659. And shall not suffer [their bodies] to be placed in sepulchers, signifies the rejection and damnation of such. This is evident from the signification of "not to be placed in sepulchers or not to be buried," as being eternal damnation; for "to be buried" signifies in the Word awakening into life and resurrection, because when a man dies and is buried he is awakened or rises again into eternal life. For after death a man continues to live equally as in the world, but he lays aside the earthly or material body, which served him for use in the natural world, and continues his life in a spiritual body. Burial, therefore, is only the rejection, as it were, of the exuviae that he carried about in the natural world. Burial signifies awakening into eternal life or resurrection, because the angels do not know what the death of a man is nor what his burial is, since with them there is no death and therefore no burial, but they perceive all things spiritually; when, therefore, the death of a man is mentioned in the Word, instead of death they perceive his passing over from one world into another; and where burial is mentioned they perceive his resurrection into life. It follows from this that "not to be buried" signifies resurrection not into life, but into damnation, which means spiritual death. Every man, indeed, after his departure out of the world is awakened and rises again, but some to life and some to damnation, and as "to be buried" signifies resurrection to life, so "not to be buried" signifies damnation, but here of those who reject the goods of love and the truths of doctrine, which are signified by "the two witnesses;" consequently "not to be placed in sepulchers" (or not to be buried) does not mean damnation except in the idea of those who condemn such goods and truths. Therefore what "sepulchers" signify in the Word, as also "to be buried" and "not to be buried," can be seen from the following passages.

[2] That "sepulchers," because of the dead bodies and bones in them, signify things unclean, and thus things infernal, can be seen from many passages in the Word. As in Isaiah:

A people that provoke Me to anger continually before My faces; that burn incense upon bricks, that sit in sepulchers and lodge in waste places, that eat swine's flesh (Isaiah 65:3, 4).

"To provoke Jehovah to anger before His faces" signifies to sin against the truths and goods of the Word, and to fall away from the worship therein commanded, "the faces of Jehovah" meaning the things revealed in the Word; "to burn incense upon bricks" signifies worship from falsities of doctrine, "bricks" meaning the falsities of doctrine, and "to burn incense" meaning worship from them; "to sit in sepulchers" signifies to be in filthy loves; "to lodge in waste places" signifies to remain and to live in falsities, "waste places" meaning where there are no truths; "to eat swine's flesh" signifies to make infernal evils one's own.

[3] In Moses:

Whosoever shall touch one upon the surface of the field that is slain by a sword, or a dead body, or the bone of a man, or a sepulcher, shall be unclean seven days, and afterwards he shall be purified (Numbers 19:16, 18).

"To touch" signifies in the Word to communicate; therefore that falsities and evils be not communicated and thus appropriated it was forbidden to touch things unclean, here "one slain by a sword," a "dead body," "the bone of a man," or a "sepulcher;" since "one slain by a sword" signifies one who has been destroyed by falsities, and has thence been condemned to hell; and a "dead body" signifies one who has been destroyed by evils; "the bone of a man" signifies infernal falsity, and a "sepulcher" infernal evil.

[4] In Ezekiel:

Wail over the multitude of Egypt, and cast her down with them that go down into the pit. They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword. Asshur is there and all his assembly, his sepulchers are round about him, all the slain who have fallen by the sword, to whom sepulchers were given in the sides of the pit, and his assembly is round about his sepulcher. Elam and all his multitude is round about his sepulcher, all the uncircumcised slain by the sword (Ezekiel 32:18, 20, 22-24).

"The multitude of Egypt" signifies the knowledges [scientifica] of the natural man, which are dead because they do not come down and take form as effects, conclusions, and confirmations, from the truths of the spiritual man; "Asshur" signifies reasonings from such knowledges; therefore "Wail over the multitude of Egypt, and cast her down with them that go down into the pit," signifies grief because of the damnation of those who are in these knowledges, the "pit" signifying the hell where such dead knowledges have rule, that is, knowledges separated from truths, because employed to confirm falsities of doctrine and evils of life; "those slain by the sword," here as above, signify those who are condemned to the hells on account of falsities; "Asshur is there and all his assembly" signifies reasonings from those falsities; the "sepulchers" that are round about Asshur and in the sides of the pit, where Elam is, and "all the uncircumcised slain by the sword" signify the hells where these falsities are, that is, those who are in such falsities.

[5] It is to be known that falsities and evils of every kind correspond to unclean and loathsome things in the natural world, and the more direful falsities and evils to things pertaining to dead bodies and to fetid excrementitious things, and the milder falsities and evils to things pertaining to swamps; consequently the dwelling-places in the hells of those who are in such falsities and evils appear like pits and sepulchers; and if you will believe it, such evil genii and spirits also have their abode in the sepulchers, privies, and swamps that are in our world, although they do not know it; this is so because they correspond, and the things that correspond conjoin. The same conclusion may be drawn from this, that to those who have been assassins and poisoners, and to those who have perceived delight in violating women, there is nothing more delightful than the odor of a corpse; and to those who have been eaten up with the love of ruling, and to those who have taken delight in adulteries, and no delight in marriages, there is nothing more delightful than the odor of excrement; and to those who have confirmed themselves in falsities, and have extinguished in themselves the affection of truth, there is nothing more delightful than the odor of a swamp and of urinous places. This is why the hells in which they dwell appear according to the corresponding delights, some like pits and some like sepulchers.

[6] From this it appears why it was:

That those that were obsessed by demons were in sepulchers and came out therefrom (Matthew 8:28 seq.; Mark 5:2, 3, 5; Luke 8:27);

namely, because those that were obsessed while they lived in the world were in falsities from evil, or in knowledges from the Word, which they made dead by employing them to confirm evils and also to destroy the genuine truths of the church, especially the truths respecting the Lord, the Word, and the life after death; these dead knowledges are called in the Word "traditions." This is why those that were obsessed by such, when they had become demons:

Were in sepulchers, and the demons themselves were afterwards cast out into swine, that cast themselves headlong into the sea (Matthew 8:31-33).

They were "cast into swine" [because while they lived in the world they had been in sordid avarice], ¹ and this is what "swine" correspond to and thence signify; they "cast themselves headlong into the sea" because the "sea" here signifies hell.

[7] In David:

I have been reckoned with them that go down into the pit. I am become as a man that hath no strength; neglected among the dead, like the slain that lie in the sepulcher, whom Thou rememberest no more, and who are cut off from Thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the pit of the lower parts, in dark places, in the depths. Shall Thy mercy be declared in the sepulcher, Thy truth in destruction? (Psalms 88:4-6, 11)

This treats of temptations, in the highest sense of the Lord's temptations; this describes of what nature these were, namely, that He seemed to Himself to be in hell among the damned, so fierce and enormous were the temptations the Lord endured; therefore "I have been reckoned with them that go down into the pit" signifies that He seemed to Himself to be in hell, "the pit" meaning hell; "I am become as a man that hath no strength" signifies that He then seemed to Himself to be without power, for temptations plunge a man into falsities and evils, in which there is no power; "neglected among the dead" signifies among those who have nothing of truth and good, and who are therefore rejected; "as the slain that lie down in the sepulcher" signifies like those who are in falsities from evil, "the slain" signifying those who perish by falsities, and "the sepulcher" hell, because those that are in hell are spiritually dead; "whom Thou rememberest no more, and who are cut off from Thy hand," signifies who are deprived of all truth and good; "Thou hast laid me in the pit of the lower parts" signifies in the places of hell where such are; "in dark places" signifies as it were in falsities; "in the depths" signifies as it were in evils.

[8] There is now added a prayer from grief that he may be delivered from temptations, and for this among other reasons, "Shall Thy mercy be declared in the sepulcher, and Thy truth in destruction?" which signifies that in hell, where and from which are evils and falsities, Divine good and Divine truth cannot be proclaimed, "mercy" meaning the Divine good of the Divine love, and "truth" the Divine truth of the Divine wisdom, "sepulcher" meaning the hell where and from which are evils, and "destruction" the hell where and from which are falsities. From this it appears that "sepulcher" means hell, because they who are in hell are spiritually dead.

[9] In Isaiah:

That He might give the wicked to their sepulcher, and the rich in their deaths (Isaiah 53:9).

This also is said of the Lord, of whom the whole of this chapter treats, but here of His victories over the hells. "The wicked given to the sepulcher" mean the evil who will be cast down into hell; here "sepulcher" plainly stands for hell, which is called a sepulcher because of the spiritually dead who are in it; "the rich given in their deaths" mean those of the church who are in falsities from evils, who are called "rich" by reason of the knowledges of truth and good which they have from the Word; falsities from evil are signified by "deaths," because those who are in them are spiritually dead.

[10] Those who think evil about God and the neighbor but speak well, and those who think insanely about truths of faith and goods of love but speak sanely, such inwardly are sepulchers whited without, according to these words of the Lord:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of the bones of the dead and of all uncleanness (Matthew 23:27, 29; Luke 11:47, 48).

[11] And in David:

There is nothing right in the mouth of anyone, their midst is perditions; their throat is an open sepulcher, they flatter with their tongue (Psalms 5:9).

"In the mouth" signifies outwardly, the "midst" inwardly; that there is hell within is signified by "their throat is an open sepulcher;" and that outwardly there is hypocrisy and seeming sanity is signified by "they flatter with their tongue." These and other passages in the Word make evident what "sepulcher" signifies.

[12] So when those who are in falsities from evil are treated of, by "their sepulcher" the hell from which and in which there is such falsity is meant; but when those who are in truths from good are treated of, "sepulcher" means the removal and rejection of falsity from evil, and "burial" means awakening and resurrection into life, as also regeneration. For with a man who is in truths from good, falsity from evil is removed and rejected into hell, and the man himself, in respect to his interiors, which belong to his spirit, rises again and enters into the life of truth from good, which is the spiritual life. In this sense "burial" is to be understood in the following passages.

[13] In John:

Marvel not, for the hour cometh in which all that are in the sepulchers shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and shall come forth; they that have done goods unto the resurrection of life, but they that have done evils unto the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28, 29).

This does not mean that those who are in sepulchers or tombs shall hear the voice of the Lord and come forth, for all after death, equally as in this world, live as men, with the difference only that after death they live in a spiritual body, and not in a material body; therefore "to go forth out of the sepulchers" signifies out of the material body; and this going forth first takes place with everyone immediately after death, and afterwards when the Last Judgment is wrought, for at that time the exteriors are removed and the interiors are opened with all with whom this had not previously been done; then those whose interiors are heavenly are raised up unto life, but those with whom the interiors are infernal are raised up unto death, and this is what is signified by "they that have done goods shall go forth unto the resurrection of life, but they that have done evils unto the resurrection of judgment."

[14] That this is meant by "going forth out of the tombs or out of the sepulchers" is still more evidently manifest in Ezekiel:

Behold I will open your sepulchers and will cause you to come up out of your sepulchers, O My people, and will bring you upon the land of Israel, that ye may know that I am Jehovah, when I shall have opened your sepulchers and have caused you to come up out of your sepulchers, O My people, and have given My Spirit in you that ye may live, and have placed you upon your own land (Ezekiel 37:12-14).

This treats of the dry bones seen by the prophet upon the faces of the valley; upon these sinews appeared to be stretched and flesh came up, and skin covered them; and when the Spirit of God came into them they lived again and stood upon their feet. That by these bones the whole house of Israel was meant is openly declared in these words:

Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold they say, Our bones are dried up, our hope is perished; as for us we are cut off (Ezekiel 37:11).

This house was likened to "dry bones" because they were in falsities and evils, which have no life because of their non-correspondence with heaven in respect to sinews, flesh, and skin, for "bones" signify truths in the ultimate of order, upon which spiritual truths are based, and "dry bones" signify falsities from evil; this makes clear that "to open the sepulchers and to cause the people to come up out of the sepulchers" signifies to raise up out of falsities from evil, thus from the dead, and to impart truths from good, thus life, which life is "the Spirit of God," from which they lived again; this is what is meant, therefore, by "causing the people to come up out of the sepulchers." The church that is to be formed out of these is signified by "the land of Israel" upon which they shall be placed.

[15] It is related in Matthew:

That after the passion of the Lord the tombs were opened, and many bodies of those that slept coming out of their tombs went into the holy city, and appeared to many (Matthew 27:52, 53).

That "the tombs were opened, and many bodies of them that slept appeared," has a similar signification as above in Ezekiel, where it is said that "Jehovah was to open the sepulchers and cause them to come up out of the sepulchers," namely, the regeneration and resurrection of the faithful unto life; not that the bodies themselves that lay in the tombs rose again, but that there was this appearance, that regeneration and resurrection to life from the Lord might be signified. Furthermore, these same words mean those who in the Word are said "to be bound in the pit," whom the Lord delivered when He had finished the whole work of redemption. For many of the faithful could not be saved until the Lord had come into the world and subjugated the hells; in the meanwhile they were detained in the places called "pits" until the Lord came, but were delivered by the Lord immediately after His coming. These pits were represented also by the "tombs" that were opened, and those who were in them by those that "slept," who after the Lord's resurrection, as it is said, "appeared to many in the holy city;" "the holy city" was Zion and Jerusalem, but by them heaven is meant, to which they were raised up by the Lord, for both Zion and Jerusalem were profane rather than holy. This makes evident what that miracle and that appearance represented and signified.

[16] Since "the land of Canaan" signifies both the church and heaven, and "burial" signifies resurrection into life, so:

Abraham bought of Ephron a field in which was the cave of Machpelah which was before Mamre (Genesis 23:1);

And there Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their wives, were buried (Genesis 23:1; 25:9, 10; 35:29; 49:1; 50:1).

The particulars related concerning that cave, namely, that it was "in the field of Ephron, which was before Mamre," and many others, were significative of resurrection unto life (as may be seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia). For this reason Joseph also commanded:

That his bones should be brought up into the land of Canaan (Genesis 50:24-26);

And this was done (Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32);

and for the reason that "the land of Canaan," as has been said, signified the heavenly Canaan, which is heaven. Because of the representation of resurrection into heaven by burial:

David and the kings after him were buried in Zion (1 Kings 2:10; 11:43; 14:17, 18; 15:8, 24; 22:50; 2 Kings 8:24; 12:21; 14:20; 15:7, 38; 16:20).

This was because "Zion" signified the celestial church and heaven, where the Lord is.

[17] That "burial" signifies resurrection can also be seen from this, that the dead are frequently said to have been "gathered to their fathers," and "to their peoples;" "to their fathers" in Genesis:

Jehovah said to Abraham, Thou shalt come to thy fathers in peace, and shalt be buried in a good old age (Genesis 15:15).

And in the second book of Kings:

Jehovah said of Josiah, king of Judah, Behold I gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy sepulcher in peace (2 Kings 22:20).

Also "to their people" in Genesis:

Abraham expired and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his peoples (Genesis 25:8);

Isaac expired and died, and was gathered to his peoples, an old man and full of days (Genesis 35:29);

Jacob expired and was gathered to his peoples (Genesis 49:33).

"To their fathers" and "to their peoples" mean to their own, that is, to their like in the other life, for everyone after death comes to his like with whom he is to live forever. It cannot mean that they were gathered to their fathers and to their peoples in the sepulcher, for it is also said of Abraham when he died, that he "was gathered to his fathers" and that he was "gathered to his peoples," yet he was buried in a new tomb, where none of his fathers or of his peoples were before him, except Sarah his wife.

[18] In Job:

Thou shalt know that thy tent is peace, and thy children as the herb of the land, thou shalt come in old age unto the sepulcher like the coming up of a heap of corn in its season (Job 5:24-26).

A "tent" signifies in the Word the holiness of worship and the good of love, because Divine worship in most ancient times was performed in tents; and because their worship was from the good of celestial love, a "tent" signifies also that good; and since there is genuine peace in celestial good therefore it is said, "Thou shalt know that thy tent is peace." Truths from that good and their increase are signified by "the children which shall be as the herb of the land," for "sons" and "children" and likewise "the herb of the land" signify truths from good; that when wisdom has been imbibed one shall come into heaven is signified by "thou shalt come in old age into the sepulcher," "old age" signifying wisdom, and "to come into the sepulcher" or "to be buried" signifying resurrection; and as this is the meaning it is added, "like the coming up of a heap of corn in its season. "

[19] From these few passages it may appear that "sepulchers," by reason of the dead bodies and inanimate bones therein, signify things infernal, but that "burial" signifies the rejection of these and consequently resurrection; for when a man rejects or puts off his material body he puts on a spiritual body, with which he rises again. For this reason the very death of man signifies in the spiritual sense the continuation of his life, but in an evil sense it signifies damnation, which is spiritual death. As in respect to man "burial" signifies resurrection and also regeneration, therefore in respect to the Lord it signified the glorification of His Human; for the Lord glorified, that is, made Divine, His entire Human, consequently on the third day He rose again with the Human glorified, that is, made Divine. Unless this had been done, no man could have risen again to life; for man has resurrection unto life solely from the Lord, and indeed from His having united the Divine with His Human, and from this union, or strictly speaking, glorification, man has salvation; this is involved in:

What the Lord said of the woman who poured balsamic ointment upon His head, that she did it unto His burial (Matthew 26:7, 12; Mark 14:8; John 12:7);

for "anointing" signifies that glorification; because from it man has salvation it is said of this woman:

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her (Matthew 26:13).

This, too, was represented by:

The man that was cast into the sepulcher of Elisha, who revived when he touched his bones (2 Kings 13:20, 21).

For "Elisha" represented the Lord in relation to Divine truth, and this constitutes the life of heaven into which man is raised up.

[20] Since "to be buried" and "burial" signify both resuscitation into life and regeneration; so "not to be buried" and "to be dragged out of the tombs" signifies no resurrection to heaven nor regeneration, but resurrection to hell, and accordingly damnation, as in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Thou art cast out of thy sepulcher like an abominable shoot, the vesture of those that are slain, of those thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit, like a carcass trodden down; thou shalt not be united with them in the sepulcher, for thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of the wicked shall not be named forever (Isaiah 14:19, 20).

This is said of the king of Babylon, by whom the profanation of Divine truth is signified; therefore "thou art cast out of thy sepulcher" signifies damnation to hell; "like an abominable shoot, the vesture of those that are slain, of those thrust through with the sword," signifies the falsification of truth and its profanation; "an abominable shoot" means truth falsified, and "the vesture of those that are slain, of those thrust through with the sword," means truth adulterated and utterly destroyed by direful falsities; "that go down to the stones of the pit, like a carcass trodden down," signifies to the hell where the falsities of evil are, "a carcass trodden down" signifying an infernal spirit, with whom everything is spiritually dead because of the total destruction of good; "thou shalt not be united with them in the sepulcher" signifies no consociation with those who rise again to life, for "to be in the sepulcher or to be buried" signifies that resurrection, and on the other hand, "to be cast out of the sepulcher" signifies damnation; "thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people," signifies that the church and those therein who are in truths from good have been destroyed by the falsities of evil; "the seed of the wicked shall not be named forever" signifies eternal dissociation and separation.

[21] In Jeremiah:

Jehovah hath said concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that shall bear them, and concerning their fathers that shall beget them in this land, They shall die of grievous deaths, that they may not be lamented, neither buried; they shall be for dung upon the faces of the earth, or they shall be consumed by the sword or by famine, that their carcass may be for food to the birds of the heavens and to the beast of the earth (Jeremiah 16:3, 4).

This is said of the church vastated in respect to all good and truth; "sons and daughters, and mothers and fathers" do not mean in the spiritual sense sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, but the truths and goods of the church both exterior and interior, "sons and daughters" meaning exterior truths and goods, "mothers and fathers" interior truths and goods; these are called "mothers and fathers" because they beget and bring forth the exterior; "they shall die of grievous deaths, that they may not be lamented, neither buried," signifies condemnation to hell because of direful falsities; "they shall be for dung upon the faces of the earth" signifies infernal filth which is the evil that defiles the good and truth of the church; "to be consumed by the sword or by famine" signifies to be destroyed by falsities and evils; "that their carcass may be for food to the birds of the heavens and to the beast of the earth" signifies consumed and to be yet further consumed by the cupidities of the love of falsity and evil.

[22] In the same:

A tumult cometh even to the end of the earth, for Jehovah hath a controversy against the nations; He shall enter judgment with all flesh, He shall give the wicked to the sword; the slain of Jehovah shall be in that day from the end of the earth even unto the end of the earth, they shall not be lamented nor gathered nor buried, they shall be as dung upon the faces of the earth (Jeremiah 25:31, 33).

This describes the devastation of the church at its end when the Last Judgment takes place. "A tumult even to the end of the earth, for Jehovah hath a controversy against the nations," signifies the dismay of all who are of the church when they are visited and their evils are disclosed, the "earth" meaning the church, "nations" those who are in evils, and in an abstract sense evils, and "the controversy of Jehovah" against them visitation and disclosure.

"He shall enter judgment with all flesh" signifies the universal judgment that takes place at the end of the church; "He shall give the wicked to the sword" signifies that the unfaithful will perish by their falsities; "the slain of Jehovah shall be in that day from the end of the earth even unto the end of the earth" signifies those who perish by falsities of every kind, the "slain of Jehovah" meaning those who perish by falsities, and "from the end of the earth even unto the end of the earth" meaning from first things to last of the church, thus falsities of every kind; "they shall not be lamented nor gathered nor buried" signifies that there will be no more any restoration and salvation, but condemnation, "lamentation" signifying grief because such is the state of man, and "no lamentation" signifying no grief because man is such that there is no restoration; "they shall be for dung upon the faces of the earth" signifies mere falsity and evil with no reception of life from heaven; for if a man receives no life through the truths of faith and the goods of charity he is wholly dead, since he is in mere falsities of evil and evils of falsity, and such are "a carcass and dung upon the faces of the earth."

[23] In the same:

Against prophets that prophesy a lie in the name of Jehovah: The people to whom they prophesy shall be cast in the streets of Jerusalem, because of famine and the sword, and there shall be none to bury them, themselves, their wives, and their sons and their daughters (Jeremiah 14:15, 16).

Here, too, "not to be buried" means not to rise again to life but to damnation the rest may be seen explained above, n. 652. In the same:

In that time they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes, and the bones of his priests and the bones of his prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, from their sepulchers, and they shall spread them to the sun and the moon and all the host of the heavens, which they have loved and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought and to which they have bowed themselves down; they shall not be gathered nor be buried, they shall be as dung upon the faces of the land (Jeremiah 8:1, 2).

"To bring out the bones from the sepulchers" signifies to separate from the peoples, that is from communion with those who are in heaven, to cast out among the damned without, as takes place when the evil enter the societies of the good, and afterwards when discovered are cast out; for those that are buried are said "to be gathered to their peoples" as above of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; therefore "to be brought out of the sepulchers" means to be cast out from them. All who are of the church as well as all things of the church are signified by the "kings, princes, priests, prophets, and inhabitants of Jerusalem," "kings" signifying the truths themselves of the church in the whole complex, "princes" the chief truths, "priests" the goods of doctrine, "prophets" the truths of doctrine, and "the inhabitants of Jerusalem" all things of the church depending thereon.

[24] Here the "bones of those that are to be brought out" signify the falsities and evils which have nothing in common with truths and goods; "to spread them out to the sun, the moon, and all the host of the heavens," signifies to give them over to diabolic loves, and thus to evils and falsities which are from hell; for the "sun" signifies love in both senses, the "moon" faith in both senses derived from that love, and "the host of the heavens" falsities and evils of every kind; so here "to spread out the bones" to these means to wholly give them over to such things, that they may be nothing but loves and cupidities of evil and falsity; "which they have loved, which they have served, after which they have walked, which they have sought and to which they have bowed themselves down," signifies an exterior and interior affection and proneness for such things, and worship therefrom; "they shall not be gathered nor be buried" signifies that they are never to return to the societies of heaven, but will remain with those who are in hell; "they shall be as dung upon the faces of the land" signifies what is dead and unclean, such as is cast out and trodden down.

From this may appear what is signified by the following:

That Josiah the king took the bones out of the sepulchers and burned them upon the altar (2 Kings 23:16);

That the dogs in the field ate Jezebel, and there was none to bury her (2 Kings 9:10);

That Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, ² king of Judah, was buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 22:19).

[25] "To be buried in Topheth," and "in the valley of Hinnom" has a like signification in Jeremiah:

Behold the days come that it shall no more be said Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter; and they shall bury in Topheth till there is no place, and the carcass of this people shall be for food to the bird of the heavens and to the beast of the earth, and none shall frighten them away (Jeremiah 7:32, 33);

and in the same:

I will break this people and this city as the vessel of a potter is broken, which cannot be repaired anymore; and they shall bury in Topheth, because there will be no place for burying, and I will make this city as Topheth (Jeremiah 19:11, 12).

"Topheth" and "the valley of Hinnom" signify the hells, "Topheth" the hell at the back, which is called "the devil," and the "valley of Hinnom" the hell in front, which is called "Satan;" for in the city of Jerusalem and outside of it all places corresponded to places in the spiritual world; for in that world the dwelling places are according to Divine order; in the middle are those who are in the greatest light or wisdom, in the borders those who are in the least, to the east and west those who are in love, to the south and north those who are in intelligence; such is the arrangement of the whole heaven, and such it is in every society there, such in every city, and likewise also in every house, and this because the lesser forms in the heavens are all likenesses of the greatest form; and as "Jerusalem" signified heaven and the church in respect to doctrine, therefore also the places there were representative according to their quarters and distances from the temple and from Zion. This is why "Topheth" and "the valley of Hinnom," being most unclean and abominably idolatrous places, represented and thence signified the hells. Thence it appears what "burying in Topheth" and "in the valley of Hinnom" signifies.

Poznámky pod čarou:

653. Which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, signifies through the evils of the love of self and the falsities therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "Sodom," as being the love of self and evils of every kind therefrom (of which presently); also from the signification of "Egypt," as being the natural man separated from the spiritual, and falsity of evil of every kind therefrom (of which also presently). Evidently "Sodom and Egypt" mean Jerusalem, and thus the church, in which the goods of love are adulterated and the truths of doctrine are falsified, for it is next said "where also our Lord was crucified;" for the evils of the love of self and the falsities of doctrine are what crucify the Lord, therefore He was crucified by the Jews, because they were in those evils and falsities; but of this more hereafter.

[2] First let it be shown here that "Sodom" signifies in the Word the love of self, and thence every evil; for evils of every kind flow forth from the love of self; since he who loves himself only loves what is his own [proprium], and therefore immerses all things of his will and his understanding in what is his own [proprium], even so that it is impossible for him to be elevated from it to heaven and to the Lord; consequently he sees nothing from the light of heaven, but solely from the light of the world, which light, separated from the light of heaven, is mere darkness in spiritual things, which are the things of heaven and the church; and for this reason also the more a man loves himself the more he despises, yea, denies spiritual things. In consequence also of this the internal spiritual mind, by which man is in the light of heaven, is closed up, and this causes the man to be merely natural, and the merely natural man is inclined to evils of every kind. For the evils into which man is born have their seat in the natural man, and these are removed from him only to the extent in which his interior mind, which receives the light of heaven, is opened; moreover, what is man's own [proprium] has its seat in the natural man, and what is man's own [proprium] is nothing but evil.

[3] That "Sodom" therefore signifies the love of self, and thus evils of every kind, can be seen from the passages in the Word where "Sodom" is mentioned; as in the following. In Ezekiel:

Thy elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters dwelling at thy left hand; but thy younger sister, dwelling at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters; thou hast corrupted thyself more than they in all thy ways; Sodom thy sister hath not done, she and her daughters, as thou hast done and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of Sodom, pride, satiety of bread, and tranquillity of quiet was hers and her daughters, and she strengthened not the hand of the afflicted and needy; therefore they became lofty, and committed abomination before Me (Ezekiel 16:46-50).

This treats of the abominations of Jerusalem, which were chiefly that they adulterated the goods and truths of the Word and of the church; "Samaria," where the Israelites were, signifies the spiritual church, in which spiritual good, which is the good of charity towards the neighbor, is the essential; but "Jerusalem," where the Jews were, signifies the celestial church, in which celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord, is the essential. For there are two kingdoms into which heaven and thence the church is divided, the spiritual kingdom and the celestial kingdom (respecting these kingdoms see in the work on Heaven and Hell 20-28). These kingdoms were represented by the Israelites whose metropolis was Samaria, and by the Jews whose metropolis was Jerusalem.

[4] Spiritual good, which is the good of charity toward the neighbor, is the opposite of infernal evil, which is the evil of the love of the world; and celestial good is the opposite of diabolical evil, which is the evil of the love of self. From the love of self flow forth evils of all kinds, and much worse than those from love of the world (See the New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, n. 65-83). This is why more direful and abominable things are related of Jerusalem than of Samaria; and this is why Jerusalem is not only called "Sodom," but it is said that she did worse things than Sodom, as it is here said "Sodom hath not done as thou hast done and thy daughters." That the evil of the love of self was the evil of Sodom, is thus declared, "This was the iniquity of Sodom, pride, satiety of bread, tranquillity of quiet, and she strengthened not the hand of the afflicted and needy," "pride" meaning the love of self, "satiety of bread," the contempt of all good and truth of heaven and the church, even to loathing of them, "tranquillity of quiet," security and no anxiety on account of any evil; and "not strengthening the hands of the afflicted and needy" signifies unmercifulness. Because the love of self was the love of Sodom it is said that her daughters "became lofty and committed abomination before Jehovah," the "daughters" that became lofty signifying the cupidities of that love, and the "abomination before Jehovah" signifying every evil against the Divine Itself.

[5] Because the "Chaldeans" signify the profanation and adulteration of the truth of doctrine from the Word, and "the inhabitants of Babylon" the profanation and adulteration of the good of love, therefore the overthrow of these is also compared to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Jeremiah:

A sword against the Chaldeans, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, according to God's overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities thereof, not a man shall dwell there, nor shall a son of man sojourn therein (Jeremiah 50:35, 40).

And in Isaiah:

So shall Babylon, the ornament of kingdoms, the splendor of the magnificence of the Chaldeans, be as God's overthrowing Sodom and Gomorrah (Isaiah 13:19).

"Sodom" signifies the evil of the love of self, and "Gomorrah" the falsity of that love; and as the love of self does not acknowledge any truth of the church, it is said, "not a man shall dwell there, nor shall a son of man sojourn therein," "man" signifying intelligence, and "son of man," the truth of the church.

[6] Because "Edom" signifies the natural man, who is in falsities from the love of self, and therefore adulterates the goods of the church, her vastation is compared to the overthrowing of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Jeremiah:

Edom shall be a desolation, as the overthrowing of Sodom and Gomorrah, no man [vir] shall dwell there, neither shall a son of man sojourn therein (Jeremiah 49:17, 18).

In Zephaniah:

Moab shall be as Sodom, and the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah, a place abandoned to nettles, and a pit of salt, a waste forever (Zephaniah 2:9).

"Moab," as has been said, means the natural man, who from the love of self adulterates the goods of the church, and "the sons of Ammon" mean those who falsify the truths of the church; and as thence is the devastation of all good and truth it is said, "a place abandoned to nettles, and a pit of salt, a waste forever;" the devastation of all good is signified by "a place of nettles," and the devastation of all truth, by "a pit of salt;" like things are signified by "Sodom and Gomorrah."

[7] Because "Judah" signifies celestial love, which is love to the Lord, from which is all good, and in the contrary sense diabolical love, which is the love of self, from which is all evil, the devastation of the church, which is signified by "Judah and Jerusalem," is also compared to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Isaiah:

Jerusalem hath stumbled, and Judah hath fallen; the hardening of their faces doth witness against them, and their sin is as Sodom's (Isaiah 3:8, 9).

Hear the word of Jehovah, ye princes of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:10). "The Word of Jehovah" means Divine good, and "the law of God" Divine truth, for where good is treated of the name "Jehovah" is used, but where truth is treated of the name "God" is used; and as Divine good, to those who are in the love of self, is evil, it is said "their sin is as Sodom's," and "hear the Word of Jehovah, ye princes of Sodom;" and as Divine truth to those who are in the evil of the love of self is falsity, it is said, "give ear to the law of God, ye people of Gomorrah."

[8] In Moses:

Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and their grapes are of the field of Gomorrah, grapes of gall, their clusters are of bitterness (Deuteronomy 32:32).

This is said of the direful falsities that exist with the posterity of Jacob, springing from the evils of the love of self. But this is explained above n. 519. In Lamentations:

They that did eat delicacies are laid waste in the streets, they that were brought up in crimson have embraced dunghills; the iniquity of My people is become greater than the sin of Sodom, that was overturned as in a moment (Lamentations 4:5, 6).

This is said of those who are of the Lord's celestial kingdom and church when they are changed into the opposite, for it is celestial love that is turned into the love of self, which is a diabolical love; of those who have been so changed the above is said. What is signified by "eating delicacies," "brought up in crimson," "laid waste in the streets," and "embracing dung-hills," has been explained in the article above n. 652. It is said that their iniquity "is become greater than the sin of Sodom," because they had the Word, from which they could know the truths and goods of heaven and the church, or of doctrine and life, and adulterated them, and this the inhabitants of Sodom could not do; for he who knows the will of the Lord and does it not, sins more than he who does not know it. Moreover, all those with whom the love of self is dominant despise the holy things of heaven and the church, and deny the Divine of the Lord; and to confirm the evils flowing forth from that love they either adulterate the Word or reject it as a writing that is holy only from having been so accepted. Those, therefore, who do this from the love of self are compared to Sodom and Gomorrah.

[9] That those who are taught by the Lord respecting the truths and goods of the church, and yet reject and deny them, do worse than those in Sodom, is evident from the Lord's words respecting Capernaum, in Matthew:

Thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down unto hell; for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee it would have remained until this day; I say unto thee ¹ that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee ¹ (Matthew 11:23, 24).

For the Lord after He left Nazareth abode in Capernaum (Matthew 4:13).

And there did miracles (Matthew 8:5-14; 4:46-54 to the end).

Like things were said by the Lord of the cities in which the disciples preached His coming or the Gospel and were not received. As in these words in Matthew:

Whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words, when ye go forth out of that house or city shake off the dust of your feet; verily I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city (Matthew 10:14, 15; Mark 6:11; Luke 10:10-12).

For no one rejects the holy things of the church and denies the Divine of the Lord more interiorly than those do who are in the love of self; those who are in the love of the world and in the evils therefrom may reject the holy things of the church, but not so interiorly, that is, from the confirmation of the heart.

[10] Like things are said of the prophets and the people who adulterate the truths and goods of the Word to confirm evils and falsities. In Jeremiah:

In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible stubbornness, in adulterating and walking in a lie, while they have strengthened the hands of the evil that no man doth return from his wickedness; they are become to Me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah (Jeremiah 23:14).

By "prophets" here those are meant who teach the truths and goods of doctrine, and in an abstract sense, which is the genuine spiritual sense, doctrine from the Word is meant, thus also the Word in respect to doctrine, therefore "a horrible stubbornness" signifies confirmation of heart against the truths and goods of the Word; "to adulterate and walk in a lie" signifies to pervert the goods and truths of the Word; "to adulterate" signifies to pervert the goods of the Word by evils and falsities, a "lie" means falsity, and "to walk in a lie" means to live in falsities. "To strengthen the hands of the evil" signifies to confirm evils and thence their power over goods; and "no man doth return from his wickedness" signifies to persist in the evils and falsities of doctrine; therefore it is said "they are become as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah," "as Sodom" signifying to be in evils springing from the love of self, and "the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah" signifying an evil life from the falsities of doctrine.

[11] The evil that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah is described as follows in Moses:

That they wished to offer violence to the angels, and were therefore smitten with blindness, so that they could not find the door where the angels were; and that therefore Jehovah caused brimstone and fire to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and overthrew those cities and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which sprang up from the ground (Genesis 19:1-28).

"Their wishing to offer violence to the angels" means to Divine good and Divine truth, for these are signified by "angels;" the "blindness" with which they were smitten so that they could not find the door signified the complete rejection and denial of the Divine and of the holy things of heaven and the church, even so far as to be unable to see and acknowledge anything of heaven or the church, which is signified by "not finding the door" where the angels were; "brimstone" signifies the lust of destroying the goods and truths of the church by falsities, and "fire" signifies the love of self and every evil that destroys, here the destruction of goods and truths.

[12] That "Sodom and Gomorrah" mean all evils and falsities flowing forth from the love of self has been told me from heaven; for when they who are in evils from that love perish, which occurred at the time of the Last Judgment, there was an appearance of brimstone and fire raining down from heaven; this I also witnessed. That this would occur at the time of the Last Judgment was also predicted by the Lord in Luke:

Likewise even as it came to pass in the days of Lot, on the day that he went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all; after the same manner shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed (Luke 17:28-30).

[13] Because those who from the love of self confirm themselves by means of falsities in evils against the truths and goods of heaven and the church, completely root out with themselves every truth of doctrine and of the Word and every good of spiritual and celestial love, there takes place in them a total vastation, which is thus described in Moses:

The whole land shall be brimstone and salt, a burning; it shall not be sown, neither shall it spring forth, nor shall any herb come up thereon, according to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim (Deuteronomy 29:23).

"Brimstone" signifies the vastation of all good by lusts from evils; "salt" signifies the vastation of all truth by falsities from those lusts; "the burning of the whole land" signifies the devastation of the church by the love of self; "it shall not be sown, neither spring forth, nor shall any herb come up thereon," signifies that there will be no capacity whatever to receive the truth of the church, "herb" signifying the truth of the church when it first springs forth. And because such is the devastation of good and truth from the love of self it is said, "like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim," "Admah and Zeboiim" signifying the knowledges of evil and falsity. That such things are to occur at the time of the Last Judgment is what is signified by "in the day when the Son of man is revealed."

Poznámky pod čarou: