126. And I will give thee the crown of life, signifies wisdom and eternal happiness therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "crown," as being wisdom, in reference to those who are in the spiritual affection of the knowledges of truth and good (of which more in what follows); and from the signification of "life," as being eternal happiness, which is also called life eternal. Those who are in the spiritual affection of truth and good, and who are here treated of, have eternal happiness, because heaven with man is implanted by means of the knowledges of truth and good from the Word. He who believes that heaven is implanted by other means is much deceived; for man is born merely natural, with the faculty of becoming spiritual, and he becomes spiritual by means of truths from the Word and a life according to them. Who can ever become spiritual unless he has some knowledge of the Lord, of heaven, of the life after death, of faith, and of love, and of the other things that are means of salvation? If man had no knowledge of these things he would remain natural; and a merely natural man can have nothing in common with the angels of heaven, who are spiritual. Man has two minds, one exterior, the other interior.

The exterior mind is called the natural mind, but the interior is called the spiritual mind. The former or natural mind is opened by means of the knowledges of the things that are in the world; but the latter or spiritual mind by means of the knowledges of the things that are in heaven, which the Word teaches, and the church from the Word; by means of these man becomes spiritual when he knows them and lives according to them.

[2] This is meant by the Lord's words in John:

Except a man has been born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5).

"Water" signifies the truths of faith, and "spirit" a life according to them (See above, n. 71); and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 202-209). Most people at this day believe that they are to come into heaven solely by virtue of holy worship in temples and by adorations and prayers; but such of them as do not care for the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, and who fail to imbue with these the life, as well as the memory, remain natural as before, and do not become spiritual; for their holy worship, adorations, and prayers, do not proceed from any spiritual origin; since their spiritual mind has not been opened by the knowledges of spiritual things and a life according to them, but is empty; and worship that proceeds from what is empty is merely natural gesture, with nothing spiritual in it. If such persons are insincere and unjust in respect to moral and civil life, their holy worship, adorations, and prayers have within them what repels heaven from them, instead of opening heaven to them as they believe; for their holy worship is like a vessel containing things putrid and filthy, which are oozing forth, or like a splendid garment investing a body covered with ulcers. I have seen many thousands of such cast into hell. But wholly different are holy worship, adorations, and prayers with those who are in the knowledges of truth and good and in a life according to them; with such these acts are pleasing to the Lord, for they are the effects wrought by their spirit in the body, or the effects of their faith and love, thus they are not merely natural gestures, but spiritual acts.

From this it can be seen that the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, and a life according to them, alone make man spiritual; and that in him who is thereby made spiritual, angelic wisdom from the Lord can be implanted together with eternal happiness. Angels derive happiness from no other source than from wisdom.

[3] A "crown" signifies wisdom, because all things by which man is clothed or distinguished derive their signification from the part of man that they clothe or distinguish (See Arcana Coelestia 9827), and "crown" signifies wisdom, because it is a sign upon the head, and "head" in the Word signifies wisdom, for there wisdom resides. So in Ezekiel:

I decked thee with ornaments, I put bracelets upon thy hands; and a chain upon thy throat. And I put a jewel upon thy nose, and earrings in thine ears, and a crown of adorning upon thy head (Ezekiel 16:11, 12).

Jerusalem, which signifies the church, is here treated of, such as it was when it was established by the Lord; by these various insignia are meant, in the spiritual sense, such things as are of the church; and each one takes its signification from the part to which it is applied, and "the crown of adorning" here means wisdom. (But what is meant by "ornament," may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 10536, 10540; by "bracelets," n. 3103, 3105; by "chain" n . 5320; by "jewel," n. 4551; by "earrings," n. 4551, 10402) Wisdom, which is from the knowledges of truth and good from the Word and from a life according to them, is likewise signified by "crown" in many other passages in the Word (as in Isaiah 28:5; Jeremiah 13:18; Lamentations 5:15, 16; Ezekiel 21:25, 26; 23:42; Zechariah 6:11-14; Psalms 89:38, 39; Psalms 132:17, 18; Job 19:9; Revelation 3:11; 4:4). The crowning of kings is from ancient times, when men were familiar with representatives and significatives, and it was known that "kings" represented the Lord in respect to Divine truth, and that a "crown" was intended to signify wisdom (that "kings" represented the Lord in respect to Divine truth, see Arcana Coelestia 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4581, 4966, 5068, 6148); that those that are in truths are called "kings" and "king's sons" see above n. 31; and as these are called "kings" in the Word, and kings have crowns, so here where these are treated of it is said that they were to receive "the crown of life."

8337. 'And Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a timbrel in her hand' means ascribing glory to the Lord from the good of faith. This is clear from the representation of 'Miriam' as the good of faith, for 'Moses' represents the truth of faith that goes forth directly from the Lord, thus inward truth, whereas 'Aaron' represents the truth of faith that goes forth from the Lord in an indirect way, thus outward truth, 7009, 7089, 7382, so that 'Miriam' is the good of faith which goes forth in an indirect way from the Lord, for when 'men' represent truth, 'their womenfolk' represent good, 6014 (since Miriam along with the women represents external good she is in addition referred to as 'Aaron's sister', though she is not called Moses' sister, the relation between good and truth being like that of sister and brother, 3160. But it should be remembered that 'women' represent good and 'men' truth when the spiritual Church is the subject, whereas 'women' represent truth and 'men' good when the celestial Church is the subject, 4823); from the meaning of 'the prophetess' as one who teaches, dealt with in 2534, 7269, at this point one who joins in praising the Lord, or what amounts to the same thing, one who ascribes glory to Him from the good of faith, since she sang to Jehovah, as Moses and the men of Israel had done (for the meaning of 'singing' as ascribing glory, see 8261, 8263, 8267); and from the meaning of 'taking a timbrel in one's hand' as ascribing glory from the good of faith, since 'a timbrel' has reference to spiritual good, or what amounts to the same thing, to the good of faith, 4138.

[2] In former times many types of musical instruments were used when God was worshipped, but with much discrimination. In general wind instruments were used to express affections for good, and stringed instruments affections for truth; and the origin of this was the correspondence of every sound to the affections. It is well known that some types of musical instruments are used to express one kind of natural affections and other types to express another kind, and that when a fitting melody is played they in actual fact stir the affections. Skilled musicians know all about this and also make proper use of it. The reason for it lies in the very nature of sound, and its accord with the affections. Mankind at first learned about it not from science and art but through the ear and its keen sense of hearing. From this it is plain that the ability does not have its origin in the natural world but in the spiritual world; it, springs from the correspondence of things in the natural world - which flow into it in accordance with true order - with realities in the spiritual world. Harmonious sound and various forms it takes correspond to states of joy and gladness in the spiritual world, and states of joy and gladness there spring from affections, which in that world are affections for what is good and true. From this one may now recognize that musical instruments correspond to delights and pleasures belonging to spiritual and celestial affections, and that some instruments correspond to celestial affections, others to spiritual ones; see what has been stated and shown about them previously in 418-420, 4138.

[3] As regards 'a timbrel' in particular, this corresponds to spiritual good, that is, to the good of truth. This is because a timbrel is neither a stringed nor a wind instrument but, being made of skin, is an instrument of one continuous string so to speak; and it is also because it has a heavier and deeper sound than that made by stringed instruments. This may also be recognized from the Word, in places in which 'a timbrel' is mentioned, as in Isaiah,

The joy of timbrels will cease, the noise of merry ones will cease, the joy of the harp will cease. Isaiah 24:8.

'The joy of timbrels' stands for delights that belong to affections for the good of faith; 'the joy of the harp' stands for delight that belongs to an affection for the truth of faith.

In Jeremiah,

Again I will build you, that you may be built, O virgin of Israel! Again you will adorn your timbrels, ¹ and will go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Jeremiah 31:4.

'Adorning timbrels' stands for ascribing glory to God from spiritual good, for it refers to the spiritual Church, meant by 'the virgin of Israel'.

[4] Similarly in Ezekiel,

You were in Eden, the garden of God. The workmanship of your timbrels and your pipes was within you; on the day you were created they were prepared. Ezekiel 28:13.

This refers to Tyre, by which cognitions or knowledge of good and of truth are meant, 'timbrels' meaning affections for the former and 'pipes' feelings of joy in the latter.

In David,

They have seen Your goings, O God, the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. The singers went before, players [of stringed instruments] after, in the midst of the virgins playing timbrels. Psalms 68:24-25.

In the same author,

Shout to the God of Jacob; raise a song, and sound the timbrel, the delightful harp with the lyre. Psalms 81:1-2.

In the same author,

Sing to Jehovah a new song; let them praise His name in dancing, with timbrel and harp let them make melody to Him. Psalms 149:1, 3.

Here 'praising with timbrel' stands for ascribing glory from the feeling of delight that belongs to an affection for the good of faith, and 'praising with harp' for the pleasant feeling that belongs to an affection for the truth of faith.

[5] In the same author,

Praise God with timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and organ praise Him with sounding cymbals ² ; praise Him with clanging cymbals. ³ Psalms 150:3-5

'Praising with timbrel and dance' stands for doing so from the good and truth of faith; 'on stringed instruments and organ' stands for doing so from truths and consequently from good. Since all instruments corresponded to and were signs of the delights and pleasant feelings that belong to spiritual and celestial affections a large number of the Psalms of David have titles indicating how they were to be accompanied, such as On Neginoth, On the Nehiloth, On the Octave, ⁴ Shiggaion, the Gittith Muthlabben, the Sheminith, Shoshannim, or Mahalath.

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