3708. All thou shalt break forth to the sea, and to the east. That this signifies the infinite extension of good; and that to the north and to the south, signifies the infinite extension of truth, thus all states of good and truth, is evident from the signification of “breaking forth,” as being extension; in the present case infinite extension, because it is predicated of the Lord: from the signification of the “sea,” or “west,” as being good as yet obscure, thus in its commencement; from the signification of the “east,” as being the good which is lucid, and thus perfect; from the signification of the “north,” as being truth as yet in obscurity; and from the signification of the “south,” as being truth in the light.

[2] In many passages in the Word mention is made of the “sea,” or “west,” of the “east,” of the “north,” and of the “south;” but inasmuch as it has not heretofore been known to anyone that these, like all things whatsoever in the Word, have an internal sense, in which sense they do not signify worldly things according to the sense of the letter, but spiritual and celestial things; and in the supreme sense the Divine things of the Lord Himself, therefore man could know no otherwise than that by the “west,” “east,” “north,” and “south,” were meant only the quarters of the world, and that by “breaking forth” to these quarters is meant multiplication. But that by these expressions there are not signified such quarters, nor the multiplication of any people, but states of good and truth, and their extension, may be seen from all the passages in the Word, especially in the Prophets, where they are mentioned; for that which is the west, east, north, and south, is altogether unknown in heaven, inasmuch as the sun there, which is the Lord, is not like the sun of the world, which rises and sets, and by its greatest altitude causes midday, and by its least causes night; but it appears with constancy, yet in accordance with the states of those who receive light from it, for its light has within it wisdom and intelligence (see n. 1619-1632, 2776, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3339, 3341, 3485, 3636, 3643); wherefore it appears in accordance with the state of each person’s wisdom and intelligence. With those who are in good and truth, it appears with heat and light, but celestial and spiritual heat and light, as our sun appears in its rising and at midday; while with those who are not in good and truth, it appears as does our sun when setting, and at night. From this we can see that in the internal sense of the Word by the “east,” “south,” “west,” and “north,” are signified states of good and truth.

[3] Be it known that states of good and truth are described in the Word, not only by the quarters, of which we have been speaking, but also by the times or states of the year-spring, summer, autumn, and winter; and also by the times or states of the day-morning, midday, evening, and night, and this for a similar reason; but when the subject is the extension of good and truth, this is described by the quarters. What is signified by each quarter in particular may be seen from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned. That the “east” signifies the Lord, and the good of love and charity which is from the Lord, was shown above (n. 101, 1250, 3249); and that the “south” signifies truth in light (n. 1458, 3195).

[4] But what is signified in the genuine sense by the “west” and what by the “north;” and what in the opposite sense, may be seen from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

Fear not, for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back; bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the end of the earth (Isaiah 43:5-6

speaking of a new spiritual church, which is there called “Jacob” and “Israel.” To “bring seed from the east,” and to “gather from the west,” denotes those who are in good; to “say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Keep not back,” denotes those who are in truth.

[5] In David:

The redeemed of Jehovah shall say, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the sea. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in (Psalms 107:2-4); concerning those who are in ignorance of good and truth. “From the east and from the west” denotes those who are in ignorance of good; “from the north and from the sea,” those who are in ignorance of truth; concerning those who are in ignorance of good it is said that they “wandered in the wilderness,” and concerning those who are in ignorance of truth, that they wandered in a “solitary way;” and concerning the ignorance of both good and truth it is said that they “found no city to dwell in.” (That “city” signifies what is doctrinal of truth, may be seen above, n. 402, 2449, 2943, 3216; and that “to dwell” is predicated of good, n. 2268, 2451, 2712.)

[6] In Isaiah:

Behold these shall come from far; and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim (Isaiah 49:12); where the “north” denotes those who are in obscurity as to truth; and the “west” those who are in obscurity as to good, who are said to “come from far” because they are remote from the light which is from the Lord.

[7] In Amos:

Behold the days come that I will send a famine in the land; and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it (Amos 8:11-12); where “famine” denotes scarcity and failure of knowledges (n. 1460, 3364); “wandering from sea to sea,” denotes to inquire where there are knowledges (that “seas” signify knowledges in general, see above, n. 28, 2850); to “run to and fro from the north even to the east” denotes from those knowledges which are in obscurity to those which are in light. It is evident that knowledges are here meant, for it is said, “to seek the word of Jehovah, and they shall not find it.”

[8] In Jeremiah:

Proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith Jehovah; I will not cause My faces to fall upon you; for I am merciful. In those days the house of Judah shall go to the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north upon the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers (Jeremiah 3:12, 18);

speaking of the restoration of the church that is from the Gentiles. The “north” denotes those who are in ignorance of truth, and yet are in a life of good. It is evident that in this passage the north is not meant, nor the land of the north; for Israel no longer had any existence. Again:

Jehovah liveth that brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north (Jeremiah 16:15); where the “north” in like manner denotes ignorance of truth.

[9] Again:

Behold I will bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the sides of the earth, and among them the blind and the lame (Jeremiah 31:8).

The “land of the north” denotes ignorance of good, because of truth; and because the land of Canaan represented the Lord’s kingdom, and thence also good (n. 3705); and what was in the midst thereof, as Zion and Jerusalem, represented the inmost good with which truth was conjoined, therefore the parts which were distant therefrom represented obscurity as to good and truth; and all that which is in obscurity is called the “land of the north,” and also the “sides of the earth.”

[10] Moreover as all the good which flows in with light from the Lord terminates in what is obscure in man, the “north” is also called an “assembly” or “congregation;” as in Isaiah:

Thou saidst in thine heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit upon the mount of congregation, in the sides of the north (Isaiah 14:13).

Again:

Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou art melted away, O Philistia, all of thee; for a smoke cometh out of the north, there is none solitary in the assemblies (Isaiah 14:31).

In David:

Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. The joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King (Psalms 48:1-2

Again:

The heavens are Thine, the earth also is Thine; the world and the fullness thereof Thou hast founded them; the north and the right hand Thou hast created them (Psalms 89:11-12); where the “north” denotes those who are more remote from the light of good and truth; and the “right hand,” those who are nearer thereto. (That these are at the Lord’s right hand, see above, n. 1274, 1276)

[11] In Zechariah (who saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains of brass, with red, black, white, and strong grizzled horses, and the angel said):

These are the four winds of the heavens which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. All the black horses go forth into the land of the north; and the white went forth after them; and the grizzled went forth into the land of the south. Then he spake unto me, saying, Behold they that go forth to the land of the north have quieted my spirit in the land of the north (Zech. 6:1-8);

“chariots going forth between two mountains of brass,” denote doctrinal things of good. That “chariots” signify doctrinal things will be made manifest elsewhere; that a “mountain” signifies love, may be seen above (n. 795, 1430, 2722); hence “two mountains” signify two loves-celestial love, which is love to the Lord, and spiritual love, which is love toward the neighbor; that “brass” signifies the good therefrom which is in the natural, see above (n. 425, 1551); that “horses” signify intellectual things, thus the understanding of the doctrinal things of good (see 2760-2762, 3217); the “land of the south” denotes those who are in the knowledges of good and truth (n. 1458, 3195); the “land of the north,” those who are in ignorance of good and truth, but in a life of good, in which are the upright Gentiles, among whom when a new church is being set up, the spirit of God is said to “rest.”

[12] In Jeremiah:

Jehovah, who brought up and who led back the seed of the house of Israel out of the land to the north, and from all the lands whither I had driven them, that they may dwell upon their own land (Jeremiah 23:8); where “out of the land to the north” signifies from the obscurity of ignorance respecting good and truth. Again:

Shall iron be broken, iron from the north, and brass? (Jeremiah 15:12);

“iron” signifies natural truth (n. 425, 426); “brass,” natural good (n. 425, 1551). These are said to be “from the north,” because from the natural, where there is relative obscurity and a termination. That this prophecy does not signify that iron and brass are from the north, is evident without explication; for what could there be of the Divine, or even of coherence with what goes before and what follows after, if the meaning were that iron and brass were therefrom?

[13] In Matthew:

I say unto you that many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matthew 8:11Luke 13:29); where “many from the east and the west” denote those who are in the knowledges and the life of good, and those who are in obscurity and ignorance; thus those who are within the church and those who are without it; for that states of good are signified by “east” and “west,” was said above. (That to “sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” signifies to be with the Lord, may be seen above, n. 3305) That in like manner those will come from the east and from the west who shall be with the Lord in His kingdom or in His church, is said in the Prophets; as in Isaiah:

I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west (Isaiah 43:5).

Again:

They shall fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and His glory from the east (Isaiah 59:19).

Again:

They shall know from the rising of the sun, and from the setting, that there is none besides Me; I am Jehovah, and there is none else (Isaiah 45:6).

Again:

I will stir up one from the north, and he shall come; from the rising of the sun shall he call upon My name (Isaiah 41:25).

[14] Moreover that such is the signification of the “east,” “west,” “south,” and “north,” may be clearly seen from the construction of the tabernacle; from the encamping and journeying of the sons of Israel; from the description of the land of Canaan; also from the description of the new temple, of the new Jerusalem, and of the new earth. From the construction of the tabernacle, in that all things therein were arranged according to the quarters (Exodus 38); as what was to be at the east and west corners, and what at the south and north corners (Exodus 26:18, 20, 22, 27; 27:9, 12, 14); and that the candlestick over against the table was to be on the side of the tabernacle toward the south, but the table on the north side (Exodus 26:35; 40:22).

[15] From the encamping and journeying of the sons of Israel, also according to the quarters, in that they were to encamp around the tent of the congregation with the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun toward the east; with the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad toward the south; with the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin toward the west; and with the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali toward the north (Numbers 2:1 to the end). Also that of the Levites, the Gershonites were to be toward the west, the Kohathites toward the south, the Merarites toward the north; and that Moses, Aaron, and his sons, should be before the tabernacle toward the east (Numbers 3:23-38); whereby there was represented the heavenly order which in the Lord’s kingdom is according to the states of good and truth; and that toward the south they should sound the alarm for their journeys (Numbers 10:6); and that as they encamped, so also they journeyed (Numbers 2:34).

[16] From the description of the land of Canaan, which was first described by Moses in respect to the boundaries round about, and this at the south corner, at the west corner, the north corner, and the east corner (Numbers 34:2-12); and the same afterwards when it was given by lot to the tribes (Josh. 15 to 19); from which and also from the most ancient people who dwelt in the land of Canaan, all the places therein became representative and significative, according to their situation, distance, and boundaries in respect to the quarters (n. 1607, 1866).

[17] From the description of the new temple, of the new Jerusalem, and of the new earth, also according to the quarters in Ezekiel, as that the building of the city was from the south; and that of the gate of the building the faces were toward the east, toward the north, and toward the south (40:2,6, 19, 20-46); concerning the measure of the temple, and its door toward the north, and toward the south (41:11); concerning the court toward the north, the east, the south, and the west (42:1,4, 10, 11, 17-20); and that the glory of Jehovah the God of Israel entered from the way of the east (43:1-2, 4); concerning the gates of the outer court (41:1-2, 4; 44:1 (Ezekiel 44:1), 9-10, 19-20); concerning the boundaries of the holy land (47), toward the north (verses 15-17), toward the east (verse 18), toward the south (verse 19), and toward the west (verse 20); and concerning the inheritances according to the quarters for each tribe (48); and concerning the gates of the holy Jerusalem, on the east, the north, the south, and the west (Revelation 21:13). From all this it is very evident that in the internal sense the four quarters of the world, according to which the above holy things, or representatives of what is holy, were arranged, do not signify those quarters, but states of good and truth in the Lord’s kingdom.

[18] That in the opposite sense the “north,” and the “west,” signify what is false and evil, may be seen from the following passages.

In Jeremiah:

The word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see an open caldron; and the face thereof is toward the north. Then Jehovah said unto me, Out of the north evil shall be opened upon all the inhabitants of the land. For lo I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith Jehovah; and they shall come (Jeremiah 1:13-15).

Again:

Set up a standard toward Zion, assemble together, stay not; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great shattering (Jeremiah 4:6).

Again:

The voice of a noise, behold it cometh, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a waste (Jeremiah 10:22).

Again:

Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, for evil looketh forth from the north, and a great shattering. Behold a people cometh from the land of the north; and a great nation shall be stirred up from the sides of the earth (Jeremiah 6:1, 22).

Again:

Then took I the cup from the hand of Jehovah, and made all the nations to drink; Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, Pharaoh king of Egypt, and all the western throng, all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the west, that dwell in the wilderness, and all the kings of the north, far and near (Jeremiah 25:17-20, 24, 26).

[ 19 ] Again:

The swift one shall not flee away, nor the mighty man escape; toward the north, near the shore of the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen. Who is this that riseth up like the river? Egypt riseth up like the river, for he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. But this is the day of the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth, a day of vengeance, for the Lord Jehovih hath a sacrifice in the land of the north by the river Euphrates. Egypt is a very fair heifer; destruction cometh from the north. The daughter of Egypt is put to shame; she is delivered into the hand of the people of the north (Jeremiah 46:6-8, 10, 20, 24).

Again:

Thus saith Jehovah, Behold waters rise up out of the north and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and the fullness thereof, the city and them that dwell therein (Jeremiah 47:2).

[20] Again:

The word that Jehovah spake against Babylon. From the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell therein (Jeremiah 50:3).

Again:

For lo I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken. Behold a people cometh from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the sides of the earth (Jeremiah 50:9, 41).

Again:

Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing over Babylon, for the devastators shall come to her from the north (Jeremiah 51:48).

In Ezekiel:

Say unto Gog, Thou shalt come from out of thy place, from the sides of the north, thou and many people with thee; thou shalt come up against My people Israel as a cloud to cover the land (Ezekiel 38:14-16).

Again:

Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the prince; I will cause thee to turn about, and leave but the sixth of thee, and will cause thee to come up ¹ from the sides of the north; and I will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel; upon the faces of the field thou shalt fall (Ezekiel 39:1-2, 4-5).

In Zechariah:

Alas! Flee from the land of the north, saith Jehovah; for I will spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens. Alas Zion! Escape, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon (Zech. 2:6-7).

[21] From all these passages it is evident what is signified in the opposite sense by the “north;” namely, the falsity from which is evil, and the falsity which is from evil. As the falsity from which is evil originates in reasoning concerning Divine things and against Divine things from the memory-knowledges that belong to the natural man, it is called “the people of the north out of Egypt” (that “Egypt” signifies such knowledge may be seen above, n. 1164, 1165, 2588). As the falsity which is from evil originates in external worship apparently holy, the interiors of which are profane, it is called “the nation of the north out of Babylon.” (That “Babylon” signifies external worship may be seen above, n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1306-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326; that it is Babylon also which causes vastation, n. 1327.) Both the falsity from which is evil, and the falsity which is from evil, are predicated of Gog, for “Gog” signifies worship in externals without an internal, consequently idolatrous worship, such as was that of the Jews at all times. (That “Gog” signifies such worship, see above, n. 1151)

[22] From the obscurity which is of the natural man there arises both what is true and what is false; when man suffers himself to be enlightened by the Word from the Lord, then his obscurity becomes lucid, for there is opened an internal way whereby influx and communication take place through heaven from the Lord; but when he does not suffer himself to be enlightened by the Word from the Lord, but by his own intelligence, then his obscurity becomes dark, and thus false; for the internal way is closed, and no influx and communication take place through heaven from the Lord, except of such a sort as to enable him to appear in the outward form as a man, by thinking and also speaking from what is evil and false. For this reason with the former the “north” signifies what is true, but with the latter what is false; for the former ascend from obscurity, that is, are elevated to the light, whereas the latter descend from obscurity, that is, remove themselves from the light; thus the former are carried to the south, but the latter to the infernal regions.

[23] That the “north” signifies the darkness of falsity, and the “south” the light of truth, is very evident in Daniel, where the ram and the he-goat are described, as also the king of the south and the king of the north. Concerning the ram and the he-goat it is said:

I saw the ram pushing with his horn westward, northward, and southward; so that no beast could stand before him. A he-goat came from the west over all the faces of the earth; and out of one of his horns there came forth a horn, which grew exceedingly toward the south and toward the east, and toward beauty (Daniel 8:4-5, 9).

Concerning the king of the south and the king of the north (the “king of the south” signifying those who are in the knowledges of truth; and the “king of the north,” those who are in falsity) it is thus written:

At the end of years they shall join themselves together; so that the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make equitable terms; but her arm shall not obtain strength. But out of a shoot from her roots shall one stand up that shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall prevail, and shall carry captive into Egypt. The king of the south shall come into the kingdom, and shall come forth and fight with the king of the north. And the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former. There shall many stand against the king of the south. The king of the north shall come and take the fenced cities, and shall destroy many things. The king of the south shall war in battle with a great army, but shall not stand, for they shall devise devices against him. Afterwards he shall return, but shall not be as in the former time. The people that know their God shall strengthen themselves. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south strive with him therefore; the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariot and with horsemen. In the beauteous land many shall fall. But rumors from the east and from the north shall terrify him; and he shall go forth with great anger; he shall come to his end, and none shall help him (Daniel 11:6-45

That the “king of the south” signifies those who are in the light of truth, and the “king of the north” those who are at first in shade, and afterwards are in the darkness of falsity, may be seen from all the particulars; and that thus it is a description of the state of the church, and of the way in which it is successively perverted. They are called “kings of the south and of the north,” because by “kings,” in the internal sense of the Word, are signified truths, and in the opposite sense falsities (n. 1672, 2015, 2069); and by “kingdoms,” the things which are of truth, and in the opposite sense, those which are of falsity (n. 1672, 2547).

Poznámky pod čarou:

2015. Kings shall go forth from thee. That this signifies that all truth is from Him, is evident from the signification of a “king,” in both the historical and the prophetic Word, as being truth (stated above, n. 1672, but not yet fully shown). From the signification of “nations” as being goods, and from the signification of “kings” as being truths, we can see the nature of the internal sense of the Word, and also how remote it is from the sense of the letter. He who reads the Word, especially the historical portion, has no other belief than that the nations there are nations, and kings, and thus that nations and kings are treated of in the very Word itself. But the idea of nations, as well as that of kings, altogether perishes when it is received by the angels, and in their place there succeed good and truth. This cannot but appear as strange and indeed as a paradox, but still it is really so, and the truth of it may appear to everyone from considering that if, in the Word, nations were signified by “nations,” and kings by “kings,” then the Word of the Lord would involve scarcely anything more than any other history, or any other writing, and thus would be a merely worldly affair, when yet there is nothing in the Word that is not Divine, and therefore celestial and spiritual.

[2] Take as a single instance what is said in this verse, that Abraham should be made fruitful and should be made nations, and that kings should go forth from him-what is this but a merely worldly matter, and in no respect heavenly? For in these things there is only the glory of the world, which is nothing at all in heaven; but if this is the Word of the Lord, there must be in it the glory of heaven, and none of the world’s glory. Therefore the sense of the letter is altogether obliterated and vanishes when it passes into heaven; and it is so purified that nothing that is worldly is intermingled. For by “Abraham” is not meant Abraham, but the Lord; by his being “made fruitful” is not meant that his posterity should increase exceedingly, but that the good of the Lord’s Human Essence should increase to infinitude; by the “nations” are not meant nations, but goods; and by the “kings,” not kings but truths. Still the history according to the sense of the letter remains true; for it is true that it was so said to Abraham; also that he was made fruitful, and that nations and kings came from him.

[3] That “kings” signify truths, may be seen from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee; thou shalt suck the milk of the nations, and the breast of kings shalt thou suck (Isaiah 60:10, 16);

what it is to “suck the milk of nations” and “the breast of kings,” is by no means plain from the letter, but it is from the internal sense, in which it signifies to be gifted with goods, and instructed in truths.

In Jeremiah:

There shall enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses (Jeremiah 17:25; 22:4);

to “ride in chariots and on horses” is a prophetical saying which signifies an abundance of intellectual things, as may appear from very many passages in the Prophets; and thus by “kings entering in by the gates of the city” is signified in the internal sense that they should be imbued with truths of faith. This is the heavenly sense of the Word, into which the worldly literal sense passes.

[4] Again, in the same Prophet:

Jehovah hath despised in the indignation of His anger the king and the priest; the gates of Zion have sunk into the earth; He hath destroyed and broken her bars; her king and her princes are among the nations; the law is not (Lamentations 2:6, 9);

“the king” here denotes the truth of faith; “the priest” the good of charity; “Zion” the church which is being destroyed, and whose bars are being broken; hence “the king and the princes are among the nations,” that is, truth and the things which are of truth will be banished to such an extent that there will be no “law,” that is, nothing of the doctrine of faith.

In Isaiah:

Before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the ground shall be forsaken, which thou loathest in the presence of her two kings (Isaiah 7:16); where the Lord’s coming is treated of; the “ground which shall be forsaken” denotes faith, of which there would then be none, and the truths of which are the “kings that would be loathed.”

[5] In the same Prophet:

I will lift up My hand to the nations, and raise up My ensign to the peoples; and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall be carried upon the shoulder; and kings shall be thy nourishers, and their queens those that give thee suck (Isaiah 49:22-23);

“the nations” and “the daughters” denote goods; and “the peoples” and “the sons” truths (as shown in Part First, where it may be seen that “nations” denote goods, n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849; and that “daughters” have a similar signification, n. 489-491; also that “peoples” denote truths, n. 1259, 1260; and “sons” likewise, n. 489, 491, 533, 1147). “Kings” therefore denote truths in general, by which they will be nourished, and their “queens” the goods from which they will be “suckled.” Whether you say goods and truths, or those who are in goods and truths, it is the same.

[6] Again in the same Prophet:

He shall sprinkle many nations, upon him kings shall shut their mouth-for that which was [not] told them have they seen; and that which they did not hear have they understood (Isaiah 52:15),

where the Lord’s coming is spoken of; the “nations” denote those who are affected by goods, and “kings” those who are affected by truths.

In David:

Now, O ye kings, be intelligent; be instructed, ye judges of the earth; serve Jehovah with fear, and exult with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way (Psalms 2:10-12).

“Kings” denote those who are in truths; who also from their truths are often called “king’s sons;” “the Son” here denotes the Lord, who is here called “the Son” because He is the truth itself, and because all truth is from Him.

[7] In John:

They shall sing a new song, Worthy art Thou who takest the book, and openest the seals thereof; Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, that we may reign upon the earth (Revelation 5:9-10); where they who are in truths are called “kings.”

The Lord also calls such persons “the sons of the kingdom,” in Matthew:

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the seed is the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one (Matthew 13:37-38).

In John:

The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the Kings that are from the sun rising might be prepared (Revelation 16:12).

That by the “Euphrates” is not meant the Euphrates, nor by “the kings from the sun-rising” any kings therefrom, is evident (what is meant by the “Euphrates” may be seen above, n. 120, 1585, 1866); so that “the way of the kings that are from the sun-rising” means the truths of faith that are from the goods of love.

[8] In the same:

The nations that are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it (Revelation 21:24); where “the nations” denote those who are in goods, and “the kings of the earth” those who are in truths, as may be inferred from the fact that these words are prophetic, and not historical.

In the same:

With the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters the kings of the earth have committed whoredom, and have been made drunken with the wine of her whoredom (Revelation 17:1-2).

And again:

Babylon hath made all the nations drink of the wine of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her (Revelation 18:3, 9); where in like manner it is evident that kings are not meant by “the kings of the earth;” for the falsification and adulteration of the doctrine of faith, that is, of truth, is treated of, and this is the “whoredom;” “the kings of the earth” denote the truths that are falsified and adulterated.

[9] In the same:

The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, that have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority [potestas] as kings with the beast for one hour. These shall have one mind, and shall give their power and authority to the beast (Revelation 17:12-13).

That these “kings” are not kings, is evident to everyone; for if so it would be wholly unintelligible that the ten kings should receive authority as kings one hour. So too in another passage:

I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war with him that sat upon the horse, and with his army (Revelation 19:19).

That “he that sat upon the horse” is “the Word of God,” is openly stated in verse 13; and it is against this that the kings of the earth are said to have been gathered together. “The beast” denotes the goods of love, profaned; and “the kings” denote the truths of faith, adulterated; these are called “the kings of the earth,” because they are within the church. (That “the earth” is the church may be seen above, n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262.) The “white horse” denotes the understanding of truth; and “he that sat upon the horse,” the Word. This meaning is still more manifest in Daniel (chapter 11), where the war between “the king of the south” and “the king of the north” is treated of; by which terms are signified the truths and falsities that had fought, the combats being described here also in an historical manner by this “war.”

[10] As “a king” signifies truth, it may be seen what is meant in the internal sense when the Lord is called a King and also a Priest; and also what it was in the Lord that was represented by kings, and what by priests. Kings represented His Divine truth, and priests His Divine good. All the laws of order by which the Lord governs the universe as King, are truths; but all the laws by which He governs the universe as Priest, and by which also He rules truths themselves, are goods; for government from truths alone would condemn everyone to hell; but government from goods lifts everyone out thence and uplifts him into heaven (see n. 1728). Because in the Lord’s case these two are conjoined, they were anciently represented by kingship conjoined with priesthood; as with Melchizedek, who was king of Salem and at the same time priest to God Most High (Genesis 14:18); and afterwards with the Jews, among whom the representative church was instituted in its own form, by judges and priests, and afterwards by kings.

[11] But as the kings represented truths, which ought not to have command, for the reason, as before said, that they condemn, therefore the desire to have kings was so displeasing as to call for rebuke, and the nature of truth as regarded in itself was described by the rights [jus] of the king (1 Samuel 8:11-18); and at an earlier day it was commanded by Moses (Deuteronomy 17:14-18) that they should choose genuine truth which is from good, and not spurious; and that they should not defile it by reasonings and memory-knowledges [scientifica]. This is what is involved in the directions concerning a king, given in Moses in the place just cited; which no one can possibly see from the sense of the letter, but yet is evident from the several points contained in the internal sense; so that “king” and “kingship” evidently represented and signified nothing else than truth.