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Amós 2

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1 Así dijo el SEÑOR: Por tres pecados de Moab, y por el cuarto, no la convertiré; porque quemó los huesos del rey de Idumea hasta tornarlos en cal.

2 Y meteré fuego en Moab, y consumirá los palacios de Queriot; y morirá Moab en alboroto, en estrépito y sonido de trompeta.

3 Y quitaré el juez de en medio de él, y mataré con él a todos sus príncipes, dijo el SEÑOR.

4 Así dijo el SEÑOR: Por tres pecados de Judá, y por el cuarto, no la convertiré; porque menospreciaron la ley del SEÑOR, y no guardaron sus ordenanzas; y sus mentiras los hicieron errar, en pos de las cuales anduvieron sus padres.

5 Y meteré fuego en Judá, el cual consumirá los palacios de Jerusalén.

6 Así dijo el SEÑOR: Por tres pecados de Israel, y por el cuarto, no la convertiré; porque vendieron por dinero al justo, y al pobre por un par de zapatos.

7 Que anhelan porque haya un polvo de tierra sobre la cabeza de los pobres, y tuercen el camino de los humildes; y el hombre y su padre entraron a la misma joven, profanando mi santo Nombre.

8 Y sobre las ropas empeñadas se acuestan junto a cualquier altar; y el vino de los penados beben en la casa de sus dioses.

9 Y yo destruí delante de ellos al amorreo, cuya altura era como la altura de los cedros, y fuerte como un alcornoque; y destruí su fruto arriba, y sus raíces abajo.

10 Y yo os hice a vosotros subir de la tierra de Egipto, y os traje por el desierto cuarenta años, para que poseyeseis la tierra del amorreo.

11 Y levanté de vuestros hijos para profetas, y de vuestros jóvenes para que fuesen nazareos. ¿No es esto así, hijos de Israel dijo el SEÑOR?

12 Mas vosotros disteis de beber vino a los nazareos; y a los profetas mandasteis, diciendo: No profeticéis.

13 Pues he aquí, yo os apretaré en vuestro lugar, como se aprieta el carro lleno de haces;

14 y la huida perecerá del ligero, y el fuerte no esforzará su fuerza, ni el valiente librará su alma;

15 Y el que toma el arco no estará en pie, ni escapará el ligero de pies, ni el que cabalga en caballo salvará su vida.

16 El esforzado entre esforzados huirá desnudo aquel día, dijo el SEÑOR.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 315

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315. As it were slain. That this signifies as yet acknowledged by few, is evident from the signification of being slain, when said of the Lord, as denoting His not being acknowledged; in the present case, its being acknowledged by few that His Human is Divine, for it is said, "A lamb standing as it were slain"; and by the lamb is signified the Lord as to the Divine Human (as was shown just above, n. 314). The case is similar with what was said concerning the Lord (1:18), "and was dead," by which is signified that [He was] rejected (concerning which see above, n. 83). By being slain, in the spiritual or internal sense, is not meant to be slain as to the body but as to the soul; and a man is slain as to the soul when he is no longer in any good of faith, for then he has no spiritual life, but instead thereof death, which is called spiritual death; but when "slain" is mentioned concerning the Lord, it does not signify this, because the Lord is Life itself, and gives to every one spiritual life; but it means either that He is rejected, or that He is not acknowledged; for, with those who do not acknowledge Him, He is as it were no one, and especially with those who deny Him. The Lord Himself is indeed acknowledged in the church, and also His Divine, but, as to the Human, as a man only, and not as God; hence it is that His Divine Human is not acknowledged; this, therefore, is what is meant by a lamb standing, as it were slain. But that the Lord even as to the Human is God, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 280-310), and will be seen at the end of this work, where it will be clearly shown.

[2] Those who think from the sense of the letter of the Word only, and not at the same time from the doctrine of genuine truth, suppose that by being slain in the Word is meant being slain as to the body; but that to be slain as to the soul is meant, will appear from the passages which will be adduced presently. For it is acknowledged that the Word in its bosom is spiritual, although in the sense of the letter it is natural; and to be slain spiritually is to perish as to the soul, as is the case with those who do not receive the life of heaven, which is called life eternal, and also simply life, and who thus have instead thereof death, which is damnation. And because this is confessed, it follows that by being slain in the Word is meant to perish from falsities and evils. But the Lord is said spiritually to be slain, when the truth is denied and the good is rejected, these being from Him; among these also He is not acknowledged; for he who denies and rejects those things that are from Him, also denies and rejects Him, for the Lord is with man in His own truths and goods.

[3] But here His Divine Human is treated of; that it is not as yet acknowledged, is known. I will mention the reasons: One is, that the pontifical nation has transferred to its own Primate all Divine power, which is the Lord's even as to the Human, they being unwilling to hear that it was Divine, because from His Human. The other reason is, that those who are not of that nation have made faith alone the only means of salvation, and not a life of charity; and those who do this, can perceive the Lord's Human only as the human of another man; therefore also they remain blindly in the doctrine of the Trinity from the creed of Athanasius, and cannot be enlightened.

[4] That to be slain in the Word signifies to be spiritually slain, is evident from the following passages:

In Isaiah:

"Thou as an abominable shoot, the raiment of the slain, thrust through with the sword: for thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people. Prepare slaughter for his sons" (14:19-21).

These [things are said] concerning Babel, by which is signified the profanation of good and truth, and thence the destruction of the church. It is compared with the raiment of the slain who are thrust through with the sword, because the raiment of the slain signifies abominable falsity, defiling and destroying the things of the church, which are therefore said to be thrust through with the sword, because a sword signifies falsity destroying truth. Hence it is said, "Thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people." By the land is meant the church, and by the people those therein who are in truths, whom to slay is to destroy by falsities. Prepare slaughter for his sons, signifies that their falsities are to be destroyed, his sons denoting falsities.

[5] In Jeremiah:

"The slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from the end of the earth unto the end of the earth" (25:33).

By the slain of Jehovah being from the end of the earth unto the end of the earth, are signified those with whom all the truths of the church are destroyed by falsities; the slain of Jehovah signify those with whom they are destroyed; and from the end of the earth unto the end of the earth, signifies all things of the church.

[6] In the same:

"Therefore deliver up their sons to the famine, and cause them to flow down upon the hands of the sword, that men may become rare, slain with death, their young men smitten with the sword in war" (18:21).

To give sons to the famine, and to cause them to flow down upon the hands of the sword, signifies to extinguish the truths of the church through a lack of the knowledges of truth, and through falsities; sons denote truths, a famine denotes the lack of knowledges, and the sword denotes falsity destroying truth. "That men may become rare, slain with death," signifies that there is no affection of truth, and hence no wisdom; men signify the affection of truth, and hence wisdom (as may be seen above n. 280). "Their young men smitten with the sword in war," signifies, because truths have been destroyed by the assaults of falsity; young men denote truths, the sword denotes falsity destroying, and war denotes the assault thereof.

[7] In Ezekiel:

"Go ye through" Jerusalem, "and smite, neither let your eye spare, slay ye to perdition the old man, the young man, and the virgin, and the infant; but draw not near against any man upon whom is the sign" (9:5, 6).

These words were spoken by the man clothed in linen garments, or by an angel to other angels, and were heard by the prophet. It is not meant by this that they should pass through Jerusalem, and should smite and slay old men, young men, maidens, and infants unto perdition; but by Jerusalem is meant the church as to doctrine, and that it is altogether vastated as to all the goods and truths which constitute it. By an old man is meant wisdom belonging to good; by a young man, intelligence belonging to truth; by a maiden, the affection thereof; and by an infant, every rising good and truth, specifically the good of innocence, by means of which all things of the church with man are born. By the man (vir) upon whom was the sign, and to whom they should not come near, is signified truth from good.

[8] In the same:

"Hence they shall stone them with stone, they shall cleave them asunder with swords, they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire" (23:47).

These things are said concerning Samaria and Jerusalem, which are there called Aholah and Aholibah; by which are signified the spiritual and the celestial churches, in the present case, those churches devastated by falsities and evils. To stone with stone, and to cleave asunder with swords, signify the destruction of truth by falsities; for stoning signified punishment and death, on account of violence offered to the Divine truth, similarly the cleaving asunder by swords. To slay sons and daughters, signifies to destroy all truths and goods, sons denoting truths, and daughters goods. And to burn houses with fire, signifies to destroy all things of love and charity, by the evils of the love of self and of the world; houses denote the interior [things] of man, thus those of his love; here that [those things are] destroyed, fire denoting love in both senses.

[9] In Jeremiah:

"They lay on the earth, the boy and the old man in the streets; my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword; Thou hast slain in the day of thine anger, Thou hast not spared" (Lamentations 2:21).

Here also it treats of the church devastated. To lie on the ground and in the streets, signifies, destroyed by evils and falsities. The boy and the old man, the virgins and the young men, have fallen by the sword, signify, here as above, all goods and truths together with intelligence and wisdom. Their extinction is signified by, "Thou hast slain in the day of thine anger, Thou hast not spared"; the day of anger signifies the last state of the church, when judgment takes place. It is ascribed to Jehovah that He slew, that is, extinguished those things; but it is man himself who does this. It is the character of the sense of the letter to ascribe to Jehovah what is of the man himself (as may be seen, n. 2447, 5798, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7643, 7677, 7679, 7710, 7926, 8227, 8282, 8483, 8632, 9010, 9128, 9306, 10431).

[10] In Amos:

"I will cut off the judge out of the midst of Moab, and all his princes will I slay with him" (2:2, 3).

By Moab, in the Word, are meant those who adulterate the goods of the church; by the judge who shall be cut off and by the princes who shall be slain, are signified the good that is adulterated, and the truths that are thence falsified, a judge denoting good, and a prince denoting truth.

[11] In Zechariah:

"There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds, that their eminence is devastated. Thus said Jehovah my God, Feed the sheep of the slaughter, which their possessors slay. I have fed the sheep of the slaughter for your sakes, O miserable of the flock" (11:3-5, 7).

By the sheep of the slaughter, which their possessors slay, are signified those who are in good, and are seduced by falsities of doctrine; they are called sheep who are in the good of charity; shepherds denote those who teach truths, and thereby lead to good.

[12] In David:

"We are slain every day; we are reputed as a flock of the slaughter. Awake, O Lord! forsake us not for ever" (Psalms 44:22, 23).

"We are slain every day," signifies, that of ourselves we are perpetually falling into falsities, and are seduced by them, especially in the time when falsities rule; hence it is evident what a flock of the slaughter signifies. That we may be elevated out of them by the Lord is signified by, "Awake, O Lord! forsake us not for ever."

[13] In Ezekiel:

"They shall draw the swords upon the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring [thee] down to the pit, and thou shalt die by the death of the slain" (28:7, 8).

These things are spoken of the prince of Tyre, by whom is signified intelligence from the knowledges of truth, here those extinguished by falsities. To draw swords upon the beauty of thy wisdom, signifies its extinction by falsities; to bring down to the pit, signifies immersion in them; and to die by the death of the slain, signifies destruction and damnation; the slain signify those with whom all truth is extinguished (as may be seen, n. 4503, 9262), and death signifies damnation.

[14] In Isaiah:

"Hath he smitten him according to the stroke of him that smiteth him? Is he slain according to the slaughter of his slain? " (27:7).

These things are said concerning Jacob and Israel, by whom the church is signified; by Jacob the external church, and by Israel the internal. The temptations of those who belong to the church are thus described, which are signified by, "Hath he smitten him according to the stroke of him that smiteth him?" And that they should not yield, and thus perish in temptations, is signified by, "Is he slain according to the slaughter of the slain?" the slaughter of the slain signifies perdition by falsities.

[15] Slaughter signifies perdition and damnation also elsewhere in the same:

"In the day of the great slaughter, the towers shall fall" (30:25).

The day of the great slaughter signifies the Last Judgment, when the wicked are condemned and perish; towers signify the doctrines of falsity.

[16] In the same:

"I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant" (14:30).

These things are said respecting Philistea, by which is signified truth without good, or faith without charity. To kill the root with famine, signifies to perish entirely from having no good; the root denotes everything from which a thing lives; therefore it is also said, he shall slay thy remnant; by remnant are signified all the remains of the church.

[17] In Jeremiah:

"I have heard the voice of the daughter of Zion; she sigheth and spreadeth her hands, for my soul is wearied by the slayers" (4:31).

Thus is described the grief of the church falling from truths into falsities. The daughter of Zion denotes the church, "She sigheth and spreadeth the hands," signifies grief; "For my soul is wearied by the slavers," signifies by the falsities which extinguish spiritual life, slayers denoting those falsities.

[18] In Isaiah:

"Behold, Jehovah going forth out of his place to visit the iniquity of the earth; then shall the earth reveal her bloods, and shall no longer hide her slain" (26:21).

This is said of the day of visitation or judgment, when the iniquities of all shall be uncovered, which is meant by, "Then the earth shall reveal her bloods, and shall no longer hide her slain the earth signifies the church, here the evil who are therein bloods denote the evils that have destroyed the goods thereof and the slain denote the falsities that have destroyed the truths thereof; hence, whether it be said that the slain signify falsities, or those who are in falsities, it is the same thing because they are in falsities, and falsities in them, and the falsities in them destroy. The same is signified by the slain elsewhere in Isaiah:

"What will ye do in the day of visitation and of desolation? They shall fall down under the slain" (10:3, 4).

Also in the Apocalypse:

"The blood of the prophets and of saints was found in Babylon, and of all that were slain on the earth" (18:24).

What is signified by these words will be seen in what comes after.

[19] In Isaiah:

"I will visit evil upon the world. Every one found shall be thrust through; and every one gathered together shall fall by the sword" (13:11, 15).

This also is said of Babylon. "Every one found shall be thrust through," signifies that they shall perish by evil; and "Every one gathered together shall fall by the sword," signifies [that they shall perish] by falsity.

[20] In Matthew:

"In the consummation of the age they shall deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you" (24:9).

In John:

"They shall cut you off from the synagogues; yea, the hour cometh that any one who killeth you, will think that he offereth holy worship to God" (16:2, 3).

These things were said to the disciples; and by the disciples, in the spiritual-representative sense, are meant all the truths and goods of the church; hence it is evident, what is meant in that sense by, "they shall kill them," namely, that they shall then destroy the truths and goods of the church.

[21] In Mark:

"In the consummation of the age "the brother shall deliver the brother to death, the father the children; the children shall rise up against their parents, and shall slay them" (13:12).

The consummation of the age is the last time of the church, when falsities shall destroy truths, and evils shall destroy goods. By brother, father, and children are not meant here, a brother, a father, and children, but falsity and truth, also good and evil. That the brother shall deliver the brother to death, signifies that falsity shall destroy good, specifically that faith alone shall destroy charity, for faith in the Word is called the brother of charity. That the father shall deliver the children to death, signifies that the good of the church shall perish by the falsities of evil; father denoting the good of the church, and children denoting the falsities of evil. That the children shall rise up against their parents, and shall slay them, signifies that the falsities of evil shall assault the goods and truths of the church, and destroy them.

[22] In Luke:

The man who planted a vineyard "sent a servant, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard; but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant; and beating him also, they sent him away empty. Again he sent a third, and wounding him they cast him forth. Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. But they said, This is the heir; come, let us kill him; and casting him out of the vineyard, they killed him" (20:10-16; Mark 12:2-9).

These things are said concerning the church instituted amongst the Jews, and thereby is described the perversion and falsification of every truth they possessed from the Word, by traditions and by applications to themselves. Every particular there contains a spiritual sense; for whatever the Lord spake, He spake also spiritually, because from the Divine. By the vineyard which the man planted, is signified the church which is in truths; by the servants whom he sent thrice, is meant the Word given to them, through Moses and the prophets; "thrice" is mentioned, because three signifies what is full and complete that they beat them, wounded, and sent them away empty from the vineyard, signifies that they falsified and perverted the truths that are there; to send them away empty from the vineyard, signifies that they deprived the Word of its goods and truths. By the beloved son is meant the Lord as to Divine truth, who is also thence called the Word; that they cast Him out of the vineyard and killed Him, signifies not only [that they killed] Him, but also all Divine truth which is from Him (as may be seen also above, n. 83).

[23] In Daniel:

"After threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself" (9:26).

By the Messiah also is meant the Lord as to Divine truth (as may be seen in n. 3008, 3009). That He shall be cut off, signifies not only Himself, but also all Divine truth with that people; but not for Himself, signifies that it should revive with those who are in the New Church, in like manner as was said above in the first chapter of the Apocalypse: "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold I am alive for evermore" (Verse 18).

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Apocalypse Explained # 280

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280. And the third animal had a face like a man. That this signifies the appearance in ultimates of the Divine guardianship and providence as to wisdom, is evident from the signification of the face of a man, as denoting the affection of truth, the face signifying affection, and man signifying one who receives Divine truth; and because his Rational is therefrom, by man is signified wisdom; for man was created that he might be rational and wise, by which he is distinguished from the brute animals; this is why man in the Word signifies wisdom. The reason why man signifies the affection of truth and at the same time wisdom is that the affection of truth, and wisdom, act as one. For he who is in the spiritual affection of truth, that is, who is affected with truth, or who loves truth because it is truth, is conjoined to the Lord, because the Lord is present in His own truths, and is His own truth with man; hence a man has wisdom, and hence he is a man. Some suppose that a man is a man from his face and his body, and that by these he is distinguished from the beasts; but they are in error; a man is a man from wisdom, therefore so far as any one is wise, so far is he a man. This is why those who are wise appear in heaven and in the light of heaven as men, graceful and beautiful according to their wisdom; whereas those who are not wise (and such are those who have no spiritual affection, but merely natural affection, in which a man is when he does not love truth for its own sake but for the sake of glory, honour and gain), these, in the light of heaven, do not appear as men, but as monsters in various forms (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 70, 72, 73-77, 80; and what wisdom is, and what non-wisdom, may be seen in the same, n. 346-365).

[2] That by man in the Word is signified the affection of truth, and thence wisdom, is evident from the following passages, as in Isaiah:

"O Lord, how long? He said, Until the cities shall be laid waste so that they shall be without an inhabitant, and the houses so that a man shall not be in them, and the land be utterly desolate; Jehovah shall remove man, and deserts shall be multiplied in the midst of the land" (6:11, 12).

These things are not said of the laying waste of the land, that there should be no more any cities or houses therein, and that these should be without inhabitant, and without man; but they are said of the laying waste of good and truth in the church. By cities are there signified the truths of doctrine; by inhabitant is signified the good of doctrine; by houses are signified the interior things of man's mind; and by man the spiritual affection of truth and thence wisdom. This is signified by the houses being laid waste that there be no man in them; by the land which shall be utterly desolate, is signified the church; hence it is evident what is signified by removing man, and by multiplying deserts in the midst of the land; a desert signifies where there is no good because no truth.

[3] In the same:

"I will make a man (vir homo) more rare than pure gold; and a man (homo) than the gold of Ophir" (13:12).

By a man (vir homo) is signified intelligence, and by a man (homo) wisdom; and that these were about to cease is signified by its being said that they shall be made rare. Intelligence is distinguished from wisdom by this, that intelligence is the understanding of truth such as the spiritual man has, and wisdom is the understanding of truth such as the celestial man has; the understanding of the latter being from the will of good. It is therefore evident what is signified by man (vir homo), and what by man (homo), in the above passage.

[4] Again:

"The inhabitants of the earth are burned up, and few men are left" (24:6).

By the inhabitants of the earth, are signified the goods of the church, and these are said to be burned up when the loves of self and of the world begin to reign; and that in such case the spiritual affection of truth, and of wisdom thence derived, would cease is signified by few men being left.

[5] Again:

"The highways lie waste; he that traverses the way hath ceased; he hath rendered the covenant vain, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth not man" (33:8).

The devastation of the church is also here spoken of; the highways which lie waste, and he that traverses the way, who has ceased, signify that the goods and truths which lead to heaven were no more; the covenant being rendered vain, signifies that, there was no conjunction with the Lord; he hath despised the cities signifies that they spurn doctrine; he regardeth not man, signifies that they make no account of wisdom.

[6] In Jeremiah:

"I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was empty and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled" (4:23, 25).

That the earth as being empty and void is not here meant, nor the heavens as having no light, nor that there was no man upon the earth, nor that all the birds of heaven were fled, is evident; but the true import of these things can be evident only from the spiritual sense of the Word. In that sense, by the earth is signified the church; being empty and void signifies its being destitute of good and truth; by the heavens, where there is no light, are signified the interiors of man's mind, which are the receptacles of the light of heaven; the light which is not there denotes the Divine truth and wisdom therefrom: therefore it is said, "I beheld, and, lo, there was no man;" by the birds of heaven which were fled are signified the Rational and Intellectual.

[7] In the same:

"Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast" (31:27).

By the house of Israel and the house of Judah is signified the church as to truth and good; by the seed of man and the seed of beast are signified the spiritual affection of truth and the natural affection of the same. For when man and beast are mentioned in the Word they signify what is spiritual and what is natural, or what is internal and what is external (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 7424, 7523, 7872).

[8] In Zephaniah:

"I will consume man and beast, I will consume the bird of the heavens and the fish of the sea; I will cut off man from the surfaces of the earth" (1:3).

To consume man and beast, denotes the spiritual affection of truth and the natural affection of the same; to consume the bird of the heavens and the fish of the sea denotes spiritual truths and natural truths; and to cut off man from the surfaces of the earth denotes the affection of truth and wisdom.

[9] In Ezekiel:

"Ye, my flock, the flock of my pasture; ye are man, I am your God" (34:31).

The flock of the pasture signifies spiritual good and truth; the pasture denotes the reception thereof from the Lord; hence it is said, "ye are man, I am your God," man denoting the spiritual affection of truth, and wisdom.

[10] In the same:

"Behold, I am with you, and I will have respect unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown; then I will multiply man upon you, all the house of Israel, even the whole of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded; I will cause man to walk upon you, even my people Israel. Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, Inasmuch as ye say, Thou art consuming man and hast bereaved thy peoples, therefore thou shalt not consume man any more," and thy sword shall not bereave any more, "the devastated cities shall be full of the flock of man" (36:9-14, 38).

The subject here treated of is the restoration of the church. By Israel is signified the spiritual church, or the church that is in spiritual good, which is the good of charity; this church is here called man from the spiritual affection of truth, which constitutes the church; wherefore it is said:

"I will multiply man upon you, all the house of Israel. I will cause man to walk upon you, even my people Israel."

By the waste cities being filled with the flock of man is signified that the doctrines of the church shall be full of spiritual truths; by the sword which shall not bereave any more is signified that falsity shall no more destroy truth.

[11] In the same prophet:

"Thy mother is a lioness; she lay down among lions, one of her whelps rose up, which learned to catch the prey, it devoured men" (19:2, 3, 6).

Mother denotes the church, in this case the church perverted; the falsity of evil destroying truth is signified by the lioness lying down among lions; by her whelp which learned to catch the prey, and which devoured men, is signified the primary falsity of their doctrine, which destroyed truths and consumed every affection thereof. These things are said concerning the princes of Israel, by whom are signified primary truths, but here, in an opposite sense, primary falsities.

[12] In Jeremiah:

"Hazor shall become a dwelling for dragons, a desolation even for an age; there shall not dwell there a man (vir), nor a son of man (homo) abide in her" (49:33).

Here the subject is the church which is in falsities, and in no truths. Hazor signifies the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth; and the knowledges (cognitiones) of falsity are signified by a dwelling for dragons; that there is consequently no truth, or doctrine of truth is signified by there shall not dwell there a man, nor a son of man abide in her; man denotes truth, and the son of man the doctrine of truth.

[13] Again, in the Apocalypse:

"He measured the wall" of the Holy Jerusalem, "an hundred and forty and four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of an angel" (21:17).

No one can understand what is signified by the wall of the holy Jerusalem being an hundred and forty and four cubits, and by this being the measure of a man, that is, of an angel, unless he knows the signification of the holy Jerusalem, of its wall, of the number 144, also of a man, and of an angel. The holy Jerusalem signifies the church as to doctrine; wall signifies truth defending; the number 144, signifies all truths from good in the aggregate; man signifies the reception of these from affection, and an angel signifies the same; it is therefore said to be the measure of a man, that is, of an angel, measure signifying quality. From these considerations it is evident how these words are to be spiritually understood. (These things may be seen more clearly explained in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n.1.)

[14] Because by man is signified the spiritual affection of truth, and thence wisdom, therefore by man is also signified the church, because the church with man is a church from the spiritual affection of truth and of wisdom therefrom.

From this it is evident that man in the first chapter of Genesis, signifies the church which was the first and the most ancient on this earth; this is meant by Adam, or man (homo). The establishment of that church is described in the first chapter by the creation of the heaven and the earth, its intelligence and wisdom, are signified by paradise, and its fall is described by man's eating of the tree of knowledge.

[15] But by man in the highest sense, is meant the Lord Himself, because from Him are heaven and the church, and also the spiritual affection of truth and wisdom with every one of those who constitute heaven and the church. This is why, in the highest sense, the Lord alone is man, and that others, in both the natural and the spiritual worlds, are so far man as they receive from Him truth and good, thus so far as they love the truth and live according to it. Hence also it is that the whole angelic heaven appears as one man, and also each society there; and hence also it is that the angels appear in a perfect human form (concerning these things more may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 59-67, 68-72, 73-77, 87-102).

[16] It is for this reason that the four cherubim, by which are signified the guardianship and providence of the Lord lest the higher heavens should be approached except by the good of love, were seen as men, although they had each four faces; and also that the Lord was seen above them as a man. That the four cherubim were seen as men, is evident in Ezekiel:

"This was the aspect" of the four animals, "they had the likeness of a man, but four faces to each" (1:5, 6).

Similarly the two cherubim over the mercy seat were, as to the face, like men. Again, that the Lord was seen above the cherubim as a man, is expressly affirmed by the same prophet:

"Above the expanse which was over the head" of the cherubim, "as it were the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne, and upon the likeness of a throne, a likeness as it were the appearance of a man upon it above" (1:26).

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.