377. Verses 7-8. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth animal saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a pale horse; and he that sat upon him his name was Death, and hell followed with him. And there was given unto them power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

7. "And when he had opened the fourth seal," signifies prediction still further manifested (n. 378); "I heard the voice of the fourth animal saying," signifies out of the inmost heaven from the Lord. n. 379); "Come and see," signifies attention and perception (n. 380).

8. "And I saw, and behold a pale horse," signifies the understanding of the Word then become nought in consequence of evils of life and then of falsities therefrom n. 381; "and he that sat upon him," signifies the Word (n. 382); "his name was Death, and hell followed with him," signifies eternal damnation (n. 383); "and there was given unto them power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill," signifies the loss of every good and thence of every truth from the Word, and in consequence, in the doctrine of their church from the Word n. 384; "with sword," signifies by falsity (n. 385); "and with famine," signifies by the loss, lack, and ignorance of the knowledges of truth and good (n. 386); "and with death," signifies the consequent extinction of spiritual life (n. 387); "and by the wild beasts of the earth," signifies the evils of life or lusts and falsities therefrom springing from the love of self and of the world, which devastate all things of the church with man n. 388.

3971. 'It happened, when Rachel had borne Joseph' means acknowledgement of the spiritual represented by Joseph. This is clear from the meaning of 'bearing' as acknowledging, dealt with in 3905, 3911, 3915, 3919; from the representation of 'Rachel' as the affection for interior truth, dealt with in 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819; and from the representation of 'Joseph' as the spiritual kingdom and so the spiritual man, dealt with in 3969, and therefore as the spiritual; for having its origin in the Lord, the spiritual is that which makes the spiritual man and also the spiritual kingdom what they are. By means of Jacob's sons by the servant-girls and by Leah, the sections prior to this have dealt with the reception and acknowledgement of general truths, and eventually with the joining of those truths to the interior man, and so have dealt with man's regeneration up to and including his becoming spiritual. 'Joseph' is that spiritual man. The present sections coming directly after them deal with the fruitfulness and the multiplication of truth and good, which are meant by the flock which Jacob obtained for himself by means of Laban's flock.

[2] Indeed after the joining of the interior man to the external man has taken place, that is, of the spiritual and the natural, fruitfulness of good and multiplication of truth take place, for that joining together of the two is the heavenly marriage with man. It is from this marriage that such fruitfulness and multiplication spring. This also is why 'Joseph' in the external sense means fruitfulness and multiplication, 3965, 3969, the expressions 'fruitfulness' being used in reference to good, and 'multiplication' to truth, 43, 55, 913, 983, 2846, 2847.

384. And there was given unto them power over the fourth part of the earth, to kill, signifies the deprivation of every good and thence of every truth from the Word, and in consequence in the doctrine of their church from the Word. This is evident from the signification of "power," as being effect, since to be able means to effect; from the signification of "to kill" or "to slay," as being to deprive of good and truth (of which above, n. 366; from the signification of "fourth part," as being every good and thence every truth (of which presently); and from the signification of "earth," as being the church and everything thereof (of which above, n. 29, 304). And as a church is a church from doctrine there, and from life according to it, and as every doctrine of the church must be from the Word, so the doctrine of the church from the Word is at the same time signified. From this it can be seen that "there was given unto them power over the fourth part of the earth to kill" signifies the deprivation of every good and thus of every truth from the Word, and in consequence in the doctrine of the church from the Word. It is said that "power was given unto them," meaning to evils and to falsities therefrom, and these are signified also by "death and hell." That those who are in evils and falsities deprive themselves of all the perception of good and the understanding of truth from the Word, and in consequence in the doctrine of their church from the Word, is clearly evident in the case of those who are in falsities of doctrine from evils of life. Such, although they read the Word, either do not see the truths that are in it or they falsify them by applying them to the falsities of their own opinions and to the evils of their own loves; for the sense of the letter of the Word is such that those who are in good see truths in it, and those who are in evil see falsities, for the sense of the letter is according to the apprehension of little children, boys, and the simple, and is therefore according to appearance; but still in that sense truths lie hidden that are not seen by any except those who are in good, those who are in evil not wishing to see them, but they draw all things by perverse interpretations to the evils of their loves and to the falsities of their opinions, as is plainly evident from so many heresies existing within the church, especially the heinous Babylonian heresy, and also from the Jewish heresy.

[2] "A fourth part" signifies every good and thence every truth, because the number "four" signifies the conjunction of good and truth, and therefore "a fourth part" or "a fourth" signifies everything of conjunction. In the Word "a third part" and also "a fourth part" are often mentioned, and those who do not know that all numbers signify things may believe that "a third part" means a third part, and "a fourth part" a fourth part, or that they signify some portion; but "a third part" signifies all truth, and "a fourth part" all good; and as all truth is from good, "a fourth part" signifies all good and the truth therefrom, here the deprivation of these, because it is said "there was given to them power over the fourth part of the earth to kill." That "three" and thence "a third part" are predicated of truths, will be seen hereafter, where that number is mentioned. But "four" and thence "a fourth part" are predicated of goods and the truths therefrom, because they signify the conjunction of good and truth. This has been made evident to me by much experience from the spiritual world; for when angels spoke there of the conjunction of good and truth, or of love and faith, and their speech was determined into numbers, the number four was exhibited, and sometimes also the number two, or the number eight, or the number sixteen, because these numbers have a like signification, for numbers multiplied or divided by themselves have a like signification as the numbers with which they are multiplied or divided (See Arcana Coelestia 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973). That angelic speech falls also into numbers, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 263). That "four" signifies the conjunction of good and truth has its origin from the four quarters in heaven, in two of which, namely, in the east and the west, those dwell who are in the good of love, and in the other two, namely, in the south and the north, those who are in truths therefrom (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 141-153). Consequently "the four quarters," or "the four winds," signify all good and the truth therefrom, and "four" their conjunction. "A fourth part" signifies everything of conjunction of good and truth, because here "a fourth" constitutes all, and "a fourth" is significative of conjunction; therefore "killing a fourth part" signifies all of conjunction, consequently every good and truth; for where no conjunction of good and truth exists, there they are not; for there can be no good without truth, nor truth without good; they are in their essence one, since truth is of good, and good is of truth (as can be seen from what is said, and the passages cited respecting good and truth in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 11-27).