10. X. The ultimate sense of the Word, ¹ which is the literal sense alone, corresponds to the beard and hair of the head of an angelic person.

It may seem surprising the first time it is said or we hear it said that the hair of the head and the beard correspond to the Word at its ultimate level. But this correspondence is due to the fact that everything in the Word corresponds to everything in heaven, and heaven corresponds to everything in a person. For heaven taken as a whole is like a single person in the Lord's sight; on this correspondence see Heaven and Hell [87-102, 307].

[2] I was allowed to perceive that everything in the Word corresponds to everything in heaven from the fact that each chapter in the books of the prophets corresponds to one particular community in heaven. For on reading through the prophetic parts of the word from Isaiah to Malachi, I was allowed to see that the communities of heaven were aroused one after the other, and they perceived the spiritual sense which corresponded to them. So from this and other proofs it was plain to me that the whole of heaven has, part by part, a correspondence to the Word. Now since there is such a correspondence of the Word to heaven, and heaven as a whole and in its parts corresponds to a person, this is why the ultimate level of the Word corresponds to the ultimate in a person. The ultimate level in the Word is the literal sense, and the ultimate level in a person is the hair of his head and his beard.

[3] This is why when people who have loved the Word even at its ultimate level after death become spirits, they are to be seen with a fair head of hair; and so are the angels. When these same people become angels, they also let their beards grow. On the other hand, all who have despised the literal sense of the Word, on becoming spirits after death, turn bald. This is also a sign that they are devoid of truths. So to avoid embarrassing others, they cover their heads with a head-dress.

[4] Since the hair and the beard mean the ultimate level of heaven, and so also the ultimate level of Divine Truth or the Word, the Ancient of Days is described as having the hair of his head like clean wool (Daniel 7:9). Likewise the Son of Man or the Lord as regards the Word (Revelation 1:14). For the same reason the strength of Samson lay in his hair, and he was weakened by having it cut off. The condition of a Nazarite also lay in his hair; for the Nazarite represented the Lord at His ultimate level, and so also heaven at its ultimate level. This was the reason why the forty-two children were torn in pieces by bears for calling Elisha bald (2 Kings 2:23-24).

[5] Elisha, like Elijah and the other prophets, represented the Lord as regards the Word; and the Word without its ultimate, that is, its literal sense, is no longer the Word. For the literal sense of the Word is like a bottle filled with fine wine; so if the bottle is broken, all the wine is lost. The literal sense of the Word is like the bones and skin of the human body; take them away and the whole person falls to pieces. That is why what holds the Word together and in fact gives it its power is its ultimate sense, the literal sense; for this sustains and holds together all the Divine truth it contains.

[6] Since baldness means the absence of truth, when the Jewish church, since it lacks the ultimate level, abandoned Jehovah and despised the Word, it was called bald, as in Jeremiah:

Every head is bald and every beard is shorn. Jeremiah 48:37.

In Isaiah:

Baldness on their heads, and a shorn beard. Isaiah 15:2.

In Ezekiel:

To shave his head and beard with a razor. Ezekiel 5:1.

Shame on all their faces, and baldness on all heads. Ezekiel 7:18.

Every head has been made bald. Ezekiel 29:18.

And in other places, such as Amos 8:10, Micah 1:16.

[7] But the sense of the Word known as the literal sense corresponds at its ultimate level to the hair of the head, but in other respects to various parts of the human body, as its head, chest, loins and feet. But where those correspondences occur in that sense, the Word is so to speak clothed, and so corresponds to the clothing of those parts. For in general clothes mean truths, and really correspond to them. But there are still many things in the literal sense of the Word which are bare and so to speak unclothed; and they correspond to a person's face and his hands, which are the parts left uncovered. Those parts of the Word serve for the teaching of the church, because they are in themselves spiritual-natural truths. From this it can be established that there is no obstacle to prevent a person being able to find and see bare truths there too.

Poznámky pod čarou:

2069. 'Kings of peoples will be from her' means truths that are the product of truths and goods joined together, meant by 'kings of peoples'. This is clear from the meaning of 'kings' as all truths in general, dealt with above in 2015, and from the meaning of 'peoples' also as truths, in general all things that are spiritual. For 'kings' are spoken of in reference to peoples, and not so much in reference to nations except when the nations mean evils, dealt with in 1259, 1260. In the prophetical part of the Word kings and peoples are mentioned many times, but nowhere are they used to mean kings and peoples, for at no point are kings and peoples the subject in the Word proper, which is the internal sense, but the celestial and spiritual things comprising the Lord's kingdom, and so goods and truths. The sense of the letter expresses itself by means of perceivable objects, as anyone does with words, merely to enable understanding.

[2] Since the subject here is Sarah and the promise that 'kings of peoples will be from her', and since 'Sarah' means Divine Truth which was the Lord's, 'kings of peoples' clearly means truths that are the product of truths and goods joined together, which are all the truths of the internal Church, that is, the interior truths of faith. Because these truths come from the Lord, they are frequently called 'kings' in the Word, and also 'a king's sons', as shown above in 2015.

[3] Anyone may see that some internal Divine matter lies concealed in the words that 'kings of peoples will be from her'. For the subject in this verse is Isaac, of whom it is said, 'I will bless him, and he will become nations', but of Sarah that 'kings of peoples will be from her'. Almost the same was also said of Abraham in verse 6 above, that 'kings will go out of him'; but it did not say as it does of Sarah, 'kings of peoples'. The arcanum within this lies too deep to allow it to be uncovered and described in a few words. From the representation and meaning of 'Abraham' as Divine Good and from the representation and meaning of 'Sarah' as Divine Truth the arcanum is to some extent evident, namely that from the Lord's Divine Good meant by 'Abraham' all celestial truth will come forth and have its being, and from the Lord's Divine Truth meant by 'Sarah' all spiritual truth will do so. Celestial truth is the truth which exists with celestial angels, and spiritual truth that which exists with spiritual angels. Or what amounts to the same, celestial truth was the truth which existed with members of the Most Ancient Church which came before the Flood and which was a celestial Church, spiritual truth that which existed with members of the Ancient Church which came after the Flood and was a spiritual Church. For angels, as also members of the Church, are distinguished into celestial and spiritual. That which distinguishes the celestial from the spiritual is love to the Lord, and that which distinguishes spiritual from celestial is love towards the neighbour.

[4] No more can be said about celestial truth and spiritual truth however until the difference between the celestial and the spiritual is known, or what amounts to the same, the difference between the celestial Church and the spiritual. For this see Volume One, in 202, 337, 1577; then concerning the nature of the Most Ancient Church and the nature of the Ancient Church, in 597, 607, 640, 765, 1114-1125, and in many other places. On the point that possessing love to the Lord constitutes the celestial, and possessing love towards the neighbour the spiritual, see 2023.

[5] These considerations now show what the arcanum is, namely that 'the kings who will go out of Abraham', referred to in verse 6, mean celestial truths that flow in from the Lord's Divine Good, while 'the kings of peoples who will be from Sarah', referred to in the present verse, mean spiritual truths that flow in from the Lord's Divine Truth. For the Lord's Divine Good is unable to flow in except with the celestial man since it is an influx into the will part of his mind, as was the case with the Most Ancient Church, whereas with the spiritual man the Lord's Divine Truth is flowing in since the influx is solely into the understanding part, which in him has been separated from the will part, 2053 (end). Or what amounts to the same, celestial good is flowing in with the celestial man, and spiritual good with the spiritual man. As a consequence the Lord is seen by celestial angels as the Sun, but by spiritual angels as the Moon, 1529, 1530.