10061. And shalt put it upon the lap of the ear of Aaron, and upon the lap of the right ear of his sons. That this signifies all perceptivity of the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord’s Divine good in the heavens, is evident from the signification of the “blood” that was put upon the lap of the ear, as being the Divine truth in the heavens and in the church that proceeds from the Lord’s Divine good (see just above, n. 10060); from the signification of “the ear,” as being perceptivity (n. 9397), here perceptivity of Divine truth in the heavens and in the church, for all perceptivity therein is from this source. There is here specifically meant the perceptivity in the celestial kingdom, for truth is there perceived from good (see the places cited in n. 9277); from the signification of the “earlap,” which is the outermost of the ear, as being all or the whole, for as by what is first or highest is signified all or the whole, so also this is signified by what is last or outermost (see n. 10044); and from the signification of “the right ear,” as being perceptivity of truth from good. The “right ear” has this signification for the reason that those things which are on the right side of man correspond to the good from which are truths, and those which are on the left correspond to the truths through which is good (n. 9604, 9736). So it is in the brain, so in the face, and the organs of sense there, so in the breast, so in the loins, and so in the feet.

[2] He who does not know this secret cannot possibly know why it was commanded that the blood should be put upon the lap of the right ear, upon the thumb of the right hand, and upon the great toe of the right foot, of Aaron and his sons; and that of this ram, besides the fat, the right hind quarter should be burned upon the altar (of which below in this chapter, verses 22, 25); and in like manner that the blood of the sacrifice should be put upon the lap of the right ear of him that was to be cleansed from leprosy, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot; and that the priest should pour from the log of oil upon his left palm, and should dip his right finger in the oil which was upon his left palm, and should sprinkle it with his right finger seven times before Jehovah (Leviticus 14:14-18, 25-28). Nor can he know what is signified by what the Lord said to the disciples when they were fishing-that they should cast the net on the right side of the ship, and that when they cast they took so many that they were not able to draw the net by reason of the multitude of fishes (John 21:6).

By this was represented that to act and teach from good is to conclude innumerable things that belong to truth; but not the converse. Moreover, they who are in truths from good are meant by the sheep on the right hand, but they who are in truths not from good are meant by the goats on the left hand (Matthew 25:32).

[3] By the “right hand” are also meant those who are in the light of truth from good, in David:

The heavens are Thine, the earth also is Thine; the world and the fullness thereof Thou hast founded; the north and the right hand Thou hast created (Psalms 89:11-12); where by “the heavens,” “the earth,” and “the world,” is signified the church (see n. 9325); by “fullness,” all truth and good, which make the church; by “the north,” those therein who are in an obscure state as to truth (n. 3708); and by “the right hand,” those who are in the light of truth from good; thus the same as by “the south” (n. 9642). From this it can be seen what is signified by “sitting on the right hand of God,” when said of the Lord (Psalms 110:1, 5 (Psalms 110:5); Matthew 26:63-64; Mark 12:36 14:61-62; Luke 2:42, 43; 22:69), namely, Divine power through the Divine truth proceeding from His Divine good (n. 3387, 4592, 4933, 7518, 8281, 9133).

[4] As most things in the Word have also an opposite sense, so also have the right and the left, and in this sense “the right” signifies the evil from which is falsity, and “the left” the falsity through which is evil, as in Zechariah:

Woe to the worthless shepherd that deserteth the flock! The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm withering shall wither, and his right eye darkening shall be darkened (Zech. 11:17);

here “arm” denotes the power of truth applied to confirm evil, of which power, as it is worthless, it is said that “withering it shall wither;” and the “right eye” denotes the memory-knowledge of good applied to confirm falsity, of which knowledge, as it is worthless, it is said that “darkening it shall be darkened;” a “shepherd” denotes one who teaches truths, and by means of these leads to good (n. 343, 3795, 6044); hence a “worthless shepherd” denotes one who teaches and leads to evil; “arm” denotes the power of truth from good (n. 4931-4937, 7205); but the “arm of a worthless shepherd” denotes no power; the “eye” denotes the understanding and perception of truth (n. 4403-4421, 4523-4534, 9051); but the “right eye of a worthless shepherd” denotes the memory-knowledge of good without the understanding and perception of it, because it is applied to falsity; “thick darkness” denotes the falsity that is from evil (n. 7711).

[5] Matthew:

Jesus said, If thy right eye hath caused thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. And if thy right hand hath caused thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee; it is better for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body be cast into Gehenna (Matthew 5:29-30); where the “right eye” denotes the understanding and faith of falsity from evil, and the “right hand,” the falsity itself from evil. Everyone is able to know that by “eye” is not here meant the eye, nor by “right hand” the right hand; and that the eye that causeth to stumble is not to be plucked out, nor the hand that causeth to stumble to be cut off; for from this there would be nothing of salvation for man.

In John:

The beast gave all a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads (Revelation 13:16); where the “right hand” denotes falsity from evil, and the “forehead” the love of evil from which is falsity (that the “forehead” denotes heavenly love, and hence in the opposite sense infernal love, see n. 9936).

4592. And his father called him Benjamin. That this signifies the quality of the spiritual of the celestial, is evident from the representation of Benjamin, as being the spiritual of the celestial. What this is was explained above (see n. 4585), namely, that it is the intermediate which exists between the spiritual and the celestial, or between the spiritual man and the celestial man. In the original language “Benjamin” means “the son of the right hand;” and by a “son of the right hand” is signified spiritual truth which is from celestial good and the consequent power, for good has power by means of truth (n. 3563). A “son” is truth (see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373), and the “hand” is power (n. 878, 3091, 3563); hence the “right hand” is the highest power. Hence it is evident what is signified by “sitting at the right hand of God,” namely, a state of power by virtue of the truth which is from good (n. 3387), which when predicated of the Lord is omnipotence, and also the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord’s Divine good (as in Psalms 110:1; Matthew 22:44; 26:63-64; Mark 14:61-62; 16:19; Luke 22:69); and whereas it denotes Divine power - that is, omnipotence - it is therefore said, “at the right hand of the power” (or virtue) “of God.”

[2] It is manifest from this what in the genuine sense is signified by “Benjamin,” namely, the spiritual truth which is from the celestial good which is “Joseph.” Both together therefore are that intermediate which as before said is between the spiritual man and the celestial man (n. 4585). But this good and this truth are distinct from the celestial which is represented by “Judah,” and the spiritual which is represented by “Israel,” of which the former is higher or more interior, and the latter is lower or more external, for as before said they are an intermediate. But no one can have an idea of the good which is represented by Joseph, and of the truth which is represented by Benjamin, except the man who is enlightened by the light of heaven. The angels have a clear idea of them, because all the ideas of their thought are from the light of heaven which is from the Lord, in which they see and perceive illimitable things which man cannot possibly comprehend, still less utter. As an illustration take the following.

[3] All men whatever are born natural, with the power of becoming either celestial or spiritual; but the Lord alone was born spiritual celestial, and for this reason He was born at Bethlehem, where is the boundary of the land of Benjamin, for by “Bethlehem” is signified the spiritual of the celestial, and by Benjamin is represented the spiritual of the celestial. The reason why the Lord alone was born spiritual celestial is that the Divine was in Him. These things cannot possibly be comprehended by anyone who is not in the light of heaven; for he who is in the light of the world, and has his perception therefrom, scarcely knows what truth is and what good is, still less what it is to ascend through degrees to the interior things of truth and good; thus he is in complete ignorance of those innumerable things of truth and good in every degree which are manifest before the angels as in noonday light. Hence it is evident of what nature is the wisdom of angels relatively to that of men.

[4] There are six names which frequently occur in the prophets where the church is treated of, namely, “Judah,” “Joseph,” “Benjamin,” “Ephraim,” “Israel,” and “Jacob.” He who does not know what of the good and truth of the church is meant by each one of these in the internal sense cannot possibly know anything of the Divine arcana of the Word there. Nor can he know what of the church is meant, unless he knows what the celestial is which is “Judah,” what the celestial of the spiritual is which is “Joseph,” what the spiritual of the celestial is which is “Benjamin,” what the intellectual of the church is which is “Ephraim,” what the internal spiritual is which is “Israel,” and what the external spiritual is which is “Jacob.”

[5] As regards Benjamin specifically, as he represents the spiritual of the celestial, and Joseph the celestial of the spiritual, and thus both together the intermediate between the celestial and the spiritual man, and as they are consequently most closely conjoined, therefore also their conjunction is described in the history of Joseph as follows:

Joseph told his brethren that they must bring their youngest brother, lest they should die (Genesis 42:20).

When they returned with Benjamin, and Joseph saw Benjamin his brother, he said, Is this your youngest brother? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. And Joseph made haste, for his bowels did yearn toward his brother; and he sought where to weep, and he therefore entered into his chamber, and wept there (Genesis 43:29-30).

He multiplied Benjamin’s portion fivefold above the portions of them all (Genesis 43:34).

After he had made himself known to his brethren, he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s necks and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his necks (Genesis 45:14).

He gave changes of garments to them all, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of garments (Genesis 45:22).

[6] From all this it is evident that Joseph and Benjamin were most closely conjoined, not because they were of one mother, but because by them is represented the spiritual conjunction which exists between the good which is “Joseph” and the truth which is “Benjamin,” and because both are intermediate between the celestial and the spiritual man. For this reason Joseph could not be conjoined with his brethren, nor with his father, except by means of Benjamin, for without an intermediate no conjunction is possible, and this was the reason why Joseph did not reveal himself sooner.

[7] Moreover, by “Benjamin” in other parts of the Word, especially the prophetic, is signified the spiritual truth which is of the church, as in the prophecy of Moses concerning the sons of Israel:

To Benjamin he said, The beloved of Jehovah, He shall dwell confidently upon him, covering upon him all the day, and He shall dwell between his shoulders (Deuteronomy 33:12);

“the beloved of Jehovah” is spiritual truth which is from celestial good; it is said of this good that it “dwells confidently” with that truth, “covers it the whole day,” and also “dwells between its shoulders,” for in the internal sense the “shoulders” denote all power (n. 1085), and good has all its power by means of truth (n. 3563).

[8] In Jeremiah:

Flee ye sons of Benjamin out of the midst of Jerusalem, and sounding sound with the trumpet, and take up a prophecy upon the house of the vineyard; for evil looks forth from the north, and a great shattering (Jeremiah 6:1);

“the sons of Benjamin” denote spiritual truth from the celestial; “Jerusalem” denotes the spiritual church; the “house of the vineyard,” or “Bethhaccherem,” the same; the “evil out of the north,” man’s sensuous and the derivative memory-knowledge. Again:

It shall come to pass if ye hallow the sabbath day they shall enter in from the cities of Judah, and from the circuits of Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountain, and from the south, offering burnt-offering and sacrifice, and meat-offering, and frankincense, and offering thanksgiving, unto the house of Jehovah (Jeremiah 17:24, 26).

[9] And again elsewhere:

In the cities of the mountain, in the cities of the plain, in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the circuits of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks yet pass over beside the hands of him that numbereth them (Jeremiah 33:13);

here also the “land of Benjamin” denotes the spiritual truth of the church; for all the things of the church, from the first degree to the last, are signified by the “cities of Judah,” the “circuits of Jerusalem,” the “land of Benjamin,” the “plain,” the “mountain,” and the “south.”

[10] In Hosea:

Sound ye with the horn in Gibeah, with the trumpet in Ramah, shout ye Bethaven, after thee Benjamin, Ephraim shall become solitudes in the day of rebuke (Hos. 5:8-9);

“Gibeah,” “Ramah,” and “Bethaven” denote the things of that spiritual truth from the celestial which is “Benjamin,” for Gibeah was in Benjamin (Judges 19:14), and Ramah also (Josh. 18:25), and likewise Bethaven (Josh. 18:12); “to sound with the horn and with the trumpet,” and “to shout,” denote to announce that the intellectual of the church, which is “Ephraim,” is made desolate.

[11] In Obadiah:

The house of Jacob shall become a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, the house of Esau for stubble; and they of the south shall inherit the mountain of Esau, and those who are in the plain the Philistines; and they shall inherit the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria; and Benjamin, Gilead (Obad. 1:18-19).

That names signify things is very evident here, as in other places, for unless it is known what is signified by the “house of Jacob,” the “house of Joseph,” the “house of Esau,” the “mountain of Esau,” the “Philistines,” the “field of Ephraim,” the “field of Samaria,” “Benjamin,” and “Gilead,” and moreover what by “them of the south,” by a “house,” a “plain,” a “mountain,” and a “field,” nothing here can possibly be comprehended; nor were the things done that are here historically related. But the man who knows what each expression involves, will find heavenly arcana therein. Here also “Benjamin” is the spiritual from the celestial.

[12] In like manner these words in Zechariah:

Jehovah shall be king upon the whole earth; in that day there shall be one Jehovah, and His name one; the whole earth shall encompass as a plain from Gibeah even to Rimmon, and she shall dwell under herself thence from Benjamin’s gate even unto the place of the first gate, even unto the gate of the corners, and from the tower of Hananeel even unto the king’s wine presses (Zech. 14:9-10).

So in David:

Give ear, O Shepherd, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, Thou that sittest upon the cherubim; before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up Thy power, and come to save us (Psalms 80:1-2).

So in the prophecy of Deborah and Barak:

Jehovah shall rule for me among the mighty; out of Ephraim whose root is in Amalek, after thee Benjamin in thy peoples, out of Machir shall come down lawgivers, and out of Zebulun they that draw the scepter of the scribe (Judges 5:13-14).

[13] In John:

I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed out of every tribe of Israel; of the tribe of Zebulun were sealed twelve thousand, of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand, of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand (Revelation 7:4, 8); where by the “tribes of Israel” are signified those who are in goods and truths, and therefore in the Lord’s kingdom; for “tribes” and “twelve,” or what is the same, “twelve thousand,” are all things of love and faith, or all things of good and truth (n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060). These things are here distributed into four classes, the last of which is the twelve thousand sealed of Zebulun, and of Joseph, and of Benjamin, because by the tribe of Zebulun is signified the heavenly marriage (n. 3960, 3961), in which is heaven, thus in which are all things; “Joseph” here is the celestial of the spiritual, or the good of truth; and “Benjamin” is the truth of this good, or the spiritual of the celestial. This is the conjugial in heaven, and therefore these are named last.

[14] As Benjamin represented the spiritual of the celestial in the church, or the truth of good, which is the intermediate between celestial good and spiritual truth, therefore Jerusalem fell as an inheritance to the sons of Benjamin; for before Zion was built there, “Jerusalem” signified the church in general. (That Jerusalem fell to Benjamin may be seen in Joshua 18:28; and also in Judges 1:21)