194. And thou shalt not know in what hour I will come upon thee, signifies ignorance of that time and of the state then. This is evident from the signification of "hour," as being the time when man is to die, and also his state then; and from the signification of "not knowing" it, as being ignorance. It is said "In what hour I will come upon thee," namely, "as a thief," and this means, in the sense of the letter, that the Lord will so come; but in the spiritual sense, it means that evils and falsities will steal away the knowledges that they have from the Word. For in the sense of the letter of the Word doing evil is attributed to Jehovah, or to the Lord, but in the spiritual sense the meaning is that He does evil to no one, but that man does evil to himself (See Arcana Coelestia 2447, 5798, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7877, 7926, 8227, 8228, 8284, 8483, 8632, 9010, 9128, 9306, 10431).

[2] "Hour," moreover signifies state, because all times in the Word, as a day, a week, a month, a year, an age, signify states of life, so likewise "an hour" (the reason of this may be seen in the work onHeaven and Hell 162-169, where Time in Heaven is treated of). But as "hour" means both time and state, where "hour" occurs in the Word it can scarcely be known that it signifies anything except time. As in Matthew:

A householder hired laborers into his vineyard, who labored from the third hour, the sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh, and received equal reward (Matthew 20:1-16).

These "hours" mean, in the world, times, but in heaven, states of life, since in heaven there are no hours, because times there are not measurable and divided into days and these into hours, as in the world; consequently instead of these times the angels perceive the states of life of those who die, as old men, men, youths, or children, and who have equally acquired for themselves spiritual life; "laboring in the vineyard" is acquiring for oneself spiritual life by the knowledges of truth and good from the Word applied to the uses of life; the "third," the "sixth," and the "ninth hours" signify a like state of life, for all numbers in the Word are significative, and these numbers have a similar signification. (That "vineyard" in the Word signifies the spiritual church, and with man spiritual life, see Arcana Coelestia 9139, 3220. That "three" signifies a full state, or what is complete even to the end, n. 2788, 4495, 7715, 8347, 9825; likewise "six" and "nine." But "eleven" signifies a state not yet full, and yet a receptive state such as there is with well-disposed children and infants. The "twelfth hour," to which all labored, signifies truths and goods in their fullness, n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913. That all numbers in the Word are significative, n. 4495, 4670, 5265, 6175, 9488, 9659, 10217, 10253; and that composite numbers have a signification like that of the simple numbers from which they arise by multiplication, thus "three," "six," and "nine," have a similar signification, n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973.)

[3] Since "twelve" signifies truths and goods in their fullness, thus man's state of light or intelligence from these, the Lord says:

Are there not twelve hours of the day? If a man walk in the day he stumbleth not (John 11:9).

Elsewhere, also, "hours" signify states of life, as in Revelation:

Those four angels were loosed, which were prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men (Revelation 9:15).

The times here mentioned mean the states of evil with man, as will be seen in the explanation of these words hereafter. From this it is now evident that "Thou shalt not know in what hour I will come upon thee," means not only that one is ignorant of the time of death but also of the state of life at that time which will continue to eternity; for such as the state of man's past life is, even to the end, such he remains to eternity.

[4] Like things are said by the Lord here and there in the Evangelists. In Matthew:

Ye know not in what hour your Lord will come; be ye ready; for in an hour that ye think not, the Son of man cometh (Matthew 24:42, 44).

The lord of the servant shall come in the day when he expecteth not, and in an hour that he knoweth not (Matthew 24:50).

Be wakeful, therefore, for ye know not the day, neither the hour, wherein the Son of man shall come (Matthew 25:13).

It should be known that man remains to eternity such as his whole life is, even to the end, and by no means such as he is at the hour of death: repentance at that time with the evil is of no avail, but with the good it strengthens.

9466. 'And violet' means the celestial love of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'violet' as the celestial love of truth, the reason why 'violet' has this meaning being that it is a celestial colour, and by this colour truth from a celestial origin is meant, that is, truth springing from the good of love to the Lord. This good predominates in the inmost heaven, revealing itself in the middle or second heaven as the colours purple and violet. The actual good reveals itself as purple, and the truth springing from it as violet. For when colours appear in the next life, and in heaven itself, they are most beautiful ones; and they all have their origin in goodness and truth. For the sphere of affections for goodness and truth is revealed to the eyes of angels and of spirits also by means of colours, specific things being revealed by means of objects variously coloured, and also to their nostrils by means of odours. For every celestial reality belonging to good or spiritual reality belonging to truth is represented in the lower heavens by means of the kinds of things that appear in the natural order, and by this means is revealed to the actual external senses of spirits and angels in those heavens. The reason why the spheres of affection for goodness and truth are revealed visually by means of colours is that colours are modifications of heavenly light, and so of intelligence and wisdom, see 4530, 4677, 4742, 4922.

[2] This now explains why the materials that were to be gathered together for the tabernacle and Aaron's garments included violet, purple, twice-dyed scarlet, and skins of red rams; for the tabernacle represented the Lord's heaven, the materials which were used to construct and cover it represented the celestial and spiritual realities that belong to goodness and truth, and Aaron's garments had a like representation, 9457. It explains why the veil within which the ark of the Testimony was placed was woven from violet, purple, twice-dyed scarlet, and fine linen thread, Exodus 26:31, as likewise was the covering for the door of the tent, Exodus 26:36, and the covering for the gate of the court as well, Exodus 27:16, and why the loops on the edge of the curtain were made of violet, Exodus 26:4. It also explains why the ephod was made of gold, violet, purple, twice-dyed scarlet, and linen thread woven together, as was the breastplate of judgement, Exodus 28:6, 15.

[3] 'Violet' means the celestial love of truth, and 'garments made of violet' cognitions or knowledge of truth present as a result of that love, in Ezekiel,

Fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail, that it might be to you an ensign; violet and purple from the islands of Elishah was your covering. They were your traders with choice wares, ¹ with balls of violet, and embroidery, and with chests of precious garments. Ezekiel 27:7, 24.

This refers to Tyre, by which cognitions of truth and good are meant, 1201. Knowledge and understanding acquired from these is described by 'embroidered work from Egypt', and by 'violet and purple from the islands of Elishah'. 'Embroidered work from Egypt' is factual knowledge of truth, and 'violet and purple from the islands of Elishah' is an understanding of truth and good.

[4] In the same prophet,

Two women, the daughters of one mother, in their youth committed whoredom in Egypt - Oholah and Oholibah. Oholah committed whoredom under Me and doted on the Assyrians her neighbours - clothed in violet, governors and leaders, horsemen riding on horses. Ezekiel 23:2-6.

'Oholah' stands for Samaria, and 'Oholibah' for Jerusalem, Samaria in this instance being the corrupted spiritual Church. 'Committing whoredom in Egypt' means falsifying truths by means of factual knowledge, 'doting on the Assyrians her neighbours' stands for having a love of reasonings based on those falsifications, and 'clothed in violet' stands for ideas which look like truth springing from good because they are derived from the literal sense of the Word interpreted wrongly.

[5] Something similar occurs in Jeremiah,

Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the smith and of the hands of the molder. Their clothing is violet and purple. These are all the work of the wise. Jeremiah 10:9.

This refers to the idols of the house of Israel, by which false teachings, supported by distortions of the outward sense of the Word, are meant, 9424. 'The work of the smith and of the hands of the molder', and also 'these are all the work of the wise', stand for the fact that they are the product of self-intelligence. 'Silver from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz' stands for their seeming to outward appearance to be true and good because they are taken from the Word; and much the same is meant by 'violet and purple' of which their clothing consisted.

[6] In John,

I saw horses in the vision, and those seated on them had breastplates of fire and violet and brimstone, by whom a third part of mankind was killed. Revelation 9:17-18.

'Horses' and 'those seated on them' stand for a topsy-turvy and corrupted understanding of truth. 'Breastplates of fire, violet, and brimstone' stands for defence of falsities that arise from the evils of devilish kinds of love. In this instance therefore 'fire' stands for the hellish love of evil, and 'violet' for the hellish love of falsity. They are accordingly used in the contrary sense; for the majority of things in the Word also have a contrary meaning.

სქოლიოები: