3103. And the man took a jewel of gold. That this signifies Divine good, is evident from the signification of a “jewel of gold,” as being good; and here, because in the internal sense the Lord is treated of, it signifies the Divine good; and because this is from the rational, the term “man” [vir] is used (that a “man” denotes the rational, may be seen above, n. 265, 749, 1007). In ancient times, when the forms of worship in churches were representative, and it was known what they signified, when marriages were being entered upon it was customary to give the bride a jewel of gold and bracelets, because the church was represented by the bride, its good by the jewel, and its truth by the bracelets; and because it was known that the conjugial love with the bride and the wife descends from the marriage of the Lord’s Divine good and Divine truth (n. 2508, 2618, 2727-2729). The jewel of gold was put upon the nose, as is evident also from what is said afterwards, that he “put the jewel upon her nose” (verse 47), for the reason that the nose signified the life of good, from the respiration there, which in the internal sense is life, and also from the fragrance, which is what is grateful to the love, the good of which it is (n. 96, 97).

[2] That the “jewel” was the badge of marriage as to good, is evident also from other passages of the Word as in Ezekiel:

I decked thee with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain upon thy throat; and I put a jewel upon thy nose (Ezekiel 16:11-12); concerning the Ancient Church, here called “Jerusalem,” which is described as a bride, to whom were given bracelets, a chain, and a jewel. “Bracelets upon the hands” were a badge representative of truth; and a “jewel upon the nose” was a badge representative of good.

[3] In Isaiah:

Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, the Lord will make bald the crown of their head, and will take away the rings, and the nose jewels, the changes of garments, and the mantles (Isaiah 3:16-18, 21-22).

The “daughters of Zion who are haughty,” denote the affections of evil within the church (n. 2362, 3024); the “rings and the nose jewels which will be removed,” denote good and its badges; the “changes of garments and the mantles,” truth and its badges.

[4] In Hosea:

I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim to which she burned incense; and she put on her nose jewel and her ornaments, and went after her lovers (Hos. 2:13);

treating of the perverted church, and the new church after it. The “nose jewel” here also denotes a badge of the good of the church. When these jewels were fitted to the ears, they also signified good, but good in act; and in the opposite sense evil in act (as in Genesis 35:4; Exodus 32:2-3).

1008. Will I require the soul of man. That this means to avenge profanation, is evident from what has been said in the preceding verse and in this verse, for the subject is the eating of blood, by which is signified profanation. What profanation is, few know, and still less what its punishment is in the other life. Profanation is manifold. He who utterly denies the truths of faith does not profane them, as do not the nations which live outside of the church and of knowledges. But he profanes them who knows the truths of faith, and especially he who acknowledges them, bears them in his mouth, preaches them, and persuades others to adopt them, and yet lives in hatred, revenge, cruelty, robbery, and adultery, which he confirms in himself by many things that he extracts from the Word, perverting them and thus immersing them in these foul evils. He it is who profanes. And it is such profanity chiefly that brings death to a man, as may be evident from this, that in the other life what is profane and what is holy are entirely separated-what is profane in hell and what is holy in heaven. When such a man comes into the other life, in every idea of his thought, just as in the life of the body, what is holy adheres to what is profane. He cannot there bring forth a single idea of what is holy without what is profane being seen adhering, as clearly as in daylight, there is such perception of another’s ideas in the other life. Thus in everything he thinks profanation is manifest, and since heaven abhors profanation, he cannot but be thrust down into hell.

[2] The nature of ideas is known to hardly anyone. It is supposed that they are something simple; but in each idea of thought there are things innumerable, variously conjoined so as to make a certain form, and hence pictured image of the man, which is all perceived and even seen in the other life. Merely for example-when the idea of a place occurs, whether of a country, a city, or a house, then an idea and image of all things the man has ever done there comes forth, and they are all seen by angels and spirits; or when the idea of a person whom he has held in hatred, then the idea comes forth of all things which he has thought, spoken, and done against him. And so it is with all other ideas; when they come up, all things in general and particular that he has conceived and impressed on himself in regard to the subject in question lie open to view. As when the idea of marriage arises, if he has been an adulterer, all filthy and obscene things of adultery, even of thought about it, come forth; likewise all things with which he has confirmed adulteries—whether from things of sense, from things of reason, or from the Word—and how he has adulterated and perverted the truths of the Word.

[3] Moreover, the idea of one thing flows into the idea of another and colors it, as when a little black is dropped into water and the whole volume of water is darkened. Thus is the spirit known from his ideas, and, wonderful to say, in every idea of his there is an image or likeness of himself, which when presented to view is so deformed as to be horrible to see. From this it is evident what is the state of those who profane holy things, and what is their appearance in the other life. But it can never be said that those profane holy things who in simplicity have believed what is said in the Word, even if they have believed what was not true; for things are said in the Word according to appearances, as may be seen above n. 589).