10540. Therefore now bring down thine ornament from upon thee. That this signifies the quality of their external, that it was devoid of what is Divine, is evident from the signification of “ornament,” when the subject treated of is the church, as being holy truth, that is, what is Divine in the externals (of which above, n. 10536); and from the signification of “bringing it down from upon them,” as being to strip it off, thus to be devoid of it. That what is Divine in the externals, that is, holy truth, is signified by “ornament,” is evident from the following passages.

In Ezekiel:

I clothed thee with broidered work, and I shod thee with badger, ¹ and I girded thee with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk; and I adorned thee with ornament, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain upon thy throat. And I put a nose-jewel upon thy nose, and earrings in thine ears, and a crown of comeliness upon thine head. Thus wast thou adorned with gold and silver; and thy garments were of fine linen, silk and broidered work; whence thou hast become exceeding beautiful and thou wast prospered unto a kingdom; wherefore thy name went forth among the nations concerning thy beauty; for this was perfect in Mine ornament, which I had put upon thee (Ezekiel 16:10-14).

[2] This is said of Jerusalem, by which is signified the church which was set up by the Lord after the flood, and which was succeeded by the Israelitish and Jewish Church. The quality of this latter church is also described in the same chapter. But the quality of that Ancient Church is described in the above passage, and its holy truths by the ornaments there mentioned. Everyone can see that such things as are of the church are signified by the several particulars, and that something special is signified by each thing. Otherwise to what purpose would be such a description of Jerusalem?

[3] But what of the church each particular signifies can be seen from the internal sense only, for this sense teaches what thing in the spiritual world corresponds to each particular; from which it can be seen that “broidered work” denotes memory-truth (see n. 9688); “fine linen,” intellectual truth which is from the Divine (n. 5319, 9469, 9596, 9744); “bracelets,” truths in respect to power (n. 3103, 3105); “a chain,” truth from good in respect to influx, and the consequent conjunction of things interior and exterior (n. 5320); “a nose-jewel,” truth in respect to perception; and “earrings,” truths in respect to obedience (n. 4551, 10402); “a crown of comeliness,” spiritual good, which is the good of truth, a “crown” denoting good (n. 9930), and “comeliness,” what is spiritual (see n. 9815); “gold and silver,” good and truth in general (see n. 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9874); “fine flour, honey, and oil” denote truths and goods external and internal; “fine flour,” truth from good (n. 9995); “honey,” external good (n. 10530), and “oil,” internal good (n. 886, 4582, 4638, 9474, 9780, 10254, 10261); “beauty” denotes the form of truth from good (n. 3080, 3821, 4985, 5199). (That “Jerusalem,” of which these things are said, denotes the church, see n. 402, 2117, 3654.) From this it is evident what is meant by “ornament,” namely, holy truth in the whole complex.

[4] Like things are signified by the “ornaments of the daughters of Zion,” which are enumerated in Isaiah:

In that day the Lord will take away the ornament of the anklets, and of the little nets, and of the little moons, and of the ointment-boxes, and of the little chains, and of the gold-plates; and the tiaras, and the leg-bands, and the bindings, and the soul-houses, and the enchantments, and the rings, and the nose-ornaments, the changes of garments, and the mantles, and the veils, and the hair-pins, the mirrors, and the muslins, and the head-dresses, and the cambrics. And it shall come to pass that instead of spice there shall be rottenness; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of braided work baldness; and instead of a gown a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy strength in the war (Isaiah 3:18-25).

Those who do not think beyond the sense of the letter know no otherwise than that all those things with which the daughters of Zion are said to have been adorned, are to be understood according to the letter; and that the men of that kingdom would perish on account of their adornment and their consequent haughtiness and pride; for it is said that “their men shall fall by the sword, and their strength in the war.” But those who raise their minds somewhat above the letter are able to know that such things are not meant.

[5] From various passages in the Word these know that by “the daughters of Zion” are not meant the daughters of Zion, but such things as belong to the church; as also by “the daughters of Jerusalem,” “the daughters of Israel,” “the daughters of Judah,” and many others. (That by these are signified the church and the things that belong to the church, see n. 6729, 9055.) As therefore the church, and the things that belong to the church, are signified by “the daughters of Zion,” it follows that by their ornaments as here enumerated are signified the truths and goods of the church, and that each ornament signifies some specific truth and good; for in the Word nothing is said without a meaning, not even one syllable.

[6] And as that church was to be bereft of its truths and goods, which are signified by these ornaments, therefore it is said that “instead of spice there shall be rottenness, instead of a girdle a rent, instead of braided work baldness, instead of a gown a girding of sackcloth, and a burning instead of beauty;” and also that “the men shall fall by the sword, and their strength in the war;” for by “spice” is signified Divine truth in respect to its perceptivity (n. 10199, 10291); by “rottenness,” the privation of it; by “a girdle,” the bond holding together truths and goods in their connection (n. 9341, 9828, 9837); “a rent instead thereof” denotes their dissolution and dispersion; by “braided work” is signified memory-truth (n. 2831); by “baldness,” the deprivation of the intelligence of truth and of the wisdom of good (n. 9960); by “a burning,” their consumption through the evils of the love of self (n. 1297, 2446, 7852, 9055, 9141); by “beauty,” the form of truth from good in the church, thus its perfection (n. 3080, 3821, 4985, 5199); and by “a sword whereby men shall fall,” falsity destroying truth and good (n. 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294); by no “strength in the war” is signified not any resistance against evil and falsity; for “war” denotes spiritual combat and temptation (n. 1659, 1664, 2686, 8273, 8295, 10455). From all this it is now evident that by “ornament” in general is signified the Divine truth of the church.

[7] The like is signified by “ornament” in the second book of Samuel:

Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in double-dyed with pleasant things, who put an ornament of gold upon your garment (2 Samuel 1:24).

These words occur in the lamentation of David over Saul, which he wrote to teach the sons of Judah the bow (2 Samuel 1:18), where by “bow” is signified the doctrine of truth fighting against the falsities of evil (n. 2686, 2709, 6422); consequently by the “daughters of Israel” are signified the affections of truth that belong to the church (n. 2362, 3963, 6729, 6775, 6788, 8994); to be “clothed with double-dyed with pleasant things,” denotes with the interior truths of the church which are from good (n. 4922, 9468); to “put an ornament of gold upon the garment” denotes to make truths beautiful from good. (That “gold” denotes good, see at the places cited in n. 9874; and that “garment” denotes truth in general, n. 10536.) That the lamentation of David over Saul treats of the doctrine of truth fighting against the falsity of evil, which doctrine is signified by a “bow,” was because by a king, or by the royalty which belonged to Saul, is signified Divine truth in respect to protection and to judgment (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148).

[8] The like is signified by “ornament” in David:

Give unto Jehovah the glory belonging to His name; bow yourselves before Jehovah in the ornament of holiness (Psalms 29:2).

“In the ornament of holiness” denotes in the genuine truths of the church. In like manner in Isaiah:

Thy sons shall make haste. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see all gathered together. As I live, said Jehovah, thou shalt be clothed with all as with an ornament, and be girded round with them as a bride (Isaiah 49:17-18);

also speaking of Zion, by which is signified the celestial church; by the “sons who shall make haste” are signified the truths of that church (that “sons” signify truths, see n. 489, 491, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704, 4257, 9807). From this it is that it is said that she shall “be clothed with them as an ornament, and shall be girded round with them as a bride,” which can be said of the truths of the church, but not of the sons of Zion.

[9] As almost all things in the Word have also an opposite sense, so likewise have those which belong to ornament, by which are signified truths falsified, as in Jeremiah:

When thou art laid waste, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with double-dyed, though thou deckest thee with an ornament of gold, though thou forcest open thine eyes with antimony, in vain shalt thou make thyself beautiful (Jeremiah 4:30).

I will visit upon her the days of the baals, to which she burned incense, and put on her earring and her ornament, and went after her lovers, and forgot Me (Hos. 2:13); and in other places.

Poznámky pod čarou:

6917. Vessels of silver, and vessels of gold. That “vessels of silver” signify the memory-knowledges of truth, and “vessels of gold” the memory-knowledges of good, is evident from the signification of “vessels,” as being memory-knowledges (see n. 3068, 3079); memory-knowledges are called “vessels” because they are generals, and can contain within them innumerable truths and manifold goods; from the signification of “silver” as being truth, and of “gold” as being good (n. 1551, 1552, 2954, 5658). (That the “silver” of Egypt denotes true and suitable memory-knowledge may be seen above, n. 6112.) As to the “vessels of silver and gold” with the Egyptians being the memory-knowledges of truth and the memory-knowledges of good, when yet by the “Egyptians” both here and in what precedes, and also in what follows, are signified false memory-knowledges, be it known that in themselves these knowledges are not truths, neither are they falsities, but that they become truths with those who are in truths, and falsities with those who are in falsities, this being the effect of their application and use. It is with man’s memory-knowledges as with his riches and wealth. Riches and wealth are hurtful to those who are in evil, because they apply them to evil uses; but they are useful to those who are in good, because they apply them to good uses. If therefore the riches and wealth which pertain to the evil are transferred to the good, they become good.

[2] The same is true of memory-knowledges. For example: with the Egyptians there remained many things from the representatives of the Ancient Church, as is manifest from their hieroglyphics, but as they applied those things to magic, and hence made an evil use of them, therefore to them they were not true memory-knowledges, but false memory-knowledges; yet the same in the Ancient Church were true memory-knowledges, because they applied them rightly to Divine worship.

To take also as an example, altars and sacrifices; these with the Hebrew nation, and afterward with the Jewish and Israelitish nation, were true rituals, because they applied them to the worship of Jehovah; but with the nations in the land of Canaan they were false rituals, because they applied them to the worship of their idols, and therefore also it was commanded that the altars of these nations should everywhere be destroyed. It is the same with numberless other things. Therefore by those who are in evils and falsities many memory-knowledges can be acquired which are capable of being applied to good uses, and thus of becoming good.

[3] Such are also signified by the spoiling of the nations in the land of Canaan and by the wealth, the herds, the cattle, the houses, the vineyards, which the sons of Israel there took for spoil. This is still plainer from the gold and silver taken from the nations for spoil being also applied to a holy use, as is evident from the second Book of Samuel:

There were in his hand vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass: these also did King David sanctify unto Jehovah, with the silver and gold which he had sanctified of all the nations which he subdued; of the Syrians, of Moab, and of the sons of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah (2 Samuel 8:10-12).

And the merchandise of Tyre and her harlot hire shall be holiness to Jehovah; it shall not be stored up, nor kept back; but her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah, to eat till they are sated, and for the ancient to cover himself (Isaiah 23:18).

These things also which the women of the sons of Israel borrowed from the Egyptians, and thus took for spoil, were afterward applied to the use of constructing the ark and many other of the holy things of their worship.