866. Verse 5. And in their mouth was found no deceit, signifies that they are averse to thinking falsities and persuading to them. This is evident from the signification of "mouth," as being thought and speech therefrom, and thus persuasion; (See above, n. 580, 782, 794); also from the signification of "deceit," as being to deceive and mislead purposely, thus from an intention of the will; consequently to think falsities and persuade to them designedly, which destroys man forever. That such things have no place in those who are led by the Lord or who follow Him is signified by "in their mouth is found no deceit." For the Lord is Divine truth united to Divine good; and all who are in the Lord, who are those who acknowledge His Divine Human and do His commandments, are in the Divine truth and in the Divine good; and as thinking falsities is contrary to the Divine truth, and wishing to persuade to them is contrary to the Divine good, such are averse to so doing.

[2] What else "deceit" signifies in the Word can be seen from the passages where it is mentioned, as in the following.

In John:

Jesus said of Nathaniel as he was coming to Him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit (John 1:47).

An "Israelite" signifies one who is in the good of charity, and from that in truths, thus one who is in truths from good. Such are meant also by "the hundred forty-four thousand who follow the Lord, in whose mouth is found no deceit;" so here "deceit" has the same signification.

[3] In Zephaniah:

The remnant of Israel shall not do perversity nor speak a lie, neither shall a tongue of deceit be found in their mouth (Zephaniah 3:13).

"The remnant of Israel," the same as "an Israelite indeed," means those who are in spiritual faith, because they are in the good of charity; "to speak a lie" signifies to teach falsely from ignorance of truth; but "deceit" signifies falsity that is not from ignorance of truth, but from deliberation, thus from the purpose of deceiving, as is the case with the wicked.

[4] Likewise in the following passages:

He did no violence, neither was deceit in His mouth (Isaiah 53:9); which is said of the Lord:

He shall redeem their ¹ soul from deceit and violence (Psalms 72:14).

The rich are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof speak a lie; and as to their tongue deceit is in their mouth (Micah 6:12).

They fill their master's house with violence and deceit (Zephaniah 1:9).

Men of bloods and of deceit shall not live out half their days (Psalms 55:23).

Thou wilt destroy those that speak a lie; the man of bloods and of deceit Jehovah will abhor (Psalms 5:6).

"Violence and blood" signify perversion of truth and falsification of the Word; and "deceit" signifies doing this purposely:

Jehovah give ear to my prayers, that are apart from lips of deceit (Psalms 17:1).

Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking deceit (Psalms 34:13).

If my lips should speak iniquity, and my tongue should speak deceit (Job 27:4).

Deliver my soul, O Jehovah, from a lip of falsehood, from a tongue of deceit. What shall he give to thee, What shall he add to thee, thou tongue of deceit? (Psalms 120:2, 3).

Thou openest thy mouth to evil, and with thy tongue thou framest deceit (Psalms 50:19).

The mouth of the wicked, the mouth of deceit they have opened against me; they have spoken against me with a tongue of lies (Psalms 109:2).

Thy tongue thinketh wickednesses like a sharp razor working deceit (Psalms 52:2, 4).

They mock everyone with his companion, and they speak not truth; they have taught their tongue to speak a lie; it is thine to dwell in the midst of deceit; through deceit they have refused to know Me (Jeremiah 9:5, 6).

"Lips and tongue" with which they speak falsehood and deceit signify the thought with the intention of persuading to falsities against truths, and of misleading; the lips and the tongue having a similar signification as the mouth:

Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit (Psalms 36:2);

The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit; he ceaseth from understanding and doing good (Psalms 36:3);

To speak iniquity and to speak deceit (Job 13:7);

"iniquity" having reference to evil and "deceit" to falsity thence:

From the man of deceit and perversity deliver me, O Jehovah (Psalms 43:1).

The clean in hands and pure in heart, who doth not lift up his soul to vanity, and sweareth not with deceit (Psalms 24:4).

They think words of deceit against the quiet in the land, they opened their mouth exceedingly against me (Psalms 35:20, 21).

Wickednesses are in the midst thereof, fraud and deceit depart not from her street (Psalms 55:11).

Thou hast trodden down all them that err from Thy statutes, for their deceit is a lie (Psalms 119:118).

This people turneth itself away, Jerusalem is perpetually turned away, they hold fast to deceit, they refuse to return; I have hearkened and heard, but they speak not aright (Jeremiah 8:5, 6).

In these passages "deceit" does not mean deceit in the natural sense, which consists of deceitful plotting and malicious false-hood against another, but deceit in the spiritual sense, in which "deceit" means thought from the intention of the will, or intentionally and deliberately speaking falsities and persuading to them, and thereby destroying the soul.

[5] Likewise respecting the prophets, in Jeremiah:

Is it not in the heart of the prophets that prophesy falsehood, even of the prophets of the deceit of their own heart? (Jeremiah 23:26).

In the same:

The prophets prophesy unto you a vision of falsehood and divinations, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their own heart (Jeremiah 14:14).

In the spiritual sense "prophets" signify those who teach truths from the Word and doctrine, and thus in an abstract sense the Word as to doctrine, therefore in the contrary sense, as in these passages, they signify those who teach falsities, thus those who falsify the truths of the Word; and to do this intentionally is meant by "the deceit of their heart."

[6] That "deceit" means in the spiritual sense intentional falsification of the truths of the Word, from a desire to mislead, is evident in Hosea:

Ephraim hath compassed Me about with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit (Hosea 11:12).

"Ephraim" signifies the understanding of the truths of the church; and "the house of Israel" the church itself; so "deceit" and "falsehood" signify persuading to falsities with intention and desire.

[7] In the same:

They are become like a deceitful bow; their princes shall fall by the sword, from the rage of their tongue (Hosea 7:16).

And in David:

They are turned aside like deceitful bows (Psalms 78:57).

They are compared to a "deceitful bow" because a "bow" signifies doctrine combating, in both senses, namely, the doctrine of falsity combating against truth, and of truth against falsity, for javelins and arrows signify falsities or truths to fight with. (That this is the signification of "bow and arrows" may be seen above, n. 357.) All this again makes evident that "deceit" means deceit in the spiritual sense, which is deceit against the truths and goods of the Word and of the church, thus a disposition and desire to destroy them.

[8] That a disposition and desire to destroy the truths and goods of the Word, of doctrine, and of the church, thus to destroy them deliberately and intentionally, is signified by "deceit," is evident in Jeremiah:

They watch as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap that they may catch men; as a cage full of birds so their houses are full of deceit (Jeremiah 5:26, 27).

In Moses:

If a man have a purpose against his neighbor to slay him by deceit, thou shalt take him from Mine altar (Exodus 21:14).

And as this was so grievous a sin it is said in Jeremiah:

Cursed is he who doeth the work of Jehovah with deceit (Jeremiah 48:10).

"Deceit" was so grievous a crime because deliberation and purpose are of the will, and whatever is of the will is of the man himself, and is called the evil of his heart, for the will is the man himself; but the thought that precedes consent, which is an act of the will, is not in man but outside of him; since the things that flow into the thought are like the objects that flow into the sight from the world, some of which are pleasing and some not pleasing; and those that are pleasing enter the delight of his life, but those that are not pleasing are cast out. So it is with everything that flows into man's internal sight, which is of his understanding and consequent thought. If it is pleasing it enters his will and adds itself to his life; but if it is not pleasing it is cast out.

[9] It is to be known that all evil persons have a disposition and desire, consequently a will, to destroy the truths of heaven and the church by falsities, for the reason that they are conjoined to hell, and infernal spirits from the delight of their love burn with a lust of destroying all things of heaven and the church, and this by crafty devices, which they artfully contrive and wonderfully execute, which, if described from experience, would fill many pages. This makes clear that "deceit" signifies in general all evil of intention to destroy truths by falsities. (In addition, see what has been said about deceit in the Arcana Coelestia, namely, that deceit destroys everything of the spiritual and interior life in man, n. 9013; that deceit, fraud, and simulation were accounted by the ancients monstrous wickedness, n. 3573; that the deceitful, when viewed by the angels, appear like serpents and vipers, n . 4533; that such are meant in the Word by "serpents" and "vipers," n. 9013; that "poison" in the Word signifies deceit, n. Arcana Coelestia 9013. Respecting the punishments of those who lie in wait for and deceive others by deceit, n. 831, 957-960, 1273[1]; respecting their hells, n. 830, 831, 947, 4951.)

Poznámky pod čarou:

326. Verse 9. And they were singing a new song, signifies acknowledgment and confession from joy of heart. This is evident from the signification of a "song," as meaning acknowledgment and confession from joy of heart, here acknowledgment and confession that the Lord in respect to the Divine Human has all power in the heavens and on earth. Confession respecting this is meant because this is what is here treated of. "To sing a song" signifies confession from joy of heart, because joy of heart, when it is in fullness, expresses itself in song, this it does because when the heart, and in consequence the thought also, is full of joy, it pours itself forth in singing, the joy of the heart itself through the sound of the singing, and the joy of the thought therefrom through the song. The kind of joy of the thought is expressed by the words of the song, which concur and agree with the matter that is in the thought from the heart; the kind of joy of the heart is expressed by the harmony, and the measure of this joy is expressed by the exaltation of the sound and the words in it. All these flow as if spontaneously from the joy itself, and for the reason that the whole heaven is formed according to the affections of good and truth, the highest heaven according to the affections of good, and the middle heaven according to the affections of truth; it is therefore formed also for joys, for every joy is from an affection, or from love; from this it is that in all angelic discourse there is a kind of harmony. (But these things can be more clearly known and concluded by what is said and shown in the work on Heaven and Hell, namely, that the thoughts and affections of angels go forth according to the form of heaven, n. 200-212, and 265-275; therefore that there is a kind of harmony in their speech, n. 242; also that the sound of the speech of angels corresponds to their affections; and the articulations of sound, which are the words, correspond to the ideas of thought, which are from the affection, n. 236, 241; also in Arcana Coelestia, 1648, 1649, 2595, 2596, 3350, 5182, 8115) From this it is clear that harmony in song, and also the power of musical art to express the various kinds of affections and to adapt itself to its themes, are from the spiritual world, and not from the natural as is believed (See also concerning this in the work on Heaven and Hell 241).

[2] For this reason many kinds of musical instruments were used in sacred worship with the Jewish and Israelitish nation, some of which had relation to the affections of celestial good, and some to the affections of spiritual good, and to the joys therefrom, respecting what was to be proclaimed. Stringed instruments had relation to the affections of spiritual good, and wind instruments to the affections of celestial good; to these was added the singing of songs, which gave form to the agreements of things with the sounds of affections. Such were all the psalms of David, therefore they are called psalms, from playing [psaltere], and also songs. This makes clear why the four animals and twenty-four elders are said to have had harps, and also to have sung this song.

[3] That "singing" and "singing a song" signify acknowledgment and confession from joy of heart is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah:

In that day thou shalt say, I will confess to Jehovah; O God of my salvation, I will trust, I will not dread; for Jah Jehovah is my strength and psalm, He is become my salvation. Then shall ye draw waters from the fountains of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Confess ye to Jehovah, call upon His name, sing psalms unto Jehovah. Break forth and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great in the midst of thee is the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 12:1-6).

This describes confession from joy of heart because of the Lord's coming and His Divine power to save the human race. Confession is plainly meant, for it is first said, "I will confess to Jehovah," and again afterwards, "Confess ye to Jehovah." Confession that the Lord from His Divine power is about to save mankind is described by these words, "O God of my salvation, I will trust, I will not dread, for He is my strength, He is become my salvation. Then ye shall draw waters from the fountains of salvation in that day; great in the midst of thee is the Holy One of Israel;" "in that day" means when the Lord is to come; "the Holy One of Israel" is the Lord; consequent joy, which is the joy of confession, is described by "sing psalms unto Jehovah, break forth and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion;" "inhabitant" and "daughter of Zion" are the church where the Lord is worshiped; "Jah is my psalm" signifies here celebration and glorification of the Lord.

[4] In the same:

Sing unto Jehovah a new song, His praise, O end of the earth. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice; let the inhabitants of the cliff sing aloud, let them shout from the top of the mountains (Isaiah 42:10-11).

This also treats of the Lord's coming and the establishment of the church with those who were outside of the church, that is, with those where the Word was not, and the Lord was not before known. "To sing a new song" signifies confession from joy of heart; "sing praise, O end of the earth," signifies confession of those who are remote from the church, "end of the earth" meaning where that which pertains to the church ceases to be, "earth" meaning the church; "the wilderness and the cities thereof that shall lift up the voice," signify those with whom there is no good because there is no truth, and yet they desire it; "the inhabitants of the cliff" signify the good of faith pertaining to them; "the top of the mountains" signifies the good of love pertaining to them; "to sing" and "to shout" signify consequent confession from joy of mind and heart.

[5] In the same:

Jehovah will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her desolations, and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness will be found therein, confession and the voice of a psalm (Isaiah 51:3; 52:8-9).

This also treats of the Lord's coming and the establishment of the church, which at that time was laid waste or destroyed. "Zion" signifies the church where the Lord is to be worshiped; "her desolations" signify a lack of truth and good from an absence of knowledges; "to make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah" signifies that they shall have truth and good in abundance; "wilderness" is predicated of the absence of good, and "desert" of the absence of truth; "Eden" signifies good in abundance, and the "garden of Jehovah" signifies truth in abundance. As "psalm" and "song" signify confession from joy of heart, it is said, "joy and gladness therein, confession and the voice of a psalm," "voice of a psalm" meaning song.

[6] In Lamentations:

The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from singing; the joy of our heart hath ceased (Lamentations 5:14-15).

"The elders have ceased from the gate" signifies that those who are in truths from good, or in an abstract sense truths from good by which there is admission into the church, are no more; "the young men have ceased from singing" signifies that truths themselves are deprived of their spiritual affection, and thence of their joy; and because this is signified it is said, "the joy of our heart hath ceased."

[7] In Ezekiel:

I will cause the tumult of thy songs to cease, and the voice of harps shall be no more heard (Ezekiel 26:13).

"The tumult of songs" signifies the joys of confessions; "the voice of harps" signifies gladness from spiritual truths and goods.

[8] In David:

Jehovah is my strength, and I am helped; my heart triumphs, and with my song will I confess to Him (Psalms 28:7).

Because "song" signifies confession from joy of heart, it is said "my heart triumphs, and with my song will I confess to Him."

[9] In the same:

Sing aloud, ye righteous in Jehovah. Confess to Jehovah with the harp, sing psalms unto Him with the psaltery of ten strings. Sing unto Him a new song, play well with a loud noise (Psalms 33:1-3).

As joy of heart is both from celestial love and from spiritual love, it is said, "Sing aloud, ye righteous, in Jehovah, confess to Jehovah with the harp; sing psalms to Him with a psaltery of ten strings;" "sing aloud, ye righteous," is predicated of those who are in celestial love; "Confess on the harp, and sing psalms with the psaltery," of those who are in spiritual love. That those who are in celestial love are called "righteous" see above n. 204, and that "harp" and "psaltery" are predicated of those who are in spiritual good, n. 323; and as "singing" means confession from the joy arising from these loves, it is said, "Confess to Jehovah," "Sing unto Him a new song." The exaltation of joy from its fullness is signified by "play well with a loud noise."

[10] In the same:

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him by confession (Psalms 69:30).

In the same:

When I shall have gone with them to the house of God, with the voice of jubilee and confession, the multitude keeping a festival (Psalms 42:4).

In the same:

Confess ye to Jehovah, call upon His name. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him (Psalms 105:1-2; 149:1).

In the same:

I will confess to Jehovah according to His righteousness, and I will sing psalms unto the name of Jehovah most high (Psalms 7:17).

In the same:

My heart is prepared, O God; I will sing, and sing psalms. Awake thee, my glory; awake thee, psaltery and harp. I will confess unto Thee, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing psalms unto Thee among the peoples (Psalms 57:7-9).

Because "to sing a song" signifies confession from joy of heart, in these passages two expressions are used, "to confess and to sing," "confession and song," "voice of singing and voice of confession. "

[11] Where the Lord's coming is treated of, the expression "a new song" is used, and it is said that earth, sea, field, forest, trees, Lebanon, wilderness, and many other things, should "rejoice" and "exult," as in the following.

In David:

O sing unto Jehovah a new song. Make a loud noise unto Jehovah, all the earth; break forth, shout for joy, and sing psalms with the harp and the voice of a psalm; with trumpets, and with the sound of a cornet, make a loud noise before the King, Jehovah. Let the sea and the fullness thereof thunder; the world and they that dwell therein. Let the rivers clap their hands; let the mountains be joyful together (Psalms 98:1, 4-8).

In the same:

O sing unto Jehovah a new song; sing unto Jehovah, all the earth. Sing unto Jehovah, bless His name; proclaim His salvation from day to day. The heavens shall be glad, and the earth shall exult; the sea shall be moved, and all the fullness thereof; the field shall triumph, and all that is therein; then shall all the trees of the forest sing aloud (Psalms 96:1-2, 11-12).

In the same:

Sing unto Jehovah a new song, His praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel be glad in his makers, the sons of Zion in their King. Let them praise His name in the dance; let them sing psalms unto Him with timbrel and harp (Psalms 149:1-3).

In Isaiah:

Sing unto Jehovah a new song; His praise, O end of the earth. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up the voice (Isaiah 42:10-11).

In the same:

Sing, O ye heavens, for Jehovah hath done it; shout for joy, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest and every tree therein; for Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and hath shown Himself glorious in Israel (Isaiah 44:23; 49:13).

Here the Lord, His coming, and salvation through Him are treated of; and because these things were about to take place it is said, "a new song." The joy on this account is described not only by "singing," "singing psalms," "breaking forth," "being joyful," "clapping the hands," but also by various musical instruments of accordant sounds; also that the rivers, the sea, the field, the forests, the trees therein, Lebanon, the wilderness, the mountains, and many other things, should "rejoice together," "exult," "sing," "shout for joy," "clap the hands," and "cry aloud," together. Like things are predicated of these objects because they signify such things as are of the church, and therefore such things as are with the man of the church; "rivers" the things that are of intelligence; "sea" the things of knowledge [scientiae] that are in agreement with truths and goods; "field" the good of the church; "forests" the truths of the natural man; "trees" knowledges; "Lebanon" spiritual truth and good; "wilderness" a desire for truth that good may be gained, and "mountains" the goods of love. All these things are said "to sing," "to break forth," "to shout for joy," "to cry aloud," and "to clap the hands," when they are from heaven, for then heavenly joy is in them, and through them in man; for man is not in heavenly joy unless the things in him, which are truths and goods, are from heaven; from these is joy of heart that is truly joy, and from these is the joy of the man with whom they are. From this it can be seen why the like is said of these things as of man, namely, because joy is in them, and with man through them. Such joy is in every spiritual and celestial good, and therefrom with those with whom these goods are; for heaven flows in with its joy, that is, the Lord through heaven, into the goods and thence into their truths that are from Him in man, and through these into the man, but not into the man who is destitute or devoid of them. These goods and the truths therefrom are what "exult," "shout for joy," "break forth," "sing," "sing psalms," that is, are glad because of the influx from heaven, and from these the heart of man is glad also.

[12] As there are various affections of good and truth, and each expresses itself by an appropriate sound, so in the Word, especially in David, various kinds of instruments are mentioned, which signify corresponding affections. One who knows the internal sense of the Word, and also the sounds of the instruments there named, can know what affection is there signified and described. The angels know this from the mere mention of the instruments when a man is reading the Word, and also from the matter described there in its own words. Thus, for example, in David:

Clap your hands, all ye peoples; shout unto God with the voice of a song. God is gone up with a shout, Jehovah with the voice of a trumpet. Sing psalms unto God, sing psalms unto our King, for God is King of all the earth; sing ye psalms with understanding (Psalms 47:1, 5-7).

They have seen Thy goings, O God, the goings of my God. The singers went before, the minstrels after, in the midst of maidens playing with timbrels (Psalms 68:24, 25).

In the same:

Shout with joy unto God our strength; shout unto the God of Jacob. Lift up a psalm, and strike the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Sound with the trumpet in the new moon (Psalms 81:1-3).

In the same:

Praise God with the sound of the trumpet, with the psaltery and harp, with the timbrel and dance, with stringed instruments and the organ, with cymbals of soft sound, with cymbals of loud sound (Psalms 150:1, 3-5).

All the instruments here mentioned signify affections, each its own, and this from the correspondence of their sound; for the affections are what produce the varieties of sounds with men, consequently from the sounds also the affections are known, as was said above in this article.

[13] I will add to this an arcanum: the angels who constitute in heaven the Lord's celestial kingdom, when man is reading the Word, draw from his affection alone the internal sense of it, which affection arises from the sound of the words in the original tongue; but the angels who are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom draw the internal sense from the truths that the words contain; therefore the man who is in spiritual affection has from the celestial kingdom joy of heart, and from the spiritual kingdom confession from that joy. The sounds of the musical instruments that are here mentioned elevate the affection, and the truths give form to it. That this is so is well known to those skilled in the art of music. For this reason the Psalms of David are called "psalms," from psallere [to play]; they are also called "songs" from singing; for they were played and sung with the accompanying sounds of various instruments. That they were called "psalms" by David is known, as most of them are so inscribed. Those that are called songs are the following, Psalms 18:1; 33:1, 2; 45:1; 46:1; 48:1; 65:1; 66:1; 67:1; 68:1; 75:1; 76:1; [ Psalms 83:1;] Psalms 87:1; 88:1; 92:1; 96:1; 98:1; 108:1; 120:1; 121:1; 122:1; 123:1; 124:1; 125:1; 126:1; 127:1; 128; 129:1; 130:1; 131:1; 132:1; 133:1; 134:1. Many other passages might be cited from the Word respecting singing and song, and it might be shown that they signify confessions from joy of heart, but they are omitted because of their number; those already referred to are sufficient.