3322. Therefore he called his name Edom. That this signifies his quality therefrom as to good, to which were adjoined the doctrinal things of truth, is evident from the signification of “calling a name,” or of “calling by name,” as being the quality (see n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006); and from the representation of Edom. There is frequent mention in the Word of Esau, and also of Edom; and by “Esau” is there signified the good of the natural before the doctrinal things of truth have been thus conjoined with this good, and also the good of life from influx out of the rational; and by “Edom” is signified the good of the natural to which have been adjoined the doctrinal things of truth. But in the opposite sense, “Esau” signifies the evil of the love of self before falsities have been thus adjoined to this love; and “Edom” signifies the evil of this love when falsities have been adjoined to it. As has been frequently shown, most names in the Word have also an opposite sense, because the same things that in the churches have been good and true, in process of time through various adulterations degenerate into what is evil and false.

[2] That such things are signified by “Esau” and “Edom” may be seen from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in His apparel, marching in the multitude of His strength. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-press? I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the peoples there was no man with Me. I looked, but there was none to help, I was amazed that there was none to uphold, and Mine own arm brought salvation unto Me (Isaiah 63:1, 3, 5); where it is clearly evident that “Edom” is the Lord; and that it is the Lord as to the Divine good of the Divine natural is manifest, for the subject is the conjunction of good and truth in the Lord’s Human, and also the temptation combats by which He conjoined them. That “garments” here are the truths of the natural man, or truths relatively inferior, may be seen above (n. 2576); and that “red” is the good of the natural (n. 3300). That the Lord by His own power, through temptation combats, conjoined truths in the natural with good, is described by, “I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the peoples there was no man with Me. I looked but there was none to help, I was amazed that there was none to uphold, and Mine own arm brought salvation unto Me.” (That “arm” denotes power, see above, n. 878)

[3] In the book of Judges:

O Jehovah when Thou wentest forth out of Seir, when Thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, the clouds also dropped water; the mountains flowed down (Judg. 5:4-5);

to “march out of the field of Edom” signifies nearly the same as, in Isaiah, to “come out of Edom.” In like manner in Moses:

Jehovah came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them (Deuteronomy 33:2).

Again:

I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not nigh; there shall come up a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; and Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession of his enemies, while Israel doeth valiantly. And he shall have dominion over Jacob, and shall destroy the remnant from the city (Numbers 24:17-19);

treating of the coming of the Lord into the world, whose Human Essence is called a “star out of Jacob,” and a “scepter out of Israel.” “Edom” and “Seir,” which should be a “possession,” signify the Divine good of the Lord’s Divine natural; their being the “possession of his enemies” signifies that this should succeed in the place of those things which were before in the natural; dominion then over truths therein is meant by “having dominion over Jacob, and destroying the remnant from the city.” (That “Jacob” signifies the truth of the natural, see above, n. 3305; and that “city” signifies what is doctrinal, n. 402, 2268, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216.) Dominion is said to be had over these when they are subordinated and subjected to good; for before this they are called “enemies,” because they continually resist, as was shown above (n. 3321).

[4] In Amos:

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of eternity; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations that were called by My name (Amos 9:11-12).

The “tabernacle of David” denotes the church and worship of the Lord; the “remnant of Edom,” those who are in good within the church; the “nations that were called by His name,” those who are in good out of the church. (That “nations” are those who are in good, see above, n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849.) In David:

Upon Edom will I cast my shoe. Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will lead me unto Edom? Wilt not Thou, O God? (Psalms 60:8, 10); where “Edom” denotes the good of the natural, as is evident from the signification of “shoe,” as being the lowest natural (n. 1748).

[5] In Daniel:

At the time of the end shall the king of the south thrust at him; and the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind with a chariot, and shall overflow and pass through; and when he shall come into the beauteous land many shall be overthrown; but these shall be rescued out of his hand, Edom and Moab, and the firstfruits of the sons of Ammon (Daniel 11:40-41); where the last state of the church is treated of; the “king of the north” denotes falsities, or what is the same, those who are in falsities; “Edom,” those who are in simple good, which is such good as exists with those who constitute the Lord’s external church; in like manner “Moab” and the “sons of Ammon” (n. 2468); and because both, namely, “Edom” and “Moab,” signify those who are in good, therefore in many passages both are named together; but the difference is that “Edom” is the good of the natural to which are adjoined the doctrinal things of truth, while “Moab” is natural good such as exists with those in whom these have not been conjoined; the two appear alike in the external form, but not in the internal.

[6] From this it is now evident why it was said:

Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother; thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because thou wast a sojourner in his land (Deuteronomy 23:7);

as by an “Edomite” is signified the good of the natural, and by an “Egyptian,” the truths thereof which are those of memory-knowledge (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462), therefore both are mentioned in a good sense. This shows why Jehovah said to Moses that they should not contend ¹ with the sons of Esau, and there should not be given of their land to the sons of Jacob so much as for the sole of the foot to tread upon (Deuteronomy 2:4-6).

[7] But in the opposite sense by “Esau” and “Edom” are represented those who turn aside from good through the fact that they altogether despise truth, and are unwilling that anything of the truth of faith should be adjoined, which is chiefly owing to the love of self; and therefore in the opposite sense such persons are signified by “Esau” and “Edom;” as was also represented by the circumstance that the king of Edom went forth with a numerous people and a strong hand, and refused to permit Israel to pass through his border (Numbers 20:14-22). This evil of the love of self, which is of such a nature as not to admit the truths of faith, thus neither the doctrinal things of truth, is described in various passages of the Word by “Esau” and “Edom,” and at the same time the state of the church when it becomes of this quality; as in Jeremiah:

Against Edom. Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the intelligent? Is their wisdom become of an ill savor? Flee ye; they have turned themselves away, they have gone into the deep to dwell, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him. I will make Esau bare, I will reveal his hidden things, and he shall not be able to hide himself; his seed is laid waste, and his brethren, and his neighbors. Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in Me. Edom shall become a waste, everyone that passeth by it shall be amazed, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof (Jeremiah 49:7-8, 10-11, 17).

[8] In David:

They say, Let the name of Israel be no more in remembrance; for they consult together with one heart; against thee do they make a covenant, the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab, and the Hagarenes (Psalms 83:4-6).

In Obadiah:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih concerning Edom, Behold I have made thee small among the nations; thou art greatly despised. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, in the height of thy habitation; that saith in thine heart, Who shall bring me down to the earth? Though thou mount on high as the eagle, and though thou settest thy nest among the stars, I will bring thee down from thence. How are they of Esau searched out! their hidden things discovered! Shall I not in that day destroy the wise men out of Edom, and the intelligent from the mount of Esau? From the slaughter on account of the violence of thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble; and they shall enkindle them, and devour them; and there shall not be any residue to the house of Esau; and they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau (Obad. 1:1-10, 18-19).

In this passage “Esau” and “Edom” denote the evil of the natural man originating in the love of self, which despises and rejects all truth, whence comes its devastation.

[9] In Ezekiel:

Son of man, set thy face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and say unto it, Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, I am against thee, O Mount Seir, and I will stretch out Mine hand against thee, and I will make thee a waste and a devastation. Because thou hast had an enmity of eternity, and hast given over the sons of Israel to the hands of the sword, in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end. Because thou hast said, These two nations, and these two lands, shall be mine, and we will possess it, and Jehovah is there. And thou shalt know that I Jehovah have heard all thy blasphemies, which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel. Thou shalt be a waste, O Mount Seir and all Edom, all of it (Ezekiel 35:2-3, 5, 8-10 (Ezekiel 35:5)12, 15); where it is very evident that in the opposite sense “Edom” denotes those who despise, reject, and vilify spiritual goods and truths, which are the “mountains of Israel.”

[10] Again:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, If I have not spoken in the fire of My jealousy against the remains of the nations, and against all Edom, which have given My land unto themselves for a possession, with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul (Ezekiel 36:5); where the sense is the same; to “give the land unto themselves for a possession” denotes to vastate the church, that is, the good and truth of the church.

[11] In Malachi:

The word of Jehovah against Israel. I have loved you, saith Jehovah; yet ye say, Wherein hast Thou loved us? Is not Esau Jacob’s brother? Yet I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated, and I make his mountain a waste (Malachi 1:1-3); where “Esau” denotes the evil of the natural that does not admit spiritual truth which is “Israel” (n. 3305), and what is doctrinal of truth which is “Jacob” (n. 3305); and on this account he is vastated, which is being “hated” (that “hating” is nothing else, is manifest from what was adduced above from the Word concerning Esau and Edom in a good sense); but when truth does not suffer itself to be adjoined to good, then evil is on the other hand predicated of Jacob, as in Hosea:

To visit upon Jacob according to his ways; according to his works will He recompense him; in the womb he supplanted his brother (Hos. 12:2-3).

Fußnoten:

878. And he put forth his hand and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark. That this signifies his own power, and that he did what was good and thought what was true from himself, is evident from the signification of “hand” as being power, and thus here his own power from which he did these things. For to “put forth his hand and take the dove and bring her in to himself” is to apply and attribute to himself the truth meant by the “dove.” That by “hand” is signified power, also authority [potestas], and the derivative self-confidence, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in Isaiah:

I will visit upon the fruit of the greatness of heart of the king of Assyria, because he hath said, By the strength of my hand I have done it and by my wisdom, for I am intelligent (Isaiah 10:12-13),where “hand” manifestly denotes his own strength to which he attributed what he did, and this was the cause of the visitation upon him. Again:

Moab shall spread forth his hands in the midst of him, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim, and he shall lay low his pride together with the cataracts of his hands (Isaiah 25:11); where “hands” denote man’s own power, from regarding himself as above others, thus from pride.

[2] Again:

Their inhabitants were short of hand, they were dismayed and put to shame (Isaiah 37:27);

“short of hand” meaning of no power. Again:

Shall the clay say to the potter, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? (Isaiah 45:9).

Here “he hath no hands” means that he has no power.

In Ezekiel:

The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with stupefaction, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled (Ezekiel 7:27),

where “hands” denote power.

In Micah:

Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds; when the morning is light they practice it, because their hand is their god (Micah 2:1),

where “hand” denotes their own power in which they trust as their god.

In Zechariah:

Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock; the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened (Zechariah 11:17).

[3] Because “hands” signify powers, man’s evils and falsities are continually called in the Word “the works of his hands.” Evils are from the Own of man’s will, falsities are from the Own of his understanding. That this is the source of evils and falsities is evident enough from the nature of man’s Own, which is nothing but evil and falsity (as may be seen above, n. 39, 41, 141, 150, 154, 210, 215). As “hands” in general signify power, “hands” are many times in the Word attributed to Jehovah, or the Lord, and then by “hands” is understood in the internal sense Omnipotence, as in Isaiah:

Jehovah, Thy hand is lifted up (Isaiah 26:11),

denoting the Divine power. Again:

Jehovah stretched out His hand, all are consumed (Isaiah 31:3),

Concerning the work of My hands command ye Me; My hands have stretched out the heavens and all their army have I commanded (Isaiah 45:11-12),

denoting the Divine power. The regenerate are often called in the Word “the work of the hands of Jehovah.” In the same

Mine hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath measured the heavens with the palm (Isaiah 48:13), where “hand” and “right hand” denote omnipotence.

[4] Again:

Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? (Isaiah 1:2),

denoting the Divine power.

In Jeremiah:

Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and by Thy stretched out arm; and didst bring forth Thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched-out arm (Jeremiah 32:17, 21),

denoting the Divine power; “power” being named in the seventeenth verse [Genesis 8:17], and “hand” in the twenty-first. That Israel was brought out of Egypt with “a strong hand and with a “stretched-out arm” is often said.

In Ezekiel:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up Mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made My self known unto them in the land of Egypt; I lifted up Mine hand unto them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt (Ezekiel 20:5-6, 23).

In Moses: Israel saw the great hand which Jehovah executed upon the Egyptians (Exodus 14:31).

[5] That by “hand” is signified power is now plainly manifest from these passages. Indeed “hand” was so significant of power that it became also its representative, as is evident from the miracles that were done in Egypt, when Moses was commanded to stretch forth his rod, or hand, and so they were done; as in Exodus:

Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven, and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt (Exodus 9:22-23);

Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and there was a thick darkness (Exodus 10:21-22);

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Jehovah made the sea dry land; and Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned (Exodus 14:21, 27).

No one with mental capacity for right thinking can believe that there was any such power in the hand or rod of Moses, but because the lifting up and stretching forth of the hand signified the Divine power, it became a representative in the Jewish Church.

[6] It was similar when Joshua stretched out his javelin, as in Joshua:

And Jehovah said unto Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand; and Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city, and they entered into the city and took it for Joshua drew not back his hand, wherewith he stretched out the javelin, until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai (Joshua 8:18, 26).From this it is also evident how the case is with the representatives that were the externals of the Jewish Church; and also how it is with the Word: that the things in its external sense do not appear to be representative of the Lord and His kingdom, as here the stretching forth of the hand, and likewise all the other things, which bear no appearance of being representative while the mind is fixed only on the historic details of the letter. It is evident also how far the Jews had fallen away from a true understanding of the Word and of the rites of the church, while making all worship consist in externals only, even to the extent of attributing power to the rod of Moses and the javelin of Joshua, when yet there was no more power in them than in wood. But because the omnipotence of the Lord was signified, and this was understood in heaven when they stretched forth their hand or rod, the signs and miracles followed.

[7] So too it was when Moses on the top of the hill held up his hands, and Joshua prevailed; and when he let down his hands, and Joshua was overcome; and therefore they stayed up his hands (Exodus 17:9-13). Thus it was that hands were laid upon those who were being consecrated, as on the Levites by the people (Numbers 8:9-10, 12), and on Joshua by Moses, when he was substituted in his place (Numbers 27:18, 23), in order that power might so be given. Hence also come the rites still observed of inauguration and benediction by the laying on of hands. To what extent the hand signified and represented power, is evident from what is said in the Word concerning Uzzah and Jeroboam. Concerning Uzzah it is said that he put forth (his hand) to the ark of God, and took hold of it, and therefore he died (2 Samuel 6:6-7). The “ark” represented the Lord, thus all that is holy and celestial. Uzzah’s putting forth (his hand) to the ark, represented man’s own power, or what is his own; and as this is profane, the word “hand” is understood, but is not expressed in the original, lest it should be perceived by the angels that such a profane thing had touched what is holy.

[8] And because Uzzah put it forth, he died. Concerning Jeroboam it is said: And it came to pass, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him; and his hand which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him; and he said unto the man of God, Intreat now the faces of Jehovah thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again; and the man of God intreated the faces of Jehovah, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before (1 Kings 13:4-6).

Here in like manner by “putting forth the hand” is signified man’s own power, or his Own, which is profane, and that it wished to violate what is holy by putting forth the hand against the man of God; wherefore the hand was dried up; but as Jeroboam was an idolater and therefore could not commit profanation, his hand was restored. That the “hand” signifies and represents power, is evident from the representatives in the world of spirits, where a naked arm sometimes comes into view, in which there is strength enough to crush one’s bones and squeeze their inmost marrow to nothing, causing such terror as to melt the heart; and in fact this strength is actually in it.