9260. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy needy in his cause. That this signifies no destruction of the scanty truth with those who are in ignorance, is evident from the signification of “wresting,” as being to pervert, and so to destroy; from the signification of “judgment,” as being that which is right and true (see n. 2235, 2335, 5068, 6397, 7206, 8685, 8695, 8972); from the signification of “the needy,” as being one who is in scanty truth from ignorance, and yet longs to be instructed (see n. 9209); and from the signification of “a cause,” as being contention (n. 5963, 9024). In the present case “in his cause” denotes in his dispute concerning the scanty truth for which he is contending.

1728. And he was priest. That this signifies the holy of love, is evident from the signification of “priest” in the Word. There are two things which are predicated of the Lord, namely, that He is King, and that He is Priest. A king, or the royalty, signifies the holy which is true; and a priest, or the priesthood, signifies the holy which is good; the former is the Divine spiritual, the latter the Divine celestial. The Lord as King governs each and all things in the universe from Divine truth; and as Priest, from Divine good. Divine truth is the very order of His universal kingdom, all the laws of which are truths, or eternal verities; Divine good is the very essential of order, all things of which are of mercy. Both of these are predicated of the Lord. If Divine truth alone were His, no mortal could be saved, for truths condemn everyone to hell; but Divine good, which is of mercy, uplifts from hell to heaven. These are what the kings and priests in the Jewish Church represented and these likewise Melchizedek represented, as king of Salem, and priest to God Most High.