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ကမ္ဘာ ဦး 2

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1 ထိုသို့ ကောင်းကင်မြေကြီးနှင့်တကွ ခပ်သိမ်းသော တန်ဆာတို့သည် ပြီးစီးလျက်ရှိကြ၏။

2 သတ္တမနေ့ရက်ရောက်လျှင်၊ ဘုရားသခင်သည် ဖန်ဆင်းသောအမှုကို လက်စသတ်တော်မူခဲ့ပြီးသည် ဖြစ်၍၊ ဖန်ဆင်းသမျှသော အမူအရာတို့သည် ပြီးစီးပြီးမှ၊ ထိုသတ္တမနေ့၌ ငြိမ်ဝပ်စွာနေတော်မူ၏။

3 ထိုသတ္တမနေ့ကို ဘုရားသခင်သည် ကောင်းကြီးပေး၍ သန့်ရှင်းစေတော်မူ၏။ အကြောင်းမူကား၊ ဖန်ဆင်းပြုပြင်တော်မူသော ထိုအမူအရာအလုံးစုံတို့သည် ပြီးစီးသောကြောင့် ထိုနေ့ရက်၌ ငြိမ်ဝပ်စွာနေ တော်မူ၏။

4 ဤအကြောင်းအရာကား၊ ထာဝရအရှင်ဘုရားသခင်သည် ကောင်းကင်နှင့်မြေကြီးကို ဖန်ဆင်းတော်မူ သောနေ့၊ ဖန်ဆင်းရာကာလ၌ကောင်းကင်နှင့်မြေကြီး၏ မူလအတ္ထုပတ္တိပေတည်း။

5 မြေလယ်ယာပျိုးပင်မပေါက်မှီ၊ လယ်ယာ၌ စပါးပင်မကြီးပွားမှီ၊ အပင်ရှိသမျှတို့ကိုဖန်ဆင်းတော်မူ၏။ ထိုအခါ ထာဝရအရှင်ဘုရားသခင်သည် မြေပေါ်၌ မိုဃ်းကိုရွာစေတော်မမူသေး။ မြေ၌လုပ်သော လူလည်း မရှိသေးသည်ဖြစ်၍၊

6 မြေမှအခိုးအငွေ့ွက်သဖြင့် မြေတပြင်လုံးကို စိုစေလေ၏။

7 ထိုနောက်၊ ထာဝရအရှင်ဘုရားသခင်သည် မြေမှုန့်ဖြင့် လူကို ဖန်ဆင်း၍၊ သူ၏နှာခေါင်းထဲသို့ ဇိဝအသက်ကို မှုတ်တော်မူလျှင်၊ လူသည် အသက်ရှင်သော သတ္တဝါဖြစ်လေ၏။

8 ထာဝရအရှင် ဘုရားသခင်သည်လည်း အရှေ့မျက်နှာ၊ ဧဒင်အရပ်၌ဥယျာဉ်ကို စိုက်ပျိုးပြီးလျှင်၊ ဖန်ဆင်းတော်မူသောလူကို ထိုဥယျာဉ်၌ နေရာချတော်မူ၏။

9 ထိုမြေထဲက အဆင်းလှ၍၊ စားဘွယ်ကောင်းသော အပင်အမျိုးမျိုးကို ထာဝရအရှင်ဘုရားသခင် ပေါက်စေတော်မူ၏။ ထိုဥယျာဉ်အလယ်၌ အသက်ပင်လည်းရှိ၏။ ကောင်းမကောင်းကို သိကျွမ်းရာအပင် လည်းရှိ၏။

10 ထိုဥယျာဉ်ကို စိုစေလိုသောငှာ မြစ်မြစ်သည် ဧဒင်အရပ်ထဲကစီးထွက်သဖြင့်၊ ဥယျာဉ်ပြင်မှာ လေးဖြာကွဲ၍ မြစ်လေးသွယ်ဖြစ်လေ၏။

11 ပဌမမြစ်ကား ဖိရုန်အမည်ရှိ၏။ ထိုမြစ်သည် ရွှေရှိသော ဟာဝိလပြည်နား တရှောက်လုံးကို စီးသွား လေ၏။

12 ထိုပြည်မှဖြစ်သောရွှေသည် ကောင်းလှ၏။

13 ဗဓေလသစ်စေးနှင့် ရှဟံကျောက်လည်းရှိ၏။ ဒုတိယမြစ်ကား ဂိဟုန်အမည်ရှိ၏။ ထိုမြင်သည် ကုရှပြည် နား တရှောက်လုံးကို စီးသွားလေ၏။

14 တတိယမြစ်ကား ဟိဒကေလအမည်ရှိ၏။ ထိုမြစ်သည် အာရှုရိတိုင်း အရှေ့သို့ စီးသွားလေ၏။ စတုတ္ထမြစ်ကား ဥဖရတ်အမည်ရှိ၏။

15 ထိုအခါ ထာဝရအရှင်ဘုရားသခင်သည် လူကိုယူ၍ ဧဒင်ဥယျာဉ်ကို ပြုစုစောင့်ရှောက်စေခြင်းငှါ ထားတော်မူ၏။

16 ထာဝရအရှင်ဘုရားသခင်ကလည်း၊ ကောင်းမကောင်းကို သိကျွမ်းရာအပင်မှတပါး၊ ထိုဥယျာဉ်၌ ရှိသမျှသော အပင်တို့၏အသီးကို သင်သည် စားရသောအခွင့်ရှိ၏။

17 ထိုအပင်၏ အသီးကိုကား မစားရ။ စားသောနေ့တွင် ဧကန်အမှန်သေရမည်ဟု လူကို ပညက် ထားတော်မူ၏။

18 ထာဝရအရှင်ဘုရားသခင်ကလည်း၊ ယောက်ျားသည် တယောက်တည်းမနေကောင်း၊ သူနှင့်တော်သော အထောက်အမကို သူဘို့ငါလုပ်ဦးမည်ဟု အကြံရှိတော်မူ၏။

19 ထာဝရရှင်ဘုရားသခင်သည် မြေတိရစ္ဆာန်တို့နှင့်၊ မိုဃ်းကောင်းကင်ငှက်အပေါင်းတို့ကို မြေဖြင့်ဖန်ဆင်း တော်မူပြီးလျှင်၊ လူသည် အဘယ်သို့ခေါ်ဝေါ်သမုတ်မည်ကို သိခြင်းငှာ၊ လူရှိရာသို့ ဆောင်ခဲ့တော်မူ၏။ လူသည် လည်း အသက်ရှင်သော သတ္တဝါအပေါင်းတို့ကို ခေါ်ဝေါ် သမုတ်သည့်အတိုင်း၊ နာမည်အသီးအသီးရှိကြ၏။

20 ထိုသို့လူသည် သားယဉ်အပေါင်းတို့ကို၎င်း၊ မိုဃ်းကောင်းကင် ငှက်အပေါင်းတို့ကို၎င်း၊ မိုဃ်းကောင်း ကင်ငှက်အပေါင်းတို့ကို၎င်း၊ သားရဲအပေါင်းတို့ကို၎င်း၊ အမည်ပေး၍မှည့်လေ၏။ သို့သော်လည်း လူနှင့်တော် သော အထောက်အမ မပေါ်မရှိသေး၊

21 ထိုအခါ ထာဝရအရှင်ဘုရားသခင်သည် လူကို ကြီးသောအိပ်ခြင်းဖြင့် အိပ်စေတော်မူ၍၊ လူသည် အိပ်ပျော်စဉ်၊ နံရိုးတချောင်းကို ဘုရားသခင်ထုတ်ပြီးလျှင်၊ ထိုအရိုးအစားအသားကို စေ့စပ်စေတော်မူ၏။

22 ထာဝရအရှင်ဘုရားသခင်သည် လူထဲကထုတ်သော နံရိုးဖြင့် လူမိန်းမကိုဖန်ဆင်း၍လူရှိရာသို့ ဆောင်ခဲ့ တော်မူ၏။

23 လူကလည်း၊ ယခု ဤသူသည်ငါ့အရိုးထဲကအရိုး၊ ငါ့အသားထဲက အသားဖြစ်၏။ လူထဲက ထုတ်သော ကြောင့် သူ့ကိုလူမိန်းမဟု ခေါ်ဝေါ်အပ်သည်ဟု ဆိုလေ၏။

24 ထိုအကြောင်းကြောင့် ယောက်ျားသည် ကိုယ်မိဘကို စွန့်၍၊ ကိုယ့်ခင်ပွန်း၌မှီဝဲသဖြင့်၊ ထိုသူတို့သည် တသားတကိုယ်တည်း ဖြစ်ရလိမ့်မည်။

25 ထိုသူလင်မယားနှစ်ဦးတို့သည် အဝတ်မဝတ်ဘဲ နေ၍၊ ရှက်ကြောက်ခြင်းနှင့်ကင်းလွတ်ကြ၏။

   

Aus Swedenborgs Werken

 

Arcana Coelestia #9960

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9960. To cover the flesh of their nakedness. That this signifies lest the interior things of the love, which are filthy and infernal, should appear, is evident from the signification of “covering,” as being to cause not to appear; and from the signification of “the genitals” and “the loins,” which are here meant by “the flesh of nakedness,” as being the interior things of conjugial love; for when by “breeches” are signified the external things of this love (see n. 9959), by “the flesh” which they cover are signified its internal things. (That “the loins” signify conjugial love, see n. 3021, 4280, 4575; as also “the genitals,” n. 4462, 5050-5062; and “flesh,” the good of love, n. 3813, 7850, 9127.) And as most things in the Word have also an opposite sense, so likewise have “the loins,” “the genitals,” and “the flesh,” in which sense they signify the evil, filthy, and infernal things of this love (see n. 3813, 5059). That here they signify evil, filthy, and infernal things, is evident from the fact that it is said, “to cover the flesh of their nakedness.” “The flesh of nakedness” here denotes that which is opposite to the good of conjugial love, which is the delight of adultery, thus what is infernal (of which in what follows).

[2] With respect to “nakedness,” it derives its signification from the parts of the body which appear naked, just as garments derive their signification from the body which they clothe (n. 9827). Therefore “nakedness” has one signification when it has reference to the head, which is baldness; another when it has reference to the whole body; and another when it has reference to the loins and genitals. When “nakedness” has reference to the head, which is baldness, it signifies the loss of the intelligence of truth and the wisdom of good; when it has reference to the whole body, it signifies the loss of the truths of faith; but when it has reference to the loins and the genitals, it signifies the loss of the good of love.

[3] As regards the first point: That when “nakedness” has reference to the head, which is baldness, it signifies the loss of the intelligence of truth and the wisdom of good, is evident in Isaiah:

In that day shall the Lord shave by the king of Asshur the head and the hair of the feet, and shall consume the beard (Isaiah 7:20).

“To shave the head” denotes to deprive of the internal truths of the church; “to shave the hair of the feet,” and “to consume the beard,” denotes to deprive of its external truths; “by the king of Asshur” denotes by means of reasonings from falsities. It is plain to everyone that neither the head, nor the hair of the feet, nor the beard, was to be shaved by the king of Asshur, and yet that these expressions are significative. (That “the head” denotes the interior things of wisdom and intelligence, see n. 6292, 6436, 9166, 9656; that “the king of Asshur” denotes reasoning, n. 119, 1186; “hair,” the external truth of the church, n. 3301, 5247, 5569-5573; “the feet” also denote external or natural things, n. 2162, 3147, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952) That “the beard” denotes sensuous memory-knowledges, which are ultimate truths, is evident from those passages in the Word where “the beard” is mentioned.

[4] In Jeremiah:

On all the heads is baldness, every beard is cut off (Isaiah 15:2); where the meaning is the same. Again:

Baldness shall come upon Gaza; how long will thou cut thyself? (Jeremiah 47:5).

Shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all heads. They shall cast forth their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be for an abomination (Ezekiel 7:18-19).

“Baldness upon all heads” denotes the loss of the intelligence of truth and wisdom of good; and because this is signified it is also said “they shall cast forth their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be for an abomination;” for “silver” denotes the truth of intelligence, and “gold” the good of wisdom (n. 1551, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932). It is evident that baldness upon all heads is not meant, that they were not to cast forth their silver into the streets, and that gold was not to be an abomination.

[5] In Moses:

Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Shave not your heads, neither rip open your garments; lest ye die, and He be angry with the whole assembly (Leviticus 10:6).

The priests, the Levites, shall not shave the head, and shall not let down their hair (Ezekiel 44:20).

As Aaron and his sons represented the Lord as to Divine good and as to Divine truth (n. 9806, 9807), and as by a “shaven head,” and by “ripped garments,” was signified the loss of these, therefore it was forbidden to shave the head and to rip open their garments; and it is said, “lest ye die, and He be angry with the whole assembly,” by which is signified that thus would perish the representative of the Lord as to Divine good and as to Divine truth, thus the representative of the church.

[6] As mourning represented spiritual mourning, which is mourning on account of the loss of the truth and good of the church, therefore when mourning they made bald their heads; as we read in Jeremiah:

Men shall not lament for them, nor shall they make themselves bald for them (Jeremiah 16:6).

I will turn your feasts into mourning, and I will make baldness to go up upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for the only-begotten (Amos 8:10).

Put on baldness, and shave thee for the sons of thy delights; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they have gone away from thee (Micah 1:16).

“Sons of delights” denote Divine truths; their “going away” denotes the loss of these (that “sons” denote truths, see n. 9807).

[7] Secondly: That when “nakedness” has reference to the whole body, it signifies the loss of the truths of faith, is evident in John:

To the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and needy, and blind, and naked; I counsel thee to buy of Me gold purified in the fire, and white garments, that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest (Revelation 3:14, 17-18).

“The angel of the church” denotes the truth Divine there; “saying that it is rich” denotes that it is in the knowledges of truth and good; “wretched, needy, blind, and naked,” denotes that nevertheless it is devoid of truths implanted in the life, thus is devoid of good; “buying gold purified in the fire” denotes to procure for themselves good; “white garments” denote the genuine truths of faith from good. From this it is evident what is meant by “the shame of thy nakedness not being made manifest.”

[8] Again:

Behold I come as a thief, blessed is he that watcheth, and preserveth his garments, that he walk not naked, and they see his shame (Revelation 16:15); where the meaning is similar. Again:

They shall hate the harlot, and shall make her devastate and naked (Revelation 17:16).

“The harlot” denotes those who falsify truths Divine; “making her naked” plainly denotes depriving them of these truths, for it is said “devastate and naked,” and “to devastate” denotes to deprive of truths.

[9] By “nakedness” is also signified ignorance of truth, and by “being clothed,” information, in Isaiah:

When thou shalt see the naked, and shalt cover him, thy light shall break forth as the dawn (Isaiah 58:7-8).

The King shall say unto them on His right hand, I was naked, and ye clothed Me; and unto them on His left hand, I was naked, and ye clothed Me not (Matthew 25:34, 36, 41, 43).

“Naked” here denotes those who are not in truths, and yet long for truths, and also those who acknowledge that there is nothing of good and truth in them (n. 4956, 4958).

[10] Thirdly: That when “nakedness” has reference to the loins and genitals, it signifies the loss of the good of love, is evident in Isaiah:

O virgin, daughter of Babylon, take the millstone, and grind meal; uncover thy hair, make bare thy feet, uncover the thigh, pass through the streams; thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy reproach shall be seen (Isaiah 47:1-3).

The “daughter of Babylon” denotes the church, or a semblance of the church, where there is what is holy in externals, but what is profane in internals. That which is profane in internals is that they regard themselves and the world as their end, thus dominion and abundance of wealth; and holy things as means to this end. “Taking a millstone and grinding meal” denotes to string together doctrine from such things as will serve for means to promote the end (n. 7780); “uncovering the hair, making bare the feet, and uncovering the thigh” denotes to dishonor holy things, both external and internal, without shame and fear; thus “uncovering the nakedness” denotes to cause to appear the filthy and infernal things which are their ends.

[11] In Jeremiah:

Jerusalem hath sinned a sin, all that honored her despise her, because they see her nakedness. Her uncleanness was in her skirts (Lamentations 1:8-9).

“Jerusalem” denotes the church, here the church which is in falsities from evil; “seeing the nakedness” denotes filthy and infernal loves, “uncleanness in the skirts” denotes such things in the extremes (that “the skirts” denote the extremes, see n. 9917).

In Nahum:

I will uncover thy skirts upon thy faces; and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame (Nah. 3:5).

“Uncovering the skirts” denotes to take away the externals so that the interiors appear; “the nakedness which shall be shown to the nations, and the shame which shall be shown to the kingdoms,” denote infernal loves, which are the loves of self and of the world, which defile the interiors.

[12] In Ezekiel:

Thou camest to ornaments of ornaments; thy breasts were made firm, and thy hair grew; thou wast naked and bare. With all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and stripped, trampled upon in thy blood. Thy nakedness was uncovered through thy whoredoms over thy lovers (Ezekiel 16:7, 22, 36).

I will give thee into the hand of those whom thou hatest, that they may deal with thee from hatred, and they shall leave thee naked and stripped; and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be uncovered (Ezekiel 23:28-29).

Contend with your mother that she put away her whoredoms from her faces, and her adulteries from between her breasts; lest perchance I strip her naked, and set her according to the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and dispose of her like a land of drought, and slay her with thirst. I will return, and take My grain, My new wine, My wool, and My flax, which should have covered her nakedness. And I will uncover her baseness in the eyes of her lovers (Hosea 2:2-3, 9-10).

[13] In these passages the subject treated of is Jerusalem, which is also called “mother,” and by which is signified the church; its perversity is described by “whoredoms, adulteries,” and by “the uncovering of her nakedness,” which denote nothing else than filthy and infernal loves, such as are the loves of self and of the world when they are ends, from which all evils and the derivative falsities take their rise. Consequently falsifications of truth and adulterations of good are described in the Word by “whoredoms” and “adulteries,” and are also there called “whoredoms” and “adulteries” (n. 8904). From this it is evident what is meant by “nakedness,” and by “the uncovering of nakedness.” As the subject treated of is the truths of the church falsified, and the goods thereof adulterated, therefore it is said, “I will make her as a wilderness, and dispose of her like a land of drought, and will slay her with thirst;” “a wilderness” denotes that which is devoid of goods; “a land of drought,” that which is devoid of truths; and “thirst” denotes the loss of all things of faith.

[14] It is also said that He would “take away His grain, His new wine, His wool, and His flax, with which He had covered her nakedness,” because by “grain” is signified the interior good of the spiritual church, by “new wine” [mustum], the interior truth thereof, by “wool,” its exterior good, and by “flax,” its exterior truth. That flax, wool, new wine, and grain are not meant, can be seen by everyone who reads these things from a reason in some measure enlightened, who believes that in the Word there is no word devoid of value, and that there is nothing in it anywhere that is not holy, because it is Divine.

[15] In Jeremiah and elsewhere:

O daughter of Edom, the cup shall pass through unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt become naked (Lamentations 4:21).

Woe unto him that causeth his neighbor to drink, making him drunken, and looking on their nakednesses! Thou shalt be sated with shames for glory; drink thou also that thy foreskin may be uncovered (Habakkuk 2:15-16).

In thee they have shed blood, in thee hath he uncovered his father’s nakedness (Ezekiel 22:9-10).

No one can know what these words signify, unless he knows what is meant by a “cup,” by “drinking,” by “being drunken,” by “being made naked,” by “looking on nakednesses, and uncovering them,” and by “the foreskin.” That all these expressions are to be spiritually understood, is plain; spiritually, “drinking” denotes to be instructed in truths, and in the opposite sense in falsities, thus to imbibe them (n. 3069, 3168, 3772, 8562, 9412); from which it is evident what is meant by a “cup,” out of which men drink (n. 5120); “being drunken” denotes to be insane from this; and “being made naked” denotes to be made destitute of truths; “to uncover nakedness” denotes to reveal the evils of the loves of self and of the world, which are infernal; “to uncover a father’s nakedness” denotes to reveal those evils which are from inheritance and from the will; “to uncover the foreskin” denotes to defile celestial goods by these loves. (That “the foreskin” denotes this defilement, see n. 2056, 3412, 4462, 7045; consequently “circumcision” denotes purification from these loves, n. 2036, 2632.)

[16] From all this it can be seen what is signified by the “drunkenness” and consequent “uncovering of the nakedness” of Noah, as described in Genesis:

Noah drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered in the midst of his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and put it upon the shoulder, both of them, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness (Genesis 9:21-23).

Here is described the man of the Ancient Church, who is “Noah;” “the wine which he drank, and with which he was made drunken,” denotes the falsity with which that church in the beginning was imbued; his consequent lying “uncovered in the midst of his tent” signifies evils resulting from a deficiency of truth in worship; “the garment with which Shem and Japheth covered his nakedness,” denotes the truth of faith by means of which these evils were covered and amended; the implanting of the truth and good of faith in the intellectual part is described by their “laying the garment upon the shoulder, going backward, and turning the face backward,” for this is exactly the case with the truths and goods of faith with the man of the spiritual church; “Shem and Japheth” signify those of the spiritual church who have received the truths of faith in good, which is charity; but “Canaan” signifies those who have not received the truths of faith in good, that is, in charity.

[17] (That Noah represents the man of the Ancient Church in its beginning, and that they were of such a character, see n. 736, 773, 788, 1126; that Shem represents the man of the internal spiritual church, and Japheth the man of the external spiritual church, n. 1102, 1127, 1140, 1141, 1150; that Canaan represented those who are in faith separated from charity, or what is the same thing, in external worship separated from internal, thus specifically the Jewish nation, see n. 1093, 1140, 1141, 1167; that with the men of the spiritual church the truth and good of faith are implanted in the intellectual part, see n. 9596; moreover, that “the wine with which Noah was made drunken” signifies falsity, n. 6377; “the tent” in which he lay uncovered signifies the holiness of worship, n. 2145, 2152, 3312, 4128, 4391; “the garment” with which they covered their father’s nakedness signifies the truth of faith, n. 5954, 9212, 9216.) “The nakedness” itself signifies his evil will, which is covered by means of the truths of faith; and while it is being covered the truths look backward. That these arcana are involved in these historical things is plain from the internal sense. And that these arcana are arcana of the church, can be seen from the fact that Shem and Japheth were blessed, and with them all their posterity, merely because they covered their father’s nakedness; and that Canaan with all his posterity was cursed, merely because his father told this to his brothers.

[18] As with the Jewish and Israelitish nation the interiors were filthy, because of their being in the loves of self and of the world more than other nations; and because the genitals together with the loins signify conjugial love, and this love is the fundamental love of all celestial and spiritual loves, and thus comprehends them; therefore a warning was given lest the nakedness of these parts with Aaron and his sons should in any manner appear while they were in holy worship, which is the reason why it is said that they should “make them linen breeches to cover the flesh of their nakedness, from the loins even to the thighs;” and in another place, that they should “not go up by steps upon the altar, that their nakedness be not uncovered thereon” (Exodus 20:23). (That with the Jewish and Israelitish nation the interiors were filthy, and that these were closed while they were in worship, see the places cited in n. 9320e,,9380; that the genitals together with the loins signify conjugial love, n. 3021, 4280, 4462, 4575, 5050-5062; and that conjugial love is the fundamental love of all celestial and spiritual loves, and consequently that these loves also are meant by conjugial love, n. 686, 2734, 3021, 4280, 5054.) From all this it is now evident what “nakedness” signifies-especially the nakedness of the parts assigned to generation-when the interiors are filthy.

[19] But when the interiors are chaste, then “nakedness” signifies innocence, because it signifies conjugial love, for the reason that in its essence love truly conjugial is innocence. (That love truly conjugial belongs to innocence, see n. 2736; consequently that in this sense “nakedness” denotes innocence, n. 165, 8375; wherefore also the angels of the inmost heaven, who are called celestial angels, appear naked, n. 165, 2306, 2736.) As the Most Ancient Church, which is described in the first chapters of Genesis, and is meant in the internal sense by the “Man,” or “Adam,” and by his “wife,” was a celestial church, therefore it was said of them, that “they were both naked, and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25). But when that church had fallen, which was caused by their eating of the tree of knowledge, by which was signified reasoning from memory-knowledges about Divine things, then it is said that “they knew that they were naked,” and that “they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves girdles,” thus that they covered their nakednesses; and that the man also said, when Jehovah called unto him, that he “was afraid because he was naked;” and that “Jehovah then made for them tunics of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:6-11, 21).

[20] By “the fig leaves of which they made themselves girdles,” and also by “the tunics of skin,” are meant the truths and goods of the external man. The reason why their state after the fall is thus described, is that from being internal men they became external; their internal is signified by “the paradise,” for “the paradise” denotes the intelligence and wisdom of the internal man, and its being closed up is signified by their being cast out of the paradise. (That “a leaf” denotes natural truth, which is memory-knowledge, see n. 885; that a “fig-tree” denotes natural good, that is, the good of the external man, n. 217, 4231, 5113; and that a “tunic of skin” also denotes the truth and good of the external man, n. 294-296; that “skin” denotes what is external, n. 3540)

  
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Arcana Coelestia #5954

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5954. And to all of them he gave each changes of garments. That this signifies truths initiated in good, is evident from the signification of “garments” as being truths (of which below). Thus “changes of garments” are truths which are new; and truths become new when they are initiated in good, because they then receive life. For the subject treated of is the conjunction of the natural man with the spiritual, or of the external man with the internal. When the conjunction is being effected, then truths are changed and become new, for they receive life from the influx of good (as just above, n. 5951). (That to change the garments was representative of holy truths being put on, and that hence came changes of garments, see n. 4545.)

[2] That by “garments” in the Word are signified truths, is because truths clothe good almost as the vessels do the blood, and the fibers the [animal] spirit. That a “garment” is a significative of truth is because spirits and also angels appear clothed in garments, and each according to the truths appertaining to him. Those appear in white garments who are in the truths of faith through which is good, but those appear in bright shining garments who are in the truths of faith that are from good; for good shines through the truth, and gives the resplendence (see n. 5248).

[3] That spirits and angels appear in garments can also be seen from the Word, where it is mentioned that angels were seen, as in Matthew:

The appearance of the angel sitting at the Lord’s sepulcher was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow (Matthew 28:3).

In John:

Upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white garments (Revelation 4:4).

In the same:

He that sat upon the white horse was clothed in a garment dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. His armies which are in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean (Revelation 19:11, 13-14);

“garments white as snow,” and “fine white linen,” signify holy truths, for whiteness and shining white are predicated of truths (n. 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319), for the reason that they approach nearest to light, and the light which is from the Lord is Divine truth; and therefore when the Lord was transfigured, His garments appeared as the light, of which in Matthew:

When Jesus was transfigured His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became as the light (Matthew 17:2).

That “light” is Divine truth is known in the church, and that it is compared to a “garment” is evident in David:

Jehovah covereth Himself with light as with a garment (Psalms 104:2).

[4] That “garments” are truths is plain from many passages in the Word, as in Matthew:

When the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man not clad with a wedding garment; and he said to him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? wherefore he was cast out into the outer darkness (Matthew 22:11-13);

who are meant by “him not clad in a wedding-garment” may be seen at n. 2132.

In Isaiah:

Wake up! wake up! put on thy strength, O Zion; put on the garments of thine ornament, O Jerusalem, the city of holiness; because there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean (Isaiah 52:1);

“garments of ornament” denote truths from good.

[5] In Ezekiel:

I clothed thee with broidered work, and shod thee with badger (taxo), and I girded thee with fine linen, and covered thee with silk. Thy garments were of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, honey, and oil (Ezekiel 16:10, 13);

speaking of Jerusalem, by which is there meant the Ancient spiritual Church which was set up by the Lord after the Most Ancient celestial Church had expired. The truths with which this church was endowed are described by the “garments;” “broidered work” is memory-knowledge, which when genuine also appears in the other life like broidered work, and like lace, as also it has been given to see; “fine linen and silk” are truths from good; but in heaven, being in the light there, these are intensely bright and are transparent.

[6] In the same:

Fine linen in broidered work from Egypt was thy sail; blue and crimson from the isles of Elishah were thy covering (Ezekiel 27:7);

speaking of Tyre, by which are represented the knowledges of truth and good (n. 1201), which when genuine are “fine linen in broidered work from Egypt;” the derivative good, or good of truth, is the “blue and crimson.”

[7] In David:

The king’s daughter is all glorious; of inweavings of gold is her garment; in embroideries shall she be brought to the king (Psalms 45:13-14).

The “king’s daughter” denotes the affection of truth; “of inweavings of gold is her garment” denotes the truths wherein is good; “embroideries” denote the lowest truths.

In John:

Thou hast a few names in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white ones, because they are worthy. He that overcometh shall be clothed in white garments (Revelation 3:4-5);

“not to defile the garments” denotes not to befoul truths with falsities.

[8] In the same:

Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, that he walk not naked, and they see his shame (Revelation 16:15);

“garments” in like manner denote truths. It is the truths of faith from the Word which are properly signified by “garments.” He who has not acquired these from that source, or he who has not acquired truths or semblances of truths from his religiosity, as the Gentiles, and applied them to life, is not in good, howsoever he supposes himself to be. For as he has no truths from the Word, or from his religiosity, he suffers himself to be led by means of reasonings equally by evil spirits as by good spirits, and thus cannot be defended by the angels. This is meant by the exhortation “to watch and to keep his garments, that he walk not naked and they see his shame.”

[9] In Zechariah:

Joshua was in defiled garments; thus he stood before the angel, who said to those who stood before him, Remove the defiled garments from before him. And unto him he said, See I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and am clothing thee with changes of garments (Zech. 3:3-4);

“defiled garments” denote truths polluted by falsities which are from evil; wherefore when these garments are removed, and others are put on, it is said, “See, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee.” Anyone can know that iniquity does not pass away by a change of garments, and hence also anyone can conclude that a change of garments was representative, as was also the washing of garments, which was commanded when the people were being purified, as when they came near unto Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:14), and when they were being cleansed from things impure (Leviticus 11:25, 40; 14:8-9; Numbers 8:6-7; 19:21; 31:19-24).

[10] For cleansings from things impure are effected through the truths of faith, because these teach what good is, what charity, what the neighbor, what faith, that there is a Lord, that there is a heaven, that there is eternal life. Without truths which teach, it is not known what these things are, nor even that they are. Who from himself knows otherwise than that the good of the love of self and of the world is the only good appertaining to man; for both are the delight of his life? And who can know except from the truths of faith that there is another good which can be applied to man, namely, the good of love to God and the good of charity toward the neighbor, and that in these goods is heavenly life; and also that this good flows in through heaven from the Lord insofar as the man does not love himself more than others, and insofar as he does not love the world more than heaven? From all this it is evident that the purification which was represented by the washing of garments is effected through the truths of faith.

  
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