4277. 'And he touched the hollow of his thigh' means where celestial-spiritual good is joined to natural good meant by 'Jacob'. This is clear from the meaning of 'the thigh' as conjugial love, and consequently as all celestial and spiritual love, since these are derived from conjugial love as offspring from their parent, dealt with in 3021; and from the meaning of 'the hollow' or socket or cavity of it - that is to say, of the thigh - as the place where the joining together exists, and here therefore where celestial-spiritual good is joined to natural good meant by 'Jacob'. But no one can be told anything about that conjunction unless he knows first of all what celestial-spiritual good, meant by 'Israel', is, and what natural good, meant by 'Jacob', is. It will be told below at verse 28 where Jacob, who at that point is named Israel, is the subject and also further on where Jacob's descendants are the subject.

4779. 'And put sackcloth on his loins' means mourning for lost good. This is clear from the meaning of 'putting sackcloth over the loins' as an act representative of mourning for lost good. For 'the loins' means conjugial love and from this all celestial and spiritual love, 3021, 3294, 4277, 4280, 4575. This meaning of 'the loins' is derived from correspondence, for as all the organs, members, and viscera of the human body correspond to the Grand Man, as shown at the ends of chapters, so the loins correspond to those who are within the Grand Man, which is heaven, and in whom genuine conjugial love has existed. And because conjugial love is the fundamental of all kinds of love 'the loins' therefore means in general all celestial and spiritual love. From this arose the custom of putting sackcloth over their loins when they mourned over lost good; for all good belongs to love.

[2] The fact that people put sackcloth over their loins to testify to this mourning becomes clear from the historical and the prophetical parts of the Word, as in Amos,

I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; so will I cause sackcloth to come up over all loins, and baldness over every head, and I will make it as the mourning for an only-begotten son, and its end as a bitter day. Amos 8:10.

'Causing sackcloth to come up over all loins' stands for mourning over lost forms of good, 'all loins' standing for all forms of the good of love. In Jonah,

The men of Nineveh believed in God, and therefore they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloths, from the greatest even to the least of them. And when word reached the king of Nineveh he rose up from his throne, and laid aside his royal robe from upon him, and covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he proclaimed that man and beast were to be covered with sackcloths. Jonah 3:5-8.

Clearly this was a sign representative of mourning over evil on account of which Nineveh was to perish, and so mourning over lost good.

[3] In Ezekiel,

They will let forth a cry over you with their voice and will cry out bitterly; and they will cause dust to come up over their heads, and will roll themselves in ashes, and will make themselves bald over you, and will gird themselves with sackcloths. Ezekiel 27:30-31.

This refers to Tyre, each action mentioned here being representative of mourning for falsities and evils and so for lost truths and goods. 'Letting forth a cry and crying out bitterly' stands for lamentation over falsity or lost truth, 2240; 'causing dust to come up over the head' stands for having been condemned on account of evil, 278; 'rolling themselves in ashes' for having been condemned on account of falsities; 'making themselves bald' for mourning because the natural man has no truth, 3301 (end); 'girding themselves with sackcloths' for mourning because the natural man has no good. Similarly in Jeremiah,

O daughter of My people, gird yourself with sackcloth. and roll yourself in ashes; make mourning as for an only-begotten son, very bitter wailing; for suddenly he who lays waste will come upon you. Jeremiah 6:26.

And elsewhere in the same prophet,

The elders of the daughter of Zion will sit on the ground, they will become silent; they will cause dust to come up over their head, they will gird themselves with sackcloths; the virgins of Jerusalem will cause their heads to come down to the ground. Lamentations 2:10.

Here similar representative actions are described which, as above, were appropriate for the types of good and truth which had become lost.

[4] In Isaiah,

A prophecy concerning Moab. He will go up to Bayith, and to Dibon into the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab will howl. On all heads there is baldness; every beard is shaved off; in its streets they have girded themselves with sackcloth; on its roots and in its streets everyone will wail, descending into weeping. Isaiah 15:2-3.

'Moab' stands for those who adulterate all good, 2468. The mourning over that adulteration meant by 'Moab' is described by the kinds of things that correspond to that type of evil. Virtually the same description therefore occurs in Jeremiah,

Every head is bald, and every beard shaved off; upon all hands are cuts, and over the loins is sackcloth; on all the roofs of Moab and in its streets there is mourning everywhere. Jeremiah 48:37-38.

[5] When king Hezekiah heard the blasphemous utterances of the Rabshakeh against Jerusalem 'he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth', Isaiah 37:1; 2 Kings 19:1. The reason for mourning was that his utterances were directed against Jehovah, the king, and Jerusalem. Their being utterances made in opposition to truth is meant by the king rending his clothes, 4763, and utterances made in opposition to good by his covering himself with sackcloth; for when in the Word truth is dealt with, so also is good. This is so because of the heavenly marriage, which is a marriage of good to truth and of truth to good in every single part; as also in David,

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed ¹ my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. Psalms 30:11.

Here 'dancing' has reference to truths, and 'gladness' to goods, as they also do in other parts of the Word. 'Loosing sackcloth' accordingly means releasing from mourning over lost good.

[6] In 2 Samuel,

David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird sackcloth round you, and wail before Abner. 2 Samuel 3:31.

Because an outrageous act had been committed against that which was true and good David therefore commanded them to rend their clothes and gird sackcloths round them. Something similar occurred in the case of Ahab, for when he heard Elijah's words that he was to be cut off because he had acted contrary to what was fair and right - meaning in the spiritual sense contrary to what is true and good - 'he tore his clothes apart, and put sackcloth over his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went about slowly, 1 Kings 21:27.

[7] The use of 'sackcloth' to refer to lost good is also clear in John,

When he opened the sixth seal, behold, a great earthquake took place, and the sun became black as sackcloth, and the full moon became like blood. Revelation 6:12.

'An earthquake' stands for an alteration in the state of the Church as regards good and truth, 3355. 'The sun' stands for the good of love, 1529, 1530, 2441, 2495, 4060, 4300, 4696, and therefore 'sackcloth' here has reference to lost good. 'The moon' stands for the truth of faith, 1529, 1530, 2120, 2495, 4060, and 'blood' has reference to this because 'blood' means truth that has been falsified and rendered profane, 4735.

[8] Because 'being clothed in sackcloth and rolling oneself in ashes' represented mourning over evils and falsities, it also represented both humility and repentance. For humility begins first with the acknowledgement that in oneself one is nothing but a source of evil and falsity. Repentance begins with the same acknowledgement and does not become a reality except through humility, and humility does not become a reality except through heartfelt confession that in oneself one is such a source of evil and falsity. For 'putting on sackcloth' was an expression of humility, see 1 Kings 21:27-29, also of repentance, Matthew 11:21; Luke 10:13. But the fact that this was no more than some representative, and so merely an external activity of the body and not an internal activity of the heart, is evident in Isaiah,

Is he to bow his head like a rush and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, and a day of that which is pleasing to Jehovah? Is not this the fast that I choose, to loose ² the bonds of wickedness, to break bread for the hungry? Isaiah 58:5-7.

Poznámky pod čarou:

3195. 'And was dwelling in the land of the south' means consequently in Divine light. This is clear from the meaning of 'dwelling' as living, dealt with in 1293, and from the fact that it has reference to good, 2268, 2451, 2712; and from the meaning of 'the land of the south' as Divine light. For 'the south' means light, indeed the light of intelligence, which is wisdom, 1458, but 'the land of the south' the place and state where that light exists. Thus the whole verse here 'Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, and was dwelling in the land of the south' means that Divine Rational Good, because it had been born from Divine Truth, was in Divine light.

[2] Light is mentioned many times in the Word, and in the internal sense it means truth springing from good. In the highest internal sense however 'light' means the Lord Himself since He is Good and Truth themselves. He Himself is also in actual fact the light in heaven, but this is infinitely brighter than the light on earth, see 1053, 1117, 1521-1533, 1619-1632. In that light spirits and angels behold one another, and by means of it all the glory that exists in heaven is clearly visible. In brightness that light seems to be much the same as the light in the world, but this is not the case, for it is not a natural light but a spiritual one. It holds wisdom within itself, so much so that it is nothing else than wisdom that shines in this manner before the eyes of those in heaven. Consequently the wiser the angels are, the brighter the light surrounding them, 2776. This light also enlightens the understanding of man, especially of one who is regenerate, but man does not discern it during his lifetime because the light of the world reigns at that time. Evil spirits too in the next life behold one another, and also behold many representatives which manifest themselves in the world of spirits. They do so indeed by the light of heaven. Yet it is an inferior light like that coming from a coal fire, for when the light of heaven reaches them it is turned into this inferior light.

[3] As for the source itself of light, this from eternity has existed from the Lord alone, for Divine Good itself and Divine Truth itself, the source of light, is the Lord. The Divine Human which existed from eternity, John 17:5, was that actual light. Because such light was unable any longer to influence the human race which had retreated so far from good and truth, and so from the light, and had cast itself into darkness, the Lord was therefore willing to be born and assume the Human itself. Indeed in so doing He was able to bring light not only to man's rational concepts but also to his natural ideas. For the Lord made Divine within Himself both the Rational and the Natural so that people who were in such gross darkness could have light.

[4] As regards the Lord's being 'the light', that is, Good and Truth themselves, and so the source of all intelligence and wisdom, and consequently of salvation, this becomes clear from many places in the Word, as in John,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John came to bear witness to the light. He was not that light but [came] to bear witness to the light. He was the true light which enlightens every man coming into the world. John 1:1, 4, 7-9.

'The Word' was Divine Truth, and so the Lord Himself as regards the Divine Human, of which it is said that 'the Word was with God, and the Word was God'.

[5] In the same gospel,

This is the judgement, that light has come into the world, but men preferred darkness rather than light. John 3:19.

'Light' stands for Divine Truth. In the same gospel,

Jesus said, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk darkness but will have the light of life. John 8:12.

In the same gospel,

The light is with you for a brief while longer. Walk, as long as you have the light, lest the darkness overtakes you. As long as you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be sons of the light. John 12:35-36.

In the same gospel,

He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as light into the world in order that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness.

John 12:45-46.

In Luke,

My eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for revelation to the gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel. Luke 2:30-32.

This is Simeon's prophecy regarding the Lord which was made after

His birth.

[6] In Matthew,

The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; and for those sitting in the region and shadow of death, the light has arisen. Matthew 4:16; Isaiah 9:2.

From all these places it is quite evident that as regards Divine Good and Truth within the Divine Human the Lord is called 'the light'. The same is also seen in prophetical parts of the Old Testament, as in Isaiah,

The light of Israel will be a fire, and his Holy One a flame. Isaiah 10:17.

In the same prophet,

I Jehovah have called You in righteousness, and I will give You for a covenant of the people, and a light of the nations. Isaiah 42:6.

In the same prophet,

I have given You as a light of the nations, that You may be My salvation right to the ends of the earth. Isaiah 49:6.

In the same prophet,

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of Jehovah has risen upon you. Nations will walk to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1, 3.

[7] All the light of heaven, consequently wisdom and intelligence, come from the Lord. This is taught in John,

The Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, has no need of the sun or of the moon to shed light in it; the glory of God will give it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Revelation 21:2-3.

And further regarding the same city,

There will be no night there, nor do they need a lamp or light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. Revelation 22:5.

[8] Also in Isaiah,

The sun will no longer be to you a light by day, and for brightness the moon will not give light to you, but Jehovah will be to you an everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will no longer go down and your moon will not be withdrawn, for Jehovah will be to you an everlasting light. Isaiah 60:19-20.

'The sun will no longer be a light by day, and for brightness the moon will not give its light' stands for the fact that it is not the things that belong to natural light but those that belong to spiritual light which are meant by 'Jehovah will be an everlasting light'. The name Jehovah used here and elsewhere in the Old Testament means the Lord, see 1343, 1736, 2156, 2329, 2921, 3023, 3035.

[9] His being the light of heaven was also disclosed to the three disciples Peter, James, and John - that is to say, at the Transfiguration when His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as the light, Matthew 17:2. 'Face like the sun' meant Divine Good, 'garments as the light' Divine Truth. From this one may know what is meant by the words that occur in the blessing,

Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be merciful to you. Numbers 6:25.

'Jehovah's face' is mercy, peace, and good, see 222, 223; and as 'the sun' means Divine Love, the Lord's Divine Love is accordingly seen in the angelic heaven as the sun, 30-38, 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2441, 2495.