368. Verses 5-6. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third animal saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold, a black horse; and he that sat upon him had a balance in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four animals saying, A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius; and the oil and the wine hurt thou not.

5. "And when he had opened the third seal," signifies prediction respecting the state that next follows with those who are of the church where the Word is n. 369; "I heard the third animal saying," signifies out of the inmost heaven from the Lord. n. 370); "Come and see," signifies attention and perception (n. 371); "and behold, a black horse," signifies the understanding of the Word destroyed in respect to truth n. 372; "and he that sat upon him had a balance in his hand," signifies the estimation of truth from the Word in that state of the church n. 373.

6. "A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius," signifies that the genuine good of the church, as well as the genuine truth of the church, is of no account to them (n. 374; "and the oil and the wine hurt thou not" signifies that it is provided that the internal or spiritual sense of the Word should suffer no harm either in respect to good or in respect to truth (n. 375, 376).