236. (Verse 17) Because thou sayest I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing. That this signifies their faith, that they believe themselves to be in truths more than others, is evident from the signification of thou sayest, as involving what is believed by them; and because those are here treated of who are in faith alone, therefore thou sayest signifies their faith. Moreover, to say, in the spiritual sense, signifies to think, because what is said goes out from the thought; and thought is spiritual, because it belongs to man's spirit, and saying and discourse therefrom are natural, because they belong to the body. It is from this that to say, in the Word, has significations varying according to the subject treated of. And from the signification of I am rich, as being to possess the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good, and thence to be intelligent and wise, which will be seen in what follows. Also from the signification of and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, as being to know all things, so that nothing is wanting.

[2] That those who hold the doctrine of faith alone and justification thereby thus believe, or are of such a character, is not known to those who are not in that faith, although amongst them there are such; nevertheless it has been granted me to know by much experience that they are of such a character.

I have conversed with many who, in the world, believed themselves to be more intelligent and wise than others, from the fact of their knowing so many things concerning faith alone and justification thereby, and indeed such things as the simple were not acquainted with, which they also called interior things, and mysteries of doctrine; and they believed they knew and understood all things, so that they lacked nothing. Amongst these were many who had written concerning faith alone, and justification by that faith; but it was shown them that they knew nothing of truth, and that those who lived the life of faith, which is charity, and did not understand justification by faith alone were far more intelligent and wise than they. It was also shown them that the things which they knew were not truths but falsities, and that to know and think these is not to be intelligent and wise, because intelligence is concerned with truth, and wisdom with the life therefrom. The reason of this was also made known to them, namely, that they were in no spiritual affection of truth, but only in the natural affection of knowing those things which are taught by the learned, or their rulers, some for the sake of employment, others for the reputation for erudition; also that those who are in the latter and not in the former affection, believe that when they know those things they know everything, and especially those who have confirmed themselves in them by the sense of the letter of the Word, and have laboured by fallacies of reasoning to connect them with other falsities.

[3] I will state something here also from experience concerning these persons. Some spirits, who, when they lived as men in the world, were then believed by others to be learned men, were examined to see whether they knew what spiritual faith is. They said that they did know; therefore when communication with those who held that faith had been granted, they perceived that they had not faith, and did not know what faith is. Upon this it was asked them what they now believed concerning faith alone, on which the whole doctrine of their church is founded; but they were ashamed and struck dumb. There were also many from amongst the learned of the church, who were asked whether they knew what regeneration is. They answered that they knew it to be baptism, because the Lord declares that unless a man be born by water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God; but when it was shown them that baptism is not regeneration, but that by water and the Spirit are meant truths and a life according to them, and that no one can enter into heaven unless he is thereby regenerated, they retired, confessing their ignorance. Moreover, when asked about angels, heaven and hell, the life of man after death, and many other things, they were found to be quite ignorant respecting them, such things being all like thick darkness in their minds: they then confessed that they had, indeed, believed that they knew everything, but now they were convinced that they knew scarcely anything.

By knowing something, in the spiritual world, is meant to know something of truth; but to know falsities is to know nothing, because in such knowledge there is neither intelligence nor wisdom. It was afterwards told them that this state is meant by the words of the Lord,

"Thou sayest, I am rich, and become wealthy; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."

[4] The reason why the rich in the Word signify those who are in truths is, that spiritual riches mean nothing else; hence also in the Word, by riches are signified the knowledges of truth and good, and by the rich, those who are intelligent by their means. This is evident from the following passages. In Ezekiel:

"In thy wisdom and in thine intelligence thou hast made to thyself riches, gold and silver in thy treasures; by the multitude of thy wisdom thou hast multiplied to thyself riches" (28:4, 5).

These things are said to the prince of Tyre, by whom, in the spiritual sense, are meant those who are in the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth; by riches are meant those knowledges in general. By gold in thy treasures are meant the knowledges of good and truth. That knowledges are signified by these expressions is quite clear; for it is said, "In thy wisdom and in thine intelligence thou hast made to thyself riches; and by the multitude of thy wisdom thou hast multiplied to thyself riches."

(The reason why by the prince of Tyre are meant those who are in the knowledges of truth is, that prince signifies primary truths (see Arcana Coelestia 1482, 2089, 5044), and Tyre the knowledges of truth, n. 1201: that by treasures are signified possessions of knowledges, may be seen n. 1694, 4508, 10227; and that by gold is signified good, and by silver truth, n. 1551, 1552, 2954, 5658.)

[5] In Zechariah:

"Tyre collecteth silver as dust, and gold as the mire of the streets; behold the Lord shall impoverish her, and shall shake her wealth into the sea" (9:3, 4).

Here also by Tyre are signified those who procure to themselves knowledges, which are denoted by silver, gold and wealth.

In David:

The daughter of Tyre shall bring to thee a gift," the king's daughter; "the rich of the people shall flatter thy faces" (Psalms 45:12).

The church is here described as to the affection of truth, which is meant by the daughter of Tyre; for daughter denotes the church as to affection (see Arcana Coelestia 3262, 3963, 6729, 9059); and king denotes truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 6148). On this account it is said that the daughter of Tyre shall bring to thee a gift, and that the rich of the people shall flatter thy faces; the rich of the people are those who abound in truths.

[6] In Hosea:

"Ephraim hath said, Truly I am rich; I have found me wealth; all my labours shall not find me iniquity which is sin; but yet I will speak to the prophets, and I will multiply visions" (12:8, 10).

By becoming rich and finding wealth is not meant being enriched in worldly, but in heavenly, riches and wealth, which are the knowledges of truth and good; for by Ephraim is meant the Intellectual of those who belong to the church, which is enlightened when the Word is read (see Arcana Coelestia 5354, 6222, 6238, 6267). Hence it is said, "I will speak to the prophets, I will multiply visions." By prophets are signified truths of doctrine, and also by visions.

[7] In Jeremiah:

"I, Jehovah, giving to every man according to his ways, according to the fruits of his doings. As the partridge gathereth but bringeth not forth, he maketh riches but not with judgment; in the midst of his days he shall forsake them, in the end he shall become a fool" (17:10, 11).

The subject here treated of is those who acquire knowledges (cognitiones) merely as knowledge, when yet the life is that to which they should be subservient. This is what is meant by gathering as a partridge and not bringing forth, by making riches but not with judgment, and by becoming a fool in the end. And because the knowledges of truth and good are intended to be subservient to the life, for this is perfected by them, therefore it is said that Jehovah gives to every man according to his ways, and according to the fruits of his doings.

[8] In Luke:

"Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all his possessions, he cannot be my disciple" (14:33).

He who does not understand that in the Word possessions denote knowledges from the Word, which are spiritual riches and wealth, may suppose that he ought to deprive himself of all wealth in order to be saved, although no such thing is meant by those words. By possessions are meant everything belonging to man's own intelligence, for no one can be wise from himself, but from the Lord alone; hence to forsake all his possessions, is to attribute nothing of wisdom and intelligence to himself; and he who does not do this, cannot be instructed by the Lord, that is, be His disciple.

[9] Those who do not know that by the rich are meant those who possess the knowledges of truth and good, thus who have the Word, and that by the poor are meant those who do not possess knowledges, yet desire them, cannot but suppose that by the rich man who was clothed in crimson and fine linen, and by the poor man who was laid at his gate (Luke 16) are meant the rich and the poor in the common sense of those words, when notwithstanding by the rich man is there meant the Jewish nation, which had the Word, in which all the knowledges of truth and good are contained; by the crimson with which he was clothed, is meant genuine good (see Arcana Coelestia 9467), and by fine linen genuine truth (see Arcana Coelestia 5319, 9469, 9596, 9744), and by the poor man who was laid at his gate are meant the nations which were outside the church, and had not the Word, and yet desired the truths and goods of heaven and the church. Hence also it is clear, that by the rich are meant those who have the Word, consequently who possess the knowledges of truth and good; for these are contained in the Word.

[10] As also in the prophecy of Elizabeth in Luke:

God "hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away" (1:53).

The hungry are those who desire knowledges; such were the Gentiles who received the Lord and doctrine from Him; but the rich are those who have knowledges, because they have the Word; such were the Jews, but still they were not willing to know truths therefrom, therefore they did not receive the Lord and doctrine from Him. The latter are the rich who were sent empty away; the former are the hungry who were filled with good things.

6148. 'Only the ground of the priests he did not buy' means that the internal obtained for itself from the natural every capacity to receive good, because every such capacity came from itself. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph', about whom these things are said, as the internal, dealt with already; from the meaning of 'the ground' as the receptacle of truth, dealt with above in 6135-6137, at this point the capacity to receive good, for the capacity of something is its inherent ability to receive, which causes a receptacle to be a receptacle (that capacity comes from good, that is, from the Lord through good, for if the good of love did not flow in from the Lord no one would ever have the capacity to receive truth or good. That inflow of the good of love from the Lord causes everything present inwardly in a person to be of a receptive nature. The truth that the capacity to receive good comes from the natural is meant by the fact that the ground lay in Egypt, since 'Egypt' means the natural in respect of factual knowledge, 6142); from the meaning of 'the priests' as good, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'not buying' as not taking those capacities to itself - not in the way that it made truths and forms of the good of truth, together with their receptacles, its own, which came about through periods of desolation and sustainment - for the reason that those capacities came from itself, from the internal. All these meanings serve to show that 'only the ground of the priests he did not buy' means that the internal obtained for itself from the natural every capacity to receive good, because every such capacity came from itself.

[2] The implications of all this are that a person's capacities to receive truth and good come directly from the Lord; he obtains them without any help at all from himself. A person's capacity to receive goodness and truth is maintained in him unceasingly; and from that capacity he possesses understanding and will. But a person does not receive them if he turns to evil. The capacity to receive does, it is true, remain, but its access to thought and sensitivity is blocked, on account of which his capacity to see what is true and have a sensitive awareness of what is good perishes. And it perishes to the extent that he turns to evil and in faith and life becomes firmly settled in it. The fact that a person contributes nothing whatever to his capacity to receive truth and good is well known from the Church's teaching that nothing at all of the truth of faith and nothing at all of the good of charity comes from man but from the Lord. Yet a person can destroy that capacity residing with him. From all this one may now see how one should understand the idea that the internal obtained for itself from the natural every capacity to receive good, because every such capacity came from itself. The expression 'from the natural' is used because the inflow of good from the Lord is effected by the Lord through the internal into the natural; and once the capacity to receive has been obtained from there, the inflow takes place, for now there is reception, see 5828.

[3] So far as the meaning of 'the priests' as forms of good is concerned, it should be recognized that there are two realities which go forth from the Lord - goodness and truth. Divine Good was represented by priests, and Divine Truth by kings; and this is why 'the priests' means forms of good and 'the kings' truths. Regarding the attribution of Priesthood and Kingship to the Lord, see 1728, 2015 (end), 3670. In the representative Ancient Church those two offices of priest and king existed jointly in one personage, the reason for this being that goodness and truth which go forth from the Lord are united; and they are also joined together in heaven among the angels.

[4] A personage in the Ancient Church in whom the two offices existed joined together was called Melchizedek, a name meaning king of righteousness. This may be seen from the following statement about Melchizedek who came to Abraham, ¹

Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; and he was a priest to God Most High. And he blessed Abraham. Genesis 14:18-19.

His representation of the Lord in both offices is evident from the fact that he was a king and at the same time a priest, and from the fact that he was allowed to bless Abraham and offer him bread and wine, which even at that time were the symbols of the good of love and the truth of faith. His representation of the Lord in both offices is further evident in David,

Jehovah has sworn and will not repent, You are a priest for ever after the manner of Melchizedek. Psalms 110:4.

These words were spoken in reference to the Lord. 'After the manner of Melchizedek' means that He is both King and Priest, that is, in the highest sense that Divine Good and Divine Truth go forth together from Him.

[5] Because a representative Church was going to be established also among the descendants of Jacob, they too were to have a single personage to represent jointly Divine Good and Divine Truth, which go forth from the Lord united. But on account of the wars and the idolatry of that people the two were in fact divided right from the start; those who ruled over the attended to sacred duties were referred to as the priests, who belonged to the seed of Aaron and were the Levites. At a later time the two functions were joined together in a single person, as they were in Eli and Samuel. Yet because the nature of the people was such that the representative Church could not be established among them, only a representative of the Church, on account of the practice of idolatry prevalent among them, the two functions were allowed to be separated. The Lord was then represented in respect of Divine Truth by kings and in respect of Divine Good by priests. The separation took place because the people desired it, not because the Lord took any pleasure in it, as is clear from the Word of Jehovah to Samuel,

Obey the voice of the people in all that they have said to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them; and show them the right of the king. 1 Samuel 8:7-end; 12:19-20.

[6] The reason why the two functions were not meant to be separated was that Divine Truth separated from Divine Good condemns all people, whereas Divine Truth united to Divine Good saves them. Judged by Divine Truth a person is condemned to hell, but Divine Good brings him out of there and raises him into heaven. Salvation comes of mercy and so sprigs from Divine Good; but damnation exists when a person rejects mercy and so casts Divine Good away from himself, as a consequence of which he is left to be judged by Truth. As regards 'kings' representing Divine Truth, see 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068.

[7] 'The priests' represented the Lord in respect of Divine Good, and for that reason good is meant by them. This becomes clear from the internal sense of all that was prescribed regarding the priesthood when Aaron was chosen, and after him the Levites, such as these prescriptions:

The High Priest alone should enter the Holy of holies and minister there. [Leviticus 16.]

Things holy to Jehovah were to be for the priest. Leviticus 23:20; 27:21.

They were not to have any portion or inheritance in the land, but Jehovah would be their portion and inheritance. Numbers 18:20; Deuteronomy 10:9; 18:1.

The Levites were given to Jehovah instead of the firstborn, and they were given by Jehovah to Aaron. Numbers 3:9, 12-13, Numbers 3:40-end; 8:16-19.

The high priest and the Levites were to be in the middle of the camp when they pitched it and when they were journeying. Numbers 1:50-54; 2:17; 3:23-38; 4:1-end.

No one from the seed of Aaron who had a blemish in himself was to approach to offer burnt offerings or sacrifices. Leviticus 21:17-20.

And there are many other prescriptions besides these, such as those in Leviticus 21:9-13, and elsewhere.

[8] In the highest sense all these prescriptions relating to the priests represented the Lord's Divine Good and therefore in the relative sense the good of love and charity. Aaron's vestments however, called 'vestments of holiness', represented Divine Truth from Divine Good. These matters will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with in the explanations of what appears in Exodus.

[9] Since truth is meant by 'kings' and good by 'priests', 'kings and priests' are mentioned together many times in the Word, as in John, Jesus Christ has made us kings and priests to His God and Father. Revelation 1:6; 5:10.

By virtue of the truth of faith we are said to have been made 'kings', and by virtue of the good of charity to have been made 'priests', so that the truth and good residing with those who abide in the Lord have been joined together, in the way they are in heaven, as stated above. This is what is meant by 'being made kings and priests'.

[10] In Jeremiah,

It will happen on that day, that the heart of the king and of the princes will perish, and the priests will be dumbfounded and the prophets left wondering. Jeremiah 4:9.

In the same prophet,

The house of Israel is ashamed, they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets. Jeremiah 2:26.

In the same prophet,

The kings of Judah, the princes, the priests, and the prophets, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 8:1.

In these places 'kings stands for truths, 'princes' for first and foremost truths, 1482, 1089, 5044, 'priests' for forms of good, and 'prophets' for those who teach, 2534.

[11] Quite apart from this it should be recognized that Joseph did not buy the ground of the priests. The fact that this was representative of the consideration that the whole of a person's capacity to receive truth and good comes from the Lord is evident from a similar law in Moses regarding the fields belonging to the Levites,

The field of the country surrounding the cities of the Levites shall not be sold, for it is their eternal possession. Leviticus 25:34.

The meaning here in the internal sense is that no one ought to lay any claim to the good of the Church, which is the good of love and charity, because that good is from the Lord alone.

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