366. That they should slay one another, signifies the falsification or extinction of truths. This is evident from the signification of "slaying," as meaning the extinction of truths; for "to slay" in the Word signifies to slay spiritually, that is, to slay the spiritual part of a man or his soul, which is to extinguish truths. It also means to falsify, because when truths are falsified they are also extinguished; for falsification produces a different understanding of truths, and truth is true to everyone according to his understanding of it; for the love and principle that rule in man draw and apply all things to themselves, even truths themselves; consequently when the love is evil, or the principle is false, then truths are infected with the evil of the love or the falsity of the principle, and thus are extinguished. This, therefore, is what is here signified by "they should slay one another." That this takes place when there is no good with man, and especially when there is no good in the doctrine of his church, is evident from the preceding words, where it is said, "When he had opened the second seal there went forth a red horse; and to him that sat upon him it was given to take peace from the earth;" which signifies a second state of the church when the understanding of the Word is destroyed in respect to good, which is the source of dissensions in the church (of which see above, n. 361, 364, 365).

[2] That the understanding of the Word, or what is the same, the understanding of the truth, is destroyed when there is no good with man, that is, when there is no love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor, may be seen above n. 365; for good with man, or what is the same, love with him, is the fire of his life, and truth with him, or the faith of truth, is the light therefrom; consequently such as the good is, or such as the love is in man, such is truth, or such the faith of truth in him. From this it can be seen that when evil or an evil love is with man there can be no truth or faith of truth with him; for the light that goes forth from such fire is the light that those have who are in hell, which is a fatuous light like the light from burning coals, which light, when light from heaven flows in, is turned into mere thick darkness. Such also is the light that with the evil, when they reason against the things of the church, is called natural light [lumen].

[3] That they would falsify and thereby extinguish truths is meant also by the Lord's words in Matthew:

Jesus said to the disciples, The brother shall deliver up the brother, the father the son; children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death (Matthew 10:21).

And in Luke:

Ye shall be delivered up by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death (Luke 21:16).

"Parents," "brethren," "children," ["kinsfolk, "] and "friends," do not mean here parents, brethren, children, kinsfolk, friends, nor do "disciples" mean disciples, but the goods and truths of the church, also evils and falsities; it is also meant that evils would extinguish goods and falsities truths. (That such is the signification of these words, see Arcana Coelestia 10490.)

10329. 'See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, belonging to the tribe of Judah' means those in whom the good of love is present, among whom the Church is to be established. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling by name' as choosing such persons, that is to say, ones who are suitable, dealt with below; and from the representation of 'Bezalel' as those in whom the good of love is present. The reason why these are represented here by Bezalel is that he came from the tribe of Judah, and this tribe means those in whom celestial good is present, which is the good of love to the Lord, and in the abstract sense, without reference to persons, it means the good of celestial love. For this meaning of Judah and his tribe, see 3654, 3881, 6363, 6364, 8770. But what Uri and Hur, Bezalel's father and grandfather, represent is clear from the manner in which celestial good is begotten. It is begotten by teachings that present what is true and good on a celestial level. So those teachings are meant by these two men, 'Hur' representing teachings that present the truth, see 9424.

[2] People who keep their minds fixed solely on the literal sense of the Word, which they do more resolutely in the historical sections than in the prophetical parts, may be astonished when they are told that such things are meant by the names of those two men; but people who are acquainted with the essential nature of the Word will not be astonished. For in every detail the Word has a spiritual content. Within the actual names of persons and places that are mentioned in the Word there would be nothing spiritual if they did not serve to mean things of the Church and of heaven; for those things are spiritual. From this it follows that the two names used here likewise mean spiritual things.

Names in the Word serve to mean spiritual things or realities, see 1224, 1264, 1888, 4442, 5095, 5225, 6516.

Names do not pass into heaven, only the realities meant by them, 1876, 10216, 10282.

[3] The reason why 'calling by name' in the spiritual sense means choosing such persons as are suitable is that the word 'name' considered without reference to an actual person means the essential nature of something, as becomes clear from places in the Word in which 'name' occurs.

'Name' means the essential nature of something, see 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3004-3011, 3421, 6674, 6887, 8274, 8882, 9310.

The verb 'call' without the noun 'name' has a similar meaning, 3421, 3659, while 'calling by name' means choosing, 8773.

[4] Two men are named here who were called by Jehovah to carry out the work that Moses was commanded on Mount Sinai - Bezalel from the tribe of Judah, and Aholiab from the tribe of Dan. 'Bezalel' means those in whom the good of celestial love is present, 'Aholiab' those in whom the good and truth of faith exist. Those in whom the good of celestial love is present are in the inmost part of heaven and the Church, whereas those in whom the good and truth of faith exist are in the last and lowest part of them. Thus these two men mean all persons in their entirety among whom the Church may be established; for the first and the last, or the inmost and the outermost, mean all persons or all things. For the subject in what immediately follows is the Church that is to be established; and this is why these two, by whom are meant all among whom the Church could be established, are mentioned by name. For the meaning of the first and the last as all persons and all things, see 10044; and for that of Aholiab from the tribe of Dan as those in whom the good of faith exists, and so who are in the last and lowest part of heaven or the Church, see in what follows below.

From all this it now evident that 'I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, belonging to the tribe of Judah' means those in whom the good of love is present, among whom the Church is to be established.