9553. 'And its flowers' means factual knowledge of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'flowers' as factual knowledge of truth. Such knowledge is meant by 'flowers' because flowers are stages of growth which come before and in their own way lead on to fruit and seeds; for trees and young plants come into flower before they bear fruit, as is well known. The situation is similar with the intelligence and wisdom present in a person. Factual knowledge of truth comes first and in its own way leads on to the insights that constitute wisdom with the person; for that knowledge provides his rational mind with objects of thought and so the means to attain wisdom. This is why factual knowledge of truth is like the flowers, and goodness of life, which is the good of wisdom, is like the fruit. Since all realities in the spiritual world bear resemblance to such things as exist with a human being, for the reason that heaven resembles one complete human being and has a correspondence with every single aspect of the human being, therefore also all things in the natural world, according to their similarity to such things as exist with a human being, have a correspondence, a representation, and carry a spiritual meaning, 9496. From all this it now becomes clear why it is that factual knowledge of truth, and truths in general, are meant by 'flowers', and forms of good by 'the fruit' and also 'seeds'.

[2] The fact that factual knowledge of truth, and truths in general, are meant by 'flowers' is clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Their root will be like rottenness, and their flower [will rise] like dust, because they have rejected the law of Jehovah Zebaoth, and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 5:24.

In the same prophet,

Those who are to come Jacob will cause to take root. Israel will blossom and flower, so that the face of the earth (orbis) may be filled with produce. Isaiah 27:6.

In the same prophet,

Woe to the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the falling flower of glory ¹ and of his beauty! Isaiah 28:1.

'The drunkards' stands for those whose reasoning is based on falsities, 1072; 'Ephraim' stands for the Church's understanding, in this instance when it has been perverted, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267; and 'glory' stands for God's truth, 4809, 5922, 8267, 8427, 9429, from which it is evident that 'the flower' means factual knowledge through which truth comes forth. In the same prophet,

The grass withers, the flower falls; the people are grass. But the Word of our God remains forever. Isaiah 40:6-8.

In Nahum,

The flower of Lebanon languishes. Nahum 1:4.

Here also 'the flower' stands for factual knowledge serving as a means to the attainment of wisdom.

[3] In Daniel,

Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream. Behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; its height was great, its leaf beautiful, and its flower much. Under it the beast of the field had shade, and in its branches dwelt the birds of the air; and all flesh was fed [from it]. But the Holy One from heaven crying out said, Hew down the tree, cut off its branches, get rid of its leaves, scatter its blossom. Let the beast of the field flee [from] under it, and the birds from its branches. Daniel 4:10-14.

'The tree' and 'its height' means the increase in the semblance of religion which is meant by 'Babel', a kind of religion that is holy outwardly but unholy inwardly, 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1306-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326. 'Leaf' stands for factual knowledge of truth in general, 885, 'blossom' for factual knowledge of truth when it serves to lead to wisdom, but at this point when it serves to lead to stupidity since it says that they were to be scattered. 'The beast of the field' means those with affections for good, and in the contrary sense those with affections for evil, 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 776, 1823, 2179, 2180, 3218, 3519, 5198, 7523, 9090, 9280; but 'the birds of the air' are those with affections for truth, and in the contrary sense those with affections for falsity, 3219, 5149, 7441. This is why it says that the beast of the field dwelt under the shade of that tree, the birds of the air dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed [from it], and then that the beast of the field should flee [from] under it and the birds from its branches.

Fußnoten:

885. That 'a leaf' means truth is clear from various places in the Word, where man is compared to or actually called a tree. 'Fruit' in those contexts means the good that stems from charity, and 'leaf' the truth deriving from this, for these are indeed like fruit and leaves, as in Ezekiel,

Beside the river there is rising up upon its bank, on this side and on that, every tree for food, whose leaf does not fall, nor its fruit fail, but is reborn monthly, for its waters flow out from the Sanctuary, and its fruit will be for food, and its leaf for medicine. Ezekiel 47:11; Revelation 22:1.

Here 'tree' stands for the member of the Church who has the Lord's kingdom within him, 'fruit' stands for the good that stems from love and charity, 'leaf' for truths deriving from that good which serve to instruct the human race and to regenerate it. And because truths do this the leaf is said to be 'for medicine'. In the same prophet,

Will He not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit so that it withers? And all the plucked off (leaves) from its off-shoot will wither. Ezekiel 17:9.

The subject here is the vine, which is the Church, when it has been vastated, whose good, which is 'the fruit', and its truth, which is that 'plucked off from its off-shoot', thus wither away.

[2] In Jeremiah,

Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah. He will be like a tree planted beside the waters. His leaf will be green, and in the year of scarcity he will not be anxious. Nor will he cease to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8.

'Green leaf' stands for the truth of faith, and so for faith itself which derives from charity. The same applies in David, Psalms 1:3. In the same prophet,

There will be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and its leaf has fallen. Jeremiah 8:13.

'Grapes on the vine' stands for spiritual good, 'figs on the fig tree' for natural good, 'leaf' for truth, which has accordingly fallen. Likewise in Isaiah 34:4. Similar things were meant by 'the fig tree' that Jesus saw, which was made to wither away when He found nothing but leaves on it, Matthew 21:20; Mark 11:13-14. The Jewish Church in particular was what 'the fig tree' was used to mean on that occasion. With this Church no natural good existed any longer, only that preserved with them which was meant by 'a leaf', namely doctrine, or truth, concerning faith. A Church that has been vastated is one that knows truth but has no wish to understand it. They are like people who say they know the truth, or matters of faith, but who possess no good at all that stems from charity. They are merely 'fig leaves', and they wither away.