1189. The symbolism of Calah as falsity rising out of our cravings cannot be demonstrated by verses from the prophets, yet it can be shown from the histories in the Word. The second book of Kings 17:6 and 18:11 says that the king of Assyria carried the descendants of Israel off into Assyria and settled them in Calah, 1 and in Habor on the river Gozan, and in the cities of Media. The historical details here involve no other meaning. All the histories of the Word are symbolic and representative, as noted [§§64, 66:2, 117:2, 755:4-5, 855, 1025:2, 1140, 1143, 1183]. So Israel here is the spiritual church corrupted, Assyria is rationalization, and Calah is falsity rising out of our cravings.
Footnotes:
1. Swedenborg here apparently takes the names of two cities as the same, although they differ slightly in spelling in the original Hebrew. The name of the city here in Genesis 10:12 is כָּלַח (kālaḥ), whereas the name of the city in 2 Kings 17:6 and 18:11 is חֲלַח (ḥălaḥ). [LHC]
