10300. Salted. That this signifies the longing of truth for good, is evident from the signification of “salt,” as being that longing for good which is of the love of truth (of which below); hence “salted” denotes that in which is this longing. The reason why there must be a longing of truth for good is that this longing is conjunctive of the two; for insofar as truth longs for good, so far it is conjoined with it. The conjunction of truth and good is what is called the heavenly marriage, which is heaven itself with man; and therefore when in Divine worship, and in each and all things of it, there is a longing for this conjunction, heaven is in each and all things there. Thus the Lord is in them. This is signified by the requirement that the incense should be salted. Salt has this signification from its conjunctive nature; for it conjoins all things, and from this gives them relish; salt ¹ even conjoins water and oil, which otherwise will not combine.

[2] When it is known that by “salt” is signified a longing for the conjunction of truth and good, it can be known what is signified by the Lord’s words in Mark:

Everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt; salt is good, but if the salt have lost its saltiness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves (Mark 9:49-50).

“Everyone shall be salted with fire” denotes that everyone will long from genuine love; “every sacrifice shall be salted with salt” denotes that there shall be in all worship a longing from genuine love; “salt without saltiness” signifies a longing from some other love than genuine love; “to have salt in themselves” denotes the longing of truth for good. (That “fire” denotes love, see n. 4906, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 10055; and that “sacrifice” denotes worship in general, n. 922, 6905, 8680, 8936.) Who can know what it is to be salted with fire, and why the sacrifice should be salted, and what it is to have salt in themselves, unless it is known what is meant by fire, salt, and by being salted?

[3] In like manner in Luke:

Whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all his possessions, he cannot be My disciple. Salt is good; but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the land, nor for the dunghill: they shall cast it out (Luke 14:33, 35).

“To renounce all his possessions” denotes to love the Lord above all things; “his possessions” denote the things which are man’s own; “salt that has lost its savor” denotes a longing from what is one’s own, thus from the love of self and the world: such a longing is “salt without savor,” not fit for anything. So also in Matthew:

Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is no longer fit for anything but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot by men (Matthew 5:13-14).

[4] That in all worship there must be a longing of truth for good is also signified by the law that every offering of the meat offering should be salted; and that upon every offering there should be the salt of the covenant of Jehovah (Leviticus 2:13). By the “meat offering,” and the “offering,” which is sacrifice, is signified worship, as above; and salt is there called “the salt of the covenant of Jehovah,” because by a “covenant” is signified conjunction (n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778, 9396, 9416). Moreover, longing is the very ardor of love, thus its continuity; and love is spiritual conjunction.

[5] As the longing of truth for good conjoins, so the longing of falsity for evil disjoins, and that which disjoins also destroys; consequently by “salt” in the opposite sense is signified the destruction and devastation of truth and good, as in Jeremiah:

Cursed is the man that maketh flesh his arm; he shall not see when good cometh, but shall dwell in parched places, in a salt land which is not inhabited (Jeremiah 17:5-6).

“To make flesh his arm” denotes to trust in one’s self, thus in what is one’s own, and not in the Divine (n. 10283); and as one’s own consists in loving self more than God and the neighbor, it is the love of self which is thus described: hence it said that “he shall not see when good cometh,” and that “he shall dwell in parched places, and in a salt land,” that is, in filthy loves and their longings, which have destroyed the good and truth of the church.

[6] In Zephaniah:

It shall be as Gomorrah; a place left to the nettle, and a pit of salt, and a waste forever (Zeph. 2:9).

“A place left to the nettle” denotes the ardor and burning of the life of man from the love of self; “a pit of salt” denotes a longing for what is false, which, as it destroys truth and good, is called “a waste forever.” It is said that it shall be “as Gomorrah,” because by “Gomorrah and Sodom” is signified the love of self (n. 2220).

[7] That Lot’s wife was turned into a statue of salt, because she turned her face to these cities (Genesis 19:26), signified the vastation of truth and good; for in the internal sense to “turn the face to anything” denotes to love (n. 10189); hence it is that the Lord says:

Let him not turn back to what is behind him; remember Lot’s wife (Luke 17:31-32).

The whole land thereof shall be sulphur, and salt, and a burning, according to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah (Deuteronomy 29:22).

By “land” here, as elsewhere in the Word, is meant the church (see at the places cited in n. 9325).

[8] From this then it was that the cities which were no longer to be inhabited were after their destruction sown with salt (Judges 9:45). From all this it is evident that by “salt” in the genuine sense is signified the longing of truth for good, thus what is conjunctive; and in the opposite sense, the longing of falsity for evil, thus what is destructive.

[9] He therefore who knows that “salt” denotes the longing of truth for good and their capability of conjunction, is able to know also what is signified by the waters of Jericho being healed by Elisha by casting in salt into their outlet (2 Kings 2:10-22); for by Elisha, as by Elijah, was represented the Lord in respect to the Word (n. 2762, 8029); and by “waters” are signified the truths of the Word; by the “waters of Jericho” the truths of the Word in the sense of the letter, and likewise by the “outlet of the waters;” and by “salt” is signified the longing of truth for good, and the conjunction of both; whence comes healing.

Poznámky pod čarou:

9277. So shalt thou do to thy vineyard, and to thine olive-yard. That this signifies that so it is with spiritual good and with celestial good, is evident from the signification of a “vineyard,” as being the spiritual church (n. 1069, 9139), thus spiritual good, which is the good of charity toward the neighbor, for this good makes the spiritual church; and from the signification of an “olive-yard,” as being the celestial church, thus celestial good, that is, the good of love to the Lord, for this good makes the celestial church. (What the spiritual church is, and what is its good; and what the celestial church is, and what is its good; and also what is the difference between them, see n. 2046, 2227, 2669, 2708, 2715, 2718, 2935, 2937, 2954, 3166, 3235, 3236, 3240, 3246, 3374, 3833, 3887, 3969, 4138, 4286, 4493, 4585, 4938, 5113, 5150, 5922, 6289, 6296, 6366, 6427, 6435, 6500, 6647, 6648, 7091, 7233, 7877, 7977, 7992, 8042, 8152, 8234, 8521)

[2] That an “olive-yard” signifies the celestial church, and thus celestial good, is evident from the passages in the Word where the “olive-tree” is mentioned; as in Moses:

Thou shalt plant vineyards and till them, but the wine thou shalt not drink, nor gather; for the worm shall eat it. Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy border, but thou shall not anoint thyself with the oil, for thine olive-tree shall be shaken (Deuteronomy 28:39-40); where the subject treated of is the curse if other gods were worshiped, and if the statutes and judgments were not kept. “Olive-trees in all thy border” denote the goods of celestial love which are from the Lord through the Word in the whole church; “not being anointed with the oil” denotes that nevertheless they are not in this good; “thine olive-tree shall be shaken” denotes that this good will perish. In like manner in Micah:

Thou shalt tread the olive, but shall not anoint thee with oil; and the must, but shalt not drink the wine (Micah 6:15).

[3] In Amos:

I have smitten you with blasting and mildew; your many gardens, and your vineyards, and your fig-trees, and your olive-trees, shall the caterpillar devour; yet have ye not returned unto Me (Amos 4:9);

“vineyards” denote the goods of faith; and “olive-trees” the goods of love; the punishment for not receiving these goods is signified by “the caterpillar devouring the olive-trees.”

In Habakkuk:

The fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall deceive, and the field shall yield no food (Hab. 3:17); where “the fig-tree” denotes natural good; “the vine,” spiritual good; “the olive,” celestial good; and “the field,” the church.

In Zechariah:

Two olive-trees were beside the lampstand, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side. These are the two sons of pure oil, that stand beside the Lord of the whole earth (Zech. 4:3, 11, 14).

The “two olive-trees beside the lampstand” denote celestial and spiritual good, which are at the Lord’s right and left; “the lampstand” signifies the Lord as to Divine truth.

[4] In the book of Judges:

Jotham said to the citizens of Shechem who made Abimelech king, The trees went to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive-tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive-tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, which God and men honor in me, and go to sway myself over the trees? And the trees said to the fig-tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig-tree said unto them, Should I cause to cease my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to sway myself over the trees? Then the trees said unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. But the vine said unto them, Should I cause to cease my must, which cheereth God and men, and go to sway myself over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, come ye, and put your trust in my shadow; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon (Judg. 9:7-15);

what these things specifically involve cannot be known unless it is known what is signified by “the olive-tree,” “the fig-tree,” “the vine,” and “the bramble.” “The olive-tree” signifies the internal good of the celestial church; “the fig-tree,” the external good of that church (n. 4231, 5113); “the vine,” the good of the spiritual church; but “the bramble” signifies spurious good. These words therefore involve that the people who are here meant by the trees, were not willing that either celestial good or spiritual good should reign over them, but spurious good, and that they chose this in preference to the other goods. “Fire out of the bramble” denotes the evil of concupiscence; “the cedars of Lebanon that it would consume” denote the truths of good.

[5] As “the olive-tree” signified the good of love from the Lord and to the Lord, therefore the cherubs in the midst of the house or of the temple were made of olive wood, and in like manner the doors leading to the sanctuary (1 Kings 6:23-33); for the “cherubs” and also the “doors of the sanctuary” signified the guard and providence of the Lord that there should be no approach to Him except through the good of celestial love; and therefore they were of olive wood. From all this it can be seen why the tabernacle and the altar were anointed with oil; also the priests, and afterward the kings; and why the oil of the olive was used for the lamps; for this “oil” signified the good of love from the the Lord, (n. 886, 3728, 4582, 4638); and the “anointing” signified that so they might represent the Lord.