10217. As to those who are numbered of them. That this signifies a setting in order and disposing, is evident from the signification of “numbering,” when said of all things of the church, which are the truths and goods of faith and love, as being the setting in order and the disposing of them, consequently “those who were numbered” signify what has been set in order and disposed. “Numbering” has this signification because numbering involves survey, and that which is surveyed by the Lord is also set in order and disposed. Moreover, the word by which numbering is here expressed, in the original tongue means to survey, to estimate, to observe, and also to visit, to command, to preside, thus to set in order and dispose. That these significations belong to this word is because in the spiritual sense the one thing involves the other, and the spiritual sense is the interior sense of the words, which sense is often contained in the words of languages, especially of the oriental languages.

[2] That in the spiritual sense, in which sense the truths and goods of faith and love are treated of, “to number” denotes to set in order and dispose, is evident also from the passages in the Word where “numbering” is spoken of, and also “number,” as in the following, as in Isaiah:

The voice of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together; Jehovah Zebaoth numbers (setteth in order) the army of war (Isaiah 13:4).

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these; He that hath brought forth by number their army; He calleth them all by name; of the multitude of the powerful and of the mighty in strength, not a man is lacking (Isaiah 40:26).

Jehovah who numbers the army of the stars; He calleth all by names (Psalms 147:4).

That by “numbering” in these passages is signified to set in order and dispose, is plain, for it is said of Jehovah, that is, the Lord, who does not number any army, or stars, but sets in order and disposes those things which are signified by an “army” and by “stars,” which are the truths and goods of faith and love; for the subject treated of is not wars in the natural world, but wars in the spiritual world, which are wars or combats of truths from good against falsities from evil. (That “wars” in the spiritual sense denote such combats, see n. 1664, 2686, 8273, 8295; that an “army” denotes the truths and goods of the church and of heaven, n. 7988, 8019; and that “stars” denote the knowledges of truth and good, n. 2495, 2849, 4697.)

[3] When it is known what is signified by “numbering,” and by “the sons of Israel,” it can be seen why it was not allowable for David to number the people, and why after he numbered them, Gad the prophet was sent to him, who declared the penalty (2 Samuel 24:1-15); and why it is here said that “everyone should give an expiation of his soul, that there be no plague in them in numbering them.” For by “the sons of Israel” are signified the truths and goods of the church, and by “numbering” is signified to set in order and dispose; and because it is of the Lord alone to set in order and dispose the truths and goods of faith and of love with everyone in the church and in heaven, therefore when this is done by a man, as it was done by David through Joab, it then signifies the setting in order and disposing of such things by man, and not by the Lord, which is not to set in order and dispose, but to destroy. If the numbering of the sons of Israel had not involved such things, there would not have been any sin or guilt in numbering them.

[4] (That by “the sons of Israel” are signified spiritual truths and goods, which are the truths and goods of the church and of heaven, see n. 5414, 5801, 5803, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833, 5879, 5951, 7957, 8234, 8805; in like manner by the tribes into which the sons of Israel were divided, n. 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335, 6397) As by “the sons of Israel” and by the “tribes” such things are signified, and these are innumerable, therefore in the Word it is said of them that:

Their number should be as the sand of the sea, which shall not be measured, nor numbered (Hosea 1:10).

Who will number the dust of Jacob, and the number of Israel? (Numbers 23:10).

Jehovah said to Abraham, I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if one can number the dust of the earth, it shall be that thy seed will be numbered (Genesis 13:16; 16:10).

Look up toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them. So shall thy seed be (Genesis 15:5).

That by “the sons of Israel,” and by “the seed of Abraham,” was not meant their posterity; but spiritual truths and goods, which are innumerable, and also for the most part unutterable, can be seen from the fact that there was not a greater multitude of them than of other nations, which also Moses testifies:

Not because of your multitude above all peoples hath Jehovah desired you, that He should choose you, for indeed ye are fewer than all peoples (Deuteronomy 7:7).

[5] Moreover, by “numbering” is signified to set in order and dispose, in Jeremiah:

In the cities of Jerusalem and of Judah shall the flocks yet pass over according to the hands of him that numbers them (Jeremiah 33:13);

“flocks” also denote the goods and truths of the church (n. 6048, 8937, 9135); “according to the hands of him that numbers” denotes according to the disposing of the Lord.

In David:

Who knoweth the vehemence of Thine anger? For numbering our days, make known what is right, that we may put on a heart of wisdom (Psalms 90:12);

“to number days” denotes to set in order and dispose the states of life; and days are said to be “numbered” when they are set in order and disposed, thus when they are finished, as in Isaiah:

By the letting out of my days I shall go away unto the gates of hell; I have been numbered as to the residue of my years (Isaiah 38:10);

A writing appeared before King Belshazzar: Numbered, Weighed, and Divided (Daniel 5:25);

for when “to number” signifies to set in order and dispose, then what is “numbered” signifies what is finished, as when a line is drawn under numbers on completing the calculation.

[6] That by “numbering” is signified to set in order and dispose, is because by “number” is signified the quality of a thing and of a state, and the quality is determined by the adjoined number; hence “to number” denotes to qualify, and in spiritual things qualification is effected by a setting in order and a disposing by the Lord. This is signified by “number” in John:

He causeth that he give to all a mark upon their right hand or upon their foreheads, and that no one can buy or sell save he that hath the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath intelligence count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; namely, the number six hundred and sixty-six (Revelation 13:16-18).

[7] The subject treated of in this chapter is the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the earth; by the “beast out of the sea” is meant the truth of the church falsified by means of memory-knowledges which are from the world; and by the “beast out of the earth” is meant the truth of the church falsified by means of the literal sense of the Word applied to favor the evils of the loves of self and of the world; for the “earth” denotes the church as to good and truth (see the places cited in n. 9325; and the “sea” denotes memory-knowledge in general, n. 28, 2850, 2120). “To have his mark upon the hand and upon the forehead” denotes to acknowledge all things no matter what they may be; for the “forehead” signifies love (n. 9936); and a “name” signifies all the quality of that which is being treated of (n. 3006, 3421, 6674, 8274, 9310).

[8] “To count the number of the beast” denotes to explore and know these falsified truths of the church; “the number of a man” signifies the subject and the state of the church; “six hundred and sixty-six” signifies its quality as to all truths falsified from evil, and also the profanation of what is holy, and likewise the end. To know these things, and to explore them, is the part of a wise and intelligent man, and therefore it is said, “this is wisdom, let him that hath intelligence count its number;” for the number “six” signifies the same as the number “twelve,” because it is the half of it (n. 3960, 7973, 8148); and “twelve” signifies all the truths and goods of the church in the complex (n. 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913, 7973), hence also in the opposite sense it signifies all falsities and evils in the complex. The trebling of the number six also involves the end, and the end is when truth is completely profaned.

[9] From all this it is very evident that numbers in the Word involve things and states, and signify quality according to the numbers fixed upon, as also in the following words in John:

The angel measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel (Revelation 21:17);

by the number fixed upon in this passage are also signified all truths and goods in the complex, for “a hundred and forty-four” signifies the same as “twelve” (n. 7973), for it arises from twelve multiplied into itself; and therefore it is here said that its “measure is the measure of a man,” as above that this number is “the number of a man;” but as truths from good are here signified, it is added that this measure is also “the measure of an angel,” for “an angel” in the Word signifies truths from good, because he is a recipient of Divine truth from the Lord (see n. 8192).

2686. That a “bow” here denotes the doctrine of truth, is evident from its signification. Wherever wars are treated of in the Word, and wherever they are mentioned, no other wars are signified than spiritual ones (n. 1664). There were books also in the Ancient Word that were entitled “The Wars of Jehovah;” as is evident in Moses (Numbers 21:14-16); which, being written in the prophetic style, had an internal sense, and treated of the combats and temptations of the Lord, and also of those of the church, and of the men of the church. This is manifest from the fact that some things were taken from these books by Moses; and also from other books of that church called “The Books of the Prophetic Enunciators” (respecting whichsee Numbers 21:27-30), in which almost the same words are found as in Jeremiah (compare Numbers 21:28, and Jeremiah 48:45). From this it may also be concluded that the Ancient Church had writings both historic and prophetic that were Divine and inspired, and that in their internal sense treated of the Lord and His kingdom; and that these were the Word to them, as are to us those historic and prophetic books which in the sense of the letter treat of the Jews and Israelites, but in their internal sense of the Lord, and of the things which are His.

[2] As in the Word, and also in the books of the Ancient Church, “war” signified spiritual war, so all arms, such as sword, spear, buckler, shield, darts, bow, and arrows, signified special things belonging to war as understood in the spiritual sense. What the several kinds of arms specifically signify, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be told elsewhere. Here it will now be shown what a “bow” signifies, namely, the doctrine of truth; and this from the darts, arrows, or other missiles, which denote the doctrinal things from which and with which those in especial fight who are spiritual, and who were thence formerly called “shooters with the bow.”

[3] That a “bow” signifies the doctrine of truth is evident from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

Jehovah’s arrows are sharp, and all His bows are bent, the hoofs of His horses are counted as rock, and His wheels as the whirlwind (Isaiah 5:28).

Here the truths of doctrine are treated of; “arrows” are spiritual truths; “bows” are doctrine; the “horses’ hoofs” are natural truths; the “wheels” are their doctrine; and as these things have such a signification they are attributed to Jehovah, to whom they cannot be attributed except in a spiritual sense; for otherwise they would be empty words and unbecoming.

In Jeremiah:

The Lord hath bent His bow like an enemy, He hath stood with His right hand as an adversary, and hath slain all that were pleasant to the eye in the tent of the daughter of Zion, He hath poured out His fury like fire (Lam. 2:4).

Here “bow” denotes the doctrine of truth, which appears to those who are in falsities as an enemy and as hostile; no other bow can be predicated of the Lord.

In Habakkuk:

O Jehovah, Thou ridest upon Thy horses, Thy chariots of salvation, Thy bow will be made quite bare (Hab. 3:8-9).

Here also the “bow” is the doctrine of good and truth.

In Moses:

They grieved him, and shot at him, the archers hated him, his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob; from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel (Genesis 49:23-24); where Joseph is spoken of. His “bow” denotes the doctrine of good and truth.

[4] In John:

I saw and behold a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow, and there was given unto him a crown (Revelation 6:2).

The “white horse” denotes wisdom; “he that sat thereon,” the Word, as is said plainly in Revelation 19:13, where the white horse is again treated of; and as he that sat thereon was the Word, it is evident that the “bow” is the doctrine of truth.

In Isaiah:

Who hath raised up righteousness from the east, and called him to his footsteps? He hath given nations before him, and made him to rule over kings; he gave them as dust to his sword, as the driven stubble to his bow (Isaiah 41:2); where the Lord is treated of; the “sword” denotes truth; the “bow,” doctrine from Him. In the same:

I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan (Isaiah 66:19).

They that “draw the bow” denote those who teach doctrine. The signification of “Tarshish” may be seen above (n. 1156); that of “Lud” (n. 1195, 1231), that of “Tubal” (n. 1151), and that of “Javan” (1152-1153, 1155).

[5] In Jeremiah:

For the voice of the horseman and of him that shooteth the bow, the whole city fleeth; they have entered into clouds, and climbed up upon the rocks, the whole city is forsaken (Jeremiah 4:29).

The “horseman” denotes those who declare truth; the “bow,” the doctrine of truth, which they who are in falsities flee from or fear. In the same:

Set yourselves in array against Babel round about; all ye that bend the bow shoot at her, spare not with the arrow, for she hath sinned against Jehovah (Jeremiah 50:14, 29; 51:2-3); where “they that shoot, and bend the bow” denote those who declare and teach the doctrine of truth.

[6] In Zechariah:

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and He shall speak peace unto the nations (Zech. 9:10).

“Ephraim” denotes the understanding of truth in the church; the “bow,” doctrine.

In Samuel:

David lamented with this lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son, and he said it to teach the sons of Judah the bow (2 Samuel 1:17-18).

where the “bow” is not the subject, but the doctrinal things of faith.

In Ezekiel:

Said the Lord Jehovih, This is the day whereof I have spoken; and they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn up the weapons, the shield and the buckler, the bow and the arrows, and the hand staff and the spear, and they shall kindle fire in them seven years (Ezekiel 39:8-9).

The arms here named are all arms of spiritual war; the “bow with the arrows” denote doctrine and its truths. In the other life truths themselves, when separated from good and represented to the sight, appear like arrows.

[7] As a “bow” signifies the doctrine of truth, in the opposite sense it signifies the doctrine of falsity. The same things in the Word have usually an opposite sense, as has been said and shown in several places; thus in Jeremiah:

Behold a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be stirred up from the sides of the earth; they lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and shall not have compassion; their voice shall roar like the sea, they shall ride upon horses set in array as a man for battle, against thee, O daughter of Zion (Jeremiah 6:22-23); where “bow” denotes the doctrine of falsity. In the same:

Behold a people cometh from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the sides of the earth, they lay hold on bow and spear, they are cruel, and have no compassion (Jeremiah 50:41-42); where the meaning is similar. In the same:

They bend their tongue; their bow is a lie, and not for truth, they are grown strong in the land; for they have gone forth from evil to evil, and have not known Me (Jeremiah 9:3).

[8] That the “bow” is the doctrine of falsity is plainly manifest, for it is said, “they bend their tongue; their bow is a lie, and not for truth.” In the same:

Jehovah Zebaoth said, Behold I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of his might (Jeremiah 49:35).

In David:

Come, behold the works of Jehovah, who hath made desolations in the earth; He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth, He breaketh the bow, He cutteth the spear in sunder, He burneth the chariots in the fire (Psalms 46:9).

In Judah is God known, His name is great in Israel; in Salem also shall be His tabernacle, and His dwelling-place in Zion; there brake He the fiery shafts of the bow, the shield and the sword, and the war (Psalms 76:1-3).

In the same:

Lo the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrows upon the string, to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart (Psalms 11:2).

Here the “bow and arrows” plainly denote doctrinal things of falsity.