THE EXPLANATION of Isaiah Chapter 5

(Note: Rev. Smithson's translation of the Isaiah text is appended below the explanation)

PARABLES: THE WASTED VINEYARD

1. I WILL now sing to my Beloved, a song of my Beloved concerning His vineyard. My Beloved had a vineyard on a high and fruitful hill:

VERSES 1, 2. By "the vineyard which belonged to the Beloved in the horn of a son of oil", is signified the spiritual church, which is principled in truths originating in the good of love, thus which is most excellent, for a "vineyard" signifies the spiritual church, or the church which is principled in truths from good; the inauguration thereof is understood by the "horn of oil", forasmuch as inaugurations were performed by oil out of a horn; and a "son of oil" denotes truth derived from good.

By the "Beloved" is signified the Lord, because the churches are established by Him; wherefore it is said that "He fenced it, and gathered out the stones, and planted a noble vine"; the "noble vine" denoting spiritual truth from a celestial origin, or truth derived from the good of love; by the "grapes" which He expected that it should bring forth, are signified the goods of charity, which are goods of life; and by the "wild grapes" which it brought forth, are signified the evils which are opposed to the goods of charity, or evils of life. Apocalypse Explained 375.

In these words there still lies concealed such an arcanum as cannot be expressed by any forms of speech; for by these words is fully described the conjunction of the Lord's spiritual kingdom with His celestial kingdom, that is, the conjunction of the second heaven with the third, consequently the conjunction of the good of faith in the Lord, which is of the spiritual kingdom, with the good of love to the Lord, which is of the celestial kingdom.

A "vineyard" denotes the spiritual kingdom; "in a horn" denotes in power; thus "a son 'of oil" therein, denotes the external good of love in the celestial kingdom; for this kingdom, which is the inmost heaven of the Lord, is called "oil or olive-yard", because "oil" denotes the good of celestial love. Arcana Coelestia 9139.

2. And He fenced it round, and He cleared it of stones, and He planted it with a noble vine; and He built a tower in the midst of it, and He hewed out also a wine-press therein: and He expected that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes.

Verses 2, 4. He built a tower in the midst of it, and He hewed out also a wine-press therein: and He expected that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes, etc. "He built a tower in the midst of it", signifies the interior things .which receive influx, and by which there is a communication with heaven; He also "hewed out a wine-press in it", signifies the production of truth from good; and "He expected it to bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes", signifies the hope of the fructification of those things by virtue of the good of charity, but in vain, because there was iniquity in the place of good. Apocalypse Explained 918.

That "grapes" signify the good of the spiritual man, thus charity, may appear manifest from several passages in the Word, as in Isaiah, - "My Beloved had a vineyard in the horn of a son of oil; He expected that it "would bring forth grapes, but it produced wild grapes"; (Isaiah 5:1, 2, 4) where "vineyard" denotes the spiritual church; "He expected it to bring forth grapes", denotes the goods of charity; but "it produced wild grapes", denotes the evils of hatred and revenge. Apocalypse Explained 5117.

3. And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and O man of Judah, judge, I pray you, between Me and My vineyard.

4. What could have been done more to My vineyard, than I have done unto it? why, then, when I expected that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

Verses 3-6. By "vineyard." is here understood the church with that nation; by "I expected that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes", is signified that there appertained to it evils of the false instead of the goods of truth, which are of the church; by "removing the hedge thereof, and its being eaten up, and by breaking through the wall, and its being trodden down", is signified the destruction thereof as to goods and truths, and invasion by evils and falsities, which are signified by the "thorns and briers" which should come up; by "I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it", is signified that there is no longer with them any reception of truth and good, through the Word, out of heaven. Apocalypse Explained 433.

In this passage, in the sense of the letter, the perverse state of the Israelites and Jews is treated of; but in the internal sense the perverse state of the [Christian] church is treated of, as represented by "Israel and Judah"; the "inhabitant of Jerusalem" is the good of the church; "inhabitant" denotes good, or, what is the same thing, those who are principled in good; and "Jerusalem", the church. In like manner, "the house of Israel" is significative; that "house" denotes good, and "Israel" the church; in like manner the "man of Judah", for by "man" is signified truth, and by "Judah" good, but with this difference, that the "man of Judah" denotes truth grounded in the good of love to the Lord, which is called celestial truth, that is, it signifies those who are principled in such truth. Arcana Coelestia 3654.

5. But now, I will indeed make known unto you what I will do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will destroy its wall, and it shall be trodden down:

Verse 5. By the "vineyard" is there signified the church of the Lord, which is called the spiritual church; by "removing the hedge", and "breaking through the wall", is signified to falsify and thus to destroy the truths that defend the church; the "wall" and the "hedge" about the vineyard denote the same as the wall and bulwarks of Jerusalem; by "devouring and treading under foot the vineyard" is signified to vastate the church, so that no good and truth can spring up therein, and thus to destroy it. Apocalypse Explained 632.

6. And I will make it a desolation: it shall not be pruned, neither shall it be weeded; but the brier and the thorn shall spring up in it : and I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

Verse 6. By these words is understood that there shall not be any understanding of divine Truth or the Word in the church; "vineyard" denotes the church, the "clouds", the Word in the letter, and by their "raining no rain" is signified no understanding of divine Truth, Apocalypse Explained 594.

Here likewise it is said of Jehovah, that "He makes the vineyard a desolation, and commands the clouds that they rain no rain upon it"; when notwithstanding this is not done by Jehovah, that is, by the Lord, for He always flows in as well with the evil as with the good, which is understood by His "sending His rain upon the just and upon the unjust." (Matthew 5:45)

But the cause hereof is in the man of the church, in that he does not receive any influx of divine Truth; for when this is the case with man, he shuts up the interiors of his mind which should receive, and these being shut up, the divine influx is rejected. By the "vineyard, which is made a desolation", is signified the church; by "not being pruned nor weeded", is signified that it cannot be cultivated, and so prepared to receive; by the "brier and thorn which shall come up", are signified the falsities of evil; by "commanding the clouds that they rain no rain", is signified the non-reception of any influx of divine Truth out of heaven. Apocalypse Explained 644.

The state of desolation and vastation with those who are not regenerated, is also treated of in the Word throughout; in this state are they who altogether deny truths, or turn truths into falsities; this is the state of the church towards the end, when there is no longer either faith or charity, as is described in Isaiah 5:5-7.Arcana Coelestia 5376.

7. For the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah the plant of His delights: and He looked for judgment, but behold bloodshed! and for justice, but behold an outcry!

Verse 7. And He looked for judgment, but behold bloodshed! and for justice, but behold an outcry! - Speaking also of the vastation of Goodness and Truth. In this passage there occurs a species of reciprocation, as is common with the Prophets, which is such that evil is found in the place of Truth, signified by "bloodshed, or a scab, instead of judgment", and the false principle in the place of Good, signified by "an outcry, instead of justice"; for "judgment" is Truth, and "justice" is Good. That an" outcry" [clamor] signifies, in a bad sense, the false principle, cannot appear unless from the internal sense of the Word. The expression" outcry" sometimes occurs in the Prophets, when treating of vastation and desolation, on which occasion they speak of "howling" and "crying", signifying thereby that what is Good and True is vastated, and in such case by "howling and crying", in the internal sense, is described the false principle, as in Jeremiah, "A voice of the outcry of shepherds, and a howling of the powerful of the flock, because Jehovah lays waste their pasture;"(Jeremiah 25:36) where an "outcry of shepherds" denotes that they were principled in what is false, whence comes desolation. See also in the same Prophet, 47:2, 4; and in Zephaniah, 1:10, 14; and. other passages which might be adduced. Arcana Coelestia 2240.

An intense supplication is expressed in the Word by an "outcry", and this because the supplication, although tacit, of those who supplicate from the heart, is heard as an outcry in heaven. This occurs when men only think, and more if they deeply sigh from a sincere heart. This was represented by an "outcry" [or clamour] in the representative church; and hence it became a ritual among the Jews. It occurs in like manner with those who teach; they are heard in heaven as though they were crying out. Not only the thoughts but, especially the affections, which are of Goodness and Truth, speak in heaven; that they speak, and if ardent, cry out, has been granted me to know from experience, concerning which, of the Lord's Divine Mercy, I shall speak elsewhere. But the affections of what is evil and false are by no means heard in heaven, although a man who makes supplication from such affections, were to cry aloud, at the same tlme pressing his hands closely together [as in prayer], and praising, up his eyes to heaven; such affections are heard in hell and also as an outcry, if they are ardent. Arcana Coelestia 9202.

To "wait [or look] for judgment", is to wait for intelligence from divine Truth, and a life according to the precepts. Arcana Coelestia 9857.

8. Woe unto you who join house to house, who lay field unto field, until there be no place, and you dwell alone in the midst of the land!

9. To Mine ears [says] Jehovah of Hosts: Surely, [these] many houses shall become a desolation; the great and the good ones, without an inhabitant,

Verses 8, 9. In this passage it signifies the man in whom is evil. The house of man's mind is built up of scientifics, knowledges, and truths united with good. For to collect scientifics, and thereby to raise and to build up the external man; is, in its circumstances, not unlike the building of a house; wherefore the like is signified throughout the Word by "building", and by "erecting houses", as in Isaiah 65:21, 22. "House", in this passage, signifies where there is wisdom and intelligence, consequently where there are the knowledges of Good and of Truth. But in Isaiah 5:8, 9, "house" is used in the opposite sense, and denotes scientifics, by which come falsities. Arcana Coelestia 1488.

"House" signifies various things, as the church, good therein, also a man, and likewise his mind both natural and rational. Arcana Coelestia 9150.

Good pertaining to man is, in the Word, compared to a "house", and on this account 'a man who is principled in good is called the "house of God", but internal good is called the "father's house", whereas good which is in the same, degree is called the "house of brethren", but external good, which is the same as natural good, is called the "mother's house"; all good and truth also is thus born namely, -by an influx of internal good as a father into external good as a mother. Arcana Coelestia 3128.

10. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield [scarcely] one bath [of wine], and a homer of seed shall yield [scarcely] one ephah [of corn].

Verses 9, 10. By "ten" is signified all and much, as in the following passage in Isaiah:

"Many houses shall be a devastation, great and fair, without inhabitant; for ten acres of vineyard shall yield [scarcely] one bath"; treating of the desolation of truth with those who are of the church.

By "many houses which shall be a devastation", are signified the men of the church, specially as to truths from good.

By "great and fair", namely, houses, is signified the affection of good and intelligence of truth; for "great is predicated of good and the affection thereof, and "fair" is predicated of truth and the intelligence thereof; but here in the opposite sense.

By "ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath", is signified that in all things appertaining to the church with man, there is scarcely any truth from good; for by the "bath" is signified the same us by "wine", namely, truth derived from good; wherefore, by "ten acres of vineyard", are signified all things of the church with man. Apocalypse Explained 675.

That the number "ten", and also" tenths", signify remains, may appear from the following passage in Isaiah, Isaiah 5:9, 10; speaking of the vastation of things spiritual and celestial.

"Ten acres of vineyard making one bath", signifies that the remains of things spiritual were so few; and "a homer of seed yielding [scarcely] one ephah [of corn]", signifies that there were so few remains of things celestial. Arcana Coelestia 576.

"Ten acres" denote what is full, and also much; in like manner, a "homer"; but a "bath" and an "ephah" signify few', for when ten denote much, a tenth part means a few. Arcana Coelestia 8468.

11. Woe unto them who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink; who continue late in the evening, that wine may inflame them!

Verses 11, 12, 21, 22. These things are said of those who make to themselves doctrinals from self-derived intelligence, and not from the Lord or from the Word, which is from Him, whence they are in mere falsities; wherefore the perverted state of such persons who believe themselves to be enlightened, in consequence whereof they are in falsities of doctrine, and care not for the Word, from which alone the goods and truths of doctrine and of life can be known, is here described; to "rise early, or at the dawn of morning, and continue to evening", signifies their state of illustration; to "run after strong drink", and to be "inflamed with wine", signifies the fabrication of doctrinals from themselves:

"not to regard the work of Jehovah, nor see the operation of His hands", signifies not to attend to the Word and the goods of life and truths of doctrine there discovered; the "work of Jehovah" being predicated of the goods of life, and the "operation of His hands" of the truths of doctrine, each -from the Word; inasmuch as such persons are understood, therefore it is said, "Woe to them that are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent before their own faces"; and to be "wise in their own eyes", signifies from self-derived intelligence, and to be "intelligent before their own faces", signifies from self-derived affection; the "eyes" signifying understanding, and the "faces" affection; "woe to them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink", signifies to, such as aspire after great things, and are ingenious in confirming the falsities which favour the loves of self and their own principles; the "mighty" denoting those who aspire to great things, and "men of strength" those who are ingenious and seem to themselves to be intelligent; "to drink wine" [in a bad sense], is to imbibe falsities, and "to mingle strong drink", is to confirm them; such are all they who are in the love of self, and who seek after the fame of erudition, for such are in their proprium, and cannot be elevated therefrom, wherefore their thought is in the sensual corporeal principle, wherein no truth can, appear, nor spiritual good be perceived; whereas they who are not in the love of self, and seek intelligence for the use of life, are elevated by the Lord from the proprium into the light of heaven, whilst they are ignorant of it, and are thereby enlightened. Apocalypse Explained 376 Apocalypse Explained 376[1-40].

12. And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and the pipe, and wine, are their feasts: but the work of Jehovah they regard not; and the operation of His hands they do not behold.

Verse 12. The "harp", the "viol", the "tabret", the "pipe", and also" wine", are to be here understood in the opposite sense, in which they signify exultations and boastings from the falsities of evil; that such things are here signified, is evident from its being said, "Woe unto them, they regard not the works of Jehovah, nor behold the operation of His hands." A.. Apocalypse Explained 323.

Inasmuch as "wine" signifies the good of love and of faith, therefore in the supreme sense it signifies the Divine Truth from the Divine Good of the Lord, for from this, by influx, man, who receives, has the good of love and of faith. Whereas several expressions in the Word have also a contrary sense, so also has "'wine", in which sense it signifies the false principle derived from evil [as in this passage]. Arcana Coelestia 6877.

13. Wherefore My people goes into captivity for want of knowledge; and their glory are men [dying] of hunger, and their multitude are dried up with thirst.

14. Therefore hell has enlarged itself, and has stretched open its mouth without measure: her glory, and her multitude, and her throng, and all who exult in her, shall descend into it.

Verse 13. The desolation or destruction of the church for want of the knowledges of good and truth, is signified by "My, people goes into captivity for want of knowledge"; the Divine Truth which constitutes the church, is signified by "glory"; and that this is not in the church, and consequently neither is good, is signified by the "glory thereof being men [dying] of famine"; "men of famine" denoting those who are in no perception of good, and in no knowledges of truth; and that hence they have no truth, is signified by "the multitude thereof being dry with thirst"; "to be dry with thirst" denoting the defect of truth, and "multitude", in the Word, being predicated of truths. Apocalypse Explained 386.

"Thirst" denotes a defect of truth, and hence a privation of spiritual life. Apocalypse Explained 8568.

"Men of famine", signify a scarcity of celestial knowledges; "a multitude dried up with thirst", signifies a scarcity of spiritual knowledges. Arcana Coelestia 1460.

15. And the [mean] man shall be bowed down, and the [great] man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the haughty shall be cast down:

16. And Jehovah of Hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God the Holy [One] shall be sanctified in justice.

17. Then shall the lambs feed as on their pastures, and the deserted places of the fat ones shall the [flocks of] strangers consume.

Verse 16. Jehovah shall be exalted in judgment, etc. - Inasmuch as the Lord is Divine Good and Divine Truth, and since by "judgment" is signified Divine Truth, and by "justice" or righteousness Divine Good; therefore, in many places where the Lord is spoken of, "justice and judgment" are mentioned, and in other places that men ought to do "justice and judgment." Apocalypse Revealed 668.

18. Woe unto them who draw iniquity with cords of vanity; and sin, as with the thick traces of a waggon:

19. Who say, Let Him make speed, and let Him hasten His work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and come to pass, that we may know it !

20. Woe unto them who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Verse 18. "Vanity" denotes falsity, and indeed the falsity of doctrine and religion. Arcana Coelestia 2248.

"Cords "of variously twisted appearance and thickness are seen in the other life, and by them are represented various modes of conjunction; hence it is that in the Word "cords" and "ropes" signify, conjoining mediums, thus "cords of vanity" denote conjunctions of falsities, which are productive of iniquity or evil of life. Many passages might be adduced in proof of this, of which the following may suffice, as in Hosea, -

"I have drawn them with the cords of a man, with the thick cords of love"; (Hosea 11:4)

Here "cords" evidently signify conjoining mediums, for "love" is spiritual conjunction,

Again, in Jeremiah,

"My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken"; (Jeremiah 10:20)

Here, too, "cords" are used to signify conjoining find confirming mediums; the "tabernacle" is the church; which is the Lord's heaven upon earth. Arcana Coelestia 9854.

Verse 19. By the "Holy One of Israel" is meant the Lord as to His divine Human and indeed as to the divine Natural; by Israel and Jacob, in the supreme sense, is meant the Lord as to the divine Natural, by "Israel", as to the internal divine Natural, and by "Jacob", as to the external divine Natural. Arcana Coelestia 7091.

Verse 20. To "put darkness for light, and light for darkness, signifies to call the false truth and truth the false; that "darkness" denotes the false and "light" the truth, is evident, for good and evil are first mentioned; therefore, afterwards, mention is made of truth and the false. Apocalypse Explained 526.

Verses 20, 22. That good and truth adulterated is here signified by "bitter", is evident, for it is said, "Woe unto them, that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, by which is, signified the adulteration of good and the falsification of truth; for good is adulterated when good is called evil and evil good, and truth is falsified when darkness is put for light and light for darkness, "darkness" denoting falsities, and "light" denotIng truths; hence it is evident that similar things are signified by "putting sweet for bitter, and bitter for sweet"; also by its being said, "woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink; by "mighty to drink wine", are signified those who adulterate the truths of the Word, and by "men of strength to mingle strong drink", are signified those who falsify it; "wine and strong drink" denoting the truths of the Word, and "heroes, or the mighty, and men of strength", those who excel in ingenuity and subtlety In adulterating them. Apocalypse Explained 618.

21. Woe unto them who are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent before their own faces!

Verse 21. That the proprium is nothing but mere evil and the false, was made evident to me from this circumstance, that whatever any spirits spoke at any time from themselves was evil and false, insomuch that whenever it was only given me to know that they did speak from themselves, I knew instantly that what they said was false, notwithstanding the power of persuasion in themselves that what they said was true beyond all possible doubt. The case is the same with men also who speak from themselves. In like manner, whenever any have begun to reason concerning the things which respect spiritual and celestial life, or which relate to faith, it was given me to perceive that they were in a state of doubt, yea, of denial touching such things; for to reason about faith is to doubt and deny it. And whereas this proceeds from themselves, or from the proprium, they are mere falsities into which they fall, consequently into an abyss of darknesses, that is, of falsities; and when they are in this abyss, the least scruple prevails over a thousand truths, which scruple is like a small particle of dust falling on the pupil of the eye, and blindlng it in such a manner that it cannot see the universe, or anything contained therein. Concerning such persons the Lord thus speaks in Isaiah, - "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight [or faces]." (Isaiah 5:21) Arcana Coelestia 215. .

22. Woe unto them who are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

23. Who justify the guilty for a reward, and take away the justice of the just from him!

Verse 22. They who believe nothing but what they comprehend by things sensual and scientific, were also called mighty to drink, as in Isaiah, "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent in their own sight, Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink." They are called "wise in their own eyes, and intelligent in their own sight", because they who reason against the truths of faith think themselves wiser than others. Arcana Coelestia 1072 Arcana Coelestia 1072[1-6].

24. Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and, as the flame consumes the chaff, so shall their root become like rottenness, and their blossom shall go up like the dust: because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of Hosts, and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel.

Verse 24. That hereby are signified the scientifics of truth, appears from the signification of "blossoms and flowers" as denoting the scientifics of truth: the reason why "blossoms" have this signification is, because they are germinations which precede, and in their manner produce fruits and seeds; for it is known that trees and plants bear blossoms before they bear fruit; the case is the same with man, as to intelligence and wisdom : the scientifics of truth precede, and in their manner produce those things which are of wisdom with man; for they serve his rational principle for objects, and thus for means of growing wise; hence it is that the scientifics of truth are as "blossoms", and the good of life, which is the good of wisdom, as "fruit." Inasmuch as all things which are in the spiritual world have reference to such things as appertain to man, by reason that heaven resembles one man, and corresponds to all the things, even the. most minute, appertaining to man, therefore also all things which are in the natural world, according to their agreement with such things as appertain to man, correspond, represent, and signify. Hence now it may be manifest from what ground it is that "blossoms" signify the scientifics of truth, and in general, truths, and that "fruit", and likewise "seeds", signify goods. That "blossoms" denote the scientifics of truth, and in general, truths, is manifest from the following passage :

"Their root shall be as corruption, and their blossoms as dust, because they have refused the law of Jehovah of Hosts, and have despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel." Arcana Coelestia 9553

25. Wherefore the anger of Jehovah is kindled against His people, and He has stretched out His hand against them, and has smitten them: and the mountains tremble, and their carcases are as the dung in the midst of the streets. For all this His anger is not turned back, but His hand is stretched out still.

Verse 25. Inasmuch as "a street" signifies the truth of doctrine leading and, in the opposite sense, the false, therefore by "the mud, the mire and the dung of the streets", is signified the false originating in the love of evil; these things are also said from appearances in the spiritual world, for in the cities in that world where falsities from evil reign, the streets appear full of dung, mire, and mud. Apocalypse Explained 652.

The reason why the "stretching out the hand" denotes the dominion of power, is, because the hand or arm has power when it is stretched out; therefore, when it is said of Jehovah, that "He stretched out the hand or arm", it signifies unlimited or infinite power in act. In very many passages also omnipotence is described by "Jehovah stretching out the hand", also by "His stretched out hand", and by "His stretched out arm"; as in Isaiah, - "The anger of Jehovah is kindled against His people, and He has stretched out His hand over them, and has smote them, and the mountains trembled." Arcana Coelestia 7673.

26. And He will erect a standard for the nations afar off, and He will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and, behold, with speed shall they come swiftly:

27. None among them is faint, and none stumbles: none shall slumber or sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed; nor shall the latchet of their shoes be unbound:

Verses 26. That by a "standard", or sign, is signified a calling together to war, is manifest from this consideration, that when convocations were made, whether for journeyings, or for festivals, or for war, they "sounded the trumpet", and also "lifted up a sign or standard" upon the mountains. Arcana Coelestia 8624.

The subject here treated of is concerning those who are in ultimates or lowest things as to the understanding of truth, and as to perception of good; those ultimates are called things sensual, which are the ultimates of the natural man; from these, when separated from the spiritual man, stream forth all the evils and falsities which are in the church and in its doctrines. The evils thence derived are signified by the "nations which shall come from afar", and the falsities by "him who cometh from the end of the earth"; "afar off" and the "end of the earth" signifying those things which are remote from the goods and truths of the church; by the "arrows which are sharp", and by the "bows which are bent", are signified falsities of doctrine prepared to destroy truths; and by the "hoofs of the horses which are accounted as the rock", and by "his wheels which are as the whirlwind", are signified the ultimates of truth, such as are the things in the sense of the letter of the Word, and arguments and confirmations of the false thereby; the "hoofs of horses" denote the ultimates or lowest [principles] of the understanding, in this case of the understanding perverted, because separated from the understanding of the spiritual man; which ultimates being nevertheless from the sense of the letter of the Word, it is said "they are accounted as the rock"; and the "wheels" denote argumentations and confirmations thereby, which, because they appear strong, it is said are" as a whirlwind."Apocalypse Explained 355.

[As to the signification of "horses", see below, Chapter 31:1, 3, the Exposition.]

28. Whose arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are bent; the hoofs of their horses shall be accounted as a rock, and their wheels as a whirlwind:

Verse 28. The reason why hardness is expressed by a "rock", is also from the correspondence of a "rock" with truth from good, for to truth from good appertains all power, but when truth acts against the false from evil, then good is blunted, and the remaining truth acts hardly; truth without good is also hard, but still brittle. Apocalypse Explained 411.

"Arrows" [in a good sense] denote spiritual truths, "bow" doctrine, "horses' hoofs" natural truths, "wheels" the doctrine thereof; which things, having such a signification, are therefore sometimes attributed to Jehovah, to whom they can only be ascribed in a spiritual sense, otherwise they would be empty and improper expressions. Arcana Coelestia 2680.

But in this passage the destroyer of truth is meant, where" arrows" denote falsities, and "bows" the doctrine of the false; the "hoofs of the horses" signify sensual scientifics derived from a perverse intellectual principle; "wheels", the powers of perverting and destroying truths, as "a storm or whirlwind." Arcana Coelestia 8215.

29. Their roaring is like the roaring of a lion; like young lions shall they roar: they shall roar, and shall seize the prey; and they shall bear it away, and none shall deliver.

Verses 29, 30. Here also the "roaring as of a lion, and as of young lions", signifies grief and lamentation over the vastation of divine Truth in the church by the falsities of evil; by "seizing the prey, and none taking it from him", is signified the liberation and salvation of those who are in truths from good. The vastation itself is described by "Lo! darkness, anxiety [or distress], and the light being darkened in the ruins thereof"; "darkness" denotes falsities, "anxiety" denotes evil, the "darkening of the light", the evanescence of divine Truth, and "ruins" signify total subversion. Apocalypse Explained 601.

"Seizing", "rapine", "spoil", and "prey." are predicated of the Lord in the Word, from the circumstance of snatching away and delivering the good. Arcana Coelestia 644:1.

30. In that day shall they roar against them "like the roaring of the sea; and if one look into the land, lo ! darkness, distress, and the light is darkened in the ruins thereof.

Verse 30. This passage relates to the last time of the church, when the Lord shall come in to the world, and judgment be accomplished: inasmuch as at that time there is no longer any good of love or truth of faith, but evil of the false, and the false of evil, it is called a "day of darkness, and of thick darkness." Apocalypse Explained 526.

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Isaiah Chapter 5

1. I will now sing to my Beloved, a song of my Beloved concerning His vineyard. My Beloved had a vineyard on a high and fruitful hill:

2. And He fenced it round, and He cleared it of stones, and He planted it with a noble vine; and He built a tower in the midst of it, and He hewed out also a wine-press therein: and He expected that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes.

3. And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and O man of Judah, judge, I pray you, between Me and My vineyard.

4. What could have been done more to My vineyard, than I have done unto it? why, then, when I expected that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

5. But now, I will indeed make known unto you what I will do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will destroy its wall, and it shall be trodden down:

6. And I will make it a desolation: it shall not be pruned, neither shall it be weeded; but the brier and the thorn shall spring up in it : and I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

7. For the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah the plant of His delights: and He looked for judgment, but behold bloodshed! and for justice, but behold an outcry!

8. Woe unto you who join house to house, who lay field unto field, until there be no place, and you dwell alone in the midst of the land!

9. To Mine ears [says] Jehovah of Hosts: Surely, [these] many houses shall become a desolation; the great and the good ones, without an inhabitant,

10. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield [scarcely] one bath [of wine], and a homer of seed shall yield [scarcely] one ephah [of corn].

11. Woe unto them who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink; who continue late in the evening, that wine may inflame them!

12. And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and the pipe, and wine, are their feasts: but the work of Jehovah they regard not; and the operation of His hands they do not behold.

13. Wherefore My people goes into captivity for want of knowledge; and their glory are men [dying] of hunger, and their multitude are dried up with thirst.

14. Therefore hell has enlarged itself, and has stretched open its mouth without measure: her glory, and her multitude, and her throng, and all who exult in her, shall descend into it.

15. And the [mean] man shall be bowed down, and the [great] man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the haughty shall be cast down:

16. And Jehovah of Hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God the Holy [One] shall be sanctified in justice.

17. Then shall the lambs feed as on their pastures, and the deserted places of the fat ones shall the [flocks of] strangers consume.

18. Woe unto them who draw iniquity with cords of vanity; and sin, as with the thick traces of a waggon:

19. Who say, Let Him make speed, and let Him hasten His work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and come to pass., that we may know it !

20. Woe unto them who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

21. Woe unto them who are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent before their own faces!

22. Woe unto them who are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

23. Who justify the guilty for a reward, and take away the justice of the just from him!

24. Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and, as the flame consumes the chaff, so shall their root become like rottenness, and their blossom shall go up like the dust: because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of Hosts, and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel.

25. Wherefore the anger of Jehovah is kindled against His people, and He has stretched out His hand against them, and has smitten them: and the mountains tremble, and their carcases are as the dung in the midst of the streets. For all this His anger is not turned back, but His hand is stretched out still.

26. And He will erect a standard for the nations afar off, and He will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and, behold, with speed shall they come swiftly:

27. None among them is faint, and none stumbles: none shall slumber or sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed; nor shall the latchet of their shoes be unbound:

28. Whose arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are bent; the hoofs of their horses shall be accounted as a rock, and their wheels as a whirlwind:

29. Their roaring is like the roaring of a lion; like young lions shall they roar: they shall roar, and shall seize the prey; and they shall bear it away, and none shall deliver.

30. In that day shall they roar against them "like the roaring of the sea; and if one look into the land, lo ! darkness, distress, and the light is darkened in the ruins thereof.

5376. 'For the famine became great in all the earth' means that, apart from there, desolation existed everywhere in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'famine' as a desolation, dealt with previously; and from the meaning of 'the earth' as the natural, also dealt with previously. The idea that everywhere apart from there is meant, that is to say, apart from within the known facts where the celestial of the spiritual was, follows from what has gone immediately before. What the desolation of the natural, or the deprivation of truth there, is like has been stated already; yet as this is dealt with further still in what follows, let the nature of it be mentioned once again. From earliest childhood the person born within the Church learns from the Word and from the teachings of the Church what the truth of faith is and what the good of charity is. But when he grows up he begins either to confirm for himself or else to refuse to accept the truths of faith he has learned; for now he looks at them for himself and in so doing either makes those truths his own or else casts them aside. For no truth can be made over to another person as his own unless he looks at it and accepts it for himself, that is, unless he knows for himself that it is true and does not rely simply on someone else. The truths therefore which he absorbed in childhood cannot enter any more deeply into his life than the outer gate, where they can either be let inside or else cast away outside.

[2] With those who are being regenerated, that is, those who, as the Lord foresees, will allow themselves to be regenerated, those truths are multiplied exceedingly; for these people have an affection for knowing truths. But as they draw nearer to the point when their regeneration is actually carried out they are seemingly deprived of those truths. For those truths are withdrawn to a more interior position, and when this happens the person seems to experience desolation. Nevertheless those truths are returned in consecutive stages to the natural, where they are joined to good while the person is being regenerated. With those who are not being regenerated however, that is, those who, as the Lord foresees, will not allow themselves to be regenerated, truths are indeed usually multiplied, since these people possess an affection for knowing such truths for the sake of their own reputation, position, and gain. But as they advance in years and come to look at those truths for themselves, they either do not believe them, refuse to accept them, or else turn them into falsities. Thus in their case truths are not withdrawn to a more interior position but are cast away outside, though they remain in the memory to serve worldly ends, devoid of all life. In the Word this state is called desolation or vastation, though it differs from the state described first, in that the desolation belonging to that first state is only apparent, whereas the desolation belonging to the second state is total. For in the state described first the person is not deprived of truths, whereas in this latter state he is deprived of them altogether. The desolation belonging to the state described first is the subject in the internal sense of the present chapter and is again the subject in the next one; and that desolation is meant by a famine lasting for seven years.

[3] This kind of desolation is referred to many times elsewhere in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Stir, stir, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of Jehovah the cup of His anger. Two things have come upon you; who condoles with you? Vastation and ruination, famine and sword, who is there that I may comfort you? Your sons fainted, they lay at the head of every street. Therefore listen, do this, O afflicted one, and drunk though not from wine. Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of trepidation, the dregs of the cup of My wrath; you shall no longer drink it. But I will put it in the hand of those who oppress you. Isaiah 51:17-end.

This is a description of the state of desolation experienced by a member of the Church who is becoming a Church, that is, who is being regenerated. That desolation is called 'vastation, ruination, famine, and sword', also 'the cup of Jehovah's anger and wrath', and 'the cup of trepidation'. The truths that a person is deprived of at such times are 'the sons who faint and lie at the head of every street'. For 'sons' are truths, see 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 'street' the place where the truths are, 2336; consequently 'lying at the head of every street' means that truths appear to exist in a dispersed condition. One can see that the desolation is only an apparent one and that regeneration is effected by means of it, as it also is by means of temptations; for it says that [Jerusalem] will no longer drink the cup but that [Jehovah] will put it in the hand of those who oppress her.

[4] In Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Because they devastated you and swallowed you up from all around, so that you are an inheritance for the rest of the nations, therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovih. Thus said the Lord Jehovih to the mountains and hills, the streams and valleys, and the desolate wastes, and the deserted cities, which became plunder and a derision to the rest of the nations all around: I have spoken in My zeal and in My wrath, because you have endured the shame of the nations. Surely the nations that are around you will bear their own shame. But you, O mountains of Israel, will shoot forth ¹ your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel. For behold, I am with you, and will turn to you, so that you are tilled and sown. Also I will multiply man (homo) upon you, the entire house of Israel; and the cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be built. I will resettle you ² to be as you were in former times and I will do more good than in your early days. Ezekiel 36:3-11.

This too refers to the desolation that comes just before regeneration. That desolation is meant by 'the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which became plunder and a derision', while such regeneration is meant by 'shooting forth a branch and yielding fruit', 'turning to them, so that they are tilled and sown', 'so that man is multiplied, cities inhabited, and waste places built', and 'resettling them to be as they were in former times, and doing more good to them than in their early days'.

[5] What desolation is like is evident from those experiencing it in the next life. Those who experience desolation there are harried by evil spirits and genii; for these pour in evil desires and false ideas which are so strong that those people are almost submerged in them. As a consequence truths are not visible; but then as the time of desolation comes to an end those truths are lit up by light received from heaven, and the evil spirits and genii are driven away, each to his own hell, where they undergo punishments. Those punishments are what is meant by 'cities which became plunder and a derision to the rest of the nations all around' and by 'the nations that are around will bear their own shame'. Such punishments are also meant by 'the cup will be put in the hand of those who oppress you', in the passage quoted above from Isaiah, as well as in another place in the same prophet, where it says that 'the one who lays waste will be laid waste', Isaiah 33:1. And in Jeremiah,

I will visit those who lay waste, and I will consign them to everlasting desolations. Jeremiah 25:12.

In Isaiah,

Your destroyers will hasten your sons, and those who lay you waste will go away from you. Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Because of your waste places and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, you will be too restricted for the inhabitants; those who swallow you up will have gone far away. Isaiah 49:17-19.

[6] These verses too, indeed that whole chapter in Isaiah, refer to the desolation suffered by those who are being regenerated, and to the regeneration and fruitfulness that follow desolation, verse 26 referring at length to the punishment of those who have been the oppressors. In the same prophet,

Woe to you who lay waste, though you have not been laid waste; when you finish laying waste, you will be laid waste. Isaiah 33:1.

This refers to the punishment of those who lay waste, as above. In the same prophet,

Let My outcasts dwell together in you; O Moab, be a refuge to them in the presence of the one who lays waste. For the oppressor has ceased, vastation has come to an end. Isaiah 16:4.

In the same prophet,

The day of Jehovah is near; like vastation from Shaddai it will come. Isaiah 13:6.

'Vastation from Shaddai' stands for vastation in temptations. For in ancient times God, when involved in temptations, was called Shaddai, see 1992, 3667, 4572.

[7] In the same prophet,

At that time they will not thirst; in the waste places He will lead them; He will make water flow for them from the rock, and He will cleave the rock so that water flows out. Isaiah 48:11.

This has to do with the state that follows desolation. In the same prophet,

Jehovah will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places, so much so that He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of Jehovah. Gladness and joy will be found in her, confession and the voice of song. Isaiah 51:3.

Here the meaning is similar, for as stated above, desolation occurs to the end that a person may be regenerated, that is, to the end that evils and falsities may first be separated from him and then truths may be joined to forms of good, and forms of good to truths. The regenerate person so far as good is concerned is the one who is being compared to Eden, and so far as truth is concerned to the garden of Jehovah. In David,

Jehovah caused me to come up out of the pit of devastation, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock. Psalms 40:2.

[8] The vastation and desolation suffered by a member of the Church, or by the Church residing with him, was represented by the captivity of the Jewish people in Babel, while the resurgence of the Church was represented by their return from that captivity, dealt with in various places in Jeremiah, especially in Chapter 32:37-end. Desolation is a captivity, for at that time a person is held so to speak in bonds, for which reason also 'the bound', 'those in prison', or 'those in the pit' mean those experiencing desolation, see 4728, 4744, 5037, 5038, 5085, 5096.

[9] Reference to a state of desolation and vastation among those who are not being regenerated is also made in various places in the Word. It is a state passed through by those who utterly deny truths or else turn them into falsities; it is the state which the Church passes through around the time of its end, when there is no faith and no charity any longer. In Isaiah,

I will cause you to know what I am about to do to My vineyard, by taking away its hedge, so that it is destroyed, ³ and by breaking down its wall, so that it is trodden down. I will after that make it a desolation; it will not be pruned or heed, so that bramble and shrub will come up there; indeed I will command the clouds to rain no rain on it. Isaiah 5:5-7.

In the same prophet,

Say to this people, Hearing, hear - but do not understand; and seeing, see - but do not comprehend. Make the heart of this people fat and their ears heavy, and plaster over their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and their heart understands, and they turn again and be healed. Then I said, How long, O Lord? And He said, Until cities will have been devastated, so that they are without inhabitant, and houses, so that there is no one in them, and the land is reduced to a lonely place; He will remove man. And the wilderness will be multiplied in the midst of the land. Scarcely any longer will there be a tenth part in it; it will be however an uprooting. Isaiah 6:9-end.

[10] In the same prophet,

A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the God of power. For the close has been determined, overflowing with righteousness; for the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth is bringing the whole earth to its close and to its determined end. Isaiah 10:21-23.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah is emptying the earth and making it void, and He will overturn the face of it. The earth will be utterly emptied. The inhabited earth will mourn, it will be turned upside down. The world will languish and will be turned upside down. A curse will devour the earth. The new wine will mourn, the vine will languish. What is left in the city will be a waste; the gate will be smashed to devastation. The earth has been utterly broken, the earth has been utterly split open, the earth has been made to quake violently; the earth staggers altogether like a drunken man. Isaiah 24:4-end.

In the same prophet,

The highways have been devastated, the wayfarer has ceased. The earth mourns, it languishes. Lebanon has become ashamed, it has withered away; Sharon has become like a wilderness. Isaiah 33:8-9.

In the same prophet,

I will desolate and at the same time swallow up; I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up every plant on them. Isaiah 42:14-15.

[11] In Jeremiah,

I will utterly destroy all the nations round about, and make them into a desolation, and a derision and everlasting wastes. And I will cast away from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the mills, and the light of the lamp, so that the whole land will be a desolation and devastation. It will happen when seventy years have been fulfilled, that I will visit the king of Babei and this nation for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it everlasting desolations. Jeremiah 25:9-12 and following verses.

In the same prophet,

A desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse will Bozrah be; and all its cities will be everlasting wastes. Edom will be a desolation, all who pass by it will be astonished and will hiss at all its plagues. Jeremiah 49:13-18.

In Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord to the inhabitants of Jerusalem upon the land of Israel, They will eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their waters with astonishment, that her land may be devastated of the fullness that is in it, on account of the violence of all who dwell in it. The inhabited cities will be devastated, and the land desolated. Ezekiel 12:19-20.

[12] In the same prophet,

When I make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall cause the deep to come up against you, and many waters have covered you, I will cause you to go down with those going down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will cause you to dwell in the land of the lower ones, in the desolations ⁴ from eternity, with those going down to the pit. Ezekiel 26:18-21.

This refers to Tyre. In Joel,

A day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and gloom. Fire devours before him, and behind him a flame burns; like the garden of Eden is the land before him, but behind him there is a desert waste. Joel 2:2-3.

In Zephaniah,

The day of Jehovah is near. A day of wrath is that day, a day of anguish and repression, a day of vastation and devastation, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and clouding over. By the fire of Jehovah's zeal the whole land will be devoured, for He ⁵ will bring to a close, indeed to a hasty one, all the inhabitants of the earth. Zephaniah 1:14-end.

In Matthew,

When you see the abomination of desolation, foretold by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains. Matthew 14:15, 16; Mark 13:14; Daniel 9:27; 11:10-12.

From all these quotations it is clear that 'a desolation apparent deprivation of truth in the case of those who are being regenerated, but a total deprivation in the case of those who are not being regenerated means

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