1033. That sitteth upon many waters, signifies that has dominion over all things of the Word, and thus over the holy things of the church. This is evident from the signification of "to sit," as being to subject to her judgment and to bring under her jurisdiction, and thus to have dominion over. This is why the expressions "sitting in judgment" and "sitting upon a throne" are used (See above, n. 687). Also from the signification of "waters," as being truths (See n. 71, 483, 518, 854), but here all things of the Word, because it is said "many waters," and has reference to the "harlot," which is Babylon, by which is meant adulteration and profanation of the Word from which comes every good and truth of the church. "Many waters" signify also the holy things of the church, because all holy things of the church have reference to goods and truths, which are from the Word.

[2] "To dwell upon many waters" has a like signification in Jeremiah:

Jehovah shall do that which He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, upon many treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy gain (Jeremiah 51:12-13).

Because "many waters" signify the truths of the Word, and thus the holy things of the church, it is here added, "upon many treasures"; for "treasures" signify Divine truths, which are in the Word. "Many waters" here signify also the holy things of the church, as will be evident from the explanation of the fifteenth verse, where it is said, "The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples and multitudes, nations and tongues," and "peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues," there mean all things of the church; because the "earth" in the Word signifies the church, and thus those on the earth signify all things of the church. But on this more will be said in the explanation of that verse. That the Babylonians have subjected the truths of the Word and the holy things of the church to their judgment, jurisdiction, and dominion, can be seen from this, that they persuade the people that the Word is understood by them alone and not by any who have not been inaugurated into the ministry; and by this means they subject all things of the Word and thus all things of the church to their dominion.

[3] Moreover, the Word is such in the sense of its letter that it may be drawn aside to confirm any heresy whatever; for the sense of the letter consists of appearances of truth, which hold enclosed in them the genuine truths of heaven, which are called spiritual truths; and unless these truths are revealed and laid bare, that is, unless they are taught in the doctrines of the church, the appearances they present may be drawn over and perverted to favor any falsity whatever, and even to favor evil. For the genuine truths of the Word are like a man, and the appearances of truth, of which the sense of the letter consists, are like his garments, from which alone no judgment can be formed respecting who the man is or what he is. If a man were judged from his garments alone, a king might be called a servant, and a servant a king, and a good man might be called an evil man, and an evil man a good man; and so on. So those who arrogate to themselves dominion over all things of the church and heaven can apply the sense in its letter a thousand ways to favor their dominion. And this is an easy task, because all things of the church, which are called holy, they place above the human understanding, and when this is assented to and no genuine truth is taught, infernal falsities may be called truths, and devilish evils may be called goods; and the simple may even be persuaded that the edicts of the Pope are just as holy as the commandments of the Word, and even more holy; and yet these are from heaven, while those edicts are for the most part from hell. For every edict respecting government, faith, and worship in the church, that has for an end dominion in the world, however it may appear in the external form, and may sound as if from the Word, is from hell; while every commandment from the Word, because it has for its end the salvation of souls by the Lord, is from heaven. From all this it can be seen that "sitting upon many waters," when predicated of Babylon as a harlot, signifies having dominion over all things of the Word, and thus over the holy things of the church.

1321. Confondons leur lèvre, signifie que le vrai de la doctrine n'est dans aucun d'eux : c'est ce qu'on peut voir par la signification de la Lèvre, qui est la doctrine, ainsi que je l'ai montré ci-dessus, vers. 4 ; de là résulte que confondre les lèvres, c'est confondre les choses qui appartiennent à la doctrine, c'est-à-dire les vérités de la doctrine. Confondre signifie, dans le sens interne, non-seulement couvrir de ténèbres, mais encore effacer et dissiper au point qu'il n'y ait plus rien de vrai. Quand le culte de soi-même prend la place du culte du Seigneur, non-seulement on pervertit tout vrai, mais même on l'abolit, et enfin l'on reconnaît le faux pour vrai et le mal pour bien ; car toute lumière de la vérité existe par le Seigneur, et toute obscurité existe par l'homme. Quand l'homme prend dans le culte la place du Seigneur, la lumière du vrai devient obscurité ; alors la lumière est considérée par eux comme obscurité, et l'obscurité comme lumière. Telle est aussi leur vie après la mort ; la vie du faux est pour eux comme la lumière, et la vie du vrai est pour eux comme l'obscurité ; mais la lumière d'une telle vie est changée en une complète obscurité lorsqu'ils approchent vers le ciel. Tant qu'ils sont dans le monde, ils peuvent, à la vérité parler du vrai, même avec éloquence et avec un zèle apparent ; et comme il y a continuellement réflexion sur soi, il leur semble aussi penser la même chose ; mais comme la fin elle-même est le culte de soi, les pensées tiennent de la fin de ne reconnaître le vrai qu'autant qu'il y a du soi-même dans le vrai. Lorsque l'homme dans la bouche de qui est le vrai est tel, il est évident que le vrai n'est point en lui : c'est ce qu'on voit clairement dans l'autre vie : là de tels esprits non-seulement ne reconnaissent pas le vrai qu'ils ont professé dans la vie du corps, mais ils le haïssent même et le persécutent, et cela, en proportion de ce que le faste ou le culte de soi n'est pas détruit en eux.