3324. 'Jacob said' means the doctrine of truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Jacob' as the doctrine of natural truth, dealt with in 3305, or what amounts to the same, as those with whom the doctrine of truth predominates. The subject in these verses to the end of this chapter is, To which does the priority of place rightly belong - whether to truth or to good; or what amounts to the same, whether it belongs to the doctrine of truth or to the life within good; or what also amounts to the same, whether it belongs to faith, insofar as faith is the truth taught by doctrine, or to charity, insofar as charity is the good of life? When a person judges things from natural perception he supposes that faith, insofar as it is truth taught by doctrine, is prior to charity, insofar as this is the good of life. He supposes this because he perceives how truth, which is taught by doctrine, enters in, but not how good, which is the good of life, does so; for truth enters in by an external route, that of the senses, whereas good enters in by an internal route. In addition he supposes that faith is prior for the reason that he cannot know other than that truth, since it teaches what good is, exists prior to good, and also for the reason that a person's reformation is effected by means of truth as well as in accordance with truth; indeed he is perfected in good only to the extent that truth can be joined to it, so that good is perfected by means of truth. Yet another reason why he supposes that faith is first is that a person may know the truth and be able to think and speak from it, and to do so seemingly with ardent zeal, even though at the same time no good exists with him; indeed from that truth he may be quite confident of salvation. These and many other considerations cause a person, when judging matters from the sensory and natural man, to think that truth, which constitutes faith, comes before good, which flows from charity. But all these ideas are reasonings based on illusions, for they are things as seen by the sensory and natural man.

[2] That which is prior is good itself - the good of life. This good is the ground itself into which truths are sown, and the nature of the ground determines how the seeds, that is, the truths of faith, are received. Truths are, indeed, able to be stored away previous to this in the memory like seeds in a box or in the crop situated in the gullet of small birds, but they do not become part of a person until the ground is prepared. And the character of the ground, that is, of good, determines that of their growth and fruitfulness. But see what has been shown in many places already regarding these matters. Those places are indicated below so that from them it may be known what good is and what truth is, and that good has priority over truth, not truth over good:

[3] Why no distinct idea may be had of the difference between good and truth, 2507. ¹

Good flows in by an internal route unknown to man, whereas truth is obtained by an external route, which is known to him, 3030, 3098.

Truths are the recipient vessels of good, 1496, 1832, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269, 3068, 3318.

Good acknowledges its own truth to which it is joined, 3101, 3102, 3179.

Very careful examination is made and precaution taken to prevent falsity being joined to good, or truth to evil, 3033, 3101, 3102.

Good forms for itself the truth to which it is joined since it acknowledges no other as truth than that which accords with it, 3161.

Truth is nothing other than that which springs from good, 2434.

Truth is the form that good takes, 3049.

Truth possesses within itself the image of good, and within good the replica of itself from which it springs, 3180.

The seed that is truth is rooted in the good that stems from charity, 880.

Faith cannot possibly exist except within its own life, that is, within love and charity, 379, 389, 654, 724, 1608, 2343, 2349.

It is possible for truths that constitute matters of doctrine concerning faith to be looked at from love and charity, but not the reverse, 2454.

Looking from faith and not from love and charity is looking behind oneself and turning backwards, 2454.

Truth is given life according to the good anyone has, thus according to the state of innocence and charity residing with that person, 1776, 3111.

Truths of faith can be received only by those who are governed by good, 2343, 2349.

Those who have no charity are not able to acknowledge the Lord, nor thus any truth of faith at all. If they do profess it, it is something external devoid of what is internal, or something that is the product of hypocrisy, 2354.

No faith at all is present where there is no charity, 654, 1162, 1176, 2429.

Wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge are 'the sons' of charity, 1226.

Since love exists with angels, so do intelligence and wisdom, 2500, 2572.

Angelic life consists in the good deeds of charity; and angels are forms of charity, 454, 553.

Love to the Lord is His likeness and charity towards the neighbour His image, 1013.

Angels perceive through love to the Lord anything that is a matter of faith, 202.

Nothing has life except love and affection, 1589.

Those who have mutual love, or charity, have the Lord's life, 1799, 1803.

Love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour is heaven itself, 1802, 1824, 2057, 2130, 2131.

The Lord's presence is relative to the state of love and charity, 904.

All the Ten Commandments and all matters of faith have their origin in charity, 1121, 1798.

Knowledge of matters of doctrine concerning faith achieves nothing if a person does not have charity, for matters of doctrine have charity as the end in view, 2049, 2116.

No acknowledgement of truth, nor thus faith, can exist unless a person is governed by good, 2261.

The holiness of worship depends on the nature of and the amount of the truth of faith that has been implanted in charity, 2190.

There is no salvation through faith but through the life of faith, which is charity, 2228, 2261.

The heavenly kingdom belongs to those who have faith that is the expression of charity, 1608.

In heaven all are viewed from charity and from faith from this, 1258.

They are not allowed into heaven, except by willing what is good from the heart, 2401.

People are saved who possess faith provided that faith includes good, 2261, 2442.

Faith which has not been implanted in the good of life perishes altogether in the next life, 2228.

If faith that is purely thought could save, all would be brought into heaven; but it is because their life prevents them that some are not able to be saved, 2363.

Those who maintain the idea that faith alone saves defile truths with the falsity of that idea, 2383, 2385.

The fruits of faith are good works; a good work is charity; charity is love to the Lord; and that love is the Lord, 1873.

The fruits of faith are the fruit of good which stems from love and charity, 3146.

Trust or confidence which is called faith that saves cannot exist except with those who are leading a good life, 2982.

Good is the life of truth, 1589.

At what point truths may be said to have acquired life, 1928.

Good from the Lord flows into truths of every kind, but it is supremely important that they should be genuine truths, 2531.

The amount of good and truth that flows in from the Lord depends on the extent to which evil and falsity is being removed. 2411, 3142, 3147.

Good cannot flow into truth as long as a person is under the influence of evil, 2388.

Truth is not truth until it has been accepted by good, 2429.

The marriage of good and truth exists in every single thing, 2173, 2508, 2517.

The affection for good constitutes life, and the affection for truth exists for the sake of life, 2455. ¹

Truth tends towards good, and stems from good, 2063.

By means of influx truths are summoned out of the natural man, raised up, and implanted in the good present in the rational, 3085, 3086.

When truth is joined to good it becomes a person's own, 3108.

For truth to be joined to good there has to be consent from the understanding and the will. When there is consent from the will conjunction takes place, 3157, 3158.

Truth in the rational is acquired by means of cognitions, and truths become a person's own when they are joined to good. at which point they belong to the will and exist for the sake of life, 3161.

Truth is introduced and joined to good, not all at once but throughout the whole of life, and beyond, 3200.

Just as light devoid of warmth is unproductive, so is the truth of faith when devoid of good stemming from love, 3146.

The nature of the idea of truth devoid of good, and the nature of its light in the next life, 2228.

Separated faith is like the light in winter, whereas faith derived from charity is like the light in the spring, 2231.

Those who in action separate the truth, which constitutes faith, from charity are unable to have conscience, 1076, 1077.

The reason why they have separated faith from charity and said that faith saved, 2231.

When a person is being regenerated the Lord instills good into the truths residing with him, 2063, 2189.

A person is not regenerated by means of truth but by means of good, 989, 2146, 2183, 2189, 2697.

When a person is being regenerated the Lord comes to meet him and fills the truths residing with him with the good of charity, 2063.

Those who lead a good life but do not have the truth of faith, like gentiles and young children, receive truths of faith in the next life and undergo regeneration, 989; regarding gentiles, 932, 1032, 2049, 2284, 2589-2604; regarding young children, 2290-2293, 2302-2304.

A person is regenerated by means of the affection for truth, and one who is regenerate acts from the affection for good, 1904.

With one who is to be regenerated seed is unable to take root except in good, 880, 989.

The light that a regenerate person has flows from charity, not from faith, 854.

The same truths are indeed truths with one person, but with another less so, and with some they are even falsities; this variation is determined by the good of life in each of them, 2439.

What the difference is between the good of a young child, the good of one who does not know, and the good of one who has intelligence, 2280.

Who are able to enter into cognitions of truth and into faith, and who are not, 2689.

The Church does not exist unless truths of doctrine have been implanted in the good of life, 3310.

Doctrine does not make the Church, but charity, 809, 916, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844.

The Church's doctrines count for nothing if people do not live according to them, 1515.

The doctrine of faith is the doctrine of charity, 2571.

The Church exists from charity, not from separated faith, 916.

Anyone may know from charity whether the internal dimension of worship exists with him, 1102, 1151, 1153.

The Lord's Church spread throughout the world is everywhere various so far as truths are concerned, but it is one through charity, 3267.

The Church would be one Church if all had charity even though they differed in religious observances and on points of doctrine, 809, 1285, 1316, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844.

From being many it would become one Church if with everyone charity and not faith were the essential thing of the Church, 2982.

There are two kinds of doctrinal teachings - teachings to do with charity and teachings to do with faith. The Ancient Church possessed matters of doctrine concerning charity which today belong among things that have been lost, 2417.

How ignorant of the truth they are who do not possess matters of doctrine concerning charity, 2435.

And because at the present day faith is regarded as the essential thing of the Church people do not even see or pay any attention to the things that the Lord has said so many times about love and charity, 1017, 2373.

Good that is the expression of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour is higher and prior to truth that constitutes faith, and not the reverse, 363, 364.

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2015. That 'kings will come out of you' means that all truth comes from Him is clear from the meaning of 'a king' as truth in both the historical and the prophetical sections of the Word, as stated in 1672 but not yet shown to be so. From the meaning of 'nations' as goods, and from the meaning of 'kings' as truths, the nature of the internal sense of the Word becomes clear, and also how remote it is from the sense of the letter. No one reading the Word, especially the historical section, believes anything other than that 'nations' referred to there means nations, or that 'kings' there means kings, and therefore that the nations mentioned there, or the kings, are the real subject of the very Word itself. But when the idea of nations and also of kings reaches angels it perishes altogether, and good and truth take their place instead. This is bound to seem strange and indeed a paradox, but it is nevertheless the truth. The matter may also become clear to anyone from the fact that if nations were meant in the Word by 'nations' and kings by 'kings', the Word of the Lord would hardly embody anything more than some historical or other piece of writing and so would be something of a worldly nature, when in fact everything in the Word is Divine and so is celestial and spiritual.

[2] Take merely the statement in the present verse about Abraham's being made fruitful, nations being made of him, and kings coming out of him. What else is this but something purely worldly and nothing at all heavenly? Indeed these assertions entail no more than the glory of this world, a glory which is absolutely nothing in heaven. But if this is the Word of the Lord then its glory must be that of heaven, not that of the world. This also is why the sense of the letter is completely erased and disappears when it passes into heaven, and is purified in such a way that nothing worldly at all is intermingled. For 'Abraham' is not used to mean Abraham but the Lord; nor is 'being fruitful' used to mean his descendants who would increase more and more but the endless growth of good belonging to the Lord's Human Essence. 'Nations' do not mean nations but goods, and 'kings' do not mean kings but truths. Nevertheless the narrative in the sense of the letter remains historically true, for Abraham was indeed spoken to in this way; and he was indeed made fruitful in this way, with nations as well as kings descending from him.

[3] That 'kings' means truths becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

The sons of the foreigner will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you. You will suck the milk of nations, and the breast of kings will you suck. Isaiah 60:10, 16.

What 'sucking the milk of nations and the breast of kings' means is not at all evident from the letter but from the internal sense, in which being endowed with goods and instructed in truths is meant. In Jeremiah,

There will enter through the gates of this city kings and princes seated on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses. Jeremiah 17:25; 22:4.

'Riding in chariots and on horses' is a prophecy meaning the abundance of things of the understanding, as becomes clear from very many places in the Prophets. Thus the prophecy that 'kings will enter through the gates of the city' means in the internal sense that they were to be endowed with truths of faith. This sense of the Word is the heavenly sense into which the worldly sense of the letter passes.

[4] In the same prophet,

Jehovah has spurned in His fierce indignation king and priest. The gates of Zion have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken in pieces her bars. King and princes are among the nations; the law is no more. Lamentations 2:6, 9.

Here 'king' stands for the truth of faith, 'priest' for the good of charity, 'Zion' for the Church, which is destroyed and its bars broken in pieces. Consequently 'king and princes among the nations', that is, truth and what belongs to truth, will be so completely banished that 'the law is no more', that is, nothing of the doctrine of faith will exist any more. In Isaiah,

Before the boy knows to refuse evil and to choose good, the ground will be abandoned which you loathe in the presence of its two kings. Isaiah 7:16.

This refers to the Lord's Coming. 'The land that will be abandoned' stands for faith which at that time would not exist. 'The kings' are the truths of faith which would be loathed.

[5] In the same prophet,

I will lift up My hand to the nations and raise My ensign to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulder. Kings will be your foster fathers and their queens your wet-nurses. Isaiah 49:22-23.

'Nations' and 'daughters' stand for goods, 'peoples' and 'sons' for truths, as shown in Volume One. That 'nations' stands for goods, 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849, as does 'daughters', 489-491, while 'peoples' stands for truths, 1259, 1260, as does 'sons', 489, 491, 533, 1147. 'Kings' therefore stands for truths, in general by which they will be nourished, and 'queens' for goods by which they will be suckled. Whether you speak of goods and truths or of those who are governed by goods and truths it amounts to the same.

[6] In the same prophet,

He will spatter many nations, kings will shut their mouths because of him, ¹ for that which has [not] been told them they have seen, and that which they have not heard they have understood. Isaiah 52:15.

This refers to the Lord's Coming. 'Nations' stands for those who are stirred by an affection for goods, 'kings' those who are stirred by an affection for truths. In David,

Now, O kings, be intelligent; be instructed, O judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest He perhaps be angry and you perish in the way. Psalms 2:10-12.

'Kings' stands for people who are governed by truths, and who by virtue of truths are also in many places called 'king's sons'. 'The Son' here stands for the Lord, and he is called the Son here because he is Truth itself, and the source of all truth.

[7] In John,

They will sing a new song, You are worthy to take the Book and to open its seals. You have made us kings and priests to our God so that we shall reign on the earth. Revelation 5:9-10.

Here people who are governed by truths are called 'kings'. The Lord also calls them 'the sons of the kingdom' in Matthew,

He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one. Matthew 13:37-38.

In John,

The sixth angel poured out his bowl over the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up to prepare the way of the kings who were from the east. Revelation 16:12.

'Euphrates' clearly does not mean the Euphrates, nor does 'kings from the east' mean kings from that quarter. What 'Euphrates' does mean may be seen in 120, 1585, 1866, from which it is evident that 'the way of the kings who were from the cast' means truths of faith that derive from goods of love.

[8] In the same book,

The nations that are saved will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honour into it. Revelation 21:24.

Here 'nations' stands for people who are governed by goods, 'kings of the earth' for those who are governed by truths, which is also evident from the fact that the details here are prophetical, not historical. In the same book,

With the great harlot seated on many waters the kings of the earth have committed whoredom and have become drunk with the wine of her whoredom. Revelation 17:2.

And elsewhere in the same book,

Babylon has given all nations drink from the wine of the fury of her whoredom; and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her. Revelation 18:1, 3, 9.

Here similarly it is clear that 'the kings of the earth' does not mean kings, for the subject is the falsification and adulteration of the doctrine of faith, that is, of truth, which are 'whoredom'. 'Kings of the earth' stands for truths that have been falsified and adulterated.

[9] In the same book,

The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom but are receiving authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These will be of one mind, and they will hand over power and authority to the beast. Revelation 17:12-13.

That 'kings' here does not mean kings may also be evident to anyone. If kings were meant, then 'ten kings receiving authority as kings for one hour' would be quite unintelligible, as similarly with the following words in the same book,

I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered to make war with Him who was sitting on the horse, and with His army. Revelation 19:19

In verse 13 of the same chapter it is stated explicitly that the One who was sitting on the horse was The Word of God, against which the kings of the earth are said to have been gathered. 'The beast' stands for goods of love that have been profaned, 'kings' for truths of faith that have been adulterated; these are called 'kings of the earth' because they exist within the Church - 'earth' meaning the Church, see 662, 1066, 1067, 1262. 'The white horse' stands for the understanding of truth, 'He who was sitting on the horse' for the Word. This matter is plainer still in Daniel 11, describing the war between the king of the south and the king of the north, by which is meant the conflict of truths with falsities. Here such conflicts are described as a war that took place in history.

[10] Since 'a king' means truth, what is meant in the internal sense when the Lord is called King, and also a Priest, is made clear; and what essential quality of the Lord was represented by kings, and what by priests, is also made clear. 'Kings' represented His Divine Truth, and 'priests' His Divine Good. All the laws of order by which the Lord governs the universe as King are truths, while all the laws by which He governs the universe as Priest and by which He rules even over truths themselves are goods. For government from truths alone condemns everyone to hell, but government from goods lifts them out of that place and raises them up into heaven; see 1728. Because, in the Lord's case, these two - truths and goods - are joined together, they were also represented in ancient times by kingship and priesthood combined, as with Melchizedek who was at one and the same time king of Salem and priest to God Most High, Genesis 14:18. And at a later time among the Jews where the representative Church was established in a form of its own He was represented by judges and priests, and after that by kings.

[11] But because 'kings' represented truths which ought not to be paramount for the reason, already stated, that they condemn, the very idea was so objectionable that the Jews were reproached for it. The nature of truth regarded in itself has been described in 1 Samuel 8:11-18, as the rights of a king; and previous to that, in Moses, in Deuteronomy 17:14-18, they had been commanded through Moses to choose genuine truth deriving from good, not spurious truth, and not to pollute it with reasonings and factual knowledge. These are the considerations which the directive concerning a king given in the place in Moses referred to above embodies within itself. No one can possibly see this from the sense of the letter, but it is nevertheless evident from the details within the internal sense. This shows why 'a king' and 'kingship' represented and meant nothing other than truth.

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