3728. And poured oil upon the head of it. That this signifies holy good, is evident from the signification of “oil,” as being the celestial of love, or good (see n. 886, 3009); and from the signification of the “head,” as being that which is higher, or what is the same, that which is interior. That good is higher, or interior, and truth lower, or exterior, has been shown above in many places. From this it is evident what was signified by the ancient rite of pouring oil on the head of a pillar, namely, that truth should not be without good, but from good, thus that good should have the dominion as the head over the body; for truth without good is not truth, but is a sound void of life, and such that it is dissipated of itself. In the other life also it is dissipated with those who have excelled others in knowing truth or the doctrinal things of faith, and even the doctrinal things of love if they have not lived in good, and thus if they have not retained truth from good.

[2] Hence the church is not a church from truth separate from good, consequently not from faith separate from charity; but from truth which is from good, or from faith which is from charity. The like is signified also by what the Lord said to Jacob:

I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst a pillar, where thou vowedst a vow unto Me (Genesis 31:13);

and by what is said again:

Jacob set up a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink-offering thereon, and poured oil thereon (Genesis 35:14);

by “pouring out a drink-offering on a pillar” is signified the Divine good of faith; and by “pouring oil” upon it, the Divine good of love. Everyone can see that to pour oil upon a stone, without the signification of something celestial and spiritual, would be ridiculous and idolatrous.

886. That the “olive” signifies the good of charity, is evident from the signification in the Word not only of an “olive” but also of “oil.” It was with olive oil, together with spices, that the priests and kings were anointed, and it was with olive oil that the lamps were trimmed (see Exodus 30:24; 27:20). The reason olive oil was used for anointing and for lamps was that it represented all that is celestial, and therefore all the good of love and of charity; for the oil is the very essence of the tree, and is as it were its soul, just as the celestial, or the good of love and of charity, is the very essence or the very soul of faith; and hence oil has this representation. That “oil” signifies what is celestial, or the good of love and of charity, may be confirmed from many passages of the Word; but as it is the olive-tree, that is mentioned here, we will merely present some passages that confirm its signification. As in Jeremiah:

Jehovah called thy name a green olive-tree, fair with goodly fruit (Jeremiah 11:16),where the Most Ancient or Celestial Church is so called, which was the foundation church of the Jewish Church; and therefore all the representatives of the Jewish Church had regard to celestial things, and through these to the Lord.

[2] In Hosea:

His branches shall spread, and his honor shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as of Lebanon (Hosea 14:6),

which is said of the church that is to be planted, whose honor is the “olive-tree” that is, the good of love and of charity; the “smell as of Lebanon” being the affection of the truth of faith therefrom. “Lebanon” stands for its cedars, which signified spiritual things, or the truths of faith.

In Zechariah, speaking of the lampstand:

Two olive-trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof; these are the two sons of the pure oil that stand by the Lord of the whole earth (Zechariah 4:3, 11, 14).

Here the “two olive-trees” denote the celestial and the spiritual, thus love, which is of the celestial church, and charity, which is of the spiritual church. These are on the “right hand” and on the “left hand” of the Lord. The “lampstand” here signifies, as in the Jewish Church it represented, the Lord; its “lamps” signify celestial things from which are spiritual, as from a flame proceed rays of light, or light.

In David:

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine in the sides of thy house; thy sons like olive plants (Psalms 128:3); where “wife as a vine” denotes the spiritual church; “sons” the truths of faith, which are called “olive plants” because from the goods of charity.

In Isaiah:

Yet there shall be left therein gleanings, as the shaking of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the branch (Isaiah 17:6); where the subject treated of is the remains in man; “of an olive-tree” denoting celestial remains.

In Micah:

Thou shalt tread the olive, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine (Micah 6:15).

And in Moses:

Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt not drink of the wine; thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy border, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil (Deuteronomy 28:39-40),

where the subject is the abundance of doctrinal teachings about the goods and truths of faith, which by reason of their character, those people rejected. From these passages it is evident that a “leaf” signifies the truth of faith, and an “olive” the good of charity; and that like things are signified by the “olive-leaf” which the dove brought in her mouth; that is, that there now appeared in the man of the Ancient Church some little of the truth of faith from the good of charity.