestly denotes to tempt.

[2] In the same: -

When the Egyptians did evil unto us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard servitude and we cried unto Jehovah, the God of our fathers, and Jehovah heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression (Deut. 26:6, 7).

Here we find the same things as in the present verse: that they "served" and were "afflicted", by which in like manner are signified the temptations of the faithful, as likewise by their afflictions in the wilderness, by which also there were represented the temptations of the Lord.

[3] As in Isaiah: -

He was despised, a man of sorrows, and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. But truly He hath borne our diseases, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted (Isaiah 53:3, 4).

By these words are signified the Lord's temptations; by His "bearing our sicknesses, and carrying our sorrows", is not meant that the faithful are to undergo no temptations, nor is it meant that He took their sins upon Himself, and so bore them; but it means that by the combats and victories of temptations He overcame the hells, and in this way would alone, even as to His Human Essence, endure the temptations of the faithful.

[4] Temptations are also called by the Lord "afflictions;" as in Mark: -

They that are sown upon stony places, when they have heard the Word have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; afterwards, when affliction and persecution arise because of the Word, straightway they are offended (Mark 4:16, 17).

"Affliction" here manifestly denotes temptation; to "have no root in themselves", is to have no charity, for in this is faith rooted, and they who have not the support of this root yield in temptations. In John: -

In the world ye have affliction; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

"Affliction" here denotes temptation.

[5] In Matthew: -

Nation shall be stirred up against nation and kingdom against kingdom all these things are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up unto affliction. Then shall be great affliction, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world. Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened (Matthew 24:7-9, 21, 29).

Here the consummation of the age, or the last times of the church, are treated of; "affliction" denotes temptations, both external and internal, the external being persecutions from the world, and the internal being persecutions from the devil. That there will be no charity, is signified by "nation being stirred against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;" also by "the sun", that is, the Lord and love and charity, being "darkened".

1847. Four hundred years. That this signifies the duration and state, namely, of the temptations, is evident from the signification of "four hundred", which number signifies the same as "forty", namely, the durations and states of temptations (n. 730, 862). The durations of temptations, both the shorter and the more lasting, are described in the Word by "forty". In the literal sense the words before us relate to the stay of the sons of Jacob in Egypt; and that this was four hundred and thirty years is evident from (Exodus 12:40); though the time was not so great as reckoned from Jacob's coming into Egypt, but it was reckoned from Abram's sojourn there, as has been observed before. The number four hundred and thirty is mentioned, from Abram's sojourn, for the reason that this number involves the temptations which they represented by their servitude in Egypt, and afterwards also by the forty years' afflictions in the wilderness.

1848. Verse 14. And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and after that shall they go out with great substance. And also that nation whom they shall serve", signifies the evil who oppress "will I judge", signifies visitation and judgment; "and after that shall they go out with great substance", signifies deliverance, and that they will have celestial and spiritual goods.

1849. And also that nation whom they shall serve. That this signifies the evil who oppress, is evident from the signification of a "nation" and of "serving". In the genuine sense a "nation" signifies goods, or what is the same, good persons; for when goods are spoken of in the abstract, they are in a subject; and this is a man, a spirit, or an angel. But in the opposite sense a "nation" signifies evils, or what is the same, the evil (n. 1159, 1258-1260). But to "serve", or "servitude", signifies oppression, as in the preceding verse.

1850. Will I judge. That this signifies visitation and judgment, may be seen without explication. By "judging", or "judgment", there is not signified any last judgment, as people in general suppose, that is, that the heaven and the earth are to perish, and that so a new heaven and a new earth will be created, as spoken of in the Prophets and in the Apocalypse; and thus that all things are to perish, which opinion has spread itself so widely that it has even taken possession of the minds of those who are best instructed; and this to such a degree that they do not believe that the dead are to rise except at that time. And therefore because this time was foretold, and still, after so many centuries have since passed by, they see that it has not come and is not at hand, feeling safe they confirm themselves in their assurance that there is no such thing, and therefore that they will not rise again. But it is to be known that by the last judgment, or by the destruction of heaven and earth, no such thing is meant. According to the sense of the letter it is so; but not at all according to the internal sense: in this sense the last judgment means the last time of the church; the heaven and earth that will perish, mean the church as to internal and external worship, which becomes no church when there is no charity.

[2] There was a last judgment of the Most Ancient Church when all charity and faith had failed, and when there was no perception, as was the case just before the flood. The flood itself, treated of above, was the last judgment of that church; heaven and earth, that is, the church, then perished; and a new heaven and a new earth, that is, a new church, were created, which was called the Ancient Church, and which also has been treated of. This church likewise had its last time, namely, when all charity grew cold and all faith was darkened, which was about the time of Eber. This time was the last judgment of that church; which was the heaven and earth that had perished.

[3] The Hebrew Church was a new heaven and a new earth, and this too had its last time, or last judgment, when it became idolatrous; and the" a new church was raised up among the descendants of Jacob, which was called the Jewish Church, and which was a church that was merely representative of charity and faith. In this church, that is, among the descendants of Jacob, there was neither charity nor faith, and therefore no church, but only the representative of a church, for the reason that it had become impossible for there to be immediate communication of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens with any true church on earth, and therefore a mediate communication was effected by means of representatives. The last time of this so-called church, or its last judgment, was when the Lord came into the world; for the representatives then ceased, that is, the sacrifices and similar rites; and in order that these might cease, the Jews were cast out of the land of Canaan.

[4] After this a new heaven and a new earth were created, that is, a new church, which is to be called the Primitive Church, which was commenced by the Lord, and afterwards gradually became stronger, and which at first was in charity and faith. The destruction of this church is foretold by the Lord in the Gospels, and by John in the Apocalypse; and this destruction is what is called the Last Judgment. Not that heaven and earth are now to perish, but that in some quarter of the globe a new church will be raised up, the present one remaining in its external worship, as the Jews do in theirs, in whose worship it is well known that there is nothing of charity and faith, that is, nothing of the church. So far as regards the last judgment in general.

[5] In particular, there is a last judgment for every one immediately after he dies; for he then passes into the other life, in which, when he comes into the life that he had in the body, he is adjudged either to death or to life. There is also a last judgment in the singular, for with a man who is adjudged to death, every single thing condemns him, for there is nothing in his thought and will, not even the least thing, that does not resemble his last judgment, and that does not drag him to death. In like manner with the man who is adjudged to life: in him every single thing of his thought and of his will presents an image of his last judgment, and all carry him on to life. For such as is man in general, such is he in the singulars of his thought and of his affection. These are the things that are signified by the last judgment.

1851. And after that shall they go out with great substance. That this signifies deliverance, and that they will have celestial and spiritual goods, is evident from the signification of "going out", which is to be liberated, and from the signification of "substance", which is celestial and spiritual goods, for this is the substance of those who suffer the persecutions, and undergo the temptations, oppressions, afflictions, or servitudes, that are treated of in this and the preceding verses. These goods are also represented and signified by the substance of the sons of Jacob when they went out of Egypt (Exod. 11:2; 12:36) and also by their substance in the land of Canaan when the nations had been driven out; and in the Prophets, whenever the spoils taken from their enemies are treated of, by which they were enriched.

1852. Verse 15. And thou shall go to thy fathers in peace, thou shall be buried in a good old age. " Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace", signifies that nothing of the goods and truths shall be harmed; "thou shalt be buried in a good old age", signifies the enjoyment of all goods by those who are the Lord's.

1853. Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. That this signifies that nothing of the goods and truths shall be harmed, may be seen from the signification of "fathers", also of "going to one's fathers", and of "peace". In the internal sense, "fathers" here signify the same as "daughters" and "sons" taken together. That "daughters" signify goods, and "sons" truths, has been shown before (n. 489-491, 533, 1147); hence "fathers" signify the things which belong to daughters and sons together. To "go to one's fathers" is to pass from the life of the body into the life of the spirit, or from the world into the other life. "In peace", signifies that he shall lose nothing, and thus that nothing shall be harmed, for he who passes into the other life loses nothing of the things that belong to him as a man; he retains and has with him everything except the body, which had been an impediment to the interior exercise of his faculties. That no death, or passing to the fathers by death, is here meant, will be evident from what next follows.

1854. Thou shalt be buried in a good old age. That this signifies the enjoyment of all goods by those who are the Lord's, is evident from the fact that those who die and are buried do not die, but pass from an obscure life into a clear one. For the death of the body is merely the continuation and also the perfection of the life, and they who are the Lord's then first come into the enjoyment of all goods, which enjoyment is signified by "a good old age". The expressions that they "died", were "buried", and were "gathered to their fathers", are often met with, but in the internal sense these do not signify the same as in the sense of the letter. In the eternal sense are such things as are of the life after death and are eternal; but in the sense of the letter are such as are of the life in the world and belong to time.

[2] Consequently they who are in the internal sense (as the angels are) when such expressions are met with never abide in ideas of death and burial, but in such as relate to the continuance of life, for they regard death as nothing but the putting off of those things which are of grossest nature and of time, and as being a continuation of the real life; in fact they do not know what death is, for they think nothing about it. And the like is the case with the ages of man, so that when it is here said "in a good old age", the angels have no perception at all of old age, indeed they do not know what old age is, for they are constantly verging toward the life of early manhood and of youth. Such life, and consequently the celestial and spiritual things of it, are what are meant when "a good old age" and similar expressions occur in the Word.

1855. Verse 16. And in the fourth generation they shall return hither, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet consummated. "In the fourth generation they shall return hither", signifies the time and state of restoration; "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet consummated", signifies the last time, when there is no longer any good.

1856. In the fourth generation they shall return hither. That this signifies the time and state of restoration, is evident from the signification of " the fourth generation". "The fourth generation" signifies the same as " forty" and as "four hundred;" namely, the duration and the state of temptation, spoken of at (verse 13); it is a sort of diminutive from these. Whether a number be larger or smaller, provided it be of the same stock, it involves the same; as has already been stated several times. That "the fourth generation" does not signify any generation from Abram, or from Isaac, or from Jacob, is evident from the historicals of the Word; for there were more generations, and these people were very different from their fathers when they returned. "The fourth generation" is an expression that occurs likewise in other places, yet in the internal sense it never signifies any generation; and here it signifies the time and state of restoration, because it signifies the end of those things which are signified by "forty" or by "four hundred" (n. 862, 1847).

1857. For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet consummated. That this signifies the last time, when there is no longer any good, is evident from the signification of "the Amorite", and also from the signification of "consummation". By "the Amorite" in the Word, is signified evil in general, for the reason that the land of Canaan was called the land of the Amorites (Ezek. 16:3, 4; Amos 2:9, 10). And therefore by "the Amorite" in this passage are signified all the nations of the land of Canaan; and by these, as before said, were signified evils and falsities specifically; and consequently by "the Amorite" are signified all evils in general. By "consummation" is signified the last time, when there is no longer any good.

[2] But what is meant in the internal sense by the fact that the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet consummated, is an arcanum. For the state of the case with the evil in the other life is that they are not punished until their evils have reached their height, and this both in general and in particular. For such is the equilibrium in the other life that evil punishes itself, that is to say those who are evil run into the punishment of their evil, but only when it has reached its height. Every evil has its limit that varies in each individual case, beyond which it is not allowable to pass. When an evil person passes beyond this limit he precipitates himself into the penalty, and this is so in every particular.

[3] It is the same in general, the wicked thrust themselves down into hell, not in a moment, but successively. This has its origin in the universal law of order established by the Lord, that the Lord never casts any one down into bell; but that evil casts itself down, or that the evil person casts himself down, and this successively, until the evil has been consummated, and nothing of good any longer appears. So long as there is any good, he is uplifted above hell; but when there is nothing but evil, of himself he is thrust down into it. Good and evil must first be separated from each other, for they are opposites and no one is allowed to incline both ways. This is what is signified by the iniquity of the Amorites having to be consummated. But with the good the case is otherwise; they are continually uplifted by the Lord toward heaven, and their evil is successively wiped away.

[4] The same is the case with the state of a church. The visitation does not come until its evil has been consummated, that is, until there is no longer any good of charity and truth of faith. This consummation is very often spoken of in the Prophets. As in Isaiah: -

A consummation and a decree have I heard from the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth upon the whole earth (Isaiah 28:22).

In Jeremiah: -

O Babel, that dwellest upon many waters, great in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy gain (Jeremiah 51:13).

In Daniel: -

Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon the city of thy holiness, to consummate the transgression, and to seal up sins, and to expiate iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies (Daniel 9:24).

At length upon the bird of abominations shall be desolation, and even unto the consummation and the decree shall it pour itself out upon the devastation (Daniel 9:27).

[5] The consummation is also foretold by the Lord Himself in these words of Luke: -

They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive among all the nations; and at length Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the nations, until the times of the nations shall be fulfilled (Luke 21:24).

To "fall by the edge of the sword", signifies by falsities, for "a sword" in the Word is the punishment of what is false; " Jerusalem" denotes the Lord's kingdom and the church (n. 402); "nations" evils (n. 1260). Thus the signification is that there would be a consummation when the church should be possessed by evils and falsities, and so be destroyed of itself.

1858. Verse 17. And it came to pass that the sun went down, and there was thick darkness; and behold a furnace of smoke, and a torch of fire, which passed between those pieces. "And it came to pass that the sun went down", signifies the last time, when the consummation came; "and there was thick darkness", signifies when hatred was in the place of charity; "and behold a furnace of smoke", signifies the densest falsity; "and a torch of fire", signifies the burning heat of cupidities; "which passed between those pieces", signifies that it separated those who were of the church from the Lord.

1859. And it came to pass that the sun went down. That this signifies the last time, when the consummation came, is evident from what was said above (verse 12) concerning the setting of the sun and its signification, namely, that it is the last time of the church.

1860. And there was thick darkness. That this signifies when hatred was in the place of charity, is evident from the signification of "thick darkness". In the Word "darkness" signifies falsities, and "thick darkness" evils. There is "darkness" when falsity is in the place of truth; and there is "thick darkness" when evil is in the place of good, or what is precisely the same, when hatred is in the place of charity. When hatred is in the place of charity, the thick darkness is so great that the man is quite unaware that it is evil, still less that it is so great an evil as in the other life to thrust him down to hell, for they who are in hatred perceive a kind of delight and as it are a kind of life in it, and this delight and life themselves cause him scarcely to know but that it is good, for whatever favors a man's pleasure and cupidity, because it favors his love, he feels as good, and this to such a degree that when he is told that it is infernal he can scarcely believe it, still less when he is told that such delight and life are in the other life turned into an excrementitious and cadaverous stench. And still less does he believe that he is becoming a devil and a horrible image of hell; for hell consists of nothing but hatreds and such diabolical forms.

[2] Yet any one might know this who possesses any faculty for thinking, for if he should describe or represent, or if he could in any manner picture, hatred, he would do it no otherwise than by diabolical forms, such as those who are in hatred also become after death, and, wonderful to say, such men are capable of declaring that in the other life they shall come into heaven; some merely for saying that they have faith, when yet there are in heaven none but forms of charity, and what these are may be seen from experience (n. 553). Let all such therefore consider how these two forms, of hatred and of charity, can agree together in one place.

[3] That "darkness" signifies falsity, and "thick darkness" evil, may be seen from the following passages in the Word. In Isaiah: -

Behold, darkness covereth the earth, and thick darkness the peoples (Isaiah 60:2).

In Joel: -

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Jehovah cometh, a day of darkness and thick darkness (Joel 2:1, 2).

In Zephaniah: -

That day is a day of wrath, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and thick darkness (Zephaniah 1:15).

In Amos: -

Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness and not light, and thick darkness and no brightness in it? (Amos 5:20).

In these passages "the day of Jehovah" denotes the last time of the church, which is here treated of; "darkness" denotes falsities, " thick darkness" evils both therefore are mentioned; otherwise it would be a repetition of the same thing, or an unmeaning amplification. But the word in the original language that in this verse is rendered "thick darkness" involves falsity as well as evil, that is, dense falsity from which is evil, and also dense evil from which is falsity.

1861. And behold a furnace of smoke and a torch of fire. That "a furnace of smoke" signifies the densest falsity, and " a torch of fire" the burning heat of cupidities, is evident from the signification of "a furnace of smoke" as being dense falsity, and from the signification of "a torch of fire" as being the burning heat of cupidities. It is said "a furnace of smoke", because a man, especially a man of the church, who has a knowledge of the truth and still does not acknowledge, but in heart denies it, and indeed passes his life in things contrary to the truth, appears no otherwise than as a furnace of smoke - himself as the furnace, and the falsity from his hatreds as the smoke. The cupidities from which are the falsities appear as torches of fire from such a furnace, as is evident also from the representatives in the other life, described from experience, (n. 814, 1528). It is cupidities of hatred, revenge, cruelties, adulteries - and still more when these are mingled with deceits - that appear and become such things.

[2] That by a "furnace", "smoke", and "fire" such things are signified in the Word may be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

Every one is a hypocrite and a wicked one, and every mouth speaketh folly. For wickedness burneth as the fire, it devoureth the briars and thorns, and kindleth in the thickets of the forest, and they mount up as the rising of smoke. In the wrath of Jehovah Zebaoth is the land darkened, and the people is become like food for fire; a man shall not spare his brother (Isaiah 9:17-19).

Here "fire" denotes hatreds and "the rising of smoke" from it such falsities; hatred is described by "no man sparing his brother;" for when such men are looked upon by the angels they appear no otherwise than as here described.

[3] In Joel: -

I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come (Joel 2:30, 31).

Here "fire" denotes hatred; "pillars of smoke" falsities; "the sun" charity; and "the moon" faith.

[4] In Isaiah: -

The land shall become burning pitch; it shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up to eternity (Isaiah 34:9, 10).

"Burning pitch" denotes direful cupidities; and "smoke" falsities.

[5] In Malachi: -

Behold the day cometh burning as a furnace, and all the proud and every one that worketh wickedness shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall set them on fire, it shall leave them neither root nor branch (Malachi 4:1).

A "burning furnace" here denotes the same as before; the "root" denotes charity; the " branch" truth, which shall not be left.

[6] In Hosea: -

Ephraim became guilty in Baal, he shall be as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney (Hosea 13:1, 3).

"Ephraim" denotes an intelligent man who becomes such.

[7] In Isaiah: -

The strong shall be as tow, and his work as a spark; and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them (Isaiah 1:31)

meaning those who are in the love of self, or what is the same, in hatred against the neighbor, in that they shall be thus kindled by their own cupidities. In John: -

Babylon is become a habitation of demons. They cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning. Her smoke goeth up for ever and ever (Rev. 18:2, 18; 19:3).

[8] In the same: -

He opened the pit of the abyss, and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace and the sun was darkened, and the air, from the smoke of the pit (Rev. 9:2).

In the same: -

Out of the mouths of the horses went forth fire and smoke and brimstone. By these was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, that went forth out of their mouth (Rev. 9:17, 18).

In the same: -

He that worshipeth the beast shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God poured out unmixed in the cup of His anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone (Rev. 14:9, 10).

In the same: -

The fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire; and men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God (Rev. 16:8, 9).

In like manner it is said that

They were cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone (Rev. 19:20; 20:14, 15; 21:8).

[9] In these passages "fire" denotes the cupidities, and " smoke" the falsities that will reign in the last times. These things were seen by John when his interior sight was opened, just as they appear in the other life. Similar things are also seen by spirits, and by souls after death. Hence it may be seen what hell fire is, that it is nothing but hatred, revenge, and cruelty, or what is the same, the love of self; for such do these become. During his life in the body, any man of such a quality, however he might appear outwardly, if inspected closely by the angels would appear no otherwise in their eyes, that is, his hatreds would appear as torches of fire, and the falsities derived from them as furnaces of smoke.

[10] Concerning this fire the Lord thus speaks in Matthew: -

Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire (Matthew 3:10; Luke 3:9);

by "good fruit" is meant charity: he who deprives himself of this cuts himself down, and casts himself into such fire. Again: -

The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire (Matthew 13:41, 42, 50),

with a like meaning. And again: -

The king saith unto those on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).

[11] That they should be "sent into the eternal fire", "the Gehenna of fire", and that "their worm should not die, and their fire should not be quenched" (Matt. 18:8, 9; Mark 9:43-49), have a like meaning. In Luke: -

Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame (Luke 16:24),

with a like meaning.

[12] They who are not acquainted with the arcana of the Lord's kingdom suppose that the Lord casts the wicked into hell, or into such fire, which, as before said, is that of hatreds but the case is very different, for it is the man himself, or the diabolical spirit himself, who casts himself down. But because it so appears it has been expressed in the word according to the appearance, and indeed according to the fallacies of the senses; and especially was this necessary in the case of the Jews, who were unwilling to accept anything at all unless it were in accordance with the senses, whatever might be the fallacies thus involved. On this account the sense of the letter, especially in the prophecies, is full of such things.

[13] As in Jeremiah: -

Thus said Jehovah, Judge judgment in the morning, and deliver the spoiled out of the had of the oppressor, lest My fury go forth like fire, and burn, and there be none to quench it, because of the wickedness of their Works (Jeremiah 21:12).

To "judge judgment" is to speak truth; to "deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor", is to do the good of charity; "fire" denotes the infernal punishment of those who do not do these things, that is, who pass their lives in the falsity of hatred. In the sense of the letter such "fire" and "fury" are attributed to Jehovah, but in the internal sense it is quite the contrary.

[14] In like manner in Joel: -

The day of Jehovah: a fire devoureth before Him, and behind Him a flame burneth (Joel 2:1, 3).

In David: -

There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured, coals did burn from Him, and thick darkness was under His feet (Ps. 18:8, 9).

In Moses: -

A fire is kindled in Mine anger, and it shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall devour the earth and her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains (Deut. 32:22),

where "fire" denotes the hatreds, and "smoke" the falsities which are in men, which are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord for the reasons that have been given. In the hells also the appearance is that Jehovah or the Lord does this, but it is quite the contrary; they do it to themselves, because they are in the fires of hatred. Hence it is manifest how easily a man may fall into phantasies if the internal sense of the Word is not known.

[15] It was similar with the "smoke" and "fire" that were seen by the people on Mount Sinai when the law was promulgated. For Jehovah, or the Lord, appears to every one according to his quality - to celestial angels as a Sun, to spiritual angels as a Moon, to all the good as a Light of varied delight and pleasantness but to the evil as a smoke and as a consuming fire. And as when the Law was promulgated, the Jews had nothing of charity, but the love of self and of the world prevailed in them, and thus nothing but evils and falsities, He therefore appeared to them as a smoke and fire, when at the same instant He appeared to the angels as the Sun and Light of heaven.

[16] That He so appeared to the Jews because they were of such a character, is evident in Moses: -

The glory of Jehovah abode upon Mount Sinai, and the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mount, in the eyes of the sons of Israel (Exod. 24:16, 17).

Again: -

And Mount Sinai was all of it smoking, because Jehovah descended upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly (Exod. 19:18).

And elsewhere: -

Ye came near and stood under the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire, even to the heart of heaven; darkness, cloud, and thick darkness and Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire (Deut. 4:11, 12; 5:22).

Also: -

It came to pass when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain did burn with fire, that ye came near unto me, and ye said, Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more, then we shall die (Deut. 5:23-25).

[17] Just so would it be with any one else who should see the Lord, and who has passed his life in hatred and in the foul things of hatreds, for he could see Him no otherwise than from his hatred and its foulnesses, these being the recipients of the rays of good and truth from the Lord, and they would turn these rays into such fire, smoke, and thick darkness. From the same passages it is also plain what the "smoke of the furnace" is, and what the "torch of fire", namely, the most dense falsity and most filthy evil, that would in the last times take possession of the church.

1862. That passed between those pieces. That this signifies that it separated those who were of the church from the Lord, may be seen at (verse 10) concerning the partition of the animals in the midst, as signifying a parallelism and correspondence in respect to celestial things; and that one part being placed opposite the other signified the church and the Lord; and that the intermediate space or interspace signified that which comes in between the Lord and the church, or between the Lord and the man of the church, which is conscience, in which goods and truths have been implanted by means of charity. When hatreds succeed in place of charity, and evils and falsities in place of goods and truths, there is then no conscience of what is good and true; but this middle space or interspace appears to be filled with a furnace of smoke and with torches of fire, that is, with persuasions of falsity and with hatreds, which are what altogether separate the Lord from the church.

[2] These are the things signified by the passing between the pieces; chiefly that of the torch of fire, for this is the love of self, or what is the same, the evil of hatred. This may also be seen in Jeremiah, where we find nearly the same words: -

I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not established the words of the covenant which they made before Me, the calf which they cut in twain and passed between the parts thereof; the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their souls; and their carcass shall be for food to the fowl of the heavens and to the beast of the earth (Jeremiah 34:14, 18-20).

1863. Verse 18. In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy, seed will I give the land, from the river of Egypt, even to the great river, the river Euphrates. "In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram", signifies the conjunction of the Lord's interior man with His Internal or Jehovah; "saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land", signifies the consolations after these temptations and horrors, in that they who are in charity and in faith in Him will become heirs; "from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates", signifies the extension of spiritual and celestial things; "to the river of Egypt", is the extension of spiritual things; "to the river Euphrates", is the extension of celestial things.

1864. In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram. That this signifies the conjunction of the Lord's interior man with His Internal, is evident from the signification of a "covenant", as being conjunction (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038). And as the Lord is here treated of in the internal sense, it signifies interior conjunction. For the Lord advanced more and more to conjunction and union with Jehovah His Father, until He became One, that is, the Human Essence itself also became Jehovah, who was the Lord's Internal itself. These things were represented by the covenant which Jehovah made with Abram. Every one can see that Jehovah never makes a covenant with a man, for this would be contrary to the Divine. What is a man but something vile and filthy, which of itself thinks and does nothing but evil? All the good that he does is from Jehovah; from which it may be seen that this covenant, like other covenants with Abram's posterity, was nothing but a representative of the Divine, and of the celestial things of the kingdom of God; in the present case that the covenant was representative of the conjunction of the Lord's Human Essence with His Divine Essence, that is, with Jehovah. That it was representative of the conjunction of the Lord's interior man with His Internal, that is, Jehovah, is evident from what has been said before, namely, that by the combats and victories of temptations the Lord conjoined and united Himself more and more. What His interior man was, has been told before, namely, that it was intermediate between the internal man and the external.

1865. Saying, Unto they seed will I give this land. That this signifies the consolation after these temptations and horrors, in that they who are in charity and faith in Him should become heirs, is evident from the signification of "seed", and from the signification of the "land". By the "seed of Abram" are signified love and the faith derived therefrom (n. 255, 256, 1025), consequently all those who are in charity and in faith in the Lord. But by the land of Canaan is signified the Lord's kingdom; therefore to "give the land unto thy seed" signifies that the heavenly kingdom should be given as an inheritance to those who from charity have faith in Him.

[2] That these things were a consolation to the Lord after His temptations and horrors, may be seen without explication. For after those hard and adverse eventualities which the Lord had seen, that is to say, after he had put to flight evils and falsities - which were signified by the fowls that came down upon the bodies and that Abram drove away (verse 11)-and yet after all dense falsities infused themselves, at which He shuddered (which were signified by the "terror of great darkness" that fell upon Abram in the deep sleep, (verse 12), and yet at last mere falsities and evils took possession of the human race (which are signified by "the furnace of smoke" and "the torch of fire" which passed between the pieces, mentioned in (verse 17), that precedes this), the Lord could not but be in distress and grief; and therefore consolation now follows, such as was given above (verses 4 and 5); namely, that His seed should inherit the land, that is, that they who are in charity and in faith in Him should become heirs of His kingdom. To Him the salvation of the human race was the only consolation, for He was in Divine and celestial love, and became, even as to His Human Essence, the Divine and celestial Love itself, in which the love of all is alone regarded and is at heart.

[3] That the Divine love is such may be seen from the love of parents toward their children, which increases according to the degree in which it descends, that is, it becomes greater toward the more remote descendants than it is toward the immediate children. Nothing ever exists without a cause and an origin, consequently neither does this love in the human race that is characterized by a constant increase toward the descendants in succession. The cause and origin of this cannot but be from the Lord, from whom inflows all conjugial love, and that of parents toward their children, and the source of which is that His love for all is like that of a father for his sons, who desires to make all His heirs, and provides an inheritance for those who are to be born, as He does for those already born.

1866. From the river Euphrates. That this signifies the extension of spiritual and celestial things - to the river of Egypt" being the extension of spiritual things, and "to the river Euphrates" being the extension of celestial things - is evident from the signification of "the river of Egypt", and from the signification of "the great river", or "the Euphrates". That these "rivers" signify the extension of spiritual and celestial things, may be seen from the signification of the land of Canaan, as being the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on the earth, in which there is nothing but the spiritual things which are of faith and the celestial things which are of mutual love; and therefore nothing but the extension of these can be meant by the boundaries of the land of Canaan. For what the land of Canaan is, what the river of Egypt is, and what the great river Euphrates is, and indeed what the boundaries of any land are, they who are in the heavens do not know at all; but they well know what the extension of spiritual and celestial things is, and also the determinations and the limitations of the states of these things. These things they have in mind while the others are being read by man; and so the letter vanishes and together with it that historical sense which has served as an objective form for the heavenly ideas.

[2] That "the river of Egypt" signifies the extension of spiritual things, is because "Egypt" signifies memory-knowledges (scientifica), which, together with a man's rational and intellectual things, constitute spiritual things (n. 1443); and that "Egypt" in the internal sense signifies memory-knowledges may be seen (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462). That "the river Euphrates" signifies the extension of celestial things, may be seen from a consideration of the lands which that river bounds and separates from the land of Canaan, and by which likewise in many passages are signified the knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones) of celestial things but here, because it is called "the river" and "the great river", celestial things and the knowledges (cognitiones) of them are what alone are signified; for a "great river" and "greatness" are predicated of these.

1867. Verses 19, 20, 21. The Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite. "The Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite", signify falsities which are to be expelled from the Lord's kingdom; "the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim", signify persuasions of falsity; "the Amorite and the Canaanite", signify evils; "the Girgashite and the Jebusite", signify falsities from evils.

1868. That these things are signified by these nations it would be too tedious to confirm from the Word; and there is no need to do so here, because they are merely named. Some of them have been treated of above; the "Rephaim" as signifying the persuasions of falsity (n. 567, 581, 1673); the "Amorite" as signifying evils (n. 1680); the "Canaanite" as signifying evils (verse 16); the "Perizzite" as signifying falsities (n. 1574). What is the specific signification of the other nations, shall of the Lord's Divine mercy be told in what follows, as they occur.

[2] As regards the nations which are to be expelled from the Lord's kingdom, the case is this. In the other life the evil and diabolical spirits desire nothing more than to come up into the world of spirits and infest the good spirits, but as often as they do so they are cast out, in like manner as in a man who is being regenerated the falsities and evils which have taken possession of him are subjugated and dissipated, and the goods and truths of the Lord's kingdom are implanted in their place.

[3] These were represented by the nations that were expelled from the land of Canaan by the sons of Jacob; and the same were represented by the Jews themselves, who were afterwards expelled from the land. The same occurred with many nations of old that represented similar things, as the Horites who were driven from Mount Seir by the descendants of Esau (Deut. 2:12, 22); and the Avvim who were expelled by the Caphtorim (Deut. 2:23); also the Emim or Rephaim who were driven out by the Moabites (Deut. 2:9-11); and also the Zamzummim who were expelled by the Ammonites (Deut. 2:19-21).

 

CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE HOLY SCRIPTURE OR WORD

1869. How many things there are in a single word of the Word has been shown me by the opening of the ideas of thought. It is a remarkable fact that in the other life this can be done so to the very life that the ideas themselves appear visible in form, and thus like pictured images. One who during his life in this world had lived in charity or mutual love, and had taken great delight in the Word, had his ideas thus opened. There then appeared beautiful things beyond number, together with delicious and delightful things of an affecting nature, and it was said that the things which thus appear visible can be opened again as to their interiors, and that when these have been opened things still more beautiful and delightful are presented that are attended with happiness itself. Such are all angelic ideas, for they are open from the Lord Himself.

[2] To spirits who wondered that ideas of thought could be so opened in the other life, this was illustrated by taking the case of the sight of the eye, the rays of vision of which are so dull and obscure that the smaller things in nature (which contain things innumerable) they see only as something opaque, black, and shapeless; but when the same objects are viewed through a microscope, things more interior are presented to view, connected in beautiful series and flowing in delightful order; and it is seen that these might in like manner be opened still more by a more powerful microscope. In this way such spirits have been shown how the case is with the internal sight, the rays of which are nothing but ideas, in that in themselves these ideas are so gross that anything more gross can scarcely exist in that sphere, although men think differently. But concerning ideas, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

1870. The case is similar with the Word of the Lord; each of its words presents in form its own idea, for a word is nothing but an idea so presented in form that the sense may be perceived; and in the ideas are things so innumerable, and which cannot come to man's perception, but only to that of angels, that it can never be believed. And when these are opened by the Lord, more internal forms are presented to the perception by delightful and happy things, and to the sight by representative and paradisal things; the former from the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's love or mercy, and the latter from the rays of light thence derived.

[2] It has been show me by wonderful experience that the Word has been inspired not only as to each of its words, but also as to the little letters of each word, and thus exactly as is said, as to the smallest jot; for in every jot there is something from that affection and life which is common to the whole expression, and which therefore has been insinuated in a correspondent manner into its smallest particulars. But this can by no means be explained to the understanding without a previous knowledge of many other things.

1871. How the Word of the Lord appears before the angels cannot be described, but some idea can be formed by those who have seen in museums the optical cylinders in which beautiful images are represented from things roughly projected. Although the things which are round about in the projection appear to have no form, series, or order, and to be merely confused projections, still when they are concentrated toward the cylinder, they there present a lovely image. So it is with the Word of the Lord, especially with the prophetic Word of the Old Testament. In the literal sense there is scarcely anything that does not appear destitute of order, but when it is being read by a man, and especially by a little boy or girl, it becomes more beautiful and delightful by degrees as it ascends, and at last it is presented before the Lord as the image of a human being, in which and by which heaven is represented in its whole complex, not as it is, but as the Lord wills it to be, namely, a likeness of Himself.

1872. There appeared to me a beautiful girl with a radiant face, passing quickly upward toward the right, and making some haste. In age she seemed to be in the first bloom - not a child nor yet a young woman - becomingly clothed with a dress of shining black; so she was hastening on with gladness from light to light. It was said that the interiors of the Word are such in their first ascent; the black dress was the Word in the letter. Afterwards the young girl Sew to my right cheek, but was perceivable only by the interior sight. It was said that such are the things from the internal sense of the Word which do not come to the comprehension.

1873. Spirits spoke respecting the internal sense of the Word; and in order that the nature of it might be presented to the understanding, it was illustrated by the example, What is the fruit of faith? And it was said that good works are the fruit of faith in the external sense or that of the letter, but that these good works have no life unless they proceed from charity; and that thus the fruit of faith in the proximate interior sense is charity. But as charity or love toward the neighbor ought to proceed from love to the Lord, this love is the fruit of faith in the internal sense; and as all love is from the Lord, it is the Lord Himself. For thus in the good work is charity; in charity is love to the Lord; and in love to the Lord is the Lord Himself.

1874. In conversation with good spirits, I said that in the Word many things, even more than one can believe, are said according to appearances and according to the fallacies of the senses, as that Jehovah is in anger, wrath, and fury against the wicked; that He takes pleasure in bringing them to ruin and destruction, and even that He kills them. But these things have been said in order that persuasions and cupidities might not be broken, but that they might be bent; for to speak otherwise than as man apprehends (that is, from appearances, fallacies, and persuasions) would have been to sow seed in the waters, and to say that which would be at once rejected. Nevertheless such forms of speech are able to serve as general vessels in which spiritual and celestial things may be contained, for into them it may be insinuated that all things are from the Lord; then that the Lord permits, but that evil is wholly from diabolical spirits; afterwards that the Lord provides and disposes that evils should be turned into goods and at last that nothing but good is from the Lord. Thus the sense of the letter perishes as it ascends and becomes spiritual, then celestial, and at last Divine.

1875. It was granted me to have a perception of angelic ideas about these words in the Lord's Prayer: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil".Temptation and evil were rejected by the nearest good spirits, by a certain idea perceptible within me, and this even until what is purely angelic, namely, Good, remained, without any idea of temptation and evil; the literal sense thus perishing altogether. In the first rejection innumerable ideas were being formed respecting this Good - how good may come from man's affliction while the affliction still is from the man and his evil, in which there is punishment, and this with a kind of indignation joined with it that it should be thought that temptation and its evil come from any other source, and that any one should have any thought of evil in thinking of the Lord. These ideas were purified in the degree of their ascent. The ascents were represented by rejections (n. 1393), which were made with a rapidity and in a manner that were inexpressible, until they passed into the shade of my thought. They were then in heaven, where there are only ineffable angelic ideas concerning the Lord's good.

1876. The names of men, of kingdoms, and of cities, that occur in the Word, like the words of human speech, perish at the very threshold of the ascent; for these are earthly, corporeal, and material; and the souls that come into the other life successively put these things off, and those who come into heaven do so altogether. The angels retain not even the least of an idea of any person, nor consequently of his name. what Abram is, what Isaac, and Jacob, they no longer know. They form an idea for themselves from the things which are represented and signified by them in the Word. Names and words are to them like dust, or like scales, which fall off when they enter heaven. Hence it may be seen that by the names in the Word nothing is signified except actual things. I have frequently spoken with angels about these matters, and have been fully instructed by them concerning the truth. The speech of spirits with one another is not a speech of words, but of ideas, such as are those of human thought without words, on which account it is the universal of all languages. But when they speak with a man, their speech falls into the words of the man's language (n. 1635, 1637, 1639).

[2] then I have spoken with spirits about this, it has been given me to say that when they are conversing with one another, they cannot utter even one single word of human language, still less any name. Some of them, wondering at this, retired and tried; but returning they said that they were not able to pronounce them because the words were so grossly material that they were below their sphere, as they were formed from the sound of air, made articulate by the bodily organs, or by influx into such organs by an internal way leading to the organ of hearing. From this it may likewise be clearly seen that no part of a word that is in the Word can pass to spirits, still less to angelic spirits, whose speech is still more universal (n. 1642), and least of all to the angels (n. 1643), with whom remains nothing of the first ideas of spirits, but in place of them spiritual truths and celestial goods, which are varied in an ineffable manner in the least forms, continued and connected in a unanimous series, with the originaries of representatives that are most pleasant and beautiful from the happiness of mutual love, and that are happy from pleasantnesses and beauties, because they are inspired with the life of the Lord.

1877. The souls or spirits who are in the world of spirits, especially the wicked, retain at first the things which they had in their life of the body, that is, things earthly, corporeal, and worldly, and with them the principles which they had taken up. Among these spirits are those who are not willing to hear anything concerning the internal sense of the Word, but only concerning the literal sense, which they carry so far as to believe that the twelve apostles are to sit upon twelve thrones and to judge the twelve tribes of Israel; and also that none but the poor, the miserable, and they that have suffered persecutions can enter into heaven; when yet both the rich and the powerful who have lived in charity and in faith in the Lord are there. As such persons claim heaven for themselves on account of their merits, I have seen them running hither and thither, and wherever they went they derided the things which are of the internal sense of the Word, for the reason that these are contrary to their persuasions and cupidities, in that they desire to merit heaven and to be preferred before all others. But they are like the corrupt and noxious things that flow into the blood, and pervade the veins and arteries, and pollute the mass of the blood.

1878. There are also those who in the life of the body had despised the Word; and there are those who had abused the things that are in the Word to give point to a joke. There are those who had supposed that the Word was of no account, but that it might serve to keep the common people in some restraint. There are those who had blasphemed the Word; and there are those who had profaned it. The lot in the other life of all these persons is miserable, in accordance with the quality and degree of their contempt, derision, blasphemy, and profanation. For, as before said, the Word is so holy in the heavens that it is itself as it were heaven to those who are there and as there exists there a communion of the thoughts of all, such spirits cannot possibly be with them, but are separated.

1879. On one occasion while in bed I was told that evil spirits were conspiring against me with the intention of suffocating me, but as I was safe and felt secure under the Lord's keeping, I disregarded the threats and went to sleep. But awaking in the middle of the night, I felt that I was not breathing of myself, but from heaven, for there was nothing of my own respiration, as I plainly perceived. It was then said that the band of conspirators was present, and that it was composed of those who hold in hatred the interior things of the Word (that is, the very truths of faith, for these are the interiors of the Word), and who thus hate them because they are contrary to their fallacies, persuasions, and cupidities, which the sense of the letter might be brought to support.

[2] After their attempt had failed, their leaders tried to enter into the viscera of my body, and to penetrate even to the heart, and to this also they were admitted. This was all the time perceived by manifest sensation, for one to whom the interiors of the spirit are opened, gets at the same time a sensible perception of such things. But I was then introduced into a kind of celestial state, which was that I made no effort to repel these visitors, still less to avenge the injury. They then said that there was peace; but soon they were as if deprived of rationality, breathing out vengeance, and striving to carry out their purpose, but in vain. They afterwards dispersed of themselves.

1880. As regards spirits and angels in general, who all are human souls living after the death of the body, I may say here that they have much more exquisite senses than men - that is, sight, hearing, smell, and touch - but not taste. Spirits however are not able, and angels are still less able, to see anything that is in the world by their own sight, that is, by the sight of the spirit; for the light of the world or of the sun is to them as thick darkness; just in the same way as man by his sight, that is, by the sight of the body, cannot see anything that is in the other life for the light of heaven, or the Lord's heavenly light, is to man as thick darkness.

[2] But still when the Lord pleases, spirits and angels can see the things in this world through the eyes of a man. But the Lord does not grant this except in the case of one whom He enables to speak with spirits and angels, and to be together with them. Spirits and angels have been permitted to see the things in this world through my eyes as plainly as I could see them myself, and also to hear men talking with me. It has sometimes happened that to their great astonishment, some through me have seen their friends whom they had in the life of the body, just as they had seen them before. Some have also seen their married partners, and their children, and have desired me to tell them that they were close by and saw them, and to give an account of their state in the other life, but I had been forbidden to tell them or reveal to them that they were seen in this way, and this partly for the reason that they would have called me insane, or would have thought such things to be delirious fancies of the mind; for I was well aware that although they would acknowledge it with the lips, they did not believe in heart in the existence of spirits, or that the dead are risen.

[3] When my interior sight was first opened, and through my eyes spirits and angels saw the world and the things that are in it, they were so amazed that they called it the miracle of miracles; and they were affected with a new joy, in that in this way communication was opened of earth with heaven, and of heaven with earth. This delight lasted for months, but afterwards it became familiar, and now they do not wonder at all. I have been instructed that the spirits and angels who are present with other men do not in the slightest degree see the things of this world, but only perceive the thoughts and affections of those with whom they are.

[4] These things have shown that man was so created that while living on earth among men, he might at the same time also live in heaven among angels, and the converse; so that heaven and earth might be together, and might act as a one, and that men might know what is going on in heaven, and angels what in the world; and therefore that when men depart this life they would pass from the Lord's kingdom on earth into the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, not as into another kingdom, but as into the same as that in which they had been when living in the body. But in consequence of man's becoming so corporeal, he has closed heaven against himself.

1881. Spirits are exceedingly indignant, indeed are angry, when told that men do not believe that they see, that they hear, that they feel by the touch. They have said that surely men ought to know that without sense there is no life, and that the more exquisite the sense the more excellent the life; also that the objects of their sense are suited to the excellence of their senses, and that the representatives which are from the Lord are real, for all the things that are in nature and the world are derived from them (n. 1632). The words in which they express their indignation are that they perceive by the senses much better and more excellently than men do.

1882. There are two kinds of visions that are not of the ordinary kind, into which I have been let solely that I might know their nature, and what is meant by its being said in the Word that men were "withdrawn from the body", and that they were "carried by the spirit into another place".

1883. As regards the first, namely, being withdrawn from the body, the case is this. The man is brought into a certain state that is midway between sleep and wakefulness, and when he is in this state he cannot know but that he is wholly awake. All his senses are as fully awake as in the highest wakefulness of the body: the sight, the hearing, and, wonderful to say, the touch, which is then more exquisite than it can ever be in the wakefulness of the body. In this state also spirits and angels have been seen to the very life, and also heard, and, wonderful to say, have been touched, and almost nothing of the body then intervened. This is the state of which it is said that they are "withdrawn from the body", and that they "do not know whether they are in the body or out of it". I have been let into this state only three or four times, merely that I might know how the case is with it, and that spirits and angels are in the enjoyment of every sense, even touch in a form more delicate and more exquisite than that of the body.

1884. As regards the other kind of vision - being carried away by the spirit into another place - it has been shown me by living experience what it is, and how it is done, but only two or three times. One single experience I may mention. Walking through the streets of a city and through the country, and being at the same time also in conversation with spirits, I did not know but that I was wide awake and saw as at other times, so that I walked on without mistake, and all the time being in vision, seeing groves, rivers, palaces, houses, men, and many other things. But after I had thus walked for hours, suddenly I was in the sight of the body, and became aware that I was in another place. Greatly amazed at this, I perceived that I had been in such a state as they were in of whom it is said that they were "led away by the spirit into another place;" for while this state lasts there is no reflection concerning the way, even if it be many miles; nor is there reflection concerning the time, even if it be many hours or days; nor is there any feeling of fatigue. Moreover the person is led through ways of which he has no knowledge, even to the appointed place. This took place that I might know that a man can be led by the Lord without his knowing whence and whither.

1885. These two kinds of visions, however, are extraordinary, and were shown me merely to the end that I might know their nature. But the things I have habitually "seen" (as mentioned in the title to this work) are all those which of the Lord's Divine mercy you may see related in this First Part, and which are placed at the beginning and end of the several chapters. These are not visions, but things seen in the highest wakefulness of the body, and this for several years.


Preface to Chapter 16

Fifteen chapters of Genesis have been explained, and the things contained in the internal sense have been stated; and to each chapter there have been added things that of the Lord's Divine mercy I have been permitted to see and hear in the world of spirits and in the heaven of angels. Similar things will be added to the several following chapters. To this sixteenth chapter will be appended such as relate to Visions and Dreams, including those of a prophetical character found in the Word. I know that few will believe that any one can see things that exist in the other life, and bring therefrom any report respecting the state of souls after death, for few believe in the resurrection, and fewer of the learned do so than of the simple. With the lips indeed they say that they will rise again, because so to speak is according to the doctrine of their faith, but still they deny it in heart.

[2] Some go so far as to say openly that if any one were to rise from the dead and they were to see, hear, and touch him, then they would believe. But if this were done, it would have to be done for each individual, and still no such person as denies in heart would be persuaded by it, for thousands of objections would flow in that would harden his heart in denial. Some however say that they believe that they will rise, but on the day of the last judgment; and respecting this they have formed the opinion that all things in the visible world will then perish, and because that day has been expected in vain for so many centuries they too are in doubt. But what is meant by the last judgment spoken of in the Word shall of the Lord's Divine mercy be briefly told at the end of the seventeenth chapter.

[3] From this we may see what kind of people there are in the Christian world at this day. The Sadducees (Matt. 22:23) openly denied the resurrection, but did better than those at the present day who say they do not deny it because it is according to the doctrine of faith, as said above, and yet do deny in heart; so that they say what is contrary to what they believe, and believe what is contrary to what they say. But lest they should confirm themselves further in this false opinion, of the Lord's Divine mercy I have been permitted, while still in the body in this world, to be in the spirit in the other life (for a man is a spirit clothed with a body), and to speak there with souls who had risen not long after their death, in fact with nearly all with whom I have been acquainted in the life of the body, and who have died. For some years also I have been permitted to speak with spirits and angels every day, and to see amazing things there, which have never come into any one's idea, and this without any fallacious appearance.

[4] As very many say that they will believe if any one comes to them from the other life, it will now be seen whether they will be persuaded against the hardness of their hearts. This I can aver, that they who come into the other life from the Christian world are the worst of all, hating the neighbor, hating faith, and denying the Lord (for in the other life hearts speak, not mouths), besides the fact that above all others are they addicted to adultery. And because heaven is thus beginning to be removed from those who are within the church, we can see that its last time is at hand; the truth of which I have been permitted to know with certainty. Concerning the internal sense of the Word, what it is, and what is its nature, see what has been said and shown in (n. 1-5 64-66, 167, 605, 920, 937, 1143, 1224, 1404, 1405, 1408, 1409, 1502, 1540, 1659, 1756, 1767-1777, 1869-1879, 1783, 1807); and in (n. 1886-1889).


Chapter 16

1886. This chapter treats of Hagar and Ishmael. But what is represented and signified in the internal sense by Hagar and Ishmael has not hitherto been known to any one, nor could be, because the world, even the learned world, has hitherto supposed the histories of the Word to be nothing but histories, and to involve nothing deeper. And although they have said that every iota is Divinely inspired, they have meant nothing further than that the historical facts have been disclosed, and that something of a doctrinal nature that could be applied to the doctrine of faith may be deduced from them and be of use to both teachers and learners; and that because these have been Divinely inspired they have Divine power in the mind, and work for good above all other history. Regarded in themselves, however, historical matters effect but little toward man's amendment, and nothing at all for his eternal life, since in the other life they are forgotten. For what would it amount to there to know respecting the maid Hagar that she was given by Sarai to Abram? Or to know about Ishmael, or even about Abram? Nothing but what belongs to the Lord and is from the Lord is necessary to souls in order that they may enter into heaven and enjoy its happiness, that is, eternal life. It is for the sake of these things that the Word exists, and these are the things that are contained in its interiors.

1887. Inspiration implies that in every particular of the Word (as well in the historicals as in the other parts) there are celestial things which are of love or good, and spiritual things which are of faith or truth, thus Divine things. For that which is inspired by the Lord descends from Him, and does so through the angelic heaven, and so through the world of spirits down to man, with whom it is presented such as it is in the letter; but in its first origin it is altogether different. In heaven there is never any worldly history, but all is representative of Divine things, and there is no perception there of anything else, as may also be known from the fact that the things which are there are unutterable. Unless therefore the historicals were representative of Divine things, and in this way were heavenly, they could not possibly be Divinely inspired. The Word as it exists in the heavens can be known solely from the internal sense, for the internal sense is the Word of the Lord in the heavens.

1888. That the sense of the letter of the Word is representative of Divine arcana, and that it is the receptacle and thus the repository of the Lord's celestial and spiritual things, may be illustrated by two examples first, that by "David" is not meant David, but the Lord; second, that the names signify nothing but actual things, and therefore it must be the same with all the rest of the Word. Concerning David it is said in Ezekiel: -

My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall dwell upon the land, they and their sons and their sons', even to eternity and David My servant shall be their prince to eternity (Ezekiel 37:24, 25).

And in Hosea: -

The sons of Israel shall return, and shall seek Jehovah their God, and David their king (Hosea 3:5).

These things were written by the prophets after the time of David, and yet it is plainly said that he shall be their king and prince, from which all may see that in the internal sense it is the Lord who is meant by "David". And the case is the same in all other passages, even those which are historical, where David is named.

[2] That the names of kingdoms, regions, cities, and men, signify actual things, may be clearly seen in the Prophets. Take merely this example in Isaiah: -

Thus said the Lord, Jehovih Zebaoth, O My people, thou inhabitant of Zion, be not afraid of Asshur he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff upon thee in the way of Egypt. Jehovah of Armies shall stir up a scourge for him according to the plague of Midian at the rock of Horeb and as His rod was upon the sea, so shall He lift it up in the way of Egypt. He shall come against Aiath, He shall pass over to Migron, at Michmash shall He command His arms; they shall pass over Mabarah; Geba is a lodging-place for us; Ramah shall tremble; Gibeah of Saul shall flee; cry aloud with thy voice, O daughter of Gallim; hearken, O Laish; O thou poor Anathoth; Madmenah shall wander; the inhabitants of Gebim shall gather themselves together as yet there is a day for a stand at Nob the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem, shall shake her hand He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a magnificent one (Isaiah 10:24, 26-34).

[3] Here there is almost nothing but names, from which no sense would appear unless all the names signified actual things and if the mind were to abide in the names, this would never be acknowledged to be the Word of the Lord. But who will believe that in the internal sense they all contain arcana of heaven? and that by them is described the state of those who are endeavoring to enter into the mysteries of faith by reasonings from memory-knowledges (scientifica)? some special thing belonging to that state being described by each name; and that the meaning is that these reasonings are dispersed by the Lord by means of the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith. That the reasoning here treated of is signified by "Asshur", may be clearly seen from what has been already shown concerning Asshur (n. 119, 1186); also that memory-knowledges are signified by "Egypt" (n. 1164, 1165, 1462); which see and examine. The case is the same with all other names, and also with all the several words.

1889. In this chapter it is the same with the names Abram, Sarai, Hagar, and Ishmael; and what they involve may be seen from the CONTENTS, and further on from the explication of each name in its place. But these matters are of a nature that does not admit of easy explication, for the subject treated of in connection with these names is the Lord's rational, and how it was conceived and born, and what its quality was before it was united to the Lord's Internal, which was Jehovah. The reason why this subject is not of easy explication, is that at this day it is not known what the internal man is, what the interior, and what the exterior. When the rational is spoken of, or the rational man, some idea can be formed of it; but when it is said that the rational is the intermediate between the internal and the external, few if any comprehend it. Yet as the subject here treated of in the internal sense is the Lord's Rational Man, and how it was conceived and born by the influx of the internal man into the external, and as it is these very matters that are involved in the historical facts stated concerning Abram, Hagar, and Ishmael, therefore in order to prevent what we have to say in the following explication from being utterly unintelligible, be it known that in every man there is an internal man, a rational man which is intermediate, and an external man, and that these are most distinct from one another. (n. 978).

 

GENESIS 16:1-16

1. And Sarai, Abram's wife, did not hear unto him; and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, and her name was Hagar.

2. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold I pray, Jehovah hath shut me up from bearing; go in I pray unto my handmaid; it may be that I shall be built up by her. And Abram harkened to the voice of Sarai.

3. And Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after ten years of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram, her man, for a woman to him.

4. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived; and she saw that she had conceived, and her mistress was despised in her eyes.

5. And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee; I gave my handmaid unto thy bosom; and she saw that she conceived, and I am despised in her eyes; Jehovah judge between me and thee.

6. And Abram said unto Sarai, Behold thy handmaid is in thy hand, do to her that which is good in thine eyes; and Sarai humbled her, and she fled from her face.

7. And the Angel of Jehovah found her by a fountain of waters in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

8. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, whence comest thou? and whither goest thou? And she said, From the face of Sarai, my mistress, am I fleeing.

9. And the Angel of Jehovah said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hands.

10. And the Angel of Jehovah said unto her, In multiplying I will multiply thy seed, and it shall not be numbered for multitude.

11. And the Angel of Jehovah said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Ishmael; because Jehovah hath heard thine affliction.

12. And he will be a wild-ass man; his hand against all, and the hand of all against him and he shall dwell against the faces of all his brethren.

13. And she called the name of Jehovah that was speaking unto her, Thou God seest me for she said, Have I also here seen after Him that seeth me?

14. Therefore she called the fountain, The fountain of the Living One who seeth me; behold it is between Kadesh and Bared.

15. And Hagar bare Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son that Hagar bare, Ishmael.

16. And Abram was a son of eighty years and six years, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

 

THE CONTENTS

1890. The subject treated of in this chapter is the Lord's first rational, which was conceived by the influx of the internal man into the affection of memory-knowledges (scientiae) of the external. The internal man is "Abram;" the affection of memory-knowledges in the external is "Hagar the Egyptian handmaid;" the rational thence derived is "Ishmael". The nature of this rational is here described; and it is afterwards said (chapter 21); that it was expelled from the house, after the Lord's Divine rational, represented by Isaac, had been born.

1891. The Lord's first rational was conceived according to order by the influx or conjunction of the internal man with the life of the affection of memory-knowledges belonging to the external (verses 1 to 3). But as this affection was of the external man, its nature was such that it held intellectual truth in low esteem (verse 4). On which account the Lord thought concerning the subjugation of it (verses 5 to 9), and that when subjugated, it would become spiritual and celestial (verses 10, 11). What it would be if not subjugated, is described (verse 12); the Lord's insight into the cause from His interior man (verses 13, 14). The rational is thus described in respect to its quality; also the Lord's state when it originated (verses 15, 16).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

1892. Verse 1. And Sarai, Abram's wife, did not bear unto him; and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, and her name was Hagar. "Sarai, Abram's wife, did not bear unto him", signifies that as yet there was no rational man; " Sarai" is truth adjoined to good; "Abram" is the Lord's internal man, which was Jehovah. "And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian", signifies the affection of memory-knowledges; "and her name was Hagar", signifies the life of the exterior or natural man.

1893. Sarai, Abram's wife, did not bear unto him. That this signifies that the rational man was not yet, will be evident from what follows, where Isaac is treated of. For, as has been said, there are in every man an internal man, a rational man that is intermediate, and an external, which is properly called the natural man. With the Lord these were represented by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the internal man by Abraham, the rational by Isaac, and the natural by Jacob. The internal man in the Lord was Jehovah Himself, for He was conceived of Jehovah; on this account He so often called Him His "Father", and in the Word He is called the "Only-begotten of God", and the only "Son of God". The rational man is not born with man, but only the capacity for becoming rational, as all may see from the fact that new-born infants are not endowed with any reason, but become rational in process of time by means of things of sense external and internal, as they are imbued with knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones). In children indeed there is an appearance of rationality, yet it is not rationality, but is only a kind of rudiment of it, which is known from the fact that reason belongs to adults and men of years.

[2] The rational man in the Lord is treated of in this chapter. The Divine Rational itself is represented by Isaac; but the first rational before it was made Divine, by Ishmael; and therefore that "Sarai, Abram's wife, did not bear unto him" here signifies that hitherto there was no Divine rational. As before said, the Lord was born as are other men, and as regards all that He drew from Mary the mother He was like other men; and as the rational is formed by means of knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones), which enter through things of the external senses, or those of the external man, therefore His first rational was born as with any other man; but as by His own power He made Divine all the human things that appertained to Him, so did He also make the rational Divine. His first rational is described in this chapter, and also in chapter 21, where Hagar and Ishmael are likewise treated of (Genesis 21:9-21), and it is said that Ishmael was expelled when Isaac grew up, by whom is represented the Divine rational.

1894. That Sarai is truth adjoined to good, has been said and shown before (n. 1468), as also that Abram is the Lord's internal man, which is Jehovah. The Lord's internal man, which is Jehovah, is called Man, because no one is man except Jehovah alone; for man, in the genuine sense, signifies that Esse from which man is. The Esse itself from which man is, is the Divine, consequently the celestial and the spiritual. Without the Divine celestial and spiritual, there is nothing human in man, but only a sort of animal nature, such as there is in beasts. It is from the Esse of Jehovah, or of the Lord, that every man is man; and from this also he is called man. The celestial which makes the man is that he loves the Lord and loves the neighbor; in this way is he man, because he is an image of the Lord, and because he has this from the Lord; otherwise he is a wild beast.

[2] That Jehovah or the Lord is the only Man, and that men have it from Him that they are called men, also that one is more man than another, may be seen above (n. 49, 288, 477, 565); and the same may also be seen from the fact that Jehovah, or the Lord, appeared as Man to the fathers of the Most Ancient Church, and afterwards also to Abraham and to the prophets; and on this account also the Lord, after there was no man any longer on the earth, or no longer anything celestial and spiritual among men, deigned to assume the human nature by being born as are other men, and to make that nature Divine; and in this way also He is the only Man. Besides, the universal heaven presents before the Lord the image of a man, because it presents Himself. From this, heaven is called the Grand Man, and this especially from the fact that the Lord there is all in all.

1895. And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian. That this signifies the affection of memory-knowledges (scientiae), is evident from the signification of a "handmaid", and from the signification of "Egypt". Sarai, who was the mistress or lady, represents and signifies truth adjoined to good, as already said. Truth adjoined to good is intellectual truth in the genuine sense, but rational truth is beneath this and therefore is lower; and this rational truth is born from knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones) vivified by the affection that corresponds to them, and this affection, being of the exterior man, ought to serve the intellectual truth that appertains to the inmost man, as a handmaid serves her lady, or a household servant her mistress; and therefore this affection is what is represented and signified by the "handmaid Hagar".

[2] How these things stand cannot well be stated to the apprehension, for it must first be known what intellectual truth in the genuine sense is, and also how the rational is born, namely, from the internal man as a father, and from the exterior or natural man as a mother, for without the conjunction of these two nothing rational can possibly come forth. The rational is not born (as is supposed) of knowledges (scientiae et cognitiones), but of the affection of these knowledges, as may be seen from the mere fact that no one can ever become rational unless some delight or affection of these knowledges aspires thereto. The affection is the maternal life itself; and the celestial and spiritual itself, in the affection, is the paternal life; therefore in proportion to the affection, and in accordance with the quality of the affection, in the same proportion, and in the same quality, does the man become rational. In themselves these knowledges are nothing but dead things, or instrumental causes, which are vivified by the life of affection; and such is the conception of the rational man in everyone. The reason why the handmaid was an Egyptian, and the reason why this fact is stated, is that "Egypt" signifies memory-knowledges (scientiae) (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462).

1896. And her name was Hagar. That this signifies the life of the exterior or natural man, may be seen from what has been said, and also from the meaning of "Hagar", which is "a stranger" or "sojourner". Strangers represented those who were to be instructed, and sojourning represented instruction and also principles of life (vitae instituta) (n. 1463). When any one's name is stated in the Word, as here that "her name was Hagar", it signifies that something is involved in the name to which attention should be given, for to "call by name" means to know a person's quality (n. 144, 145, 340). No syllable in the Word is there without a cause, or without a signification in the internal sense of some actual thing.

1897. Verse 2. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold I pray, Jehovah hath shut me up from bearing; go in I pray unto my handmaid; it may be that I shall be built up by her; and Abram harkened to the voice of Sarai. "Sarai said unto Abram", signifies that it was so perceived; "Behold I pray, Jehovah hath shut me up from bearing", signifies the state before the interior or Divine rational man was born; "go in I pray unto my handmaid", signifies conjunction with the exterior man; "it may be that I shall be built up by her", signifies that in this way the rational could be born. "And Abram harkened to the voice of Sarai", signifies that it could not be done in any other way.

1898. Sarai said unto Abram. That this signifies that it was so perceived, is evident from the signification of "Sarai" and of "Abram", namely, that " Sarai" is truth adjoined to good, and "Abram" is the internal man; and therefore that "Sarai said to Abram", in the internal sense cannot signify any conversation, but perception. The Lord's perception at that time was from truth adjoined to good, which dictated to Him how the case was. There is something similar with a celestial man who receives perception for there is something of truth adjoined to good which dictates afterwards there is good from which or through which the truth is perceived. (That "to say", in the internal sense, signifies to perceive, may be seen above, n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822).

1899. Behold I pray, Jehovah hath shut me up from bearing. That this signifies the state before the interior or Divine rational man was born, is evident from what has been already said about the conception and birth of the rational man, namely, that the Lord's Divine rational man is represented by Isaac, but His first rational man, which was to become Divine, by Ishmael. In order that these things might be represented, Sarai remained so long barren, even until Ishmael had become a lad (spoken of in chapter 21) on which account it is here said that "Jehovah shut her up from bearing".

1900. Go in I pray unto my handmaid. That this signifies conjunction with the exterior man, is also evident from what has been said before, namely, that man's rational is conceived and born of the internal man as a father, and of the exterior man as a mother. Man's very life is from the internal man, which cannot have communication with the external, except a most obscure communication, until the receiving vessels that are of the memory have been formed, which is effected by means of knowledges (cognitiones et scientiae).

[2] The influx of the internal man goes into the knowledges of the exterior man; affection being the means. Meanwhile, before there are these knowledges, there is indeed a communication, but through affections alone, by which the external man is governed; but from this there exist only the most general motions, and certain appetites, also certain blind inclinations, such as show themselves in infants. But this life becomes by degrees more distinct in proportion as the vessels of the memory are formed by means of knowledges, and the vessels of the interior memory by means of rational things. As these vessels are formed, and are arranged in series - and indeed in such series that they mutually regard each other, comparatively like relationships by blood and by marriage, or like societies and families - thereby is perfected the correspondence of the external man with the internal, and still better is this done by means of rational things, which are intermediate.

[3] But still there is a want of congruity unless the knowledges by which the vessels are formed are truths for the celestial and spiritual things of the internal man find no correspondence for themselves except in truths. These are the genuine vessels in the organic forms of each memory, and to which the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith can be fitted in; for they are there arranged by the Lord according to the idea and image of the societies of heaven, or of His kingdom, insomuch that the man becomes, in least form, a heaven, or a kingdom of the Lord, as also the minds of those who are in the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith are called in the Word. But these things have been said for those who love to think more deeply.

1901. It may be that I shall be built up by her. That this signifies that in this way the rational could be born, may be seen from the signification of being "built up", when predicated of generation, and thus without explication. By "Sarai", as has been said, is signified intellectual truth which has been adjoined as a wife to good. Intellectual truth, which appertains to the inmost, is altogether barren, or like a childless mother, when as yet there is not any rational into which and through which it may inflow; for without the rational as a medium intellectual truth cannot inflow with any truth into the exterior man, as may be seen from the case of little children, who can know nothing whatever of truth until they have been imbued with knowledges; but, as before said, the better and more perfectly they are imbued with knowledges, so much the better and more perfectly can intellectual truth which appertains to the inmost, or to good, be communicated.

[2] This intellectual truth, represented by Sarai, is the spiritual itself which flows in through heaven, and this by an internal way, and with every man; and it continually meets the knowledges that are instituted by means of the things of sense, and are implanted in the memory. Man is not aware of this intellectual truth because it is too pure to be perceived by a general idea. It is like a kind of light that illuminates the mind, and confers the faculty of knowing, thinking, and understanding. As the rational cannot come into existence except by means of the influx of the intellectual truth represented by Sarai, it stands related to this truth as a son. When the rational is being formed from truths that have been adjoined to good, and still more when it is being formed from the goods from which are truths, it is then a genuine son. Before this it is indeed acknowledged as a son, yet not as a genuine son, but as coming from a handmaid; and still it is adopted, which is the reason why it is here said that she might be built up by her.

1902. And Abram harkened to the voice of Sarai. That this signifies that it could not be done in any other way, may be seen from the connection in the internal sense, and from the necessity that exists for the rational to be born in this way. If man were imbued with no hereditary evil, the rational would then be born immediately, from the marriage of the celestial things of the internal man with its spiritual things, and the faculty of knowing would be born through the rational, so that on coming into the world a man would at once have in himself all the faculty of reason and of knowing, for this would be in accordance with the order of influx, as may be inferred from the fact that all animals whatever are born into all the faculty of knowing that is necessary and helpful in securing food, safety, habitation, and procreation, because their nature is in accordance with order. Why then is man not born into it, except for the reason that order has been destroyed in him, for he alone is born into no knowledge?

[2] The cause of his being so born is evil inherited from his father and mother. By reason of this all his faculties are turned in a contrary direction in regard to truths and goods, and therefore cannot be reduced into correspondent forms by the immediate influx of what is celestial and spiritual from the Lord. This is the reason why man's rational must be formed by an altogether different process, that is, in a different way, namely, by means of knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones) introduced throw the senses, thus flowing in by an external way, and so in inverted order. Man is thus made rational by the Lord in a miraculous manner. This is meant by "going in unto the handmaid", by which is signified the conjunction of the internal man with the exterior man; and also by "Abram's hearkening to the voice of Sarai", which signifies that it could not be done in any other way.

[3] The Lord, being born as are other men, and because He had a nature inherited from the mother, was like other men also in respect to the miraculous formation of the rational by means of knowledges, to the end that by combats of temptations and by victories He might reduce all things into order. Therefore was His rational conceived and born in the same way as with other men, but with the difference that inmostly in all things that were His, in both general and particular, there was the Divine, or Jehovah, and thus the life of love toward the whole human race, for whom and for whose salvation He fought in all His temptations.

1903. Verse 3. And Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after ten years of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram, her man, for a woman to him. "Sarai, Abram's wife, took", signifies the affection of truth, which in the genuine sense is "Sarai the wife;" "Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid", signifies the life of the exterior man, and the affection of memory-knowledges; "after ten years of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan", signifies the remains of good and of the derivative truth which the Lord procured to Himself, and by means of which that rational was conceived; "and gave her to Abram, her man, for a woman to him", signifies conjunction through the incitation of the affection of truth.

1904. Sarai, Abram's wife, took. That this signifies the affection of truth, which in the genuine sense is "Sarai the wife", is evident from the signification of "Sarai", as being truth adjoined to good, and from the signification of a "wife", as being affection (n. 915, 1468). There are two affections distinct from each other, - affection of good, and affection of truth. When a man is being regenerated the affection of truth has the lead, for he is affected with truth for the sake of good; but when he has been regenerated the affection of good has the lead, and from good he is affected with truth. The affection of good is of the will; the affection of truth is of the understanding. Between these two affections the most ancient people instituted as it were a marriage. Good, or the love of good, they called man as a husband; truth, or the love of truth, they called man as a wife. The comparison of good and truth with marriage has its origin in the heavenly marriage.

[2] Regarded in themselves, good and truth have no life, but they derive their life from love or affection. They are only instrumentalities of life; and such as is the love that affects the good and truth, such is the life; for the whole of life is of love, or affection. Hence it is that Sarai the wife", in the genuine sense, signifies the affection of truth. And because in the case before us the intellectual desired the rational as an offspring, and because that which she speaks is of this desire or affection, it is therefore expressly said in this verse, "Sarai, Abram's wife, gave to Abram, her man", which there would have been no need of repeating if it did not involve such things in the internal sense, for in themselves these words would be superfluous.

[3] Intellectual truth is distinguished from rational truth, and this from truth in the form of memory-knowledge, as are what is internal, what is intermediate, and what is external. Intellectual truth is internal, rational truth is intermediate, truth of memory-knowledge is external. These are most distinct from each other, because one is more internal than another. With any man whatever, intellectual truth, which is internal, or in his inmost, is not the man's, but is the Lord's with the man. From this the Lord flows into the rational, where truth first appears as belonging to man; and through the rational into the memory-knowledge; from which it is evident that man cannot possibly think as of himself from intellectual truth, but only from rational truth and truth of memory-knowledge, because these appear as if they were his.

[4] The Lord alone, when He lived in the world, thought from intellectual truth, for this was His Divine truth in conjunction with Good, or the Divine spiritual in conjunction with the Divine celestial, and herein was the Lord distinguished from every other man. To think from what is Divine as from himself is never possible to man, nor in man, but only in Him who was conceived of Jehovah. Because He thought from intellectual truth, that is, from the love or affection of intellectual truth, from it also He desired the rational, and this is why it is here said that "Sarai, Abram's wife" (by whom is meant the affection of intellectual truth) "took Hagar the Egyptian, and gave her to Abram her husband, for a woman to him".

[5] The rest of the arcana that are herein cannot be unfolded and explained to the apprehension, because man is in the greatest obscurity, and in fact has no idea at all of the internal things within him, for he makes both the rational and the intellectual to consist in memory-knowledge, and is not aware that these are distinct from each other, so distinct indeed that the intellectual can exist apart from the rational, and also the rational that is derived from the intellectual, apart from the memory-knowledge. This cannot but seem a paradox to those who are in memory-knowledges, but still it is the truth. It is however impossible for any one to be in the truth that is in the form of memory-knowledge (that is, in the affection of this and the belief in it), unless he is in rational truth, into which and through which the Lord inflows from the intellectual. These arcana do not open to man except in the other life.

1905. Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid. That this signifies the life of the exterior man, and the affection of memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "Hagar", (n. 1895, 1896); and from the signification of an "Egyptian", and also of a "handmaid", likewise explained there.

1906. After ten years of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan. That this signifies the remains of good and of the derivative truth which the Lord procured to Himself, and by means of which that rational was conceived, is evident from the signification of "ten", as being remains, spoken of before (n. 576). What remains are, has been stated and shown above (n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 798, 1050), namely, that they are all the states of the affection of good and truth with which a man is gifted by the Lord, from earliest infancy even to the end of life; which states are stored up for him for the use of his life after death; for in the other life all the states of his life return in succession, and are then tempered by the states of good and truth with which he has been gifted by the Lord. The more remains therefore that a man has received in the life of the body, that is, the more of good and truth, the more delightful and beautiful do the rest of his states appear when they return. That this is really so may be evident to every one, if he will consider. When a man is born he has not a particle of good of himself, but is wholly defiled throughout with hereditary evil, and all that is good flows in, such as his love for his parents, his nurses, his companions; and this from innocence. Such are the things that flow in from the Lord through the heaven of innocence and peace, which is the inmost heaven, and thus is man imbued with them in his infancy.

[2] Afterwards, when he grows up, this good, innocent, and peaceful state of infancy recedes little by little and so far as he is introduced into the world, he comes into its pleasures, and into cupidities, and thus into evils and so far the celestial or good things of the age of infancy begin to disappear; but still they remain, and the states which the man afterwards puts on or acquires are tempered by them. Without them a man can never be a man, for the states of the cupidities, or of evil, if not tempered by states of the affection of good, would be more atrocious than those of any animal. These states of good are what are called remains, given by the Lord and implanted in one's natural disposition, and this when the man is not aware of it.

[3] In after life he is also gifted with new states; but these are not so much states of good as states of truth, for as he is growing up he is imbued with truths, and these are in like manner stored up in him in his interior man. By these remains, which are those of truth, born of the influx of spiritual things from the Lord, man has the ability to think, and also to understand what the good and the truth of civic and moral life are, and also to receive spiritual truth or faith; but he cannot do this except by means of the remains of good that he had received in infancy. That there are remains, and that they are stored up in a man in his interior rational, is wholly unknown to man; and this because he supposes that nothing flows in, but that everything is natural to him, and born with him, thus that it is all in him when an infant, when yet the real case is altogether different. Remains are treated of in many parts of the Word, and by them are signified those states by which man becomes a man, and this from the Lord alone.

[4] But the remains that appertained to the Lord were all the Divine states which He procured for Himself, and by which He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence. These cannot be compared to the remains that pertain to man, for the latter are not Divine, but human. It is the remains appertaining to the Lord that are signified by the "ten years in which Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan". When angels hear the Word, they do not know what the number ten is, but as soon as it is named by man the idea of remains occurs to them; for by "ten" and "tenths" in the Word are signified remains, as is evident from what was shown above (n. 576, 1738); and when a perception comes to them based on the idea of the end of the ten years that Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, the idea of the Lord comes to them, and at the same time innumerable things that are signified by the remains in the Lord during the time that He was in the world.

1907. And gave her to Abram her man for a woman to him. That this signifies conjunction through the incitation of the affection of truth, is evident from what has already been said concerning Sarai, the wife of Abram, as being the affection of truth in the genuine sense; and from what has been said respecting the conjunction of the internal man with the life and affection of the exterior man, whence comes the rational. Hagar was not given to Abram for a wife, but for a woman; and this because it is according to a law of Divine order that it is not marriage unless it is that of one man and one wife. Conjugial love can never be divided. The love that is divided among a number is not conjugial love, but is that of lasciviousness, on which subject, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

1908. Verse 4. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived; and she saw that she had conceived, and her mistress was despised in her eyes. "He went in unto Hagar", signifies the conjunction of the internal man with the life which is of the affection of memory-knowledges; "and she conceived", signifies the first life of the rational; "and she saw that she had conceived, and her mistress was despised in her eyes", signifies that this rational at its conception lightly esteemed the truth itself that was adjoined to good.

1909. He went in unto Hagar. That this signifies the conjunction of the internal man with the life which is of the affection of memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "Hagar", as being the life of the exterior or natural man (explained above at verse 1) and that this life is the life of the affection of memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of the "Egyptian handmaid". There are many affections belonging to the exterior man, all dedicated to their uses; but the affection of knowledges (cognitiones et scientiae) stands pre-eminent above them all, when it has for its end that we may become truly rational, for thus it has good and truth for its end. The very life of the internal man flows into all the affections of the natural man, but is varied there according to the ends when it flows into affections which have the world for their end, this end is vivified by that life, and there results worldly life; when into affections which have self for their end, this end is vivified by that life, and there results corporeal life; and so in all other cases. It is from this that cupidities and phantasies live, but a life contrary to the affection of good and truth.

[2] The inflowing life is applied to no other object than the end, because with every one his end is his love, and it is the love alone that lives. All other objects are only derivations from this, and they all draw their life from the end. Every one may see what kind of life he has, if he will only search out what his end is; not what all his ends are - for he has numberless ones, as many as intentions, and almost as many as judgments and conclusions of thoughts, which are only intermediate ends, variously derived from the principal one, or tending to it - but let him search out the end he prefers to all the rest, and in respect to which all others are as nothing. If he has for his end himself and the world, let him know that his life is infernal; but if he has for his end the good of his neighbor, the common good, the Lord's kingdom, and especially the Lord Himself, let him know that his life is heavenly.

1910. And she conceived. That this signifies the first life of the rational, is evident from the signification of "conception", as being the first life. As regards the rational, it receives its life, as before said, from the life of the internal man flowing into the life of the affection of knowledges (cognitiones et scientiae) in the exterior man. The life of the affection of these knowledges gives a sort of body to the rational, or clothes the life of the internal man as the body clothes the soul for this is precisely the case with these knowledges. In everything appertaining to man, in everything of his affection and in everything of his thought, there is the idea or likeness of soul and body, for there is nothing, however simple it may appear, that is not composite, and that does not come forth from what is prior to itself.

1911. And she saw that she had conceived, and her mistress was despised in her eyes. That this signifies that this rational at its conception, lightly esteemed the truth itself that was adjoined to good, is evident from the signification of the "mistress", or Sarai, as being truth adjoined to good. The rational is conceived cannot acknowledge intellectual or spiritual truth as truth, because there adhere to this rational many fallacies from the memory-knowledges drawn from the world and from nature, and many appearances from the knowledges taken from the literal sense of the Word, and these are not truths.

[2] For example: it is an intellectual truth that all life is from the Lord; but the rational first conceived does not apprehend this, and supposes that if it did not live from itself it would have no life; nay, it is indignant if the contrary is said, as has been many times perceived from the spirits who still cling to the fallacies of the senses.

[3] It is an intellectual truth that all good and truth are from the Lord; but the rational first conceived does not apprehend this, because it has the feeling that they are as from itself; and it also supposes that if good and truth were not from itself, it could have no thought of good and truth, and still less do anything good and true; and that if they are from another it should let itself go, and wait all the time for influx.

[4] It is an intellectual truth that nothing but good is from the Lord, and not even the least of evil; and this too the rational first conceived does not believe, but supposes that because the Lord governs everything, evil also is from Him; and that because He is omnipotent and omnipresent, and is good itself, and does not take away the punishments of the evil in hell, He wills the evil of punishment; when yet He does evil to no one, nor does He will that any one should be punished.

[5] It is an intellectual truth that the celestial man has from the Lord a perception of good and truth; but the first rational either denies the existence of perception altogether, or supposes that if a man were to perceive from another, and not from himself, he would be as if inanimate, or devoid of life. In fact the more the rational thinks from memory-knowledges that originate from sensuous things and from philosophical reasonings, the less does it apprehend the foregoing and all other intellectual truths, for the fallacies therefrom are involved in so much the darker shades. Hence it is that the learned believe less than others.

[6] Since the rational first conceived is such, it is evident that it despises its mistress, that is, it lightly esteems intellectual truth. Intellectual truth does not become manifest, that is, is not acknowledged, except in so far as fallacies and appearances are dispersed, and these are not dispersed so long as the man reasons about truths themselves from things of sense and from memory-knowledges, but it for the first time becomes manifest when he believes from a simple heart that it is truth because so said by the Lord. Then the shades of fallacies are dispersed, and then nothing in him prevents him from apprehending it.

[7] In the Lord however there were no fallacies, but when His rational was first conceived there were appearances of truth that in themselves were not truths, as is evident from what has been already said (n. 1661). Hence also His rational at its first conception lightly esteemed intellectual truth; but gradually, as His rational was made Divine, the clouds of the appearances were dispersed, and intellectual truths lay open to Him in their light and this is represented and signified by Ishmael being expelled from the house when Isaac grew up. That the Lord did not lightly esteem intellectual truth, but that He perceived and saw that His new rational did so, will be seen from what follows (n. 1914).

1912. Verse 5. And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee; I gave any handmaid into thy bosom, and she saw that she conceived, and I am despised in her eyes; Jehovah judge between me and thee. "Sarai said unto Abram", signifies that the affection of truth so perceived; "My wrong be upon thee; I gave my handmaid into thy bosom", signifies unwillingness to take blame to itself; "and she saw that she conceived", signifies the first life of the rational; "and I am despised in her eyes", signifies here as before that this rational at its conception lightly esteemed truth adjoined to good; "Jehovah judge between me and thee", signifies the Lord's indignation.

1913. Sarai said unto Abram. That this signifies that the affection of truth so perceived, is evident from the signification of "Sarai", as being the affection of truth (n. 1904); and of saying, as being in the internal sense perceiving - as before said (n. 1898) where the same words occur.

1914. My wrong be upon thee; I gave my handmaid into thy bosom. That this signifies unwillingness to take blame upon itself, is evident without explication. In the internal sense there is involved in these words that the Lord perceived this first rational to be such as to lightly esteem intellectual truth, on which account He rebuked it. For the Lord thought from intellectual truth, as before said (n. 1904); and because this truth is above the rational, it could perceive and see the quality of this rational, namely, that it held that truth in low esteem.

[2] That the Lord could perceive and see from the interior man what was the quality of the new rational in Himself, may be seen from the fact that the interior can perceive what takes place in the exterior, or what is the same, that the higher can see what is in the lower; but not the reverse. Moreover they who have conscience can do this and are accustomed to do it, for when anything contrary to the truth of conscience flows into the thought, or into the endeavor of the will, they not only perceive it, but also find fault with it; and it even grieves them to be of such a character. Still more can those do this who have perception, as perception is more interior in the rational. What then could not the Lord do, who had Divine celestial perception, and thought from the affection of intellectual truth, which is above the rational! Therefore He could not but be indignant, knowing that nothing of evil and falsity was from Himself, and that from the affection of truth He took the greatest pains that His rational should be pure. This shows that the Lord did not lightly esteem intellectual truth, but that He perceived the first rational in Himself to be thinking lightly of it.

[3] What it is to think from intellectual truth cannot be explained to the apprehension, and the less so because no one but the Lord ever thought from this affection and from this truth. He who thinks therefrom is above the angelic heaven, for even the angels of the third heaven do not think from intellectual truth, but from the interior of the rational. But so far as the Lord united His Human Essence to His Divine Essence, He thought from the Divine good itself, that is, from Jehovah.

[4] The fathers of the Most Ancient Church who had perception, thought from the interior rational. The fathers of the Ancient Church, who had not perception but conscience, thought from the exterior or natural rational. But all who are without conscience do not think at all from the rational, since they have not the rational, although they appear to have it; but they think from the sensuous and corporeal natural. The reason why they who have no conscience cannot think from the rational, is that they have no rational, as just said. The rational man is he who thinks the good and truth of faith, and by no means he who thinks contrary thereto. They who think evil and falsity are insane in their thought, and therefore the rational can by no means be predicated of them.

1915. And she saw that she conceived. That this signifies the first life of the rational, is evident from the signification of " conception,' as being the first life (n. 1910).

1916. I am devised in her eyes. That this signifies that this rational at its conception lightly esteemed the truth itself that was adjoined to good, is evident from what was said just above (n. 1911, 1914).

1917. Jehovah judge between me and thee. That this signifies the Lords indignation, is evident from what has just been said, and thus without explication. No further idea of these things can be had, except by those who have been in the combats of temptations. In temptations there are vastations and desolations, and there are states of despair, and of consequent grief and indignation, besides other interior painful emotions and this with variety and alternation, according to the states of evil and falsity which are excited by evil genii and spirits, and against which the combat is being waged. The diabolical spirits desire nothing more than to find some falsity, in fact it is common with them to induce a falsity from themselves, and then at the same time to make it the subject of accusation. Hence the Lord's indignation was so great, in whose first rational there was no falsity, but an appearance of truth that in itself was not true (n. 1661, 1911).

1918. Verse 6. And Abram said unto Sarai, Behold thy handmaid is in thy hand, do to her that which is good in thine eyes; and Sarai humbled her, and she fled from her face. "Abram said unto Sarai", signifies perception; "Behold thy handmaid is in thy hand", signifies that the rational that was conceived was in the power of truth adjoined to good "do to her that which is good in thine eyes", signifies absolute control; "and Sarai humbled her", signifies subjugation; "and she fled from her face", signifies the indignation of this rational that was first conceived.

1919. Abram said unto Sarai. That this signifies perception, is evident from what was said above (n. 1898). The Lord's perception was represented and is here signified by this which Abram said to Sarai; but His thought from the perception, by that which Sarai said to Abram. The thought was from the perception. They who are in perception think from nothing else; but still perception is one thing and thought another. To show that this is the case, take conscience as an illustration.

[2] Conscience is a kind of general dictate, and thus an obscure one, of the things that flow in through the heavens from the Lord. Those which flow in present themselves in the interior rational man and are there as in a cloud, which cloud is from appearances and fallacies concerning the truths and goods of faith. But thought is distinct from conscience, and yet it flows from conscience; for they who have conscience think and speak according to it, and the thought is little else than an unfolding of the things which are of conscience, and thereby the partition of them into ideas and then into words. Hence it is that they who have conscience are kept by the Lord in good thoughts respecting the neighbor, and are withheld from thinking evil; and therefore conscience can have no place except with those who love their neighbor as themselves, and think well concerning the truths of faith. From what has been advanced we may see what the difference is between conscience and thought; and from this we may know what the difference is between perception and thought.

[3] The Lord's perception was immediately from Jehovah, and thus from the Divine good; but His thought was from intellectual truth and the affection of it, as before said (n. 1904, 1914). The Lord's Divine perception cannot he apprehended by any idea, not even of angels, and therefore it cannot be described. The perception of the angels (n. 1384, 1394, 1395) is scarcely anything in comparison with the perception which the Lord had. The Lord's perception, being Divine, was a perception of all things in the heavens, and therefore also of all things on earth, for such is the order, connection, and influx, that he who is in the perception of the former is also in the perception of the latter.

[4] But after the Lord's Human Essence had been united to His Divine Essence, and at the same time had become Jehovah, the Lord was then above that which is called perception, because He was above the order that is in the heavens and thence on the earth. It is Jehovah who is the source of order, and hence it may be said that Jehovah is Order itself, for He from Himself governs order; not as is supposed in the universal only, but also in the veriest singulars, for the universal comes from these. To speak of the universal, and to separate from it the singulars, could be nothing else than to speak of a whole in which there are no parts, and therefore to speak of a something in which there is nothing. So that to say that the Lord's Providence is universal, and is not a Providence of the veriest singulars, is to say what is utterly false, and is what is called an ens rationis (that is, a figment of the imagination). For to provide and govern in the universal, and not in the veriest singulars, is to provide and govern absolutely nothing. This is true philosophically, and yet wonderful to say, philosophers themselves, even those who soar the highest, apprehend the matter differently, and think differently.

1920. Behold thy handmaid is in thy hand. That this signifies that the rational that was conceived was in the power of the affection of truth that is adjoined to good, is evident from the signification of the "hand", as being power (n. 878); and from the signification of "Hagar the Egyptian", as being the affection of memory-knowledges. After the rational had been conceived by the influx of the internal man into the life of the affection of memory-knowledges of the exterior man, then by the "handmaid" is also meant that tender rational which was in the womb, but which when born and grown, is represented by Ishmael, who is treated of in what follows. That the Lord had sovereign control over the rational that was in Him, and that He subjugated it by His own power, will be seen from what will be said presently.

1921. Do to her that which is good in thine eyes. That this signifies absolute control, is evident without explication. In the internal sense these words represent and signify that the Lord, from His own power, conquered, subjugated, and expelled the evil which from His hereditary nature had insinuated itself also into this first rational, for as has been said the rational was conceived of the internal man, which was Jehovah, as a father, and was born of the exterior man as a mother. Whatever was born from the exterior man had the hereditary nature with it, and therefore it had evil with it. It was this that the Lord conquered, subjugated, and expelled, and at let made Divine (His rational) by His own power. That it was by His own power is evident from everything contained in this verse, as from its being said, "Thy handmaid is in thy hand", by which is signified that rational was in His sovereign power; and now, "Do to her that which is good in thine eyes", by which is signified absolute control over it; and then, "Sarai humbled her", by which is signified subjugation.

[2] The words now under consideration were said to Sarai, by whom is represented the intellectual truth that belonged to the Lord Himself, and from which He thought (n. 1904, 1914), and from which He had absolute control over the rational and also over the natural that was of the exterior man. He who thinks from intellectual truth, and perceives from Divine good-which good also was His, because the Father's, for the Father was His soul and He had no other-cannot do otherwise than act from His own power. And therefore, because by His own power He subdued and cast out the evil of His hereditary nature, He also by His own power united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, for the one is a consequence of the other.

[3] He who is conceived of Jehovah has no other internal, that is no other soul, than Jehovah; and therefore as to His veriest life the Lord was Jehovah Himself. Jehovah, or the Divine Essence, cannot be divided, as can the soul of a human father, from which offspring is conceived. So far as this offspring recedes from the likeness of the father, so far it recedes from the father, and this it does more and more as age advances. It is from this that a father's love for his children diminishes with their advance in age. It was not so with the Lord; as age advanced He did not recede as to the Human Essence, but continually drew nearer, even to perfect union. Hence it is evident that He is the same as Jehovah the Father, as He also clearly teaches (John 14:6, 8-11).

1922. And she humbled her. That this signifies subjugation, follows from what has been said.

1923. And she fled from her face. That this signifies the indignation of this rational that was first conceived, is also evident without explication, for to flee from any one's face is nothing else than not to endure his presence, and pertains to indignation. Here is described the indignation of this rational against intellectual truth, because intellectual truth, or the Lord, willed to humble or subjugate it. When the rational rises up against the intellectual, an intestine combat arises together with indignation on the part of that which is being subjugated, as is the case in temptations, which are nothing but intestine combats, being disputes and contentions about sovereign power and control, between evils on the one side and goods on the other.

1924. Verse 7. And the Angel of Jehovah found her by a fountain of waters in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. "The Angel of Jehovah found her", signifies the thought of the interior man; "the Angel of Jehovah" is here the interior thought from the Lord's internal; "by a fountain of waters in the wilderness", signifies natural truth that had not as yet attained to life; "by the fountain in the way to Shur", signifies that truth was from those things which proceed from memory-knowledges.

1925. The Angel of Jehovah found her. That this signifies the thought of the interior man, namely, in the Lord, may be seen from the representation and signification of "the Angel of Jehovah". "The Angel of Jehovah" is occasionally mentioned in the Word, and everywhere, when in a good sense, represents and signifies some essential in the Lord and from the Lord; but what he represents and signifies may be seen from the connection. They were angels who were sent to men, and who spoke through the prophets; yet what they spoke was not from the angels, but through them, for the state of the latter was then such that they knew not but that they were Jehovah, that is, the Lord; but as soon as they had done speaking, they returned into their former state, and spoke as from themselves.

[2] This was the case with the angels who spoke the Word of the Lord, as has been given me to know from much similar experience in the other life, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. This is the reason why the angels were sometimes called "Jehovah;" as is very evident from the angel who appeared to Moses in the bush, of whom it is written: -

And the Angel of Jehovah appeared unto Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, and God called unto him out of the midst of the bush. God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And God said moreover to Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel Jehovah, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you (Exod. 3:2, 4, 11, 15)

from which it is evident that it was an angel who appeared to Moses as a flame in the bush, and that he spoke as Jehovah because the Lord or Jehovah spoke through him.

[3] For in order that the speaking may come to man by words of articulate sound and in ultimate nature, the Lord makes use of the ministry of angels, filling them with the Divine, and lulling the things which are their own; so that at the time they do not know but that they themselves are Jehovah. In this way the Divine of Jehovah, which is in the highest things, passes down into the lowest of nature, in which lowest is man in respect to sight and hearing. 80 it was with the angel who spoke to Gideon, of whom it is thus said in the book of Judges: -

The Angel of Jehovah appeared unto Gideon, and said unto him, Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of strength. And Gideon said unto him, In me, my Lord; why then is all this befallen us? And Jehovah looked upon him, and said, Go in thy might; and Jehovah said unto him, Surely I will be with thee (Judges 6:12, 14, 16)

and it is afterwards said: -

And Gideon saw that he was the Angel of Jehovah, and Gideon said, Ah, Lord Jehovah, forasmuch as I have seen the Angel of Jehovah face to face. And Jehovah said unto him, peace be unto thee; fear not (Judges 6:22, 23).

In this case also it was an angel, but he was then in such a state that he did not know otherwise than that he was Jehovah or the Lord.

[4] So in another place in the book of Judges: -

The Angel of Jehovah went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and he said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you into the land which I sware unto your fathers, and I said, I will not make void My covenant with you to eternity (Judges 2:1)

where in like manner an angel speaks in the name of Jehovah, saying that he had led them up out of the land of Egypt, when yet the angel did not lead them out, but Jehovah, as is declared many times elsewhere. From all this we may see how angels spoke through the prophets, namely, that Jehovah Himself spoke, but through angels, and the angels spoke nothing from themselves. That the Word is from the Lord, is evident from many passages, as in Matthew: -

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son (Matthew 1:22, 23),

besides other passages. As when the Lord speaks with men He speaks through angels, therefore sometimes in the Word the Lord is also called an "Angel", and then by "Angel", as already said, there is signified some essential thing in the Lord and from the Lord; as, in the present case, the Lord's interior thought; and therefore also the angel is called in this chapter "Jehovah" and also "God", as in (verse 13): "and Hagar called the name of Jehovah that was speaking unto her, Thou God seest me".

[5] In other places likewise some special attribute of the Lord is signified by "angels". As in John: -

The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches (Rev. 1:20).

There are no angels of churches, but by the "angels" is signified that which is of the church, thus that which is of the Lord in respect to the churches. And again: -

I saw the wall of the Holy Jerusalem great and high, having twelve gates, and upon the gates twelve angels, and names written which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel (Rev. 21:12)

where by the "twelve angels" the same is signified as by the "twelve tribes", namely, all things of faith, and thus the Lord, from whom is faith and all that is of faith. And again: -

And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the eternal gospel (Rev. 14:6)

where by the "angel" is signified the gospel, which is the Lord's alone.

[6] In Isaiah: -

The Angel of His faces saved them in His love and in His pity He redeemed them and He bare them and carried them all the days of eternity (Isaiah 63:9)

where by "the Angel of His faces" is meant the Lord's mercy toward the whole human race, in redeeming them. So too it was said by Jacob when he blessed the sons of Joseph: -

The Angel who redeemed me from all evil bless the lads (Gen. 48:16)

where also redemption, which is the Lord's, is signified by the "Angel". In Malachi: -

The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Angel of the covenant whom ye desire (Malachi 3:1)

it is here plainly evident that the Lord is signified by the "Angel", since He is called "the Angel of the covenant" on account of His advent. And even more plainly does it appear that the Lord is signified by an "Angel" in Exodus: -

Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee to the place which I have prepared. He will not endure your transgression, for My name is in the midst of him (Exodus 23:20, 21).

Hence now it is evident that by "Angel" in the Word is meant the Lord; but what of the Lord, appears from the series and connection in the internal sense.

1926. That in the passage before us "the Angel of Jehovah" denotes the interior thought that came from the Lord's Internal, is evident, as before said, from the connection. By that which is "interior" is here meant that in the Lord which was united to Jehovah, or to His Internal. The unition was not effected all at once and by a single alternation, but successively from His earliest childhood to the end of His life in the world, and this chiefly by means of temptations and victories. Each temptation and victory effected union, and in proportion as He united Himself with His Internal or Jehovah, in the same proportion His thought became interior, and in the same proportion intellectual truth was united to Divine good. This is the thought that is here meant by the interior thought which was from the Lord's Internal, and which is properly and peculiarly represented and signified in the present case by "the Angel of Jehovah".

1927. By a fountain of waters in the wilderness. That this signifies natural truth that had not as yet attained to life, is evident from the signification of "a fountain of waters", as being truth; and from the signification of "the wilderness", as being that which as yet has but little vitality. Such also is the signification of this term in the internal sense in Luke, where the Lord is treated of

The child (John) grew, and waxed strong in spirit and was in the wilderness until the day of his showing unto Israel (Luke 1:80).

That "a fountain of waters" and "the wilderness" signify these things, may be confirmed by very many passages from the Word; but as mention is very often made of "fountains" in what follows, and also of the " wilderness", where their signification is the same as here, of the Lord's Divine mercy the proof will there be given. What it is for truth not yet to have attained to life, will be evident from what is to be said presently.

1928. By the fountain in the way to Shur. That this signifies that truth was from those things which proceed from memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of a "fountain", also of a "way", and likewise of Shur". A "fountain", as before said, signifies truth. A "way" signifies that which leads to truth and which proceeds from truth (n. 627). But "Shur" signifies such memory-knowledge as is still as it were in the wilderness, that is, which has not yet attained to life. Truths that come from memory-knowledges are said to attain to life, when they join or associate themselves with the truths into which flows the celestial of love, for the very life of truth comes thence. There are conjunctions of actual things, thus of truths, like those of the societies in heaven, to which also they correspond for a man as to his interiors is a kind of little heaven. The actual things, or truths, that have not been conjoined in accordance with the form of the heavenly societies, have not yet attained to life; for before this the celestial of love from the Lord cannot flow in with adaptation. They first receive life when the form is similar on both sides, or when the man's little heaven is a correspondent image of the Grand Heaven; previous to this, no one can be called a heavenly man.

[2] The Lord, who was to govern the universal heaven from Himself, did when in the world reduce the truths and goods in His external man, or in His Human Essence, into such order; but as He perceived that His rational that was first conceived was not of this character (verses 4 and 5), He thought out the cause, and perceived that the natural truths that sprung from memory-knowledges had not as yet attained to life, that is, were not as yet reduced into that heavenly order. And besides, the truths of faith have no life at all, unless the man lives in charity, for all the truths of faith flow from charity and are in charity; and when they are in charity and from charity, then they have life. In charity there is life, but never in truths apart from charity.

[3] That "Shur" signifies memory-knowledge that has not yet attained to life, is evident from its meaning, for Shur was a wilderness not far from the Red Sea, thus toward Egypt, as is evident in Moses: -

Moses made Israel to journey from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water (Exod. 15:22).

That it was toward Egypt is evident also in Moses, where the posterity of Ishmael are spoken of: -

They dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is toward the faces of Egypt (Gen. 25:18).

Also in 1 Samuel: -

Saul smote Amalek from Havilah, as thou comest to Shur, that is toward the faces of Egypt (1 Sam. 15:7).

And again: -

David made a raid against the Geshurite, and the Gizrite, and the Amalekite, for they were the inhabitants of the land who were of old, as thou goest to Shur, even to the land of Egypt (1 Sam. 27:8).

From these passages it may be seen that by " Shur" is signified the first memory-knowledge, and in fact such as is still in the wilderness, or that is not as yet conjoined with the rest in accordance with the order of heavenly association; for by "Egypt", before which it was, is signified memory-knowledge in every sense has before shown, (n. 1164, 1165, 1156, 1462).

1929. That these things are signified by "the Angel of Jehovah finding Hagar at a fountain of waters in the wilderness, at the fountain in the way to Shur", can by no means appear from the literal sense, and the less so seeing that it is historical; for this sense seems very remote from signifying such things. But still this is the meaning that comes into the ideas of the angels when these things are read by man, for the angels have no idea of Hagar, nor of a fountain of waters, nor of a wilderness, nor of a way, nor of Shur. None of these things penetrate to the angels, but perish at the first threshold. But what is signified by "Hagar", by "a fountain", by "a wilderness", by "a way", and by "Shur", this they understand, and thereby form heavenly ideas, and in this way they perceive the Lord's Word for the internal sense is the Word to them.

1930. Verse 8. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, when comest thou? and whither goest thou? And she said, From the face of Sarai, my mistress, am I fleeing. "He said, Hagar, Sarai's handmaid", signifies information; "whence comest thou, and whither goest thou?" signifies respecting the state; "and she said, From the face of Sarai, my mistress, am I fleeing", signifies response and indignation.

1931. He said, Hagar, Sarai's handmaid. That this signifies information, is evident from the series, for Hagar is addressed by the angel as if he were to be informed. It is a common thing in the Word for Jehovah to question a man, and for men to reply, although Jehovah knew all before, not only what is done, but also the causes and the ends, and thus all the least and inmost things. But as man is not aware of this, and believes that no one can possibly know what he does in secret when no one sees it, and still less what he thinks, therefore the matter takes place according to the man's belief. But still it is really true that even ordinary spirits perceive a man's thoughts better than does the man himself; angelic spirits still more interior things of his thoughts and angels things even more interior, namely, the causes and the ends, of which the man knows but little. It has been given me to know this by much and continual experience lasting many years. As spirits and angels perceive these things, what must be the case with the Lord, or Jehovah, who is infinite, and who gives to all their ability to perceive.

1932. Whence comest thou? and whither goest thou? That this signifies information respecting the state, is evident from the words themselves.

1933. And she said, From the face of Sarai, my mistress, am I fleeing. That this signifies response and indignation is evident from what has been said. Respecting the indignation see above at (verse 6), where the same words occur. As the "face" signifies the interiors (n. 358), so it signifies indignation and other things.

1934. Verse 9. And the Angel of Jehovah said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hands. "The Angel of Jehovah said", signifies the response of the Lord's interior man; " Return to thy mistress", signifies that it was observed that it ought not to trust to itself, but to interior truth and to the affection of it; "and humble thyself under her hands", signifies that it ought to compel itself to be under its sovereign power.

1935. The Angel of Jehovah said. That this signifies the response of the Lord's interior man, is evident from the signification of "the Angel of Jehovah", as being the Lord's interior thought (n. 1925) and because it is thought, it is also response. The Lord's interior thought was from the section of intellectual truth, and this affection was from the Divine good itself. Such thought, as before said, never exists in any man, nor can do so. In man also there is interior thought that flows in from the Lord through his internal man into the interior rational, with those who have conscience'. as may be seen from the fact that they can observe the evil and falsity in their external man that is in conflict with the good and truth in the interior man. This thought is much lower and is not in any way to be compared to that of the Lord, which was from the affection of intellectual truth and was proper and peculiar to Him. But they who have not conscience cannot have interior thought, and therefore there is no conflict, the reason of which is that their rational acts as one and the same with the corporeal sensual; and though there is in them also a continual influx of good and truth from the Lord, yet they have no perception of it, because they forthwith extinguish and suffocate it, and this is why they do not believe any truth of faith.

1936. Return to thy mistress. That this signifies that it was observed that it ought not to trust to itself, but to interior truth and the affection of it, is evident from the signification of her "mistress", as being the affection of interior truth. But what is specially signified by " Sarai" (by Sarai as a "wife", and by Sarai as a mistress"') cannot be described, for it can be grasped by no idea; the things signified are, as before said, above the understanding, even that which is angelic. It is only suggested here how the Lord thought concerning the appearances that had engaged the attention of His first rational, namely, that they were not to be trusted, but Divine truths themselves, however incredible these might appear in the view of that rational. For such is the case with all truths Divine if the rational be consulted respecting them, they cannot possibly be believed, for they surpass all its comprehension. For example: that no man, spirit, or angel, lives from himself, but the Lord only; and that the life of a man, spirit, or angel is an appearance of life in him this is repugnant to the rational, which judges from fallacies, but still it is to be believed because it is the truth.

[2] It is a truth Divine that in every expression of the Word, which appears so simple and rude to man, there are things illimitable, nay, more than the universal heaven; and that the arcana which are therein may be presented before the angels by the Lord with perpetual variety to eternity. This is so incredible to the rational that it is unwilling to give it any credence at all; but still it is true.

[3] It is a truth Divine that no one is ever rewarded in the other life for good deeds, if he placed merit in them, or if he did them for the sake of gain, honor, and reputation; also that no one is ever punished for evil deeds if he acted from a truly good end; the ends being what are regarded, and from them the deeds. This too cannot be believed by the rational; but as it is true, the rational is not to be trusted, for it does not form its conclusions from internal things, but from external things.

[4] It is a truth Divine that he who aspires to the least joy in the other life, receives from the Lord the greatest, and that he who aspires to the greatest has the least, also that in heavenly joy there is never anything connected with being pre-eminent to others, and that in proportion as there is this, there is hell; also that in heavenly glory there is nothing whatever of worldly glory. These things also are repugnant to the rational, but still are to be believed, because they are true.

[5] It is also a truth Divine that the more any one believes nothing of wisdom to be from himself, the wiser he is; and that the more he believes it to be from himself, and thus the more he attributes prudence to himself, the more insane he is. This also the rational denies, because it supposes that what is not from itself is nothing. There are innumerable such things. From these few examples it may be seen that the rational is not to be trusted; for the rational is in fallacies and appearances, and it therefore rejects truths that are stripped of fallacies and appearances; and it does this the more, the more it is in the love of self and its cupidities, and the more it is in reasonings, and also in false principles respecting faith. See also the examples adduced above, (n. 1911).

1937. Humble thyself under her hands. That this signifies that it ought to compel itself to be under its sovereign power, is evident without explication. "To humble, one's self" is expressed in the' original tongue by a word which signifies "to afflict". That "to afflict one's self" is, in the internal sense, to compel one's self, may be seen from very many passages in the Word, and will be treated of in what follows. That man ought to compel himself to do what is good, to obey the things commanded by the Lord, and to speak truths, which is to "humble himself under' the Lord's hands, or to submit himself to the sovereign power of the Divine good and truth, involves more arcana than can be explained in a few words.

[2] There are certain spirits who during their life in the world, because they had been told that all good is from the Lord, and that a man can do nothing of himself, had held it as a principle not to compel themselves in anything, but to cease from all effort, thinking that as the case was so, all effort would be in vain; and therefore they had waited for immediate influx into the effort of their will, and did not compel themselves to do anything good, going so far that when anything evil crept in, as they felt no resistance from within, they resigned themselves to it also, supposing that it was permissible to do so. But these spirits are as it were devoid of what is their own, so that they have no determination to anything, and are therefore among the more useless, for they suffer themselves to be led alike by the evil and by the good, and suffer much from the evil.

[3] But they who have compelled themselves to resist what is evil and false- although at first they supposed that this was from themselves or from their own power, but were afterwards enlightened to see that their effort was from the Lord, even to the least of all the particulars of the effort - these in the other life cannot be led by evil spirits, but are among the happy. Thus we may see that a man ought to compel himself to do what is good and to speak what is true. The arcanum herein contained is that a man is thus gifted by the Lord with a heavenly Own, for this heavenly Own of man is formed in the effort of his thought; and if he does not maintain this effort by compelling himself (as the appearance is), he certainly does not maintain it by not compelling himself.

[4] That we may see how this is, let it be observed that in all self-compulsion to what is good there is a certain freedom, which is not discerned as such while the man is engaged in this self-compulsion, but still it is within. For instance, in one who is willing to undergo the risk of death for the sake of a certain end, or in one who is willing to suffer bodily pain for the sake of health, there is a willingness and thus a certain freedom from which the man acts, although the dangers and the pains, while he is in them, take away his perception of this willingness or freedom; and such is the case also with those who compel themselves to do what is good: there is a willingness within, and thus a freedom, from which and for the sake of which they compel themselves, that is to say, they do so for the sake of obedience to what the Lord has commanded, and for the sake of the salvation of their souls after death, within which although the man is not aware of it, there is still more interiorly a regard for the Lord's kingdom, and even for the Lord Himself.

[5] This is the case most of all during temptations, for in these-when the man compels himself to resist the evil and falsity which are infused and suggested by evil spirits there is more of freedom than is possible in any state out of temptations-although at the time the man cannot comprehend this-for there is an interior freedom, from which he wills to subjugate evil, and which is so great as to equal the force and strength of the evil that is assailing him, for otherwise he could not possibly wage the combat. This freedom is from the Lord, who insinuates it into the man's conscience, and by means of it causes him to overcome the evil as from what is his own. Through this freedom man acquires an Own in which the Lord can work what is good. Without an Own acquired, that is, given, through freedom, no man can possibly be reformed, because he cannot receive the new will, which is conscience. The freedom thus given is the very plane into which there is an influx of good and truth from the Lord. Hence it is that they who in temptations do not resist from their own will, or in freedom, give way.

[6] In all freedom there is man's life, because there is his love. Whatever a man does from love appears to him free. But in this freedom, when the man is compelling himself to resist what is evil and false, and to do what is good, there is heavenly love, which the Lord then insinuates, and through which He creates the man's Own; and therefore the Lord wills that it should appear to the man as his, although it is not his. This Own which man during his bodily life thus receives through what is apparently compulsory, is filled by the Lord in the other life with illimitable delights and happinesses. Such persons are also by degrees enlightened to see and even to be confirmed in the truth, that of themselves they have not compelled themselves one atom, but that all things of the effort of their will, even the smallest, had been from the Lord; and that the reason why it had appeared as if it was of themselves was in order that a new will might be given them by the Lord as their own, and that in this way the life of heavenly love might be appropriated to them. For the Lord wills to communicate to every one what is His, and therefore He wills to communicate what is heavenly, so that it may appear as the man's, and in him, although it is not his. The angels are in such an Own; and in proportion as they are in the truth that all good and truth are from the Lord, they are in the delight and happiness of this Own.

[7] But they who despise and reject all good and truth, and who are willing to believe nothing that is repugnant to their cupidities and reasonings, cannot compel themselves; and thus cannot receive this Own of conscience, or new will. From what has been said above it is also evident that to compel one's self is not to be compelled; for no good ever comes from compulsion, as when a man is compelled by another man to do what is good; but it is evident that in the case we are now considering the self-compulsion comes from a certain freedom that is unknown to the man, since from the Lord there is never any compulsion. Hence it is a universal law that all that which is good and true is inseminated in freedom, for otherwise the ground cannot possibly receive and cherish that which is good, and in fact there is no ground in which the seed can grow.

1938. Verse 10. And the Angel of Jehovah said unto her, In multiplying I will multiply thy seed, and it shall not be numbered for multitude. "The Angel of Jehovah said", signifies the thought of the interior man; "In multiplying I will multiply thy seed", signifies the fruitfulness of the rational man when it submits itself to the sovereign control of intellectual truth which is adjoined to good; "and it shall not be numbered for multitude", signifies multiplication beyond measure.

1939. The Angel of Jehovah said. That this signifies the thought of the interior man, is evident from the preceding verse, where the same words occur.

1940. In multiplying I will multiply thy seed. That this signifies the fruitfulness of the rational man when it submits itself to the sovereign control of the interior man when this is adjoined to good, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being love and faith (n. 1025, 1447, 1610), but in the present case by "multiplying seed" is signified the fruitfulness of the celestial things of love in the rational, when the rational has submitted itself to interior or Divine truth. "Multiplication" is predicated of truth, and "fruitfulness" of good, as may be seen from what has already been said and shown (n. 43, 55, 913, 983). But as the Lord is here treated of, "multiplying" signifies becoming fruitful, because all the truth in His rational was made good, and thereby Divine, as is here declared concerning Him. It is otherwise in man, whose rational is formed by the Lord from truth or the affection of truth. This affection is his good, from which he acts.

[2] How the case is with man's rational in regard to multiplication and fruitfulness cannot be understood unless we know how the case is with influx, of which it may be said in a general way that in every one there is an internal man, a rational man which is intermediate, and an external man, as before said. It is the internal man that is his inmost from which he is man, and by which he is distinguished from brute animals, which have not such an inmost; and it is as it were the door or entrance for the Lord, that is, for what is celestial and spiritual from the Lord, into man. What is going on there cannot be comprehended by the man, because it is above all his rational, from which he thinks. That rational which appears as man's own is subject to this inmost, or to this internal man, and into this rational through the internal man there inflow from the Lord the heavenly things of love and of faith, and through this rational they inflow into the memory-knowledges that are in the external man; but the things that inflow are received in accordance with the state of each person.

[3] Now unless the rational submits itself to the Lord's goods and truths, it either suffocates, or rejects, or perverts the things that flow in; and this is still more the case when they flow into the sensuous knowledges of the memory. This is what is meant by seed falling on a highway, or upon a rocky place, or among thorns, as the Lord teaches (Matt. 13:3-7; Mark 4:3-7; Luke 8:5-7). But when the rational submits itself and believes the Lord, that is, His Word, the rational is then like good ground or earth, into which the seed falls and bears much fruit.

1941. And it shall not be numbered for multitude. That this signifies multiplication beyond measure, is evident without explication. By these words is signified the truth that, from good, will thus grow multitudinously. In the case of the Lord- who in the internal sense is here treated of-these things cannot be fully expressed in words, because in Him all things are Divine and Infinite, and therefore in order that we may form some idea of how the case is with the multiplication of truth from good, we must speak concerning man. With a man who is in good, that is, in love and charity, the seed that comes from the Lord is made fruitful and multiplied to such an extent that it cannot he numbered for multitude; not so much while he is living in the body, but in the other life to an incredible degree; for so long as a man is living in the body the seed is in corporeal ground, and is there in the midst of jungles and thickets, which are memory-knowledges and pleasures, and also cares and anxieties; but when these are put off, which is done when he passes into the other life, the seed is freed from them and grows, just as the seed of a tree uprising from the ground grows into a sapling, then into a great tree, which is afterwards multiplied into a garden of trees. For all knowledge (scientia), intelligence, and wisdom, together with their delights and happiness, are thus made fruitful and multiplied, and thereby increase to eternity, and this from the smallest seed, as the Lord teaches respecting the grain of mustard-seed (Matt. 13:31). This may be seen very clearly from the knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom of the angels, which while they were men had been to them unutterable.

1942. Verse 11. And the Angel of Jehovah said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Ishmael: because Jehovah hath hearkened to thine affliction. "The Angel of Jehovah said unto her", signifies the thought of the interior man; "Behold, thou art with child", signifies the life of the rational man; "and shalt bear a son", signifies the truth of the same; "and thou shalt call his name lshmael", signifies the state of its life "because Jehovah hath hearkened to thine affliction", signifies while it was submitting itself.

1943. The Angel of Jehovah said. That this signifies the thought of the interior man, is evident from what is said above at (verses 7, 9, and 10).

1944. Behold, thou art with child. That this signifies the life of the rational man, is evident from what is said above concerning the conception of this and from what follows concerning Ishmael, namely, that by him is signified the first rational in the Lord. It is to be known concerning the rational man in general that it is said to receive life, to be in the womb, and to be born, when the man begins to think that the evil and falsity in himself is that which contradicts and is opposed to truth and good, and still more is this the case when he wills to remove and subjugate this evil and falsity. Unless he can perceive and become sensible of this, he has no rational, however much he may imagine that he has. For the rational is the medium that unites the internal man with the external, and thereby perceives from the Lord what is going on in the external man, and reduces the external man to obedience, nay, elevates it from the corporeal and earthly things in which it immerses itself, and causes the man to be man, and to look to heaven to which he belongs by birth; and not, as do brute animals, solely to the earth in which he is merely a sojourner, still less to hell. These are the offices of the rational, and therefore a man cannot be said to have any rational unless he is such that he can think in this manner; and whether the rational is coming into existence is known from his life in his use or function.

[2] To reason against good and truth, while they are denied at heart, and only known by hearing about them, is not to have a rational, for many can do this who openly rush without any restraint into all wickedness. The only difference is that those who suppose that they have a rational and have it not, maintain a certain decorum in their discourse and act from a pretended honorableness, in which they are held by external bonds, such as fear of the law, of the loss of property, of honor, of reputation, and of life. If these bonds, which are external, were to be taken away, some of these men would rave more insanely than those who rush into wickedness without restraint, so that no one can be said to have a rational merely because he can reason. The fact is that those who have no rational usually discourse from the things of sense and of memory-knowledge much more skillfully than those who have it.

[3] This is very clearly evident from evil spirits in the other life, who although accounted as being preeminently rational while they have lived in the body, yet when the external bonds which caused their decorum of discourse and their pretended honorableness of life are taken away, as is usual with all in the other life, they are more insane than those who in this world are openly so, for they rush into all wickedness without horror, fear, or shame. Not so those who while they lived in this world had been rational, for when the external bonds are taken away from them, they are still more sane, because they have had internal bonds-bonds of conscience-by which the Lord kept their thoughts bound to the laws of truth and good, which were their rational principles.

1945. And shalt bear a son. That this signifies the truth, namely, of the rational here referred to, and which is signified by "Ishmael", is evident from the signification of a "son", as being truth (n. 264, 489, 491, 533, 1147). This truth is described in the next verse.

1946. And thou shalt call his name Ishmael. This signifies the state of the life. In ancient times names were bestowed on sons and daughters that were significant of the state in which the parents were, especially the mothers when they conceived, or while they were with child, or when they brought forth; or the state in which the infants were when born, so that the names were significative. From what Ishmael had his name is here explained, namely, "because Jehovah hearkened to the affliction referring to his mother's state. But what Ishmael represents is described in the verse following.

1947. Because Jehovah hath hearkened to thine affliction. That this signifies while it was submitting itself, is evident (n. 1937), in that to "humble and afflict one's self" denotes to submit to the sovereign control of the internal man, which submission was there treated of, and it is shown that this is to compel one's self; also that in compelling one's self there is freedom, that is, what is spontaneous and voluntary, by which compelling one's self is distinguished from being compelled. It was also shown that without this freedom, that is, spontaneity or willingness, man cannot possibly be reformed and receive any heavenly Own; and further that there is more of freedom in temptations than out of them, although the contrary appears to be the case, for the freedom is then stronger in proportion to the assaults of evils and falsities, and is strengthened by the Lord in order that a heavenly Own may be conferred upon the man; and for this reason the Lord is more present with us while we are in temptations. It was shown further that the Lord never compels any one; for he who is compelled to think what is true and do what is good is not reformed, but thinks falsity and wills evil all the more. All compulsion has this effect, as we may see from the records and examples of life, for from them we know these two things: that consciences do not suffer themselves to be compelled, and that we strive after what is forbidden. Moreover every one desires to pass from non-freedom into freedom, for this belongs to man's life.

[2] Hence it is evident that anything which is not from freedom, that is, which is not from what is spontaneous or voluntary, is not acceptable to the Lord; for when any one worships the Lord from what is not free, he worships from nothing that is his own, and in this case it is the external which moves, that is, which is moved, from being compelled, while the internal is null, or resistant, or is even contradictory to it. While man is being regenerated, he, from the freedom with which he is gifted by the Lord, exercises self-compulsion, and humbles and even afflicts his rational, in order that it may submit itself, and thereby he receives a heavenly Own, which is afterwards gradually perfected by the Lord, and is made more and more free, so that it becomes the affection of good and thence of truth, and has delight, and in both the freedom and the delight there is happiness like that of angels. This freedom is what the Lord speaks of in John: -

The truth shall make you free; if the Son made you free, he shall be free indeed (John 8:32, 36).

[3] The nature of this freedom is utterly unknown to those who do not possess conscience, for they make freedom consist in doing as they please and in the license of thinking and speaking what is false, of willing and doing what is evil, and of not compelling and humbling, still less of afflicting such desires; when yet the very reverse is the case, as the Lord also teaches in the same gospel: -

Every one that committeth sin is the servant of sin (John 8:34).

This slavish freedom they receive from the infernal spirits who are with them and who infuse it, and when they are in the life of these spirits they are also in their loves and cupidities, and an impure and excrementitious delight breathes upon them, and when they are being as it were carried away by the torrent, they suppose themselves to be in freedom, but it is infernal freedom. The difference between this infernal freedom and heavenly freedom is that the one is that of death, and drags them down to hell, while the other, or heavenly freedom, is of life and uplifts them to heaven.

[4] That all true internal worship comes from freedom, and none from compulsion, and that if worship is not from freedom it is not internal worship, is evident from the Word, as from the sacrifices that were freewill offerings or vows, or offerings of peace or of thanksgiving; which were called "gifts" and "offerings" (Num. 15:3; Deut. 12:6; 16:10, 11; 23:23, 24). So in David:

With a free-will offering will I sacrifice unto Thee I will confess to Thy name, O Jehovah, for it is good (Ps. 54:6).

So again from the contribution or collection which they were to make for the Tabernacle, and for the garments of holiness, spoken of in Moses: -

Speak unto the sons of Israel, and let them take for Me an offering; from every man whom his heart impels willingly ye shall take My offering (Exod. 25:2).

And again: -

Whosoever is of a willing heart let him bring it, Jehovah's offering (Exod. 35:5).

[5] Moreover the humiliation of the rational man, or its affliction (from freedom, as before said), was also represented by the affliction of souls on days of solemnity, as mentioned in Moses: -

It shall be a statute of eternity unto you; in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, ye shall afflict your souls (Lev. 16:29).

And again: -

On the tenth of the seventh month, this is the day of expiations; there shall be a holy convocation unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls; even soul that shall not have afflicted itself in that same day, shall be cut off from his peoples (Lev. 23:27, 29).

It was for this reason that the unleavened bread, in which there was nothing fermented, is called the "bread of affliction", (Deut. 16:2, 3).

[6] "Affliction" is thus spoken of in David: -

Jehovah, who shall sojourn in Thy tent? who shall dwell in the mountain of Thy holiness? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness; he that sweareth to afflict himself, and changeth not (Ps. 15:1, 2, 4).

That "affliction" denotes the mastering and subjugation of the Evils and falsities that rise up from the external man into the rational, may be seen from what has been said. Thus "affliction" does not mean that we should plunge ourselves into poverty and wretchedness, or that we should renounce all bodily delights, for in this way evil is not mastered and subjugated; and moreover some other evil may be aroused, namely, a sense of merit on account of the renunciation; and besides, man's freedom suffers, in which alone, as in ground, the good and truth of faith can be inseminated. Concerning "affliction" as denoting also temptation, (n. 1846).

1948. Verse 12. And he shall be a wild-ass man; his hand against all, and the hand of all against him and he shall dwell against the faces of all his brethren. "He shall be a wild-ass man", signifies rational truth, which is described; "his hand against all", signifies that it will wage war upon whatever is not true; "and the hand of all against him", signifies that falsities will fight back; "and he shall dwell against the faces of all his brethren", signifies that there will be continual contentions about matters of faith; but that nevertheless it will be a conqueror.

1949. He shall be a wild-ass (onager) man. That this signifies rational truth, which is described, is evident from the signification of "a wild-ass", as being rational truth. In the Word there is frequent mention of horses, horsemen, mules, and asses; and as yet no one has known that these signify things of the intellect, of the reason, and of memory-knowledge. That these animals and their riders have such a signification will of the Lords Divine mercy be fully confirmed in the proper places. Of the same class is the "onager", for this is the mule of the wilderness or wild-ass, and it signifies man's rational; not however the rational in its whole complex, but only rational truth. The rational consists of good and truth, that is, of things belonging to charity and of things belonging to faith, and it is rational truth that is signified by the "wild-ass". This then is what is represented by Ishmael, and is what is described in this verse.

[2] It seems incredible that rational truth when separated from good should be of such a character, neither should I have known this to be the case unless I had been instructed by living experience. Whether you say rational truth; or the man whose rational is of this kind, amounts to the same. The man whose rational is of such a character that he is solely in truth - even though it be the truth of faith-and who is not at the same time in the good of charity, is altogether of such a character. He is a morose man, will bear nothing, is against all, regards everybody as being in falsity, is ready to rebuke, to chastise, and to punish; has no pity, and does not apply or adapt himself to others and study to bend their minds; for he looks at everything from truth, and at nothing from good. Hence it is that Ishmael was driven out, and afterwards dwelt in the wilderness, and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt (Gen. 21:9-21) all of which things are representative of one who is endowed with such a rational.

[3] Mention is made of "wild-asses" in the prophetical parts of the Word, as in Isaiah: -

The, palace shall be forsaken, the multitude of the city shall be deserted; the high place and the watch-tower shall be for dens, even forever a joy of wild-asses, a pasture of flocks (Isaiah 32:14)

where the devastation of intellectual things is treated of, which, when laid waste as regards truths, are called "a joy of wild asses;" and when as regards goods, "a pasture of flocks;" so that there is no rational. In Jeremiah: -

The wild-asses stood upon the hills, they snuffed up the wind like whales, their eyes perished because there was no herbage (Jeremiah 14:6)

where the subject treated of is drought, that is, the absence of what is good and true. It is said of the wild-asses that they "snuff up the wind", when empty things are seized on instead of real things, which are truths " their eyes perished" means that there is no apprehension of what truth is.

[4] In Hosea: -

For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild-ass alone by himself Ephraim hath sought loves with a harlot's hire (Hosea 8:9).

Here "Israel", or the spiritual church, is treated of; "Ephraim" denotes its intellectual; "going up into Assyria", reasoning about truth, as to whether it is truth; the "solitary wild-ass", the rational thus destitute of truths. In the same: -

For he shall be among his brethren as a wild-ass; an east wind shall come, the wind of Jehovah coming up from the wilderness; and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up; he shall make a spoil of the treasure of all vessels of desire (Hosea 13:15),

speaking of Ephraim, by whom is signified the intellectual of the spiritual church, whose rational is "as a wild-ass;" and the destruction of which is here treated of. In David: -

Jehovah God shall send forth springs into rivers, they shall run among the mountains they shall supply drink to every beast of the fields; the wild-asses shall quench their thirst (Ps. 104:10, 11).

"Springs" denote knowledges; the "beasts of the fields,' goods; the "wild-asses", the truths of reason.

1950. His hand against all. That this signifies that it will wage war upon whatever is not true, and that "the hand of all against him" signifies that falsities will fight back, is evident from the fact that by "Ishmael", as before said, is signified rational truth separated from good; and when it is said of this truth that "its hand is against all, and the hand of all against it", it is evident that such is the signification of these words. It was stated above that by Abram is represented the Lord's internal man, or what is the same, His Divine celestial and spiritual by Isaac the Lord's interior man, or His Divine rational; and by Jacob the Lords exterior man, or His Divine natural. The words before us treat of the rational as it would be if not united to the internal, that is, to the Divine celestial and spiritual. Because this rational had its nature from the life of affection of memory-knowledges, that is, from Hagar the Egyptian, Sarai's handmaid, and because this life pertained to the external man, which had an hereditary nature from the Lord's mother that was to be fought against and expelled, therefore the rational is here described such as it would be if devoid of rational good. But after the Lord had humbled, that is, had afflicted and subjugated that hereditary nature by means of the combats of temptations and by victories, and had vivified His rational itself with Divine good, it then became "Isaac", that is, it is represented by Isaac; Ishmael, together with Hagar his mother, being cast out of the house.

[2] All the genuine rational consists of good and truth, that is, of the celestial and the spiritual. Good, or the celestial, is its very soul or life; truth, or the spiritual, is what receives its life from this. Without life from celestial good, the rational is such as is here described, that is, it fights against all, and all fight against it. Rational good never fights, however it is assailed' because it is mild and gentle, patient and yielding; for its character is that of love and mercy. Yet although it does not fight, it conquers all, nor does it ever think about combat, or glory on account of victory; and this because it is Divine, and is safe of itself. For no evil can attack good it cannot even continue to exist in the sphere where good is, for when this merely approaches, evil withdraws and falls back of itself; for evil is infernal, and good is heavenly. Very similar is the case with the celestial spiritual, that is, with truth from a celestial origin, or with truth which is from good, for this truth is truth that is formed by good, so that it may be called the form of good.

[3] But truth separated from good,- which is here represented by Ishmael and is described in this verse, is altogether different, being like a wild-ass, and fighting against all, and all against it; in fact it thinks of and breathes scarcely anything but combats; its general delectation, or reigning affection, is to conquer, and when it conquers it glories in the victory on which account it is described as an " onager", or mule of the wilderness, that is, the wild-ass, which cannot be with others. Such a life is a life of truth without good, yea, a life of faith without charity, and therefore when a man is being regenerated, this is indeed effected by means of the truth of faith, but still at the same time by means of a life of charity, which the Lord insinuates in accordance with the increments of the truth of faith.

1951. He shall dwell against the faces of all his brethren. That this signifies that there will be continual contentions about matters of faith, but that nevertheless it will be a conqueror, is evident from what has just been said; which is yet more fully described where the Word tells of the posterity of Ishmael, in these words: -

They dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is toward the faces of Egypt, as one comes to Asshur, (his lot) fell toward the faces of all his brethren (Gen. 25:18),

of which words the internal sense is evident from the signification of Havilah, Shur, Egypt, and Assyria. "Havilah" signifies that which is of intelligence (n. 115); "Shur" signifies truth proceeding from memory-knowledges (n. 1928); "Egypt", all that is of memory-knowledge (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); and "Assyria", that which belongs to reason (n. 119, 1186) from the significations of all which, when reduced into one general meaning, it is evident that by Ishmael is represented such a rational. This very kind of truth is represented in the other life in various ways, and always as what is strong, powerful, and hard; insomuch that it cannot be resisted at all. When spirits merely think of such truth, something of terror comes over them, because it is its nature not to yield, and thus not to recede; from which also we may see what is meant by "dwelling against the faces of all his brethren". Any one may know that an arcanum lies hidden in this description, but of what nature has hitherto been unknown.

1952. Verses 13, 14. And she called the name of Jehovah who was speaking unto her, Thou God seest me; for she said, Have I also here seen after Him that seeth me? Therefore she called the fountain, The fountain of the Living One who seeth me; behold it is between Kadesh and Bared. " And she called the name of Jehovah who was speaking unto her", signifies the state of the Lord's interior man when it thought about these things. "Thou God seest me", signifies influx; "for she said, Have I also here seen after Him that seeth me?" signifies influx into the life of the exterior man without the rational as a medium "therefore she called the fountain", signifies the derivative state of' truth; "the fountain of the Living One who seeth me", signifies truth thus clearly seen; "behold it is between Kadesh and Bared,"' signifies its quality.

1953. And she called the name of Jehovah who was speaking unto her. That this signifies the state of the Lord's interior man when it thought about these things, is evident from what precedes and what follows, and also from the signification of "calling a name", which is to know what is the quality (n. 144, 145, 1754). This state is described in regard to its quality, or the state in which the Lord was when He thus thought about the rational. The rational could not think this, but the interior or higher man could (n. 1926). For the rational can by no means think about itself in regard to its quality, for nothing can look into itself; but it must be something more internal or higher that thinks about it, for this can look into it. For example: the ear cannot know, and still less perceive the speech that it receives into itself: this is done by a more interior hearing. The ear merely discerns articulate sounds or words: it is the interior hearing that apprehends what is said, and then it is an interior sight or mental view that perceives it, and in this way there is through the hearing a perception of the meaning of the speech. The case is similar with the things of sight: the first ideas received from the objects of sight are material, as they are also called; but there is a sight still more interior that views the objects mentally, and thereby thinks. And such is the case with man's rational. The rational can by no means look into itself, still less explore its own quality: there must be something more internal that does this; and therefore when a man is able to do it-that is, perceive anything false in his rational, or any truth that shines there, and especially if he is able to perceive anything that is battling and overcoming-he may know that his ability to do this comes from the Lord's influx through the internal man. The Lord's interior man, spoken of above (n. 1926) and meant here, was that which had been conjoined with His internal man, which was Jehovah, and was therefore far above that rational. From that interior man, as in celestial light, He saw and perceived of what quality the rational would become if it were in truth alone, and not in good.

1954. Thou God seest me. That this signifies influx, is evident from what has just been said. Mental view from the higher into the lower, or what is the same, from the interior into the exterior, is termed influx, for it takes place by influx; just as in the case of man's interior sight: unless this continually inflowed into his outer sight, which is that of the eye, this latter could not possibly apprehend and discern any object; for it is the interior sight which, through the eye, apprehends the things which the eye sees; and by no means is it the eye, although it so appears. From all this we may also see how much that man is in the fallacies of the senses who believes that the eye sees; when in fact it is the sight of his spirit, which is the interior sight, that sees through the eye.

[2] Spirits who were with me have seen through my eyes things in the world as well as I did (n. 1880); yet some of them who were still in the fallacies of the senses supposed that they had seen through their own eyes; but they were shown that it was not so, for when my eyes were closed they saw nothing in this atmospheric world. It is the very same with man: it is his spirit that sees, not his eye: the spirit sees through the eye. The same thing may be seen from dreams, in which a man sometimes sees as in the day. The case is the very same in regard to this interior sight, or that of the spirit this again does not see from itself, but from a still more interior sight, or that of man's rational. Nay, neither does this see of itself, but does so from a still more internal sight, which is that of the internal man (n. 1940). And even this does not see of itself, for it is the Lord who sees through the internal man, and He is the Only One who sees because He is the Only One who lives, and He it is who gives man the ability to see, and this in such a manner that it appears to him as if he saw of himself. Such is the case with influx.

1955. For she said, Have I also here seen after Him who seeth me? That this signifies influx into the life of the exterior man without the rational as a medium, is evident from the signification of "seeing after Him that seeth". "To see after Him that seeth" is to see from what is interior, or higher, for in the internal sense that which is within or above is expressed in the sense of the letter by "after", when that which is within or above appears in that which is without or below. It is Hagar who speaks here; and by Hagar, as before shown, is signified the life of memory-knowledges, which belongs to the exterior man. As the first rational originated from this life, the Lord saw the reason for its so doing, and He saw it from His interior man in His exterior man, and did so without the rational as a medium. That the words before us involve arcana, every one can see from the single consideration that no one can know what it is to "see after Him that seeth me", except from an internal sense, in which also there must be such things as cannot be explained to the apprehension, except by means of ideas like those of angels, which do not fall into words, but only into the sense of the words; and this quite apart from the material ideas out of which come the ideas of the sense of the words. Concerning the things before us, which appear so obscure to man, the angels have ideas so clear and distinct, and enriched with so many representations, that were only a small part of them described, they would fill a volume.

1956. Therefore she called the fountain. That this signifies the derivative state of truth, is evident from what has been said; and also from the signification of a fountain", as being truth (explained above, n. 1927). As this truth was not seen in the rational, but below the rational, the word in the original language that is here rendered "fountain" is a different word from that rendered "fountain" above, and from the common word for fountain.

1957. The fountain of the Living One who seeth me. That this signifies truth thus clearly seen, is also evident from what has been already said, namely, that the Lord clearly saw how the case was with the truth of this rational-that it was not good. The Lord's interior man, from which He saw this, is called "The Living One who seeth", because it was conjoined with the internal man, which was Jehovah, who alone lives and alone sees (n. 1954).

1958. Behold it is between Kadesh and Bared. That this signifies the quality that is that He saw of what quality this truth was, and thus what the quality of the rational was-is evident from the signification of "Kadesh" and of "Bared". That "Kadesh" signifies truth, and also contentions about truths, has been shown before (n. 1678) but "Bared" signifies what is below, and thus truth in the form of memory-knowledge, from which also comes the rational. (That names in the Word signify actual things, may be seen above, (n. 1876, 1888, 1889, 1224, 1264).

1959. Verse 15. And Hagar bare Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son that Hagar bare, Ishmael. "Hagar bare Abram a son", signifies the rational man born from this conjunction and conception; "and Abram called the name of his son that Hagar bare, Ishmael", signifies the quality of it.

1960. Hagar bare Abram a son. That this signifies the rational man born from this conception and conjunction, is evident from the representation and signification of "Hagar", of "Abram", and of "a son". That "Hagar" signifies the life of the affection of memory-knowledges in the exterior man, has been said above (n. 1895, 1896); also that "Abram" signifies the Lord's internal man (n. 1893, 1950); and that "a son" signifies truth, and thus the truth that was of this rational (n. 264, 489, 491, 533, 1147). Hence that "Hagar bare a son to Abram", signifies the rational man that was born from this conception and conjunction. Into this sense is the sense of the letter changed when it reaches the angels, or is in the presence of the angels.

1961. And Abram called the name of his son that Hagar bare, Ishmael. That this signifies its quality, is evident from the signification of "calling a name", as being to know what is the quality of the thing in question (n. 144, 145, 1754); and also from the representation and signification of "Ishmael", as being rational truth, which is described it, (verses 11 and 12) in the words: "Thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because Jehovah hath heard thine affliction; and he will be a wild-ass man his land against all, and the hand of all against him; and he shall dwell against the faces of all his brethren;" and for the meaning of these words, see the explication of the verses that contain them. It is the quality of this rational that is there described.

1962. Verse 16. And Abram was a son of eighty years and six years, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram. "Abram was a son of eighty years and six years", signifies the Lord's state in respect to the celestial good acquired by combats of temptations; "when Hagar bare Ishmael", signifies when the life of the affection of memory-knowledges brought forth the rational.

1963. Abram was a son of eighty years and six years. That this signifies the Lord's state in respect to the celestial good acquired by means of the combats of temptations, is evident from the signification of "eighty", in which number is involved much the same as in "forty;" and that these numbers signify temptations has been already shown (n. 730, 862); and from the signification of "six", as being combat, also explained before (n. 720, 737, 900); and further from the signification of "ten", as being remains (n. 576); which remains in the Lord's case were the possessions of celestial goods by which He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence (n. 1906, at the end). These three numbers are components of the number eighty-six, in which such things are involved, and which thus signifies the Lord's state in regard to the celestial good acquired by means of the combats of temptations; for all numbers in the Word signify actual things (n. 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813). As in this case the numbers mentioned are numbers of years, and as they are also mentioned in historical connection with Abram, it appears as if they were not significative of such things. But there is nothing written in the Word which does not pass into a spiritual and a celestial sense when it passes over to the angels; for angels are in none other than spiritual and celestial ideas, and when the Word is being read by a man, the angels neither know nor perceive what "eighty-six" is, nor do they care of what age Abram was when Hagar bare Ishmael to him; but from such a number, when read, the things involved in the numbers immediately come to them; and the same is the case with all the other expressions, as they have been explained in the internal sense.

1964. When Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram. That this signifies when the life of the affection of memory-knowledges brought forth the rational, is evident from the signification of "Hagar" as being the life of the affection of memory-knowledges; and from the signification of "Ishmael", as being the rational first conceived, treated of above. As in this chapter the subject treated of is man's rational, and as there is described the quality of the rational when constituted solely of truths, and also when of goods and of truths derived from goods, be it known that the rational cannot possibly be conceived and born, that is, formed, apart from knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones) but these knowledges must have use as their end, and when they have use, they have life as their end, for all life belongs to uses, because it belongs to ends, and therefore unless knowledges are learned for the sake of a life of uses, they are of no moment, because of no use.

[2] From these knowledges alone, without a life of use, the rational becomes as here described, resembling a wild-ass, morose, pugnacious, and characterized by a parched and dry life, from a kind of love of truth that is defiled with the love of self. But when these knowledges have use as their end, they receive life from uses, yet life of such a quality as is that of the uses. They who learn knowledges in order that they may be perfected in the faith of love-for true and real faith is love to the Lord and toward the neighbor-are in the use of all uses, and receive spiritual and celestial life from the Lord; and when they are in this life, they have a capacity to perceive all things of the Lord's kingdom. In this life are all angels; and because they are in this life they are in intelligence itself and wisdom itself.

1965. This then is the internal sense of the things contained in this chapter concerning Abram, Hagar, and Ishmael. But how copious this sense is, that is, what illimitable things it contains, may be seen from the mere consideration that as in the internal sense all things in the Word both in general and in particular regard the Lord, and treat of the Lord-for the life of the Word, because the Word itself, is from this-they also, in the internal sense, treat at the same time of His kingdom in the heavens, and of His kingdom on earth, which is the church; and in the same way they treat of every one in whom is the Lord's kingdom; and besides this they treat in general of all that is celestial and spiritual, for all these are from the Lord. Hence it is that by Abram is also represented the celestial church, the celestial man, and the celestial itself, and so on. But to extend the explication to all these would make it too tedious

 

CONCERNING VISIONS AND DREAMS, INCLUDING THE PROPHETIC ONES CONTAINED IN THE WORD

1966. Few know how the case is with visions, and what visions are genuine; but as for some years I have been almost continually with those who are in the other life and have there seen amazing things, I have in this way been informed by experience itself in regard to visions and dreams, concerning which I may relate what follows.

1967. Much has been said about the visions of certain persons who have declared that they have seen many things, and who did see them, but in phantasy. I have been instructed about them, and it was likewise shown how they take place. There are spirits who by means of phantasies induce appearances that seem to be real. For example, if anything is seen in shadow, or in moonlight, or even in daylight, if the object be in a dark place, these spirits keep the mind of the beholder fixedly and continually in the thought of some one thing, be it an animal, a monster, a forest, or any other thing; and so long as the mind is held in this thought, the phantasy is increased, and it grows to such a degree that the person is persuaded, and sees just as if the things themselves were there, whereas they are nothing but illusions. Such things befall those who indulge much in fancies, and are subject to infirmity of mind, and have thereby become credulous. These are visionaries.

1968. Enthusiastic spirits are similar, but these have visions about things to be believed, of which they are persuaded and persuade others so strongly as to be ready to swear that what is false is true, and that a fallacy is a reality. Concerning this nature of spirits, many things might be related from experience; but of the Lord's Divine mercy they will be treated of specifically. They have contracted this nature from persuasions and false principles, while they lived in the world.

1969. Evil spirits in the other life are scarcely anything but cupidities and phantasies. They have acquired to themselves no other life. Their phantasies are such that they have no perception whatever but that the case is so. Men's phantasies cannot be compared with theirs, for their state surpasses that of men even in regard to such things. Such phantasies are perpetual with the infernals, among whom one miserably torments another by means of phantasies.

1970. By genuine visions are meant visions or sights of such things in the other life as have real existence, and are nothing but actual things that can be seen by the eyes of the spirit and not by the eyes of the body, and that appear to a man when his interior sight is opened by the Lord (that is, the sight which his spirit has), and into which he comes when, separated from the body, he passes into the other life; for a man is a spirit clothed with a body. Such were the visions of the prophets. When this sight is opened, then those things which have actual existence with spirits are seen in clearer day than that of noon in this world, not only the representatives, but also the spirits themselves, together with a perception of who they are, also what they are, where they are, whence they come, whither they I are going; also of what affection, what persuasion, nay. of what faith they are (n. 1388, 1394), all confirmed by living speech, I exactly as if it were human speech, and this free from all fallacy.

1971. The visions that come forth before good spirits are representatives of the things that are in heaven; for when that which exists in heaven before the angels passes down into the world of spirits, it is turned into representatives, from which and in which it may be plainly seen what they signify. Such things are perpetual with good spirits, and are attended with a beauty and pleasantness than can hardly be expressed.

1972. As regards the visions, or rather sights, that appear before the eyes of the spirit, not before the eyes of the body, they are more and more interior. Those which I have seen in the world of spirits I have seen in clear light, but those in the heaven of angelic spirits I have seen more obscurely, and still more obscurely those in the heaven of angels, for the sight of my spirit has rarely been opened to me so far, but it has been given me to know what they were saying, by a certain perception, the nature of which cannot be described, and frequently through intermediate spirits; the things which are there have sometimes appeared in the shade of the light of heaven, which is not like the shade of the light of the world, for it is light growing thin and faint from its incomprehensibility equally as discerned by the understanding and by the sight.

1973. To describe all the kinds of visions would be too tedious, for there are many. For the sake of illustration, I may describe two visions, from which their character may be seen; and also at the same time how spirits are affected by the things which they see, and how evil spirits are tormented when the ability to see the things that others are seeing and hearing is stolen away from them, for they cannot bear to have any such thing taken away from them; for spirits have not the sense of taste, but in place of it they have a desire, or a kind of appetite, for knowing and learning. This is as it were their food by which they are nourished (n. 1480). The nature of their distress, therefore, when this food is taken away may be seen from the example that follows.

1974. After a troubled sleep, about the first watch, a very pleasant sight was presented. There were wreaths as of laurel, quite fresh, in most beautiful order, with motion as if alive: of such form and elegance of arrangement that description fails to express their beauty and harmony, and the affection of bliss that flowed forth from them. They were in a double series, at a little distance from each other, and running on together to a considerable length, and constantly varying the state of their beauty. This was plainly seen by spirits, even by evil ones. This was afterwards followed by another sight still more beautiful, in which there was heavenly happiness, but it was only dimly visible: there were infants in their heavenly sports, that affected the mind in a manner inexpressible.

[2] I afterwards spoke with spirits concerning these sights, who confessed that they saw the first as much as I did, but the second only so dimly that they could not tell what it was. This caused them to feel indignation, and afterwards by degrees envy, from the fact that it was said that angels and little children had seen it; and this envy of theirs it was given me to perceive sensibly, so that nothing escaped me so far as concerned my instruction. The envy was of such a nature as to cause in them not merely the utmost annoyance, but also a feeling of anguish and interior pain and this merely because they did not see the second vision also, and the consequence was that they were led through varieties of envy until they were in pain in the region of the heart.

[3] While they were in this state I spoke with them about the envy, telling them that they might be content with having seen the first vision, and that they would have been able to see the second also if they had been good; but this excited in them a feeling of indignation which intensified their envy, causing it to increase further to such a degree that they could not afterwards bear the least recollection of the matter without being affected with pain. The states and progressions of the envy, together with its degrees, aggravations, and varied and mingled distresses of mind and heart, cannot be described. It was thus shown how much the wicked are tormented by envy merely, when they see from afar the blessedness of the good, and even when they merely think of it.

1975. As regards dreams, it is known that the Lord revealed the arcana of heaven to the prophets, not only by visions, but also by dreams, and that the dreams were as fully representative and significative as the visions, being almost of the same class; and that to others also as well as the prophets things to come were disclosed by dreams; as by the dreams of Joseph, and of those who were in prison with him, and by those of Pharaoh, of Nebuchadnezzar, and others, from which it may be seen that dreams of this kind, equally with visions, flow in from heaven; with this difference, that dreams occur when the corporeal is asleep, and visions when it is not asleep. How prophetic dreams, and such as are found in the Word, flow in, nay, descend from heaven, has been shown me to the life; concerning which I may relate the following particulars, from experience.

1976. There are three kinds of dreams. The first kind come from the Lord mediately through heaven; such were the prophetic dreams that are treated of in the Word. The second kind come through angelic spirits, especially those who are in front above at the right, where there are paradisal scenes; from this source the men of the Most Ancient Church had their dreams, which were instructive (n. 1122). The third kind come through the spirits who are near when man is sleeping, which are likewise significative. But fantastic dreams come from a different source.

1977. In order that I might fully know how dreams flow in, I was put to sleep, and I dreamed that a ship came laden with delicacies and savory food of every kind. The things in the ship were not seen, but were stowed away. Upon the ship stood two armed guards, besides a third who was its captain. The ship passed into a kind of arched dock. So I awoke and thought about the dream. The angelic spirits, who were above in front to the right, then addressed me, and told me that they had introduced this dream; and in order that I might know with certainty that it was from them, I was put into a state as of sleep and at the same time of wakefulness; and they introduced in the same way various things that were pleasant and delightful; for instance, an unknown little animal which was dispersed in a likeness of blackish and shining rays, that darted with marvelous quickness into my left eye. They also presented men and also little children adorned in various ways; and other things besides, with inexpressible pleasantness, about which I also spoke with them. This was done, not once, but many times, and each time I was instructed by them with the living voice.

[2] The angelic spirits who are at the entrance to the paradisal scenes, are they who insinuate such dreams; and to them is also intrusted the duty of watching over certain men when they sleep, lest they should then be infested by evil spirits. They perform this duty with the greatest delight, so that there is rivalry among them as to who shall be present, and they love to affect the man with the enjoyable and delightful things which they see in his affection and genius. They who have become angelic spirits are from those who in the life of the body had delighted and had loved in every way and with the utmost pains, to make the life of others delightful. When the hearing is opened sufficiently far, there is heard from them, as from a distance, a sweetly modulated sound, as it were of singing. They said that they do not know whence such things, and representatives so beautiful and pleasant, come to them in a moment; but it was said that it was from heaven. They belong to the province of the cerebellum; for, as I have been informed, the cerebellum is awake in time of sleep, when the cerebrum sleeps. From this source the men of the Most Ancient Church had their dreams, together with a perception of what they signified; from whom in great part came the representatives and significatives of the ancients, under which were set forth things that are deeply hidden.

1978. Moreover there are other spirits, who belong to the province of the left side of the chest, by whom they are often interfered with; as well as by others whom they disregard.

1979. After such dreams I have very frequently been permitted to speak with the spirits and angels who had introduced them; and they told what they had introduced, and I what I had seen. But it would be too tedious to relate all my experience of these matters.

1980. It is worthy of mention that when after waking I related what I had seen in a dream, and this in a long series, certain angelic spirits (not of those spoken of above) then said that what I related wholly coincided, and was identical, with the subjects they had been conversing about, and that there was absolutely no difference; but still that they were not the very things they had discoursed about, but were representatives of the same things, into which their ideas were thus turned and changed in the world of spirits; for in the world of spirits the ideas of the angels are turned into representatives; and therefore each and all things they had conversed about were so represented in the dream. They said, further, that the same discourse could be turned into other representatives, nay, into both similar and dissimilar ones, with unlimited variety. The reason they were turned into such as have been described, was that it took place in accordance with the state of the spirits around me, and thus in accordance with my own state at the time. In a word, very many dissimilar dreams might come down and be presented from the same discourse, and thus from one origin; because, as has been said, the things that are in a man's memory and affection are recipient vessels, in which ideas are varied and received representatively in accordance with their variations of form and changes of state.

1981. I may relate one more instance of' a similar kind. I dreamed a dream, but a common one. When I awoke, I related it all from beginning to end. The angels said that it coincided exactly with what they had spoken of together; not that the things seen in the dream were the same, for they were wholly different, being things into which the thoughts of their conversation were turned, but in such a way that they were representative and correspondent; and this in every particular, so that nothing was wanting. I then spoke with them about influx, as to how such things flow in and are varied. There was a person of whom I had the idea that he was in natural truth, which idea I had gathered from the acts of his life. There was a conversation among the angels about natural truth, and on this account that person was represented to me; I and the things he said to me, and did, in my dream, followed in order representatively and correspondently from the discourse of the angels with one another. But still there was nothing precisely alike, or the same.

1982. Some souls recently from the world who long to see the glory of the Lord before they are qualified to be admitted, are lulled in regard to the exterior senses and lower faculties in a kind of sweet sleep, and then their interior senses and faculties are aroused into a high degree of wakefulness, and thereby they are admitted into the glory of heaven, but when wakefulness is restored to their exterior senses and faculties, they return into their former state.

1983. Evil spirits most vehemently desire and burn to infest and attack man when he is sleeping, but man is then especially guarded by the Lord, for love does not sleep. The spirits who infest are miserably punished. I have heard their punishments oftener than I can tell; they consist in rendings (n. 829, 957, 959), under the heel of the left foot, and this sometimes for hours together. Sirens, who are interior enchantresses, are they who are especially insidious in the night time, and then try to insinuate themselves into a man's interior thoughts and affections, but are as often driven away by the Lord by means of angels, and are at last deterred by the severest punishments. They have also spoken with others in the night time, exactly as if they spoke from me, and as it were with my speech, so like that it could not be distinguished, pouring in filthy things, and persuading false ones.

[2] I was once in a very sweet sleep, in which I had nothing but soft repose. When I awoke, some good spirits began to chide me for having (as they said) infested them so atrociously that they supposed they were in hell - throwing the blame upon me. I answered them that I knew nothing whatever about the matter, but had been sleeping most quietly, so that by no possibility could I have been troublesome to them. Astonished at this, they at last had a perception that it had been done by the magic arts of sirens. The like was also shown afterwards, in order that I might know the quality of the crew of sirens.

[3] They are chiefly of the female sex, who in the life of the body had studied to allure male companions to themselves by interior artifices insinuating themselves by means of outward things, captivating their lower minds in every possible way, entering into each one's affections and delights, but with an evil end, especially that of exercising command. Hence they have such a nature in the other life that they seem able of themselves to do all things, imbibing and inventing various arts, which thy absorb as easily as sponges do waters, whether clean or filthy. So do they imbibe and put into act things profane as well as holy, with the end, as before said, of exercising command. It has been granted me to perceive their interiors, and to see how foul they are, being defiled by adulteries and hatreds. It has also been granted me to perceive how powerful in its effects is their sphere. They reduce their interiors into a state of persuasion, in order that these may conspire with their exteriors toward such things as they intend. They thus compel and violently draw spirits to think exactly as they do.

[4] No reasonings appear in connection with them, but they make use of a kind of simultaneous rush of reasonings that are breathed into the person's evil affections and so they work by applying themselves to the natural inclinations, and thereby they get into the lower minds of others, whom they lead on, and by persuasion either overwhelm or captivate them. They study nothing more than to destroy the conscience, and when it is destroyed they get possession of men's interiors, and even obsess the men, although these are ignorant of it. At this day there are not as formerly external obsessions, but there are internal ones, by spirits of this class. They who have no conscience have become obsessed in this way. The interiors of their thoughts are insane in a manner not unlike this, but are concealed and veiled over by an external decorum and a pretended honorableness, for the sake of their own honor, gain, and reputation. And this such men may know, if they pay attention to their thoughts.


Chapter 17

1984. Few persons can bring themselves to believe that the Word has within it an internal sense that from the letter is not apparent, because it is so remote from the sense of the letter that it is as it were distant from it as heaven is from earth. But that the sense of the letter contains such things within itself, and that it is representative and significative of arcana no one sees except the Lord, and angels from Him. The sense of the letter bears a relation to the internal sense like that of the human body to the soul. While a man is in the body, and thinks from bodily things, he knows almost nothing about the soul; for the functions of the body are different from those of the soul, so different that if the functions of the soul were disclosed, they would not be acknowledged as such. The case is the same with the internals of the Word: its soul, that is, its life, is in its internals, and these have regard solely to the Lord, His kingdom, the church, and to those things in man that belong to His kingdom and church; and when these are regarded, it is the Word of the Lord, for in this case there is life itself therein. That this is really the case has been confirmed by many things in the first Part, and has been given me to know as a certainty; for no ideas concerning bodily and worldly things can by any possibility pass to the angels, but they are put off and altogether removed at the first threshold, as they leave man; as may be seen in the first Part, from experience itself (n. 1769-1772), and also how they are changed (n. 1872-1876).

[2] This may also be sufficiently evident from very many things in the Word that are not at all intelligible in the sense of the letter, and that would not be acknowledged as the Word of the Lord if there were not such a soul and life in them; nor would they appear as Divine to any one who has not been imbued from infancy with the belief that the Word is inspired and thereby holy. Who would know from the sense of the letter what those things signify which Jacob spoke to his sons just before his death: -

That Dan shall be a serpent upon the way, an adder upon the path, biting the horse's heels, and his rider shall fall backward (Gen. 49:17)

that a troop shall ravage Gad, and he shall ravage the heel (Gen. 49:19) that Naphtali is a hind let loose, giving discourses of elegance (Gen. 49:21) that Judah shall bind his young ass to the vine, and the son of his she-ass to the noble vine he shall wash his garment in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes; his eyes are redder than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk (Gen. 49:11, 12); and the case is the same with very many passages in the Prophets. But what these things signify cannot possibly appear except in the internal sense, in which all things both in general and in particular are coherent in the most beauty order.

[3] The case is the same again with all that the Lord said concerning the last times: -

In the consummation of the age, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fail from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man, and then shall all the tribes of the earth wail (Matt. 24:29, 30).

These words by no means signify the darkening of the sun and moon, nor the falling of the stars from heaven, nor the wailing of the tribes; but they signify charity and faith, for in the internal sense these are "the sun and the moon", and these will he darkened; and they also signify the knowledges of good and truth, for these are "the stars", which are here called "the powers of the heavens", and which will thus fall down and vanish; and that so also will all things of faith, which are "the tribes of the earth". This was shown in (n. 31, 32, 1053, 1529-1531, 1808). From these few things the nature of the internal sense of the Word may be seen, and also that it is remote, and in some places very remote, from the sense of the letter. But still the sense of the letter represents truths; and sets forth appearances of truth, in which a man can be when not in the light of truth.

 

GENESIS 17:1-27

1. And Abram was a son of ninety years and nine years and Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Shaddai; walk thou before Me, and be thou perfect.

2. And I will give My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee very exceedingly.

3. And Abram fell upon his faces; and God spake with him saying:

4. I, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be for a father of a multitude of nations.

5. And thy name shall no more be called Abram; and thy name shall be Abraham, for a father of a multitude of nations have I made thee.

6. And I will make thee fruitful very exceedingly, and I will make thee nations, and kings shall go forth from thee.

7. And I will set up My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee, unto their generations, for an eternal covenant, to be to thee for God, and to thy seed after thee.

5. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be to them for God.

9. And God said unto Abraham, And thou shalt keep My covenant, thou and thy seed after thee, unto their generations.

10. This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee, that every male be circumcised unto you.

11. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and you.

12. And a son of eight days shall be circumcised unto you, every male in your generations, he that is born in the house, and he that is bought with silver from every son that is a stranger, who is not of thy seed.

13. Circumcising he shall be circumcised that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy silver; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an eternal covenant.

14. And the uncircumcised male, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his peoples, he hath made vain My covenant.

15. And God said unto Abraham, Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai for Sarah is her name.

16. And I will bless her, and will also give thee a son from her; and I will bless her, and she shall be for nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.

17. And Abraham fell upon his faces, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall there be born to a son of a hundred years? And shall Sarah, that is a daughter of ninety years, bear?

18. And Abraham said unto God, Would that Ishmael might live before Thee!

19. And God said, Truly Sarah, thy wife, shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will set up My covenant with him for an eternal covenant, to his seed after him.

20. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; behold I will bless him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him very exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

21. And My covenant will I set up with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the following year.

22. And He left off speaking with him; and God went up from over Abraham.

23. And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his silver, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God spake with him.

24. And Abraham was a son of ninety and nine years, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

25. And Ishmael his son was a son of thirteen years, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

26. In the self-same day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

27. And all the men of his house, he that was born in the house, and he that was bought with silver from the stranger, were circumcised with him.

 

THE CONTENTS

1985. The subject here treated of is the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence; and also the conjunction of the Lord, through the Human Essence, with the human race.

1986. Jehovah was manifested to the Lord in His Human (verse 1). Foretelling the union (verses 2, 3); namely, of the Divine with the Human, and of the Human with the Divine (verses 4, 5). And that all good and truth is from Him (verse 6). The conjunction of the Divine with the human race would thus be effected through Him (verse 7). And the heavenly kingdom would be His, which He would give to those who should have faith in Him (verses 8, 9). But man must first remove his loves and their foul cupidities, and so be purified; this is what was represented and is signified by circumcision (verses 10, 11). Thus conjunction would be effected, both with those who are within the church, and with those who are without it (verse 12).

[2] Purification must by all means precede; otherwise there is no conjunction, but condemnation; and yet after all the conjunction cannot take place except in man's impurity (verses 13, 14). The union of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence, or of truth with good, is foretold (verses 15 to 17). Also conjunction with those who are in the truths of faith, namely, as with those who are of the celestial church, so with those who are of the spiritual church (verses 18, 19). And that the latter also would be imbued with the goods of faith (verse 20). In conclusion, these things will be effected through the union in the Lord of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence (verse 21). The end of the prediction (verse 22). It was so to be done, and it was so done (verses 23 to 27).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

1987. Verse 1. And Abram was a son of ninety years and nine years; and Jehovah appeared unto Abram, and said unto him, I am God Shaddai; walk thou before Me and be thou perfect (integer). "Abram was a son of ninety years and nine years", signifies the time before the Lord had fully conjoined the internal man with the rational; "Abram" signifies the Lord in that state and in that age; "and Jehovah appeared to Abram", signifies manifestation; "and said unto him", signifies perception; "I am God Shaddai", in the sense of the letter signifies the name of Abram's God, by which name the Lord was first represented before them; "walk thou before Me", signifies the truth of faith; "and be thou perfect", signifies good.

1988. Abram was a son of ninety years and nine years. That this signifies the time before the Lord had fully conjoined the internal man with the rational, is evident from the signification of "nine" when regarded as coming before ten; or what is the same, of "ninety-nine" before a hundred, for Abram was a hundred years old when Isaac was born to him. The nature of the internal sense of the Word may be seen in an especial manner from the numbers, as well as from the names, that occur in the Word; for the numbers therein, whatever they may be, signify actual things, as do the names also; for there is absolutely nothing in the Word that has not what is Divine within it, or that does not possess an internal sense; and how remote this is from the sense of the letter is especially manifest from the numbers and the names for in heaven no attention is given to these, but to the things that are signified by them. For example, whenever the number "seven" occurs, instead of seven there at once comes to the angels what is holy, for "seven" signifies what is holy, and this from the fact that the celestial man is the "seventh day", or " Sabbath", and thus the Lord's "rest" (n. 84-87, 395, 433, 716, 881). The case is similar with the other numbers, as for example with twelve. Whenever "twelve" occurs, there comes to the angels the idea of all things that belong to faith, for the reason that these were signified by the "twelve tribes" (n. 577). That in the Word numbers signify actual things, see (n. 482, 487, 488, 493, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 893).

[2] The case is the same with the number "ninety-nine;" and that this number signifies the time before the Lord had fully conjoined the internal man with the rational, is evident from the signification of a "hundred years", which was Abram's age when Isaac was born to him; for by Isaac is represented and signified the Lord's rational man that is conjoined with His internal man, that is, with the Divine. In the Word, a "hundred" signifies the same as "ten", for it is formed by the multiplication of ten into ten and "ten" signifies remains (n. 576). What the remains in man are, may be seen above (n. 468, 530, 561, 660, 1050) also what the remains in the Lord were (n. 1906). These arcana cannot be set forth further, but every one may form a conclusion on the subject after he has first made himself acquainted with what remains are (for what they are is at this day unknown), provided it be known that in the Lord's case remains mean the Divine goods that He procured for Himself by His own power, and by means of which He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence.

[3] From all this we may see what is signified by "ninety-nine", for this number, because it precedes a hundred, signifies the time before the Lord had fully conjoined the internal man with the rational. In the Lord's case, the first rational was represented by Ishmael; and the nature of this rational has been sufficiently shown above (in the preceding chapter 16). But by Isaac is represented the Lord's Divine rational, as will appear in what follows. From Abram's staying so long in the land of Canaan (now twenty-four years, that is, ten years before Ishmael was born, and thirteen years after that) without his as yet having a son by his wife Sarai, and from the promise of a son being first given when he was ninety-nine years old, every one can see that some arcanum is involved. The arcanum was, that he might thereby represent the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence; and in fact the union of His internal man, which is Jehovah, with His rational.

1989. That "Abram" signifies the Lord in that state and at that age, is evident from what has already been said concerning Abram. In the internal sense Abram represents the Lord, for when he is mentioned in the Word no other Abram is understood in heaven. Those who have been born within the church, and have heard about Abram from the Word, on their entrance into the other life do indeed have some knowledge of him; but as he is like any other man, and cannot render them any aid, they no longer care about him; and they are informed that by "Abram" in the Word there is meant no other than the Lord. But the angels, who are in heavenly ideas and do not fix them on any man, know nothing about Abram; and therefore when the Word is being read by man and Abram is mentioned they perceive no other than the Lord and when the words now before us are read, they perceive the Lord in that state and at that age; for Jehovah here speaks with Abram, that is, with the Lord.

1990. Jehovah appeared unto Abram. That this signifies manifestation, is evident without explication, for as before said the Lord is represented by Abram. No man in the whole world has seen Jehovah, the Father of the Lord; but the Lord alone saw Him, as He Himself has said in John: -

No one hath seen God at any time; the Only-Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath set Him forth (John 1:18).

Again: -

Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape (John 5:37).

And again: -

Not that any one hath seen the Father save He that is with the Father; He hath seen the Father (John 6:46).

[2] The Infinite Itself, which is above all the heavens, and is over the inmost things that appertain to man, cannot be made manifest, except through the Divine Human which appertains to the Lord alone. No communication of the Infinite with those who are finite is possible from any other source, and this is also the reason that when Jehovah appeared to the men of the Most Ancient Church, and afterwards to the Ancient Church that was after the flood, and then again to Abraham and the prophets, He was manifested to them as a man. That this was the Lord, He teaches openly in John: -

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:56, 58).

Also in the Prophets - as in Daniel, by whom He was seen as the Son of man (Daniel 7:13).

[3] From these passages it may be seen that the Infinite Esse, which is Jehovah, could not possibly be manifested to man except through the Human Essence, thus except through the Lord; and therefore that it has been manifested to no one save the Lord alone. That He might also be present and be conjoined with man, after man had completely removed himself from the Divine, and had immersed himself in foul cupidities, and thereby in mere bodily and earthly things, He assumed in actuality the Human Essence itself by birth, that so He might still adjoin the Infinite Divine to man now so far removed; otherwise men would have perished to eternity with the death of the damned. The other arcana concerning the manifestation of Jehovah in the Lord's Human, when He was in a state of humiliation, before He had fully united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, and had glorified it, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be set forth in what follows, so far as they can be comprehended.

1991. And said unto him. That this signifies perception, is evident from the Lord's perception, which was from Jehovah, spoken of before (n. 1919) also because in the internal sense "Jehovah's saying", or "God's saying", signifies to perceive (n. 1602, 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822).

1992. I am God Shaddai. That in the sense of the letter this signifies the name of Abram's God, by which name the Lord was first represented before them, is evident from the things contained in the Word concerning Abram, and concerning the house of his father, in that they adored other gods. In Syria, whence Abram came, there still existed remains of the Ancient Church, and many families there retained its worship - as is evident from Eber who was of that country, from whom came the Hebrew nation - and they in like manner retained the name "Jehovah", (n. 1343), and also from the case of Balaam, who was from Syria and offered sacrifices and called Jehovah his God. That Balaam was from Syria may be seen in (Numbers 23:7); that he offered sacrifices (Num. 22:39, 40; 23:1-3, 14, 29); that he called Jehovah his God (Num. 22:8, 13, 18, 31; 23:8, 12, 16).

[2] But this was not the case with the house of Terah, the father of Abram and Nahor, for this was one of the families of the nations there that had not only lost the name "Jehovah" but had also served other gods, and instead of Jehovah had worshiped Shaddai, whom they called their god. That they had lost the name "Jehovah", is evident from (n. 1343). And that they served other gods is openly stated in Joshua: -

Joshua said unto all the people, Thus hath said Jehovah, the God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the River, Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods; now fear Jehovah, and serve Him in entirety and in truth and put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve ye Jehovah. And if it be evil in your eyes to serve Jehovah, choose ye this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods that your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites (Joshua 24:2, 14, 15).

That Nahor also, the brother of Abram, and the nation descended from him, served other gods, is evident from Laban the Syrian, who was in the city of Nahor and worshiped images or teraphim, which Rachel carried away (Gen. 24:10; 31:19, 26, 32, 34), (n. 1356). That instead of Jehovah they worshiped Shaddai, whom they called their god, is distinctly stated in Moses: -

I (Jehovah) appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Shaddai and by My name Jehovah was I not known to them (Exod. 6:3).

[3] From all this we may see that in his early manhood, Abram, like other Gentiles, was an idolater, and that up to this time, while living in the land of Canaan, he had not rejected from his mind the god Shaddai by which is meant in the sense of the letter the name of Abram's god and that by this name the Lord was first represented before them (that is, before Abram, Isaac, and Jacob), as is evident from the passage just quoted.

[4] The reason why the Lord was willing to be first represented before them by the name " Shaddai" is that the Lord by no means desires to destroy suddenly (still less in a single moment) the worship that has been inseminated in any one from his infancy; for this would be to tear up the root, and thereby destroy the holy state of adoration and of worship that has been deeply implanted, and which the Lord never breaks, but bends. The holy state of worship, that has been rooted in from infancy is of such a nature that it cannot endure violence, but only a gentle and kindly bending. The case is the same with those Gentiles who in their bodily life had worshiped idols, and yet had lived in mutual charity. As the holy state of their worship has been inrooted from their infancy, in the other life it is not taken away in a moment, but successively; for in those who have lived in mutual charity, the goods and truths of faith can be easily implanted, and they receive them afterwards with joy; for charity is the very soil. And such also was the case with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in that the Lord suffered them to retain the name "God Shaddai", insomuch that He said He was God Shaddai; and this from the meaning of the name.

[5] Some translators render Shaddai "the Almighty;" others, "the Thunderer;" but it properly signifies "the Tempter" or "Tester", and "the Benefactor after the temptations" or "trials", as is evident from the book of Job, which mentions "Shaddai" so frequently because Job was in trials or temptations; as may be seen from the following passages: -

Behold, happy is the man whom God chastiseth; and reject not thou the chastening of Shaddai (Job 5:17).

The arrows of Shaddai are with me, the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me (Job 6:14).

He shall forsake the fear of Shaddai (Job 6:14).

I will speak to Shaddai, and I desire to contend with God (Job 13:3).

He hath stretched out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against Shaddai (Job 15:25).

His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the fury of Shaddai (Job 21:20).

Shaddai, thou shalt not find Him out He is great in power, and in judgment, and in the greatness of righteousness. He will not afflict (Job 37:23).

Also in Joel: -

Alas for the day for the day of Jehovah is near, and as devastation from Shaddai shall it come (Joel 1:15).

The same may also be seen from the word shaddai itself, which signifies vastation, and thus temptation, for temptation is a kind of vastation. But as this name took its rise from nations in Syria, He is not called "Elohim Shaddai", but "El Shaddai;" and in Job simply "Shaddai", and "El" or "God" is named separately.

[6] As after temptations there is consolation, those people also attributed the good resulting from them to the same Shaddai (Job 22:17, 23, 25, 26); as well as the understanding of truth, which also results from temptations (Job 32:8; 33:4). And as Shaddai was thus esteemed as the god of truth - for vastation, temptation, chastening, and rebuking, are not of good, but of truth - and because the Lord was represented by him before Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the name was retained even in the Prophets; but in them by "Shaddai" is meant truth. As in Ezekiel: -

I heard the voice of the wings of the cherubim, like the voice of many waters, like the voice of many waters, when they went; the voice of tumult, like the voice of a camp (Ezekiel 1:24).

And again: -

The court was filled with the brightness of the glory of Jehovah and the voice of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Shaddai when He speaketh (Ezekiel 10:4, 5);

where "Jehovah" denotes good, and "Shaddai" truth. In the internal sense of the Word "wings" in like manner signify things that belong to truth.

[7] Moreover Isaac and Jacob also make mention of the God Shaddai in a similar sense, that is, as of one who tempts, and delivers from temptation, and afterwards confers benefits. When Jacob was fleeing because of Esau, Isaac said to him,

God Shaddai bless thee, and make thee fruitful and multiply thee (Gen. 28:3).

And when the sons of Jacob were about to go into Egypt to buy corn, and when they feared Joseph so greatly, Jacob said to them,

God Shaddai give you mercies before the man, that he may release unto you your other brother, and Benjamin (Gen. 43:14).

Jacob, then called Israel, blessing Joseph, who had been in the evils of temptations, or trials, more than his brethren, and had been delivered from them, said,

By the God of thy father, and He shall help thee, and with Shaddai, and he shall bless thee (Gen. 49:25).

All this shows why the Lord was at first willing to be represented by the god Shaddai whom Abram worshiped, and why He said "I am God Shaddai;" as in like manner He afterwards said to Jacob, "I am God Shaddai; be fruitful and multiply" (Gen. 35:11); and a further reason was that in what goes before, temptations were treated of in the internal sense.

[8] The worship of Shaddai among those people originated from the fact that, as was the case with a certain nation that of the Lord's Divine mercy will be spoken of in what follows, so with those who were of the Ancient Church, there were often heard spirits who reproved them and who also afterwards comforted them. The spirits who reproved them were perceived at the left side, beneath the arm. Angels were present at such times, at the head, who governed the spirits and moderated the reproof. And as there was nothing that was said to them by the spirits which they did not regard as Divine, they named the reproving spirit "Shaddai;" and because he afterwards administered consolation, they called him "the god Shaddai". The men at that time, as also the Jews, because they did not understand the internal sense of the Word, were in the religious belief that all evil and thus all temptation, like all good and thus all consolation, come from God; but that it is not so, may be seen in (n. 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1874, 1875).

1993. Walk thou before Me. That this signifies the truth of faith, is evident from the signification of "walking", as being to live according to the truth of faith (n. 519); and also from the signification of a "way" in relation to which walking is predicated, as being truth (n. 627).

1994. And be thou perfect. That this signifies the good of charity, is evident from the signification of "being perfect" (integer), which is from truth to do what is good, that is, to do what is good from a conscience of truth, and thus from charity, for charity makes conscience, concerning which signification (n. 612). But as the Lord is here treated of in the internal sense, by "perfect" is signified the good of charity, for good proceeds from charity, insomuch that the truth which is derived from charity is itself good.

1995. Verse 2. And I will give My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee very exceedingly. "I will give My covenant between Me and thee", signifies the union of the internal man, which was Jehovah, with the interior man; "and will multiply thee very exceedingly", signifies the fruitfulness to infinity of the affection of truth.

1996. I will give My covenant between Me and thee. That this signifies the union of the internal man, which was Jehovah, with the interior man, is evident from the signification of a "covenant", as being conjunction; for whenever a covenant between Jehovah and man is mentioned in the Word, in the internal sense nothing else is signified by the "covenant" than the conjunction of the Lord with man. The covenants so often made between Jehovah and the descendants of Jacob represented nothing else; but as this was confirmed in (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864), it would be superfluous to confirm it again here. The Lord's internal man was Jehovah, because conceived of Him; but the interior man is here represented by Abram; and therefore the "covenant between Me and thee" signifies the union of the internal man, or Jehovah, with the interior man, and thus with the Lord's Human Essence.

1997. I will multiply thee very exceedingly. That this signifies the fruitfulness to infinity of the affection of truth, may be seen from the signification of "to be multiplied", as being predicated of truth (n. 43, 55, 913, 983); and as the Lord is treated of, it signifies the fruitfulness to infinity of the truth that is from good (n. 1940). There are two affections, namely, the affection of good, and the affection of truth. The affection of good is to do what is good from the love of good, and the affection of truth is to do what is good from the love of truth. At the first view these two affections appear to be the same; but in reality they are distinct from each other both as to essence and as to origin. The affection of good, or doing what is good from the love of good, is properly of the will; but the affection of truth, or doing what is good from the love of truth, is properly of the understanding. Thus these two affections are distinct from each other in the same way as are the will and the understanding. The affection of good is from celestial love, but the affection of truth is from spiritual love.

[2] The affection of good can be predicated solely of the celestial man, but the affection of truth, of the spiritual man. What the celestial or the celestial man is, and what the spiritual or the spiritual man, has been sufficiently shown before. The Most Ancient Church, which existed before the flood, was in the affection of good; but the Ancient Church, which existed after the flood, was in the affection of truth; for the former was a celestial church, but the latter a spiritual church. All the angels in the heavens are distinguished into the celestial and the spiritual. The celestial are they who are in the affection of good, the spiritual are they who are in the affection of truth; to the former the Lord appears as a sun, but to the latter as a moon (n. 1529-1531, 1838). This latter affection, of truth, the Lord united to the affection of good, which is to do what is good from the love of good, when He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence. Hence by "multiplying very exceedingly", is signified the fruitfulness to infinity of the truth that is from good.

1998. Verse 3. And Abram fell upon his faces, and God spake with him, saying. "Abram fell upon his faces", signifies adoration; "and God spake with him, saying", signifies a degree of perception; the expression "God" is used for the reason that the Lord is represented by the God Shaddai whom Abram worshiped; also because truth is treated of, which was to be united to good.

1999. Abram fell upon his faces. That this signifies adoration, is evident without explication. To fall upon the face was a rite of adoration in the Most Ancient Church, and thence in that of the Ancients, for the reason that the face signified the interiors, and the state of their humiliation was represented by falling upon the face; hence in the Jewish representative church it became a customary ceremonial. True adoration, or humiliation of heart, carries with it prostration to the earth upon the face before the Lord, as a gesture naturally flowing from it. For in humiliation of heart there is the acknowledgment of self as being nothing but filthiness, and at the same time the acknowledgment of the Lord's infinite mercy toward that which is such; and when the mind is kept in these two acknowledgments, the very mind droops in lowliness toward hell, and prostrates the body; nor does it uplift itself until it is uplifted by the Lord. This takes place in all true humiliation, with a perception of being uplifted by the Lord's mercy. Such was the humiliation of the men of the Most Ancient Church; but very different is the case with that adoration which comes not from humiliation of the heart. (n. 1153).

[2] That the Lord adored and prayed to Jehovah His Father, is known from the Word of the Gospels; and also that He did so as if to one different from Himself, although Jehovah was in Him. But the state in which the Lord was at these times was His state of humiliation, that He was then in the infirm human that was from the mother; but in so far as He put this off, and put on the Divine, He was in another state, which is called His state of glorification. In the former state He adored Jehovah as one different from Himself, although in Himself; for, as has been said, His internal was Jehovah; but in the latter, that is, in His state of glorification, He spoke with Jehovah as with Himself, for He was Jehovah Himself.

[3] But how the case is with these matters cannot be apprehended unless it is known what the internal is, and how the internal acts into the external; and further, in what manner the internal and the external are distinct from each other, and yet are conjoined. This however may be illustrated by something that is similar, namely, by the internal in man, and by its influx and operation into the external. That man has an internal, an interior or rational, and an external, may be seen above (n. 1889, 1940). Man's internal is that from which he is man, and by which he is distinguished from brute animals. By means of this internal he lives after death, and to eternity a man, and by means of it he can be uplifted by the Lord among the angels. This internal is the very first form from which a man becomes and is man, and by means of it the Lord is united to man. The very heaven that is nearest the Lord is composed of these human internals; but this is above even the inmost angelic heaven, and therefore these internals belong to the Lord Himself. By this means the whole human race is most present under the Lord's eyes, for there is no distance in heaven, such as appears in the sublunary world, and still less is there any distance above heaven. (n. 1275, 1277).

[4] These internals of men have no life in themselves, but are forms recipient of the Lord's life. In so far therefore as a man is in evil, whether actual or hereditary, so far has he been as it were separated from this internal which is the Lord's and with the Lord, and thereby so far has he been separated from the Lord; for although this internal has been adjoined to man, and is inseparable from him, nevertheless in so far as he recedes from the Lord, so far he as it were separates himself from it. (n. 1594). But the separation is not an absolute sundering from it, for then the man could no longer live after death; but it is a dissent and disagreement on the part of those faculties of his which are below, that is, of his rational and of his external man. In so far as there is dissent and disagreement, there is disjunction from the Lord; but in so far as there is not dissent and disagreement, the man is conjoined with the Lord through the internal, which takes place in so far as the man is in love and charity, for love and charity conjoin. Such is the case with man.

[5] But the Lord's internal was Jehovah Himself, because He was conceived from Jehovah, who cannot be divided and become another's, as is the case with a son who is conceived from a human father; for the Divine is not divisible, like the human, but is and remains one and the same. To this internal the Lord united the Human Essence; and because the Lord's internal was Jehovah, it was not a form recipient of life, like the internal of man, but was life itself. His Human Essence also in like manner was made life by the unition, on which account the Lord so often said that He is Life, as in John: -

As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26);

besides other passages in the same gospel (John 1:4; 5:21; 6:33, 35, 48; 11:25). In so far therefore as the Lord was in the human which He received by inheritance from the mother, so far did He appear distinct from Jehovah and adore Jehovah as one different from Himself. But in so far as the Lord put off this human, He was not distinct from Jehovah, but was one with Him. The former state, as before said, was the Lord's state of humiliation; but the latter was His state of glorification.

2000. And God spake with him, saying. That this signifies a degree of perception, is evident from the signification of Jehovah's "saying", which is to perceive (n. 1898, 1899). Here it signifies a degree of perception, because He was in a state of humiliation or of adoration, in which He was conjoined and united to Jehovah in proportion to the degree of the humiliation for humiliation carries this with it. Perceptions are more and more interior (n. 1616).

2001. That the expression "God" is used for the reason that the Lord is represented by the God Shaddai whom Abram worshiped and also because truth is treated of, which was to be united to good, is evident from what has been said before. In the Word the Lord is sometimes called "Jehovah", sometimes "Jehovah God", also the "Lord Jehovih", and sometimes God", and always for a secret reason in the internal sense. Where love or good; and the celestial church, are treated of, He is called "JEHOVAH;" but when faith or truth, and the spiritual church, are treated of, He is called "God", and this constantly; and the reason is, that the Lord's very Being itself is of love, and the Being thence derived is of faith (n. 709, 732). Here therefore the Lord is called "God", because the truth which is to be united to good is treated of. Another reason is that the Lord willed to be represented by the God Shaddai that Abram worshiped, on which account the name God is retained in what follows; for in this chapter He is called "Jehovah" only once, and "God" several times (verses 7, 8, 15, 18, 19, 22, 23).

2002. Verse 4. I, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be for a father of a multitude of nations. "I, behold, My covenant is with thee", signifies the union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence; "and thou shalt be for a father of a multitude of nations", signifies the union of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence; "father" signifies that it would be from the Lord Himself; "a multitude" signifies truth; "of nations" signifies the good thence derived.

2003. I, behold, My covenant is with thee. That this signifies the union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, is evident from the signification of a "covenant", as being conjunction (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038). That here "covenant" signifies the union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, is evident from this signification, and also from the internal sense of what precedes, consequently from the very words, "My covenant is with thee".

2004. And thou shalt be for a father of a multitude of nations. That this signifies the union of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence, cannot be seen so well from an unfolding of the several words in the internal sense, unless they are viewed in a kind of general idea, by which this sense is presented, for such is sometimes the nature of the internal sense, and when it is so, it may be called more universal, because more remote. From the explication of the several words there results this proximate sense: that all truth and all good come from the Lord, for, as we shall see presently, the expression "father" here signifies from Him, that is, from the Lord; "multitude" signifies truth; and "of nations" signifies the good thence derived. But because these - that is, truths and goods - are the means through which the Lord united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, there arises from this that more universal and more remote sense. The angels perceive these words in this way, and have at the same time a perception of reciprocal union, namely, that of the Lord's Divine Essence with the Human Essence and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence; for, as before said, "I, My covenant is with thee" signifies the union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence; and consequently the words now under consideration signify the union of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence.

[2] That the union was effected reciprocally, is an arcanum which has not yet been disclosed, and it is such an arcanum as can scarcely be explained to the apprehension; for as yet no one knows what influx is, and without a knowledge of influx no idea can possibly be formed in regard to what is reciprocal union. Yet this may in some measure be illustrated from the influx in the case of man, for with man too there is a reciprocal conjunction. From the Lord, through man's internal (n. 1999), life continually flows into man's rational, and through this into his external, and in fact into his knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones), and this life not only adapts them to receive the life, but also disposes them into order, and so enables the man to think, and finally to be rational. Such is the conjunction of the Lord with man, without which man could not think at all, still less be rational, as every one can see from the fact that there are in man's thoughts numberless arcana of science and analytical art - too numerous to render their exploration possible to all eternity - and which do by no means flow in through the senses or through the external man, but through the internal. Man however, on his part, by means of knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones), advances to meet this life which is from the Lord, and thereby reciprocally conjoins himself.

[3] But as regards the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence, and of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence, this infinitely transcends the reciprocal conjunction between man and the Lord, for the Lord's internal was Jehovah Himself and therefore was life itself; whereas man's internal is not the Lord, and therefore is not life but a recipient of life. Between the Lord and Jehovah there was union, but between man and the Lord there is not union, but conjunction. The Lord united Himself to Jehovah by His own power, and He therefore also became Righteousness; whereas man by no means conjoins himself by his own power, but by the power of the Lord; so that the Lord conjoins man with Himself. It is this reciprocal union that is meant by the Lord, where He attributes what is His own to the Father, and what is the Father's to Himself, as in John: -

Jesus said, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me: I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in Me may not abide in the darkness (John 12:44-46),

in which words lie hidden the deepest arcana, - arcana concerning the union of good with truth, and of truth with good; or what is the same, concerning the union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence; and therefore the Lord says, "He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me;" and then almost immediately adds, "He that believeth on Me;" with words between that refer to this union, namely, "he that seeth Me seeth Him that sent Me".

[4] Again in the same gospel: -

The words that I speak unto you I speak not from Myself; the Father that abideth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me. Verily I say unto you, He that believeth in Me, the works that I do shall he do also (John 14:10-12).

In these words are contained the same arcana, namely, those concerning the union of good with truth, and of truth with good; or what is the same, of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence, and of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence; and He therefore says, "The words that I speak unto you I speak not from Myself; the Father who is in Me doeth the works;" and then He almost immediately adds, "the works that I do;" and here, as before, there are intervening words concerning the union, which declare, "I am in the Father, and the Father in Me". This is the mystical union of which many speak.

[5] From all this it is evident that the Lord was not another than the Father, although He spoke of the Father as of another, and this on account of the reciprocal unition that was to be effected and that was effected; for He so many times openly says that He is one with the Father, as in the passages just cited: "He that seeth Me seeth Him that sent Me" (John 12:45) also, "The Father that abideth in Me; believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me" (John 14:10, 11); and in the same, "If ye had known Me, ye would have known My Father also" (John 8:19); and again,

"If ye have known Me, ye have known My Father also; and from henceforth ye have known Him, and have seen Him; Philip saith unto Him, Lord, show us the Father; Jesus saith unto him, Am I so long time with you, and hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me?" (John 14:7-10)

and again,

" I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).

Hence it is that in heaven they know no other Father than the Lord, because the Father is in Him, and He is one with the Father; and when they see Him, they see the Father, as He Himself says (n. 15).

2005. That "father" signifies that it would be from the Lord Himself, is evident from the signification of "father", as just explained, namely, that whatever was from the Father was from Him, because they were one. Every man's internal is from his father, and his external from his mother; or what is the same thing, the soul itself is from the father, and the body with which the soul is clothed is from the mother. The soul together with the body, although two, make a one; for the soul is the body's, and the body is the soul's; and therefore they are inseparable. The Lord's internal was from the Father, and therefore was the Father Himself, and hence it is that the Lord says that "the Father is in Him;" also, "I am in the Father and the Father in Me;" also, "He that seeth Me seeth the Father; I and the Father are one;" as may be seen in the passages cited above. In the Word of the Old Testament also the Lord is called "the Father", as in Isaiah: -

Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

It is evident to every one that the "Child" born to us and the "Son" given to us is the Lord, who is called the Father of Eternity". Again in Isaiah: -

Thou art our Father, for Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us. Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father, our Redeemer, from eternity is Thy name (Isaiah 63:16);

where also it is the Lord who is called "Jehovah our Father", for there is no other "Redeemer". In Malachi: -

Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? (Malachi 2:10).

To "create" denotes to regenerate (n. 16, 88, 472). Besides that everywhere in the Word of the Old Testament, by "Jehovah" is meant the Lord, because all the rites of the church represented Him; and in the internal sense all things in the Word regard Him.

2006. That "a multitude" signifies truth, is evident from the signification of "multitude" as being truth (n. 1941); and from the signification of "being multiplied", which is predicated of truth (n. 43, 55, 913, 983).

2007. Of nations. That this signifies the good thence derived, is evident from the signification of "nations" as being good (n. 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849).

2008. Verse 5. And thy name shall no more be called Abram and thy name shall be Abraham, for a father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. "Thy name shall no more be called Abram", signifies that He will put of the human; "and thy name shall be Abraham", signifies that He will put on the Divine; "for a father of a multitude of nations have I made thee", signifies here, as before, that all truth and the good thence derived come from Him.

2009. Thy name shall no more be called Abram, and thy name shall be Abraham. That "thy name shall no more be called Abram", signifies that He will put off the human; and that "thy name shall be Abraham", signifies that He will put on the Divine, is evident from the signification of "name;" also from the signification of "Abram;" and, afterwards, of "Abraham". The expression "this shall be thy name", when used in the Word, signifies the quality, that is, that the person will be of such a quality, is evident from what has been adduced in (n. 144, 145, 1754). And as the "name" signifies the quality, the name comprehends in one complex whatever is in the man. For in heaven no attention is paid to any one's name; but when any one is named, or when the word name is spoken, there is presented the idea of the person's quality, that is, of all things that are his, that are connected with him, and that are in him; hence in the Word "name" signifies quality. That this may be evident to the understanding we may adduce from the Word a number of additional confirmatory passages. As in the Benediction in Moses: -

Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee; Jehovah make His faces to shine upon thee and have compassion on thee; Jehovah lift up His faces upon thee and give thee peace. So shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel (Num. 6:24-27).

From this it is evident what is denoted by "name", and by "putting the name" of Jehovah upon the sons of Israel, namely, that Jehovah blesses, guards, enlightens, is pitiful, gives peace; and thus that Jehovah or the Lord is such.

[2] In the Decalogue: -

Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless who taketh His name in vain (Exod. 20:7; Deut. 5:11);

where to "take the name of God in vain" does not signify the name, but all things in general and particular that are from Him, and therefore all things in general and particular that belong to the worship of Him, none of which are to be despised, still less blasphemed and contaminated with what is filthy. In the Lord's Prayer: -

Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come Thy will be done, as in heaven so also in the earth (Luke 11:2);

where also by "name" is not meant the name, but all things of love and faith; for these are God's or the Lord's, and are from Him and as these are holy, the Lord's kingdom comes and His will is done on earth as in the heavens when they are held to be so.

[3] That "name" signifies such things is evident from all the passages in the Word of the Old and of the New Testament where "name" is mentioned. As in Isaiah: -

In that day shall ye say, Confess to Jehovah, call upon His name, make known His works among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted (Isaiah 12:4);

where to "call upon the name of Jehovah", and to "make mention that His name is exalted", does not at all mean to place worship in the name, or to believe that Jehovah is invoked by using His name, but by knowing His quality, and thus by means of all things in general and particular that are from Him. In the same: -

Therefore honor ye Jehovah in the Urim the name of Jehovah the God of Israel in the isles of the sea (Isa. 24:15);

where to "honor Jehovah in the Urim", is to honor Him from the holy things of love; and to "honor the name of Jehovah the God of Israel in the isles of the sea", is to honor Him from the holy things of faith.

[4] In the same: -

O Jehovah our God, only in Thee will we make mention of Thy name (Isa. 26:13).

I will raise up one from the north, and he shall come; from the rising of the sun, he shall call upon My name (Isa. 41:25);

where to "make mention of the name of Jehovah", and to "call upon His name", means to worship from the goods of love and the truths of faith. They who are from the north are they who are outside the church and ignorant of the name of Jehovah, who nevertheless "call upon His name" when they live in mutual charity and adore as the Deity the Creator of the universe; for the "calling upon Jehovah" consists in worship and the quality of it, and not in the name. The Lord is present with the Gentiles, (n. 932, 1032, 1059).

[5] In the same: -

The nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of Jehovah shall name (Isa. 62:2);

where "thou shalt be called by a new name", denotes to become another person, that is, to be created anew or regenerated, and thus to be such. In Micah: -

All the peoples will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God forever and to eternity (Micah 4:5);

to "walk in the name of his god", plainly denotes profane worship; and to "walk in the name of Jehovah", true worship. In Malachi: -

From the rising of the sun and even to its going down, My name shall be great among the nations; and in every place incense is offered unto My name, and a clean offering for My name shall be great among the nations (Malachi 1:11);

where by "name" is not signified the name, but the worship; which is the quality of Jehovah or the Lord, by reason of which He wills to be adored.

[6] In Moses: -

The place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all the tribes to put His name there, and to cause His name to dwell there, thither shall ye bring all that I command you (Deut. 12:5, 11, 14; 16:2, 6, 11);

where also by "putting His name", and "making His name dwell there", is not signified the name, but the worship, and thus the quality of Jehovah or the Lord by reason of which He is to be worshiped. His quality is the good of love and the truth of faith; and "the name of Jehovah dwells" with those who are in these. In Jeremiah: -

Go ye unto My place which was in Shiloh, where I caused My name to dwell in the beginning (Jeremiah 7:12);

where in like manner "name" denotes worship, and thereby the doctrine of true faith. Every one can see that Jehovah does not dwell with him who merely knows and speaks His name, for the name alone, without any idea, knowledge, or faith concerning His quality is a mere word. Hence it is evident that the "name" is the quality, and the knowledge of the quality.

[7] In Moses: -

At that time Jehovah separated the tribe of Levi, to minister unto Him, and to bless in His name (Deut. 10:8);

where to "bless in the name" of Jehovah is not to do so through the name, but by means of the things which appertain to the name of Jehovah, spoken of above. In Jeremiah: -

This is His name whereby they shall call Him, Jehovah our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6);

where the "name" denotes righteousness, which is the quality of the Lord, of whom these words are said. In Isaiah: -

Jehovah hath called Me from the womb, from the bowels of My mother hath He made mention of My name (Isaiah 49:1);

also said of the Lord; to "make mention of His name", is to instruct in respect to His quality.

[8] That "name" signifies quality, is still more clearly evident in John, in the Apocalypse: -

Thou hast a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He that overcometh shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; and I will confess his name before My Father and before the angels. He that overcometh, I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God, and My new name (Apoc. 3:4, 5, 12);

where that the "name" is not the name, but the quality, is plainly evident; the "name in the book of life" is nothing else; and the quality is also meant by "confessing his name before the Father", and by "writing upon him the name of God, and of the city, and the new name;" and the same is true of the names which are said elsewhere to be written in the book of life, and in heaven (Rev. 13:8; 17:8; Luke 10:20).

[9] In heaven it is solely by the quality that any one is known from another; and in the sense of the letter this is expressed by the name, as every one can see from the consideration that on earth whoever is named is presented in the listener's idea in accordance with his quality, and it is by this idea that he is known and distinguished from others. In the other life the ideas remain, but the names perish; and this is still more the case among the angels. Hence it is that in the internal sense the "name" is the quality, or to know the quality. Again: -

Upon the head of Him who sat upon the white horse were many diadems; and He hath a name written which no one knoweth but He Himself. He was clothed in a garment dipped in blood;and His name is called the Word of God (Rev. 19:12, 13);

where that the "name" is the Word of God, and thus is the quality of Him who sat upon the white horse, is said in plain words.

[10] That the "name of Jehovah" is to know His quality, namely, that He is all the good of love and all the truth of faith, is clearly evident from these words of the Lord: -

O righteous Father I have known Thee, and these also have known that Thou hast sent Me for I have made known unto them Thy name, and will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:25, 26).

[11] And that the "name of God" or of the Lord is all the doctrine of faith concerning love and charity, which is signified by "believing in His name", is evident from these words in the same gospel: -

As many as received Him, to them gave He the power (potestas) to be sons of God, to them that believe in His name (John 1:12).

If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it. If ye love Me, keep My commandments (John 14:13-15).

Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He giveth you. These things I command you, that ye love one another (John 15:16, 17).

In Matthew: -

Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).

By those who are "gathered together in the name of the Lord", are here signified those who are in the doctrine of faith concerning love and charity, and thus who are in love and charity. Again Ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake (Matt. 10:22; 24:9, 10; Mark 13:10); where "for My names sake" plainly means for the sake of His doctrine.

[12] That the name itself effects nothing, but that everything is effected by that which the name involves, namely, everything of charity and faith, is clearly evident from these words in Matthew: -

Have we not prophesied by Thy name, and by Thy name cast out demons, and in Thy name done many mighty works? But then will I profess unto them, I never dew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:22, 23);

from which it is evident that they who place worship in a name, as did the Jews in the name of Jehovah, and as do Christians in the name of the Lord, are not on that account the more worthy, because the name avails nothing; but that which does avail is that they be of such a character as the Lord has commanded; for this is to "believe in His name;" and further, that its being said that there is no salvation in any other name than the Lord's, means that there is none in any other doctrine, that is, in no other than mutual love, which is the true doctrine of faith, and thus in no other than the Lord, because all love and the derivative faith are from Him alone.

2010. Since therefore the "name" signifies the quality and to know what the quality is, we can see what is signified by the words in this verse, "thy name shall no more be called Abram, and thy name shall be Abraham;" to wit, that he was not to be such in quality as in the past, but such as he was about to be. That Abram served other gods, and worshiped the god Shaddai, was shown above (n. 1992); but because he was to represent the Lord, and in fact His internal man, and thus the Celestial of His Love, his former quality was to be blotted out, that is, the name "Abram" was to be so changed in character that the Lord could be represented by it. Therefore the letter H was taken from the name of Jehovah - which letter is the only one in the name "Jehovah" that involves the Divine, and which signifies I AM or BEING (Esse) - and was inserted in his name, and he was called "Abraham". The case is similar with "Sarai", spoken of in what follows; to whose name the same letter was also added, and she was called "Sarah". From this also we can see that in the internal sense of the Word Abraham represents Jehovah or the Lord.

[2] Be it known however that in representations it matters not what a man's quality is, for in them no attention is paid to the person, but to the thing which he represents (n. 665, 1097, 1361). Therefore in the internal sense the signification of these words is that the Lord will put off the human, and will put on the Divine; which also is in a series with what goes before, and likewise with what follows; for a promise is now made concerning the son Isaac, by whom was to be represented the Lord's Divine rational.

2011. For a father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. That this signifies, here as before, that all truth and the good thence derived come from Him, is evident from the signification of his being "a father", as denoting that they are from Him; from the signification of "a multitude", as being truth; and also from that of "nations", as being the good thence derived (n. 2005-2007). That in a more universal or more remote sense these same words signify the union of the Lord's Human Essence with His Divine Essence, may be seen above (n. 2004); for the union of the Lord's Human Essence with His Divine Essence is circumstanced as is that of truth with good; and the union of His Divine Essence with His Human Essence as is that of good with truth, which is reciprocal. Nay, in the Lord it was Truth itself that united itself to Good, and Good that united itself to Truth; for the Infinite Divine can be spoken of in no other way than as being Good itself and Truth itself, and therefore the human mind is in no fallacy when it thinks that the Lord is Good itself and Truth itself.

2012. Verse 6. And I will make thee fruitful very exceedingly, and I will make thee nations, and kings shall go forth from thee. "I will make thee fruitful very exceedingly", signifies the fruitfulness of good to infinitude; "and I will make thee nations", signifies that all good is from Him; "and kings shall go forth from thee", signifies that from Him is all truth.

2013. I will make thee fruitful very exceedingly. That this signifies the fruitfulness of good to infinitude, is evident from the signification of being "made fruitful", as being predicated of good (n. 43, 55, 913, 983); and because it is said "very exceedingly", and the Lord is treated of, it signifies fruitfulness to infinitude.

2014. I will make thee nations. That this signifies that all good is from Him, is evident from the signification of "nations" in its genuine and primitive sense, as being good (n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849).

2015. Kings shall go forth from thee. That this signifies that all truth is from Him, is evident from the signification of a "king", in both the historical and the prophetic Word, as being truth (n. 1672), but not yet fully shown. From the signification of "nations" as being goods, and from the signification of "kings" as being truths, we can see the nature of the internal sense of the Word, and also how remote it is from the sense of the letter. He who reads the Word, especially the historical portion, has no other belief than that the nations there are nations, and the kings, and thus that nations and kings are treated of in the very Word itself. But the idea of nations, as well as that of kings, altogether perishes when it is received by the angels, and in their place there succeed good and truth. This cannot but appear as strange and indeed as a paradox, but still it is really so, and the truth of it may appear to every one from considering that if, in the Word, nations were signified by "nations", and kings by "kings", then the Word of the Lord would involve scarcely anything more than any other history, or any other writing, and thus would be a merely worldly affair, when yet there is nothing in the Word that is not Divine, and therefore celestial and spiritual.

[2] Take as a single instance what is said in this verse, that Abraham should be made fruitful and should be made nations, and that kings should go forth from him- what is this but a merely worldly matter, and in no respect heavenly? For in these things there is only the glory of the world, which is nothing at all in heaven; but if this is the Word of the Lord, there must be in it the glory of heaven, and none of the world's glory. Therefore the sense of the letter is altogether obliterated and vanishes when it passes into heaven; and it is so purified that nothing that is worldly is intermingled. For by "Abraham" is not meant Abraham, but the Lord; by his being "made fruitful" is not meant that his posterity should increase exceedingly, but that the good of the Lord's Human Essence should increase to infinitude; by the "nations" are not meant nations, but goods; and by the "kings", not kings but truths. Still the history according to the sense of the letter remains true; for it is true that it was so said to Abraham; also that he was made fruitful, and that nations and kings came from him.

[3] That "kings" signify truths, may be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee; thou shalt suck the milk of the nations, and the breast of kings shalt thou suck (Isaiah 60:10, 16);

what it is to "suck the milk of nations" and "the breast of kings", is by no means plain from the letter, but it is from the internal sense, in which it signifies to be gifted with goods, and instructed in truths. In Jeremiah: -

There shall enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses (Jeremiah 17:25; 22:4);

to "ride in chariots and on horses" is a prophetical saying which signifies an abundance of intellectual things, as may appear from very many passages in the Prophets; and thus by "kings entering in by the gates of the city" is signified in the internal sense that they should be imbued with truths of faith. This is the heavenly sense of the Word, into which the worldly literal sense passes.

[4] Again, in the same Prophet: -

Jehovah hath despised in the indignation of His anger the king and the priest; the gates of Zion have sunk into the earth; He hath destroyed and broken her bars; her king and her princes are among the nations; the law is not (Lam. 2:6, 9);

"the king" here denotes the truth of faith; "the priest" the good of charity; Zion" the church which is being destroyed, and whose bars are being broken; hence "the king and the princes are among the nations", that is, truth and the things which are of truth will be banished to such an extent that there will be no "law", that is, nothing of the doctrine of faith. In Isaiah: -

Before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the ground shall be forsaken, which thou loathest in the presence of her two kings (Isaiah 7:16);

where the Lord's coming is treated of; the "ground which shall be forsaken" denotes faith, of which there would then he none, and the truths of which are the "kings that would be loathed".

[5] In the same Prophet: -

I will lift up My hand to the nations, and raise up My ensign to the peoples and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall be carried upon the shoulder; and kings shall be thy nourishers, and their queens those that give thee suck (Isa. 49:22, 23)

"the nations" and "the daughters" denote goods; and "the peoples" and "the sons" truths. "Nations" denote goods, (n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849); and "daughters" have a similar signification, (n. 489-491); also "peoples" denote truths, (n. 1259, 1260); and "sons" likewise, (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147). "Kings" therefore denote truths in general, by which they will be nourished, and their "queens" the goods from which they will be "suckled". Whether you say goods and truths, or those who are in goods and truths, it is the same.

[6] Again in the same Prophet: -

He shall sprinkle many nations, upon him kings shall shut their mouth - for that which was (not) told them have they seen; and that which they did not hear have they understood (Isa. 52:15),

where the Lord's coming is spoken of; the "nations" denote those who are affected by goods, and "kings" those who are affected by truths. In David: -

Now, O ye kings, be intelligent; be instructed, ye judges of the earth; serve Jehovah with fear, and exult with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way (Ps. 2:10-12).

"Kings" denote those who are in truths; who also from their truths are often called "king's sons;" "the Son" here denotes the Lord, who is here called "the Son" because He is the truth itself, and because all truth is from Him.

[7] In John: -

They shall sing a new song, Worthy art Thou who takest the book, and openest the seals thereof Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, that we may reign upon the earth (Rev. 5:9, 10);

where they who are in truths are called "kings". The Lord also calls such persons "the sons of the kingdom", in Matthew: -

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the seed is the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one (Matthew 13:37, 38).

In John: -

The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the Kings that are from the sun-rising might be prepared (Rev. 16:12).

That by the "Euphrates" is not meant the Euphrates, nor by "the kings from the sun-rising" any kings therefrom, is evident (what is meant by the "Euphrates" (n. 120, 1585, 1866); so that "the way of the kings that are from the sunrising" means the truths of faith that are from the goods of love.

[8] In the same: -

The nations that are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it (Rev. 21:24);

where "the nations" denote those who are in goods, and "the kings of the earth" those who are in truths, as may be inferred from the fact that these words are prophetic, and not historical. In the same: -

With the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters the kings of the earth have committed whoredom, and have been made drunken with the wine of her whoredom (Rev. 17:1, 2).

And again: -

Babylon hath made all the nations drink of the wine of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her (Rev. 18:3, 9);

where in like manner it is evident that kings are not meant by "the kings of the earth;" for the falsification and adulteration of the doctrine of faith, that is, of truth, is treated of, and this is the "whoredom;" " the kings of the earth" denote the truths that are falsified and adulterated.

[9] In the same: -

The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, that have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority (potestas) as kings with the beast for one hour. These shall have one mind, and shall give their power and authority to the beast (Rev. 17:12, 13);

that these "kings" are not kings, is evident to every one; for if so it would he wholly unintelligible that the ten kings should receive authority as kings one hour. So too in another passage: -

I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war with him that sat upon the horse, and with his army (Rev. 19:19);

that "he that sat upon the horse" is "the Word of God", is openly stated in (Rev. 19:13); and it is against this that the kings of the earth are said to have been gathered together. "The beast" denotes the goods of love, profaned; and "the kings" denote the truths of faith, adulterated; these are called "the kings of the earth", because they are within the church. "The earth" is the church (n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262). The "white horse" denotes the understanding of truth; and "he that sat upon the horse", the Word. This meaning is still more manifest in Daniel 11, where the war between "the king of the south" and "the king of the north" is treated of; by which terms are signified the truths and falsities that had fought, the combats being described here also in an historical manner by this "war".

[10] As "a king" signifies truth, it may be seen what is meant in the internal sense when the Lord is called a King and also a Priest; and also what it was in the Lord that was represented by kings, and what by priests. Kings represented His Divine truth, and priests His Divine good. All the laws of order by which the Lord governs the universe as King, are truths; but all the laws by which He governs the universe as Priest, and by which also He rules truths themselves, are goods; for government from truths alone would condemn every one to hell; but government from goods lifts every one out thence and uplifts him' into heaven (n. 1728). Because in the Lord's case these two are conjoined, they were anciently represented by kingship conjoined with priesthood; as with Melchizedek, who was king of Salem and at the same time priest to God Most High (Gen. 14:18); and afterwards with the Jews, among whom the representative church was instituted in its own form, by judges and priests, and afterwards by kings.

[11] But as the kings represented truths, which ought not to have command, for the reason, as before said, that they condemn, therefore the desire to have kings was so displeasing as to call for rebuke, and the nature of truth as regarded in itself was describe by the rights (jus) of the king (1 Sam. 8:11-18); and at an earlier day it was commanded by Moses (Deut. 17:14-18) that they should choose genuine truth which is from good, and not spurious; and that they should not defile it by reasonings and memory-knowledges (scientifica). This is what is involved in the directions concerning a king. given in Moses in the place just cited; which no one can possibly see from the sense of the letter, but yet is evident from the several points contained in the internal sense; so that "king" and "kingship" evidently represented and signified nothing else than truth.

2016. As regards the fact that all good and the derivative truth are from the Lord: this is a constant verity. The angels are in the perception of it to such a degree that they perceive that in so far as anything is from the Lord, it is good and true, and that in so far as it is from themselves, it is evil and false. They also confess this before novitiate souls, and before spirits who are in doubt of it, nay, they go so far as to say that it is by the Lord that they are withheld from the evil and falsity that come from what is their own, and are kept in good and truth. Moreover the very withholding and the very influx are perceptible to them (n. 1614). But as to man's supposing that he does good from himself and thinks truth from himself, this is an appearance, because he is in a state of no perception, and in a state of the greatest obscurity in respect to influx; and therefore he infers this from the appearance, nay, from the fallacy, from which he by no means suffers himself to be withdrawn so long as he has belief in nothing but the senses, and so long as he reasons from them whether it be so. But although the case is as stated, man nevertheless ought to do good and to think truth as from himself; for in no other way can he be reformed and regenerated (n. 1937 1947).

[2] The verse now before us treats of the Lord's Human Essence that was to be united to the Divine Essence; and that all good and truth would thereby come to man from His Divine Essence through His Human Essence, is a Divine arcanum which few believe, because they do not apprehend it, for they suppose that the Divine good is able to reach to man without the Lord's Human united to the Divine; but that this cannot be done, has been already shown in a few words (n. 1676, 1990), to this effect, that man has removed himself so far from the Supreme Divine, by the cupidities in which he has immersed himself and by the falsities with which he has blinded himself, that there could not possibly be any influx of the Divine into the rational part of his mind except through the Human which the Lord united in Himself to the Divine. Through His Human, communication has been effected; for thereby the Supreme Divine has been able to come to man. This the Lord says openly in many places, for He says that He is "the way", and that "no one cometh to the Father but by Him". This then is what is here armed: that from Him, namely, from the Human united to the Divine, is all good and all truth.

2017. Verse 7. And I will set up My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee unto their generation, for an eternal covenant, to be to thee for God, and to thy seed after thee. "I will set up My covenant between Me and thee", signifies union; "and thy seed after thee", signifies conjunction with those who have faith in Him; "unto their generations", signifies those things which are of faith; "for an eternal covenant", signifies conjunction with these; "to be to thee for God", signifies the Lord's Divine in Himself; "and to thy seed after thee", signifies the Divine thence derived with those who have faith in Him.

2018. I will set up My covenant between Me and thee. That this signifies union, is evident from the signification of a "covenant", as being union (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038); which union has been treated of in this chapter, and many times before; and it has been shown that Jehovah, who here speaks, was in the Lord, because He was one with Him from first conception and from birth; for the Lord was conceived from Jehovah, and hence His internal was Jehovah. This has been further illustrated by what is similar in man (n. 1999), namely, that his soul is one with his body, or his internal with his external, although they are distinct from each other, and sometimes so distinct that the one fights with the other, as is wont to be the case in temptations, in which the internal reproves the external and desires to reject the evil that is in it; and still they are conjoined, or are a one, because both soul and body belong to the same man. Take for example one whose thought differs from what he shows in his looks, speaks with his mouth, and acts by his gesture. There is in him an interior which is at variance with the external, but still they are one; for the thought is the man's as much as are the external looks, mouth, and gestures; but there is a union when the look, the speech of the lips, and the gestures accord with the thought. So much for illustration.

2019. And thy seed after thee. That this signifies conjunction with those who have faith in Him, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being faith (n. 1025, 1447, 1610); and also from the signification of "after thee", as being to follow. To "walk after" some one is an expression that is often made use of in the Word (Jer. 7:6; 8:2; Ezek. 20:16; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; 14:27). In this passage therefore "thy seed after thee", signifies those who are in faith and follow Him; in the internal sense, who are born of Him.

2020. Unto their generations. That this signifies the things that are of faith, is evident from the signification of "generations", as being the things which are generated and born of charity, that is, all the things of faith, or what is the same, all who are regenerated by the Lord, and thus in whom there is the faith of charity; concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. That in the internal sense "generations", and also "births", are such things (n. 613, 1041, 1145, 1330).

2021. For an eternal covenant. That this signifies conjunction with these, is evident from the signification of a "covenant", as being conjunction (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038) and that it is with those who are called his "seed" is evident from its immediately following, and because a "covenant" is spoken of a second time in this verse. The "covenant" first spoken of refers to the union of Jehovah with the Human Essence, and the second mention of a "covenant" refers to the conjunction with those who are the seed. In order that a more distinct idea may be formed concerning the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence, and concerning the Lord's conjunction with the human race through the faith of charity, it may be well here and in what follows to call the former Union, but the latter Conjunction. Between the Lord's Divine Essence and His Human Essence there was a Union; but between the Lord and the human race there is a Conjunction, through the faith of charity, as is evident from the fact that Jehovah or the Lord is Life, and that His Human Essence also was made Life, as shown above, and between Life and Life there is Union. Whereas man is not Life, but a recipient of life, as also has been shown before; and when Life flows into a recipient of life, there is conjunction; for it is adapted to the recipient as is the active to the passive, or as that which is in itself alive to that which is in itself dead, and which lives therefrom. The principal and the instrumental - as they are termed - do indeed appear to be conjoined together as if they were a one, but still they are not a one; for the former is by itself, and the latter is by itself. Man does not live from himself, but the Lord in mercy adjoins man to Himself and thereby causes him to live to eternity; and because the Lord and man are thus distinct, it is called conjunction.

2022. To be to thee for God. That this signifies the Lord's Divine in Himself, is evident from what has been said above respecting the Lord's Divine Essence, that it was in Himself.

2023. And to thy seed after thee. That this signifies the Divine thence derived with those who have faith in Him, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being the faith of charity (n. 1025, 1447, 1610); and also from the signification of "after thee", as being to follow Him (n. 2019). The Divine with those who have faith in the Lord is love and charity. By Love is meant love to the Lord; by Charity, love toward the neighbor. Love to the Lord cannot possibly be separated from love toward the neighbor; for the Lord's love is toward the universal human race, which He wills to save eternally and to adjoin wholly to Himself, so that not one of them may perish. He therefore who has love to the Lord, has the Lord's love, and thereby can do no otherwise than love his neighbor.

[2] But they who are in love toward the neighbor are not all for that reason in love to the Lord, as for example the well-disposed Gentiles who are in ignorance respecting the Lord, but with whom the Lord is nevertheless present in charity (n. 1032, 1059), and also others within the church; for love to the Lord is in a higher degree. They who have love to the Lord are celestial men, but they who have love toward the neighbor, or charity, are spiritual men. The Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood, and was celestial, was in love to the Lord but the Ancient Church, which was after the flood, and was spiritual, was in love toward the neighbor, or in charity. This distinction between Love and Charity will be observed when they are mentioned hereafter.

2024. Verse 8. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an eternal possession; and I will be to them for God. "I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings", signifies that the Lord acquired to Himself all things by His own forces or powers, which are "the land of the sojournings;" "I will give unto thee", signifies that the things which are in the heavens and on the earth are His; "and to thy seed after thee", signifies that He would give them to those who should have faith in Him; "all the lad of Canaan", signifies the celestial or heavenly kingdom; "for an eternal possession", signifies to eternity; "and I will be to them for God", signifies that God is one.

2025. I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings. That this signifies that the Lord acquired to Himself all things by His own forces or powers, which are "the lad of the sojournings", is evident from the signification of "sojourning", as being to be instructed (n. 1463). And as a man acquires life to himself especially by means of instruction in memory-knowledges, doctrinal matters, and the knowledges of faith, therefore "sojourning", signifies the life so acquired. As applied to the Lord, "sojourning" signifies the life which He procured to Himself by means of knowledges, combats of temptations, and victories therein; and as He procured for Himself that life by His own forces, this is here signified by "the land of the sojournings".

[2] That the Lord procured all things to Himself by His own forces, and by His own forces united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, and the Divine Essence to the Human Essence; and that He alone thus became righteousness, is clearly evident in the Prophets. As in Isaiah: -

Who is this that cometh from Edom, marching in the multitude of his strength? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was none with Me; I looked around, and there was no one helping; and I was amazed, and there was no one upholding; therefore Mine arm brought salvation unto Me (Isaiah 63:1, 3, 5)

"Edom" denotes the Lord's Human Essence; "strength", and "arm", power that this was from what was His own is clearly said, in that "there was no one helping", "no one upholding", and that "His own arm brought salvation unto Him".

[3] In the same Prophet: -

He saw that there was not any one, and He was amazed that there was none to intercede; and His arm achieved salvation unto Him, and His righteousness supported Him; and He put on righteousness as a coat of mail, and a helmet of salvation upon His head (Isa. 59:16, 17)

meaning in like manner by His own power, and that thereby He became righteousness. That the Lord is righteousness is stated in Daniel: -

Seventy weeks are decreed to expiate iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies (Daniel 9:24).

And in Jeremiah: -

I will raise unto David a righteous offshoot, and He shall reign as King, and shall act intelligently, and shall do judgment and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell in confidence; and this is His name whereby they shall call Him, Jehovah our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5, 6; 33:15, 16).

For this reason He is also called "the Habitation of righteousness", in (Jeremiah 31:23; 50:7); and in (Isaiah 9:6), "Wonderful", and "Hero".

[4] The reason why the Lord so often attributes to the Father that which is His own (n. 1999, 2004); for Jehovah was in Him, and consequently in everything that was His. This can be illustrated by what is similar, though not equal, in man. A man's soul is in him; and as it is in him, it is in the veriest singulars of him, that is in the veriest singulars of his thought, and of his action. Whatever has not his soul in it, is not his. The Lord's soul was Life itself, or Being (Esse) itself, which is Jehovah, for He was conceived from Jehovah; and consequently Jehovah or Life itself was in His veriest singulars; and as Life itself, or Being itself, which is Jehovah, was His, as the soul is man's, so that which was Jehovah's was His, which is what the Lord says: that He "is in the bosom of the Father" (John 1:18), and that "all things whatsoever that the Father hath are His" (John 16:15; 17:10, 11).

[5] From good, which is Jehovah's, He united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence; and from truth He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence; thus He did all things both in general and in particular from Himself; in fact His Human was left to itself, in order that He might fight of Himself against all the hells, and overcome them; and as He had life in Himself that was His own-as already said-He overcame them by His own power and by His own forces, as is also clearly stated in the Prophets, in the passages that have been cited. Consequently, as He acquired all things for Himself by His own forces, He became righteousness, emancipated the world of spirits from infernal genii and spirits, and thereby delivered the human race from destruction-for the human race is ruled by means of spirits-and so redeemed it. For this reason He is so often called in the Word of the Old Testament the Deliverer and the Redeemer, and the Saviour, which is the meaning of His name Jesus.

2026. That by "1 will give unto thee" is meant that the things which are in the heavens and on the earth are His, follows from what has just been said. In the sense of the letter, the words "I will give unto thee" mean that God or Jehovah would give to the Lord; just as it is said in the Word of the Evangelists that the Father gave unto Him all things that are in heaven and on the earth. But in the internal sense, in which the truth itself is presented in its purity, it means that the Lord acquired them for Himself, because Jehovah was in Him, and in everything belonging to Him, as before said. This may be further illustrated by that which is like it; for it is as if the interior or rational man, or the thought, should say that the corporeal would have rest or tranquillity if it would desist from doing this or that: in this case he that speaks is the same man as he that is spoken to, for both the rational and the corporeal belong to the man, and therefore when mention is made of the former, the latter also is understood.

[2] Moreover that the things in the heavens and on the earth are the Lord's, is evident from very many passages in the Word, both in the Old Testament, and also in the Evangelists (Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22; John 3:34, 35; 17:2; Matt. 28:18); and (n. 458, 551, 552, 1607). And as the Lord rules the universal heaven, He also rules all things on earth; for they have been so connected together that He who rules the one rules all things; for on the heaven of angels depends the heaven of angelic spirits, on this the world of spirits, and on this again the human race. And in like manner on the heavens depend all things that are in the world and in nature, for without influx from the Lord through the heavens, nothing that is in nature and its three Kingdoms would come forth and endure (n. 1632).

2027. That "to thy seed after thee" signifies that He would give all these things to those who should have faith in Him, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being faith (n. 1025, 1447, 1610), and in fact the faith of charity (n. 379, 389, 654, 724, 809, 916, 1017, 1162, 1176, 1258). They who place merit in the actions of their lives have not the faith of charity, and therefore are not the seed here meant; for thereby they desire to be saved, not because of the Lord's righteousness, but because of their own. That there is no faith of charity in them, that is, no charity, is evident from the fact, that they set themselves before others, and thus regard themselves and not others, except in so far as they are of service to them; and they either despise or hate those who are not willing to render them service. Thus by the love of self they dissociate, and never associate; and thus destroy what is heavenly, namely, mutual love, which gives heaven its stability; for heaven itself is in it, and all its consociation and unanimity subsist and consist in it; for in the other life whatever destroys unanimity is contrary to the order of heaven itself, and thus conspires to the destruction of the whole. Such are they who place merit in the actions of their lives, and claim righteousness for themselves. Of these there are many in the other life.

[2] They sometimes shine in the face like little torches, but from an illusive fire that proceeds from self-justification, and in fact they are cold. They are sometimes seen running about and confirming self-merit from the literal sense of the Word, for they hate the truths which are of the internal sense (n. 1877). Their sphere is a sphere of self-regard, and is thus destructive of all ideas that do not regard self as a kind of deity. The sphere of many of this sort together is so conflicting that there is nothing there but enmity and hostility; for when every one desires the same thing, namely, to be served, he murders others in his heart.

[3] Some of them are among those who say that they have labored in the Lord's vineyard, whereas they have at the same time continually had in mind their own pre-eminence, glory, and honors, as well as gain; and even that they might become the greatest in heaven and be served by the angels, in heart despising others in comparison with themselves, and thus being imbued with no mutual love, in which heaven consists, but with the love of self, in which they place heaven; for they know not what heaven is. (Respecting such see above, n. 450-452, 1594, 1679). These are of those who desire to be first, but become last (Matt. 19:30; 20:16; Mark 10:31); and who say that they have prophesied by the name of the Lord, and have done many wonderful works; but to whom it is said, "I know you not" (Matt. 7:22, 23).

[4] Very different is the case with those who from simplicity of heart have supposed that they merit heaven, and have lived in charity; these have looked upon meriting heaven as something that is promised, and they easily acknowledge it to be of the Lord's mercy; for the life of charity is attended with this, because true charity loves all truth.

2028. All the land of Canaan. That this signifies the heavenly kingdom, is evident from the signification of the "land of Canaan", as being the heavenly kingdom, (n. 1413, 1437, 1607).

2029. For an eternal possession. That this signifies what is eternal, is evident without explication. They are called "possessors", and also " heirs", not from merit, but from mercy.

2030. And I will be to them for God. That this signifies that God is one, is evident from the fact that the subject here treated of is the Lord's Human Essence that was to be united to His Divine Essence, and thereby itself likewise become God. Thus "I will be to them for God", signifies in the internal sense that God is one.

2031. Verse 9. And God said unto Abraham, And thou shalt keep My covenant, thou and thy seed after thee, unto their generations. "God said unto Abraham", signifies perception; "and thou shalt keep My covenant", signifies still closer union; "thou and thy seed after thee", signifies that from Him there is conjunction with all who have faith in Him; "unto their generations", signifies the things which are of faith.

2032. God said unto Abraham. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification of "God said", in the historic Word as being to perceive (n. 1602, 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822).

2033. Thou shalt keep My covenant. That this signifies still closer union, is evident from the signification of a " covenant", as being union and conjunction (verses 2, 4, 7); (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038). The repeated mention here of " covenant", so frequently mentioned before, denotes a closer union. In the historical sense, which relates to Abraham, nothing else can be said than that he is to keep the covenant; but in the internal sense, in which the Lord is treated of, what is historical vanishes, and the things that can be predicated of Him succeed in its place, which relate to a closer union. The unition of the Lord's Human Essence with His Divine Essence was not effected all at once, but through the whole course of His life, from infancy to the last of His life in the world. Thus He ascended continuously to glorification, that is, to union; according to what is said in John: -

Jesus said, Father glorify Thy name; there came a voice from heaven: I have both glorified and will glorify it again (John 12:28),

(n. 1690, 1864).

2034. Thou and thy seed after thee. That this signifies that from Him there is conjunction with all who have faith in Him, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being faith, spoken of several times before; and from the signification of "after thee", as being to follow Him (n. 2019). The union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence, has already been treated of; and the subject here treated of is the conjunction of the Lord with those who believe in Him, and therefore there is a repetition of the word "thou;" for it is said, " Thou shalt keep My covenant, thou and thy seed;" and from this repetition of the words in connection with "seed" it is evident that in the internal sense conjunction is signified, and in fact with those who are the seed, by which is signified the faith of charity, as shown above (n. 1025, 1447, 1510); and that faith is charity itself may be seen in (n. 30-38, 379, 389, 654, 724, 809, 916, 1017, 1076, 1077, 1162, 1176, 1258, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844).

[2] Moreover when speaking of His union with the Father, the Lord speaks immediately and without a break of His conjunction with the human race; because this was the cause of the union, as is evident in John: -

That they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and Thou in Me, for I have made known unto them Thy name, and will make it known, that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them (John 17:21, 22, 26)

from which it is evident that in the union of Himself with the Father the Lord had in view the conjunction of Himself with the human race, and that He had this at heart, because it was His love; for all conjunction is effected by means of love, love being conjunction itself.

[3] Again in the same gospel: -

Because I live, ye shall live also in that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you; he that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me (John 14:19-21);

from which in like manner it is evident that in the union of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence the Lord had in view the conjunction of Himself with the human race, and that this was His end, and this His love, which was such that the salvation of the human race, as beheld in the union of Himself with His Father, was to Him the inmost joy. There is also here described that which unites, namely, to have and to do His commandments, and thereby to love the Lord.

[4] Again: -

Father, glorify Thy name; there came therefore a voice from heaven, I have both glorified and will glorify it again. Jesus said, This voice hath not come for My sake, but for your sakes. But I, when I shall be lifted up from the earth, will draw all after Me (John 12:28, 30, 32)

by "glorification" is meant union, as before said; and that in the union of Himself with the Father He regarded the conjunction of Himself with the human race, is openly said in the words, "when I shall be lifted up, I will draw all after Me".

[5] That conjunction of the Infinite or Supreme Divine with the human race was effected through the Lord's Human made Divine, and that this conjunction was the cause of the Lord's coming into the world, is an arcanum into which many inquire in their own minds, and because they do not comprehend, they do not believe it; and as they do not believe for the reason that they do not comprehend, it becomes a scandal or stumbling block to them. That this is so, I have learned from much experience from those who come into the other life. Very many of these-almost the greater part of those who had been men of talent in the world-when they merely think that the Lord became a man, and in external form was like other men, that He suffered, and that nevertheless He rules the universe, at once fill the sphere with scandals, because this had been a scandal or stumbling block to them in the life of the body; although at that time they had divulged nothing about it, and had adored Him with outward sanctity. For in the other life the interiors are open, and are made manifest by the sphere diffused from them (n. 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504). In this way it is plainly perceived of what faith they had been, and what they had thought concerning the Lord.

[6] Seeing that such is the case, it may be well to explain the matter a little further. After all the celestial in man had perished, that is, all love to God, so that there was no longer any will of good, the human race had then been separated from the Divine; for nothing effects conjunction except love, and when this had been annihilated, there was disjunction; and when there is disjunction, then destruction and extirpation follow. Therefore the promise was then made respecting the Lord's coming into the world, who should unite the Human to the Divine, and by this union should effect in Himself the conjunction of the human race by means of the faith of love and of charity.

[7] From the time of the first promise (Gen. 3:15) the faith of love in the Lord who was to come effected conjunction. But when there was no longer any faith of love remaining in the whole world, then the Lord came and united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, so that they were altogether one, as He Himself clearly says; and at the same time He taught the way of truth, that every one who should believe in Him-that is, who should love Him and the things that are His, and who should be in His love which is love toward the universal human race, thus in love toward the neighbor-should be conjoined and saved.

[8] When, in the Lord, the Human was made Divine, and the Divine Human, the result was an influx of the Infinite or Supreme Divine with man that otherwise could not possibly have existed; and an additional result was the dispersion of the direful persuasions of falsity and the direful cupidities of evil with which the world of spirits was brimful, and with which it was continually being filled full from the souls arriving from the world; and they who were in those persuasions and cupidities were cast into hell, and thereby were separated. Unless this had been done, the human race would have perished, for the Lord rules the human race by means of spirits. Nor could they have been dispersed in any other way, for no operation of the Divine was possible through man's rational things into those of internal sense, because these are far below the Supreme Divine when not so united not to mention still deeper arcana that cannot be explained to the apprehension of any man (n. 1676, 1990), that in the heaven of the celestial angels the Lord appears as a sun, and in the heaven of the spiritual angels as a moon; and that the Sun is the celestial of His love, and the Moon the spiritual of His love (n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531), and that all things both in general and in particular are under His view (n. 1274, 1277).

2035. Unto their generations. That this signifies the things which are of faith, is evident from the signification of " generations", and of "births", as being the things that are of faith (n. 613, 1145, 1255, 1330); and that those which are of love and faith are related as by blood and marriage (n. 685, 917).

2036. Verse 10. This is My covenant, which ye shall keep between Me and you, and thy seed after thee, that every male be circumcised unto you. "This is My covenant which ye shall keep between Me and you", signifies a token of the conjunction of all with the Lord; "and thy seed after thee", signifies those who have faith in Him; "that every male be circumcised unto you", signifies purity.

2037. This is My covenant, which ye shall keep between Me and you. That this signifies a token of the conjunction of all with the Lord, is evident from the signification of a "covenant", as being conjunction, as explained before. That it is here the token of conjunction, is evident from the next verse, where it is called "a sign of a covenant:" "Ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and you". All the external rites of the church were signs of the covenant, and were to be sacredly observed, because internal things were signified by them. Circumcision-which is treated of here-was nothing but a representative and significative rite, and as such is explained in what follows; nevertheless in various passages of the Word such rites are called the " covenant", for the reason that external things represented and thereby signified internal things. The internal things are what belong to the covenant, because they are effective of conjunction, and the external things are not so except by means of the internal ones. The external things were merely signs of the covenant, or tokens of he conjunction, by means of which they might call to mind the internal things and thereby be conjoined by means of these. Respecting the signs of the covenant, (n. 1308). All the internal things that belong to the covenant, or that are effective of conjunction, relate to love and charity, and proceed from love and charity; for on these two things, namely, loving God more than one's self, and loving the neighbor as one's self, hang all the law and the prophets", that is, the universal doctrine of faith (Matt. 22:34-39; Mark 12:28-35).

2038. And thy seed after thee. That this signifies those who have faith in Him, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being the faith of charity, concerning which above.

2039. That every male be circumcised. That this signifies purity, is evident from the representation and derivative signification in the internal sense of " circumcising". Circumcision, or the cutting off of the foreskin, signified the removal and wiping away of those things that were impeding and defiling celestial love, and which are the evils of cupidities (especially the evils of the cupidities of the love of self) and the derivative falsities. The reason of this signification is that the organs of generation, in both sexes, represent celestial love. There are loves of three kinds that constitute the celestial things of the Lord's kingdom, namely, conjugial love, love for infants, and the love for society, or mutual love. Conjugial love is the principal love of all, because it has within it the end of greatest use, namely, the propagation of the human race, and thereby of the Lord's kingdom, of which it is the seminary. Love toward infants follows next, being derived from conjugial love; and then comes the love for society, or mutual love. Whatever covers up, obstructs, and defiles these loves, is signified by the foreskin; and the cutting off of this, or circumcision, was therefore made representative; for in so far as the evils of cupidities, and the falsities derived from them are removed, in so far the man is purified; and in so far celestial love can appear. How contrary to celestial love, and how filthy, is the love of self, has been stated and shown above (n. 760, 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 2045, 2057). From what has now been said, it is clear that in the internal sense "circumcision" signifies purity.

[2] That circumcision is only a sign of covenant, or of conjunction, may be plainly seen from considering that the circumcision of the foreskin amounts to nothing at all without the circumcision of the heart; and that it is the circumcision of the heart, or purification from the filthy loves above referred to that is signified by it, as is plainly evident from the following passages in the Word. In Moses: -

Jehovah thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God in thy whole heart, and in thy whole soul, that thou mayest live (Deut. 30:6)

from which it is evident that to " circumcise the heart" is to be purified from filthy loves, in order that Jehovah God, or the Lord, may be loved with all the heart and with all the soul.

[3] In Jeremiah: -

Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns; circumcise yourselves unto Jehovah, and take away the foreskin of your heart, O man of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 4:3, 4);

to " circumcise one's self to Jehovah, and remove the foreskin of the heart", is to remove such things as obstruct heavenly love; all which shows that the circumcision of the heart is an interior thing that is signified by the circumcision of the foreskin. In Moses: -

Ye shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and shall no longer harden your neck, doing the judgment of the orphan and the widow, and loving the stranger to give him bread and raiment (Deut. 10:16, 18)

where also it is clear that to " circumcise the foreskin of the heart" is to be purified from the evils of filthy loves and from the falsities derived from them. The celestial things of love are described by these works of charity, namely, "doing the judgment of the orphan and the widow", and "loving the stranger to give him bread and raiment".

[4] In Jeremiah: -

Behold, the days come in which I will visit upon every one that is circumcised in the foreskin, upon Egypt, and upon Judah, and upon Edom, and upon the sons of Ammon, and upon Moab, and upon all that are cut off at the comer, that dwell in the wilderness for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart (Jeremiah 9:25, 26)

where it is evident that circumcision is significative of purification, for they are called the " circumcised in the foreskin", but still are reckoned among the uncircumcised nations, as are even the Jews; and Israel is said to be "uncircumcised in heart". And it is the same in Moses: -

If then their uncircumcised heart be humbled (Lev. 26:41).

[5] That by the "foreskin" and by "one that is uncircumcised" is signified uncleanness, is evident in Isaiah: -

Awake, awake, put on thy strength, 0 Zion put on the garments of thy beauty, 0 Jerusalem, the city of holiness for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean (Isaiah 52:1).

By Zion" is meant the celestial church, and by "Jerusalem" the spiritual church, into which what is "uncircumcised", that is, the "unclean", shall not enter.

[6] That circumcision is a sign of a covenant, or a token of conjunction, is clearly evident from the fact that the like was represented by means of the fruits of trees, which also were to be circumcised, concerning which in Moses: -

When ye shall have come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees of food, ye shall circumcise the foreskin thereof, its fruit; three years shall they be unto you as uncircumcised, it shall not be eaten and in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holiness for praises unto Jehovah (Lev. 19:23, 24)

"fruits", like the "heart", represent and signify charity, as may be seen from many passages in the Word; and thus their "foreskin" signifies the uncleanness which obstructs and contaminates charity.

[7] Wonderful to say, when the angels who are in heaven have the idea of purification from natural defilements, with the utmost rapidity there is represented in the world of spirits something like circumcision; for the angelic ideas pass over into representatives in the world of spirits. In the Jewish Church some of the representative rites originated in this source, and some did not. Those with whom that quick circumcision was represented in the world of spirits, were in the desire to be admitted into heaven; and before they were admitted, there was this representation. This shows why Joshua was commanded to circumcise the people, when, having passed over Jordan, they were entering the land of Canaan; for the entrance of the people into the land of Canaan represented this very admission of the faithful into heaven.

[8] For this reason circumcision was commanded a second time, concerning which in Joshua: - Jehovah said unto Joshua, Make thee swords of rocks, and circumcise the sons of Israel the second time and Joshua made him swords of rocks, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins and Jehovah said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you; and he called the name of that place Gilgal (Rolling-off) (Joshua 5:2, 3, 9); the " swords of rocks" signify the truths with which they were to be imbued, in order that thereby they might castigate and disperse filthy loves; for without the knowledges of truth no purification is possible. (That a "stone" or "rock" signifies truths (n. 643, 1298); and that a "sword" is predicated of the truths by which evils may be castigated, is evident from the Word).

2040. Verse 11. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and you. "Ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin", signifies the removal of the love of self and of the world; "and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and you", signifies a representative and significative of purity.

2041. Ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin. That this signifies the removal of the love of self and of the world, is evident from the representation and signification of "circumcision", as being purification from filthy loves (n. 2039); and from the signification of "flesh", as being what is man's own (n. 999). That which is man's own is nothing but the love of self and of the world, thus is all the derivative cupidity; and how filthy this is has been shown in (n. 141, 150, 154, 210, 215, 694, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047). As this Own of man which is to be removed is signified, the expression "flesh of the foreskin" is made use of.

[2] There are two so-called loves and their cupidities that obstruct the influx of heavenly love from the Lord; for when these loves reign in the interior and in the external man, and take possession thereof, they either reject or suffocate, and also pervert and contaminate, the inflowing heavenly love; for they are utterly contrary to heavenly love, as will of the Lord's Divine mercy be shown hereafter. But in so far as these loves are removed, so far the heavenly love flowing in from the Lord begins to appear, nay, to give light in the interior man; and so far he begins to see that he is in evil and falsity; next that he is actually in uncleanness and filthiness; and finally that this has been his Own. They who are becoming regenerate are those with whom these loves are being removed.

[3] Observation of this removal is possible also with the unregenerate, for when the cupidities of these loves are quiescent in them, as sometimes occurs when they are in holy meditation, or when the cupidities are lulled, as happens when they are in misfortunes, in sicknesses, and diseases, and especially at the moment of death, then, because bodily and worldly things are lulled and as it were dead, they observe something of heavenly light and the consequent comfort. But with these persons there is not removal of the cupidities in question, but only a lulling of them, for when they return into their former state, they at once relapse into the same cupidities.

[4] With the evil also, bodily and worldly things can be lulled, and they can then be as it were uplifted into a kind of heavenliness, as sometimes takes place with souls in the other life, especially those newly arrived, who intensely desire to see the glory of the Lord, because they had heard so much about heaven while they lived in the world. The external things above referred to are then lulled in them, and in this way they are carried into the first heaven and enjoy their desire. But they cannot remain long, because there is only a quiescence of the bodily and worldly things, and not a removal of them, as with the angels (n. 541, 542). Be it known that heavenly love is continually inflowing into man from the Lord, and that nothing else obstructs and impedes it, and causes its reception by the man impossible, except the cupidities of those loves and the falsities derived from them.

2042. And it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and you. That this signifies a representative and significative of purity, is evident from what has been shown just above (n. 2039), namely, that circumcision was nothing but a representative of purification from filthy loves. And as it was only an external rite which represented and signified something internal, it was not a covenant, but a sign of a covenant.

2043. Verse 12. And a son of eight days shall be circumcised unto you, every male in your generations, he that is born in the house, and he that is bought with silver from every son that is a stranger who is not of thy seed. "A son of eight days", signifies any beginning of purification whatever; "shall be circumcised unto you", signifies the purification; " every male", signifies those who are in the truth of faith "in your generations", signifies the things which are of faith; "he that is born in the house", signifies those who are celestial; "he that is bought with silver", signifies those who are spiritual, who are within the church; "from every son that is a stranger who is not of thy seed", signifies those who are outside the church.

2044. And a son of eight days. That this signifies any beginning of purification whatever, is evident from the signification of "the eighth day". A "week", which is seven days, signifies an entire period of any state or time, as of reformation, of regeneration, of temptation, whether of man in particular, or of the church in general thus a period is called a "week", whether it be one of a thousand years, of a hundred, of ten, or of as many days, hours, minutes, and so on (n. 728). And as the eighth day is the first day of a new week, it signifies any beginning whatever. This shows also that, as circumcision was itself a representative of purification, so also was the time of it, namely, the eighth day; not that they then entered into a purer state, and were purified on that account, but for the reason that, as circumcision" signified purification, so "the eighth day" signified that this ought to be effected at all times, and thus always, as from a new beginning.

2045. Shall be circumcised unto you. That this signifies purification, is evident from the representation and signification of "circumcision", as being purification from filthy loves (n. 2039). They who are in the loves of self and of the world cannot possibly believe that they are in things so filthy and unclean as they actually are in, for there is a certain pleasure and delight that soothes, favors, and allures, and causes them to love that life, to prefer it to all other life, and thereby to suppose that there is nothing of evil in it; for whatever favors any one's love and the life thence derived is believed to be good. Hence also the rational consents, and suggests falsities which confirm and cause such blindness that they see nothing of the nature of heavenly love; and if they were to see it they would say in their hearts that it is a wretched affair, or a thing of naught, or something of the nature of a phantasy that takes hold of the mind, as in sickness.

[2] But that the life of the love of self and of the world, together with its pleasures and delights, is filthy and unclean, may be seen by every one who is willing to think from the rational faculty with which he is gifted. The love of self is the source of all the evils that destroy civic society. From it as from an unclean pit spring all hatreds, all revenges, all cruelties, nay, all adulteries for he who loves himself, despises, vituperates, or hates, all others who do not serve him, or do him honor, or favor him; and when he hates, he breathes nothing but revenges and cruelties, and this in proportion to the degree in which he loves himself, so that this love is destructive of society and of the human race. That such is its nature may be seen from what is said of it in (n. 693, 694, 760, 1307, 1308, 1321, 1506, 1594, 1691, 1862). That in the other life the love of self is most filthy, and that it is diametrically opposite to the mutual love in which heaven consists, shall of the Lord's Divine mercy be told in what follows.

[3] And as the love of self is the source of hatreds, revenges, cruelties, and adulteries, it is the source of all things that are called sins, wickednesses, abominations, and profanations, and therefore when this love is in the rational part of man, and is in the cupidities and phantasies of his external man, the influx of heavenly love from the Lord is continually repelled, perverted, and contaminated. It is like foul excrement, which dissipates, nay, defiles, all sweet odor; it is like an object that turns the continually inflowing rays of light into dark and repulsive colors; and it is like a tiger, or a serpent, which repels all fondling, and kills with bite and poison those who offer it food; or like a vicious man who turns even the best intentions of others, and their very kindnesses, into what is blameworthy and malicious. Hence it is evident that these loves-of self and of the world-are what are represented and signified by the foreskins that were to be cut off.

2046. Every male. That this signifies those who are in the truth of faith, is evident from the signification of a "male", as being truth (n. 672, 749). The "male:" by which is signified the truth of faith, is named here because no one can be purified from those filthy loves except one who is in truth. From truth he knows (cognoscit) what is pure and what impure, and what is holy and what profane. Before he has learned this, there are no mediums into which and through which the heavenly love continually flowing in from the Lord can operate, as this cannot be received except in truths; and therefore man is reformed and regenerated by means of the knowledges of truth, and this not until he has been imbued with them. Conscience itself is formed by means of the truths of faith; for the conscience with which the regenerate man is gifted is a conscience of what is true and right (n. 977, 986, 1033, 1076, 1077). This also is the reason why knives of stone, or "swords of rocks", as they are called, were employed in circumcising. That these signify truths (n. 2039).

2047. Throughout your generations. That this signifies the things which are of faith, is evident from the signification of "generations" and of "births", as being the things that are of faith (n. 613, 1145, 1255, 2020, 2035).

2048. That "he that is born in the house" signifies those who are celestial, and that "he that is bought with silver' signifies those who are spiritual, and that they thus signify those who are within the church, is evident from the signification of one "born in the house", as being those who are within the house. A "house", in the Word, signifies what is celestial, because this is the inmost; whence by the "house of God" in a universal sense is signified the Lord's kingdom; in a sense less universal, His church; and in a particular sense, the man himself in whom there is the Lord's kingdom or church. When man is called a "house", the celestial of faith in him is signified; and when he is called a "temple", the truth of faith in him is signified; thus here by one "born in the house" those who are celestial are signified. But that "he that is bought with silver" signifies those who are spiritual, is evident from the signification of "silver", as being truth, thus the spiritual of faith (n. 1551).

[2] Those are called celestial who are in love to the Lord; and as the Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood, was in this love, it was a celestial church. Those are called spiritual who are in love toward the neighbor and thereby in the truth of faith, as was the Ancient Church, which was after the flood. The distinction between the celestial and the spiritual has been treated of many times in before. Every one can see that there are heavenly arcana in what is here said, namely, that those born in the house were to be circumcised, and those bought with silver, and also the sons that were strangers; and also from their being repeatedly mentioned (verses 13, 23, 27); which arcana do not appear except from the internal sense, which shows that by those born in the house and those bought with silver are signified the celestial and the spiritual, the those who are within the church; and that by "a son that is a stranger who is not of thy seed" are signified those who are outside the church.

2049. From every son that is a stranger who is not of thy seed. That this signifies those who are outside the church, is evident from the signification of "son that is a stranger", as being those who are not born within the church, thus are not in the goods and truths of faith, because not in the knowledges of them. " Sons that are strangers" also signify those who are in external worship (n. 1097); but when this is the meaning, those who are within the church are treated of, whereas in the passage before us the Lord's church in the universal is treated of, and therefore "sons that are strangers" signify those who are not born within the church, as is the case with the Gentiles. Gentiles, who are outside the church, may be in truths, but not in the truths of faith. Their truths, like the precepts of the decalogue, are that parents are to be honored, that men are not to kill, steal, commit adultery, or covet things that belong to others; also that the Deity is to be worshiped. But the truths of faith are all doctrinal things concerning eternal life, the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord Himself, which cannot be known to the Gentiles because they have not the Word.

[2] These are they who are signified by "sons that are strangers who are not of thy seed", and yet were to be circumcised, that is purified, together with them. This shows that they can be purified, equally with those within the church; as was represented by their being circumcised. They are purified when they reject filthy loves, and live with one another in charity; for then they live in truths, since all truths are of charity; but in the truths already mentioned. They who live in these truths readily imbibe the truths of faith, if not in the life of the body, yet in the other life, because the truths of faith are the interior truths of charity, and they then love nothing more than to be admitted into the interior truths of charity. The interior truths of charity are those in which the Lord's kingdom consists (n. 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328, 1366)

[3] In the other life a memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith is of no avail, for the worst, nay, the infernals, can be in the memory-knowledge of them, sometimes more than others; but that which avails is a life according to the knowledges, for all knowledges have life as their end. Unless knowledges were learned for the sake of life, they would be of no use except that men might talk about them, and thereby be esteemed learned in the world, be exalted to honors, and gain reputation and wealth. From this it is evident that a life of the knowledges of faith is no other than a life of charity; for the Law and the Prophets, that is, the universal doctrine of faith together with all its knowledges, consists in love to the Lord and in love toward the neighbor; as is manifest to all from the Lord's words in (Matthew 22:34-39; Mark 12:28-35);

[4] but still doctrinal things, that is, the knowledges of faith, are most necessary for forming the life of charity, which cannot be formed without them. This is the life that saves after death, and by no means any life of faith without it; for without charity there cannot be any life of faith. They who are in the life of love and charity are in the Lord's life, and by no other life can any one be conjoined with Him. Hence also it is evident that the truths of faith can never be acknowledged as truths, that is, the acknowledgment of them so much talked of is impossible, except outwardly, and by the mouth, unless they are implanted in charity; for inwardly or in the heart they are denied, since, as already said, they all have charity as their end; and if this is not within them they are inwardly rejected. When the exteriors are taken away-as is done in the other life-the interiors are manifest in their true character, in that they are utterly contrary to all the truths of faith. When men have had no life of charity-that is, no mutual love-during their bodily life, it is utterly impossible to receive it in the other life, because they are averse to and hate it, for after death the same life remains with us that we have lived here. When such persons merely approach a society where there is the life of mutual love, they tremble, shudder, and feel torture.

[5] Such persons, although born within the church, are called "sons that are strangers, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh", who are not to be admitted into the sanctuary, that is, into the Lord's kingdom; and who are also meant in Ezekiel: -

No son that is a stranger, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My sanctuary (Ezekiel 44:7, 9).

Again: -

To whom art thou thus become like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? and thou shalt be brought down with the trees of Eden into the lower earth, thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword (Ezekiel 31:18)

where Pharaoh is treated of, by whom are signified memory-knowledges in general (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); by "the trees of Laden" with which they should go down into the lower earth, are also signified memory-knowledges, but those of the knowledges of faith. All this shows what "the uncircumcised" is in the internal sense, namely, one who is in filthy loves and the life of them.

2050. Verse 13. Circumcising he shall be circumcised that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy silver; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an eternal covenant. "Circumcising he shall be circumcised,' signifies that they must wholly remove from themselves the loves of self and of the world; "that is born in thy house, and that is bought with thy silver", signifies those within the church, of both kinds; "and My covenant shall be in your flesh", signifies the conjunction of the Lord with man in his impurity, and also a significative rite; "for an eternal covenant", signifies conjunction.

2051. Circumcising he shall be circumcised. That this signifies that they must wholly remove from themselves the loves of self and of the world, that is, that they must do this who are within the church and who are signified by him "that is born in the house", and by him "that is bought with silver", is evident from the representation of circumcision", as being purification from the loves of self and of the world (n. 2039). It is here repeated that they are to be circumcised, and it is said, "circumcising he shall be circumcised", by which is expressed the necessity, that is, for their being wholly purified from those loves. And as those are signified who are within the church, the "sons that are strangers" are not mentioned here, because by them (n. 2049) are signified those who are outside the church.

[2] From the repetition of what was said in the preceding verse concerning those born in the house and those bought with silver, every one can see that there is a Divine arcanum which is not seen from the sense of the letter. The arcanum is, that purification from those filthy loves is necessary most of all within the church, and this for the reason that they who are within the church are able to render holy things themselves impure, which they who are outside the church- that is, the Gentiles cannot do; so that the danger of damnation is greater in the case of the former. Moreover those who are within the church are able to form principles of falsity contrary to the very truths of faith, and to become imbued with them; whereas those who are outside the church cannot do this, because they are ignorant of these truths. Thus the former can profane holy truths, but not the latter (n. 1059, 1327, 1328).

2052. That is born in thy house, and that is bought with thy silver. That this signifies those who are within the church, of both kinds,-that is, the celestial, meant by "him that is born in the house", and the spiritual, meant by "him that is bought with silver", (n. 2048).

2053. My covenant shall be in your flesh. That this signifies the conjunction of the Lord with man in his impurity, is evident from the signification of a " covenant", as being conjunction; and from the signification of "flesh", as being what is man's own (n. 2041): how impure what is man's own is was also stated there, and was shown in (n. 141, 150, 154, 210, 215, 694, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047). As regards the words "my covenant in your flesh" denoting the conjunction of the Lord with man in his impurity, the case is this: With man there is no pure intellectual truth, that is, truth Divine; for the truths of faith appertaining to man are appearances of truth, to which fallacies of the senses adjoin themselves, and to these the falsities that belong to the cupidities of the love of self and of the world. Such are the truths appertaining to man. How impure these are may be seen from the fact that such things are adjoined to them.

[2] But still the Lord conjoins Himself with man in these impure truths, for He animates and vivifies them with innocence and charity, and thereby forms conscience. The truths of conscience are various, that is, they are according to each person's religion; and these truths, provided they are not contrary to the goods of faith, the Lord will not do violence to, because the man has been imbued with them, and has regarded them as holy. The Lord breaks no one, but bends him, as may be seen from the fact that in every dogma within the church there are some who are being gifted with conscience, which conscience is a better one in proportion as its truths approach more closely to the genuine truths of faith. As conscience is formed from truths of faith of this kind, it is evident that it has been formed in the intellectual part of man, for it is the intellectual part that receives these truths and therefore the Lord has miraculously separated this part from the will part-an arcanum not previously known, and concerning which see (n. 863, 875, 895, 927, 1023). That a "covenant in your flesh" also denotes what is significative, namely, of purification, is evident from what has been shown in respect to circumcision in (n. 2039).

2054. For an eternal covenant. That this signifies conjunction, is evident from the signification of a "covenant", as being conjunction, explained before. As those are here treated of who are within the church, the "covenant" is again spoken of; and it is here called an eternal covenant, both because it is most especially necessary for those within the church to be "circumcised", that is, purified from the loves of self and of the world (n. 2051); and also because with them there is the nearest conjunction of the Lord and His heaven, since this is effected by means of the goods and truths of faith. There is indeed a conjunction with those also who are outside of the church, but a more remote one, because they are not in the goods and truths of faith (n. 2049). The church, in the Lord's kingdom, is circumstanced as are the heart and lungs in man. Man's interior things are conjoined with his external things by means of the heart and lungs, and from these live all the surrounding viscera. Such also is the case with the human race: the conjunction of the Lord and His heaven is nearest with the church, but more remote with those who are outside of the church, who are circumstanced as are the organs that live by means of the heart and lungs. The celestial are like the heart, and the spiritual are like the lungs. Because of the necessity for the purification of both of these, they who are within the church are here treated of specifically, and the "covenant" is stated twice.

2055. Verse 14. And the uncircumcised male, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his peoples; he hath made vain My covenant. "The uncircumcised male", signifies one who is not in the truth of faith; "who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin", signifies who is in the love of self and of the world; "that soul shall be cut off from his peoples", signifies eternal death; "he hath made vain My covenant", signifies that he cannot be conjoined.

2056. And the uncircumcised male. That this signifies one who is not in the truth of faith, is evident from the signification of a "male", as being the truth of faith (n. 2046); the "uncircumcised male" therefore here signifies one who is not in the truth of faith, and who is thereby in what is false. That is said to be "uncircumcised" which obstructs and defiles, as before said. When said of the "male", it is that which obstructs and defiles truth; and in like manner when it is said of any other subject, it signifies the darkening and contamination of that subject. Thus an "uncircumcised ear" is mentioned in Jeremiah: -

Upon whom shall I speak and testify, and they will hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken behold the Word of Jehovah is become unto them a reproach they do not desire it (Jeremiah 6:10)

their "ear being uncircumcised" means that there was no hearkening, and that the Word was a reproach unto them.

[2] Moreover the verse before us treats of those who are within the church, and who are not only in falsity, but also in the impurity of the loves of self and of the world; for these things are said in continuation of what was said before. It is therefore said "the uncircumcised male, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin", and thus the meaning is falsity conjoined with impurity of life. How great a danger of eternal damnation these are incurring may be seen from what was said above (n. 2051). These words especially signify those within the church who profane the goods and truths of faith, of whom it is said, "that soul shall be cut off from his peoples' for these can commit profanation, but not those who are out side the church (n. 593, 1008, 1010, 1059).

2057. Who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. That this signifies who is in the love of self, is evident from what was said above in regard to the signification of being "circumcised", and of the "foreskin" (n. 2039, 2049, at the end), also as to the signification of "flesh" (n. 2041). The "flesh of the foreskin" here signifies the love of self. Those within the church who are in falsity, and at the same time are in the love of self, are most especially those who profane holy things; but they who are in any other love whatever not so much, for the love of self is the most foul of all, because it is destructive of society, and thus of the human race, as before shown (n. 2045). That it is also diametrically opposed to mutual love, in which heaven consists, and thus is destructive of heavenly order itself, may be seen from the evil spirits and genii in the other life; and also from the hells, in which nothing reigns but the love of self; and because the love of self reigns there, so do all kinds of hatreds, revenges, and cruelties, because these are derived from it.

[2] Mutual love in heaven consists in the fact that they love the neighbor more than themselves, the effect of which is that the whole heaven represents as it were one man; for by means of mutual love all are so consociated by the Lord, and hence it is that the happinesses of all are communicated to each one, and those of each one to all. Consequently the heavenly form is such that every one is as it were a kind of center, thus a center of communications, and consequently of happinesses, from all; and this in accordance with all the differences of mutual love, which are innumerable. And because those who are in that love perceive the highest happiness in being able to communicate to others that which flows into them, and this from the heart, the communication becomes perpetual and eternal and on this account, as the Lord's kingdom increases, so the happiness of each angel increases. As the angels are in distinct societies and abodes, they do not think of this; but the Lord thus disposes all things both in general and in particular. Such is the kingdom of the Lord in the heavens.

[3] Nothing else endeavors to destroy this form and this order than the love of self, and therefore all in the other life who are in the love of self are more deeply infernal than others, for the love of self communicates nothing to others, but extinguishes and suffocates their delights and happinesses. Whatever delight flows into them from others, they receive to themselves, concentrate it within themselves, turn it into the filthiness of self, prevent its going any further, and thus destroy all that tends to unanimity and consociation. From this comes disunion, and consequently destruction. And as every such person desires to be served, courted, and adored by others, and loves no one but himself, hence comes dissociation, which is determined and puts itself forth into lamentable states, so that they perceive nothing to be more delightful than to torture others, in direful modes and by phantasies, from hatred, revenge, and cruelty. When such persons come to any society where mutual love resides, they are cast down of their own accord, like impure and dead weights in a pure and living aura, because all the influent delight is terminated in themselves; and because they exhale a foul idea of self, their delight is there turned into a cadaverous stench, by which they are made sensible of the hell of self, besides being seized with terrible anguish.

[4] From this we can see that it is the nature of the love of self to be destructive not only of the human race (n. 2045), but also of heavenly order; and thus that there is nothing in it but impurity, filthiness, profaneness, and hell itself; however little this may appear to those who are in it. They are in the love of self who despise others in comparison with themselves, and hate those who do not favor, serve, and pay a kind of worship to them; and who find a cruel delight in revenge, and in depriving others of honor, reputation, wealth, and life. They who are in the love of self are in these evils; and they who are in these evils may know that they are in the love of self.

2058. That soul shall be cut off from his peoples. That this signifies eternal death, is evident from the signification of "soul", as being life (n. 1000, 1040, 1742); and from the signification of "peoples", as being truths (n. 1259, 1260). Thus "peoples" are they who live in truths, that is, angels; and for a "soul to be cut off" from these, is to be damned, or to perish in eternal death.

2059. He hath made vain My covenant. That this signifies that he cannot be conjoined, is evident from the signification of a "covenant", as being conjunction, explained before. Thus to "make the covenant vain", is to disjoin himself to such an extent that he cannot be conjoined.

2060. Verse 15. And God said unto Abraham, Sarai, thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name. "God said unto Abraham", signifies perception; " Sarai thy wife", signifies here as before truth conjoined with good; "thou shalt not call her name Sarai", signifies that He will put off the human; "for Sarah is her name", signifies that He will put on the Divine.

2061. God said unto Abraham. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification of "God's saying", in the historical sense, as being in the internal sense to perceive (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919). As another subject here begins to be treated of, namely, that signified by "Sarai" and "Sarah", and also that signified by the promise of a "son" from Sarah, and by Ishmael's becoming a "great nation", it is introduced by a new perception of the Lord, which is expressed by "God said unto Abraham", as in other places.

2062. Sarai thy wife. That hereby is signified truth conjoined with good, is evident from the signification of " Sarai", as being intellectual truth; and as "wife" is here added, the meaning is, this truth conjoined with good. "Sarai", and " Sarai the wife", signify truth conjoined with good, (n. 1468, 1901).

2063. Thou shalt not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name. That this signifies that He will put off the human, and will put on the Divine, is evident from what was said of Abraham above (verse 5), where occur the words, "thy name shall no more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham", by which in like manner there is signified that He will put off the human, and will put on the Divine (n. 2009). For the letter H which was added to the name "Sarah", was taken from the name "Jehovah", so that Sarah, like Abraham, should represent the Lord's Divine; and that thus should be represented the Divine marriage of Good with Truth in the Lord-Abraham representing the Divine Good, and Sarah the Divine Truth-from which should be born the Divine Rational, which is Isaac.

[2] The Divine Good, which is Love, and which in regard to the whole human race is Mercy, was the Lord's Internal, that is, Jehovah, who is Good itself: this is represented by Abraham. The truth that was to be conjoined with the Divine Good was represented by Sarai; and this truth when also made Divine is represented by Sarah; for the Lord advanced to union with Jehovah successively, as already said. The truth not yet Divine represented by Sarai, was such when it was not yet so united to good as to be truth from good. But when it was so united to good as to proceed from good, it was then Divine; and the truth itself was then also good, because it was the truth of good. The truth which tends to good in order that it may be united to good, is one thing; and that which is so united to good as to proceed wholly from good, is another. The truth which is tending to good still derives something from the human; but that which is wholly united to good has put off all that is human, and has put on the Divine.

[3] This may be illustrated as before, by what is similar with man. When a man is being regenerated, that is, when he is to be conjoined with the Lord, he proceeds to the conjunction by means of truth, that is, by means of the truths of faith; for no one can be regenerated except by means of the knowledges of faith, which are the truths by means of which he proceeds to conjunction. The Lord goes to meet these by means of good, that is, by means of charity, and adjusts and fits this in to the knowledges of faith, that is, to its truths; for all truths are recipient vessels of good, and therefore the more genuine the truths are, and the more they are multiplied, the more abundantly can good accept them as vessels, reduce them to order, and finally manifest itself; so that at last the truths do not appear, except in so far as good shines through them. In this way truth becomes the celestial spiritual. As the Lord is present solely in the good which is of charity, the man is in this way conjoined with the Lord, and by means of good, that is, by means of charity, is gifted with conscience, from which he afterwards thinks what is true and does what is right; but this conscience is in accordance with the truths and right things into which the good or charity is adjusted and fitted.

2064. Verse 16. And I will bless her, and I will give thee a son from her also; and I will bless her, and she shall be for nations; kings of peoples shall be from her. "I will bless her", signifies the multiplication of truth; "and I will give thee a son from her also", signifies the rational; "and I will bless her", signifies its multiplication; "and she shall be for nations", signifies the goods thence derived; "kings of peoples shall be from her", signifies truths from the conjoined truths and goods, which are the "kings of peoples".

2065. I will bless her. That this signifies the multiplication of truth, is evident from the signification of "being blessed", which is to be enriched with all good and truth (n. 981, 1096, 1420, 1422). As it is here said to Sarah that God would bless her, the enrichment or multiplication of truth is signified; for by Sarah, as before shown, is represented and signified the truth of good, which is intellectual truth; and this truth and its multiplication are here treated of. What intellectual truth is see (n. 1904).

2066. And I will give thee a son from her also. That this signifies the rational, is evident from the signification of a " son", as being truth (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147); and as all that is rational begins from truth, the rational is here signified by a "son". The Lord's first rational was represented and signified by Ishmael, born of Hagar the handmaid treated of in the preceding chapter 16. The second rational, treated of here, is represented and signified by Isaac who was to be born from Sarah. The former, that is, the rational represented by Ishmael, was the rational that was afterwards expelled from the house; but this second rational, represented by Isaac, is that which remained in the house, because it was Divine. But concerning this rational, of the Lord's Divine mercy we shall speak in the following chapter, where Isaac is treated of.

2067. And I will bless her. That this signifies its multiplication, that is,- the multiplication of the rational meant by the "son", is evident from the signification of being "blessed", which is to be enriched with all good and truth.

2068. And she shall be for nations. That this signifies the goods thence derived, is evident from the signification of "nations", as being goods (n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849).

2069. Kings of peoples shall be from her. That this signifies truths from the conjoined truths and goods, which are the "kings of peoples", is evident from the signification of "kings", as being in general all truths (n. 2015); and from the signification of "peoples", as also being truths, and in general all things spiritual; for "kings" are predicated of peoples, and not of nations except when nations signify evils (n. 1259, 1260). In the prophetic Word there is frequent mention of "kings" and "peoples;" but by these are never meant kings and peoples; for in the very Word itself, which is the internal sense, kings and peoples are not treated of at all, but the celestial and spiritual things which belong to the Lord's kingdom, thus goods and truths. The sense of the letter simply furnishes objective forms (as is done by human words) for causing its meaning to be understood.

[2] As it is here said of Sarah that "kings of peoples shall be from her", and as by "Sarah" is signified the Divine truth which the Lord had, it is evident that by "kings of peoples" are signified truths from the conjoined truths and goods, which are all truths of the internal church, or the interior truths of faith. These truths, being from the Lord, are called "kings" in various passages of the Word, and also "king's sons", as shown above (n. 2015).

[3] Every one can see that some internal Divine thing lies hidden in the words that "kings of peoples shall be from her"-for in this verse Isaac is treated of, and in reference to him it is said, "I will bless her and she shall be for nations;" but of Sarah, that "kings and peoples shall be from her"-and also in nearly the same thing being said of Abraham (verse 6), in that "kings should come forth" from him; but it is not said of him as of Sarah, that "kings of peoples" should be from him. The arcanum that is herein lies too deeply hidden to be unfolded and described in a few words. From the representation and signification of Abraham as being the Divine Good, and from the representation and signification of Sarah as being the Divine Truth, the arcanum is in some measure evident to the effect that all celestial truth will go forth and will be from the Lord's Divine Good, meant by "Abraham;" and that all spiritual truth will go forth and will be from the Lord's Divine Truth, meant by "Sarah". Celestial truth is that which is with the celestial angels, and spiritual truth is that which is with the spiritual angels; or what is the same thing, celestial truth is that which was with the men of the Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood, and which was a celestial church; and spiritual truth is that which was with the men of the Ancient Church, which was after the flood, and which was a spiritual church. For angels, as well as men of the church, are distinguished into the celestial and the spiritual. The celestial are distinguished from the spiritual by love to the Lord; and the spiritual are distinguished from the celestial by love toward the neighbor.

[4] But concerning celestial truth and spiritual truth no more can be said until it is known what the distinction is between the celestial and the spiritual, or what is the same, between the celestial church and the spiritual church (n. 202, 337, 1577; also what was the quality of the Most Ancient Church, and what that of the Ancient Church, (n. 597, 607, 640, 765, 1114-1125), and in many other places; and that to have love to the Lord is celestial, and to have love toward the neighbor is spiritual, (n. 2023).

[5] These considerations will suffice to open the arcanum that by the "kings" who should go forth from Abraham, spoken of in the sixth verse, are signified the celestial truths that inflow from the Lord's Divine Good; and that by the "kings of peoples" who should be from Sarah, spoken of in the present verse, are signified the spiritual truths that inflow from the Lord's Divine Truth. For the Lord's Divine good cannot inflow except with the celestial man, because it inflows into the will part, as it did in the case of the Most Ancient Church; but the Lord's Divine truth inflows with the spiritual man, because it inflows solely into his intellectual part, which in him has been separated from his will part (n. 2053, at the end) or what is the same, celestial good inflows with the celestial man, and spiritual good with the spiritual man; and on this account the Lord appears to the celestial angels as a Sun, but to the spiritual as a Moon (n. 1529, 1530).

2070. Verse 17. And Abraham fell upon his faces, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall there be born to a son of a hundred years? and shall Sarah that is a daughter of ninety years bear? "Abraham fell upon his faces", signifies adoration; "and laughed", signifies the affection of truth; "and said in his heart", signifies that He so thought; "shall there be born to a son of a hundred years?" signifies that the rational of the Lord's Human Essence should then be united to His Divine Essence; "and shall Sarah that is a daughter of ninety years hear?" signifies that truth conjoined with good will do this.

2071. Abraham fell upon his faces. That this signifies adoration, is evident from the signification of "falling upon the faces", as being to adore (n. 1999).

2072. And laughed. That this signifies the affection of truth, may be seen from the origin and essence of laughter, for its origin is nothing but the affection of truth, or else the affection of what is false, from which come the gladness and merriment that in laughter display themselves in the face, which shows that the essence of laughter is nothing else. Laughter is indeed an external thing that belongs to the body because to the face; but in the Word interior things are expressed and signified by exterior things; just as all the interior affections of the mind are expressed and signified by means of the face, interior hearing and obedience being signified by the ear, interior sight or understanding by the eye, power and strength by the hand and arm, and so on, and in the same way the affection of truth by laughter.

[2] In man's rational there is truth, which is its chief characteristic, and there is also the affection of good, but this is in the very affection of truth as its soul. The affection of good which is in the rational does not display itself by means of laughter, but by means of a certain joy and consequent pleasurable delight which does not laugh; for in laughter there is usually something that is not so good. The reason why truth is the chief characteristic in man's rational, is that the rational is formed by means of the knowledges of truth, for by no other means can any one ever become rational. The knowledges of good are truths, equally as much as are the knowledges of truth.

[3] That "laughter" here signifies the affection of truth, may be seen from its being related that Abraham laughed; and in like manner Sarah, both before Isaac was born, and afterwards; and also from Isaac's being named from "laughter", for the word "Isaac" means "laughter". That Abraham laughed when he heard about Isaac, is evident from this verse, for it is said that Abraham laughed when he heard about a son from Sarah. That Sarah also laughed before Isaac's birth, when she heard from Jehovah that she should bear a son, is told in the words, "When Sarah heard at the door of the tent, Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am grown old shall I have pleasure? and my lord old? And Jehovah said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, and I am become old? Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was, afraid. And He said, Nay, but thou didst laugh" (Gen. 18:12, 13, 15). And later, when Isaac had been born, "Abraham called the name of his son Isaac" (meaning "laughter"); and Sarah said, "God hath made laughter for me; every one that heareth shall laugh with me" (Gen. 21:3, 6). Unless "laughing" and the name "Isaac", meaning "laughter", involved such things, these matters would never have been related.

2073. And said in his heart. That this signifies that he so thought, is evident without explication.

2074. Shall there be born to a son of a hundred years? That this signifies that the rational of the Lord's Human Essence should then be united to the Divine Essence, is evident from the signification of "a hundred" (n. 1988).

2075. And shall Sarah that is a daughter of ninety years bear? That this signifies that truth conjoined with good will do this, is evident from the representation and signification of "Sarah", as being truth conjoined with good, that is, truth Divine; and from the signification of the number "ninety", or what is the same, of "nine". One cannot but wonder that the number "a hundred years", which was Abraham's age, signifies that the rational of the Lord's Human Essence should be united to His Divine Essence; and that the number "ninety years", which was Sarah's age, signifies that truth conjoined with good would do this. But as there is nothing in the Lord's Word which is not heavenly and Divine, so must it be with the very numbers contained in it. It was shown that in the Word all numbers whatever signify actual things, equally as do all the names (n. 482, 487, 488, 493, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 893, 1988).

[2] Now that the number "nine" signifies conjunction, and still more the number "ninety", which is the product of the multiplication of nine into ten (for "ten" signifies the remains by which conjunction is effected, as is evident from what was said above, n. 1988, at the end), may also be seen from the representatives and significatives which now follow. It was commanded that on the tenth day of the seventh month there should be a day of expiations, and that this should be a Sabbath of a Sabbath; and on the ninth day of the seventh month at evening, from evening even to evening, they should celebrate a Sabbath (Lev. 23:27, 32).

[3] In the internal sense these things signify conjunction by means of remains - "nine" signifying conjunction, and "ten" signifying remains. That a Divine arcanum lies hidden in these numbers, is clearly evident from the months and the days of the year that were to be held holy; as that every seventh day there was a Sabbath; and that every seventh month, as just stated, there should be a Sabbath of a Sabbath; in like manner the seventh year; and also that on the seven times seventh year the jubilee should commence. The case is the same with all other numbers in the Word; as with "three", the signification of which is nearly the same as that of "seven;" and with "twelve", which signifies all things of faith; and with "ten", which signifies the same as "tenths", that is, remains (n. 576); and so on. Thus in the passage here quoted from Leviticus, unless the number "ten" and the number "nine" involved arcana, it would by no means have been commanded that this Sabbath of a Sabbath should be on the tenth day of the seventh month, and that on the ninth of the month they should celebrate it. Such is the Word of the Lord in the internal sense, although in the historical sense nothing of the kind appears.

[4] In the same way it is related of Jerusalem that it was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar in the ninth year of Zedekiah, and that a breach was made in the eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month; concerning which we read as follows in the second book of Kings: -

It came to pass in the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah, in the tenth month, in the tenth of the month, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah on the ninth of the month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land, and a breach was made in the city (2 Kings 25:1, 3, 4).

By the "ninth year" and the "tenth month", and by the "eleventh year" and the "ninth of the month", when the famine prevailed in the city and there was no bread for the people of the land, is signified in the internal sense that there was no longer any conjunction by means of the things of faith and of charity; "famine in the city and no bread for the people of the land", signifies that there was nothing of faith and nothing of charity left. This is the internal sense of these words, which does not at all appear in the letter; and such things shine forth from the historical portions of the Word still less than from the prophetical, because the histories so captivate the mind that it is scarcely believed that anything deeper lies hidden within; when yet all things are representative, and the words themselves are everywhere significative. These things are hard to believe, but still they are true (n. 1769-1772).

2076. Verse 18. And Abraham said unto God, Would that Ishmael might live before Thee! "Abraham said unto God", signifies the Lord's perception from love; "Would that Ishmael might live before Thee", signifies that others who are rational from truth should not perish.

2077. Abraham said unto God. That this signifies the Lord's perception from love, is evident from the signification of "saying unto God", as being to perceive, which has often been explained before. That "Abraham" here signifies the Lord in such a state and at such an age, has been stated above (n. 1989). That the Lord said this from love, is evident, for the affection of love shines forth from the very words when it is said, "Would that Ishmael might live before Thee!" The Lord's affection or love was Divine, being toward the universal human race, which He willed to completely adjoin to Himself, and to save to eternity, by means of the union of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence, concerning which love, (n. 1735). From this love the Lord continually fought against the hells, (n. 1690, 1789, 1812); also in the union of His Human with His Divine, He regarded nothing but the conjunction of the Divine with the human race, (n. 2034).

[2] Love such as the Lord had transcends all human understanding, and is in the highest degree incredible to those who do not know what the heavenly love is in which the angels are. To save a soul from hell, the angels would regard death as nothing, nay, if it were possible they would undergo hell for that soul. Hence it is the inmost of their joy to translate into heaven one who is rising from the dead. But they confess that this love is not one whit from themselves, but that all things of it both in general and in particular are from the Lord alone; nay, they manifest irritation if any one thinks otherwise.

2078. Would that Ishmael might live before Thee! That this signifies that others who are rational from truth should not perish, is evident from the representation and consequent signification of "Ishmael", as being the rational (explained in the foregoing chapter, where Ishmael is treated of). There are two kinds of men within the church; the spiritual, and the celestial. The spiritual become rational from truth, but the celestial from good. What the distinction between them is may be seen above (n. 2069). The spiritual, who become rational by means of truth, are here meant by "Ishmael;" for "Ishmael" denotes rational truth in its genuine sense, as before shown (n. 1893, 1950, 1951). When this rational truth is being adopted and desired by good, as here by the Lord who is meant by "Abraham", it signifies what is spiritual, thus the spiritual man, or what is the same, the spiritual church, the salvation of which was desired by the Lord from Divine love (n. 2077). This is expressed by the words, "would that Ishmael might live before Thee".

2079. Verse 19. And God said, Truly Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will set up My covenant with him for an eternal covenant, to his seed after him. "God said", signifies an answer perceived; "truly Sarah thy wife", signifies the Divine truth conjoined with good; "shall bear thee a son", signifies that the rational is from this; "and thou shalt call his name Isaac", signifies the Divine rational; "and I will set up My covenant with him", signifies union; "for an eternal covenant", signifies an eternal union; "to his seed after him", signifies those who should have faith in the Lord.

2080. God said. That this signifies an answer perceived, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive (n. 2077). And as in the preceding verse we read that "Abraham said", and this signified perception, and as here we read that " God said", or answered, it follows that this signifies an answer perceived, or an answer of perception. In all perception whatever there is both a propounding and a reply. The perception of both of these is here expressed in the historical sense by the words "Abraham said unto God", and "God said". (That "God said" denotes to perceive, may be seen above, (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919); and also in this chapter repeatedly).

2081. Truly Sarah thy wife. That this signifies Divine truth conjoined with good, is evident from the representation and the consequent signification of "Sarah", as being Divine truth conjoined with good (n. 2063).

2082. Shall bear thee a son. That this signifies that the rational will be from this conjunction of Divine truth with Divine good, is evident from the signification of a "son", as being truth, here rational truth (n. 2066).

2083. And thou shalt call his name Isaac. That this signifies the Divine rational, is evident from the representation of Isaac, and also from the signification of his "name" in the internal sense. First, from the representation of Isaac: Abraham, as said in various places before, represents the Lord's internal man, but Isaac His rational man, and Jacob His natural man. The Lord's internal man was Jehovah Himself. His rational man, because conceived from the influx of His internal man into the affection of memory-knowledges in the external man (n. 1896, 1902, 1910), was from the Divine thus conjoined with the Human. Hence the first rational, represented by Ishmael, was human; but it was made Divine by the Lord, and then is represented by Isaac. Secondly, from the signification of his " name:" Isaac was named from "laughter;" and as in the internal sense "laughter" signifies the affection of truth, which affection belongs to the rational, as Was shown above (n. 2072), "laughter" here signifies the Divine rational.

[2] The Lord from His own power made Divine all that was human with Him; thus not only the rational, but also the interior and the exterior sensuous part, and thereby the body itself. He thus united the Human to the Divine. That not only the rational, but also the sensuous part, and thus the whole body also, was made Divine and Jehovah, has been already shown, and may be seen by every one from the fact that He alone rose from the dead as to the body, and sits at the right hand of the Divine power both as to all the Divine and as to all the human. To sit at the right hand of the Divine power, signifies to have all sovereign power in heaven and in earth.

2084. And I will set up My covenant with him for an eternal covenant. That this signifies union, and in fact eternal union, is evident from the signification of a "covenant", as being conjunction; and when it is predicated of the Lord, as being the union of His Divine Essence with His Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence. A "covenant" signifies these things (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864)

2085. To his seed after him. That this signifies those who should have faith in the Lord, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being faith (n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 2034). Those are here signified by "seed" who have the faith of love, that is, who have love to the Lord; consequently the celestial, or those who are of the celestial church; for the seed from Isaac is treated of. But they who have the faith of charity, that is, who have charity toward the neighbor- consequently the spiritual, or those who are of the spiritual church-are signified by "Ishmael", who is treated of in the verse that now follows. (What the distinction is between the celestial and the spiritual, may be seen above, (n. 2069, 2078); and also what the distinction is between having love to the Lord and having charity toward the neighbor, (n. 2023).

2086. Verse 20. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold I will bless him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him very exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. "As for Ishmael, I have heard thee", signifies those who are rational from truth, that they are to be saved; "behold I will bless him", signifies that they would be imbued and gifted; "I will make him fruitful", signifies with the goods of faith; "and will multiply him", signifies with the truths thence derived; "very exceedingly", signifies beyond measure; "twelve princes shall he beget", signifies the primary precepts of the faith which is of charity; "and I will make him a great nation", signifies the fruition of goods and their increase.

2087. As for Ishmael, I have heard thee. That this signifies those who are rational from truth, that they are to be saved, is evident from the representation of Ishmael in this place, as being those who are rational from truth, or the spiritual (n. 2078); and that they are to be saved, is evident from the signification of "hearing thee", as may be seen without explication.

2088. Behold I will bless him; and will make him fruitful very exceedingly. That this signifies that they should be imbued and gifted with the goods of faith and with the derivative truths beyond measure, is evident from the signification of being "blessed", of being "fruitful", and of being "multiplied". To be "blessed" signifies to be gifted with all goods (n. 981, 1096, 1420, 1422). To be "fruitful" denotes the goods of faith with which they should be gifted; and to be "multiplied" denotes the truths thence derived (n. 43, 55, 913, 983).

[2] Who the celestial are, and who the spiritual, it would be too tedious to describe here, and they have been described already (n. 81, 597, 607, 765, 2069, 2078, and in many other places). In general, the celestial are those who have love to the Lord, and the spiritual those who have charity toward the neighbor. (What the distinction is between having love to the Lord, and having charity toward the neighbor, may be seen above, n. 2023). The celestial are those who are in the affection of good from good; but the spiritual are those who are in the affection of good from truth. In the beginning all were celestial, because they were in love to the Lord; and hence they received perception, by which they perceived good, not from truth, but from the affection of good.

[3] But afterwards, when love to the Lord was no longer such as it had been, spiritual men followed, those men being called spiritual who were in love toward the neighbor, or in charity. But love toward the neighbor, or charity, was implanted by means of truth; and thereby they received conscience, and acted in accordance with it, not from the affection of good, but from the affection of truth. Charity, with the spiritual, appears like the affection of good; but it is the affection of truth. From this appearance, charity is still called good; but it is the good of their faith. These are they who are meant by the Lord in John: I am the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture I am the good shepherd and I know Mine own, and am known of Mine and other sheep I have which are not of this fold them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd (John 10:9, 14, 16).

2089. Twelve princes shall he beget. That this signifies the primary precepts which are of charity, is evident from the signification of "twelve", as being all things of faith; and from the signification of "princes", as being primary things. "King" and "princes" are mentioned in various parts of the Word; but in the internal sense they never signify king or princes, but the primary things of the matter in connection with which they are mentioned. (That "kings" signify truths in one complex has been already shown, (n. 2015); also that "princes" are the primaries of truth, which are precepts, (n. 1482). Hence the angels in fact the spiritual angels-are called "principalities", because they are in truths. The term "princes" is predicated from the truths which are of charity; for, as before said (n. 1832), the spiritual, by means of the truths that appear to them as truths receive charity from the Lord, and through this, conscience.

[2] That "twelve" signifies all the things of faith, has been hitherto unknown to the world; and yet whenever the number "twelve" occurs in the Word, whether in the historic or the prophetic part, it signifies nothing else. By the "twelve sons" of Jacob, and derivatively by the "twelve tribes" named from them, the same is signified; and also by the "twelve disciples" of the Lord. Each son of Jacob, and each of the twelve disciples, represented an essential and primary of faith. (What was represented by each son of Jacob, and so by each tribe, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be told in what follows, where the sons of Jacob are treated of, Gen. 29 and 30).

2090. And I will make him a great nation. That this signifies the fruition of goods and their increase, is evident from the signification of "nations", as being goods (n. 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849); and therefore to "make a great nation", here signifies both the fruition and the increase of goods.

2091. Verse 21. And My covenant will I set up with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the following year. "My covenant will I set up with Isaac", signifies union with the Divine rational; "whom Sarah shall bear unto thee", signifies the Divine truth conjoined with Good, from which it will come forth; "at this set time in the following year", signifies a state of union then.

2092. My covenant will I set up with Isaac. That this signifies union with the Divine rational, is evident from the signification of a "covenant", as being union (explained before); and from the representation of "Isaac", as being the Divine rational (n. 2083).

2093. Whom Sarah shall bear unto thee. That this signifies the Divine truth conjoined with the Divine good, from which it will come forth, is evident from the representation of " Sarah", as being the Divine truth (n. 2063, 2081); and from the representation of "Abraham", as being the Divine good (n. 2063).

[2] How the Lord's first rational was conceived and born, has been stated in the foregoing chapter, where "Ishmael" is treated of, by whom that rational was represented. But here, and also in the following chapter, that rational is treated of which was made Divine by the Lord, and this by the conjunction, as by marriage, of the Divine good with the Divine truth. The first rational cannot be conceived otherwise than by the influx of the internal man into the affection of memory-knowledges in the external man; nor can it be born otherwise than from the affection of memory-knowledges, which was represented by Hagar, Sarah's handmaid (n. 1896, 1902, 1910).

[3] But the second or Divine rational is not conceived and born in this way, but by means of the conjunction of the truth of the internal man with the good of the same, and the influx thence derived. With the Lord this was effected of His own proper power from the Divine itself, that is, from Jehovah As has been repeatedly stated above, His internal man was Jehovah; and the good itself that was represented by Abraham belonged to His internal man, as also did the truth itself that was represented by Sarah, and therefore both were Divine. From this source therefore was the Lord's Divine rational conceived and born; and in fact from the influx of the good into the truth, and thus by means of the truth; for the chief characteristic of the rational is truth (n. 2072). On this account it is here said, "whom Sarah shall bear unto thee", which signifies Divine truth conjoined with Good, from which that Divine rational will come forth; and above (verse 17) it was said that Sarah was a "daughter of ninety years", which signifies that the truth conjoined with good shall do this.

[4] With every man whatever because he has been created in the likeness and image of God, the like, but not the equal of this takes place, that is to say, his first rational is also conceived and born by means of the influx of his internal man into the life of the affection of memory-knowledges in his external man; but his second rational, from the influx of the good and truth from the Lord through his internal man. This second rational he receives from the Lord when he is being regenerated, for he then perceives in his rational what the good and the truth of faith are. In man the internal man is above his rational, and is the Lord's (n. 1889, 1940).

2094. In the preceding chapter, and up to this point in the present one, the subject has been the conception and birth of the rational that appertained to the Lord; and how it was made Divine is also treated of in what follows. But some may suppose that to know these things does not conduce much to faith, provided it is known that the Lord's Human Essence was made Divine, and that the Lord is God as to both the Human Essence and the Divine Essence. But the case is this: They who in simplicity believe this to be so, do not need to know how it was effected, for knowing how it was effected is simply for the end that they may believe it to be so.

[2] But at the present day there are many who believe nothing unless they know from reason that it is so, as may be clearly seen from the fact that few believe in the Lord, although they confess Him with the lips because this is according to the doctrine of faith. Yet still they say to themselves and to one another that if they knew it could be so they would believe. The reason why they do not believe and yet say this, is that the Lord was born as are other men, and in the external form was like others. These persons cannot possibly receive any faith unless they first comprehend in some measure how it can be so, and this is why these things have been explained. They who believe the Word in simplicity have no need to know all these things, for they are already in the end to which the others just described cannot come except by a knowledge (cognitio) of such things.

[3] Moreover these are the things that are contained in the internal sense, and the internal sense is the Word of the Lord in the heavens, and is so perceived by those who are there. When a man is in the truth, that is, in the internal sense, he can make one as to thought with those in heaven, even though he may be in a relatively very general and obscure idea. The celestial in heaven, who are in faith itself, look at these things from good, and see that they are so; but the spiritual look at them from truth and are also confirmed, and thus perfected, by such things as are contained in the internal sense; but this by thousands of interior reasons which cannot flow perceptibly into man's idea.

2095. At this set time in the following year. That this signifies a state of union then, is evident from what has been said concerning the age of Abraham, in that he was a "son of a hundred years;" and concerning that of Sarah, in that she was a "daughter of ninety years", when Isaac was to be born; by which was signified that the rational of the Lord's Human Essence would then be united to His Divine Essence, and that truth conjoined with good would effect this (n. 1988, 2074, 2075). So that the "following year" is a state of union.

2096. Verse 22. And He left off speaking with him; and God went up from over Abraham. "He left off speaking with him", signifies the end of this perception; "and God went up from over Abraham", signifies the Lord's entrance into the former state.

2097. He left off speaking with him. That this signifies the end of this perception, is evident from the signification of " speaking" and "saying", as being in the internal sense to perceive; and therefore to "leave off speaking" is to be no longer in such perception.

2098. And God went up from over Abraham. That this signifies the Lord's entrance into the former state, follows from what has been said, and therefore without explication. That during His life in the world the Lord had two states, one of humiliation, and the other of glorification, has been shown before (n. 1603, 2033); and as He had two states, it is evident that He had two states of perception. He was in a state of glorification, that is, of union of the Human with the Divine, when He perceived the things that are contained in the internal sense of this chapter up to this point; but that He was no longer in such perception is expressed by the words, "He left off speaking with him, and God went up from over Abraham".

2099. Verse 23. And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his silver, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God spake with him. "Abraham took Ishmael his son", signifies those who are truly rational; "and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his silver, and every male among the men of Abraham's house", signifies here as before those who are within the church, with whom the truths of faith are being conjoined with goods; "and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin", signifies their purification and righteousness from the Lord; "in the selfsame day", signifies the state that has been spoken of; "as God spake with him", signifies in accordance with the perception.

2100. Abraham took Ishmael his son. That this signifies those who are truly rational, is evident from the signification of "Ishmael", as being those who are rational from truth, that is, the spiritual (n. 2078, 2087, 2088).

2101. All that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his silver, every male among the men of Abraham's house. That this signifies those who are within the church, with whom the truths of faith are conjoined with goods, is evident from the signification of "those born in the house", as being the celestial; from the signification of "those bought with silver", as being the spiritual; and from these being within the church, as explained above (n. 2048, 2051, 2052); and also from the signification of a "male", as being those who are in the truth of faith (n. 2046), from all which it is evident that they are meant who are within the church, with whom the truths of faith are conjoined with goods.

2102. And circumcised the flesh of their foreskin. That this signifies their purification and righteousness from the Lord, is evident from the signification of being "circumcised", as being to be purified from the loves of self and of the world (n. 2039); also from the signification of "circumcising the flesh of the foreskin", as being the removal of these loves (n. 2041, 2053, 2057); where it was further shown that those loves are the sole obstacle to the influx and operation of the good and truth from the Lord, and consequently to the application of the Lord's righteousness to man).

[2] This whole chapter has treated of the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence; and concerning the conjunction of the Lord with man by means of His Human Essence made Divine; and also concerning circumcision, that is, purification from the filthy things in man. All these things are in one series, and follow one from another; for the union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence in the Lord was effected to the end that the Divine might be conjoined with man; and the conjunction of the Divine with man cannot be effected unless man is purified from those loves; but as soon as he is being purified from them, the Lord's Divine Human flows in, and thus conjoins man with itself. This shows the nature of the Word, namely, that when what is signified in the internal sense is understood, the Word is all connected together in a becoming and beautiful series.

2103. In the selfsame day. That this signifies the state - that has been spoken of, is evident from the signification of "day", as being in the internal sense state (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893).

2104. As God spake with him. That this signifies in accordance with the perception, is evident from the signification of "God saying" and "speaking", as being to perceive (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2097).

2105. Verses 24-26. And Abraham was a son of ninety and nine years when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was a son of thirteen years when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. "Abraham was a son of ninety and nine years", signifies the state and time before the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence; "when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin", signifies when He utterly expelled the evils of the external man; "and Ishmael his son", signifies those who by virtue of the truths of faith are made rational by the Lord; "a son of thirteen years", signifies holy remains; "when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin", signifies, as before, purification; "in the selfsame day", signifies that it was then; "was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son", signifies that when the Lord conjoined His Human Essence with His Divine Essence, He also conjoined with Himself all others who become rational from truth, and saved them.

2106. Abraham was a son of ninety and nine years. That this signifies the state and time before the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence, is evident from the signification of "ninety-nine years", as being the time before the Lord fully conjoined the internal man with the rational (n. 1988). The Lord's internal man, as already shown, was Jehovah Himself, that is, the Divine itself; which, when it was united to the Human, was united to the rational; for the human begins in the inmost of the rational, and extends itself thence to man's external.

2107. When he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. That this signifies when He utterly expelled the evils of His external man, is evident from the signification of "being circumcised", as being to be purified from the loves of self and of the world, or what is the same, from evils; for all evils come from these loves (n. 2039, 2041, 2053, 2057); and that the Lord expelled the evils by His own power, and thereby made His Human Essence Divine, has been abundantly shown, and now just above (n. 2025).

2108. Ishmael his son. That this signifies those who become rational from the truths of faith, is evident from the representation of Ishmael here, as being those who become rational from truth, that is, who become spiritual (n. 2078, 2087, 2088).

2109. A son of thirteen years. That this signifies holy remains, may be seen from the signification of "ten", as being remains (n. 576, 1988); and from the signification of "three", as being what is holy (n. 720, 901). Thus the number "thirteen", being composed of ten and three, signifies holy remains. That numbers in the Word signify actual things (n. 482, 487, 488, 493, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 893). What the remains with man are (n. 468, 530, 561, 660, 1050, 1906).

2110. When he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. That this signifies purification, is evident from the signification of "being circumcised", as being to be purified from the loves of self and of the world (n. 2039); and from the signification of "circumcising the flesh of the foreskin", as being the removal of those loves (n. 2041, 2053, 2057).

2111. In the selfsame day. That this signifies that it was then, is evident from the signification of "day", as being time and state (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893).

2112. Was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. That this signifies that when the Lord conjoined His Human Essence with His Divine Essence, He also conjoined with Himself all others who become rational from truth and saved them, is evident from the representation of Abraham in this chapter, as being the Lord in that state and at that age (n. 1989); and from the representation of Ishmael here, as being those who become rational from truth (n. 2078, 2087, 2088); and also from the signification of "being circumcised", as being to be purified (n. 2039), and when predicated of the Lord, to be glorified, and thus to put off the human and to put on the Divine. That to be glorified is to put on the Divine (n. 2033); and that the Lord then conjoined with Himself those who become rational from truth, that is, the spiritual (n. 2034, 2078, 2088).

2113. Verse 27. And all the men of his house, he that was born in the house, and he that was bought with silver, from the son that is a stranger, were circumcised with him. "All the men of his house, he that was born in the house, and he that was bought with silver", signifies all those who are within the church; "from the son that is a stranger", signifies all who are rational outside the church; "were circumcised by him", signifies that they were justified by the Lord.

2114. All the men of his house, he that was born in the house, and he that was bought with silver. That this signifies all those who are within the church, is evident from the signification of "him that was born in the house", as being the celestial; and from the signification of "those bought with silver", as being the spiritual (n. 2048, 2051, 2052); and also that these are they who are within the church, for all who are within the church, that is, all who constitute the church, are either celestial or spiritual; but who the celestial and who the spiritual are, may be seen above (n. 2088). In this last verse of this chapter there is a summary of all that has been said above, namely, that they who have been purified from the loves of self and of the world, both those within the church and those outside the church, are justified by the Lord. Both these classes are called the "men of the house;" for in the internal sense "the house" signifies the Lord's kingdom (n. 2048).

2115. From the son that is a stranger. That this signifies all who are rational outside the church, is evident from the signification of a "stranger", as being those who are outside the church (n. 2049), and thus the Gentiles who have not the Word and therefore have learned nothing about the Lord; and the these when rational are just as much saved, that is, when they live together in charity or mutual love, and have gained something of conscience in accordance with their own religion (n. 593, 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328).

2116. That they "were circumcised by (ab) him" signifies that they are justified by the Lord, may be seen from the representation and thence the signification of "being circumcised", as being to be purified (n. 2039). Their "being circumcised by him", that is, by Abraham, was also representative, namely, that they are purified and thereby justified by the Lord. But in regard to justification, the case is not as is commonly supposed, namely, that all evils and sins are wiped away and utterly blotted out when men, as they imagine, believe - even if it were their last and dying hour - however they may have lived in evils and in misdeeds during the entire course of their lives; for I have been fully instructed that not the smallest evil which a man during his bodily life has thought and has carried out into act is wiped away and utterly blotted out; but that it all remains, even to the very least of it.

[2] The truth is that with those who have meditated and practised acts of hatred, of revenge, of cruelty, and of adultery, and who thereby have lived in no charity, the life thence contracted awaits them after death, nay, so do all things of that life both in general and in particular, which return in succession; and from this comes their torment in hell. But with those who have lived in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, their evils of life also all remain, but they are tempered by the goods which during their life in the world they have received from the Lord by means of a life of charity; and thereby they are uplifted into heaven, nay, are withheld from the evils which they have appertaining to them, so that these do not appear. They who in the other life doubt their having evils with them, because the evils do not appear, are let into them until they know that the case is really so, and then are again uplifted into heaven.

[3] This then is what is meant by being justified; for in this way men come to acknowledge not their own righteousness, but that of the Lord. As to its being said that those are saved who have faith - this is true; but in the Word by "faith" nothing else is meant than love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, and thus a life from these loves. The doctrine things and dogmas of faith are not faith, but belong to faith; for they are one and all for the sake of the end that a man may become such as they teach him to be, as may be clearly seen from the Lord's words that in love to God and love toward the neighbor consist all the law and the prophets, that is, the universal doctrine of faith (Matt. 22:34-39; Mark. 12:28-35). That there cannot possibly be any other faith that is faith (n. 30-38, 379, 389, 724, 809, 896, 904, 916, 989, 1017, 1076, 1077, 1121, 1158, 1162, 1176, 1258, 1285, 1316, 1608, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1843, 1844); and also that heaven itself consists in love to the Lord and in mutual love, (n. 537, 547, 553, 1112, 2057).

 

CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT

2117. Few at this day know what the Last Judgment is. They suppose that it will come together with the destruction of the world; and this gives rise to the notion that the whole globe will perish by fire, together with all things in the visible world; and that then for the first time the dead will rise again and will be brought to judgment, the evil being cast into hell, and the good ascending into heaven. These conjectures originate in the prophetical statements of the Word - where mention is made of a new heaven and a new earth, and also of the New Jerusalem - those who make them not being aware that in the internal sense such prophetical statements have a totally different meaning from that which appears in the sense of the letter; and that by "heaven" is not meant the sky, nor by "earth" the earth, but the Lord's church in general, and with every one in particular.

2118. By the Last Judgment is meant the last time of a church, and also the last state of each person's life. As regards the last time of the church, it was the Last Judgment of the Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood, when their posterity perished; whose destruction is described by the flood The Last Judgment of the Ancient Church, which was after the flood, was when almost all who were of that church became idolators, and were dispersed. The Last Judgment of the Representative Church, which succeeded among the posterity of Jacob, was when the ten tribes were carried away into captivity, and were dispersed among the nations; and when later, after the Lord's coming, the Jews were driven out of the land of Canaan, and were scattered throughout the world. The Last Judgment of the present church, which is called the Christian Church, is what is meant by John in the Apocalypse by the "New Heaven and the New Earth".

2119. That the last state of each person's life when he dies, is his Last Judgment, is not hidden from some, but still few believe it; when yet it is a constant truth that every man after death rises again into the other life, and is brought to judgment. But this Judgment takes place as follows. As soon as man's corporeals grow cold, which takes place after a few days, he is resuscitated by the Lord, by means of the celestial angels, who at first are with him. But if the man is such that he cannot remain with those angels, he is received by the spiritual angels; and afterwards in succession by good spirits, for all who come into the other life are without exception welcome and accepted guests. But as every one's desires follow with him, he who had led an evil life cannot stay long with the angels and good spirits, but separates himself from them in succession, until at last he comes to spirits of a life similar in nature to that which he had in the world. It then appears to him as if he were in the life of his body, and in fact it is in itself a continuation of that life. With this life his judgment begins. After periods of delay they who have lived an evil life go down into hell; while they who have lived a good life are by degrees uplifted by the Lord into heaven. Such is the last judgment of each person, as has been shown from experience.

2120. As to what the Lord said concerning the last times, that then the sea and the billows shall roar, the sun be darkened, the moon not give her light, the stars fall from heaven, nation rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and more (Matt. 24:7, 29; Luke 21:25)-these things both in general and in particular signify the state of the church, such as it would be at the time of its Last Judgment. And by the "roaring of the sea" and the "billows" nothing else is signified than that heresies and controversies within the church in general, and in every one in particular, will be thus in uproar. By the "sun" is meant nothing else than love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; by the "moon", faith; and by the "stars", the knowledges of faith; all of which, in the last times, will be thus darkened, will not give light, and will fall from heaven, that is, will vanish away. The like is said by the Lord also in (Isaiah 13:10). So too by "nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom", nothing else is meant than evils against evils, and falsities against falsities and so on. There were many secret reasons why the Lord spoke in this way. That the "seas" "sun", "moon", "stars", "nations", and "kingdoms" have such a signification, I know with certainty.

2121. That a Last Judgment is at hand, cannot be so evident on the earth and within the church as in the other life, whither all souls arrive, and flock together. At this day the world of spirits is full of evil genii and evil spirits, mostly from the Christian world, among whom there reign nothing but hatreds, revenges, cruelties, obscenities, and deceitful machinations. Nor is this the case only with the world of spirits, where souls fresh from the world first arrive, but also with the interior sphere of that world, where those are who have been interiorly evil in respect to their intentions and ends. This likewise is at the present day so crowded that I have wondered there ever could be so great an abundance. For all are not instantly cast down into the hells, because it is according to the laws of order that every such person should return into his life which he had had in the body, and should in this way be brought down by degrees into hell. The Lord casts no one into hell, but every one casts himself there. The result is that these Worlds of spirits are thronged with a crowd of such spirits, who gather and stay there for a time. By their means the souls who come from the world are frightfully infested. Moreover the spirits who are with man (for every man is governed by the Lord through spirits and angels) are more stirred up than heretofore to bring malign influences to bear upon man, and this to such a degree that the angels who are with him can scarcely avert them, but are compelled to inflow into man from a greater distance. In the other life it is from all this very evident that the last time is at hand.

2122. As to what further regards the souls newly arriving from the world, those coming from the Christian world think and plan for scarcely anything else than to become the greatest, and to possess all things; so that all are devoured with the love of self and of the world, which loves are utterly contrary to heavenly order (n. 2057); besides that very many think of nothing but filthy, obscene, and profane things, and among themselves speak of nothing else. They also make nothing of and utterly despise all things that are of charity and faith; and do not acknowledge the Lord Himself; nay, they hate all who confess Him; for in the other life thoughts and hearts speak. besides all this, on account of the infamous life of parents, hereditary evils are becoming more malignant, and like inward fires fostered in secret, stimulate man to greater profanation of what is honorable and pious than heretofore. At the present day such persons flock in crowds into the other life, and fill to repletion the exterior and interior spheres of the world of spirits, as already said. When evil thus begins to prevail, and the equilibrium begins to incline to the side of evil, it is thereby clearly perceived that the last time is at hand, and that the equilibrium is going to be restored by the rejection of those who are within the church, and the reception of others who are outside.

2123. That the last time is at hand may also be seen from this fact in the other life, that all the good which flows in from the Lord through heaven into the world of spirits, is there turned in a moment into what is evil, obscene, and profane, and that all the truth is turned in a moment into falsity; thus mutual love is turned into hatred, sincerity into deceit, and so on; so that those who are there are no longer capable of perceiving anything of what is good and true; and the like redounds upon man, who is governed through spirits with whom those who are in the world of spirits have communication. The certainty of this I have learned by much experience, which, if all advanced, would fill many pages. I have very frequently been permitted to perceive and hear how what is good and true from heaven is turned into what is evil and false, together with the amount and the nature of the change.

2124. I have been told that the good of the will (bonum voluntarium) that existed in the men of the Most Ancient Church, was destroyed in the antediluvians; and that at the present day, with the men of the Christian Church, the good of the intellect (bonum intellectuale) is beginning to perish, insomuch that there is but little of it left; the cause of which is, that they believe nothing except what they apprehend by the senses; and that at this day men not only reason from the senses, but also, by means of a philosophy unknown to the ancients, reason concerning Divine arcana; whereby intellectual light is altogether darkened; a darkening that is becoming so dense as scarcely to admit of being dispelled.

2125. The present quality of the men of the Christian Church was exhibited to my view by means of representations. In a dark cloud there appeared spirits so black that I shuddered, and afterwards others not so horrible; and it was signified to me that I was about to see something. First, there appeared children who were being combed by their mothers so cruelly that the blood ran down; by which was represented that such is the bringing up of little children at this day. Afterwards there appeared a tree which seemed as if it were the tree of knowledge, into which there was seen to climb a great viper, such as to strike one with horror; it appeared to extend all along the trunk of the tree. When the tree with the viper vanished, there appeared a dog; and then a door was opened into an apartment where there was a yellow light as from coals, and there were two women there; it was perceived to be a kitchen, but I am not at liberty to mention what I saw therein. I was told that the tree into which the viper climbed represented the state of the men of the church as they are at this day, in that in place of love and charity they have deadly hatreds that are beset with pretenses of what is honorable, and with deceits, together with wicked thoughts concerning all matters that belong to the faith. But what was seen in the kitchen represented the same hatreds and thoughts in their further developments.

2126. It was further represented how opposed are those now within the church to innocence itself. There appeared a beautiful and innocent little child, at the sight of whom the external bonds by which evil genii and spirits are withheld from abominable deeds were slightly relaxed; and they then began to treat the little child in the most shocking manner - to trample on him, and to will the killing of him, one in one way, and another in another; for in the other life innocence is represented by infants. I remarked that during their bodily life such things do not appear in connection with these men, but it was answered that such are their interiors, and that if the civil laws did not hinder, and also other external bonds, such as the fear of the loss of property, of honor, of reputation, and of their life, they would rush insanely in the same way against all who are innocent. When they heard this answer, they made sport of it also. From what has been said we may see what is the quality of the men of the present day, and also that the last times are at hand.

2127. In the other life there sometimes appears a kind of Last Judgment to the evil when their societies are being broken up; and to the good, when they are being admitted into heaven. Concerning both of these I may relate some things from experience.

2128. The idea of a Last Judgment as presented to the evil, which I have seen two or three times, was as follows. When the spirits around me had combined into mischievous societies, so as to exercise predominance, and did not suffer themselves to be so governed by the law of equilibrium according to order as not to annoy other societies in an excessive manner, and to begin inflicting injury upon them by their overpowering force, there then appeared a band of spirits of considerable magnitude, coming from the quarter in front, a little to the right and above, at the approach of which there was heard a hubbub that as it were rose and fell with a loud roar; and as soon as the spirits heard it they were seized with consternation and terror, the result of which was a confusion; and then the spirits who were in those societies were dispersed, one this way and another that, so that they dissolved away from one another, and no one knew where his companion was. While this lasted, it appeared to the spirits just as if it were the Last Judgment with the destruction of all things. Some uttered lamentations; some from fright as it were lost all heart; in a word, a sense of danger as of a final crisis seized on all.

[2] The sound of those advancing from the quarter in front was heard by them variously; by some as the sound of armed horsemen, and by others otherwise, according to their state of fear and the phantasy it excited. It was perceived by me as a continuous murmur, with undulations rising and falling, and indeed as of many together. I was instructed by those near me that such bands come from that quarter when societies have been evilly combined in this way, and that they know how to dissociate and dissever the one from the other, and at the same time to strike terror, so that nothing is thought of but flight; and that by means of such disjunctions and dispersions all are at last reduced by the Lord into order. I was also told that this is what is signified in the Word by the "east wind".

2129. There are likewise other kinds of tumults, or rather of conflicts, which also present the idea of a Last Judgment, and by which societies that have been evilly combined in respect to their interiors are dissolved, concerning which I may relate what follows. Such spirits are driven into a state in which they do not think in society or communion in the usual way, but each one for himself. From their thoughts thus at variance, and the confused sound of their jarring speech, an uproar is heard, as of many waters, and a conflict among them, such as cannot be described, that arises from the confusion of opinions concerning fixed and certain truths which are then the subjects of their thoughts and speech, and which uproar is of such a character that it may be called a spiritual chaos.

[2] The sound of the conflicting and confused roarings was threefold. One sound flowed in around the head, and was said to be that of the thoughts. Another sound flowed in toward the left temple, and was said to be the conflict of their reasonings about certain truths in which they were not willing to have faith. The third sound flowed in from above at the right, and was a gnashing one, but not so confused, and the gnashing was turned this way and that, and it was said that this was because the truths that were being turned in this manner this way and that by their reasonings, were in conflict. While these conflicts were going on there were other spirits besides who spoke to me and told me what each thing signified, and their speech penetrated distinctly through those sounds.

[3] The subjects of the reasonings were especially these: whether it is to be understood according to the letter that the twelve apostles are to sit upon twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel; also, whether any others are to be admitted into heaven than those who have suffered persecutions and miseries. Each one reasoned according to his phantasy which he had caught in the life of the body. But some of them who had been brought back into communion and order, were afterwards instructed that the statement concerning the apostles is to be understood in an entirely different manner; namely, by the "apostles" are not meant apostles, nor by "thrones", thrones, nor by "tribes", tribes, nor in fact by "twelve", twelve; but by all these terms - "apostles", "thrones", "tribes", and also by "twelve", are signified the primary things of faith (n. 2089); and it is from these and according to them that judgment is effected upon every one. It was further shown that the apostles cannot judge even one man, but that all judgment is of the Lord alone.

[4] And as regards the other subject of reasoning, neither is this to be understood as meaning that those only are to come into heaven who have suffered persecutions and miseries; but that the rich will enter heaven just as much as the poor, those posted in dignity just as much as those in low condition; and that the Lord has mercy on all, especially on those who have been in spiritual miseries and temptations, which are persecutions by the evil-thus on those who acknowledge that of themselves they are wretched, and who believe that it is solely of the Lord's mercy that they are saved.

2130. In regard to the second subject, namely, the idea of a Last Judgment as presented to the good when they are being intromitted into heaven, I may relate how the case is. It is said in the Word that the door was shut, so that they could no longer be admitted; and that they had no oil, and came too late, and therefore were not admitted; by which things also there is signified the state of the Let Judgment. How these batters are and are to be understood, has been shown me.

[2] I heard societies of spirits, one after another,- saying in a clear voice that the wolf had wanted to carry them off, but that the Lord rescued them, and that so they were restored to the Lord, in consequence of which they rejoiced from the inmost heart, for they had been in despair, and thus in fear, that the door had been shut, and that they had come too late to be admitted. Such thought had been infused into them by those who are called "wolves " but it vanished on their being admitted, that is, on their being received by angelic societies, for intromission into heaven is nothing else. The intromission was seen by me as though it were made and continued with one society after another up to twelve, and that the twelfth society was intromitted (that is, received) with more difficulty than the eleven that had preceded it There were afterwards admitted eight additional quasi societies that I was told were of the female sex. When I had seen these things, it was said that this process of admission (that is, of reception) into the heavenly societies presents this appearance, and this continuously, in order, from one place to another; and also that heaven can never to eternity be filled, still less is the door shut; but the more there come thither, the more blessed and happy are those who are in heaven; because the harmoniousness is so much the stronger.

[3] After these had been admitted, it appeared as if heaven were shut; for there were a number more who desired to be intromitted (that is, received) next. But they were answered that they could not be received as yet; which is signified by those who came too late, by the door being shut, by their knocking, and by their lacking oil in their lamps. Their not being admitted was because they were not yet prepared to be capable of being among the angelic societies, where there is mutual love, for, as before said (n. 2119), they who in this world have lived in charity toward the neighbor are by degrees raised into heaven by the Lord.

[4] There were also other spirits who were ignorant of what heaven is, that it is mutual love, who also desired to be then admitted, supposing that admission is everything; but they were answered that it was not yet their time, but that they would be admitted at another time, when they were ready. The reason that the societies appeared to be twelve, was that by "twelve" are signified all things of the faith, as before said (n. 2129).

2131. Individuals who are being intromitted are received by the angelic societies with inmost charity and its joy, and all love and friendship are shown them. But when they do not willingly desire to be in the societies to which they first come, they are received by other societies, and this successively until they come to that society with which they are in agreement, in accordance with the life of mutual love which they have; and they remain there until the time when they go forth still more perfect, and are then elevated and exalted thereby into greater happiness-and this from the Lord's mercy, in accordance with the life of love and charity which they had received in the world. But the transference from one society into another never takes place by their being rejected by the society where they are, but by a certain willingness in themselves, in accordance with a longing that is insinuated into them by the Lord; and because it takes place in accordance with their longings, there is nothing that is not done from freedom.

2132. As to its being said in the Word that there entered also one who was not clothed in a wedding garment (Matt. 22:11-13), and that he was cast out, it was shown how the case is with this also. There are some persons who during their bodily life have been imbued with the deceit of being able to feign themselves angels of light; and in the other life, when in this hypocritical state, they are also able to insinuate themselves into the nearest heavenly societies. But they do not remain there long, for the moment they perceive the sphere of mutual love there, they are seized with fear and horror, and cast themselves down (and it then appears in the world of spirits as if they had been cast down), some toward the lake, some toward Gehenna, and some into some other hell.

2133. Of the Lord's Divine mercy heaven has on two or three occasions been so far opened to me that I have heard a general glorification of the Lord, which is of such a nature that a number of societies glorified the Lord together and with one mind, and yet each society did so by itself, with distinct affections and the derivative ideas. It was a heavenly voice, heard far and wide, to an extent so immense that the hearing failed to reach its end (as fails the sight when it beholds the universe), and this was attended with inmost joy and inmost happiness. A glorification of the Lord has also been sometimes perceived like an irradiation flowing down and affecting the interiors of the mind. This glorification takes place when the angels are in a state of tranquillity and peace, for it then flows from their inmost joys, and from their happinesses themselves.

2134. At the end of the following chapter the state of little children in the other life will of the Lord's Divine mercy be treated of.


PREFACE TO THE EIGHTEENTH CHAPTER

2135a. At the end of the preceding chapter, the subject of the Last Judgment was treated of, and it was shown what is signified hereby, namely, not the destruction of the world, but the last time of the church. When this is at hand, the Lord says that He "will come in the clouds of the heavens, with power and glory" (Matt. 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27). Hitherto no one has known what is meant by the "clouds of the heavens". But it has been disclosed to me that nothing else is meant than the literal sense of the Word; and by "power and glory" the internal sense of the Word, for in the internal sense of the Word there is glory, since whatever is there is concerning the Lord and His kingdom (n. 1769-1772).

[2] Similar is the signification of the "cloud" which encompassed Peter, James, and John, when the Lord appeared to them in glory; of which it is said in Luke: -

A voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him; but when the voice had passed, Jesus was found alone (Luke 9:35, 36),

where by "Moses and Elias" who spake with the Lord, was represented the Word of the Old Testament, which is also called "Moses and the Prophets" (by "Moses", his books together with the other historical books, and by "Elias" the prophet, all the books of the Prophets); but by "Peter, James, and John", as in all other places where they are named in the books of the Evangelists, were represented faith, charity, and the good of charity. That they only were present signifies that no others can see the glory of the Lord which is in His Word than those who are in faith, in its charity, and in the good of charity. Others are indeed able to see, but still do not see, because they do not believe. This is the internal sense in regard to the foregoing two passages; and in various places in the Prophets also, a "cloud" signifies the Word in its letter, and "glory" the Word in its life.

[3] The nature and quality of the internal sense of the Word has already been frequently stated, and has been shown in the explication word by word. It was those skilled in the Law in the Lord's time who least of all believed that there was anything written in the Word concerning the Lord. At the present day, those skilled in the Law know indeed, but it may be that they will believe least of all that there is any other glory in the Word than that which appears in the letter; when yet this is the cloud in which is the glory.


Chapter 18

2135b. From this chapter we may see, in an especial manner, what is the nature of the internal sense of the Word, and how the angels perceive it when it is being read by man. From the historical sense of the letter we can understand nothing else than that Jehovah appeared to Abraham under the form of three men; and that Sarah, Abraham, and his lad prepared food for them, namely, cakes made of the meal of fine flour, a "son of an ox", and also butter and milk; which things, though they are true historicals describing what really took place, are still not so perceived by the angels; but the things which they represent and signify are what are perceived, altogether abstractedly from the letter, in accordance with the explication given in the CONTENTS. Thus, instead of the things historically related in this chapter, the angels perceive the state of the Lord's perception in the Human, and the communication with the Divine at that time, before the perfect union of His Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence, which state is also that concerning which the Lord thus speaks: -

No one hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath set Him forth (John 1:18).

[2] And by the various kinds of food here mentioned, the angels perceive nothing but celestial and spiritual goods, concerning which see the explication. Moreover by what is afterwards said concerning the son that Sarah should bear at the set time of another year, they perceive nothing else than that the Lord's human rational should be made Divine. Lastly, by the things which Abraham spake with Jehovah concerning the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, the angels perceive nothing else than the Lord's intercession for the human race; and by five, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, and ten, they perceive His intercession for those with whom truths should be adjoined to goods, and who should have goods by means of temptations and combats, or by means of other states. So it is with all other things in the Word, as may be more clearly seen from the explication word by word, where it is shown that in each word similar things are involved in the Word, both Historic and Prophetic.

[3] That there is such an internal sense everywhere in the Word, which treats solely of the Lord, of His kingdom in the heavens, of His church on earth and in particular with every man, thus treating of the goods of love and truths of faith, may also be seen by every one from the passages cited by the Evangelists from the Old Testament. As in Matthew: -

The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on My right hand, until I made thine enemies thy footstool (Matthew 22:44; Ps. 110:1).

That these words treat of the Lord, cannot be apparent in the literal sense of the passage cited, as found in David; but yet that no other than the Lord is meant, He Himself here teaches in Matthew.

[4] Again: -

Thou Bethlehem, the land of Judah, art in no wise least among the leaders of Judah; for out of thee shall come forth a Leader, who shall feed My people Israel (Matthew 2:6; Micah 5:2).

They who abide in the literal sense, as do the Jews, know indeed from this passage that the Lord should be born there; but as they are expecting a leader and a king who will bring them back into the land of Canaan, they therefore explain the words found here according to the letter; that is, by the "land of Judah" they understand the land of Canaan; by "Israel" they understand Israel, although they know not where Israel now is; and by a "Leader" they still understand their Messiah; when yet other things are meant by "Judah" and "Israel;" namely, by "Judah" those who are celestial, by "Israel", those who are spiritual, in heaven and on earth; and by the "Leader" the Lord.

[5] Again in the same: -

A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, a cry, and great wailing; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted, because they are not (Matthew 2:18; Jer. 31:15).

They who abide in the literal sense of these words cannot possibly gather from it what is the internal sense; and yet that there is an internal sense is evident in the Evangelist. Again: -

Out of Egypt have I called My Son (Matt. 2:15; Hos. 11:1).

In Hosea it is said: -

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt. They called them, so they went from their faces, and I made Ephraim to go (Hosea 11:1-3).

They who know not that there is an internal sense, cannot know otherwise than that Jacob is here meant when he entered into Egypt, and his posterity when they went out from it, and that by Ephraim is meant the tribe of Ephraim, thus the same things that are in the historicals of the Word nevertheless it is evident from the Word of the Evangelist that they signify the Lord. But what the several particulars signify could not possibly be known unless it were disclosed by means of the internal sense.

 

GENESIS 18:1-33

1. And Jehovah appeared unto him in the oak-groves of Mamre, and he was sitting at the door of the tent, as the day was growing hot.

2. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold three men standing over him; and he saw, and ran to meet them from the door of the tent, and bowed himself toward the earth.

3. And he said, My Lord, if I pray I have found grace in thine eyes, pass not I pray from over thy servant.

4. Let I pray a little water be taken, and wash ye your feet, and lie down under the tree.

5. And I will take a piece of bread, and support ye your heart; afterwards ye may pass on; for therefore have ye passed over unto your servant. And they said, So do as thou hast spoken.

6. And Abraham hastened toward the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of meal of fine flour, knead, and make cakes.

7. And Abraham ran unto the herd and took a son of an ox, tender and good, and gave it to the lad, and he hasted to make it.

8. And he took butter and milk, and the son of an ox that he had made, and set before them; and he stood before them under the tree, and they did eat.

9. And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold in the tent.

10. And he said, Returning I will return unto thee about this time of life, and behold Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard at the door of the tent, and it was behind him.

11. And Abraham and Sarah were old, entering into days it had ceased to be with Sarah in the way as of women.

12. And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am grown old shall I have pleasure? and my lord old?

13. And Jehovah said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I indeed truly bear, and I am become old?

14. Shall anything be wonderful for Jehovah? At the same time I will return unto thee, about this time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

15. And Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And He said, Nay, for thou didst laugh.

16. And the men rose up thence, and looked toward the faces of Sodom; and Abraham went with them, to send them away.

17. And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do?

18. And Abraham shall surely be for a nation great and numerous, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.

19. For I know him, because he will command his sons, and his house after him, and they will keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and judgment; that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken concerning him.

20. And Jehovah said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great, and because their sin has become very grievous.

21. I will go down I pray, and I will see whether they have made a consummation according to the cry thereof which is come unto Me, and if not I will know.

22. And the men looked forth thence, and went toward Sodom; and Abraham as yet he was standing before Jehovah.

23. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

24. Peradventure there be fifty righteous in the midst of the city; wilt Thou also destroy and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are in the midst of it?

25. Be it far from Thee to do according to this thing, to cause the righteous to die with the wicked, that so the righteous be as the wicked; be it far from Thee; shall not the Judge of all the earth do judgment?

26. And Jehovah said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous in the midst of the city, I will spare all the place for their sake.

27. And Abraham answered and said, Behold I pray I have taken upon me to speak unto my Lord, and I am dust and ashes.

25. Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous; wilt Thou destroy all the city for five? and He said, I will not destroy it, if I find there forty and five.

29. And he added yet to speak unto Him, and said, Peradventure forty shall be found there; and He said, I will not do it for forty's sake.

30. And he said, Oh let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak: peradventure thirty shall be found there; and He said, I will not do it if I find thirty there.

31. And he said, Behold I pray I have taken upon me to speak unto my Lord: peradventure twenty shall be found there; and He said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.

32. And he said, Oh let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak but this once: peradventure ten shall be found there; and He said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.

33. And Jehovah went when He had completed His speaking unto Abraham; and Abraham returned unto his place.

 

THE CONTENTS

2136. In the first place, this chapter treats concerning the Lord's state of perception in the Human and concerning the communication with the Divine at that time, before the perfect union of His Human Essence with the Divine Essence, which state is also that in regard to which the Lord says,

"No one hath seen God at any time, the Only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father" (John 1:18).

2137. The Lord's state of perception in the Human at that time is signified by the "oak-groves of Mamre" (verse 1); and that in this state He perceived the Divine which was manifesting itself before His Human (verse 2); at which He rejoiced (verse 3); and desired that the Divine should draw nearer to His Human by putting on something natural (verse 4), and His Human nearer to the Divine by putting on the celestial (verse 5). The celestial and the derivative spiritual, which He put on, are signified by the "three measures of meal of fine flour" of which the cakes were made (verse 6); and that He also put on a conforming natural, is signified by the "son of an ox" (verse 7); the result being conformation, and a communication of the Divine with the Human, and of the Human with the Divine (verse 8).

2138. In the second place, this chapter treats concerning the Lord's perception in that state respecting the rational with Him, in that it would put off the Human, and be made Divine.

2139. That the rational would be made Divine, is signified by the "son" whom Sarah was to bear (verse 10). That the human rational truth that was with the Lord did not perceive this, and thus did not believe it, is signified by Sarah's "laughing" at the door of the tent that was behind him (verses 10-13, 15). It is confirmed that the Lord would put off this also, and would put on in its place truth Divine (verse 14).

2140. In the third place, the chapter treats concerning the Lord's grief and anxiety over the human race, because men were so greatly imbued with the love of self, and from this with the cupidity of exercising command over others from what is evil and false, for whom in that state He interceded, and obtained that those should be saved with whom there should be goods and truths; and who these are, is recounted in order.

2141. The Lord's perception concerning the human race, that it was in evil and falsity, "Sodom" being the love of self and the derivative cupidity of exercising command from what is evil, and "Gomorrah" being the same from what is false (verses 16, 20). That this could not be concealed from the Lord in that state, because by Him and from Him is all salvation (verses 17 to 19); that is to say, they were to be visited when their wickedness reached its height (verses 20, 21). That when He was in this perception (verse 22), He interceded for them; first for those with whom there should be truths, and these truths full of goods, who are signified by the "fifty" (verses 23 to 26); also for those with whom there should be less of good, but this good nevertheless conjoined with truths, who are signified by the "forty-five" (verses 27, 28); next for those who have been in temptations, who are signified by the "forty" (verse 29); as likewise for those who have been in some combats against evils, who are signified by the "thirty" (verse 30); afterwards for those with whom there should be states of the affection of good from any other source, who are signified by the "twenty" (verse 31); lastly for those with whom there should be states of the affection of truth, who are signified by the "ten" (verse 32); and the constant answer was that they should be saved (verses 26, 28 to 32). These things being accomplished, the Lord returned into His former state of perception (verse 33). These are the arcana contained in the internal sense of this chapter, which are not manifest from the letter.

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

2142. Verse 1. And Jehovah appeared unto him in the oak groves of Mamre, and he was sitting at the door of the tent, as the day was growing hot. "Jehovah appeared unto him", signifies the Lord's perception; "in the oak-groves of Mamre", signifies the quality of the perception; "he was sitting at the door of the tent", signifies the holiness which at that time appertained to Him; "as the day was growing hot", signifies from love.

2143. Jehovah appeared unto him. That this signifies the Lord's perception, may be seen from the fact that the historicals of the Word are merely representative, and the words therein significative, of those things which are in the internal sense. In the internal sense of the passage before us the subject treated of is the Lord and His perception, which perception was represented by the appearing to Abraham of Jehovah; for such is the representative nature in the historicals of the Word of every appearing, of every discourse, and of every deed. But what they represent does not appear unless the historicals are attended to simply as objects, like those of sight, from which there is given the occasion and the opportunity for thinking about things more lofty; for instance, from gardens, as we behold them, for thinking about fruits, their uses, and also the derivative delight of life, and, still more loftily, about paradisal or heavenly happiness. When such things are thought of, the several objects of the garden are indeed seen, but so slightly that they are not attended to. The case is the very same with the historicals of the Word, for when the celestial and spiritual things that are in the internal sense of these historicals are thought of, these, together with the words themselves, are attended to just as little.

2144. In the oak-groves of Mamre. That this signifies the quality of the perception, is evident from the representation and signification of "oak-groves", and also from the representation and signification of "Mamre". What "oak-groves" represented and signified in general, see (n. 1442, 1443); and what "the oak-groves of Mamre" represented and signified specifically (n. 1616), namely, perceptions, but such as are human from memory-knowledges (scientific), and from the first rational things thence derived.

[2] What perception is, is at this day utterly unknown, because at this day no one has perception like that of the ancients, especially like that of the most ancients for these latter knew from perception whether a thing was good, and consequently whether it was true. There was an influx into their rational from the Lord through heaven, whereby, when they thought about any holy thing, they instantly perceived whether it was so, or was not so. Such perception afterwards perished with man, when he began to be no longer in heavenly ideas, but solely in worldly and corporeal ones; and in place of it there succeeded conscience, which also is a kind of perception; for to act contrary to conscience and according to conscience is nothing else than to perceive from it whether a thing is so or is not so, or whether it is to be done.

[3] But the perception of conscience is not from good that flows in, but it is from the truth that from infancy has been implanted in the rational of men in accordance with the holy of their worship, and which has afterwards been confirmed, for this alone do they in such case believe to be good. Hence it is that conscience is a kind of perception, but from such truth; and when charity and innocence are insinuated into this truth by the Lord, there comes into existence the good of this conscience. From these few observations we can see what perception is. But between perception and conscience there is much difference. See what is said about perception in (n. 104, 125, 371, 483, 495, 503, 521, 536, 597, 607, 784, 865, 895, 1121, 1616); about the perception of spirits and angels, (n. 202, 203, 1008, 1383, 1384, 1390-1392, 1394, 1397, 1504); and that the learned do not know what perception is, (n. 1387).

[4] As regards the Lord when He lived in the world, all His thought was from Divine perception, because He alone was a Divine and Celestial Man; for He was the only one in whom was Jehovah Himself, from whom was His perception, see (n. 1616, 1791). His perceptions were more and more interior in proportion as He approached more nearly to union with Jehovah. Of what quality His perception was at the time here treated of, see (n. 1616); and of what quality it became when He perceived the things that are contained in this chapter, is described in what now follows.

2145. He was sitting at the door of the tent. That this signifies the holy which at that time appertained to Him, namely, the holy of love, - which is signified by the day growing hot, as explained in what follows, is evident from the signification of a "tent", as being what is holy (n. 414, 1102, 1566), where also the reason of this signification of "tents" is explained. As the Lord was then in the perception which is signified by the oak-groves of Mamre, which is a lower rational perception, but yet is a perception more internal than that which is signified by the oak-grove of Moreh (n. 1442, 1443), it is here represented and therefore signified by His sitting at the door of the tent, that is, at the entrance to what is holy. How the case is with perceptions, as being less or more interior, may be illustrated by the perceptions of the most ancient people, from whom I have heard that the more they were in memory-knowledges from the things which are objects of hearing and sight, the lower were their perceptions; but that the more they were uplifted above them to the celestial things of charity and love, the more interior their perceptions were, because they were then nearer to the Lord.

2146. As the day was growing hot. That this signifies from love, is evident from the signification of "heat", as being in the internal sense love; and since heat belongs either to the day or to the year, love is represented either by the heat of the day or by the heat of the year, according to what is related in the historicals. That "heat" signifies love may be seen from the fact that love is called spiritual heat, and that growing warm is predicated of all affection, even in common speech; and further from the fact that love and its affections, in man's interiors, as also in his exteriors, and even in his very corporeals, make themselves manifest under the guise of heat; in fact heat has no other origin in connection with man when it flows forth from his interiors. Such however as is the love, such is the heat. Celestial love and spiritual love are what give genuine heat. All other heat, namely, that which is from the loves of self and of the world, and also from other filthy loves, is unclean, and in the other life sinks into what is excrementitious (n. 1773). Be it known moreover that holiness is never predicated except of love and charity; not of faith except in so far as love and charity are in the truths of faith. Except from this the truths of faith are not holy (n. 2049).

2147. Verse 2. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and behold three men standing over him; and he saw them, and ran to meet them from the door of the tent, and bowed himself toward the earth. "He lifted up his eyes", signifies that He saw within Himself; "and behold three men standing over him", signifies the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy proceeding; "and he saw them", signifies when He observed this; "and ran to meet them", signifies that in thought He approached nearer to the things that were being perceived; "from the door of the tent", signifies from the holy which at that time appertained to the Lord; "and bowed himself toward the earth", signifies the effect of humiliation, from the consequent joy.

2148. He lifted up his eyes. That this signifies that the Lord saw within Himself, is evident from the signification of "lifting up the eyes". By "eyes" in the Word is signified the interior sight, or the understanding, as may be seen from the passages cited above (n. 212). Hence to "lift up the eyes" means to see and perceive things which are above self. Things that are interior are expressed in the Word by those which are higher, as "looking upward", "lifting up the eyes to heaven", "thinking high things", the reason of which is that man supposes heaven to be on high, or above himself; when yet it is not on high, but is in things internal - as when a man is in the celestial things of love, his heaven is then within him (n. 450). From this it follows that to "lift up the eyes" signifies to see within one's self.

2149. Behold three men standing over him. That this signifies the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy proceeding, may be seen without explication; for it is known to every one that there is a Trine, and that this Trine is a One. That it is a One is plainly evident in this chapter, to wit, in (verse 3), where it is said, "He said, My Lord, if I pray I have found grace in Thine eyes, pass Thou not, I pray", which words were addressed to the three men. And further, in (verse 10), "And he said, Returning I will return unto thee". In (verse 13), "And Jehovah said unto Abraham". In (verse 15), "He said, Nay, but thou didst laugh". In (verse 17), "And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do?" In (verse 19), "Because I have known him". In (verse 20), "And Jehovah said". In (verse 21), "I will go down, and I will see whether they have made a consummation according to the cry thereof which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know". In (verse 23), Abraham said, "Wilt Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" In (verse 25), "Be it far from Thee to do according to this thing; be it far from Thee". In (verse 26), "And Jehovah said, If I find fifty righteous I will spare the whole place for their sake". In (verse 27), "I have taken upon me to speak unto my Lord". In (verse 28), "Wilt Thou destroy the whole city for five? And He said, I will not destroy it, if I find there forty and five". In (verse 29), "He added yet to speak unto Him; He said, I will not do it for forty's sake". In (verse 30), "Let not my Lord be angry; He said, I will not do it if I find thirty there". In (verse 31), "He said, I have taken upon me to speak unto my Lord; He said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake". In (verse 32), "Let not I pray my Lord be angry; and He said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake". And in (verse 33), "And Jehovah went when He had left off speaking to Abraham". From all this it may be seen that by the three men who appeared to Abraham was signified the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy proceeding; and that this Trine is in itself a One. In the internal sense the subject here treated of is Jehovah, in that He appeared to the Lord, and that the Lord perceived this; but not by an appearing such as there was to Abraham; for it is historically true that three men were seen by Abraham, but this represents the Divine perception, or the perception from the Divine which the Lord had when in the Human, which perception is treated of in what follows.

2150. And he saw them. That this signifies when the Lord observed this, is evident from the signification of "seeing" in the internal sense, as being to understand and observe, and also to be illuminated (n. 1584). Nothing is more common in the Word than for "seeing" to have this signification. The signification here is that the Lord observed a perception from the Divine to be present, as just stated.

2151. And Abraham ran to meet them. That this signifies that the Lord approached nearer to the things which were perceived, is evident from the series of things in the internal sense; for the preceding verse treats of the Lord's perception, in which He then was; this verse treats of His observing the perception to be from the Divine, and here now His approaching nearer to it is represented and thus signified by his running to meet them.

2152. From the door of the tent. That this signifies from the holy which then appertained to the Lord, is evident from the signification of a "tent", as being what is holy, and from the signification of the "door", as being the entrance into what is holy (n. 2145).

2153. And bowed himself toward the earth. That this signifies the effect of the humiliation from the consequent joy, is evident from the signification of "bowing himself", as being to humble. Just as all interior affections have gestures corresponding to them in outward or bodily motions, which gestures are the effects of the affections as their effecting causes, so the action of humbling one's self has humiliation and also prostration. That this prostration was from joy is evident, because He observed, as before said, the perception to be from the Divine. The state of the Lord's humiliation when He was in the Human, has already been treated of in various places, and of the Lord's Divine mercy shall be further treated of in this chapter.

2154. Verse 3. And he said, My Lord, if I pray I have found grace in Thine eyes, pass not I pray from Thy servant. "And he said", signifies that the Lord so thought; "My Lord", signifies the Trine in a One; "if I pray I have found grace in Thine eyes", signifies the deference of the Lord's state when He noticed that perception; "pass not I pray from Thy servant", signifies that He intensely desired that what He began to perceive should not pass away. The "servant" is the human that appertained to the Lord before it was made Divine.

2155. He said. That this signifies that the Lord so thought, is evident from the signification of "saying", when found in the historical sense, as being to perceive (n. 1898, 1919, 2080).

2156. My Lord. That this signifies the Trine in a One, namely, the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy proceeding, which Trine is in a One, is evident from its being here said "Lord", in the singular number. So too in (verses 27, 31), "Behold I pray I have taken upon me to speak unto my Lord", and in (verses 30, 32), "Let not I pray my Lord be angry". The three men are also called "Jehovah", in (verse 13), "Jehovah said unto Abraham;" in (verse 14), "Shall anything be wonderful for Jehovah?" in (verse 22), "Abraham was yet standing before Jehovah;" and in (verse 33), "And Jehovah went when He left off speaking to Abraham". Hence it is evident that the three men (that is, the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy proceeding), are the same as the Lord, and the Lord the same as Jehovah. In the Christian Faith, called the Creed, the same is acknowledged, where it is said in plain words, "There are not three Uncreate, nor three Infinite, nor three Eternal, nor three Almighty, nor three Lords, but One". There are none who separate this Trine which is in a One except those who say that they acknowledge one Supreme Existence (Ens), the Creator of the Universe; which is forgiven those who are outside of the church. But they who are within the church, and say this, although they say it and sometimes think it, do not in fact acknowledge any God; still less do they acknowledge the Lord.

2157. If I pray I have found grace in Thine eyes. That this signifies the deference of the Lord's state when He observed that perception, may be seen from the affection of humiliation which there is in these very words; and also in those which directly follow - "Pass not I pray from over Thy servant" - in which likewise there is humiliation. In every particular in the Word there are both affection and subject matter. The celestial angels perceive the Word such as it is in the internal sense as to the affection; but the spiritual angels perceive it such as it is in the internal sense as to the matter. Those who perceive the Word in the internal sense as to the affection, pay no attention to the words which belong to the matter, but form for themselves ideas from the affection and its series, and this with endless variety. Here for example at the words, "If I pray I have found grace in Thine eyes, pass not I pray from over Thy servant", they perceive the Lord's state of humiliation in the Human, but only the affection of the humiliation. From this, in a manner, variety, and abundance inexpressible, they form for themselves celestial ideas, which can scarcely be called ideas, but rather so many lights of affections and perceptions, which follow in a continuous series, in accordance with the series of the affection of the things contained in the Word that is being read.

[2] This shows that the perception, thought, and speech of the celestial angels are more ineffable and much richer than the perception, thought, and speech of the spiritual angels, the latter being simply determined to the subject matter (rem), in accordance with the series of the expressions. That the speech of the celestial angels is of this nature, see (n. 1647). Hence it is that these words, "If I pray I have found grace in Thine eyes", in the celestial sense signify the deference of the Lord's state when He observed that perception. Moreover to "find grace in thine eyes" was a customary mode of speech for every expression of deference; as may be seen from Laban's deference to Jacob: -

Laban said unto him, If I pray I have found grace in thine eyes (Gen. 30:27);

also from Jacob's deference to Esau: -

Jacob said, Nay, I pray, if I pray I have found grace in thine eyes (Gen. 33:10).

2158. Pass not I pray from over Thy servant. That this signifies that He intensely desired, appears from what has just been said, the case being much the same, namely, that here also there is deference, which is expressed in this way, and at the same time the affection of desire that what He began to perceive should not pass away.

2159. That the "servant" denotes the human that appertained to the Lord, before it was made Divine, may be seen from many passages in the Prophets. The reason is - as already shown several times - that until He had put it off and made it Divine the human that appertained to the Lord was merely a servant. The human that appertained to Him was from the mother, thus was infirm, having with it from the mother an hereditary which by means of the combats of temptations He overcame and utterly expelled, insomuch that nothing was left of that which was infirm and hereditary from the mother, nay, at last there remained not anything whatever from the mother. Thus He entirely put off all that was from the mother, and therefore was no longer her son, as also He himself says in Mark: -

They said unto Him, Behold Thy mother and Thy brethren without seek for Thee: and He answered them, saying, Who is My mother, or My brethren? And looking round on them that sat about Him, He said, Behold My mother and My brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and My mother (Mark 3:32-35; Matt. 12:46-49; Luke 8:20, 21).

[2] And when He had put off this human, he put on the Divine Human, from which He called Himself the "Son of man", as we find many times in the Word of the New Testament; and also the "Son of God;" and by the "Son of man" He meant the truth itself, and by the "Son of God" the good itself, which belonged to His Human Essence when this was made Divine. The former state was that of the Lord's humiliation, but the latter that of His glorification (n. 1999).

[3] In the former state, namely, that of humiliation, when as yet He had appertaining to Him an infirm human, He adored Jehovah as one other than Himself, and indeed like a servant; for relatively to the Divine the human is nothing else, on which account in the Word the term "servant" is predicated of that human, as in Isaiah: -

I will defend this city to save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant David's sake (Isaiah 37:35),

where the Assyrians are treated of, in whose camp a hundred and eighty-five thousand were smitten by an angel. "David" denotes the Lord, who, as He was to come, in respect to the human is called a "servant". In the Word "David" denotes the Lord (n. 1888).

[4] In the same Prophet: -

Behold My servant upon whom I will lean; My chosen, My soul is well pleased. I have put My spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment unto the nations (Isaiah 42:1),

manifestly concerning the Lord, of whom, when He was in the human, the terms "servant" and "chosen" are predicated. Again: -

Who is blind but My servant? and deaf, as the angel I will send? who is blind as the perfect one, and blind as the servant of Jehovah? (Isa. 42:19),

where also the Lord is spoken of; and of whom in like manner the terms "servant" and "angel" are predicated when He was in the human.

[5] Again: -

Ye are My witnesses, saith Jehovah, and My servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He (Isa. 43:10).

Again: -

Said Jehovah, My Former from the womb to be His servant; to bring Jacob again unto Him, and that Israel be gathered unto Him; and He said, Thou art a slight thing that thou shouldest be My servant, to set up the tribes of Jacob I have given thee for a light of the nations to be My salvation unto the extremity of the earth (Isa. 49:5, 6),

where also the Lord and His human are manifestly treated of before He was made the "light of the nations", and "salvation unto the extremity of the earth". Again: -

Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that heareth the voice of His servant, who walketh in darkness, and hath no brightness? let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and lean upon His God (Isa. 50:10).

"Servant" here also denotes the human that appertained to the Lord; and that He was in this human and taught the way of truth, is the "voice of the servant of Jehovah".

[6] Again: -

Jehovah goeth before you, and the God of Israel gathereth you. Behold, My servant shall act prudently, he shall be lifted up, and shall be exalted, and shall be raised up exceedingly (Isa. 52:12, 13).

It is evident that "servant" is here predicated of the Lord when He was in the human; for it is said of Him that He "shall be lifted up, exalted, and raised up". Again: -

He hath no form and no honor we saw him, but there was no appearance; He was despised, a man of sorrows, acquainted with disease. Jehovah willed to bruise him He made him infirm; if he shall make his soul guilt, he shall see seed, he shall prolong days, and the will of Jehovah shall prosper by his hand he shall see of the labor of his soul, he shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; and he himself hath carried their iniquities (Isa. 53:2, 3, 10, 11).

Here, as in the whole of this chapter, the Lord's state of humiliation is openly treated of; and it is also said that He was then in an infirm human, namely, that He was a "man of sorrows, acquainted with disease, infirm, was in the labor of His soul", besides a number of other statements, in which state He is called "servant".

2160. Verse 4. Let I pray a little water be taken, and wash ye your feet, and lie down under the tree. "Let I pray a little water be taken", signifies that they should draw near, and let themselves down from things Divine nearer to His intellectual things; "and wash ye your feet", signifies that they should put on something natural, in order that in the state in which He then was, He might the better perceive; "and lie down under the tree", signifies near to the perception of His state in which He was; "tree" is perception.

2161. Let I pray a little water be taken. That this signifies that they should draw near, and let themselves down from things Divine nearer to His intellectual things, cannot be so evident from these words alone - that they should take a little water - but it is evident from the series of things in this verse, and from their connection with those which go before and those which follow. From what is said in this verse no one would ever know that the words "Let I pray a little water be taken, and wash ye your feet, and lie down under the tree" signify that the Divine should let itself down nearer to the state of perception in which the Lord then was, and should put on something natural in order that He might the better perceive; for not a trace of this arcanum is manifest in the words as understood historically; but that nevertheless such in the internal sense is their signification, and that the angels so perceive them, I know for certain.

[2] This shows what great and deep arcana lie hidden in the Word. Moreover that such is the signification, may be seen from the signification in the internal sense of the several words, namely, from the signification of "water" as being intellectual things, from the signification of "feet" as being natural things, and from the signification of a "tree" as being perception. then these things are understood, the signification in the internal sense (to wit, that which has been stated) can be seen from the series of things, and from their connection with those which precede and those which follow. That "waters" signify memory-knowledges and rational things, consequently the things of the understanding, see (n. 28, 680), and very many other passages in the Word.

2162. Wash ye your feet. That this signifies that (the Divine) should put on something natural, in order that, in the state in which the Lord then was, He might the better perceive, may be seen from the signification of "feet", as being natural things, and also likewise from the series of things. That arcana here lie hidden may to some extent be seen from the fact that Abraham prayed the three men to take a little water and wash their feet, and to recline under a tree; when yet he knew that it was the Lord or Jehovah; and also from the fact that otherwise such things would not have been mentioned.

[2] That "feet" signify natural things, is evident from the representatives in the other life, and from the derivative representatives among the most ancient people, and thus in the Word. Celestial and spiritual things are represented by the head and its belongings; rational things and their belongings, by the breast and its belongings; natural things and their belongings, by the feet and their belongings. Hence it is that the "sole" and the "heel" of the foot signify the lowest natural things (n. 259); and a "shoe" the lowest things of all, which are unclean (n. 1748).

[3] Similar things are signified by the representations in the dreams and visions in the Prophets - as by the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar, The head of which was good gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, the feet part of iron and part of clay (Dan. 2:32, 33), where the " head" signifies celestial things, which are inmost, and are "gold" (n. 113, 1551, 1552); the "breast and arms" spiritual or rational things, which are "silver" (n. 1551); but the "feet" are the lower things, which are natural, the truths of which are signified by "iron", and the goods by "clay" (argillum seu lutum). "Iron" denotes truth (n. 425, 426); also that "clay" denotes good (n. 1300); in the present case both being natural. Such is the order of succession in the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, and in the church which is the Lord's kingdom on earth, and also in every one who is a kingdom of the Lord.

[4] The case is similar with the vision that Daniel saw, of which it is said: -

I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold a man clothed in linen, and his loins were girded with gold of Uphaz; his body also was like the beryl (Tarshish), and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like the brightness of burnished brass (Daniel 10:5, 6).

Specifically, by these words are signified the interiors of the Word as to goods and truths; the "arms" and "feet" are its exteriors, which are the sense of the letter, because natural things are therein, for the exterior things of the Word are taken from natural things. What each part signifies besides, namely, the loins, body, face, eyes, and the many other things of man, is evident from the representatives in the other life, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy more will be said when we come to treat of the Grand Man, which is the Lord's heaven, and of the derivative representatives in the world of spirits.

[5] That which we read concerning Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders-that "they saw the God of Israel, under whose feet there was as it were a work of sapphire stone, and as it were the substance of heaven as to purity" (Exod. 24:9, 10), signifies that they saw only the externals of the church represented in natural things; and also the literal sense of the Word, in which likewise external things are represented by natural things - as before said - which are the "feet under which was as it were a work of sapphire stone, and as it were the substance of heaven". That it was the Lord who was seen by them, but only in those lower or natural things, is evident, for He is called "the God of Israel", whom all things of the church represented, and all things of the Word in the internal sense signified. For the Lord is presented to view in accordance with the things which are at the time signified - in John, as a Man upon a white horse, when He signified the Word, as is plainly said (Rev. 19:11, 13).

[6] The animals seen by Ezekiel, which were cherubs, are described as to celestial and spiritual things, among other representatives, by their faces and wings, but as to natural things, as follows: -

Their feet, a straight foot; and the sole of their feet as the sole of a calf's foot; and they glittered like the brightness of burnished brass (Ezek. 1:7).

The feet (that is, the natural things) are said to have "glittered like burnished brass", for the reason that "brass" signifies natural good (n. 425, 1551). It was much the same with the Lord's appearance to John as the "Son of man:" -

Whose eyes were as a flame of fire, and His feet like unto burnished brass (Rev. 1:14, 15; 2:18).

[7] That the "feet" signify natural things, may be further evident from the passages that now follow. In John: -

I saw a strong angel coming down out of heaven, encompassed with a cloud, and a rainbow about his head, and his face as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire and he had in his hand a little book open; and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth (Rev. 10:1, 2).

By this angel there is in like manner signified the Word; the quality of which in the internal sense is signified by the "rainbow about his head", and by "his face being as the sun;" but the external sense, or that of the letter, by the "feet". The "sea" denotes natural truths, the "earth" natural goods, which shows what is signified by his putting "his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth".

[8] A "footstool" is mentioned in various passages of the Word; but it is not known what it signifies in the internal sense. As in Isaiah: -

Jehovah said, The heavens are My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where is that house which ye will build unto Me? and where is that place of My rest? (Isaiah 66:1).

The "heavens" are the celestial and spiritual things (thus the inmost things) of both the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, and of the Lord's kingdom on the earth, that is, in the church, and also in every man who is a kingdom of the Lord or a church; thus they also denote celestial and spiritual things as regarded in themselves, which are those of love and charity and of the derivative faith; and thus are all things which are of internal worship, and in like manner all things which are of the internal sense of the Word: these are the "heavens", and are called the Lord's "throne". But the "earth" is all lower things that correspond to these - as the lower rational and natural things, whereof also things celestial and spiritual are predicated from correspondence; such as are the things which are in the lower heavens, also those in the church and in external worship, and in the literal sense of the Word; in short, all such things as proceed from things internal and are presented in things external - these, being natural things, are called the " earth" and the Lord's "footstool". What "heaven and earth" denote in the internal sense, may be seen above, (n. 82, 1733); also what the "new heaven and the new earth" denote, (n. 2117, 2118); and that man is a little heaven, (n. 911, 978, 1900).

[9] In like manner in Jeremiah: -

The Lord covereth the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger; He hath cast down from the heavens unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and hath not remembered His footstool in the day of His anger (Lam. 2:1).

Also in David: -

Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and bow yourselves down at His footstool, Holy is He (Ps. 99:5).

And again: -

We will enter into His tabernacles, we will bow down at His footstool (Ps. 132:7).

In the Representative Church - thus among the Jews - it was supposed that the house of God and the temple were His footstool, for they knew not that external representative worship was signified by the house of God and the temple; and what the internals of the church were (which were signified by "heaven", or God's "throne"), they were utterly ignorant of.

[10] Again: -

The saying of Jehovah unto my Lord: Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool (Ps. 110:1; Matt. 22:42-45; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42, 43).

Here in like manner a "footstool" signifies natural things both those which are sensuous, and those of memory-knowledge, and the derivative rational things of man, which are called "enemies" when they pervert worship, and do this from the literal sense of the Word, so that there is worship solely in externals, and either no internal worship, or else that which is filthy (n. 1094, 1175, 1182). When things natural and rational are thus perverted and defiled, they are called "enemies;" but because, regarded in themselves, they have reference to internal worship-when this is restored, they become as before said a "footstool", whether they are things of external worship, or of the literal sense of the Word.

[11] In Isaiah: -

The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine, and the box together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary, and I will make the place of My feet honorable (Isaiah 60:13),

where the subject is the Lord's kingdom and church, the celestial spiritual things of which are the "glory of Lebanon" (that is, the cedars), and its celestial natural things are the "fir-tree, the pine, and the box" (as also in the Word elsewhere), and thus the things which are of external worship; of which it is said, "I will make the place of My feet honorable;" and this cannot be made honorable by the fir, the pine, and the box, but by the things which they signify.

[12] That the "feet" signify these things, is evident also from the representatives in the Jewish Church-as from Aaron and his sons washing their hands and their feet before entering into the tabernacle (Exod. 30:19, 20; 40:31, 32). No one can fail to see that arcana were thus represented, for what is the washing of the hands and feet but an external affair which is of no avail unless the internal is clean and pure? Nor can the internal be cleaned and purified by such a washing. But as all the rites of that church were significative of internal things, which are celestial and spiritual, such is the case here also: it is cleanness of external worship that is here signified, and external worship is clean when there is internal worship within it. Hence their lavers were of brass, and also that great laver that was called the brazen sea, and the ten smaller lavers of brass around the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 7:23, 38); because "brass" represented the good of external worship, which is the same as natural good, concerning which signification of "brass", see (n. 425, 1551).

[13] In like manner it was a representative that,

A man of the seed of Aaron in whom there was a fracture of the foot or a fracture of the hand, should not approach to offer the offering made by fire to Jehovah (Lev. 21:19, 21).

By those who had a "fracture" in the feet or hands were represented such as are in perverted external worship.

[14] That "feet" signify natural things, is further evident in other passages that occur in the Prophets, as in these propheticals in Moses: -

Blessed be Asher above sons; let him be accepted of his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil; the iron and brass of thy shoe (Deut. 33:24, 25).

No one can understand these words unless it is known what " oil", the " foot", "iron", "brass", and a "shoe" signify in the internal sense. That "foot" is the natural, and "shoe" the still lower natural, such as is the corporeal sensual, may be seen above (n. 1748); also that "oil" is the celestial (n. 886), " iron" natural truth (n. 425, 426), and "brass" natural good (n. 425, 1551), which shows what these words involve.

[15] In Nahum: -

The way of Jehovah is in the storm and tempest, and the clouds are the dust of His feet (Nahum 1:3),

where the "dust of the feet" signifies the natural and corporeal things with man, whence come the "clouds". The same also is signified by these words in David: -

Jehovah bowed the heavens, and came down, and thick darkness was under His feet (Ps. 18:9).

[16] When the goods and truths of faith are perverted by means of natural light, as it is called, this is described in the Word by the "feet" and " hoofs" of a beast, whereby waters are disturbed, and food is trampled upon. As in Ezekiel: -

Thou hast come forth into the rivers, and hast troubled the waters with thy feet and trampled the streams thereof. I will destroy every beast thereof from off many waters; and the foot of man shall not trouble them any more, nor the hoof of beast (Ezekiel 32:2, 13).

Egypt is here treated of, by which are signified memory-knowledges (scientiae) (n. 1164, 1165, 1462), so that by the "feet" and "hoofs" by which the streams and eaters are troubled, are signified memory-knowledges (scientific) derived from sensuous and natural things, from which they reason about the arcana of faith; nor do they believe until these arcana are comprehended by means of such knowledges; and this is not to believe at all, for the more such persons reason, the less do they believe (n. 128-130, 215, 232, 233, 1072, 1385). From all this it is now evident that by "feet" in the Word are signified natural things but what more is signified, is evident from the series of things.

2163. And lie down under the tree. That this signifies near to the perception of His state in which He then was, is evident from the signification of a "tree", as being perception (n. 103); bearing which in mind the series of things shows that the above is the real sense of the words. That "trees" signified perceptions, originated in the fact that the celestial man was compared and likened to Paradise, or the garden in Eden; from which the perceptions of celestial things with him were likened to the trees therein.

2164. Verse 5. And I will take a piece of bread, and support ye your heart; afterwards ye may pass on; for therefore have ye passed over unto your servant. And they said, So do as thou hast spoken. "I will take a piece of bread", signifies something celestial adjoined; "support ye your heart", signifies as much as is meet; "afterwards ye may pass on", signifies that when He had left off perceiving He would be content therewith; "for therefore have ye passed over unto your servant", signifies that they came for this purpose; "and they said, So do as thou hast spoken", signifies that it should be so done.

2165. I will take a piece of bread. That this signifies something celestial adjoined, is evident from the signification of "bread", as being what is celestial (n. 276, 680, 681, 1798). That "bread" signifies what is celestial, is because "bread" means all food in general, and thus in the internal sense all celestial food. What celestial food is, see (n. 56-58, 680, 681, 1480, 1695). That "bread" means all food in general, is evident from the following passages of the Word. We read of Joseph that, He said to him who was over his house, that he should bring the men - his brethren - home, and should slay what was to be slain, and should make ready; and afterwards, when they had made ready, and were to eat, be said, Set on bread (Gen. 43:16, 31); meaning that they should make ready the table; "bread" thus denoting all kinds of food. We read concerning Jethro that, Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses father-in-law before God (Exod. 18:12), where also "bread" denotes all kinds of food. Concerning Manoah, in the Book of Judges: -

Manoah said unto the Angel of Jehovah, Let us I pray detain thee, and let us make ready before thee a kid of the goats. And the Angel of Jehovah said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread (Judges 13:15, 16),

where "bread" denotes a kid of the goats. When Jonathan ate of the honeycomb, they told him that Saul had adjured the people, saying: -

Cursed be the man that shall eat bread this day (1 Sam. 14:27, 28),

where "bread" denotes all food. Again, concerning Saul: -

When Saul sat down to eat bread, be said unto Jonathan, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to bread either yesterday or to-day? (1 Sam. 20:24, 27),

meaning to the table, where were all kinds of food. We read concerning David that he said to Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan: -

Thou shalt eat bread on my table continually (2 Sam. 9:7, 10).

So too concerning Evilmerodach, who said that,

Jehoiachin king of Judah should eat bread before him continually, all the days of his life (2 Kings 25:29).

Concerning Solomon also: -

Solomon's bread for each day was thirty cors of fine flour, and sixty cors of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides the hart and the wild she-goat, and the antelope, and fatted fowl (1 Kings 4:22, 23),

where "bread" plainly denotes all of these things.

[2] Now as "bread" means all kinds of food in general, it therefore signifies in the internal sense all those things which are called celestial foods, as may be still more evident from the burnt-offerings and sacrifices that were made of lambs, sheep, she goats, kids, he-goats, heifers, and oxen, which were called in one word the "bread of the offering made by fire unto Jehovah", as is clearly evident from the following passages in Moses, where the various sacrifices are treated of, of which it is said that,

The priest should burn them upon the altar, the bread of the offering made by fire unto Jehovah, for an odor of rest (Lev. 3:11, 16),

all those sacrifices and burnt-offerings being so called. Again: -

The sons of Aaron shall be holy unto their God, neither shall they profane the name of their God; because the offerings to Jehovah made by fire, the bread of their God, they do offer. Thou shalt sanctify him, because he offereth the bread of thy God. A man of the seed of Aaron in whom there shall be a blemish, shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God (Lev. 21:6, 8, 17, 21),

where also sacrifices and burnt-offerings are the "bread". The same is true of (Leviticus 22:25). Again: -

Command the sons of Israel, and say unto them, My oblation, My bread for offerings made by fire, of an odor of rest, shall ye observe, to offer unto Me at their appointed time (Num. 28:2).

Here also "bread" denotes all the sacrifices which are there enumerated. In Malachi: -

Offering polluted bread upon Mine altar (Malachi 1:7),

where also the sacrifices are spoken of. The hallowed things of the sacrifices, which they ate, were also called "bread", as is evident from these words in Moses: -

He that toucheth an unclean thing shall not eat of the hallowed things, but he shall wash his flesh in water, and when the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterwards he shall eat of the hallowed things, because this is his bread (Lev. 22:6, 7).

[3] The burnt-offerings and sacrifices in the Jewish Church represented nothing else than the celestial things of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, and of the Lord's kingdom on earth (that is, in the church), also of the Lord's kingdom or church with each person, and in general all those things which are of love and charity, for these are things celestial; and each kind of sacrifice represented something special and peculiar. All these were at that time called BREAD, and therefore when sacrifices were abolished, and other things succeeded in their place for external worship, it was commanded that bread and wine should be made use of.

[4] From all this we may now see what the "bread" (in the Holy Supper) signifies, namely, all the things represented by the sacrifices, thus in the internal sense the Lord Himself. And because the "bread" signifies the Lord Himself, it signifies love itself toward the universal human race, and what belongs to love as also man's reciprocal love to the Lord and toward the neighbor. The "bread" thus signifies all celestial things, and in the same way the "wine" signifies all spiritual things, as the Lord also teaches in plain words in John. They said,

Our fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven for the bread of God is He that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. They said unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst (John 6:31-35).

And again: -

Verily I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat the manna in the wilderness, and are dead; this is the bread that cometh down from heaven, that one may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eat of this bread, he shall live to eternity (John 6:47-51).

[5] Now because the "bread" is the Lord, it belongs to the celestial things which are of love, which are the Lord's; for the Lord is the celestial itself, because He is love itself, that is, mercy itself; and because this is so, "bread" means all the celestial, that is, all the love and charity with man, for these are from the Lord; and therefore they who are not in love and charity have not the Lord with them, and thus are not gifted with the good and happy things that in the internal sense are signified by "bread". This outward symbol was commanded because the greatest part of the human race are in external worship, and therefore without some outward symbol there would be scarcely anything holy with them. And therefore when they live in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, they nevertheless have appertaining to them what is internal, although they do not know that this love and charity is the veriest internal of worship. Thus in their external worship they are confirmed in the goods which are signified by the "bread".

[6] In the Prophets also the celestial things of love are signified by "bread" (Isa. 3:1, 7; 30:23; 33:15, 16; 55:2; 58:7, 8; Lam. 5:9; Ezek. 4:16, 17; 5:16; 14:13; Amos 4:6; 8:11; Ps. 105:16), in like manner by the "bread of faces" upon the table (Lev. 24:5-9; Exod. 25:30; 40:23; Num. 4:7; 1 Kings 7:48).

2166. Support ye your heart. That this signifies as much as is meet, cannot be so evident from the proximate signification of the words in the internal sense, but yet it is evident from the series of things, for the subject treated of is the Divine perception - that this might draw nearer to the perception of the human which then appertained to the Lord, and that it might let itself down to His intellectual things, by putting on something natural and also something celestial adjoined to it, as much as was meet - which is to "support the heart". In the proximate sense, to "support the heart by bread" is to be refreshed, and thus to enjoy what little of the celestial is meet.

2167. Afterwards ye may pass on. That this signifies that when He had left off perceiving He would be content therewith, is in like manner evident from the series.

2168. For therefore have ye passed over unto your servant. That this signifies that they came for this purpose, is also evident without explication.

2169. And they said, So do as thou hast spoken. That this signifies that it would be so done, likewise needs no explication.

2170. Verse 6. And Abraham hastened toward the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of meal of fine flour, knead, and make cakes. "Abraham hastened toward the tent unto Sarah", signifies the Lord's rational good conjoined with His truth; "Abraham" is here the Lord in that state as to good; " Sarah", as to truth; the "tent", as to the holy of love: "and said", signifies the state of perception relatively at that time; "make ready quickly three measures of meal of fine flour, knead, and make cakes", signifies the celestial of His love in that state; "three" denotes what is holy; "meal of fine flour", is the spiritual and the celestial of the rational which were then with the Lord; "cakes" denote the same when both are conjoined.

2171. Abraham hastened toward the tent unto Sarah. That this signifies the Lord's rational good conjoined with His truth, is evident from the representation of "Abraham", and also of "Sarah", and from the signification of a "tent", concerning which presently. As each and all things bear relation to the subject treated of in the internal sense, so do these words bear relation to the Divine perception into which the Lord came when He was in the perception of the human. But those who do not know what perception is, cannot know either how the case is with it, still less that there exists a perception that is more and more interior, namely, natural perception, then rational perception, and finally internal perception, which is Divine, and which the Lord alone had. They who are in perception, as are the angels, know very well in which perception they are; whether in natural, in rational, or in a still more interior perception which to them is Divine. What then must have been the case with the Lord, who had a perception from the Supreme and Infinite Divine, concerning which see (n. 1616, 1791), in which no angels ever are, for perception flows into them from the Lord's Supreme or Infinite Divine through His Human Essence.

[2] The reason why the Lord's perception is described, is that when He was in the human, it was thus made known to Him how the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy proceeding were to be united in Him; then, how His rational was to be made Divine; and finally what was the quality of the human race - that it was to be saved by Him, that is, by the union of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence in Him; which are the subjects treated of in this chapter. On these accounts the Lord's perception is first described, as also on account of the union itself which was to be effected.

2172. That "Abraham" is here the Lord in that state as to good, is evident from the representation of Abraham. When he is speaking with Jehovah, as here, Abraham represents the Lord in the Human (n. 1989), where he represented the Lord in the state and at the age there described, because then also he spoke with Jehovah. In other cases Abraham represents the Lord's Divine good, and Sarah His Divine truth; hence Abraham now represents the Lord's rational good.

2173. That "Sarah" is here the Lord as to truth, is evident from the representation of Sarah, as being intellectual truth adjoined to good; here, as being rational truth, for the same reason as just now stated in regard to Abraham. That Sarah represents truth may be seen above, (n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065). In the historicals of the Word good and truth cannot be represented otherwise than by a marriage, for this is really the case with them, for there is a Divine marriage between things celestial and spiritual, or what is the same, between those which are of love and those which are of faith, or again what is the same, between those of the will and those of the understanding. The former are of good, the latter are of truth. There is such a marriage in the Lord's kingdom in the heavens such also in the Lord's kingdom on the earth (that is, in the church); such a marriage in every man, in every single thing of him, nay, in the veriest singulars of all. That which is not in such a marriage does not live. Nay, from that Divine marriage there is such a marriage in universal nature, and in every particular of it, but under other form and appearance, otherwise nothing whatever would there subsist. Because there is such marriage in everything, therefore with the Prophets every matter is expressed in a twofold manner especially in Isaiah - one expression referring to what is celestial, or to good, and the other to what is spiritual, or to truth (n. 683, 793, 801). That in everything there is a resemblance of a marriage, may be seen above (n. 718, 747, 917, 1432). Hence it is that the Lord's good is represented by Abraham, and His truth by Sarah.

2174. That a "tent" is the Lord as to the holy of love, is evident from the signification of a "tent", as being what is holy (n. 414, 1102, 1566, 2145).

2175. And he said. That this signifies the state of the perception relatively at that time, is evident from the signification in the historical sense of " saying" as being to perceive (n. 1898, 1919, 2080).

2176. Make ready quickly three measures of meal of fine flour, knead, and make cakes. That this signifies the celestial of His love in that state, is evident from the signification of "meal", "fine flour", and "cakes", which will be treated of in what next follows. That such things are involved, no one can believe who keeps his mind intent on the literal sense, or that of the words, still less if on the historical things described by them; for he is thinking not only about this preparation, but also about the men who came to Abraham, and not about these matters involving more secret things. This is the reason why he can still less believe that the historicals of the Word in every detail store up within them such arcana equally as do the propheticals; for the historicals draw the mind strongly to themselves, and darken the interiors. Nevertheless that there really are arcana deeply hidden in these historicals is evident from the mere fact that it is the Word of the Lord, written not only for man, but at the same time also for heaven; and this in such a manner, that when a man is reading it, the angels have heavenly ideas therefrom; so that in this way heaven is conjoined with the human race by means of the Word. What is meant in the internal sense by "meal", "fine flour", and "cakes", will now be shown.

2177. That the "meal of fine flour" denotes the spiritual and the celestial which were then with the Lord, and that "cakes" denote the same when both are conjoined, is very evident from the sacrifices of the Representative Church, and from the meat-offering then made use of, which consisted of fine flour mingled with oil and made into cakes. The chief part of representative worship consisted in burnt-offerings and sacrifices. What these represented has already been stated, where bread is treated of (n. 2165), namely, the celestial things of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and of the Lord's kingdom on the earth (that is, in the church), and also those of the Lord's kingdom or church with each person; and in general all the things of love and charity, because these are celestial. All these offerings and sacrifices were at that time called "bread", and to them was adjoined the meat-offering also, which, as already said, consisted of fine flour mingled with oil to which frankincense was likewise added, as well as a libation of wine.

[2] What these represented is also evident, namely, similar things as the sacrifices, but in a less degree, thus the things which are of the spiritual church, and like wise those of the external church. Every one can see that such things would never have been commanded unless they had represented Divine things, and also that each one represents something special and peculiar, for unless they had represented Divine things, they would not have differed from similar things in use among the Gentiles, among whom also there were sacrifices - meat-offerings, libations, frankincense, perpetual fires, and many other things, derived to them from the Ancient Church, and especially from the Hebrew Church. But as internal things (that is, the Divine things that were represented) were separated from these Gentile rites, they were merely idolatrous, as also they became with the Jews, who for this reason fell into all kinds of idolatry. From what has been said every one can see that there were heavenly arcana in every rite, especially in the sacrifices and all their particulars.

[3] As regards the meat-offering, the nature of it and how it was to be prepared into cakes, is described in a whole chapter in Moses (Lev. 2; Num. 15). The law of the meat-offering is described in Leviticus in these words: -

Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually, it shall not go out. And this is the law of the meat-offering: the sons of Aaron shall bring it before Jehovah to the faces of the altar; and he shall take therefrom his handful of the fine flour of the meat-offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat-offering, and shall burn it upon the altar, an odor of rest, for a memorial unto Jehovah; and the residue thereof Aaron and his sons shall eat; unleavened shall they be eaten in a holy place in the court of the tent of meeting shall they eat it. It shall not be baked leavened; I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is a holy of holies (Leviticus 6:13-17).

[4] The fire which must be kept burning upon the altar continually, represented the love, that is, the mercy of the Lord, perpetual and eternal. That in the Word "fire" signifies love, see (n. 934); hence "offerings made by fire for an odor of rest" signify the Lord's pleasure in the things which are of love and charity. That "odor" denotes what is well-pleasing, that is, what is grateful, see (n. 925, 1519). Their "taking a handful" represented that they should love with all the strength, or with all the soul; for the hand, or the palm of the hand, signifies power (n. 878), from which "handful" also signifies power. The fine flour, with the oil and the frankincense, represented all things of charity - the fine flour the spiritual, and the oil the celestial of charity, the frankincense what was in this manner grateful. That fine flour represents what is spiritual, is evident from what has just been said, and from what follows; that oil represents what is celestial, or the good of charity, may be seen above, (n. 886); and also that frankincense, from its odor, represents what is grateful and acceptable, (n. 925).

[5] Its being "unleavened", or not fermented, signifies that it should be sincere, and thus from a sincere heart, and free from uncleanness. That Aaron and his sons should eat the residue, represented man's reciprocality and his appropriation, thus conjunction through love and charity; on which account it was commanded that they should eat it in a holy place. Hence it is called a "holy of holies". These were the things that were represented by the meat-offering; and the representatives themselves were so perceived in heaven; and when the man of the church so apprehended them, he was then in an idea similar to the perception of the angels, thus he was in the Lord's kingdom itself in the heavens although he was on earth.

[6] The meat-offering is further treated of, as regards what it ought to be in connection with each kind of sacrifice, and how it should be baked into cakes, also what kind should be offered by those who were being cleansed, and what on other occasions; to mention and explain all of which would be too tedious; but concerning all these matters see (Exod. 29:39-41; Lev. 5:11-13; 6:14-23; 10:12, 13; 23:10-13, 16, 17; Num. 5:15; 6:15-17, 19, 20; 7:1-89; 28:5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 20, 21, 28, 29; 29:3, 4, 9, 10, 14, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 37).

[7] Fine flour made into cakes in general represented the same as bread, namely, the celestial of love, and meal the spiritual of it, as is evident from the passages cited above. The "breads" (or loaves) that were called the "bread of faces", or the "show bread" (panis propositionis), were made of fine flour, which was prepared in cakes and placed upon the table, for a perpetual representation of the love, that is, the mercy, of the Lord toward the universal human race, and the reciprocality of man. Concerning these loaves we read as follows in Moses: -

Thou shalt take fine flour and shalt bake it into twelve cakes; of two tenths shall one cake be; and thou shalt set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the clean table, before Jehovah; and thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, and it shall be to the breads for a memorial, an offering made by fire unto Jehovah. On every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before Jehovah continually, from the sons of Israel in a covenant of eternity. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is a holy of holies unto him, of the offerings made by fire unto Jehovah by a statute of eternity (Lev. 24:5-9).

Every particular in this description and all the smallest details represented the holy of love and of charity, the "fine flour" the same as the "meal of fine flour", namely, the celestial and its spiritual, and the "cake" the two conjoined.

[8] Hence it is evident what is the holiness of the Word to those who are in heavenly ideas, nay, what holiness there was in this very representative rite, on account of which it is called a holiness of holinesses; and on the contrary, how void of holiness it is to those who suppose that there is nothing heavenly in these things, and who abide solely in the externals; as do they who perceive the meal here merely as meal, the fine flour as fine flour, and the cake as a cake, and who suppose these things to have been stated without each particular involving something of the Divine. These do in like manner as do those who think the bread and wine of the Holy Supper to be nothing but a certain rite, containing nothing holy within; whereas there is such holiness that human minds are by that Supper conjoined with heavenly minds, when from internal affection they are thinking that the bread and wine signify the Lord's love and the reciprocality of man, and are thus in holiness from interior thought and feeling.

[9] The like was involved in that the sons of Israel on their coming into the land of Canaan were to offer a cake of the first of their dough, as a heave-offering unto Jehovah (Num. 15:20). That such things are signified is also evident in the Prophets, from which we may at present adduce only this from Ezekiel: -

Thou wast decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was fine linen and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, honey, and oil, and thou wast become beautiful very exceedingly, and thou wast prospered unto a kingdom (Ezekiel 16:13);

where the subject treated of is Jerusalem, by which is signified the church, that was so decked in its earliest time - that is, the Ancient Church - and which is described by the garments and other ornaments; as also its affections of truth and good by the fine flour, honey, and oil. Every one can see that all these things have a very different meaning in the internal sense from that in the sense of the letter. And so have these words which Abraham said to Sarah: "Make ready quickly three measures of the meal of fine flour, knead, and make cakes". That "three" signifies holy things has been shown before, (n. 720, 901).

2178. Verse 7. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and took a son of an ox tender and good, and gave it to the lad, and he hasted to make it. "Abraham ran unto the herd", signifies natural good; "and took a son of an ox tender and good" signifies the celestial natural which is conformable, and which the rational associated to itself in order that it might conjoin itself with the perception from the Divine; "and gave it to the lad, and he hasted to make it", signifies the conjunction of this good with rational good; "the lad" is here the natural man.

2179. Abraham ran unto the herd. That this signifies natural good, is evident from the signification of the oxen and bullocks of the herd - to be explained presently. The beasts of the herd and of the flock signify such things as are in man (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 776), and also from what was said concerning the beasts used in the sacrifices (n. 1823). It may seem surprising that the animals named in the Word, and also those offered in the sacrifices, should signify goods and truths, or what is the same, things celestial and spiritual, but the reason of this may be briefly stated.

[2] In the world of spirits various representatives are presented to view, and withal animals are often presented before the eyes of the spirits there, such as horses variously caparisoned, oxen, sheep, lambs, with other animals of various kinds, sometimes such as are never seen on the earth, but are only representative. Such animals were also seen by the prophets, as described in the Word, and were from the same source. The animals that appear in the world of spirits are representative of affections of good and truth, and also of evil and falsity. Good spirits know perfectly well what they signify, and thus also gather from them what the angels are conversing about; for the speech of angels, passing down into the world of spirits, is sometimes presented in this way. For example, when horses appear, they know that the speech of the angels is about the things of the understanding; when oxen and bullocks, that it is about natural goods; when sheep, that it is about rational goods, and probity; when lambs, that it is about goods still more internal and about innocence; and so on.

[3] As the men of the Most Ancient Church had communication with spirits and angels, and constantly had visions and also dreams such as the prophets had, the consequence was that whenever they saw any beast, there occurred to them the idea of what it signified. Representatives and significatives originated in this way, and remained long after their times; and at length became so venerated from their antiquity that men wrote by mere representatives books not so written being held in no esteem; and those written within the church being of no sanctity. From this and other hidden causes, concerning which of the Lord's Divine mercy elsewhere, the books of the Word also were so written.

2180. And took a son of an ox tender and good. That this signifies the celestial natural which the rational associated to itself, in order that it might conjoin itself with the perception from the Divine, is evident from the signification in the Word of a "bullock" or " son of an ox", as being natural good. And as the Lord's rational is treated of, it is called "tender" from the celestial spiritual, or the truth of good; and "good" from the celestial itself, or good itself. In the genuine rational there is the affection of truth and the affection of good; but its chief thing (primarium) is the affection of truth (n. 2072). Hence it is first called "tender", and yet is called both "tender and good", according to the usual practice in the Word, to indicate the marriage of good and truth (n. 2173).

[2] That a "bullock", or "son of an ox", signifies the celestial natural, or what is the same, natural good, is especially evident from the sacrifices, which were the principal representatives of worship in the Hebrew Church, and afterwards in the Jewish. Their sacrifices were made either from the herd or from the flock, thus from animals of various kinds that were clean, such as oxen, bullocks, he-goats, sheep, rams, she-goats, kids, and lambs; besides turtledoves and young pigeons, all of which animals signified internal things of worship, that is, things celestial and spiritual (n. 2165, 2177); the animals taken from the herd signifying celestial natural things, and those from the flock celestial rational things; and as both the natural and the rational things are more and more interior, and are various, therefore so many kinds and species of those animals were made use of in the sacrifices; as is also evident from its being prescribed what animals should be offered - in the burnt-offerings; in the sacrifices of various kinds, as in those that were daily, those of the Sabbaths and festivals, those that were voluntary, those for thanksgiving and vows, those expiatory of guilt and sin, those of purifying and cleansing, and those of inauguration - and also from their being expressly named, and how many of them should be used in each kind of sacrifice; which would never have been done unless each had signified some special thing. This is very evident from those passages where the sacrifices are treated of (Exod. 29; Lev. 1, 3, 4, 9, 14, 23; Num. 7, 8, 15, 29). But this is not the place to set forth what each one signified. The case is similar in the Prophets where these animals are named, and from them it is evident that "bullocks" signified celestial natural things.

[3] That no other than heavenly things were signified, is also evident from the cherubs seen by Ezekiel, and from the animals before the throne seen by John. Concerning the cherubs the Prophet says: -

The likeness of their faces was the face of a man, and they four had the face of a lion on the right side, and they four had the face of an ox on the left side, and they four had the face of an eagle (Ezek. 1:10).

Concerning the four animals before the throne John says: -

Around the throne were four animals; the first animal was like a lion, the second animal like a young bullock, the third animal had a face like a man, the fourth animal was like a flying eagle saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come (Rev. 4:6-8).

Every one can see that holy things were represented by the cherubs and by these animals, and also by the oxen and young bullocks in the sacrifices. In like manner in the prophecy of Moses concerning Joseph: -

Let it come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the head of him that was a Nazirite from his brethren. The firstling of his ox, honor is his; and his horns are the horns of the unicorn, with them he shall push the peoples together, to the ends of the earth (Deut. 33:16, 17).

None can understand these things unless it is known what an ox, a unicorn, horns, and other things signify in the internal sense.

[4] As regards sacrifices in general, they were indeed enjoined through Moses on the people of Israel, but the Most Ancient Church, that existed before the flood, knew nothing whatever about sacrifices; nor did it even come into their minds to worship the Lord by slaughtering animals. The Ancient Church, that existed after the flood, was likewise unacquainted with sacrifices. This church was indeed in representatives, but not in sacrifices. In fact sacrifices were first instituted in the following church, which was called the Hebrew Church, and from this spread to the nations, and from the same source they came to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and thus to the descendants of Jacob. The nations were in a worship of sacrifices (n. 1343); and so were Jacob's posterity before they went out of Egypt, thus before sacrifices were commanded by Moses upon Mount Sinai, is evident from (Exodus 5:3; 10:25, 27; 18:12; 24:4, 5); and especially from their idolatrous worship before the golden calf,

[5] thus described in Moses: - Aaron built an altar before the calf, and Aaron made proclamation and said, To-morrow is the feast of Jehovah. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat, and to drink, and rose up to play (Exod. 32:5, 6). This was done while Moses was upon Mount Sinai, and thus before the command concerning the altar and the sacrifices came to them. The command came on this account that the worship of sacrifices had become idolatrous with them, as it had with the Gentiles, and from this worship they could not be withdrawn, because they regarded it as the chief holy thing For what has once been implanted from infancy as holy, especially if by fathers, and thus inrooted, the Lord never breaks, but bends, unless it is contrary to order itself. This is the reason why it was directed that sacrifices should be instituted in the way described in the books of Moses.

[6] That sacrifices were by no means acceptable to Jehovah, thus were merely permitted and tolerated for the reason just stated, is very evident in the Prophets, as we read in Jeremiah: -

Thus saith Jehovah Zebaoth the God of Israel, Add your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices, and eat flesh. I spake not unto your fathers, and I commanded them not in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offering and sacrifice; but this word I commanded them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God (Jeremiah 7:21-23)

In David: -

O Jehovah, sacrifice and offering Thou hast not willed, burnt-offering and sin-offering Thou hast not required. I have desired to do Thy will, O my God (Ps. 40:6, 8).

In the same: -

Thou delightest not in sacrifice, that I should give it; burnt-offering Thou dost not accept. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit (Ps. 51:16, 17).

In the same: -

I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy folds; sacrifice to God confession (Ps. 50:9, 13, 14; 107:21, 22; 116:17; Deut. 23:19).

In Hosea: -

I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings (Hosea 6:6).

Samuel said to Saul: -

Hath Jehovah pleasure in burnt-offerings and sacrifices? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, to hearken than the fat of rams (1 Sam. 15:22).

In Micah: -

Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, and bow myself to the high God? Shall I come before Him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself in walking with thy God (Micah 6:6-8).

[7] From all this it is now evident that sacrifices were not commanded, but permitted; also that nothing else was regarded in the sacrifices than what is internal; and that it was the internal, not the external, that was acceptable. On this account also, the Lord abrogated them, as was likewise foretold by Daniel in these words: -

In the midst of the week shall He cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease (Daniel 9:27),

where the Lord's advent is treated of. Concerning sacrifices (n. 922, 923, 1128, 1823). As regards the "son of an ox" which Abraham "made" or prepared for the three men, the case is the same as with that animal in the sacrifices. That it had a like signification is evident also from his telling Sarah to take three measures of fine flour. Concerning the fine flour to a bullock, we read in Moses: - When ye he come into the land; when thou shalt make a son of an ox a burnt-offering or a sacrifice, in pronouncing publicly a vow, or peace-offerings unto Jehovah, thou shalt offer upon the son of an ox a meat-offering of three tenths of fine flour, mingled with oil (Num. 15:8, 9), where it is in like manner "three", here "three tenths", and above, "three measures;" but to a ram there were to be only two tenths, and to a lamb one tenth (Num. 15:4-6).

2181. And gave it to the lad, and he hasted to make it. That this signifies the conjunction of this good with rational good, and that the "lad" is the natural man, is evident from the signification of a "lad" as being one who ministers and administrators; and that which is ministered or done is to make- to wit, the son of an ox, by which is signified natural good, as already shown. That it may be better perceived how this is, be it known that there exist with every man an internal, a rational which is intermediate, and a natural; also that these are distinct from each other (n. 1889, 1940), and are to be made to conform', in order that they may make a one-thus rational good with natural good-and that without conformation and thereby conjunction there can be no Divine perception. As in these words the Lord's Divine perception is treated of, they signify in the internal sense the conformation and conjunction of these two kinds of good.

2182. Verse 8. And he took butter and milk, and the son of an ox that he had made, and set before them; and he stood before them under the tree, and they did eat. "He took butter and milk, and the son of an ox that he had made", signifies all those things thus conjoined together; "butter" is the celestial of the rational, "milk" is the derivative spiritual, a "son of an ox" is the corresponding natural; "and set before them", signifies that He so prepared Himself to receive; "and be stood before them under the tree", signifies derivative perception (the "tree", as before, is perception); "and they did eat", signifies communication in this manner.

2183. He took butter and milk, and the son of an ox that he had made. That this signifies all those things thus conjoined together, is evident from the signification of "butter", of "milk", and of a "son of an ox", to be explained presently. In the verses which precede, the subject was the Lord's rational in that it was instructed in the celestial and the derivative spiritual, which are signified by the "meal of fine flour made into a cake" (n. 2176, 2177); and it also was the celestial natural, which is signified by the "son of an ox" (n. 2180). The same things are now expressed by other words, namely, by "butter", "milk", and also a "son of an ox", by which are signified all those things conjoined together.

[2] But these things can with difficulty be described to the ordinary understanding, because to most people it is unknown that every man has an internal, a rational, and a natural, and that these are most distinct from each other, nay, so distinct, that one of them may be dissident from another; to wit, that the rational, which is called the rational man, may be dissident from the natural, which is the natural man; nay, that the rational man can even see and perceive the evil which is in the natural man and, if it is a genuine rational, may chastise it (n. 1904). Before these two have been conjoined together, the man cannot be an entire (or perfect) man, nor can he be in the tranquillity of peace, for the one fights with the other. For the angels who are with the man rule his rational, but the evil spirits who are with him, his natural, and hence comes combat.

[3] If the rational then conquers, the natural is subjugated, and the man is thus gifted with conscience; but if the natural conquers, he can then receive nothing of conscience. If the rational conquers, his natural then becomes as if it also was rational; but if the natural conquers, the rational becomes as if it also was natural. And further, if the rational conquers, the angels then draw nearer into the man, and insinuate to him charity (which is the celestial that comes from the Lord through the angels), and the evil spirits remove themselves to a distance; but if the natural conquers, the angels then remove themselves further away (that is, more toward the man's interiors), while the evil spirits draw nearer toward the rational, and continually attack it, and fill the lower parts of his mind with hatreds, revenges, deceits, and the like. If the rational conquers, the man then comes into the tranquillity of peace, and in the other life into the peace of heaven; but if the natural conquers, then, while the man lives he appears as if he were in tranquillity, but in the other life he comes into the unrest and torment of hell.

[4] In this way may be known what is the quality of a man's state as to his rational, and as to his natural; so that there is nothing else that can make a man blessed and happy but that his natural be conformed to his rational, and both be conjoined together. This is effected solely by means of charity, and charity is solely from the Lord.

2184. That "butter" is the celestial of the rational; that "milk" is the derivative spiritual; and that a "son of an ox" is the corresponding natural, is evident from the signification of "butter", of "milk", and of a "son of an ox.-' As regards butter, it signifies in the Word what is celestial, and this from its fatness. That fat denotes what is celestial was shown (n. 353); and that "oil", because fat, is the celestial itself, (n. 886). That "butter" also is the celestial, is evident in Isaiah: -

Behold, a virgin beareth a son, and shall call His name Immanuel, Butter and honey shall He eat, that He may know to refuse what is evil, and choose what is good (Isaiah 7:14, 15),

where the Lord (who is "Immanuel") is treated of; and anyone can see that butter is not signified by "butter", nor honey by "honey;" but that by "butter" is signified His celestial, and by "honey" that which is from the celestial.

[2] In the same: -

And it shall come to pass, for the multitude of the making of milk He shall eat butter; for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the midst of the land (Isaiah 7:22),

where the Lord's kingdom is treated of, and those on earth who are in the Lord's kingdom. "Milk" here denotes spiritual good, "butter" celestial good, and "honey" the derivative happiness.

[3] In Moses: -

Jehovah alone leadeth him, and there is no strange god with him. He maketh him to ride upon the high places of the earth, and to eat the produce of the fields, and He maketh him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flint of the rock butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, with the fat of lambs, and of rams the sons of Bashan, and of he-goats, with the fat of the kidneys of wheat; and of the blood of the grape shalt thou drink unmixed wine (merum) (Deut. 32:12-14).

No one can understand what these things denote unless be knows the internal sense of each one. It appears like a heap of expressions such as are used by the eloquent among the wise ones of the world, and yet every expression signifies the celestial and its spiritual, and also the derivative blessedness and happiness, and all these in a well-ordered series. "Butter of the herd" is the celestial natural, " milk of the flock" is the celestial spiritual of the rational.

[4] But as regards milk, as before said, this signifies the spiritual from the celestial, that is, the celestial spiritual. What the celestial spiritual is, see (n. 1577, 1824). That "milk" is the spiritual which is from the celestial, comes from the fact that "water" signifies what is spiritual (n. 680, 739) but "milk", as there is fat in it, signifies the celestial spiritual, or what is the same, the truth of good; or what is the same, the faith of love or of charity; or what is also the same, the intellectual of the good of the will; and again the same, the affection of truth in which there is inwardly the affection of good; and yet again the same, the affection of knowledges (cognitiones et scientiae) from the affection of charity toward the neighbor, such as exists with those who love the neighbor, and confirm themselves in this love from the knowledges of faith, and also from memory-knowledges, which they love on this account. All these things are the same as the Celestial-spiritual, and are predicated according to the subject treated of.

[5] That this is signified, is evident also from the Word, as in Isaiah: -

Every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no silver, come ye, buy, and eat; yea come, buy wine and milk without silver, and without price. Wherefore do ye weigh silver for that which is not bread? (Isaiah 55:1, 2),

where "wine" denotes the spiritual which is of faith, and "milk" the spiritual which is of love. In Moses: -

He hath washed his garment in wine, and his clothing in the blood of grapes; his eyes are redder than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk (Gen. 49:11, 12),

which is the prophecy of Jacob, then Israel, concerning Judah; and by Judah the Lord is here described, and by his "teeth being whiter than milk", is signified the celestial spiritual that pertained to His natural.

[6] In Joel: -

It shall be in that day that the mountains shall drop new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk; and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters (Joel 3:18),

speaking of the Lord's kingdom "milk" denotes the celestial spiritual. In the Word the land of Canaan also (by which the Lord's kingdom is represented and signified) is called a "land flowing with milk and honey" (Num. 13:27; 14:8; Deut. 26:9, 15; 27:3; Jer. 11:5; 32:22; Ezek. 20:6, 15), and in these passages nothing else is meant by "milk" than an abundance of celestial spiritual things, and by "honey" an abundance of the derivative happinesses the "land" is the celestial itself of the kingdom, from which those things come.

[7] As regards the "son of an ox", it was shown just above that thereby is signified the celestial natural (n. 2180), the celestial natural being the same as natural good, or good in the natural. The natural of man, like his rational, has its good and its truth; for there is everywhere the marriage of good and truth (n. 2173). The good of the natural is the delight which is perceived from charity, or from the friendship which is of charity; from which delight there comes forth a pleasure which is properly of the body. The truth of the natural is the memory-knowledge (scientificum) which favors that delight. Hence it is evident what the celestial natural is.

2185. And set before them. That this signifies that He thus prepared Himself to receive, is evident from the signification in the internal sense of "setting before them", when the subject treated of is the preparation of the rational to receive perception from the Divine, thus without further explication.

2186. And he stood before them under the tree. That this signifies the derivative perception, follows from the signification of a tree", as being perception (n. 103, 2163). It has been already stated (verse 4), that the three men who came to Abraham lay down under a tree, by which was signified that the Divine approached the perception of that state in which the Lord then was. But it is here said that Abraham stood under the tree, by which is signified that the Lord approached Divine perception, after He had prepared Himself; and this is the reciprocality. Every one can see that it is not without a cause, that mention is made of the three men and of Abraham standing under a tree, consequently that it was said for the sake of the arcana which lie hidden in these things.

2187. And they did eat. That this signifies communication in this manner, is evident from the signification of "eating", as being to be communicated and to be conjoined; as is also evident from the Word. The fact that Aaron, his sons, the Levites, and also the people, ate the hallowed things of the sacrifices in the holy place, signified nothing else than communication, conjunction, and appropriation, as above said at the explication of the passage from (Leviticus 6:9, 10), (n. 2177), for it was celestial and spiritual food that was signified by the hallowed things which they ate, consequently the appropriation of it. The hallowed things were the parts of the sacrifices which were not burned upon the altar, and were eaten either by the priests, or by the people that made the offering; as is evident from many passages where the sacrifices are treated of. What should be eaten by the priests, (Exod. 29:32, 33; Lev. 6:9, 16, 18, 26; 7:6, 15, 16, 18; 8:31; 10:12, 13; Num. 18:9-11); what should be eaten by the people, (Lev. 19:5, 6; Deut. 12:27; 27:7); and that the unclean should not eat of them, (Lev. 7:19-21; 22:4-7). These feastings were made in a holy place near the altar, either at the door, or in the court of the tabernacle and they signified nothing else than the communication, conjunction, and appropriation of celestial goods; for by them were represented celestial foods, concerning which food see (n. 56, 57, 58, 680, 681, 1480, 1695), and they were all called "bread", the signification of which may be seen above (n. 2165). The like was represented by Aaron and his sons eating the showbread or "bread of faces, in a holy place (Lev. 24:9).

[2] The law given for the Nazirite-that in the days of his Naziriteship he should not eat of anything from the grape, whence wine is made, from the seeds even to the skin (Num. 6:4) - was because the Nazirite represented the celestial man, and the celestial man is such that he is not willing even to mention spiritual things (n. 202, 337, 880, 1647); and as wine and the grape, and also whatever is from the grape, signified what is spiritual, it was therefore forbidden the Nazirite to eat of them; that is, to have communication with them, to conjoin himself with them, and to appropriate them to himself.

[3] The like is meant by "eating" in Isaiah: -

Every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no silver, come ye, buy, and eat yea come, buy wine and milk without silver and without price. Wherefore do ye weigh silver for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and your soul shall be deliciated in fatness (Isaiah 55:1, 2).

As also in John: -

To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God (Rev. 2:7).

The "tree of life" is the celestial itself, and in the supreme sense is the Lord Himself, because from Him is all the celestial, that is, all love and charity. Thus to "eat of the tree of life" is the same as to eat the Lord, and to eat the Lord is to be gifted with love and charity, and thus with those things which are of heavenly life. This the Lord Himself says in John: -

I am the living bread that came down from heaven, if anyone eat of this bread, he shall live to eternity he that eateth Me shall live by Me (John 6:51, 57).

But they said, This is a hard saying. And Jesus said, The words that I speak unto you are spirit, and are life (John 6:60, 63).

[4] Hence it is manifest what is meant by eating in the Holy Supper (Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22, 23; Luke 22:19, 20); namely, to have communication, to be conjoined, and to appropriate to one's self. Hence also it is clear what is meant by the Lord's saying that: -

Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matt. 8:11),

not that they are to eat with them in the kingdom of God but that they will enjoy the celestial goods which are signified by "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob", namely, the celestial things of love; not only the inmost, which are "Abraham", but also the lower that are intermediate, as are those of the rational, which are "Isaac;" and the still lower, which are the celestial natural, such as are in the first heaven, and which are meant by "Jacob". Such is the internal sense of these words. That these things are meant by "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob", may be seen in (n. 1893), and wherever else they are treated of. For whether we speak of enjoying those celestial things, or of enjoying the Lord, who is represented by those men, it is the same thing; for all those things are from the Lord, and the Lord is the all in all of them.

2188. Verse 9. And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. "They said to him, Where is Sarah thy wife?" signifies rational truth, which did not then appear because it was in rational good; "and he said, Behold, in the tent", signifies that it was in what is holy.

2189. They said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? That this signifies rational truth, which did not then appear because it was in rational good, is evident from the representation here of Sarah, as being rational truth (n. 2173). How the case is with these things, as also with those which follow, where the state of the rational with the Lord is treated of, which is represented by Sarah, cannot be so well explained to the understanding unless it is known what in general is the state of the rational as to good and as to truth; and with the Lord, as to the Divine and as to the Human in which He then was.

[2] The primary thing of the rational with man is truth (n. 2072), consequently it is the affection of truth, to the end that man may be reformed, and so regenerated. This is effected by means of knowledges (cognitiones et scientifica) that are of truth, which are continually being implanted in good, that is, in charity, that so the man may receive the life of charity. It is on this account that the affection of truth in man is predominant in his rational. For it is the case with the life of charity (which is the heavenly life itself) that with those who are being reformed and regenerated it is continually being born and growing up and receiving increments, and this by means of truths therefore the more of truth there is insinuated, the more is the life of charity perfected; wherefore according to the quality and quantity of truth, so is the charity with a man.

[3] From all this it may in some measure be evident how the case is with man's rational in truth, however, there is no life, but in good. Truth is only a recipient of life, that is, of good. Truth is as the clothing or garment of good; therefore also truths are called in the Word "clothing", and also "garments". But when good constitutes the rational, truth disappears and becomes as if it were good. Good then shines through the truth, in the same way as takes place with the angels, for when they appear clothed, it is a brightness inducing the appearance of raiment, as was the case also when angels appeared before the prophets.

[4] This then is what is meant by rational truth not then appearing because it was in rational good, and which is signified by their saying to him, "Where is Sarah thy wife?" But as the Lord's rational good was then Divine, such as it can be with no angel, it cannot be described otherwise than by comparison, and thus by illustration from something similar, and which is not the same.

2190. And he said, Behold, in the tent. That this signifies that it was in what is holy, is evident from the signification of a "tent", as being what is holy (n. 414, 1102, 1566, 2145). It is said in what is holy, because it was in good. All good is called holy from the fact that it is of love and charity, which are solely from the Lord. But such as are the goods, such are the holinesses. Goods are formed, that is, are born and grow up, by means of the truths of faith, and their quality and quantity are therefore determined by those of the truth of faith implanted in charity (n. 2189), from which it follows that goods or the holinesses differ with every one; and although in the external form they may appear to be alike, yet in the internal forms they are unlike; and this both with those who are out of the church and with those who are within the church. There are more things in the good of charity with a man than man can possibly believe. All the things of his faith are in it, and consequently they are in the holiness of his worship. The quality of the holiness of his worship appears to the angels as in clear day, although the man knows nothing beyond the fact that he is in a certain holy state. Myriads of myriads of his thoughts concerning the goods and truths of faith and of the derivative affections, are in the holiness of his state. But as to the holiness of worship, what it is in general, of the Lord's Divine mercy elsewhere.

2191. Verse 10. And He said, Returning I will return unto thee about this time of life; and behold Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard at the door of the tent, and it was behind him. "And He said", signifies perception; "Returning I will return unto thee about this time of life", signifies the conjunction of the Divine with the Lord's Human; "and behold Sarah thy wife shall have a son", signifies the rational that was to be Divine; "and Sarah heard at the door of the tent", signifies rational truth then near what is holy; "and it was behind him", signifies near the good in which the rational then was, and thus separated from it in so far as anything of the human was in it.

2192. And He said. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification in the historical sense of "saying", as being perceiving (n. 1898, 1919, 2080).

2193. Returning I will return unto thee, about this time of life. this signifies the conjunction of the Divine with the Human, is evident from the fact that the coming of Jehovah to Abraham represented the Divine perception, for receiving which the Lord prepared Himself, consequently it represented conjunction, as shown above; thus by "returning He would return to him", there is signified the like, namely, the conjunction of the Divine with the Human. "At this time of life", means at the same time of the following year.

2194. Behold, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. That this signifies the rational that was to be Divine, is evident from the signification of a" son" and of " Sarah", and also of "Isaac" who should be born to her. Both "son" and "Sarah", and also "Isaac", signify that which is of the Lord's rational. That a "son" is truth may be seen above, (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147); also that "Sarah" signifies rational truth, (n. 2173); and that "Isaac" signifies the Divine rational, (n. 1893, 2066, 2083). The human with every man begins in the inmost of his rational (n. 2106); and so also the Lord's Human: that which was above it was Jehovah Himself, differently from any other man whatever. As the human begins in the inmost of the rational, and as the Lord made all the Human that was with Himself Divine, He first made the rational itself so from its inmost, which, when made Divine is represented and signified by "Isaac".

2195. And Sarah heard at the door of the tent. That this signifies that rational truth was then near what is holy, is evident from the representation of Sarah, as being rational truth (n. 2173, 2194), and from the signification of a "tent", as being what is holy (n. 414, 1102, 1566, 2145); and thus from the signification of the "door of the tent", as being the entrance to what is holy, thus near what is holy (n. 2145). How the case is with these things now follows.

2196. And it was behind him. That this signifies near the good in which the rational then was, and separated from it in so far as anything of the human was in it, is evident from the fact that it is said of the door where Sarah was that it was "behind him". To be "behind him" signifies not to be conjoined, but at his back. That which is separated from anyone is represented by a kind of rejection as it were to the back, as is evident from the representatives in the other life (n. 1393, 1875). This is here expressed by its being said that the door where Sarah was, was "behind him".

[2] As regards the merely human rational truth which was then with the Lord being separated from Him when He conjoined Himself with the Divine, the case is this. Human rational truth does not apprehend Divine things, because these are above the sphere of its understanding, for this truth communicates with the memory-knowledges which are in the natural man, and in so far as it looks from these at the things which are above itself, so far it does not acknowledge them. For this truth is in appearances, which it is not able to put off; and appearances are born from sensuous things, which induce a belief as if Divine things themselves also were of a like nature, when yet these are exempt from all appearances, and when they are stated, this rational truth cannot possibly believe them, because it cannot apprehend them.

[3] If for example it is stated that man has no life except what is from the Lord, the rational supposes from appearances that in that case man cannot live as of himself; whereas he for the first time truly lives when he perceives that he does so from the Lord.

[4] The rational supposes from appearances that the good which man does is from himself, and yet there is nothing of good from self, but all is from the Lord.

[5] From appearances the rational supposes that man merits salvation when he does what is good; whereas of himself man can merit nothing, but all merit is the Lord's.

[6] From appearances man supposes that when he is withheld from evil and is kept in good by the Lord, there is nothing with him but what is good and just, nay, holy; whereas there is nothing in man but what is evil, unjust, and profane.

[7] From appearances man supposes that when he does what is good from charity, he does it from his will; whereas it is not from his will part, but from his intellectual part, in which charity has been implanted.

[8] From appearances man supposes that there can be no glory without the glory of the world; whereas in the glory of heaven there is not a particle of the world's glory.

[9] From appearances man supposes that no one can love his neighbor more than himself, but that all love begins from self; when yet in heavenly love there is nothing of the love of self.

[10] From appearances man supposes that there can be no light but that which is from the light of the world; whereas in the heavens there is not one whit of the light of the world, and yet the light is so great that it surpasses the world's noon day light a thousand times.

[11] From appearances man supposes that the Lord cannot shine before the universal heaven as a sun; when yet all the light of heaven is from Him.

[12] From appearances man cannot apprehend that in the other life there are motions forward; whereas those who are there appear to themselves to move forward just as do men on earth-in their dwellings, courts, and paradises; and still less can he apprehend if it is said that these movings forward are changes of state, which so appear.

[13] Nor can man from appearances apprehend that spirits and angels, who are invisible before our eyes, can be seen; nor that they can speak with man; when yet they appear to the internal sight, or that of the spirit, more manifestly than man does to man on earth; and their voices are heard as distinctly; besides thousands of thousands of such things, which man's rational, from its own light, born from things of sense, and thereby darkened, cannot possibly believe. Nay, the rational is blinded in natural things themselves, not being able to apprehend, for instance, how those who dwell on the opposite side of the globe can stand on their feet and walk; and it is the same with very many other things. How blind then must the rational not be in spiritual and heavenly things, which are far above natural things?

[14] As the human rational is of such a character, it is here said of it that it was separated when the Lord in Divine perception was united to the Divine, which is signified by the standing of Sarah (who is here such rational truth) at the door of the tent, and by this being behind him.

2197. Verse 11. And Abraham and Sarah were old, entering into days; it had ceased to be with Sarah in the way as of women. "Abraham and Sarah were old", signifies the Human with the Lord, that it should be put off; "entering into days", signifies that the time was come; "it had ceased to be with Sarah in the way as of women", signifies the state of rational truth, that it could no longer remain so.

2198. Abraham and Sarah were old. That this signifies the Human with the Lord, that it should be put off, is evident from the representation of Abraham and of Sarah; as also from the signification of the "old", or of "old age". Abraham here represents the Lord as to rational good, and Sarah represents the Lord as to rational truth, as has been said repeatedly in this chapter; thus each here represents the Human with the Lord, for the reason, as before said, that Jehovah was now present and spake with Abraham; and Jehovah was the Lord's Divine itself, not separate from Him, although it is presented as separate in the historical representatives, for by means of historical things it cannot be represented otherwise. But as regards its being said that "Abraham and Sarah were old", signifying that that human should be put off-" old age" involves nothing else than the last time. "Old age" is mentioned in various places in the Word, as also that men "died;" but in the internal sense no old age, or death, such as those of the body, are ever perceived; but something else that is evident from the series of things; for in the other life old age and death are unknown. What is here meant is evident, as before said, from the series of things, namely, that the Lord was to put off the human.

2199. Entering into days. That this signifies that the time was come, now follows from what has been said. A "day", in the Word, as also a "year", and indeed time in general, signifies state (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893). Thus here, to "enter into days" signifies in the internal sense to enter into that state in which He should put off the Human; thus that the time was come.

2200. It had ceased to be with Sarah in the way as of women. That this signifies that it could no longer so remain, is evident from what has been now said; thus without explication.

2201. Verse 12. And Sarah laughed within herself, saying After I am grown old, shall I have pleasure? and my lord old? "Sarah laughed within herself", signifies the affection of that rational truth in regard to its being so done; "saying, After I am grown old, shall I have pleasure?" signifies that it was not of the affection of that truth that it should change its state; "and my lord old", signifies that the affection of truth wondered that the rational good to which truth was adjoined should also put off the human.

2202. Sarah laughed within herself. That this signifies the affection of that rational truth in regard to its being so done, is evident from the signification of "laughing" or of "laughter", as being the affection of truth (n. 2072). What these things involve now follows.

2203. Saying, After I am grown old, shall I have pleasure? That this signifies that it was not of the affection of that truth that it should change its state, is evident from the signification of "growing old", as being to put off the human, and thus to change the state (n. 2198); and from the signification of "shall I have pleasure;"' as being not to desire; thus that this was not its affection. How the case is with these things is evident from what was said of Sarah above (n. 2196), that she stood at the door of the tent, and it was behind him; that is, that the human rational as to truth is of such a nature that it cannot understand what the Divine is, for the reason that that truth is in appearances; and therefore that which it cannot understand, it does not believe; and by that which it does not believe it is not affected. The appearances in which the rational is, are such as to affect it, for there is delight in the appearances themselves; and therefore if it is deprived of appearances, it supposes that there is nothing of delight left; whereas heavenly affection is not in appearances, but in good and truth itself. As rational truth is of this nature, this is pardoned, and it is permitted to be in appearances, and to have delight in them. Such truth as was in appearances is represented by Sarah, when the Lord had conjoined Himself with the Divine, and therefore it is said that she "stood at the door", and that she "laughed and said, After I am grown old, shall I have pleasure n" by which is signified that it was not of its affection that it should change its state.

2204. And my lord old? That this signifies that the affection of truth wondered that the rational good to which truth was adjoined should also put off the human, is evident from the representation of Abraham, who is here "my lord", as here denoting rational good (n. 2198), also from the signification of "growing old", as being to put off the human (n. 2198). Human rational good is such as to have in itself much from worldly delights, for it is formed not only from truths, but also from the delights of sensuous things, and from many of the delights that are in the world. Into these delights (when the man is being reformed and regenerated) spiritual good is insinuated by the Lord; and thereby what is worldly is then tempered, and thus afterwards has its happiness therein. But the Lord utterly expelled from the rational all that was worldly, and so made it Divine; which is what the rational truth meant by "Sarah" wondered at.

2205. Verse 13. And Jehovah said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I indeed truly bear, and I am become old? "Jehovah said unto Abraham", signifies the Lord's perception from the Divine; "Wherefore did Sarah laugh?" signifies the thought of rational truth from the affection of it; "saying, Shall I indeed truly bear?" signifies that it wondered that the rational should become Divine; "and I am become old", signifies after it should be no longer of such a nature.

2206. Jehovah said unto Abraham. That this signifies the Lord's perception from the Divine, is evident from the signification of "saying" as being to perceive (n. 1898, 1919, 2080); and from the words "Jehovah said", as being to perceive from the Divine, for as already often shown, the Lord's internal itself was Jehovah.

2207. Wherefore did Sarah laugh? That this signifies the thought of rational truth from its affection, is evident from the signification of "laughing", or of "laughter", as being the affection which is of truth (n. 2072); and from the representation of Sarah as being rational truth. This interrogation involves that the Lord perceived that in His rational there was still what was human.

2208. Shall I indeed truly bear? That this signifies that it wondered that the rational was to become Divine, is evident from the signification here in the internal sense of "bearing", to wit, that as the Lord's Divine rational is represented by Isaac, so to "bear" here signifies Isaac, that is, the rational in that it should be made Divine; which the rational truth represented by Sarah could not comprehend.

2209. And I am become old. That this signifies after it should no longer be of such a nature, namely, not Divine but human, and that this latter should be put off, is evident from the signification of "becoming old", as being to put off the human (n. 2198, 2203). As regards the rational in general, when it thinks about Divine things, especially from its own truth, it cannot possibly believe that there are such things; both because it does not apprehend them, and because there adhere to it the appearances born from the fallacies of the senses by which and from which it thinks; as is evident from the examples adduced above (n. 2196); to which the following may be added for the sake of illustration.

[2] If the rational be consulted, can it believe that the Word has an internal sense, and this so remote from the literal sense as has been shown? and thus that the Word is that which conjoins heaven with earth, that is, the Lord's kingdom in the heavens with the Lord's kingdom on earth? Can the rational believe that souls after death speak with each other most distinctly, without the speech of words, and yet so fully as to express more in a minute than a man does by his speech in an hour? and that the angels do the same, but in a speech still more perfect, and one that is not perceivable by spirits? also, that on coming into the other life all souls know how to speak in this way, although they receive no instruction in so speaking? Can the rational believe that in one affection of man, nay, in one sigh, there are such numberless things as can never be described, and yet are perceived by angels? and that every affection of man, nay, every idea of his thought, is an image of him, being such as to contain within it in a wonderful manner all the things of his life? not to mention thousands upon thousands of such things.

[3] The rational, which is wise from sensuous things, and is imbued with their fallacies, when thinking of such things, does not believe that they can be so, because it is unable to form to itself any idea except from such things as it perceives by some sense either external or internal; and what then must be the case when it thinks about Divine celestial and spiritual things, which are still higher? For there must always be some appearances from sensuous things, upon which the thought must lean, and when these appearances are withdrawn, the idea perishes, as has also been evident to me from novitiate spirits, who take the greatest delight in the appearances which they have brought with them from the world, saying that if these should be taken away from them, they did not know whether they could think. Such is the rational as regarded in itself.

2210. Verse 14. Shall anything be wonderful for Jehovah? At the set time I will return unto thee, about this time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. "Shall anything be wonderful for Jehovah?" signifies that everything is possible for Jehovah; " at the set time I will return unto thee", signifies a state that was to come; "about this time of life, and Sarah shall have a son", signifies that the Lord would then put off the human rational, and put on the Divine rational.

2211. Shall anything be wonderful for Jehovah? That this signifies that everything is possible to Jehovah, is evident without explication.

2212. At the set time I will return unto thee. That this signifies a state that was to come, is evident from the signification of "time", as being state (n. 2199). It is here said that Jehovah would "return at the set time", and then "at this time of life", or what is the same, at the present time of the following year. Each expression involves something peculiar, to wit, the "set time" involves the general of that state which is signified by "this time of life", and the general is that it was about to come; but how it was to be is signified by "this time of life". It is usual in the Word, especially in the Prophets, to describe states by double expressions seemingly alike; when yet the one involves the general, and the other something determinate in the general.

2213. About this me of life, and Sarah shall have a son. That this signifies that the Lord would then put off the human rational, and put on the Divine rational, is evident from the signification of "returning at this time of life", or at this present time of the following year, as being the conjunction of the Lord's Divine with His Human (n. 2193); and from the signification of Sarah's "son", as being the rational about to be Divine (n. 2194). This time of life, or the present time of the following year, denotes the time when Abraham should enter upon his hundredth year, by which year is signified the unition of the Lord's Human with His Divine and of His Divine with His Human (n. 1988). There then intervened a year, because by a "year" in the Word is not signified a year, but an entire time, and thus a whole period, whether it be of a thousand years, or of a hundred, or of ten, or of hours (n. 482, 487, 488, 493, 893); and also by a "week", (n. 2044).

2214. Verse 15. And Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not, for she was afraid. And He said, Nay, for thou didst laugh. "And Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not, for she was afraid", signifies that human rational truth wished to excuse itself, because it observed that it was not such as it ought to be. "And He said, Nay, for thou didst laugh", signifies that nevertheless it was such.

2215. Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not, for she was afraid. That this signifies that human rational truth wished to excuse itself, because it observed that it was not such as it ought to be, is evident without explication.

2216. He said, Nay, for thou didst laugh. That this signifies that nevertheless it was such, is also evident without explication. How the case is with these things is evident from what is said above (n. 2072) concerning the signification of "laughing", or of "laughter", that it is an affection of the rational, and indeed the affection of truth or of falsity, in the rational, that is the source of all laughter. So long as there is in the rational such an affection as displays itself in laughter, so long there is in it something corporeal or worldly, and thus merely human. Celestial good and spiritual good do not laugh, but express their delight and cheerfulness in the face, the speech, and the gesture, in another way; for there are very many things in laughter, for the most part something of contempt, which, even if it does not appear, nevertheless lies concealed; and laughter is easily distinguished from cheerfulness of the mind, which also produces something similar to it. The state of the human rational with the Lord is described by Sarah's "laughing;" and thereby is signified with what kind of affection the truth of the rational, at that time separated from good, regarded what was said: that it should be put off, and the Divine put on; not that the Lord laughed, but that He perceived from the Divine what the rational still was, and how much of the human there still was in it, and which was to be expelled. In the internal sense this is what is signified by Sarah's "laughing".

2217. Verse 16. And the men rose up thence, and looked toward the faces of Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them away "The men rose up thence", signifies that that perception came to an end; "and looked toward the faces of Sodom", signifies the state of the human race; "Sodom" is all evil from the love of self; "and Abraham went with them", signifies that the Lord still remained with them in perception, but concerning the human race; "to send them away", signifies that He willed to withdraw from that perception.

2218. The men rose up. That this signifies that that perception came to an end, is evident from the signification of "rising up", as being to go away; and from that of the "men", described above. By the coming of the three men, or of Jehovah, to Abraham, was represented the Lord's Divine perception, as shown above. The Lord's perception from the Divine at that time was first concerning the Divine Trine, which is the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Proceeding. Afterwards it was concerning His Human, that it should put on the Divine. Now follows a perception from the Divine concerning the human race, as regards its quality. These three things are what are treated of in this chapter, and they follow in order, namely, that the Divine assumed the Human, and made this Divine, in order that it might save the human race. Concerning the former two it is said that the perception came to an end, which is meant in the internal sense by the "men rising up;" but the perception concerning the human race, as regards its quality, is signified in the internal sense by their "looking to the faces of Sodom, and by Abraham going with them;" and that the Lord did not will to remain in that perception, is signified by Abraham "going with them to send them away". How the case is with these things can be better seen from the Contents which were premised, as also from the explication of what follows.

2219. They looked toward the faces of Sodom. That this signifies the state of the human race, is evident from the signification of "looking to the faces", here, to the faces of Sodom. By "faces" are signified all man's interiors, both good and evil, for the reason that they shine forth from the face (n. 358). Here therefore "faces", because predicated of Sodom, signify interior evils, which are those of the love of self, and which evils in general are meant by "Sodom", as will be evident from what now follows. That the worst evils of all originate from the love of self, is because the love of self is destructive of human society (n. 2045), and of heavenly society (n. 2057); and since the perversity of the human race is thence known, by the "faces of Sodom" is here signified the state of the human race.

[2] Moreover it has been shown in various places, what the love of self is, namely, that it is diametrically contrary to the order into which man was created. Man is distinguished above beasts by having a rational given him, to the end that every one may will well and do well to others, as in general so in particular. This is the order into which man has been created, consequently it is love to God and love toward the neighbor that should be man's life, and by which he should be distinguished from brute animals. This is also the order of heaven, in which it was intended man should be while he lives in the world; thus in the Lord's kingdom; and into this kingdom he would pass when he had put off the body that had been of service to him upon the earth, and there he would rise into a state continually advancing in heavenly perfection.

[3] But the love of self is the primary and indeed the only thing that destroys all this; and not so much so the love of the world, for this is indeed opposite to the spiritual things of faith, but the love of self is diametrically opposite to the celestial things of love; for he who loves himself loves no others, but endeavors to destroy all persons whatever that do not pay reverence to him; nor does he will well and do well to anyone, except to him who is a part of himself, or can be captivated so as to be a part of himself, like something inoculated as it were with his cupidities and phantasies. Hence it is evident that from the love of self there gush forth all hatreds, all revenges and cruelties, as also all infamous simulations and deceits, and thus all heinous things against the order of human society and against the order of heavenly society.

[4] Nay, so heinous is the love of self, that when its bonds are relaxed, that is, when opportunity of free range is given it, even with those who are in the lowest condition, it so rushes on, that it not only wills to exercise dominion over neighbors and those near at hand, but also over the universe, and even over the Supreme Divine Itself. Of this the man is indeed ignorant, because he is kept in bonds not well known to him, but in so far as these bonds are slackened (as before said), so far he rushes on; and this it has been given me to know from much experience in the other life. As these things lie hidden in the love of self, they who are in the love of self, and are not endowed with the bonds of conscience, above all others hold the Lord in hatred, consequently all the truths of faith, for these are the very laws of order in the Lord's kingdom, and these they reject so as to abominate them, which also shows itself openly in the other life. This love is also the "serpent's head", which the "Seed of the woman" (that is, the Lord) "treads down" (n. 257).

[5] But the love of self is not always that which appears in the outward form as pride and haughtiness, for sometimes such persons are able to hold the neighbor in charity, for with some such an external is born, and with some it is contracted in early life, but is afterwards subjugated, the external still remaining. But those are in the love of self who despise others and make them of no account in comparison with themselves, and who care nothing for the common good, unless it is for them, and they themselves, as it were, are it, especially those who hate all by whom they are not favored and served, persecuting them, and so far as they are able depriving them of their possessions, honor, reputation, and even life. Let those who breathe such things in intention know that they are pre-eminently in the love of self.

2220. That "Sodom" is all evil from the love of self, is evident from the signification of" Sodom" in the Word. Although in the following chapter it appears as if the evil of the worst adultery was signified by " Sodom", nevertheless in the internal sense nothing else than evil from the love of self is signified by it. In the Word also the abominations that well forth from the love of self are represented by adulteries of various kinds. That "Sodom" signifies in general all evil from the love of self, and "Gomorrah" all falsity therefrom, has been shown (n. 1212, 1663, 1682, 1689), and is further evident from the following passages in the Word. In Jeremiah: -

A sword upon the Chaldeans, and upon the inhabitants of Babel, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighbor cities thereof, saith Jehovah, there shall not a man dwell there, and there shall not a son of man sojourn therein (Jeremiah 50:35, 40).

This passage treats of those signified by the Chaldeans, who are such as have profane falsity in their worship (n. 1368); and of those signified by Babel, who are such as have profane evil in their worship (n. 1182, 1326). Their condemnation is described by the "overthrow of Sodom", that is, of evil in general, and by the "overthrow of Gomorrah", that is, of falsity in general; because they also have in their worship the evil of the love of self, and the derivative falsity.

[2] In Amos: -

I have overthrown you as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; and ye became as a brand plucked out of the burning (Amos 4:11),

where Samaria is treated of, by which is signified the perverted spiritual church, and which in respect to evils in general contrary to the goods of charity is called "Sodom", and in respect to falsities in general contrary to the truths of faith is called" Gomorrah;" and in respect to both (here as previously) is called the "overthrowing of God". In Zephaniah:

Moab shall be as Sodom, and the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah, a forsaken place of the nettle, and a pit of salt, and a desolation even to eternity this shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and have enlarged upon the people of Jehovah Zebaoth (Zephaniah 2:9, 10),

where" Sodom" denotes evil from the love of self, and "Gomorrah" the derivative falsity, of both of which "desolation's is here predicated, as previously was "overthrow". "Pride" is the love of self; to "reproach the people of Jehovah Zebaoth", is to bring evil upon truths; and to "enlarge upon the people", is to bring falsity upon them.

[3] In Ezekiel: -

Thine elder sister is Samaria, that dwelleth at thy left hand, she and her daughters and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. Thy sister Sodom hath not done, she and her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom; pride, satiety of bread, and security of ease, were in her and her daughters, and she did not strengthen the hand of the wretched and needy and they became haughty, and committed abomination before Me (Ezekiel 16:46-50),

where the abominations of Jerusalem are treated of, and are described by " Samaria" and " Sodom;" by " Samaria", instead of Gomorrah, as to falsities, and by "Sodom" as to evils; and it is stated what is specifically signified by " Sodom", for it is said, "this was the iniquity of Sodom", to wit that it was the love of self, which is there signified by "pride". That they turned away from the goods of charity, is signified by the "satiety of bread;" that they had acquiesced in these things, is signified by the " security of ease;" that they had no mercy, is described by their "not having strengthened the hand of the poor and needy;" and that all the cupidities thence derived are imbued with the love of self, is signified by their "daughters having become haughty;" the "daughters" are cupidities.

[4] Hence it is manifestly evident what " Sodom" is, thus that it is not according to the historic sense in the following chapter, but that such things are there signified in the internal sense as are described here by the prophet, namely, those which are of the love of self. But Sodom is here described more mildly because the abominations of Jerusalem are treated of as having been greater than those of Sodom, as is also evident from the Lord's words in Matthew: -

Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city (Matthew 10:15; Mark 6:11; Luke 10:12).

In John: -

Their bodies shall lie upon the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt (Rev. 11:8),

where it is evident that by "Sodom" is not meant Sodom, nor Egypt by "Egypt", for it is said that it is "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt;" Sodom" denotes all evil from the love of self, and "Egypt" (instead of Gomorrah) all derivative falsity.

2221. Abraham went with them. That this signifies that the Lord still remained with them in perception, but concerning the human race, is evident from the series of things in the internal sense; for to "go with the three men" (that is, with Jehovah) is to be still in perception.

2222. To send them away. That this signifies that He willed to withdraw from that perception, is evident without explication. The reason is also manifest, namely, that the perception from the Divine, and the thought therefrom concerning the human race that such was their quality, struck Him with horror, for the Lord's love toward the human race was so great that He willed to save all to eternity by the unition of His Human Essence with the Divine, and of the Divine with the Human, on which account, when He perceived that they were such, He willed to withdraw from the perception and derivative thought, which is signified by Abraham desiring to "send the men away".

2223. Verse 17. And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do? "And Jehovah said", signifies perception; " Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do?" signifies that nothing ought to be hidden before the Lord.

2224. Jehovah said. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive (n. 1898, 1919, 2080). Here, as it is Jehovah who "said", the meaning is that the Lord perceived from the Divine.

2225. Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do? That this signifies that nothing ought to be hidden before the Lord, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord in that state (as already explained several times in this chapter). That the rest of the words signify that nothing ought to be hidden, is evident. In this case the sense of the letter is similar to the internal sense, as occasionally elsewhere, especially where the essentials of faith are treated of, which, being necessary to salvation, are stated in the letter such as they are in the internal sense; as for example in Moses: -

Jehovah our God is one Jehovah; and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strengths; and these words shall be upon thy heart (Deut. 6:4-6).

2226. Verse 18. And Abraham shall surely be for a nation great and numerous; and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. "Abraham shall surely be for a nation great and numerous", signifies that from the Lord will be all good and all the derivative truth; "and in him shall all the nations of the earth be blessed", signifies that all who are in charity will be saved by Him.

2227. Abraham shall surely be for a nation great and numerous. That this signifies that all good and all the derivative truth will be from the Lord, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord, and also from the signification of a "nation", as being good (n. 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849); here a "nation great and numerous", by which is signified good and the derivative truth That "great" is predicated of good, and "numerous" of truth, appears from other places in the Word, but I must refrain from citing them here. The derivative truth, that is, truth from good, in the genuine sense is spiritual good. There are two kinds of good that are distinct from each other, namely, celestial good and spiritual good. Celestial good is that of love to the Lord, spiritual good is that of love toward the neighbor. From the former, or celestial good, comes the latter, or spiritual good; for no one can love the Lord unless he also loves his neighbor. In love to the Lord is love toward the neighbor; for love to the Lord is from the Lord, and thus is from love itself toward the universal human race. To be in love to the Lord is the same as to be in the Lord; and he who is in the Lord cannot be otherwise than in His love; which is toward the human race and thus toward the neighbor; thus is he in both kinds of good, celestial and spiritual. The former is the veriest good itself; but the latter is its truth, or the truth therefrom; which truth is spiritual good, as said. The former is what is signified by "great", but the latter by "numerous".

2228. All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. That this signifies that all who are in charity will be saved by Him, is evident from the signification of being "blessed", as being to be endowed with all goods which are from a heavenly origin, as explained in (n. 981, 1096, 1420, 1422). They who are endowed with goods from a heavenly origin, that is, with both celestial and spiritual goods (n. 2177), are also endowed with eternal salvation, that is, are saved. By "all the nations of the earth" are meant in the internal sense those who are in the good of love and of charity, as is evident from the signification of a "nation", as being good (n. 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849). That all men in the whole globe are not meant by "all the nations of the earth", is evident to every one, because there are very many among them who are not saved, but only those who are in charity, that is, who have attained the life of charity.

[2] That none may be unaware how the case is with the salvation of men after their decease, it shall be briefly stated. There are many who say that man is saved by faith, or, in their words, if he only has faith; but for the most part they are those who do not know what faith is. Some suppose that it is mere thought; some that it is an acknowledgment of something to be believed; some that it is the whole doctrine of faith, which is to be believed; and others otherwise. Thus in the bare knowledge of what faith is they wander in error, consequently in the knowledge of what that is by which man is saved. Faith, however, is not mere thought, nor is it an acknowledgment of something to be believed, nor a knowledge of all things which belong to the doctrine of faith By these no one can be saved; for they can take root no deeper than in the thought, and thought saves no one, but the life which the man has procured for himself in the world by means of the knowledges of faith. This life remains; whereas all thought which does not accord with the life perishes, even so as to become none at all. The heavenly consociations are according to lives and by no means according to thoughts which are not of the life. Thoughts which are not of the life are counterfeit, and such are altogether rejected.

[3] In general, life is twofold, being on the one hand infernal, on the other heavenly. Infernal life is acquired from all those ends, thoughts, and works which flow from the love of self, consequently from hatred against the neighbor; heavenly life, from all those ends, thoughts, and works which are of love toward the neighbor. The latter is the life to which all things that are called faith have regard, and which is procured by all things of faith. All this shows what faith is, namely, that it is charity, for to charity all things lead which are said to be of the doctrine of faith; in it they are all contained, and from it they are all derived. The soul, after the life of the body, is such as its love is.

2229. Verse 19. For I know him, because he will command his sons, and his house after him, and they will keep the way of Jehovah to do righteousness and judgment; that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken concerning him. "For I know him", signifies that it is true; "because he will command his sons, and his house after him, and they will keep the way of Jehovah to do righteousness and judgment", signifies that all the doctrine of charity and faith is from Him; "sons" are they who are in truths, "house", they who are in goods, "way" is doctrine, "righteousness" has regard to good, "judgment" to truth; "that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken concerning him", signifies that the Human Essence will for this reason be adjoined to the Divine Essence.

2230. For I know him. That this signifies that it is true, is evident from the signification of "knowing". Properly speaking, to "know (cognoscere)" anyone, is to know (scire) that he is of such and such a quality; and it is the same when the term is applied to any thing, or to anything else: to "know" it means to know that such is its quality; and therefore to "know (nosse)" has reference to that which is predicated, and it signifies that that which is meant in accordance with the series of things is so, or is true.

2231. Because he will command his sons, and his house after him, and they will keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and judgment That this signifies that all the doctrine of charity and faith is from Him, is evident from the signification of a " son", of a "house", of a "way", of righteousness", and of "judgment;" which when summed up, or gathered into one sense, signify all the doctrine of charity and faith. For by "sons" are signified all who are in truths, by "house" all who are in goods, by a "way" the doctrine by which they are instructed, which doctrine in regard to good is signified by "righteousness", and in regard to truth by "judgment". Doctrine concerning good is the doctrine of charity, and doctrine concerning truth is the doctrine of faith.

[2] In general, there is only one doctrine, namely, the doctrine of charity, for (n. 2228) all things of faith look to charity. Between charity and faith there is no other difference than that between willing what is good and thinking what is good (for he who wills what is good also thinks what is good), thus than that between the will and the understanding. They who reflect, know that the will is one thing and the understanding another. This is also known in the learned world, and it plainly appears with those who will evil and yet from thought speak well; from all which it is evident to every one that the will is one thing, and the understanding another; and thus that the human mind is distinguished into two parts, which do not make a one. Yet man was so created that these two parts should constitute one mind; nor should there be any other distinction (to speak by comparison) than such as there is between a flame and the light from it (love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor being like the flame, and all perception and thought being like the light from it); thus love and charity should be the all of the perception and thought, that is should be in each and all things of them. Perception or thought concerning the quality of love and charity is that which is called faith.

[3] But as the human race began to will what is evil, to hate the neighbor, and to exercise revenges and cruelties, insomuch that that part of the mind which is called the will was altogether destroyed, men began to make a distinction between charity and faith, and to refer to faith all the doctrinal matters that were of their religion, and call them by the single term faith; and at length they went so far as to say that they could be saved by faith alone-by which they meant their doctrinal things-provided they merely believed these, no matter how they might live. Thus was charity separated from faith, which is then nothing else whatever (to speak by comparison) than a kind of light without flame, such as is wont to be the light of the sun in time of winter, which is cold and icy, insomuch that the vegetation of the earth grows torpid and dies; whereas faith from charity is like the light in the time of spring and summer, by which all things germinate and bloom.

[4] This may also be known from the fact that love and charity are celestial flame, and that faith is the spiritual light therefrom. In this manner also do they present themselves to perception and sight in the other life; for there the Lord's celestial manifests itself before the angels by a flaming radiance like that of the sun, and the Lord's spiritual by the light from this radiance, by which also angels and spirits are affected as to their interiors, in accordance with the life of love and charity that appertains to them. This is the source in the other life of joys and happinesses with all their varieties. And all this shows how the case is with the statement that faith alone saves.

2232. That "sons" are those who are in truths, is evident from the signification of a "son" in the Word as being truth (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147). By "sons" in the abstract sense are signified truths; but as applied to man, "sons" denote all those who are in truths.

2233. That a "house" denotes those who are in goods, is evident from the signification of a "house", as being good (n. 710, 1708, 2048). By a "house", or those born in the house, in the abstract sense goods are in like manner signified, but as applied to man they denote all who are in good.

2234. That a "way" denotes doctrine, is evident from the signification of a "way". A "way" in the Word is predicated of truths, because truths lead to good and proceed from good (n. 627); and as a "way" is predicated of truths, it denotes doctrine, because doctrine comprises in one complex all the things which lead to good, that is, to charity.

2235. That "righteousness" has regard to good, and "judgment" to truth, is evident from the signification of "righteousness", and from the signification of "judgment". In the Word, "righteousness and judgment" are many times named together, but what they signify in the internal sense has not yet been known. In the proximate sense "righteousness" is predicated of what is righteous or just (justus), and " judgment" of what is right (rectus). There is what is righteous when anything is judged from good, and this according to conscience; but what is right when anything is judged from the law, and thus from the righteousness of the law, thus also according to conscience, because it has the law for its rule. But in the internal sense "righteousness" denotes that which is from good, and "judgment" that which is from truth. Good is all that which be longs to love and charity; truth is all that which belongs to the derivative faith. Truth derives its essence from good, and is called truth from good, just as faith derives its essence from love, and in the same way judgment from righteousness.

[2] That such is the signification of "righteousness and judgment" is evident from the following passages in the Word. In Jeremiah: -

Thus saith Jehovah, Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and rescue the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor. Woe to him that buildeth his house in that which is not righteousness and his chambers in that which is not judgment. Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and righteousness? then he had that which is good (Jeremiah 22:3, 13, 15),

where "judgment" denotes the things that are of truth, and "righteousness" the things that are of good. In Ezekiel: -

If the wicked shall return from his sin, and do judgment and righteousness, all his sins that he hath sinned shall not be mentioned unto him; he hath done judgment and righteousness: he shall surely live. When the wicked turns himself from his wickedness, and does judgment and righteousness, for these he shall live (Ezekiel 33:14, 16, 19),

where in like manner "judgment" denotes truth, which is of faith; and "righteousness" good, which is of charity.

[3] So in Amos: -

Let judgment flow like waters, and righteousness like a mighty river (Amos 5:24).

In Isaiah: -

Thus saith Jehovah, Keep ye judgment, and do righteousness, for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to reveal itself (Isaiah 56:1).

In the same: -

To peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it, with judgment and with righteousness, from henceforth and even to eternity (Isaiah 9:7),

denoting that they are in the truths of faith and in the goods of charity. In the same: -

Jehovah is exalted, for He dwelleth on high; He hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness (Isaiah 33:5),

where "judgment" denotes faith, "righteousness" love, and "Zion" the church. "Judgment" stands first because love comes through faith; but when "righteousness" stands first, it is because the faith is from love, as in Hosea: -

I will betroth thee unto Me to eternity, and I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness and judgment, and in mercy and in compassions; and I will betroth thee unto Me in faith, and thou shalt know Jehovah (Hosea 2:19, 20),

where "righteousness" stands first, as also "mercy", which are of love; and "judgment" follows, as also "compassions", which are of faith from love; both are called "faith" or "faithfulness".

[4] In David: -

Thy mercy, O Jehovah, is in the heavens, thy truth reacheth unto the skies (aetheres). Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God, Thy judgments are a great deep (Ps. 36:5, 6),

where both "mercy" and "righteousness" are in like manner of love, and "truth" and "judgments" are of faith. In the same Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look forth from heaven. Yea, Jehovah shall give good, and our land shall yield its increase (Ps. 85:11, 12), where "truth", which is of faith, denotes " judgment", and "righteousness" love or mercy. In Zechariah: -

I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and in righteousness (Zechariah 8:8),

from which also it is evident that "judgment" denotes truth, and "righteousness" good; because "truth" is here used in place of "judgment". In like manner in David: -

He that walketh perfect, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh truth (Ps. 15:2).

[5] As faith is of charity, or as truth is of good, the truths of good are occasionally called the "judgments of righteousness;" and thus "judgments" signify almost the same as "precepts;" as in Isaiah: -

They will seek Me day by day, and desire to know My ways, as a nation that doeth righteousness and forsaketh not the judgment of their God they will ask of Me judgments of righteousness, they will desire to draw near to God (Isaiah 58:2).

That "precepts" signify the same may be seen in David: -

Seven times a day have I praised Thee because of the judgments of Thy righteousness; all Thy precepts are righteousness (Ps. 119:164, 172).

It is especially said of the Lord that He "does judgment and righteousness", when He creates man anew as in Jeremiah: -

Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am Jehovah that doeth mercy, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I am well pleased (Jeremiah 9:24),

where mercy, which is of love, is described by "judgment and righteousness". In the same: -

I will raise up unto David a righteous offshoot, and He shall reign as King, and shall act intelligently, and shall do judgement and righteousness in the earth (Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15).

[6] Hence it is said in John: -

If I go away, I will send the Comforter unto you; and when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment of sin, because they believe not on Me of righteousness, because I go unto My father, and ye shall see Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged (John 16:7-11).

" Sin" here denotes all unfaithfulness. His "reproving in regard to righteousness" means in regard to all that is against good, when yet the Lord united the Human to the Divine to save the world-which is the meaning of "I go unto My Father and ye shall see Me no more". His " reproving in regard to judgment" means in regard to all that is against truth, when yet evils were cast down into their hells so as no longer to be able to inflict injury-which is meant by the prince of the world being judged. In general, His "reproving in regard to sin, righteousness, and judgment", means that it was in regard to all unfaithfulness against good and truth; and thus that there was no charity and faith; for in ancient times by righteousness and judgment were understood, as regards the Lord, all mercy and grace; and as regards man, all charity and faith.

2236. That Jehovah may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken concerning him. That this signifies that on this account the Human Essence will be adjoined to the Divine Essence, is not so evident from the signification of the words as from the fact that all things said in the Word involve the Lord's coming to unite the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, by which unition He should save the human race. These are the things signified in the internal sense by His "bringing upon Abraham that which He hath spoken concerning him".

2237. Verse 20. And Jehovah said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great, and because their sin has become very grievous. "Jehovah said", signifies perception; "because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great, and because their sin has become very grievous", signifies that the falsity and evil of the love of self have grown even to consummation. "Cry" is falsity, and "sin" is evil.

2238. Jehovah said. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification, in the historical sense, of "saying", as being to perceive, as shown several times before. When the expression "Jehovah said" occurs in the historicals of the Word, it signifies a perception which is not altogether continuous with the previous one, but is a sequent one, and sometimes a new one (n. 2061).

2239. Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great, and because their sin has become very grievous. That this signifies that the falsity and evil of the love of self have increased even to consummation, is evident from the signification of "Sodom", as being evil from the love of self; and of "Gomorrah", as being the derivative falsity (n. 2220); also from the signification of a " cry", as being falsity; and of "sin", as being evil (to be explained presently); from all which it is evident that the "cry having become great, and the sin having become very grievous", signifies that the falsity and evil had come to their height, or to consummation. This is better seen from what follows, where it is said that if ten were found there the city should be spared (verse 32); by which is signified, if there were still any remains, that is, anything of good and truth; for when there is no longer anything of good and truth within man, there is then wasteness and desolation, consequently consummation.

2240. That a "cry" denotes falsity, and "sin" evil, is evident from the signification in the Word of a "cry". That a "cry" signifies falsity, can be evident to no one unless he knows the internal sense of the Word. The word sometimes occurs in the Prophets, and when vastation and desolation are there treated of, it is said that men "howl and cry", by which is signified that goods and truths have been vastated; and a term is there made use of by which in the internal sense falsity is described; as in Jeremiah: -

A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the howling of the powerful ones of the flock because Jehovah layeth waste their pasture (Jeremiah 25:36),

where the "cry of the shepherds" denotes that they are in falsity, from which there comes vastation.

[2] In the same: -

Behold, waters rise up from the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and the fullness thereof, the city and them that dwell therein and the men shall cry, and every inhabitant of the land shall howl, because of the day that cometh to lay waste (Jeremiah 47:2, 4),

where the desolation of faith is treated of, which is brought about by falsities; the "overflowing stream" is falsity (n. 705, 790).

[3] In Zephaniah: -

The voice of a cry from the fish gate, and a howling from the second, and a great shattering from the hills, and their wealth shall become a spoil, and their houses a desolation (Zephaniah 1:10, 13),

where also a "cry" is predicated of the falsities which lay waste.

[4] In Isaiah: -

In the way of Horonaim they shall rouse up a cry of shattering, for the waters of Nimrim shall be desolations, for the grass has dried up, the herb is consumed, there is no green thing (Isaiah 15:5, 6; Jer. 48:3),

where the desolation of faith and its consummation is described by a "cry".

[5] In Jeremiah: -

Judah hath mourned, and her gates languish, they have been blackened upon the earth, and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up and their illustrious ones have sent their younger ones to the waters they came to the pits, they found no waters, they returned with their vessels empty (Jeremiah 14:2, 3),

where the "cry of Jerusalem" denotes falsities for by their "finding no waters" is signified that there were no knowledges of truth, which are " waters" (n. 28, 680, 739).

[6] In Isaiah: -

I will exult in Jerusalem and be glad in My people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying (Isaiah 65:19),

where there "not being heard the voice of weeping" denotes that there shall not be evil; "nor the voice of crying" denotes that there shall not he falsity. Very many of these things cannot be understood from the sense of the letter, but only from the internal sense, and this is the case with a "cry".

[7] In the same: -

Jehovah looked for judgment, but behold a scab for righteousness, but behold a cry (Isa. 5:7),

where also the vastation of good and truth is treated of. There is in this passage a kind of reciprocation, such as is occasionally found in the Prophets, and which is of such a nature that in the place of truth there is found evil, which is meant by there being" a scab instead of judgment;" and falsity in place of good, which is meant by there being " a cry instead of righteousness", for that " judgment" is truth, and "righteousness" good, was shown above, (n. 2235).

[8] There is a like reciprocation in Moses, where Sodom and Gomorrah are treated of: -

Of the vine of Sodom is their vine, and of the fields of Gomorrah are their grapes; they have grapes of gall, clusters of bitternesses. (Deut. 32:32),

where there is a similar mode of speaking; for the "vine" is predicated of truths and falsities, and the "fields" and "grapes", of goods and evils so that" the vine of Sodom" is falsity from evil, and "the fields and grapes of Gomorrah" are evils from falsities for there are two kinds of falsity (n. 1212); and so also there are two kinds of evil. Both kinds of falsity and evil are signified in this verse by the " cry of Sodom and Gomorrah having become great, and their sin having become exceeding grievous " as is evident from the fact that "cry" is named in the first place, and "sin" in the second; and yet " Sodom", which is evil from the love of self, is mentioned first; and " Gomorrah", which is the derivative falsity, second.

2241. Verse 21. I will go down, I pray, and I will see whether they have made a consummation according to the cry thereof which is come unto Me, and if not I will know. "I will go down, I pray, and I will see", signifies visitation " whether they have made a consummation according to the cry thereof which is come unto Me, and if not I will know", signifies whether the evil has arrived at its height.

2242. I will go down, I pray, and I will see. That this signifies visitation, is evident from the signification of "going down to see,' as being Judgment (n. 1311), consequently that it is visitation. The last time of the church in general, and that of every one in particular, is called in the Word "visitation", which precedes Judgment; thus a "visitation" is simply an exploration as to quality, that is, as to the quality of the church in general, or of a man in particular; and this exploration is expressed in the sense of the letter by Jehovah "going down and seeing".

[2] This shows what is the nature of the sense of the letter, for Jehovah does not go down, since going down cannot be predicated of the Lord, because He is always in the highest; nor does Jehovah see whether a thing be so, for seeing whether it be so cannot be predicated of the Lord, because He knows all things from eternity both in general and in particular. Nevertheless it is so expressed because it appears to man as if it were so, for man is in things that are below, and when anything appears there, he does not think or even know how the case is with things that are above, thus neither how they flow in, for his thought goes no further than to what is nearest to him, and hence he cannot perceive otherwise than that there is some such thing as going down and seeing, and this the more because he imagines that no one knows what he is thinking; besides that he has no other idea than that there is a coming down from on high, and, when said of God, from the highest; whereas it is not from the highest, but from the inmost.

[3] This shows what is the nature of the sense of the letter, namely, that it is according to appearances and if it were not according to appearances, no one would understand and acknowledge the Word; thus no one would receive it. But the angels are not in appearances in the way that man is, and therefore while the Word as to the sense of the letter is for man, as to the internal sense it is for the angels, as also for those men to whom of the Lord's Divine mercy it is given, while living in the world, to be like the angels.

[4] "Visitation" is mentioned in various places in the Word, and by it is signified either vastation, whether of the church or of each man or deliverance, and thus exploration as to quality. It denotes vastation in Isaiah: -

What will ye do in the day of visitation? it shall come from far. To whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? (Isaiah 10:3).

And again: -

The stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not shine with their light, the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine, and I will visit evil upon the world, and upon the wicked their iniquity (Isaiah 13:10, 11).

That by the stars and constellations which shall not shine, and the sun which shall be darkened, and the moon which shall not make her light to shine, is signified that there will be no love and no charity, may be seen above (n. 2120); and as this is vastation, it is the "day of visitation".

[5] In Jeremiah: -

They shall fall among them that fall, and in the time of their visitation they shall stumble (Jeremiah 8:12),

meaning the time when they have been vastated, or when there is no charity and faith In Ezekiel: -

The visitations of the city have come near, and every man with his instrument of destruction in his hand (Ezekiel 9:1).

Here also vastation is treated of; hence every man has an instrument of destruction. In Hosea: -

The days of visitation are come, the days of retribution are come (Hosea 9:7).

In Micah: -

The day of thy watchmen, thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity (Micah 7:4),

also denoting vastated charity. In Moses: -

In the day of My visiting, and I will visit upon them their sin (Exod. 32:34),

where the people in the wilderness are treated of, after they had made for themselves the golden calf. That deliverance is signified by "visitation" is plain from many passages (Exod. 3:16; 4:31; Jer. 27:22; 29:10; Luke 1:68, 78; 19:41, 42).

2243. Whether they have made a consummation according to the cry of it which is come unto Me, and if not I will know. That this signifies whether evil has arrived at its height, is evident from the signification of a "cry", as being falsity (n. 2240). As there said (near the end) there are two kinds of falsity, namely, the falsity which is from evil, and the falsity which produces evil. The falsity which is from evil is all that which a man thinks when he is in evil, namely, all that favors his evil; as for example, when he is in adultery, that which he then thinks about adultery: that it is allowable, that it is becoming, that it is the delight of life, that the procreation of offspring is thereby promoted, and so on; all these thoughts being falsities from evil.

[2] But the falsity which produces evil takes place when from his religious belief a man conceives some principle, and consequently believes that it is good or holy, when yet in itself it is evil. For example, he who believes from his religion that there is some man who can save, and therefore worships and adores him, does evil from that falsity; and the same is true in regard to any other religious belief which in itself is false. As therefore falsity is from evil, and falsity produces evil, the expression "cry" is here used, signifying, as a kind of general expression, that which it involves, namely, evil; as is also evident from its being said, "whether they have made a consummation according to the cry of it which is come unto Me;" where "its cry" is put in the singular number, and "they have made a consummation", in the plural.

[3] What a "consummation" is, was shown (n. 1857); and what a consummation is further, may be comprehended from the churches. The Most Ancient Church which was called "Man", was the most celestial of all. This in process of time so far degenerated from the good of love, that at length nothing celestial remained, and then was its consummation, which is described by the state of those just before the flood.

[4] The Ancient Church (which was after the flood and was called "Noah", and was less celestial) also in course of time so departed from the good of charity, that nothing of charity remained, for it was turned partly into magic, partly into idolatry, and partly into a kind of dogmatic system separate from charity; and then was its consummation.

[5] Another church succeeded, called the Hebrew Church, which was still less celestial and spiritual, placing somewhat of holy worship in external rites. This in course of time was distorted in various ways, and that external worship was turned into idolatry; and then was its consummation.

[6] A fourth church was then restored among the posterity of Jacob, which had nothing celestial and spiritual, but only a representative of it; and therefore that church was a church representative of celestial and spiritual things, inasmuch as they did not know what their rites represented and signified; but it was instituted in order that there might still be some connection between man and heaven, such as there is between the representatives of good and truth, and good and truth themselves. This church at length so fell away into falsities and evils that every rite became idolatrous; and then was its consummation. Therefore, after the churches had thus successively declined - when in the last one the connection between the human race and heaven was altogether broken, insomuch that the human race would have perished because there was no church by which there could be a connection and a bond (n. 468, 637, 931, 2054),

[7] the Lord then came into the world, and by the unition of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence in Himself, conjoined heaven with earth, and at the same time He set up again a new church, called the Christian Church, which at first was in the good of faith, and its members lived in charity with one another as brethren. But in process of time this church has departed in divers ways, and at the present day has become such that its members do not even know that the fundamental of faith is love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; and although they say from doctrine that the Lord is the Saviour of the human race, that they are to rise again after death, and that there is a heaven and a hell, yet few believe it As this church has become such, its consummation is not far off.

[8] All this shows what "consummation" is, namely, that it is when evil has come to its height. The case is similar in particular, that is, with every man; but how the case is with consummation as regards each person in particular, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be told in what follows. Consummation is treated of in the Word in various places, and the state which precedes is described by "vastation" and "desolation", which is followed by "visitation".

2244. Verse 22. And the men looked forth thence and went toward Sodom; and Abraham as yet he was standing before Jehovah. "The men looked forth thence", signifies the Lord's thought from the Divine; "and went toward Sodom", signifies concerning the human race as being in such great evil; "and Abraham as yet he was standing before Jehovah", signifies the Lord's thought from the Human which was adjoined in the manner stated above.

2245. The men looked forth thence. That this signifies the Lord's thought from the Divine, is evident from the signification of "looking forth", as being to think (for to "see", in the internal sense, as in common discourse, is to understand, since understanding is internal sight, and in the same way to "look forth" is to think, which is of the internal sight, that is, of the understanding) and also from the signification of "the men", as being the Divine. In this chapter throughout mention is sometimes made of "the men", and sometimes of " Jehovah" instead of "the men:" when mention is made of "the men" there is signified a Trine, namely, the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Proceeding. The Lord's thought from this Divine is signified by "the men looked forth thence". The thought was from the Human conjoined with the Divine, which conjunction was treated of at the beginning of this chapter; but the perception from which came the thought was from the Divine, therefore mention is now made in this same verse of "Jehovah" - that "Abraham was standing before Jehovah;" and when the Human was conjoined with the Divine, there was also together with them the Proceeding.

2246. They went toward Sodom. That this signifies thought concerning the human race as being in such great evil, is evident from the signification of "Sodom", as being evil from the love of self (n. 2220); and of "looking forth toward the faces of Sodom", as being toward the state of the human race (n. 2219). That "Sodom" signifies the state of the human race as being in such great evil, is because by "Sodom" is not meant Sodom, but all those in the universal world who are in the love of self; and by the description of Sodom is represented the state of all who are in that evil, as is evident from what follows. That the love of self is the fountain of all evils, thus evil itself, is evident from what was said and shown of it before (n. 2045, 2057, 2219), and therefore it is here said that they were in such great evil.

2247. Abraham as yet he was standing before Jehovah. That this signifies the Lord's thought from the Human which was adjoined in the manner stated above, is evident from the representation of Abraham in this chapter, as being the Lord as to the Human; and from his "standing before Jehovah". Hence it follows without explication, that it was the thought from the Human which was adjoined in the manner stated at the beginning of this chapter, as also above (n. 2245).

2248. Verse 23. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? "Abraham drew near, and said, "signifies the Lord's thought from the Human, which thought adjoined itself more closely to the Divine; "wilt Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" signifies the Lord's grief from love toward the human race, and His intercession, urging that possibly there might be what is good joined to them, although they were evil.

2249. And Abraham drew near, and said. That this signifies the Lord's thought from the Human, which thought adjoined itself more closely to the Divine, follows from the things that precede, where the Lord's thought concerning the human race is treated of: thus without explication. That in this chapter in the internal sense the state of the Lord's thought and perception is so fully described, and at the beginning the state of the conjunction of the Lord's Human with His Divine, will possibly appear to man as if it were not of so much importance.

[2] And yet it is of the greatest moment; for before the angels, to whom the internal sense is the Word, these things are presented to the life, together with their representatives, in a most beautiful form; besides numberless things that follow from them and bear their likeness, concerning the Lord's conjunction with heaven, and the reception of His Divine in their human; for the ideas of angels are such that they relish such things above all others, and perceive them as being most pleasant; and they are also enlightened and confirmed by them more and more in regard to the unition of the Lord's Human Essence with His Divine Essence; for the angels have been men, and when men they could not but think of the Lord as a man, and of the Lord as God, as also of the Divine Trinity, and form for themselves various ideas, although at that time they knew not of what quality these ideas were.

[3] For heavenly arcana are of such a nature that although they surpass all apprehension, yet every one forms for himself some idea of them; for nothing can possibly be retained in the memory, still less enter into anything of thought, except by means of some idea formed in one way or another. And because their ideas could not be formed otherwise than from things in the world, or from things analogous to those in the world; and because fallacies then insinuated themselves from things not understood (which in the other life alienate the ideas of the though - which are then more internal - from the truth and good of faith),

[4] in order that such things may be dispersed, so much is said in this chapter, in its internal sense, about the conjunction of the Lord's Human with His divine, and about His perception and thought; and accordingly when the Word is read, these things are so presented to the perception of the angels that their former ideas, formed from other sources and from scruples easily springing therefrom, are gradually dissipated, and new ideas are insinuated that are in conformity with the light of truth in which the angels are. This takes place more with the spiritual angels than with the celestial; for according to the purification of their ideas are they perfected for the reception of celestial things. It is known that heaven is not pure before the Lord; and it is a truth that the angels are continually being perfected.

2250. Wilt Thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? That this signifies the Lord's grief from love toward the human race, and His intercession urging that possibly there might be what is good adjoined to them although they were evil, is evident from the zeal of love that here shines forth, and still more in (verse 25) just below, where it is said, "Be it far from Thee to do according to this thing, to cause the righteous to die with the wicked, that so the righteous be as the wicked; be it far from Thee; shall not the Judge of all the earth do judgment?" The same is evident from the signification of "the righteous" as being good (n. 612, 2235), and from the signification of "the wicked" as being opposite to "the righteous", that is, opposite to good, thus evil. It is likewise evident from these words, as also from the things that follow in this chapter, that there is intercession. The Lord's intercession for the human race existed at the time when He was in the world, and in fact when He was in a state of humiliation, for as before said, He then spoke with Jehovah as with another. But of course in His state of glorification when the Human Essence has become united to the Divine Essence, and is itself also Jehovah, He does not intercede, but has mercy and affords aid from His Divine, and saves. It is Mercy itself which is the intercession, for such is its essence.

2251. Verse 24. Peradventure there be fifty righteous in the midst of the city; wilt Thou also destroy and not scare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are in the midst of it? "Peradventure there be fifty righteous in the midst of the city", signifies that possibly the truths may be full of goods; "wilt Thou also destroy and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are in the midst of it?" signifies intercession from love, that in such case they should not perish.

2252. Peradventure there be fifty righteous in the midst of the city. That this signifies that the truths may possibly be full of goods, is evident from the signification of "fifty", as being what is full; from the signification of righteous" as being good (n. 612, 2235); from that of the "midst", as being what is within (n. 1074); and from that of "city", as being truth (n. 402). Thus "fifty righteous in the midst of the city", means in the internal sense that truths may possibly be full of goods within. That there is this meaning in these words cannot be seen from the letter, for the historicals of the literal sense lead the mind in quite a different direction, that is, to different thoughts and yet that these words are so perceived by those who are in the internal sense, I know of a certainty. The numbers themselves also, as here "fifty", and in what follows "forty-five", " forty", "thirty", "twenty", and "ten", are by no means perceived as numbers by those who are in the internal sense, but as real things or states (n. 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 2075).

[2] For the ancients marked the states of their church - in one way by numbers; and the nature of their computation in so doing is evident from the signification of the numbers in the places just referred to. They had the signification of numbers from the representatives which exist in the world of spirits, where, when anything appears as numbered, it does not signify anything that is determined by the numbers, but the thing or state itself; as is evident from the things that have been adduced (n. 2129, 2130, 2089), concerning "twelve", as meaning all the things of faith. It is similar with the numbers which now follow. This shows what is the nature of the Word in the internal sense.

[3] That "fifty" signifies what is full, comes from its following next after the product of seven into seven, or forty-nine, so that it is the impletion of this number, on which account there was in the Representative Church the festival of the Seven Sabbaths on the fiftieth day, and the Jubilee in the fiftieth year. As regards the festival of the seven sabbaths we read in Moses: -

Ye shall count unto you from the morrow of the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering, seven entire sabbaths shall there be, even unto the morrow of the seventh sabbath shall ye count fifty days, and ye shall offer a new offering unto Jehovah (Lev. 23:15).

And concerning the Jubilee: -

Thou shalt count for thee seven sabbaths of years, seven years seven times, and they shall be to thee seven sabbaths of years, nine and forty years, and ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty in the land to all the inhabitants thereof it shall be a jubilee unto you (Lev. 25:8, 10),

which shows that the fiftieth is what is full in relation to sad baths.

[4] Moreover, wherever " fifty" is mentioned in the Word, it signifies what is full; as when it is said that The Levites were numbered from a son of thirty years and upward, even unto a son of fifty years (Num. 4:23, 35, 39, 43, 47; 8:25); meaning the full or final state of discharging the ministry. That a man lying with a damsel, a virgin, shall give unto the damsel's father fifty pieces of silver, and she should be to him for a wife, nor could be put her away (Deut. 22:29), which denotes a full fine and full restitution. David's giving to Araunah for the threshing-floor where he built the altar to Jehovah, fifty shekels of silver (2 Sam. 24:24), denotes a full price and a full purchase. Absalom's preparing for himself a chariot and horses, and having fifty men running before him (2 Sam. 15:1), and in like manner Adonijah's having chariots and horsemen, and fifty men running before him (1 Kings 1:5), denotes full excellence and greatness. For they had from the ancients certain representative and significative numbers, which they observed, and which were also commanded in their rites; but most of them did not know what they signified.

[5] And in the same way, as "fifty" signifies what is full, and as this number was also representatives - already said - the same thing is signified by it in the Lord's parable of the steward, who said to him that owed the oil: -

How much owest thou unto my lord? and he said, a hundred baths of oil. And he said unto him, take thy bond, and sit down quickly, and write fifty (Luke 16:6);

"fifty" denoting full payment. As fifty is a number, it indeed appears to involve nothing beyond the number; whereas in the internal sense what is full is everywhere meant by it, as in Haggai: -

One came to the wine-press to draw out fifty out of the wine-press; there were twenty (Haggai 2:16),

that is, instead of fullness there was not much. "Fifty" could not have been mentioned here in the Prophet unless it had been significative.

2253. Wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are in the midst of it? That this signifies intercession from love - that they should not perish - is evident from the signification of "fifty", and of righteous", as also of "the midst of it", that is, of the city (n. 2252), all of which thing involve intercession from love, and that they should not perish. Regarding intercession see (n. 2250). That it was from love is also manifest. With the Lord, when He was in the world, there was no other life than the life of love toward the universal human race, which He ardently desired to eternally save. This is the veriest celestial life, by which He united Himself to the Divine, and the Divine to Himself - for Esse itself, or Jehovah, is nothing else than Mercy, which is of love to the universal human race - and that life was one of pure love, which is never possible with any man. They who do not know what life is, and that the life is such as the love, do not comprehend this. This shows that in so far as anyone loves his neighbor, in so far he partakes of the Lord's life.

2254. Verse 25. Be it far from Thee to do according to this thing, to cause the righteous to die with the wicked, that so the righteous be as the wicked; be it far from Thee; shall not the Judge of all the earth do judgment? "Be it far from Thee to do according to this thing", signifies the Lord's horror; "to cause the righteous to die with the wicked, that so the righteous be as the wicked", signifies that good cannot die, because evil can be separated from it; "be it far from Thee", signifies a greater degree of horror; "shall not the Judge of all the earth do judgment?" signifies that the Divine good cannot do this, after the manner of truth separated from good.

2255. Be it far from Thee to do according to this thing. That this signifies the Lord's horror, is evident without explication.

2256. To cause the righteous to die with the wicked, that so the righteous be as the wicked. That this signifies that good cannot die, because evil can be separated from it, is evident from the signification of "righteous", as being good, and of "wicked", as being evil (n. 2250). Hence to "cause the righteous to die with the wicked", is to make good die with evil. As this ought not to be done, and causes horror to think of, it is removed in the internal sense, and then there is presented this that good cannot die, because evil can be separated from it.

[2] How this matter stands, is known to few, if any. Be it known that all the good a man has thought and done from infancy even to the last of his life, remains in like manner all the evil, so that not the least of it completely perishes. Both are inscribed on his book of life (that is, on each of his memories), and on his nature (that is, his native disposition and genius). From these he has formed for himself a life, and so to speak a soul, which after death is of a corresponding quality. But goods are never so commingled with evils, nor evils with goods, that they cannot be separated; for if they should be commingled, the man would eternally perish. In relation to this the Lord exercises His providence, and when a man comes into the other life, if he has lived in the good of love and of charity, the Lord then separates his evils, and by what is good with him elevates him into heaven. But if he has lived in evils, that is, in things contrary to love and charity, the Lord then separates from him what is good, and his evils bring him into hell. Such is the lot of every one after death; but it is a separation, and in no wise a complete removal.

[3] Moreover, as the will of man, which is the one part of his life, has been utterly destroyed, the Lord separates this destroyed part from the other which is his intellectual part, and in those who are being regenerated, implants in this intellectual part the good of charity, and through this a new will; these are they who have conscience. Thus also, speaking generally, the Lord separates evil from good. These are the arcana which are meant in the internal sense by the statement that good cannot die, because evil can be separated from it.

2257. Be it far from Thee. That this signifies a greater degree of horror, is evident from the words being repeated; thus it also needs no explication.

2258. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do judgment? That this signifies that the Divine good cannot do this after the manner of truth separated from good, is evident from the signification of the "Judge of all the earth", as also from the signification of judgment". The "Judge of all the earth", signifies in the internal sense the good itself from which comes truth; which also in the representative Church was represented by the priests who were at the same time judges; for as priests they represented the Divine good, and as judges the Divine truth; but the "Judge of all the earth" means both, and this from the signification of "earth". But to prove these things now from the representatives of that church wood be too tedious. "Judgment", however, signifies truth (n. 2235). From these significations, and at the same time from the series of things in the internal sense, it is evident that " Shall not the Judge of all the earth do judgment?" signifies that the Divine good cannot do this after the manner of truth separated from good.

[2] In order to the understanding of these things, be it known that there are two things which constitute the order of the universal heaven, and thence in the universe, namely, Good and Truth. Good is the essential of order, all the things of which are mercies. Truth is the secondary of order, all the things of which are truths. The Divine good adjudges all to heaven, but the Divine truth condemns all to hell; and therefore unless the Lord's Mercy, which is of good, were eternal, all men, however many, would be condemned. This is what is signified by the statement that the Divine good cannot do this after the manner of truth separated from good (n. 1728).

[3] That the evil are nevertheless condemned to hell, is not because the Divine good is separated from the Divine truth, but because the man separates himself from the Divine good. For the Lord in no case sends anyone down into hell, but the man sends himself, as has been already stated a number of times. In the following respect also the Divine good is conjoined with the Divine truth: that unless the evil were separated from the good, the evil would do harm to the good, and would be continually endeavoring to destroy order: thus that the good may not be harmed, is of Mercy. This stands just as in the kingdoms of the earth. If evils were not punished, the whole kingdom would be infected with evils, and so would perish for which reason kings and judges show more mercy in punishing evils and in expelling from society those guilty of them, than by exercising in their behalf an unseasonable clemency.

2259. Verse 26. And Jehovah said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous in the midst of the city, I will spare all the place for their sake. "Jehovah said", signifies perception; "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous in the midst of the city", signifies here as before, if truths are full of goods; "I will spare all the place for their sake", signifies that they will be saved.

2260. Jehovah said. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification of "Jehovah's saying", in the historic Word, as being representative of the Lord's perception from the Divine, and something of thought following therefrom, and some reply. Concerning the expression "Jehovah said", see (n. 2238).

2261. If I find in Sodom fifty righteous in the midst of the city. That this signifies if truths are full of goods, is evident from the signification of "fifty", as being what is full, and from the signification of "the midst of the city", as being within truth, or in truth (n. 2252). It may be supposed that a man cannot but be saved if truths are full of goods. But be it known that there are very few truths with man, and that if there are any, they have no life unless there are goods in them; and that if there are goods in them, he is saved, but from Mercy. For, as before said, the truths with man are very few; and the goods which are in them have their quality in accordance with the truths, and the man's life.

[2] Regarded in themselves, truths do not give life. It is goods that give life. Truths are only recipients of life, that is, of good. And therefore no one can ever say that he can be saved by truths (or as the common expression is, by faith alone), unless there is good in the truths which are of faith, and this good that must be in the truths must be the good of charity; hence faith itself, in the internal sense, is nothing else than charity (n. 2231). As regards people's saying that the acknowledgment of truth is the faith that saves, be it known that with those who live in things contrary to charity, there cannot possibly be any acknowledgment but only persuasion, to which there has been adjoined the life of the love of self or of the world; thus in the acknowledgment they refer to there is not the life of faith, which is that of charity. The worst men of all - from the love of self or the world, that is, for the sake of being eminent above others in what is called intelligence and wisdom, and thus of winning honors, reputation, and gains - can learn the truths of faith, and confirm them by many things; but still with them these truths are dead.

[3] The life of truth, and thus of faith, is solely from the Lord, who is life itself. The Lord's life is mercy, which is that of love toward the universal human race. In the Lord's life those can in no wise have part who although they profess the truths of faith despise others in comparison with themselves, and who, when their life of the love of self and of the world is touched, hold the neighbor in hatred, and take delight in his loss of wealth, of honor, of reputation, and of life. But the case with the truths of faith is that by means of them man is regenerated, for they are the veriest vessels recipient of good. Such therefore as are the truths, and such as are the goods in the truths, and such as is their conjunction and the consequent capability of being perfected in the other life, such is the state of blessedness and happiness after death.

2262. I will spare all the place for their sake. That this signifies that they will be saved, follows from the series as a conclusion, and thus without explication. "Place" signifies state (n. 1273, 1378), and therefore it is here said the "place" instead of the "city", to signify that they who are in such a state would be saved.

2263. Verse 27. And Abraham answered and said, Behold I Pray I have taken upon me to speak unto my Lord, and I am dust and ashes. "Abraham answered and said", signifies the Lord's thought from the human; "Behold I pray I have taken upon me to speak unto my Lord, and I am dust and ashes", signifies the humiliation of the human as to its relative quality.

2264. Abraham answered and said. That this signifies the Lord's thought from the human, is evident from the signification of "Abraham" in this chapter, as being the Lord in respect to the human, concerning which several times above.

2265. Behold I pray I have taken upon me to speak unto my Lord, and I am dust and ashes. That this signifies the humiliation of the human as to its relative quality, is evident. The Lord's state in the human (or His state of humiliation), and the Lord's state in the Divine (or His state of glorification), have been treated of several times before; and it has been shown that in His state of humiliation the Lord spoke with Jehovah as with another; but in His state of glorification, as with Himself (n. 1999). As in the present passage Abraham represents the Lord in His human, it is said in that state that relatively to the Divine the human is dust and ashes; on which account that state is also called His state of humiliation. The humiliation results from the self-acknowledgment that one is relatively of such a character. By the human in this place is not meant the Divine Human, but the human which the Lord derived from the mother, and which He utterly expelled, and put on in its stead the Divine Human. It is the former human, namely, the maternal human, of which "dust and ashes" are here predicated. (n. 2159).

2266. Verse 28. Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous; wilt Thou destroy all the city for five? and He said, I will not destroy it if I find there forty and five. "Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous", signifies if there should be somewhat less; "wilt thou destroy all the city for five?" signifies, shall man perish for the little which is wanting? "and He said, I will not destroy it if I find there forty and five", signifies that he should not perish if good and truth could be conjoined together.

2267. Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous. That this signifies if there should be somewhat less, is evident from the signification of "five", as being a little, or less, in regard to which signification of this number, see (n. 649). What the "fifty righteous" signify, has been shown above (n. 2252).

2268. Wilt Thou destroy all the city for five? That this signifies shall man perish for the little which is wanting, is evident from the signification of "five", as being (as just stated) and from the signification of a "city", as being truth, also explained before. In regard to the truths in it the human mind is compared in the Word to a "city", and is also so called; and in regard to the goods which are in the truths, it is compared to the inhabitants of the city, and the goods are also called; for the case as regards these is much the same. If the truths which are in man's memories, and in the thoughts of his mind, are devoid of goods, they are like a city without inhabitants, and are in the same way vacant and empty. Nay, even of the angels it may be declared that when a man lives in love to the Lord, and in charity toward the neighbor, they dwell as it were in his truths, and insinuate affections of good from the Lord; for they are delighted to dwell this, that is, to live with such men. Very different is it with those who are in some truths, but in no goods of charity.

2269. And He said, I will not destroy it if I find there forty and five. That this signifies that man should not perish if good and truth could be conjoined together, is evident from the signification of the number forty-five, as being conjunction. It has been already shown that the simple numbers retain their signification even when they are multiplied; and that consequently the greater numbers have a signification similar to that of the less and such is the case with forty-five, which number is compounded by the multiplication of five into nine; and as it has been compounded by the multiplication of five into nine, it has the same signification as have "five" and "nine". That "five" signifies a little, was shown above (n. 649), and that "nine" signifies conjunction, or what is conjoined (n. 2075); and thus the signification here is: If goods have in some measure been conjoined with truths. That in the Word numbers signify actual things, or states, is evident from what was said about fifty (n. 2252); also from what has been shown before concerning numbers (n. 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988).

[2] It is because "five" signifies a little, and "forty-five" conjunction, that the very setting forth of these numbers in this verse is of such a nature, for it is said, "Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous;" and by this is signified, If there should be somewhat less; and then it is said, "Wilt Thou destroy all the city for five?" by which is signified, Shall they perish for the little which is wanting? for as "five" signifies a little, this number is not employed again, but it is said, "I will not destroy it if I find there forty and five;" by which is signified that they would not perish if good and truth could be conjoined together. The reason also of its being said here "forty and five", and not "if there lack five of fifty", is because "five" not only signifies a little (n. 649), but also signifies disjunction (n. 1686); and therefore in order that not disjunction, but conjunction, might be signified, this number forty-five is named; for " forty-five" denotes some conjunction, as stated above; and thus in the internal sense all things follow on in a beautiful sequence Of their own.

[3] As regards the conjunction of good with truth, it is an arcanum which cannot be described so that it can be grasped by the ordinary comprehension. It must be told in a few words. The more genuine and pure the truth, the better can the good which is from the Lord be adapted into it as its recipient vessel; but the less genuine and pure the truth, the less can the good which is from the Lord be adapted into it; for they must correspond to each other, and the conjunction of the two is effected according to the correspondence. Goods cannot possibly be insinuated into falsities, nor evils into truths, as their recipient vessels; for they are of a contrary character and nature, the one casting out the other as its enemy; nay, should they attempt to conjoin themselves together, the one would spew out the other, that is to say, good would spew out evil as if it were poison, and evil would spew out good as if it were an emetic. Such enmity between good and evil has been provided by the Lord in order to prevent the possibility of their being commingled, for if they were commingled, the man would perish. In the deceitful and in hypocrites they are not far from being conjoined together, but still precautions are taken by the Lord in order to prevent their being so conjoined. This is the reason why in the other life those who are deceitful and those who are hypocrites suffer things more direful than those which are suffered by any others.

2270. Verse 29. And he added yet to speak unto Him, and said, Peradventure forty shall be found there; and He said, I will not do it for forty's sake. "He added yet to speak unto Him", signifies thought; "and said, Peradventure forty shall be found there", signifies those who have been in temptations; "and He said, I will not do it for forty's sake", signifies that they shall be saved.

2271. He added yet to speak unto Him. That this signifies thought, is evident from the signification in the internal sense of "speaking". To "speak" or "speaking" is nothing else than that which flows forth from the thought; and as internal things are signified by external things - like understanding by "seeing", the understanding by the "eye", obedience by the "ear", and so forth - so thinking is signified by "speaking".

2272. And he said, Peradventure forty shall be found there. That this signifies those who have been in temptation, is evident from the signification of the number forty, as being temptations (n. 730). How these things follow on in a series may be seen from temptations. Temptations take place to the end not only that the man may be confirmed in truths, but also that truths may be more closely conjoined with goods; for man is then battling for truths against falsities, and as he is then in interior distress and in torment, the delights of the life of cupidities and their derivative pleasures come to a cessation; and then goods flow in from the Lord, the consequence of which is that evils are at the same time regarded as abominable, and the effect of this is new thoughts of a nature contrary to those possessed before, to which the man may afterwards be bent, thus from evils to goods, and these goods be conjoined with truths. And as the conjunction of good with truth is effected by means of temptations, and as it has been said in a former verse that those would be saved with whom goods can be conjoined with truths, therefore there follows what is here said; and indeed in such words as to signify that goods and truths can be conjoined by means of temptations. This is the connection of the subject matters for those who are in the internal sense.

2273. And He said, I will not do it for forty's sake. That this signifies that they will be saved, is evident without any unfolding of the meaning. As regards those who in the preceding verse are signified by "forty-five", it was said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty and five", and the signification was that they should not perish if goods were able to be conjoined with truths, and there here follows a statement concerning the forty: "I will not do it for forty's sake;" by which is not signified that they should be saved on account of temptations, for there are some who even undergo temptations and who yield in them; and therefore with these goods are not conjoined. I would even say that a man is not saved on account of temptations if he places anything of merit in them; for if he does this, it is from the love of self, in that he congratulates himself on their account, and believes that he has merited heaven more than others, and at the same time he is thinking of his own preeminence over others by despising others in comparison with himself; all of which things are contrary to mutual love, and therefore to heavenly blessedness.

[2] The temptations in which a man overcomes are attended with a belief that all others are more worthy than himself, and that he is infernal rather than heavenly; for while in temptations such ideas are presented to him; and therefore when after temptations he comes into thoughts contrary to these, it is an indication that he has not overcome; for the thoughts which the man has had in temptations are those to which can be bent the thoughts which he has after the temptations and if the latter cannot be bent to the former, the man has either yielded in the temptation, or he again comes into similar ones, and sometimes into more grievous ones, until he has been reduced to such sanity that he believes he has merited nothing. Hence it is evident that by "forty" are here signified those with whom by means of temptations goods have been conjoined with truths.

2274. Verse 30. And he said, Oh let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak: peradventure thirty shall be found there; and He said, I will not do it if I find thirty there. "And he said, Oh let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak", signifies anxiety concerning the human race; peradventure thirty shall be found there", signifies somewhat of combat; "and He said, I will not do it if I find thirty there", signifies that these shall be saved.

2275. And he said, Oh let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak. That this signifies anxiety concerning the state of the human race, may be seen, not so much from the words, as from the affection that belongs to them. The internal sense of the Word contains within it two things, to wit, what is spiritual, and what is celestial. That which is spiritual consists in there being comprehended, abstractedly from the letter, actual thing' to which the literal sense serves as an object, just as do those things which the eye sees, when they serve as objects for suggesting thought about matters of a more exalted nature. That which is celestial consists in there being solely perceived the affection that belongs to the actual things that are in the internal sense. In the former are the spiritual angels, in the latter are the celestial angels. They who are in the latter, that is, in the affection, perceive at once from the affection alone what the letter involves when it is being read by man, and from it they form for themselves celestial ideas, and this with endless variety, and in an ineffable manner, in accordance with the onflowing harmony of the celestial things of love that are in the affection. From this we may see what the Word of the Lord contains within its remote recesses. When therefore these words are read: "Oh let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak", the celestial angels at once perceive a certain anxiety, and indeed the anxiety of love toward the human race and at the same time there are insinuated into them in numerable and ineffable things in regard to the anxiety of love which the Lord felt when He thought about the state of the human race.

2276. Peradventure thirty shall be found. That this signifies somewhat of combat, is evident from the signification of the number thirty. That "thirty" signifies somewhat of combat, thus but a little of combat, comes from the fact that this number is compounded by the multiplication of five (by which is signified some little), and six (by which is signified labor or combat (n. 649, 720, 737, 900, 1709).

[2] Hence also this number, wherever read in the Word, signifies something that is relatively little; as in Zechariah: -

I said unto them, If it be good in your eyes, give me my hire and if not, forbear and they weighed my hire, thirty pieces of silver. And Jehovah said unto me, Cast it unto the potter, the goodly price whereat I was valued by them and I took the thirty silver pieces, and cast it to the potter in the house of Jehovah (Zechariah 11:12, 13);

denoting that they valued so little the Lord's merit, and redemption and salvation by Him. The "potter" denotes reformation and regeneration.

[3] Hence the same thirty silver pieces are spoken of in Matthew: -

They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him whom they had bought from the sons of Israel, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me (Matthew 27:9, 10);

from which it is plainly evident that "thirty" here denotes the price of what is but little valued. The valuation of a servant who was held as being of little account, was thirty shekels; as is evident in Moses: -

If the ox gore a manservant, or a maidservant, he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver; and the ox shall be stoned (Exod. 21:32).

Of how little account a servant was held, is evident in the same chapter (Exodus 21:20, 21). In the internal sense a "servant" denotes labor.

[4] That the Levites were taken for the work of the ministerial office - which is described by the expression "one coming to exercise warfare, and to do the work in the tent" - from a "son of thirty years to one of fifty" (Num. 4:3, 23, 30, 35, 39, 43), was because "thirty" signified those who were being initiated, and who therefore could as yet exercise but little warfare as understood in the spiritual sense.

[5] So in other passages where "thirty" is named in the Word; as that they should offer "upon a son of an ox a meat-offering of three tenths" (Num. 15:9); which was because the sacrifice of an ox represented natural good (n. 2180); and natural good is but little in comparison with spiritual good, which was represented by the sacrifice of a ram; and still less in comparison with celestial good, which was represented by the sacrifice of a lamb; in connection with which there was another rate of tenths for the meat offering, as is evident in the same chapter (Numbers 15:4-6; 28:12, 13, 20, 21, 28, 29; 29:3, 4, 9, 10, 14, 15); which rates of tenths, or which proportions, would never have been commanded, unless they had involved heavenly arcana. In Mark also "thirty" denotes a little: -

The seed which fell into good ground yielded fruit growing up and increasing, and brought forth, one thirty, and another sixty, and another a hundred (Mark 4:8),

where "thirty" denotes a small growth, and that which has labored but little. These numbers would not have been marked out for use, unless they had contained within them the things which they signify.

2277. He said, I will not do it if I find thirty there. That this signifies that these shall be saved, is evident from the series or connection of things in the internal sense, without any unfolding of the meaning.

2278. Verse 31. And he said, Behold I pray I have taken upon me to speak unto my Lord: peradventure twenty shall be found there; and He said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. "He said, Behold I pray I have taken upon me to speak unto my Lord", signifies here as before the humiliation of the human before the Divine; "peradventure twenty shall be found there", signifies if there be not anything of combat, but still there be good "and He said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake", signifies that they will be saved.

2279. He said, Behold I pray I have taken upon me to speak unto my Lord. That this signifies the humiliation of the human before the Divine, is evident from what was said above (n. 2265), where are the same words.

2280. Peradventure twenty shall be found there. That this signifies if there be not anything of combat, but still there be good, is evident from the signification of "twenty". As all the numbers that are mentioned in the Word signify actual things, and states (n. 2252), so also does "twenty;" and what it signifies can be seen from its derivation, namely, from twice ten. "Ten" in the Word, as also "tenths", signify remains, by which is meant everything good and true that the Lord insinuates into man from infancy even to the end of his life, and which are treated of in the following verse. Twice ten, or double tenths, that is, twenty, signify the same, but in a higher degree, namely, good.

[2] Goods of three kinds are signified by remains, namely, the goods of infancy, the goods of ignorance, and the goods of intelligence. The goods of infancy are those which are insinuated into man from his very birth up to the age in which he is beginning to be instructed and to know something. The goods of ignorance are what are insinuated when he is being instructed and is beginning to know something. The goods of intelligence are what are insinuated when he is able to reflect upon what is good and what is true. The good of infancy exists from the man's infancy up to the tenth year of his age; the good of ignorance, from this age up to his twentieth year. From this year the man begins to become rational, and to have the faculty of reflecting upon good and truth, and to procure for himself the good of intelligence.

[3] The good of ignorance is that which is signified by "twenty", because those who are in the good of ignorance do not come into any temptation for no one is tempted before he is able to reflect, and in his own way to perceive the nature of good and truth. Those who have received goods by means of temptations have been treated of in the two immediately preceding verses; those who have not been in temptations, and yet have good, are now treated of in this verse.

[4] As those who have this good, which is called the good of ignorance, are signified by "twenty", all those who went forth from Egypt were reckoned from "a son of twenty years" and upward; or as it is expressed, " every one going forth into the army", by whom are meant those who were no longer in the good of ignorance, concerning whom we read in (Numbers 1:20, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 38, 40, 42, 45; 26:4); and also that all those who were more than twenty years old died in the wilderness (Numbers 32:10, 11), because evil could be imputed to them, and they represented those who yield in temptations; as well as that the valuing made of a male, from "a son of five years" to "a son of twenty years" was "twenty shekels" (Lev. 27:5); and another valuing from "a son of twenty years" old to one of sixty was fifty shekels (Leviticus 27:3).

[5] As regards the before-mentioned goods, namely those of infancy, of ignorance, and of intelligence, the case is this. The good of intelligence is the best, for this is of wisdom the good which precedes it, namely that of ignorance, is indeed good, but as there is but little of intelligence in it, it cannot be called the good of wisdom; and as for the good of infancy, it is indeed good in itself, but still it is less good than the other two; for as yet there is not any truth of intelligence adjoined to it, and thus it has not become any good of wisdom, but it is only a plane for being able to become so; for it is the knowledges of good and truth that cause a man to be wise as a man. Infancy itself, by which is signified innocence, does not belong to infancy, but to wisdom; as can be better seen from what will be said about little children in the other life, at the end of this chapter.

[6] By "twenty", in this verse, as has been said, there is signified no other good than the good of ignorance which good is not only declared to be with those who are under their twentieth year, as already said, but also with all who are in the good of charity and at the same time in ignorance of truth, as are those within the church who are in the good of charity, but from whatever cause, do not know what the truth of faith is; as is the case with very many of those who think devoutly about God and kindly about the neighbor; and as is also the case with all outside the church, who are called Gentiles, and who in like manner live in the good of charity. Both the latter and the former, although not in the truths of faith, yet being in good, are in the faculty of receiving the truths of faith in the other life equally as are little children; for their understanding has not as yet been tainted with principles of falsity, nor their will so confirmed in a life of evil, because they are ignorant of its being falsity and evil; and the life of charity is attended with this: that the falsity and evil of ignorance may be easily bent to truth and good. Not so is it with those who have confirmed themselves in things contrary to the truth, and at the same time have lived a life in things contrary to good.

[7] In other cases by "two tenths" in the Word is signified good both celestial and spiritual, good celestial and thence spiritual by the two tenths of which every loaf of the shewbread or bread of faces was prepared (Lev. 24:5), and spiritual good by the two tenths of the meat offering with the sacrifice of the ram (Num. 15:6; 28:12, 20, 28; 29:3, 9, 14), concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy elsewhere.

2281. And He said I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. That this signifies that they will be saved, is evident from the series of things in the internal sense, and thus without any unfolding of the meaning.

2282. Verse 32. And he said, Oh let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak but this once: peradventure ten shall be found there; and He said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. "He said, Oh let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak but this once", signifies anxiety still continued concerning the state of the human race; peradventure ten shall be found there", signifies if there should still be remains; "and He said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake", signifies that they will be saved.

2283. He said, Oh let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak but this once. That this signifies anxiety still continued concerning the state of the human race, is evident from the affection of these words (n. 2275), where the same words occur.

2284. Peradventure ten shall be found there. That this signifies if there should still be remains, is evident from the signification of the number "ten", as being remains (n. 576, 1738). What remains are has been stated and shown before in various places (n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 1050, 1738, 1906), namely, that they are all the good and all the truth with man which lie stored up in his memories and in his life.

[2] It is well known that there is nothing good and nothing true, except from the Lord; and also that what is good and true is continually inflowing from the Lord into man, but that it is received in various ways, and in fact in accordance with the life of evil, and in accordance with the principles of falsity in which the man has confirmed himself. These are what either quench, or stifle, or pervert the goods and truths that are continually flowing in from the Lord Lest therefore goods should be commingled with evils, and truths with falsities (for if they were commingled the man would perish eternally), the Lord separates them, and stores up in his interior man the goods and truths which the man receives; whence He will never permit them to come forth so long as the man is in evil and falsity, but only at such a time as he is in a holy state, or in some anxiety, sickness, or other trouble. These things which the Lord has thus stored up with man are what are called "remains", of which very much mention is made in the Word; but it has not yet been known to anyone that this is what they signify.

[3] According to the quality and quantity of the remains - that is, of the good and truth with a man - does he enjoy bliss and happiness in the other life; for, as has been said, these remains are stored up in his interior man, and they are opened at the time when the man has left corporeal and worldly things behind. The Lord alone knows the quality and extent of the remains in a man; the man himself cannot possibly know this, for at the present day man is of such a character that he is able to counterfeit what is good, while within there is nothing but evil; and a man may also appear to be evil and yet have good within. On this account no man is ever allowed to judge concerning the quality of the spiritual life of another, for the Lord alone, as before said, knows this; but every one may judge of another in regard to the quality of his moral and civil life, for this concerns society.

[4] It is very common for those who have taken up an opinion respecting any truth of faith, to judge of others that they cannot be saved, unless they believe as they did judgment which the Lord has forbidden (Matt. 7:1, 2). On the other hand, I have learned from much experience that men of every religion are saved, provided that by a life of charity they have received remains of good and of apparent truth. This is what is meant by its being said that if ten were found, they should not be destroyed for the ten's sake; by which is signified that they would be saved if there were remains.

[5] The life of charity consists in thinking kindly of another, and in wishing him well; and in perceiving joy in one's self from the fact that others also are saved. But those have not the life of charity who desire that none should be saved except those who believe as they do; and especially is this the case with those who are indignant that it is otherwise. This may be seen from the mere fact that more from the Gentiles are saved than from Christians; for those Gentiles who have thought kindly of their neighbor and have wished well to him, receive the truths of faith in the other life better than those who are called Christians, and acknowledge the Lord more than Christians do. For nothing is more delightful and blessed to the angels than to instruct those who come from the earth into the other life.

2285. I will not destroy it for ten's sake. That this signifies that they will be saved, is evident from the series of the things in the internal sense, and thus without any unfolding of the meaning.

2286. Verse 33. And Jehovah went when He had completed His speaking unto Abraham; and Abraham returned unto his place. "Jehovah went when He had completed His speaking unto Abraham,"signifies that this state of perception in which the Lord was, then ceased to be such; "and Abraham returned unto his place", signifies that the Lord returned into the state in which He had been before He perceived these things.

2287. Jehovah went when He had completed His speaking unto Abraham. That this signifies that this state of perception in which the Lord was, then ceased to be such, is evident from the signification of "speaking", and from the representation of Abraham. "To speak", in the internal sense, signifies to think (n. 2271); but here it signifies to perceive, because it is declared of Jehovah that He " had completed His speaking" to Abraham; for the thought was from perception, as before said, and the perception was from the Lord's internal, which was Jehovah. But "Abraham" in this chapter represents the Lord in the human state, as often stated above. From this we can see that by its being said that "Jehovah went when He had completed His speaking unto Abraham", nothing else is signified in the internal sense than that the state of perception in which the Lord had been, then came to its close and completion. The reason why the Lord's perception and thought are so much treated of in this chapter in the internal sense, may be seen above (n. 2249).

2288. Abraham returned to his place. That this signifies that the Lord returned into the state in which He had been before He perceived these things, is evident from the representation of Abraham in this chapter, as being the Lord in the human state; and from the signification of a "place", as being a state (n. 1273, 1378); thus to "return to his place", in the internal sense, here signifies to return to the state in which He had been before. That while He lived in this world the Lord had two states, namely, a state of humiliation and a state of glorification, has been said and shown before. His state of humiliation was when He was in the human which He took by inheritance from the mother; His state of glorification was when He was in the Divine which He had from Jehovah His Father. The former state, namely, that of the human from the mother, the Lord altogether put off, and put on the Divine Human, when He passed out of the world, and returned to the Divine Itself, in which He was from eternity (John 17:5), together with the Human made Divine from both of which comes the Holy which fills the universal heaven. Thus from the Divine Itself and the Divine Human, by means of the proceeding Holy, He directs the universe.

 

CONCERNING THE STATE OF LITTLE CHILDREN IN THE OTHER LIFE

2289. I have been given to know with certainty that all little children in the wide world who die, are raised again by the Lord and are taken up into heaven, and there are brought up and instructed among angels who have the care of them, and that they also grow up in proportion to their advance in intelligence and wisdom. From this we can see how immense is the Lords heaven from little children alone; for they are all instructed in the truths of faith and in the goods of mutual love, and become angels.

2290. They who know nothing about the state of the life after death may suppose that little children are in angelic intelligence and wisdom as soon as they come into the other life; but I have been instructed by much experience that such is not the case. Those who die not long after birth are of an infantile mind, almost as on earth, nor do they know anything more; for they possess only the faculty of knowing, and from this of understanding, and from this of being wise; which faculty is more perfect because they are not in the body, but are spirits. That they are so when they first come into heaven, has not merely been told, but has also been shown me for of the Lord's Divine mercy little children have on several occasions been sent to me in choirs, and I have also been allowed to read to them the Lord's Prayer; and at the same time I have been given to perceive how the angels in whose company they were, insinuated into their tender and novitiate ideas the meaning of the things which are in this Prayer, and filled them, so far as the little ones were able to receive; and afterwards how the capacity was given the little ones of thinking such things as it were from themselves.

2291. The nature of their tender understanding was also shown me when I was praying the Lord's Prayer; and they then inflowed into the ideas of my thought from their own understanding, which was so tender that they understood scarcely anything beyond the sense of the words. Yet their ideas in that tenderness were capable of being opened even to the Lord, that is, even from the Lord, for the Lord inflows into the ideas of little children in especial, from the inmosts; for nothing has as yet closed their ideas, as is the case with adults: no principles of falsity against the understanding of truth, and no life of evil against the reception of good, and thus not against becoming wise.

2292. From all this we can see that little children do not come into the state of angels immediately after death; but that they are introduced successively, by means of the knowledges of good and truth, and this in accordance with all heavenly order; for the very least of all the things of their natural disposition are there most exquisitely perceived; and according to all the movements of their inclination both in general and in particular they are impelled to receive the truths of good and the goods of truth, and this under the Lord's constant oversight.

2293. Especially are they all the time initiated into knowing no other Father, and thereafter in acknowledging no other than the Lord alone, and that they have life from Him; for that they are lives, that is, truly human and angelic lives, is from the intelligence of truth and the wisdom of good, which they have solely from the Lord. Hence it is that they know no otherwise than that they have been born in heaven.

2294. Many times when children have been with me in choirs, they being as yet quite infantile, they have been heard as a tender something devoid of order, so that they did not as get act as a one, as they do afterwards when they become older; and what surprised me, the spirits about me could not refrain from trying to lead them to think and to speak. Such a desire is innate in spirits. But I often noticed that the little children resisted, not being willing to think or speak in such a way. I have often observed this refusal and resistance attended with a kind of indignation, and when any ability to speak was granted them they merely said that it was not so. I have been instructed that such is the temptation of little children in the other life, to accustom and inaugurate them not only in the resisting of falsity and evil, but also in not allowing themselves to think, speak, and act from others, and thus in not suffering themselves to be led by any other than the Lord alone.

2295. When little children are not in that state, but in a more interior sphere, namely, the angelic sphere, they cannot possibly be infested by spirits; even if they are in the midst of them. Moreover the little children who are in the other life are sometimes sent by the Lord to little children on earth (although the little child on earth is quite unaware of it), and those little ones of heaven are in the highest degree delighted with these little ones of earth.

2296. The manner in which all things are insinuated into the little ones of the other life by means of delightful and pleasant things suited to their genius, has also been shown me; for I have been permitted to see the little children most beautifully clothed, having their bosoms and tender arms encircled with garlands of flowers that were resplendent with the most pleasing and heavenly colors. Once also I was permitted to see the little children with their maiden educatresses in a paradisal garden, that consisted not so much of trees, as of laurel espaliers and of bowers thus formed; beautifully laid out with paths that led toward the more interior parts; and I also saw the little children themselves, clothed as above described; and when they entered the garden the flower arch above the entrance shone most joyously. From this we can see the nature of their deliciousnesses, and also that by means of pleasant and delightful things they are introduced into the goods of innocence and charity, which are continually being insinuated by the Lord into those delightful and pleasant things.

2297. Moreover, as the little children are perfected, they are encompassed with atmospheres in accordance with the state of their perfection. That in the other life there are atmospheres of endless variety and ineffable beauty, may be seen from experience (n. 1621). Especially are there presented to their atmospheres as of sporting little children in least forms, not visible, but perceptible only by an inmost idea; from which they receive this heavenly idea: that everything around them is alive, and that they are in the Lord's life, and this idea affects their deepest being with happiness.

2298. It has been shown me by a method of communication that is familiar in the other life of what nature are the ideas of little children when they see any objects. They were as if everything was alive, so that they had life in every idea of their thought. I also perceived that little children on earth have very similar ideas when they are at play; for as yet they have not reflection, such as adults have, as regards that which is devoid of life.

2299. Especially are the little children instructed by means of representatives adapted to their various genius; and how beautiful these are, and at the same time how full of wisdom from within, no one can possibly believe. In this way there is by degrees insinuated into them an intelligence that draws its soul from good. I may here mention one representative only that I was permitted to see, from which the nature of the rest may be inferred. They represented the Lord rising out of the sepulchre, and at the same time the unition of His Human with the Divine; which was done in a manner so wise as to surpass all human wisdom, and at the same time in an innocent infantile manner. They presented also the idea of a sepulchre, but not at the same time the idea of the Lord, except so remotely that it was scarcely perceived that it was the Lord, except as it were from afar; for the reason that in the idea of a sepulchre there is something funereal, which they thus removed. They afterwards in the most discreet manner admitted into the sepulchre something of an atmospherical nature, yet appearing thinly aqueous, by which they signified, also with becoming remoteness, spiritual life in baptism. I afterwards saw represented by them the Lord's descent to the bound, and His ascent with the bound into heaven; and this with incomparable sagacity and piety. A child-like feature of the representation was that when they represented the Lord among the bound in the lower earth, they let down cords that were almost invisible, and that were very soft and tender, with which to lift the Lord in His ascent; with a constant holy fear lest anything in the representative should touch upon something in which there was not what is spiritual celestial. Besides other representatives wherein the little ones are, and by which, as well as by sports of infancy adapted to their various dispositions, they are brought into knowledges of truth and affections of good.

2300. Moreover little children are of diverse genius and of diverse natural disposition, and this from what they inherit from their parents, and by succession from grandparents and great-grandparents; for the actual life with parents, confirmed by habit, becomes a second nature, and is implanted hereditarily in the infants, and this is the source of their diverse tendencies.

2301. Speaking generally, little children are of a genius either celestial or spiritual. Those of a celestial genius are well distinguished from those of a spiritual genius. The former think, speak, and act more softly, so that hardly anything appears except a fluent something from the love of good to the Lord and toward other little children; but the latter do not think, speak, and act so softly, but something as it were winged and vibratile shows itself in all their doings; and is also evident from their indignation; besides other characteristic differences. Thus every little child has a natural disposition different from that of every other, and each is educated according to his natural disposition.

2302. There are certain and numerous societies of angels who have the care of little children; and which are chiefly from the female sex, who had loved them very tenderly in the life of the body. The little children who are more virtuous than others, by an established custom they offer to the Lord.

2303. Angelic spirits who were above in front spoke with me in angelic speech not distinguished into words, saying that their state was a state of the tranquillity of peace, and that there were also little children among them, and that they were conscious of blessedness from being in association with them; these spirits also were of the female sex. They said further concerning infants on earth, that directly after birth angels from the heaven of innocence are with them; in the succeeding age angels from the heaven of the tranquillity of peace; and afterwards those who are from the societies of charity; and then, as the innocence and charity with the young children decrease, other angels are with them; and at length, when they become older and enter into a life foreign to charity, angels are indeed present, but more remotely, and this in accordance with the ends of life, which the angels especially regulate by continually insinuating good ones, and turning aside evil ones; and they flow in more nearly or more remotely, in proportion as they can or cannot do this.

2304. Many may suppose that in the other life the little children remain such, and are as little children among the angels. They who do not know what an angel is, may have been confirmed in this opinion by the images that are common in churches and elsewhere, where angels are represented as little children. Very different however is the actual truth. It is intelligence and wisdom that make an angel, and so long as the little children have not these they are indeed with the angels, but are not angels. But when they have become intelligent and wise, then for the first time do they become angels; and it is a wonderful fact that they then do not appear as little children, but as adults; for they are then no longer of an infantile genius, but of a more adult angelic one. Intelligence and wisdom are attended with this result, for it is understanding and judgment, and a life according thereto, that cause every one to appear to himself and to others as an adult; as every one can see.

[2] I have not only been informed by the angels that such is the case, but I have also spoken with a certain one who had died when an infant, and yet then appeared as an adult. The same also spoke with his brother who had died in adult age, and this from so much mutual brotherly love that his brother could not refrain from tears, saying that he perceived no otherwise than that it was love itself that was speaking. Besides other examples not necessary to mention.

2305. There are some who suppose that innocence is the same as infancy, for the reason that the Lord said of little children that of such is heaven; and that they who do not become as little children cannot enter into the kingdom of the heavens. But they who so imagine do not know the internal sense of the Word, nor therefore what is meant by "infancy". By "infancy" is meant the innocence of intelligence and wisdom, which is such that they acknowledge that they have life from the Lord alone, and that the Lord is their only Father; for that man is man is from the intelligence of truth and the wisdom of good, which he has solely from the Lord. Innocence itself, which in the Word is called "infancy", has no existence or abode except in wisdom; so much so that the wiser one is, the more innocent he is; on which account the Lord is innocence itself, because wisdom itself.

2306. As regards the innocence of little children, being as yet devoid of intelligence and wisdom it is only a kind of plane for receiving genuine innocence, which they receive by degrees as they become wise. The quality of the innocence of little children has been represented to me by a wooden something almost void of life, which is vivified in proportion as they are perfected by means of knowledges of truth and affections of good. The quality of genuine innocence was afterwards represented by a most beautiful little child, full of life, and naked; for the innocent themselves, who are in the inmost heaven, and thereby are nearest the Lord, appear before the eyes of other angels no otherwise than as little children, and indeed naked; for innocence is represented by the nakedness of which they are not ashamed, as we read of the first man and his wife in paradise. In a word, the wiser the angels are, the more innocent they are; and the more innocent they are, the more do they appear to themselves as little children. Hence it is that in the Word innocence is signified by "infancy". But concerning the state of innocence, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

2307. Concerning little children I have inquired of the angels whether they are pure from evils, seeing that they have no actual evil, as adults have. But I was told that they are equally in evil; nay, that they too are nothing but evil; but that they, like all the angels, are withheld from evil and are kept in good by the Lord, insomuch that it appears to them as if they were in good from themselves. And therefore also the little children, after they have become adults in heaven, in order to prevent them from being of the false opinion regarding themselves that the good in them is from themselves, and not from the Lord, are sometimes remitted into their evils which they have received by inheritance, and are left in them until they know, acknowledge and believe, that the truth is as has been said. A certain one also who had died when an infant, but had grown up in heaven, was of a similar opinion; and therefore he was remitted into the life of the evils inborn in him, and it was then given me to perceive from his sphere that he had a disposition to domineer over others, and that he esteemed lascivious things as of no account which were evils that he had inherited from his parents. But after he had acknowledged that such was his nature, he was again received among the angels with whom he had been before.

2308. No one ever suffers punishment in the other life on account of hereditary evil, because it is not his, and therefore he is not to blame for being of such a nature; but every one suffers on account of the actual evil which is his own, and consequently for so much of the hereditary evil as he has appropriated to himself by actual life (n. 966). It is not therefore for the sake of punishment that the little children on becoming adult are remitted into the state of their hereditary evil; but that they may know that of themselves they are nothing but evil, and that it is of the Lord's mercy that they are taken away from the hell that is with them into heaven; and that they are not in heaven by their own merit, but of the Lord; and thereby to prevent them from boasting before others of the good that is in them; for this is contrary to the good of mutual love, as it is contrary to the truth of faith.

2309. From what has been adduced we can see what is the nature of the education of little children in heaven, namely, that by means of the intelligence of truth and the wisdom of good they are introduced into the angelic life, which is love to the Lord, and mutual love, in which loves there is innocence. But how contrary is the education of little children on earth, with many, has been evidenced from this one example. I was in the street of a great city, and saw little boys fighting with one another. A crowd gathered and looked on with much pleasure; and I was informed that the parents themselves urge on their little boys to such fights. The good spirits and angels who saw these things through my eyes were so averse to them that I perceived their horror, especially at the fact that the parents incite them to such things saying that thus in their earliest age they extinguish all the mutual love and all the innocence which little children receive from the Lord, and initiate them into hatred and revenge; consequently that they deliberately shut out their children from heaven, where there is nothing but mutual love. Let parents therefore who wish well to their children beware of such things. At the end of the preceding seventeenth chapter of Genesis the Last Judgment is treated of, and at the end of this eighteenth chapter the state of little children in the other life - in both cases from experience of things which have been seen and heard in the world of spirits and in the heaven of angels.


Chapter 19

2310. The Internal Sense of the Word has already been many times treated of; but I am aware that few can believe that there is such a sense in everything of the Word, not only in the prophetical, but also in the historical parts. That there is such a sense in the prophetical parts can more easily be believed, because in them there is not so connected a series of things, and there are also strange expressions in them, from which every one may conjecture that they contain within them some secret meaning. But that there is also such a sense in the historical parts, does not so easily appear, both because this has hitherto come into no one's mind, and because the historical parts are such as to keep the attention fixed on themselves, and thereby to draw away the mind from thinking that anything of a deeper nature is there stored up; and also because the historicals are truly such as related.

[2] Nevertheless no one can fail to infer that within these parts of the Word also there is what is heavenly and Divine, and which does not shine forth; first, from the fact that the Word was sent down by the Lord through heaven to man, and therefore differs in its origin (and what the nature of this origin is, and that it is so different and distant from the literal sense as not even to be seen, and consequently not acknowledged, by those who are merely worldly, will be shown by many things in what follows); secondly, from the fact that the Word, being Divine, has not been written for man only, but also for the angels with man, in order that it might serve not only for use to the human race, but also for use to heaven; and that in this way the Word is a medium uniting heaven and earth. This union takes place by means of the church, and in fact by means of the Word in the church, which is for this reason such as it is, and is distinguished from all other writing.

[3] As regards the historical parts specifically, unless they in like manner contained Divine and heavenly things in a sense abstracted from the letter, they could never be acknowledged by anyone who thinks more deeply to be the inspired Word, even as to every jot. Would anyone say that the abominable affair of Lot's daughters, treated of at the end of this chapter, would be related in a Divine Word? or Jacob's peeling rods and making the white appear, and placing them in the watering-troughs, that the flock might bear partly-colored, speckled, and spotted young? besides many other things in the rest of the books of Moses, of Joshua, the Judges, Samuel, and the Kings, which would be of no importance, and in regard to which it would be a matter of indifference whether they were known or not known unless they enfolded deeply within them a secret Divine meaning. If it were not for this, they would differ in no respect from other historical narratives, which have sometimes been so written that they seem more effective.

[4] As the learned world is unacquainted with the fact that Divine and heavenly things lie hidden even within the historical parts of the Word, were it not for the holy veneration for the books of the Word which has been unpressed upon them from childhood, they would be quite ready to say in their hearts that the Word is not holy except solely from that fact; when yet it is not from that, but because there is within it an internal sense which is heavenly and Divine, and which causes it to unite heaven with earth, that is, angelic minds with human minds, and thereby these latter with the Lord.

2311. That the Word is of such a nature, and that it is in this way distinct from all other writing, may be seen also from the fact that not only do all the names signify actual things (n. 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888), but all the words also have a spiritual sense; and they thus signify another thing in heaven from what they do on earth, and this most constantly, in both the prophetical and the historical parts. When these names and words are set forth in their heavenly sense in accordance with their constant signification in the whole Word, there comes forth an internal sense which is the angelic Word. This twofold sense of the Word is circumstanced as are the body and the soul; the literal sense is like the body, and the internal sense is like the soul; and as the body lives by means of the soul, so does the literal sense by means of the internal sense. Through the internal sense the Lord's life inflows into the literal sense, in accordance with the affection of him who is reading it. Hence it is evident how holy is the Word, although it does not appear so to worldly minds.

 

GENESIS 19:1-38

1. And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom; and Lot saw, and rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

2. And he said, Behold I pray my lords, turn aside, I pray, to the house of your servant, and pass the night, and wash your feet; and in the morning ye shall rise, and go on your way; and they said, Nay, for we will pass the night in the street.

3. And he urged them exceedingly, and they turned aside unto him, and came to his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened (bread); and they did eat.

4. Scarcely yet were they lain down then the men of the city, the men of Sodom, compassed the house about, from a boy even to an old man, all the people from the uttermost part.

5. And they cried unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men that came unto thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

6. And Lot went out unto them to the door and shut the door behind him.

7. And he said, I pray you, my brethren, do not wickedly.

8. Behold I pray I have two daughters, who have not known man; let me I pray bring them out unto you, and ye may do unto them as is good in your eyes; only unto these men do not anything; for therefore are they come under the shadow of my roof.

9. And they said, Come on. And they said, Is one come to sojourn, and shall he judge indeed? Now will we do worse to thee than to them. And they pressed upon the man, upon Lot, exceedingly; and drew near to break open the door.

10. And the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.

11. And the men who were at the door of the house they smote with blindness, from small even to great; and they labored to find the door.

12. And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou yet anyone here? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whom soever thou hast in the city, bring them out of the place.

13. For we will destroy this place, because their cry is become great before Jehovah; and Jehovah hath sent us to destroy it.

14. And Lot went out, and spake to his sons-in-law that were to marry his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place, for Jehovah will destroy the city. And he was in the eyes of his sons-in-law as one that jested.

15. And when the dawn arose the angels pressed Lot to hasten, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are found, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16. And he lingered; and the men laid hold of his hand, and of the hand of his wife, and of the hand of his two daughters, in the clemency of Jehovah upon him, and they led him forth, and set him without the city.

17. And it came to pass, when they were leading them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not back behind thee, and stay not in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

18. And Lot said unto them, Nay I pray my lords.

19. Behold I pray thy servant hath found grace in thine eyes, and thou hast made thy mercy great, which thou hast done with me, to make alive my soul, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest peradventure evil cleave to me, and I die.

20. Behold I pray this city is near to flee thither, and it is a little one; let me, I pray, escape thither - is it not a little one? - and my soul shall live.

21. And he said unto him, Behold I have accepted thy face as to this word also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken.

22. Hasten, escape thither, for I cannot do anything until thou be come thither. Therefore he called the name of the city Zoar.

23. The sun was gone forth upon the earth, and Lot came to Zoar.

24. And Jehovah caused it to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven.

25. And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and the growth of the ground.

26. And his wife looked back behind him, and became a pillar of salt.

27. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, unto the place where he had stood before Jehovah.

28. And he looked against the faces of Sodom and Gomorrah, and against all the faces of the land of the plain, and he saw and behold the smoke of the land went up, as the smoke of a furnace

29. And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

30. And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

31. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is no man in the earth to come unto us according to the way of all the earth.

32. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him, and let us quicken seed from our father.

33. And they made their father drink wine that night; and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

34. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I, lay yesternight with my father; let us make him drink wine this night also, and go thou in and lie with him, and let us quicken seed from our father.

35. And they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay down nor when she arose.

36. And the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father.

37. And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: he is the father of Moab even unto this day.

38. And the younger she also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi: he is the father of the sons of Ammon unto this day.

 

THE CONTENTS

2312. In this chapter, in the internal sense, by "Lot's is described the state of the Spiritual Church which is in the good of charity but in external worship: how in course of time it declines.

2313. The First State of that church: that they are in the good of charity and acknowledge the Lord, and that from Him they are confirmed in good (verses 1 to 3); and are saved (verse 12). The Second State: that with them evils begin to act against goods, but they are powerfully withheld from evils and kept in goods by the Lord (verses 14 to 16). Their weakness is described (verse 17); that they are saved (verse 19). The Third State: that they no longer think and act from the affection of good, but from the affection of truth (verses 18 to 20); and that they are saved (verse 23). The Fourth State: that the affection of truth perishes, which is Lot's wife becoming a pillar of salt (verse 26). The Fifth State: that an impure good, or a good of falsity, succeeds, which is Lot in the cave of the mountain (verse 30). The Sixth State: that even this good is still more adulterated and falsified (verses 31 to 33); and the truth likewise (verses 34, 35). That therefrom there is conceived and born a certain semblance of a church whose good, so called, is "Moab", and whose truth, also so called, is the "son of Ammon" (verses 36 to 38).

2314. Further: in the internal sense, by the "inhabitants of Sodom" is described the state of those within the same church who are against the good of charity, and how in course of time evil and falsity increase with them until they have nothing but evil and falsity.

2315. Their First State: that they are against the good of charity and against the Lord (verses 4, 5). Their Second State: that although informed concerning the good of charity and concerning the delights of its affections which they should enjoy, they are obstinate and reject good (verses 6 to 8). That they also endeavor to destroy the very good of charity itself, but that the Lord protects it (verses 9, 10). The Third State: that at last they become such that they cannot even see truth and good, still less that truth leads to good (verse 11). That they are possessed by evil and falsity, so that they cannot but perish (verse 13). The Fourth State: their destruction (verse 24); and that all goods and truths are separated from them (verse 25).

2316. That the good are separated from the evil, and that the good are saved through the Lord's Human made Divine (verses 27-29).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

2317. Verse 1. And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom; and Lot saw, and rose up to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the earth. "The two angels came to Sodom in the evening", signifies the visitation which precedes the Judgment; the "two angels" signify the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, to which Judgment belongs; " Sodom" signifies the evil, especially those within the church; evening" is the time of visitation; "and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom", signifies those who are in the good of charity, but in external worship, who here are "Lot;" these are among the evil, but are separated from them, which is to "sit in the gate of Sodom;" "and Lot saw", signifies their conscience "and rose up to meet them", signifies acknowledgment and a disposition of charity; "and bowed himself with his face to the earth", signifies humiliation.

2318. The two angels came to Sodom in the evening. That this signifies the visitation which precedes the Judgment, can be seen from the things said by the three men, or Jehovah, in the preceding chapter; and also from the things that follow in this chapter; and likewise from the signification of "evening". In the preceding chapter Jehovah said: "I will go down and see whether the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah have made a consummation according to the cry which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know" (Genesis 18:20, 21), by which words, as has been there shown, is signified the visitation which precede' the Judgment. In this chapter there is described the act itself of visitation, and then the Judgment. That "evening" signifies the time of visitation will be seen below. What visitation is, and that visitation precedes Judgment, see (n. 2242). The preceding chapter has treated of the perverted state of the human race, and of the Lord's grief and intercession for those who were in evil and yet in some good and truth; and therefore the present chapter treats, in continuance, of the salvation of those who are in some good and truth; and it is these who are represented in this chapter by "Lot". At the same time also the destruction of those who are altogether in evil and falsity is treated of; and it is these who are here signified by " Sodom and Gomorrah".

2319. "Two angels". That these signify the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, to which Judgment belongs, is evident both from the signification in the Word of "angels", and from its being here said that there were "two" angels. That in the Word "angels" signify some Divine essential in the Lord, and that what this is can be seen from the series, has been shown above (n. 1925). That they here signify the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, is evident from the fact that by the "three men" who were with Abraham was meant the Lord's Divine Itself, Divine Human, and Holy proceeding (n. 2149, 2156, 2288); from this and also from the fact that the angels are called "Jehovah" (verse 24), and also from the signification of "angels" (n. 1925), it is clear that by the "two angels" are here meant the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding.

2320. Why there should here be only two angels, seeing that there were three men with Abraham, is an arcanum which cannot be set forth in few words. It can in some measure be seen from the fact that in this chapter Judgment is treated of, namely, the salvation of the faithful, and the condemnation of the unfaithful; and it is evident from the Word that Judgment belongs to the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding. That it belongs to the Divine Human see in John: The Father judgeth not anyone, but hath given all judgment unto the Son" (John 5:22); by the "Son" is meant the Divine Human (n. 2159). That Judgment belongs to the Holy that proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human, see also in John: "If I go away, I will send the Comforter unto you; and when He is come, He shall reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:7, 8); and that the Holy proceeds from the Lord, see in the same: "He shall not speak from Himself but shall take of Mine, and shall declare it" (John 16:13, 15), and this when the Human was made Divine, that is, when the Lord had been glorified, see in the same:

"The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:39).

2321. As regards the fact that Judgment pertains to the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, the case is this: The human race could no longer have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world and had united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence; for without the Lord's Human made Divine salvation could no longer have reached to man (n. 1990, 2016, 2034, 2035). The Holy Itself that proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human is that which separates the evil from the good; for the evil so fear and shudder at the Lord's Holy that they cannot approach it, but See far away from it into their hells, each one according to the profaneness that is in him.

2322. That "Sodom" signifies the evil, especially those within the church, is evident from the signification of " Sodom", as being the evil of the love of self (n. 2220, 2246); consequently as being those who are in that evil. They who apprehend the Word according to the sense of the letter alone, may suppose that by " Sodom" is meant a foulness that is contrary to the order of nature; but in the internal sense by " Sodom" is signified the evil of the love of self. Out of this evil all evils of every kind well forth; and all evils that thus spring from it are called in the Word "adulteries", and are described by the same, as will be evident from passages of the Word that will be adduced at the end of this chapter.

2323. That "evening" signifies the time of visitation, is evident from the signification of "evening". The states of the church are compared in the Word both to the seasons of the year and the times of the day; to the seasons of the year because to its summer, autumn, winter, and spring; to the times of the day because to its noon, evening, night, and morning; for the two things are similarly circumstanced. The state of the church which is called "evening", is when there is no longer any charity, consequently when there begins to be no faith, thus when the church is ceasing to be; this is the "evening" that is followed by the "night" (n. 22). There is also an "evening" when charity shines forth, consequently when faith does so, and thus when a new church is rising up; this " evening" is the twilight before the morning (n. 883). Thus "evening" has both significations, for it is provided by the Lord that when a church is ceasing to be, a new one is rising up, and this at the same time' for without a church somewhere on the globe the human race cannot subsist, because it would have no conjunction with heaven (n. 468, 637, 931, 2054).

[2] In the present chapter both states of the church are treated of, namely, the rising up of a new church, which is represented by "Lot", and the destruction of the old, which is signified by " Sodom and Gomorrah;" as can be seen from the Contents. This is why it is here said that the two angels came to Sodom "in the evening;" and why there is told what was done in the evening (verses 1 to 3), what in the night (verses 4 to 14), what in the morning or rising dawn (verses 15 to 22), and what after the sun had gone forth (verses 23 to 26).

[3] As the " evening" signifies these states of the church, it also signifies the visitation which precedes Judgment; for when a Judgment is close at hand, that is, the salvation of the faithful and the condemnation of the unfaithful, then visitation precedes, or an exploration of what quality they are, that is, whether there is any charity and faith. This visitation takes place in the "evening;" and therefore the visitation itself is called "evening", as in Zephaniah: -

Woe to the inhabitants of the region of the sea, the nation of the Cherethites. The word of Jehovah is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; and I will cause to destroy thee, till there shall be no inhabitant. The remnant of the house of Judah shall feed in the houses of Ashkelon, in the evening shall they lie down; for Jehovah their God will visit them, and will bring back their captivity (Zephaniah 2:5, 7).

2324. And Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. That this signifies those who are in the good of charity, but in external worship, who here are "Lot", and who are among the evil, but separate from them-which is to "sit in the gate of Sodom"-can be seen from the representation of "Lot", and from the signification of "gate", and also from that of Sodom". From the representation of "Lot:" Lot when with Abraham represented the Lord's sensuous part, thus His external man (n. 1428, 1434, 1547). But here, when separated from Abraham, Lot no longer retains the representation of the Lord, but the representation of those who are with the Lord, namely, the external man of the church, that is, those who are in the good of charity, but in external worship;

[2] nay, in this chapter Lot not only represents the external man of the church, or what is the same, the external church such as it is in the beginning, but also such as it is in its progress, and also in its end. It is the end of that church which is signified by "Moab" and the "son of Ammon", as of the Lord's Divine mercy will appear from the series of the things that follow. It is a common thing in the Word for one person to represent a number of states that succeed each other, and which are described by the successive acts of his life.

[3] From the signification of a "gate:" a gate is that through which one enters into a city, and through which he goes out of the city; consequently, to "sit in the gate" does indeed here signify to be with the evil, but still to be separate from them; as is wont to be the case with the men of the church who are in the good of charity; these, although they are among the wicked, are still separate from them; not as to civic society, but as to spiritual life. That "Sodom" signifies evil in general, or what is the same, the evil, especially within the church, was said above, (n. 2322).

2325. And Lot saw. That this signifies the conscience, namely, of those who are in the good of charity but in external worship, may be seen from the signification of to "see". To "see", in the Word, signifies to understand (n. 897, 1584, 1806, 1807, 2150); but in the internal sense it signifies to have faith, of which signification we shall speak, of the Lord's Divine mercy in (Genesis 29:32). That to "see" here signifies conscience, is because those who have faith also have conscience. Faith is inseparable from conscience, so inseparable indeed that whether you say faith or conscience it is the same. By faith is meant the faith by means of which there is charity, and which is from charity, thus charity itself; for faith without charity is no faith; and as faith is not possible without charity, so neither is conscience.

2326. And he rose up to meet them. That this signifies acknowledgment, as also a disposition of charity, may be seen from the fact that when they came Lot forthwith acknowledged that they were angels; but not so the men of Sodom, of whom it is said: "They cried unto Lot, and said, Where are the men that came unto thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them" (verse 5). In the internal sense these words signify that those within the church who are in the good of charity acknowledge the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding (meant by the "two angels"), but not those who are not in the good of charity. That the came words likewise involve a disposition of charity, is evident also from the fact that Lot, by whom are represented those who are in the good of charity, nay, by whom is signified the good of charity itself, invited them into his house.

2327. He bowed himself with his face to the earth. That this signifies humiliation, may be seen without unfolding the meaning. The reason that in former times, especially in the representative churches, they bowed themselves so low that they let down the face to the earth, was because the face signified man's interiors (n. 358, 1999); and the reason they let it down to the earth was that the dust of the earth signified what is profane and condemned (n. 278); consequently they thus represented that of themselves they were profane and condemned. For the same reason they prostrated themselves, pressing the face to the earth, and even rolling themselves in dust and ashes, and also sprinkling dust and ashes upon their heads (Lam. 2:10; Ezek. 27:30; Micah. 1:10; Josh. 7:6; Rev. 18:19).

[2] By all this they represented the state of true humiliation, which is possible to none unless they acknowledge that of themselves they are profane and condemned, and thus that they cannot of themselves look to the Lord, where there is nothing but what is Divine and Holy; on which account, so far as a man is in self-acknowledgment, so far he can be in true humiliation, and in adoration when in worship. For in all worship there must be humiliation; and if this is separated therefrom, there is nothing of adoration, thus nothing of worship.

[3] That the state of humiliation is the essential state of worship itself, comes from the fact that so far as the heart is humbled, so far the love of self and all the evil therefrom ceases; and so far as this ceases, so far good and truth, that is, charity and faith, flow in from the Lord; for that which stands in the way of the reception of these is principally the love of self, in which there is contempt for others in comparison with one's self; hatred and revenge if self is not treated with honor; and also unmercifulness and cruelty; thus the worst evils of all; and into these good and truth can in no wise be introduced, for they are opposites.

2328. Verse 2. And he said, Behold I pray my lords, turn aside I pray to the house of your servant, and pass the night, and wash your feet; and in the morning ye shall rise and go on your way; and they said, Nay, for we will pass the night in the street. "And he said, Behold I pray my lords", signifies in interior acknowledgment and confession of the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding; "turn aside I pray to the house of your servant, and pass the night", signifies an invitation to have an abode with him; "to the house of a servant", means in the good of charity; "and wash your feet", signifies application to his natural; "and in the morning ye shall rise and go on your way", signifies confirmation thereby in good and truth; "and they said, Nay", signifies a doubting, which is wont to attend temptation; "for we will pass the night in the street", signifies that He was as it were willing to judge from truth.

2329. He said, Behold I pray my lords. That this signified an interior acknowledgment and confession of the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, is evident from the acknowledgment and humiliation spoken of just before; here confession immediately follows, for this is meant by Lot's saying, "Behold I pray my lords". Interior confession is of the heart and comes forth in humiliation, and at the same time in the affection of good; but exterior confession is of the lips, and may possibly come forth in a feigned humiliation and a feigned affection of good, which is none at all, being such as exists with those who confess the Lord for the sake of their own honor, or rather their own worship, and their own gain. That which these confess with the lips, they deny in the heart.

[2] Its being said in the plural, "my lords", is for the same reason that in the preceding chapter it is said "three men;" for just as the "three" there signify the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy proceeding, so here the "two" signify the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, as was said above. That these are one is known to every one within the church; and because they are one, they are also named in the singular in what follows, as in (verse 17), "It came to pass when they had led them forth abroad, that He said, Escape for thy life;" (verse 19), "Behold I pray thy servant hath found grace in thine eyes, and thou hast made thy mercy great which thou hast done with me;" (verse 21), "And be said unto him, Behold I have accepted thy face as to this word also, that I will not overthrow the city;" and (verse 22), "For I cannot do anything until thou be come thither".

[3] That the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Holy proceeding are Jehovah, is evident from the foregoing chapter, where the three men are called "Jehovah", as in (verse 13), "Jehovah said unto Abraham;" (verse 14)", Shall anything be too wonderful for Jehovah;" (verse 22), "Abraham, he stood yet before Jehovah;" (verse 33), "Jehovah went His way when He made an end of speaking with Abraham". Consequently the Divine Human and Holy proceeding are Jehovah, as also He is named in this chapter, (verse 24), "And Jehovah caused it to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven;" the internal sense of which words will be seen in what follows. That the Lord is Jehovah Himself, who is so often named in the histories and prophecies of the Old Testament, may be seen above, (n. 1736).

[4] They who are truly men of the church, that is, who are in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, are acquainted with and acknowledge a Trine; but still they humble themselves before the Lord and adore Him alone, for the reason that they know that there is no access to the Divine Itself which is called the "Father" except through the Son; and that all the Holy which is of the Holy Spirit proceeds from Him. When they are in this idea they adore no other than Him through whom and from whom all things are, thus One;

[5] nor do they spread out their ideas among Three, as many within the church are wont to do, as can be seen from many in the other life, even the learned, who in the life of the body had supposed that they possessed the arcana of faith more than others. When these were explored in the other life as to what idea they had concerning the one God-whether of Three Uncreates, Three Infinites, Three Eternals, Three Almighties, Three Lords, it was plainly perceived that they had the idea of Three (for there is a communication of ideas there), when yet it is part of the creed, being stated in plain words, that there are not Three Uncreates, not Three Infinites, not Three Eternals, not Three Almighties, not Three Lords, but One; as also is the truth. The result was that they confessed that with the mouth they had indeed said that there is one God, yet still had thought, and some had believed, that there are three, whom in idea they could separate, but not join together, the reason of which is that all arcana whatever, even the deepest, are attended with an idea; for without an idea nothing can be thought of, nor indeed can anything be kept in the memory.

[6] Hence in the other life it is manifest as in clear day what thought, and thence what belief, each person has formed for himself concerning the One God. Indeed the Jews in the other life, when they hear that the Lord is Jehovah and that there is but One God, can say nothing. But when they perceive that the ideas of Christians are divided among Three, they say that they themselves worship One God, but Christians Three; and this the more since none can join together the Three thus separated in idea, except those who are in the faith of charity; for the Lord applies the minds of these to Himself.

2330. Turn aside I pray to the house of your servant and pass the night. That this signifies an invitation for the Divine Human and Holy proceeding to have an abode with him, is evident without unfolding the meaning.

2331. That "to the house of a servant" denotes in the good of charity, is evident from the signification of a "house", as being celestial good, which is of love and charity alone (n. 2048, 2233).

2332. Wash your feet. That this signifies application to his natural, is evident from what was said in the preceding chapter (n. 2162), where are the same words. In former times, when they saw an angel of Jehovah, they believed that they were about to die (Exod. 19:12, 21, 24; 20:19; Judges 6:22, 23; 13:22, 23), for the reason that when the Divine Holy flows into the profane that is with man, its virtue is such as to cause it to be a devouring and consuming fire; and therefore when the Lord presents Himself to the view of any man, or even of any angel, He miraculously moderates and tempers the Holy that proceeds from Him, so that they may be able to endure it; or what is the same, He applies Himself to their natural. This then is what is signified in the internal sense by these words which Lot said to the angels: "Wash your feet". And this shows what is the nature of the internal sense, for that this is the signification cannot be seen from the sense of the letter.

2333. And in the morning ye shall rise and go on your way. That this signifies confirmation in good and truth, may be seen from the signification of "rising in the morning", and also from the signification of "going on the way". In the Word "morning" signifies the Lord's kingdom and whatever belongs to the Lord's kingdom, thus principally the good of love and of charity, as will be confirmed from the Word at (verse 15); and a "way" signifies truth (n. 627); for which reason it is said that after they had been in his house and had passed the night there (by which is signified that they had an abode in the good of charity that was with him), they should "rise in the morning and go on their way", by which is signified being thereby thus confirmed in good and truth.

[2] From this, as from other passages, it is evident how remote from the sense of the letter, and consequently how much unseen, is the internal sense, especially in the historical parts of the Word; and that it does not come to view unless the meaning of every word is unfolded in accordance with its constant signification in the Word. On this account, when the ideas are kept in the sense of the letter, the internal sense appears no otherwise than as something obscure and dark; but on the other hand when the ideas are kept in the internal sense, the sense of the letter appears in like manner obscure, nay, to the angels as nothing. For the angels are no longer in worldly and corporeal things, like those of man, but in spiritual and celestial things, into which the words of the sense of the letter are wonderfully changed, when it ascends from a man who is reading the Word to the sphere in which the angels are, that is, to heaven; and this from the correspondence of spiritual things with worldly, and of celestial things with corporeal. This correspondence is most constant, but its nature has not yet been disclosed until now in the unfolding of the meaning of the words, names, and numbers in the Word, as to the internal sense.

[3] That it may be known what is the nature of this correspondence, or what is the same, how worldly and corporeal ideas pass into corresponding spiritual and celestial ideas when the former are elevated to heaven, take as an example "morning" and "way". When " morning" is read, as in the passage before us to "rise in the morning", the angels do not get an idea of any morning of a day, but an idea of morning in the spiritual sense, thus such a one as is described in Samuel: "The Rock of Israel He is as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, a morning without clouds" (2 Sam. 23:3, 4); and in Daniel "The holy one said unto me, Until evening, when morning comes, two thousand three hundred" (Daniel 8:14, 26). Thus instead of "morning" the angels perceive the Lord, or His Kingdom, or the heavenly things of love and charity; and these in fact with variety according to the series of things in the Word which is being read.

[4] In like manner where "way" is read-as here, to "go on your way"-they can have no idea of a way, but another idea which is spiritual or celestial, namely, like that in John, where the Lord said: "I am the way and the truth" (John 14:6); and as in David: "Make Thy ways known to me, O Jehovah, lead my way in truth" (Ps. 25:4, 5); and in Isaiah: "He made Him to know the way of understanding" (Isaiah 40:14). Thus instead of "way" the angels perceive truth, and this in both the historical and the prophetical parts of the Word. For the angels no longer care for the historical things, as these are altogether inadequate to their ideas; and therefore in place of them they perceive such things as belong to the Lord and His kingdom, and which also in the internal sense follow on in a beautiful order and well-connected series. For this reason, and also in order that the Word may be for the angels, all the historical things therein are representative, and each of the words is significative of such things; which peculiarity the Word has above all other writing.

2334. And they said, Nay. That this signifies the doubting which is wont to attend temptation, may be seen from their declining and yet going into his house. In all temptation there is somewhat of doubt concerning the Lord's presence and mercy, and concerning salvation and the like things; for those who are in temptation are in interior anxiety, even to despair; in which they are for the most part kept, to the end that they may be at length confirmed in the fact that all things are of the Lord's mercy; that they are saved by Him alone; and that with themselves there is nothing but evil; in respect to which they are confirmed by means of conflicts in which they overcome. After the temptation there remain from it many states of truth and good to which their thoughts may afterwards be bent by the Lord, which would otherwise rush into insane things, and draw away the mind into opposition to what is true and good.

[2] Since by "Lot" there is here treated of the first state of the church which is in the good of charity but in external worship, and since before a man comes into this state he is to be reformed, which is also done by a certain kind of temptation (but they who are in external worship undergo only a light temptation), therefore these things which involve something of temptation are said, namely, that the angels at first said they would pass the night in the street, and that Lot urged them, and so they turned aside to him, and came into his house.

2335. For we will pass the night in the street. That this signifies that he was as it were desirous to judge from truth, may be seen from the signification of a "street", and from the signification of "passing the night". A "street" is often named in the Word, and in the internal sense signifies the same as a "way", namely, truth-for a street is a way in a city-as will be evident from the passages that will soon follow. That "to pass the night" is here to judge, may be seen from the signification of "night". It was shown (n. 2323) that "evening" signifies the state of the church before the last, when there begins to be no faith; and also the visitation which precedes the Judgment. From this it is evident that "night", which succeeds, is the last state, when there is no faith; also that it is the Judgment. It is clear from this that to "pass the night in the street", in the internal sense denotes to judge from truth.

[2] As regards Judgment it is twofold, namely, from good and from truth. The faithful are judged from good, but the unfaithful from truth. That the faithful are judged from good, is plainly evident in (Matthew 25:34-40), and that the unfaithful are judged from truth (Matthew 25:41 to 46). To be judged from good is to be saved because they have received it; but to be judged from truth is to be condemned because they have rejected good. Good is the Lord's, and they who acknowledge this in life and faith are the Lord's, and therefore are saved; but they who do not acknowledge it in life, and consequently not in faith, cannot be the Lord's, and therefore cannot be saved. They are therefore judged according to the acts of their life and according to their thoughts and ends; and when they are judged according to these, they cannot but be condemned; for it is a truth that of himself a man does, thinks, and intends nothing but evil, and of himself rushes to hell in so far as he is not withheld therefrom by the Lord.

[3] But as regards judgment from truth the case is this: The Lord never judges anyone except from good; for He desires to raise all into heaven, however many they may be, and indeed, if it were possible, even to Himself; for the Lord is mercy itself and good itself. Mercy itself and good itself can never condemn anyone; but it is the man who condemns himself, because he rejects good. As in the life of the body he had shunned good, so does he shun it in the other life; consequently he shuns heaven and the Lord, for the Lord cannot be in anything except good. He is likewise in truth, but not in truth separated from good. That the Lord condemns no one, nor judges any to hell, He says in John: -

God sent not His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. This is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil (John 3:17, 19).

and in the same: -

If anyone hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world (John 12:47).

(n. 223, 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1683, 1874, 2258).

[4] Where Judgment was treated of above (n. 2320, 2321), it was shown that all Judgment belongs to the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, according to His words in John: -

The Father judgeth not anyone, but hath given all judgment unto the Son (John 5:22);

and yet it is now said that the Lord does not judge by condemning anyone. From this it is evident what is the nature of the Word in the letter: that unless it were understood from another sense, namely, from the internal sense, it would not be comprehended. From the internal sense alone is it manifest how the case is with judgment.

2336. That a "street" signifies truth, may be seen from many passages in the Word, as in John, where the New Jerusalem is treated of: -

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, every gate was one pearl; and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass (Rev. 21:21).

[2] The "New Jerusalem" is the Lord's kingdom, which, being described as to good and truth, is described by "walls", "gates", and "streets". By the " streets" are meant all things of truth which lead to good, or all things of faith which lead to love and charity; and because truths then become of good, thus transparent from good, the street is said to be "gold, as it were transparent glass". Again: -

In the midst of the street of it and of the river, on this side and on that, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits (Rev. 22:2);

where also the New Jerusalem or the Lord's kingdom is treated of. The "midst of the street" denotes the truth of faith, by means of which' comes good, and which afterwards comes from good; the "twelve fruits" are what are called the fruits of faith; for "twelve" signifies all the things of faith (n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130).

[3] In Daniel: -

Know and perceive that from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem, even unto Messiah the Leader, shall be seven weeks, and sixty and two weeks, and it shall be restored and built with street and moat (Daniel 9:25),

where the Lord's advent is treated of; "it shall be restored with street and moat", denotes that there will then be what i" true and good. That Jerusalem was not then restored and built is well known; and that it is not to be restored and built anew every one may also know provided he does not keep his ideas fixed on a worldly kingdom, but on the heavenly kingdom that is meant by "Jerusalem" in the internal sense.

[4] In Luke: -

The master of the house said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind (Luke 14:21).

They who remain in the sense of the letter apprehend from this nothing else than that the servant should go everywhere, and that this is signified by the "streets and lanes;" and that he should bring in everybody, and that this is signified by the "poor, maimed, lame, and blind". But each of these words contains deep secrets within it, for they are the Lord's words. That he should "go into the streets and lanes", signifies that he should seek everywhere for some genuine truth, or truth which shines from good, or through which good shines. That he should "bring in the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind", signifies such as were so called in the Ancient Church and were such as to the faith, but were in the life of good, who should thus be informed about the Lord's kingdom-thus the nations which were not yet instructed.

[5] As "streets" signified truths, it was a representative rite among the Jews to teach in the streets (Matt. 6:2, 5; Luke 13:26, 27). In the Prophets, "streets", wherever named, signify in the internal sense either truths, or things contrary to truths, as in Isaiah: -

Judgment is cast away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth hath stumbled in the street, and uprightness cannot enter (Isaiah 59:14).

Again: -

Thy sons have fainted, and have lain at the head of all the streets (Isaiah 51:20).

In Jeremiah: -

Death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces, to cut off the child from the street, the young men from the roads (Jeremiah 9:21).

[6] In Ezekiel: -

Nebuchadnezzar shall tread down all thy streets with the hoofs of his horses (Ezekiel 26:11),

speaking of Tyre, by which are signified the knowledges of truth (n. 1201), the "hoofs of the horses" denote the memory-knowledges that pervert truth. In Nahum: -

The chariots rave in the streets, they run to and fro in the roads (Nahum 2:4);

the "chariots" denote the doctrine of truth, which is said to "rave in the streets", when falsity is in the place of truth. In Zechariah: -

There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls, playing in the streets (Zechariah 8:4, 5),

speaking of the affections of truth, and the consequent gladnesses and joys. Besides other places, as (Isa. 24:11; Jer. 5:1; 7:34; 49:26; Lam. 2:11, 19; 4:8, 14; Zeph. 3:6).

2337. Verse 3. And he urged them exceedingly, and they turned aside unto him, and came to his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened (bread); and they did eat. " He urged them exceedingly", signifies a state of temptation when one overcomes; " and they turned aside unto him", signifies abode; "and came to his house", signifies confirmation in good; "and he made them a feast", signifies a dwelling together " and baked unleavened (bread)", signifies purification; "and they did eat", signifies appropriation.

2338. He urged them exceedingly. That this signifies a state of temptation which one overcomes, cannot be seen except by those who have been in temptations. As before said, temptations are attended with doubt in regard to the Lord's presence and mercy, and also in regard to salvation. The evil spirits who are then with the man and induce the temptation strongly inspire negation, but the good spirits and angels from the Lord in every possible way dispel this state of doubt, and keep the man in a state of hope, and at let confirm him in what is affirmative. The result is that a man who is in temptation hangs between what is negative and what is affirmative. One who yields in temptation remains in a state of doubt, and falls into what is negative; but one who overcomes is indeed in doubt, but still, if he suffers himself to be cheered by hope, he stands fast in what is affirmative. As during this conflict the man seems to urge the Lord, especially by prayers, to be present, to have mercy, to give aid, and to deliver from damnation, therefore where the temptation of those who are becoming men of the church is treated of, as in the passage before us, these things are described by the angels' first saying, "Nay", and that they would tarry all night in the street; and by Lot's then urging them exceedingly, so that they turned aside to him and came to his house.

2339. And they turned aside unto him. That this signifies abode, is evident from the signification of the same words above (n. 2330); thus without further explication.

2340. And came to his house. That this signifies confirmation in good, is evident from the signification of a "house", as being celestial good (n. 2233, 2331); and from this, as well as from the series of things in the internal sense, it is evident that these words mean to be confirmed in good.

2341. And he made them a feast. That this signifies a dwelling together, is evident from the signification of a "feast". Feasts are often mentioned in the Word; and in the internal sense they signify a dwelling together; as in Jeremiah: -

The word of Jehovah to him: Thou shalt not go into the house of a feast, to sit with them, to eat and to drink (Jeremiah 16:8);

where several things are said to the prophet by which he should represent the fact that good should have no communication with evil, nor truth with falsity; and among other things it is said that he should not enter into the house of a feast, by which was signified that good and truth should not dwell together with evil and falsity.

[2] In Isaiah: -

In this mountain shall Jehovah Zebaoth make unto all people a feast of fat thing, a feast of sweet wines, of fat things full of marrow, of wines well refined (Isaiah 25:6);

where "mountain" denotes love to the Lord (n. 795, 1430). They who are in this love dwell with the Lord in good and truth, which is signified by the "feast". The "fat things full et marrow" are goods (n. 353); the "sweet" and the "refined wines" are the truths thereof (n. 1071).

[3] The feasts made from the sanctified things in the Jewish Church, when they sacrificed, represented nothing else than the Lord's dwelling with man in the holy things of love signified by the sacrifices (n. 2187). The same was afterwards represented by the Holy Supper, which in the Primitive Church was called a Feast.

[4] In the twenty-first chapter of Genesis it is related that Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned (Genesis 21:8); by which was represented, and thereby signified, the dwelling together and first conjunction of the Lord's Divine with His Human Rational. In the internal sense the same is also signified in other places by "feasts", as may also be inferred from the fact that feasts take place in a company of many who are in love and charity together, who mentally conjoin themselves together, and share with one another their glad feelings, which are emotions of love and charity.

2342. And baked unleavened (bread). That this signifies purification, is evident from the signification of "unleavened" or "unfermented". In the Word "bread" signifies in general all celestial and spiritual food, thus celestial and spiritual things in general (n. 276, 680, 1798, 2165, 2177). That these should be free from everything impure was represented by bread without leaven; for "leaven" signifies that which is evil and false, by which celestial and spiritual things are rendered impure and profane. On account of this representation it was commanded those who were of the Representative Church that in their sacrifices they should not offer any other bread, that is, meat-offering, than that which was unfermented or unleavened; as is evident in Moses: -

No meat-offering which ye shall bring to Jehovah shall be made with leaven (Lev. 2:11).

Again: -

Thou shalt not sacrifice the blood of My sacrifice with what is leavened (Exod. 23:18; 34:25).

[2] And it was therefore also commanded, that on the seven days of the Passover they should not eat any other than unfermented or unleavened bread, as stated in Moses: -

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened (bread) even on the first day ye shall cause leaven to cease from your houses; for whosever eateth what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at even, ye shall eat unleavened (bread), until the one and twentieth day of the month at even seven days shall no leaven be found in your houses; for whosoever eateth what is leavened, that soul also shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner or born in the land (Exod. 12:15, 18-20; Exod. 13:6, 7; 23:15; 34:18; Deut. 16:3, 4).

Hence the Passover is called the "Feast of Unleavened Bread" (Lev. 23:6; Num. 28:16, 17; Matt. 26:17; Luke 22:1, 7).

[3] That the Passover represented the Lord's glorification, and thereby the conjunction of the Divine with the human race, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be shown elsewhere; and as the Lord's conjunction with the human race is effected through love and charity and the faith thence derived, these celestial and spiritual things were represented by the unleavened bread that they were to eat on the days of the Passover; and lest these things should be contaminated by anything profane, that which was leavened was so severely interdicted that whoever should eat of it was to be cutoff; for whoever profanes celestial and spiritual things cannot fail to perish. Every one can see that apart from this secret meaning, this ceremonial, to which there was attached so severe a penalty, would never have been given.

[4] Everything that was commanded in that church represented some secret thing, even the very cooking, as was the case with every particular of what the sons of Israel did when they went forth from Egypt; to wit: -

They shall eat on that night flesh roasted with fire, and unleavened bread upon bitter herbs they shall not eat it raw, nor boiled in water; the head shall be on the legs they shall not leave of it until the morning, but shall burn the residue with fire (Exod. 12:8-10).

These particulars, namely, that they should eat it by night, the flesh roasted with fire, the unleavened bread upon bitter herbs, the head on the legs, not raw, nor boiled in water, that they should not leave of it until the morning, and that they should burn the residue with fire, were representative. But the arcana represented cannot possibly appear unless disclosed by the internal sense; it is from this sense alone that it can be seen that all things are Divine.

[5] In like manner with the ritual in regard to the Nazirite: -

The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of a ram, and one unleavened cake out of a basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the palms of the Nazirite, after he has shaved his nazariteship (Num. 6:19).

He who does not know that the Nazirite represented the celestial man himself, does not know that celestial things, thus arcana which do not appear in the letter, are enfolded within all these particulars, namely, the boiled shoulder of a ram, the unleavened cake, the unleavened wafer, and the shaving of the hair; which shows what kind of an opinion concerning the Word must be formed by those who do not believe that it contains an internal sense; for without what is internal these are particulars of no moment: whereas when the ceremonial or ritual is removed, everything there becomes Divine and holy. The same is the case with everything else, as here with the unleavened bread, which denotes the holy of love, or a holy of holies, as it is likewise called in Moses: -

The unleavened bread that is left shall be eaten by Aaron and his sons in a place of holiness, for it is a holy of holies (Lev. 6:16, 17).

The "unleavened bread" therefore denotes pure love; and the "baking of what is unleavened" denotes purification.

2343. And they did eat. That this signifies appropriation, is evident from the signification of "eating", which is to be communicated and conjoined, thus to be appropriated (n. 2187). From what has been already said and unfolded it can be seen how the things contained in the preceding verse, and in this, are circumstanced in the internal sense, and how in that sense they cohere together; from the fact that by the "angels" is signified the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding; by "turning aside to him", having an abode; by "coming to his house", being confirmed in good; by "making a feast", dwelling together; by "baking unleavened bread", being purified; and by "eating", being appropriated. From this it is evident what is the series and connection of things in the internal sense, although nothing whatever of it appears in the historical sense.

[2] Such is the order and series in all of the things of the Word, both in general and particular. But the series itself such as it is in itself cannot be made to appear in an explication of the several words, for in that case everything appears in a disconnected form, and the continuity of the sense is dissipated. But when all things are viewed together in one idea, or are perceived in one mental view, as is the case with those who are in the internal sense and at the same time in heavenly light from the Lord, there is then presented to view in these words the entire process of the reformation and regeneration of those who are becoming men of the church (who are here represented by Lot), to wit, that at first they perceive something of temptation, but when they persist and overcome, the Lord has an abode with them, and confirms them in good, introduces them unto Himself in His kingdom, and dwells with them, and there purifies and perfects them, and at the same time appropriates good and happy things to them, and this by means of His Divine Human and Holy proceeding.

[3] That all regeneration or new life, thus salvation, is from the Lord alone, is indeed known in the church, but is believed by few, for the reason that men are not in the good of charity. It is as impossible for those who are not in the good of charity to have this belief, as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle; for the good of charity is the very ground for the seeds of faith. Truth and good agree, but truth and evil never: they are of a contrary nature, and are averse one to the other. For this reason, so far as a man is in good, so far he can be in truth; or so far as he is in charity, so far he can be in faith; especially in this chief point of faith, that all salvation is from the Lord.

[4] That this is the chief point of faith, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in John: -

God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth In Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Again: -

He that believeth in the Son hath eternal life but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36).

Again: -

This is the work of God, that ye believe in Him whom the Father hath sent (John 6:29).

Again: -

This is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth in Him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40).

Again: -

Except ye believe that I am, ye shall die in your sins (John 8:24).

Again: -

I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in Me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die (John 11:25, 26).

[5] That no one can believe in the Lord unless he is in good, that is, that no one can have faith unless he is in charity, is also evident in John: -

As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become children of God, to them that believe in His name; who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12, 13).

And again: -

I am the vine, ye are the branches he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit for without Me ye can do nothing. If one abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. As the Father hath loved Me, I also have loved you; abide ye in My love. This is My commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you (John 15:5, 6, 9, 12).

[6] From these passages it can be seen that love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor are the life of faith. But that they who are in evil, that is, in a life of evil, cannot possibly believe that all salvation is from the Lord, has been made evident to me from those who had come into the other life from the Christian world; and also from those who in the life of the body had confessed with the mouth and had even taught, according to the doctrinal tenet of faith, that without the Lord there is no salvation, and yet had led a life of evil. These, when the Lord was merely named, forthwith filled the sphere with endless difficulties (for in the other life that which spirits merely think is perceived, and diffuses from itself a sphere, in which it becomes manifest in what kind of faith they are (n. 1394).

[7] Among the same, when love or charity was merely mentioned, there was perceived from them something as it were full of darkness and at the same time clotted from a kind of filthy love; which thing was of such a nature as to extinguish, suffocate, and pervert all perception of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor. Such is the faith at this day, which they say saves without the good of charity.

[8] The same also on being asked what faith they had (since they had not that which they had professed in the life of the body) said (for in the other life no one can conceal what he thinks) that they believed in God the Creator of the universe. But when they were examined in order to see whether it was so, it was found that they did not believe in any God, but thought that all things are of nature, and that all things that have been said about eternal life are empty and worthless. Such is the faith of all those within the Church who do not believe in the Lord, but say that they believe in God the Creator of the universe. For truth can flow in from no other source than the Lord; nor can truth be inseminated in anything except the good which is from the Lord.

[9] That it is the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding by means of which and from which come life and salvation, is very well known from the words of the Holy Supper: "This is My Body;" "this is My Blood;" which is the Lord's Divine Human; and it is evident that all the Holy is from this. Whether you say His Divine Human, or His Body, or His Flesh, or the Bread, or the Divine Love, it is the same; for the Lord's Divine Human is pure Love, and the Holy is of love alone, and from this is derived the Holy of faith.

2344. Verse 4. Scarcely yet were they lain down when the men of the city, the men of Sodom, compassed the house about, from a boy even to an old man, all the people from the uttermost part. "Scarcely yet were they lain down", signifies the first period of visitation; "the men of the city", signifies those who are in falsities; "the men of Sodom", signifies those who are in evils; "compassed the house about", signifies that they were against the good of charity; "from a boy even to an old man", signifies falsities and evils both recent and confirmed; "all the people from the uttermost part", signifies all and each of them.

2345. Scarcely yet were they lain down. That this signifies the first period of visitation, is evident from what was said above concerning "evening" and "night" (n. 2323, 2335), namely, that in the Word they signify visitation and Judgment. Here neither evening nor night is indeed mentioned, but it is said, "scarcely yet were they lain down", whereby there is implied the time of evening advancing to night, or of commencing night, consequently the first period of visitation upon the evil; as is also evident from what follows, for here commences an inquisition concerning the evil within the church who are meant by " Sodom".

2346. The men of the city. That this signifies those who are in falsities; and "the men of Sodom", those who are in evils, is evident from the signification of "city", and of " Sodom". That a "city" signifies truths, and also falsities or things contrary to truths, was shown before (n. 402); and that "Sodom" signifies evils of every kind (n. 2220, 2246). As there were both falsities and evils that were inquired into, or visited, it is said, "the men of the city, the men of Sodom". If both were not meant, it would only have been said, "the men of Sodom".

2347. Compassed the house about. That this signifies that they were against the good of charity, is evident from the signification of "house", as being celestial good, which is nothing else than the good of love and of charity (n. 2048, 2233); and also from the signification of "compassing about", which is to be against that good, that is, to assail and attack it with hostile intent.

2348. From a boy even to an old man. That this signifies falsities and evils both recent and confirmed, can be seen from the signification of a "boy" and of an "old man", when predicated of falsities and evils; namely, that "boys" denote those not yet matured, thus recent ones; and "old men", those which have attained to considerable age, thus those confirmed. "Boy" and "old man" occur elsewhere in the Word in a similar sense, as in Zechariah: -

There shall yet old men and old women dwell In the streets of Jerusalem; and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets (Zechariah 8:4, 5);

where "Jerusalem" denotes the Lord's kingdom and church (n. 402, 2117); the "streets", truths therein (n. 2336); thus "old men", confirmed truths; and "old women", confirmed goods; "boys playing in the streets", recent truths; and "girls", recent goods and their affections and the derivative gladnesses. It is evident from this how celestial and spiritual things are changed into things historic, in their descent into the worldly things of the sense of the letter, in which sense it scarcely appears otherwise than that old men, boys, women, and girls, are meant.

[2] In Jeremiah: -

Pour out upon the child in the street of Jerusalem, and upon the assembly of young men in like manner; for even the man with the woman shall be taken, the old man with him that is full of days (Jeremiah 6:11);

here the "street of Jerusalem" denotes the falsities that reign in the church (n. 2336), of which the recent and the maturing are called the "child" and the "young men", and the old and the confirmed are called the "old man" and "him that is full of days". Again: -

I will scatter in thee the horse and his rider, and I will scatter in thee the chariot and him that is borne in it, and I will scatter in thee man and woman, and I will scatter in thee the old man and the boy (Jeremiah 51:21, 22);

where in like manner the "old man" and the "boy" denote confirmed truth and recent truth.

[3] Again: -

Death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces, to cut off the child in the street, the young men from the roads (Jeremiah 9:21);

where the "child" denotes the truths which are first born, and which are cut off when death comes into the windows and palaces, that is, into the things of the intellect and of the will. "Windows" denote things of the intellect (n. 655, 658); and "palaces", or "houses", denote things of the will (n. 710).

2349. All the people from the uttermost part. That this signifies all and each of them, is evident from what precedes (that by "boys" and "old men" are signified falsities and evils both recent and confirmed), so that here the "people from the uttermost part" signifies all and each of these. Moreover the term "people" in general signifies falsities (n. 1259, 1260).

[2] Here then there is described the first state of those within the church who are against the good of charity, and consequently against the Lord, for the one involves the other, because no one can be conjoined with the Lord except through love and charity. Love is spiritual conjunction itself, as can be seen from the essence of love; and whoever cannot be conjoined with Him, also cannot acknowledge Him. That they who are not in good cannot acknowledge the Lord, that is, have faith in Him, is evident in John: -

The light is come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil; for every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved; but he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they have been wrought in God (John 3:19-21);

from which it is evident that they who are against the good of charity are against the Lord; or what is the same, that they who are in evil hate the light, and do not come to the light. That the "light" is faith in the Lord, and is the Lord Himself, is evident in (John 1:9, 10; 12:35, 36, 46).

[3] In like manner in the same elsewhere: -

The world cannot hate you, but Me it hateth, because I testify of it that its works are evil (John 7:7).

More plainly still in Matthew: -

He shall say unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed for I was hungry, and ye gave Me not to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me not to drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in; naked, and ye clothed Me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not. Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me (Matthew 25:41-43, 45).

[4] These words show in what manner those are against the Lord who are against the good of charity; and also that every one is judged according to the good of charity, and not according to the truth of faith when this is separated from good. So also again in Matthew: -

The Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then shall He render to every one according to his deeds (Matthew 16:27);

"deeds" denote the goods which proceed from charity; and the things which are of charity are also called the fruits of faith.

2350. Verse 5. And they cried unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men that came unto thee this night? bring them out unto us that we may know them. "They cried unto Lot, and said unto him", signifies falsity from evil becoming angry against good; "where are the men that came unto thee?" signifies the denial of the Lords Divine Human and Holy proceeding; "this night", signifies the last time, when these are no longer acknowledged; "bring them out unto us, that we may know them", signifies that men then desire to show that it is false to acknowledge their existence.

2351. They cried unto Lot and said unto him. That this signifies falsity from evil becoming angry against good, can be seen from the signification of "crying", and also of "Lot", and thereby from the feeling that is expressed. That the term "crying" is predicated of falsity, was shown above (n. 2240); and that "Lot" represents the men of the church who are in good, thus good itself (n. 2324). From this and from the feeling of anger expressed in these words, it is evident that they signify falsity from evil becoming angry against good. That there are many kinds of falsity, but in general two, namely, the falsity which is produced from evil, and that which produces evil, may be seen above (n. 1188, 1212, 1295, 1679, 2243).

[2] The falsity from evil, within the church, is especially that falsity which favors evils of life-such as that good, that is, charity, does not make a man of the church, but truth, that is, faith; and that a man is saved howsoever he may have lived in evils during the whole course of his life, provided that when corporeal things are lulled to sleep, as is usual a short time before death, he utters something of faith with apparent affection. This is the falsity which is especially angry against good, and is signified by their "crying to Lot". The cause of anger is all that which endeavors to destroy the delight of any love. It is called "anger" when evil attacks good, but "zeal" when good reproves evil.

2352. Where are the men that came unto thee? That this signifies a denial of the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, is evident from the signification of the "two men" (n. 2320); also from the feeling latent in the words expressive of this anger; and likewise from what immediately follows, where it is said, "Bring them out unto us, that we may know them;" all of which show that denial is involved. That they who are against the good of charity are against the Lord and deny Him in heart, although they profess Him with the mouth for the sake of the love of self and of the world, may be seen above, (n. 2343, 2349).

2353. This night. That this signifies the last time, when these are no longer acknowledged, is evident from the signification of "night", as being a time of darkness, when the things of light are no longer seen. The angels did not come in the night, but in the evening; but as it is the men of Sodom who spoke and cried out, that is, those who are in falsity and evil, it is not said in the "evening", but in the "night". For in the Word "night" signifies the time and state when there is no longer any light of truth, but merely falsity and evil;

[2] thus the last time when comes the Judgment; with which signification it is often found, as in Micah: -

Against the prophets that lead the people astray: It shall be night unto you that ye have no vision and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine, and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them (Micah 3:5, 6).

"Prophets" here denote those who teach falsities; "night", the being "dark", the "going down of the sun", the "blackening day", denote falsities and evils.

[3] In John: -

If anyone walk in the day, he stumbleth not; but if anyone walk in the night he stumbleth, because the light is not in him (John 11:9, 10);

where "night" denotes falsity from evil; "light", truth from good; for as all the light of truth is from good, so all the night of falsity is from evil.

[4] Again: -

I must work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day; the night cometh when no one can work (John 9:4);

"day" denotes the time and state when there is what is good and true; but "night" when there is what is evil and false.

[5] In Luke: -

I say unto you, in that night there shall be two upon one bed, the one shall be accepted, the other abandoned (Luke 17:34);

here "night" denotes the last time, when there is no longer any truth of faith.

[6] Inasmuch as when the sons of Israel went out from Egypt there was represented in that country the vastation of good and truth within the church, and that there then reigned therein nothing but what was evil and false, it was commanded that they should go out at midnight (Exod. 11:4); and it also came to pass that at midnight all the firstborn of Egypt were slain (Exod. 12:12, 29, 30). And inasmuch as they who are in what is good and true, who were represented by the sons of Israel, are guarded when among falsities and evils (as was Lot in Sodom), that night, in respect to them, is called "a night of the guardings of Jehovah" (Exodus 12:4).

2354. Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. That this signifies that they desired to show that it is false to acknowledge that these exist (namely, the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding), is evident from the signification of the "two angels" (n. 2320); as also from the angry feeling with which these things were said, and in which there is what is expressive of denial.

[2] There is here described the first state of a vastated church; that is, the state when there begins to be no faith because there is no charity; which state as before said is that because they are against the good of charity they are also in no faith, and especially in no acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding. These are at heart denied by all who are in a life of evil, that is, by all who despise others in comparison with themselves, who hate those who do not pay them respect, who feel a delight in being revenged on them, who even feel delight in cruelty, and who regard adulteries as matters of no moment. The Pharisees of old, who openly denied the Lord's Divinity, did better than is the case with such men at the present day, who for the sake of their own exaltation and sordid enrichment outwardly worship Him in a holy manner, but inwardly cherish that profane state. The successive development and doom of such as these is described in what follows by the men of Sodom, and finally by the overthrow of that city (verses 24, 25).

[3] The case with man is that there are with him evil spirits, and at the same time angels. Through the evil spirits he communicates with hell, and through the angels with heaven (n. 687, 697). In so far therefore as his life approximates to what is evil, so far hell flows in; but in so far as his life approximates to what is good, so far heaven flows in, and therefore the Lord. From this it is evident that they who are in a life of evil cannot acknowledge the Lord, but frame for themselves innumerable things against Him; because the phantasies of hell flow in and are received by them. But they who are in a life of good acknowledge the Lord, because heaven flows in, in which love and charity are the main thing; because heaven is the Lord's, from whom come all things of love and charity (n. 537, 540, 547, 548, 551, 553, 685, 2130).

2355. Verses 6, 7. And Lot went out unto them to the door (janua), and shut the door (ostium) behind him. And he said, I pray you my brethren do not wickedly. "Lot went out unto them to the door", signifies that he applied himself prudently; "and shut the door behind him", signifies lest they should do violence to the good of charity, and also deny the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding; "and he said", signifies exhortation; "I pray you my brethren do not wickedly", signifies that they should not do violence to them. He calls them "brethren", because it is from good that he exhorts them.

2356. And Lot went out unto them to the door. That this signifies that he applied himself prudently, is evident from the interior sense of the expression "door", and of "going out to the door". In the Word a "door" signifies that which introduces or gives admission either to truth, to good, or to the Lord. Hence it is that a "door" signifies truth itself, good itself, and also the Lord Himself; for truth leads to good, and good to the Lord. Such things were represented by the door and veils of the Tent, and also of the Temple (n. 2145, 2152, 2576).

[2] That this is the signification of a "door", is evident from the Lord's words in John: -

He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber; but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep; to him the porter openeth. I am the door of the sheep; by Me if anyone enter in, he shall be saved (John 10:1-3, 7, 9).

Here the "door" denotes truth and good, and therefore the Lord, who is truth itself and good itself. From this it is evident what is signified by being admitted into heaven through the door, and consequently what is signified by the keys with which the door is opened.

[3] But in the present case by the "door" is signified some good adapted to the character of those who beset the house; for the "door (janua)" is here distinguished from the "door (ostium)", and was at the front of the house (as is evident from the fact that Lot went out and closed the door behind him) and from what immediately follows it is evident that the good in question was a blessedness of life by which he would persuade those who were in falsity and evil; for such do not suffer themselves to be persuaded by the veriest good itself, but reject it. From all which it is evident that by "going out to the door" is here signified that he applied himself prudently.

2357. And shut the door behind him. That this signifies lest they should do violence to the good of charity and should also deny the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, is evident from what has been already said. In the present case to "shut the door" denotes lest they should enter into the good signified by the "house", and therefore to the Lord's Divine and Holy.

[2] These things involve still deeper arcana, into the sense and idea of which the angels come when these words are being read, namely, that they who are in a life of evil are admitted no further than to the knowledge of good and of the Lord, but not into the veriest acknowledgment and faith; for the reason that so long as they are in evil they cannot be at the same time in good. No one can at the same time serve two masters. When a man who once acknowledges and believes returns to a life of evil, he profanes what is good and holy; but he who does not acknowledge and believe, cannot profane. Care is therefore taken by the Lord's Divine Providence lest a man be admitted further into the very acknowledgment and faith of the heart than he can afterwards be kept; and this on account of the punishment of profanation, which is the most grievous in hell.

[3] This is the reason why at the present day it is vouchsafed to so few, to believe from the heart that the good of love and charity are heaven in man, and that all the Divine is in the Lord; for at the present day men are in a life of evil. This then is what is more interiorly signified by Lot's shutting the door behind him; for this door was an inner door, through which there was admission into the house itself where the angels were; that is, into the good in which is the Lord.

2358. And he said. That this signifies exhortation, is evident from what now follows, thus without further explication.

2359. I Pray you my brethren do not wickedly. That this signifies that they should not do violence to them, namely, to the good of charity and the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, is evident from the signification of "doing wickedly", as being to do violence. From all this it is evident that those are treated of who are within the church, and that it is they who are meant by the "men of Sodom;" for no one can do violence to these holy things except one who is in possession of the Word. That these things are most holy can be seen from the fact that no one can be admitted into the Lord's kingdom (that is, into heaven) unless he is in the good of love and of charity; and no one can be in the good of love and of charity, unless he acknowledges the Lord's Divine and Holy; for this good flows in from Him alone, and indeed into the good itself which is from Him. The Divine cannot flow in except into the Divine, nor be communicated to man except through the Lord's Divine Human and His Holy thence derived. From this we can understand how it is that the Lord is the all in all of His kingdom; and also that nothing of the good that is with man is man's, but is the Lord's.

2360. That Lot calls them "brethren" because it is from good that he exhorts them, is evident from the signification of a "brother". In the Word "brother" signifies the same as "neighbor", for the reason that every one ought to love his neighbor as himself; thus brethren were so called from love; or what is the same, from good. This manner of naming and addressing the neighbor comes from the fact that in heaven the Lord is the Father of all and loves all as His children; and thus that love is spiritual conjunction. From this the universal heaven resembles as it were one family derived from love and charity (n. 685, 917).

[2] Therefore as all the sons of Israel represented the Lord's heavenly kingdom, that is, the kingdom of love and charity; among each other they were called "brethren", and also "companions;" but the latter, that is, "companions", not from the good of love, but from the truth of faith; as in Isaiah: -

They help every man his companion, and he saith to his brother, Be of good courage (Isaiah 41:6).

In Jeremiah: -

Thus shall ye say every man to his companion, and every man to his brother, What hath Jehovah answered? and what hath Jehovah spoken? (Jeremiah 23:35).

In David: -

For my brethren and companions' sakes I will say, Peace be within thee (Ps. 122:8).

In Moses: -

He shall not press upon his companion or his brother, because the release of Jehovah hath been proclaimed (Deut. 15:2, 3).

In Isaiah: -

I will confound Egypt with Egypt, and they shall fight every man against his brother, and every man against his companion (Isaiah 19:2).

In Jeremiah: -

Beware every man of his companion, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every companion will slander (Jeremiah 9:4).

[3] That all who were of that church were called by the one name "brethren", see in Isaiah: -

They shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an offering unto Jehovah, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to the mountain of My holiness, Jerusalem (Isaiah 66:20).

They who know nothing beyond the sense of the letter, as was the case with the Jews, believe that no others are signified than the posterity of Jacob; thus that they will be brought back to Jerusalem upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, by those whom they call the Gentiles. But by the "brethren" are meant all who are in good; and by the "horses", " chariots", and "litters", the things which are of truth and good; and by "Jerusalem" the Lord's kingdom.

[4] In Moses: -

When there shall be among thee a needy one of one of thy brethren, in one of thy gates, thou shalt not harden thy heart, and shalt not shut thy hand from thy needy brother (Deut. 15:7, 11).

Again: -

From among thy brethren thou shalt set a King over thee; thou mayest not put over thee a foreigner, who is not thy brother, and his heart shall not be lifted up above his brethren (Deut. 17:15, 20).

Again: -

A prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee; him shall ye obey (Deut. 18:15, 18).

[5] From all this it is evident that the Jews and Israelites all called one another brethren; but those united by covenant they called companions. Yet as they understood nothing beyond the historical and worldly things of the Word, they believed that they called one another brethren because they were all sons of one father, or of Abraham; yet they were not called "brethren" in the Word from this circumstance, but from the good which they represented. "Abraham" also, in the internal sense, denotes nothing else than love itself, that is, the Lord (n. 1893, 1965, 1989, 2011), whose sons, consequently those who are "brethren", are those who are in good, in fact all those who are called the neighbor; as the Lord teaches in Matthew: -

One is your Master, Christ; all ye are brethren (Matthew 23:8).

[6] Again: -

Whosoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. If thou offer a gift upon the altar, and there remember that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother (Matthew 5:22-24).

Again: -

Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye? how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye (Matthew 7:2-4).

Again: -

If thy brother sin against thee, go and show him his fault between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother (Matthew 18:15).

Again: -

Peter coming to Him said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him I (Matthew 18:21).

Again: -

So also will My heavenly Father do unto you, if ye from the heart forgive not every one his brother their trespasses (Matthew 18:35).

[7] It is clear from these teachings that all in the universe who are the neighbor are called "brethren", and this because every one ought to love his neighbor as himself, thus they are so called from love or good. And as the Lord is good itself, and regards all from good, and is Himself the Neighbor in the highest sense, He also calls them "brethren", as in John: -

Jesus said to Mary, Go to My brethren (John 20:17).

And in Matthew: -

The King answering shall say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me (Matthew 25:40).

Thus it is evident that "brother" is a term of love.

2361. Verse 8. Behold I pray I have two daughters who have not known man; let me I pray bring them out unto you, and ye may do unto them as is good in your eyes; only unto these men do not anything; for therefore are they come under the shadow of my roof. "Behold I pray I have two daughters who have not known man", signifies the affections of good and of truth; "let me I pray bring them out unto you", signifies blessedness therefrom; "and ye may do unto them as is good in your eyes", signifies enjoyment in so far as they perceived it to be from good; "only unto these men do not anything;" signifies that they should not do violence to the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding; "for therefore are they come under the shadow of my roof", signifies that they are in the good of charity; the "shadow of the roof", denoting in his obscure general (perception) of it.

2362. Behold I pray I have two daughters who have not known man. That this signifies the affections of good and of truth, is evident from the signification of " daughters", as being affections (n. 489-491). Their "not having known man" signifies that falsity had not contaminated them; for "man (vir)" signifies rational truth, as also in the opposite sense falsity (n. 265, 749, 1007). There are two affections, namely, of good and of truth (n. 1997). The former, or the affection of good, constitutes the celestial church, and is called in the Word the "daughter of Zion", and also the "virgin daughter of Zion;" but the latter, or the affection of truth, constitutes the spiritual church, and is called in the Word the "daughter of Jerusalem".

[2] As in Isaiah: -

The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee, hath mocked at thee after thee hath the daughter of Jerusalem shaken her head (Isaiah 37:22; 2 Kings 19:21).

In Jeremiah: -

What shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem; what shall I equal to thee, and comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion (Lam. 2:13).

In Micah: -

Thou, O tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, even to thee shall it come, and the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem (Micah 4:8).

In Zephaniah: -

Shout, O daughter of Zion; make a loud noise, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem (Zephaniah 3:14).

In Zechariah: -

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; make a loud noise, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King shall come unto thee (Zechariah 9:9; Matt. 21:5; John 12:15).

[3] That the celestial church, or the Lord's celestial kingdom, is called the "daughter of Zion" from the affection of good, that is, from love to the Lord Himself, may be seen further in (Isaiah 10:32; 16:1; 52:2; 62:11; Jer. 4:31; 6:2, 23; Lam. 1:6; 2:1, 4, 8, 10; Micah 4:10, 13; Zech. 2:10; Ps. 9:14). And that the spiritual church, or the Lord's spiritual kingdom, is called the "daughter of Jerusalem" from the affection of truth, and thus from charity toward the neighbor, may be seen in Jeremiah (Lam. 2:15).

[4] From the fact that the celestial church is from love to the Lord in love toward the neighbor, it is likened especially to an unmarried daughter or virgin, and indeed is also called a "virgin", as in John: -

These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins these are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, for they are without spot before the throne of God (Rev. 14:4, 5).

That this might be represented in the Jewish Church also, it was enjoined upon the priests that they should not take widows, but virgins, for wives (Lev. 21:13-15; Ezek. 44:22).

[5] From the things contained in this verse it can be seen how pure is the Word in the internal sense, although it may not so appear in the letter; for when these words are read: " Behold I pray I have two daughters who have not known man; let me I pray bring them out unto you, and ye may do unto them as is good in your eyes, only unto these men do not anything", nothing but what is impure enters the ideas, especially the ideas of those who are in a life of evil. And yet how chaste these words are in the internal sense, is manifest from the explication, by which it is shown that they signify the affections of good and of truth, and the blessedness which they who do no violence to the Lord's Divine and Holy perceive from the enjoyment of them.

2363. Let me I pray bring them out unto you. That this signifies blessedness therefrom, that is, from the affections of good and of truth, is evident from the sense of these words when they are predicated of the affections which are here meant by the "daughters". As regards the thing itself, namely, that there is blessedness and happiness solely in the affection of good and of truth, it is a matter profoundly unknown to all who are in evil and its delight. To them the blessedness in the affection of good and of truth appears either as something that is nonexistent, or as something that is sad; while to some it appears as what is painful, and even deadly. This is the case with the genii and the spirits of bell, who think and believe that if the delight of the love of self and of the world. consequently of the evils therein originating, were taken away from them, nothing of life could remain to them; and when they are shown that true life with its blessedness and happiness then begins, they feel a kind of sadness from the loss of their own delight; and when they are brought among those who are in such a life, pain and torture seize upon them; and besides this, they then begin to feel in themselves something that is cadaverous and direfully infernal; so that they call heaven (which is the abode of this blessedness and happiness) their hell, and flee away, in order so far as possible to remove and hide themselves from the Lord's face.

[2] That nevertheless all blessedness and happiness consist in the affection of the good which is of love and charity, and also of the truth which is of faith in so far as the latter leads to the former, can be seen from the fact that heaven (that is, angelic life) consists in this blessedness, and that it affects from the inmosts those who receive it, because it flows in through the inmosts from the Lord (n. 540, 541, 545). Then also do wisdom and intelligence enter into and fill the inmost recesses of the mind, and kindle the good with heavenly flame, and the truth with heavenly light; and this with a perception of blessedness and happiness of which no description can be given except that they are unutterable. They who are in this state perceive how dead, how sad, and how lamentable is the life of those who are in the evils of the love of self and of the world.

[3] In order to obtain a clear idea of the nature of this life of the love of self and of the world (or what is the same, of a life of pride, avarice, envy, hatred, revenge, unmercifulness, adultery), let any person of talent make for himself an impersonation of some one of these evils; or if he can, let him paint it before his eyes in accordance with the ideas he is able to conceive of it from experience, knowledge, and reason; and he will then see, in proportion to the energy of his description or picture, how horrible these evils are, and that they are diabolical forms, in which there is nothing human. Forms such as these do all those become after death who perceive the delight of their life in such evils, and the greater is their delight in them, the more horrible are their own forms.

[4] On the other hand, let the same person delineate for himself an impersonation of love and charity, or let him express it before his eyes under some form; and then in proportion to his power of description or portrayal he will see that the form is angelic, full of bliss and beauty, and pervaded within with what is heavenly and Divine. Can anyone believe that these two forms can abide together? or that the diabolical form can be put off and be transmuted into the form of charity? and this by a faith to which the life is contrary? For after death every one's life remains or what is the same, his affection; and in accordance with this is then all his thought, and consequently his faith, which thus manifests itself as it had been at heart.

2364. And ye may do unto them as is good in your eyes. That this signifies enjoyment in so far as (they perceived it to be) from good, can be seen even from the sense of the words, as well as from the series, when these words are predicated of the affections signified by the "daughters". That Lot applied himself prudently, is signified by his "going out unto them to the door" (n. 2356). This prudence is evident from the words just quoted, together with what else is contained in this verse, namely, that they should enjoy the blessedness of the affections of good and of truth, in so far as this was from good; which is signified by their "doing unto them as was good in their eyes". To enjoy in so far as this was from good, here means in so far as they knew it to be good, beyond which no one is required to go; for all are bent by the Lord to the good of life through the good of their faith, thus Gentiles otherwise than Christians, the simple otherwise than the learned, little children otherwise than adults. They who have imbued their life with evil are bent by abstaining from evil and intending good, and by doing this according to their apprehension. It is their intention or end that is regarded; and although their acts may not be good in themselves, they nevertheless derive from the end something of good, and of the derivative life, which makes their blessedness.

2365. Only unto these men do not anything. That this signifies that they should not do violence to the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, is evident from the signification of the "men" and the "angels", as above.

2366. For therefore are they come under the shadow of my roof. That this signifies that they are in the good of charity, is evident from the signification of a "house", as being good (n. 710, 2233, 2234), which is here called the "shadow of the roof" for a reason to be presently explained.

2367. As to the "shadow of the roof" denoting in an obscure general (perception), the case is this: with man, even when regenerate, the perception of good and truth is very obscure, and this is still more the case with a man who is in external worship, such as is here represented by "Lot". while a man is in corporeal things (that is, while he is living in the body), the affections, like the perceptions, are of a very genera nature, and consequently are very obscure, no matter how much the man may suppose that such is not the case. There are myriads of myriads of particulars in every little affection, and even in every idea of his perception, that appear to him as all one, as of the Lord's Divine mercy will be shown hereafter, when affections and ideas are treated of. Sometimes it is possible for a man by reflection to explore and describe a few of the things that are in him, but there lie hidden innumerable other things, things without limit or measure, that never come to his knowledge, nor can come so long as he is living in the body, but which become manifest after corporeal and worldly things have been abolished - as may be sufficiently evident from the fact that when a man who has been in the good of love and of charity passes into the other life, he passes from an obscure life into a clearer one, as from a kind of night into day; and in proportion as he passes into the Lord's heaven, in the same proportion does he pass into a light that is more and more clear, until he arrives at the light in which are the angels, a light of intelligence and wisdom that is unutterable. In comparison with this the light in which is man, is darkness. Hence it is here said that they "came under the shadow of his roof;" by which is signified that those signified by "Lot" are in their obscure general (perception); that is, that they know but little concerning the Lord's Divine and Holy; but that nevertheless they acknowledge and have faith in the existence of these, and that these are in the good of charity, that is, present with those who are in this good.

2368. Verse 9. And they said, Come on. And they said, Is one come to sojourn, and shall he judge indeed? now will we do worse to thee than to them. And they pressed upon the man, upon Lot, exceedingly; and drew near to break open the door. "And they said", signifies a reply from anger; "Come on", signifies the threats of their anger. And they said, " Is one come to sojourn", signifies those who are of another doctrine and another life; "and shall he judge indeed?" signifies, Shall they teach us? "Now will we do worse to thee than to them", signifies that they would reject the good of charity more than the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding; "and they pressed upon the man", signifies that they desired to offer violence to truth; "upon Lot exceedingly", signifies most especially to the good of charity; "and drew near to break open the door", signifies that they came even to the endeavor to destroy both.

2369. And they said. That this signifies a reply from anger, is evident from what precedes and what follows, and thus without explication.

2370. Come on. That this signifies threats of anger, namely, against the good of charity, is evident from the signification of "Lot", as being the good of charity, to which and concerning which these things are said; and that these are threats of anger, is evident from the words themselves, and also from what follows, as involving that they would altogether reject it if he should say anything more about it, and should persuade; which is meant by "Come on".

2371. And they said, Is one come to sojourn, and shall he judge indeed? That this signifies those who are in another doctrine and another life, is evident from the signification of "sojourning", which is to be instructed and to live, thus doctrine and life (n. 1463, 2025). The state of the church is here described such as it is near the last times, when there is no longer any faith, because there is no charity, namely, that the good of charity, because it has altogether receded from the life, is also rejected from the doctrine.

[2] The subject here treated of is not those who falsify the good of charity by explaining all things in their own favor, both for their own sake, that they may be the greatest, and for the sake of the good things of this world, that they may possess them all; and who arrogate to themselves the dispensation of rewards, and thereby defile the good of charity by various arts and delusive means; but the subject treated of is those who desire to hear nothing of the goods of charity, or of good works, but only of faith separate from them; and this from reasoning that there is nothing but evil in man, and that the good which is from him is also in itself evil, in which therefore there is thus nothing of salvation; and that no one can merit heaven by any good, nor be saved by it, but only by the faith with which they acknowledge the Lord's merit. This is the doctrine that flourishes in the last times, when the church is beginning to expire, and it is ardently taught and favorably received.

[3] But it is false to infer from these considerations that a man can have an evil life and a good faith; or that because there is nothing but evil in man, he cannot receive good from the Lord that has heaven in it because it has Him in it, and that having heaven in it has also bliss and happiness in it. And it is certainly very false to infer that because no one can merit heaven by any good, therefore it is impossible to receive from the Lord heavenly good in which self-merit is regarded as monstrous wickedness. In such good are all the angels, in such are all the regenerate, and in such are they who perceive delight, and even bliss, in good itself, that is, in the affection of it. Concerning this good, that is, concerning this charity, the Lord speaks thus in Matthew: -

Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that injure you and persecute you, that ye may be sons of your Father who is in the heavens for if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? and if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more (than others)? do not even the publicans so? (Matthew 5:43-48).

In like manner in Luke, with this addition: -

Do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; then shall your reward be great, and ye shall be sons of the Highest (Luke 6:27-36).

[4] Here the good which is from the Lord is described, and that it is free from all purpose of receiving recompense; on which account they who are in it are called "sons of the Father who is in the heavens", and "sons of the Highest;" and because the Lord is in it, there is also a reward, as we read in Luke: -

When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; lest haply they call thee in turn, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, (the lame,) and the blind; then shalt thou be blessed, for they have not wherewith to recompense thee; but thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just (Luke 14:12-14).

A "dinner", "supper", or "feast", denotes the good of charity, in which there is the Lord's dwelling-place with man (n. 2341) so that it is here described, and made clearly manifest, that the recompense is in the good itself, because in this is the Lord; for it is said, "thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just".

[5] Those who strive to do good of themselves, because the Lord has so commanded, are they who at length receive this good; and who, being afterwards instructed, acknowledge with faith that all good is from the Lord (n. 1712, 1937, 1947); and they are then so averse to self-merit that when they merely think of it they grow sad, and perceive their blessedness and happiness to be proportionately diminished.

[6] Quite different is it with those who do not do this, but lead a life of evil, teaching and professing that in faith alone there is salvation. People of this character are not aware that such a good is possible; and wonderful to say (as has been given me to know from much experience) in the other life these same people desire to merit heaven on account of whatever good deeds they recollect; because then for the first time are they aware that in faith separated from charity there is no salvation. These are the people of whom the Lord says in Matthew: -

They will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied by Thy name, and by Thy name cast out demons, and in Thy name done many mighty works? But then will I confess unto them, I know you not; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:22, 23).

In the case of these same people it also becomes apparent that they have paid no attention whatever to the things which the Lord Himself so often taught concerning the good of love and of charity; but that these things have been to them like passing clouds, or like things seen in the night: for example such things as are found in (Matthew 3:8, 9; 5:7-48; 6:1-20; 7:16-20, 24-27; 9:13; 12:33; 13:8, 23; 18:21-23, 24-35; 19:19; 22:34-39; 24:12, 13; 25:34-46; Mark 4:18-20; 11:13, 14, 20; 12:28-35; Luke 3:8, 9; 6:27-39, 43-49; 7:47; 8:8, 14, 15; 10:25-28; 12:58, 59; 13:6-10; John 3:19, 21; 5:42; 13:34, 35; 14:14, 15, 20, 21, 23; 15:1-8, 9-19; 21:15-17). Such, then, and other such things as these, are what are signified by the men of Sodom, that is, those who are in evil, (n. 2220, 2246, 2322) saying to Lot, "Is one come to sojourn, and shall he judge indeed?" that is, Shall they who are in another doctrine and another life teach us?

2372. And shall he judge indeed? That this signifies, Shall they teach us? is evident from the signification of "judging", as being to teach. That "righteousness" is predicated of the practice of good, but "judgment" of the instruction of truth, was shown above (n. 2235); hence in the internal sense to "judge" is to instruct or teach. To teach truth is the same as to teach what is good, because all truth looks to good.

2373. Now will we do worse to thee than to them. That this signifies that they would reject the good of charity more than the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, is evident from the signification of "Lot", as being the good of charity, for Lot represents those who are in the good of charity (n. 2324, 2351, 2371); and from the signification of the "men", or "angels", as being the Lord as to the Divine Human and Holy proceeding. Hence it is evident that to do worse to thee than to them" has this meaning. The reason why they who are in evil within the church reject charity more than they deny the Lord, is that in this way they can favor their concupiscences by a kind of religion, and have external worship with no internal (that is, worship of the lips and not of the heart), and the more they make this worship to be Divine and holy, so much the greater are their dignities and wealth, besides many other causes that are hidden and yet are manifest. Nevertheless the truth really is that he who rejects the one (that is, does so in doctrine and at the same time in life) rejects also the other (for even if he dare not do this openly he does it in his heart); and this is here expressed in the sense of the letter by its being said that the men of Sodom drew near to break open the door, by which is signified that they came even to the endeavor to destroy both. But that which prevents this endeavor from bursting forth into act is by no means hidden.

2374. They pressed upon the man. That this signifies that they desired to offer violence to truth, is evident from the signification of a man (vir), as being the intellectual and rational in man, and consequently truth (n. 158, 1007). To offer violence to truth is to pervert the things of faith; and these are perverted when they are separated from charity, and when it is denied that they lead to the good of life.

2375. Upon Lot exceedingly. That this signifies that they desired to offer violence especially to the good of charity, is evident from the signification of "Lot", as being the good of charity (n. 2324, 2351, 2371, 2373). From the very words - that they "pressed upon the man, upon Lot exceedingly" - it is evident that one thing is signified by the "man", and another by "Lot exceedingly;" otherwise one expression would have sufficed.

2376. And drew near to break open the door. That this signifies that they came even to the endeavor to destroy both, is evident from the signification of "drawing near", as being to endeavor, and from the signification of a "door", as being that which introduces to good and to the Lord, and also as being good itself and the Lord Himself (n. 2356, 2357, 2373).

2377. Verse 10. And the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. "The men put forth their hand", signifies the Lord's powerful aid; "and brought Lot into the house to them", signifies that the Lord protects those who are in the good of charity; "and shut the door", signifies that He also closes all access to them.

2378. The men put forth their hand. That this signifies the Lord's powerful aid, is evident from the signification of the "men", as being the Lord, and from the signification of the "hand", as being power (n. 878).

2379. And brought Lot into the house to them. That this signifies that the Lord protects those who are in the good of charity, is evident from the representation of Lot as being those who are in the good of charity; and from the signification of "bringing into the house to them", as being to protect. To be "brought into the house" denotes to be brought into good; and they who are brought into good are brought into heaven; and they who are brought into heaven are brought to the Lord; hence they are protected from all infestation as to their souls. That the man who is in good is as to his soul in society with angels, and while living in the body is nevertheless in heaven (although at the time he is not aware of this, and is not able to perceive angelic joy in consequence of being in corporeal things and in a state of preparation), may be seen above (n. 1277).

2380. And shut the door. That this signifies that He also closes all access to them, is evident from the signification of a "door", as being that which introduces (n. 2356, 2357, 2376), thus access. Hence it is that to "shut the door" denotes to preclude access. In the other life access is precluded by the good being separated from the evil, so that they cannot be infested by the spheres of the persuasions of falsity and of the cupidities of evil; for the exhalation from hell cannot penetrate to heaven. In the life of the body access is precluded by the principles and persuasions of falsity being rendered powerless against those who are in good; for whenever any falsity of evil or evil of falsity is infused into them, whether in speech by an evil man, or in thought by an evil spirit or devil, the angels who are with them at once turn it aside, and bend it to something true and good in which the persons in question have been confirmed; and this however severely they may be suffering bodily trouble, for the angels esteem the body as nothing in comparison with the soul.

[2] While a man remains in corporeal things, he is in such a general and obscure idea and perception (n. 2367) that he scarcely knows whether he is in the good of charity or not; and this for the additional reason that he does not know what charity is, and what the neighbor is. But be it known who the persons in question are. All those are in the good of charity who have conscience (that is, who are unwilling to depart in any degree from what is just and fair, and good and true, and this for the very sake of what is just and fair, and good and true, for this principle is from conscience), and who from having conscience think well of the neighbor and desire his welfare, even should he be an enemy; and this without any recompense. These are they who are in the good of charity, whether they be without the church or within the church. If within the church, they adore the Lord, and willingly hear and do the things that He has taught.

[3] On the other hand, they who are in evil have no conscience; for that which is just and fair they care not, except in so far as thereby they can gain the reputation of seeming to care for it. What the good and truth are that affect the spiritual life they know not, and even reject this as being no life at all. Further than this: they think evilly about the neighbor and desire his injury, and also inflict injury upon him if he does not favor them, even if a friend; and in doing this they feel delight. Should they do anything good, it is with a view to recompense. Such within the church deny the Lord in secret; and in so far as honor, gain, reputation, or life are not endangered they do so openly.

[4] Be it known however that some persons think they are not in good when they are, and some that they are in good when they are not. The reason why some think they are not in good when they are, is that when they reflect upon the good in themselves, it is at once insinuated by the angels in whose society they are, that they are not in good, lest they should attribute the good to themselves, and lest their thought should be turned to their own merit, and thereby to the setting up of themselves above others. Without this guardianship they would fall into temptations.

[5] As regards some supposing themselves to be in good when they are not, the cause of this is that when they reflect upon it, it is immediately insinuated by the evil genii and spirits in whose companionship they are, that they are in good (for the evil believe delight to be good), and it is suggested that whatever good they have done to others for the sake of the love of self and of the world is good that is to be recompensed even in the other life; thus that they have merit above others, whom they despise in comparison with themselves, and indeed esteem them as of no account. And, wonderful to say, if they were to think differently they would fall into temptations, in which they would yield.

2381. Verse 11. And the men who were at the door of the house they smote with blindness, from small even to great; and they labored to find the door. "The men who were at the door of the house", signifies things rational and the derivative doctrinals, by which violence is offered to the good of charity "they smote with blindness", signifies that they were filled with falsities; "from small even to great", signifies in particular and in general; "and they labored to find the door", signifies so that they could not see any truth that would lead to good.

2382. And the men who were at the door of the house. That this signifies things rational and the derivative doctrinals, by which violence is offered to the good of charity, is evident from the signification of "men", as being things rational (n. 158, 1007); from the signification of a "door", as being introduction or access, leading either to truth or to good, and thus what is doctrinal (n. 2356); and from the signification of a "house", as being the good of charity. Here, because those are treated of who drew near to break open the door, that is, who attempted to destroy both the good of charity and the Divine and the Holy of the Lord, (n. 2376), evil rational things are meant, and the derivative false doctrinals by which violence is inflicted on the good of charity.

2383. They smote with blindness. That this signifies that they were filled with falsities, is evident from the signification of "blindness". In the Word "blindness" is predicated of those who are in falsity, and also of those who are in ignorance of truth. Both are called the "blind;" but which are meant in any special instance can be seen from the series or connection, especially in the internal sense. That they who are in falsity are called the "blind", is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark (Isaiah 56:10).

"Blind watchmen", denotes those who from reasoning are in falsity. Again: -

We look for light, and behold darkness for brightness, but we walk in thick darkness; we grope for the wall like the blind (Isaiah 59:9, 10).

In Jeremiah: -

They have wandered as the blind in the streets; they have polluted themselves with blood; what they cannot pollute, they touch with their garments (Lam. 4:14);

meaning that all truths have been polluted; the "streets" denoting the truths wherein they have gone astray (n. 2336).

[2] In Zechariah: -

In that day I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness; every horse of the peoples will I smite with blindness (Zechariah 12:4).

Here and elsewhere in the Word a "horse" denotes the understanding; hence it is said that the "horse should be smitten with astonishment", and that the "horse of the peoples should be smitten with blindness", that is, should be filled with falsities.

[3] In John: -

For judgment am I come into the world, that they that see not may see, and that they that see may become blind. They of the Pharisees heard these things, and said, Are we also blind? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye would not have sin; but now ye say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth (John 9:39-41).

Here the "blind" in both senses are spoken of, namely, those who are in falsity, and those who are in ignorance of truth with those who are within the church and know what the truth is, "blindness" is falsity; but with those who do not know what the truth is (as is the case with those who are outside the church), "blindness" is ignorance of the truth, and these are blameless.

[4] Again: -

He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they may not see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and I should heal them (John 12:40; Isa. 6:9-11);

meaning that it would be better for them to be in falsities than to be in truths, because they are in a life of evil, and if they were instructed in truths, they would not only still falsify them, but would also defile them with evils; for the like reason that the men of Sodom were smitten with blindness, that is, the doctrinal things were filled with falsities. Why this was done was shown above (n. 301-303, 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2426).

[5] As what is blind signified what is false, therefore in the representative Jewish Church it was forbidden to sacrifice anything that was blind (Lev. 22:22; Deut. 15:21; Mal.. 1:8). It was also forbidden that anyone of the priests who was blind should draw near to offer upon the altar (Lev. 21:18, 21).

[6] That "blindness" is predicated of ignorance of truth, such as prevails with the Gentiles, is evident in Isaiah: -

In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the Book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of thick darkness and out of darkness (Isaiah 29:18).

Here the "blind" denotes those who are in ignorance of truth, being chiefly those outside the church. Again: -

Bring forth the blind people and they shall have eyes; and the deaf and they shall have ears (Isaiah 43:8);

where the church of the Gentiles is spoken of. Again: -

I will lead the blind in a way that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them (Isaiah 42:16).

[7] And again: -

I will give Thee for a light of the people, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the bound from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house (Isa. 42:6, 7);

where the Lord's advent is treated of, in that they who are in ignorance of truth should then be instructed; for those who are in falsity do not suffer themselves to be so instructed, because they are acquainted with the truth and have confirmed themselves against it, and have turned the light into darkness, which cannot be dispelled. In Luke: -

The master of the house said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the lame, and the blind (Luke 14:21);

where the Lord's kingdom is treated of, and it is evident that the poor, maimed, lame, and blind are not meant, but those who are such in the spiritual sense.

[8] Again: -

Jesus said that they should tell John that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and to the poor the gospel is preached (Luke 7:22).

According to the sense of the letter, by the "blind", the "lame", the " lepers", the "deaf", the "dead", the "poor", only these are meant; because it was actually the case that the blind received sight, the deaf hearing, the lepers health, the dead life;

[9] but yet in the internal sense the same are meant as in Isaiah: -

Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, and the lame shall leap as the hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing (Isaiah 35:5, 6);

where the Lord's advent is treated of, and the new church at that time, which is called that of the Gentiles of whom it is declared that they were "blind", "deaf", "lame", and "dumb;" being so called in respect to doctrine and to life. For he it known that all the miracles performed by the Lord always involved, and thence signified, such things as are meant in the internal sense by the healing of the blind, of the lame, of the lepers, the deaf, the dead, and the poor. For this reason the Lord's miracles were Divine, as also were those performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, as well as all the other miracles that are treated of in the Word. This is an arcanum.

2384. From small even to great. That this signifies in particular and in general, is evident from the signification in the internal sense of these words when predicated of rational things and the doctrinal things thence derived, which are signified by the men who were at the door of the house; for particulars and generals are related to each other as are the small and the great, particulars being as small things, and the generals of particulars as great ones. What particulars are relatively to generals, and how they stand related to each other, see (n. 920, 1040, 1316).

2385. And they labored to find the door. That this signifies so that they could not see any truth that would lead to good, is evident from the signification of a "door", as being introduction and access, and as being truth itself, because this introduces to good (n. 2356). But here by the "door" are signified the knowledges that introduce to truth; for the "door" (n. 2356) was at the front of the house, for it is said that Lot "went out to the door, and shut the door behind him" (verse 6): hence to "labor to find the door", denotes not to see any truth that would lead to good.

[2] Such do those become, especially in the last times, who by ratiocination hatch doctrinal things, and believe nothing unless they first apprehend it; for in this case the life of evil continually inflows into their rational, and a kind of fallacious light pours in from the fire of the affections of evil, and causes them to see falsities as truths; as are wont to do those who see phantoms in nocturnal light. These same things are then confirmed in many ways, and become matters of doctrine, such as are the doctrinal tenets of those who say that the life (which is of the affection) is of no efficacy, but only the faith (which is of the thought).

[3] That every principle whatever, even if falsity itself, when once taken up, can be confirmed by innumerable things, and be presented in the outward form as if it were truth itself, may be known to every one. Hence come heresies; from which, when once confirmed, the man never recedes. Yet from a false principle nothing but falsities can flow; and even if truths are interlarded among them, they became truths falsified when used to confirm a false principle, because they are contaminated by its essence.

[4] Very different is the case when truth itself is received as a principle, and this is confirmed, as for example that love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor are that on which hangs all the Law, and of which all the Prophets speak, and that they are therefore the essentials of all doctrine and worship for in this case the mind would be illuminated by innumerable things in the Word, that otherwise lie hidden in the obscurity of a false principle. Nay, in such a case heresies would be dissipated, and one church would arise out of many, no matter how greatly the doctrinal and ritual matters that flowed from or led to it might differ.

[5] Such was the ancient Church, which extended through many kingdoms, namely, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Ethiopia, Arabia, Libya, Egypt, Philistia as far as Tyre and Sidon, and through the land of Canaan on both sides the Jordan. Among these the doctrinal and ritual matters differed, but still the church was one, because to them charity was the essential thing. Then was there the Lord's kingdom on earth as in the heavens, for such is heaven (n. 684, 690). If it were so now, all would be governed by the Lord as one man; for they would be as the members and organs of one body, which, although not of similar form, nor of similar function, yet all have relation to one heart, on which depend all and each in their several forms, that are everywhere varied. Then would each person say, in whatever doctrine and in whatever outward worship he might be, This is my brother, I see that he worships the Lord, and is a good man.

2386. Verse 12. And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou yet anyone here? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of the place. "And the men said unto Lot", signifies that the Lord admonishes those who are in the good of charity; "hast thou yet anyone here? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of the place", signifies that all who are in the good of charity, and that all things belonging thereto, would be saved, and also those who are in the truth of faith, provided they would recede from evil; "sons-in-law", are the truths that are associated with the affections of good; here, that were to be associated; "sons", are truths; "daughters", affections of good and of truth; "whomsoever thou hast in the city", denotes whatever derives anything from truth; the "place", is the state of evil.

2387. And the men said unto Lot. That this signifies that the Lord admonishes those who are in the good of charity, is evident from the signification of the "men", as being the Lord (n. 2378); from the signification of "saying", as being to admonish; and from the representation of Lot, as being those who are in the good of charity (n. 2324, 2351, 2371). Hence these words, "the men said unto Lot", signifies that the Lord astonishes those who are in the good of charity.

2388. Hast thou yet anyone here? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of the place. That this signifies that all who are in the good of charity, and that all things belonging thereto, would be saved, and also those who are in the truth of faith, provided they would recede from evil, is evident from the signification of "sons-in-law", of "sons", of "daughters", of "city", and of "place", concerning which in what follows.

[2] As regards those being saved who are in the truth of faith, provided they recede from evil, the case is this. The truths of faith are the very receiving vessels of good (n. 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269); and they receive good in so far as the man recedes from evil; for good continually flows in from the Lord, and it is the evil of life that hinders its being received in the truths which are with man in his memory or knowledge. Therefore in so far as a man recedes from evil, so far good enters and applies itself to his truths; and then the truth of faith with him becomes the good of faith. A man may indeed know truth, may also confess it under the incitement of some worldly cause, may even be persuaded that it is true; and yet this truth does not live so long as he is in a life of evil. For such a man is like a tree on which there are leaves, but no fruit; and his truth is like light in which there is no heat, such as there is in the time of winter when nothing grows. But when there is heat in it, the light then becomes such as there is in the time of spring, when all things grow. In the Word truth is compared to light and is called "light", but heat is compared to love, and is also called spiritual heat. In the other life also truth manifests itself by light, and good by heat; but truth without good by cold light, and truth with good by light similar to that of spring. This shows what the truth of faith is without the good of charity. Hence it is that the sons-in-law and the sons, by whom such truths are signified, were not saved; but only Lot with his daughters.

[3] As it is here said that those also who are in the truth of faith are saved, provided they recede from evil, be it known that these are they who profess faith and think nothing about charity for the reason that they have been so instructed, and do not know what charity is (supposing that it consists merely in the giving of our own to others, and in pitying everybody), and who also do not know what the neighbor is toward whom charity is to be exercised (for they suppose that the neighbor is almost everybody, without distinction), and yet who live in the life of charity toward the neighbor, because in the life of good. It does these persons no harm to profess faith along with all the rest, for in their faith there is charity, since this means all the good of life in general and in particular. What therefore charity is, and what the neighbor, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be told in what follows.

2389. That the "sons-in-law" are the truths that are associated with the affections of good and of truth, in this case that were to be associated, is evident from the signification of "sons-in-law". In the Word " a man" signifies truth, and a "wife" good (n. 265, 749, 915, 1007), for the reason that between truth and good there is a likeness of a marriage (n. 1432, 1904, 2173). Hence "sons-in-law" signify the knowledges of truth, with which are associated the affections of good (denoted by the "daughters"), but which here are to be associated, for it is said afterwards, in (verse 14), that Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law that were marrying, that is, were about to marry his daughters.

2390. That the "sons" are truths, or what is the same, are they who are in truths, is evident from the signification of "sons", as being truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147).

2391. That the "daughters" are affections of good, and of truth, or what is the same, are those who are in these affections, is evident from the signification of "daughters", as being these affections (n. 2362).

2392. That "whomsoever thou hast in the city", denotes whatever derives anything from truth, is evident from the signification of a "city", as being what is doctrinal, thus truth in its complex (n. 402, 2268).

2393. That the "place" is a state of evil, is evident from the signification of "place", as being state (n. 1273-1275, 1377), here a state of evil, because it was Sodom, by which is signified evil in general (n. 2220, 2246, 2322).

2394. Verse 13. For we will destroy this place, because their cry is become great before Jehovah, and Jehovah hath sent us to destroy it. "For we will destroy this place", signifies that the state of evil in which they were would condemn them; "because their cry is become great before Jehovah", signifies because the falsity from evil is so great; "and Jehovah hath sent us to destroy it", signifies that they cannot but perish.

2395. For we will destroy this place. That this signifies that the state of evil in which they were would condemn them, is evident from the meaning of "destroying", when predicated of the Lord, as being in the internal significance to perish by evil, that is, to be condemned; and also from the signification of "this place", as being a state of evil (n. 2393). It is frequently said in the word that Jehovah "destroys;" but in the internal sense it is meant that man destroys himself; for Jehovah or the Lord destroys no one. But as from the fact of His seeing and regulating all things in both general and particular it appears as if the destruction came from Jehovah or the Lord, it is so expressed in many places in the Word, to the end that men may thereby be kept in a most general idea that all things are under the Lord's eyes, and all things under His auspices; for if at first they are kept in this idea, they can afterwards be easily instructed. For the explications of the Word as to the internal sense are nothing but particulars that elucidate a general idea.

[2] Another reason why it is so expressed is that they who are in no love are kept in fear, and thereby stand in awe of the Lord, and flee to Him for the sake of deliverance. This shows that it does no harm to believe the sense of the letter, even though the internal sense teaches something else, provided that it is done from a simple heart. But these things will be treated of more fully in what follows, at (verse 24) (n. 2447), where it is said that Jehovah caused it to rain brimstone and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. The angels, being in the internal sense, are so far from thinking that Jehovah destroys anyone, that they cannot endure even the idea of such a thing; and therefore when these and other such things are read in the Word by man, the sense of the letter is cast away as it were to the back, and at last passes into this: that evil itself is what destroys man, and that the Lord destroys no one (n. 1875).

2396. Because their cry is become great before Jehovah. That this signifies because the falsity from evil is so great, is evident from the signification of a "cry" (n. 2240), as being predicated of falsity; and here of falsity from evil (n. 2351).

2397. And Jehovah hath sent us to destroy it. That this signifies that they cannot but perish, is to be understood in the same way as the signification given just above (n. 2395). That "us" (that is, the "men" or "angels") denotes the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding, has been shown above. Through these were the good saved, and the evil destroyed; and yet the latter by the law that evil itself destroyed them. And because they perished in this way, and this through the Lord's advent into the world, it is said according to the appearance, that they " were sent to destroy them".

[2] It is some times said of the Lord in the Word, that He was "sent by the Father", as it is said here, " Jehovah hath sent us;" but in the internal sense by being "sent" is everywhere signified to go forth, as in John: -

They have received, and have known of a truth that I came forth from The, and they have believed that Thou didst send Me (John 17:8).

So in other places, as in the same: -

God sent not His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him may be saved (John 3:17).

Again: -

He that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father who hath sent Him (John 5:23).

Besides many other passages (Matt. 10:40; 15:24; John 3:34; 4:34; 5:30, 36-38; 6:29, 39, 40, 44, 57; 7:16, 18, 28, 29; 8:16, 18, 29, 42; 9:4; 10:36; 11:41, 42; 12:44, 45, 49; 13:20; 14:24; 17:18; 20:21; Luke 4:43; 9:48; 10:16; Mark 9:37; Isa. 61:1).

[3] In the same way it is said of the Holy Spirit, that it was "sent", that is, that it goes forth from the Lord's Divine, as in John: -

Jesus said, When the Comforter shall come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth which goeth forth from the Father, He shall testify of Me (John 15:26).

Again: -

If I go away, I will send the Comforter unto you (John 16:5, 7).

Hence the prophets were said to be "sent", because the words which they spoke came forth from the Holy of the Lord's Spirit. And because all Divine Truth comes forth from Divine Good, the expression "to be sent" is properly predicated of Divine Truth. But what "to go forth" means, is also evident, namely, that he who goes forth, or that which goes forth, is of him from whom it goes forth.

2398. Verse 14. And Lot went out and spake to his sons-in-law, that were to marry his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place, for Jehovah will destroy the city. And he was in the eyes of his sons-in-law as one that jested. "Lot went out", signifies those who are in the good of charity, and also the good itself of charity; "and spake to his sons-in-law, that were to marry his daughters", signifies with those who were in truths, with which the affections of good could be adjoined; "and said, Up, get you out of this place", signifies that they should not remain in a state of evil; "for Jehovah will destroy the city", signifies that they must needs perish; "and he was in the eyes of his sons-in-law as one that jested", signifies derision.

2399. And Lot went out. That this signifies those who are in the good of charity, and also the good itself of charity, has been repeatedly shown before. He who represents those who are in good, also signifies that good itself in which they are.

2400. And spake to his sons-in-law, that were to marry his daughters. That this signifies with those who were in truths, with which the affections of good could be conjoined, is evident from the signification of "sons-in-law", as being the knowledges of truth, and consequently truths (n. 2389); and from the signification of "daughters", as being the affections of good (n. 2362); and because it is said that he "spake to his sons-in-law, that were to marry his daughters", it is signified with those who were in truths with which the affections of good could be conjoined. As they could be conjoined, they are called his "sons-in-law;" but as they were not conjoined, it is said "that were to marry his daughters".

[2] The subject here treated of is the third kind of men who are within the church, namely, those who know truths, yet live in evil. For there are three kinds of men within the church: first, those who live in the good of charity; these are represented by "Lot;" second, those who are altogether in falsity and evil, and reject both truth and good; these are they who are represented by the "men of Sodom;" third, those who indeed know truths, but nevertheless are in evil; these are here signified by the "sons-in-law", and are especially those who teach, but the truth which they teach has not sent down its root deeper than is wont to do the knowledge that is solely of the memory, for it is learned and vaunted merely for the sake of honor and gain. And because with such persons the ground in which the truth is sown is the love of self and the love of the world, they have no belief in the truth, except a kind of persuasive one derived from these loves, the quality of which shall of the Lord's Divine mercy be told elsewhere. Such are here described by the sons-in-law, in that they believed nothing concerning the overthrow of Sodom, but laughed at it; and such is the faith of their heart.

2401. And said, Up, get you out of this place. That this signifies that they should not remain in a state of evil, is evident from the signification of "rising up", and of "getting out", and also of the "place". To "rise up" often occurs in the Word, but excites little thought as to what it further signifies, because it is a familiar expression. But in the internal sense this expression involves elevation, as here, from evil to good; for the mind is elevated when it recedes from evil (n. 2388). To "get out" is to recede, or not to remain. And the "place" is a state of evil (n. 2393). Thus the signification is evident.

[2] The quality of those who are in the knowledges of truth, but at the same time in a life of evil, has been repeatedly stated before, namely, that so long as they are in a life of evil they believe nothing; for to will evil and from will to do evil, and at the same time to acknowledge truth in faith, is not possible. This shows also that a man cannot be saved by thinking and speaking what is true, nor even what is good, while he wills nothing else, and from this his will does nothing else, than evil. It is the very will of man that lives after death; not so his thought, except that which flows from his will.

[3] As therefore a man is such as his will is, it is evident what must be his opinion of the truths of faith he has learned, and even taught, seeing that they condemn him. So far is he then from making them the basis of his thoughts, that he feels a positive aversion for them; nay, in so far as he is permitted to do so, he, like the devil's crew, blaspheme them. They who have not been instructed concerning the life after death may suppose that it will be easy for them to receive faith when they see that the Lord governs the universe, and when they hear that heaven consists in loving the Lord and the neighbor; whereas the truth is that the evil are as far from being able to receive faith, that is, to believe from the will, as hell is from heaven, for they are wholly in evil, and in the falsity thence derived. That such persons are against the Lord and against the neighbor, and therefore against good, and consequently against truth, is known and perceived from their mere approach, or presence. There is a horrible sphere that exhales from the life of their will and of their derivative thought (n. 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504).

[4] If by mere instruction in the other life it were possible that men could be brought to believe and to become good, there would not be a single person in hell; for the Lord desires to raise all without exception to Himself into heaven. For His mercy is infinite, because it is the Divine mercy itself, that is extended toward the whole human race, and therefore toward the evil as well as toward the good.

2402. For Jehovah will destroy the city. That this signifies that they must needs perish, is evident from the explication of nearly the same words above (n. 2395, 2397).

2403. And he was in the eyes of his sons-in-law as one that jested. That this signifies derision, is evident from the signification of "jesting", as being to utter as it were a joke, a fable, or trifles, thus such things as they would laugh at. "In their eyes", signifies that which was before their rational, as is evident from the signification of the "eyes" (n. 212). This shows what is the character of those who are in the truth of faith and not at the same time in the good of life.

2404. Verse 15. And when the dawn arose the angels pressed Lot to hasten, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are found, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. "When the dawn arose", signifies when the Lord's kingdom is approaching; "the angels pressed Lot to hasten", signifies that the Lord withheld them from evil and kept them in good; "saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are found", signifies the truth of faith and the affections of truth and of good; "found", denotes that they are separated from evil; "lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city", signifies lest they should perish by the evils of falsity.

2405. When the dawn arose. That this signifies when the Lord's kingdom is approaching, is evident from the signification in the Word of the "dawn" or "morning". As in this chapter the subject treated of is the successive states of the church, that which is done in the evening is first treated of, next that which is done in the night, and there now follows that which is done in the morning twilight, and presently that which is done after the sun is gone forth. The twilight is here expressed by "when the dawn arose", and it denotes the time when the upright are being separated from the evil; which separation is treated of in this verse, and as far as (verse 22), by Lot together with his wife and daughters being led out and saved. That separation precedes Judgment is evident from the Lord's words in Matthew: -

Before Him shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:32).

[2] This time or state is called in the Word the "dawn", because the Lord then comes; or what is the same, His kingdom then approaches. The case is similar with the good, for at such a time there shines out with them a semblance of the morning twilight or dawn; and therefore in the Word the advent of the Lord is compared to the "morning", and is also called the "morning". As in Hosea: -

After two days Jehovah will revive us, on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him and we shall know, and we shall follow on to know Jehovah; His going forth is as the dawn (Hosea 6:2, 3).

"Two days" denotes the time and state which precedes; the "third day" denotes the Judgment, or the advent of the Lord, and therefore the approach of His kingdom (n. 720, 901), which advent or approach is compared to the "dawn".

[3] In Samuel: -

The God of Israel is as the light of the morning, the sun riseth, a morning without clouds; from the brightness, from the rain, there is a growth from the earth (2 Sam. 23:4).

The "God of Israel" denotes the Lord; for no other God of Israel was meant in that church, and He was represented in each and all things of it. In Joel: -

The day of Jehovah cometh, for it is nigh at hand a day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and obscurity; as the dawn spread upon the mountains (Joel 2:1, 2).

Here also the Lord's advent and His kingdom are treated of; it is said a "day of darkness and of thick darkness", because the good are then being separated from the evil, as here Lot from the men of Sodom; and after the good have been separated, the evil perish.

[4] That the Lord's advent or the approach of His kingdom, is not merely compared to the "morning", but is actually called the "morning", may be seen in Daniel: -

A holy one said, How long shall be the vision, the continual sacrifice, and the transgression that maketh waste? He said unto me, Until evening and morning, two thousand three hundred, then shall the holy one be justified. The vision of the evening and the morning which hath been told is truth (Daniel 8:13, 14, 26).

"Morning" here manifestly denotes the Lord's advent. In David: -

Thy people are willing offerings in the day of thy strength, in honors of holiness, from the womb of the dawn thou hast the dew of thy youth (Ps. 110:3).

In this whole Psalm the subject treated of is the Lord, and His victories in temptations, which are the "day of His strength", and the "honors of His holiness;" "from the womb of the dawn", denotes Himself, thus the Divine love from which He fought.

[5] In Zephaniah: -

Jehovah in the midst of her is righteous, He will not do perversity; in the morning, in the morning will He give judgment for light (Zephaniah 3:5).

The "morning" denotes the time and state of Judgment, which is the same as that of the Lord's advent; and this is the same as the approach of His kingdom.

[6] Because the "morning" signified these things, in order that the same might be represented, it was commanded that Aaron and his sons should light up the lamp, and should order it from evening until morning before Jehovah (Exod. 27:21). The "evening" here denotes the twilight before the morning (n. 2323). In like manner it was commanded that the fire upon the altar should be kindled every morning (Lev. 6:5); also that nothing of the paschal lamb and of the sanctified things of the sacrifices should be left till the morning (Exod. 12:10; 23:18; 34:25; Lev. 22:29, 30; Num. 9:12); by which was signified that when the Lord came, sacrifices should cease.

[7] In a general sense it is called " Morning" both when the dawn appears, and when the sun rises; and in this latter case "morning" denotes the Judgment as it concerns both the good and the evil, as in this chapter: - The sun was gone forth upon the earth, and Lot came unto Zoar; and Jehovah caused it to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire (verses 23, 24). In like manner in so far as regards the Judgment upon the evil; in David: -

In the mornings will I destroy all the wicked of the land, to cut off from the city of Jehovah all the workers of iniquity (Ps. 101:8).

And in Jeremiah: -

Let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and He repenteth not; and let him hear a cry in the morning (Jeremiah 20:16).

As in the proper sense the "morning" signifies the Lord, His advent, and thus the approach of His kingdom, it is evident what it signifies besides, namely, the rise of a new church (for this is the Lord's kingdom on earth), and this both in general and in particular, and even in the least particular; in general, when any church on the globe is being raised up anew; in particular, when a man is being regenerated, and being made new (for then the Lord's kingdom is arising in him, and he is becoming a church); and in the least particular, whenever the good of love and faith is working in him; for in this consists the advent of the Lord. Hence the Lord's resurrection on the third day in the morning (Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1) involves all these things (even in the particular and the least particular) in regard to His rising again in the minds of the regenerate every day, and even every moment.

2406. The angels pressed Lot to hasten. That this signifies that the Lord withheld them from evil and kept them in good, evident from the signification of "pressing" and "hastening", as being to urge; and that by these words is signified to be withheld from evil, is evident both from the internal sense of these words and from what follows. The internal sense is that when the church begins to fall away from the good of charity, its people are at that time withheld from evil by the Lord more strongly than when it is in the good of charity. The same is evident from what follows, namely, that although the angels pressed Lot to go out of the city, he still lingered; and that they then laid hold of the hands of himself, his wife, and his daughters, and led them forth, and set them without the city; by which is signified and described the character of man in that state; for it is the second state of this church that is here treated of. The first state is described in the first three verses of this chapter; which state is such that they are in the good of charity and acknowledge the Lord, and are confirmed in good by Him. The second state is described here, which is such that with the men of the church themselves evils begin to act against goods, and that they are then powerfully withheld from evils and kept in goods by the Lord; which state is treated of in this verse, and in (verse 15, 16, 17).

[2] As regards this matter, few, if any, know that all men without exception are withheld from evils by the Lord, and this by a mightier force than man can ever believe. For the endeavor of every man is continually toward evil, and this both from what is hereditary, into which he is born, and from what is actual, which he has procured for himself; and this to such a degree that if he were not withheld by the Lord, he would rush headlong every moment toward the lowest hell. But the mercy of the Lord is so great that at every moment, even the least, the man is uplifted and held back, to prevent him from rushing thither. This is the case with the good also, but with a difference according to their life of charity and faith. Thus the Lord combats continually with man, and for man with hell, although it does not so appear to the man. That it is really so has been given me to know by much experience, which of the Lord's Divine mercy will be related elsewhere. (n. 929, 1581).

2407. Saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are found. That this signifies the truth of faith and the affections of truth and of good, and that "found" means separated (from evil), is evident from the signification of "arising", as being to be elevated from evil (n. 2401); also from the signification in this place of "wife", as being the truth of faith, respecting which see under (verse 26), where it is said of Lot's wife that she was turned into a statue of salt, and also from the signification of the "two daughters", as being the affections of truth and of good (n. 2362). That "found" denotes separated from evil, is also evident, because they were set free. By these few words is this second state of the church here described, namely, that they do not from good suffer themselves to be led to truth, as before, but through truth to good; and yet they are in an obscure affection of good; for in the proportion that truth is made the leader, good is obscure; whereas in the proportion that good is made the leader, truth is plain and evident in its own light.

2408. Lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. That this signifies lest they should perish in the evils of falsity, is evident from the signification of "iniquity", as being evil; and from the signification of "city", as being what is doctrinal, even if it is false (n. 402). What the evil of falsity is may be seen in (n. 1212, 1679).

2409. Verse 16. And he lingered; and the men laid hold of his hand, and of the hand of his wife, and of the hand of his two daughters, in the clemency of Jehovah upon him, and they led him forth, and set him without the city. "And he lingered", signifies opposition arising from the nature of evil; "and the men laid hold of his hand, and of the hand of his wife, and of the hand of his two daughters", signifies that the Lord powerfully withheld them from evils, and thereby strengthened the goods and truths signified by "Lot", his "wife", and his "daughters;" "in the clemency of Jehovah upon him", signifies from grace and mercy; "and they led him forth and set him without the city", signifies his state then.

2410. And he lingered. That this signifies opposition arising from the nature of evil, is evident from what was said above (n. 2406); for the evil which is in man continually reacts against the good which is from the Lord. Evil from what is hereditary and from what is actual adheres to man in each of his thoughts, nay, in the least things of his thoughts. This drags him downward (but the Lord, by means of the good which he instils, withholds him, and uplifts him, so that the man is held suspended between evil and good), and the consequence of this downward tendency is that if even for the least moment the man were not withheld from evils, he would of himself rush downward; and this he would do more in the state in which is the man of the church now represented by Lot than in the former state. This state is that he is beginning to think and to act not so much from good as from truth; thus at some distance from good.

2411. And the men laid hold of his hand, and of the hand of his wife, and of the hand of his two daughters. That this signifies that the Lord powerfully withheld from evils, and thus strengthened the goods and truths signified by "Lot, his wife, and his daughters", is evident from the signification of the "men", as being the Lord; from the signification of the "hand", as being power (n. 878); also from the signification of "Lot", as being the good of charity (n. 2324, 2351, 2371, 2399); from the signification of "wife", as being the truth of faith, treated of in (verse 26); from the signification of "daughters", as being the affections of good and of truth (n. 489 to 491, 2362); and finally from what was said above (n. 2388), namely, that good and truth flow in from the Lord in the proportion that man is withheld from evil; consequently, that the goods and truths signified by "Lot, his wife, and his two daughters", are in the same proportion strengthened.

[2] On reflection every man may know this from his own experience; for in proportion as he is removed from corporeal and worldly things, in the same proportion he is in a spiritual idea, that is, is uplifted toward heaven; as is the case when he is in any holy worship, when in any temptation, also when in misfortune or sickness. It is well known that corporeal and worldly things, that is, the loves of them, are then removed, the reason being as stated, namely, that what is heavenly and spiritual from the Lord continually flows in; but evil and its derivative falsity, and falsity and its derivative evil, which flow in from corporeal and worldly things, are what hinder its being received.

2412. In the clemency of Jehovah unto him. That this signifies from grace and mercy, is evident from the signification of the "clemency of Jehovah", which can be nothing else than grace and mercy. That man's being withheld from evil and kept in good by the Lord is of His pure mercy, may be seen above (n. 1049). The reason both grace and mercy are mentioned, is (n. 598, 981) that they who are in truth and from truth in good implore the Lord's grace only, whereas they who are in good and from good in truth implore His mercy; and this difference results from the difference that exists in their respective states of humiliation and consequent adoration.

2413. And they led him forth and set him without the city. That this signifies his state at the time, is evident from the signification of "leading forth", as being to withhold; and from the signification of "setting without the city", as being away from falsity; so that the state here referred to was that by his being withheld from evils, goods and truths from the Lord were strengthened.

2414. Verse 17. And it came to pass when they were leading them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not back behind thee, and stay not in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. "And it came to pass when they were leading them forth abroad", signifies the state when they were being withheld from falsity and evil; "that he said, Escape for thy life", signifies that he should take thought for his eternal life; "look not back behind thee", signifies that he should not look to doctrinal things; "and stay not in all the plain", signifies that he should not linger in any of these doctrinal matters; "escape to the mountain", signifies to the good of love and of charity; "lest thou be consumed", signifies that if he should do otherwise he would perish.

2415. And it came to pass when they were leading them forth abroad. That this signifies the state when they were being withheld from falsity and evil, is evident from what was said just above (n. 2413, 2388, 2411).

2416. That he said, Escape for thy life. That this signifies that he should take thought for his eternal life, is evident without explication. But in what way he should take thought for his life, now follows.

2417. Look not back behind thee. That this signifies that he should not look to doctrinal things, is evident from the signification of "looking back behind him", when the city was behind him and the mountain before him. For by "city" is signified what is doctrinal (n. 402, 2268, 2392); and by "mountain", love and charity (n. 795, 1430). That this is the signification will be evident in the explication at (verse 26), where it is said that his wife "looked back behind him", and became a pillar of salt. Every one may know that in this expression, "looking back behind him", there is some Divine arcanum, and that it lies too deep to be seen. For in looking back behind him there appears to be nothing criminal, and yet it is a matter of importance so great that it is said he should escape for his life, that is, should take thought for his eternal life by not looking back behind him. But what it is to look to doctrinal things will be seen in what follows; in this place we shall merely state what these doctrinal things are.

[2] Doctrine is twofold: that of love and charity, and that of faith. At first, while it is still a little maid and a virgin, every church of the Lord has no other doctrine, and loves no other, than that of charity; for this belongs to life. But successively the church turns itself away from this doctrine, until it begins to hold it cheap, and at length to reject it; and then it acknowledges no other doctrine than that which is called the doctrine of faith; and when it separates faith from charity, this doctrine conspires with a life of evil.

[3] Such was the case with the Primitive Church, or that of the Gentiles, after the Lord's coming. In its beginning it had no other doctrine than that of love and charity, for this the Lord Himself taught (n. 2371). But after His time, successively, as love and charity began to grow cold, there arose the doctrine of faith, and with it dissensions and heresies, which increased as men came to lay stress on this doctrine.

[4] The like was the case with the Ancient Church that was after the flood, and was extended through so many kingdoms (n. 2385): this church also in its beginning knew no other doctrine than that of charity, because this looked to and affected the life, and by so doing they had regard for their eternal welfare. And yet after some time the doctrine of faith too began to be cultivated with some, and at length to be separated from charity; but those who did this they called "Ham", because they were in a life of evil (n. 1062, 1063, 1076).

[5] The Most Ancient Church which was before the flood and which in pre-eminence to all others was called "Man", was in the very perception of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor; thus it had the doctrine of love and charity inscribed on itself. But even then there were those who cultivated faith, and when they separated it from charity they were called "Cain;" for by "Cain" is signified such faith, and by "Abel", whom he killed, charity (n. 337-442).

[6] This shows that there are two doctrines, the one of charity, and the other of faith, although in themselves the two are one; for the doctrine of charity involves all things of faith. But when the doctrine comes to be from those things alone which are of faith, it is then called twofold, because faith is separated from charity. That these doctrines are separated at the present day may be seen from the fact that it is altogether unknown what charity is, and what the neighbor is. They who are solely in the doctrine of faith are not aware that charity toward the neighbor consists in anything beyond giving of their own to others, and in feeling pity for anybody who may seem to need it, because they call everybody the neighbor without distinction; and yet charity is all good whatever there is in a man: in his affection, and in his zeal, and from these in his life; and the neighbor is all the good in others by which one is affected, consequently those who are in good; and this with every possible distinction.

[7] For example: that man is in charity and mercy who exercises justice and judgment by punishing the evil and rewarding the good. There is charity in punishing the evil, for to this are we impelled by our zeal to amend them, and at the same time to protect the good, lest these suffer injury at the hands of the evil. In this way does a man consult the welfare of one who is in evil, or his enemy, and express his good feeling toward him, as well as to others, and to the common weal itself; and this from charity toward the neighbor. The case is the same with all the other goods of life; for the good of life is never possible unless it comes from charity toward the neighbor, because it looks to this, and involves it.

[8] Seeing then that there is obscurity so great as regards the true nature of charity and of the neighbor, it is clear that the doctrine of charity (the doctrine of faith having assumed the first place) is among the things that are lost; when yet it was this alone that was cultivated in the Ancient Church; and that to such a degree that they reduced into classes all the goods that belonged to charity toward the neighbor, that is, all those who were in good; and this with many distinctions, to which they also gave names, calling them the poor, the miserable, the oppressed, the sick, the naked, the hungry, the thirsty, captives or those in prison, strangers, orphans, and widows; some also they called the lame, the blind, the deaf, the dumb, the maimed; besides many other names. In the Word of the Old Testament the Lord has spoken in accordance with this doctrine, on which account such terms so often occur there; and He himself again spoke in accordance with the same doctrine, as in (Matt. 25:35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 42-45; Luke 14:13, 21). Hence it is that in the internal sense these names have quite a different signification. In order therefore that the doctrine of charity may be restored, it will of the Lord's Divine mercy be stated in the following pages who those denoted by these names are, and what charity is, and what the neighbor is, both generally and specifically.

2418. Stay not in all the plain. That this signifies that he should not linger in any of these doctrinal matters, is evident from the signification of a "plain", as being everything of a doctrinal nature, concerning which presently. How the case stands with his not lingering in any of these doctrinal matters shall be stated at (verse 26), where Lot's wife is treated of in that she looked back behind him. That in the Word a "plain" signifies all things of a doctrinal nature, is evident in Jeremiah: -

He that layeth waste shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape, and the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed (Jeremiah 48:8);

where "city" denotes false doctrine; and the "plain" all things that belong to that doctrine. In John: -

When the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go forth to seduce the nations, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to war, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea; and they went up upon all the plain of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and fire came down from God out of heaven, and consumed them (Rev. 20:7-9);

where "Gog and Magog" denote those who are in external worship without internal, thus worship become idolatrous (n. 1151); the "plain of the earth", the doctrinal things of the church, which they lay waste; the "camp of the saints", the goods of love and of charity; their being "consumed by fire from God out of heaven" means the same as when this is said of the men of Sodom and Gomorrah, in (verse 24). Again: the doctrinal things of charity are called the "cities of the mountain", and the doctrinal things of faith the "cities of the plain", in (Jeremiah 33:13).

2419. Escape to the mountain. That this signifies to the good of love and of charity, is evident from the signification of a "mountain", as being love and charity (n. 795, 1430).

2420. Lest thou be consumed. That this signifies that if he should do otherwise he would perish, is evident without explication.

2421. Verses 18, 19. And Lot said unto them, Nay I pray my lords. Behold I pray thy servant hath found grace in thine eyes, and thou hast made thy mercy great which thou hast done with me to make alive my soul; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest peradventure evil cleave to me, and I die. "Lot said unto them, Nay I pray my lords", signifies weakness, so that he could not; "Behold I pray thy servant hath found grace in thine eyes", signifies humiliation from the affection of truth; "thou hast made thy mercy great", signifies a semblance of humiliation from the affection of good; "which thou hast done with me to make alive my soul", signifies on account of His desiring to save him; "and I cannot escape to the mountain", signifies doubt as to his being able to have the good of charity; "lest peradventure evil cleave to me, and I die", signifies that then it could not but come to pass that he would be at the same time in evil, and thereby would he condemned.

2422. Lot said unto them, Nay I pray my lords. That this signifies weakness, so that he could not, is evident from the affection in the very words, as also from what follows. There is here treated of the third state of the church represented in this chapter by Lot, which is that they no longer think and act from the affection of good, but from the affection of truth; which state succeeds, when the affection of good begins to be diminished, and as it were to recede. Good is indeed present, but has withdrawn itself more toward the interiors, and therefore is in obscurity; and yet it manifests itself in a certain affection, which is called the affection of truth. What the affection of good is, and what the affection of truth, (n. 1997, 2425). That there are these states is not apparent to man, still less what is the nature of them; but they are apparent to the angels as in clear light, for the angels are in every good affection of man; and they are apparent also to man himself when he comes into the other life. It is in accordance with these affections, and the quality of them, that the good are distinguished into societies (n. 685).

2423. That Behold I pray thy servant hath found grace in thine eyes, signifies humiliation from the affection of truth; and that thou hast made thy mercy great, signifies a semblance of humiliation from the affection of good, is evident from what has been said before concerning "grace" and "mercy" (n. 598, 981). For they who are in the affection of truth cannot humble themselves so far as to acknowledge from the heart that all things are of mercy; and therefore, instead of " mercy" they say " grace;" nay, the less of the affection of truth there is in them, the less of humiliation there is in their mention of grace; whereas on the other hand, the more of the affection of good there is in anyone, the more of humiliation there is in his mention of mercy. This shows how much the adoration, and consequently the worship, that exists with those who are in the affection of truth differs from that which exists with those who are in the affection of good. For in order that there may be worship, there must be adoration; and in order that there may be adoration, there must be humiliation; and this in all things of the worship both in general and particular. What has been said will serve to show why both " grace" and " mercy" are here mentioned.

2424. Which thou hast done with me to make alive my soul. That this signifies on account of His desiring to save him, is evident without explication.

2425. And I cannot escape to the mountain. That this signifies doubt as to his being able to have the good of charity, that is, to think and act from that good, is evident from the signification of a " mountain", as being love and charity (n. 795, 1430).

[2] As regards this doubt, the case is this. Within the affection of truth of those who are in this affection there is the affection of good, but so obscurely that they do not perceive, thus do not know, what the affection of good is, and what genuine charity is. They do suppose that they know, but it is from truth, thus from memory-knowledge, and not from good itself. Nevertheless they do the goods of charity, not in order to merit anything thereby, but from obedience; and this in so far as they apprehend that it is the truth. For they suffer themselves to be led by the Lord out of their obscurity of good by means of the truth which appears to them to be truth. For example: being ignorant what the neighbor is, they do good to every one whom they suppose to be the neighbor; especially to the poor, because these call themselves poor on account of being destitute of worldly wealth; to orphans and widows, because they are so termed; to strangers, because they are such; and so on with all the rest and this they do so long as they are ignorant what is signified by the poor, by orphans, widows, strangers, and others. Nevertheless seeing that in their affection of apparent truth there lies in obscurity the affection of good, by which the Lord leads them to such action, they are at the same time in good as to their interiors, and in this good the angels are present with them, and are delighted there with their appearances of truth by which such persons are affected.

[3] But they who are in the good of charity, and from this in the affection of truth, do all things with discrimination, for they are in light; since the light of truth is from no other source than good, because the Lord flows in by means of good. These persons do not do good to the poor, to orphans, to widows, and to strangers, for the mere reason that they are so termed; for they know that those who are good, whether poor or rich, are neighbors more than all others; since by the good, good is done to others; and therefore in so far as these persons do good to the good, they do it to others through them. They also know how to make distinctions among goods, and so among good men. They call the general good itself their neighbor in a greater degree, for in this there is regarded the good of still greater numbers. As still more their neighbor to whom charity is to be done they acknowledge the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the church; and the Lord's kingdom itself in the heavens even still more. But they who set the Lord before all these-who adore Him alone and love Him above all things-derive the neighbor in all these degrees from Him; for the Lord alone is the neighbor in the highest sense, thus all good is the neighbor in so far as it is from Him.

[4] But they who are in the opposite derive the degrees of the neighbor from themselves, and acknowledge only those as neighbor who favor and serve them-calling no others brethren and friends-and this with a distinction, accordingly as they make one with them. All this shows what the neighbor is, namely, that a man is our neighbor according to the love in which he is; and that he is truly the neighbor who is in love to the Lord and in charity toward his neighbor, and this with every possible difference; thus it is the good itself with every one that determines the point in question.

2426. Lest peradventure the evil cleave to me, and I die. That this signifies that then it could not but come to pass that he would be at the same time in evil, and that thereby he would be condemned, is evident without explication. What these words involve may be known from what has been said and shown before (n. 301-303, 571, 582, 1001, 1327, 1328), namely, that the Lord constantly provides that evil should not be commingled with good; but that in so far as a man is in evil, so far is he removed from good; for it is better for a man to be altogether in evil, than in evil and at the same time in good. For if he is in evil and at the same time in good, he must needs be damned eternally. It is the deceitful and hypocrites within the church who are most in danger of this. Such therefore is the meaning, in the internal sense, of "lest the evil cleave to me, and I die".

2427. Verse 20. Behold I pray this city is near to flee thither, and it is a little one; let me I pray escape thither-is it not a little one?-and my soul shall live. "Behold I pray this city is near to flee thither", signifies that he might be permitted (to think and act) from the truth of faith; "and it is a little one", signifies from the little truth that he had; "let me I pray escape thither", signifies that from this small amount of truth it might be permissible to have regard to good; "is it not a little one?" signifies might he not have some little truth; "and my soul may live", signifies that so perchance be might be saved.

2428. Behold I pray this city is near to flee thither. That this signifies that he might be permitted (to think and act) from the truth of faith, is evident from the signification of a "city", as being what is of doctrine, thus the truth of faith (n. 402, 2268). It is said to be "near", because truth is nearly related to good; on which account to "flee thither" signifies that he might be permitted [to think and act] from truth, seeing that he could not do so from good (n. 2422).

2429. It is a little one. That this signifies from the little truth that he had, is evident from the signification of a "city", as being truth, concerning which just above. Its being "little" signifies that there was little of truth; here, from the little that he had, as is evident from what precedes and what follows.

[2] As regards the thing itself, namely, that they who are in the affection of truth have little truth in comparison with those who are in the affection of good, this is evident from the fact that it is from the meager and obscure good appertaining to them that they regard truth. The truth in a man is exactly according to the good that is in him. Where there is little good, there is little truth. They are in a like ratio and in a like degree, or, as we say, they march with even step. This indeed may seem a paradox, but still the case is so. Good is the very essence of truth, and truth without its essence is not truth, although it appears as if it were; it is merely a sounding brass, and is like an empty vessel.

[3] In order that anyone may have truth in himself, he must not only know it, but also acknowledge it, and have faith in it; he then for the first time has truth, because it then affects him, and remains. It is otherwise when he only knows truth, and does not acknowledge it, and have faith in it; for in this case he has not the truth in himself. This is the case with many who are in evil: they are able to know truths, sometimes more than other men; but still they have not the truth; nay, they have it so much the less, because at heart they deny it.

[4] It is provided by the Lord that no one should have (that is, acknowledge and believe) more truth than he receives of good. Hence it is here said of the city, by which truth is signified, that it is a "little one", and again in this verse, "Is it not a little one?" also in (verse 22), that he called the name of the city "Zoar", which in the original language means "little;" for the reason that those are here treated of who are in the affection of truth, and not so much in the affection of good.

2430. Let me I pray escape thither. That this signifies that from this small amount of truth it might be permissible to have regard to good, is evident from what precedes and what follows. It was said that he should "escape to the mountain", by which is signified the good of love and of charity (n. 2419); but it was answered that he could not do this, but could escape to the city, by which is signified the truth of faith (n. 2428); thus that he could regard good from truth, or what is the same, charity from faith. Moreover that city was situated at the foot of the mountain; and from it he afterwards went up and dwelt on the mountain, but in a cave (verse 30).

2431. Is it not a little one? That this signifies might he not have some little truth, is evident from what was said above (n. 2429), thus without further explication. This question is asked for the reason that the Lord alone knows how much good there is in the truth, and thus how much truth there is in a man.

2432. And my soul shall live. That this signifies that so perchance he might be saved, is likewise evident without explication That he also was saved, because there was good in his truth, is evident from what follows, namely, from the answer, "Behold, I have accepted thy face as to this word also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken" (verse 21); and afterwards, "The sun was gone forth upon the earth, and Lot came unto Zoar" (verse 23); by which is meant that they who are in the affection of truth, that is, who are in faith, are saved, provided it is the faith of good.

2433. Verse 21. And He said unto him, Behold, I have accepted thy face as to this word also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken. "He said unto him, Behold, I have accepted thy face as to this word also", signifies assent, provided that the interiors in the truth derive anything from good; "that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken", signifies that thus he would not perish.

2434. He said unto him, Behold, I have accepted thy face as to this word also. That this signifies assent, provided that the interiors in the truth derive anything from good, is evident from the signification of "face". The term "face" is of frequent occurrence in the Word, and there signifies the interiors, as before shown (n. 358, 1999); and also that when the face is attributed to Jehovah or the Lord, it signifies Mercy, Peace, Good (n. 222, 223); so that here it signifies the good which is interiorly in truth; and therefore to "accept the face" denotes to assent, provided that the interiors in the truth derive anything from good. "As to this word", denotes as to this matter. That there is no truth unless there is good within it, may be seen above (n. 1496, 1832, 1900, 1904, 1928, 2063, 2173, 2269, 2401, 2403, 2429); and that the blessedness and happiness which a man has after death is not from truth, but from the good that is in the truth (n. 2261); and hence the more good there is in his truth, the more blessed and happy he is. That good is within truth, and causes it to be truth, is evident also from the goods and truths that exist even in worldly things. When a man learns and acknowledges that anything in these is good, then whatever favors this good he calls truth; but whatever does not favor it, he rejects and calls falsity. He may indeed say that that is true which does not Favor the good in question; but he is then making a pretense, while thinking differently. And the case is the same in spiritual things.

2435. That I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken. That this signifies that so he would not perish, namely, the man with whom there is truth within which there is good, is evident from the signification of a "city", as being truth (n. 402, 2268, 2428). It has been disputed from the most ancient times which is the firstborn of the church, charity or faith; for the reason that man is regenerated and becomes a church by means of the truths of faith. But they who have set faith foremost and made it the firstborn, have all fallen into heresies and falsities, and at length have extinguished charity altogether; as we read of Cain, by whom such faith is signified, that at length he killed his brother Abel, by whom is signified charity; and afterwards of Reuben, the firstborn son of Jacob, by whom likewise faith is signified, that he polluted his father's couch (Gen. 35:22; 49:4), and therefore was held unworthy, and the primogeniture was given to Joseph (Gen. 48:5; 1 Chron. 5:1).

[2] This was the source of all the contentions, and also all the laws, respecting primogeniture that are mentioned in the Word. The cause of there being such a controversy was that it was not known, as even at this day it is not known, that a man has only so much of faith as he has of charity; and that when a man is being regenerated, charity presents itself to faith, or what is the same, good presents itself to truth, and insinuates itself into it and adapts itself to it in every particular, causing faith to be faith; and thus that charity is the very firstborn of the church, although to man it appears otherwise (n. 352, 367). But as these things will frequently be treated of hereafter, of the Lord's Divine mercy we shall say more on the subject as the occasion arises.

2436. Verse 22. Haste thee, escape thither, for I cannot do anything until thou be come thither. Therefore he called the name of the city Zoar. "Haste thee, escape thither", signifies that he should remain in it, because he cannot go further; "for I cannot do anything until thou be come thither", signifies that before the Judgment upon the evil, they are to be saved who are in the affection of truth; "Therefore he called the name of the city Zoar", signifies the affection of truth.

2437. Haste thee, escape thither. That this signifies that he should remain in it, because he could not go further (that is to say, in the truth of faith and the affection of it, because he could not be in the very good of charity and the affection of it), is evident from what precedes.

2438. For I cannot do anything until thou be come thither. That this signifies that before the Judgment upon the evil they are to be saved who are in the affection of truth, is evident from the fact that the words "I cannot do anything", refer to the Judgment upon the evil, which is presently described by the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah; and that the words "until thou be come thither", signify that they are first to be saved who are in the affection of truth, and who are here represented by Lot; which also is what is meant by Lot's coming to Zoar (verse 23).

[2] That the good and the just are saved before the evil and the unjust perish, is evident also elsewhere in the Word, as where the Last Judgment is treated of in Matthew, and it is said that the sheep were separated from the goats, and the sheep were told to enter into the Lord's kingdom before the goats were told to depart into eternal fire (Matthew 25:32, 34, 41). The like was also represented in the exodus of the sons of Israel from Egypt-that they were saved before the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea.

[3] The same is also signified by the declarations of the Prophets, that after the faithful had been brought back from captivity, their enemies should then undergo their punishments and perish. This is continually taking place in the other life, that is, the faithful are first saved, and then the unfaithful are punished; or what is the same, the faithful are elevated into heaven by the Lord, and the unfaithful then cast themselves down into hell. The reason why these two things do not take place at the same time is that unless the good were carefully withdrawn from the wicked, they would easily perish by the cupidities of evil and the persuasions of falsity, which the wicked continually scatter around like poisons. But in general, before this comes to pass, it is provided that evils should be separated from the good, and that goods should be separated from the evil, so that the former may by means of their goods be uplifted by the Lord into heaven, and the latter by means of their evils may cast themselves down into hell (n. 2449, 2451).

2439. Therefore he called the name of the city Zoar. That this signifies the affection of truth, is evident from the signification of Zoar", as being the affection of good, namely, of the good of knowledge, that is, the affection of truth (n. 1589); and from the signification of "calling a name", as being to know the quality (n. 144, 145, 1754, 2009); here that there was a little truth, for in the original language " Zoar" means "little", or "small". In comparison with those who are in the affection of good, they who are in the affection of truth have little truth because they have little good (n. 2429).

[2] Moreover that truths which are in themselves truths are with one person more true, with another less true, and with some not true at all, and even false, is evident from almost all things which in themselves are true; for they are varied in the man with whom they are, in accordance with his affections. For example, the doing of a good work or a good of charity: in itself it is a truth that this is to be done; and with one person it is a good of charity, because it proceeds from charity; with another it is a work of obedience, because it proceeds from obedience; with some it is work of self-merit, because by it they desire to merit and to obtain salvation; but with others it is hypocritical, being done in order that they may seem charitable; and so on. It is the same with all other things that are called truths of faith. And this shows that there is much truth with' those who are in the affection of good, and less truth with those who are in the affection of truth; for the latter regard good as being more remote from themselves, whereas the former regard good as being present in themselves.

2440. Verse 23. The sun was gone forth upon the earth, and Lot came to Zoar. "The sun was gone forth upon the earth", signifies the last period, which is called the Last Judgment; "and Lot came to Zoar", signifies that those are saved who are in the affection of truth.

2441. The sun was gone forth upon the earth. That this signifies the last period, which is called the Last Judgment, is evident from the signification of the "rising of the sun", when the subject treated of is the times and states of the church. That in the internal sense the times of the day, and also the times of the year, signify the successive states of the church, has been shown before (n. 2323); and that the dawn or morning signifies the Lord's advent, that is, the approach of His Kingdom (n. 2405) so that in the passage before us the rising of the sun, that is, his "going forth upon the earth", signifies the Lord's presence itself; and this for the reason that both the "sun" and the "east" signify the Lord. As to the "sun", (n. 31, 32, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2120); as to the "east", (n. 101).

[2] The reason why the Lord's presence is the same as the last period, which is called the Judgment, is that His presence separates the good from the evil, and results in the good being elevated into heaven, and the evil casting themselves down into hell; for in the other life the Lord is the Sun to the universal heaven (n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531), for it is the Divine Celestial of His love that so appears before their eyes and actually makes the very light of heaven. In so far therefore as the inhabitants of the spiritual world are in celestial love, so far are they elevated into that celestial light which is from the Lord; but in so far as they are remote from celestial love, so far do they cast themselves away from this light into infernal darkness.

[3] This therefore is the reason why the "rising of the sun", by which is signified the presence of the Lord, involves both the salvation of the good and the damnation of the evil; and this is why it is now said for the first time that "Lot came to Zoar", that is, that they who are here represented by Lot were saved; and presently that "Jehovah caused it to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire", that is, that the evil were damned.

[4] To those who are in the evils of the love of self and of the world, that is, to those who are in hatreds against all things of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, the light of heaven actually appears as thick darkness; on which account it is said in the Word that to such the "sun was blackened;" by which is signified that they rejected everything of love and charity, and received everything that is contrary thereto. As in Ezekiel: -

When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof black I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine all the luminaries of light in the heavens will I make black over thee, and will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 32:7, 8).

Every one can see that by "covering the heavens", " blackening the stars", "covering the sun", and "blackening the luminaries of heaven", other things than these are signified.

[5] In like manner in Isaiah: -

The sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine (Isaiah 13:10).

And in Joel: -

The sun and the moon are blackened, and the stars withdraw their shining (Joel 2:2, 10).

It is therefore evident what is signified by the Lord's words in Matthew, where He is speaking of the last period of the church, which is called the Judgment: -

Immediately after the affliction of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matthew 24:29);

where by the "sun" is not meant the sun; nor by the "moon", the moon; nor by the "stars", the stars; but by the "sun" are signified love and charity; by the "moon", the faith thence derived; and by the "stars", the knowledges of good and truth; which are said to be "obscured", to "lose their light", and to "fall from heaven", when there is no longer any acknowledgment of the Lord, nor any love to Him, nor any charity toward the neighbor; and when these have become nought, the love of self with its falsities takes possession of the man; for the one thing is a consequence of the other.

[6] Hence we read also in John

The fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and it was given unto him to scorch men with fire, and men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God (Rev. 16:8, 9);

where also the last times of the church are treated of, when all love and charity are being extinguished; or, speaking according to the common mode, when there is no longer any faith. The extinction of love and charity is meant by the "pouring out of the vial upon the sun;" so that it was the love of self and its cupidities by which men were then "scorched with fire", and "scorched with great heat;" and from which came the "blaspheming of the name of God".

[7] By the "sun" the Ancient Church understood nothing else than the Lord and the Divine Celestial of His love; and therefore they were accustomed to pray toward the sun-rising, while not thinking at all about the sun. But after their posterity had lost this also, together with the rest of their representatives and significatives, they began to worship the sun itself and also the moon; which worship spread to many nations, so much so that they dedicated temples to them, and set up pillars; and because the sun and the moon then took on an opposite signification, they came to signify the love of self and of the world, which are diametrically contrary to heavenly and spiritual love. Hence in the Word by the "worship of the sun and the moon" is meant the worship of self and of the world;

[8] as in Moses: -

Lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the army of the heavens, and thou be driven to bow down unto them, and serve them (Deut. 4:19).

And again: -

If he have gone and served other gods, and the sun and the moon, or any of the army of the heavens, which I have not commanded, then thou shalt stone them with stones, and they shall die (Deut. 17:3, 6).

Into such idolatry was the ancient worship turned when they no longer believed that anything internal was signified by the rites of the church, but only what was external.

[9] In like manner in Jeremiah: -

At that time shall they spread out the bones of the kings of Judah, of the princes, of the priests, of the prophets, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, before the sun and the moon, and all the army of the heavens, which they have loved, and which they have served (Jeremiah 8:1, 2).

The "sun" here denotes the love of self and its cupidities; their "spreading out the bones" signifies the infernal things that belong to such worshipers. Again: -

He shall break the pillars of the house of the sun, which are in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire (Jeremiah 43:13).

The "pillars of the house" denote the worship of self.

2442. And Lot came to Zoar. That this signifies that those who are in the affection of truth are saved, is evident from the signification of " Zoar", as being the affection of truth (n. 2439). This shows that those also are saved who are in faith, provided there is good in their faith; that is, provided they are affected by the truths of faith for the sake of good, for this is from good: all the life of faith is from no other source. That charity is the essential of faith, nay, that it is faith itself, because it is the very substance of faith, see (n. 379, 389, 654, 724, 809, 916, 1162, 1176, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 2049, 2116, 2189, 2190, 2228, 2261, 2343, 2349, 2417).

2443. Verse 24. And Jehovah caused it to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven. "Jehovah caused it to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire", signifies the hell of those who are in the evils of the love of self and the falsities thence derived; "to rain" is to be damned; "brimstone" is the hell of the love of self; "fire" is the hell of the falsities thence derived; "from Jehovah out of heaven", signifies from the laws of order as to truth, because they separate themselves from good.

2444. Jehovah caused it to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire. That this signifies the hell of those who are in the evils of the love of self and the falsities thence derived, is evident from the signification of "raining", as being to be damned; of "brimstone", as being the hell of the evils of the love of self; and of "fire", as being the hell of the falsities thence derived, concerning which presently; also from the signification of " Sodom", as being the evil of the love of self; and of " Gomorrah", as being the falsity thence derived (n. 2220, 2246, 2322).

[2] Here "Gomorrah" is also mentioned, for the first time in this chapter, for the reason that "Gomorrah" signifies the falsity that comes from the evil of the love of self. For within the church, whose last period or Judgment is here treated of, this evil is that which chiefly acts against good, and its falsity is that which acts against truth; and these two things are so conjoined that he who is in the one is also in the other, and indeed in a like ratio and a like degree. It does indeed appear otherwise, but yet is plainly so in the other life, if not in the world. As regards the love of self, its nature, the vastness of the evils that come from it, and that it is the source of the hells, (n. 693, 694, 760, 1307, 1305, 1321, 1594, 1691, 2041, 2045, 2051, 2057, 2219).

2445. That to "rain" denotes to be damned, is evident from the signification of "rain". In the Word "rain" in the genuine sense signifies a blessing, and therefore also salvation; but in the opposite sense a curse, and therefore also damnation. That it signifies a blessing and therefore salvation, is evident from many passages; but that in the opposite sense it signifies a curse, and therefore damnation, is manifest from the following. In Isaiah: -

There shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a refuge and a covert from flood, and from rain (Isaiah 4:6).

In Ezekiel: -

Say to them that daub on what is untempered, that it shall fail there shall be an overflowing rain, and ye hailstones shall fall; an overflowing ram shall there be in Mine anger, and hailstones in wrath unto the consummation (Ezekiel 13:11, 13).

In David: -

He made their rains hail, a fire of flames in their land, and He smote their vine and their fig-tree (Ps. 105:32, 33);

concerning Egypt, of which we read in Moses: -

Jehovah gave thunders and hail, and fire quivered upon the land; and Jehovah made it rain hail upon the land of Egypt (Exod. 9:23, 24).

2446. That "brimstone" denotes the hell of the evils of the love of self, and "fire" the hell of the falsities thence derived, is evident from the signification in the Word of "brimstone" and the " fire" from it, as being the love of self with its cupidities and the derivative falsities, thus as being hell, for hell consists of such things. That "brimstone" and "fire" have this signification is evident in David: -

Jehovah shall rain upon the wicked snares, fire and brimstone (Ps. 11:6).

That fire and brimstone are not here meant, but something else that is signified by "fire and brimstone", is evident also from its being said that Jehovah "rains snares". In Ezekiel: -

I will contend against him with pestilence and with blood, and I will make it ram an overflowing rain, and hailstones, fire and brimstone, upon him, and upon his troops, and upon the many peoples that are with him (Ezekiel 38:22);

where God is treated of, who lays waste the land of Israel, that is, the church. The signification of "God" see (n. 1151). "Fire" denotes falsities, "brimstone" the evils thence, and at the same time the hells of those who lay waste. In John: -

They who adored the beast were cast into a lake of fire burning with brimstone (Rev. 19:20);

meaning hell. Again: -

The devil was cast into a lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Rev. 20:10);

manifestly meaning hell. Again: -

The abominable, and murderers, and adulterers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone (Rev. 21:8);

where also "fire and brimstone" plainly denote hell.

[2] That they denote the evils of the love of self and the falsities thence derived, from which come the hells - in Isaiah: -

The day of the vengeance of Jehovah, and the year of retribution' in the controversy of Zion; and the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the streams thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch (Isaiah 34:8, 9);

where "burning pitch", here mentioned instead of "fire", denotes dense and direful falsities and " brimstone" the evils from the love of self. Again: -

The pile thereof is fire and much wood the breath of Jehovah is like a stream of brimstone kindling in it (Isaiah 30:33);

speaking of Topheth; the "stream of kindling brimstone" denoting falsities from the evils of the love of self. In Luke: -

In the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all; even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed (Luke 17:29, 30).

That it will not then rain fire and brimstone is obvious; but what is meant is that the falsities and cupidities of the love of self, which are signified by "fire and brimstone", and which make the hells, will then predominate.

[3] That in the Word "fire" signifies cupidities, and at the same time the hells, and that in this case the "smoke" from the fire signifies the falsity thence derived, and which is in those hells, may be seen above (n. 1861); and in John: -

I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat upon them, having breastplates of fire and of brimstone and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouth issued fire, smoke, and brimstone: by these three were the third part of men killed, by the fire, and the smoke, and the brimstone (Rev. 9:17, 18);

"fire, smoke, and brimstone" denote evils and falsities of every kind, of which as before said the hells consist.

2447. From Jehovah out of heaven. That this signifies from the laws of order as to truth, because they separate themselves from good, cannot be seen except from the internal sense, by which there is disclosed how the case stands with punishments and damnations: that they in no wise come from Jehovah, that is, from the Lord, but from the man himself, the evil spirit, and the devil; and this from the laws of order as to truth, because they separate themselves from good.

[2] All order is from Jehovah, that is, from the Lord, and according to this order are all things directed by Him both in general and in particular, but in many different ways, to wit, from Will, from Good-pleasure, from Leave, and from Permission. The things that are from His will and good-pleasure are from the laws of order as to good, and so also are many of those which are from leave, and some of those which are from permission. But when a man separates himself from good he casts himself into the rule of the laws of order that are of truth separated from good, which are such that they condemn; for all truth condemns man and casts him down into hell; whereas the Lord from good, that is, from mercy, saves him, and uplifts him into heaven. From this we see that it is man himself who condemns himself.

[3] The things done from permission are mostly of this nature, as for example, that one devil punishes and torments another; and innumerable other things of this kind. These things are from the laws of order as to truth separated from good; for the devils could not otherwise be held in bonds, and withheld from rushing upon all the well disposed and good, and eternally destroying them. It is the prevention of this which is the good the Lord has in view. The case herein is similar to that which exists on earth, where a mild and clement king, who intends and does nothing but good, must needs suffer his laws to punish the evil and the wicked (although he punishes no one, but rather grieves that they are such that their evils must punish them), for otherwise he would leave his kingdom itself a prey to them; which would be the height of rigor and of unmercifulness.

[4] This shows that Jehovah in no wise caused it to rain brimstone and fire, that is in no wise condemned to hell; but that the men themselves who were in evil and thence in falsity did this, because they had separated themselves from good, and so had cast themselves into the rule of the laws of order that come from truth alone. From all which it follows that this is the internal sense of these words.

[5] That in the Word "evil", "punishing", "cursing' "damnation", and many other such things are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord, as here that He made it "rain brimstone and fire", we read in Ezekiel: -

I will contend against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him fire and brimstone (Ezekiel 38:22).

In Isaiah: -

The breath of Jehovah like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it (Isaiah 30:33).

In David: -

Jehovah shall rain upon the wicked snares, fire and brimstone (Ps. 11:6).

Again: -

There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth, coals did burn from Him (Ps. 18:8).

In Jeremiah: -

Lest My fury go forth like fire, and burn, and there is none to quench it (Jeremiah 21:12).

In Moses: -

A fire is kindled in Mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell (Deut. 32:22);

besides similar things in many other places. The reason why such things are attributed in the Word to Jehovah or the Lord has been explained in (n. 223, 245, 589, 592, 696, 735, 1093, 1638, 1683, 1874); for such things are as far from coming from the Lord, as good is far from evil, or as heaven is from hell, or what is Divine from what is diabolical. Evil, hell, and the devil do these things; but by no means the Lord, who is mercy itself and good itself; but because He appears to do them, therefore for the reasons mentioned in the numbers cited, they are attributed to Him.

[6] From its being said in this verse that Jehovah caused it to rain from Jehovah out of heaven, it appears in the sense of the letter as if there were two; one on earth, and one in heaven; but the internal sense teaches how this also is to be understood, namely, that by the Jehovah first named is meant the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding (meant in this chapter by the "two men") and by the Jehovah named in the second place is meant the Divine Itself that is called the "Father" (spoken of in the preceding chapter); and that this Trine is in the Lord, as He himself says in John: -

He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; believe Me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:9-11).

And concerning the Holy proceeding, in the same: -

The Comforter shall not speak from Himself but He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto you (John 16:13-15).

Thus Jehovah is one, although two are here named; two being named for the reason that all the laws of order are from the Lord's Divine Itself, Divine Human, and Holy proceeding.

2448. Verse 25. And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and the growth of the ground. "He overthrew those cities", signifies that all truths were separated from them, in order that they might have only falsities "and all the plain", signifies all things that pertained to truths; " and all the inhabitants of the cities", signifies that all goods were separated from them, in order that they might have nothing but evils; "and the growth of the ground", signifies all that is of the church.

2449. He overthrew those cities. That this signifies that all truths were separated from them, in order that they might have only falsities, is evident from the signification of " cities", as being doctrinal things, thus truths, since these belong to doctrinal things (n. 402, 2268, 2428); and which are said to be " overthrown" when there are falsities instead of truths, in the present case when all truths have been separated from them, as well as all goods, which are likewise treated of in this verse because the subject is the last state of those within the church who are in falsities and evils; and this is the state into which they come, concerning the nature of which a few words shall be said.

[2] They who come into the other life are all brought again into a life similar to that which they had in the body; and then with the good evils and falsities are separated, in order that by means of goods and truths they may be elevated by the Lord into heaven; but with the evil, goods and truths are separated in order that by evils and falsities they may be borne into hell (n. 2119); precisely in accordance with the Lord's words in Matthew: -

Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, that he may have more abundance but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath (Matthew 13:12).

And elsewhere in the same: -

Unto him that hath shall be given, that he may have abundance; but from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he hath (Matthew 25:29; Luke 8:18; 19:24-26; Mark 4:24, 25).

The same things are also signified by these words in Matthew: -

Let both grow together until the harvest and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn. The harvest is the consummation of the age as therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the consummation of the age (Matthew 13:30, 39, 40).

The same are also signified by what is said of the net cast into the sea that gathered fishes of various kinds, the good being collected into vessels and the bad cast away; and of its being so at the consummation of the age (Matthew 13:47-50). What the "consummation" is, and that it involves like things as these in regard to the church, see (n. 1857, 2243). The reason why evils and falsities are separated from the good is that they may not hang between evils and goods, but may be elevated by means of goods into heaven; and the reason why goods and truths are separated from the evil is that they may not by means of any goods that pertain to them seduce the upright, and also that by means of their evils they may go away among the evil who are in hell. For such is the communication in the other life, of all ideas of thought, and of all affections, that goods are communicated among the good, and evils among the evil (n. 1388-1390); so that unless the good and the evil were separated, countless mischiefs would result, and moreover all association together would be impossible; when yet all things are most exquisitely consociated, in the heavens according to all the differences of love to the Lord and of mutual love, and of the derivative faith (n. 685, 1394); and in the hells according to all the differences of cupidities and of the derivative phantasies (n. 695, 1322). Be it known however that the separation is not entire removal, for from no one is that which he has had altogether taken away.

2450. And all the plain. That this signifies all things that pertained to those truths, is evident from the signification of a "plain", as being everything of what is doctrinal, thus everything that pertains to truths (n. 2418).

2451. And all the inhabitants of the cities. That this signifies that all goods were taken away from them, in order that they might have nothing but evils, is evident from the signification of "inhabitants", when predicated of a city, as being goods; which may be confirmed by many things in the Word. The same is also evident from the fact that when a "city" signifies truth, an "inhabitant" denotes good; for truth is that in which good dwells; and truth in which there is no good, is like a city empty, or without an inhabitant. Moreover as regards the fact that all goods are separated from the evil, so that they may have nothing but evils, see above (n. 2449).

2452. And the growth of the ground. That this signifies all that is of the church, is evident from the signification of the "growth" (by which is meant both the crops and also even green thing, and that goods and truths are signified by these, is evident from the Word throughout) and also from the signification of the "ground", as being the church (n. 566, 1068). That goods and truths are everything of the church, is well known.

2453. Verse 26. And his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. "His wife looked back behind him", signifies that truth turned itself away from good, and looked to doctrinal things; "and she became a pillar of salt", signifies that all the good of truth was vastated.

2454. His wife looked back behind him. That this signifies that truth turned itself away from good, and looked to doctrinal things, is evident from the signification of "looking back behind him", and from the signification of a "wife". It has been already said (n. 2417) that to "look back behind him" is to look to doctrinal things, which are of truth, and not to a life according to doctrinal things, which is of good; for that is said to be "behind" him, which is posterior; and that is said to be "before" him, which is prior. It has been frequently shown that truth is posterior, and good prior; for truth is of good, because good is the essence and life of truth; and therefore to "look back behind him" is to look to truth, which is of doctrine, and not to good, which is of life according to doctrine. That this is the signification is very evident from the Lord's words (where also He is speaking of the last time of the church, or of the consummation of the age) in Luke: -

In that day he that shall be upon the house, and his vessels in the house, let him not go down to take them away and let him that is in the field likewise' not turn back behind him: Remember Lot's wife (Luke 17:31, 32).

[2] These words of the Lord are not at all intelligible without the internal sense, thus unless it is known what is signified by being upon the house, what by the vessels in the house, what by going down to take them away, and what by the field, and lastly what by turning back behind him. According to the internal sense, to be "upon the house" is to be in good. That a "house" denotes good may be seen above, (n. 710, 2233, 2234). The "vessels" in a house denote the truths which are of good. That truths are the vessels of good, may be seen above, (n. 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2269). To "go down to take them away" denotes to turn one's self away from good to truth, as we can see; for as good is prior it is also higher; and as truth is posterior it is lower. That a "field" denotes the church, being so called from the seed which it receives into it, consequently that those are "fields" who are in the good of doctrine, is evident from many passages in the Word. This shows what is signified by "turning back behind him", namely, to turn one's self away from good, and to look to doctrinal things; wherefore, because these things are signified by Lot's wife, it is added, "Remember Lot's wife". It is not said that she "looked back behind herself", but "behind him;" because "Lot" signifies good (n. 2324, 2351, 2370, 2399). Hence it is that when Lot was told what to do (verse 17), it was said, "Look not back behind thee".

[3] The reason why it is said in Luke, "Let him not turn back behind him", and not "to the things that are behind him", is that the celestial are not willing even to mention anything of a doctrinal nature (n. 202, 337); which is the reason why nothing specific is mentioned, but it is merely said "behind him". These same things are thus described in Matthew: -

When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, foretold by Daniel the prophet, then let them that are in Judea flee into the mountains; let him that is upon the house not go down to take anything out of his house and let him that is in the field not return back to take his garments (Matthew 24:15-17);

[4] where the "abomination of desolation" denotes the state of the church when there is no love and no charity, for when these are desolated, abominable things predominate. That "Judea" denotes the church, and indeed the celestial church, is evident from the Word of the Old Testament throughout, both the historic and the prophetic. That the "mountains" into which they shall flee, denote love to the Lord and the consequent charity toward the neighbor, may be seen above (n. 795, 1430, 1691). That "he who is upon the house", denotes the good of love, has just been stated. That to "go down to take anything out of his house", denotes to turn one's self away from good to truth, has also just been stated. That " they who are in the field" denote those who are in the spiritual church, is evident from the signification in the Word of a "field". That "let him not return back to take his garments", denotes that he should not turn himself away from good to the truth that is of doctrine, is because "garments" signify truths, for truths act as garments in clothing good (n. 1073). Every one can see that very different things are meant and that arcana are involved by all that the Lord there said concerning the consummation of the age, as that they who were in Judea should flee into the mountains, that they who were upon the house should not go down to take anything out of the house, and that they who were in the field should not return back to take their garments; and in like manner by its being said that Lot should not look back behind himself (verse 17), and here that his wife did look back behind him. This is further evident from the signification of a "wife", as being truth (n. 915, 1468); and from the signification of "Lot", as being good (n. 2324, 2351, 2370, 2399); hence it is said "behind him".

[5] Truth is said to turn itself away from good, and to look to doctrinal things, when the man of the church no longer has at heart what kind of a life he lives, but what kind of a doctrine he possesses when yet it is a life according to doctrine that makes a man of the church, but not doctrine separate from life; for when doctrine is separated from life, then because good, which is of the life, is laid waste, truth, which is of doctrine, is also laid waste, that is, becomes a pillar of salt; which every one may know who looks only to doctrine and not to life, when he considers whether, although doctrine teaches them, he believes in the resurrection, in heaven, in hell, even in the Lord, and in the rest of the things that are of doctrine.

2455. And she became a pillar of salt. That this signifies that all the good of truth was laid waste, is evident from the signification of a "pillar", and from the signification of "salt". In the original language a "pillar" is expressed by a word which signifies a standing still, not by one that means a pillar erected for worship or for a sign, or for a witness so that by the "pillar of salt" is here signified that it, namely, the truth signified by Lot's wife, stood vastated (n. 2454). Truth is said to be vastated, or laid waste, when there is no longer any good in it, vastation itself being signified by "salt".

[2] As most things in the Word have a double sense, namely, the genuine sense and its opposite, so also has " salt;" in the genuine sense it signifies the affection of truth; in the opposite sense, the vastation of the affection of truth, that is, of good in truth. "Salt" signifies the affection of truth (Exod. 30:35; Lev. 2:13; Matt. 5:13; Mark 9:49, 50; Luke 14:34, 35); and it signifies the vastation of the affection of truth, which is evident from the following passages. In Moses: -

The whole land shall be brimstone and salt, a burning; it shall not be sown, it shall not bear, neither shall any herb spring up therein like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim (Deut. 29:23);

where "brimstone" denotes the vastation of good; and "salt" the vastation of truth: that the subject is vastation is evident from every particular.

[3] In Zephaniah: -

Moab shall be as Sodom, and the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah a place that is left to the nettle, and a pit of salt, and an eternal desolation (Zephaniah 2:9);

where a "place that is left to the nettle" denotes vastated good, and a "pit of salt" vastated truth; for the expression "place left to the nettle" refers to Sodom, by which is signified evil or vastated good, and a "pit of salt" to Gomorrah, by which is signified falsity or vastated truth, as already shown. That the subject is vastation is manifest, for it is said an "eternal desolation". In Jeremiah: -

He that maketh flesh his arm shall be like a bare shrub in the solitude, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land, and not inhabited (Jeremiah 17:5, 6);

where "parched places" denote vastated goods, and a "salt land" vastated truths.

[4] In David: -

Jehovah maketh rivers into a wilderness, and water springs into dry ground, a fruitful land into a salt one, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein (Ps. 107:33, 34);

a "fruitful land made into a salt one" denotes the vastation of good in truth. In Ezekiel: -

The miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt (Ezekiel 47:11);

to be " given up to salt" denotes being altogether vastated as to truth. As "salt" signified vastation, and "cities" the doctrinal things of truth (n. 402, 2268, 2428, 2451), in ancient times when cities were destroyed they were sown with salt, in order to prevent their being rebuilt (Judges 9:45). The words before us therefore denote the fourth state of that church which was represented by Lot, which state was that all truth was vastated as to good.

2456. Verses 27-29. And Abraham rose up early in the morning unto the place where he had stood before Jehovah. And he looked against the faces of Sodom and Gomorrah, and against all the faces of the land of the plain; and he saw and behold the smoke of the land went up, as the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt. "Abraham rose up early in the morning", signifies the Lord's thought concerning the last time; Abraham here as before denotes the Lord in that state; "unto the place where he had stood before Jehovah", signifies the state of perception and thought in which He had been before; "place" denotes state. "And he looked against the faces of Sodom and Gomorrah", signifies thought concerning their interior state in respect to evil and falsity; "and against all the faces of the land of the plain", signifies all the interior states thence derived; "and he saw and behold the smoke of the land went up, as the smoke of a furnace", signifies a state of falsity (which is "smoke") from a state of evil (which is the "furnace") within the church (which is the "land"). "And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain", signifies when they perished through the falsities of evil, which are the "cities of the plain;" "that God remembered Abraham", signifies salvation through the unition of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence; "and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow", signifies the salvation of those who are in good, and of those who are in truth in which is good, all of whom are here meant by "Lot;" "when He overthrew the cities", signifies when those who were in falsities from evils perished; "in which Lot dwelt", signifies although they who were saved were also in such falsities.

2457. It is not necessary to explain these things in detail, because for the most part they have been explained in the preceding chapter, and also previously to that. They have been here added and inserted to the end that it might be evident that the good were separated from the evil, the former being saved while the latter were condemned, solely through the unition of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence; for if this had not taken place all those who are here represented by Lot would have perished together with the rest; which is meant by these words: "And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt;" which in the internal sense denote that through the unition of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence, all who were in good were saved, and also those who were in truth in which there is good, here represented by Lot, while those who were in falsities from evils perished, although they who were saved were also in falsities and evils. In this way therefore are the things said in this chapter conjoined with those said in the preceding one; namely, that Abraham (that is, the Lord in that state) interceded for those people of Sodom and Gomorrah who are signified by the "fifty", the "forty-five", the "forty", the "thirty", the "twenty", and the "ten;" concerning whom it was there explained that these are all in their order who are in good, and also those who are in truth in which there is anything of good.

2458. Verse 30. And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. "Lot went up out of Zoar", signifies when they were no longer in the affection of truth; "and dwelt in the mountain", signifies that they then betook themselves to a kind of good; " and his two daughters with him", signifies that so did the affections thence derived; "for he feared to dwell in Zoar", signifies because they could no longer look to good from the affection of truth; "and he dwelt in a cave", signifies the good of falsity; "and his two daughters", signifies the affections thence derived, which are those of such good and such falsity.

2459. Lot went up out of Zoar. That this signifies when they were no longer in the affection of truth, is evident from the signification of " Zoar", as being the affection of truth (n. 2439); and as there follows the statement that "he dwelt in the mountain because he feared to dwell in Zoar", the signification is "when they were no longer in the affection of truth", and this because all the good of truth had been vastated, as is evident from (verse 26). In this verse therefore there is described the fifth state of the church which was represented by Lot, which state was that after there was no longer any affection of truth, a kind of impure good, or good of falsity, infused itself.

2460. And dwelt in the mountain. That this signifies that they then betook themselves to a kind of good, is evident from the signification of a "mountain", as being love in every sense, namely, celestial and spiritual love (n. 795, 1430); and also the love of self and of the world (n. 1691); and this because most things in the Word have also an opposite sense. And as all good is of some love, by the "mountain" is here signified good; but what kind of good is described in what follows, namely, that it was obscure, and became impure; for it is presently said that he "dwelt in a cave", and afterwards that profane things took place there.

2461. And his two daughters with him That this signifies that so did the affections thence derived, is evident from the signification of "daughters", as being affections (n. 489-491); but such as the good is, such are the affections that are derived from it. Even spurious and impure good has its affections, for all are affected by the things which they deem to be good, of whatever kind these may be, for they are the objects of their love.

2462. For he feared to dwell in Zoar. That this signifies because he could no longer regard good from the affection of truth, is evident from the signification of "Zoar", as being the affection of truth (n. 2439); and when this is vastated no one can any longer have regard to good from it. There is then also a fear of all truth, because this is opposed to the good of an impure love.

2463. And he dwelt in a cave. That this signifies the good of falsity, is evident from the signification of a "cave". A cave is a kind of dwelling in a mountain, but a dark one; and as all dwellings whatever, like "houses", signify goods (n. 2233, 2234), but goods of such sort as are the dwellings; here the "cave", being a dark dwelling, signifies the good of falsity. "Caves of mountains" are often mentioned in the Word, and in the internal sense have such a signification, as in (Isaiah 2:19; 32:14), and in the historical books, as when Elijah, escaping from Jezebel, Came to a cave in Mount Horeb, and spent the night there; and there the word of Jehovah came to him, and He said unto him, go forth and stand on the mount before Jehovah; and he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood at the entrance of the cave (1 Kings 19:9, 13); where in the internal sense by a "cave" is signified obscure good, but such as exists in temptations; and as this could not endure the Divine, he wrapped his face in his mantle. So too elsewhere in the historical books, as that the sons of Israel made for themselves caves in the mountains on account of Midian (Judges 6:2); also on account of the Philistines (1 Sam. 13:6). These historical facts, like those now explained in the books of Moses, have a different meaning in the internal sense.

2464. And his two daughters. That this signifies the affections thence derived, which are those of such good and such falsity, is evident from the signification of "daughters", as being affections (n. 2461). The good from which came these affections, or the father from whom came these daughters, was Lot; and the truth from which came these affections, or the mother of the daughters, was Lot's wife; and when she was made a pillar of salt, that is, when the good of truth was vastated, then there came forth such good as is signified by "Lot the cave", and such affections thence derived as are signified by the "daughters".

2465. Verses 31-36. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is no man in the earth to come unto us according to the way of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him, and let us quicken seed from our father. And they made their father drink wine that night; and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father; let us make him drink wine this night also, and go thou in and lie with him, and let us quicken seed from our father. And they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose. And the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father.

[2] " The firstborn said unto the younger", signifies here as before the affections; the firstborn the affection of such good, the younger the affection of such falsity; "our father is old, and there is no man in the earth", signifies that it is no longer known what good is, and what truth is; "to come unto us", signifies with which they might be conjoined; "according to the way of all the earth", signifies according to doctrinal things; the "earth" is the church. "Come, let us make our father drink wine", signifies that they should imbue such good with falsities, which are the "wine;" "and let us lie with him", signifies that in this way they would be conjoined; "and let us quicken seed from our father", signifies that so there would be a newness of a sort of church.

[3] "And they made their father drink wine", signifies that they imbued such good with falsities; "that night", signifies when all things were in such obscurity; "and the firstborn went in", signifies the affection of such good; "and lay with her father", signifies that thus they were brought into accordance; "and he knew not when she lay down nor when she arose", signifies that such a general kind of good knew no otherwise than that it was so. "And it came to pass on the morrow", signifies afterwards "that the firstborn said unto the younger", signifies that the affection of such good persuaded the falsity; " Behold, I lay yesternight with my father", signifies that thus they were conjoined; "let us make him drink wine this night also", signifies here as before that they imbued such good with falsities when everything was in such obscurity;

[4] "and go thou in and lie with him", signifies that these things also should be conjoined; "and let us quicken seed from our father", signifies here as before that so there would be a newness of a sort of church. "And they made their father drink wine that night also", signifies that in that obscure state they imbued such good with falsities; "and the younger arose and lay with him", signifies that the affection of falsity did in like manner, so that falsities appeared as truths, and in this way they were conjoined; "and he knew not when she lay down nor when she arose", signifies that such general good knew no otherwise than that it was so. "And the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father", signifies that hence was the origin of such a religion as is signified by Noah and the son of Ammon.

2466. That the things now set forth are signified in the internal sense, can be confirmed, and indeed as to each word; but most of them have been confirmed before, and besides, they are such as do violence to our ideas and give offense to chaste ears. From the summary explication we can see that by the things in question there is described the origin of such a religion as is signified in the Word by "Moab" and the "son of Ammon". The nature of this religion will be told hereafter, where Moab and the son of Ammon are treated of. That it is adulterated good and falsified truth, is evident. The adulterations of good and the falsifications of truth are commonly described in the Word by "adulteries" and "whoredoms", and are also so called, the reason of which is based on the fact that good and truth form a marriage with each other (n. 1904, 2173); nay, incredible as it may appear to most, it is from this marriage as from its genuine origin that there comes the sanctity of marriages on earth, and also the laws of marriages given in the Word.

[2] For the case is this: When celestial and spiritual things descend out of heaven into a lower sphere, they are there turned in the most perfect manner into some likeness of marriages, and this from the correspondence that exists between spiritual and natural things. But when they are perverted in the lower sphere, as is done where evil genii and evil spirits are present, the same are then turned into such things as belong to adulteries and whoredoms. Hence it is that contaminations of good and perversions of truth are described in the Word by adulteries and whoredoms, and are also so named, as is very evident from the following passages in Ezekiel: - Thou didst commit whoredom because of thy name, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by thou didst take of thy garments and madest for thee high' places decked with divers colors, and didst commit whoredom upon them thou didst take the vessels of thy adornment of My gold and of My silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee images of a male, and didst commit whoredom with them; thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto Me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them. Was there but little of thy whoredoms? thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, thy neighbors, great of flesh and hast multiplied thy whoredom to provoke Me to anger; thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, and hast committed whoredom with them, and wast not satisfied; and thou hast multiplied thy whoredom even unto the land of traffic, unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied there with (Ezekiel 16:15-17, 20, 26, 28, 29);

[3] where Jerusalem is treated of, by which is here signified the church perverted in respect to truths. Every one can see that all these things have quite different meanings. That something of the church that has been perverted is called "whoredom" is quite evident; the "garments" here mentioned denote the truths that are being perverted; the falsities thence derived, which are worshiped, are the "high places decked with divers colors", with which there was whoredom. "Garments" denote truths (n. 1073); and "high places" denote worship (n. 796). The "vessels of adornment of gold and silver which I had given", denote the knowledges of good and truth from the Word by which they confirm falsities; and when these appear as truths, they are called " images of a male" with which whoredom was committed. The "vessels of adornment of gold and silver", denote the knowledges of good and truth, which is evident from the signification of "gold", as being good (n. 113, 1551, 1552); and of "silver" as being truth (n. 1551, 2048); and the "images of a male" signify that they appear as truths (n. 2046). That the "sons and daughters" which they bore and sacrificed to them denote the truths and goods which they have perverted, is evident from the signification of "sons and daughters" (n. 489-491, 533, 2362). That to "commit whoredom with the sons of Egypt", denotes to pervert these truths and goods by means of memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "Egypt", as being memory-knowledge (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462). That to "commit whoredom with the sons of Asshur", denotes to pervert them by reasonings, is evident from the signification of "Asshur", as being reasoning (n. 119, 1186). That to "multiply whoredom even unto the land of Chaldea", denotes to pervert them even to the profanation of truth, which is "Chaldea" (n. 1368). All this makes clear what is the nature of the internal sense of the Word in the very sense of the letter.

[4] In like manner elsewhere in the same Prophet: - Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom in Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth; Samaria is Oholah, Jerusalem is Oholibah. Oholah committed whoredom under Me, and she doted on her lovers, the Assyrians her neighbors, she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, the choice of all the sons of Asshur; she hath not forsaken her whoredoms from Egypt, for they lay with her in her youth. Oholibah corrupted her love more than she, and her whoredoms more than the whoredoms of her sister; she doted upon the sons of Asshur; she added to her whoredoms, and saw the images of the Chaldeans, she doted upon them at the view of her eyes; the sons of Babel came to her into the bed of loves (Ezek. 23:2-5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16). "Samaria" denotes the church which is in the affection of truth, and "Jerusalem" that which is in the affection of good; whose "whoredoms with the Egyptians", and "with the sons of Asshur", denote perversions of good and truth by means of memory-knowledges and reasonings, by which falsities are confirmed, as is evident from the signification of "Egypt" (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); and of "Asshur" (n. 119, 1186). That this was done even to profane worship, which in respect to truth is "Chaldea" (n. 1368); and in respect to good is the "sons of Babel" (n. 1182, 1326).

[5] In Isaiah: -

And it shall come to pass at the end of seventy years that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her harlot hire, and shall commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth (Isaiah 23:17).

It is the vaunting of what is false that is signified by the "harlot hire" and the "whoredom" of Tyre. That " Tyre" denotes the knowledges of truth may be seen above (n. 1201); and also that the "kingdoms" with which the whoredom was committed denote truths (n. 1672).

[6] In Jeremiah

Thou hast committed whoredom with many companions; and return again unto Me. Lift up thine eyes unto the hills, and see where hast thou not been debauched? Upon the ways hast thou sat for them as an Arab in the wilderness, and thou hast profaned the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness (Jeremiah 3:1, 2).

To "commit whoredoms" and to "profane the land with whoredoms" denote to pervert and falsify the truths of the church. That the "land" denotes the church see (n. 662, 1066, 1067).

[7] Again

By the voice of her whoredom she hath profaned the land, she hath committed adultery with stone and with wood (Jer. 3:9);

to "commit adultery with stone and with wood", denotes to pervert the truths and goods of external worship. That "stone" is such truth see (n. 643, 1298); and that "wood" is such good, (n. 643).

[8] Again: -

Because they have wrought folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with the wives of their fellows, and have spoken a word in My name that is false, which I commanded them not (Jer. 29:23);

to "commit adultery with the wives of their fellows", is to teach falsity as from them.

[9] Again: -

In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing, in committing adultery and walking in falsehood (Jer. 23:14);

where to "commit adultery" regards good which is contaminated; and to "walk in falsehood" regards truth which is perverted. Again: -

I have seen thine abominations; thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the foulness of thy whoredom upon the hills in the field Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem, thou wilt not be made clean; how long shall it yet be? (Jer. 13:27).

[10] In Hosea: -

Whoredom, and wine, and new wine, have taken possession of the heart. My people inquireth of wood, and the staff thereof will declare it for the spirit of whoredom hath led them astray, and they have committed whoredom from under their God; they sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under the oak, the poplar, and the terebinth (robore), therefore your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery shall I not visit upon your daughters because they commit whoredom, and upon your daughters-in-law because they commit adultery? for they divide with whores, and sacrifice with prostitutes (Hosea 4:11-14).

What each of these things signifies in the internal sense can be seen from the signification of "wine", as being falsity; of "new wine", as being the evil thence derived; of the " wool that is inquired of", as being the good of the delight of some cupidity; of the "staff that will declare", as being the imaginary power of their understanding; also of the "mountains" and the "hills", as being the loves of self and of the world; of the "oak, the poplar, and the terebinth", as being so many gross perceptions thence derived in which they trust; of "daughters" and the "daughters-in-law", as being such affections; all of which show what is here signified by "whoredoms", "adulteries", and "harlots".

[11] In the same: -

O Israel, thou hast committed whoredom over thy God, thou hast loved harlot hire upon all the corn-floors (Hosea 9:1);

"harlot hire" denotes the vaunting of what is false. In Moses: -

Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they commit whoredom after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods; and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifices, and thou take of his daughters for thy sons, and his daughters commit whoredom after their gods, and make thy sons commit whoredom after their gods (Exod. 34:15, 16).

In the same: -

I will cut off all that commit whoredom after him, committing whoredom after Molech, from the midst of their people; and the soul that turneth unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto the soothsayers, to commit whoredom after them, I will set My face against that soul, and will cut him off from the midst of his people (Lev. 20:5, 6).

In the same: -

Your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your bodies be consumed in the wilderness (Num. 14:33).

In the same: -

Remember all the precepts of Jehovah, and do them, that ye seek not after your own heart, and your own eyes, after which ye do commit whoredom (Num. 15:39).

[12] And still more plainly in John: -

An angel said, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed whoredom, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her whoredom (Rev. 17:1, 2);

the "great harlot" denotes those who are in profane worship; the "many waters" upon which she sits, are knowledges (n. 28, 739); the "kings of the earth" who have committed whoredom with her, are the truths of the church (n. 1672, 2015, 2069); the "wine" with which they were made drunk, is falsity (n. 1071, 1072). Because "wine" and "drunkenness" signify these things, it is said of the daughters of Lot, that they made their father drink wine (verses 32, 33, 35).

[13] In the same: -

Babylon hath made all nations drink of the wine of the fury of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her (Rev. 18:3).

"Babylon" or "Babel" denotes a worship the externals of which appear holy, while the interiors are profane (n. 1182, 1295, 1326); the "nations that she makes to drink", are the goods which are being profaned (n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849); the "kings" who committed whoredom with her, are truths (n. 1672, 2015, 2069). In the same: -

The and just are the judgments of the Lord God, for He hath judged the great harlot, who corrupted the earth with her whoredom (Rev. 19:2);

where the "earth" denotes the church (n. 566, 662, 1066, 1068, 2117, 2118).

[14] As "whoredoms" signify such things, and "daughters" signify affections, it was therefore forbidden so severely that the daughter of a priest should commit whoredom; concerning which we read in Moses: -

The daughter of a priest, having begun to commit whoredom, she is profaning her father, she shall be burned with fire (Lev. 21:9).

It was also commanded that they should not bring the hire of a harlot into the house of Jehovah, because it is an abomination (Deut. 23:18). And for the same reason there was such an inquisitorial process concerning a wife whose husband had conceived a suspicion of adultery (Num. 5:12-31), in which instance each and all things have relation to the adulterations of good. Moreover in the Word many different kinds of adulteries and whoredoms are spoken of, and still more varieties. This kind which is here described by Lot's daughters lying with their father, is what is called "Moab" and the "son of Ammon", now to be explained.

2467. Verses 37, 38. And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of Moab even unto this day. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon even unto this day. "The firstborn bare a son", signifies the religion of that church in respect to good; "and called his name Moab", signifies its quality; "he is the father of Moab even unto this day", signifies that this is the source of such persons. "And the younger she also bare a son", signifies the falsified truth of that church; "and called his name Benammi", signifies its quality; "he is the father of the sons of Ammon even unto this day", signifies that this is the source of such persons.

2468. These things, again, need no confirmation; for that such things are signified is evident from the explication itself, and from what precedes and what follows. But what is the nature and quality of the religion signified by " Moab" and the "sons of Ammon", can be seen from their origin, as here described; as well as from many passages in the Word, both historic and prophetic, where these nations are mentioned. To speak generally they denote those who are in an external worship which appears in a manner holy, but who are not in internal worship; and who readily learn as being goods and truths the things that belong to external worship, but reject and despise those of internal worship.

[2] Such worship and such religion fall to the lot of those who are in natural good, but despise others in comparison with themselves. They are not unlike fruits which in the external form are not unbeautiful, but which are mouldy or rotten within; and they are not unlike marble vases, within which are things impure and even foul; or not unlike women seemly enough in face, form, and manners, but diseased within, and full of impurities. For there is a general good appertaining to such which appears not ill-favored; but the particulars that enter into it are filthy. In the beginning indeed it is not so, but it gradually becomes so; for such men easily suffer themselves to be imbued with whatever things are called good, and with any falsities whatsoever that are derived from these, and which, because they confirm them, they suppose to be truths; and this because they despise the interior things of worship, for the reason that they are in the love of self. Such persons have their existence and derivation from those who are in external worship alone (represented in this chapter by Lot); and this when the good of truth has been desolated. They are described in the Word, both such as they are in the beginning, when their good has not yet become so defiled; and afterwards when it is becoming defiled; and also after this, when it has become utterly defiled; and it is shown that they reject the interior things of worship and of doctrine.

[3] The character of such in the beginning when their good has not yet become so defiled, is described in Daniel: -

In the time of the end shall the king of the south be at variance with him; and the king of the north shall rush upon him like a storm, with chariot, and with horsemen, and with many ships, and shall come into the lands, and shall overflow, and shall pass through and he shall come into the land of beauty, and many lands shall go to ruin: these shall be rescued out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the firstlings of the sons of Ammon (Daniel 11:40, 41).

The "king of the south", denotes those who are in goods and truths; the "king of the north", those who are in evils and falsities; the "king of the north with chariot, horsemen, and ships, coming upon the lands, overflowing, and passing through", signifies that the evils and falsities denoted by "chariots", "horsemen", and "ships", will prevail; "Edom, Moab, and the firstlings of the sons of Ammon who are to be rescued out of his hand", denote those who are in such good that is not as yet so defiled by falsities; on which account they are called the "firstlings of the sons of Ammon".

[4] In Moses: -

We passed through by the way of the wilderness, and Jehovah said unto Moses, Distress not Moab, neither mingle thyself with them in war, for I will not give thee of his land for an inheritance, because I have given Ar unto the sons of Lot for an inheritance (Deut. 2:8, 9).

And concerning the sons of Ammon: -

Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Thou art to pass this day over Ar the border of Mob, and thou wilt come near over against the sons of Ammon distress them not, nor mingle thyself with them for I will not give thee of the land of the sons of Ammon for an inheritance, because I have given it unto the soils of Lot for an inheritance (Deut. 2:17-19);

"Ar" denotes such good; "Moab" and the "sons of Ammon" denote those who are in such good, but in the beginning; on which account it is ordered that they be not distressed.

[5] Hence it is that Moab drove out the Emim, and the Rephaim who were like the Anakim; and that the sons of Ammon also drove out the Rephaim whom they called the Zamzumim (Deut. 2:9-11, 18-21). By the Emim, Rephaim, Anakim, and Zamzumim, are signified those who are imbued with persuasions of what is evil and false (n. 581, 1673); by Moab and the sons of Ammon are here meant those who were not yet so imbued. These nations however when they too had become so imbued, that is, when their good was defiled by falsities, were likewise driven out (Num. 21:21-31; Ezek. 25:8-11).

[6] Their character when their good is becoming defiled is described in Jeremiah: -

Unto Moab thus saith Jehovah, Woe unto Nebo, for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is put to shame, is taken; Misgab is put to shame and is dismayed; the praise of Moab is no more; give wing to Moab, for flying she must fly away, and her cities shall become a desolation, without any to dwell therein. Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab and be like the dove, she maketh her nest in the passages of the mouth of the pit. I know his anger, saith Jehovah, but it is not firm; his falsities, they have not done right. Therefore will I howl over Moab, and I will cry out to all Noah. From the weeping of Jazer will I weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah thy shoots have passed over the sea, they reached even to the sea of Jazer; upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage the spoiler is fallen. Therefore my heart is moved over Moab, like fruits. Woe unto thee, O Moab, the people of Chemosh is destroyed; for thy sons are taken into captivity, and thy daughters into captivity. And I will bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days (Jeremiah 48:1, 9, 28, 30-32, 36, 46, 47).

[7] In this whole chapter the subject treated of is Moab; but through him those are treated of who are in such good, in that they suffer themselves to be imbued with falsities; on which account it is said that they should "give wing to Moab, that it may fly away, and that its cities shall become a desolation;" but that they should "leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and make nests like the dove in the passages of the mouth of the pit", and so on, by which expressions it is signified that they are persuaded to remain in their general goods and truths; and that if they should then be seduced by the falsities of ignorance, they will be brought back from captivity in the latter days but concerning those with whom this was not done it is said, "I will howl over Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab, and my heart is moved over Moab". The falsities with which they are imbued are signified by Nebo, Kiriathaim, Misgab, Sibmah, Jazer, Chemosh, and other names in this chapter.

[8] In Isaiah: -

A nest sent away shall the daughters of Moab he. Bring forth counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow like the night in the midst of the noonday hide the outcasts, betray not the wanderer, let mine outcasts dwell with thee, O Moab be thou a covert to them from the spoiler. We have heard the arrogance of Moab, he is very arrogant, his pride, and his arrogance, and his anger; his lies are not so; therefore Moab shall howl, for Moab all shall howl. Therefore my bowels shall be stirred like a had over Moab, and mine inward part for the city of Heres. And it shall come to pass when Moab shall be seen, when he is wearied upon the high place, and shall come to his sanctuary to pray, that he shall not prevail. In three years, as if years of hire, and the praise of Moab shall become vile, in all the great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small, and not strong (Isaiah 16:2-4, 6, 11, 12, 14).

Moab is further treated of in this whole chapter, and through him those who are in such good; and they are described there in words similar to those in Jeremiah chapter 48 and are in like manner persuaded to remain in their general goods and truths, and not to suffer themselves to be imbued with falsities. These general goods and truths are signified by their "giving counsel", "executing judgment", "hiding the outcasts", "not betraying the wanderer", and being "a covert to the outcasts from the spoiler;" all of which things signify the externals of worship. But as they suffer themselves to be imbued with falsities, it is said, "in three years, as years of hire, shall the praise of Moab become vile in all the great multitude, and the remnant shall be very small, and not strong".

2468a.

[9] As such persons are easily led away, Moab is called "the sending forth of the band of the Philistines", and the sons of Ammon their "obedience", in Isaiah: -

The root of Jesse which standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto Him shall the nations seek, and His rest shall be glory; the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not distress Ephraim and they shall fly upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the sea; together shall they spoil the sons of the east, Edom, Moab the sending forth of their hand, and the sons of Ammon their obedience (Isaiah 11:10, 13, 14);

the "root of Jesse" denotes the Lord; "Judah" those who are in celestial good; "Ephraim" those who are in spiritual truth; the "Philistines" those who are in the mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of truth, and not in charity, the "sons of the east", those who are in the mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of good, and also not in charity; and Moab is called the "sending forth of their hand", and the sons of Ammon their "obedience", because they are imbued with falsities by them.

[10] But of what character become those who are called Moab and the sons of Ammon when their good has been altogether defiled by falsities, is described in David: -

God hath spoken in His holiness, Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine, Ephraim also is the strength of My head, Judah is My lawgiver, Moab is My washpot (Ps. 60:7-9, Ps. 108:8-10);

the "washpot" denotes good defiled by falsities.

[11] In Jeremiah: -

The praise of Moab is no more in Heshbon they have devised evil against him: come, let us cut him off from being a nation. Moab hath been at peace from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, and hath not gone into exile therefore his taste remaineth in him, and his odor is not changed. On all the housetops of Moab there shall be lamentation everywhere, because I have broken Moab like a vessel in which there is no pleasure (Jeremiah 48:2, 11, 38).

The falsities with which the good denoted by Moab is defiled, are here called "lees, in which the taste and the odor remain", if he is not reformed, which is here denoted by being "emptied from vessel to vessel". This good itself is called the "vessel in which there is no pleasure", just as in David it is called a "washpot", in which washing is done. In Isaiah: -

In this mountain the band of Jehovah resteth, and Moab shall be trodden down under it, as chaff is trodden down in the dunghill (Isaiah 25:10).

[12] That they who are in such good care for external things only, and despise, reject, and indeed spew out the internal things of worship and of doctrine, and that consequently they have falsities instead of truths - in Ezekiel: -

Son of man, set thy face toward the sons of Ammon, and prophesy against them, and say unto the sons of Ammon, Hear the word of the Lord Jehovah. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou saidst, Aha, against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity, I will make Rabbah a habitation for camels, and the sons of Ammon a couching-place for the flock. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because thou hast clapped the hand, and hast stamped with the foot, and hast been glad with all the contempt of thy soul against the ground of Israel, therefore behold I will stretch out My hand upon thee, and give thee for a spoil to the nations, and I will cut thee off from the peoples, and destroy thee from the lands (Ezekiel 25:2-11).

These words: "Aha, against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity", "thou hast clapped the hand, and hast stamped with the foot, and hast been glad with all the contempt of thy soul against the land of Israel", are expressions of contempt, derision, and rejection of the interior things of worship and of doctrine; and when these are rejected, external things are of no avail; but such persons are "given for a spoil to the nations", that is, they are taken possession of by evils, and are " cut off from the peoples", that is by falsities, and are "destroyed from the earth", that is they become of no church.

[13] In Zephaniah: -

I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the blasphemies of the sons of Ammon, who have reproached My people they enlarged against their border: therefore, as I live, Moab shall be as Sodom, and the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah, a place abandoned to the nettle, and a pit of salt, and a perpetual desolation. This they have for their pride, because they reproached and enlarged against the people of Jehovah Zebaoth (Zephaniah 2:8-10).

To "reproach the people", and to "enlarge against their boundary, and against the people of Jehovah Zebaoth", is to hold as vile and to reject interior truths, which are the "people of Jehovah Zebaoth". The consequence of this is that goods become evils of falsity, which are "Sodom" and a "place abandoned to the nettle;" and truths become falsities, which are "Gomorrah" and a "pit of salt". For it is from internal things that external are capable of being good and true.

[14] In David: -

Thine enemies craftily meditate a secret thing against thy people, they consult together against thy hidden ones: Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, and let the name of Israel be no more in remembrance for they consult together with one heart; against thee do they cut out a covenant, the tents of Edom, and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagarenes, Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre Asshur also is joined with them, they are an arm to the sons of Lot (Ps. 83:2-8).

To "consult together against the hidden ones", to "cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel should be no more in remembrance", denotes to utterly reject interior things; the "tents of Edom, the Ishmaelites, Noah, the Hagarenes, Gebal, and Ammon", denote those who are in the external things of worship and of doctrine; "Philistia with Tyre" denote the things they say concerning internal things while not being in them; "Asshur, who is an arm to the sons of Lot", denotes the reasoning by which they contend in favor of external things and against internal things.

[15] In Moses: -

A man shall not take his father's wife, and shall not violate his father's skirt. He that is bruised with a bruising, or is bruised in the testicle, shall not come into the congregation of Jehovah a Moabite and an Ammonite shall not come into the congregation of Jehovah; even to the tenth generation, they shall not come into the congregation of Jehovah forever (Deut. 22:30; 23:1-3).

These words show what is the character of Moab and Ammon in the "end of days", or when they have become altogether imbued with falsities (that is, those with whom good is being adulterated and truth falsified), in that they despise, reject, and at length utterly cast out all interior things. On this account they are here mentioned after mention has been made of foul adulteries, such as taking a father's wife, and violating a father's skirt; nearly as is related of Lot's daughters, from whom came Moab and Ammon; and also after the mention of those who are bruised with a bruising, and bruised in the testicle, by whom are signified those who utterly reject whatever is of love and charity. The "congregation of Jehovah" is heaven, into which they cannot come, because they have no remains, which are solely from interior goods and interior truths, and are signified by the "tenth generation" (n. 576, 1738, 2280).

[16] These were also among the nations who sacrificed their sons and daughters to Molech, by which is signified in the internal sense that they extinguished truths and goods; for the god of Moab was Chemosh, and the god of the sons of Ammon was Molech and Milchom (1 Kings 11:7, 33; 2 Kings 23:13), to which they sacrificed (2 Kings 3:27). That by "sons and daughters" are signified truths and goods, may be seen above (n. 489-491, 533, 1147).

[17] Such then is the signification of Moab and Ammon; but as regards the various kinds of falsity by which they adulterate goods and extinguish truths, these are numerous, being thus recounted in Jeremiah, but merely by names: -

Judgment is come upon the land of the plain, upon Holon, upon Jahzah, and upon Mephaath; and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim and upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon; and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken. Make him drunken, because he magnified himself against Jehovah; and let Moab exult in his vomit (Jeremiah 48:21-26).

These are the kinds of falsity that assemble together in those who are called Moab and Ammon; but what is the nature and quality of these various kinds of falsity can be seen from the signification of these several names in the internal sense. That in the Word names signify nothing else than actual things, has often been shown already.

 

CONCERNING MAN'S MEMORY WHICH REMAINS AFTER DEATH, AND THE RECOLLECTION OF WHAT HE HAD DONE IN THE LIFE OF THE BODY

2469. Scarcely anyone has yet known what every man has two memories, one exterior and the other interior; and that the exterior memory is proper to his body, but the interior memory to his spirit.

2470. Man, while living in the body, can scarcely be aware that he has an interior memory, because the interior memory then acts almost as one with his exterior memory; for the ideas of thought of the interior memory flow into the things in the exterior memory as into their vessels, and the two are there conjoined together. It is as when angels and spirits are speaking to a man; for then the ideas of the former, by which they converse with each other, flow into the words of the man's language, and so conjoin themselves with them that the spirits know no otherwise than that they are speaking the man's own language; when yet the ideas are theirs, and the words into which they flow are the man's; on which subject I have often spoken with spirits.

2471. These two memories are entirely distinct from each other. To the exterior memory, which is proper to man while he is living in the world, pertain all the words of languages, also the objects of the outer senses, and also the knowledges that belong to the world. To the interior memory pertain the ideas of the speech of spirits, which are of the inner sight, and all rational things, from the ideas of which thought itself comes into existence. That these two classes of things are distinct from each other, man does not know, both because he does not reflect upon it, and because he is in corporeal things, from which he cannot then so far withdraw his mind.

2472. Hence it is that men while living in the body cannot speak with each other except by means of languages distinguished into articulate sounds, that is, into words, and are unable to understand one another unless they are acquainted with these languages, for the reason that their speech is from the exterior memory, whereas spirits speak with each other by means of a universal language distinguished into ideas such as are of thought itself, and thus they can have converse with any spirit whatever, of whatever language and nation he had been while in the world, for the reason that their speech is from the interior memory. Into this language comes every man immediately after death, because he comes into this memory, which, as before said, is proper to his spirit (n. 1637, 1639, 1757, 1876).

2473. The interior memory immeasurably surpasses the exterior, and is relatively as are some myriads to one, or as light is to darkness; for myriads of the ideas of the interior memory flow into a single thing of the exterior memory, and there present a general obscure something. Hence all the faculties of spirits, and still more those of angels, are in a more perfect state, that is, both their sensations, and their thoughts and perceptions. In what way the interior memory excels the exterior, may be seen from examples. When a man calls to remembrance any other man whose quality is known to him from the intercourse of many years, whether a friend or an enemy, that which he then thinks about him is presented as one obscure thing; and this because he is thinking from the exterior memory. But when the same man has become a spirit, and calls the other to remembrance, that which he then thinks about him is presented as to all the ideas which he had ever conceived concerning him; and this because he is then thinking from the interior memory. And so it is with everything: the thing itself about which anyone has known many things presents itself in the exterior memory as a single general thing; but in the interior memory it presents itself as to all the particulars about which he has ever acquired for himself an idea in respect to that thing; and this in a wonderful form.

2474. All things whatever that a man hears and sees, and by which he is affected, are, unknown to the man, insinuated as to ideas and ends into his interior memory; and they remain in it, so that not anything perishes; although the same things are obliterated in the exterior memory. Such therefore is the interior memory that there are inscribed on it all the single, nay, the most singular things that the man has ever thought, spoken, and done; nay, even those which have appeared to him as but a shade, with the minutest particulars, from his earliest infancy to the last of old age. The memory of all these things the man has with him when he comes into the other life, and he is successively brought into full recollection of them. This is his Book of Life, which is opened in the other life, and according to which he is judged. Men can scarcely believe this, but yet it is most true. All the ends, which to him have been in obscurity, and all the things he has thought; together with everything that from these he has spoken and done, down to the smallest point, are in that Book, that is, in the interior memory, and whenever the Lord grants, are made manifest before the angels as in clear day. This has several times been shown me, and has been attested by so much experience that not the least doubt remains.

2475. As yet no one knows what is the state of souls after death in respect to the memory. From much and daily experience of many years, it has been given me to know that after death a man loses nothing whatever of what has been in his memories, whether in the exterior or in the interior memory; insomuch that nothing can possibly be thought of so small or so minute that the man does not have it with him; so that after death he leaves nothing whatever behind him except his bones and flesh, which, while he lived in the world, were not animated from themselves, but from the life of his spirit, which was his purer substance annexed to the things of the body.

2476. But as regards man's exterior memory, the case is this: He has all things of it with him both in general and in particular; but he is not then allowed to use this memory, but only the interior memory. The reasons are many; the first being that which has been stated, namely, that from the interior memory one can speak and hold intercourse in the other life with all in the universe. The second is, that this memory is proper to the spirit and is adapted to the state in which it then is; for exterior things that is, those of memory-knowledge, of the world, and of the body-are adapted to man and correspond to his state while he is in the world and the body; but interior things-that is, things rational, spiritual, and celestial-are adapted and correspond to his spirit.

2477. I once heard spirits speaking together of the fact that whatever is adopted as a principle, no matter what it may be, can be confirmed by innumerable things, until at length, to the man who has confirmed himself, it appears entirely true even though false; and that men can be more easily persuaded of a falsity than of a truth. In order that they might be convinced of this, it was proposed to them that they should think and speak together on the point as to whether it is useful to spirits to use the exterior memory (for spirits converse on such subjects in a manner far surpassing man's belief, or even conception, but each one in accordance with his affection). The spirits who were in favor of corporeal and worldly things confirmed the proposition in question by many reasons, such as that in this way they would have lost nothing, but would be men after death equally as before; that in this way they could come again into the world through man; that the delight of life is in the exterior memory; and that in no other faculty and endowment are there intelligence and wisdom; besides many other reasons by which they confirmed themselves in their principle, until it appeared to them true.

[2] But others then thought and spoke from the opposite principle, knowing that what they said was true, because it was from Divine order. They said that if spirits were permitted to use the exterior memory they would then be in similar imperfection as before, when they were men; that by so doing they would be in gross and obscure ideas, in comparison with those who are in the interior memory; and thus would not only become more and more foolish, but would also descend, and not ascend; thus would not live eternally for to immerse themselves again in worldly and corporeal things would be to give themselves again into a state of death. They said also that if spirits were permitted to use the exterior memory the human race would perish; for every man is directed by the Lord through angels and spirits and that if spirits were to flow into man from the exterior memory, he could not think from his own memory, but only from that of the spirit; thus man would come to be no longer in the enjoyment of his own life and his own freedom, but would be obsessed (the obsessions of former times being nothing else); besides other reasons.

2478. In order that I might know how the case is as to man's not being able to think from his own memory if spirits flowed in from their exterior memory, it has been permitted two or three times that this should be done; and I then knew no otherwise than that that was mine which was not mine, but a spirit's; and that I had thought things before which I had not thought; and this I was not able to perceive until they withdrew.

2479. A certain newly arrived spirit was indignant that he did not remember many things which he knew in the life of the body, grieving on account of the delight which he had lost, and with which he had been very greatly pleased. But he was told that he had lost nothing at all, and that he knew everything he had known; but that in the other life it is not permitted to draw forth such things; and that it is sufficient that he is now able to think and speak much better and more perfectly, without immersing his rational as before in dense, obscure, material, and corporeal things which are of no use in the kingdom into which he has now come; and that the things which were in the kingdom of the world had been left behind; and that he now has whatever conduces to the use of eternal life; and that thus and not otherwise can he become blessed and happy; thus that it is a result of ignorance to believe that in the other life intelligence perishes with the disuse of the corporeal memory; when yet the case is that in so far as the mind can be withdrawn from sensuous or corporeal things, so far is it elevated to spiritual and heavenly things.

2480. Seeing that men after death are in the interior memory (which has belonged to their rational) therefore those who in the world have been pre-eminently skilled in languages, cannot call forth even one syllable of them; and they who have been pre-eminently versed in the sciences cannot call up anything of their knowledges, and are sometimes more stupid than others. But whatever they have imbibed by means of the languages, or of the sciences, this they bring forth into use, because it has formed their rational. The rational they had so procured is that from which they think and speak. He who has imbibed falsities by means of the languages and sciences, and has confirmed himself in them, reasons from nothing but falsities; but he who has imbibed and confirmed truths, speaks from the truths. It is the affection itself which gives life - the affection of evil which gives life to falsities, and the affection of good which gives life to truths. Every one thinks from affection, and no one without affection.

2481. That men after death, that is, spirits, have lost nothing whatever of the things which belong to their external or corporeal memory; but that they retain all things of it (that is to say, they retain the whole of it), although it is not permitted to bring forth from it the particulars of their life, has been given me to know from much experience, as may be seen from what follows. Two persons whom I had known during their life in the body, and who had been enemies to each other, met; and I heard one describing the character of the other with many circumstances, and also telling what opinion he had had of him, repeating an entire letter that he had written to him, and many other things in series which were particulars, and that belonged to the exterior memory; all of which the other acknowledged, and at which he was silent.

2482. I heard a certain one upbraiding another, in that he had kept back his property, and had not restored it; and this together with circumstances that were of the exterior memory, until the other was ashamed. I also heard the other replying, and rehearsing the reasons why he had done it; all of which were worldly particulars.

2483. A certain woman was let into the state in which she had been in the world when she had plotted a misdeed; and then all the details of her thoughts, and of her conversation with another female, came out as into clear day. A certain female belonging to the crew of the Sirens, because she persisted in denying that she had been such in the life of the body, was let into the state of her corporeal memory; and then her adulteries and shameless deeds, which while she lived had been known to scarcely anyone, were laid open and were recounted in series, almost to hundreds: where she had been; with whom she had committed adultery; what she then plotted; and all these as much to the life as if in open day; thus was she convicted. Such things are brought forth when anyone desires to exculpate himself from having been such; and indeed to the life, with every circumstance.

2484.

2485. A certain one was with me whom I had not known during his life in the body. When I inquired whether he knew whence he was, he did not know; but by means of the interior sight he was led by me through the cities where I had been, and at length through the city from which he was, and then through its streets and squares, all of which he recognized, and at length into the street where he had dwelt; and if I had been acquainted with the houses, and how they were situated, I should have been able to know his house.

2486. That men have with them everything of the corporeal memory, both in general and in particular, has frequently been made evident to me from those with whom I had been acquainted during their life in the body, in that when I spoke with them they recognized everything they had done while I was present, and which they had then spoken and thought. From these and many other experiences, it has been given me to know for certain that a man carries with him into the other life all things of the exterior or corporeal memory.

2487. I have been instructed that regarded in itself the exterior memory is simply something organic formed from the objects of the senses - specially those of the sight and of the hearing - in the substances which are the beginnings of the fibres; and that according to the impressions from these objects are effected variations of form, which are reproduced; and that these forms are varied and changed according to the changes of the state of the affections and persuasions. Also that the interior memory is in like manner organic, but purer and more perfect, being formed from the objects of the interior sight; which objects are disposed into regular series, in an incomprehensible order.

2488. Before I had been instructed by living experience, I had supposed, as do others, that no spirit could possibly know the things in my memory and in my thought; but that they were solely in my possession, and were hidden. But I can assert that the spirits with man know and take note of the smallest things of his memory and thoughts; and this much more clearly than the man himself; and that the angels know and take note of the ends themselves, how they bend themselves from good to evil, and from evil to good; and of many more things than the man knows; such as those which he has immersed in his delights, and thus as it were in his nature and disposition; for when this is done such things no longer appear, because he no longer reflects upon them. Let no man therefore any longer believe that his thoughts are hidden, and that he is not to render an account of his thoughts, and of his deeds according to the degree and the quality of the thoughts that have been in them; for the deeds have their quality from the thoughts, and the thoughts from the ends.

2489. The things of the interior memory manifest themselves in the other life by a certain sphere, from which the quality of spirits is known at a distance, that is, what is their affection, and what their opinions. This sphere comes forth from the activity of the things in the interior memory. Concerning these spheres see (n. 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504).

2490. As regards the interior memory the case is this: There are retained in it not only all and each of the things the man from his infancy has ever seen and heard, and those he has thought, spoken, and done; but also those which he sees and hears, and which he thinks, speaks, and does, in the other life. But this takes place with a difference. They who are in the persuasion of falsity and the cupidity of evil imbibe and retain all things that are in agreement therewith, for they enter in as water does into a sponge. All other things do indeed also flow thereto, but are retained so slightly that they scarcely know that they are anything. But they who are in the faith of truth and the affection of good retain all things which are true and good, and are thereby being continually perfected. Hence it is that they can be instructed, and that they are instructed in the other life.

2491. There are spirits whose origin shall of the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken of elsewhere, who relate to the interior memory. These wander about in bands, and in wonderful ways elicit whatever others know, and whatever they hear they communicate to their companions.

2492. The nature of the memories is sometimes presented to view in the other life, in forms to be seen there alone. (Many things are there presented to the sight, which in the case of men fall only into the ideas). The exterior memory is thus presented to view as a callosity; the interior memory as a medullary substance such as is in the human brain. From this circumstance it is possible to know of what quality the spirits are. With those who in the life of the body have fostered the memory alone, and so have not cultivated their rational, the callosity appears hard, and striated within. With those who have filled the memory with falsities, it appears as if made of hair and shaggy, and this from the disorderly mass of things. With those who have fostered the memory for the sake of the love of self and of the world, it appears conglutinated and indurated. With those who have desired to penetrate into Divine arcana by things scientific, and especially by things philosophical, and who would not believe until persuaded by means of these things, it appears dark, and of such a nature as to absorb the rays of light, and turn them into darkness. With those who have been deceitful and hypocrites, it appears as if bony and of ebony, reflecting the rays of light. But with those who have been in the good of love and the truth of faith, such a callosity does not appear; because their interior memory transmits the rays of light into the exterior memory, in the objects or ideas of which - as in their basis or as in their ground - the rays are terminated, and find there delightful receptacles. For the exterior memory is the ultimate of order, in which spiritual and heavenly things are softly terminated and reside when there are goods and truths therein.

2493. I have spoken with the angels concerning the memory of things past, and the consequent anxiety regarding things to come; and I have been instructed that the more interior and perfect the angels are, the less do they care for past things, and the less do they think of things to come; and also that from this comes their happiness. They say that the Lord gives them every moment what to think, and this with blessedness and happiness; and that they are thus free from cares and anxieties. Also, that this was meant in the internal sense by the manna being received daily from heaven; and by the daily bread in the Lord's Prayer; and likewise by the instruction not to be solicitous about what they should eat and drink, and wherewithal they should be clothed. But although the angels do not care for past things, and are not solicitous about things to come, they nevertheless have the most perfect recollection of past things, and the most perfect mental view of things to come; because in all their present there are both the past and the future. Thus they have a more perfect memory than can ever be thought of or expressed.

2494. When men who are in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor are living in the world, they have with themselves and in themselves angelic intelligence and wisdom, but stored up in the inmosts of their interior memory; which intelligence and wisdom cannot possibly appear to them until they put off corporeal things. Then the memory of particulars (spoken of above) is put to sleep; and they are awakened into the interior memory, and successively afterwards into the angelic memory itself.


Chapter 20

2495. That the Word contains within it an internal sense that is not apparent in the letter has already been stated and shown in many places, and the nature of this internal sense appears from all that has thus far been unfolded, beginning with the first chapter of Genesis. Nevertheless as the few who at this day believe in the Word do not know that there is such a sense, it may be well to confirm it further.

[2] The Lord describes the Consummation of the Age, or the last period of the church, as follows: -

Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the sun shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matt. 24:29; Mark 13:24).

That in this passage the "sun" does not mean the sun, nor the "moon" the moon, nor the "stars" the stars; but that the "sun" signifies love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; the "moon" the faith of love and charity; and the "stars" the knowledges of good and truth, was shown above (n. 31, 32, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2120, 2441); so that by these words of the Lord there is signified that in the consummation of the age (or last period of the church) there will no longer be any love, or charity, nor therefore any faith.

[3] That this is the meaning is evident from similar words of the Lord in the Prophets, as in Isaiah: -

Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, to make the earth a solitude and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it for the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not shine with their light the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine (Isaiah 13:9, 10);

where also the last period of the church, or what is the same, the consummation of the age, is treated of. In Joel: -

A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and obscurity, before Him the earth quaked, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their shining (Joel 2:2, 10);

with a similar meaning. Again in the same: -

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah came (Joel 2:31).

And again in the same: -

The day of Jehovah is near, the sun and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining (Joel 3:14, 15).

In Ezekiel: -

When I shall extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine all the luminaries of light in the heavens will I make dark, and will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 32:7, 8).

So too in John: -

I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and behold there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars fell unto the earth (Rev. 6:12, 13).

In the same: -

The fourth angel sounded, so that the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, and the third part of them was darkened (Rev. 8:12).

[4] From these passages it is evident that the Lord's words in the Evangelists involve much the same as His words in the Prophets, namely, that in the last times there will be neither charity, nor faith; and that this is the internal sense; as also is still further evident in Isaiah: -

The moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, for Jehovah Zebaoth shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem (Isaiah 24:23);

that is to say, faith, which is the "moon", shall blush; and charity, which is the "sun", shall be ashamed, because they are such; for it cannot be said of the moon and the sun that they shall blush and be ashamed. And in Daniel: -

The goat's horn grew toward the south, and toward the east, and grew even to the army of the heavens, and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the earth and trampled upon them (Daniel 8:9, 10);

where it is plain to every one that the " army of the heavens's does not signify an "army", nor the "stars" stars.

 

GENESIS 20:1-18

1. And Abraham journeyed thence toward the land of the south, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and he sojourned in Gerar.

2. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister; and Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

3. And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold thou wilt die because of the woman whom thou hast taken, for she is married to a husband.

4. And Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, Lord, wilt Thou slay also a righteous nation?

5. Said he not himself unto me, She is my sister? and she herself also said, He is my brother: in the uprightness of my heart and in the blamelessness of my hands have I done this.

6. And God said unto him in the dream, Yea, I know that in the uprightness of thy heart thou hast done this; and I also withheld thee from sinning against Me; therefore I did not suffer thee to touch her.

7. And now restore the man's wife, for he is a prophet; and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live; and if thou restore her not, know thou that dying thou shalt die, thou and all that are thine.

8. And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and spake all these words in their ears and the men feared greatly.

9. And Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and wherein have I sinned against thee that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou hast done unto me deeds that ought not to be done.

10. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou that thou hast done this word?

11. And Abraham said, Because I said, Surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me on account of the word of my wife.

12. And moreover truly she is my sister, being the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.

13. And it came to pass when God caused me to depart from my father's house that I said unto her, This is thy goodness which thou shalt do unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

14. And Abimelech took flock and herd, and menservants and maidservants, and gave unto Abraham; and restored to him Sarah his wife.

15. And Abimelech said, Behold my land is before thee; dwell in that which is good in thine eyes.

16. And unto Sarah he said, Behold I have given a thousand of silver to thy brother; behold it is unto thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee, and with all; and she was vindicated.

17. And Abraham prayed unto God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they brought forth.

18. For closing Jehovah had therefore closed every womb of the house of Abimelech, because of the word of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

 

THE CONTENTS

2496. In the twelfth chapter above, Abraham's sojourning in Egypt has been treated of; by which was signified the Lord's instruction in memory-knowledges while still a boy. In this chapter the subject treated of is Abraham's sojourn in Gerar, where Abimelech was; by which the Lord's instruction is in like manner signified, but in the doctrinal things of charity and faith. The subject that is especially treated of here is the doctrine of charity and faith in respect to its origin; namely, that it is spiritual from a celestial origin, but is not from the rational.

2497. The Lord's state in which He was when He first instructed Himself in the doctrinal things of charity and faith is treated of; the state itself is signified by "Kadesh and Shur;" the doctrine of faith by "Abimelech king of Gerar" (verses 1, 2). That He at first thought in regard to the rational that it should be consulted (verse 2). That still it was not consulted (verses 3, 4, 8, 9). The reasons why He so thought (verses 5, 6, 10-13). That the doctrine of charity and faith is spiritual from a celestial origin (verse 7). That He was so instructed; and that then all things rational, as well as all memory-knowledges, were of service to Him, being like a covering or garment (verses 14-16). And in this way the doctrine was perfect (verse 17). That it would have been otherwise if the doctrine had come from the rational (verse 18).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

2498. That these historical matters, like all the other things of the Word, involve Divine arcana, is evident from the fact that Abraham now again said that his wife was his sister; for the same thing had occurred when he came into Egypt; for he then said to Sarah, "Say, I pray, thou art my sister" (Gen. 12:13). And not Abraham alone, but Isaac likewise, when he came to Gerar, said that his wife Rebecca was his sister: "The men of that place asked concerning his wife, and he said, She is my sister" (Gen. 26:6, 7); and there are other things in the same chapters that resemble each other, so that such historical matters are related three times; which, without a hidden cause in the internal sense, would by no means have been done.

2499. Verse 1. And Abraham journeyed thence toward the land of the south, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and he sojourned in Gerar. "Abraham journeyed thence toward the land of the south", signifies the Lord's progression in the goods and truths of faith ("Abraham" is the Lord in that state); "and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur", signifies His state specifically ("Kadesh" is the affection of interior truth proceeding from things rational; " Shur" is the affection of exterior truth proceeding from memory-knowledges); "and he sojourned in Gerar", signifies instruction thence in the spiritual things of faith.

2500. Abraham journeyed thence toward the land of the south. That this signifies the Lord's progression in the goods and truths of faith, is evident from the signification of "journeying", as being to progress (n. 1457); and from the signification of the "land of the south", as being the good and truth of faith (n. 1458). It has already been stated concerning Abraham, in the twelfth chapter, that he "journeyed, going and journeying toward the south", when he went into Egypt (verses 9, 10); by which was signified in the internal sense that the Lord when a child progressed into goods and truths in respect to the memory-knowledge of knowledges (n. 1456, 1459); and here it is said that he journeyed "toward the land of the south", by which there is signified a further and more interior progression, which is into goods and truths in respect to the doctrine of faith; on which account it is here said the "land" of the south, because "land" in its proper sense signifies the church, for the sake of which is doctrine (n. 566, 662, 1066, 2117, 2118).

[2] As regards the Lord's instruction in general, the nature of it is very clear in the internal sense of this chapter; namely, that it was by continual revelations, and thus by Divine perceptions and thoughts from Himself, that is, from His Divine; which perceptions and thoughts He implanted in Divine intelligence and wisdom, and this even to the perfect union of His Human with His Divine. This way of growing wise is not possible with any man; for it flowed in from the Divine itself, which was His inmost, being of the Father, of whom He was conceived; thus from the Divine Love itself, which the Lord alone had, and which consisted in His desire to save the universal human race.

[3] It is an arcanum which is as yet known to scarcely anyone, that within love itself there are wisdom and intelligence; these being such as is the love. That wisdom and intelligence are within love comes from the fact that all influx takes place into the love, or what is the same, into the good, thus into man's very life. This is the source of the wisdom and intelligence of the angels, which is ineffable. It is also the source of the wisdom and intelligence of men who are in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor; who, although they have no perception of it in themselves while they are living in the body, nevertheless come into it after death, for the reason that it is within this very love and charity (n. 2494). But as regards the Lord's love, it was infinitely above the love in which the angels are, for it was the Divine love itself; and therefore He had in Himself a supereminence of all wisdom and intelligence; into which however because He was born a man, and was to progress as a man according to Divine order, He introduced Himself by successive steps, in order that He might thus unite His Human to the Divine, and make it Divine; and this by His own power.

2501. That "Abraham" is the Lord in that state, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord; here the Lord in that state (n. 1893, 1965, 1989, 2011, 2172, 2198).

2502. And dwelt between Kadesh and Shur. That this signifies His state specifically, is evident from the signification of "dwelling", as being to live (n. 1293). What precedes also indicates this, namely, that Abraham journeyed thence toward the land of the south, by which there is signified the Lord's progression into the goods and truths of faith; and as it is now said that he "dwelt between Kadesh and Shur", it follows that nothing else is signified than the Lord's state specifically, which is described by "Kadesh and Shur" - now to be explained.

2503. That "Kadesh" is the affection of interior truth that proceeds from things rational, and "Shur" the affection of exterior truth that proceeds from memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "Kadesh and Shur". That "Kadesh" signifies truth about which there is contention, was shown above (n. 1678), thus contention concerning truth in regard to its origin, as to whether it is from the rational; as is evident from what follows. But as with the Lord all truth was from a celestial origin, "Kadesh" here signifies the affection of truth. With every man of the church there are rational truths and truths of mere memory (vera scientifica), the former being more interior, and the latter more exterior. These are distinct from each other, precisely as are man's two memories (n. 2469-2473). From this it follows that there are also two affections of truth-one more interior, as being of rational things, and the other more exterior, as being of mere memory truths. The affection of interior truth that proceeds from rational things is here signified by "Kadesh;" and the affection of exterior truth that proceeds from memory truths, by "Shur". "Shur" signifies this truth (n. 1928). Names in the Word signify nothing else than actual things (n. 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888).

2504. And he sojourned in Gerar. That this signifies instruction thence in the spiritual things of faith, is evident from the signification of "sojourning", as being to be instructed (n. 1463, 2025); and from the signification of "Gerar", as being what is spiritual of faith. Gerar is named in several places (Genesis 10:19; 26:1, 6, 17, 20, 26); and in these it signifies faith, and this for the reason that Gerar was in Philistia; and by "Philistia" is signified the mere memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith (n. 1197, 1198); and it was Gerar where the king of the Philistines dwelt. Hence it is that faith itself is signified by "Gerar" (n. 1209); and by the "king of Gerar", the truth itself of faith; for "king" in the internal sense is truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069). Thus by "Abimelech" is signified the doctrine of faith, concerning which in what follows.

[2] In general there are intellectual things of faith, rational things of faith, and memory-knowledges of faith. They thus proceed in their order from interiors to exteriors. The things of faith which are inmost are called intellectual; those which proceed from them or thence are the rational things of faith; and those which proceed again from these are the memory-knowledges of faith. They are - to use the language of the learned - as prior to posterior, or what is the same, as higher to lower, that is, as interior to exterior. It indeed appears to man as if the memory-knowledge of faith were first, and that the rational then came forth from it, and at length the intellectual; and this for the reason that man advances in this way from his childhood. Nevertheless, although man is not aware of it, the intellectual flows in continually into the rational, and this into the faculty of knowing; but in childhood obscurely, in adult age more evidently, and at last in full light when the man has been regenerated. Then it is apparent that this is the order, and still more fully in the other life (n. 1495). All these are called "spiritual things;" which are distinguished in this way into degrees, and succeed one another in such an order. The spiritual things of faith are all the truths which are from good, that is, from a celestial origin. Whatever is derived from the celestial is a spiritual thing of faith.

2505. Verse 2. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister; and Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. "Abraham said", signifies the Lord's thought; "of Sarah his wife", signifies spiritual truth conjoined with the celestial; "she is my sister", signifies rational truth; "and Abimelech king of Gerar sent", signifies the doctrine of faith ("Abimelech" signifies the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things); "and took Sarah", signifies the affection of consulting the rational.

2506. Abraham said. That this signifies thought, is evident from the signification of "saying", in the historicals of the Word, as being to perceive, as well as to think (n. 1898, 1919, 2061, 2080, 2238, 2260, 2271, 2287).

2507. Of Sarah his wife. That this signifies spiritual truth conjoined with the celestial, is evident from the signification of "Sarah" as a wife, as being intellectual truth conjoined with the Divine good, or what is the same, spiritual truth conjoined with the celestial (n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198). What the spiritual is, and what the celestial, has often been stated before (n. 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2088). That is called Celestial, which is of good, that is, which is of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor; and that Spiritual, which is of truth, that is, which is of faith derived from those loves.

2508. She is my sister. That this signifies rational truth, is evident from the signification of a "sister", as being rational intellectual truth (n. 1495). That rational truth is a "sister", can be seen only from the heavenly marriage; for the things which descend from this have kinships among themselves like the relationships and connections on earth (n. 685, 917); and this with indefinite variety. The heavenly marriage itself exists solely between the Divine good and the Divine truth. From this there are conceived in man the intellectual, the rational, and the faculty of knowing; for without conception from the heavenly marriage man cannot possibly be imbued with understanding, with reason, or with knowledge, and consequently cannot be man. In proportion therefore as he receives from the heavenly marriage, in the same proportion is he man. The heavenly marriage is in the Lord Himself, thus the Lord is this marriage itself, for He is the Divine good itself and at the same time the Divine truth. Angels and men are in the heavenly marriage in so far as they are in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, and in so far as they are thence in faith; that is, in so far as they are in the Lord's good, and thence in truth; and they are then called "daughters and sons", and in their relation to one another "sisters and brothers;" but this with differences. The reason why rational truth is called a "sister" is that it is conceived from the influx of the Divine good into the affection of rational truths; the good which is thence in the rational is called a "brother", and the truth which is thence, a "sister". But this will be better seen from what is said by Abraham in (verse 12) of this chapter: "and moreover truly she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife".

2509. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent. That this signifies the doctrine of faith, is evident from what was said above (n. 2504), namely, that by "Philistia" is signified the memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith (n. 1197, 1198); by "Gerar", which was in Philistia, faith (n. 1209, 2504); and by a "king", the truth itself of faith (n. 1672, 2015, 2069). Hence by "Abimelech" is signified the doctrine of faith, but the doctrine of faith looking to rational things; as will be manifest from what now follows.

2510. That "Abimelech" is the doctrine of faith looking to rational thing, is evident from the fact that he looked upon Sarah, not as Abraham's wife, but as his sister; and by Sarah as a sister is signified rational truth (n. 2508). The same is also manifest from what follows; for the doctrine of faith is there treated of, as to whether it has its origin from the rational, or from the celestial. Hence "Abimelech" signifies the doctrine of faith looking to rational things. Doctrine is said to look to rational things when nothing is acknowledged as truth of doctrine except what can be comprehended by the reason, so that the consideration of all the things which are of doctrine is from the rational. Yet that the doctrine of faith is not from a rational but from a celestial origin, is taught in the internal sense in what follows.

2511. And took Sarah. That this signifies the affection of consulting the rational, is evident from the signification of Sarah as a "sister", as being rational truth (n. 2508); and also from the signification of "taking" her, as being from affection toward her; thus, in the internal sense, from the affection of consulting the rational. The things contained in this verse involve the Lord's first thought respecting the doctrine of faith, as to whether it would be well to consult the rational or not. The reason why the first thought was of such a character is that the Lord progressed according to all Divine order; and whatever was of the human into which He was born, and which He derived from the mother, must necessarily be put off in order that He might put on the Divine; thus also this human thought, namely, as to whether the rational was to be consulted in regard to the doctrinal things of faith.

2512. Verse 3. And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou wilt die because of the woman whom thou hast taken, for she is married to a husband. "God came to Abimelech", signifies the Lord's perception concerning the doctrine of faith; "in a dream by night", signifies that it was obscure; "and said to him", signifies thought thence; "Behold, thou wilt die because of the woman", signifies that the doctrine of faith would be null and void if the rational were consulted in regard to its contents; "for she is married to a husband", signifies that the doctrine of true faith, and the things therein, are conjoined with the celestial.

2513. God came to Abimelech. That this signifies the Lord's perception concerning the doctrine of faith, is evident from the signification of "God coming", and from the signification of "Abimelech". That "God coming" signifies to perceive, is evident, for perception is nothing else than the Divine advent or influx into the intellectual faculty. That "Abimelech" signifies the doctrine of faith was shown above, (n. 2504, 2509, 2510).

2514. In a dream by night. That this signifies that the perception was obscure, is evident from the signification of a "dream", and likewise of "night". A "dream", when perception is treated of, signifies something obscure in comparison with wakefulness; and still more when it is said "a dream by night". The Lord's first perception is called obscure, because it was in the human that He was to put off, and the shades of which He was to disperse The Lord's perception, although from the Divine, was yet in the human, which is such that it does not immediately receive the light itself, but gradually as the shades which are there are dispersed. That He brought Himself into what was less obscure in regard to the doctrine of faith, is signified by "God coming again to Abimelech in a dream", as declared in (verse 6), where there is no mention of "night;" and that He afterwards came into clear perception is signified in (verse 8) by the words, "Abimelech rose early in the morning".

2515. And said to him. That this signifies thought therefrom, namely, from the perception, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive, and also to think (n. 2506). As it is here said that there was thought from the perception, it may be well to state in a few words how the case is with thought. There are thoughts from perception; thoughts from conscience; and thoughts from no conscience. Thoughts from perception exist only with the celestial, that is, with those who are in love to the Lord; such thought is the most internal that exists with man; and it exists with the celestial angels in heaven, for it is perception from the Lord by which and from which their thought exists; and to think contrary to perception is impossible. Thoughts from conscience are lower, and exist with the spiritual, that is, with those who are in the good of charity and faith as to life and as to doctrine. Moreover with these persons to think contrary to conscience is impossible; for this would be to think against the good and truth which are dictated to them from the Lord through conscience.

[2] But thoughts from no conscience exist with those who do not suffer themselves to be inwardly directed by what is good and true, but only by what is evil and false; that is, not by the Lord, but by themselves. Such persons believe that they inwardly think just as do those who think from conscience and perception, for the reason that they do not know what conscience is, still less perception; but the difference is as great as is that between hell and heaven. They who think without conscience think from any cupidities and phantasies whatever; thus from hell; and when it seems otherwise, it is from external decorum for the sake of reputation. But they who think from conscience think from the affections of good and truth; thus from heaven. But as regards the Lord's thought, it transcended all human understanding, for it was immediately from the Divine.

2516. Behold, thou wilt die because of the woman. That this signifies that the doctrine of faith would become null and void if the rational were consulted as to its contents, is evident from the signification of "Abimelech", who is here addressed, as being the doctrine of faith; from the signification of "dying", as being to become null and void; and from the signification of a "sister", who is here called "the woman", as being the rational (n. 2508). Hence now by "Abimelech dying because of the woman" is signified that the doctrine of faith would become null and void if the rational were consulted.

[2] The reason why there is no doctrine of faith from the rational, is that the rational is in appearances of good and truth, which appearances are not in themselves truths (n. 2053, 2196, 2203, 2209). Moreover the rational has under it fallacies which are from external sensuous things confirmed by memory-knowledges, which induce obscurity in these appearances of truth. The rational for the most part is merely human, as also is evident from its birth; and this is why nothing doctrinal of faith can begin from it, and still less be constructed from it; but must be from the Lord's Divine Itself and Divine Human. This is its origin, and indeed so entirely that the Lord is doctrine itself; on which account also in the Word He is called the Word, the Truth, the Light, the Way, the Door; and (what is an arcanum) all doctrine is from the Divine good and the Divine truth, and has in itself the heavenly marriage. Doctrine that has not this in it is not the genuine doctrine of faith. Hence it is that in all the particulars of the Word (the source of doctrine) there is an image of a marriage (n. 683, 793, 801).

[3] In the literal or external sense of the Word the doctrine of faith does indeed appear as if it possessed much from the rational, and even from the natural; but this is because the Word is for man, and has been in this manner accommodated to him; but still in itself it is spiritual from a celestial origin, that is, from Divine truth conjoined with Divine good. That doctrine would become null and void if as to its contents the rational were consulted, will be illustrated by examples in what follows.

2517. For she is married to a husband. That this signifies that the doctrine of true faith is spiritual, and that its contents are conjoined with the celestial, is evident from the signification of being "married to a husband". "Husband", when mentioned in the Word, signifies good, and "wife" then signifies truth. It is otherwise when the husband is called the "man;" for then "man" signifies truth, and "wife" good (n. 915). Here therefore her being "married to a husband" signifies that truth is conjoined with good, and in such a manner that the truth also is good. The same is also evident from the signification of "Sarah as a wife", as being spiritual truth, and of "Abraham", as being celestial good, both Divine (n. 2501, 2507). And as "Sarah" signifies Divine spiritual truth, the doctrine itself of true faith is also meant by "Sarah a wife;" for the doctrine is from truths. It is plain from this that her being "married to a husband" means that the doctrine of true faith is spiritual, and that its contents are conjoined with the celestial.

2518. Verse 4. And Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, Lord, wilt Thou slay also a righteous nation? "Abimelech had not come near her", signifies that in the doctrine of faith rational truth had not been consulted in any manner; "and he said, Lord, wilt Thou slay also a righteous nation?" signifies whether would the good and truth of doctrine he extinguished.

2519. Abimelech had not come near her. That this signifies that in the doctrine of faith rational truth had not been consulted in any manner, is evident from the signification of "Abimelech", as being the doctrine of faith (n. 2504, 2509, 2510); and from the signification of "coming near her", namely to Sarah as a sister, as being to touch, or in any manner to consult rational truth, which is a "sister" (n. 1495, 2508). The reason why the rational had not been consulted in any manner, is that which has been stated before, namely, that the doctrinal things of faith are in their entirety from the Divine, which is infinitely above the human rational. It is from the Divine that the rational receives its good and its truth. The Divine can enter into the rational, but not the rational into the Divine; as the soul can enter into the body, and form it, but not the body into the soul; or as light can enter into shade, and modify it variously into colors; but not shade into light. But as it appears at first as if the rational ought to be present, because the rational is the very thing that receives the doctrine, it is here shown that the first subject of thought was, whether it also should not be consulted at the same time. But the Lord revealed and answered to Himself that doctrine would thus become null and void; and therefore the rational was not consulted; which is here signified by "Abimelech not coming near her".

2520. And he said, Lord, wilt Thou slay also a righteous nation? That this signifies whether would the good and truth be extinguished, is evident from the signification of "nation", as being good (n. 1259, 1260, 1416); and as it is predicated of the nation of Abimelech, by whom is signified the doctrine of faith, by a "righteous nation" is here signified both good and truth; for both are of doctrine.

[2] That this was said from the zeal of affection or of love toward the whole human race, is manifest. This love directed the Lord's thoughts while He was still in the maternal human; and although He perceived from the Divine that the doctrine of faith was from a celestial origin only, nevertheless in order that the human race might be provided for, which does not receive anything of which it cannot have some idea from its rational, it is therefore said, " Wilt Thou slay also a righteous nation?" by which is signified whether would the good and truth of doctrine be extinguished. That man does not receive anything of which he cannot have some idea from his rational, is evident from the ideas which man cherishes respecting Divine arcana. Some idea from worldly things or from things analogous to these always adheres to them, by which they are retained in the memory, and by which they are reproduced in the thought; for without an idea from worldly things man can think nothing at all. If therefore truths from a Divine origin were set forth naked, they would never be received, but would completely transcend man's comprehension, and therefore his belief, and most especially with those who are in external worship.

[3] To illustrate this take the following examples: The Divine Itself can be in nothing but the Divine, thus in nothing but the Lord's Divine Human, and with man through this. If the rational were consulted it would say that the Divine Itself can be in the human of every one. Again: Nothing is holy which does not proceed from the Lord, thus from the Divine, which is one. If the rational were consulted it would say that there may be what is holy from other sources also.

[4] Again: Man does not live, nor do good, nor believe truth, from himself, nay, does not even think from himself; but the good and truth are from the Lord, while the evil and falsity are from hell; and what is more, hell, that is, they who are in hell, do not think from themselves, but receive the Lord's good and truth in the manner indicated. If the rational were consulted it would reject this, because it does not comprehend it. In like manner it would reject the truth that no one is rewarded on account of doing what is good and teaching what is true; and that the external contributes nothing, but only the internal in so far as there is the affection of good in doing what is good, and in so far as there is from that the affection of truth in teaching what is true, and this not from self. And so in a thousand other instances.

[5] It is because the human rational is of such a character that the Word has spoken in accordance with man's apprehension, and also in accordance with his genius. This therefore is the reason why the internal sense of the Word is different from its literal sense; which is very evident in the Word of the Old Testament, where most things have been written in accordance with the apprehension and genius of the people who then lived. On this account almost nothing is said concerning the life after death, salvation, and the internal man. For the Jewish and Israelitish people with whom the church then was, were of such a character that if these things had been disclosed they would not only not have understood them, but would also have derided them. And it would have been the same if it had been disclosed to them that the Messiah or Christ was to come to eternally save their souls: this also they would have rejected as a matter of no moment; as is also evident from the same nation at the present day; for if what is internal or spiritual is mentioned in their presence even now, and it is said that the Messiah will not be the greatest king on the earth, they deride it

[6] This is why the Lord sometimes spoke like the Prophets, and taught the rest of what He had to say by parables, as He Himself has declared in Matthew: -

Jesus said, I speak unto them by parables, because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand (Matthew 13:13).

By "those who see and hear" are meant those within the church who although they see and hear, still do not understand. Also in John: -

He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them (John 12:40).

Their being "converted" and "healed" implies that nevertheless they would afterwards reject, and so would profane, which involves eternal condemnation (n. 301-303, 582, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2051, 2426). Nevertheless the Lord has disclosed the interior things of the Word in many places, but only for the wise.

2521. Verse 5. Said he not himself unto me, She is my sister? and she herself also said, He is my brother: in the uprightness of my heart and in the blamelessness of my hands have I done this. "Said he not himself unto me", signifies exculpation for having so thought; "she is my sister", signifies that it was the rational which should be consulted; "and she herself also said, He is my brother", signifies that the rational itself so dictated that celestial good should be adjoined to it; "in the uprightness of my heart", signifies that it was so thought from innocence and simple good; "and in the blamelessness of my hands have I done this", signifies from the affection of truth, and so with all ability.

2522. Said he not himself unto me. That this signifies exculpation for having so thought, is evident from the particulars in this verse, as also from the signification of "saying", as being to think (n. 2506).

2523. She is my sister. That this signifies that it was the rational which should be consulted (that is, that he so thought), is evident from the signification of "sister" in this chapter as being rational truth (n. 1495, 2508). In the internal sense of the Word the Lord's whole life is described, such as it was to be in the world, even as to the perceptions and thoughts, for these were foreseen and provided because from the Divine; this being done for the additional reason that all these things might be set forth at that time as present to the angels, who perceive the Word according to the internal sense; and that so the Lord might be before them, and at the same time how by successive steps He put off the human, and put on the Divine. Unless these things had been as if present to the angels, through the Word, and also through all the rites in the Jewish Church, the Lord would have been obliged to come into the world immediately after the fall of the Most Ancient Church, which is called Man or Adam; for there was an immediate prophecy of the Lord's advent (Gen. 3:15); and what is more, the human race of that time could not otherwise have been saved.

[2] As regards the Lord's life itself, it was a continual progression of the Human to the Divine, even to absolute union (as already frequently stated), for in order that He might combat with the hells and over come them, He must needs do it from the Human; for there is no combat with the hells from the Divine. It therefore pleased Him to put on the human like another man, to be an infant like another, to grow up into knowledges (in scientias et in cognitiones), which things are represented by Abraham's sojourning in Egypt (chapter 12), and now in Gerar; thus it pleased Him to cultivate the rational as another man, and in this way to disperse its shade, and bring it into light, and this from His own power. That the Lord's progression from the Human to the Divine was of this nature, can be denied by no one if he only considers that He was a little child, and learned to talk like one; and so on. But there was this difference: that the Divine Itself was in Him, seeing that He was conceived of Jehovah.

2524. And she herself also said, He is my brother. That this signifies that the rational itself dictated that celestial good should be adjoined to it, is evident from the signification of a "sister" (here meant by "she herself") as being the rational (n. 1495, 2508), and from the signification of a "brother", as being the good of truth (n. 367, 2508). For the case herein is as follows: Divine good and Divine truth are united to each other as if by marriage; for thence comes the heavenly marriage, and thence comes marriage love also, even down to lower nature. But the good and truth of the rational are not conjoined with each other as by marriage, but by consanguinity, like brother and sister; since the rational as to truth is conceived from the influx of Divine good into the affection of knowledges (scientiarum et cognitionum) (n. 1895, 1902, 1910); and the good of the rational, through the influx of Divine good into that truth, which then becomes the good itself of charity, which is the "brother" of faith, or what is the same, of truth (n. 367).

[2] But in regard to the good and truth of the rational, the procuring of this takes place in such a way that its good is from Divine good, whereas its truth is not from Divine truth; for the truth of the rational is procured by means of knowledges (scientias et cognitiones), which are insinuated through the external and internal senses, thus by an external way. Hence it is that there adhere to its truths many fallacies from the senses, which cause the truths not to be truths; nevertheless when Divine good flows into them, and conceives them, they then appear as truths, and are acknowledged as truths, although they are nothing but appearances of truth. The good itself is then modified in these truths according to the shades there, and becomes in quality like the truth. This is one arcanum which lies hidden in these words, that the rational thus dictated that celestial good should be adjoined to it.

2525. In the uprightness of my heart. That this signifies that it was so thought from innocence and simple good, is evident from the signification of "uprightness", and of "heart". In the original tongue "uprightness" is expressed by a word which signifies also integrity and perfection, and also simplicity; moreover "heart" signifies love and charity, which are of good, as is well known. Hence it is that "from the uprightness of the heart" means from innocence and simple good.

2526. And in the blamelessness of my hands have I done this. That this signifies from the affection of truth, and so from all ability, is evident from the signification of "blamelessness", and also of "hands". In the original language "blamelessness" is expressed by a word which also means cleanness and purity. "Hands" are predicated of truth, and signify power, thus ability (n. 878). That "I have done this from the uprightness of my heart and the blamelessness of my hands" signifies that it was so thought from innocence and simple good, and from the affection of truth, and thus from all ability, is because good is good from innocence; and truth is truth from good; and when these are in their order, there is then all ability. That these things are involved in the words is plain; for there is not an upright, sound, or perfect heart (by which good is signified) unless innocence be in the good, as just said; from this it becomes simple good. And there are not blameless, clean, or pure hands which are predicated of truths) unless good be in the truths, as also just said; that is, unless there be the affection of truth. When the thought is from these, it is also from all ability or power; which is likewise signified by "hands" (n. 878).

2527. Verse 6. And God said unto him in the dream, Yea, I know that in the uprightness of thy heart thou hast done this; and I also withheld thee from sinning against Me; therefore I did not suffer thee to touch her. "God said unto him in the dream", signifies perception less obscure; "Yea I know that in the uprightness of thy heart thou hast done this", signifies here as before that it was so thought from innocence and from simple good; thus that there was no fault; " and I also withheld thee from sinning against Me", signifies that no harm resulted; "therefore I did not suffer thee to touch her", signifies that the rational was not at all consulted.

2528. God said unto him in the dream. That this signifies perception less obscure, is evident from what was said and explained above (n. 2514). The name "God" is used in this chapter, but not "Jehovah", except in the last verse, for the reason that spiritual things are treated of, that is, the doctrinal things of faith. When this is the subject He is called" God;" but when celestial things, or love and charity, are treated of, He is then called "Jehovah" (n. 709, 732, 2001).

2529. Yea, I know that in the uprightness of thy heart thou hast done this. That this signifies that it was so thought from innocence and from simple good, is evident from what was said above (n. 2525, 2526), where are the same words. That it is not also said, as above, "in the blamelessness of thy hands", is for the hidden reason that in the affection of truth (which is signified by the "blamelessness of the hands") there was something of the human; for truth was insinuated into the Lord also through the human of His birth, but good from the Divine alone; as is evident from the coming forth (existentia) of the rational as to good and as to truth (n. 2524).

2530. And I also withheld thee from sinning against Me. That this signifies that no harm resulted, that is, that in the doctrine of faith the rational was not consulted (as also follows presently) is evident without explication.

2531. Therefore I did not suffer thee to touch her. That this signifies that the rational was not at all consulted, is evident from the signification of "suffering to touch", as being to consult, as is also meant by "coming near her" in (verse 4), (n. 2519) and from the signification of " Sarah as a sister", who is here meant, as being the rational (n. 1495, 2508).

[2] That it may be further known how the case is with the doctrine of faith, as being spiritual from a celestial origin, be it known that it is Divine truth from Divine good, and thus wholly Divine. What is Divine is incomprehensible, because above all understanding, even the angelic; but still this Divine, which in itself is incomprehensible, can flow in through the Lord's Divine Human into man's rational; and when it flows into his rational, it is there received according to the truths which are therein; thus variously, and not with one as with another. In so far therefore as the truths with a man are more genuine, so far the Divine which flows in is received more perfectly, and so far the man's understanding is enlightened.

[3] In the Lord's Word are Truths themselves; but in its literal sense are truths which are accommodated to the apprehension of those who are in external worship; whereas in its internal sense are truths accommodated to those who are internal men; that is, to those who are angelic as to doctrine and at the same time as to life. Their rational is enlightened therefrom to such a degree that their enlightenment is compared to the brightness of the stars and the sun (Dan. 12:3; Matt. 13:43). Hence it is plain how important it is that interior truths be known and received. These truths may indeed be known, but by no means received, except by those who have love to the Lord, or faith in Him; for as the Lord is the Divine good, so He is the Divine truth; consequently He is doctrine itself, since whatever is in the doctrine of true faith looks to the Lord, and looks also to the heavenly kingdom and the church, and to all things of the heavenly kingdom and the church. But all these are His, and are the intermediate ends through which the last end, that is, the Lord, is regarded.

[4] That the Lord is doctrine itself as to truth and good, and thus that it is He who alone is regarded in doctrine, He teaches John: -

Jesus said, I am the way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6, 7);

where the "Way" is doctrine, the "Truth" all that is of doctrine, and the "Life" the good itself which is the life of the truth. And that love to Him or faith in Him is what receives, He also teaches in John: -

His own received Him not; but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to be the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:11-13).

Those are "born of God" who are in love and thence in faith.

2532. Verse 7. And now restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live; and if thou restore her not, know thou that dying thou shalt die, thou and all that are thine. "And now restore the man's wife", signifies that he should render up the spiritual truth of doctrine without taint from the rational; "for he is a prophet", signifies that thus it should be taught; "and he shall pray for thee", signifies that it will thus be revealed; "and thou shalt live", signifies that thus doctrine will have life; "and if thou restore her not", signifies here as before that if he should not render up the spiritual truth of doctrine without taint from the rational; "know thou that dying thou shalt die", signifies there will be no doctrine of truth and good; "and all that are thine", signifies all things that belong to it together.

2533. And now restore the man's wife. That this signifies that he should render up the spiritual truth of doctrine without taint from the rational, is evident from the signification of "wife", as being spiritual truth (n. 2507, 2510); and from the signification of the "man", as being doctrine itself; for Abraham (by whom the Lord in that state is represented), when called a "man", signifies celestial truth, which is the same as doctrine from a celestial origin; for in the internal sense a "man" is the intellectual (n. 158, 265, 749, 915, 1007, 2517). Hence it is evident that to "restore the man's wife" is to render up the spiritual truth of doctrine without taint. That it means without taint from the rational, is because Abimelech, who was to restore her, signifies doctrine that has regard to rational things, or what is the same, the rational things of doctrine (n. 2510).

[2] It was said above that although the doctrine of faith is in itself Divine, and therefore above all human and even angelic comprehension, it has nevertheless been dictated in the Word according to man's comprehension, in a rational manner. The case herein is the same as it is with a parent who is teaching his little boys and girls: when he is teaching, he sets forth everything in accordance with their genius, although he himself thinks from what is more interior or higher; otherwise it would be teaching without their learning, or like casting seed upon a rock. The case is also the same with the angels who in the other life instruct the simple in heart: although these angels are in celestial and spiritual wisdom, yet they do not hold themselves above the comprehension of those whom they teach, but speak in simplicity with them, yet rising by degrees as these are instructed; for if they were to speak from angelic wisdom, the simple would comprehend nothing at all, and thus would not be led to the truths and goods of faith. The case would be the same if the Lord had not taught in the Word in accordance with man's comprehension, in a rational manner. Nevertheless in its internal sense the Word is elevated to the angelic understanding; and yet that sense, in its highest elevation in which it is perceived by the angels, is infinitely below the Divine. It is hence manifest what the Word is in its origin, and thus in itself; and that it thus everywhere involves more things than the whole heaven is capable of comprehending, even as to a small part, although in the letter it appears so unimportant and so rude.

[3] That the Lord is the Word, because the Word is from Him and He is in the Word, is evident in John: -

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word in Him was life, and the life was the light of men the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 4, 14; Rev. 19:11, 13, 16).

And as the Lord is the Word, He is also doctrine; for there is no other doctrine which is itself Divine.

2534. For he is a prophet. That this signifies that thus it would be taught, is evident from the signification of a "prophet". In the Word we frequently read of a "prophet;" and in the sense of the letter "prophet" signifies those to whom revelation is made, also abstractedly, revelation itself; but in the internal sense a "prophet" signifies one who teaches, and also abstractedly doctrine itself; and as the Lord (as before said) is doctrine itself, that is, the Word which teaches, He is called a "Prophet", as in Moses: -

A Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me, will Jehovah thy God raise up unto Him shall ye be obedient (Deut. 18:15, 18).

It is said "like unto me", because the Lord was represented by Moses, as well as by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and many more; and because they expected Him it is said in John: -

The men, seeing the sign which Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world (John 6:14).

[2] It is because the Lord is the "Prophet" in the highest sense, and that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. 19:10), that in the internal sense of the Word a "prophet" signifies one who teaches, and also abstractedly, doctrine; which is plainly evident from the following passages. In Luke: -

Thou child shalt be called the prophet of the Highest (Luke 1:76).

This was said by Zacharias of his son John the Baptist, who himself said that he was not the prophet, but one preparing the way by teaching and preaching concerning the Lord's coming: -

They asked him, What art thou? art thou Elias? but he said, I am not. Art thou that prophet? he answered, No. They said therefore unto him, Who art thou? he said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord (John 1:21-23).

[3] In Matthew: -

Many will say in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied by Thy name? (Matthew 7:22),

where it is manifest that to "prophesy" is to teach. In John: -

Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings (Rev. 10:11);

to "prophesy" denotes to teach; and what "peoples, nations, tongues, and kings" mean, has been stated and shown before. In the same: -

The nations shall trample the holy city forty-two months but I will give to My two witnesses that they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days clothed in sackcloth (Rev. 11:2, 3);

where also to "prophesy" denotes to teach. In Moses: -

Jehovah said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet (Exod. 7:1);

where "prophet" denotes the one who should teach or speak what Moses would say. In Joel: -

I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy (Joel 2:28);

"shall prophesy" denotes shall teach.

[4] In Isaiah: -

Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your heads, the seers, hath He covered; the vision of all hath become like the words of a sealed book, which they give to him that knoweth letters, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed (Isaiah 29:10, 11);

where by "prophets" are meant those who teach truth; and by "seers" those who see truth; who are said to be "covered" when they know and see nothing of the truth. As in ancient times those who taught were called "prophets", they were therefore called also "seers", because to "see" signifies to understand (n. 2150, 2325); that they were called "seers" may be seen (1 Sam. 9:9; 2 Sam. 24:11). They were also called "men of God", from the signification of "man" (n. 158, 265, 749, 915, 1007, 2517); that they were called "men of God", (2 Kings 1:9-16; 4:7, 9, 16, 21, 22, 25, 27, 40, 42; 5:8, 14, 20; 13:19; 23:16, 17).

[5] That in the internal sense by "prophets" are signified those who teach, is evident in Jeremiah in the whole of chapter 23, and in Ezekiel in the whole of chapter 13, where "prophets" are specifically treated of; as also in many other places where they are mentioned Hence also by "false prophets" are signified those who teach falsities; as in Matthew: -

In the consummation of the age many false prophets shall arise, and shall mislead many. There shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs, and shall mislead if possible even the elect (Matthew 24:11, 24);

where by "false prophets" no others are signified. In like manner by the "false prophet" in (Rev. 16:13; 19:20; 20:10).

[6] This shows how greatly the internal sense of the Word is obscured by the ideas that have been formed from the representatives of the Jewish Church; for whenever a "prophet" is mentioned in the Word, there at once occurs the idea of prophets such as they were at that time; which idea is a great obstacle to perceiving what is signified by them. Yet the wiser anyone is, the more easily is the idea gathered from those representatives removed; as for example where the "temple" is mentioned, they who think more wisely do not perceive the temple at Jerusalem, but the Temple of the Lord; where "Mount Zion", or "Zion", is mentioned, they do not perceive that mountain at Jerusalem, but the Lord's kingdom; and where "Jerusalem" is mentioned, they do not perceive the city that was in the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, but the holy and heavenly Jerusalem.

2535. He shall pray for thee. That this signifies that it will thus be revealed, is evident from the signification of "praying". Prayer, regarded in itself, is speech with God, and some internal view at the time of the matters of the prayer, to which there answers something like an influx into the perception or thought of the mind, so that there is a certain opening of the man's interiors toward God; but this with a difference according to the man's state, and according to the essence of the subject of the prayer. If the man prays from love and faith, and for only heavenly and spiritual things, there then comes forth in the prayer something like a revelation (which is manifested in the affection of him that prays) as to hope, consolation, or a certain inward joy. It is from this that to "pray" signifies in the internal sense to be revealed. Still more is this the case here, where praying is predicated of a prophet, by whom is meant the Lord, whose prayer was nothing else than internal speech with the Divine, and at the same time revelation. That there was revelation is evident in Luke: -

It came to pass when Jesus was baptized, and prayed, that the heaven was opened (Luke 3:21).

In the same: -

It came to pass that He took Peter, James, and John, and went up into the mountain to pray and as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment became white and glistening (Luke 9:28, 29).

In John: -

When He prayed, saying, Father glorify Thy name, then came there a voice from heaven: I have both glorified, and will glorify again (John 12:27, 28);

where it is plain that the Lord's "praying" was speech with the Divine, and revelation at the same time.

2536. And thou shalt live. That this signifies that thus doctrine will have life, is evident without explication.

2537. And if thou restore her not. That this signifies that if spiritual truth were not rendered up without taint from the rational, is evident from what has been said just above (n. 2533), where are the same words.

2538. Know thou that dying thou shalt die. That this signifies that there will be no doctrine of truth and good, is also evident from what was said above (n. 2516); where also the words are similar. In like manner that "all that are thine" signifies all the things that are of it, namely, of the doctrine, together. That in the internal sense "all" signifies everything or all things, is because in the Word persons signify actual things; and thus "all that belonged to Abimelech" signifies everything or all things that are of doctrine. From all this then it is evident what is the internal sense of the words in this verse; namely, that He should render up the spiritual truth of doctrine without taint from the rational, and that thereby it would be taught and revealed to Him, and thus doctrine would have life; but that if He should not render up spiritual truth without taint from the rational, the doctrine of truth and good would become null and void in respect to each and all things of it.

[2] In regard to doctrine the case is this: In so far as there is what is human (that is, what is of sense, of memory-knowledge, and of the rational) as the ground of belief, so far the doctrine is null and void. But in so far as what is of sense, of memory-knowledge, and of the rational is removed, that is, in so far as doctrine is believed without these things, so far doctrine lives; for so far the Divine flows in. It is that which is proper to the human that hinders the influx and the reception. But it is one thing to believe from what is of the rational, of memory-knowledge, and of sense (that is, to consult such things in order to believe), and quite another thing to confirm and corroborate by means of things rational, of memory-knowledge, and of sense, that which is believed. What the difference is will be made plain in what follows; for these things also are treated of in this chapter in the internal sense.

2539. Verse 8. And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and spake all these words in their ears; and the men feared greatly. "Abimelech rose early in the morning", signifies clear perception, and the light of confirmation from celestial good; "and called all his servants", signifies things rational and of memory-knowledge; "and spake all these words in their ears", signifies an exhortation to the things thence derived that confirm, even until they should become obedient; "and the men feared greatly", signifies until they were also averse.

2540. Abimelech rose early in the morning. That this signifies clear perception, and the light of confirmation from celestial good, is evident from the signification of "rising in the morning", also of "Abimelech", and also of "early". What "morning" signifies has been shown above (n. 2333, 2405): that it is here clear perception is manifest in itself, as well as from the series; that the perception was at first obscure (n. 2513, 2514); and that afterwards it was less obscure (n. 2528). That "Abimelech" signifies the doctrine of faith looking to rational things, may be seen above (n. 2509, 2510); and what "early" signifies is manifest from the signification of "morning". As it is here said that he "rose early in the morning", this not only signifies clear perception, but also the light of confirmation from celestial good; for it is celestial good from which comes the confirming light of truth; all of which shows that this is the signification.

[2] The reason why the perception which the Lord had when in the Human, and His thought concerning what is rational in the doctrine of faith, are so much treated of in the internal sense, is that which has been stated above; as well as that it is angelic to think with distinctiveness of various things concerning the Lord's life in the world, and how He put off the human rational, and made the rational Divine from His own power; and at the same time concerning the doctrine of charity and faith, such as it is when the rational mixes itself with it; besides many more things dependent on these, which are interior things of the church and of man. To the man whose mind and heart are set upon worldly and corporeal things, these things appear as unimportant, and perchance as of no advantage to him; yet to the angels, whose minds and hearts are set upon celestial and spiritual things, these same things are precious; and their ideas and perceptions respecting them are ineffable. This shows that very many things which seem unimportant to man, because they transcend his comprehension, are held in the highest estimation by the angels, because they enter into the light of their wisdom; and on the other hand, things that are most highly esteemed by man, because they are of the world, and therefore come within his comprehension, are unimportant to the angels, for they pass outside of the light of their wisdom. And such is the case with the internal sense of the Word, relatively to angels and to men, in many places.

2541. And called all his servants. That this signifies rational things and memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification in the Word of "servants", concerning which hereafter at (verse 14), (n. 2567). In a man who is in the Lord's kingdom, or who is the Lord's kingdom, there are celestial things, spiritual things, rational things, memory-knowledges, and things of sense; and these are in subordination to one another. Celestial and spiritual things hold the first place, and are the Lord's; to these rational things are subordinate, and are subservient; to these again memory-knowledges are subordinate and subservient; and lastly the things of sense are subordinate and subservient to these, that is to memory-knowledges. The things which are subservient, or which serve, are relatively servants, and in the Word are called "servants". That there is such a subordination, the man who thinks only from sense and memory-knowledge is ignorant; and he who knows anything of them nevertheless has a most obscure idea, because he is still in corporeal things; but the angels have a most distinct idea; for thousands, nay myriads, of ideas that to the angels are distinct, present nothing but a single obscure idea to men. For example, in regard to Abimelech calling his servants and speaking all the words in their ears, and the men fearing greatly, the angels perceive deeper arcana than man can possibly apprehend, or can even believe - namely, how the Lord reduced rational things and memory-knowledges to obedience; and indeed in such manner that He reduced to obedience not the rational things and memory-knowledges themselves, but the affections that rose up against the celestial and spiritual things of doctrine, for on the subjugation of these the rational things and memory-knowledges were reduced to obedience, and at the same time into order. To the angels, these are among the most common things; but to man they are perchance among those which are most obscure or unintelligible to him.

2542. And spake all these words in their ears. That this signifies an exhortation to the things thence derived that confirm, even until they should become obedient, is evident from the series in the internal sense, as well as from the signification of "ears". From the series: There are many confirmatory things that support whatever the rational acknowledges; for it is precisely from these confirmatory things that its acknowledgment comes; and therefore it is that when rational things are being reduced to obedience exhortation is made to the things that confirm; for these are ever pressing in, and as it were rising up. From the signification of "ears:" In the internal sense of the Word "ears" signify obedience, by reason of the correspondence between hearing and obeying; which correspondence is moreover latent in the very word "hear", and still more in "hearken;" the origin of which correspondence is from the other life, where they who are willing and obedient belong to the province of the ear, and indeed correspond to the hearing itself; which is an arcanum not yet known. But these things will become more clearly manifest when in what follows, of the Lord's Divine mercy, correspondence will be treated of. That "ears" have this signification is evident from many passages in the Word. For the present we may adduce a single passage from Isaiah: -

Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes lest peradventure they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and their heart should understand (Isaiah 6:10).

Here to "see with the eyes" is to understand; and to "hear with the ears" is to perceive with affection, consequently to obey. And nothing else is signified where the Lord says, "He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear" (Matt. 11:15; 13:9, 43; Luke 8:8; 14:35).

2543. The men feared greatly. That this signifies even until they should become averse, is evident from the signification here of "fearing;" and from the signification of the "men". "Fearing", or" fear", like all other emotions, though in appearance simple, involves in itself many things, namely, in worldly matters the loss of life, of reputation, of honor, and of gain; and in heavenly matters the loss of what is good and true, and of the life thence derived. As fear involves these things it also involves aversion to whatever endeavors to destroy them; and this the more in proportion as the man is in the affection of what is good and true. To this very affection aversion is the opposite or contrary, and therefore by "fearing" is here signified to become averse. How great was the Lord's aversion is evident from the zeal with which the things in the next verse are said; which zeal was for doctrine, that it might be free from contamination by anything rational or by anything of memory-knowledge. "Men" signify rational things and memory-knowledges, or all intellectual things whatever (n. 158, 265, 749, 915, 1007).

2544. Verse 9. And Abimelech called Abraham and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and wherein have I sinned against thee that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou hast done unto me deeds that ought not to be done. "Abimelech called Abraham and said unto him", signifies the Lord's thought from the doctrine of faith; "what hast thou done unto us? and wherein have I sinned against thee?" signifies self-conviction for having so thought; "that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin", signifies that thereby the doctrine of faith and all doctrinal things would be in danger; "thou hast done unto me deeds that ought not to be done", signifies horror.

2545. Abimelech called Abraham and said unto him. That this signifies the Lord's thought from the doctrine of faith, is evident from the representation of Abimelech, and also of Abraham, and from the signification of "saying", which have all been explained several times. What it is to think from the doctrine of faith cannot be explained to the apprehension; for the perception of this can fall into angelic ideas only; but to these it is presented in a light so great, attended with heavenly representatives, that scarcely anything of it can be described; as is evident when we say that the Lord's thought was from intellectual truth, which was above that rational which He looked upon therefrom; but that the perception from which He thought was from Divine truth.

2546. What hast thou done unto us? and wherein have I sinned against thee? That this signifies self-conviction for having so thought, is evident from the emotion and zeal in these words (n. 2543), on account of the faculties of reason and memory-knowledge desiring to rise up and enter, and thus to have some share in the doctrine of faith, which is Divine.

2547. That thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin. That this signifies that thereby the doctrine of faith and all doctrinal things would be in danger, is evident from the signification of "Abimelech", here meant by "me", as being the doctrine of faith; and from the signification of "kingdom", as being the truth of doctrine or that which is doctrinal. That in the internal sense "kingdom" signifies the truths of doctrine; and in the opposite sense, falsities of doctrine, is evident from the Word; as in Jeremiah: -

He is the Former of all things, and the scepter of His inheritance Jehovah Zebaoth is His name. Thou art My hammer, weapons of war; and I will scatter nations in thee, and destroy kingdoms in thee (Jeremiah 51:19, 20),

where the Lord is treated of, who evidently will not scatter nations nor destroy kingdoms, but will scatter and destroy the things signified by nations and kingdoms, namely, the evils and falsities of doctrine.

[2] In Ezekiel: -

Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations whither they be gone, and will gather them from every side, and bring them into their own land; I will make them one nation in the land in the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they any more be divided into two kingdoms (Ezekiel 37:21, 22);

here "Israel" denotes the spiritual church; and "nation" the good of that church or of doctrine. That "nations" denote goods may be seen above, (n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849). "Kingdom" denotes its truths. It is evident that something else than nations and kingdoms is here meant by "nations and kingdoms", for it is said of the sons of Israel or of the Israelites that they are to be "gathered and brought back into the land", the fact being that when dispersed among the nations they were transformed into Gentiles.

[3] In Isaiah: -

I will confound Egypt with Egypt, and they shall fight every man against his brother, and every man against his companion, city against city, kingdom against kingdom (Isaiah 19:2),

where "Egypt" denotes reasonings from memory-knowledges concerning the truths of faith (n. 1164, 1165, 1186); "city" denotes doctrine, here one that is heretical (n. 402, 2268, 2449); "kingdom" denotes the falsity of doctrine; so that "city against city, and kingdom against kingdom" denotes that heresies and falsities will fight among themselves; in like manner as is denoted by what the Lord said in regard to the consummation of the age, in Matthew: -

Nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom (Matthew 24:7);

denoting evils against evils, and falsities against falsities.

[4] That which Daniel prophesied in regard to the four kingdoms (Daniel 2:37-46; 7:17-28); and concerning the kingdoms of Media and Persia (Daniel 8:20-27); and concerning the kingdoms of the king of the south and the king of the north (Daniel 11:1); and that which John prophesied in the Revelation concerning kings and kingdoms, have no other signification: "kingdoms" there merely mean the states of the church in respect to truths and falsities. States of monarchs and of the kingdoms of the earth in the sense of the letter, are in the internal sense states of the church and of the Lord's kingdom; in which sense there are none other than spiritual and celestial things; for regarded in itself the Lord's Word is solely spiritual and celestial; but in order that it may be read and apprehended by every man whatever, the things of heaven are set forth by such things as are on earth.

2548. Thou hast done unto me deeds that ought not to be done. That this signifies horror, is evident from the emotion in the words; as well as from the series, namely, that the Lord was averse (n. 2543); that He reproved Himself from zeal (n. 2546); and here that He felt horror.

2549. Verses 10, 11. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, what sawest thou that thou hast done this word? And Abraham said, Because I said, Surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me on account of the word of my wife. "Abimelech said unto Abraham", signifies further thought from the doctrine of faith; "what sawest thou that thou hast done this word?" signifies a looking into the cause; "Abraham said", signifies a perception which is an answer; "because I said surely there is no fear of God in this place", signifies thought thence derived: that they would have no respect for spiritual truth in the state in which they were; "and they will kill me on account of the word of my wife", signifies that the celestial things of faith would thus also perish if they were to think that spiritual truth alone could be conjoined with celestial good.

2550. Abimelech said unto Abraham. That this signifies further thought from the doctrine of faith, is evident from what was said above (n. 2545), where are nearly the same words. As the statement is here repeated, it signifies further thought, and indeed concerning the cause. (What thought from the doctrine of faith is may also be seen there).

2551. What sawest thou that thou hast done this word? That this signifies a looking into the cause, is evident without explication; as well as from what follows, where the cause is stated. The reason of there being thus presented in regular order, in the internal sense, how the Lord perceived and thought concerning the doctrine of faith, and concerning the rational as to whether it should be consulted, is that it is angelic to think of these things in such a series. The internal sense of the Word is especially for the angels; and therefore is adapted to their perceptions and thoughts. They are in their delightful, nay, in their blessed and happy states, when they are thinking about the Lord, His Divine and His Human, and how the Human was made Divine; for they are encompassed with a celestial and spiritual sphere which is full of the Lord; so that it may be said that they are in the Lord. Hence nothing is more blessed and happy to them than to think in accordance with the things that belong to that sphere and its derivative affection.

[2] At the same time moreover they are instructed and perfected, especially in this: how the Lord by degrees and of His own power, as He grew up, made Divine the human into which He was born; and thus how, by means of the knowledges that He revealed to Himself He perfected His rational, dispersed by successive steps its shadows, and introduced it into Divine light. These and innumerable other things are presented before the angels in a celestial and spiritual manner, with a thousand and a thousand representatives, in the light of life, when the Word is being read. But these things, which are so precious to the angels, are to men as of no importance, because above their comprehension, and thus in the shade of their understanding; and on the other hand, the things that are precious to men, such as those which contain within them worldly matters, are of no importance to the angels, because below their state and thus in the shade of their wisdom. Thus, wonderful to say, the things that come to shade with man, and almost into contempt, with the angels pass into light, and into their affection, as is the case with many things of the internal sense of the Word.

2552. Abraham said. That this signifies a perception which is an answer, is evident from the signification of "saying" in the historicals of the Word, as explained many times before (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2061, 2080, 2238, 2260, 2271, 2287). With regard to the Lords thought from the doctrine of faith being signified by the words "Abimelech said to Abraham;" and the perception which was an answer being meant by "Abraham said", the case is this perception is a higher thing, and the Lord had it from the Divine Itself; whereas thought is a lower thing, and the Lord had it from the intellectual itself; and as it was perception from which He had the thought, so the answer of the thought was from perception. This may be illustrated by something similar with man. The celestial man cannot think except from perception, nor the spiritual man except from conscience (n. 2515). The perception of the former, like the conscience (of the latter) is from the Lord, and it is not apparent to the man himself whence it is; but his thought is from the rational, and appears to him as from himself. And so again, when a man is thinking concerning any subject from the rational, then the conclusion of the thought, or the answer, comes either from perception or from conscience; consequently an answer is given him by the Lord in accordance with his state of life, his affection, and the truth of doctrine implanted or impressed in agreement therewith.

2553. Because I said, Surely there is no fear of God in this place. That this signifies the thought thence derived: that they would have no respect for spiritual truth in that state in which they were, is evident from the signification of the expression "fear of God", as being respect for Divine or spiritual truth; and from the signification of "place", as being state (n. 1273-1275, 1377). The case herein is this Man cannot apprehend any doctrine that is purely spiritual and celestial, that is, Divine, because it infinitely transcends his apprehension, and thus also his belief. All man's thoughts are terminated in the natural things which are connected with his senses. Whatever is not said from and according to these natural things is not comprehended, but perishes, like sight that has no bound in some ocean or universe; and therefore if doctrinal matters were set forth before a man in any other manner, they would not be at all received, and thus no respect would be entertained for them; as may be sufficiently evident from everything in the Word where for this very reason purely Divine things themselves are set forth naturally, nay, sensuously; as that Jehovah has ears, eyes, and a face; and that He has feelings like a man, such as anger, and so forth.

[2] This need was still greater at the time when the Lord came into the world, for then men did not know even what the celestial and the spiritual was, nor even that there was anything internal. Things merely earthly and worldly, and thus external, had full possession of their minds, as was the case with the apostles themselves, who imagined that the Lord's kingdom would be like a kingdom of this world, and therefore asked that one might sit on His right hand and another on His left, and who long thought that they should sit upon twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel; not as yet being aware that in the other life they would not have ability to judge even the smallest thing of one man (n. 2129). His looking into this state of the human race was the reason of the Lord's thinking at first whether the rational was to be consulted in the doctrine of faith; and this from His love, which was that the salvation of all might be provided for, and that the Word might not perish.

2554. They will kill me for my wife's sake. That this signifies that thus the celestial things of faith also would perish, if they were to think that spiritual truth alone could be conjoined with celestial good, is evident from the signification of "killing", as being to perish; and from the signification of "wife", as being spiritual truth conjoined with celestial good (n. 2507). This is another reason why the Lord thus thought, and is as follows. The Divine good, which is here called celestial good, is united as by a marriage to the Divine truth, which is here called spiritual truth (n. 2508); and although the Divine good is united in this manner to the Divine truth alone, it nevertheless flows into lower truths, and conjoins itself with them, but not as by a marriage; for it flows into rational truths which are only appearances of truth, and conjoins itself with them; nay, it flows into truths of sense and of memory-knowledge, which are scarcely anything but fallacies, and conjoins itself with these. Unless this were so, no man could possibly have been saved (n. 1831, 1832). That the Divine good might be conjoined with truths of reason and of memory-knowledge, and that man might thus be saved, was the purpose of the Lord's coming into the world; for without the Lord's Human made Divine there cannot possibly be any conjunction; whereas through Him there is conjunction.

[2] Besides this arcanum, there are still other arcana in the words "they will kill me for my wife's sake" (by which is signified that so the celestial things of faith would perish, if they were to think that spiritual truth alone could be conjoined with celestial good); for example, that if men were to have no regard for spiritual truth, celestial good would thereby also perish; for when the former is rejected the latter perishes; and again, that unless it were said that they should adore the Father, although there is no access to Him except through the Son, and he who sees the Son sees the Father, (John 14:8-12), it would not have been received.

2555. Verses 12, 13. And moreover truly she is my sister, being the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. And it came to pass when God caused me to depart from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy goodness which thou shalt do unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother. "And moreover truly she is my sister", signifies that rational truth had such an affinity; "the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother", signifies that the rational was conceived of celestial good as a father, but not of spiritual truth as a mother; "and she became my wife", signifies that spiritual truth was conjoined with the celestial by the mediumship of rationality; "and it came to pass when God caused me to depart from my father's house", signifies when He left what is of memory-knowledge and the appearances therefrom, together with their delights, which are here the "house of his father;" "that I said unto her", signifies the thought at the time; "this is thy goodness which thou shalt do unto me", signifies that He would then have therefrom this comfort; "at every place whither we shall come", signifies all that He should afterwards conclude concerning rational truth; "say of me, he is my brother", signifies that it should be said that rational truth had been adjoined to celestial good.

2556. And moreover truly she is my sister. That this signifies that rational truth had such an affinity, is evident from the representation of Sarah as a sister, as being rational truth (n. 2508); as well as from what now follows concerning the birth of the rational, and its consequent affinity. It is to be held in general that all things in a truly rational, that is, a regenerate man-all the things of his affections, of his perceptions, and of his thoughts-are conjoined with one another as if by blood-relationship and affinity; for they have been so disposed that they mutually regard one another as do the families of one house, and this in the most distinct manner; and hence they are reproduced in accordance with these affinities. This they derive from the influx of heaven, that is, of the Lord through heaven. With the man who is truly rational, that is, regenerate, all things have been disposed into order such as exists in heaven, and this from influx. From this there is given man a faculty of thinking, concluding, judging, and reflecting so wonderful as to exceed all mere human knowledge and wisdom, and immeasurably to surpass the analyses which human industry has drawn from these sources. The reason why these things have been hitherto unknown, is that it has not been believed that all things of the affections, perceptions, and thoughts flow in (the evil from hell, and the good from heaven), thus that these have a connection with the things which are without them; when yet the truth is that man is so conjoined as to his spirit with those who are without him, that if he were deprived of this connection he would not live a single moment; as may also be known from the fact that anything unconnected is impossible, and that anything unconnected perishes in a moment.

2557. The daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. That this signifies that the rational was conceived of celestial good as a father, but not of spiritual truth as a mother, is evident from the conception of the rational, namely, that this is effected by the influx of Divine celestial good into the affection of memory-knowledges (n. 1895, 1902, 1910). Two arcana are contained herein; one, that man's rational is conceived of Divine celestial good as a father, and that otherwise no rational would exist; the other, that the rational is not conceived of spiritual truth as a mother. As regards the first, namely, that man's rational is conceived of Divine celestial good as a father, and that otherwise no rational would exist, this is evident from what has been said above (n. 1895, 1902, 1910), and also from what may be known to every man if he reflects.

[2] For it is known that a man is born into no knowledge and into nothing of reason, but only into the faculty of receiving them; and also that he afterwards learns and imbues himself with all things by degrees, and this principally through the sensuous things of the hearing and sight; and as he learns and imbues himself with these, he so becomes rational. That these things take place by the way of the body, that is, by an external way, because through the hearing and sight, is manifest; but the reason why man has not become acquainted with this (on account of not reflecting upon it) is that there is something constantly flowing in from within that receives the things which thus enter and are insinuated from without, and disposes them into order. That which flows in and receives and disposes them, is Divine celestial good, which is from the Lord. Thence comes the life of these things, thence their order, and thence the kinships and affinities among them severally, as before said. All this shows that man's rational is from Divine celestial good as a father, in accordance with the words in this verse: "she is the daughter of my father".

[3] As regards the other arcanum, namely, that the rational is not conceived of spiritual truth as a mother; this is evident from what was said above (n. 1902). For if spiritual truth were to flow in from within, as good does, man would then be born into everything of reason, and at the same time into everything of knowledge, so that he would have no need to learn anything. But as man is such that he is hereditarily in all evil, and thence in all falsity, and therefore if truths themselves also were to flow in would adulterate and falsify them, and thereby the man would eternally perish, it has been provided by the Lord that nothing of truth flows in through man's internal, but only through his external. From this it is evident that man's rational is not from spiritual truth as a mother, in accordance with the words in this verse: "she is not the daughter of my mother". It was the Lord's pleasure that His rational should be formed according to the same order, to the end that from His own power He might make what was human in Himself Divine, and might implant and unite Divine spiritual truth to Divine celestial good, and Divine celestial good to Divine spiritual truth.

2558. And she became my wife. That this signifies that spiritual truth was conjoined with the celestial by the mediumship of rationality, is evident from the representation of Sarah as Abraham's wife, as being spiritual truth conjoined with celestial good (n. 2507); and from the representation of the same as his sister, as being rational truth (n. 2508). Hence that she became his wife, from being his sister, signifies that by rationality as a medium spiritual truth was conjoined with the celestial. How these things are circumstanced is evident from what has been said just above, (n. 2557).

2559. And it came to pass when God caused me to depart from my fathers house. That this signifies when He left what is of memory-knowledge, and the appearances therefrom, together with their delights, which here are the "house of his father", is evident from the signification of "departing", as being to leave; and from the signification of "house", as being good (n. 2231, 2233), here the good of the delight from the appearances of the things of memory-knowledge and of rational things for all delight appears as good. That by the "house of his father" are here signified the delights of memory-knowledges and of rational things, consequently of their appearances, comes from the fact that they are predicated of Abraham when he departed from the house of his father; for then Abraham together with the house of his father worshiped other gods (n. 1356, 1992). Hence it is that it is said in the plural, "God (Elohim) caused me to depart". It might also be rendered according to the original tongue "the gods caused me to wander;" but as the Lord is represented by Abraham it must be rendered "God caused me to depart". As with the Lord the first memory-knowledges and the rational things derived from them were human, being imbued with what was hereditary from the mother, and thus were not purely Divine, they are therefore represented by Abraham's first state But how far representations go, see (n. 665, 1907, 1361, 1992).

2560. That I said unto her. That this signifies the thought at the time, is evident from the signification of "saying" as being to think, as explained several times before.

2561. This is thy goodness which thou shalt do unto me. That this signifies that He would then have therefrom this comfort, is evident from what goes before and from what follows, and thus without further explication.

2562. At every place whither we shall come. That this signifies all that He should afterwards conclude respecting rational truth, is evident from the signification of "place", as being state (n. 1273-1275, 1377). The state of the thing here treated of is the state of concluding concerning rational truth (that it should be said that rational truth was adjoined to celestial good), as follows.

2563. Say of me, He is my brother. That this signifies that it should be said that rational truth was adjoined to celestial good, is evident from what was said above (n. 2524), where nearly the same words occur.

2564. Verse 14. And Abimelech took flock and herd, and menservants and maidservants, and gave unto Abraham; and restored to him Sarah his wife. "Abimelech took", signifies the doctrine of faith; "flock and herd", signifies that it was enriched with rational goods and natural goods; "and men-servants and maidservants", signifies also with rational truths and natural truths, as well as with their affections; " and gave unto Abraham", signifies to the Lord; "and restored to him Sarah his wife", signifies when the Divine spiritual had been adjoined to the Divine celestial.

2565. Abimelech took. That this signifies the doctrine of faith, is evident from the signification of "Abimelech", as being the doctrine of faith (n. 2504, 2509, 2510).

2566. Flock and herd. That this signifies that it was enriched with rational goods and natural goods, is evident from the signification of "flock and herd". Those within the church are called the "flock" who are truly rational, that is, are internal men; hence also it is that in the abstract rational or internal goods themselves are signified by "flock", concerning which signification of "flock" see above, (n. 343, 415, 1565). But those within the church are called the "herd" who are natural, that is, are external men; hence also in the abstract natural or external goods themselves are signified by "herd;" (concerning which signification of "herd" see also above, (n. 2180). That such things are signified by "beasts" has been shown above, (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 776, 1823, 2179). Its being said that "Abimelech took and gave" signifies that the doctrine of faith was enriched; for as already said by "Abimelech" is signified the doctrine of faith.

2567. And menservants and maidservants. That this signifies that it was enriched also with rational truths and natural truths, as well as with the affections of them, is evident from the signification of "menservants and maidservants". These are frequently mentioned in the Word, and by them are signified in the internal sense things that are relatively lower and of less value, such as are rational and natural things in comparison with spiritual and celestial things. By natural truths are meant memory-knowledges of every kind, for these are natural. That in the Word these are signified by "menservants and maidservants", is manifest from the internal sense of the words where they are mentioned, as in Isaiah: -

Jehovah will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and will set them upon their own ground and the sojourner shall cleave unto them, and shall join themselves unto the house of Jacob; and the peoples shall take them, and shall bring them to their own place and the house of Israel shall possess them for themselves upon the ground of Jehovah for menservants and for maidservants (Isaiah 14:1, 2),

[2] where " Jacob" denotes the external church; "Israel", the internal; "sojourners", those who are being instructed in truths and goods (n. 1463, 2025); "menservants and maidservants", natural and rational truths together with the affections of them, which are to serve the church meant by "Jacob and Israel". It is evident that Jacob and Israel are not meant here, nor the Jews and Israelites, for the latter when dispersed among the Gentiles became Gentiles. The Jews still cherish this prophecy and expect its fulfillment, even according to the letter, namely, that sojourners will cleave to them, that the people will bring them to their place, and will be to them for menservants and maidservants; when yet not even the smallest thing is to be understood of the Jews and Israelites in the prophecies of the Word where these are mentioned; as must be evident even to themselves from the fact that it is often said of Israel equally as of Judah that they shall be brought back.

[3] Again in the same Prophet: -

Behold, Jehovah maketh the earth empty, and emptieth it out, and will disfigure the face of it, and scatter the inhabitants thereof and it shall be, as the people, so the priest as the servant, so his master as the maidservant, so her mistress (Isa. 24:1, 2).

Here the "earth" denotes the church (n. 662, 1066, 1068, 1850), which is made empty and is emptied out, and its face is disfigured, and its inhabitants scattered, when there are longer any interior truths and goods, which are the "people and the priest", nor any exterior truths and goods, which are the "servant" and the "maidservant", as comes to pass when external things rule over internal things.

[4] Again: -

I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob and out of Judah an inheritor of My mountain, and My chosen shall possess it, and My servants shall dwell there (Isa. 65:9),

where "Jacob" denotes the external church; "Judah", the internal celestial church; the "chosen", its goods and the "servants", its truths.

[5] In Joel: -

I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; also upon the servants and the maidservants will I pour out My spirit in those days (Joel 2:28, 29)

where the Lord's kingdom is treated of; "to prophesy" denotes to teach (n. 2534); "sons", truths themselves (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147); "daughters", goods themselves (n. 489-491); "servants" and "maidservants", lower truths and goods, upon which the spirit is said to be poured out when they accede and confirm. That such things are signified by "menservants and maidservants" here and elsewhere, does not so appear, by reason both of the common idea respecting menservants and maidservants, and of the apparent history.

[6] In John: -

I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, Eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all, both of free and bond, both of small and great (Rev. 19:17, 18).

It is here evident that it is not the flesh of kings, of captains, of mighty men, of horses, of those who sit on them, of the free and of the bond, which they should eat; but that it is the truths of the church, both internal and external, that were made "flesh" for them.

[7] That "menservants" signify truths, and "maidservants" goods, which are subservient to and thus serve spiritual and celestial truths and goods, is more clearly evident from the laws enjoined in the Representative Church in regard to menservants and maidservants; which laws all have regard to the state of the church and of the Lord's kingdom in general and in particular; and to the way in which lower truths and goods, or those which are natural and rational, are to serve those which are spiritual and celestial, and thereby those which are Divine. For example: The Hebrew manservant and the Hebrew maidservant were to be free in the seventh year, and were then to be endowed from the flock, the threshing-floor, and the wine-press (Exod. 21:2, 6; Deut. 15:12-15; Jer. 34:9-14): The servant's wife was to be free if she entered into service with him; but if the master gave him his wife, the wife and children were to be the master's (Exod. 21:3, 4). A poor brother who had been purchased was not to serve as a bondservant, but as a hired servant and a sojourner; at the jubilee he was to go out together with his children (Lev. 25:39-43): If a brother were bought by a foreign sojourner, he might be redeemed, and was to go out in the year of the jubilee (Lev. 25:47): Menservants and maidservants might be bought of the nations around, and of the sons of foreign sojourners, and they were to be their perpetual possession, whom they might rule absolutely, but not the sons of Israel (Lev. 25:44-46): If a manservant did not desire to go out of service, his ear was to be pierced with an awl, at the door, and he was to be a perpetual servant; and the same with a maidservant (Exod. 21:6; Deut. 15:16, 17): If anyone smote his manservant or his maidservant with a rod, so that he died, vengeance was to be taken on him; but if he survived a day or more, he was to be free, because he was his money (Exod. 21:20, 21): If he should smite a servant's eye or tooth, he was to go forth free (Exod. 21:26, 27): If an ox should gore a manservant or a maidservant so that he died, the owner was to pay thirty shekels to his master, and the ox was to be stoned (Exod. 21:32): A servant who had escaped from his master was not to be placed in confinement, but should dwell in the place where he chose, and was not to be afflicted (Deut. 23:15, 16): A servant bought with silver, and circumcised, was to eat of the Passover (Exod. 12:44): Any one's daughter that was bought was not to go out of service like the manservants; if she were evil, her master was not to sell her to a stranger; if she were betrothed to his son, she was to be as a daughter; if he took another, he was not to diminish her food, her raiment, nor her duty of marriage; if these things were not done, she was to go out of service without price (Exod. 21:7-12).

[8] All these laws have their origin from the laws of truth and good in heaven, and in the internal sense have reference to them; partly by correspondences, partly by representatives, and partly by significatives. But after the representatives and significatives of the church (which were the most external and lowest things of worship) had been abolished, the necessity for these laws ceased also. Now if these laws were to be unfolded from the laws of order of truth and good, and from representatives and significatives, it would be plain that nothing else was meant by "menservants" than rational and memory truths (vera rationalia et scientifica), which are lower truths, and therefore ought to serve spiritual truths; and that by "maidservants" were signified the goods of these, which being also lower, ought to serve indeed, but in another manner; and therefore certain of the laws laid down respecting maidservants differ from those laid down respecting menservants; for regarded in themselves truths are more fully servants than their goods are.

[9] By the "king's right", in Samuel, nothing else is signified in the internal sense than the "right" of truth, and likewise the "right" of falsity when it begins to rule over truth and over good; as is evident from the explication of the words by which this is described: -

This will be the right of the king that shall reign over you he will take your sons and appoint them to him over his chariots and for his horsemen, and they shall run before his chariots; he will take your daughters for perfumers, and for cooks, and for bakers; your menservants and your maidservants and your goodliest young men and your asses will be take and put them to his work; he will take the tenth of your flock; and ye shall be for servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye have chosen for you, and Jehovah will not answer you in that day (1 Sam. 8:11, 13, 16-18).

[10] That by a "king" is signified truths, may be seen above (n. 1672, 2015, 2069); thus in the opposite sense things that are not true, that is, falsities. By the "sons whom he would appoint for himself over his chariots and for his horsemen", are signified the truths of doctrine, which should be subservient to principles of falsity, which are the "chariots and horsemen". By the "daughters whom he should take for perfumers, cooks, and bakers", are signified the goods of doctrine, by which those falsities would be filled with delight; and which would be made to favor the falsities. By the "menservants and maidservants, the young men, and the asses, by which he would do his work", are signified the things of reason and of memory-knowledge, by which those falsities would be confirmed. By the "flock of which he will take a tenth" are signified the remains of good that he would do violence to. And by their "being servants" is signified that it would come to pass that the celestial and spiritual things of the Word and of doctrine, instead of ruling, would be subservient to the confirmation of the falsities of his principles, and the evils of his cupidities. For there is nothing that cannot be injected into principles of falsity as confirmatory of them, either by a false application, by a wrong interpretation, by perversion, or by a rejection of those things which do not favor; and therefore it is added: "if ye cry out in that day because of your king whom ye have chosen for you, Jehovah will not answer in that day".

2568. It has been said above in this chapter that doctrine would become null and void if the rational were consulted (n. 2516, 2538); and that it was not consulted (n. 2519, 2531). But here it is said that the doctrine of faith was enriched with goods and truths both rational and natural. At first view these statements appear as if they were adverse and contrary to each other; and yet are not so. How the case was with the Lord, has been stated; but how it is with man, remains to be told.

[2] As regards man it is one thing to regard the doctrine of faith from rational things, and altogether another to regard rational things from the doctrine of faith. To regard the doctrine of faith from rational things is not to believe in the Word, or in the doctrine thence derived, until one is persuaded from rational things that it is so; whereas to regard rational things from the doctrine of faith is first to believe in the Word, or in the doctrine therefrom, and then to confirm the same by rational things. The former is inverted order, and results in nothing being believed; whereas the latter is genuine order, and causes the man to believe the better. It is the former that is here meant by its being said that Abimelech should die because of the woman; by which is signified that the doctrine of faith would become null and void if the rational were consulted (n. 2516, 2538); but the latter is meant by its being said that Abimelech gave flock and herd, and menservants and maidservants; by which is signified that the doctrine of faith was enriched with rational and natural goods and truths.

[3] These things are much treated of in the Word in its internal sense, especially where Asshur and Egypt are spoken of; for the reason that while the doctrine of faith is regarded from rational things, that is, while a man does not believe until he is persuaded from them that it is so, it then not only becomes null and void, but whatever is contained in it is also denied; whereas when rational things are regarded from the doctrine of faith, that is, when a man believes the Word, and afterwards the same things are confirmed by rational things, the doctrine is then living and whatever is contained in it is affirmed.

[4] There are therefore two principles; one of which leads to all folly and insanity, and the other to all intelligence and wisdom. The former principle is to deny all things, or to say in the heart that we cannot believe them until we are convinced by what we can apprehend, or perceive by the senses; this is the principle that leads to all folly and insanity, and is to be called the negative principle. The other principle is to affirm the things which are of doctrine from the Word, or to think and believe within ourselves that they are true because the Lord has said them: this is the principle that leads to all intelligence and wisdom, and is to be called the affirmative principle.

[5] The more they who think from the negative principle consult things rational, the more they consult memory-knowledges, and the more they consult things philosophical, the more do they cast and precipitate themselves into darkness, until at last they deny all things. The causes of this are, that no one can apprehend higher things from lower ones, that is, spiritual and celestial things, still less Divine things, from lower ones, because they transcend all understanding, and moreover everything is then involved in negatives from that principle. On the other hand, they who think from an affirmative principle can confirm themselves by whatever things rational, by whatever memory-knowledges, and whatever things philosophic they have at command; for all these are to them things confirmatory, and give them a fuller idea of the matter.

[6] Moreover there are some who are in doubt before they deny, and there are some who are in doubt before they affirm. They who are in doubt before they deny are they who incline to a life of evil; and when this life carries them away, then in so far as they think of the matters in question they deny them. But they who are in doubt before they affirm are they who incline to a life of good; and when they suffer themselves to be bent to this by the Lord, then in so far as they think about those things so far they affirm. As this subject is further treated of in the verses which follow,. it is permitted of the Lord's Divine mercy to illustrate them more fully there (n. 2588).

2569. And gave unto Abraham; and restored to him Sarah his wife. That he "gave unto Abraham" signifies to the Lord, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord. That he "restored unto him Sarah his wife" signifies when the Divine spiritual had been adjoined to the Divine celestial, is evident from the signification of "Sarah a wife", as being spiritual truth adjoined to celestial good (n. 2507). The internal sense of the words in this verse is manifest from what has been said, namely, that when the Human in the Lord had been united to the Divine, and the Divine to the Human, He then possessed omniscience not only of Divine celestial and spiritual things, but also of infra-celestial and infra-spiritual things, that is, of rational and natural things; for from the Divine, as from the Sun of all light, everything is seen as present.

2570. Verse 15. And Abimelech said, Behold my land is before thee; dwell in that which is good in thine eyes. "Abimelech said, Behold my land is before thee", signifies the Lord's perception concerning the doctrine of love and charity; "dwell in that which is good in thine eyes", signifies that he was in everything where there was good.

2571. Abimelech said, Behold my land is before thee. That this signifies the Lord's perception concerning the doctrine of love and charity, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to think (n. 2506); and from the signification of "land", as being here the doctrine of love and charity. "Land" (or "earth") in the internal sense signifies various things (n. 620, 636, 1066); and that which it signifies is evident from the series or connection. For it signifies the external man of the church, when "heaven" signifies the internal (n. 82, 913, 1411, 1733); it also signifies the region where the church is (n. 662, 1066); it signifies the church itself; also in a universal sense the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on earth, since this was represented by the land of Canaan or the holy land (n. 1437, 1585, 1607); the same being signified also by the "new heaven and new earth" (n. 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118); and because "land" signifies the man of the church, the church, and the Lord's kingdom, it also signifies that which is their essential, namely, love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, for on this they all hang (n. 537, 540, 547, 553, 2130); consequently it signifies the doctrine of love and charity, which belongs to the church, and which is here the "land of Abimelech;" for by Abimelech as a king is signified the doctrine of faith, as shown above; and by his "land", whence and where he was, is signified the doctrine of love and charity, whence and where faith is.

[2] That the Lord's thought hitherto had been concerning the doctrine of faith, but now was concerning the doctrine of love and charity, comes from the fact that the Lord adjoined the Human to the Divine by means of the truths which are of faith (although at the same time by means of Divine goods which are of love, in the truths) according to the order by which man also becomes spiritual and celestial; but not Divine, so as to have life in himself, like the Lord. But when the Divine marriage of truth and good and of good and truth in the Lord had been effected, which is signified by Abimelech restoring to Abraham Sarah his wife, (n. 2569), the Lord's thought then was concerning the doctrine of love and charity, and this also according to order; for when a man has become spiritual and celestial he then no longer thinks from truth, but from good; yet not from the Divine good united to the Divine truth, as did the Lord. This is the reason why the doctrine of love and charity is now for the first time mentioned, although regarded in itself the doctrine of faith is the same; and the Lord's perception and thought in everything of faith was always from the Divine Love. Hence it is that the doctrine of love and charity is the Divine doctrine itself, and is that which was cultivated in the most ancient churches; and because this made a one with the doctrine of faith, they cast out those who separated them (n. 2417).

2572. Dwell in that which is good in thine eyes. That this signifies that He was in everything where there was good (in the proximate sense, that He was in the good of doctrine) is evident from the signification of "eyes", as being the intellectual, which is of doctrine; and from the signification of "dwelling", as being to live (n. 1293); here Esse (being), because it is predicated of the Lord. Esse in everything where there is good, is Esse in the omniscience of all Divine, celestial, spiritual, rational, and natural things, and this from Divine love; for in the Divine Love there is omniscience of all these things (n. 2500).

[2] Moreover there are both the good and the truth of doctrine. The good of doctrine is love and charity, the truth of doctrine is faith. They who are in the good of doctrine, that is, in love and charity, are in the truth of doctrine, that is, in faith. But it is one thing to be in good, or in love and charity, and another to be in the good of doctrine. Little children who are in love to their parents and in charity toward other little children are in good, but not in the good of doctrine, consequently not in the truth of doctrine, or faith. But they who have been regenerated by the truths of faith are in the good of doctrine. In so far as these are in good, so far are they in truths; that is, in so far as they are in love and charity, so far are they in faith, consequently, so far in wisdom and intelligence.

[3] The angels, being in love to the Lord and in mutual love, are also in all truth, and thus in all wisdom and intelligence; not only in regard to celestial and spiritual things, but also in regard to rational and natural things; for from love, because from the Lord, they are in the very principles or springs of things that is, in their ends and causes. To see from principles, or from ends and causes, is to see from heaven all things that are below, even those which are on the earth. To use a comparison, this is like one who is on a high mountain, in a watch-tower, who is able to look around for many miles upon the things below; while they who are below, especially if they are in a valley or in a forest, can scarcely see as many paces. Precisely so is it with those who are in the good of doctrine, in comparison with those who are in the truth of doctrine separated from its good; although the latter think that they see farther than the former. Nevertheless these see nothing of good, nor anything of truth except very slightly on the surface, and even this defiled by falsities.

[4] Yet at the best the wisdom and intelligence of angels is finite, and in comparison with the Lord's Divine Wisdom, most finite, and scarcely anything; as is evident from the fact that between the Infinite and the finite there is no ratio; but yet there is a communication from the Divine omnipotence; and also from the fact that the Lord is Good Itself and Love Itself, consequently the Esse itself of good, and the Esse itself of the love that exists with the angels, and thus the Esse itself of their wisdom and intelligence. From this we can see that the Lord is in everything in which there is good, both in heaven and on earth. They who think that the Lord is in truth separate from good are much mistaken. He is not in anything but good, and from that in truth; that is, in love and charity, and from that in faith.

2573. Verse 16. And unto Sarah he said, Behold I have given thy brother a thousand of silver; behold it is unto thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee, and with all; and she was vindicated. "And unto Sarah he said", signifies perception from spiritual truth; "behold I have given thy brother a thousand of silver", signifies an abundance of rational truth adjoined to celestial good; "behold it is unto thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee", signifies that rational truths are like a covering or clothing to spiritual truths; "and with all", signifies that so also are the derivative truths; "and she was vindicated", signifies that thus there was no fault and no harm.

2574. And unto Sarah he said. That this signifies perception from spiritual truth, is evident from the representation of "Sarah a wife", as being Divine spiritual truth (n. 2507), and of the same as a " sister", as being rational truth (n. 2508); and from the signification of " saying", as being to perceive (n. 2506). Sarah is here addressed as a wife, and also as a sister; as a wife, inasmuch as she had been restored (n. 2569), and as a sister, inasmuch as it is said, "I have given thy brother a thousand of silver;" and that which was said by Abimelech was perceived by Sarah in the former relation; therefore by "saying to Sarah" is signified to perceive from spiritual truth.

[2] It is evident that these things involve deeper arcana than can be set forth to the apprehension; and even if they were set forth merely to some extent, it would be necessary to explain many things first that are as yet unknown; such as what spiritual truth is, and what perception from spiritual truth is; that the Lord alone had perception from spiritual truth; that as the Lord had implanted rational truth in rational good, so had He implanted spiritual truth in celestial good, thus continually the Human in the Divine, so that there might be in everything a marriage of the Human with the Divine, and of the Divine with the Human. These and many more things must come first, before the things in this verse can be unfolded to the apprehension. These things are chiefly adapted to the minds of angels who are in the understanding of such things, and for whom is the internal sense of the Word. To them these things are represented in a heavenly manner, and thereby, and by the things contained in this chapter, it is insinuated how the Lord by degrees cast out the human from the mother, until at last He was no longer her son. That He did not acknowledge her as His mother, is manifest in (Matthew 12:46-49; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:20, 21; John 2:4); also how He made the Human Divine by His own power, even until He was one with the Father, as He Himself teaches in (John 14:6, 8-11).

[3] These things are presented by the Lord to the angels in clear light by means of myriads of ideas and representations, all ineffable. The reason as before said is that such things are adapted to their minds, and when in them they are in the blessedness of their intelligence and the happiness of their wisdom. Moreover as there are angels who when they were men had conceived an idea of the Lord's Human as of the human with another man, in order that in the other life these may be able to be with the celestial angels (for there ideas inspired by the affection of good conjoin), such things are dispersed by means of the spiritual sense of the Word, and in this way they are perfected. This shows how precious to the angels is that which is contained in the internal sense of the Word, although perchance it may appear as but of little consequence to man, who has so obscure an idea about such things that it is scarcely any idea at all.

2575. Behold I have given to thy brother a thousand of silver. That this signifies an infinite abundance of rational truth adjoined to good, is evident from the signification of a "thousand", as being much and countless; here infinite, or an infinite abundance, because predicated of the Lord (concerning which signification see below); from the signification of "silver", as being rational truth (n. 1551, 2048); and from the signification of "brother", as being celestial good adjoined to rational truth, as a brother to a sister (n. 2524, 2557). From all this it is evident that "I have given to thy brother a thousand of silver" signifies an infinite abundance of rational truth adjoined to good. Its being given to good, which is the "brother", but not to truth, is because truth is from good, not good from truth. Concerning this infinite abundance, see (n. 2572).

[2] That in the Word a "thousand" signifies much and countless, and when predicated of the Lord what is infinite, is manifest from the following passages. In Moses: -

I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate Me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments (Exod. 20:5, 6; 34:7; Deut. 5:9, 10).

And in Jeremiah: -

Jehovah showeth mercy unto thousands, and recompenseth the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them (Jeremiah 32:18).

In these passages by " thousands" is not signified any definite number, but what is infinite, for the Lord's mercy is infinite, because Divine. In David: -

The chariots of God are two myriads, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them, Sinai in holiness (Ps. 68:17);

where "myriads" and "thousands" denote things innumerable.

[3] In the same: -

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and a myriad at thy right hand; it shall not come nigh thee (Ps. 91:7);

where also a "thousand" and a " myriad" denote things innumerable; and as it is concerning the Lord, who in the Psalms is meant by "David", they denote all who are His enemies. In the same: -

Our garners are full, affording all manner of food, our flocks bring forth a thousand and ten thousand in our streets (Ps. 144:13);

where also a "thousand", and "ten thousand", that is, a myriad, denote things innumerable. In the same: -

A thousand years in Thine eyes are as yesterday when it is past (Ps. 90:4);

a "thousand years" denote what is without time, and therefore eternity, which is infinity of time. In Isaiah: -

One thousand from before the rebuke of one, from before the rebuke of five shall ye flee, until ye be left as a mast upon the top of a mountain (Isaiah 30:17);

where "one thousand" denotes many without any definite number; and "five" a few (n. 649). In Moses: -

Jehovah the God of your fathers make you a thousand times as many more as ye are, and bless you (Deut. 1:11);

where a "thousand times" denotes numberless, as in common speech, in which also a "thousand" is used for many; as when it is said that a thing has been said a thousand times, or done in a thousand ways. In like manner in Joshua: -

One man of you shall chase a thousand, for Jehovah your God fighteth for you (Joshua 23:10).

[4] As in computation a "thousand" is a definite number, it appears in the prophecies, especially when connected with history, as if a "thousand" meant simply a thousand, when yet it signifies many or innumerable, apart from any fixed number; for historical matters are of such a nature as to determine the ideas into the nearest and proper significations of the words, as also to the names given; when yet real things are signified in the Word by numbers as well as by names (n. 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252). Hence also it is supposed by some that by the "thousand years" in (Revelation 20:1-7) there are meant a thousand years or a thousand periods, for the reason as already said that things prophetic are there described under the form of history; when yet by the "thousand years" nothing is there meant except an indeterminate large amount, as elsewhere also infinity of time, or eternity.

2576. Behold it is unto thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee. That this signifies that rational truths are like a covering or clothing to spiritual truths, is evident from the signification of a "covering"; and from the signification of the "eyes", as being things intellectual (as is evident from very many passages in the Word); and also from the signification of "seeing", as being to understand (n. 2150, 2325). Every one can see that in everything in this verse there are arcana which cannot be revealed except by some interior sense; such as the statement that he gave a thousand of silver, and that this is said to have been given, not to her husband, but to her brother; that it was a covering of the eyes both to her and to all that were with her, and also with all; and that thereby she was vindicated. Many historical conjectures might possibly be drawn from the sense of the letter, but without having anything spiritual in them, still less anything Divine; and yet this is what the Word is.

[2] As regards rational truths being like a covering or clothing to spiritual truths, the case is this: Man's inmost things are those of his soul, and his outer things are those of his body; the former are goods and truths, from which the soul has its life, for otherwise the soul would not be a soul: the latter draw their life therefrom, and are all like a body, or what is the same, a covering or clothing. This is especially evident from the things that appear in the other life; as from angels when presented to view; for their interiors shine forth from their faces; their exteriors being represented in both their bodies and their dress; and this so fully that everyone there can know their quality from their garments alone; for these are real substances, and thus essences in form. The same is the case with the angels seen and described in respect to their faces and dress in the Word, such as those seen in the Lord's sepulchre (Matt. 28:3; Mark 16:5); and the four and twenty elders around the throne (Rev. 4:4); and others. Nor is this the case with the angels only, but also with all other things that are mentioned in the Word, even those which are inanimate; in all cases their exteriors are a covering or clothing; as for example the ark of the covenant and the tent that was round about it; the ark, being the inmost, represented the Lord Himself, for therein was the Testimony; and the tent outside of it represented the Lord's kingdom. The clothing, that is, the veils and coverings, each and all represented the more exterior celestial and spiritual things in His kingdom, that is, in the three heavens; as is evident from the fact that the form of the Tent was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exod. 25:9; 26:30). From this it had its holiness, and not from the gold, the silver, and the carvings, that were in it.

[3] Since rational truths are now treated of, as being a kind of veil or clothing to spiritual truths, and as the tent is described in Moses in respect to its clothing or coverings, and also in respect to its veils which were before the entrance, for the sake of illustration we may explain what was specifically signified by the veils; but what was signified by the encompassing coverings will of the Lord's Divine mercy be told elsewhere. The veils of the tent were three: the first, which made the division between the Holy and the Holy of Holies; the second, which is called the hanging for the door of the tent; and the third, which was the hanging for the gate of the court.

[4] Concerning the veil itself, which was the first, before the ark, we read in Moses: -

Thou shalt make a veil of hyacinthine, and bright crimson, and double-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen, the work of a designer, thou shall make it with cherubim; and thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim-wood, overlaid with gold, and their hooks of gold upon four bases of silver; and thou shalt hang the veil under the clasps; and thou shalt bring in thither, within the veil, the Ark of the Testimony and the veil shall divide unto you between the Holy and the Holy of Holies (Exod. 26:31-34; 36:35, 36).

This veil represented the nearest and inmost appearances of rational good and truth, in which are the angels of the third heaven; which appearances are described by the hyacinthine, the bright crimson, the double-dyed scarlet, and the fine-twined linen; in which the red color represented the goods of love, and the white its truths. The same is true also of the gold and silver with which the pillars were overlaid, and of which the books and the bases were made. That colors are representative see (n. 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624); that "gold" is the good of love, (n. 113, 1551, 1552); and that "silver" is truth, (n. 1551, 2048).

[5] From this we can see what is signified by the veil of the temple being rent in twain (Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45), namely, that the Lord entered into the Divine Itself by dispersing all appearances; and that He at the same time opened the way to His Divine Itself through His Human made Divine.

[6] Concerning the second veil, or the hanging for the door of the tent, we read in Moses: - Thou shalt make a hanging for the door of the tent, of hyacinthine, and bright crimson, and double-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; and thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim-wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold and thou shalt cast for them five bases of brass (Exod. 26:36, 37; 36:37, 38). By this hanging were represented appearances of good and truth that are lower or more external than the former, that is, the middle ones of the rational, in which are the angels of the second heaven; which appearances are described almost in the same manner as the first, with the difference however that for this hanging there were five pillars and five bases, by which number is signified what is comparatively but little; for these appearances do not so cohere together, or are not so heavenly, as are the appearances of the inmost or third heaven. Concerning the number five as meaning a little, see (n. 649, 1686). And because these appearances look to natural things, it was commanded that the bases should be cast of brass; for by brass was represented and signified natural good (n. 425, 1551).

[7] Concerning the third veil, or the hanging for the gate of the court, we read in Moses: - For the gate of the court shall be a hanging of twenty cubits, of hyacinthine, and bright crimson, and double-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen, the work of the embroiderer their pillars four, and their bases four all the pillars of the court round about shall be filleted with silver, their hooks of silver, but their bases of brass (Exod. 27:16, 17; 38:18, 19). By this hanging were represented still lower or more external appearances of good and truth, which are the lowest ones of the rational, in which are the angels of the first heaven. As these appearances correspond to interior things, they are described in a similar manner, yet with the difference that these pillars were not overlaid with gold, but filleted with silver, and that the hooks were of silver, by which are signified rational truths that derive their origin immediately from memory-knowledges and the bases were of brass, by which are signified natural goods. All this shows that there was nothing in the Tent that was not representative of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, or that all things were made according to the type of celestial and spiritual things in the three heavens; also that the veilings or coverings signified the things that are like a body or dress around or without the inmost.

[8] Moreover that "veilings", "coverings", "clothing", or "garments" signify relatively lower truths, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in Ezekiel: -

Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was thy spread of sail; hyacinthine and bright crimson from the isles of Elishah was thy covering (Ezekiel 27:7);

where Tyre is treated of, by which are signified interior knowledges of celestial and spiritual things, and consequently those who are in them (n. 1201); "broidered work from Egypt" denotes what is of memory-knowledge. That "Egypt" denotes this see (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); "hyacinthine and bright crimson from the isles of Elishah, which was the covering", denote the rituals that correspond to internal worship (n. 1156).

2576a.

[9] In the same: -

All the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and put off their broidered garments they shall be clothed with tremblings, they shall sit upon the earth (Ezekiel 26:16);

also speaking of Tyre "robes" and "broidered garments" denote knowledges derived from the contents of the memory (cognitionibus ex scientificis), and thus lower truths.

[10] In the same: -

I clothed thee with broidered work, and shod thee with badger, and girded thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with silk; I decked thee also with ornaments, and put bracelets upon thy hands, and a necklace upon thy throat. Thou didst take of thy garments, and madest for thee high places with divers colors, and didst commit whoredom upon them; thou tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them (Ezekiel 16:10, 11, 16, 18);

speaking of Jerusalem, which is the spiritual church, described as it was of old, and such as it was afterwards, when perverted: its lower spiritual things and its doctrinal matters are the "garments of broidered work, fine linen, and silk".

[11] In Isaiah: -

The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth doth take away from Jerusalem the whole staff of bread and the staff of water. Then shall a man take hold of his brother, of the house of his father-Thou hast a garment, be thou our prince. In that day he shall lift up his voice, saying, I will not be a binder up, and in my house there is neither bread, nor garment; ye shall not make me a prince of the people. The Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion; and in that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their anklets, and their network, and crescents, and their collars, and chains, and plates and the headtires, and the ankle chains, and the sashes, and the soul houses, and the ear-drops; the rings, and the nose jewels, the festival garments, and the mantles, and the robes, and the satchels, the mirrors, and the fine linen, and the turbans, and the cloaks (Isaiah 3:1, 6, 7, 17-24).

"Jerusalem" denotes the spiritual church; " Judah" the celestial church; the " staff of bread and the staff of water, which will be removed", denote good and truth; the "garment which the prince should have", the truths which are of doctrine; the clothing and various ornaments of the daughters of Zion, which are enumerated, all and each, the kinds and varieties of good and truth, of which they would be deprived. Unless everything here mentioned signified something peculiar to the church, they would not be of the Word, in every expression of which there is what is Divine; but they are predicated of the daughters of Zion, and by these are signified the things of the church, as may be seen above (n. 2362).

[12] In the same: -

Awake! awake! put on thy strength, O Zion; put on the garments of thy beauty, O Jerusalem, the city of holiness for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean (Isa. 52:1, 2);

"Zion" denotes the celestial church; "Jerusalem" the spiritual church; and "garments of beauty" the holy things of faith. In the same: -

Their webs shall not become a garment, neither shall they cover themselves with their works their works are works of iniquity (Isa. 59:6);

"webs" denote fictitious truths that do not become a garment; a "garment" denotes the exterior truths of doctrine and of worship; hence it is said, "neither shall they cover themselves with their works".

[13] In the same: -

Rejoicing I will rejoice in Jehovah, my soul shall exult in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness (Isa. 61:10);

the "garments of salvation" denote the truths of faith; and the "robe of righteousness" the good of charity. In John: -

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis that have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy be that overcometh shall be clothed in white raiment (Rev. 3:4, 5).

In the same: -

Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked (Rev. 16:15).

In the same: -

Upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white garments (Rev. 4:4);

where it is manifest that the "garments" are not garments, but the spiritual things of truth.

[14] So where the Lord said in reference to the consummation of the age that they should not return back to take their garments (Matt. 24:18; Mark 13:16), where that "garments" are truths may be seen above (n. 2454). Also in regard to the one not clothed in a wedding garment (Matt. 22:11, 12). And concerning John: -

What went ye out to see? a man clothed in bright garments? Behold they that wear bright garments are in kings' houses (Matt. 11:8; Luke 7:25);

meaning that they were not in the externals of doctrine and worship, but in the internals; on which account He adds: -

What went ye out to see? a prophet? yea, I say unto you and more than a prophet (Matt. 11:9);

a "prophet" denotes the externals of doctrine and of worship.

[15] As "garments" signified truths of every kind, it was commanded that the sons of Israel on going out of Egypt should borrow gold and silver, and garments, and put them upon their sons (Exod. 3:22; 12:35, 36) also that garments of various kinds, or mixed garments, should not be worn (Lev. 19:19; Deut. 22:11); and that they should make for themselves fringes on the borders of their garments, and should put a blue thread there, and that when they saw it they should call to mind the commandments, and do them (Num. 15:38-40).

[16] Formerly also they rent their garments (Josh. 7:6; Judges 11:35; 1 Sam. 4:12; 2 Sam. 1:2, 11, 12; 3:31; 13:30, 31; 15:32; 1 Kings 21:27; 2 Kings 5:7, 8; 6:30; 22:11, 14, 19; Isa. 36:22; 37:1); by which was signified zeal for doctrine and truth, which was thus torn to pieces; and also humiliation, because there was nothing appertaining to them that is signified by the adornment of garments.

[17] That such things are signified by "veilings", "coverings", "clothing", or "garments", is also manifest from the prophecy of Jacob, then Israel: -

He shall bind his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine he shall wash his garments In wine, and his clothes In the blood of grapes (Gen. 49:11);

what these words signify can be known to none except from the internal sense; namely a "vine", a "choice vine", a "foal", an "ass's colt", "wine", the "blood of grapes", "garments", and "clothes;" but it is evident that they are predicated of the Lord, who is here called "Shiloh". The subject spoken of is Judah, by whom is represented the Lord's Divine celestial; and by the " garments he should wash in wine", and "the vesture he should wash in the blood of grapes", are signified the Lord's rational and natural, which He should make Divine.

[18] In like manner in Isaiah: -

Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in His apparel, marching in the multitude of His strength? Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garment like him that treadeth in the wine-vat? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was none with Me their victory is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My raiment (Isaiah 63:1-3);

where also "garments" and "raiment" denote the Lord's Human which of His own power He made Divine by combats of temptations and by victories; on which account it is said, "I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was none with Me". Isaac's smelling the smell of Esau's garments, and so blessing him (Gen. 27:27), involved the same.

[19] The Holy itself of the Lord's Divine Human was also a garment which appeared as the light, and as white and glistening, when He was transfigured, concerning which we read in Matthew: -

When Jesus was transfigured, His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became as the light (Matthew 17:2).

In Luke: -

When Jesus prayed, the appearance of His countenance was changed, and His raiment became white and glistening (Luke 9:29).

And in Mark: -

When Jesus was transfigured, His garments became shining, exceeding white like snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them (Mark 9:3).

The garments of holiness with which Aaron was clothed when he entered within the veil, and which were of linen, had a similar representation (Lev. 16:2, 4): likewise the garments of holiness that were for glory and for beauty; and those of his ministry (Exod. 28:2-43; 39:1-43): for in these there was not one whit that was not representative.

2577. And with all. That this signifies that so also are the derivative truths, namely, those of memory and of the senses, is evident from what has been said above, and from the series itself; for it is said just above, " behold it shall be unto thee a veiling of the eyes unto all who are with thee;" by which are signified rational truths, which are like a veil to spiritual truths; and it is now said again, " with all;" by which are therefore signified still lower truths which are derived from rational truths; these being no other than what are called memory truths and sensuous truths. That these truths are derived from rational truths is evident from the order of influx. Interior things flow into exterior things; or what is the same, higher things into lower; but not the reverse. It indeed appears otherwise, namely, that man becomes rational by means of the things of sense and of memory, but this is a fallacy. Good from the Lord is constantly flowing in through man's rational faculty, and it meets and adopts to itself the knowledges in the memory; and in so far as it can do this, and dispose them in due order, so far the man becomes rational. The case herein is the same as with the good and truths which are called those of faith: good from the Lord flows into truths, and adopts them, and in so far as it can do this the man becomes spiritual; although it appears as if truths, called the truths of faith, flow in, and render the man spiritual. It is also owing to this appearance that the truth of faith is so much cultivated at this day, while the good of charity is not thought of.

2578. And she was vindicated. That this signifies that thus there was no fault and no harm, is evident from all that precedes, of which this is a brief conclusion.

2579. Verse 17. And Abraham prayed unto God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they brought forth. "Abraham prayed unto God", signifies a revelation; "and God healed Abimelech", signifies soundness of the doctrine in respect to good; "and his wife", signifies in respect to truth; "and his maidservants", signifies in respect to the affections of doctrinal things; "and they brought forth", signifies their fruitfulness.

2580. Abraham prayed unto God. That this signifies revelation, is evident from the signification of "praying" when predicated of the Lord, as being to be revealed (n. 2535); and from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord- often shown above. Here in the sense of the letter there are two, namely, one who prayed, and another to whom he prayed; for it is said, "Abraham prayed unto God". But in the internal sense there are not two, but one; for it was God or Jehovah in the Lord who made the revelation, because He was conceived of Jehovah; yet in so far as He had that which belonged to the maternal human, so far He was another. How the case is herein can with difficulty fall into the ideas so as to be understood. These things can indeed fall into angelic ideas, which are presented in the light of heaven; but not so well into human ideas, which do not perceive unless illuminated by things that are of the light of the world; still less can they fall into the ideas of those to whom everything that is of the light of heaven is thick darkness, so as to be nothing at all.

2581. And God healed Abimelech. That this signifies the soundness of the doctrine in respect to good, is evident from the signification of "healing", as being to make sound; and from the representation of Abimelech, as being the doctrine of faith looking to rational things (n. 2510). That it is in respect to good is evident from the fact that his wife also is said to be healed, by which is meant the soundness of the doctrine in respect to truth; for when in the Word a husband is called "husband", and also when he is called by name, he then signifies good, and his wife truth; but when a husband is called a "man", he then signifies truth, and his wife good (n. 915, 1468, 2517).

2582. And his wife. That this signifies in respect to truth, is evident from the signification of a "wife", as being truth (n. 2581).

2583. And his maidservants. That this signifies in respect to the affections of the derivative doctrinal things, is evident from the signification of "maidservants", as being the affections of the things of the reason and of the memory (n. 1895, 2567); here of doctrinal things, because they are predicated of the doctrine of faith, for they belonged to Abimelech, by whom is signified the doctrine of faith, (n. 2509, 2510); for the signification of everything is determined by what is being treated of.

2584. And they brought forth. That this signifies fruitfulness, is evident from the signification of "bringing forth" and of "birth". In the internal sense of the Word none but spiritual and celestial things are signified; on which account where mention is made of "conception" or of " conceiving;" of "bearing" or of "bringing forth;" of "birth" or of "being born;" of "generation" or of "generating", as well as of those who beget, as "father and mother;" and of those who are begotten, as "sons and daughters", all these are meant in none but a spiritual sense, for in itself the Word is spiritual and celestial; and such is the case here in regard to "bringing forth", by which is signified fruitfulness in respect to the things of doctrine.

[2] That in the Word "birth" means no other kind of birth than this, is evident from the passages that follow. In Samuel: -

The full have hired out themselves for bread, and the hungry have ceased, until the barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many children hath languished; Jehovah killeth and maketh alive. He causeth to go down into hell, and bringeth up (1 Sam. 2:5, 6).

In Jeremiah: -

She that hath borne seven languisheth, she breatheth out her soul; her sun is gone down while it is yet day (Jeremiah 15:9).

In Isaiah: -

Sing, O barren, that did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, that did not travail with child; for more are the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married wife, saith Jehovah (Isaiah 54:1).

In David: -

The voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to calve, and strippeth the forests and in His temple every one speaketh glory (Ps. 29:9).

In Isaiah: -

Blush O Zidon, for the sea hath spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, I have not travailed, nor brought forth, neither have I brought up young men, nor caused maids to grow up as with the report of Egypt, they shall travail according to the report of Tyre (Isaiah 23:4, 5).

In the same: -

Before she travailed she brought forth, and before her pain came she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Does the earth travail in one day, and shall I not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah shall I cause to bring forth, and close up? said thy God (Isaiah 66:7-9).

In Jeremiah: -

Ask I pray and see whether a man bringeth forth; wherefore have I seen every man with his hands on his loins, as one that bringeth forth (Jeremiah 30:6).

In Ezekiel: -

I will set a fire in Egypt, and Sin travailing shall travail, and No may be... (Ezekiel 30:16).

In Hosea: -

Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from conception (Hosea 9:11).

In the same: -

The pains of one that travaileth came upon Ephraim; he is an unwise son, for at the time he will not stand in the place of the breaking forth of sons (Hosea 13:13).

In John: -

A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars and she being with child cried, travailing, and pained to bring forth. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to bring forth, that when she brought forth her son, he might devour him. And she brought forth a man child, who was to pasture all nations with a rod of iron; but the child was caught up unto God and to His throne (Rev. 12:1-5).

[3] Who cannot see from all these passages that no other conceptions and births are signified than those which are of the church? And the same is the case with what is here said concerning Abimelech, that "God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants, and they brought forth;" and that "Jehovah closing had closed up every womb of the house of Abimelech, because of the word of Sarah, Abraham's wife". What is signified by these things in the internal sense is evident from the explication of the same, namely, the quality of the doctrine of faith when regarded from Divine truths, and when regarded from the rational: when it is regarded from Divine truths, that is, from the Word, then each and all things, of both reason and memory, confirm it; but this is not the case when it is regarded from human things, that is, from reason and memory-knowledges; for then nothing of good and nothing of truth is conceived; for to regard it from the Word is to regard it from the Lord, whereas to regard it from reason and memory-knowledge is to regard it from man. From the former comes all intelligence and wisdom; from the latter all insanity and folly.

2585. Verse 18. For closing Jehovah had therefore closed very womb of the house of Abimelech, because of the word of Sarah, Abraham's wife. "For closing Jehovah had therefore closed every womb of the house of Abimelech", signifies the barrenness of the doctrine; "because of the word of Sarah", signifies by reason of the rational, if it had conjoined itself; "Abraham's wife", signifies that spiritual truth might be conjoined with celestial good.

2586. For closing Jehovah had therefore closed every womb of the house of Abimelech. That this signifies barrenness, namely, of doctrine, is evident from the signification of "closing to close up the womb", as being to prevent conception itself; and from the signification of "the house of Abimelech", as being the good of the doctrine of faith, which shows that barrenness is signified. That up to this point in this chapter " God" is mentioned, but here for the first time "Jehovah", is because "God" is mentioned where the subject is truth, but "Jehovah" where the subject is good. All the conception of doctrine is from god as a father, but its birth is by means of truth as a mother, as occasionally stated before. Here the conception of doctrine is treated of, and as this is from good, "Jehovah" is mentioned; whereas above its birth is treated of, and as this takes place by means of truth, "God" is mentioned, as in the verse preceding: "God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants, and they brought forth".

[2] The case is the same elsewhere in the Word where conception is treated of, as in Isaiah: -

Jehovah hath called me from the womb. Thus saith Jehovah that formed me from the womb; then shall I be precious to Jehovah; and my God shall be my strength (Isaiah 49:1, 5);

"strength" is predicated of truth, and therefore "God" is mentioned In the same

Thus saith Jehovah thy Maker, and thy Former from the womb (Isaiah 44:2, 24).

For the same reason it is said "the house of Abimelech", by which is signified the good of the doctrine of faith. That a "house" denotes good, see (n. 2048, 2233, 2234); and that "Abimelech" denotes the doctrine of faith, (n. 2509, 2510). That there is a Divine arcanum in the fact that they brought forth, and that the wombs of the house of Abimelech were shut on account of Sarah, is manifest; and this arcanum cannot possibly be disclosed except by the internal sense.

2587. Because of the word of Sarah. That this signifies by reason of the rational if it had conjoined itself, is evident from the representation of "Sarah" as a sister, as being rational truth (n. 2508). The "word of Sarah" signifies the whole transaction, namely, that she was called a sister, and that Abimelech took her, but that he did not come near her. What these things signify further will be told in what follows.

2588. Abraham's wife. That this signifies in order that spiritual truth might be conjoined with celestial good, is evident from the representation of Sarah as a wife, as being spiritual truth conjoined with celestial good (n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198, 2507); and from the representation of Abraham, as being celestial good conjoined with spiritual truth (n. 2011, 2172, 2198, 2501). Whether we say "spiritual truth and celestial good", or "the Lord", it is the same; because the Lord is truth itself and good itself, and is the very marriage itself of truth and good, and of good and truth. How the case herein is can indeed be seen from the explication but as these matters are among those which are obscure at this day, we may so far as possible illustrate them. The subject here treated of is the doctrine of faith, concerning which the Lord thought in His childhood, namely, whether it was allowable to enter into it by means of rational things, and thus form for one's self ideas concerning it His so thinking came from His love and consideration for the human race, who are such as not to believe what they do not comprehend in a rational manner. But He perceived from the Divine that this ought not to be done; and He therefore revealed the doctrine to Himself from the Divine, and thereby at the same time all things in the universe that are subordinate, namely, all things of the rational and of the natural.

[2] How the case is with the doctrinal things of faith among men has been stated above (n. 2568), namely, that there are two principles from which they think, a negative and an affirmative and that those think from the negative principle, who believe nothing unless they are convinced by what is of reason and memory-knowledge; nay, by what is of sense; but those think from the affirmative who believe that things are true because the Lord has said so in the Word, thus who have faith in the Lord. They who are in the negative in regard to a thing being true because it is in the Word, say at heart that they will believe when they are persuaded by things rational and memory-knowledges. But the fact is that they never believe; and indeed they would not believe if they were to be convinced by the bodily senses of sight, hearing, and touch; for they would always form new reasonings against such things, and would thus end by completely extinguishing all faith, and at the same time turning the light of the rational into darkness, because into falsities. But those who are in the affirmative, that is, who believe that things are true because the Lord has said so, are continually being confirmed, and their ideas enlightened and strengthened, by what is of reason and memory-knowledge, and even by what is of sense; for man has light from no other source than by means of the things of reason and memory, and such is the way with every one. With these the doctrine thus "living lives;" and of them it is said, that they "are healed", and "bring forth;" whereas with those who are in the negative the doctrine "dying dies;" and it is said of them that "the womb closing is closed". All this shows what it is to enter into the doctrine of faith by means of rational things, and what to enter into rational things by means of the doctrine of faith; but let this be illustrated by examples.

[3] It is from the doctrine of the Word, that the first and principal thing of doctrine is love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor. They who are in the affirmative in regard to this can enter into whatever things of reason and of memory, and even of sense, they please, every one according to his gift, his knowledge, and his experience. Nay, the more they enter in, the more they are confirmed; for universal nature is full of confirmation. But they who deny this first and principal thing of doctrine, and who desire to be first convinced of anything true by means of the things of reason and memory, never suffer themselves to be convinced, because at heart they deny, and all the time take their stand in favor of some other principle which they believe to be essential; and finally, by confirmations of their principle they so blind themselves that they cannot even know what love to the Lord and love to the neighbor are. And as they confirm themselves in what is contrary, they at length confirm themselves in the notion that no other love is possible that has any delight in it except the love of self and of the world; and this to such a degree (if not in doctrine, yet in life) that they embrace infernal love in place of heavenly love. But with those who are not in the negative nor as yet in the affirmative, but are in doubt before they deny or affirm, the case is as above stated (n. 2568), namely that they who incline to a life of evil fall into the negative, but they who incline to a life of good are brought into the affirmative.

[4] Take another example: It is among the primary things of the doctrine of faith that all good is from the Lord, and all evil from man, that is, from one's self. They who are in the affirmative that it is so, can confirm themselves by many things of reason and of memory-knowledge, such as that no good can possibly flow in except from god itself, that is, from the Fountain of Good, thus from the Lord; and that the beginning or principle of good can be from no other source; finding illustration in all things that are truly good, in themselves, in others, in the community, and also in the created universe. But they who are in the negative confirm themselves in what is contrary by everything they think of, insomuch that at last they do not know what good is; and dispute among themselves as to what is the highest good, being deeply ignorant of the fact that it is the celestial and spiritual good from the Lord, by which all lower good is made alive, and that the delight therefrom is truly delight. Some also think that unless good is from themselves, it cannot possibly come from any other source.

[5] Take as another example the truth that they who are in love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor can receive the truths of doctrine and have faith in the Word, but not they who are in the life of the love of self and the world; or what is the same, that they who are in good can believe, but not they who are in evil. They who are in the affirmative can confirm this by numberless things of reason and memory. From reason they can confirm it on the ground that truth and good agree, but not truth and evil; and that as all falsity is in evil, so it is from evil; and that if any who are in evil nevertheless have truth, it is on the lips, and not in the heart; and from their memory-knowledge they can confirm by many things that truths shun evils, and that evils spew out truths. But they who are in the negative confirm themselves by alleging that every one, of whatever character, is able to believe just as well as others, even though he lives in continual hatred, in the delights of revenge, and in deceit; and this even while they themselves altogether reject from their doctrine the good of life, after the rejection of which they do not believe anything.

[6] That it may be still more manifest how the case herein is, let us take this example: They who are in the affirmative that the Word has been so written as to possess an internal sense which does not appear in the letter, can confirm themselves therein by many rational considerations; as that by the Word man has connection with heaven; that there are correspondences of natural things with spiritual, in which the spiritual are not seen; that the ideas of interior thought are altogether different from the material ideas which fall into the words of language; that man, being born for both lives, can, while in the world, be also in heaven, by means of the Word which is for both worlds; that with some persons a certain Divine light flows into the things of the understanding, and also into the affections, when the Word is read; that it is of necessity that there should be something written that has come down from heaven, and that therefore the Word cannot be such in its origin as it is in the letter; and that it can be holy only from a certain holiness that it has within it. He can also confirm himself by means of memory-knowledges; as that men were formerly in representatives, and that the writings of the Ancient Church were of this nature; also that the writings of many among the Gentiles had this origin; and that it is on this account that in the churches such a style has been revered as holy, and among the Gentiles as learned, as examples of which the books of many authors might be mentioned. But they who are in the negative, if they do not deny all these things, still do not believe them, and persuade themselves that the Word is such as it is in the letter, appearing indeed worldly, while yet being spiritual (as to where the spiritual is hidden within it they care little, but for manifold reasons are willing to let it be so), and this they can confirm by many things.

[7] In order to present the subject to the apprehension of the simple, take as an example the following matter of knowledge. They who are in the affirmative that sight is not of the eye, but of the spirit, which sees the things that are in the world through the eye as an organ of its body, can confirm themselves by many things; as from our hearing things said by others; in that they refer themselves to a certain interior sight, into which they are changed; which would be impossible unless there were an interior sight; also that whatever is thought of is seen by an interior sight, by some more clearly, by others more obscurely; and again, that things we imagine present themselves not unlike objects of sight; and also that unless it were the spirit within the body that saw the objects which fall within the ken of the eye as the organ of sight, the spirit could see nothing in the other life, when yet it cannot but be that it will see innumerable and amazing things that cannot possibly be seen with the bodily eye. Then again we may reflect that in dreams, especially those of the prophets, many things have been seen although not with the eyes. And finally, should anyone be skilled in philosophy, he may confirm himself by considering that outer things cannot enter into inner things, just as compounds cannot into simples; and therefore that things of the body cannot enter into those of the spirit, but only the reverse; not to mention a host of other proofs, until at last the man is persuaded that the spirit has sight, and not the eye, except from the spirit. But they who are in the negative call every consideration of this kind either a matter of nature or one of fancy, and when they are told that a spirit possesses and enjoys much more perfect sight than a man in the body, they ridicule the idea, and reject it as an idle tale, believing that if deprived of the sight of the bodily eye they would live in the dark; although the very opposite is the truth, for they are then in the light.

[8] From these examples we may see what it is to enter into the things of reason and memory-knowledge from truths, and what it is to enter into truths from the things of reason and memory-knowledge; and that the former is according to order, but the latter contrary to order; and that when we do that which is according to order we are enlightened; but when we do that which is contrary to order, we are made blind. All of which shows of how great concern it is that truths should be known and believed; for man is enlightened by truths, but is made blind by falsities. By truths there is opened to the rational an immense and almost unbounded field; but by falsities comparatively none at all, although this does not appear to be so. It is because the angels are in truths that they enjoy wisdom so great; for truth is the very light of heaven.

2588a.

[9] They who have blinded themselves by not being willing to believe anything which they do not apprehend by the senses, until at length they have come to believe nothing, were in old times called " serpents of the tree of knowledge;" for such reasoned much from sensuous things and their fallacies, which easily fall into man's apprehension and belief, and thereby they seduced many (n. 195, 196). In the other life such are readily distinguished from other spirits by the fact that in regard to all things of faith they reason whether it be so; and if they are shown a thousand and a thousand times that it is so, still they advance negative doubts against every proof that is offered; and this they would go on doing to all eternity. So blind are they on this account that they have not common sense, that is, they cannot comprehend what good and truth are; and yet every one of them thinks himself wiser than all in the universe; making wisdom to consist in being able to invalidate what is Divine, and deduce it from what is natural. Many who in this world have been esteemed wise, are preeminently of this character; for the more anyone is endowed with talent and knowledge, and is in the negative, the more insane he is, beyond all others; whereas the more anyone is endowed with talent and knowledge, and is in the affirmative, the wiser he is able to be. It is by no means denied man to cultivate the rational faculty by means of memory-knowledges; but that which is forbidden is to harden ourselves against the truths of faith which belong to the Word.

[10] These things are much treated of in the internal sense of the Word, especially in that of the prophetic Word, where Asshur (or Assyria) and Egypt are treated of; for reasoning is signified by "Asshur" (n. 119, 1186); and memory-knowledge by "Egypt" (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462). Concerning those who desire to enter into doctrinal and Divine things by means of memory-knowledges and rational things, we read in Isaiah: -

I will confound Egypt in Egypt, and they shall fight every man against his brother, and every man against his companion, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom and the spirit of Egypt shall be made void in the midst of it, and I will swallow up the counsel thereof the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be dried up and shall become totally dry; and the streams shall vanish, the rivers of Egypt shall be minished and dried up the reed and the flag shall wither away; and all the seed of the river shall become dry. Jehovah hath mingled a spirit of perversities in the midst of her, and they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work thereof, as a drunken man strayeth in his vomit (Isaiah 19:2, 3, 5-7, 14).

In the same: -

Woe to the rebellious sons, who walk to go down into Egypt, but have not asked at My mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. And the strength of Pharaoh shall be unto you for a shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt for a reproach (Isa. 30:1-3).

In the same: -

Woe to them that go down into Egypt for help, and stay upon horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, and seek not Jehovah. And when Jehovah shall stretch out His hand, he that helpeth shall stumble, and he that is helped shall fall, and they shall all be consumed together. And Asshur shall fall by the sword not of man, and the sword not of man shall devour him (Isa. 31:1, 3, 8).

In Jeremiah: -

My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew them out pits, broken pits, which can hold no water. Is Israel a servant? If he was born of the house, why is be become a prey? Dost thou not do this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God in the time when He led thee in the way? And now what hast thou to do with the way to Egypt to drink the waters of Shihor? or what hast thou to do with the way of Asshur to drink the waters of the river? O generation, see ye the Word of Jehovah: have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore said My people, We will rule, we will come no more unto Thee? why goest thou away so much to change thy way? thou shalt be ashamed from Egypt also, as thou wast ashamed from Asshur (Jeremiah 2:13, 14, 17, 18, 31, 36).

In the same: -

Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah thus saith Jehovah Zebaoth the God of Israel, If setting ye set your faces to come into Egypt, and ye come to sojourn there then it shall come to pass that the sword which ye were fearing for yourselves shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine whereof ye were afraid shall cleave unto you there in Egypt, that ye die there. So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to come into Egypt, to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon you (Jeremiah 42:15-17).

In Ezekiel: -

And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah; because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel; in their taking thee by thy hand thou didst break, and didst rend for them every shoulder, and in their leaning upon thee thou breakest, and makest all their loins to be at a stand; therefore thus said the Lord Jehovah, Behold I will bring a sword upon thee, and will cut off from thee man and beast, and the land of Eat shall be a desolation and a waste, and they shall know that I am Jehovah; because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it (Ezekiel 29:6-9).

In Hosea: -

Ephraim was like a silly dove; they called unto Eat, they went unto Asshur; when they shall go, I will spread out My net upon them; woe unto them because they have wandered away from Me (Hosea 7:11-13).

In the same

Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind; every day he multiplieth a lie and a waste, and they make a covenant with Asshur, and oil is carried down into Egypt (Hosea 12:1).

In the same: -

Israel hath committed whoredom under her god thou hast loved hire upon all the corn-floors; Ephraim shall return into Egypt, and they shall eat what is unclean in Asshur; for lo they are gone away from devastation, Egypt shall gather them up, Moph shall bury them, the thorn shall possess their desirable things of silver, the thistle shall be in their tents. Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit yea, though they bring forth yet will I slay the desired fruit of their womb my God will cast them out, because they did not hearken unto Him, and they shall be wanderers among the nations (Hosea 9:1, 3, 6, 16, 17).

In Isaiah: -

Woe to Asshur, the rod of Mine anger, and he is the staff in their hand of Mine indignation; he thinketh not right, neither doth his heart meditate right; for it is in his heart to destroy and to cut off nations not a few; for he saith, Are not my princes all of them kings? I will visit upon the fruit of the elation of heart of the king of Asshur, for he hath said, In the strength of my hand I have done it, and in my wisdom, for I am intelligent and I will remove the bounds of the peoples, and will plunder their treasures, and will cast down as a mighty one the inhabitants. Therefore shall the Lord of lords Zebaoth send among his fat ones leanness and instead of his glory, kindling there shall be kindled a burning of fire (Isaiah 10:5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 16).

[11] In all these passages, by "Asshur" as before shown is signified reasoning; by "Egypt" and "Pharaoh" memory. knowledge; by "Ephraim" the intellectual; and there is described in these and in many other places of what quality man's rational becomes when it reasons concerning the truths of faith from the negative principle. The like is involved in Isaiah chapters 36 and 37, where we read that when Rabshakeh, sent by the king of Asshur, spake against Jerusalem and king Hezekiah, the angel of Jehovah smote a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the king of Asshur; by which is signified what an overthrow of man's reasonings takes place when he reasons against Divine things, however much the man may then appear to himself to be wise.

[12] This reasoning is also in various places called "whoredom with the sons of Egypt and with the sons of Asshur". As in Ezekiel: -

Thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, thy neighbors, great of flesh, and hast multiplied thy whoredom and hast committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, and yet thou wast not satisfied (Ezekiel 16:26, 28; 23:3, 5-21);

(n. 2466).

[13] Concerning those who enter into rational things and memory-knowledges from the doctrine of faith, and thence are wise. In Isaiah: -

In that day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Jehovah and it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto Jehovah Zebaoth in the land of Egypt for they shall cry unto Jehovah because of the oppressors, and He shall send them a Saviour and a Prince, and He shall deliver them and Jehovah shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day; and they shall offer sacrifice and meat-offering, and shall vow a vow unto Jehovah, and shall perform it (Isaiah 19:19-21).

In the same: -

In that day there shall be a highway from Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptians shall serve Asshur. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the land, which Jehovah zebaoth shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance (Isaiah 19:23-25);

where the spiritual church is treated of, of which the spiritual is "Israel", the rational is "Asshur", and the faculty of knowing is "Egypt;" which three constitute the intellectual things of that church, which thus follow in order; on which account it is said, "In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Asshur", and "Blessed be Egypt My people, and Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance".

[14] In the same: -

It shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Asshur, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall bow themselves down to Jehovah in the mountain of holiness at Jerusalem (Isa. 27:13).

In the same: -

Thus saith Jehovah, The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Cush and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine they shall go after thee, and shall bow themselves down to thee, they shall make supplication unto thee. In thee only is God, and there is no God else besides (Isa. 45:14).

"Cush and the Sabeans" are knowledges (n. 117, 1171). In Zechariah: -

Egypt shall go up to Jerusalem, to worship the King Jehovah Zebaoth (Zechariah 14:17, 18).

In Micah: -

I look unto Jehovah, I wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me; a day for building thy walls, in this day, and they shall come even unto thee thence from Asshur, and the cities of Egypt, and thence from Egypt even to the river (Micah 7:7, 11, 12).

[15] In Ezekiel: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, At the end of forty years will I gather Egypt from the peoples whither they were scattered, and I will bring again the captivity of Egypt (Ezekiel 29:13, 14).

In the same: -

Behold, Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches and a shadowing forest, and lofty in height, and its branch was among the tangled boughs the waters made it grow, going with her streams round about her plantation, and she sent out her canals unto all the trees of the field; therefore its height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long by reason of many waters; all the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs, and under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth, and under its shadow dwelt all great nations. And it became fair in its greatness, in the length of its branches, for its root was by many waters; the cedar' in the garden of God did not hide it, the fir' were not like its boughs, nor was any tree in the garden of God like unto it in its beauty. I made it fair by the multitude of its branches, and all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God, envied it (Ezekiel 31:3-8).

The Most Ancient Church, which was celestial, is here described in regard to the quality of its rational, and thereby its wisdom and intelligence, because that church looked at things below from Divine things, thus at truths from goods themselves, and thence at things that are subordinate. "Asshur" and the "cedar" are the rational; the "tangled boughs among which were its branches" are memory-knowledges; the "rivers and waters" are spiritual goods, among which was its root; the "height and length of its branches" are its extension; the "garden of God" is the spiritual church the "trees of Eden" are perceptions. From this and from all that goes before we can see what is the quality of man's rational, and what is the quality of his faculty of knowing, when they are subordinated to Divine truths, and serve them by confirming them.

[16] That rational things and memory-knowledges are of service to those who are in the affirmative as means of being wise, was represented and signified by its being commanded the sons of Israel to borrow from the Egyptians vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and garments (Exod. 3:22; 11:2; 12:36, 36). The like is meant by its being said in various passages of the Word that they should possess the goods, houses, vineyards, and oliveyards, and other things, of the nations; and also that the very gold and silver taken from the nations should become holy. As in Isaiah: -

Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her harlot hire, and shall commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth upon the face of the ground, and her merchandise and her harlot hire shall be holiness to Jehovah it shall not he stored up nor laid away, for to them that dwell before Jehovah her merchandise shall be for eating till satisfied, and for an ancient covering (Isaiah 23:17, 18);

"the merchandise of Tyre" denotes knowledges (n. 1201), which to those who are in the negative are as harlot hire but to those who are in the affirmative are as what is holy. The like is also meant by the Lord's words: -

Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail they may receive you into eternal habitations; if ye have not become faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will intrust you with the true? (Luke 16:9, 11).

 

CONCERNING THE STATE AND LOT IN THE OTHER LIFE OF THE NATIONS AND PEOPLES BORN OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH

2589. It is the common opinion that they who are born out of the church, and who are called Pagans and Gentiles, cannot be saved, because they have not the Word, and thus are ignorant of the Lord, without whom there is no salvation. But that these also are saved, may be known from the following considerations: that the Lord's mercy is universal, that is, toward every one; that these are born men equally with those who are within the church, who are comparatively few; and that it is not their fault that they are ignorant of the Lord. Consequently, their state and lot in the other life, have of the Lord's Divine mercy been shown me.

2590. I have been instructed in many ways that Gentiles who have led a moral life, and have been obedient, and have lived in mutual charity, and have received some sort of conscience according to their religion, are accepted In the other life, and are there instructed by angels with anxious care in the goods and truths of faith. While receiving instruction they conduct themselves modestly, intelligently, and wisely, and easily receive and become imbued with the instruction; for they have formed for themselves no principles contrary to the truths of faith that have to be dispersed, still less stumbling blocks against the Lord; as have many Christians who have led a life of evil. Moreover such do not hate others, nor avenge injuries, nor plot artifices and deceits. Nay, they wish well to Christians; although on the other hand Christians despise them and even do them violence so far as they can; but they are withdrawn by the Lord from their unmercifulness, and are protected.

[2] For the case of Christians and Gentiles in the other life is such that Christians who have acknowledged the truths of faith, and have at the same time led a life of good, are received in preference to Gentiles; although at the present day such are few; but Gentiles who have lived in obedience and mutual charity are received in preference to Christians who have not led so good a life. For in the wide world all those who have lived in good are of the Lord's mercy received and saved; for good is that which receives truth. The good of life is the very ground for the seed, that is, for the truth. Evil of life cannot possibly receive it, for although such as are in evil be instructed in a thousand ways, nay, even if they become most fully instructed, nevertheless the truths of faith enter no further with them than into the memory, and do not penetrate to the affection which is of the heart; and therefore in the other life their truths of memory are dissipated, and become null and void.

2591. Among the Gentiles however, just as among Christians, there are both the wise and the simple. In order that I might be instructed as to the quality of these, it has been granted me to speak with both wise and simple, sometimes for hours and days. But of the wise there are scarcely any at this day, whereas in ancient times there were very many, especially in the Ancient Church, from which wisdom emanated to many nations. In order that I might know of what quality these were, I have been allowed to hold familiar converse with some of them; so that the nature of their wisdom, and its superiority to that of the present day may be seen from what follows.

2592. There was present with me a certain person who was formerly among the more wise, and was thereby well known in the learned world. I conversed with him on various subjects, and as I knew that he had been a wise man, I spoke with him concerning wisdom, intelligence, order, the Word, and finally concerning the Lord. Concerning wisdom he said that there is no other wisdom than that which is of life, and that wisdom can be predicated of nothing else. Concerning intelligence he said that it was from wisdom. Concerning order he said that it is from the Supreme God, and that to live in that order is to be wise and intelligent.

[2] As regards the Word, when I read to him something from the prophecies, he was very greatly delighted, especially from the fact that each of the names and each of the words signified interior things, wondering greatly that the learned of this day are not delighted with such a study. I plainly perceived that the interiors of his thought or mind had been opened, and at the same time that those of certain Christians who were present had been closed; for ill-will against him prevailed with them, and also unbelief that the Word is of this nature. Nay, when I went on reading the Word he said that he could not be present, because he perceived it to be too holy for him to endure, so interiorly was he affected. The Christians on the other hand said aloud that they could be present; and this was because their interiors had been closed, and therefore the holy things did not affect them.

[3] At length I talked with him about the Lord; that He was born a man, but was conceived of God; that He had put off the human and had put on the Divine; and that it is He who governs the universe. To this he made answer that he knew many things about the Lord, and had perceived in his own way that it could not have been done otherwise if the human race was to be saved. Meantime certain wicked Christians injected various difficulties, for which he did not care, saying that it was not surprising, because they had become imbued in the life of the body with unbecoming ideas respecting these things, and that until such ideas were dispersed they could not admit things confirmatory, as could those who are ignorant. This man was a Gentile.

2593. I have also been permitted to speak with others who lived in ancient times and who were then among the more wise. They were at first seen in front at a distance, and were there able to perceive the interiors of my thoughts, thus many things in a thorough manner. From one idea of the thought they could know the entire series, and fill it with delightful things of wisdom together with pleasing representations, which showed me that they were among the more wise, and I was told that they were from the Ancients. So they drew nearer, and when I read to them something from the Word they were most highly delighted. It was granted me to perceive their very delight and enjoyment, which arose chiefly from the fact that all the things they heard from the Word were both in general and in particular representative and significative of heavenly and spiritual things. They said that in their time when they lived in the world their mode of thinking and speaking, and also of writing, was of this nature, and that this was their wisdom's study.

2594. But as regards the Gentiles who are on earth at this day, they are not so wise, but are for the most part simple in heart; and yet those of them who have lived in mutual charity receive wisdom in the other life-concerning whom I may relate what follows.

2595. I heard the sound of a certain gyre, but coarser than usual, and from the sound I at once knew that they were from the Gentiles. I was told by the angels that they were Gentiles who had been raised up three or four days before. The gyre or choir was heard for several hours, and it was perceived that even during the short time in which it was heard they were being perfected more and more. When I wondered at this I was told that these can be initiated into choirs, and thus into harmony, in one night; while most Christians barely can in thirty years. Gyres or choirs exist when many speak together, all as one, and each as all; but concerning gyres or choirs, of the Lord's Divine mercy elsewhere.

2596. One morning there was a choir at a distance from me, and it was given me to know from the representations of the choir that they were Chinese; for they presented a kind of woolly goat, a cake of millet, and an ivory spoon, as also the idea of a floating city. They desired to come nearer to me; and when they had applied themselves they said that they desired to be alone with me, that they might open their thoughts. But they were told that they were not alone, and that there were others who were indignant at their desiring to be alone, when yet they were guests. When they perceived the indignation of the others, they began to think whether they had trespassed against the neighbor, and whether they had claimed anything for themselves that belonged to others. (In the other life all thoughts are communicated). I was permitted to perceive their trouble: it was that of an acknowledgment that perhaps they had wronged the others, and of shame on that account, and of other good affections at the same time, from which it was known that they were endued with charity. Presently I spoke with them, and at length about the Lord. When I called Him Christ, a kind of repugnance was perceived in them; but the cause was discovered to be that they brought this repugnance from the world, from their having known Christians to live worse than they did themselves, and in no charity. But when I simply called Him the Lord, they were inwardly moved. They were afterwards instructed by the angels that beyond every other doctrine in the whole world the Christian doctrine prescribes love and charity, but that there are but few persons who live in accordance with it.

2597. There are Gentiles who when they lived in the world had known from social intercourse and report that Christians lead the very worst life-in adulteries, in hatreds and quarrels, in drunkenness, and the like things-at which they are affected with horror, because such things are contrary to their laws, their morals, and their religion. In the other life these are more timid than others in receiving the truths of faith; but they are instructed by the angels that the Christian doctrine, and the faith itself, teach the very opposite, but that Christians live less in accordance with their doctrine than do the Gentiles. When they perceive this they receive the truths of faith and adore the Lord, but more tardily.

2598. When I read the 17th and 18th chapters of Judges, concerning Micah, how the sons of Dan took away his graven image, the teraphim, and the Levite, there was present a spirit from the Gentiles, who in the life of the body had adored a carved image. While he listened attentively to what was done to Micah, and in what grief he was on account of his graven image that the Danites took away, he too was overcome with grief, and was affected to such a degree that he scarcely knew what to think for inward grief. I perceived his grief, and at the same time perceived the innocence in each of his affections. Christian spirits were also present and observed it, and wondered that a worshiper of a graven image should be moved by so strong an affection of mercy and innocence. Afterwards good spirits spoke to him, saying that a graven image ought not to be adored, and that he could understand this because he was a human being; but that he ought to think beyond the graven image of God the Creator and Governor of the universal heaven and earth; and that this God is the Lord. When these things were said I was permitted to perceive the interior emotion of his adoration, which was communicated to me, and was much more holy than that with Christians; from which it could be seen that Gentiles come into heaven more easily than Christians at this day who are not so affected (according to the Lord's words in (Luke 13:29, 30); for in the state in which he was he could be imbued with all things of faith, and could receive them with interior affection. Thee was in him the mercy that is of love, and in his ignorance there was innocence; and when these are present, all things of faith are received as it were spontaneously, and with joy. He was afterwards received among the angels.

2599. There was also another among the Gentiles, who had lived in the good of charity. When he heard Christian spirits reasoning about things to be believed (spirits reason with one another much more fully and much more acutely than men, especially about goods and truths, because these belong to the other life), he marveled that they should dispute so, and said that he did not want to hear such things, because they were reasoning from fallacies, and be gave them the following instruction: If I am good, I can know from good itself what is true, and what I do not know, I can receive.

2600. Well-disposed Gentiles are instructed in the other life, for the most part, and so far as possible, in accordance with their states of life and in accordance with their religion, thus in various ways. I may here describe only three.

2601. Some are reduced into a state of tranquillity, as it were a kind of sleep; and they then seem to themselves to be building small cities, and in the midst of them to hide some secret thing which they wish to preserve from violence. They give these cities to others, with entreaties not to do violence to the secret thing in the midst of them. Innocence is thus insinuated into them, and also charity, together with the idea that the secret thing is concerning the Lord. They are kept in this state a considerable time. It is a state of ignorance in which there is innocence. They are guarded by little children, lest anyone should do them harm. I have spoken with them, and have been much affected by their state of innocence and charity, and also by the solicitude with which they hide the secret, and by the holy fear lest it should be violated.

2602. There is one nation (I was told that it is from the Indies) which makes it their religion to worship the Greatest God with the following rite. When they are adoring Him they first magnify themselves, but soon prostrate themselves as worms; and at the same time they hold, that above the universe, which they believe to be whirling around, is that Greatest God, looking down on what they are doing. As they have had such religious observances, in the other life they are brought back into them; and I have spoken with them while they imagined such things. They are for the most part modest, obedient, and simple in heart. They are by successive steps freed by the angels from this phantasy; for they are instructed, in accordance with their religion, that the Greatest God is the Lord; and that they can indeed magnify themselves on account of their being able to adore Him; and that nevertheless they are like little worms and that the Lord from on high sees each and all things. In this manner, by means of their own religion, they are brought into the knowledges of good and truth

2603. There are some Gentiles from those regions where they are black, who bring with them from their life in the world a wish to be treated severely; believing that no one can come into heaven except through punishments and afflictions, and that they will afterwards receive more gladsome things, which they call paradisal. As they have such ideas from their religion they are at first treated severely in the other life by some whom they call devils, and are afterwards taken to the paradises already described (n. 1622). But they are instructed by the angels that their punishments and afflictions are turned by the Lord into what is good for them, as with those who are in temptations also that paradisal things are not heaven, but that heaven is the affection of the celestial and spiritual things that are in them; and that they have been in a certain way of truth, although in the shade of ignorance. They spoke with me a long time. While in their state of affliction their speech was attended with a kind of collision; thus was distinct from that of others; but after their afflictions were over, and they were taken up to the paradises, they no longer had such a speech, but one that was almost angelic. From their religion they have that they believe, and desire to have interior things. They said that whenever they are treated severely they are black; but that they shortly put off the blackness, and put on whiteness; knowing that their souls are white, but their bodies black.

2604. It is usual for Gentiles who adore any god under an image or statue, or any carved thing, to be introduced, on coming into the other life, to certain ones who are in the place of their gods or idols, in order that they may put away their phantasies; and when they have been with these for some days, they are taken away from such persons. They who have adored men are also sometimes introduced to them, or to others in their stead; as many of the Jews are to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and David; but when they perceive that these have the same kind of human nature as others have, and can afford them no help, they become ashamed, and are taken to their own places in accordance with their life. Among the Gentiles in the other life the Africans are the most beloved, because they receive the goods and truths of heaven more easily than others. They especially desire to be called the obedient, but not the faithful. They say that Christians can be called faithful, because they have the doctrine of faith; but not they, unless they receive it, or as they say, are able to receive it.

2605. I have spoken with some who were in the Ancient Church, and who then knew concerning the Lord that He was to come, and who had been imbued with the goods of faith, but yet fell away and became idolaters. They were in front, toward the left, in a darksome place, and in a miserable state. Their speech was like the sound of a fife, of one tone, almost devoid of rationality of thought. They said that they had been there for many ages, and that they are sometimes taken out thence to serve others for some uses, which are vile. From these it was given me to think about many Christians, who are idolaters not exteriorly but interiorly, and who at heart deny the Lord, and thereby also the truths of faith; and to reflect upon what kind of a lot must await them in the other life.


Chapter 21

2606. The Word of the Old Testament was formerly called the " Law and the Prophets". By the "Law" were meant all the historical books, which are the five books of Moses, and those of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings: by the "Prophets" were meant all the prophetical books, which are those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zephaniah Malachi; and also the Psalms of David. The historical books of the Word are also called "Moses;" hence it is occasionally said, "Moses and the Prophets", instead of the "Law and the Prophets;" and the prophetical books are called "Elias" (n. 2135A).

2607. As regards the historicals they are all historically true, except those in the first chapters of Genesis, which are made up history. Yet although they are historically true, they nevertheless have an internal sense; and in that sense, like the propheticals, treat solely of the Lord. They do indeed treat of heaven and the church, and of what belongs to heaven and the church, but as these are of the Lord, through these the historicals look to the Lord, and therefore are the Word. The historic events are all representative, and every word by which they are described is significative. That the historic events are representative is evident from what has been unfolded thus far concerning Abraham, and will be further evident from what of the Lord's Divine mercy is to be explained concerning Isaac, Jacob, and his twelve sons; concerning Egypt, the sojourning of the people in the wilderness, their entrance into the land of Canaan, etc.

[2] That every word by which these historicals are described is significative, is also evident from what has been shown for instance in regard to the names as signifying actual things; thus "Egypt" signifies memory-knowledge, "Asshur" the rational, " Ephraim" the intellectual, "Tyre" knowledges, Zion" the celestial church, "Jerusalem" the spiritual church, and so on. The same has been shown in regard to the words; as that "king" signifies truth, "priest" good, and that all other words have their respective internal significance; such as "kingdom", "city", "house", "nation", "people", "garden", "vineyard", " oliveyard", " gold", " silver", " brass", " iron", "birds", "beasts", "bread", "wine", "oil", "morning", "day", "light;" and this uniformly in both the historical and the prophetical books, although they were written by various individuals, and at different times-a uniformity that would not be possible unless the Word had come down from heaven. From this it may be known that there is an internal sense in the Word; as well as from the fact that the Divine Word cannot treat of mere men, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their posterity (which was the worst of nations); of their kings, their wives, sons, and daughters; of harlots, plunderings, and such things, which, considered in themselves, are not worthy to be even mentioned in the Word, unless by them are represented and signified such things as are in the Lord's kingdom: it is these things that are worthy of the Word.

2608. Similar to these also are very many things in the Prophets, such as those adduced above (n. 1888); and also the following in Isaiah: -

Moab shall howl, all Moab shall howl, for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn howbeit ye have been bruised; for the fields of Heshbon have failed, the vine of Sibmah; the lords of the nations break down the shoots, they reached even unto Jazer, they wandered in the wilderness, her offshoots have been torn away they have passed over the sea. Therefore with weeping will I weep for Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh for upon thy vintage and upon thy harvest the shout is fallen (Isaiah 16:7-9).

In Jeremiah: -

The voice of a cry from Horonaim, wasting and great destruction, Moab is broken to pieces, her little ones have caused a cry to be heard for by the ascent of Luhith with weeping a weeping goeth up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of a breaking to pieces. Judgment is come unto the land of the plain, unto Holon, and unto Jahzah, and unto Mephaath, and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim, and upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon, and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah (Jeremiah 48:3, 4, 5, 21-24).

Such in very many places is the character of the propheticals of the Word, which would be of no use unless they had an internal sense; and yet the Word, being Divine, must needs contain within itself the laws of that Heavenly Kingdom into which man is to come.

2609. But as regards the Precepts of Life, such as all things in the decalogue, and many in the Law and the Prophets-these, being of service to man's very life, are of use in both senses, both the literal and the internal. The things contained in the literal sense were for the people and peoples of that period, who did not apprehend internal things; and the things contained in the internal sense were for the angels, who have no care for external things. Unless the precepts of the decalogue contained internal things also, they would never have been promulgated on Mount Sinai with so great a miracle; for such things as it contains, such as that parents are to be honored, that men must not steal, must not kill, must not commit adultery, must not covet what is another's, are things which the Gentiles also know and have prescribed in their laws; and which the sons of Israel as men must have been well acquainted with, without such a promulgation. But as those precepts were for the service of life, in both senses, and were as external forms produced from internal, that corresponded to each other-this was the reason why they came down out of heaven upon Mount Sinai with so great a miracle, and in their internal sense were uttered and heard in heaven, while in their external sense they were uttered and heard on earth.

[2] Take as an example the promise that they who honor their parents shall have their days prolonged upon the land: by "parents" the angels in heaven perceived the Lord; by the "land", His kingdom, which those who worship Him from love and faith should eternally possess as sons and heirs; whereas by "parents" men on earth understood parents; by "land", the land of Canaan; by the "prolongation of their days", the years of their life. Take again the precept that men must not steal: by this the angels who were in heaven perceived that they should take nothing away from the Lord, and should not claim anything of righteousness and merit for themselves; whereas men on earth understood that they must not steal; from which we can see that these precepts are true in both senses. Take again the precept that men must not kill: by this the angels in heaven perceived that they should not hate anyone, and should not extinguish anything of good and truth with anyone; whereas men on earth understood that their friends must not be killed. The case is the same with all the other precepts.

 

GENESIS 21:1-34

1. And Jehovah visited Sarah, as He had said; and Jehovah did unto Sarah as He had spoken.

2. And Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time, as God had spoken with him.

3. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.

4. And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son, a son of eight days, as God had commanded him.

5. And Abraham was a son of a hundred years when Isaac his son was born unto him.

6. And Sarah said, God hath made laughter for me, every one that heareth will laugh with me.

7. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, Sarah shall suckle sons? for I have borne a son to his old age.

8. And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast, on the day when he weaned Isaac.

9. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, mocking.

10. And she said unto Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac.

11. And the word was evil exceedingly in the eyes of Abraham, on account of his son.

12. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be evil in thine eyes because of the boy, and because of thine handmaid; all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice, for isa Isaac shall thy seed be called.

13. And also the son of the handmaid I will make a nation, because he is thy seed.

14. And Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave to Hagar, and put them on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away; and she went and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

15. And the water was spent out of the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

16. And she went and sat by herself over against him, withdrawing about a bowshot; for she said, Let me not see the death of the child; and she sat over against him; and she lifted up her voice, and wept.

17. And God heard the voice of the child, and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the child where he is.

18. Arise, lift up the child, and strengthen thy hand in him, for I will make him a great nation.

19. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she went and filled the bottle with water, and gave the child drink.

20. And God was with the child, and he grew, and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became a shooter of the bow.

21. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

22. And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army said unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest.

23. And now swear unto me here by God, that thou wilt not be false to me, nor to my son, nor to my son's son; according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.

24. And Abraham said, I will swear.

25. And Abraham reproved Abimelech, because of the well of water which Abimelech's servants had taken away.

26. And Abimelech said, I know not who hath done this word, neither didst thou tell me, neither heard I of it, but today.

27. And Abraham took flock and herd, and gave to Abimelech, and they two struck a covenant.

28. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

29. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What are these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?

30. And he said, Because these seven ewe lambs thou shalt take from my hand, that it may be a witness unto me that I have digged this well.

31. Therefore he called that place Beer-sheba, because there they sware both of them.

32. And they struck a covenant at Beer-sheba; and Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

33. And he planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the God of eternity.

34. And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.

 

THE CONTENTS

2610. In the internal sense of this chapter the Lord's Divine Rational is first treated of, which is represented by "Isaac" (verses 1-8).

2611. Next the merely human rational, which was then separated, and which is the "son of Hagar the Egyptian" (verses 9-12).

2612. After this had been separated, the spiritual church is represented by the same, namely, by Hagar's son, as well as by his mother; which church and its state are treated of in (verses 13 to 21).

2613. Concerning the human rational things that were adjoined to the doctrine of faith, which in itself is Divine (verses 22-34).

2614. This doctrine together with those things adjoined is "Beer-sheba" (verses 14, 31, 33).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

2615. Verse 1. And Jehovah visited Sarah, as he had said; and Jehovah did unto Sarah as He had spoken. "Jehovah visited Sarah", signifies the presence of the Divine celestial in the Divine spiritual; "as He had said", signifies as He had perceived; "and Jehovah did unto Sarah", signifies the state of unition; "as He had spoken", signifies as He had thought.

2616. Jehovah visited Sarah. That this signifies the presence of the Divine celestial in the Divine spiritual, is evident from the signification of "Jehovah", as being the Divine celestial, that is, the Divine Good, or Esse (Being) itself, which, because it is of love and mercy, is Good itself; from the signification of "visiting", as meaning to be present; and from the signification of " Sarah", as being the Divine spiritual, that is, Divine Truth (n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2507).

2617. As He had said. That this signifies as He had perceived, is evident from the signification in the historical parts of the Word of "saying", as meaning to perceive (n. 2238, 2260, 2552).

2618. And Jehovah did unto Sarah. That this signifies the state of unition, namely, of the Lord's Divine spiritual in His Divine celestial, is evident from the signification of "doing", when predicated of the Lord's Divine, as being the sum total of the effect, consequently the state; and from the signification of "Jehovah", and also of "Sarah" (n. 2616). As regards the state of unition of the Lord's Divine spiritual in His Divine celestial, this is the very marriage itself of good and truth, from which comes the heavenly marriage; and this marriage is the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on earth. For this reason the Lord's kingdom is so frequently in the Word called a "marriage", and is compared to a marriage. The reason (a secret one) is that all conjugial love (and through this all celestial and spiritual love) comes from the marriage of Divine good and truth, and of Divine truth and good, in the Lord. What further arcana are enfolded in these words: that "Jehovah visited Sarah as He had said", and that "Jehovah did unto Sarah as He had spoken", cannot be declared, because they are inexpressible; for they comprise the very state itself of the unition of the Lord's Divine with His Human. Appearances of this are presented by the Lord before the angels by means of heavenly lights, and are illustrated by means of ineffable representations; but they cannot be presented before men, because it would have to be done by means of such things as belong to the light of the world, into which such arcana do not fall; nay, by a description based on such things they become more obscure.

2619. As He had spoken. That this signifies as He had thought, is evident from the signification of "speaking", as being to think (n. 2271, 2287). The perception which is signified by "Jehovah said" was from the Divine celestial; but the thought which is signified by "Jehovah spake" was from the Divine celestial through the Divine spiritual; and there is therefore an apparent repetition in the sense of the letter, namely, "as He said", and "as He spake". But what it is to perceive from the Divine celestial and to think from the Divine celestial through the Divine spiritual, does not fall into even the most enlightened apprehension by means of things that belong to the light of the world. This shows how infinite the rest of the Word may be. That thought is from perception see (n. 1919, 2515). With man the case is this: it is good from which he perceives, but it is truth by means of which he thinks. Good is of love and its affections, consequently from it is perception; but truth is of faith, consequently this is of thought. The former is signified in the historic parts of the Word by "saying", but the latter by "speaking". But when "saying" is found alone, it then sometimes signifies perceiving, and sometimes thinking; because "saying" involves both.

2620. Verse 2. And Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time, as God had spoken with him. She "conceived and bare", signifies that it was and came forth; "Sarah bare Abraham", signifies from the unition of the Lord's Divine spiritual with His Divine celestial; "a son" signifies the Divine rational; "in his old age", signifies when the days were fulfilled that He should put off the human; "at the appointed time", signifies when the rational was such as to receive; "as God had spoken with him", signifies as He had willed.

2621. That "conceived and bare" signifies that it Was and Came forth, namely the Divine rational, from the unition of the Lord's Divine spiritual with His Divine celestial, is evident from the signification of "conceiving and bearing". That in the internal sense of the Word no other conceptions and bearings are meant than those which are spiritual and celestial, may be seen above (n. 2584); but here those which were Divine, because the subject here treated of is the Lord's rational made Divine; and of Him, namely, the Lord, Being and Coming forth (Esse et Existere) are chiefly predicated; for He alone Is and Comes forth. As regards Being and Coming forth (Esse et Existere) we may add that they seem as if they were nearly the same, but are not the same. Every person and every thing, has its Being from conception, but its Coming forth from birth; and thus, as conception is prior to birth, so Being is prior to Coming forth.

[2] The soul is the Being itself of man, and the sensitive or corporeal faculty is its Coming forth, for the former comes forth in the latter. Celestial and spiritual love are the very Being of the man who is being regenerated; and the rational and sensitive faculties, when imbued with that love, are his Coming forth. And so it is with each and all things in the universe; for there is nothing whatever which has not its conception that it may be, and its birth that it may come forth; which may also be illustrated in the terms of philosophy by saying that every effect has its cause, and every cause has its end. The end is the Being of the cause, and the cause is the Coming forth of the end. In the same way, the cause is the Being of the effect, and the effect is the Coming forth of the cause.

2622. Sarah to Abraham. That this signifies from the unition of the Divine spiritual with the Divine celestial, is evident from the representation of Sarah, as being the Divine spiritual, or Divine Truth (n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198, 2507); and from the representation of Abraham, as being the Divine celestial, or Divine Good (n. 1989, 2011, 2172, 2198, 2501). Concerning the unition of the Divine spiritual with the Divine celestial, see (n. 2618).

2623. A son. That this signifies the Divine rational, is evil dent from the signification of a "son". In the internal sense of the Word a "son" signifies truth (n. 489, 491, 533); and as truth is the chief thing in the rational (n. 2072, 2189), the rational is also signified by a "son;" but here the Divine rational, in which principally there is good, which Isaac, who is the "son", also represents.

2624. In his old age. That this signifies when the days were fulfilled that the human should be put off, is evident from the signification of "old age", as being the state when the human should be put off and the Divine put on (n. 2198); for Abraham was at that time a hundred years old; and by this number is signified a full state of unition, as will be seen in the explication at (verse 5).

2625. At the appointed time. That this signifies when the rational was such as to receive, is evident from the signification of "time". There are two things which while man lives in the world appear to be essential, because they are proper to nature, namely, space and time. Hence to live in space and time is to live in the world or in nature. But in the other life these two things are of no consequence. In the world of spirits indeed they do appear to be of some consequence, for the reason that spirits fresh from the body still retain the idea of natural things; yet it is not long before they perceive that there is no space and time there, but state instead; and that in the other life states correspond to spaces and times in nature; to spaces states as to Being (esse), and to times states as to Coming forth (existere). In regard to space or place see (n. 1274, 1379, 1380, 1382).

[2] From this anyone can see what kind of an idea a man may have, while in the world or in nature, respecting the things of the other life and many arcana of faith; namely, that he is not willing to believe them until be apprehends them by means of the things in the world, nay, by sensuous things; for he must needs suppose that if he were to put off the idea of space and time, and still more space and time themselves, he would become absolutely nothing; and thus that he would have nothing left from which he could feel and think, except something confused and incomprehensible; when yet the case is exactly the reverse. Angelic life is of such a nature as to be the wisest and happiest of all.

[3] This is the reason why in the Word "ages" in the internal sense do not signify ages, but states; so that in this verse "old age" does not mean old age. And in the same way the numbers do not signify numbers, but some specific state, as for instance the number a hundred years, concerning which hereafter. From this we can now see that by the "appointed time" is signified the state when the rational was such as to receive.

[4] In regard to the specific matter here treated of, namely, that the Divine rational was and came forth from the unition of the Divine spiritual with the Divine celestial of the Lord, when the days were fulfilled for the human to be put off, and when the rational was such as to receive (all of which is signified in the internal sense by Sarah's conceiving and bearing to Abraham a son to his old age at the appointed time), be it known that the human begins in the inmost of the rational (n. 2106, 2194); and that the Lord advanced successively to the union of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence, and of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence (n. 1864, 2033, 2523); and this by His own power (n. 1921, 2025, 2026, 2083), by continual temptations and victories (n. 1737, 1813, 1690), and by continual revelations from His Divine (n. 1616, 2500); and this until at length He had expelled all the maternal human (n. 1414, 1444, 2574); and thus had made His Human Divine in respect to the rational, according to the things contained in this verse. Hence it is manifest what is to be understood by the days being fulfilled for the human to be put off, and by the rational being such as to receive.

[5] Some idea of this may be formed from what takes place in those who are being regenerated. The celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith are not at once implanted in them by the Lord, but successively; and when by means of them the man's rational has become such that it can receive, then for the first time is he becoming regenerate, for the most part by means of temptations in which he conquers. When these things take place, the days are fulfilled for him to put off the old man, and to put on the new. Concerning man's regeneration, see (n. 677, 679, 711, 848, 986, 1555, 2475).

2626. As God had spoken with him. That this signifies as He had willed, is evident from the signification of "speaking", as being to think (n. 2271, 2287, 2619); but that here it means to will is because it is said, "as God had spoken;" since for the Divine to think is to will.

2627. Verse 3. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. "Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him", signifies the quality of the rational as being Divine; "whom Sarah bare to him", signifies that it was and came forth from the Divine spiritual united to the Divine celestial; "Isaac's signifies the Divine rational.

2628. Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him. That this signifies the quality of the rational as being Divine, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord as to the Divine celestial, or the Divine Good, treated of many times before; and from the signification of "calling a name", as being the quality (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009); and from the signification of his "son", as being the rational (n. 2623); and also from the signification of his being "born unto him", as being to come forth from the Divine. Hence it is evident that "Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him", signifies the quality of the rational as being Divine. From these few words three arcana shine forth for those who are in the internal sense: - First, that the Lord's Divine Human came forth (exstiterit) from the Divine Itself; which is further treated of in this verse. Second, that the Lord's Divine Human was not only conceived, but also born, of Jehovah, and hence the Lord as to His Divine Human is called the "Son of God", and the "Only-begotten" (John 1:14, 18, 50; 3:16, 18, 35, 36; 5:19-27; 6:69; 9:35; 10:36; 11:27; 14:13, 14; 17:1; 20:31); and in like manner in the other Evangelists. Third, that the Lord's Divine Human is the "name" of Jehovah, that is, His quality (John 12:28).

2629. Whom Sarah bare to him. That this signifies being and coming forth from the Divine spiritual united to the Divine celestial is evident from the signification of "bearing", as being to come forth (existere) (n. 2621); and as birth involves conception, and the birth or coming forth is from the Divine spiritual, and the conception, or being, from the Divine celestial, which two have now been united, hence "bearing" here signifies both being and coming forth; and also from the representation of Sarah, as being the Divine spiritual united to the Divine celestial (n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198, 2507). These things are arcana too deep to be described, or indeed to be illustrated by anything in this world. They are for angelic minds, to whom they are presented in the light of heaven by means of things ineffable.

2630. Isaac. That this signifies the Divine Rational, is evident from what has been said before concerning Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (n. 1893, 2066, 2083), namely, that Abraham represents the supreme Divine, Isaac the Divine rational, and Jacob His Divine natural; as will also be seen hereafter, where Isaac is treated of.

2631. Verse 4. And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son, a son of eight days, as God commanded him. "Abraham circumcised Isaac his son", signifies the purification of the rational; "a son of eight days", signifies a beginning and continuance; "as God had commanded him", signifies according to Divine order.

2632. Abraham circumcised Isaac his son. That this signifies the purification of the rational, is evident from the signification of "being circumcised", which is to be purified (n. 2039); and from the representation of "Isaac", as being the Divine rational (n. 2630).

[2] That the Lord's first rational was born as with others, namely, by means of knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones), has been stated before, where Ishmael was treated of, by whom that rational is represented. As this was born by means of knowledges, thus by the external way, which is that of the senses, and as with others, it could not but have in itself many things from the outward world, for from them are the ideas of the rational procured; and this the more because it had its hereditary from the mother. It was these worldly things and this hereditary which the Lord successively expelled from His rational, and this until it was such as to be able to receive the Divine (n. 2624, 2625). The Lord's Divine rational was then born, which is represented by Isaac (n. 2630); not however by the external way, which is that of the senses, as the former rational was; but by the internal way from the Divine Itself (n. 2628, 2629). As this was not done at once, but successively (n. 1690, 2033), it was purified, and this continually; which is signified by "Abraham's circumcising his son, a son of eight days". That the Lord made His rational Divine by successive steps, and continually purified it, is evident also in John: -

Jesus said, Father, glorify Thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven: I have both glorified, and will glorify again (John 12:28).

That to "glorify" is to make Divine, may be seen above (n. 1603, 1999).

[3] In the Ancient Church nothing else was represented and signified by circumcision than that a man should be purified from the loves of self and of the world, and this also by successive steps and continually (n. 2039, 2046, 2049, 2056); especially when he has been born a new man, that is, when he has been regenerated; for the Lord then flows in by the internal way, that is, by the good of conscience, and successively and continually separates the things which adhere both from hereditary and from actual evil.

2633. A son of eight days. That this signifies a beginning and continuance, is evident from the signification of the "eighth day", on which they were circumcised, as being any beginning, and thus continuance (n. 2044).

2634. As God had commanded him. That this signifies according to Divine order, is evident from the signification of "God commanding", or of His precepts. God's precepts, or the things which God has commanded, are all things that are of Divine order both in general and in particular; so that Divine order is nothing but the perpetual precept of God; and therefore to live according to the precepts of God, and to live in the precepts of God, is to live according to Divine order and in Divine order. Hence it is that by "as God commanded", is signified according to Divine order. It was according to Divine order that every male should be circumcised on the eighth day from his birth; not that circumcision was of any avail, or that they who were circumcised would enter into the kingdom of God before the uncircumcised; but because in the representative church such a rite corresponded to the purification of the heart; which correspondence will of the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken of elsewhere. It is of Divine order that the heart, that is, man's interiors, should be purified gradually and continually from the evils of cupidities, and from the falsities of the phantasies thence derived. The precepts relating to the purification of the heart are all things of Divine order both in general and in particular. In so far therefore as a man lives in those precepts, so far he lives in Divine order; and in so far as he lives in this, so far all things in him, both of reason and memory, are disposed by the Lord according to the order which is from Him in the heavens. Hence the man becomes a little heaven corresponding to the greatest.

2635. Verse 5. And Abraham was a son of a hundred years when Isaac his son was born unto him. "Abraham was a son of a hundred years", signifies a full state of unition; "when Isaac his son was born unto him", signifies when the Lord's rational was made Divine.

2636. Abraham was a son of a hundred years. That this signifies a full state of unition, is evident from the signification of a "hundred", as being what is full; and from the signification of "years", as being state (n. 482, 487, 488, 493, 893); here, a state of unition. What a full state of unition of the Lord's Divine with His Human is, or what is the same, with His rational, for the human begins in the inmost of the rational (n. 2106, 2194), cannot so well be told to the apprehension, but still can be illustrated by what is called with man a full state when he is being reformed and regenerated.

[2] It is known that a man cannot be regenerated until adult age, because he then for the first time has the full exercise of reason and judgment, and thus can receive good and truth from the Lord. Before he comes into this state he is being prepared by the Lord by such things being insinuated into him as may serve him as ground for receiving the seeds of good and truth; which are the many states of innocence and charity, and also the knowledges of good and truth, and the thoughts derived from them. This preparation is going on for some years before his regeneration commences. When the man has been imbued with these things, and is thus prepared, his state is then said to be full; for his interiors are then disposed for receiving. All those things with which a man is endowed by the Lord before regeneration, and by means of which he is regenerated, are called remains, which are signified in the Word by the number "ten" (n. 576, 1738, 2284); and also by a "hundred", when the state for regeneration is full (n. 1988).

[3] These things may serve for illustration as to what is signified by a full state of unition of the Human with the Divine in the Lord, namely, when from His own power, by means of the combats of temptations and by victories, and by the powers of the Divine Wisdom and intelligence, He had procured to Himself so much of the Divine in His Human, that is, in His rational, as to be able to unite the Divine Itself to the Divine acquired in the rational. That this state might be represented, it was brought to pass that, although Abraham had dwelt for many years in the land of Canaan, Isaac was not born to him until he was a hundred years old. These are the arcana contained in the number a "hundred years", which was Abraham's age.

[4] That the number a "hundred" signifies what is full, is evident from other passages in the Word, as in Isaiah: -

There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall die a son of a hundred years, and the sinner a son of a hundred years shall be accursed (Isaiah 65:20);

where a "hundred" manifestly denotes what is full; for it is said, there shall be no more an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days, and a child and a sinner of a hundred years; that is, when his state is full.

[5] In Matthew: -

Every one that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:29, 30);

where a "hundredfold" denotes what is full; or "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over" (Luke 6:38).

[6] And in Luke: -

And other seed fell upon the good earth and having sprung up it brought forth fruit a hundredfold (Luke 8:8; Matt. 13:8, 23; Mark 4:20);

where also a "hundred" denotes what is full, which number would not have been mentioned unless it had signified that. The same is true where the Lord speaks by parable concerning the debtors, that one owed "a hundred baths of oil", and the other "a hundred cors of wheat" (Luke 16:5-7). So also in other places where a "hundred" is mentioned. The case is similar with a "thousand", respecting which number, see above (n. 2575).

2637. When Isaac his son was born unto him. That this signifies when the Lord's rational was made Divine, is evident from the signification of "being born", which is to come forth (existere) (n. 2584, 2621, 2629) and from the representation of "Isaac", as being the Divine rational (n. 2630). This is said to be "born to Abraham", when made Divine; as also above, (verse 3): "Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him" (n. 2628).

2638. Verses 6, 7. And Sarah said, God hath made laughter for me; every one that heareth will laugh with me. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, Sarah shall suckle sons? for I have borne a son to his old age. " Sarah said", signifies perception from the Divine spiritual; "God hath made laughter for me", signifies the affection of celestial truth; "every one that heareth will laugh with me", signifies that all things in it will have this affection; "and she said", signifies thought; "who would have said unto Abraham, Sarah shall suckle sons?" signifies that the Lord implanted the Human in the Divine by His own power; "for I have borne a son to his old age", signifies that this was done when the days were fulfilled.

2639. Sarah said. That this signifies perception from the Divine spiritual, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive; and from the representation of Sarah, as being the Divine spiritual, or Divine truth (n. 2622).

2640. God hath made laughter for me. That this signifies the affection of celestial truth, is evident from the signification of "laughter", as being the affection of truth (n. 2072, 2216); and from the expression "God making", as denoting the celestial from which it is.

2641. Everyone that heareth will laugh with me. That this signifies that all things in it will have this affection, is evident from the signification of "hearing" and "laughing". In the Word to "hear" is predicated of what is of affection, but to "see" of what is of thought; which is evident from a great many passages in the Word, as also from the correspondences (n. 2542). As the affection of celestial truth is here treated of, it is said, "Every one that heareth", by which are signified all things that are of affection. To "laugh" denotes to be affected by truth, that is, to have the affection of truth (n. 2072, 2216, 2640).

2642. And she said. That this signifies thought, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive, and also to think (n. 2619).

2643. Who would have said unto Abraham, Sarah shall suckle sons? That this signifies that the Lord implanted the Human in the Divine by His own power, is evident from the representation of Abraham, and also of Sarah, and from the signification of "suckling' and of "sons". That Abraham represents Divine good, and Sarah Divine truth, has been shown before. That "milk" denotes what is spiritual from a celestial origin, or truth from good, may be seen above (n. 2184); and thus to "suckle" is to implant it. That "sons" are truths, here those that are in the rational, is evident from the signification of "sons" (n. 489, 490, 491, 533). That these things signify in the internal sense that the Lord implanted the Human in the Divine by His own power, is because the Divine truth is the same as the Divine Human; and when it is said of this that it "suckles sons to Abraham", the signification is that it has implanted the Human in the Divine; and as it was the Human, He did it from His own power. But these things can with difficulty be explained more clearly to the understanding. If many words be used, the sense will become still more obscure; for these are Divine things, which can only be presented before angels by thing celestial and spiritual; and if they were presented before man in any more elevated style, they would fall into the material and corporeal ideas which man has.

[2] It is further to be known that the Lord's Divine rational is described as to its quality when it was first born in the words, "God hath made laughter for me; every one that heareth will laugh with me; and she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, Sarah shall suckle sons?" For it was according to ancient custom, that when a child was born, a name was given significative of the state; and that the state also was then described; as when Cain was born to Eve and Adam (Gen. 4:1); when Sheth was born to them (Gen. 4:25); when Noah was born to Lamech (Gen. 5:29); when Esau and Jacob were born to Isaac (Gen. 25:25, 26); when the twelve sons were born to Jacob (Gen. 29:32-35; 30:6, 8, 11, 13, 18, 20, 24; 35:18); when Perez and Zerah were born to Tamar (Gen. 38:29, 30); when Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph (Gen. 41:51, 52); when Gershom and Eliezer were born to Moses (Exod. 2:22; 18:4). What all these represent, and what they signify in the internal sense, was involved in the descriptions added to the names which were given; thus here what Isaac represents. What is involved is manifest in some degree from this brief explication, but deeper arcana yet are hidden within; for they are Divine things, which can be expressed by no forms or formulas of expression.

2644. For I have borne a son to his old age. That this signifies that this was done when the days were fulfilled, is evident from the explication of nearly the same words in the second verse (n. 2621-2624).

2645. Verse 8. And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day when he weaned Isaac. "The child grew", signifies the further perfecting of the Lord's rational; "and was weaned", signifies the separation of the merely human rational; "Abraham made a great feast", signifies dwelling together and union; "on the day when he weaned Isaac", signifies the state of separation.

2646. The child grew. That this signifies the further perfecting of the Lord's rational, is evident from the signification of "growing", as being to be perfected; and from the signification of the "child" or "son", as being the Lord's Divine rational (n. 2623)

2647. And was weaned. That this signifies the separation of the merely human rational, is evident from the signification of "being weaned", as being to be separated, like infants from their mothers' breasts. That the merely human rational was separated, is further described in this chapter, and is represented by Hagar's son, in his being cast out of the house.

2648. Abraham made a great feast. That this signifies dwelling together and union, is evident from the signification of a "feast", as being a dwelling together (n. 2341); here union also, because the Lord is treated of, whose Human was united to His Divine, and the Divine to the Human; and because this union is treated of, it is said a "great feast".

2649. On the day when he weaned Isaac. That this signifies the state of separation, is evident from the signification of "day", as being state (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893); and from the signification of "being weaned", as being to be separated (n. 2647). From the first verse of this chapter the uniting of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence has been treated of, in this order: The presence of the Divine in the Human for the sake of unition (verse 1). The presence of the Human in the Divine, and thus a reciprocal unition (n. 2004) (verse 2). From this unition the Human was made Divine (verse 3). And this successively and continually while the Lord lived in the world (verse 4). And this commenced when the rational was in a state to receive (verse 5). The state of the unition is described as to its quality, with its arcana (verses 6, 7). Now follows the separation of the maternal human, and this is continued down to (verse 12); which separation is signified in this verse by the weaning of Isaac, and is represented in the following verses by Hagar's son being sent away out of the house. And as the union of the Lord's Divine with His Human and of His Human with His Divine is the very marriage of good and truth, and from it is the heavenly marriage, which is the same as the Lord's kingdom, therefore a great feast is mentioned which Abraham made when he weaned Isaac, by which the beginning of marriage or the first union is signified; which feast and weaning, but for the signification, would never have been mentioned.

[2] As the separation of the first human, which the Lord had from the mother, now follows, and at length the full removal of it, it is to be known that the Lord gradually and continually, even to the last of His life when He was glorified, separated from Himself and put off that which was merely human, namely, that which He derived from the mother, until at length He was no longer her son, but the Son of God, not only as to conception but also as to birth, and thus was one with the Father, and was Jehovah Himself. That He separated from Himself and put off all the human from the mother, so that He was no longer her son, is manifest from His words in John: -

When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said unto Him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what (belongs) to Me and to thee? (John 2:3, 4).

In Matthew: -

One said, Behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, seeking to speak to Thee. But Jesus answering said unto him that told Him, Who is My mother? and who are My brethren? And stretching forth His hand toward His disciples, He said, Behold My mother, and My brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of My Father who is in the heavens, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother (Matthew 12:47-50; Mark 3:32-35; Luke 8:20, 21).

In Luke: -

A certain woman out of the multitude lifting up her voice, said unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the breasts which Thou didst suck. But Jesus said, Blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it (Luke 11:27, 28).

[3] Here, when the woman spoke of His mother, the Lord spoke of those described above, namely, "Whoever shall do the will of My Father, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother;" which is the same as this, "Blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it". In John: -

Jesus seeing His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing by, said unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then said He to the disciple, Behold thy mother. Therefore from that hour the disciple took her to his own home (John 19:26, 27).

From these words it is manifest that the Lord spoke to her according to her thought when she saw Him on the cross, and even then not calling her mother, but "woman;" and that He transferred the name of mother to those who are signified by the disciple; on which account He said to the disciple, "Behold thy mother". Still more manifest is this from the Lord's own words, in Matthew: -

Jesus asked the Pharisees, saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is He? They say unto Him, David's. He saith unto them, How then doth David in the spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy foot stool? If David therefore call Him Lord, how is He his Son? And no one was able to answer Him a word (Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:42-44).

Thus He was no longer the Son of David as to the flesh.

[4] And further, in regard to the separation and putting off of the maternal human those do not comprehend this who have merely corporeal ideas respecting the Lord's Human, and think of it as of the human of any other man; hence to such these things are stumbling blocks. They do not know that such as the life is such is the man, and that the Divine Esse (Being) of life, or Jehovah, was in the Lord from conception, and that a similar Esse of life came forth in His Human by means of the union.

2650. Verse 9. And Sarah sad the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. "Sarah saw", signifies the Lord's insight from the Divine spiritual; "the son of Hagar the Egyptian", signifies into the merely human rational; "Hagar the Egyptian" is the affection of memory-knowledges, of which as a mother that rational was born; "whom she had borne unto Abraham", signifies that it came forth from the Divine celestial as a father; "mocking" signifies not in agreement with or favoring the Divine rational.

2651. And Sarah saw. That this signifies the Lord's insight from the Divine spiritual, is evident from the signification of "seeing", as being to understand (n. 897, 2150, 2325), which is the same as to look into, from the mind's sight; also from the representation of Sarah, as being the Divine spiritual, or Divine truth (n. 2622). " Sarah saw", means that the Divine spiritual had insight, which is the same as to say that the Lord had it from the Divine spiritual.

2652. The son of Hagar the Egyptian. That this signifies into the merely human rational, and that "Hagar the Egyptian" is the affection of memory-knowledges, of which that rational was born as a mother, is evident from the signification of the "son", namely Ishmael, as being the first rational which the Lord had - treated of in the sixteenth chapter of Genesis, where Hagar and Ishmael are the subject also from his representation, and that of Hagar the Egyptian, his mother, explained under that chapter. That the first or merely human rational in the Lord was conceived from the Divine celestial as a father, and born of the affection of memory-knowledges as a mother, see (n. 1895, 1896, 1902, 1910).

2653. Whom she had borne unto Abraham. That this signifies that it came forth from the Divine celestial as a father, is evident from the signification of "bearing", as being to come forth (existere) (n. 2621, 2629); and from the representation of Abraham, as being the Divine celestial (n. 1989, 2011, 2172, 2198, 2501). That the first rational came forth from the Divine celestial as a father, see (n. 1895, 1896, 1902, 1910).

2654. Mocking. That this signifies not in agreement with or favoring the Divine rational, is evident from the signification of "mocking", as being that which comes of an affection contrary to what does not agree with and favor one's self. In the preceding verse it was said that the child grew, and was weaned, and that Abraham made a great feast when he weaned Isaac; by which is signified that when the Lord's rational was made Divine, the former rational was separated. Therefore there now immediately follows that which concerns the son of Hagar the Egyptian, by whom this rational is meant, as was shown in the explication at the sixteenth chapter, where Ishmael and Hagar are treated of. From this it is likewise manifest that the things which are in the internal sense follow together in a continuous series.

[2] But in regard to the Lord's first rational, seeing that it was born as with another' man, namely, by means of knowledges (per scientias et cognitiones), it could not but be in appearances of truth which are not truths in themselves, as is evident from what has been shown before (n. 1911, 1936, 2196, 2203, 2209, 2519); and as it was in appearances of truth, truths without appearances, such as Divine truths are, could not agree with it or favor it, both because this rational does not comprehend them, and because they oppose it. But take examples for illustration.

[3] The human rational-that namely which has its birth from worldly things through impressions of sense, and afterwards from analogies of worldly things by means of knowledges (per scientifica et cognitiones) - is ready to laugh and mock if told that it does not live of itself, but only appears to live so; and that one lives the more, that is, the more wisely and intelligently, and the more blissfully and happily, the less he believes that he lives of himself; and that this is the life of angels, especially of those who are celestial, and inmost, or nearest to the Lord; for they know that no one lives of himself except Jehovah alone, that is, the Lord.

[4] This rational would mock also if it were told that it has nothing of its own, and that its having anything of its own is a fallacy or an appearance; and still more would it mock if told that the more it is in the fallacy that it has anything of its own, the less it has; and the converse. So too would it mock if told that whatever it thinks and does from what is its own is evil, although it were good; and that it is not wise until it believes and perceives that all evil is from hell, and all good from the Lord. In this belief, and even in this perception, are all the angels; who nevertheless have what is their own more abundantly than all others; but they know and perceive that this is from the Lord, although it altogether appears as theirs.

[5] Again: this rational would mock if it were said that in heaven the greatest are they who are least, the wisest they who believe and perceive themselves to be the least wise, and the happiest they who desire others to be the most happy, and themselves the least so; that it is heaven to wish to be below all, but hell to wish to be above all; consequently that in the glory of heaven there is absolutely nothing the same as in the glory of the world.

[6] In the same way would that rational mock, if it were said that in the other life there is nothing of space and time, but that there are states, according to which there are appearances of space and time; and that life is the more heavenly the further it is from what is of space and time, and the nearer it is to what is eternal; in which, namely, in what is eternal, there is nothing at all from the idea of time, nor from anything analogous to it: and so with numberless other things.

[7] That there were such things in the merely human rational, and that therefore this rational mocked at Divine things, the Lord saw, and indeed from the Divine spiritual, which is signified by Sarah's seeing the son of Hagar the Egyptian, (n. 2651, 2652). That man is able to look from within into the things in himself which are below, is known by experience to those who are in perception, and even to those who are in conscience; for they see so far as to reprove their very thoughts. Hence the regenerate can see what is the quality of the rational which they had before regeneration. With man such perception is from the Lord; but the Lord's was from Himself.

2655. Verse 10. And she said unto Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac. " She said unto Abraham", signifies perception from the Divine; "cast out this handmaid and her soil", signifies that the things of the merely human rational should be banished; "for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac", signifies that the merely human rational could not have a common life with the Divine rational itself, either as to truth or as to good.

2656. She said unto Abraham. That this signifies perception from the Divine, is evident from the signification of "saying" in the historic parts of the Word, which is to perceive (as stated often before); and from the representation of Abraham, as being the Divine celestial, or the Divine good (n. 2622).

2657. Cast out this handmaid and her son. That this signifies that the things of the merely human rational should be banished, is evident from the signification of "casting out", as being to banish; from the signification of a "handmaid", as being the affection of rational things and memory-knowledges, thus as being the good of them (n. 2567); and from the signification of her "son", as being the truth of that rational (n. 264, 489, 533, 1147). But it is apparent good and truth which are predicated of this first or merely human rational. Hence it is that "cast out this handmaid and her son", signifies that the things of the merely human rational were to be banished. How this is, namely, that the first rational was banished when the Divine rational took its place, has been stated and shown several times before; but as it is here treated of specifically, it must be still further explained in a few words.

[2] With every man who is being regenerated there are two rationals, one before regeneration, the other after regeneration. The first, which is before regeneration, is procured through the experience of the senses, by reflections upon things of civic life and of moral life, and by means of the sciences and the reasonings derived from them and by means of them, also by means of the knowledges of spiritual things from the doctrine of faith or from the Word. But these go no further at that time than a little above the ideas of the corporeal memory, which comparatively are quite material. Whatever therefore it then thinks is from such things; or, in order that what it thinks may be comprehended at the same time by interior or intellectual sight, the semblances of such things are presented by comparison, or analogically. Of this kind is the first rational, or that which is before regeneration.

[3] But the rational after regeneration is formed by the Lord through the affections of spiritual truth and good, which affections are implanted by the Lord in a wonderful manner in the truths of the former rational; and those things in it which are in agreement and which favor, and thus vivified; but the rest are separated from it as of no use; until at length spiritual goods and truths are collected together as it were into bundles, the incongruous things which cannot be vivified being rejected to the circumference, and this by successive steps, as spiritual goods and truths grow, together with the life of the affections of them. From this it appears what the second rational is.

[4] How the case is with these things may be illustrated by comparison with the fruit of trees. The first rational, in the beginning, is like unripe fruit, which gradually matures till it forms seeds within itself, and when it is of such age as to begin to separate itself from the tree, its state is then full (n. 2636). But the second rational, with which one is gifted by the Lord when he is being regenerated, is like the same fruit in good ground, in which those things which are round about the seeds decay, and the seeds push forth from their inmost parts, and send out a root, and then a shoot above the ground, which grows into a new tree, and unfolds itself at length even into new fruits, and then into gardens and paradises, according to the affections of good and truth which it receives (Matt. 13:31, 32; John 12:24).

[5] But as examples aid conviction, take as an example that which is man's own before regeneration, and that which is his own after it. From the first rational, which he has procured to himself by the means described above, the man believes that he thinks truth and does good from himself, and thus from what is his own. This first rational cannot apprehend otherwise, even if it has been instructed that all the good of love and all the truth of faith are from the Lord. But when man is being regenerated, which takes place in adult age, then from the other rational with which he is gifted by the Lord he begins to think that the good and truth are not from himself, or from what is his own, but from the Lord, but that nevertheless he does good and thinks truth as from himself, see (n. 1937, 1947). The more he is then confirmed in this, the more is he led into the light of truth respecting these things, till at last he believes that all good and all truth are from the Lord. The Own that belongs to the former rational is then successively separated, and the man is gifted by the Lord with a heavenly Own, which becomes that of his new rational.

[6] Take another example. The first rational, in the beginning, knows no other love than that of self and the world; and although it hears that heavenly love is altogether of another character, it nevertheless does not comprehend it. But then, when the man does any good, he perceives no other delight from it than that he may seem to himself to merit the favor of another, or may hear himself called a Christian, or may obtain from it the joy of eternal life. The second rational however, with which he is gifted by the Lord through regeneration, begins to feel some delight in good and truth itself, and to be affected by this, not for the sake of anything of his own, but for the sake of the good and truth; and when he is led by this delight, he disclaims merit, till at length he rejects it as an enormity. This delight grows with him step by step, and becomes blessed; and in the other life it becomes happiness, and is itself his heaven. Hence it is now evident how it is with each rational in the man who is being regenerated.

[7] But be it known that although a man is being regenerated, still each and all things of the first rational remain with him, and are merely separated from the second rational, and this in a most wonderful manner by the Lord. But the Lord wholly banished His first rational, so that nothing of it remained; for what is merely human cannot be together with the Divine. Hence He was no longer the son of Mary, but was Jehovah as to each Essence.

2658. For the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac. That this signifies that the merely human rational could not have a life in common with the Divine rational itself, either as to good or as to truth, is evident from the signification of "inheriting", as being to have another's life (to be explained presently); from the signification of the "son of the handmaid", as being the merely human rational as to truth and as to good (n. 2657); from the signification of "my son Isaac", as being the Divine rational as to truth, which is "my son", and as to good, which is "Isaac", see (n. 2623, 2630). That " Isaac" is the Divine rational as to good, is evident from the signification of "laughter", from which he was named, as being the affection of truth, or the good of truth, in the sixth and seventh verses (n. 2640, 2641, 2643). Hence it is manifest that "the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac", denotes that the merely human rational cannot have a life in common with the Divine rational, either as to truth or as to good. That it cannot have a life in common, is evident from the mere fact that the Divine is Life itself, and thus has life in Itself; whereas the merely human is an organ of life, and thus has not life in itself.

[2] When the Lord's Human was made Divine it was no longer an organ of life, or a recipient of life, but was Life itself, such as is that of Jehovah Himself. It had this at first from its very conception from Jehovah, as is clearly manifest from the Lord's own words in John: -

As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26);

the Divine Human is what is here called the "Son" (n. 1729, 2159, 2628). In the same: -

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:4).

In the same: -

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

In the same: -

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in Me, though he die, yet shall he live (John 11:25).

In the same: -

The bread of God is He that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world (John 6:33).

But that man is not life, but an organ or recipient of life, may be seen above (n. 2021). From all this it is evident that when the Lord was made Jehovah even as to His Human, that which was not life in itself, that is, that which was merely human, was banished. This is signified by its being said that the son of the handmaid could not inherit with the son Isaac.

[3] That to "inherit", in the internal sense, when predicated of the Lord, is to have the Father's life, thus to have life in Himself; and when predicated of men, it is to have the Lord's life, that is, to receive life from the Lord, is evident from many passages in the Word. To have life in Himself is the Esse itself of life, that is, Jehovah; whereas to have the Lord's life, or to receive life from the Lord, is to receive the Lord in love and faith; and as those who so receive Him are in the Lord, and are the Lord's, they are called His "heirs", and His "sons".

[4] In the Word of the Old Testament "inheriting" is predicated not only of what is celestial, or of good, but also of what is spiritual, or of truth, but still the one is expressed by a different word from the other: the word that is predicated of good may be rendered "to possess by inheritance;" and the word that is predicated of truth, "to inherit". The former word also in the original language involves possession, but the latter, derivation from something else, as is the case with the spiritual in relation to the celestial, or with truth in relation to good. In this verse, where the Lord's Divine rational, or His Divine Human, is represented by Isaac, the word denoting possession by hereditary right is used, because the Lord's Divine Human is the sole heir-possessor, as He also teaches in the parable (Matt. 21:33, 37, 38; Mark 12:7; Luke 20:14); and He declares in several places that all things of the Father are His.

[5] That to "possess by inheritance" and to "inherit", in the Word, when predicated of men, signify to receive life from the Lord, consequently eternal life or heaven, for they alone receive heaven who receive the Lord's life), is evident in John: -

He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My son (Rev. 21:7).

In Matthew: -

Every one that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29; 25:34; Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18).

Here heaven is called "eternal life", elsewhere simply "life" (Matt. 18:8, 9; 19:17; John 3:36; 5:24, 29), for the reason that the Lord is Life itself, and he who receives His life is in heaven.

[6] In David: -

God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah, and they shall dwell there, and possess it by inheritance, the seed also of His servants shall inherit it, and they that love His name shall dwell therein (Ps. 69:35, 36);

where to "possess by inheritance" is predicated of those who are in celestial love, and to "inherit" of those who are in spiritual love. In Isaiah: -

He that putteth his trust in Me shall inherit the land, and shall possess by inheritance the mountain of My holiness (Isaiah 57:13).

[7] In like manner in Moses: -

I will bring you unto the land concerning which I lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you for an hereditary possession (Exod. 6:8).

In the sense of the letter these words signify that the land of Canaan should be given to them for an hereditary possession, which also was done; but in the internal sense they signify that heaven should be given to those who are in love to the Lord and faith in Him; for as the Lord is represented by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so love itself and faith itself are signified, consequently those who are in love and faith, and thus those who are in the Lord. The same are also signified by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with whom many shall sit down in the kingdom of the heavens, as we read in (Matthew 8:11); for in heaven Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not known at all; but it is only known what is represented and signified by them, as also what is signified by sitting down or eating with them. For that all names in the Word signify actual things may be seen above (n. 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888); also that the "land of Canaan" is the heavenly Canaan or heaven (n. 1585, 1607, 1866), which is called simply the "land" (n. 1413, 1607, 1733, 2571). So too in Matthew: -

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

2659. Verse 11. And the word was evil exceedingly in the eyes of Abraham, on account of his son. "The word was evil exceedingly in the eyes of Abraham", signifies the Lord's state when He first thought of that rational being separated from Himself; "on account of his son", signifies on this account, that He loved it.

2660. The word was evil exceedingly in the eyes of Abraham. That this signifies the Lord's state at first when He thought of that rational being separated from Himself, namely, that it was a state of grief from love, is evident without explication.

2661. On account of his son. That this signifies on this account, that He loved it, namely, the first rational, is evident from the signification of the "son", namely, that of the handmaid, as being the merely human or first rational, described before. Although the cause of this grief is not told, it is evident from what follows. That the cause is the love is plain enough, for it is said "on account of his son;" and the same son is treated of in what follows, from (verse 13 to 21). Nevertheless in order that it may be known why there was this grief, or on what account it is said that the word was very evil in Abraham's eyes on account of his son; take these few things by way of illustration.

[2] The Lord did not come into the world to save the celestial, but the spiritual. The Most Ancient Church, called "Man", was celestial; and if this church had remained in its integrity, the Lord would have had no need to be born a man. But as soon as this church began to decline, the Lord foresaw that the celestial church would wholly perish from the world; and on that account the prediction was then made concerning the Lord's coming into the world (Gen. 3:15). After the time of that church there was no longer a celestial church, but a spiritual church; for the Ancient Church which was after the flood, was a spiritual church; and this church, that is, those who were of the spiritual church, could not have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world. This is meant by the Lord's words in Matthew: -

They that are well have no need of a physician, but they that are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matthew 9:12, 13).

Also by these words in John: -

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd (John 10:16).

Also by the parable of the hundred sheep, in (Matthew 18:11-13).

[3] Now as by Isaac is represented the Lord's Divine rational, and as by him are also signified the celestial who are called "heirs;" and as by Ishmael is represented the Lord's merely human rational, and as by him are also signified the spiritual who are called "sons" (n. 2658), this was the reason why the Lord felt grief from Divine love, as shown in the words of this verse; and also in those which follow from (verse 13 to 21), where by Hagar's son and the mother of that son is represented the spiritual church; and the state of this church, that is, the state of those who were of this church, is treated of (n. 2612). These arcana cannot as yet be set forth more fully; it may simply be said that with the Lord when in the world all the states of the church were represented, and also in what manner those who belonged to the church were to be saved by Him; and for this reason the same states of the church are likewise signified by these same names.

2662. Verse 12. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be evil in thine eyes because of the child, and because of thine handmaid; all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. "God said unto Abraham", signifies the Lord's perception from the Divine; "let it not be evil in thine eyes because of the child, and because of thine handmaid", signifies a change of state toward that rational; "all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice", signifies that He should act according to spiritual truth; "for in Isaac shall thy seed be called", signifies that from the Lord's Divine Human is all salvation for those who are in good.

2663. God said unto Abraham. That this signifies the Lord's perception from the Divine, is evident from the signification of "saying" in the historic parts of the Word, as being to perceive (explained very often before); and because it was from the Divine it is said that "God said to Abraham". By both names "God" and "Abraham", is meant the Lord; which shows that the historic statements which are the sense of the letter, divide the ideas; but that the internal sense unites them; for in the historic sense of the letter there are two (namely, God and Abraham) who speak to each other; but in the internal sense there is one, namely, the Lord in respect to the Divine. This also shows that they who are three in the sense of the letter are one in the internal sense; as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who are not three gods, but one; and that all the Trinity is complete in the Lord; namely, that in Him is the Father, as He says; and that from Him is the Holy Spirit, as He also says.

2664. Let it not be evil in thine eyes because of the child, and because of thine handmaid. That this signifies a change of state toward that rational, is evident. In the internal sense nearest the words, the meaning is that He should not grieve at having to separate the merely human rational from Himself; and also that He did not grieve; for it belonged to His perception from the Divine that it was necessary that it should be separated; because in no other manner could the human race be saved. This is the change of state that is signified.

2665. All that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice. That this signifies that He should act according to spiritual truth, is evident from the representation of Sarah, as being the Divine spiritual, or Divine truth (n. 2622); and from the signification of "hearkening to the voice", as being to act according to it (n. 2542). What it is to act according to spiritual truth cannot be unfolded to the apprehension in the fullness in which it can be perceived by those who are in the internal sense; and therefore if we were to state what it is according to their perception, it would scarcely be acknowledged; and there is the further reason that more arcana are first to be unfolded, nay, believed, before the matter when unfolded can enter into the ideas of men's belief. What it signifies in a general way can be told in some small degree, namely, that the Lord formed a conclusion from the Human Divine, and acted according to it, and thus from His own power: for Divine truth was that by means of which He united the Human to the Divine; and Divine good that by means of which He united the Divine to the Human; which unition was reciprocal (n. 2004).

2666. In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That this signifies that from the Lord's Divine Human is all salvation for those who are in good, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Divine rational, thus the Divine Human, for the human commences in the inmost of the rational, (n. 2106); and from the signification of "seed", which is predicated of Isaac, as being the celestial rational, or what is the same, those who are celestial (n. 2085, 2661). Thus that "thy seed shall be called" signifies that they will be heirs, consequently that they will have salvation. The spiritual also are "seed", but from the son of the handmaid, as is said in the following verse: - " and also the son of the handmaid, I will make him a nation, because he is thy seed;" and therefore the spiritual also have salvation if they are in good, as will appear from the internal sense of these words. The Lord also teaches the same in many places, and plainly in John: -

As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, to them that believe in His name who were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12, 13).

2667. From the first verse of this chapter to the seventh, the unition of the Lord's Human with His Divine, and of His Divine with His Human, has been treated of; and it has been shown that from that unition the Lord's Human was made Divine. The contents of the several verses may be seen above (n. 2649). From that point the merely human rational has been treated of, as being separated (verse 8); because it was not in agreement with the Divine Rational (verse 9); nor could it have a life in common with it, either as to truth or as to good (verse 10) that the separation was at first a grief to the Lord (verse 11); but that He perceived from the Divine that the human race could be saved in no other manner (verse 12). There now follows the subject of those who were of the spiritual church, who are signified by Hagar's son after he was sent away.

2668. Verse 13. And also the son of the handmaid I will make a nation, because he is thy seed. "The son of the handmaid I will make a nation", signifies the spiritual church which was to receive the good of faith; "because he is thy seed", signifies that they also shall have salvation from the Lord's Divine Human.

2669. Also the son of the handmaid I will make a nation. That this signifies the spiritual church which was to receive the good of faith, is evident from the signification of the "son of the handmaid", and also of a "nation". The son of the handmaid, or Ishmael, when he was in Abraham's house, or with Abraham, represented the Lord's first rational, as shown above (n. 2652, 2653, 2657, 2658); but now, when separated, he puts on another representation, namely, that of the spiritual church (n. 2666); in the same manner as did Lot before, who while with Abraham represented the Lord's external man (n. 1428, 1429, 1434, 1547, 1597, 1598, 1698); but when separated from Abraham represented the external church, and the many states of that church (n. 2324, 2371, 2399, 2422, 2459); and in the whole of the nineteenth chapter of Genesis. That a "nation" signifies good may be seen above (n. 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849); here the good of faith, because it is predicated of the spiritual church. Hence now "also the son of the handmaid I will make a nation" signifies the spiritual church which was to receive the good of faith, that is, charity.

[2] The Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on earth is celestial and spiritual; and the angels are therefore distinguished into celestial and spiritual (n. 202, 337). To the celestial angels the Lord appears as a Sun, and to the spiritual as a Moon (n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531). In the same manner are men distinguished into celestial and spiritual. They who were of the Most Ancient Church, which was before the flood, were celestial (n. 607, 608, 780, 895, 920, 1114-1125); but they who were of the Ancient Church, which was after the flood, were spiritual (n. 609, 640, 641, 765). What the difference between these churches was, may be seen above (n. 597, 607); also what the difference is between what is celestial and what is spiritual (n. 81, 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2069, 2088, 2227, 2507).

[3] The celestial are they of whom the Lord says: - He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out; and when He hath led out His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. But the spiritual are they of whom He says: -

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd (John 10:3, 4, 16).

The good of love is what makes the celestial church, but the good of faith is what makes the spiritual church. The truth of faith does not make, but introduces.

2670. Because he is thy seed. That this signifies that they also have salvation from the Lord's Divine Human, is evident from what was said above (n. 2666). That "seed" is faith, but the faith of charity, may be seen above (n. 255, 880, 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940).

2671. From (verse 13 to 21), the Lord's spiritual kingdom is treated of in general, and specifically those who become spiritual; and this in order from the first state of their reformation to the last. Their state before reformation, as being one of wandering in the doctrinal things of faith (verse 14). That they are reduced even to ignorance, so as to know nothing of truth (verse 15). That they have grief from it (verse 16). And then comfort and help from the Lord (verse 17). And enlightenment (verse 18). And instruction from the Word (verse 19). That still their state after reformation, in comparison with the celestial, is obscure (verse 20). But that they have light from the Lord's Divine Human in their affection of memory-knowledges and of appearances of truths (verse 21).

2672. Verse 14. And Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave to Hagar, and put them on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away, and she went and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. "Abraham rose early in the morning", signifies the Lord's clear perception from the Divine; "and took bread and a bottle of water", signifies good and truth; "and gave to Hagar", signifies implantation in its life; "and put them on her shoulder", signifies as much as it could receive; "and the child", signifies spiritual truth; "and sent her away", signifies that he left it in what is their own; "and she went and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba", signifies a state of wandering in the doctrinal things of faith.

2673. Abraham rose early in the morning. That this signifies the Lord's clear perception from the Divine, is evident from the signification of "morning", and of "rising early", as being to perceive clearly (n. 2540), where the same words occur); and from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord's Divine. The Lord had a clear perception from the Divine concerning the state of His spiritual kingdom; namely, what they who are of that kingdom or of that church are in the beginning, what they are successively, and what they at length become for all their state is accurately and fully described in the internal sense, from (verse 13 to 21) of this chapter.

2674. And he took bread and a bottle of water. That this signifies good and truth, is evident from the signification of "bread", as being what is celestial, or good (n. 276, 680, 2165); and from the signification of " water", as being what is spiritual, or truth (n. 28, 680, 739). It is said a "bottle of water", because it is very little truth with which they are gifted in the beginning; as much that is to say as they are able to receive, which is signified by his "putting it on her shoulder" (n. 2676). Every one can see that these historic statements involve arcana, from the fact that Abraham, who was rich in flock and herd, and also in gold and silver, sent away in this manner his handmaid by whom he had a son, and the boy Ishmael whom he much loved, giving them only bread [and water]. He could also foresee that when these were consumed they would die; and this would have come to pass if they had not received help from the angel. And besides, these things respecting the bread and the bottle of water, and their being put on her shoulder, are not of so much importance as to be narrated. But still it was so done, and was related because these things involve and signify the first state of those who are becoming spiritual - to whom in the beginning something of good and something of truth, and indeed but little, is imparted - and afterwards that the water fails them, and they then receive help from the Lord.

2675. And gave to Hagar. That this signifies implantation in its life, is evident from the signification of "Hagar", as being the life of the exterior man (n. 1896, 1909). The life of the exterior man is the affection of memory-knowledges, which is specifically signified by "Hagar the Egyptian". With those who are becoming spiritual, good and truth are implanted by the Lord in the affection of memory-knowledges; and this so that they desire to know and to learn what is good and true for the purpose and use of becoming rational and of becoming spiritual; for the affection of memory-knowledges is the mother through whom is born the rational in which is the spiritual (n. 1895, 1896, 1902, 1910). The like does indeed flow in from the Lord with all, but no others receive it for that end and that use except those who can be reformed; the rest do it for other ends and other uses, which are innumerable, and have regard to themselves and the world.

2676. Put it on her shoulder. That this signifies as much as it could receive, is evident from the signification of the "shoulder", as being all power (n. 1085); thus as much of good and truth as one can receive.

2677. And the child. That this signifies the spiritual, is evident from the signification of a "child", here as being that which is called the spiritual; for Ishmael or the son of the handmaid here represents the man of the spiritual church; and because he here represents the beginning of it, he is called a "child".

2678. And sent her away. That this signifies that He left it in what is their own, is evident from the signification of "sending away", when done by Abraham, who represents the Lord; and also from the first state of those who are being reformed and are becoming spiritual. Their first state is that they suppose they do good and think truth from themselves, thus from what is their own, nor do they then know otherwise; and when told that all good and truth are from the Lord they do not indeed reject it, but do not acknowledge it at heart, because they do not feel it, nor interiorly perceive that anything flows in from any other source than themselves. As all who are being reformed are in such a state at first, they are therefore left by the Lord in what is their own; nevertheless they are led by means of this without knowing it.

2679. And she went and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. That this signifies a state of wandering at that time in the doctrinal things of faith, is evident from the signification of "going and wandering in the wilderness", as being a wandering state and from the signification of "Beer-sheba", as being the doctrine of faith (treated of at the end of this chapter, where it is said that Abraham and Abimelech made a covenant in Beer-sheba, (verse 32); and that Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, (verse 33). In this verse is described what the quality of the state of those who are reformed is in the beginning, namely, that they are carried away into various wanderings; for it is given them by the Lord to think much about eternal life, and thus much about the truths of faith; but because from what is their own they cannot do otherwise than wander hither and thither, both in doctrine and in life, seizing as truth that which has been inseminated from their infancy, or is impressed upon them by others, or is thought out by themselves - besides their being led away by various affections of which they are not conscious - they are like fruits as yet unripe, on which shape, beauty, and savor cannot be induced in a moment; or like tender blades which cannot in a moment grow up into bloom and ear. But the things which enter in at that time, though for the most part erroneous, are still such as are serviceable for promoting growth; and afterwards, when the men are being reformed, these are partly separated, and are partly conducive to introducing nourishment and as it were juices into the subsequent life - which again can afterwards be partly adapted to the implanting of goods and truths by the Lord, and partly to being serviceable to spiritual things as ultimate planes; and thus as continual means to reformation, which means follow on in perpetual connection and order; for all things even the least with man are foreseen by the Lord, and are provided for his future state to eternity; and this for his good in so far as is in any wise possible, and as he suffers himself to be led by the Lord.

2680. Verse 15. And the water was spent out of the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. "The water was spent out of the bottle", signifies the desolation of truth; "and she cast the child under one of the shrubs", signifies despair that nothing of truth and good was perceived.

2681. The water was spent out of the bottle. That this signifies the desolation of truth, is evident from the signification of being "spent", as being desolated; and from the signification of "water", as being truth (n. 28, 680, 739).

2682. And she cast the child under one of the shrubs. That this signifies despair that nothing of truth and good was perceived, is evident from the signification of the "child", as being spiritual truth (n. 2669, 2677); and from the signification of a "shrub" or "bush", as being perception, but so little as to be scarcely anything; on which account it is also said "under one of the shrubs" - having the same signification as trees, but in a less degree; and that "trees" signify perceptions may be seen above (n. 103, 2163): also from the feeling there was in the act, which was one of despair; all which shows that by her casting the child under one of the shrubs is signified despair that nothing of truth and good was perceived. That being "cast under one of the shrubs" denotes to be desolated as to truth and good even to despair, is manifest in Job: -

Alone in want and famine; they flee to the drought, yesternight desolation and wasteness; they pluck mallows upon the shrub; to dwell in the cleft of the valleys, in holes of the dust and of the rocks; among the shrubs they were groaning, under the thistle they were joined together (Job 30:3, 4, 6, 7);

where the desolation of truth is treated of, which is described by forms of expression in common use in the Ancient Church (for the book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church), such as to be alone, in want and in famine, to flee to the drought, yesternight desolation and wasteness; to dwell in the clefts of the valleys and of the rocks; also to pluck mallows upon the shrub, and to groan among the shrubs. So too in Isaiah: -

They shall come and shall rest all of them in the rivers of desolations, in the clefts of the rocks, and in all shrubs, and in all watercourses (Isaiah 7:19);

where also desolation is treated of, which is described by similar forms of expression, that is to say, by resting in the rivers of desolations, in the clefts of the rocks, and in the shrubs.

[2] In this verse the second state of those who are being reformed is treated of, which is that they are reduced to ignorance till they know nothing of truth, and this even to despair. The cause of their being reduced to such ignorance is that persuasive light may be extinguished, which is of such a nature as to illuminate falsities equally as well as truths, and to induce a belief in falsity by means of truths, and a belief in truth by means of falsities, and at the same time trust in themselves also that they may be led by experience itself to a knowledge of the fact that nothing of good and nothing of truth is of self or of man's own, but from the Lord. They who are being reformed are reduced into ignorance even to despair, and then they have comfort and enlightenment, as is evident from what follows; for the light of truth from the Lord cannot flow into the persuasive which is from man's own; for this is of such a nature as to extinguish that light. In the other life that which is persuasive appears like the light of winter; but at the approach of the light of heaven, instead of that light there comes darkness, in which there is ignorance of all truth. With those who are being reformed this state is called the state of desolation of truth, and this also is much treated of in the internal sense of the Word.

[3] But of this state few have any knowledge, because few at this day are being regenerated. To those who are not being regenerated it makes no difference whether they know the truth, or do not; nor whether what they do know be truth or not, provided they can palm a thing off for truth. But they who are being regenerated think much about doctrine and life, because they think much about eternal salvation; and therefore if truth be deficient with them, as it is the subject of their thought and affection, they grieve at heart. The state of the one and of the other may be seen from this: While a man is in the body he is living as to his spirit in heaven, and as to his body in the world; for he is born into both, and has been so created that as to his spirit he can be actually with the angels, and at the same time with men by means of what is of the body. But as there are few who believe that they have a spirit which is to live after death, there are few who are being regenerated. To those who believe it, the other life is the whole of their thought and affection, and the world is nothing in comparison; but to those who do not believe it, the world is the whole of their thought and affection, and the other life is in comparison nothing. The former are they who can be regenerated, but the latter are they who cannot.

2683. Verse 16. And she went and sat by herself over against him, withdrawing about a bowshot; for she said, Let "me not see the death of the child; and she sat over against him; and she lifted up her voice and wept. "She went and sat by herself over against him", signifies a state of thought; "withdrawing about a bowshot", signifies how far that state was from the doctrine of truth (a "bow" is the doctrine of truth); "for she said, Let me not see the death of the child", signifies grief that it should thus perish; "and she sat over against him", signifies a state of thought; "and she lifted up her voice and wept", signifies a further degree of grief.

2684. And she went and sat by herself over against him. That this signifies a state of thought, is evident from the signification of "going", and also of "sitting by herself", and this over against, as applied to the things that precede and that follow. To "go", here to go away from the child, signifies removal from spiritual truth; which is further expressed and determined by her withdrawing about a bowshot. To "sit by one's self", signifies a solitary state, such as is that of thought in grief and despair; "over against", signifies that she might not look on, and yet might look on; that to "look on" means to think, see above (n. 2245); this is also further expressed and determined by her saying, "Let me not see the death of the child; and she sat over against". There is thus involved in these words the state of thought of those who are in desolation of truth, and in the consequent despair.

2685. Withdrawing about a bowshot. That this signifies how distant the state was from the doctrine of truth, is evident from the signification of "withdrawing", as being to be distant; and from the signification of a "bow", as being the doctrine of truth; a "shot" signifies as far distant as possible, since it was as far as an arrow could be sent by a bow. It is here said a "bowshot", because a "bow" is predicated of the spiritual man, and he is a shooter of the bow - as is said of him in (verse 20): - "and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became a shooter of the bow".

2686. That a "bow" here denotes the doctrine of truth, is evident from its signification. Wherever wars are treated of in the Word, and wherever they are mentioned, no other wars are signified than spiritual ones (n. 1664). There were books also in the Ancient Word that were entitled "The Wars of Jehovah;" as is evident in Moses (Num. 21:14-16); which, being written in the prophetic style, had an internal sense, and treated of the combats and temptations of the Lord, and also of those of the church, and of the men of the church. This is manifest from the fact that some things were taken from these books by Moses; and also from other books of that church called "The Books of the Prophetic Enunciators" (Num. 21:27-30), in which almost the same words are found as in Jeremiah. Compare (Num. 21:28), and (Jer. 48:45). From this it may also be concluded that the Ancient Church had writings both historic and prophetic that were Divine and inspired, and that in their internal sense treated of the Lord and His kingdom; and that these were the Word to them, as are to us those historic and prophetic books which in the sense of the letter treat of the Jews and Israelites, but in their internal sense of the Lord, and of the things which are His.

[2] As in the Word, and also in the books of the Ancient Church, "war" signified spiritual war, so all arms, such as sword, spear, buckler, shield, darts, bow, and arrows, signified special things belonging to war as understood in the spiritual sense. What the several kinds of arms specifically signify, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be told elsewhere. Here it will now be shown what a "bow" signifies, namely, the doctrine of truth; and this from the darts, arrows, or other missiles, which denote the doctrinal things from which and with which those in especial fight who are spiritual, and who were thence formerly called " shooters with the bow".

[3] That a "bow" signifies the doctrine of truth is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

Jehovah's arrows are sharp, and all His bows are bent, the hoofs of His horses are counted as rock, and His wheels as the whirlwind (Isaiah 5:28).

Here the truths of doctrine are treated of; "arrows" are spiritual truths; "bows" are doctrine; the "horses' hoofs" are natural truths; the "wheels" are their doctrine; and as these things have such a signification they are attributed to Jehovah, to whom they cannot be attributed except in a spiritual sense; for otherwise they would be empty words and unbecoming. In Jeremiah: -

The Lord hath bent His bow like an enemy, He hath stood with His right had as an adversary, and hath slain all that were pleasant to the eye in the tent of the daughter of Zion, He hath poured out His fury like fire (Lam. 2:4).

Here "bow" denotes the doctrine of truth, which appears to those who are in falsities as an enemy and as hostile; no other how can be predicated of the Lord. In Habakkuk: -

O Jehovah, Thou ridest upon Thy horses, Thy chariots of salvation, Thy bow will be made quite bare (Habakkuk 3:8, 9).

Here also the "bow" is the doctrine of good and truth. In Moses: -

They grieved him, and shot at him, the archers hated him, his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob; from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel (Gen. 49:23, 24);

where Joseph is spoken of. His "bow" denotes the doctrine of good and truth.

[4] In John: -

I saw and behold a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow, and there was given unto him a crown (Rev. 6:2).

The "white horse" denotes wisdom; "he that sat thereon", the Word, as is said plainly in (Rev. 19:13), where the white horse is again treated of; and as he that sat thereon was the Word, it is evident that the "bow" is the doctrine of truth. In Isaiah: -

Who hath raised up righteousness from the east, and called him to his footsteps? he hath given nations before him, and made him to rule over kings; he gave them as dust to his sword, as the driven stubble to his bow (Isaiah 41:2);

where the Lord is treated of; the "sword" denotes truth; the "bow", doctrine from Him. In the same: -

I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan (Isaiah 66:19).

They that "draw the bow" denote those who teach doctrine. The signification of "Tarshish" may be seen above (n. 1156); that of "Lud" (n. 1195, 1231), that of "Tubal" (n. 1151), and that of " Javan" (n. 1152, 1153, 1155).

[5] In Jeremiah: -

For the voice of the horseman and of him that shooteth the bow, the whole city fleeth; they have entered into clouds, and climbed up upon the rocks, the whole city is forsaken (Jeremiah 4:29).

The "horseman" denotes those who declare truth the "bow", the doctrine of truth, which they who are in falsities flee from or fear. In the same: -

Set yourselves in array against Babel round about; all ye that bend the bow shoot at her, spare not with the arrow, for she hath sinned against Jehovah (Jeremiah 50:14, 29; 51:2, 3);

where "they that shoot, and bend the bow" denote those who declare and teach the doctrine of truth.

[6] In Zechariah: -

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and He shall speak peace unto the nations (Zechariah 9:10).

"Ephraim" denotes the understanding of truth in the church; the "bow", doctrine. In Samuel: -

David lamented with this lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son, and he said it to teach the sons of Judah the bow (2 Sam. 1:17, 18).

where the "bow" is not the subject, but the doctrinal things of faith. In Ezekiel: -

Said the Lord Jehovah, This is the day whereof I have spoken; and they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn up the weapons, the shield and the buckler, the bow and the arrows, and the hand staff and the spear, and they shall kindle fire in them seven years (Ezekiel 39:8, 9).

The arms here named are all arms of spiritual war; the "bow with the arrows" denote doctrine and its truths. In the other life truths themselves when separated from good and represented to the sight, appear like arrows.

[7] As a "bow" signifies the doctrine of truth, in the opposite sense it signifies the doctrine of falsity. The same things in the Word have usually an opposite sense, as has been said and shown in several places; thus in Jeremiah: -

Behold a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be stirred up from the sides of the earth; they lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and shall not have compassion; their voice shall roar like the sea, they shall ride upon horses set in array as a man for battle, against thee, O daughter of Zion (Jeremiah 6:22, 23);

where "bow" denotes the doctrine of falsity. In the same: -

Behold a people cometh from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the sides of the earth, they lay hold on bow and spear, they are cruel, and have no compassion (Jeremiah 50:41, 42);

where the meaning is similar. In the same: -

They bend their tongue; their bow is a lie, and not for truth, they are grown strong in the land; for they have gone forth from evil to evil, and have not known Me (Jeremiah 9:3).

[8] That the "bow" is the doctrine of falsity is plainly manifest, for it is said, "they bend their tongue; their bow is a lie, and not for truth". In the same: -

Jehovah Zebaoth said, Behold I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of his might (Jeremiah 49:35).

In David: -

Come, behold the works of Jehovah, who hath made desolations in the earth He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth, He breaketh the bow, He cutteth the spear in sunder, He burneth the chariots in the fire (Ps. 46:9).

In the same: -

In Judah is God known, His name is great in Israel; in Salem also shall be His tabernacle, and His dwelling-place in Zion; there brake He the fiery shafts of the bow, the shield and the sword, and the war (Ps. 76:1-3).

In the same: -

Lo the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrows upon the string, to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart (Ps. 11:2).

Here the "bow and arrows" plainly denote doctrinal things of falsity.

2687. For she said, Let me not see the death of the child. That this signifies grief that it should so perish, is evident from the signification of "seeing the death", as being to perish; and from the signification of the "child", as being spiritual truth - explained above. Hence, and from the feeling of despair on account of the desolation of truth, it is manifest that it is interior grief that is within these words.

2688. And she sat over against him. That this signifies a state of thought, is evident from what was said above (n. 2684), where are the same words. The reason that this is said again in this verse is that the state of thought was increased and aggravated even to the last degree of grief, as is manifest from what just precedes: "let me not see the death of the child;" and from what next follows: "she lifted up her voice and wept".

2689. And she lifted up her voice and wept. That this signifies a further degree of grief, is evident from the signification of "lifting up the voice and weeping", as being the last degree of grief; for weeping with a loud voice is nothing else. The state of desolation of truth, and also of removal from truths, with those who are becoming spiritual, is described in this verse. How these things are to be understood shall be briefly told. Those who cannot be reformed do not at all know what it is to grieve on account of being deprived of truths for they suppose that no one can feel in the least anxious about such a thing. The only anxiety they believe to be possible is on account of being deprived of the goods of the body and the world; such as health, honors, reputation, wealth, and life. But they who can be reformed believe altogether differently: these are kept by the Lord in the affection of good and in the thought of truth; and therefore they come into anxiety when deprived of this thought and affection.

[2] It is known that all anxiety and grief arise from being deprived of the things with which we are affected, or which we love. They who are affected only with corporeal and worldly things, or who love such things only, grieve when they are deprived of them; but they who are affected with spiritual goods and truths and love them, grieve when they are deprived of them. Every one's life is nothing but affection or love. Hence it is evident what is the state of those who are desolated as to the goods and truths with which they are affected, or which they love, namely, that their state of grief is more severe, because more internal; and in the deprivation of good and truth they do not regard the death of the body, for which they do not care, but eternal death. It is their state which is here described.

[3] That it may be known who those are that can be kept by the Lord in the affection of good and truth, and thus be reformed and become spiritual, and who those are that cannot, we will briefly state that during childhood, while being for the first time imbued with goods and truths, every one is kept by the Lord in the affirmative idea that what he is told and taught by his parents and masters is true. With those who can become spiritual men this affirmative is confirmed by means of knowledges (scientifica et cognitiones); for whatever they afterwards learn that has an affinity with it, insinuates itself into this affirmative, and corroborates it; and this more and more, even to affection. These are they who become spiritual men in accordance with the essence of the truth in which they have faith, and who conquer in temptations. But it is otherwise with those who cannot become spiritual men. Although during their childhood these are in the affirmative, yet in the age that follows they admit doubts, and thus trench upon the affirmative of good and truth; and when they come to adult age, they admit negatives, even to the affection of falsity. If these should be brought into temptations, they would wholly yield; and on this account they are exempted from them.

[4] But the real cause of their admitting doubts, and afterwards negatives, is to be found in their life of evil. They who are in a life of evil cannot possibly do otherwise; for as before said the life of every one is his affection or love; and such as is the affection or love, such is the thought. The affection of evil and the thought of truth never conjoin themselves together. with those in whom there is an appearance of this conjunction, there is really no such conjunction, but only the thought of truth without the affection of it; and therefore with such persons truth is not truth, but only something of sound, or of the mouth, from which the heart is absent. Such truth even the worst can know, and sometimes better than others. With some also there is found a persuasion of truth, of such a nature that no one can know but that it is genuine; and yet it is not so if there is no life of good: it is an affection a the love of self or of the world, which induces such a persuasion that they defend it even with the vehemence of apparent zeal; nay, they will even go so far as to condemn those who do not receive it, or believe in the same way. But this truth is of such a quality as is the principle with each person from which it starts, being strong in proportion as the love of self or of the world is strong. It indeed attaches itself to evil, but does not conjoin itself with it, and is therefore extirpated in the other life. Very different is it with those who are in the life of good. With these truth itself has its own ground and heart, and has its life from the Lord.

2690. Verse 17. And God heard the voice of the child; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the child where he is. "God heard the voice of the child", signifies help at that time "and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven", signifies consolation; "and said unto her, What aileth thee Hagar?" signifies perception concerning one's state; "fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the child where he is", signifies the hope of help.

2691. God heard the voice of the child. That this signifies help at that time, is evident from the signification of "God hearing a voice", said in the historic sense, as being in the internal sense to bring help; and from the signification of the "child", as being spiritual truth-explained before; here it is the state in which the spiritual was as to truth; for it is said that He heard the voice of the child, and again in this verse, that He heard the voice of the child where he was, that is, in what state; and in what precedes it was shown that it was in a state of the greatest grief on account of the privation of truth. The voice of the child, and not Hagar's, is said to have been heard, because the state of the spiritual man is treated of. By the child, or Ishmael, is represented the man of the spiritual church; by his mother Hagar, the affection of the knowledges of truth, which is that which had grief. Man's rational is born of the affection of memory-knowledges as a mother (n. 1895, 1896, 1902, 1910, 2094, 2524); but his spiritual is born of the affection of the knowledges of truth from doctrine, especially from the Word. The spiritual itself is here the "child;" and the affection of the knowledges of truth is "Hagar".

2692. And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven. That this signifies consolation, is evident from the signification of "calling out of heaven", and also of the "angel of God", as well as of "Hagar". To "call out of heaven", signifies influx; the "angel of God", signifies the Lord (n. 1925, 2319); and "Hagar", the affection of the knowledges of truth (n. 2691). The influx of the Lord into the affection of truth, when this is in deepest grief on account of the deprivation, is consolation. That which flows in with man from the Lord is said to be "called out of heaven", because it is through heaven, and is there manifest; but in man's perception and thought it is obscure, manifesting itself only by a change of the state of his affection; as here by its receiving consolation.

2693. And said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? That this signifies perception concerning its state, is evident from the signification of "saying" in the historic parts of the Word, as being to perceive - explained before; and from the signification of "What aileth thee, Hagar?" as being the state in which it was: here it signifies that the Lord thoroughly knew its state, although she was questioned, and it is said, What aileth thee, Hagar? In the sense of the letter it is interrogation from the Lord, but in the internal sense it is infinite perception of all things. We read here and there in the Word that men are questioned as to their state; but the reason is that man believes that no one knows his thoughts, still less the state of his affection. A further reason is that men may have consolation from being able to express their feelings, which often proves a relief (n. 1701, 1931).

2694. Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the child where he is. That this signifies the hope of help, is evident from the signification of "fear not", as being not to despair; for when fear is taken away, hope is present; and from the signification of "hearing the voice of the child", as being help (n. 2691), where the words are similar). In the verses which precede, the state of desolation in which those are who are being reformed and are becoming spiritual, is treated of; now the subject is their being restored, and here their comfort and hope of help.

[2] That they who are being reformed are reduced into ignorance of truth, or desolation, even to grief and despair, and that they then for the first time have comfort and help from the Lord, is unknown at this day, for the reason that few are reformed. They who are such that they can be reformed are brought into this state, if not in the life of the body, nevertheless in the other life, where this state is well known, and is called vastation or desolation (n. 1109). They who are in such vastation or desolation are reduced even to despair; and when they are in this state they then receive comfort and help from the Lord, and are at length taken away into heaven, where they are instructed among the angels as it were anew in the goods and truths of faith. The reason of this vastation and desolation is chiefly that the persuasive which they have conceived from what is their own may be broken (n. 2682); and that they may also receive the perception of good and truth, which they cannot receive until the persuasive which is from their own has been as it were softened. This is effected by the state of anxiety and grief even to despair. What is good, nay, what is blessed and happy, no one can perceive with an exquisite sense unless he has been in a state of what is not good, not blessed, and not happy. From this he acquires a sphere of perception, and this in the degree in which he has been in the opposite state. The sphere of perception and the extension of its limits arise from the realizing of contrasts. These are causes of vastation or desolation, besides many others.

[3] But take examples for illustration. If to those who ascribe all things to their own prudence and little or nothing to Divine Providence, it be proved by thousands of reasons that the Divine Providence is universal, and this because it is in the most minute particulars; and that not even a hair falls from the head (that is, nothing happens however small) which is not foreseen and provided accordingly, nevertheless their state of thought about their own prudence is not changed by it, except at the very moment when they find themselves convinced by the reasons. Nay, if the same thing were attested to them by living experiences; just at the moment when they see the experiences, or are in them, they may confess that it is so; but after the lapse of a few moments they return to their former state of opinion. Such things have some momentary effect upon the thought, but not upon the affection; and unless the affection is broken, the thought remains in its own state; for the thought has its belief and its life from the affection. But when anxiety and grief are induced upon them by the fact of their own helplessness, and this even to despair, their persuasive is broken, and their state is changed; and then they can be led into the belief that they can do nothing of themselves, but that all power, prudence, intelligence, and wisdom are from the Lord. The case is similar with those who believe that faith is from themselves, and that good is from themselves.

[4] Take another example for illustration: If to those who have conceived the persuasion that when justified there is no longer any evil in them, but it is completely wiped away and blotted out, and thus they are pure - if to these it be made clear by thousands of reasons that nothing is wiped away or blotted out, but that they are kept back from evil and held in good by the Lord (that is to say those who are of such a character that from the life of good in which they had been in the world this is possible to them); and if moreover they be convinced by experience that of themselves they are nothing but evil, and indeed are most impure heaps of evils - after all they will not recede from the belief of their opinion. But when they are reduced to such a state that they perceive hell in themselves, and this to such a degree as to despair of ever being able to be saved, then for the first time that persuasive is broken, and with it their pride, and their contempt of others in comparison with themselves, and also the arrogance that they are the only ones who are saved; and they can be led into the true confession of faith, not only that all good is from the Lord, but also that all things are of His mercy and at length into humiliation of heart before the Lord, which is not possible without the acknowledgment of the true character of self. Hence now it is manifest why they who are being reformed, or are becoming spiritual, are reduced into the state of vastation or desolation treated of in the verses which precede; and that when they are in that state even to despair, they then for the first time receive comfort and help from the Lord.

2695. Verse 18. Arise, lift up the child, and strengthen thy hand in him, for I will make him a great nation. "Arise", signifies elevation of mind; "lift up the child", signifies the spiritual as to truth; "and strengthen thy hand in him"' signifies support therefrom; "for I will make him a great nation", signifies the spiritual church.

2696. Arise. That this signifies elevation of mind, is evident from the signification in the Word of "arising", as involving where mentioned some kind of elevation (n. 2401); here elevation of mind, because enlightenment - and in the following verse instruction - in truths.

2697. Lift up the child. That this signifies the spiritual as to truth, is evident from the signification of the "child", as being the spiritual especially as to truth (n. 2677, 2687); for the man of the spiritual church seems to be regenerated by means of the truths of faith, but does not know that it is by means of the good of truth; for this is not apparent, and only manifests itself in the affection of truth, and then in life according to truth. Never can anyone be regenerated by means of truth, except when in the truth there is good; for truth without good has no life; and therefore by truth separate from good there does not come any new life; which however a man possesses by regeneration.

2698. And strengthen thy hand in him. That this signifies support from it, is evident from the signification of "being strengthened", as meaning to be supported; and from the signification of the "hand", as being power (n. 878), which relates to support. "In him", that is, in the child, means from it, that is, from the spiritual as to truth. They who are in internal grief, and in despair from the privation of truth, are elevated and sustained solely by truth, because it is for this that they have grief and despair. With those who are in the affection of good, their good desires good as one hungers for bread; but with those who are in the affection of truth, their good desires truth, as one thirsts for water. What "strengthening the hand in him" here means, will not be understood by anyone except from the internal sense.

2699. For I will make him a great nation. That this signifies the spiritual church, is evident from the signification of a "great nation", as being the spiritual church, which will receive the good of faith (n. 2669). It is said a "great nation", because the spiritual kingdom is the Lord's second kingdom. As the man of the spiritual church is represented by Ishmael, so also is the spiritual church itself represented by him, and also the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens; for the image and likeness of the one is in the other. The first state after desolation was described in the preceding verse, which was a state of consolation and of the hope of help. Their second state after desolation is described in this verse, which is a state of enlightenment and of refreshment therefrom.

[2] As these states are unknown in the world, for the reason as before said that at this day few are being regenerated, we may describe the state of those who are being regenerated in the other life, where it is most fully known. Those who have been in vastation or desolation there, after being comforted by the hope of help, are elevated by the Lord into heaven, thus from a state of shade which is a state of ignorance, into a state of light which is a state of enlightenment and of the refreshment therefrom, thus into a joy that affects their inmosts. It is actually light into which they come, of such a quality as to enlighten not only their sight, but also their understanding at the same time; and how much this light refreshes them may be seen from the opposite state, from which they have been delivered. Some who had been of an infantile disposition and of simple faith, then appear to themselves in white and shining garments; some with crowns; some are taken around to various angelic societies, and are everywhere received with charity as brethren; and whatever of good is gratifying to their new life is shown them: to some it is given to see the immensity of heaven, or of the Lord's kingdom, and at the same time to perceive the blessedness of those who are there; besides innumerable other things which cannot be described. Such is the state of the first enlightenment, and of the refreshment therefrom with those who come out of desolation.

2700. Verse 19. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the child drink. "God opened her eyes", signifies intelligence; "and she saw a well of water", signifies the Lord's Word from which are truths; "and she filled the bottle with water", signifies truths from the Word; "and she gave the child drink", signifies instruction in spiritual things.

2701. God opened her eyes. That this signifies intelligence, is evident from the signification of "opening" - and of "God opening", and also of "eyes" - as being to give intelligence. That "eyes" signify the understanding see (n. 212), in like manner as "sight" or "seeing", (n. 2150, 2325). It is said that "God opens the eyes" when He opens the interior sight or understanding; which is effected by an influx into man's rational, or rather into the spiritual of his rational. This is done by the way of the soul, or the internal way, unknown to the man. This influx is his state of enlightenment, in which the truths which he hears or reads are confirmed to him by a kind of perception interiorly within his intellectual. This the man believes to be innate in him, and to proceed from his own intellectual faculty; but in this he is very much mistaken; for it is an influx through heaven from the Lord into what is obscure, fallacious, and seeming with the man, which by means of the good therein causes the things which he believes to be similar to truth. But they only who are spiritual are blessed with enlightenment in the spiritual things of faith. It is this which is signified by "God opening the eyes".

[2] That the "eye" signifies the understanding is because the sight of the body corresponds to the sight of its spirit, which is the understanding; and because it corresponds, in the Word the understanding is signified by the "eye" in almost every place where it is mentioned, even where it is believed to be otherwise; as where the Lord says in Matthew: -

The light of the body is the eye if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light; but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness; if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness (Matthew 6:22, 23; Luke 11:34).

Here the "eye" is the understanding, the spiritual of which is faith, as also is evident from the explication: - "if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness". So too in the same: -

If thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee (Matthew 5:29; 18:9).

The "left eye" is the intellectual, but the "right eye" is its affection: that the right eye is to be plucked out means that the affection is to be subdued if it causes stumbling.

[3] In the same: -

Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear (Matthew 13:16);

and in Luke: -

Jesus said to the disciples, Blessed are the eyes which see the thing which ye see (Luke 10:23).

Here by the "eyes which see", intelligence and faith are signified; for their seeing the Lord, and also His miracles and works, did not make them blessed; but comprehending them with the understanding and having faith, which is "seeing with the eyes;" and obeying, which is "hearing with the ears". That to "see with the eyes" is to understand, and also to have faith, may be seen above (n. 897, 2325) for the understanding is the spiritual of the sight, and faith is the spiritual of the understanding. The sight of the eye is from the light of the world, but the sight of faith is from the light of heaven. Hence it is common to speak of seeing with the understanding, and of seeing by faith. That to "hear with the ear" is to obey, see (n. 2542).

[4] Also in Mark: -

Jesus said to the disciples, Do ye not yet perceive, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? having eyes see ye not? and having ears hear ye not? (Mark 8:17, 18);

where it is manifest that not to be willing to understand and not to believe, is to "have eyes and not see". In Luke: -

Jesus said of the city, If thou hadst known the things that belong unto thy peace; but now it is hid from thine eyes (Luke 19:41, 42).

And in Mark: -

This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes (Mark 12:11);

where to be "hid from the eyes", and to be "marvelous in the eyes", means to be so to the understanding, as is known to every one from the signification of the eye even in the common use of language.

2702. And she saw a well of water. That this signifies the Lord's Word from which are truths, is evident from the signification of a "well of water", and of a "fountain", as being the Word, and also doctrine from the Word, consequently also truth itself; and from the signification of "water", as being truth. That a "well in which there is water", and a "fountain", denote the Lord's Word, and also doctrine from the Word, consequently also truth itself, may be seen from very many passages. A "well", and not a "fountain", is spoken of here, because the spiritual church is treated of, as also in the following verses of this chapter: - Abraham reproved Abimelech because of the well which the servants of Abimelech had taken away (verse 25). So too in the twenty-sixth chapter: -

All the wells which the servants of Isaac's father digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped up. And Isaac returned, and digged the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father, and the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of living water. And they digged another well, and for that they strove not. And it came to pass in that day that Isaac's servants came and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water (Genesis 26:15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 32).

Here by" wells" nothing else is signified than doctrinal matters about which they contended, and those about which they did not contend. Otherwise their digging wells and contending so many times about them would not be of so much importance as to be worthy of mention in the Divine Word.

[2] The "well" spoken of by Moses signifies in like manner the Word, or doctrine: -

They journeyed to Beer; this is the well whereof Jehovah said unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. Then sang Israel this song: Spring up, O well; answer ye from it. The princes digged the well, the willing of the people digged it, in the law-giver, with their staves (Num. 21:16-18).

As a "well" signified these things, there was therefore this prophetic song in Israel, in which the doctrine of truth is treated of, as is evident from every particular in the internal sense. Hence came the name "Beer" (a "well"), and hence the name "Beer-sheba", and its signification in the internal sense, as being doctrine itself.

[3] But doctrine in which there are no truths is called a "pit", or a "well in which there is no water", as in Jeremiah: -

Their nobles have sent their little ones to the water; they came to the pits, they found no water; they returned with their vessels empty (Jeremiah 14:3);

where "waters" denote truths; and "pits where they found no water", doctrine in which there is no truth. In the same: -

My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, to hew them out pits, broken pits, that can hold no waters (Jeremiah 2:13);

where "pits" in like manner denote doctrines that are not true; and "broken pits", fabricated doctrines.

[4] That a "fountain" is the Word, and also doctrine, consequently truth, may be seen in Isaiah: -

The afflicted and the needy seek waters, and there are none; their tongue faileth for thirst. I Jehovah will hear them, the God of Israel will not forsake them; I will open rivers upon the hillsides, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of waters, and the dry land springs of waters (Isaiah 41:17, 18);

where the desolation of truth is treated of, which is signified by the afflicted and needy seeking for waters when there are none, and by their tongue failing for thirst; and then their consolation, refreshment, and instruction after desolation are treated of (as in the verses about Hagar now being explained), signified by Jehovah opening rivers upon the hillsides, making fountains in the midst of the valleys, and the wilderness into a pool of waters, and the dry land into springs of waters; all which things relate to the doctrine of truth, and to the affection thence derived.

[5] In Moses: -

Israel dwelt securely alone at the fountain of Jacob, in a land of corn and new wine; yea, his heavens drop down dew (Deut. 33:28).

The "fountain of Jacob" denotes the Word and the doctrine of truth therefrom. Because the "fountain of Jacob" signified the Word and the doctrine of truth therefrom, when the Lord came to the fountain of Jacob, He spoke with the woman of Samaria, and taught what is signified by a "fountain" and by "water", as described in John: -

Jesus came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, and Jacob's fountain was there Jesus therefore being wearied with His journey, sat thus by the fountain. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give Me to drink: Jesus said, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give Me to drink, thou wouldst ask of Him that He should give thee living water. Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life (John 4:5, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14).

As "Jacob's fountain" signified the Word, the "water" truth, and " Samaria" the spiritual church (as is frequently the case in the Word), the Lord spoke with the woman of Samaria, and taught that the doctrine of truth is from Him; and that when it is from Him, or what is the same, from His Word, it is a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life; and that truth itself is living water.

[6] Again in the same: -

Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink; who soever believeth in Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:37, 38).

And in the same: -

The Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes (Rev. 7:17).

In the same: -

I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely (Rev. 21:6);

"rivers of living water", and "living fountains of waters", denote truths that are from the Lord, or from His Word; for the Lord is the Word. The good of love and of charity, which is solely from the Lord, is the life of truth. He is said to be "athirst" who is in the love and affection of truth; no other can "thirst".

[7] These truths are also called "fountains of salvation" in Isaiah: -

With joy shall ye draw waters out of the fountains of salvation; and in that day shall ye say, Confess to Jehovah, call upon His name (Isaiah 12:3, 4).

That a "fountain" is the Word, or doctrine from it, is plain also in Joel: -

It shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall go forth out of the house of Jehovah, and shall water the stream of Shittim (Joel 3:18);

where "waters" denote truths; and a "fountain out of the house of Jehovah", the Lord's Word.

[8] In Jeremiah: -

Behold I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the sides of the earth; and among them the blind and the lame; they shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I bring them unto fountains of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble (Jeremiah 31:8, 9);

"fountains of waters in a straight way" manifestly denote the doctrinal things of truth; the "north country", ignorance or desolation of truth; "weeping" and "supplications", their state of grief and despair; and to be "brought to the fountains of waters", refreshment and instruction in truths (as here, there Hagar and her son are treated of).

[9] The same things are also thus described in Isaiah: -

The wilderness and the parched land shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; budding it shall bud, and shall rejoice even with rejoicing and singing; the glory of Lebanon has been given unto it, the honor of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the honor of our God. Make ye firm the enfeebled hands, and strengthen the tottering knees. The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert; and the dry place shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of waters (Isaiah 35:1-3, 5-7);

where the "wilderness" denotes the desolation of truth "waters", "streams", "lakes", and "springs of waters", the truths that are a refreshment and joy to those who have been in vastation, whose joys are there described with many words.

[10] In David: -

Jehovah sendeth forth fountains into the valleys, they shall run among the mountains; they shall give drink to every wild beast of the field, the wild asses shall quench their thirst. He watereth the mountains from His chambers (Ps. 104:10, 11, 13);

"fountains" denote truths "mountains", the love of good and truth; to "give drink", instructing; "wild beasts of the field", those who live from this (n. 774, 841, 908); "wild asses", those who are solely in rational truth (n. 1949-1951).

[11] In Moses: -

Joseph is the son of a fruitful one, the son of a fruitful one by a fountain (Gen. 49:22);

a "fountain" denotes doctrine from the Lord. In the same: -

Jehovah thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of rivers, of waters, of fountains, and of depths going forth in valley and in mountain (Deut. 8:7);

the "land" denotes the Lord's kingdom and church (n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 2571); which is called " good" from the good of love and charity; " rivers", "waters", "fountains", and "depths", denote the truths thence derived. In the same: -

The land of Canaan, a land of mountains and valleys, that drinketh water of the rain of heaven (Deut. 11:11).

[12] That "waters" are truths, both spiritual and rational, and also those of memory-knowledge, is manifest from these passages in Isaiah: -

Behold the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the whole staff of bread, and the whole staff of water (Isaiah 3:1).

In the same: -

Bring ye waters to him that is thirsty; meet the fugitive with his bread (Isaiah 21:14).

In the same: -

Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters (Isaiah 32:20).

In the same: -

He that walketh in righteousnesses, and speaketh uprightnesses, shall dwell on high; his bread shall be given, his waters shall be faithful (Isaiah 33:15, 16).

In the same: -

Then shall they not thirst, He shall lead them in the desert, He shall cause the waters to flow out of the rock for them He cleaveth the rock also, and the waters flow out (Isaiah 48:21; Exod. 17:1-8; Num. 20:11, 13).

2702a.

[13] In David: -

He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them to drink abundantly as out of the deeps. He brought streams out of the rock and caused waters to run down like a river (Ps. 78:15, 16);

where the "rock" denotes the Lord; "waters", "rivers", and "deeps" from it, denote truths from Him. In the same: -

Jehovah maketh rivers into a wilderness, and water-springs into dry ground; He maketh a wilderness into a pool of waters, and a dry land into water-springs (Ps. 107:33, 35).

In the same: -

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters; Jehovah is upon many waters (Ps. 29:3).

In the same: -

A river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High (Ps. 46:4).

In the same: -

By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the army of them by the breath of His mouth; He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap, He layeth up the deeps in storehouses (Ps. 33:6, 7).

In the same: -

Thou dost visit the earth, and delightest in it greatly; thou enrichest it, the river of God is full of waters (Ps. 65:9).

In the same: -

The waters saw Thee, O God, the waters saw Thee, the deeps also trembled; the clouds poured out waters Thy way was in the sea, and Thy path in many waters (Ps. 77:16, 17, 19).

It is manifest to every one that the " waters" here do not signify waters, and that it is not meant that the deeps trembled, nor that the way of Jehovah was in the sea, and His path in the waters; but that spiritual waters are meant, that is, spiritual things which are of truth; otherwise this would be a heap of empty words. In Isaiah: -

Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters and he that hath no silver, come ye, buy (Isaiah 55:1).

In Zechariah: -

It shall come to pass in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea (Zechariah 14:8).

[14] Moreover where the church is treated of in the Word as about to be planted and as having been planted, and where it is described by a paradise, a garden, a grove, or by trees, it is usual for it to be also described by waters or rivers which irrigate; by which either spiritual, rational, or memory things (which are of truth) are signified - as in the description of Paradise in (Genesis 2:8, 9); which is also described by the rivers there (Genesis 2:10-14), signifying the things of wisdom and intelligence (n. 107-121). The same is true in many other places in the Word, as in Moses: -

As valleys are they planted, as gardens by the river, as sandalwood trees which Jehovah hath planted, as cedars beside the Waters; waters shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters (Num. 24:6, 7).

In Ezekiel: -

He took of the seed of the land, and planted it in a field of sowing, he placed it beside many waters; it budded, and became a luxuriant vine (Ezekiel 17:5, 6);

that a "vine" and a "vineyard" signify the spiritual church may be seen above (n. 1069). In the same: -

Thy mother was like a vine in thy likeness, planted by the waters; she became fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters (Ezekiel 19:10).

In the same: -

Behold Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon; the waters nourished him, the deep made him high, going with her rivers round about his plant; and she sent out her canals unto all the trees of the field (Ezekiel 31:4).

[15] In the same: -

Behold upon the bank of the river were very many trees on this side and on that. He said unto me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern border, and shall go down into the plain, and shall go toward the sea; and being sent into the sea the Waters are healed. And it shall be that every living soul that creepeth, in every place whither the two rivers come, shall live and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters are come thither; and they shall be healed, so that everything whithersoever the river cometh shall live. The miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt (Ezekiel 47:7, 8, 9, 11).

Here the New Jerusalem, or the Lord's spiritual kingdom, is described: the "waters going forth to the eastern border", signify spiritual things from celestial things, which are truths from a celestial origin; that is, faith from love and charity (n. 101, 1250). To "go down into the plain", signifies doctrinal things which are of the rational (n. 2418, 2450). To "go toward the sea", signifies to memory-knowledges; the "sea" is the collection of them (n. 28); the "living soul which creepeth", signifies their delights (n. 746, 909, 994); which will "live from the waters of the river", that is, from spiritual things from a celestial origin. "Much fish" denotes an abundance of applicable memory-knowledges (n. 40, 991). The "miry places and the marshes" denote things not applicable and impure; being "given up to salt", denotes being vastated (n. 2455). In Jeremiah: -

Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah; he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, and that sendeth forth its roots by the river (Jeremiah 17:7, 8).

In David: -

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season (Ps. 1:3).

In John: -

He showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb; in the midst of the street of it, and on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life bearing twelve fruits (Rev. 22:1, 2).

[16] Seeing that in the internal sense of the Word "waters" signify truths, therefore in the Jewish Church, for the sake of representation before the angels with whom the rituals were viewed spiritually, it was commanded that the priests and Levites should wash themselves with water when they came near to minister, and indeed out of the laver between the tent and the altar; and later, out of the brazen sea and the other lavers around the temple, which were in place of a fountain. So too for the sake of the representation was the institution of the water of sin or of purgation that was to be sprinkled upon the Levites (Num. 8:7); also that of the water of separation, from the ashes of the red heifer (Num. 19:2-19); and that the spoils from the Midianites should be cleansed by water (Num. 31:19-25).

[17] The waters which were given out of the rock (Exod. 17:1-8; Num. 20:1-13; Deut. 8:15) represented and signified an abundance of spiritual things or truths of faith from the Lord. The bitter waters which were healed by the wood (Exod. 15:23-25), represented and signified that the truths which are not pleasing become acceptable and grateful from good, that is, from the affection of it. "Wood" signifies good which is of affection, or of the will (n. 643). From all this it may now be known what "water" denotes in the Word, and hence what the water in baptism denotes, of which the Lord speaks thus in John: -

Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5);

namely, that "water" is the spiritual of faith, and the "spirit" the celestial of it; thus that baptism is the symbol of the regeneration of man by the Lord by means of the truths and goods of faith. Not that regeneration is effected by baptism, but by the life signified in baptism, into which life Christians who have the truths of faith, because they have the Word, must come.

2703. And she filled the bottle with water. That this signifies truths therefrom, is evident from the signification of "water", as being truth - treated of just above.

2704. And gave the child drink. That this signifies instruction in spiritual things, is evident from the signification of "giving to drink", as being to instruct in truths; and from the signification of the "child", as being the spiritual as to truth (n. 2697). This state, which is that of instruction, treated of in this verse, is the third state of those who are coming out of vastation or desolation; for when they come into a state of enlightenment or of heavenly light (verse 18) (n. 2699), they are then in the affection of knowing and learning truths; and when they are in this affection, they are easily and as it were spontaneously imbued with truths: those who are on earth, from the Lord's Word or from doctrine; but those who are in heaven, from the angels, who perceive nothing more blessed and happy than to teach novitiate brethren, and imbue them with the truths and goods which are of heavenly order, and thus lead to the Lord.

2705. Verse 20. And God was with the child, and he grew, and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became a shooter of the bow. "God was with the child", signifies the Lord's presence with the spiritual; "and he grew", signifies increase; "and he dwelt in the wilderness", signifies obscurity, relatively; "and became a shooter of the bow", signifies the man of the spiritual church.

2706. God was with the child. That this signifies the Lord's presence with the spiritual, is evident from the signification of "God being with" anyone, and from the signification of the "child". That "God being with" anyone signifies the Lord's presence, is evident without explication. The Lord is indeed present with every one; for life is from no other source, and He governs the most minute things of it, even with the worst of men, and in hell itself; but in various ways according to the reception of life. With those who receive the life of the love of His good and truth in a wrong manner, and pervert it into loves of evil and falsity, the Lord is present, and overrules their ends as far as possible for good; but His presence with them is called absence, and indeed in the same degree in which evil is distant from good, and falsity from truth. But with those who receive the life of the love of the Lord's good and truth, He is said to be present, and indeed according to the degree of reception. It is with the Lord's presence as with that of the sun, which is present with its heat and light in the vegetation of the world also according to the reception. That the "child" signifies the spiritual as to truth, has been said above; but here he signifies those who are spiritual because he represents the man of the spiritual church, and also the spiritual church itself, and in the universal sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom; for when it is said that anyone signifies what is spiritual, as here that "the child" signifies the spiritual as to truth, it involves that those are signified who are spiritual; for there is no spiritual without a subject. It is the same with all other things said in an abstract sense.

2707. And he grew. That this signifies increase, is evident without explication.

2708. And he dwelt in the wilderness. That this signifies in what is relatively obscure, is evident from the signification of "dwelling", as being to live (n. 2451); and from the signification of "wilderness", as being that which has little vitality (n. 1927); here what is obscure, but relatively By what is relatively obscure is meant the state of the spiritual church relatively to the state of the celestial church, or the state of those who are spiritual relatively to that of those who are celestial. The celestial are in the affection of good, the spiritual in the affection of truth; the celestial have perception, but the spiritual a dictate of conscience; to the celestial the Lord appears as a Sun, but to the spiritual as a Moon (n. 1521, 1530, 1531, 2495). The former have light from the Lord, but giving both sight and the perception of good and truth, like the light of day from the sun; but the latter have light from the Lord like the light of night from the moon, and thus they are in relative obscurity. The reason is that the celestial are in love to the Lord, and thus in the Lord's life itself; but the spiritual are in charity toward the neighbor and in faith, and thus in the Lord's life indeed, but more obscurely. Hence it is that the celestial never reason about faith and its truths, but being in perception of truth from good, they say that it is so; whereas the spiritual speak and reason concerning the truths of faith, because they are in the conscience of good from truth; and also because with the celestial the good of love has been implanted in their will part, wherein is the chief life of man, but with the spiritual in their intellectual part, wherein is the secondary life of man; this is the reason why the spiritual are in what is relatively obscure (n. 81, 202, 337, 765, 784, 895, 1114-1125, 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2088, 2227, 2454, 2507).

[2] This comparative obscurity is here called a "wilderness". In the Word a "wilderness" signifies what is little inhabited and cultivated, and also signifies what is not at all inhabited and cultivated, and is thus used in a twofold sense. Where it signifies what is little inhabited and cultivated, or where there are few habitations, folds of flocks, pastures, and waters, it signifies what has relatively little life and light - as what is spiritual, or those who are spiritual, in comparison with what is celestial, or those who are celestial. but where it signifies what is not inhabited or cultivated at all, or where there are no habitations, folds of flocks, pastures, or waters, it signifies those who are in vastation as to good and in desolation as to truth.

[3] That a "wilderness" signifies what is comparatively little inhabited and cultivated, or where there are few habitations, folds of flocks, pastures, and waters, is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

Sing unto Jehovah a new song and His praise from the end of the earth; ye that go down to the sea, and the fullness thereof, the Isles and the inhabitants thereof; let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit; let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains (Isaiah 42:10, 11).

In Ezekiel: -

I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil wild beast to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods and I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield her fruit (Ezekiel 34:25-27);

here the spiritual are treated of. In Hosea: -

I will bring her into the wilderness, and will speak to her heart; and I will give her her vineyards from thence (Hosea 2:14, 15)

where the desolation of truth, and consolation afterwards, are treated of. In David: -

The folds of the wilderness do drop, and the hills are girded with rejoicing; the pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys also are covered over with corn (Ps. 65:12, 13).

[4] In Isaiah: -

I will make the wilderness a pool of waters, and the dry land springs of waters. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar of Shittim, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the fir-tree; that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it (Isaiah 41:18-20);

where the regeneration of those who are in ignorance of truth, or the Gentiles, and the enlightenment and instruction of those who are in desolation, are treated of; the "wilderness" is predicated of these; the "cedar, myrtle, and oil-tree" denote the truths and goods of the interior man; the "fir-tree" denotes those of the exterior. In David: -

Jehovah maketh rivers into a wilderness, and water-rings into dry ground; He maketh a wilderness into a pool of waters, and a dry land into water-springs (Ps. 107:33, 35);

where the meaning is the same. In Isaiah: -

The wilderness and the parched land shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose; budding it shall bud; in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert (Isaiah 35:1, 2, 6).

In the same: -

Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail; and they that be of thee shall build the deserts of old (Isaiah 58:11, 12).

In the same: -

Until the spirit be poured upon as from on high, and the wilderness become Carmel, and Carmel be counted for a forest; and judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness in Carmel (Isaiah 32:15, 16);

where the spiritual church is treated of, which though inhabited and cultivated is called relatively a "wilderness;" for it is said, "judgment shall dwell in the wilderness and righteousness in Carmel". That a "wilderness" denotes a comparatively obscure state, is plain from these passages by its being called a "wilderness" and also a "forest;" and very evidently so in Jeremiah: -

O generation, see ye the Word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of darkness? (Jeremiah 2:31).

[5] That a "wilderness" signifies what is not at all inhabited or cultivated, or where there are no habitations, folds of flocks, pastures, and waters, and thus those who are in vastation as to good and in desolation as to truth, is also evident from the Word. This kind of "wilderness" is predicated in a double sense, namely, of those who are afterwards reformed, and of those who cannot be reformed. Concerning those who are afterwards reformed (as here in regard to Hagar and her son) we read in Jeremiah: -

Thus saith Jehovah, I remember for thee the mercy of thy youth, thy going after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown (Jeremiah 2:2);

where Jerusalem is treated of, which here is the Ancient Church that was spiritual. In Moses: -

Jehovah's portion is His people, Jacob is the line of His inheritance; He found him in a desert land, and in a waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He made him understand, He kept him as the pupil of His eye (Deut. 32:9, 10).

In David: -

They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way, they found no city of habitation (Ps. 107:4);

where those who have been in desolation of truth and are being reformed are treated of. In Ezekiel: -

I will bring you to the wilderness of the peoples, and I will judge with you there, as I judged with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt (Ezekiel 20:35, 36);

where in like manner the vastation and desolation of those who are being reformed are treated of.

[6] The journeyings and wanderings of the people of Israel in the wilderness represented nothing but the vastation and desolation of believers before reformation; consequently their temptation, if indeed they are in vastation and desolation when they are in spiritual temptations; as may also be seen from the following passages in Moses: -

Jehovah bare them in the wilderness as a man beareth his son, in the way, even unto this place (Deut. 1:31).

And in another place: -

Thou shalt remember all the way which Jehovah thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to afflict thee, to tempt thee, and to know what is in thy heart; whether thou wouldest keep His commandments or no. He afflicted thee, He suffered thee to hunger, He made thee to eat manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that thou mightest know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live (Deut. 8:2, 3).

And again in the same chapter: -

Lest thou forget that Jehovah led thee in the great and terrible wilderness, where were serpents, fiery serpents, and scorpions; a thirsty land where was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; He fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that He might afflict thee, and might tempt thee, to do thee good at thy latter end (Deuteronomy 8:15, 16).

Here the " wilderness" denotes vastation and desolation, such as those are in who are in temptations. By their journeyings and wanderings in the wilderness forty years, all the state of the combating church is described-how of itself it yields, but conquers from the Lord.

[7] By the "woman who fled into the wilderness", in John, nothing else is signified than the temptation of the church, thus described: -

The woman who brought forth a son, a man child, fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God; there were given unto the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place; and the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a flood, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. But the earth helped the woman; for the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth (Rev. 12:6, 14-16).

[8] That "wilderness" is predicated of a church altogether vastated, and of those who are altogether vastated as to good and truth, who cannot be reformed, is thus shown in Isaiah: -

I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink because there is no water, and die for thirst; I clothe the heavens with thick darkness (Isaiah 50:2, 3).

In the same: -

Thy holy cities were become a wilderness, Zion was become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation (Isaiah 64:10).

In Jeremiah: -

I beheld and lo Carmel was a wilderness, and all her cities were broken down at the presence of Jehovah (Jeremiah 4:26).

In the same: -

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trodden My portion under foot; they have made My pleasant portion a wilderness of desolation, they have made it a desolation, it hath mourned unto Me, being desolate the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart. Spoilers are come upon all the hillsides in the wilderness (Jeremiah 12:10-12).

In Joel: -

The fire hath devoured the folds of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field, the water brooks are dried up, the fire hath devoured the folds of the wilderness (Joel 1:19, 20).

In Isaiah: -

He made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof (Isaiah 14:17);

where Lucifer is spoken of. In the same: -

The prophecy of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south, it cometh from the wilderness, from a terrible land (Isaiah 21:1).

The "wilderness of the sea" denotes truth vastated by memory-knowledges and the reasonings from them.

[9] From all this it may be seen what is signified by the following concerning John the Baptist: -

It was said by Isaiah, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way for the Lord, make His paths straight (Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23; Isa. 40:3);

which means that the church was then altogether vastated, so that there was no longer any good, nor any truth; which is plainly manifest from the fact, that then no one knew that man had any internal, nor that there was any internal in the Word, and thus that no one knew that the Messiah or Christ was to come to eternally save them. Hence it is also manifest what is signified by John being in the wilderness until the days of his appearing to Israel (Luke 1:80); and by his preaching in the wilderness of Judea (Matt. 3:1-17); and by his baptizing in the wilderness (Mark 1:4); for by that he also represented the state of the church. From the signification of a "wilderness" it may also be seen why the Lord so often withdrew into the wilderness. See for examples (Matt. 4:1; 15:32-39; Mark 1:12, 13, 35-40, 45; 6:31-36; Luke 4:1; 5:16; 9:10; John 11:54). From the signification of a "mountain" also it is manifest why the Lord withdrew into the mountains, as in (Matt. 14:23; 15:29-31; 17:1; 28:16, 17; Mark 3:13, 14; 6:46; 9:2-9; Luke 6:12, 13; 9:28; John 6:15).

2709. And he became a shooter of the bow. That this signifies the man of the spiritual church, is evident from the signification of a "shaft", "dart", or "arrow", as being truth; and from the signification of a "bow", as being doctrine (n. 2686). The man of the spiritual church was formerly called a "shooter of the bow", because he defended himself by truths, and disputed about truths; differently from the man of the celestial church, who is secure by means of good, and does not dispute about truths (n. 2708). The truths by which the man of the spiritual church defends himself, and respecting which he disputes, are from the doctrine which he acknowledges.

[2] That the spiritual man was in old time called "shooter" and an "archer", and that doctrine was called a "bow" and a "quiver", and that the truths of doctrine, or rather doctrinal matters, were called "darts", "shafts", and "arrows", is further evident in David: -

The sons of Ephraim being armed, shooters of the bow, turned back in the day of battle (Ps. 78:9).

"Ephraim" denotes the intellectual of the church. In the book of Judges: -

Consider, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit upon carpets, and ye that walk by the way; because of the voice of archers among them that draw water, there shall they rehearse the righteousnesses of Jehovah, the righteousnesses toward His villages in Israel (Judges 5:10, 11).

In Isaiah: -

Jehovah hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name, and He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and He hath made me a polished arrow, in His quiver hath He hid me; and He said unto me, Thou art My servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified (Isaiah 49:1-3).

"Israel" denotes the spiritual church.

[3] In David: -

As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of the youth; happy is the man that hath filled his quiver with them (Ps. 127:4);

a " quiver" denotes the doctrine of good and truth. In Habakkuk: -

The sun and moon stood still in their seat; at the light of Thine arrows shall they go, at the shining of the lightning of Thy spear (Habakkuk 3:11).

That Joash king of Israel shot an arrow from a bow through the window, at the command of Elisha, while Elisha said, "The arrow of the salvation of Jehovah, the arrow of the salvation of Jehovah against the Syrian" (2 Kings 13:16 to 18), signifies arcana concerning the doctrine of good and truth.

[4] As most of the things in the Word have also an opposite sense, so likewise have "shafts", "darts", "arrows", bows", and a "shooter;" and they signify falsities, the doctrine of falsity, and those who are in falsity. Thus in Moses: -

Joseph is the son of a fruitful one, the son of a fruitful one by a fountain, of a daughter, she marcheth upon the wall; they grieved him, and shot at him, and the archers hated him (Gen. 49:22, 23).

In Jeremiah: -

They have shot out their tongue, their bow is a lie, and not for truth; their tongue is a lengthened arrow, it speaketh deceit (Jeremiah 9:3, 8).

In David: -

They have sharpened their tongue like a sword, they have aimed their arrow, a bitter word, to shoot in secret places at the perfect; suddenly will they shoot at him, and will not fear. They will make strong for themselves an evil word, they will tell of the hiding of snares (Ps. 64:4-6).

In the same: -

Lo, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, to shoot in the darkness at the upright in heart (Ps. 11:2).

In the same: -

His truth is a shield and buckler thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, for the arrow that flieth by day (Ps. 91:4, 5).

2710. In the verse before us the state of the spiritual church is described, as being obscure in comparison with the state of the celestial church, and as being combative, for the reason that the man of the spiritual church knows truth only from doctrine, and not from good itself, as does the man of the celestial church.

2711. Verse 21. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt. "He dwelt in the wilderness of Paran", signifies the life of the spiritual man as to good; the "wilderness" here as before is what is relatively obscure; "Paran" is illumination from the Lord's Divine Human; "and his mother took him", signifies the affection of truth; "a wife out of the land of Egypt", signifies the affection of memory-knowledges which the man of the spiritual church has.

2712. He dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. That this signifies the life of the spiritual man as to good, is evident from the signification of "dwelling", as being predicated of the good of truth, or of spiritual good, that is, of the good of the spiritual man. What its quality is, is described by his "dwelling in the wilderness of Paran" which is to be treated of presently. That "to dwell" is predicated of the good, that is, of the affection, of truth, is evident from many passages in the Word where cities are treated of, by which truths are signified, and as being without an inhabitant, by whom good is signified (n. 2268, 2450, 2451); for truths are inhabited by good; and truths without good are like a city in which there is no one dwelling. So in Zephaniah: -

I have made their streets waste, that none passeth by their cities are desolated, so that there is no inhabitant (Zephaniah 3:6).

[2] In Jeremiah: -

Jehovah led us through the wilderness, where no man passed through, and where no man dwelt; they had made his land a waste, his cities are burned up, so that there is no inhabitant (Jeremiah 2:6, 15).

In the same: -

Every city is forsaken, and no one dwelleth therein (Jeremiah 4:29).

In the same: -

In the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast (Jeremiah 33:10);

"streets" denote truths (n. 2336); "without man" denotes no celestial good; "without inhabitant", no spiritual good; and "without beast", no natural good. In the same: -

The cities of Moab shall become a desolation, without any to dwell therein (Jeremiah 48:9).

[3] In the Prophets in every expression there is the marriage of truth and good; and therefore where a city is said to be desolate, it is also added that there is no inhabitant in it; for the reason that the city signifies truths, and the inhabitant good; otherwise it would be superfluous to say that there was no inhabitant, when it has been said that the city was desolate. So likewise the expressions are constant that signify the things of celestial good, those of spiritual good, and those of truth; as in Isaiah: -

Thy seed shall possess the nations, and they shall dwell in the desolate cities (Isaiah 54:3);

where to "possess" is predicated of celestial goods; and to "dwell in", of spiritual good. In the same: -

Mine elect shall possess it, and my servants shall dwell there (Isaiah 65:9);

where the signification is the same.

[4] In David: -

God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah and they shall dwell there, and shall possess it; the seed also of His servants shall inherit it, and they that love His name shall dwell therein (Ps. 69:35, 36);

"dwelling" and at the same time "possessing", is predicated of celestial good; but "dwelling", of spiritual good. In Isaiah: -

Saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited, and to the cities of Judah, ye shall be built (Isaiah 44:26);

where "dwelling", or "inhabiting", is predicated of the good of the spiritual church, which is "Jerusalem". To such a degree are the expressions in the Word predicated of their own goods and their own truths, that merely from a knowledge of the predication of these expressions it can be known what subject in general is treated of.

2713. That a "wilderness" here signifies what is relatively obscure, is evident from the signification of a "wilderness", when predicated of the spiritual man, as being what is obscure in comparison with the celestial man (n. 2708).

2714. That "Paran" is illumination from the Lord's Divine Human, is evident from the signification of "Paran", as being the Lord's Divine Human, which is manifest from the passages in the Word where it is named, as in the prophet Habakkuk: -

O Jehovah, I have heard Thy fame, I was afraid; O Jehovah, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known, in zeal remember mercy. God will come from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran; Selah: His honor covered the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise; and His brightness shall be as the light. He had horns going out from His hand, and there was the hiding of His strength (Habakkuk 3:2-4);

where the Lord's advent is plainly treated of, which is signified by "reviving in the midst of the years", and by "making down in the midst of the years". His Divine Human is described by "God coming from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran". He is said to " come from Teman" as to celestial love, and "from Mount Paran" as to spiritual love; and that illumination and power are from these is signified by saying that there shall be "brightness and light", and by His having "horns going out from His hand;" the "brightness and light" are illumination, and the "horns" are power.

[2] In Moses: -

Jehovah came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came from the ten thousands of holiness; from His right hand was a fire of law unto them; yea, He loveth the peoples; all His saints are in thy hand, and they were gathered together at thy foot, and he shall receive of thy words (Deut. 33:2, 3).

Here also the Lord is treated of, whose Divine Human is described by His "rising from Seir, and shining forth from Mount Paran" - from "Seir" as to celestial love, and from "Mount Paran" as to spiritual love. The spiritual are signified by the "peoples whom He loves", and by their being "gathered together at His foot". The "foot" signifies what is lower, and thus more obscure, in the Lord's kingdom.

[3] In the same: -

Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him smote the Horites in their Mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is in the wilderness (Gen. 14:5, 6);

that the Lord's Divine Human is here signified by "Mount Seir", and by "El-paran", may be seen above (n. 1675, 1676). In the same: -

It came to pass in the second year, in the second month, in the twentieth day of the month, that the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony and the sons of Israel set forward according to their journeys, out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud abode in the wilderness of Paran (Num. 10:11, 12).

[4] That the journeys of the people in the wilderness all signify the state of a combating church and its temptations, in which man yields but the Lord conquers for him - consequently the very temptations and victories of the Lord-will of the Lord's Divine mercy be shown elsewhere; and because the Lord from His Divine Human sustained temptations, the Lord's Divine Human is here signified in like manner by the "wilderness of Paran". And so again by these words in the same: -

The people afterwards journeyed from Hazeroth, and pitched their camp in the wilderness of Paran. And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, and let them explore the land of Canaan, which I give unto the sons of Israel and Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of Jehovah. And they returned, and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and showed them the fruit of the land (Num. 12:16; 13:1-3, 26).

[5] By their setting out from the wilderness of Paran and exploring the land of Canaan, is signified that through the Lord's Divine Human the sons of Israel, that is, the spiritual, have the heavenly kingdom, which is signified by the land of Canaan; but their also succumbing at that time signifies their weakness, and that the Lord therefore fulfilled all things in the Law, and endured temptations, and conquered; and that they who are in the faith of charity, as also they who are in temptations in which the Lord conquers, have salvation from His Divine Human. On which account also, when the Lord was tempted, He was in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1; Mark 1:12, 13; Luke 4:1); (n. 2708).

2715. There are two arcana here, one, that the good of the spiritual man is comparatively obscure; and the other, that this obscurity is illuminated by the Lord's Divine Human. As regards the first, that good with the spiritual man is comparatively obscure, this is evident from what was said above concerning the state of the spiritual man in comparison with the state of the celestial man (n. 2708); for by comparing these states the fact becomes manifest. With the celestial, good itself is implanted in their will part, and light comes therefrom into their intellectual part; but with the spiritual all the will part has been destroyed, so that they have nothing of good from it; and therefore good is implanted by the Lord in their intellectual part (n. 863, 875, 895, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2124, 2256). The will part is what chiefly lives in man, while the intellectual lives from it. As therefore the will part has been so destroyed with the spiritual man as to be nothing but evil, and yet evil flows in from it perpetually and continually into his intellectual part, that is, into his thought, it is evident that the good there is comparatively obscured.

[2] Hence it is that the spiritual have not love to the Lord, as have the celestial, and consequently they have not the humiliation which is essential in all worship, and by means of which good can flow in from the Lord; for an elated heart does nod receive at all, but a humble heart. Neither have the spiritual love toward the neighbor, as the celestial have for the love of self and the world continually flows in from their will part, and obscures the good of that love; as must also be evident to every one if he reflects, by considering that when he does good to anyone it is for the sake of an end in the world; and that therefore, although he is not doing so consciously, still he is thinking of a recompense, either from those to whom he does good, or from the Lord in the other life; thus that his good is defiled by the idea of merit, - as also by considering that when he has done any good, if he can make it known and thus set himself above others, he is in the delight of his life. But the celestial love the neighbor more than themselves; nor do they think at all of recompense, nor in any manner set themselves up above others.

[3] Moreover the good that is with the spiritual has been obscured by persuasions from various principles arising also from the love of self and of the world. The quality of their persuasion even of faith may be seen above (n. 2682, 2689 at the end); this likewise is from the influx of evil from their will part.

[4] Moreover that the good with the spiritual man is obscure in comparison, is evident from the fact that he does not know what is true from any perception, as the celestial do, but from instruction from parents and masters, and also from the doctrine into which he was born; and when he superadds anything from himself and from his thought, then for the most part the sensuous and its fallacies, and the rational and its appearances, prevail, and cause him to be scarcely able to acknowledge any pure truth, such as the celestial acknowledge. Nevertheless in those seeming truths the Lord implants good, even if the truths are fallacious, or appearances of truth; but the good becomes obscure from them, being qualified by the truths with which it is conjoined. The case with this is as with the light of the sun flowing into objects. The quality of the objects which receive it causes the light to appear there under the aspect of color, beautiful if the quality of the form and of the reception is becoming and correspondent, but unbeautiful if the quality of the form and of the reception is not becoming, and thus not correspondent. In this manner the good itself is qualified according to the truth.

[5] The same is also manifest from the fact that the spiritual man does not know what evil is. He scarcely believes any other things to be evil than those which are contrary to the precepts of the Decalogue, and is not aware of the evils of affection and thought, which are innumerable; nor does be reflect upon them, nor call them evils. All delights whatever of cupidities and pleasures he regards no otherwise than as good; and the very delights of the love of self he both seeks after, and approves, and excuses, being ignorant that such things affect his spirit, and that he becomes altogether such in the other life.

[6] From this it is in like manner evident that though scarcely anything else is treated of in the whole Word than the good of love to the Lord and of love toward the neighbor, still the spiritual man does not know that good is the essential of faith, nor even what love and charity are in their essence; and that as to what he has learned of faith, which he makes essential, he nevertheless discusses whether it be so, unless he has been confirmed by much experience of life. This the celestial never do, for they know and perceive that it is so. Hence it is said by the Lord in Matthew: -

Let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay; what is more than these is of evil (Matthew 5:37).

For the celestial are in the truth itself respecting which the spiritual dispute whether it be so; hence, as the celestial are in the truth itself, they can see from it endless things which belong to that truth, and thus from light see as it were the whole heaven. But as the spiritual dispute whether it be so, they cannot, so long as they do this, come to the first boundary of the light of the celestial, still less look at anything from their light.

2716. As regards the second arcanum, namely, that the obscurity with the spiritual is illuminated by the Lord's Divine Human, it is one which cannot be explained to the comprehension, for it is the influx of the Divine that would have to be described. But some idea of it may be obtained by considering that if the Supreme Divine Itself were to flow into such a good as has been described, defiled by so many evils and falsities, it could not be received; and if anything were received by the man who had such good, he would feel infernal torture and would thus perish. But the Lord's Divine Human can flow in with such men and can illuminate such good, as the sun shines into the dense clouds and transforms them in the early morning into the glories of the dawn; and yet the Lord cannot appear before them as the light of the sun, but as the light of the moon. Hence it is evident that the cause of the Lord's coming into the world was that the spiritual might be saved (n. 2661).

2717. And his mother took him. That this signifies the affection of truth, is evident from the signification of "mother", as being the church (n. 289); and because the spiritual church that is here represented is in the affection of truth, and is a church by virtue of the affection of truth, this affection is here signified by "mother".

2718. A wife out of the land of Egypt. That this signifies the affection of memory-knowledges belonging to the man of the spiritual church, is evident from the signification of a "wife", as being affection or good (n. 915, 2517); and from the signification of "Egypt", as being memory-knowledge (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462). In this verse the man of the spiritual church is described in regard to his quality as to good, that is, as to the essence of his life, namely, that the good that is with him is obscure, but is illuminated by the Lord's Divine Human; from which illumination there comes forth in his rational the affection of truth, and in his natural the affection of memory-knowledges. The reason why the affection of good cannot come forth with the spiritual man such as it is with the celestial, but in place of it the affection of truth, is that the good which is in him is implanted in his intellectual part and is comparatively obscure (n. 2715), from which no other affection can be produced and derived in his rational than the affection of truth, and thereby in his natural the affection of memory-knowledges. By truth here no other truth is meant than such as he believes to be true, though it he not true in itself; and by memory-knowledges are not meant such as the learned have, but everything of knowledge with which one can be imbued from experience and by hearing, from civic life, from doctrine, and from the Word. The man of the spiritual church is in the affection of such things.

[2] That it may be known what it is to be in the affection of truth, and what to be in the affection of good, we will briefly state that they who are in the affection of truth, think, search out, and discuss whether a thing be true, or whether it be so; and when they are confirmed that it is true, or that it is so, they think, search out, and discuss what it is, and thus stick fast at the first threshold; nor can they be admitted into wisdom until they are free from doubt. But they who are in the affection of good, from the good itself in which they are, know and perceive that the thing is so; and thus are not at the first threshold, but are in the inner chamber, being admitted into wisdom.

[3] Take as an example that it is celestial to think and act from the affection of good, or from good: They who are in the affection of truth discuss whether this be so, whether it be possible, and what it is; and so long as they are occupied with doubts about it they cannot be admitted; but they who are in the affection of good do not discuss, nor busy themselves with doubts, but affirm that it is so, and are therefore admitted; for they who are in the affection of good, that is, who are celestial, begin where they who are in the affection of truth, that is, who are spiritual, stop; so that the furthest boundary of the latter is the first of the former. For this reason it is given to them to know, to recognize, and to perceive that there are innumerable affections of good (as many, in fact, as there are societies in heaven); and that they are all conjoined by the Lord into a heavenly form, so as to constitute as it were one man; and it is also given them to distinguish by perception the kind and variety of each affection.

[4] Or take this example: That all delight, blessedness, and happiness, are solely of love; and that such as the love is, such is the delight, the blessedness, and the happiness. The spiritual man keeps his natural mind fixed on the question whether it be so, and whether the happiness be not from some other source, as from social intercourse, conversation, meditation, and learning, or from possessions and the honor, reputation, and glory of them; not confirming himself in the fact that these effect nothing, but only the affection of love such as there is in them. But the celestial man does not stick in these preliminaries, but affirms that it is so, and is therefore in the end itself and the use, that is, in the very affections of the love, which are innumerable, and in every one of which there are ineffable things - and this with variation of delight, blessedness, and happiness, to eternity.

[5] Take also as an example that the neighbor is to be loved for the good that is in him: They who are in the affection of truth, think, search out, and discuss whether this be true, or whether it be so; what the neighbor is, and what good is; nor do they go any further, and therefore they close to themselves the gate to wisdom; but they who are in the affection of good affirm that it is so, and therefore do not close that gate to themselves, but enter in, and know, and recognize, and perceive, from good, who is more the neighbor than another, also in what degree he is the neighbor, and that all are neighbors in different degrees; and thus they perceive ineffable things beyond those who are only in the affection of truth.

[6] Take further this example: That he who loves his neighbor for the good that is in him, loves the Lord. They who are in the affection of truth examine carefully whether it be so; and if they are told that he who loves his neighbor for the good that is in him, loves the good, and that - as all good is from the Lord and the Lord is in the good - when anyone loves good he also loves Him from whom it is and in which He is, they examine whether it be so; also what good is, and whether the Lord is in good more than in truth; and so long as they stick in such things they cannot see wisdom even at a distance. But they who are in the affection of good know from perception that it is so; and they immediately see the field of wisdom, leading even to the Lord.

[7] From all this we can see why they who are in the affection of truth (that is, the spiritual) have obscurity in comparison with those who are in the affection of good (that is, the celestial). Nevertheless the spiritual can come from obscurity into light, provided they are willing to be in the affirmative that all good is of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor; and that love and charity are spiritual conjunction; and that all blessedness and happiness are from these; and thus that heavenly life is in the good of love from the Lord, but not in he truth of faith separate from it.

2719. In this chapter the Lord's rational has first been treated of, as being made Divine, which rational is "Isaac;" then the merely human rational, as being separated, which is the "son of Hagar the Egyptian;" and afterwards the spiritual church, which was saved by the Lord's Divine Human, which church is "Hagar" and her "child". Now the doctrine of faith is treated of, which is to be serviceable to that church; namely, that human reasonings from memory-knowledges are adjoined to it, which are "Abimelech" and "Phicol". This conjunction is signified by the "covenant" which Abraham made with them. These reasonings are appearances, not from a Divine but from a human origin, which are adjoined for the reason that without them the spiritual church would not comprehend doctrine, and thus would not receive it For, as was shown above (n. 2715), the man of the spiritual church is relatively in obscurity; and doctrine is therefore to be clothed with such appearances as are of human thought and affection, and is not to be in discrepancy to such a degree that the Divine good cannot have in them some kind of receptacle. As Abimelech is again treated of in the following twenty-sixth chapter, and also a covenant (but with Isaac); and in the internal sense, the reasonings and memory-knowledges added to the doctrine of faith a second time, only a summary may here be given of the things contained in the internal sense, which will become clearer by the explication of that chapter.

2720. Verse 22. And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech, and Phicol the captain of his army, said unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest. Verse 23. And now swear unto me here by God, that thou wilt not be false to me, nor to my son, nor to my son's son; according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned. Verse 24. And Abraham said, I will swear. Verse 25. And Abraham reproved Abimelech, because of the well of water which Abimelech's servants had taken away Verse 26. And Abimelech said, I know not who hath done this word, neither didst thou tell me, neither heard I of it but to-day. Verse 27. And Abraham took flock and herd, and gave to Abimelech, and they two struck a covenant. Verse 28. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. Verse 29. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What are these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? Verse 30. And he said, Because these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that it may be a witness unto me that I have digged this well. Verse 31. Therefore he called that place Beer-sheba, because there they sware, both of them. Verse 32. And they struck a covenant at Beer-sheba; and Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the captain of his army; and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

[2] "It came to pass at that time", signifies the state in which the Lord was when His rational was made Divine; "and Abimelech, and Phicol the captain of his army, said unto Abraham", signifies the human rational things from memory-knowledges that were to be adjoined to the doctrine of faith, which in itself is Divine; "saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest", signifies that it was Divine to all things both in general and in particular;

[3] "and now swear unto me here by God", signifies affirmation; "that thou wilt not be false to me", signifies without a doubt; "nor to my son, nor to my son's son", signifies concerning the things of faith; "according to the kindness that I have done unto thee", signifies the rational things in which the Lord had been previously instructed; "thou shalt do unto me and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned", signifies what is reciprocal.

[4] "And Abraham said, I will swear", signifies all that is affirmative. "And Abraham reproved Abimelech", signifies the Lord's indignation; "because of the well of water which Abimelech's servants had taken away", signifies as to the doctrine of faith, that the memory-knowledges desired to attribute it to themselves.

[5] "And Abimelech said", signifies a reply. "I know not who hath done this word", signifies that the rational dictated something different; "neither didst thou tell me", signifies that it was not from the Divine; "neither heard I of it but today", signifies that it was now first disclosed.

[6] "And Abraham took flock and herd, and gave to Abimelech", signifies the Divine goods implanted in the rational things of doctrine signified by "Abimelech;" "and they two struck a covenant", signifies conjunction thus. "And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves", signifies the holiness of innocence.

[7] "And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What are these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves", signifies that he should be instructed and would acknowledge. "And he said, Because these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand", signifies that the holiness of innocence is from the Divine; "that it may be a witness unto me", signifies certainty; "that I have digged this well", signifies that the doctrine was from the Divine. " Therefore he called that place Beer-sheba", signifies the state and quality of the doctrine; "because there they sware both of them", signifies from the conjunction.

[8] "And they struck a covenant in Beer-sheba", signifies that human rational things were adjoined to the doctrine of faith; "and Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines", signifies that nevertheless these things had no part in the doctrine.

2721. Verse 33. And he planted a grove in Beer-sheba; and he called there on the name of the God of eternity. "He planted a grove in Beer-sheba", signifies doctrine with its knowledges and its quality; "and he called on the name of the God of eternity", signifies worship from it.

2722. He planted a grove in Beer-sheba. That this signifies doctrine thence with its knowledges and its quality, is evident from the signification of a "grove", and from the signification of "Beer-sheba". As regards groves: - In the Ancient Church holy worship was performed on mountains and in groves; on mountains, because mountains signified the celestial things of worship; and in groves, because groves signified its spiritual things. So long as that church, namely, the Ancient, was in its simplicity, their worship at that time on mountains and in groves was holy, for the reason that celestial things, which are those of love and charity, were represented by things high and lofty, such as mountains and hills; and spiritual things, which are therefrom, by things fruitful and leafy, such as gardens and groves; but after representatives and significatives began to be made idolatrous, by the worship of external things without internal, that holy worship became profane; and they were therefore forbidden to worship on mountains and in groves.

[2] That the ancients held holy worship on mountains is evident from the twelfth chapter of Genesis, where we read of Abraham: -

He removed thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the sea, and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar, and called on the name of Jehovah (Genesis 12:8),

(n. 1449-1455); and also from the signification of a "mountain", as being the celestial of love (n. 795, 796, 1430). That they also held holy worship in groves is evident from what is stated in this verse: "Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the God of eternity;" and also from the signification of a "garden", as being intelligence (n. 100, 108, 1588); and of "trees", as being perceptions (n. 103, 2163). That this was forbidden is evident from the following passages. In Moses: -

Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any tree beside the altar of Jehovah thy God which thou shalt make thee, and thou shalt not set thee up a pillar; which Jehovah thy God hateth (Deut. 16:21, 22).

In the same: -

The altars of the nations shall ye break down, and dash in pieces their pillars, and cut down their groves (Exod. 34:13);

and they were commanded to burn the groves of the nations with fire (Deut. 12:3).

[3] And as the Jews and Israelites, among whom the representative ritual of the Ancient Church was introduced, were solely in externals, and at heart were nothing but idolaters, neither knowing nor wishing to know what anything internal was, nor the life after death, nor even that the Messiah's kingdom was a heavenly one, therefore whenever they were in freedom they held profane worship on mountains and hills, and also in groves and forests; and likewise in place of mountains and hills they made for themselves high places, and in place of groves carved representations of a grove, as is evident from many passages in the Word. As in the book of Judges: -

The sons of Israel served Baalim and the groves (Judges 3:7).

In the book of Kings: -

Israel made groves provoking Jehovah (1 Kings 14:15).

And in another place: -

Judah built them high places, and pillars, and groves, upon every high hill, and under every green tree (1 Kings 14:23).

And again: -

Israel built them high places in all their cities, and set up pillars and groves upon every high hill, and under every green tree (2 Kings 17:9, 10).

And again: -

Manasseh king of Judah reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel, and set the carved image of the grove which he had made in the house of God (2 Kings 21:3, 7);

from which it is manifest that they also made for themselves carved images of a grove. That these were destroyed by king Josiah may be seen in the same book: -

Josiah caused all the vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove, and for the sun and the moon, and for all the army of the heavens, to be brought out of the temple of Jehovah, and he burnt them without Jerusalem, and the houses which the women had woven there for the grove. He also cut down the groves which Solomon had made, and likewise the grove in Bethel which Jeroboam had made (2 Kings 23:4, 6, 7, 13-15).

That king Hezekiah also demolished such things may be seen in the same book: -

Hezekiah king of Judah removed the high places, and brake the pillars, and cut down the grove, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent which Moses had made (2 Kings 18:4).

[4] That the brazen serpent was holy in the time of Moses is evident; but when the external was worshiped it became profane, and was broken in pieces, for the same reason that worship on mountains and in groves was forbidden. These things are still more evident in the Prophets. In Isaiah: -

Inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree; sacrificing the children in the rivers under the crags of the rocks; thou hast also poured out a drink-offering to the rivers, thou hast offered a gift; upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou set thy habitation, and thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice (Isaiah 57:5-7).

In the same: -

In that day shall a man look unto his Maker, and his eyes shall see the Holy One of Israel; and he shall not look to the altars the work of his hands, neither shall he see that which his fingers have made, and the groves and the sun-images (Isaiah 17:7, 8).

In Micah: -

I will cut off thy graven images and thy pillars out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more bow thyself down to the work of thy hands; and I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy cities (Micah 5:13, 14).

In Ezekiel: -

That their slain may be among their idols, round about their altars, upon every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every tangled oak, the place where they did offer an odor of rest to all their idols (Ezekiel 6:13).

[5] From all this it is now manifest from what origin idolatrous worship came, namely, the worship of objects that were representative and significative. The most ancient people who were before the flood saw in each and everything - in mountains, hills, plains, and valleys, gardens, groves, and forests, rivers and waters, fields and plantations, trees and animals of every kind, and the luminaries of heaven - something representative and significative of the Lord's kingdom; but they never dwelt with their eyes, still less with their minds, on these objects; but these things served them as means for thinking about the celestial and spiritual things in the Lord's kingdom; and this to such a degree that there was nothing at all in universal nature that did not serve them as such means. The real fact is that everything in nature is representative, which is an arcanum at this day and scarcely believed by anyone. But after the celestial which is of love to the Lord had perished, the human race was then no longer in that state - namely, that from objects as means they could see the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom.

[6] Yet the ancients after the flood knew, from traditions, and from collections made by certain persons, that these things had such a signification; and as they were significative they esteemed them holy. Hence came the representative worship of the Ancient Church; which church, being spiritual, was not in the perception that a thing was so, but was in the knowledge of the fact; for it was relatively in obscurity (n. 2715). Nevertheless they did not worship outward things, but by means of outward things they called to mind inward things; and hence when they were in those representatives and significatives, they were in holiness of worship. They were able to be so because they were in spiritual love, that is, in charity, which they made an essential of worship; and therefore holiness from the Lord could flow into their worship. But when the state of the human race had become so changed and perverted that they removed themselves from the good of charity, and thus no longer believed that there was any heavenly kingdom, or any life after death, but that men were in a similar condition with animals, save only that they could think (as is also believed at this day), then the holy representative worship was turned into idolatry, and the outward things were worshiped. Hence with many Gentiles at that time, and also with the Jews and Israelites, the worship was not representative, but was a worship of the representatives and significatives; that is, of the outward things without the inward.

[7] As regards groves in particular, among the ancients they were of various signification, and indeed according to the kinds of trees in them. Groves of olive-trees signified the celestial things of worship; groves of vines signified the spiritual things of worship; but groves of fig-trees, cedars, fir-trees, poplars, and oaks, signified various things relating to what is celestial and spiritual. In the passage before us mention is made simply of a grove or plantation of trees; and this signifies the things of reason that were adjoined to doctrine and its knowledges; for trees in general signify perceptions (n. 103, 2163), but when they are predicated of the spiritual church they signify knowledges, for the reason that the man of the spiritual church has no other perceptions than those which come through knowledges from doctrine or the Word; for these become of his faith, and thus of conscience, from which he has perception.

2723. But in regard to Beer-sheeba - "Beer-sheba" signifies the state and quality of the doctrine, namely, that it is Divine and to which what is of human reason is adjoined-as is evident from the series of things treated of from (verse 22) to this verse (n. 2613, 2614); and also from the signification of the word itself in the original language, which is "the well of the oath", and "of seven". That a "well" is the doctrine of faith may be seen above (n. 2702, 2720); that an "oath" is conjunction (n. 2720); and that a "covenant made by an oath", has the same meaning (n. 1996, 2003, 2021, 2037); and that "seven" denotes what is holy and thus Divine (n. 395, 433, 716, 881); from all which it is evident that "Beer-sheba" signifies doctrine which is in itself Divine together with things of human reason or appearances adjoined.

[2] That the name Beer-sheba comes from all this is manifest from Abraham's words: -

Because these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take from my hand, that it may be a witness unto me that I have digged this well; therefore he called that place Beer-sheba, because there they sware both of them; and they struck a covenant in Beer-sheba (Genesis 26:30-32).

In like manner from Isaac's words in chapter 26: - It came to pass on that day that Isaac's servants came and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water; and he called it Shibah (an "oath" and "seven"); therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day (verses 32, 33). There also wells are spoken of about which there was contention with Abimelech, and a covenant with him is treated of and by "Beer-sheba" are signified the things of human reason again adjoined to the doctrine of faith; and because they are again adjoined, and the doctrine thus became adapted to human comprehension, it is called a "city". That a "city" signifies doctrine in its complex see (n. 402, 2268, 2450, 2451). Moreover Beer-sheba is mentioned with a similar signification as to the internal sense in other places (Gen 22:19; 26:22, 23; 28:10; 46:1, 5; Josh. 15:28; 19:1, 2; 1 Sam. 8:2; 1 Kings 19:3); and also in the opposite sense, (Amos 5:5; 8:13, 14).

[3] The extension of the celestial and spiritual things belonging to doctrine is signified in the internal sense, where the extent of the land of Canaan is described by the expression "from Dan even to Beer-sheba;" for by the land of Canaan is signified the Lord's kingdom, and also His church, consequently the celestial and spiritual things of doctrine; as in the book of Judges: -

All the sons of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man from Dan even to Beer-sheba (Judges 20:1).

In the book of Samuel: -

All Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba (1 Sam. 3:20).

And again: -

To transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beer-sheba (2 Sam. 3:10).

And again: -

Hushai said to Absalom, Let all Israel be gathered together, from Dan even unto Beer-sheba (2 Sam. 17:11).

And again: -

David told Joab to go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba (2 Sam. 24:2, 7).

And again: -

There died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men (2 Sam. 24:15).

In the book of Kings: -

Judah dwelt under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon (1 Kings 4:25).

2724. And called there on the name of the God of eternity. That this signifies worship therefrom, is evident from the signification of calling upon the name of God", as being worship (n. 440). They who were of the Ancient Church did not by a name understand the name, but all the quality (n. 144, 145, 440, 768, 1754, 1896, 2009); and thus by the " name of God" all that in one complex by which God was worshiped, consequently everything of love and faith; but when the internal of worship perished, and only the external remained, they then began to understand by the name of God nothing else than the name, so much so that they worshiped the name itself, feeling no care about the love and the faith from which they worshiped. On this account the nations began to distinguish themselves by the names of their gods; and the Jews and Israelites set themselves up above the rest, because they worshiped Jehovah, placing the essential of worship in uttering the name and invoking it, when in truth the worship of a name only is no worship, and may also be found among the worst of men, who thereby profane the more.

[2] But as by the "name of God" everything of worship is signified, that is, everything of love and faith from which He is worshiped, it is therefore evident what is meant by "hallowed be Thy Name", in the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9) also by what the Lord said: -

Ye shall be hated for My name's sake (Matt. 10:22).

If two shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in the heavens; for where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (Matt. 18:19, 20).

Every one that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life (Matt. 19:29).

Hosanna to the Son of David! blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Matt. 21:9).

Jesus said, Ye shall not see Me henceforth till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh In the name of the Lord (Matt. 23:39).

Ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake and then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another (Matt. 24:9, 10).

As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, to them that believe on His name (John 1:12).

He that believeth not is judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).

Jesus said, Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do (John 14:14, 15; 15:16; 16:23, 24, 26, 27).

Jesus said, I have manifested Thy name unto the men (John 17:6).

Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are (John 17:11, 12).

I have made known unto them Thy name, and will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:26).

That ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in His name (John 20:31).

Besides very many passages in the Old Testament, in which by the "name" of Jehovah and of God the name is not meant, but everything of love and faith from which is worship.

[3] But they who worship a name only, without love and faith, are thus spoken of in Matthew: -

Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied by Thy name, and by Thy name have cast out demons, and in Thy name done many mighty works? But I will confess unto them, I know you not; depart from Me ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:22, 23).

When as before said the men of the church became external, from being internal, and began to place worship in a name alone, they then no longer acknowledged one God, but many. For it was a common thing for the ancients to add something to the name of Jehovah, and thereby call to mind some benefit or attribute of His, as in the passage before us, "he called upon the name of the God of eternity;" and in chapter 22, "Abraham called the name of that place, Jehovah-jireh", that is, "Jehovah shall see" (Genesis 22:14). "Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi", that is, "Jehovah my banner" (Exod. 17:15); "Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it Jehovah-shalom" that is, "Jehovah of peace" (Judges 6:24); besides other places. From this it came to pass that they who placed worship in a name only, acknowledged so many gods; and also that among the Gentiles, especially in Greece and at Rome, so many gods were acknowledged and worshiped whereas the Ancient Church, from which the epithets emanated, never worshiped but one God, reverenced under so many names, because by the "name" they understood the quality.

2725. Verse 34. And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days. "Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days", signifies that the Lord adjoined to the doctrine of faith very many things from the memory-knowledge of human knowledges (ex scientia cognitionum humanarum).

2726. Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days. That this signifies that the Lord adjoined to the doctrine of faith very many things from the memory-knowledge of human knowledges, is evident from the signification of "sojourning", as being to instruct (n. 1463, 2025); from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord (n. 1965, 1989, 2011, 2501); from the signification of the "land of the Philistines", or Philistia, as being the memory-knowledge of knowledges (n. 1197, 1198); and from the signification of "days", as being the state of the thing which is treated of (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893); here, because knowledges from the things of memory and reason are treated of, and it is said "many days", it signifies relatively very many things. Thus far, from (verse 22), rational things from human memory-knowledges, added to the doctrine of faith, are treated of, as is manifest from the explication; and here is the conclusion of them. As regards the subject itself; as in itself it is deep, and as much is said about it in chapter 26, it may be well at present to defer further explication.

 

CONCERNING MARRIAGES, HOW THEY ARE REGARDED IN THE HEAVENS; AND CONCERNING ADULTERIES

2727. What genuine conjugial love is, and whence its origin, few at this day know, for the reason that few are in it. Almost all believe that it is inborn, and so flows from a kind of natural instinct, as they say, and this the more, because something of marriage exists also among animals; whereas the difference between conjugial love among human beings and what is of marriage among animals is such as is that between the state of a human being and the state of a brute animal.

2728. And because, as was said, few at this day know what genuine conjugial love is, it shall be described from what has been discovered to me. Conjugial love takes its origin from the Divine marriage of good and truth, and thus from the Lord Himself. That conjugial love is from this, is not apparent to sense nor to apprehension; but still it may be seen from influx and from correspondence, as well as from the Word. From influx, inasmuch as heaven, from the union of good and truth, which inflows from the Lord; is compared to a marriage, and is called a marriage: from correspondence, since, when good united to truth flows down into a lower sphere, it forms a union of minds; and when into one still lower, it forms a marriage: wherefore union of minds from good united to truth from the Lord, is conjugial love itself.

2729. That genuine conjugial love is from this, may be seen from the fact that no one can be in it unless he is in the good of truth and the truth of good from the Lord; also from the fact that heavenly blessedness and happiness is in that love; and they who are in it all come into heaven, or into the heavenly marriage. Also from the fact that when angels are conversing about the union of good and truth, there is then presented among good spirits in the lower sphere a representative of marriage; but among evil spirits a representative of adultery. Hence it is that in the Word the union of good and truth is called "marriage;" but the adulteration of good and the falsification of truth, "adultery" and "whoredom" (n. 2466).

2730. The people of the Most Ancient Church above all on this earth lived in genuine conjugial love, because they were celestial, were in truth from good, and were in the Lord's kingdom together with the angels; and in that love they had heaven. But their posterity, with whom the church declined, began to love their children, and not their consorts; for children can be loved by the evil, but a consort can be loved only by the good.

2731. From those most ancient people it has been heard that conjugial love is of such a nature as to desire to be altogether the other's, and this reciprocally; and that when this is experienced mutually and reciprocally they are in heavenly happiness: also, that the conjunction of minds is of such a nature that this mutuality and reciprocity is in everything of their life, that is, in everything of their affection, and in everything of their thought. On this account it has been instituted by the Lord that wives should be affections of good which are of the will, and husbands thoughts of truth which are of the understanding; and that from this there should be a marriage such as there is between the will and the under standing, and between all things thereof with one who is in the good of truth and the truth of good.

2732. I have spoken with angels as to the nature of this mutuality and reciprocity, and they said that there is the image and likeness of the one in the mind of the other, and that they thus dwell together not only in the particulars, but also in the inmosts of life; and that into such a one the Lord's love and mercy can flow with blessedness and happiness. They said also that they who have lived in such conjugial love in the life of the body are together and dwell together in heaven as angels, sometimes with their children also; but that very few from Christendom at this day have so lived, though all so lived from the Most Ancient Church, which was celestial, and many from the Ancient Church, which was spiritual. But that they who have lived in marriage, joined together not by conjugial love, but by lascivious love, are separated in the other life, because nothing of lasciviousness is tolerated in heaven; and that still more are those separated who have lived in mutual aversion, and more still they who have hated each other. When both first come into the other life, they for the most part meet again, but after much suffering are separated.

2733. There were certain spirits who from practice in the life of the body infested me with peculiar adroitness, and this by a somewhat gentle influx, like a wave, such as that of upright spirits is wont to be; but it was perceived that there was in it craftiness and the like, to captivate and deceive. I at length spoke with one of them who I was told had been in the world the commander of an army. And as I perceived that in the ideas of his thought there was lasciviousness, I spoke with him about marriage. The speech of spirits is illustrated by representatives, which fully express the sense, and many things in a moment of time.

[2] He said that in the life of the body he thought nothing of adulteries. But it was given to tell him that adulteries are horribly wicked - though to such men they do not appear to be so, but even allowable, owing to the delight they take in them, and the persuasion therefrom - which he might also know from the fact that marriages are the nurseries of the human race, and hence also the nurseries of the heavenly kingdom, and on that account are in no wise to be violated, but to be kept holy; as well as from the consideration that being in the other life and in a state of perception he ought to be aware that conjugial love comes down through heaven from the Lord; and that from that love, as from a parent, is derived mutual love, which is the basis of heaven; and also from the fact that when adulterers merely approach heavenly societies they become sensible of their own stench, and cast themselves down toward hell. Further, he might at least know that to violate marriages is contrary to the Divine laws, and contrary to the civil laws of all, and also contrary to the genuine light of reason, because contrary to order both Divine and human; and much more besides.

[3] But he answered that he had never known such things in the life of the body, nor had thought of them. He wished to reason whether they were so; but was told that in the other life truth does not admit of reasonings, for these favor one's delights, and thus his evils and falsities; and that he ought first to think of the things that had been said, because they were true. Or he ought also to think from the principle most fully known in the world, that one must not do to another what he is not willing that the other should do to him: and thus, if anyone had in such a manner beguiled his wife, whom he loved - as every one does in the beginning of marriage - would he not himself also at that time, when in a state of wrath about it, if he spoke from that state, have detested adulteries? and at the same time, as he was of superior talent, would he not have confirmed himself against them more than others, even to condemning them to hell? and thus he might have judged himself from himself.

2734. They who in the life of the body have had happiness in marriages from genuine conjugial love, have happiness also in the other life; so that with them the happiness of the one life is continued into that of the other, and becomes there a union of minds, in which is heaven. I have been told that the kinds of celestial and spiritual happiness from it, even only the most universal, cannot be numbered.

2735. Genuine conjugial love is the image of heaven, and when it is represented in the other life this is done by the most beautiful things that can ever be seen by the eyes, or conceived by the mind. It is represented by a virgin of inexpressible beauty, encompassed by a bright cloud, so that it may be said to be beauty itself in essence and form. It has been said that all beauty in the other life is from conjugial love. Its affections and thoughts are represented by diamond-like auras, sparkling as it were with rubies and carbuncles, and these things are attended with delights which affect the inmosts of the mind; but as soon as anything of lasciviousness enters in, they disappear.

2736. I have been instructed that genuine conjugial love is innocence itself, which dwells in wisdom. Those who have lived in conjugial love are in wisdom more than all others in heaven; and yet when viewed by others they appear like little children, in the age of bloom and spring; and whatever then befalls is joy and happiness to them. They are in the inmost heaven, which is called the heaven of innocence. Through this heaven the Lord flows into conjugial love, and angels from that heaven are present with those who live in that love. They are also present with little children in their earliest age.

2737. With those who live in conjugial love, the interiors of their minds are open through heaven even to the Lord; for this love flows in from the Lord through a man's inmost. From this they have the Lord's kingdom in themselves, and from this they have genuine love toward little children for the sake of the Lord's kingdom; and from this they are receptive of heavenly loves above others, and are in mutual love more than others for this comes from that source as a stream from its fountain.

2738. Mutual love, such as there is in heaven, is not like conjugial love. Conjugial love consists in desiring to be in the other's life as a one but mutual love consists in wishing better to another than to one's self, as is the case with the love of parents toward their children, and as is the love of those who are in the love of doing good, not for their own sake, but because this is a joy to them. Such angelic love is derived from conjugial love, and is born from it as a child from its parent; and for this reason it exists with parents toward their children. This love is preserved by the Lord with parents, even if they are not in conjugial love, in order that the human race may not perish.

2739. From the marriage of good and truth in the heavens descend all loves, which are such as the love of parents toward their children, the love of brothers for one another, and the love for relatives, and so on, according to their degrees in their order. According to these loves, which are solely from good and truth, that is, from love to the Lord and faith in Him, are formed all the heavenly societies; which are joined together by the Lord as to represent one man, and therefore heaven is also called the Grand Man. There are unutterable varieties, all of which take their origin and are derived from the union of good and truth from the Lord, which union is the heavenly marriage. Hence it is that the origin of all consanguinities and relationships on earth is derived from marriages, and that loves were derived in like manner according to their degrees mutually among themselves; but as there is no conjugial love at this day, consanguinities and relationships are indeed reckoned from marriage, but there are no consanguinities and relationships of love. In the Most Ancient Church the derivations of love were of this nature, and therefore they dwell together in the heavens distinguished as it were into nations, families, and houses, all of which acknowledge the Lord as their only Parent.

2740. Genuine conjugial love is not possible except between two consorts, that is, in the marriage of one man with one wife, and by no means with more than one at the same time; for the reason that conjugial love is mutual and reciprocal, and is the alternate life of the one in the other, so that they are as it were a one. Such a union is possible between two, but not among more: more tear that love asunder. The men of the Most Ancient Church, who were celestial and in the perception of good and truth, like the angels, had but one wife. They said that with one wife they perceived heavenly delights and happiness, and that when marriage with more was merely mentioned, they were filled with horror; for as before said the marriage of one husband and one wife comes down from the marriage of good and truth, or from the heavenly marriage, which is of this nature, as is very evident from the Lord's words in Matthew: -

Jesus said, have ye not heard that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh; what therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Moses, for the hardness of your heart, permitted you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so. All cannot receive this word, save they to whom it is given (Matthew 19:3-12).

2741. Good and truth are continually flowing in from the Lord with all, and consequently so is genuine conjugial love; but it is received in various ways and as it is received, such it becomes. With the lascivious it is turned into lasciviousness, with adulterers into adulteries, its heavenly happiness into unclean delight, thus heaven into hell. The case with this is as with the light of the sun flowing into objects, which is received according to the nature of the objects, and becomes blue, red, yellow, green, dark, and even black, according to the reception.

2742. A certain semblance of conjugial love is found with some, but is not really that unless they are in the love of good and truth. It is a love appearing like conjugial love, but it is for the sake of the love of the world or of self, namely, to be served at home, or to be in security or at ease, or to be ministered to when ill and when growing old; or for the sake of the care of their children whom they love. With some this seeming love is induced from fear of the consort, or for one's reputation, or fear of misfortunes; and with some from lascivious love. This appears in the first period as if it were conjugial love; for at that time they behave with something like innocence, they sport like little children, they have a perception of joy as of something from heaven; but with the progress of time they do not become united more and more closely, like those who are in conjugial love, but are being separated. Conjugial love also differs with the consorts; with the one it may be more or less, with the other little or nothing; and because of this difference there may be heaven for the one, but hell for the other. The affection and the reception determine this.

2743. A great dog like Cerberus was seen by me, and I asked what it signified, and was told that by such a dog is signified a guard lest anyone should pass in conjugial love from heavenly delight to infernal delight, or the reverse; for they who are in genuine conjugial love are in heavenly delight; but they who are in adulteries are also in a delight which appears to them as heavenly, but is infernal. By the dog is thus represented that those opposite delights must not communicate.

2744. It was shown me how the delights from conjugial love advance, on the one side to heaven, and on the other to hell. The advancement of the delights toward heaven was into blessedness and happiness continually more and more, even to what was beyond number or description; and the more interior, the more innumerable and ineffable, even to the very celestial happiness of the inmost heaven, or of the heaven of innocence; and this with the greatest freedom, for all freedom is from love; and thus the greatest freedom is from conjugial love, and is heavenly freedom itself. It was then shown how the delights of conjugial love descend toward hell - that they remove themselves little by little away from heaven, and this likewise with apparent freedom, till at last scarcely any. thing human remains in them. The deadly and infernal end to which they come has been seen, but cannot be described. A certain spirit who was then with me, and likewise saw these things, ran hastily forward to some sirens, of this character, declaring that he would show them the quality of their delight, and at first having the idea of delight; but as by little and little he came more in front, his idea was continued on, like the progress of the delight, to hell; and at length it ended in such horror. Sirens are women who have been in the persuasion that it is honorable to commit whoredom and adultery, and have also been valued by others for being so disposed, and for being in the elegancies of life. Most of them come into the other life from Christendom. They are treated of above (n. 831, 959, 1515, 1983, 2483).

2745. There are women who do not love their husbands, but hold them in contempt, and at length esteem them as of no account. Their quality was represented to me by a cock, a wild cat, and a tiger of a dark color. It was said that such begin by talking much, and then proceed to scolding, and at length put on the nature of the tiger. It was said by some that such still love their children; but it was answered that such love is not human, and that it flows equally into the evil, and even into animals of whatever kind, to such a degree that these also love their offspring more than themselves. It was added that with such persons there is nothing of conjugial love.

2746. There was a certain spirit in middle altitude above the head, who in the life of the body had lived wantonly, delighted with variety, so that he loved no one constantly, but passed his time in brothels, and thus had scortated with many, every one of whom he had afterwards rejected. It hence came to pass that he had beguiled many, and had thereby extinguished the desire for marriage, even for the procreation of children, and thus had contracted an unnatural nature. All these things were disclosed, and he was miserably punished, and this in the sight of the angels; and afterwards he was cast into hell. Concerning the hells of adulterers, see (n. 824-830).

2747. As adulteries are contrary to conjugial love, adulterers cannot be in heaven with the angels; for the reason also that they are in what is contrary to good and truth, and thus are not in the heavenly marriage; and also because they have none but filthy ideas respecting marriage. When marriage is merely mentioned, or the idea of it occurs, instantly in their ideas are things lascivious, obscene, nay, unmentionable. It is the same when the angels are speaking about good and truth: such persons then think things that are opposite; for all affections and the derivative thoughts remain with a man after death, such as they had been in the world. Adulterers are in the desire of destroying society; many of them are cruel (n. 824), and thus in heart they are opposed to charity and mercy; laughing at the miseries of others; wishing to take away from every one what is his; and doing this as far as they dare. Their delight is to destroy friendships, and to bring about enmities. Their religious profession is that they acknowledge a Creator of the universe and a Providence - but only a universal one - and salvation by faith, and believe that nothing worse can be done to them than to others. But when they are examined as to what they are at heart, which is done in the other life, they do not believe even what they have professed; but instead of the creator of the universe they think of nature; instead of a universal Providence, they think of none; and they think nothing of faith. All this is so, because adulteries are wholly contrary to good and truth. Judge then how such can be in heaven.

2748. Some spirits who in the world had lived a life of adultery, came and spoke to me. I perceived that they had not been long in the other life, for they did not know that they were there, thinking that they were still in the world, and reflection as to where they were, being taken away from them. It was given to tell them that they were in the other life; but soon forgetting it, they asked where there were houses into which they might get introduced. But they were asked whether they had no respect for spiritual things, namely, for conjugial love, which is broken up by such allurements; and they were told that such things are contrary to heavenly order. But to this they paid no attention, neither did they understand what was said. I inquired further whether they did not fear the laws, and punishments according to the laws; but these things they held in contempt. But when I said that perhaps they would be severely beaten by the servants, this alone they feared. It was afterwards given to perceive their thoughts, which are communicated in the other life. They were so filthy and obscene that the well disposed could not but be struck with horror; and yet they are made manifest as to each and every particular before spirits and angels in the other life. From all this it is evident that such cannot be in heaven.

2749. With those who have by adulteries conceived a loathing and nausea for marriages, when any delight, blessedness, and happiness from the heaven of the angels reaches them, it is turned into what is loathsome and nauseous, and then into what is painful, and at length into an offensive stench, until they cast themselves down from thence into hell.

2750. I have been instructed by angels that when anyone commits adultery on earth, heaven is then immediately closed to him, and he afterwards lives only in worldly and corporeal things; and although he then hears of the things of love and faith, they nevertheless do not penetrate to his interiors; and what he says about them himself does not come from his interiors, but only from the memory and the mouth, being called forth by pride or the love of gain; for his interiors are closed up, and cannot he opened except by serious repentance.

2751. Above in front before the left eye were massed together such as in the life of the body had in secret and with great craftiness plotted against others. They were adulterers, and were still in the world of spirits, as they were among the newcomers. Their custom was to send forth from their troop this way and that some to plot intrigues, not only against conjugial love, but also against good and truth, and most of all against the Lord. They who are thus sent out return to them, and relate what they have heard; and so they take counsel. They also sent one to me, supposing that I was a spirit, because I spoke with the speech of spirits. When that emissary spoke, he uttered scandalous things, mostly against the Lord; so that he was as it were made up of mere scandals. But I answered that he should abstain from such things, as I knew from what band and what refuse he was; and that as regards the Lord, I knew beyond all doubt that He is one with the Father; that the universal heaven is His; that all innocence, peace, love, charity, and mercy are from Him, and all conjugial love also; and that from Him are all good and truth; all of which things are Divine; and that Moses and the Prophets, that is, all and everything in the Word, in the internal sense, treats of Him; and that all the rites of the Jewish Church represented Him; and as I was so certain of these things that I had no doubt, what more did he want? On hearing these things he withdrew with shame. These things were said, that he might tell them to the adulterers who constituted that wicked troop from which he was sent.

2752. In the other life they who have been eaten up with adulteries desire more than others to obsess men, and thus through them to return into the world; but they are kept back in hell by the Lord, lest they should come among the spirits who are with men. The most who are such are from the Christian world; rarely from elsewhere.

2753. There are some in the world who are carried away by the lust of seducing virgins to whoredom, wherever they may be: in nunneries, in families, or with their parents, and also wives; and they insinuate themselves by crafty modes and with flatteries. As they are accustomed to such things, and have formed their nature from them, they retain in the other life the ability to insinuate themselves into societies by flatteries and simulations; but as their thoughts lie plainly open, they are rejected. They thus pass from one society to another, but are everywhere rejected: they are also treated with severity, for they study to steal away the delights and blessedness of others. At length they are admitted into no societies, but after having endured severe punishments, are associated with their like in hell.

2754. The most deceitful sometimes appear high above the head, but their hell is deep under the heel of the foot. They are the modern antediluvians. They ensnare by pretense of innocence, of pity, and of various good affections, with persuasion. When they lived in the world they were adulterers beyond others. Where there was a wife beautiful and young, there they entered without conscience and by such means seduced her. They are invisible and are unwilling to be discovered, as they act in secret. They are also cruel, having cared for themselves alone, and reckoning it as nothing even if the whole world should perish for them. There are great numbers of such spirits at this day, and it was said that they are from Christendom. Their hell is the most grievous of all.

2755. The hells of adulterers are many. There they love nothing more than filth and excrement, in which they now find delight. This may also be evident from many of that sort in the life of the body, to whom it is delightful to think and talk of filthy things, abstaining only for decorum's sake. The delight of adultery is turned into such things in the other life. It is as when the heat of the sun, even that of spring, flows into excrement or into carrion.

2756. There are those who have held as a principle community of wives. These in the other life speak as if they were good, but they are malignant and deceitful. Their punishment is horrible. They are bound together as if into a bundle, and by representation a serpent appears wound around them, which binds them all as it were into a great ball, and thus they are cast out.

2757. When I was being conducted through several abodes, I came to one where heat seized my feet and loins, and it was said that those were there who have indulged in pleasures, but still have not extinguished the natural desire of procreating offspring.

2758. That genuine conjugial love is heaven, is represented in the kingdoms of nature; for there is nothing in all nature that does not in some way represent the Lord's kingdom in general, since the natural kingdom derives all its origin from the spiritual. What is without an origin prior to itself is nothing. Nothing exists that is unconnected with a cause, and thus with an end. What is unconnected falls away in a moment, and becomes nothing; from this then are the representatives of the Lord's kingdom in the kingdoms of nature. That conjugial love is heaven, is manifest from the transformation of little worms into nymphs and chrysalides, and thus into winged insects for when their time of nuptials comes - which is when they put off their earthly form, or their worm-like form, and are embellished with wings and become flying creatures - they are then elevated into the air, which is their heaven; and there they sport with each other, perform their marriage rites, lay eggs, and nourish themselves on the juices of flowers. They are then also in their beauty; for they have wings decorated with golden, silver, and other elegantly marked colors. Such things does the marriage principle produce among such vile little worms.

2759. On the right side there rose up from the lower earth as it were a roll; and it was said that they were many spirits from the lower class of people, untaught but not depraved. They were peasants and other simple people. I spoke with them, and they said that they know the Lord, to whose name they commend themselves. Further than this they knew little of faith and its mysteries. Afterwards others rose up who knew some little more. It was perceived that their interiors were capable of being opened; for in the other life this can be manifestly perceived. They had conscience, which was communicated to me, that I might know it; and it was said that they lived in conjugial love in simplicity. They said that they loved their consorts and abstained from adulteries. That this was from conscience was evident from their saying that they could not do otherwise, because it was contrary to their will. Such persons are instructed in the other life and are perfected in the good of love and truth of faith, and are at length received among the angels.

How greatly they are deluded who remain in the sense of the letter alone, and do not search out the internal sense from other passages in the Word in which it is explained, is very evident from the many heresies, every one of which proves its dogmas from the literal sense of the Word especially is this manifest from that great heresy which the insane and infernal love of self and the world has drawn from the Lord's words to Peter: -

I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth shall be bound in the heavens, and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth shall be loosed in the heavens (Matt. 16:15-19).

[2] They who press the sense of the letter think that these things were said of Peter, and that power so great was given him; although they are fully aware that Peter was a very simple man, and that he by no means exercised such power; and that to exercise it is contrary to the Divine. Nevertheless, as owing to the insane and infernal love of self and the world they desire to arrogate to themselves the highest power on earth and in heaven, and to make themselves gods, they explain this according to the letter, and vehemently defend it; whereas the internal sense of these words is, that Faith itself in the Lord, which exists solely with those who are in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, has that power; and yet not faith, but the Lord from whom faith is. By "Peter" there is meant that faith, as everywhere else in the Word. Upon this is the Church built, and against it the gates of hell do not prevail. This faith has the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and it shuts heaven lest evils and falsities should enter in, and opens heaven for goods and truths. This is the internal sense of these words.

[3] The twelve apostles, like the twelve tribes of Israel, represented nothing else than all the things of such faith (n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130). Peter represented faith itself, James charity, and John the goods of charity (n. 2135a); in like manner as did Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, the firstborn sons of Jacob, in the representative Jewish and Israelitish Church, which is plain from a thousand passages in the Word. And as Peter represented faith, the words in question were said to him. From this it is manifest into what darkness those cast themselves, and others with them, who explain all things according to the letter; as those who so explain these words to Peter, by which they derogate from the Lord and arrogate to themselves the power of saving the human race.


Chapter 22

2760. The Word as to its internal sense is thus described by John in the Apocalypse: -

I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and He who sat upon him was called faithful and true; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were a flame of fire; and upon His head were many diadems; and He had a name written which no one knew but He Himself; and He was clothed in a garment dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean. And He hath upon His garment and upon His thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords (Apocalypse 19:11-14, 16).

What each of these things involves no one can know except from the internal sense. It is manifest that every one of them is something representative and significative, as, that heaven was opened, that the horse was white, that He that sat upon him was faithful and true, and judgeth and maketh war in righteousness; that His eyes were a flame of fire, that upon His head were many diadems, that He had a name written which no one knew but He Himself, that He was clothed in a garment dipped in blood, that the armies which are in heaven followed Him upon white horses, that they were clothed in fine linen white and clean, and that He had upon His garment and upon His thigh a name written. It is said in plain words that it is the Word which is meant, and that it is the Lord who is the Word; for it is said, "His name is called the Word of God", and then, "He hath upon His garment and upon His thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords".

[2] From the interpretation of each of the words it is manifest that the Word is here described as to its internal sense. "Heaven being opened", represents and signifies that the internal sense of the Word is not seen except in heaven, and by those to whom heaven is opened, that is, who are in love to the Lord and thence in faith in Him. The "horse which was white" represents and signifies the understanding of the Word as to its interiors; that a "white horse" is this will be manifest from what follows. That "He who sat upon him" is the Word, and the Lord who is the Word, is evident. He is called "faithful and judging from righteousness" on account of good, and "true and making war from righteousness" on account of truth. His "having upon His head many diadems", signifies all things of faith. His "having a name written which no one knew but He Himself", signifies that no one sees what the Word is in its internal sense but Himself, and he to whom He reveals it. "His being clothed in a garment dipped in blood", signifies the Word in the letter. The "armies in the heavens which followed Him upon white horses", signify those who are in the understanding of the Word as to its interiors. "Clothed in fine linen white and clean", signifies the same in love and thence in faith. The "name written upon His garment and upon His thigh", signifies truth and good. From all this, and from what there precedes and follows, it is manifest that toward the last period the internal sense of the Word will be opened; but what will then come to pass is also described there (Revelation 19:17-21).

2761. That the "white horse" is the understanding of the Word as to its interiors, or what is the same, the internal sense of the Word, is evident from the signification of a "horse", as being the intellectual faculty. In the prophetic parts of the Word a horse and a rider are often named; but no one has hitherto known that a "horse" signifies the faculty of understanding, and a "rider" one who is intelligent - as in the prophecy of Jacob, then Israel, respecting Dan: -

Dan shall be a serpent upon the way, an arrow-snake upon the path, biting the horse's heels, and his rider shall fall backward. I wait for Thy salvation, O Jehovah (Gen. 49:17, 18).

That a "serpent" is one who reasons concerning Divine arcana from the senses and from memory-knowledges, may be seen above (n. 195); also that a "way" and a path" are truth (n. 627, 2333); and that the "heel" is the lowest of the natural (n. 259); a "horse" is the understanding of the Word; and a "rider" he that teaches. Hence it is manifest what these prophetic words signify, namely, that one who reasons concerning the truths of faith from the senses and from memory-knowledges, sticks fast in the lowest things of nature only, and thus believes nothing, which is to "fall backward;" wherefore it is added, "I wait for Thy salvation, O Jehovah".

[2] In Habakkuk: -

O God, Thou dost ride upon Thy horses, Thy chariots are salvation, Thou hast made Thy horses to tread in the sea (Habakkuk 3:8, 15);

where "horses" denote the Divine truths which are in the Word; " chariots", doctrine from them; the "sea", knowledges (n. 28, 2120); and because these are of the understanding of the Word from God, it is said, "Thou hast made Thy horses to tread in the sea". Horses are here attributed to God, as in the Apocalypse, above; to whom they cannot be attributed unless they signify such things.

[3] In David: -

Sing unto God, sing praises to His name, extol Him that rideth upon the clouds, by His name Jah (Ps. 68:4);

to "ride upon the clouds" denotes the understanding of the Word as to its interiors, or in its internal sense. A "cloud" is the Word in the letter, in which is the internal sense (n. 2135a).

[4] In the same: -

Jehovah bowed the heavens, and came down, and thick darkness was under His feet; and He rode upon a cherub (Ps. 18:9, 10);

"thick darkness" here denotes clouds; to "ride upon a cherub" represents the Lord's providence lest man should of himself enter into the mysteries of faith which are in the Word (n. 308). In Zechariah: -

In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto Jehovah (Zechariah 14:20);

the "bells of the horses" denote the understanding of the spiritual things of the Word, which are holy.

[5] In Jeremiah: -

There shall enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes, sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariot and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city shall be inhabited forever (Jeremiah 17:25, 26; 22:4);

the "city Jerusalem" denotes the Lord's spiritual kingdom and church; "kings", truths (n. 1672, 2015, 2069); "princes", the primary precepts of truth (n. 1482, 2089); "David", the Lord (n. 1888); the "men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem", those who are in the good of love, of charity, and of faith (n. 2268, 2451, 2712); thus to "ride upon a chariot and upon horses" means to be instructed in the doctrine of truth from the internal understanding of the Word.

[6] In Isaiah: -

Then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah, and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob (Isaiah 58:14);

to "ride upon the high places of the earth" denotes intelligence. In David: -

A song of loves: Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O mighty one, Thy glory and Thy majesty; and in Thy majesty go forward, ride upon the word of truth, and of the gentleness of righteousness, and Thy right hand shall teach Thee wonderful things (Ps. 45:3, 4);

to "ride upon the word of truth" manifestly denotes the understanding of truth; and "upon the word of the gentleness of righteousness", the wisdom of good.

[7] In Zechariah: -

In that day, saith Jehovah, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness; and I will open Mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness (Zechariah 12:4, 5);

where also the "horse" manifestly denotes the understanding, which would be smitten with astonishment and blindness; and the "rider" him that understands, who would be smitten with madness. In Hosea: -

Take away all iniquity, and accept that which is good, and we will render the bullocks of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; and we will no more say to the work of our hands, Thou art our god (Hosea 14:2, 3);

"Asshur" denotes reasoning (n. 119, 1186); the "horse" one's own intelligence. Besides these there are many other passages.

2762. That a "horse" signifies the faculty of understanding is from no other source than the representatives in the other life. Often there, in the world of spirits, horses are seen, and this with great variety, and those also that sit on them; and whenever they are seen they signify the faculty of understanding. There are such representatives continually with spirits. It is from the representation of the horse, as being the understanding, that when horses are mentioned in the Word, the spirits and angels with man at once know that the understanding is what is treated of. It is also from this that when spirits from a certain distant world on being imbued with intelligence and wisdom are taken up from the world of spirits into heaven, there appear to them horses shining as with fire; which also I have seen when they were taken up.

[2] From this I could see what is signified by the chariot of fire and horses of fire seen by Elisha when Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven; as also what is signified by the exclamation of Elisha then: "My Father, my Father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof" (2 Kings 2:11, 12); and by Joash king of Israel saying the same to Elisha when he was dying: "My Father, my Father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof" (2 Kings 13:14). That by Elijah and Elisha was represented the Lord as to the Word, will of the Lord's Divine mercy be told elsewhere; the doctrine of love and charity from the Word being meant by the "chariot of fire", and the doctrine of faith therefrom by the "horses of fire". The doctrine of faith is the same as the understanding of the Word as to its interiors, or as to its internal sense.

[3] That chariots and horses are seen in the heavens with spirits and angels, is evident from the fact of their being seen by the prophets, as by (Zechariah 1:8-10; 6:3-7), and by others, and also by Elisha's servant, as thus described in the book of Kings: -

Jehovah opened the eyes of Elisha's boy, and he saw; and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha (2 Kings 6:17).

Moreover, where the abode of the intelligent and wise is, in the world of spirits, chariots and horses appear continually; for the reason as said that by chariots and horses are represented the things of wisdom and of intelligence. Resuscitated persons after death, who are entering into the other life, see represented to them a young man sitting upon a horse, and then alighting from the horse; and by this is signified that they are to be instructed in the knowledge of good and truth before they can come into heaven, see (n. 187, 188).

[4] That chariots and horses signified these things, was well known in the Ancient Church, as also is evident from the book of Job, which is a book of that Church, where are these words: -

God hath made her to forget wisdom, and hath not imparted to her intelligence; what time she lifteth up herself on high she scorneth the horse and his rider (Job 39:17-19).

From the Ancient Church the signification of the horse, as being the faculty of understanding, was extended to the wise round about, even into Greece. From this it came to pass that when they described the sun, by which was signified love, (n. 2441, 2495), they placed in it the god of their wisdom and intelligence, and gave him a chariot and four horses of fire; and that when they described the god of the sea, because by the sea were signified knowledges in general (n. 28, 2120), they gave horses also to him; and that when they described the rise of knowledges from the understanding, they represented a flying horse which with his hoof broke open a fountain, where dwelt the virgins that were the sciences; and by the Trojan horse nothing else was signified than a contrivance of their understanding for destroying city walls. Even at this day the intellect is often described, according to the custom received from those ancient people, under the figure of a flying horse, or Pegasus and learning is described as a fountain; but scarcely anyone knows that a horse, in the mystic sense, signifies the understanding, and a fountain truth; still less that these significatives were handed down to the Gentiles from the Ancient Church.

2763. From all this it is now manifest whence come the representatives and significatives in the Word, namely, from the representatives that exist in the other life. From this source they came to the men of the Most Ancient Church, who were celestial, and were in company with spirits and angels while living on earth. From them the representatives passed to their posterity, and at length to those who merely knew that they had such a signification; but because the representatives came from the most ancient times, and were in their Divine worship, they were venerated and held sacred.

[2] Besides representatives, there are also correspondences which suggest and also signify something altogether different in the spiritual world from what they do in the natural world; as the heart, the affection of good; the eyes, the understanding; the ears, obedience; the hands, power; besides innumerable other correspondences. These are not represented in this way in the world of spirits; but they correspond, as what is natural to what is spiritual. Hence it is that every word, even to the smallest iota of all, in the Word, involves spiritual and heavenly things; and that the Word is in this manner inspired, so that when it is read by man, spirits and angels immediately perceive it spiritually according to the representations and correspondences. But this knowledge, which was so much cultivated and esteemed by the ancients after the flood, and by means of which they were able to think with spirits and angels, is at this day altogether obliterated, so much so that scarcely anyone is willing to believe that it exists; and they who believe in it merely call it a kind of mystical thing, of no use; and this for the reason that man has become altogether worldly and corporeal; to such a degree that when what is spiritual and heavenly is mentioned, he feels a repugnance, and sometimes a loathing, or even nausea. What then will he do in the other life, which lasts forever, and where there is nothing worldly and corporeal, but only what is spiritual and heavenly, which makes the life in heaven?

 

GENESIS 22:1-24

1. And it came to pass after these words, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I.

2. And He said, Take I pray thy son, thine only one, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee to the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

3. And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his boys with him, and Isaac his son; and he clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God told him.

4. On the third day, and Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

5. And Abraham said unto his boys, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the boy will go yonder, and we will bow ourselves down, and will come again to you.

6. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together.

7. And Isaac said unto Abraham his father; and he said, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood; and where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?

8. And Abraham said, God will see for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son: and they went both of them together.

9. And they came to the place which God told him of; and Abraham built there the altar, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10. And Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11. And the angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I.

12. And He said, Put not forth thine hand upon the boy, and do not anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, and thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from Me.

13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw, and behold a ram behind, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went, and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son.

14. And Abraham called the name of that place, Jehovah-will-see, as it is said to this day, In the mountain Jehovah will see.

15. And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven.

16. And said, By Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only one,

17. That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed, as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies.

18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast harkened to My voice.

19. And Abraham returned unto his boys; and they rose up, and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt in Beer-sheba.

20. And it came to pass after these words that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she also hath borne children unto Nahor thy brother:

21. Uz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram;

22. And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.

23. And Bethuel begat Rebekah; these eight did Milcah bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

24. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she also bare Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah.

 

THE CONTENTS

2764. In this chapter in the internal sense the Lord's most grievous and inmost temptations are treated of, by which He united His Human Essence to His Divine Essence; and also the salvation by this union of those who constitute the Lord's spiritual church.

2765. The Lord's most grievous and inmost temptations are treated of (verses 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11). Concerning the unition of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence, or His glorification, by means of them (verses 2, 11, 12, 16). Concerning the salvation by the Lords Divine Human of the spiritual, of those who are in charity and faith, within the church (verses 2, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19). And concerning the salvation of those who are in good, outside the church (verses 20, 21, 22, 23, 24).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

2766. Verse 1. And it came to pass after these words that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. "It came to pass after these words", signifies after the things just accomplished; "that God did tempt Abraham", signifies the Lord's most grievous and inmost temptations; "and said unto him, Abraham", signifies the Lord's perception from Divine truth; "and he said, Here am I", signifies thought and reflection.

2767. It came to pass after these words. That this signifies after the things just accomplished, is evident without explication. The things which have been treated of are those respecting Abimelech and Abraham, that they made a covenant in Beer-sheba, and lastly that Abraham raised up a grove in Beer-sheba, by which was signified that human rational things were adjoined to the doctrine of faith, which is in itself Divine. Here now the Lord's temptation as to the rational, which is signified by Isaac, is treated of; for by temptations the Lord made His Human Divine, and thus His rational, in which the human commences (n. 2106, 2194), by chastising and expelling all in the rational that was merely human, or the maternal human. This is the connection of the things of the preceding chapter with those in this chapter; whence it is said, "It came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham".

2768. That God did tempt Abraham. That this signifies the Lord's most grievous and inmost temptations, is evident from what follows. That in the internal sense by "Abraham" is represented and meant the Lord, is manifest from all that precedes where Abraham is treated of. That the Lord suffered most grievous and inmost temptations, which are described in this chapter in the internal sense, will be made evident. But its being said that "God did tempt", is according to the sense of the letter, in which temptations and many other things are attributed to God; but it is according to the internal sense that God tempts no one; but in the time of temptations is continually liberating from them, as far as possible, or as far as the liberation does not do harm, and is continually looking to the good into which He is leading him who is in the temptations; for God never takes part in temptations in any other manner; and though it is predicated of Him that He permits, still it is not according to the idea which man has of permission, namely, that by permitting He concurs. Man cannot comprehend it in any other manner than that he who permits is also willing; but it is the evil within the man which causes, and even leads into the temptation; and no cause of this is in Gods the cause is not in the king or in the judge, when a man does evil and suffers punishment therefor. For he who separates himself from the laws of Divine order, all of which are the laws of good and thence of truth, casts himself into the laws that are opposite to Divine order, which are those of evil and falsity, and thence of punishments and torments.

2769. And said unto him, Abraham. That this signifies the Lord's perception from Divine truth, is evident from the signification of "saying" in the historical statements of the Word, as being to perceive (n. 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619); and from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord. That the perception was from Divine truth, may be seen from the fact that "God" is named, and not "Jehovah;" for where truth is treated of in the Word, there "God" is named; but where good is treated of, there "Jehovah" is named (n. 2586). Hence it is that it is said "God" in this verse and also in those which follow, to (verse 11), for the reason that temptation is there treated of. And that it is said "Jehovah" in (verse 11) and those that follow, is because liberation is then treated of; for all temptation and condemnation is from truth, but all liberation and salvation is from good. That truth condemns and good saves, see (n. 1685, 2258, 2335).

2770. And he said, Here am I. That this signifies thought and reflection, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive (n. 2769), but here to think and reflect, because they are the words of an answer for all thought and the reflection therefrom comes from perception (n. 1919, 2515, 2552).

2771. Verse 2. And He said, Take I pray thy son, thine only one, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee to the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. "He said, Take I pray thy son", signifies the Divine rational begotten by Him; "thine only one, whom thou lovest", signifies the sole one in the universe by which He was to save the human race; "even Isaac", signifies its quality; "and get thee to the land of Moriah", signifies a place and state of temptation; "and offer him there for a burnt-offering", signifies that He should sanctify Himself to the Divine; "upon one of the mountains", signifies the Divine Love; "which I will tell thee of", signifies as He should perceive.

2772. He said, Take I pray thy son. That this signifies the Divine rational begotten by Him, is evident from the signification of a "son", as being the rational (n. 2623); here the Divine rational, because by the son is meant Isaac; and that he represents the Lord's Divine rational has been shown above (n. 1893, 2066, 2083, 2630). And as the Lord made His rational Divine by His own power, as has been often said, by "thy son" is also signified that it was begotten by Him (n. 1893, 2093, 2625).

2773. Thine only one, whom thou lovest. That this signifies the only one in the universe by which He was to save the human race, is evident from the signification of the "only one", as being the sole and indeed the only one in the universe, because the Lord is treated of, who alone as to all His Human became God, or Divine.

2774. Even Isaac. That this signifies the quality of the rational, namely, as being the good of truth and the truth of good, that is, the Divine marriage as to the Lord's Human, is evident from the naming of Isaac (Genesis 21:6, 7).

2775. And get thee to the land of Moriah. That this signifies a place and state of temptation, they be seen from the signification of the "land of Moriah". That the "land of Moriah" means a place of temptation, is manifest from Abraham's being commanded to go thither and offer up his son as a burnt-offering, and thus to undergo the extremity of temptation. That Jerusalem, where the Lord Himself endured the extremity of temptation, was in the same land, is evident from the fact that an altar was built by David on Mount Moriah, and afterwards the temple by Solomon; as is manifest from the book of Chronicles: -

Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, which was seen by David his father, in the place which David prepared in the threshing-floor of Ornan (Araunah) the Jebusite (2 Chron. 3:1; 1 Chron. 21:16-28; 2 Sam. 24:16-25).

From this it is sufficiently evident that these things which are said respecting the sacrificing of Isaac are representative of the Lord; otherwise this might have been done where Abraham was then tarrying; and he would not have been commanded to proceed from thence a journey of nearly three days.

2776. And offer him there for a burnt-offering. That this signifies that He should sanctify Himself to the Divine, is evident from the representation of a burnt-offering among the Hebrew nation and in the Jewish church, as being the most holy thing of their worship. There were burnt-offerings and there were sacrifices, and what these represented may be seen above (n. 922, 923, 1823, 2180). Their sanctifications were made by means of them, and hence it is that by "offering up for a burnt-offering" is here signified to be sanctified to the Divine, for the Lord Himself sanctified Himself to the Divine, that is, united His Human to His Divine by the combats and victories of temptations (n. 1663, 1690, 1691, 1692, 1737, 1787, 1812, 1813, 1820).

[2] It is a common belief at this day that the burnt-offerings and sacrifices signified the Lord's passion, and that by this the Lord made expiation for the iniquities of all; indeed, that He took them upon Himself, and thus bore them; and that those who believe are in this manner justified and saved, provided they think, even though it were in the last hour before death, that the Lord suffered for them, no matter how they may have lived during the whole course of their life. But the case is not really so: the passion of the cross was the extremity of the Lord's temptation, by which He fully united His Human to His Divine and His Divine to His Human, and thus glorified Himself. This very union is the means by which those who have the faith in Him which is the faith of charity, can be saved. For the supreme Divine Itself could no longer reach to the human race, which had removed itself so far from the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith, that men no longer even acknowledged them, and still less perceived them. In order therefore that the supreme Divine might be able to come down to man in such a state, the Lord came into the world and united His Human to the Divine in Himself; which union could not be effected otherwise than by the most grievous combats of temptations and by victories, and at length by the last, which was that of the cross.

[3] Hence it is that the Lord can from His Divine Human illumine minds, even those far removed from the celestial things of love, provided they are in the faith of charity. For the Lord in the other life appears to the celestial angels as a Sun, and to the spiritual as a Moon (n. 1053, 1521, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495), whence comes all the light of heaven. This light of heaven is of such a nature that when it illumines the sight of spirits and angels, it also illumines their understanding at the same time. This is inherent in that light, so that in heaven so much as anyone has of external light, so much has he of internal light, that is, so much of understanding; which shows wherein the light of heaven differs from the light of the world. It is the Lord's Divine Human which illuminates both the sight and the understanding of the spiritual; which would not take place if the Lord had not united His Human Essence to His Divine Essence; and if He had not united them, man in the world would no longer have had any capacity of understanding and perceiving what is good and true, nor indeed would a spiritual angel in heaven have had any; so that they would have had nothing of blessedness and happiness, consequently nothing of salvation. From this we can see that the human race could not have been saved unless the Lord had assumed the Human and glorified it.

[4] Hence then anyone may infer what truth there is in the idea that men are saved if they only think from a kind of interior emotion that the Lord suffered for them, and took away their sins, however they may have lived; whereas the light of heaven from the Lord's Divine Human cannot reach to any but those who live in the good of faith, that is, in charity; or what is the same, those who have conscience. The very plane into which that light can operate, or the receptacle of that light, is the good of faith, or charity, and thus conscience. That the spiritual have salvation from the Lord's Divine Human, see (n. 1043, 2661, 2716, 2718).

2777. Upon one of the mountains. That this signifies the Divine Love, is evident from the signification of a "mountain", as being love (n. 795, 796, 1430); here, the Divine Love, because it is predicated of the Lord; and what the quality of this love is, may be seen above (n. 1690, 1691, 1789, 1812, 1820, 2077, 2253, 2500, 2572). As it was the Divine Love from which the Lord fought in temptations and conquered, and by which He sanctified and glorified Himself, it is here said to Abraham that he should offer up Isaac for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains in the land of Moriah. This representative is elucidated by the fact that an altar was built by David, and the temple was built by Solomon, upon the mountain of Moriah (n. 2775); for the altar upon which burnt-offerings and sacrifices were offered, was the principal representative of the Lord, as was afterwards the temple. That the altar was so may be seen above (n. 921); and it is evident in David: -

Let them bring me to the mountain of Thy holiness, and to Thy tabernacles and I will go unto the altar of God, unto God, the gladness of my joy (Ps. 43:3, 4).

That the temple was so too, is evident in John: -

Jesus said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. He spake of the temple of His body (John 2:19, 21).

2778. Which I will tell thee of. That this signifies as He should perceive, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive (n. 2769).

2779. Verse 3. And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his boys with him, and Isaac his son; and he clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God told him. "And Abraham rose early in the morning", signifies a state of peace and innocence; "and saddled his ass", signifies the natural man which He prepared; "and took two of his boys", signifies the former rational which He had adjoined; "and Isaac his son", signifies the Divine rational begotten by Himself; "and he clave the wood for the burnt-offering", signifies the merit of righteousness; "and rose up", signifies elevation; "and went unto the place of which God told him", signifies the state at that time according to perception.

2780. And Abraham rose early in the morning. That this signifies a state of peace and innocence, is evident from the signification of "morning", and also of "rising early", when predicated of the Lord, who here is "Abraham". "Morning" in the universal sense signifies the Lord, and hence His kingdom; consequently the celestial of love in general and in particular (n. 2333); and as it signifies these, it signifies the state itself in which they are, which state is that of peace and innocence. The state of peace in the heavens is like that of the dawn on earth. In the state of peace in the heavens come forth all celestial and spiritual things, and derive therefrom all that is auspicious, blessed, and happy in them, as in the time of dawn on earth all things come forth before man as things of delight and gladness; for all the singulars derive their quality from the general affection (n. 920, 2384). The case is the same with the state of innocence: this comes forth in the state of peace, and is a general thing affecting all the things of love and faith. Unless these have innocence in them, they lack their essential. Hence it is that no one can come into heaven unless he have something of innocence (Mark 10:15). It is plain from this what "morning" signifies in the internal sense, and still more when it is said that he "rose early in the morning;" and as in the highest sense "morning" is the Lord, and as the state is from Him which effects and affects all things in His kingdom, "morning" and "rising in the morning" signify many other things which come forth in that state; and this as related to the things which follow in the internal sense.

2781. And saddled his ass. That this signifies the natural man which He prepared, is evident from the signification of an "ass", as explained in what now follows. There are in man things of the will and things of the understanding; to the former class belong the things of good, to the latter those of truth. There are various kinds of beasts by which the things of the will, or those of good, are signified; such as lambs, sheep, kids, goats, bullocks, oxen (n. 1823, 2179, 2180); and there are likewise beasts by which intellectual things, or those of truth, are signified, namely, horses, mules, wild-asses, camels, asses, and also birds. That the intellectual faculty is signified by the "horse", has been shown above (n. 2761, 2762). That by the "wild-ass" truth separate from good is signified, see above (n. 1949). That by the "camel" there is signified memory-knowledge in general, and by the "ass" memory-knowledge in particular, may be seen above (n. 1486).

[2] There are two things which constitute the natural with man, or what is the same, which constitute the natural man, namely, natural good and natural truth. Natural good is the delight flowing forth from charity and faith; natural truth is the memory knowledge of them. That natural truth is what is signified by the "ass", and rational truth by the "mule", may be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

The prophecy of the beasts of the south. In a land of straightness and distress; the lion and the old lion, and from them the viper and the flying fire-serpent; they carry their riches upon the shoulder of young asses, and their treasures upon the hump of camels, to a people that shall not profit; and the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose (Isaiah 30:6, 7);

those are called the "beasts of the south" who are in the knowledges of good and truth, but who make them not of the life but of memory; of whom it is said that "they shall bring their riches upon the shoulder of young asses, and their treasures upon the hump of camels", for the reason that "young asses" signify memory-knowledges in particular, and "camels" memory-knowledges in general: that the "Egyptians" are memory-knowledges, may be seen above (n. 1164, 1165, 1186); of whom it is said that they shall help in vain and to no purpose". That this prophecy has an internal sense, without which it is understood by nobody, is plain to every one; for without the internal sense it cannot be known what the prophecy of the beasts of the south is, the lion and the old lion, the viper and the flying fire-serpent; and what is meant by these beasts bringing their riches upon the shoulder of young asses, and their treasures upon the hump of camels, and why it immediately follows that the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. The like is meant by the "ass" in the prophecy of Israel respecting Issachar, in Moses: -

Issachar is a bony ass, lying down between the burdens (Gen. 49:14).

[3] In Zechariah: -

This shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah will smite all the peoples that shall fight against Jerusalem there shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of every beast (Zechariah 14:12, 15);

that by the "horse", "mule", "camel", and "ass", are signified things of the understanding in man, which will be affected by the plague, is evident from all that precedes and follows there; for the plagues which precede the last judgment or consummation of the age are treated of, a subject also much treated of by John in the Apocalypse, and by the rest of the prophets in many places. By these animals are meant those who will then fight against Jerusalem, that is, against the Lord's spiritual church and its truths, and who will be affected by such plagues as to the things of their understanding.

[4] In Isaiah: -

Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth the foot of the ox and the ass (Isaiah 32:20);

"they that sow beside all waters" denote those who suffer themselves to be instructed in spiritual things. That "waters" are spiritual things, thus intellectual things of truth, see (n. 680, 739, 2702). "They that send forth the foot of the ox and the ass" denote natural things which are to do service. The "ox" is the natural as to good (n. 2180, 2566). The "ass" is the natural as to truth.

[5] In Moses: -

Binding his young ass unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine he hath washed his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes (Gen. 49:11);

this is the prophecy of Jacob, at that time Israel, concerning the Lord; the "vine" and the "choice vine" denote the spiritual church external and internal (n. 1069); the "young ass" denotes natural truth; the "ass's colt" rational truth. The reason an "ass's colt" denotes rational truth is that a "she ass" signifies the affection of natural truth (n. 1486), the son of which is rational truth, as may be seen above (n. 1895, 1896, 1902, 1910).

[6] In old times a judge rode upon a she-ass, and his sons upon young asses; for the reason that the judges represented the goods of the church, and their sons the truths thence derived. But a king rode upon a she-mule, and his sons upon mules, by reason that kings and their sons represented the truths of the church (n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069). That a judge rode upon a she-ass, is evident in the book of Judges: -

My heart is toward the lawgivers of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people bless ye Jehovah, ye that ride upon white she-asses, ye that sit upon carpets (Judges 5:9, 10).

That the sons of the judges rode upon young asses: -

Jair the judge over Israel had thirty sons, that rode on thirty young asses (Judges 10:3, 4).

Abdon the judge of Israel had forty sons, and thirty sons' sons, that rode on seventy young asses (Judges 12:14).

That a king rode upon a she-mule: -

David said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon the she-mule which is mine. And they caused Solomon to ride upon king David's she-mule, and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king in Gihon (1 Kings 1:33, 38, 44, 45).

That the sons of a king rode upon he-mules: -

All the sons of king David rose up, and rode each one upon his mule, and fled, because of Absalom (2 Sam. 13:29).

[7] Hence it is manifest that to ride on a she-ass was the badge of a judge, and to ride on a she-mule, the badge of a king; and that to ride on a young ass was the badge of a judge's sons, and to ride on a mule was the badge of a king's sons; for the reason as already said that a she-ass represented and signified the affection of natural good and truth, a she-mule the affection of rational truth, an ass or a young ass natural truth itself, and a mule and also the son of a she-ass rational truth. Hence it is plain what is meant by the prophecy concerning the Lord in Zechariah: -

Rejoice, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a young ass the son of she-asses. His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth (Zechariah 9:9, 10).

That the Lord, when He came to Jerusalem, willed to ride upon these animals, is known from the Evangelists, as in Matthew: -

Jesus sent two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village that is over against you, and straightway ye shall find a she-ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them unto Me. This was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold thy King cometh unto thee, meek, sitting upon a she-ass, and upon a colt the son of a beast of burden. And they brought the she-ass and the colt, and put their garments upon them, and set Him thereon (Matthew 21:1, 2, 4, 5, 7);

[8] to "ride upon an ass" was a sign that the natural was made subordinate; and to "ride upon a colt the son of a she ass" was a sign that the rational was made subordinate. The "son of a she-ass" signified the same as a "mule", which has been explained at (Gen. 49:11). From this their signification, and because it belonged to the highest judge and to a king to ride upon them, and at the same time that the representatives of the church might be fulfilled, it pleased the Lord to do this: as is thus described in John: - On the next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. And Jesus, having found a young ass, sat thereon as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold thy King cometh sitting on the colt of a she-ass. These things understood not His disciples at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things unto Him (John 12:12-16; Mark 11:1-12; Luke 19:28-41).

[9] From all this it is now evident that all and everything in the church of that period was representative of the Lord, and therefore of the celestial and spiritual things that are in His kingdom even to the she-ass and the colt of a she-ass, by which the natural man as to good and truth was represented. The reason of the representation was that the natural man ought to serve the rational, and this the spiritual, this the celestial, and this the Lord: such is the order of subordination.

[10] Since by an "ox and an ass" the natural man as to good and truth is signified, many laws were therefore given in which oxen and asses are mentioned, which laws at first sight do not appear to be worthy of mention in the Divine Word; but when unfolded as to their internal sense, the spiritual meaning in them appears to be of great moment - as the following in Moses: -

If a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall into it, the owner of the pit shall give money to the owner, and the dead shall be his (Exod. 21:33, 34).

If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to remove it, removing thou shalt remove it from him (Exod. 23:4, 5; Deut. 22:1, 3).

Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox falling down in the way, and hide thyself from them lifting thou shalt lift them up again (Deut. 22:4).

Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. Thou shalt not wear a mixed web of wool and linen together (Deut. 22:10, 11).

Six days thou shalt do thy works, and on the seventh day thou shalt best, that thine ox and thine ass may rest also, and the son of thy handmaid, and the sojourner (Exod. 23:12).

Here the "ox and ass" signify nothing else in the spiritual sense than natural good and truth.

2782. And took two of his boys. That this signifies the former rational which He had adjoined, is evident from the signification of "boys". A "boy" and "boys" signify various things in the Word; because these terms are applied not only to the sons of the house but also to the sons of the stranger, and to servants also; here to servants. Man's natural things which are to serve the rational are signified by "servants" (n. 1486, 1713, 2541, 2567). As however they are not here called " servants", but "boys", the former or merely human rational, which was to serve the Divine rational, is signified; as may also be seen from the very series of the things.

2783. And Isaac his son. That this signifies the Divine rational begotten by Himself, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord's Divine rational, often spoken of before. That it was begotten by Him is meant by its being called his "son" (n. 2772).

2784. And he clave the wood for the burnt-offering. That this signifies the merit of righteousness, is evident from the signification of "wood" and of " cleaving wood". That "wood" signifies the goods that are of works, and of righteousness; and that "cleaving wood" signifies the placing of merit in the goods that are of works, but " cleaving wood for a burnt-offering" the merit of righteousness, appears too remote to be known without revelation. That "cleaving wood" denotes placing merit in the goods that are of works, was made clear to me by what I have seen and have described in (n. 1110) respecting the hewers of wood, as being those who had desired to merit salvation by the goods which they had done. Moreover there are others also, in front, above, a little to the right, from a certain world, who in the same way had claimed all good to themselves, and appear in like manner to cut and cleave wood. When these seem to themselves to be laboring, they sometimes shine in the face from a kind of fatuous fire, which is the good of merit that they attribute to themselves. The reason of its appearing so is that wood is a representative of good; as was all the wood in the ark and in the temple, and also all the wood upon the altar when the burnt-offerings and sacrifices were made. But they who attribute good to themselves, and make it self-meritorious, these also are said in the Word to "worship wood", or a "graven image" of wood.

2785. And he rose up. That this signifies elevation, is evident from the signification of "rising up", as meaning where it occurs in the Word some elevation.

2786. And went unto the place of which God told him. That this signifies His state at that time according to perception, is evident from the signification of "place", as being state (n. 1273-1277, 1376-1381, 2625); and from the signification of "God saying", as being to perceive from the Divine (n. 2769, 2778). As regards the state itself, it is described in this verse, that is, the state which the Lord assumed when He underwent temptations, and here that which He assumed when He underwent the most grievous and inmost temptations. His first preparation for that state was that He entered into a state of peace and innocence, and that He prepared the natural man in Himself, as also the rational, so that they should serve the Divine rational, and that He adjoined the merit of righteousness, and in this manner elevated Himself. These things cannot be explained at all to the comprehension, or be presented to the idea, of anyone who does not know that many states exist together, and these distinct from one another; and who does not also know what a state of peace and innocence is, what the natural man is, what the rational man, and also what the merit of righteousness is; for he must first have a distinct idea of all these, and must also know that the Lord from His Divine could induce upon Himself whatever states He pleased, and that He prepared Himself for temptations by inducing many states. Although these things are in obscurity as of night with men, they are nevertheless in clearness as of day with the angels, who being in the light of heaven from the Lord, see in these and similar things innumerable things distinctly, and from the affection flowing in at the time perceive ineffable joy. Hence it is evident how far human understanding and perception fall short of angelic understanding and perception.

2787. Verse 4. On the third day, and Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. "On the third day", signifies completeness, and the beginning of sanctification; "and Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw", signifies thought and view from the Divine; "the place afar off", signifies the state which He foresaw.

2788. On the third day. That this signifies completeness, and the beginning of sanctification, is evident from the signification of the "third day". "Day" in the Word signifies state (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893); as also does "year", and in general all periods of time; as an "hour", a "day", a "week", a "month", a "year", an "age;" as also "morning", "noon", "evening", and "night;" and "spring", "summer", "autumn", and "winter;" and when "third" is added to these, they signify the end of that state, and at the same time the beginning of the following state. As the Lord's sanctification is here treated of, which was effected by temptations, the "third day" signifies completeness, and at the same time the beginning of sanctification, as also follows from what has been already said The reason of this signification is that when the Lord had fulfilled all things He would rise again on the third day; for the things that were done, or that would be done by the Lord when He lived in the world, were in the representatives of the church as if already done (as also they were in the internal sense of the Word); for in God to be and to become are the same; indeed all eternity is present to Him.

[2] Hence the number "three" was representative, not only in the Ancient Church and in the Jewish, but also among various nations. (n. 720, 901, 1825). That this was the origin of the signification of "three", is evident in Hosea: -

Let us return unto Jehovah, for He hath wounded, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up; after two days He will revive us, on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live before Him (Hosea 6:1, 2);

where the "third day" denotes the Lord's coming, and His resurrection. And from Jonah, that he "was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights" (Jonah 1:17); concerning which the Lord thus speaks in Matthew: -

As Jonah was in the whale's belly three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40).

[3] Be it known that in the internal sense of the Word "three days" and the "third day" signify the same, as also do "three" and "third" in the passages which now follow. In John: -

Jesus said to the Jews, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up He spake of the temple of His body (John 2:19-21; Matt. 26:61; Mark 14:58; 15:29).

[4] That the Lord rose again on the third day is known. For the same reason the Lord distinguished the periods of His life into three, as stated in Luke: -

Go ye and tell that fox, Behold I cast out demons, and perform cures today and to-morrow, and the third day I am perfected (Luke 13:32).

His last temptation also, that of the cross, the Lord endured at the "third hour" of the day (Mark 15:25); and after three hours there came darkness over the whole land, or at the "sixth hour" (Luke 23:44); and after three hours, or at the "ninth hour", the end (Mark 15:33, 34, 37). But on the morning of the "third day" He rose again (Mark 16:1-4; Luke 24:7; Matt. 16:21; 17:22, 23; 20:18, 19; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33, 34; Luke 18:33; 24:46). From all this, and especially from the Lord's resurrection on the third day, the number "three" was representative and significative, as may be seen from the following passages in the Word: -

When Jehovah came down upon Mount Sinai, He told Moses to sanctify the people to-day and to-morrow, and that they should wash their garments, and be ready against the third day, for on the third day Jehovah would descend (Exod. 19:10, 11, 15, 16).

When they set forth from the mount of Jehovah on a journey of three days, the ark of Jehovah went before them a three days' journey to seek out a resting place for them (Num. 10:33).

There was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days, and they saw not one another for three days, but the sons of Israel had light (Exod. 10:22, 23).

[5] The flesh of the sacrifice of a vow, or of a free-will offering, was to be eaten on the first and second day nothing was to be left to the third day, but the remainder was to be burnt, because it was an abomination.

So too with the flesh of the peace-offering; and if it should be eaten on the third day it would not propitiate, but the soul should carry its iniquity (Lev. 7:16-18; 19:6, 7).

He that touched one dead was to purify himself on the third day, and on the seventh day he should be clean otherwise that soul should be cut off from Israel and one that was clean should sprinkle water upon him that was unclean on the third day and on the seventh day (Num. 19:12, 13, 19).

They who slew a person in battle, or touched one that was slain, were to purify themselves on the third day, and on the seventh day (Num. 31:19).

[6] When they came into the land of Canaan the fruit was to be uncircumcised three years, and was not to be eaten (Lev. 19:23).

At the end of three years they were to bring all the tithes of their increase in that year and lay it up in their gates, that the Levite, the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow might eat (Deut. 14:28, 29; 24:12).

Three times in the year they were to keep a feast to Jehovah, and three times in the year every male was to appear before the face of the Lord Jehovih (Exod. 23:14, 17; Deut. 16:16).

Joshua told the people that in three days they should pass over the Jordan and inherit the land (Josh. 1:11; 3:2).

[7] Jehovah called to Samuel three times, and he answered the third time (1 Sam. 3:8).

When Saul wished to kill David, David hid himself in the field till the third evening. Jonathan said to David that he would sound his father on the third day. Jonathan shot three arrows by the side of the stone, and David then fell upon his face to the earth before Jonathan and bowed himself down three times (1 Sam. 20:5, 12, 19, 20, 35, 36, 41).

David was to choose one of three things seven years of famine in the land; or that he should flee before his enemies three months; or a pestilence in the land three days (2 Sam. 24:12, 13).

[8] There was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year (2 Sam. 21:1).

Elijah stretched himself upon the dead child three times and brought him to life (1 Kings 17:21).

When Elijah had built the altar to Jehovah, he told them to pour water upon the burnt-offering and upon the wood three times (1 Kings 18:34).

The fire twice consumed the commanders over fifty, sent to Elijah, but not him that was sent the third time (2 Kings 1:13).

It was a sign to king Hezekiah that they should eat that year what sprung up spontaneously, in the second year the after-growth, but in the third year they should sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them (2 Kings 19:29).

[9] Daniel entered into his house and had the windows open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, and here three times a day he blessed upon his knees and prayed (Dan. 6:11, 14).

Daniel mourned three weeks of days, eating no pleasant bread, nor drinking wine, nor anointing himself, until the three weeks of days were fulfilled (Dan. 10:2, 3).

Isaiah went naked and barefoot three years, for a sign and a wonder upon Egypt and upon Cush (Isa. 20:3).

Out of the candlestick went forth three branches on each side, and three almond-shaped cups on each branch (Exod. 25:32, 33).

In the Urim and Thummim there were three precious stones in each row (Exod. 28:17-19).

[10] In the new temple there were to be three chambers of the gate on this side and three on that side, and they three should have one measure at the porch of the house the breadth of the gate should be three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side (Ezek. 40:10, 21, 48).

In the New Jerusalem there were to be three gates to the north, three to the east, three to the south, and three to the west (Ezek. 48:31-34; Rev. 21:13).

So in the following passages: -

Peter denied Jesus thrice (Matt. 26:34, 69-75).

The Lord said to Peter three times, "Lovest thou Me?" (John 21:17).

Also in the parable, the man who planted the vineyard sent servants three times, and at length his son (Luke 20:12; Mark 12:2, 4-6).

They who labored in the vineyard were hired at the third hour, the sixth hour, the ninth hour, and the eleventh hour (Matt. 20:1-17).

Because the fig-tree did not bear fruit for three years, it was to be cut down (Luke 13:6, 7).

[11] As a trine and a third were representative, so also was a third part; as that in the meat-offering of fine flour two tenths were mixed with a third part of a hin of oil and the wine for a libation was a third part of a hin (Num. 15:6, 7; Ezek. 46:14).

The prophet Ezekiel was to pass a razor upon his head, and upon his beard, and then divide the hair and burn a third part in the fire, and smite a third with the sword, about it (the city), and scatter a third to the wind (Ezek. 5:1, 2, 11).

In the whole land, two parts were to be cut off and the third was to be left but the third was to be brought through the fire and proved (Zech. 13:8, 9).

[12] When the first angel sounded there came hail and fire mingled with blood, and it fell upon the earth so that a third part of the trees were burnt up. The second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and a third part of the sea became blood because of which a third part of the creatures in the sea having souls, died, and a third part of the ships were destroyed. The third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven burning like a lamp, and it fell upon a third part of the rivers the name of the star was Wormwood. The fourth angel sounded, and a third part of the sun was smitten, and a third part of the moon, and a third part of the stars, so that a third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night in like manner (Rev. 8:7-12).

[13]

The four angels were loosed to kill a third part of men (Rev. 9:15).

By these three were the third part of men killed, by the fire, and the smoke, and the brimstone, which proceeded out of the mouth of the horses (Rev. 9:18).

The dragon drew with his tail a third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth (Rev. 12:4).

A "third part", however, signifies some, and what is not yet complete; but the "third", and a "trine", what is complete; and this, of evil to the evil, and of good to the good.

2789. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw. That this signifies thought and mental view from the Divine, is evident from the signification of the "eyes", as being intelligence (n. 2701); hence to "lift up the eyes" denotes to elevate the intelligence, thus to think; and from the signification of "seeing", as being to view from the Divine, because it is predicated of the Lord.

2790. The place afar off. That this signifies into the state which He foresaw, is evident from the signification of "place", as being state (n. 1273-1277, 1376-1381, 2625); and from the signification of "seeing afar off", as being to foresee.

2791. Verse 5. And Abraham said unto his boys, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the boy will go yonder, and we will bow ourselves down, and will come again to you. "Abraham said unto his boys, Abide ye here with the ass", signifies the separation of the former rational together with the natural at that time; "and I and the boy will go yonder", signifies the Divine rational in a state of truth prepared for the most grievous and inmost combats of temptations the "boy" is the Divine rational in such a state; "and we will bow ourselves down", signifies submission; "and will come again to you", signifies conjunction afterwards.

2792. Abraham said unto his boys, Abide ye here with the ass. That this signifies the separation of the former rational together with the natural at that time, is evident from the signification of "abiding here", as being to be separated so long; from the signification of the "boys", as being the former rational (n. 2782); and from the signification of the "ass", as being the natural man, or the natural (n. 2781).

2793. And I and the boy will go yonder. That this signifies the Divine rational in a state of truth prepared for the most grievous and inmost combats of temptations, is evident; and that the "boy" is the Divine rational in such a state, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Divine rational; but as he is not here called "Isaac", nor "my son", as before, but "the boy", it denotes the Divine rational in such a state, concerning which presently.

2794. And we will bow ourselves down. That this signifies submission, is evident without explication.

2795. And will come again to you. That this signifies conjunction afterwards, is also evident without explication. As the Lord's most grievous and inmost temptations are treated of in this chapter, all the states that He assumed when He underwent these temptations are described. The first state is described in (verse 3), the second state in this verse, the third state in the verse next following, and the rest afterwards. But these states cannot be expounded to the common apprehension unless many things are first known, not only respecting the Lord's Divine, as here represented by Abraham, but also respecting His Divine Human as represented by Isaac, and respecting the state of this rational when He engaged in and underwent the combats of temptation (this being the "boy"); and also what and of what quality the former rational was, and also the natural which it had; and likewise what the state was when the one was adjoined to the other, and what the state was when they were more or less separated. Moreover many things concerning temptations must be known, as what exterior and interior temptations are, and hence what were the inmost and most grievous temptations the Lord had, and which are treated of in this chapter. So long as these things are unknown, the things contained in this verse cannot possibly be described to the comprehension; and if they should be described, even most clearly, they would still appear obscure. To the angels, who are in the light of heaven from the Lord, all these things are manifest and clear, indeed blessed, because they are most heavenly.

[2] Here we will merely say that the Lord could not be tempted at all when He was in the Divine Itself, for the Divine is infinitely above all temptation; but He could be tempted as to His human. This is the reason why when He was to undergo the most grievous and inmost temptations, He adjoined to Himself the prior human, that is, the rational and the natural of it, as described in (verse 3); and why He afterwards separated Himself from these, as is said in this verse; but nevertheless retaining something by means of which He could be tempted; which is the reason why it is not here said, "Isaac my son", but "the boy", by whom is meant the Divine rational in such a state, namely, in a state of truth, prepared for the most grievous and inmost combats of temptations (n. 2793). That neither the Divine Itself nor the Divine Human could be tempted, must be evident to every one simply from the fact that not even the angels can approach the Divine, much less the spirits who induce temptations, and still less the hells. Hence it is manifest why the Lord came into the world, and put on the human state itself with its infirmity; for thus He could be tempted as to the human, and by means of the temptations subjugate the hells, and reduce each and all things to obedience and into order, and save the human race which had removed itself so far away from the supreme Divine.

2796. As regards the putting on of the various states by the Lord which is here treated of, they cannot but be unknown to man, because he never reflects on his changes of state; which are nevertheless going on continually, both as to what is of the understanding or the thoughts, and as to what is of the will or the affections. The reason of his not reflecting upon them is that he believes that all things in him follow in natural order, and that there is nothing higher which directs; whereas the case is that all things are disposed by means of the spirits and angels with him and all his states and changes of states are therefrom, and are thus to eternity directed by the Lord to ends which the Lord alone foresees. That the reality is so, has become most fully known to me now by the experience of many years. It has also been given to know and observe what spirits and angels were with me, and what states they induced; and this I can solemnly assert - that all states, even to the least particulars, come from this source and are thereby directed by the Lord. It has also been given to know and observe that in every state there are a great many others, which do not appear, and which together appear as one general state; and that these states are disposed in relation to the states which follow in order in their series. With a man these things are done by the Lord; but with the Lord Himself, when He lived in the world, they were done by Himself; because He was Divine, and the very being of His life was Jehovah.

[2] The changes of state with man as to what is of the understanding and as to what is of the will, and the order in which they follow on, as also the series through which they pass, and thus how they are bent by the Lord as far as possible to good, it belongs to the angels to know. The wisdom of the angels is such that they perceive all these things most minutely. Hence it is that these things which are revealed in the internal sense concerning the changes of state with the Lord, are clearly and distinctly perceivable by the angels, because they are in the light of heaven from the Lord; and they are also in some degree intelligible to a man who lives in simple good; but they are merely obscure and as nothing to those who are in evil, and also to those who are in the deliriums of wisdom; for these have obscured and extinguished their natural and rational light by many things which have induced darkness, however much they may believe that they are pre-eminently in light.

2797. Verse 6. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together. "Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering", signifies the merit of righteousness; "and laid it upon Isaac", signifies that it was adjoined to the Divine rational; "and he took in his hand the fire and the knife", signifies the good of love and the truth of faith; "and they went both of them together", signifies unition as far as possible.

2798. Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son. That this signifies the merit of righteousness, is evident from what was said and shown above (n. 2784), thus without further explication. That he "laid it upon Isaac" signifies that the merit of righteousness was adjoined to the Divine rational, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord's Divine rational (often shown before) and from the signification of "laying upon him", as being to adjoin. He is called his "son", because the Lord's Divine Human was not only conceived, but was also born of Jehovah. That the Lord was conceived of Jehovah is most fully known from the Word of the Lord; hence He is called the "Son of the Highest", the "Son of God", and the "Only begotten of the Father", in many places (Matt. 2:15; 3:16, 17; 16:13-17; 17:5; 27:43, 54; Mark 1:10; 9:7, 9; 14:61, 62; Luke 1:31, 32, 35; 3:21, 22; 9:35; 10:22; John 1:14, 18, 50; 3:13, 16-18; 5:20-27; 6:69; 9:34, 35, 38; 10:35, 36; 20:30, 31), and in many other places He calls Jehovah His "Father".

[2] That He was born of the virgin Mary is known, yet as another man; but when He was born again, or became Divine, it was from Jehovah who was in Him, and who was Himself as to the very being of life. The unition of the Divine and the Human Essence was effected mutually and reciprocally, so that He united the Divine Essence to the Human and the Human to the Divine (n. 1921, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2083, 2508, 2523, 2618, 2628, 2632, 2728, 2729). Hence it is evident that the Lord made the Human in Himself Divine by His own power, and thus became righteousness. The merit of righteousness was what was adjoined to the Divine rational when He underwent inmost temptations, and from it He then fought, and against this the evil genii fought, until He glorified this also. These are the things meant in the internal sense by Abraham laying the wood of the burnt-offering upon Isaac his son, and these are what are perceived by the angels when the words are read.

2799. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. That this signifies the good of love and the truth of faith, is evident from the signification of " fire", as being the good of love (n. 934); and from the signification of a "knife", as being the truth of faith. That the knife used upon the victims in the sacrifices signified the truth of faith, may be seen from the signification of a "sword" or "little sword" in the Word; for instead of "knife" it is said "little sword". Both have the same signification, but with the difference that the knife used for sacrifices signified the truth of faith, but a sword truth combating; and as a knife is rarely mentioned in the Word, for a secret reason to be mentioned presently, we may show what a " sword" signifies. A "sword" in the internal sense signifies the truth of faith combating, and also the vastation of truth; and in the opposite sense falsity combating, and the punishment of falsity.

[2] I. That a "sword" signifies the truth of faith combating, may be seen from the following passages. In David: -

Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O mighty One, prosper in Thy glow and Thy majesty, ride upon the word of truth, and Thy right hand shall teach Thee wonderful things (Ps. 45:3, 4);

where the Lord is treated of, the "sword" denoting truth combating. In the same: -

Let the merciful exult In glory, let them sing upon their beds let the high praises of God be in their throat, and a two-edged sword in their hand (Ps. 149:5, 6).

In Isaiah: -

Jehovah hath called Me from the womb from the bowels of My mother hath He made mention of My name, and He hath made My mouth like a sharp sword, and hath made Me a polished arrow (Isaiah 49:1, 2);

a "sharp sword" denotes truth combating; and a "polished arrow", the truth of doctrine (n. 2686, 2709). In the same: -

Asshur shall fall by the sword not of a man; and the sword not of man shall devour him and he shall flee before the sword, and his young men shall become tributary (Isaiah 31:8);

"Asshur" denotes reasoning in Divine things (n. 119, 1186); the "sword not of a man, and not of man", falsity; the "sword before which he shall flee", truth combating.

[3] In Zechariah: -

Turn you to the stronghold ye prisoners of hope even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee I who have bent Judah for Me as a bow, I have filled Ephraim, and have stirred up thy sons, O Zion. against thy sons, O Javan, and I will make thee as the sword of a mighty man, and Jehovah shall be seen over them, and His arrows shall go forth as the lightning (Zechariah 9:12-14);

the "sword of a mighty man" denotes truth combating. In John: -

In the midst of the seven candlesticks was one like unto the Son of man; He had in His right band seven stars; out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was as the sun shining in his strength (Rev. 1:13, 16).

Again: -

These things saith He that hath the sharp two-edged sword; I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth (Rev. 2:12, 16);

the "sharp two-edged sword" manifestly denotes truth combating, which was therefore represented as a "sword going out of the mouth".

[4] In the same: -

Out of the mouth of Him that sat upon the white horse proceeded a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations; and they were slain by the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which came forth out of His mouth (Rev. 19:15, 21);

where it is manifest that the "sword out of His mouth" is truth combating. That He who sat upon the white horse is the Word, and thus the Lord who is the Word, see (n. 2760-2763). Hence it is that the Lord says in Matthew: -

Think not that I came to send peace on the earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34).

Also in Luke: -

Now he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise a wallet; and he that hath none, let him sell his garment, and buy a sword; they said, Lord, behold here are two swords; and Jesus said, It is enough (Luke 22:36-38);

where nothing else is meant by a "sword" than the truth from which and for which they would combat.

[5] In Hosea: -

In that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild beast of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the ground and I will break the bow, and the sword, and the war out of the land and will make them to lie down securely (Hosea 2:18);

where the Lord's kingdom is treated of; by "breaking the how, the sword, and the war", is signified that there is no combat there respecting doctrine and truth. In Joshua: -

Joshua lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold there stood a man over against him, and his sword drawn in his hand; and he said to Joshua, I am prince of the army of Jehovah; and Joshua fell on his face to the earth (Joshua 5:13, 14).

This was when Joshua entered with the sons of Israel into the land of Canaan, by which is meant the entrance of the faithful into the Lord's kingdom. Truth combating, which is of the church, is the "drawn sword in the hand of the prince of the army of Jehovah".

[6] But that by "little swords" or "knives" is signified the truth of faith, may be seen from the fact that they were used not only in the sacrifices, but also in circumcision. For use in circumcision they were of stone, and were called "little swords of flint", as is manifest in Joshua: -

Jehovah said unto Joshua, Make thee little swords of flint, and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time. And Joshua made him little swords of flint, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins (Joshua 5:2, 3).

That circumcision was a representative of purification from the love of self and the world, may be seen above (n. 2039, 2632); and as this purification is effected by the truths of faith, therefore little swords of flint were used (n. 2039, 2046).

[7] II. That a "sword" signifies the vastation of truth, is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

These two things are befallen thee who shall bemoan thee? desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; who will comfort thee? Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets (Isaiah 51:19, 20);

"famine" denotes the vastation of good; and the " sword" the vastation of truth; to "lie at the head of all the streets", is to be deprived of all truth. A "street" is truth (n. 2336); and vastation is explained at (n. 301-304, 407, 408, 410, 411). In the same: -

I will number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter because I called, and ye did not answer I spake, and ye did not hear (Isaiah 65:12).

[8] In the same: -

By fire and by the sword will Jehovah judge all flesh, and the slain of Jehovah shall be many (Isa. 66:16);

the "slain of Jehovah" denote those who are vastated. In Jeremiah: -

Spoilers are come upon all the hillsides in the wilderness, for the sword of Jehovah devoureth from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land no flesh hath peace; they have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns (Jeremiah 12:12, 13);

the "sword of Jehovah" plainly denotes the vastation of truth. In the same: -

They have lied against Jehovah, and said, It is not He, neither shall evil come upon us neither shall we see sword nor famine; and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them (Jeremiah 5:12, 13).

[9] In the same: -

I will visit upon them; the young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine (Jer. 11:22).

In the same: -

When they offer burnt-offering and meat-offering I will not accept them; for I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. And I said, Ah, Lord Jehovih, behold the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, and ye shall not have famine (Jer. 14:12, 13).

In the same: -

The city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence (Jer. 32:24, 36).

In the same: -

I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, until they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers (Jer. 24:10).

[10] In these passages by "the sword, the famine, and the pestilence" vastation is described; by the "sword" the vastation of truth, by the "famine" the vastation of good, and by the "pestilence" a wasting away even to consumption. In Ezekiel: -

Son of man, take thee a sharp sword, a barber's razor shalt thou take it unto thee, and shalt cause it to pass upon thy head, and upon thy beard and take thee balances to weigh, and divide them. A third part shalt thou burn with fire in the midst of the city a third part thou shalt smite with the sword round about it; and a third part thou shalt scatter to the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. A third part shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and a third part I will scatter to every wind, and I will draw out a sword after them (Ezekiel 5:1, 2, 12, 17).

Here the vastation of natural truth is treated of, which is thus described. In the same: -

The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within he that is in the field shall die by the sword, and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him (Ezek. 7:15).

[11] In the same: -

Say to the land of Israel, Thus said Jehovah, Behold I am against thee, and will draw forth My sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the just and the wicked. Because I will cut off from thee the just and the wicked, therefore shall My sword go forth out of its sheath, it shall not return any more. The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus said Jehovah, Say a sword, a sword, it is sharpened and also furbished it is sharpened to slaughter a slaughter; it Is furbished that it may be as lightning. Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus said the Lord Jehovih to the sons of Ammon, and to their reproach and say thou, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter, it is furbished to devour because of the lightning, whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee (Ezek. 21:3-5, 8-10, 28, 29).

Nothing else is here signified by the "sword" than vastation, as is manifest from the particulars in the internal sense.

2799a.

[12] In the same: -

The king of Babel shall break down thy towers with his swords; by reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee by reason of the noise of the rider, and of the wheel, and of the chariot, thy walls shall shake with the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets (Ezekiel 26:9-11).

What Babel is, may be seen above (n. 1326); and that it vastates (n. 1327). In David: -

If he turn not, God will whet His sword, He will bend His bow, and make it ready (Ps. 7:12).

In Jeremiah: -

I said, Ah Lord Jehovih surely deceiving Thou hath deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; and the sword hath reached even to the soul (Jeremiah 4:10).

[13] In the same: -

Declare ye in Egypt, and make it to be heard in Migdol, Stand forth and prepare thee, for the sword shall devour round about thee (Jeremiah 46:14).

In the same: -

A sword is upon the Chaldeans, and upon the inhabitants of Babel, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men; a sword is upon her boasters, and they shall be foolish a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed a sword is upon her horses, and upon her chariots, and upon all the mixed multitude that is in the midst of her, and they shall become as women a sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed; a drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up (Jeremiah 50:35-38);

a "sword" manifestly denotes the vastation of truth, for it is said, "a sword is upon the wise men, upon the boasters, upon the mighty men, upon the horses and the chariot, and upon the treasures", and that "drought is upon the waters, and they shall be dried up".

[14] In the same: -

We have given the hand to Egypt, to Asshur, to be satisfied with bread. Servants have ruled over us, there is none to deliver us out of their hand we gat our bread with our lives, because of the sword of the wilderness (Lam. 5:6, 8, 9).

In Hosea: -

He shall not return into the land of Egypt, and Asshur he shall be his King, because they refused to return to Me, and the sword shall hang over his cities, and shall consume his bars, and shall devour them, because of their counsels (Hosea 11:5, 6).

In Amos: -

I have sent among you the pestilence in the way of Egypt, I have slain your young men with the sword, with the captivity of your horses (Amos 4:10);

"in the way of Egypt" denotes the memory-knowledges which vastate, when they reason from them on Divine things; the "captivity of the horses" denotes the intellectual faculty deprived of its endowment.

[15] III. That a "sword" in the opposite sense signifies falsity combating, may be seen in David: -

My soul lieth in the midst of lions, the sons of men are set on fire; their teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword (Ps. 57:4).

In the same: -

Behold they belch out with their mouth, swords are in their lips, for who doth hear? (Psalms 59:7).

In Isaiah: -

Thou art cast forth out of thy sepulchre as an abominable branch, as the raiment of the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit, as a carcass trodden under foot (Isaiah 14:19);

where Lucifer is treated of. In Jeremiah: -

In vain have I smitten your sons, they received no correction your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion. O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah: have I been a wilderness unto Israel? (Jeremiah 2:30, 31).

[16] In the same: -

Go not forth into the field, and walk not in the way, for there is the sword of the enemy, terror is on every side (Jeremiah 6:25, 26).

In the same: -

Take the cup of the wine of fury, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it; and they shall drink, and reel, and be mad because of the sword that I will send among you. Drink ye and be drunken, and spue and fall, and rise no more because of the sword (Jeremiah 25:15, 16, 27).

In the same: -

Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put that handle the shield, and the Ludim that handle and bend the bow. For that is a day of the Lord Jehovih of Armies, a day of vengeance; and the sword shall devour, and be satisfied, and shall be drunken with their blood (Jeremiah 46:9, 10).

[17] In Ezekiel: -

They shall strip thee of thy garments, and take the jewels of thy glory, and shall leave thee naked and bare and they shall bring up an assembly against thee and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords (Ezekiel 16:39, 40);

where the abominations of Jerusalem are treated of. In Zechariah: -

Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock; the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened (Zechariah 11:17).

In Hosea: -

Against me have they thought evil; their princes shall fall by the sword, because of the rage of their tongue this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt (Hosea 7:15, 16).

[18] In Luke: -

There shall be great distress upon the land, and wrath unto this people for they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all the nations; and at length Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the nations (Luke 21:23, 24);

where the Lord is speaking of the consummation of the age; and in the sense of the letter, of the dispersion of the Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem; but in the internal sense, of the let state of the church. By "falling by the edge of the sword", is signified that there is no longer any truth, but mere falsity; by "all nations" are signified evils of every kind, among which they should be led captive; that "nations" are evils may be seen above (n. 1259, 1260, 1849, 1868); also that "Jerusalem" is the church (n. 2117), which is thus "trodden down".

[19] IV. That a "sword" also signifies the punishment of falsity, is evident in Isaiah: -

In that day Jehovah with His hard, and great, and strong sword, will visit upon leviathan the long serpent, and upon leviathan the crooked serpent, and will slay the whales that are in the sea (Isaiah 27:1);

where those are treated of who by reasonings from sensuous things and from memory-knowledges enter into the mysteries of faith; the "hard and great and strong sword" denotes the punishments of the falsity therefrom.

[20] Where we read that they were "given over to the edge of the sword and slain by it", sometimes both man and woman, boy and old man, ox and herd, and ass, in the internal sense the punishment of the condemnation of falsity is signified (Josh. 6:21; 8:24, 25; 10:28, 30, 37, 39; 11:10-12, 14; 13:22; 19:47; Judges 1:8, 25; 4:15, 16; 18:27; 20:37; 1 Sam. 15:8, 11; 2 Kings 10:25). Hence it was commanded that a city which should worship other gods should be smitten with the sword, be utterly destroyed, and be burnt up with fire, and be a heap forever (Deut. 13:13, 15-17) the "sword" denoting the punishment of falsity; and "fire" the punishment of evil. The angel of Jehovah standing in the way against Balaam with a draw" sword (Numbers. 22:31) signified the truth which resisted the falsity in which Balaam was; and for that reason also he was killed with a sword (Num. 31:8).

[21] That a "sword" in the genuine sense signifies truth combating, and in the opposite sense falsity combating, also the vastation of truth, and the punishment of falsity, has its origin from the representatives in the other life; for when anyone there speaks what he knows to be false, there then immediately come down over his head as it were little swords, and strike terror; and besides, truth combating is represented by things that have a point, like swords; for indeed truth without good is of this nature, but when together with good it has a rounded form and is gentle. From this origin it comes to pass that whenever a "knife", or "spear", or "little sword", or "sword" is mentioned in the Word, to the angels there is suggested truth combating.

[22] But the reason that a knife is seldom mentioned in the Word, is that there are evil spirits in the other life who are called "knifers", at whose side there appear knives hanging for the reason that they have such a brutal nature that they wish to cut every one's throat with the knife. Hence it is that " knives" are not mentioned, but "little swords" or "swords;" for as these are used in combats, they suggest the idea of war, and thus of truth combating.

[23] As it was known to the ancients that a little sword, a little lance, and a knife signify truth, the nations to whom this came by tradition were accustomed to pierce and lacerate themselves with little swords, little lances, or knives, at the time of their sacrifices, even to blood; as we read of the priests of Baal: -

The priests of Baal cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their manner with swords and little lances, even till the blood gushed out (1 Kings 18:28).

That all the weapons of war in the Word signify things which belong to spiritual combat, and each one something specific, may be seen above (n. 2686).

2800. And they went both of them together. That this signifies unition as far as possible, is evident without explication.

2801. Verse 7. Isaac said unto Abraham his father; and he said, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood; and where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? "Isaac said unto Abraham his father; and he said, My father; and he said, Here am I, my soil", signifies a conference of the Lord from love - of the Divine Truth with the Divine Good; the Divine Truth is the "son", and the Divine Good is the "father;" "and he said, Behold the fire and the wood", signifies that love and righteousness are present; "where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" signifies where are they of the human race who are to be sanctified?

2802. Isaac said unto Abraham his father; and he said, My father; and he said, Here am I my son. That this signifies the Lord conference from love - of the Divine Truth with the Divine Good-is evident from the signification of "Isaac the son", as being the Divine Truth; and from the signification of "Abraham the father", as being the Divine Good; which are treated of in what presently follows; and from the affection that is in these words, as being from love on both sides. Hence it is manifest that it is a conference of the Lord with His Father. That more arcana he hid in these words than can come to human perception, is evident from the fact that the words "he said" occur four times in this verse. It is usual in the Lord, when any new thing is begun, to say, "and he said" (n. 2061, 2238, 2260). The same is evident from the fact that the words are words of love; and when such come to the perception of the celestial angels who are in the inmost sense, they form for themselves from them most celestial ideas; for they form for themselves luminous ideas from the affections in the Word, whereas the spiritual angels do so from the significations of the words and of the things (n. 2157, 2275); and thus from these words, in which there are four distinct periods and affections of love, the celestial angels form such things as can in no wise come down to human apprehension, nor can be put into words; and this with ineffable abundance and variety. Hence we can see what the quality of the Word is in its internal sense, even where it appears simple in the letter, as in this verse.

2803. That the Divine Truth is the "son", and the Divine Good the "father", is evident from the signification of a "son", as being truth (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2633); and of a "father", as being good; and also from the conception and birth of truth, which is from good. Truth cannot be and come forth (existere) from any other source than good, as has been shown many times. That the "son" here is the Divine Truth, sad the "father" the Divine Good, is because the union of the Divine Essence with the Human, and of the Human Essence with the Divine, is the Divine marriage of Good with Truth, and of Truth with Good, from which comes the heavenly marriage; for in Jehovah or the Lord there is nothing but what is infinite; and because infinite, it cannot be apprehended by any idea, except that it is the being and the coming forth (esse et existere) of all good and truth, or is Good itself and Truth itself. Good itself is the "Father", and Truth itself is the "Son". But because as before said there is a Divine marriage of Good and Truth, and of Truth and Good, the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father, as the Lord Himself teaches in John: -

Jesus saith unto Philip, Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me (John 14:10, 11).

And again in the same Evangelist: -

Jesus said to the Jews, Though ye believe not Me, believe the works; that ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10:36, 38).

And again: -

I pray for them for all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee (John 17:9, 10, 21).

And again: -

Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself. Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee (John 13:31, 32; 17:1).

[2] From this may be seen the nature of the union of the Divine and the Human in the Lord; namely, that it is mutual sad alternate, or reciprocal; which union is that which is called the Divine Marriage, from which descends the heavenly marriage, which is the Lord's kingdom itself in the heavens - thus spoken of in John: -

In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (John 14:20).

And again: -

I pray for them, that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us, I in them and Thou in Me; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:21-23, 26).

That this heavenly marriage is that of good and truth, and of truth and good, may be seen above (n. 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729).

[3] And because the Divine Good cannot be and come forth without the Divine Truth, nor the Divine Truth without the Divine Good, but the one in the other mutually and reciprocally, it is therefore manifest that the Divine Marriage was from eternity; that is, the Son in the Father, and the Father in the Son, as the Lord Himself teaches in John: -

And now O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thyself, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (John 17:5, 24).

But the Divine Human which was born from eternity was also born in time; and what was born in time, and glorified, is the same. Hence it is that the Lord so often said that He was going to the Father who sent Him; that is, that He was returning to the Father. And in John: -

In the beginning was the Word (the "Word" is the Divine Truth itself), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-3, 14; 3:13; 6:62).

2804. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood. That this signifies that love and righteousness were present, is evident from the signification of "fire", as being love (n. 934); and from the signification of "wood for a burnt-offering", as being the merit of righteousness (n. 2784).

2805. Where is the lamb (pecus) for a burnt-offering? That this signifies, Where are they from the human race who are to be sanctified? is evident from the representation of sacrifices, especially of burn-offerings. That burnt-offerings and sacrifices were representative of internal worship, may be seen above (n. 922, 923); that they were made from the flock and from the herd; that when made from the flock, they consisted of lambs, sheep, she-goats, kids, rains, he-goats, and when from the herd, of oxen, bullocks, or calves and that these signified various kinds of celestial and spiritual things (n. 922, 1823, 2180); also that by means of them sanctifications were to be effected (n. 2776). It may be seen from this, that by Isaac's inquiry, "Where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" is signified, Where are they from the human race who are to be sanctified? which is more plainly manifest from what follows, that is, from the answer of Abraham his father, "God will see for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering" (verse 8); by which is signified that the Divine Human will provide those who are to be sanctified. This is also evident from the fact that a rain was afterwards seen behind them, held by the horns in a thicket, which was offered for a burnt-offering (verse 13), by which are signified those of the human race who are of the Lord's spiritual church. And the same is evident from what follows in (verses 14 to 17).

2806. Verse 8. And Abraham said, God will see for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son: and they went both of them together. "Abraham said, God will see for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son", signifies the reply, that the Divine Human will provide those who are to be sanctified; "and they went both of them together", signifies unition still closer as far as possible.

2807. Abraham said, God will see for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. That this signifies the reply that the Divine Human will provide those who are to be sanctified, is evident from the signification of "seeing for Himself", when predicated of God, as being to foresee and provide; for "seeing", in the proximate internal sense, is to understand (n. 2150, 2325); in a still more internal sense it is having faith (n. 897, 2325) but in the supreme sense it is foreseeing and providing; and also from the signification of the "lamb for a burnt-offering", as being those from the human race who are to be sanctified (n. 2805). That the spiritual are here meant by the "lamb for a burnt-offering", is manifest from what follows. The beasts for the burnt-offering and sacrifice signified various things a lamb one thing, a sheep another, a kid and a she-goat another, a ram and a he-goat another; so also an ox, a bullock, and a calf, and the young of doves, and turtledoves. That each signified a different thing is plainly evident from its being expressly defined which kind should be sacrificed on the several days, and at each festival; as at expiations, cleansings, inaugurations, and at other times. These kinds would by no means have been so expressly pointed out, unless each one had a special signification.

[2] It is manifest that all the rites or external kinds of worship that existed in the Ancient Church, and afterwards in the Jewish, represented the Lord, and especially the burnt-offerings and sacrifices, because among the Hebrew nation these were the principal things of worship. And because they represented the Lord, they at the same time also represented those things which are the Lord's with men, namely, the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith, consequently the men themselves who are celestial or spiritual, or who ought to be. Hence it is that by the "lamb" here are signified the spiritual, that is, they who are of the Lord's spiritual church. That by "God will see for Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son", is signified that the Divine Human will provide, is evident from the fact that it is not here said that " Jehovah" will see, but that "God" will see. When both are named, as in this chapter, by "Jehovah" is then meant the same as by the "Father", and by "God" the same as by the "Son", and thus here the Divine Human; and this because the spiritual man is treated of, who has salvation from the Divine Human, as may be seen above (n. 2661, 2716).

2808. They went both of them together. That this signifies unition still closer as far as possible, is evident without explication. A closer unition is signified because it is said a second time.

2809. Verse 9. And they came to the place which God told him of; and Abraham built there the altar, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. "They came to the place which God told him of", signifies the state at that time according to perception from Divine Truth; "and Abraham built there the altar", signifies the preparation of the Lord's Human Divine; "and laid the wood in order", signifies the righteousness that was adjoined to it; "and bound Isaac his son", signifies the state of the Divine rational which was thus, as to truth, about to undergo the last degrees of temptation; "and laid him on the altar upon the wood", signifies in the Human Divine to which the righteousness belonged.

2810. They came to the place which God told him of. That this signifies the state at that time according to perception from Divine Truth, is evident from the signification of "place", as being state (n. 2786); and from the signification of "saying", in the historical parts of the Word, as being to perceive-explained often before. Here "God saying" denotes perceiving from Divine Truth, because it is said "God", and not "Jehovah" (n. 2586, 2807).

2811. And Abraham built there the altar. That this signifies the preparation of the Lord's Human Divine, is evident from the signification of an "altar", and of "building an altar". "Altars" signified all worship in general, because they were the primary things of the worship of the representative church (n. 921); and as they signified all worship in general, they signified the Lord's Divine Human, for the Lord's Divine Human is all worship and all doctrine; so much so as to be worship itself and doctrine itself; as may be seen also from the Holy Supper, which succeeded to altars, or to burnt-offerings and sacrifices (n. 2165, 2187, 2343, 2359), and which is the primary thing of external worship, because it is the Lord's Divine Human which is there given. That to "build an altar" is to prepare the Human Divine, is evident from the above, and thus without explication. The final preparation of the Lord's Human Divine for undergoing the last degrees of temptation is treated of in this verse, and is described by Abraham laying the wood in order, binding Isaac his son, and placing him on the altar upon the wood.

2812. And he laid the wood in order. That this signifies the righteousness which was adjoined to it, is evident from the signification of the "wood of a burnt-offering", as being the merit of righteousness (n. 2784, 2798); and from the signification of "laying the wood in order upon the altar", as being to adjoin that righteousness to the Human Divine. The merit of righteousness is adjoined when it is there, and when there is confidence from truth that it belongs to Him.

2813. And bound Isaac his son. That this signifies the state of the Divine rational thus about to undergo as to truth the last degrees of temptation, is evident from the signification of "binding", and also of "Isaac his son". That to "bind" is to put on the state for undergoing the last degrees of temptation, is evident from the fact that he who is in a state of temptation is no otherwise than as bound or chained. That "Isaac the son" is the Lord's Divine rational, here as to truth, may be seen above (n. 2802, 2803). All the genuine rational consists of good and truth. The Lord's Divine rational as to good could not suffer, or undergo temptations; for no genius or spirit inducing temptations can come near to Good Divine, as it is above all attempt at temptation. But Truth Divine bound was what could be tempted; for there are fallacies, and still more falsities, which break in upon and thus tempt it; for concerning Truth Divine some idea can be formed, but not concerning Good Divine except by those who have perception, and are celestial angels. It was Truth Divine which was no longer acknowledged when the Lord came into the world, and therefore it was that from which the Lord underwent and endured temptations. Truth Divine in the Lord is what is called the "Son of man", but Good Divine is what is called the "Son of God". Of the "Son of man" the Lord says many times that He was to suffer, but never of the Son of God. That He says this of the Son of man, or of Truth Divine, is evident in Matthew: -

Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered, unto the chief priests and scribes, and they shall condemn Him, and shall deliver Him unto the Gentiles to mock and to scourge, and to crucify (Matthew 20:18, 19).

In the same: -

Jesus said to His disciples, Behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is delivered into the hands of sinners (Matthew 26:45).

In Mark: -

Jesus began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again (Mark 8:31).

In the same: -

It is written of the Son of man, that He shall suffer many things, and be set at nought. And the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; but when He is killed He shall rise again on the third day (Mark 9:12, 31).

In the same: -

Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him unto the Gentiles, and they shall mock Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him, and the third day He shall rise again (Mark 10:33, 34).

In the same: -

The hour is come behold the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners (Mark 14:41).

In Luke: -

The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day rise again (Luke 9:22, 44).

In the same: -

We go up to Jerusalem, where all the things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished He shall be delivered up unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and shamefully entreated, and spit upon, and they shall scourge and kill Him, and the third day He shall rise again (Luke 18:31-33).

In the same: -

The angel said to the women, Remember what He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying that the Son of man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again (Luke 24:6, 7).

[2] In all these places by the "Son of man" is meant the Lord as to Truth Divine, or as to the Word in its internal sense, which was rejected by the chief priests and scribes, was shamefully entreated, scourged, spit upon, and crucified, as may be clearly evident from the fact that the Jews applied and arrogated everything to themselves according to the letter, and were not willing to know anything about the spiritual sense of the Word, and about the heavenly kingdom, believing that the Messiah was to come to raise up their kingdom above all the kingdoms of the earth, as they also believe at this day. Hence it is manifest that it was Truth Divine which was rejected by them, shamefully treated, scourged, and crucified. Whether you say Truth Divine, or the Lord as to Truth Divine, it is the same; for the Lord is the Truth itself, as He is the Word itself (n. 2011, 2016, 2533).

[3] The Lord's rising again on the third day also involves that Truth Divine, or the Word as to the internal sense, as it was understood by the Ancient Church, will be revived in the consummation of the age, which is also the "third day" (n. 1825, 2788) on which account it is said that the Son of man (that is, Truth Divine) will then appear (Matt. 24:30, 37, 39, 44; Mark 13:26; Luke 17:22, 24-26, 30; 21:27, 36).

[4] That the "Son of man" is the Lord as to Truth Divine, is evident from the passages adduced, and further from the following. In Matthew: -

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man, the field is the world. In the consummation of the age the Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend (Matthew 13:37, 41, 42);

where the "good seed" is the truth; the "world" is men; "He that soweth the seed" is the Son of man; and the "things that offend" are falsities. In John: -

The multitude said, We have heard out of the Law that the Christ abideth forever; and how sayest Thou that the Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man? Jesus answered them, A little while is the Light with you walk while ye have the Light, that darkness overtake you not; for he that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither' he goeth. While ye have the Lift, believe in the Light, that ye may become the sons of Light (John 12:34, 35);

where, when they asked who the Son of man is, Jesus answered concerning the Light, which is the Truth, and that He is the Light or Truth in which they should believe. As regards the Light which is from the Lord, and which is the Divine Truth, see (n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 1619-1632).

[5] But that the Son of God, or the Lord as to Good in His Human Divine could not be tempted, as was said above, this is manifest also from the Lord's answer to the tempter, in the Evangelists: -

The tempter said, If Thou art the Son of God cast Thyself down; for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee, lest haply Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God (Matt. 4:6, 7; Luke 4:9-12).

2814. And laid him on the altar upon the wood. That this signifies in the Human Divine to which righteousness belongs, is evident from the signification of an "altar", as being the Lord's Divine Human (n. 2811); and from the signification of the "wood of a burnt-offering", as being the merit of righteousness (n. 2784, 2798, 2812). The Truth Divine in the Lord's Human Divine, which underwent the temptations, and which has been treated of, is not the Divine Truth itself, for this is above all temptation; but it is rational truth, such as the angels have, consisting in the appearances of truth, and is what is called the " Son of man", but before the glorification. But the Divine Truth in the Lord's glorified Divine Human is above appearances, nor can it possibly come to any understanding, and still less to the apprehension of man, nor even to that of angels, and thus not at all to anything of temptation. It appears in the heavens as light which is from the Lord. Concerning this Divine Truth, or the Son of man glorified, it is thus written in John: -

Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him: if God is glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him (John 13:31, 32).

That a distinct idea may be had of this very deep arcanum, we may call the Truth with the Lord which could be tempted, and which underwent temptations, Truth Divine in the Lord's Human Divine; but the Truth which could not be tempted, or undergo any temptation, because it was glorified, the Divine Truth in the Lord's Divine Human; this distinction has also been observed here and there in what goes before.

2815. Verse 10. And Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. "Abraham put forth his hand", signifies temptation even to the utmost of power; "and took the knife", signifies as to truth; "to slay his son", signifies until whatever was from the merely human was dead.

2816. Abraham put forth his hand. That this signifies temptation even to the utmost of power, is evident from the series of things; for the Lord's most grievous and inmost temptations are treated of. The verses which proceed treat of the preparation of the Human Divine for admitting and enduring them: here the act is treated of, which is expressed in the sense of the letter by "Abraham put forth his hand". That power is signified by the "hand" may be seen above (n. 878); here the utmost of power, because nothing but the act was wanting. It is according to the internal sense, that the Lord's Divine led His Human into the most grievous temptations, for by "Abraham" is meant the Lord as to His Divine, and this even to the utmost of power. The truth is that the Lord admitted temptations into Himself in order that He might expel thence all that was merely human, and this until nothing but the Divine remained.

[2] That the Lord admitted temptations into Himself, even the last, which was that of the cross, may be seen from the words of the Lord Himself, in Matthew: -

Jesus began to show the disciples that He must suffer many things, and be killed. Then Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying, Spare Thyself, Lord; let this not be done unto Thee. But He turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan; thou art an offense unto Me; for thou savorest not the things that are of God, but those that are of men (Matthew 16:21-23).

And more manifestly in John: -

No one taketh My life from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again (John 10:18).

And in Luke: -

Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26).

2817. And took the knife. That this signifies as to truth, is evident from the signification of a "knife", as being the truth of faith (n. 2799); and that the Lords temptation was as to Truth Divine, see above (n. 2813, 2814).

2818. To slay his son. That this signifies until whatever was from the merely human was dead, is evident from the internal sense of these words; for they signify the Lord's most grievous and inmost temptations, the last of which was that of the cross, in which it is evident that what was merely human also died. This could not be represented by Abraham's son or Isaac, because to sacrifice sons was an abomination; but it was represented so far as it could be, namely, even to the attempt, hut not to the act. Hence it is evident that by these words, Abraham took the knife to slay his son", is signified until all that was merely human was dead.

[2] That it was known from the most ancient time that the Lord was to come into the world, and was to suffer death, is evident from the fact that the custom prevailed among the Gentiles of sacrificing their sons, believing that they were thus purified, and propitiated to God; in which abominable custom they could not have placed their most important religious observance, unless they had learned from the ancients that the Son of God was to come, who would, as they believed, be made a sacrifice. To this abomination even the sons of Israel were inclined, and Abraham also; for no one is tempted except by that to which he is inclined. That the sons of Jacob were so inclined is evident in the Prophets but lest they should rush into that abomination, it was permitted to institute burnt-offerings and sacrifices (n. 922, 1128, 1241, 1343, 2180).

2819. As regards the Lords temptations in general, some were more external and some more internal; and the more internal they were, the more grievous. The inmost ones are described by the Evangelists (Matt. 26:37-39, 42, 44; 27:46; Mark 14:33-36; 15:34; Luke 22:42-44); but see what has been said before respecting the Lord's temptations, namely: That the Lord first contended from goods: and truths which appeared as goods and truths (n. 1661): That the contended against the evils of the love of self and the world from Divine Love toward the whole human race (n. 1690, 1691, 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820). That He alone contended from the Divine Love (n. 1812, 1813): That all the hells fought against the Lord's love, which was for the salvation of the whole human race (n. 1820): That the Lord endured the most grievous temptations of all (n. 1663, 1668, 1787): That the Lord became righteousness from His own power by means of temptations and victories (n. 1813, 2025): That the union of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence was effected by the Lord by means of temptations and victories (n. 1737, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026). See also what has been said before concerning temptations in general (n. 59, 63, 227, 847): That temptation is a combat concerning power, as to whether good or evil, truth or falsity, is to reign supreme (n. 1923): That in temptations there are indignations, and many other affections (n. 1917): That temptations are celestial, spiritual, and natural (n. 847): That in temptations the evil genii and spirits assail the things of the love, and thus the things of the man's life (n. 847, 1820): What temptations effect (n. 1692, 1717, 1740): That temptation is for the purpose that corporeal things may be subdued (n. 857): That the evils and falsities in a man who is being regenerated are subdued by temptations, not abolished (n. 868): That truth has the first place in combat (n. 1685): That man combats from the goods and truths which he has acquired by knowledges, though they he not in themselves goods and truths (n. 1661): That evil spirits and genii excite the falsities and evils in a man, and hence come temptations (n. 741, 751, 761): That in temptations man thinks that the Lord is absent, whereas He is then more present (n. 840): That man can by no means sustain the combats of temptations of himself, because they are against all the hells (n. 1692): That the Lord alone combats in man (n. 1661, 1692): That by means of temptations evil genii and spirits are deprived of the power of doing evil and inspiring falsity in man (n. 1695, 1717): That temptations come with those who have conscience, and more acute ones with those who have perception (n. 1668): That temptations rarely exist at this day, but in their place anxieties, which are of another character and from another source (n. 762): That men spiritually dead cannot sustain the combats of temptations (n. 270): That all temptations are attended with despair respecting the end (n. 1787, 1820): That after temptations there is fluctuation (n. 848, 857): That the good learn by temptations that they are nothing but evil, and that all things are of mercy (n. 2334): That by temptations goods are conjoined more closely with truths (n. 2272): That men are not save by temptations if they yield in them, nor if they think that they have merited by them (n. 2273): That in every temptation there is freedom, and stronger than out of temptations (n. 1937).

2820. Verse 11. And the angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. "The angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven", signifies consolation at that time from the Divine Itself; "and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I", signifies a perception of consolation in the Divine Good of the rational after temptation.

2821. The angel of Jehovah called unto him out of heaven. That this signifies consolation from the Divine Itself at that time, is evident from the signification of "calling out of heaven", as being to console; as is also manifest from what immediately precedes and what next follows; and also from the signification of the "angel of Jehovah". That when angels are mentioned in the Word, by them is meant something in the Lord, and that it appears from the series what of the Lord is meant, see (n. 1925). We read in like manner concerning the Lord, that when He sustained the most grievous temptation in Gethsemane, an angel from heaven was seen by Him strengthening Him (Luke 22:43). By the "angel from heaven" here also in the internal sense is meant the Divine which was in Him.

2822. And said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. That this signifies a perception of consolation in the Divine Good of the rational after temptation, is evident from the signification of "saying" in the historical parts of the Word, as being to perceive - explained often before. That it is here perception in the Divine Good of the rational, is because the Divine Good of the rational of the Lord's Human is here signified by "Abraham". What perception in the Divine Good of the rational is, cannot be unfolded to the apprehension; for before it is unfolded, an idea of the Lord's Divine Human must have been formed from knowledge of many things; and before this has been formed, all things belonging to the explication would fall into empty and obscure ideas, which would either pervert the truths or bring them into things incongruous. In this verse the Lord's first state after temptation is treated of, which is a state of consolation; on which account it is now no longer said "God", but "Jehovah;" for "God" is named when truth is treated of, but "Jehovah" when good is treated of, from which comes consolation (n. 2769). All consolation after temptation is insinuated into good, for from good is all joy and from the good it passes into truth. On this account by "Abraham" is here signified the Divine good of the rational, as in other places also, and also whenever "Jehovah" is named in the same verse.

2823. Verse 12. And He said, Put not forth thine hand upon the boy, and do not anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, and thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from Me. "He said, Put not forth thine hand upon the boy", signifies that He should admit the temptation no further into the Truth Divine which belonged to the rational; "and do not anything unto him", signifies liberation; "for now I know that thou fearest God", signifies glorification from the Divine love; "and hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from Me", signifies the unition of the Human with the Divine by means of the last of temptation.

2824. And He said, Put not forth thine hand upon the boy. That this signifies that He should admit the temptation no further into the Truth Divine which belonged to the rational, is evident from the signification of "putting forth the hand", as being temptation even to the utmost of power (n. 2816), and from the signification of the "boy", that is, of Isaac, as being the rational as to Truth Divine, into which the temptations were admitted (n. 2803, 2813, 2814, 2817).

2825. And do not anything unto him. That this signifies liberation, is evident without explication; for when it is said that he should do nothing to him, it means that the act should be interrupted, and thus that he will be liberated.

2826. For now I know that thou fearest God. That this signifies glorification from the Divine love, is evident from the signification of "knowing", when predicated of the Lord's Divine, as being nothing else than to be united, or what is the same, to be glorified; for it was being united to the Human Divine by means of temptations (n. 1737, 1813); and from the signification of "fearing God", or of the "fear of God", as being here the Divine love. And because this is predicated of the Lord's Divine rational as to truth, it is here said to fear "God", and not "Jehovah;" for when truth is treated of, it is said " God;" but when good, "Jehovah" (n. 2586, 2769, 2822). That the Divine love is that by which the Lord united His Human Essence to His Divine Essence, and the Divine Essence to the Human, or what is the same, glorified Himself, may be seen above (n. 1812, 1813, 2253). What "fearing God" signifies in the Word, may be seen from a great many passages when understood as to the internal sense. The "fear of God" there signifies worship, and indeed worship either from fear, or from the good of faith, or from the good of love; worship from fear when the non-regenerate, worship from the good of faith when the spiritual regenerate, and worship from the good of love when the celestial regenerate are treated of.

[2] I. That the "fear of God" in general signifies worship, is manifest in the book of Kings

The sons of Israel feared other gods, and walked in the statutes of the nations. The nations sent into Samaria feared not Jehovah in the beginning, therefore Jehovah sent lions among them and one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Jehovah. Jehovah made a covenant with the sons of Israel and commanded them, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them but ye shall fear Jehovah, and bow yourselves down unto Him, and sacrifice to Him (2 Kings 17:7, 8, 24, 26, 28, 32, 33, 36, 37, 41);

here "fearing" manifestly denotes worshiping. In Isaiah: -

Because this people have drawn nigh unto Me with their mouth, and have honored Me with their lips, and their heart hath removed itself far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment of men which hath been taught (Isaiah 29:13);

where their "fear of Me" denotes worship in general; for it is said that the fear was a commandment of men. In Luke: -

There was in a city a judge who feared not God and regarded not man (Luke 18:2),

"fearing not God" means not worshiping Him.

[3] II. That the "fear of God" signifies worship from fear when the nonregenerate are treated of, is manifest from the following passages in Moses: -

When the Law was promulgated upon Mount Sinai, the people said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before you, that ye sin not (Exod. 20:19, 20).

And again: -

Now why shall we die? for this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of Jehovah our God any more, then we shall die. Go thou near, and hear all that Jehovah our God shall say and speak thou unto us all that Jehovah our God shall say unto thee and we will hear it, and do it. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Who will give them to have such a heart as this, to fear Me, and keep all My commandments always (Deut. 5:25, 27-29);

here the "fear of God before you that ye sin not, and a heart to fear Me, and keep all My commandments", signifies worship from fear, in respect to them, because such was their quality; for they who are in external worship, and not in internal, are driven to the observance of the law and to obedience by fear; but still they do not come into internal worship or into holy fear (timor sanctus) unless they are in the good of life, and know what is internal, and believe it. In the same: -

If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, to fear this glorious and fearful name, Jehovah thy God, Jehovah will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, plagues great and sure, and sore diseases and sure, and He will bring upon thee again all the sickness of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of, and they shall cleave unto thee (Deut. 28:58-60);

here also to "fear the glorious and fearful name of Jehovah God" is to worship from fear; and that this might exist among those of such a character, all evils even to cursings were attributed to Jehovah (n. 592, 2335, 2395, 2447). In Jeremiah: -

Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that My fear is not in thee (Jeremiah 2:19).

In Luke: -

I say unto you, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, but after that have no more that they can do; but I will warn you whom ye shall fear; fear Him who after He hath killed, hath power to cast into hell yea, I say unto you, fear Him (Luke 12:4, 5; Matt. 10:28);

here also "fearing God" involves worshiping from some fear, because fear drove them to obedience, as before said.

[4] III. That to "fear God" or Jehovah" signifies worship from the good of faith, where the spiritual regenerate are treated of, is manifest from the following passages. In Moses: -

The king shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book before the priests the Levites, and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God, to keep all the words of this law, and these statutes, to do them (Deut. 17:18, 19).

In the internal sense "king" denotes the truth of faith; for royalty represented the Lord's spiritual kingdom (n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069). Hence to "fear Jehovah his God", is to worship Him from the truth of faith; and because this is inseparable from the good of charity, it is described by "keeping the words of the law and the statutes to do them". In Samuel: -

Behold Jehovah hath set a king over you. If ye will fear Jehovah and serve Him, and hearken unto His voice, then shall both ye and the king that reigneth over you be followers of Jehovah your God (1 Sam. 12:13, 14);

here also in the internal sense "fearing Jehovah" denotes worshiping from the good and truth of faith, as before, because a king or royalty is treated of.

[5] In Joshua: -

Now fear Jehovah, and serve Him in integrity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served (Joshua 24:14);

where also to "fear Jehovah" denotes worshiping from good and truth, which is of the spiritual man; for "integrity" is predicated of the good of faith (n. 612), and "truth" of the truth of faith. In Jeremiah: -

They shall be My people, and I will be their God and I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and of their children after them and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good and I will put My fear in their heart, that they shall not depart from Me (Jeremiah 32:38-40);

that "fearing God" here is worshiping from the good and truth of faith, is evident from the series, and from the use of the words "people" and "God". That those are called "people' who are in truth, see (n. 1259, 1260); and that "God" is named where truth is treated of, (n. 2586, 2769, 2807). In Isaiah: -

The strong people shall honor Thee, the city of the mighty nations shall fear Thee (Isaiah 25:3);

where "fearing God" also denotes worshiping from spiritual truth, for it is predicated of "people" and "city". That a "city" is doctrinal truth see (n. 402, 2268, 2450, 2451).

[6] In David: -

What man is he that feareth Jehovah? him shall He teach the way that He shall choose (Ps. 25:12);

where the "man that feareth Jehovah" denotes him who worships Him; and that this is said of the spiritual man is manifest from its being said, "him shall He teach the way". That a "way" is truth, see (n. 627, 2333). And again with similar meaning: -

Blessed is every one that feareth Jehovah, that walketh in His ways (Ps. 128:1).

In the same: -

They that fear Jehovah shall glorify Him all the seed of Jacob shall glorify Him, and all the seed of Israel shall stand in awe of Him (Ps. 22:23);

here to "stand in awe of Him" means to worship from the truth of faith; for the "seed of Israel" is the spiritual of the church, or the good and truth of faith (n. 1025, 1447, 1610). In Moses: -

Now Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Jehovah thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of Jehovah, and His statutes (Deut. 10:12, 13).

Here is described what it is to "fear God", with the spiritual man', that is, "Israel;" namely, that it is to walk in the ways of Jehovah, to love Him, to serve Him, and to keep His precepts and His statutes. In John: -

I saw an angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel, saying with a great voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come (Rev. 14:6, 7);

here to "fear God" denotes holy worship from the good and truth of faith. In Luke: -

Jesus said to him that was palsied, Arise, take up thy couch, and go unto thy house and amazement took hold upon them all; and they glorified God, and they were filled with fear (Luke 5:24-26);

where "fear" denotes holy fear, such as is that of those who are being initiated into the good of love by the truth of faith.

[7] IV. That to "fear God" or "Jehovah" signifies worship from the good of love, when the celestial regenerate are treated of. In Malachi: -

My covenant was with Levi, of lives and peace and I gave them to him that he might fear, and he feared Me, and for My name was he broken. The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not in his lips he walked with Me in peace and uprightness (Malachi 2:5, 6);

where the Lord is treated of, who here in the internal sense is "Levi;" "Levi" signifies the priesthood, and signifies love; "fear" here denotes the good of Divine love; the "law of truth", truth; and peace and uprightness", both.

[8] In Isaiah: -

There shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots and the spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah, and of His scent in the fear of Jehovah (Isaiah 11:1-3);

where also the Lord is treated of. The "spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah" denotes the Divine love of truth; and His "scent in the fear of Jehovah", the Divine love of good.

[9] In David

The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes the fear of Jehovah is clean, standing forever; the judgments of Jehovah are truth, made righteous together (Ps. 19:8, 9);

where "the fear of Jehovah is clean" denotes love; and "the judgments of Jehovah are truth" denotes faith. That "righteousness" is predicated of the good of love, and "judgment" of the truth of faith, see (n. 2235); and these are said to be " made righteous together", when truth becomes good, or when faith becomes charity.

[10] In the same: -

Behold the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear Him, upon them that wait for His mercy (Ps. 33:18).

And again: -

Jehovah delighteth not in the strength of the horse, He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. Jehovah taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that wait for His mercy (Ps. 147:10, 11);

the "strength of the horse" denotes one's own power of thinking truth. That a "horse" denotes the intellectual faculty, see (n. 2760-2762), the "legs of a man" denote one's own power of doing good; "they that fear Jehovah" denote those who worship Him from the love of truth; and "they that wait for His mercy", those who worship from the love of good. Where good is spoken of in the Prophets, so also is truth; and where truth is spoken of, so also is good, on account of the heavenly marriage of good and truth in everything (n. 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712, 2713).

[11] In the same: -

Jehovah will bless the house of Israel, He will bless the house of Aaron, He will bless them that fear Jehovah, both small and great (Ps. 115:12, 13);

here "they that fear Jehovah" denote those who worship from the good of faith, which is the "house of Israel", and from the good of love, which is the "house of Aaron;" they are both named on account of the heavenly marriage, as said above, in everything in the Word.

[12] In Isaiah: -

The truth of thy times shall be strength of salvations, wisdom, and knowledge the fear of Jehovah itself a treasure (Isaiah 33:6);

where "wisdom and knowledge" denote the good of faith conjoined with its truth; and the "fear of Jehovah", the good of love. In the same: -

Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, hearkening to the voice of His servant (Isaiah 50:10);

"he that feareth Jehovah" denotes him that worships from love; he that hearkeneth to the voice of His servant", him that worships from faith. When the one is of the other, then there is the heavenly marriage.

[13] From the passages which have been adduced from the Word it is evident that the "fear of God" is worship, either from fear, or from the good of faith, or from the good of love. But the more there is of fear in the worship, the less there is of faith, and the less still of love; and on the other hand, the more of faith there is in the worship, and especially the more there is of love, the less there is of fear. There is indeed a fear within all worship, but under another appearance and another condition, and this is holy fear. But holy fear is not so much the fear of hell and of damnation, as it is of doing or thinking anything against the Lord and against the neighbor, and thus anything against the good of love and the truth of faith. It is an aversion, which is the boundary of the holy of love and the holy of faith on the one side; and as it is not a fear of hell and damnation, as before said, those have it who are in the good of faith; but those have less of it who are in the good of love, that is, who are in the Lord.

[14] V. Therefore to "fear" signifies also to distrust, or not to have faith and love, as in Isaiah: -

Thus saith thy Creator, O Jacob, and thy Former, O Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed thee I have called thee by thy name, thou art Mine (Isaiah 43:1, 5; 44:8).

In Luke: -

The oath which He sware to our father Abraham, that He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him (Luke 1:73, 74).

In the same: -

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32).

In Mark: -

Jesus said unto the ruler of the synagogue, Fear not, only believe (Mark 5:36; Luke 8:49, 50).

In the same: -

Jesus said, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? (Mark 4:40).

In Luke: -

The hairs of your head are all numbered fear not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows (Luke 12:7).

In these passages to "fear" is to distrust, or not to have faith and love.

2827. And thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from Me. That this signifies the unition of the Human with the Divine by the utmost of temptation, is evident from the signification of "thy son", namely, Isaac, as being the Divine rational (explained before), or the Divine Human, for this begins in the rational (n. 2106, 2194); which is called the "only one", because it was the only-begotten (n. 2772); and from the signification of "not withholding from Me", as being to cause it to be united, namely, to the Divine Itself. That the unition was effected by the utmost of temptation, is manifest from all that precedes.

2828. Verse 13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw, and behold a ram behind, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went, and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son. "Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw", signifies the Lord's thought and mental view from the Divine; "and behold a ram", signifies the spiritual from the human race; "behind, caught in a thicket", signifies entangled in natural knowledge; "by his horns", signifies with all power as to the truths of faith. "And Abraham went, and took the ram", signifies their liberation by the Lord's Divine Human; "and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son", signifies their sanctification and adoption.

2829. Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw. That this signifies the Lord's thought and mental view from the Divine, may be seen above (n. 2789), where are the same words. The thought and mental view from the Divine is concerning all and each of the things that will take place to eternity, with the Divine Providence.

2830. And behold a ram. That this signifies the spiritual from the human race, is evident from the signification of a "ram", as explained in what follows. It is known within the church that the burnt-offerings and sacrifices in the representative Jewish and Israelitish Church signified the Lord's Divine Human; but the burnt-offerings and sacrifices from lambs signified one thing, those from sheep and she-goats another, and those also from kids, rams, and he-goats, and from oxen, bullocks, and calves, and from turtledoves and the young of pigeons, other things; and in like manner the meat-offerings and libations. In general they signified the Divine celestial, Divine spiritual, and Divine natural things which belong to the Lord; and hence they signified the celestial, spiritual, and natural things which are from Him in His kingdom, consequently in every one who is a kingdom of the Lord; which may also be seen from the Holy Supper, which succeeded the burnt-offerings and sacrifices. The bread and wine therein signify the Lord's Divine Human; the bread His Divine celestial, and the wine His Divine spiritual; they consequently signify His love toward the universal human race; and on the other had the love of the human race to the Lord (n. 2343, 2359). Hence it is manifest that the burnt-offerings and sacrifices involved celestial worship from love to the Lord, and spiritual worship from charity toward the neighbor and the derivative faith in the Lord (n. 922, 923, 1823, 2180). What the celestial is, and what the spiritual, or what are the celestial and the spiritual in the Lord's kingdom or in His church, has been frequently stated (n. 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2088, 2184, 2227, 2669, 2708, 2715).

[2] That a "ram" therefore signifies the Lord's Divine spiritual, and consequently the spiritual with man, or what is the same, those of the human race who are spiritual, may be seen from the burnt-offerings and sacrifices made from rams; in that when Aaron and his sons were sanctified to perform the ministry, that is, when they were inaugurated, they were to offer one bullock for sin, the blood of which was to be sprinkled upon the horns of the altar, and the rest poured at the bottom of it; also that one ram was to be killed, and his blood sprinkled round the altar, and then the whole ram was to be burnt for a burnt-offering; and that the blood of the other ram that was killed was to be sprinkled upon the tip of Aaron's ear, and upon the thumb of his hand and the great toe of his foot; and that after it was waved, it was to be burnt upon the burnt-offering (Exod. 29:1-35; Lev. 8:1-36; 9:2-24). That all these rites were holy is evident; but they were holy from their representing and signifying holy things. Otherwise to slaughter a bullock and to sprinkle his blood upon the horns of the altar and pour the rest at its base, and to slaughter one ram and sprinkle his blood round the altar and then to burn him, and to sprinkle the blood of the other ram upon the tip of Aaron's ear and the thumb of his hand and the great toe of his foot, also to wave it, and to burn it upon the burnt-offering - all these things would have had no holiness and thus would have effected no worship unless they had represented holy things. But what each particular represented can be evident to no one except from the internal sense. That the bullock which was for sin signified the Lord's Divine natural, and the rain His Divine spiritual, and that it signified also those who are spiritual of the human race, may be seen from the signification of a "bullock" and a "ram" in the Word. Inaugurations into the priesthood were made by spiritual things, for by spiritual things a man is introduced into celestial things; or what is the same, by the truths of faith into the good of love. In like manner when Aaron entered into the holy place, he was to offer a bullock for sin, and a ram for a burnt-offering (Lev. 16:2, 3).

[3] That the Nazirite, when the days of his Naziriteship were fulfilled, was to offer a whole lamb a son of a year, for a burnt-offering, and one ewe-lamb a daughter of a year, entire, for sin, and one whole ram for peace-offerings (Num. 6:13-17), was because the Nazirite represented the celestial man, who is a likeness of the Lord (n. 51, 52, 1013). The celestial man is such that he is in celestial love, that is, in love to the Lord, and thence in celestial truth (n. 202, 337, 2069, 2715, 2718); he was therefore to sacrifice a lamb and a ewe-lamb, by which the celestial was signified; and also a ram, by which the spiritual was signified. At the festivals, bullocks, rams, and lambs were sacrificed-as on the first day of the feast of the unleavened bread, two bullocks, one rain, and seven lambs, with their meat-offering, for a burnt-offering (Num. 28:18-20). On the day of the firstfruits also, two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs, with their meat-offering, for a burnt-offering (Num. 28:26-28). On the new moons, two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs, with their meat-offering, for a burnt-offering (Num. 28:11, 12). In the seventh month, on the first of the month, one bullock, one ram, and seven lambs, with their meat-offering. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, thirteen bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs. (Num. 29:1, 2, 12-14, 17, 18, 20-22, 24, 26-36). The "bullocks" and the "rams" signified spiritual things, but the "lambs" celestial things; for at the feasts they had to be sanctified and introduced by spiritual things.

[4] As "rams" signified the Divine spiritual of the Lord's Divine Human, as also the spiritual things with man, therefore where the new temple and New Jerusalem, that is, the Lord's spiritual kingdom, is spoken of, it is said in Ezekiel, that when they had made an end of cleansing the altar there, they were to offer a bullock for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering, and were to offer the goat of the sin-offering every day for seven days, and a bullock and a ram (Ezekiel 43:23-25); and that on this day the prince should prepare the bullock of the sin-offering for all the people, and on the seven days of the feast seven bullocks, and seven rams, with the meat-offering, for a burnt-offering (Ezekiel 45:22-24); and that on the day of the sabbath he should prepare six lambs and a ram (Ezekiel 46:4, 6).

[5] That by the new temple and the New Jerusalem in the universal sense is signified the Lord's kingdom, may be seen above (n. 402, 940); in particular the New Church (n. 2117). That there are not burnt-offerings and sacrifices there, may be known to every one, which shows that by these are signified the celestial things of love, and the spiritual things of faith; for these are of the Lord's kingdom; and thus such things are here signified by "bullocks", " rams", and "lambs". That "bullocks" and "rams" signify spiritual things, is evident from the several particulars in the internal sense; in general from this, that by the "new temple" and the "New Jerusalem" the Lord's spiritual kingdom is specifically signified, but by Zion" the celestial kingdom.

[6] That a "ram" signifies that which is spiritual, or what is the same, those who are spiritual, is plain also in Daniel; in that a ram was seen by him standing before the river, which had two horns; afterwards a he-goat of the goats, which smote him, broke his horns, and trampled him down (Daniel 8:3, 4); where nothing else is meant by the "ram" than the spiritual church, and by the "he-goat of the goats" than those who are in faith separated from charity, or in truth separate from good, who by successive steps uplift themselves against good, and at length against the Lord-which is also described. In Samuel: -

Samuel said to Saul, Hath Jehovah as great pleasure in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in hearkening to the voice of Jehovah? behold to hearken is better than sacrifice, and to obey than the fat of rams (1 Sam. 15:22);

where because obedience is treated of, so is truth, which is spiritual; and these words were said to the king, by whom also is signified truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069). It is not therefore said, "better than the fat of oxen", or of "lambs", but "better than the fat of rams".

[7] In David: -

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion. The sea saw it, and fled, and the Jordan turned back; the mountains leaped like rams, the hills like the sons of the flock. What aileth thee, O thou sea, that thou fleest? thou Jordan, that thou turnest back? ye mountains, that ye skip like rams? ye hills, like the sons of the flock? Thou travailest, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob who turned the rock into a pool of waters, and the flint into a fountain of waters (Ps. 114:1-8);

here in the internal sense the subject treated of is spiritual good after regeneration, and it is described in respect to its quality; its celestial spiritual by the "mountains leaping like rams;" and its celestial natural by the " hills like the sons of the flock". That "mountains" are the celestial things of love, see (n. 795, 1430). Every one may know that in these, as in the rest of the words of David, there are holy things, but in the internal sense; and that something is signified by the mountains skipping like rams, and the hills like the sons of the flock, and by the earth travailing at the presence of the Lord; which things, without the internal sense, are words of no meaning.

[8] So with these words in Moses: -

He maketh him ride on the high places of the earth, and to eat the increase of the earth, and He maketh him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flint of the rock butter of kine and milk of the flock, with fat of lambs, and of rams the sons of Bashan, and he-goats with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and of the blood of grapes thou shalt drink unmixed wine (Deut. 32:13, 14);

"rains the sons of Bashan" denotes celestial spiritual things. What celestial spiritual things are, see (n. 1824). In David: -

I will offer unto Thee burnt-offerings of fatlings with the incense of ram, I will offer bullocks with goats (Ps. 66:15);

"burnt-offerings of fatlings" denotes the celestial things of love; and the "incense of rams", the spiritual things of faith.

[9] In Ezekiel: -

Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were the merchants of thy hand: in lambs, in rams, and he-goats (Ezekiel 27:21);

where Tyre is treated of, by which those are signified who are in the knowledges of good and truth (n. 1201); "Arabia" denotes their wisdom; the "princes of Kedar", their intelligence; "lambs", celestial things; "rams", spiritual things; and "he-goats", natural things, which follow in order. In Isaiah: -

All the flock of Kedar shall be gathered together unto Thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto Thee; they shall come up with acceptance on Mine altar, and I will adorn the house of My adornment (Isaiah 60:7);

here the Lord's Divine Human is treated of; the "flock of Kedar" denotes Divine celestial things; and the "rams of Nebaioth", Divine spiritual things. From all this it is now evident that a " ram" in the internal sense signifies the Lord's Divine spiritual, and hence the spiritual in men, or what is the same, those of the human race who are spiritual.

2831. Behind, caught in a thicket. That this signifies entangled in natural knowledge, is evident from the signification of being "caught", as here being entangled; and from the signification of a "thicket" or "tangle", as being memory-knowledge - explained in what follows. That the spiritual are held entangled in natural knowledge in regard to the truths of faith, is as follows. The spiritual have not perception of good and truth, as the celestial have, but instead of it conscience formed from the goods and truths of faith which they have imbibed from infancy from their parents and masters, and afterwards from the doctrine of faith into which they were born. They who have no perception of good and truth have to be confirmed by knowledges. Every one forms for himself some idea respecting the things he has learned, and also respecting the goods and truths of faith; for without an idea, nothing remains in the memory otherwise than as an empty thing. Confirmatory things are added thereto, and fill up the idea of the thing, from other knowledges, even from memory-knowledges. The confirmation of the idea itself by many things causes not only that it sticks in the memory, so that it can be called forth into the thought, but also that faith can be insinuated into it.

[2] As regards perception in general, since few know what perception is, this must be declared. There is perception of what is good and true in celestial and spiritual things; there is perception of what is just and equitable in civil life; and there is perception of what is honorable in moral life. As regards the perception of what is good and true in celestial and spiritual things, the interior angels have this perception from the Lord, the men of the Most Ancient Church had it, and the celestial, who are in love to the Lord, have it. These know at once, from a kind of internal observation, whether a thing is good and whether it is true; for this is insinuated by the Lord, because they are conjoined with Him by love. Spiritual men however have no such perception of good and truth in celestial and spiritual things, but instead of it have conscience which dictates but as before said, this conscience is formed from the knowledges of good and truth which they have imbibed from their parents and masters, and afterwards from their own study in doctrine and in the Word; and in these, even though not entirely good and true, they put their faith. Hence it is that men can have conscience from any doctrine whatever; even the Gentiles have something not unlike conscience from their religion.

[3] That the spiritual have no perception of the good and truth of faith, but say and believe that to be true which they have learned and apprehended, is sufficiently evident from the fact that every one says that his own dogma is true, heretics more than others; and that they are not able to see the truth itself, still less to acknowledge it, although thousands of things should declare it. Let every one explore himself and see if he is able to perceive from any other source whether a thing is true; and if when a thing most true is made manifest to him he still does not fail to acknowledge it. As for example, one who makes faith the essential of salvation, and not love: even if all should be read before him which the Lord spoke concerning love and charity (n. 2373), and if he should know from the Word that all the Law and the Prophets hang upon love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, he will nevertheless remain in the idea of faith, and will say that this alone saves. It is otherwise with those who are in celestial and spiritual perception.

[4] As regards the perception of what is just and equitable in civil life however, those in the world who are rational have this, and also the perception of what is honorable in moral life. These two perceptions distinguish one man from another, but by no means do such men for this reason have the perception of the good and truth of faith, because this perception is higher or more internal, and flows in from the Lord through the inmost of the rational.

[5] The reason also why the spiritual have no perception of the good and truth of faith, is that good and truth are not implanted in their will part, as with celestial men, but in their intellectual part (n. 863, 875, 927, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2256). Hence it is that the spiritual cannot arrive at the first degree of the light in which the celestial are (n. 2718), but have what is obscure in comparison (n. 1043, 2708, 2715). That the spiritual are entangled in natural memory-knowledge in respect to the truths of faith, follows from this.

[6] That a "thicket" or "tangle" in the internal sense signifies natural memory-knowledge, that is, that knowledge which sticks fast in the exterior memory, may also be seen from other passages in the Word. In Ezekiel: -

Behold, Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful foliage, and a shady grove, and lofty in height, and his branch was among the tangled boughs (Ezekiel 31:3);

where Egypt, which is memory-knowledge, is treated of (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); "Asshur" denotes the rational (n. 119, 1186); which is also the "cedar", and also "Lebanon", in the Word; "among the tangled boughs" means among memory-knowledges, for the human rational is founded on its memory-knowledges.

[7] In the same: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Because thou art exalted in stature, and he hath set his branch among the tangled boughs, and his heart is lifted up in its height, strangers, the violent of the nations, shall cut him down, and cast him out (Ezek. 31:10, 12);

concerning Egypt; to "set the branch among the tangled boughs" denotes sticking fast in memory-knowledges, and regarding spiritual, celestial, and Divine things from them. In the same: -

To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their branch among the tangled boughs, nor that all that drink waters stand over them in their height, for they shall all be delivered unto death, to the lower earth in the midst of the sons of man, to them that go down to the pit (Ezek. 31:14);

here those are treated of who by reasonings from memory-knowledges desire to enter into the mysteries of faith. That they are made altogether blind, see (n. 215, 232, 233, 1072, 1911, 2196, 2203, 2568, 2588). To reason from memory-knowledges is to "set the branch among the tangled boughs". In the same: -

She had plants of strength for the scepters of them that bare rule, and her height was exalted among the tangled boughs (Ezek. 19:11);

this has a similar meaning.

[8] In the same: -

The slain of Israel shall be among their idols, round about their altars, and under every green tree, and under every tangled oak (Ezek. 6:13);

this treats of the worship which those form to themselves who have faith in themselves, and thus in the things which they hatch out from their memory-knowledges; the "tangled oak" denotes the memory-knowledges in such a state. That "oaks" are apperceptions from memory-knowledges, see (n. 1442, 1443, 2144). The like is found elsewhere in the same Prophet: -

They saw every high hill, and every tangled tree, and there they sacrificed their sacrifices (Ezek. 20:28);

a "tangled tree" denotes the things which are dictated not by the Word, but by one's own memory-knowledge. That worship was performed in groves, and was significative according to the qualities of the trees, see (n. 2722).

[9] In Isaiah: -

Wickedness burneth as the fire; it devoureth the briars and thorns, and kindleth in the thickets of the forest (Isa. 9:18);

the "briars and thorns" denote falsity and cupidity; the "thickets of the forest", memory-knowledges. In the same: -

Jehovah Zebaoth shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one (Isaiah 10:34);

the "thickets of the forest" denote memory-knowledges and "Lebanon", things rational. In Jeremiah: -

Set up a standard toward Zion, for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction a lion is gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations; he is on his way, he is gone forth from his place, to make thy land a waste thy cities shall be destroyed, without inhabitant (Jeremiah 4:6, 7);

"from his thicket" denotes from memory-knowledge; and that which ascends into Divine arcana from this makes the "land a waste", that is, lays waste the church.

[10] The reason why in the Word memory-knowledges are called "thickets", is that they are comparatively of such a character, especially when the cupidities of the love of self and of the world, and the principles of falsity, seek for them. Celestial and spiritual love is that which disposes into order the knowledges which are of the exterior memory; and the love of self and of the world is that which perverts the order, and disturbs all things in it. These things the man does not take notice of, because he places order in perverted order, good in evil, and truth in falsity. On this account these things are in entanglement; and also on this, that the things of the exterior memory, where these knowledges are, compared with those in the interior memory, where rational things are, are as in a thicket, or as in a dark forest. How shady, opaque, and dark it is there in comparison, a man cannot know so long as he is living in the body; for he then supposes that all wisdom and intelligence are from this source; but he will know in the other life, when he comes into the things of his interior memory. That in the exterior memory, which is proper to man while he is living in the world, nothing is less to be found than the light of intelligence and wisdom; but that all is relatively dark, disorderly, and entangled there, may be seen above (n. 2469-2494).

2832. By his horns. That this signifies with all power in regard to the truths of faith, is evident from the signification of "horns". "Horns" are mentioned in many places in the Word; and there signify the power of truth from good; and in the opposite sense the power of falsity from evil; here the meaning is that the spiritual who are signified by the "ram" are entangled in natural memory-knowledge with all their might in regard to truth, and hence that they are deprived of the power of perceiving truths. For the more anyone consults natural memory-knowledges, and sticks fast in them in his animus and mind in regard to the things which are truths of faith, the more does he lose the light of truth, and with the light, the life of truth. Every one may know this from experience, if he attends and reflects, from those who say that they can believe nothing unless they comprehend that it is so by means of the things of sense, or of memory-knowledge. If you explore their quality, you will find that they believe nothing; and moreover that nothing seems to them more wise than to ascribe everything to nature. There are many also who say that they believe although they do not comprehend; when nevertheless, in secret with themselves, they reason equally as others do from the things of sense and memory-knowledge concerning the truths of faith, as to whether a thing is so. These either have a kind of persuasion breathed in from the love of self and the world, or they do not believe at all. Their quality is manifest from their life. Both classes are indeed in the Lord's spiritual church, but they are not of the church. They who are of the church are in a life of good, and have faith in truths; but the spiritual have faith in other truths besides those which have been impressed on them from infancy, and which they have afterwards confirmed to themselves from doctrine or from some other source. Such is the state of the spiritual, which state is here described by the "ram caught in the thicket by his horns" (n. 2831).

[2] That a "horn" signifies the power of truth from good, is evident from the following passages. In David: -

Thou art the glory of their strength, and in Thy good pleasure wilt Thou exalt our horn for our shield belongeth unto Jehovah, and our king to the Holy One of Israel. My truth and My mercy shall be with him, and in My name shall his horn be exalted I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers (Ps. 89:17, 18, 24, 26);

where "our horn" and "his horn" manifestly denote the power of truth. The Lord's spiritual kingdom is there treated of; "our king belongs to the Holy One of Israel" denotes that Divine truth belongs to the Lord. That a "king" is truth, and that the Lord's royalty is the Divine Truth, see (n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069); to "put his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers" denotes that strength is in the memory-knowledges and the knowledges of truth. That the "hand" and the "right hand" denote strength, see (n. 878); and also that the "sea" and the "rivers" denote memory-knowledges and knowledges, (n. 28, 2702). In the same: -

I will love Thee, O Jehovah, my strength; Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strong rock in whom I trust, my shield, and the born of my salvation (Ps. 18:1, 2; 2 Sam. 22:2, 3);

the "horn of salvation" denotes truth as to power; in this passage "strength", "rock", "fortress", " God", " strong rock", and "shield", are all significative of the power of truth.

[3] In the same: -

In Zion will I make a horn to bud unto David, I will prepare a lamp for Mine anointed; His enemies will I clothe with shame (Ps. 132:17, 18);

where the Lord is treated of, who is "David" (n. 1888); a "horn" denotes the power of truth; a "lamp", the light of truth. In Samuel: -

My heart hath exulted in Jehovah, my horn is exalted in Jehovah, my mouth is enlarged against mine enemies, because I have been glad in Thy salvation. Jehovah will give strength unto His king, and will exalt the horn of His anointed (1 Sam. 2:1, 10);

this is the prophecy of Hannah; the "horn" denotes the power of truth.

[4] In Moses: -

The firstling of his ox, honor is his, and his horns are the horns of the unicorn with them shall he push the peoples all of them, to the ends of the earth (Deut. 33:17);

this is the prophecy of Moses concerning Joseph, where the "horns of the unicorn" denote the great power of truth, as is manifest also from its being said that he shall "push the peoples with them to the ends of the earth". So too in David: -

My born shalt Thou exalt like the unicorn's (Ps. 92:10).

And in the same: -

O Jehovah, save me from the mouth of the lion, and answer me from the horns of the unicorn (Ps. 22:21);

Divine truths, from their height, are called the "horns of unicorns;" hence the "horn" is so often said to be "exalted", for exaltation signifies power from the interior. That what is internal is represented by what is high, see (n. 1735, 2148).

[5] In Jeremiah: -

The Lord hath cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel, He hath drawn back His right hand from before the enemy (Lam. 2:3);

to "cut off all the horn of Israel" denotes to deprive of truth which has power, which is also to "draw back the right hand from before the enemy". In Ezekiel: -

In that day will I make a horn to grow for the house of Israel, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them (Ezekiel 29:21);

to "make the horn to grow for the house of Israel", denotes to multiply the truths of the spiritual church, which is "Israel;" the "opening of the mouth" denotes the confession of them.

[6] In Habakkuk: -

God will come from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran; His honor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise and His brightness shall be as the light He had horns out of His hand, and there was the hiding of His strength (Habakkuk 3:3, 4);

where the Lord is treated of. That "He had horns out of His hand, and there was the hiding of His strength", plainly denotes the power of truth; that "Mount Paran" is the Divine Spiritual or the Divine Truth of the Lord's Human, may be seen above (n. 2714), which also is the "brightness" and the "light".

[7] The Divine Truth of the Lord's Human is thus described in John: -

I saw and behold in the midst of the throne, and of the four animals, a Lamb standing as if slain, having seven horns, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth (Rev. 5:6);

the "seven horns" denote holy or Divine truths. That "seven" means holy, see (n. 716, 881). The "seven spirits sent forth into all the earth", are the holy preachings of the same truths.

[8] The "horns of the altars" signified nothing else than truth in which is power. Of these it is said in Moses: -

Thou shalt make horns upon the four corners of the altar out of it shall its horns be (Exod. 27:2; 38:2).

So too upon the altar of incense, out of which were to be horns (Exod. 30:2; 37:25). That the altar was a principal representative of the Lord and of His worship, see (n. 921). The altar was a representative of His Divine Good; the horns were the representatives of His Divine Truth; that truth was from good was represented by the horns being out of it, or out of the altar. That there is no other truth than that which is from good, see (n. 654, 1162, 1176, 1608, 2063, 2261, 2429). It is manifest from this that "horns" in the genuine sense signify the power of truth which is from good.

[9] That Aaron and his sons when initiated in the ministry, took of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with the finger (Exod. 29:12; Lev. 8:15); and that Aaron made expiation upon the horns of the altar once in the year (Exod. 30:10); and that when a priest sinned, he offered a bullock, and put of the blood upon the horns of the altar of incense (Lev. 4:3, 7); also that when a prince sinned, he offered a burnt-offering, and the blood was sprinkled upon the horns of the altar of burnt-offering (Lev. 4:22, 25); and that it was the same when a soul sinned (Leviticus 4:27, 30, 34); as also when the altar was expiated (Lev. 16:18, 19)-all these things signified truths from good; for all sanctifications, inaugurations, and expiations were made by truths, because truths introduce to good (n. 2830). That the "horns of the altar" signified truths which are from good, may also be seen in John: -

The sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God (Rev. 9:13);

the "horns of the golden altar" manifestly denote truths from good, for thence came the voice. That "gold" is good, see (n. 113, 1551, 1552); and still more the "golden altar".

[10] In Amos: -

In the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will visit upon the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and shall fall to the ground (Amos 3:14);

that the "horns of the altar were to be cut off", was because truth from good was no longer represented there; "Bethel" is the Divine Good, and is therefore called the "king's sanctuary", and the "house of the kingdom" (Amos 7:13). The kings being "anointed with oil from a horn" (1 Sam. 16:1, 13; 1 Kings 1:39) represented in like manner truth from good. The "oil" was good, (n. 886); but the "born", truth; the "royalty" itself in the internal sense is such truth, (n. 1728, 2015), in which is power).

[11] That a "horn" in the opposite sense signifies the power of falsity which is from evil, is evident from the following passages. In Amos: -

Ye who rejoice in a thing of naught, who say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? (Amos 6:13);

"horns" here denote the power of falsity. In Zechariah: -

I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and behold four horns; and I said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these? And he said to me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah; Israel, and Jerusalem. And Jehovah showed me four smiths and I said, What come these to do? and He said, saying, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man doth lift up his head and these are come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah, to scatter it (Zechariah 1:18-21);

the "horns" denote the power of falsity, which vastates the church. In Ezekiel: -

Ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad (Ezekiel 34:21);

here the shepherds who seduce by falsities are treated of; the "horns" denote the power of falsity; the "shoulder", all power (n. 1085). In Jeremiah: -

Jehovah hath destroyed, and hath not pitied, and He hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee He hath exalted the horn of thine adversaries (Lam. 2:17).

In the same: -

The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken (Jer. 48:25);

"horn" here denotes powerful falsity.

[12] In David: -

I said to them that were glorying, Glory ye not, and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn; lift not up your horn on high, speak not with a stiff neck. All the horns of the wicked will I cut off, the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up (Ps. 75:4, 5, 10);

the "horns of the wicked" denote the power of falsity from evil; the "horns of the righteous", the power of truth from good.

[13] In Daniel: -

A fourth beast was seen, terrible and powerful and strong exceedingly, and it had iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold another little horn came up among them, and three of the first horns were rooted up before it; and behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the born spake I desired certitude concerning the fourth beast, and concerning the ten horns that were on his head, and concerning the other which came up, and three fell before it; and concerning the same horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things; I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints. And he said, As for the fourth beast, it shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise, and another shall arise after them, and he shall be diverse from the former ones, and he shall humble three kings; he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints; afterwards the judgment shall sit (Daniel 7:7, 8, 11, 19-26).

Here in the internal sense the perverted state of the church is treated of. The things which were here seen by Daniel, as the beast, the teeth of iron, the horn in which were eyes, and the horns that spoke, and those which made war with the saints, and that which spoke against the Most High, signify the state of falsity and of heresies within the church. That "horns" signify falsity powerful and prevailing, is evident from the mere fact that eyes are attributed to them, that is, understanding (n. 2701); and that they spoke, even against the Most High. By the "kingdoms" and "kings" are not signified kingdoms and kings, but doctrinal things O, falsity; as may be seen from their signification in the Word as being doctrinal things of truth, and in the opposite sense of falsity (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 2547).

[14] Again in Daniel: -

A ram was seen by him standing before the river, which had two horns; and the horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing with his horn westward, and northward, and southward, so that no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself. As I was considering, behold a be-goat of the goats came from the west over the face of the whole earth; this he-goat had a horn between his two eyes; he came to the ram the lord of the horns, and ran upon him In the fury of his power, and note him, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him. Afterwards the he-goat of the goats magnified himself exceedingly and when he was strong, his great horn was broken, and there came up four horns in place of it. Soon out of one of them went forth a little horn, and grew exceedingly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward beauty and it grew even to the army of the heavens, and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the earth, and trampled upon them. The ram with the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia; the he-goat is the king of Greece; the four horns in place of one are four kingdoms out of the nation (Daniel 8:1-27).

Here in the spiritual sense the state of the spiritual church is treated of, which is the " ram" (n. 2830); and the state of that church is described, how it gradually declines and is perverted. The "he-goat of the goats" denotes those who are in faith separate from charity, or in truth separate from good, who begin to uplift themselves against good, and at length against the Lord. The "horns of the ram" are the truths of the spiritual church both internal and external; the "horns of the he-goat of the goats" are truths which have gradually degenerated into falsities; and by the "kingdoms" and "kings" here mentioned are not signified kingdoms and kings, but truths and falsities, as already said; for the Lord's Word in its essence does not treat of worldly and earthly, but of spiritual and heavenly things.

[15] In John: -

And there was seen another sign in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems; his tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth (Rev. 12:3, 4).

And again: -

I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of blasphemy. It was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. And then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb (Rev. 13:1, 2, 7, 11).

Again in the same: -

I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns; it was the great Babylon. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth and they are seven kings; the ten horns are ten kings (Rev. 17:3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13).

That by the "horns" here in like manner as in Daniel are signified the powers of falsity, is evident.

2833. And Abraham went, and took the ram. That this signifies their liberation by the Lord's Divine Human, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being here the Lord as to His Divine Human (for when Jehovah, or the angel of Jehovah, speaks with Abraham, then "Jehovah", or the "angel of Jehovah", is the Divine Itself, and "Abraham" is the Divine Human); and also from the signification of a "ram", as being the spiritual (n. 2830). It is hence manifest that Abraham's going and taking the ram caught in the thicket by his horns, signifies the liberation of the spiritual by the Lord's Divine Human. That without the Lord's coming into the world the spiritual could not possibly have been saved, see (n. 2661, 2716); and that they have salvation and liberation by the Lord's Divine Human, (n. 2716).

2834. And offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son That this signifies their sanctification and adoration, is evident from the signification of "offering for a burnt-offering", as being to be sanctified (n. 2776), and from the signification of "in the stead of his son", as being adoption, namely, by the Lord's Divine Human, which here is "Abraham" (n. 2833). The adoption of the spiritual is described in John: -

Jesus said, I am the vine, ye are the branches he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing (John 15:5).

That a "vine" is the spiritual church, see (n. 1069).

2835. Verse 14. And Abraham called the name of that place, Jehovah-will-see, as it is said to this day, In the mountain Jehovah will see. "And Abraham called the name of that place", signifies the quality of their state from the Lord's Divine Human; "Jehovah-will-see", signifies the Lord's providence; "as it is said to this day", signifies what is perpetual; "in the mountain Jehovah will see", signifies charity, by means of which it was provided by the Lord that they should be saved.

2836. Abraham called the name of that place. That this signifies the quality of their state (namely, of the spiritual) from the Lord's Divine Human, is evident from the signification of "calling a name", as being to know what the thing is, that is, its quality (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009); from the signification of " place", as being state (n. 1273-1277, 1376-1381, 2625); and from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord as to His Divine Human (n. 2833). Hence it is manifest that "Abraham called the name of that place", signifies the quality of the state of the spiritual from the Lord's Divine Human. That the spiritual are saved by the Lord's coming into the world, see (n. 2661, 2716); also that they have illumination from the Lord's Divine Human (n. 2716); and that it is provided that those should be saved who are in the faith of charity, that is, in charity, follows in this verse. This is the state which is signified by these words.

2837. Jehovah-will-see. That this signifies the Lord's providence, is evident from the signification of "seeing", when predicated of Jehovah or the Lord, as being to foresee and provide (n. 2807). That "Jehovah" is the Lord, see (n. 1343, 1736, 2156, 2329). In the literal sense this is the naming of a place, but in the internal sense it is the quality of a state which is described; for times and spaces are merely of nature; and therefore when the sense of the letter of the Word passes from nature into heaven, the natural idea of those things altogether perishes, and becomes the spiritual idea that corresponds to them.

2838. As it is said to this day. That this signifies what is perpetual, is evident from the signification of "today" in the Word explained in what follows. We read in several places in the Word, "Even to this day", or "to to-day;" as in what goes before, "He is the father of Moab even unto this day; and the father of Ammon unto this day" (Gen. 19:37, 38); and later in the same book, "The name of the city is Beer-sheba, even to this day" (Gen. 26:33). Also this, "The sons of Israel eat not the sinew of the part put out of place, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, even to this day" (Gen. 32:32). And also this, "This is the pillar of Rachel's grave even unto this day" (Gen. 35:20). "Joseph made it a statute even to this day" (Gen. 47:26). In the historical sense these things regard the time when Moses lived; but in the internal sense by "this day", and by "to-day", there is signified perpetuity and eternity of state. That "day" is state may be seen above (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893); and thus "to-day" also, which is time present. That which is of time in the world, is eternal in heaven. That this might be signified, "to-day" is added, or "to this day", although it appears to those who are in the historical sense as if it involved nothing further. The like is said elsewhere in the Word (Josh. 4:9; 6:25; 7:26; Judges 1:21, 26).

[2] That "to-day" signifies perpetuity and eternity may be seen in David: -

I will tell of the decree: Jehovah hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee (Ps. 2:7);

where "this day" manifestly denotes what is eternal. In the same: -

Forever O Jehovah Thy Word is settled in the heavens, Thy truth is unto generation and generation; Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth they abide this day according to Thy judgments (Ps. 119:89-91);

where also "this day" manifestly denotes what is eternal. In Jeremiah: -

Before I formed Thee in the belly, I knew Thee and before Thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified Thee; I gave Thee for a prophet unto the nations I have set Thee this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, and I have made Thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and walls of brass (Jeremiah 1:5, 10, 18);

here in the sense of the letter Jeremiah is treated of, but in the internal sense the Lord is meant; "I have set Thee this day, or today, over the nations and over the kingdoms, and I have made Thee this day a defenced city", means that it was from eternity. Of the Lord nothing else than what is eternal can be predicated.

[3] In Moses: -

Ye are standing this day all of you before Jehovah your God, to enter into the covenant of Jehovah thy God, and into His oath, which Jehovah thy God maketh with thee this day, that He may establish thee this day unto Himself for a people; and He will be a God unto thee; and not with you only, but with them who stand here with us this day before Jehovah our God, and with them who are not with us this day (Deut. 29:10, 12-14).

In the sense of the letter here "this day" is the time present when Moses spoke to the people; but that it nevertheless involves the time to come and what is perpetual, is evident; for to make a covenant with anyone, and with those who were there, and not there, involves perpetuity, and the perpetuity itself is what is meant in the internal sense.

[4] That "daily" and "this day" signify what is perpetual, is also evident from the sacrifice which was made every day. This, on account of the signification of "day", "daily", and "this day", was called the continual or perpetual sacrifice (Num. 28:3, 23; Deut. 8:13; 11:31; 12:11). This is still more plainly evident from the manna which rained from heaven, of which it is thus said in Moses: - Behold I will rain bread from heaven; and the people shall go out and gather a portion day by day; and let no man leave of it till the morning. What they left till the morning bred worms, and putrefied, except what was kept the day before the Sabbath (Exod. 16:4, 19, 20, 23). This was because the manna signified the Lord's Divine Human (John 6:31, 32, 49, 50, 58). And because it signified the Lord's Divine Human, it signified heavenly food, which is nothing else than love and charity together with the goods and truths of faith. This food is given by the Lord in the heavens to the angels every moment, and thus perpetually and to eternity (n. 2493). This also is what is meant in the Lord's Prayer by "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matt. 6:11; Luke 11:3); that is, every instant to eternity.

2839. In the mountain Jehovah will see. That this signifies charity, by means of which it is provided by the Lord that they should be saved, namely, the spiritual, is evident from the signification of a "mountain", as being love and charity (n. 795, 796, 1430). That "Jehovah will see" denotes the Lord's providence or what is provided by the Lord, was said just above (n. 2837). Here charity is spoken of, and not love, on account of the difference between charity and love (n. 2023). That the spiritual are saved by charity, and not by faith separate from charity, is evident from many passages in the Word. With charity and with faith the case is this: charity without faith is not genuine charity, and faith without charity is not faith. That there may be charity, there must be faith; and that there may be faith, there must be charity; but the essential itself is charity; for in no other ground can the seed which is faith be implanted. From the conjunction of the two mutually and reciprocally is the heavenly marriage, that is, the Lord's kingdom. Unless faith is implanted in charity it is mere memory-knowledge; for it goes no further than the memory; there is no affection of the heart which receives it; but when it is implanted in charity, that is, in the life, it becomes intelligence and wisdom. Charity without faith, such as is with children and with upright Gentiles, is only ground in which faith is implanted-if not in the life of the body, still in the other life (n. 1802, 2280, 2290-2309, 2419, 2589-2604).

2840. Verses 15, 16. And the angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said, By Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only one. "The angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven", signifies still greater consolation of the Lord from the Divine; "and said, My Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah", signifies irrevocable confirmation from the Divine "because thou hast done this thing", signifies the thing accomplished; "and hast not kept back thy son, thine only one", signifies the unition of the Human with the Divine by the utmost of temptation.

2841. The Angel of Jehovah called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven. That this signifies still greater consolation of the Lord, is evident from the signification of "calling out of heaven", as being to console and from the signification of the "angel of Jehovah", as being the Lord's Divine Itself (n. 2821). This is said a "second time", because there is greater consolation. The first consolation is contained in (verses 12, 13, 14), where the subject is the Lord's providence that those from the human race who are called the spiritual should be adopted. The second consolation, which is greater, is contained in the (verses 17, 18), namely, that the spiritual should be multiplied as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand upon the sea shore; and that not they only should be saved, but also all who are in good. These were things of the Lord's love, and therefore He had consolation from them. No one has consolation except from the things which are of his love.

2842. And said, By Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah. That this signifies irrevocable confirmation from the Divine, namely, concerning the things which follow, is evident from the signification of "saying by Myself have I sworn", and of "saith Jehovah;" all which involve confirmation, and indeed from the Divine, that is, from Himself. The Divine cannot confirm from any other source than from Itself; and what it confirms is irrevocable, because it is eternal truth. Whatever Jehovah or the Lord speaks is eternal truth (Matt. 24:35), for it comes from the very being of truth. But His confirming it as it were by an oath is not for the reason that it may be more true, but for the reason that it is said to such as do not receive truth Divine unless it is so confirmed; for they have no other idea of Jehovah or the Lord than as of a man, who can say, and change, as we frequently read in the Word; but in the internal sense it is very different. Every one may know that Jehovah or the Lord never confirms anything by an oath; but when the Divine truth itself, and its confirmation, passes down to a man of such nature, it is turned into the semblance of an oath. The case herein is as it was with the devouring fire and smoke that appeared upon Mount Sinai before the eyes of the people, when Jehovah or the Lord came down (Exod. 19:18; Deut. 4:11, 12; 5:19-21): His glory in heaven, even mercy itself, appeared in this manner before the people there, who were in evil and falsity (n. 1861); and the case is the same with many things called the sayings and doings of Jehovah that are spoken of in the Word. It may be seen from this that the expression, "by Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah", is significative of irrevocable confirmation from the Divine.

[2] That to "swear", when predicated of Jehovah, signifies to confirm with a man who is of such nature, may be seen from many other passages in the Word; as in David: -

Jehovah remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations; which He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac (Ps. 105:8, 9).

The case is the same with a covenant as with an oath, in that Jehovah or the Lord does not make a covenant with man, but when conjunction by love and charity is treated of, this is set forth in act as a covenant (n. 1864). In the same: -

Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest forever, after the manner of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4).

This is said concerning the Lord, and "Jehovah hath sworn" denotes irrevocable confirmation from the Divine, that is, that it is eternal truth.

[3] In the same: -

I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David My servant, Thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy throne to generation and generation (Ps. 89:3, 4).

This also is concerning the Lord: to "make a covenant with the chosen", and to "swear unto David", denote irrevocable confirmation or eternal truth; "David" denotes the Lord (n. 1888); to "make a covenant" regards the Divine good; to "swear", the Divine truth. In the same: -

My covenant will I not profane nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips; once have I sworn by My holiness, I will not lie unto David (Ps. 89:34, 35);

where also "David" denotes the Lord; the "covenant" here likewise has regard to the Divine good; and the "thing that has gone out of My lips", to the Divine truth, and this on account of the marriage of good and truth which is in everything in the Word (n. 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712).

[4] In the same: -

Jehovah hath sworn unto David in truth, He will not turn from it, Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne, if thy sons will keep My covenant, and My testimony that I shall teach them (Ps. 132:11, 12);

"Jehovah hath sworn unto David in truth" manifestly denotes the confirmation of eternal truth; and therefore it is said, "He will not turn from it; "that by David is meant the Lord has been stated already; the oath was still "to David", because he was of such a character that he believed that the confirmation was concerning himself and his posterity; for David was in the love of himself and of his posterity, and hence believed that it was concerning him; that is, as said above, that his seed should be established forever, and his throne to generation and generation; but this was said of the Lord.

[5] In Isaiah: -

This is as the waters of Noah unto Me for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee (Isaiah 54:9);

where to "swear" denotes making a covenant and confirming it by an oath. That it was a covenant, and not an oath, may be seen in (Genesis 9:11). In the same: -

Jehovah hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass (Isaiah 14:24).

In the same: -

Jehovah hath sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength (Isaiah 62:8).

In Jeremiah: -

Hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah, that dwell in the land of Egypt; behold I have sworn by My great name, saith Jehovah, that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah, saying, As the Lord Jehovih liveth, in all the land of Egypt (Jeremiah 44:26).

In the same: -

By Myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, that Bozrah shall become a desolation (Jeremiah 49:13).

In the same: -

Jehovah Zebaoth hath sworn by His soul, Surely I will fill thee with men as with the locust (Jeremiah 51:14).

In Amos: -

The Lord Jehovih hath sworn by His holiness, that behold the days shall come (Amos 4:2).

In the same: -

Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their deeds (Amos 8:7).

[6] In these passages, "Jehovah swearing by His right hand", by His great name", by " Himself", by His "soul", by His "holiness", by the "excellency of Jacob", signifies the confirmation there is in Jehovah or the Lord. A confirmation by Jehovah can be given only from Himself. The "right hand of Jehovah", the "great name of Jehovah", the "soul of Jehovah", the "holiness of Jehovah", the "excellency of Jacob", signify the Lord's Divine Human: "swearing" thereby was confirmation.

[7] Jehovah or the Lord "swearing" to give the land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or to their posterity, signifies in the internal sense the confirmation that He would give the heavenly kingdom to those who are in love to Him and faith in Him. It is they who are meant in the internal sense of the Word by the sons and the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or of the fathers; which was also actually represented by the fact that the land of Canaan was given to their posterity, and that the church at that time with them represented the Lord's heavenly kingdom, as the land itself also did. That "land" and the "land of Canaan" in the internal sense is the Lord's kingdom, see (n. 1413, 1437, 1607). It is from this that it is said in Moses: -

That ye may prolong your days upon the ground which Jehovah sware unto your fathers, to give unto them, and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, upon the ground which Jehovah sware unto your fathers, to give them, as the days of the heavens upon the earth (Deut. 11:9, 21).

From these passages it must now be evident that Jehovah's "swearing" was representative of confirmation, and indeed of an irrevocable one. This is still more plainly manifest in Isaiah: -

By Myself have I sworn, the word of righteousness is gone forth from My mouth, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear (Isaiah 45:23).

[8] Moreover it was enjoined upon those who were of the representative Jewish Church, that when they confirmed covenants by an oath, and likewise vows, also promises, and sureties, they should "swear by the name of Jehovah". The reason why this was enjoined upon them, although it was only permitted, was that the confirmation of the internal man also would thus be represented; so that oaths at that time in the name of Jehovah, were as other things were, namely, representative. That it was enjoined, that is, permitted, is evident in Moses: -

Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, and Him shall thou serve, and shalt swear by His name ye shall not go after other gods (Deut. 6:13, 14).

Again in the same: -

Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, Him shalt thou serve and to Him shalt thou cleave, and shalt swear by His name (Deut. 10:20).

In Isaiah: -

He who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth, and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth (Isaiah 65:16).

In Jeremiah: -

If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith Jehovah, unto Me shall thou return; and if thou wilt put away thine abominations from before Me, waver not; and thou shalt swear, Jehovah liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness (Jeremiah 4:1, 2).

In the same: -

If learning they will learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, then they shall be built up in the midst of My people (Jeremiah 12:16).

That they also swore "by the name of Jehovah", or swore "to Jehovah", may be seen in Isaiah: -

Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, that are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, that swear by the name of Jehovah, and have made mention of the God of Israel, not in truth, and not in righteousness (Isaiah 48:1).

In the same: -

In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Jehovah Zebaoth (Isaiah 19:18).

In Joshua: -

The princes of the congregation sware to the Gibeonites by Jehovah the God of Israel (Joshua 9:18, 19).

[9] From this it is evident that they were permitted to swear by the name of Jehovah, or by Jehovah; yet it is evident that this was nothing else than a representative of the confirmation of the internal man. But it is known that internal men, that is, those who have conscience, have no need to confirm anything by an oath; and that they do not thus confirm. To them oaths are a cause of shame. They can indeed say with some asseveration that a thing is so, and can also confirm the truth by reasons; but to swear that it is so, they cannot. They have an internal bond by which they are bound, namely, that of conscience. To superadd to this an external bond, which is an oath, is like imputing to them that they are not upright in heart. The internal man is also of such a character that he loves to speak and act from freedom, but not from compulsion; for with them the internal compels the external, but not the reverse. On this account they who have conscience do not swear; still less do they who have perception of good and truth, that is, celestial men. These do not even confirm themselves or one another by reasons, but merely say that a thing is so, or is not so (n. 202, 337, 2718); wherefore they are still further removed from taking an oath.

[10] For these reasons, and because oaths were among the representatives which were to be abrogated, the Lord taught that we are not to swear at all, in these words in Matthew: -

Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt not forswear thyself but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, Swear not at all neither by the heaven, for it is God's throne nor by the earth, for it is His footstool nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your speech be, Yea, yea; nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matthew 5:33-37).

By these words is meant that we are not to swear at all by Jehovah, nor by anything which is of Jehovah or the Lord.

2843. Because thou hast done this thing. That this signifies the thing accomplished, is evident without explication.

2844. And hast not withheld thy son, thine only one. That this signifies the unition of the Human with the Divine by the utmost of temptation, is evident from what was said above (n. 2827), where the same words occur, except that we do not here read "from Me", by which is signified that there will be a still further unition. That there was always a further unition of the Lord's Human Essence with His Divine Essence, even to a plenary unition, may be seen above (n. 1864, 2033).

2845. Verse 17. That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed, as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies. "That in blessing I will bless thee", signifies fructification from the affection of truth; "and in multiplying I will multiply", signifies derivations of truth therefrom; "thy seed", signifies the spiritual, who being in the good of faith are saved by the Lord's Divine Human; "as the stars of the heavens", signifies the multitude of the knowledges of good and truth; "and as the sand which is upon the sea shore", signifies the multitude of corresponding memory-knowledges; "and thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies", signifies that charity and faith shall come into the place where evil and falsity were before.

2846. That in blessing I will bless thee. That this signifies fructification from the affection of truth, is evident from the signification of "being blessed", as meaning to be enriched with celestial and spiritual good (n. 981, 1096, 1420, 1422); here, to be made fruitful from the good of faith, or what is the same, from the affection of truth, because the spiritual are treated of. It is here said by Jehovah to Abraham, "in blessing I will bless thee", and by Abraham is represented the Lord as to His Divine Human, as before in this chapter; and yet the Lord Himself could not be blessed, because He is blessing itself; but He is said to be blessed, when in accordance with His love those abound who are saved; and therefore in the internal sense these are here signified, as is also evident from what immediately follows. Fructification is here spoken of, because this is predicated of affection; but multiplication, as next follows, is predicated of the truths which are therefrom.

2847. In multiplying I will multiply. That this signifies the derivations of truth therefrom, is evident from the predication of "being multiplied", as being concerning truth; here therefore as meaning the derivations of truth from affection, as was said just above. That being "fructified" is predicated of good, and being "multiplied", of truth, see (n. 43, 55, 913, 983).

2848. Thy seed. That this signifies the spiritual who are saved in the good of faith by the Lord's Divine Human, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being the faith of charity, see (n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 1941); or what is the same, those of the human race who are in the faith of charity, that is, who are spiritual. They are also called by the Lord the "seed", and the "sons of the kingdom", in Matthew: -

He who soweth the good seed is the Son of man, but the seed are the sons of the kingdom (Matthew 13:37, 38).

2849. As the stars of the heavens. That this signifies the multitude of the knowledges of good and truth, is evident from the signification of the "stars", as being the knowledges of good and truth (n. 1808, 2495). The spiritual are they who in the Word are in various places compared to the stars, and this owing to the knowledges of good and truth which they have; but the celestial are not so compared, because they have not knowledges but perceptions; moreover the stars illumine the night, and the spiritual have a light of night (as from the moon and stars) in comparison with the light of day in which the celestial are. That the spiritual have comparative obscurity, see (n. 1043, 2708, 2715).

2850. And as the sand which is upon the sea shore. That this signifies the multitude of corresponding memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of the "sea", as being memory-knowledges in general, or a gathering of them (n. 28, 2120); and from the signification of "sand", as being memory-knowledges specifically or in particular. Memory-knowledges are compared to "sand", because the little stones of which sand is made, in the internal sense signify memory-knowledges (n. 643, 1298). It is here said that they shall be multiplied "as the stars of the heavens", and also "as the sand of the sea shore", because the stars or knowledges have relation to the rational, but the sand of the sea shore or memory-knowledges to the natural. When the things of the rational man, namely, the goods and truths of knowledges, agree with those of the natural man, namely, with memory-knowledges, so that they make a one, or mutually confirm each other, they then correspond. To this correspondence the Lord reduces the rational and natural things of man when he regenerates him, or makes him spiritual. From this cause it is that both the stars of the heavens and the sand of the sea shore are here mentioned; otherwise one would have been sufficient.

2851. And thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies. That this signifies that charity and faith shall succeed in the place where evil and falsity were before, is evident from the signification of "inheriting", as being to receive the Lord's life (n. 2658); here, to succeed in the place, because when charity and faith are in the place where evil and falsity were before, then the Lord's life succeeds there; from the signification of "seed", as being charity and faith (n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 1941); from the signification of a "gate" (explained in what follows); and from the signification of "enemies", as being evils and falsities, or what is the same, those who are in evil and falsity: in the internal sense of the Word these are signified by "enemies" and "foes".

[2] As regards the signification of a "gate", there are in general two gates with every man; the one opens toward hell, and is opened to the evils and falsities therefrom; in this gate are infernal genii and spirits; the other gate opens toward heaven, and is opened to good and the truths therefrom; in this gate are angels. There is thus a gate which leads to hell, and a gate which leads to heaven. The gate of hell is opened to those who are in evil and falsity, and only through chinks round about above does anything of the light from heaven enter, by means of which they are able to think and reason; but the gate of heaven is opened to those who are in good and the truth therefrom.

[3] For there are two ways which lead into man's rational mind - a higher or internal one, through which good and truth from the Lord enter, and a lower or external one, through which evil and falsity come up from hell. The rational mind itself is in the middle, and to it these ways tend. That mind, from the goods and truths which are in it, is compared in the Word to a city, and is called a "city". And because it is compared to a city, and is called a "city", gates are attributed to it, and it is often described as being besieged and stormed by enemies, that is, by evil genii and spirits; and as being defended by angels from the Lord, that is by the Lord. The infernal genii and spirits, with their evils and falsities, cannot come further than to the lower or outer gate, and in no case into the city. If they could get into the city, or into the rational mind, all would be over with the man. But when they come so far as to seem to themselves to have taken that city by storm, it is then closed, so that good and truth no longer flow into it from heaven except as was said some little through chinks round about. From this it is that such persons no longer have anything of charity or anything of faith, but make good consist in evil, and truth in falsity. From this also it is that they are no longer truly rational, although they seem to themselves to be so (n. 1914, 1944). And it is from this that they are called dead men, although they believe that they are more alive than others (n. 81, 290). These things are so because the gate of heaven is closed to them. That it is closed to them manifestly appears and is perceived in the other life; as also on the other hand that the gate of heaven is open to those who are in good and truth.

[4] As regards the "gate of enemies" in particular, which is treated of in this verse, it is with man in his natural mind. When man is wholly natural, or not regenerate, evils and falsities occupy the gate; or what is the same, evil genii and spirits flow into it with cupidities of evil and persuasions of falsity (n. 687, 697, 1692); but when man becomes spiritual, or is being regenerated, then the evils and falsities, or what is the same, the evil genii and spirits, are driven away from the gate, or from the mind; then goods and truths, or charity and faith, take their place; which things are signified by its being said, "thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies". This takes place in particular with every man when he is being regenerated; and in like manner in the other life with those who come into the Lord's kingdom; and it also takes place in the general body, or in the church, which is composed of many.

[5] This was represented by the sons of Israel expelling the nations from the land of Canaan. The latter is meant in the literal sense where it is said, "thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies;" but in the internal sense are signified the things which have been told. Hence in ancient times it became customary to speak thus when blessing those who were entering into marriage; as is also manifest from the benediction of Laban to his sister Rebekah, when she was going away betrothed to Isaac: -

Our sister, be thou thousands of ten thousands, and let thy seed inherit the gate of those that hate thee (Gen. 24:60).

[6] That such things are signified in the Word by the "gate of enemies" or of "those that hate", may be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

I will kill thy root with famine, and I will slay them that remain of thee. Howl, O gate cry, O city thou art melted away O Philistia all of thee, for there cometh a smoke out of the north (Isaiah 14:30, 31);

to "kill the root with famine, and to slay them that remain", denotes to take away the goods and truths which had been stored up interiorly by the Lord. That "they that remain" mean these, see (n. 468, 530, 560-562, 661, 798, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284). The "gate" denotes access to the interiors, or to the rational mind; the "city", that mind, or what is the same, the goods and truths in it (n. 402, 2268, 2450, 2451, 2712); "Philistia" denotes the memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith, or what is the same, those who are in the memory-knowledge of them, but not in the goods of faith (n. 1197, 1198); "a smoke out of the north" signifies that there is falsity from hell. That "smoke" is falsity from evil, see (n. 1861).

[7] In the same: -

The city of emptiness shall be broken down, even house shall be shut up that no one may come in; there is a crying in the streets because of the wine; all gladness shall be desolated, the joy of the land shall be exiled, that which is left in the city shall be desolation, and the gate shall be smitten with devastation, for thus shall it be in the midst of the earth, among the people (Isa. 24:10-13);

the "city of emptiness which shall be broken down" denotes the human mind as being deprived of truth; that "every house shall be shut up", denotes being without good; that a "house" is good, see (n. 2233, 2234); the "crying in the streets because of the wine" denotes a state of falsity; that a "cry" is predicated of falsities, see (n. 2240); also that "wines' is truth, of which the cry is that there is none, (n. 1071, 1798); that "streets" are what lead to truths, (n. 2336) "gladness which is desolated" is predicated of truth; the "joy of the land which is exiled" is predicated of good; hence it is manifest what is signified by "that which is left in the city shall be desolation", and by "the gate shall be smitten with devastation;" the gate is said to be "devastated" when nothing but evils and falsities reign.

[8] In Jeremiah: -

The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the appointed feast all her gates are desolate, her priests do sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness; her adversaries have become the head, her enemies are secure, because Jehovah hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions her children are gone into captivity before the adversary (Lam. 1:4, 5);

"the ways of Zion mourning" denotes there being no longer truths from good; that "ways" are truths, see (n. 189, 627, 2333); "all the gates being desolated" denotes that all the approaches are occupied by falsities; "the enemies having become the head" denotes that evils reign.

[9] In the same: -

Jehovah hath made the rampart and the wall of the daughter of Zion to lament they languish together her gates are sunk into the earth He hath destroyed and broken her bars; her king and her princes are among the nations; the law is not; yea her prophets found no vision from Jehovah all thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee they hissed and gnashed the teeth they said, We have swallowed her up surely this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it (Lam. 2:8, 9, 16);

"the gates sunk down into the earth" denotes the natural mind occupied by evils and falsities; "her king and her princes being among the nations" denotes that truths are immersed in evils; that a "king" is truth in general, see (n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069); also that "princes" are primary truths, (n. 1482, 1089); and that "nations" are evils, (n. 1259, 1260, 1849, 1868, 2588).

[10] In Moses: -

A nation from far, from the end of the earth, shall straiten thee in all thy gates, in all thy land; thus shall thine enemy straiten thee (Deut. 28:49, 52, 53).

This is among the curses which Moses foretold to the people if they should not remain in the precepts and statutes: a "nation from far from the end of the earth", in the internal sense, denotes evils and falsities, or those who are in evil and falsity; to "besiege in all the gates" denotes cutting off all access to good and truth.

[11] In Nahum: -

Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women, the gates of thy land are set wide open to thine enemies, the fire hath devoured thy bars; draw thee water for the siege strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay and tread the mortar, make strong the brickkiln (Nahum 3:13, 14);

"the gates of thy land being set wide open to thine enemies" denotes that evils occupy the place where there should be goods. In the book of Judges: -

The highways ceased, and they walked through byways, they went through crooked ways, the villages ceased in Israel. He chose new gods; then was war against the gates; was there a shield seen or a spear in forty thousands of Israel? (Judges 5:6-8);

the prophecy of Deborah and Barak; there being "war against the gates" denotes against goods and truths.

[12] In David: -

They that dwell in the gate plot against me, they that drink strong drink sing songs (Ps. 69:12);

"they that dwell in the gate" denotes evils and falsities, and also the infernals. In Ezekiel: -

In the visions of God he brought me to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north. (He there saw the great abominations of the house of Israel.) He also brought me to the door of the gate of the house of Jehovah that looketh toward the north (he there also saw abominations) (Ezekiel 8:6, 14, 15);

"the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north" denotes the place where interior falsities are; "the door of the gate of the house of Jehovah toward the north" denotes the place where interior evils are; that the falsities and evils are interior ones, and that it is an interior sphere in which such spirits and genii are, see (n. 2121-2124).

[13] In David: -

Lo, sons are a possession of Jehovah, and the fruit of the womb is His reward; as arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are sons of the youth. Happy is the man that hath filled his quiver with them they shall not be ashamed, for they shall speak with the enemies in the gate (Ps. 127:3-5);

"to speak with the enemies in the gate" denotes to have no fear of evils and falsities, and thus not of hell. In Isaiah: -

In that day shall Jehovah Zebaoth be for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn back the battle to the gate; and these also are insane through wine, and through strong drink are gone astray (Isaiah 28:5-7).

In the same: -

They shall be cut off that make men to sin by a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate; and make the just to turn aside to a thing of naught (Isaiah 29:20, 21).

In the same: -

Elam bare the quiver in a chariot of a man, and horsemen; Kir uncovered the shield; and the choice of thy valleys was full of chariots and horsemen placing they placed themselves at the gate, and he looked in that day to the armory of the house of the forest (Isaiah 22:6-8).

In Jeremiah: -

Judah hath mourned, and the gates thereof languished; they have mourned to the earth, and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up; their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters; they came to the pits, they found no waters (Jeremiah 14:2, 3).

In the same: -

The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music (Lam. 5:14).

[14] It may be seen from these passages what is signified by the "gate of enemies", namely, that it is hell, or infernal spirits, who are continually attacking goods and truths. Their seat with man as before said is in his natural mind. But when a man is of such a character as to admit goods and truths, and thus angels, the infernal spirits are then driven away by the Lord from that seat; and on their being driven away, the gate of heaven or heaven itself is opened. This gate is also mentioned in the Word in various places; as in Isaiah: -

A song in the land of Judah We have a strong city, salvation will He appoint for walls and bulwarks; open ye the gates, and the righteous nation that keepeth fidelities shall enter in (Isaiah 26:1, 2).

In the same: -

Thus said Jehovah to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right band I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and will make the crooked places straight, and I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron (Isaiah 14:1, 2).

In the same: -

The sons of the stranger shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee they shall open thy gates continually, they shall not be shut day nor night; violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting and destruction within thy borders; and thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise (Isaiah 60:10, 11, 18).

In the same: -

Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way for the people, level, make level the highway say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy salvation cometh (Isaiah 62:10-12).

In Micah: -

They shall pass through the gate, and shall go out thereat, and their king shall pass on before them, and Jehovah in their beginning (Micah 2:13).

In David: -

Lift up your heads, O ye gates and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates; lift them up, ye everlasting doors (Ps. 24:7-10).

In the same: -

Praise Jehovah, O Jerusalem praise thy God, O Zion: for He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates, He hath blessed thy children within thee (Ps. 147:12, 13).

[15] From these passages it is manifest that the "gate of heaven" is where angels are with man, that is, where there is an influx of good and truth from the Lord; and thus that as before said there are two gates. Concerning these two gates the Lord speaks thus in Matthew: -

Enter ye in by the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat; because strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it (Matthew 7:12-14; Luke 13:23, 24).

Moreover the gates to the New Jerusalem and the gates to the new temple are much treated of in Ezekiel, and also by John in the Apocalypse, by which nothing else is meant than the entrances to heaven (Ezek. 40:6-49; 43:1, 2, 4; 44:1-3; 46:1-9, 12; 48:31-34; Rev. 21:12, 13, 21, 25; 22:14; Isa. 54:11, 12). Hence Jerusalem is called the "gate of the people" (Micah 1:9; Obad. 1:13).

2852. Verse 18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast hearkened to My voice. "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed", signifies the salvation of all who are in good; "because thou hast hearkened to My voice", signifies by the union of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence.

2853. In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. That this signifies the salvation of all who are in good, is evident from the signification of "being blessed", as being to be enriched with celestial and spiritual good (n. 981, 1096, 1420, 1422); here, to be saved, because spoken of those who are saved (that "to be blessed" has a comprehensive meaning is well known); from the signification of "seed", as being the faith of charity (n. 1025, 1447, 1610); and from the signification of the "nations of the earth", as being those who are in good (n. 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849).

[2] Moreover in these words there is contained the following arcanum: that through the church, which is here the "earth", (n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262) those are saved who are out of the church; for as just stated, "thy seed" denotes the faith of charity; and no others are in the faith of charity than those within the church, for the faith of charity is truth of doctrine adjoined to good of life. The case is this: The Lord's kingdom on earth consists of all those who are in good, who though scattered over the whole earth, are still one, and as members constitute one body. Such is the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, where the whole heaven represents one man, which is therefore also called the Grand Man (n. 684, 1276); and what is wonderful and hitherto unknown, all parts of the human body correspond to societies in heaven. And therefore it is sometimes said that some societies belong to the province of the head, some to the province of the eye, others to that of the chest, and so on, which correspondence will of the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken of by itself.

[3] The case is the same with the Lord's church on earth, where the church is like the heart and lungs; while those outside the church answer to the parts of the body which are supported and live from the heart and lungs. Hence it is manifest that without a church somewhere on the earth the human race could not subsist, as the body could not without the heart and lungs (n. 468, 637, 931, 2054). From this cause it is that whenever any church is consummated, that is, becomes no church because there is no longer any charity, a new one is of the Lord's providence always raised up; as when the Most Ancient Church called "Man" perished, a new one was created by the Lord, which was called "Noah", and was the Ancient Church that was after the flood; and when this degenerated and became none, the Jewish and Israelitish representative Church was instituted; and when this became altogether extinct, the Lord then came into the world, and set up again a new one; and this for the purpose that there might be conjunction of heaven with the human race through the church. This is also what is signified by "in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed".

2854. Because thou hast hearkened to My voice. That this signifies by the union of the Lord's Human Essence with His Divine Essence, is evident from all that precedes, of which this is the conclusion. To "hearken to the voice" signifies that He underwent the utmost of temptation, and thus united His Human Essence to His Divine Essence. That the Lord united His Human to His Divine and His Divine to His Human by continual temptations and victories, may be seen above (n. 1737, 1813); and that by this union He saved the human race (n. 1676, 1990, 2016, 2025). From this the human race has all its salvation. It is the common opinion that the Father sent the Son to suffer the hardest things even to the death of the cross; and thus that by looking upon the passion and merit of the Son, He has mercy upon the human race. But every one can know that Jehovah does not have mercy by any looking upon the Son, for He is mercy itself; but that the arcanum of the Lord's coming into the world is that He united in Himself the Divine to the Human and the Human to the Divine; which could not be done except through the most grievous things of temptations; and thus that by that union it became possible for salvation to reach the human race, in which no celestial and spiritual, or even natural good, any longer remained; and it is this union which saves those who are in the faith of charity. It is the Lord Himself who shows the mercy.

2855. Verse 19. And Abraham returned unto his boys; and they rose up, and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt in Beer-sheba. "Abraham returned unto his boys", signifies conjunction again with His former rational; "and they rose up", signifies a greater degree of elevation; "and went together to Beer-sheba", signifies advancement in the doctrine of charity and faith, which is Divine, and to which human rational things were adjoined; "and Abraham dwelt in Beersheba", signifies that the Lord is that doctrine itself.

2856. Abraham returned unto his boys. That this signifies conjunction again with the former rational, is evident from the signification of the "boys", as being the former or merely human rational which was to serve the Divine rational (n. 2782, 2792); and from the signification of "returning to them", as being to be conjoined (n. 2795). That the Lord separated the merely human rational from Himself when He underwent the most grievous temptations, is evident from the explication of (verse 5) (n. 2791-2793, 2795); and that after the temptations He again conjoined Himself with that rational is evident from what has been said before (n. 2795), and from these things in this verse.

2857. And they rose up. That this signifies a greater degree of elevation, is evident from the signification of "rising up", as, when mentioned in the Word, being some elevation which is signified (n. 2401); here, the elevation of the rational after temptation; for after temptations the rational was always elevated, and this takes place also with man. Every temptation in which a man overcomes, elevates his mind and the things which belong to his mind; for it confirms his goods and truths and superadds new ones (n. 1692, 1717, 1740, 2272).

2858. And they went together to Beer-sheba. That this signifies advancement in the doctrine of charity and faith, which is Divine and to which human rational things were adjoined, is evident from the signification of "Beer-sheba", as being the doctrine of charity and faith which was Divine and to which human rational things were adjoined (n. 2614, 2723). The human rational things are signified by the "boys" (n. 2782, 2792, 2856); and that the doctrine to which they were adjoined was Divine, is signified by their going together with Abraham (n. 2767).

2859. And Abraham dwelt in Beer-sheba. That this signifies that the Lord is that doctrine itself, is evident from the signification of "dwelling;" from the representation of Abraham; from the signification of "Beer-sheba" (explained before); and at the same time from the things which just precede. To "dwell in Beer-sheba" is to be in doctrine, but when predicated of the Lord it is to be doctrine; just as to dwell in heaven, which is also said of the Lord, signifies not only that He is in heaven, but also that He Himself is heaven; for He is the all of heaven (n. 551, 552). That the Lord is the Word is known, and therefore the Lord is doctrine (n. 2531), for all doctrine is from the Word. The all of doctrine in the Word is from the Lord, and is concerning the Lord. In the internal sense of the Word nothing but the Lord and His kingdom is treated of, as has been shown many times. It is the Lord's Divine Human of which the internal sense of the Word especially treats; and the all of doctrine in the Word as regards man is to worship Him and love Him.

2860. Verses 20, 21, 22, 23. And it came to pass after these words that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she also hath borne children unto Nahor thy brother. Uz his first-born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram. And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight did Milcah bear to Nahor Abraham's brother. "It came to pass after these words", signifies the things done relating to those who are within the church; "that it was told Abraham, saying", signifies the Lord's perception; "Behold, Milcah, she also hath borne children unto Nahor thy brother", signifies those out of the church who are in brotherhood from good: "Uz his first-born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram; and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel", signify various religions and their modes of worship; "Bethuel begat Rebekah", signifies from good the affection of truth; "these eight did Milcah bear to Nahor Abraham's brother", signifies a second class of those who are saved.

2861. It came to pass after these words. That this signifies the things done relating to those who are within the church, is evident from the signification of "words", as being actual things. In the original language things are called "words;" and thus "after these words" means after the things done. In what precedes, from verse 13 to this verse, the salvation of the spiritual by the Lord's Divine Human is treated of, and indeed those who are in good within the church. These are they who can be truly spiritual, because they have the Word, and thus the truths of faith. By truths of doctrine conjoined with good of life, man becomes spiritual. All spiritual quality is from this. But the nations without the church, because they have not the Word, and thus not the truths of faith, so long as they live in the world, although in the good of charity, are still not truly spiritual until they have been instructed in the truths of faith. And as most of these nations cannot be instructed in the world, those who have lived in mutual charity and in obedience are of the Lord's providence and mercy instructed in the other life, and then receive the truths of faith easily, and become spiritual. That the state and lot of these nations is such in the other life, see (n. 2589-2604).

[2] As those within the church who are saved by the Lord's Divine Human are treated of in what precedes, in the things which follow to the end of this chapter those out of the church who are saved are treated of, and are signified by those who were born to Nahor, Abraham's brother, from Milcah his wife and Reumah his concubine: this also follows in the series. He who has not become acquainted with the internal sense of the Word would suppose that these things relate merely to the genealogy of the house of Terah, being given on account of Rebekah who became Isaac's wife, and also on account of Bethuel, whose two granddaughters, Leah and Rachel, became Jacob's wives. But as has been very often said and shown, all the names in the Word signify actual things (n. 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888); and unless they signified such things, the Word would not be Divine, but worldly. From this it is also evident that these things which follow relate in series to the Lord's spiritual church, but to that which is among the Gentiles; and this through Nahor, Abraham's brother, in order that those who are in brotherhood from good may be signified (n. 2863).

2862. And it was told Abraham, saying. That this signifies the Lord's perception, is evident from the signification of "telling", as being to think and reflect; and of "saying", as being to perceive-explained often before. The Lord's reflecting and perceiving, treated of in the internal sense of the Word, cannot be expressed in the historical form in any other way than by "telling and saying". In itself also reflection and perception is an internal telling and saying.

2863. Behold, Milcah, she also hath borne children unto Nahor thy brother. That this signifies those out of the church who are in brotherhood from good, is also evident from what was said before respecting Milcah and Nahor (n. 1363, 1369, 1370). For Terah had three sons, Abraham, Nahor, and Haran; and that they worshiped other gods may be seen above (n. 1356). Milcah was the daughter of Haran, who became Nahor's wife (n. 2369). And Haran died upon the faces of Terah in Ur of the Chaldees (n. 1365-1368). Hence it is evident what is signified by "Milcah" and "Nahor", namely, by " Milcah" the truth of those nations, and by "Nahor" their god.

[2] That there were truths among the Gentiles is evident from many things, for it is known that formerly there was wisdom and intelligence among the nations, as that they acknowledged one God, and wrote concerning Him in a holy manner; also that they acknowledged the immortality of the soul, and the life after death, and also the happiness of the good and the unhappiness of the evil; and further that they had for their law the precepts of the decalogue, namely, that God is to be worshiped, that parents are to be honored, that men must not kill, steal, commit adultery, nor covet the property of others; nor were they content to be of this character in externals, but were so in internals.

[3] It is the same at this day; the better behaved Gentiles from all parts of the earth sometimes speak better on such subjects than Christians do; nor do they merely speak better things, but also live according to them. These and many other truths are among the Gentiles, and conjoin themselves with the good which they have from the Lord, from the conjunction of which they are in a state to receive still more truths, because one truth recognizes another, and truths easily consociate themselves together, for they are connected with and related to each other. Hence it is that they who have been in good in the world easily receive the truths of faith in the other life. The falsities that are with them do not conjoin themselves with their good, but only apply themselves to it in such manner as to be separable from it. The falsities which have been conjoined remain, but those which have been merely applied are separated; and they are separated at the time when the men learn the truths of faith and imbue themselves with them. Every truth of faith removes and separates what is false, so that at length the man is averse to it and shuns it. From all this we can see what land of persons are signified by the sons whom Milcah bare to Nahor Abraham's brother, namely, those out of the church who are in brotherhood from good.

2864. Uz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram; and Chesed and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. That these signify various religions and their modes of worship, is evident from the fact that as before said names signify actual things. The things which these names signify are religions and their modes of worship, as also are signified by the names which are found in Genesis 5 and 11. But what each name and each son here signifies, cannot so well be told, as they are merely named. Uz and Buz are also named in (Jeremiah 25:20, 23), but among several other names. Uz is also found in (Lamentations 4:21; Job 1:1); concerning whom see (Genesis 10:23), (n. 1233, 1234).

2865. And Bethuel begat Rebekah. That this signifies from good their affection of truth, is evident from the representation of Bethuel and of Rebekah, treated of in chapter 24, which follows.

2866. These eight did Milcah bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. That this signifies a second class of those who are saved, is evident from the signification of "eight;" and from its being again said that "Milcah bare to Nahor, Abraham's brother". Because the eighth day is the first day of the following week, therefore "eight" signifies something that is distinct from what has gone before (n. 2044); here therefore it denotes another class, and the number was added for the sake of this signification. Milcah's "bearing them to Nahor, Abraham's brother", signifies those out of the church who are in brotherhood from good (n. 2863, 2865). Here, being the conclusion, it signifies the same, and in addition the fact that they are saved.

2867. Verse 24. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah; she also bare Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah. "His concubine whose name was Reumah", signifies Gentiles who are in idolatrous worship and in good; "she also bare Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah", signifies their various religions: these constitute a third class of the spiritual who are saved.

2868. His concubine, whose name was Reumah. That this signifies Gentiles who are in idolatrous worship and in good, is evident from the things which precede; for in the former place are the Gentiles who are signified by the sons who were born to Nahor from his wife, and in this place are the Gentiles signified by those born from his concubine. By those from the wife were signified the Gentiles out of the church who are in brotherhood from good (n. 2863); those now signified are those out of the church who are in idolatrous worship and in good; thus these are not from so legitimate a stock as the former. Nevertheless they are as if legitimate; for at that time children who were born of maidservants were adopted as legitimate (as is evident from the sons of Jacob who were born of the maidservants Bilhah and Zilpah, (Gen. 30:4-12); from whom tribes were derived equally as from those who were born of Leah and Rachel, and indeed without any difference). But that still there was a difference is evident from (Genesis 33:1, 2, 6, 7). The maidservants who were at that time given to the husband by the wife for the sake of procreating children were called concubines; as is manifest from Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant, who is also called Jacob's concubine (Gen. 35:22). That men should procreate children from maidservants or concubines was tolerated at that time, in order that those who are out of the church might thus be represented, and also those who are in a lower degree within the church. The name of this concubine being said to be "Reumah" involves her quality (n. 1896, 2009); which here is exaltation, this being the meaning of the word "Reumah". Concerning the state and lot of the nations and peoples who are out of the church, see (n. 593, 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328, 1366, 2049, 2051, 2284, 2589-2604).

2869. She also bare Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah. That this signifies their various religions and the kinds of worship from them; and that these constitute a third class of the spiritual who are saved, is evident from what was said above (n. 2864, 2866, 2868).

 

CONCERNING MAN'S FREEDOM

2870. Few know what freedom is, and what non-freedom is. All that which is of any love and its delight appears to be freedom, and that which is contrary to these, non-freedom. What is of the love of self and the love of the world, and of their cupidities, appears to man as freedom, but it is infernal freedom; while what is of love to the Lord and of love toward the neighbor, consequently of the love of good and truth, is freedom itself, and is heavenly freedom.

2871. Infernal spirits do not know that there is any other freedom than that which is of the love of self and the love of the world; that is, of the cupidities of commanding, of persecuting and hating all who do not serve them, of tormenting every one, of destroying the universe if they could for the sake of self; of taking away and claiming to themselves whatever is another's. When they are in these and similar things, they are in their freedom, because they are in their delight Their life consists in this freedom to such a degree that if it were taken away from them, nothing more of life would remain to them than that of a newborn infant. This was also shown by living experience. A certain evil spirit was in the persuasion that such things could be taken away from him, and that in this way he could come into heaven; consequently that his life could be miraculously changed into heavenly life; on which account those loves together with their cupidities were taken away from him (which is done in the other life by dissociation), and he then appeared like an infant paddling with his hands, which he could scarcely move; and he was at the same time in such a state as to be less able to think than any infant, and unable to speak anything at all, or to know anything. But he was soon restored to his delight, and thus to his freedom. From this it is manifest that it is impossible for anyone to come into heaven who has procured a life for himself from the love of self and the world, and consequently who is in the freedom of these loves; for if that life were taken away from such a person, he would not have anything of thought and will remaining.

2872. But heavenly freedom is that which is from the Lord, and in it are all the angels in the heavens. As before said this is the freedom of love to the Lord and mutual love, and thus of the affection of good and truth. The quality of this freedom may be seen from the fact that every one who is in it communicates his blessedness and happiness to another from inmost affection, and that it is a blessedness and happiness to him that he is able to communicate it. And because the universal heaven is such, it follows that every one is a center of all forms of blessedness and happiness, and that all these belong at the same time to each angel. The communication itself is effected by the Lord, by wonderful inflowings in an incomprehensible form, which is the form of heaven. This shows what heavenly freedom is, and that it is from the Lord alone.

2873. How far distant heavenly freedom (which is from the affection of good and truth) is from infernal freedom (which is from the affection of evil and falsity), is evident from the fact that when the angels in heaven merely think about such freedom as is from the affection of evil and falsity, or what is the same, from the cupidities of the love of self and the world, they are immediately seized with internal pain; and on the other hand, when evil spirits merely think about the freedom which is from the affection of good and truth, or what is the same, from the desires of mutual love, they at once come into anguish; and what is wonderful, so opposite is the one freedom to the other, that the freedom of the love of self and the world is hell to good spirits; and on the other hand, the freedom of love to the Lord and mutual love is hell to evil spirits. Hence all in the other life are distinct according to their kinds of freedom, or what is the same, according to their loves and affections, consequently according to the delights of their life, which is the same as according to their lives; for lives are nothing else than delights, and these are nothing else than affections which are of the loves.

2874. From this it is now evident what freedom is, namely, that it is to think and will from affection, and that the freedom is such as is the affection; also that the one freedom is infernal, and the other freedom heavenly, and that infernal freedom is from hell, whereas heavenly freedom is from the Lord. It is also evident that they who are in infernal freedom cannot come into heavenly freedom (which would be coming from hell into heaven) unless the whole of their life is taken away from them; also that no one can come into heavenly freedom except by reformation from the Lord; and that he is then introduced into it by the affection of good and truth, that is, by the good of life in which the truth of doctrine is being implanted.

2875. The good of life, or the affection of good, is insinuated by the Lord by an internal way, without man's knowing anything about it; but the truth of doctrine, or faith, by an external way, into the memory, whence it is called forth by the Lord in His own time and according to His own order, and is conjoined with the affection of good. This is done in man's freedom; for as before said man's freedom is from affection. Such is the insemination and inrooting of faith. Whatever is done in freedom is conjoined, but that which is done under compulsion is not conjoined; as may be seen from considering that by no possibility can anything be conjoined except that by which we are affected: affection is the very thing that receives; to receive anything contrary to the affection is to receive it contrary to the life. Hence it is manifest that truth of doctrine, or faith, cannot be received except by the affection of it. But such as is the affection, such is the reception. It is only the affection of truth and good that receives the truth of faith; for they agree, and because they agree, they conjoin themselves together.

2876. As no one can be reformed except in freedom, therefore freedom is never taken away from a man, in so far as the appearance is concerned; for it is an eternal law that every one should be in freedom as to his interiors, that is, as to his affections and thoughts, in order that the affection of good and truth may be implanted in him.

2877. Whenever the affection of truth and the affection of good are insinuated by the Lord, which is done without man's knowledge, he then imbues himself with truth and does good in freedom, because from affection; for when anything is done from affection, then as before said there is freedom; and the truth of faith conjoins itself with the good of charity. Unless a man had freedom in everything he thinks and wills, the freedom of thinking truth and of willing good could never be insinuated by the Lord into anyone; for in order that a man may be reformed he must think truth as of himself, and do good as of himself; and what is done as of one's self is done in freedom. Unless this were so, there would never be any reformation or regeneration.

2878. There are innumerable causes from which and on account of which a man loves to learn truth and to will good (very many from the world, and also very many from the body); and sometimes these things are not done for the sake of heaven, and still less for the sake of the Lord. A man is thus introduced by the Lord into truth and good by affections, and one man altogether differently from another, each one according to his disposition, innate and acquired. And as he is continually being introduced into truth and good by affections, and thus continually by freedom, and at length into the affections of spiritual truth and spiritual good, the Lord alone knows the times and the states, and He alone arranges and governs them in application to each one's genius and life. This shows why man has freedom.

2879. The Lord flows in through man's inmost with good, and there conjoins truth with it: their root must be in the inmost. Unless a man is in freedom interiorly as to all his affections and as to all his thoughts, he can never he so disposed that good and truth may take any root.

2880. Nothing else appears to a man as his (or what is the same, as his own) except that which flows from freedom. The reason is that all affection which is of love is his veriest life; and to act from affection is to act from life, that is, from himself, and thus from what is his, or what is the same, from his own. In order therefore that man may receive an Own that is heavenly, such as have the angels in heaven, he is kept in freedom, and through freedom he is introduced into it, in the way already stated. It may be known to every one that to worship the Lord from freedom appears as if it were from one's self, or from one's own; but that to worship Him under compulsion is not from one's self, but from a force from without, or from some other source, compelling him to do it; thus that worship from freedom is worship itself, and that worship under compulsion is no worship.

2881. If man could have been reformed by compulsion, there would not be any man in the universe who would not be saved; for nothing would be easier for the Lord than to compel man to fear Him, to worship Him, and indeed as it were to love Him; the means being innumerable. But as that which is done under compulsion is not conjoined, and thus is not appropriated, it is therefore the furthest possible from the Lord to compel anyone. So long as a man is in combats, or is one of the church militant, it appears as if the Lord compels the man, and thus that he has no freedom; for he is then continually combating against the love of self and of the world, thus against the freedom into which he was born and into which he has grown up; hence comes the appearance just referred to. But that in the combats in which be overcomes, the freedom is stronger than when out of combats (a freedom not from himself, but from the Lord, and still appearing as his), may be seen above (n. 1937, 1947).

2882. Most of all does man believe that he has no freedom from the fact that he has learned that he cannot do good and think truth of himself. But let him not believe that anyone ever has or ever had any freedom of thinking truth and doing good of himself, not even the man who, from the state of perfection in which he was, was called a "likeness and image of God;" for the freedom of thinking the truth of faith, and of doing the good of charity, all flows in from the Lord. The Lord is Good itself and Truth itself; and is hence their fountain. All the angels are in such freedom, and indeed in the very perception that what we have just stated is the truth. The inmost angels perceive how much is from the Lord, and how much from themselves; and so far as it is from the Lord, they are in happiness; but so far as it is from themselves, they are not in what is happy.

2883. In order therefore that a man may receive an Own that is heavenly, he must do good of himself, and think truth of himself; but still must know, and when reformed must think and believe, that all the good and all the truth are from the Lord, even as to the very least of all (and this because it is so) while its being given to man to think that it is from himself, is in order that the good and truth may become as his own.

2884. The freedom of the love of self and of the world, and of their cupidities, is anything but freedom, being complete slavery; but still it is called freedom, just as love, affection, and delight are so called in both senses; and yet the love of self and of the world is anything but love, being hatred and so are its affection and delight. They are named according to what they appear; not according to what they are.

2885. No one can know what slavery is and what freedom is, unless he knows the origin of them (which no one can know except from the Word), and unless he knows how the case is with man in regard to his affections which are of his will, and his thoughts which are of his understanding.

2886. As to man's affections and thoughts, the case is this: No one, whoever he may be, whether man, spirit, or angel, can will and think from himself; but from others; nor can these others will and think from themselves, but all again from others, and so on; and thus each one from the First of life, which is the Lord. That which is unconnected has no existence. Evils and falsities have connection with the hells; from the hells come the willing and thinking of those who are in evils and falsities; and also their love, affection, and delight, consequently their freedom. But goods and truths have connection with heaven, and the willing and thinking of those who are in them is from heaven, and so also are their love, affection, and delight, and therefore their freedom. From this we may see whence comes the one freedom, and whence the other. That the case is really so is most fully known in the other life, but is at this day altogether unknown in the world.

2887. With man there are evil spirits constantly, and also angels; by the spirits he communicates with the hells, and by the angels with the heavens. If these spirits and angels were to be taken away from him, he would in a moment be devoid of willing and thinking, thus of life. That this is so may seem a paradox; and yet it is most true. But concerning the spirits and angels who are with man, of the Lord's Divine mercy elsewhere.

2888. The truth is that the life of every one, both of man, of spirit, and also of angel, flows in solely from the Lord, who is life itself; and diffuses itself through the whole heaven and also through hell, thus into every one; and this in an order and series incomprehensible: but the life which flows in is received by each one according to his disposition. Good and truth are received as good and truth by the good; but good and truth are received as evil and falsity by the evil, and are also turned into evil and falsity in them. The case with this is comparatively like the light of the sun, which diffuses itself into all the objects of the earth, but is received according to the quality of each object, and becomes of a beautiful color in beautiful forms, and of a disagreeable color in disagreeable forms. In the world this is an arcanum, but nothing is better known in the other life. That I might know that influx is of such a nature, it has been given me to speak with the spirits and angels who were with me, and also to feel and perceive their influx; and this so often that I cannot number the times. But I know that the fallacy will prevail, the fallacy that is to say, that men will believe that they will from themselves, and think from themselves, and thus have life from themselves; whereas nothing is further from the truth.

2889. Evil spirits cannot possibly apprehend that they do not live from themselves, and that they are only organs of life; still less that there is no life except that which is from good and truth; and still less that they do not begin to live until the life of the cupidities of evil and of the persuasions of falsity, in which they are, is extinguished. They believe that if they were deprived of these there could be nothing of life remaining; whereas the truth is that when they have lost the life of the cupidities of evil and of the persuasions of falsity, they then first begin to live; and that the Lord, together with the good and truth in which life solely consists, is not till then received; and that intelligence and wisdom, and thus the veriest life, then flow in, and are afterwards immensely increased; and this with delight, blessedness, and happiness, and thus with inmost joy, and with ineffable variety, to eternity.

2890. The evil spirits who are with man, through whom he communicates with hell, regard him no otherwise than as a vile slave; for they infuse into him their cupidities and their persuasions, and thus lead him whithersoever they will. But the angels through whom man communicates with heaven, regard him as a brother, and insinuate into him affections of good and truth, and thus lead him by freedom, not whither they will, but whither it pleases the Lord. From this we can see of what kind the one freedom is, and of what kind the other; and that it is slavery to be led by the devil, and freedom to be led by the Lord.

2891. Spirits fresh from this world severely torment themselves by trying to comprehend how no one can do good of himself, or think truth of himself, except from the Lord; believing that thus they would be like machines, having no control of anything; and that if this is really so they should let their hands hang down, and suffer themselves to be acted upon. But they were told that they ought by all means to think, to will, and to do good of themselves; and that in no other way could they have an Own that is heavenly, and heavenly freedom; but that still they should acknowledge that the good and truth are not from them, but from the Lord: and they are instructed that all the angels are in such an acknowledgment, nay, in the perception that it is so; and the more exquisitely they perceive that they are led by the Lord, and thus are in the Lord, the more are they in freedom.

2892. He who lives in good, and believes that the Lord governs the universe, and that all the good which is of love and charity, and all the truth which is of faith, are from the Lord alone; nay, that life is from Him, and thus that from Him we live, move, and have our being, is in such a state that he can be gifted with heavenly freedom, and together with it with peace; for he then trusts solely in the Lord and has no care for other things, and is certain that all things are tending to his good, his blessedness, and his happiness to eternity. But he who believes that he governs himself is continually disquieted, being borne along into cupidities, and into solicitude respecting future things, and thus into manifold anxieties; and because he so believes, the cupidities of evil and the persuasions of falsity also adhere to him.

2893. Good spirits wondered exceedingly that the man of the church at this day does not believe that all the evils and falsities within him flow in from hell, and all the goods and truths from the Lord; when yet he has learned this from the Word, and also from the doctrine of faith; and, when and one has done a grievous evil, everybody says that he has suffered himself to be led by the devil; and when anyone has done good, that he has suffered himself to be led by the Lord.


Chapter 23

2894. We read in John: -

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light appeareth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt within us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-5, 14).

Few know what is here meant by the "Word". That it is the Lord, is evident from the several particulars; but the internal sense teaches that it is the Lord as to His Divine Human that is meant by the "Word", for it is said: "the Word was made flesh and dwelt within us, and we beheld His glory". And because the Divine Human is meant by the "Word", all that Truth also is meant which relates to Him, and is from Him, in His kingdom in the heavens, and in His church on the earth. Hence it is said that "in Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light appeareth in the darkness". And because Truth is meant by the "Word", all revelation is meant, and thus also the Word itself or Holy Scripture.

2895. As regards the Word specifically, it had existed in all times, but not the Word which we have at this day. There had been another Word in the Most Ancient Church which was before the flood, and another Word in the Ancient Church which was after the flood; then came the Word written by Moses and the prophets in the Jewish Church; and lastly the Word that was written by the Evangelists in the new church. The reason why there has been a Word at all times, is that by the Word there is communication of heaven with earth; and also because the Word treats of good and truth, from which man is to live happy forever; and on this account in the internal sense it treats of the Lord alone, because all good and truth are from Him.

2896. The Word in the Most Ancient Church which was before the flood was not a written Word, but was revealed to very one who was of that church. For they were celestial men, and therefore were in the perception of good and truth, as the angels are (with whom moreover they were in company), so that they had the Word written on their hearts (n. 597, 607, 895, 920, 1114-1125). As they were celestial men, and had companionship with angels, all the things which they saw and apprehended by any of the senses were to them representative and significative of the celestial and spiritual things which are in the Lord's kingdom; so that they indeed saw worldly and earthly things with their eyes, or apprehended them by some other sense, but from them and by means of them they thought of celestial and spiritual things. In this way, and in no other, were they able to speak with angels; for the things with the angels are celestial and spiritual things, and when they come down to man they fall into such things as are with him in the world. That each one of the things in the world represents and signifies something in the heavens, has been shown from the first chapter of Genesis up to this point. Thence came the representatives and significatives which, when communication with angels began to cease, were collected by those meant by "Enoch", as was signified by the words (Gen. 5:24), " Enoch walked by himself with God, and was no more, for God took him (n. 521).

2897. From this source was the Word in the Ancient Church which was after the flood. As the man of this church was spiritual and not celestial, he knew but did not perceive what the representatives and significatives involved; and as they involved Divine things, they came to be in use among those men, and were employed in their Divine worship; and this in order that they might have communication with heaven; for as before said all things in the world represent and signify such things as are in heaven. They also had a written Word, which consisted of Histories and Prophecies, like the Word of the Old Testament; but in process of time that Word was lost. The Histories were called "Wars of Jehovah", and the Prophecies were called "Enunciations", as is evident in Moses (Num. 21:14, 27), where they are quoted. Their histories were written in the prophetic style, and were for the most part made up histories, like those in the first eleven chapters of Genesis; as is plain from the quotations from them in Moses, where are these words: -

Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah, Vaheb in Suphah, and the rivers of Arnon, and the slope of the rivers that inclineth toward the dwelling of Ar, and leaneth upon the border of Moab (Num. 21:14, 15).

[2] Their prophecies were written like the prophecies of the Old Testament, as is likewise plain from the quotations made from them also in Moses, where are these words: -

Wherefore the Enunciations (or the Prophetic Enunciators) say, Come ye to Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and established; for a fire is gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it hath devoured Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to thee, Moab; thou hast perished, O people of Chemosh; he hath given his sons as escapers, and his daughters into captivity, unto Sihon king of the Amorite. And we have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba (Num. 21:27-30).

That these prophecies involve heavenly arcana, as do the prophecies of the Old Testament, is clearly manifest not only from their having been transcribed by Moses and applied to the state of things of which he was then writing, but also from the fact that nearly the same words are found in Jeremiah, inserted in the prophecies of that book; in which it is evident from what has been said about the internal sense of the Word, that there are as many heavenly arcana as there are words. The words in Jeremiah are: -

A fire is gone forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from among Sihon, and hath devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult. Woe unto thee, O Moab, the people of Chemosh has perished, for thy sons are taken into captivity, and thy daughters into captivity (Jeremiah 48:45, 46).

From this also it is plain that Word also had an internal sense. Concerning the Ancient Church which was after the flood, see (n. 640, 641, 765, 1238, 1327, 2385).

2898. That with them there were prophecies which in the internal sense treated of the Lord and of His kingdom, may be seen not only from what has been shown, but also from the prophecies of Balaam, who was from Syria, spoken of in Moses (Num. 23:7-10, 18-25; 24:3-10, 15-25), which are expressed in a style similar to the other prophecies of the Word, and plainly foretell the Lord's coming, in these words: -

I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not nigh; there shall come forth a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel and shall smite through the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth (Num. 24:17).

These prophecies, like the former, are called "Parables (Enuntiata)", for the same word is used (Num. 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15, 20).

2899. A Word afterwards followed in the Jewish Church that in like manner was written by representatives and significatives, so that it might have within it an internal sense understood in heaven, and that thus by the Word there might be communication, and the Lord's kingdom in the heavens be united to the Lord's kingdom on earth. Unless everything in the Word represents, and unless all the words by which everything therein is written, signify the Divine things pertaining to the Lord, thus the celestial and spiritual things belonging to His kingdom, the Word is not Divine; but being so it could not possibly be written in any other style; for by means of this style and not possibly by any other, human things and human words correspond to heavenly things and heavenly ideas, even to the least jot. From this it is that if the Word is read even by a little child, the Divine things therein are perceived by the angels (n. 1776).

2900. In regard to the Word of the New Testament which is in the Evangelists, as the Lord spoke from the Divine itself, the several things spoken by Him were representative and significative of Divine things, thus of the heavenly things of His kingdom and church, as has been abundantly shown above.

 

GENESIS 23:1-20

1. And the lives of Sarah were a hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of the lives of Sarah.

2. And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

3. And Abraham rose up from upon the faces of his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,

4. I am a sojourner and a dweller with you; give me a possession of a sepulchre with you, and I will bury my dead from before me.

5. And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,

6. Hear us, my lord, thou art a prince of God in the midst of us; in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, from burying thy dead.

7. And Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth.

8. And he spake with them, saying, If it is with your soul that I should bury my dead from before me, hear me, and intercede for me with Ephron the son of Zohar.

9. That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; in full silver let him give it to me, in the midst of you, for a possession of a sepulchre.

10. And Ephron was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the ears of the sons of Heth, of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, 11. Nay, my lord, hear me; the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee; to the eyes of the sons of my people give I it thee; bury thy dead.

12. And Abraham bowed himself before the people of the land.

13. And he spake unto Ephron in the ears of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me; I will give the silver of the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.

14. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,

15. My lord, hear me; land of four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

16. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had spoken of in the ears of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver current with the merchant.

17. And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was therein, and every tree that was in the field, that was in all the border thereof round about, were made sure,

18. Unto Abraham for an acquisition to the eyes of the sons of Heth, of all that went in at the gate of his city.

19. And after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife, in the cave of the field of Machpelah, upon the faces of Mamre, the same is Hebron, in the land of Canaan.

20. And the field and the cave that is therein were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a sepulchre from the sons of Heth.

 

THE CONTENTS

2901. In the internal sense a New Spiritual Church is here treated of, that was raised up by the Lord after the former church had altogether expired; and also the reception of faith with those who were of the church. "Sarah" here, is the truth Divine which expired; "burial", is raising up again; "Ephron and the sons of Heth", are those with whom the good and truth of the church were received "Machpelah which is before Mamre", is regeneration; Hebron in the land of Canaan", is a new church.

2902. Truth Divine, that it expired, is treated of (verses 1-3); and that the Lord set up again a new church (verse 4); and was kindly received (verses 5, 6); from which there was joy (verses 7, 12); that their first state was obscure, and they believed the good of charity and the truth of faith to be from themselves (verses 8-11, 14, 15); but they were instructed that good and truth were not from themselves, but from the Lord (verse 13); and thus they were redeemed (verse 16); and regenerated (verses 17, 18); and thus there was a new church (verse 19); from the Gentiles (verse 20).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

2903. Verse 1. Add the lives of Sarah were a hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of the lives of Sarah. "The lives of Sarah were", signifies the times and states of the church as to the truths Divine that preceded; "a hundred years and twenty years and seven years", signifies their fullness; "the years of the lives of Sarah", signifies while any truth Divine remained on earth.

2904. The lives of Sarah were. That this signifies the times and states of the church as to the truths Divine that preceded, is evident from the signification here of "lives;" and from the representation of "Sarah". "Lives", here, because they regard age and its periods, namely, infancy, youth, adult age, and old age, signify states, as do all times in general (n. 2625, 2788, 2837); and because the following verses treat of the church, therefore "lives" signify the times and states of the church. That " Sarah" is truth Divine, may be seen above (n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2172, 2173, 2198, 2507); from which it follows that by "the lives of Sarah were", in the internal sense are here signified the times and states of the church as to the truths Divine which preceded.

[2] That Sarah, while alive as Abraham's wife, represented the Lord's Divine Truth conjoined with His Divine Good, may be seen from the places above cited; and because the Lord's Divine Truth was represented by her, so also the truth Divine of the church is signified; for in the church there is no other truth than that which is the Lord's. Truth which is not from Him is not truth; as is also evident from the Word and from the doctrine of faith derived from it. It is evident from the Word, in John: -

A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven (John 3:27).

And in another place: -

Without Me ye can do nothing (John 15:5).

And the same is evident from the doctrine of faith, in that the all of faith, that is, all truth, is from the Lord.

[3] All and each of the representatives and significatives in the Word, in the highest sense regard the Lord; hence is the very life of the Word; and as they regard the Lord, they regard His kingdom also, for the Lord is the all in His kingdom; the Divine things which are from the Lord in His kingdom make the kingdom. Therefore in so far as an angel, spirit, or man receives good and truth from the Lord, and believes that it is from the Lord, so far he is in His kingdom; but in so far as he does not receive and does not believe that it is from the Lord, so far he is not in His kingdom. Thus the Divine things that are from the Lord make His kingdom, or heaven; and this is what is meant by the Lord being the all in His kingdom.

2905. A hundred years and twenty years and seven years. That this signifies their fullness, is evident from the signification of a "hundred", as being what is full (n. 2636); and of "twenty", or twice ten, as being also what is full (n. 1988); and of "seven", as being what is holy (n. 395, 433, 716, 881); thus it is the fullness or the end of what is holy belonging to the church that is here signified. That numbers in the Word all signify things, may be seen above, (n. 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252).

[2] Their fullness, that is, the fullness of the states and times of the church, signifies their end; for the case with the church is like that of the ages of man, of which the first is childhood, the second youth, the third adult age, the fourth old age; the last, or old age, being called the fullness or end. It is also like the times and states of the year; of which the first is spring, the second summer, the third autumn, and the fourth winter; and this last is the end of the year. It is also like the times and states of the day, the first of which is dawn, the second noon, the third evening, and the fourth night; and when this has come, there is fullness or the end. To all these are the states of the church compared in the Word, and they are signified by the same; for by times are signified states (n. 2625, 2788, 2837).

[3] The good and truth with those who are of the church are wont to decrease in this manner; and when there are no longer any good and truth (or as is said, when there is no longer any faith, that is, no charity) then the church has come to its old age, or its winter, or its night; and its time and state then are called "decision", "consummation", and "fulfillment" (n. 1857). The same is signified when it is said of the Lord that He came into the world in the fullness of times, or when there was fullness; for there was then no longer any good, not even natural good; and consequently there was no truth. These are the things specifically signified by what is said in this verse.

2906. The years of the lives of Sarah. That this signifies while any truth Divine remained, is evident from the signification of a "year", as being an entire period of the church from beginning to end; thus from the signification of the "years", as being periods (n. 2905); and from the signification of the "lives of Sarah", as being states as to truth Divine, of which also just above, (n. 2904); thus denoting here the limit when there was no longer any truth Divine remaining; which also follows from what immediately precedes.

[2] That a "year" signifies the entire time of a state of the church from beginning to end, or what is the same, an entire period; and consequently that "years" signify times or periods within the general period, may be seen from the following passages in the Word. In Isaiah: -

Jehovah hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the afflicted; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and an opening of every kind to the bound, to proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure, and the day of vengeance to our God (Isaiah 61:1, 2);

said of the Lord's advent; the "year of Jehovah's good pleasure" denotes the time of a new church. In the same: -

The day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come (Isaiah 63:4);

this too is said of the Lord's advent; the "year of the redeemed" denotes the time of a new church. In the same: -

It is the day of vengeance to Jehovah; the year of retributions for the controversy of Zion (Isaiah 34:8);

where the signification is similar.

[3] The same time is also called the "year of visitation" in Jeremiah: -

I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, in the year of their visitation (Jeremiah 11:23).

In the same: -

I will bring upon Moab the year of their visitation (Jeremiah 48:44).

Still more plainly in Ezekiel: -

After many days thou shalt be visited; in the futurity of years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, upon the mountains of Israel, which shall be for a waste continually (Ezekiel 38:8);

"the futurity of years" denotes the last time of the church, which then becomes no church, those being rejected who before were of the church, and others received from elsewhere. In Isaiah: -

Thus hath the Lord said unto me, Yet within a year, according to the years of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall be consumed (Isaiah 21:16);

here also is meant the last time.

[4] In Ezekiel: -

Thou art become guilty in thy bind that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made; and thou hast caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years; therefore have I made thee a reproach unto the nations, and a mocking to all the lands (Ezekiel 22:4);

"to come even unto the years" denotes to the end, when the Lord withdraws from the church. In Isaiah: -

Now hath Jehovah spoken, saying, "Within three years, as the years of a hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude, and the remnant shall he very small (Isaiah 16:14);

"within three years" also denotes the end of the former church. That "three" denotes what is complete, and a beginning, may be seen above (n. 1825, 2788).

[5] Similar is the signification of "seven", and also of "seventy" (n. 720, 728, 901); and therefore it is said in Isaiah: -

And it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king; after the end of seventy years it shall be to Tyre as in the song of a harlot. And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her harlot hire (Isaiah 23:15-17);

"seventy years" denotes the entire period, from the time at which the church began even till it expires; which is also meant by "the days of one king", for a "king" signifies the truth of the church (n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069). The "seventy years" of captivity in which the Jews were, also involve something similar, of which likewise it is said in Jeremiah: -

These nations shall serve the king of Babel seventy years; and it shall come to pass when seventy years are fulfilled, I will visit their iniquity upon the king of Babel, and upon this nation, saith Jehovah (Jeremiah 25:11, 12; 29:10).

[6] That a "year", and also "years", denote the entire period of a church, or the time of its duration, may be seen still further in Malachi: -

Behold I send Mine angel, and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the angel of the covenant whom ye desire; behold He cometh, said Jehovah Zebaoth; and who may endure the day of His coming? Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, according to the days of an age, and according to the ancient years (Malachi 3:1, 2, 4);

where the advent of the Lord is treated of; the "days of an age" denote the Most Ancient Church; "ancient years", the Ancient Church; the "offering of Judah", worship from celestial love and the "offering of Jerusalem", worship from spiritual love; that Judah is not meant here, nor Jerusalem, is plain. In David: -

I have considered the days of old, and the years of the ages (Ps. 77:5);

where the "days of old" and the "years of the ages" denote the same churches. This is still more plain in Moses: -

Remember the days of an age, understand the years of generation and generation; ask thy father, and he will show thee; thine elders, and they will tell thee. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of man (Deut. 32:7, 8).

[7] That a "year" and "years" denote the full time of a church, is also plain in Habakkuk: -

O Jehovah, I have heard Thy fame, I was afraid; O Jehovah, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in anger remember mercy. God will come from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran (Habakkuk 3:2, 3);

This is said of the Lord's advent; "in the midst of the years" denotes in the fullness of times; and what is meant by the fullness of times" may be seen just above (n. 2905).

[8] As a "year" and "years" signify the full time between its two limits, which are the beginning and the end when predicated of the Lord's kingdom on earth (that is, the church) so they signify what is eternal when predicated of the Lord's kingdom in heaven. As in David: -

O God, Thy years are to generation and generation; and Thou art He, and Thy years shall not be brought to an end. The sons of Thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before Thee (Ps. 102:24, 27, 28).

In the same: -

Thou wilt add days to the days of the king, his years shall be as generation and generation; he shall dwell before God forever (Ps. 61:6, 7);

where "years" denote what is eternal, for this treats of the Lord and His kingdom.

[9] The lambs which were offered for burnt-offering and sacrifice being "sons of their year" (Lev. 12:6; 14:10; Num. 6:12; 7:15, 21, 27, 33, 39, 45, 51, 57, 63, 69, 75, 81), signified the celestial things of innocence in the Lord's kingdom, which are eternal. And for this reason also the burnt-offering of calves that were "sons of a year" is mentioned as being most grateful (Micah 6:6).

[10] That in the internal sense a "year" does not signify a year, is also evident from the fact that the angels, who are in the internal sense of the Word, cannot have an idea of any year; but because a year is a full period of time in nature, which belongs to the world, therefore instead of a year they have an idea of what is full in respect to states of the church, and of what is eternal in respect to states of heaven; times with them are states (n. 1274, 1382, 2625, 2788, 2837).

2907. Verse 2. And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. "Sarah died", signifies night as to the truths of faith; "in Kiriath-arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan", signifies in the church; "and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her", signifies the Lord's state of grief.

2908. Sarah died. That this signifies night as to the truths of faith, is evident from the signification of "dying", of "dead", and of "death", when these are predicated of the church, as denoting its last time, when all faith, that is, charity, has expired; which time, throughout the Word, is called "night" (n. 221, 709, 1712, 2353); that "dying" denotes ceasing to be such, may be seen above (n. 494). The same is further evident from the representation of Sarah, as being truth Divine (n. 2904), and thus it is plain that the signification is as has been said.

2909. In Kiriath-arba, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. That this signifies in the church, is evident from the signification of "Kiriath-arba", as being the church as to truth; and from the signification of "Hebron in the land of Canaan", as being the church as to good. In the Word, and especially in the prophetical parts, where truth is treated of, good is treated of also, because of the heavenly marriage in everything of the Word (n. 683, 793, 801, 2173, 2516, 2712); therefore here, when Kiriath-arba is mentioned, it is also said, "the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan". That the "land of Canaan" denotes the Lord's kingdom, see (n. 1413, 1437, 1607); also that the places in that land were variously representative, (n. 1585, 1866).

[2] In regard to Kiriath-arba which is Hebron, it was the region where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt. That Abraham dwelt there, appears from what was said in a preceding chapter: "Abraham came and dwelt in Mamre, which is in Hebron" (Gen. 13:18). That Isaac dwelt there, appears from what is said in a later chapter: "Jacob came unto Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath-arba, the same is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned" (Gen. 35:27). That Jacob dwelt there is evident from Joseph being sent to his brethren by Jacob his father, from the valley of Hebron (Gen. 37:14). From the representation of the three, as spoken of above, it is plain that Kiriath-arba which is Hebron represented the church before Jerusalem did.

[3] That every church in process of time decreases, until it has nothing left of faith and charity, and then is destroyed, was also represented by Kiriath-arba which is Hebron, in its being possessed by the Anakim, by whom were signified dire persuasions of falsity (n. 581, 1673). That it was possessed by the Anakim, may be seen in several places (Num. 13:21, 22; Josh. 11:21; 14:15; 15:13, 14; Judges 1:10); and that it came to its end or consummation and was destroyed, was represented by all things therein being given by Joshua to the curse (Josh. 10:36, 37; 11:21); and the Anakim being smitten by Judah and Caleb (Judges 1:10; Josh. 14:13-15; 15:13, 14). And that there was again a new church, was represented by Hebron being assigned to Caleb for an inheritance, as to field and villages (Josh. 21:12); but the city itself was made a city of refuge (Josh. 20:7; 21:13); and a priestly city for the sons of Aaron (Josh. 21:10, 11); in the inheritance of Judah (Josh. 15:54).

[4] Hence it is evident that Hebron represented the Lord's spiritual church in the land of Canaan. And likewise on this account David was required by the command of Jehovah to go to Hebron, and was there anointed to be king over the house of Judah; and after he had reigned there seven years and six months, he went to Jerusalem and took possession of Zion (2 Sam. 2:1-11; 5:5; 1 Kings 2:11); and then for the first time the spiritual church of the Lord began to be represented by Jerusalem, and the celestial church by Zion.

2910. And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. That this signifies the Lord's state of grief on account of the night as to truths of faith in the church, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord (n. 1893, 1965, 1989, 2011, 2172, 2501, 2833, 2836). That to "mourn" and to "weep" signify a state of grief is evident without explication; to "mourn" has respect to grief on account of night as to good in the church, and to "weep" as to truths. These two verses treat of the end of the church; its end is when there is no longer any charity. This state is treated of in many places in the Word, especially in the Prophets, and in John in the Apocalypse; the Lord also describes this end by many things in the Evangelists, and calls it the "consummation of the age", and also "night".

[2] For with churches the case is this: In the beginning charity is fundamental with them; every one then loves another as a brother, and is affected from good, not for his own sake, but for the sake of the neighbor, the community, the kingdom of the Lord, and above all things for the Lord's sake. But in process of time charity begins to grow cold and to become naught. Afterwards comes hatred of one another; which, although it does not appear outwardly, because in civic society men are under laws, and are under outward bonds of restraint, still is nourished inwardly. These outward bonds of restraint come from the love of self and of the world; they are the love of honor and eminence, the love of gain and hence also of power, thus the love of reputation. Under these loves hatred against the neighbor conceals itself, which is of such a nature that men desire to have command over all, and to possess all things that are another's; and when these desires are opposed, they treasure in their hearts contempt for the neighbor, they breathe revenge, they take delight in his ruin, and even practise cruelties so far as they dare. Into things like these does the charity of the church at its end at last decline, and then it is said of it that there is no longer any faith, for where there is no charity there is no faith, as has been shown many times.

[3] There have been a number of churches, known to us from the Word, that had such an end. The Most Ancient Church thus expired about the time of the flood; in like manner the Ancient Church which was after the flood; also a second Ancient Church, called the Hebrew Church; and at last the Jewish Church, which was by no means a church that commenced from charity, but was only the representative of a church, to the intent that by representatives communication with heaven might survive, until the Lord came into the world. Afterwards a new church was raised up by the Lord, called the Church of the Gentiles, which was internal, for interior truths had been revealed by the Lord; but this church is now at its end, because now there is not only no charity, but there is hatred instead of charity; which hatred, though it does not appear outwardly, yet is within, and breaks out whenever possible with anyone, that is, whenever outward bonds do not restrain.

[4] Besides these churches there have been very may others that are not so fully described, which in like manner decreased and destroyed themselves. There are many causes for such decrease and self-destruction; one is that parents accumulate evils, and by frequent practice, and at length by habit, they implant them in their nature, and so by inheritance transcribe them upon their offspring; for what parents acquire from actual life by frequent use is rooted in their nature and is transmitted by inheritance to posterity; and unless the posterity is reformed or regenerated, it is continued to successive generations and is all the time increasing; and thus the will becomes more prone to evils and falsities. But when a church is consummated and perishes, then the Lord always raises up a new church somewhere; but rarely, if ever from the people of the former church; but from nations that have been in ignorance. Concerning these in what follows.

2911. Verse 3. And Abraham rose up from upon the faces of his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying. "Abraham rose up", signifies elevation; "from upon the faces of his dead", signifies in that night; "and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying", signifies those with whom there was to be a new spiritual church.

2912. Abraham rose up. That this signifies elevation, is evident from the signification of "rising up", as implying some elevation (n. 2401, 2785); here elevation from grief, since a new church was about to be raised up in place of the former that perished. From upon the faces of his dead. That this signifies in that night, is evident from the signification of "dying", of "death", and of "dead", as denoting night in regard to the state of the church, concerning which see above, (n. 2908).

2913. And spake unto the sons of Heth, saying. That this signifies those with whom there was to be a new spiritual church, is evident from the signification of "Heth", and of the "Hittites". There were many inhabitants of the land of Canaan, who are enumerated in various places in the Word, and among them the Hittites (Gen. 15:20; Exod. 3:8, 17; 13:5; 23:23; Deut. 7:1; 20:17; Josh. 3:10; 11:1, 3; 12:8; 24:11; 1 Kings 9:20). Most of these were from the Ancient Church, that this extended through many lands, and likewise through the land of Canaan, may be seen above, (n. 1238, 2385). All who were of that church acknowledged charity as the principal, and all their doctrinal things were of charity or of life. Those who elaborated doctrinal things of faith were called "Canaanites", and were separated from the other inhabitants of the land of Canaan (Num. 13:29); (n. 1062, 1063, 1076).

[2] Among the better inhabitants of the land of Canaan were the Hittites, as is evident from the fact that Abraham dwelt among them, and afterwards Isaac and Jacob, and had their burial place there; also from their bearing themselves piously and modestly toward Abraham, as is very plain from what is related of them in this chapter, particularly in (verses 5, 6, 10, 11, 14, 15). And thus by the Hittites, as by a well-disposed nation, is represented and signified the spiritual church, or the truth of the church. But with these, as with the rest of the Ancient church, it came to pass that in course of time they declined from charity or the good of faith; and consequently the falsity of the church is afterwards signified by them (Ezek. 16:3, 45). That still the Hittites were among the more honored, is evident from the fact that there were Hittites with David, as Abimelech (1 Sam. 26:6), and Uriah, who was a Hittite (2 Sam. 11:3, 6, 17, 21), whose wife was Bathsheba, of whom Solomon was born to David (2 Sam. 12:24). That "Heth" signifies the more external knowledges regarding life, which are the external truths of the spiritual church, may be seen above, (n. 1203).

[3] This verse treats of the new church that the Lord sets up anew when the former church expires; and the verses that follow treat of the reception of faith with them. A church among the sons of Heth is not treated of; but the raising up by the Lord of the spiritual church in general, after the former ceases or is consummated; the sons of Heth are merely those who represent and signify this. See what has been said above concerning churches, namely: That in process of time a church decreases and is contaminated (n. 494, 501, 1327, 2422): That it recedes from charity, and produces evils and falsities (n. 1834, 1835): That then the church is said to be laid waste and desolate (n. 407-411, 2243): That a church is set up anew with the Gentiles, and why (n. 1366). That in the church which is being vastated, there is always preserved something of the church as a nucleus (n. 468, 637, 931, 2422): That unless there were a church on earth, the human race would perish (n. 468, 637, 931, 2422): That the church is as the heart and lungs in the grand body, that is, in the human race (n. 637, 931, 2054, 2853): The quality of the spiritual church (n. 765, 2669): That charity constitutes the church, not faith separate (n. 809, 916): That if all had charity, the church would be one, although they should differ as to doctrinal things and worship (n. 1285, 1316, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 2385): That all men on earth who are in the Lord's church, though scattered through the world, still as it were make a one, as in the heavens (n. 2853): That every church is internal and external, and both together constitute one church (n. 409, 1083, 1098, 1100, 1242): That the external church is nothing, if there is no internal church (n. 1795): That the church is compared to the rising and the setting of the sun, also to the seasons of the year, and the times of the day (n. 1837): That the Last Judgment is the last time of the church (n. 900, 931, 1850, 2117, 2118).

2914. Verse 4. I am a sojourner and a dweller with you; give me a possession of a sepulchre with you, and I will bury my dead from before me. "I am a sojourner and a dweller with you", signifies their first state, that although the Lord was unknown to them, still He could be with them; "give me a possession of a sepulchre with you", signifies that they might be regenerated; "and I will bury my dead from before me", signifies that thus He would come forth and rise again from the night which is with them.

2915. I am a sojourner and a dweller with you. That this signifies their first state, that although the Lord was unknown to them still He could be with them, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord (frequently shown above) and from the signification of being a "sojourner with them", and of being a "dweller with them", as being unknown and yet with them. That this is the internal sense is plain from what precedes and what follows; for here a new church is treated of, and in this verse its first state, which is such that first of all the Lord is unknown to them; and yet because they live in the good of charity, and in what is just and equitable as to civil life, and in what is honorable and becoming as to moral life, they are such that the Lord can be with them; for the Lord's presence with man is in good, and therefore in what is just and equitable, and further in what is honorable and be. coming (what is honorable being the complex of all the moral virtues; and what is becoming being simply its form) for these are goods which succeed in order, and are the planes in man on which conscience is founded by the Lord, and consequently intelligence and wisdom. But with those who are not in these goods (that is to say from the heart or affection), nothing of heaven can be inseminated; for there is no plane or ground, thus there is no recipient; and as nothing of heaven can be inseminated, neither can the Lord be present there. The Lord's presence is predicated according to the good, that is, according to the quality of the good; the quality of the good is according to the state of innocence, of love, and of charity, in which the truths of faith have been implanted or can be implanted.

2916. Give me a possession of a sepulchre with you. That this signifies that they can be regenerated, is evident from the signification of a "sepulchre", which in the internal sense of the Word signifies life or heaven, and in the opposite sense death or hell. That it signifies life or heaven, is because the angels, who are in the internal sense of the Word, have no idea of a sepulchre because they have none of death; and therefore instead of a sepulchre they perceive nothing else than continuation of life, and thus resurrection-for man rises again as to his spirit, and is buried as to his body (n. 1854). And because burial" signifies resurrection, it also signifies regeneration, for regeneration is man's first resurrection, as he then dies in respect to the former man, and rises again as to the new. By regeneration a man from being dead becomes alive; hence comes the signification of a "sepulchre" in the internal sense. That the idea of regeneration occurs to the angels when the idea of a sepulchre is presented, is plain also from what was said above about little children (n. 2299).

[2] That in the opposite sense a "sepulchre" signifies death or hell, is because the evil do not rise again into life; and therefore when the evil are treated of and a sepulchre is mentioned, no other idea then occurs to the angels than that of hell; this is the reason why hell in the Word is also called a "sepulchre".

[3] That a" sepulchre" signifies resurrection, and also regeneration, is plain in Ezekiel: -

Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold I will open your sepulchres, and cause you to come up out of your sepulchres, O My people and I will bring you to the ground of Israel. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your sepulchres, and caused you to come up out of your sepulchres, O My people; and shall put My spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you on your own ground (Ezekiel 37:12-14);

where the Prophet treats of the bones that were made to live, and in the internal sense of regeneration. That he treats of regeneration is plainly evident, for it is said, "when I shall put My spirit in you and ye shall live, and I shall place you on your own ground". "Sepulchres" here denote the former man and his evils and falsities, to "open", and to "come up out of" which, is to be regenerated. Thus the idea of a sepulchre perishes and is as it were put off, when the idea of regeneration or of the new life comes in.

[4] That the sepulchres were opened, and many bodies of the saints that were sleeping arose and went forth out of their sepulchres after the Lord's resurrection, and entered into the holy city, and appeared unto many (Matt. 27:52, 53), involves what is similar, namely resurrection because of the Lord's resurrection, and in a more interior sense every resurrection. That the Lord raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44) also involves the raising up of a new church from the Gentiles; for all the miracles wrought by the Lord, because they were Divine, involved states of His church. The signification also is singular where it is said that the man who was cast into the sepulchre of Elisha, when he touched his bones, revived (2 Kings 13:20, 21); for by Elisha was represented the Lord.

[5] As "burial" signified resurrection in general, and every resurrection, therefore the ancients were very solicitous about their burials and the places where they should be buried - as Abraham, that he should be buried in Hebron in the land of Canaan; also Isaac and Jacob, with their wives (Gen. 47:29-31; 49:30-32); and Joseph, that his bones should be carried from Egypt into the land of Canaan (Gen. 50:25; Exod. 13:19; Josh. 24:32); David, and the kings who came after him, that they should be buried in Zion (1 Kings 2:10; 11:43; 14:31; 15:8, 24; 22:50; 2 Kings 8:24; 12:21; 14:20; 15:7, 38; 16:20). The reason of this was that the lad of Canaan and Zion represented and signified the Lord's kingdom, and burial represented and signified resurrection; but that the place effects nothing in regard to resurrection must be evident to every one.

[6] That "burial" signifies resurrection to life, is also plain from other representatives, as that there should be no wailing for the wicked, and that they should not be buried but cast out (Jer. 8:2; 14:16; 16:4, 6; 20:6; 22:19; 25:33; 2 Kings 9:10; Rev. 11:9); and that wicked persons who had been buried should be cast forth from their sepulchres (Jer. 8:1, 2; 2 Kings 23:16-18). In the opposite sense however, a "sepulchre" signifies death or hell (Isa. 14:19-21; Ezek. 32:21-23, 25, 27; Ps. 88:5, 6, 11, 12; Num. 19:16, 18, 19).

2917. I will bury my dead from before me. That this signifies that thus He would come forth and rise again from the night in which they were, is evident from the signification of "burying", as being to rise again (n. 2916); and from the signification of "dead", as being the state of shade or of night, that is, of ignorance (n. 2908, 2912), out of which the Lord comes forth and rises with man, when He is acknowledged. Before this He is in night, because He does not appear; He rises again with every one who is being regenerated.

2918. Verses 5, 6. And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, Hear us, my lord, thou art a prince of God in the midst of us; in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre from burying thy dead. "The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him", signifies a reciprocal state with those who are of the new church; "Hear us", signifies reception; "my lord, thou art a prince of God in the midst of us", signifies the Lord as to the good and truth Divine with them; "in the choice of our sepulchres", signifies good pleasure as to regeneration; "bury thy dead", signifies that so they would come forth from night and be raised up into life; "none of us shall withhold his sepulchre from thee", signifies that they were all prepared to receive regeneration; "from burying thy dead", signifies so that they might come forth from night and be raised up.

2919. The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him. That this signifies a reciprocal state with those who are of the new church, is evident from the signification of "answering", when assent is given to that which is asked, as being what is reciprocal; and from the signification of the "sons of Heth", as being those with whom there is to be a new spiritual church (n. 2913).

2920. Hear us. That this signifies reception, is evident from the signification of "hear us" when it is a mode of answering to express assent, as being reception.

2921. My lord, thou art a prince of God in the midst of us. That this signifies the Lord as to the good and truth Divine with them, is evident from the signification of "lord", and of a "prince of God;" and from the signification of "in the midst of us". That it is said "Lord" where good is treated of, is evident from the Word of the Old Testament; for there Jehovah is now called Jehovah, now God, now Lord, now Jehovah God, now the Lord Jehovih, now Jehovah Zebaoth; and this from a hidden cause which can be known only from the internal sense. In general, when the subject is the celestial things of love, or good, it is said "Jehovah;" but when it is the spiritual things of faith, or truth, it is said "God;" when both together are treated of, it is said "Jehovah God;" but when the Divine power of good or omnipotence is treated of, it is said "Jehovah Zebaoth", that is, "Jehovah of Armies", and likewise "Lord", so that " Jehovah Zebaoth" and "Lord" are of the same sense and signification. From this, namely, the power of good, men and angels are also called "lords;" and in the opposite sense those are called "servants" in whom there is no power, or who have power from the former. From all this it may be seen that here "my lord" in the internal sense signifies the Lord as to good; which will be illustrated from the Word in the passages that follow. "Prince of God", however, signifies the Lord as to the power of truth, or as to truth; as is evident from the signification of a "prince", or of "princes", as being primary truths (n. 1482, 2089); and also from its being said "prince of God", for it is said "God" where truth, and "Jehovah" where good is treated of, (n. 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822). That "in the midst of us" means among them, or with them, is evident without explication.

[2] That in the Word of the Old Testament "Jehovah Zebaoth" and "Lord" are of the same sense and signification, is evident in Isaiah: -

The zeal of Jehovah Zebaoth shall perform this; the Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath fallen on Israel (Isaiah 9:7, 8).

And in another place: -

A mighty king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, Jehovah Zebaoth (Isaiah 19:4).

In Malachi: -

Behold the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple, even the angel of the covenant whom ye desire behold He cometh, saith Jehovah Zebaoth (Malachi 3:1).

Still more plainly in Isaiah: -

I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up; above Him stood the seraphim; six wings and six wings for each; the one cried to the other, Holy, holy, holy, Jehovah Zebaoth. Woe is me, for I am undone, for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah Zebaoth. And I heard the voice of the Lord (Isaiah 6:1, 3, 5, 8);

from which it is plain that "Jehovah Zebaoth" and "the Lord" have the same meaning.

[3] But the name "Lord Jehovih" is used especially when the aid of omnipotence is sought and implored, as in Isaiah: -

Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God. Behold the Lord Jehovah will come in a strong one, and His arm shall rule for Him behold His reward is with Him and His work before Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd (Isaiah 40:9-11).

That the name "Lord Jehovih" is used when such and is sought, may be seen further in (Isa. 25:8; 40:10; 48:16; 50:4, 5, 7, 9; 61:1; Jer. 2:22; Ezek. 8:1; 11:13, 17, 21; 12:10, 19, 28; 13:8, 13, 16, 18, 20; 14:4, 6, 11, 18, 20, 21; Micah 1:2; Ps. 71:5, 16); and frequently elsewhere.

[4] And besides this in the Word of the Old Testament the name "Lord" involves the like as "Jehovah", namely, that it is said "Lord" when good is treated of; wherefore also "Lord" is similarly distinguished from "God" as "Jehovah" is distinguished from "God". As in Moses: -

Jehovah your God, He is God of gods and Lord of lords (Deut. 10:17).

In David: -

Give thanks unto the God of gods, for His mercy is forever; give thanks unto the Lord of lords, for His mercy is forever (Ps. 136:1-3).

[5] But in the Word of the New Testament, with the Evangelists and in the Apocalypse, "Jehovah" is nowhere named; but instead of "Jehovah" it is said "Lord", and this from hidden causes of which we shall speak below. That in the Word of the New Testament it is said "Lord", instead of "Jehovah", is very plain in Mark: -

Jesus answered, The first of all the commandments is, Hear O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord; therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God from all thy heart, and from all thy soul, and from all thy thought, and from all thy strength (Mark 12:29, 30).

The same is thus written in Moses: -

Hear O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah; and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God from all thy heart, and from all thy soul, and from all thy strength (Deut. 6:4, 5);

where it is plain that "the Lord" is said instead of "Jehovah". So too in John: -

I saw and behold there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting upon the throne; and round about the throne four animals full of eyes before and behind; each one of them had six wings round about, and was full of eyes within; and they said, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty (Rev. 4:2, 6, 8).

But in Isaiah we read: -

I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. Above Him stood the seraphim; six wings and six wings for each; the one cried to the other, Holy, holy, holy, Jehovah Zebaoth (Isaiah 6:1, 3, 5, 8).

Here "the Lord" is said instead of "Jehovah;" or "the Lord God Almighty" instead of "Jehovah Zebaoth"; that the "four animals" are seraphim or cherubim is plain in (Ezekiel 1:5, 13-15, 19; 10:15). That "the Lord" in the New Testament is "Jehovah", is also evident from many other passages, as in Luke: -

There appeared to Zacharias an angel of the Lord (Luke 1:11);

an "angel of the Lord" meaning an "angel of Jehovah". In the same: -

The angel said to Zacharias concerning his son, Many of the sons of Israel shall he turn unto the Lord their God (Luke 1:16);

"unto the Lord their God" meaning "unto Jehovah God". In the same: -

The angel said to Mary concerning Jesus, He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David (Luke 1:32);

"the Lord God" here is instead of "Jehovah God". In the same: -

Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath exalted itself upon God my Saviour (Luke 1:46, 47);

here too "the Lord" is instead of "Jehovah". In the same: -

Zacharias prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel (Luke 1:68);

"the Lord God", is instead of "Jehovah God". In the same: -

An angel of the Lord stood by the shepherds; and the glory of the Lord shone round about them (Luke 2:9);

an angel of "the Lord", and the glory of "the Lord", instead of an angel of "Jehovah", and the glory of "Jehovah". In Matthew: -

Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Matthew 21:9; 23:39; Luke 13:35; John 12:13);

"in the name of the Lord", instead of "in the name of Jehovah". Besides many other passages, as (Luke 1:28; 2:15, 22-24, 29, 38, 39; 5:17; Mark 12:10, 11).

[6] Among the hidden causes of their calling Jehovah "the Lord", were the following. If at that time it had been said that the Lord was the Jehovah so often named in the Old Testament (n. 1736), men would not have accepted it, for they would not have believed it; and moreover the Lord did not become Jehovah as to the Human also until He had completely united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, and the Human to the Divine (n. 1725, 1729, 1733, 1745, 1815, 2156, 2751). The full unition was accomplished after the last temptation, which was that of the cross; and for this reason, after the resurrection the disciples always called Him "the Lord" (John 20:2, 13, 15, 18, 20, 25; 21:7, 12, 15-17, 20; Mark 16:19, 20); and Thomas said, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). And because the Lord was the Jehovah so often named in the Old Testament, He therefore also said to the disciples: -

Ye call Me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for I am (John 13:13, 14, 16);

and these words signify that He was Jehovah God; for He is here called "Lord" as to good, and "Master" as to truth. That the Lord was Jehovah is also meant by the words of the angel to the shepherds: -

Unto you is born this day a Saviour who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11);

He is called "Christ" as the Messiah, the Anointed, King; and "Lord" as Jehovah; "Christ" in respect to truth, and "Lord" in respect to good. One who does not closely study the Word could not know this, for he would think that our Saviour was called Lord, like others, from the common title of reverence; when yet He was so called because He was Jehovah.

2922. In the choice of our sepulchres. That this signifies good pleasure as to regeneration, is evident from the signification of "choosing", of "choice", and of "chosen", as being what is wished for, or what is of good pleasure; and from the signification of a "sepulchre", as being resurrection and regeneration (n. 2916).

2923. Bury thy dead. That this signifies that so they would come forth from night and be raised up into life, is evident from the signification of being "buried", as being to rise again, or to be raised up to life (n. 2916); and from the signification of the "dead", as being night in respect to the goods and truths of faith (n. 2908, 2912, 2917).

2924. None of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre. That this signifies that they were all prepared to receive regeneration, is evident from the signification of a "sepulchre", as being regeneration (n. 2916), and from the signification of "not withholding", as being willingness to receive.

2925. From burying thy dead. That this signifies that they might come forth from night and be raised up, is evident from the signification of being "buried", and of "dead", as being to be raised up from night in respect to the goods and truths of faith (n. 2923), where the same words occur.

2926. Verses 7, 8. And Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth. Add he spake with them, saying, If it is with your soul that I should bury my dead from before me, hear me, and intercede for me with Ephron the son of Zohar. "Abraham rose up, and bowed himself", signifies the Lord's joy on account of the kind reception; "to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth", signifies by those who were to be of the new spiritual church; "and he spake with them, saying", signifies thought and perception concerning them;' "if it is with your soul", signifies if from the affection of truth from the heart; "that I should bury my dead from before me", signifies that they desired to come forth from night and rise again; "hear me", signifies that they should comply; "and intercede for me with Ephron the son of Zohar", signifies those with whom the truth and good of faith could he received.

2927. Abraham rose up, and bowed himself. That this signifies the Lord's joy on account of the kind reception, is evident from the signification of "rising up", as involving something of elevation (n. 2101, 2785), (for the mind is elevated by gladness and joy, and it is therefore here said that he "rose also from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord; and from the signification of "bowing himself", as being to rejoice. Bowing is a movement of the body expressive both of humiliation and of joy; that here it is expressive of joy, and is on account of kind reception, is plain from what precedes and what follows.

2928. To the people of the land, to the sons of Heth. That this signifies by those who are of the spiritual church, is evident from the signification of "people", as being those who are in truths, thus the spiritual (n. 1259, 1260); from the signification of the "land", as being the church (n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118); and from the signification of the "sons of Heth", as being those who are of the new spiritual church (n. 2913). The "people of the land" are sometimes mentioned in the Word where it treats of Israel and of Jerusalem, and by them in the internal sense is signified the spiritual church, or those who are of the spiritual church; for by "Israel" and by "Jerusalem" this church is meant. When Judah and Zion are treated of, the term "nation" is used, for by "nation" is signified the celestial church; and this church is meant by "Judah" and by "Zion".

[2] That it is said the "people of the land" when Israel and Jerusalem are treated of (thus where it treats of the spiritual church), is evident from many passages in the Word; as in Ezekiel: -

Say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord Jehovih to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to the ground of Israel, They shall eat their bread in sadness, and shall drink their waters in devastation; that her land may be laid waste the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate (Ezekiel 12:19, 20);

where in the internal sense Jerusalem and the ground of Israel denote the spiritual church; "bread" and "waters", charity and faith, or good and truth; the "land", the church itself, which is said to be "wasted" as to good, and "desolate" as to truth.

[3] In the same: -

Gog and his multitude shall the house of Israel bury, that they may cleanse the land seven months; and all the people of the land shall bury them (Ezekiel 39:11-13);

"Gog" denotes external worship separate from internal, which is idolatrous (n. 1151); the "house of Israel", the spiritual church in respect to good; the "people of the land", the same in respect to truth; the "land", the church itself. The "land" denotes the church for the reason that the land of Canaan represented the Lord's kingdom and thus the church, for the Lord's kingdom on earth is the church.

[4] In the same: -

All the people of the land shall be for this oblation for the prince in Israel; and upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin-offering. The people of the land shall bow themselves at the door of the gate in the sabbaths and in the new moons; and the people of the land shall enter, in the appointed feasts (Ezek. 45:16, 22; 46:3, 9);

where the New Jerusalem, that is, the Lord's spiritual kingdom, is treated of; they who are in it are the "people of the land;" the "prince" is truth Divine which is from the Lord.

[5] The sons of Heth are so called because by "sons" are signified truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623). Truths are predicated of the spiritual, because the spiritual are initiated into good by means of truths, that is, into charity by means of faith; and because they do good from the affection of truth, not knowing that it is good from anything else than because they are so instructed. Their conscience also is founded in these truths of faith (n. 1155, 1577, 2046, 2088, 2184, 2507, 2715, 2716, 2718).

2929. And he spake with them, saying. That this signifies thought and perception concerning them, is evident from the signification of "speaking and saying", as being to think and perceive (n. 1898, 1919, 2080, 2271, 2287, 2506, 2515, 2552, 2619).

2930. If it is with your soul. That this signifies if it is from the affection of truth from the heart, is evident from the signification of "soul" in the internal sense. In many passages of the Word it is said "from the heart and from the soul", or "from the whole heart and from the whole soul, and by this is signified that it is from all the will and all the understanding. That man has two faculties, namely, will and understanding, may be known to every one; also that the will is a separate faculty from the understanding, for we are able to understand good and truth and yet will what is evil and false. From the beginning man was so created that his will and understanding should make a one, so that he should not think one thing and will another, nor will one thing and think another. Such is the state with the celestial, and such it was in the celestial church, which was called "Man" or "Adam". But with the spiritual, or in the spiritual church, one faculty has been separated from the other, that is, the understanding from the will; and the man is reformed by the Lord as to the intellectual part, and in this there is formed a new will and a new understanding (n. 863, 875, 895, 897, 927, 928, 1023, 1044, 2256). The new will which is from the Lord, in this part, is what is called "heart", and the new understanding is what is called "soul;" and when it is said, "from all the heart and from all the soul", by this is meant from all the will and from all the understanding.

[2] This is what is meant by "heart and soul" in Moses: -

Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength (Deut. 6:5).

And again: -

Now, O Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul (Deut. 10:12; 11:13).

Again: -

This day Jehovah thy God commandeth thee to do these statutes and judgments; and thou shalt keep and do them with all thy heart and with all thy soul (Deut. 26:16).

in the book of Kings: -

David said to Solomon, Jehovah will establish His word which He spake concerning me, saying, If thy sons take heed to their way to walk before Me in truth, with all their heart and with all their soul; there shall not be cut off from thee a man from upon the throne of Israel (1 Kings 2:4).

In Matthew: -

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:29, 30).

[3] The same is also predicated of Jehovah or the Lord, because thence comes the affection of good which is of the will, and the affection of truth which is of the understanding, with the man of the church. As in Samuel: -

I will raise Me up a faithful priest, according to that which is in My heart and in My soul (1 Sam. 2:35).

And in Jeremiah: -

I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land in truth, with all My heart and with all My soul (Jeremiah 32:41).

And in other passages throughout the Word, "soul" signifies the affection of truth, as in Isaiah: -

With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit in the midst of me have I sought Thee early; for according to Thy judgments to the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness (Isaiah 26:9);

here "soul" denotes the affection of truth "spirit", the affection of good. That "judgments" are predicated of truths, and "righteousness" of good, (n. 2235).

[4] In the same: -

The fool speaketh folly, to make empty the hungry soul and to cause the thirsty for drink to fail (Isaiah 32:6);

the "hungry soul" denotes the desire for good, which the fool maketh empty; the "soul thirsty for drink"' denotes the desire for truth, which the fool causeth to fail. In Jeremiah: -

Their soul shall be as a watered garden, and I will water the wearied soul, and every sorrowful soul will I fill (Jeremiah 31:12, 25);

here "soul" denotes the affection of good and of truth. Again: -

All her people sigh, they seek bread, they have given their pleasant things for food to restore the soul. The comforter that restoreth my soul is far from me; my sons are desolate. They sought food for themselves, to restore their soul (Lam. 1:11, 16, 19);

"soul" denotes the life of the affection of good and truth; "food", wisdom and intelligence.

[5] It is said that " soul" signifies the affection of truth from the heart, because there are affections of truth which are not from the heart; as those which are from the love of self or of being eminent, from the love of the world or of making gain, also from the love of meriting; from these in like manner there come forth affections of truth, but they are not genuine; being from the will of the flesh, and not from the heart: that which is from the heart is from the Lord. Moreover "soul" in the Word signifies in the universal sense all life (n. 1000, 1005, 1040, 1742), for in the universal sense the soul is that from which another thing is, and lives; thus the soul of the body is its spirit, for from this the body lives but the soul of the spirit is its still more internal life, from which it has wisdom and understanding.

2931. That I should bury my dead from before me. That this signifies that they desired to come forth from night and to rise again, is evident from the signification of "burying", which is to rise again; and of "dead", as denoting night in respect to the goods and truths of faith (n. 2923, 2925), where the same words occur.

2932. Hear me. That this signifies that they should comply, is evident from the signification of "hearing", as being to obey, or comply (n. 2542).

2933. And intercede for me with Ephron the son of Zohar. That this signifies those with whom the truth and good of faith could be received, is evident from the fact that the field and the cave in the field, where Sarah was to be buried, belonged to Ephron; and as "burial" signifies regeneration (n. 2916), it follows that by "Ephron" are signified those with whom the truth and good of faith could be received. The sons of Heth also represent the same, inasmuch as they were of Ephron's city and were his people. By "interceding" is here signified to be prepared to receive.

2934. Verse 9. That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; in full silver let him give it to me, in the midst of you, for a possession of a sepulchre. "That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath", signifies the obscurity of faith they have; "which is in the end of his field", signifies where there is little of the church "in full silver", signifies redemption by means of truth; "let him give it to me, in the midst of you, for a possession of a sepulchre", signifies possession thus, through regeneration.

2935. That he may give me the cave of Machpelah. That this signifies obscurity of faith, is evident from the signification of a "cave", as being what is obscure (n. 2463); and from the signification of "Machpelah", as being faith that is in obscurity. A "cave" signifies obscurity because it is a dark place; when a cave of a mountain" is spoken of, it then means obscurity of good; but when it is said the "cave of the field of Machpelah", it then means obscurity of truth. As it is here said, the "cave of Machpelah", and Machpelah was where there was a field at the end of which was the cave, obscurity of truth is here meant, or what is the same, obscurity of faith; and hence also it is plain that "Machpelah" means faith which is in obscurity.

[2] Those who are being regenerated and being made spiritual are in the greatest obscurity as to truth. Good indeed flows in with them from the Lord, but not so much truth; wherefore between the Lord and the good with man there exist parallelism and correspondence, but not with the truth (n. 1832). The primary cause of this is that those here treated of do not know what good is; and even if they should know, still they do not believe from the heart; and so long as good is in obscurity with them, so long is truth, for all truth is from good. But to make this more clear: They know only very obscurely that the Lord is good itself, and that all is good which is of love to Him and of charity toward the neighbor, and that all is truth which asserts this and confirms it; indeed they even cherish doubts, and admit reasonings against these things; and so long as they are in such a state, the light of truth from the Lord cannot flow in; they even think of the Lord as another man, and not as God; and they think of love to Him from some worldly love; what the genuine affection of charity toward the neighbor is they scarcely know, nor indeed what charity is and what the neighbor, when yet these are essentials. Hence it is evident how far the spiritual are in obscurity; and they are still more so before regeneration, which is the state here treated of.

2936. Which is in the end of his field. That this signifies where there is little of the church, is evident from the signification of the "end" or extremity, as being what is little; and from the signification of "field", as being the church, and also doctrine which is of the church (n. 368). That the "end" or extremity denotes little, may be seen from the description of land, ground, and fields, in the Word; their middle part signifies much, but the extremity signifies little; this extremity is also called the part round about. The reason is that the representative ceases at the extremity; thus here the "end of the field" signifies little of the church.

2937. In full silver. That this signifies redemption through truth, is evident from the signification of "silver", as being truth (n. 1551); and from the signification of "let him give me in silver", or "for silver", as being to buy, and in the spiritual sense to redeem. That the spiritual are said to have been "bought with silver", may be seen above (n. 2048), that is, redeemed by truth. The reason of this is that they are regenerated, that is, are introduced to good, through the truth of faith; for the spiritual man has no perception of good, as the celestial man has; but truth is that by means of which he knows, and from which he afterwards acknowledges, that there is good; and when he acknowledges and believes, then it becomes good to him, and he is affected by it as good, which becomes such in quality as is the truth which he has. Hence it is that the spiritual are said to have been redeemed by means of truth. But still the quality of the good is not born and produced from truth, but from the influx of good into truth of that quality.

2938. Let him give it to me, in the midst of you, for a possession of a sepulchre. That this signifies possession thus, through regeneration, is evident without explication; for that a "sepulchre" is regeneration was shown above (n. 2916).

2939. Verse 10. And Ephron was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the ears of the sons of Heth, of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying. "Ephron was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth", signifies those by whom the good and truth of faith could primarily be received; "and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham", signifies their state of reception; "in the ears' of the sons of Heth", signifies obedience; "of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying", signifies as to the doctrinal things through which there is faith.

2940. Ephron was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth. That this signifies those by whom the good and truth of faith could primarily be received, is evident from the representation of "Ephron", and also from the signification of the "sons of Heth", as being those with whom the truth and good of faith could be received, and with whom there could be a new church (n. 2913, 2933); and from the signification of "the midst"' or "in the midst", as being what is primary, or principal, and also inmost (n. 1074). That "the midst" in the internal sense signifies what is primary or principal, and also inmost, is from representatives in the other life; for when any good is represented by spiritual ideas, then what is best is presented in the midst, and what is less and less good is presented successively from the middle outward; and lastly at the circumference are those things which are not good; it is from this that "in the midst" denotes both what is primary or principal and what is inmost. In this manner likewise are represented the ideas of thought, and also affections, and all changes of state; the goods or evils being thus varied according to their situation in respect to the middle. The origin of this is from the form of spiritual and heavenly things, which is such.

2941. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham. That this signifies their state of reception, is evident from the signification of "answering", when assent is given, as being reception; as is also plain from what now follows. Ephron is here called "the Hittite", so as to represent the spiritual church as the head and chief.

2942. In the ears of the sons of Heth. That this signifies obedience, is evident from the signification of the "ear", as being obedience (n. 2542).

2943. Of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying. That this signifies as to the doctrinal things through which there is faith, is evident from the signification of "gate", as being entrance, thus that which introduces; in like manner as "door", (n. 2145, 2152, 2356, 2385); and from the signification of "city", as being the truth of faith (n. 402, 2268, 2449, 2451, 2712). Cities in the Ancient Church were not like the cities of later times and of the present day, that is, assemblages and gatherings of people; but they were the dwelling together of separate families. The family of one parent constituted a city, as for instance the city of Nahor, to which Abraham's servant came when he was to betroth Rebekah to Isaac, (Gen. 24:10) was Nahor's family which was there; and Shalem, the city of Shechem, to which Jacob came when he journeyed from Paddan-aram, (Gen. 33:18; 34:2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 18, 20, 24, 26) was the family of Hamor and Shechem, which was there; and so with the other cities of that time.

[2] And as they had learned from the most ancient people that nations and families represented the heavenly societies, and thus the things of love and charity (n. 655, 1159), so when a "city" is mentioned instead of a family and "people" instead of nation, truth is signified which is of faith. Hence also the "city of God" and the "holy city", in the genuine sense signify faith in the Lord; and as a walled town or city signified faith, the "gate" of the city signified doctrinal things, because these introduce to faith. This in the representative Jewish Church was also signified by the judges and the elders sitting in the gate of the city and judging there; as is plain from the historical parts of the Word; and also in Zechariah: -

These are the words that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth with his companion, judge truth and the judgment of peace in your gates (Zechariah 8:16).

Also in Amos: -

Hate the evil and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate (Amos 5:15).

A "gate" also signifies the way of access to the rational mind, and this mind is compared to a city, (n. 2851).

2944. Verse 11. Nay, my lord, hear me; the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee; to the eyes of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead. "Nay, my lord, hear me", signifies that first state, described before; "the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee", signifies preparation by themselves as to the things that are of the church and of faith; "in the eyes of the sons of my people give I it thee", signifies according to the understanding of all; "bury thy dead", signifies that they may come forth from night and be raised up.

2945. Nay, my lord, hear me. That this signifies that first state, described above (n. 2935, 2936), namely, that they were in obscurity of faith, is evident from the refusal, in that they were not willing to listen to Abraham, that he should give silver in full (verse 9), which means in the internal sense that they should be redeemed by the Lord), but desired to prepare themselves as to the things of the church and of faith, that is, to reform themselves. These words, "Nay, my lord, hear me", involve their state; that is, the state of their thought about redemption and reformation; for a proposal immediately follows.

2946. The field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee. That this signifies preparation by themselves as to the things that are of the church and of faith, is evident from the signification of "field", as being the church (n. 368, 2936); from the signification of the "cave" therein, that is, in the field, as being obscurity of faith (n. 2935); and from the signification of "giving the field" and "giving the cave", or what is the same, not receiving silver from Abraham, as being not to desire to be redeemed by the Lord, but by themselves, and thus to desire to prepare themselves as to these things. Such is the first state of all who are being reformed and made spiritual, namely, that they do not believe that they are reformed by the Lord but by themselves, that is, they believe all of the will of good and of the thought of truth to be from themselves; they are also left in this state by the Lord, since in no other way can they be reformed. For if before they have been regenerated it should be said to them that they cannot do anything of good from themselves, or think anything of truth from themselves, they would then either fall into the error of thinking that they must wait for influx into the will and influx into the thought, and if this does not take place must attempt nothing; or into the error of thinking that if good and truth were from any other source than themselves, nothing would be imputed to them for righteousness; or into the idea that so they would be as it were machines, and not their own masters, or in control of themselves; or into some other error. It is therefore permitted them at that time to think that good and truth are from themselves.

[2] But after they are regenerate, then by degrees the knowledge is insinuated into them that the case is otherwise, and that all good and truth are solely from the Lord; and still further, when they are becoming more perfected, that whatever does not come from the Lord is evil and false. To the regenerate, if not in the life of the body still in the other life, it is given not only to know this, but also to perceive it; for all the angels are in the perception that it is so. (See what was said above on these subjects, namely, that all good and truth are from the Lord, (n. 1614, 2016); that all intelligence and wisdom are from the Lord, (n. 109, 112, 121, 124); that man of himself can do nothing of good and think nothing of truth, (n. 874-876); that nevertheless every one ought to do good as if from what is his own, and not hang down his hands, (n. 1712); and that if a man compels himself to resist evil and to do good, as from himself, he receives from the Lord a heavenly Own, (n. 1937, 1947).

2947. To the eyes of the sons of my people give I it thee. That this signifies as to the understanding of all, is evident from the signification of the "eyes", as being the understanding (n. 2701); and from the signification of "sons of the people", as being all; "sons of the people" are those who for the first time are initiated into truths, for "people" are those who are in truths (n. 1259, 1260); therefore it is not said "to the eyes of my people", but "to the eyes of the sons of my people".

2948. Bury thy dead. That this signifies that they may come forth from night and be raised up, is evident from the signification of being "buried", as being to rise again, or what is the same, to be raised up; and from the signification of "dead", as being night as to the goods and truths of faith (n. 2917, 2923, 2925, 2931), where are the same words.

2949. Verses 12, 13. And Abraham bowed himself before the people of the land. And he spoke unto Ephron in the ears of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me; I will give the silver of the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there. "Abraham bowed himself before the people of the land", signifies the Lord's joy on account of the good will of those who were of the new spiritual church; "and he spake unto Ephron", signifies influx with those who were able to receive; "in the ears of the people of the land", signifies even unto obedience as to the truths of the church; "but if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me", signifies more interior influx; "I will give the silver of the field; take it of me", signifies redemption as to the truths of the church which are from the Lord; "and I will bury my dead", signifies that thus they would come forth from night and be vivified.

2950. Abraham bowed himself before the people of the land. That this signifies the Lord's joy on account of the good will of those who were of the new spiritual church, is evident from the signification of "bowing himself", here being to rejoice (n. 2927), from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord (concerning which quite often above); and from the signification of the "people of the land", as being those who are of the spiritual church, concerning which see above (n. 2928), where the same words occur; but it is there said that "he bowed himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth" (verse 7). The reason why the sons of Heth also are mentioned there, is that there those of the church are signified who are beginning to be initiated, who are also signified by the "sons of the people" (n. 2947); but here those are meant who are into, and therefore it is simply said the "people of the land", without the addition of the " sons of Heth;" and in the former passage there is signified joy on account of their kind reception, but here because of their good will. Reception comes first, because it is of the understanding; good will comes afterwards, because it is of the will (n. 2954).

2951. And he spake unto Ephron. That this signifies influx with those who were able to receive, is evident from the signification of "speaking", as being to think (n. 2271, 2287), and likewise to will (n. 2626), and thus to flow in, because influx is thereby effected; and from the representation of Ephron, as being those with whom the truth and the good of faith could be received (n. 2933).

2952. In the eyes of the people of the land. That this signifies even to obedience as to the truths of the church, is evident from the signification of the "ear", as being obedience (n. 2542, 2942) and from the signification of the "people of the land", as being those who are of the spiritual church and also the truths of this church (n. 1259, 1260, 2928).

2953. But if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me. That this signifies more interior influx, is evident from the series of the discourse. That Abraham's speaking to Ephron signified influx, was stated just above (n. 2951); and here the discourse is continued and the attention aroused by its being said, "but if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me;" wherefore a more interior influx is signified The internal sense is of such a nature that the expressions and words are almost nothing; but their sense flowing from the series presents an idea, and indeed before the angels a spiritual idea, to which the external or literal sense serves as the object ex quo; for it is the ideas of man's thought which are the objects of spiritual thoughts with the angels; and in fact chiefly those ideas of thought with man that are from the Word, for the reason that all things in the Word are representative, and the words in both general and particular are significative; and it is at once observed that they are from the Word, because the spiritual and celestial things therein follow in their order in the most regular manner; and in both there is what is holy from the inmost sense, which treats solely of the Lord and His kingdom.

2954. I will give the silver of the field; take it of me. That this signifies redemption as to the truths of the church which are from the Lord, is evident from the signification of "giving silver", as being to redeem by truth (n. 2937); for "silver" is truth (n. 1551); from the signification of "field", as being the church, and also the doctrine of truth (n. 368, 2936); and from the signification of "taking of me", as being what is reciprocal with those who are of the church; the reciprocal is faith that redemption is from the Lord alone. As regards redemption, it is the same as reformation and regeneration and the consequent deliverance from hell and salvation. The redemption or reformation and salvation of the men of the spiritual church is effected through truth; but that of the men of the celestial church through good. The reasons have been repeatedly stated above, namely, that the spiritual have nothing of the will of good, but in its stead have been gifted with the faculty of understanding what is good. The understanding of good is what is principally called truth, and indeed the truth of faith; but willing and thence doing this is what is called good. The spiritual therefore, through the understanding of good, or what is the same, through truth, are introduced into the will of good, or what is the same, into good; not however into anything of the will of good from themselves, for with them all the will of good has been lost (n. 895, 927, 2124); but into a new will which they receive from the Lord (n. 863, 875, 1023, 1043, 1044); and when they have received this will they are then called specifically the redeemed.

2955. I will bury my dead. That this signifies that they would come forth from night and be vivified, is evident from the signification of being "buried", and of "dead", as given above (n. 2917, 2923, 2925, 2931, 2948). They are here said to be vivified, because they are in the course of receiving faith; for from faith, that is, from its good, they receive life; their life is from no other source. That "I will bury my dead" signifies emerging from spiritual night and being vivified, is also for the reason that when a former church is dead, a new one is raised up by the Lord in its place; thus life is given in place of death, and in place of night there comes morning; and also for the reason that with every one who is being reformed and is becoming spiritual, his "dead" is as it were buried, and that which is new, which is living, rises again: thus in place of night with him, or in place of darkness and cold, there arises morning with its light and its heat. Hence it is that the angels, who are in the Lord's life, in place of man's idea about the burial of the dead, have an idea of resurrection and of new life. And this also is the case, for there is always some church on the earth; and when the old expires, and night comes on, then a new church arises elsewhere and there comes morning.

2956. Verses 14, 15. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, My lord, hear me; land of four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between me and thee? bury therefore thy dead. "Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him", signifies a state of reception; "My lord, hear me", signifies the first state of reception; "land of four hundred shekels of silver", signifies the price of redemption by means of truth; "what is that between me and thee?" signifies that he gave his assent, but still desired it to be from himself; "bury therefore thy dead", signifies here as before, emerging from night, and a consequent resuscitation.

2957. Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him. That this signifies a state of reception, is evident from the signification of "answering", when assent is given, as being to receive (n. 2941). That it is a state of reception which is here signified by "answering and saying", is evident from what follows.

2958. My lord, hear me. That this signifies the first state of reception, is also evident from what follows, and also from what was said above (n. 2945) where the same words occur; there however there was denial, but here affirmation although there is still doubt, for in what follows presently it is said, "What is that between me and thee?" by which is signified that he gave assent, but still desired it to be from himself. And besides, "My lord, hear me", is merely a customary form of speech intended to excite reflection in another, yet still it involves a state of making an offer.

2959. Land of four hundred shekels of silver. That this signifies the price of redemption by means of truth, is evident from the signification of "four hundred shekels" (concerning which presently); and from the signification of "silver" as being truth (n. 1551, 2048, 2937). That "four hundred shekels" signifies the price of redemption, is because "four hundred" signifies vastation; and "shekel" signifies the price. What vastation is may be seen above (n. 2455, 2682, 2694, 2699, 2701, 2704), namely, that it is twofold; of one kind when a church altogether perishes, that is, when there is no longer any charity or faith, and when it is said to be "devastated" or laid waste;" and of the other kind when they who are of the church are reduced to a state of ignorance, and also of temptation, in order that the evils and falsities with them may be separated and as it were dispersed. They who emerge from this kind of vastation are they who are specifically called the redeemed, for they are then instructed in the goods and truths of faith, and are reformed and regenerated by the Lord (concerning whom see the passages cited). Now whereas "four hundred" when predicated of time, as "four hundred years", signifies the duration and state of vastation, so when predicated of shekels it signifies the price of redemption; and when mention is made of silver at the same time, there is signified the price of redemption by means of truth.

[2] That "four hundred years" signifies the duration and state of vastation, may also be seen from what was said to Abram: -

Jehovah said unto Abram, Knowing thou shalt know that thy seed shall be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years (Gen. 15:13);

where it seems that by "four hundred years" is meant the stay of the sons of Israel in Egypt. But that their stay in Egypt is not what is signified, but something else which is not manifest to anyone except from the internal sense, is evident from the fact that the stay of the sons of Israel in Egypt was but half of that time; as is clearly evident from the generations from Jacob to Moses for from Jacob came Levi; from Levi, Kohath; from Kohath, Amram; and from Amram, Aaron and Moses (Exod. 6:16-20). Levi and his son Kohath came with Jacob into Egypt (Gen. 46:11); Moses was of the second generation after this, and he was eighty years old when he spoke to Pharaoh (Exod. 7:7); from all which it is evident that from the coming of Jacob into Egypt to the going forth of his sons was about two hundred and fifteen years.

[3] It is still further evident that by "four hundred" in the Word something else is signified than what is meant by the number itself in the historic sense, from its being said: -

The dwelling of the sons of Israel which they dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years and it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years, in the selfsame day it came to pass that all the armies of Jehovah went out from the land of Egypt (Exod. 12:40, 41);

when nevertheless the stay of the sons of Israel there was but half that number of years; but it was four hundred and thirty years counting from Abraham's entrance into Egypt; and therefore it was so said for the sake of the internal sense that lies concealed in the words. In the internal sense, by the sojourning of the sons of Jacob in Egypt is represented and signified the vastation of the church; the state and duration of which is described by the number "four hundred and thirty years;" by "thirty" the state of vastation of Jacob's sons, that it was none at all, because they were such that they could not be reformed by any state of vastation, concerning the signification of the number thirty, (n. 2276); and by "four hundred years", the general state of vastation of those who were of the church.

[4] Therefore they who go forth from this vastation are they who are called the "redeemed", as is also plain from the words spoken to Moses: -

Wherefore say unto the sons of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments (Exod. 6:6).

So in another passage: -

Jehovah brought you out with a mighty band, and redeemed you out of the house of servants, from the band of Pharaoh king of Egypt (Deut. 7:8; 13:5).

And in another place: -

Thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, but Jehovah thy God redeemed thee (Deut. 15:15; 24:18).

In Samuel: -

Thy people whom Thou hast redeemed to Thee out of Egypt (2 Sam. 7:23).

Because those who emerge from the state of vastation are called the "redeemed", therefore by "four hundred shekels" is signified the price of redemption.

[5] That a shekel" signifies the price or estimation is evident from the following passages in the Word; in Moses: -

And all thy estimation shall be in the shekel of the holiness (Lev. 27:25).

And in another place: -

When a soul hath committed a trespass, and sinned in error from the holy things of Jehovah, he shall bring his guilt-offering to Jehovah, a ram without blemish out of the flock, according to thy estimation, in silver of shekels, after the shekel of holiness (Lev. 5:15).

From these passages it is plain that by a "shekel" is signified the price or estimation. It is said the "shekel of holiness", because the price or estimation has regard to truth and good from the Lord; and truth and good from the Lord are the holy itself in the church. For this reason it is called the "shekel of holiness" in other places also (Exod. 30:24; Lev. 27:3; Num. 3:47, 50; 7:13, 19, 25, 31, 37, 43, 49, 55, 61, 67, 73; 18:16).

[6] That the "shekel" denotes the price of what is holy, is clearly evident in Ezekiel, where the Holy Land and the Holy City are treated of. It is there said of the shekel: -

The shekel shall there be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh (pound) (Ezek. 45:12);

that here by "shekel", and by "pound", and by the numbers, are signified holy things, that is, good and truth, anyone can see; for the Holy Land, and the Holy City in it (or the New Jerusalem there treated of) is no other than the kingdom of the Lord, where neither shekel nor gerah nor pound, nor the counting by them, but the number itself, from its signification in the internal sense, determines the estimation or the price of what is good and what is true.

[7] In Moses: -

They shall give every man an expiation for his soul lest there should be a plague, half a shekel, after the shekel of holiness: the shekel is twenty gerahs and the half shekel for a therumah (an oblation) to Jehovah (Exod. 30:12, 13);

where ten gerahs, which are the "half shekel", denote the remains which are from the Lord. Remains are goods and truths stored up with man, and these are signified by "ten", (n. 576, 1738, 1906, 2284); and also that remains are goods and truths from the Lord stored up with man, (n. 1906, 2284). These therefore are called an "oblation to Jehovah", and it is said that by them there shall be an expiation for the soul. The reason why it is so often said that the shekel was twenty gerahs, as in the passages quoted, and also in (Lev. 27:25; Num. 3:47; 18:16), is that the "shekel which is twenty gerahs" signifies the estimation of the good of remains. That "twenty" signifies the good of remains may be seen above, (n. 2280). On this account the shekel was likewise a weight, according to which the value both of gold and of silver was estimated (Gen. 24:22; Exod. 38:24; Ezek. 4:10; 45:12); the value of gold, because "gold" signifies good (n. 113, 1551, 1552); and of silver, because "silver" signifies truth (n. 1551, 2048). From all this it is now plain that by "land of four hundred shekels of silver" is signified the price of redemption by means of truth. It is called "land" because the subject is the spiritual church, which is reformed and regenerated by means of truth from the Lord (n. 2954). That by "land" is signified the church, (n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118).

2960. What is that between me and thee? That this signifies that he gave his assent, but still desired it to be from himself, namely, his being prepared or reformed, is evident from the sense of the letter when applied to the internal sense which treats of reformation. Above, it was said by Ephron, "The field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee" (verse 11), by which was signified that they desired to prepare themselves in regard to the things which are of the church and of faith, that is, reform themselves; that such is the first state of those who are being reformed may be seen above (n. 2946). But when they progress further in the knowledges of truth or of faith, then comes their second state, in which they indeed give assent, but still desire it to be from themselves; this is the state treated of in this verse; but a third state is presently described, namely, the state of belief that they are reformed by the Lord. The cause of their being such in the beginning was stated above (n. 2946). But that when they advance in the knowledges of truth or of faith they indeed acknowledge that they are reformed by the Lord, but still desire it to be from themselves, is for the reason that the cloud of ignorance is only gradually dispersed, and that the confirmations of truth are strengthened with time, and that good is perfected by imbuements of the knowledges' of truth. It is the good itself in which the truth has been implanted that causes them not only to acknowledge but also to believe that reformation is from the Lord. This is the third state; and it is followed by a fourth, namely, that in which they perceive it to be from the Lord. But there are few who come into this state in the life of the body, for it is an angelic state; but they who are regenerate come into it in the other life. Hence it is evident that in the internal sense is here described the man of the spiritual church, and what his state is while he is yet immature; also what it is when be begins to mature, and at last when he has matured.

2961. Bury therefore thy dead. That this signifies an emerging from night, and a consequent resuscitation, is evident from the signification of "dead", as being night in regard to the truths of faith; and from the signification of "being buried", as being to be raised up (n. 2917, 2923, 2925, 2931, 2948, 2955). The reason why these words are said so often in this chapter, is that the subject treated of is the emerging from night in regard to the truths of faith, and the resuscitation (that is, the reformation and regeneration) of the spiritual church.

2962. Verse 16. And Abraham harkened unto Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had spoken of in the ears of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver current with the merchant. "Abraham harkened unto Ephron", signifies confirmation for obeying; "and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver", signifies redemption; "which he had spoken of in the ears of the sons of Heth", signifies according to the capacity of those who are of the new church; "four hundred shekels of silver", signifies the price of redemption; "current with the merchant", signifies adapted to their state.

2963. Abraham harkened unto Ephron. That this signifies confirmation for obeying, namely, by those with whom the good and truth of faith could be received, is evident from the signification of "hearkening", as being to obey (n. 2542); and from the representation of "Ephron", as being those with whom the good and truth of faith could be received (n. 2933). That the confirmation is with them, and by them, is plain from the words; for it is said that Abraham "harkened unto him".

2964. And Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver. That this signifies redemption, is evident from the signification of "weighing silver", as being to purchase, and in the spiritual sense to redeem. The "silver" here is the same as the "four hundred shekels", by which is signified the price of redemption (n. 2959).

2965. Which he had spoken of in the ears of the sons of Heth. That this signifies according to the capacity of those who are of the new church, is evident from the signification of "speaking in the ears", and of the "sons of Heth". In the internal sense to "speak" signifies both to perceive and to will (that it signifies to perceive, (n. 2619); that it signifies to will, (n. 2626). But the "ears" signify obedience (n. 2542); hence to "speak in the ears" denotes according to the capacity (for the capacity depends on the reception, and thus on the obedience accordingly as one perceives and wills) also from the signification of the "sons of Heth", as being those who are of the new spiritual church (n. 2913). (That the man of the church is reformed, that is, the truth of faith is implanted in him, and that this is conjoined with the good of charity, will be stated below in this verse, (n. 2967).

2966. Four hundred shekels of silver. That this signifies the price of redemption, was shown above (n. 2959); but what the price of redemption is shall now be told. Redemption is of the Lord alone, and so too is the price of redemption; and this price is also predicated of the reception by man, with whom the price is great according to the reception. The price of redemption is the Lord's merit and righteousness through the most grievous temptations, whereby He united the Human Essence to the Divine, and the Divine Essence to the Human, and this by His own power; and by this unition saved the human race, and especially those who are of the spiritual church. That the Lord was made righteousness through the most grievous temptations, may be seen above, (n. 1813, 2025-2027); also that He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, and the Divine to the Human, (n. 1725, 1729, 1733, 1737, 1813, 2083); and that He did this from His own power, (n. 1616, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2083, 2500, 2523, 2632); and by this unition saved the human race, and especially those who are of the spiritual church, (n. 2661, 2716). These are the things which are signified by the "price of redemption".

[2] That this price is also predicated of the reception with man, with whom it is great in proportion to his reception, is evident from the fact that it is the Lord's Divine which makes the church with man; for nothing is called the church that is not the Lord's own; for it is the good which is of love and charity, and it is the truth which is of faith, which make that which is called the church. That all good is from the Lord, and that all truth is from Him, is well known; good and truth that are from man are not good and truth; and from this it is plain that the price of redemption with a man is great in proportion to his reception.

[3] As with the Jews the Lord's redemption was so little esteemed as to be scarcely anything, it is said in Zechariah: -

I said unto them, If it be good in your eyes, give me my hire, and if not, forbear. And they weighed my hire, thirty pieces of silver. And Jehovah said unto me, Cast it unto the potter, the goodly price that I was priced at of them (Zech. 11:12, 13).

And in Matthew: -

They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was price, whom they had bought from the sons of Israel, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me (Matthew 27:9, 10).

That "thirty" denotes what is so little as to be scarcely anything, may be seen above (n. 2276); thus this passage denotes that the Jews placed no value on the merit and redemption of the Lord. But with those who believe all good and all truth to be from the Lord, the price of redemption is signified by "forty", and in a higher degree by "four hundred".

2967. Current with the merchant. That this signifies adapted to their state, is evident from the signification of the "merchant", and thence of "current with the merchant". A "merchant" in the Word signifies those who have the knowledges of good and truth; and their "merchandise" signifies the knowledges themselves; hence "silver current with the merchant" signifies truth, as much as can be received; or what is the same, adapted to the state and capacity of each one. That these added words involve some arcanum, anyone may see.

[2] Concerning the signification of "merchant" and of "merchandise", something will be said presently; but as regards the thing itself the case is this. All who are being reformed and regenerated are gifted with charity and faith by the Lord, but each according to his capacity and his state; for there are evils and falsities with which man has imbued himself from infancy, which stand in the way of one person's receiving a like gift with another; these evils and falsities must be vastated before the man can be regenerated; and in so far as there is a residue of heavenly and spiritual life after vastation, this can be enlightened with truth and enriched with good. It is the remains, which are goods and truths from the Lord stored up with man, that then receive life. These goods and truths are acquired from infancy even to the time of reformation, with one person more, with another fewer. These are reserved in his internal man; nor can they be brought forward until his external man has been reduced to correspondence, which is effected chiefly by temptations, and by many kinds of vastation; for until corporeal things, which are contrary to them, become quiescent (such as the things of the love of self and of the world), celestial and spiritual things, which are of the affection of good and truth, cannot flow in; this is the reason why every one is reformed according to his state and capacity. This also the Lord teaches in the parable concerning the man who went abroad: -

Who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods; and unto one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one to each according to his several ability. He that received the five talents traded with them, and made other five talents in like manner he also that received the two, he also gained other two (Matt. 25:14-17).

So too concerning the ten servants, to whom were given ten pounds, that they might trade with them (Luke 19:12, 13).

[3] That a "merchant" signifies those who have the knowledges of good and truth; and that "merchandise" signifies the knowledges themselves, is evident from the passages that have just been quoted from Matthew and Luke, and also from those which now follow. In Ezekiel: - Say unto Tyre, O thou that dwellest at the entrances of the sea, that art the trader of the peoples unto many isles, Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches in silver, iron, tin, and lead, they furnished thy fairs. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, these were thy traders; in the soul of man and vessels of brass they furnished thy commerce. The sons of Dedan were thy traders; many isles were the mart of thy hand. Syria was thy merchant in the multitude of thy handiworks. Judah and the land of Israel, they were thy traders; in wheat, minnith and pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm, they furnished thy commerce. Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of thy handiworks, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches, in the wine of Helbon and wool of Zahar. Dan also and Javan furnished yarn in thy fairs. Dedan was thy trader in flowing garments for riding. The Arabian and all the princes of Kedar, they were the merchants of thy hand, in lambs, in rams, and goats, in these were they thy merchants. The traders of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy traders in the chief of all spices. Haran and Canneh, and Eden, the traders of Sheba; Asshur, Chilmad, were thy traders. These were thy traders in perfect things (Ezek. 27:3, 12, 13, 15-24). These things are said concerning Tyre; and by "Tyre" are signified the knowledges of good and truth (n. 1201), as is plain from the several particulars. The "traffickings", and "merchandise", and the "wares" that are here mentioned, are nothing else than these knowledges; and for this reason Tyre is called the "dweller at the entrances of the sea". "Waters" are knowledges; and the "sea" is a collection of these, (n. 28); and is also called the "trader of the peoples unto many isles", that is, even to those who are more remotely in worship. "Islands" are the more remote kinds of worship, (n. 1158); also what is signified by "Tarshish", (n. 1156). The "silver, iron, tin, and lead", which are from thence, are truths in their order, even to the last which are sensuous. What "silver" signifies, see (n. 1551, 2048); also what "iron" signifies, (n. 425, 426); also what "Javan, Tubal, and Meshech", (n. 1151-1153, 1155). The "soul of man", and the "vessels of brass", therefrom, are the things which are of natural life (that "soul" signifies all life that is from the Lord, see (n. 1000, 1040, 1436, 1742); also that "vessels of brass" are the natural goods which receive that life, (n. 425, 1551). (What "Dedan" signifies has been stated, see (n. 1172); and what "Syria", (n. 1232, 1234). That "Judah and the land of Israel" are "traders in wheat, minnith and pannag, honey, oil, balm", signifies celestial and spiritual things from the Word. The other nations and their merchandise which are mentioned, are the various genera and species of truth and good, thus the knowledges which are with those who are signified by "Tyre". That they are knowledges from which come wisdom and intelligence, is plainly evident in the same Prophet, where it is thus said: -

Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, By thy wisdom, and by thine intelligence thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures; by the multitude of thy wisdom, by thy trading, thou hast multiplied thy riches, and thy heart is lifted up because of thy riches; therefore behold I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations (Ezek. 28:2, 4-7);

where it is manifestly evident that the wares with which they traded are the knowledges of good and truth; for from these, and from no other source, come wisdom and intelligence; and it is therefore said, "by thy wisdom and by thine intelligence thou hast gotten thee riches, and thou hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures". But when knowledges are for the sake of self, for gaining eminence and reputation, or wealth, then they have no life, and those who acquire them are altogether deprived of them; they are deprived of them in the life of the body by embracing falsities for truths and evils for goods; and in the other life they are wholly deprived even of those which are true; and from this it is said, "because thy heart is lifted up because of thy riches, therefore behold I will bring strangers upon thee" (that is, falsities) and "the terrible of the nations" (that is, evils).

[4]

[5] Also in another place in the same Prophet: -

Tyre is like one that is cut off from the midst of the sea; when thy traffickings went forth out of the seas, thou didst satiate many peoples; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise. Now thou art broken by the seas, in the depths of the waters; thy commerce and all thy company are fallen in the midst of thee he merchants among the peoples hiss at thee (Ezek. 27:32-34, 36).

Also in Isaiah: -

The prophecy concerning Tyre. Let the inhabitants of the isle be silent; the merchants of Zidon that pass over the sea have replenished thee and in (great) waters (the seed) of Shihor, the harvest of the river, was her revenue, and thou wast the mart of the nations. Who hath purposed this against Tyre that crowneth herself, whose merchants are princes? (Isaiah 23:2, 3, 8);

where the vastation of Tyre is treated of.

[6] Of Babylon in like manner are predicated "trading" and "merchandise", which are the knowledges of good adulterated, and the knowledges of truth falsified. As in the Revelation: -

Babylon hath made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her, and the merchants of the earth were made rich by the abundance of her delicacies. The merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pearl, and fine linen, and crimson, and silk, and scarlet. The merchants of these things who were made rich by her shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning (Apoc. 18:3, 11, 15).

That "Babylon" is worship the externals of which appear holy while the interiors are profane, may be seen above (n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1306, 1326) and from this it is plain what its "tradings" and "merchandise" are.

[7] That a "merchant" is one who procures for himself knowledges of truth and good, and thence intelligence and wisdom, is evident from the Lord's words in Matthew: -

The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls; who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it (Matthew 13:45, 46)

the "goodly pearl" is charity, or the good of faith.

[8] That all the knowledges of good and truth are from the Lord, is taught in Isaiah: -

Thus said Jehovah, The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Cush and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall pass over upon thee, and they shall be thine; they shall go after thee, in chains they shall pass over, and they shall bow themselves down to thee, they shall pray unto thee. Surely God is in thee, and there is no God else (Isaiah 45:14);

treating of the Divine Human of the Lord.

[9] From all this it may now be seen what is meant by "trading", that is, buying and selling; namely, that it is procuring for one's self the knowledges of good and truth, and by means of them good itself. That this is from the Lord alone is taught in the same Prophet: -

Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no silver; come ye, buy and eat yea come, buy wine and milk without silver and without price (Isaiah 55:1, 2);

where "buying" denotes procuring for one's self; "wine" denotes spiritual truth (n. 1071, 1798); "milk", spiritual good (n. 2184). Any one may see that "coming to the waters" here is not coming to the waters, that "buying" is not buying, that "silver" is not silver, and that "wine and milk" are not wine and milk, but are that which is said to correspond to them in the internal sense; for the Word is Divine, and to its several expressions which are from the natural world and man's sensuous things correspond Divine spiritual and celestial things. In this way and in no other is the Word Divinely inspired.

2968. Verses 17, 18. And the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave that was therein, and every tree that was in the field, that was in all the border thereof round about, were made sure unto Abraham for an acquisition to the eyes of the sons of Heth, of all that went in at the gate of his city. "The field of Ephron", signifies that which belonged to the church; "which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre", signifies the quality and amount of regeneration; "the field and the cave that was therein", signifies as to the good and truth of faith; "and every tree that was in the field", signifies interior knowledges of the church; "that was in all the border thereof round about", signifies exterior knowledges "were made sure unto Abraham for an acquisition", signifies that they were ascribed to the Lord alone "to the eyes of the sons of Heth", signifies according to their understanding; "of all that went in at the gate of his city", signifies as to all doctrinal things.

2969. The field of Ephron. That this signifies that which belonged to the church, is evident from the signification of "field", as being the church and also doctrine (n. 368, 2936); and from the representation of "Ephron", as being those with whom the good and truth of faith, which belong to the church, could be received (n. 2933); hence the "field of Ephron" signifies that which belonged to the church.

2970. Which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre. That this signifies the quality and amount of regeneration, is evident from the signification of "Machpelah" as being regeneration by means of the truth which is of faith; and from the signification of "Mamre", as being its quality and amount. By "Machpelah" when the word "cave" is joined to it, or when it is said the "cave of Machpelah", is signified faith which is in obscurity (n. 2935); but by "Machpelah" when named without the word "cave", and it is stated afterwards that there is a "field with a cave" there, is meant regeneration; for by the "field" and "cave" are signified the good and truth of faith by which the regeneration is effected; and besides, Machpelah was a tract of land in which there was a sepulchre, by which last is signified regeneration (n. 2916). But "Mamre", because it was Hebron, as is said in (verse 19) that follows presently, and was in Hebron, as is said in (Genesis 13:18), signifies nothing else than the quality and amount, here, of regeneration, when joined with "Machpelah;" but of the church when joined with "Hebron;" and likewise of perception when joined with "oak-groves" (n. 1616). Thus "Mamre" is simply the determination of the state of the thing; for it was a place where Abraham dwelt (Gen. 13:18); and where Isaac dwelt, and to which Jacob came (Gen. 35:27).

2971. The field and the cave that was therein. That this signifies as to the good and the truth of faith, is evident from the signification of "field" as being the church, also the good itself of the church. The celestial, or good, which is of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, is compared to "ground", and also to "field;" it is also called "ground" and "field;" because the celestial or good is that which receives the truths of faith, which are compared to seeds and are also called seeds". The same is evident also from the signification of a "cave", as being the truth of faith which is in obscurity (n. 2935); it is said to be in obscurity because it is with the spiritual (n. 1043, 2708, 2715).

2972. And every tree that was in the field. That this signifies interior knowledges of the church, is evident from the signification of a "tree", as being perceptions when the celestial church is treated of (n. 103, 2163), but knowledges when the spiritual church is treated of (n. 2722); here interior knowledges, because it is said "every tree that was in the field", and there then follows "that was in all the border thereof round about", by which is signified exterior knowledges; also from the signification of "field", as being the church (of which above). Mention is made of the tree that was in the field and in the borders thereof round about, on account of that internal sense; otherwise it would not be worthy of mention in a Word that is Divine.

2973. That was in all the border thereof round about. That this signifies exterior knowledges, is evident from the signification of "borders" and of "round about", as being things which are exterior (n. 2936); so that here the "tree that was in the border round about" signifies exterior knowledges. Exterior knowledges are those of the ritual and doctrinal things that are the externals of the church; but interior knowledges are those of the doctrinal things that are the internals of the church. What the externals of the church are, and what the internal, has already been repeatedly stated.

[2] Moreover in various places in the Word mention is made of the "midst" and of that which is "round about;" as when speaking of the land of Canaan, that was called the "midst" where were Zion and Jerusalem, but the country "round about" was where the surrounding nations were. By the "land of Canaan" was represented the kingdom of the Lord; its celestial by "Zion", and its spiritual by "Jerusalem", where was the dwelling place of Jehovah or the Lord. The country "round about", even to the borders, represented the celestial and spiritual things flowing forth in their order and derived therefrom; and in the furthest boundaries the representatives of celestial and spiritual things ceased. These representatives had their origin from those in the Lord's kingdom in the heavens; there the Lord as a Sun is in the midst; from this is all celestial flame and spiritual light; they who are nearest are in the highest light, but they who are more remote are in less light, and they who are most remote are in the least; and there are the boundaries, and hell begins, which is outside of heaven.

[3] With celestial flame and spiritual light the case is this: The celestial things of innocence and love, and the spiritual things of charity and faith, are in the like ratio as are the heat and light the angels have; for all the heat and light in the heavens are therefrom. It is from this therefore that the "midst" signifies the inmost, and the circumference signifies the outermost, and the things which proceed in order from the inmost to the outermost are in such degrees of innocence, love, and charity as is their distance from the center. And so it is in every heavenly society; they who are in the midst are the best of that kind, and the love and charity of that kind decreases with them according to their remoteness from the center; that is, it decreases with those who are at a distance from the center, in proportion to the distance.

[4] The case is the like with man; his inmost is where the Lord dwells with him, and from this inmost governs the things which are round about. When man suffers the Lord to dispose the things round about to correspondence with the inmost ones, then man is in such a state that he can be received into heaven; and then the inmost, the interior, and the external things act as one; but when man does not suffer the Lord to dispose the things round about to correspondence, then he recedes from heaven in the measure in which he does not suffer it. That the soul of man is in the midst, or in his inmost, and that the body is round about or in the outmosts, is well known; for it is the body that encompasses and invests his soul or his spirit.

[5] With those who are in celestial and spiritual love, good from the Lord flows in through the soul into the body, and thence the lady becomes full of light; but with those who are in bodily and worldly love, good from the Lord cannot flow in through the soul into the body, but their interiors are in darkness; whence also the body becomes full of darkness, according to what the Lord teaches in Matthew: -

The lamp of the body is the eye if the eye be single, the whole body is full of light but if the eye be evil, the whole body is full of darkness. If therefore the light be darkness, how great is the darkness (Matthew 6:22, 23);

by the "eye" is signified the intellectual which belongs to the soul (n. 2701).

[6] But the case is worse still with those whose interiors are darkness, and whose exteriors appear as full of light. These are such as outwardly counterfeit angels of light, but are devils inwardly, and they are called " Babel;" and when with such persons the things that are "round about" are destroyed, they are carried headlong into hell. These things were represented by the city Jericho, in that its walls fell and the city was given to the curse when the priests had gone about it seven times, and had sounded the trumpets (Joshua 6:1-17). They are meant also in Jeremiah: -

Set yourselves in array against Babel round about, all ye that bend the bow; sound the trumpet against her round about; she hath given her hand; her foundations are fallen; her walls are thrown down (Jeremiah 50:14, 15).

It is now plain what "round about" means. Moreover in the Word mention is sometimes made of that which is "round about" (Jer. 21:14; 32:44; 46:14; 49:5; Ezek. 36:3, 4, 7; Amos 3:11), and by the things "round about" are signified those which are exterior; concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy more elsewhere.

2974. Were made sure unto Abraham for an acquisition. That this signifies that they were ascribed to the Lord alone, that is, everything of regeneration as to both quality and quantity, in regard to the good and truth of faith, and therefore in regard to all knowledges interior and exterior, is evident from the representation of "Abraham" as being the Lord (of which frequently above); and from the signification of an "acquisition", as being His, and thus ascribed to Him alone. It is a primary article of faith that all good and all truth are the Lord's, thus from the Lord alone. The more interiorly anyone acknowledges this, the more interiorly he is in heaven; for in heaven it is perceived to be so, and there is there a sphere of perception that it is so; for they are in good which is from the Lord alone, and this is what is called being it, the Lord. The degrees of this perception decrease from the midst even to the circumferences (n 2973).

2975. To the eyes of the sons of Heth. That this signifies to their understanding, that is to say, to the understanding of those who are of the new spiritual church, is evident from the signification of the "eyes", as being the understanding (n. 212, 2701) and from the signification of the "sons of Heth", as being those who are of the new spiritual church (n. 2913, 2928). It was said above (verse 16), that Abraham spake "in the ears" of the sons of Heth, by which was signified that it was according to their capacity (n. 2965, 2967) here however it is said "to the eyes" of the sons of Heth, by which is signified to their understanding. What was said before involves application to their will; but what is said here, to their understanding, for man is reformed as to both parts for if the will and understanding do not agree, even so as to make a one, the man has not been regenerated; that is, if good and truth, or what is the same, charity and faith, are not a one; for charity is of the will, and faith is of the understanding. It is because of this that it was before said "in the ears of the sons of Heth;" but here, " before the eyes of the sons of Heth".

2976. Of all that went in at the gate of his city. That this signifies as to all doctrinal things, is evident from what was said above (n. 2943), where the same words occur.

2977. Verse 19. And after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife, in the cave of the field of Machpelah, upon the faces of Mamre, the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. "After this", signifies that it was so; "Abraham buried Sarah his wife", signifies that they received from the Lord truth conjoined with good; "in the cave of the field of Machpelah, upon the faces of Mamre,' signifies that thus they were regenerated so far as they could be; "the same is Hebron", signifies that this was a new church; "in the land of Canaan", signifies which in the Lord's kingdom is one.

2978. After this. That this signifies that it was so, is evident from the series, for here is the conclusion, namely, that they were regenerated, and thus a new spiritual church was set up again.

2979. Abraham buried Sarah his wife. That this signifies that they received from the Lord truth conjoined with good, is evident from the signification of "burying", as being to regenerate (n. 2916, 2917); that man is regenerate when he has received from the Lord truth conjoined with good will be shown presently; from the representation of "Abraham", as being the Lord (of which often before); and from the representation of "Sarah as a wife", as being truth conjoined with good (n. 2063, 2065, 2507).

[2] With the regeneration of the spiritual man the case is this. He is first instructed in the truths of faith, and then he is held by the Lord in the affection of truth. The good of faith, which is charity toward the neighbor, is at the same time insinuated into him, but in such a way that he is scarcely aware of it; for it lies hidden in the affection of truth, and this to the end that the truth which is of faith may be conjoined with the good which is of charity. As time goes on, the affection of truth which is of faith increases, and truth is regarded for the sake of its end, that is, for the sake of good, or what is the same, for the sake of the life, and this more and more. Thus is truth insinuated into good, and when this takes place the man imbues himself with the good of life according to the truth that has been insinuated; and so he acts or seems to himself to act from good. Previous to this time, the truth of faith was principal, but afterwards the good of life becomes so.

[3] When this is the case the man is regenerate; but he is regenerate according to the quality and the amount of the truth that has been insinuated in good; and when truth and good act as one, he is regenerate according to the quality and the amount of the good: such is the case with all regeneration. Regeneration is effected to the end that man may be received into heaven. Heaven is nothing else than the marriage of truth and good, and of good and truth (n. 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729); and if the marriage of truth and good be not formed with a man, he cannot be in the heavenly marriage, that is, in heaven.

2980. In the cave of the field of Machpelah, upon the faces of Mamre. That this signifies that thus they were regenerated so far as they could be, is evident from the signification of a "cave", as being the truth of faith that is in obscurity (n. 2935); from the signification of "field", as being the good of faith (n. 2971); from the signification of "Machpelah upon the faces of Mamre", or "before Mamre", as being the quality and the amount of regeneration (n. 2970); thus the signification is that they were regenerated by means of the truth and good of faith so far as they could be, that is, according to their capacity and understanding (n. 2913, 2928, 2975).

2981. The same is Hebron. That this signifies that this is a new church, is evident from the signification of "Hebron", as being the spiritual church (concerning which see above in this chapter, (n. 2909). It was there said, "Kiriath-arba, the same is Hebron", for the reason that by "Kiriath-arba" is signified the church as to truth, and by "Hebron", the church as to good; but here Kiriath-arba is no longer mentioned, but Hebron, because the regenerated man is treated of, who no longer acts from truth, but from good (n. 2979).

2982. In the land of Canaan. That this signifies which church is one in the Lord's kingdom, is evident from the representation of the "land of Canaan", as being the kingdom of the Lord (n. 1413, 1437, 1585, 1607). With the churches of the Lord, the case is this: In ancient times there were many churches at the same time; and there were as at this day distinctions among them in regard to doctrinal matters; but still they made a one in the fact that they acknowledged love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor as the principal and very essential thing; and therefore that the purpose of doctrinal things was not to teach them how to think, but how to live. And when with each and all, love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor - that is, the good of life - is the essential thing then churches, however numerous the may be, make one church, all then being one in the Lord's kingdom. Such also is heaven; there are innumerable societies there, all distinct; but still they constitute one heaven, because in all there is love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor.

[2] But the case is wholly different with churches that call faith the essential of the church; supposing that it they know this and think this they are saved, no matter what their life may be. In this case the several churches do not make one church, nor indeed are they churches. The good of faith, that is, the very life of love and of charity according to the things of faith, is that which makes the church. Doctrinal matters are for the sake of life. Every one may know this: what are doctrinal matters except for the sake of all end? and what is the end but life? or that a man may become such as those doctrinal things teach? It is indeed said that the very faith itself which saves is confidence; but this confidence is quite impossible except in the good of life. Without the good of life there is no reception, and where there is no reception there is no confidence, except at times a certain apparent confidence, in suffering conditions of mind or body, when the cupidities of the love of self and of the world are at rest. But with those who are in evil of life, when this crisis passes or the condition is changed, such fallacious confidence altogether vanishes; for a confidence is found even with the wicked. But whoever desires to know the quality of his confidence, let him examine in himself the affections and ends, as well as the practices of his life.

2983. Verse 20. And the field and the cave that is therein were made sure unto Abraham, for a possession of a sepulchre, from the sons of Heth. "The field and the cave that is therein", signifies the church and its faith; "were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a sepulchre", signifies that it was from the Lord alone, through regeneration; "from the sons of Heth", signifies that it was of the Gentiles.

2984. The field and the cave that is therein. That this signifies the church and its faith, is evident from the signification of a "field", as being the church (n. 2969, 2971); and from the signification of a "cave", as being faith (n. 2935, 2971). It is said "the church and its faith", because the church is so called from the good of charity and thus of life; and its faith is so called from the truth that is adjoined to that good.

2985. Were made sure unto Abraham, for a possession of a sepulchre. That this signifies that it was from the Lord alone, through regeneration, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord (often shown before); and from the signification of a "possession", as being His, and thus belonging to the Lord alone (n. 2974) and from the signification of a "sepulchre", as being regeneration (n. 2916).

2986. From the sons of Heth. That this signifies that it was a church from the Gentiles, is evident from the signification of the "sons of Heth". The sons of Heth were not those with whom the church was set up anew, but are those by whom the church is represented; for all things in the Word are representative; and they do not signify the persons who are named, but through them things of the Lord's kingdom and church. That by the "sons of Heth" is signified a new church, or what is the same, those who are of the new church, has been stated above repeatedly; but that it was a new church of the Gentiles, or from the Gentiles, is plain from what was said by Abraham to the sons or Heth - "I am a sojourner and a dweller with you" (verse 4); by which is signified that the Lord was not known to them, but still that He could be with them (n. 2915). From this it is plain that by the "sons of Heth" is signified a church from the Gentiles; for it cannot be said of others that the Lord is unknown to them.

[2] Be it known, further, that when any church becomes no church, that is, "then charity perishes and a new church is being set up again by the Lord, this is effected rarely if ever with those with whom the old church has been; but with those with whom there was no church before, that is, with the Gentiles. So was it done when the Most Ancient Church perished; for then the new church called "Noah", that is, the Ancient Church which was after the flood, was set up among the Gentiles, that is, among those where there was no church before. So too when this church perished; then a semblance of a church was instituted among the posterity of Abraham from Jacob, thus likewise among the Gentiles; for Abraham when called was a Gentile (n. 1356, 1992, 2559); and Jacob's posterity in Egypt became still more Gentile, even to such an extent that they were absolutely ignorant of Jehovah, and consequently of all Divine worship. After this church had been consummated, the Primitive Church was set up from the Gentiles, the Jews being rejected; so too will it be with this church, which is called Christian.

[3] The reason why a new church will be set up by the Lord among the Gentiles, is that they have no principles of falsity contrary to the truths of faith, for they are ignorant of these truths. Principles of falsity imbued from infancy, and afterwards confirmed, must be shaken off before the man can be regenerated and become a church. In fact the Gentiles cannot by evils of life profane holy things, for no one can profane what is holy who knows not what it is (n. 593, 1008, 1010, 1059). As the Gentiles are in ignorance, and are free from stumbling blocks (or difficulties), they are in a better state for the reception of truths than those who are of the church; and all those among them who are in the good of life receive truths easily. Concerning these things see (n. 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328, 1366, 2049, 2051, 2589-2604).

 

CONCERNING REPRESENTATIONS AND CORRESPONDENCES

2987. Few know what representations and correspondences are, nor can anyone know this unless he knows that there is a spiritual world, and this distinct from the natural world; for there exists a correspondence between spiritual things and natural things, and the things that come forth from spiritual things in natural ones are representations. They are called correspondences because they correspond, and representations because they represent.

2988. That some idea may be formed of representations and correspondences, it is only necessary to reflect on the things of the mind, that is, of the thought and will. These things so beam forth from the face that they are manifest in its expression; especially is this the case with the affections, the more interior of which are seen from and in the eyes. When the things of the face act as a one with those of the mind, they are said to correspond, and are correspondences; and the very expressions of the face represent, and are representations. The case is similar with all that is expressed by the gestures of the body, and with all the acts produced by the muscles; for it is well known that all these take place according to what the man is thinking and willing. The gestures and actions themselves, which are of the body, represent the things of the mind, and are representations; and in that they are in agreement, they are correspondences.

2989. It may also be known that such forms do not exist in the mind as are exhibited in the expression, but that they are merely affections which are thus effigied; also that such acts do not exist in the mind as are exhibited by the acts of the body, but that it is thoughts which are thus figured. The things which are of the mind are spiritual, but those of the body are natural. From this it is evident that there exists a correspondence between spiritual things and natural things, and that there is a representation of spiritual thing in natural things; or what is the same, when the things of the internal man are effigied in the external man, then the things that appear in the external man are representative of the internal man; and the things that agree are correspondences.

2990. It is also known, or may be known, that there is a spiritual world, and also a natural world. In the universal sense the spiritual world is where spirits and angels dwell; and the natural world is where men dwell. In particular, there is a spiritual world and a natural world with every man: his internal man being to him a spiritual world, and his external man being to him a natural world. The things that flow in from the spiritual world and are presented in the natural world, are in general representations; and in so far as they agree they are correspondences.

2991. That natural things represent spiritual things, and that they correspond, may also be known from the fact that what is natural cannot possibly come forth except from a cause prior to itself. Its cause is from what is spiritual; and there is nothing natural which does not thence derive its cause. Natural forms are effects; nor can they appear as causes, still less as causes of causes, or beginnings; but they receive their forms according to the use in the place where they are; and yet the forms of the effects represent the things which are of the causes; and indeed these latter things represent those which are of the beginnings. Thus all natural things represent those which are of the spiritual things to which they correspond; and in fact the spiritual things also represent those which are of the celestial things from which they are.

2992. It has been given me to know from much experience that in the natural world and its three kingdoms there is nothing whatever that does not represent something in the spiritual world, or that has not something there to which it corresponds. Besides many other experiences, this was made evident also from the following. On several occasions when I was speaking of the viscera of the body, and was tracing their connection from those which are of the head to those which are of the chest, and so on to those which are of the abdomen, the angels that were above me led my thoughts through the spiritual things to which those viscera correspond, and this so that there was not the least error. They thought not at all of the viscera of the body of which I was thinking, but only of the spiritual things to which these correspond. Such is the intelligence of angels that from spiritual things they know all things in the body in general and particular, even the most secret things, such as can never come to man's knowledge; nay, they know everything there is in the universal world, without a mistake; and this because from spiritual things are the causes, and the beginnings of causes.

2993. The case is similar with the things in the vegetable kingdom; for nothing whatever exists there that does not represent something in the spiritual world, and correspond thereto; as has been frequently given me to know by a like intercourse with angels. The causes also have been told me, namely, that the causes of all natural things are from spiritual things, and the beginnings of these causes are from celestial things; or what is the same, all things in the natural world derive their cause from truth which is the spiritual, and their beginning from good which is the celestial; and natural things proceed thence according to all the differences of truth and of good in the Lord's kingdom; thus from the Lord Himself, from whom is all good and truth. These things must needs appear strange, especially to those who will not or cannot ascend in thought beyond nature, and who do not know what the spiritual is, and therefore do not acknowledge it.

2994. So long as he lives in the body, man can feel and perceive but little of this; for the celestial and spiritual things with him fall into the natural things in his external man, and he there loses the sensation and perception of them. Moreover the representatives and correspondences in his external man are such that they do not appear like the things in the internal man to which they correspond, and which they represent; therefore neither can they come to his knowledge until he has put off those external things. When this happens, blessed is the man who is in correspondence, that is, whose external man corresponds to his internal man.

2995. As the men of the Most Ancient Church (n. 1114-1125) in every thing of nature saw something spiritual and celestial, insomuch that natural things served them merely as objects for thought about spiritual and celestial things, they were for this reason able to speak with angels, and to be with them in the Lord's kingdom in the heavens at the same time that they were in His kingdom on earth, that is, in the church. Thus with them natural things were conjoined with spiritual things, and wholly corresponded. But it was otherwise after those times, when evil and falsity began to reign; that is, when after the golden age there commenced the iron age for then, as there was no longer any correspondence, heaven was closed; insomuch that men were scarcely willing to know that there was anything spiritual; and at last even that there is a heaven and a hell, and a life after death.

2996. In this world it is a great secret, although in the other life nothing is better known to every spirit, that all things in the human body have a correspondence to those in heaven; insomuch that there is not the smallest particle in the body, to which something spiritual and celestial does not correspond; or what is the same, to which heavenly societies do not correspond, for these exist according to all the genera and species of spiritual and celestial things; and this in such an order that together they represent one man, even as to all his parts, in general and in particular, both the interior and the exterior. Hence it is that the universal heaven is also called the Grand Man; and hence it is that it has been so often said that one society belongs to one province of the body, another to another, and so on. The reason is that the Lord is the Only Man, and heaven represents Him; and the Divine good and truth that are from Him are what make heaven; and because the angels are therein, they are said to be in the Lord. But they who are in hell are outside this Grand Man, and correspond to things unclean, and also to bodily corruptions.

2997. This may also in some degree be known from the fact that the spiritual or internal man (which is man's spirit and is called his soul) has in like manner a correspondence to his natural or external man; and that this correspondence is of such a nature that the things of the internal man are spiritual and celestial, while the things of the external man are natural and corporeal; as may appear from what was said above (n. 2988, 2989) about the expressions of the face and the acts of the body. Moreover as to his internal man, man is a little heaven, because created after the Lord's image.

2998. That such correspondences exist has become so familiar to me in the course of years that hardly anything can be more so; though the fact itself is such that man does not know of its existence, nor believes that he has any connection" with the spiritual world; when yet all his connection is from this correspondence; and without this connection neither himself nor any part of him could subsist a moment; for all his subsistence is from it. It has also been given me to know what angelic societies belong to each province of the body, and also of what quality they are; as for instance what societies and of what quality belong to the province of the heart, what and of what quality to the province of the lungs; what and of what quality to the province of the liver; and also what and of what quality belong to the different sensories, as to the eye, to the ears, to the tongue, and the rest; concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy we shall speak singly.

2999. Moreover nothing is possible in the created world that has not a correspondence to the things in the spiritual world, and therefore that does not in its own manner represent something in the Lord's kingdom. From this comes the existence and subsistence of all things. If man knew how these things are circumstanced, he would never as is his wont attribute all things to nature.

3000. Hence it is that all things in the universe both in general and in particular represent the Lord's kingdom; insomuch that the universe with all its constellations, atmospheres, and three kingdoms, is nothing else than a kind of theater representative of the Lord's glory which is in the heavens. In the animal kingdom not only man, but also each particular animal, even the least and lowest, is representative; as for instance the little creatures that creep on the ground and feed on plants; these, when their time for wedding is at hand, become chrysalises, and presently, being supplied with wings they soar from the ground into the atmosphere, their heaven, and there enjoy their delight and their freedom, sporting together and feeding on the spoils of the flowers, laying their eggs and thus providing for a posterity; and being then in their state of heaven, they are also in their beauty. Every one can see that these things are representative of the Lord's kingdom.

3001. That there is one only life, that of the Lord, which flows in and causes man to live, whether he be good or evil, is evident from what has been said and shown above, in the explication of the Word (n. 1954, 2021, 2536, 2658, 2706, 2886, 2889). To that life correspond the recipient things which are vivified by that Divine influx, and this in such a manner that they appear to themselves to live from themselves. This correspondence is that of life with the recipients of life. Such as are the recipients, so they live; those men who are in love and charity are in correspondence, for they are in agreement, and the life is received by them adequately; but those who are in things contrary to love and charity are not in correspondence, because the life itself is not received adequately; hence they have an appearance of life in accordance with their quality. This may be illustrated by many things; as by the organs of motion and of sense in the body, into which the life flows through the soul; according to the qualities of these, such are their actions and sensations. The same may be illustrated also by the objects into which light flows from the sun; the light producing colorings according to the quality of the recipient forms. But in the spiritual world all the modifications that come into existence from the influx of life are spiritual, whence come such differences of intelligence and wisdom.

3002. From this also we can see how all natural forms, both animate and inanimate, are representative of spiritual and celestial things in the Lord's kingdom that is, that in nature all things, in both general and particular, are representative in accordance with the measure and quality of their correspondence.

3003. The subject of representations and correspondences will be continued at the close of the following chapter.


Chapter 24

3004. That the deepest arcana lie concealed in the internal sense of the Word, which have heretofore come to no one's knowledge, may appear from what has been already said and shown, and also from what of the Lord's Divine mercy will be shown in the following pages. The same can be very plainly seen from the internal sense of the two names of our Lord, Jesus Christ. When these names are used, few have any other idea than that they are proper names and almost like the names of any other man, but more holy. The more learned indeed are aware that Jesus signifies Saviour, and that Christ means Anointed; and from this they conceive some interior idea; but still these are not the things the angels in heaven perceive from the names in question. The things they perceive are still more Divine. By the name "Jesus", when named by a man who is reading the Word, the angels perceive Divine good; and by "Christ", Divine truth; and by the two names, the Divine marriage of good and truth, and of truth and good; thus the whole Divine in the heavenly marriage, which is heaven. What the heavenly marriage is, see (n. 2173, 2803).

3005. That "Jesus" in the internal sense is Divine good, and that "Christ" is Divine truth, may be seen from many things in the Word. That "Jesus" is Divine good comes from the fact that "Jesus" means "safety", "salvation", and " Saviour;" and because it means these, it signifies the Divine good; for all salvation is from the Divine good which is of the Lord's love and mercy; and thus is effected by the reception of that good. That "Christ" is Divine truth comes from the fact that the name means "Messiah", "Anointed", and "King;" and that these names signify the Divine truth will he evident from what follows.

3006. These are the things the angels perceive when" Jesus Christ" is named; and this is what is meant when it is said that there is salvation in no other name, as also by the Lord so often speaking of His "name". As in John: -

Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do (John 14:13).

These things are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in His name (John 20:31);

and in other places. That the "name" is all in one complex by which the Lord is worshiped, and thus denotes the quality of all worship and doctrine, may be seen above (n. 2724); and therefore here it denotes the good of love and of charity conjoined with the truth of faith, which is the complex of all doctrine and of all worship.

3007. That "Christ" is the same as "Messiah", "Anointed", and "King", and that these names are the same as the Divine truth, may be seen from what now follows.

3008. First: That "Christ" is the same as "Messiah", "Anointed", and "King", is evident from the following passages in the Word. In John: -

Andrew findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted the Christ (John 1:41).

Many of the multitude when they heard the word said, This is of a truth the Prophet; others said, This is the Christ; but others said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? doth not the Scripture say that the Christ cometh of the seed of David, and from Bethlehem, the town where David was? (John 7:40-42);

"the Christ" here plainly means the Messiah whom they expected. In the same: -

Have the rulers then indeed known that this is truly the Christ? Howbeit we know this man whence he is; but when the Christ cometh no one knoweth whence He is (John 7:26, 27);

"the Christ" denotes the Messiah; that no one would know whence He is, was because He would not be acknowledged. In the same: - The Jews came round about Jesus, and said unto Him, How long dost thou hold our soul in suspense? If thou art the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, but ye believe not (n. 24, 25). Here also "the Christ" denotes the Messiah whom they expected. In the same: -

The multitude answered, We have heard out of the Law that the Christ abideth forever (John 12:34);

"the Christ" meaning the Messiah. In the same: -

Martha said, I have believed that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world (John 11:27);

that is, that He was the Messiah. In Luke: -

There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and to him was the answer made by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ (Luke 2:25, 26);

meaning that he should see the Messiah, or the Anointed of Jehovah. In the same: -

Jesus said to the disciples, But who say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God (Luke 9:20; Mark 8:29; Matt. 26:63, 64; John 6:68, 69; Mark 14:61, 62).

[2] Now as "Christ" and "Messiah" are the same, and as "Christ" in the Greek and "Messiah" in the Hebrew signify the "Anointed", it is evident that "Christ" is the same as the "Anointed;" and likewise the same as "King", for kings in general were called the "anointed", as is evident from the historic and prophetic parts of the Word in many passages. As in David: -

The kings of the earth set themselves, and (the rulers) took counsel together, against Jehovah and against His Anointed (Ps. 2:2).

Again: -

Now know I that Jehovah saveth His Anointed; He will answer Him from the heavens of His holiness, in the powers of the salvation of His right hand (Ps. 20:6).

Again: -

Jehovah is their strength, and a stronghold of salvations to His Anointed (Ps. 28:8).

In Samuel: -

Jehovah will give strength unto His King, and exalt the horn of His Anointed (1 Sam. 2:10).

In these and many other passages the "Anointed" denotes the "King". In the original language the reading is "Messiah". In these prophetic utterances the Lord is treated of in the internal sense; and that He is the "King" is also plain from passages in the New Testament. As in Matthew: -

The governor asked Jesus, Art Thou the King of the Jews? Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest (Matthew 27:11).

And in Luke: -

Pilate asked Jesus, saying, Art Thou the King of the Jews? And He answering him said, Thou sayest (Luke 23:3; Mark 15:2).

And in John: -

They cried out, Hosanna, blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel (John 12:13).

And again: -

Nathaniel said, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel (John 1:49).

3009. Second: That "Messiah", "Anointed", and "King", are the same as the Divine truth, is evident from very many passages in the Word, and has been shown several times in the explications (n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069); and the Lord Himself so teaches in John: -

Pilate said unto Jesus, Art Thou not a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a King; for this was I born, and for this am come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth; every one who is of the truth heareth My voice (John 18:37).

It is evident from this that it is the Divine truth itself from which the Lord was called "King". That kings were anointed, and were therefore called the anointed, was because the oil with which they were anointed signified good (n. 886, 2832), denoting that the truth signified by a "king" was from good, consequently was the truth of good; and thus that the royal office with kings might represent the Lord as to the Divine truth which is from Divine good, and thus the Divine marriage of good in truth; while the priestly office represented the Divine marriage of truth in good. The latter is signified by "Jesus;" the former by "Christ".

3010. Hence it is evident what is signified by the "Christs" in Matthew: -

See that no man seduce you; for many shall come in My name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall seduce many. Then if anyone shall say unto you, Lo here is the Christ, or there, believe it not; for there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets (Matthew 24:4, 5, 23, 24; Mark 13:21, 22).

Here by "false Christs" are signified truths not Divine, or falsities; and by "false prophets", those who teach them (n. 2534). And again: -

Be not ye called masters, for one is your Master, even Christ (Matthew 23:10);

"Christ" denotes truth Divine. Hence it is evident what a Christian is, namely, one who is in truth from good.

3011. From what has been said it may be seen what hidden things the Word has stored within it; which can by no means come to anyone's knowledge except from the internal sense.

 

GENESIS 24:1-67

1. And Abraham being old was come into days; and Jehovah blessed Abraham in all things.

2. And Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house, who administered all that he had, Put I pray thy had under my thigh.

3. And I will make thee swear by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite, in the midst of whom I dwell;

4. But thou shalt go unto my land, and to my nativity; and take a woman for my son for Isaac.

5. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land; bringing shall I bring back thy son unto the land whence thou camest out?

6. And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou bring not back my son thither.

7. Jehovah the God of heaven, that took me from my father's house, and from the land of my nativity, and that spake unto me, and that swear unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land, He shall send His angel before thee, and thou shalt take a woman for my son from thence.

8. And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this mine oath; only thou shalt not bring back my son thither.

9. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord, and sware to him concerning this word.

10. And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his lord, and departed, and every good of his lord was in his hand; and he arose and went to Aram-naharaim, unto the city of Nahor.

11. And he made the camels kneel down, without the city, by the well of waters, about the time of evening, about the time the drawers go out.

12. And he said, O Jehovah God of my lord Abraham, cause to meet I pray before me this day; and do mercy with my lord Abraham.

13. Behold, I stand by the fountain of waters; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw waters.

14. And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink, and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also, her hast Thou appointed for Thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that Thou hast done mercy with my lord.

15. And it came to pass that scarcely had he done speaking, when behold Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

16. And the damsel was exceeding good to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her; and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

17. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me I pray sip a little water from thy pitcher.

18. And she said, Drink, my lord; and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and made him drink.

19. And she finished making him drink, and she said, I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.

20. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.

21. And the man marveling at her, withheld himself, to know whether Jehovah had prospered his way or not.

22. And it came to pass when the camels had done drinking, that the man took a jewel of gold, of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands, ten of gold their weight.

23. And he said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me I pray is there room in thy father's house for us to pass the night? 24. And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor.

25. And she said unto him, We have both straw and much provender, also room to pass the night.

26. And the man bent himself, and bowed himself down to Jehovah.

27. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of my lord Abraham, who hath not forsaken His mercy and His truth from my lord. I being in the way, Jehovah hath led me to the house of my lord's brethren.

28. And the damsel ran, and told her mother's house according to these words.

29. And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban; and Laban ran out of doors unto the man, unto the fountain.

30. And it came to pass when he saw the jewel, and the bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me, that he came unto the man; and behold be stood by the camels at the fountain.

31. And he said, Come thou blessed of Jehovah, wherefore standest thou without? For I have swept the house, and there is room for the camels.

32. And the man came into the house, and loosed the camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men that were with him.

33. And there was set before him to eat; and he said, I will not eat until I have spoken my words. And he said, Speak.

34. And he said, I am Abraham's servant.

35. And Jehovah hath blessed my lord exceedingly, and hath made him great, and hath given him flock and herd, and silver and gold, and menservants and maidservants, and camels and asses.

36. And Sarah, my lord's wife, bare a son to my lord after she was old; and he hath given unto him all that he hath.

37. And my lord made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite, in whose land I dwell.

38. But thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my family, and take a woman for my son.

39. And I said unto my lord, Peradventure the woman will not follow me.

40. And he said unto me, Jehovah, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a woman for my son from my family, and from my father's house.

41. Then shalt thou be clear from my oath, when thou comest to my family; and if they give not to thee, thou shalt be clear from my oath.

42. And I came this day unto the fountain, and said, O Jehovah God of my lord Abraham, if now Thou do prosper my way wherein I do walk;

43. Behold I stand by the fountain of waters; and let it come to pass that the maiden which cometh forth to draw, and to whom I shall say, Let me drink I pray a little water from thy pitcher;

44. And she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels, let her be the woman whom Jehovah hath appointed for my lord's son.

45. I scarcely had done speaking in mine heart, when behold Rebekah came forth; and her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the fountain and drew; and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray.

46. And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from upon her, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also; and I drank, and she gave drink to the camels also.

47. And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bare unto him. And I put the jewel upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands.

48. And I bent and bowed myself down to Jehovah, and blessed Jehovah God of my lord Abraham, who led me into the way of truth, to take the daughter of my lord's brother for his son.

49. And now if ye will do mercy and truth with my lord, tell me; and if not, tell me; and I will look to the right hand, or to the left.

50. And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The word hath gone forth from Jehovah; we cannot speak unto thee evil or good.

51. Behold Rebekah is before thee; take her, and go, and let her be the woman of thy lord's son, as Jehovah hath spoken.

52. And it came to pass that when Abraham's servant heart their words, he bowed himself down to the earth unto Jehovah.

53. And the servant brought forth vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments, and gave to Rebekah; he gave also precious things to her brother and to her mother.

54. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him; and they passed the night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my lord.

55. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us days, at least ten; afterwards thou shalt go.

56. And he said unto them, Do not delay me, and Jehovah hath prospered my way; send me away, and I will go to my lord.

57. And they said, Let us call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth.

58. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.

59. And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men.

60. And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Our sister, be thou for thousands of ten thousands; and may thy seed inherit the gate of those that hate thee.

61. And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man; and the servant took Rebekah, and went away.

62. And Isaac came from coming from Beer-lahai-roi; and he dwelt in the land of the south.

63. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold there were camels coming.

64. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and saw Isaac, and she alighted from off the camel.

65. And she said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant said, It is my lord. And she took a veil and covered herself.

66. And the servant told Isaac all the words that he had done.

67. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah, and she was to him for a woman, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother.

 

THE CONTENTS

3012. In the internal sense there is described the whole process of the conjunction of truth with good in the Lord's Divine rational; in this chapter, the process of initiation which precedes conjunction. "Isaac" is the good of the rational; "Rebekah" here is truth to be initiated into good; "Laban" is the affection of good in the natural man.

3013. In the internal sense the process of initiation is the described: When the state was prepared, and all things had been reduced by the Lord into Divine celestial order, so that Divine truth might be conjoined with the Divine good of His rational, and this by the common way from the natural man, that is, from the memory-knowledges, knowledges, and doctrinal things therein, then by the Lord's Divine influx truths were called forth thence; were initiated into good in the rational; and were made Divine. Thus was the rational made Divine by the Lord in respect to truth as well as in respect to good.

3014. From this chapter, and from those which follow, it may be seen what arcana are contained in the internal sense of the Word.

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

3015. Verse 1. And Abraham being old was come into days and Jehovah blessed Abraham in all things. "Abraham being old was come into day", signifies when the state was at hand that the Lord's Human should be made Divine; "and Jehovah blessed Abraham in all things", signifies when all things were disposed by the Lord into Divine order.

3016. Abraham being old was come into days. That this signifies when the state was at hand that the Lord's Human should be made Divine, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord (n. 1893, 1965, 1989, 2011, 2172, 2198, 2501, 2833, 2836); and from the signification of "old", or of "old age", as being to put off what is human, and put on what is heavenly (n. 1854, 2198); and when predicated of the Lord, as being to put on the Divine. The same is evident also from the signification of "day", as being state (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788) and hence from the signification of "coming into days", as being when the state was at hand. Such things are signified by "old" and "coming into days", for the reason that the angels have no idea of old age, or of the advancing age which is meant by "coming into days;" but an idea of state in regard to the life in which they are; and therefore when mention is made in the Word of advancement in age, and of old age, the angels who are with man can have no other idea than of the state of life in which the persons are, and in which men are while passing through their ages even to the last; namely, that they thus successively put off what is human and put on what is heavenly. For human life, from infancy to old age, is nothing else than a progression from the world to heaven; and the last age, which is death, is the transition itself. Therefore burial is resurrection, because it is a complete putting off (n. 2916, 2917). As the angels are in such an idea, nothing else can be signified by "coming into days" and by "old age" in the internal sense which is principally for angels and for men who are angelic minds.

3017. And Jehovah blessed Abraham in all things. That this signifies when all things were disposed by the Lord into Divine order, or what is the same, when the Lord had disposed all things into Divine order, is evident from the fact that "Jehovah" is the Lord as to the Divine Itself (n. 1343, 1736, 1815, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921); and that in this case Abraham represents the Lord as to the Divine Human (n. 2833, 2836); and therefore when it is said that "Jehovah blessed Abraham in all things", in the internal sense is meant that the Lord from the Divine Itself in His Human disposed all things into Divine order; for to "bless", when said of the Lord's Human, signifies these things. For to "be blessed", when predicated of man, means to be enriched with spiritual and celestial good (n. 981, 1096, 1420, 1422); and he is enriched with it when the things in him are disposed by the Lord into spiritual and celestial order, thus into the image and likeness of Divine order (n. 1475); the regeneration of man being nothing else. But what is meant when it is said that all things were disposed by the Lord into Divine order in His Human, is evident from what follows in this chapter, namely, that His Divine rational, represented by Isaac, which was conceived from the Divine Good represented by Abraham, and was born of the Divine Truth represented by Sarah, was now disposed into such Divine order that Divine truths from the Human itself could be conjoined with it. These are the arcana contained in this chapter in the internal sense, concerning which the angels have clear light from the Lord. For in the light of heaven these things are open as in clear day; whereas in the light of the world in which man is, scarcely anything is so, except something in an obscure manner with one who is regenerate, for he also is in some light of heaven.

3018. Verse 2. And Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house, who administered all that he had, Put I pray thy hand under my thigh. "Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house", signifies the arrangement in order and influx of the Lord in His natural, which is "the servant, the elder of the house;" "who administered all that he had", signifies the offices of the natural man; "Put I pray thy hand under my thigh", signifies the pledging of it according to its power to the good of conjugial love.

3019. Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house. That this signifies the arrangement in order and influx of the Lord in His natural, which is the "servant the elder of the house", is evident from the signification here of "saying" as being to command, because it is said to a servant; and as the subject here treated of is the disposition by the Divine of the things that are in the natural man, "to say" denotes to arrange in order and to flow in; for all that is done in the natural or external man is arranged in order by the rational or internal man, and is effected by influx. That the "servant the elder of the house" is the natural, or the natural man, is evident from the signification of "servant", as being that which is lower and which serves what is higher; or what is the same, that which is outer and serves what is inner (n. 2541, 2567). All things that are of the natural man, such as memory-knowledges of whatever kind, are nothing but things of service; for they serve the rational by enabling it to think equitably and will justly. That the "elder of the house" is the natural man, may be seen from what follows.

3020. Who administered all that he had. That this signifies the offices of the natural man, is evident from the signification of "administering,' and indeed of "administering all things", as being to discharge offices or duties. That the natural man in respect to the rational, or what is the same, the external man in respect to the internal, is like the administrator in a house, may be seen above, (n. 1795). All things that are in man are as one household (that is, as one family) in this respect, that there is one who fills the office of master of the house, and others who fill that of servants. The rational mind itself is that which disposes all things as master of the house, and arranges them in order by influx into the natural mind; but it is the natural mind that ministers and is the administrator.

[2] As the natural mind is distinct from the rational mind and is in a degree below it, and as it also acts as if from what is its own, it is called relatively a "servant the elder of the house", and it is said to administer all the things in itself that belong to it. That the natural mind is distinct from the rational, and is in a lower degree, and is as if in what is its own, may be seen from the things within it, and from its offices. The things which are therein are all memory-knowledges, thus also all knowledges of every kind whatever; in a word, they are all things in both general and particular that belong to the outer or corporeal memory (n. 2471, 2480). To this mind also belongs all the imaginative faculty, which is the interior sensuous with man, and which is in the greatest vigor with children; and in the first age of adolescence; to the same mind belong also all natural affections that man has in common with brute animals; all of which shows what its offices are.

[3] But the rational mind is more internal. The knowledges in it are not open before man, but while he lives in the body are imperceptible; for they are all things in both general and particular that belong to the interior memory (n. 2470-2474, 2489, 2490). To this mind also belongs all the thinking faculty that is perceptive of what is equitable and just, and of what is true and good; also all spiritual affections, which are properly human, and by which man is distinguished from the brute animals. From these things this mind flows into the natural mind, and excites the things that are therein, and views them with a kind of sight, and in this manner judges and forms conclusions. That these two minds are distinct is clearly evident from the fact that with many persons the natural mind bears rule over the rational mind; or what is the same, the external man over the internal man; and that it does not bear rule but serves with those only who are in the good of charity, that is, who suffer themselves to be led by the Lord.

3021. Put I pray thy hand under my thigh. That this signifies pledging it according to its power to the good of conjugial love, is evident from the signification of "hand", as being power (n. 878); and from the signification of "thigh", as being the good of conjugial love, concerning which in what follows. That it is pledging to the extent of its power, is evident from the fact that they who were pledged to anything that related to conjugial love, by an ancient rite placed the hand under the thigh of him to whom they were being pledged, and in this manner they were put under oath by him; and this for the reason that the "thigh" signified conjugial love, and the "hand" power, or so far as was possible; for all the parts of the human body correspond to spiritual and celestial things in the Grand Man which is heaven, as was shown above (n. 2996, 2998); and as will be shown more fully, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. The thighs themselves together with the loins, correspond to conjugial love. These things were well known to the men of the most ancient times; and therefore they had a number of rites based on this correspondence, of which one was that they placed the hands under the thigh when they were pledged to any good of conjugial love. The knowledge of such things, which was in highest esteem among the ancients, and was one of the chief things of their knowledge and intelligence, is at this day wholly lost; so completely that it is not even known that there is any correspondence and some may therefore wonder that such things are signified by the rite here described. The rite is mentioned in the present case because the betrothing of Isaac to some one of the family of Abraham is treated of, and the discharge of the duty was intrusted to the elder servant.

[2] That as before said the "thigh" from correspondence signifies conjugial love, may also be seen from other passages in the Word; as from the process enjoined when a woman was accused by her husband of adultery. In Moses: -

The priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing; and the priest shall say unto the woman, Jehovah make thee a curse and an oath in the midst of thy people, when Jehovah doth make thy thigh to fall away, and thy belly to swell. And when he hath given her the water to drink, then it shall come to pass, if she be defiled, and hath trespassed a trespass against her husband, that the waters that are accursed shall enter into her and become bitterness, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall be a curse among her people (Num. 5:21, 27).

That the "thigh should fall away", signified evil relating to conjugial love, that is, it signified adultery. The other particulars mentioned in the same process signify each of them some special thing belonging to the subject, so that there is not the least thing that does not involve something, however surprising this may seem to a man who reads the Word without any idea of its sanctity. Because of the signification of the "thigh" as being the good of conjugial love, mention is sometimes made of "coming forth from the thigh,"-as is said of Jacob: -

Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come forth from thy the (Gen. 35:11).

And in another place: -

Every soul that came with Jacob into Egypt, that came forth from his thigh (Gen. 46:26; Exod. 1:5).

And of Gideon: -

Gideon had seventy sons that came forth from his thigh (Judges 8:30).

[3] And as the "thighs" and the "loins" signify the things belonging to conjugial love, they also signify the things of love and charity, for the reason that conjugial love is the fundamental love of all loves (n. 686, 2733, 2737-2739); for all loves are from the same origin, that is, from the heavenly marriage, which is that of good and truth (n. 2727-2759). That the "thigh" signifies the good of celestial love and the good of spiritual love, is evident from the following passages. In John: -

He that sat on the white horse had upon His vesture and upon His thigh a name written: King of kings, and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16).

That He who sat on the white horse is the Word, thus the Lord who is the Word, may be seen above (n. 2760-2762); also that "vesture" is the Divine truth (n. 2576); therefore He is called "King of kings" (n. 3009). Hence it is plain what the "thigh" is, namely, the Divine good which is of His love; from which He is also called "Lord of lords" (n. 3004-3011). And because this is the Lord's quality, it is said that He "had thereon a name written;" for "name" signifies quality (n. 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006).

[4] In David: -

Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, 0 Mighty One, in Thy glory and honor (Ps. 45:3)

speaking of the Lord; where "sword" denotes truth combating (n. 2799); and "thigh" the good of love; to "gird the sword upon the thigh" signifies that the truth from which He would fight would be from the good of love. In Isaiah: -

Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His thighs (Isaiah 11:5);

speaking here too of the Lord; and because "righteousness" is predicated of the good of love (n. 2235), it is called the girdle of the loins;" and because truth is from good, it is called the "girdle of the thighs;" thus "loins" are predicated of the love of good, and "thighs" of the love of truth.

[5] In the same: -

None shall be weary nor stumble in Him, He shall not slumber nor sleep, neither is the girdle of His thighs loosed, nor the latchet of His shoes broken off (Isaiah 5:27).

This again is said of the Lord, and the "girdle of His thighs" denotes the love of truth, as before. In Jeremiah: -

Jehovah said unto Jeremiah that he should buy a linen girdle and put it on his loins, but should not pass it through water; and that he should go to the Euphrates and hide it in a hole of the rock; and having done this, when he went and took it from the place, it was marred (Jeremiah 13:1-6).

The "linen girdle" denotes truth, and "putting it on the loins" was a representative that truth was from good. Every one can see that these are representatives, and their signification cannot be known except from correspondences, concerning which of the Lord's Divine mercy something will be said at the end of certain chapters.

[6] So too with the signification of the things seen by Ezekiel, by Daniel, and by Nebuchadnezzar. As In Ezekiel: -

Above the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the appearance of a burning coal, as the appearance of fire within it round about; from the appearance of his loins and upward, and from the appearance of his loins and downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about Him as the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about, so was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah (Ezekiel 1:26-28).

That this was representative of the Lord and of His kingdom is evident; and that the appearance of the loins upward and the appearance of the loins downward has reference to His love, is evident from the signification of "fire", as being love (n. 934); and from the signification of "brightness" and a "rainbow" as being the derivative wisdom and intelligence (n. 1042, 1043, 1053).

[7] Concerning Daniel it is said: -

A man appeared to him clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with pure gold of Uphaz his body also was like the tharshish stone, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and feet like the shining of burnished brass (Dan. 10:5, 6).

What is signified by these particulars-by "loins", "body", "face", "eyes", "arms", and "feet" - can appear to no one except from representations and their correspondences. From these it is evident that the Lord's celestial kingdom is thus represented, in which the "loins" are Divine love; and the "gold of Uphaz" with which these were girded, is the good of wisdom which is from love (n. 113, 1551, 1552).

[8] Concerning what was seen by Nebuchadnezzar we read in Daniel: -

The head of the statue was good gold; its breast and its arms were silver; its belly and thighs were brass; the feet were part iron and part clay (Daniel 2:32, 33).

By that statue were represented the successive states of the church; by the "head which was gold", the first state, which was celestial, because it was a state of love to the Lord; by the breast and arms which were silver", the second state, which was spiritual, as it was a state of charity toward the neighbor; by the "belly and thighs which were brass", the third state, which was a state of natural good, for this is " brass", (n. 425, 1551). Natural good is of love or charity toward the neighbor in a degree below spiritual good. By the "feet which were iron and clay" is meant the fourth state, which was one of natural truth, which is "iron", (n. 425, 426); and also of no coherence with good (which is "clay"). From all these things it may be seen what is signified by the "thighs" and the "loins", namely, in the chief place conjugial love, and from this all genuine love, as is evident from the passages quoted, and likewise from others (Gen. 32:25, 32; Isa. 20:2-4; Nahum 2:1; Ps. 69:23; Exod. 12:11; Luke 12:35, 36). In the opposite sense also are signified the opposite loves, which are the loves of self and of the world (1 Kings 2:5; Isa. 32:10, 11; Jer. 30:6; 48:37; Ezek. 29:7; Amos 8:10).

3022. Verses 3, 4. And I will make thee swear by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite, in the midst of whom I dwell; but thou shalt go unto my land, and to my nativity; and take a woman for my son for Isaac. " And I will make thee swear by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth", signifies a most holy pledging to the Divine which is in the highest and in that which is therefrom; "that thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite", signifies that the Divine rational was not to be conjoined with any affection disagreeing with truth; "in the midst of whom I dwell", signifies the discordant things in the maternal human, that encompass "but thou shalt go unto my land, and to my nativity", signifies to the Divine celestial and spiritual things which the Lord had acquired to Himself; "and take a woman for my son for Isaac", signifies that thence was the affection of truth which should be conjoined with the affection of good of the rational.

3023. I will make thee swear by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth. That this signifies a most holy pledging to the Divine which is in the highest and in that which is therefrom, is evident from the signification of "causing to swear", as being to pledge by oath; for to cause to swear is nothing else than to pledge; and this is most holy when it is by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that is, to the Divine which is above and which is beneath, or what is the same, to the Divine which is in the highest and in that which is therefrom. "Jehovah the God of heaven", being said of the Lord, denotes Jehovah Himself who is called the Father, from whom He was conceived, thus who was His Divine Essence; for the conception itself gave the veriest essence from which He was. "Jehovah the God of the earth" in this case means Jehovah who is called the Son, thus His Human essence; this came forth from the Divine essence when the Lord made it also Divine. Thus by "Jehovah the God of heaven" is signified the Divine that is in the highest; and by "Jehovah the God of the earth" is signified the Divine that is in that which is therefrom But the Lord is called "Jehovah the God of heaven" from His Divine that is in the heavens; and He is called the "God of the earth" from His Divine that is on earth. The Divine in the heavens is also that which is with man in his internals; but the Divine on earth is that which is in his externals; for the internals of man are his heaven, because by them he is conjoined with the angels; but his externals are his earth, for by them he is conjoined with men (n. 82, 913, 1411, 1733). When a man is regenerate, the internals flow into the externals, and the externals are from the internals. Hence also it may be known what the internals of the church are, and what its externals.

3024. That thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite. That this signifies that the Divine rational was not to be conjoined with any affection disagreeing with truth, is evident from the signification of "taking a woman", as being to be conjoined by a covenant of marriage; from the signification of "my son", namely Isaac, as being the Lord's Divine rational (n. 1893, 2066, 2083, 2630); from the signification of "daughters", as being affections (n. 489-491, 568, 2362); and from the signification of the "Canaanite", as being evil (n. 1444, 1573, 1574); from which it is that the "daughters of the Canaanite" are affections that do not agree with truth. The subject here treated of is the Divine truth that was to be adjoined to the Divine good of the Lord's rational, (n. 3013). By the "woman" who was to be associated by a covenant of marriage, is meant that truth itself, which was to be called forth from the natural man by the common way; by "my son" is meant the Lord's rational in respect to good, to which it was to be adjoined or associated; hence it may be known that by "not taking a woman from the daughters of the Canaanite", is signified that this rational was not to be conjoined with any affection that disagreed with truth. All conjunction of truth with good is effected by means of affection; for no truth can possibly enter into man's rational and be conjoined there, except by means of affection; for in affection is the good of love, which alone conjoins (n. 1895); as may also be known to anyone who reflects.

[2] That the "daughters of the Canaanite" signify affections which disagree with truth, that is, affections of what is false, is evident from the signification of "daughters;" for daughters are mentioned in many passages of the Word, and every one can see that daughters are not there meant,-as where it is said, the "daughter of Zion", the "daughter of Jerusalem", the "daughter of Tarshish", the "daughter of My people". That by these are signified affections of good and of truth, has been shown in passages quoted above. And because they are affections of good and of truth, they are also churches, for churches are churches from these affections. Thus by the "daughter of Zion" is signified the celestial church, and this from the affection of good; but by the "daughter of Jerusalem" is signified the spiritual church, from the affection of truth (n. 2362); this is also signified by the "daughter of My people" (Isa. 22:4; Jer. 6:14, 26; 8:19, 21-22; 14:17; Lam. 2:11; 4:6; Ezek. 13:17).

[3] From this it is evident what is signified by the "daughters" of the nations; as by the "daughters of the Philistines", the "daughters of Egypt", the "daughters of Tyre and of Zidon", the "daughters of Edom", the "daughters of Moab", the "daughters of the Chaldeans" and "of Babel", and the "daughters of Sodom", namely, the affections of evil and falsity from which were their religious systems, and thus the religious systems themselves. That such is the signification of "daughters", may be seen from the passages that follow. In Ezekiel: -

The daughters of the nations shall lament for Egypt. Wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cause her to go down, her and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the earth of the regions below, with them that go down into the pit (Ezekiel 32:16, 18).

The "daughters of the famous nations" denote the affections of evil. In Samuel: -

Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph (2 Sam. 1:20).

In Ezekiel: -

Thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt; I have delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines which do despite unto thee round about (Ezekiel 16:26, 27, 57).

That daughters are not meant here, anyone can see; but the religiosities of such as are signified by the Philistines, which are of such a kind that they tale much about faith and lead no life of faith (n. 1197, 1198); for this reason they are also called the "uncircumcised", that is, those who are devoid of charity.

[4] In Jeremiah: -

Go up into Gilead, and take balm, 0 virgin daughter of Egypt. 0 thou daughter that dwellest in Egypt, make thee vessels of exile. The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame, she is delivered into the hand of the people of the north (Jer. 46:11, 19, 24).

The "daughter of Egypt" denotes the affection of reasoning from memory-knowledges concerning the truths of faith, as to whether they be so; thus she denotes the kind of religion that arises from this, which is such that nothing is believed except that which is comprehended by the senses, and thus nothing of the truth of faith (n. 215, 232, 233, 1164, 1165, 1186, 1385, 2196, 2203, 2209, 2568, 2588).

[5] In Isaiah: -

He said, Thou shalt no more exult, 0 thou oppressed daughter of Zidon (Isa. 23:12).

And in David: -

The daughter of Tyre with a gift, the rich among the people shall intreat thy faces (Ps. 45:12).

What is meant by the "daughter of Zidon" and the "daughter of Tyre", is evident from the signification of Zidon and of Tyre (n. 1201). In Jeremiah: -

Rejoice and be glad 0 daughter of Edom. Thine iniquity is consummated, 0 daughter of Zion. He will no more cause thee to migrate; thine iniquity shall be visited, 0 daughter of Edom (Lam. 4:21, 22).

In Isaiah: -

As a wandering bird, a nest sent forth, shall the daughters of Moab be (Isa. 16:2).

Again: -

Come down and sit in the dust, 0 virgin daughter of Babel sit on the earth, without a throne, 0 daughter of the Chaldeans. Sit thou silent, and enter into darkness, 0 daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms (Isaiah 47:1, 5).

In Jeremiah: -

A people cometh from the north set in array as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babel (Jer. 50:41, 42).

Again: -

The daughter of Babel is like a threshing-floor, it is time to thresh her (Jer. 51:33).

In Zechariah: -

Alas 0 Zion, escape, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babel (Zechariah 2:7).

In David: -

The daughter of Babel is laid waste (Ps. 137:8).

In Ezekiel: -

Thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their ancient estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their ancient estate (Ezekiel 16:55).

[6] Any one can see that in these passages by "daughters" are not meant daughters, but affections that disagree with truth, and thus religiosities that come from this source; but what these religiosities are, is evident from the signification of the peoples named,-as Edom, Moab, the Chaldeans, Babel, Sodom, and Samaria, which have been treated of in many places in the explications of the foregoing chapters of Genesis. Hence now it is evident what is here meant by the "daughters of the Canaanite".

[7] That the Israelites were not to contract marriages with the daughters of the Canaanites, also had regard to the spiritual laws that good and falsity, and evil and truth are not to be joined together; for thence comes profanation. The prohibition was also representative of the matter concerning which we read in (Deuteronomy 7:3); and in Malachi: -

Judah hath profaned the holiness of Jehovah, in that he hath loved and hath married the daughter of a strange god (Malachi 2:11).

3025. In the midst of whom I dwell. That this signifies things discordant in the maternal human which encompass, is evident from the signification of "dwelling in the midst", her( of the Canaanite, as referring to the things that are round about, or that encompass; and that these are in disagreement with truth is evident from what was said above respecting the signification of the " daughters of the Canaanite". That these are the things which the Lord received hereditarily from the mother, and which He afterwards expelled when He made His Human Divine, is evident from what has been said and shown before on the same subject (n. 1414, 1444, 1573, 2159, 2574, 2649).

3026. But thou shalt go unto my land and to my nativity. That this signifies to the Divine celestial and spiritual things which the Lord acquired to Himself, is evident from the signification of "land", as being the celestial of love (n. 1413, 1607); and from the signification of "nativity", as being the spiritual of love (n. 1145, 1255); here Divine celestial and spiritual things, because the Lord is treated of; and that He acquired these to Himself by His own power, may be seen above (n. 1815, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2083, 2500).

3027. And take a woman for my son for Isaac. That this signifies that thence was the affection of truth that was to be conjoined with the affection of good of the rational, is evident from what was said above (n. 3024).

3028. Verses 5, 6. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land; bringing shall I bring back thy son into the land whence thou camest out? And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not back my son thither. "The servant said unto him", signifies the Lord's perception concerning the natural man; "Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land", signifies a doubt of the natural man concerning that affection as to whether it was separable "bringing shall I bring back thy son unto the land whence thou camest out?" signifies a question whether it could nevertheless be conjoined with the Divine good of the rational "Abraham said unto him", signifies the Lord's perception from the Divine; "Beware thou that thou bring not back my son thither", signifies that it could by no means be conjoined.

3029. The servant said unto him. That this signifies the Lord's perception concerning the natural man, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2506, 2515, 2552); and from the signification here of "servant", as being the natural man (n. 3019, 3020). Whatever is done in the natural man, and what the quality of the natural man is, is perceived in the rational; for that which is lower in man is perceived by that which is higher (n. 2654). Hence it is that by "the servant said unto him" is signified the Lord's perception concerning the natural man.

3030. Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land. That this signifies a doubt of the natural man concerning that affection, as to whether it was separable, is evident from the signification of "woman", as being truth, here from the natural, which was to be conjoined with the Divine good of the rational. And as all conjunction is effected by means of affection (n. 3024), so by "woman" is signified the affection of that truth: and also from the signification of "going after" or "following me unto this land", as being to be separated from the natural and conjoined with the rational; for "land" here as above (n. 3026) is the good of love that is of the rational. That there is doubt is seen from its being said, "Peradventure she be not willing".

[2] From what has been said above, it is evident what is involved in these words, and in what follows to (verse 8), and further; and in order that these things may be better understood, we may say a few words more. The genuine rational is from good, but comes forth (existit) from truth. Good flows in by an internal way; but truth by an external way. Good thus conjoins itself with truth in the rational, and they cause the rational to be. Unless the good therein is conjoined with truth, there is no rational; although there appears to be, because the man can reason (n. 1944). This is the common way in which the rational is formed with man.

[3] As the Lord was born like another man, and as it was His will to be instructed like another man, so did He will to make His rational Divine in a similar way, namely, as to good by influx from His Divine by the internal way, and as to truth by influx through the external way. When therefore the rational as to good had been so far formed as to be in a state for receiving truth (which is meant by the words in the beginning of this chapter, "Abraham being old was come into days, and Jehovah blessed Abraham in all things", by which is signified when the state was at hand that the Lord's Human should be made Divine, and when all things should be disposed into Divine order, (n. 3016, 3017), there next follows that truth is to be conjoined with the good of the rational, and this, as before said, by the common way, that is, by means of memory-knowledges and knowledges from the natural man.

[4] The good itself of the rational, which is formed by the internal way, is the very ground; but truth is the seed which is to be sown in this ground. The genuine rational is never born in any other way. In order that it might come forth with the Lord in the same way, and be made Divine by His own power, the Lord came into the world, and it was His will to be born as are other men. Otherwise He might have assumed a human without birth, as was frequently done in ancient times when He appeared to men.

[5] These are the things contained in this chapter, namely, how truth, called forth from the natural man, was to be conjoined with the good of the rational; and as the good there was Divine, how the truth there should also be made Divine. To man these things (especially to one who does not know that the rational is something distinct from the natural, and who therefore does not know that the rational is formed successively, and this by knowledges) are very obscure, so that they are not understood; but still they are among things easily understood by those who have any knowledge concerning the rational and the natural man, and who are in enlightenment. The angels see them all as in clear day.

[6] Some idea of them may be obtained from what has been said and shown above, namely: That the rational as to truth is formed by influx into memory-knowledges and knowledges (n. 1495, 1563, 1900, 1964) That it is not born from these two kinds of knowledges, but from the affection of them (n. 1895, 1900): That these two kinds of knowledges are only vessels for good (n. 1469, 1496): That empty memory-knowledges must be destroyed (n. 1489, 1492, 1499, 1500): That in the rational, the affection of good is as a soul in the affection of truth (n. 2072): What is the affection of rational truth, and of the truth of mere memory (n. 2503): That by knowledges the external man is conjoined with the internal, that is, the rational man with the natural, when knowledges are being implanted in things celestial, which are those of love and charity (n. 1450, 1451, 1453, 1616).

3031. Bringing shall I bring back thy son unto the land whence thou camest out? That this signifies a question whether it could nevertheless be conjoined with the Divine good of the rational, is evident from what was said above concerning Abraham, and concerning the land whence he came forth (n. 1353, 1356, 1992, 2559); from which it is evident that the land whence Abram came was Syria, where was the second Ancient Church, called the Hebrew Church from Eber by whom it was established (n. 1238, 1241, 1327, 1343). But about the time of Abraham this church also fell away from the truth, and some of its households to such an extent that they were wholly ignorant of Jehovah, and worshiped other gods. This is the "land" here meant, and concerning which the servant asked Abraham whether he should bring back his son to the land whence he came out; and it is from this that by the "land" is here signified an affection which does not agree with truth. And because this is its meaning, by bringing back the son, or what is the same, by his marrying a woman there, and remaining there with her, is signified to conjoin an affection that does not agree with truth, with the Divine good of the rational. But that this could not be done is declared by Abraham's answer, the consideration of which now follows.

3032. Abraham said unto him. That this signifies the Lord's perception from the Divine, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive (n. 3029); and from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord as to the Divine Human, from which comes this perception.

3033. Beware thou that thou bring not back my son thither. That this signifies that it could by no means be conjoined, is evident from what was said above (n. 3031), where it was explained what is signified in the internal sense by bringing back his son to the land from which Abraham went forth. That an affection which does not agree with truth cannot be Conjoined with the good of the rational, is evident from what has been said above concerning the conjunction of good and truth, or what is the same, concerning the heavenly marriage (n. 2173, 2507, 2727-2759). That on this account the ancients instituted a marriage between the affection of good and the affection of truth, may be seen above, (n. 1904); also that falsity cannot possibly be conjoined with good, or truth with evil, because they are of a contrary nature, (n. 2388, 2429, 2531); and that good is insinuated into the knowledges of truth as its own recipient vessels, and that thus conjunction is effected, (n. 1469, 1496, 1832, 1900, 1950, 2063, 2189, 2261, 2269, 2428, 2434, 2697).

[2] That there can be no conjunction of falsity with good, or of truth with evil, but only of falsity with evil, and of truth with good, it has been given me to perceive to the life; and I have perceived that the case is as follows: When a man has the affection of good, that is, when he wills good from the heart, then whenever anything is to be thought of that is to be willed and done, his good willing flows into his thinking, and there it applies itself to the knowledges which are there, and joins itself with them as its recipient vessels, and by this conjunction impels him so to think, to will, and to act. It is as it were an ingrafting of good in truths or in the knowledges of truth. But when a man has not the affection of good, but the affection of evil, that is, then he wills evil (as when he believes all to be good that is for himself, so that he may become great and may be rich, thus possess honor and wealth, and this is his end), then when anything is to be thought of that is to be willed and done, his willing equally flows into his thinking, and there excites knowledges which appear in the semblance of truth; and so it impels the man to think, to will, and to do; and this by a wrong application of knowledges, and by looking upon certain general truths which he has drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word or from other knowledge as being applicable in every sense: it is in this way that evil is coupled with falsity, for in this case the truth which is therein is deprived of all the essence of truth.

[3] In the other life such persons (however much in this life they may have seemed to be more highly instructed than others) are more stupid than others and so far as they are in the persuasion that they are in truth, they induce thick darkness on others. Such have at times been with me; but they were not susceptible of any affection of good from truth, howsoever the truths were recalled to their mind which they had known in the life of the body; for evil was with them, with which truths could not be conjoined. Neither can such persons be in the company of the good; but if there is anything of natural good with them, they are vastated even till they know nothing of truth; and then there is insinuated into the remaining good something of truth, as much as the little remaining good can receive. But they who have been in the affection of good from the heart, are able to receive all truth in accordance with the amount and the quality of the good that has been with them.

3034. Verse 7. Jehovah the God of heaven, that took me from my fathers house, and from the land of my nativity, and that shake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land, He shall send His angel before thee, and thou shalt take a woman for my son from thence. "Jehovah the God of heaven", signifies the Lord's Divine Itself; "that took me from my father's house, and from the land of my nativity", signifies by virtue of which it was that the Lord freed Himself from the things of the mother as to evils and falsities; "and that spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying", signifies by virtue of which was His Divine willing and understanding; "Unto thy seed will I give this land", signifies the Divine truth pertaining to the Lord's Human "He shall send His angel before thee", signifies the Divine providence; "and thou shalt take a woman for my son from thence", signifies that the affection of truth was indeed thence, but from a new source.

3035. Jehovah the God of heaven. That this signifies the Lord's Divine Itself, is evident from what was said above (n. 3023), namely, that "Jehovah the God of heaven", is the Lord's Divine Itself; for by "Jehovah", so often named in the Word of the Old Testament, is meant the Lord alone for all things therein in general and particular treat of Him in the internal sense; and all and each of the rites of the church represented Him (n. 1736, 2921); and that the men of the most ancient times, who were of the celestial church, understood by Jehovah no other than the Lord (n. 1343). In the sense of the letter here and elsewhere the appearance is that another, who is higher, is meant by "Jehovah;" but the sense of the letter is such as to separate what the internal sense unites; and this for the reason that the man who is to be instructed from the sense of the letter cannot have an idea of a one, unless he first has an idea of more than one; for a one with man is formed from many; or what is the same, from successive things is formed that which is simultaneous. There are many things in the Lord, and all are Jehovah. This is the reason why the sense of the letter makes a distinction, while heaven by no means does so; but acknowledges one God in a simple idea, and no other than the Lord.

3036. That took me from my father's house, and from the land of my nativity. That this signifies by virtue of which it was that the Lord freed Himself from the things of the mother as to evils and falsities, is evident from the signification here of the "father's house" and of the "land of nativity", as being the maternal, or that which was hereditary from the mother, from which came the evil and falsity against which the Lord fought, and which He expelled, and thus made His Human Divine by His own power. See what was said above, (n. 3031), concerning the house and the land from which Abram came; also what was said concerning the Lord's heredity: That from Jehovah there was what was Divine, and from the mother what was evil (n. 1414, 1444): That He fought against the evil inherited from the mother; but that He had no actual evil (n. 1444, 1573): That the Lord put off all that was inherited from the mother, so that at length He was not her son (n. 2159, 2574, 2649): This heredity from the mother is what is signified in the internal sense by the "father's house" and the "land of nativity;" by the "father's house", the maternal heredity as to evil; and by the "land of nativity", the maternal heredity as to falsities for where evil is, there are falsities, for they are conjoined with each other: These He expelled by His own power (n. 1616, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2083, 2523).

3037. And that spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying. That this signifies by virtue of which was the Lord's Divine willing and understanding, is evident from the signification of "speaking", as being to perceive (n. 3029), and to will (n. 2626); and from the signification of "swearing,' as being confirmation from the Divine, and as being predicated of truths, which belong to the understanding (n. 2842). then it is said concerning Jehovah that He "speaks", in the internal sense it is meant that He wills; for whatever Jehovah speaks, He wills; and when it is said concerning Jehovah that He "swears", it is meant in the internal sense that He understands it to be true; thus by "swearing", when predicated of Jehovah, is signified understanding, as may also be seen from the passages adduced from the Word (n. 2842).

3038. Unto thy seed will I give this land. That this signifies the Divine truth pertaining to the Lord's Human, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being the faith of charity, and also those who are in the faith of charity (n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 2848); and because all the good and truth of faith is from the Lord, it is the Divine truth itself that is meant by "seed" in the supreme sense: and also from the signification of "this land", namely, Canaan, as being heaven, or the Lord's kingdom (n. 1413, 1437, 1607); and because it is heaven, or the Lord's kingdom, it is the Lord's Divine Human itself that is meant in the supreme sense by the "land of Canaan;" for the Divine Itself cannot flow into heaven except through the Lord's Divine Human; which also the Lord showed plainly in Matthew: -

All things are delivered unto Me of My Father; and no one knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth anyone the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son willeth to reveal Him (Matthew 11:27).

And in John: -

No man hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him (John 1:18).

The "Son" is the Lord's Divine Human. He who believes that any other Father than the Lord is adored in heaven, is much mistaken.

3039. He shall send His angel before thee. That this signifies the Divine providence, is evident from the signification of "angel" in the Word, as being the Lord; but what of the Lord is meant, appears from the series (n. 1925); and that the Divine providence is meant here is evident. That the Lord is meant by "angels" in the Word, is because all that was spoken in the Word by the prophets and others under the dictation of angels, is from the Lord, that is, belongs to the Lord Himself. The angels in heaven also acknowledge and perceive that nothing of good and truth is from themselves, but all from the Lord; and this so fully that they are averse to all things that induce any other idea. Hence it is that by "angels", that is, by good angels, is meant the Lord; but what of His, becomes apparent from the series, or connection.

3040. And thou shalt take a woman for my son from thence. That this signifies that the affection of truth was indeed thence, but from a new source, is evident from the signification of a "woman", as being the affection of truth (concerning which see above); for by Rebekah, of whom this chapter treats, is represented the Divine truth that was to be conjoined with the Divine good of the rational, which is"' Isaac". That the affection of truth is thence, that is, from what is signified by the "house of the father" and the "land of nativity", but from a new source, cannot as yet be explained, but it is treated of in many things that follow. I may however briefly state that all the affection of truth in the natural man comes forth by an influx from the affection of good out of the rational, or through the rational from the Divine; the affection of truth which through this influx comes forth in the natural man is not in the beginning the affection of genuine truth; for genuine truth comes by successive steps, and is also by successive steps substituted in place of former things that were not in themselves truths, but only means leading to genuine truth. From these few words it may be seen what is meant by its being said that the affection of truth is indeed therefrom, but from a new source.

3041. Verses 8, 9. And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this mine oath; only thou shalt not bring back my son thither. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord, and swore to him concerning this word. "If the woman be not willing to follow thee", signifies here as before, if the affection of truth should not be separated; "then thou shalt be clear from this mine oath". signifies the freedom belonging to the natural man; "only thou shalt not bring back my son thither", signifies here as before that from thence there could be no conjunction. "And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord", signifies here as before the pledging of the natural man, according to power, to the good of conjugial love "and sware to him concerning this word", signifies a sacred obligation.

3042. If the woman be not willing to follow thee. That this signifies, if the affection of truth should not be separated, is evident from the signification of a "woman", as being the affection of truth; and from the signification of " going after", or "following thee to this land", as being to be separated from the natural, and conjoined with the rational (n. 3030), where are the same words.

3043. Then thou shalt be clear from this mine oath. That this signifies the freedom belonging to the natural man, is evident from the signification of the "servant" of whom these things are said, as being the natural man (n. 3019); and from the signification of "being clear if the woman is not willing to follow", as being in the proximate sense, that he would be under no pledge if the affection of truth should not be separated. That these words involve the freedom belonging to the natural man, is evident; for the affection of truth here treated of, and the separation also, are predicated in the internal sense of the natural man in the historical sense there is another connection, but in the internal sense it is such as has been stated.

[2] Concerning man's freedom, see what was said and shown above (n. 892, 905, 1937, 1947, 2744, 2870-2893) from which it is evident how the case is with freedom. Freedom is predicated of the natural man, but not in the same way of the rational; for good flows through the rational into the natural in heavenly freedom from the Lord. The natural man is that which is to receive this good; and in order that it may receive it, and may thus be conjoined with the heavenly freedom which flows in through the rational, the natural is left in freedom. For freedom is of love or affection; and unless the natural man receives the affection of truth from the inflowing affection of good, it cannot possibly be conjoined with the rational. Such is the case with man; and that he is reformed of the Lord through freedom may be seen (n. 1937, 1947, 2876-2878, 2881).

[3] In regard to the Lord, He likewise left the natural in freedom when He made His rational Divine as to truth; that is, when He adjoined Divine truth to the Divine good of the rational; for it was His will to make His Human Divine in the usual manner, that is, in the way in which man is reformed and regenerated. The reformation and regeneration of man is therefore itself a kind of image; by reformation and regeneration also a man is made new, and hence is said to be born anew and created new; and in so far as he is reformed, in so far he has as it were what is Divine in him. But there is this difference, that the Lord made Himself Divine from His own power, while man cannot do the least thing from his own power, but only from the Lord. It is said "as it were what is Divine", because man is but a recipient of life; whereas the Lord as to each essence is life itself (n. 1954, 2021, 2658, 2706, 3001).

3044. Only thou shalt not bring back my son thither. That this signifies that from thence there could be no conjunction, is evident from what was said above (n. 3031, 3033), where the same words occur.

3045. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord. That this signifies the pledging of the natural man, according to power, to the good of conjugial love, is evident from what was said above (n. 3021), where also the same words occur.

3046. And sware to him concerning this word. That this signifies a sacred obligation, is evident from the signification of "swearing", as being a binding pledge, and indeed a most holy one, because he swore by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth (n. 3023); and thus a sacred obligation, for a sacred obligation is nothing else than a binding pledge.

3047. Verse 10. And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his lord, and departed, and every good of his lord was in his hand; and he arose and went to Aram-naharaim, unto the city of Nahor. "The servant took ten camels, of the camels of his lord, and departed", signifies general Divine memory-knowledges in the natural man; "and every good of his lord was in his band", signifies the goods and truths of these knowledges with it;" " and he arose", signifies elevation; "and went to Aram-naharaim", signifies the knowledges of truth therefrom; "to the city of Nahor", signifies kindred doctrinal things.

3048. The servant took ten camels, of the camels of his lord, and departed. That this signifies general memory-knowledges in the natural man, is evident from the signification here of " servant", as being the natural man (n. 3019, 3020) and from the signification of "ten", as being remains. That these are goods and truths with man stored up by the Lord, may be seen above, (n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 1050, 1906, 2284); and that "ten", or remains, when predicated of the Lord, are the Divine things which the Lord acquired for Himself, (n. 1738, 1906); and also from the signification of "camels", as being general memory-knowledges; and because these were Divine, or acquired by the Lord, it is said that they were "ten", and then it is said that they were "camels, of the camels of his lord". That he "departed", signifies the initiation thereby which is treated of in this chapter.

[2] The subject here is the process of the conjunction of truth with good in the Lord's Divine rational; first, the process of initiation (n. 3012, 3013), the nature of which is described in a series; here, that the Lord separated in the natural man the things which were from Himself, that is, which were Divine, from those which were of the maternal. The things which were from Himself, or which were Divine, are the things by which the initiation was effected; and they are here the "ten camels, of the camels of his lord". And hence it is that in the following verses much mention is made of "camels", as that he made the camels fall on their knees without the city (verse 11); that Rebekah also gave drink to the camels (verses 14, 19, 20); that they were brought into the house, and that straw and provender were given them (verses 31, 32); and further, that Rebekah and her damsels rode upon the camels (verse 61); and that Isaac saw the camels coming; and when Rebekah saw Isaac, that she alighted off her camel (verses 63, 64). Camels are mentioned so often because of the internal sense, in which they signify the general memory-knowledges in the natural man, from which comes the affection of truth which is to be initiated into the affection of good in the rational, and this in the usual way, as shown above; for the rational as to truth cannot possibly be born and perfected without memory-knowledges and knowledges.

[3] That "camels" signify general memory-knowledges, is evident from other passages in the Word where they are mentioned, as in Isaiah: -

The prophecy of the beasts of the south: In the land of straitness and distress; from whence come the young lion and the old lion, the viper and the flying fire-serpent; they carry their riches upon the shoulder of young asses, and their treasures upon the hump of camels, to a people that shall not profit; for Eat shall help in vain and to no purpose (Isaiah 30:6, 7).

The "beasts of the south" denote those who are in the light of knowledges, or in knowledges, but in a life of evil; "carrying their riches upon the shoulder of young asses", denotes the knowledges pertaining to their rational. That a "young ass" is rational truth may be seen above, (n. 2781); "their treasures upon the hump of camels", denotes the knowledges pertaining to their natural; the camels' "hump" is what is natural; the "camels" themselves signify the general memory-knowledges which are there; the "treasures" are the knowledges which they hold as precious; that "Egypt shall help in vain and to no purpose", denotes that memory-knowledges are of no use to them; that "Egypt" is memory-knowledge may be seen above (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 2588). That "camels" here are not camels, is plain; for it is said "the young lion and the old lion carry their treasures upon the hump of camels;" and anyone can see that some arcanum of the church is hereby signified.

[4] Again: -

The prophecy of the wilderness of the sea: Thus hath the Lord said, Go, set a watchman let him declare what he seeth: and he saw a chariot, a pair of horsemen, a chariot of an ass, a chariot of a camel, and he hearkened diligently. And he answered and said, Babel is fallen, is fallen (Isa. 21:1, 6, 7, 9).

The "wilderness of the sea" here denotes the emptiness of memory-knowledges that are not for use; a "chariot of an ass", a collection of particular memory-knowledges; a "chariot of a camel", a collection of general memory-knowledges in the natural man. It is the empty reasonings with those signified by "Babel" which are thus described.

[5] Again: -

Thy heart shall be enlarged because the multitude or the sea shall be converted unto thee, the wealth of the nations shall come unto thee. The abundance of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come they shall bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah (Isaiah 60:5, 6).

This is concerning the Lord, and concerning the Divine celestial and spiritual things in His natural: the "multitude of the sea" denotes the immense supply of natural truth; the "wealth of the nations", the immense supply of natural good; the "abundance of camels", the abundant supply of general memory-knowledges; "gold and frankincense", goods and truths, which are the "praises of Jehovah;" "from Sheba" is from the celestial things of love and faith (n. 113, 117, 1171). That The queen of Sheba came to Solomon to Jerusalem with exceeding great riches, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones (1 Kings 10:1, 2) represented the wisdom and intelligence which came to the Lord, who in the internal sense here is "Solomon". The "camels bearing spices, gold, and precious stones" are the things of wisdom and intelligence in the natural man.

[6] In Jeremiah: -

To Arabia, and to the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel smote: Arise ye, go up to Arabia, and lay waste the sons of the East. Their tents shall they take, and they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels. And their camels shall be a booty, and I will scatter them to every wind (Jer. 49:28, 29, 32).

Here "Arabia and the kingdoms of Hazor", in the opposite sense, denote those who are in knowledges of celestial and spiritual things, but for the end of no other use than that they may be esteemed wise and intelligent by themselves and the world; the "camels which should be taken away from them, and should be for a booty, and should be scattered to every wind", are in general the memory-knowledges and the knowledges of good and truth which are also taken away from Them in the life of the body by their believing contrary things, and in the other life wholly.

[7] In Zechariah: -

And this shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah will smite all the peoples that shall fight against Jerusalem; thus shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of every beast (Zech. 14:12, 15).

Here the "plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass", denotes the privation of intellectual things, which thus succeed in order from rational things to natural things. What is meant by the "horse", may be seen above, (n. 2761, 2762); what by the "mule" (n. 2781); and what by the "ass", (n. 2781); "camels" denote the general memory-knowledges in the natural man. The like was signified by the murrain in Egypt, which was "upon the cattle in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon herd and upon flock" (Exod. 9:2, 3).

[8] From these passages it is evident that by "camels" in the internal sense of the Word are signified the general memory-knowledges of the natural man. General memory-knowledges are those which include in themselves many particulars, and these singulars; and they form in general the natural man as to the intellectual part of it.

3049. And every good of his lord was in his hand. That this signifies the goods and truths of these knowledges with the natural man, is evident from the signification of "every good of his lord", as being both good and truth; for in itself truth is good, because from good; and truth is the form of good, that is to say, when good is formed so as to be perceived intellectually, it is then called truth: and also from the signification of "hand", as being power (n. 878); "in his hand" therefore meaning that which he had. In themselves general memory-knowledges are not goods, nor are they alive; it is the affection of them that causes them to be goods, and to be alive; for when there is this affection they are for the sake of use; since no one is affected by any memory-knowledge or truth except for some use; use makes it a good; and such as the use is, such is the good.

3050. And he arose. That this signifies elevation, is evident from the signification of "arising", as involving something of elevation wherever it is mentioned (n. 2401, 2785, 2912, 2927); here, that the Divine truth from memory-knowledges was to be initiated into the Divine good of the rational.

3051. And went to Aram-naharaim. That this signifies the knowledges of truth therefrom, is evident from the signification of "Aram" or "Syria", as being the knowledges of good (n. 1232, 1234); but "Aram-naharaim", or "Syria-of-the-rivers", signifies the knowledges of truth, from naharaim or "rivers;" because "rivers" signify the intelligence which is of the knowledges of truth, as may be seen from the passages of the Word collected above (n. 108, 109, 2702); and from many others, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy elsewhere.

3052. To the city of Nahor. That this signifies kindred doctrinal things, is evident from the signification of a "city", as being doctrine (n. 402, 2449); and from the representation of "Nahor", as being what is akin; for Nahor was the brother of Abram, and from him came Bethuel, from whom was Rebekah. Memory-knowledges and doctrinal things are distinct from each other in this way doctrinal things come from memory-knowledges, for they look to use, and are procured from memory-knowledges by means of reflection. They are here said to be "kindred", by reason of their derivation from things Divine.

3053. Verse 11. And he made the camels kneel down, without the city, by the well of waters, about the time of evening, about the time that the drawers go out. "He made the camels kneel down", signifies a holy disposing of general memory-knowledges; "without the city", signifies removal from doctrinal things; "by the well of waters", signifies for receiving the truths of faith; " about the time of evening", signifies a state of more obscurity at that time; "about the time that the drawers go out", signifies a state of instruction.

3054. He made the camels kneel down. That this signifies a holy disposing of general memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "making to kneel down", as being to dispose themselves to what is holy; and from the signification of "camels", as being general memory-knowledges (n. 3048).

3055. Without the city. That this signifies removal from doctrinal things, is evident from the signification of a "city", as being doctrine (n. 402, 2449); thus "without the city" evidently means outside of doctrinal things; thus removal from them.

3056. About the time of evening. That this signifies a state of more obscurity at that time, is evident from the signification of "time", as being state (n. 2625, 2788, 2837); and from the signification of " evening" as being what is obscure; for "evening" in the Word signifies the state which precedes the last state of a church that is coming to its close, which last state is called "night;" and it also signifies the first state of a church just rising, which state is called "morning" (n. 2323); in either sense it denotes what is obscure, which is signified by "evening", but it here denotes the obscurity that precedes the morning.

3057. About the time that the drawers go out. That this signifies a state of instruction, is evident from the signification of "time", as being state (n. 3056); and from the signification of a "drawer", that is, one who draws water, as being to be instructed, to be explained in what follows. What has now been told (n. 3054) is what is signified in the internal sense by the things related historically in this verse; but what these particulars involve in a series is not easily made plain to one who has not been instructed concerning the natural man, and concerning the memory-knowledges and doctrinal things therein, and also how truths are elevated therefrom into the rational, and become rational; and still less if he does not know what is the quality of the rational relatively to the natural, that is, the quality of the things in the rational relatively to those in the natural.

[2] The things in the rational are not apparent to man while he lives in the body; for those in the natural are what come to perception, and seldom those in the rational, except by a certain kind of light illuminating the things in the natural, or as an inflowing capacity by which the ideas of thought are disposed into order; and also as a faculty of perceiving that which the mind is considering. Unless these and other things be known, what is contained in this verse can with difficulty be explained to the apprehension,-as that there is a holy disposing of the general memory-knowledges, and then a removal from doctrinal things for receiving the truths of faith; and that when this is taking place there is an obscure state, and that such is the state of instruction. Nevertheless we may briefly state as much as can be apprehended, and here, how the case is with a man then he is being reformed by the Lord; for the reformation of a man is a kind of image of what took place with the Lord then He was in the world (n. 3043).

[3] When a man is being reformed, the general things in his natural man are disposed by the Lord to correspondence with those which are in heaven. What correspondence is, and that it is between spiritual things and natural things, may be seen above, (n. 2987, 2989-2991, 3002). General things are first disposed, in order that particulars may be successively insinuated into them by the Lord, and singulars into the particulars; for if the general things are not in order, there cannot come forth order in the particulars, because the particulars enter into the generals, and confirm them; still less can there be order in the singulars, because these enter into the particulars as into their generals, and illustrate them. These are the things that are meant by a holy disposing of general memory-knowledges; and this is meant in the internal sense by "making the camels kneel down;" for so they submit themselves for the reception of influx.

[4] When the general memory-knowledges are being disposed in this way, doctrinal things are removed, as they are conclusions from these knowledges; for there flows in through the rational as it were a dictate that this is true, and this not true; but in this way-that it is true because it agrees with the orderly disposition of the general memory-knowledges; and that it is not true because it disagrees; there is no other influx as to truths. Doctrinal things are indeed there before, but they are not doctrinal things until they are believed, but are merely memory-knowledges; and therefore when the man thinks about them, no conclusion is drawn from them, but only concerning them, from other things. This is what is meant by removal from doctrinal things, and it is what is herb signified in the internal sense by "without the city". But this is the state that is called an obscure state, and is signified by the "time of evening;" whereas when doctrinal things have been confirmed, so that they are believed, then comes the "morning", or a state of light. The other things contained in this verse are evident from what has been already stated.

3058. That to "draw waters" signifies instruction, and likewise enlightenment from it, comes from the fact that in the internal sense "waters' signify the truths of faith (n. 2702); and therefore to "draw waters" is nothing else than to be instructed in the truths of faith, and thereby to be enlightened. In Isaiah: -

With joy shall ye draw waters out of the fountains of salvation. In that day shall ye confess unto Jehovah (Isa. 12:3, 4).

To "draw waters" is to be instructed, to understand, and to be wise. Again: -

Bring ye waters to meet him that is thirsty, ye inhabitants of the land of Tema (Isaiah 21:14).

To "bring waters to meet him that is thirsty", means to instruct Again: -

The afflicted and the needy seek waters, and there are none, and their tongue faileth for thirst (Isaiah 41:17).

" They that seek waters", are they who desire to be instructed in truths. That "there are none", signifies that no one has truths. Moreover by the "drawers of water" were represented in the Jewish Church those who continually desire to know truths, but for no other end than to know them, while caring nothing for the use. Such were accounted among the lowest, and were represented by the Gibeonites concerning whom see (Joshua 9:21, 23, 27).

3059. Verses 12-14. And he said, O Jehovah God of my lord Abraham, cause to meet I pray before me this day; and do mercy with my lord Abraham. Behold I stand by the fountain of waters; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw waters. And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher I pray thee that I may drink, and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also, her hast Thou appointed for Thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that Thou hast done mercy with my lord. "He said", signifies communication; "Jehovah God of my lord Abraham", signifies of the Divine Itself which is the Father, with the Divine Human which is the Son; "cause to meet I pray before me this day,: signifies providence from eternity; "and do mercy", signifies an influx of love; "with my lord, Abraham", signifies the Divine Human. "Behold I stand by the fountain of waters", signifies the state of the conjunction of truth Divine with the Human; "and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw waters", signifies the affections of truth, and instruction through them; "and let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say", signifies an affection in which is innocence; "let down thy pitcher I pray thee", signifies the submission of memory-knowledges; "that I may drink", signifies instruction in truth therefrom; "and she shall say, Drink", signifies the reciprocal thereto; "and I will give thy camels drink also", signifies the consequent enlightenment of all the memory-knowledges in the natural man; "her hast Thou appointed for Thy servant Isaac", signifies the conjunction of truth Divine with Divine good in the rational; "and thereby shall I know that Thou hast done mercy with my lord", signifies that from the Divine love there is a marriage.

3060. He said. That this signifies communication, is evident from the signification of "saying" in the historical portions of the Word, as being to perceive and to will (concerning which often before); and because it signifies these, it also signifies to communicate, for from perceiving and willing comes communication.

3061. Jehovah God of my lord Abraham. That this signifies of the Divine Itself which is the Father, with the Divine Human which is the Son (that is, communication), is evident from what has been so often said and shown above, namely, that " Jehovah God" is the Divine Itself of the Lord, which is called the "Father;" and that by Abraham is represented His Divine Human (n. 2833, 2836). It may be seen above, that in the Word of the Old Testament "Jehovah" is the Lord Himself (n. 1736, 1815, 2921); and that the Most Ancient Church before the flood and the Ancient Church after the flood understood by "Jehovah" no other than the Lord (n. 1343, 1676, 1990, 2016, 3035). Also that in the Lord is the Trinity-the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the proceeding Divine Holy-and these are a one (n. 1999, 2149, 2156, 2288, 2329, 2447). That all the Trinity in the Lord is Jehovah (n. 2156, 2329); and that each and all things in the Lord are Jehovah (n. 1902, 1921). That the Lord is one with the Father, and that no other is understood in heaven by the Father (n. 14, 15, 1725, 1729, 1733, 1815, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2803, 3038). That the Lord is the universal heaven, for He is the all there and that from Him is the all of innocence, of peace, of love, of charity, of mercy, of conjugial love; and all good and truth. That Moses and the Prophets, thus the Word in every particular, is concerning Him; and that all the rites of the church represented Him (n. 2751). That the Lord as to the Divine Human is called the "Son" (n. 2628). That the Divine Human of the Lord was not only conceived, but was also born of His Divine Essence, which is Jehovah (n. 2798); and that thereby the Lord as to the Human was made Jehovah, and Life of Himself (n. 1603, 1737).

[2] That the Lord was from eternity, is plainly evident from the Word (n. 2803), although He was afterwards born in time; for He spake by Moses and the Prophets; He likewise had appeared to many, and it is there said that He was Jehovah. But this deepest of arcana could be revealed to none but those who are in Divine perception, thus to scarcely any but the men of the Most Ancient Church, who were celestial and in this perception. From these I have heard that Jehovah Himself was the Lord as to the Divine Human when He descended into heaven and flowed in through heaven; for heaven represents one man as to all his members, and is therefore also called the Grand Man (n. 684, 1276, 2996, 2998, 3021). The Divine Itself in heaven, that is, in the Grand Man, was the Divine Human, and was Jehovah Himself thus clothed with the Human.

[3] But when mankind became such that the Divine Itself, clothed as the Divine Human, could no longer affect them (that is, when Jehovah could no longer come to man, because man had so far removed himself), then Jehovah, who is the Lord as to the Divine Essence, descended and took upon Himself a Human, by conception Divine, and by birth from a virgin such as is that of another man; but this He expelled, and by Divine means made Divine the Human that was born, from which proceeds all the Holy. Thus the Divine Human became an essence by itself which fills the universal heaven, and which also makes it possible for those to be saved who could not be saved before. This then is the Lord, who as to the Divine Human is alone Man, and from whom man has it that he is man (n. 49, 288, 477, 565, 1894).

3062. Cause to meet I pray before me this day. That this signifies providence from eternity, is evident from the signification of "causing to meet", as being to provide; and from the signification of "this day", as being from eternity (n. 2838) and moreover it is evident that what is here treated of, and for which supplication was made, is of Providence.

3063. And do mercy. That this signifies an Influx of love, is evident from the essence of mercy, as being love. Love is itself turned to mercy and becomes mercy when anyone who is in need of help is regarded from love or charity; hence mercy is the effect of love toward the needy and miserable. But here by "mercy" in the internal sense is meant love; and by "doing mercy" is meant an influx of love, because it is from the Lord's Divine Itself into His Divine Human; for it was the Lord's Divine love through which He made His Human Divine; for love is the very being of life, and no one has Divine love but the Lord. See what has been said before concerning the Lord's love, namely: That His life was love toward the universal human race, (n. 2253): That from this love He fought, (n. 1690, 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820): That it transcends all understanding, (n. 1799, 2077): That the Lord is Divine love itself, (n. 2077, 2500, 2572): That "Jehovah" is love, (n. 1735): That nothing lives but love, (n. 1589): That whoever has mutual love has the Lord's life, (n. 1799, 1802, 1803): That love and charity are the celestial itself, (n. 1419, 1824).

3064. With my lord Abraham. That this signifies the Divine Human, is evident from the representation of Abraham here, as being the Lord's Divine Human (n. 2833, 2836).

3065. Behold I stand by the fountain of waters. That this signifies the state of conjunction of truth Divine in the Human, is evident from the signification of a "fountain", as being truth (n. 2702); here truth Divine, because the Lord is treated of. The state of conjunction itself is signified by "standing by the fountain;" that this conjunction was in the Human, is evident from the series.

3066. And the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw waters. That this signifies the affections of truth and instruction through them, is evident from the signification of "daughters", as being affections (n. 489-491, 2362); and from the signification of "the men of the city", as being truths. The inhabitants of a city are frequently called in the Word the "men of the city", and frequently the "inhabitants of the city;" when they are called the "men of the city", truths are signified, and when they are called the "inhabitants", goods are signified; what "men" signify, may be seen above, (n. 265, 749, 915, 1007, 2517); and what "inhabitants", (n. 2268, 2451, 2712); what a "city", (n. 402, 2450, 2943). The signification of the above words is evident also from the signification of "drawing water", as being to be instructed (n. 3058). Hence it is evident that by the "daughters of the men of the city coming out to draw waters", are signified the affections of truth, and instruction through them. No one is ever instructed by means of truths, but by means of one affections of truth; for truths apart from affection do indeed come to the ear as sound, but do not enter into the memory; that which causes them to enter into the memory and to abide in it, is affection. For the good of affection is like soil, in which truths are sown as seeds; but such as the soil is (that is, such as the affection is), such is the produce of that which is sown. The end or use determines the (quality of the soil, or of the affection, and thus the quality of the produce of what is sown; or, if you prefer to say so, the love itself determines it; for in all things the love is the end and the use, for nothing is regarded as the end and use except that which is loved.

3067. And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say. That this signifies an affection in which is innocence, is evident from the signification of a " damsel". In the Word the affections of good and of truth are called "little children", " damsels", "girls", and "daughters;" but in all cases with a difference as to state: when "daughter" is named, affection in general is signified; when "girl" is named, affection in which is charity is signified; but when it is said damsel", affection in which is innocence is signified, because the age of girlhood is next to that of infancy, which in the internal sense is innocence. The case is the same with "boy", or "little boy", by which is signified a state in which is innocence (n. 430).

3068. Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee. That this signifies the submission of memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "letting down", as being to submit; and from the signification of a "pitcher", as being memory-knowledges. That a "water-jar" or "pitcher" signifies memory-knowledges, comes from the fact that "water" signifies truth (n. 680, 739, 2702); and a pitcher is a vessel containing water, just as memory-knowledge is a vessel in which is truth; for every memory-knowledge is a vessel for truth, and every truth is a vessel for good. Memory-knowledge without truth is an empty vessel; and so too is truth without good; but memory-knowledge in which there is truth, and truth in which there is good, are full vessels. Affection which is of love is that which conjoins so that they may be within in order; for love is spiritual conjunction.

3069. That I may drink. That this signifies instruction in truth therefrom, is evident from the signification of "drinking", as being to be instructed. In the Word throughout mention is made of "drinking;" and where the good and truth of faith are treated of, there "drinking" signifies being instructed in them and receiving them. As in Isaiah: -

The new wine shall mourn, the vine languisheth, all the glad of heart shall sigh they shall not drink wine with a song, strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it (Isaiah 24:7, 9);

"not drinking wine with a song", denotes not being instructed from the affection of truth and not being delighted thereby; that "strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it", denotes aversion. In the same: -

It shall be as when a thirsty one dreameth, and behold he drinketh; but he awaketh, and behold he is weary, and his soul hath appetite (Isaiah 29:8);

a "thirsty one" denotes one who desires to be instructed; "drinking", being instructed, but in things that are vain

[2] In Jeremiah: -

We have drunk our water for silver; our wood cometh for a price (Lam. 5:4)

"drinking waters for silver" denotes being instructed not with-out cost, and also attributing truth to one's self. That it is given free of cost, and thus that it is not from one's self, but from the Lord, is thus taught in Isaiah: -

Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and be that hath no silver come ye, buy (Isa. 55:1).

Also in John: -

Jesus said, If anyone thirst, let him come unto Me and drink; whosoever believeth in Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:37, 38);

where by "drinking" is signified being instructed, and receiving. In Luke: -

They shall say, We did eat and drink in Thy presence, and Thou didst teach in our streets but the Lord says, I know you not whence ye are; depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity (Luke 13:26, 27);

where "eating and drinking in the Lord's presence", denotes instructing and preaching the good and truth of faith from knowledges that are from the Word, which is meant by the words, "Thou didst teach in our streets". But as they did this from themselves, for the sake of their own honor and gain, and thus from no affection of good and truth, and were thus in knowledges of truth but in a life of evil, it is said, "I know you not whence ye are; depart from Me all ye workers of iniquity".

[3] In the same: -

Jesus, speaking to the disciples, said, That ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom (Luke 22:30).

That they do not eat and drink in the kingdom of the Lord, and that there is no table there, is plain to every one; so that by "eating and drinking at the Lord's table in His kingdom", something else is signified, namely, enjoying the perception of good and truth. So too with what the Lord says in Matthew: -

I say unto you, that I will not drink henceforth of this product of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it with you in My Father's kingdom (Matthew 26:29);

where "drinking" signifies instructing to the life concerning truths, and giving perception of good and truth. These words of the Lord: -

Be not anxious for your life (anima), what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on (Matt. 6:25, 31; Luke 12:29);

are significative of spiritual things, namely, that the all of faith as to good and truth is given by the Lord. In John: -

Jesus said to the woman of Samaria, Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life (John 4:7-14);

where "drinking" manifestly denotes being instructed in good and truth, and receiving them.

3070. And she shall say, Drink. That this signifies the reciprocal thereto, is evident from its being a response, and confirmation, consequently what is reciprocal.

3071. And I will give thy camels drink also. That this signifies the enlightenment of all memory-knowledges in the natural man therefrom, is evident from the signification of "camels", as being general memory-knowledges, thus these knowledges in general, or all (n. 3048); and from the signification of "giving to drink", as being to enlighten. That "drawing water" denotes to instruct, was shown above (n. 3058); thus to "give to drink" denotes to enlighten; for enlightenment comes from instruction.

3072. Her hast Thou appointed for Thy servant Isaac. That this signifies the conjunction of truth Divine with Divine good in the rational, is evident from the signification of "appointing", that is to say, for a wife, as being to conjoin by a covenant of marriage and from the representation of Isaac, as being the Divine good of the rational (n. 3024). That "she", or Rebekah, represents the truth Divine that is to be conjoined with the Divine good of the rational, has been stated above in several places; and the same is evident from the particulars in the internal sense of this chapter.

3073. And thereby shall I know that Thou hast done mercy with my lord. That this signifies that the marriage is from Divine love, is evident from the signification of "mercy", as here in the internal sense being the Divine love (n. 3063). And because the subject treated of is the betrothing of Rebekah to Isaac, that is, of the conjunction of Divine truth with the Divine good of the rational; by "doing mercy with my lord" nothing else is signified than a marriage, thus a marriage from Divine love. This also is the conclusion of his supplication, and the end that was had in view.

3074. What is contained in these three verses in the internal sense, may in some measure be seen from the explication. But as these things are disconnected, that which they involve in their series cannot appear unless they are all collected together into a single idea, and the mental view is then withdrawn from the sense of the letter; for so long as the attention is there; not only is the idea confused, but the mind is also held in doubt; and so far as it is in doubt, it is obscured. A summary description is here given of the process in which truth appears by means of memory-knowledges, and is elevated from them out of the natural man into the rational, and becomes rational truth (in the Lord, Divine); namely, that this is effected by the influx of the Divine love into the Human, from which comes the affection of truth in which is innocence. By virtue of such an influx, the memory-knowledges in the natural man were enlightened, and the truths made their appearance that were to be elevated into the rational and there conjoined with the good of the Divine love. The same things are described more particularly in what follows. But he who does not know that all things in general and in particular are disposed, even in the natural man, by an influx of love, and from this of an affection in which there is innocence, can have but a very obscure idea, if any, of what was said above and of what has now been said.

3075. Verses 15, 16. And it came to pass that scarcely had he done speaking, when behold Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was exceeding good to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her; and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up. "And it came to pass that scarcely had he done speaking,; signifies the effect of will; "when behold Rebekah came out", signifies the affection of truth from doctrinal things "who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother", signifies all the origin of this affection "with her pitcher upon her shoulder", signifies receptions of truth, and endeavor; "and the damsel was exceeding good to look upon", signifies the beauty of the affection of truth; "a virgin, neither had any man known her", signifies pure from all falsity; "and she went down to the fountain", signifies truth Divine; "and filled her pitcher", signifies the vessels of reception; "and came up", signifies elevation.

3076. And it came to pass that scarcely had he done speaking. That this signifies the effect of will, is evident from what immediately follows, that is, that all things in general and particular came to pass according to his prayer, or were accomplished as he wished. That "speaking" signifies willing may be seen above (n. 2626, 3037).

3077. And behold Rebekah came out. That this signifies the affection of truth from doctrinal things, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the truth Divine that was to be conjoined with the Divine good of the rational; but here, before she was betrothed, she puts on the representation of the affection of truth from doctrinal things; for from this comes truth, truth not being truth unless it has life, and its life is affection which is of love. That Rebekah represents the truth Divine that was to be conjoined with the Divine good of the rational, is evident from the several things contained in this chapter in the internal sense, and also from the fact that Isaac represents the Lord's Divine rational (n. 1893, 2066, 2083, 2630); thus Rebekah, who became wife to Isaac, represents that in the rational which was conjoined as a wife to a husband; and it may be seen that this is Divine truth. For in the same way Abraham represented the Divine good itself, and Sarah his wife the Divine truth itself conjoined with the Divine good (n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2904); and it is the same with Isaac and Rebekah, but in the Lord's Divine Human, namely, in His rational. In general, by a husband in the Word is signified good, and by a wife its truth (n. 1468, 2517). Moreover the essence of all marriage also (that is, conjugial love) is from the Divine marriage of good and truth, and of truth and good, in the Lord (n. 2508, 2618, 2728, 2729, 2803). That the affection of truth is from doctrinal things, is because it is said that she "came out", that is, from the city; and that by a "city" are signified doctrinal things, may be seen above (n. 402, 2451). Moreover truths are from doctrinal things.

3078. Who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother. That this signifies all the origin of this affection, is evident from the representation of Bethuel, and also of Milcah, and of Nahor, and of Abraham. What each represents specifically cannot be set forth and presented to the apprehension, for the reason that the first affection of truth did indeed derive its origin from the Divine things acquired by the Lord in the natural man (n. 3019), but still things from the mother were there, which could not be separated in a moment, and the affection was from them also. The quality of this affection in its origin is described in the internal sense by the words, "born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother".

[2] Every affection, although it appears simple and as one thing, nevertheless contains within it things so innumerable that it cannot be comprehended by any idea, still less be described; for in every affection there is the man's whole life that has been acquired from his infancy even to the time of life when he is in the affection; nay, there are other things besides, namely, those which he has inherited from father and mother, grandparents and great-grandparents; for the affection is the whole man such as he is. In the other life, by a manifestation of the affection there is sometimes presented to view how much there is in anyone of the love of self, and how much of the love of the world; and how much of the love of principles, and for what end and use; also how much of the love of good and truth, and what is the quality of that good and truth, and also how the good and truth are disposed, that is, how far conjoined, approximating, or separate; thus how much they agree or disagree with heavenly order. As just stated, all these things are presented to view by a manifestation of the affection, because the affection is the whole man. That such is the case appears incredible to man, and yet it is true.

3079. With her pitcher upon her shoulder. That this signifies receptions of truth, and endeavor, is evident from the signification of a "pitcher", as being memory-knowledge, and thus a receptacle of truth (n. 3068); and from the signification of the "shoulder", as being all power, and thus endeavor (n. 1085). That "pitchers" or "water-jars", also vessels in general, signify in the internal sense things which are in the position of being a receptacle (as are memory-knowledges and knowledges in relation to truths, and as are truths themselves in relation to good), may be seen from many passages in the Word. The "vessels" of the temple and of the altar have no other signification, and because they signified such things they were also holy, their holiness being from no other source.

[2] And when Belshazzar, with his great men and his wives, was drinking wine out of the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had brought from the temple of Jerusalem, and they were praising the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone, it was because of such signification of the vessels that the writing then appeared on the wall of his palace (Dan. 5:2). The "vessels of gold and of silver" denote the knowledges of good and truth, which were profaned; for the Chaldeans denote those who are in knowledges, but such as have been profaned by the falsities that are in them (n. 1368); so that the knowledges serve them to worship gods of gold and silver; for Belshazzar is called king of the chaldeans in this same chapter (Daniel 5:30).

[3] That "vessels" signify the externals of spiritual things, is also plain from other passages in the Word, as in Isaiah: -

As the sons of Israel bring their offering in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah (Isa. 66:20);

where the Lord's kingdom is treated of. The "offering in a clean vessel" is representative of the external man relatively to the internal; that which brings the gift is the internal man; the "clean vessel" is the external man that is in agreement, thus it denotes the things in the external man, which are memory-knowledges, knowledges, and doctrinal things.

[4] In Jeremiah: -

The cry of Jerusalem is gone up, and their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters; they came to the pits, they found no waters, they returned with their vessels empty, they are ashamed (Jer. 14:2, 3);

"empty vessels" denote knowledges wherein there is no truth, and also truths wherein there is no good. Again: -

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel hath devoured me, he hath troubled me, he hath made me an empty vessel (Jer. 51:34);

where an "empty vessel" has a similar meaning. That it is Babel that lays waste, may be seen above (n. 1327). In Moses: -

As the valleys are they planted, as gardens by the river's side waters shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be at many waters (Num. 24:6, 7).

This is Balaam's parable concerning Jacob and Israel; "waters flowing from his buckets", signify that truths flow from knowledges.

[5] In the parable of the ten virgins, five of whom took oil in their vessels with their lamps, while the foolish did not (Matt. 25:4), by the "virgins" are signified affections. That the wise "took oil in their vessels", denotes that there was good in truths, and thus charity in faith. That "oil" denotes good, may be seen above (n. 886); "lamps" denote love.

3080. And the damsel was exceeding good to look upon. That this signifies the beauty of the affection of truth, is evident from the signification of a "damsel", as being an affection in which is innocence (n. 3067). That "exceeding good to look upon" signifies beauty (here the beauty of the affection of truth, because it is said of the damsel) comes from the fact that all beauty is from good in which there is innocence. Good itself when it flows in from the internal man into the external, makes beauty; and from this is all human beauty. This may likewise be seen from the fact that no one is affected by the face of another, but by the affection which beams forth from the face; and that they who are in good are affected by the affection of good which is there, and in the measure in which there is innocence in the good. Thus it is the spiritual in the natural which affects, but not the natural without the spiritual. In like manner they who are in good are affected by little children, who appear to them beautiful in proportion to the innocence of charity in their faces, gestures, and speech. That goodness and charity are what form and cause beauty, see (n. 553). Hence then it is that the "damsel exceeding good to look upon" signifies the beauty of the affection of truth in which there is good.

3081. A virgin, neither had any man known her. That this signifies pure from all falsity, is evident from the signification of a "virgin". A "virgin" is often mentioned in the Word, and there signifies the Lord's kingdom, and likewise the church, and consequently every one who is a kingdom of the Lord or who is a church; and this from the conjugial love in chaste virgins. In the spiritual sense conjugial love is the affection of good in truth, and the affection of truth from good, from which affections, conjoined as it were in marriage, comes conjugial love (n. 2508, 2618, 2727-2729). And because as before said this is seen in a virgin, the kingdom of the Lord, which is also compared to marriage and is called a marriage, is called a "virgin". That by "a man had not known her", is signified pure from all falsity, is because by a "man" in the Word is signified not only rational truth, but also in the opposite sense falsity (n. 265, 749, 1007); thus to be "known by a man" is to be contaminated with falsity, and "not to be known by a man" is to be pure from falsity: by a "man" is not here meant a husband (vir conjugii).

[2] That by a "virgin" in the Word are signified those who are in the kingdom of the Lord, or what is the same, those in whom the kingdom of the Lord is, is evident in John: -

These are they who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins; these are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, for they are without spot before the throne of God (Rev. 14:4, 5).

Here those are plainly called "virgins" who follow the Lamb, that is, who are in the Lord's kingdom; and they are also said to be "without spot".

[3] In the proper sense, those are "virgins" who are in love to the Lord, that is, the celestial, and thus those who are in the affection of good. Those also are called "virgins" who are in charity toward the neighbor, that is, the spiritual, and thus who are in the affection of truth; as may be seen from passages in the Word. Thus in Isaiah: -

The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and hath mocked thee; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head after thee (Isa. 37:22).

This is said to the king of Asshur; the "virgin daughter of Zion" denotes the celestial church; the "daughter of Jerusalem", the spiritual church.

[4] In Jeremiah: -

Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel; again shalt thou deck thy timbrels, and shalt go forth in the dance of them that make merry. Their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin be glad in the dance, and the young men and the old together (Jer. 31:4, 12, 13).

The "virgin of Israel" denotes the spiritual church; the affection of truth from good in this church is described here, as in other places, by "timbrels and dances". In the same: -

The ways of Zion do mourn, her priests do sigh, her virgins are sad. The Lord hath trodden the winepress, for the virgin daughter of Judah. Behold my sorrow; my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity (Lam. 1:4, 15, 18).

"Virgins" denote the affections of good and of truth. And again in the same: -

The women in Zion were ravished, the virgins in the cities of Judah (Lam. 5:11).

Here the " virgins" denote the affections of good.

[5] In Amos: -

They shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst (Amos 8:12, 13).

The "fair virgins" denote the affections of truth; the "young men", truths, or what is the same, those who are in them; concerning these it is said that "they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it", and consequently "they shall faint for thirst".

[6] In Zechariah: -

Jehovah their God shall preserve them in that day, as the flock of His people; for how great is His goodness and how great is His beauty: corn shall make the young men grow (germinare), and new wine the virgins (Zech. 9:16, 17);

"young men" denoting truths, and "virgins", affections. In David: -

The King's daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is of inweavings of gold. She is led unto the King in broidered work; the virgins, her companions, that follow her, are brought unto Thee (Ps. 45:13, 14).

The "King's daughter" denotes the Lord's spiritual kingdom; the "virgins, her companions, that follow her", denote the affections of truth.

[7] In the same: -

They have seen Thy goings, O God, the goings of my God in, the sanctuary. The singers went before, the players on the harp followed after, in the midst of the damsels playing the timbrels (Ps. 68:24, 25).

The "damsels playing the timbrels" also denote the affections of truth, the term "virgin" being used in distinction from "damsel" to express innocence. "Virgins" are so called from conjugial love, and thus denote those who are in innocence; for conjugial love is innocence itself (n. 2736). In John therefore in the passage quoted from the Apocalypse, they are said to "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth;" for by the "Lamb" is meant the Lord as to innocence; and all who are in heaven are called "virgins" from the innocence which is in their good. According to the amount and quality of the innocence in good, they " follow the Lamb".

3082. And she went down to the fountain. That this signifies Divine truth, is evident from the signification of the "fountain", as being Divine truth (n. 2702, 3065).

3083. And filled her pitcher. That this signifies vessels of reception, is evident from the signification of a "pitcher", which being a vessel for the reception of water, is in the internal sense a recipient of the knowledges of truth, and also of truth itself, which is signified by "water". That "water" in the internal sense denotes knowledges, and also truth, see (n. 28, 680, 2680, 2702, 3058).

3084. And came up. That this signifies elevation, is evident from the signification of "coming up", as being to be elevated. Being elevated is said of passing from what is lower to what is higher, and also therefore of passing from what is exterior to what is interior, which is the same thing; for what is lower or higher in a human idea is exterior or interior in the angelic idea; for instance, heaven, which appears to man higher, but to angels interior; and the natural with man - this is exterior relatively to his spiritual; and so again is the spiritual relatively to the celestial; or what is the same, memory-knowledge, which is of the natural man, is exterior relatively to truth, and truth is exterior relatively to good; and therefore memory-knowledge relatively to truth is called a veil and also clothing, and truth likewise is so called relatively to good; and it is from this that one is said to "go up" to Jerusalem, but to "go down" from Jerusalem; also to "go up from Jerusalem to Zion", and to "go down from Zion to Jerusalem;" for by what is round about Jerusalem are signified the exteriors of the church, but by Jerusalem the interiors, and by Zion the inmosts. As in the passage before us in the internal sense there is described the first of the elevation of truth out of the natural man to the rational, it is therefore said first that the affection of truth represented by Rebekah "went down to the fountain", and then that she "came up;" for, as before said (n. 3074), the Divine love flows into the affection of good and from this into the affection of truth, and vivifies and enlightens the things that are in the natural man, and then disposes them in order (this is signified by "going down"); and by virtue of this, truths are raised out of the natural man into the rational, and are conjoined with the good there (this is signified by "going up").

3085. In these two verses is described the affection of truth as to origin, as to quality, and as to the first of initiation; as to origin, by the words, "Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother", by which in the internal sense is set forth all the origin of this affection (n. 3077, 3078) as to quality, by the words, "her pitcher was upon her shoulder; and the damsel was exceeding good to look upon", by which is described the quality (n. 3079-3081); as to the first of initiation, by the words, "she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up" (n. 3082-3084).

[2] But as before said, these things are not only beyond ordinary apprehension, but are also beyond that of more cultivated men - that is to say, such things as are contained in the internal sense in this chapter and in some that follow. The reason of this is that it scarcely enters the mind of anyone that there is a continual Divine influx through the internal man into the external; that is, an influx of celestial and spiritual things through the rational man into the natural, or what is the same into the natural things of the external man; and that by this influx truths are continually called forth from the natural man, are elevated, and are implanted in the good which is in the rational. As it is not known that this takes place, how should all the process be known, and in what manner it is effected; a process of wisdom so great (because from the Divine) that it can never be explored as to a ten-thousandth part; the things that can be seen being only the most general?

[3] And as such is the case, let no one wonder that the things here contained in the internal sense cannot be described to the apprehension, and that what are described transcend the apprehension; for they treat of this process and describe it. And besides, the internal sense is principally for the angels; and this in order that through the Word there may be communication between heaven and man; and by the angels such things as are referred to above are accounted as things most delightful, because heavenly food is nothing else than all that which is of intelligence and wisdom; and to them the blessedness of wisdom and intelligence is whatever treats of the Lord.

3086. That some idea, although a most general one, may be formed of what is here contained in the internal sense, be it known that this whole chapter treats of the truth Divine that has to be conjoined with the Divine good; to wit that Divine good flowed into the natural man, that is, into the memory-knowledges, the knowledges, and the doctrinal things therein, for these are of the natural man in so far as they are in its memory; and that by this influx it enlightened, vivified, and disposed into order all things therein; for all light, life, and order in the natural man are from influx from the Divine, as may be known to every one if he attends to it. By means of this influx there comes forth affection; first, the general affection of truth, treated of in these two verses in regard to its origin (n. 3077, 3078); its quality (n. 3079-3081); and the first of initiation (n. 3082-3084); but in the verses now immediately following, the process is further described in the internal sense, namely, the exploration of that truth, also the separation of the things from the mother, which at first were adjoined to it, and so on.

[2] But I know that these are arcana too deep to fall within apprehension; and this as before said for the reason that they are things unknown; but as the internal sense describes them, and this as to all their circumstances, they must needs be set forth, no matter how much they may appear to be above the apprehension. At the very least it may in this way be seen what great arcana there are in the internal sense of the Word; also that the arcana are such as scarcely to be seen in the light of the world, in which man is during his life in the body, but that they always appear more distinctly and clearly in proportion as man comes from the light of the world into the light of heaven, into which he comes after death; thus into the light in which blessed and happy souls are, that is, the angels.

3087. Verses 17-20. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me I pray sip a little water from thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord; and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and made him drink. And she finished making him drink, and she said, I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels. "The servant ran to meet her, and said", signifies exploration from Divine good; "let me I pray sip a little water from thy pitcher", signifies inquiry whether anything of truth from this source can be conjoined; "and she said, Drink, my lord", signifies reciprocation; "and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand", signifies submission of the recipients from power; "and made him drink", signifies initiation. "And she finished making him drink", signifies what is successive; "and she said, I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking", signifies reciprocation as to the enlightenment of all the memory-knowledges in the natural man. "And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough", signifies the separation of the affection of truth which was being initiated into Divine good; "and ran again unto the well", signifies a lower affection of truth "and drew for all his camels", signifies whereby the general memory-knowledges were enlightened.

3088. The servant ran to meet her, and said. That this signifies exploration from Divine good, is evident from the signification of "running to meet her", as being an exploration as to whether the case was as he had spoken in his heart (the internal sense so dictates); also from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive (often shown before) and thud to explore. That this was from Divine good, is because the servant here acts in the stead of his lord, that is, of Abraham and also of Isaac; for he that is sent puts on the personality of him who sends. This is often the case in the Word, as when angels are spoken of who are first mentioned as angels and are afterwards called "Jehovah", as the angel who appeared to Moses in the bush, (Exod. 3:2, 4); and the angel that appeared to Gideon, (Judges 6:11, 12, 14). For the same reason Rebekah addresses him as "my lord" in the next verse.

3089. Let me I pray sip a little water from thy pitcher. That this signifies inquiry whether anything of truth from this source could be conjoined, is evident from the signification of "sipping", as being similar to that of "drinking;" but diminutively, because exploring is implied. That "to drink", is to perceive, see (n. 3069). In the internal sense "to drink" also denotes to be communicated and to be conjoined, and is predicated of what is spiritual, as "to eat" is predicated of what is celestial (n. 2187, 2343). The same is further evident from the signification of "water", as being truth (n. 680, 739, 2702). Here therefore the words "let me I pray sip a little water from thy pitcher", signify exploring whether anything of truth from this source could be conjoined. The "pitcher" is the recipient, in which and out of which is truth (n. 3068, 3079). That there was an exploration is because the first affection of truth was attended with something from the maternal, which was to be separated (n. 3040, 3078). With a man about to be regenerated the case is that his first affection of truth is very impure; for there is in it an affection of use and an end for the sake of himself, for the sake of the world, for the sake of glory in heaven, and the like, which ends regard himself, but not the community, the Lord's kingdom, and still less the Lord. Such an affection necessarily precedes; nevertheless it is successively purified by the Lord, till at last falsities and evils are removed and are cast as it were into the circumference; and yet they had been of service as means.

3090. And she said, Drink, my lord. That this signifies reciprocation, is evident from the assent or consent. What the reciprocation of truth is when it is to be conjoined with good, is apparent from marriages; for marriage comes from the fact that there is consent on both sides. This has its origin from the marriage of good and truth; on the side of good there is will, and on that of truth there is consent, and from this comes the conjunction. Although this reciprocation is not apparent with man when he is being regenerated, that is, when he is entering into the heavenly marriage, it nevertheless takes place. The same is more manifest from the fact that when a man is being regenerated, there is effected a likeness of a marriage between the will and the understanding; good being of the will, and truth of the understanding. Therefore the ancients instituted a marriage between the will and the understanding, and between the several things of the will and those of the understanding (n. 54, 55).

3091. And she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand. That this signifies submission of the recipients from power, is evident from the signification of "letting down", as being submission; from the signification of a "pitcher" being a recipient (n. 3068, 3079); and from the signification of the "hand", as being power (n. 878). The submission of the recipients, from power, consists in the doctrinal things, the knowledges, and the memory-knowledges, which are the recipients, (n. 3068, 3079), applying themselves. There is a chain of subordination, thus of application, and consequently of submission, from the First of life, or the Lord. As the things which are in a lower place ought to serve the higher, they must be in submission; for without their submission there is no conjunction. The "power" here spoken of is from truth; this causes the things which are below to submit. In the Word power is especially attributed to truth; and therefore the "hands", "arms", and "shoulders" (by which in the internal sense powers are signified) are predicated of truth (n. 878, 1085); and the power which appears to be from truth is itself from good, through truth.

3092. And made him drink. That this signifies initiation, is evident from the signification of "giving to drink (potare), in that it is almost the same as that of "drinking (bibere);" but "drinking" here involves more activity on the part of him who drinks. That "drinking" is receiving, and also being conjoined, may be seen above (n. 3069, 3089); thus "making him drink (facere potare)" denotes to give an opportunity to receive, which is the first of initiation.

3093. And she finished making him drink. That this signifies what is successive of initiation, is evident from the fact that "finished", or "to finish", involves the end of the act that precedes and the beginning of the act that follows, and thus what is successive; and also from the signification of "making to drink", as being to be initiated (n. 3092).

3094. And she said, I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. That this signifies reciprocation as to the enlightenment of all the memory-knowledges in the natural man, is evident from the signification of "camels", as being general memory-knowledges in the natural man (n. 3048, 3071); and from the signification of "drawing", that is, "drawing water", as being to instruct and also to enlighten (n. 3058, 3071). It is evident that this is reciprocation because she said that she would do this, and also did it; that is, drew water for the camels. The enlightenment that is here treated of is on the part of truth, although it is from good through truth. As regards the enlightenment of memory-knowledges in the natural man the case is this: All enlightenment is from good for the good which is of love is comparatively as the sun's flame, from which are heat and light; but truth is as the object through which the flame shines, by which there is enlightenment from light; and such as is the light therefrom, such is the enlightenment.

[2] There is nothing else that receives good but truth, and such as is the truth, such is the reception, and such is the consequent enlightenment. When therefore there is enlightenment by means of truth, the enlightenment appears to be from the truth, as if it were its own; although it is of good, which thus gives light through the truth. Moreover the enlightenment of good by means of truth penetrates still further, and affects more deeply, and produces a lower affection of truth, which will be spoken of presently. The light of heaven is from the Divine good of the Lord through His Divine truth; and because it is through the Divine truth in His Human, it penetrates not only to those who are celestial, but also to the spiritual, and enlightens with wisdom and intelligence all who are in heaven. And because this is the source of wisdom and intelligence, therefore the Divine good and the Divine truth in the Lord's Human are so much treated of in the internal sense of the Word; and in the present passage, this sense treats of the first enlightenment of truth from good, and of good through truth.

3095. And she hasted and emptied her pitcher into the trough. That this signifies the separation of the affection of the truth which was being initiated into Divine good, is evident from the signification of "emptying the pitcher", as being to separate the truth; for by a "pitcher", as a containing vessel, is signified not merely the memory-knowledge in which is truth, but also the truth in which is good (n. 3068, 3079); and here, because initiation is treated of, it signifies the truth which was being initiated into Divine good. And because truth itself cannot possibly be conjoined with good except through its affection (n. 3024, 3066), for in affection is the life through which is conjunction, therefore here it is the affection of truth that is meant. The meaning of the passage is also evident from the signification of a "trough", or "watering place", as being the good of truth; for the water in the trough signifies truth (n. 739, 2702), and the trough itself signifies the same as wood, namely, good (n. 2784, 2812). The good of truth is that which is produced from good by means of truth, and is like an offspring born of truth as a mother, and of good as a father. All the genuine good in the natural man is from this, that is, from the marriage of good and truth in the rational. This good is that which is called the good of truth, and is signified in the Word by a "trough", or "watering place".

3096. And she ran again unto the well to draw. That this signifies a lower affection of truth, is evident from the signification of a "well", as being truth (n. 2702), but truth that is lower; and as the initiation of truth is here treated of, a lower affection of truth is signified, as just said (n. 3094) The difference of signification in the internal sense between a "fountain" and a "well" may be seen in the number already cited (n. 2702), namely, that the term "fountain" is used when a purer and a higher truth is treated of, but "well" when a truth not so pure and also lower; as is the case in this chapter likewise, in which it is sometimes said a "fountain" and sometimes a "well". Natural truth is lower truth; and the affection of natural truth is a lower affection of truth; from this affection, proximately, are the general memory-knowledges enlightened; and that this enlightenment penetrates further and affects more deeply, see (n. 3094).

3097. And drew for all his camels. That this signifies that general memory-knowledges were enlightened thereby, is evident from the signification of "drawing", as being to instruct, and also to enlighten (n. 3058, 3071); and from the signification of "camels", as being general memory-knowledges (n. 3048).

3098. The things contained in the internal sense from (n. 3088) to this point, are also such as can be apprehended by those only who have been instructed concerning the internals of man, and who are in truths; for through truths and according to truths, comes enlightenment. The subject here is the first initiation of truth into good; for as before said good itself flows into the natural through the rational, thus by an internal way, and enlightens the things which are therein; whereas truth itself inflows into the natural through the sensuous part, especially that of hearing and sight, and thus by an external way. Truth has its rise from this source, as may be known to every one who reflects; but the conjunction of good and truth is not there, but is in the rational; therefore truth is called forth therefrom, thus out of the natural sphere into the spiritual; for the truth that is to be conjoined with good is spiritual. How the case is with the truth that is first called forth thence, is treated of in these verses (n. 3087-3097).

3099. Verses 21, 22. And the man marveling at her, withheld himself, to know whether Jehovah had prospered his way or not. And it came to pass when the camels had done drinking, that the man took a jewel of gold, of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands, ten of gold their weight. "And the man marveling at her, withheld himself", signifies a state of perception as to those things; "to know whether Jehovah had prospered his way or not", signifies concerning Divine truth, what it was; "and it came to pass when the camels had done drinking", signifies acknowledgment from enlightenment in general memory-knowledges; "that the man took a jewel of gold", signifies Divine good; "of half a shekel weight", signifies sufficient for initiation; "and two bracelets", signifies Divine truth; "for her hands", signifies the power of the affection of truth; "ten of gold their weight", signifies what is full for initiation.

3100. The man marveling at her, withheld himself. That this signifies a state of perception as to those things, is evident from the signification of "marveling", and of "withholding himself" (when he saw that those things which he spake in his heart had come to pass), as being somewhat of acknowledgment, and at the same time of waiting to see whether it was not so; for he marveled because he acknowledged that it had so come to pass, and he withheld himself because he waited to see whether it was not so; this is the state of perception which is signified.

3101. To know whether Jehovah had prospered his way or not. That this signifies inquiry concerning Divine truth, what it was, is evident from the signification of a "way", as being truth (n. 627, 2333); whether it was Divine is signified by its being said "whether Jehovah had prospered it", which is the same as inquiring whether it was from Jehovah, or from the Divine, and thus what truth it was; for truths which are called forth from the natural man into the rational are not all received; but only those which agree with the good there, and thus by insemination and insertion act as one with it; the rest, although they had appeared as truths before they were elevated, still are not received, because they are not acknowledged. It is good that acknowledges its own truth, and it is truth that acknowledges its own good. That the truth was acknowledged for what it was, and that thus it was received, is also clear from what now follows.

3102. And it came to pass when the camels had done drinking. That this signifies acknowledgment from enlightenment in general memory-knowledges, is evident from the fact that the two expressions, "it came to pass", and "had done", signify what is successive, and involve the end of the act that precedes and the beginning of the act that follows (n. 3093); here therefore they signify acknowledgment, as shown just above. The same is evident also from the signification of "camels", as being general memory-knowledges (n. 3048, 3071); and from the signification of "drinking", as being here the same as "drawing waters" (n. 3097), and also the same as "giving to drink" (n. 3058, 3071), namely, being enlightened. Hence it is evident that by these words, "and it came to pass when the camels had done drinking", is signified the acknowledgment of truth Divine from enlightenment in general memory-knowledges.

[2] The case is really this: Every truth that is elevated out of the natural man, that is, out of memory-knowledges (or out of knowledges and doctrinal things, for these are of the natural man) into the rational, and there received, must first be acknowledged for what it is, and whether it is in agreement with the good that is in the rational or not; if it is in agreement, it is received; and if not, it is rejected. There are many apparent truths in a single company; but only those are conjoined which acknowledge the good there, and thus which mutually love each other. In order however that they may be acknowledged to be such, there must be enlightenment in the natural man, by which all things there both in general and in particular may be seen at one view, and that thus there may be choice. This enlightenment in the natural man is from good, but still is by means of truth (n. 3094). It is this enlightenment that is signified by Rebekah's drawing for the camels, and making them drink, or giving them to drink.

3103. And the man took a jewel of gold. That this signifies Divine good, is evident from the signification of a "jewel of gold", as being good; and here, because in the internal sense the Lord is treated of, it signifies the Divine good; and because this is from the rational, the term "man (vir)" is used. That a "man" denotes the rational, see (n. 265, 749, 1007). In ancient times, when the forms of worship in churches were representative, and it was known what they signified, when marriages were being entered upon it was customary to give the bride a jewel of gold and bracelets, because the church was represented by the bride, its good by the jewel, and its truth by the bracelets; and because it was known that the conjugial love with the bride and the wife descends from the marriage of the Lord's Divine good and Divine truth (n. 2508, 2618, 2727-2729). The jewel of gold was put upon the nose, as is evident also from what is said afterwards, that he put the jewel upon her nose" (verse 47), for the reason that the nose signified the life of good, from the respiration there, which in the internal sense is life, and also from the fragrance, which is what is grateful to the love, the good of which it is (n. 96, 97).

[2] That the "jewel" was the badge of marriage as to good, is evident also from other passages of the Word, as in Ezekiel: -

I decked thee with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain upon thy throat; and I put a jewel upon thy nose (Ezek. 16:11, 12);

concerning the Ancient Church, here called "Jerusalem", which is described as a bride, to whom were given bracelets, a chain, and a jewel. "Bracelets upon the hands" were a badge representative of truth; and a "jewel upon the nose" was a badge representative of good.

[3] In Isaiah: -

Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, the Lord will make bald the crown of their head, and will take away the rings, and the nose jewels, the changes of garments, and the mantles (Isa. 3:16-18, 21, 22).

The "daughters of Zion who are haughty", denote the affections of evil within the church (n. 2362, 3024); the "rings and the nose jewels which will be removed", denote good and its badges; the "changes of garments and the mantles", truth and its badges.

[4] In Hosea: -

I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim to which she burned incense; and she put on her nose jewel and her ornaments, and went after her lovers (Hosea 2:13);

treating of the perverted church, and the new church after it. The "nose jewel" here also denotes a badge of the good of the church. When these jewels were fitted to the ears, they also signified good, but good in act; and in the opposite sense evil in act (Gen. 35:4; Exod. 32:2, 3).

3104. Of half a shekel weight. That this signifies sufficient for initiation, is evident from the signification of a "shekel", a "half shekel", and "weight". That a "shekel" is the price or estimation of good and truth, and that a "half shekel" is the determination of its quantity, see (n. 2959). That "weight" signifies the state of a thing as to good will be seen presently; and thus it is evident that "of half a shekel weight" signifies and involves the quantity in respect to the good meant by the jewel of gold. That it is for initiation, follows from what precedes and follows.

[2] That "weight" is the state of a thing as to good, is evident from the following passages of the Word. In Ezekiel: -

The prophet was to eat food by weight, twenty shekels a day; and was to drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin; for behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and with astonishment, that they may want bread and water (Ezek. 4:10, 11, 16, 17).

Here the vastation of good and of truth is treated of, a representation of which was made by the prophet. The state of vastated good is signified by their,"eating food and bread by weight;" and the state of vastated truth by their "drinking water by measure". That "bread" is the celestial, and thus is good, see (n. 276, 680, 1165, 2177); also that "water" is the spiritual, and thus is truth, (n. 739, 2702, 3058); hence it is evident that "weight" is predicated of good, and "measure" of truth.

[3] Again: -

There shall be balances of justice, and an ephah of justice, and a bath of justice (Ezek. 45:10).

This is said of the holy land, by which is signified the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, as may be known from the several particulars there mentioned by the prophet; where there will be no balances, ephah, and bath, but goods and truths which are signified by these weights and measures. In Isaiah: -

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and hath made ready the heavens with the palm of his hand, and hath comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? (Isa. 40:12).

To "weigh the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance", denotes that from the Lord are the celestial things of love and charity, and that He alone disposes their states. That "mountains and hills", concerning which such weights are predicated, are the celestial things of love, see (n. 795, 796, 1430, 2722).

[4] In Daniel: -

The writing upon the wall of the palace of Belshazzar was, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. This is the interpretation: Mene, God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it; Tekel, thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting; Peres, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Mede and the Persian (Daniel 5:25-28);

where mene or "hath numbered", is predicated of truth; while tekel or "weighed in the balances" is predicated of good; in the internal sense consummation is treated of.

3105. And two bracelets. That this signifies Divine truth, is evident from the signification of "bracelets", as being truth, here Divine truth, because the Lord is treated of in the internal sense; they are said to have been "two", to denote fullness. Bracelets were placed on the hands of a bride, because by a bride was signified the church, and by her hands were signified powers from truth. That "hands" are predicated of truth, see (n. 3091). That "bracelets" have such a signification, see (Ezek. 16:11; 23:42); (n. 3103). Bracelets were not only for a bride, but also for a king, but for a king they were on the arm, as appears in (2 Sam. 1:10), for the reason that royalty was representative and significative of Divine truth pertaining to the Lord (n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009); and the "arm" is significative of power (n. 878).

3106. For her hands. That this signifies the power of the affection of truth, is evident from the signification of a " hand", as being power (n. 878, 3091); and from the representation of Rebekah - here meant by "her" - as being the affection of truth (n. 2865, 3077).

3107. Ten of gold their weight. That this signifies what is full for initiation, is evident from the signification of "ten", as being a full state, like a "hundred" (n. 1988, 2636); and from the signification of "gold", which is here a kind of coin from the weight of which the valuation was made; and from the signification of "weight", as being the state of a thing as to good (n. 3104). Hence it is evident that "ten of gold their weight" signifies a full state of what is estimated, as to good. That it is for initiation, is evident from the several particulars in this chapter in which initiation is treated of, that is, betrothal.

3108. These two verses treat of the initiation of truth into good; but what is the nature of this initiation does not easily fall into the idea of thought with anyone who has been enlightened only by such things as are of the light of the world, and not at the same time by such things as are of the light of heaven, from which light the things which are of the light of the world may themselves be enlightened. They who are not in good, and thence in faith, have no other ideas of thought than those which have been formed from objects of the light of the world. These do not know that there is anything spiritual, nor indeed what the rational is in the genuine sense, but only the natural to which they attribute all things; and this is the reason why these things which are said in the internal sense concerning the initiation of truth into good, are to them too remote to appear to amount to anything; when yet to those who are in the light of heaven these are among their precious things. As regards the initiation of truth into good the case is this: Before truth has been initiated and rightly conjoined, it is indeed with man, but it has not been made as it were of him, or as his own; but as soon as it is being initiated into his good, it is appropriated to him; and it then vanishes from his external memory, and passes into the internal memory; or what is the same, it vanishes from the natural or external man, and passes into the rational or internal man, and puts on the very man, and makes his human, that is, his quality as to the human. much is the case with all truth that is being conjoined with a man's good; such also is the case with the falsity that is being conjoined with evil which he calls good; but the difference is that the former opens the rational, and so makes the man rational; whereas the latter closes the rational and makes the man irrational; although he seems to himself, in the darkness in which he then is, to be pre-eminently rational.

3109. Verses 23-25. And he said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me I pray is there room in thy father's house for us to pass the night? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor. And she said unto him, We have both straw and much provender, also room to pass the night. "He said, Whose daughter art thou?" signifies further exploration concerning innocence; "tell me I pray is there room in thy father's house for us to pass the night;" signifies exploration concerning the good of charity; "and she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor", signifies here as above the whole of its origin; "and she said unto him", signifies perception; "we have both straw", signifies truths in the form of memory-knowledge; "and much provender", signifies their goods; "also room to pass the night", signifies the state.

3110. He said, Whose daughter art thou? That this signifies further exploration concerning innocence, is evident from the question, "Whose daughter art thou?" as being exploration; that here it is further exploration, is evident from what has been said above (n. 3088, 3101). That it was exploration concerning innocence, is evident from the signification of a damsel, as being an affection in which is innocence (n. 3067). In this verse indeed the word "damsel" is not found; but in (verses 14 and 16) Rebekah is called a damsel, and the question is here addressed to her, therefore "thou" here means nothing else than damsel.

[2] As regards the thing itself here treated of, namely, that truth was explored as to who innocence it had, and then also as to what charity, before it was initiated into good and conjoined with it, this cannot but appear wonderful to those who have no knowledge of the subject; but still let them know that in regard to the initiation and conjunction of truth with good in every man there is the most exquisite exploration, and such as surpasses all belief. To the veriest good there is never admitted anything but the veriest truth; for when anything not so true approaches, it does not conjoin itself with good itself, but with some good that in itself is not good, but appears as good; if falsity approaches, the good withdraws itself inward, and the falsity conjoins itself outwardly with some evil which it believes to be good.

[3] This Divine disposal is effected by the Lord, spirits and angels being the mediums; and in this world it is very secret, but it is perfectly well known in the other. Moreover every one who is of sound reason is able to know it, or at least to have some apprehension of it; for evil and falsity together are hell, and flow in from hell; whereas good and truth together are heaven, and also flow in through heaven from the Lord; and since this is so, evil and truth can no more be joined together than can hell and heaven; wherefore there is a more exquisite balance applied in these things than it is possible for anyone to believe; and this is what is meant by exploration.

3111. Tell me I pray is there room in thy father's house for us to pass the night? That this signifies exploration concerning the good of charity, is evident from the signification of "tell me I pray is there", as being exploration; from the signification of a "house", as being good (n. 2048, 2233, 2331); and from the signification of "father", in this case, Bethuel, as being the good of charity such as there is with the better Gentiles (n. 2865) - the very origin of the affection of truth represented by Rebekah being from such good - and from the signification of "room to pass the night", as being a state of "abiding" (n. 3115).

[2] That there is in the internal sense a description of the exploration concerning the origin of the affection of truth as to innocence and the good of charity, is for the reason that the truth which is to be initiated and conjoined with good derives its first origin from no other source, as may be seen from all those with whom truth is received and wedded to good. Within the church, they who have not some measure of innocence and of charity toward the neighbor, howsoever they may be acquainted with truth and profess it with the lips, yet in no wise do they acknowledge it at heart. Outside of the church, among the Gentiles who are called to the truth of faith, or are instructed concerning it in the other life, no others receive it than those who are in innocence, and who live together in mutual charity; for innocence and charity produce the ground in which the seeds of faith can take root and grow.

3112. And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor. That this signifies the whole of its origin, that is, the whole of the origin of the affection of truth, is evident from the representation of Bethuel, and also of Milcah and of Nahor, as being the origin of the affection of truth, which is represented by Rebekah (n. 3078).

3113. And she said unto him. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification in the historical parts of the Word of "saying", as being in the internal sense to perceive, as frequently shown above.

3114. We have both straw and much provender. That "straw" signifies truths in the form of memory-knowledge, and that "much provender" signifies their goods, is evident from the signification of "straw" and of provender". That "straw" signifies these truths, is because it is spoken of as being the food of camels; for when by "camels" is signified the natural man as to the general memory-knowledges therein, then by their food, namely, by straw, nothing else than these can be signified; for the natural man has no other food which is the food of its life, seeing that its nourishment is from such truths; for if such food should fail it, that is, knowing, it would not continue to exist. That this is the case, is evident from the life after death; for then such things are to spirits in place of food (n. 56-58, 680, 681, 1480, 1695, 1973, 1974). In the natural man, as in the rational, there are two classes of things in general which constitute its essence, namely, those of the understanding and those of the will. To the things of the understanding pertain truths; to those of the will pertain goods. The truths of the natural man are truths in the form of memory-knowledge, that is, whatever things are in his external memory; these are what are signified by "straw", when camels, and also when horses, mules, and asses are treated of. But the goods of the natural man are delights, chiefly those of the affection of such truths.

3115. Also room to pass the night. That this signifies the state, is evident from the signification of "room", as being state (n. 2625, 2837); and from the signification of "passing the night", as being to abide or have an abode (n. 2330); here therefore there is signified the state of the affection of truth, in regard to its origin. Its origin is described by the things represented by Bethuel, Milcah, and Nahor; and its relationships by "Laban" in the verses that follow. And because this origin was obscure, its state is signified by "room to pass the night", as also above.

3116. These three verses treat of the exploration of the truth which is to be initiated and thus conjoined with good; and this indeed especially in regard to its origin, for on the origin depend all things in general and in particular; from it the derived things have their form, as from their root, or their seed, as a plant or a tree has from its root or seed. These truths the Lord saw and explored in Himself from the Divine, and from His own wisdom and intelligence initiated; that is to say He initiated truths into the good of the rational. The exploration itself is here described in the internal sense; but the things contained therein can be explained only very briefly. Exploration takes place likewise with every man who is being reformed, and also with every one who receives remains; but of this exploration the man knows nothing at all; it is so entirely in obscurity with him that he does not even believe that there is any; when yet it is taking place every moment, but from the Lord, who alone sees man's state - not only his present state, but also his future state to eternity. The exploration is a most exquisite balancing, to prevent even the least of falsity from being conjoined with good, and the least of truth from being conjoined with evil; for if there should be such conjunction, the man would perish eternally; because then in the other life he would hang between hell and heaven; and by reason of the good he would be spewed out from hell, and by reason of the evil from heaven.

3117. Verses 26, 27. And the man bent himself and bowed himself down to Jehovah; and he said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of my lord Abraham, who hath not forsaken His mercy and His truth from my lord; I being in the way, Jehovah hath led me to the house of my lord's brethren. "The man bent himself, and bowed himself down to Jehovah", signifies gladness and joy; "and he said, blessed be Jehovah the God of my lord Abraham", signifies here as before, from the Divine Itself and the Divine Human; "who hath not forsaken His mercy", signifies a perception of the influx of love; "and His truth from my lord", signifies the influx of charity therefrom; "I being in the way", signifies in a state of the conjunction of truth with good in the rational; "Jehovah hath led me to the house of my lord's brethren", signifies to the good of truth.

3118. The man bent himself, and bowed himself to Jehovah. That this signifies gladness and joy, is evident from the signification of "bending himself", and of "bowing himself down", as denoting to be glad and to rejoice. Bending and bowing down are gestures of humiliation, that is, they are humiliation in act, whether in a state of grief or in a state of joy - in a state of grief when that which is wished for does not come to pass, but in a state of joy when it does come to pass; as in this case, that Rebekah, according to the vow of his heart, gave him to drink out of her pitcher, and made his camels drink also. That "bowing down" is a gesture of joy also, see (n. 2927, 2950). The term gladness is used, and also "joy", for the reason that in the Word "gladness" is predicated of truth, and "joy" of good. Moreover gladness is of the countenance, but joy of the heart; or what is the same, gladness is of spiritual affection or of truth, but joy is of celestial affection or of good; thus gladness is in a degree less than joy, as bending is likewise less than bowing down; which is also evident from the fact that the man of the spiritual church merely bends himself before the Lord, and invokes grace; whereas the man of the celestial church bows himself down before the Lord and implores mercy (n. 598, 981, 2423). Both terms are used by reason of the marriage of truth and good in every single thing of the Word (n. 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712).

3119. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of my lord Abraham. That this signifies from the Divine Itself and the Divine Human, is evident from what was said above (n. 3061), where the same words occur, except that the word "blessed" is here added. "Blessed be Jehovah" was a form of thanksgiving, thus also of joy and gladness, when wished-for events took place. What the ancients meant by "blessing Jehovah", see (n. 1096, 1422).

3120. Who hath not forsaken His mercy. That this signifies a perception of the influx of love, is evident from the signification of "mercy", as being love (n. 1735, 3063, 3073). That "who hath not forsaken His mercy" signifies a perception of the influx of love, is because these are words of acknowledgment and confession; and all acknowledgment and confession are from the perception of influx.

3121. And His truth from my lord. That this signifies an influx of charity therefrom, is evident from the signification of "truth", as being charity. "Truth" in its proper sense signifies the same as "faith", and in the Hebrew language faith is expressed by a like word; so that what is called "truth" in the Word of the Old Testament is in various places called "faith" in the Word of the New Testament; and for this reason also it has been so often said in the foregoing pages that truth is of faith and good is of love. And yet that in the internal sense faith is nothing else than charity, may be seen from what has been said and shown above in many places - as that there is no faith except by love (n. 30-38): That no faith is possible except where there is charity (n. 654, 724, 1162, 1176, 2261): That faith is the faith of charity (n. 1608, 2049, 2116, 2343, 2349, 2419): That charity makes the church, not faith separate from charity (n. 809, 916, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 2190, 2228, 2442). From all this it is evident that in the internal sense truth or faith is the same as charity; for all faith is from charity; the faith which is not from charity not being faith; or what is the same, in the internal sense all truth is good; for all truth is from good, and the truth which is not from good is not truth, truth being nothing else than the form of good (n. 3049); its birth is from no other source, and its life is from no other.

3122. Moreover in regard to this truth by which is signified charity, the case is this: The most ancient people, who were celestial, by mercy and truth from the Lord understood nothing else than the reception of the influx of love to the Lord, and of the derivative charity toward the neighbor. But the ancients, who were spiritual, by the mercy and truth from the Lord with themselves, understood charity and faith; the reason of which is, that the celestial never thought concerning those things which are of faith or truth, but concerning those which are of love or good, as may be seen from what has been said above concerning the celestial man (n. 202, 337, 2669, 2715). Moreover celestial men when being reformed and regenerated were introduced into love to the Lord through charity toward the neighbor. It is evident therefore that by "mercy from the Lord" nothing else is signified than a perception of the influx of love to Him; and by "truth", a derivative influx of charity toward the neighbor.

[2] But it is otherwise with the spiritual; these think concerning the things of faith; and when being reformed and regenerated they are introduced by means of the things of faith into charity toward the neighbor. And therefore when the spiritual are treated of, by "mercy from the Lord" is meant an influx of charity toward the neighbor; and by "truth" is meant an influx of faith. But still this faith, when the spiritual man has been regenerated, becomes charity; for be then acts from charity; insomuch that one who does not act from charity is not regenerate, but he who acts from charity is regenerate; and in this case he is not solicitous about the things of faith or truth, for he lives from the good of faith, and no longer from its truth; for truth has so conjoined itself with good that it no longer appears, except merely as the form of charity.

[3] From what has been said we can see what the most ancient people, and what the ancients, understood by "mercy and truth", so frequently mentioned in the Word. As in David: -

The king shall dwell before God forever; O prepare mercy and truth, that they may preserve him (Ps. 61:7).

Again: -

Mercy and truth shall meet together, righteousness and peace shall kiss each other (Ps. 85:10).

Again: -

Thou O Lord art a God great in mercy and truth (Ps. 86:15).

Again: -

My truth and My mercy shall be with Him (Ps. 89:24).

Again: -

Jehovah hath remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel (Ps. 98:3).

Again: -

O Jehovah, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake (Ps. 115:1).

In Micah: -

Jehovah God will give the truth to Jacob, the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old (Micah 7:20);

where "Jacob" denotes the Lord's external man, and "Abraham" the internal, as to the Human. In Hosea: -

Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, and no mercy, and no knowledge of God (Hosea 4:1).

"No truth" denotes no reception of the influx of charity; "no mercy", no reception of the influx of love; "no knowledge of God", no reception of the influx of the truth of faith.

3123. I being in the way. That this signifies in a state of the conjunction of truth with good in the rational, is evident from the signification of a "way", as being truth (n. 627, 2333). That "in the way" here denotes the conjunction of truth with good in the rational, is because this is the subject treated of in this chapter (n. 3012, 3013); for one is said to be "in the way" when he is making progress toward the place to which he intends to go.

3124. Jehovah hath led me to the house of my lords brethren. That this signifies to the good of truth, is evident from the signification of the "house of the brethren", of which was Rebekah, as being the good from which is the truth. That the "house of the brethren" is good, here the good from which is the truth, is evident from the signification of a "house", as being good (n. 2233, 2234, 2559); and of "brethren", as being the origin of that good from which is the truth represented by Rebekah.

3125. The foregoing verses treat of the exploration of the truth which was to be conjoined with good in the rational, in regard to innocence, to charity, and to origin. For inasmuch as the Lord, by His own proper power, made His rational Divine in respect to truth as well as in respect to good, He therefore explored the truth which He conjoined with good. But with men, truth is never conjoined with good by their own power, but by the power of the Lord; which may be seen from the fact that all good and truth flow in from the Lord, and that all reformation and regeneration are from the Lord, and that man does not know one whit of how he is regenerated. At the present day he does not even know that he is regenerated by truth and good, still less that truth is initiated and conjoined with good, and that this is effected as by exploration, that is, most exactly. These two verses treat of perception in regard to the quality of truth, and whence it was; and at the same time of joy because of it. Therefore in what now follows the initiation is treated of.

3126. Verses 28-30. And the damsel ran, and told her mother's house according to these words. And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban; and Laban ran out of doors unto the man, unto the fountain; and it came to pass when he saw the jewel, and the bracelets upon his sisters hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and behold he stood by the camels at the fountain. "And the damsel ran", signifies the desire (animus) of that affection; "and told her mother's house according to these words", signifies toward natural good of every kind whithersoever enlightenment could reach; and Rebekah had a brother", signifies the affection of good in the natural man; "and his name was Laban", signifies the quality of that affection; "and Laban ran out of doors unto the man, unto the fountain", signifies its desire (animus) toward the truth which was to be initiated into truth Divine; "and it came to pass when he saw the jewel, and the bracelets upon his sister's hands", signifies when it was observed that Divine good and Divine truth were in the power of the affection of truth which is the "sister;" "and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister", signifies the inclination of that affection; "saying, Thus spake the man unto me", signifies the propensity or inclination of truth in the natural man; "that he came unto the man", signifies that it adjoined itself; "and behold he stood by the camels", signifies presence in general memory-knowledges; "at the fountain", signifies their enlightenment from truth Divine.

3127. The damsel ran. That this signifies the desire (animus) of that affection, is evident from the signification of "running", as meaning that which is of the inclination or of the desire; and from the signification of a "damsel", as being an affection in which is innocence (n. 3067, 3110).

3128. And told her mother's house according to these words. That this signifies toward natural good of every kind whithersoever enlightenment could reach, is evident from the signification of the "mother's house", as being the good of the external man, that is, natural good. That a "house" denotes good, see (n. 2233, 2234, 2559); also that man's external or natural is from the mother, but the internal from the father, (n. 1815). The good with man is compared in the Word to a "house", and on this account a man who is in good is called a "house of God;" but internal good is called the "father's house", and the good that is in the same degree is called the "house of the brethren;" but external good, which is the same as natural good, is called the "mother's house". Moreover all good and truth are born in this manner, namely, by the influx of internal good as of a father into external good as of a mother.

[2] As this verse treats of the origin of the truth which is to be conjoined with good in the rational, it is therefore said that Rebekah (by whom this truth is represented) ran to the house of her mother, for that was the origin of this truth. For as before said and shown, all good flows in by an internal way (that is, by the way of the soul) into man's rational, and through this into his faculty of knowing, even into that which is of the senses; and by enlightenment there it causes truths to be seen. Truths are called forth thence, and are divested of their natural form, and are conjoined with good in the midway, that is, in the rational, and at the same time they make the man rational, and at last spiritual. But how these things are accomplished is utterly unknown to man; because at this day it is scarcely known what good is, and that it is distinct from truth; still less that man is reformed by means of the influx of good into truth, and by the conjunction of the two; neither is it known that the rational is distinct from the natural. And when these things, which are most general, are not known, it cannot possibly be known how the initiation of truth into good, and the conjunction of the two, is effected - which are the subjects treated of in this chapter in its internal sense. But whereas these arcana have been revealed, and are manifest to those who are in good, that is, who are angelic minds, therefore however obscure they may appear to others, they nevertheless are to be set forth, because they are in the internal sense.

[3] Concerning the enlightenment from good through truth in the natural man, which is here called the "mother's house", the case is this: Divine good with man inflows into his rational, and through the rational into his natural, and indeed into its memory-knowledges, that is, into the knowledges and doctrinal things therein, as before said; and there by a fitting of itself in, it forms truths for itself, through which it then enlightens all things that are in the natural man. But if the life of the natural man is such that it does not receive the Divine good, but either repels it, or perverts it, or suffocates it, then the Divine good cannot be fitted in, thus it cannot form for itself truths; and consequently the natural can no longer he enlightened; for enlightenment in the natural man is effected from good through truths; and when there is no longer enlightenment, there can be no reformation. This is the reason why in the internal sense the natural man also is much treated of in regard to its quality; thus whence truth is, namely, that it is from good there.

3129. And Rebekah had a brother. That this signifies the affection of good in the natural man, is evident from the signification of a "brother" and a "sister" in the Word, namely, that a "brother" is the affection of good, and a "sister" is the affection of truth (n. 367, 2360, 2508, 2524); for in the natural man, as in the rational, there are relationships by both blood and marriage of all the things therein (n. 2556, 2739). And it also is from this that the mind, both the rational and the natural, is called a "house" (or family), where parents, brothers, sisters, kinsmen, and other relatives exist in order.

3130. And his name was Laban. That this signifies the quality of that affection, is evident from the signification of name", as being the quality of anyone (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724). "Laban" therefore is the quality of that affection which is here treated of.

3131. And Laban ran out of doors unto the man, unto the fountain. That this signifies its desire, that is, the desire of the affection of good, toward the truth which was to be initiated into truth Divine, is evident from the signification of running", as manifesting the inclination or desire (n. 3127); from the representation of Laban, as being the affection of good (n. 3129, 3130); from the signification of "the man", as being truth (n. 265, 749, 1007); and from the signification of a "fountain", as also being truth, here truth Divine (n. 2702, 3096, 3137).

[2] From these and from the other things here treated of, we can see what is the quality of the internal sense, and what arcana there are in it. Who could know, except from an interior searching of the Word, and at the same time from revelation, that these words, "Laban ran out of doors unto the man, unto the fountain", signify the desire of the affection of good toward the truth that was to be initiated into truth Divine? And yet this is what the angels perceive when these words are read by man; for such are the correspondences between a man's ideas and an angel's that while the man takes these words according to the sense of the letter, and has the idea of Laban as running out of doors to the man unto the fountain, the angel perceives the desire of the affection of good toward the truth which was to be initiated into truth Divine. For the angels have no idea of Laban, nor of running, nor of a fountain, but they have spiritual ideas corresponding to these. That there is such a correspondence of actual things, and thence of ideas, natural and spiritual, may be seen from what was said above concerning correspondences (n. 1563, 1568, 2763, 2987-3003, 3021).

[3] As regards the actual thing itself, namely, that truth was to be initiated into truth Divine, the case is this: The first truth in the natural man was not truth Divine, but was truth that appeared as if Divine; for in its first infancy no truth is truth, but is apparent truth; but in process of time it puts off the appearance, and puts on the essence of truth. In order that this may be comprehended, it may be illustrated by examples, but for the present merely by the following. It is a truth Divine that the Lord is never angry, never punishes anyone, still less does evil to anyone, and that from the Lord there never comes anything but good; nevertheless in its first infancy this truth takes the form that the Lord is angry when anyone sins, and that therefore the Lord punishes; nay, with some that evil is from the Lord; but as a man advances from childhood, and grows up and matures in judgment, he puts off that which was as truth to him from its appearing to be so, and gradually puts on the real truth, namely that the Lord is never angry, that He does not punish, that still less does He do what is evil; and thus by the former truth he is initiated into this. For that which first enters is the general truth, which in itself is obscure, and in which scarcely anything appears until it has been enlightened by particulars, and these by singulars; and when it has been enlightened the interior things are clear. Thus fallacies and appearances, which in time of ignorance are truths, are dissipated and shaken off.

3132. And it came to pass when he saw the jewel, and the bracelets upon his sister's hands. That this signifies when it was observed that Divine good and Divine truth were in the power of the affection of truth which is the " sister", is evident from the signification of "seeing", as being to observe (n. 2150); from the signification of the "jewel", as being Divine good (n. 3103, 3105); from the signification of "bracelets", as being Divine truth (n. 3103, 3105) from the signification of "hands", as being power (n. 878, 3091); and from the signification of " sister", as being the affection of truth (n. 2508, 2524, 2556); from all which it is evident that to "see the jewel and the bracelets upon his sister's hands", is to observe that Divine good and Divine truth were in the power of the affection of truth.

[2] The case herein is this: The conjunction of Divine good and Divine truth in the Lord is the very Divine marriage from which is the heavenly marriage, which is likewise a marriage of good and truth; from this also comes conjugial love (n. 2727-2759). Hence it is that where marriage is treated of in the Word, in the internal sense there is signified the heavenly marriage, which is that of good and truth; and in the supreme sense the Divine marriage, which is in the Lord; wherefore nothing else is here meant by the marriage between Isaac and Rebekah. The conjunction of good and truth is the marriage itself, but the initiation is the betrothal, or the state preceding marriage. But the state that precedes betrothal is what is here described. As in this state it is within the power of the damsel to be betrothed, and afterwards as a wife to be conjoined with a husband, so it is within the power of the affection of truth to be initiated into Divine truth, and in this manner to be conjoined with Divine good. And further: in the first affection and afterwards in every affection of truth with the Lord, there was inmostly the Divine good itself and the Divine truth itself, because there was Jehovah Himself; from this came the power that is here treated of.

3133. And when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister. That this signifies the inclination of that affection, is evident from the affection in these words; and also from the affection in the words that precede; for they bear witness to the inclination on the part of the affection of truth which is here represented by Rebekah the sister.

3134. Saying, Thus spake the man unto me. That this signifies the inclination of truth in the natural man, is in like manner evident from the affection in these words, and also from what the man, or Abraham's servant, spake to Rebekah; from which it is evident that it is the inclination that is signified; and also from the signification of a "man" as being truth (n. 265, 749, 1007), here truth in the natural man from the Divine - because the man is here Abraham's elder servant, by whom is signified the natural man (n. 3019). In the Word, especially the prophetic, the word "man (vir)" often occurs; as "man and wife", "man and woman", "man and inhabitant", also "man (vir) and man (homo); "and in such places by "man (vir)" in the internal sense is signified that which is of the understanding, which is truth; and by "wife", "woman", "inhabitant", and "man (homo)", that which is of the will, which is good. As in Isaiah: -

I see, and there is no man; even among them, and there is no counselor (Isa. 41:28);

"no man" denotes no one intelligent, thus no truth. Again: -

I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was none to answer (Isa. 50:2);

the meaning here being the same.

[2] Again: -

Truth hath stumbled in the street, and uprightness cannot enter; and truth hath been taken away; and he that departeth from evil is mad. And Jehovah saw, and it was evil in His eyes that there was no judgment, and no man, and He was amazed (Isa. 59:14-16).

"No man" plainly means no one intelligent, and thus in the universal sense no truth. It here treats of the last time of the church, when there is no longer any truth; and it is therefore said, "truth hath stumbled in the street, uprightness cannot enter, truth hath been taken away". That "street" also is predicated of truth, see (n. 2336); and "judgment" (n. 2235). In Jeremiah: -

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth judgment, that seeketh truth (Jer. 5:1).

Here a "man" evidently denotes one who is intelligent; and also truth. In Zephaniah: -

I will make their streets desolate, that none passeth by; their cities shall be devastated, so that there shall be no man; that there shall be no inhabitant (Zeph. 3:6).

"No man" denotes no truth; "no inhabitant", no good (n. 2268, 2451, 2712).

3135. He came unto the man. This signifies that it (that is, the affection of good that is represented by Laban, (n. 3129, 3130) adjoined itself to the truth signified by the "man" (n. 3134), both of them in the natural man.

3136. And behold he stood by the camels. That this signifies presence in general memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "standing by", as being to be present; and from the signification of "camels", as being general memory-knowledges (n. 3048, 3071).

3137. At the fountain. That this signifies their enlightenment from Divine truth, is evident from the signification of a "fountain", as being truth (n. 2702, 3096), here Divine truth (n. 3131). As the Word is Divine truth, it is called a "fountain". That in the internal sense "to stand at the fountain" here involves the enlightenment of those things which are in the natural man, follows from the series; for where there is Divine truth, there is also enlightenment.

3138. These three verses treat of the preparation and enlightenment of the natural man in order that the truth might be called forth thence which was to be conjoined with good in the rational. But with preparation and enlightenment the case is as follows: There are two lights which form the intellectual things of man - the light of heaven, and the light of the world; the light of heaven is from the Lord, who to angels in the other life is a Sun and Moon (n. 1053, 1521, 1529, 1530); the light of the world is from the sun and moon which appear before the bodily sight. The internal man has its sight and its understanding from the light of heaven; but the external man has its sight and its understanding from the light of the world. The influx of the light of heaven into the things which are of the world's light, effects enlightenment and at the same time observance; an observance of truth if there is correspondence, and an observance of falsity instead of truth if there is not correspondence. But enlightenment and observance are impossible unless there is affection or love, which is spiritual heat, and which gives life to the things that are enlightened by the light; comparatively as the sun's light does not give life to the things of the vegetable kingdom, but the heat that is in the light, as is evident from the seasons of the year.

[2] In the verses which next follow, the preparation is further described - namely, that the light of heaven which is the Lord's Divine light inflowed into the things that were of the light of the world in His natural man, in order that He might bring out thence the truth which was to be conjoined with good in the rational; thus by the ordinary way. And therefore in order that the Lord might make the human Divine by the ordinary way, He came into the world; that is, it was His will to be born as a man, and to be instructed as a man, and to be re-born as a man; but with the difference that man is re-born of the Lord, whereas the Lord not only regenerated Himself, but also glorified Himself, that is, made Himself Divine; and further, that a man is made new by an influx of charity and faith, but the Lord, by the Divine love which was in Him and which was His. Hence it may be seen that the regeneration of man is an image of the glorification of the Lord; or what is the same, that in the process of the regeneration of man may be seen as in an image, although remotely, the process of the Lord's glorification.

3139. Verses 31-33. And he said, Come, thou blessed of Jehovah, wherefore standest thou without? for I have swept the house, and there is room for the camels. And the man came into the house, and loosed the camels; and he gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men that were with him. And there was set before him to eat; and he said, I will not eat until I have spoken my words. And he said, Speak. "He said, Come, thou blessed of Jehovah", signifies an invitation of the Divine within Him; "wherefore standest thou without?" signifies somewhat therefrom; "for I have swept the house", signifies that all things were prepared and full of goods; "and there is room for the camels", signifies a state for all things that would be serviceable to Him; "and the man came into the house", signifies influx into the good therein; "and loosed the camels", signifies freedom for those things which were to serve; "and he gave straw and provender for the camels", signifies instruction in truths and goods; "and water to wash his feet", signifies purification there; "and the feet of the men that were with him", signifies purification of all things belonging to Him, in the natural man; "and there was set before him to eat", signifies that good in the natural man desired these things should "and he said, I will not eat", signifies refusal; "until I have spoken my words", signifies until instruction should be given; "and he said, Speak", signifies longing.

3140. He said, Come, thou blessed of Jehovah. That this signifies an invitation of the Divine within Him, is evident from the signification of "Come", as being a" invitation; and from the signification of the "blessed of Jehovah", as being the Divine; that the "blessed Jehovah" is the Divine Itself, may be seen above (n. 1096, 1420, 1422); and it follows that the blessed of Jehovah" is the Divine therefrom. Good is the Divine Itself, but truth is the Divine thence derived. By the "man" here who was sent by Abraham, is signified the truth which was from the Divine, in the natural man (n. 3134); it is Divine truth which is called the "blessed of Jehovah", and which is invited.

3141. Why standest thou without? That this signifies somewhat therefrom, is evident without explication. The case herein is as follows: The Lord's Divine rational was born of the Divine truth itself conjoined with the Divine good. The Divine rational is Isaac, who was born to Abraham (who here is the Divine good) of Sarah who here is the Divine truth; as before shown. The rational of the Lord alone was thus born Divine, and indeed from Himself; for the veriest being of the Lord was Jehovah or the Divine good itself; and the veriest beings of the Lord from this was of Jehovah or was the Divine truth itself. The Divine good in the rational, which is "Isaac", was thus born; and this was not food separate from truth, but was Divine good with Divine truth; and yet both together are called good in the rational, with which was to be conjoined truth from the natural man, which truth is "Rebekah". In order that the Lord might make His human Divine, both as to good and as to truth, and this by the ordinary way (n. 3138), it could not be done otherwise; for such is the Divine order, according to which is all regeneration, and thus according to which was the Lord's glorification (n. 3138).

[2] This Divine good through Divine truth in the rational, was that which was flowing into the natural man, and was enlightening all things there. The process itself is here described, namely, that at first it flowed in somewhat more remotely, which is meant here by there being "somewhat therefrom", and that it was not willing to flow in with fuller presence before instruction. For the ordinary way is that instruction must precede, and that influx takes place according to the degrees of instruction; and that truth continually comes into existence thence, which is initiated, and is afterwards conjoined with the good of the rational. From all this it may be seen what is the nature of the arcana that are contained in the internal sense of the Word; and that these arcana are such as to be scarcely apprehended by man even as to their most general things; and yet that they are evident to the angels, together with in numerable particulars which can never be uttered in words.

3142. For I have swept the house. That this signifies that all things were prepared, and full of goods, is evident from the signification of "sweeping", as being to prepare and to be filled (of which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of a "house" as being good (n. 2233, 2234, 2559); and that man himself, from the good which is in him, is called a house, (n. 3128). The reason "to sweep" signifies to prepare and to be filled, is that nothing else is required of man than to sweep the house; that is, to reject the cupidities of evil and the derivative persuasions of falsity; for he is then filled with goods, because good is continually flowing in from the Lord - but into "the house", that is, into the man who is purified from such things as impede the influx, that is, which reflect, or pervert, or suffocate the inflowing good. Hence it was common with the ancients to speak of sweeping or cleaning the house, and of sweeping and preparing the way; and by sweeping the house was meant to purify one's self from evils, and thereby to prepare one's self for goods to enter; but by sweeping the way was meant to prepare one's self so that truths might he received, for by a "house" was signified good, (n. 3128); and by a "way", truth, (n. 627, 2333).

[2] As in Isaiah: -

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Sweep (prepare) ye the way of Jehovah; make straight in the desert a highway for our God (Isa. 40:3).

In the same: -

Cast up, cast up, sweep (prepare) the way, take away the stumbling block out of the way of My people (Isa. 57:14).

Again: -

Go through, go through the gates, sweep (prepare) the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway, gather out the stones (Isa. 62:10).

In Malachi: -

Behold I send Mine angel, and He shall sweep (prepare) the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple (Mal. 3:1).

In these passages, to "sweep the way" signifies to make themselves ready and prepare to receive truth. The subject treated of therein is the advent of the Lord, for which they were to prepare themselves for receiving the truth of faith, and thereby the good of charity, and by this eternal salvation.

[3] In David: -

Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt, Thou didst drive out the nations and plantedst it; Thou didst sweep before it, and didst cause its root to be rooted, and it filled the land (Ps. 80:8, 9);

where in the supreme sense the Lord is treated of; the "vine out of Egypt" is truth from memory-knowledges; "driving out the nations" is purifying from evils; "sweeping before it", is making ready so that goods may fill. In the opposite sense "to sweep the house" is said also of the man who deprives himself of all goods and truths, and thus is filled with evils and falsities; as in Luke: -

The unclean spirit, finding no rest, says, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come he findeth it swept and garnished; then goeth he and taketh to him seven other spirits worse than himself, and they enter in and dwell there (Luke 11:24-26; Matt. 12:43-45).

3143. And there is room for the camels. That this signifies a state for all things that would be serviceable to Him, is evident from the signification of " room", as being state (n. 1273-1277, 1376-1381, 2625); and from the signification of "camels", as being general memory-knowledges (n. 3048, 3071). That these are things for service may be seen above (n. 1486, 3019, 3020); for all things that belong to the natural man are for no other use than to serve the spiritual; wherefore also menservants, maidservants, camels, and asses, in the internal sense chiefly signify the things which belong to the natural man.

3144. And the man came into the house. That this signifies influx into the good therein, is evident from the signification of "coming;" here, to flow in; and from the signification of a house", as being good (n. 2233, 2234, 2559).

3145. And loosed the camels. That this signifies freedom for those things which were to serve, is evident from the signification of "loosing", as being to make free; and from the signification of "camels", as being general memory-knowledges, and thus the things which were to serve (n. 3143) The real case herein is this: Without freedom no production of truth in the natural man is possible, nor any calling forth therefrom into the rational, and conjunction with good there. All these things take place in a free state; for it is the affection of truth from good which produces freedom. Unless truth is learned from affection, thus in freedom, it is not implanted; still less is it exalted toward the interiors and there made faith. That all reformation is effected in freedom, and that all freedom is of affection, and that the Lord keeps man in freedom, so that he may from himself and from what is his own be affected with truth and good and thereby be regenerated, may be seen above (n. 2870-2893). This is what is signified by "loosing the camels;" for if they were not significative of such things, these particulars would be too trifling to be recorded.

3146. And he gave straw and provender for the camels. That this signifies instruction in truths and goods, is evident from the signification of "straw", as being the truths of the natural man, and from the signification of "provender" as being the goods therein (n. 3114). Because these things are signified by "straw and provender", it follows that to "give straw and provender" is to instruct in truths and goods. That freedom is for the sake of these things, namely, that man may be instructed in the affection and from the affection of truth, and thus that truths may be insinuated even to the spiritual man, or even to the soul, and may there be conjoined with good, may be seen from what was shown above concerning freedom (n. 2870-2893). much is the inrooting of faith, or of the truth which is of faith, that unless it is coupled with good in the rational, the truth of faith never receives any life, nor does any fruit come from it; for all that which is called the fruit of faith, is the fruit of the good of love and charity through the truth of faith. Unless spiritual heat, which is the good of love, operated by spiritual light, which is the truth of faith, the man would be as ground hard frozen as in winter time, when nothing grows, still less bears fruit. For as light without heat produces nothing, so faith produces nothing without love.

3147. And water to wash his feet. That this signifies purification there, is evident from the signification of "water for washing", or of washing with water, as being to purify (concerning which presently); and from the signification of "feet", as being natural things, or what is the same, the things in the natural man (n. 2162). In the representative church it was customary to wash the feet with water, and thereby to signify that the unclean things of the natural man were washed away. The unclean things of the natural man are all those things which are of the love of self and of the love of the world; and when these unclean things have been washed away, then goods and truths flow in, for it is solely these unclean things that hinder the influx of good and truth from the Lord.

[2] For good is continually flowing in from the Lord, but when it comes through the internal or spiritual man to his external or natural man, it is there either perverted, turned back, or suffocated. But when the things which are of the love of self and of the love of the world are removed, then good is received there and is made fruitful; for then man practises the works of charity. This is evident from many considerations; as when in misfortune, distress, and sickness-, the things that belong to the external or natural man are merely lulled, the man forthwith begins to think piously and to will what is good, and also to practise works of piety in so far as he is able; but when the state is changed, there is a change also in all this.

[3] These things were signified by the washings in the Ancient Church, and the same were represented in the Jewish Church, The reason why they were signified in the Ancient Church, but represented in the Jewish church, was that the man of the Ancient Church regarded the rite as a something external in worship, and did not believe that he was purified by that washing, but by the washing away of the impurities of the natural man, which as before said are the things which are of the love of self and of the world. But the man of the Jewish Church believed that he was purified by that washing; neither knowing nor desiring to know that the purification of the interiors was signified.

[4] That by "washing" is signified a cleansing from the impurities referred to, is evident in Isaiah: -

Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil (Isa. 1:16)

where it is evident that to "wash themselves" means to make themselves pure and to put away evils. Again: -

When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, in the spirit of judgment and in the spirit of expurgation (Isa. 4:4)

where "washing away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purging the blood of Jerusalem", denotes purifying from evils and falsities. In Jeremiah: -

O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall the thoughts of thine iniquity lodge within thee? (Jer. 4:14).

[5] In Ezekiel: -

I washed thee with water, and I washed away thy bloods from upon thee, and anointed thee with oil (Ezek. 16:9)

concerning Jerusalem, by which is there meant the Ancient Church; "washing with waters" denotes purifying from falsities; "washing away bloods" denotes purging from evils; "anointing with oil" denotes filling then with good. In David: -

Wash me from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (Ps. 51:2, 7).

Here "being washed" plainly denotes being purified from evils and their falsities.

[6] These are the things that were signified by "washing" in the representative church; and it was commanded for the sake of the representation that when they had become unclean they should wash the skin, the hands, the feet, and also the garments, and should be cleansed; by all which things were signified those which are of the natural man. Lavers also, of brass, were placed outside the temple, namely, the brazen sea and the ten brazen lavers (1 Kings 7:23-39); and a laver of brass at which Aaron and his sons were to wash was placed between the tent of meeting and the altar; and thus outside the tent (Exod. 30:18, 19, 21); by which also was signified that only external or natural things were to be purified for unless these have been purified, that is, unless the things that are of the love of self and of the world have been removed, the internal things which are of love to the Lord and toward the neighbor cannot possibly flow in, as before said.

[7] For the better understanding of how these things are circumstanced, namely, that external things are to be purified, take as an example and illustration good works, or what is the same, the goods of charity which at this day are called the fruits of faith; these are external things, because they are the exercises of charity. Good works are evil works unless those things are removed which are of the love of self and of the world; for when works are done before these have been removed, they indeed appear good outwardly, but are inwardly evil; for they are done either for the sake of reputation, or for gain, or for the sake of one's honor, or for recompense, thus they are either self-meritorious or hypocritical; for that which is of the love of self and the world causes the works to be such. But when these evils are removed, the works then become good; and they are goods of charity; that is, in them there is not regard to self, to the world, to reputation, to recompense; thus they are neither self-meritorious nor hypocritical for then celestial love and spiritual love flow in from the Lord into the works and cause them to be love and charity in act; and then the Lord through these loves also purifies the natural or external man, and disposes it into order, so as to receive correspondently the celestial and spiritual things that flow in.

[8] This is clearly evident from what the Lord taught when He washed the feet of the disciples, as we read in John: -

Then cometh He to Simon Peter; and Peter saith unto Him, Lord, dost Thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto Him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me. Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that hath been washed, needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit ye are clean already, but not all (John 13:4-17).

"He that hath been washed, needeth not save to wash his feet", signifies that he who has been reformed, has need only to be cleansed as to natural things, that is, has need that evils and falsities should be removed from them; and then all things are disposed into order by the influx of spiritual things from the Lord. Moreover to wash the feet was an office of charity, as meaning not to reflect on the evils of another; and it was also an office of humility, as meaning to cleanse another from evils as from impurities; as also is evident from the Lord's words in the passage just quoted (verses 12-17); also (Luke 7:37, 38, 44, 46; John 11:2; 1 Sam. 25:41).

[9] Everybody can see that washing himself does not purify anyone from evils and falsities, but only from the impurities that cling to him; nevertheless, as washing was among the rites commanded in the church, it follows that it involves something special, namely, spiritual washing, that is, purification from the uncleannesses which inwardly adhere to man. Therefore they who knew these things in that church, and thought about the purification of the heart, or the removal of the evils of the love of self and of the love of the world from the natural man, and who endeavored to effect this with all diligence, observed the rite of washing as external worship according to commandment; but those who did not know this and did not desire to know it, but thought that the mere rite of washing their garments, skin, hands, and feet, would purify them, and that provided they did these things they might be allowed to live in avarice, hatreds, revenge, unmercifulness, and cruelties, which are spiritual in, purity, practised this rite as an idolatrous one. Nevertheless they could represent by it, and by representation exhibit something of the church, whereby there might be some conjunction of heaven with man before the Lord's advent; yet such conjunction as affected the man of the church little or not at all.

[10] The Jews and Israelites were such that they had no thought about the internal man, nor willingness to know anything about it; thus none at all concerning celestial and spiritual things, relating to the life after death. But yet lest all communication with heaven and thus with the Lord should perish, they were bound to external rites, whereby internal things were signified. All their captivities and plagues were in general for the end that external rites might be strictly observed for the sake of the representation. Hence then it was that Moses washed Aaron and his sons with water at the door of the tent, that they might be sanctified (Exod. 29:4; 40:12; Lev. 8:6) that Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before they entered into the tent of meeting and came near to the altar to minister, that they might not die; and that this was to be to them a statute forever (Exod. 30:18-21; 40:30, 31) that Aaron was to wash his flesh before he put on the garments of ministry (Lev. 16:4, 24); that the Levites were to be purified by being sprinkled with the water of expiation; and that they were to cause a razor to pass over their flesh, and to wash their garments, and thus should be pure (Num. 8:6, 7) that whoever should eat the carcass even of a clean beast, or one that was torn, should wash his garments, and bathe himself in water; and if he did not wash himself and bathe his flesh, he should bear his iniquity (Lev. 17:15, 16) that whoever touched the bed of one affected with the flux, or who sat upon a vessel on which he had sat, and whoever touched his flesh, should wash his garments, and bathe himself with water, and should be unclean till the evening (Lev. 15:5-7, 10-12); that whoever let go the he-goat, as a scape-goat, should wash his flesh (Lev. 16:26); that when a leprous person was cleansed, he was to wash his garments, shave off all his hair, and wash himself with water, and he should be clean (Lev. 14:8, 9); nay, that the very vessels which were made unclean by the touch of things unclean, should be passed through water, and should be unclean until evening (Lev. 11:32). From these things it may be seen that no one was made clean or pure as to internal things by the rite of washing, but only represented one pure or spiritually clean, for the reason given above. That this is so, the Lord teaches plainly in (Matthew 15:1, 2, 20; Mark 7:1-23).

3148. And the feet of the men that were with him. That this signifies the purification of all things belonging to Him, in the natural man, is evident from the signification of "feet", as being the things of the natural man (n. 2162); and from the signification of "the men that were with him", as being all things there. It was the custom for travelers, when they came into any house, to wash their feet; as when the brethren of Joseph were introduced into Joseph's house (Gen. 43:24); and when the Levite and his attendant were received into the house of the old man (Judges 19:21); and when Uriah on his return home was commanded by David to go down to his house and to wash his feet (2 Sam. 11:8). The reason was that traveling and journeying signified what relates to instruction, and thence to life (n. 1293, 1457, 1463, 2025); and that these were to be purified was shown above; and further, lest the impurity understood in the spiritual sense should adhere, and defile the house, that is, the man; as is also evident from the fact that the disciples were to shake off the dust of the feet, if the city or the house would not receive peace (Matt. 10:14).

3149. And there was set before him to eat. That this signifies that it was the will of the affection of good in the natural man that these things should be appropriated, is evident from the representation of Laban, by whom it was set, as being the affection of good in the natural man (n. 3129, 3130); and from the signification of "eating", as being to be communicated and appropriated (n. 2187, 2343), namely, the Divine things treated of above (n. 3140, 3141).

3150. And he said, I will not eat. That this signifies refusal, that is, that they were not yet to be so appropriated, is evident without explication.

3151. Until I have spoken my words. That this signifies until instruction should be given, is evident from the signification of "speaking words", as being to instruct. Moreover the things which he spoke, and that follow in the series, belong to instruction. That Divine things flow into those which are in the natural man, according to the instruction and the consequent progress, may be seen above (n. 3141).

3152. And he said, Speak. That this signifies longing, is evident from the signification of "speaking words", as being to instruct; here, in the imperative form, as meaning that he should instruct. It is evident that these words involve a longing.

3153. What is contained in these three verses, in the internal sense, is indeed manifest from the explication, namely, that the things of the natural man were being prepared for receiving what is Divine, and that so the truths signified by "Rebekah", which were to be initiated and conjoined with the good of the rational, were being made Divine, and this by influx. But the things in the internal sense here are such that if they are not seen in one view of the thought, they appear too obscure for comprehension, and this the more because they are things not known - for example, how truths are called forth out of the natural man, and are initiated into good in the rational, when man is being regenerated. To most persons at this day these things are so wholly unknown that they do not even know that this takes place; chiefly because at this day there are few who are being regenerated; and those who are lo not know from doctrine that it is the good of charity into which the truth of faith is initiated and with which it is conjoined, and this in the rational; and that then the state is wholly changed, and this so that the man no longer thinks from the truth of faith to the good of charity, but from this good to truth. With the Lord however there was not regeneration, but glorification; that is, all things were made Divine by Him, both those in the rational and those in the natural. How this was done is described in the internal sense.

3154. Verses 34-48. And he said, I am Abraham's servant. And Jehovah hath blessed my lord exceedingly, and hath made him great, and hath given him flock and herd, and silver and gold, and menservants and maidservants, and camels and asses. And Sarah, my lord's wife, bare a son to my lord after she was old; and he hath given unto him all that he hath. And my lord made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite, in whose land I dwell. But thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my family, and take a woman for my son. And I said unto my lord, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. And he said into me, Jehovah, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a woman for my son from my family, and from my father's house. Then shalt thou be clear from my oath, when thou comest to my family'; and if they give not to thee, thou shalt be clear from my oath. And I came this day unto the fountain, and said, O Jehovah God of my lord Abraham, if now Thou do prosper my way wherein I do walk; behold I stand by the fountain of waters; and let it come to pass that the maiden which cometh forth to draw, and to whom I shall say, Let me drink, I pray, a little water from thy pitcher; and she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels, let her be the woman whom Jehovah hath appointed for my lord's son. I scarcely' had done speaking in my heart, when behold Rebekah came forth, and her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the fountain and drew; and I said into her, Let me drink, I pray. And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from upon her, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also; and I drank, and she gave drink to the camels also. and I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bare unto him. And I put the jewel upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands. And I bent and bowed myself down to Jehovah, and blessed Jehovah God of my lord Abraham, who led me into the way of truth, to take the daughter of my lord's brother for his son.

[2] "He said, I am Abraham's servant", signifies that it was from the Divine good; "and Jehovah hath blessed my lord exceedingly, and hath made him great", signifies the Divine Human as to good and as to truth; "and hath given him flock and herd", signifies goods in general; "and silver and gold", signifies truths in general; "and menservants and maidservants, and camels and asses", signifies truths specifically. "And Sarah, my lord's wife, bare a son to my lord", signifies the Divine rational, from Divine truth; "after she was old", signifies when the state was; "and he hath given unto him all that he hath", signifies that to the Divine rational belong all Divine things.

[3] "And my lord made me swear", signifies here as before, a binding pledge, and a sacred obligation "saying, Thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite", signifies here as before, that the Divine rational was not to be conjoined with any affection not in agreement with truth; "in whose land I dwell", signifies the discordant things in which Divine good is. "But thou shalt go unto my father's house", signifies good which is from the Divine; " and to my family", signifies truth which is from the Divine; "and take a woman for my son". signifies that thence should be conjunction.

[4] "And I said unto my lord, Peradventure the woman will not follow me", signifies here as before the doubting of the natural mind concerning that affection, as to whether it was separable; "and he said unto me", signifies instruction; "Jehovah, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with thee", signifies here as before, the Divine providence; "and prosper thy way", signifies as to truth "and thou shalt take a woman for my son", signifies that there should be conjunction; "from my family, and from my father's house", signifies from the good and truth which are there from the Divine. "Then shalt thou be clear from my oath", signifies here as before, the freedom which the natural man has; "when thou comest to my family, and if they give not to thee", signifies as to the separation; "thou shalt be free from my oath", signifies that then there shall be no blame to the natural man. The other words, to (verse 48), signify the same as before.

3155. An explication of these particulars may be omitted, because they have been already explained in this chapter. They were repeated for the sake of the instruction of the natural man. For with the initiation and conjunction of truth with good, the case is as when a virgin is betrothed and afterwards joined to a husband that is to say, she ought to be instructed in all things before she gives consent. Although such things do not appear with a man when the truths in the natural are being initiated and conjoined, that is, when the man is being reformed, still they take place; that is, instruction precedes, of good concerning truth, and of truth concerning good; and afterwards there is consent on each side, concerning which see what now follows.

3156. Verses 49-51. And now if ye will do mercy and truth with my lord, tell me; and if not, tell me; and I will look to the right hand or to the left. And Laban and Bethuel answered, and said, The word hath gone forth from Jehovah; we cannot speak unto thee evil or good. Behold Rebekah is before thee; take her, and go, and let her be the woman of thy lord's son, as Jehovah hath spoken. "Now if ye will do mercy and truth with my lord", signifies exploration of the consent from each of their faculties, that of the will, and that of the understanding; "tell me and if not, tell me", signifies their free state of deliberation; "and I will look to the right hand or to the left", signifies reciprocal freedom. "And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The word hath gone forth from Jehovah; we cannot speak unto thee evil or good", signifies acknowledgment that it was of the Lord alone. "Behold Rebekah is before thee; take her, and go, and let her be the woman of thy lord's son, as Jehovah hath spoken", signifies consent inspired from the Lord.

3157. Now if ye will do mercy and truth with my lord. That this signifies exploration of the consent from each of their faculties, that of the will, and that of the understanding, is evident from the signification of "mercy", as being what is of good or of love (n. 3063, 3073, 3120); and from the signification of "truth", as being what is of truth, or of faith (n. 3121, 3122) and because the good which is of love is of the will, and the truth which is of faith is of the understanding, and these things are said to Laban and Bethuel, thus to men, that they should do mercy and truth, they signify what is from each of their faculties, namely, the will and the understanding. That it is exploration of consent, is evident both from its being said, "if ye will do", and from the words that follow, "tell me; and if not, tell me; and I will look to the right hand or to the left". In the regeneration of man, which is an image of the Lord's glorification (n. 3138), the case is that the truth of faith is indeed learned, but is not acknowledged, still less received by good, unless there is consent from each faculty, namely, the will and the understanding. Consent is acknowledgment itself; by this is effected reception, and indeed from the will, for good is there; and when the truth of faith has been received by the will, or what is the same, by good, then the man is regenerate for then truth is of good, or faith is of charity, or as to life is charity itself (n. 3121).

3158. Tell me; and if not, tell me. That this signifies their free state of deliberation, is evident from the sense of the words. From all that precedes it is evident that the words which in the sense of the letter in this chapter treat of the betrothal and marriage of Rebekah with Isaac, in the internal sense treat of the initiation and conjunction of good and truth; for the initiation and conjunction of good and truth are spiritual betrothal and spiritual marriage. In each there is required a free state of deliberation. That this is necessary in betrothal and marriage, is well known; but that it is required in the initiation and conjunction of good and truth, is not so well known, because it is not apparent to the natural man, and because such initiation and conjunction are among the things that are accomplished without man's reflecting upon them; nevertheless during every moment when man is being reformed and regenerated, it comes to pass that he is in a state of freedom when truth is being conjoined with good.

[2] Every one may know, if he only considers, that nothing is ever man's, as his, unless it is of his will; what is only of the understanding does not become man's until it becomes of the will also; for what is of the will constitutes the being (esse) of a man's life; but what is of the understanding constitutes the coming forth (existere) of his life thence derived. Consent from the understanding alone is not consent, but all consent is from the will; wherefore unless the truth of faith which is of the understanding is received by the good of love which is of the will, it is not at all truth which is acknowledged, and thus it is not faith. But in order that truth may be received by the good which is of the will, it is necessary that there be a free state. All that is of the will appears free; the very state of willing is liberty; for that which I will, that I choose, that I long for, because I love it and acknowledge it as good. All this shows that truth, which is of faith, never becomes man's as his until it has been received by the will, that is, until it has been initiated and conjoined with the good there; and that this cannot be effected except in a free state.

3159. And I will look to the right hand, or to the left. That this signifies reciprocal freedom, is evident without explication. The case is this: Good from the Lord is continually flowing in through the internal man into the external, and in the earliest appears it appears in the external man under the form of the affection of truth. So far as a man looks to celestial and spiritual good as the end, so far truth is initiated and conjoined with good; or what is the same, so far the affection of truth is initiated and conjoined with the affection of good. But so far as a man looks to good that is his own, and thus to himself and the world, as the end, so far does celestial and spiritual good recede. This is the reciprocal freedom which is signified by "looking to the right or to the left".

3160. And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The word hath gone forth from Jehovah; we cannot speak unto thee evil or good. That this signifies acknowledgment that it was of the Lord alone, may be seen from the explication of the several words as to the internal sense; but that this is the conclusion from them, is evident without such explication. That "the word hath gone forth from Jehovah", signifies from the Lord, is evident; for by "Jehovah", so often named in the Old Testament, no other is ever meant than the Lord (n. 1343, 136, 1815, 2156, 2329, 3023, 3035). That these things involve arcana, is evident from the fact that here Laban made answer, who was a brother, and then Bethuel who was the father; but not the father and mother; and that the virgin did not answer till afterwards. The reason of this is that by Laban as a brother is represented the affection of good in the natural man (n. 3129, 3130); and by Bethuel, the origin of the affection of good. The affection of good and the affection of truth in the natural man are as brother and sister; and the affection of truth called forth from the natural man into the rational and there conjoined with good, is as a married woman.

[2] The secret reason why Laban and Bethuel answered, that is, the brother first and then the father, is that while good from the rational man is flowing into the natural, it does not flow immediately into the truth there, but into the good there, and through the good into the truth; and unless there is this influx the affection of truth cannot come into actual being. The affection of good in the natural man is that which acknowledges, and thus is that which first consents; for there is an immediate communication between rational good and natural good, but not between rational good and natural truth. Concerning the parallelism of these see (n. 1831, 1832). Two ancient formulas of speech are found here, namely, "The word hath gone forth from Jehovah", meaning that it was done of Jehovah; and "We cannot speak unto thee evil or good", meaning that they neither dared to deny nor to affirm. Concerning the acknowledgment that it was of the Lord alone, see what now follows.

3161. Behold Rebekah is before thee; take her and go, and let her be the woman of thy lord's son, as Jehovah hath spoken. That this signifies consent inspired from the Lord, is also evident from the explication of the several words, of which in the internal sense this is a general conclusion. The case herein is this: When the Lord lived in the world He by His own power made the human in Himself Divine. The human begins in the inmost of the rational (n. 2106, 2194); and it is here described how He made this Divine; namely, that as this had been done before as to good, so now it is done as to truth; for the rational consists of good and truth. The good there, was from His veriest Divine, that is, from Jehovah the Father, of whom He was conceived; but the truth was to be procured in the ordinary way, as with other men.

[2] For it is well known that man is not born rational, but only into the capacity of becoming rational; and that he becomes so through memory-knowledges, namely through knowledges of many genera and species, the first of which are means leading to those which follow next, and this in order even to the last, which are knowledges of the spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, and are called doctrinal things. That these are learned in part from the doctrine of faith, in part immediately from the Word, and so in part by the man's own study, is also well known. So long as these doctrinal things are only in the memory, they are only truths in the form of memory-knowledge; nor are they yet appropriated to the man as his; but they are for the first time appropriated to him when he begins to love them for the sake of life, and still more when he applies them to life. When this is done, the truths are raised out of the natural memory into the rational, and are there conjoined with good; and when thee have been conjoined, they are no longer of memory-knowledge merely, but of the life; for then the man no longer learns from truths how he should live, but lives from them, and thereby the truths are appropriated to him, and become of the will. Thus man enters into the heavenly marriage; for the heavenly marriage is the conjunction of good and truth in the rational. These things the Lord does with men.

[3] But in Himself the Lord did all these things from Himself; and from the Divine Itself He not only begat the rational as to good, but also through this the natural as to truth, which He conjoined with good for it is good that chooses truth for itself, and also forms it, since good acknowledges nothing else as truth than that which is in agreement. In this way did the Divine good, which was the Lord's, make for itself truth; nor did it acknowledge as truth anything else than that which agreed with Divine good, that is, that was Divine from Him. Thus He did all things both in general and in particular from His own power. All this is what is signified by the acknowledgment that it was of the Lord alone, and by consent inspired from the Lord.

3162. Verses 52-54. And it came to pass that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth unto Jehovah. And the servant brought forth vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments, and gave to Rebekah; he gave also precious things to her brother and to her mother. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him; and they passed the night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my lord. "And it came to pass that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth unto Jehovah", signifies a perception of joy in the natural man; "and the servant brought forth vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments", signifies truth and good, and their adornments; "and gave to Rebekah", signifies which then were for the affection of truth; "he gave also precious things to her brother", signifies spiritual things thence for natural good; "and to her mother", signifies for natural truth also; "and they did cat and drink", signifies the appropriation of good and of truth thus initiated; "he and the men that were with him", signifies which are in the natural man; "and they passed the night", signifies its peace; "and they rose up in the morning", signifies a degree of elevation; "and he said, Send me away unto my lord", signifies the affection of conjunction.

3163. And it came to pass that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth unto Jehovah. That this signifies a perception of joy in the natural man, is evident from the signification of "hearing the words", as being to perceive; from the representation of the servant of Abraham, as being in general the natural man in so far as it serves the rational, here the Divine (n. 3019, 3020); and from the signification of "bowing himself down to Jehovah", as being to rejoice (n. 2927, 2950, 3118).

3164. And the servant brought forth vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments. That this signifies truth and good, and their adornments, is evident from the signification of "vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and garments", in the internal sense. That "silver" signifies truth, see (n. 1551, 2048); also that "gold" signifies good, (n. 113, 1551, 1552). "Vessels" of silver and "vessels" of gold are here mentioned, because they are predicated of the affection of truth, which here is " Rebekah;" for regarded in itself truth is but a vessel or recipient of good (n. 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269, 3068) "vessels of silver" specifically are memory-knowledges, for these are recipients of truth; "vessels of gold" specifically are truths, for these are recipients of good; and that "garments" denote adornments, is evident without explication. In ancient times such things were given to a virgin when she was betrothed; and this because of the representation and signification in order that the betrothed virgin might represent the truth of the church that is to be conjoined with good. So also is described the Ancient Church, in its first age. in Ezekiel: -

When it was the time of loves, I clothed thee with broidered work, I girded thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with silk, I decked thee also with ornament, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a necklace upon thy throat, and I put a jewel upon thy nose, and earrings in thine ears, and a crown of adornment upon thy head. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen and silk and broidered work (Ezek. 16:8-13).

And when the same church fell away from truth and good, it is thus described in the same chapter: -

Thou didst take of thy garments, and madest for thee high places with divers colors thou didst take the vessels of thine adornment, of My gold and of My silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee images of a male; and thou tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them (Ezekiel 16:16-18).

From these passages it plainly appears that " silver, gold, and garments" denote nothing else than the things which are of the church, namely, truth and good, and the things which are of truth and good.

3165. And gave to Rebekah. That this signifies which then were of the affection of truth, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the affection of truth (n. 2865, 3077). By the things mentioned just above - the vessels of silver, the vessels of gold, and the garments - is described the affection of truth, as a bride; wherefore by these words is signified that such then was the affection of truth; or what is the same, that those things then were of the affection of truth.

3166. He gave also precious things to her brother. That this signifies spiritual things thence for natural good, is evident from the signification of "precious things", as being spiritual things, whereof we shall speak presently; and from the signification of her "brother", as being natural good (n. 3160) Laban also, who is here the brother, is the affection of good in the natural man (n. 3129, 3130). That "precious things" signify spiritual things, is evident from other passages in the Word, as where Joseph is treated of, in Moses: -

Blessed of Jehovah be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep lying beneath and for the precious things of the produce of the sun, and for the precious things of the growth of the months, and for the precious things of the hills of eternity, and for the precious things of the earth, and of the fullness thereof (Deut. 33:13-16).

where by the "precious things of heaven, the precious things of the produce of the sun, the precious things of the growth of the months, the precious things of the hills of eternity, and the precious things of the earth", are signified various kinds of spiritual things. Moreover the things called precious were precious stones, pearls, balsams, spices, and the like, all which signify spiritual things.

[2] What spiritual things are, has been frequently stated above, namely, that in the Lord's kingdom there are celestial things and spiritual things, and that celestial things are of good, and spiritual things are of the derivative truth. There is nothing in the universe that does not refer to good and truth; whatever is of use, and of life, refers to good; but whatever is of doctrine and memory-knowledge, especially concerning use and life, refers to truth; or what is the same, whatever is of the will, is called good or evil; but whatever is of the understanding is called truth or falsity; and therefore good, which is solely of love and charity, and which flows in from the Lord, is celestial; whereas truth, which is therefrom, is spiritual. The reason why precious things were given to the brother, when vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and garments were given to the sister, on her becoming a bride, is that the "brother" signified good in the natural man, and this good is enlightened when truth is being initiated into good in the rational; for all the enlightenment of good and of truth in the natural man is thence.

3167. And to her mother. That this signifies for natural truth also (namely, that it thence has spiritual things, as is the case with natural good, concerning which see just above) is evident from the signification of "mother", as being the church, which is called "mother" from truth (n. 289, 2717). In order that it may be known how it is that natural good and natural truth have spiritual things from the fact that truth is initiated into good in the rational, this may be briefly explained. Every man has an internal and an external; his internal is called the internal man, and his external the external man; but what the internal man is, and what the external, is known to few. The internal man is the same as the spiritual man, and the external is the same as the natural man; the spiritual man is that which understands and is wise from those things which are of the light of heaven, but the natural man from those things which are of the light of the world. Concerning which two lights see (n. 3138). For in heaven there are nothing but spiritual things, whereas in the world there are nothing but natural kings. Man has been so created that in him spiritual things and natural things, that is, his spiritual and natural man, should agree or make a one; but in this case the spiritual man ought to dispose all things in the natural, and the natural ought to obey, as a servant his lord.

[2] But by the fall the natural man began to exalt itself above the spiritual man, and thus inverted Divine order itself; hence the natural man separated itself from the spiritual, and no longer possessed any spiritual things, except such as could enter as through chinks, and confer the capacity of thinking and speaking. But in order that spiritual things might again flow into the natural man, this had to be regenerated by the Lord; that is, truth out of the natural man must be initiated and conjoined with good in the rational; and when this is effected, spiritual things come to the natural man, for then the light of heaven flows in and enlightens the things in the natural man, and causes them to receive light; the goods therein the heat of light, that is, love and charity; and the truth the rays of light, that is, faith; and in this way natural good and natural truth receive spiritual things. In this case natural good is all the delight and pleasure that come from having as an end the being of service to what is spiritual, thus to the neighbor, still more to the public weal, and still more to the Lord's kingdom, and above all to the Lord; and natural truth is all the doctrine and memory-knowledge that has as an end to be wise, that is, the doing of these things.

3168. And they did eat and drink. That this signifies the appropriation of the good and of the truth thus initiated, appears from the signification of "eating", as being to be communicated and conjoined, thus to be appropriated (n. 2187, 2343); and as this is predicated of bread, and by "bread" is signified good (n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 2187), it is the appropriation of good which is signified by "eating "-and also from the signification of "drinking", as also being to be communicated and conjoined, thus to be appropriated (n. 3089); but as this is predicated of wine, and by "wine" is signified truth (n. 1071, 1798), it is the appropriation of truth which is signified by "drinking". The real case herein is as before said (n. 3167), that when truth is being initiated into good, and still more when it is being conjoined with it, in the rational, the good and truth of the spiritual man, that is, spiritual things, are appropriated to the natural man.

3169. He and the men that were with him. That these words signify the things in the natural man, appears from the representation of the servant, who here is "he", as being the natural man (n. 3019, 3020); and from the signification of "the men that were with him", as being all things in the natural man (n. 3148).

3170. And they passed the night. That this signifies the peace thereof, appears from the signification of "passing the night", as being to rest, and in the internal sense to have peace The case herein is this: When spiritual things are being appropriated to the natural man, those things recede which belong to cupidity of evil and persuasion of falsity, thus which induce unrest; and those approach which belong to the affection of good and of truth, consequently those things which cause peace; for all unrest is from evil and falsity, and all peace is from good and truth. What peace is, and what is the quality of its state, (n. 92, 93, 1726, 2780).

3171. And they rose up in the morning. That this signifies a degree of elevation, appears from the signification of "rising up", as involving elevation (n. 2401, 2785, 2912, 2927); and from the signification of "morning", as being the Lord, also His kingdom, and likewise a state of peace thence derived (n. 2405, 2780). The natural is said to be "elevated" when spiritual things are appropriated to it; for all elevation is from things spiritual and celestial, as by these man is elevated toward heaven, thus nearer to the Lord.

3172. And he said, Send me away unto my lord. That this signifies the affection of conjunction, is evident from the general sense which results from the internal sense of the words; for his desiring to be sent to his lord was of affection, in order that the affection of truth, which is " Rebekah", might be conjoined; for the betrothal, that is the initiation, was already accomplished; the affection of conjunction being that which is here signified.

3173. Verses 55-58. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel remain with us days, at least ten; afterwards thou shalt go. And he said unto them, Do not delay me, and Jehovah hath prospered my way; send me away, and I will go to my lord. And they said, Let us call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. "Her brother and her mother said", signifies a doubting of the natural man "let the damsel remain with us", signifies detention by them; "days, at least ten; afterwards thou shalt go", signifies the state for departure, appearing to them full; "and he said unto them, Do not delay me", signifies the will of the affection of good; "and Jehovah hath prospered my way", signifies that all things were now provided; "send me away, and I will go to my lord", signifies as to the state of initiation "and they said, Let us call the damsel and inquire at her mouth", signifies the consent solely of the affection of truth; "and they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go", signifies its full consent.

3174. Her brother and her mother said. That this signifies a doubting of the natural man, appears from the signification of "brother", as being good in the natural man (n. 3160); and from the signification of "mother", as being the truth there (n. 3167); consequently "brother" and "mother" signify the natural man, for this is constituted of good and truth; that there is doubt is manifest, namely, whether the damsel should remain some days, or should go at once with the man.

3175. Let the damsel remain with is. That this signifies a detention by them, appears from the signification of remaining", as here being to be detained, as is also evident from the series in the internal sense. For the case is this Man is never born into any truth, not even into any natural truth - as that he should not steal, should not kill, should not commit adultery, and the like; still less is he born into any spiritual truth as that there is a God, and that he has an internal which will live after death. Thus of himself man knows nothing that relates to eternal life. Man learns both these kinds of truth, otherwise he would be much worse than a brute animal; for from his hereditary nature he loves himself above all and desires to possess all things in the world. Hence unless he were restrained by civil laws and by fears for the loss of honor, of gain, of reputation, and of life, he would steal, kill, and commit adultery, without any perception of conscience. That this is the case is very evident; for a man, even when instructed, commits such crimes without conscience, nay, defends them, and by many considerations confirms himself in the commission of them so far as he is allowed; what then would he not do if he had not been instructed? The case is the same in spiritual things; for of those who are born within the church, who have the Word, and are constantly instructed, there are still very many who ascribe little or nothing to God, but everything to nature; thus who do not at heart believe that there is any God, and therefore do not believe that they shall live after death; and who accordingly have no wish to learn anything relating to eternal life.

[2] From all this it is evident that man is born into no truth, but that he has all to learn, and this by an external way, namely, that of hearing and seeing. By this way truth has to be insinuated, and implanted in his memory; but so long as the truth is there only, it is merely memory-knowledge; and in order that truth may pervade the man it must be called forth thence, and be conveyed more toward the interiors; for his human is more internal, being in his rational; for unless man is rational, he is not man; and therefore according to the quality and the measure of a mass rational, such is the quality and the measure of the man. man cannot possibly be rational unless he possesses good. The good whereby man surpasses the animals, is to love God, and to love the neighbor; all human good is from this. Into this good truth must be initiated and conjoined, and this in the rational. Truth is initiated into good and conjoined with it when man loves God and loves his neighbor, for then truth enters in to good, inasmuch as good and truth mutually acknowledge each other, all truth being from good, and having respect to good as its end and as its soul, and thus as the source of its life.

[3] But truth cannot without difficulty be separated from the natural man, and be thence elevated into the rational; for in the natural man there are fallacies, and cupidities of evil, and also persuasions of falsity; and so long as these are there and adjoin themselves to the truth, so long the natural man detains truth with himself, and does not suffer it to be elevated from itself into the rational; and this is what is signified in the internal sense by the words, "Let the damsel remain with us days, at least ten, afterwards thou shalt go". The reason is that the natural man puts truth in doubt, and reasons about it as to whether it is so; but as soon as the cupidities of evil and persuasions of falsity, and the derivative fallacies, are separated by the Lord, and the man begins from good to be averse to reasonings against truth, and to be superior to doubts, then truth is in a state to depart from the natural and to be elevated into the rational, and to put on a state of good; for then truth becomes of good and has life.

[4] For the better comprehension of this, let us take examples. It is a spiritual truth that all good is from the Lord, and all evil from hell: this truth must in many ways be confirmed and illustrated before it can be elevated out of the natural man into the rational, nor can it ever be elevated until the man is in the love of God; for before this it is not acknowledged, consequently is not believed. The case is similar in regard to other truths, as in regard to the truth that the Divine Providence is in the veriest singulars; and that unless it is in these, it is not in what is universal. Again: in regard to the truth that man first begins to live when that perishes which in the world he believes to be the all of life; and that the life which he then receives is relatively ineffable and unlimited; and that he is altogether ignorant of this so long as he is in evil-these and similar truths can never be believed, unless the man is in good; for it is good which comprehends, because the Lord through good flows in with wisdom.

3176. Days, at least ten, afterwards thou shalt go. That this signifies the state for departure appearing to them full, is evident from the signification of "day", as being state (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788); and from the signification of "ten,"as being what is fall (n. 1988, 3107); here, appearing full to the natural; and from the signification of "going", as being to depart From this it is evident that "days, at least ten, afterwards thou shalt go", signifies the state for departure appearing to them full; wherefore it now follows, "he said to them, do not delay me", by which is signified the "way" of the affection of good.

3177. Jehovah hath prospered my way. That this signifies that all things were now provided, is evident without explication; for that "Jehovah prospers the way" signifies that He provides here, as to the truth which was to be conjoined with good; for by "way" is signified truth (n. 627, 2333).

3178. Send me away, and I will go to my lord. That this signifies as to the state of initiation, is evident from the sense which results from the internal sense of these words. The same words also imply the affection of conjunction, for this affection pertains to the state of initiation.

3179. And they said, Let us call the damsel and inquire at her mouth. That this signifies the consent solely of the affection of truth, appears from the signification of a "damsel", as being an affection wherein is innocence (n. 3067, 3110) here the affection of truth, because she is Rebekah, who, before she consents, is called "damsel", but when she consents, as presently follows, is called "Rebekah". That "Rebekah" is the affection of truth, see (n. 3077); and from the signification of "inquiring at her mouth", as being to perceive whether this consents; thus it is the consent solely of the affection of truth that is here signified.

[2] The case is this: Truth itself, which is to be initiated into good, acknowledges its own good; because good acknowledges its own truth; hence comes consent, but that it is a consent inspired into truth from good may be seen above (n. 3161). With man it never appears that there is any consent on the part of truth when it is being initiated and conjoined with good (that is, when man is being regenerated), nor on the part of good as knowing its own truth, and initiating and conjoining such truth with itself; and yet these things are effected precisely in this way; for the things that take place during man's regeneration are altogether unknown to him; and if he were to know only one out of ten thousand of them he would be astounded. There are innumerable, nay, illimitable secret things by which man is at that time led of the Lord, some only of which shine forth from the internal sense of the Word.

[3] The Ancient Church formed for itself an idea of these things from marriages; namely, from the state of a virgin before betrothal, from her state after betrothal, from her state when she was to be wedded, afterwards when she was married, and lastly when she bore offspring to her husband; the fruits of truth from good, or of faith from charity, they called children, and so on. Such was the wisdom of the Ancient Church; their books were also written in this way; and this manner of writing was transmitted from them to the Gentiles; for it was their desire by things which are in the world to express those which are in heaven, and indeed from natural things to see spiritual ones but at the present day this wisdom is altogether lost.

3180. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. That this signifies full consent, is evident from the sense resulting from the internal sense of these words; for when to the question she replied, "I will go", it denotes that she fully consented. The full consent of truth is given when truth perceives in itself an image of good, and in good the very effigy of itself from which it is.

3181. Verses 59-61. And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his sister. And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Our sister, be thou for thousands of ten thousands, and may thy seed inherit the gate of those that hate thee. And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man, and the servant took Rebekah and went away. "They sent away Rebekah their sister", signifies separation from the affection of Divine truth; "and her nurse", signifies from the innocence pertaining thereto; "and Abraham's servant and his men", signifies from Divine things in the natural man; "and they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her", signifies devout wishes from Divine enlightenment; "Our sister, be thou for thousands of ten thousands", signifies the fructification of the affection of truth to infinitude; "and may thy seed inherit the gate of those that hate thee", signifies the Lord's spiritual kingdom from the marriage of good and truth in the Divine Human, to which kingdom belong charity and faith where before were evil and falsity; "and Rebekah arose", signifies the elevation of the affection of truth, and the consequent separation; "and her damsels", signifies the subservient affections; "and they rode upon the camels", signifies the intellectual part elevated upon natural memory-knowledges; "and followed the man", signifies under the auspices of Divine truth natural; "and the servant took Rebekah and went away", signifies that Divine good natural performed the initiation.

3182. They sent away Rebekah their sister. That this signifies separation from the affection of Divine truth, is evident from the signification of "sending", as denoting to be separated; and from the representation of Rebekah the sister, is being the affection of Divine truth (n. 3077, 3179); that "sister" is truth, see (n. 1495, 2508, 2524, 2556, 3160). How the case herein is, may be seen from what has been said and shown above in this chapter; but to make the matter plainer, a few words more shall be said. When the truth which is to be initiated and conjoined with good is elevated out of the natural, it is separated from what is therein; and this separation is what is signified by their sending away Rebekah their sister. Truth is separated when the man no longer from truth regards good, but from good truth; or what is the same, when he no longer from doctrine regards life, but from life doctrine. For example: doctrine teaches the truth that no one is to be held in hatred; for whoever holds another in hatred, kills him every moment. In early life a man scarcely admits the truth of this, but as he advances in age and is being reformed, he accounts this as one of the doctrinal things according to which he ought to live. At last he lives according to it; and then he no longer thinks from the doctrine, but acts from the life. When this is the case, this truth of doctrine is elevated out of the natural, and indeed is separated from the natural and implanted in good in the rational; and this being effected he no longer suffers the natural man by any of its sophistry to call it in doubt; nay, he does not suffer the natural man to reason against it.

3183. And her nurse. That this signifies from the innocence appertaining thereto (that they also sent this away, that is, separated it from themselves), appears from the signification of a "nurse", or one that gives suck, as being innocence. Repeated mention is made in the Word of those that suck, and of those that give suck; and by the former is signified the first state of infants, which state it is evident must be a state of innocence; for when first born, man is introduced into a state of innocence, in order that this may be a plane for all the succeeding states, and be the inmost in them; which state is signified in the Word by a "suckling". Next he is introduced into a state of the affection of celestial good, that is, of love toward his parents, which with such infants is in the place of love to the Lord; and this state is signified by an "infant". Afterwards he is introduced into a state of the affection of spiritual good, or of mutual love, that is, of charity toward his playmates, which state is signified by "boys". As he advances further in age, he is introduced into a state of the affection of truth; this is signified by "young men;" and the subsequent states are signified by "men", and finally by "old men". This last state, signified by "old men", is the state of wisdom, in which is the innocence of infancy; thus the first state and the last are united; and man when old, being again a little child, but wise, is introduced into the Lord's kingdom.

[2] From all this it is evident that innocence is the first state, which is that of the sucking child. Hence also she that gives suck signifies innocence; for of the giver and the receiver, as of the actor and the one acted upon, a similar state is perceived. It is here said that they sent away also the nurse (or her who gave suck), to the intent that the affection of truth might be described, namely, that it was from innocence; for the affection of truth is not the affection of truth unless innocence is in it (n. 2526, 2780, 3111); for by innocence the Lord flows into this affection, and indeed with wisdom, since true innocence is wisdom itself (n. 2305, 2306); and in the eyes of the angels they who are in innocence appear as infants (n. 154, 2306).

[3] That in the Word a "sucking child" signifies innocence, is also evident from other passages; as in David: -

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou founded strength (Ps. 8:2; Matt. 21:16);

where "babes" denote celestial love, and "sucklings", innocence. In Jeremiah: -

Wherefore commit ye great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, the infant and the suckling out of the midst of Judah, that I should leave you none remaining? (Jer. 44:7)

where the "infant and the suckling" in like manner denote celestial love and the innocence thereof; and when these become none, then there are no longer any "remains", that is, any good and truth remaining stored up by the Lord in the internal man. That these are remains, see (n. 1906, 2284); for all goods and truths perish together with innocence, inasmuch as innocence is immediately from the very Divine, and thus is the very essential in them all.

[4] Again: -

The infant and the suckling faint in the streets of the city (Lam. 2:11);

"there the signification is the same. Again: -

The whales draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones the daughter of My people is become cruel the tongue of the suckling cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst; the little children ask bread, and no man reaches it unto them (Lam. 4:3, 4)

the "suckling" again denoting innocence; "little children", the affections of good. In Moses: -

Without shall the sword bereave, and from the chambers terror, both the young man, and the virgin, the suckling with the old man (Deut. 32:25)

the "sword bereaving the young man, the virgin, the suckling with the old man", signifies that falsity will destroy the affection of truth, and the affection of good; also innocence together with wisdom. In Isaiah: -

They shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall be carried upon the shoulder, and kings shall be thy nourishers, and their queens those who give thee suck (Isa. 49:22, 23)

where "kings thy nourishers" denotes intelligence; and "queens those who give thee suck", wisdom: and that this is of innocence, has been stated above.

3184. And Abraham's servant, and his men. That this signifies from Divine things in the natural man, is evident from the signification of "Abraham's servant", as being the natural man (n. 3019, 3020); and from the signification of "his men", as being all things therein (n. 3169); it is evident that Divine things in the natural man are signified, because the servant was sent by Abraham, who, as has been abundantly shown above, represents the Divine of the Lord.

3185. And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her. That this signifies devout wishes from Divine enlightenment, is evident from the signification of "blessing", in saying farewell to one who is departing, as being devout wishes for success and happiness; that here these were from Divine enlightenment, is evident from what presently follows; and also because enlightenment flows into the natural man through the affection of truth, which is " Rebekah", when being initiated into good, which is "Isaac".

3186. Our sister, be thou for thousands of ten thousands. That this signifies the fructification of the affection of truth to infinitude, appears from the signification of "sister", who is Rebekah, as being the affection of truth (n. 3077, 3179, 3182); and from the signification of "being for thousands of ten thousands", as being fructification to infinitude; "thousands of ten thousands" here denote what is infinite, because the subject treated of is the Lord, in whom all things both in general and in particular are infinite. With man the case is this: Goods are not fructified and truths are not multiplied with him, until the conjunction of truth and of good has been effected in his rational, that is, until he is regenerate for then the fruits or offspring come forth from legitimate or heavenly marriage, which is that of good and truth. It is true that previously to this time the goods which he does appear as if they were goods and the truths appear as if they were truths; but they are not genuine, for the very soul, which is good wherein is innocence from the Lord, is not in them; thus neither do they affect the man and make him happy. The affection of love and of charity, together with the happiness thereof, which affection is the soul, is given of the Lord when man is being regenerated.

[2] That by "thousands" is signified much, and also what is infinite, may be seen above (n. 2575); and still more by "ten thousands", and still more by "thousands of ten thousands", as also in other passages. Thus in Moses: -

When the ark rested, he said, Return Jehovah, the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel (Num. 10:36)

where by "the ten thousands of the thousands" is also signified what is infinite, because it is predicated of the Lord, who is here "Jehovah". Again: -

Jehovah rose from Seir unto them; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and came from the ten thousands of holiness (Deut. 33:2)

where "ten thousands" also denote what is infinite. In David: -

The chariots of God are ten thousands of thousands of peaceable ones (Ps. 68:17);

where the "chariots of God" denote those things which are of the Word and of the doctrine thence derived; "ten thousands of thousands" denote the infinite things which are therein. In John: -

I saw, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne their number was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousand (Rev. 5:11);

denoting that they were innumerable.

3187. And may thy seed inherit the gate of those that hate thee. That this signifies the Lord's spiritual kingdom derived from the marriage of good and truth in the Divine Human, to which kingdom pertain charity and faith where before were evil and falsity, may appear from what was said and explained above (n. 2851), where nearly the same words occur. That "seed" denotes those who are called the spiritual, thus in the universal sense all who constitute the Lord's spiritual kingdom, or what is the same, that kingdom itself, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being charity and faith (n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940), and accordingly those who are in charity through faith. That these are the spiritual, see (n. 2088, 2184, 2507, 2708, 2715, 2954); also that these have charity and faith from the marriage of good and truth in the Lord's Divine Human, thus that they have salvation therefrom, (n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834).

[2] In the Ancient Church this was a customary devout wish to a betrothed virgin, when she was going to be married:-',Be thou for thousands of ten thousands, and may thy seed inherit the gate of thine enemies", or of "them that hate thee;" but the wise ones of that church by these words understood spiritual things; namely, that when they entered into the marriage of good and truth, that is, when they were regenerate, then goods and truths would be fructified to thousands of ten thousands, that is, immeasurably; and that charity and faith would succeed in the place where evil and falsity were before; but when the wisdom of the Ancient Church expired, they then no longer received from this devout wish any spiritual sense, but a wholly worldly sense, namely, that the posterity might be innumerable, and that it might take possession of and inherit the land of the Gentiles. Pre-eminently did the descendants of Jacob so understand these words; and they confirmed themselves in so doing by the fact that they not only increased immensely, but also inherited the land, which was to them the gate of their enemies; not knowing that all these things were representative, that is, representative of the Lord's celestial and spiritual kingdom, and that on the expulsion thence of evils and falsities there would succeed in their place good and truth; which meaning will clearly appear when of the Lord's Divine mercy these representatives are opened.

[3] In particular, that is, with every man who becomes a kingdom of the Lord, the case also is this: Before he becomes this kingdom, that is, before he is being regenerated, he is inwardly nothing but evil and falsity; and infernal and diabolical spirits have possession of that which is called the "gate" (n. 2851); but when he is becoming a kingdom of the Lord, that is, when he is being regenerated, then evils and falsities, or what is the same, infernal and diabolical spirits, are driven out, and good and truth enter and inherit that place; and then there is in him a conscience of good and truth. And as the case is in particular, so also is it in general. From all this it is evident what is meant in the internal sense by the above words.

3188. And Rebekah arose. That this signifies the elevation of the affection of truth and a consequent separation, that is, an elevation to the rational, and a separation from the natural; appears from the signification of "arising", as implying elevation (n. 2401, 2785, 2912, 2927, 3171); and whereas it implies elevation, it implies also separation and also from the representation of Rebekah, as being the affection of truth (n. 3077, 3179). From this it is evident that Rebekah arising" signifies the elevation of the affection of truth, and a separation from the natural (n. 3182).

3189. And her damsels. That this signifies the subservient affections, is evident from the signification of "damsel", when Rebekah was so called, as being an affection in which is innocence (n. 3067, 3110); but when they are so called who followed Rebekah to serve her, they signify subservient affections. Every affection appears as something simple, or as one thing; but that it contains things innumerable, see (n. 3078); all things which are therein are affections, consociated in an incomprehensible form; they are also mutually subordinate to one another, for there are some which administer, and some which serve. The societies of heaven are in such a form, nay, so is the whole heaven, being arranged in order by the Lord according to the Divine form which is in Himself. The form of the Lord's spiritual kingdom comes forth in accordance with the orderly arrangement of the affections in His Divine Human, which orderly arrangement is treated of in the internal sense of this chapter and the following one. But there are very few things herein which can be unfolded to the apprehension, they being adapted to the perception of angels.

3190. And they rode upon the camels. That this signifies the intellectual part elevated above natural memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "riding", as being to be elevated as to the intellectual part (n. 2761, 2762) and from the signification of "camels", as being general memory-knowledges in the natural man (n. 3048, 3071), thus natural memory-knowledges. The case herein is this: then truth is elevated out of the natural into the rational, it is taken out of the sphere of worldly light into the sphere of heavenly light, thus as it were from the obscurity of night into the clearness of day; for the things which are of the light of the world, in which are all natural things, are relatively as in night, but the things which are of the light of heaven, in which are spiritual things, are relatively as in day; and therefore when truth is elevated out of the natural toward the rational, the man is at the same time elevated into intelligence and into wisdom; moreover all intelligence and wisdom with man are from this source. This is what is signified by the intellectual part being elevated above natural memory-knowledges.

3191. And followed the man. That this signifies under the auspices of Divine truth natural, is evident from the signification of "going after" or "following", as being here in the internal sense under the guidance or auspices; and from the signification of the "man", as being truth (n. 3134); here, Divine truth natural (n. 3184).

3192. And the servant took Rebekah and went away. That this signifies that Divine good natural effected the initiation, is evident from the signification of the "servant", as being Divine good natural (n. 3184); and from the signification of "taking Rebekah and going away", as being to initiate, that is, to introduce to Isaac; that is, to Divine good in the rational; as may appear without further explication. The case herein is this: Truth out of the natural could not be elevated to good in the rational, except through Divine truth and Divine good, both natural; Divine truth natural, which is called the "man", must show the way and lead; Divine good natural, which is called the "servant", must introduce and initiate. To speak comparatively, these are as two wings which uplift. But these things cannot as yet be more fully unfolded to the apprehension; for it must first be known what Divine truth natural is, and what Divine good natural, which subjects are treated of in the internal sense in the following chapters concerning Joseph.

3193. Verses 62, 63. And Isaac came from coming from Beer-lahai-roi; and he dwelt in the land of the south. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold there were camels coming. "Isaac came from coming from Beer-lahai-roi", signifies Divine good rational born from the Divine truth itself: "and he dwelt in the land of the south", signifies consequently in Divine light; "and Isaac went out to meditate in the field", signifies the state of the rational in good; "toward evening", signifies relatively to those things which are beneath; "and he lifted up his eyes and saw", signifies attention; "and behold there were camels coming", signifies directed to the general memory-knowledges in the natural man.

3194. Isaac came from coming from (or to) Beer-lahai-roi. That this signifies Divine good rational born from Divine truth itself, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord's Divine rational (n. 2083, 2630); here, as to the Divine good therein, because Divine truth called forth out of the natural (which Divine truth is represented by Rebekah) was not as yet conjoined with good; this conjunction is treated of in the verses which follow;-and also from the signification of "to come from coming from Beer-lahai-roi", as denoting to be born from Divine truth; Beer-lahai-roi in the original tongue signifies "the fountain to the Living One that seeth me;" as above (Gen. 16:13, 14) where we read: - Hagar called the name of Jehovah that was speaking unto her, "Thou art the God that seeth me for she said, Have I also here seen after Him that seeth me I Therefore she called the fountain Beer-lahai-roi (the fountain to the Living One that seeth me). What is signified by these words may be seen above (n. 1952-1958); where also it is evident that the "fountain" is Divine truth; and that the "Living One that seeth me" is Divine good rational, which is there called the Lord's interior man, from Divine truth. The case in regard to this very deep arcanum is this: The veriest Divine has Good and Truth; the Lord as to the Divine Human came forth from the Divine good, and was born of the Divine truth; or what is the same, the very esse (or being) of the Lord was Divine good, and the very existere (or manifestation) was Divine truth; and this was the source of the Lord's Divine good rational, with which He conjoined the Divine truth from the Human.

3195. And he dwelt in the land of the south. That this signifies consequently in Divine light, is evident from the signification of "dwelling", as being to live (n. 1293), and as being predicated of good (n. 2268, 2451, 2712); and from the signification of the "land of the south", as being Divine light; for the "south" signifies light, and indeed the light of intelligence, which is wisdom (n. 1458); but the "land of the south" signifies the place and state where this light is; so here, that " Isaac came from coming from Beer-lahai-roi, and he dwelt in the land of the south", signifies that Divine good rational, because born from Divine truth, was in Divine light.

[2] In the Word frequent mention is made of "light", and by this in the internal sense is signified the truth which is from good but in the supreme internal sense there is signified the Lord Himself, because He is good and truth itself. Moreover there actually is light in heaven, but infinitely brighter than the light on earth (n. 1053, 1117, 1521-1533, 1619-1632); and in this light spirits and angels see one another, and by means of it is displayed all the glory which is in heaven. In regard to its lucidity, this light does indeed appear like the light in the world; but still it is not like it, for it is not natural, but spiritual, having in it wisdom; so that it is nothing else than wisdom which so shines before the eyes of the angels; and therefore the wiser the angels are, the brighter is the light in which they are (n. 2776). Moreover this light illumines the understanding of man, especially that of a regenerate man; but it is not perceived by man so long as he is in the life of the body, because of the light of the world, which then is regnant. Moreover the evil spirits in the other life see one another, and also see many representatives which exist in the world of spirits, and this indeed they do from the light of heaven; but their lumen is such as proceeds from a fire of coals, for the light of heaven is changed into such a lumen when it comes to them.

[3] As regards the very origin of light, this has been from eternity from the Lord alone; for Divine good itself and Divine truth, from which light comes, is the Lord. The Divine Human, which was from eternity (John 17:5), was this light itself. And whereas this light could no longer affect the human race, which had removed itself so far from good and truth, thus from light, and had cast itself into darkness, therefore the Lord willed to put on by birth the human itself; for thus He could illumine not only the rational but also the natural things of man; for He made both the rational and the natural in Himself Divine, in order that He might also he a light to those who were in such gross darkness.

[4] That the Lord is light, that is, good itself and truth itself, and that thus from Him is all intelligence and wisdom, consequently all salvation, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in John: -

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John came to bear witness of the light; he was not that light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. That was the true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world (John 1:1, 4, 7-9).

The "Word" was the Divine truth, thus the Lord Himself as to the Divine Human, concerning which it is said that "that Word was with God, and God was the Word".

[5] In the same Evangelist: -

This is the judgment, that light is come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the light (John 3:19)

where "light" denotes the Divine truth. Again: -

Jesus said, I am the light of the world he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).

Again: -

Yet a little while is the light with you walk while ye have the light, lest darkness seize upon you; while ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light (John 12:35, 36).

Again: -

He that seeth Me seeth Him that sent me I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in Me may not abide in the darkness (John 12:46, 46).

In Luke: -

Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel (Luke 2:30-32).

This is the prophecy of Simeon concerning the Lord when He' was born.

[6] In Matthew: -

The people that sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, did light spring up (Matthew 4:16; Isa. 9:2);

from which passages it is very plain that the Lord as to the Divine good and truth in the Divine Human, is called "light". Also in the prophecies of the Old Testament, as in Isaiah: -

The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame (Isa. 10:17).

Again: -

I Jehovah have called thee in righteousness, and I will give thee for a Covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles (Isa. 42:6).

Again: -

I have given thee for a light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation, unto the end of the earth (Isa. 49:6).

Again: -

Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee. The Gentiles shall walk to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising (Isa. 60:1, 3).

[7] That all the light of heaven, consequently wisdom and intelligence, is from the Lord, is thus taught in John: -

The holy city New Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it the glory of God will enlighten it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof (Rev. 21:2, 23).

Again, speaking of the same: -

There shall be no night there, and they need no lamp, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light (Rev. 22:5).

[8] Again in Isaiah: -

The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee but Jehovah shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for Jehovah shall be thine everlasting light (Isaiah 60:19, 20).

The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee", denotes that this will be the case with the things not of natural, but of spiritual light, which is signified by "Jehovah being an everlasting light". That "Jehovah", as mentioned here and elsewhere in the Old Testament, is the Lord, may be seen above (n. 1343, 1736, 2156, 2329, 2921, 3023, 3035).

[9] And that He is the light of heaven He also manifested to the three disciples, Peter, James, and John, at His transfiguration, when His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment became as the light (Matt. 17:2). His "face as the sun" was the Divine good; His "raiment as the light" was the Divine truth. Hence it may be known what is meant by the expression in the benediction: -

Jehovah make His faces shine upon thee, and be merciful unto thee (Num. 6:25)

that the "faces of Jehovah" are mercy, peace, and good, may be seen above (n. 222, 223); and that the "sun" is the Divine love; thus that it is the Divine love of the Lord which appears as a sun in the heaven of angels, may also be seen above (n. 30-38, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2441, 2495).

3196. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field. That this signifies the state of the rational in good, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Divine rational (concerning which often above); and from the signification of "meditating in the field", as being its state in good; for meditating is a state of the rational when it applies the mind intently; but a "field" is doctrine and the things of doctrine (n. 368); thus the things of the church as to good (n. 2971); hence came the ancient form of expression, "to meditate in the field", denoting to cogitate in good; which is the act of a man not married, when thinking about a wife.

3197. Toward evening. That this signifies in respect to those things which are beneath, is evident from the signification of "evening", as being what is obscure (n. 3056); and whereas those things with man which are beneath, namely, those which are of the natural mind, relatively to those which are above, that is, in the rational mind, are obscure, therefore by "evening" is signified what is relatively in obscurity, as is evident from the series of things in the internal sense; for the subject here treated of is truth from the natural, which was to be conjoined with good in the rational; and whereas this conjunction is here treated of, and the enlightenment of the natural man thereby, therefore by "meditating in the field toward evening", is signified the state of the rational in good relatively to those things which are beneath; the state in good being described by "dwelling in the land of the south", that is, in Divine light, relatively to which the things beneath were in the "evening", that is, before the conjunction of truth and good was effected, and before the natural also was made Divine.

3198. And he lifted up his eyes and saw. That this signifies attention, is evident from the signification of "lifting up the eyes", as being to think (n. 2789, 2829), here attention, because it is said, " he lifted up his eyes and saw", and it is predicated of rational good, with which truth from the natural was not yet conjoined.

3199. And behold there were camels coming. That this signifies directed to the general memory-knowledges in the natural man, is evident from the signification of "camels", as being general memory-knowledges in the natural man (n. 3048, 3071) attention was directed to these because truth was expected to come from them, as is evident from what has been frequently said and shown above in this chapter.

3200. In these two verses is described the state of rational good when it is in expectation of the truth that is to be conjoined with it as a bride to a husband. In the two verses which immediately follow, is described the state of truth when it is near, and perceives the good with which it is to be conjoined. But it is to be known that these states did not come forth once only, but continually during the Lord's whole life in the world, until He was glorified. The case is the same with the regenerate; for they are not regenerated at once, but continually during their whole life, and even in the other life; for man can never be perfected.

3201. Verses 64, 65. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and saw Isaac, and she alighted from off the camel. And she said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant said, It is my lord. And she took a veil and covered herself. "Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and saw Isaac", signifies the reciprocal attention of the affection of truth; "and she alighted from off the camel", signifies the separation thereof from the memory-knowledges in the natural man at the perception of rational good; " and she said unto the servant", signifies exploration from the Divine natural; "what man is this that walketh in the field to meet us?" signifies concerning the rational which was in good alone; "and the servant said, It is my lord", signifies acknowledgment. "And she took a veil and covered herself", signifies the appearances of truth.

3202. Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and saw Isaac. That this signifies the reciprocal attention of the affection of truth, appears from the signification 3325 of "lifting up the eyes and seeing", as being attention (n. 3198); here, reciprocal, because it was before said of Isaac that he "lifted up his eyes and saw", and here it is said of Rebekah, that she "lifted up her eyes, and saw Isaac;" and also from the representation of Rebekah, as being the affection of truth, concerning which see above in many places.

3203. And she alighted from off the camel. That this signifies the separation thereof from the memory-knowledges in the natural man at the perception of rational good, is evident from the signification of "alighting", as being to be separated; and from the signification of "camels", as being the memory-knowledges in the natural man (n. 3048, 3071). That it was at the perception of the rational good which is represented by Isaac, is evident.

[2] What it is to be separated from the natural man, was stated and shown above (n. 3161, 3175, 3182, 3188, 3190), namely, that the affection of truth is separated therefrom when it is no longer a matter of memory-knowledge, but becomes of the life; for when it becomes of the life, by habit the man becomes imbued with it like his disposition or nature; and when he is thus imbued with it, it then flows forth into act as it were spontaneously, and this without his thinking about it from any memory-knowledge; nay, when it becomes of the life it can then exercise command over the memory-knowledges, and draw from them innumerable things which confirm. Such is the case with all truth; in the first age it is a matter of memory-knowledge, but as the man advances in age it becomes of the life. The case herein is like that of children when they are learning to walk, to speak, to think, also to see from the understanding, and to conclude from the judgment which things, when by habit they have become voluntary, and thus spontaneous, vanish from among matters of memory-knowledge, and flow forth of their own accord

[3] So also is it with those things which are of the knowledges of spiritual good and truth with men who from the Lord are being regenerated or born again; in the beginning such men are not unlike children, and at first spiritual truths are to them mere memory-knowledges; for doctrinal things, when being learned and inserted in the memory, are nothing else; but these are successively called forth thence by the Lord, and are implanted in the life, that is, in good; for good is life. When this has been effected there takes place as it were a turning round, namely, that the man begins to act from good, that is, from life, and no longer as before from memory-knowledge. Thus he who is being born anew is in this respect like a child (although the things imbibed are of the spiritual life); until he no longer acts from what is doctrinal, or truth; but from charity, or good; and when this is the case, he then for the first time is in a blessed state, and is in wisdom.

[4] All this shows what it is to be separated from the memory-knowledges in the natural man, which is signified by Rebekah's alighting from off the camel; and this before she knew that it was Isaac; in which circumstances, as every one can see, some arcana are involved.

3204. And she said unto the servant. That this signifies exploration from the Divine natural, appears from the signification here of "saying", as denoting to explore; for she asked, "I',hat man is this that walketh in the field to meet us?" and from the signification of the "servant", as being the Divine natural (n. 3191, 3192).

3205. What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? That this signifies concerning the rational which was in good alone, namely, exploration respecting it, appears from what was said above concerning Isaac, that "he went out to meditate in the field", by which is signified the state of the rational in good (n. 3196); here, the rational is signified by "this man;" and its being in good is signified by "walking" (that is, meditating) "in the field". "To meet us" denotes for conjunction.

3206. And the servant said, I it is my lord. That this signifies acknowledgment, namely, by the Divine natural, which is here the "servant", is evident without explication. That initiation is effected by the Divine natural, see (n. 3192); also that good recognizes its own truth; and truth its own good (n. 3179).

3207. And she took a veil and covered herself. That this signifies appearances of truth, is evident from the signification of the veil with which brides covered the face when they first saw the bridegroom, as being appearances of truth; for among the ancients brides represented the affections of truth, and bridegrooms the affections of good; or what is the same, brides represented the church, which was called a "bride" from the affection of truth; the affection of good which is from the Lord being the bridegroom, and hence all through the Word the Lord Himself is called the "bridegroom". Brides veiled their faces on their first coming to the bridegroom, in order that they might represent appearances of truth. Appearances of truth, are not truths in themselves, but they appear as truths; concerning which see below. The affection of truth cannot approach the affection of good except through appearances of truth; nor is it stripped of appearances until it is being conjoined; for then it becomes the truth of good, and becomes genuine in so far as the good is genuine.

[2] Good itself is holy, because it is the Divine proceeding from the Lord, and flows in by the higher way or gate in man; but in so far as its origin is concerned, truth is not holy; because it flows in by a lower way or gate, and at first is of the natural man; but when it is elevated thence toward the rational man it is by degrees purified; and at the first sight of the affection of good it is separated from memory-knowledges, and puts on appearances of truth, and thus comes near to good; an indication that such is its origin, and that it could not endure the first sight of Divine good until it has entered into the bridegroom's chamber (that is, into the sanctuary of good), and the conjunction has been effected; for then truth no longer looks at good from appearances, or through appearances; but it is looked at from good apart from them.

[3] Be it known however that neither with man, nor indeed with an angel, are any truths ever pure, that is, devoid of appearances; for all both in general and in particular are appearances of truth; nevertheless they are accepted by the Lord as truths, provided good is in them. To the Lord alone belong pure truths, because Divine; for as the Lord is Good itself, so He is Truth itself. But see what has been said concerning truths and their appearances; namely, That the coverings and veils of the tent signified appearances of truth (n. 2576): That truths with man are appearances tainted with fallacies (n. 2053): That the rational things of man are appearances of truth (n. 2516): That truths are in appearances (n. 2196, 2203, 2209, 2242): That Divine good flows into appearances, even into fallacies (n. 2554): That appearances of truth are adapted by the Lord as if they were truths (n. 1832): That the Word is written according to appearances (n. 1838).

[4] But what appearances are, may be clearly seen from those passages of the Word where it speaks according to appearances. There are however degrees of appearances of truth. Natural appearances of truth are mostly fallacies; but with those who are in good they are not to be called fallacies, but appearances, and even in some respects truths; for the good which is in therein, and in which is the Divine, causes another essence to be in them. But rational appearances of truth are more and more interior; in them are the heavens, that is, the angels who are in the heavens (n. 2576).

[5] In order that some idea may be formed of what appearances of truth are, let the following examples serve for illustration. I. Man believes that he is reformed and regenerated through the truth of faith; but this is an appearance; he is reformed and regenerated through the good of faith, that is, through charity toward the neighbor and love to the Lord. II. Man believes that truth enables us to perceive what good is, because it teaches; but this is an appearance; it is good that enables truth to perceive, for good is the soul or life of truth. III. Man believes that truth introduces to good when he lives according to the truth which he has learned; but it is good which flows into truth, and introduces it to itself. IV. It appears to man that truth perfects good, when yet good perfects truth. V. Goods of life appear to man to be the fruits of faith; but they are the fruits of charity. From these few examples it may in some measure be known what appearances of truth are. Such appearances are innumerable.

3208. Verses 66, 67. And the servant told Isaac all the words that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent. And he took Rebekah, and she was to him for a woman, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother. "The servant told Isaac all the words that he had done", signifies perception from the Divine natural, as to how the case was "and Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent", signifies the sanctuary of truth in the Divine Human; "and be took Rebekah, and she was to him for a woman, and he loved her", signifies conjunction; "and Isaac was comforted after his mother, signifies a new state.

3209. The servant told Isaac all the words that he had done. That this signifies perception from the Divine natural as to how the case was, appears from the signification of telling, as being to perceive; for perception is a kind of internal telling; wherefore perceiving, in the historicals of the Word, is expressed by "telling", and also by "saying" (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862); - and also from the signification here of the "servant", as being the Divine natural (concerning which presently); and from the signification of "words", as being actual things (n. 1785); from which considerations it is plain that "the servant told all the words that he had done", signifies that Divine good rational perceived from the Divine natural how the case was. The case herein is this: The rational is in a degree above the natural, and rational good in the Lord was Divine; but the truth which was to be elevated out of the natural was not Divine until it was conjoined with the Divine good of the rational. In order therefore that the good of the rational might flow into the natural, there must be a medium; this medium could be nothing else than something natural which should partake of the Divine; and this is represented by the "elder servant in Abraham's house, administering all things which he had" (n. 3019, 3020); and that this "servant" signifies the Divine natural, may be seen above (n. 3191, 3192, 3204, 3206).

3210. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent. That this signifies the sanctuary of truth in the Divine Human, is evident from the signification of "tent", as being what is holy (n. 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 2576), and thus a sanctuary; and from the signification of "Sarah the mother", as being Divine truth (n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2904), of which was born the Divine Human, whose rational is represented by the son Isaac; whence it is evident that "Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent", signifies that rational good brought with it the truth which is represented by Rebekah, into the sanctuary of truth.

[2] What the sanctuary of truth is may be seen from what was said above (n. 3194) concerning the Lord's Divine Human; namely, that the veriest Divine has Good and Truth; and that the Lord, as to the Divine Human, came forth from the Divine good, and was born (namely, as to the Divine Human of the Divine truth; or what is the same, that the very esse of the Lord was Divine good, but the very existere was Divine truth: from this was the Divine good rational, with which He conjoined Divine truth from the Human. Concerning this very deep arcanum more cannot be said. We will only add that it is the veriest Divine good and truth in the Lord's Divine Human with which truth from the Human was conjoined, that was signified by the Sanctuary, or Holy of holies, in the tabernacle, and in the temple; and its quality was represented by the things therein contained, as by the golden altar, by the table on which were the show-breads (panes propositionis), by the candlestick, and still more internally by the propitiatory, and by the ark, and inmostly by the testimony, which was the law promulgated from Sinai, and which was the very Holy of Holies, or the Sanctuary of truth.

3211. And he took Rebekah, and she was to him for a woman, and he loved her. That this signifies the conjunction, namely, of good and truth, is evident without explication. The reason it is said that Rebekah was to him "for a woman", and not for a wife, is that between rational good and the truth called forth from the natural and made Divine, it is not marriage that takes place, but a covenant resembling a marriage covenant. The Divine marriage itself which is in the Lord is the union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence (n. 2803). This is the reason why Rebekah is called "woman", not wife.

3212. And Isaac was comforted after his mother. That this signifies a new state, is evident from the signification of "receiving comfort", as being a new state; for a state of consolation is new; and that it succeeded to the foregoing is signified by "after his mother". This new state is the state of glorification of the rational; as before in respect to good, so now in respect to truth. The rational was glorified when it was made Divine in respect to both.

[2] That the Lord as to the human was made new, that is, glorified (or what is the same, was made Divine), no one can possibly conceive (thus neither believe) who is in worldly and corporeal loves for he is altogether ignorant what the spiritual and celestial is, nor indeed is he willing to know. But he who is not in worldly and corporeal loves, is capable of perceiving this, for he believes that the Lord is one with the Father, and that from Him proceeds all that is holy; consequently that He is Divine even as to the Human; and whoever believes, perceives in his own way.

[3] The state of the Lord's glorification may in some manner be conceived from the state of the regeneration of man, for the regeneration of man is an image of the glorification of the Lord (n. 3043, 3138). When man is being regenerated, he is then becoming altogether another, and is being made new; therefore also when he has been regenerated, he is called "born again", and "created anew". Then, although he has a similar face and a similar speech, yet his mind is not similar; his mind, when he is regenerate, is open toward heaven, and there dwells therein love to the Lord and charity toward his neighbor, together with faith. It is the mind that makes a man another, and a new man. This change of state cannot be perceived in the body of man, but in his spirit, the body being merely the covering of his spirit; and when it is put off, then his spirit appears, and this (provided he has been regenerated) in altogether another form, for it then has the form of love and charity in beauty inexpressible (n. 553), instead of its pristine form, which was that of hatred and cruelty with a deformity also inexpressible. This shows what a regenerate person is, or one who is born again, or created anew; namely, that he is altogether another, and is a new man.

[4] From this image it may in some measure be conceived what the glorification of the Lord is. He was not regenerated as a man is; but became Divine, and this from the very Divine Love itself, for He was made the Divine Love itself. What his form then was, was made apparent to Peter, James, and John when it was given them to see Him, not with the eyes of the body but with the eyes of the spirit, namely - that His countenance shone like the sun (Matt. 17:2); and that this was His Divine Human is evident from the voice which then came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son"' (Matthew 17:5). That the "Son" is the Divine Human, may be seen above (n. 2628).

 

CONTINUATION CONCERNING REPRESENTATIONS AND CORRESPONDENCES

3213. In the world of spirits there come forth innumerable and almost continual representatives, which are forms of actual things spiritual and celestial, not unlike those which are in the world. Whence these come it has been granted to me to know by daily intercourse with spirits and angels. They inflow from heaven, and from the ideas and speech of the angels there; for the ideas of angels and their derivative speech, when they come down to spirits, are exhibited representatively in various ways. From these representations upright and well disposed spirits are enabled to know what the angels are saying among themselves, for inwardly within the representatives there is something angelic, which, in consequence of its power to excite affection, is perceived even as to its quality. Angelic ideas and speech cannot be exhibited before spirits in any other way; for as compared with the idea of a spirit an angelic idea contains things illimitable; and unless it were formed and exhibited representatively, and thus visibly by images, a spirit would scarcely understand any thing of its contents, which are for the most part unutterable. But when the ideas are represented by forms, then in so far as the more general things are concerned they become comprehensible to spirits. And wonderful to say there is not even the smallest thing in that which is represented which does not express something spiritual and celestial that is in the idea of the angelic society from which the representative flows down.

3214. Representatives of things spiritual and celestial sometimes come forth in a long series, continued for an hour or two, in such an order successively as is marvelous. There are societies in which these representatives take place; and it has been given me to be with them for many months. But these representations are of such a nature that it would take many pages to relate and describe a single one of them in its order. They are very delightful, for something new and unexpected continually follows in succession, and this until what is represented is being fully perfected; and when all things have been perfectly represented, it is possible to contemplate everything in one view; and then it is at the same time given to take note of what is signified by each detail. Moreover good spirits are in this way initiated into spiritual and celestial ideas.

3215. The representatives that come forth before spirits are of an incredible variety; yet they are for the most part similar to things which exist on the earth, in its three kingdoms. For the better understanding of their nature, see what has been related above concerning them, (n. 1521, 1532, 1619-1625, 1807, 1808, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1981, 2299, 2601, 2758).

3216. In order that it may be still better known how the case is with representatives in the other life, that is, with those things which appear in the world of spirits, take some further examples. When the angels are speaking about the doctrinal things of charity and faith, then sometimes in a lower sphere, where there is a corresponding society of spirits, there appears the form or pattern of a city or cities, with palaces therein exhibiting such skill in architecture as is amazing, so that you would say that the very art itself was there in its native home; not to mention houses of varied aspect; and wonderful to say in all these objects both in general and in particular there is not the smallest point, or visible atom, that does not represent something of the angelic idea and speech: so that it is evident what innumerable things are contained in these; and also what is signified by the cities seen by the prophets in the Word; and likewise what by the holy city or New Jerusalem; and what by the cities in the prophetic Word; namely, the doctrinal things of charity and faith (n. 402, 2449).

3217. When the angels are discoursing of that which relates to the understanding, then in the world of spirits, beneath the angels, or in the corresponding societies, there appear horses; and these of a size, form, color, attitude, and varied equipment, in accordance with the ideas which the angels have concerning the understanding. There is also a place at some depth a little to the right, which is called the abode of the intelligent, where horses continually appear, and this by reason of those present being in thought about what is of the understanding; and when angels whose discourse is about this subject flow into their thoughts, there is a representation of horses. This shows what was signified by the horses seen by the prophets, and also by the horses mentioned elsewhere in the Word; namely, the things of the understanding (n. 2760-2762).

3218. When the angels are in affections, and are at the same time discoursing about them, then in the lower sphere among spirits such things fall into representative species of animals. When the discourse is about good affections, there are presented beautiful, tame, and useful animals, such as were used in sacrifice in the representative Divine worship in the Jewish Church-as lambs, sheep, kids, she-goats, ran's, he-goats, calves, bullocks, oxen; and then whatever appears upon the animal presents some image of their thought, which it is given to upright and well disposed spirits to perceive. This shows what was signified by the animals that were employed in the rites of the Jewish Church; and what by the same when mentioned in the Word; namely, affections (n. 1823, 2179, 2180). But the discourse of the angels about evil affections is represented by beasts that are repulsive. fierce, and useless, such as tigers, bears, wolves, scorpions, serpents, mice, and the like; and these affections are also signified by the same beasts in the Word.

3219. When the angels are conversing about knowledges, and ideas, and influx, there then appear in the world of spirits as it were birds, formed in accordance with the subject of their discourse. Hence it is that in the Word "birds" signify rational things, or those which are of thought (n. 40, 745, 776, 991). There were once presented to my view birds, one dark and unsightly, but two noble and beautiful; and when I saw them, there then fell upon me some spirits with such violence as to strike a tremor into my nerves and bones. I imagined that then, as several times before, evil spirits were assaulting me, with intent to destroy me; but this was not the case; for when the tremor ceased, together with the emotion of the spirits who fell upon me, I spoke with them, asking what was the matter.

[2] They said that they had fallen down from a certain angelic society in which there was discourse concerning thoughts and influx; and that they had held the opinion that things relating to thought flow in from without, that is, through the external senses, according to the appearance; whereas the heavenly society in which they were, held the opinion that they inflow from within; and as they (the speakers) were in falsity, they fell down-not that they were cast down, for the angels cast no one down from them, but being in falsity they fell down of themselves; and they said that this was the cause.

[3] By this it was given to know that discourse in heaven concerning thoughts and influx is represented by birds; and that of those who are in falsity by dark and unsightly birds; but that of those who are in the truth, by birds noble and beautiful. I was at the same time instructed that all things of thought inflow from within, and not from without, although it appears so; and I was told that it is contrary to order for the posterior to flow into the prior, or the grosser into the purer; thus for the body to inflow into the soul.

3220. When the angels are discoursing about things of intelligence and wisdom, and about perceptions and knowledges, the influx from them into the corresponding societies of spirits falls into representations of such things as are in the vegetable kingdom; as into representations of paradises, of vine-yards, of forests, of meadows with flowers, and into many lovely forms that surpass all human imagination. Hence it is that things which are of wisdom and intelligence are described in the Word by paradises, vineyards, forests, meadows; and that where these are mentioned, such things are signified.

3221. The discourses of the angels are sometimes represented by clouds, and by their forms, colors, movements, and changes; things affirmative of truth by bright and ascending clouds; things negative by dark and descending clouds; things affirmative of falsity by dusky and black clouds; consent and dissent by the various gatherings together and partings asunder of the clouds, and these latter as in a sky like that of the heavens in the night.

3222. Moreover loves and their affections are represented by flames, and this with inexpressible variation; whereas truths are represented by lights, and by innumerable modifications of light. This shows whence it is that by "flames" in the Word are signified the goods which are of love; and by "lights" the truths which are of faith.

3223. There are two lights whereby man is enlightened - the light of the world, and the light of heaven. The light of the world is from the sun; the light of heaven is from the Lord. The light of the world is for the natural or external man, thus for those things which are in hint, and although the things which are therein do not appear to be of this light, they nevertheless are so; for nothing can be comprehended by the natural man except by such things as come forth and appear in the solar world, thus except they have somewhat of form from the light and shade therein. All ideas of time and ideas of space, which are of so much account in the natural man that he cannot think without them, are also of the light of the world. But the light of heaven is for the spiritual or internal man. Man's interior mind, in which are his intellectual ideas that are called immaterial, is in this light. Man is unaware of this, although he calls his intellect sight, and ascribes light to it; the reason is that so long as he is in worldly and corporeal things he has a perception only of such things as are of the light of the world, but not of such things as are of the light of heaven; the light of heaven is from the Lord alone, and the universal heaven is in this light.

[2] This light (namely, that of heaven) is immensely more perfect than the light of the world; the things which in the light of the world make one ray, in the light of heaven make myriads; within the light of heaven there are intelligence and wisdom. This light is that which flows into the light of the world which is in the external or natural man, and causes him to perceive sensuously the objects of actual things; and unless this light flowed in, man could not have any perception, for the things which are of the light of the world derive from it their life. Between these lights, or between the things which are in the light of heaven and those in the light of the world, there exists a correspondence when the external or natural man makes one with the internal or spiritual man, that is, when the former is subservient to the latter; and the things which then come forth in the light of the world are representative of such things as come forth in the light of heaven.

3224. It is surprising that man does not as yet know that his intellectual mind is in a certain light that is altogether different from the light of the world; but such is the condition that to those who are in the light of the world the light of heaven is as it were darkness, and to those who are in the light of heaven the light of the world is as it were darkness. This arises principally from the loves, which are the heats of the light. They who are in the loves of self and of the world, thus only in the heat of the light of the world, are affected solely by evils and falsities, and these are the things which extinguish truths, which are of the light of heaven. But they who are in love to the Lord and in love toward the neighbor, thus in spiritual heat, which is of the light of heaven, are affected with goods and truths, which extinguish falsities; but still with these persons there exists a correspondence.

[2] Spirits who are only in the things which are of the light of the world, and are thence in falsities derived from evils, have indeed light from heaven in the other life, but such a light as is fatuous, or as that which issues from a lighted coal or firebrand; but on the approach of the light of heaven this light is at once extinguished, and becomes thick darkness. They who are in this light are in phantasies, and the things which they see in phantasies they believe to be truths, nor to them is anything else truth. Their phantasies are also closely bound to filthy and obscene objects, with which they are most especially delighted; thus they think like persons who are insane and delirious. In regard to falsities, they do not reason whether these be so or not, but they instantly affirm them; whereas in regard to goods and truths they carry on a continual ratiocination, which terminates in what is negative.

[3] For truths and goods, which are from the light of heaven, flow into the interior mind, which with them is closed; wherefore the light flows in around and outside of this mind, and becomes such that it is modified solely by the falsities which appear to them as truths. Truths and goods cannot be acknowledged, except with those whose interior mind is open, into which the light from the Lord may inflow; and so far as this mind is open, truths and goods are acknowledged. This mind is open only with those who are in innocence, in love to the Lord, and in charity toward their neighbor; but not with those who are in the truths of faith, unless they are at the same time in the good of life.

3225. From all this then it is evident what correspondence is and whence it is, also what representation is and whence; namely, that there is correspondence between those things which are of the light of heaven and those which are of the light of the world, that is, between those things which are of the internal or spiritual man and those which are of the external or natural man; and that there is representation in regard to whatever comes forth in the things which are of the light of the world (that is, in regard to whatever comes forth in the external or natural man), relatively to those which are of the light of heaven, that is, which are from the internal or spiritual man.

3226. Among the eminent faculties which man possesses, although he is ignorant of it, and which he carries with him into the other life when he passes thither after his liberation from the body, is that he perceives what is signified by the representatives which appear in the other life; also that he is able by the sense of his mind to express fully in a moment of time what he could not express during hours in the body; and this by ideas from those things which are of the light of heaven, assisted and given as it were wings by suitable appearances representative of the subject of discourse, which are such as cannot be described; and whereas man after death comes into these faculties, and in the other life has no need to be instructed respecting them, it is evident that he is in them (that is, that they are in him) during his life in the body, although he does not know it.

[2] The reason of this is that there is a continual influx with man through heaven from the Lord. This influx is an influx of spiritual and celestial things, which fall into his natural things and are there presented representatively. In heaven among the angels nothing else is thought of than the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom; but in the world, with man, scarcely anything else is thought of than the corporeal and natural things which belong to the kingdom in which he is, and to the necessaries of life. And since the spiritual and celestial things of heaven which flow in are presented representatively with man In his natural things, they therefore remain implanted, and when a man puts off the body and leaves the world behind, he is in them.

3227. The subject of Representations and Correspondences is continued at the end of the next chapter.


Chapter 25

3228. This chapter treats of the sons of Abraham by Keturah, and also of the sons of Ishmael, whose names are given; afterwards it treats of Isaac and Rebekah, in that Esau and Jacob were born to them, and finally that Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a pottage of lentils. Every one can see that these subjects are of such a nature as may indeed be of use for the church history of that time, but are of little value in regard to spiritual life, for the sake of which however the Word is given. What does it benefit a man to know who were the sons of Abraham by Keturah, and who were the sons of Ishmael? and that Esau, weary with hunting, craved the pottage of lentils, and that Jacob by means of it shrewdly procured the birthright for himself? And so in the following chapter, where it is said that the herdmen of Abimelech quarreled with the herdmen of Isaac concerning the wells they had dug, in about the same way as they had previously contended with the herdmen of Abraham (chapter 21). Moreover in some places there are mere lists of names, as that of the posterity of Esau (chapter 26); and the same in other chapters. In so far as these are historical matters there is so little of the Divine in them that you can in no wise say that that Word was Divinely inspired in regard to every expression, and even to every jot, that is, that it had been sent down from the Lord through heaven to the man who wrote it; for what has been sent down from the Lord is Divine in all things both in general and in particular. Thus there is nothing Divine in regard to historical things (since these are transactions of men) except from things contained deeply hidden in the historicals, all of which both in general and in particular treat of the Lord and His kingdom. The historicals of the Word are unlike all other historicals in the universe, in that they contain such things within them.

3229. If the Word were the Word in regard solely to its historicals, that is; in regard to its external or literal sense, then all the historicals in it would be holy; and, what is more, many persons there mentioned would be regarded as holy, and the result would be (as has actually happened with many of them) that they would be worshiped as gods because they are treated of in the holiest of writings; for example, those who are called the patriarchs, namely, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and after them the fathers of the tribes, the twelve sons of Jacob, and later David and many others; and yet all these were men, and some of them had but little regard for Divine worship; and I am able to testify that they enjoy nothing beyond the common lot of humanity, and also that in the heavens they are quite unknown. But of the Lord's Divine mercy more will be said elsewhere concerning them and their state in the other life. From all this it is clearly evident that the external or literal sense is the Word solely from the internal or spiritual sense within it, and from which it is.

 

GENESIS 25:1-34

1. And Abraham added, and took a woman, and her name was Keturah.

2. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.

3. And Jokshan begat Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.

4. And the sons of Midian: Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.

5. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.

6. And to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts; and he sent them away from Isaac his son, while he was yet living, eastward to the land of the east.

7. And these are the days of the years of the lives of Abraham which he lived; a hundred years, and seventy years, and five years.

8. And Abraham expired and died in a good old age, an old man and sated, and was gathered to his peoples.

9. And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;

10. The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

11. And it came to pass after the death of Abraham that God blessed Isaac his son; and Isaac dwelt at Beer-lahai-roi.

12. And these are the births of Ishmael the son of Abraham, whom Hagar the Egyptian. Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham

13. And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, in their names, according to their births: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam;

14. And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa;

15. Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:

16. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, in their villages and in their castles; twelve princes of their peoples.

17. And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred years, and thirty years, and seven years; and he expired and died, and was gathered unto his peoples.

18. And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: he fell upon the faces of all his brethren.

19. And these are the births of Isaac, the son of Abraham: Abraham begat Isaac.

20. And Isaac was a son of forty years when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean, of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to himself for a woman.

21. And Isaac entreated Jehovah for his woman, because she was barren, and Jehovah was entreated of him, and Rebekah his woman conceived.

22. And the sons struggled together within her; and she said, If so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of Jehovah.

23. And Jehovah said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one people shall prevail over the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger.

24. And her days were fulfilled to bring forth, and behold twins were in her womb.

25. And the first came forth red all over like a hairy garment, and they called his name Esau.

26. And after that came forth his brother, and his hand laid hold on Esau's heel, and he called his name Jacob: and Isaac was a son of sixty years when she bare them.

27. And the boys grew up: and Esau was a man skillful in hunting, a man of the field; and Jacob was a perfect man, dwelling in tents.

28. And Isaac loved Esau, because his hunting was in his mouth; and Rebekah loved Jacob.

29. And Jacob boiled pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he was weary.

30. And Esau said to Jacob, Cause me to sup I pray of the red, this red, for I am weary; therefore he called his name Edom.

31. And Jacob said, Sell me as this day thy birthright.

32. And Esau said, Behold I am going to die, and for what is this birthright to me?

33. And Jacob said, Swear to me as this day; and he sware unto him, and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

34. And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up and went away; and Esau despised the birthright.

 

THE CONTENTS

3230. In the internal sense this chapter treats, First, of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and its derivations (verses 1-4). That it was separated from the Lord's celestial kingdom (verses 5, 6). That the representative of the Lord by Abraham was ended (verses 7, 8). And that the representative of the Lord by Isaac and Ishmael began (verses 9-11).

3231. Secondly, the spiritual church, which is represented by Ishmael, together with its derivations, is treated of (verses 12-18).)

3232. Thirdly, the conception and birth of the Divine natural are treated of; as to good, which is meant by Esau; and as to truth, which is meant by Jacob (verses 19-25).

3233. Fourthly, the priority of good and of truth in the church is treated of (verses 26-34).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

3234. Verse 1. And Abraham added, and took a woman, and her name was Keturah. "And Abraham added, and took a woman", signifies another state of the Lord, whom Abraham represents; Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord as to the Divine celestial; Abraham and Keturah represented the Lord as to the Divine spiritual; thus Abraham here represents the Lord as to Divine good spiritual, and his woman as to Divine truth adjoined to this good; "and her name was Keturah", signifies the essence of this Divine truth.

3235. And Abraham added, and took a woman. That this signifies another state of the Lord, whom Abraham represents, and that Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord as to the Divine celestial, and Abraham and Keturah as to the Divine spiritual, is evident from the things hitherto said and shown concerning Abraham and Sarah his wife, and from those here related concerning Abraham and Keturah. But as it is said that Abraham here represents another state of the Lord, and that Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord as to the Divine celestial, but Abraham and Keturah the Lord as to the Divine spiritual, it should be known what the Divine celestial is, and what the Divine spiritual.

[2] The Divine celestial and the Divine spiritual are such in respect to those who receive the Divine of the Lord, for the Lord appears to every one according to the nature of him who receives, as may be seen from what has been said above (n. 1838, 1861), and is clearly manifest from the fact that the Lord appears in one way to the celestial, but in another to the spiritual; for to the celestial He appears as a sun, but to the spiritual as a moon (n. 1529-1531, 1838). The Lord appears to the celestial as a sun, because they are in celestial love, that is, in love to the Lord; but to the spiritual as a moon, because they are in spiritual love, that is, in charity toward the neighbor. The difference is like that between the light of the sun in the daytime and the light of the moon by night; it is also like the difference between the heat of the one and the heat of the other, from which springs vegetation. This is what is meant in the first chapter of Genesis by the words: -

And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night (Genesis 1:16).

[3] Speaking generally, the Lord's kingdom is both celestial and spiritual; that is, it consists of those who are celestial, and of those who are spiritual. And it is because the Divine of the Lord appears to the celestial as celestial, and to the spiritual as spiritual, that it is here said that Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord as to the Divine celestial, and that Abraham and Keturah represented Him as to the Divine spiritual. But as scarcely any know what the celestial is and what the spiritual, or who the celestial and the spiritual are, see what has already been said and shown concerning them, namely: What the celestial is, and what the spiritual (n. 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2184, 2227, 2507): Who are celestial and who are spiritual (n. 2088, 2669, 2708, 2715): That the celestial man is a likeness of the Lord and does good from love, and the spiritual man is an image of the Lord and does good from faith (n. 50-52, 1013): That the celestial perceive truth from good, and that they never reason concerning truth (n. 202, 337, 607, 895, 1121, 2715): That in the celestial man good is implanted in his will part, but in the spiritual man it is implanted in his intellectual part, and that in this part a new will is created in those who are spiritual (n. 863, 875, 895, 897, 927, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2256): That the celestial from good itself see indefinite things, but that the spiritual, because they reason whether a thing is so, cannot attain to the first boundary of the light of the celestial (n. 2718): That the spiritual are in relative obscurity (n. 1043, 2708, 2715): That the Lord came into the world in order to save the spiritual (n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834).

3236. That Abraham here represents the Lord as to Divine good spiritual, and his woman as to Divine truth adjoined to this good, is evident from what has been said before concerning husbands and wives, namely, that the husband represents good and the wife truth, as Abraham and Sarah heretofore, (n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198, 2904); and as Isaac and Rebekah in the preceding chapter, (n. 3077). The reason why the husband represents good, and the wife truth, is that the church is compared to a marriage, and also is the marriage of good and truth. Good is what the husband represents, because it is in the first place; but truth is what the wife represents, because it is in the second place; therefore also in the Word the Lord is called a "bridegroom", a "man (vir)", a "husband;" and the church is called a "bride", a "woman", a "wife".

[2] What spiritual good is, and what the spiritual truth adjoined to this good, may be seen from the passages cited immediately above (n. 3235). Spiritual good in man is in general what is called the good of faith, and this is no other than charity toward the neighbor; but in order that it may be charity, it must come from the new will with which the spiritual man is gifted by the Lord. The spiritual truth adjoined to this good is what is called the truth of faith, and this is no other than that which regards charity first as the end for the sake of which it exists; and afterwards as the beginning from which it proceeds; but in order that it may be the truth of faith to the spiritual man, or faith, it must come from the new understanding with which he is gifted by the Lord; and the new understanding must have its light from the new will.

3237. And her name was Keturah. That this signifies the essence of this Divine truth, is evident from the signification of "name", as being quality; and of "calling by name", as being to know of what quality one is (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009). But seeing that not quality, but being is predicated of the Divine, by "name" here is signified essence, and indeed the essence of the Divine truth which is signified here by "her", namely the woman. That here the "woman" is Divine truth, see (n. 3236). From this it is evident what Keturah in general involves.

3238. Verses 2-4. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian: Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah. "And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah", represents the general classes of the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens and on earth; "and Jokshan begat Sheba and Dedan", signifies the derivations from the first class; "and the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim", signifies the derivations from the second class; "and the sons of Midian: Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah", signifies the derivations from the third class; "all these were the sons of Keturah", signifies as regards the doctrinal things and worships thence derived.

3239. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. That these represent the general classes of the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens and on earth, cannot so well be established from the Word, because none of these men are elsewhere mentioned, with the exception of Midian, of whom something will be said hereafter. Yet this may be seen from the fact that all persons named in the Word represent something; as is sufficiently evident from all those mentioned hitherto, from the first chapter of Genesis. That in the internal sense of the Word names, both of persons and of kingdoms, provinces, and cities, signify actual things, see (n. 768, 1224, 1264, 1876, 1888), and in many other places where this is in particular confirmed from the Word. The reason why none of these except Midian are mentioned elsewhere in the Word, is that they are of the sons of the east, who are sometimes mentioned in the Word. That in general the "sons of the east" signify those who are of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, see (verse 6).

[2] That these sons of Abraham by Keturah have this representation, is evident from the fact that Abraham and Keturah represent the Lord as to the Divine spiritual, namely, Abraham the Lord as to Divine good spiritual, and Keturah as to Divine truth spiritual conjoined with this good, concerning which see (n. 3235, 3236). From this it follows that their sons represent the general classes or lots of the kingdom which is from the Lord's Divine spiritual. They are called general classes or lots because the Lord's kingdom is represented by land, which is distributed by lots among those to whom it is given to be possessed as an inheritance, just as the land of Canaan was allotted to the sons of Israel. There are in general twelve classes, for by "twelve" are signified all the things of charity and of the derivative faith, which are of the Lord's kingdom, concerning which see (verse 16); but here there are six, thus one-half the number; but the half of a number involves the same as the whole, for provided a like thing is involved, multiplication and division do not vary the thing itself as to what is essential.

3240. And Jokshan begat Sheba and Dedan. That this signifies the derivations from the first class, is evident from the representation of Jokshan and of his sons Sheba and Dedan, concerning whom something will be said in what follows. As here there are mere names, and the states and derivations of the Lord's spiritual church are signified by them, the nature of such states and derivations in general must be declared. The celestial church differs from the spiritual church in this respect: Those who are of the celestial church, and are called celestial, are in love, that is to say they are in the good and truth of love; while those who are of the spiritual church, and are called spiritual, are in faith, that is, they are in the good and truth of faith. The good which the celestial have is that of love to the Lord, and their truth is that of love to the neighbor; whereas the good which the spiritual have is that of charity toward the neighbor, and their truth is that of faith, in so far as this truth is doctrine concerning charity. This shows that the Lord's spiritual kingdom, as well as His celestial kingdom, has good and truth, but with much difference.

[2] Be it known moreover that they who are in each kingdom are distinguished among themselves by good and truth, for the reason that there are some who are more in good and others who are more in truth. From this then come the derivations, that is, the derivations of good and the derivations of truth. In the Lord's spiritual kingdom the derivations of good are what are represented by the sons of Jokshan who are named in this verse; but the derivations of truth in this kingdom are what are represented by the sons of Midian who are named in the following verse. Now as there are two classes of the spiritual (those who are more in good, and those who are more in truth), they have therefore two kinds of doctrinals, namely, those of charity and those of faith; doctrinals of charity for those who are in the good of faith and are here signified by the sons of Jokshan; but doctrinals of faith for those who are in the truth of faith and are signified by the sons of Midian.

[3] Sheba and Dedan are those who constitute the first class, that is, those who in the Lord's spiritual kingdom are in the good of faith, and who have doctrinals of charity. From this it follows that by "Sheba and Dedan" are signified the knowledges of celestial things, or what is the same, those who are in these knowledges, that is, who are in the doctrinals of charity; for doctrinals are knowledges, and the celestial of the spiritual man is that of charity. That " Sheba" and "Dedan" have this signification was shown in (n. 117, 1168, 1171, 1172); but there Sheba and Dedan are the great-grandsons of Ham, and are called sons of Raamah; but be it known that there were no such persons as Ham and Japheth and Shem, but that those who after the flood belonged to the church called "Noah" were distinguished as to goods and truths into three classes, and these were the names given to those classes (n. 736, 1062, 1065, 1140, 1141, 1162). Nevertheless there were nations that were so called, but these nations were descended from others, as it is here plainly said that Sheba and Dedan were descended from Jokshan, the son of Abraham by Keturah.

[4] That "Sheba" signifies those who are in the knowledges of celestial things, thus who are in the good of faith, is evident from the passages cited above (n. 117, 1171); and that "Dedan" has a similar signification is also evident from the passages cited (n. 1172), and further from the following. In Isaiah: -

The prophecy concerning Arabia: in the forest in Arabia shall ye spend the night, ye companies of Dedan; bring ye waters to meet him that is thirsty, ye inhabitants of the land of Tema, with the bread thereof meet him that wandereth, for they shall wander before swords, before an outstretched sword (Isa. 21:13-15).

"Spending the night in the forest", signifies being desolated as to good; for by " Arabia" are meant those who are in celestial things, that is, who are in the good of faith, and "spending the night there in the forest" is being no longer in goods, from which comes desolation, which is also described by "wandering before swords, before an outstretched sword". Celestial things, that is, the goods of faith, or what is the same, the works of charity in which they are, are signified by "bringing waters to meet him that is thirsty, and meeting with bread him that wandereth".

[5] In Jeremiah: -

I took the cup from the hand of Jehovah, and made all the nations drink unto whom Jehovah sent me: Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and her kings and her princes, to give them up to desolation; Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people and Ill the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon; Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are clipped at the corner (of the beard) all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media, and all the kings of the north (Jer. 25:17-19, 22, 23, 25, 26).

Here also the desolation of the spiritual church is treated of, the different classes of which church are enumerated in order, and are signified by "Jerusalem", the "cities of Judah", "Egypt", "Tyre", " Zidon", "Dedan", "Tema", "Buz", " Zimri", "Elam", "Media"

[6] In Ezekiel: -

Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all the young lions thereof shall say to thee, Art thou come to take the spoil? hast thou assembled thine assembly to take the prey? to carry away silver and old, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil? (Ezek. 38:13);

treating of Gog, by whom is signified external worship separate from internal, which is idolatrous (n. 1151); "Sheba and Dedan" denote the internal things of worship, namely, the goods of faith; "Tarshish" denotes a corresponding external worship; the "silver, gold, cattle, goods, spoil", which Gog, or the external of worship separate from the internal, desires to take away, are the knowledges of good and truth for which they fight, and which those defend who are signified by "Sheba and Dedan;" wherefore these are called "young lions". "Sheba" properly denotes those who are in the knowledges of good; "Dedan" those who are in the knowledges of truth from good.

3241. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. That this signifies the derivations from the second class, is evident from the representation of Dedan, as being those who are in the good of faith, properly those who are in the truth of faith from good (n. 3240). That the derivations are from a second class is manifest. By these three sons of Dedan are especially signified the truths of faith from good; but what is signified by each can indeed be told, but cannot be confirmed by other passages from the Word, because the names are not mentioned elsewhere.

[2] In the kingdom of the Lord there are innumerable varieties as to goods and truths, and yet of these innumerable varieties one heaven is constituted; for the varieties are so many that no one society is exactly like another, that is, is never in the same good and truth (n. 684, 685, 690). The one heaven therein is constituted of the many varieties so disposed by the Lord that they agree, the agreement or harmony of the many being imparted by the Lord, by means of all referring themselves to Him (n. 551). The case herein is the same as with the organs, members, and viscera of the body, not one of which is exactly like another. They are all different and yet make a one, and this by reason of their all referring themselves to one soul, and through this to heaven, and thus to the Lord; for whatever is unconnected with the Lord is nothing. From this it is evident that the differences of truth and of good are innumerable in species; but their genera, and these the most general, which are spiritual churches, are signified by these sons and grandsons of Abraham.

[3] As they who are of the spiritual church have no perception of what is good and true, like those of the celestial church, but acknowledge as truths the things they have learned, they are on this account continually in dispute concerning them, reasoning whether a thing is true; and each person abides in that doctrine (and calls it true) which is of his own church. This is the source of so many differences. Moreover very many form their conclusions concerning things good and true from appearances and fallacies - one in one way, another in another, but none from any perception; they do not even know what perception is; and as their understanding is thus in obscurity as to the goods and truths of faith, it is not surprising that dissensions should arise concerning the most essential of all the things of faith, namely, concerning the Divine, the Human, and the Holy Proceeding of the Lord. The celestial perceive that these are not three, but One; but the spiritual abide in the idea of three, although they desire to think that they are One. Seeing then that there are dissensions concerning that which is the most essential, it is evident that the varieties and differences of doctrinal things must be in numerable. From this all may know whence come the derivations signified by those who are here named. But granting the existence of so many varieties and differences of doctrinal things (that is, of so many derivations), they nevertheless together form one church when all acknowledge charity as essential to the church; or what is the same, when they regard life is the end of doctrine; that is, when they inquire how the man of the church lives, and not so much what his sentiments are; for in the other life every one receives from the Lord a lot in accordance with his good of life, and not in accordance with his truth of doctrine separated from the good of life.

3242. And the sons of Midian: Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. That this signifies the derivations from the third class, can be seen from the representation of Midian, as being those who are in the truth of faith; and as those who are in the truth of faith are "Midian", it follows that his "sons" are the derivations therefrom. With those who are in the truth of faith the case is this: No one is admitted into the Lord's kingdom unless he is in the good of faith, for the good of faith is of the life, and the life of faith remains, but not the doctrine of faith, except in so far as it makes one with the life; nevertheless they who are in the truth of faith (that is, who profess faith and call it essential, because they have so learned) and yet are in the good of life (that is, who are Christians in heart and not in profession only), are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom. For anyone may easily be persuaded that faith is the essential when he has been so taught by his instructors and has imbibed this opinion in his childhood, and because they who are reputed most learned and the heads of the church say so, some of whom are afraid to speak of the good of life because their life condemns them; moreover the things that belong to faith flow in perceptibly, but not so those which belong to charity.

[2] They therefore who are in the truth of faith and yet in the good of life, are they who are called Midian;" and the truths according to which they live are the "sons of Midian;" and as those who are in the truth of faith conjoined with its good are "Midian", so also in the opposite sense are those who are in falsity from not having the good of life, as can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

The abundance of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, all they from Sheba shall come they shall bring gold and frankincense, and they shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah (Isa. 60:6);

where the Lord's spiritual kingdom is treated of. The "dromedaries of Midian and Ephah" denote doctrinal things; doctrinal things of good are "gold;" those of truth are " frankincense;" both are the "praises of Jehovah;" hence also it is manifest what "Ephah" signifies. By the "Midianites" who drew Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites, and into Egypt to Potiphar, (Genesis 37:28, 36), are signified those who are in the truth of simple good.

[3] That by "Midian" are also signified those who are in falsity because they have not the goods of life, can be seen from what is said concerning Midian in Moses: -

The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian, with the rewards of divination in their hand, went to Balaam, and spake to him the words of Balak (Num. 22:4, 7).

In a good sense "Moab" denotes those who are in natural good and suffer themselves to be easily led astray; but in the opposite sense, those who adulterate goods (n. 2468). In a good sense "Midian" denotes those who are in the truth of simple good, as before said, and who thus allow themselves to be easily persuaded; in the opposite sense, as here, those who falsify truths. The falsifications are signified by "the rewards of divination in their hand;" and the deeds from these falsities, by their sending to Balaam in hostility to the sons of Israel, who denote the goods and derivative truths of faith.

[4] The like was signified by the whoredoms of the sons of Israel with the women of the Midianites, resulting in a plague, which was stayed by Phinehas thrusting his spear through the Midianitish woman and the man of Israel in the brothel (Num. 25:6-8); for by whoredoms were represented the falsifications of truth (n. 2466, 2729). And because falsifications of truth are what in the internal sense are signified by whoredoms, therefore by command twelve thousand of the sons of Israel smote the Midianites, slew their kings, and every male, and the women whom they had led captive that had known a man, and divided the spoil among themselves (Num. 25:16, 17; 31:1-54). The reason why there were twelve thousand, was that "twelve" signified all things of faith (n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130), by which falsities are destroyed; the "kings" whom they killed are falsities, and so is "every male;" the "women that had known a man" are the affections of falsity; the "spoil" (as gold, silver, cattle) are the truths that were falsified; from all which it is evident that each and all of the things there mentioned are representative of the punishment and destruction of what is false by means of truths.

[5] It is similar in regard to what is said of the Midianites in the book of Judges, namely, that the sons of Israel, because they did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, were given into the hand of Midian seven years; and that the sons of Israel, by reason of Midian, made for themselves caves in the mountains, and also dens, and fortified places; and when Israel had sown, that Midian and Amalek and the sons of the east came up and ravaged the produce of their land; and afterwards that they were delivered by Gideon with three hundred men who lapped water with the tongue like a dog, and that those were sent home who bowed upon the knees and drank, besides other particulars (chapters 6, 7, 8). Here also the things mentioned each and all are representative of the falsification of truth, and of punishment on this account, even to their being destroyed by such things as are signified by lapping water with the tongue like a dog; but what each particular signifies in the internal sense it would be too tedious to unfold here; yet of the Lord's Divine mercy it shall be told in its place. In Habakkuk: -

He beheld, and dispersed the nations; and the eternal mountains were scattered, the everlasting hills did bow. I saw the tents of Cushan under Aven, the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble (Habakkuk 3:6, 7);

where the advent of the Lord is treated of. The "tents of Cushan" denote a religiosity from evil; the "curtains of the land of Midian,' one from falsity.

3243. All these were the sons of Keturah. That this signifies as regards the doctrinal things and worships thence derived, is evident from the signification of "sons", as being truths and doctrinal things (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623); and from the representation of Keturah, as being Divine truth spiritual conjoined with Divine good spiritual (n. 3236, 3237); thus those things which are of the Lord's spiritual kingdom; and because the worship of this kingdom is according to doctrinal things, it follows that the "sons of Keturah" denote these things, and also the derivative worships.

3244. Verses 5, 6. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. And to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had Abraham gave gifts; and he sent them away from Isaac his son, while he was yet living, eastward to the land of the east. "And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac", signifies in the supreme sense all Divine things in the Divine rational; in the relative sense the celestial things of love in the Lord's celestial kingdom; "and to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts", signifies those who are spiritual adopted by the Lord's Divine Human, that they have allotted places in His spiritual kingdom; "and he sent them away from Isaac his son", signifies the distinction and separation of those who are spiritual from those who are celestial; "while he was yet living", signifies to whom he could give life; "eastward to the land of the east", signifies to the good of faith.

3245. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. That this signifies in the supreme sense all Divine things in the Divine rational, and in the relative sense the celestial things of love in the Lord's celestial kingdom, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord as to the Divine Itself; and from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord as to the Divine rational; and because in the internal sense the Lord is both "Abraham" and "Isaac", and the Lord made His rational Divine from His own Divine; hence it is that the words "Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac" signify all Divine things in the Divine rational. The things which precede and those which follow have regard to this fact - that in the Lord's rational all things were made Divine. For in the internal sense, where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are treated of, the subject is the Lord's Human, and how it was made Divine.

[2] There are two things which properly constitute the Human, namely, the rational and the natural; the Lord's rational was represented by Isaac, and His natural by Jacob; the Lord made them both Divine; how He made the rational Divine is contained in what was said of Isaac, but how He made the natural Divine is contained in what is said of Jacob in what follows. But this natural could not be made Divine until the rational had been made Divine, for by means of the rational the natural was made so; hence therefore it is that by the words before us are signified all Divine things in the Divine rational.

[3] Moreover all and each of the things which in the internal sense treat of the Lord, treat also of His kingdom and church, for the reason that the Divine of the Lord makes His kingdom. Therefore where the Lord is treated of, His kingdom is treated of also (n. 1965); but the internal sense concerning the Lord is the supreme sense, while the internal sense concerning His kingdom is the relative sense. The relative sense of these words - that Abraham gave all to Isaac - is that the celestial things of love are given to the Lord's celestial kingdom. For in the relative sense by "Isaac" is signified the celestial kingdom, inasmuch as by the rest of Abraham's sons, those he had by Keturah, is signified the Lord's spiritual kingdom, as shown above; and the same is signified by Ishmael, concerning whom hereafter.

3246. And to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts. That this signifies the spiritual adopted by the Lord's Divine Human, that they have allotted places in His spiritual kingdom, is evident from the signification of the "sons of the concubines", as denoting those who are spiritual; from the representation here of Abraham, as being the Lord's Divine Human; so that by the words "which Abraham had", is signified that the spiritual were adopted by the Lord's Divine Human; and from the signification of the "gifts" which Abraham gave them, as being allotted places in the Lord's spiritual kingdom.

[2] From what has already been shown in several places (n. 3235) concerning those who constitute the Lord's spiritual kingdom and are called the spiritual, it can be seen that they are not sons born of the marriage itself of good and truth, but of a certain covenant not so conjugial; they are indeed from the same father, but not from the same mother; that is, they are from the same Divine good, but not from the same Divine truth For as the celestial are from the very marriage of good and truth, they have good and thence truth; wherefore they never inquire what is true, but perceive it from good; and they discourse not about truth beyond affirming that it is so - according to what the Lord teaches in Matthew: -

Let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, Nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matthew 5:37);

whereas the spiritual, because they are from a covenant not so conjugial, do not know from any perception what truth is, but call that true which they have been told to be so by parents and masters and therefore in them there is not the marriage of good and truth; but still the truth which they thus believe is adopted by the Lord for truth when they are in the good of life (n. 1832). Therefore it is that those who are spiritual are here called the "sons of the concubines", and by these are meant all the sons of Keturah hitherto enumerated, and also the sons of Hagar, who will be named immediately below, from the twelfth to the eighteenth verse.

[3] In former times, in order that both the celestial and the spiritual might be represented in marriages, it was permissible for a man to have a concubine in addition to a wife; such concubine being given to the husband by the wife, and she was then called his "woman", or was said to be "given to him for a woman", as when Hagar the Egyptian was given to Abraham by Sarah (Gen. 16:3); when Bilhah the handmaid was given by Rachel to Jacob (Gen. 30:4), and the handmaid Zilpah to Jacob by Leah (Gen. 30:9). They are there called "women", but elsewhere they are called "concubines", as Hagar the Egyptian in this verse, and Bilhah in (Genesis 35:22), also Keturah herself in (1 Chronicles 1:32).

[4] That those ancients had concubines besides a wife, as was the case not only with Abraham and Jacob, but also with their descendants, as Gideon (Judges 8:31), Saul (2 Sam. 3:7), David (2 Sam. 5:13; 15:16), and Solomon (1 Kings 11:3), was of permission, for the sake of the representation, namely, of the celestial church by a wife, and of the spiritual church by a concubine: this was of permission because they were such that they had no conjugial love, neither was marriage to them marriage, but only a carnal coupling for the sake of procreating offspring. To such there might be permissions without injury to conjugial love and consequently to its covenant; but never to those who are in good and truth, and who are or can become internal men; for as soon as man is in good and truth, and in thing internal, such things cease. For this reason it is not allowable for Christians, as it was for the Jews, to take to themselves a concubine together with a wife, for this is adultery. That the spiritual were adopted by the Lord's Divine Human, may be seen from what has been stated and shown before on the same subject (n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834).

3247. And he sent them away from Isaac his son. That this signifies the distinction and separation of those who are spiritual from those who are celestial, is evident from what has just been said, namely, that the sons of Abraham by Keturah and by Hagar the Egyptian who are called the "sons of the concubines", represent the spiritual; and that Isaac, in the relative sense, represents the celestial (n. 3245); and that these two classes were separated.

3248. While he was yet living. That this signifies to whom he could give life, is evident from the signification of "while he was yet living", or "while he yet might live", as being to give life; for by Abraham is here represented the Lord as to the Divine Human. That the spiritual have life from the Lord's Divine Human may be seen above (n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834). When their life is from this source the Lord is said to "live" with them, even in common speech. Hence it is that in the internal sense by "while Abraham was yet living" is signified giving life. Life is given to those who are spiritual by means of the good of faith, which is meant by the words which now follow.

3249. Eastward to the land of the east. That this signifies to the good of faith, is evident from the signification of the east" and the "land of the east", which will be treated of in what follows. The good of faith which is signified by the land of the east", is no other than that which in the Word is called charity toward the neighbor; and charity toward the neighbor is nothing else than a life according to the Lord's commandments. That this is signified by the "land of the east" may be seen above (n. 1250); therefore they who were in the knowledges of the good of faith were called "sons of the east". The land of the sons of the east was Aram of Syria. Aram or Syria represents the knowledges of good, (n. 1232, 1234); and Aram Naharaim, or Syria of the rivers, represents the knowledges of truth, (n. 3051). And as by the "Syrians" or "sons of the east" were signified those who were in the knowledges of good and truth, they were preeminently called the "wise", as in the first book of Kings, where it is said of Solomon: -

The wisdom of Solomon was multiplied above the wisdom of all the sons of the east (1 Kings 4:30);

and as in Matthew, where it is said of those who came to Jesus when He was born: -

Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born king of the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him (Matthew 2:1, 2).

For in Syria were the last remains of the Ancient Church, and therefore in that land there still remained the knowledges of good and truth, as can also be seen from Balaam, who not only adored Jehovah, but also prophesied concerning the Lord, and called Him the "Star out of Jacob, and the Scepter out of Israel" (Num. 24:17). That Balaam was of the sons of the east in Syria is manifest, for he says this of himself when he utters the declaration: -

From Syria hath Balak brought me, the king of Moab, from the mountains of the east (Num. 33:7).

That it was Aram or Syria where the sons of the east dwelt, is evident from the fact that when Jacob went into Syria he is said to have gone "to the land of the sons of the east" (Gen. 29:1).

3250. Verses 7-10. And these are the days of the years of the lives of Abraham, which he lived; a hundred years, and seventy years, and five years. And Abraham expired and died in a good old age, an old man and sated, and was gathered to his peoples. And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; the field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. "And these are the days of the years of the lives of Abraham, which he lived", signifies the state representative by Abraham of the Lord as to the Divine Itself; "a hundred years, and seventy years, and five years", signifies the things that belong to this state; "and Abraham expired and died", signifies the end of the representation by Abraham; "in a good old age, an old man and sated", signifies something new in the representation; "and was gathered to his peoples", signifies that these things were concerning Abraham; "and Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him", signifies that the representative of the Lord was now taken up by Isaac and Ishmael; "in the cave of Machpelah", signifies resurrection as to truth; "in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre", signifies as to good; it also signifies the spiritual, as above, who receive truth and good from the Lord's Divine Human, and are saved; "the field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth", signifies the Lord's spiritual kingdom thence derived; "there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife", signifies resuscitation.

3251. And these are the days of the years of the lives of Abraham, which he lived. That this signifies a state representative by Abraham of the Lord as to the Divine Itself, is evident from the signification of "days" and "years", as being states (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788); and from the signification here of "lives", as also being states (n. 2904), here, states that were represented by Abraham; for all his life, as it is described in the Word, and the end of which is now treated of, was representative. That Abraham represented the Lord as to the Divine Itself, has been shown in the explications. In order that he might represent, he was called by the name Abraham, the letter h being inserted, which was taken from the name "Jehovah" (n. 2010). Abraham represented both the Divine Itself, which is called the "Father", and the Divine Human, which is called the " Son", thus he represented the Lord as to both the Divine Itself and the Divine Human, but that Divine Human which is from eternity, from which came forth and to which He reduced or brought the Human that was born in time, when He glorified it. This is the representation of the Lord by Abraham.

3252. A hundred years, and seventy years, and five years. That this signifies the things that belong to this state, is evident from the fact that all numbers in the Word signify things (n. 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252); and therefore so does this number, which signifies the things that are of the state now treated of. While the mind dwells solely on what is historical, it appears as if numbers, such as these of the years of the age of Abraham, do not involve any interior sense yet that they do involve such a sense is evident from all that has been shown above concerning numbers, and can be seen from the fact that in number simply as number there is nothing holy, and yet the least of all the things in the Word is holy.

3253. And Abraham expired and died. That this signifies the end of the representation by Abraham, is evident from the signification of "expiring and dying", as being to cease or come to an end (n. 494); here, the end of the representation. For nothing of Abraham's life which is described in the Word has reference to Abraham, except merely in the historical sense; but everything has reference to the Lord and His kingdom; and therefore when it is said of Abraham that he "expired and died", it cannot signify in the Word (that is, in its genuine sense) anything else than that the state representative of the Lord by Abraham came to an end.

3254. In a good old age, an old man and sated. That this signifies something new in the representation, is evident from the signification in the internal sense of "old age", as being to put off what is old and put on what is new (n. 1854, 2198, 3016). The reason why what is new, or a new state, is signified in the internal sense by "old age", is that with the angels, for whom is the internal sense of the Word, there is no idea of time, thus no idea of such things as belong to time, as the ages of man - infancy, childhood, youth, adult age, and old age. But instead of all these they have an idea of states, thus instead of the time of infancy they have an idea of the state of innocence; instead of the time of childhood and youth they have an idea of the state of the affection of good and truth; instead of adult age they have an idea of the state of intelligence; and instead of old age an idea of the state of wisdom (n. 3183); and as at this time of life man passes from the things of time to those that are of a life without time, and thus puts on a new state, by "old age" is signified what is new, and in this case a new representative, because it is in relation to this with Abraham that "old age" is predicated, and also that he was "an old man and sated", as can be seen from what has just been said.

3255. And was gathered to his peoples. That this signifies that these things were concerning Abraham, is evident from the signification of being "gathered to his peoples", as being to be no longer the subject; for to be gathered to his peoples is to go away from those among whom he has been hitherto, and pass to his own; thus in the present case to be no longer a representative. It was customary with the ancients when anyone died, to say that he was gathered to his fathers or to his peoples, and they understood by this form of expression that he actually went to his parents, relations, and kinsfolk in the other life. They derived this form of speech from the most ancient people, who were celestial men, for while living on earth these were at the same time with the angels in heaven, and thus knew how the case is, namely, that all who are in the same good meet and are together in the other life, and likewise all who are in the same truth. Of the former they said that they were "gathered to their fathers", but of the latter that they were "gathered to their peoples;" for with them "fathers" signified goods (n. 2803), and "peoples" signified truths (n. 1259, 1260). As the people of the Most Ancient Church were all in similar good, they dwell together in heaven (n. 1115); and the case is the same with many of the people of the Ancient Church, who were in similar truth (n. 1125, 1127).

[2] Moreover while a man lives in the body he is always as to his soul in some society of spirits in the other life (n. 1277, 2379); the man who is evil is in a society of infernal spirits; and the man who is good is in a society of angels. Thus every one is in a society of such spirits as he is in agreement with, either as to good and truth, or as to evil and falsity; and into this same society the man comes when he dies (n. 687). This is what among the ancients was signified by being "gathered to their fathers", or "to their peoples", as is here said of Abraham when he expired, and of Ishmael in this same chapter (Gen. 25:17); of Isaac (Gen. 35:29); of Jacob (Gen. 49:29, 33); of Aaron (Num 20:24, 26); of Moses (Num. 27:13; 31:2; Deut. 32:50); and of the first generation that entered into the land of Canaan (Judges 2:10). But in the internal sense of the Word, when anyone's life is treated of representatively, by being "gathered to his peoples" is signified that he is no longer the subject, as before said.

3256. And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him. That this signifies that the representation of the Lord is now taken up by Isaac and Ishmael, can be seen from the signification of "burying". Being "buried" denotes to be resuscitated and to rise again, (n. 2916). As the representation of the Lord by Abraham is here treated of, as regards this state having come to an end, and that now the representation by Isaac and Ishmael begins, therefore by "burying" in this case is signified the resuscitation of this state; for the significations are determined in accordance with their application to the things of which they are predicated. The case with the representatives in the Word is that they are continuous, although they appear as if interrupted by the deaths of those who represent; their deaths however do not signify any interruption, but a continuation; and therefore their burials signify that the representative is resuscitated and continued in some one else.

3257. In the cave of Machpelah. That this signifies resurrection as to truth, and that in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre, signifies resurrection as to good; and that these words also signify the spiritual, who receive truth and good from the Lord's Divine Human and are saved, as stated above; and also that the field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth, signifies the Lord's spiritual kingdom thence derived; and that there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife, signifies resuscitation, can be seen from what has been before stated and shown concerning the signification of all these expressions, in chapter 23. (n. 2913, 2928, 2968-2971, 2975, 2980); and from the signification of "being buried" (n. 2916, 2917).

3258. Verse 11. And it came to pass after the death of Abraham that God blessed Isaac his son; and Isaac dwelt at Beer-lahai-roi. "And it came to pass after the death of Abraham", signifies after the state and time of the representation of the Lord by Abraham; "that God blessed Isaac his son", signifies the beginning of the representation of the Lord by Isaac; "and Isaac dwelt at Beer-lahai-roi", signifies the Lord's Divine rational in Divine light.

3259. And it came to pass after the death of Abraham. That this signifies after the state and time of the representation of the Lord by Abraham, is evident from the signification of "dying", as being, when the representative life of anyone is treated of, the end of the representation (n. 3253); hence, in this case, "after the death of Abraham" signifies after the state and time of the representation of the Lord by Abraham.

3260. That God blessed Isaac his son. That this signifies the beginning of the representation by Isaac, may be seen from the signification of the expression, "God blessed". Among the ancients, when a work was to be commenced, it was customary to say, "May God bless it;" and by this was signified the same as is meant by the expression of the wish, "May it be prosperous and happy;" and thus in a more remote sense, by, "May God bless", as well as by, "May it be prosperous and happy", there is signified a beginning, here the beginning of the representation by Isaac, because this follows immediately after the end of the representation by Abraham, which is signified by his death.

3261. And Isaac dwelt at Beer-lahai-roi. That this signifies the Lord's Divine rational in Divine light, is evident from the signification of "dwelling", as being to live (n. 1293); and from the signification of "Beer-lahai-roi", as being Divine good rational born from Divine truth itself (n. 3194). Thus the proximate sense is that the Divine rational lived or was in the Divine good which was born from Divine truth itself; but it was not in it; and therefore it is not said "in Beer-lahai-roi", but "at (cum) Beer-lahai-roi", that is, when interpreted, "At the fountain of him that liveth and seeth me", which denotes with that Divine good. For Isaac dwelt in the land of the south, as stated in the foregoing chapter (Genesis 24:62), where we read "and Isaac came from coming to Beer-lahai-roi, and he dwelt in the land of the south;" and as by the "land of the south" in that place there is signified Divine light therefrom (n. 3195), therefore here also nothing else than this is signified.

3262. Verse 12. And these are the births of Ishmael the son of Abraham, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham. "And these are the births of Ishmael the son of Abraham", signifies the derivations of the spiritual church represented by Ishmael; "whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham", signifies the birth of the spiritual man from Divine influx into the affection of memory-knowledges.

3263. And these are the births of Ishmael the son of Abraham. That this signifies the derivations of the spiritual church represented by Ishmael, is evident from the signification of "births", as being the derivations of faith, thus of the church (n. 1145, 1255, 1330); from the representation of Ishmael, as being those who are rational and who are of the Lord's spiritual church (n. 2078, 2691, 2699); and from the signification of the "sons of Abraham", as being those who are in truth from the Lord; for by "sons" are signified truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623), and by Abraham is represented the Lord as to the Divine Human also (n. 3251), from whom the spiritual have truth and good (n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834).

[2] As regards the Lord's spiritual church, be it known that it exists throughout the universal world; for it is not confined to those who have the Word and thence know the Lord and some truths of faith; but it exists also with those who have not the Word and therefore are altogether ignorant of the Lord and consequently know no truths of faith (for all the truths of faith regard the Lord); the is to say, this church exists among the Gentiles who are remote from the church; for there are many among them who from rational light know that there is one God; that He has created all things and preserves all things; and also that from Him is all good, consequently all truth; and that likeness to Him makes man blessed; and moreover they live according to their religion, in love to that God and in love toward the neighbor; and from the affection of good they do works of charity, and from the affection of truth they worship the Supreme Being. The Gentiles who are of this character are they who belong to the Lord's spiritual church; and although while in this world they do not know the Lord, yet within themselves they have the worship and tacit acknowledgment of Him when they are in good, for in all good the Lord is present; and therefore in the other life they easily acknowledge Him, and receive the truths of faith in Him more readily than Christians do who are not in good in this way, as may be seen from what has been disclosed from experience concerning the state and lot in the other life of the nations and peoples out of the church (n. 2589-2604). The natural light which these have has in it what is spiritual, for without that which is spiritual from the Lord, such things cannot possibly be acknowledged.

[3] From this it may now be seen what "Ishmael" signifies, and thereby who in the representative sense are the "Ishmaelites", namely those who are of the Lord's spiritual church, who as to life are in simple good, and therefore as to doctrine are in natural truth. Such also are signified by the "Ishmaelites" in the following passage concerning Joseph: -

Behold, a travelling company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing wax, resin, and stacte, going to carry it down to Egypt (Gen. 37:25);

where the Ishmaelites represent those who are in simple good, such as is that in which are the well-disposed Gentiles; "camels bearing wax, resin, and stacte", denote the interior goods of such people. The like is signified by the " Ishmaelites" in (Gen. 37:28; 39:1); and also in the book of Judges, where it is said that Gideon made a request: -

That ye would give me every man the earrings of his spoil. For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites (Judges 8:24);

"golden earrings" signify the things of simple good (n. 3103).

3264. Whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham. That this signifies the birth of the spiritual man from Divine influx into the affection of memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "bearing", as being to come into existence (n. 2621, 2629); from the representation of "Hagar the Egyptian", as being the life of the exterior man (n. 1896, 1909); and from the signification of "handmaid", as being the affection of memory-knowledges and of knowledges that is of the exterior man (n. 1895, 2691). It is said "Sarah's handmaid", because by Sarah is represented the Lord's Divine truth, to which the affection of memory-knowledges and of the knowledges of truth is subordinate. As by Ishmael is represented the spiritual man, it is evident that by these words, "whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham", is signified the birth of the spiritual man from Divine influx into the affection of memory-knowledges.

[2] That man's rational is born in this manner, see (n. 1895, 1896, 1902, 1910, 2094, 2557, 3030, 3074); consequently the spiritual is thus born, for this is not possible except in the rational, wherefore the spiritual man and the rational man are almost the same, those who are spiritual differing among themselves merely according to the quality of the reason and the consequent quality of life that prevails among them. That their birth or regeneration is from Divine influx into the affection of knowledges may also be seen above (n. 1555, 1904, 2046, 2063, 2189, 2657, 2675, 2691, 2697, 2979). See also what has been stated and shown above concerning Ishmael; namely, that by him was represented the Lord's first rational, which was not yet Divine (n. 1893); that afterwards the truly rational or spiritual were represented (n. 2078, 2691), and thereby the Lord's spiritual church (n. 2699).

3265. Verses 13-16. And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, in their names, according to their births the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam; and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa; Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, in their villages and in their castles; twelve princes of their peoples. "And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael", signifies the qualities of their doctrinal things; "in their names, according to their births", signifies interior qualities according to the derivations of faith; "the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam; and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa; Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah", signifies all things of the spiritual church, especially among the Gentiles; "these are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names", signifies doctrinal things and their quality; "in their villages", signifies the external things of the church; " and in their castles", signifies the internal things; "twelve princes of their peoples", signifies all the primary things of this Spiritual Church.

3266. And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael. That this signifies the qualities of their doctrinal things, namely, of those who are spiritual, is evident from the signification of "name", as being quality (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006); from the signification of "sons", as being truths, and also doctrinal things (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623); and from the representation of Ishmael, as being those who are spiritual (n. 3263).

3267. In their names, according to their births. That this signifies interior qualities according to the derivations of faith, is evident from the signification of "name", as being quality, or from the signification of "names", as being qualities (n. 3266), in this case interior qualities, because it is said, "these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, in their names", where "names" in the first place denote general qualities, and in the second place the qualities which are within the former, or which are interior in respect to those general qualities; and also because these qualities are according to the derivations of faith which are signified by "according to their births". "Births" signify the derivations of faith, thus of the church, (n. 1145, 1255, 1330, 3263).

[2] With the Lord's spiritual church the case is this: It is scattered throughout the whole world, and everywhere varies as to articles of belief, or the truths of faith; and these varieties are the derivations which are signified by the "births", and which come forth both at one and the same time and also one after another. It is the very same with the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens, in which there is variety as to the things of faith, and this to such a degree that there is not one society, nor even one person in a society, that in the things of the truth of faith has an idea altogether in agreement with the ideas of others (n. 3241) hut nevertheless the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the heavens is a one the reason of which is that with all there charity is the principal thing, for charity makes the spiritual church, and not faith, unless you call charity faith.

[3] He who is in charity loves his neighbor, and when the neighbor differs from him in matters of belief, he excuses it provided that his neighbor lives in good and truth. He also does not condemn the well-disposed Gentiles, although they are ignorant of the Lord, and do not know anything of the faith. For he who is in charity, that is, who lives in good, receives from the Lord truths of such a quality as agree with his good, and Gentiles receive such truths as in the other life may be bent into truths of faith (n. 2599-2603). But he who is not in charity, that is, who does not live in good, can never receive any truth; he may indeed know truth, but it is not implanted in his life; thus he may indeed have it in his mouth, but not in his heart. For truth cannot be conjoined with evil, and therefore those who know the truths which are called the articles of belief, and do not live in charity or in good, although they are in the church because born in it, are yet not of the church, for there is nothing of the church in them, that is nothing of good with which truth may be conjoined.

3268. The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam; and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa; Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. That these signify all things that belong to the spiritual church, especially among the Gentiles, is evident from the representation of those who are here named, some of whom are mentioned elsewhere in the Word, particularly in the prophetical books-as Nebaioth, Kedar, Dumah, and Tema-and who there signify such things as belong to the spiritual church, especially among the Gentiles moreover the same is manifest from their being twelve, for "twelve" signifies all things of faith, thus of the church, as will be shown hereafter; and for this reason it is said in the sixteenth verse that they were "twelve princes of their peoples".

[2] That by Nebaioth and Kedar are represented the things that belong to the spiritual church, especially among the Gentiles, namely its goods and derivative truths, is evident in Isaiah: -

The abundance of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and they shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee they shall come up with acceptance on Mine altar (Isaiah 60:6, 7)

which in the supreme sense is said of the Lord, and in the relative sense of His kingdom. The "flocks of Kedar" denote spiritual good. A "flock" is spiritual good, (n. 343, 415, 2566). The "rams of Nebaioth" denote spiritual truth. A "ram" is spiritual, (n. 2833).

[3] That "Kedar" is Arabia is manifest from the following passages, and that Arabia was called "Kedar" from the son of Israel, is evident from the fact that in both verses lands or nations are enumerated all of which are named from the sons and grandsons of Abraham-as Midian, Ephah, and Sheba (verses 2-4); and here likewise Kedar and Nebaioth.

[4] In Ezekiel:

Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, these were the merchants of thy hand in lambs, and rams, and he-goats, in these were they thy merchants (Ezek. 27:21);

treating of Tyre, that is, of those who are in the knowledges of good and truth. "Tyre" has this signification, (n. 1201). "Arabia" denotes spiritual good; the "princes of Kedar", spiritual truths; "lambs, rams, and he-goats" denote spiritual goods and truths.

[5] In Jeremiah: -

Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and lay waste the sons of the east. Their tents and their flocks shall they take they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels (Jer. 49:28, 29);

where the subject is the vastation of the spiritual church, meant by "Kedar and the sons of the east". "Tents and flocks" denote the goods of this church; "curtains and vessels", its truths; the holy things of worship are what are signified by "tents and flocks", and by "curtains and vessels;" and all the holy things of worship relate to good and truth

[6] But those who are not in truth, because not in good, are those who are represented by the "Arabians and Kedarites in the wilderness", as in Isaiah: -

Babylon shall not he inhabited forever, neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there (Isa. 13:19, 20).

In the same: -

Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit (Isa. 42:11).

In Jeremiah: -

By the ways hast thou sat for them, as an Arabian in the wilderness (Jeremiah 3:2).

In David: -

Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell with the tents of Kedar (Ps. 120:5).

[7] In Isaiah: -

In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanites. Bring ye waters to meet him that is thirsty ye Inhabitants of the land of Tema forestall the fugitive with his bread. For they shall wander before the swords, from before the drawn sword, from before the bent bow, and from before the grievousness of war. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Yet within a year, according to the years of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall be consumed; and the residue of the number of bows of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar (Isa. 21:13-17).

To" lodge in the forest of Arabia" denotes vastation as to truth; "the travelling companies of Dedanites" denote those who are in knowledges (n. 3240, 3241); "the inhabitants of the land of Tema" denote those who are in simple good, such as is that of the well-disposed Gentiles. It is evident that these were called "Tema" from Ishmael's son. "Kedar" denotes those who are in simple truth; of whom it is said that they shall "wander from before swords, and from before the grievousness of war", by which is signified that they will not endure temptation combats, because they are no longer in good.

[8] In Jeremiah: -

Pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see whether there hath been done such a thing, whether a nation hath changed gods, which yet are no gods (Jeremiah 2:10, 11)

the "isles of Kittim" denote those who are more remote from worship, that is, Gentiles who are in simple good, and thereby in natural truth (n. 1156, 1158); that "Kedar" also denotes the same is manifest.

[9] In the same: -

Then took I the cup from the hand of Jehovah, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom Jehovah had sent me; Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are clipped at the corner of the beard and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the west, that dwell in the wilderness (Jer. 25:17, 23, 24);

where also the vastation of the spiritual church is treated of, and Tema and Arabia are named along with several others, from which it is manifest that by "Tema", as by "Arabia", those are signified who are of the spiritual church; but to Arabia are attributed kings and cities, while princes and villages are ascribed to Kedar.

[10] Besides these, Dumah also is mentioned in (Isaiah 21:11). The reason why by these nations are signified the things that belong to the spiritual church, is that the Ancient Church, which was spiritual, was also among them (n. 1238, 2385); their doctrinals and rituals differed, and yet they were one church because they did not make faith, but charity, essential. In course of time however, as charity ceased, even that which there was of the church with them was lost; yet there still remained a representative of the church by them, with variety according to what there had been of the church with them. Hence it is that wherever they are named in the Word, they themselves are not signified, but only that of the church in general which had been there.

3269. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names. That this signifies doctrinal things and their quality, is evident from the signification of "sons", as being truths, and also doctrinal things; and of "name", as being quality (n. 3266).

3270. In their villages. That this signifies the external things of the church, is evident from the signification of villages", as being those things which are the externals of faith, thus of the church; the external things of the church are rituals, the internal things are doctrinal things, provided that these are not merely of memory-knowledge, but also of life. External things were represented by villages because these were outside of the cities; but internal things by the cities themselves. "Cities" are doctrinal things, (n. 402, 2268, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216).

3271. And in their castles. That this signifies internal things, is evident from the signification of "castles", as being the internal things of faith; here, of the church, because they are especially predicated of the Gentiles, who had no truth of faith, but only rational and natural truth. These truths are called "castles" when the truths of faith are called "cities". In the original tongue the words that signify villages and castles also signify courts and palaces; and "courts" are similarly the external things of the church, and "palaces" the internal.

3272. Twelve princes of their peoples. That this signifies all the primary things of this spiritual church, is evident from the signification of "twelve", as being all things of faith or of the church (n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130); from the signification of "princes", as being things primary (n. 1482, 2089); and from the signification of "peoples", as being those who are in truths (n. 1259, 1260), thus those who are of the spiritual church, for these are said to be in truths. That all numbers in the Word signify actual things, may be clearly seen from the number "twelve", which so often occurs. This number, wherever it occurs in the Word, signifies all; as for instance the "twelve tribes" in the Old Testament, and the "twelve apostles" in the New, signify all things of faith, and thus all things of the church. So here "twelve princes" signify all the primary things of this church, and these are represented by so many sons of Ishmael.

[2] That "twelve" has this signification may be seen from the passages adduced in the sections above cited, as also from the following passages in the Word. In John: -

I heard the number of those who were sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand (Rev. 7:4, 5);

and so on; where by "twelve thousand sealed out of every tribe" nothing else is signified than that all who are in faith, that is, who are in the good of faith, are saved. Again: -

A woman encompassed with the sun, and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars (Rev. 12:1);

the "woman" denotes the church (n. 252, 253); the "sun", celestial love; and the "moon", spiritual love (n. 30-38, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495); the "twelve stars" denote all things of faith. "Stars" are the knowledges of good and truth which are of faith, (n. 2495, 2849).

[3] Again: -

The holy city, New Jerusalem, had twelve gates, and upon the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits (twelve times twelve), which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls (Rev. 21:2, 12, 14, 16, 17, 21);

here by the "holy city" nothing else is signified than the Lord's spiritual kingdom; and by "gates", "wall", "foundations" are signified the things of charity and faith; and by "twelve", so often mentioned, are signified all of these things; that neither twelve tribes nor twelve apostles are signified, must be evident to every one. Again: -

In the midst of the street of it, and on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month (Rev. 22:2);

the "twelve fruits" are all things of charity.

[4] In Matthew: -

Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed Me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28);

here apostles are not meant by "apostles", nor thrones by "thrones", nor tribes by "tribes", but all things that are of faith (n. 2129). Moreover in the Word of the Old Testament, where "twelve tribes" are mentioned, it is all things of the church that are signified; and the case is the same with the "twelve stones according to the names of the twelve tribes of Israel" in the Urim and Thummim (Exod. 28:21); and with the "twelve loaves" of the show bread set in order upon the table (Lev. 24:5, 6); and so in other instances. That all things of faith are contained also in the very names of the twelve sons of Jacob or Israel, will be seen, of the Lord's Divine mercy in what follows in chapters 29 and 30.

3273. Verses 17, 18. And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred years, and thirty years, and seven years; and he expired and died, and was gathered unto his peoples. And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, us thou goest toward Assyria, he fell upon the faces of all his brethren. "And these are the years of the life of Ishmael", signifies a state representative by Ishmael of the Lord's spiritual kingdom; "a hundred years, and thirty years, and seven years", signifies the things of this state; "and he expired and died", signifies the end of the representation by Ishmael; "and was gathered unto his peoples", signifies that these things are concerning Ishmael; "and they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria", signifies the extension of intelligence; "he fell upon the faces of all his brethren", signifies contentions concerning truth, but that he was superior.

3274. And these are the years of the life of Ishmael. That this signifies a state representative by Ishmael of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, is evident from the signification of "years" and of "lives", as here being representative states (n. 3251); and from the representation of Ishmael, as being the Lord's spiritual kingdom (n. 2699, 3263, 3268).

3275. A hundred years, and thirty years, and seven years. That this signifies the things of this state, is evident from what was said above (n. 3252) concerning the age of Abraham.

3276. And he expired and died. That this signifies the end of the representation by Ishmael, is evident also from what was said above (n. 3253), where the same words occur, with the same internal sense. In like manner, that he was gathered unto his peoples, signifies that these things are concerning Ishmael, may also be seen above (n. 3255).)

3277. And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria. This signifies the extension of intelligence; and he fell upon the faces of all his brethren, signifies contentions respecting truth, but that he was superior; as is evident from what is said above (n. 115, 1951), where these expressions are explained.

3278. Verses 19, 20. And these are the births of Isaac, the son of Abraham: Abraham begat Isaac. And Isaac was a son of forty years when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean, of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to himself for a woman. "And these are the births of Isaac, the son of Abraham", signifies the Lord's Divine rational from which is the Divine natural; " Abraham begat Isaac", signifies the Divine rational from the Divine Itself; "and Isaac was a son of forty years", signifies from His own power by temptation combats "when he took Rebekah", signifies the conjunction of Divine truth; "the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean, of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to himself for a woman", signifies the quality and state.

3279. And these are the births of Isaac, the son of Abraham. That this signifies the Lord's Divine rational, from which is the Divine natural, is evident from the signification of "births " as being derivations (n. 1145, 1255, 1330), namely, derivations of faith when faith is treated of, and derivations of the church when the church is treated of, just as above the derivations of the spiritual church were signified by the "births" of Ishmael (n. 3263). But here, since the "births" are predicated of the Lord, it is Divine births that are meant, namely, that from the Divine Itself is born the Divine rational, which is signified by Isaac being begotten by Abraham; and that from the Divine rational is the Divine natural, which is signified by Esau and Jacob being from Isaac; for by Esau and Jacob the Lord's Divine natural is represented-by Esau as to good, and by Jacob as to truth-as will be shown in what now follows. This is what is here signified by the "births".

3280. Abraham begat Isaac. That this signifies the Divine rational from the Divine Itself, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Divine Itself; and from the representation of Isaac, as being the Divine rational, as already frequently explained.

3281. And Isaac was a son of forty years. That this signifies from His own power by temptation combats, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Divine rational, as already frequently explained; from the signification of "forty", as being temptations (n. 730, 862); and from the signification of "years", as being states (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788). Hence the internal sense of these words is that the Lord made His rational Divine also as to truth, by temptation combats, thus by His own power. That the Lord by His own power through temptations admitted into Himself made all the human in Himself Divine, was shown above, (n. 1616, 1663, 1668, 1690, 1787, 2083, 2523, 2632, 2776, 3030, 3043, 3141).

3282. When he took Rebekah. That this signifies the conjunction of Divine truth, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being Divine truth adjoined to Divine good in the rational, the birth of which from the natural man was treated of in the preceding chapter.

3283. The daughter of Bethuel the Aramean, of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to himself for a woman. That this signifies the quality and state, is evident from the representation of Bethuel and Laban, and from the signification of "Aram" and "Paddan-aram", as being those things which involve the origin as to quality and state of the Divine truth represented by Rebekah; but what is represented by each, namely, by Bethuel and by Laban, and what is signified by "Aram" or Syria, was explained in the preceding chapter. The reason why these things are again said, is that in the following sections the Lord's natural is treated of. The Lord's natural could not be made Divine until truth had been adjoined to His rational, and until this had been made Divine; for the influx into the natural must needs be from the Divine good of the rational through the Divine truth therein; seeing that all the life of the natural man, as regards knowing and acting intelligently, is therefrom; for the rational is that which ordinates all things in the natural, and according to the orderly arrangement of things therein has them conveniently in view; the rational being like a higher sight, which when it looks into the memory-knowledges of the natural man, looks upon a field as it were beneath itself. The light of this sight is the light of truth, but the origin of the light is from good in the rational. But more on this subject hereafter.

3284. Verses 21-23. And Isaac entreated Jehovah for his woman, because she was barren, and Jehovah was entreated of him, and Rebekah his woman conceived. And the sons struggled together within her; and she said, If so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of Jehovah. And Jehovah said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one people shall prevail over the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger. "And Isaac entreated Jehovah", signifies the communication of the Divine which was the Son with the Divine which was the Father; "for his woman, because she was barren", signifies that the Divine natural was not yet; "and Jehovah was entreated of him", signifies the effect; "and Rebekah his woman conceived", signifies that it was from Divine truth as a mother "and the sons struggled together within her", signifies combat as to which; "and she said, If so, why am I thus?" signifies straitness; "and she went to inquire of Jehovah", signifies a state of communication; "and Jehovah said unto her", signifies perception from the Divine; "two nations are in thy womb", signifies the natural as to interior and exterior good, that there is conception; "and two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels", signifies that truth is thence derived; "and the one people shall prevail over the other people", signifies that at first truth will be superior to the good of truth; "and the elder shall serve the younger", signifies that for a time the good of truth will be inferior.

3285. And Isaac entreated Jehovah. That this signifies the communication of the Divine which is the Son with the Divine which is the Father, is evident from the signification of "entreating", as being to communicate; for entreaty or prayer is nothing but communication; and from the representation of Isaac, as being the Divine rational; the Divine which is the Son is Isaac, that is, the rational when truth is conjoined with it; but the Divine which is the Father here is "Jehovah". This communication was in the Lord, for the Father was in the Son, and the Son in the Father (John 14:10, 11).

3286. For his woman, because she was barren. That this signifies that the Divine natural was not yet, is evident from the signification of a "woman", as being Divine truth conjoined with the good of the rational, which truth was in the preceding chapter shown to be represented by Rebekah; and from the signification of "barren", as being that the Divine natural was not yet. For the case herein is this: The Divine natural had its origin from the Divine good of the rational as a father, and from the Divine truth therein as a mother; and when the Divine natural is not yet, then the truth of the rational is said to be "barren", here a "barren woman".

[2] As regards man, the case is that when he is being regenerated, good is insinuated by the Lord into his rational (that is, good will to the neighbor), to which will or good is adjoined truth from the natural man; but when this has been done, the natural is not yet regenerate, as may be known from the fact that the internal or rational man often fights with the external or natural man; and so long as there is combat the natural is not regenerate; and when this is not regenerate, the rational is barren as to truth. Such is the case in general; and in like manner in every particular in which the rational dissents from the natural, the rational is said in that particular to be barren as to truth.

[3] The work of regeneration is chiefly concerned in bringing about the correspondence of the natural man to the rational man, not only in general, but also in particular; and the natural man is reduced to correspondence by the Lord through the rational, in that good is insinuated into the rational, and in this good as in ground truths are implanted, and then by means of rational truths the natural is reduced to obedience; and when it obeys, then it corresponds and in so far as it corresponds, so far is the man regenerate.

3287. And Jehovah was entreated of him. That this signifies the effect, is evident without explication, because when Jehovah has been entreated, the prayer then comes to pass, or is effected.

3288. And Rebekah his woman conceived. That this signifies from Divine truth as from a mother, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Divine truth of the rational, treated of in the preceding chapter; and from the signification of "conceiving", as being the first beginning of the Divine natural as from a mother; for, as just said, the Divine natural had its origin from the Divine good of the rational as a father, and from the Divine truth of the rational as a mother. That this is the case is known to scarcely anyone, and this ignorance is the greater because few are aware that the rational is distinct from the natural; for only those know this who are truly rational, and they alone are truly rational who have been regenerated by the Lord; whereas they who have not been regenerated do not comprehend this, for to them the rational is the same as the natural.

3289. And the sons struggled together within her. That this signifies combat as to which, is evident from the signification of "struggling", as being combat; and from the signification here of "sons", as being the natural as to good and as to truth; for that Esau and Jacob, who were the sons, represent the Lord's Divine natural, Esau the Divine natural as to good, and Jacob as to truth, will become evident from what follows. This struggling or combat is treated of in this chapter, being concerning the priority, as to whether good or truth is prior, or what is the same, whether charity which is of good, or truth which is of faith, is prior. From the earliest times there has been much contention in the spiritual church concerning this question; and because this priority is treated of in what follows, it is said that the "sons struggled within her", and by this is signified combat as to which.

3290. And she said, If so, why am I thus? That this signifies straitness, is evident from the sense of these words, in that they are words of straitness, and indeed straitness on account of the struggle, that is, the combat between the brothers; "if so", signifies if they combated about this matter; "why thus", signifies that there ought not to be combat on this account; "I", or, "why am I", signifies that if they combated about this matter they would not receive influx from rational truth; and thereby would come straitness.

3291. And she went to inquire of Jehovah. That this signifies a state of communication, is evident from the signification of "inquiring", as being when said of the Lord a communication; for it was Jehovah in Himself who was inquired of; in the historical sense however this communication is expressed by "praying" (n. 3285); and the state of communication by inquiring".

3292. And Jehovah said unto her. That this signifies perception from the Divine, is thence evident; and also from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2506, 2515, 2552); thus " Jehovah saying", signifies to perceive from the Divine.

3293. Two nations are in thy womb. That this signifies the natural as to interior and exterior good, that there is conception, is evident from the signification of "nations", as being goods, especially the goods of the church (n. 1159, 1258, 1260, 1416, 1849); and that here the goods which are in the natural are signified, is evident from the fact that Esau and Jacob, who were then in the womb, represent the Lord's Divine natural, as will become very evident from what follows, where they are treated of. The natural, like the rational, consists of good and truth; the good in the natural is all that which is of natural affection, and is called delight; but the truth is all that which is of the memory, and is called memory-knowledge. These two must be in the natural for there to be any natural. By itself, memory-knowledge abstractedly from any delight which is of affection, is not anything; for the natural has its life from the delight within it; and from this derives its ability to know anything; whereas delight, which is the good of the natural, is something without memory-knowledge; but only such a vitality as infants have. In order therefore for the natural to be human it must consist of both, the one being perfected by the other; but it has its real life from good.

[2] As regards this good which is here treated of, it is twofold, interior and exterior; the interior good communicates with the interior man, that is, with the rational; while the exterior good communicates with the external man, that is, with the things of the body, and makes the life in the external senses, and also in the actions. Without this twofold communication, man cannot live either as to the reason or as to the body. It is the interior communication which abides with man after death, and then makes his natural life, for a spirit also has natural life, inasmuch as his spiritual life is terminated in the natural as in an ultimate plane; for immediately after death a man is not able to think spiritually, except from the things that belong to his natural. The exterior communication however is that which a man has while he lives in the body, but this ceases by the death of the body. All this shows what is signified by "two nations in the womb", namely the natural as to interior and exterior good. "In the womb", in the internal sense, signifies conception, therefore it is here said "that there is conception".

3294. And two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels. That this signifies that truth is thence derived, is evident from the signification of "people", as being truth (n. 1259, 1260); and from the signification of being "separated from the bowels", as being to originate thence. In the Word, where birth is treated of, when it is from the mother it is expressed as "coming forth from the womb" or "belly;" but when from the father, as being "separated from the bowels". For the womb and the loins are predicated of the things of love, that is, of good; but when the expression "separated from the bowels" is used, the origin of truth is signified; therefore here, when good is treated of, it is said that "two nations are from thy womb;" and when truth is treated of, that "two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels", whereby is signified, in the internal sense, the origin of truth from good. "Two peoples" are spoken of, because as good is interior and exterior (n. 3293), so also is truth. Interior truth in the natural is that which is conjoined with the interior good of the natural; but exterior truth is that which is conjoined with the exterior good of the natural; the interior truth is called natural truth, but the exterior truth is called sensuous. But how the case is with these kinds of truths, will of the Lord's Divine mercy appear from what follows, where Jacob is treated of; for by Jacob is represented this truth as to both kinds.

3295. And the one people shall prevail over the other people. That this signifies that at first truth shall be superior to the good of truth, is evident from the signification of "people", as being truth (n. 3294); and from the signification of "prevailing over", as being superior. The "people" referred to in the first place signifies truth, but the "people" referred to in the second place, the good of truth; the good of truth being that good which comes forth from truth, and which in its first coming forth is truth, but is called good because it appears as good. Hence it is that by "people' is also signified this good, which in its first coming forth is called the good of truth. In order to have some idea of this good, we must know that before a man has been regenerated he does good from truth; but after he has been regenerated he does good from good; or more clearly, before a man has been regenerated he does good from the understanding; but after he his been regenerated, from the will. The good therefore that is from the understanding is not in itself good, but truth, whereas the good which is from the will is good. For example: one who does not honor his parents, but from the commandment of the decalogue learns to honor them, when first he honors them, does it from the commandment; and as this honor is from the commandment it is not in itself good, because it is not from love, but is either from obedience to the law, or from fear of the law. Nevertheless it is called the good of truth, but in its first coming forth it is truth; for at that time the man does not do good, but truth; whereas when the man honors his parents from love, then it is good. The same is true in all other cases.

3296. And the elder shall serve the younger. That this signifies that for a time the good of truth should be inferior, is evident from the signification of the "elder", as being good; from the signification of "serving", as being inferior; and from the signification of the "younger", as being truth. How the case herein is may be seen from what follows, where it is described under the representation of Esau and Jacob; for as before said by Esau is represented good, and by Jacob, truth. That there was struggling or combat concerning priority and dominion, is described in the internal sense by Jacob's taking away from Esau the birthright, and also his blessing; yet that this was done only for a time is manifest from Isaac's prophecy concerning Esau And upon thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck (Gen. 27:40).

[2] These things have an internal sense, and what they signify cannot be known without the internal sense (namely, what is signified by two nations being in the womb, and by two peoples being separated from the bowels, and by one people prevailing over the other, and the elder serving the younger), is evident; and that they signify what has been said, is evident from what follows, where much will be said on this subject. Moreover it can with difficulty be believed that these expressions involve such things unless it is known how the case is with good and truth, and concerning the birth of the one from the other, and the change of state in man when he is being regenerated. In the internal sense indeed the Lord is treated of, and here how He made His natural Divine; nevertheless in the representative sense the regeneration of man is also treated of; for man's regeneration is an image of the Lord's glorification (n. 3043, 3138, 3212); that is, in regeneration as in a certain image it appears how the Lord glorified His Human, or what is the same, made it Divine. For as the Lord altogether changed His human state into the Divine, so also in man, when He regenerates him, the Lord utterly changes the man's state, for He makes his old man new.

3297. Verses 24-26. And her days were fulfilled to bring forth, and behold twins were in her womb. And the first came forth red all over like a hairy garment, and they called his name Esau. And after that came forth his brother, and his hand laid hold on Esau's heel, and he called his name Jacob: and Isaac was a son of sixty years when she bare them. "And her days were fulfilled to bring forth", signifies the first state of the effect; "and behold twins were in her womb", signifies that both were conceived together; "and the first came forth red all over like a hairy garment", signifies the natural good of the life of truth; "and they called his name Esau", signifies its quality; "and after that came forth his brother", signifies truth; "and his hand laid hold on Esau's heel", signifies the lowest of the good of the natural, to which it adhered with some power; "and he called his name Jacob", signifies the doctrine of truth of the natural; "and Isaac was a son of sixty years when she bare them", signifies the state of the Divine rational at that time.

3298. And her days were fulfilled to bring forth. That this signifies the first state of the effect, is evident from the signification of "days", as being states (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788); that these were "fulfilled to bring forth signifies the first state of the effect; for in the spiritual sense to "bring forth" has respect to good and truth, and in this sense means to come into existence (n. 2621, 2629). With good and truth the case is the same as with offspring, in that they are conceived, are in the womb, are born, and afterwards grow to maturity. After conception the efficient (that is, the conceived seed) begins to produce the effect, which takes place in the womb; when these states have been fulfilled, and the time for bringing forth is near, then the effect commences, and is called the first of the effect, for then the offspring begins to act as of itself, and to exert itself to attain that very state which is called the state of the effect.

3299. And behold twins were in her womb. That this signifies that both were conceived together, is evident from the signification of "twins", as being both, namely good, which is represented by Esau, and truth, which is represented by Jacob; and from the signification of "in the womb", as being conception (n. 3293). As to both the good and the truth of the natural being conceived together, the case is this: Whatever is born derives its being from a father and its manifestation from a mother; it must have both in order to become something. The natural as to good is conceived from the good of the rational as a father, and as to truth is conceived from the truth of the rational as a mother (n. 3286, 3288). It is good which gives life, but through truth. Both these are called soul, but still good is principally the soul, while truth clothes it as with a kind of tender vessel or body, so that the good is in the truth. This is what is signified by "twins being in her womb".

3300. And the first came forth red all over like a hairy garment (tunica). That this signifies the natural good of the life of truth, is evident from the signification of "coming forth", as being to be born; from the signification of "red", as being the good of life, as will be shown presently; and from the signification of a "hairy garment", as being the truth of the natural, which also will be shown presently. This being the "first" signifies that as to essence good is prior, as before said (n. 3299); and it is said "like a hairy garment" in order to signify that good is clothed with truth, as with a tender vessel or body, as also before said (n. 3299). In the internal sense of the Word a "garment (tunica)" signifies merely that which invests something else, wherefore also truths are compared to garments (n. 1073, 2576).

[2] That "red", or "ruddy", signifies the good of life, is because all good is of love, and love itself is celestial and spiritual fire, and is also compared to fire and likewise is called "fire" (n. 933-936). So also is love compared to blood, and is called "blood" (n. 1001); and because they are both red, the good which is of love is signified by "red" or "ruddy", as may also be seen from the following passages in the Word. In the prophecy of Jacob, then Israel: -

He shall wash his raiment in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes; his eyes are redder than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk (Gen. 49:11, 12);

where Judah is treated of, by whom is there signified the Lord, as must be evident to every one. "Raiment" and "vesture" in this passage signify the Lord's Divine natural; "wine" and "the blood of grapes" signify the Divine good and Divine truth of the natural. Of the former it is said that "his eyes are redder than wine;" of the latter that "his teeth are whiter than milk;" it is the conjunction of good and truth in the natural which is thus described.

[3] In Isaiah: -

Who is this that cometh from Edom? Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat? (Isa. 63:1, 2);

here "Edom" denotes the Divine good of the lord's Divine natural, as will appear from what follows; "red in Thine apparel" denotes the good of truth; "garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat", the truth of good. In Jeremiah: -

Her Nazirites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; they were more ruddy in bone than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire (Lam. 4:7).

By the "Nazirites" was represented the Lord as to the Divine Human, especially as to the Divine natural; thus the good therein by their being "more ruddy in bone than rubies".

[4] As "red" signified good, especially the good of the natural, therefore in the Jewish Church, in which each and all things were representative of the Lord, and thence of His kingdom (consequently of good and truth, because the Lord's kingdom is from these), it was commanded that the covering of the tent should be of the skins of red rams (Exod. 25:5; 26:14; 35:7, 23; 36:19); and also that the water of expiation should be made of the ashes of a red heifer burned (Num. 19:2, 9). Unless the color red had signified something celestial in the Lord's kingdom, it would never have been commanded that the rams should be red, and the heifer red. That holy things were thereby represented, every one acknowledges who holds the Word to be holy. Inasmuch as the color red had such a signification, the coverings of the tent were interwoven and coupled together with threads of scarlet, crimson, and blue (Exod. 35:6).

[5] As almost all things have also an opposite sense, as has before been frequently stated, "red" in like manner then signifies the evil which is of the love of self; and this because the cupidities of the love of self are compared to fire and are called "fire" (n. 934, 1297, 1527, 1528, 1861, 2446); and in like manner they are compared to blood and are called "blood" (n. 374, 954, 1005). Hence in the opposite sense "red" has this signification; as in Isaiah: -

Jehovah said, Though your sins he as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isa. 1:18).

In Nahum: -

The shield of the mighty men (of Belial) is made red, the valiant men are made crimson, in the fire of torches are the chariots in the day (Nahum 2:3).

In John: -

And there was seen another sign in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems (Rev. 12:3).

Again: -

And I saw and behold a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow; and there was given unto him a crown and he went forth conquering and to conquer. And another horse came forth that was red; and to him that sat thereon it was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another; and there was given unto him a great sword. Afterwards there came forth a black horse and at last a pale horse, whose name was death (Rev. 6:2, 4, 5, 8).

3301. That a "hairy garment (tunica)" signifies the truth of the natural, is evident from the signification of a "garment (tunica)" as being that which invests something else, and here therefore it signifies truth, because this invests good; for truth is as a vesture (n. 1073, 2576); or what is nearly the same, truth is a vessel receiving good (n. 1469, 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269); and also from the signification of "hairy", as being the natural in respect to truth. "Hair", or the "hair of the head", is frequently mentioned in the Word, and there signifies the natural; the reason is that hair is an excrescence in the outermost parts of man, just as is the natural also relatively to his rational and to the interior things thereof. It appears to man, while he lives in the body, that the natural is his all, but this is so far from being true that the natural is rather an excrescence from his internals, as hair is from the things of the body. The two also proceed from the internals in almost the same way. Hence it is that men who in the life of the body have been merely natural, in the other life; when presented to view in accordance with that state, appear as if covered with hair over almost the whole face. Moreover man's natural is represented by the hair of the head; when it is from good, it is represented by becoming and carefully arranged hair; but when not from good, by unbecoming and disheveled hair.

[2] It is from this representative that in the Word "hair" signifies the natural, especially as to truth; as in Zechariah: -

And it shall come to pass in that day that the prophets shall be ashamed, a man by reason of his vision, when he hath prophesied, neither shall they wear a hairy tunic to deceive (Zechariah 13:4).

"Prophets" denote those who teach truths, here those who teach falsities (n. 2534); "vision" denotes truths, here falsities; a "hairy tunic" denotes the natural as to truth; and because there was no truth, but rather falsity, it is said, "to deceive". Prophets were clothed with such raiment in order to represent that truth, because it is external. Therefore also Elijah the Tishbite from such clothing is called a "hairy man" (2 Kings 1:8); and John, who was the last of the prophets, had "raiment of camel's hair" (Matt. 3:4). "Camels" are memory-knowledges in the natural man, (n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145); and also memory-knowledges are the truths of the natural, (n. 3293).

[3] That the "hair of the head" signified the natural as to truth is plainly evident from the Nazirites, to whom it was commanded that during all the days of their Naziriteship no razor should pass upon their head, until the days were fulfilled during which they separated themselves to Jehovah, and then they should let down the locks of their head, and that then they should shave the head of their Naziriteship at the door of the tent of meeting, and should put the hair upon the fire which was under the eucharistic sacrifice (Num. 6:5, 18). The Nazirites represented the Lord as to the Divine Human; and thence the man of the celestial church, who is a likeness of the Lord (n. 51); and the natural of this man is represented by the hair; and therefore, when the Nazirites were sanctified they were to put off their old or former natural man, into which they were born, and were to put on a new man; which was signified by the command that when the days had been fulfilled during which they were to separate themselves to Jehovah, they were to let down the locks of their head, and put them upon the fire under the sacrifice. For the state of the celestial man is such that he is in good, and from good knows all truths, and never thinks and speaks from truths about good, still less does he think and speak about good from memory-knowledges (n. 202, 337, 2715, 2718, 3246). Moreover celestial men are such that before they put off that state they are in' a natural so strong as to truth that they are able to battle with the hells; for it is truth that fights, and never good, as the hells cannot make even a distant approach to good. Such is the case with truth and good, (n. 1950, 1951).

[4] From this it is evident whence Samson had strength from his hair; concerning whom it is said: -

The angel of Jehovah appeared to the woman saying, Behold thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, and no razor shall come upon his head for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb (Judges 13:3, 5);

and afterwards it is related that he told Delilah that if he should be shaven, his strength would depart from him, and be would. be rendered weak; and after he had been shaven his strength departed, and the Philistines seized him; and afterwards, when the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven, his strength returned, so that he pulled down the pillars of the house (Judges 16). Who does not see that in these things there is a heavenly arcanum, which no one knows unless he has been instructed concerning representatives; namely, that the Nazirite represents the celestial man, and that so long as he had hair he represented the natural of this man, which as before said is in truth thus powerful and strong. And as at that time all representatives that were commanded by the Lord had such force and effect, this was the source of Samson's strength. But Samson was not a sanctified Nazirite like those described above, namely, as having put on a state of good instead of truth. The effect of his strength by reason of his hair was principally from his representing the Lord, who from the natural man as to truth fought with the hells and subdued them, and this before He put on the Divine good and truth even as to the natural man.

[5] From this also it is evident why it was commanded that the high-priest, upon whose head was poured the oil of anointing, and whose hand was consecrated to put on the garments, should not shave his head, nor rend his clothes (Lev. 21:10); and similarly that the priests the Levites (where the new temple is treated of) were not to shave their heads, nor let down their hair (Ezek. 44:20); namely, that they might represent the Lord's Divine natural as to the truth which is from good, and which is called the truth of good. That "hair", or a "head of hair", signifies the natural as to truth, is evident also from the prophecies of the Word, as in Ezekiel: -

I set thee as the bud of the field, whence thou didst grow, and didst grow up into beauties of beauties; the breasts have become firm, and thine hair was grown (Ezek. 16:7)

where Jerusalem is treated of, which here signifies the Ancient Church, which in process of time had become perverted. The "breasts become firm" denote natural good; the "hair that was grown", natural truth.

[6] In Daniel: -

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit. His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool; His throne was fiery flames (Daniel 7:9).

And in John: -

In the midst of the lampstands One like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the paps with a golden girdle. And His head and His hair were white as white wool, as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire (Rev. 1:13, 14);

"hair white like pure wool" denotes the Divine natural as to truth. In the Word, and in the rituals of the Jewish Church, truth itself was represented by white, which being from good, is called "pure wool" The reason why the representation of truth is by white, and the representation of good by red, is that truth is of light, and good is of the fire from which the light proceeds.

[7] Like other expressions in the Word, "hair" has also an opposite sense, and signifies the natural as to truth perverted, as in Isaiah: -

In that day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, in the passages of the river, with the King of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard (Isa. 7:20).

In Ezekiel: -

Son of man, take thee a sharp sword, a barber's razor shalt thou take unto thee, and shalt cause it to pass upon thine head, and upon thy beard; and take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hairs. A third part shalt thou burn with fire in the midst of the city thou shalt take a third part and smite with the sword round about the city and a third part thou shalt scatter to the wind and thou shalt take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts and of these again shalt thou take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire therefrom shall a fire come forth unto all the house of Israel (Ezekiel 5:1-4).

In this manner it is representatively described that there is no longer any interior and exterior natural truth, which is signified by the "hair" and the "beard". That concupiscences have destroyed it is signified by its being "burned with fire;" that reasonings have destroyed it is signified by "smiting with the sword round about the city;" that false principles have destroyed it, is signified by "scattering it to the wind". The meaning of this passage is similar to what the Lord teaches in Matthew, that of the seed, which is truth, some fell among thorns, some on the rock, and some upon the way (Matthew 13:1-9).

[8] That the "hair of the head" signifies the unclean truths and falsities which are of the natural man, was represented also by the command that when a woman that had been taken captive from the enemy was to be married, she was to be brought into the house, the hair of her head was to be shaved, her nails were to be pared, and the raiment of her captivity was to be put off (Deut. 21:12, 13); also that when the Levites were consecrated, the water of expiation was to be sprinkled upon them, they were to cause a razor to pass over all their flesh, and their clothes were to be washed, and thus they were to be cleansed (Num. 8:7); and also that Nebuchadnezzar was driven out from men to eat grass like oxen, and his body to be wet with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws (Dan. 4:33). That in leprosy the colors of the hair and beard were to be observed, as to whether they were white, reddish, yellow, black, and also those of the garments; and that he who was cleansed from leprosy should shave off all the hair of the head, beard, and eyebrows (Lev. 13:1-59; 14:8, 9), signified unclean falsities from what is profane, which in the internal sense is "leprosy".

[9] "Baldness" however signified the natural in which there was nothing of truth, as in Isaiah: -

He is gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep over Nebo, and Moab shall howl over Medeba; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is shaved (Isa. 15:2).

In the same: -

It shall come to pass that instead of braided work there shall be baldness, and branding instead of beauty (Isa. 3:24).

That the children who said to Elisha, "Go up, thou bald-head; go up, thou bald-head", were torn in pieces by bears from the wood (2 Kings 2:23, 24) represented those who blaspheme the Word, speaking as if there were no truth in it; for Elisha represented the Lord as to the Word (n. 2762). From this it is now manifest how much power there was at that time in representatives.

3302. And they called his name Esau. That this signifies its quality, namely, the quality of the natural as to good, is evident from the signification of "calling a name", or of "calling by name", as being to know what the thing is, thus its quality (n. 144, 145, 440, 768, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3237); and from the fact that all names whatever in the Word in the internal sense denote actual things (n. 1224, 1888); and such is the case with the name Esau. That "Esau" signifies the Lord's Divine natural as to Divine good when first conceived, is evident from what has been already said, and from what follows concerning Esau, as also from other parts of the Word; but as Esau and Edom have nearly the same signification, with the difference that "Edom" is the Divine natural as to good to which are adjoined the doctrinal things of truth, therefore at (verse 30), where Esau is called "Edom", of the Lord's Divine mercy this will be confirmed by passages from the Word.

3303. And after that came forth his brother. That this signifies truth, is evident from the signification of "brother", as being good, and also truth, for these are called "brothers". That charity is the "brother" of faith, or good the "brother" of truth, may be seen above (n. 367). So on the other hand faith is the "brother" of charity, or truth the "brother" of good; also in the natural, the affection of good is called "brother", and the affection of truth "sister" (n. 3160); likewise, "husband and wife", and "man (vir) and woman;" but these always relatively to the states treated of.

3304. And his hand laid hold on Esau's heel. This signifies the lowest of the good of the natural to which it adhered with some power, which is evident from the signification of "band", as being power (n. 878); and it is predicated of truth, (n. 3091); from the signification of "laying hold of", as being to adhere; from the signification of "heel", as being the lowest of the natural (n. 259); and from the representation of Esau, as being the good of the natural (n. 3302). Hence it is evident that "his hand laid hold on Esau's heel" signifies the lowest of the good of the natural to which truth adhered with some power.

[2] As regards truth adhering with some power to the lowest good of the natural, the case is this: The natural, or the natural man, when being regenerated, has its conception as to good and truth from the rational, or through the rational from the spiritual; through this from the celestial; and through this from the Divine. Thus does the influx follow in succession, and beginning from the Divine descends until it terminates in the lowest of the natural, that is, in the worldly and corporeal. When the lowest natural is affected with faults by what is hereditary from the mother, truth cannot be united to good, but can only adhere to it with some power; nor is truth united to good until these faults have been driven away. This is the reason why although good is indeed born with man, truth is not; and therefore infants are devoid of any knowledge of truth; and truth has to be learned, and afterwards conjoined with good (n. 1831, 1832). Hence also it is said that they "struggled together in the midst of her", that is, they fought (n. 3289). From this it follows that from the first conception truth supplants good, as is said of Jacob in regard to Esau: -

Is not he named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times (Gen. 27:36).

And in Hosea: -

To visit upon Jacob his ways, according to his doings will he recompense him; in the womb he supplanted his brother (Hosea 12:2, 3).

[3] They who keep the mind solely in the historicals, and who are not able to withdraw it from them, do not know but that these and former passages simply foretell the events which came to pass between Esau and Jacob, and this conviction is confirmed also by what follows. But the Word of the Lord is of such a nature that the historicals are in their own series, while the spiritual things of the internal sense are in theirs; so that the former may be viewed by the external man, and the latter by the internal man, and that in this way there may be a correspondence between the two, namely, between the external man and the internal; and this by means of the Word, for the Word is the union of earth and heaven, as has been frequently shown. Thus in every one who is in a holy state while reading the Word, there is a union of his external man which is on the earth, with his internal man which is in heaven.

3305. And he called his name Jacob. That this signifies the doctrine of truth of the natural, is evident from the signification of "calling a name", or of "calling by name;" as being quality (n. 3302). The quality that is represented by Jacob is the doctrine of truth of the natural, as may be seen from the representation of Esau, as being the good of life of the truth of the natural (n. 3300), and from many places in the Word, where he is named. There are two things which constitute the natural, as there are two that constitute the rational, nay, that constitute the whole man, one of which is of life, and the other of doctrine. That which is of life belongs to the will, while that which is of doctrine belongs to the understanding. The former is called good, and the latter truth. This good is that which is represented by Esau, and the truth by Jacob; or what is the same, the good of life of the truth of the natural is that which is represented by Esau, and the doctrine of truth of the natural is that which is represented by Jacob. Whether you say the good of life of the truth of the natural and the doctrine of truth of the natural, or those who are in these things, it is the same; for the good of life and the doctrine of truth cannot exist apart from their subject. If they have no subject they are a kind of abstract affair which nevertheless has regard to the man in whom this may be. Wherefore by "Jacob" are here signified those who are in the doctrine of truth of the natural.

[2] They who abide in the mere sense of the letter believe that by "Jacob" in the Word is meant all that people which was descended from Jacob, and for this reason they apply to that people all things that have been said historically and prophetically concerning Jacob. But the Word is Divine chiefly in this respect, that all things in it both in general and in particular do not regard one nation or one people, but the universal human race; namely, that which is, which has been, and which will be; and also that which is still more universal, namely, the Lord's kingdom in the heavens; and in the supreme sense, the Lord Himself. It is for this reason that the Word is Divine. If it had regard merely to one nation, then it would be human, and there would be nothing more of the Divine in it than there was of the holy of worship with that nation; and every one may know that there was none of this with the people called "Jacob;" from which it is evident that by "Jacob" in the Word is not meant Jacob, and also that by "Israel" is not meant Israel; for almost everywhere in the prophecies, when Jacob is named, Israel is named also, and no one can know what is specifically meant by the one, and what by the other, except from the sense which lies more deeply concealed and contains within it the arcana of heaven.

[3] That by "Jacob" therefore in the internal sense is signified the doctrine of truth of the natural; or what is the same, those who are in this doctrine, of whatever nation they may be; and that in the supreme sense the Lord is meant, is evident from the following passages. In Luke: -

The angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary for thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of his father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:30-33).

Here by the "house of Jacob" is not meant the Jewish nation or people, can be seen by all, for the Lord's kingdom was not over that people, but over all in the universe who have faith in Him, and who from faith are in charity. Hence it is evident that by "Jacob" as here named by the angel is not meant the people of Jacob; and consequently neither in other places, by the "seed of Jacob", the "sons of Jacob", the "land of Jacob", the "inheritance of Jacob", the "king of Jacob", and the "God of Jacob", which expressions so often occur in the Word of the Old Testament, are these intended.

[4] The case is the same in respect to "Israel", as in Matthew: -

The angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My Son (Matthew 2:13, 15);

and in the Prophet it is said: -

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1).

That in this passage "Israel" is the Lord, is very evident; and yet from the sense of the letter it cannot be known but that the "child Israel" means the earliest descendants of Jacob, who came into Eat and were afterwards called out thence. It is the same in other passages where "Jacob" and "Israel' are named, although this does not appear from the sense of the letter, as in Isaiah: -

Hear O Jacob My servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen; thus saith Jehovah who made thee, and formed thee from the womb, who will help thee; Fear not O Jacob My servant, and thou Jeshurun whom I have chosen for I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring; this one shall say, I am Jehovah's and this shall call himself by the name of Jacob and that one shall write with his hand unto Jehovah, and surname himself by the name of Israel (Isa. 44:1-3, 5);

where "Jacob" and "Israel" evidently denote the Lord; and the "seed", and " offspring of Jacob", those who are in faith in Him.

[5] In the prophecy concerning the sons of Israel in Moses: -

Joseph shall sit in the strength of his bow, and the arms of his hands shall be made strong by the bands of the Mighty One of Jacob; from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel (Gen. 49:24);

where also the "Mighty One of Jacob" and the "stone of Israel" clearly denote the Lord. In Isaiah: -

My glory will I not give to another; attend unto Me, O Jacob, and Israel My called, I am He; I am the first, I also am the last (Isa. 48:11, 12);

here also " Jacob" and "Israel" signify the Lord. In Ezekiel: -

I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and I will add them upon him with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand. I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations, whither they he gone, and will gather them from every side, and bring them upon their own land and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel and one king shall be king to them all, and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. My servant David shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd. And they shall dwell on the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers dwelt and they shall dwell therein, they and their sons, and their sons', forever; and David My servant shall be prince to them forever: I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an everlasting covenant with them and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And the nations shall know that I Jehovah do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in the midst of them for evermore (Ezekiel 37:19, 21, 22, 24-28);

here again it is clearly manifest that by "Joseph", "Ephraim", "Judah", "Israel", "Jacob", and "David", are not meant these persons, but in the supreme sense Divine spiritual things which are in the Lord, and which are the Lord's in His kingdom and church. That David was not to be, as is said, their king and prince forever, every one may know; but that by "David" is meant the Lord may be seen above (n. 1888). It may also be known that Israel will not be gathered together from wherever they have been dispersed, and will not be sanctified, and the sanctuary placed in the midst of them forever, as is said; but this is to be with those who in the representative sense are signified by "Israel;" and who, as is known, are all the faithful.

[6] In Micah: -

Assembling I will assemble O Jacob, all of thee; gathering I will gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah (Micah 2:12);

where the meaning is similar. In Isaiah: -

Jacob shall cause to take root those who come; Israel shall blossom and bud; and they shall fill the face of the world with produce (Isa. 27:6);

where also the meaning is similar. In the same: -

Thus saith Jehovah who redeemed Abraham, to the house of Jacob; Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale for when he seeth his children, the work of My hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify My name; yea, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall stand in awe of the God of Israel. They also that err in spirit shall know intelligence (Isa. 29:22-24).

In the same: -

Thus saith Jehovah to His anointed, to Cyrus, chose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the door before him, and the gates shall not be shut I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I am Jehovah, who am called by thy name, the God of Israel, for Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel Mine elect. I have called thee by thy name, I have surnamed thee when thou didst not know Me (Isa. 45:1-4);

where also the Lord is plainly treated of. In Micah: -

In the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established as the head of the mountains: and many nations shall go, and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the doctrine, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem (Micah 4:1, 2).

In David: -

Jehovah loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob glorious things shall be preached in thee, O city of God (Ps. 87:2, 3).

In Jeremiah: -

They shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. And thou, fear thou not, O Jacob My servant, saith Jehovah; neither be dismayed, O Israel; for lo I will save thee from afar (Jeremiah 30:9, 10).

In Isaiah: -

Listen O isles unto me; and hearken ye peoples from far; Jehovah hath called me from the womb from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name; and He said unto me, Thou art My servant Israel, in whom I will be made glorious (Isa. 49:1, 3).

Again: -

Then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah, and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob (Isa. 58:14).

Again: -

I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of My mountains, that Mine elect may possess it, and My servants shall dwell there (Isa. 65:9).

[7] In the supreme sense of all these passages by "Jacob" and "Israel" is meant the Lord; and in the representative sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and the church which is a church from the doctrine of truth and the life of good. By "Jacob" are meant those who are in the externals of this church; and by "Israel" those who are in its internals. From these and many other passages it is evident that by "Jacob" is nowhere meant Jacob, neither by "Israel", Israel; and in the same way, by "Isaac" is not meant Isaac, nor by "Abraham", Abraham, where they are named; as in Matthew: -

Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline with Abraham, and Israel, and Jacob, in the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 8:11).

In Luke: -

Ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God (Luke 13:28);

and again: -

Lazarus was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:20, 22).

For in heaven they know nothing of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and when these words are read by man, the angels perceive nought but the Lord as to the Divine and the Divine Human; and by "reclining with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob", they perceive nought but being with the Lord; and by being "in Abraham's bosom", nought but being in the Lord. But it was thus said because at that time man was so far removed from internal things that he did not know and was not willing to know otherwise than that all things in the Word are according to the letter; and when the Lord spoke with men according to the letter, it was that they might receive faith, and also that there might even then be an internal sense within, by which there could be the conjunction of man with Himself. This being the case, it may appear what is signified in the Word of the Old Testament by the "God of Jacob", and by the "Holy One of Israel", namely, the Lord Himself. The "God of Jacob" is the Lord, (2 Sam. 23:1; Isa. 2:3; 41:21; Micah 4:2; Ps. 20:1; 46:7; 75:9; 76:6; 81:1, 4; 84:8; 94:7; 114:7; 132:2; 146:5). The "Holy One of Israel" is the Lord, (Isa. 1:4; 5:19, 24; 10:20; 12:6; 17:7; 29:19; 30:11, 12, 15; 31:1; 37:23; 41:14, 16, 20; 43:3, 14; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7; 54:5; 55:5; 60:14; Jer. 50:29; Ezek. 39:7; Ps. 71:22; 78:41; 89:18).

3306. And Isaac was a son of sixty years when she bare them. That this signifies the state of the Divine rational at that time, evident from what has been said above concerning numbers (n. 3252, 3275). But what the number "sixty" involves may be seen from the simple numbers of which it is composed, namely, five and twelve, for five times twelve are sixty; what "five" signifies may be seen above (n. 649, 1686); and what "twelve" (n. 3272). It is composed also of six and ten, for six times ten are sixty. What "six" signifies may be seen above (n. 720, 737, 900); and what "ten" (n. 576, 2284, 3107). It is composed also of two and thirty, for twice thirty are sixty. What "two" signifies may be seen above (n. 720, 900, 1335, 1686); and what "thirty" (n. 2276). As the number "sixty" is composed of these simple numbers, it involves the things signified by them in their order, all of which signify the state in which the Lord's Divine rational then was. These things are manifest before the angels in clear light from the Lord; but before man, especially one who believes that no arcanum is concealed in the numbers mentioned in the Word, they cannot be unfolded; both on account of his incredulity, and also because so many contents cannot be reduced into a series suitable to man's apprehension.

3307. Verses 27, 28. And the boys grew up: and Esau was a man skillful in hunting, a man of the field; and Jacob was a perfect man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, because his hunting was in his mouth; and Rebekah loved Jacob. "And the boys grew up", signifies the first state; "and Esau was a man skillful in hunting", signifies the good of life from truths sensuous and of memory-knowledge; "a man of the held", signifies the good of life from doctrinal things; "and Jacob was a perfect man", signifies truth; "dwelling in tents", signifies the derivative worship; "and Isaac loved Esau, because his hunting was in his mouth", signifies that the Divine good of the Lord's Divine rational loved the good of truth; "`and Rebekah loved Jacob", signifies that the Divine truth of the Divine rational loved the doctrine of truth.

3308. The boys grew up. That this signifies the first state, namely, of the conjunction of good and truth, is evident from the signification of "growing up", when predicated of good and truth in respect to origin and progress, as being the first state of the latter, namely, of progress, concerning which hereafter; and from the signification of the "boys", as being good and truth; for good is represented by the "boy Esau", and truth by the "boy Jacob", as before shown. The case with good and truth is the same as with offspring, in that they are conceived, are in the womb, are born, grow up, and also advance in age even to the last. That they are conceived, are in the womb, and are born, pertains to the state of origin; but that they grow up, and advance in age even to the last, pertains to the state of progress. The state of progress advances in succession from the birth, and is a state of the conjunction of good and truth. The first of this state is that which is here signified by "growing up". This state commences immediately after birth, and is continued even to the last of life; and with those who are in good, after the life of the body to eternity. The angels are thus being continually perfected.

3309. And Esau was a man skillful (sciens) in hunting. That this signifies the good of life from truths sensuous and of memory-knowledge, is evident from the representation of Esau, as being the good of life; and from the signification of a "man skillful in hunting", as being those who are in the affection of truth. For a "man skillful" is predicated of the affection of truth, or of those who are in the affection of truth; whereas "hunting" signifies the truths themselves, but truths which are of the natural man from which are goods. And as the truths of the natural man are those which are called memory-knowledges (n. 3293); and these are chiefly of two kinds or degrees, namely, sensuous truths, and truths in the form of memory-knowledge, both are here signified by "hunting". Sensuous truths are those in which children are, and truths in the form of memory-knowledge are those in which the same children are as they grow up. For no one can be in truths of memory-knowledge unless he is first in sensuous truths, inasmuch as the ideas of the former are procured from the latter; and from these may afterwards be learned and comprehended truths still more interior, which are called doctrinal truths, and which are signified by a "man of the field".

[2] That by "hunting" are signified truths sensuous and of memory-knowledge, in which are instructed and by which are affected those who are in the good of life, is because "hunting", in a wide sense, means the things taken by hunting; such as rams, kids, she-goats, and the like; and which are spiritual goods, as may be seen above (n. 2180, 2830); and also because the arms used in hunting, which were quivers, bows, and darts, signify the doctrinal things of truth (n. 2685, 2686, 2709). That such are the things which are signified by "hunting", is evident from what is said to Esau by his father Isaac in a subsequent chapter: -

Take I pray thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and hunt me a hunting, and make me savory meat, such as I have loved (Gen. 27:3, 4);

and to Jacob, who is there taken for Esau, in the same chapter: -

Bring to me that I may eat of my son's hunting, that my soul may bless thee (Gen. 27:25);

from which it is evident what is signified by "hunting".

[3] Hence it is that to "hunt" signifies to teach and also to persuade, and this in both senses, that is, from the affection of truth, and from the affection of falsity; from the affection of truth in Jeremiah: -

I will bring them back into their land that I gave unto their fathers; behold I will send for many fishers, saith Jehovah, and they shall fish them; and after this I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks (Jeremiah 16:15, 16);

where "fishers" denote those who teach from sensuous truths (n. 40, 991); and "hunters", those who teach from truths of memory-knowledge, and also from doctrinal things. "Upon every mountain and upon every hill", signifies teaching those who are in the affection of good and in the affection of truth. "Mountain and hill" have this signification, (n. 795, 796, 1430). The like is involved in "hunting in the field" (Gen. 27:3). That "hunting" signifies also persuading from the affection of falsity, appears in Ezekiel: -

Behold I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly away, and I will tear off your coverings, and will deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall be no longer in your hand to be hunted (Ezek. 13:20, 21).

Concerning the signification of "hunting" in this sense, (n. 1178); but to this kind of hunting, "nets" are usually attributed.

3310. That "a man of the field" signifies the good of life from doctrinal things, is evident from the signification of "field". In the Word frequent mention is made of "earth" or "land", of "ground", and of "field;" and by "earth" or "land", when used in a good sense, is signified the Lord's kingdom in the heads and on earth, thus the church, which is His kingdom on earth. The like is signified by "ground", but in a more restricted sense (n. 566, 662, 1066-1068, 1262, 1413, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928). The same is signified also by "field", but in a sense still more restricted (n. 368, 2971); and as the church is not the church from doctrinal things except in so far as these have respect to the good of life as their end; or what is the same, unless these doctrinal things are conjoined with the good of life, therefore by "field" is principally signified the good of life; and in order that this may be of the church, there must be doctrinal things from the Word which have been implanted in this good. Without doctrinal things there is indeed good of life, but not as yet the good of the church, thus not as yet good truly spiritual, except only in the capacity of becoming so; as is the case with the good of life among the Gentiles who have not the Word, and therefore are ignorant of the Lord.

[2] That a "field" is the good of life in which are to be implanted the things which are of faith, that is, spiritual truths which are of the church, is very evident from the Lord's parable in Matthew: -

The sower went forth to sow, and as he sowed, some fell upon the hard way, and the birds came and devoured them and others fell upon stony places where they had not much earth, and straightway they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth; and when the sun was risen, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away; and others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them; but others fell upon the good ground and yielded fruit, some a hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold: he that hath an ear to hear, let him hear (Matthew 13:3-9; Mark 4:3-9; Luke 8:5-8).

Here four kinds of earth or ground in a field-that is, in the church-are treated of. That the "seed" is the Word of the Lord, thus truth, which is said to be of faith, and that the "good ground" is the good which is of charity, is evident, for it is the good in man that receives the Word; the "hard way" is falsity; a "stony place" is truth that has no root in good; "thorns" are evils.

[3] As regards the good of life from doctrinal things, which is signified by "a man of the field", the case is this: They who are being regenerated, at first do what is good from doctrinal things, for of themselves they do not know what is good, but learn it from the doctrinal things of love and charity; from these they know who the Lord is; who is the neighbor; what love is, and what charity; thus what good is. When they are in this state they are in the affection of truth, and are called "men (viri) of the field but afterwards when they have been regenerated, they do not do what is good from doctrinal things, but from love and charity, for they are then in the good itself which they have learned through doctrinal things, and then are called "men (homines) of the field". The case herein is as with one who by nature inclines to adulteries, thefts, and murders, but who learns from the commandments of the decalogue that such things are of hell, and so abstains from them. In this state he is affected by the commandments because he is afraid of hell, and from these and likewise from many things in the Word he learns how he ought to direct his life; and in this case when he does what is good, he does it from the commandments. But when he is in good, he begins to be averse to the adulteries, thefts, and murders to which before he had been inclined; and when he is in this state, he no longer does what is good from the commandments, but from good, which then is in him. In the former state he learns good from truth; in the latter state he teaches truth from good.

[4] The same is the case also with spiritual truths, which are called doctrinal things, and are still more interior commandments; for doctrinal things are the interior truths that belong to the natural man. The first truths are of sense, the next are of memory-knowledge, the interior ones are of doctrine. These doctrinal truths are founded upon truths of memory-knowledge, for man can form and retain no idea, notion, or conception of them except from memory-knowledges. But truths of memory-knowledge are founded upon truths of the senses, for without sensuous things no memory-knowledges can be comprehended by man. These truths, namely, those of memory-knowledge and of sense, are what are signified by "a man skillful in hunting;" but doctrinal truths are those which are signified by a "man of the field". In this way do these truths follow in succession with man; and therefore until he is of adult age, and through truths of sense and of memory-knowledge is in doctrinal truths, no man is able to be regenerated, for he cannot be confirmed in the truths of doctrine, except by means of ideas derived from the things of memory-knowledge and of sense. For nothing is possible in man's thought, even as to the deepest arcanum of faith, that is not attended with a natural and sensuous idea, although the man is for the most part ignorant of the nature of it; but in the other life, if be desires it, it is presented to view before his understanding, and even, if be so wishes, before his sight; for however incredible it may appear, in the other life such things can be presented to the sight.

3311. And Jacob was a perfect man. That this signifies truth, is evident from the representation of Jacob, as being the doctrine of natural truth (n. 3305); and from the signification of "perfect", as being predicated of those who are in truth, thus of truth (n. 612).

3312. Dwelling in tents. That this signifies the derivative worship, is evident from the signification of "tents", as being the holy of love, and thence of worship (n. 414, 1102, 2145, 2152). That "tents" signify the holy of worship, is because in the most ancient time the man of the church who was in love to the Lord and thence in holy worship, dwelt in tents, and there performed his holy worship; and because at that time the holy of love and thence the holy of worship began to be represented by tents, it was commanded that they should make a Tent according to the pattern shown to Moses upon Mount Sinai, and should therein institute their Divine worship. Hence also the feast of tabernacles, and their then dwelling in tents, was for the sake of the representation of the holy worship which belonged to the man of the celestial church; and this shows that by "dwelling in tents" is signified worship.

3313. And Isaac loved Esau, because his hunting was in his mouth. That this signifies that the Divine good of the Divine rational loved the good of truth, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord's Divine rational as to Divine good (n. 3012, 3013, 3194, 3210); and from the representation of Esau, as being the Lord's Divine natural as to the good therein (n. 3300, 3302); and from what follows concerning Edom and from the signification of "hunting" as being the good of life from natural truths (n. 3309). "In his mouth" signifies that it was in His natural affection; for in the word that is said to be "in the heart" which is interior and proceeds from good, and that to be "in the mouth" which is exterior and proceeds from truth; and as the good of truth, which is here represented by Esau and is signified by "hunting", is exterior good-that is, is in natural affection, and proceeds from truth-therefore it is said to have been "in Isaac's mouth".

3314. A Rebekah loved Jacob. That this signifies that the Divine truth of the Divine rational loved the doctrine of truth, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Divine truth of the Divine rational (n. 3012, 3013, 3077, and the whole preceding chapter, where Rebekah is treated of); and from the representation of Jacob, as being the doctrine of natural truth, and in the supreme sense the Lord's Divine natural as to truth (n. 3305). That the Divine good of the Divine rational loved the good which was in the natural, and the Divine truth of the Divine rational loved the truth which was in the natural, stands thus: It is good and truth that constitute the rational, and it is also good and truth that constitute the natural; the good of the rational flows in without truth - thus immediately - into the good of the natural; and also through truth, thus mediately; whereas the good of the rational flows in through the truth of the rational into the truth of the natural, thus mediately; and also through the good of the natural into the truth there, thus also immediately. Hence it is that there is a closer conjunction of the good of the rational with the good of the natural, than with its truth; which conjunction is signified by "Isaac loving Esau;" and that there is a closer conjunction of the truth of the rational with the truth of the natural, than with its good, which conjunction is signified by "Rebekah loving Jacob".

[2] These things are indeed such as can with difficulty be apprehended, for the reason especially that the world, even the learned world, is ignorant of the most general truths upon the subject - as that the rational is distinct from the natural, and that it is good and truth which constitute beth the rational and the natural; and still less is it known that the rational must flow into the natural in order for man to be able to think, and to will as he thinks. As these most general truths are unknown, the influx spoken of above can with difficulty be comprehended; and yet these are matters in regard to which the angels have light, and perceive things innumerable, and this attended with the delight in which they are when it is given them at the same time to think concerning the Lord's Divine in respect to the Human. The man who is in good and in whom there is what is angelic while he is in the body, is also gifted with some light from the Lord on these and similar subjects; but he who is not in good feels a loathing when thinking of such things, and the more so the more he thinks of them as applied to the Divine that pertains to the Lord's Human. It is better therefore that those who are of such a nature should remove their mind from such subjects; for they comprehend nothing of them, and even reject them; saying at heart, What is this to me? it will bring me neither honors nor gain.

3315. Verses 29, 30. And Jacob boiled pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, Cause me to sup I pray of the red, this red, for I am weary; therefore he called his name Edom. "And Jacob boiled pottage", signifies a chaotic mass of doctrinal things; "and Esau came from the field", signifies the pursuit of the good of life; "and he was weary", signifies a state of combat; "and Esau said to Jacob", signifies the Lord's perception from the good of the natural; "Cause me to sup I pray of the red", signifies a longing for doctrinal things; "this red", signifies that which is apparently good; "for I am weary, signifies here as before a state of combat; "therefore he called his name Edom", signifies his quality therefrom as to good, to which were adjoined the doctrinal things of truth.

3316. And Jacob boiled pottage. That this signifies a chaotic mass of doctrinal things, is evident from the representation of Jacob, as being the doctrine of natural truth (n. 3305), thus the doctrinal things which are in the natural man; and from the signification of "pottage", as being a chaotic mass of such things. "Boiling it", signifies amassing, for in the original tongue the expression is proper to pottage, as if it had been said that he "pottaged pottage", that is, he amassed it. The first state of the conjunction of good and truth is that which is described in this and the following verses, down to the end of the chapter.

[2] The first state of the man who is being regenerated, or in whom truth is being conjoined with good, is that first of all in his natural man, or in its storehouse called the memory, there are amassed the doctrinal things of truth without any certain order. The doctrinal things at that time therein may be compared to some undigested and uncompounded mass, and to a kind of chaos. But this is to the end that they may be reduced to order, for whatever is to be reduced to order is at first in this state of confusion; and this is what is signified by the pottage which Jacob boiled, that is, amassed. These doctrinal things are not reduced to order by themselves, but by the good which flows into them, and the good reduces them into order in exact proportion to the amount and the quality of its action upon them. When good first longs for and desires these doctrinal things, to the end that it may conjoin them with itself, it manifests itself under the appearance of the affection of truth. This is what is signified by Esau's saying to Jacob, "cause me to sup I pray of the red, this red".

[3] These things do indeed appear remote from the sense of the letter, nevertheless when these words are read by man, and are apprehended by him according to the sense of the letter, the angels who are then with him have no idea at all of pottage, or of Jacob, or of Esau, or of what is red, or of supping of what is red, but instead thereof they have a spiritual idea which is altogether different and remote from such natural ideas, and into this spiritual idea these natural things are instantly turned. It is the same with other things in the Word; as for example when man reads of bread, the angels have no perception of bread, but instantly instead of bread they perceive celestial love and all that belongs thereto, that is, to love to the Lord; and when wine is read of in the Word, they do not perceive wine, but instead of wine spiritual love and all that belongs thereto, that is, to love toward the neighbor. So when pottage or pulse is read of, they do not perceive pottage or pulse, but doctrinal things not yet conjoined with good, thus an inordinated mass of them. This shows the nature and quality of the angelic thought and perception, and how remote it is from the thought and perception of man. If man thought in like manner when he is in a holy state, as when he attends the Holy Supper, and instead of bread perceived love to the Lord, and instead of wine love toward the neighbor, he would be in thought and perception like that of the angels, who would then approach nearer to him, till at last they could consociate their thoughts, but only so far as the man was at the same time in good.

[4] That "pottage" or "pulse" signifies a chaotic mass, is evident also from what is said in the book of Kings concerning the sons of the prophets and Elisha: -

Elisha came back to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his lad, Set on the great pot and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets; and one went out into the field to gather herbs, and he found a vine of the field and gathered from it gourds of the field his garment full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage, because they knew not; and they poured out to the men to eat; and it came to pass, in their eating of the pottage, that they cried out and said, O man of God there is death in the pot! and they could not eat; and he said, Take ye meal and he put it into the pot, and said, Pour out for the people; and they did eat, and there was no evil word in the pot (2 Kings 4:38-41).

In the internal sense these words signify things altogether different from that which they signify in the sense of the letter. A " famine in the land" signifies a scarcity of the knowledges of good and truth (n. 1460); the "sons of the prophets' signify those who teach (n. 2534); "pottage" signifies an ill-assorted mass of memory-knowledges; and " meal", the truth which is from good, or the spiritual which is from the celestial (n. 2177); thus that Elisha put meal in the pot, and there was then no evil in it, signifies that that chaotic mass was amended by means of spiritual truth from the Lord's Word; for Elisha represented the Lord as to the Word (n. 2762). Apart from this spiritual sense, this story concerning the pottage and the change in it by the meal, would not have been worthy of relation in the most holy Word. It was for the sake of the representation of such things that this miracle was wrought, as also is the case with the rest of the miracles in the Word, all of which have Divine things concealed within them.

3317. And Esau came from the field. That this signifies the pursuit of the good of life, is evident from the representation of Esau, as being the good of life of natural truth (n. 3300); and from the signification of "coming from the field", as being the pursuit of good; for meditating in the field denotes cogitating in good (n. 3196), because a "field" denotes the good of the church (n. 2971).

3318. And he was weary. That this signifies a state of combat, is evident from the significative of "weary", or "weariness", as being the state after combat; here, a state of combat, because the subject is the conjunction of good with truth in the natural man. That " weary" here signifies a state of combat, cannot appear except from the series of things in the internal sense, and especially from the consideration that good cannot be conjoined with truth in the natural man without combats, or what is the same, without temptations. That it may be known how the case herein is in respect to man, it shall be briefly told.

[2] Man is nothing but an organ, or vessel, which receives life from the Lord; for man does not live from himself (n. 290, 1954, 2021, 2536, 2706, 2886-3001). The life which inflows with man from the Lord is from His Divine love. This love, or the life thence derived, inflows and applies itself to the vessels which are in man's rational, and to those which are In his natural. In consequence of the hereditary evil into which man is born, and of the actual evil which he acquires, these vessels are in a contrary position within him relatively to the inflowing life, yet in so far as the life which flows in can dispose the vessels to receive it, it does so dispose them. These vessels in the rational man, and in the natural, are what are called truths, but in themselves they are merely perceptions of the variations of form of these vessels, and of the changes of state according to which in divers ways these variations come forth, being effected in the most subtle substances, by methods inexpressible (n. 2487). Good itself, which has life from the Lord, or which is life, is that which flows in and disposes.

[3] When therefore these vessels, which are to be varied as to forms, are as before said in a contrary position and direction in respect to the life, it is evident that they must be reduced to a position In accordance with the life, or into compliance with it. This cannot possibly be effected so long as the man is in that state Into which he is born, and to which he has reduced himself; for the vessels are not obedient, being obstinately resistant, and hardening themselves against the heavenly order according to which the life acts; for the good which moves them, and with which they comply, is of the love of self and of the world; which good, from the gross heat that is in it, causes them to be of such a quality; and therefore before they can be rendered compliant and fit to receive anything of the life of the Lord's love, they must be softened. This softening is effected by no other means than temptations; for temptations remove all that is of the love of self and of contempt for others in comparison with self, consequently all that is of self-glory, and also of hatred and revenge on this account. When therefore the vessels have been somewhat tempered and subdued by temptations, they begin to become yielding to, and compliant with, the life of the Lord's love, which continually flows in with man.

[4] Hence then it is that good begins to be conjoined with truths; first in the rational man, and afterwards in the natural; for as before said truths are nothing else than perceptions of the variations of form according to states that are continually being changed; and these perceptions are from the life which flows in. This is the reason why man is regenerated, that is, made new, by temptations; or what is the same, by spiritual combats and that he is afterwards gifted with another nature; being made mild, humble, simple, and contrite in heart. From these considerations it may now be seen what use temptations promote, namely, that good from the Lord may not only flow in, but may also dispose the vessels to obedience, and thus conjoin itself with them. That truths are vessels receptive of good, may be seen above (n. 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269). Here therefore, because the subject is the conjunction of good and truth in the natural man, and the first of conjunction takes place by means of combats, which are those of temptations, it is evident that by "he was weary" is signified a state of combat.

[5] But as regards the Lord, who in the supreme sense is here treated of, He by the most grievous temptation combats reduced all things in Himself into Divine order, insomuch that there remained nothing at all of the human which He had derived from the mother (n. 1444, 1573, 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036), so that He was not made new as are other men, but altogether Divine. For the man who is made new by regeneration still retains in himself an inclination to evil, and even evil itself; but is withheld from evil by an influx of the life of the Lord's love, and this with a force exceeding great; whereas the Lord utterly cast out all the evil that was hereditary to Him from the mother, and made Himself Divine, even as to the vessels, that is, as to truths. This is that which in the Word is called "glorification".

3319. And Esau said to Jacob. That this signifies the Lord's perception from the good of the natural, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2862); and from the representation of Esau, as being the Lord as to the good of the natural (n. 3300, 3302), and below concerning Edom; and from the representation of Jacob, as being the truth of the natural (n. 3305), concerning which there is now perception.

3320. Cause me to sup I pray of the red, this red. That this signifies a longing for doctrinal things, and that the red signifies that which is apparently good, is evident from the signification of "supping", as being to be communicated and conjoined (n. 3089); and therefore "cause me to sup I pray" signifies to long for the conjunction with himself of truth or of doctrinal things; and from the signification of "red" as being good (n. 3300); here, what is apparently good, because doctrinal things however disposed appear in the external form as good, although inwardly they are but a chaotic mass (n. 3316). The reason why these things are mentioned, is also that it was from this that Esau had the name Edom, for in the original tongue "red" is "Edom;" and this in order that by "Edom" may be signified the good to which are adjoined the doctrinal things of truth.

3321. For I am weary. That this signifies a state of combat, is evident from the signification of " weary", or of "weariness", as being a state of combat (n. 3318). Mention is here again made of being weary, for the sake of confirmation that the conjunction of good with truth in the natural is effected by spiritual combats, that is, by temptations. In regard to the conjunction of good with truth in the natural, the case in general is this: Man's rational receives truths before his natural; and this to the end that the Lord's life, which as before said is of love, may flow in through the rational into the natural, and dispose the natural, and reduce it to obedience. For the rational is purer, and the natural grosser; or what is the same, the rational is interior and the natural exterior; and as may be known it is according to order that the interior or purer can flow into the exterior or grosser, but not the reverse.

[2] Hence it is that man's rational can be accommodated to truths and receive them before his natural, as may be plainly seen from the fact that with one who is to be regenerated the rational man battles much with the natural; or what is the same, the internal man with the external. For as also is known, the internal man can see truths and also will them, but the external refuses assent and resists; for in the natural man there are memory-knowledges which are in a great measure derived from the fallacies of the senses, and which not withstanding their being false the man believes to be true; there are also things innumerable which the natural man does not apprehend; for he is relatively in shade and thick darkness, and that which he does not apprehend, he believes either not to exist, or not to be so; there are likewise cupidities which are of the love of self and of the world, and all things that favor these he calls truths; and when the man yields to these the dominion, all things that result are contrary to spiritual truths. There are also in the natural man reasonings that are grounded in falsities impressed from infancy. Moreover, man apprehends by manifest sense what is in his natural man, but not so what is in his rational, until he has put off the body. This also causes him to believe the body to be every thing; and all that does not fall into the natural sense, he scarcely believes to be anything.

[3] From such causes and many others, it results that the natural man receives truths much later, and with greater difficulty, than does the rational man. Hence arises combat, which continues for a considerable time, not ceasing until the vessels recipient of good in the natural man have been softened by temptations, as before shown (n. 3318); for truths are nothing but vessels recipient of good (n. 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269), which vessels are harder in proportion as man is more fixedly confirmed in the things which have been mentioned; and if the man is to be regenerated, the more fixedly he has been confirmed, the more grievous is the combat. As the case with the natural man is such that the conjunction of truths with good therein is effected through the combats of temptations, it is therefore here repeated, "I am weary".

3322. Therefore he called his name Edom. That this signifies his quality therefrom as to good, to which were adjoined the doctrinal things of truth, is evident from the signification of "calling a name", or of "calling by name", as being the quality (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006); and from the representation of Edom. There is frequent mention in the Word of Esau, and also of Edom; and by "Esau" is there signified the good of the natural before the doctrinal things of truth have been thus conjoined with this good, and also the good of life from influx out of the rational; and by "Edom is signified the good of the natural to which have been adjoined the doctrinal things of truth. But in the opposite sense, " Esau" signifies the evil of the love of self before falsities have been thus adjoined to this love; and "Edom" signifies the evil of this love when falsities have been adjoined to it. As has been frequently shown, most names in the Word have also an opposite sense, because the same things that in the churches have been good and true, in process of time through various adulterations degenerate into what is evil and false.

[2] That such things are signified by "Esau" and "Edom" may be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah: -

Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in His apparel, marching in the multitude of His strength. Wherefore art you red in thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-press? I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the peoples there was no man with Me. I looked, but there was none to help, I was amazed that there was none to uphold, and Mine own arm brought salvation unto Me (Isa. 63:1, 3, 5);

where it is clearly evident that "Edom" is the Lord; and that it is the Lord as to the Divine good of the Divine natural is manifest, for the subject is the conjunction of good and truth in the Lord's Human, and also the temptation combats by which He conjoined them. That "garments" here are the truths of the natural man, or truths relatively inferior, may be seen above (n. 2576) and that "red" is the good of the natural (n. 3300). That the Lord by His own power, through temptation combats, conjoined truths in the natural with good, is described by, "I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the peoples there was no man with Me. I looked but there was none to help, I was amazed that there was none to uphold, and Mine own arm brought salvation unto Me". "Arm" denotes power, (n. 878).

[3] In the book of Judges: -

O Jehovah when Thou wentest forth out of Seir, when Thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, the clouds also dropped water; the mountains flowed down (Judges 5:4, 5);

to "march out of the field of Edom" signifies nearly the same as, in Isaiah, to "come out of Edom". In like manner in Moses: -

Jehovah came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them (Deut. 33:2).

Again: -

I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not nigh; there shall come up a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; and Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession of his enemies, while Israel doeth valiantly. And he shall have dominion over Jacob, and shall destroy the remnant from the city (Num. 24:17-19);

treating of the coming of the Lord into the world, whose Human Essence is called a "star out of Jacob", and a "scepter out of Israel". "Edom" and " Seir", which should be a "possession", signify the Divine good of the Lord's Divine natural; their being the "possession of his enemies" signified that this should succeed in the place of those things which were before in the natural; dominion then over truths therein is meant by "having dominion over Jacob, and destroying the remnant from the city". "Jacob" signifies the truth of the natural, (n. 3305); and "city" signifies what is doctrinal, (n. 402, 2268, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216). Dominion is said to be had over these when they are subordinated and subjected to good; for before this they are called "enemies", because they continually resist, as was shown above (n. 3321).

[4] In Amos: -

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of eternity that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations that were called by My name (Amos 9:11, 12);

the "tabernacle of David" denotes the church and worship of the Lord; the "remnant of Edom", those who are in good within the church; the "nations that were called by His name", those who are in good out of the church. "Nations" are those who are in good, (n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849). In David: -

Upon Edom will I cast my shoe. Who will bring me into the fortified city? who will lead me unto Edom? wilt not Thou, O God? (Ps. 60:8, 10);

where "Edom" denotes the good of the natural, as is evident from the signification of "shoe", as being the lowest natural (n. 1748).

[5] In Daniel: -

At the time of the end shall the king of the south thrust at him; and the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind with a chariot, and shall overflow and pass through; and when he shall come into the beauteous land many shall be overthrown; but these shall be rescued out of his hand, Edom and Moab, and the firstfruits of the sons of Ammon (Daniel 11:40, 41);

where the last state of the church is treated of; the "king of the north" denotes falsities, or what is the same, those who are in falsities "Edom", those who are in simple good, which is such good as exists with those who constitute the Lord's external church; in like manner "Moab" and the "sons of Ammon" (n. 2468); and because both, namely, "Edom" and "Moab", signify those who are in good, therefore in many passages both are named together; but the difference is that "Edom" is the good of the natural to which are adjoined the doctrinal things of truth, while "Moab" is natural good such as exists with those in whom these have not been conjoined; the two appear alike in the external form, but not in the internal.

[6] From this it is now evident why it was said: -

Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother; thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because thou wast a sojourner in his land (Deut. 23:7);

as by an "Edomite" is signified the good of the natural, and by an "Egyptian", the truths thereof which are those of memory-knowledge (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462), therefore both are mentioned in a good sense. This shows why Jehovah said to Moses that they should not contend with the sons of Esau, and there should not be given of their land to the sons of Jacob so much as for the sole of the foot to tread upon (Deut. 2:4-6).

[7] But in the opposite sense by "Esau" and "Edom" are represented those who turn aside from good through the fact that they altogether despise truth, and are unwilling that anything of the truth of faith should be adjoined, which is chiefly owing to the love of self; and therefore in the opposite sense such persons are signified by "Esau" and "Edom;" as was also represented by the circumstance that the king of Edom went forth with a numerous people and a strong hand, and refused to permit Israel to pass through his border (Num. 20:14-22). This evil of the love of self, which is of such a nature as not to admit the truths of faith, thus neither the doctrinal things of truth, is described in various passages of the Word by "Esau" and "Edom", and at the same time the state of the church when it becomes of this quality as in Jeremiah: -

Against Edom. Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the intelligent? Is their wisdom become of an ill savor? Flee ye; they have turned themselves away, they have gone into the deep to dwell, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him. I will make Esau bare, I will reveal his hidden things, and he shall not be able to hide himself; his seed is laid waste, and his brethren, and his neighbors. Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive and let thy widows trust in Me. Edom shall become a waste, every one that passeth by it shall be amazed, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof (Jer. 49:7, 8, 10, 11, 17).

[8] In David: -

They say, Let the name of Israel be no more in remembrance; for they consult together with one heart; against thee do they make a covenant, the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab, and the Hagarenes (Ps. 73:4-6).

In Obadiah: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih concerning Edom, Behold I have made thee small among the nations; thou art greatly despised. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, in the height of thy habitation that saith in thine heart, Who shall bring me down to the earth? Though thou mount on high as the eagle, and though thou settest thy nest among the stars, I will bring thee down from thence. How are they of Esau searched out! their hidden things discovered! Shall I not in that day destroy the wise men out of Edom, and the intelligent from the mount of Esau? From the slaughter on account of the violence of thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble; and they shall enkindle them, and devour them; and there shall not be any residue to the house of Esau; and they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau (Obadiah 1:1-10, 18, 19).

In this passage "Esau" and "Edom" denote the evil of the natural man originating in the love of self, which despises and rejects all truth, whence comes its devastation.

[9] In Ezekiel: -

Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and say unto it, Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, I am against thee, O Mount Seir, and I will stretch out Mine hand against thee, and I will make thee a waste and a devastation. Because thou hast had an enmity of eternity, and hast given over the sons of Israel to the hands of the sword, in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end. Because thou hast said, These two nations, and these two lands, shall be mine, and we will possess it, and Jehovah is there. And thou shalt know that I Jehovah have heard all thy blasphemies, which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel. Thou shalt be a waste, O Mount Seir and all Edom, all of it (Ezek. 35:2, 3, 5, 10, 12, 15);

where it is very evident that in the opposite sense "Edom" denotes those who despise, reject, and vilify spiritual goods and truths, which are the "mountains of Israel".

[10] Again: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, If I have not spoken in the fire of My jealousy against the remains of the nations, and against all Edom, which have given My land unto themselves for a possession, with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul (Ezek. 36:5);

where the sense is the same; to "give the land unto themselves for a possession" denotes to vastate the church, that is, the good and truth of the church.

[11] In Malachi: -

The word of Jehovah against Israel. I have loved you, saith Jehovah; yet ye say, Wherein hast Thou loved us? Is not Esau Jacob's brother? yet I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated, and I make his mountain a waste (Malachi 1:1-3);

where "Esau" denotes the evil of the natural that does not admit spiritual truth which is "Israel" (n. 3305), and what is doctrinal of truth which is "Jacob" (n. 3305); and on this account he is vastated, which is being "hated" (that "hating" is nothing else, is manifest from what was adduced above from the Word concerning Esau and Edom in a good sense); but when truth does not suffer itself to be adjoined to good, then evil is on the other hand predicated of Jacob, as in Hosea: -

To visit upon Jacob according to his ways; according to his works will He recompense him; in the womb he supplanted his brother (Hosea 12:2, 3).

3323. Verses 31-33. And Jacob said, Sell me as this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold I am going to die, and for what is this birthright to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me as this day; and he sware unto him, and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. "And Jacob said", signifies the doctrine of truth; "sell me as this day thy birthright", signifies that as to time the doctrine of truth was apparently prior; "and Esau said, Behold I am going to die", signifies that he would afterwards rise again; "and for what is this birthright to me", signifies that in this case there would be no need of priority; "and Jacob said", signifies the doctrine of truth; "swear to me as this day, and he sware unto him", signifies confirmation " and he sold his birthright unto Jacob", signifies that in the meantime priority was granted.

3324. And Jacob said. That this signifies the doctrine of truth, is evident from the representation of Jacob, as being the doctrine of natural truth (n. 3305); or what is the same, those who are in the doctrine of truth. In these verses down to the end of this chapter, the subject treated of is the right of priority, as to whether it is of truth or of good; or what is the same, whether it is of the doctrine of truth or of the life of good; or what is still the same, whether it is of faith in so far as this is truth of doctrine, or whether it is of charity in so far as this is good of life. When man draws a conclusion from natural perception, he believes that faith, in so far as it is truth of doctrine, is prior to charity in so far as this is good of life, because he perceives how the truth of doctrine enters, but not how the good of life; for the former enters by an external, that is, a sensuous way, while the latter enters by an internal way; and also because he cannot know otherwise than that as truth teaches what is good, it is prior to good; and also because the reformation of man is effected through truth and according to truth, insomuch that man is perfected as to good in proportion to the amount of truth that can be conjoined with it, consequently good is perfected through truth; and what is more, because man can be in truth, and think and speak from it, and this with apparent zeal, although he is not at the same time in good; yea, he may even from truth be confident of his salvation. These and many other considerations lead man to suppose, when judging from the sensuous and natural man, that the truth which is of faith is prior to the good which is of charity; but all these are reasonings from fallacies, based on the appearance to the sensuous and natural man.

[2] The good itself which is of life is prior; the good which is of life being the very ground in which truths are to be sown; and such as is the ground, such is the reception of the seeds, that is, of the truths of faith. Truths may indeed be first stored up in the memory, like seeds in a granary, or with birds in their crops; but they do not belong to the man unless the ground is prepared; and such as is the ground, that is, such as is the good, such is their germination and fructification. But see on this subject what has been already shown in many places, which will be here cited in order that it may be known what good is and what truth, and that the priority belongs to good and not to truth: -

[3] Why there is no distinctive idea as between good and truth (n. 2507). That good flows in by an internal way unknown to man, while truth is procured by an external way down to man (n. 3030, 3098) That truths are vessels recipient of good (n. 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269, 3068, 3318). That good acknowledges its truth, with which it may be conjoined (n. 3101, 3102, 3179); and that most exquisite exploration is made and precaution taken lest falsity be conjoined with good, and truth with evil (n. 3033, 3101, 3102). That good makes for itself the truth with which it may be conjoined, because it does not acknowledge anything as truth except that which agrees with it (n. 3161). That truth is nothing else than that which is from good (n. 2434).

[4] That truth is the form of good (n. 3049). That truth has in itself an image of good; and in good the very effigy of itself from which it exists (n. 3180). That the seed which is truth is rooted in the good which is of charity (n. 880). That faith is impossible except in its life, that is, in love and charity (n. 379, 389, 654, 724, 1608, 2343, 2349). That from love and charity man can look to the truths which pertain to the doctrinal things of faith, but not the reverse; and that to look from faith, and not from love and charity, is to look behind one's self, and to turn back (n. 2454). That truth is made alive in accordance with the good of each person, thus in accordance with the state of innocence and charity in man (n. 1776, 3111). That the truths of faith can be received only by those who are in good (n. 2343, 2349). That they who are in no charity cannot acknowledge the Lord, thus not any truth of faith; and that if they profess such acknowledgment, it is something external without an internal, or is from hypocrisy (n. 2354). That there is no faith where there is no charity (n. 654, 1162, 1176, 2429). That wisdom, intelligence, and memory-knowledge are the sons of charity (n. 1226). That the angels are in intelligence and wisdom because they are in love (n. 2500, 2572).

[5] That angelic life consists in the goods of charity, and that the angels are forms of charity (n. 454, 553). That love to the Lord is a "likeness" of Him, and charity toward the neighbor an "image" of Him (n. 1013). That through love to the Lord the angels perceive whatever is of faith (n. 202). That nothing lives except love and affection (n. 1589). That they who have mutual love, or charity, have the Lord's life (n. 1799, 1803). That love to the Lord and the neighbor is heaven itself (n. 1802, 1824, 2057, 2130, 2131). That the presence of the Lord is according to the state of love and charity (n. 904). That all the commandments of the decalogue, and all things of faith, are in charity (n. 1121, 1798). That knowledge of the doctrinal things of faith effects nothing unless the man has charity, for doctrinal things look to charity as their end (n. 2049, 2116). That neither the acknowledgment of truth, nor faith, is possible unless the man is in good (n. 2261). That the holy of worship is according to the quality and quantity of the truth of faith implanted in charity (n. 2190).

[6] That there is no salvation by faith, but by the life of faith, which is charity (n. 2228, 2261). That the heavenly kingdom is given to those who have the faith of charity (n. 1608). That in heaven all are regarded from their charity and the derivative faith (n. 1258). That none are admitted into heaven except by willing good from the heart (n. 2401). That they are saved who are in faith, provided that in their faith there is good (n. 2261, 2442). That the faith which has not been implanted in the good of life altogether perishes in the other life (n. 2228). That if the faith of thought were saving, all would be brought into heaven; but because the life opposes they cannot be brought in (n. 2363). That they who hold as a principle that faith alone saves, contaminate truths by the falsity of this principle (n. 2383, 2385). That the fruit of faith is good work, good work is charity, charity is love to the Lord, love to the Lord is the Lord (n. 1873). That the fruits of faith are fruits of the good which is of love and charity (n. 3146).

[7] That the trust or confidence which is said to be saving faith is not possible except with those who are in the good of life (n. 2982). That good is the life of truth (n. 1589). When it is that truths are said to have gained life (n. 1928). That good from the Lord flows into truths of every kind, but it is of the greatest importance that they should be genuine truths (n. 2531). That good and truth from the Lord flow in just in proportion as that which is evil and false is removed (n. 2411, 3142, 3147). That good cannot flow into truth so long as the man is in evil (n. 2388). That truth is not truth until it is accepted by good (n. 2429). That there is a marriage of good and of truth in things all and each (n. 2173, 2503, 2507). That the affection of good is of life, and the affection of truth is for the sake of life (n. 2455). That truth tends to good, and proceeds from good (n. 2063).

[8] That by influx truths are called forth out of the natural man, elevated, and implanted in good in the rational man (n. 3085, 3086). That when truth is conjoined with a man, it is appropriated to him (n. 3108). That in order that truth may be conjoined with good, there must be consent by the understanding and by the will, and when by the will, then conjunction takes place (n. 3157, 3158). That the rational as to truth is acquired by means of knowledges; and that truths are appropriated when they are conjoined with good; and that they are then of the will, and for the sake of life (n. 3161). That truth is not at once initiated and conjoined with good, but during the whole life, and also afterwards (n. 3200). That as light without heat produces nothing, so the truth of faith produces nothing without the good of love (n. 3146). What the idea of truth without good is; and what its light is in the other life (n. 2228). That faith separated is like the light of winter; and faith from charity like the light of spring (n. 2231). That they who in act separate truth, which is faith, from charity, cannot have conscience (n. 1076, 1077). The reason why men have separated faith from charity, and have declared that faith saves (n. 2231).

[9] That during man's regeneration the Lord insinuates good into the truths that are in him (n. 2183, 2189). That man is not regenerated by means of truth, but by means of good (n. 989, 2146, 2183, 2189, 2697). That during man's regeneration the Lord goes to meet and fills with the good of charity the truths that are in him (n. 2063). That they who are in the good of life, and not in the truth of faith, as is the case with Gentiles and infants, receive the truths of faith in the other life, and are regenerated (n. 989); concerning the Gentiles (n. 932, 1032, 2049, 2284, 2589-2604); concerning infants (n. 2290-2293, 2302-2304). That man is regenerated by means of the affection of truth; and that when he is regenerated he acts from the affection of good (n. 1904). That in one about to be regenerated the seed can take root only in good (n. 880, 989). That the light of a regenerate man is from charity (n. 854). That the same truths in one person may be true, in another less true, and in others may even be falsities, and that this is according to the good which is of the life (n. 2439). What the difference is between the good of infancy, the good of ignorance, and the good of intelligence (n. 2280). Who can come into the knowledges of truth and into faith, and who cannot (n. 2689).

[10] That the church is not a church unless the truths of doctrine are implanted in the good of life (n. 3310). That what is doctrinal does not make the church, but charity (n. 809, 916, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844). That the doctrinal things of a church are nothing, unless its members live according to them (n. 1515). That the doctrine of faith is the doctrine of charity (n. 2571). That the church is from charity, and not from faith separated (n. 916). That every one may know from charity whether he has the internal of worship (n. 1102, 1151, 1153). That the church of the Lord throughout the world is everywhere various as to truths, but that it is one through charity (n. 3267). That the church would be one if all had charity, even though its members differed as to ritual and doctrinal matters (n. 809, 1285, 1316, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844). That out of many would be made one church, if all accounted charity and not faith as being that which is essential of the church (n. 2982). That there are two kinds of doctrinal things, the doctrinal things of charity and the doctrinal things of faith; and that in the Ancient Church there were the doctrinal things of charity, which at this day are among the things that are lost (n. 2417).

[11] In what ignorance of truth they are who are not in the doctrinal things of charity (n. 2435). And whereas at this day faith is made the essential of the church, men do not even see, nor attend to the things the Lord so often said concerning love and charity (n. 1017, 2373). That the good which is of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, is superior and prior to the truth which is of faith; and not the reverse (n. 363, 364).

3325. Sell me as this day thy birthright. That this signifies that as to time the doctrine of truth was apparently prior, is evident from the signification of "selling", as being to claim for one's self; and from the signification of "as this day", meaning as to time, for in the internal sense of the Word "this day" signifies that which is perpetual and eternal (n. 2838); and in order that it might not be so in the present case it is said "as this day", thus by "as" it becomes only apparently so; and from the signification of "birthright", as being prior, namely that the doctrine of truth, which is represented by Jacob, is so (n. 3305).

[2] By prior, or priority, which is signified by "birthright", is meant not only priority of time, but also priority of degree; that is, as to which should have the dominion, good or truth. For such is always truth before it has been conjoined with good, or what is the same, such are always those who are in truth, that before they are regenerate they believe truth to be both prior and superior to good, and so indeed it then appears. But when in them truth has been conjoined with good, that is, when they have been regenerated, they then see and perceive that truth is posterior and inferior; and then in them good has dominion over truth, which is signified by what Isaac his father said to Esau: -

Behold of the fatness of the earth shall be thy dwelling, and of the dew of heaven from above; and on thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck (Gen. 27:39, 40).

[3] But as within the church there are more not being regenerated than being regenerated; and as they who are not being regenerated draw conclusions from the appearance, therefore there has been a dispute even from ancient times as to whether the priority belongs to truth or to good. With those who have not been regenerated, and also with those who have not been fully regenerated, the opinion has prevailed that truth is prior, for as yet they have no perception of good; and so long as anyone has no perception of good, he is in shade or in ignorance in relation to these things. But they who have been regenerated, being in good itself, are able from the consequent intelligence and wisdom to observe what good is, and that it is from the Lord, and that it flows in through the internal man into the external, and this continually, the man being altogether unconscious of it; and that it adjoins itself to the truths of doctrinal things that are in the memory; consequently that in itself good is prior, although before it had not appeared so. Such then was the source of the dispute concerning the priority and superiority of the one over the other which was represented by Esau and Jacob; and also by Perez and Zarah, the sons of Judah by Tamar (Gen. 38:28-30); afterwards also by Ephraim and Manasseh the sons of Joseph (Gen. 48:13, 14, 17-20); and this because the spiritual church is of such a nature that it must be introduced through truth into good, and at this time be devoid of the perception of good, except such and so much as lies concealed in the affection of truth, at which time good cannot be discriminated from the delight of the love of self and of the world, which is at the same time in that affection, and is believed to be good.

[4] But that good is the firstborn, that is, the good of love to the Lord, and of love toward the neighbor, for there is no other good than that which is good from these loves, is evident from the fact that there is life in good, but none in truth except the life which is from good; and that good flows into truths and causes them to live may sufficiently appear from what has been stated and shown above concerning good and truth (n. 3324). Wherefore all are called "firstborn" who are in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, and these were also represented in the Jewish Church by what is firstborn, that is, they are meant by it in the relative sense, because the Lord is the Firstborn, and all that are firstborn are His likenesses and images.

[5] That the Lord as to the Divine Human is the Firstborn, is evident from David: -

He shall call unto Me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation. I also will make him the firstborn, high above the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and My covenant shall be faithful with him. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of the heavens (Ps. 89:26-29);

where the Lord is treated of. And in John: -

From Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5).

In order that all that had been written and represented concerning Him might be fulfilled, He was likewise by birth the firstborn (Luke 2:7, 22, 23).

[6] That they too, as being His images and likenesses, are called the "firstborn" of the Lord who are in love to Him and in charity toward the neighbor, is evident in John: -

The hundred and forty and four thousand bought from the earth: these are they who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins; these are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth; these were bought from among men, the firstfruits (firstborn) unto God and the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile; for they are without spot before the throne of God (Rev. 14:3-5).

The "hundred and forty and four", or twelve times twelve, denote those who are in the faith of charity (n. 3272); "thousands" denote those who are innumerable, that is, all such (n. 2575) "virgins" denote the good of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor (n. 2362, 3081), thus those who are in innocence, which is also signified by. "following the Lamb;" for the Lord is called "the Lamb" from innocence. Hence they are said to be the "firstfruits", or firstborn.

[7] From the above passages it is manifest that the Lord as to the Divine Human was represented in the Jewish Church by that which was firstborn; and also they who are in love to Him, for these are in the Lord. But what is firstborn has in the Word a twofold representation, representing the Lord both as to Divine celestial love, and as to Divine spiritual love. The Lord's Divine celestial love is relative to the celestial church, or to those who are of this church and are called celestial from love to the Lord; the Lord's Divine spiritual love is relative to the spiritual church, or to those who are of this church and are called spiritual from love toward the neighbor. The Lord's Divine love is toward all, but inasmuch as it is variously received by men, in one way by the celestial man and in another by the spiritual man, it is said to be relative.

[8] Concerning the firstborn that represented the Lord as to Divine celestial love, and also those relatively who were of the celestial church, it is thus written in Moses: -

The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen and with thy flock; seven days it shall be with its dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it Me; and ye shall be men of holiness unto Me (Exod. 22:29-31);

that it should be seven days with the dam, was because the "seventh day" signified the celestial man (n. 84-87); and because from this "seven" signified what is holy (n. 395, 433, 716, 881); that it should be given to Jehovah on the eighth day, was because the "eighth day" signified what was continuous from a new beginning, namely, what was continuous of love (n. 2044). Again: -

The firstling among beasts which is made a firstling to Jehovah, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox or sheep it is Jehovah's (Lev. 27:26).

Again: -

The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring unto Jehovah, shall be for thee (Aaron). Everything that openeth the womb of all flesh which they offer unto Jehovah, both of man and beast, shall be thine. Nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem; and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. The firstling of an ox, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy; thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering made by fire for an odor of rest to Jehovah (Num. 18:13, 15, 17).

Again: -

All the firstling males that are born of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto Jehovah thy God; thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thine ox, nor shear the firstling of thy flock. If it have any blemish, as if it be lame or blind, any evil blemish whatsoever, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto Jehovah thy God (Deut. 15:19, 21).

[9] Inasmuch as the firstborn represented the Lord, and those who are the Lord's by virtue of love to Him, therefore the tribe of Levi was accepted instead of every firstborn, and this because Levi represented the Lord as to love. "Levi" also signifies love, for "Levi" is "adhesion" and "conjunction", and in the internal sense adhesion and conjunction are love, on which subject of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter (Gen. 29:34). Concerning the Levites it is written in Moses: -

Jehovah spake to Moses, saying, And I behold I will take the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the womb among the sons of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine; for all the firstborn are Mine; in the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto Me all the firstborn in Israel, from man even to beast; Mine they shall be (Num. 3:11-13).

Again: -

Jehovah said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn males of the sons of Israel, from the son of a month and upward, and take the number of their names. And thou shalt take the Levites for Me (I am Jehovah) instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the beast of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the beast of the sons of Israel (Num. 3:40, 41; 8:14, 16-18);

and it is said (Num 8:19) that the Levites were given to Aaron, because Aaron represented the Lord as to the priesthood, that is, as to the Divine love. The priesthood represented the Lord's Divine love (n. 1728, 2015).

3325a.

[10] But concerning the firstborn who represented the Lord as to Divine spiritual love, and also those relatively who are of the spiritual church, it is written in Jeremiah: -

They shall come with weeping, and with prayers will I lead them; I will bring them to fountains of waters, in the way of what is upright, wherein they shall not stumble and I will be to Israel for a father, and Ephraim shall be My firstborn (Jer. 31:9);

where a new spiritual church is treated of, "Israel" denoting spiritual good; "Ephraim", spiritual truth, who is called the "firstborn" because a church about to be planted is treated of, in which the intellectual which is of truth is apparently the firstborn; for Ephraim succeeded in the place of Reuben, and was made the firstborn (Gen. 48:5, 20; 1 Chron. 5:1) and this because by Joseph, whose sons were Ephraim and Manasseh, was represented the Lord as to Divine spiritual love. But that "Israel" is essentially the "firstborn", that is, denotes spiritual good, is evident from Moses: -

Jehovah said to Moses, Thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, Israel is My son, My firstborn, and I have said unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me; and thou hast refused to let him go; behold I will slay thy son, thy firstborn (Exod. 4:21-23);

where "Israel" in the supreme sense signifies the Lord as to Divine spiritual love, but in the relative sense those who are in spiritual love, that is, in charity toward the neighbor.

[11] In the spiritual church, in the beginning, or when it is about to be planted, the doctrine of truth is the firstborn with the external church, and the truth of doctrine is the firstborn with the internal church; or what is the same, the doctrine of faith is the firstborn with the external church, and faith itself with the internal church. But when the church has been planted, that is, in those with whom it exists in life and practice, the good of charity is the firstborn with the external church, and charity itself with the internal. But when the church does not suffer itself to be planted, as is the case when the man of the church can no longer be regenerated, by successive steps it recedes from charity and turns away to faith, being no longer studious of life but of doctrine; and when this is the case it casts itself into shades and falls into falsities and evils, and thus becomes no church, and is of itself extinguished. This was represented by Cain, in that he slew his brother Abel. "Cain" is faith separate from charity, and "Abel" is charity, which he extinguished, (n. 340, 342, 357, 362). The same was afterwards represented by Ham and his son Canaan, in that he mocked at his father Noah (n. 1062, 1063, 1076, 1140, 1141, 1162, 1179); afterwards by Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, in that he defiled his father's bed (Gen. 35:22); and lastly by Pharaoh and the Egyptians, in that they ill-treated the sons of Israel. That all of these were cursed is evident from the Word. Concerning Cain it is said: -

Jehovah said, what hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground; and now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's bloods from thy hand (Gen. 4:10, 11).

Concerning Ham and Canaan: -

Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren. And Noah awoke from his wine, and he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren (Gen. 9:22, 24, 25).

And concerning Reuben: -

Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my strength, and the beginning of my power, excellent in honor, and excellent in might unstable as water, thou shalt not excel because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, then defiledst thou my couch (Gen. 49:3, 4);

and therefore he was deprived of the birthright (1 Chron. 5:1).

[12] That the same was represented by Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and that therefore their firstborn and firstborn beasts were slain, is evident from their representation, as being memory-knowledges (n. 1164, 1165, 1186), by which - when man enters into the arcana of faith, and no longer believes anything but that which he can apprehend in accordance with the senses and memory-knowledge - be then perverts and extinguishes the things of the doctrine of faith, and especially the things of charity. This is what is represented in the internal sense by the firstborn of men and firstborn of beasts in Egypt being slain, concerning which it is written in Moses: -

I will pass through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man even to beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments; I am Jehovah. And the blood shall be to you for a sign upon the houses where ye are, and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be upon you for a destroyer, when I smite the land of Egypt (Exod. 12:12, 13);

the "firstborn of Egypt" denotes the doctrine of faith and of charity which as before said is perverted by means of memory-knowledges; the " gods of Egypt" on whom judgments were to be executed, are falsities; there being "no plague as a destroyer where blood was upon the houses", signifies in the supreme sense where the Lord is as to Divine spiritual love, and in the relative sense, where spiritual love is, that is, charity toward the neighbor (n. 1001).

[13] Moreover concerning Pharaoh and the Egyptians it is thus written: -

Moses said, Thus saith Jehovah, About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon the throne, unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beast. And against any of the sons of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, from man even to beast (Exod. 11:4-7).

And again: -

It came to pass at midnight that Jehovah smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the house of the pit; and all the firstborn of beast (Exod. 12:29);

that this was done at midnight was because "night" signifies the last state of the church, when there is no longer any faith because there is no charity (n. 221, 709, 1712, 2353). In David: -

He smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the beginning of strength in the tents of Ham (Ps. 78:51).

Again: -

Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. God smote all the firstborn in their land, the beginning of all their strength (Ps. 105:23, 36).

The worship of the Egyptians from principles of what is false that originate from truth separated from good, or what is the same, from faith separated from charity, is called the "tents of Ham". "Tents" signify worship (n. 414, 1102, 1566, 2145, 2152, 3312); and "Ham" is faith separated from charity, (n. 1062, 1063, 1076, 1140, 1141, 1162, 1179).

[14] By this is further confirmed what is signified by the firstborn of Egypt being slain; and because all the firstborn were slain, in order that the firstborn might nevertheless represent the Lord as to Divine spiritual love, and at the same time those who are in this love, it was commanded at the time of the exodus that all the firstborn should be sanctified, concerning which we read in Moses: -

Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and of beast - it is Mine. Thou shall cause to pass over unto Jehovah all that openeth the womb, and every firstling which thou hast, the progeny of a beast, the males shall be Jehovah's. And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb and if thou wilt not redeem it, thou shalt break its neck; and all the firstborn of man among thy sons thou shall redeem. And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shall say unto him, By a strong hand Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondmen; and it came to pass when Pharaoh hardened himself against letting us go, that Jehovah slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of man even to the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to Jehovah all that openeth the womb, being males, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem (Exod. 13:1, 2, 12-15; 34:19, 20; Num. 8:17).

From this it is now evident what is signified in the spiritual sense by "birthright".

3326. And Esau said, Behold I am going to die. That this signifies that he should afterwards rise again, is evident from the representation of Esau, as being the good of the natural (n. 3302, 3322); and from the signification of " dying", as being the last of a state when anything ceases to be (n. 2908, 2912, 2917, 2923); and because the end of a former state is the beginning of a subsequent one, by "going to die" is here signified to rise again afterwards, in like manner as is signified by being "buried" To be "buried" denotes to rise again, (n. 2916, 2917, 3256). That he should rise again afterwards, denotes that good would obtain the priority or dominion over truth, after truth as to time had apparently held the priority.

3327. And for what is this birthright to me? That this signifies that in this case there would be no need of priority, is evident without explication.

3328. And Jacob said. That this signifies the doctrine of truth, is evident from the representation of Jacob, as being the doctrine of truth (n. 3324).

3329. Swear to me as this day; and he sware unto him. That this signifies confirmation, is evident from the signification of " swearing", as being to confirm (n. 2842); and because the confirmation was in respect to a time, it is not said "this day", but " as this day" (n. 3325).

3330. And he sold his birthright unto Jacob. That this signifies that in the meantime priority was granted, namely, to the doctrine of truth which is "Jacob", is evident from the signification of "birthright", as being priority (n. 3325); and that this was granted in the meantime, is manifest from what was said and shown above (n. 3324, 3325). That in the spiritual man in the beginning truth has the dominion, is chiefly because in his first state there are delights of the love of self and of the world which he believes to be good, and which apply themselves to his truths, and for the most part produce the affection of truth in him; for he then thinks that truths may be serviceable to him either for honor, or for gain, or for reputation in the world, or even for merit in the other life. All these things excite this affection of truth in him, and also enkindle it; and yet they are not good, but evil. Nevertheless the Lord permits that such things should influence him in that first time, because otherwise he could not be regenerated. Intelligence and wisdom come in time; in the meanwhile through these truths the man is introduced into good, that is, into charity; and when he is in this, then for the first time he perceives what is good, and acts from good, and then judges and draws conclusions from this good concerning truths and those which do not accord with this good he calls false, and rejects. Thus he rules over truths as a master over his servants.

3331. Verse 34. And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up and went away; and Esau despised the birthright. "And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils", signifies the good of life gifted with the good of truth and the good of doctrinal things; "and he did eat and drink", signifies appropriation; "and rose up", signifies elevation thence; "and went away", signifies life; "and Esau despised the birthright", signifies that in the meantime the good of life made no account of priority.

3332. And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils. That this signifies the good of life gifted with the good of truth and the good of doctrinal things, is evident from the representation of Esau, as being the good of life (n. 3300, 3322); and from the signification of "bread", as being the good of love in general, both celestial and spiritual (n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177), thus also the good of truth, for this is spiritual good; and from the signification of "pottage of lentils", as being the good of doctrinal things; for "pottage" signifies a chaotic mass of doctrinal things (n. 3316), and "lentils" the good thereof. That Jacob gave them to Esau, in the internal sense signifies that these goods come through the doctrine of truth, which is represented by Jacob (n. 3305).

[2] In this last verse, by these words and those which follow there is described the progress as to truth and good of the spiritual man when being regenerated, namely, that he first learns the doctrinal things of truth, next is affected by them (which is the good of the doctrinal things), then that by taking a mental view of these doctrinal things he is affected with the truths in them (which is the good of truth), and lastly that he wills to live according to them, which is the good of life. In this way the spiritual man when being regenerated advances from the doctrine of truth to the good of life. But when he is in the good of life the order is inverted, and from this good he looks to the good of truth, from this to the good of doctrinal things, and from this to the doctrinal things of truth. From this it may be known how man from being a sensuous man becomes spiritual, and of what quality he is when he becomes spiritual.

[3] That these goods, namely, the good of life, the good of truth, and the good of doctrinal things, are distinct from each other can be seen by those who carefully consider the matter. The good of life is that which flows from the will; the good of truth is that which flows from the understanding; and the good of doctrinal things is that which flows from memory-knowledge. The good which is doctrinal has these other goods within it.

[4] That "lentils" signify the good of doctrinal things, is evident from the fact that wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, spelt, are such things as mean bread, but with a difference according to the species that "bread" in general denotes good is manifest from what has been stated and shown above (n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177) thus different species of good are signified by the cereals in question, the more noble species of good by "wheat and barley", but the less noble by "beans and lentils;" as is also manifest from Ezekiel: -

Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them into one vessel, and make thee bread thereof (Ezek. 4:9).

3333. And he did eat and drink. That this signifies appropriation, is evident from the signification of "eating", as being the appropriation of good (n. 2187, 2343, 3168); and from the signification of "drinking", as being the appropriation of truth (n. 3069, 3089, 3168).

3334. And rose up. That this signifies elevation thence, is evident from the signification of "rising up", as involving elevation wherever mentioned (n. 2401, 2785, 2912, 2927); and also from the fact that man is said to be "uplifted" when being perfected as to spiritual and celestial things; that is, as to the truth which is of faith, and the good which is of love and charity (n. 3171).

3335. And went away. That this signifies life, is evident from the signification of "going", as being to advance into the things of good, that is, into those of the life, for all good is of life; nearly as is signified by "departing", "sojourning", and "advancing" (n. 1293, 1457).

3336. And Esau despised the birthright. That this signifies that in the meantime the good of life made no account of the priority, is evident from the signification of "despising", as being to make no account of; from the representation of Esau, as being the good of life (n. 3300, 3322); and from the signification of "birthright", as being priority (n. 3325). That it is in the meantime, or for a time, may be seen above (n. 3324, 3325, 3330). Hence it is manifest that by " Esau despising the birthright" is signified that in the meantime the good of life made no account of the priority. In order that what is related in this chapter concerning Esau and Jacob may be apprehended in regard to its signification in the internal sense, the thought must be removed entirely from the historicals, thus from the persons of Esau and Jacob; and instead of them must be substituted the things they represent, namely, the good of the natural and its truth; or what is the same, the spiritual man who is being regenerated by means of truth and good; for in the internal sense of the Word names signify nothing else than actual things. When the good of the natural and its truths are thought of instead of Esau and Jacob, it is then evident how the case is with man's regeneration by means of truth and good, namely, that in the beginning truth apparently has the priority with him, and also the superiority, although in itself good is prior and superior.

[2] In order that it may be still more clearly evident how the case is with this priority and superiority, something further shall be said. It is easy to see that nothing can possibly enter into man's memory and remain there, unless there is a certain affection of love which introduces it. If there is no affection, or what is the same, no love, there will be no observation. It is this affection, or love, with which the thing that enters connects itself, and being connected remains; as is evident from the fact that when a similar affection or love returns, the thing itself recurs, and is presented to view along with other things that had before entered by virtue of a similar affection or love; and this in a series. From this comes man's thought; and from this thought his speech. In like manner also when the thing itself returns, if this is effected by objects of the senses, or by objects of the thought, or by the discourse of another, the affection also with which the thing had entered is reproduced. This is the teaching of experience, and on reflection every one may be confirmed in it.

[3] The doctrinal things of truth enter in like manner into the memory; and the things that at first introduce them are affections of various loves, as before said (n. 3330). Genuine affection, which is of the good of charity, is not then observed; but still it is present; and so far as it can be present, it is adjoined by the Lord to the doctrinal things of truth; and so far also they remain adjoined. When therefore the time comes that the man can be regenerated, the Lord inspires the affection of good, and through this excites the things which have been adjoined by Him to this affection, which things are called in the Word "remains;" and then by means of this affection (that is, of the affection of good), by successive steps the Lord removes the affections of other loves, consequently also the things that have been connected with them. And thus the affection of good, or what is the same, the good of life, begins to have the dominion. It indeed had the dominion before, but this could not appear to the man; for in so far as a man is in the love of self and of the world, the good which is of genuine love does not appear. From this it may now be seen what is signified in the internal sense by the things historically related concerning Esau and Jacob.

 

CONTINUATION CONCERNING CORRESPONDENCES AND REPRESENTATIONS

3337. What correspondences are, and what representations, may appear from what has been said and shown above, namely, that there are correspondences between the things which are of the light of heaven and those which are of the light of the world; and that the things which take place in those which are of the light of the world are representations (n. 3225). But what the light of heaven is and what is its quality cannot be very well known to man, because he is in the things that are of the light of the world; and in so far as he is in these, the things that are in the light of heaven appear to him as darkness, and as nothing. It is these two lights which - life flowing in - produce all the intelligence of man. The imagination of man consists solely of the forms and appearances of such things as have been received by bodily vision wonderfully varied, and so to speak modified; but his interior imagination, or thought, consists solely of the forms and appearances of such things as have been drawn in through the mind's vision still more wonderfully varied, and so to speak modified. The things which come forth from this source are in themselves inanimate, but become animate through the influx of life from the Lord.

3338. Besides these lights there are also heats, which likewise are from two fountains - the heat of heaven coming from its sun, which is the Lord; and the heat of the world from its sun, which is the luminary visible to our eyes. The heat of heaven manifests itself to the internal man under the form of spiritual loves and affections; but the heat of the world manifests itself to the external man under the form of natural loves and affections. The former heat produces the life of the internal man, but the latter that of the external man; for without love and affection man cannot live at all. Between these two heats also there are correspondences. These heats become loves and affections through the influx of the Lord's life; and hence they appear to man as if they were not heats, although they are; for unless as to both the internal and the external man, man derived heat from this source he would fall down dead in a moment. These facts must be evident to everybody from the circumstance that in proportion as man is inflamed with love, he grows warm; and in proportion as love recedes, he grows torpid. It is this heat from which the will of man lives, and it is the light above spoken of from which comes his understanding.

3339. In the other life these lights, and also these heats, appear to the life. The angels live in the light of heaven, and also in the heat above described; from the light they have intelligence, and from the heat they have the affection of good. For in their origin the lights which appear before their external sight are from the Lord's Divine Wisdom; and the heats which are also perceived by them are from His Divine love; and therefore the more the spirits and angels are in the intelligence of truth and the affection of good, the nearer they are to the Lord.

3340. To this light there is an opposite darkness, and to this heat there is an opposite cold in these live the infernals. Their darkness is from the falsities in which they are, and their cold is from the evils; and the more remote they are from truths, the greater is their darkness; and the more remote they are from good, the greater is their cold. When it is permitted to look into the hells where such infernals are, there appears a dark cloud in which they have their abode; and when any exhalation flows out thence, there are perceived insanities that exhale from falsities, and hatreds that exhale from evils. A light is indeed sometimes granted them, but it is a deceptive one; and this is extinguished with them, and becomes darkness, the moment they look at the light of truth. Heat also is sometimes granted them, but it is like that of an unclean bath; and this is changed into cold with them as soon as they observe anything of good. A certain person was let into that dark cloud where the infernals are, in order that he might know how the case is with those who are there; he being protected by the Lord by means of angels. Speaking from thence with me he said that there was there so great a rage of insanity against good and truth, and especially against the Lord, that he was amazed that it could possibly be resisted; for the Infernals breathed nothing but hatred, revenge, and slaughter, with such violence that they desired to destroy all in the universe; so that unless this rage was continually repelled by the Lord, the whole human race would perish.

3341. Inasmuch as the representations in the other life cannot take place except by means of differences of light and shade, he it known that all light, consequently all intelligence and wisdom, are from the Lord; and that all shade, consequently all insanity and folly, are from that which is their own in man, spirit, and angel; from these two origins flow forth and are derived all the variegations which are of light and shade in the other life.

3342. All the speech of spirits and of angels is also effected by means of representatives; for by wonderful variations of light and shade they vividly present before the internal and at the same time before the external sight of him with whom they speak, all they are thinking about, and insinuate it by suitable changes of the state of the affections. The representations that come forth in such speech are not like those before described, but are quick and instantaneous, being simultaneous with the ideas that belong to their speech. They are like something that is described in a long series, while at the same time it is exhibited in an image before the eyes, for, wonderful to say, all spiritual things themselves whatever can be representatively exhibited by forms of imagery that are incomprehensible to man, within which are things of the perception of truth, and still more interiorly those of the perception of good. Such things are also in man, for man is a spirit clothed with a body; as is evident from the fact that all speech perceived by the ear, on ascending toward the interiors, passes into forms (ideas) not unlike those of sight, and from these into intellectual forms or ideas, and thus becomes a perception of the sense of the expressions. Whoever rightly reflects upon these things may know from them that there is in himself a spirit which is his internal man, and also that after the separation of the body he will possess such a speech, because he is in the very same during his life in the world, although it does not appear to him that he is in it, by reason of the obscurity and darkness which earthly, bodily, and worldly things induce.

3343. The speech of the angels of the interior heaven is still more beautifully and pleasantly representative; but the ideas which are representatively formed are not expressible by words, and if they should be expressed by any, they would surpass not only apprehension, but also belief. Spiritual things, which are of truth, are expressed by modifications of heavenly light, in which are affections, which are wonderfully varied in innumerable ways; and celestial things, which are of good, are expressed by variations of heavenly flame or heat; so that they move all the affections. Into this interior speech also man comes after the separation of the body, but only the man who during his life in this world is in spiritual good, that is, in the good of faith, or what is the same, in charity toward the neighbor; for he has this speech within himself, though he is unaware of it.

3344. But the speech of the angels of the still more interior or third heaven, although also representative, is yet such as to be inconceivable by any idea, and consequently is indescribable. Even this perfect form of speech (idea) is also within man, but in the man who is in celestial love, that is, in love to the Lord; and after the separation of the body he comes into it as if born into it, although as before said nothing of it could be comprehended by him under any idea during his life in the body. In short, by means of representatives adjoined to ideas, speech becomes as it were alive; least of all with man, because he is in the speech of words but more so with the angels of the first heaven; still more so with the angels of the second heaven; and most of all with the angels of the third heaven, because these are most nearly in the Lord's life. In itself whatever is from the Lord is alive.

3345. From what has been said it is evident that there are kinds of speech successively more interior, but yet of such a nature that the one comes forth from the other in order, and also that the one is within the other in order. The nature of man's speech is known, and also his thought from which the speech flows, the analytics of which are of such a nature that they can never be explored. The speech of good spirits, that is, of the angels of the first heaven, together with the thought from which it flows, is more interior, and contains within it things still more wonderful and unexplorable. The speech of the angels of the second heaven together with the thought from which again this flows, is still more interior, containing within it things still more perfect and unutterable. But the speech of the angels of the third heaven together with the thought from which again this flows, is inmost, containing within it things absolutely unutterable. And although all these kinds of speech are of such a nature that they appear different from one another, nevertheless there is but one speech, because the one forms the other, and the one is within the other; moreover that which comes forth in the exterior is representative of the interior. A man who does not think beyond worldly and bodily things cannot believe this, and therefore supposes that the interior things with him are nothing, although in fact they are everything; and the exterior things, that is, the worldly and corporeal things that he makes everything, are relatively scarcely anything.

3346. In order that I might know these things, and know them with certainty, of the Lord's Divine mercy it has been granted me for several years to speak almost constantly with spirits and angels; and with spirits (that is, with the angels of the first heaven in their own speech; also at times with the angels of the second heaven in their speech; but the speech of the angels of the third heaven has only appeared to me as a radiation of light, in which there was perception from the flame of good within it.

3347. I have heard angels speaking concerning human minds, and concerning their thought and the derivative speech. They compared them to the external form of man, which comes forth and subsists from the innumerable forms that are within - as from the brains, the medulla, the lungs, the heart, liver, pancreas, spleen, stomach, and intestines, besides many other organs, as those of generation in both sexes from the innumerable muscles encompassing these organs; and lastly from the integuments; and from all these being woven together from vessels and fibers, and indeed from vessels and fibers within vessels and fibers, from which come the ducts and lesser forms; thus that the body is composed of things innumerable; all of which nevertheless conspire, each in its own way, to the composition of the external form, in which nothing appears of the things that are within. To this external form they compared human minds, and their thoughts and the derivative speech. But angelic minds they compared to those things which are within, which are relatively illimitable, and also incomprehensible. They also compared the faculty of thinking to the faculty that belongs to the viscera of acting according to the form of the fibers, saying that the faculty is not of the fibers, but of the life in the fibers; just as the faculty of thinking is not of the mind, but of life from the Lord flowing into it. When such comparisons are made by angels they are at the same time exhibited by means of representatives, whereby the interior forms above spoken of are presented visibly and intellectually, in respect to their smallest incomprehensible parts, and this in a moment; but comparisons made by means of spiritual and celestial things, such as take place among the celestial angels, immeasurably surpass in the beauty of wisdom those made by means of natural things.

3348. Spirits from another earth were with me for a considerable time; and I described to them the wisdom of our globe, and told them that among the sciences pursued by the learned is that of analytics, with which they busy themselves in exploring what is of the mind and its thoughts, calling it metaphysics and logic. But I said that men have advanced little beyond terms, and certain shifting rules; and that they argue concerning these terms - as what form is; what substance; what the mind; and what the soul; and that by means of these general shifting rules they vehemently dispute about truths. I then perceived from these spirits that when men inhere in such things as terms, and think concerning these matters by artificial rules, they take away all sense and understanding of a subject.

[2] They said that such things are merely little black clouds interposed before the intellectual sight; and that they drag down the understanding into the dust. They added that with them it is not so, but that they have clearer ideas of things in consequence of being unacquainted with such analytics. I was also permitted to see how wise they are. They represented the human mind in a marvelous manner as a heavenly form; and its affections as spheres of activity in agreement with it; and this so skillfully that they were commended by the angels. They represented also in what manner the Lord bends those affections which in themselves are not delightful, into such as are delightful.

[3] Learned men of our earth were present, and could not in the least comprehend these things, although in the life of the body they had discoursed much on such subjects in a philosophical way and when the spirits just referred to in turn perceived their thoughts, in that they inhered in mere terms, and were inclined to dispute on every point as to whether it is so, they called such things feculent froth.

3349. From what has been said thus far it may be seen what correspondences are, and what representatives; but in addition to what has been said and shown at the end of the preceding chapters (n. 2987-3003, 3213-3227), see also what is said of them elsewhere; namely, That all things in the sense of the letter of the Word are representative and significative of what is in the internal sense (n. 1404, 1408, 1409, 2763): That the Word through Moses and the prophets was written by means of representatives and significatives, and that in order to possess an internal sense by which there might be communication of heaven and earth it could not be written in any other style (n. 2899): That the Lord Himself for this reason spoke by representatives, as well as for the reason that He spoke from the Divine Itself (n. 2900): What has been the source of the representatives and significatives in the Word and in rituals (n. 2179): That representatives originated from the significatives of the Ancient Church, and these from the things perceived by the Most Ancient Church (n. 920, 1409, 2896, 2897): That the most ancient people had their representatives from dreams also (n. 1977): That Enoch denotes those who collected the perceptive matters of the most ancient people (n. 2896): That continually in heaven there are representatives of the Lord and His kingdom (n. 1619): That the heavens are full of representatives (n. 1521, 1532): That the ideas of the angels are changed in the world of spirits into various representatives (n. 1971, 1980, 1981): Representatives by means of which children are introduced into intelligence (n. 2299): That the representatives in nature are from the Lord's influx (n. 1632, 1881): That in universal nature there are representatives of the Lord's kingdom (n. 2758): That in the external man there are things which correspond to what is internal, and things which do not correspond (n. 1563, 1568).

3350. In order to show more plainly the nature of representatives, I may adduce one additional instance. I heard a host of angels of the interior heaven who together or in consort were forming a representative. The spirits about me could not perceive it, except from a certain influx of interior affection. It was a choir, in which many angels together thought the same thing, and spoke the same thing. By representations they formed a golden crown gemmed with diamonds around the Lord's head; which was effected all at once by means of a rapid series of representations, such as are those of thought and speech spoken of above (n. 3342-3344); and wonderful to say, although there were a host they nevertheless all thought and spoke as a one, thus they all represented as a one; and this because no one was desirous to do anything from himself, still less to preside over the rest and lead the choir; for whoever does this is of himself instantly dissociated. But they suffered themselves to be led mutually by each other, thus all individually and collectively by the Lord. All the good who come into the other life are brought into such harmonious agreements.

[2] Afterwards there were heard many choirs, which exhibited various things representatively, and although there were many choirs, and many in each choir, still they acted as a one; for from the form of various things there resulted a one, in which was heavenly beauty. Thus the universal heaven, which consists of myriads of myriads, can act as a one by being in mutual love; for thereby they suffer themselves to be led by the Lord; and wonderful to say the greater their numbers, that is, the greater the number of the myriads who constitute heaven, so much the more distinctly and perfectly are things done in general and in particular; and the more also in proportion as the angels are of a more interior heaven; for all perfection increases toward the interiors.

3351. They who formed the choirs on this occasion belonged to the province of the lungs, thus to the Lord's spiritual kingdom, for they inflowed gently into the respiration; but the choirs were distinct, some pertaining to the voluntary respiration, and some to the involuntary.

3352. A continuation concerning correspondences and representatives, especially those in the Word, will be found at the close of the following chapter.


Chapter 26

3353. Most men believe that when the Last Judgment comes, all things in the visible world will be destroyed; that the earth will be consumed by fire; the sun and the moon dissipated; that the stars will vanish away; and that a new heaven and a new earth will afterwards arise. They have conceived this opinion from the prophetic revelations in which such things are mentioned. But that the case is very different may be seen from what has been shown above concerning the Last Judgment (n. 900, 931, 1850, 2117-2133) from which it is manifest that the Last Judgment is nothing else than the end of the church with one nation, and its beginning with another, which end and beginning occur when there is no longer any acknowledgment of the Lord, or what is the same, when there is no faith. There is no acknowledgment, or no faith, when there is no charity; for faith is impossible except with those who are in charity. That at such a time there is an end of the church, and a transference of it to others, is plainly evident from all the things the Lord Himself taught and foretold in the Evangelists concerning that last day, or consummation of the age (Matt. 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21).

[2] But as these passages cannot be comprehended by anyone without the key, which is the internal sense, I may unfold in regular order the things contained in them, beginning here with these words in Matthew: -

The disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age? And Jesus answered and said unto them, See that no man lead you astray. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am the Christ and shall lead many astray. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled; for these things must needs come to pass; but the end is not yet. For nation shall be stirred up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. But all these things are the beginning of sorrows (Matthew 24:3-8).

It is impossible for those who remain in the sense of the letter to know whether these things and those which follow in the chapter were spoken concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jewish nation, or concerning the end of days, called the Last Judgment; but they who are in the internal sense see clearly that the end of the church is here treated of, which end is what is here and elsewhere called the coming of the Lord and the consummation of the age. And because this is the end which is meant, it may be known that all these expressions signify things of the church; but what they signify may appear from the several particulars in the internal sense, as when it is said that "many shall come in My name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray", where "name" does not signify name, nor " Christ" Christ; but "name" signifies that by which the Lord is worshiped (n. 2724, 3006); and "Christ" signifies truth itself (n. 3009, 3010); thus it is meant that there would come those who would say, " This is of faith", or " This is true", when yet it is neither of faith, nor true, but false. That they "should hear of wars and rumors of wars" denotes that there would be disputes and strife concerning truths, which are wars in the spiritual sense. That " nation should be stirred up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" signifies that evil would fight with evil, and falsity with falsity. "Nation" signifies good, but in the opposite sense evil, (n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849); and also "kingdom" signifies truth, but in the opposite sense falsity, (n. 1672, 2547). "And there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places", signifies that there would be no longer any knowledges of good and of truth, and thus that the state of the church would be changed, which is an "earthquake".

3354. From these things it is manifest what is meant by these words of the Lord, namely, the first state of the church's perversion, which comes to pass when men begin no longer to know what is good and what is true, but dispute among themselves concerning them, whence arise falsities. As this is the first state, it is said that "the end is not yet", and that "these things are the beginning of sorrows;" and this state is called "earthquakes in divers places", which signifies in the internal sense a change of the state of the church in part, or at first. That all this was said to the disciples, signifies that it is said to all who are of the church, for the twelve disciples represented all such (n. 2089, 2129, 2130); and therefore it is said, " See that no man lead you astray;" also, " Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled".

3355. That in the internal sense an "earthquake" signifies a change in the state of the church, is evident from the signification of "earth", as being the church (n. 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928); and from the signification of "quaking", or movement, as being a change of state; here, as to the things of the church, namely, in respect to good and truth. The same is also evident from other passages in the Word, as in Isaiah: -

It shall come to pass that he who fleeth from the voice of the dread shall fall into the pit and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare for the cataracts from on high were opened, and the foundations of the earth were shaken in breaking the earth is broken; in moving the earth is moved; reeling the earth reeleth like a drunken man, and sways to and fro like a hut; and the transgression thereof is heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not rise again. And it shall come to pass In that day that Jehovah shall visit upon the army of the height on high, and upon the kings of the ground upon the ground (Isa. 24:18-21).

In this passage the "earth" is the church, for it is the church that is treated of, whose foundations are said to be "shaken", and itself to be "broken and moved, and to reel and sway to and fro", when good and truth are no longer known. The "kings of the ground" are truths; here, falsities, upon which there will be visitation. "Kings" are truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, (n. 1672, 2015); and that "ground", like "earth", denotes the church, but with a difference, (n. 566, 1068).

[2] Again: -

I will make a man more rare than fine gold, and a man than the gold of Ophir therefore I will shake the heaven, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place in the indignation of Jehovah of Armies, and in the day of the wrath of His anger (Isa. 13:12, 13)

speaking of the day of judgment; and in this passage also "earth" clearly denotes the church, which is said to be "shaken out of its place", when it is changed as to state. "Place" is state, (n. 1273-1275, 1377, 2625, 2837). Again: -

Is this the man that shaketh the earth, that shaketh kingdoms, that maketh the world as a wilderness, and destroyeth the cities thereof? (Isa. 14:16, 17)

speaking of Lucifer the "earth" denotes the church, which he is said to "shake" when man attributes to himself all things of it. "Kingdoms" are the truths of the church, (n. 1672, 2547).

[3] In Ezekiel: -

It shall come to pass in that day, when Gog cometh upon the land of Israel, that My wrath shall rise in Mine anger; in My zeal and in the fire of My indignation I will speak, Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake upon the ground of Israel (Ezek. 38:18-20);

"Gog" denotes external worship separate from internal, and thus become idolatrous (n. 1151) the "earth" and the "ground of Israel" denote the spiritual church; the "earthquake", a change in its state. In Joel: -

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon became black, and the stars withdrew their brightness (Joel 2:10)

where also the subject is the clay of the Last Judgment the "earth quaking" denotes a changed state of the church; the "sun and moon", the good of love and its truth (n. 1599, 1530, 9441, 2495), which are said to "become black", when goods and truths are no longer acknowledged; the "stars" denote the knowledges of good and truth (n. 2495, 2849). In David: -

The earth was shaken and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled and were shaken, because He was wroth (Ps. 18:7)

the "earth shaken and quaking" denotes the state of the church become perverted.

[4] In John: -

And I beheld when he opened the sixth seal, and lo there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth (Rev. 6:12, 13);

where the "earthquake, sun, moon, and stars" have a like signification as above in Joel. Again: -

In that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and them were killed in the earthquake names of men seven thousand (Rev. 11:13).

From all these passages it is evident that an "earthquake" is nothing else than a change in the state of the church; and that in the internal sense the "earth" is nothing else than the church; and as the "earth" is the church, it is evident that by the "new heaven and new earth", which were to succeed in place of the former (Isa. 65:17; 66:22; Rev. 21:1), there is signified nothing else than a new church internal and external (n. 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118).

3356. The reason a" quaking" or "motion" denotes a change of state, is that it takes place in space and in time and in the other life there is no idea of space and of time but in their stead there is state. It is indeed true that in the other life all things appear as in space, and follow one another as if in time; but in themselves the space and time are changes of state, for they come from this source. This is perfectly well known to every spirit, even to the wicked, who by changes of state induced on others cause them to appear in another place, when yet they are not there. Men may know the same from the fact that in so far as a man is in a state of the affections and of the derivative joy; and in so far as he is in a state of the thoughts and of a consequent absence from the body, so far he is not in time; for many hours then appear to him scarcely as one; and this because his internal man or spirit has states to which the spaces and times in the external man correspond. "Motion" therefore being a successive progression in space and time, is in the internal sense a change of state.

 

GENESIS 26:1-35

1. And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar.

2. And Jehovah appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land of which I tell thee.

3. Sojourn in this land, and I will he with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will set up the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father.

4. And I will cause thy seed to be multiplied as the stars of the heavens, and I will give unto thy seed all these lands and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

5. Because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.

6. And Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

7. And the men of the place asked him concerning his woman and he said, She is my sister; for he feared to say, She is my woman; lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was good to look upon.

8. And it came to pass, because the days were there prolonged to him, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold Isaac was laughing with Rebekah his woman.

9. And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Surely behold she is thy woman, and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

10. And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us, in that one of the people might lightly have lain with thy woman, and thou wouldst have brought guilt upon us?

11. And Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, He that toucheth this man and his woman, dying he shall die.

12. And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in that year a hundred measures, and Jehovah blessed him.

13. And the man increased, and went on going and increasing until he became exceeding great.

14. And he had acquisition of flock, and acquisition of herd, and much service; and the Philistines envied him.

15. And all the wells that his father's servants digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped them up, and filled them with dust.

16. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go away from us; for thou art much mightier than we.

17. And Isaac departed thence, and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

18. And Isaac returned, and digged again the wells of waters which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; and the Philistines stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he called their names after the names which his father called them.

19. And the servants of Isaac digged in the valley, and found there a well of living eaters.

20. And the shepherds of Gerar strove with Isaac's shepherds, saying, The waters are ours; and he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.

21. And they digged another well, and they strove over that also, and he called the name of it Sitnah.

22. And he removed from thence, and digged another well, and for this they strove not, and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now Jehovah hath made us to be enlarged, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

23. And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.

24. And Jehovah appeared to him in that night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, and I will bless thee, and will multiply thy seed, for the sake of Abraham My servant.

25. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of Jehovah, and pitched his tent there, and there the servants of Isaac digged out a well.

26. And Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his companion, and Phicol the captain of his army.

27. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore are ye come unto me, and ye have hated me, and have sent me away from you.

28. And they said, Seeing we have seen that Jehovah was with thee; and we said, Now let there be an oath between us, between us and thee, and let us cut out a covenant with thee.

29. If thou shalt do evil to us, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace; thou art now the blessed of Jehovah.

30. And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

31. And they rose early in the morning, and sware a man to his brother; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

32. And it came to pass in that day, that the servants of Isaac came and showed him concerning the well which they had digged; and they said unto him, We have found waters.

33. And he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.

34. And Esau was a son of forty years, and he took for a woman Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

35. And they were bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.

 

THE CONTENTS

3357. In the internal sense of this chapter the subject treated of is appearances of truth of three degrees, and how these were adjoined to truth Divine in order that truths and their doctrinal things might be received; and that a church might come into existence.

3358. In (verses 1 to 6) are described the appearances of truth of a higher degree which are in the internal sense of the Word, in which appearances are the angels, and in which there is Divine truth and good. And that Divine good and truth cannot be comprehended, thus cannot be received, unless they are in appearances (verses 7 to 13).

3359. Appearances of truth of a lower degree, which are in the interior sense of the Word-in which appearances those men may be who are of the internal church-are then treated of (verses 14 to 17).

3360. Afterwards, appearances of truth are described of a still lower degree, which are of the literal sense of the Word, in which appearances those men may be who are of the external church (verses 18 to 25); and that through these there may still be conjunction with the Lord (verses 26 to 33).

3361. Concerning truths of the memory adjoined to good therein (verses 34, 35).

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

3362. In the twenty-first chapter Abimelech was treated of, in that he made a covenant with Abraham, and that then Abraham reproved him concerning a well of waters which his servants had seized. In the present chapter a nearly similar occurrence is repeated between Abimelech and Isaac, resembling it also in this respect, that just as Abraham had said that his wife was his sister, so also said Isaac; from which it is evident that some Divine arcanum therein is the reason why these things occurred a second time, and were again related; and also that on both occasions mention is made of wells, concerning which it would little concern us to know, unless something Divine were concealed therein. But the internal sense teaches what is therein, and that the subject is the conjunction through truths of the Lord with those who are in His kingdom in the heavens and on earth; with the angels through appearances of truth of a higher degree; and with men through appearances of truth of a lower degree; consequently through the Word, in the internal and external senses of which are contained these appearances. For truths Divine themselves are such that they can never be comprehended by any angel, still less by any man, because they surpass every faculty of their understanding. Yet in order that there may be conjunction of the Lord with them, truths Divine flow in with them in appearances; and when truths Divine are with them in such appearances, they can be both received and acknowledged. This is effected by adaptation to the comprehension of each person; and therefore appearances, that is, truths angelic and human, are of three degrees. These are the Divine arcana contained in the internal sense of that which was related in a former chapter concerning the doings of Abimelech and Abraham; and in this chapter concerning those of Abimelech and Isaac.

3363. Verse 1. And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar. "And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham", signifies a lack of the knowledges of faith; "and Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar", signifies the doctrinal things of faith; "Abimelech" is the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things; the "king of the Philistines" denotes doctrinal things and "Gerar" is faith.

3364. And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. That this signifies a lack of the knowledges of faith, is evident from the signification of "famine", as being a lack of knowledges (n. 1460). That it is a lack of the knowledges of faith, is evident from what presently follows, that is, from the representation of Abimelech, and from the signification of "Gerar", as being that which is of faith. The "famine" in the days of Abraham, (Gen. 12:10), and explained above (n. 1460), denoted a lack of the knowledges which are of the natural man but the "famine" here spoken of denotes a lack of the knowledges which are of the rational man; and therefore it is said that there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham". In the internal sense the subject here treated of is the Lord, in that from His Divine are all the doctrinal things of faith; for there is no doctrinal thing, nor the smallest part of one, that is not from the Lord, because the Lord is doctrine itself. Hence it is that the Lord is called the "Word", because the "Word" is doctrine; but as everything that is in the Lord is Divine, and the Divine cannot be comprehended by any created being, therefore in so far as they appear before created beings, the doctrinal things that are from the Lord are not truths purely Divine, but are appearances of truth; nevertheless within such appearances there are truths Divine; and because they have these truths within them, the appearances also are called truths; and these are now treated of in this chapter.

3365. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar. This signifies the doctrinal things of faith, which is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord as to the Divine rational (n. 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630); and "Isaac" is the Lord's Divine rational as to Divine good, (n. 3012, 3194, 3210); and also as to Divine truth, which is represented by the marriage of Isaac with Rebekah, (n. 3012, 3013, 3077); thus by Isaac is here represented the Lord as to Divine truth conjoined with the Divine good of the rational for Rebekah was with Isaac, and was called "sister;"-from the representation of Abimelech, as being the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things (n. 2504, 2509, 2510, 2530); and from the signification of the "king of the Philistines", as being doctrinal things. In the internal sense a "king" denotes the truth which is of doctrine, (n. 1672, 2015, 2069); and the " Philistines" signify the memory-knowledge of knowledges, which also is that of doctrinal things, (n. 1197, 1198); - and from the signification of "Gerar", as being faith (n. 1209, 2504). This shows what is signified by Isaac's going to Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar, namely, that from the Lord comes the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things; or what is the same, the doctrinal things of faith. All those things are called doctrinal which are of doctrine, and which in so far as they can be received and acknowledged in heaven by angels, and on earth by men, are said to look to rational things, for it is the rational that receives and acknowledges them. But the rational is such that it cannot possibly apprehend Divine things, for it is finite, and the finite cannot apprehend what is of the infinite; and consequently truths Divine from the Lord are presented before the rational by means of appearances. Hence it is that doctrinal things are nothing but appearances of truth Divine, that is, nothing but celestial and spiritual vessels, within which is what is Divine; and because the Divine, that is, the Lord, is in them, they affect us, whence comes the conjunction of the Lord with angels and men.

3366. Verses 2, 3. And Jehovah appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land of which I tell thee. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will set up the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father. "And Jehovah appeared unto him, and said", signifies thought from the Divine; " go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land of which I tell thee", signifies that he should not go down to memory-knowledges, but to rational things, which being enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth; "sojourn in this land", signifies instruction; "and I will be with thee", signifies the Divine and will bless thee", signifies that thus there would be increase; "for unto thee", signifies good; "and unto thy seed", signifies truth; "I will give all these lands", signifies spiritual things; "and I will set up the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father", signifies confirmation thus.

3367. And Jehovah appeared into him, and said. That this signifies thought from the Divine, is evident from the signification of "appearing", when said of the Lord, who is Jehovah, as being the Divine Itself that was in Him. Jehovah was in the Lord, and the Lord Himself is Jehovah, (n. 1343, 1725, 1729, 1733, 1736, 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1902, 1921, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2156, 2329, 2447, 2921, 3023, 3035, 3061), and in so far as the Lord had united the Human essence to the Divine, so far He spoke with Jehovah as with Himself (n. 1745, 1999), thus "Jehovah appearing to him", in the internal sense signifies from the Divine. Thought is signified which is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive and also to think.

3368. Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land of which I tell thee. That this signifies that He should not go down to memory-knowledges, but to rational things which being enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth, is evident from the signification of "Egypt", as being memory-knowledge (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); and from the signification of "land", as being here rational things which when enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth; for the land which is here meant is Gerar, where Abimelech king of the Philistines was, and by " Gerar" is signified faith; by "Abimelech", the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things; and by the "king of the Philistines", doctrinal things (n. 3363, 3365); so that the "land", namely, Gerar where Abimelech was, has the above signification in the internal sense.

[2] For the signification of "land" is various (n. 620, 636, 1066), denoting the quality of the nation of which it is predicated (n. 1262). But in the proper sense "land" signifies the church (n. 3355); and because it signifies the church, it signifies also those things which are of the church, consequently the doctrinal things of charity and faith; thus also rational things which being enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth; for that these appearances are the truths of the church, thus its doctrinal things, may be seen above (n. 3364, 3365). Whether you say rational things enlightened by the Divine, or appearances of truth, or celestial and spiritual truths such as are in the Lords kingdom in the heavens, or in heaven, and such as are in His kingdom on the earths, or in the church, comes to the same thing; and the same are also called doctrinal things, but this from the truths that are in them. The angelic and human rational is and is called rational from appearances of truth that are enlightened by the Divine, and without these it is not rational; thus rational things are these appearances of truth.

[3] The reason why it is here said that He should not go down into Egypt, that is, not to memory-knowledges, is that memory-knowledges have already been treated of; for Abraham's sojourning in Egypt represented the Lord's instruction in His childhood in memory-knowledges (n. 1502). As regards the arcanum that He should not go down into Egypt, but should sojourn in the land of Gerar, that is, that He should not look to memory-knowledges, but to rational things, the case is this: All appearances of truth that have what is Divine in them belong to the rational, insomuch that rational truths and appearances of truth are the same; whereas memory-knowledges belong to the natural, insomuch that natural truths and memory-truths are the same. Rational truths, or appearances of truth, cannot possibly be and come forth except from the influx of the Divine into the rational, and through rational things into the memory-knowledges which are of the natural. The things which then take place in the rational appear in the natural; just as an image of many things appears all together in a mirror and thereby they are presented before the man, and also before an angel; before an angel however they are not presented so evidently in the natural as they are with those who are in the world of spirits and are in the spiritual natural, and hence these have representatives of truth.

[4] The case is similar with every man, for as before said the man who is in good is a little heaven, or what is the same is an image of the Grand Heaven; and because Divine truth cannot inflow immediately into memory-knowledges, which are of the natural man, but only through rational things, as before said, therefore it is here said that Isaac should not go down into Egypt, but should reside in the land of Gerar. But a clear idea cannot be had concerning these things unless the nature of influx is known, and also the nature of ideas; and therefore of the Lord's Divine mercy these things will be treated of at the close of the chapters, where experiences are related.

3369. Sojourn in this land. That this signifies instruction, is evident from the signification of sojourning", as being to instruct (n. 1463, 2025); and from the signification in this place of "land", as being rational things which when enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth (n. 3368). Thus sojourning in this land" signifies instruction in these things.

3370. And I will be with thee That this signifies the Divine, is evident from the fact that it is Jehovah who speaks, thus the Divine Itself; and when it is said by Him "I will he with thee", it signifies in this connection that thus the Divine would be in them.

3371. And will bless thee. That this signifies that thus there would he increase, is evident from the signification of "blessing", as being to make fruitful in goods and to multiply in truths (n. 981, 1420, 1422, 1731, 2846, 3140); thus signifying increase.

3372. For unto thee. That this signifies good, is evident from the fact that "unto thee" refers to Isaac, by whom is represented the Lord as to the Divine rational, as has been often shown; and the Lord's Divine rational is nothing but good; even the truth therein being good, because Divine.

3373. And unto thy seed. That this signifies truth, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being truth (n. 29, 255, 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940, 2848, 3310); thus it signifies the truth which is from the Lord's Divine, which is "thy seed". They who apprehend the Word only according to the sense of the letter cannot know but that "seed" denotes posterity, consequently here the posterity of Isaac from Esau and Jacob, and chiefly from Jacob, because the Word was in that nation and it contains so many historical facts concerning them. But in the internal sense by "seed" there is not meant any posterity from Isaac, but all those who are sons of the Lord, thus the sons of His kingdom, or what is the same, who are in good and truth from the Lord; and because these are " seed", it follows that the very good and truth from the Lord are "seed", for hence come the sons wherefore also the very truths from the Lord are called the sons of the kingdom", in Matthew: -

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world the good seed are the sons of the kingdom (Matthew 13:37, 38)

hence also by " sons" in general are signified truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623).

[2] Every one who thinks somewhat more deeply or interiorly may know that in the Divine Word by the "seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob", so often mentioned, and concerning which it is so frequently said that it should be blessed, and this above all nations and people in the world, cannot be signified their posterity; for above all nations they were least of all in the good of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, and were not even in any truth of faith; for they were utterly ignorant of what the Lord is, what His kingdom, thus what heaven is, and what the life after death, both because they did not want to know, and because if they had learned about these things, they would at heart have totally denied them, and would thus have profaned interior goods and truths, just as they so frequently profaned exterior ones by becoming open idolaters; which is the reason why in the sense of the letter of the Word of the Old Testament any interior things so rarely stand forth to view. Being of this nature, the Lord has said concerning them in Isaiah: -

He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them (John 12:40)

and again when they said: -

We are Abraham's seed; Abraham is our father; Jesus said unto them, If ye were Abraham's sons, ye would do the works of Abraham ye are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father ye will to do (John 8:33, 39, 44)

by "Abraham" here is meant the Lord, as everywhere in the Word; and that the Jews were not His seed, or sons, but the seed of the devil, is plainly stated. All this shows very plainly that by the "seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob", as mentioned in the historical and prophetical Word, are by no means meant their posterity for the Word throughout is Divine, but all those who are the Lord's "seed", that is, who are in the good and truth of faith in Him. From the Lord alone comes heavenly seed, that is, all good and truth, (n. 1438, 1614, 2016, 2803, 2882, 2883, 2891, 2899, 2904, 3195).

3374. I will give all these lands. That this signifies spiritual things, is evident from the signification of "lands", as here being rational things, which when enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth (n. 3368). That these appearances are truths has already been shown (n. 3364, 3365); consequently by "lands" are here meant spiritual things, for these are nothing else than truths from the Divine, as may be seen from what has been frequently said above as to what is meant by spiritual things. By the spiritual in a genuine sense is meant the very light of truth which is from the Lord, just as by the celestial is meant all the flame of good from the Lord. From this we may see that as this light inflows from the Lord into both man's rational and his natural, the spiritual is predicated of both, and that it is the Divine as to the truth that flows in. This shows what in the genuine sense the spiritual is; and that there is a spiritual rational and a spiritual natural.

3375. And I will set up the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father. That this signifies confirmation, is evident from the signification of an "oath", or of "swearing", as being confirmation (n. 2842). It is not here said to "set up the covenant" made with Abraham, but the "oath", for the reason that a "covenant" is predicated of the celestial or of good, but an "oath" of the spiritual or of truths (n. 3037), which are the subject here treated of. And for the same reason in what follows it is not said of Isaac that he "made a covenant with Abimelech", but that he "sware a man to his brother" (verse 31); whereas it is said of Abraham that he and Abimelech "made a covenant" (Gen. 21:32; Ps. 105:8-10). By the confirmation here referred to which is signified by an "oath", there is meant the conjunction of the Lord with those who are in His kingdom; for an "oath" is the confirmation of a covenant; and by a "covenant" is signified conjunction (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021).

3376. The internal sense of these two verses is that when the Divine truth flows in by rational things, it presents appearances of truth, and thus fructifies and multiplies itself in respect to the good and truth through which the Lord conjoins Himself with angels and men. That this is the sense cannot be seen from the first exposition wherein everything is scattered, that is to say, from what was said in (n. 3366) - that there was thought from the Divine not to go down to memory-knowledges, but to rational things which when enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth, and that from these would come instruction from the Divine, and increase, thus good and truth, which are spiritual, whereby there is conjunction of the Lord with the things in His Word. These things which before man appear thus scattered, are yet in the internal sense conjoined together in the most orderly manner, and before the angels, or in heaven, appear and are perceived in a most beautiful series and connection; nay, are attended with angelic representatives in a heavenly form; and this with inexpressible variety. Such is the Word throughout in its internal sense.

3377. Verses 4, 5. And I will cause thy seed to be multiplied as the stars of the heavens, and I will give unto thy seed all these lands; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because that Abraham hearkened to My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws. "And I will cause thy seed to be multiplied as the stars of the heavens", signifies truths and the knowledges of faith; "and I will give unto thy seed all these lands", signifies the churches thence derived; "and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed", signifies all those who are in good both within and without the church; "because that Abraham hearkened to My voice", signifies the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with the Human Essence through temptations; "and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws", signifies through continuous revelations from Himself.

3378. And I will cause thy seed to be multiplied as the stars of the heavens. That this signifies truths and the knowledges of faith, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being truths (n. 3373) and from the signification of "stars", as being the knowledges of faith (n. 2495, 2849).

3379. And I will give unto thy seed all these lands. That this signifies the churches thence derived, is evident from the signification of "seed", as being truths, thus those who are in truths, who are on this account called the "sons of the kingdom" (n. 3373) and from the signification of "lands", as being the rational things which when enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth (n. 3368) thus those who are in rational things that are enlightened by the Divine; or what is the same those who are in heavenly light; and as those only are in such light who are in the Lord's kingdom in the heavens (that is, in heaven) and who are in His kingdom on earth (that is, in the churches), it is evident that by these "lands" are signified the churches for churches are not churches because they are so called, and because they profess the Lord's name; but because they are in the good and truth of faith. The good and truth of faith is that which constitutes the church, yea, which is the church, for in the good and truth of faith is the Lord, and where the Lord is, there is the church.

3380. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed That this signifies all who are in good, both within and without the church, is evident from the signification of "being blessed", as being to be made fruitful in good and to be multiplied in truths (n. 981, 1422, 1731, 2846, 3140); from the signification of "seed", as being the goods and truths which are from the Lord (n. 3373); and from the signification of the "nations of the earth", as being all who are in good (n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849). Thus by "all the nations of the earth being blessed in thy seed", is signified that through the good and truth which are from the Lord all are saved who live in mutual charity, whether they are within the church or without it. The Gentiles who are without the church and who are in good are equally saved, (n. 593, 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2049, 2051, 2284, 2589-2604, 2861, 2986, 3263).

3381. Because that Abraham hearkened to My voice. That this signifies the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with the Human Essence through temptations, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord as to the Divine Human also (n. 2833, 2836, 3251) and from the signification of "hearkening to My voice", when predicated of the Lord, as being to unite the Divine Essence to the Human through temptations for in the Word it is from these that obedience is predicated of the Lord. What is here said has reference to that which is related concerning Abraham in the 12th chapter, namely, that God tempted him, and said unto him that he should take his son and offer him for a burnt-offering (Gen. 22:1, 2); and when he hearkened to this voice, it is said: -

Now I know that thou fearest God, and thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from Me. In Myself have I sworn saith Jehovah, because thou hast done this word, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens (Gen. 22:12, 16, 17);

that by "not withholding thy son, thine only one, from Me" (which was " hearkening to the voice") is signified the unition of the Human with the Divine through the last of temptation, may be seen above (n. 2827, 2844). That this is meant by "hearkening to the voice of Jehovah", or "the Father", is evident also from the words of the Lord in Gethsemane: -

My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me nevertheless not My will but Thine be done: again a second time, My Father, if this cup cannot pass from Me except I drink it, Thy will he done (Matt. 26:39, 42 Mark 14:36 Luke 22:42).

But inasmuch as Jehovah or the Father was in Him, or He in the Father and the Father in Him (John 14:10, 11), by "hearkening to the voice of Jehovah" is meant that the Lord united the Divine to the Human through temptations, by His own power; as is also evident from the words of the Lord Himself in John: -

As the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. Therefore doth the Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take it again. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received from My Father (John 10:15, 17, 18).

The Lord by His own power united His Divine Essence to His Human Essence through temptations, (n. 1663, 1668, 1690, 1691, 1725, 1729, 1733, 1737, 1787, 1789, 1812, 1820, 2776, 3318).

3382. And kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws. That this signifies by means of continuous revelations from Himself - that is to say, as by means of temptations, so also by means of these revelations the Lord united the Divine Essence to the Human - as evident from the fact that these words, "keeping His charge, commandments, statutes, and laws", involve all things of the Word namely, "charge", all things of the Word in general; commandments", the internal things statutes, - " the external things and "laws", all things specifically. Inasmuch as this is predicated of the Lord, who from eternity was the Word, and from whom all these things are, in the internal sense it cannot he signified that He observed these things, but that He revealed them to Himself when He was in a state of unition of the Human with the Divine.

[2] These things do indeed appear at first view rather remote from the sense of the letter, and even from the proximate internal sense; but still when the words are read by man, this is their sense in heaven; for, as occasionally before said, and as may be seen from examples given (n. 1873, 1874), in its ascent toward heaven the sense of the letter is put off; and instead of it another heavenly sense comes into view, so different that it cannot he known to be from the same source. For they who are in heaven are in the idea that in the internal sense all things of the Word treat of the Lord; and also that all things of the Word are from the Lord; likewise that when He was in the world the Lord thought from the Divine and thus from Himself, and acquired for Himself all intelligence and wisdom through continuous revelations from the Divine; and therefore from the above words they perceive nothing else. For "keeping the charge, commandments, statutes, and laws", is not predicable of the Lord, because He Himself was the Word,. consequently He Himself was the charge, He Himself was the commandment, He Himself the statute, and He Himself the law; for all these things have respect to Him as the First from whom they are derived, and as the Last to whom they tend. Therefore in the supreme sense by the above words nothing else can be signified than the unition of the Lord's Divine with the Human, through continuous revelations from Himself. Differently from other men, the Lord thought from the Divine, thus from Himself, (n. 1904, 1914, 1935); and He acquired for Himself intelligence and wisdom by means of continuous revelations from the Divine, (n. 1616, 2500, 2523, 2632).

[3] That in the genuine sense "keeping the charge" signifies all things of the Word in general and that "commandments" signify the internal things of the Word " statutes", the external things and "laws", all things of the Word specifically, may be seen from many passages as viewed in the internal sense; some of which may be adduced. Thus in David: -

Blessed are the perfect in the way, who walk in the law of Jehovah. Blessed are they that keep His testimonies. O that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes. I will keep Thy statutes O forsake me not utterly. With my whole heart have I sought Thee O let me not wander from Thy commandments Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee. Blessed art Thou, O Jehovah, teach me Thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of Thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies. I meditate in Thy precepts; and have respect unto Thy ways. I delight myself in Thy statutes; I do not forget Thy Word. Recompense unto Thy servant, that I may live, so will I keep Thy Word. Open Thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law. Hide not Thy commandments from me. Quicken Thou me according to Thy Word. Teach me Thy statutes make me to understand the way of Thy precepts (Ps. 119:1-27).

Throughout this whole Psalm the subject treated of is the Word and the things of the Word, which are manifestly its "precepts", "statutes", "judgments", " testimonies", "commandments", and "ways;" but what these signify specifically cannot possibly be seen from the sense of the letter, in which sense they are scarcely more than repetitions of the same thing; hut it may be seen from the internal sense, in which one thing is signified by "precepts", and quite different ones by "statutes", "judgments", "testimonies", " commandments", and "ways".

[4] Again in like manner: -

The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of Jehovah is clean, standing forever the judgments of Jehovah are truth (Ps. 19:7-9).

And in the first book of Kings: -

David charged Solomon his son, saying, Keep the charge of Jehovah thy God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgments, and His testimonies, according to that which is written in the law of Moses (1 Kings 2:3).

"Keeping the charge" denotes all things of the Word in general, for it is mentioned in the first place, and looks to the things following as being less general; for "keeping the charge" is the same thing as "keeping that which is to be kept". In Moses: -

Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God, and keep His charge, and his statutes, and His judgments, and His commandments alway (Deut. 11:1);

where "keeping His charge", or keeping that which was to be kept, in like manner denotes all things of the Word in general; "statutes" denote the external things of the Word, such as rituals and those things which are representative and significative of the internal sense; but "commandments", the internal things of the Word, such as those of life and doctrine, especially those which are of the internal sense. But concerning the signification of " commandments" and "statutes", of the Lord's Divine mercy elsewhere.

3383. Verses 6, 7. And Isaac dwelt in Gerar. And the men of the place asked him concerning his woman; and he said, She is my sister, because he feared to say, She is my woman; lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was good to look upon. "And Isaac dwelt in Gerar", signifies the Lord's state in regard to the things of faith relatively to the rational things that were to be adjoined; "and the men of the place asked him concerning his woman", signifies the investigations of men concerning Divine truth; "and he said, She is my sister", signifies rational truth "because he feared to say, She is my woman; lest the men of the place should kill me for the sake of Rebekah", signifies that he could not open Divine truths themselves, for thus Divine good would not be received; "because she was good to look upon", signifies that it may easily he received from its being called Divine.

3384. And Isaac dwelt in Gerar. That this signifies the Lord's state in regard to the things of faith relatively to the rational things that were to be adjoined, is evident from the signification of "dwelling in Gerar", as being to be in the things which are of faith; thus the state in regard to these things; for "to dwell" signifies to live (n. 1293), and Gerar" signifies the things which are of faith, (n. 1209, 2504, 3365)-and from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord as to the Divine rational (n. 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630). That it is relatively to the rational things that were to be adjoined, is evident from what goes before and from what follows; for in this whole chapter these things are treated of, namely, the rational things which when enlightened by the Divine of the Lord are appearances of truth.

[2] That "to dwell" denotes to be and to live, thus the state, is evident from many passages in the Word. As in David: -

I will dwell in the house of Jehovah for length of days (Ps. 23:6).

One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life (Ps. 27:4).

He that worketh deceit shall not dwell in the midst of My house (Ps. 101:7)

where "dwelling in the house of Jehovah" denotes being and living in the good of love, for this is the "house of Jehovah". In Isaiah: -

They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined (Isa. 9:2)

"they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death" denotes the state of those who are in ignorance of good and truth. Again: -

Babel shall not he inhabited forever (Isa. 13:20)

denoting the state of damnation of those who are "Babel".

[3] Again: -

O Jehovah God of Israel that inhabitest the cherubim (Isa. 37:16)

O shepherd of Israel inhabiting the cherubim, shine forth (Ps. 80:1)

"to inhabit the cherubim" is the Lord as to a state of providence, lest anyone should enter into the holy things of love and faith unless prepared by the Lord (n. 308). In David: -

In face will I both lay me down and sleep, for Thou Jehovah alone makest me dwell in safety (Ps. 4:8)

"to make to dwell in safety" signifies a state of peace. In Jeremiah: -

O thou that dwellest upon many waters, great in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy gain (Jer. 51:13)

concerning Babel; "dwelling upon many waters" denotes being in knowledges concerning truth.

[4] In Daniel: -

God Himself revealeth the deep and secret things, He knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with Him (Daniel 2:22)

where "dwelling" denotes being. Again in the same Prophet Under that tree the beast of the field had shadow, and the fowls of heaven dwelt in the branches thereof (Daniel 4:12). And in Ezekiel: -

Under its branches all the wild beast of the field brought forth, and in its shadow dwelt all great nations (Ezek. 31:6)

where "dwelling" denotes being and living. In Hosea: -

The threshing-floor and the wine-press shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail her. They shall not dwell in the land of Jehovah but Ephraim shall retain to Egypt (Hosea 9:2, 3)

"not to dwell in the land of Jehovah" denotes not to be in a state of the good of love, consequently not in the Lord's kingdom.

3385. And the men of the place asked him concerning his woman. This signifies the investigations of men concerning Divine truth, which is evident from the signification of "asking", as being to investigate; and from the signification of the "men of the place", namely, Gerar, as being those who are in the doctrinal things of faith. "Gerar" signifies the things of faith, (n. 1209, 2504); thus the "men of the place" are men of such a state; and from the signification of "woman", who here is Rebekah, as being the Divine truth of the Lord's Divine rational (n. 3012, 3013, 3077). In what proceeds, the appearances of truth have been treated of, in that they come forth by means of Divine influx from the Lord into man's rational things; and the subject here treated of is the reception of these appearances; first by those who are in the doctrinal things of faith, and who are meant by the "men of the place", or of Gerar, and are of the first class of those who are called the spiritual; for as the spiritual have not perception, like the celestial, and are comparatively in obscurity (n. 1043, 2088, 2669, 2708, 2715, 2718, 2831, 3235, 3241, 3246), they investigate whether a thing be so, and also whether it is Divine truth; and as they have no perception as to whether it is so, there is given them what appears like truth, and this according to their rational, that is, according to their apprehension, for in this way it is received. Each person is permitted to believe truths as he apprehends them; otherwise there would be no reception, because no acknowledgment. This is the subject now treated of.

3386. And he said, She is my sister. That this signifies rational truth, is evident from the signification of "sister", as being rational truth (n. 1495, 2508, 2524, 2556). By rational truth is meant that which appears as true according to the apprehension, or before the rational, as just said. The arcanum that Isaac said that Rebekah was his sister; as Abraham had before said that Sarah was his sister, first in Egypt (Gen. 12:11-13, 19), and afterwards in Gerar (Gen. 20:2, 5, 12), involves what is much the same, as may be seen from the explication of the former passages; and as the same thing occurred three times, and is three times related in the Word, it is evident that there is in it an arcanum of the greatest moment, which can never be known to anyone except from the internal sense; but what the arcanum is, appears from what follows.

3387. Because he feared to say, She is my woman; lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah. That this signifies that He could not open Divine truths themselves, because thus Divine good would not be received, is evident from the signification of "fearing to say", as being not to be able to open; from the signification of "woman", who here is Rebekah, as being the Lord's Divine rational as to Divine truth (n. 3012, 3013, 3077) from the signification of "slaying me", as being that good is not received, for by Isaac, who here is "me", is represented the Divine good of the Lord's rational (n. 3012, 3194, 3210), for good is said to be slain, or to perish, when it is not received, because with him who does not receive it, it is nullified; and from the signification of the "men of the place", as being those who are in the doctrinal things of faith (n. 3385). From all this it now appears what is the internal sense of these words, namely, that if Divine truths themselves were to be opened, they would not he received by those who are in the doctrinal things of faith, because they surpass all their rational apprehension, thus all their belief, and consequently nothing of good from the Lord could flow in. For good from the Lord, or Divine good, can inflow solely into truths, because truths are the vessels of good, as often shown.

[2] Truths or appearances of truth are given man to the intent that Divine good may be able to form his understanding, and thus the man himself. For truths exist to the end that good may flow in; for without vessels or receptacles good finds no place, because it finds no state corresponding to itself; and therefore where there are no truths, or where they are not received, there is no rational or human good, consequently the man has no spiritual life. In order therefore that man may nevertheless have truths, and thereby have spiritual life, appearances of truth are given to every one according to his apprehension; which appearances are acknowledged as truths, because they are such that Divine things can be in them.

[3] In order that it may be known what appearances are, and that they are such things as serve man instead of truths Divine, let us take examples for illustration. If it should be said that in heaven there is no idea of place, thus none of distance, but that instead of these there are ideas of state, this could not possibly be apprehended by man, for this would cause him to believe that there nothing is distinct, but that everything is confused, that is, all in one, or together; when yet all things there are so distinct that nothing can he more so. The places, distances, and spaces, which exist in nature, are in heaven states, (n. 3356). Hence it is manifest that whatever is said in the Word concerning places and spaces, and from them and by means of them, is an appearance of truth; and unless it were said by means of such appearances, it would not be received at all, consequently would be scarcely anything; for so long as he is in the world, that is, in space and time, the idea of space and of time is within almost everything of man's thought, both in general and in particular.

[4] That the language of the Word is according to appearances of space appears from almost everything in it; as in Matthew: -

Jesus asked them saying, How then doth David say, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand till I make Thine enemies Thy foot stool (Matthew 22:43, 44)

where to "sit on the right hand" comes from the idea of place, thus according to appearance, when nevertheless what is here described is the state of the Lord's Divine power. Again: -

Jesus said, Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming upon the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64)

here in like manner "sitting on the right hand", and also "coming upon the clouds", are derived from the idea of place with men; hut with angels the idea is of the Lord's power. In Mark: -

The sons of Zebedee said to Jesus, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left hand, in Thy glory. Jesus answered, To sit on My right hand, and on My left, is not Mine to give, except to those for whom it hath been prepared (Mark 10:37, 40).

From this it is manifest what sort of an idea the disciples had concerning the Lord's kingdom, namely, that it was to sit on His right hand and or, His left; and because they had such an idea, the Lord also answered them according to their apprehension, thus according to what appeared to them.

[5] In David: -

He is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course. His going forth is from the end of the heavens and His circuit unto the ends of it (Ps. 19:5, 6)

speaking of the Lord, whose state of Divine power is here described by such things as are of space. In Isaiah: -

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawning! Thou saidst in thine heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven; I will ascend above the heights of the cloud (Isa. 14:12, 14)

where "falling form heaven", "ascending into the heavens", "exalting the throne above the stars of heaven", "ascending above the heights of the cloud", all of which are expressions descriptive of the love of self profaning holy things, are all derived from the idea and appearance of space or place. Inasmuch as celestial and spiritual things are presented before man by means of such things as appear to men, and in accordance with such things, therefore heaven is also described as being on high, when yet it is not on high, but is in what is internal (n. 450, 1380, 2148).

3388. Because she was good to look upon. That this signifies that it might he easily received from its being called Divine, is evident from the signification of "good to look upon", as being that which pleases by its form, thus what is easily received. Those are here treated of who are in the doctrinal things of faith, and have no perception of truth from good, but only a conscience of truth from having been so taught by parents and masters. These are they who are called the "men of the place", or of Gerar (n. 3385, 3387). With such persons the first of confirmation of truth is that it is called Divine, for then they at once have an idea of what is holy, which gives a universal confirmation to everything that is stated, eve" if they do not comprehend it. But still what is stated must be adapted to their apprehension for it is not sufficient for a man to know that a thing is; he also desires to know what it is, and what is its nature, in order that he may therein find some confirmation for his intellectual part, and from this again in turn. If this be not the case, a thing may indeed be induced on the memory; but it does not remain there otherwise than as a dead thing, or as a mere sound; and unless confirmatory things from some source or other have fixed it in the memory, it is dissipated like the remembrance of some mere thing of sound.

3389. Verses 8, 9. And it came to pass, because the days were there prolonged to him, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold Isaac was laughing with Rebekah his woman. And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Surely behold she is thy woman, and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. "And it came to pass, because the days were there prolonged to him", signifies a state of reception; "that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw", signifies the doctrine of faith looking to rational things in knowledges; "and behold Isaac was laughing with Rebekah his woman", signifies that Divine good was present in Divine truth "and Abimelech called Isaac, and said", signifies the Lord's perception from doctrine " Surely behold she is thy woman, and how saidst thou, She is my sister?" signifies if Divine truth, it was not also rational "and Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her,"signifies that it would not be received.

3390. And it came to pass, because the days were there prolonged to him That this signifies a state of reception, is evident from the signification of "being prolonged there to him", namely, to Isaac, as being that when the Divine good which is represented by Isaac was there for some time, truth was received, for in the internal sense the reception of truth by the spiritual is treated of; and from the signification of "days" as being states (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788).

3391. And Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw. That this signifies the doctrine of faith looking to rational things in knowledges, is evident From the representation of Abimelech, as being the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things (n. 2504, 2509, 2510, 2533) from the signification of king of the Philistines", as being doctrinal things (n. 3365) and from the signification of a window", as being the intellectual faculty (n. 655, 658), consequently the internal sight, for this was formerly signified by "windows". This to "look out through a window" is to perceive those things which appear by means of the internal sight, which in general are knowledges such as are of the external man. Rational things, or what is the same, appearances of truth, that is, truths spiritual, are not knowledges, but are in knowledges, for they belong to the rational, thus to the internal man, and it is the internal man which looks to the things of the external man, thus to truths in knowledges. For as knowledges are of the natural man, they are vessels that receive rational things. Truths Divine flow into the rational, and through this into the natural, and in this latter are exhibited as an image of many things in a mirror, (n. 3368).

[2] That " windows" signify the things of the internal sight that is, of the understanding which in one word are called intellectual things, is evident from those passages of the Word which were adduced in (n. 655); and further from the following. In Joel: -

They shall run to and fro in the city, they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up into the houses, they shall enter in by the windows as a thief (Joel 2:9)

speaking of the evils and falsities of the last days of the church "climbing up into the houses" denotes destroying the goods of the will. "House" denotes the goods of the will (n. 710, 2233, 2334); and "entering in by the windows" denotes destroying truths and their knowledges which are of the understanding. In Zephaniah: -

Jehovah will stretch out His hands upon the north, and destroy Asshur; herds shall lie down in the midst of her; every wild animal of his kind both the pelican and the osprey, shall pass the night in the pomegranates thereof; a voice shall sing in the windows, drought shall be upon the threshold, because he hath laid bare the cedar (Zephaniah 2:13, 14)

where the destruction of the truths of faith by reasonings, which are " Asshur", is treated of (n. 119, 1186); that a "voice shall sing in the windows" signifies the desolation of truth, thus of the intellectual faculty as to truth.

[3] In the book of Judges: -

Through the window she looked forth, and the mother of Sisera cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? (Judges 5:28)

this is the prophecy of Deborah and Barak concerning the resuscitation of a spiritual church; "looking forth through a window" denotes through the reasonings of those who deny truths and thus destroy what is of the church; for such reasonings are intellectual things in the opposite sense. In Jeremiah: -

Woe unto him that buildeth his house without righteousness, and his chambers without judgment that saith I will build me a roomy house and spacious chambers and cutteth him out windows and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion (Jeremiah 22:13, 14)

"building a house without righteousness, and chambers without judgment" denotes building up a religious system from what is not good and not true. "Righteousness and judgment" are good and truth (n. 2235); "cutting him out windows and ceiling with cedar, and painting with vermilion", denotes falsifying intellectual and spiritual truths. The windows of the temple at Jerusalem represented nothing but that which belongs to intellectual and thus to spiritual things. The like is signified by the windows of the new temple described in (Ezekiel 40:16, 22, 25, 33, 36; 41:16, 26); for anyone can see that in this Prophet the new temple, the new Jerusalem, and the new earth, are nothing else than the Lord's kingdom; thus that the things mentioned in regard to them are such as belong to His kingdom.

3392. And behold Isaac was laughing with Rebekah his woman. That this signifies that Divine good was present in Divine truth, or that Divine good was adjoined to Divine truth, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Divine good of the Lord's rational (n. 3012, 3194, 3210); from the signification of "laughing", as being the love or affection of truth (n. 2072, 2216); and from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Divine truth of the Lord's rational (n. 3012, 3013, 3077). Hence it is evident that "Isaac laughing with Rebekah his woman" signifies that Divine good was present with Divine truth. The sense of the words in the series is that at first spiritual truth is received for the reason that it is called Divine; and afterwards because the Divine is in it, which is clearly seen by those who are being regenerated and are becoming men of the spiritual church. These are they who are meant by "Abimelech;" that is, who are in the doctrine of faith, and look to truths in knowledges (n. 3391).

3393. And Abimelech called Isaac, and said. That this signifies the Lord's perception from doctrine, is evident from the representation of Abimelech, as being the doctrine that looks to rational things (n. 2504, 2509, 2510, 2533, 3391); and from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord's Divine rational; and from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive (n. 1898, 1919, 2080, 2862). And as "Abimelech" signifies that doctrine in which the Divine was now perceived (n. 3392), therefore by Abimelech is also represented the Lord as to that doctrine. For in the supreme sense all things in the Word in both general and particular have relation to the Lord; and the Lord is doctrine itself, that is, the Word, not only as to the supreme sense therein, but also as to the internal sense, and even as to the literal sense, for this sense is representative and significative of the internal sense, and the internal sense is representative and significative of the supreme sense; and that which in the Word is representative and significative is in its essence that which is represented and signified, thus it is the Divine of the Lord; for a representative is nothing but an image of him who is represented and is in an image the Lord Himself presented to view. This may be seen from man's speech, and also from his gesture, these being merely images of the things which come forth within the man, in his thought and will; so that the speech and gesture are the thought and will in form; for if you take away from them the thought and will, that which is left is a mere inanimate affair, thus nothing human. This shows how the case is with the Word, even in the letter, namely, that it is Divine.

3394. Surely behold she is thy woman, and how saidst thou, She is my sister? That this signifies that if Divine truth it was not also rational, is evident from the signification of "woman", here Rebekah, as being the Divine truth of the Lord's Divine rational (n. 3012, 3013, 3077); and from the signification of "sister", as being rational truth (n. 3386); thus "behold she is thy woman, and how saidst thou, She is my sister?" signifies that because truth is Divine, it cannot be rational.

[2] With this arcanum the case is this: The spiritual, not having perception as the celestial have, do not know that with a regenerated man Divine truth becomes rational truth. They do indeed say that all good and all truth are from the Lord; yet as these come forth in their rational, they suppose them to be their own, and thus as it were from themselves; for the spiritual cannot be separated from their own, and their own so wills it; although as regards this matter with the celestial, these perceive Divine good and truth in the rational, that is, in the rational things which when enlightened by the Divine of the Lord are appearances of truth (n. 3368), even in the natural, that is, in the things of sense and memory-knowledge; and as the celestial are in such a state, they are able to acknowledge that all good and truth flow in from the Lord; and also that there is a perceptive power of good and truth that is communicated and appropriated to them by the Lord, and that constitutes their delight, bliss, and happiness. It was from this that the most ancient people, who were celestial men, in all the objects which they saw with their eyes perceived nothing but celestial and spiritual things (n. 1409).

[3] Inasmuch as the regenerated spiritual man is here treated of, who through regeneration from the Lord has received Divine good in a new will, and Divine truth in a new understanding; and inasmuch as such persons are in no other perception than that, as before said, if truth were rational it could not be Divine, thus that if it were Divine it would have nothing in common with what is rational, therefore it is here said that if it was Divine truth it was not also rational. This likewise is the reason why such persons are desirous that the things of faith should be believed in simplicity, without any mental view of them on the part of the rational, not being aware that not anything of faith, not even its deepest secret, is comprehended by any man without some rational idea, and also a natural one, but of what quality he does not know (n. 3310). Hereby they may indeed protect themselves against those who reason about everything from what is negative as to whether it is so (n. 2568, 2588). But to those who are in the affirmative concerning the Word (namely, that it is to be believed) such a position is hurtful, as they may thus take away from anyone his freedom of thought, and even bind the conscience to that which is in the highest degree heretical by in this way dominating both the internal and the external things of a man. This and also the above is what is signified by Abimelech's saying to Isaac, "Behold she is thy woman, and how saidst thou, She is my sister?"

3395. And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, lest I die for her. That this signifies that it would not be received, is evident from what has been said above (n. 3387), at the words, "because he feared to say, She is my woman; lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah". That to "say" signifies to perceive and to think, is better seen here than elsewhere.

3396. Verses 10, 11. And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us, in that one of the people might lightly have lain with thy woman, and thou wouldst have brought guilt upon us? And Abimelech commanded all the people, saying He that toucheth this man and his woman, dying he shall die "And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us", signifies indignation; "that one of the people might lightly have lain with thy woman, and thou wouldst have brought guilt upon us", signifies that Divine truth might have been adulterated and thus profaned; "and Abimelech commanded all the people, saying", signifies a decree " he that toucheth this man and his woman, dying he shall die", signifies that Divine truth and Divine good are not to be opened; and are not even to be approached in faith, on account of the danger of eternal damnation if they should be profaned.

3397. And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? That this signifies indignation, is evident without explication.

3398. That one of the people might lightly have lain with thy woman, and thou wouldst have brought guilt upon us. That this signifies that Divine truth might have been adulterated and thus profaned, is evident from the signification of "lying with", as being to be perverted or adulterated; from the signification of "one of the people", as being some one of the spiritual church (n. 2928); from the signification of "woman" who here is Rebekah, as being Divine truth; and from the signification of "guilt", as being the blame of the profanation of truth; so that by "one of the people might lightly have lain with thy woman, and thou wouldst have brought guilt upon us", is signified that some one of the church might easily have adulterated Divine truth, and have brought upon himself the blame of the profanation of truth. It was said above (n. 3386) that as Abraham twice called his wife Sarah his sister, first in Egypt, and afterwards in Gerar with Abimelech; and that as Isaac in like manner called his woman Rebekah his sister, also with Abimelech; and as these three cases are recorded in the Word, there must be some very deep secret involved thereby. This very secret is seen in the internal sense, namely, that by "sister" is signified rational truth, and by "woman" Divine truth; and this was called rational truth (that is, " sister"), lest Divine truth (here called the "woman" who was Rebekah) should be adulterated, and thus profaned.

[2] In regard to the profanation of truth the case is this: Divine truth cannot possibly be profaned except by those who have first acknowledged it; for when those who have first entered into truth by acknowledgment and belief, and have thus been initiated into it, afterwards recede from it, there continually remains an impression of it stamped within, which is recalled at the same time with the falsity and evil and hence by adhering to these the truth is profaned. Therefore those with whom this is the case have continually in themselves that which condemns them thus their own hell for when the infernals approach a sphere where good and truth are, they are instantly sensible of their own hell, because they come into that which they hold in hatred, consequently into torment. Therefore those who have profaned truth dwell continually with that which torments them, and this according to the degree of the profanation. For this reason it is most especially provided by the Lord that Divine good and truth may not be profaned; and this is provided chiefly by the circumstance that the man who is such that he cannot but profane is withheld as far as possible from the acknowledgment and belief of truth and good; for as before said no one can profane except the man who has first acknowledged and believed.

[3] This was the reason why internal truths were not disclosed to Jacob's descendants the Israelites and Jews, who were not openly told even that there is anything internal in man, thus that there is any internal worship; and scarcely anything was said to them about the life after death, and the Lord's heavenly kingdom; or about the Messiah whom they expected. The reason was that they were of such a character that it was foreseen that if such things had been disclosed to them they could not have helped profaning them, because they desired nothing but earthly things and because that race was of this nature and so remains, it is still permitted that they should be in utter unbelief; for if they had once acknowledged, and had afterwards gone back, they must needs have brought upon themselves the most grievous of all hells.

[4] This was also the reason why the Lord did not come into the world and reveal the internal things of the Word until there was no good whatever remaining with them, not even natural good, for they could then no longer receive any truth with internal acknowledgment (because it is good that receives truth), and therefore they could not profane it. Such was the state meant by the fullness of time", and by the consummation of the age", and also by the last day" so much treated of in the Prophets. It is for the same reason that the arcana of the internal sense of the Word are now being revealed for at this day there is scarcely any faith, because not any charity; thus because it is the consummation of the age and when this is the case, then these arcana can be revealed without danger of profanation, because they are not interiorly acknowledged.

[5] It is for this secret reason that it is related in the Word concerning Abraham and Isaac that when in Gerar with Abimelech they called their wives their sisters. Those can profane who acknowledge, but not those who do not acknowledge, still less those who do not know, (n. 593, 1008, 1010, 1059). What danger there is from a profanation of holy things and of the Word, (n. 571, 582). They who are within the church can profane holy things; but not they who are without the church, (n. 2051). It is provided by the Lord that profanation may not take place, (n. 1001, 2426). Worship becomes external in order to prevent internal worship from being profaned, (n. 1327, 1328). Men are kept in ignorance, lest the truths of faith should be profaned, (n. 301-303).

3399. In the internal sense "to lie with a woman" denotes to pervert and adulterate truth (here truth Divine, because by the "woman" or Rebekah is represented Divine truth, as shown above) is evident from the fact that by "lying with", by adultery", and by harlotry", in the Word, nothing else is signified than perversions of good and falsifications of truth (n. 2466, 2729); and this for the reason that adulteries are diametrically contrary to conjugial love, insomuch that they are destructive of it; and conjugial love is from the marriage of good and truth (n. 2508, 2618, 2727-2759, 3132) and therefore those things which are contrary to good and truth, of which destroy them, are in the Word called "adulteries".

[2] Be it known however that they who are of the spiritual church cannot adulterate good so as to profane it, because they cannot receive good so as to have a perception of it, like the celestial and yet they can profane truth, because this they can acknowledge. But in the last true of the church they cannot even acknowledge truth, because there then universally reigns with them unbelief concerning the Lord, concerning the life after death, and concerning the internal man and an unbelief that universally reigns, prevents the truths of faith from penetrating interiorly. With every one that which is universal limits and hinders such things from entering deeply, both when the man is ignorant of them, and also when he supposes that he believes them.

[3] But they who are capable of profaning good are those of the celestial church, for these can receive good even to perception. This was the case with the antediluvians, who were therefore secluded from all others, and who are confined in a hell separate from the hells of others (n. 1265-1272) and that the profanation of good should not any longer take place is signified by its being said that when man was cast out of Eden, Jehovah caused to dwell at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and the flame of a sword that turned itself, to keep the way of the tree of lives (Gen. 3:24) (n. 308, 310).

3400. That "guilt" denotes the blame or imputation of sin and of transgression against good and truth, is evident from the passages of the Word where "guilt" is mentioned and also described, as in Isaiah: -

It pleased Jehovah to bruise Him, and He hath made Him weak if thou shalt make His soul guilt, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the will of Jehovah shall prosper through His hand (Isa. 53:10)

where the Lord is treated of; to "make His soul guilt" denotes sin imputed to Him, thus blame by those who hated Him and not that in Himself He contracted anything of sin, that He should take it away. In Ezekiel: -

Thou art become guilty through thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in thine idols which thou hast made (Ezek. 22:4)

where "shedding blood" signifies offering violence to good (n. 374, 376, 1005), whence comes guilt. In David: -

They that hate the righteous shall have guilt Jehovah redeemeth the soul of His servants and none of them that trust in Him shall have guilt (Ps. 34:21, 22).

Thus "guilt" denotes all sin which remains its separation by good from the Lord is redemption", which was also represented by the expiation made by the priest when they offered the sacrifice of guilt as we read in (Lev. 6:1-26; 7:1-10; 19:20-22; Num. 5:1-8); where also the kinds of guilt are enumerated, which are as follows: hearing the voice of cursing and not declaring it; touching anything unclean swearing to do evil sinning by mistake concerning the holy things of Jehovah doing any of those things which are forbidden by the commandments; refusing to a neighbor that which was to be kept for him; finding what has been lost, and denying it and swearing to a lie; lying with a woman that is a bondmaid betrothed to a man, not redeemed, neither made free; and all sins committed against a man by committing a trespass against Jehovah.

3401. And Abimelech commanded all the people, saying. That this signifies a decree, is evident from the signification of " commanding", as being to make a decree and from the representation of Abimelech, as being those who are in the doctrine of faith (n. 3392), and in the supreme sense the Lord (n. 3393) and from the signification of "people", as being those who are of the spiritual church (n. 3398) from which it is evident that " Abimelech commanded all the people" signifies a decree from the Lord in the spiritual church. The decree itself is that which follows, namely, that Divine truth and Divine good are not to be opened, and are not even to be approached in faith, from the danger of eternal damnation if They should be profaned. This is the subject next treated of.

3402. He that toucheth this man and his woman, dying he shall die. That this signifies that Divine truth and Divine good are not to be opened, and are not even to be approached in faith, from the danger of eternal damnation if they should be profaned, is evident from the signification of "touching this man and his woman", as being to approach the Divine truth and Divine good which are represented by Isaac and Rebekah. Truth is here mentioned in the first place, and good in the second, because those are treated of who are in the spiritual church, who are able to adulterate and even profane truth, but not good, and for this reason it is said "man and woman" (n. 915, 2517); - and also from the signification of " dying he shall die", as being eternal damnation, which is spiritual death; here, from profanation, which is the subject treated of.

[2] It is of the Lord's providence that no one should be admitted into good and truth - that is, into the acknowledgment and affection thereof - any further than he can remain in them, on account of the danger of eternal damnation, (n. 3398). The case with good and truth, as before stated and shown', is that in a man these betake themselves inward in so far as he is in evil and falsity; consequently that the angels who are with him from heaven in so far retire; and diabolical spirits from hell in so far approach. And the converse also is true. The removal of good and truth, consequently of the angels, from the man who is in evil and falsity is not apparent to him, because he is then in the persuasion that evil is good, and that falsity is truth, and this from the affection of them and the consequent delight; and when he is in this state it is impossible for him to know that good and truth have been removed from him. Good and truth, or the angels, are said to be removed from man when he is not affected by them, that is, when he is no longer delighted with them, but on the contrary is affected by the things that are of the love of self and the love of the world, that is, when these alone delight him.

[3] To know good and truth, that is, to hold them in the memory, and to talk about them, is not to possess them; but to possess them is to be affected by them from the heart; neither does anyone possess good and truth when he is affected by them for the sake of thereby gaining reputation and wealth for in this case he is not affected by good and truth, but by honor and gain, and he makes the former the means of obtaining the latter. In the other life the goods and truths that such persons have known, and have even preached, are taken away from them, and there remains the love of self and of the world, from which is their life. From this it is evident how the case is with good and truth, namely, that no one is allowed to approach them with affection and faith, unless he is of such a character that he can continue in them to the end of his life. But they who profane are those who cannot be withheld from them.

3403. Verses 12-14.And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in that year a hundred measures, and Jehovah blessed him. And the man increased, and went on going and increasing until he became exceeding great. And he had acquisition of flock, and acquisition of herd, and much service; and the Philistines envied him. "And Isaac sowed in that land", signifies interior truths which are from the Lord appearing to the rational; "and found in that year a hundred measures", signifies abundance; "and Jehovah blessed him", signifies as to the good of love therein; "and the man increased, and went on going and increasing until he became exceeding great", signifies successive increase; "and he had acquisition of flock, and acquisition of herd", signifies as to interior good, and as to exterior good; "and much service", signifies the truth therefrom; "and the Philistines envied him", signifies that they who were in the mere memory-knowledge of knowledges did not apprehend.

3404. And Isaac sowed in that land. That this signifies interior truths which are from the Lord appearing to the rational, is evident from the signification of " sowing", as being in the supreme sense Divine truth which is from the Lord who is the sower (n. 3038); and in the internal sense the truth and good with man thence derived (n. 3373); and from the signification of "land", as being the rational things which when enlightened by the Divine are appearances of truth (n. 3368); or what is the same, interior truths which are from the Lord appearing to the rational; which appearances, or which truths, are of a higher degree, being treated of in the internal sense as far as (verse 14). The angels are in these appearances of truth, which are such that they immeasurably transcend the understanding of man during his life in the world.

[2] In order that it may be still more evident what these appearances of truth are, take also the following example. It is known that the Divine is infinite as to being, and eternal as to manifestation, and that the finite is not capable of comprehending the infinite, nor indeed the eternal, for the eternal is the infinite as to manifestation; and as the Divine Itself is infinite and eternal, all things which are from the Divine are also in finite and eternal, and being infinite cannot possibly be comprehended by angels, because these are finite. For this reason the things which are infinite and eternal are presented before the angels in appearances which are finite; but still in such appearances as are very far above the sphere of man's comprehension. For example man cannot possibly have any idea of the eternal except from time; and this being the case, he cannot possibly comprehend what is from eternity, thus what the Divine was before time, or before the world was created. And so long as there is in his thought anything of an idea from time, if he thinks on the subject he must necessarily fall into errors from which he cannot be extricated. but to the angels, who are not in the idea of time, but in the idea of state, it is given to perceive this most clearly, for the eternal with them is not the eternal of time, but the eternal of state, without the idea of time.

[3] Hence it is manifest in what appearances the angels are in comparison with man, and how much their appearances are above those with man; for man cannot have the smallest thought apart from time and space; whereas the angels derive nothing from these; but in their stead from state as to being and as to manifestation. From all this we can see what is the nature of the appearances of truth here treated of, and which are of a higher degree. In what follows, the appearances of truth of a lower degree are treated of in their order, even as they are adapted to mankind.

3405. And found in that year a hundred measures. That this signifies abundance, is evident from the signification of "year", as being the entire state that is treated of (n. 487, 488, 493, 893) from the signification of a "hundred", as being much and full (n. 2636) and from the signification of "measure", as being the state of a thing as to truth (n. 3104). All these things collected into a one signify the abundance of truth. In the supreme sense here, as everywhere, the subject treated of is the Lord - that He too when in the maternal human was in appearances of truth; but that as He put off this human, He put off the appearances also, and put on the infinite and eternal Divine Itself. But in the internal or relative sense the subject is appearances of a higher degree which exist with the angels, as above stated, the abundance of which is signified by the finding in that year of a hundred measures. With appearances of truth, or with truths from the Divine, the case is that such as are of a higher degree immeasurably surpass those which are in a lower degree, both in abundance and in perfection; for myriads, nay, myriads of myriads of things which are distinctively perceived by those who are in a higher degree, appear only as one thing to those who are in a lower degree for lower things are nothing but the composites of higher things, as may be inferred from the memories in man, the interior of which, because in a higher degree, so immeasurably excels the exterior one which is in a lower degree (n. 2473, 2474). From this we can see how great is the angelic wisdom in comparison with that of man; the angels of the third heaven being in the fourth degree above man; concerning which wisdom therefore nothing can be told except that it is incomprehensible, nay, ineffable.

3406. And Jehovah blessed him. That this signifies in respect to the good of love therein, is evident from the signification of "being blessed", as being to be enriched with all celestial and spiritual good (n. 981, 1731, 2846); thus to be "blessed by Jehovah" is to be enriched with celestial good, which is of love, for Jehovah is the very being of love or of good (n. 1735); and therefore where good is treated of, "Jehovah" is named; but where truth is treated of, "God" is named (n. 2586, 2769).

3407. And the man increased, and went on going and increasing until he became exceeding great. That this signifies successive increase, is evident from the signification of "to increase", to "go on going", and to "become exceeding great", as being the successive increasings of good and truth in their order; namely, from truth to good, and from good to truth.

3408. And he had acquisition of flock, and acquisition of herd. That this signifies in respect to interior good and to exterior good (that is, to rational good and to natural good) is evident from the signification of "flock", as being interior or rational good (n. 343, 2566) and from the signification of "herd", as being exterior or natural good (n. 2566). The natural good which is signified "herd", is not that which is born with man, but is that which is procured by means of the knowledges of truth joined to the affection of good for the natural good born with men is in itself a mere animal affair, for it exists also with animals; but the natural good which is acquired, or which is given to man by the Lord, contains in it what is spiritual, so that it is spiritual good in natural. This good is real natural human good, while that which is born with men, although it appears as good, may still not be good, and may even be evil for it may receive falsities, and believe that to be good which is evil. Such natural good exists among nations of the worst life and faith.

3409. And much service. That this signifies the truth thence derived, is evident from the signification of "service", as being all that which is beneath, which is subordinate, and which obeys (n. 1713, 2541, 3019, 3020), thus truth, because this is from good and ministers to good; on which subject much has been said above.

3410. And the Philistines envied him. That this signifies that they who were in the mere memory-knowledge of knowledges did not apprehend, is evident from the signification of "envying", as being here not to apprehend, as is evident from what follows and from the signification of "Philistia", as being the memory-knowledge of knowledges; thus by the "Philistines" are meant those who are in this memory-knowledge (n. 1197, 1198).

3411. Verses 15-17. And all the wells that his father's servants digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped them up, and filled them with dust. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go away from us; for thou art much mightier than we. And Isaac departed thence, and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. "And all the wells that his fathers servants digged in the days of Abraham his father, the philistines stopped them up", signifies that they who were in the memory-knowledge of knowledges were not willing to know interior truths which are from the Divine, and thus obliterated them; "and filled them with dust", signifies by earthly things; "and Abimelech said unto Isaac", signifies the Lord's perception concerning this doctrine; "go away from us for thou art much mightier than we", signifies that they could not endure those truths because of the Divine in them; "and Isaac departed thence", signifies that the Lord left interior doctrinal things; "and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there", signifies that He betook Himself to lower rational things, that is, from interior appearances to exterior ones.

3412. And all the wells that his father's servants digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped them up. That this signifies that they who were in the memory-knowledge of knowledges were not willing to know interior truths which are from the Divine, and thus obliterated them, is evident from the signification of "wells", as being truths (n. 2702, 3096), here, interior truths which are from the Divine, inasmuch as the wells by which truths are signified are said to have been digged by his father's servants in the days of Abraham his father, for by Abraham is represented the Lord's Divine Itself (n. 2011, 2833, 2836, 3251, 3305); from the signification of "stopping up", as being not to be willing to know, and thus to obliterate; and from the representation of the Philistines, as being those who are solely in the memory-knowledges of knowledges (n. 1197, 1198).

[2] Appearances of truth of a lower degree are now treated of, in which they may be who are in the memory-knowledge of knowledges, and who are here meant by the "Philistines". With interior truths which are from the Divine, and which are obliterated by those who are called "Philistines", the case is this In the Ancient Church and afterwards, those were called "Philistines" who applied themselves little to life, but much to doctrine, and who in process of time even rejected the things which are of life, and acknowledged as the essential of the church the things which are of faith, which they separated from life; consequently who made light of the doctrinal things of charity, which in the Ancient Church were the sum and substance of doctrine, and thus obliterated them, and instead thereof vaunted much the doctrinal things of faith, and made the whole of religion to consist in these; and inasmuch as thereby they departed from the life which is of charity - that is, from the charity which is of life - they pre-eminently were called the "uncircumcised;" for by the "uncircumcised" were signified all who were not in charity, however much they might be in doctrinal things (n. 2049).

[3] Those who thus departed from charity removed themselves also from wisdom and intelligence; for no one can be wise and intelligent in regard to truth unless he is in good, that is, in charity, because all truth is from good, and looks to good; so that they who are without good cannot understand truth, and are not even willing to know it. In the other life, when such persons are far from heaven, there sometimes appears with them a snowy light; but this light is like that of winter, which being devoid of heat produces no fruit; and therefore when such persons draw near to heaven their light is turned into mere darkness, and their minds are plunged into the like, that is, into stupor. From all this it can now be seen what is meant by the statement that those who are in the mere memory-knowledge of knowledges were not willing to know interior truths which are from the Divine, and thus obliterated them.

3413. And filled them with dust. That this signifies by means of earthly things, that is, by the loves of self and of gain, is evident from the signification of "dust", as being that which is of this nature (n. 249). The meaning is that those called "Philistines" (that is, those who are not in life but in doctrine) obliterate interior truths by earthly loves, which are the love of self and of gain; from these loves they were called the "uncircumcised" (n. 2039, 2044, 2056, 2632). For they who are in these loves cannot but fill the wells of Abraham with dust (that is, obliterate the interior truths of the Word by earthly things), because from these loves they cannot possibly see spiritual things (that is, the things which are of the light of truth from the Lord) for these loves induce darkness, and darkness extinguishes this light. For as before said (n. 3412), on the approach of the light of truth from the Lord, they who are in doctrine only, and not in life, are in total darkness and stupor, and even become angry, and in every way busy themselves to dissipate truths; for the love of self and of gain is of such a nature that it cannot endure the near approach of anything of truth from the Divine. Nevertheless such persons can glory and take pride in the fact that they know truths, nay, they preach them from a kind of zeal; but it is the fires of those loves that kindle and arouse them, and their zeal is merely a fervor thence derived, as is sufficiently evident from the fact that they can preach against their own veriest life with a like zeal or fervor. These are the earthly things by which the Word itself, which is the fountain of all truth, is blocked up.

3414. And Abimelech said unto Isaac. That this signifies the Lord's perception concerning that doctrine, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive; from the representation of Abimelech, who here is the king of the Philistines, as being that doctrine (n. 3365, 3391) and from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord in respect to the Divine rational.

3415. Go away from us; for those art much mightier than we. That this signifies that they could not endure interior truths because of the Divine therein, is evident from the signification of "to go away from us", as being not to endure the presence; and from the signification of his being "much mightier", as being on account of his opulence; here, on account of the Divine that was in interior truths. They who are called "Philistines" cannot endure the presence of good, thus not the presence of the Divine, (n. 3413).

3416. And Isaac departed thence. That this signifies that the Lord left interior truths, is evident from the signification of "departing thence", as being to leave; here, to leave interior truths, because these are here treated of; and from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord as to the Divine rational. That the Lord leaves interior truths, signifies that He does not open them to persons of such a character; for there are everywhere in the Word internal truths; but such persons as are in the memory-knowledge of knowledges, and not at the same time in life, do not when reading the Word even see these truths; as is evident from the fact that they who make faith the essential of salvation do not attend to those things which the Lord so frequently spake concerning love and charity (n. 1017, 2371) and they who do attend, call such things the fruits of faith, which fruits they thus distinguish, nay, separate, from charity, of the nature of which they are ignorant. Thus the posterior things of the Word appear to them, but not the anterior things; that is, the exterior things, but not the interior; and to see what is posterior or exterior without seeing what is anterior or interior is to see nothing of the Divine. This is what is meant by the Lord's leaving interior truths, which is signified by Isaac's departing thence; not that the Lord leaves them, but that they remove themselves from the Lord, because from those things which are of life.

3417. And encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. That this signifies that He betook Himself to lower rational things, that is, from interior appearances to exterior, is evident from the signification of "encamping", as being to dispose into order; and from the signification of the "valley of Gerar", as being lower rational things, or exterior appearances of truth, for a "valley" signifies lower, or what is the same, exterior things (n. 1723), and "Gerar" those which are of faith, thus which are of truth (n. 1209, 2504, 3365, 3384, 3385); and from the signification of "dwelling", as being to be and to live (n. 3384); so that by his "encamping in the valley of Gerar and dwelling there", is signified that the Lord so disposed truths that they might be adapted to the comprehension and genius of those also who are not much in life, but in the doctrinal things of faith; as may be seen from the Word, where also truths are thus adapted.

[2] For example: they who are in doctrinal things, and not so much in life, do not know otherwise than that the heavenly kingdom is similar to kingdoms on earth, in that men become great by ruling over others, this delight being the only one with which they are acquainted, and which they prefer to every other delight; and therefore the Lord spake in the Word according to this appearance, as in Matthew: -

Whosoever shall do and teach, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 5:19);

and in David: -

I said, Ye are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High (Psalms 82:6; John 10:34, 35).

And because even the disciples themselves had at first no other opinion respecting the heavenly kingdom than that of greatness and preeminence, as on earth - as is evident in (Matthew 18:1; Mark 9:34; Luke 9:46) - and also had an idea of sitting on the right hand and the left of a king (Matt. 20:20, 21, 24; Mark 10:37), therefore also the Lord replied according to their apprehension and their spirit, saying, when there was a contention among them as to which of them should be greatest: -

Ye shall eat and drink at My table in My kingdom; and shall sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Luke 22:30; Matt. 19:28);

for at that time they did not know that heavenly delight is not the delight of greatness and pre-eminence, but is the delight of humiliation and of the affection of serving others; thus of desiring to be least, and not greatest; as the Lord teaches in Luke: -

Whosoever is least among you all, the same shall be great (Luke 9:48).

[3] Thus they who are in the memory-knowledge of knowledges, and not in the life of charity, cannot know that there is any other delight than that which results from pre-eminence; and because this is the only delight that is seated in their minds, and makes all their life, therefore they are utterly ignorant of the heavenly delight that results from humiliation and the affection of serving others - that is, the delight of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor - consequently of the blessedness and happiness thence derived. This is the reason why the Lord spoke in adaptation to their Infirmity, that thereby they might be aroused and introduced to good, so as to learn, and to teach, and to do it. At the same time He teaches the nature of greatness and preeminence in heaven (Matt. 19:30; 20:16, 25-28; Mark 10:31, 42-45; Luke 9:48; 13:30; 22:25-28). These and the like are the appearances of truth of a lower degree; for they do become relatively great, pre-eminent, powerful, and of authority, seeing that a single angel has greater power than myriads of infernal spirits, get not from himself, but from the Lord; and he has it from the Lord in the proportion that he believes that he has no power from himself, thus that he is the least; and this he can believe in so far as he is in humiliation and in the affection of being of service to others, that is, in so far as he is in the good of love to the Lord, and of charity toward the neighbor.

3418. Verse 18. And Isaac returned, and digged again the wells of waters which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; add the Philistines stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he called their names after the names which his father called them. "And Isaac returned, and digged again the wells of waters which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father", signifies that the Lord opened those truths which were with the ancients; "and the Philistines stopped them up after the death of Abraham", signifies that they who were in the mere memory-knowledge of knowledges denied those truths; "and he called their names", signifies their quality; "after the names which his father called them", signifies significatives of truth.

3419. And Isaac returned, and digged again the wells of waters which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father. That this signifies that the Lord opened those truths which were with the ancients, is evident from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord as to the Divine rational, concerning which above; from the signification of "returning and digging again", as being to open again; from the signification of "wells of waters", as being the truths of knowledges. "Wells" are truths (n. 2702, 3096); and "waters" are knowledges, (n. 28, 2702, 3058); and from the signification of "the days of Abraham his father", as being a previous time and state as to truths, which truths are signified by the wells which they digged at that time, thus the truths which were with the ancients. "Days" signify time and states, (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893). When "days" signify states, then by Abraham the father is represented the Lord's Divine Itself before He adjoined to it the Human (n. 2833, 2836, 3251); when they signify time, then by Abraham the father are signified the goods and truths which were from the Lord's Divine before He adjoined to it the Human, thus the goods and truths which were with the ancients.

[2] The truths which were with the ancients are at this day wholly obliterated, insomuch that scarcely anyone knows that they ever existed, and that they could be any other than what are taught at this day, when yet they were totally different. The ancients had Representatives and Significatives of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, thus of the Lord Himself; and they who understood such representatives and significatives were called the wise; and they were wise, for thereby they were able to speak with spirits and angels. For when angelic speech (which is incomprehensible to man because spiritual and celestial) descends to man, who is in a natural sphere, it falls into representatives and significatives such as are in the Word, and hence it is that the Word is a holy writing; for in order to a full correspondence that which is Divine cannot be presented in any other way before the natural man.

[3] And as the ancients were in representatives and significatives of the Lord's kingdom, in which there is nothing but celestial and spiritual love, they had also doctrinal things that treated solely of love to God and of charity toward the neighbor; and by virtue of these doctrinal things they were called the wise. From these doctrinal things they knew that the Lord would come into the world, and that Jehovah would be in Him, and that He would make the human in Himself Divine, and would thus save the human race. From these doctrinal things they also knew what charity is, namely, the affection of being of service to others without any end of recompense; and also what is the neighbor toward whom there should be charity, namely, all in the universe, but still each with discrimination. At this day these doctrinal things are utterly lost, and in place of them there are doctrinal things of faith, which the ancients accounted as relatively nothing. At the present day the doctrinal things of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor are rejected, in part by those who in the Word are called "Babylonians and Chaldeans", and in part by those who are called "Philistines" and also "Egyptians;" and thus are so completely lost that there remains scarcely any trace of them. For who at the present day knows what that charity is which is devoid of all regard for self, and which is averse to everything that is for the sake of self? And who knows that the neighbor is every one, with discrimination according to the kind and amount of good in him? thus that he is good itself, consequently in the supreme sense the Lord Himself, because He is in good, and good is from Him, and the good which is not from Him is not good, however much it may appear to be so? And because it is not known what charity is, and what the neighbor, it is not known who they are that in the Word are signified by the "poor", the "miserable", the "needy", the "sick", the "hungry" and "thirsty", the "oppressed", "widows", "orphans", "captives", the "naked", "sojourners", the "blind", the "deaf", the "halt", "maimed", and other's when yet the doctrinal things of the ancients taught who these were, and to what class of the neighbor, and thus of charity, each belonged. The whole of the Word in the sense of the letter is written in accordance with these doctrinal things, so that he who has no knowledge of them cannot possibly know any interior sense of the Word.

[4] As in Isaiah: -

Is it not to break bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the afflicted that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the dawn, and thy healing shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee, the glory of Jehovah shall gather thee (Isa. 58:7, 8).

He who lays stress on the sense of the letter believes that if he merely gives bread to the hungry, takes into his house the poor outcasts or wanderers, and covers the naked, he will on this account come into the glory of Jehovah, or into heaven when yet these are mere outward acts, and even the wicked may do them for the sake of self-merit; but by the "hungry, the "afflicted", the "naked", are signified those who are spiritually such, thus different states of misery in which the man may be who is the neighbor, and toward whom charity is to be exercised.

[5] In David: -

He that executeth judgment for the oppressed; that giveth bread to the hungry; Jehovah looseth the prisoners; Jehovah openeth the eyes of the blind; Jehovah raiseth up them that are bowed down; Jehovah loveth the righteous; Jehovah guardeth the sojourners; He upholdeth the fatherless and widow (Ps. 146:7-9);

where by the "oppressed", the "hungry", the "prisoners", the "blind;" the "bowed down", the "sojourners", the "fatherless" and "widow", are not meant those who are commonly so called, but those who are such in respect to spiritual things, that is, in respect to their souls. Who these were, and in what state and degree they were neighbors, thus what charity was to be exercised toward them, was taught by the doctrinal things of the ancients. It is the same everywhere else in the Old Testament; for when the Divine descends into what is natural with man, it descends into such things as are works of charity, with discrimination according to genera and species.

[6] The Lord also spoke in like manner, because He spoke from the Divine Itself, as in Matthew: -

Then shall the King say unto thee on His right hand, Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you; for I was a hungered, and ye gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in; naked, and ye clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison, and ye came unto Me (Matthew 25:34-36).

By the works here recounted are signified the universal genera of charity; and in what degree are the goods or the good men who are the neighbors toward whom charity is to be exercised and that in the supreme sense the Lord is the neighbor, for He says: -

Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye did it unto Me (Matthew 25:40).

From these few examples it may be seen what is meant by the truths with the ancients. But that these truths are altogether obliterated by those who are in the doctrinal things of faith, and not in the life of charity, that is, by those who in the Word are called "Philistines", is signified by the Philistines stopping up the wells after the death of Abraham, which is the subject next treated of.

3420. And the Philistines stopped them up after the death of Abraham. That this signifies that they who were in the mere memory-knowledge of knowledges denied those truths, is evident from the signification of "stopping up", as being not to be willing to know, and what is the same, to deity and thus to obliterate them (n. 3412); and from the representation of the Philistines, as being those who are in the mere memory-knowledge of knowledges (n. 1197, 1198, 3412, 3413). Those are in the memory-knowledge of knowledges who are in the doctrinal things of faith and are not willing to know the truths of knowledges or of doctrinal things. The truths of knowledge or of doctrinal things are those which are of life, and which have regard to charity toward the neighbor and love to the Lord. The doctrine to which these doctrinal things and knowledges pertain, merely teaches them and therefore the man who teaches what ought to be done, and does not do it, is not willing to know truths, because they are contrary to his life and that which is contrary to his life he also denies. It is from these causes that the doctrinal things of love and charity, which in the Ancient Church were the whole of doctrine, are obliterated.

3421. And he called their names. That this signifies their quality, is evident from the signification of "calling names", as being the quality (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3237); and as "to call names" or "a name" signifies the quality, therefore "to call" without a name being mentioned, in the internal sense of the Word signifies to be of such a quality. As in Isaiah: -

Hear ye this O house of Jacob who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the Waters of Judah. For they call themselves of the city of holiness, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel (Isa. 48:1, 2);

where "calling themselves of the city of holiness" signifies being of such a quality. Add in Luke: -

Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus; He shall be great, and shall he called the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:31, 32);

"to be called the Son of the Most High" denotes being.

3422. After the names which his father called them. That this signifies significatives of truth, is evident from the fact that the names which in ancient times were given to persons, places, and things, were all significative (n. 340, 1946, 2643); thus the names given to fountains and wells were significative of the things that were formerly understood by fountains and wells, and which had relation to truth (n. 2702, 3096) and because names were significative, by "name" also, and by "calling by name" is signified in general the quality of either a thing or a state (n. 3421); and this being so, by the names in the Word, in its internal sense, is not signified any person, or any nation, or any kingdom, or any city, but always some actual thing. That by "wells" in this passage there is signified something heavenly must be obvious to every one for unless this were so, to mention so many particulars concerning wells would not be worthy of the Divine Word, because it would be of no use to know them; as for instance that the Philistines stopped up the wells which the servants of Abraham digged that Isaac digged them again, and that he called their names after their former names and afterwards that the servants of Isaac digged a well in the valley about which the shepherds strove; and that they digged again another well about which they also strove; and afterwards another about which they did not strive; and again another; and lastly that they told Isaac about a new well (verses 15, 18-22, 25, 32, 33); but the heavenly signification of these wells is now manifest from the internal sense.

3423. Verses 19-21. And the servants of Isaac digged in the valley, and found there a well of living waters. And the shepherds of Gerar strove with Isaac's shepherds, saying, The waters are ours; and he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. And they digged another well, and they strove over that also, and he called the name of it Sitnah. "And the servants of Isaac digged in the valley, and found there a well of living waters", signifies the Word as to the literal sense in which is the internal sense; "and the shepherds of Gerar strove with Isaac's shepherds", signifies that they who taught did not see any such thing therein, because the senses appear opposed; "saying, The waters are ours", signifies that they are in the truth; "and he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him", signifies denial on these accounts as well as on others, in being against the teachers, and on account of other things besides; "and they digged another well, and they strove over that also", signifies the internal sense of the Word, as to whether it has any existence; "and he called the name of it Sitnah", signifies their quality.

3424. And the servants of Isaac digged in the valley, and found there a well of living waters. That this signifies the Word as to the literal sense in which is the internal sense, is evident from the signification of "digging in the valley", as being to make search lower down in respect to where truths are; for to "dig" is to search, and a "valley" denotes what is below (n. 1723, 3417); and from the signification of a well of living waters", as being the Word in which are truths Divine, thus the Word as to the literal sense in which is the internal sense. That the Word is called a "fountain", and indeed a fountain of living waters", is well known but the reason why the Word is also called a "well", is that the sense of the letter is relatively such and also because relatively to those who are spiritual the Word is not a "fountain", but a "well" (n. 2702, 3096). As a "valley" denotes that which is below, or what is the same, that which is exterior, and the fountain was found in a valley, and the literal sense is the lower or exterior sense of the Word, therefore it is the literal sense which is meant but because the internal sense, that is, the heavenly and Divine sense, is within this, therefore the waters thereof are called "living;" as were also the waters that went forth under the threshold of the new house, in Ezekiel: -

And it shall come to pass that every living creature that creepeth, to which the river there comes, shall live and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters are come thither and are healed, and everything liveth whithersoever the river cometh (Ezek. 47:9);

where the "river" is the Word; the "waters which cause everything to live" are the Divine truths contained in it; the "fish" are memory-knowledges (n. 40, 991).

[2] That the Word of the Lord is such that it gives life to him that thirsteth, that is, to him that desireth life, and that it is a "fountain whose waters are living", the Lord also teaches in John when speaking to the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well: -

If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water. Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life (John 4:10, 14).

That the Word is living and therefore gives life, is because in its supreme sense the Lord is treated of, and in the inmost sense His kingdom, in which the Lord is all; and this being the case, there is in the Word life itself, which flows into the minds of those who read the Word with reverence; hence it is that in respect to the Word that is from Himself the Lord declares Himself to be a "fountain of water springing up unto eternal life" (n. 2702).

[3] That just as the Lord's Word is called a "fountain", so is it also called a "well", is evident in Moses: -

Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well, answer ye unto it: the princes digged the well; the chiefs of the people digged it for the lawgiver with their staves (Num. 21:17, 18).

These words were spoken at the "place Beer", that is, at the "place of the well". That by "well" here is signified the Word of the Ancient Church, spoken of above (n. 2897), is evident from what is there said; "princes" are primary truths that are the source. "Princes" signify primary truths, (n. 1482, 2089). The "chiefs of the people" are lower truths, such as are those contained in the literal sense (n. 1259, 1260, 2928, 3295). The "lawgiver" is the Lord. "Staves" denote the powers which they possessed.

3425. And the shepherds of Gerar strove with Isaac's shepherds. That this signifies that they who taught did not see any such thing therein because the senses appeared opposed, is evident from the signification of "disputing", when the internal sense of the Word is concerned, as being to deny it to be such by saying that they do not see it; and from the signification of "shepherds", as being those who teach (n. 343) and from the signification of "Gerar", as being faith (n. 1209, 2504, 3365, 3384); thus "the shepherds of the valley of Gerar" denote those who acknowledge only the literal sense of the Word. The reason why they see no such thing that is, no interior sense, is that the two appear opposite, namely, what is in the internal sense, and what is in the literal sense. But their appearing to be opposite does not prove that they are so, for they wholly correspond; and the reason they appear opposite is that they who see the Word so are in what is opposite;

[2] just as in the case of a man who is in opposition within himself, that is, whose external or natural man is in entire disagreement with his internal or spiritual man. Such a man sees that which is of the internal or spiritual man as opposed to himself, when yet in respect to the external or natural man, he himself is in that which is opposed; and if he were not in this, so that his external or natural man yielded obedience to the internal or spiritual man, the two would wholly correspond. For example: the man who is in what is opposed believes that in order to his reception of eternal life riches are to be renounced, as well as all the pleasures of the body and of the world, thus the delights of life; such things being supposed to be opposed to spiritual life, whereas in themselves they are not so, but correspond, because they are means to an end, namely, that the internal or spiritual man may enjoy them so as to be able to perform the goods of charity, and also may live content in a healthful body. The ends alone are what cause the internal man and the external either to be opposed or to correspond; they are opposed when the riches, pleasures, and delights here spoken of become the ends, for in this case the spiritual and celestial things which are of the internal man are despised and derided, nay, are rejected; but they correspond when such things are not made ends, but means to higher ends, namely, to those things which belong to the life after death, thus to the heavenly kingdom and the Lord Himself. In this case bodily and worldly things appear to the man as scarcely anything in comparison; and when he thinks about them, he values them only as means to ends.

[3] From this it is evident that the things which appear opposed are not opposed in themselves; but they appear so because men are in what is opposed. They who are not in what is opposed, act, speak, and acquire riches, and also enjoy pleasures, similarly as do those who are in what is opposed, insomuch that in the outward appearance they can scarcely be distinguished from each other. The reason is that their ends alone are what distinguish them; or what is the same, their loves; for loves are ends. But although in the outward form, or as to the body, they appear alike, yet in the inward form, or as to the spirit, they are utterly unlike. The spirit of one who is in correspondence - that is, with whom the external man corresponds to the internal is fair and beautiful, such as is heavenly love in form; but the spirit of one who is in what is opposed - that is, with whom the external man is opposed to the internal - however great may be the outward resemblance to the other, is black and ugly, such as is the love of self and of the world, that is, such as is contempt of others and hatred in form.

[4] The case is the same with a host of things in the Word; that is to say, the things in the literal sense appear opposed to those in the internal sense; when yet they are by no means opposed, but wholly correspond. For example: it is frequently said in the Word that Jehovah or the Lord is angry, is wroth, destroys, and casts into hell; when yet He is never angry, and still less does He cast anyone into hell. The former is of the sense of the letter, but the latter is of the internal sense; and these appear opposed, but this is because the man is in what is opposed. In the same way the Lord appears as a sun to the angels who are in heaven, and thence as vernal warmth, and as light at day-dawn; but to the infernals He appears as something quite opaque, and thence as wintry cold, and as midnight darkness. Consequently to the angels He appears in love and charity, but to the infernals in hatred and enmity; thus to the latter according to the sense of the letter that He is angry, is wroth, destroys, and casts into hell; but to the former according to the internal sense that He is never angry and wroth, and still less destroys and casts into hell; so that when things are being treated of in the Word that are contrary to the Divine, it is inevitable that they should be presented in accordance with the appearance. Moreover it is the Divine which the wicked change into what is diabolical that works in this way; and therefore in so far as they approach the Divine, so far they cast themselves into infernal torments.

[5] The case is the same with the Lord's words in the prayer: "Lead us not into temptation". The sense according to the letter is that He leads into temptation; but the internal sense is that He leads no one into temptation, as is well known (n. 1875). The same is true of all other things that belong to the literal sense of the Word.

3426. Saying, the waters are ours. That this signifies that they are in truth, or that they have truths, is evident from the signification of "waters", as being knowledges, and also truths (n. 28, 680, 739, 2702, 3058).

3427. And he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. That this signifies denial on these accounts as well as on others, in being against the teachers, and on account of other things besides, is evident from the fact that the names which were given of old were significative of the actual thing or state (n. 3422); whence they were enabled to bear in mind many things concerning these, especially in regard to their quality. In the present case, as the shepherds of Gerar disputed with the shepherds of Isaac, a name was given to the well from this circumstance. That disputing" or "contending" signifies also denying, may be seen above (n. 3425) hence comes the name "Esek", which in the original tongue means "contention" or "dispute", and is derived from a kindred word which means oppression and injury. And because by "well" here is signified the Word as to the literal sense in which is the internal sense, by "Esek", or " contention", is signified a denial of the internal sense of the Word. The causes of the denial are also contained in the same expression, and are manifestly those things treated of just above (n. 3425), namely, that the literal and spiritual senses appear opposed; and also other things besides.

[2] As regards the internal sense of the Word, the case is this: They who are in the mere memory-knowledge of knowledges and are called "Philistines", and they who are in the mere doctrinal things of faith, who are called "shepherds of the valley of Gerar", and are in no charity toward the neighbor, cannot possibly do otherwise than deny that there is an internal sense of the Word. The principal causes are that in their hearts they do not acknowledge the Lord, although they profess Him with the mouth; and also that at heart they do not love the neighbor, although they profess love toward him; and he who does not at heart acknowledge the Lord, and at heart love the neighbor, cannot possibly do otherwise than deny the internal sense of the Word for the Word in its internal sense treats of nothing else than love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor; and therefore the Lord says that on these two commandments hang the Law and the Prophets, that is, the whole Word (Matt. 22:37-40). How greatly these deny the internal sense of the Word has also been given me to see from such persons in the other life, for when the existence of an internal sense of the Word that does not appear in its literal sense, and that treats of love to the Lord and the neighbor, is merely mentioned in their presence, there is perceived not only denial by them, but also aversion, and even loathing. This is the primary cause of this denial.

[3] Another cause is that they altogether invert the Word by setting that above which is beneath, or what is the same, by setting that before which is behind; for they make faith to be the essential of the church, and the things which are of love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor to be the fruits of faith; when yet the truth is that if love to the Lord is compared to the tree of life in the paradise of Eden, charity and its works are the fruits therefrom, and faith and all things of faith are only the leaves. As therefore they so invert the Word as to derive the fruits not from the tree but from the leaves, it is not surprising that they deny the internal sense of the Word and acknowledge only its literal sense; for from the literal sense any dogma, even the most heretical, can be confirmed, as is well known.

[4] Moreover they who are in the mere doctrinal things of faith and not in the good of life, cannot but be in persuasive faith, that is, in preconceived principles, false as well as true. Consequently they must be more stupid than others, for in so far as anyone is in persuasive faith, so far he is stupid; but in so far as anyone is in the good of life (that is, in love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor), so far he is in intelligence, that is, in faith from the Lord. Hence also it is that the former must needs be in the negative as regards the internal sense of the Word; but the latter must needs be in the affirmative for with those who are merely in doctrinal things, and not in the good of life, the interiors are closed, so that the light of truth from the Lord cannot flow in and give them to perceive that it is so; whereas with those who are in love to the Lord the interiors are Lord can flow in, affect their minds, and give a perception that it is so.

[5] A further cause is that they have no other delight in reading the Word than that they may thus acquire honors and riches, and thereby reputation, which delight is the delight of the love of self and of the world; and this to such a degree that if they do not obtain from it such advantages, they will entirely reject the Word. They who are such, in their heart not only deny the internal sense of the Word when they hear of it, but also the literal sense itself, however much they may suppose that they believe it. For he who has as his end the delight of the love of self and of the world, completely casts out of his heart everything pertaining to eternal life; and only from his natural and corporeal man makes a profession of such things, which he calls truths not for the sake of the Lord and His kingdom, but for the sake of the Lord and His kingdom, but for the sake of himself and his own. These and many other things cause those called "shepherds of the valley of Gerar", and "Philistines", to deny the internal sense of the Word.

3428. And they digged another well, and they strove over that also. That this signifies the internal sense of the Word as to whether there is such a thing, is evident from the signification of "another well", and of "striving", thus from the series; for when those who deny anything, as for instance those who deny the internal sense of the Word, again strive or contend, it must needs be as to whether it has any existence. It is known that most disputes at this day go no further; but so long as men remain in debate as to whether a thing is, and whether it is so, they can never advance into anything of wisdom; for in the thing itself concerning which they debate there are innumerable things which they can never see so long as they do not acknowledge that thing, because in this case they are all the time ignorant of everything that belongs to it.

[2] The learning of the present day scarcely passes the point of debating whether a thing has any existence, and whether it is thus, or thus; the result of which is that men are shut out from the understanding of truth. For example: he who merely disputes whether there is an internal sense of the Word can never see the innumerable, nay, illimitable things which are in the internal sense and again, he who disputes whether charity is anything in the church, and whether all things of this are not of faith, cannot possibly know the innumerable, nay, illimitable things which are in charity, but remains in complete ignorance of what charity is.

[3] The like is the case with the life after death, with the resurrection of the dead, with the last judgment, with heaven and with hell - they who merely debate whether these things exist, stand meanwhile outside the doors of wisdom, and are like persons who merely knock, and cannot even look into wisdom's magnificent palaces. And yet strange to say such men believe themselves to be wise in comparison with others, and that they are wise in proportion to their ability to debate whether a thing be so, and specially to prove that it is not so; when yet the simple who are in good, and whom they despise, can perceive in a moment, without any dispute, much more without learned controversy, that the thing is, and what is its quality. These have a common sense of the perception of truth, whereas the former have extinguished this sense by such methods, in desiring first of all to discuss whether the thing has any existence. The Lord speaks both of the former and of the latter when He says that things are hidden from the wise and intelligent, and revealed unto babes (Matt. 11:25; Luke 10:21).

3429. And he called the name of it Sitnah. That this signifies their quality, is evident from the signification of "calling a name", as denoting the quality (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3421); and from the signification of "Sitnah", as being in the original tongue "antagonism", which is a further degree of denial.

3430. Verses 22, 23. And he removed from thence, and digged another well, and for this they strove not; and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now Jehovah hath made us to be enlarged, and we shall be fruitful in the land. And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. "And he removed from thence", signifies to things still lower; "and digged another well, and for this they strove not", signifies the literal sense of the Word; "and he called the name of it Rehoboth" signifies the consequent quality as to truth; "and he said, For now Jehovah hath made us to be enlarged", signifies the successive increase of truth therefrom; "and we shall be fruitful in the land", signifies the successive increase of good therefrom; "and he went up from thence to Beer-sheba", signifies that from this the doctrine of faith was Divine.

3431. And he removed from there. That this signifies to things still lower, is evident from the signification of removing", as being to other things that follow in the series; here therefore to lower or exterior truths, because hitherto higher or interior truths have been treated of in order. Lower or exterior truths are those which appear in the literal sense of the Word, adapted to the apprehension of the natural man. These truths are now to be treated of.

3432. And digged another well, and for this they strove not. That this signifies the literal sense of the Word, is evident from the signification of a "well", as being the Word (n. 2702, 3096, 3424), here, the Word as to the literal sense, for it is said that he "removed from thence, and digged another well, and for this they strove not", by which is signified that sense of the Word which is more exterior, and which they do not deny; and it is this which is called the literal sense. The literal sense of the Word is threefold; namely, historical, prophetical, and doctrinal, each of which is such that it may be apprehended even by those who are in externals.

[2] As regards the Word the case is this: In the most ancient time, when the celestial church existed, the Word was not, because the men of that church had the Word inscribed on their hearts; for the Lord taught them immediately through heaven what was good, and thence what was true, and gave them both to perceive from love and charity, and to know from revelation. To them the veriest Word was the Lord. After this church another succeeded that was not celestial but spiritual, and at first this church had no other Word than that which had been gathered from the most ancient people which Word was representative of the Lord, and significative of His kingdom thus the internal sense was to them the very Word. They had also a written Word, both historic and prophetic, which is no longer extant; and in this there was in like manner an internal sense, which had relation to the Lord, (n. 2686). Hence it was the wisdom of that time both to speak and to write by representatives and significatives; within the church concerning Divine things, and out of the church concerning other things; as is evident from the writings of those ancient people which remain with us. But in process of time this wisdom perished, to such a degree that at last they did not know that there was any internal sense even in the books of the Word. The Jewish and Israelitish nation was of the character here referred to, and accounted the prophetic Word holy from the fact that it sounded ancient, and they heard the name Jehovah in the sense of the letter; and they did not believe that anything Divine was deeply hidden within it; nor does the Christian world think any more reverently of the Word.

[3] From this we can see how in succeeding time wisdom retired from inmost things to outermost; and that man had removed himself from heaven, and had at last descended even to the dust of the earth, wherein he now places wisdom. As it has fared thus with the Word, so that its internal sense has been successively obliterated, and at this day to such a degree that it is not known that there is such a sense, when yet this sense is the veriest Word in which the Divine proximately dwells, therefore its successive states are described in this chapter.

3433. And he called the name of it Rehoboth. That this signifies the consequent quality as to truth, is evident from the signification of "calling a name", as denoting the quality (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006, 3421); and from the signification of "Rehoboth", as being truths, for in the original tongue "Rehoboth" means "breadths", and that in the internal sense of the Word "breadths" denote truths, was shown above (n. 1613).

3434. And he said, For now Jehovah hath made us to be enlarged. That this signifies the successive increase of truth therefrom, is evident from the signification of "breadth", as being truth, concerning which see just above (n. 3433); hence "to be enlarged" is to receive successive increase of truth.

3435. And we shall be fruitful in the land. That this signifies the successive increase of good therefrom, is evident from the signification of "being fruitful", as being successive increase of good. "To be fruitful" is predicated of good, and "to be multiplied" of truth, (n. 43, 55, 913, 983, 2846, 2847). And from the signification of "land", as being the church, and whatever is of the church (n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2928, 3355).

3436. And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. That this signifies that from this the doctrine of faith was Divine, is evident from the signification of "Beer-sheba", as being the doctrine of faith, which is Divine (n. 2723, 2858, 2859). The doctrine of faith, which is here signified by " Beer-sheba", is the very literal sense of the Word, for the Word is doctrine itself; and although the Word as to the literal sense is such that truths may be drawn from it, it is also such that things not true may be confirmed from it, as is well known from the existence of heresies. But he who reads the Word in order to be wise, that is, to do what is good and understand what is true, is instructed according to his end and affection; for unknown to him the Lord flows in and enlightens his mind, and where he is at a loss, gives understanding from other passages.

[2] moreover the man who is in simple good, and in simplicity believes the Word according to its literal sense, when instructed in the other life by angels is gifted with the faculty of perceiving truths; and in the meantime the few truths he has are vivified by charity and innocence; and when these are in the truths, the falsities which also had infused themselves in the shade of his ignorance are not hurtful, for they are not adjoined to good, but are withheld therefrom as it were in the circumference, and thus can be easily cast out. Very different however is the case with those who are not in the good of life, for with them the falsities which by a wrong interpretation they have hatched from the Word hold as it were the middle or center, and truths the surroundings or circumferences; and therefore falsities are adjoined to the evil of their life and truths are dispersed.

3437. Verses 24, 25. And Jehovah appeared to him in that night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, and I will bless thee, and will multiply thy seed, for the sake of Abraham My servant. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of Jehovah, and pitched his tent there, and there the servants of Isaac digged out a well. "And Jehovah appeared to him in that night, and said", signifies the Lord's perception concerning that obscurity; "I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee", signifies that the Divine also was there; "and I will bless thee, and will multiply thy seed", signifies that thence would be increase of good and truth; "for the sake of Abraham My servant", signifies from the Lord's Divine Human; "and he builded an altar there", signifies a significative and representative of the Lord; "and called upon the name of Jehovah", signifies worship thence "and pitched his tent there", signifies what is holy therein; "and there the servants of Isaac digged out a well", signifies doctrine thence derived.

3438. And Jehovah appeared to him in that night, and said. This signifies the Lord's perception concerning that obscurity, which is evident from the signification of "Jehovah appearing and saying", when predicated of the Lord, as being to perceive from the Divine. By "Jehovah appearing to him" is signified from the Divine, (n. 3367); and "saying" denotes perceiving, (n. 2862, 3395); for Jehovah was in Him; thus so long as the human was not yet glorified, the appearing of Jehovah was Divine perception, or perception from the Divine; and therefore by "Jehovah appearing to him and saying" this is signified; - and from the signification of "night", as being a state of shade or obscurity (n. 1712). By this obscurity is signified the literal sense of the Word, for relatively to the internal sense this is as shade to light.

[2] A few words shall be said in order that it may be further known how the case is with the literal sense of the Word. Relatively to the literal sense, the internal sense is like the interior or celestial and spiritual things of a man relatively to his exterior or natural and bodily things, his interiors being in the light of heaven, and his exteriors in the light of the world. What the difference is between the light of heaven and the light of the world, consequently between what is of the light of heaven and what is of the light of the world, may be seen above (n. 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 1783, 1880, 2776, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3225, 3337, 3339, 3341, 3413), namely, that it is like the difference between the light of day and the shade of night. Man, being in this shade, and not being willing to know that in truth from the Lord there is light, cannot believe otherwise than that his shade is light, and also on the other hand that the light is shade; for he is like a bird of night, which as it flies in the shade of night thinks that it is in the light but when in the light of day, that it is in the shade. For with such a person the internal eye (that is, the understanding), by which man sees interiorly, has been formed no differently than this, because he has not formed it differently; for he opens it when he looks downward, that is, to worldly and bodily things, and shuts it when he should look upward, that is, to spiritual and heavenly things. With such persons the case is the same in respect to the Word that which appears in its literal sense they believe to be of light; but that which appears in the internal sense they believe to be of shade (for the Word appears to every one in accordance with his quality) the fact being that relatively to its literal sense the internal sense of the Word is as the light of heaven to the light of the world (n. 3086, 3108); that is, as the light of day to the light of night.

[3] In the internal sense there are singulars, myriads of which together make one particular that is presented in the literal sense or what is the same, in the internal sense there are particulars, myriads of which together make in the literal sense one general; and it is this general that is seen by man, but not the particulars which are in it and which constitute it. Nevertheless the order of the particulars in the general is apparent to man, but in accordance with his quality; and this order is the holiness that affects him.

3439. I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee. That this signifies that the Divine also was therein, namely, in the literal sense of the Word, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord's Divine (n. 2833, 2836, 3251, 3305); hence Jehovah the "God of Abraham" signifies the Lord's Divine which is represented by Abraham; and because the subject treated of is the Word, which also is the Lord, because all the Word is from Him and everything of the Word is concerning Him, therefore by "I am the God of Abraham thy father, fear not, for I am with thee" is signified that the Divine also is therein. As regards the Divine in the Word, the case is this: The Divine Itself is in the supreme sense of the Word, because therein is the Lord the Divine is also in the internal sense, because therein is the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, and hence this sense is called celestial and spiritual the Divine is also in the literal sense of the Word, because therein is the Lord's kingdom in the earths; hence this sense is called the external, and also the natural, sense, for in it are gross appearances more remote from the Divine and yet the things therein are each and all Divine. With these three senses the case is as with the tabernacle: its inmost, or what was within the veil, where was the ark containing the testimony, was most holy, or the holy of holies; its internal, or what was immediately without the veil, where were the golden table and candlestick, was holy; and the external, where the court was, was also holy; in it the congregation assembled, and hence it was called the tent of the assembly.

3440. And I will bless thee, and will multiply thy seed. This signifies that thence would be an increase of good and truth, which is evident from the signification of "blessing thee", as being an increase of good (n. 3406); and from the signification of "multiplying thy seed", as being an increase of truth (n. 43, 55, 913, 983, 2846, 2847). "Seed" denotes truth, of which "multiplying" is predicated, (n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 2848, 3038, 3373, 3380). That there is an increase of good and truth with man from the literal sense of the Word also, is that in this sense also each and all things are Divine, as just stated (n. 3439), and also because in many passages of the literal sense the internal sense is open as for instance in the Prophets of the Old Testament that the Lord would come who would be the salvation of the human race; that the whole Law and Prophets consist in loving God and the neighbor and that "to kill" is to bear hatred, because the man who hates kills every moment, this being in his will and in the delight of his life. These are of the internal sense in the literal sense, besides many other such things.

3441. For the sake of Abraham My servant. That this signifies from the Lord's Divine Human, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord's Divine, and also the Divine Human (n. 2833, 2836, 3251); and from the signification of "My servant", when predicated of the Lord, as being the Divine Human; not that the Divine Human is a servant, because this also is Jehovah (n. 1736, 2156, 2329, 2921, 3023, 3035), but because the Lord by this serves the human race; for by this man is saved, inasmuch as unless the Lord had united the Human to the Divine, so that man might be enabled with his mind to look upon and adore the Human of the Lord and thus have access to the Divine, He could not possibly have been saved. The conjunction of man with the Divine Itself which is called the "Father" is through the Divine Human which is called the "Son;" thus through the Lord, by whom the spiritual man understands the Human, but the celestial man the Divine Itself. Hence it is evident why the Divine Human is called a "servant", namely, because it serves the Divine, in order that man may have access thereto, and because it serves mankind for their salvation.

[2] This then is what is signified by "Abraham My servant", as also in David: -

Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders and the judgments of His mouth, O ye seed of Abraham His servant, ye sons of Jacob, His chosen ones. He sent Moses His servant, Aaron whom He hath chosen. He remembered the word of His holiness with Abraham His servant (Ps. 105:5, 6, 26, 42);

where by "Abraham His servant" is meant the Lord as to the Divine Human. In like manner also the Lord as to the Divine Human is meant in the supreme sense by "Israel His servant", by "Jacob His servant", and by "David His servant;" by Israel His servant, in Isaiah: -

Thou Israel My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham My friend; thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the wings thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art My servant, I have chosen thee (Isa. 41:8, 9);

where "Israel My servant" in the supreme sense is the Lord in respect to the internal things of the spiritual church and "Jacob", as to the external things of this church. Again: -

He said unto me, Thou art My servant Israel, in whom I will be glorified. It is a light thing that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved of Israel; and I have given thee for a light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth (Isa. 49:3, 6);

where "Israel, in whom I will be glorified", manifestly represents the Lord's Divine Human. That He is called servant" from serving, is manifest, for it is said, "that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved of Israel".

[3] That the Lord as to His Divine Human is meant also by "Jacob My servant", is evident in the following passage from Isaiah: -

I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, for Jacob My servants sake, and Israel My chosen (Isa. 45:3, 4);

where by "Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen" is meant the Lord, ""Jacob My servant" having respect to the external things of the church, and "Israel My chosen" to the internal things of the church.

[4] The same is also signified by "David My servant" in Ezekiel: -

I will gather the sons of Israel from every side. My servant David shall be king over them; there shall be to them all one shepherd. They shall dwell upon the land which I have given unto Jacob My servant, and they shall dwell therein, they and their sons and their sons' sons even forever; and David My servant shall be their prince forever (Ezek. 37:21, 24, 25).

"David My servant" plainly denotes the Lord's Divine Human (n. 1888), and this from Divine truth, which is signified by "king", and here by "David" (n. 1728, 2015, 3009). That truth itself also is relatively a servant, may be seen above (n. 3409); and because it is so, the Lord Himself calls Himself one that serveth" or ministereth", in Mark: -

Whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister; and whosoever would be first among you shall be servant of all. For the Son also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister (Mark 10:43-45; Matt. 20:26-28).

And in Luke: -

Which is the greater, he that reclineth at meat, or he that ministereth? Is not he that reclineth at meat? But I am in the midst of you as he that ministereth (Luke 22:27).

3442. And he builded an altar there. That this signifies a significative and representative of the Lord, is evident from the signification of an "altar", as being the principal representative of the Lord (n. 921, 2777, 2811).

3443. And called upon the name of Jehovah. That this signifies worship thence, is evident from the signification of "calling on the name of Jehovah", as being worship (n. 440, 2724); and that the "name of Jehovah" is everything in one complex whereby the Lord is worshiped (n. 2628, 2724, 3006).

3444. And pitched his tent there. That this signifies what is holy therein, is evident from the signification of "tent", as being the holy of worship (n. 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 3312).

3445. And there the servants of Isaac digged out a well. That this signifies doctrine therefrom, is evident from the signification of a "well", as being the Word (n. 2702, 3424); and because the Word is doctrine itself, and thus all the doctrine which is of the church is from the Word, to "dig out a well" signifies doctrine therefrom, namely, from the literal sense of the Word, because this sense is here treated of. But doctrine itself from the literal sense of the Word is one only, namely, the doctrine of charity and love - of charity toward the neighbor and of love to the Lord; for this doctrine and life according to it is the whole Word, as the Lord teaches in (Matt. 22:37-40).

3446. Verses 26, 27. And Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his companion, and Phicol the captain of his army. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore are ye come unto me, and ye have hated me, and have sent me away from you? "And Abimelech went to him from Gerar", signifies the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things; "and Ahuzzath his companion, and Phicol the captain of his army", signifies the primaries of the doctrine of their faith; "and Isaac said unto them, Wherefore are ye come unto me, and ye have hated me, and have sent me away from you?" signifies why should they desire the Divine, seeing that they denied it, and were opposed to that which is in the internal sense of the Word.

3447. And Abimelech went to him from Gerar. That this signifies the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things, is evident from the representation of Abimelech, as being the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things (n. 2504, 2509, 2510, 3391, 3393, 3397); and from the signification of "Gerar", as being faith (n. 1209, 2504, 3365, 3384, 3385); what the doctrine is that looks to rational things, may be seen above (n. 3368). In this passage, and as far as (verse 33), they are treated of who are in the literal sense of the Word and from this in the doctrinal things of faith and also the agreement of their doctrinal things with the internal sense in so far as they are from the literal sense. Abimelech and Ahuzzath his companion, and Phicol the chief captain of his army, represent these doctrinal things they are such as make faith the essential, not indeed rejecting charity, but making it secondary, and thus setting doctrine before life. Our churches at this day are almost all of this character, except that which is in Christian gentilism, where it is permitted to adore saints and their idols.

[2] As in every church of the Lord there are those who are internal men and those who are external, and the internal are those who are in the affection of good, and the external those who are in the affection of truth; so also with those who are here represented by Abimelech, his companion, and the chief captain of his army - the internal are those treated of above (Gen. 21:22-33), where it is said of Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army that they came to Abraham and made a covenant with him in Beer-sheba (n. 2719, 2720); but the external are those here treated of.

3448. And Ahuzzath his companion, and Phicol the captain of his army. That this signifies the primaries of the doctrine of their faith, is evident from the representation of Abimelech, as being the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things; hence "his companion and the captain of his army" signify these primaries, and indeed the primaries which are of doctrine; for a "captain", like a "prince", signifies the things that are primary (n. 1482, 2089); and an "army" signifies the doctrinal things themselves. That an "army" signifies the doctrinal things that are of truth, or that are lower truths, is because by "warfare" in the Word, and by "war", are signified the things that are of spiritual warfare and war (n. 1664, 1788, 2686); as also by "arms", such as spears", "shields", "bows", "arrows", "swords", and the like, as has been shown elsewhere. And because it is truths or doctrinal things by means of which spiritual combats are waged, therefore by "armies" these are signified; and also in the opposite sense things false or heretical.

[2] That both are signified in the Word by "armies", may be seen from many passages as in Daniel: -

One horn of the he-goat grew exceedingly toward the south, and toward the sunrise, and toward beauty. And it grew even to the army of the heavens, and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them. Yea, it magnified itself, even to the Prince of the army. His army was given over with the continual sacrifice to transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground. I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said, How long shall be this vision, the continual sacrifice, and the transgression that wasteth, to give both the sanctuary and the army to be trampled down? (Daniel 8:9-13);

the "horn which grew toward the south, toward the sunrise, and toward beauty", is the power of falsity from evil (n. 2832) the "armies of the heavens" are truths; the "Prince of the army" is the Lord as to Divine truth; and because in a good sense an "army" is truth, it is said that the horn "east down of the army to the ground", and afterwards that it "cast truth to the ground".

[3] Again: -

The king of the north shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and he shall come on at the end of the times of years, coming with a great army, and with much substance. And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south, with a great army and the king of the south shall war in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they that eat of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow; and many shall fall down slain (Daniel 11:13, 25, 26).

The subject of this whole chapter is the war between the king of the north and the king of the south; and by the "king of the north" are meant falsities, as also by his "army;" and by the "king of the south" and his "army" are meant truths: it is a prophecy of the vastation of the church.

[4] In John: -

I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true. He was clothed in a garment dipped in blood. And his armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army (Rev. 19:11, 13, 14, 19);

"he that sat upon the white horse" denotes the Lord's Word, or the Lord as to the Word (n. 2760-2762); "his armies in heaven that followed him" denote the truths therefrom, consequently those in heaven who are in truths; the "beast" denotes the evils of the love of self; the "kings of the earth and their armies" denote falsities. The combats of falsity with truth are what are here described.

[5] In David: -

By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the army of them by the breath of His mouth (Ps. 33:6);

the "army of them", or of the heavens, denotes truths. Because truths are signified by an "army", the sons of the kingdom and the angels, from the truths in which they are, are called the "army of the heavens", as in Luke: -

Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God (Luke 2:13).

In David: -

Bless Jehovah, all ye His armies, ye ministers of His that do His will (Ps. 103:21).

Again: -

Praise ye Him all His angels; praise ye Him all His army (Ps. 148:2).

In Isaiah: -

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these; He that bringeth out their army by number. He calleth them all by name; of the multitude of the powerful and of the mighty not a man is lacking (Isa. 40:26).

Again: -

I have made the earth and created man upon it; I, My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their army have I commanded (Isa. 45:12);

where the "army of the heavens" denotes truths, thus the angels, because they are in truths, as has been shown.

[6] In the first book of Kings: -

I saw Jehovah sitting on His throne, and all the army of the heavens standing by Him on His right hand and on His left (1 Kings 22:19).

In Joel: -

Jehovah uttereth His voice before His army; for His camp is very great; for he is strong that doeth His word (Joel 2:11).

In Zechariah: -

I will encamp about My house against the army that passeth through and returneth, and no exactor shall pass through them any more. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; make a loud noise, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold thy King cometh unto thee (Zechariah 9:8, 9);

where the coming of the Lord is treated of; His "army" denotes truths Divine. It is from this and also because the Lord alone fights for man against the hells which are in the continual effort to assault him, that in the Word the Lord is so often called Jehovah Zebaoth", "God Zebaoth", the " Lord Zebaoth", that is, "of armies", as in Isaiah: -

The voice of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together; Jehovah Zebaoth mustereth the army for the battle (Isa. 13:4);

"the kingdoms of the nations" denote falsities from evils; "mustering the army for the battle" denotes fighting for man.

[7] Inasmuch as the twelve tribes of Israel represented the Lord's heavenly kingdom, and "tribes" and likewise "twelve" signified all things of faith in one complex, that is, all truths of the kingdom (n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272), therefore also they were called the "armies of Jehovah;" as in (Exodus 7:4; 12:17, 41, 51); and it was commanded that they should be brought out of Egypt "according to their armies" (Exod. 6:26); and should mete out the camp "according to their armies" (Num. 1:52); and should be distributed into their "armies" (Read Numbers 3).

[8] That by "armies" are signified truths, is evident also in Ezekiel: -

Persia and Lud and Put were in thine army, thy men of war; they hanged the shield and the helmet in thee, they set forth thine honor; the sons of Arvad and thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadim were in thy towers (Ezek. 27:10, 11);

speaking of Tyre, by which are signified the interior knowledges of good and truth, and thus those who are therein (n. 1201); "army" denotes the truths themselves; that "Lud and Put" are also those who are in knowledges may be seen above (n. 1163, 1164, 1166, 1195, 1231); "shield and helmet" are such things as pertain to spiritual combat or war.

[9] That in the opposite sense "armies" signify falsities, is manifest in Isaiah: -

It shall come to pass in that day that Jehovah shall visit upon the army of the height in the height, and upon the kings of the earth upon the earth (Isa. 24:21);

where the " armies of the height" denote falsities from the love of self. In Ezekiel: -

I will bring thee back, and put hooks in thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them completely clad, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords. Thou shalt come from thy place out of the sides to the north, thou and many peoples with thee, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army (Ezek. 38:4, 15);

speaking of Gog, by whom is signified external worship separate from internal, thus become idolatrous (n. 1151); his "army" denotes falsities.

[10] In Jeremiah: -

I will send against Babylon him that bendeth, bending his bow, and lifting up himself in his coat of mail; spare ye not her young men, give to the curse all her army (Jer. 51:2, 3);

"Babylon" denotes worship the externals of which appear holy, but the interiors are profane (n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1306-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326); "her army" is the falsities of such profane interiors, as in like manner the "army of Babylon" in other passages (Jer. 32:2; 34:1, 21; 39:1). In Ezekiel: -

Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword. For I will put the terror of Me in the land of the living (Ezek. 32:31, 32);

speaking of Egypt, by which are signified those who pervert truths by reasonings from memory-knowledges (n. 1164, 1165); "his army", or the army of Pharaoh, denotes falsities therefrom the like is also signified by the "army of Pharaoh" in other passages (Jer. 37:5, 7, 11; 46:2; Ezek. 17:17). In Luke: -

When ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand (Luke 21:20);

where the consummation of the age is treated of, or the last time of the church, when there is no longer any faith. That by "Jerusalem" is signified the church, see above (n. 2117), which is "compassed with armies" when it is beset by falsities.

[11] Hence it is evident that by the "armies of the heavens" which the Jews and idolaters adored, in the internal sense were signified falsities, concerning which in the second book of Kings: -

They forsook all the commandments of their God, and made them a molten image, even two calves, and made a grove, and bowed themselves down to all the army of the heavens (2 Kings 17:16).

This is said of the Israelites and in another place it is written concerning Manasseh that: -

He built altars for all the army of the heavens (2 Kings 21:5);

and again that: -

Josiah the king brought forth out of the temple all the vessels made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the army of the heavens (2 Kings 23:4);

and in Jeremiah, that: -

They should bring out the bones of the princes, of the priests, and of the prophets, and should spread them before the sun and the moon, and all the army of the heavens, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked (Jeremiah 8:1, 2).

And again: -

The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be unclean like Tophet, as to all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the army of the heavens, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods (Jeremiah 19:13).

And in Zephaniah: -

I will stretch out Mine hand against them that worship the army of the heavens upon the roofs (Zephaniah 1:4, 5);

for it is principally the stars that are called the "army of the heavens;" and that by the "stars" are signified truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, may be seen above (n. 1128, 1808).

3449. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore are ye come unto me, and ye have hated me, and have sent me away from you? That this signifies why should they desire the Divine seeing that they denied it and were opposed to that which is in the internal sense of the Word, is evident from what has been said above at (verses 15, 16, 19-21).

3450. Verses 28, 29. And they said, Seeing we have seen that Jehovah was with thee; and we said, Now let there be an oath between us, between us and thee, and let us cut out a covenant with thee. If thou shalt do evil to us, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace; thou art now the blessed of Jehovah. "And they said, Seeing we have seen that Jehovah was with thee", signifies that they knew the Divine was therein; "and we said, Now let there be an oath between us, between us and thee, and let us cut out a covenant with thee", signifies that regarded in themselves the doctrinal things of their faith should not be denied; "if thou shalt do evil to us, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace", signifies that they have not done violence to the internal sense of the Word, and that they would not do violence to it; "thou art now the blessed of Jehovah", signifies that it was from the Divine.

3451. And they said, Seeing we have seen that Jehovah was with thee. That this signifies that they knew the Divine was therein, is evident from the signification of "seeing to see", as being to observe and thus know for certain; and from the signification of "Jehovah being with thee", as being that the Divine was therein. The subject here, as before said (n. 3447), is the agreement of the literal sense of the Word with the internal sense; consequently the agreement therewith of the doctrinal things of faith, which are signified by "Abimelech, Ahuzzath, and Phicol;" in so far as they are from the literal sense of the Word; thus also the conjunction of the Lord's kingdom on earth with His kingdom in the heavens and consequently with the Lord, by the Word. For the Word as to the supreme sense is the Lord Himself; and as to the internal sense it is the Lord's kingdom itself in the heavens; and as to the literal sense it is the Lord's kingdom itself on earth, as also before said.

[2] But as regards the Lord's kingdom on earth, that is, His church, the case is that inasmuch as it has its doctrinal things from the literal sense of the Word, it cannot but be various and diverse in respect to these doctrinal things that is to say, one society will profess one thing to be a truth of faith, because it is so said in the Word, and another society will profess another thing, also because it is so said; and so on. Consequently, as the Lord's church has its doctrinal things from the literal sense of the Word, it will everywhere differ, and this not only as to societies, but sometimes as to the individuals in a society. Nevertheless a difference in the doctrinal things of faith does not prevent the church from being one, provided there is unanimity as to willing well and doing well.

[3] For example if anyone should acknowledge as a matter of doctrine that charity is from faith, and at the same time lives in charity toward the neighbor, then indeed he is not in truth as to doctrine, but still he is in truth as to life; consequently there is in him the Lord's church or kingdom. And again if anyone should say that good works ought to be done in order that he may have recompense in heaven, according to the literal sense of the Word in (Matt. 10:41, 42; 25:34-46); and in other places and yet in doing good works never thinks of merit, he in like manner is In the Lord's kingdom, because as to life he is in the truth; and because he is such as to life, he readily suffers himself to be instructed that no one can merit heaven, and that works wherein merit is placed are not good. And so in other cases. For the literal sense is such that in many passages it appears opposed to itself; but the reason is that in this sense there are appearances of truth accommodated to those who are in externals, consequently to those who are also in worldly and even in bodily loves.

[4] Here therefore by "Abimelech" those are treated of who are in the doctrinal things of faith, and who as before said are such as make faith that which is essential to salvation; and there is also treated of the agreement of their, doctrinal things with the internal sense; with whom also it is evident that conjunction is effected, but only with those who are in good, that is, with those who, although they make faith essential as to doctrine, still make charity essential as to life; for when with such there is confidence or trust in the Lord, which they call faith itself, then they are in the affection of love to the Lord, consequently as to life they are in good. But see what was said and shown above on this subject, namely: That what is doctrinal does not make the church, but charity (n. 809, 916, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844): That doctrinal things are of no account unless men live according to them (n. 1515): That the church is various as to truths, but is one through charity (n. 3267): That there is a parallelism between the Lord and man as to celestial things which are of good, but not as to spiritual things which are of truth (n. 1831, 1832): That there is one only doctrine, namely, that of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor (n. 3445): That the church would be one if all had charity, although they differed as to worship and doctrinal things (n. 809, 1285, 1316, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 2982): That the church would be like the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, if all had charity (n. 2385): That in heaven there are innumerable varieties of good and truth, but that by harmony they nevertheless make a one, like the organs and members of the body (n. 684, 690, 3241).

3452. And we said, Now let there be an oath between us, between us and thee, and let us cut out a covenant with thee. That this signifies that regarded in themselves the doctrinal things of their faith should not be denied, that is, in so far as they are from the literal sense of the Word, is evident from the signification of "all oath between us", as being the agreement of the doctrinal things with the literal sense of the Word; from the signification of "between us and thee", as being the agreement with the internal sense; and from the signification of "let us cut out a covenant", as being that thus there might be conjunction. A "covenant" is conjunction, (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 2003, 2021). The sense hence resulting is that because this is the case, regarded in themselves the doctrinal things of their faith should not be denied; for as before said no doctrinal things whatever are denied provided they are from the Word, for they are accepted by the Lord provided that he who is in them is in the life of charity, because with this life all things of the Word can be conjoined; but the interior things of the Word are conjoined with the life which is in the interior good of charity. See what has been stated and adduced above (n. 3224).

3453. If thou shalt do evil to us, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace. This signifies that they had not done violence to the internal sense of the Word, and they would not do violence to it, which may be seen from the series of things in the internal sense, and from what was said at (verses 11, 22, 23).

3454. Thou art now the blessed of Jehovah. That this signifies that it was from the Divine, is evident from the signification of "the blessed of Jehovah", when said concerning the Lord - or what is the same, concerning the internal sense of the Word, for the Lord is the Word - as being Divine truth (n. 3140), thus from the Divine therefore that they had not done violence to, and would not do violence to the internal sense, because it was from the Divine. But to do violence to the internal sense is to deny those things which are the principal things of this sense, and which are the essential holy things of the Word; and these are, the Divine Human of the Lord, love to Him, and love toward the neighbor. These three are the principal things of the internal sense, and are the holy things of the Word; they are also the internal and holy things of all doctrinal things that are from the Word; and are likewise the internal and holy things of all worship; for in them is the Lord's kingdom itself. A fourth is, that the Word, as to all things therein both in general and in particular, nay, as to the smallest point, is Divine; thus that the Lord is in the Word. This is also confessed and acknowledged by all who have doctrinal things from the Word; and yet at heart those deny it who acknowledge no other holiness in the Word than that which appears in the letter; for such can perceive nothing holy in the historicals, nor in the propheticals, except only a slight external something, from its being called holy; when yet it must be interiorly holy if it he Divine as to the smallest point.

3455. Verses 30, 31. And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. And they rose early in the morning, and sware a man to his brother; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. "And he made them a feast", signifies a dwelling together; "and they did eat and drink", signifies communication; "and they rose early in the morning", signifies a state of enlightenment "and sware a man to his brother", signifies confirmation with those who are in the good of truth; "and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace", signifies that they were content.

3456. And he made them a feast. That this signifies a dwelling together, is evident from the signification of a" feast", as being a dwelling together (n. 2341).

3457. And they did eat and drink. That this signifies communication, is evident from the signification of "eating", as being to be communicated in respect to the things that are of good (n. 2187, 2343, 3168); and from the signification of "drinking", as being to be communicated in respect to the things that are of truth (n. 3089, 3168).

3458. And they rose early in the morning. That this signifies a state of enlightenment, is evident from the signification of " morning", and of " rising early", as being a state of enlightenment for in the supreme sense the " morning and daydawn" are the Lord, and- in the internal sense the celestial of His love, thus also a state of peace (n. 2333, 2405, 2540, 2780); and in the internal sense "to rise" signifies elevation (n. 2401, 2785, 2912, 2927, 3171); from all which it is evident that their "rising early in the morning" signifies a state of enlightenment,

3459. And they sware a man to his brother. That this signifies confirmation with those who are in the good of truth, is evident from the signification of "swearing", or of an "oath", as being confirmation (n. 2842, 3037, 3375); and from the signification of "a man with his brother", as being the good of truth, or what is the same, those who are in this good. "Man" signifies truth (n. 265, 749, 1007, 3134, 3309); and a "brother" signifies good, (n. 2360); also what the good of truth is, (n. 3295, 3332). Those are in this good who are here represented by Abimelech, or who are represented by the Philistines, of whom Abimelech was king, namely, those who make faith the essential of the church, and place it before charity. They who are such are in no other good than the good of truth, for they elicit and draw forth from the Word nothing but what is of faith, thus what is of truth, and scarcely see what is of good, thus what is of life, Therefore they confirm themselves in doctrinal things of faith, but not in any doctrinal things of charity. When these do good, it is from the doctrinal things of faith, and the good thence is what is called the good of truth,

[2] With those who are in this good the Lord conjoins Himself, but not so much as with those who are in the good of charity; for love and charity are spiritual conjunction, and not faith except through love and charity; and because this is so, it is not said that they "made a covenant with Isaac", but that they "sware a man to his brother;" for a "covenant" is predicated of good, which is of love and charity; but an "oath" of truth, which is of faith (n. 3375); "dwelling together", which is signified by a "feast" (n. 3456) is also predicated of those who are in the good of truth. From those of this character in the other life it has been given me to know that they are separate from those who are in the good of charity for these are more closely conjoined with the Lord than the former, whose good is so to speak hard, does not suffer itself to be bent, is not communicative, thus is not in heaven, but upon the threshold of heaven.

3460. And Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. That this signifies that they were content, is evident without explication and from this also it is evident that with these there was a dwelling together, but not conjunction; concerning which just above (n. 3459).

3461. Verses 32, 33. And it came to pass in that day that the servants of Isaac came and showed him concerning the well which they had digged; and they said unto him, We have found waters. And he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day. "And it came to pass in that day", signifies that state; "that the servants of Isaac came", signifies things rational; "and showed him concerning the well which they had digged; and they said unto him, We have found waters", signifies interior truths by means of these things; "and he called it Shibah", signifies the conjunction of confirmed truth thereby; "therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba", signifies the quality of the derivative doctrine; unto this day", signifies the perpetuity of the state.

3462. And it came to pass in that day. That this signifies that state, is evident from the signification of "day,"as being state (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788); here, the state of the doctrine which is treated of.

3463. That the servants of Isaac came. That this signifies rational things, is evident from the signification of "servants", as being rational things and memory-knowledges (n. 2567) and from the representation of Isaac, as being the Lord as to the Divine rational (n. 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630, 3012, 3194, 3210). From what goes before it is evident what of the Lord is here represented by Isaac, namely, the Word as to its internal sense; for by "Abimelech, Ahuzzath, and Phicol", are signified the doctrinal things of faith which are from the literal sense of the Word, such as are the doctrinal things of those who are called "Philistines" in a good sense, that is, those who are solely in the doctrinal things of faith, and as to life are in good, but in the good of truth, which doctrinal things have some conjunction with the internal sense, thus with the Lord,

[2] For they who are solely in the doctrinal things of faith, and in a life according to them, are in a certain conjunction, but a remote one, for the reason that they do not know from any affection what charity toward the neighbor is, and still less what love to the Lord is, but only from a certain idea of faith; thus neither are they in any perception of good, but in a species of persuasion that what their doctrinal things dictate is true and thus good, and when they are confirmed in these doctrinal things, they may be in what is false equally as in what is true for nothing but good confirms a man in regard to what is truth. Truth indeed teaches what good is, but without perception whereas good teaches what truth is from perception.

[3] Every one may know how this is, and also what is the nature and quality of the difference, merely from this common precept of charity: -

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them (Matt. 7:12).

He who acts from this precept does indeed do what is good to others, but because it is so commanded, thus not from the affection of the heart; and whenever he does it, he begins from himself, and also in doing good thinks of merit; whereas he who does not act from precept, but from charity, that is, from affection, acts from the heart, and thus from freedom; and whenever he acts, he begins from really willing what is good, thus for the reason that it is delightful to him; and as he has recompense in the delight, he does not think of merit,

[4] From this then can be seen what the difference is between doing good from faith, and doing good from charity; and that those who do good from faith are more remote from good itself which is the Lord than those who do it from charity; neither can the former be easily introduced into the good of charity so far as to have a perception of it, because they are but little in truths for no one can be introduced into this good unless things not true are first eradicated, which is impossible while such things are inrooted even to persuasion.

3464. And showed him concerning the well which they had digged; and they said, We have found waters. That this signifies interior truths by means of these things, is evident from the signification of a "well", as being the Word (n. 3424); and from the signification of "waters", as being truths (n. 2702), that is, truths which are from the Word; thus to " show him concerning the well which they had digged", signifies concerning the Word from which they had doctrinal things "and they said, Me have found waters", signifies that in them, that is, in the doctrinal things, there were interior truths. For as before said, there are interior truths in all the doctrinal things that are drawn from the literal sense of the Word, because the literal sense of the Word is like a well that contains water; for in each and everything of the Word there is an internal sense, which is also in the doctrinal things that are from the Word.

[2] As regards the doctrinal things that are from the literal sense of the Word, the case is this: When a man is in them, and at the same time in a life according to them, he has a correspondence in himself; for the angels who are with him are in interior truths, while he is in exterior ones, and thus through the doctrinal things he has communication with heaven, but according to the good of his life. As for example, when in the Holy Supper he thinks in simplicity of the Lord from the words then used - " This is My body, and this is "My blood" the angels with him are in the idea of love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; for love to the Lord corresponds to the Lord's body, and to bread and charity toward the neighbor corresponds to the blood, and the wine (n. 1798, 2165, 2177, 2187); and because there is such a correspondence, there flows an affection out of heaven through the angels into that holy state in which the man then is, which affection he receives in accordance with the good of his life.

[3] For the angels dwell with every one in his life's affection, thus in the affection of the doctrinal things according to which he lives; but in no case if his life disagrees therewith; for if the life disagrees, as for instance if he is in the affection of gaining honors and riches by means of doctrinal things, then the angels retire, and infernals dwell in this affection, who either infuse into him confirmations of the doctrinal things for the sake of self and the world, thus a persuasive faith - which is such that it is regardless whether a thing is true or false provided it captivates the minds of others - or else they take away all faith, and then the doctrine of his lips is only a sound excited and modified by the fire of these loves.

3465. And he called it Shibah. That this signifies the conjunction of confirmed truth by means of these things, is evident from the signification of "calling by name", as being the quality (n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 3421) and that "names" thus signify a thing or state, (n. 1946, 2643, 3422), here therefore the conjunction of confirmed truth by means of doctrinal things for in the original tongue " Shibah" means "an oath", which signifies confirmation (n. 2842, 3375). That is called the conjunction of confirmed truth, when interior truths conjoin themselves with exterior truth, which are doctrinal things from the literal sense of the Word. That with such persons there is conjunction by means of the truths which are of faith, and not so much by means of the goods which are of charity, was stated above (n. 3463).

3466. Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba. That this signifies the quality of the doctrine thence derived, is evident from the signification of "name", as being the quality (n. 3465); and from the signification of "city" as being doctrine (n. 402, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216); hence comes " Beer-sheba", which in the original tongue means "the well of the oath", thus the doctrine of confirmed truth. "Beer-sheba" is doctrine (n. 2723, 2858, 2859). In (Gen. 21:30, 31), it is said: - Because these seven ewe-lambs shalt thou take from my hand, that it may be a witness unto me that I have digged this well. Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba, because there they sware both of them; where by "Beer-sheba" was signified the state and quality of doctrine, that it was from the Divine, and that by means of it there was conjunction; and because the interiors of that church are there treated of, it is said that "that place" was called Beer-sheba; whereas here, because the exteriors of that church are treated of, it is said that "the city" was so called; for of interior things is predicated state, which is signified by "place" (n. 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387); but of exterior things is predicated doctrine, which is signified by "city;" for all doctrine has its state and its quality from its interiors.

3467. Unto this day. That this signifies the perpetuity of the state, is evident from the signification of "unto this day", as being perpetuity of state (n. 2838).

3468. Verses 34, 35. And Esau was a son of forty years, and he took for a woman Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah. "And Esau was a son of forty years", signifies a state of temptation as to the natural good of truth; "and he took for a woman Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite", signifies the adjunction of natural truth from another source than from genuine truth itself; "and they were bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah", signifies that from this source there at first came grief.

3469. And Esau was a son of forty years. This signifies a state of temptation as to the natural good of truth, which is evident from the representation of Esau, as being the natural good of truth (n. 3300, 3302, 3322) and from the signification of " forty years", as being states of temptation. "Forty" signifies temptations, (n. 730, 862, 2272); and "years" signify states, (n. 487, 488, 493, 893). The reason why these things concerning Esau are joined to what has been related concerning Abimelech and Isaac, is that those are treated of who are in the good of truth, that is, who are in life according to things that are derived from the literal sense of the Word; for these are signified by " Abimelech, Ahuzzath, and Phicol", as before repeatedly said.

[2] They therefore who are in the good of truth, or in a life according to doctrinal things, are regenerate as to the interiors, which are their rational, but not yet as to the exteriors, which are their natural things; for man is regenerated as to the rational before he is regenerated as to the natural (n. 3286, 3288); because the natural is altogether in the world, and in the natural as in a plane there are founded man's thought and will. This is the reason why during regeneration man observes a combat between his rational or internal man and his natural or external man; and why his external man is regenerated much later, and likewise with much greater difficulty, than his internal man. For that which is nearer to the world and nearer to the body cannot be easily constrained to render obedience to the internal man; but only after considerable length of time and by means of many new states into which the man is introduced, which are states of self acknowledgment, and of acknowledgment of the Lord, that is, of one's own wretchedness, and of the Lord's mercy; thus states of humiliation resulting from temptation combats. Because this is so, there is here next adjoined what is said of Esau and his two wives, whereby such things are signified in the internal sense.

[3] Every one knows what natural good is, namely, that it is the good into which man is born; but what the natural good of truth is, is known to few, if any. There are four kinds of natural good, that is, of the good that is born with man, namely, natural good from the love of good, natural good from the love of truth, and also natural good from the love of evil, and natural good from the love of falsity. For the good into which man is born he derives from his parents, either father or mother; for all that which parents have contracted by frequent use and habit, or have become imbued with by actual life until it has become so familiar to them that it appears as if natural, is transmitted Into their children, and becomes hereditary. If parents who have lived in the good of the love of good and in this life have perceived their delight and blessedness, conceive offspring in this state, the offspring receive therefrom an inclination to similar good; and if parents who have lived in the good of the love of truth (n. 3459, 3463) and in this life have perceived their delight, are in this state when they conceive offspring, the offspring receive therefrom an inclination to the like good.

[4] The case is similar with those who receive hereditarily the good of the love of evil and the good of the love of what is false. These latter are called goods by reason of their appearing in outward form as goods in those persons in whom they are, although they are the very reverse of goods. Very many in whom natural good appears have such good. They who are in the natural good of the love of evil are pliant and prone to evils of every kind; for they suffer themselves to be easily led astray, and from this good are compliant, especially to foul pleasures, to adulteries, and also to cruelties and they who are in the natural good of falsity are prone to falsities of every kind, and from this good learn with avidity what is persuasive, especially from hypocrites and cunning persons, who know how to captivate the mind, to insinuate themselves into the affections, and to feign innocence. At the present day most people who in the Christian world are in natural good, are born into these so-called goods of evil and falsity, because their parents have by actual life contracted the delight of evil and of falsity, and thus have implanted it in their children, and thereby in their descendants.

3470. And he took for a woman Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. That this signifies the adjunction of natural truth from another source than from genuine truth itself, is evident from the signification of a "woman", as being truth adjoined to good, concerning which see above, where Sarah and Rebekah are treated of, (n. 1468, 1909, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198, 2507, 2904, 3012, 3013, 3077); but the subject here treated of is natural truth adjoined to natural good - and from the representation of "Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite", as being truth from another source than genuine truth itself. For the Hittites were among the upright Gentiles in the land of Canaan, among whom Abraham dwelt, and from whom he bought the cave of Machpelah for a sepulchre (Gen. 23); and by whom is there represented a spiritual church among the Gentiles (n. 2913, 2986); and because this church is not in truth from the Word, by the same is signified truth not from genuine truth itself. For the nation that represents a church, signifies also the truth and good such as belongs to that church; a church being a church from truth and good; so that when a church is mentioned, truth and good are understood; and when truth and good are mentioned, a church is understood.

[2] The case herein is this: Until it has been reformed, the natural good of truth is not spiritual good, that is, the good of faith and the good of charity. As just stated (n. 3469) natural good is from parents; but spiritual good is from the Lord; and therefore in order that a man may receive spiritual good, he must be regenerated; and while this is taking place there are first adjoined to him truths from another source than from genuine truth itself, which are such as do not adhere, but serve only as means for introducing - genuine truths; and when these have been introduced, the truths not genuine are separated. The case herein is as it is with children, who first learn many things, even trifling ones, such as things relating to sports and the like; not that these may make them wise, but that they may prepare the way for the reception of useful things which are of wisdom; and when these have been received, the former are separated, and indeed cast away. Or as is the case with fruits, which are first filled with sour juice before they can receive sweet juice, the sour juice which is not genuine being the means of introducing the sweet, on the entrance of which the former is dispersed.

[3] Such also is the case with man's natural when being regenerated, for natural good is such that of itself it is not willing to obey and serve rational good as a servant serves his master, but desires to command. But in order that it may be reduced to a state of compliance and service, it is harassed by states of vastation and temptation until its concupiscences decline; and then by the influx of the good of faith and of charity through the internal man from the Lord the natural is tempered, until the good received hereditarily if by degrees extirpated, and a new good is implanted in its place, into which good the truths of faith are then insinuated, which are like new fibers inserted into the heart of man, through which fibers new juice is introduced, until a new heart has by degrees grown there.

[4] The truths which are first introduced cannot be from a genuine fountain, because evils and falsities are in the former or natural good; but they are such seeming truths, or such appearances of truths, as have a certain affinity with genuine truths, by which there is gradually given the opportunity and place for real genuine truths to insinuate themselves. Genuine good is like the blood in the arteries, or the juice in the fibers, and leads and applies truths into form. The good which is thus formed in the natural or external man is a general good, as it were woven or connected together of the particulars and singulars of spiritual good through the rational or internal man from the Lord, who alone forms and creates anew. Hence it is that in the Word the Lord is so often called the Former and Creator.

3471. And they were bitterness of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah. That this signifies that from this source there at first came grief, is evident from the signification of "bitterness of spirit", as being grief; and from the representation of Isaac and Rebekah, as being the Lord's Divine rational as to Divine good and Divine truth; for in the supreme sense the Lord is the subject here treated of; but in the representative sense, those who are likenesses or images of Him; that is, in the supreme sense it is shown how the Lord made the Human in Himself Divine; and in the representative sense how the Lord regenerates man, that is, makes him celestial and spiritual. That the regeneration of man is an image of the Lord's glorification, may be seen above (n. 3043, 3138, 3212, 3296). The reason why there was grief at first, is that when truths are being inserted into natural good, they at first cause pain, for they oppress the conscience, and induce anxieties, because there are concupiscences present, against which spiritual truth combats but this first grief by degrees diminishes, and at last vanishes away. It is as with a weak and sickly body, which is to be restored to health by painful means; in this state, at first it has grief.

 

CONTINUATION CONCERNING CORRESPONDENCES AND REPRESENTATIONS, ESPECIALLY THOSE IN THE WORD

3472. That the things in the literal sense of the Word are each and all representative of the spiritual and celestial things of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, and in the supreme sense are representative of the Lord Himself, may be seen from what has been thus far shown, and from what of the Lord's Divine mercy is still to be shown. But as man has removed himself so far from heaven, and has immersed himself in lowest nature, and even in what is earthly, it is altogether repugnant to him to hear that the Word contains deeper things than he apprehends from the letter; and this is still more the case when it is said that it contains things incomprehensible, which are adapted solely to the wisdom of angels and this is even still more so when it is said that it contains Divine things themselves, which infinitely transcend the understanding of angels. The Christian world does indeed acknowledge that the Word is Divine, yet that it is Divine in this manner it denies at heart, if not with the lips nor is this to be wondered at, inasmuch as the earthly thought in which man is at this day does not apprehend things of a sublime character; and is not willing to apprehend them.

3473. That the Word in the letter stores up such things within it, is often presented to the sight of the spirits or souls who come into the other life; and it has sometimes been granted me to be present when this was done, as may be seen from the experiences adduced in the first part of this work concerning the Holy Scripture or Word, as containing things Divine which are manifest to good spirits and angels (n. 1767-1776, 1869-1879); from which experiences I may for the sake of confirmation again relate what now follows.

3474. A certain spirit came to me not long after his departure from the body, as I was able to infer from the fact that he did not yet know that he was in the other life, but supposed that he was living in the world. It was perceived that he had been devoted to studies, concerning which I spoke with him. But he was suddenly taken up on high; and, surprised at this, I imagined that he was of those who have aspired to high things, for such are wont to be carried up on high; or else that he had placed heaven on high, for such likewise are often taken up on high, in order that they may know from experience that heaven is not in what is high, but in what is internal. But I soon perceived that he was carried up to the angelic spirits who are in front a little to the right at the first entrance into heaven. He then spoke with me from thence, saving that he saw things more sublime than human minds could possibly apprehend. While this was taking place I was reading the first chapter of Deuteronomy, concerning the Jewish people, in that men were sent to explore the land of land and what was in it. While I was reading this, he said that he perceived nothing of the sense of the letter, but the things in the spiritual sense and that these were wonders that he could not describe. This was in the first entrance to the heaven of angelic spirits. What wonders then would be perceived in that heaven itself! And what in the angelic heaven!

[2] Certain spirits who were with me, and who before had not believed that the Word of the Lord is of such a nature, then began to repent of their unbelief; and in this state they said that they believed because they heard that spirit say that he heard, saw, and perceived it to be so. But other spirits still persisted in their unbelief, and said that it was not so, but that these things were fancies and therefore they too were suddenly taken up, and spoke with me from thence; and they confessed that it was anything but fancy, because they really perceived it to be so, and this by a perception more exquisite than can ever be given to any sense during the life of the body.

[3] Soon others also were taken up into the same heaven, and-among them one whom I had known in the life of his body, who testified to the same effect, saying also, among other things, that he was too much amazed to be able to describe the glory of the Word in its internal sense. Then, speaking from a kind of pity, he said that it was strange that men know nothing at all of such things.

[4] on two occasions after this I saw others taken up into the second heaven among the angelic spirits, and they spoke with me thence while I was reading the third chapter of Deuteronomy from beginning to end. They said that they were only in the interior sense of the Word, at the same time asserting that there was not even a point in which there was not something spiritual that coheres most beautifully with all the rest and further that the names signify actual things. Thus they too were confirmed, for they had not believed before that each and all things in the Word have been inspired by the Lord and this they desired to confirm before other, by an oath, But it was not permitted.

3475. That in the heavens there come forth continual representatives such as are in the Word, has already been several times stated and shown. These representatives are of such a nature that spirits and angels see them in a much clearer light than that of this world at noonday; and they are also of such a nature that when seen in their external form the spirits and angels perceive what they signify in their internal form and therein things still more interior. For there are three heavens: in the first heaven these representatives appear in an external form, with a perception of what they signify in the internal form in the second heaven they appear such as they are in then internal form, with a perception of what they are in a more interior form; in the third heaven they appear in this more interior form, which is their inmost form. The representatives that appear in the first heaven are the generals of those things which appear in the second and these are the generals of those which appear in the third; thus within those which appear in the first heaven are those which appear in the second; and within these are those which appear in the third. And as they are thus presented according to degrees, it may be seen how perfect and full of wisdom, and at the same time how happy, are the representatives in the inmost heaven; and that they are utterly unspeakable; for myriads of myriads of them present only one single particular of the general representative. In both general and particular these representatives involve such things as are of the Lord's kingdom; and these such as are of the Lord Himself. They who are in the first heaven, in their representatives see such things as come forth in the interior sphere of that kingdom and within these such things as come forth in the sphere still more interior and thus see representatives of the Lord, but remotely. They who are in the second heaven, in their representatives see such things as come forth in the inmost sphere of that kingdom, and within these see representatives of the Lord more nearly. But they who are in the third heaven see the Lord Himself.

3476. From all this men may know how the case is with the Word; for the Word has been given by the Lord to man and also to the angels in order that by it they may be with Him; for the Word is the medium that unites earth heaven, and through heaven with the Lord. Its literal sense is that which unites man with the first heaven; and as within the literal there is an internal sense which treats of the Lord's kingdom, and within this a supreme sense which treats of the Lord and as these senses are in order one within another, it is evident what is the nature of the union with the Lord that is effected by means of the Word.

3477. It has been said that there are continual representatives in the heavens, and indeed such as involve the deepest arcana of wisdom. Those which are manifest to man from the literal sense of the Word are relatively as few as are the waters of a small pool as compared with those of the ocean. The nature of representatives in the heavens may be seen from what has been occasionally related above from things seen, and likewise from the following. There were represented before certain spirits, as I myself saw, a broad way and a narrow way such as are described in the Word; a broad way which led to hell, and a narrow way which led to heaven. The broad way was planted with trees, flowers, and the like that in outward form appeared beautiful and delightful, but unseen snakes and serpents of various kinds were hidden there. The narrow way did not seem to be so much adorned with trees and flowers, but appeared sad and dark; and yet there were in it angel infants most beautifully adorned, in delightful paradises and flower-gardens, which the spirits did not see. They were then asked which way they wished to go. They said, The broad way; when suddenly their eyes were opened, and in the broad way they saw the serpents, but in the narrow way the angels. They were then again asked which way they wished to go, whereupon they remained silent; and so far as their sight was opened, they said that they wished to go the narrow way; and so far as their sight was closed, that they wished to go the broad way.

3478. There was also represented before certain spirits the tabernacle with the ark; for they who during their abode in the world have been greatly delighted with the Word, have such things actually presented to view. Such was the case with the tabernacle, together with all its appurtenances, its courts, its curtains round about, its veils within, the golden altar, or altar of incense, the table with the loaves upon it, the lampstand, the mercy-seat with the cherubim. At the same time it was given to the well-disposed spirits to perceive what each thing signified: that the three heavens were represented by the tabernacle, and the Lord Himself by the Testimony in the ark on which was the mercy-seat; and in proportion as their sight was opened, they saw therein things more and more heavenly and Divine, of which they had no knowledge in the life of the body; and wonderful to say there was not the smallest thing there that was not representative, even to the hooks and rings.

[2] For instance, the bread that was on the table - in this as in a representative and symbol they perceived that food by which angels live, thus celestial and spiritual love together with their joys and felicities; and in these loves and joys they perceived the Lord Himself, as the bread or manna from heaven; besides many particulars from the form, position, and number of the loaves; and from the gold encompassing the table, and from the lampstand, by which these things when illuminated exhibited still further representations of things unspeakable; and the same with everything else; from all which it might also appear that the rituals or representatives of the Jewish Church contained within them all the arcana of the Christian Church; and likewise that they to whom the representatives and significatives of the Word of the Old Testament are opened may know and perceive the arcana of the Lord's Church on earth while they live in the world; and the arcana of arcana which are in the Lord's kingdom in the heavens when they come into the other life.

3479. The Jews who lived before the coming of the Lord, as well as those who lived afterwards, had no other opinion concerning the rituals of their church than that Divine worship consisted solely in external things, and cared naught for what these represented and signified. For they did not know, and were not willing to know, that there was anything internal in worship and in the Word, thus that there was any life after death, nor consequently that there was any heaven, for they were altogether sensuous and corporeal; and inasmuch as they were in externals separate from things internal, relatively to these externals their worship was merely idolatrous, and therefore they were very prone to worship any gods whatsoever, provided only they were persuaded that such gods could cause them to prosper.

[2] But as that nation was of such a nature that they could be in a holy external, and thus could have holy rituals by which the heavenly things of the Lord's kingdom were represented, and could have a holy veneration for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and also for Moses and Aaron, and afterwards for David; by all of whom the Lord was represented; and especially could have a holy reverence for the Word, in which each and all things are representative and significative of Divine things, therefore in that nation a representative church was instituted. If however that nation had known internal things so far as to acknowledge them, they would have profaned them, and thereby when in a holy external would have been at the same time in a profane internal, so that there could have been through them no communication of representatives with heaven; and for this reason interior things were not disclosed to them, not even that the Lord was within, in order that He might save their souls.

[3] Inasmuch as the tribe of Judah was of this character more than the other tribes, and at this day just as of yore account the rituals holy which can be observed out of Jerusalem, and as they have a holy veneration for their fathers, especially as they regard the Word of the Old Testament as holy, and inasmuch as it was foreseen that Christians would almost reject this Word, and would likewise defile its internal things with things profane, therefore that nation has been preserved until this time, according to the words of the Lord in (Matt. 24:34). It would have been otherwise if Christians, being acquainted with internal things, had also lived as internal men; in this case that nation, like other nations, would before many generations have been cut off.

[4] But the case with that nation is that their holy external or holy of worship cannot at all affect their internals, because these are unclean from the base love of self and from the unclean love of the world; and also from the idolatry of worshiping external things separate from internal and thus because they have not anything of heaven in them, neither can they carry anything of heaven with them into the other life, except a few who live in mutual love, and thus do not despise others in comparison with themselves.

3480. It was also shown how the unclean things with that nation did not prevent the interiors of the Word, or its spiritual and celestial things, from being nevertheless presented in heaven for the unclean things were removed so as not to be perceived, and evils were turned to good, so that the mere external holiness served as a plane, and thus the internal things of the Word were presented before the angels, without the interposition of any hindrances. From this it was made manifest how that people, interiorly idolatrous, could represent things holy, and even the Lord Himself; and thus how the Lord could dwell in the midst of their uncleanness (Lev. 16:16) consequently how there could be something like a church there for a church merely representative is a semblance of a church, and not a church.

[2] With Christians this cannot be the case, because they are acquainted with the interior things of worship, but do not believe them; thus they cannot be in a holy external separate from its internal. Moreover with those who are in the life of faith, communication is effected by the goods pertaining to them, evils and falsities being in the meantime removed; and it is a remarkable fact that all things of the Word, when being read by them, he open to the angels, and this even though they who read do not attend to its meaning (as has been shown me by much experience); for the internal in them, which is not so perceptible, serves as a plane.

3481. I have very frequently spoken with the Jews in the other life. They appear in front, in the lower earth, beneath the plane of the left foot. I once spoke to them concerning the Word, the land of Canaan, and the Lord: concerning the word, that there are in it deepest arcana which are not manifest to men; and this they affirmed; then, that all the arcana which are therein treat of the Messiah and His kingdom which also they were willing to allow: but when I said that Messiah in the Hebrew tongue is the same as Christ in the Greek, they were not willing to hear. Again, when I said that the Messiah is most holy, and that Jehovah is in Him, and that no other is meant by the Holy One of Israel and by the God of Jacob and that because He is most holy, none can be in His kingdom but those who are holy, not in external form but internal, thus who are not in the unclean love of the world, and in the exaltation of themselves against other nations, and in hatred among themselves, this they could not hear.

[2] Afterwards when I told them that according to the prophecies the Messiah's kingdom must be eternal, and that they who are with Him will also inherit the earth forever; and that if His kingdom were of this world, and they were to be introduced into the land of Canaan, it would only be for the few years which are of a man's life besides that all those who died after they were driven out of the land of Canaan would not enjoy such blessedness and that from this they might know that by the land of Canaan is represented and signified the heavenly kingdom; and especially as they now know that they are in the other life, and are to live forever, so that it is manifest that the Messiah has His kingdom there; and that if it were given them to speak with angels they might know that the universal angelic heaven is His kingdom; and moreover that by the new earth, the New Jerusalem, and the new temple in Ezekiel, nothing can be signified but such a kingdom of the Messiah - to these things they could make no reply, except merely that they who were to be introduced into the land of Canaan by the Messiah, and were to die after so few years and leave the blessedness which they were to enjoy there, would weep bitterly.

3482. Although the language used in the Word to man appears simple, and in some passages unpolished, it is the angelic language itself, but in its lowest form; for when the angelic speech, which is spiritual, falls into human words, it cannot fall into any other speech than such as this; every single thing therein being representative, and every single word being significative. As the ancients had intercourse with spirits and angels, they had no other speech than this, which was full of representatives, and in every expression of which there was a spiritual sense. The books of the ancients were also written in this way for it was the study of their wisdom so to speak and so to write. From this also it is evident how far man afterwards removed himself from heaven. At this day he does not even know that there is in the Word anything else than that which appears in the letter not even that there is a spiritual sense within and whatever is said beyond the literal sense is called mystical, and is rejected merely on this account. Hence also it is that communication with heaven is at this day intercepted, insomuch that few believe there is any heaven, and wonderful to say, among the learned and erudite much fewer than among the simple.

3483. Whatever is seen anywhere in the universe is representative of the Lord's kingdom, insomuch that there is not anything in the atmospheric and starry universe, or in the earth and its three kingdoms, which is not in its own manner representative. All things in nature, in both general and particular, are ultimate images, inasmuch as from the Divine are celestial things which are of good, from celestial things spiritual things which are of truth, and from both celestial and spiritual things are natural things. From this it is evident how gross, nay, how earthly and also inverted is that human intelligence which ascribes everything to nature separate or exempt from art influx prior to itself, or from an efficient cause. Moreover they who so think and speak seem to themselves to be wiser than others that is, in attributing all things to nature when yet on the contrary angelic intelligence consists in ascribing nothing to nature, but all and everything to the Divine of the Lord, thus to life, and not to anything dead. The learned know that subsistence is a perpetual coming forth but still it is contrary to the affection of falsity and thence to a reputation for learning to say that nature continually subsists, as it originally came into existence, from the Divine of the Lord. Inasmuch therefore as each and all things subsist, that is, continually come forth, from the Divine, and as each and all things thence derived must needs be representative of those things whereby they came into existence, it follows that the visible universe is nothing else than a theater representative of the Lord's kingdom and that this kingdom is a theater representative of the Lord Himself.

3484. From very much experience I have been instructed that there is but one only life, which is that of the Lord, and which flows in and causes man to live, nay, causes both the good and the evil to live. To this life correspond forms which are substances, and which by continual Divine influx are so vivified that they appear to themselves to live from themselves. This correspondence is that of the organs with their life; but such as are the recipient organs, such is the life which they live. Those men who are in love and charity are in correspondence, for the life itself is received by them fitly but they who are in what is contrary to love and charity are not in correspondence, because the life itself is not received fitly hence such a life comes forth as is in accordance with their quality. This may be illustrated by natural forms into which the light of the sun flows; such as are the recipient forms, such are the modifications of light in connection with them. In the spiritual world the modifications are spiritual; and therefore in that world such as are the recipient forms, such is their intelligence and such their wisdom. Hence good spirits and angels appear as the very forms of charity, while wicked spirits and infernals appear as forms of hatred.

3485. The representations that come forth in the other life are appearances, but living ones, because they are from the light of life. The light of life is the Divine Wisdom, which is from the Lord alone. Hence all things that come forth from this light are real; and are not like those things that come forth from the light of the world. Wherefore they who are in the other life have sometimes said that the things they see there are real things, and the things which man sees are in comparison not real; because the former things live, and thus immediately affect their life, while the latter things do not live, thus do not immediately affect the life, except in so far and in such a manner as the things in their minds which are of this world's light conjoin themselves fitly and correspondently with the things of the light of heaven. From all this it is now evident what representations are, and what correspondences.


Chapter27

3486. At the beginning of the preceding chapter (n. 3353-3356) were unfolded the things the Lord spake and foretold concerning the consummation of the age, or the end of the days of the church (Matt. 24:3-7). Here, of the Lord's Divine mercy it is permitted to unfold the things which follow on in order in the same chapter (Matt. 24:8-14) where are these words: - All these things are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you into tribulation, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one mother. And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray. And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the charity of many shall wax cold. But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole inhabited earth, for a testimony unto all nations and then shall the end come.

3487. By the words that precede and that have been already unfolded (n. 3353-3356), there was described the first state of the perversion of the church, which was that they would begin no longer to know what is good and what is true but would dispute about it among themselves, from which falsities would originate. By the words now cited there is described the second state of the perversion of the church, truth and also which is that they would despise good and truth, and also turn away from them and thus that faith in the Lord would step by step expire, as charity would cease.

3488. That the second state of the perversion of the church was described by the foregoing words of the Lord in the evangelist, is evident from their internal sense, which is as follows: - All these things are the beginning of sorrows; signifies those things which precede that is which are of the first state of the perversion of the church - which as before said is that they would begin no longer to know what is good and what is true, but would dispute about it among themselves, from which would arise falsities, and therefore heresies. That such things perverted the church before many centuries had elapsed, is evident from the fact that the church in the Christian world was divided, and this according to opinions concerning good and truth thus that the perversion of the church commenced long ago.

[2] Then shall they deliver you into tribulation, and shall kill you; signifies that good and truth would perish, first by tribulation", that is, by perversion afterwards by their killing" them, that is, by denial. To "kill", when predicated of good and truth, is not to receive, thus is to deny, (n. 3387, 3395). By "you", that is, by the apostles, are signified all things of faith in one complex, thus its good as well as its truth. These things are signified by the twelve apostles (n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3354) and here the same is clearly evident; for it is not the preaching of the apostles that is treated of, but the consummation of the age.

[3] And ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake; signifies contempt and aversion for all things which are of good and truth; "to hate" is to despise and hold in aversion, for this is of hatred; "of all nations" signifies by those who are in evil. Such are meant by " nations" (n. 1259, 1260, 1849, 1868, 2588); "for My name's sake" is on account of the Lord, thus on account of all things which are from Him. The Lord's "name" is everything in one complex by which He is worshiped, thus everything which is of His church, (n. 2724, 3006).

[4] And then shall many be offended, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another; signifies enmities on account of these things "many shall he offended" denotes enmity in itself; the Human itself of the Lord is that against which there is enmity; that this would be an offence and a stumbling block is here and there predicted in the Word; "they shall deliver up one another" denotes enmity among themselves from falsity against truth; "and shall hate one another" denotes enmity among themselves from evil against good.

[5] And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray; signifies preachings of falsity. "False prophets" are those who teach falsities, thus false doctrine, (n. 2534) "and shall lead many astray" denotes that there should be derivations therefrom.

[6] And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the charity of many shall wax cold; signifies the expiring of charity together with faith; "because iniquity shall be multiplied" denotes according to the falsities of faith; "the charity of many shall wax cold" denotes the expiring of charity, for they keep pace together; where faith is not, there charity is not, and where charity is not, faith is not; but charity is that which receives faith, and no charity is that which rejects faith: this is the origin of every falsity and every evil.

[7] But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved; signifies the salvation of those who are in charity; "he that endureth to the end" is he who does not suffer himself to be led astray, thus who does not succumb in temptations.

[8] And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole inhabited earth, for a testimony unto all nations; signifies that this should first become known in the Christian world; "shall be preached" denotes that it should be made known; "this gospel of the kingdom" is this truth that it is so; "gospel" denotes the annunciation; "kingdom" denotes truth. "Kingdom" denotes truth (n. 1672, 2547); "in the whole inhabited earth" denotes the Christian world. "Earth" is the region where the church is, thus the Christian world, (n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355). The church here is called "inhabited" from the life of faith, that is, from the good which is of truth; for in the internal sense "to inhabit" denotes to live; and the " inhabitants" are the goods of truth (n. 1293, 2268, 2451, 2712, 3384); "for a testimony" denotes that they may know, and not make a pretext that they have been ignorant "to all nations" denotes to evils (n. 1259, 1260, 1849, 1868, 2588); for when they are in falsity and evil, they no longer know what is true and what is good; they then believe falsity to be truth, and evil to be good, and the reverse and when the church is in this state, Then shall the end come. In what now follows and what of the Lord's Divine mercy will be unfolded prefatory to the next chapter of Genesis, that state of the church is treated of which is called the abomination of desolation", which is the third state.

3489. That the church is of such a character does not appear to those who are within the church namely, that they despise and hold in aversion all things which are of good and truth; also that they bear enmities against such things, and especially against the Lord Himself; for they frequent places of worship, hear preaching, and are in a kind of sanctity when there; they go to the Holy Supper, and at times converse with one another in a becoming manner concerning such things this is done by bad men as well as by good men - and they also live among themselves in civic charity or friendship. Consequently in the eyes of men no contempt appears, still less aversion; and less still enmity against the goods and truths of faith, and thus against the Lord. These things however are external forms by which one person misleads another; while the internal forms of the men of the church are altogether unlike, being quite contrary to the external forms. The internal forms are those which are here described, and which are as above mentioned their real quality appears to the life in the heavens, for the angels do not attend to any other than internal things, that is, to ends, or to intentions and desires, and to the derivative thoughts.

[2] How unlike these are to the externals is evident from those who come from the Christian world into the other life, concerning whom see above (n. 2121-2126) for in the other life they think and speak according to their internals alone; for externals are left behind together with the body; and there it is manifest that however peaceable such have seemed in the world, they nevertheless entertained hatred one against another, and against all things which are of faith, and especially against the Lord; for when in the other life the Lord is merely mentioned in their presence, a sphere not only of contempt but also of aversion and enmity against Him is manifestly exhaled and diffused from them, even from those who in appearance had spoken and preached piously about Him and it is the same when charity and faith are mentioned.

[3] In the internal form (which is there manifested) they are of such a character that if while they had lived in this world their externals had been loosed and removed, that is, had they not then feared for their life and had they not feared the laws, and especially had they not feared for their reputation, on account of the honors which they solicited and pursued, and on account of the wealth which they desired and eagerly sought, they would have rushed one against another with intestine hatred, in accordance with their impulses and thoughts; and would have seized the goods of others without any conscience, and likewise without any conscience would have butchered others, most especially the innocent. Such as regards their interiors are Christians at this day, (A. D. 1751), except a few who"' they do not know; from which it is evident what is the quality of the church.

 

GENESIS 27:1-46

1. And it came to pass that Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim that he could not see, and he called Esau his elder son, and said unto him, My son; and he said unto him, Behold me.

2. And he said, Behold I pray I am old, I know not the day of my death.

3. And now take I pray thy weapons, thy quiver, and thy bow, and go out to the field, and hunt me a hunting.

4. And make me dainties, such as I have loved, and bring to me, and I will eat, that my soul may bless thee before I die.

5. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son; and Esau went to the field to hunt for a hunting, to bring it.

6. And Rebekah said unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,

7. Bring me a hunting, and make me dainties, and I will eat, and will bless thee before Jehovah before my death.

8. And now my son hearken unto my voice, according to that which I command thee.

9. Go now to the flock, and take me from thence two good kids of the she-goats, and I will make them dainties for thy father, such as he loveth.

10. And thou shalt bring to thy father, and he shall eat, that he may bless thee before his death.

11. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.

12. Peradventure my father will feel me, and I shall be in his eyes as a misleader; and I shall bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.

13. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse my son; only hearken to my voice, and go, take for me.

14. And he went, and took, and brought to his mother; and his mother made dainties, such as his father loved.

15. And Rebekah took garments of desires of Esau her elder son that were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son.

16. And the skins of the kids of the she-goats she caused to be put upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck.

17. And she gave the dainties, and the bread, which she had made, into the hand of Jacob her son.

18. And he came unto his father and said, My father; and he said, Behold me, who art thou my son?

19. And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn I have done according as thou spakest unto me arise I pray thee, sit, and eat of my hunting, that thy soul may bless me.

20. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast hastened to find it, my son? and he said, Because Jehovah thy God made it come to meet my face.

21. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near I pray, and I will feel thee my son, whether thou be my very son Esau, or not.

22. And Jacob came near to Isaac his father, and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

23. And he recognized him not, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands and he blessed him.

24. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

25. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my sons hunting, that my soul may bless thee and he brought it near to him, and he did eat, and he brought him wine, and he drank.

26. And Isaac his father said unto him, Come near I pray, and kiss me my son.

27. And he came near, and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Jehovah hath blessed.

28. And God shall give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fat things of the earth, and a multitude of corn and new wine.

29. Peoples shall serve thee, and peoples shall bow down themselves to thee. Be thou a master to thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down themselves to thee; cursed are they that curse thee, and blessed are they that bless thee.

30. And it can to pass as Isaac made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was scarcely yet gone out from the faces of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came from his hunting.

31. And he also made dainties, and brought unto his father and he said unto his father, Let my father arise and eat of his son's hunting, that thy soul may bless me.

32. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? and he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn, Esau.

33. And Isaac shuddered with exceeding great shuddering, and said, Who then is he that hath hunted hunting, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and blessed him? Yea, and he shall be blessed.

34. When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, me also, O my father.

35. And he said, Thy brother came with fraud, and hath taken away thy blessing.

36. And he said, Is it not that his name is called Jacob? and he hath supplanted me these two times; he hath taken away my birthright, and behold now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

37. And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold I have made him thy master, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and new vine have I sustained him; and what then shall I do for thee, my son?

38. And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but this one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

39. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold of the fat things of the earth shall be thy dwelling, and of the dew of heaven from above.

40. And upon thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother, and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion that thou shalt break his yoke from upon thy neck.

41. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father draw near, and I will kill Jacob my brother.

42. And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called unto Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold Esau thy brother comforteth himself concerning thee to kill thee.

43. And now my son hearken unto my voice, and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran.

44. And tarry with him some days until thy brother's wrath turn away;

45. Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him, and I will send and take thee from thence why should I be bereaved even of you both in one day?

46. And Rebekah said to Isaac, I loathe my life because of the daughters of Heth if Jacob should take a woman of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, wherefore have I lives?

 

THE CONTENTS

3490. In the preceding chapters, where Isaac and Rebekah are treated of, the subject in the internal sense is the rational, and how the Lord made it Divine in Himself. In the present chapter, in the internal sense, the subject is the natural, and how the Lord made it Divine in Himself. "Esau" is the good thereof, and Jacob" the truth - For when the Lord was in the world He made His whole Human Divine in Himself, both the interior Human which is the rational, and the exterior Human which is the natural, and also the very corporeal, and this according to Divine order, according to which the Lord also makes new or regenerates man. And therefore in the representative sense the regeneration of man as to his natural is also here treated of, in which sense " Esau" is the good of the natural, and Jacob" the truth thereof, and yet both Divine, because all the good and truth in one who is regenerate are from the Lord.

 

THE INTERNAL SENSE

3491. Verse 1. And it came to pass that Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim that he could not see; and he called Esau his elder son, and said unto him, My son; and he said unto him, Behold me. "And it came to pass that Isaac was old", signifies when the state was at hand; "and his eyes were dim that he could not see", signifies when the rational desired to enlighten the natural with the Divine; "and he called Esau his elder son", signifies the affection of the good of the natural, or the good of life and said unto him, My son and he said unto him, Behold me", signifies presence from being foreseen and provided.

3492. And it came to pass that Isaac was old. That this signifies when the state was at hand, is evident from the signification of "growing old", as being the presence of a new state; for in the Word old age" signifies both the putting off of a former state, and the putting on of a new one; and this for the reason that old age is the last of age, when corporeal things begin to be put off, and with them the loves of the preceding age, and thus when the interiors begin to be enlightened, for these are enlightened when corporeal things are removed and also because the angels, who perceive in a spiritual manner the things that are in the Word, have no longer any idea of any old age, but instead of it an idea of new life, thus here an idea that the state was at hand, namely, that the Divine rational which is represented by Isaac desired a natural corresponding to itself, that is, one that would also be Divine.

3493. And his eyes were dim that he could not see. That this signifies when the rational desired to enlighten the natural with the Divine, is evident from the signification of "eyes", as being the interior or rational sight (n. 2701); and from the signification of " seeing", as being to perceive and understand (n. 2150, 2325, 2807); hence when the eyes are said to be dim", it signifies that there is no longer any perception, here, no perception of those things which are in the natural; and this being the signification of these words, it is signified that the rational desired to enlighten the natural with the Divine. How the case herein is may be seen from what has been said and shown before concerning the rational and natural in man when he is being regenerated, namely, that the rational is regenerated before the natural, for the reason that the rational is more interior and thus nearer to the Divine; and also because it is purer, and thus fitter to receive the Divine than is the natural; and further because the natural is to be regenerated through the rational, as may be seen above (n. 3286, 3288, 3321).

[2] When therefore the rational has been regenerated and not the natural, the former appears to itself to be dim-sighted, because there is not correspondence for the rational has its sight from the light of heaven, and the natural has its sight from the light of the world; and unless there is correspondence, the rational can see nothing which is in the natural, all therein being to it as shade, or even as thick darkness. But when there is correspondence, then the things in the natural appear to the rational in light, because the things which are of the light of the world are then enlightened by those which are of the light of heaven, and thereupon become as it were translucent. But these things appear letter from what has been before said and shown concerning correspondence (n. 2987, 2989, 2991, 2996, 3002, 3138, 3167, 3222, 3223, 3225, 3337, 3485). Hence it may in some sort be apprehended that by the words, "the eyes of Isaac were dim that he could not see", is signified that the rational desired to enlighten the natural with the Divine, that is, to make it also Divine, for in the supreme sense the Lord is treated of; which may consequently be illustrated by what takes place with man when being regenerated, as before mentioned, for the regeneration of man is an image of the Lord's glorification (n. 3043, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490).

3494. And he called Esau his elder son. That this signifies the affection of good of the natural, or the good of life, is evident from the representation of Esau, as being the Divine good of the natural (n. 3300, 3302, 3322); and because the good of the natural is that which appears in the affection and life, therefore it is the affection of good of the natural, or the good of life, that is here represented by Esau. The affection of good in the natural, and the derivative good of life, is what is called the "elder son; "but the affection of truth, and the derivative doctrine of truth, is what is called the "younger son". That the affection of good, and the derivative good of life, is the "elder son", that is, the firstborn, is evident from the fact that infants are first of all in good, for they are in a state of innocence, and in a state of love toward their parents and nurse, and in a state of mutual charity toward their infant companions; so that good is the firstborn with every man. This good, into which man is thus initiated when an infant, remains; for whatever is imbibed from infancy enters into the life; and because it remains, it becomes the good of life; for if man should be without such good as that which he has derived from infancy, he would not be a man, but would be more of a wild beast than any in the forest. This good does not indeed appear to be present, because all that is imbibed in the infantile age does not appear otherwise than as something natural-as is sufficiently manifest from walking, and from the other motions of the body; from the manners and decorums of civil life; also from speech, and various other things. From this it may be seen that good is the "elder son", that is, the firstborn, and consequently that truth is the "younger son", or is born afterwards; for truth is not learned till the infant becomes a child, a youth, and an adult.

[2] Good as well as truth in the natural or external man is a " son", that is to say, a son of the rational or internal man; for whatever comes forth in the natural or external man flows in from the rational or internal man, and from this also comes forth and is born that, which does not come forth and is not born therefrom is not a living human thing; it would be as you might say something sensuous corporeal without a soul. From this it is that both good and truth are called "sons", and indeed sons of the rational. And yet it is not the rational which produces and brings forth the natural, but it is an influx through the rational into the natural, which influx is from the Lord. Therefore all infants who are born are His sons, and afterwards when they become wise, in so far as they are still infants, that is, in the innocence of infancy, in the love of infancy toward their parent, now the Lord, and in the mutual charity of infancy toward their infant companions, now their neighbor, so far they are adopted by the Lord as sons.

3495. And said unto him, My son; and he said unto him, Behold me. That this signifies presence from being foreseen and provided, is evident from the signification of "calling him and saying to him, My son", as being from what was foreseen and provided, because it is predicated of the Lord's Divine; add from the signification of "saying unto him, Behold me" (which is the reply) as being presence.

3496. Verses 2-4. And he said, Behold I pray I am old; I know not the day of my death. And now take I pray thy weapons, thy quiver, and thy bow, and go out to the field, and hunt me a hunting. And make me dainties, such as I have loved, and bring to me, and I will eat, that my soul may bless thee before I die. before I die. "And he said, Behold I pray I am old", signifies that the state was at hand; "I know not the day of my death", signifies life in the natural; "and now take I pray thy weapons, thy quiver, and thy bow", signifies the doctrinal things of good which he had; "and go out to the field", signifies where there is good ground' "and hunt me a hunting,"signifies the truth of good; "and make me dainties, such as I have loved", signifies pleasant things fro"' thence, because from good and bring to me, and I will eat", signifies" appropriation "that my soul may bless thee", signifies adjunction to his life; "before I die", signifies the first state of resuscitation in the natural

3497. And he said, Behold I pray I am old. That this signifies that the state was at hand, is evident from what has been said above concerning the signification of growing old" (n. 3492).

3498. I know not the day of my death. That this signifies life in the natural, is evident from the signification of "day", as being state (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788); and from the signification of death", as being to rise again, or to be resuscitated into life (n. 3326) thus by the day of death" is signified a state of resuscitation of life, or what is the same, life; that this is in the natural is evident, because life therein is here treated of. How the case herein is cannot be seen unless it is known how the case is with the life of the rational and with the life of the natural; or what is the same, with the life of the internal man and the life of the external. the life of the rational or internal man is distinct from the life of the natural or external man, and indeed so distinct that the life of the rational or internal man is possible apart from the life of the natural or external man; but the life of the natural or external man is not possible without the life of the rational or internal man, for the external man lives from the internal, insomuch that if the life of the internal man should cease, the life of the external would immediately become a nullity, because exterior things depend on interior ones as posterior things on prior, or as the effect on the efficient cause, for if the efficient cause should cease, the effect would immediately become a nullity. It is the same with the life of the external man relatively to the life of the internal.

[2] This may be plainly seen from man; for when man is in the world, or lives in the body, his rational is distinct from his natural, insomuch that he can be withdrawn from the external sensuous things of the body, and also in some degree from the interior sensuous things of his natural man, and can be in his rational, thus in spiritual thought. This appears better from the fact that when a man dies he altogether leaves the external sensuous things of the body, and then retains the life of his interior man; and also that although he indeed has with him the memory-knowledges of the external or natural memory, he nevertheless does not enjoy the use of them (n. 2475-2477, 2479-2486) From this it is evident that the rational or internal man is distinct from the external; but during man's life in the body his rational does not appear to be distinct from his natural, because he is in the world, or in nature; and this being so, the life of the rational appears within the natural, insomuch that there does not appear to be any life in the rational unless it is in the natural at the same time. The rational appears to have life only in so far as the natural corresponds to it, (n. 3493). From this it may be seen that it is life corresponding in the natural which is signified by these words which Isaac spake unto Esau, "I know not the day of my death;" for the rational is represented by Isaac, and the natural by Esau, both as to the good therein.

3499. And now take I pray thy weapons, thy quiver, and thy bow. That this signifies the doctrinal things of good which he had, is evident from the signification of "weapons, quiver, and bow", as being doctrinal things (n. 2686, 2709), here, the doctrinal things of good which he had, that is, which were had by the good of the natural that is represented by Esau.

3500. And go out to the field. That this signifies where there is good ground, is evident from the signification of "field", as being the good of the church, also the good of doctrine (n. 2971, 3196, 3310, 3317), thus good ground.

3501. And hunt me a hunting. That this signifies the truth of good, is evident from the signification of "to hunt" and a hunting", as being the truth of the natural from which is the good of life (n. 3309) here it signifies truth which is from good, because said to Esau, by whom as before said is represented the good of the natural.

3502. And make me dainties, such as I have loved. That this signifies pleasant things from thence, because from good, is evident from the signification of "dainties" as being things pleasant; and because they came from Esau, by whom is represented the good of the natural, therefore they signify things pleasant because from good. In the original language "dainties" signify things that are delightful and pleasing to the taste; and in the internal sense they signify that which is delightful of good, and that which is pleasing of truth, because like the other bodily senses, the taste corresponds to celestial and spiritual things concerning which correspondence, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. It cannot be seen how the case herein is unless it is known in what manner the natural is made new, or receives life from the rational, that is, from the Lord through the rational.

[2] The natural does not become new, or receive life corresponding to the rational, that is, is not regenerated, except by means of doctrinal things, or the knowledges of good and truth the celestial man by the knowledges of good first, but the spiritual man by the knowledges of truth first. Doctrinal things, or the knowledges of good and truth, cannot be communicated to the natural man, thus cannot be conjoined and appropriated, except by means of delights and pleasantnesses accommodated to it, for they are insinuated by an external or sensuous way; and whatever does not enter by some delight or pleasantness does not inhere, thus does not continue. This is what is meant by the truth of good and the pleasantness thereof, and this is what is treated of in what follows.

3503. And bring to me, and I will eat. That this signifies appropriation, is evident from the signification of "eating", as being appropriation (n. 2187, 2343, 3168):

3504. That my soul may bless thee. That this signifies adjunction to his life, and consequently life corresponding to the rational, is evident from the signification of " being blessed", as being to be gifted with celestial and spiritual good (n. 981, 1731, 2846, 3017, 3406); for the good of infancy and of life thence, which is the same as the good of the natural, and which is represented by Esau, is not spiritual good - the good of infancy being devoid of knowledge and intelligence, and thus of wisdom. The good of infancy becomes spiritual good through the implanting of truth, thus through regeneration (n. 1616, 1802, 2280, 2290, 2291, 2299, 2304, 2306, 2307, 3494); hence comes the correspondence between rational and natural things, consequently the adjunction of the natural man to the life of the rational; this adjunction to its life being what is meant by "my soul blessing thee".

3505. Before I die. That this signifies the first state of resuscitation in the natural, is evident from the signification of "dying", as being to rise again, or to be resuscitated into life (n. 3326, 3498). That this is the first state is evident from the fact that the good of infancy and the derivative good of life is the first of regeneration - which state has thus far been represented by Esau. The subsequent states are what are treated of in series in this chapter.

3506. Verses 5-7. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son; and Esau went to the field to hunt for a hunting, to bring it. And Rebekah said unto Jacob her son, saying Behold I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me a hunting, and make me dainties, and I will eat, and will bless thee before Jehovah before my death. " And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son", signifies the affection of truth and life from it; "and Esau went to the field to hunt for a hunting, to bring it", - signifies the endeavor of the affection of good to procure truth which might be adjoined to the Divine rational; "and Rebekah said unto Jacob her son, saying", signifies the perception of the Lord from Divine truth concerning natural truth; "behold I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying", signifies that the Divine good of the Divine rational desired the affection of good; " bring me a hunting", signifies the truth of good and make me dainties", signifies the desire and delight from the pleasantness thence "and I will eat", signifies appropriation thus "and will bless thee before Jehovah", signifies conjunction thereby "before my death", signifies thus life in the natural.

3507. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. That this signifies the affection of truth and life therefrom, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Lord's Divine rational as to Divine truth conjoined with the Divine good therein, thus the very affection of truth and from the signification of "hearing Isaac speak", as being life from it; for in the internal sense "to hear speak" denotes influx, because in the representative sense "to hear" denotes to obey (n. 2542) and to speak" denotes to will and flow in (n. 2626, 2951, 3037) thus in the supreme sense "to hear speak' denotes life therefrom, namely, the life of Divine truth from Divine good to his son", in the internal sense denotes concerning the good of the natural, and thence the truth of the natural. That this is the sense of these words does not so plainly appear, because it is widely removed from the sense of the letter, which is historical; nevertheless such is the case, for angelic ideas are altogether unlike human ideas. angelic ideas are spiritual, and when they penetrate inwardly they are celestial; but human ideas are natural, and when derived from historicals, are sensuous. And yet the Lord effects through the Word such a correspondence between spiritual things which are of heaven and natural things which are of the world, that natural ideas may be changed into spiritual, and this in a moment. From this comes the conjunction of heaven with the world through man, and indeed through the Word, consequently through the church in which is the Word. That there is a correspondence between natural and spiritual things in each and all of those things which can possibly be apprehended and perceived by the mind, will of the Lord's Divine mercy become evident from what is related from experience concerning the Grand Man, at the end of the following chapters.

3508. And Esau went to the field to hunt for a hunting, to bring it. That this signifies the endeavor of the affection of good to procure truth which might be conjoined with the Divine rational, is evident from the representation of Esau, as being the good of the natural; hence comes the affection of good of the rational in the natural, for the good which is in the natural is not of the natural, but is of the rational in the natural (n. 3498) and from the signification of going to the field to limit for a hunting, to bring it", as being the endeavor to procure truth for itself; for a "field" is where there is good ground (n. 3500); a "hunting" is truth which is from good (n. 3501); and "to bring it", is to procure it, thus to adjoin it to the Divine rational. As before said, in the supreme sense the glorification of the Lord's natural is here treated of; and in the representative sense the regeneration of the natural in man (n. 3490). It is according to order that this should be accomplished through truth, that is, through the knowledges of good and truth, for without these the natural cannot be enlightened by the rational, or through the rational thus it cannot be regenerated, knowledges being the vessels recipient of the good and truth flowing in from the rational; and according to the quality and quantity which the vessels receive, such is the enlightenment. The vessels which receive good and truth from the rational are the very truths of the natural, which are nothing else than memory-knowledges, knowledges, and doctrinal things. Goods come from the order of the things which flow in, and from the order among themselves of the things which are there; hence comes the good of the natural.

3509. And Rebekah said unto Jacob her son. That this signifies the Lord's perception from Divine truth concerning natural truth, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Divine truth of the Lord's Divine rational (n. 3012, 3013, 3077); from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2506, 2515, 2552, 2619); and from the representation of Jacob, as being the Lord's natural as to truth (n. 3305); from all which it is manifest that by "Rebekah said unto Jacob her son", is signified the Lord's perception from Divine truth concerning natural truth. That the Lord from the Divine good of the Divine rational which is represented by Isaac, willed to procure truth for Himself through the good of the natural which is represented by Esau, whereby He might glorify or make Divine His natural; but that the Lord from the Divine truth of the Divine rational which is represented by Rebekah willed to procure for Himself through the truth of the natural which is represented by Jacob the truth by means of which the rational might be glorified or made Divine, cannot be apprehended unless it is illustrated by the things that come to pass in man while being regenerated or made new by the Lord; nor indeed even by this unless it is know" how the case is with the rational as to the good and as to the truth therein-which must therefore be briefly stated -

[2] The rational mind is distinguished into two faculties, one faculty being called the will, and the other the understanding. During man's regeneration, that which proceeds from the will is called good, and that which proceeds from the understanding is called truth. Before man has been regenerated the will does not act as one with the understanding; but the former wills good, while the latter wills truth; insomuch that an effort of the will is perceived as being quite distinct from one of the understanding. This however is perceived only in those who reflect, and who know what the will is and the things that belong thereto, and what the understanding is and the things that belong thereto; but it is not perceived by those who do not know these things and therefore who do not reflect, for the reason that the natural mind is regenerated through the rational mind (n. 3493), and this according to an order such that the good of the rational does not flow immediately into the good of the natural and regenerate it, but through the truth which is of the understanding, thus in appearance from the truth of the rational. These are the things treated of in this chapter in the internal sense; for "Isaac" is the rational mind as to the good which is of the will, "Rebekah" being the same with respect to the truth which is of the understanding; "Esau" is the good of the natural that comes forth from the good of the rational; and "Jacob" is the truth of the natural that comes forth from the good of the rational through the truth therein.

[3] From these things it may be seen what arcana are contained in the internal sense of the Word but still there are very few which can be described to human apprehension; while those which transcend it, and cannot be described, are without limit; for in proportion as the Word penetrates more deeply, that is, more interiorly, into heaven, the more innumerable and ineffable the arcana become, not only to man, but also to the angels of the lower heaven; and when it reaches the inmost heaven, the angels there perceive that the arcana are infinite, and are altogether incomprehensible to them, because they are Divine. Such is the Word.

3510. Behold I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying. That this signifies that the Divine good of the Divine rational desired the affection of good, is evident from the representation of Isaac, who is here the "father", as being the Divine good of the Divine rational; from the signification of "speaking", as being to desire (n. 2626, 2951, 3037); and from the representation of Esau, as being the affection of good in the natural (n. 3508).

3511. Bring me a hunting. That this signifies the truth of good, is evident from the signification of a "hunting", as being the truth of good (n. 3501).

3512. And make me dainties. That this signifies the desire and delight from the pleasantness thence, is evident from the signification of "dainties", as being what is pleasing (n. 3502), thus desire and delight from the pleasantness thereof, that is, from truth; for as before said in the number cited, truths are introduced into the natural of man by what is pleasing and in agreement therewith and those which are not so introduced do not inhere, and thus are not conjoined with the rational by correspondence. Moreover, like all other memory-knowledges, truths are allotted their place in the memory that belongs to the natural man in accordance with the pleasant and delightful things that introduced them; as is evident from the fact that when these pleasant and delightful things return, the things that were introduced by them also return; and also on the other hand that when these things are recalled, there are at the same time excited the delightful and pleasant things to which they had been adjoined.

3513. And I will eat. That this signifies appropriation thus, is evident from the signification of "eating", as being to appropriate (n. 2187, 2343, 3168, 3503). Appropriation is effected when truths, or the knowledges of good and truth, are insinuated into the natural by means of things that are pleasant and delightful; and when these truths are adjoined to good there, there is then effected a communication with the truth and good of the rational, thus with the rational; and this communication is what is called appropriation, inasmuch as the truth and good are of the rational in the natural; for the things in the rational relatively to those in the natural are as particulars relatively to generals. It is known that from particulars there comes forth what is general, and that without particulars no general could come into existence. The general of the particulars of the rational is that which is exhibited in the natural and because it is a general, it appears under another form, and this according to the order of the particulars which compose it, thus according to the form thence derived. If the singulars and derivative particulars of celestial good and spiritual truth are what form the general in the natural, there then comes forth a celestial and spiritual form, and in a certain image there is represented something of heaven in every single thing of the general; but if the singulars and particulars are not those of good and truth, but of evil and falsity, which form the generals in the natural, there is then represented in an image something of hell in every single thing of the general.

[2] Such are the things which are signified by the eating and drinking in the Holy Supper, where also by "eating and drinking" is signified appropriation namely, by "eating" the appropriation of good, and by drinking" the appropriation of truth. If good, that is, love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, form the internal or rational man, and through this the external or natural man corresponding to it, then the man becomes in particular and in general an image of heaven, consequently an image of the Lord; but if contempt for the Lord and for the good and truth of faith, and hatred toward the neighbor, form the internal man, then the man becomes in particular and in general an image of hell; and especially when at the same time this is done in what is holy, for thence comes profanation. Thus it is that to those who eat and drink worthily, eternal life is appropriated; while they who eat and drink unworthily, appropriate death unto themselves.

3514. And will bless thee before Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction thereby, is evident from the signification of "blessing thee", as being adjunction to his life (n. 3504) and whereas it is here said, " I will bless thee before Jehovah", it signifies conjunction. Adjunction is predicated of the communication of the truth of the natural with the good of the rational; but conjunction, of the communication of the good of the natural with the good of the rational; for there is a parallelism between the Lord and man as to the celestial things which are of good, but not as to the spiritual things which are of truth (n. 1832).

3515. Before my death. That this signifies thus life in the natural, is evident from the signification of "death", as being resuscitation to life (n. 3498, 3505).

3516. Verses 8-10. And now my son hearken unto my voice, according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and take me from thence two good kids of the goats, and I will make them dainties for they father, such as he loveth. And thou shalt bring to they father, and he shall eat, that he may bless thee before his death. "And now my son hearken unto my voice, according to that which I command the", signifies desire and delight perceived from the Divine truth in the Divine rational toward natural truth; "go now to the flock", signifies to natural domestic good not conjoined with the Divine rational; "and take me from thence two good kids of the goats", signifies the truths of this good; "and I will make them dainties for they father, such as he loveth", signifies that he should make deliciousnesses therefrom; "and thou shalt bring to they father, and he shall eat", signifies to the Divine good of the Divine rational, and appropriation; "that he may bless thee", signifies conjunction thereby; "before his death", signifies resuscitation in the natural.

3517. And now my son hearken unto my voice, according to that which I command thee. That this signifies desire and delight perceived from the Divine truth in the Divine rational toward natural truth, is evident from the representation of Rebekah who speaks these things, as being the Divine truth of the Divine rational, concerning which above and from the representation of Jacob to whom these things are said, as being natural truth, concerning which also above. That it is desire and delight, is manifest without explication.

3518. Go now to the flock. That this signifies to natural domestic good not conjoined with the Divine rational, is evident from the signification of "flock", as being good (n. 343, 415, 1565), here, natural good because it is said to Jacob, and indeed domestic good, because it was at home, whereas the field whence Esau, by whom is signified the good of the natural, (n. 3500, 3508) took his hunting, was good not domestic. Elsewhere in the Word "flock" is predicated of the good of the rational; but in this case "herd" is predicated of the good of the natural (n. 2566). Natural domestic good is that good which a man derives from his parents, or into which he is born, quite distinct from the good of the natural which flows in from the Lord. The nature and quality of natural good may be seen in (n. 3470, 3471); and therefore for the sake of distinction the one good is called the Good of the Natural, and the other Natural Good. Moreover every man receives domestic good from his father and from his mother, which goods are in themselves distinct that which he receives from the father being interior, and that from the mother exterior. In the Lord these goods were most distinct, for the good which He had from the Father was Divine, but that which He had from the mother was contaminated with hereditary evil; that good in the natural which the Lord had from the Father was His own, because it was His very life, and is that which is represented by Esau; whereas the natural good which the Lord derived from the mother, being contaminated with hereditary evil, was in itself evil, and this is what is meant by "domestic good". Although of such a character, this good was yet of service for the reformation of the natural; but when it had answered this purpose it was rejected.

[2] The case is similar with every man who is being regenerated: the good which he receives from the Lord as from a new father is interior, but the good which he derives from his parents is exterior; the former good, which he receives from the Lord, is called spiritual; but the latter, which he derives from his parents, is called natural good. The good that a man derives from his parents is serviceable first of all for his reformation, for by means of it are introduced as by what is pleasurable and delightful, first, memory-knowledges, and afterwards the knowledges of truth; but when it has served as a means for this use it is separated from these; and then spiritual good comes forth and manifests itself. This must be evident from much experience, as from the single instance that when a child is first instructed he is affected with the desire of knowing, not at first for any end that is manifest to himself, but from a certain pleasure and delight that is born with him and is also derived from other sources; but afterwards, as he grows up, he is affected with the desire of knowing for the sake of some end, as that he may excel others, or his rivals and next for some end in the world but when he is to be regenerated, he is affected from the delight and pleasantness of truth; and when he is being regenerated, which takes place in adult age, from the love of truth, and afterwards from the love of good and then the ends which had preceded, together with their delights, are separated little by little, and to them succeeds interior good from the Lord, which manifests itself in his affection. From this it is evident that the former delights, which had appeared in the outward form as good, had served as means. Such successions of means are continual.

[3] The case herein may be compared to that of a tree, which in its first age, or at the beginning of spring, adorns its branches with leaves, and afterwards as its age or the spring advances, decorates them with flowers; and next in summer puts forth the first germs of fruits, which afterwards become fruit and lastly puts seeds therein, which contain in them new trees of a like kind, and indeed whole orchards in potency; and if the seeds are sown, in act. Such analogues are there in nature, which also are representative for universal nature is a theater representative of the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, thus of His kingdom on earth, that is, in the church, and hence of His kingdom in every regenerate man. From this it is plain how natural or domestic good, although a merely outward delight and indeed a worldly one, may serve as a means for producing the good of the natural, which may conjoin itself with the good of the rational, and thus become regenerate or spiritual good, that is, good which is from the Lord. These are the things which are represented and signified by "Esau and Jacob" in this chapter.

3519. And take me from thence tow good kids of the she-goats. That this signifies the truths of this good, is evident from the signification of "kids of the she-goats", as being the truths of good, concerning which in what follows. The reason there were two, is that as in the rational, so in the natural, there are things which are of the will and things which are of the understanding. The things in the natural that have relation to the will are delights, and those which have relation to the understanding are memory-knowledges, and in order to be something these two must be conjoined together.

[2] That "kids of the she-goats" signify the truths of good, may be seen from those passages of the Word where "kids" and " she-goats" are mentioned. Be it known that in the genuine sense all the tame and useful beasts mentioned in the Word signify the celestial things of good and the spiritual things of truth (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 2180, 2781, 3218); and because there are various kinds of celestial things or goods, and consequently various kinds of spiritual things or truths, one kind is signified by one beast, and another by another; thus one kind is signified by a "lamb", another by a "kid", another by a "sheep", by a "she-goat", a" ram", a "he-goat", a "bullock", an "ox;" another also by a "horse" and by a "camel;" another likewise by birds; and also another by the beasts of the sea, as by "whales"' and "fishes". There are more genera of celestial and spiritual things than can be enumerated, consequently of goods and truths, although when the celestial or good is mentioned, and also the spiritual or truth, it appears as if it were not manifold, but only one. But how manifold they both are, or how innumerable their genera are, may be seen from what has been said concerning heaven (n. 3241), namely, that it is distinguished into innumerable societies, and this according to the genera of celestial and spiritual things, or of the goods of love and thence of the truths of faith; and moreover every single genus of good, and every single genus of truth, has innumerable species into which the societies of each genus are distinguished, and every species in like manner.

[3] The most universal genera of good and truth are what were represented by the animals that were offered in the burnt-offerings and sacrifices; and because the genera are most distinct from one another it was expressly enjoined that such and no other should be offered - in some cases, for instance, male and female lambs, also male and female kids; in some cases rams and sheep, and also he-goats; but in others, calves, bullocks, and oxen also pigeons and turtle-doves (n. 922, 1823, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3218). What was signified by "kids" and she-goats" may be seen both from the sacrifices in which they were offered, and also from other passages in the Word; whence it is evident that male and female "lambs" signified the innocence of the internal or rational man, and that' "kids" and she-goats" signified the innocence of the external or natural man, thus the truth and good thereof.

[4] That the truth and good of the innocence of the external or natural man is signified by "kids" and " she-goats", is evident from the following passages in the Word. In Isaiah: -

The wolf shall abide with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf, and the young lion, and the sheep together and a little child shall lead them (Isa. 11:6);

where the Lord's kingdom is treated of, and a state of no fear from evil, or of no dread on account of hell, because one of presence with the Lord. The "lamb" and the "kid" denote those who are in innocence, and because these are the safest of all, they are mentioned first.

[5] When all the firstborn of Egypt were smitten, it was commanded that they should slay perfect and male young of the flock, of lambs or of kids, and should put some of the blood on the door-posts and on the lintel of the houses, and thus there should not be a plague on them from the destroyer (Exod. 12:5, 7, 13). The "firstborn of Egypt" denotes the good of love and charity extinct (n. 3325); lambs" and "kids" am states of innocence; and those who are in these states are safe from evil, for all in heaven are protected by the Lord through states of innocence; and this protection was represented by the slaying of a lamb or kid, and by the blood upon the door-posts and lintel of the houses.

[6] When Jehovah appeared to anyone through an angel, a kid of the goats was sacrificed, lest the man should die-as when he appeared to Gideon (Judges 6:19), and to Manoah (Judges 13:15, 16, 19). The reason was that Jehovah or the Lord cannot appear to anyone, not even to an angel, unless he to whom He appears is in a state of innocence; and therefore as soon as the Lord is present with anyone he is let into a state of innocence for the Lord enters through innocence, even with the angels in heaven. On this account no one can come into heaven unless he has somewhat of innocence, according to the words of the Lord in (Matthew 18:3; Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17). Men believed they should die when Jehovah appeared, unless they offered such a burnt-offering, (Judges 13:22, 23).

[7] Inasmuch as genuine conjugial love is innocence (n. 2736), it was customary in the representative church to enter in unto a wife by a present of a kid of the she-goats as we read of Samson (Judges 15:1); likewise of Judah when he went in unto Tamar (Gen. 38:17, 20, 23). That a "kid" and a "she-goat" signified innocence, is also evident from the sacrifices of guilt, which they were to offer when anyone had sinned through error (Lev. 1:10; 4:28; 5:6); sin through error is a sin of ignorance in which is innocence. The same is evident from the following Divine command in Moses: - The first of the first-fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk (Exod. 23:19; 34:26); where by the "first-fruits of the ground, which they were to bring into the house of Jehovah", is signified the state of innocence which is in infancy; and by "not seething a kid in its mother's milk", that they should not destroy the innocence of infancy. Because these things are signified, in both passages the one command follows the other without a break; and yet in the literal sense they appear to be altogether different but in the internal sense they cohere together.

[8] Because as before said "kids" and "she-goats" signified innocence, it was also commanded that the curtain of the tent over the tabernacle should be made of the wool of she-goats (Exod. 25:4; 26:7; 35:5, 6, 23, 26; 36:14), for a sign that all the holy things therein represented derived their essence from innocence. By the "wool of she-goats" is signified the ultimate or outermost of the innocence that is in ignorance, such as exists with the Gentiles and who in the internal sense are the "curtains" of the tabernacle. From all this it is evident what and of what quality are the truths of good that are signified by the "two good kids of the she-goats" concerning which Rebekah his mother spoke unto Jacob her son, namely, that they are those of innocence or of infancy, being in fact those which Esau was to bring to his father Isaac; concerning which above (n. 3501, 3508) and which indeed were not these truths of good, but at first appeared as if they were and it is for this reason that by means of these Jacob simulated Esau.

3520. And I will make the dainties for thy father, such as he loveth. That this signifies that he should make deliciousnesses therefrom, is evident from the signification of "dainties", as being pleasant things from good (n. 3502). They are here called "deliciousnesses", because they are truths not from genuine good, but from domestic good (n. 3518).

3521. And thou shalt bring to thy father, and he shall eat. That this signifies to the Divine good of the Divine rational, and appropriation, is evident from the representation of Isaac, here the "father", as being the Divine good of the Divine rational; and from the signification of "eating", as being appropriation (n. 3513) but that truth from domestic good is not appropriated, will appear from what follows.

3522. That he may bless thee. That this signifies conjunction thereby, is evident from the signification of "blessing", as being conjunction (n. 3504, 3514).

3523. Before his death. That this signifies resuscitation in the natural, is evident from the signification of "death", as being resuscitation (n. 3498, 3505); that it is in the natural is evident.

3524. Verses 11-13. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Peradventure my father will feel me, and I shall be in his eyes as a misleader; and I shall bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son; only hearken to my voice, and go, take for me. "And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother", signifies the Lord's perception from Divine truth concerning natural truth "behold Esau my brother is a hairy man", signifies the quality of natural good relatively; "and I am a smooth man", signifies the quality of natural truth relatively "peradventure my father will feel me", signifies the inmost degree of perception; "and I shall be in his eyes as a misleader", signifies rejection, because apparently contrary to order; "and I shall bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing", signifies disjunction; "and his mother said unto him", signifies perception from Divine truth; "upon me be thy curse, my son", signifies that there would be no disjunction; "only hearken unto my voice, and go, take for me", signifies from the effect.

3525. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother. That this signifies the Lord's perception from Divine truth concerning natural truth, is evident from the signification of "saying", in the historicals of the Word, as being to perceive (n. 3509); from the representation of Jacob, as being natural truth (n. 3305); and from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Divine truth of the Lord's Divine rational (n. 3012, 3013, 3077). That perception from Divine truth concerning natural truth is signified, and not perception from natural truth concerning Divine truth, according to the appearance from the sense of the letter, is because all the observation the natural exercises is from the rational; here therefore, because predicated of the Lord, the signification is "from the Divine truth of the Divine rational".

3526. Behold Esau my brother is a hairy man. That this signifies the quality of natural good relatively, is evident from the signification of "Esau", as being the good of the natural (n. 3494, 3504); and from the signification of "a hairy man", as being the quality of this good. That "hairy" signifies the natural in especial as to truth, may be seen above (n. 3301), and from what now follows.

3527. And I am a smooth man. That this signifies the quality of natural truth relatively, is evident from the representation of Jacob who is here speaking, as being the natural as to truth (n. 3305) and from the signification of a "smooth man", as being its quality, concerning which something shall now be said. Before it can be known what these things signify, it must be known what is meant by "hairy", and what by "smooth". The interiors in man present themselves in a kind of image in his exteriors, especially in his face and its expression; at the present day his inmosts are not seen there, but his interiors are in some measure seen there, unless from infancy he has learned to dissemble, for in this case he assumes to himself as it were another lower mind, and consequently induces on himself another countenance; for it is the lower mind that appears in the face. More than others, hypocrites have acquired this from actual life, thus from habit; and this the more in proportion as they are deceitful. With those who are not hypocrites, rational good appears in the face from a certain fire of life and rational truth from the light of this fire. Man knows these things from a certain connate knowledge, without study; for it is the life of his spirit as to good and as to truth which thus manifests itself; and because man is a spirit clothed with a body, he has such knowledge from the perception of his spirit, thus from himself; and this is the reason why a man is sometimes affected with the countenance of another although this is not from the countenance, but from the mind which thus shines forth. But the natural appears in the face in a more obscure fire of life, and a more obscure light of life; and the corporeal hardly appears at all except in the warmth and fairness of the complexion, and in the change of their states according to the affections.

[2] Because the interiors thus manifest themselves in especial in the face, as in an image, the most ancient people who were celestial men and utterly ignorant of dissimulation, much more of hypocrisy and deceit, were able to see the minds of one another conspicuous in the face as in a form; and therefore by the "face" were signified the things of the will and of the understanding; that is, interior rational things as to good and truth (n. 358, 1999, 2434) and in fact interior things as to good by the blood and its redness and interior things as to truths by the resultant form and its fairness; but interior natural things by the outgrowths thence, such as the hairs and the scales of the skin, namely, the things from the natural as to good by the hairs, and the things from the natural as to truth by the scales. Consequently they who were in natural good were called "hairy men", but they who were in natural truth, "smooth men". From these considerations it may be seen what is signified in the internal sense by the words, "Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man", namely, the quality relatively to one another of natural good and natural truth. From all this it is evident what Esau represents, namely, the good of the natural, for he was called "Esau" from being hairy (Gen. 25:25), and "Edom" from being ruddy (Gen. 25:30). Mount Seir, where he dwelt, has the same meaning, namely, what is hairy; and because it had this meaning there was a mountain by which they went up to Seir that was called the bare or smooth mountain (Josh. 11:17; 12:7); which was also representative of truth ascending to good.

[3] That "hairy" is predicated of good, and thence of truth, and also in the opposite sense of evil, and thence of falsity, was shown above (n. 3301); but that "smooth" is predicated of truth, and in the opposite sense of falsity, is evident also from the following passages in the Word. In Isaiah: -

Ye that inflame yourselves with gods under every green tree in the smooth things of the valley is thy portion (Isa. 57:5, 6);

where "inflaming" is predicated of evil; and the "smooth things of the valley", of falsity. Again: -

The workman strengthens the smelter, him that smooths with the hammer along with the beating on the anvil, saying to the joint, It is good (Isa. 41:7);

where the "workman strengthening the smelter" is predicated of evil; and "smoothing with the hammer", of falsity. In David: -

They make thy mouth smooth as butter; when his heart approacheth his words are softer than oil (Psalms 55:21);

where a "smooth or flattering mouth" is predicated of falsity; and the "heart and its soft things", of evil. Again: -

Their throat is an open sepulchre, they speak smooth things with their tongue (Ps. 5:9);

"the throat an open sepulchre" is predicated of evil; "the tongue speaking smooth things", of falsity. In Luke: -

Every valley shall be filled up and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places level ways (Luke 3:5);

where "valley" denotes what is lowly (n. 1723, 3417); "mountain and hill", what is lifted up (n. 1691); "the crooked become straight", the evil of ignorance turned into good, for "length" and what belongs thereto are predicated of good (n. 1613); the "rough places made level ways", the falsities of ignorance turned into truths. "Way" is predicated of truth, (n. 627, 2333).

3528. Peradventure my father will feel me. That this signifies the inmost degree of perception, is evident from the signification of "feeling", and thus of being sensible, as being the inmost and the all of perception and from the signification of "father", as being good, here, Divine good, because the Lord is treated of. That "to feel at" signifies the inmost and the all of perception is because all sensation has relation to the sense of touch, and this is derived and comes forth from what is perceptive for sensation is nothing else than external perception, and perception is nothing else than internal sensation. What perception is, may be seen above (n. 104, 371, 495, 503, 521, 536, 1383-1398, 1616, 1919, 2145, 2171, 2831). Moreover all sensation and all perception, which appear so various, are referable to one common and universal sense, namely, the sense of touch; the varieties, such as taste, smell, hearing, and sight, which are external sensations, being nothing but different kinds of touch that originate from internal sensation, that is, from perception. This can be confirmed by much experience, and will of the Lord's Divine mercy be shown in its own place. From this it is evident that in the internal sense "to feel at" signifies the inmost and the all of perception. Moreover all perception, which is internal sensation, comes forth from good, but not from truth, except from good through truth; for the Lord's Divine life flows into good, and through good into truth, and thus produces perception. From this it can be seen what is signified by "peradventure my father will feel me", namely, the inmost and the all of perception from good, thus from the Lord's Divine.

3529. And I shall be in his eyes as a misleader. That this signifies rejection because apparently contrary to order, is evident from the signification of "being in his eyes", as being to be observed as to quality; for by the "eye" is signified the observation of the internal sight (n. 212, 2701, 2789, 2829, 3198, 3202); and from the signification of "misleading" or of "a misleader", as being contrary to order; here, apparently (all misleading is nothing else) and from this there would be rejection. But what is signified by "apparently contrary to order", will appear from what follows.

3530. And I shall bring upon me a curse and not a blessing. That this signifies disjunction, is evident from the signification of a "curse", as being disjunction, or a turning away from good (n. 245, 379, 1423); and from the signification of a "blessing", as being conjunction with good (n. 3504, 3514).

3531. And his mother said unto him. That this signifies perception from Divine truth, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive, concerning which often above; and from the representation of Rebekah, here the "mother", as being the Divine truth of the Lord's Divine rational (n. 3012, 3013).

3532. Upon me be thy curse, my son. That this signifies that there would he no disjunction, is evident from the signification of a "curse", as being disjunction (n. 3530) and because the perception was from the Divine (n. 3531), it signifies that there should be no disjunction.

3533. Only hearken to my voice, and go, take for me. That this signifies from the effect, is evident from the signification of "hearkening to a voice", as being to obey; and from the signification of "going and taking for me", as being to do; and because this was said to the natural as to truth (represented by Jacob) by the rational as to truth, here the Divine rational (represented by Rebekah), therefore nothing else is signified than from the effect;" for the natural sees from the effect, but the rational sees from the cause.

3534. Verses 14-17. And he went, and took, and brought to his mother; and his mother made dainties, such as his father loved. And Rebekah took garments of desires of Esau her elder son that were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son. And the skins of the kids of the she-goats she caused to be put upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck. And she gave the dainties, and the bread, which she had made, into the hand of Jacob her son. "And he went, and took, and brought to his mother", signifies a state of obedience of the truth of the natural; "and his mother made dainties, such as his father loved", signifies things that are delectable, but not desirable; "and Rebekah took garments of desires of Esau her elder son", signifies the genuine truths of good; "that were with her in the house", signifies that were from the Divine good through the Divine truth of the Divine rational; "and put them upon Jacob her younger son", signifies the affection of truth, or the life of good from truth; " and the skins of the kids of the she-goats", signifies the external truths of domestic good; "she caused to be put upon his hands", signifies according to the faculty of receiving; "and upon the smooth of his neck", signifies that disjoining truth should not appear; "and she gave the dainties", signifies delectable things thence derived; "and the bread", signifies the good thence derived; "which she had made", signifies which were from Divine truth; " into the hand of Jacob her son", signifies that such was the affection of natural truth.

3535. And he went, and took, and brought to his mother. That this signifies a state of obedience of the truth of the natural, may be seen from what was said above (n. 3533); thus without further explication.

3536. And his mother made dainties, such as his father loved. That this signifies things that are delectable, but not desirable, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, who is here the "mother", as being the Divine rational as to truth; and from the signification of "dainties", as being the pleasant things which are of truth, concerning which above (n. 3502). The reason why the delectable things here referred to are not desirable, is that they are not from the hunting of Esau, that is, from the truth of genuine good (n. 3501), but from the kids of the goats which are of the flock, that is, from the truth of domestic good (n. 3518, 3519). How these things are circumstanced is evident from what was said above (n. 3502, 3512, 3518, 3519).

3537. And Rebekah took garments of desires of Esau her elder son. That this signifies the genuine truths of good, is evident from the signification of "garments of desires", as being genuine truths. "Garments" signify truths relatively lower, (n. 2576); "of desires" denotes genuine, because of the genuine good of the natural, which is represented by Esau the elder son (n. 3300, 3302, 3322, 3494, 3504, 3527).

3538. That were with her in the house. That this signifies that were from the Divine good through the Divine truth of the Divine rational, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, who is here meant by "her", as being the Divine truth of the Divine rational; and from the signification of "house", as being here the Divine good, because it is predicated of the Lord. "House" is good, (n. 710, 2233, 2234, 2559, 3128). That these things are signified by the words "that were with her in the house", is because by "house" is signified the rational both as to good and as to truth; or what is the same, both as to the will part, which is of good, and as to the intellectual part, which is of truth. When the rational acts from the will part or good, through the intellectual part or truth, then the rational mind is called one house". From this also heaven itself is called the "house of God", because therein is nothing else than good and truth, and the good acts through truth united or conjoined with itself. This is also represented in marriages between a husband and wife who constitute one house, by reason that conjugial love comes forth from the Divine marriage of good and truth (n. 2728, 2729, 3132); and both the husband and the wife have a will from good, but with a difference such as is that of good in respect to its own truth and therefore good is signified by the husband, and truth by the wife; for when there is one house, then good is the all therein, and truth, being of good, is also good. The reason why it is said, "with her in the house", not "with him" or "with them", is that the subject now is the state of the conjunction of truth and good, that is, the state before they were fully united or conjoined, which state is now to be described.

3539. And put them upon Jacob her younger son. That this signifies the affection of truth, or the life of good from truth, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Divine truth of the Divine rational; from the representation of Jacob, as being the Divine truth of the Divine natural; and from the signification of "putting upon,"'as being here to communicate and to imbue, namely, the truths of good which are signified by the "garments of Esau" (n. 3537), thus the affection of truth of the natural, which is here the same as the life of good from truth. How these things are to be understood may be known from what was said above (n. 3518) but because they are such things as are at this day utterly unknown, it is permitted to unfold them somewhat further to the apprehension. In this chapter the Lord is treated of, and how He made His very natural Divine; and in the representative sense there is treated of the regeneration of man as to his natural (n. 3490).

[2] The case herein with man is this: The end of regeneration is that man may be made new as to his internal man, thus as to his soul or spirit; but man cannot be made new or regenerated as to his internal man unless he is regenerated as to his external man also; for although after death man becomes a spirit, he nevertheless has with him in the other life the things which are of his external man, namely, natural affections, and also doctrinal things, and even memory-knowledges; in a word, all things of the exterior or natural memory (n. 2475-2483); for these are the planes in which his interiors are terminated; and therefore according to the disposition that has been made of these things is the character of interior things when they flow into them, because they are modified in them. This shows that man must be regenerated or made new not only as to his internal or rational man, but also as to his external or natural man; and unless this were the case there would not be any correspondence. There is a correspondence between the internal man and its spiritual things, and the external man and its natural things, (n. 2971, 2987, 2989, 2990, 3002, 3493).

[3] The state of the regeneration of man is described in a representative sense in this chapter by "Esau" and "Jacob;" here, the quality of man's first state while he is being regenerated, or before he has been regenerated; for this state is entirely inverted in respect to that in which man is when he has been regenerated. For in the former state, during regeneration, or before he has been regenerated, intellectual things which are of truth apparently act the first part; but when he has been regenerated, the things of the will, which are of good, act the first part. That intellectual things which are of truth apparently act the first part in the first state, was represented by Jacob, in that he claimed the birthright of Esau for himself (n. 3325, 3336) and also in that he claimed the blessing, which is here treated of; and that the state has been completely inverted, is represented by Jacob's art to be Esau, in clothing himself with the garments of Esau and the skins of the kids of the she-goats for in this state rational truth not yet thus conjoined with rational good, or what is the same, the understanding not thus conjoined with the will, in this manner inflows and acts into the natural, and disposes inversely the things which are there.

[4] This can also be seen from much experience, especially from the fact that a man is able to observe in the understanding, and thereby his natural can know, many things which are good and true, and yet the will cannot as yet act in accordance with them; as for instance that love and charity are the essential in man: this the intellectual faculty of man can see and confirm, but until he has been regenerated the will faculty cannot acknowledge it: there are even those who are in no love to the Lord whatever, and in no charity toward the neighbor, who well apprehend this. In like manner that love is the very life of man, and that such as the love is, such is the life; and likewise that everything delightful and everything pleasant is from love, consequently all joy and all happiness and therefore also such as the love is, such is the joy and such the happiness. A man is also able to apprehend in his understanding, even should his will dissent or go contrary thereto, that the happiest life is from love to the Lord and from charity toward the neighbor, because the very Divine flows into it; and on the other hand that the most miserable life is from the love of self and the love of the world, because hell flows into it; and from this it may be perceptible to the understanding, yet not to the will, that love to the Lord is the life of heaven, and that mutual love is the soul from this life; and therefore in so far as a man does not think from the life of his will, nor reflect upon his life derived therefrom, so far he perceives this in his understanding; but in so far as he thinks from the life of his will, so far he does not perceive, nay, denies it.

[5] Also to the understanding it may clearly appear that it is into the humiliation with a man that the Divine can inflow; for the reason that in this state the loves of self and of the world, and consequently the infernal things which oppose, are removed; but yet so long as the will is not new and the understanding has not been united to it, the man cannot be in humiliation of heart; nay, in so far as the man is in a life of evil, that is, in so far as his will is toward evil, so far this state is not possible; and what is more, so far the matter is obscure to him, and so far he even denies it. Hence also a man can perceive in his understanding that the humiliation of man is not for the sake of the Lord's love of glory, but for the sake of His Divine love, and in order that He can thereby inflow with good and truth and make the man blessed and happy; nevertheless so far as the will is consulted, so far this is obscured. The same is true in very many other cases.

[6] This faculty of man of being able to understand what is good and true although he does not will it, has been given to man in order that he may have the capacity of being reformed and regenerated; on which account this faculty exists with the evil as well as with the good; nay, with the evil it is sometimes more acute, but with this difference, that with the evil there is no affection of truth for the sake of life, that is, for the sake of the good of life from truth, and therefore they cannot be reformed; but with the good there is the affection of truth for the sake of life, that is, for the sake of the good of life, and therefore they can be reformed. But the first state of the reformation of these is that the truth of doctrine appears to them to be in the first place, and the good of life in the second, because they do what is good from truth; and their second state is that the good of life is in the first place, and the truth of doctrine in the second, for then they do what is good from good, that is, from the will of good; and when this is the case, because the will has been conjoined with the understanding as in a marriage, the man has been regenerated. In the internal sense these two states are treated of in the things said concerning Esau and Jacob.

3540. And the skins of the kids of the she-goats she caused to be put. That this signifies the external truths of domestic good, is evident from the signification of "skins", as being external things and from the signification of the kids of the she-goats", because from a home flock, as being the truths of domestic good (n. 3518, 3519), where also it appears what domestic good is, and what the truths thence derived. Every good has its own truths, and every truth has its own good, which must be conjoined together in order for them to be anything. That "skins" signify things external is because skins are the outermosts of the animal in which its interiors are terminated, in like manner as is the case with the skin or cuticles in man. This signification is derived from the representation in the other life, there being those there who belong to the province of the skin, concerning whom of the Lord's Divine mercy something will be said when we speak concerning the Grand Man at the end of the following chapters. They are such as are only in external good and its truths. Hence the "skin" of man, and also of beasts, signifies what is external; which is also manifest from the Word, as in Jeremiah: -

For the multitude of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, and thy heels suffer violence. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, and the leopard his spots? then can ye also do good that are taught to do evil (Jer. 13:22, 23);

where "skirts" are external truths; "heels", outermost goods. The "heel", and "shoes", are the lowest natural things, (n. 259, 1748); and because these truths and goods are from evil, as here said, they are compared to an "Ethiopian", or a black, and his "skin", and also to a "leopard" and his "spots".

[2] In Moses: -

If in pledging thou shalt have pledged thy neighbor's garment, thou shalt restore it unto him before the sun goes down; for that is his only covering it is his garment for his skin wherein he shall lie down (Exod. 22:26, 27).

As all the laws in the Word, even those which are civic and forensic, have a correspondence with the laws of good and truth in heaven, and were thence enacted, such is the case with this law also; otherwise it would be impossible to discover why a pledged garment should be restored before the sun went down; and why it is said that his garment is for his skin wherein he shall lie down, But from the internal sense the correspondence is manifest, being that our companions are not to be defrauded of external truths, which are the doctrinal things according to which they live, and rituals. A "garment" signifies such truths, (n. 297, 1073, 2576); but the "sun" is the good of love or of life which is therefrom (n. 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495); that this should not perish, is signified by the garment being restored before the sun went down; and because these external truths are the externals of the interior things, or their termination, it is said that "his garment is for his skin wherein he shall lie down".

[3] As "skins" signified external things, it was commanded that the covering of the Tent should be of the skins of red rams, and over these the skins of badgers (Exod. 26:14); for the Tent was representative of the three heavens, thus of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom. The curtains which were round about represented natural things that are external (n. 3478), which are the "skins of rams and of badgers", and as external things are those which cover internal ones, or in other words natural things are those which cover spiritual and celestial ones, just as the body covers its soul, therefore this was commanded; and in like manner that when the camp set forward Aaron and his sons should cover the ark of the testimony with the veil of covering, and should put over this covering the skin of a badger; and that upon the table and the things which were upon it they should spread a cloth of scarlet double-dyed, and should cover it with badger's skin as a covering; likewise that they should put the lampstand and all its vessels under a covering of badger's skin; and should put all the vessels wherewith they ministered under a cloth of blue, and should cover them with a covering of badger's skin (Num. 4:5-12). Whoever thinks of the Word holily may know that Divine things are represented by all these things: by the ark, the table, the lampstand, and the vessels wherewith they ministered; also by the coverings of scarlet double-dyed and blue; and also by the coverings of badgers' skins and that by all these things are represented the Divine things that are within the external ones.

[4] Inasmuch as the prophets represented those who teach, and hence the teaching of good and truth from the Word (n. 2534), and Elijah the Word itself (n. 2762), in like manner John, who for this reason is called the Elias that was to come (Matt. 17:10-13); therefore in order that they might represent the Word as it is in its external form, that is, in the letter, Elijah was girded with a girdle of skin about his loins (2 Kings 1:8) and John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a girdle of skin about his loins (Matt. 3:4). And inasmuch as the skin of man and beast signified external things, which are natural things in their relation to spiritual and celestial ones; and as in the Ancient Church it was customary to speak and write by significatives, therefore also in Job, which is a book of the Ancient Church, "skin" has the same signification, as may be seen from several passages in that book, and also from this: -

I know my Redeemer, He liveth, and at the last He will arise above the dust, and afterward these shall be encompassed with my skin, and from my flesh I shall see God (Job 19:25, 26).

To be "encompassed with skin" denotes by the natural, such as man has with him after death (n. 3539); "from the flesh to see God" is to do so from what is our own, vivified. This is "flesh" may be seen above, (n. 148, 149, 780). That the book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church is evident as before said from its representative and significative style; but it is not of those books which are called the Law and the Prophets, because it has not an internal sense which treats solely of the Lord and of His kingdom for this is the one thing that makes a book of the genuine Word.

3541. Upon his hands. That this signifies according to the faculty of receiving, is evident from the signification of "hand", as being poor (n. 878, 3091); thus the faculty of receiving.

3542. And upon the smooth of his neck. That this signifies that disjoining truth should not appear, is evident from the predication of "smooth", or of "smoothness", as being concerning truth (n. 3527); and from the signification of the "neck", as being that which conjoins; here, therefore, because the appearance was upon the smooth of his neck, the signification is that disjoining truth should not appear. How the case herein is can be seen from what was said and shown above (n. 3539), namely, that that good and those truths which flow forth from the understanding, and not at the same time from the will, are not good and not truths, however much they may so appear in the outward form; and if the will is of evil, the good and the truths disjoin instead of conjoining; but if anything of the will is of good, then they do not disjoin, but conjoin, although they are disposed in an inverted order, for by their means the man is being regenerated; and because when thus disposed they serve at first for the regeneration of man, it is said that thus disjoining truth should not appear; but more concerning these things below.

[2] The reason why the "neck" signifies that which conjoins, is that the higher things in man, which are of the head, communicate through the intervening neck with the lower things which are of his body hence it is that both influx and communication, and consequently conjunction, are signified by this intermediate part; as may be seen still more conclusively from the correspondences of the Grand Man with the things of the human body, treated of at the ends of the chapters. From this comes a like signification of the "neck" in the Word, as in Isaiah: -

His breath as an overflowing stream will divide even unto the neck (Isa. 30:28);

where an "overflowing stream" denotes falsity thus overflowing; "dividing even unto the neck" denotes falsity closing up and thus intercepting the communication and thus the conjunction of higher things with lower ones which conjunction is precluded and intercepted when spiritual good and truth are not received.

[3] In Habakkuk: -

Thou hast smitten the head out of the house of the wicked, laying bare the foundation even unto the neck (Habakkuk 3:13);

where "smiting the head out of the house of the wicked" denotes destroying the principles of falsity "laying bare the foundation even unto the neck" denotes intercepting the conjunction thereby. In Jeremiah: -

Transgressions knit together are come up upon my neck he hath over-thrown my forces God hath given me into their hands, I am not able to rise up (Lam. 1:14);

"transgressions knit together ascending upon my neck" denote falsities ascending toward interior or rational things.

[4] Inasmuch as by the "neck" was signified this communication and conjunction, therefore by the bonds of the neck was signified interception, consequently the desolation of truth which comes forth when the spiritual things that continually flow in from the Lord are no longer admitted into the rational of man, and consequently not into his natural. This interception, or desolation, is what is represented in Jeremiah by the command that he should make unto himself bonds and yokes, and should put them upon his neck, and send them to the peoples, and should say that they were to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and that they who did not yield their necks under his yoke should be visited by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence; but that those who bowed down their necks should be left upon the land (Jer. 27:2, 3, 8, 11). To put the neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him", signifies to be desolated as to truth, and to be vastated as to good. It is "Babel" which vastates, (n. 1327); and they are vastated lest holy things should be profaned, (n. 301-303, 1327, 1328, 2426, 3398, 3399, 3402); and because when the influx of good and truth is intercepted, what is evil and false is served, therefore also to "put the neck under the yoke" signifies to serve.

[5] Again in the same Prophet: -

Thus saith Jehovah, Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two years of days from off the neck of all the nations (Jer. 28:11);

signifying that they should be delivered from vastation. In Isaiah: -

Shake thyself from the dust arise, sit thee down O Jerusalem open the bonds of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion (Isa. 52:2);

where "to open the bonds of the neck" signifies to admit and receive good and truth. In Micah: -

Behold against this family do I devise an evil from which ye shall not draw forth your necks, and ye shall not walk erect, for it is an evil time (Micah 2:3).

"Not to draw forth the neck from evil" is not to admit truth; "not to walk erect" is thereby not to look to higher things, that is, to those which are of heaven (n. 248).

3543. And she gave the dainties. That this signifies the delectable things thence derived, is evident from the signification of "dainties", as being things pleasant and also delectable (n. 3502, 3536).

3544. And the bread. That this signifies the good thence derived, is evident from the signification of "bread", as being good (n. 276, 680, 1798, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478).

3545. That she had made. That this signifies which were from Divine truth, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Divine truth of the Lord's Divine rational and because it is said of Rebekah that she had "made them", it signifies that they were from Divine truth.

3546. Into the hand of Jacob her son. That this signifies that such as the affection of natural truth, is evident from its being a closing period of that precedes and at this time such was Jacob, by whom is represented natural truth (n. 3305, 3509, 3525), in that he was clothed as to his hands and neck with the skins of kids of goats, and had in his hands dainties that he was to carry to his father Isaac.

3547. Verses 18-20. And he came unto his father and said, My father; and he said, Behold me, who art thou my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou spakest unto me; arise I pray thee, sit, and eat of my hunting, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast hastened to find it, my son? and he said, Because Jehovah thy God made it come to meet my face. "And he came unto his father and said, my father; and he said, Behold me, who art thou my son?" signifies a state of perception from the presence of that truth; "and Jacob said unto his father", signifies the observation of natural truth "I am Esau thy firstborn", signifies that it believed that it was natural good itself; "I have done according as thou spakest unto me", signifies obedience; " arise I pray thee,. sit, and eat of my hunting", signifies the truth of the affection of such good; "that thy soul may bless me", signifies conjunction; "and Isaac said unto his son", signifies perception' "how is it that thou hast hastened to find it, my son?" signifies production so speedy "and he said, Because Jehovah thy God made it come to meet my face", signifies providence.

3548. And he came unto his father and said, My father; and he said, Behold me, who art thou my son? That this signifies a state of perception from the presence of that truth, is evident from the representation of Isaac, who is here the "father;" and from the representation of Jacob, who is here the "son", concerning which several times before; also from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive, concerning which likewise above. From these and from the rest of the expressions it is evident that the signification herein is a state of perception from the presence of that truth which is represented by Jacob; but what is the quality of this truth which is now represented by Jacob is manifest from the internal sense of what goes before and of what follows, namely, that in outward form it appears like the good and the truth of good which are represented by Esau and are signified by his hunting, but that it is not such in its internal form. The natural as to truth in the man who is being regenerated, that is, before he has been regenerated, appears of this character, not indeed in the sight of man, for he knows nothing about the good and truth with him during regeneration; but in the sight of the angels, who see such things in the light of heaven, Man does not even know what the good and truth of the natural are; and because he does not know this, he cannot perceive it; and because he does not perceive it in general, neither can he perceive it in particular; thus he cannot perceive the differences, and still less the changes of their state; and this being so, he can with difficulty comprehend from any description how the case is with this good and its truth. But as these matters are what are treated of in this chapter, therefore in what follows the subject is to be unfolded in so far as it can be apprehended.

3549. And Jacob said unto his father. That this signifies the observation of natural truth, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive, concerning which above; here, to observe, because from the natural; and from the representation of Jacob, as being natural truth, concerning which also above.

3550. I am Esau thy firstborn. That this signifies that it believed it was natural good itself, is evident from the representation of Esau, and from the signification of "firstborn", as being good, and indeed the natural good which is represented by Esau; for such is the case with the truth appertaining to man before he is regenerated that it is believed to be good itself: they who have perception know that it is not good, but that it is truth under the form of good; but they who have not perception know no otherwise than that it is good. This also will better appear from what follows.

3551. I have done according as thou spakest unto me. That this signifies obedience, is evident without explication.

3552. Arise I pray thee, sit, and eat of my hunting. That this signifies the truth of the affection of such good, is evident from the signification of "arising", as involving somewhat of elevation (n. 2401, 2785, 2912, 2927, 3171) and from the signification of "sitting", as involving somewhat of tranquillity from the signification of eating", as being appropriation (n. 2187, 3168); and from the signification of "hunting", as being the truth which is from good (n. 3501), hence in the present case the affection of that good from which is truth, for the things signified by "arising", "sitting", and "eating", in the internal sense belong to affection, and therefore only affection is mentioned to denote them.

3553. That thy soul may bless me. That this signifies conjunction, is evident from the signification of " to be blessed", as being conjunction (n. 3504, 3514, 3530).

3554. And Isaac said unto his son. That this signifies the perception of the rational represented by Isaac concerning the natural which is represented by Jacob; and that "to say" denotes to perceive, has often been shown before.

3555. How is it that thou hast hastened to find it, my son? That this signifies production so speedy, is evident without explication.

3556. And he said, Because Jehovah thy God made it come to meet my face. That this signifies providence, is also evident without explication. The providence here treated of is that during regeneration good and the derivative truth are thus disposed in order with man, that is, that they appear outwardly, or are there presented, with a face like that of genuine good and its derivative genuine truths when nevertheless they are not such, but as before said are domestic good and the derivative truths that are of service merely for the regenerating of man, thus for introducing goods and truths of a grosser nature, because such are conducive to the end.

3557. Verses 21-23. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near I pray, and I will feel thee my son, whether thou be my very son Esau, or not. And Jacob came near to Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he recognized him not, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; and he blessed him. "And Isaac said unto Jacob", signifies perception concerning this natural; come near I pray, and I will feel thee my son", signifies inmost perception from presence; "whether thou be my very son Esau, or not", signifies that it was not natural good; "and Jacob came near to Isaac his father,"signifies a state of presence; "and he felt him", signifies thence all perception; "and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau", signifies that in this case the intellectual part is of truth which is within, but the will part is of good which is without, thus they are of inverted order; "and he recognized him not, because his hands were hairy as his brother Esau's hands", signifies that from the will part that was without it was perceived that it was natural good; " and he blessed him", signifies the consequent conjunction.

3558. And Isaac said unto Jacob. That this signifies perception concerning this natural, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive, concerning which above and from the representation of Jacob as being the natural as to truth, here only the natural, because he also represented apparently, or in an external form simulated, Esau; thus also the natural as to good, which is Esau, and likewise his hunting, which is the truth that is of that good (n. 3501). The reason why "he said" is so often repeated, is also because what is new thus begins, or a new perception (n. 2061, 2238, 2260).

3559. Come near I pray, and I will feel thee my son. That this signifies inmost perception from presence, is evident from the signification of "coming near", as being presence and from the signification of "feeling", as being an inmost and complete perception (n. 3528).

3560. Whether thou be my very son Esau, or not. That this signifies that it was not natural good, is evident from the doubt expressed in these words and in those which presently follow; and as it is the rational which perceives what and of what quality the natural is, there is signified a perception that it was not natural good, or Esau.

3561. And Jacob came near to Isaac his father. That this signifies a state of presence, is evident from what goes before.

3562. And he felt him. That this signifies all perception, is evident from the signification of "feeling", as being an inmost and complete perception (n. 3528, 3559), here, all perception, because the perception of all things is from that which is inmost, that is, they who are in inmost perception are in the perception of all things which are beneath; for the things which are beneath are nothing but derivations and compositions therefrom, inasmuch as the inmost is the all in all of the things beneath it; for unless whatever is beneath is from things interior or what is the same, from things superior, as an effect from its efficient cause, it does not come into existence. And this shows why the end makes a man happy or unhappy in the other life; for the end is the inmost of every cause, insomuch that unless the end is in the cause, nay, unless it is the all thereof, the cause is not; and in like manner the end is the inmost of every effect, for the effect is from such cause; and because this is so, whatever pertains to man derives its being from the end which is in him, and hence in the other life his state is such as is his end (n. 1317, 1568, 1571, 1645, 1909, 3425). From this it may be seen that as feeling signifies inmost perception, it therefore signifies all perception.

3563. And said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. That this signifies that in this case the intellectual part is of truth which is within, but that the will part is of good which is without, thus that they are of inverted order, is evident from the predication of "voice" as being of truth, and from the predication of "hand" as being of good. "Voice" is predicated of truth, (n. 219, 220); and from its being said, "the voice is Jacob's voice", by whom is represented natural truth. And the reason why "hand" is predicated of good is that by "hand" is signified power and faculty (n. 878, 3541), which is derived from no other source than good, all the power and faculty of truth being therefrom, although it appears to be from truth; the same is evident also from its being said, "the hands are the hands of Esau", by whom good is represented, as also has been shown above. That these things are of inverted order is evident from the fact that it is according to order for good which is of the will to be within, and for truth which is of the understanding to be without. However, as before said, these things are such that they cannot be so well set forth to the apprehension, because few are in any knowledge concerning such things for even if they should be most clearly set forth, yet when knowledge is wanting they are not apprehended and yet it is necessary to state how the case is, because this is the subject here treated of.

[2] The good of the natural comes forth from no other source in man than interior good, that is, from the good of the rational; that the natural has good from no other source, is evident; but the influx causes the good in the natural to be such as the natural is; and as this is the only source of the good of the natural, the truth of the natural is from the same source; for where good is, there is truth, both being necessary in order that there may be anything; but the influx causes the truth therein to be such as is that into which it flows. The influx takes place in this way: The good of the rational flows into the natural in two ways through the shortest way, into the good itself of the natural, thus immediately and through the good of the natural into the truth there; this good and this truth are what is represented by Esau and his hunting. The good of the rational also flows into the natural by a way less short, namely, through the truth of the rational, and by this influx forms something like good, but it is truth.

[3] It is according to order that the good of the rational should inflow into the good of the natural and at the same time into its truth, immediately; and also through the truth, of the rational into the good of the natural, thus mediately; and in like manner into the truth of the natural both immediately and mediately; and when this is the ease, then the influx is according to order. Such influx exists with those who have been regenerated but as before said there is another influx before they have been regenerated, namely, that the good of the rational does not flow immediately into the good of the natural, hut mediately through the truth of the rational, and thus presents something like good in the natural, but which is not genuine good, and consequently not genuine truth; yet it is such that inmostly it really has good from the influx through the truth of the rational; but no further. Therefore also good comes forth there under another form, namely, outwardly like the good which is represented by Esau, but inwardly like the truth which is represented by Jacob; and as this is not according to order, it is said to be of inverted order; but yet in respect to the fact that man can be regenerated in no other way, it is according to order.

[4] I am aware that these things, even though clearly stated, and consequently possible of clear perception on the part of those who are in the knowledge of such things, are yet obscure to those who do not know what influx is; and still more so to those who do not know that the rational is distinct from the natural; and still more so to those who have not any distinct idea about good and truth. But what the quality of natural good is, and of natural truth, in the state previous to regeneration, can appear solely from the affections at that time. When man is affected with truth, not for the sake of ends of life, but for the sake of other ends, such as that he may become learned, and this from a certain affection of emulation, or from a certain affection of childish envy, and also from a certain affection of glory; then are the good of the natural and the truth of the natural in such an order as is here represented by Jacob, consequently relatively to each other they are in inverted order; that is, the will part which is of good is without, and the intellectual part which is of truth is within.

[5] But in the state after regeneration it is otherwise; for then man is not only affected with truth for the sake of ends of life, but still more is he affected with the good itself of life and the former affections, namely those of emulation, of childish envy, and of glory, separate themselves, and this until it appears as if they were dissipated; for then the good which is of the will is within, and the truth which is of the understanding is without; yet still in such a manner that truth acts as a one with good, because from good. This order is genuine and the former order tends to the forming of this order, inasmuch as the will part, which is then without, admits many things that are serviceable to regeneration, and is like a sponge that absorbs both clear and muddy waters thus also it admits things that would otherwise be rejected, which yet serve as means, and also for forming ideas about goods and truths, and for other uses.

3564. And he recognized him not, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands. That this signifies that from the will part which was without it was perceived that it was natural good, is evident from the fact that he did not recognize Jacob to be Jacob, that is, the truth which Jacob represents but he perceived Esau, that is, the natural good which was without and this because of the influx spoken of above (n. 3563), for between interior good and exterior good there is communication because there is parallelism (n. 1831, 1832, 3514) but not between good and truth, unless the influx of good into truth is such as has been described just above.

3565. And he blessed him. That this signifies the consequent conjunction, is evident from the signification of being blessed", as being conjunction (n. 3504, 3514, 3530); but in this state the conjunction was no other than that which was described above (n. 3563). With the truth represented by Jacob there was inmost conjunction, but not mediate conjunction; thus through the end which is the inmost good, and which was that thus and no otherwise it could be effected. When there is this end, then for the first time there is a conjunction of the inmost things with the outermost; mediate conjunction comes successively, and is produced by the end; for in the end lies concealed all the progression, inasmuch as the Lord acts through the ends, and through then successively disposes the intermediate things into order; from which comes the conjunction which is signified by Isaac blessing Jacob.

3566. Verses 24, 25. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's hunting, that my soul may bless thee; and he brought it near to him, and he did eat, and he brought him wine, and he drank. "And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am", signifies the state of the affection of natural truth, that from the external form it then believed itself to be natural good; "and he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's hunting" signifies a longing to conjoin with itself natural truth through good; "that my soul may bless thee", signifies conjunction; "and he brought it near to him, and he did eat", signifies the conjunction of good first; "and he brought him wine, and he drank", signifies the conjunction of truth afterwards.

3567. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. That this signifies the state of natural truth, that from the external form it then believed itself to be natural good, is evident from Isaac's inquiry, "Art thou my very son Esau?" by which in the internal sense nothing can be signified than the influx of the rational from good into the natural truth represented by Jacob and from the reply, "and he said, I am", as signifying that it then believed itself to be good. (n. 3550).

3568. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's hunting. That this signifies a longing to conjoin with itself natural truth through good, is evident from the signification of "eating", as being to conjoin and appropriate (n. 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513); and from the signification of "my son's hunting", as being the truth of good (n. 3309, 3501, 3508). That a longing is signified, is evident.

3569. That my soul may bless thee. That this signifies conjunction, is evident from the signification of "being blessed", as being conjunction (n. 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565).

3570. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat. That this signifies the conjunction of good first and that he brought him wine and he drank signifies the conjunction of truth afterwards, is evident from the signification of "eating", as being to be conjoined and appropriated in respect to good (n. 3568); and from the signification of "wine", as being the truth which is from good (n. 1071, 1798); and from the signification of "drinking", as being to be conjoined and appropriated in respect to truth (n. 3168). In regard to the circumstance that the good of the rational, represented by Isaac, conjoins with itself good first, and truth afterwards, and this through the natural, which is Jacob, the case is this: When the natural is in the state in which it is outwardly good and inwardly truth (n. 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563), it then admits many things which are not good, but which nevertheless are useful, being means to good in their order. But the good of the rational does not conjoin and appropriate to itself from this source anything but that which is in agreement with its own good;, for good receives nothing else, and whatever disagrees, it rejects. The rest of the things in the natural it leaves, in order that they may serve as means for admitting and introducing more things that are in agreement with itself.

[2] The rational is in the internal man, and what is there being transacted is unknown to the natural, for it is above the sphere of its observation and for this reason the man who lives a merely natural life cannot know anything of what is taking place with him in his internal man, that is, in his rational; for the Lord disposes all such things entirely without the man's knowledge. Hence it is that man knows nothing of how he is being regenerated, and scarcely that he is being regenerated. But if he is desirous to know this, let him merely attend to the ends which he proposes to himself, and which he rarely discloses to anyone. If the ends are toward good, that is to say, if he cares more for his neighbor and the Lord than for himself, then he is in a state of regeneration but if the ends are toward evil, that is to say, if he cares more for himself than for his neighbor and the Lord, let him know that in this case he is in no state of regeneration.

[3] Through his ends of life a man is in the other life; through ends of good in heaven with the angels; but through ends of evil in hell with devils. The ends in a man are nothing else than his loves for that which a man loves he has for an end; and inasmuch as his ends are his loves, they are his inmost life (n. 1317, 1568, 1571, 1645, 1909, 3425, 3562, 3565). The ends of good in a man are in his rational, and these are what are called the rational as to good, or the good of the rational. Through the ends of good, or through the good therein, the Lord disposes all things that are in the natural for the end is as the soul, and the natural is as the body of this soul; and such as the soul is, such is the body with which it is encompassed; thus such as the rational is as to good, such is the natural with which it is invested.

[4] It is known that the soul of man commences in the ovum of the mother, and is afterwards perfected in her womb, and is there encompassed with a tender body, and this of such a nature that through it the soul may be able to act in a manner suited to the world into which it is born. The case is the same when man is born again, that is, when he is being regenerated. The new soul which he then receives is the end of good, which commences in the rational, at first as in an ovum there, and afterwards is there perfected as in a womb; the tender body with which this soul is encompassed is the natural and the good therein, which becomes such as to act obediently in accordance with the ends of the soul the truths therein are like the fibers in the body, for truths are formed from good (n. 3470). Hence it is evident that an image of the reformation of man is presented in his formation in the womb; and if you will believe it, it is also the celestial good and spiritual truth which are from the Lord that form him and then impart the power to receive each of them successively, and this in quality and quantity precisely as like a man he looks to the ends of heaven, and not like a brute animal to the ends of the world.

[5] That the rational as to good through the natural conjoins with itself good first, and truth afterwards, which is signified by Jacob's bringing dainties and bread to Isaac and his eating, and bringing him wine and his drinking, may also be illustrated by the offices which the body performs for its soul. It is the soul which gives to the body to have appetite for food, and also to enjoy the taste of it, the foods being introduced by means of the delight of appetite and the delight of taste, thus by means of external good; but the foods which are introduced do not all enter the life, for some serve as menstruums for digesting; some for tempering; some for opening some for introducing into the vessels; but the good foods selected are introduced into the blood, and become blood, out of which the soul conjoins with itself such things as are of use.

[6] The case is the same with the rational and the natural: to appetite and taste correspond the desire and the affection of knowing truth; and knowledges correspond to foods (n. 1480); and because they correspond, they are circumstanced in like manner; the soul (which is the good of the rational) gives to long for and to be affected with the things which are of memory-knowledge and of doctrine, and introduces them through the delight of the longing and the good of the affection. But the things which it introduces are not all such as to become the good of life; for some serve as means for a kind of digesting and tempering; some for opening and introducing; but the goods which are of life it applies to itself, and thus conjoins them with itself, and from them forms for itself truths. From this it is evident how the rational disposes the natural, in order that it may serve it as the soul or what is the same, may serve the end, which is the soul, to perfect itself, that it may be of use in the Lord's kingdom.

3571. Verses 26-29. And Isaac his father said unto him, Come near I pray, and kiss me my son. And he came near, and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Jehovah hath blessed. And God shall give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fat things of the earth, and a multitude of corn and new wine. Peoples shall serve thee, and peoples shall bow down themselves to thee. Be thou a master to thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down themselves to thee; cursed are they that curse thee, and blessed are they that bless thee. "And Isaac his father said unto him, Come near I pray", signifies a degree of perception still more interior "and kiss me my son", signifies whether it can be united; "and he came near, and kissed him", signifies presence and unition; "and he smelled the smell of his garments", signifies that which was grateful from the truth of good which he perceived; "and blessed him", signifies conjunction thus; "and said, See, the smell of my son", signifies that which was grateful from the truth of good; "is as the smell of a field", signifies as from good ground out of which is truth; "which Jehovah hath blessed", signifies that it is multiplied and made fruitful from the Divine; "and God shall give thee of the dew of heaven", signifies from Divine truth; "and of the fat things of the earth", signifies from Divine good "and a multitude of corn", signifies the derivative natural good; "and new wine", signifies the derivative natural truth; "peoples shall serve thee", signifies the truths of the church, or spiritual churches; "and peoples shall bow down themselves to thee", signifies the truths of good; "Be thou a master to thy brethren", signifies the dominion at first appearing to be that of the affection of natural truth over the affections of natural good; "and let thy mother's sons bow down themselves to thee", signifies over all other affections of truth; "cursed are they that curse thee", signifies that he who disjoins himself shall be disjoined "and blessed are they that bless thee", signifies that he who conjoins himself shall be conjoined.

3572. And Isaac his father said unto him, Come near pray. That this signifies a degree of perception still more interior, is evident from the signification of "saying that he should come near", as being a degree of more interior perception from presence; "to come near" has no other signification.

3573. And kiss me my son. That this signifies whether it can be united, is evident from the signification of "kissing;" as being unition and conjunction from affection. "Kissing", which is an outward thing, signifies nothing else than the affection of conjunction which is an inward thing; they also correspond. As is evident from what has been said above, the subject here treated of in the supreme sense is the glorification of the natural in the Lord, that is, how the Lord made the natural in Himself Divine; but in the representative sense the subject is the regeneration of the natural in man, thus the conjunction of the natural with the rational; for the natural is not regenerated until it has been conjoined with the rational. This conjunction is effected by the immediate and mediate influx of the rational into the good and truth of the natural; that is to say, from the good of the rational immediately into the good of the natural, and through this into the truth of the natural; and mediately through the truth of the rational into the truth of the natural, and thence into the good of the natural-which conjunctions are here treated of.

[2] These conjunctions are impossible except by means provided by the Divine, and indeed by such as are utterly unknown to man, and of which he can scarcely have any idea by means of the things of the world's light, that is, which are of the natural lumen with him; but only by means of the things which are of the light of heaven, that is, which are of rational light. Nevertheless all these means have been disclosed in the internal sense of the Word, and are manifest before those who are in that sense, thus before the angels, who see and perceive innumerable things on this subject, of which scarcely one can be unfolded and explained in a manner suited to the apprehension of man.

[3] But from effects and the signs thereof it is in some measure manifest to man how the case is with this conjunction for the rational mind (that is, man's interior will and understanding) ought to represent itself in the natural mind just as this mind represents itself in the face and its expressions, insomuch that as the face is the countenance of the natural man, so the natural mind should be the countenance of the rational mind. When the conjunction has been effected, as is the case with those who have been regenerated, then whatever man interiorly wills and thinks in his rational presents itself conspicuously in his natural, and this latter presents itself conspicuously in his face. Such a face have the angels; and such a face had the most ancient people who were celestial men, for they were not at all afraid that others should know their ends and intentions, inasmuch as they willed nothing but good; for he who suffers himself to be led by the Lord never intends or thinks anything else. When the state is of this character, then the rational as to good conjoins itself immediately with the good of the natural, and through this with its truths; and also mediately through the truth that is conjoined with itself in the rational with the truth of the natural, and through this with the good therein; and in this way the conjunction becomes indissoluble.

[4] But how far man is at this day removed from this state, thus from the heavenly state, may be seen from the fact that it is believed to be of civil prudence to speak, to act, and also to express by the countenance, something else than what one thinks and intends, and even to dispose the natural mind in such a manner that together with its face it may act contrary to the things which it interiorly thinks and wills from an end of evil. To the most ancient people this was an enormous wickedness, and such persons were cast out from their society as devils. From these things, as from effects and their signs, it is evident in what consists the conjunction of the rational or internal of man as to good and truth with his natural or external man; and thus what is the quality of a man-angel, and what the quality of a man-devil.

3574. And he came near, and kissed him. That this signifies presence and unition, is evident from the signification of "coming near", as being presence; and from the signification of "kissing", as being unition or conjunction from affection (n. 3573). That kissing" has this signification is evident also from the following passages in the Word. In David:

Serve Jehovah with fear. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way, for His anger will soon be kindled. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him (Ps. 2:11, 12);

where the Lord is treated of, whose Divine Human is the " Son;" to "kiss Him" is to be conjoined with Him through the faith of love. Again: -

Mercy and truth are met together righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Ps. 85:10);

"righteousness and peace have kissed each other" denotes their conjunction together. In Hosea: -

Ephraim spake horror, and became guilty in Baal and now they sin more and more and have made them a molten image of their silver, even idols in their own intelligence, all of them the work of the craftsmen they say to them, Let the sacrificers of men kiss the calves (Hosea 13:1, 2);

"Ephraim" denotes intelligence, here, man's own intelligence, that is, those who believe themselves to be wise, and who desire to be wise, not from the Lord; the "molten image of their silver" denotes good falsified; "all of them the work of the craftsmen" denotes self-intelligence. They who are such are said to "kiss the calves", that is, to embrace magic and to adjoin themselves thereto. In the first book of Kings: -

Jehovah said to Elijah, I have caused to be left seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him (1 Kings 19:18);

where "to kiss" denotes to join one's self from affection, thus to worship.

3575. And he smelled the smell of his garments. That this signifies that which was grateful from the truth of good which he perceived, is evident from the signification of the "smell", as being that which is grateful (n. 925), and of "smelling", as being to perceive that which is grateful; and from the signification of "garments", as being truth (n. 297, 1073, 2576); and because they were Esau's, who is here meant by "his", and by Esau is represented the good of the natural, therefore it is the truth of good which is signified. The truth of good is that which is produced in the natural by means of the immediate and mediate influx of the rational (n. 3573); this truth was that which was desired; but because it could not be produced by immediate influx from the good of the rational, unless at the same time by mediate influx (that is, through the truth of the rational); and as this could not be produced except by means of a number of means, which are what are here described by "Esau' and Jacob" in the internal sense, therefore by "smelling the smell of his garments" is signified the truth of good which was perceived.

3576. And he blessed him. That this signifies conjunction thus, is evident from the signification of "being blessed", as being conjunction (n. 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565). From these particulars which are related concerning Esau and Jacob it is evident that the good of the rational conjoined itself inmostly with the good of the natural, and through the good therein with truth; for Isaac represents the rational as to good; Rebekah, the rational as to truth; Esau, the good of the natural; and Jacob, the truth of it. That the rational as to good, signified by "Isaac", conjoined itself inmostly with the good of the natural; signified by "Esau", and not with the truth of the natural, signified by "Jacob", except mediately, is evident from the fact that Isaac had Esau in mind when he pronounced the blessing on Jacob; nor did he then think of Jacob, but of Esau. He who pronounces a blessing, blesses him of whom he is thinking, and not then him of whom he is not thinking. All the blessing that is uttered with the mouth goes forth from within, and has life in it from the will and thought of him who blesses, and therefore it essentially belongs to him for whom he wills, and of whom he thinks. He who takes it away and thus makes it his own is like one who steals something which should be restored to another. That when Isaac blessed he thought of Esau and not of Jacob, is evident from all that goes before, as from (verses 18 and 19), where Isaac says to Jacob, "Who art thou my son?" and Jacob said unto his father, "I am Esau thy firstborn;" and from (verses 21, 22, and 23), where Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near I pray, and I will feel thee my son, whether thou be my very son Esau, or not;" and after he had felt him, he said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau, and he recognized him not;" also from (verse 24), "And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am;" and at last when he kissed him, he smelled the smell of his garments", namely, Esau's and when he then blessed him, he said, "See, the smell of my son;" from all which it is evident that by the son whom he blessed no other was meant than Esau; and therefore also when he heard from Esau that it was Jacob, Isaac shuddered with exceeding great shuddering" (verse 33), "and said, Thy brother came with fraud" (verse 35); but the reason why Jacob retained the blessing, according to what is said in (verses 33 and 37), is that the truth represented by Jacob was apparently to have the dominion for a time, as has been shown several times above.

[2] But after the time of reformation and regeneration has been completed, then the good itself which had lain inmostly concealed, and from within had disposed each and all things that had appeared to be of truth, or that truth had attributed to itself, comes forth and openly has the dominion. This is signified by what Isaac said to Esau: "By thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother, and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from upon thy neck" (verse 40), the internal sense of which words is that so long as truth is being conjoined with good, good is apparently made to take a lower place; but that it will be in the prior place, and then there will be a conjunction of the rational with the good of the natural, and thereby with the truth; and thus truth will come to be of good; consequently Esau will then represent the good itself of the natural, and Jacob the truth itself thereof, both conjoined with the rational; thus in the supreme sense the Lord's Divine natural; Esau, as to the Divine good, and Jacob as to the Divine truth, therein.

3577. As the smell of a field. That this signifies as from good ground out of which comes truth, is evident from the signification of the "smell of a field", as being the perception of truth from good, like the exhalation from the harvest in a field. "Field" denotes good ground, (n. 3500). The reason why "smell" signifies perception, is that the delights of good and the pleasant things of truth which are perceived in the other life, manifest themselves there by corresponding odors (n. 1514, 1517-1519); and from this and also from the correspondences it is evident that smell is nothing else than the perceptive, but the natural perceptive that corresponds to the spiritual perceptive.

3578. Which Jehovah hath blessed. That this signifies that it is multiplied and made fruitful from the Divine, is evident from the signification of "Jehovah blessing", as being to be multiplied as to truth and to be made fruitful as to good (n. 2846, 3406).

3579. And God shall give thee of the dew of heaven. That this signifies from Divine truth, and that of the fat things of the earth signifies from Divine good, is evident from the signification of the "dew of heaven", as being truth; and from the signification of "fat things", as being good (n. 353), both Divine in the supreme sense, in which they are predicated of the Lord. With the multiplication of truth and fructification of good the case is this: When the rational flows into the natural, it there presents its good in a general form; through this good it produces truths therein, almost as the life in man builds up fibers, and disposes them into forms according to uses. This good, through these truths disposed into heavenly order, produces further good; and through this good further truths, which are derivations. Such a natural idea may be had of the formation of truth from good, and further of good through truth, whereby again truth is formed; but a spiritual idea cannot be had except by those who are in the other life, for there ideas are formed from the light of heaven, in which is intelligence.

[2] That "dew" signifies truth, is evident also from the Word elsewhere, as in Zechariah: -

The seed of peace, the vine shall give her fruit and the earth shall give her produce, and the heavens shall give their dew (Zech. 8:12);

speaking of a new church, where the "vine giving its fruit" denotes the spiritual of the church or the truth of faith, giving good; and the "earth giving its produce", the celestial of the church or the good of charity, giving truth; these are the "dew which the heavens shall give". In Haggai:

Because of Mine house that lieth waste over you the heavens are closed from dew, and the earth is closed from her produce (Haggai 1:9, 10);

where the "dew of the heavens and the produce of the earth", which were restrained, have a like signification.

[3] In David: -

From the womb of the dawning, thou hast the dew of thy birth (Ps. 110:3);

concerning the Lord the "dew of birth" denoting the celestial of love. In Moses: -

Blessed of Jehovah be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep lying beneath (Deut. 33:13);

concerning Joseph; the " precious things of heaven" are spiritual things (n. 3166), which are signified by dew;" the deep lying beneath" signifies natural things. Again: -

Israel dwelt securely, alone at the fountain of Jacob, in a land of corn and new wine, yea his heavens dropped down dew (Deut. 33:28);

where also the "dew which the heavens dropped" denotes the spiritual things which are of truth.

[4] In the genuine sense "dew" is the truth of good which is from a state of innocence and peace; for by "morning" or "day-dawn", when the dew descends, are signified these states (n. 2333, 2405, 2540, 2780); hence also the manna which was from heaven was with the dew that descended in the morning, as may be seen from Moses: -

In the morning the dew was laid round about the camp and when the laying of the dew withdrew, behold on the faces of the wilderness a small round thing, small as the hoar frost on the ground (Exod. 16:13, 14).

When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it (Num. 11:9).

As the manna was heavenly bread, in the supreme sense it signified the Lord as to the Divine good; hence with men the celestial of love, for this is from the Divine of the Lord (n. 276, 680, 1798, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478); the "dew" in which and with which the manna descended, in the supreme sense denotes the Divine truth; and in the relative sense, the spiritual truth with men; "morning" is the state of peace in which these goods are (n. 92, 93, 1726, 2780, 3170).

[5] Inasmuch as "dew" signifies the truth which is from good, or what is the same, the spiritual which is from the celestial, therefore also in the Word spiritual truth is compared to "dew;" for things which signify serve also for comparison with the same thing, as in Isaiah: -

Thus hath Jehovah said unto me, I will be still, and I will behold in My dwelling-place; like serene heat upon light; like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest (Isa. 18:4).

In Hosea: -

O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your holiness is as a cloud of the dawn, and as the dew that falleth in the morning (Hosea 6:4; 13:3).

Again: -

I will be as the dew unto Israel, he shall blossom as the lily, and shall fix his roots as Lebanon (Hosea 14:5).

In Micah: -

The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from Jehovah, as drops upon the herb (Micah 5:7).

In David: -

Like the goodly oil upon the head that came down upon the border of Aaron's garments; like the dew of Hermon that cometh down upon the mountains of Zion for there Jehovah commanded the blessing of life for evermore (Ps. 133:2, 3).

And in Moses: -

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, My word shall distil as the dew; as the small rain upon the grass; and as drops upon the herb (Deut. 32:2);

where "dew" denotes the multiplication of truth from good, and the fructification of good through truth; and as the dew is that which every morning renders the field and vineyard fruitful, good itself and truth are signified by "corn and new wine", concerning which in what follows.

3580. And a multitude of corn. That this signifies the derivative natural good, and that new wine signifies the derivative natural truth, is evident from the signification of "corn", as being good; and from the signification of "new wine", as being truth; which when predicated of the natural signify natural good and truth, and then "bread and wine" are predicated of the rational. That "bread" is celestial good, see above, (n. 276, 680, 1798, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478); and that "wine" is what is spiritual, thus truth from good, (n. 1071, 1798).

[2] That "corn and new wine" have this signification, may be seen also from the following passages in the Word. In Haggai: -

The heavens are closed from dew, and the earth is closed from her produce. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine; and upon that which the ground bringeth forth (Haggai 1:10, 11);

where "drought" denotes a lack of dew and of rain, thus a lack of truth derived from any good; "drought upon the corn" is a lack of good and "drought upon the new wine" is a lack of truth. In Moses: -

Israel shall dwell securely, alone at the fountain of Jacob in a land of corn and new wine; yea, his heavens shall drop down dew (Deut. 33:28);

"alone" denotes those who are not infested by evils and falsities (n. 139, 471); a "land of corn and new wine" denotes the good and truth of the church.

[3] In Hosea: -

I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall bud forth as the lily, and shall fix his roots as Lebanon; his branches shall go forth, and his honor shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon; they that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall vivify the corn, and blossom as the vine; his memory shall be as the wine of Lebanon (Hosea 14:5-7);

where corn" denotes spiritual good and wine", spiritual truth. In Isaiah: -

The curse shall devour the earth. The new wine shall mourn, the vine shall languish, all the glad of heart shall sigh (Isa. 24:6, 7);

where the vastation of the spiritual church is treated of; the "new wine mourning" denotes that truth shall cease.

[4] In Jeremiah: -

Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob. And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together unto the goodness of Jehovah, to the corn and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the sons of the flock and of the herd (Jer. 31:11, 12);

the "corn and new wine" denote good and the derivative truth " oil", the good from which they come, and which is from them; "the sons of the flock and of the herd", the truth which thus comes therefrom; and as these things have such a signification, they are called the goodness of Jehovah".

[5] In Hosea: -

She did not know that I gave her the corn, and the new wine, and the oil, and multiplied unto her silver and gold which they made for Baal. Therefore will I return and take away My corn and My new wine in their appointed season, and I will pluck away My wool and My flax (Hosea 2:8, 9);

where the church perverted is treated of; and it is manifest that by "corn" is not meant corn; nor by "new wine", new wine; neither by "oil", "silver", "gold", "wool", and "flax", are such things meant, but those which are spiritual; that is, those of good and truth.

[6] In like manner where a new church is treated of, in the same Prophet: -

I will betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness and thou shalt know Jehovah. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will hearken to the heavens; and these shall hearken to the earth; and the earth shall hearken to the corn, and the new wine, and the oil; and these shall hearken to Jezreel (Hosea 2:20-22);

where "Jezreel" denotes a new church. In Joel: -

Awake ye drunkards and weep, and howl all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. The field is wasted, the land mourneth for the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth (Joel 1:5, 10).

[7] Again: -

Rejoice ye sons of Zion, and be glad in Jehovah your God; for He hath given you the early rain for righteousness; and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the early rain and the latter rain in the first. And the floors shall be filled with pure corn, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil (Joel 2:23, 24).

Again in the same Prophet: -

And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall go forth out of the house of Jehovah (Joel 3:18);

where the Lord's kingdom is treated of; and by " sweet wine " by "milk", and by "waters", are signified spiritual things whose abundance is thus described.

[8] In Zechariah: -

Jehovah their God shall save them in that day as the flock of His people. For how great is His goodness! and how great is His beauty! corn shall make the young men to flourish, and new wine the virgins (Zech. 9:16, 17).

In David: -

Thou dost visit the earth, and delightest in it; Thou greatly enrichest it; the stream of God is full of waters; Thou preparest them corn; the meadows are clothed with flocks;the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing (Ps. 65:9, 13).

From all this we can see what is signified by "corn and new wine".

3581. Peoples shall serve thee. That this signifies the truths of the church, and that peoples shall bow down themselves to thee, signifies the truths of good, is evident from the mention of serving", as being concerning truths (n. 2567, 3409); and from the signification of "peoples", as being truths (n. 1259, 1260, 2928, 3295). By the "peoples" first mentioned are signified the truths of the church, which are called spiritual truths; and by the "peoples" mentioned the second time are signified the truths of good, which are spiritual goods, and are called truths relatively, the goods of charity being such truths. Because there is this distinction, the "peoples" mentioned in the first place and in the second are not expressed in the Hebrew tongue by the same word, but yet by a word somewhat akin.

3582. Be thou a master to thy brethren. That this signifies the dominion at first appearing to be of that of the affection of natural truth over the affections of natural good, is evident from the signification of being "a master", as being dominion and from the signification of "brethren", as being the affections of good, here, of natural good (n. 367, 2360, 3303). Concerning the apparent dominion at first of truth over good, see (n. 3324, 3325, 3330, 3332, 3336, 3470, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570).

3583. And let thy mother's sons bow down themselves to thee. That this signifies over all other affections of truth, is evident from the signification of "sons", as also being truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373); and from the signification of mother", as being the affection of spiritual truth, and thence the church; because the church is and is so called from truth and the affection thereof (n. 289, 2691, 2717).

3584. Cursed are they that curse thee. That this signifies that he who disjoins himself shall be disjoined; and that blessed are they that bless thee signifies that he who conjoins himself shall be conjoined, is evident from the signification of "being cursed,' as being to be disjoined and of "being blessed", as being to be conjoined (n. 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565). These things are predicated of truths, and by "those who curse" are signified falsities which separate themselves from truths and by "those who bless" are signified truths which adjoin themselves to other truths; for with truths and goods the case is that they form a society together, at last making as it were one city; and in such a manner they also consociate. This originates from the form of heaven, in which the angels are ranged in order according to the relationships and affinities of good and truth, and thus together constitute one kingdom or one city, from which truths and goods flow in with man, and are disposed in him into a similar form, and this by the Lord alone. But how the case herein is, will be more plainly evident from the correspondence of the Grand Man, which is heaven, with each and everything that is in man; which correspondence will of the Lord's Divine mercy be described at the close of the chapters. From all this it is now evident what is involved in the blessing of Isaac pronounced to Jacob, but meant with respect to Esau; namely, the fructification of good through the multiplication of truth, and again the fructification of truth.

3585. Verses 30-33. And it came to pass as Isaac made an. end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was scarcely yet gone out from the faces of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came from his hunting. And he also made dainties, and brought unto his father; and he said unto his father, Let my father arise and eat of his son's hunting, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? and he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn, Esau. And Isaac shuddered with exceeding great shuddering, and said, Who then is he that hath hunted hunting, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest and blessed him? Yea, and he shall be blessed. "And it came to pass as Isaac made an end of blessing Jacob", signifies when the first conjunction had been thus effected; "and Jacob was scarcely yet gone out from the faces of Isaac his father", signifies progression and change of state; "that Esau his brother came from his hunting", signifies the truth of good and its arrival; "and he also made dainties, and brought unto his father", signifies things desirable and delightful to the Divine rational; and he said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's hunting", signifies that it should appropriate to itself the truth of natural good "that thy soul may bless me", signifies that there might be conjunction and Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? and he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn, Esau", signifies a state of perception concerning natural good and the derivative truth; "and Isaac shuddered with exceeding great shuddering", signifies a great alteration in respect to the inversion of the state; "and said, Who then is he that hath hunted hunting, and brought it to me", signifies an inquisition concerning that truth; and I have eaten of all before thou camest", signifies that it was appropriated; "and blessed him; yea, and he shall be blessed", signifies that it had been conjoined.

3586. And Jacob came to pass as Isaac made an end of blessing Jacob. That this signifies when the first conjunction had been thus effected, is evident from the signification of "blessing", as being conjunction (n. 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584); thus "as Isaac made an end of blessing" signifies when conjunction had been effected; that the first conjunction was with truth, represented by Jacob, is evident from what has been already said.

3587. And Jacob was yet scarcely gone out from the faces of Isaac his father. That this signifies progression and change of state, is evident from the signification of "going out from the faces", as being when those things ceased which were represented by Jacob, thus when the state was changed; for the subject is now Esau, and in the internal sense the good of the natural, how as before said this comes forth from the inmost and manifests itself; and when reformation has been accomplished by the ministry of truth, has the dominion.

3588. That Esau his brother came from his hunting. That this signifies the truth of good and its arrival is evident from the representation of Esau, as being the good of the natural from the signification of "coming", as being arrival; and from the signification of "hunting", as being the truth which is from good (n. 3501).

3589. And he also made dainties, and brought unto his father. That this signifies things desirable and delightful to the Divine rational, is evident from the signification of dainties", as being the delightful things which are of good and the pleasant things which are of truth (n. 3502, 3536), the delightful things which are of good are the desirable things, and the pleasant things which are of truth are the delightful things for the affection of good is that which desires, and then the affection of truth is that which delights.

3590. And he said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's hunting. That this signifies that the Divine rational should appropriate to itself the truth of natural good, is evident from the representation of Isaac, who here is the "father", as being the good of the rational from the signification of "eating", as being to appropriate (n. 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513); and from the signification of "hunting", as being the truth of natural good (n. 3588).

3591. That thy soul may bless me. That this signifies that there might be conjunction, is evident from the signification of "being blessed", as being conjunction (n. 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584).

3592. And Isaiah his father said unto him, Who art thou? and he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn, Esau. That this signifies a state of perception concerning natural good and the derivative truth, is evident from what was said above (n. 3548-3550), at (verses 18 and 19), where similar words occur.

3593. And Isaac shuddered with exceeding great shuddering. That this signifies a great alteration in respect to the inversion of the state, is evident from the signification of" shuddering", as being an alteration; that it is in respect to the inversion of the state, is evident from what has been said above concerning the two states of the man who is being regenerated-the state before he has been regenerated, and the state after he has been regenerated-namely, that in the state before he has been regenerated, truths apparently have the dominion; while in the state after he has been regenerated, truths give place, and good receives the dominion, on which subject see what has been frequently shown above, (n. 1904, 2063, 2189, 2967, 2979, 3286, 3288, 3310, 3325, 3330, 3332, 3336, 3470, 3509, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3579).

3594. And said, Who then is he that hath hunted hunting, and brought it to me. That this signifies an inquisition concerning that truth, is evident from the representation of Jacob, in reference to whom it is here said, "Who is he", as being the natural as to truth; and from the signification of "hunting", as being truth from good (n. 3501); here, an inquisition concerning that truth, as to whether it was from good.

3595. And I have eaten of all before thou camest. That this signifies that it had been appropriated, is evident from the signification of "eating", as being to be appropriated (n. 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513).

3596. And blessed him; yea, and he shall be blessed. That this signifies that it has been conjoined, is evident from the signification of "being blessed", as being to be conjoined (n. 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584). How the case is with the appropriation and conjunction of the truth represented by Jacob may be seen from what has been said above. But as these subjects are of such a nature as to transcend the apprehension of the natural man, and cannot be seen except in the light in which is the rational or internal man, in which light at the present day there are but few, because few are being regenerated, therefore it is better to illustrate them no further, for the illustration of things unknown and transcending the apprehension does not bring them into light, but into more shade. Moreover such things are to be built upon ideas of natural truths, through which they are to be apprehended, and at the present day these also are wanting. This is the reason why the words just preceding have been explained so briefly, and merely as to the internal sense of the expressions.

[2] From what has been said it may be seen what is involved in the statement that Isaac asked hunting of his son, that he might eat of it before he blessed him, and that he did not bless him till after he had eaten, and thus that after eating followed the blessing of him who prepared and brought the dainties-as is also evident from Isaac's words (here concerning Jacob), "he brought to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and blessed him; yea, and he shall be blessed". The reason referred to appears from the internal meaning of the rituals of the Ancient Church; for with them eating signified appropriation and conjunction-conjunction that is to say with him with whom or of whose bread they had eaten. Food in general signified what is of love and charity, that is, the same as celestial and spiritual food-bread what is of love to the Lord, and wine what is of charity toward the neighbor. When these had been appropriated, the persons were conjoined thus they spake to each other from affection, and were consociated together. Feasts with the ancients were nothing else, nor was anything else represented in the Jewish Church by their eating together of the holy things, nor was anything else represented in the primitive Christian Church by their dinners and suppers.

3597. Verses 34-40. When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother came with fraud, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is it not that his name is called Jacob? and he hath supplanted me these two times; he hath taken away my birthright, and behold now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold I have made him thy master, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and new wine have I sustained him; and what then shall I do for thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but this one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold of the fat things of the earth shall be thy dwelling, and of the dew of heaven from above. And upon thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion that thou shalt break his yoke from upon thy neck.

[2] "When Esau heard the words of his father", signifies the observation of natural good from Divine good; "he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry", signifies its great alteration in respect to the inversion of the state "and said unto his father, bless me, me also, O my father", signifies that it longed for conjunction, even although by what had gone before truth had been conjoined; "and he said, Thy brother came with fraud", signifies what is inverted of order; and hath taken away thy blessing", signifies conjunction in that manner;

[3] "and he said, Is it not that his name is called Jacob", signifies its quality "and he hath supplanted me these two times", signifies that it had inverted order "he hath taken away my birthright, signifies the loss of the priority; "and behold now he hath taken away my blessing", signifies the loss of the conjunction; "and he sad, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me", signifies whether there was for it anything in respect to conjunction in that former state;

[4] "and Isaac answered and said unto Esau", signifies instruction; "behold I have made him thy master", signifies that in that state it should have the dominion; "and all his brethren have I given to him for servants", signifies that to the affection of truth at that time there had apparently been subordinated the affections of good; "and with corn and new wine have I sustained him", signifies, as before, its good and truth; and what then shall I do for thee, my son", signifies that in that state there is nothing else for good;

[5] "and Esau said unto his father", signifies the observation of natural good; "hast thou but this one blessing, my father", signifies whether in that case anything else could be adjoined from natural good " bless me, me also, O my father", signifies that it longed for conjunction even although thereby truth had been conjoined and Esau lifted up his voice, and wept", signifies a further state of alteration

[6] "and Isaac his father answered and said unto him,-" signifies perception concerning natural good, that it would be made Divine "behold, of the fat things of the earth shall be thy dwelling", signifies that life is from the Divine good; "and of the dew of heaven from above", signifies that it is from the Divine truth;

[7] "and upon thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother", signifies that so long as truth is being conjoined with good, good will in appearance be in a lower place; "and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion", signifies that it shall be in the prior place; "that thou shalt break his yoke from upon thy neck", signifies that the conjunction would then be through good, and that truth would be of good.

3598. Inasmuch as the things contained in (verses 34 to 38) are such as have been already unfolded, and what they involve may be seen from what has been already said, it is therefore needless any further to unfold them in respect to the internal sense, except that merely the things contained in (verses 39 and 40), relating to the blessing of Esau by Isaac his father, shall be illustrated.

3599. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him. That this signifies perception concerning natural good, that it would be made Divine, is evident from the signification of Isaac, as being the Lord's Divine rational as to the Divine good therein (n. 3012, 3194, 3210); and from the signification in the historicals of the Word of "saying", as being to perceive, which has already been frequently treated of; and from the representation of Esau, to whom he spoke, as being natural good, concerning which also much has been already said. That it should be made Divine, is evident from the blessing, now to be considered. It was said above that Esau represents the Lord's Divine natural as to Divine good, and Jacob His Divine natural as to Divine truth; but here, that Esau represents the natural good which was to be made Divine; and in what goes before, that Jacob represented the natural truth which also was to be made Divine. How the case herein is may be seen from what was said above (n. 3494, 3576); but that it may become still clearer, a few words shall be added.

[2] The natural good which Esau first represents is the natural good of the Lord's infancy, which was Divine from the Father, but human from the mother; and in so far as it was from the mother it was imbued with hereditary evil; and being such, it could not be at once in an order capable of receiving the Divine that was inmostly within it; but had first to be reduced into order by the Lord. The case is the same with the truth represented by Jacob; for where there is good there must be truth in order for there to be anything; all that which is of thought, even with infants, is of truth, adjoined to the will part which is of good. Wherefore after the Lord had reduced the natural as to good and as to truth in Himself into order, so that it might receive the Divine, and that thus He Himself might inflow from His Divine, and after by successive steps He had expelled all the human that was from the mother; then Esau represents the Lords Divine natural as to good, and Jacob His Divine natural as to truth.

[3] But Esau and Jacob represent the Divine good and Divine truth of the Lord's Divine natural as conjoined with each other like brothers, which Divine good and Divine truth considered in themselves are nothing else than one simultaneous power for the formation and reception of actual good and truth. This actual good and truth are treated of later. From all this it is evident what great arcana are contained in the internal sense of the Word, which arcana are such that not even their most general points fall into the understanding of man; as possibly may be the case with the things just stated; and how then can the innumerable particulars relating thereto do so? Yet are they well adapted to the understanding and apprehension of the angels, who concerning these and the like things receive from the Lord heavenly ideas illustrated by representatives of ineffable loveliness and bliss; from which some conception may be formed of the nature of angelic wisdom, yet remotely, because such things are in the shade of the human understanding.

3600. Behold of the fat things of the earth shall be thy dwelling. That this signifies that life is from Divine good; and that of the dew of heaven from above signifies that it is from Divine truth, is evident from the signification of "fatness", as being good (n. 353), here, Divine good, because it is spoken of the Lord; and from the signification of "dwelling", as being life (n. 1293, 3384), and that "dwelling" is predicated of good (n. 2268, 2451, 2712); and from the signification of the "dew of heaven", as being truth derived from the good of a state of peace and innocence (n. 3579), here, Divine truth, because it is spoken of the Lord. Similar words were spoken to Jacob, namely, "God shall give thee of the dew of heaven and of the fat things of the earth" (verse 28) but there "dew" (thus truth) is spoken of in the first place; and the "fat things of the earth" (thus good) in the second and also that"God should give" of them; whereas here in relation to Esau, the "fat things of the earth" (thus good) are spoken of in the first place; and in the second place the "dew of heaven" (thus truth) and it is not said that "God would give", but that "his dwelling should be of them;" which also shows that Jacob represents truth, and Esau good;-also that truth as apparently in the former place is first but that this is the inverse of order, according to what has already been frequently shown.

3601. And upon thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother. That this signifies that so long as truth is being conjoined with good, good will in appearance be in a lower place, is evident from the signification of a sword", as being truth combating (n. 2799); hence to "live upon the sword" denotes while truth is being conjoined with good, for the conjunction is effected by means of combats, that is, temptations, because without these truth is not conjoined; and from the signification of "serving thy brother", as being to be in a lower place. That nevertheless good is not in a lower place, but only apparently so, is evident from what has so frequently been said above (n. 3582).

3602. And it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion. That this signifies that it shall be in a prior place, is evident from the signification of "having the dominion", as being to be in a prior place; on this subject see what now follows.

3603. That thou shalt break his yoke from upon thy neck. That this signifies that the conjunction would then be through good, and that truth would be of good, is evident from the signification of "breaking a yoke from upon the neck", as being liberation. By the "neck" is signified influx and communication, and the consequent conjunction; and by a "yoke upon the neck" is signified restraint and interception, (n. 3542); thus "breaking the yoke from upon the neck" denotes liberation from restraint, and interception and therefore it denotes conjunction through good and also that truth becomes of good; for where there is no longer any restraint and interception, good flows in and conjoins itself with truth.

[2] How the case herein is may be seen from what has been already said and shown but few comprehend in what consists the apparent priority of truth and in the meanwhile the inferiority of good, and this principally because few reflect on such things, and do not even reflect upon good, in that it is distinct from truth. moreover all those are ignorant of what good is who live a life of the love of self and of the world, for they do not believe that there can be any good except that which is from this source and because they are ignorant of what good is, they are also ignorant of what truth is, for truth is of good. They do indeed know from revelation that it is good to love God and the neighbor, and that truth consists of doctrinal things derived from the Word, but inasmuch as they do not live according to these things, they have no perception of such good and truth, but merely have knowledges separated from these. Nay, even those who are being regenerated do not know what good is until they have been regenerated; for before this they supposed that truth was good, and that to do according to truth was good, when yet that which they then do is not good, but truth. When man is in this state, he is in the state which is described by "Jacob" and in the "blessing" given to him; but when he comes into a state of doing good from the affection of good-that is, when he is regenerate-he then comes into the state which is described in the blessing given to Esau.

[3] This may be illustrated by those things which appear with man in his first and second ages, and afterwards in his third and fourth. In his first age man knows only by memory the things contained in the Word, and in like manner what is in the doctrinal matters of faith; and he believes himself to be good when he is acquainted with many things therefrom, and can apply some of them, not to his own life, but to the life of others. In his second age, when he is more grown up, he is not content to know only by memory the things contained in the Word and in doctrine, but begins to reflect upon them from his own thought, and in so far as he adds thereto from his own thought, in so far he is pleased; and thereupon he is in the affection of truth from a kind of worldly love, which love is also the means of his learning many things that without it would be left unlearned. In his third age, if he is one of those who can be regenerated, he begins to think about use, and to reflect on what he reads in the Word and imbibes from doctrinal matters for the sake of use; and when he is in this state the order is inverted, so that truth is no longer so much put in the first place. But in his fourth age, when comes the age of his regeneration, because then the state is full (n. 2636), he loves the Lord and the doctrinal things that are from the Word - that is, truth-for the sake of the good of life, consequently from the good of life. Thus good comes to be in the prior place, which until this time was apparently in the posterior place.

[4] The reason why good was apparently in the posterior place, is that it lay inmostly concealed in all his affection; nor could it manifest itself, inasmuch as outside of it there were such things as it could not agree with, namely, vain and empty things such as are those of self-glory and the glory of the world but after the man has been regenerated these things recede; and the good, which had lain inmostly concealed, comes forth as it were from its place of confinement, and flows into those things which are outside, and makes truths its own, that is, truths of good, and thus manifests itself.

[5] In the meantime, like that involuntary which is in his voluntary, the good in the man is in everything he thinks, and thence in everything he does. Man knows not that he has this involuntary, because he perceives nothing else in himself except that which is his own; that is, the voluntary. This involuntary is two-fold, the one being his heredity that he his from his father and mother, while the other flows in through heaven from the Lord. As a man grows up, if he is such as not to suffer himself to be regenerated, that which he has hereditarily from his parents manifests itself more and more for he takes evils from it, and makes them his own, or proper to himself. But with those who are being regenerated the involuntary which is from the Lord through heaven manifests itself in adult age; and in the meantime it has disposed and governed each and all things of their thought and also of their will, although it has not been visible.

3604. Verses 41-45. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father draw near, and I will kill Jacob my brother. And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called unto Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold Esau thy brother comforteth himself concerning thee to kill thee. And now my son hearken unto my voice, and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran. And tarry with him some days until thy brother's wrath turn away, until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him, and I will send and take thee from thence; why should I be bereaved even of you both in one day? "And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him", signifies that natural good was averse to the inverted conjunction of truth "and Esau said in his heart", signifies thought; "the days of mourning for my father draw near, and I will kill Jacob my brother", signifies the inversion and privation of the self-derived life of truth "and the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah", signifies the Lord's perception from Divine truth concerning the animus or purpose of natural good at that time "and she sent and called unto Jacob her younger son, and said unto him", signifies the state of observation of the affection of truth from influx through Divine truth; "behold Esau thy brother comforteth himself concerning thee to kill thee", signifies the purpose to invert the state and deprive truth of self-derived life; "and now my son hearken unto my voice, and arise", signifies delay as yet; "flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran", signifies to the affection of external or corporeal good; "and tarry with him some days", signifies what is successive; "until thy brother's wrath turn away", signifies until the state turns thereto "until thy brother's anger turn away from thee", signifies what is successive of the state with natural good; "and he forget that which thou hast done to him", signifies habit acquired from the delay; "and I will send and take thee from thence", signifies then the end; "why should I be bereaved even of you both in one day", signifies that otherwise there would be no conjunction.

3605. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. That this signifies that natural good was averse to the inverted conjunction of truth, is evident from the signification of "hating", as here in the internal sense being to be averse to, which is the subject treated of in what follows and from the representation of Esau, as being natural good; and of Jacob as being natural truth; and from the signification of a "blessing", as being conjunction (n. 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584); that here it is an inverted conjunction of truth which is represented by Jacob, is evident from what was said and shown above (n. 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603).

[2] That in the internal sense " to hate' denotes to be averse to, is because it is predicated of good, which is represented by Esau, and good does not even know what hatred is, being the direct opposite thereof, and opposites are never possible in the same subject; but instead of hatred, good, or they who are in good, feel a kind of aversion; hence it is that "hatred" here in the internal sense denotes to be averse to; for the internal sense is principally for those who are in heaven, wherefore when it descends thence, and is derived into the literal sense, then, the historicals being of this nature, the affection of aversion falls into the expression "hatred", but yet in such a way that with those who are in heaven there is no idea of hatred. This case is like that which was related from experience (n. 1875), concerning the words in the Lord's prayer, " Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;" in that temptation and evil are rejected until what is purely angelic, that is, good, remains without any idea of temptation and of evil, and this with the adjunction of a species of indignation and aversion, in regard to evil being thought of when the Lord is thought of.

[3] The case is the same when we read in the Word concerning Jehovah or the Lord "hating". As in Zechariah: -

Let none of you think evil in your heart of his neighbor and love no lying oath for all these are things that I hate, saith Jehovah (Zech. 8:17).

In Moses: -

Thou shalt not set thee up a pillar, which Jehovah thy God hateth (Deut. 16:22).

In Jeremiah: -

Mine heritage is become unto Me as a lion in the forest she hath uttered her voice against Me, therefore I have hated her (Jer. 12:8).

In Hosea: -

In Gilgal I hated them; because of the wickedness of their works I will drive them out of Mine house I will love them no more (Hosea 9:15).

In these passages "hatred", predicated of Jehovah or the Lord, in the internal sense is not hatred, but mercy, for the Divine is mercy but when this flows in with a man who is in evil, and he runs into the penalty of evil, it then appears as hatred and because it so appears, in the sense of the letter it is likewise so called.

[4] It is in the same way that anger", "wrath", and "fury" are in the Word predicated of Jehovah or the Lord (n. 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1683, 1874, 2395, 2447, 3235). Above all other peoples the Jewish and Israelitish people were such that as soon as they observed anything unfriendly, even in their associates, they believed it lawful to treat them cruelly, and not only to kill them, but also to expose them to wild beasts and birds; and therefore because the inflowing mercy of the Lord was turned with them into such hatred, not only against their enemies, but also against their companions, they could not believe otherwise than that Jehovah also entertained hatred, was angry, wrathful, and furious, and for this reason it is so expressed in the Word according to the appearance; for such as is a man's quality, such the Lord appears to him (n. 1838, 1861, 2706). but what the quality of hatred is with those who are in love and charity, that is, who are in good, is evident from the words of the Lord in Matthew: -

Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy but I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that injure and persecute you, that ye may be the sons of your Father who is in the heavens (Matthew 5:43-45).

3606. And Esau said in his heart. That this signifies thought, is evident from the signification of "saying in the heart", as being thought.

3607. The days of mourning for my father draw near, and I will kill Jacob my brother. That this signifies the inversion and privation of the self-derived life of truth, is evident from the signification of "days of mourning", as being the inversion of the state; and from the signification of "killing Jacob his brother", as being to deprive truth of self-derived life. The case herein is similar to what was just now said concerning the signification of "hatred" in the internal sense, namely, that it is not hatred and the same may be seen from what is continually taking place in the other life, where all the good that flows down from heaven to those who are in evil is turned into evil, and with the infernals into the opposite; in like manner truth into falsity (n. 2123); and therefore on the other hand the evil and falsity that is with such spirits is in heaven good and truth and in order that it may become good there are spirits in the way who reject the ideas of evil and falsity, so that the idea of good and truth may be presented (n. 1393, 1875). And moreover when that which is evil and false approaches those who are in good and truth, it does not appear as evil and falsity, but under another form in accordance with the nature and state of their goodness.

[2] From this it is evident that in the internal sense to "kill Jacob the brother" is not to kill, but is a privation of that life which is not compatible with truth for truth has no life of itself, but from good, inasmuch as truth is only a vessel recipient of good (n. 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269, 2697, 3049, 3068, 3128, 3146, 3318, 3387); and that in good there is life, but not in truth, except that which is from good (n. 1589). Wherefore the privation of the self-derived life of truth is not the extinction of truth, but its vivification for when truth appears to itself to have life from itself, then it has no life, except such life as in itself is not life; but when it is deprived of this, it is then gifted with real life, namely, through good from the Lord, who is life itself.

[3] This plainly appears from those who are in the other life. With such as are in truth alone, the ideas appear closed, so that those things which are of heaven cannot flow in, except only in a manner so general that the influx is scarcely known to be from heaven; whereas with such as are at the same time in good, their ideas appear open, so that the things which are of heaven flow in as into a heaven in miniature, or as into an image of themselves; for they flow in by means of the good that is in them through truths (n. 1869, 2425). That truth is deprived of self-derived life when good begins to be in the prior place, or to have the dominion, may be seen from what has been said and shown above concerning the apparent priority of truth at first, and concerning the subsequent priority of good; this privation of the self-derived life of truth is what is here signified. The reason why these things are called the "mourning for a father", is that days of mourning signify inversion of state, which inversion of state was signified above by the exceeding great shuddering with which Isaac shuddered (verse 33), (n. 3593), and by the great and exceeding bitter cry with which Esau cried out (verse 34), (n. 3597).

3608. And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah. That this signifies the Lord's perception from Divine truth concerning the animus or purpose of natural good at that time, is evident from the signification of "being told", as being to think and reflect (n. 9862), thus to perceive and from the representation of Rebekah, as being the Divine truth of the Lord's Divine rational; and from the representation of Esau, as being natural good. From this it is evident that its "being told Rebekah concerning the words of Esau her elder son", signifies the Lords perception from Divine truth concerning the animus or purpose of natural good.

3609. And she called unto Jacob her younger son, and said unto him. That this signifies the state of observation of the affection of truth from influx through Divine truth, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, who "called and said", as being the Divine truth of the Lords Divine rational conjoined with the Divine good therein; from the representation of Jacob, as being natural truth, or the affection of truth therein; and from the signification of calling him and saying to him", as being a state of perception; here a state of observation, because the natural is the subject treated of.

3610. Behold Esau thy brother comforteth himself concerning thee to kill thee. That this signifies the purpose to invert the state and deprive truth of self-derived life, is evident from the signification of "comforting one's self" for anyone, as being to appease unrest of mind with hope concerning anyone, or concerning anything,- "concerning thee" implying the inversion of the state of truth-and from the signification of "to kill thee", that is, Jacob, as being to deprive truth of self-derived life (n. 3607), where it was shown that depriving truth of life is not extinguishing it, but vivifying it. For the case with respect to the life of truth is this: When they who are in truth, or in the affection of truth, do not live according to the truth which they know and with which they are affected, there is then somewhat of pleasure and delight derived from the love of self or the love of the world, which has adjoined itself to the affection of truth, and which appears as good, when yet it is not good, except as regards the use, in that truths may thus be introduced and learned which afterwards may be serviceable to real good and its life. When truth is in this state, that is, they who are in the affection of truth, then truth is said to have self-derived life, which is not life, as is evident from the fact that in the love of self and the love of the world, or in their pleasure and delight, there is not life; but in celestial and spiritual love, and in their delight and pleasure. Therefore when truth, that is, they who are in such an affection of truth, are deprived of that life, they then for the first time receive life, or are then for the first time vivified.

[2] These things cannot possibly be apprehended by those who are in the affection of self and of the world, for they believe that no other life is possible; consequently that if they should be deprived of that life, they would altogether cease to live; for they who are in that life can in no wise know what spiritual and heavenly life is. then yet the fact is that when they are deprived of that life of the affection of self and of the world, then life flows in from the Lord such as is the angelic and heavenly life, together with ineffable wisdom and happiness and when the former life is viewed from this life, it appears as no life, or as the unclean life of brute animals, inasmuch as there is nothing of the Divine therein, except that they can think and speak, and thus appear in external form like others.

[3] In respect to the circumstance that good had the purpose to invert the state and deprive truth of self-derived life, which is signified by Esau comforting himself for Jacob to kill him, the case is this With a man who is being regenerated, the good in him is continually in the purpose to invert the state, and to reduce it into such order that truth may not be in the prior place, but in the posterior; as is consonant with the state of heaven. but this purpose lies deeply concealed, nor is it observed until the purpose has been effected. The case herein is as it is with conjugial love, which does not appear during infancy and childhood, but still lies hidden within nor does it come forth until each and all things have been so disposed that it can manifest itself; meanwhile it produces all means that are suited to itself; that is, they are produced. The case is the same in the vegetable kingdom: in every tree and in every plant there lies inmostly concealed an endeavor to produce fruits or seeds; but this endeavor cannot manifest itself until it has first produced all the means, namely, branches, leaves, and flowers, which being produced the endeavor comes forth into act.

[4] So also is it with those who are born anew: the conjugial principle of good and truth long lies hidden within; but still it is present as an endeavor in the efficient cause and thence in the effect; yet it does not appear until all things have been disposed into order; and when they have been so disposed, it for the first time comes forth and manifests itself. It is this endeavor which is meant by the purpose to invert the state and deprive truth of self-derived life. Hence it is manifest that the internal sense is altogether different from that which is expressed in the sense of the letter, namely, that it treats of the reduction of truth into order, and its vivification, and not of the destruction and privation of its life.

3611. And now my son hearken unto my voice, and arise. That this signifies delay as yet, is evident from the signification of "hearkening to a voice", as being to obey; namely, that he should tarry yet in that inverted state, which is the subject treated of in what follows.

3612. Flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran. That this signifies to the affection of external or corporeal good, is evident from the representation of Laban, as being the affection of good in the natural man (n. 3129, 3130, 3160); and from the signification of "Haran", as being what is external and thence relatively obscure (n. 1430) but what is here properly signified by Laban" and "Haran" may be seen from what follows, where mention is made of Laban and Haran, namely, that it is the collateral good of a common stock; for goods and truths have a conjunction among themselves like that of parents, brethren, kinsmen, and relations, in families (n. 685, 917, 2508, 2524, 2556, 2739). But these things are altogether hidden from the man who is not in the life of good, and who does not even know what good is, and thus not what truth is; if he first knew these, that is, if he did so from doctrine conjoined with life, or from life conjoined with doctrine, he would then know and perceive innumerable things concerning good and truth, and this successively more and more distinctly, and afterwards their mutual and correlative conjunctions with each other, and at last their proximities in their series, and in each proximity again things innumerable; thus lastly heaven in its form, that is, in its beauty and happiness.

3613. And tarry with him some days. That this signifies what is successive, is evident from the signification of "to tarry", as being the like as "to dwell", thus as "to live" (n. 1293, 2268, 2451, 2712, 3384), but "to tarry" is predicated of the life of truth with good, and "to dwell", of the life of good with truth; and from the signification of "days", as being times and states (n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 2788, 3462); thus it is the life of subsequent times and states, consequently what is successive, that is here signified by "tarrying with him some days". This successive condition-that is, the tarrying of Jacob with Laban-is treated of in the chapters which follow.

3614. Until thy brother's wrath turn away. That this signifies until the state turns thereto; and that until thy brother's anger turn away from thee signifies what is successive of the state with natural good, is evident from the signification of "wrath" and "anger", as being states which are repugnant, as will be shown in what follows. When these states become such that they are no longer repugnant, but begin to conjoin themselves, it is then said that "wrath turns away", and that "anger turns away;" hence it is that "until thy brother's wrath turns away" signifies until the state turns thereto; and that "until thy brother's anger turn away" signifies what is successive of the state with natural good. That "wrath" involves one thing, and anger" another, may be seen from the words being in other respects alike, and that otherwise there would be an idle repetition, namely, "until thy brother's wrath turn away" and "until thy brother's anger turn away.' That is implied in each expression is manifest from the general explication, and also from the predication of wrath and the predication of anger for wrath is predicated of truth, here of the truth of good, which is represented by Esau; whereas "anger" is predicated of this good itself.

[2] "wrath" and "anger" are frequently mentioned in the Word, but in the internal sense they do not signify wrath and anger, but repugnance, and this for the reason that whatever is repugnant to any affection produces wrath or anger, so that in the internal sense they are only repugnances; but the repugnance of truth is called "wrath", and the repugnance of good is called "anger;" and in the opposite sense "wrath" is the repugnance of falsity or its affection, that is, of the principles of falsity; and "anger" is the repugnance of evil or its cupidity, that is, of the love of self and the love of the world. In this sense "wrath" is properly wrath, and "anger" is anger; but when they are predicted of good and truth, "wrath" and "anger" are zeal; which zeal, because in external form it appears like wrath and anger, therefore in the sense of the letter" is also so called.

[3] That in the internal sense "wrath" and "anger" are merely repugnances, may be seen from the following passages in the Word. In Isaiah: -

Jehovah hath heat against all the nations, and wrath against all their army (Isa. 34:2).

The "heat of Jehovah against the nations" denotes repugnance against evil. "Nations" are evils, (n. 1259, 1260, 1849, 1868, 2588); "wrath against all their army" denotes repugnance against the derivative falsities. The "stars", which are called the "army of the heavens", are knowledges, and thus truths and in the opposite sense falsities, (n. 1128, 1808, 2120, 2495, 2849). Again: -

Who gave Jacob for a prey, and Israel to the spoilers? did not Jehovah? He against whom we have sinned? Therefore he poured upon him the wrath of His anger (Isa. 42:24, 25).

The "wrath of anger" denotes repugnance against the falsity of evil; "Jacob", those who are in evil; and Israel", those who are in falsity.

[4] Again: -

I have trodden the wine-press alone and of the peoples there was no man with Me; and I have trodden them in Mine anger, and destroyed them in My wrath and I trampled the peoples in Mine anger, and made them drunk in My wrath (Isa. 63:3, 6);

where the Lord is treated of and His victories in temptations to "tread and trample in anger" denotes victories over evils; and to "destroy and make drunk in wrath", victories over falsities to "trample upon", in the Word, is predicated of evil; and to "make drunken", of falsity. In Jeremiah: -

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Behold, Mine anger and My wrath shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the tree of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground and it shall burn and shall not be quenched (Jer. 7:20);

where mention is made of both "anger" and "wrath", because both evil and falsity are treated of.

[5] It is usual with the Prophets in speaking of evil to speak also of falsity, as in speaking of good to speak also of truth, and this because of the heavenly marriage, which is the marriage of good and truth, in everything of the Word (n. 683, 793, 801, 2173, 2516, 2712); hence also both "anger" and "wrath" are mentioned; otherwise one term would have been sufficient. In the same Prophet: -

I Myself will fight with you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in wrath, and in great heat; and I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast (Jer. 21:5, 6).

Here in like manner "anger" is predicated of the punishment of evil, and " wrath", of the punishment of falsity, and "heat", of the punishment of both; "anger" and " wrath", because they denote repugnance, also denote punishment; for things which are repugnant come into collision, and then evil and falsity are punished; for in evil there is repugnance to good, and in falsity there is repugnance to truth; and because there is repugnance, there is also collision; that from this comes punishment may be seen above (n. 696, 967).

[6] In Ezekiel: -

Thus shall Mine anger be consummated, and I will make My wrath to rest upon them, and I will comfort Myself, and they shall know that I Jehovah have spoken in My zeal when I have consummated My wrath upon them, when I shall do judgments in thee in anger and in wrath and in the reproofs of wrath (Ezek. 5:13, 15);

where also "anger" denotes the punishment of evil; "wrath", the punishment of falsity, from its repugnance and consequent attack. In Moses: -

It shall not please Jehovah to pardon him, because then the anger of Jehovah and His zeal shall smoke against that man. And Jehovah shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel. The whole land thereof shall be brimstone and salt, and a burning; it shall not be sown, and shall not bud, neither shall therein any herb come up like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which Jehovah overthrew in His anger and in His wrath; and all the nations shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? (Deut. 29:20-24).

Inasmuch as " Sodom" denotes evil, and "Gomorrah" the derivative falsity (n. 2220, 2246, 2322), and the nation of which Moses here speaks is compared thereto in respect to evil and falsity, therefore "anger" is spoken of in respect to evil, and "wrath" in respect to falsity, and "heat of anger" in respect to both. That such things are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord is according to the appearance, because it so appears to man when he runs into evil and the evil punishes him (n. 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1683, 1874, 2395, 2447, 3235, 3605).

3615. And he forget that which thou hast done to him. That this signifies habit acquired from the delay, is evident from the signification here of forgetting", as being the successive abolition of repugnance; and as this is effected by means of delay add the consequent habit, therefore this is signified by "and he forget that which thou hast done unto him".

3616. And I will send and take thee from thence. That this signifies then the end, is evident from what goes before and from what follows; for the end, which is here signified by "sending and taking thee from thence", is when truth is in agreement with good, and thus truth serves in subordination to good; this end, after the tarrying of Jacob with Laban was ended, is represented by Esau when he ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and fell upon his neck, and kissed him, and they wept (Gen. 33:4) for when the end is, that is, the conjunction, then the good of the rational flows immediately into the good of the natural, and through the good into its truth, and also mediately through the truth of the rational into the truth of the natural, and through this into the good therein (n. 3573). From this it is evident why it was said by Rebekah, by whom is represented the truth of the rational, to Jacob, by whom is represented the truth of the natural, I will send and take thee from thence".

3617. Why should I be bereaved even of you both in one day? That this signifies that otherwise there would be no conjunction, is evident from the fact that if those things were not done which in the internal sense are represented in what follows by Jacob sojourning with Laban, truth could not have been conjoined with good, thus good could not have been united to the truth in the natural, consequently the rational would be deprived of both; for without the conjunction in the natural of truth with good, and the unition of good with truth, there is no regeneration, which in the relative sense is the subject treated of in this chapter. This also is the conclusion of that which goes before.

3618. Verse 46. And Rebekah said to Isaac, I loathe my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob should take a woman of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, wherefore have I lives? "And Rebekah said to Isaac", signifies the Lord's perception from Divine truth; "I loathe my life because of the daughters of Heth", signifies the adjunction of natural truth from another source; "if Jacob should take a woman of the daughters of Heth", signifies that natural truth should not be associated therewith; "such as these, of the daughters of the land", signifies because not from that ground; "wherefore have I lives?" signifies that thus there would not be conjunction.

3619. And Rebekah said to Isaac. That this signifies the Lord's perception from Divine truth, is evident from the signification of "saying", as being to perceive; from the representation of Rebekah as being the Divine truth of the Lord's Divine rational; and from the representation of Isaac as being the Divine good therein; and whereas Divine good is being itself, and Divine truth is the derivative life, on which account the Lord is the Lord principally from Divine good, therefore it is said "the Lord's perception from Divine truth". Perception from the Divine truth of the rational is from the intellectual part, whereas perception from Divine good is from the will part; but perception from the intellectual part is not of this part, but is of the inflowing will part; for the intellectual part is nothing but the will part in form. Such is the intellectual part when conjoined with the will part; but before it is so conjoined the intellectual part appears to be by itself, and the will part by itself, although this is nothing but that the external separates itself from the internal; for when the intellectual part inwardly wills and thinks anything, there is an end from the will part which makes its life, and directs the thinking there. The reason why the intellectual part has life from the end, is that the end with man is his life (n. 1909, 3570); hence it may in some measure be evident what in the representative sense is anyone's perception from truth, and what in the supreme sense is the Lord's perception from Divine truth.

3620. I loathe my life because of the daughters of Heth. That this signifies the adjunction of natural truth from another source, is evident from the signification of " loathing one's life", as being no adjunction, namely, of natural truth to the truth of the rational, for when there is not adjunction, then to the rational its life appears as if it were no life, as may be seen from what was said above (n. 3493); and from the signification of the "daughters of Heth", as being the affections of truth from what is not genuine; here, the affections of natural truth, because spoken of Jacob, by whom natural truth is represented, as before show". "Daughters" are affections, (n. 2362); and Heth" or " Hittite", is truth from what is not genuine, (n. 3470). Hence it is evident that by "I loathe my life because of the daughters of Heth", is signified that there could be no adjunction of the natural through truth which is not from what is genuine; thus that there must be the adjunction of natural truth from another source. The adjunction of natural truth is treated of in what follows, where mention is made of Jacob's stay with Laban, namely, that truths from a common stock were adjoined thereto; and by the truths which the daughters of Heth represent, because they were not from that stock, no adjunction could be effected, since there was disparity and discordance for by the sons of Heth is represented the spiritual church among the Gentiles (n. 2913, 2986), in which, as they have not the Word, the truths are not from that origin.

3621. If Jacob should take a woman of the daughters of Heth. That this signifies that natural truth should not be associated thereto, is evident from the signification of "taking a woman", as being to be associated; and from the signification of the "daughters of Heth", as being the affections of truth from what is not genuine (n. 3620); or what is the same, truth for truth without affection is not conjoined (n. 3066, 3336). How the case is with these things is evident from what was said above concerning the daughters of Heth.

3622. Such as these, of the daughters of the land. That this signifies because not from that ground, that is, from truths of the genuine church, is evident from the signification of "daughters", as being churches for "daughters" signify the affections of good and truth (n. 2362); and "land" signifies the region where the church is, thus the church (n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355) thus the "daughters of the land" are the goods and truths of the church.

3623. Wherefore have I lives? That this signifies that thus there would not be conjunction, is evident from the signification of "lives", as being conjunction through truths and goods; for when no truth from a common stock or genuine source could be adjoined to natural truth, then neither would there be the adjunction of the natural to the truth of the rational; thus to the rational its life would appear as no life (n. 3493, 3620); hence by the words, "wherefore have I lives?" is signified that thus there would not be conjunction. The reason why here and in other passages lives are spoken of in the plural, is that there are two faculties of life in man; one of which is called the understanding, and is of truth; and the other of which is called the will, and is of good; these two lives or faculties of life make a one when the understanding is of the will, or what is the same, when truth is of good. This is the reason why in the Hebrew tongue frequent mention is made of "life", and also of "lives". That mention is made of "lives", is evident from the following passages in Genesis: -

And Jehovah God formed man dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives, and man became a living soul (Gen. 2:7).

And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree that is desirable to the sight, and good for food and the tree of lives in the midst of the garden (Gen. 2:9).

Behold I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of lives (Gen. 6:17).

And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two, two, of all flesh wherein is the breath of lives (Gen. 7:15, n. 780).

All in whose nostrils was the breathing of the breath of lives died (Gen. 6:22).

And in David: -

I believe to see the goodness of Jehovih in the land of lives (Ps. 27:13).

Again: -

What man is he that desireth lives, and loveth days that he may see good (Ps. 34:12).

Again: -

With Thee is the fountain of lives; in Thy light shall we see light (Ps. 36:9).

In Malachi: -

My covenant was with Levi of lives and peace (Mal. 2:5).

In Jeremiah: -

Thus saith Jehovah, Behold I set before you the way of lives, and the way of death (Jer. 21:8).

In Moses: -

To love Jehovah thy God, and to obey His voice, and to cleave unto Him for He is thy lives, and the length of thy days that thou mayest dwell in the land (Deut. 30:20).

And again: -

It is not a vain word from you, because it is your lives, and through this word ye shall prolong your days upon the land (Deut. 32:47)

and in other places. "Lives" are spoken of in the plural because they are two, as was said, and yet a one; as also in the Hebrew tongue are "heavens", which are many, and yet a one; in like manner "waters", those above and those beneath (Gen. 1:6, 7, 9), which are spiritual things pertaining to the rational and the natural, and which also are to be a one through conjunction. In respect to "lives", they signify in the plural both what is of the will and what is of the understanding, consequently what is of good and what is of truth; for the life of man is nothing else than good and truth wherein is life from the Lord, inasmuch as man, without good and truth, and life therein, is no man; for man without these would not be able to will anything or think anything, all his faculty of willing being from what is good or what is not good, and his faculty of thinking from what is true or what is not true; hence man has lives, which are one life when his thinking is from his willing, that is, when the truth which is of faith is from the good which is of love.

 

CONCERNING THE CORRESPONDENCE OF ALL MAN'S ORGANS AND MEMBERS, BOTH INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR, WITH THE GRAND MAN, WHICH IS HEAVEN

3624. It is now permitted to relate and describe wonderful things which, so far as I know, have not as yet been known to anyone, nor have even entered into the mind of anyone, namely, that the universal heaven is so formed as to correspond to the Lord, to His Divine Human; and that man is so formed as to correspond to heaven in regard to each and all things in him, and through heaven to the Lord. This is a great mystery which is now to be revealed, and which shall be treated of here and at the close of the subsequent chapters.

3625. It is from this ground that it has been occasionally said above, in speaking of heaven and the angelic societies, that they belong to some province of the body; as to that of the head, or that of the breast, or of the abdomen, or of some member or organ therein; and this because of the correspondence here spoken of.

3626. That there is such a correspondence is perfectly well known in the other life, not only to angels, but also to spirits, and even to the wicked. Angels know from it the most hidden things in man and the most hidden things in the world and in its universal nature, as has very often been made manifest to me from the fact that when I spoke of any part of man, they, from their mental view into the heavenly order which they followed, to which the order of that part corresponded, not only knew all the structure of that part, its manner of acting and use, but likewise innumerable things besides, more than man is ever capable of exploring or even understanding, and this in their order and in their series. Thus being in first principles, they thence know the things which are from these.

3627. It is a general rule that nothing can exist and subsist from itself, but from something else, that is, through something else, and that nothing can be kept in form except from, that is, through it, as is evident from each and everything in nature. That on the outside the human body is kept in form by the atmospheres, is known; and unless it were also kept in form within by some acting or living force, it would fall to pieces in a moment; for everything unconnected with what is prior to itself, and through things prior with the First, instantly perishes. That the Grand Man, or influx therefrom, is that prior by which man as to each and all things in him is connected with the First, that is, with the Lord, will appear from what follows.

3628. On this subject I have been instructed by much experience, and indeed that not only the things pertaining to the human mind, namely to its thought and affection, correspond to things spiritual and celestial which are of heaven from the Lord, but also the whole man in general, and in particular whatever is in man; insomuch that there is not the smallest part, nor even the smallest constituent of a part, which does not correspond; also that man exists and continually subsists therefrom; and further, that unless there were such a correspondence of man with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord, thus with what is prior to himself, and through prior things with the First, he would not subsist even a moment, but would dissolve into nothing.

[2] There are always two forces which, as before said, keep everything in its connection and in its form, namely, a force acting from without, and a force acting from within, in the midst of which forces is that which is kept in connection and form; thus is it with man as to every part of him, even the most minute. That the atmospheres are that which from without keep the whole body in connection, by their continual pressure or incumbence and the consequent acting force, is known; and also that the aerial atmosphere by its inflow keeps the lungs in their connection and form, and likewise its organ which is the ear, with its forms constructed therein according to the modifications of the air. It is also known that the ethereal atmosphere in like manner maintains the interior connections; for this atmosphere flows in freely through all the pores, and keeps the interior viscera of the whole body inseparable in their forms, by nearly the same pressure or incumbence, and the consequent acting force; also that the same atmosphere keeps in connection and form its organ which is the eye, with its forms therein constructed to the modifications of the ether. Unless there were internal forces correspondent to these which should react against the external forces and thus keep the intermediate forms in connection and equilibrium, they would not subsist a moment.

[3] From this it is evident that in order that anything may exist and subsist there must needs be two forces. The forces which flow in and act from within are from heaven and through heaven from the Lord, and have in themselves life. This is very clearly manifest from the organ of hearing: unless there were interior modifications, which are of life, and to which correspond the exterior modifications which are of the air, there would be no hearing. The same is also evident from the organ of sight: unless there were interior light which is of life, and to which corresponds the exterior light which is of the sun, no vision would be possible. The case is the same with all the other organs and members in the human body: there are forces acting from without, which are natural and in themselves not living, and there are forces acting from within, in themselves living, which keep every organ in its connection, and cause it to live, and this according to the form such as has been given them for use.

3629. That the case is thus, few can believe, because men do not know what the spiritual is, and what the natural, and still less how these are distinguished from each other; also what correspondence is, and what influx and that the spiritual, when it flows into the organic forms of the body, presents living operations such as appear; and that without such influx and correspondence not even the most minute particle of the body can have life and be moved. As to these things I have been informed by living experience that not only heaven in general flows in, hut also the societies in particular; likewise what the societies are and of what quality which flow into this and that organ of the body, and into this and that member; and further, that there is not one society only which flows into each organ or member, but very many, and that in each society also there are very many for the more there are, so much the better and stronger is the correspondence, inasmuch as perfection and strength are from the unanimous multitude of many who act as a one in a heavenly form hence results a more perfect and stronger endeavor into particulars according to the numbers.

3630. From this it may be seen that the viscera and members, or organs of motion and sensation, correspond each and all to societies in heaven, thus as it were to so many distinct heavens; and that from those societies, that is, through them, celestial and spiritual things flow in with man, and this into adequate and suitable forms, and in this manner present the effects which are apparent to man. These effects however do not appear to man otherwise than as natural, thus altogether under another form and under another appearance, so that they cannot be known to be from heaven.

3631. It was also once shown me to the life what societies they are, and of what quality, and how they flow in and act, which constitute the province of the face, and flow into the muscles of the forehead, of the cheeks, of the chin, and of the neck, and what communication there is between them. In order that this might be presented to the life, it was allowed them by means of influx and in various ways to present the appearance of a face. In like manner it was shown what societies, and of what quality, flow into the lips, into the tongue, into the eyes, and into the ears and it was also given to speak with them, and thus to be fully instructed. In this way it was made evident that all who come into heaven are organs or members of the Grand Man; and also that heaven is never shut, but that the greater its numbers the stronger is the endeavor, the stronger the force, and the stronger the action; and further, that the heaven of the Lord is immeasurable, so immeasurable as to exceed all belief; the inhabitants of this earth being very few in comparison, and almost as a pool compared with the ocean.

3632. Divine order, and the heavenly order thence derived, are not terminated except in man, in what is of his body, namely, in his gestures, actions, looks, speech, external sensations, and their delights. These are the extremes of order, and the extremes of influx, which are then terminated; but the interior things which flow in are not such as they appear in externals, but have altogether a different appearance, a different countenance, a different sensation, and a different pleasure. Correspondences teach of what sort these are, and also representations, which have been described. That there is such a difference may be seen from the actions which flow from the will, and from the speech which flows from the thought-the actions of the body are not such in the will, nor are the expressions of speech such in the thought. Hence also it is manifest that natural acts flow from spiritual, for that which is of the will and of the thought is spiritual; and that these spiritual are effigied in those natural acts correspondently, but still differently.

3633. All spirits and angels appear to themselves as men; of such a face and such a body, with organs and members; and this for the reason that their inmost conspires to such a form; just as the primitive of man, which is from the soul of the parent, endeavors toward the formation of the whole man in the ovum and the womb, although this primitive is not in the form of the body, but in another most perfect form known to the Lord alone; and inasmuch as the inmost with every one in like manner conspires and endeavors toward such a form, therefore all there appear as men. Moreover the universal heaven is such that every one is as it were the center of all, for he is the center of influxes from all through the heavenly form; and hence an image of heaven results in every one, and makes him like unto itself, thus a man; for such as the general is, such is a part of the general, inasmuch as the parts must be like their general, in order that they may be of it.

3634. A man who is in correspondence, that is, who is in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, and thence in faith, is as to his spirit in heaven, and as to his body in the world; and because he thus acts as one with the angels, he is also an image of heaven and as there is an influx of all, or a general influx into the particulars or parts, as before said, he is also a little heaven under a human form; for man has from good and truth that he is man and is distinguished from brute animals.

3635. There are in the human body two things which are the fountains of all its motion, and also of all external or mere bodily action and sensation, namely, the heart and the lungs. These two correspond in such a manner to the Grand Man or heaven of the Lord that the celestial angels therein constitute one kingdom, and the spiritual another kingdom, for the kingdom of the Lord is celestial and spiritual. The celestial kingdom consists of those who are in love to the Lord; the spiritual kingdom of those who are in charity toward the neighbor (n. 2088, 2669, 2715, 2718, 3235, 3246). The heart and its kingdom in man correspond to the celestial angels; the lungs and their kingdom correspond to the spiritual. The angels also flow into the things which are of the heart and lungs, so that these things exist and subsist by influx from them. But the correspondence of the heart and lungs with the Grand Man will of the Lord's Divine mercy be treated of specifically.

3636. This is a most universal truth: That the Lord is the Sun of heaven, and that from this Sun is all the light in the other life; and that to angels and spirits, or those who are in the other life, nothing at all of the light of the world appears; and also that the light of the world, which is from its sun, is only thick darkness to angels. From the Sun of heaven, or from the Lord, there is not only light, but also heat but it is spiritual light and spiritual heat. To the angels' eyes this light appears as light, but has within it intelligence and wisdom, because this is its source; and by their senses this heat is perceived as heat, but there is within it love, because this is its source. For this reason love is also called spiritual heat, and likewise constitutes the heat of man's life; and intelligence is called spiritual light, and likewise constitutes the light of man's life. From this universal correspondence all other correspondences are derived; for all things both in general and in particular the relation to the good which is of love, and to the truth which is of intelligence.

3637. Relatively to man, the Grand Man is the Lord's universal heaven; but in the supreme sense the Grand Man is the Lord alone, for heaven is from Him, and all things therein correspond to Him. Inasmuch as by a life of evil and the consequent persuasions of falsity, the human race had become altogether perverted, and as the lower things with man then began to dominate over the higher, or his natural things over the spiritual, so that Jehovah or the Lord could no longer flow in through the Grand Man, that is heaven, and reduce them into order, there was a consequent necessity for the coming of the Lord into the world, that thereby He might put on the human, and make it Divine, and by it restore order, so that the universal heaven might have relation to Him as the Only Man, and might correspond to Him alone; those who were in evil and thence in falsity being rejected beneath the feet, thus out of the Grand Man. Hence they who are in the heavens are said to be in the Lord, even in His Body; for the Lord is the all of heaven, in whom all and each are assigned their provinces and offices.

3638. From this it is that in the other life all societies, how many soever they may be, keep their situation constant in respect to the Lord, who appears like a sun to the universal heaven; and what is wonderful, and can scarcely be credited by anyone, because not apprehended, the societies there keep the same situation in respect to each individual, wherever he may be, and however he may turn himself and move about- as for instance, the societies which appear on the right are continually at his right, and those which appear on the left are continually at his left, however he changes his position as to face and body. This also it has been given me frequently to observe in turning the body. Thus it is manifest that the form of heaven is such as to bear a constant relation to a Grand Man relatively to the Lord; and that all the angels are not only with the Lord, but in the Lord; or what is the same, that the Lord is with them, and in them; otherwise this condition would not exist.

3639. Hence all situations in heaven are determined with respect to the human body, according to their points of direction from it; that is, on the right, on the left, forward, and backward, in whatever position; as also according to planes, as in the plane of the head and of its parts, as of the forehead, the temples, the eyes, and the ears; in the plane of the body, the plane of the shoulders, of the breast, the abdomen, the loins, the knees, the feet, and the soles of the feet; likewise above the head, and beneath the soles of the feet, at every degree of obliquity; at the back also, from the hinder part of the head downward. It is known from the very situation what the societies are, and to what provinces of man's organs and members they belong, and this in all cases infallibly; but more is known from their genius and disposition as to affections.

3640. The hells, which are very numerous, have also a constant situation, so that from their mere situation it may be known what they are, and of what quality. With their situation the case is similar-all the hells beneath man are in planes in every direction under the soles of the feet. Some spirits from them appear also above the head, and elsewhere scatteredly; but it is not that they have their situation there, for the same is a persuasive phantasy which deceives and counterfeits in respect to their situation.

3641. All, both they who are in heaven and they who are in hell, appear erect, with the head upward and the feet downward; when nevertheless in themselves, and according to angelic vision, they are in a different position. That is to say, they who are in heaven have their heads toward the Lord, who is the Sun there, and thus is the common center from whom is all position and situation; whereas in the sight of the angels the infernals have their heads downward and their feet upward, thus in a position opposite, and also oblique; for to the infernals that is beneath which to the celestials is above, and that is above which to the celestials is beneath. From this it is in some degree manifest how heaven may as it were make a one with hell; or how they may together present a one in situation and position.

3642. One morning I was in company with angelic spirits, who according to custom acted in unity of thought and speech. This penetrated also toward hell, into which it was continued, insomuch that they appeared as it were to act as a one with the infernals but the reason was that the good and truth with the angels was by a wonderful turning changed with the infernals into evil and falsity, and this by degrees as it flowed down, where hell acted as a one by persuasions of falsity and by cupidities of evil. Notwithstanding that the hells are out of the Grand Man, they are nevertheless in this manner reduced as it were into a one, and thereby are kept in order, according to which are their consociations; thus the Lord from His Divine directs the hells also.

3643. It was observed that they who are in the heavens are in a serene aura of light, like the light of morning and of noon, also verging to evening; and in like manner that they are in heat as of spring, of summer, and of autumn; whereas they who are in hell are in an atmosphere gross, cloudy, and dark, and are also in cold. It was observed that between these in general there is an equilibrium; also that in proportion as the angels are in love, charity, and the derivative faith, in the same proportion they are in an aura of light and of vernal heat; and in proportion as the infernals are in hatred, and thence in falsity, in the same proportion they are in thick darkness and in cold. As before said in the other life the light has intelligence within it, the heat has within it love, the thick darkness insanity, and the cold hatred.

3644. As to their souls, or what is the same, as to the spirit which is to live after the body's decease, all men in the universal world have a situation either in the Grand Man (that is, in heaven), or outside of it in hell. During his life in this world man is not aware of this; but still he is there, and is thereby directed. All are in heaven in accordance with their good of love and the derivative truth of faith; and in hell in accordance with their evil of hatred and the derivative falsity.

3645. The universal kingdom of the Lord is a kingdom of ends and uses. It has been given me manifestly to perceive this Divine sphere of ends and uses, and certain things at the same time which are inexpressible. Each and all things flow forth from this sphere, and are directed by it. In so far as the affections, thoughts, and actions have within them the end to do good from the heart, so far the man, spirit, or angel is in the Grand Man, that is, in heaven; but in so far as a man or spirit has the end to do evil from the heart, so far he is out of the Grand Man, that is, is in hell.

3646. With brute animals the case is similar to what it is with men in respect to influxes and correspondences, namely, that with them there is an influx from the spiritual world and an afflux from the natural world by which they are held together and live; but the very operation exhibits itself in different ways in accordance with the forms of their souls and thence of their bodies. The case is as with the light of the world, which flows into various objects of the earth in a like degree and manner, and nevertheless acts diversely in different forms, producing beautiful colors in some, and colors not beautiful in others. So when spiritual light flows into the souls of brutes, it is received altogether differently, and thus actuates them differently from what it does when it flows into the souls of men.

[2] For the latter are in a higher degree, and in a more perfect state, and are such that they can look upward, thus to heaven and to the Lord, and therefore the Lord can adjoin them to Himself, and give them eternal life; but the souls of brutes are such that they cannot do otherwise than look downward, thus to earthly things alone, and therefore can be adjoined solely to such things wherefore also they perish together with the body. The ends are what show the quality of the life which man has and the quality of the life which beasts have. Man is able to have spiritual and heavenly ends; he may see them, acknowledge them, believe them, and be affected with them; whereas beasts can have no other than natural ends. Thus man is able to be in the Divine sphere of ends and uses which is in heaven and which constitutes heaven; but beasts cannot be in any other sphere than that of earthly ends and uses. Ends are nothing but loves, for that which is loved is regarded as the end.

[3] The reason why very many men do not know how to distinguish between their life and the life of beasts, is that they in like manner are in external things, and at heart are solely concerned about earthly, bodily, and worldly objects; and much persons believe themselves to be like the beasts in respect to life also, and suppose that after death they will be dissipated like them; for as to what spiritual and celestial things are they know not, because they care not. Hence comes the insanity of our age, in that men compare themselves to brute beasts and do not see the internal distinction; but he who believes in celestial and spiritual things, or suffers spiritual light to flow in and act, sees altogether differently, and likewise how far he is above brute animals. But the life of brute animals will of the Lord's Divine mercy be treated of separately.

3647. How the case is with these things has also been shown. It was given me to see and perceive certain ones as they entered into the other life who in the life of the body had regarded only earthly things and had nothing else as their end; nor had they been initiated by means of any knowledges into good and truth. They had belonged to the common crowd of sailors and of peasants. They appeared (as was also perceived) to have so little life that I thought it impossible for them to receive eternal life like other spirits, being like machines, little animated but the angels had tender care for them, and through the faculty which they possessed as men insinuated into them the life of good and truth, whereby they were more and more led on from a life like that of animals to human life.

3648. There is an influx from the Lord through heaven into the subjects also of the vegetable kingdom; as into trees of every kind, and into their fructifications and into plants of various kinds, and their multiplications. Unless a spiritual principle from the Lord within continually acted into their primitive forms, which are in the seeds, they would never vegetate and grow in so wonderful a manner and succession; but the forms therein are such that they do not receive anything of life. It is from this influx that they have within them an image of the eternal and infinite, as is evident from the fact that they are in the continual endeavor to propagate their kind and their species, and thus to live as it were forever, and also to fill the universe; this endeavor being in every seed. But man attributes all these marvelous things to mere nature, nor believes in any influx from the spiritual world, because at heart he denies it; although he might know that nothing can subsist except through that from which it has come forth; that is, that subsistence is a perpetual coming forth; or what is the same, production is continual creation. That hence universal nature is a theater representative of the Lord's kingdom, may be seen above (n. 3483). But on this subject also, and on the correspondence of the vegetable kingdom with the Grand Man, of the Lord's Divine mercy something shall be said elsewhere.

3649. The subject of the Grand Man and correspondence therewith will he continued at the close of the subsequent chapters.


 

 

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