573. Verse 16. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two myriads of myriads, signifies that the falsities of evil from which and in favor of which they reason and which conspire against the truths of good, are innumerable. This is evident from the signification of "armies," as meaning the falsities of evil (of which presently); and from the signification of "horsemen," as being the reasonings therefrom, for "horses" signify the understanding of truth, and in the contrary sense the understanding perverted and destroyed (See above, n. 355, 364, 372, 373, 381, 382); so "horsemen" in this sense signify the reasonings from falsities, since reasonings from falsities are from the understanding perverted and destroyed, for truths constitute the understanding, but falsities destroy it. The above is evident also from the signification of "two myriads of myriads," as being innumerable falsities conspiring against truths of good (that "myriads" signify things innumerable, and are predicated of truths, see above, n. 336, and it is said "two myriads of myriads" because this signifies things innumerable that are conjoined and conspire; for the number "two" signifies conjunction, concord, and conspiracy (See above, n. 283, 384). It means against the truths of good, because what follows treats of the destruction of truths by the armies of such horsemen. From this it can be seen that "the number of the armies of the horsemen was two myriads of myriads" signifies that the falsities of evil from which and in favor of which they reason, and which conspire against the truths of good, are innumerable.

[2] "Armies" (or hosts) are frequently mentioned in the Word, and the Lord is called "Jehovah of Hosts or Zebaoth," and "armies" there signify truths from good fighting against the falsities from evil, and in the contrary sense falsities from evil fighting against truths from good. Such is the signification of "armies" in the Word, because "wars" in the Word, both in the histories and prophecies, signify, in the internal sense spiritual wars, which are waged against hell and against the diabolical crew there, and such wars have relation to truths and goods opposing falsities and evils; this is why "armies" signify all truths from good, and in the contrary sense all falsities from evil. That "armies" signify all truths from good is evident from the sun, moon, stars, and also the angels, being called "the armies of Jehovah," because they signify all truths from good in the complex; also from the sons of Israel being called "armies," because they signified the truths and goods of the church. And as all truths and goods are from the Lord, and the Lord alone fights for all in heaven and for all in the church against the falsities and evils which are from hell, so He is called "Jehovah Zebaoth," that is, "Jehovah of Hosts."

[3] That the sun, the moon, and the stars, are called "hosts" is evident from the following passages. In Moses:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them (Genesis 2:1).

In David:

By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth (Psalms 33:6).

In the same:

Praise ye Jehovah, all His angels; praise ye Him, all His hosts; praise ye Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all ye stars of light (Psalms 148:2, 3).

In Isaiah:

And all the host of the heavens shall waste away, and the heavens shall be rolled up as a scroll; and all their hosts shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as that which falleth from the fig-tree (Isaiah 34:4).

I have made the earth, and created man upon it; My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded (Isaiah 45:12).

In the same:

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, who leadeth out their host in number, who calleth them all by name (Isaiah 40:26).

In Jeremiah:

As the host of the heavens is not numbered, and the sand of the sea is not measured (Jeremiah 33:22).

In these passages, the sun, moon, and stars, are called a "host" because the "sun" signifies the good of love, the "moon," truth from good, and the "stars" the knowledges of truth and good, consequently they signify goods and truths in the whole complex, and these are called a "host" because they resist evils and falsities, and perpetually conquer them as enemies.

[4] In Daniel:

One horn of the he-goat waxed great even to the host of the heavens; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the earth, and trampled upon them. Yea, it magnified itself even to the Prince of the Host; and the continual offering was taken away from him, and the dwelling place of his sanctuary was cast down. And the host was given to the continual offering for transgression, because it cast down the truth to the earth. Then one holy one said, How long shall be the vision, the continual offering, and the wasting transgression, that the holy place and the host be given to be trodden down? And he said, Even to the evening, the morning (Daniel 8:10-14).

What is here signified by the "he-goat," "his horns," and this "horn that waxed great even to the host of the heavens," may be seen above (n. 316, 336, 535). "The host of the heavens, some of which it cast down to the earth," means the truths and goods of heaven; for the last state of the church, when the truths and goods of heaven are esteemed as of no account, and rejected, is here treated of, and this is signified by "treading them down;" therefore it is added, "it cast down truth to the earth." "The Prince of the Host" means the Lord, who is also called "Jehovah God Zebaoth" (or of Hosts). That all worship from the good of love and from the truths of faith would perish is signified by "the continual offering was taken away from him, and the dwelling place of his sanctuary was cast down." That this would come to pass in the end of the church, when the Lord would come into the world, is signified by "even to the evening, the morning," "evening" signifying the last time of the old church, and "morning" the first time of the new church.

[5] That the angels are called "hosts" is evident from the following passages. In Joel:

Jehovah uttered His voice before His host; for His camp was very great (Joel 2:11).

In Zechariah:

I will set a camp for my house from my host, because of him that passeth away and of him that returneth, that no exactor may again pass through over them (Zechariah 9:8).

In David:

Bless ye Jehovah, all ye His hosts, ye ministers of His that do His will (Psalms 103:21).

In the first book of Kings:

Micaiah the prophet said to the king, I saw Jehovah sitting on His throne, and the whole host of the heavens standing beside Him on His right hand and on His left. And one said in this manner, and another said in that manner (1 Kings 22:19, 20).

In Revelation:

His hosts in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean (Revelation 19:14).

And again:

I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their hosts gathered together to make war with Him that sat on the white horse, and with His hosts (Revelation 19:19).

The angels gathered together, or a company of them, is called "a host," because "the angels," the same as "hosts" signify Divine truths and goods, because they are recipients of these from the Lord (about which see above, n. 130, 200, 302).

[6] For the same reason the sons of Israel, because they signify the truths and goods of the church, are called "hosts," as in the following passages. In Moses:

Jehovah said, Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts (Exodus 6:26).

In the same:

I will bring forth My host, My people, the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments (Exodus 7:4; 12:17).

In the same:

It came to pass on that very day that all the hosts of Jehovah went forth from the land of Egypt (Exodus 12:41).

In the same:

Thou shalt number all that go forth into the host (Numbers 1:3, et seq .).

They were to pitch about the Tent of meeting, and were also to go forth according to their hosts (Numbers 2:3, 9, 16, 24).

The Levites were to be taken to perform the warfare, to do the work in the Tent of meeting (Numbers 4:3, 23, 30, 39).

The sons of Israel were called the "hosts of Jehovah" because they represented the church, and signified all its truths and goods (as can be seen in Arcana Coelestia 5414, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833, 5879, 5951, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223, 7957, 8234, 8805, 9340). They were called "hosts," in the plural, because each tribe was called a "host," as can be seen in Moses, when it was commanded him to number them all according to their hosts, and they were numbered according to their tribes (Numbers 1, Numbers 3, et seq.); likewise when the camp was pitched about the Tent of meeting according to the tribes, it is said "according to their hosts" (Numbers 2:3, 9, et seq.). The tribes were called "hosts" because the twelve tribes taken together represented all the truths and goods of the church, and each tribe some universal essential of the church (See above, n. 431).

[7] From this it can be seen that the truths and goods of heaven and the church are meant in the Word by "hosts;" which makes clear why it is that Jehovah is called in the Word "Jehovah Zebaoth," and "Jehovah God Zebaoth," that is, "of hosts" (as in Isaiah 1:9, 24; 2:12; 3:1, 15; 5:7, 9, 16, 24; 6:3, 5; 8:13, 18; 14:22, 23, 24, 27; 17:3; 25:6; 28:5, 22, 29; 29:6; 31:4, 5; 37:16; Jeremiah 5:14; 38:17; 44:7; Amos 5:16; Haggai 1:9, 14; 2:4, 8, 23; Zechariah 1:3; Malachi 2:12, and various other places).

[8] From this it is now evident that "hosts" signify the truths and goods of heaven and the church in the whole complex; and as most things in the Word have also a contrary sense, so do "hosts," and in that sense they signify falsities and evils in their whole complex, as in the following passages in Jeremiah:

Upon the roofs of the houses they have burned incense unto all the host of the heavens, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods (Jeremiah 19:13).

In Zephaniah:

They worship upon the roofs the host of the heavens (Zephaniah 1:5).

In Moses:

Lest thou bow thyself down to and serve the sun and the moon and the stars, and all the host of the heavens (Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3).

In Jeremiah:

They shall spread out the bones taken from the graves before the sun and the moon and all the host of the heavens, whom they have loved and whom they have served (Jeremiah 8:2).

Here "the host of the heavens" means the sun, moon, and stars, because these signify all goods and truths in the complex, but here all evils and falsities in the complex; for the "sun" in the contrary sense, as here, signifies all the evil flowing from the love of self, the "moon" the falsity of faith, and the "stars" falsities in general (that the "sun, moon, and stars," in the natural world, when they are worshiped instead of the sun and moon of the angelic heaven, signify direful evils and falsities, may be seen in the work Heaven and Hell 122, 123; as also above, n. 401, 402, 525); and because truths from good fight against the falsities from evil, and reversely the falsities from evil fight against the truths from good, they are called "hosts;" for there is continual combat; evils and falsities continually exhale from the hells, and endeavor to destroy the truths from good that are in heaven and from heaven, and these continually resist. For everywhere in the spiritual world there is an equilibrium between heaven and hell; and where there is an equilibrium, there two forces continually act against each other; one acts and the other reacts, and continual action and reaction is continual combat; but equilibrium is provided by the Lord (on this see the work on Heaven and Hell 589-596, 597-603). And as there is such continual combat between heaven and hell, therefore as all things of heaven are called "hosts," so are all things of hell; all things of heaven have reference to goods and truths, and all things of hell to evils and falsities.

[9] This then is why "hosts" in the following passages signify the falsities of evil. In Isaiah:

The anger of Jehovah is against all nations, and His wrath against all their host; He hath devoted them, He hath given them to the slaughter (Isaiah 34:2).

"Nations" signify evils, and "host" the falsities from evil; their total destruction is signified by "He hath devoted and hath given to the slaughter."

[10] In the same:

The voice of the multitude in the mountains like as of a great people; the voice of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together; Jehovah of Hosts leadeth the host (Isaiah 13:4).

"The voice of a multitude in the mountains" signifies falsities from evils, "the multitude" meaning falsities, and "the mountains" evils; "like as of a great people" signifies appearing to be truth from good, "like as" meaning appearance, "people" those who are in truths, thus truths, and "great" is predicated of good; "the voice of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together" signifies discord in the church arising from evils and falsities therefrom, "the voice of a tumult" signifying discord, "kingdoms" the churches in respect to truths and as to falsities, and "nations gathered together" in respect to evils and falsities therefrom conspiring against the truths and goods of the church; "Jehovah of Hosts leadeth the host" signifies that the Lord does this, for this is attributed to the Lord, as is evident from the next verse, the fifth, where it is said, "Jehovah cometh with the weapons of His anger to destroy the whole land." This is attributed to the Lord just as evil, the punishment of evil, and the destruction of the church are attributed to Him elsewhere, because such is the appearance, and the sense of the letter of the Word is in accordance with appearances; but in the spiritual sense this means that the man of the church himself does this.

[11] In Jeremiah:

Spare ye not her young men; give to the curse all her host (Jeremiah 51:3).

This is said of Babylon; and "Spare not her young men" signifies the destruction of confirmed falsities; "give to the curse all her host" signifies the total destruction of falsities from the evils that are in her, thus the destruction of Babylon. The falsities from evil are signified also by:

The army of the Chaldeans, and the army of Pharaoh (Jeremiah 37:7, 10, 11, et seq.);

and in Moses:

The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, with the whole army of Pharaoh (Exodus 14:28; 15:4).

(This may be seen explained above, n. 355; and in Arcana Coelestia 8230, 8275.)

[12] In Daniel:

The king of the north shall return and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and at the end of the times of the years he shall come with a great army and with great riches. And he shall stir up his powers and his heart against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall engage in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army, but he shall not stand (Daniel 11:13, 25).

This chapter treats of the war between the king of the north and the king of the south, and "the king of the north" means those within the church who are in the falsities of evil, and "the king of the south" those who are in the truths of good; collision and combat at the end of the church are described in the spiritual sense by their war; therefore "the army of the king of the north" means falsities of every kind, and "the army of the king of the south" truths of every kind.

[13] In Luke:

When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her devastation is nigh (Luke 21:20).

In this chapter the Lord speaks of the consummation of the age, which means the last time of the church; "Jerusalem" means the church in respect to doctrine; and "compassed with armies" means the church taken possession of by falsities; that then comes its destruction, and presently the Last Judgment, is signified by "then her devastation is nigh." It is believed that this was said of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, but from the particulars of the chapter it is clear that it treats of the destruction of the church at its end; as also does Matthew, chap. 24 from the first verse to the last (all things of which are explained in the Arcana Coelestia). But this does not preclude the application of the sense of the letter of these words to the destruction of Jerusalem, that destruction representing and thence signifying the destruction of the church at its end; this is confirmed by all the particulars in the chapter regarded in the spiritual sense.

[14] In David:

God hath cast us off and confounded us; He hath not gone forth in our armies. He hath made us to turn back from the adversary (Psalms 44:9, 10).

"God hath not gone forth in our armies" signifies that He did not defend them, because they were in the falsities of evil, for "armies" mean the falsities of evil; therefore it is also said "He hath cast us off and confounded us, and hath made us to turn back from the adversary," "the adversary" meaning evil which is from hell.

[15] In Joel:

I will recompense to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm and the caterpillar and the palmer-worm, My great army which I sent among you (Joel 2:25).

That an "army" signifies falsities and evils of every kind is plainly evident, since these noxious little animals, "the locust, the cankerworm, the caterpillar, and the palmerworm," signify falsities and evils that devastate or consume the truths and goods of the church (See above, n. 543), where this passage is explained, and it is shown that the "locust and caterpillar" signify the falsities [and evils] of the sensual man. ) This makes clear what "army" signifies in the Word in both senses. "Army" has the same signification in the histories of the Word, for these contain a spiritual sense as well as the prophecies, but it shines forth from them less clearly, because the mind, when intent on the historical meaning, cannot easily be raised above the worldly things in the history and see the spiritual things that are stored up in them.

655. Where also our Lord was crucified, signifies by which, namely, by the evils and the falsities therefrom springing from infernal love, He was rejected and condemned. This is evident from this, that evils themselves and their falsities springing from infernal love are what reject and condemn the Lord. These evils and the falsities thence are signified by "Sodom and Egypt," therefore it is said of the city Jerusalem that it is thus "called spiritually," for "to be called spiritually Sodom and Egypt" signifies evil itself, and the falsity therefrom.

[2] The hells are divided into two kingdoms, over against the two kingdoms in the heavens; the kingdom over against the celestial kingdom is at the back, and those who are in it are called genii; this kingdom is what is meant in the Word by "devil;" but the kingdom that is over against the spiritual kingdom is in front, and those who are in it are called evil spirits; this kingdom is what is meant in the Word by "Satan." These hells, or these two kingdoms into which the hells are divided, are meant by "Sodom and Egypt." Whether it is said evils and the falsities therefrom, or these hells, it is the same, since from these all evils and all falsities therefrom ascend.

[3] That the Jews who were at Jerusalem crucified the Lord means that He was crucified by the evils and falsities therefrom which they loved; for all things recorded in the Word respecting the Lord's passion represented the perverted state of the church with that nation. For although they accounted the Word holy, yet by their traditions they perverted all things therein until there was no longer any Divine good or truth remaining with them, and when Divine good and Divine truth, which are in the Word, no longer remain, evils and falsities from infernal love succeed in their place, and these are what crucify the Lord. (That such things are signified by the Lord's passion may be seen above, n. 83, 195, 627. That the Lord is said "to be slain" signifies that he was rejected and denied, see above, n. 328; and that the Jews were such, see above, n. 122, 433, 619; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n.248.)

[4] As it is here said "where our Lord was crucified," it shall be told what "crucifixion" (or hanging upon wood) signified with the Jews. They had two modes of capital punishment, crucifixion and stoning; and "crucifixion" signified a condemnation and curse because of the destruction of good in the church, and "stoning" signified a condemnation and curse because of the destruction of truth in the church. "Crucifixion" signified a condemnation and curse because of the destruction of good in the church, for the reason that "wood," upon which they were hung, signified good, and in the contrary sense evil, both pertaining to the will; and "stoning" signified a condemnation and curse because of the destruction of truth in the church, for the reason that "the stone," with which they were stoned, signified truth, and in the contrary sense falsity, both pertaining to the understanding; for all things instituted with the Israelitish and Jewish nation were representative, and thence significative. (That "wood" signifies good, and in the contrary sense evil, and that a "stone" signifies truth, and in the contrary sense falsity, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 643[1-4], 3720, 8354.) But as it has not been known heretofore why the Jews and Israelites had the punishment of the cross and the punishment of stoning, and it is important that it should be known, I will cite some confirmations from the Word to show that these two punishments were representative.

[5] That "hanging upon wood" or "crucifixion" was inflicted because of the destruction of good in the church, and that it thus represented the evil of infernal love, whence arises a condemnation and curse, can be seen from the following passages. In Moses:

If there be a stubborn and rebellious son, obeying not the voice of his father or mother, all the men of the city shall stone him with stones that he may die. And if there be in a man a crime and judgment of death, and he be put to death, thou shalt hang him upon wood; his carcass shall not remain overnight upon the wood, but burying thou shalt bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is a curse of God, and thou shalt not defile thy land (Deuteronomy 21:18, 20-23).

"Not obeying the voice of father or mother" signifies in the spiritual sense to live contrary to the precepts and truths of the church, therefore the penalty for it was stoning; "the men of the city who were to stone him" signify those who are in the doctrine of the church, "city" signifying doctrine. "If there be in a man a crime, a judgment of death, thou shalt hang him upon wood" signifies if one has done evil against the good of the Word and of the church; because this was a capital crime he was to be hung upon wood, for in the Word "wood" signifies good, and in the contrary sense evil; "his carcass shall not remain overnight upon the wood, but thou shalt bury him the same day," signifies lest there be a representative of eternal damnation; "thou shalt not defile thy land" signifies that this would be a cause of offense to the church.

[6] In Lamentations:

Our skins are become black like an oven because of the tempests of famine; they ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah; their princes were hanged up by the hand, the faces of the elders are not honored, the young men they have led away to grind, and the boys stumble under the wood (Lamentations 5:10-13).

"Zion" means the celestial church, which is in the good of love to the Lord, which church the Jewish nation represented; "the virgins in the cities of Judah" signify the affections of truth from the good of love; "their princes were hanged up by the hand" signifies that truths from good were destroyed by falsities from evil; "the faces of the elders that were not honored" signify the goods of wisdom; "the young men who were led away to grind" signify the truths from good, "to grind" signifying to acquire falsities and to confirm them from the Word; "the boys stumble under the wood" signifies newborn goods perishing through evils.

[7] A "baker" as also "bread" signifies the good of love, and a "butler" as also "wine," the truth of doctrine, therefore:

The baker was hanged on account of his crime against king Pharaoh (Genesis 40:19-22; 41:13).

This may be seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia 5139-5169). Because "Moab" means those who adulterate the goods of the church, and "Baal-peor" signifies the adulteration of good, it came to pass that:

All the chiefs of the people were hung up before the sun, because the people committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab and bowed themselves down to their gods, and joined themselves to Baal-peor (Numbers 25:1-4).

"To commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab" signifies to adulterate the goods of the church; and "to be hung up before the sun" signifies a condemnation and curse because of the destruction of the good of the church.

[8] Because "Ai" signifies the knowledges of good, and in the contrary sense the confirmations of evil:

The king of Ai was hanged on wood, and afterwards thrown down at the entrance of the gate of the city, and the city itself was burned (Joshua 8:26-29).

And because "the five kings of the Amorites" signified evils and falsities therefrom destroying the goods and truths of the church,

Those kings were hanged by Joshua, and afterwards cast into the cave of Makkedah (Joshua 10:26, 27);

"the cave of Makkedah" signifying direful falsity from evil.

[9] Again, "to be hung upon wood or to be crucified" signifies the punishment of evil that destroys the good of the church, in Matthew:

Jesus said, I send unto you prophets, wise men, and scribes; and some of them shall ye kill, crucify, and scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city (Matthew 23:34).

All things the Lord spoke He spoke from the Divine, but the Divine things from which he spoke fell into the ideas of natural thought and consequent expressions according to correspondences, like these here and elsewhere in the Gospels; and as all the words have a spiritual sense, so in that sense prophets, wise men, and scribes, are not here meant, but instead of them the truth and good of doctrine and of the Word; for spiritual thought and speech therefrom, like that of angels, is without the idea of person; so a "prophet" signifies the truth of doctrine, "wise men" the good of doctrine, and "scribes" the Word from which is doctrine; from this it follows that "to kill" has reference to the truth of the doctrine of the church, which is meant by a "prophet;" "to crucify" has reference to the good of doctrine, which is meant by "a wise man," and "to scourge" has reference to the Word, which is meant by a "scribe;" thus "to kill" signifies to extinguish, "to crucify" to destroy, and "to scourge" to pervert. That they will wander from one falsity of doctrine into another is signified by "persecuting them from city to city," "city" signifying doctrine. This is the spiritual sense of these words.

[10] In the same:

Jesus said to the disciples that He must suffer at Jerusalem, and that the Son of man shall be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they shall condemn Him, and deliver Him up to the Gentiles to be mocked, to be scourged, and to be crucified; and the third day He shall rise again (Matthew 20:18, 19; Mark 10:32-34).

The spiritual sense of these words is that Divine truth, in the church where mere falsities of doctrine and evils of life reign, shall be blasphemed, its truth shall be perverted, and its good destroyed. "The Son of man" signifies Divine truth, which is the Word, and "Jerusalem" signifies the church where mere falsities and evils reign; "the chief priests and scribes" signify the adulterations of good and the falsifications of truth, both from infernal love; "to condemn Him and deliver Him to the Gentiles" signifies to assign Divine truth and Divine good to hell and to deliver them to the evils and falsities that are from hell, the "Gentiles" signifying the evils that are from hell and that destroy the goods of the church; "to be mocked, to be scourged, and to be crucified," signifies to blaspheme, falsify and pervert the truth, and to adulterate and destroy the good of the church and of the Word (as above); "and the third day He shall rise again" signifies the complete glorification of the Lord's Human.

[11] From this it can be seen what is signified in the spiritual sense by the Lord's crucifixion, also what is signified by the various mockings then connected with it, as that "they put a crown of thorns on His head," that "they smote Him with a reed," and also that "they spat in His face," with many other things related in the Gospels, this signifying that the Jewish nation treated Divine truth and good itself, which was the Lord, in a like heinous manner; for the Lord suffered the heinous state of that church to be represented in Himself; and this was also signified by:

His bearing their iniquities (Isaiah 53:11).

For it was a common thing for a prophet to take upon himself a representation of the heinous things of the church; thus the prophet Isaiah was commanded to go naked and barefoot three years, to represent the church as destitute of good and truth (Isaiah 20:3, 4); the prophet Ezekiel, bound in cords, laid siege to a tile on which Jerusalem was depicted, and ate a cake of barley made with the dung of an ox, to represent that the truth and good of the church was thus besieged by falsities and polluted by evils (Ezekiel 4:1-13); the prophet Hosea was commanded to take a harlot to himself for a woman, and children of whoredoms, to represent what the quality of the church was at that time (Hosea 1:1-11); with other like things. That this was "bearing the iniquities of the house of Israel" or the church is plainly declared in Ezekiel 4:5, 6. From this it can be seen that all things recorded concerning the passion of the Lord were representative of the state of the church at that time with the Jewish nation.

[12] Thus much respecting the punishment of "hanging upon wood or crucifixion." This is not the place to confirm from the Word that the other punishment, which was "stoning," signified a condemnation and curse because of the destroyed truth of the church, but it can be seen from the passages where "stoning" is mentioned (as in Exodus 21:28-33; Leviticus 24:10-17, 23; Numbers 15:32-37; Deuteronomy 13:10; 17:5-7; 22:20, 21, 24; Ezekiel 16:39-41; 23:45-47; Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34; 20:6; John 8:7; 10:31, 32; and elsewhere).