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).

627. Verse 1. And there was given to me a reed like a staff, signifies the mode of visitation, that is, of exploring the quality of the church in respect to truth and to good. This is evident from the signification of a "reed," as being that by which the quality is explored, for "to measure" signifies to explore, and a "measure" signifies the quality of a thing; therefore, the "reed," by which he measured the temple and the altar, as now follows, that is, the "measuring reed," signifies the mode of exploring the quality. It means the mode of exploring what the quality of the church is in respect to truth and good, because it says afterwards that "he measured the temple and the altar, and them that worship therein," which signifies the church in respect to truth and good, and thus in respect to worship.

[2] Moreover, a "reed" signifies visitation, because visitation is an exploration of the quality of the men of the church, and because a visitation precedes the Last Judgment, which will be treated of hereafter. What is the nature of that visitation or exploration can be seen from the visitation upon Sodom, that in the first place angels were sent there, and through them visitation or exploration was made of what quality they were in respect to their reception, that is, what was their quality in respect to the reception of Divine truth and Divine good, for these angels represented the Lord in respect to the Divine proceeding; and when it was found that all in Sodom except Lot were unwilling to receive them but wished to do them harm, then their destruction came, which means their last judgment.

[3] The measuring was effected by a reed, because a "reed or cane" signifies Divine truth in the ultimate of order, and a "staff," which the reed was like, signifies power; and by means of truth in the ultimate of order and its power all visitation or exploration is effected; for in the ultimate all truths, even from their firsts, form what is simultaneous, that is, coexist; therefore all things effected by the Divine, are effected from firsts by means of ultimates, therefore here visitation or exploration is so effected, and such truth is signified by a "reed or cane."

[4] So in the following passages. In Revelation:

One of the seven angels had a golden reed, with which he measured the city Jerusalem and its gates and its wall; and he measured the city with a reed unto twelve thousand stadia (Revelation 21:15, 16).

And in Ezekiel:

In the hand of the angel there was a line of flax and a measuring reed, and the reed was of six cubits, and with it he measured the length, the breadth and the height of the building, of the gate, of the porch, of the court, of the temple, and many other things (Ezekiel 40:3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 40:13, 17, et seq.; Ezekiel 41:1-5, 13, 14, 22; 42:1 -20 the end).

Here, too, the "measuring reed" means the mode of exploring the church in respect to truth and good, as can be seen from this, that the angel measured every particular of the temple as to length, breadth, and height; and "length" signifies good, "breadth" truth, and "height" the degrees of good and truth from the highest or inmost to the lowest or ultimate. (On this signification of "length and breadth," see the work on Heaven and Hell 197.) That a "reed" signifies truth in ultimates whereby explorations are effected, is evident also from this, that there was also a "line of flax" in the hand of the angel, "a line of flax" signifying truth; also from this, that "the reed was of six cubits," "six" having a similar signification as "three," namely, truths in the whole complex (See above, n. 384, 532). That "to measure" signifies to explore the quality of a thing will be seen in the following article.

[5] By ultimate truth, or truth in the ultimate of order, is meant sensual truth, such as the truth in the sense of the letter of the Word is to those who are merely sensual. Divine truth in its descent proceeds according to degrees, from the highest or inmost to the lowest or ultimate. Divine truth in the highest degree is such as is the Divine that proceeds most nearly from the Lord, thus such as is the Divine truth above the heavens; and as this is infinite, it cannot come to the perception of any angel. But Divine truth of the first degree is that which comes to the perception of the angels of the inmost or third heaven, and is called celestial Divine truth; from this is the wisdom of those angels. Divine truth of the second degree is that which comes to the perception of the angels of the middle or second heaven, and constitutes their wisdom and intelligence, and is called spiritual Divine truth. Divine truth of the third degree is that which comes to the perception of angels of the lowest or first heaven, and constitutes their intelligence and knowledge [scientia], and is called celestial-natural and spiritual-natural Divine truth. But Divine truth of the fourth degree is that which comes to the perception of the men of the church who are living in the world, and constitutes their intelligence and knowledge [scientia]; this is called natural Divine truth, and its lowest is called sensual Divine truth.

[6] These Divine truths are in the Word in the order of their degrees, and Divine truth in the lowest degree, or in the ultimate of order, is such as is the Divine truth in the sense of the letter of the Word, for children and for the very simple, who are sensual. This Divine truth is what is signified by a "reed or cane." And as explorations with all are effected by this lowest Divine truth, as was said above, so measurings and weighings in the representative churches were made by means of reeds or canes, which signify such Divine truth. It has just been shown that measurings were made by reeds; that weighings were also thus made can be seen in Isaiah:

They weighed silver with a reed (Isaiah 46:6).

[7] Because a "reed" signifies truth in ultimates, such as is for the simple and children, who are not spiritual but natural-sensual, it is also said in Isaiah:

A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, and He will bring forth truth into judgment (Isaiah 42:3).

This treats of the Lord; and "a bruised reed He will not break" signifies that He will not hurt sensual Divine truth with the simple and with children; "smoking flax He will not quench" signifies that He will not destroy the Divine truth that is beginning to live from a very little good of love with the simple and with children, "flax" signifying truth, and "smoking" signifies its being alive from some little love; and because both, that is, the "reed and flax" signify truth, it is said that the Lord "will bring forth truth into judgment," which means that He will bring forth with them intelligence, "judgment" signifying intelligence.

[8] A "reed" signifies also sensual truth which is the lowest, such as exists with natural men, even with the evil. In the same:

The dry place shall become a pool, and there shall be grass instead of the reed and rush (Isaiah 35:7).

This refers to the establishment of the church by the Lord; and that those will then have intelligence through spiritual Divine truth who before had none is signified by "the dry place shall become a pool;" and that those will then have knowledge [scientia] through natural Divine truth who before had only sensual truth, is signified by "there shall be grass instead of the reed and rush," "grass" signifying knowledge from a spiritual origin, or by which spiritual truth is confirmed, while "reed and rush" signify knowledge from a sensual origin, or by which the fallacies of the senses are confirmed. This knowledge, regarded in itself, is only the lowest natural knowledge, which may be called material and corporeal, in which there is little or nothing of life.

[9] In the same:

The streams shall recede, the rivers of Egypt shall be minished and dried up, the reed and flag shall wither (Isaiah 19:6).

In the spiritual sense these words mean that all the understanding of Divine truth will perish; "the streams shall recede" signifies that all things of spiritual intelligence will depart; "the rivers of Egypt shall be minished and dried up" signifies that all things of natural intelligence will perish; "the reed and the flag shall wither" signifies that lowest truth, which is called sensual truth, and which is mere knowledge, will vanish; "streams and rivers" signifying the things of intelligence; "Egypt" the natural; "reed and flag" sensual truth or knowledge, and "to recede," "to be minished," "to be dried up," and "to wither," signifying to perish and disappear.

[10] In the same:

Thou hast trusted on the staff of this bruised reed, on Egypt, upon which when a man leaneth it goeth into his hand and pierceth it; so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust on him (Isaiah 36:6).

"Egypt" signifies the natural man separated from the spiritual, and its knowledge [scientificum]; when this is separated from the intelligence of the spiritual man it is fatuous, and is applied to confirm evils of every kind, consequently it is a false knowledge. This is what is called "a staff of a bruised reed," "reed," as was said, being truth in the ultimate of order, which is sensual knowledge [scientificum]; "bruised" signifies what is broken and not cohering with any interior truth to give it consistency; "staff" means the resulting power to perceive and also to reason about truths. This, therefore, is the meaning of "upon which when a man leaneth it goeth into his hand and pierceth it;" "to lean upon that staff" means to trust in one's own power to perceive truths and reason about them from what is one's own [proprium]; "to enter into the hand and pierce it" signifies to destroy all intellectual power, and to see mere falsities instead of truths and to seize upon them; "so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust on him" signifies that such is the natural man when separated from the spiritual, in respect to its knowledges and intelligence therefrom, and reasoning from that intelligence.

[11] In Job:

Let my shoulder blade fall from the shoulder, and mine arm be broken therefrom by a reed; for the dread of the destruction of God is upon me, and by reason of His majesty I can do nothing. Have I made gold my hope, and said to pure gold, Thou art my confidence? (Job 31:22-24)

This, too, treats of the confidence of self-intelligence, and in the spiritual sense these words describe that from this nothing of truth is seen, but only what is false, which does not cohere with any truth; non-coherence is signified by "let my shoulder blade fall from the shoulder, and mine arm be broken therefrom by a reed," "shoulder blade," "shoulder," and "arm" signifying power, here the power to understand and perceive truth; "to fall from the shoulder," and "to be broken by a reed" signifies to be separated from the spiritual power to perceive truth, and in consequence to be deceived by the sensual-corporeal man, and to perish by falsity, "reed" meaning truth in the ultimate of order, which is called sensual knowledge [scientificum], which becomes mere falsity when it is of the natural man alone separated from the spiritual; "the dread of the destruction of God" signifies the loss of all understanding of truth; "by reason of His majesty to be able to do nothing" signifies that nothing of the understanding and perception of truth is from what is man's own [proprium], but all from God; "to make gold a hope, and to say to pure gold, Thou art my confidence," signifies that he confided not in himself, by believing anything of good to be from himself.

[12] In Ezekiel:

That all the inhabitants of Egypt may know that I am Jehovah, because they have been a staff of a reed to the house of Israel; when they laid hold of thee with the hand thou wast bruised, and thou didst pierce through every shoulder for them; and when they leaned upon thee thou wast broken, and didst make all their loins to stand (Ezekiel 29:6, 7).

Here similar things are said of Egypt as above, and here, too, "Egypt" signifies the natural man separated from the spiritual, and its knowledge [scientificum], which when applied to evils is merely false. This is said of those in the church who trust in self-intelligence; "the sons of Israel" signify those who are of the church; their trust is signified by "a staff of a reed;" that all their ability to perceive truth thus perished is signified by "when they laid hold of thee with the hand thou wast bruised, and didst pierce through every shoulder for them," "shoulder" signifying the power or ability to understand truth; the loss of this is signified by "when they leaned upon thee thou wast broken." That thus every good of love and charity was destroyed and dissipated is signified by "thou didst make all their loins to stand," "loins" signifying the marriage of truth and good, so here that truth was not conjoined to good; truth conjoined to good constitutes the good of love and charity, since all the good of love and charity is formed by truths.

[13] In David:

Rebuke the wild beast of the reed or cane, the congregation of the mighty, among the calves of the peoples; trampling upon the plates of silver, he hath scattered the peoples, he desireth wars; those that are fat shall come out of Egypt, Ethiopia shall hasten her gift ¹ unto God (Psalms 68:30, 31).

This treats of the Lord's kingdom. To beware of false knowledge [scientificum], that is, of falsely applied knowledge from the natural man separated from the spiritual, is meant by "Rebuke the wild beast of the reed, cane or rod;" inasmuch as such knowledges, because they are from the fallacies of the senses, strongly persuade, they are called "the congregation of the mighty;" "the calves of the people" mean the goods of the church in the natural man; "plates of silver" are the truths of the church; "to tread upon" and "to scatter" mean to disperse and dissipate, which is done by those who are natural and sensual, and who think naturally and sensually, and not at the same time spiritually, thus who think from the natural and sensual man separated from the spiritual; this man is meant by "the wild beast of the reed" or "cane;" "to desire wars" signifies reasonings against truths; "those that are fat out of Egypt and Ethiopia" are those who have a knowledge [scientia] of spiritual things, and who are in the cognitions of truth and good, who will draw near to the Lord's kingdom because they are in light from the spiritual man.

[14] In the first book of Kings:

Jehovah shall smite Israel as a reed noddeth in the waters, and he shall pluck away Israel from off the good land (1 Kings 14:15).

The vastation of the church among the sons of Israel is compared to "the nodding of a reed or cane in the waters," because a "reed" or cane signifies the truth of the sensual man, which is the lowest, and when this truth is separated from the light of the spiritual man it becomes falsity. For the sensual man derives all that it has from things appearing in the world; consequently reasonings from these respecting spiritual things are mere fallacies, and from fallacies come falsities. (What the fallacies of the senses are in spiritual things, and that falsities are from them, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 53; also above in the explanation of Revelation, n. 575; and that sensual knowledge [scientificum]s [scientifica] are mere fallacies when the sensual man reasons from them, above, n.569, 581 also what the sensual is, and the quality of the sensual man, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 50.)

[15] In the Gospels:

They placed a reed in the Lord's right hand, and afterwards they took the reed and smote His head with it (Matthew 27:29, 30; Mark 15:19);

also:

They put a sponge upon a reed and gave Him vinegar to drink (Matthew 27:48; Mark 15:36).

Those who do not know the spiritual sense of the Word may believe that these and the many other things related of the Lord's passion involve nothing more than common modes of mockery; as that "they set a crown of thorns upon His head;" that "they parted His garments among them, but not the tunic;" that "they bent the knee before Him" for the sake of mocking Him; and also here, that "they placed a reed in His right hand, and afterwards smote His head with it;" and again, that "they filled a sponge with vinegar, or myrrhed wine, and set it upon a reed, and gave Him to drink." But let it be known that all things that are related of the Lord's passion signify the mocking at Divine truth, and thus the falsification and adulteration of the Word; since the Lord, when He was in the world, was the Divine truth itself, which in the church is the Word; and because the Lord was then the Divine truth, He permitted the Jews to treat Him altogether as they were treating the Divine truth or the Word by falsifying and adulterating it. For they applied all things of the Word to their own loves, and derided every truth that disagreed with their loves, as they did the Messiah Himself, because He did not, according to their explanation and religion, become king over the whole world, and exalt them into glory above all peoples and nations. (That all things related of the Lord's passion signify such things, see above, n. 64, 83, 195 at the end.) But that "they placed a reed in the Lord's hand and afterwards smote His head with it" signifies that they falsified Divine truth or the Word, and made an utter mockery of the understanding of truth and of Divine wisdom, a "reed" signifying falsity in what is most external (as above), and "to smite the head" signifying to reject and mock at the understanding of truth and Divine wisdom, which is what "the head of the Lord" signifies; and in "giving the Lord vinegar to drink," which signifies what is falsified, they placed a sponge filled with it on a "reed," which signifies falsity in what is most external, which is falsity sustaining.

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