5433. To see the nakedness of the land ye are come. That this signifies that they would like nothing better than to know in themselves that there are no truths, is evident from the signification of “coming to see,” as being to desire to know that it is so, thus that they would like nothing better than to know; from the signification of “nakedness,” as being to be without truths, thus that there are no truths (of which in what follows); and from the signification of “land,” as being the church (see n. 566, 662, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4447, 4535); here therefore the “nakedness of the land” denotes no truths in the church. That “nakedness” signifies deprived of truths, or without truths, is because “garments” in general signify truths, and each specific garment signifies some particular truth (see n. 2576, 3301, 4545, 4677, 4741, 4742, 4763, 5248, 5319). Hence “nakedness” signifies being without truths, as will also be seen below from passages taken from the Word.

[2] How the case herein is, is plain from what was said just above (n. 5432), that they who learn truths not for the sake of truth and of life, but for the sake of gain, cannot but think within themselves that the truths of the church are not truths. The reason is that the affection of gain is an earthly affection, and the affection of truth is a spiritual affection. One or the other must have the dominion, for no man can serve two masters. Therefore where one affection is, the other is not; thus where there is the affection of truth, there is not the affection of gain; and where there is the affection of gain, there is not the affection of truth. Consequently, if the affection of gain has dominion, it must needs be that nothing is more desired than that truths should not be truths, and also that they should be believed to be truths by others; for if the internal man looks downward to earthly things, and vests everything in them, it is impossible for him to look upward, and to vest anything in heavenly things, because the earthly things completely absorb and stifle the heavenly things. The reason is that the angels of heaven cannot be with man in earthly things, and therefore they draw back, and the infernal spirits then come near, who cannot be with man in heavenly things. The result is that heavenly things are naught to him, and earthly things are everything; and when earthly things are everything to him, he believes himself to be more learned and wise than anyone else, in that to himself he denies the truths of the church, saying at heart that they are for the simple. Man must therefore be either in earthly affection or in heavenly affection, for he cannot be at the same time with the angels of heaven and with the infernals; because he would then hang between heaven and hell. But when he is in the affection of truth for the sake of truth, that is, for the sake of the Lord’s kingdom, where the Divine truth is, thus for the sake of the Lord Himself, he is then among angels, nor does he then despise gain so far as it is useful for his life in the world; but he has as the end, not gain, but uses therefrom, which he looks upon as mediate ends to the final heavenly end; thus by no means does he set his heart upon gain.

[3] That “nakedness” signifies to be without truths, may be seen from other passages in the Word, as in the Revelation:

To the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, Because thou sayest I am rich, and have been enriched, so that I have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and needy and blind and naked (Revelation 3:17); where “naked” denotes penury of truth. In the same:

I counsel thee to buy of Me gold purified in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white garments, that thou mayest be clothed, and the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest (Revelation 3:18);

“to buy gold” denotes to procure and appropriate good to one’s self; “that thou mayest be rich,” denotes being in celestial and spiritual good; “white garments” denote spiritual truths; the “shame of thy nakedness” denotes being without goods and truths. (That “to buy” is to procure and to appropriate to one’s self may be seen above, n. 5374; also that “gold” is celestial and spiritual good, n. 1551, 1552; that “garments” are truths, n. 1073, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5319; and that “white” is predicated of truth, because from the light of heaven, n. 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319)

[4] Again:

Behold I come as a thief, blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked (Revelation 16:15);

“he that keepeth his garments” denotes him that keepeth truths; “lest he walk naked,” denotes being without truths.

In Matthew:

The King shall say unto them on His right hand, I was naked, and ye clothed Me; and to them on His left, I was naked, and ye clothed Me not (Matthew 25:36, 43); where “naked” denotes the good who acknowledge that there is nothing of good and truth in themselves (n. 4958).

[5] In Isaiah:

Is not this the fast, to break thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the afflicted that are cast out into thy house? When thou seest the naked that thou cover him? (Isaiah 58:7); where the meaning is similar.

In Jeremiah:

Jerusalem hath sinned a sin; therefore she hath become a menstruous woman; all that honored her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness (Lam. 1:8); where “nakedness” denotes without truths.

In Ezekiel:

Thou hast come into comelinesses of comelinesses, the paps have been made firm, and thy hair was grown, yet thou wast naked and bare. I spread My skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness. Thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare (Ezekiel 16:7-8, 22);

[6] this is said of Jerusalem, by which is meant the Ancient Church, as it was when set up, and as it afterward became, namely, that at first it was without truths, but afterward was instructed in them, and at last rejected them. Again:

If a just man who hath done judgment and justice give his bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with a garment (Ezekiel 18:5, 7); where “to cover the naked with a garment” denotes to instruct in truths those who desire them.

In Hosea:

Lest I strip her naked, and show her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a land of drought, and slay her with thirst (Hos. 2:3); where “stripping naked” denotes to deprive of truths.

In Nahum:

I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame (Nah. 3:5); where “showing the nations the nakedness” denotes to show the ugliness; for all ugliness is from want of truths, and all beauty is from truths (n. 4985, 5199).

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 (Zech. 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” (Matthew 3:4). (That “camels” are memory-knowledges in the natural man, may be seen above, n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145; and also that 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 (Numbers 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 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 (see 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. (That such is the case with truth and good may be seen above, 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 (Judg. 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 he 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 (Leviticus 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 (Ezekiel 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 (Ezekiel 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 (Revelation 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 (Isaiah 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 lusts 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 (Deuteronomy 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 (Numbers 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 (Daniel 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 (Leviticus 13,14:8-9), 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 (Isaiah 15:2).

In the same:

It shall come to pass that instead of braided work there shall be baldness, and branding instead of beauty (Isaiah 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.