4691. 'Are you indeed going to reign over us? Or are you indeed going to have dominion over us?' means, Were the concepts in their understandings and the desires in their wills to be made subject to it? This is clear from the meaning of 'reigning' as the subjection of concepts in the understanding, and from the meaning of 'having dominion' as the subjection of desires in the will. This meaning of 'reigning over them' and 'having dominion over them' - being made subject to - is self-evident; but the reason both expressions are used here is that one has regard to concepts in the understanding, the other to desires in the will. It is common in the Word, especially in the prophetical part, for one particular matter to be described by a dual expression. Anyone unaware of the arcanum lying behind this inevitably supposes that it is no more than a repetition made for the sake of emphasis. But that is not the case. Within every single part of the Word the heavenly marriage is present, namely the marriage of truth to good and of good to truth, just as there is a marriage of understanding and will in the human being. One part of a dual expression has reference to truth, the other to good, so that one has to do with the understanding since that is where truth belongs, the other with the will since this is where good belongs. Expressions used in the Word consist of words which in every case mean things like these. This is the arcanum lying behind the use of a dual expression to describe one particular matter, see 683, 793, 801, 2173, 2516, 2712, 4138(end). So that is the case here also with 'reigning over them' and 'having dominion over them'. 'Reigning' has regard to truth which belongs in the understanding, while 'dominion' has regard to good which belongs in the will; also, 'a kingdom' is used in reference to truth, 1672, 2547, and 'dominion' to good, as is also the case in Daniel where again the Lord's Divine Human is the subject,

To Him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, so that all peoples, nations and languages might worship Him. His dominion is an eternal dominion which will not pass away, and His kingdom one that will not perish. Daniel 7:14.

And in David,

Your kingdom is a kingdom to all eternity, and Your dominion to every generation after generation. Psalms 145:13.

2547. 'That you have brought great sin on me and on my kingdom' means that thereby the doctrine of faith and all matters of doctrine would be at risk. This is clear from the meaning of 'Abimelech', to whom the pronoun 'me' refers here, as the doctrine of faith, and from the meaning of 'kingdom' as the truth of doctrine or that which is a matter of doctrine. That 'a kingdom' in the internal sense means truths of doctrine, and in the contrary sense falsities of doctrine, is clear from the Word, as in Jeremiah,

He is the One who formed all things and the sceptre of His inheritance; Jehovah Zebaoth is His name. You are to me a hammer, weapons of war, and in You I will scatter the nations, and in You I will destroy the kingdoms. Jeremiah 51:19-20.

This refers to the Lord who, it is clear, is not going to scatter nations or destroy kingdoms but to do so to things meant by nations and kingdoms, namely evils and falsities of doctrine.

[2] In Ezekiel,

Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to where they have gone away, and will gather them from all around, and bring them into their own land; I will make them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one King will be King to them all, and they will no longer be two nations, nor will they be divided any longer into two kingdoms. Ezekiel 37:21-22.

'Israel' stands for the spiritual Church, 'nation' for the good of that Church, that is, of doctrine, for by 'nations' goods are meant, see 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849. 'Kingdom' stands for the truths of that Church. The fact that 'nations' and 'kingdoms' here mean something different from nations and kingdoms is quite evident, for the children of Israel, or the Israelites, are spoken of as being gathered together and brought into the land when in fact they were dispersed among the gentile nations and became such themselves.

[3] In Isaiah,

I will confound Egypt with Egypt, and they will fight, every one against his brother, and every one against his companion, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. Isaiah 19:2.

Here 'Egypt' stands for the reasonings based on facts concerning the truths of faith, 1164, 1165, 1186. 'City' stands for doctrine, in this case heretical doctrine, 402, 2268, 2449, 'kingdom' for falsity of doctrine. 'City against city and kingdom against kingdom' therefore stands for the fact that heresies and falsities will be in conflict with one another. The same is meant by the following words spoken by the Lord in reference to the close of the age, in Matthew,

Nation will be roused against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Matthew 24:7.

This stands for evils against evils, and falsities against falsities.

[4] The things that Daniel prophesied about the four kingdoms, Chapter 2:37-46; Daniel 7:17-end; and about the kingdoms of Media and Persia, Chapter 8:20-end; and about the kingdoms of the king of the south and the king of the north in Chapter 11; and the things that John too prophesied in the Book of Revelation about kings and kingdoms, have no other meaning. Those kingdoms are used solely to mean states of the Church as regards truths and falsities. The conditions of monarchs and of earthly kingdoms in the sense of the letter are in the internal sense states of the Church and of the Lord's kingdom. In the internal sense nothing else occurs there than spiritual and celestial things, for regarded in itself the Word of the Lord is purely spiritual and celestial; but so that it may be read and understood by man, no matter who, ideas of the things which belong to heaven are conveyed by means of such things as exist on earth.