9182. When a man shall persuade a virgin who is not betrothed. That this signifies good not conjoined with truth, is evident from the signification of “persuading,” when said of a man and a virgin, as being to entice to conjunction; from the signification of “a man” [vir] as being truth (see n. 3134, 7716, 9007); from the signification of “a virgin,” as being the church as to good (n. 3081, 4638), thus the good which is the church; and from the signification of “to be betrothed,” as being conjunction. It shall here be briefly stated what is the cause and the origin of the law relating to unlawful conjunction that is here treated of. All the laws delivered to the sons of Israel have their cause in heaven, and their origin in the laws of order there. All the laws of order in heaven are from the Divine truth and good which proceed from the Lord, consequently they are the laws of the good of love and truth of faith. The conjunction of good and truth in heaven is called the heavenly marriage, and this is represented in marriages on earth, and is also signified by “marriages” in the Word. From this it is plain what is involved in unlawful conjunctions, and also in scortations and adulteries. In these two verses an unlawful conjunction is treated of which is afterward either made lawful or is dissolved. The unlawful conjunction which afterward is made lawful, is the subject treated of in this verse; and the unlawful conjunction which afterward is dissolved, is the subject treated of in the following verse.

[2] Unlawful conjunction is that which is not made from conjugial affection; but from some other affection, as the affection of beauty, the affection of gain, or the affection of personal rank; and also which is made from lasciviousness. In the beginning these conjunctions are unlawful, because that which conjoins is external, and not at the same time internal. Nevertheless, a lawful conjunction may afterward be effected from them as means, which takes place when the minds are conjoined; and on the other hand no conjunction may result from them, as is the case when the minds are disjoined. That this is so, is generally known in the world.

[3] Lawful conjunction, which is that of minds, is effected when both are in the like good and truth; for good and truth make a man’s life; moral and civil good and truth, the life of the external man; and spiritual good and truth, the life of the internal man. Be it known that a man’s life is from no other source than good and truth, for all that a man loves is called good, and all that he believes is called truth; or, what is the same, all that a man wills is called good, and all that he understands is called truth. From this it is evident that a lawful conjunction is effected when the husband is in truth, and the wife is in the corresponding good, for in this way the heavenly marriage, which is that of good and truth, is represented in the pair. From this it is that conjugial love descends from this marriage (see n. 2727-2759, 2803, 3132, 4434, 4835).

[4] From these as premises it can be known how the case is with the conjunctions treated of in this verse and the following one. Betrothals before marriage have been in use from ancient times, and represented the first conjunction, which is that of the internal man apart from the external. The subsequent marriages themselves represented the second conjunction, which is that of the internal man with the external; for during man’s regeneration by means of the goods and truths of faith, the internal man is first regenerated, and afterward the external, because the latter is regenerated by the former (n. 3286, 3321, 3493, 3882, 8746).

[5] From this it is evident what is signified in the Word by “betrothing” and by “being betrothed,” and also what by “bridegroom” and “bride;” namely, by “betrothing” is signified the conjunction of truth and good in the internal man; by “bridegroom” (where the Lord and the church are treated of) is signified good; and by “bride,” truth: as in Isaiah.

In Jeremiah:

I remembered for thee the mercy of thy youth, the love of thy betrothals, when thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown (Jeremiah 2:2);

speaking of the Ancient Church and of its being set up by the Lord; “the love of betrothals” denotes the affection of spiritual life, which is from the truths of faith and the good of love; and the state of desire, when as yet they were in ignorance and in want of these things, is signified by “going after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.”

[6] In Hosea:

In that day I will make a covenant for them with the wild animal of the field, and with the bird of the heavens, and the creeping thing of the earth; and I will break the bow and the sword and the war; and I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness and in judgment, and in mercy, and in compassions (Hos. 2:18-19).

The setting up of a new church is here treated of; “to make a covenant with the wild animal of the field, with the bird of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the earth,” denotes the conjunction of the Lord through the internal and external good and truth in a man. That “a covenant” denotes conjunction, see n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778; “the wild animal of the field” denotes life from good (n. 841, 908); “the bird” denotes the life of truth (n. 40, 745, 776, 991, 3219, 5149, 7441); “the creeping thing of the earth” denotes the goods and truths of the external and sensuous man (n. 746, 909); “to break the bow, and the sword, and the war,” denotes to destroy the doctrine and the forces of falsity; “the bow” denotes the doctrine of falsity (n. 2686, 2709); “the sword,” falsity fighting against truth (n. 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102); “the war,” the combat itself, or spiritual combat (n. 1664, 2686, 8273), and “to break” these denotes to destroy them.

[7] “To betroth in righteousness and in judgment” denotes to be conjoined with the Lord in good and truth; “to betroth” denotes to conjoin with one’s self; “righteousness” is predicated of good, and “judgment” of truth (n. 2235); “to betroth in mercy and in compassions,” denotes doing so from love toward those who are in good, and in love toward those who are in truths; the Lord’s “mercy” is predicated as being directed toward those who are in need of good and who yet long for it; and His “compassions,” toward those who are in ignorance of truth and who yet long for it. From all this it is evident that “betrothal” denotes the conjunction of good and truth with a man by the Lord. Everyone can see that such things are here signified; for it is clear even to the perception from merely natural light that Jehovah does not make a covenant with the wild animal of the field, with the bird, and with the creeping thing of the earth; but with those who are in the good and truth of faith, thus with the good and truth in the man; consequently that such things are hidden in this prophecy.

[8] And in Malachi:

Judah hath dealt treacherously, for he hath profaned the holiness of Jehovah, in that he hath loved, and hath betrothed to himself, the daughter of a strange god (Malachi 2:11);

“to betroth the daughter of a strange god” denotes to be conjoined with the evil of falsity; “a strange god” denotes falsity (n. 4402, 4544, 7873).

[9] That where the Lord and the church are treated of, the “bridegroom” denotes good, and the “bride” truth, may be seen in Isaiah:

Jehovah hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom putteth on his headdress, and as a bride adorneth herself with her vessels (Isaiah 61:10).

I saw the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:2).

The angel said, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the lamb’s wife (Revelation 21:9); where “the bride” denotes the church.

[10] In Matthew:

Jesus said unto the disciples of John, Can the sons of the wedding mourn, so long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast (Matthew 9:15, andLuke 5:34-35);

those are called “sons of the wedding” who are in the truths of the church, and receive good, for the good which is from the Lord is “the bridegroom;” that “the sons of the wedding do not mourn so long as the bridegroom is with them” denotes that they are in a blessed and happy state, thus with the Lord, when they are in truths conjoined with their good; “they shall fast when the bridegroom is taken away from them” denotes that they are in an unhappy state when good is no longer conjoined with truths; this state is the last state of the church, but the former is its first state.

[11] The like is signified in Matthew 25:1-12 by the bridegroom whom the ten virgins went forth to meet; for the virgins who had oil in their lamps denote those who have good in their truths, but those who had no oil in their lamps denote those who have no good in their truths (see n. 4638; and that “oil” denotes the good of love, n. 886, 3728, 4582).

[12] In John:

John said, I am not the Christ, but I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice (John 3:28-29);

“the bride” denotes the truth of faith of the church; and “the bridegroom” the good of love of the church, both from the Lord; thus they denote the man of the church with whom good has been conjoined with truths. From all this it is also plain what is meant in the internal sense by the “joy” and the “voice of the bridegroom and of the bride” in Isaiah 62:5; Jeremiah 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; 33:11; Revelation 18:23; namely, heaven and the happiness resulting from the conjunction of good and truth with man and angel.

4434. And his soul clave unto Dinah. That this signifies an inclination to conjunction, is evident from the signification of “his soul cleaving,” as being an inclination. That it is to conjunction is evident, because in the internal sense the things which belong to conjugial love involve spiritual conjunction, which is that of truth with good, and of good with truth. The reason why in the internal sense the things which belong to conjugial love involve this conjunction, is that conjugial love derives its origin from the marriage of truth and good, and of good and truth (n. 2618, 2727-2729, 2737, 2803, 3132). Hence also the adulterations of good are meant in the Word by “adulteries,” and the falsifications of truth by “whoredoms” (n. 2466, 2729, 2750, 3399). From all this it may be seen that by all that is related of Shechem and of Dinah in this chapter nothing else is meant in the internal sense than the conjunction of the truth represented by Shechem with the affection of truth represented by Dinah; thus that by the words “his soul clave unto Dinah” is signified an inclination to conjunction.

[2] As in the whole of this chapter conjugial love toward Dinah is treated of, and how Shechem sought her for a woman, and as by the things of conjugial love there is signified spiritual conjunction, I may confirm from the Word that marriages and what belongs to them involve nothing else.

In John:

Let us be glad and exult, and let us give the glory unto Him, because the wedding of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready, as have they who are called unto the wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7, 9).

In the same:

I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. One of the seven angels spoke with me, saying, Come, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife; and he carried me away in the spirit upon a mountain great and high, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God (Revelation 21:2, 9-10).

That by what relates to betrothal and marriage naught else is here signified than the Lord’s conjunction with the church, and this by means of truth and good, is very evident, for the “holy city” and the “New Jerusalem” are nothing else than the church. (That a “city” is the truth of the church may be seen above, n. 402, 2268, 2449, 2451, 2712, 2943, 3216; and that “Jerusalem” is the spiritual church, n. 402, 2117, 3654)

[3] In Malachi:

Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah hath profaned the holiness of Jehovah, because he hath loved and hath betrothed to him the daughter of a strange god. Jehovah hath borne witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously (Malachi 2:11, 14); where “to love and betroth the daughter of a strange god” is to conjoin one’s self with falsity instead of truth, which is the “wife of youth.”

[4] Ezekiel:

Thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters whom thou hast borne unto Me, and hast sacrificed to devour them. Was there little of thy whoredoms? Thou art the daughter of thy mother, who loathes her husband and her sons; and thou art the sister of thy sisters who loathed their husbands and their sons (Ezekiel 16:20, 45);

here the abominations of Jerusalem are treated of, which because they were from evils and falsities, are described in this chapter by such things as are contrary to marriages, namely, by adulteries and whoredoms. The “husbands whom they loathed” are goods; the “sons” are truths; and the “daughters” are the affections of these.

[5] In Isaiah:

Sing, O barren one, that didst not bear, resound with singing and shout for joy that didst not travail, because more are the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married one. The reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more, because thy makers are thy husbands, Jehovah Zebaoth 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 woman of youth when she is divorced, hath said thy God. All thy sons are taught of Jehovah, and much is the peace of thy sons (Isaiah 54:1, 5-6, 13);

as by marriage is signified the conjunction of truth and good and of good and truth, it is evident what is signified by “husband and wife,” by “sons and daughters,” by “widows,” by the “divorced,” and by “bearing,” “travailing,” “being desolate,” and “being barren;” for these things belong to marriage. What these signify in the spiritual sense has been frequently shown in the explications.

[6] In the same:

For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest; it shall no longer be said to thee, Forsaken one; but thy land shall be called The married one, for Jehovah shall be well pleased in thee, and thy land shall be married; because a young man shall marry a virgin, thy sons shall marry thee, and there shall be joy of the bridegroom over the bride, thy God shall rejoice over thee (Isaiah 62:1, 4-5);

he who knows not the internal sense of the Word may suppose that such things in the Word are only comparisons, like many expressions in common speech, and that this is the reason why the church is compared to a daughter, to a virgin, and a wife; thus the things of faith and charity to those of marriage. But in the Word all things are representative of spiritual and celestial things, and are real correspondences; for the Word has come down from heaven, and because it has come down thence it is in its origin the Divine celestial and spiritual to which those things which belong to the sense of the letter correspond. Hence it is that the things of the heavenly marriage, which is the conjunction of good and truth, fall into such as correspond, thus into those which belong to marriages on earth.

[7] Hence also it is that the Lord likened the kingdom of the heavens (that is, His kingdom in heaven, and His kingdom on earth which is the church) to a “man, a king, who made a wedding for his son, and invited many to it” (Matthew 22:2-14); and also to “ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom” (Matthew 25:1-13). And the Lord likewise called those who are of the church “sons of the wedding”:

Jesus said, Can the sons of the wedding mourn, so long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then will they fast (Matthew 9:15).

[8] Hence also the affection of good and the affection of truth are called “the joy and gladness of the bridegroom and the bride,” because heavenly joy is from and in these affections. As in Isaiah:

Thy sons shall marry thee, and there shall be the joy of the bridegroom over the bride, Jehovah thy God shall rejoice over thee (Isaiah 62:5).

In Jeremiah:

The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that say, Confess ye to Jehovah, because good is Jehovah (Jeremiah 33:11).

In the same:

I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, because the land shall go forth into a waste (Jeremiah 7:34; 16:9; 25:10).

And in John:

The light of a lamp shall not shine in Babylon anymore, and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall not be heard in her anymore (Revelation 18:23).

[9] As through love truly conjugial marriages on earth correspond to the heavenly marriage, which is that of good and truth, therefore the laws delivered in the Word concerning betrothals and marriages wholly correspond to the spiritual laws of the heavenly marriage, as that they were to espouse only one wife (Mark 10:2-8; Luke 16:18); for such is the case in the heavenly marriage, namely, that good cannot be conjoined except with its own truth, and truth with its own good. If good were conjoined with any other truth than its own, it would not subsist at all, but would be rent asunder and so would perish. In the spiritual church the wife represents good and the man represents truth, but in the celestial church the husband represents good and the wife truth; and-what is a mystery-they not only represent, but also in all their activities correspond to them.

[10] Moreover, the laws delivered in the Old Testament about marriages have in like manner a correspondence with the laws of the heavenly marriage, such as those in Exodus 21:7-11; 22:15-16; 34:16; Numbers 36:6; Deuteronomy 7:3-4; 22:28-29, and also the laws about the forbidden degrees (Leviticus 18:6-20); as regards each of which, of the Lord’s Divine mercy elsewhere. That the degrees and laws of marriages have their origin in the laws of truth and good, which are those of the heavenly marriage, and bear relation to them, is manifest in Ezekiel:

The priests the Levites shall not take for their wives a widow nor her that is divorced, but virgins of the seed of the house of Israel and a widow that has been the widow of a priest shall they take (Ezekiel 44:22).

The subject here treated of is the holy city New Jerusalem and the heavenly Canaan, and it is evident that these are the Lord’s kingdom and His church. Consequently by “the Levites” are not signified Levites, nor by a “widow and her that is divorced” are there signified a widow and one who has been divorced, but the things to which these correspond.