29. And the prince of the kings of the earth. That this signifies from whom is all truth from good in the church, is evident from the signification of prince of the kings, as denoting from whom is all truth, prince denoting what is primary, and kings truths; and because this is said of the Lord, who is here called the prince of the kings, it denotes that all truth is from Him (that a prince denotes what is primary, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1482, 2089, 5044; and that kings denote truths, will be seen in the explanation of the following verse, where it is said, "and hath made us kings and priests," n. 31); and from the signification of the earth, as denoting the church; concerning which more will be said in what follows. He who knows not the internal sense of the Word, cannot know anything else than that the kings of the whole earth are here meant; but kings are not meant, nor earth but by kings are meant all those who are in truths from good and by the earth, the church.

[2] (That by earth is signified the church is shown in many places in Arcana Coelestia, from which these particulars may be seen. That by earth, or land, is signified the kingdom of the Lord and the church, see the same, n. 662, 1066, 1068, 1262, 1413, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011, 9325, 9643; the principal reason for which is, because by the earth, or land, is meant the land of Canaan, where the church was situated from the most ancient times, n. 567, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6516, 9325, 9327; and because, in the spiritual sense, by earth, or land, is meant the people who dwell there, and their worship, n. 1262. That the new heaven the new earth signify the church in the heavens on earth, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535, 10373.

[3] That by the creation of heaven and earth, spoken of in the first chapters of Genesis, in the internal sense, is described the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, see n. 8891, 9942, 10545. That to create is to restore and to regenerate, see n. 10373. That ground also signifies the church; but it is called ground from the reception of seeds, which are truths, and earth or land, from the nation therein, and their worship, see n. 566, 1068, 10570. Moreover, earth, or land, as it signifies the church, signifies also religion, whence it also signifies an idolatry; as the land of Egypt, the land of the Philistines, the land of Chaldea, and of Babel; and many others. That earth, or land, signifies the church, may also be seen briefly shown in the small work, The Last Judgment 3, 4.)

3387. 'For he was afraid to say, My wife, [thinking,] The men of the place may perhaps kill me on account of Rebekah' means that it was impossible for Divine Truths themselves to be disclosed, and so for Divine Good to be received. This is clear from the meaning of 'being afraid to say' as an inability to disclose; from the meaning of 'wife', who is Rebekah here, as the Lord's Divine Rational in respect to Divine Truth, dealt with in 3012, 3013, 3077; from the meaning of 'killing me' as good not being received, for 'Isaac', to whom 'me' refers here, represents the Divine Good of the Lord's Rational, 3012, 3194, 3210 - good being said 'to be killed' or to perish when it is not received, for it ceases to exist with that person; and from the meaning of 'the men of the place' as people who possess matters of doctrine concerning faith, dealt with just above in 3385. From these meanings it is now evident what the internal sense of these words is, namely: If Divine truths themselves were disclosed they would not be received by those who possess matters of doctrine concerning faith because those truths go beyond the whole range of their rational grasp of things, and so go beyond the whole of their faith, and as a consequence of this no good at all could flow in from the Lord. For good from the Lord, or Divine good, cannot flow in except into truths, for truths are the vessels for good, as shown many times.

[2] Truths or appearances of truth are given to a person to enable Divine Good to develop the understanding part of his mind, and so the person himself, for truths exist to the end that good may flow in. Indeed without vessels or receptacles good has nowhere to go, for it can find no condition answering to itself. Where no truths exist therefore, that is, where they have not been received, neither does any rational or human good exist; and as a consequence the person does not possess any spiritual life. Therefore, so that a person may nevertheless possess truths, and from these receive spiritual life, appearances of truth are given, to everyone according to his ability to grasp them; and these appearances are acknowledged as truths because they have the capacity to hold Divine things within them.

[3] So that it may be known what appearances are and that they are what serve a person as Divine truths, let the following be used by way of illustration: If man were told that in heaven angels have no concept of place, and so no concept of distance, but that instead they have concepts of state, he could not possibly grasp it, for he would suppose from this that nothing distinct and separate existed but that everything was fused together, that is to say, all the angels were together in a single place. Yet everything there is so distinct and separate that nothing could ever be more so. Places, distances, and intervals of space which exist in the natural order exist in heaven as states, see 3356. From this it is evident that all the things that are stated in the Word about places and intervals of space between objects, also ideas that are formed from these and expressed through them, are appearances of truth; and unless everything were stated by means of those appearances it would in no way be received and would as a consequence be scarcely anything; for the concept of space and time is present in almost every single detail of a person's thought as long as he is in the world, that is, living within space and time.

[4] The fact that the Word speaks according to appearances involving space is clear from almost every single part of it, as in Matthew,

Jesus said, How is it that David says, The Lord [said] to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool? Matthew 22:43-44.

Here the expression 'sitting at the right hand' is derived from the concept of place and so according to the appearance - when in fact it is a state of the Lord's Divine power which is described by that expression. In the same gospel,

Jesus said, Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Matthew 26:64.

Here similarly 'sitting at the right hand' and also 'coming on clouds' are expressions derived from men's concept of place, whereas the concept angels have is one of the state of the Lord's power. In Mark,

The sons of Zebedee said to Jesus, Grant us to sit in Your glory, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left. Jesus replied, To sit at My right hand and at My left is not Mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. Mark 10:37, 40.

From this it is evident what kind of concept the disciples had of the Lord's kingdom, that is to say, one that involved sitting on the right hand and on the left. Such being the concept they had of it the Lord also replied to them in a way they could understand and so by an appearance that could be seen by them.

[5] In David,

Like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, he rejoices as a mighty man to run the course. From the end of the heavens is His going forth, and His circuit to the ends of them. Psalms 19:5-6.

This refers to the Lord, the state of whose Divine power is described by means of such things as belong to space. In Isaiah,

How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawn! You said in your heart, I will go up into the heavens, above the stars of God ¹ I will raise my throne. I will go up above the heights of the clouds. Isaiah 14:12-14.

'Falling from heaven', 'going up the heavens', 'raising a throne above the stars of God', 'going up above the heights of the clouds' are all expressions derived from the concept and appearance of space or a place, and are used to describe self-love profaning holy things. Since celestial and spiritual things are presented to man by means of and according to visual objects like these, heaven too is therefore described as being on high when in fact it is not on high but in that which is internal, 450, 1380, 2148.

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