THE EXPLANATION of Isaiah Chapter 34

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

1. COME near, O you nations, to hear; and hearken, O you peoples! let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all its productions.

VERSE 1. Here " nations" signify those who are in the Good of love, and "peoples" those who are in the Goods of charity and the Truths of faith thence derived; and therefore it is said of the nations that "they should come near", and of the peoples that "they should hearken." To "come near" signifies to be conjoined by love, and to "hearken" is to obey and to be instructed. Hence also it is said, "Let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof"; the "earth" signifying the church as to Good, and the "fulness" thereof signifying Truths. Apocalypse Explained 331.

2. For the anger of Jehovah is upon all the nations, and His wrath upon all the host thereof: He has utterly destroyed them; He has given them up to slaughter.

Verse 2. By "nations" are here signified evils, and by "host" falsities from evil; the total destruction thereof by their being "utterly destroyed [or delivered to the curse], and given up to slaughter." Apocalypse Explained 573. See also Arcana Coelestia 3614.

Verses 2, 3. The anger of Jehovah, etc. - These things are said concerning the Last Judgment. By "the anger of Jehovah upon all the nations, and His wrath upon all the host thereof", is signified the destruction and damnation of all who are in evils and falsities thence derived, purposely and from the heart; "nations" are those evils, and the "host" or "army "all falsities thence derived. That such should be accursed and perish, is signified by "He has utterly destroyed them, and has given them up to slaughter. "The damnation of those who would perish by falsities, is signified by "their slain shall be cast out"; "slain", in the Word, being predicated of those who perish by falsities, and to be "cast out" is to be damned. The damnation of those who would perish by evils, is signified by "the stench of their carcases shall ascend"; "carcases", in the Word, being predicated of those who perish by evils, and their "stench" signifying damnation. "The mountains shall melt down with their blood", signifies the evils of the loves of self and of the world, and "blood" the falsities connected therewith.

4.Apocalypse Explained 405.

3. And their slain shall be cast out; and from their carcases their stench shall ascend; and the mountains shall melt down with their blood.

Verse 3. From their carcases their stench shall ascend. - Spheres of love and of faith are perceived in heaven as grateful odours; hence it was that aromatics and incense and odours in ointments were made representative in the Jewish church. But spheres of what is evil and false are perceived as stenches of various kinds. A cadaverous stench, as from putrid carcases, is perceived from the hell of robbers and murderers, and an excrementitious stench from the hell of adulters; thus everything evil has its own stench, and everything good has its own fragrance. Arcana Coelestia 925, 4631.

4. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved; and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falls off from the vine, and as the falling [fruit] from the fig-tree.

Verse 4. In this passage the sun, moon, and stars are called a "host" or "army", because by the "sun" is signified the Good of love; by the "moon", Truth from Good; and by the "stars", the knowledges of Truth and of Good. consequently they signify Goods and Truths in all their aggregate, which are called an "army" because they resist evils and falsities, and perpetually conquer them as enemies. Apocalypse Explained 573.

These, words are said concerning the day of the Last Judgrnent which was to come, and which also did come; for the Last Judgment predicted by the prophets of the Old 'I'estament, was executed by the Lord when He was in the world; and because then similar things were done to those described in the Last Judgment prodicted in the Apocalypse, which at this day has been performed by the Lord, therefore similar things are here said, as that "the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll", etc., as in Revelation 6:14. Apocalypse Explained 403.

5. For My sword shall be drunken in heaven: behold, on Edom it shall descend; and on the people of My curse, to judgment.

Verse 5. [To denote the interior falsities in the minds of those who are represented by " Edom" in a bad sense; for "heaven" is predicated of the interiors, and the "sword" is said to be "drunken in heaven" when the doctrine of the false, or when false doctrine is so imbued and impregnated with false principles as to be entirely false. As to the meaning of "drunkenness", see Chapter 28:1, the Exposition.]

On Edom it shall descend. - By "Edom" is signified the good of the natural principle to which are adjoined the doctrinals of Truth, but, in the opposite sense, by "Edom" [as in this passage] is signified the evil of self-love when false principles [or false doctrines] are adjoined to it. Many names, in the Word, have also an opposite sense, as has been often shown above, by reason that what is Good and True in the church in process of time degenerates into what is evil and false by various adulterations. Arcana Coelestia 3322. See also further respecting "Edom", Chapter 63:1, 2, 3, 5, the Exposition.

[" Edom", therefore, in a bad sense, denotes all those in the church who, although they bear the Christian name, yet do not, on account of the, prevalence of selfish and worldly love in their minds, concern themselves about the truths of the Word and the spiritual things of the church. They thus remain merely natural; and when, at death, they come into the world of spirits, the judgment described in this chapter is executed upon them. Everyone should earnestly watch and pray against such a state. As to "Edom", see also above, Chapter 11:14, the Exposition.]

6. The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood; it is made fat with fatness: with the blood of lambs, and of goats; with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for Jehovah has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

Verse 6. Here by "lambs", "rams", and "goats" are signiiled three degrees of the Good of innocence, spoken of above; but the subject here treated of is concerning the destruction of them by the falsities of evil; for "sword" signifies the false destroying Truth and Good, and "the blood with which it shall be filled" signifies destruction. Inasmuch as by "lamb" is signified innocence, which, viewed in itself, is love to the Lord, therefore by "Lamb", in the supreme sense, is signified the Lord as to the Divine Human; for the Lord, as to that principle, was Innocence itself. This appears in the following passage:

"He was oppressed and affiicted, yet He opened not His mouth; as a lamb He is led to the slaughter." (Isaiah 53:7) Apocalypse Explained 314.

7. And the unicorns shall fall down with them; and the bullocks, together with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust shall be made fat with fatness.

Verse 7. By "unicorns", in a bad sense, are meant the falsities of the sensual man S. S. 18.

[These words, as said of "Edom" in a bad sense, involve the destruction of all the semblances of good, denoted by "bullocks", etc., adopted by the natural man during his life in the world, which were confirmed by reasonings from fallacies, and from the literal sense of the Word not understood by means of genuine doctrine. These external semblances of good, which have merely selfish considerations for their origin, are, at the time of Judgment, destroyed by the falsities and by the falsifications of Truth in which they have lived, and which are signified by "the sword being filled" and by "the land being drunken with blood."]

8. For it is the day of vengeance to Jehovah; the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

Verse 8. By "the day of vengeance to Jehovah" and by "the year of recompences" is signified the Last Judgment and the damnation of those who, by falsities and evils, have desolated all the Truths of the church, thus "for the controversy of Zion." Apocalypse Explained 850.

Verses 8-10. "The day of vengeance to Jehovah, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion", signifies the advent of the Lord, and the Last Jugment then accomplished by Him. "The torrents being turned into pitch, and the dust into brimstone", signifies the hell into which they are cast who are in the falsities of evil, and in the evils of the false. The evil of infernal love and its punishment, is signified by "the pitch burning night and day, and not being quenched"; and the dire false from that evil is signified by "the smoke ascending for ever." Apocalypse Explained 578.

9. And the torrents thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone; and the land thereof shall become burning pitch:

10. By night and by day it shall not be quenched; for ever shall her smoke ascend: from generation to generation she shall lie waste; for ever and ever one shall pass through her;

Verses 9, 10. The land thereof shall become burning pitch; - from generation to generation she shall lie waste, etc. - By "burning pitch" is signified all evil originating in the love of self, by which the church altogether perishes and is devastated; wherefore it is said "The earth [or land] shall be turned into burning pitch; from generation to generation she shall lie waste." Who does not see that such things are not said of the earth itself? Apocalypse Explained 304.

11. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess her; and the owl and the raven shall dwell there: and He shall stretch over her the line of emptiness, and the plummet of devastation.

12. As to her nobles, none shall be there whom they can call [to] the kingdom; and all her princes shall be nothing.

Verses 11, 12. The "cormorant", the "bittern", the "owl", and the "raven" signify various kinds of, falsity, which exist when the divine Truths of the Word are accounted as nothing. The desolation and devastation of Truth is denoted by "the line of emptiness and the plummets of devastation"; and the falsities which, with such persons, are as primary truths, are signified by "princes." Arcana Coelestia 5043.

Verses 11, 13, 14, 15. These words describe not only the fallen church, but the quality of the unregenerate man. That every man ought to be regenerated is not only declared in the Word, but is obvious also to reason, since he is born with a propensity to evils of every kind derived from his parents, and these have their abode in his natural man, who of himself is diametrically opposed to the spiritual man; and yet he is born to be an inhabitant of heaven, to which place he cannot be admitted unless he be rendered spiritual, which call only be effected by regeneration. Hence it necessarily follows that the natural man, with his lusts, ought to be conquered, subdued, and inverted, for otherwise he cannot stir a step towards heaven, but must needs cast himself deeper and deeper into hell. How plain must this appear to everyone who believes that he is born with a propensity to evils of every kind, and who acknowledges that there are such principles as good and evil, and that the one is contrary to the other: also that there is a life after death, a hell, and a heaven; and that hell is formed by evil, and heaven by good. 'The natural man, considered in himself, as to his nature, differs not at all from the nature of beasts, nay, with regard to his will, to all intents and purposes he is a wild beast; he differs, indeed, from beasts with respect to his understanding, for this is capable of elevation above the lusts of the will, and not only of seeing, but also of regulating them; hence it is that a man is capable of thought from understanding, and of speech fron thought, which beasts are not. What is the quality of man by birth, and what it would be unless he were regenerated, may be seen in savage beasts of all kinds; - he would be a tiger, a panther, a leopard, a wild boar, a scorpion; a tarantula; a viper, a crocodile, etc.; so that unless he were transformed into a sheep by regeneration, what would he be but a devil amongst devils in hell? And supposing the innate ferocity of men under no restraint from the laws of civil government, would they not assault and murder one another, or at least despoil one another of their possessions, even to their very clothes? Are there any of the human species who are not by birth satyrs and priapi, or four-footed reptiles? And who among them, unless he be regenerated, becomes after all anything better than an ape. That external morality, which man assumes for the purpose of concealing his internals, can make him nothing more. True Christian Religion 574.

13. And in her palaces shall spring up thorns; the thistle and the bramble in her fortresses: and she shall become a habitation of dragons, a court for the daughters of the owl.

Verse 13. Treating concerning "Edam", and concerning the "Gentiles", by whom are understood those who are in falsities and evils. The falsities and evils in which they are, are signified by "thorns", the "thistle", and the "bramble"; the dogmas defending them are signified by "palaces" and by " fortresses"; the devastation of all Good and Truth is signified by being "a habitation of dragons" and "a court for the daughters of the owl"; "owls" denoting those 'who for Truth see falsities, and their "daughters" the concupiscences of falsifying Truths. Apocalypse Explained 714.

14. And monsters [Zijim] and wild beasts [Ijim] shall meet together; and the satyr shall call to his fellow: there also the screech-owl shall repose, and shall find for herself a place of rest.

15. There shall the arrow-snake nestle, and lay; and she shall hatch, and gather [her young] under her shadow: there also shall the vultures be gathered together, each one with her mate.

Verse 14. Monsters [ZijimJ and wild beasts [Ijim], etc. - See above, Chapter 13:21, 22, the Exposition and note.

16. Search you out from the Book of Jehovah, and read: not one of these shall fail; not a female shall lack her mate: for His mouth, it has commanded; and His spirit, it has gathered them.

Verse 16. Search you out from the Book of Jehovah, etc. - [These words involve the command to "search the Scriptures", etc., as in John 5:39, and denote that the truths of prophecy, or of the Word, will be certainly fulfilled, and that the fallen state of the church and of the individual unregenerate mind, signified by "Edom", in a bad sense, will experience what is here depicted.]

The necessity of searching the Scriptures may appear from considering the conjunction of the truths of the church with its scientifics, and the manner in which it is effected; for a principle is not to be drawn from scientifics, so that the truths of faith may by them be entered into, since the scientifics appertaining to man are derived from things sensual, thus from the world, whence result innumerable fallacies; but a principle is to be derived from the truths of faith, that is, by this method; - first, the doctrinals of the church are to be learned; and afterwards exploration is to be made from the Word whether they be true, since they are not true because the rulers of the church have pronounced them so, and their followers confirm them to be so, for thus the doctrinals of all churches and of all religions would be pronounced true merely on the authority of the soil in which they are propagated, and of their birth-place; thus not only the doctrinals of the Papists, and also of the Quakers, would be true, but also of the Jews, and likewise of the Mahometans, because their leaders have pronounced them so, and their followers confirm the same. From which considerations it is evident that the Word ought to be searched, and examination to be made from the Word whether the above doctrinals be true; when this is done from the affection of truth, then man is enlightened by the Lord, so as to apperceive, without knowing whence, what is true, and he is confined therein according to the good in which he is principled. Afterwards, when he is confirmed, and thus in an affirmative principle from the Word that they are the truths of faith, it is then allowable for him to confirm them by all the scientifics he possesses, of whatsoever name and nature, for then, inasmuch as a principle of affirmation reigns universally, he accepts the scientifics which are in agreement, and rejects those which, by reason of the fallacies they contain, disagree. Arcana Coelestia 6047.

They who read the Word, and on such occasion look to the Lord, by acknowledging that all Truth and all Good are from Him, and not in the least from themselves, are illustrated, and see Truth and perceive Good from the Word. This illustration is from the light of heaven. Arcana Coelestia 9405.

17. And He has cast the lot for them; and His hand has divided it unto them by the line: they shall possess it for ever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

Verse 17. [These words are quoted in Arcana Coelestia 6343, but only to show the frequent employment of the expressions in the Word to indicate the marriage union of the Good and the True, which is everywhere in the Word, and in which its great sanctity consists. This verse, however, is considered by expositors in general to relate to the desolate state of Edom at the fulfilment of this prophecy, when "the land of Edam would be inhabited for ever by the birds and beasts" mentioned in the previous verses. (See note, p. 359.) But, judging from the internal sense affixed to the margin, it would appear that this verse does not describe the land of Edom as "marked out by the line" for the habitation of wild beasts and for consequent desolation, but for the remnant of those signified by "Edam", who, at the time of judgment, can be delivered from destruction and reclaimed. We know that, at the time of judgment" there are always such "remnants", and such as "escape." (See Chapter 11:11-14, the Exposition.) These" remnants", in the world of spirits, are eventually; after instruction, raised up into heaven, which is "the land they shall possess for ever"; and of those in the church on earth who correspond to these "remnants", the Lord can make a New Church.]

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Isaiah Chapter 34

1. COME near, O you nations, to hear; and hearken, O you peoples! let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all its productions.

2. For the anger of Jehovah is upon all the nations, and His wrath upon all the host thereof: He has utterly destroyed them; He has given them up to slaughter.

3. And their slain shall be cast out; and from their carcases their stench shall ascend; and the mountains shall melt down with their blood.

4. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved; and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falls off from the vine, and as the falling [fruit] from the fig-tree.

5. For My sword shall be drunken in heaven: behold, on Edom it shall descend; and on the people of My curse, to judgment.

6. The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood; it is made fat with fatness: with the blood of lambs, and of goats; with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for Jehovah has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7. And the unicorns shall fall down with them; and the bullocks, together with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust shall be made fat with fatness.

8. For it is the day of vengeance to Jehovah; the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

9. And the torrents thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone; and the land thereof shall become burning pitch:

10. By night and by day it shall not be quenched; for ever shall her smoke ascend: from generation to generation she shall lie waste; for ever and ever one shall pass through her;

11. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess her; and the owl and the raven shall dwell there: and He shall stretch over her the line of emptiness, and the plummet of devastation.

12. As to her nobles, none shall be there whom they can call [to] the kingdom; and all her princes shall be nothing.

13. And in her palaces shall spring up thorns; the thistle and the bramble in her fortresses: and she shall become a habitation of dragons, a court for the daughters of the owl.

14. And monsters [Zijim] and wild beasts [Ijim] shall meet together; and the satyr shall call to his fellow: there also the screech-owl shall repose, and shall find for herself a place of rest.

15. There shall the arrow-snake nestle, and lay; and she shall hatch, and gather [her young] under her shadow: there also shall the vultures be gathered together, each one with her mate.

16. Search you out from the Book of Jehovah, and read: not one of these shall fail; not a female shall lack her mate: for His mouth, it has commanded; and His spirit, it has gathered them.

17. And He has cast the lot for them; and His hand has divided it unto them by the line: they shall possess it for ever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

2702. 'And she saw a well of water' means the Lord's Word from which truths are drawn. This is clear from the meaning of 'a well of water' and of 'a spring' as the Word, also as doctrine drawn from the Word, and consequently as truth itself, dealt with in what follows immediately below; and from the meaning of 'water' as truth. That 'a well' which has water in it, and 'a spring', mean the Word of the Lord, also doctrine drawn from the Word, and so consequently truth itself, may become clear from very many places. Here because the subject is the spiritual Church the word 'well' and not spring is used in subsequent verses of this chapter,

Abraham reproached Abimelech on account of the well which Abimelech's servants had seized (verse 25).

Also in Genesis 26,

All the wells which the servants of Isaac's father had dug, in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up. And Isaac returned and dug [again] the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had been stopping them up after Abraham's death. And Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of living waters. And they dug another well and disputed over that also. And he moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not dispute over that. And it happened on that day, that Isaac's servants came and pointed out to him the reasons for the well which they had dug; and they said to him, We have found waters (verses 15, 18-22, 25, 32).

[2] In these verses nothing else is meant by 'wells' than matters of doctrine - both those about which they disputed, and those about which they did not. Otherwise their digging of wells and their disputing so many times about them would not be important enough to be mentioned in the Divine Word.

'The well' referred to in Moses in a similar way means the Word or doctrine,

They travelled to Beer. This was the well of which Jehovah said to Moses, Gather the people and I will give them water. Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well! Answer from it! The well which the princes dug, which the willing ones ¹ of the people dug out, as directed by the law-giver, with their staves. Numbers 21:16-18.

Because 'a well' meant the Word, doctrine drawn from it, and truth itself, this prophetic song therefore existed in Israel - a song in which the doctrine of truth is the inner theme, as is clear from everything contained in the internal sense. From this the name Beer is derived, and the name Beersheba, ² and its meaning in the internal sense as doctrine itself.

[3] Doctrine however that has no truths in it is called 'a pit', or a well with no water in it, as in Jeremiah,

Their illustrious ones sent their lesser ones to the water; they came to the pits; they found no water; they returned with their vessels empty. Jeremiah 14:3.

Here 'waters' stands for truths, 'the pits in which they found no waters' for doctrine that has no truth within it. In the same prophet,

My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the source of living waters, to hollow out pits for themselves, broken pits, which cannot hold water. Jeremiah 2:13.

Here in a similar way 'pits' stands for doctrines that are not true, 'broken pits' for matters of doctrine that have been ravaged.

[4] As regards 'a spring' meaning the Word, also doctrine, and therefore truth, this is seen in Isaiah,

The afflicted and the needy were seeking water, and there was none; their tongue was parched with thirst. I Jehovah will hearken to them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the sloping heights, and springs in the midst of valleys; I will make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into streams of water. Isaiah 41:17-18.

In the first place this refers to the desolation of truth, which is meant by the statements that 'the afflicted and needy sought water and there was none', and that 'their tongue was parched with thirst'. Then it refers, as in the present verses in Genesis where Hagar is the subject, to the comfort, renewal, and instruction following desolation, which are meant by the promise that 'Jehovah will open the rivers on the sloping heights, will place springs in the midst of valleys, make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into streams of water', all of which have to do with the doctrine of truth and the affection acquired from this.

[5] In Moses,

Israel dwelt securely, alone at Jacob's spring, in a land of corn and new wine; even his heavens distil the dew. Deuteronomy 33:28.

'Jacob's spring' stands for the Word and the doctrine of truth drawn from it. It was because Jacob's spring meant the Word, and the doctrine of truth drawn from it, that when the Lord came to Jacob's spring He talked to the woman from Samaria and taught what is meant by the spring and by water. The incident is described in John as follows,

Jesus came to a city of Samaria called Sychar. Jacob's spring was there. Jesus therefore, weary from the journey, sat thus by the spring. A woman from Samaria came to draw water, to whom Jesus said, Give Me a drink. Jesus said, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who is saying to you, Give Me a drink, you would ask of Him to give you living water. Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but he who drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life. John 4:5-7, 10, 13-14.

Because 'Jacob's spring' meant the Word, 'water' truth, and 'Samaria' the spiritual Church, as is the case many times in the Word, therefore the Lord talked to the woman from Samaria and taught that the doctrine of truth is derived from Himself, and that when it is derived from Himself, or what amounts to the same, from His Word, it is 'a spring of water welling up into eternal life'; also that the truth itself is 'living water'.

[6] Similar teaching occurs in the same gospel,

Jesus said, If anyone thirsts let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the scripture says, Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. John 7:37-38.

And in the Book of Revelation,

The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and will guide them to living springs of water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Revelation 7:17.

In the same book,

To him who thirsts I will give from the spring of living water without price. Revelation 21:6.

'Rivers of living water' and 'living springs of water' stand for truths which are derived from the Lord, that is, from His Word, for the Lord is the Word. The good of love and charity which comes solely from the Lord is the life of truth. The expression 'he who thirsts' is used of one who is stirred by a love and affection for truth; no other can so thirst.

[7] These truths are also called 'the springs of salvation' in Isaiah,

With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation, and you will say on that day, Confess Jehovah, call on His name. Isaiah 12:3-4.

That 'a spring' means the Word, or doctrine drawn from it, is also evident in Joel,

It will happen on that day, that the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will run with milk, and all the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will come forth from the house of Jehovah and will water the river of Shittim. Joel 3:18.

Here 'water' stands for truths, 'a spring from the house of Jehovah' for the Word of the Lord.

[8] In Jeremiah,

Behold I am bringing them from the north land, and I will gather them from the extremities of the earth, among them the blind one and the lame. With weeping they will come, and with supplications I will bring them to springs of water in a straight path on which they will not stumble. Jeremiah 31:8-9.

'Springs of water in a straight path' plainly stands for matters of doctrine concerning truth. 'The north land' stands for the lack of knowledge or the desolation of truth, 'weeping and supplications' for their state of grief and despair. 'Being brought to springs of water' stands for renewal and instruction in truths, as in this chapter of Genesis where Hagar and her son are the subject.

[9] The same matters are presented in Isaiah as follows,

The wilderness and the dry land will be glad for them; and the lonely place will rejoice and blossom like the rose. It will bud prolifically, and will rejoice also with rejoicing and singing. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of Jehovah, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. The eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Waters will break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the lonely place; and the dry place will become a pool and the thirsty ground wellsprings of water. Isaiah 35:1-3, 5-7.

Here 'a wilderness' stands for a desolation of truth. 'Waters', 'streams', 'a pool', 'wellsprings of water' stand for truths which serve to renew and give joy to people who have experienced vastation and whose joys are described in many ways here.

[10] In David,

Jehovah sends forth springs in the valleys; they will go among the mountains.

They will give drink to every wild beast of the fields; the wild asses will quench their thirst. He waters the mountains from His chambers. Psalms 104:10-11, 13.

'Springs' stands for truths, 'mountains' for the love of good and truth, 'giving drink' for giving teaching, 'wild beasts of the fields' for people who live by that teaching, see 774, 841, 908, 'wild asses' for those who have none but rational truth, 1949-1951.

[11] In Moses,

The son of a fruitful one is Joseph, the son of a fruitful one beside a spring. Genesis 49:22.

'A spring' stands for doctrine from the Lord. In the same author,

Jehovah your God will bring you into a good land, a land of rivers, waters, springs, depths gushing out in valleys and mountains. Deuteronomy 8:7.

'A land' stands for the Lord's kingdom and Church, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 2571, which is called 'good' from the good of love and charity. 'Rivers', 'waters', 'springs', and 'depths' stand for the truths derived from that good. In the same author,

The land of Canaan, a land of mountains and valleys, on the arrival of the rain of heaven it drinks water. Deuteronomy 11:11.

[12] That 'waters' means truths, both spiritual and rational, and also factual, is evident from the following places: In Isaiah,

Behold, the Lord Jehovah Zebaoth is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah the whole staff of bread and the whole staff of water. Isaiah 3:1.

In the same prophet,

To the thirsty bring water; meet with his bread the fugitive. Isaiah 21:14.

In the same prophet,

Blessed are you who sow beside all waters. Isaiah 32:20.

In the same prophet,

He who walks in righteous ways and speaks upright words will dwell on the heights; his bread will be given to him, his water will be sure. Isaiah 33:15-16.

In the same prophet,

At that time they will not thirst; in the wilderness He will lead them; He will make water flow for them from the rock. And He cleaves the rock and the water flows out. Isaiah 48:21; Exodus 17:1-8; Numbers 20:11, 13.

In David,

He split rocks in the wilderness and caused them to drink abundantly like the depths. He brought streams out of the rock and caused waters to descend like a river. Psalms 78:15-16.

Here 'rock' stands for the Lord, 'water, streams, and the depths from it' for truths derived from Him.

[13] In the same author,

Jehovah turns rivers into a wilderness, and streams of waters into a dryness. He turns a wilderness into a pool of water, and parched land into streams of waters. Psalms 107:33, 35.

In the same author,

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters; Jehovah is upon many waters. Psalms 29:3.

In the same author,

There is a river whose streams will make glad the city of God, the holy place of the dwellings of the Most High. Psalms 46:4.

In the same author,

By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all their host by the spirit of His mouth. He gathered the waters of the sea together as a heap; He placed the depths in storehouses. Psalms 33:6-7.

In the same author,

You visit the earth and delight in it, You enrich it very greatly; the river of God is full of water. Psalms 65:9.

In the same author,

The waters have seen You, O God, the waters have seen You. The depths trembled, the clouds poured out water. Your way was in the sea, and Your path in many waters. Psalms 77:16-17, 19.

It is evident to anyone that 'waters' here do not mean waters, and that 'the depths trembled' and 'Jehovah's way was in the sea and His path in the waters', are not meant literally, but that spiritual waters are meant, that is, things of a spiritual kind, which are matters of truth; otherwise it would all be just a heap of meaningless words. In Isaiah,

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy! Isaiah 55:1.

In Zechariah,

It will happen on that day, that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. Zechariah 14:8.

[14] Furthermore when the Church which is about to be established or which has been established is the subject in the Word and it is described by a paradise, a garden, a grove, or by trees, it is usual for it to be described also by waters or rivers running through, which mean things of a spiritual, rational, or factual kind, which are matters of truth. Paradise as described in Genesis 2:8-9, for example, is also described by the rivers there, verses 10-14, which mean things that are attributes of wisdom and intelligence, see 107-121. Similar examples occur many times elsewhere in the Word, as in Moses,

Like valleys that are planted, like gardens beside a river, like aloes Jehovah has planted, like cedars beside the waters. Waters will flow from his buckets, and his seed will be in many waters. Numbers 24:6-7.

In Ezekiel,

He took some of the seed of the land and planted it in a seed field; he took it to be beside many waters. It sprouted and became a spreading vine. Ezekiel 17:5-6.

'A vine' and 'a vineyard' mean the spiritual Church, see 1069. In the same prophet,

Your mother was like a vine in your likeness, planted beside the waters; fruitful, and made full of branches by reason of many waters. Ezekiel 19:10.

[15] In the same prophet,

Behold, Asshur [was a cedar] in Lebanon; the waters caused it to grow, the depth made it high, with its rivers going round about the place of its planting; and he sent out his lines of water to all the trees of the field. Ezekiel 31:3-4.

In the same prophet,

Behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees, on this side and on that. He said to me, These waters are going out towards the eastern boundary, and they go down over the plain, and they go towards the sea, having been sent away into the sea; and the waters are fresh. And it will be that every living creature that creeps, in every place which the two rivers come to, will live; and there will be very many fish, for these waters go there, and become fresh, so that everything may live where the river goes. Its swamps and its marshes are not healed; they will be given up to salt. Ezekiel 47:7-9, 11.

This refers to the New Jerusalem or Lord's spiritual kingdom. 'Waters going out towards the eastern boundary' means things that are spiritual flowing from those which are celestial, or truths derived from a celestial source, that is, faith springing from love and charity, 101, 1250. 'Going down into the plain' means matters of doctrine belonging to the rational, 2418, 2450. 'Going towards the sea' means towards factual knowledge, 'the sea' being a gathering together of facts, 28. 'The living creature that creeps' means the delights which go with these, 746, 909, 994, which will receive their life from 'the waters of the river', that is, from spiritual things derived from a celestial source. 'Many fish' stands for an abundance of appropriate facts, 40, 991, while 'swamps and marshes' stands for such as are inappropriate and impure. 'Turning into salt' stands for becoming vastated, 2455. In Jeremiah,

Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah. He will be like a tree planted beside the waters, which sends out its roots beside the stream. Jeremiah 17:7-8.

In David,

He will be like a tree planted beside streams of water, which will yield its fruit in its season. Psalms 1:3.

In John,

He showed me a pure river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and of the river, on this side and on that, was the tree of life bearing twelve fruits. Revelation 22:1-2.

[16] Now because 'waters' means truths in the internal sense of the Word it was therefore commanded in the Jewish Church, for the sake of representation before the eyes of the angels who beheld ritual acts in a spiritual way, that the priests and Levites should wash themselves with water when they came to perform their duties, and that they should do so with water from the layer placed between the tent and the altar, and later on with water from the bronze sea and all the other lavers around the temple, which were there in place of a spring. In a similar way for the sake of representation the ritual involving the water of sin or of expiation which was to be sprinkled over the Levites was established, Numbers 8:7, also the ritual involving the water of separation from the ashes of the red cow, Numbers 19:2-19, as well as the requirement that spoils taken from the Midianites were to be cleansed with water, Numbers 31:19-25.

[17] The water provided out of the rock, Exodus 17:1-8; Numbers 20:1-13, represented and meant an abundance of spiritual things, that is, of truths of faith from the Lord. The bitter waters which were made drinkable by means of the wood, Exodus 15:22-25, represented and meant that truths, from being unpleasant, are made acceptable and gratifying by virtue of good, that is, of the affection for it - 'wood' meaning good which constitutes affection or the will, see 643. From these considerations one may now see what 'water' means in the Word, and from this what the water used in baptism means, regarding which the Lord says the following in John,

Unless a person has been born from water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. John 3:5.

That is to say, 'water' means the spiritual constituent of faith, and 'the spirit' the celestial constituent of it, so that baptism is the symbol of man's regeneration by the Lord by means of the truths and goods of faith. Not that a person's regeneration is accomplished in baptism, but by the life, the sign of which life is denoted in baptism, and into which life Christians who possess the truths of faith because they have the Word must enter.

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