Apocalypse Explained #238
238. And miserable and poor, signifies that they do not know that they have neither knowledges of truth nor knowledges of good. This is evident from the signification of "miserable" or "pitiable," as meaning those who are in no knowledges of truth; and from the signification of "poor" as meaning those who are in no knowledges of good. That this is the meaning of "miserable" and "poor" is evident from many passages in the Word, and also from this, that spiritual misery and poverty are nothing else than a lack of the knowledges of truth and good, for the spirit is then miserable and poor; but when the spirit possesses these it is rich and wealthy; therefore also "riches" and "wealth" in the Word signifies spiritual riches and wealth, which are the knowledges of truth and good (as was shown just above, n. 236).
[2] "Miserable and poor" are terms used in many passages in the Word. He who is ignorant of the spiritual sense of the Word believes that by these no others are meant than the miserable and poor in the world. These, however, are not meant, but those who are not in truths and goods and in the knowledges thereof; and by the "miserable" indeed, those who are not in truths because not in the knowledges of truths, and by the "poor" those who are not in goods because not in the knowledges of goods. As these two, truths and goods, are meant by these two expressions, the two in many places are mentioned together; as in the passages that now follow. In David:
I am miserable and poor, Lord, remember me (Psalms 40:17; 70:5). Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, answer me, for I am miserable and poor (Psalms 86:1).
The "miserable and poor" here mean evidently those who are miserable and poor, not in respect to worldly riches but in respect to spiritual riches, as David says this of himself; therefore he also said, "Jehovah, incline thine ear, and answer me."
[3] In the same:
The wicked draw out the sword and bend their bow, to cast down the miserable and poor (Psalms 37:14).
Here also "the miserable and poor" mean evidently those who are spiritually such and yet long for the knowledges of truth and good, for it is said that "the wicked draw out the sword and bend the bow," "sword" signifying falsity combating against truth and striving to destroy it, and "bow" the doctrine of falsity fighting against the doctrine of truth; therefore it is said that they do this "to cast down the miserable and poor." (That "sword" signifies truth combating against falsity, and in a contrary sense, falsity combating against truth, see above, n. 131; and that "bow" signifies doctrine in both senses, see Arcana Coelestia 2686, 2709)
[4] So in another place in the same:
The wicked man hath persecuted the miserable and poor and the broken in heart, to slay them (Psalms 109:16).
In Isaiah:
The fool speaketh folly, and his heart doeth iniquity to practice hypocrisy and to speak error against Jehovah, to make empty the hungry soul, and to make him who thirsteth for drink to want. He counseleth wicked devices to destroy the miserable by words of a lie, even when the poor speaketh judgment (Isaiah 32:6-7).
Here likewise "the miserable and poor" mean those who are destitute of the knowledges of truth and good; therefore it is said that "the wicked counseleth wicked devices to destroy the miserable by the words of a lie, even when the poor speaketh judgment;" "by the words of a lie" means by falsities, and "to speak judgment" is to speak what is right. Because such are treated of, it is also said that he "practices hypocrisy and speaketh error against Jehovah, to make empty the hungry soul and to make him who thirsteth for drink to want." "To practice hypocrisy and to speak error" is to do evil from falsity, and to speak falsity from evil; "to make empty the hungry soul" is to deprive those of the knowledges of good who long for them, and "to make him who thirsteth for drink to want" is to deprive those of the knowledges of truth who long for them.
In the same:
The miserable shall have joy in Jehovah, and the poor of men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 29:19).
Here also "the miserable and poor" signify those who are in lack of truth and good and yet long for them; of these, and not of those who are miserable and poor in respect to worldly wealth, it is said that they "shall have joy in Jehovah, and shall exult in the Holy One of Israel."
[5] From this it can be seen what is signified by the "miserable and poor" in other passages of the Word, as in the following. In David:
The poor shall not always be forgotten; and the hope of the miserable shall not perish for ever (Psalms 9:18).
In the same:
God shall judge the miserable of the people, He shall save the sons of the poor. He shall deliver the poor when he crieth, and the miserable. He shall spare the weak and the poor, and the souls of the poor He shall save (Psalms 72:4, 12-13).
In the same:
The miserable shall see, they that seek Jehovah 1 shall be glad. For Jehovah heareth the poor (Psalms 69:32-33).
In the same:
Jehovah deliverest the miserable from him that is too strong for him, the poor from them that despoil him (Psalms 35:10).
In the same:
The miserable and the poor praise Thy name (Psalms 74:21; 109:22).
In the same:
I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the miserable, and the judgment of the poor (Psalms 140:12).
Also elsewhere (as Isaiah 10:2; Jeremiah 22:16; Ezekiel 16:49; 18:12; 22:29; Amos 8:4; Deuteronomy 15:11; 24:14). "The miserable" and "the poor" are both mentioned in these passages, because it is according to the style of the Word that where truth is spoken of, good is also spoken of; and in a contrary sense, where falsity is spoken of, evil is also spoken of, since they make a one, and as if it were a marriage; this is why "the miserable and the poor" are mentioned together; for, by "the miserable" those deficient in the knowledges of truth are meant, and by "the poor" those deficient in the knowledges of good. (That there is such a marriage almost everywhere in the prophetical parts of the Word, see Arcana Coelestia 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712, 3004, 3005, 3009, 4138, 5138, 5194, 5502, 6343, 7022, 7945, 8339, 9263, 9314.)
For the same reason it is said in what follows, "and blind and naked;" for by "the blind" one who is in no understanding of truth is meant, and by "the naked" one who is in no understanding and will of good. So in the following verse, "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried by fire, and white garments that thou mayest be clothed;" for by "gold tried by fire" the good of love is meant, and by "white garments" the truths of faith. And further, "That the shame of thy nakedness be not manifest; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see," which means, lest evils and falsities be seen. So also elsewhere. But that there is such a marriage in the particulars of the Word, none but those who know its internal sense can see.
Footnotes:
1. For "Jehovah" the Hebrew has "God."
Joshua 19
1
The second lot came out for Simeon, even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. Their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Judah.
2
They had for their inheritance Beersheba (or Sheba), Moladah,
3
Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem,
4
Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,
5
Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah,
6
Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities with their villages;
7
Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan; four cities with their villages;
8
and all the villages that were around these cities to Baalath Beer, Ramah of the South. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.
9
Out of the part of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon; for the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them. Therefore the children of Simeon had inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.
10
The third lot came up for the children of Zebulun according to their families. The border of their inheritance was to Sarid.
11
Their border went up westward, even to Maralah, and reached to Dabbesheth. It reached to the brook that is before Jokneam.
12
It turned from Sarid eastward toward the sunrise to the border of Chisloth Tabor. It went out to Daberath, and went up to Japhia.
13
From there it passed along eastward to Gath Hepher, to Ethkazin; and it went out at Rimmon which stretches to Neah.
14
The border turned around it on the north to Hannathon; and it ended at the valley of Iphtah El;
15
Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities with their villages.
16
This is the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.
17
The fourth lot came out for Issachar, even for the children of Issachar according to their families.
18
Their border was to Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,
19
Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath,
20
Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,
21
Remeth, Engannim, En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez.
22
The border reached to Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth Shemesh. Their border ended at the Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages.
23
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities with their villages.
24
The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families.
25
Their border was Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,
26
Allammelech, Amad, Mishal. It reached to Carmel westward, and to Shihorlibnath.
27
It turned toward the sunrise to Beth Dagon, and reached to Zebulun, and to the valley of Iphtah El northward to Beth Emek and Neiel. It went out to Cabul on the left hand,
28
and Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, even to great Sidon.
29
The border turned to Ramah, to the fortified city of Tyre; and the border turned to Hosah. It ended at the sea by the region of Achzib;
30
Ummah also, and Aphek, and Rehob: twenty-two cities with their villages.
31
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.
32
The sixth lot came out for the children of Naphtali, even for the children of Naphtali according to their families.
33
Their border was from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, Adaminekeb, and Jabneel, to Lakkum. It ended at the Jordan.
34
The border turned westward to Aznoth Tabor, and went out from there to Hukkok. It reached to Zebulun on the south, and reached to Asher on the west, and to Judah at the Jordan toward the sunrise.
35
The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,
37
Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor,
38
Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh; nineteen cities with their villages.
39
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities with their villages.
40
The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families.
41
The border of their inheritance was Zorah, Eshtaol, Irshemesh,
42
Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,
44
Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,
45
Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon,
46
Me Jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border over against Joppa.
47
The border of the children of Dan went out beyond them; for the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and lived therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.
48
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.
49
So they made an end of distributing the land for inheritance by its borders. The children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun in the midst of them.
50
According to the commandment of Yahweh, they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnathserah in the hill country of Ephraim; and he built the city, and lived there.
51
These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting. So they made an end of dividing the land.
