De Verbo (The Word) #10
10. X. The ultimate sense of the Word, 1 which is the literal sense alone, corresponds to the beard and hair of the head of an angelic person.
It may seem surprising the first time it is said or we hear it said that the hair of the head and the beard correspond to the Word at its ultimate level. But this correspondence is due to the fact that everything in the Word corresponds to everything in heaven, and heaven corresponds to everything in a person. For heaven taken as a whole is like a single person in the Lord's sight; on this correspondence see Heaven and Hell [87-102, 307].
[2] I was allowed to perceive that everything in the Word corresponds to everything in heaven from the fact that each chapter in the books of the prophets corresponds to one particular community in heaven. For on reading through the prophetic parts of the word from Isaiah to Malachi, I was allowed to see that the communities of heaven were aroused one after the other, and they perceived the spiritual sense which corresponded to them. So from this and other proofs it was plain to me that the whole of heaven has, part by part, a correspondence to the Word. Now since there is such a correspondence of the Word to heaven, and heaven as a whole and in its parts corresponds to a person, this is why the ultimate level of the Word corresponds to the ultimate in a person. The ultimate level in the Word is the literal sense, and the ultimate level in a person is the hair of his head and his beard.
[3] This is why when people who have loved the Word even at its ultimate level after death become spirits, they are to be seen with a fair head of hair; and so are the angels. When these same people become angels, they also let their beards grow. On the other hand, all who have despised the literal sense of the Word, on becoming spirits after death, turn bald. This is also a sign that they are devoid of truths. So to avoid embarrassing others, they cover their heads with a head-dress.
[4] Since the hair and the beard mean the ultimate level of heaven, and so also the ultimate level of Divine Truth or the Word, the Ancient of Days is described as having the hair of his head like clean wool (Daniel 7:9). Likewise the Son of Man or the Lord as regards the Word (Revelation 1:14). For the same reason the strength of Samson lay in his hair, and he was weakened by having it cut off. The condition of a Nazarite also lay in his hair; for the Nazarite represented the Lord at His ultimate level, and so also heaven at its ultimate level. This was the reason why the forty-two children were torn in pieces by bears for calling Elisha bald (2 Kings 2:23-24).
[5] Elisha, like Elijah and the other prophets, represented the Lord as regards the Word; and the Word without its ultimate, that is, its literal sense, is no longer the Word. For the literal sense of the Word is like a bottle filled with fine wine; so if the bottle is broken, all the wine is lost. The literal sense of the Word is like the bones and skin of the human body; take them away and the whole person falls to pieces. That is why what holds the Word together and in fact gives it its power is its ultimate sense, the literal sense; for this sustains and holds together all the Divine truth it contains.
[6] Since baldness means the absence of truth, when the Jewish church, since it lacks the ultimate level, abandoned Jehovah and despised the Word, it was called bald, as in Jeremiah:
Every head is bald and every beard is shorn. Jeremiah 48:37.
In Isaiah:
Baldness on their heads, and a shorn beard. Isaiah 15:2.
In Ezekiel:
To shave his head and beard with a razor. Ezekiel 5:1.
Shame on all their faces, and baldness on all heads. Ezekiel 7:18.
Every head has been made bald. Ezekiel 29:18.
And in other places, such as Amos 8:10, Micah 1:16.
[7] But the sense of the Word known as the literal sense corresponds at its ultimate level to the hair of the head, but in other respects to various parts of the human body, as its head, chest, loins and feet. But where those correspondences occur in that sense, the Word is so to speak clothed, and so corresponds to the clothing of those parts. For in general clothes mean truths, and really correspond to them. But there are still many things in the literal sense of the Word which are bare and so to speak unclothed; and they correspond to a person's face and his hands, which are the parts left uncovered. Those parts of the Word serve for the teaching of the church, because they are in themselves spiritual-natural truths. From this it can be established that there is no obstacle to prevent a person being able to find and see bare truths there too.
각주:
1. Added in the margin: 'As the result of the correspondence between natural and spiritual things the ultimate sense of the Word is to be understood by the twelve precious stones composing the foundations of the wall of the New Jerusalem'.
2 Kings 1
1
Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2
Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper room that was in Samaria, and was sick. So he sent messengers, and said to them, "Go, inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover of this sickness."
3
But the angel of Yahweh said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and tell them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you go to inquire of Baal Zebub, the God of Ekron?
4
Now therefore thus says Yahweh, "You shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die."'" Elijah departed.
5
The messengers returned to him, and he said to them, "Why is it that you have returned?"
6
They said to him, "A man came up to meet us, and said to us, 'Go, return to the king who sent you, and tell him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the God of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.'"'"
7
He said to them, "What kind of man was he who came up to meet you, and told you these words?"
8
They answered him, "He was a hairy man, and wearing a leather belt around his waist." He said, "It is Elijah the Tishbite."
9
Then [the king] sent a captain of fifty with his fifty to him. He went up to him; and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. He said to him, "Man of God, the king has said, 'Come down!'"
10
Elijah answered to the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from the sky, and consume you and your fifty!" fire came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.
11
Again he sent to him another captain of fifty and his fifty. He answered him, "Man of God, the king has said, 'Come down quickly!'"
12
Elijah answered them, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from the sky, and consume you and your fifty!" The fire of God came down from the sky, and consumed him and his fifty.
13
Again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. The third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him, "Man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty your servants, be precious in your sight.
14
Behold, fire came down from the sky, and consumed the two former captains of fifty with their fifties. But now let my life be precious in your sight."
15
The angel of Yahweh said to Elijah, "Go down with him. Don't be afraid of him." He arose, and went down with him to the king.
16
He said to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no god in Israel to inquire of his word? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.'"
17
So he died according to the word of Yahweh which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram began to reign in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.
18
Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
