THE EXPLANATION of ISAIAH 50

(Note: Rev. Smithson's translation of the Isaiah text is appended below the explanation.)

1. THUS says Jehovah, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or who is he among My creditors to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have you been sold; and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

VERSE 1. That the church is called a "mother", appears from the following passages:

"Jehovah said, Contend with your mother; she is not My wife , and I am not her Husband", etc. (Hosea 2:2, 5)

Again :

"You art your mother's daughter, that loaths her Husband." (Ezekiel 16:40)

Again,

"Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away?" etc. (Isaiah 50:1)

Again,

"Your mother was as a vine planted near waters, bearing fruit"; [Ezekiel 19:10) speaking of the Jewish church.

Again,

"Jesus stretching out His hand to the disciples, said, My mother and My brethren are they who hear the Word of God, and do it"; (Matthew 12:48, 49; Mark 3:33-35; Luke 8:21) by the Lord's "disciples" is meant the church. Again: There was standing by the cross of Jesus His mother; and Jesus seeing the mother and the disciple standing by whom He loved, says to His mother, Woman, behold your son! and He says to the disciple, Behold your mother! Wherefore from that hour the disciple took her into his own." (John 19:25-27)

By these words is implied that the Lord did not acknowledge Mary as a mother, but the church, wherefore He calls her "woman", and the "mother" of the disciple. The reason why the Lord called her the "mother." of this disciple, or of John, was, because "John" represented the church as to the Goods of charity, which Goods are the church in real effect; therefore it is said that "he took her into his own." That "Peter" represented Truth and Faith, "James" Charity, and "John" the works of Charity, may be seen in the Apocalypse Revealed 5, 6, 790, 798, 879; and that the "twelve disciples" together represented the church as to all its [principles], may be seen, Apocalypse Revealed 233, 790, 903, 915. Conjugial Love 119.

That the Jewish nation had not any conjugial principle, whether understood in a spiritual or in a natural sense, is very manifest from this consideration, that they were permitted to marry several wives; for where there is a conjugial principle, understood in a spiritual sense, that is, where the Good and the Truth of the church are, consequently where the church is, this is in no wise permitted; for a genuine conjugial principle is in no case given except with those with whom the church or kingdom of the Lord is, and with these only between two, Arcana Coelestia 1907, 2740.

Marriage between two who are in genuine conjugial love, corresponds to the heavenly marriage, that is, to the conjunction of Good and Truth, the "husband" corresponding to Good, and the "wife" to the Truth of that Good; also, when they are in genuine conjugial love, they are in that marriage. Therefore, where the church is, there it is never permitted to marry more wives than one; but whereas there was no church amongst the posterity of Jacob, but only the representative or type of a church, or the external of the church without its internal, Arcana Coelestia 4307, 4500, therefore with that posterity it was permitted.

And, moreover, the marriage of one husband with several wives would present in heaven the idea, or image, as if one Good might be conjoined with several Truths which are not in accord. with each other, and thus that Good was none; for Good becomes none in consequence of Truths not agreeing together, since Good derives its quality from Truths, and their agreement with each other. It would also present an image as if the church was not one, but several, and, these distinct among themselves, according to the Truths of faith, or according to doctrinals, when yet it is one where Good is its essential, and this essential is qualified, and, as it were, modified by Truths.

The church is an image of heaven, for it is the Lord's kingdom on earth; heaven is distinguished into many general societies, and into lesser ones subordinate to the general ones, but still they are one by virtue of Good, the Truths of faith being there according to Good congruously; for they regard Good, and are derived from it. If heaven was distinct according to the Truths of faith, and not according to Good, there would be no heaven, since there would be nothing of unanimity, for one principle of life, or one soul, could not be in its inhabitants from the Lord; this is only given in the principle of Good" that is, in love to the Lord; and in love towards the neighbour; for love conjoins all, and when the love of what is Good and True is in each, then there is a common principle which is from the Lord, thus the Lord, who conjoins all. The love of what is Good and True is what is called "love towards the neiqhbour", for the "neighbour" is one who is principled in Good and the Truth thence derived, and; in the abstract sense, Good itself and its Truth. From these considerations it may be manifest why marriage within the church must be between one husband and one wife; and why it was permitted to the posterity of Jacob to marry several wives; and that the reason of this was, because there was no church among them, and consequently the representative of a church could not be instituted by marriaqes, because they were in principles contrary to conjugial love. Arcana Coelestia 4837.

The bill of divorcement. - "But the Jews said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away; and Jesus answering, said unto them, For the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept." (Matthew 19:7, 8)

It appears from this passage, and especially from the divine command to Moses, to "hew him out two tables like unto the former", (Exodus 34:1) that the external of the Word, of the church, and of worship, was accommodated to the Jewish nation, and would therefore have been different if that nation had been of a different quality. For the sake of that nation, therefore, it was permitted to marry several wives, which was a thing altogether unknown in ancient times; and also to put away their wives for various causes; hence laws were enacted concerning such marriages and divorces which otherwise would not have entered the external of the Word. Therefore this external is called by the Lord [the external] of Moses, and is said to be granted on account of "the hardness of their heart." Arcana Coelestia 10603 Arcana Coelestia 10603[1-6].

Behold, for your iniquities have you been sold; and for your transgressions is your mother put away. - "Mother" is the church; to "sell" is to alienate. That to "sell", in the internal sense, is [when mentioned in a bad sense] to alienate those things which are of faith and charity, consequently those things which make the man of the internal church, is evident from this circumstance, that in the spiritual world there is no buying and selling such as there is upon earth; but it is the appropriation of what is Good and True which is understood by "buying", and the alienation [or removal] of them by "selling."

By "selling" is also signified the communication of the knowledges of what is Good and True, because by " merchandising" is signified the procuring and the communication of those knowledges, but then it is said, "selling, but not by silver." Arcana Coelestia 5886. See also Apocalypse Explained 840.

As to "merchandising", when mentioned in the Word, see above Chapter 23:18, the Exposition.

Your iniquities; - your transgressions. - In the Word evils are sometimes called "sins", sometimes "iniquities", and sometimes "transgressions"; but what is understood in particular by the one and by the other is only evident from the internal sense. "Transgressions" are evils against the Truths of faith; "iniquities", against the Goods of faith; and "sins" are evils against the Goods of charity and love; - the two former proceed from a perverse understanding, but the latter from a depraved will. The "mother" is the church, which is said to be "put away" when she recedes from faith. Arcana Coelestia 9156.

2. Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? and when I called, none answered? Is My hand so greatly shortened, that it cannot redeem? and is there no power in Me to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea; I make the rivers a desert; so that their fish putrefy, because there is no water; and they die for thirst.

Verse 2. See above, Chapter 41:28, the Exposition.

None answered. - That "not to answer" signifies not to receive and not to reciprocate, Arcana Coelestia 2941. See also the Exposition of Isaiah 36:21.

Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, etc. - To "dry up the sea" signifies a plenary defect of the common [or general] knowledges of Truth; to "make the rivers a desert", signifies the deprivation of all Truth, and thence of intelligence; "their fish will putrefy", denotes that the scientifics of the natural man shall be without any spiritual life, which is when they are applied to confirm falsities against the Truths of the church; "because there is no water", signifies because there is not any Truth; and to "die of thirst", means the extinction of Truth. That "rivers" signify such things as appertain to intelligence, may be seen in Chapter 30:25, 26; 33:20, 21; 41:17, 18, the Exposition; that "desert" signifies where there is no Good, because there is no Truth, see Chapter 35:4-6; 43:19, 20, the Exposition; that "fish" signifies the scientific [principle] which is of the natural man, see Chapter 19:8, the Exposition; that "water" denotes Truth, has been frequently shown above. To "die of thirst" signifies the deprivation of spiritual life from defect of Truth. Apocalypse Explained 270.

By "rebuke" is signified the desolation of all Truth; by the "sea" is denoted where Truth is in its ultimates; by "water" is meant Truth from a spiritual origin; by "dying of thirst" is signified desolation for the want of that Truth; by the "fishes of the sea becoming putrid" are understood those who are in the ultimates of Truth in whom there is not any life from a spiritual origin. Apocalypse Explained 342.

By the "rebuke of Jehovah" is understood the destruction of the church, which is when there is not any knowledge of Truth and of Good, or when there is not any living knowledge, because no perception; by "drying up the sea" is signified to deprive the natural man of true scientifics, and hence of natural life derived from spiritual; by "making the rivers a desert" is meant to deprive the rational man in like manner, whence he has no longer any intelligence; by "their fish putrifying because there is no water, and they die for thirst", signifies that there IS no longer any living scientific, because there is no Truth. "Fish" is the scientific; "water" is Truth' to "putrefy" is to die as to the spiritual life. Apocalypse Explained 513.

3. I clothe the heavens with blackness; and sackcloth I make their covering.

Verse 3. "Blackness" is the false of evil. Infernals who are in falsities from evil appear black in the light of heaven. Apocalypse Explained 412.

[The heavens in the spiritual world, as seen by those who are in the falsities of evil, appear black, or as covered with blackness.]

Sackcloth I make their covering. - In respect to "sackcloth" and its signification, see Chapter 15:3, the Exposition.

4. The Lord Jehovih has given me the tongue of the learned, that I might know how to speak in season a word to the weary: He wakens, morning by morning, He wakens mine ear, to hearken as the learned.

5. The Lord Jehovih has opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious; neither did I turn away backward.

6. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: my face I hid not from calumnies and spitting.

7. For the Lord Jehovih will help me; therefore I am not ashamed: therefore have I set my face as a flint; and I know that I shall not be confounded.

8. He that justifies me is near: who will contend with me? let us stand up together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

9. Behold, the Lord Jehovih will help me: who is he that shall condemn me? Lo! all of them shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall devour them,

Verse 4. [The tongue of the learned signifies those who are instructed in divine Truths.]

To speak in season a word to the weary. - To be "weary" denotes a state of temptation-combat. Arcana Coelestia 3318. See also 3321.

He wakens, morning by morning, He wakens. mine ear etc. - Inasmuch as "morning" signifies the Lord, His coming, likewise His kingdom and church, as also the Good of love which is from Him hence it may appear what is understood by "morning" in the above passage. Apocalypse Explained 179.

Verses 4, 5, 7, 9. The Lord Jehovih. - The Lord is called "Lord [Adonai] Jehovih" especially, when the help of His Omnipotence is sought for, and supplicated. Arcana Coelestia 2921. See also Arcana Coelestia 1793; and above, Chapter 3:15, note and Exposition.

10. Who is there among you that fears Jehovah, that hearkens unto the voice of His Servant; that walks in darkness, and has no light? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and stay himself upon his God.

Verse 10. To "fear Jehovah" is to worship Him from love; to "hearken unto the voice of His Servant" is to worship Him from faith; - when one is of the other then there is the celestial marriage. (Arcana Coelestia 2826 Arcana Coelestia 2826[1-14])

His "Servant" is the Divine Human. See above, Chapter 42:19, the Exposition.

As to the "fear of Jehovah", and as to "fear" as an element of worship, see Chapter 11:3, the Exposition.

Who is there among you that fears Jehovah, - that walks in darkness, and has no light! etc. - From this passage it may appear that by walking, in a spiritual sense, is signified to live, and because it signifies to live, therefore, when predicated of the Lord, Life itself is understood; for the Lord is Life itself, and all others are recipients of life from Him, as may be seen above, Apocalypse Explained 82, 84. Apocalypse Explained 97.

11. Behold, all you who kindle a fire; who encompass yourselves with sparks: walk you in the light of your fire, and in the sparks which you have kindled. This you shall have at My hand; you shall lie down in sorrow.

Verse 11. All you who kindle a fire, etc. - In respect to "fire" in a bad sense, as signifying the evil of lusts and cupidities arising from the love of self and of the world, see Chapter 9:17-19, 33:11, 12, 14, the Exposition.

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Isaiah Chapter 50.

1. THUS says Jehovah, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or who is he among My creditors to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have you been sold; and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

2. Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? and when I called, none answered? Is My hand so greatly shortened, that it cannot redeem? and is there no power in Me to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea; I make the rivers a desert; so that their fish putrefy, because there is no water; and they die for thirst.

3. I clothe the heavens with blackness; and sackcloth I make their covering.

4. The Lord Jehovih has given me the tongue of the learned, that I might know how to speak in season a word to the weary: He wakens, morning by morning, He wakens mine ear, to hearken as the learned.

5. The Lord Jehovih has opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious; neither did I turn away backward.

6. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: my face I hid not from calumnies and spitting.

7. For the Lord Jehovih will help me; therefore I am not ashamed: therefore have I set my face as a flint; and I know that I shall not be confounded.

8. He that justifies me is near: who will contend with me? let us stand up together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

9. Behold, the Lord Jehovih will help me: who is he that shall condemn me? Lo! all of them shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall devour them,

10. Who is there among you that fears Jehovah, that hearkens unto the voice of His Servant; that walks in darkness, and has no light? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and stay himself upon his God.

11. Behold, all you who kindle a fire; who encompass yourselves with sparks: walk you in the light of your fire, and in the sparks which you have kindled. This you shall have at My hand; you shall lie down in sorrow.

2921. 'My lord, you are a prince of God in the midst of us' means the Lord as regards Divine good and truth with them. This is clear from the meaning of 'a lord' and of 'a prince of God', and from the meaning of 'in the midst of us'. The fact that the expression 'lord' is used when good is the subject is clear from the Old Testament Word, for there Jehovah is sometimes called Jehovah, sometimes God, sometimes Lord, sometimes Jehovah God, sometimes Lord Jehovih, sometimes Jehovah Zebaoth, and always for a hidden reason which cannot be known except from the internal sense. In general when the celestial things of love, that is, when good, are dealt with, the name Jehovah is used, but when the spiritual things of faith are dealt with, the name God is used. And when both together are dealt with, the names Jehovah God are used. When however the Divine power of good, that is, when omnipotence is the subject, Jehovah Zebaoth (or Jehovah of Hosts), and also the Lord, are used; so that the names Jehovah Zebaoth and the name the Lord have the same sense and meaning. From this also, that is to say, from the power of good, men and angels are called 'lords', and in the contrary sense those are called servants or slaves who have no power at all or else have a power received from their lords. From these considerations it becomes clear that here 'my lord' in the internal sense means the Lord as regards good, which in what follows below will be illustrated from the Word. 'A prince of God' however means the Lord as regards the power of truth, that is, as regards truth, as becomes clear from the meaning of 'a prince' or 'princes' as first and foremost truths, dealt with in 1482, 2089, and from the fact that the phrase 'a prince of God' is used, for the name God is used when truth is dealt with but the name Jehovah when good is dealt with, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822. As regards 'in the midst of us' meaning among them or present with them, this is clear without explanation.

[2] That in the Old Testament Word the names Jehovah Zebaoth and the name Lord have the same sense and meaning is clear in Isaiah,

The zeal of Jehovah Zebaoth will do this; the Lord has sent a word into Jacob, and it has fallen on Israel. Isaiah 9:7-8.

Elsewhere in the same prophet,

A mighty king will have dominion over them, said the Lord, Jehovah Zebaoth. Isaiah 19:4.

In Malachi,

Behold, suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking and the angel of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, says Jehovah Zebaoth. Malachi 3:1.

More plainly, in Isaiah,

I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up. Above Him stood the seraphim; each had six wings. One called to another, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah Zebaoth. Woe is me! For I am cut off; for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah Zebaoth. And I heard the voice of the Lord. Isaiah 6:1-3, 5, 8.

From these places it is evident that Jehovah Zebaoth and the Lord have the same meaning.

[3] But 'the Lord Jehovih' is used more particularly when the help of omnipotence is sought and prayed for, as in Isaiah,

Say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord Jehovih will come with might, and His arm will exercise dominion for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will pasture His flock like a shepherd. Isaiah 40:9-11.

For further examples of this use of 'the Lord Jehovih', see Isaiah 25:8; 40:10; 48:16; 50:4-5, 7, 9; 61:1; Jeremiah 2:22; Ezekiel 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; Psalms 71:5, 16; and many other places.

[4] What is more, in the Old Testament Word 'the Lord' entails the same as 'Jehovah', that is to say, 'the Lord' is used when good is dealt with, and therefore also the Lord is distinguished from God in the same way as Jehovah is from God; as in Moses,

Jehovah your God, He is God of gods, and Lord of lords. Deuteronomy 10:17.

In David,

Confess the God of gods, for His mercy is for ever; confess the Lord of lords, for His mercy is for ever. Psalms 136:1-3.

[5] But nowhere in the New Testament Word, neither in the Gospels nor in the Book of Revelation, is Jehovah used. Instead of Jehovah the name the Lord occurs - for hidden reasons to be dealt with below. The fact that in the New Testament Word the Lord is used instead of Jehovah is quite clear in Mark,

Jesus said, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Therefore you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your thought, and with all your strength. Mark 12:29-30.

The same is expressed in Moses as follows,

Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah; and you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:4-5.

Here it is evident that the name 'the Lord' is used instead of Jehovah. Likewise in John,

I looked, and behold, a throne had been set in heaven, with one seated upon the throne. Around the throne were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind. Each had for himself six wings round about him, and was full of eyes within. They were saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God omnipotent. Revelation 4:2, 6, 8.

This is described in Isaiah as follows,

I saw the Lord seated upon a throne, high and lifted up. Above Him stood the seraphim; each had six wings. One called to another, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah Zebaoth. Isaiah 6:1-3, 5, 8.

In this case 'the Lord' is used instead of 'Jehovah', that is, 'the Lord God omnipotent' instead of 'Jehovah Zebaoth'. The fact that the four living creatures are the seraphim or cherubs is evident in Ezekiel 1:5, 13-15, 19 and following verses; 10:15. That in the New Testament 'the Lord' is Jehovah is also clear from many other places, as in Luke,

An angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah. Luke 1:11.

'An angel of the Lord' is used instead of 'an angel of Jehovah'. In the same chapter the angel told Zechariah regarding his son,

He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. Luke 1:16.

'To the Lord their God' is used instead of 'to Jehovah their God'. Also in the same chapter, the angel told Mary regarding Jesus,

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of David. Luke 1:32.

'The Lord God' is used instead of 'Jehovah God'. Still in the same chapter,

Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour. Luke 1:46-47.

Here also 'the Lord' is used instead of 'Jehovah'. And again in the same chapter, Zechariah prophesied, saying,

Blessed is the Lord God of Israel. Luke 1:68.

'The Lord God' is used instead of 'Jehovah God'. In the same gospel,

An angel of the Lord stood before the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. Luke 2:9.

'An angel of the Lord' and 'the glory of the Lord' are used instead of 'an angel of Jehovah' and 'the glory of Jehovah'. In Matthew,

Blessed is He coming in the name of the Lord. Matthew 21:9; 23:39; Luke 13:35; John 12:13.

'In the name of the Lord' is used instead of 'in the name of Jehovah'. There are many other places besides all these, such as Luke 1:28; 2:15, 22-24, 29, 38-39; 5:17; Mark 12:10-11.

[6] Among the hidden reasons why people called Jehovah the Lord were the following: If when the Lord was in the world they had been told that He was the Jehovah mentioned so many times in the Old Testament, see 1736, they would not have accepted it because they would not have believed it. And there is the further reason that as regards the Human the Lord did not become Jehovah until He had in every respect united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, and the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, see 1725, 1729, 1733, 1745, 1815, 2156, 2751. These became fully united after the final temptation, which was that of the Cross; and it was for this reason that after the Resurrection the disciples always called Him 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 as the Lord was the Jehovah mentioned so many times in the Old Testament, therefore He also told the disciples,

You call Me Master and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If therefore I your Lord and Master have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one anothers' feet. John 13:13-14, 16.

These words mean that He was Jehovah God, for in this instance He is called 'Lord' as regards good, but 'Master' as regards truth. That the Lord was Jehovah is also meant by the angel's words to the shepherds,

To you is born this day a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11.

'Christ' is used instead of 'Messiah', 'Anointed One', and 'King', 'the Lord, instead of 'Jehovah' - 'Christ' having regard to truth, 'the Lord' to good. Anyone who does not examine the Word carefully cannot know this, for he believes that our Saviour was called Lord because this was an everyday expression that was used to offer respect to Him, as to others, when in reality He was so called by virtue of His being Jehovah.