3301. 'A hairy garment' means the truth of the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'a tunic' as something that clothes another thing - that something being in this case truth because this serves to clothe good (for truth is like a garment, 1073, 2576, or what amounts almost to the same, truth is the recipient vessel for good, 1469, 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269); and also from the meaning of 'hairy' as the natural as regards truth. Hair, or the hair on the head, is mentioned several times in the Word, and in those places means that which is natural, the reason being that hairs are outgrowths on the most exterior parts of a person, as also is the natural in relation to its rational and to the interior parts of the rational. During his lifetime it seems to everyone as though the natural within him is all there is to him, but this is so far from being true, that the natural is rather an outgrowth from the internal parts of him, like hairs from the parts of the body. They also stem from internal parts in almost the same way. This also is why people who have been wholly natural during their lifetime are seen in the next life to have faces covered almost entirely with hair when a visual presentation is made of that state. What is more, man's natural is represented by 'the hair'. When it is an outgrowth from good it is represented by attractive and neatly arranged hair, but when it is not the outgrowth from good by unattractive and dishevelled hair.

[2] It is from this representation that in the Word 'hair', or 'the hair on the head' is used to mean the natural, especially as regards truth, as in Zechariah,

It will happen on that day, that the prophets will be ashamed, [every] man on account of his vision when he has prophesied. And he will not put on a hairy garment in order to deceive. Zechariah 13:4.

'The prophets' stands for people who teach truths, here for those who teach falsities, 2534. 'Vision' stands for truths, here for falsities, 'hairy garment' for the natural as regards truth. But because it was not truth but falsity the phrase 'in order to deceive' is used. Such clothing was worn by the prophets so that truth, being external, might be represented by them. This also was why, dressed in a similar way, Elijah the Tishbite is called a hairy man, 2 Kings 1:8, and why John, the last of the prophets, had a garment of camel hair, Matthew 3:4 - 'camels' being facts in the natural man, see 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145, and facts being the truths of the natural man, 3293.

[3] That 'the hair' meant the natural as regards truth is quite clear from the Nazirites who were commanded not to shave their heads with a razor all the days of their Nazirite vow, not until their days of abstinence to Jehovah had been completed. Then they were to let down the hair on their heads and at the door of the Tent of Meeting were to shave the head of their Naziriteship and put the hair on to the fire which was beneath the eucharistic sacrifice, Numbers 6:5, 18-19. They represented the Lord's Divine Human, and from this the person belonging to the celestial Church, who was a likeness of the Lord, 51 - representing that person's natural man by 'the hair'. When they were being sanctified therefore they were to lay aside their old or previous natural man into which they had been born and were to assume the new. This was meant by the requirement, when the days of abstinence to Jehovah had been completed, to let down the hair on their heads and to put it on to the fire beneath the sacrifice. For the state of the celestial man is a state in which good is present in him and from that good he has a knowledge of all truths. He never thinks and talks from truths about good, still less from facts about good, see 202, 337, 2715, 2718, 3246. Furthermore those who are celestial are of such a nature that before they lay aside that state into which they were born their natural has become so powerfully equipped with truth that they are capable of fighting with the hells; for it is truth, never good, that goes into battle. The hells cannot make even the remotest approach towards good. That truth is of such a nature, and good of such a nature, see 1950, 1951.

[4] From this it is evident how it was that Samson had strength from his hair, referred to as follows,

The angel of Jehovah appeared to Samson's mother, saying, Behold, you will conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come up over his head; the boy shall be a Nazirite of God from the womb. Judges 13:3, 5.

Later on he revealed to Delilah that if he were shaved his strength would leave him and he would be rendered powerless. And immediately he had been shaved, his strength did leave him and the Philistines seized him. And when subsequently the hair on his head started to grow again, where he had been shaved, his strength returned to him, enabling him to dislodge the pillars of the house, Judges 16:1-end. Who does not see that this description holds a heavenly arcanum within it, and that nobody knows what that arcanum is unless he has been taught regarding representatives, that is to say, that a Nazirite portrayed the celestial man, and as long as he had his hair he portrayed the natural part of that man, with whom, as has been stated, such strong and powerful truth was present? And Samson had such strength because at that period of time all representatives which the Lord had commanded had such force and effect. But he was not a consecrated Nazirite like those mentioned above, that is to say, someone who had put on a state of good instead of truth. The chief reason why the ultimate existence of his strength lay in his hair was so that he might represent the Lord who from the natural man as regards truth was to fight the hells and overcome them. This He did before putting on Divine Good and Truth even as regards the natural man.

[5] From this it is also evident why the high priest, on whose head the anointing oil had been poured and who had been consecrated ¹ to wear the garments, was commanded not to shave his head or to rend his garments, Leviticus 21:10. And in a similar way where the new Temple is referred to the Levitical priests were commanded not to shave their head or to let their hair grow long, Ezekiel 44:20; that is to say, they represented the Lord's Divine Natural as regards truth that is derived from good and is called truth grounded in good. That 'hair' or the hair on the head means the natural as regards truth is clear also from the prophetical parts of the Word, as in Ezekiel,

I gave you to be like the seed of the field, from which you grew up and became tall to full beauty; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Ezekiel 16:7.

This refers to Jerusalem, which is the Ancient Church here and which in process of time became perverted. 'Breasts were formed' stands for natural good, 'hair which has grown' for natural truth.

[6] In Daniel,

I saw, until thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was a flame of fire. Daniel 7:9.

And in John,

In the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and surrounded by a golden girdle around the breasts. His head however and hair were white, like white wool, like snow; but His eyes were like a flame of fire. Revelation 1:13-14.

'Hair white like pure wool' stands for the Divine Natural as regards truth. In the Word, and in the religious observances of the Jewish Church, truth itself was represented by 'white', and because truth is derived from good is called 'pure wool'. The reason why truth was represented by 'white' and good by 'red' was that truth is akin to light and good to fire, the source of the light.

[7] As with everything else in the Word 'the hair' also has a contrary sense and means the natural as regards truth when perverted, as in Isaiah,

On that day the Lord will shave by means of a razor hired at the crossing-places of the River - by means of the King of Asshur - the head and the hair of the feet; and it will consume the beard also. Isaiah 7:20.

In Ezekiel,

Son of man, take for yourself a sharp sword, use it as a barber's razor which you shall run over your head and over your beard. Then you are to take balances and you are to divide it. A third you are to burn with fire in the midst of the city; a third you are to strike with the sword round about it; and a third you are to scatter to the wind. You shall take from it a small number, and bind it in your skirts. Finally you are to take from these again and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them with fire, and from this, fire will come forth to the whole house of Israel. Ezekiel 5:1-4.

All this, by the use of representatives, describes how natural truth, interior and exterior, meant by 'the hair' and 'the beard', ceased to exist any longer. Its destruction by lusts is meant by its being burned with fire, by reasonings by its being struck with the sword round about the city, by false assumptions by its being scattered to the wind. These statements are similar in content to what the Lord teaches in Matthew about some seed, which is the truth, falling among thorns, some on stony ground, and some along the path, Matthew 13:1-9.

[8] That 'the heir' means the unclean truths and the falsities belonging to the natural man was also represented by the requirement that when a woman from among enemies who had been taken captive was to be married to [an Israelite], she was to be brought to his home, the hair on her head was to be shaved off, her nails were to be pared, and the garments of her captivity were to be removed, Deuteronomy 21:12-13. Also when Levites were consecrated, the water of expiation was to be sprinkled over them, they were to pass a razor over their entire flesh, and to wash their clothes, and so be pure, Numbers 8:7. Also, Nebuchadnezzar was driven from among men so that he ate grass like oxen, and his body was wet from the dew of heaven, till his hair grew to be like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws, Daniel 4:33. In the case of leprosy they were required to note the colours of hair and beard, whether these were white, reddening, yellow, or black. They were to look for the same in garments. And the person who was cleansed from leprosy was required to shave all the hair on his head, his beard, and his eyebrows, Leviticus 13:1-59; 14:8-9. The latter meant the unclean falsities that result from unholiness, which is leprosy in the internal sense.

[9] 'Baldness' however meant the natural when no truth at all is present in it, as in Isaiah,

He is going up to Bayith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep over Nebo; and Moab will howl over Medeba. On all their heads is baldness; every beard is shaved off. Isaiah 15:2.

In the same prophet, Instead of well-set hair there will be baldness, branding instead of beauty. Isaiah 3:24

The children who said to Elisha, Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead! and who were torn apart by the bears out of the forest, 2 Kings 2:23-24, represent people who blaspheme the Word as though it had no truth within it; for Elisha represented the Lord as regards the Word, 2762. From this it is also evident how prevalent representatives were at that period of time.

Poznámky pod čarou:

933. 'Cold and heat' means the state of the person who is being regenerated, which, as regards reception of faith and charity, resembles cold and heat, 'cold' meaning when faith and charity do not exist, 'heat' however when they do. This is clear from the meaning of 'cold and heat' in the Word where the two apply either to a person who is to be regenerated, or to one who has been regenerated, or to the Church. This matter is also clear from the train of thought, that is to say, from what comes before and after, for the subject is the Church. The previous verse dealt with the fact that man would no longer be able to destroy himself in that way, the present verse with the fact that some Church will always be emergent. First of all the situation when the Church comes into being is described, that is, when a person is being regenerated so that he may become the Church, and then the character of the now regenerate person is described. In this way the entire state of the member of the Church is dealt with.

[2] The state of a person when he is being regenerated resembles 'cold and heat', that is, a point when faith and charity do not exist and then when they do. This does not become readily clear to anyone except from experience, and indeed through reflecting on experience. Now because those who are being regenerated are few, and of these, few if any reflect, or are capable of reflecting, on the state of their regeneration, let a brief consideration be given to the subject. When someone is being regenerated he is receiving life from the Lord, for he cannot be said to have been living prior to that. The life that belongs to the world and to the body is not life; celestial and spiritual life alone is life. Through regeneration a person receives life itself from the Lord, and because he had no life previously he alternates between no life and life itself, that is, between no faith and charity and some faith and charity. Here no faith and charity is meant by 'cold', some faith and charity by 'heat'.

[3] The implications of this are as follows: Every time a person is engrossed in his own bodily and worldly interests faith and charity do not exist, that is, it is a period of 'cold'. For at such times it is bodily and worldly interests that are active, consequently things which are his own. And as long as a person is engrossed in these he is absent or far removed from faith and charity, with the result that he does not even think about celestial and spiritual things. The reason is that it is by no means possible with anyone for heavenly interests and bodily to exist side by side, for his will has been utterly corrupted. When however the bodily interests in a person and those of his will are inactive and quiescent, the Lord acts by way of his internal man and at that point faith and charity are present with him, which here is called 'heat'. When he reverts to the body he is again living in 'cold', and when the body, or what belongs to the body, is quiescent and so to speak non-existent, he is living in 'heat'. These two states come and go in turn. Man's condition is such that with him celestial and spiritual things cannot co-exist with his bodily and worldly interests, but come and go in turn. This is the experience of everyone who is to be regenerated, and it continues for as long as his state is one of being regenerated. For in no other way can a person be regenerated, that is, from being a dead man become one who is alive, the reason being, as has been stated, that his will is utterly corrupted and therefore completely separated from the new will he receives from the Lord, a will which is the Lord's and not the person's own. From these considerations it now becomes clear what 'cold and heat' means here.

[4] The truth of this every regenerate person can know from experience. That is to say, when engrossed in bodily and worldly interests he is absent and far removed from things of an internal nature, and as a result he not only gives no thought to them, but also feels so to speak cold at even the thought of them. But when bodily and worldly interests are quiescent faith and charity are present with him. Experience can also teach that these states alternate with each other. This is why when bodily and worldly interests start to abound and seek to have dominion, he enters into distress and temptation, which persist until he has been brought back into that kind of state where the external man is conformable and subservient to the internal. The external man can never be subservient until it is quiescent and so to speak non-existent. The final descendants of the Most Ancient Church were unable to be regenerated, because, as has been stated, things of the understanding and those of the will with them constituted one single mind. Consequently things of the understanding were inseparable from those of their will, and so they were incapable of being engrossed by turns in celestial and spiritual interests and then in bodily and worldly. For them it was continual cold as regards heavenly things, and continual heat as regards evil desires, and so with them no alternation was possible.