410. Hid themselves in caves and in the rocks of the mountains, signifies truths and goods destroyed by evils of life and falsities therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "hiding themselves," as meaning that they were lost, namely, internal and external goods and truths, or those in the natural and in the spiritual man, which are signified by "the kings of the earth," "the great ones," "the rich," "the commanders of thousands," "the mighty," and by "every servant and every freeman," as has been shown above. From this it follows that "they hid themselves" signifies that these were lost, the things lost being also in a hidden place. It is evident also from the signification of "caves," as meaning evils of life (of which presently); and from the signification of "the rocks of the mountains," as meaning the falsities therefrom; for "rocks" signify the truths of faith, and in the contrary sense the falsities of faith, here the falsities from evils, for "mountains" signify evils springing from the loves of self and of the world (as was shown just above, n. 405). But on the signification of "rocks" see in the article immediately following; here the signification of "caves" will be treated of.

[2] It was said above that in the spiritual world there are mountains, hills, rocks, valleys, and lands, as on our globe, and that angels and spirits dwell on them; but yet in the spiritual world they have a different appearance; upon the mountains those dwell who are in the greatest light, below these on the same mountain those dwell who are in less light, and beneath these those who are in still less, and in the lowest parts those dwell who are in darkness and thick darkness as compared to the light the higher ones have; accordingly the heavens are in the higher part of the mountains, and the hells are in the lowest parts, thus the expanses of the mountains succeed each other as strata. This is so in order that the lower may be governed by the Lord through the higher; for the Lord flows in immediately from Himself into all things of the spiritual world, and mediately through the higher heavens into the lower, and through these into the hells. The reason for this arrangement is that all may be held in connection by influx; such a coordinate and subordinate arrangement exists through the whole spiritual world. Into the hells, which are under the mountains and in the rocks, entrances lie open either in the lowest parts of their sides or through caverns from the valleys; and the entrances in the lower parts of the sides appear like entrances into caves where there are wild beasts, altogether dark; these are opened when infernal spirits are let in, but are shut when they have been let in. These entrances are called in the Word "the gates of hell." But among the rocks these entrances appear like clefts in a cliff, and in some places like holes with various openings. The darkness in these gates or doors appears densely dark to good spirits and angels, but as if luminous to evil spirits; the reason is that there is no light of heaven there, but a fatuous lumen, which is natural lumen apart from the spiritual. The light of those there is not like the light [luminosum] of the world in the daytime, but like the nocturnal light that is suitable for owls, moles, birds of night, and bats, which see nothing in the light of day, and therefore the light of day is thick darkness to them, while the darkness of the night is their light. Their sight is such because it is formed of falsities and evils, which in themselves are darkness and thick darkness; for this reason "darkness" in the Word signifies falsities of every kind, and "thick darkness" the falsities of evil. From this it can be seen what is signified by "they hid themselves in caves," that is, in evils of life, the goods in them having been destroyed. Evils of life are signified by "caves" for the same reason that "mountains" signify the goods of life, namely, because those who are in them are such; for the spiritual sense is concerned solely with evils or with goods regarded apart from places and persons, that is, with the kinds of evils or goods in the places and in the persons, as has also been several times said above.

[3] From this it can be seen what is signified in the Word by "caves," "caverns," "hollows," "holes," "clefts," and "chinks of rocks and mountains," in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the dread of Jehovah and for the glory of His magnificence. For there shall be a day of Jehovah of Hosts upon everyone that is proud and exalted, and upon everyone that is lifted up, and that is brought low; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are exalted and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the exalted mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every lofty tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all images of desire; that the haughtiness of man [hominis] may be bowed down, and the loftiness of men [virorum] be brought low, and Jehovah alone be exalted in that day. And the idols shall go away into smoke. And they shall enter into the caves of the rocks, and into the clefts of the dust, for dread of Jehovah and for the glory of His magnificence when He shall arise to terrify the earth. In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold which they made for themselves to bow down to the moles and to the bats, to go into the rents of the rocks and into the clefts of the cliffs (Isaiah 2:10-21).

No one can understand all these things except from the internal sense, and unless he knows what the appearance of things is in the spiritual world; for without the internal sense who can know what is meant by "there shall be a day of Jehovah upon the cedars of Lebanon and the oaks of Bashan, upon mountains and hills, upon the tower and the wall, upon the ships of Tarshish and the images of desire;" and what is meant by "bowing down to moles and bats?" And unless the appearance of things in the spiritual world is known, who can know what is meant by "their entering into the rock and hiding themselves in the dust," "entering into the caves of the rocks and into the clefts of the dust," also "into the rents of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs?" But from the internal sense it is known that all these things describe the state of those who are in the love of self and of the world, and thus in evils and falsities at the time of the Last Judgment.

It is therefore said "there shall be a day of Jehovah upon everyone that is proud and exalted, and upon everyone that is lifted up and that is brought low;" "day of Jehovah" meaning the Last Judgment; "everyone that is proud and exalted" meaning those who are in the love of self and the world, and "everyone that is lifted up and that is brought low" meaning those who are in the love of self-intelligence. This is further described by "there shall be a day of Jehovah upon all the cedars that are exalted and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the exalted mountains and hills that are lifted up, upon every lofty tower and fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish and the images of desire;" "the cedars of Lebanon" and "the oaks of Bashan" signify the pride of self-intelligence, "the cedars of Lebanon," interior pride, and "the oaks of Bashan" exterior pride; "mountains and hills" signify the loves of self and of the world, and the evils and falsities springing from them (as was shown above, n. 405); "tower" and "wall" signify the falsities of doctrine confirmed, "the ships of Tarshish" and "the images of desire" signify the knowledges and perceptions of falsity from evil; their worship from evils and falsities is signified by "the idols which they made for themselves, to bow down to the moles and the bats;" worship from such things as are from self-intelligence is signified by "the idols which they made for themselves to bow down unto;" the evils and falsities of doctrine from which such worship springs are signified by "moles and bats," because these have sight in the dark and shun the light; judgment upon such is described by "they shall enter into the caves of the rocks and into the clefts of the dust," also "into the rents of the rocks and into the clefts of the cliffs;" "to enter into the caves of the rocks and into the clefts of the dust" signifies the damnation of those who are in evils and falsities from the loves of self and of the world, and from the pride of self-intelligence; for the hells of such appear as caves in rocks, and the entrances into them as rents in rocks and clefts in cliffs; "rocks" and "cliffs" signifying the falsities of faith and doctrine, and "dust" signifying what is damned.

[4] In Jeremiah:

Thy horror hath deceived thee, the presumption of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the holes of the cliff, that holdest the height of the hill; if thou shouldst make thy nest as high as the eagle, thence would I cast thee down (Jeremiah 49:16).

This is said of Esau and Edom; and "Esau" here signifies the love of self and the evil therefrom destroying the church, and "Edom" the pride of self-intelligence and the falsity therefrom destroying the church. That the love of self and such pride are meant is evident from its being said "the presumption of thine heart hath deceived thee; if thou shouldst make thy nest as high as the eagle, thence would I cast thee down." Those who are in falsities from self-intelligence dwell in rocks below, and the ways of approach to them appear like holes therein. These have also been seen by me. Within, however, there are rooms hollowed out and arched chambers where they sit in their fantasies. But before they are cast into these they are seen on mountains and hills, for they raise themselves into high places by fantasies, and as they are not in truths they think they are there bodily, and yet bodily they are in the caves of the rocks; this, therefore, is what is meant by "dwelling in the holes of the rocks, and holding the height of the hill." This makes clear the nature of the Word, namely, that in many places it conforms to the aspects and appearances in the spiritual world, which are unknown to man but known to spirits and angels; from which it is evident that the Word is written for them also.

[5] In Obadiah:

The presumption of thy heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the cliff, in the height of thy seat; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the earth? Though thou shalt mount on high like the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, I will bring thee down from thence (Obadiah 1:3-4).

This, too, is said of Edom, who signifies here the pride of learning which is from self-intelligence, and falsity therefrom destroying the church. As almost similar things are said here as above, so the signification is similar; "the clefts of the rock" signify the falsities of faith and of doctrine, because those dwell there who are in such falsities; these are compared to an eagle because the eagle from its lofty flights signifies the pride of self-intelligence; so, too, "a nest for habitation" is mentioned, and "to set it among the stars" signifies in the heights where those dwell who are in the knowledges of truth, for the knowledges of truth are signified by "stars."

In Job:

To dwell in the clefts of the valleys, in the holes of the earth, and in the rocks (Job 30:6).

Here, too, "clefts of the valleys," "holes of the earth," and "rocks" signify the falsities of evil, for the falsities of evil are here treated of.

[6] In Isaiah:

It shall come to pass in that day, Jehovah shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria, which shall come and shall rest, all of them, in the brooks of desolations, and in the clefts of the cliffs, and in all thickets, and in all courses (Isaiah 7:18-19).

This describes the church laid waste by knowledges [scientifica] falsely applied, and by reasonings therefrom, by which the very knowledges of truth from the Word are perverted; "the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt" signifies the falsity in the outermost parts of the natural man; the outermost parts of the natural man are what are called sensual things, for the natural man is interior, middle, and exterior; the interior communicates with the spiritual man through the rational, the exterior with the world through the bodily senses, and the middle conjoins the two; the exterior is what is called the sensual, because it depends upon the bodily senses, and draws therefrom what belongs to it. The falsities that are in this and from it are signified by "the flies in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt;" but "the bee in the land of Assyria" signifies false reasonings therefrom, for "Assyria" signifies the rational, and "Egypt" the knowing faculty of the natural man; and because the rational derives all it has from the knowledges [scientifica] of the natural man, its reasonings are signified by "bees," for as bees suck out and derive their store from flowers, so the rational does from the knowledges [scientifica] of the natural man. Here, however, "bees" signify false reasonings, because the rational gathers what belongs to it from knowledges [scientifica] falsely applied. It is from correspondences that these are likened to flies and bees; for in the spiritual world flying things of various kinds appear, but they are appearances from the ideas of the thoughts of spirits, and the noxious flying things among them are flies and bees of such a kind; "the flies in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt" have their correspondence from their springing out of the filth of rivers. It is said "which shall come and shall rest in the brooks of desolations and in the clefts of the cliffs," which signifies that the falsities of knowledges [scientifica] and of reasonings therefrom have their seats where there are no truths and where there is the faith of falsity, "the brooks of desolations" meaning where there are no truths, and "the clefts of the cliffs" where there is the faith of falsity; "in all thickets and in all courses" signifies that the knowledges and perceptions of truth are falsified by such things; "thickets" meaning the knowledges of truth, and "courses" the perceptions, and these are falsified by the above-mentioned falsities when they flow in. No one can see and know that these arcana are contained in these words except from the internal sense, and at the same time from the spiritual world.

[7] In the same:

The palace shall be abandoned, the multitude of the city forsaken, the height and the watch-tower shall be over the caves even forever, a joy of wild asses and a pasture for droves (Isaiah 32:14).

This describes the total vastation of the church, where there is no longer any good of life or truth of doctrine; yet no one can know what is involved in it unless he knows the state of things in the spiritual world, and at the same time the internal sense. The devastation of the whole church is meant by "the palace shall be abandoned, and the multitude of the city forsaken;" "palace" signifying the whole church in respect to truths from good, and "abandoned" where there is no good because there is no truth; therefore "the palace shall be abandoned" signifies the church devastated; "the multitude of the city" signifies all truths of doctrine, for "city" means doctrine, and "multitude" is predicated of truths, which are said to be "forsaken" when they cease to be; "the height and the watch-tower shall be over the caves even forever" signifies that a church shall no longer exist with them, because there is nothing but the evil of life and the falsity of doctrine; "caves" signifying such things because such persons dwell in caves, as was said above; and because such persons dwell in deep places in the spiritual world, and are covered over by heights and watch-towers, thus hidden from those who abide on the lands there, therefore it is said not only that "the height and the watch-tower shall be over the caves," but also that they shall be "a joy of wild asses and a pasture for droves." Moreover, in that world there are many hells in deep places wholly hidden by the lands, rocks, and hills above, or by the heights and watch-towers, where there is grass like a pasture for flocks; for which reason these hells are unknown to those who dwell there upon the land. "A joy of wild asses" signifies also the affection or love of falsities; and "a pasture for droves" the nourishing of evils from falsities; and both of these signify the devastation of truth by falsities. From this it can be seen what an arcanum lies hidden in these words.

[8] In Jeremiah:

Is this house, upon which My name is named, become a den of robbers? (Jer. 7:11).

"A den of robbers" signifies the evil of life from the falsities of doctrine; and "the house upon which My name is named" signifies the church where there is worship from the goods of life by truths of doctrine; "house" meaning the church, and "the name of Jehovah" everything by which He is worshiped, thus good and truth, truth of doctrine and good of life. The church where there is evil of life from falsities of doctrine is called "a den of robbers" because "den" signifies that evil, and those are called "robbers" who steal truths from the Word and pervert them, and apply them to falsities and evils, and thus extinguish them. All this makes clear what is meant by the Lord's words in the Gospels:

It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayers; but ye have made it a den of robbers (Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46).

"House" here, in the universal sense, signifies the church; and because worship was performed in the temple at Jerusalem, it is called "a house of prayers." (That the temple signifies the church, see Arcana Coelestia, n. 3720; that "prayers" signify worship, see above, n. 325; that "to be called" has a similar signification as "to name My name upon them," see above, Arcana Coelestia, n. 3421.)

[9] In Isaiah:

The suckling shall play on the hole of the adder, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk's den (Isaiah 11:8).

Neither can this be understood unless, from the things that appear in the spiritual world, it is known what is meant by "the hole of the adder" and by "the basilisk's den." It was said above that the entrances to the hells appear like holes in the rocks and like gaps opening into caves, such as wild beasts in the forests have; those who dwell in these, when they are looked at in the light of heaven appear like monsters of various kinds and like wild beasts. Those who are in the hells where those dwell who act craftily against innocence appear like adders, and those who act craftily against the good of love appear like basilisks; and as "suckling" or "sucking infant" signifies the good of innocence it is said "the suckling shall play on the hole of the adder;" and as "a weaned child," or an infant that has stopped sucking, signifies the good of love, it, is said, "and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk's den," and this signifies that those who are in the good of innocence and in the good of love to the Lord have no fear whatever of evils and falsities which are from hell, because they are protected by the Lord. (That "infants," in the Word, and also "sucklings," signify the good of innocence, see Arcana Coelestia 430, 3183; and what "adders" and other poisonous serpents signify, n. 9013)

[10] In Jeremiah:

Take the girdle that thou hast bought for thyself, which is upon thy loins, and arise and go to Euphrates, and hide it in a cleft of the cliff. This he also did; and afterwards at the end of many days he went there and took it again, and behold the girdle was marred and was not profitable for anything (Jeremiah 13:4-7).

This represented the quality of the Jewish Church, namely, that it was destitute of all the good of life and the truth of doctrine. For "the girdle" upon the loins of the prophet signified the conjunction of the Lord with the church by means of the Word; "Euphrates" signifies everything of the church in respect to good, here in respect to evil; and "the cliff" everything of the church in respect to truth, here in respect to falsity, for it is said "a cleft of the cliff;" that "the girdle was marred so as not to be profitable for anything" signified that there was no conjunction whatever of the church with the Lord, consequently that there was no church.

[11] "Cave" has a like significance in the histories of the Word as in the prophesies of the Word; for the histories of the Word, the same as the prophesies of the Word, contain an internal sense. Thus it is related of Lot, that after the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah:

He dwelt in a cave of the mountain with his two daughters, who made him drunk and lay with him; whence were born Moab and Ammon (Genesis 19:30-33).

The representation and signification of this occurrence is similar to that of Moab and Ammon in the Word, for "Moab" signifies the adulteration of the good of the church, and "Ammon" the falsification of the truth of the church (See Arcana Coelestia 2468, 8315); and "adulteries" and "whoredoms" signify in general the adulterations of good and the falsifications of truth (See above, n. 141, 161); and the various kinds of adulteries and whoredoms (such as are enumerated in Leviticus 18:6-30), signify the various kinds of adulterations and falsifications of good and truth; and this is why Lot is here said to have "dwelt in a cave;" such an abomination being signified here by "the cave of the mountain." In the book of Judges it is said:

That the sons of Israel did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and therefore were given into the hand of Midian; and because of Midian they made for themselves caves in the mountains and dens and strongholds (Judges 6:1-2).

The "evil" which the sons of Israel did means the perversion of good and truth, as can be seen from what follows there, and also from the signification of "Midian" (See Arcana Coelestia 3242), on account of whom they made for themselves caves in the mountains and dens; for the sons of Israel were possessed by the evil signified by "Midian;" "because of Midian" signifying on account of that evil. It was similar when the sons of Israel fled on account of the Philistines (1 Samuel 13:6).

526. And the third part of them was darkened, signifies that all these were changed into the falsities of evil and into the evils of falsity. This is evident from the signification of "darkness," as being falsities, and thus "to be darkened" means to be changed into falsities. It means a change both into the falsities of evil and into the evils of falsity, because it is said that "the third part of the sun was darkened, the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars," and the "sun" signifies the good of love, the "moon" the good and truth of faith, and the "stars" the knowledges of good and truth; therefore "the third part of the sun was darkened" signifies that the good of love was changed into evil and into falsity from evil, which is the falsity of evil; for good is changed into evil and into falsity therefrom, but the truth of faith, which is signified by the "moon," is changed into falsity and into evil therefrom, which is the evil of falsity. The evil of falsity is the falsity of doctrine out of which comes evil of life, and the falsity of evil is the evil of life out of which comes the falsity of doctrine.

[2] Darkness signifies falsity because light signifies truth, and falsity is the opposite of truth as darkness is of light; moreover, when the light of life, which is the Divine truth, is not with man, the shadow of death is with him, which is falsity; for man from what is his own (proprium) is in every evil and in falsity from the evil, and he is removed from these only by means of the truths of the church; consequently where there are no truths there are the falsities of evil. (That it is only by means of truths that man is removed from evils, is purified, and is reformed, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 24.)

[3] That "darkness" signifies in the Word falsities of various kinds can be seen from the following passages. In Joel:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh (Joel 2:31).

"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood," has a similar signification as "the third part of the sun and the third part of the moon were darkened," namely, that at the end of the church there will be the falsity of evil in the place of the good of love, and evil of falsity in the place of truth of faith.

[4] Elsewhere in the Word where the darkening of the sun and moon is spoken of there is a like meaning, as in Isaiah:

For the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not make their light to shine; the sun shall be darkened in its rising, and the moon shall not make bright her light (Isaiah 13:10; 24:21, 23).

In Ezekiel:

When I shall extinguish thee I will cover the heavens and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine; all luminaries of light in the heavens will I make dark over thee, and I will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 32:7, 8).

In Joel:

The day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision; the sun and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their brightness (Joel 3:14, 15).

In the same:

The day of Jehovah cometh, a day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and obscurity. Before Him the earth trembled, the sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their brightness (Joel 2:1-2, 10).

In the Gospels:

Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24, 25).

This is said of the last time of the church, when there is no longer any spiritual good or truth, or the good and truth of heaven and the church, but evil and falsity. That the goods and truths of the church, which are called the goods of love and the truths of faith are changed into evils and falsities, is signified by "the sun and moon shall be obscured and darkened, and the stars shall not give their light;" the Last Judgment that then follows is meant by "the day of Jehovah great and terrible;" and as this comes when the church is in darkness and in thick darkness, that day is also called "a day of darkness and thick darkness," and also "a day of cloud and obscurity," as also in the following passages.

[5] In Amos:

Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah. What to you is the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light. Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? Even thick darkness, and no brightness to it? (Amos 5:18, 20).

In Zephaniah:

The day of Jehovah, a day of wasteness and devastation, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of clouds and of gloominess (Zephaniah 1:14, 15).

In Isaiah:

In that day he shall look upon the land, which behold is darkness and distress, and the light shall grow dark in its ruins (Isaiah 5:30).

In the same:

He shall look unto the earth, and behold distress and darkness dimmed with straitness and driven with thick darkness (Isaiah 8:22).

In the same:

Behold, darkness covereth the earth, and thick darkness the peoples (Isaiah 60:2).

In Jeremiah:

Give glory to Jehovah your God before He causeth darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the mountains of twilight; then shall ye look for light, but He will turn it into the shadow of death, He will make it thick darkness (Jeremiah 13:16).

This is said of the last time of the church, when the Lord is to come into the world, and judgment is to be accomplished; because there will then be no longer any good of love or truth of faith, but the evil of falsity and the falsity of evil, that day is called "a day of darkness and of thick darkness."

[6] The same is signified by:

The darkness that came over all the land from the sixth hour to the ninth hour when the Lord was crucified (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44-49).

"The darkness over all the land" represented that in the whole church there was nothing but evil and falsity therefrom, and falsity and evil therefrom; moreover, the three hours signify what is full and complete; for each and all things related in the Gospels respecting the Lord's passion have stored up in them arcana of heaven, and signify Divine celestial things, which can be laid open only by means of the internal spiritual sense.

[7] That "darkness" signifies falsity is further evident from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness (Isaiah 5:20).

"To put darkness for light and light for darkness" signifies to call falsity truth and truth falsity; it is clear that "darkness" means falsity and "light" truth, for good and evil are first spoken of, therefore what follows must be respecting truth and falsity.

[8] In John:

This is the judgment, that the Light hath come into the world, and men have loved the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil (John 3:19).

The Lord here calls Himself the Light because He was the Divine truth itself when in the world; therefore "the Light" signifies the Lord in relation to Divine truth, also Divine truth from the Lord; and as darkness is opposed to light, "the darkness that men loved rather than the light" signifies infernal falsity, which is the falsity of evil. That the falsity of evil is here signified by "darkness" is evident from its being said, "because their works were evil." The falsity of evil springs from evil works, or the evils of life; for as good joins to itself truth, so evil joins to itself falsity; for the one belongs to the other.

[9] "Light" and "darkness" have a similar signification in the following passages in John:

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the light appeareth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not (John 1:4, 5).

In the same:

Jesus said, I am the Light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).

In the same:

Jesus said, Walk while ye have the Light, that darkness overtake you not; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. I have come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me may not abide in darkness (John 12:35, 46).

In these passages "darkness" signifies infernal falsity; for the "light" to which darkness is opposed, signifies Divine truth. "Light" signifies Divine truth because light in the heavens is in its essence Divine truth proceeding from the Lord (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 116-140). Now as Divine truth is the light in the heavens, it follows that the falsity of evil, which is the falsity in the hells, is darkness. This darkness is not indeed darkness to those who are in the hells, for they see one another; but the light by which they see is like the lumen from burning coal, and this lumen, when the light of heaven flows into it, becomes mere darkness. For this reason also the caverns and dens in which they are appear to those in heaven like gloomy caves.

[10] From this it can be seen why "darkness" signifies the falsities of evil, and why the Lord says:

That those who are in hell are to be cast into outer darkness (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30).

In David:

The enemy pursueth my soul; he hath crushed my life down to the earth; he hath made me to sit in darkness, like the dead of the world (Psalms 143:3).

"The enemy who pursueth his soul" signifies in the spiritual sense evil; consequently "to make me to sit in darkness" signifies falsities.

[11] In Isaiah:

Judgment is far from us, and righteousness doth not overtake us; we wait for light, but behold darkness; for brightness, but we walk in thick darkness (Isaiah 59:9).

"Judgment is far from us" signifies that there is no understanding of truth; "righteousness doth not overtake us" signifies that there is no good of life; "we wait for light, but behold darkness," signifies waiting for truth, but behold falsity; "for brightness, but we walk in thick darkness," signifies waiting for goods through truths, but behold a life of falsity from evils; for "brightness" signifies the goods of truth, because "light" signifies truth, and truth is bright from good; "thick darkness" signifies the falsities of evil, and "to walk" signifies to live.

[12] In Luke:

But this is your hour and the power of darkness (Luke 22:53).

The Lord said this to the chief priests, the captains of the temple, and the elders, who seized Him by the aid of Judas. The power to do this wickedness the Lord calls "the power of darkness," because they were in the falsities of evil, in falsities respecting the Lord and in evils against Him; here also "darkness" means hell, because such falsities of evil are there.

[13] In the same:

The lamp of the body is the eye; when therefore thine eye is pure thy whole body also shall be light; but when the eye is evil thy body also shall be dark. Take heed, therefore, that the light that is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be light, having no part dark, the whole shall be light, as when a lamp by its flashing doth give thee light (Luke 11:34-36; Matthew 6:22, 23).

The "eye" here signifies the understanding, and the "pure (or single) eye" the understanding of truth from good; but the "evil eye" signifies the understanding of falsity from evil; the "body" that is either light or dark, means the whole man. From this the signification of these words in series can be concluded, namely, that the whole man is such as is his understanding from the will; for every man is his truth and his good, because he is his love or affection; therefore he is throughout wholly such as he is in respect to his understanding from his will; for all truth is of the understanding, and all good is of the will; for the body is a mere obedience, since it is the effect of an effecting cause, and the effecting cause is the understanding from the will; therefore such as is the quality of the one such is that of the other, for the effect has its all from its effecting cause. That heed must be taken that truth once perceived in the understanding and received into the will be not turned into falsity, which is done from evil, is meant by "take heed, therefore, that the light that is in thee be not darkness," for from this falsities become worse; therefore in Matthew, in the passages just referred to, it is said:

If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness! (Matthew 6:23).

[14] "Darkness" signifies the falsities of evil also in Isaiah:

Sit thou silent and enter into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for they shall no longer call thee the mistress of kingdoms (Isaiah 47:5).

"The daughter of the Chaldeans" signifies the falsification of truth, therefore "darkness" signifies the falsities of evil, since evil falsifies truth:

The thick darkness of darkness that was over all the land of Egypt for three days, while in the dwellings of the sons of Israel there was light (Exodus 10:21-23);

signifies also the falsity of evil. Likewise the "darkness" in Genesis (Genesis 15:17), and in many other passages.

[15] It has been shown thus far that "darkness" signifies in the Word the falsities of evil. "Darkness" signifies also falsities not of evil, such as were the falsities of religion among the upright Gentiles, which falsities were with them because of their ignorance of the truth; that these falsities were also called "darkness" is evident from the following passages:

This people walking in darkness have seen a great light; those dwelling in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light become bright (Isaiah 9:2).

In Matthew:

A people sitting in darkness saw a great light; and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death a light hath arisen (Matthew 4:16).

In Luke:

The dayspring from on high appeared to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death (Luke 1:78, 79).

In Isaiah:

If thou shalt draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, thy light shall arise in the darkness, and thy thick darkness be as the noonday (Isaiah 58:10).

In the same:

He shall say to the bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Be revealed (Isaiah 49:9).

In the same:

In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of thick darkness and in ¹ darkness (Isaiah 29:18).

In the same:

And I will lead the blind in a way that they have not known. I will make darkness into light before them, and crooked things into straightness (Isaiah 42:16).

In Micah:

When I sit in darkness Jehovah shall be a Light unto me (Micah 7:8).

In these passages "darkness" signifies the falsities of ignorance, such as existed, and as exist at this day among the upright Gentiles. These falsities are altogether distinct from the falsities of evil, which have evil stored up in them because they are from evil, while the former have good stored up in them because they have good as an end. Those, therefore, who are in these falsities can be instructed in truths, and they also when instructed receive truths in the heart, for the reason that good, which is in their falsities, loves truth, and also conjoins itself to truth when it is heard. It is otherwise with the falsities of evil; these are averse to all truth and cast it off because it is truth, and thus is not in agreement with evil.

[16] Again, "darkness" signifies in the Word mere ignorance from lack of truth (as in David, Psalms 18:29; 139:11, 12). "Darkness" signifies also natural lumen, for this in comparison with spiritual light is like darkness; therefore also when angels look down into man's natural lumen, such as is in man's natural cognition, they regard it as darkness, and the things that are in it as in darkness; this light is signified by "darkness" in Genesis 1:2-5. And as the sense of the letter of the Word is natural, that sense also is called in the Word "a cloud," and also "darkness," in comparison with the internal spiritual sense, which is the light of heaven, and is called "glory."

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