709. And upon her head a crown of twelve stars.- That this signifies the wisdom and intelligence of those of that church through doctrinals and the knowledges of all things of truth and good from the Word, is evident from the signification of the head, as denoting wisdom and intelligence (concerning which see above, n. 553, 577), here of those who are of that church which is signified by the woman encompassed with the sun, and the moon under her feet; from the signification of a crown, as also denoting wisdom and intelligence (concerning which also see above, n. 126, 218, 272); from the signification of stars, as denoting doctrinals and knowledges of truth and good from the Word (see n. 72, 402, 535); and from the signification of twelve, as denoting all things, and as being said of truths and goods (see n. 430). It is therefore evident that the crown of twelve stars upon the head of the woman signifies the wisdom and intelligence through doctrinals and the knowledges of all things pertaining to truth and good from the Word of those who are of that church. This is said of the woman after she was described as encompassed with the sun and the moon under her feet, because the sun signifies celestial and spiritual love, and the moon, the faith of charity, and from these all wisdom and intelligence flow forth. For from the Lord as the Sun proceed heat and light, and heat is the good of love, and light is truth from that good, and these two constitute wisdom and intelligence with angels and men, for the good of love enters their will, and the truth from that good enters their understanding, and wisdom resides in the will and understanding together.

4736. 'Throw him into [this] pit in the wilderness' means that for the time being they should conceal it among their falsities, that is, that they should consider it a falsehood but nevertheless keep it because it is of importance to the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'the pit' as falsities, dealt with above in 4728, and from the meaning of 'the wilderness' as a place where there is no truth; for 'wilderness' has a wide range of meanings. It is a place that is uninhabited and so uncultivated, and when used to refer to the Church means a place where there is no good and consequently no truth, 2708, 3900. Thus 'the pit in the wilderness' is used here to mean falsities among which no truth is present because no good is there.

[2] The expression 'no truth is present because no good is there' is used for the reason that if a person believes that faith saves without works, truth may indeed exist. Even so, it is not truth residing with him, because it does not look to good nor is it rooted in good. This truth is not a living one because it contains a false premise, and therefore when a truth of this kind exists with that person it is nothing but a falsehood based on the false premise that reigns within it. That premise may be likened to the soul from which all else has its life. On the other hand falsities can exist which are accepted as truths if good lies within them, especially if it is the good of innocence, as with gentiles and even with many within the Church.