2383. That 'they struck with blindness' means that they were filled with falsities is clear from the meaning of 'blindness'. In the Word blindness is used in reference to people who are immersed in falsity, and also to people who have no knowledge of the truth. Both kinds of people are called blind, though who are meant in any one place becomes clear from the train of thought, especially that in the internal sense. That those immersed in falsity are called 'blind' is clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark. Isaiah 56:10.

'Blind watchmen' stands for those who, because of reasoning, are immersed in falsity. In the same prophet,

We look for light, and, behold, darkness; for brightness, but we walk in thick darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind. Isaiah 59:9-10,

In Jeremiah,

They went astray blind in the streets; they defiled themselves with blood. Things which have no power they touch with their garments. Lamentations 4:14.

This stands for the fact that all truths have been defiled, 'streets' standing for truths in which they have gone astray, 2336.

[2] In Zechariah,

On that day I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. Every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness. Zechariah 12:4.

Here and elsewhere in the Word 'a horse' stands for what has to do with the understanding. This is why it is said that the horse would be struck with panic, and [every] horse of the peoples with blindness, that is, it would be filled with falsities.

[3] In John,

For judgement I came into the world, that those who do not see may see, but that those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees heard these words and said, Are we also blind? Jesus said to them, If you were blind you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see', therefore your sin remains. John 9:39-41.

Here the blind in both senses are referred to, that is to say, those who are immersed in falsity and those who have no knowledge of truth. With those inside the Church who know what the truth is, 'blindness' is falsity; but with those who do not know what the truth is, as with those outside the Church, 'blindness' is having no knowledge of the truth. The latter are blameless.

[4] In the same gospel,

He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and I heal them. John 12:40; Isaiah 6:9-11.

The meaning here is that it would be better for falsities to exist with them than truths, for they lead a life of evil and if they received instruction in truths they would not only continue to falsify them but would also pollute them with evils. They would do so for the same reason that the men of Sodom were struck with blindness, that is, matters of doctrine were filled with falsities. Why this is done has been shown in 301-303, 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2426.

[5] Because 'blind' meant that which was false, therefore people were not allowed in the Jewish representative Church to sacrifice anything blind, Leviticus 22:22; Deuteronomy 15:21; Malachi 1:8. Also any priest who was blind was forbidden to approach and offer on the altar, Leviticus 21:18, 21.

[6] That 'blindness' is used in reference to those, like gentiles, who have no knowledge of the truth, is clear in Isaiah,

On that day the deaf will hear the words of the Book, and out of thick darkness and out of darkness the eyes of the blind will see. Isaiah 29:18.

'The blind' stands for people who have no knowledge of the truth, chiefly those who are outside the Church. In the same prophet,

Bring forth the blind people and they will have eyes; and the deaf, and they will have ears. Isaiah 43:8.

This refers to the Church of the gentiles. In the same prophet,

I will lead the blind in a way they do not know; I will turn the darkness before them into light. Isaiah 42:16.

[7] In the same prophet,

I will give You to be a light of the people, to open the blind eyes, to bring the bound out of the dungeon, from the prison-house those who sit in darkness. Isaiah 42:6-7.

This refers to the Lord's Coming and the fact that at that time people who had no knowledge of truth were to receive instruction. For those immersed in falsity do not allow themselves to receive such instruction, for they know the truth but have set themselves against it and have turned the light of truth into darkness which is not dispelled. In Luke,

The householder said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the lame, and the blind. Luke 14:21.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom. Not those who are literally poor, maimed, lame, and blind are meant but those who are so in the spiritual sense.

[8] In the same gospel,

Jesus said that they were to report to John: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. Luke 7:22.

According to the sense of the letter nobody else is meant by the blind, the lame, lepers, the deaf, the dead, and the poor than those who were so physically, for such cures did take place, that is to say, the blind received sight, the deaf hearing, lepers were restored to health, and the dead to life.

[9] But in the internal sense the same people are meant as are referred to in

Isaiah,

Then will be opened the eyes of the blind, and the ears of the deaf will be opened; then will the lame man leap like a hart, and the dumb man sing with his tongue. Isaiah 35:5-6.

This refers to the Lord's Coming and a new Church at that time called the Church of the gentiles who are described as being blind, deaf, lame, and dumb; they were so called as regards their doctrine and life. For it should be recognized that all the miracles which the Lord performed always embodied such matters and therefore meant the things which the blind, the lame, lepers, the deaf, the dead, and the poor are used to mean in the internal sense. Consequently the Lord's miracles were Divine, as also those performed in Egypt, in the wilderness, and all the rest described in the Word, had been. This is an arcanum.

8093. 'That God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines' means that the Divine saw to it that they should not pass on to the truth of faith that does not spring from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'God did not lead them by the way' as the Divine saw to it that they should not pass on to, for 'leading', when done by God, means providence, and 'the way' means truth, 627, 2333, in this instance passing on to it; and from the representation of 'the Philistines' as those who have a knowledge of the cognitions of faith but do not lead a life of charity, dealt with in 1197, 1198, 3412, 3413, thus those who possess the truth of faith that does not spring from good. The fact that 'the Philistines' and 'the land of the Philistines' have this meaning may be recognized from places in the Word where they are mentioned, in particular in Jeremiah 47:1-end, where they are described, also in Joel 3:5-6, as well as from the historical accounts in the Word referring to wars between the children of Israel and the Philistines, to the subjection of the children of Israel by the Philistines and then of the Philistines by the children of Israel. By 'the Philistines' in these places those who champion separated faith are represented, that is, people for whom the knowledge of cognitions of faith is all-important but not a life led in accordance with that knowledge, consequently people who teach and believe that a person is saved by faith alone.

[2] This particular belief about faith alone or separated faith is not new or something that belongs solely to the present time. It had come to exist in the ancient Churches, growing ever stronger along with evil in life. It is also described in various places in the Word, but by means of names, by Cain' first, in that he killed his brother Abel, 337, 340, 1179. In the internal representative sense of that story 'Cain' is that kind of faith, while 'Abel' is charity. Such faith is also described by 'Ham', when cursed by his father, 1062, 1063; after that by 'Reuben', in that he went up to his father's bed, 3870, 4601, and by 'Simeon and Levi', in that they killed Hamor and the men of Shechem and were for that reason cursed by their father, 3870, 6352. That faith is also described by 'the Egyptians' and by 'their firstborn', in that the latter were killed, 7766, 7778, and the former drowned in the Sea Suph. It is described too by 'the Philistines', 3412, 3413, and also by 'Tyre and Sidon', in various places in the Prophets; there a knowledge of the cognitions of faith is meant by 'the Philistines', and the cognitions themselves, interior and exterior, by 'Tyre and Sidon'. Lastly such faith is represented by 'Peter' when he denied the Lord three times, 6000, 6073(end). But see what has been shown already regarding this faith, in 36, 379, 389, 916, 1017, 1076, 1077, 1162, 1176, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 2049, 2116, 2228, 2231, 2261, 2343, 2349, 2364, 2383, 2385, 2401, 2435, 2982, 3146, 3242, 3325, 3412, 3413, 3416, 3427, 3773, 4663, 4672, 4673, 4683, 4721, 4730, 4766, 4783, 4925, 5351, 5820, 5826, 6269, 6272, 6273, 6348, 6353, 7039, 7097, 7127, 7317, 7502, 7545, 7623-7627, 7724, 7779, 7790, 7950.

4925. 'That behold, his brother came out' means the truth of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'brother' as that which is kindred, by virtue of good, dealt with in 3815, 4267, and so the truth of good. The truth of good is that truth which is rooted in good, or that faith which is rooted in charity. Dealt with here in the internal sense is the birthright in the case of those who are being born again or regenerated by the Lord, and therefore the birthright within the Church. It has been a matter of argument since most ancient times as to which is the firstborn, whether this is the good of charity or whether it is the truth of faith. Unseen while a person is being born again and becoming a Church, good conceals itself within the interior man and reveals itself solely within some affection which does not pass into the conscious feelings of the external or natural man until he has been born again. But truth reveals itself, for this does enter his conscious feelings and lodges in the memory belonging to the external or natural man. This explains why many have fallen into the error that truth is the firstborn, and at length even thinking that truth is the vital element of the Church, so vital that truth which is called faith can save a person without the good of charity.

[2] From this one error very many others have been derived which have infected not only what is taught but also life, such as the error that no matter what kind of life a person leads he can be saved provided he has faith. A further derivative error is that very wicked people are accepted into heaven provided that in the final hour before they die they declare their belief in those things which are matters of faith; and another such error is that, irrespective of the kind of life one has led, one is accepted into heaven solely by grace. Because people hold to this teaching they fail at length to know what charity is or to have any concern about what it is, till in the end they do not believe in the existence of it, or consequently in the existence of heaven and hell. The reason for this is that faith without charity, or truth without good, teaches a person nothing; and the more it departs from good, the more foolish it makes him. For good is what the Lord flows into and through which He flows, imparting intelligence and wisdom and consequently a superior ability to see, and also perception whether something is really true or not.

[3] From these considerations one may now see the position with regard to the birthright, namely that in actual fact it belongs to good but appears to belong to truth. This is what the birth of Tamar's two sons is used to describe in the internal sense. 'The twice-dyed thread' which the midwife bound on the hand that came out means good, as shown in 4922; 'coming out first' means priority of place, 4923; 'withdrawing the hand' means that good concealed its own power, as stated immediately above [in 4924]; 'his brother came out' means truth; 'you have made a breach upon yourself means this truth's apparent separation from good; 'afterwards his brother came out' means that good is in actual fact first; and 'on whose hand was the twice-dyed thread' means the acknowledgement that good is first. For it is not until after a person has been born again that good is acknowledged to be first, at which point that person's actions spring from good, and his view of truth and what this is like springs from the same.

[4] These are the matters contained within the internal sense, in which teaching is given regarding the good and truth with a person who is being born anew, namely that good in actual fact occupies first place but truth appears to do so, and that good is not seen to occupy the first place while a person is being regenerated but is plainly seen to do so once he has been regenerated. But there is no need to explain these matters any further since they have been explained already - see 3324, 3325, 3494, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4243, 4244, 4247, 4337; and the fact that controversy has taken place since ancient times over whether the birthright belonged to good or to truth, that is, to charity or to faith, 2435.

[5] Because in the highest sense the Lord is the firstborn, and therefore love to Him and charity towards the neighbour are the firstborn, the law was for that reason laid down in the representative Church that firstborn things were Jehovah's: in Moses,

Sanctify to Me all the firstborn, that which opens the womb among the children of Israel; with man and with beast let them be Mine. Exodus 13:2.

You shall make over to Jehovah all that opens the worm', and every firstling of a beast; however many males you have they shall be Jehovah's. Exodus 13:12.

All that opens the womb is Mine; therefore among all your cattle, you shall give the male. that among oxen and small cattle which opens [the womb]. Exodus 34:19.

All that opens the womb among all flesh which they bring to Jehovah, from men and from beasts, shall be yours. Nevertheless you shall surely redeem all the firstborn of men. Numbers 18:15.

Behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from the midst of the children of Israel, instead of every firstborn, that which opens the womb, from the children of Israel, so that the Levites may be Mine. Numbers 3:12.

[6] Because the firstborn is the one that opens the womb, the expression 'that which opens the womb' is therefore added, when the firstborn is mentioned in these places, so as to mean good. It is evident that this expression means good from the specific details contained in the internal sense, especially from those which are recorded regarding the sons of Tamar: Zerah is said to have opened the womb with his hand, and 'Zerah' represents good, as is also clear from the twice-dyed thread placed on his hand, dealt with in 4922. In addition to this 'the womb', to which the expression 'opened' is applied, means the place where good and truth, consequently the Church, lie, see 4918, while 'opening the womb' means supplying the power which enables truth to be born.

[7] Because the Lord is the only firstborn - He being Good itself, and His Good being the source of all truth - Jacob, who was not the firstborn, was therefore allowed to purchase the birthright from Esau his brother so that he might represent Him. Also, because this was not sufficient, he was called Israel, so that by this name he might represent the good of truth; for 'Israel' in the representative sense means good which comes through truth, 3654, 4286, 4598.