10652. 'And their daughters go whoring after their gods, and they cause your sons to go whoring after their gods' means profanation thereby of goodness and truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'whoring' as being linked together unlawfully, dealt with above in 10648; from the meaning of 'their daughters', or the daughters of the inhabitants of the land, as affections for evil; from the meaning of 'their gods' as the falsities belonging to the affections for evil which have been linked to truths (for by 'their gods' the gods of the daughters of the inhabitants of the land linked in marriage to the sons of the Israelite nation should be understood, dealt with immediately above in 10651), and this linking is the profanation of good; and from the meaning of 'causing your sons to go whoring after their gods' as a linking of truth to falsities, which is the profanation of truth. For the meaning of 'gods' as falsities, see 4402(end), 4544, 7873, 8867; and for that of 'sons' as truths, 489, 491, 533, 1147, 3373, 4257, 9807, 10490.

[2] These matters are stated in this way because the first linking of the affections for evil to truths, meant by 'taking the daughters of the inhabitants of the land for your sons', does not as yet constitute profanation; but the second linking does constitute it, for this is brought about when evil is applied to truth and truth is applied to evil, which is done by misconstruing truth and applying it to evil, thus by incorporating one in the other. As a result truth ceases to be truth any longer; it is ruined and profaned.

[3] Such profanation is also meant by the people's committing whoredom with the daughters of Moab, spoken of in Moses as follows,

Israel settled down in Shittim, where the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods; and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods. Therefore Jehovah said to Moses, Take all the chiefs ¹ of the people, and hang them up for Jehovah before the sun. And the people were struck down, and twenty-four thousand died from that plague. Numbers 25:1-4, 6, 9.

'Moab' means those who adulterate forms of good, see 2468, 8315, 'the daughters of Moab' affections for that evil, and 'committing whoredom with them' profanation. Consequently the punishment was the hanging up of the people's chiefs before the sun, and the death of twenty-four thousand. For 'the sun' of this world means self-love, 10584, and 'being hung up before it' the total extermination of heavenly good [by self-love]. And 'twenty-four thousand' means all forms of truth and the good of truth in their entirety, the same as 'twelve thousand', 2089, 3913, 7973, and 'the death' of that number of people the extermination of all truths. This is what happens to profaners.

Poznámky pod čarou:

755. That 'the six hundredth year, the second month, and the seventeenth day' means the second state of temptation follows from what has been stated so far, for verse 6 down to this present verse 11 has dealt with the first state of temptation, which was temptation involving things of his understanding. Now however the second state is dealt with, namely temptation involving things of the will. This is the reason why his age is repeated. Previously it was said that 'he was a son of six hundred years', here that the Flood took place in 'the six hundredth year of his life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day'. No one would ever imagine that Noah's age, worked out to the exact year, month, and day, is used to mean a state of temptation involving things of the will. Yet, as has been stated, this was how the most ancient people spoke and wrote. And they found their chief delight in being able to work out periods of time and names and then to organize them into a semblance of history. It was in this that their wisdom consisted.

[2] It was shown at verse 6 above however that 'six hundred years' means nothing other than an initial state of temptation. Here similarly 'six hundred years' is mentioned. But so that it might mean a second state of temptation, months and days have been added - two months in fact, or rather 'in the second month', which means conflict itself, as becomes clear from the meaning of the number two given already at verse 6 of this chapter. As has been shown and may be seen there, two has the same meaning as six, that is, labour and conflict and also dispersion. The number seventeen however means not only the onset of temptation but also the end of temptation, the reason being that it is the sum of the numbers seven and ten. When this number means the onset of temptation it then entails 'seven days' or a week, which means the onset of temptation, as shown already at verse 4 of this chapter. But when it means the end of temptation, as it does later on in 8:4, seven is then a holy number to which ten, meaning remnants, has been added; for without remnants nobody is able to be regenerated.

[3] That seventeen means the onset of temptation is clear in Jeremiah's being commanded to buy the field from Hanamel his cousin who was in Anathoth, and to weigh out seventeen shekels of silver, Jeremiah 32:9. What comes after that in this chapter of the prophet shows that this number also means their captivity in Babylon, which represents the temptation of people who have faith and the devastation of those who have not. Indeed it represents the onset of temptation and at the same time the end of temptation, which is liberation. That captivity is mentioned in Jeremiah 32:36, and the liberation in Verse 37 onwards. Such a number, like every other word that is used, would never have appeared in this prophet if it did not embody arcana.

[4] That seventeen means the onset of temptation becomes clear also from the age of Joseph, who was seventeen years old when he was sent off to his brothers and was sold into Egypt, Genesis 37:2. His being sold into Egypt represents the same kinds of things, as will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown in that chapter. There the representative historical events did take place as described; here however they are made-up historical events carrying a spiritual meaning, which did not actually take place as described in the sense of the letter. Nevertheless the former embody arcana of heaven, right down to every word, as is the case here. This is bound to seem strange, for when any historical event occurs, true or made-up, the mind (animus) is confined to the letter from which it cannot extricate itself. Hence the conviction that nothing else is meant or represented.

[5] Yet it may become clear to anyone who is intelligent that some internal sense exists which has the life of the Word in it, but not in the letter, which devoid of the internal sense is dead. Without the internal sense what would any historical description be but history as found in any secular author? And so what would be the use of knowing Noah's exact age, or the month and day when the Flood took place, if it did not embody a heavenly arcanum? And who cannot see that 'all the fountains of the great deep were split open, and the floodgates of heaven were opened' is a prophetic utterance, as is much else besides?