39. And all the tribes of the earth shall wail over him. That this signifies that the falsities of the church will resist, is evident from the signification of wailing, as denoting to lament, to grieve, to be indignant, to be angry, to be averse from, thus also to resist; and from the signification of tribes, as denoting all truths and goods in the aggregate, and, in the opposite sense, all falsities and evils in the aggregate, concerning which we shall speak in what follows; and from the signification of the earth, as being the church (on which see above, n. 29). By all the tribes of the earth, therefore, is signified the whole church, and by their wailing over Him, is signified that truths and goods are no more, because falsities and evils are about to dominate and resist. For what the state of the church will be at its end is treated of in general in this verse, when there will be no longer any faith because no charity; that is, that the Lord will then reveal Himself, and that all will acknowledge Him who are in truths from good, and that those also shall see Him who are in falsities from evil, but that the falsities of the church will resist. (That the Apocalypse does not treat of the successive states of the church, but of its last state, or when it is at its end, may be seen above, n. 5; and that its end is when there is no faith because no charity, may be seen in the small work, The Last Judgment 33-39, and following numbers. When there is no faith because no charity, then falsities from evil reign, which offer opposition to truths from good.)

[2] Tribes are often mentioned in the Word, because the Israelitish people were divided into twelve tribes; and he who is ignorant of the internal sense of the Word supposes, that by tribes are meant the tribes of Israel; nevertheless, by tribes are not meant tribes, nor is Israel meant by Israel; but tribes mean all those who are in truths from good, and Israel means the church of the Lord. He who does not know this, will easily accept the common belief that the children of Israel were chosen before all others on the whole earth, and also that they will be introduced at last into the land of Canaan. Indeed, he will believe that heaven will consist chiefly of them; although, by the names of those tribes in the Word they are not meant, but those who are in truths from good, that is, those who belong to the church; by the twelve tribes, all, and by each one of them, some special truth and good pertaining to those who belong to the church.

[3] These things being understood, it is evident what is meant by these words in the Apocalypse:

"I heard the number of them which were sealed; and there were sealed a hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the sons of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Asher were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Naphtali were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasseh were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zebulun were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand" (7:4-8).

In this passage those who belonged to the Israelitish nation are not meant, but all those, however many they may be, who are in truths from good; for all these are sealed for heaven. The numbers one hundred and forty-four thousand and twelve thousand, also signify all, and each tribe signifies all those who are in that truth or good which is signified by its name.

(As may be evident from what is shown in Arcana Coelestia in regard to the following: what good and truth are signified by Judah, n. 3881, 6363; what by Reuben, n. 3861, 3866, 4605, 4731, 4734, 4761, 6342-6345; what by Gad, n. 3934, 3935; what by Asher, n. 3938, 3939, 6408; what by Naphtali, n. 3927, 3928 what by Manasseh, n. 3969, 5354, 6222, 6231, 6238, 6267, 6296 what by Simeon, n. 3869-3872, 4197, 4502, 4503, 5482, 5626, 5630; what by Levi, n. 3875, 3877, 4497, 4502, 4503; what by Issachar, n. 3956, 3957; what by Zebulun, n. 3960, 3961, 6383; what by Joseph, n. 3969, 3971, 4669, 6417; and what by Benjamin, n. 3969, 4592, 5411, 5413, 5443, 5639, 5686, 5688, 5689, 6440.

That all numbers in the Word signify things, see n. 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175, 9488, 9659, 10217, 10253.

That twelve signifies all, and all things as to truths from good, see n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913; also, the numbers 72, 144, 12,000, 144,000, because they arise from the number 12 by multiplication, n. 7973.

That numbers multiplied signify the same as the simple numbers from which they are produced by multiplication, see n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973.)

[4] He who does not know that numbers signify things, what the numbers twelve, one hundred and forty-four, and twelve thousand signify, and also what tribes and apostles signify, cannot know what is signified by those passages in the Apocalypse, where it is said, that the holy city, New Jerusalem,

"had a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and in the gates twelve angels, and names written which are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; and the wall had twelve foundations, in which were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The wall was a hundred and forty and four cubits, and the length and the breadth of the city twelve thousand furlongs" (21:12, 14, 16, 17).

The signification of all these things may be seen explained in the little work, The New Jerusalem and its Doctrine, n. 1; where it is shown, that by Jerusalem is signified the church as to doctrine; by the wall, its truths of defence; by the gates, introductory truths; by the foundations, the knowledges upon which doctrine is founded; by twelve angels, and by twelve tribes, all truths and goods collectively; the same by the twelve apostles; and by the numbers twelve, one hundred and forty-four, and twelve thousand, all things and all persons.

[5] Moreover, he who knows that such things are signified by the twelve tribes may see the mystery involved in the names of the twelve tribes being engraved upon the precious stones of the Urim and Thummim, and also the signification of the breast-plate (Exodus 28:21; 39:10-15). (This arcanum may be seen unfolded in Arcana Coelestia 3858, 6335, 6640, 9863, 9865, 9873, 9874, 9905.) He may also see what is the signification of the twelve apostles sitting upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28), namely, that the Lord alone will judge every one by truths from good (n. 2129, 6397); also what things are meant by the predictions of Israel the father, concerning his sons (Gen. 49); and also the meaning of many other passages in the Word where the tribes are mentioned (as in Isaiah 19:13; 49:6; 63:17; Jeremiah 10:16; Ezekiel 48:1, and following verses; Psalm 122:3-5; Deuteronomy 32:8; Numbers 24:2; Apoc. 5:9; 7:4-9; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6; and elsewhere).

[6] And again, the meaning of the Lord's words about the consummation of the age and His coming, may be seen:

"After the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and much glory" (Matthew 14:29, 30).

(These words may be seen explained in detail in the work, Heaven and Hell 1; and in the following passages in Arcana Coelestia, where it is shown that the twelve tribes of Israel represented, and thence signified, all truths and goods collectively, thus all things of faith and love, n. 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335; that similar things are signified by the twelve apostles, n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397; and that they have various significations according to the order in which they are named, n. 3862, 3926, 3939, 4603, 6337, 6640, 10335.)

3305. 'And he called his name Jacob' means the doctrine of natural truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling the name' or calling by name as the essential nature, dealt with just above in 3302. The essential nature represented by 'Jacob' is the doctrine of natural truth, as becomes clear from the representation of Esau as good constituting the life of natural truth, 3300, and from very many places in the Word where he is mentioned. There are two elements which constitute the natural, as there are two which constitute the rational, and indeed which constitute the whole person - the first being that of life, the second that of doctrine. The element of life belongs to the will, that of doctrine to the understanding. The former is called good, but the latter truth. It is that good which is represented by Esau, but this truth by Jacob; or what amounts to the same, it is good constituting the life of natural truth that is represented by Esau, and the doctrine of natural truth that is represented by Jacob. Whether you speak of the good constituting the life of natural truth and of the doctrine of natural truth, or of those in whom such doctrine and life are present, it amounts to the same, for the good constituting the life and the doctrine of truth cannot exist apart from their subject. Without their subject they are mere abstractions, yet they nevertheless have regard to the person in whom they exist. Consequently Jacob here means people who possess the doctrine of natural truth.

[2] Those who confine themselves to the sense of the letter suppose that in the Word Jacob is used to mean every one of those people descended from Jacob, and for that reason they apply to those people everything that has been stated about Jacob either as history or as prophecy. But the Word is Divine in that first and foremost every single thing within it has regard not just to one particular nation or people but to the whole human race, namely to everyone present, past, and future. More than that, it has reference to the Lord's kingdom in heaven; and in the highest sense to the Lord Himself. This is what makes it a Divine Word. If it were concerned with merely one particular nation it would be human only and would have nothing more of the Divine within it than the existence among that nation of holy worship. The fact that such worship did not exist among the people called 'Jacob' may be known to anyone. For this reason also it is evident that 'Jacob' is not used in the Word to mean Jacob, nor 'Israel' to mean Israel - for almost everywhere in prophetical parts, when Jacob is referred to, Israel is mentioned too. And no one can know what is meant specifically by the first or what by the second except from that sense which lies more deeply and conceals the arcana of heaven within itself.

[3] In the internal sense therefore 'Jacob' means the doctrine of natural truth, or what amounts to the same, people who possess that doctrine, no matter what nation they belong to; and in the highest sense 'Jacob' is used to mean the Lord, as becomes clear from the following places: In Luke,

The angel said to Mary, You will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, so that He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Luke 1:31-33.

Everyone recognizes that here 'the house of Jacob' was not used to mean the Jewish nation or people, for the Lord's kingdom included not merely that people but all throughout the world who have faith in Him, and from faith have charity. From this it is clear that when the angel used the name Jacob he did not mean the people of Jacob. Nor consequently are those people meant anywhere else. Nor are the references to the seed of Jacob, the sons of Jacob, the land of Jacob, the inheritance of Jacob, the king of Jacob, and the God of Jacob, which occur so many times in the Old Testament Word, meant literally.

[4] It is similar with the name Israel, as in Matthew,

The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Rise, take the Boy and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be there until I tell you. He rose and took the Boy and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt, so that what had been said by the prophet might be fulfilled, when he said, Out of Egypt have I called My Son. Matthew 2:13-15.

In the prophet this promise is stated as follows,

When Israel was a boy I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. Hosea 11:1.

Here it is quite evident that 'Israel' is the Lord. From the sense of the letter however nothing more may be known beyond the fact that 'the boy Israel' means the immediate descendants of Jacob who came into Egypt and at a later time were summoned from there. It is similar in other places where the names Jacob and Israel occur, although it is not apparent from the sense of the letter, as in Isaiah,

Hear, O Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen, Thus said Jehovah who made you and formed you from the womb, who helps you, Fear not, O my servant Jacob, and Jeshurun whom I have chosen, for I will pour out waters upon thirsty land, and rivers upon the dry. I will pour out My spirit upon your seed, and My blessing upon your sons. This one will say, I am Jehovah's, and another will call himself by the name of Jacob, and he will write with his hand, Jehovah's, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Isaiah 44:1-3, 5.

Here 'Jacob' and 'Israel' plainly stand for the Lord, and 'the seed' and 'the sons of Jacob' for those having faith in Him.

[5] In the prophecy concerning Israel's sons, in Moses,

Joseph will sit in the strength of his bow, and the arms of his hands will be made strong by the hands of the mighty Jacob; from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. Genesis 49:24.

Here also 'the mighty Jacob' and 'the Stone of Israel' plainly stand for the Lord. In Isaiah,

My glory will I not give to another. Hearken to Me, O Jacob, and O Israel whom I called: I am the same; I am the first; I am also the last. Isaiah 48:11-12.

Here again 'Jacob' and 'Israel' are the Lord. In Ezekiel,

I will take the stick of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and of the tribes of Israel his companions, and I will add them to it, to the stick of Judah, and make them into one stick, that they may be one in My hand. I will take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and will gather them from all around and bring them on to their own land. And I will make them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king to them all, and they will no longer be two nations, nor will they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. At that time they will dwell in the land which I gave to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers dwelt. They will dwell in it, they, and their sons, and their sons' sons even for ever. David My servant will be their prince for ever. I will make with them a covenant of peace; it will be an eternal covenant with them. I will bless ¹ them, and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst for evermore. Thus will My dwelling-place be with them, and I will be their God. and they will be My people, so that the nations may know that I Jehovah sanctify Israel, to be My sanctuary in their midst for evermore. Ezekiel 37:19, 21-22, 24-28.

Here again it is quite clear that 'Joseph', 'Ephraim', 'Judah', 'Israel', 'Jacob', and 'David' are not used to mean those persons, but in the highest sense Divine spiritual things within the Lord and which exist in the Lord's kingdom and in His Church. Anyone may know that David will not be, as is said, their king and prince for ever, but that 'David' is used to mean the Lord, 1888. Anyone may also know that Israel will not be gathered together from where they have been scattered, or that they will be sanctified, or, as is said, that the sanctuary will be set in their midst, but that, as is well known, 'Israel' in the representative sense means all those who have faith.

[6] In Micah,

I will surely gather Jacob, all of you, I will surely assemble the remnant of Israel; I will put them together, like the sheep of Bozrah. Micah 2:12.

Here the meaning is similar. In Isaiah,

Those who are to come Jacob will cause to take root. Israel will blossom and flower, and the face of the earth will be filled with produce. Isaiah 27:6.

Here also the meaning is similar. In the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah, who redeemed Abraham, to the house of Jacob, Jacob will no more be ashamed, and no more will his face grow pale. For when he sees his male children, the work of My hands, in his midst they will sanctify My name, and they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and will fear the God of Israel. And those who err in spirit will know understanding. Isaiah 29:22-24.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah said to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him, and I will ungird the loins of kings, to open doors before him, and gates may not be closed: I will go before you and make straight the crooked places; I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of concealed places, and the secret wealth of hoarded objects, that you may know that it is I, Jehovah, who called you by your name, the God of Israel. For the sake of My servant Jacob, and of Israel My chosen, I have called you by your name. I have surnamed you when you did not know Me. Isaiah 45:1-4.

This also clearly refers to the Lord. In Micah,

In the latter days the mountain of the house of Jehovah will be established at the head of the mountains. Many nations will come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways, and we will go in His paths. For out of Zion will go forth teaching, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. Micah 4:1-2.

In David,

Jehovah loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling-places of Jacob. Glorious things are to be spoken in you, O city of God. Psalms 87:1-3.

In Jeremiah,

They will serve Jehovah their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. And do not fear, O My servant Jacob, and do not be dismayed, O Israel, for behold, I am saving you from afar. Jeremiah 30:9-10.

In Isaiah,

Listen to Me, O islands, and hearken, O peoples from afar. Jehovah called me from the womb, from my mother's body ² He remembered my name. And He said to me, You are My servant Israel in whom I will be rendered glorious. Isaiah 49:1, 3.

In the same prophet,

Then will you take delight in Jehovah and I will convey you over the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob. Isaiah 58:14.

In the same prophet,

I will bring forth seed from Jacob, and from Judah the heir of My mountain, so mat My chosen ones may possess it, and My servants may dwell there. Isaiah 65:9.

[7] In all these places 'Jacob' and 'Israel' are used in the highest sense to mean the Lord, and in the representative sense the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and the Church which is the Church by virtue of the doctrine of truth and the life of good - 'Jacob' meaning those who are in the external aspects of that Church, and 'Israel' those who are in the internal. These and very many other places show that nowhere is 'Jacob' used to mean Jacob, or 'Israel' to mean Israel, any more than when the names 'Isaac' and 'Abraham' are used Isaac or Abraham is meant, as in Matthew,

Many will come from the east and from the west and will recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 8:11.

In Luke,

You will see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God. Luke 13:28.

And in the same gospel,

Lazarus was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Luke 16:22.

For in heaven angels have no knowledge at all of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Angels there perceive nothing else from those words when read by man than the Lord as regards the Divine and the Divine Human. When man reads about reclining with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob they perceive nothing else than being with the Lord; and when about being in Abraham's bosom nothing else than resting in the Lord. Such wording has been used however because mankind at that time was so far removed from things of an internal nature that it neither knew nor wished to know anything other than this, that everything in the Word was to be taken literally. And when the Lord spoke to them in that literal manner He did so in order that they might receive faith, and also at the same time in order that the internal sense might be contained within what He said, by means of which mankind was joined to Himself. This being so one may see what is meant in the Old Testament Word by 'the God of Jacob' and by 'the Holy One of Israel', namely the Lord Himself. For places where 'the God of Jacob' means the Lord, see 2 Samuel 23:1; Isaiah 2:3; 41:21; Micah 4:2; Psalms 20:1; 46:7; 75:9; 76:6; 81:1, 4; 84:8; 94:7; 114:7; 132:2; 146:5; and for places where 'the Holy One of Israel' means the Lord, Isaiah 1:4; 5:19, 24; 10:20; 12:6; 17:7; 29:19; 30:11-12, 15; 31:1; 37:23; 41:14, 16, 20; 43:3, 14; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7; 54:5; 55:5; 60:9, 14; Jeremiah 50:29; Ezekiel 39:7; Psalms 71:22; 78:41; 89:18.

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