1120. For in her heart she saith, I sit a queen, signifies pride and boasting that heaven and the church are under their dominion. This is evident from the signification of "to say in their heart," as being boasting from pride, for "to say" signifies boasting, and "heart" signifies the love of self, thus also pride. Also from the signification of "sitting a queen," as being that heaven and the church are under their dominion. This is meant by "sitting a queen," because when the Lord is called "King" then "queen" means heaven and the church; just as when the Lord is called "Bridegroom and Husband" heaven and the church are meant by "bride and wife." It is said heaven, but the church in heaven is meant, that is, the church with the angels of heaven, which makes one with the church that is with men on earth; for there are governments in the heavens as on the earth, and consequently there are economical, civil, and ecclesiastical affairs as on the earth, though in a more perfect degree; therefore the church in the heavens is meant by "bride and wife," and when the Lord is referred to as King, then the church, which is the King's wife, is meant by "queen. "

[2] "Queen" means the church in David:

Kings' daughters are among thy precious ones, at thy right hand doth stand the queen in the best gold of Ophir (Psalms 45:9).

This Psalm treats of the Lord and His Kingdom; and "kings' daughters" among the precious ones signify the affections of truth, which are said to be "among the precious ones" because "precious" is predicated in the Word of truths; "the queen who stands at the right hand in gold of Ophir," signifies the church from the reception of good from the Lord; for all things with man that belong to his right side have reference to good from which is truth, and those belonging to the left side have reference to truth from good, and this is why it is said that "the queen stands at the right hand." Also "the gold of Ophir" signifies good. That things on the right side with man have reference to good, and those on the left side to truth, may be seen above n. 600; and that "gold" signifies the good of love n. 242. Moreover, woman is born to be affection which belongs to love, and man [vir] is born to be understanding; thus the woman is born to be good, for every good is of affection which belongs to love, and man [vir] is born to be truth, for every truth is of the understanding. Since, then, good belongs to the right side of man, and truth to his left, it follows that it is according to Divine order for the wife to be on the right.

(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord)

[3] It has been said that the Lord is the only Man, and that all are men according to their reception of Divine good and Divine truth from Him. The Lord is the only Man because He is life itself; while all others are recipients of life because they are men from Him. Between the Man who is life and the man who is a recipient of life there is a difference like that between the uncreate and the created, or between the infinite and the finite, a difference that admits of no ratio, for there is no possible ratio between the infinite and the finite, thus there is none between God as Man and any other as a man, whether angel or spirit or a man in the world.

[4] That the Lord is Life He Himself teaches in John:

The Word was with God, and the God was Word; in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word became flesh (John 1:1, 4, 14).

In the same:

As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26).

In the same:

As the living Father hath sent Me, and I also live through the Father (John 6:57).

In the same:

I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25).

In the same:

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).

As the Lord is life, so elsewhere in the Word He is called "the Bread of life," "the Light of life," and "the Tree of life," also "the Living God," and "He that liveth."

[5] As He is life, and every man is a recipient of life from Him, He also teaches that He gives life and makes alive, as in John:

As the Father makes alive, the Son also makes alive (John 5:21).

In the same:

I am the bread of God that cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world (John 6:33).

In the same:

Because I live ye shall live also (John 14:19).

Also in many passages, that He gives life to those who believe in Him. And for this reason God is called "the fountain of life" (Psalms 36:9), and elsewhere, "Creator," "Maker," "Former," also "Potter," and we "the clay, and the work of His hands." As God is life, it follows that in Him we live, move, and have our being.

8099. 'The Sea Suph' means the damnation which they first had to pass through. This is clear from the meaning of 'the Sea Suph' as the hell where those spirits are who are governed by faith separated from charity and lead a life of evil; and since 'the Sea Suph' means hell it also means damnation. The reason why they first had to pass through damnation is this: There were people belonging to the spiritual Church who were held back on the lower earth until the Lord's Coming, where they were molested by those governed by faith separated from charity. These have been the subject in the preceding chapters. When those people were delivered from that place they were not raised to heaven immediately. Before this they were led into a second state - a state of purification, which is a state of temptations. For truths and forms of the good of faith can be neither firmly accepted nor bonded together without temptations; and until these had been firmly accepted and bonded together those people could not be raised into heaven. These things were represented by the children of Israel, by their not being led straightaway into the land of Canaan but living first in the wilderness, where they remained for forty years, undergoing various temptations, which are described in the books of Moses.

[2] In regard to this matter, that they first passed through the Sea Suph, which means the hell of those who are governed by separated faith and lead an evil life, thus that they first passed through the middle of damnation, it should be recognized that this hell is situated deep down out in front beneath the adulterers' hells, stretching rather widely towards the left. It is separated from the adulterers' hells by waters like those of the sea on the right there, but higher up, is the place where those governed by the truth of faith but not by the good of faith are gathered - those meant by 'the Philistines', who are referred to just above in 8096. But the lower earth, the region where those who suffer molestation are, is beneath the soles of the feet, slightly out in front. Those who are delivered from molestation are not led towards the right since the ones meant by the Philistines are there. Instead they are led towards the left, through the midst of the hell that has been mentioned and they come out on the left, where there is a kind of wilderness. I have been allowed on two occasions to see that this is the way which they pass through when rescued from molestations. As they pass through they are protected by the Lord in such a way that nothing bad at all can touch them, let alone any damnation. For they are encompassed by a pillar of angels with whom the Lord is present.

[3] This is represented by the passage of the children of Israel through the Sea Suph. Such was also meant by the following in Isaiah,

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah. Were You not that which dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, which made the deep places of the sea a road, in order that the redeemed might pass through? Isaiah 51:9-10.

'The arm of Jehovah' is the Lord's Divine Human. 'The waters of the great deep' and 'the depths of the sea' are the hell in which those live who are governed by faith separated from charity and lead a life of evil. The waters like those of the sea beneath which they live are falsities; for in the next life falsities appear as thick, dark clouds, and also as deluges of water, 739, 4423, 7307. The redeemed who were to pass through them are those whom the Lord has delivered.

[4] In the same prophet,

Jehovah remembered the days of old, Moses, [and] His people, [saying,] Where is He who caused them to come up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put the spirit of His holiness in the midst of them? Isaiah 63:11.

In this prophetic utterance 'Moses' is used to mean the Lord, who is also 'the shepherd of the flock'. 'The people whom He caused to come up out of the sea' are those who were delivered from damnation. In Jeremiah,

At the noise of their fall the earth shook; [as for their] cry, the noise of it was heard in the Sea Suph. Jeremiah 49:21.

'The Sea Suph' stands for hell, for Edom and its damnation is the subject there. It says that the noise of it was heard coming out of the Sea Suph, when yet they were not the ones who were drowned in that sea but the Egyptians. From this it is evident that 'the Sea Suph' means hell and damnation 'Edom' there means those who are led by the evil of self-love to reject the truths taught by doctrine and to embrace falsities, 3322.

From all this one may now see what is meant in the representative internal sense by 'the sea Suph', and what is meant by the passage through it of the children of Israel and the drowning in it of the Egyptians, events described in the next chapter.