655. Where also our Lord was crucified, signifies by which, namely, by the evils and the falsities therefrom springing from infernal love, He was rejected and condemned. This is evident from this, that evils themselves and their falsities springing from infernal love are what reject and condemn the Lord. These evils and the falsities thence are signified by "Sodom and Egypt," therefore it is said of the city Jerusalem that it is thus "called spiritually," for "to be called spiritually Sodom and Egypt" signifies evil itself, and the falsity therefrom.

[2] The hells are divided into two kingdoms, over against the two kingdoms in the heavens; the kingdom over against the celestial kingdom is at the back, and those who are in it are called genii; this kingdom is what is meant in the Word by "devil;" but the kingdom that is over against the spiritual kingdom is in front, and those who are in it are called evil spirits; this kingdom is what is meant in the Word by "Satan." These hells, or these two kingdoms into which the hells are divided, are meant by "Sodom and Egypt." Whether it is said evils and the falsities therefrom, or these hells, it is the same, since from these all evils and all falsities therefrom ascend.

[3] That the Jews who were at Jerusalem crucified the Lord means that He was crucified by the evils and falsities therefrom which they loved; for all things recorded in the Word respecting the Lord's passion represented the perverted state of the church with that nation. For although they accounted the Word holy, yet by their traditions they perverted all things therein until there was no longer any Divine good or truth remaining with them, and when Divine good and Divine truth, which are in the Word, no longer remain, evils and falsities from infernal love succeed in their place, and these are what crucify the Lord. (That such things are signified by the Lord's passion may be seen above, n. 83, 195, 627. That the Lord is said "to be slain" signifies that he was rejected and denied, see above, n. 328; and that the Jews were such, see above, n. 122, 433, 619; and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n.248.)

[4] As it is here said "where our Lord was crucified," it shall be told what "crucifixion" (or hanging upon wood) signified with the Jews. They had two modes of capital punishment, crucifixion and stoning; and "crucifixion" signified a condemnation and curse because of the destruction of good in the church, and "stoning" signified a condemnation and curse because of the destruction of truth in the church. "Crucifixion" signified a condemnation and curse because of the destruction of good in the church, for the reason that "wood," upon which they were hung, signified good, and in the contrary sense evil, both pertaining to the will; and "stoning" signified a condemnation and curse because of the destruction of truth in the church, for the reason that "the stone," with which they were stoned, signified truth, and in the contrary sense falsity, both pertaining to the understanding; for all things instituted with the Israelitish and Jewish nation were representative, and thence significative. (That "wood" signifies good, and in the contrary sense evil, and that a "stone" signifies truth, and in the contrary sense falsity, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 643[1-4], 3720, 8354.) But as it has not been known heretofore why the Jews and Israelites had the punishment of the cross and the punishment of stoning, and it is important that it should be known, I will cite some confirmations from the Word to show that these two punishments were representative.

[5] That "hanging upon wood" or "crucifixion" was inflicted because of the destruction of good in the church, and that it thus represented the evil of infernal love, whence arises a condemnation and curse, can be seen from the following passages. In Moses:

If there be a stubborn and rebellious son, obeying not the voice of his father or mother, all the men of the city shall stone him with stones that he may die. And if there be in a man a crime and judgment of death, and he be put to death, thou shalt hang him upon wood; his carcass shall not remain overnight upon the wood, but burying thou shalt bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is a curse of God, and thou shalt not defile thy land (Deuteronomy 21:18, 20-23).

"Not obeying the voice of father or mother" signifies in the spiritual sense to live contrary to the precepts and truths of the church, therefore the penalty for it was stoning; "the men of the city who were to stone him" signify those who are in the doctrine of the church, "city" signifying doctrine. "If there be in a man a crime, a judgment of death, thou shalt hang him upon wood" signifies if one has done evil against the good of the Word and of the church; because this was a capital crime he was to be hung upon wood, for in the Word "wood" signifies good, and in the contrary sense evil; "his carcass shall not remain overnight upon the wood, but thou shalt bury him the same day," signifies lest there be a representative of eternal damnation; "thou shalt not defile thy land" signifies that this would be a cause of offense to the church.

[6] In Lamentations:

Our skins are become black like an oven because of the tempests of famine; they ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah; their princes were hanged up by the hand, the faces of the elders are not honored, the young men they have led away to grind, and the boys stumble under the wood (Lamentations 5:10-13).

"Zion" means the celestial church, which is in the good of love to the Lord, which church the Jewish nation represented; "the virgins in the cities of Judah" signify the affections of truth from the good of love; "their princes were hanged up by the hand" signifies that truths from good were destroyed by falsities from evil; "the faces of the elders that were not honored" signify the goods of wisdom; "the young men who were led away to grind" signify the truths from good, "to grind" signifying to acquire falsities and to confirm them from the Word; "the boys stumble under the wood" signifies newborn goods perishing through evils.

[7] A "baker" as also "bread" signifies the good of love, and a "butler" as also "wine," the truth of doctrine, therefore:

The baker was hanged on account of his crime against king Pharaoh (Genesis 40:19-22; 41:13).

This may be seen explained in the Arcana Coelestia 5139-5169). Because "Moab" means those who adulterate the goods of the church, and "Baal-peor" signifies the adulteration of good, it came to pass that:

All the chiefs of the people were hung up before the sun, because the people committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab and bowed themselves down to their gods, and joined themselves to Baal-peor (Numbers 25:1-4).

"To commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab" signifies to adulterate the goods of the church; and "to be hung up before the sun" signifies a condemnation and curse because of the destruction of the good of the church.

[8] Because "Ai" signifies the knowledges of good, and in the contrary sense the confirmations of evil:

The king of Ai was hanged on wood, and afterwards thrown down at the entrance of the gate of the city, and the city itself was burned (Joshua 8:26-29).

And because "the five kings of the Amorites" signified evils and falsities therefrom destroying the goods and truths of the church,

Those kings were hanged by Joshua, and afterwards cast into the cave of Makkedah (Joshua 10:26, 27);

"the cave of Makkedah" signifying direful falsity from evil.

[9] Again, "to be hung upon wood or to be crucified" signifies the punishment of evil that destroys the good of the church, in Matthew:

Jesus said, I send unto you prophets, wise men, and scribes; and some of them shall ye kill, crucify, and scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city (Matthew 23:34).

All things the Lord spoke He spoke from the Divine, but the Divine things from which he spoke fell into the ideas of natural thought and consequent expressions according to correspondences, like these here and elsewhere in the Gospels; and as all the words have a spiritual sense, so in that sense prophets, wise men, and scribes, are not here meant, but instead of them the truth and good of doctrine and of the Word; for spiritual thought and speech therefrom, like that of angels, is without the idea of person; so a "prophet" signifies the truth of doctrine, "wise men" the good of doctrine, and "scribes" the Word from which is doctrine; from this it follows that "to kill" has reference to the truth of the doctrine of the church, which is meant by a "prophet;" "to crucify" has reference to the good of doctrine, which is meant by "a wise man," and "to scourge" has reference to the Word, which is meant by a "scribe;" thus "to kill" signifies to extinguish, "to crucify" to destroy, and "to scourge" to pervert. That they will wander from one falsity of doctrine into another is signified by "persecuting them from city to city," "city" signifying doctrine. This is the spiritual sense of these words.

[10] In the same:

Jesus said to the disciples that He must suffer at Jerusalem, and that the Son of man shall be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they shall condemn Him, and deliver Him up to the Gentiles to be mocked, to be scourged, and to be crucified; and the third day He shall rise again (Matthew 20:18, 19; Mark 10:32-34).

The spiritual sense of these words is that Divine truth, in the church where mere falsities of doctrine and evils of life reign, shall be blasphemed, its truth shall be perverted, and its good destroyed. "The Son of man" signifies Divine truth, which is the Word, and "Jerusalem" signifies the church where mere falsities and evils reign; "the chief priests and scribes" signify the adulterations of good and the falsifications of truth, both from infernal love; "to condemn Him and deliver Him to the Gentiles" signifies to assign Divine truth and Divine good to hell and to deliver them to the evils and falsities that are from hell, the "Gentiles" signifying the evils that are from hell and that destroy the goods of the church; "to be mocked, to be scourged, and to be crucified," signifies to blaspheme, falsify and pervert the truth, and to adulterate and destroy the good of the church and of the Word (as above); "and the third day He shall rise again" signifies the complete glorification of the Lord's Human.

[11] From this it can be seen what is signified in the spiritual sense by the Lord's crucifixion, also what is signified by the various mockings then connected with it, as that "they put a crown of thorns on His head," that "they smote Him with a reed," and also that "they spat in His face," with many other things related in the Gospels, this signifying that the Jewish nation treated Divine truth and good itself, which was the Lord, in a like heinous manner; for the Lord suffered the heinous state of that church to be represented in Himself; and this was also signified by:

His bearing their iniquities (Isaiah 53:11).

For it was a common thing for a prophet to take upon himself a representation of the heinous things of the church; thus the prophet Isaiah was commanded to go naked and barefoot three years, to represent the church as destitute of good and truth (Isaiah 20:3, 4); the prophet Ezekiel, bound in cords, laid siege to a tile on which Jerusalem was depicted, and ate a cake of barley made with the dung of an ox, to represent that the truth and good of the church was thus besieged by falsities and polluted by evils (Ezekiel 4:1-13); the prophet Hosea was commanded to take a harlot to himself for a woman, and children of whoredoms, to represent what the quality of the church was at that time (Hosea 1:1-11); with other like things. That this was "bearing the iniquities of the house of Israel" or the church is plainly declared in Ezekiel 4:5, 6. From this it can be seen that all things recorded concerning the passion of the Lord were representative of the state of the church at that time with the Jewish nation.

[12] Thus much respecting the punishment of "hanging upon wood or crucifixion." This is not the place to confirm from the Word that the other punishment, which was "stoning," signified a condemnation and curse because of the destroyed truth of the church, but it can be seen from the passages where "stoning" is mentioned (as in Exodus 21:28-33; Leviticus 24:10-17, 23; Numbers 15:32-37; Deuteronomy 13:10; 17:5-7; 22:20, 21, 24; Ezekiel 16:39-41; 23:45-47; Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34; 20:6; John 8:7; 10:31, 32; and elsewhere).

10393. Exodus 32

1. And the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain. And the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, Rise, make us gods to go before us; for this Moses, that man who caused us to come up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.

2. And Aaron said to them, Pull away the ear-jewels of gold which are on the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.

3. And all the people pulled away the ear-jewels of gold which were on their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

4. And he received [the gold] from their hands, and fashioned it with a chisel, and made out of it a calf of molded [metal]; and they said, These are your gods, O Israel, who caused you to come up out of the land of Egypt.

5. And Aaron saw it and built an altar in front of it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow there will be a feast to Jehovah ¹ .

6. And they rose up in the morning of the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

7. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, Go! go down; for your people have corrupted themselves, whom you caused to come up out of the land of Egypt.

8. They have suddenly departed from the way which I have commanded them; they have made for themselves a calf of molded [metal], and worshipped it, and sacrificed to it, and said, These are your gods, O Israel, who caused you to come up out of the land of Egypt.

9. And Jehovah said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.

10. And you, let Me alone, and let My anger grow hot against them, and let Me consume them; and let Me make you into a great nation.

11. And Moses entreated the face of ² Jehovah his God, and said, Why, O Jehovah, does Your anger grow hot against Your people, whom You have led out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand?

12. Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil He led them out, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from upon the face of the earth? Turn back from the heat of Your anger, and repent ³ of the evil against Your people.

13. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Yourself, and spoke to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens; and all this land which I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they will inherit it into the age ⁴ .

14. And Jehovah repented ³ of the evil which He said He would do to His people.

15. And Moses looked back and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand; the tablets were written on across them both, from the edge of one and from the edge of the other they were written on ⁵ .

16. And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

17. And Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted ⁶ , and he said to Moses, There is the noise of war in the camp.

18. And he said, It is not the noise of the cry in victory, and it is not the noise of the cry in defeat; the noise of a wretched cry I hear.

19. And it happened, as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dances; and Moses grew hot with anger, and threw the tablets out of his hand and broke them beneath the mountain.

20. And he took the calf which they had made, and burned it in the fire, and ground it up till it was powder, and sprinkled it on the face of the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.

21. And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?

22. And Aaron said, Do not let your anger grow hot, O my lord; you know the people, that they [are set] on evil.

23. And they said to me, Make us gods to go before us; for this Moses, that man who caused us to come up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.

24. And I said to them, Whoever has gold, pull it away; and they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.

25. And Moses saw that the people had become undisciplined; for Aaron had caused them to become so undisciplined that those rising up against them would annihilate them ⁷ .

26. And Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoever is for Jehovah, [come] to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves to him.

27. And he said to them, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, Put everyone his sword on his thigh; go to and fro ⁸ from gate to gate in the camp, and kill [every] man his brother, and [every] man his companion, and [every] man his neighbour.

28. And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people on that day up to three thousand men.

29. And Moses said, Fill your hand ⁹ today to Jehovah (for [every] man has been against his son and against his brother), so that He may bestow a blessing on you today.

30. And it happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, You have committed a great sin. And now I shall go up to Jehovah; perhaps I shall make expiation for your sin.

31. And Moses returned to Jehovah and said, I implore You; this people has committed a great sin, and they have made gods of gold for themselves.

32. And now, if You forgive their sin - and if not, blot me out, I beg You, from Your book which You have written.

33. And Jehovah said to Moses, The one who has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.

34. And now, go! lead the people to what I have spoken of to you. Behold, My angel will go before you; and on the day of My visitation I will visit their sin upon them ¹⁰ .

35. And Jehovah struck the people because they made the calf which Aaron made.

CONTENTS

The internal sense in this chapter shows that no Church could be established among the Israelite people because their whole interest lay in external things and not in anything internal; and to prevent them from profaning the holy things of heaven and the Church their interiors were completely closed off. The fact that this people's whole interest lay in external things and not in anything internal is meant by the golden calf which they worshipped instead of Jehovah. And the complete closing off of their interiors to prevent them from profaning the holy things of heaven and the Church is meant by Moses' breaking the tablets containing the law, by his grinding up the golden calf, sprinkling the powder on the water, and giving it to them to drink, and also by the killing in the camp by the sons of Levi of up to three thousand men.

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