389. Verses 9-11. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slain because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony that they held. And they cried out with a great voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And there were given to every one of them white robes; and it was said unto them that they should rest yet a little time, until their fellow-servants, as well as their brethren, who were to be killed, as they also were, should be fulfilled.

9. "And when he had opened the fifth seal," signifies still further prediction (n. 390); "I saw under the altar," signifies those who were preserved under heaven n. 391; "the souls of those slain because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony that they held," signifies those who were rejected and concealed because of Divine truth and because of their confession of the Lord. n. 392).

10. "And they cried out with a great voice," signifies their grief of mind (n. 393); "saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" signifies sighings to the Lord, who is Righteousness, respecting the judgment and removal of those who persecute and infest those who acknowledge the Lord, and are in the life of charity n. 394.

11. "And there were given to every one of them white robes," signifies Divine truth from the Lord with them, and protection n. 395; "and it was said unto them they should rest yet a little time," signifies some further continuance in that state (n. 396); "until their fellow-servants, as well as their brethren, who were to be killed, as they also were, should be fulfilled," signifies until all things were consummated n. 397.

393. Verse 10. And they cried out with a great voice, signifies their grief of mind. This is evident from the signification of "to cry out," as being vehement grief of mind, for this manifests itself by the sound of crying out in speech; consequently "crying out" in the Word signifies grief. Moreover, every affection, whether of grief or joy, expresses itself by sounds, and ideas of thought by the expressions in the sound. This is why sound in speech manifests both the quality and measure of the affection, and this more clearly in the spiritual world than in the natural world, for the reason that it is not permitted there to show forth any affections other than those that are the mind's own. In the spiritual world, therefore, anyone who is wise can hear and perceive the affection of another, solely from his speech. (That with spirits and angels sounds belong to affection, and words to the ideas of the thought, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 241, and above, n. 323.) That "to cry out," and "a crying out," in the Word, signify grief, is evident from many passages there, of which I will cite this only from Isaiah:

Heshbon cried out, and Elealeh; their voice was heard even to Jahaz; therefore the armed men of Moab shall shout; his soul shall be ill within him. My heart crieth out over Moab: for a crying out closeth round about the border of Moab, the howling thereof even unto Eglaim (Isaiah 15:4, 6, 8).

Because "crying out" signifies grief, it is customary to speak of "crying out unto God," when the mind is in a state of grief (as in Isaiah 19:20; 30:19; 65:19; Jeremiah 14:2 elsewhere). That "crying out" in the Word is predicated of various affections, such as interior lamentation, beseeching and supplication from anguish, attestation and indignation, confession, supplication, and also exultation and other states (See Arcana Coelestia 2240, 2821, 2841, 4779, 5016, 5018, 5027, 5323, 5365, 5870, 6801, 6802, 6862, 7119, 7142, 7782, 8179, 8353, 9202).