811. That "captivity" signifies in the Word spiritual captivity, which is a shutting out from Divine truths, that is, from the understanding of them in the Word, also destruction by the falsities of evil and by the evils of falsity, can be seen from passages in the Word where "captivity" is mentioned; as in the following. In Luke:

They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive among all nations; and Jerusalem shall finally be trampled down (Luke 21:24).

This chapter treats of the consummation of the age, which means the last time of the church, when there is no longer any truth remaining. "To fall by the edge of the sword" at that time signifies the destruction of truth by falsities; "sword" signifying the combat of falsity against truth, and also the destruction of truth by falsities. "They shall be led captive among all nations" signifies persuasions and thence obsessions by evils of every kind; for when truths have been destroyed not only do falsities succeed in their place, but evils also. "All nations" signify evils of every kind; "Jerusalem shall be trampled down" signifies a complete destruction and perversion of the doctrine of the church; "Jerusalem" signifying the church in respect to doctrine, and "to be trampled down" signifying to be wholly destroyed, which is done chiefly by falsifications and adulterations of the Word.

[2] In Ezekiel:

They shall be led captive among the nations, and the altars shall be laid waste, and the idols shall be broken, and the slain shall fall in the midst of you (Ezekiel 6:1-10).

"The altars being laid waste" signifies that all worship from the good of love shall perish; "the idols becoming broken" signifies that all worship from the truths of that good shall perish; and "the slain shall fall in the midst of you" signifies that they shall perish by falsities, "to be slain by the sword" signifying this.

[3] In Lamentations:

Hear, all ye people, and behold my grief; my virgins and my young men have gone into captivity (Lamentations 1:18).

This is a lamentation over the devastation of all truth in the church; this lamentation is described by "Hear, all ye people, and behold my grief;" that all the affection of truth has been destroyed is signified by "my virgins have gone into captivity," a "virgin" signifying the affection of truth; and that all understanding of truth has been destroyed is signified by "my young men have gone into captivity," "young men" signifying the understanding of truth and intelligence.

[4] In Amos:

If they have gone into captivity before their adversaries, thence do I command the sword that it may slay them (Amos 9:4).

"If they have gone into captivity before their adversaries" signifies, if they have suffered evils to take possession of them; "adversaries" meaning evils, and "to go into captivity" meaning to be possessed by them. "Thence do I command the sword that it may slay them" signifies that falsities will shut them out from the understanding of truths, and will destroy them.

[5] In David:

God abandoned the habitation of Shiloh, the tent He inhabited among men; and He gave His strength into captivity, and His splendor into the hand of the adversary (Psalms 78:60, 61).

"The habitation of Shiloh" signifies the church that is in the good of love, and the "tent" signifies the church that is in the truths of doctrine; thence it is clear what is signified by "God abandoned the habitation of Shiloh, the tent He inhabited among men," namely, that the goods of love and the truths of doctrine have been destroyed. The "strength" that He gave into captivity signifies spiritual truth from celestial good; and "to give into captivity" signifies to shut out from an understanding of it, and thus destruction by falsities; and the "splendor that He gave into the hand of the adversary" signifies natural truth from spiritual; this is signified by "splendor;" and its destruction by evils is signified by "being given into the hand of the adversary."

[6] In Ezekiel:

The prophet was commanded to remove out of the place, and to bring out the vessels of removal through the wall before their eyes, to bring them out in the darkness, and to cover his face that he see not the earth; and say, I am your prodigy; like as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity (Ezekiel 12:1-12).

By this the prophet represented the state of the church at that time, that there were no longer any truths remaining that had not been destroyed by falsities. For all the prophets represented the church in respect to doctrine from the Word. "To remove out of the place," and "to bring out the vessels of removal through the wall in darkness, and to cover his face that he see not the earth," represented that all the truths of doctrine from the Word had been cast out; "to remove out of the place" signifies rejection; "vessels of removal" signify the truths of doctrine; the "wall" through which he brought them out signifies the ultimate, which encompasses and defends truths (the ultimate of doctrine being the sense of the letter of the Word, which is called a "wall" because it contains and includes the spiritual sense); the "darkness" in which he was to bring them out signifies falsities; "to cover his face that he see not the earth" signifies that truths of good are no longer seen in the church. Because the prophet represented these things it is said, "like as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile and into captivity." Thence it is clear that "to go into exile" signifies the dispersion of truth, and "to go into captivity" signifies to be possessed by falsities.

[7] In Habakkuk:

I will raise up the Chaldeans, a nation that marcheth into the breadths of the land; it shall gather captivity like the sand; it shall mock at kings and rulers shall be a derision unto it (Habakkuk 1:6, 9, 10).

"The Chaldeans" signify those who destroy the truths of the church; "the breadths of the land" signify the truths of the church; that they will destroy all truths by falsities is signified by "it shall gather captivity like the sand;" that the truths and goods of the Word will be derided and blasphemed is signified by "that nation shall mock at kings, and rulers shall be a derision unto it," "kings" signifying the truths of the Word, and "rulers" its goods.

[8] In Jeremiah:

Nebuchadnezzar shall come and shall smite the land of Egypt, they who are for death to death, they who are for captivity to captivity, they who are for the sword to the sword; and I will kindle a fire in the houses of Egypt that he may burn them up, and carry them away captive; finally he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd arrayeth himself with his garment (Jeremiah 43:11, 12).

"Nebuchadnezzar," or "the king of Babylon," means in the Word those who destroy all things of the church by evils; and "the Chaldeans" those who destroy all things of the church by falsities; and in an abstract sense "the king of Babylon" signifies the evils that destroy, and "the Chaldeans" their falsities. "Nebuchadnezzar shall come and smite the land of Egypt" signifies the destruction of the natural man in respect to all goods and all truths thence from the Word; "they who are for death to death" signifies destruction by evils; "they who are for captivity to captivity" signifies destruction by shutting out from and deprivation of truth; "they who are for the sword to the sword" signifies destruction by falsities thence; "to kindle a fire in the houses of Egypt that he may burn them up, or carry them away captive," signifies that the loves of self and of the world will destroy all things of the natural man by evils and falsities; "fire" signifying those loves; "houses of Egypt" signify all things of the natural man; "to burn them up" signifies to destroy by evil loves, and "to carry them away captive" signifies to destroy by falsities thence. "Finally he shall array himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd arrayeth himself with his garment" signifies that the falsities of evil and the evils of falsity will possess the whole natural man. This is compared to the garment of a shepherd, because a "garment" signifies truth clothing good, but here falsity clothing evil; for the natural man is like a garment to the spiritual man, for it encompasses and includes it.

[9] In Jeremiah:

They who are for death to death, they who are for famine to famine, and they who are for captivity to captivity (Jeremiah 15:2).

This describes the total vastation of good and truth in the church; for in the preceding verse it is said, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My soul could not be towards this people; cast them out before My face, that they may go forth;" therefore "they who are for death to death" signifies that those who reject goods perish by evils; "they who are for famine to famine" signifies that those who reject truths perish by falsities; "they who are for captivity to captivity" signifies that those who love evils and falsities are taken possession of by them.

[10] In Isaiah:

Like as My servant Isaiah hath gone naked and barefoot three years, so shall the king of Assyria lead the captivity of Egypt, and the crowd of Cush that is to be carried away, boys and old men, naked and barefoot, even the buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt (Isaiah 20:3, 4).

"The king of Assyria" signifies reasoning from the knowledges [scientifica] of the natural man; and "Egypt" signifies the natural man; so "the king of Assyria shall lead the captivity of Egypt" signifies that reasoning from falsities will destroy all the truths in the natural man, which are such as the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word. (The rest may be seen explained above, n. 532.)

[11] In Daniel:

Also their gods with their princes, with their vessels of desire, silver and gold, shall he carry captive into Egypt; and he shall stand more years than the king of the north. The intelligent of the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall together by the sword and by flame and by captivity and by depredation, for days (Daniel 11:8, 33).

This treats of the war between the king of the north and the king of the south, "the king of the north" signifying falsity ruling in the church, and "the king of the south" truth defending the church against falsity; that nevertheless falsities will predominate in the church in the latter end of days is here foretold and described. "Their gods and their princes, and vessels of desire, and silver and gold, that shall be carried captive into Egypt," signify that the defending truth will take away all truths and goods of the church from those who are in falsities; its spiritual truths are signified by "their gods and princes," natural truths by "their vessels of desire," and all truth and good in general by "silver and gold," and the taking away and defense of these is signified by "carrying captive into Egypt." "To fall together by sword and flame" signifies to perish by falsities and evils therefrom; and "to fall together by captivity and depredation" signifies the deprivation of all things of truth and good.

[12] In Jeremiah:

When the prophet was given over to the prison he prophesied that all Judah should be carried away into captivity to Babylon, and should there die and be buried (Jeremiah 20:1-6; 27).

This "prophet," like "prophet" in general, signifies the doctrine of the church from the Word; his being "given over to the prison" represented that the like was done in respect to the church and its doctrine, which is signified by all Judah being carried away into captivity to Babylon. The captivity of the tribe of Judah in Babylon seventy years represented the complete destruction of truth and devastation of the church.

[13] In the same:

The wind shall feed all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness (Jeremiah 22:22).

"Shepherds" in an abstract sense signify the goods of the church, and "lovers" its truths; the "wind" that shall feed the shepherds signifies the hollowness and emptiness of doctrine; the "captivity" into which the lovers shall go signifies a shutting out from all truths and from the understanding of them; "to be ashamed and confounded" signifies to be destitute of all good and truth; for thus, when they come among the angels, are they ashamed and confounded.

[14] In Moses:

I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, with the blood of the stain and of captivity, and the gall of the revenges of the adversary (Deuteronomy 32:42).

"To make arrows drunk with blood" signifies the delirium of mind from the Word falsified; "the sword shall devour flesh" signifies that falsities will destroy all things of good; "with the blood of the slain and of captivity" signifies the extinction and shutting out of all truth, "slain" meaning the extinction of truth by falsities, and "captivity" the shutting out of truth by falsities. "With the gall of the revenges of the adversary" signifies with the malice and cruelty of hell; "the gall of revenges" meaning malice and cruelty, and the "adversary" meaning hell.

[15] In Isaiah:

Bel hath bowed low, Nebo hath stooped, their idols are to the wild beast and to the beast; they have stooped and bowed low together, and their soul shall go into captivity (Isaiah 46:1, 2).

"Their idols to the wild beast and to the beast" signifies that their falsities are infernal falsities, and evils therefrom; "they have stooped and bowed low together" signifies that they will fall apart; "their soul shall go into captivity" signifies that they shall go into hell, where they will be shut out from all truth.

[16] In Obadiah:

In that day strangers led his strength captive, and aliens entered his gates and cast the lot upon Jerusalem (Obadiah 1:11).

This is said of Edom, which signifies the truth of the natural man, but here the falsity; "the strangers that led his strength captive" signify the falsities of the church destroying its truths, "strength" signifying truth, since all spiritual strength consists in truths; "the aliens who entered the gates" signify the falsities of doctrine destroying the truths through which entrance is given into interior truths; "Jerusalem, upon which they cast the lot," signifies the doctrine of the church from the Word, thus dispersed, "to cast the lot" meaning to disperse.

[17] In Jeremiah:

Woe to thee, Moab, the people of Chemosh have perished; for thy sons are taken into captivity, and thy daughters into captivity; yet I will bring back the captivity of Moab (Jeremiah 48:46, 47).

"Moab" means those who are in natural delight, and who therefore adulterate the goods of the Word; "the people of Chemosh" mean those who are in natural truth; "sons are taken into captivity and daughters into captivity" signifies that the truths and goods of their church are shut out by falsities and evils; "sons" meaning truths, and "daughters" goods; "I will bring back the captivity of Moab in the end of days" signifies that truths will be opened to those who are meant by "Moab," and they will be instructed in them, "the end of days" signifying the Lord's coming.

[18] In many places in the Word it is said that "captives are to be brought back," and captives mean the Gentiles; and these are called "captives" because they are shut out from truths, which, however, will be opened to them by the Lord. As in Isaiah:

Jehovah hath anointed Me to proclaim good tidings unto the poor; He hath sent Me to bind up the broken in heart; to preach liberty to the captives, and to the bound, to the blind (Isaiah 61:1).

This is said of the Lord; and "the poor" to whom Jehovah hath anointed Him to preach good tidings signify those who are in few truths, and yet desire truths that their soul may be sustained by them; "the broken in heart" signify those who in consequence are in grief; "the captives" to whom He was to preach liberty signify those who are shut out from truths and thus from goods; and to these truths are to be opened, and by them they will be imbued with goods. The "bound" and the "blind" signify those to whom it is denied to see truths, meaning the Gentiles that afterwards received truths from the Lord.

[19] In the same:

I have raised him up in justice, and I will make straight all his ways; he shall build My city and he shall let go My captivity, not for price nor reward (Isaiah 45:13).

This, too, is said of the Lord; and the "justice" in which Jehovah hath raised him up signifies the good of love; and "his ways which He will make straight" signify the truths proceeding from good; the "city which he shall build" signifies the doctrine of the church; and the "captivity which he shall let go" signifies the opening and revelation of Divine truths with those who had heretofore been shut out from them. That the Lord will do these things freely is signified by "not for price nor reward."

[20] In Jeremiah:

The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah are oppressed together, and all that take them captive hold them fast, they refuse to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; pleading He will plead their cause, and will give quiet to the land (Jeremiah 50:33, 34).

This also is said of the Lord, who is meant by "their Redeemer is strong;" "to plead their cause" signifies visitation and judgment upon those who oppress them by falsities, and consequent deliverance from them; "to give quiet to the land" signifies protection from falsities, "the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah," who are said to be oppressed, do not mean the sons of Israel and of Judah, but the Gentiles that are in truths and goods from the Lord; and as these are restrained by those who deceive them and shut out truths from them, it is said that "those that take them captive hold them fast, and refuse to let them go."

[21] In David:

Thou hast ascended on high; Thou hast led captivity captive (Psalms 68:18).

This, again, is said of the Lord; and "to lead captivity captive" signifies to deliver from the falsities that have held them captive. In Isaiah:

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or shall the captivity of the just be delivered? For thus Jehovah hath said, Even the captivity of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the violent shall be delivered (Isaiah 49:24, 25).

This also is said of the Lord, and of the bringing back of the sons of Zion from captivity; and "the sons of Zion" mean those who are in love to the Lord and in truths therefrom. That they had been shut out from truths by those who eagerly confirmed falsities, and yet they were delivered by the Lord, is signified by "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, and shall the captivity of the just be delivered?"

[22] In David:

Who will give out of Zion the salvation of Israel? When Jehovah shall bring back the captivity of His people Jacob shall exult, Israel shall be glad (Psalms 14:7; 53:6).

Here also "Zion" means those who are in the good of love from the Lord; deliverance from evils by the Lord and salvation are meant by "Who will give out of Zion the salvation of Israel?" "To bring back the captivity of His people" means deliverance from falsities and evils; "Jacob shall exult, Israel shall be glad," means the joy with those who are in the external church and of those who are in the internal church because of their deliverance, "Jacob" meaning those who are of the external church, and "Israel" those who are of the internal church; and both mean the Gentiles.

[23] In Jeremiah:

Fear not, My servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel; behold I will keep thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of thy captivity, so that Jacob may return, and be quiet and tranquil, and none shall make him afraid (Jeremiah 46:27; 30:10).

Here, too, "Jacob and Israel" mean the Gentiles, "Jacob" those who are of the external church, and "Israel" those who are of the internal church; "to keep them from afar" signifies to save them although they are far from salvation; "to keep from the land of captivity" signifies to deliver from the falsities by which they have been shut out from the truths and goods of heaven and the church; "to return and be quiet and tranquil, and none shall make afraid," signifies to be protected from falsities which are from hell.

[24] In the same:

All that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, all shall go into captivity; and they that plundered thee shall be for plunder; and all that preyed upon thee will I give for a prey. I will bring back the captivity of the tents of Jacob; and I will have compassion on his habitations, that the city may be built upon its own heap, and the palace shall be inhabited after its own manner (Jeremiah 30:16, 18).

"All that devour thee shall be devoured, all thine adversaries shall go into captivity, and they that plundered thee shall be for plunder, and all that preyed upon thee will I give for a prey," has a similar signification as the passage in Revelation here explained, namely, "if anyone shall lead into captivity he shall go into captivity; and if anyone shall kill with the sword he must be killed with the sword." (What the rest signifies has been explained above, n. 799.)

[25] In the same:

I will be found of you, and I will bring back your captivity, and I will bring you together out of all nations, and I will bring you back to the place whence I caused you to depart (Jeremiah 29:14).

This, too, describes the deliverance of the Gentiles from spiritual captivity, which is a shutting out from the truths and goods of heaven and the church, whereby salvation is effected. In Zephaniah:

In that time I will bring you, and in time will bring you together unto Me, for I will give you for a name and a praise to all the peoples of the earth, when I bring back your captivity before your eyes (Zephaniah 3:20).

This, too, means the bringing back of the Gentiles from spiritual captivity. In Amos:

I will bring back the captivity of My people Israel, that they may build the waste cities and inhabit them, and plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof; and they shall make gardens and eat the fruit of them (Amos 9:14).

This may be seen explained above (n. 376, 405).

[26] In Isaiah:

Put on thy strength, O Zion; put on the garments of thy splendor, O Jerusalem, the city of holiness; for there shall not add to come any more into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean; shake thyself from the dust; sit, O Jerusalem; open the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion (Isaiah 52:1, 2).

"Zion" means a church that is in the good of love to the Lord; truth from that good is signified by the "strength that Zion shall put on;" and the truths of doctrine of that church are signified by "the garments of splendor that Jerusalem shall put on." "The uncircumcised and the unclean, who shall not add to come any more," signify the evils of earthly loves and their falsities; "to shake herself from the dust, to arise and to sit," signifies, in respect to Jerusalem, deliverance from infernal falsities and elevation to the truths of heaven. "To open the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion," signifies deliverance from being withheld from truths by falsities that hinder the reception of influx out of heaven, "daughter of Zion" meaning those who are in the affection of truth from the good of love from the Lord. In the verses that follow it is said of the sons of Israel:

That they sojourned in Egypt, and that Assyria oppressed them (Isaiah 4);

which signifies that they were shut out from truths by reasonings from the knowledges (scientifica) of the natural man.

[27] In the same:

The peoples shall take them and shall lead them to their place, and the house of Israel shall possess them for a heritage upon the land of Jehovah, for manservants and for maidservants; that they may thus take captive them whose captives they were, and they shall have dominion over their exactors (Isaiah 14:2).

This, too, treats of the bringing back of the sons of Israel, and by sons of Israel the Gentiles are meant. That those who shut out others from truths and lead them astray by falsities are shut out from truths and led astray by falsities, is signified by "they shall take captive them whose captives they were, and they shall have dominion over their exactors."

[28] In Hosea:

In the house of Israel I have seen a filthy thing; there is Ephraim's whoredom; Israel is polluted and Judah hath set a harvest for thee, when I shall bring back the captivity of My people (Hosea 6:10, 11).

This treats of the state of the church among the Jews about the time of the Lord's coming; "Ephraim's whoredom," which is "the filthy thing in the house of Israel," signifies the falsification of the Word; "whoredom" signifying falsification, and "Ephraim" the understanding of the Word. "Israel is polluted, and Judah hath set a harvest for thee," signifies that the church was in mere falsities, and that they applied the Word to confirm falsities, "Judah" signifying the Word, and "harvest" the abundance of such things in the Word as they applied. That this would be the state of the Jewish Church when truths should be opened before the Gentiles, by which they might be delivered from falsities, is signified by "when I shall bring back the captivity of My people."

[29] In the historical parts of the Word the captivities of the sons of Israel by various enemies, and their deliverances, have a like signification, as:

That they were forced to serve Cushan, king of Syria, and were delivered by Othniel (Judges 3);

That they served Eglon, king of Moab, and were delivered by Ehud (Judges 3);

That they were given over to Jabin, king of Canaan, and delivered by Deborah (Judges 4);

That they were given over to the Midianites, and delivered by Gideon (Judges 6);

That they were given over to the Philistines and Ammonites, and delivered by Jephthah (Judges 10, Judges 11).

Similar things were signified by:

The captivity of the Jews seventy years in Babylon (2 Kings 25).

For the historical parts of the Word are all representative of such things as pertain to the church, and the expressions by which the historical facts are described are all significative.

[30] The "bound" have a similar signification in the Word as "captives," as in the following passages:

The bound in the pit shall be gathered together, and they shall be shut up in a prison; but after a multitude of days shall they be visited (Isaiah 24:22).

By the blood of thy covenant I will send forth the bound out of the pit wherein is no water (Zechariah 9:11).

The sighing of the bound shall come before Thee (Psalms 79:11).

He hath made the world into a wilderness and destroyed his ¹ 22 cities. He hath opened not the house for His bound ones (Isaiah 14:17).

To open the blind eyes, to lead him that is bound out of prison, them that sit in darkness out of the prison house (Isaiah 42:7).

The king said, I was in prison, and ye came ² unto me (Matthew 25:36).

Jesus said, Ought not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound lo these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the day of the sabbath? (Luke 13:16).

Poznámky pod čarou:

526. And the third part of them was darkened, signifies that all these were changed into the falsities of evil and into the evils of falsity. This is evident from the signification of "darkness," as being falsities, and thus "to be darkened" means to be changed into falsities. It means a change both into the falsities of evil and into the evils of falsity, because it is said that "the third part of the sun was darkened, the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars," and the "sun" signifies the good of love, the "moon" the good and truth of faith, and the "stars" the knowledges of good and truth; therefore "the third part of the sun was darkened" signifies that the good of love was changed into evil and into falsity from evil, which is the falsity of evil; for good is changed into evil and into falsity therefrom, but the truth of faith, which is signified by the "moon," is changed into falsity and into evil therefrom, which is the evil of falsity. The evil of falsity is the falsity of doctrine out of which comes evil of life, and the falsity of evil is the evil of life out of which comes the falsity of doctrine.

[2] Darkness signifies falsity because light signifies truth, and falsity is the opposite of truth as darkness is of light; moreover, when the light of life, which is the Divine truth, is not with man, the shadow of death is with him, which is falsity; for man from what is his own (proprium) is in every evil and in falsity from the evil, and he is removed from these only by means of the truths of the church; consequently where there are no truths there are the falsities of evil. (That it is only by means of truths that man is removed from evils, is purified, and is reformed, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 24.)

[3] That "darkness" signifies in the Word falsities of various kinds can be seen from the following passages. In Joel:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh (Joel 2:31).

"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood," has a similar signification as "the third part of the sun and the third part of the moon were darkened," namely, that at the end of the church there will be the falsity of evil in the place of the good of love, and evil of falsity in the place of truth of faith.

[4] Elsewhere in the Word where the darkening of the sun and moon is spoken of there is a like meaning, as in Isaiah:

For the stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shall not make their light to shine; the sun shall be darkened in its rising, and the moon shall not make bright her light (Isaiah 13:10; 24:21, 23).

In Ezekiel:

When I shall extinguish thee I will cover the heavens and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine; all luminaries of light in the heavens will I make dark over thee, and I will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 32:7, 8).

In Joel:

The day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision; the sun and the moon have been darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their brightness (Joel 3:14, 15).

In the same:

The day of Jehovah cometh, a day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of cloud and obscurity. Before Him the earth trembled, the sun and the moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their brightness (Joel 2:1-2, 10).

In the Gospels:

Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24, 25).

This is said of the last time of the church, when there is no longer any spiritual good or truth, or the good and truth of heaven and the church, but evil and falsity. That the goods and truths of the church, which are called the goods of love and the truths of faith are changed into evils and falsities, is signified by "the sun and moon shall be obscured and darkened, and the stars shall not give their light;" the Last Judgment that then follows is meant by "the day of Jehovah great and terrible;" and as this comes when the church is in darkness and in thick darkness, that day is also called "a day of darkness and thick darkness," and also "a day of cloud and obscurity," as also in the following passages.

[5] In Amos:

Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah. What to you is the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light. Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? Even thick darkness, and no brightness to it? (Amos 5:18, 20).

In Zephaniah:

The day of Jehovah, a day of wasteness and devastation, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of clouds and of gloominess (Zephaniah 1:14, 15).

In Isaiah:

In that day he shall look upon the land, which behold is darkness and distress, and the light shall grow dark in its ruins (Isaiah 5:30).

In the same:

He shall look unto the earth, and behold distress and darkness dimmed with straitness and driven with thick darkness (Isaiah 8:22).

In the same:

Behold, darkness covereth the earth, and thick darkness the peoples (Isaiah 60:2).

In Jeremiah:

Give glory to Jehovah your God before He causeth darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the mountains of twilight; then shall ye look for light, but He will turn it into the shadow of death, He will make it thick darkness (Jeremiah 13:16).

This is said of the last time of the church, when the Lord is to come into the world, and judgment is to be accomplished; because there will then be no longer any good of love or truth of faith, but the evil of falsity and the falsity of evil, that day is called "a day of darkness and of thick darkness."

[6] The same is signified by:

The darkness that came over all the land from the sixth hour to the ninth hour when the Lord was crucified (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44-49).

"The darkness over all the land" represented that in the whole church there was nothing but evil and falsity therefrom, and falsity and evil therefrom; moreover, the three hours signify what is full and complete; for each and all things related in the Gospels respecting the Lord's passion have stored up in them arcana of heaven, and signify Divine celestial things, which can be laid open only by means of the internal spiritual sense.

[7] That "darkness" signifies falsity is further evident from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness (Isaiah 5:20).

"To put darkness for light and light for darkness" signifies to call falsity truth and truth falsity; it is clear that "darkness" means falsity and "light" truth, for good and evil are first spoken of, therefore what follows must be respecting truth and falsity.

[8] In John:

This is the judgment, that the Light hath come into the world, and men have loved the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil (John 3:19).

The Lord here calls Himself the Light because He was the Divine truth itself when in the world; therefore "the Light" signifies the Lord in relation to Divine truth, also Divine truth from the Lord; and as darkness is opposed to light, "the darkness that men loved rather than the light" signifies infernal falsity, which is the falsity of evil. That the falsity of evil is here signified by "darkness" is evident from its being said, "because their works were evil." The falsity of evil springs from evil works, or the evils of life; for as good joins to itself truth, so evil joins to itself falsity; for the one belongs to the other.

[9] "Light" and "darkness" have a similar signification in the following passages in John:

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. And the light appeareth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not (John 1:4, 5).

In the same:

Jesus said, I am the Light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).

In the same:

Jesus said, Walk while ye have the Light, that darkness overtake you not; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. I have come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me may not abide in darkness (John 12:35, 46).

In these passages "darkness" signifies infernal falsity; for the "light" to which darkness is opposed, signifies Divine truth. "Light" signifies Divine truth because light in the heavens is in its essence Divine truth proceeding from the Lord (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 116-140). Now as Divine truth is the light in the heavens, it follows that the falsity of evil, which is the falsity in the hells, is darkness. This darkness is not indeed darkness to those who are in the hells, for they see one another; but the light by which they see is like the lumen from burning coal, and this lumen, when the light of heaven flows into it, becomes mere darkness. For this reason also the caverns and dens in which they are appear to those in heaven like gloomy caves.

[10] From this it can be seen why "darkness" signifies the falsities of evil, and why the Lord says:

That those who are in hell are to be cast into outer darkness (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30).

In David:

The enemy pursueth my soul; he hath crushed my life down to the earth; he hath made me to sit in darkness, like the dead of the world (Psalms 143:3).

"The enemy who pursueth his soul" signifies in the spiritual sense evil; consequently "to make me to sit in darkness" signifies falsities.

[11] In Isaiah:

Judgment is far from us, and righteousness doth not overtake us; we wait for light, but behold darkness; for brightness, but we walk in thick darkness (Isaiah 59:9).

"Judgment is far from us" signifies that there is no understanding of truth; "righteousness doth not overtake us" signifies that there is no good of life; "we wait for light, but behold darkness," signifies waiting for truth, but behold falsity; "for brightness, but we walk in thick darkness," signifies waiting for goods through truths, but behold a life of falsity from evils; for "brightness" signifies the goods of truth, because "light" signifies truth, and truth is bright from good; "thick darkness" signifies the falsities of evil, and "to walk" signifies to live.

[12] In Luke:

But this is your hour and the power of darkness (Luke 22:53).

The Lord said this to the chief priests, the captains of the temple, and the elders, who seized Him by the aid of Judas. The power to do this wickedness the Lord calls "the power of darkness," because they were in the falsities of evil, in falsities respecting the Lord and in evils against Him; here also "darkness" means hell, because such falsities of evil are there.

[13] In the same:

The lamp of the body is the eye; when therefore thine eye is pure thy whole body also shall be light; but when the eye is evil thy body also shall be dark. Take heed, therefore, that the light that is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be light, having no part dark, the whole shall be light, as when a lamp by its flashing doth give thee light (Luke 11:34-36; Matthew 6:22, 23).

The "eye" here signifies the understanding, and the "pure (or single) eye" the understanding of truth from good; but the "evil eye" signifies the understanding of falsity from evil; the "body" that is either light or dark, means the whole man. From this the signification of these words in series can be concluded, namely, that the whole man is such as is his understanding from the will; for every man is his truth and his good, because he is his love or affection; therefore he is throughout wholly such as he is in respect to his understanding from his will; for all truth is of the understanding, and all good is of the will; for the body is a mere obedience, since it is the effect of an effecting cause, and the effecting cause is the understanding from the will; therefore such as is the quality of the one such is that of the other, for the effect has its all from its effecting cause. That heed must be taken that truth once perceived in the understanding and received into the will be not turned into falsity, which is done from evil, is meant by "take heed, therefore, that the light that is in thee be not darkness," for from this falsities become worse; therefore in Matthew, in the passages just referred to, it is said:

If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness! (Matthew 6:23).

[14] "Darkness" signifies the falsities of evil also in Isaiah:

Sit thou silent and enter into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for they shall no longer call thee the mistress of kingdoms (Isaiah 47:5).

"The daughter of the Chaldeans" signifies the falsification of truth, therefore "darkness" signifies the falsities of evil, since evil falsifies truth:

The thick darkness of darkness that was over all the land of Egypt for three days, while in the dwellings of the sons of Israel there was light (Exodus 10:21-23);

signifies also the falsity of evil. Likewise the "darkness" in Genesis (Genesis 15:17), and in many other passages.

[15] It has been shown thus far that "darkness" signifies in the Word the falsities of evil. "Darkness" signifies also falsities not of evil, such as were the falsities of religion among the upright Gentiles, which falsities were with them because of their ignorance of the truth; that these falsities were also called "darkness" is evident from the following passages:

This people walking in darkness have seen a great light; those dwelling in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light become bright (Isaiah 9:2).

In Matthew:

A people sitting in darkness saw a great light; and to those sitting in the region and shadow of death a light hath arisen (Matthew 4:16).

In Luke:

The dayspring from on high appeared to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death (Luke 1:78, 79).

In Isaiah:

If thou shalt draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, thy light shall arise in the darkness, and thy thick darkness be as the noonday (Isaiah 58:10).

In the same:

He shall say to the bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Be revealed (Isaiah 49:9).

In the same:

In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of thick darkness and in ¹ darkness (Isaiah 29:18).

In the same:

And I will lead the blind in a way that they have not known. I will make darkness into light before them, and crooked things into straightness (Isaiah 42:16).

In Micah:

When I sit in darkness Jehovah shall be a Light unto me (Micah 7:8).

In these passages "darkness" signifies the falsities of ignorance, such as existed, and as exist at this day among the upright Gentiles. These falsities are altogether distinct from the falsities of evil, which have evil stored up in them because they are from evil, while the former have good stored up in them because they have good as an end. Those, therefore, who are in these falsities can be instructed in truths, and they also when instructed receive truths in the heart, for the reason that good, which is in their falsities, loves truth, and also conjoins itself to truth when it is heard. It is otherwise with the falsities of evil; these are averse to all truth and cast it off because it is truth, and thus is not in agreement with evil.

[16] Again, "darkness" signifies in the Word mere ignorance from lack of truth (as in David, Psalms 18:29; 139:11, 12). "Darkness" signifies also natural lumen, for this in comparison with spiritual light is like darkness; therefore also when angels look down into man's natural lumen, such as is in man's natural cognition, they regard it as darkness, and the things that are in it as in darkness; this light is signified by "darkness" in Genesis 1:2-5. And as the sense of the letter of the Word is natural, that sense also is called in the Word "a cloud," and also "darkness," in comparison with the internal spiritual sense, which is the light of heaven, and is called "glory."

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