The Bible generally uses two different terms for large groups: “people” and “nations.” When it uses “nation,” it is talking about a group with the desire for good as its ultimate underlying motivation; when it uses the term “people” it is talking about a group whose deep motivation is to seek true ideas and concepts. As with all symbolism in the Bible, this can be also used in a negative sense, to describe groups with the lust for evil or those driven by false concepts. It can also be used in the abstract, with “nation” representing desires for good themselves and “people” representing true ideas themselves. In a way, these meanings make sense if we look at the two words themselves. “People” brings to mind a collection of individuals, and that is somewhat how it is with ideas -- you can have many of them that inter-relate, but also stand somewhat on their own, individually. “Nation” is a more unified term, reflecting the way that a desire for good tends to unify other feelings.

116. THE SUN IN HEAVEN

In heaven, neither the sun of the world nor anything from that sun is seen, because it is wholly natural. In fact, nature has its beginning from that sun and whatever is produced by means of it is called natural. But the spiritual, in which is heaven, is above nature and quite distinct from what is natural, nor is there communication between the two except by means of correspondences. What the distinction between them is may be understood from the things said before about degrees (38), and what the communication is from the things said in the preceding two sections about correspondences.