305. Verses 4, 5. And I wept much, that no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, weep not; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

4. "And I wept much, that no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon," signifies grief of heart on account of the disorder and destruction of all things, if no one could know [scire], cognize [cognoscere], and explore all men, and all things pertaining to men (n. 306).

5. "And one of the elders," signifies a society of heaven superior in wisdom to the rest (n.307); "saith unto me, Weep not," signifies that there need be no grief on that account (n. 308); "behold, the Lion hath overcome," signifies that the Lord from His own power subjugated the hells, and reduced all things in the heavens to order (n. 309); "from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David," signifies by means of Divine good united to Divine truth in His Human (n. 310); "to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof," signifies that He knows and recognizes all and each, and the most secret things of everyone (n. 311).

306. Verse 4 (Revelation 5:4). And I wept much, that no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon, signifies grief of heart on account of the disorder and destruction of all things, if no one could know, recognize and explore all men, and all things pertaining to men. This is evident from the signification of "weeping," as being to grieve; therefore "to weep much" means to grieve from the heart, or grief of heart; that this is on account of the disorder and destruction of all things will be seen presently. Also from the signification of "no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon," as being that no one is such as to be able to know the states of life of all in general, and of each in particular (of which see above, n. 303, 304); or, what is the same, that no one is such as to be able to know, recognize, and explore all men, and all things pertaining to men. In regard to grief of heart (which is signified by "I wept much"), on account of the disorder and destruction of all things if no one is such as to be able to know, recognize, and explore all men, and all things pertaining to men, I will briefly explain. That the angelic heaven may exist and subsist all things therein must be in order; for unless heaven were in order it would be dissipated; for the angelic heaven is divided into societies, and the societies are arranged according to the affections of truth and good, and these are manifold and numberless. This arranging depends solely on the infinite wisdom of the One who knows all things, recognizes all things, and explores all things, and thence disposes and arranges all things. This One is the Lord alone; therefore it is said in the Word, that to Him belongeth judgment; and that He has power in the heavens and on the earth; and here that "He took the book and loosed the seals thereof." Moreover, unless heaven were in order, the world, that is, men on the earth, could not exist and subsist, since the world depends upon heaven and its influx into the spiritual and rational things of men; in a word, all things would perish. (But this may be better comprehended from what is set forth in the work on Heaven and Hell, also in the little work on The Last Judgment, and in fact, from everything there if read with attention. ) It is said to know, to recognize, and to explore, because this is signified by "to open the book, to read, and to look thereon;" for the "book" signifies all things with man, spirit, and angel, or all the states of their life in respect to love and faith; therefore "to open the book" signifies to know these things; "to read the book" signifies to recognize them, and "to look upon the book" signifies to explore them.