381. (Verse 8) And I looked, and behold a pale horse. That this signifies not any understanding of the Word, from evils of life and then from the falsities thence, [will appear in what follows]. In this and the following chapter, the successive states of the church are treated of, that is, of the men of the church, as to their spiritual life; and their first state is described by the white horse, the second by the red horse, the third by the black horse, and the fourth by the pale horse. That by the white horse is signified the understanding of truth from the Word, may be seen above (n. 355); that by the red horse is signified the understanding of the Word perished as to good (n. 364); that by the black horse is signified the understanding of the Word perished as to truth (n. 372). Hence it is now clear that by the pale horse is signified not any understanding of the Word, from evils of life and falsities thence. For when the understanding of the Word is destroyed as to good and truth, it follows that there is no understanding of the Word; and the reason why there is none, is, because evil of life and the falsity thence bear rule. It is said the evil of life and the falsity thence, because where there is evil of life, there also is falsity, for they make one in man's spirit. It is said in man's spirit, because an evil, as well as a good man, can do good and speak truth; but this is only done by the evil man from the natural man, and thence from the body, whereas inwardly with him, that is, in his spirit, there is not the will of good, and thence neither the understanding of truth, thus, neither good nor truth; this is especially evident from such persons when they become spirits, then because they are in the spirit they will nothing but evil, and speak nothing but falsity. This then is meant by the pale horse. That a horse signifies the understanding, may be seen above (n.355); here the understanding of the Word, because by him that sat upon the horse is signified the Word (n. 373).

[2] That pale signifies evil of life and the falsity thence, thus a pale horse not any understanding of the Word from evils of life and the falsities thence, is, because paleness indicates, and thence signifies, absence of life, or its loss, here the absence and loss of spiritual life, which takes place when instead of the good of life there is evil of life, and instead of the truth of faith there is falsity of faith, for then there is no spiritual life. By spiritual life is meant the life of heaven, which also in the Word is simply called life; but a life not spiritual is such as those in hell have, which in the Word is also called death. That by the pale horse is signified spiritual death, is evident also from the following verses, for it is said, "His name that sat upon the horse was Death, and Hell followed with him."

[3] The same is signified by paleness or by pale in Jeremiah:

"Ask ye, seek and see whether a male doth travail with child? [wherefore] do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as if bringing forth, and all faces are turned into paleness?" (30:6).

No one can know the meaning of these words unless he knows what to bring forth, what male and man [vir], what the hands on the loins, and what faces, signify. These things are said of those who from their own intelligence desire to procure for themselves love and faith. To procure such things for oneself is signified by travailing with child; by male and man is signified intelligence, here man's own intelligence; by the hands on the loins, is signified to bring forth those things; and by faces are signified love and faith. For angels and spirits have faces in agreement with the quality of their love and faith, the affection of good, which is love, and the affection of truth, which is faith, manifesting themselves wholly in their faces. Hence by, "whether a male doth travail with child," is signified, whether any one from his own intelligence can procure to himself the good of love and the truth of faith; by, "I see every man with his hands on his loins, as if bringing forth," is signified that every one is endeavouring to bring forth such things from the proprium; and by, "all faces are turned into paleness," is signified, that hence there is no good and truth, but evil and falsity, thus no [spiritual] life, but spiritual death. This is signified by paleness of the face. (That conceptions, travailings, and births in the Word signify spiritual conceptions, travailings, and births which are those of love and faith, may be seen, n. 3860, 3868, 3915, 3965, 3919, 9325; that the male or masculine signifies truth, and thence intelligence, n. 749, 2046, 4005, 7838; also man [vir], n. 749, 1007, 3134, 3309, 3459, 9007; that the face signifies the interior things of the mind, thus the things of love and faith, n. 1999, 2434, 3527, 4066, 4796, 5102, 9306, 9546; that the faces with the angels are forms of their affections, in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 47, 457, 459, 481, 552, 553.)

[4] The same is signified by waxing pale, in Isaiah:

"Jacob shall not [now] be ashamed, neither shall his faces [now] wax pale" (29:22).

By Jacob are meant those who belong to the church, and by his faces not waxing pale, that they shall not be in evils and falsities, but in goods and truths. That paleness signifies the absence and loss of spiritual life, which takes place when there are no good and truth, but evil and falsity, is because when man is deprived of vital heat, he then waxes pale and becomes an image of death, as is the case in extreme terrors, and similarly when he dies; but when he dies spiritually, then his face either becomes red like a coal fire, or pale like that of a corpse; such is the appearance of infernals in the light of heaven.

1066. That 'from them the whole earth was overspread' means that from these three all doctrines have been derived, both true and false, is clear from the meaning of 'the earth'. In the Word 'the earth' has various meanings. In the universal sense it stands for the place or region where the Church is or once was, for example, the land of Canaan, the land of Judah, the land of Israel. It thus stands in that universal sense for every member of the Church, for a land takes its name from the people who inhabit it, as is also well known from everyday speech. In ancient times therefore when people spoke of 'the whole earth' they did not mean every land throughout the world but only that part of the earth where the Church existed, and so the Church itself, as becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

Jehovah is emptying the earth, the earth will be utterly emptied. The earth will mourn and be turned upside down. And the earth will be polluted under its inhabitants. Therefore a curse will devour the earth, therefore the inhabitants of the earth will be scorched and few men left. The floodgates from on high have been opened, and the foundations of the earth have been shaken. The earth has been utterly broken. The earth has been utterly rent asunder. The earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers altogether like a drunken man, and sways to and fro like a hut. Its transgression will lie heavily upon it, and it will fall, and it will not rise again. Isaiah 24:1, 3-6, 18-21.

'Earth' stands for the people inhabiting it, in particular the people of the Church, and so stands for the Church itself, and the things that are the Church's that have been vastated. These when being vastated are spoken of as 'being emptied', 'being shaken', 'staggering like a drunken man', 'swaying', 'falling and not rising'.

[2] That 'earth' or 'land' means man, and consequently the Church which is made up of men, is seen in Malachi,

All the nations will declare you blessed, for you will be a land of delight. Malachi 3:12.

That 'the earth' stands for the Church is seen in Isaiah,

Do you not understand the foundations of the earth? Isaiah 40:21.

Here 'foundations of the earth' stands for the foundations of the Church. In the same prophet,

Behold I am creating new heavens and a new earth. Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; Revelation 21:1.

'New heavens and a new earth' stands for the Lord's kingdom and the Church. In Zechariah,

Jehovah is He who stretches out the heavens and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1.

'Earth' stands for the Church, as in earlier chapters,

In the beginning God created heaven and earth. Genesis 1:1.

The heavens and the earth were finished. Genesis 2:1.

These are the generations of heaven and earth. Genesis 2:4.

In each instance 'earth' stands for the Church being 'created', 'formed', and 'made'. In Joel,

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled. The sun and the moon were darkened. Joel 2:10.

'Earth' stands for the Church, and for the things that are the Church's. When these things are being vastated, 'heaven and earth' are said to quake, 'the sun and moon' to grow dark, that is, love and faith.

[3] In Jeremiah,

I looked to the earth, when behold, that which is void and empty; and to the heavens, and they had no light. Jeremiah 4:23.

Here 'the earth' plainly stands for the person who does not have anything of the Church within him. In the same prophet,

The whole earth will be desolate, yet I will not bring it to a close. For this the earth will mourn and the heavens be black. Jeremiah 4:27, 18.

Here likewise the Church is meant, whose exterior things are 'the earth' and interior 'the heavens'. These are referred to as 'being black and having no light' when there is no longer any wisdom arising from good or intelligence from truth. In that case the earth is also 'void and empty', as is the member of the Church who ought to be an embodiment of the Church. That 'the whole earth' is also used in other places to mean the Church alone is seen in Daniel,

The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it in pieces. Daniel 7:23.

'The whole earth' stands for the Church and for the things that are the Church's; for the Word does not deal, as secular authors do, with the powers of monarchs, but with sacred matters, and with states of the Church, which are meant by 'kingdoms of the earth'.

[4] In Jeremiah,

A great tempest will be raised up from the sides of the earth, and the slain ¹ of Jehovah on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. Jeremiah 25:32, 33.

Here 'from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth' stands for the Church and for everything that is the Church's. In Isaiah,

The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; they burst into cries of joy. Isaiah 14:7.

Here 'the whole earth' stands for the Church.

In Ezekiel,

As the whole earth rejoices. Ezekiel 35:14.

Here too 'the whole earth' stands for the Church.

In Isaiah,

I swore that the waters of Noah should go no more over the earth. Isaiah 54:9.

Here 'the earth' stands for the Church since the Church is the subject here. Because in the Word the earth means the Church it also means what is not the Church, for every such expression has a contrary or opposite sense. This applies, for example, to the various lands of the gentiles, in general to all lands outside the land of Canaan. 'Land' also stands therefore for the people and for the individual outside of the Church, and from this for the external man - for his will, for his proprium, and so on.

[5] In the Word 'earth' rarely stands for the whole world except when it is used to mean the state of the whole human race, whether of the Church or not of the Church. And because the earth includes the ground, which also means the Church, and the ground includes the field, the expression 'earth', entailing many things, has many meanings. But what it means is evident from the subject under discussion to which it refers. From this it now becomes clear that here 'the whole earth was overspread by the sons of Noah' does not mean the whole world, that is, the whole human race, but all doctrines, both true and false, which Churches possessed.

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