8904. Thou shalt not commit adultery. That this signifies that those things which are of the doctrine of faith and of charity are not to be perverted, thus that the Word is not to be applied to confirm falsities and evils, also that the laws of order are not to be upset, is evident from the signification of “committing adultery,” “debauching,” and “whoredom,” as being in the spiritual or internal sense, to pervert the goods, and falsify the truths, which are of the doctrine of faith and of charity. And as these things are signified by “committing adultery,” there is also signified to apply the Word to confirm evils and falsities; for the Word is the very doctrine itself of faith and charity, and the perversion of the truth and good of the Word is its application to falsities and evils. That these things are signified by “committing adultery” and “debauching” in the spiritual sense, is known to scarcely anyone at this day, for the reason that within the church few now know what the spiritual is, and in what respect it differs from the natural. And scarcely anyone knows that there is a correspondence between the two, and indeed of such a nature that the image of the one is presented in the other, that is, the spiritual is represented in the natural, consequently that the spiritual is like a soul, and the natural is like its body; and thus that through influx and the consequent conjunction they constitute a one; as in the regenerate man do his internal man which is also called spiritual, and his external man which is also called natural.

[2] Such things being at this day unknown, it therefore cannot be known what is signified by “committing adultery,” further than being unlawfully conjoined as to the body. These things, as has been said, being at this day unknown, the reason may be told why “committing adultery” in the spiritual sense signifies to pervert those things which are of the doctrine of faith and charity, thus to adulterate goods and falsify truths. The reason, which at this day is a secret one, is that conjugial love descends from the marriage of good and truth, which is called “the heavenly marriage.” The love which flows in from the Lord and which exists between good and truth in heaven, is turned into conjugial love on the earth, and this by correspondence. Hence it is that the falsification of truth is “whoredom,” and the perversion of good is “adulteration,” in the internal sense. Hence also it is that they who are not in the good and truth of faith cannot be in genuine conjugial love; and also that those who find the delight of life in adulteries can no longer receive anything of faith. I have heard it said by the angels that as soon as anyone commits adultery on the earth and takes delight in it, heaven is closed to him, that is, he refuses any longer to receive from heaven anything of faith and charity. That at this day in the kingdoms where the church is, adulteries are made light of by very many persons, is because the church is at its end, and thus there is no longer any faith, because there is no charity; for the one corresponds to the other. Where there is no faith, falsity is in the place of truth, and evil is in the place of good, and from this there flows the result that adulteries are no longer accounted as criminal; for when heaven is closed with a man, such things flow in from hell. (See what has been said and shown before on this subject, n. 2727-2759, 4434, 4835, 4837)

[3] That “to debauch,” and “to commit adultery,” in the internal or spiritual sense denote to falsify and to pervert the truths and goods of faith and charity, consequently also to confirm falsity and evil by wrong applications from the Word, can be seen from the several passages in the Word where mention is made of “committing adultery,” of “debauching,” and of “committing whoredom;” as will plainly appear from the following passages; as in Ezekiel:

Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations. Thou didst commit whoredom because of thy name, and didst pour out thy whoredoms on everyone that passed by. Thou didst take of thy garments, and didst make for thee high places of various colors, and didst commit whoredom upon them. Thou didst take the vessels of thine adornment of My gold and of My silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee images of a male; thou didst commit whoredom with them. Thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto Me, and these hast thou sacrificed. Was there little of thy whoredoms? Thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast multiplied thy whoredom to provoke Me. And thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, when thou wast insatiable; yea, thou hast committed whoredom with them, and yet thou wast not sated. And thou hast multiplied thy whoredom, even unto the land of traffic, unto Chaldea; and yet in this thou wast not sated. A woman, an adulteress under her man, taketh strangers. They give hire to all harlots; but thou hast given hirings to all thy lovers, and hast recompensed them, that they may come unto thee from every side for thy whoredoms. Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah. I will judge thee with the judgments of adulteresses, and of the shedders of blood (Ezekiel 16:2, and following verses).

[4] Who cannot see that by “whoredoms” here are signified falsifications of truth and adulterations of good? And who can understand a syllable of the passage unless he knows that “whoredom” has such a signification; also unless he knows what is meant by “the sons of Egypt,” by “the sons of Asshur,” and by “Chaldea,” with whom Jerusalem is said to have “committed whoredom?” That she did not do this with those peoples themselves is manifest. It must therefore be told what these things signify in the internal sense. By “Jerusalem” is meant the church perverted; her “garments” here denote truths which are perverted; consequently the falsities which are acknowledged are “the high places of various colors;” “the sons of Egypt” denote memory-knowledges; “the sons of Asshur,” reasonings; “Chaldea,” the profanation of truth (that “garments” denote truths, see n. 1073, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5319, 5954, 6914, 6918; that “high places” denote worship, and “the high places of various colors,” here, the worship of falsity, n. 796); “vessels of adornment of gold and of silver” denote the knowledges of good and truth (that “vessels” denote knowledges, see n. 3068, 3079; that “gold” denotes good, n. 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917; and “silver,” the truth of good, n. 1551, 2048, 2954, 5658); “images of a male” signify appearances and likenesses of truth (n. 2046); “the sons and daughters whom they bare” denote the truths and goods which they have perverted. (That “sons” denote truths, see n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373; and that “daughters” denote goods, see n. 489, 2362, 3024; that “the sons of Egypt” denote the memory-knowledges through which is perversion, see n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 2588, 4749, 4964, 4966, 5700, 5702, 6004, 6015, 6125, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692, 6750, 7296, 7779, 7926; that “Asshur” denotes the reasoning through which by means of memory-knowledges the truths of faith are perverted, and the goods thereof adulterated, see n. 119, 1186; and that “multiplying whoredom even unto the land of Chaldea” denotes even to the profanation of truth; also that “Chaldea” denotes the profanation of truth, n. 1368); from this it is plain why she is called “a woman an adulteress,” and also “a harlot.”

[5] In like manner we read of Babylon in Revelation:

There came one of the seven angels that had the seven vials, and spake with me, saying to me, Come, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed whoredom, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunken with the wine of her whoredom. It was Babylon the great, the mother of the harlots and of the abominations of the earth (Revelation 17:1-2, 5; 14:8; 18:3).

That “Babylon” denotes those who pervert the truths and goods of the church for the sake of self-dominion and of self-gain, and this even to profanation, is evident from the signification of “Babel” (n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1306-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326, 1327). Hence it is that Babylon is called “a harlot” and “the mother of harlots.” They who know nothing of the internal sense will believe that the kings of the earth who committed whoredom with her signified kings upon the earth, or kingdoms. Yet they do not signify kings, or kingdoms, but the truths of faith of the church, to “commit whoredom” with which denotes to pervert them. (That “kings” denote the truths of faith, see n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 6148; and that “the earth” denotes the church, n. 566, 662, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011, 8732.) “The inhabitants of the earth made drunk with the wine of whoredom” denotes that they who were within the church were brought into errors and ravings through the falsities of evil; for to be “made drunken” denotes to be led into errors through false reasonings and wrong interpretations of the Word (n. 1072). “Wine” denotes falsity from evil (n. 6377); consequently “the wine of whoredom” denotes falsity from the perversion of truth. That “earth” denotes the church has just been shown; she is said to “sit upon many waters,” because upon falsities, for in the genuine sense “waters” denote truths, and in the opposite sense, falsities (n. 729, 790, 8137, 8138, 8568).

[6] That “to commit adultery and whoredom” denotes to pervert the goods and the truths of the church, is plainly evident also from another passage in Ezekiel:

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom in Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. Oholah committed whoredom under Me; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors, clothed in blue, governors and leaders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. She bestowed her whoredoms upon them, the choice of all the sons of Asshur. Yet she forsook not her whoredoms from Egypt; for they lay with her in her youth. Oholibah was more corrupt in her love than she, and in her whoredoms above the whoredoms of her sister. She doted on the sons of Asshur. She added to her whoredoms, when she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, and she loved them at the look of her eyes. The sons of Babel also came to her unto the copulation of loves; they defiled her with their whoredom. Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, while she remembered the days of her youth, wherein she had committed whoredom in the land of Egypt. She doted on them more than their courtesans (Ezekiel 23:2 and following verses).

In this passage also no one can fail to see that by “whoredoms” are meant spiritual whoredoms, that is, perversions of the good, and falsifications of the truth, which are of the church; also that the things here contained in the internal sense are not manifest unless it is known what is signified by “the sons of Egypt,” by “the Assyrians” or “the sons of Asshur,” by “Chaldea,” and by “Babel;” for it is clear that these nations are not meant, but such things as are of falsity; because the inhabitants of Samaria and Jerusalem did not commit whoredom with them. But what is signified by “Egypt,” “Asshur,” “Chaldea,” and “Babylon” can be seen shown just above.

[7] From the following passages also it is evident that “whoredoms” and “adulteries” in the internal sense denote falsifications and perversions of good and truth, thus adulterations of these; as in Hosea:

Strive ye with your mother, strive ye, because she is not My wife, and I am not her husband; that she may remove her whoredoms from her faces, and her adulteries from between her breasts. I will not have mercy on her sons; because they are sons of whoredoms. For their mother hath committed whoredom, saying, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drinks. But I will lay waste her vine and her fig-tree, whereof she hath said, These are my harlot-hire that my lovers have given me (Hos. 2:2, 4-5, 12).

By “mother” in the internal sense is here meant the church (n. 289, 2691, 2717, 4257, 5581, 8897); in like manner by “wife” (n. 252, 253, 409, 749, 770), who is said “not to be a wife,” because in truths perverted, that is, in falsities; by “sons” are meant the truths of the church, here falsities, because they are called “sons of whoredoms” (n. 489, 491, 533, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704, 4257). What is meant by “bread,” what by “water,” what by “wool and flax,” also by “oil and drink,” and likewise by “vine and fig-tree,” has been shown in their places; namely, that they are the goods of love and of charity, also the goods and truths of faith interior and exterior; but in the opposite sense evils and falsities; for goods become evils, and truths become falsities, when they are perverted. (What is meant by “bread,” see n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915, 6118, 6409; also what by “waters,” n. 739, 790, 8137, 8138, 8568; what by “flax,” n. 7601; and what by “oil,” n. 886, 3728, 4582; what by “drink,” n. 3069, 3168, 3772, 8562; what by “vine,” n. 1069, 5113, 6376; and what by “fig-tree,” n. 4231, 5113.) “Harlot-hire” denotes the falsity of doctrine which they vaunt as truth.

[8] In the same:

My people asketh wood, and their staff answereth to it, because the spirit of whoredom hath led them astray, and they have committed whoredom from under their god. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, therefore your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. If thou, Israel, committest whoredom, let not Judah become guilty. Shall I not visit upon your daughters, because they commit whoredom, and upon your daughters-in-law, because they commit adultery? for they divide with whores, and they sacrifice with prostitutes (Hosea 4:12-16).

“To commit whoredom from under their god” denotes to pervert truth, for by “god” in the internal sense is signified truth, and in the opposite sense, falsity (n. 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 4295, 4402, 4544, 7010, 7268, 7873, 8301, 8867); “mountains and hills” denotes loves, here the loves of self and of the world (n. 795, 796, 1691, 2722, 6435); “the wood of which counsel is asked” denotes the good of the delight of some cupidity (n. 643); “the staff which answereth” denotes imaginary power from one’s own intellectual (n. 4013, 4015, 4876, 4936, 7011, 7026). As “gods” in the genuine sense signify truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, therefore falsifying truths and adulterating goods is signified by:

They have gone a whoring after strange gods, as after Baal, after Molech, after idols (Ezekiel 6:9; Leviticus 20:5 elsewhere).

[9] From all this it can now he seen what is meant by “adulteries” and “whoredoms” in the following passages:

Come hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer, and she hath committed whoredom; against whom do ye delight yourselves? against whom make ye wide the mouth, and thrust out the tongue? are ye not born of transgression, a seed of a lie, who have been heated among gods under every green tree? (Isaiah 57:3-5).

It shall come to pass at the end of seventy years, Jehovah will visit Tyre, that it may return to its harlot-hire, and commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth upon the faces of the world (Isaiah 23:17).

And a man put away his wife, and she went from him, and was another man’s; she committed whoredom with many companions. Thou hast profaned the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. Hast thou seen what backsliding Israel hath done? She goeth away upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and thou committest whoredom there. Moreover her treacherous sister Judah went away, and she also committed whoredom, insomuch that she hath profaned the land by the voice of her whoredom; she hath committed debauchery with stone and with wood (Jeremiah 3:1-2, 6, 8-9).

This is thy lot, because thou hast forgotten Me, and trusted in a lie; thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the wickedness of thy whoredom, on the hills in the field I have seen thine abominations. Woe to thee, O Jerusalem (Jeremiah 13:25, 27).

Against the prophets: The land is full of adulterers; for because of the curse the land mourneth; the pastures of the wilderness have dried up, because both prophet and priest practice hypocrisy. In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible stubbornness, in committing adultery and walking in a lie; they have strengthened the hands of the evil; they speak a vision of their heart, not out of the mouth of Jehovah (Jeremiah 23:9-11, 14, 16).

They have wrought folly in Israel, and have committed debauchery with the wives of their companions, and have spoken a word in My name falsely, which I commanded them not (Jeremiah 29:23).

[10] From these passages it is very manifest that “to commit adultery,” and “to debauch,” denote to explain and pervert the truths of the Word from one’s own heart, that is, from one’s own, in such a manner as the loves of self and of the world persuade one to do; consequently it is to speak lies, that is, falsities, as is openly said. Again:

Be not glad, O Israel, because thou hast committed whoredom from under thy God, thou hast loved harlot-hire upon all the cornfloors (Hos. 9:1).

Jehovah spake unto Hosea, Go, take unto thee a woman of whoredoms and children of whoredoms; because in whoring the land doth commit whoredom from behind Jehovah (Hos. 1:2).

Woe to the city of bloods! Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of sorceries, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her sorceries (Nah. 3:1, 4).

Your sons shall be feeders in the wilderness forty years, and they shall bear your whoredoms forty years; according to the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities (Numbers 14:33-34).

[11] Inasmuch as falsifications of truth and adulterations of good corresponded to whoredoms on the earth, therefore the penalty of death was for adulterers (Leviticus 20:10); and the daughter of a man who was a priest, if she profaned herself by committing whoredom, was to be burnt with fire (Leviticus 21:9); also no daughter in Israel was to be exposed to whoredom (Leviticus 19:19). In like manner a bastard was not to come into the congregation of Jehovah, not even his tenth generation (Deuteronomy 23:2); and the hire of a harlot was not to be brought into the house of Jehovah, because it is an abomination (Deuteronomy 23:18).

[12] From these passages it can now be fully seen what is signified by “committing adultery,” namely, that in the external sense it is to commit adulteries; in the internal representative sense it is to worship idols and other gods by means of such things as are of the church, consequently idolatry external and internal; but in the internal spiritual sense are signified adulterations of good and perversions of truth. From all this it is plainly evident whence it is that adulteries are in themselves so wicked, and are called “abominations,” namely, from the fact that they correspond to the marriage of falsity and evil, which is the infernal marriage; and on the other hand, why genuine marriages are holy, namely, from the fact that they correspond to the marriage of good and truth, which is the heavenly marriage. Nay, genuine conjugial love descends from the marriage of good and truth, thus out of heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord; whereas the love of adultery is from the marriage of falsity and evil, thus from hell, that is, from the devil.

2832. By his horns. That this signifies with all power in regard to the truths of faith, is evident from the signification of “horns.” “Horns” are mentioned in many places in the Word; and there signify the power of truth from good; and in the opposite sense the power of falsity from evil; here the meaning is that the spiritual who are signified by the “ram” are entangled in natural memory-knowledge with all their might in regard to truth, and hence that they are deprived of the power of perceiving truths. For the more anyone consults natural memory-knowledges, and sticks fast in them in his animus and mind in regard to the things which are truths of faith, the more does he lose the light of truth, and with the light, the life of truth. Everyone may know this from experience, if he attends and reflects, from those who say that they can believe nothing unless they comprehend that it is so by means of the things of sense, or of memory-knowledge. If you explore their quality, you will find that they believe nothing; and moreover that nothing seems to them more wise than to ascribe everything to nature. There are many also who say that they believe although they do not comprehend; when nevertheless, in secret with themselves, they reason equally as others do from the things of sense and memory-knowledge concerning the truths of faith, as to whether a thing is so. These either have a kind of persuasion breathed in from the love of self and the world, or they do not believe at all. Their quality is manifest from their life. Both classes are indeed in the Lord’s spiritual church, but they are not of the church. They who are of the church are in a life of good, and have faith in truths; but the spiritual have faith in other truths besides those which have been impressed on them from infancy, and which they have afterwards confirmed to themselves from doctrine or from some other source. Such is the state of the spiritual, which state is here described by the “ram caught in the thicket by his horns” (see just above, n. 2831).

[2] That a “horn” signifies the power of truth from good, is evident from the following passages.

In David:

Thou art the glory of their strength, and in Thy good pleasure wilt Thou exalt our horn; for our shield belongeth unto Jehovah, and our king to the Holy One of Israel. My truth and My mercy shall be with him, and in My name shall his horn be exalted; I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers (Psalms 89:17-18, 24-25 (Psalm 89:26)

where “our horn” and “his horn” manifestly denote the power of truth. The Lord’s spiritual kingdom is there treated of; “our king belongs to the Holy One of Israel” denotes that Divine truth belongs to the Lord. (That a “king” is truth, and that the Lord’s royalty is the Divine Truth, may be seen above, n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069); to “put his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers” denotes that strength is in the memory-knowledges and the knowledges of truth. (That the “hand” and the “right hand” denote strength, see above, n. 878; and also that the “sea” and the “rivers” denote memory-knowledges and knowledges, n. 28, 2702.) In the same:

I will love Thee, O Jehovah, my strength; Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strong rock in whom I trust, my shield, and the horn of my salvation (Psalms 18:1-2; 2 Samuel 22:2-3).

The “horn of salvation” denotes truth as to power; in this passage “strength,” “rock,” “fortress,” “God,” “strong rock,” and “shield,” are all significative of the power of truth.

[3] In the same:

In Zion will I make a horn to bud unto David, I will prepare a lamp for Mine anointed; His enemies will I clothe with shame (Psalms 132:17-18); where the Lord is treated of, who is “David” (n. 1888); a “horn” denotes the power of truth; a “lamp,” the light of truth.

In Samuel:

My heart hath exulted in Jehovah, my horn is exalted in Jehovah, my mouth is enlarged against mine enemies, because I have been glad in Thy salvation. Jehovah will give strength unto His king, and will exalt the horn of His anointed (1 Samuel 2:1 (2:1), 10);

this is the prophecy of Hannah; the “horn” denotes the power of truth.

[4] In Moses:

The firstling of his ox, honor is his, and his horns are the horns of the unicorn; with them shall he push the peoples all of them, to the ends of the earth (Deuteronomy 33:17);

this is the prophecy of Moses concerning Joseph, where the “horns of the unicorn” denote the great power of truth, as is manifest also from its being said that he shall “push the peoples with them to the ends of the earth.” So too in David:

My horn shalt Thou exalt like the unicorn’s (Psalms 92:10).

And in the same:

O Jehovah, save me from the mouth of the lion, and answer me from the horns of the unicorn (Psalms 22:21);

Divine truths, from their height, are called the “horns of unicorns;” hence the “horn” is so often said to be “exalted,” for exaltation signifies power from the interior. (That what is internal is represented by what is high, may be seen above, n. 1735, 2148)

[5] In Jeremiah:

The Lord hath cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel, He hath drawn back His right hand from before the enemy (Lam. 2:3);

to “cut off all the horn of Israel” denotes to deprive of truth which has power, which is also to “draw back the right hand from before the enemy.”

In Ezekiel:

In that day will I make a horn to grow for the house of Israel, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them (Ezekiel 29:21);

to “make the horn to grow for the house of Israel,” denotes to multiply the truths of the spiritual church, which is “Israel;” the “opening of the mouth” denotes the confession of them.

[6] In Habakkuk:

God will come from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran; His honor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise and His brightness shall be as the light; He had horns out of His hand, and there was the hiding of His strength (Hab. 3:3-4); where the Lord is treated of; that “He had horns out of His hand, and there was the hiding of His strength,” plainly denotes the power of truth; that “Mount Paran” is the Divine Spiritual or the Divine Truth of the Lord’s Human, may be seen above (n. 2714), which also is the “brightness” and the “light.”

[7] The Divine Truth of the Lord’s Human is thus described in John:

I saw and behold in the midst of the throne, and of the four animals, a Lamb standing as if slain, having seven horns, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth (Revelation 5:6).

The “seven horns” denote holy or Divine truths. (That “seven” means holy, may be seen above, n. 716, 881.) The “seven spirits sent forth into all the earth,” are the holy preachings of the same truths.

[8] The “horns of the altars” signified nothing else than truth in which is power. Of these it is said in Moses:

Thou shalt make horns upon the four corners of the altar; out of it shall its horns be (Exodus 27:2; 38:2).

So too upon the altar of incense, out of which were to be horns (Exodus 30:2; 37:25). (That the altar was a principal representative of the Lord and of His worship, may be seen above, n. 921.) The altar was a representative of His Divine Good; the horns were the representatives of His Divine Truth; that truth was from good was represented by the horns being out of it, or out of the altar. (That there is no other truth than that which is from good, may be seen above, n. 654, 1162, 1176, 1608, 2063, 2261, 2429.) It is manifest from this that “horns” in the genuine sense signify the power of truth which is from good.

[9] That Aaron and his sons, when initiated in the ministry, took of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with the finger (Exodus 29:12; Leviticus 8:15); and that Aaron made expiation upon the horns of the altar once in the year (Exodus 30:10); and that when a priest sinned, he offered a bullock, and put of the blood upon the horns of the altar of incense (Leviticus 4:3, 7); also that when a prince sinned, he offered a burnt-offering, and the blood was sprinkled upon the horns of the altar of burnt-offering (Leviticus 4:22, 25); and that it was the same when a soul sinned (verses 27, 30, 34, of the same chapter); as also when the altar was expiated (Leviticus 16:18-19)—all these things signified truths from good; for all sanctifications, inaugurations, and expiations were made by truths, because truths introduce to good (n. 2830). That the “horns of the altar” signified truths which are from good, may also be seen in John:

The sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God (Revelation 9:13).

The “horns of the golden altar” manifestly denote truths from good, for thence came the voice (that “gold” is good may be seen above, n. 113, 1551, 1552; and still more the “golden altar”).

[10] In Amos:

In the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will visit upon the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and shall fall to the ground (Amos 3:14).

That the “horns of the altar were to be cut off,” was because truth from good was no longer represented there; “Bethel” is the Divine Good, and is therefore called the “king’s sanctuary,” and the “house of the kingdom” (Amos 7:13). The kings being “anointed with oil from a horn” (1 Samuel 16:1 (1 Samuel 16:1), 13; 1 Kings 1:39) represented in like manner truth from good. (The “oil” was good, n. 886; but the “horn,” truth; the “royalty” itself in the internal sense is such truth, n. 1728, 2015, in which is power.)

[11] That a “horn” in the opposite sense signifies the power of falsity which is from evil, is evident from the following passages.

In Amos:

Ye who rejoice in a thing of naught, who say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? (Amos 6:13);

“horns” here denote the power of falsity.

In Zechariah:

I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and behold four horns; and I said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these? And he said to me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And Jehovah showed me four smiths; and I said, What come these to do? And He said, saying, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that no man doth lift up his head; and these are come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah, to scatter it (Zech. 1:18-21).

The “horns” denote the power of falsity, which vastates the church.

In Ezekiel:

Ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad (Ezekiel 34:21);

here the shepherds who seduce by falsities are treated of; the “horns” denote the power of falsity; the “shoulder,” all power (n. 1085).

In Jeremiah:

Jehovah hath destroyed, and hath not pitied, and He hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee; He hath exalted the horn of thine adversaries (Lam. 2:17).

In the same:

The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken (Jeremiah 48:25);

“horn” here denotes powerful falsity.

[12] In David:

I said to them that were glorying, Glory ye not, and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn; lift not up your horn on high, speak not with a stiff neck. All the horns of the wicked will I cut off, the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up (Psalms 75:4-5, 10).

The “horns of the wicked” denote the power of falsity from evil; the “horns of the righteous,” the power of truth from good.

[13] In Daniel:

A fourth beast was seen, terrible and powerful and strong exceedingly, and it had iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold another little horn came up among them, and three of the first horns were rooted up before it; and behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. I held then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I desired certitude concerning the fourth beast, and concerning the ten horns that were on his head, and concerning the other which came up, and three fell before it; and concerning the same horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things; I held, and the same horn made war with the saints. And he said, As for the fourth beast, it shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise, and another shall arise after them, and he shall be diverse from the former ones, and he shall humble three kings; he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints; afterwards the judgment shall sit (Daniel 7:7-8, 11, (Daniel 7:11)19-26).

Here in the internal sense the perverted state of the church is treated of. The things which were here seen by Daniel, as the beast, the teeth of iron, the horn in which were eyes, and the horns that spoke, and those which made war with the saints, and that which spoke against the Most High, signify the state of falsity and of heresies within the church. That “horns” signify falsity powerful and prevailing, is evident from the mere fact that eyes are attributed to them, that is, understanding (n. 2701); and that they spoke, even against the Most High. By the “kingdoms” and “kings” are not signified kingdoms and kings, but doctrinal things of falsity; as may be seen from their signification in the Word as being doctrinal things of truth, and in the opposite sense of falsity (see n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 2547).

[14] Again in Daniel:

A ram was seen by him standing before the river, which had two horns; and the horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing with his horn westward, and northward, and southward, so that no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself. As I was considering, behold a he-goat of the goats came from the west over the face of the whole earth; this he-goat had a horn between his two eyes; he came to the ram the lord of the horns, and ran upon him in the fury of his power, and smote him, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him. Afterwards the he-goat of the goats magnified himself exceedingly and when he was strong, his great horn was broken, and there came up four horns in place of it. Soon out of one of them went forth a little horn, and grew exceedingly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward beauty; and it grew even to the army of the heavens, and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the earth, and trampled upon them. The ram with the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia; the he-goat is the king of Greece; the four horns in place of one are four kingdoms out of the nation (Daniel 8:1-27).

Here in the spiritual sense the state of the spiritual church is treated of, which is the “ram” (n. 2830); and the state of that church is described, how it gradually declines and is perverted. The “he-goat of the goats” denotes those who are in faith separate from charity, or in truth separate from good, who begin to uplift themselves against good, and at length against the Lord. The “horns of the ram” are the truths of the spiritual church both internal and external; the “horns of the he-goat of the goats” are truths which have gradually degenerated into falsities; and by the “kingdoms” and “kings” here mentioned are not signified kingdoms and kings, but truths and falsities, as already said; for the Lord’s Word in its essence does not treat of worldly and earthly, but of spiritual and heavenly things.

[15] In John:

And there was seen another sign in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems; his tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth (Revelation 12:3-4).

And again:

I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of blasphemy. It was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. And then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb (Revelation 13:1-2, 7, 11).

Again in the same:

I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy; having seven heads and ten horns; it was the great Babylon. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth; and they are seven kings; the ten horns are ten kings (Revelation 17:3, 5, 7, 9, 12-13).

That by the “horns” here in like manner as in Daniel are signified the powers of falsity, is evident.