2. In the prophetical parts of the Word a horse is mentioned very often, ¹ but until now no one has known 'horse' means understanding, and 'horseman' one who understands, perhaps because it seems extraordinary and astonishing that that is what is meant by 'horse' in a spiritual sense, and consequently in the Word. But that it constantly means this can be agreed from very many instances in the Word, from which I should like to refer to only a few at this point.

In Israel's prophetic utterance ² about Dan we find:

Dan will be a serpent on the road, a darting snake ³ on the path, that will bite the horse's heels, and the horseman will fall backwards. Genesis 49:17-18.

What this prophetic statement about one of the tribes of Israel means no one is going to understand unless he knows what 'serpent' signifies, and also 'horse' and 'horseman." Yet is there anyone who does not see that it holds something spiritual within it? This being so, what the individual details signify may be seen in Arcana Caelestia 6398-6401, where this prophetical utterance is explained.

In Habakkuk we find:

O Lord [...] You ride on Your horses and Your chariots are salvation [...] You caused Your horses to tread in the sea. Habakkuk 3:8, 15.

It is obvious that 'horses' here signify something spiritual, because these things are being said about God. What else would it be, 'God rode on [his] horses, and caused [his] horses to tread in the sea?'

In Zechariah we find, with a similar significance:

'On that day, HOLY TO THE LORD will be on the horse-bells', Zechariah 14:20. ⁴

In the same authority:

On that day I will strike every horse with bewilderment and the horseman with madness, declares the Lord, I will open my gaze on the house of Judah, and I will strike with blindness every horse of the peoples. Zechariah 12:4-5.

What is being talked about here is the Church when it has been laid waste, which happens when there is no longer an understanding of anything true. This is what is being indicated by 'horse' and 'horseman;' what else would it be, [...] every horse about to be struck with bewilderment [...] and the horse of the peoples with blindness?' What, otherwise, would this have to do with the Church?

In Job we find:

'Because God has made her ⁵ forget wisdom, neither has He imparted to her understanding; having raised herself on high, she mocks the horse and its rider' Job 39:17-19.

That understanding is signified here by 'horse' is manifestly obvious; similarly in David, where the expression 'to ride upon the word of truth' is used, Psalms 45:5; and besides in very many other places.

Moreover, who is likely to know why it is that Elijah and Elisha were called 'the chariots of Israel and its horsemen;' and why there appeared to Elisha's servant a mountain full of horses and fiery chariots, unless it is known what 'chariots' and horsemen' signify, and what Elijah and Elisha represented? For Elisha said to Elijah, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen,' 2 Kings 2:11-12; and King Joash said to Elisha, 'My father, my father [...] the chariots of Israel and its horsemen,' 2 Kings 13:14.

Concerning the servant of Elisha we read:

'The Lord opened the eyes of Elisha's servant, and he looked and saw the mountain full of horses and fiery chariots all around Elisha' 2 Kings 6:17.

Elijah and Elisha were called the chariots of Israel and its horsemen because each represented the Lord in his capacity as the Word. 'Chariots' represent doctrine derived from the Word, and 'horsemen' represent understanding. That Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord in this capacity may be seen in Arcana Caelestia: 5247, 7643, 8029, 9327, and that 'chariots' signify doctrine derived from the Word: 5321, 8215.

Footnotes:

144. As to 'calling by name' meaning recognizing their nature, it must be realized that the ancients understood nothing else by 'a name than the essential nature of a real thing, and by 'seeing and calling them by name' recognizing the nature of such. This was why they gave their sons and daughters names in keeping with the things that were meant by them; for there was something unique to every name, as a means of knowing the origin and nature of those children, as will also be seen later on where, in the Lord's Divine mercy, the twelve sons of Jacob are dealt with. Since therefore a name embodied a person's origin and nature nothing else was meant by 'calling by name'. This manner of speaking was customary among them; but anyone who does not understand is sure to wonder whether they do have these meanings.

7996. 'No son of a foreigner shall eat it' means that those not in possession of truth and good are set apart from them. This is clear from the meaning of 'a foreigner' as those who are outside the Church and unreceptive of anything of the truth or good of faith, as the nations in the land of Canaan were, dealt with in 2049, 2115, thus those who are not in possession of truth and good; and from the meaning of 'not eating it' as not having any contact with them or being joined to them, thus being set apart from them. The verses immediately following deal with those who shall eat the Passover together and those who shall not eat it. The Passover was a supper, representing the groups of good people living in association with one another in heaven. The statutes in the verses that follow indicate who exactly could be included and who could not. In general the banquets within the Church in ancient times, both midday meals and suppers, were held in order that people might be brought into association with one another and joined together in love, and in order that they might inform one another about matters of love and faith, and so about the things of heaven, see 3596, 3832, 5161. Such were the delights surrounding feasts in those times, and they were the end in view in holding midday meals and suppers. People's minds were thereby nourished, and also their bodies in a parallel and corresponding way. As a result they enjoyed good health and long life, they received intelligence and wisdom, and they were also brought into communication with heaven, some into open communication with angels. But as in course of time all internal things disappear and give way to external ones, so it is with the ends to which banquets and feasts are held. At the present day these are held not to draw people together into any spiritual fellowship but to create worldly connections. That is to say, they are held for the sake of material gain, the quest for high office, and mere pleasures. They provide nourishment for the body, but none for the mind.