366. That they should kill one another. That this signifies the falsification or extinction of truths, is manifest from the signification of killing, as denoting to extinguish truths; for by killing in the Word is signified to kill spiritually, or to kill the spiritual part of man or his soul, which is to extinguish truths. The reason why it also denotes to falsify, is, because when truths are falsified, they are also extinguished; for by falsification a different understanding of them is arrived at, and truth is truth according to the understanding of any one concerning it; for the love and the principle which have rule in man, draw and apply all things to them, even truths themselves; wherefore, when the love is evil, or the principle false, then the truths are infected with the evil of the love, or the falsity of the principle, and so are extinguished; this therefore is what is here signified by, "that they should kill one another." That this takes place when there is no good with man, and especially when there is no good in the doctrine of his church, is manifest from the preceding words, where it is said: "When he had opened the second seal, there went out a red horse; and it was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth"; by which is signified a second state of the church, when the understanding of the Word is destroyed as to good, whence divisions arise in the church (concerning which see above, n. 361, 364, 365).

[2] That the understanding of the Word, or, what is the same, the understanding of truth, is destroyed when there is no good with man, that is, where there is no love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, may be seen above (n. 365); for good in man, or what is the same, love in him, is the fire of his life, and truth in him, or the faith of truth, is the light thence; therefore according to the quality of the good or the quality of the love in him, such is the truth, or the faith of truth in him. Hence it is evident that if man is in evil, or in an evil love, he cannot be in the truth, or in the faith of truth; for the quality of the light which issues from that fire, is light to those who are in hell, which is a fatuous light, like the light from burning coals, which light is turned into mere darkness from the light flowing in from heaven. Such also is the light called natural light (lumen) with the evil, when they reason against the things of the church.

[3] That they should falsify truths and thereby extinguish them, is also meant by the Lord's words in Matthew:

Jesus said to the disciples, "The brother shall deliver up the brother, the father the son; the children shall rise up against the parents, and cause them to be put to death" (10:21).

And in Luke:

"Ye shall be betrayed by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death" (21:16).

By parents, brethren, children, [kinsfolk,] and friends, are not meant here parents, brethren, children, kinsfolk, friends, nor by disciples are meant disciples, but the goods and truths of the church, also evils and falsities; and that evils will extinguish goods, and falsities truths. (That such things are signified by these names, see the Arcana Coelestia 10490.)

2069. 'Kings of peoples will be from her' means truths that are the product of truths and goods joined together, meant by 'kings of peoples'. This is clear from the meaning of 'kings' as all truths in general, dealt with above in 2015, and from the meaning of 'peoples' also as truths, in general all things that are spiritual. For 'kings' are spoken of in reference to peoples, and not so much in reference to nations except when the nations mean evils, dealt with in 1259, 1260. In the prophetical part of the Word kings and peoples are mentioned many times, but nowhere are they used to mean kings and peoples, for at no point are kings and peoples the subject in the Word proper, which is the internal sense, but the celestial and spiritual things comprising the Lord's kingdom, and so goods and truths. The sense of the letter expresses itself by means of perceivable objects, as anyone does with words, merely to enable understanding.

[2] Since the subject here is Sarah and the promise that 'kings of peoples will be from her', and since 'Sarah' means Divine Truth which was the Lord's, 'kings of peoples' clearly means truths that are the product of truths and goods joined together, which are all the truths of the internal Church, that is, the interior truths of faith. Because these truths come from the Lord, they are frequently called 'kings' in the Word, and also 'a king's sons', as shown above in 2015.

[3] Anyone may see that some internal Divine matter lies concealed in the words that 'kings of peoples will be from her'. For the subject in this verse is Isaac, of whom it is said, 'I will bless him, and he will become nations', but of Sarah that 'kings of peoples will be from her'. Almost the same was also said of Abraham in verse 6 above, that 'kings will go out of him'; but it did not say as it does of Sarah, 'kings of peoples'. The arcanum within this lies too deep to allow it to be uncovered and described in a few words. From the representation and meaning of 'Abraham' as Divine Good and from the representation and meaning of 'Sarah' as Divine Truth the arcanum is to some extent evident, namely that from the Lord's Divine Good meant by 'Abraham' all celestial truth will come forth and have its being, and from the Lord's Divine Truth meant by 'Sarah' all spiritual truth will do so. Celestial truth is the truth which exists with celestial angels, and spiritual truth that which exists with spiritual angels. Or what amounts to the same, celestial truth was the truth which existed with members of the Most Ancient Church which came before the Flood and which was a celestial Church, spiritual truth that which existed with members of the Ancient Church which came after the Flood and was a spiritual Church. For angels, as also members of the Church, are distinguished into celestial and spiritual. That which distinguishes the celestial from the spiritual is love to the Lord, and that which distinguishes spiritual from celestial is love towards the neighbour.

[4] No more can be said about celestial truth and spiritual truth however until the difference between the celestial and the spiritual is known, or what amounts to the same, the difference between the celestial Church and the spiritual. For this see Volume One, in 202, 337, 1577; then concerning the nature of the Most Ancient Church and the nature of the Ancient Church, in 597, 607, 640, 765, 1114-1125, and in many other places. On the point that possessing love to the Lord constitutes the celestial, and possessing love towards the neighbour the spiritual, see 2023.

[5] These considerations now show what the arcanum is, namely that 'the kings who will go out of Abraham', referred to in verse 6, mean celestial truths that flow in from the Lord's Divine Good, while 'the kings of peoples who will be from Sarah', referred to in the present verse, mean spiritual truths that flow in from the Lord's Divine Truth. For the Lord's Divine Good is unable to flow in except with the celestial man since it is an influx into the will part of his mind, as was the case with the Most Ancient Church, whereas with the spiritual man the Lord's Divine Truth is flowing in since the influx is solely into the understanding part, which in him has been separated from the will part, 2053 (end). Or what amounts to the same, celestial good is flowing in with the celestial man, and spiritual good with the spiritual man. As a consequence the Lord is seen by celestial angels as the Sun, but by spiritual angels as the Moon, 1529, 1530.