187. (Verse 2) Be wakeful. That this signifies that they should procure for themselves life is evident from the signification of being wakeful, as denoting to be in spiritual life, but here, because those whose life is merely moral and not spiritual are treated of, the expression be wakeful denotes that they should procure for themselves spiritual life. The reason why awake and being wakeful signifies this life, is, that spiritual life is to moral life without spiritual as wakefulness is to sleep, or as noon day light is to evening, indeed, to darkness. But that this is the case is neither known nor perceived by those who are in natural life alone, nor by those who are in moral life without spiritual, for this life is also natural life. The reason why such neither know nor perceive this is, that they are in natural light alone, and this light in respect to spiritual light is as the darkness of evening to the light of noon-day, and the darkness of evening appears to them as light; for their interior sight, which is that of the thought, is formed for that darkness just as the sight of owls, bats, and other birds which fly by night, is formed for the shade; hence it is that they believe themselves to be in the light because they can reason, when nevertheless they are in darkness. That this is the case is quite evident from the state of such people after death, when they become spirits; then, when they are with their own, they believe that they are in light, because they then not only see all the things that are around them, but also because they can think and speak of anything whatever; but, still, when the light of heaven flows into them, their light is changed into darkness, and they become so blind as to the understanding that they cannot even think. The angels also, in the heavens, when they look down on those who are in such light, see nothing but absolute darkness. That spiritual life, in respect to moral life without it, is as wakefulness to sleep, is still further evident from the fact that those who are in spiritual life are in angelic wisdom and intelligence, which is of such a nature as to be incomprehensible and ineffable to those who are in natural light alone; and this is not only the case with men whilst they live in the world, but also after death when they become spirits, and when intelligence and wisdom constitute wakefulness.

From these considerations it is now evident that, be wakeful signifies here that they should procure for themselves spiritual life.

[2] To watch, has a similar signification in the following passages. In Matthew:

"Watch therefore, for ye know not in what hour your Lord shall come" (24:42).

In Mark:

"Watch, for ye know not when the lord of the house cometh, at evening, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch" (13:35-37).

He who is ignorant of the internal sense of the Word supposes that by the above words is meant the Last Judgment, and that every one ought to be prepared for it; but it is the different states of man as to his love and faith, when he dies, that are here meant, for then his last judgment takes place; and evening, night and cock-crowing signify those states. Evening signifies a state of cessation of faith and charity, which takes place when a man comes into the exercise of his own judgment, and extinguishes in himself those things which he had imbibed in his childhood. Night signifies a state devoid of faith and charity; cock-crowing or daybreak, a state of commencing faith and charity, when man loves truths and submits to reformation by means of them. In the state in which man dies he remains, and is judged according to it; hence the meaning of these words is evident:

"Watch, lest the Lord, coming suddenly, find you sleeping. What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch;"

namely, that by watching is meant the reception of life from the Lord, which life is spiritual, and that by sleeping is meant natural life without spiritual. (That evening signifies a state of the cessation of faith and charity may be seen Arcana Coelestia 3056, 3197, 3833, 8431, 10134, 10135; that night is a state when there is no faith and charity, n. 221, 709, 2353, 6000, 7870, 7947; and that daybreak before morning, or cock-crowing, signifies a state of commencing faith and charity, n. 10134.)

[3] In Luke:

"Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to recline, and will come forth and serve them. Be ye therefore ready also for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not" (12:37, 40).

Here also, by those that are watching are meant spiritual watchers, these being those who receive spiritual life from the Lord, for such come into the light of intelligence and wisdom concerning Divine truths, but those who do not receive spiritual life remain in the shade and in darkness concerning those truths; therefore the latter are in a state of sleep, but the former in a state of wakefulness. By the Lord's girding Himself, making them recline, and coming forth to serve them, is signified that He will communicate to them the goods of heaven, all of which are from the Lord.

[4] In Matthew:

"The kingdom is like ten virgins; five were prudent, and five were foolish. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. But when the bridegroom came, they all trimmed their lamps." And when the foolish came, which had no oil in their lamps, and said, "Lord, Lord, open to us," the Lord said, "I say unto you, I know you not. Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh" (25:1-13).

By the ten virgins are meant all those who belong to the church; by five are meant some of them, this being the signification of that number; by lamps are signified the things of faith, and by oil those of love. By the five prudent virgins therefore are meant those who are in love and thence in faith; but by the five foolish virgins are meant those who are not in love, but in faith alone; and because the latter have no spiritual life, therefore, because these are shut out of heaven, the Lord said to them "I say unto you, I know you not"; for those only have spiritual life who are in love and charity, because these are they who possess faith; hence it is quite clear that the words,

"Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh,"

signify that they may receive spiritual life, which pertains to those who are in love and thence in faith. (These things may be seen more fully explained in Arcana Coelestia 4635-4638.)

[5] In Luke:

"Watch, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (21:36).

Here also, to watch means to receive spiritual life: to pray always signifies to prepare themselves.

[6] In the Apocalypse:

"Behold, I come as a thief; blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked" (16:15).

That by watching is here signified the reception of spiritual life from the Lord, is clear from the fact that it is said,

"Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked."

Garments signify the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good, whereby man has spiritual life; and to walk naked signifies life without such knowledges as means, thus a life not spiritual but merely natural. That garments signify knowledges of truth and good may be seen below (n. 195), and that by being naked is signified the deprivation of them, see Arcana Coelestia 1073, 5433, 5954, 9960).

[7] In Lamentations:

"Arise, cry out in the night, in the beginning of the watches; lift up thy hands to the Lord upon the souls of thy young children who have fainted through hunger, at the head of every street" (2:19).

Night here signifies a state in which there is no faith, as above; the beginning of the watches signifies a state when faith commences, thus a state of enlightenment, which exists when man becomes spiritual. By young children are meant those who love truths and desire to obtain them. To faint through hunger at the head of every street is to be deprived of spiritual life through a defect of the knowledges of truth and good. (That hunger denotes a defect of knowledges, and a desire for them, may be seen, n. 1460, 3364, 5277, 5279, 5281, 5300, 5360, 5376, 5893; and that streets denote truths of doctrine, n. 2336.)

[8] Because being wakeful signifies the reception of spiritual life, it follows that sleeping signifies natural life without spiritual, since natural life compared with spiritual is as sleep to wakefulness, as said above. In this sense the word sleeping is used in Matthew:

"The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat" (13:24, 25).

In Jeremiah:

"When they have grown warm, I will set their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may sleep the sleep of an age and not awake" (51:39, 57).

In David:

"Consider and hear me, Jehovah, my God! lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death" (Psalms 13:3).

Again:

"The stout-hearted are become a prey, they have slept their sleep. At thy rebuke both the chariot and the horse have fallen into a deep sleep" (Psalms 76:5, 6).

The chariot and the horse signify the doctrine of the church and the understanding thereof, which are said to fall into a deep sleep when they are without truths, and hence the same is said of the member of the church who is without spiritual life by means of these. (That chariots and horses in the Word signify doctrine and the Intellectual, may be seen in the small work, The White Horse 1-5.)

3812. 'Laban said to him, Surely you are my bone and my flesh' means joined together as regards truths and as regards goods. This is clear from the meaning of 'you are my bone and my flesh' as a being joined together. The ancients were accustomed to speak of people who belonged to the same house, or to the same family, or who were related in some other way, as 'my bone and my flesh', see 157. This is why those words mean a being joined together. The reason it is as regards truths and as regards goods is that all spiritual joining together is effected by them, and all natural joining together has reference to them. Furthermore by 'bone and flesh' is meant a person's proprium - 'bone' the understanding side of the proprium, 'flesh' the will side of it. 'Bone' accordingly means the proprium as regards truth since truth belongs to the understanding, while 'flesh' means the proprium as regards good since good belongs to the will, see 148, 149.

[2] As regards the proprium in general there are two kinds, the first being the hellish proprium, the second the heavenly. The hellish proprium is acquired by a person from hell, the heavenly from heaven, that is, from the Lord through heaven. For all evil and all falsity from evil enter in from hell, and all good and all truth from good do so from the Lord. People know this from the doctrine of faith, but scarcely one in a million believes it. Consequently a person appropriates - that is, makes his own - evil entering in from hell; but good entering in from the Lord does not move him and cannot therefore be said to have a place in him. The reason why a person does not believe that evil enters in from hell and good from the Lord is that he is governed by self-love, a love which carries such unbelief with it and which goes so far as to be highly indignant when that person is told that everything comes into him from somewhere else. This then is why a person's entire proprium is nothing but evil, see 210, 215, 694, 731, 874-876, 987, 1023, 1044, 1047. But the belief that evil is from hell and good from the Lord exists with him when he is not governed by self-love but by love towards the neighbour and love to the Lord; for this love carries such belief with it. So it is that a person receives from the Lord the heavenly proprium referred to in 155, 164, 731, 1023, 1044, 1937, 1947, 2882, 2883, 2891.

[3] In both senses this proprium is meant by 'bone and flesh'. Consequently 'bones' in the Word means truth and in the contrary sense falsity, and 'flesh' good and in the contrary sense evil. As regards truth being meant by 'bones', this may be seen from the following places: In Isaiah,

Jehovah will guide you all the time, and will satisfy your soul in arid places, and will render your bones free, so that you are like a watered garden. Isaiah 58:11.

'Rendering bones free' stands for bringing life to the understanding side of the proprium, that is, enlightening it with intelligence. Hence the statement 'so that you are like a watered garden' - 'a garden' meaning intelligence, see 100, 108, 1588. In the same prophet,

Then you will see, and your heart will be joyful, and your bones will flourish like the grass. Isaiah 66:14.

'Bones flourishing like the grass' has a similar meaning.

[4] In Jeremiah,

[Her] Nazirites were brighter than snow, they were whiter than milk. Their bodies ¹ were ruddier than gem stones, polished like sapphire. ² Their form is darker than black; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has stuck to their bone; it has dried up; it has become like wood. Lamentations 4:7-8.

'Nazirite' stands for a celestial man, 3301. 'Brighter than snow and whiter than milk' stands for his possession of celestial truth. And because this truth derives from the love of good, it is said that 'their bodies were ruddier than gem stones'. 'Brightness' and 'whiteness' have reference to truth, 3301, 'ruddiness' to good, 3300, 'gem stones' to truths stemming from good, 114. 'Their skin stuck to their bone' describes a changed state as regards the celestial things of love, which is to say, that there was no flesh on the bones, that is, there was no longer any good, for in that case all truth comes to be like skin which sticks to the bone, dries up, and becomes like wood.

[5] In Ezekiel,

Tell a parable against the house of rebellion, and say to them, Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Put on the pot, put it on, and also pour water into it; gather the pieces of it into it - every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with the choice of the bones by taking the choice of the flock, and let there be a hearth of bones under it. Let the bones also be cooked in the midst of it. Ezekiel 24:3-5, 10.

'The pot' stands for violence offered to good and truth, which is why it is called 'the city of bloodshed' in verse 6. 'The pieces', 'the good piece, the thigh and the shoulder' gathered into it are pieces of flesh, which are items of good. 'The choice of the bones' with which the pot was filled stands for truths, 'the hearth of bones' for the affection for truth. 'Let the bones be cooked in the midst of it' stands for violence offered to them. Anyone may see that this parable conceals arcana that are Divine, and also that these can in no way be known unless one knows what is meant in the internal sense by 'a pot', by 'pieces, the thigh and the shoulder', by 'the choice of the bones', by 'a hearth of bones', and by 'cooking'. In Micah,

Is it not for you to know judgement - you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear their skin from upon them and their flesh from upon their bones; who have eaten the flesh of My people and flayed their skin from upon them and broken their bones in pieces, and divided them as into a pot and like flesh into the middle of the cauldron? Micah 3:1-3.

Here the meaning is similar.

[6] In Ezekiel,

He brought me out in the Spirit of Jehovah and set me down in the midst of the valley, which was full of bones. He said to me, Will these bones live? He said to me, Prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah: Thus said the Lord Jehovih to these bones, Behold, I am bringing spirit into you that you may live. I will lay sinews upon you and cause flesh to come over you and cover you with skin, and I will put spirit within you so that you may live. I prophesied, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and behold, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above, but there was no spirit in them. And spirit entered into them, and they were alive again and stood upon their feet. Ezekiel 37:1 and following verses.

This refers in general to the re-establishment of the Church among gentiles, and in particular to the regeneration of the individual. 'Dry bones' stands for the understanding side of the proprium, which is lifeless until it receives the life of good from the Lord. The latter life is what quickens it or brings life to it. The flesh which the Lord causes to come up over the bones is the will side of the proprium, which is called the heavenly proprium, and so means good. 'Spirit' means the Lord's life, and when this flows into a person's good which he seems to himself to will and perform from his proprium, the good is in that case made alive, and from that good the truth also; and out of the dry bones a human being is made.

[7] In David,

All my bones have been disconnected; my heart has become like wax. I can count all my bones. They have divided my garments among them, and for my clothing have cast lots. Psalms 22:14, 17-18.

This refers to the Lord's temptations as regards Divine Truths, which, being the Lord's own, are consequently called 'my bones', and as regards Divine Good, which, being the Lord's own, is consequently called 'my heart'. For 'heart' means good, see 3313, 3635. And because 'bones' means those truths, 'counting' them is wishing to get rid of them by means of reasonings and falsities. This is also the reason for the statement immediately following about their dividing garments and casting lots for clothing, for 'garments' also means truths, though a more external variety, 297, 1073, 2576. 'Dividing garments and casting lots for clothing' has the same meaning as it does also in Matthew 27:35. In the same author,

Let my soul exult in Jehovah, let it be glad in His salvation. Let all my bones say, Who is like You? Psalms 35:9-10.

'Bones' in the spiritual sense clearly means the understanding side of the proprium. In the same author,

You shall cause me to hear joy and gladness; the bones You have broken will be exultant. Psalms 51:8.

'The bones which You have broken will be exultant' stands for a re-creation by means of truths following temptations.

[8] Because 'bone' meant the understanding side of the proprium, or the proprium as regards truth, and in the highest sense meant Divine Truth, which was the Lord's Proprium, it was therefore required at the Passover not to break any bone of the paschal lamb. This is referred to in Moses as follows,

It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not bring any of the flesh outside the house; and you shall not break a bone in it. Exodus 12:46.

And elsewhere in Moses,

They shall not leave any of it until morning, and they shall not break a bone of it. Numbers 9:12.

'Not breaking a bone' stands in the highest sense for not offering violence to Divine truth, and in the representative sense for not offering violence to the truth connected with any good at all, for the nature of good and the form it takes depend on truths, and truth is the mainstay of good, as the bones are of the flesh.

[9] The fact that the Word, which is Divine truth itself, gives life to the dead was represented by the revival and the standing on his feet of the man who, having been cast into the grave of Elisha, touched his bones, 2 Kings 13:21. Elisha represented the Lord as regards Divine truth or the Word, see 2762.

'Bones' in the contrary sense means falsity which springs from the proprium, as is evident from the following places: In Jeremiah,

At that time they will bring the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem out of their tombs, and they will spread them before the sun and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served. Jeremiah 8:1-2.

In Ezekiel,

I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. Ezekiel 6:5.

In Moses,

God who brought him out of Egypt has as it were the strength of a unicorn. He will eat up the nations, his enemies, and will break their bones, and smash their weapons. Numbers 24:8.

In the second Book of Kings,

King Josiah broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of people. He took the bones out of the graves and burned them on the altar to render it unclean. He sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned the bones of people on them. 2 Kings 23:14, 16, 20.

In Moses,

The soul which has touched on the surface of the field anyone slain with the sword, or one dead, or a human bone, or a sepulchre, will be unclean for seven days. Numbers 19:16, 18.

[10] Since 'bones' means falsities, and 'sepulchres' evils containing them, and since hypocrisy is evil which on the outside looks like good but is inwardly rotten from things that are false and unholy, the Lord therefore says the following in Matthew,

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you make yourselves like white-washed sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and of all uncleanness. So too do you outwardly appear just to men (homo) but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Matthew 23:27-28.

From all these quotations it is now evident that 'bones' means the understanding side of the proprium either as regards truth or else as regards falsity.

Footnotes: