9182. When a man shall persuade a virgin who is not betrothed. That this signifies good not conjoined with truth, is evident from the signification of “persuading,” when said of a man and a virgin, as being to entice to conjunction; from the signification of “a man” [vir] as being truth (see n. 3134, 7716, 9007); from the signification of “a virgin,” as being the church as to good (n. 3081, 4638), thus the good which is the church; and from the signification of “to be betrothed,” as being conjunction. It shall here be briefly stated what is the cause and the origin of the law relating to unlawful conjunction that is here treated of. All the laws delivered to the sons of Israel have their cause in heaven, and their origin in the laws of order there. All the laws of order in heaven are from the Divine truth and good which proceed from the Lord, consequently they are the laws of the good of love and truth of faith. The conjunction of good and truth in heaven is called the heavenly marriage, and this is represented in marriages on earth, and is also signified by “marriages” in the Word. From this it is plain what is involved in unlawful conjunctions, and also in scortations and adulteries. In these two verses an unlawful conjunction is treated of which is afterward either made lawful or is dissolved. The unlawful conjunction which afterward is made lawful, is the subject treated of in this verse; and the unlawful conjunction which afterward is dissolved, is the subject treated of in the following verse.

[2] Unlawful conjunction is that which is not made from conjugial affection; but from some other affection, as the affection of beauty, the affection of gain, or the affection of personal rank; and also which is made from lasciviousness. In the beginning these conjunctions are unlawful, because that which conjoins is external, and not at the same time internal. Nevertheless, a lawful conjunction may afterward be effected from them as means, which takes place when the minds are conjoined; and on the other hand no conjunction may result from them, as is the case when the minds are disjoined. That this is so, is generally known in the world.

[3] Lawful conjunction, which is that of minds, is effected when both are in the like good and truth; for good and truth make a man’s life; moral and civil good and truth, the life of the external man; and spiritual good and truth, the life of the internal man. Be it known that a man’s life is from no other source than good and truth, for all that a man loves is called good, and all that he believes is called truth; or, what is the same, all that a man wills is called good, and all that he understands is called truth. From this it is evident that a lawful conjunction is effected when the husband is in truth, and the wife is in the corresponding good, for in this way the heavenly marriage, which is that of good and truth, is represented in the pair. From this it is that conjugial love descends from this marriage (see n. 2727-2759, 2803, 3132, 4434, 4835).

[4] From these as premises it can be known how the case is with the conjunctions treated of in this verse and the following one. Betrothals before marriage have been in use from ancient times, and represented the first conjunction, which is that of the internal man apart from the external. The subsequent marriages themselves represented the second conjunction, which is that of the internal man with the external; for during man’s regeneration by means of the goods and truths of faith, the internal man is first regenerated, and afterward the external, because the latter is regenerated by the former (n. 3286, 3321, 3493, 3882, 8746).

[5] From this it is evident what is signified in the Word by “betrothing” and by “being betrothed,” and also what by “bridegroom” and “bride;” namely, by “betrothing” is signified the conjunction of truth and good in the internal man; by “bridegroom” (where the Lord and the church are treated of) is signified good; and by “bride,” truth: as in Isaiah.

In Jeremiah:

I remembered for thee the mercy of thy youth, the love of thy betrothals, when thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown (Jeremiah 2:2);

speaking of the Ancient Church and of its being set up by the Lord; “the love of betrothals” denotes the affection of spiritual life, which is from the truths of faith and the good of love; and the state of desire, when as yet they were in ignorance and in want of these things, is signified by “going after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.”

[6] In Hosea:

In that day I will make a covenant for them with the wild animal of the field, and with the bird of the heavens, and the creeping thing of the earth; and I will break the bow and the sword and the war; and I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness and in judgment, and in mercy, and in compassions (Hos. 2:18-19).

The setting up of a new church is here treated of; “to make a covenant with the wild animal of the field, with the bird of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the earth,” denotes the conjunction of the Lord through the internal and external good and truth in a man. That “a covenant” denotes conjunction, see n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778; “the wild animal of the field” denotes life from good (n. 841, 908); “the bird” denotes the life of truth (n. 40, 745, 776, 991, 3219, 5149, 7441); “the creeping thing of the earth” denotes the goods and truths of the external and sensuous man (n. 746, 909); “to break the bow, and the sword, and the war,” denotes to destroy the doctrine and the forces of falsity; “the bow” denotes the doctrine of falsity (n. 2686, 2709); “the sword,” falsity fighting against truth (n. 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102); “the war,” the combat itself, or spiritual combat (n. 1664, 2686, 8273), and “to break” these denotes to destroy them.

[7] “To betroth in righteousness and in judgment” denotes to be conjoined with the Lord in good and truth; “to betroth” denotes to conjoin with one’s self; “righteousness” is predicated of good, and “judgment” of truth (n. 2235); “to betroth in mercy and in compassions,” denotes doing so from love toward those who are in good, and in love toward those who are in truths; the Lord’s “mercy” is predicated as being directed toward those who are in need of good and who yet long for it; and His “compassions,” toward those who are in ignorance of truth and who yet long for it. From all this it is evident that “betrothal” denotes the conjunction of good and truth with a man by the Lord. Everyone can see that such things are here signified; for it is clear even to the perception from merely natural light that Jehovah does not make a covenant with the wild animal of the field, with the bird, and with the creeping thing of the earth; but with those who are in the good and truth of faith, thus with the good and truth in the man; consequently that such things are hidden in this prophecy.

[8] And in Malachi:

Judah hath dealt treacherously, for he hath profaned the holiness of Jehovah, in that he hath loved, and hath betrothed to himself, the daughter of a strange god (Malachi 2:11);

“to betroth the daughter of a strange god” denotes to be conjoined with the evil of falsity; “a strange god” denotes falsity (n. 4402, 4544, 7873).

[9] That where the Lord and the church are treated of, the “bridegroom” denotes good, and the “bride” truth, may be seen in Isaiah:

Jehovah hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom putteth on his headdress, and as a bride adorneth herself with her vessels (Isaiah 61:10).

I saw the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:2).

The angel said, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the lamb’s wife (Revelation 21:9); where “the bride” denotes the church.

[10] In Matthew:

Jesus said unto the disciples of John, Can the sons of the wedding mourn, so long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast (Matthew 9:15, andLuke 5:34-35);

those are called “sons of the wedding” who are in the truths of the church, and receive good, for the good which is from the Lord is “the bridegroom;” that “the sons of the wedding do not mourn so long as the bridegroom is with them” denotes that they are in a blessed and happy state, thus with the Lord, when they are in truths conjoined with their good; “they shall fast when the bridegroom is taken away from them” denotes that they are in an unhappy state when good is no longer conjoined with truths; this state is the last state of the church, but the former is its first state.

[11] The like is signified in Matthew 25:1-12 by the bridegroom whom the ten virgins went forth to meet; for the virgins who had oil in their lamps denote those who have good in their truths, but those who had no oil in their lamps denote those who have no good in their truths (see n. 4638; and that “oil” denotes the good of love, n. 886, 3728, 4582).

[12] In John:

John said, I am not the Christ, but I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice (John 3:28-29);

“the bride” denotes the truth of faith of the church; and “the bridegroom” the good of love of the church, both from the Lord; thus they denote the man of the church with whom good has been conjoined with truths. From all this it is also plain what is meant in the internal sense by the “joy” and the “voice of the bridegroom and of the bride” in Isaiah 62:5; Jeremiah 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; 33:11; Revelation 18:23; namely, heaven and the happiness resulting from the conjunction of good and truth with man and angel.

665. That to “set up a covenant” signifies that he would be regenerated, is very evident from the fact that there can be no covenant between the Lord and man other than conjunction by love and faith, and therefore a “covenant” signifies conjunction. For it is the heavenly marriage that is the veriest covenant; and the heavenly marriage, or conjunction, does not exist except with those who are being regenerated; so that in the widest sense regeneration itself is signified by a “covenant.” The Lord enters into a covenant with man when He regenerates him; and therefore among the ancients a covenant represented nothing else. Nothing can be gathered from the sense of the letter but that the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and so many times with their descendants, was concerned with them personally, whereas they were such that they could not be regenerated; for they made worship consist in external things, and supposed the externals of worship to be holy, without internal things being adjoined to them. And therefore the covenants made with them were only representatives of regeneration. It was the same with their rites, and with Abraham himself, and with Isaac, and Jacob, who represented the things of love and faith. Likewise the high priests and priests, whatever their character, even those that were wicked, could represent the heavenly and most holy priesthood. In representatives the person is not regarded, but the thing that is represented. Thus all the kings of Israel and of Judah, even the worst, represented the royalty of the Lord; and even Pharaoh too, who set Joseph over the land of Egypt. From these and many other considerations-concerning which, of the Lord’s Divine mercy hereafter-it is evident that the covenants so often entered into with the sons of Jacob were only religious rites that were representative.

6804. And God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. That this signifies by reason of conjunction with the church through the Lord’s Divine Human, is evident from the signification of “covenant,” as being conjunction (of which in what follows); and from the representation of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with whom a covenant was made, as being the Lord’s Divine Human. (That Abraham represents the Lord as to the Divine Itself, Isaac as to the Divine rational, and Jacob as to the Divine natural, see n. 1893, 2011, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630, 3194, 3210, 3245, 3251, 3305, 3439, 3576, 3599, 3704, 4180, 4286, 4538, 4570, 4615, 6098, 6185, 6276, 6425.) That where mention is made of “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” in the Word, in the spiritual sense these men are not meant, can be seen from the fact that names never penetrate into heaven, but only what is signified by those who are named, thus the things themselves, their quality and their states, which are of the church and of the Lord’s kingdom, and which are of the Lord Himself.

[2] And moreover the angels in heaven never determine their thoughts to the individual persons, for this would be to limit the thoughts, and to withdraw them from the universal perception of the things, from which is angelic speech. Hence what the angels speak in heaven is unutterable to man, and far above his thought, which is not extended to universals, but confined to particulars. When therefore we read this:

Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 8:11).

The angels perceive the Lord’s presence and the appropriation of the truth and good which proceed from His Divine Human. Also when we read that

Lazarus was taken up into Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22).

The angels perceive that he was taken up into heaven where the Lord is present. Hence also it can be seen that by the “covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” in the internal sense is meant conjunction through the Lord’s Divine Human.

[3] That the Divine Human is a “covenant,” that is, conjunction itself, can be seen from many passages in the Word, as in Isaiah:

I will give Thee for a covenant to the people, for a light of the nations (Isaiah 42:6).

I gave Thee for a covenant of the people, to restore the land, to divide the wasted heritages (Isaiah 49:8).

Incline your ear, and come unto Me; hear and your soul shall live; so will I make a covenant of eternity with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold I have given Him for a witness to the peoples, a prince and a lawgiver to the nations (Isaiah 55:3-4).

The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple; and the Angel of the covenant whom ye desire, behold He cometh (Malachi 3:1).

He hath put for Me a covenant of eternity, to be disposed for all and to be kept (2 Samuel 23:5).

[4] In these passages the Lord is plainly treated of, and the conjunction of the human race with the Divine Itself of the Lord through His Divine Human. It is known in the church that the Lord as to the Divine Human is the Mediator, and that no one can come to the Divine Itself, which is in the Lord and is called the Father, except through the Son, that is, through the Divine Human. Thus the Lord as to the Divine Human is the conjunction. Who can comprehend the Divine Itself by any thought? And if he cannot comprehend it in thought, who can be conjoined with it in love? But everyone can comprehend the Divine Human in thought, and be conjoined with it in love.

[5] That a “covenant” denotes conjunction can be seen from the covenants made between kingdoms, and that by these they are joined together; and that there are stipulations on each side, which are to be kept, in order that the conjunction may be inviolate. These stipulations or compacts are also called a “covenant.” The stipulations or compacts which in the Word are called a “covenant” are on the part of man, in a close sense, the ten commandments, or Decalogue; in a wider sense they are all the statutes, commandments, laws, testimonies, precepts, which the Lord enjoined from Mount Sinai through Moses; and in a sense still more wide they are the books of Moses, the contents of which were to be observed on the part of the sons of Israel. On the part of the Lord the “covenant” is mercy and election.

[6] That the ten commandments or Decalogue are a “covenant” is evident from Moses:

Jehovah hath told you His covenant, which He commanded you to do, the ten words which He wrote on two tables of stone (Deuteronomy 4:13, 23).

And because the two tables of stone, on which the ten commandments were written, were stored up in the ark (Exodus 25:16, 21-22; 31:18; 32:15-16, 19; 40:20), therefore the ark was called the “ark of the covenant” (Deuteronomy 31:9, 24-26; Josh. 3:3, 6, 14; 4:7; Judg. 20:27; 2 Samuel 15:24; 1 Kings 8:21). In the last passage cited, Solomon thus speaks:

There I have set a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of Jehovah which He made with our fathers (1 Kings 8:21).

And in John:

The temple of God was opened in heaven; and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant (Revelation 11:19).

[7] That all the judgments and statutes which the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel, were called the “covenant,” as were also the books of Moses themselves, is evident from Moses:

After the mouth of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel (Exodus 34:27).

The things which are here called a “covenant” were the many in regard to sacrifices, feasts, and unleavened bread.

Moses took the book of the covenant, and read in the ears of the people, who said, All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do and hear (Exodus 24:7-8.

Josiah, king of Judah, in the house of Jehovah in the presence of them all read the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of Jehovah. And he made a covenant before Jehovah, to establish the words of the covenant written in that book; and all the people stood to the covenant. The king commanded all the people that they should perform the passover to Jehovah God, as it is written in this book of the covenant (2 Kings 23:2-3, 21).

If thy sons will keep My covenant and My testimony that I have taught them, their sons also shall sit on thy throne forevermore (Psalms 132:12).

[8] That a “covenant” denotes conjunction through love and faith is evident from Moses:

Behold the days come, said Jehovah, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, because they rendered My covenant vain; but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law in the midst of them, and I will write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Jeremiah 31:31-33);

“to put a law in the midst of them, and to write it on their heart” is to endow with faith and charity; through faith and charity the conjunction is made which is described by the words, “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will no more turn away from them; and I will do well to them; and I will put My fear in their heart, that they shall not depart from Me (Jeremiah 32:40).

Conjunction through love, which is the “covenant,” is signified by, “I will put My fear in their heart, that they shall not depart from Me.”

[9] In Ezekiel:

I will make a covenant of peace with them, a covenant of eternity it shall be with them; and I will give them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them; and My habitation shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Ezekiel 37:26-27);

here conjunction through love and faith, which are a “covenant,” is described by “a sanctuary in the midst of them,” and by “a habitation with them,” and by the words, “I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

When I passed by thee, and saw thee, that behold it was thy time, the time of loves, and I entered into a covenant with thee, that thou shouldest be Mine (Ezekiel 16:8);

speaking of Jerusalem, whereby is signified the Ancient Church; that “to enter into a covenant that thou shouldest be Mine” is marriage, or spiritual conjunction, is plain. As a “covenant” signifies conjunction, a wife is also called “a wife of the covenant” (Malachi 2:14); and conjunction among brethren is called “the covenant of brethren” (Amos 1:9).

By “covenant” is also signified conjunction in David:

I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to David My servant (Psalms 89:3).

[10] That the compact of a covenant on the part of the Lord is mercy and election, is evident in David:

All the ways of Jehovah are mercy and truth to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies (Psalms 25:10).

The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My mercy shall not depart, and the covenant of My peace shall not be removed, saith thy compassionate One, Jehovah (Isaiah 54:10).

Jehovah thy God, He is God, the faithful God, keeping covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and that keep His commandments, to the thousandth generation (Deuteronomy 7:9, 12).

If ye will keep My covenant, ye shall be unto Me for a peculiar treasure from all peoples (Exodus 19:5),

I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish My covenant with you (Leviticus 26:9);

“to have respect unto them” is of mercy; “to make them fruitful and multiply them” is to endow them with charity and faith; they who are endowed with these gifts are called the “elect;” so that these are words of election; and also the words “they shall be for a peculiar treasure.”

[11] Signs of a covenant existed also in the representative church, and were such as reminded of conjunction. Circumcision was such a sign (Genesis 17:11); for “circumcision” signified purification from filthy loves, on the removal of which, heavenly love is instilled, through which is conjunction. The Sabbath is also called “an eternal covenant” (Exodus 31:16). It is said also that “the show-bread should be to the sons of Israel for an eternal covenant” (Leviticus 24:8) and especially the “blood”, as is evident from Moses:

Moses took the book of the covenant, and read in the ears of the people, who said, All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do and hear; then Moses took the blood of the peace sacrifice, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which Jehovah hath made with you over all these words (Exodus 24:7-8),

By the blood of Thy covenant I will send forth the bound out of the pit wherein is no water (Zech. 9:11

Blood was a covenant, or the token of a covenant, because it signified conjunction through spiritual love, that is, through charity toward the neighbor; therefore when the Lord instituted the Holy Supper, He called His blood the “blood of the new covenant” (Matthew 26:28). From all this it can now be seen what is meant by a “covenant” in the Word in the internal sense.