443. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. That this signifies obedience, and that all those who are in obedience are in heaven, and come into heaven, is plain from the representation, and thence the signification, of the tribe of Simeon, which denotes obedience, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of twelve thousand sealed, which denotes all those who are in heaven and come into heaven; concerning this see above. The tribes of Simeon, Levi, and Issachar, now mentioned, which form the third class of the sealed, signify those who are in the first or ultimate heaven, and come into it. For, as was stated above, all those who are in heaven, and come into heaven, are treated of here; and because there are three heavens, the third or inmost, the second or middle, and the first or ultimate, therefore those are treated of who are in the third, the second, and the first heaven respectively. Those who are in the third or inmost heaven, and come into that heaven, are signified by Judah, Reuben, and Gad, who, therefore, form the first class of those that are sealed; those who are in the second or middle heaven, and come into that heaven, are signified by Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh; these, therefore, form the second class of the sealed; but those who are in the first or ultimate heaven, and come into that heaven, are signified by Simeon, Levi, and Issachar; these, therefore, form the third class of the sealed.

[2] All those pertain to the first or ultimate heaven who obey the truths and goods which are taught in the Word, or in the doctrine of the church in which they were born, or by their master or teacher, from whom they have heard that this or that is true and good, and must be done. The greater part of these are not in truths themselves, but in falsities from ignorance; these falsities are nevertheless accepted by the Lord as truths, because they have for their end the good of life, by means of which the evils that are accustomed to adhere to falsities are removed. Concerning those falsities, and those who are in them, see the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 21). These, therefore, are in the ultimate or first heaven. But those who are in the second or middle heaven, are all in the spiritual affection of knowing and understanding truth and good, and in the affection of doing it; those, however, who are in the third or inmost heaven, are all in love. But we have treated of both of these above.

[3] Simeon and his tribe signify those who are in obedience, because Simeon, the father of the tribe, was so named from "hearing," and to hear signifies to obey, as is evident from these words of Leah his mother, when she bare him:

And Leah "conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because Jehovah hath heard that I am hated, he hath therefore given me this [son] also, and she called his name Simeon" (Genesis 29:33).

These words may be seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia 3867-3872), and also that to hear signifies to obey (n. 2542, 3869, 4653-4660, 5017, 5471, 5475, 7216, 8361, 8990, 9311, 9397, 9926, 10061); and above (n. 14, 108, 249). Because Simeon signifies obedience, he also signifies faith, for faith becomes faith in man when he obeys and does its precepts. Before this takes place, the knowledge of those things which he has received from the Word, from the doctrine of the church, and from preaching resembles faith, but it is not faith until he does these things; previous to this it is only of the thought from the memory, in which there is nothing of the will, consequently nothing of the man, for the will is the man himself. Therefore, when a man carries it out or obeys it, then it enters the will, thus the man himself, and becomes faith.

[4] This faith, which is obedience, is also signified by Peter, when he is called Simon, and the faith which is the affection for truth, is signified by Peter when called Simon son of Jonah (as in Matthew 16:17-19, and following verses; Mark 1:16-18, 36; 14:37, 38; Luke 5:3-11; 7:40-43; 22:31-33, and following verses; 24:34; John 1:40-42; 21:15-21).

Because Simeon in Hebrew signifies hearing, and hearkening, and therefore obedience, as stated above, and the son of Jonah truth from good, but Peter, truth itself, he is therefore called by the Lord, sometimes Peter, sometimes Simon Peter, and sometimes Simon son of Jonah. That such things are signified by those names, any one may see from the fact, that he was called by the Lord at one time Peter, at another Simon, at another, son of Jonah. This was not done without a cause and meaning. What was said to him at the time proves this; as, when he confessed that the Lord was the Son of God, and, therefore, the keys of the kingdom of heaven were given to him, he is called Simon son of Jonah (Matthew 16:17, and following verses). He is called a rock [petra], as the Lord Himself is frequently called in the prophets. He was similarly called Simon son of Jonah, when the Lord said unto him, "Lovest thou me," and he answered, "I love thee;" but soon after, when he turned himself from the Lord, and was indignant because John who signifies the good of charity followed Jesus, he was called Peter (John 21:15-21); by Peter is then signified truth apart from good, or faith separated from charity.

[5] From these considerations it is evident, that Simon, when Peter is so named, has a similar signification to Simeon the son of Jacob, that is, obedience, the faith of charity, the affection for truth, and, in general, truth from good. For Simon in Hebrew signifies hearing, hearkening, and obedience, and Jonah in the same tongue signifies a dove, which, in the spiritual sense, signifies the good of charity and the son of Jonah, the truth of that good, or the faith of charity. But "rock" [petra], from which he is named Peter, signifies truth and faith, and in the opposite sense, falsity and the want of faith. See above (n. 411).

[6] That Simeon the son of Jacob, and the tribe named from him, signify obedience, and truth in the will, and thence faith, is also evident from the opposite sense, in which he signifies disobedience, and falsity in the will, and thence faith separated from the will, which is not faith; for most things in the Word have also an opposite sense, in which they signify contrary things. It is in this sense that Simeon is mentioned by his father Israel in the prophecy concerning his sons, in these words,

"Simeon and Levi are brethren; weapons of violence are their swords; into their secret let not my soul come, in their congregation let not my glory be united; because in their anger they slew a man (vir), and in their good pleasure they unstrung an ox; ¹ Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was hard; I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel" (Genesis 49:5-7).

Simeon and Levi are brethren, signifies faith separated from charity; weapons of violence are their swords, signifies that doctrinals serve to destroy the works of charity, and therefore charity itself. Into their secret let not my soul come, signifies that spiritual good does not desire to know the evils of their will. In their congregation let not my glory be united, signifies that neither does spiritual truth desire to know the falsities of their thoughts. For in their anger they slew a man, signifies that they have altogether averted themselves from truths, and in their aversion have extinguished faith. And in their good pleasure they unstrung an ox, signifies that from their depraved will they have utterly weakened external good which is of charity. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, signifies grievous turning away from good, and consequent damnation. And their wrath, for it was hard, signifies turning away from truth thence. I will divide them in Jacob, signifies that that faith must be extirpated from the external church. And scatter them in Israel, signifies from the internal church. But these things are more fully explained in the Arcana Coelestia 6351-6361).

[7] The first three sons, namely, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, were rejected and cursed by their father Israel, because in that prophecy the establishment of the church is treated of, and the church cannot be established by faith separated from charity, but by truth and good, which are from the Lord. For the church had fallen, even at that time, into the error, that merely to know the Word, and acknowledge its holiness, was the essential of the church, and not life or charity; and that the God of heaven and earth was some other than the Lord; therefore in that prophecy the first three sons, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, were rejected, because Reuben signifies faith alone, Simeon, faith without charity, and Levi, the absence of the good of charity, consequently, by those three in a series, is signified the non-existence of the church. For when faith alone is regarded as the essential of salvation, then charity is at once rejected and looked upon as of no value or importance in the work of salvation. And because those three signified those three things, therefore Israel their father, who signifies the church, rejected them. These three also destroyed the representative of a church, Reuben, by lying with Bilhah, the handmaid and concubine of his father (Genesis 35:22); and Simeon and Levi, by their slaying Hamor, his son Shechem, and the whole city, which was the nation descended from Hamor, for the sole reason that he loved their sister Dinah (Genesis 34:1 to end). This deed, in the spiritual sense, signifies that those two sons of Jacob, that is to say, that attribute of the church which was represented by them, extinguished the truth and good of the Ancient Church, which church still remained with the nation of Hamor; for that deed signifies in the spiritual sense that faith separated from charity extinguishes all the truth and good of the church. This, therefore, is the meaning of the words of Israel, "Into their secret let not my soul come, in their congregation let not my glory be united; for in their anger they slew a man (vir), and in their good pleasure they unstrung an ox." For man (vir) in the Word, signifies truth and intelligence, and ox moral and natural good. These things are more fully explained in the Arcana Coelestia 4426-4522).

[8] Hence also Simeon is passed over in the blessing of Moses (Deuteronomy 33), and instead of him, Ephraim and Manasseh are mentioned, who signify the truth and good of the church. But although Simeon and Levi were such, yet they elsewhere signify the faith of charity, and charity; Simeon, the faith of charity, and Levi, charity. In fact, the tribe of Levi was appointed to the priesthood. For the character of the person who represents is of no importance, provided he be in external worship according to the laws and statutes, representation looking not to the person, but to the thing and nothing more is required in the person than the external in worship; concerning this see Arcana Coelestia 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3670, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4309, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806, 9229). The tribe of Simeon, therefore, in this passage of the Apocalypse, and also elsewhere in the Word, signifies obedience, the faith of charity, the affection for truth, and, in general, truth from good, as stated above. That Simeon and his tribe, when mentioned in a good sense, signify in the highest sense, providence; in the internal sense, faith in the will; in the interior sense, obedience; and in the external sense, hearing, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 3869).

Notas a pie de página:

8146. 'And he harnessed his chariot' means doctrine championing falsity that belongs to separated faith in general. This is clear from the meaning of 'chariot' as doctrine, dealt with in 2760, 5321, 5945, in this case doctrine championing falsity that belongs to separated faith, since the chariot is Pharaoh's and 'Pharaoh' represents the falsities that belong to separated faith. For those who subscribe to faith separated from charity and at the same time lead a life of evil are inevitably steeped in falsities, 8094.

[2] The descriptions that follow on from here refer to the gathering together of all the falsities arising from evil that existed with people who subscribed to faith separated from charity and led a life of evil. Descriptions prior to this have dealt with the vastation of the truths of faith that exist with those people, and with the eventual reduction of those people to a condition which is such that they are steeped in utter falsities arising from evil, and so are lost in damnation. The present chapter now deals with their being cast down into hell, for being cast down into hell follows damnation. What happens in this state - a state in which people are cast down into hell - is as follows: When they are going to be cast down all the falsities that exist with them are first gathered together (which is accomplished by the opening up of all the hells with which they have had contact) and then are poured into them. As a result those people have around them dense masses of falsities arising from evil, which appear as waters to those looking on from outside, 8137, 8138; they are vapours emanating from their life. When they are engulfed by those dense masses they are in hell. When the falsities arising from evil are gathered into one and poured into them the purpose is that those people may become surrounded by the kinds of things that have come to be part of their life, and after that may be confined within them. The type of evil, together with the falsity arising from it, then mark them and their hell off from other hells.

[3] Because of the subject here - the gathering together of all the falsities arising from evil that existed with those people - references are made so many times in this chapter to Pharaoh's chariot, his horses, horsemen, army, and people; for these mean all the powers of falsity that reside with those people. Such references are,

He harnessed his chariot, and took his people with him. Verse 6.

He took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt. Verse 7.

And the Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's chariot-horses, and his horsemen, and his army. Verse 9.

I will be glorified in Pharaoh, and in all his army, in his chariots, and in his horsemen. Verse 17, and similarly verse 18.

And the Egyptians pursued, and came after them, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Verse 23.

Jehovah took off the wheels of their chariots. Verse 25.

Let the waters return onto the Egyptians, onto their chariots, and onto their horsemen. Verse 26.

The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh's army. Verse 28.

These references to them occur so many times because falsities arising from evil - their being gathered together and poured into those people - are the subject. The things referred to so many times mean all the powers of falsity arising from evil. 'Pharaoh' and 'the Egyptians' are the people themselves who are steeped in falsities arising from evil; 'the chariots' are doctrinal teachings that uphold falsity; 'the horses' are false factual knowledge belonging to a perverted understanding; 'the horsemen' are reasonings resting on that knowledge; and 'the army' and 'the people' are the falsities themselves.