3693. And passed the night there, for the sun was set. That this signifies life in what is obscure, is evident from the signification of “night,” as being a state of shade (n. 1712); thus “passing the night” signifies living in this state; and from the signification of the “sun being set,” as being to be in what is obscure; for it is then “evening,” and that “evening” signifies that which is obscure, may be seen above (n. 3056). By that which is obscure is here meant obscurity of intelligence in respect to truth, and obscurity of wisdom in respect to good; for the light which the angels have from the Lord has within it intelligence and wisdom, and is also thence derived (see n. 1521, 1524, 1529, 1530, 3138, 3167, 3195, 3339, 3341, 3636, 3637, 3643); and therefore insofar as they are in light, so far they are also in intelligence and wisdom; but insofar as they are not in light, thus insofar as they are in shade, so far they are not in intelligence and wisdom (n. 2776, 3190, 3337). It is for this reason that in common speech “light” is predicated of the things of the understanding. Man is not aware of this reason, and therefore believes that these terms are used merely by way of comparison. Men use many other forms of expression that flow from a perception of such things as exist in the other life, in which they are as to their spirits, and that have been received in conversation because they are interiorly acknowledged, but are blotted out of notice by the things of the body, which are of such a nature as to extinguish the things of perception in which man’s interior man is.

[2] That in the Word the “setting of the sun” signifies the falsity and evil in which they are who have no charity and faith; thus that it signifies also the last time of the church, may be seen above (n. 1837); and also that it signifies obscurity in respect to those things which are of good and truth, such as exists with those who are in a degree more remote from Divine doctrinal things, may be seen above (n. 3691). That the “setting of the sun,” or the “sun being set,” has these significations, may be seen from the following passages in the Word.

In Micah:

Night unto you instead of vision; and darkness unto you instead of divination; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them (Micah 3:6);

“the sun shall go down upon the prophets” signifies that they have no longer any truth and understanding of truth; “prophets” denote those who teach the truths of doctrine (see n. 2534).

In Amos:

It shall come to pass in that day that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the day of light; and I will turn your feast into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation (Amos 8:9-10);

“to cause the sun to go down at noon” denotes obscurity as to truth with those who are in the knowledges of good and truth (that “noon” signifies a state of light, or of the knowledges of truth, see above, n. 1458, 3195).

[3] In Isaiah:

Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for Jehovah shall be thine everlasting light (Isaiah 60:20); where the Lord’s kingdom is treated of; the “sun shall no more go down” denotes that they shall be in the life of good and in wisdom, because in the Lord’s celestial love and light; “the moon shall not withdraw itself” denotes that they shall be in the life of truth, and in intelligence, because in the Lord’s spiritual love and light. (That in the other life the Lord is a sun to the celestial angels, and a moon to the spiritual angels, and that hence they have wisdom and intelligence, see above, n. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643.) From this it is evident what is meant in the internal sense of the Word by the rising” and “setting” of the sun.

[4] In David:

O Jehovah my God Thou art very great; Thou hast put on glory and honor; who covereth Himself with light as with a garment; He stretcheth out the heavens like a curtain; he made the moon for appointed festivals; He knoweth the going down of the sun. Thou disposest the darkness that it may become night (Psalms 104:1-2, 19-20);

here in like manner the “moon” denotes intelligence, and the “sun” wisdom, from the Lord; the “going down of the sun” denotes the obscurity of each; “to dispose the darkness that it may become night,” signifies the moderating of a state of obscurity. That the angels have changes of state between the highest degree of light and a less degree, or between the highest degree of wisdom and a less degree, and that these changes of state are as the morning when the sun rises, and as midday when it is in its greatest altitude, and as the evening when it sets, and afterwards as morning again, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be shown elsewhere.

[5] In Joshua:

From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border (Josh. 1:4); where there is described the extension of the land of Canaan, by which is signified in the internal sense the Lord’s kingdom (see n. 1607, 3038, 3481); (that the “river Euphrates” is one border of it, that is, of things spiritual and celestial, see above, n. 1866; and that the great sea” and the “going down of the sun” is another, by which is represented the ultimate, which is relatively obscure; also that all the borders and all the places in that land are representative, n. 1585).

[6] In Moses:

If in taking a pledge thou shalt take for a pledge thy neighbor’s garment, thou shalt restore it unto him before the sun goeth down; for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin, wherein he shall sleep (Exodus 22:26-27).

And again

If he be a poor man, thou shalt not lie down upon his pledge; thou shalt surely restore to him the pledge before the sun goeth down, and he shall bless thee, and it shall be righteousness unto thee before Jehovah thy God (Deuteronomy 24:12-13).

That in this law, as in all the rest, there is what is representative and significative of the Divine law, which is that of good and truth in the Lord’s kingdom, from which this law comes, is manifest from its particulars. That it contains as the very ground of the law that a man’s companions ought not to be deprived of external truths, which are the doctrinal things according to which they live, and their rituals; and that such truths are the “garment,” may be seen above (n. 297, 1073, 2576). “Restoring the pledge before the sun “went down,” denotes before truth perishes with him; and because this truth is external, it is said that “the garment is for his skin in which he shall sleep.”

[7] Again:

The soul that hath touched what is unclean shall be unclean until the even, and shall not eat of the holy things; but when he has bathed his flesh in water, and the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterwards he shall eat of the holy things (Leviticus 22:6-7).

And again:

He that is not clean, toward evening shall bathe himself in waters; and when the sun is down, he shall enter into the midst of the camp (Deuteronomy 23:10-11).

That this law also has its origin in the laws of good and truth, or the laws of order in the Lord’s kingdom, is evident; otherwise it would never have been commanded that the unclean person should be unclean until the evening, and should then wash himself with waters, and after the sun was down should be clean. The law of order in the Lord’s kingdom from which the above law comes, is that when good and angelic spirits lapse into a state of the love of self, and thereby into a state of falsity, they are then remitted a little into their natural or lower state, and are there imbued with knowledges of good and truth that bear upon the matter in question, which is signified by “washing themselves with waters in the evening.” (That “washing with waters” denotes to be purified from falsities, may be seen above, n. 3147, 3148; and that “waters” are the knowledges of truth, n. 28, 680, 739, 2702, 3058.) And after they have been in that obscure state which is signified by the “going down of the sun,” they return into their former state, which is signified by their “being clean,” and “entering into the midst of the camp,” on which subject of the Lord’s Divine mercy something shall be said elsewhere from experience. From what has been said it is now evident that when mentioned in the Word the “going down of the sun” with the good signifies an obscure state as to truth; and with the evil a state of falsity.

2702. And she saw a well of water. That this signifies the Lord’s Word from which are truths, is evident from the signification of a “well of water,” and of a “fountain,” as being the Word, and also doctrine from the Word, consequently also truth itself; and from the signification of “water,” as being truth. That a “well in which there is water,” and a “fountain,” denote the Lord’s Word, and also doctrine from the Word, consequently also truth itself, may be seen from very many passages. A “well,” and not a “fountain,” is spoken of here, because the spiritual church is treated of, as also in the following verses of this chapter:

Abraham reproved Abimelech because of the well which the servants of Abimelech had taken away (Genesis 22:25).

So too in the twenty-sixth chapter:

All the wells which the servants of Isaac’s father digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped up. And Isaac returned, and digged the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father, and the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of living water. And they digged another well, and for that they strove not. And it came to pass in that day that Isaac’s servants came and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water (Genesis 26:15, 18-22, 22, 25, 32).

Here by “wells” nothing else is signified than doctrinal matters about which they contended, and those about which they did not contend. Otherwise their digging wells and contending so many times about them would not be of so much importance as to be worthy of mention in the Divine Word.

[2] The “well” spoken of by Moses signifies in like manner the Word, or doctrine:

They journeyed to Beer; this is the well whereof Jehovah said unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. Then sang Israel this song: Spring up, O well; answer ye from it. The princes digged the well, the willing of the people digged it, in the lawgiver, with their staves (Numbers 21:16-18).

As a “well” signified these things, there was therefore this prophetic song in Israel, in which the doctrine of truth is treated of, as is evident from every particular in the internal sense. Hence came the name “Beer” [a well], and hence the name “Beersheba,” and its signification in the internal sense, as being doctrine itself.

[3] But doctrine in which there are no truths is called a “pit,” or a “well in which there is no water” as in Jeremiah:

Their nobles have sent their little ones to the water; they came to the pits, they found no water; they returned with their vessels empty (Jeremiah 14:3); where “waters” denote truths; and “pits where they found no water,” doctrine in which there is no truth. In the same:

My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, to hew them out pits, broken pits, that can hold no waters (Jeremiah 2:13); where “pits” in like manner denote doctrines that are not true; and “broken pits,” fabricated doctrines.

[4] That a “fountain” is the Word, and also doctrine, consequently truth, may be seen in Isaiah:

The afflicted and the needy seek waters, and there are none; their tongue faileth for thirst. I Jehovah will hear them, the God of Israel will not forsake them; I will open rivers upon the hillsides, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of waters, and the dry land springs of waters (Isaiah 41:17-18); where the desolation of truth is treated of, which is signified by the afflicted and needy seeking for waters when there are none, and by their tongue failing for thirst; and then their consolation, refreshment, and instruction after desolation are treated of (as in the verses about Hagar now being explained), signified by Jehovah opening rivers upon the hillsides, making fountains in the midst of the valleys, and the wilderness into a pool of waters, and the dry land into springs of waters; all which things relate to the doctrine of truth, and to the affection thence derived.

[5] In Moses:

Israel dwelt securely alone at the fountain of Jacob, in a land of corn and new wine; yea, his heavens drop down dew (Deuteronomy 33:28).

The “fountain of Jacob” denotes the Word and the doctrine of truth therefrom. Because the “fountain of Jacob” signified the Word and the doctrine of truth therefrom, when the Lord came to the fountain of Jacob, He spoke with the woman of Samaria, and taught what is signified by a “fountain” and by “water,” as described in John:

Jesus came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, and Jacob’s fountain was there; Jesus therefore being wearied with His journey, sat thus by the fountain. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give Me to drink: Jesus said, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give Me to drink, thou wouldst ask of Him that He should give thee living water. Everyone that drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life (John 4:5-7, 10, 13-14).

As “Jacob’s fountain” signified the Word, the “water” truth, and “Samaria” the spiritual church (as is frequently the case in the Word), the Lord spoke with the woman of Samaria, and taught that the doctrine of truth is from Him; and that when it is from Him, or what is the same, from His Word, it is a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life; and that truth itself is living water.

[6] Again:

Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink; whosoever believeth in Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-38).

And in the same:

The Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes (Revelation 7:17).

In the same:

I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely (Revelation 21:6);

“rivers of living water,” and “living fountains of waters,” denote truths that are from the Lord, or from His Word; for the Lord is the Word. The good of love and of charity, which is solely from the Lord, is the life of truth. He is said to be “athirst” who is in the love and affection of truth; no other can “thirst.”

[7] These truths are also called “fountains of salvation” in Isaiah:

With joy shall ye draw waters out of the fountains of salvation; and in that day shall ye say, Confess to Jehovah, call upon His name (Isaiah 12:3-4).

That a “fountain” is the Word, or doctrine from it, is plain also in Joel:

It shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streams of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall go forth out of the house of Jehovah, and shall water the stream of Shittim (Joel 3:18); where “waters” denote truths; and a “fountain out of the house of Jehovah,” the Lord’s Word.

[8] In Jeremiah:

Behold I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the sides of the earth; and among them the blind and the lame; they shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I bring them unto fountains of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble (Jeremiah 31:8-9);

“fountains of waters in a straight way” manifestly denote the doctrinal things of truth; the “north country,” ignorance or desolation of truth; “weeping” and “supplications,” their state of grief and despair; and to be “brought to the fountains of waters,” refreshment and instruction in truths (as here, where Hagar and her son are treated of).

[9] The same things are also thus described in Isaiah:

The wilderness and the parched land shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; budding it shall bud, and shall rejoice even with rejoicing and singing; the glory of Lebanon has been given unto it, the honor of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the honor of our God. Make ye firm the enfeebled hands, and strengthen the tottering knees. The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert; and the dry place shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of waters (Isaiah 35:1-3, 5-7); where the “wilderness” denotes the desolation of truth; “waters,” “streams,” “lakes,” and “springs of waters,” the truths that are a refreshment and joy to those who have been in vastation, whose joys are there described with many words.

[10] In David:

Jehovah sendeth forth fountains into the valleys, they shall run among the mountains; they shall give drink to every wild beast of the field, the wild asses shall quench their thirst. He watereth the mountains from His chambers (Psalms 104:10-11, 13);

“fountains” denote truths; “mountains,” the love of good and truth; to “give drink,” instructing; “wild beasts of the field,” those who live from this (see n. 774, 841, 908); “wild asses,” those who are solely in rational truth (n. 1949-1951).

[11] In Moses:

Joseph is the son of a fruitful one, the son of a fruitful one by a fountain (Genesis 49:22);

a “fountain” denotes doctrine from the Lord. In the same:

Jehovah thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of rivers, of waters, of fountains, and of depths going forth in valley and in mountain (Deuteronomy 8:7).

The “land” denotes the Lord’s kingdom and church (n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 2571); which is called “good” from the good of love and charity; “rivers,” “waters,” “fountains,” and “depths,” denote the truths thence derived. In the same:

The land of Canaan, a land of mountains and valleys, that drinketh water of the rain of heaven (Deuteronomy 11:11).

[12] That “waters” are truths, both spiritual and rational, and also those of memory-knowledge, is manifest from these passages in Isaiah:

Behold the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the whole staff of bread, and the whole staff of water (Isaiah 3:1).

In the same:

Bring ye waters to him that is thirsty; meet the fugitive with his bread (Isaiah 21:14).

In the same:

Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters (Isaiah 32:20).

In the same:

He that walketh in righteousnesses, and speaketh uprightnesses, shall dwell on high; his bread shall be given, his waters shall be faithful (Isaiah 33:15-16).

In the same:

Then shall they not thirst, He shall lead them in the desert, He shall cause the waters to flow out of the rock for them; He cleaveth the rock also, and the waters flow out (Isaiah 48:21; Exodus 17:1-8; Numbers 20:11, 13).

[13] In David:

He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them to drink abundantly as out of the deeps. He brought streams out of the rock and caused waters to run down like a river (Psalms 78:15-16); where the “rock” denotes the Lord; “waters,” “rivers,” and “deeps” from it, denote truths from Him. In the same:

Jehovah maketh rivers into a wilderness, and water-springs into dry ground; He maketh a wilderness into a pool of waters, and a dry land into water-springs (Psalms 107:33, 35).

In the same:

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters; Jehovah is upon many waters (Psalms 29:3).

In the same:

A river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High (Psalms 46:4).

In the same:

By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the army of them by the breath of His mouth; He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap, He layeth up the deeps in storehouses (Psalms 33:6-7).

In the same:

Thou dost visit the earth, and delightest in it greatly; thou enrichest it, the river of God is full of waters (Psalms 65:9).

In the same:

The waters saw Thee, O God, the waters saw Thee, the deeps also trembled; the clouds poured out waters; Thy way was in the sea, and Thy path in many waters (Psalms 77:16-17, 19).

It is manifest to everyone that the “waters” here do not signify waters, and that it is not meant that the deeps trembled, nor that the way of Jehovah was in the sea, and His path in the waters; but that spiritual waters are meant, that is, spiritual things which are of truth; otherwise this would be a heap of empty words.

In Isaiah:

Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters and he that hath no silver, come ye, buy (Isaiah 55:1).

In Zechariah:

It shall come to pass in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea (Zech. 14:8).

[14] Moreover where the church is treated of in the Word as about to be planted and as having been planted, and where it is described by a paradise, a garden, a grove, or by trees, it is usual for it to be also described by waters or rivers which irrigate; by which either spiritual, rational, or memory things (which are of truth) are signified-as in the description of Paradise in Genesis (2:8-9); which is also described by the rivers there (verses 10 to 14), signifying the things of wisdom and intelligence (see n. 107-121). The same is true in many other places in the Word, as in Moses:

As valleys are they planted, as gardens by the river, as sandal-wood trees which Jehovah hath planted, as cedars beside the waters; waters shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters (Numbers 24:6-7).

In Ezekiel:

He took of the seed of the land, and planted it in a field of sowing, he placed it beside many waters; it budded, and became a luxuriant vine (Ezekiel 17:5-6).

That a “vine” and a “vineyard” signify the spiritual church may be seen above (n. 1069). In the same:

Thy mother was like a vine in thy likeness, planted by the waters; she became fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters (Ezekiel 19:10).

In the same:

Behold Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon; the waters nourished him, the deep made him high, going with her rivers round about his plant; and she sent out her canals unto all the trees of the field (Ezekiel 31:4).

[15] In the same:

Behold upon the bank of the river were very many trees on this side and on that. He said unto me, These waters issue forth toward the eastern border, and shall go down into the plain, and shall go toward the sea; and being sent into the sea the waters are healed. And it shall be that every living soul that creepeth, in every place whither the two rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters are come thither; and they shall be healed, so that everything whithersoever the river cometh shall live. The miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given up to salt (Ezekiel 47:7-9, 11).

Here the New Jerusalem, or the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, is described: the “waters going forth to the eastern border,” signify spiritual things from celestial things, which are truths from a celestial origin; that is, faith from love and charity (n. 101, 1250). To “go down into the plain,” signifies doctrinal things which are of the rational (n. 2418, 2450). To “go toward the sea,” signifies to memory-knowledges; the “sea” is the collection of them (n. 28); the “living soul which creepeth,” signifies their delights (n. 746, 909, 994); which will “live from the waters of the river,” that is, from spiritual things from a celestial origin. “Much fish” denotes an abundance of applicable memory-knowledges (n. 40, 991). The “miry places and the marshes” denote things not applicable and impure; being “given up to salt,” denotes being vastated (n. 2455).

In Jeremiah:

Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah; he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, and that sendeth forth its roots by the river (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

In David:

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season (Psalms 1:3).

In John:

He showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb; in the midst of the street of it, and on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life bearing twelve fruits (Revelation 22:1-2).

[16] Seeing that in the internal sense of the Word “waters” signify truths, therefore in the Jewish Church, for the sake of representation before the angels with whom the rituals were viewed spiritually, it was commanded that the priests and Levites should wash themselves with water when they came near to minister, and indeed out of the laver between the tent and the altar; and later, out of the brazen sea and the other lavers around the temple, which were in place of a fountain. So too for the sake of the representation was the institution of the water of sin or of purgation that was to be sprinkled upon the Levites (Numbers 8:7); also that of the water of separation, from the ashes of the red heifer (Numbers 19:2-19); and that the spoils from the Midianites should be cleansed by water (Numbers 31:19-25).

[17] The waters which were given out of the rock (Exodus 17:1-8; Numbers 20:1-13; Deuteronomy 8:15) represented and signified an abundance of spiritual things or truths of faith from the Lord. The bitter waters which were healed by the wood (Exodus 15:23-25) represented and signified that the truths which are not pleasing become acceptable and grateful from good, that is, from the affection of it. (That “wood” signifies good which is of affection, or of the will, may be seen ab ove, n. 643.) From all this it may now be known what “water” denotes in the Word, and hence what the water in baptism denotes, of which the Lord speaks thus in John:

Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5);

namely, that “water” is the spiritual of faith, and the “spirit” the celestial of it; thus that baptism is the symbol of the regeneration of man by the Lord by means of the truths and goods of faith. Not that regeneration is effected by baptism, but by the life signified in baptism, into which life Christians who have the truths of faith, because they have the Word, must come.