305. Verses 4, 5. And I wept much, that no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, weep not; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

4. "And I wept much, that no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon," signifies grief of heart on account of the disorder and destruction of all things, if no one could know [scire], cognize [cognoscere], and explore all men, and all things pertaining to men (n. 306).

5. "And one of the elders," signifies a society of heaven superior in wisdom to the rest (n.307); "saith unto me, Weep not," signifies that there need be no grief on that account (n. 308); "behold, the Lion hath overcome," signifies that the Lord from His own power subjugated the hells, and reduced all things in the heavens to order (n. 309); "from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David," signifies by means of Divine good united to Divine truth in His Human (n. 310); "to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof," signifies that He knows and recognizes all and each, and the most secret things of everyone (n. 311).

6853. 'For I know their sorrows' means foresight of how deeply they would be plunged into falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'knowing', when used in reference to the Lord, as foresight (the reason why 'knowing' is foresight is that the Lord has known from eternity about every single thing); and from the meaning of 'sorrows' as being plunged into falsities. For when people who are governed by good are plunged into falsities they experience feelings of anguish and anxiety. They suffer torment, for they love truths and loathe falsities, and are thinking all the time about salvation and about how unhappy they will be if those falsities get the better of them. But those who are not governed by good are completely unconcerned about whether falsities or truths reign in them; for they do not think at all about salvation and unhappiness since they do not believe there are any such things. The delights of self-love and love of the world take away any firm belief regarding life after death. These people are immersed all the time in falsities. Being plunged into falsities is presented in the next life as waves engulfing a person and rising ever higher as the falsities grow more profuse, until the waves rise over his head; and they appear tenuous or solid according to the nature of the falsities. The experience of being plunged into falsities which the wicked undergo looks like a mistiness or cloudiness, more or less murky, which surrounds them and cuts them off completely from the brightness of the light of heaven.