6377. He washes his clothing in wine. That this signifies that His natural is Divine truth from His Divine good, is evident from the signification of “washing,” as being to purify (see n. 3147); from the signification of “wine,” as being the good of love toward the neighbor, and the good of faith, and in the supreme sense Divine truth from the Divine good of the Lord (of which presently); and from the signification of “clothing,” as being what is exterior, which covers what is interior (n. 5248); thus the natural, for this is exterior, and covers the rational which is interior; hence also “clothing” denotes truth, because truth is exterior, and covers good which is interior (n. 2576, 4545, 4763, 5319, 5954).

[2] That “wine” denotes love toward the neighbor and the good of faith, may be seen from what has been shown in respect to the bread and wine in the Holy Supper (n. 2165, 2177, 3464, 4581, 5915), namely, that the “bread” is the good of celestial love, and that the “wine” is the good of spiritual love. This may be seen also from the meat-offering and the drink-offering in the sacrifices, in which the “meat-offering” signified the good of love, and the “drink-offering” the good of faith, the meat-offering consisting of such things as signified the good of love, and the drink-offering of wine which signified the good of faith; moreover the very sacrifices were called “bread” (n. 2165). That a drink-offering of wine was employed in the sacrifices may be seen in Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 23:1 2, 13, 18, 19; Numbers 15:2-15; 28:6-7, 18 end; 29:1-7.

[3] That “wine” signifies love toward the neighbor and the good of faith, is plain also from Isaiah:

Everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no silver; come ye, buy and eat; yea come, buy wine and milk without silver and without price (Isaiah 55:1);

everyone must know that they were not to buy wine and milk, but that which is signified by wine and milk, that is, love toward the neighbor and faith; these are given by the Lord without silver and without price.

[4] And in Hosea:

The threshing-floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall deceive them. Ephraim shall return into Egypt, and they shall eat what is unclean in Assyria. They shall not pour out wine to Jehovah; and their sacrifices shall not be pleasing unto Him (Hos. 9:2-4);

here also in the internal sense are meant the good of love and the good of faith, that they ceased; the good of love is the “threshing-floor,” from the grain there and the bread that comes from it; and the good of faith is the “wine press,” the “new wine,” and the “libation of wine:” that “Ephraim shall return into Egypt” denotes that the intellectual should consult memory-knowledges with respect to the secrets of faith; “they shall eat what is unclean in Assyria” denotes that which results from the consequent reasoning. (That “Ephraim” is the intellectual of the church, may be seen, n. 5354, 6222, 6238, 6267; also that “Egypt” is memory-knowledge, n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462, 5702; and “Assyria” reasoning, n. 1186.) Moreover the very connection shows that there is more in the words than appears in the letter; for in the internal sense there is coherence, but not in the external; as when it is said that “the threshing-floor and the winepress shall not feed them,” and that “the new wine shall deceive them,” and presently that “Ephraim shall return into Egypt, and they shall eat what is unclean in Assyria;” and moreover without the internal sense what could be meant by “Ephraim returning into Egypt,” and by their “eating what is unclean in Assyria?”

[5] The cessation of mutual love and of the good of faith is also described by a “winepress” and “wine” in Jeremiah:

Upon thy vintage hath the waster fallen; whence gladness was gathered, and joy from Carmel, and from the land of Moab, for I have caused wine to cease from the winepresses; he will not tread hedad ¹ (Jeremiah 48:32-33).

[6] That “wine” signifies the good of mutual love and of faith, is plain also in John:

I heard a voice out of the midst of the four animals saying, Hurt not the oil and the wine (Revelation 6:6); where “oil” is the good of celestial love; and “wine,” the good of spiritual love.

[7] The like is meant by “oil and wine” in the Lord’s parable about the Samaritan, in Luke:

A certain Samaritan as he journeyed, and seeing him who had been wounded by thieves, was moved with compassion, wherefore coming to him he bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine (Luke 10:33-34); where “pouring in oil and wine” signifies that he performed the works of love and of charity. (That “oil” denotes the good of love may be seen above, n. 886, 3728) The like was meant by the ancients pouring oil and wine upon a pillar when they sanctified it (Genesis 35:14; n. 4581, 4582).

[8] That “wine” denotes the good of love and of faith, is plain from the Lord’s words which He said of wine when He instituted the Holy Supper:

I say to you that I will not drink henceforth of this product of the vine until that day when I shall drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom (Matthew 26:29; Luke 22:17-18);

everyone can see that He would not drink wine there, but that there is signified the good of love and of faith, which He would give to those who are of His kingdom. The like is signified by “wine” in Isaiah 24:9, 11; Lam. 2:11-12; Hos. 14:7; Amos 9:13-14; Zech. 9:15, 17; Luke 5:37-39.

[9] As “wine” signifies the good of love and of faith, therefore in the supreme sense it signifies the Divine truth from the Divine good of the Lord, for from this by influx the man who receives it has the good of love and of faith.

[10] As most expressions in the Word have also a contrary sense, so also has “wine,” in which sense “wine” signifies falsity from evil, as in Isaiah:

Woe unto them that rise up in the morning under the dawn, and follow strong drink; that tarry into the twilight, that wine may inflame them! Woe to the heroes to drink wine, and to men of strength to mingle strong drink! (Isaiah 5:11, 22).

Again:

These also err through wine, and through strong drink go astray; the priest and the prophet err through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they go astray through strong drink; they err among the seer, they stumble in judgment (Isaiah 28:7).

The shepherds know not to understand, they all look back to their own way. Come ye, I will take wine, and we will be drunken with strong drink; and let there be, on the morrow, as on this day, a great abundance (Isaiah 56:11-12).

And further (in Jeremiah 13:12; Hos. 4:11; 7:5; Amos 2:8; Mic. 2:11 Psalms 75:8; Deuteronomy 32:33). Falsity from evil is also signified by the “cup of the wine of anger” (Jeremiah 25:15-16; Revelation 14:8, 10; 16:19); and by the “wine press of the wine of the fury of the anger of God” (Revelation 19:15); and by the “wine of whoredom” (Revelation 17:2; 18:3).

Footnotes:

878. And he put forth his hand and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark. That this signifies his own power, and that he did what was good and thought what was true from himself, is evident from the signification of “hand” as being power, and thus here his own power from which he did these things. For to “put forth his hand and take the dove and bring her in to himself” is to apply and attribute to himself the truth meant by the “dove.” That by “hand” is signified power, also authority [potestas], and the derivative self-confidence, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in Isaiah:

I will visit upon the fruit of the greatness of heart of the king of Assyria, because he hath said, By the strength of my hand I have done it and by my wisdom, for I am intelligent (Isaiah 10:12-13),where “hand” manifestly denotes his own strength to which he attributed what he did, and this was the cause of the visitation upon him. Again:

Moab shall spread forth his hands in the midst of him, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim, and he shall lay low his pride together with the cataracts of his hands (Isaiah 25:11); where “hands” denote man’s own power, from regarding himself as above others, thus from pride.

[2] Again:

Their inhabitants were short of hand, they were dismayed and put to shame (Isaiah 37:27);

“short of hand” meaning of no power. Again:

Shall the clay say to the potter, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? (Isaiah 45:9).

Here “he hath no hands” means that he has no power.

In Ezekiel:

The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with stupefaction, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled (Ezekiel 7:27),

where “hands” denote power.

In Micah:

Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds; when the morning is light they practice it, because their hand is their god (Micah 2:1),

where “hand” denotes their own power in which they trust as their god.

In Zechariah:

Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock; the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened (Zechariah 11:17).

[3] Because “hands” signify powers, man’s evils and falsities are continually called in the Word “the works of his hands.” Evils are from the Own of man’s will, falsities are from the Own of his understanding. That this is the source of evils and falsities is evident enough from the nature of man’s Own, which is nothing but evil and falsity (as may be seen above, n. 39, 41, 141, 150, 154, 210, 215). As “hands” in general signify power, “hands” are many times in the Word attributed to Jehovah, or the Lord, and then by “hands” is understood in the internal sense Omnipotence, as in Isaiah:

Jehovah, Thy hand is lifted up (Isaiah 26:11),

denoting the Divine power. Again:

Jehovah stretched out His hand, all are consumed (Isaiah 31:3),

Concerning the work of My hands command ye Me; My hands have stretched out the heavens and all their army have I commanded (Isaiah 45:11-12),

denoting the Divine power. The regenerate are often called in the Word “the work of the hands of Jehovah.” In the same

Mine hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath measured the heavens with the palm (Isaiah 48:13), where “hand” and “right hand” denote omnipotence.

[4] Again:

Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? (Isaiah 1:2),

denoting the Divine power.

In Jeremiah:

Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and by Thy stretched out arm; and didst bring forth Thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched-out arm (Jeremiah 32:17, 21),

denoting the Divine power; “power” being named in the seventeenth verse [Genesis 8:17], and “hand” in the twenty-first. That Israel was brought out of Egypt with “a strong hand and with a “stretched-out arm” is often said.

In Ezekiel:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up Mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made My self known unto them in the land of Egypt; I lifted up Mine hand unto them, to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt (Ezekiel 20:5-6, 23).

In Moses: Israel saw the great hand which Jehovah executed upon the Egyptians (Exodus 14:31).

[5] That by “hand” is signified power is now plainly manifest from these passages. Indeed “hand” was so significant of power that it became also its representative, as is evident from the miracles that were done in Egypt, when Moses was commanded to stretch forth his rod, or hand, and so they were done; as in Exodus:

Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven, and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt (Exodus 9:22-23);

Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and there was a thick darkness (Exodus 10:21-22);

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Jehovah made the sea dry land; and Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned (Exodus 14:21, 27).

No one with mental capacity for right thinking can believe that there was any such power in the hand or rod of Moses, but because the lifting up and stretching forth of the hand signified the Divine power, it became a representative in the Jewish Church.

[6] It was similar when Joshua stretched out his javelin, as in Joshua:

And Jehovah said unto Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand; and Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city, and they entered into the city and took it for Joshua drew not back his hand, wherewith he stretched out the javelin, until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai (Joshua 8:18, 26).From this it is also evident how the case is with the representatives that were the externals of the Jewish Church; and also how it is with the Word: that the things in its external sense do not appear to be representative of the Lord and His kingdom, as here the stretching forth of the hand, and likewise all the other things, which bear no appearance of being representative while the mind is fixed only on the historic details of the letter. It is evident also how far the Jews had fallen away from a true understanding of the Word and of the rites of the church, while making all worship consist in externals only, even to the extent of attributing power to the rod of Moses and the javelin of Joshua, when yet there was no more power in them than in wood. But because the omnipotence of the Lord was signified, and this was understood in heaven when they stretched forth their hand or rod, the signs and miracles followed.

[7] So too it was when Moses on the top of the hill held up his hands, and Joshua prevailed; and when he let down his hands, and Joshua was overcome; and therefore they stayed up his hands (Exodus 17:9-13). Thus it was that hands were laid upon those who were being consecrated, as on the Levites by the people (Numbers 8:9-10, 12), and on Joshua by Moses, when he was substituted in his place (Numbers 27:18, 23), in order that power might so be given. Hence also come the rites still observed of inauguration and benediction by the laying on of hands. To what extent the hand signified and represented power, is evident from what is said in the Word concerning Uzzah and Jeroboam. Concerning Uzzah it is said that he put forth (his hand) to the ark of God, and took hold of it, and therefore he died (2 Samuel 6:6-7). The “ark” represented the Lord, thus all that is holy and celestial. Uzzah’s putting forth (his hand) to the ark, represented man’s own power, or what is his own; and as this is profane, the word “hand” is understood, but is not expressed in the original, lest it should be perceived by the angels that such a profane thing had touched what is holy.

[8] And because Uzzah put it forth, he died. Concerning Jeroboam it is said: And it came to pass, when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar, that Jeroboam put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him; and his hand which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to him; and he said unto the man of God, Intreat now the faces of Jehovah thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again; and the man of God intreated the faces of Jehovah, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before (1 Kings 13:4-6).

Here in like manner by “putting forth the hand” is signified man’s own power, or his Own, which is profane, and that it wished to violate what is holy by putting forth the hand against the man of God; wherefore the hand was dried up; but as Jeroboam was an idolater and therefore could not commit profanation, his hand was restored. That the “hand” signifies and represents power, is evident from the representatives in the world of spirits, where a naked arm sometimes comes into view, in which there is strength enough to crush one’s bones and squeeze their inmost marrow to nothing, causing such terror as to melt the heart; and in fact this strength is actually in it.