4926. 'And she said, Why have you made a breach upon yourself?' means this truth's apparent separation from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'a breach' as an infringement upon and perversion of truth through its separation from good, dealt with below. Here 'making a breach' plainly means pulling away the twice-dyed thread from the hand and so separating good; for good is meant by 'twice-dyed', 4922. As regards this separation being an apparent one, this follows from the fact that it appeared to the midwife that a separation had taken place; but in reality it was not the twin with the twice-dyed thread who came out but his brother, who represents truth. On these matters, see what has been shown immediately above in 4925, where it is shown that good is in actual fact the firstborn but that truth appears to be such. This can be illustrated further still from the functions and members within the human body. The appearance is that the members and organs are first and that the functions these perform are subsequent; for the organs and members present themselves to the eye and are also known before their functions are seen or known. But in spite of this appearance the functions are prior to the members and organs since these derive their existence from the functions they serve and so receive their own forms to accord with these functions. Indeed the function itself gives them these forms and accommodates them to itself. If this were not so, all the individual parts of the human body could not possibly act together in so harmonious a way that they make a single whole. The same may be said about good and truth. The appearance is that truth is first, but in reality good is, in that good gives truths the forms they take and accommodates them to itself. Therefore regarded essentially truths are nothing else than goods which have been given form, that is, they are the forms good takes. In relation to good, truths are also like the internal organs and the fibres of the body in relation to the functions these perform. Also, regarded essentially good is nothing else than the function.

[2] The meaning of 'a breach' as an infringement upon truth and a perversion of it through its separation from good is also clear from other places in the Word, as in David,

Our storehouses are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks are thousands, and ten thousands in our streets, our oxen are laden; there is no breach. Psalms 144:13-14.

This refers to the Ancient Church as it was in its youth. 'The food' with which 'the storehouses are full' stands for spiritual food, that is, for truth and good. 'Flocks' and 'oxen' stand for forms of good, internal and external. 'There is no breach' stands for the fact that truth has not suffered any infringement upon it or perversion of it through separation from good.

[3] In Amos,

I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen down, and I will close up their breaches, and I will restore its destroyed places; and I will build it as in the days of old. Amos 9:11.

This refers to a Church where good is present. 'The tent of David that is fallen down' means the good of love and charity received from the Lord. For 'a tent' meaning that good, see 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 3312, 4128, 4391, 4599, and 'David' the Lord, 1888. 'Closing up the breaches' stands for correcting falsities which have entered in through the separation of truth from good. 'Building it as in the days of old' stands for as the state of the Church was in ancient times. In the Word that state at that time is called 'the days of eternity', 'the days of old', and also 'of generation upon generation'.

[4] In Isaiah,

He that is of you is building the waste places of old; raise up the foundations of generation upon generation, and may you be called the one repairing the breach, the one restoring paths to dwell in. Isaiah 58:12.

This refers to a Church where charity and life are the essential thing. 'Repairing the breach' again stands for correcting falsities which have crept in through the separation of good from truth, the origin of all falsity. 'Restoring paths to dwell in' stands for truths which are linked to good, for 'paths' or ways are truths, 627, 2333, and 'dwelling in' is used in reference to good, 2268, 2451, 2712, 3613.

[5] In the same prophet,

You saw that the breaches of the city of David were very many, and you collected the waters of the lower pool. Isaiah 22:9.

'The breaches of the city of David' stands for falsities of doctrine. 'The waters of the lower pool' stands for traditions by which they introduced blemishes into the truths contained in the Word, Matthew 15:1-6; Mark 7:1-13. In Ezekiel,

You have not gone up into the breaches and made a hedge for the house of Israel, so that you might stand in war on the day of Jehovah. Ezekiel 13:5.

In the same prophet,

I sought from among them a man making a hedge and standing in the breach before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. Ezekiel 22:30.

'Standing in the breach' stands for defending and guarding against the intrusion of falsities. In David,

Jehovah said He would destroy the people, unless Moses His chosen had stood in the breach before Him. Psalms 106:23.

'Standing in the breach' again means guarding against the intrusion of falsities; 'Moses' here meaning the Word - see Preface to Chapter 18 of Genesis, and 4859 (end).

[6] In Amos,

They will drag out the last of you with fish-hooks; you will go out through the breaches, every one from her own region; and you will cast down the palace. Amos 4:2-3.

'Going out through the breaches' stands for doing so through falsities resulting from reasonings. 'The palace' means the Word and consequently the truth of doctrine that is grounded in good. And because 'breaches' means falsity which arises through the separation of good from truth, the same is also meant in the representative sense by 'strengthening and repairing the breaches of the house of Jehovah', 2 Kings 12:5, 7-8, 12; 22:5. In the second Book of Samuel,

It grieved David that Jehovah had made a breach into Uzzah; therefore he called that place Perez Uzzah. 2 Samuel 6:8.

This refers to Uzzah, who died because he touched the ark. 'The ark' represented heaven, or in the highest sense the Lord, and therefore Divine Good. But 'Uzzah' represented that which ministers, and so represents truth since truth ministers to good. This separation is meant by 'a breach into Uzzah'.

2015. That 'kings will come out of you' means that all truth comes from Him is clear from the meaning of 'a king' as truth in both the historical and the prophetical sections of the Word, as stated in 1672 but not yet shown to be so. From the meaning of 'nations' as goods, and from the meaning of 'kings' as truths, the nature of the internal sense of the Word becomes clear, and also how remote it is from the sense of the letter. No one reading the Word, especially the historical section, believes anything other than that 'nations' referred to there means nations, or that 'kings' there means kings, and therefore that the nations mentioned there, or the kings, are the real subject of the very Word itself. But when the idea of nations and also of kings reaches angels it perishes altogether, and good and truth take their place instead. This is bound to seem strange and indeed a paradox, but it is nevertheless the truth. The matter may also become clear to anyone from the fact that if nations were meant in the Word by 'nations' and kings by 'kings', the Word of the Lord would hardly embody anything more than some historical or other piece of writing and so would be something of a worldly nature, when in fact everything in the Word is Divine and so is celestial and spiritual.

[2] Take merely the statement in the present verse about Abraham's being made fruitful, nations being made of him, and kings coming out of him. What else is this but something purely worldly and nothing at all heavenly? Indeed these assertions entail no more than the glory of this world, a glory which is absolutely nothing in heaven. But if this is the Word of the Lord then its glory must be that of heaven, not that of the world. This also is why the sense of the letter is completely erased and disappears when it passes into heaven, and is purified in such a way that nothing worldly at all is intermingled. For 'Abraham' is not used to mean Abraham but the Lord; nor is 'being fruitful' used to mean his descendants who would increase more and more but the endless growth of good belonging to the Lord's Human Essence. 'Nations' do not mean nations but goods, and 'kings' do not mean kings but truths. Nevertheless the narrative in the sense of the letter remains historically true, for Abraham was indeed spoken to in this way; and he was indeed made fruitful in this way, with nations as well as kings descending from him.

[3] That 'kings' means truths becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

The sons of the foreigner will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you. You will suck the milk of nations, and the breast of kings will you suck. Isaiah 60:10, 16.

What 'sucking the milk of nations and the breast of kings' means is not at all evident from the letter but from the internal sense, in which being endowed with goods and instructed in truths is meant. In Jeremiah,

There will enter through the gates of this city kings and princes seated on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses. Jeremiah 17:25; 22:4.

'Riding in chariots and on horses' is a prophecy meaning the abundance of things of the understanding, as becomes clear from very many places in the Prophets. Thus the prophecy that 'kings will enter through the gates of the city' means in the internal sense that they were to be endowed with truths of faith. This sense of the Word is the heavenly sense into which the worldly sense of the letter passes.

[4] In the same prophet,

Jehovah has spurned in His fierce indignation king and priest. The gates of Zion have sunk into the ground, He has destroyed and broken in pieces her bars. King and princes are among the nations; the law is no more. Lamentations 2:6, 9.

Here 'king' stands for the truth of faith, 'priest' for the good of charity, 'Zion' for the Church, which is destroyed and its bars broken in pieces. Consequently 'king and princes among the nations', that is, truth and what belongs to truth, will be so completely banished that 'the law is no more', that is, nothing of the doctrine of faith will exist any more. In Isaiah,

Before the boy knows to refuse evil and to choose good, the ground will be abandoned which you loathe in the presence of its two kings. Isaiah 7:16.

This refers to the Lord's Coming. 'The land that will be abandoned' stands for faith which at that time would not exist. 'The kings' are the truths of faith which would be loathed.

[5] In the same prophet,

I will lift up My hand to the nations and raise My ensign to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulder. Kings will be your foster fathers and their queens your wet-nurses. Isaiah 49:22-23.

'Nations' and 'daughters' stand for goods, 'peoples' and 'sons' for truths, as shown in Volume One. That 'nations' stands for goods, 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849, as does 'daughters', 489-491, while 'peoples' stands for truths, 1259, 1260, as does 'sons', 489, 491, 533, 1147. 'Kings' therefore stands for truths, in general by which they will be nourished, and 'queens' for goods by which they will be suckled. Whether you speak of goods and truths or of those who are governed by goods and truths it amounts to the same.

[6] In the same prophet,

He will spatter many nations, kings will shut their mouths because of him, ¹ for that which has [not] been told them they have seen, and that which they have not heard they have understood. Isaiah 52:15.

This refers to the Lord's Coming. 'Nations' stands for those who are stirred by an affection for goods, 'kings' those who are stirred by an affection for truths. In David,

Now, O kings, be intelligent; be instructed, O judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest He perhaps be angry and you perish in the way. Psalms 2:10-12.

'Kings' stands for people who are governed by truths, and who by virtue of truths are also in many places called 'king's sons'. 'The Son' here stands for the Lord, and he is called the Son here because he is Truth itself, and the source of all truth.

[7] In John,

They will sing a new song, You are worthy to take the Book and to open its seals. You have made us kings and priests to our God so that we shall reign on the earth. Revelation 5:9-10.

Here people who are governed by truths are called 'kings'. The Lord also calls them 'the sons of the kingdom' in Matthew,

He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one. Matthew 13:37-38.

In John,

The sixth angel poured out his bowl over the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up to prepare the way of the kings who were from the east. Revelation 16:12.

'Euphrates' clearly does not mean the Euphrates, nor does 'kings from the east' mean kings from that quarter. What 'Euphrates' does mean may be seen in 120, 1585, 1866, from which it is evident that 'the way of the kings who were from the cast' means truths of faith that derive from goods of love.

[8] In the same book,

The nations that are saved will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honour into it. Revelation 21:24.

Here 'nations' stands for people who are governed by goods, 'kings of the earth' for those who are governed by truths, which is also evident from the fact that the details here are prophetical, not historical. In the same book,

With the great harlot seated on many waters the kings of the earth have committed whoredom and have become drunk with the wine of her whoredom. Revelation 17:2.

And elsewhere in the same book,

Babylon has given all nations drink from the wine of the fury of her whoredom; and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her. Revelation 18:1, 3, 9.

Here similarly it is clear that 'the kings of the earth' does not mean kings, for the subject is the falsification and adulteration of the doctrine of faith, that is, of truth, which are 'whoredom'. 'Kings of the earth' stands for truths that have been falsified and adulterated.

[9] In the same book,

The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom but are receiving authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These will be of one mind, and they will hand over power and authority to the beast. Revelation 17:12-13.

That 'kings' here does not mean kings may also be evident to anyone. If kings were meant, then 'ten kings receiving authority as kings for one hour' would be quite unintelligible, as similarly with the following words in the same book,

I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered to make war with Him who was sitting on the horse, and with His army. Revelation 19:19

In verse 13 of the same chapter it is stated explicitly that the One who was sitting on the horse was The Word of God, against which the kings of the earth are said to have been gathered. 'The beast' stands for goods of love that have been profaned, 'kings' for truths of faith that have been adulterated; these are called 'kings of the earth' because they exist within the Church - 'earth' meaning the Church, see 662, 1066, 1067, 1262. 'The white horse' stands for the understanding of truth, 'He who was sitting on the horse' for the Word. This matter is plainer still in Daniel 11, describing the war between the king of the south and the king of the north, by which is meant the conflict of truths with falsities. Here such conflicts are described as a war that took place in history.

[10] Since 'a king' means truth, what is meant in the internal sense when the Lord is called King, and also a Priest, is made clear; and what essential quality of the Lord was represented by kings, and what by priests, is also made clear. 'Kings' represented His Divine Truth, and 'priests' His Divine Good. All the laws of order by which the Lord governs the universe as King are truths, while all the laws by which He governs the universe as Priest and by which He rules even over truths themselves are goods. For government from truths alone condemns everyone to hell, but government from goods lifts them out of that place and raises them up into heaven; see 1728. Because, in the Lord's case, these two - truths and goods - are joined together, they were also represented in ancient times by kingship and priesthood combined, as with Melchizedek who was at one and the same time king of Salem and priest to God Most High, Genesis 14:18. And at a later time among the Jews where the representative Church was established in a form of its own He was represented by judges and priests, and after that by kings.

[11] But because 'kings' represented truths which ought not to be paramount for the reason, already stated, that they condemn, the very idea was so objectionable that the Jews were reproached for it. The nature of truth regarded in itself has been described in 1 Samuel 8:11-18, as the rights of a king; and previous to that, in Moses, in Deuteronomy 17:14-18, they had been commanded through Moses to choose genuine truth deriving from good, not spurious truth, and not to pollute it with reasonings and factual knowledge. These are the considerations which the directive concerning a king given in the place in Moses referred to above embodies within itself. No one can possibly see this from the sense of the letter, but it is nevertheless evident from the details within the internal sense. This shows why 'a king' and 'kingship' represented and meant nothing other than truth.

Bilješke: