389. Verses 9-11. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slain because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony that they held. And they cried out with a great voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And there were given to every one of them white robes; and it was said unto them that they should rest yet a little time, until their fellow-servants, as well as their brethren, who were to be killed, as they also were, should be fulfilled.

9. "And when he had opened the fifth seal," signifies still further prediction (n. 390); "I saw under the altar," signifies those who were preserved under heaven n. 391; "the souls of those slain because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony that they held," signifies those who were rejected and concealed because of Divine truth and because of their confession of the Lord. n. 392).

10. "And they cried out with a great voice," signifies their grief of mind (n. 393); "saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" signifies sighings to the Lord, who is Righteousness, respecting the judgment and removal of those who persecute and infest those who acknowledge the Lord, and are in the life of charity n. 394.

11. "And there were given to every one of them white robes," signifies Divine truth from the Lord with them, and protection n. 395; "and it was said unto them they should rest yet a little time," signifies some further continuance in that state (n. 396); "until their fellow-servants, as well as their brethren, who were to be killed, as they also were, should be fulfilled," signifies until all things were consummated n. 397.

42. Verse 21 And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that creeps, which the waters produced abundantly according to their kinds; and all winged birds according to their kinds; and God saw that it was good.

As has been stated, 'fish' means facts, here facts quickened and brought to life through faith from the Lord. 'Sea monsters' means those facts' general sources, below which and from which details derive. Nothing whatever exists in the universe that does not depend on some general source for its commencement and continuance. In the Prophets sea monsters or whales are mentioned several times, and in those places they mean those general sources of facts. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who represents human wisdom or intelligence - that is, knowledge in general - is called 'a great sea monster', as in Ezekiel,

Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster lying in the midst of his ¹ rivers, who has said, It is my river and I have made myself. Ezekiel 29:3.

[2] And elsewhere in Ezekiel,

Raise a lamentation over Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say to him, You are like a monster in the seas, and you have come forth in your rivers, and have troubled the waters with your feet. Ezekiel 32:2

These words mean people who wish to penetrate the mysteries that are part of faith by means of facts, and so from themselves. In Isaiah,

On that day Jehovah will make a visitation with His hard and great and strong sword upon Leviathan the full-length serpent, ² and upon Leviathan the twisting serpent, and He will slay the monsters that are in the sea. Isaiah 27:1.

'Slaying the monsters in the sea' means preventing people's knowing facts even in their general aspects. In Jeremiah,

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel has devoured me, he has troubled me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a sea monster, he has filled his belly with my delicacies, he has cast me out. Jeremiah 51:34.

This stands for the fact that mankind did swallow cognitions of faith, which are 'the delicacies' here, just as the sea monster swallowed up Jonah. In that story the sea monster stands for people who treat general cognitions of faith as mere facts, and behave accordingly.

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