725. "A son, a male" signifies the doctrine of truth for the church which is called "the New Jerusalem," because "son" signifies truth (as has been shown just above), and "a son, a male" signifies the truth of doctrine from the Word, consequently the doctrine of genuine truth which is for the church. It means the doctrine for the church which is called the New Jerusalem, because "the woman that brought forth a son, a male" means that church (as has also been shown above). The doctrine of truth which is for the church is also signified by "male" in the following passages. In Moses:

God created man into His image, into the image of God created He him. Male and female created He them (Genesis 1:27).

Male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Man, in the day when they were created (Genesis 5:2).

What is involved in the things that are related in the first chapters of Genesis respecting the creation of heaven and earth, paradise, and eating from the tree of knowledge, no one can know except from the spiritual sense, for these historical things are made-up historicals, and yet they are holy, because every least particular is inwardly or in its bosom spiritual.

[2] It describes the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, which surpassed all the churches on this earth; its establishment is meant by the creation of heaven and earth, its intelligence and wisdom by the garden in Eden, and its decline and fall by eating from the tree of knowledge. From this it is clear that "Man," who is called "Adam and Eve," means that church, for it is said "male and female created He them, and called their name Man;" and as that church is meant by the two, it follows that "the male" means its truth, and "the female" its good, so too, "male" means doctrine, and "female," the life, since the doctrine of truth is also the doctrine of love and charity, thus the doctrine of life; and the life of good is also the life of love and charity, thus the life of doctrine, that is, life according to doctrine. These two are meant by "male [and female]," and these taken together and conjoined in marriage are called "Man" [Homo], and also constitute the church, which is meant by "Man," as has been said above. So, again, Adam is from a word that means ground, and ground from its reception of seeds signifies the church in respect to the truths of doctrine, for in the Word seeds signify truths; while Eve is from a word that means life, as it is said:

Because she was to be the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20).

These two, doctrine and life, when taken together and joined as it were in marriage, are called "Man," and also constitute the church, because man is man from the understanding of truth and from the will of good, consequently from the doctrine of life, since this is of the understanding, and from the life of doctrine, because this is of the will. It is similar with the church, for the church is in man, and is the man himself.

[3] That these two, which are signified by "male and female," are not to be two but one, the Lord teaches in the Gospels:

Jesus said, Have ye not read that He who made them from the beginning of creation made them male and female, and they twain shall be one flesh? Therefore they are no more twain, but one flesh (Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6, 8).

This, like every particular of the Word, must be understood not only naturally, but also spiritually, and unless it is also understood spiritually no one can know what is signified by "male and female [or husband and wife] shall be no more twain but one flesh" (as it is also said in Genesis 2:24). Here, as above, "male and female" signify in the spiritual sense truth and good, consequently the doctrine of truth, which is the doctrine of life, and the life of truth, which is the life of doctrine; these must be not two but one, since truth does not become truth with man without the good of life, nor does good become good with anyone without the truth of doctrine, for good becomes spiritual good only by means of truths, and spiritual good is good, but natural good without it is not good. When these are one, then truth is of good and good is of truth, and this one is meant by "one flesh." It is similar with doctrine and life; these also constitute one man of the church when the doctrine of life and the life of doctrine are conjoined with him, for doctrine teaches how one must live and do, and life lives the doctrine and does it. From this it can also be seen that "a son, a male" signifies the doctrine of love and charity, consequently the doctrine of life.

[4] Since the truth of doctrine or the doctrine of truth is signified by the "male," the law was given:

That every male opening the womb should be holy to Jehovah (Exodus 13:12, 15; Deuteronomy 15:19; Luke 2:23).

For from the marriage of truth and good, which, as has been said above, is meant in the spiritual sense by the marriage of man and woman, truths and goods are born, consequently these are signified in that sense by "sons and daughters," truths by "sons," and goods by "daughters;" and as every man is reformed and regenerated by means of truths, for without truths man does not know what is good, or what is the nature of good, thus does not know the way to heaven, so truth, which is what is first born from the marriage of truth and good, was sanctified to Jehovah. This truth first born is also the doctrine of truth, for that which is first is the all in what follows, thus is in all truth, and all truth is doctrine. But it must be carefully noted that "the firstborn" signifies the truth that is of the good of charity, consequently it signifies the good of charity in its form and in its quality, and therefore truth. For truth is the form of good and the quality of good. This is signified by "the firstborn," because from the good of love, which is signified by the womb and the infant in it, nothing else can be born but the good of charity; and this good does not become good until it has been formed and qualified, that is, until it is in the form in which it has its quality, and its form is called truth, and yet it is good in form.

[5] From what has now been said it can be seen why it was commanded:

That every male should appear three times in the year before the face of the Lord Jehovah (Exodus 23:17; 34:23; Deuteronomy 16:16);

namely, at the three feasts, which signified everything of regeneration, from its first to its last; and as everything of regeneration is effected by the truths of doctrine that are made by the Lord to be of the life, so all males, by whom truths were signified, were to present themselves before the Lord that they might be made clean by Him and afterwards be led by Him. Moreover, "three times in the year" signifies continually, and "the face of Jehovah" the Divine love, by which man is led. And this was done because "Jerusalem" signified the church in respect to doctrine, and thence also the doctrine of the church.

[6] Because "burnt-offerings and sacrifices" signified celestial and spiritual things, "burnt-offerings" celestial things, and "sacrifices" spiritual things, the law was given:

That burnt-offerings should be of males without blemish, either from the flock or from the herd; but sacrifices might be either of males or females (Leviticus 1:2, 3; 3:1, 6).

The reasons were that celestial things are such as are of the love to the Lord, thus of the marriage of good and truth, but spiritual things are such as are of charity towards the neighbor, thus not of marriage but of the blood relationship of truth with good; and truths and goods in blood relationship are like sisters and brothers, but in marriage truths and goods are like husband and wife. This is why the burnt-offerings were "of males without blemish," which signify genuine truths from the Word, or from doctrine out of the Word, which have been conjoined to the good of love to the Lord, which good was signified by "the altar and its fire." The sacrifices were "either of males or females," because "males" signified truths, and "females" goods, conjoined not by marriage but by blood relationship; and as both of these, like brothers and sisters, are of one parent, worship was equally well pleasing from truths and from goods, that is, from males and from females.

[7] As all spiritual nourishment is from truths that are from good, the law was also given:

That the male among the priests might eat the holy things (Leviticus 6:18, 29; 7:6).

This was the law because "males" signify the truths of doctrine, which are doctrinals, as above, and "priests" the goods of love, which are the goods of life, and "their eating of the holy things" that belonged to Aaron and his sons signified spiritual nourishment.

[8] In Moses:

When thou draw near unto a city to fight against it, thou shalt invite it to peace; if it does not accept, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword, but the women, the little ones, the beasts, and the prey thou shalt take (Deuteronomy 20:10-14).

Every male in a city that did not accept peace should be smitten with the edge of the sword, but not the women, little ones, and beasts, because "city" signifies doctrine, and "a city of the nations in the land of Canaan" the doctrine of falsity, likewise the males of that city; and "not to accept peace" signifies not to agree with the truths and goods of the church, which were signified by "the sons of Israel;" "the edge of the sword," with which the males should be smitten, signifies truth destroying falsity. And because falsities alone fight against truths and goods and destroy them, but not evils without falsities, "the women, little ones, and beasts," which, with the nations, signified evils, were not smitten, since evils can be subdued, amended, and reformed by means of truths.

[9] In Jeremiah:

Cursed be the man who brought glad tidings to his father, saying, A son, a male is born to thee, in gladdening he hath made him glad; let that man be as the cities that Jehovah overthrew (Jeremiah 20:15, 16).

This is said of those who are in the devastated church, in which nothing but falsities rule and are accepted; therefore "cursed be the man who brought glad tidings to his father, saying, A male is born to thee," signifies one who acknowledges falsity and proclaims it as truth, thus the doctrine of falsity in place of the doctrine of truth; "in gladdening he hath made him glad" signifies the accepting from affection of falsity; "let that man be as the cities that Jehovah overthrew" signifies that it shall be with the doctrines that are from mere falsities, which the Lord exterminated from the church, and as with the cities of the Canaanitish nation that He destroyed; the comparison is with cities because "cities" signify doctrines.

[10] In Ezekiel:

Thou didst take the vessels of thine adorning, of My gold and of My silver which I had given to thee, and madest for thee images of a male with which thou didst commit whoredom (Ezekiel 16:17).

This is said of "the abominations of Jerusalem," which signify the falsifications and adulterations of the Word, which are made by applications to the cupidities of corporeal and earthly loves; "vessels of adorning from the gold and silver of the Lord" signify the knowledges of good and truth, which are the goods and truths of the sense of the letter of the Word; these are called "vessels" because they contain in them spiritual truths and goods, and are called "vessels of adorning" because they are the appearances and thus forms of things interior; the things that are of "gold" signify those that are from good, and those of "silver" those that are from truth; "thou madest for thee images of a male, with which thou didst commit whoredom," signifies falsities appearing as truths of doctrine, but which are falsified; "the images of a male" meaning the appearances of truth, which nevertheless are falsities, and "to commit whoredom" meaning to falsify.

[11] In Malachi:

Cursed be the defrauder in whose flock is a male and he voweth and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupted thing (Malachi 1:14).

"A male in the flock" signifies the genuine truth of doctrine from the Word; "a corrupted thing" signifies what is falsified; and "to vow and sacrifice" signifies to worship, thus from things falsified when truth is known; that this worship being fraudulent is infernal is signified by "cursed be the defrauder." From what has now been shown from the Word respecting the signification of "male" and of "sons," it can be seen that "the son, a male that was brought forth by the woman arrayed with the sun, and upon whose head was a crown of twelve stars," signifies the doctrine of truth, thus the doctrine of love and charity for the church which is called the New Jerusalem (which is treated of in the twenty-first chapter of this book).

527. That the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night likewise, signifies that the spiritual light of truth and the natural light of truth were completely extinguished. This is evident from the signification of "day," as being spiritual light, and from the signification of "night," as being natural light. This is the signification, since it was said above that "the third part of the sun, the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars, were darkened;" and "day" means the light of the sun, and "night" the light of the moon and stars, since the sun gives light during the day, and the moon and the stars give light at night. In the first place, let something be said respecting light from the sun, which is called the light of the day, and respecting light from the moon and the stars, which is called "the light of the night."

[2] By light from the sun, which is called "the light of the day" and by "day," spiritual light is meant, such as the angels have who see the Lord as a sun; and by light from the moon and stars, which is called "the light of the night" and by "night," natural light is meant, such as the angels have who behold the Lord as a moon. (That the Lord appears to the angels both as a sun and as a moon, see in the work on Heaven and Hell, 116-125.) Those heavens behold the Lord as a sun that are in the spiritual affection of truth, that is, that love truth because it is truth. Because this is spiritual, therefore the light that is from the Lord as a sun is spiritual. But those heavens behold the Lord as a moon that are in the natural affection of truth, that is, that love truth that they may be learned and may instruct others. These love truth because of its usefulness to themselves, and not for the truth's own sake; therefore they are in a light that proceeds from the Lord as a moon. This light differs from the light that goes forth from the Lord as a sun, as the light of day from the sun differs from the light of night from the moon and stars in our world; and in like manner as the lights differ with them do truths differ, since Divine truth proceeding from the Lord produces all light in the heavens (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 126-140).

[3] Those, therefore, who are in spiritual light are in genuine truths, and also when they hear truths that they had not before known, they immediately acknowledge them and see that they are truths. It is otherwise with those who are in natural light. When such hear truths they receive them, not because they see or perceive them, but because they are told them by men of reputation in whom they have confidence; the faith, therefore, of most of such is from others, and yet they are in a life according to faith. Into these heavens all come who have lived well, although they have been in falsities of doctrine; nevertheless the falsities are there continually purified, until at length they appear as truths. This makes evident what is signified by "that the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night likewise." (That "the third part" signifies all, fullness, and wholly, see above, n. 506.)

[4] "Day and night" here have a similar signification as "day and night" in the first chapter of Genesis, where it is said:

God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good; and God divided between the light and the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day (Genesis 1:3-5).

And afterwards:

And God said, Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to divide between the day and the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years. And God made two great luminaries; the great luminary to rule by day, and the lesser luminary to rule by night, and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, and to rule by day and by night, and to divide between the light and the darkness. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19).

The "light" that came the first day signifies the Divine light, that in itself and in its essence is Divine truth, thus spiritual light that enlightens the understanding. This chapter in the internal sense treats of the establishment of a church by the Lord with the most ancient people; and as the first thing is to have the understanding enlightened, for until that is enlightened by the Lord there is no reformation, thus no church with man, therefore first of all light is spoken of, or it is said that "light" was made on the first day. That "God saw the light that it was good" signifies that illustration and reception with them were good. But "darkness" signifies the lumen that is in the natural man, which is called natural lumen, because this lumen in comparison with spiritual light is like darkness, consequently this is meant by "darkness." For every man has a lower or exterior mind, and a higher or interior mind; the lower or exterior mind is the natural mind, which is called the natural man, while the higher or interior mind is the spiritual mind, and is called the spiritual man. The mind is called a man, for the reason that man is man because of his mind. These two minds, the higher and the lower, are altogether distinct; by the lower mind man is in the natural world, together with the men there, but by the higher mind he is in the spiritual world with the angels there.

These two minds are so distinct that while man is living in the world he does not know what is going on in himself in his higher mind; and when he becomes a spirit, as he does immediately after death, he does not know what is going on in his lower mind; therefore it is said "God divided between the light and the darkness, and He called the light day, and the darkness night." This makes evident that "day" signifies spiritual light, and "darkness" natural light. Because all the heavens are so divided that those who are in spiritual light are in light from the Lord as a sun, and those who are in spiritual-natural light are in light from the Lord as a moon (as was just said in this article), it is said, "Let there be two luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to divide between the day and the night, and to rule by day and by night, and to divide between the light and the darkness." From this, therefore, it is evident that "day" here means spiritual light, and "night" natural light, which in heaven is called spiritual-natural light.

[5] Day and night have a similar signification in the following passages. In David:

Jehovah who hath made the heavens by His intelligence, who hath spread out the earth above the waters; who hath made great luminaries, the sun for rule by day, the moon and stars for rule by night (Psalms 136:5-9).

In Jeremiah:

Jehovah giveth the sun for the light of the day, and the statutes of the moon and stars for the light of the night (Jeremiah 31:35).

In David:

Jehovah, the day is Thine, the night also is Thine; Thou hast prepared the light and the sun (Psalms 74:16).

In Jeremiah:

If ye have rendered void My covenant of the day and My covenant of the night, that there be no day and night in their time, My covenant also with David My servant shall become void, that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites the priests, My ministers. If I shall not have set ¹ My covenant of day and night, the statutes of heaven and earth, then I reject also the seed of Jacob and David (Jeremiah 33:20, 21, 25, 26).

"The covenants of the day and of the night" mean all the statutes of the church prescribed unto the sons of Israel in the Word, by which they had conjunction with heaven and through heaven with the Lord. These are called "the covenant of the day and of the night," because they are for heaven and also for the church, the spiritual things that are represented and signified are for heaven, and the natural things that represent and signify are for the church; therefore "the covenants of the day and of the night" are here called "the statutes of heaven and earth," and "the covenant of the night" is called "the statutes of the moon and stars;" "to render void" signifies not to keep. That unless these are kept there could be no conjunction with the Lord through Divine truth or through Divine good is signified by "My covenant with David shall become void, that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites the priests, My ministers," "the covenant with David" meaning conjunction with the Lord through Divine truth; "no son upon his throne" signifying no reception of Divine truth by anyone, and "the covenant with the Levites the priests, My ministers," meaning conjunction with the Lord through Divine good.

[6] In David:

If I shall say, Surely the darkness shall overwhelm me, even the night shall be light for me. Even the darkness shall not make darkness before Thee; but the night shall be light as the day; as the darkness so shall be the light (Psalms 139:11, 12).

This signifies that the natural man as well as the spiritual is enlightened by the Lord. Natural light is signified by "darkness" and "night," and spiritual light by "light" and "day." "The night shall be light as the day, and as the darkness so shall be the light," has the same signification as in Isaiah:

The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun (Isaiah 30:26).

These things have been cited to make known that spiritual light is signified by "the day should not shine for the third part of it," and natural light by "the night likewise;" thus that these expressions have a similar signification as "light from the sun and light from the moon. "

Poznámky pod čarou: