637. Clothed in sackcloth.- That this signifies in mourning because of the non-reception of Divine Good and Divine Truth, is evident from the signification of being clothed with sackcloth, as denoting mourning because of the vastation and desolation of Divine Good and Divine Truth, in this case, because they are not received. For the witnesses were seen clothed in sackcloth, and by the witnesses are signified the Divine Good, which is the source of all the good of love and of charity, and the Divine Truth, which is the source of all the truth of doctrine and of faith, and these appear in mourning when not received, but in joy when received.

[2] Similar expressions are used concerning the sun and the moon, which also signify the good of love and the truth of faith, as that

"The sun became black as a sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood" (Apoc. 6:12).

By this it is meant that all the good of love was separated, and all the truth of faith falsified, as may be seen above (n. 401). Not that the Sun in the angelic heaven, which is the Lord, ever becomes black, but that it appears to do so to those who do not receive any light from it.

[3] In ancient times, when the externals of the church consisted of pure correspondences, and thence representatives of spiritual things, mourning was represented by various significative actions; as sitting and lying on the ground, rolling themselves in the dust, putting ashes on the head, rending the garments, and putting on sackcloth. Rending the garments and putting on sackcloth signified mourning on account of the desolation of truth and good in the church, and on account of their non-reception. For garments in general signified the truths of the church, as may be seen above (n. 64, 65, 195, 271, 395, 475:1, 476), and therefore the rending of the garments signified grief on account of injury to the truths of the church, and because they were rent asunder, as it were, by falsities. The putting on of sackcloth signified mourning on account of the deprivation of good and truth, and the consequent vastation of the church;

[4] therefore when Hezekiah the king heard the words of Tartan, the captain of the king of Assyria,

"He rent his garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and came to the house of Jehovah; and he sent Eliakim who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah" (2 Kings 19:1, 2; Isaiah 37:1, 2).

This was done because the king of Assyria signifies there the perverted Rational, or the Rational which perverts the truths and goods of the church and destroys them by falsities, all the words of Tartan, the captain of the king of Assyria, involving such things. And because the desolation and vastation of the church was seen to be so imminent, therefore, in order to testify mourning and grief on account of it, they rent their garments and covered themselves with sackcloth.

[5] Similarly when Benhadad the king of Assyria besieged Samaria, and there came a great famine, "the king rent his garments, and as he passed by upon the wall, the people saw, that behold sackcloth was upon his flesh within" (2 Kings 6:30). The signification is the same here as above, namely, imminent desolation and devastation of the church, therefore the king rent his garments, and had sackcloth upon his flesh, these being representative signs of mourning and grief.

[6] Mourning, for similar reasons, is also signified by what is written in other places. As for example, Jacob, when he believed that Joseph was torn to pieces, rent his garments, put sackcloth upon his loins, and, mourned over his son many days (Genesis 37:34). Ahab, after he had taken away the vineyard of Naboth, by the advice of Jezebel his wife, and heard the severe words of the prophet concerning that matter, rent his garments, placed sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly (1 Kings 21:27). Again, the king of Nineveh, after he had heard the words of Jonah, rose up from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth, sat upon ashes, and proclaimed a fast, and that man and beast should be covered with sackcloth (Jonah 3:5, 6, 8). Also, Daniel set his face to the Lord God, to seek by supplication and prayer, in fasting, in sackcloth and ashes (Dan. 9:3). And after Abner was slain, David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, that they should rend their garments and cover themselves with sackcloth, and lament before Abner; and David himself walked behind the bier (2 Sam. 3:31). From these passages it is evident that in the Jewish and Israelitish church mourning was represented by the rending of the garments and the putting on of sackcloth; and for the reason that grief of mind and mourning of heart, being interior, were at that time represented by external things, which were significative on account of their correspondence with spiritual things.

[7] That the representation of mourning by sackcloth especially signified mourning on account of the desolation of truth and the vastation of good in the church, and also, in particular, repentance, and then mourning of heart on account of evils, is further evident from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

"The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth shall call in that day to weeping and to wailing and to baldness, and to the putting on of sackcloth" (22:12).

The subject treated of in that chapter is the vastation of the church as to Divine Truth, and mourning on account of it is described by baldness and the putting on of sackcloth.

[8] In Jeremiah:

"The lion is gone up out of the thicket, and the destroyer of the nations is on his way, he hath gone forth out of his place to reduce the land to wasteness; thy cities shall be destroyed, that there shall be no inhabitant, for this gird ye with sackcloth, wail, howl" (4:7, 8).

The lion out of the thicket signifies the falsity of evil destroying the truths of the church, and the destroyer of the nations signifies the evil of falsity destroying the good of the church; the land which they shall reduce to wasteness signifies the church, and by the cities which shall be destroyed are signified the truths of doctrine. By girding with sackcloth is signified mourning on account thereof, and therefore it is also added, wail and howl.

[9] In the same:

"O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and roll thee in ashes; make to thee the mourning of an only son, a wailing of bitterness, for the vastator will come suddenly upon us" (6:26).

By the daughter of my people is meant the church; by girding herself with sackcloth and rolling herself in ashes is signified mourning on account of the destruction of the good and truth of the church; the destruction of these, or the vastation of the church, is meant by the vastator coming suddenly. That great mourning and grief on account of the destruction of the good and truth of the church is signified by girding with sackcloth and rolling in ashes, is evident, for it is added, "make to thee the mourning of an only son, a wailing of bitterness."

[10] Again:

"Howl, O Heshbon, because Ai is devastated; cry out, O daughters of Rabbah; gird ye with sackcloth, wail, and wander among the fences; because their king is gone into exile, his priests and princes together" (Jeremiah 49:3).

These things are said concerning the sons of Ammon, who signify those who are in natural good and falsify the truths of the church. Those in the church who are of such a character are described by "the daughters of Rabbah." Gird ye with sackcloth, wail, wander amongst the fences, signifies mourning on account of the destruction of truth by falsifications, fences denoting truths falsified. Because their king is gone into exile, signifies that the truth of the church consequently perished, king denoting the truth of the church, and to go into exile signifying to be destroyed; that also the goods of the church, and thence all truths perished, is signified by the priests and the princes together, priests denoting the goods of the church, and princes truths thence.

[11] In Lamentations:

"They sit upon the earth, the elders of the daughter of Zion keep silence, they have cast up dust upon their head, they have girded themselves with sackcloth; the virgins of Jerusalem have hung down their heads to the earth" (2:10).

To sit upon the earth, to keep silence, to cast up dust upon the head, and to hang down the head to the earth, were all signs representative of mourning and grief on account of the vastation of the church by evils and falsities. The elders of the daughter of Zion signify the wise and intelligent in the church, and, in the abstract, wisdom and intelligence. The daughters of Zion and the virgins of Jerusalem signify those in the church who are in the affection for good and truth, and, in the abstract, those affections themselves.

[12] In Ezekiel:

The shipmasters "shall make themselves bald for thee, and shall gird themselves with sackcloth, and they shall weep over thee with bitterness of soul, with a bitter wailing" (Ezekiel 27:3 1).

These words refer to Tyre, which signifies the church as to the knowledges of truth and good, consequently also the knowledges of truth and good that pertain to the church. Here mourning is described because those knowledges are lost. The shipmasters signify all those who bring and communicate those knowledges. To make bald signifies mourning because every thing pertaining to intelligence is destroyed; to gird with sackcloth signifies mourning because the cognition of truth also is destroyed. Because mourning is that which is described, it is therefore added, "they shall weep over thee with bitterness of soul, with bitter wailing."

[13] In the Evangelists:

Wo to thee, Chorazin, wo to thee, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes (Matthew 11:21; Luke 10:13).

To repent in sackcloth and ashes means to grieve and mourn on account of the non-reception of Divine Truth, and on account of the falsities and evils which oppose.

[14] In Joel:

"Howl as a virgin girded with sackcloth over the bridegroom of her youth; gird yourselves about and wail, ye priests, howl ye ministers of the altar; come, pass the night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God, because the meat-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God" (1:8, 13).

Here also to be girded with sackcloth, and to pass the night in sackcloth, signifies mourning because the good and truth of the church are destroyed, for the meat-offering signifies the good of the church, and the drink-offering its truth.

[15] In Amos:

"I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head, and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and its end as a bitter day" (8:10).

Sackcloth upon the loins signifies mourning because the good of love is destroyed, for this is signified by the loins; and baldness upon the head signifies mourning because the understanding of truth is destroyed.

[16] In Isaiah:

“Upon all the heads" of Moab "baldness, every beard shaven; in the streets thereof they have girded themselves with sackcloth; upon the roofs thereof, and in the streets thereof, he shall howl, going down into weeping" (15:2, 3).

In Jeremiah:

"Every head baldness, and every beard shaven; upon all hands ashes, and upon the loins sackcloth; upon all the roofs of Moab, and in the streets thereof, mourning everywhere" (48:37, 38).

By Moab are signified those who are in natural good and adulterate the goods of the church. That they have no understanding of truth, nor knowledge of truth, is signified by baldness upon all the heads of Moab, and by every beard shaven, also by howling and mourning upon the roofs and in the streets. Ashes upon all hands signify things falsified; mourning on account of this is signified by girding on sackcloth, also by howling and going down into weeping.

[17] In Isaiah:

"It shall come to pass, instead of spices, shall be corruption, and instead of a girdle, a rent, and instead of braided work, baldness, and instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth, burning instead of beauty; thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy strength in the war" (3:24, 25).

These things are said of the daughters of Zion, who signify the church as to the affections for celestial good, consequently by the daughters of Zion are signified the affections for good pertaining to the celestial church. The loss and dissipation of these through the pride of [man's] own intelligence is there described by the various things with which those daughters adorn themselves. Instead of spices shall be corruption, instead of a girdle, a rent, instead of braided work, baldness, instead of a robe, a girding of sackcloth, and instead of beauty, burning, signifies the changing of their affections into those of a contrary and unbeautiful kind. By corruption is signified the perishing of what is vital. By a rent instead of a girdle is signified the dissipation of the perceptions of truth, instead of the union of them; by baldness instead of braided work is signified foolishness instead of knowledge; by burning instead of beauty is signified folly instead of intelligence, burning denoting the insanity that arises from pride in [one's] own intelligence, which is folly, while beauty denotes intelligence. Thy men shall fall by the sword and thy strength in the war signifies that the truths of the understanding would perish by means of falsities, until there would be no resistance against evils, the sword denoting falsity destroying the truth.

[18] Sackcloth signifies the same in the following passages; as in Ezekiel:

"All hands are let down, all knees go into waters, whence they shall gird themselves with sackcloth, and terror shall cover them, and upon all faces shall be shame, and upon all heads baldness" (7:17, 18).

In David:

"I, when they were sick, made my garment sackcloth, I afflicted my soul with hunger" (Psalm 35:13).

Again:

"When I wept in the fast of my soul, it became to me a reproach; when I made sackcloth my garment, I became a byword to them" (Psalm 69:10, 11).

In Job:

"I sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and put tiny horn in the dust; my face was troubled through weeping" (16:15, 16).

In Isaiah:

"I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering" (50:3).

And in David:

"Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing, thou hast opened my sackcloth, and hast girded me with joy" (Psalm 30:11).

In these passages also sackcloth signifies mourning and to gird sackcloth upon the body instead of a garment signifies mourning because the truth of the church is destroyed; and to gird sackcloth upon the loins and upon the flesh signifies mourning because the good of the church is destroyed. For a garment signifies the truth of the church, and the loins and flesh signify the good of the church.

[19] That to gird on sackcloth was merely representative and thence significative of mourning and repentance, but was not itself either mourning or repentance, is evident in Isaiah:

"Is it such a fast as this that I shall choose, a day for a man to afflict his soul, to bow down his head as a rush, and to lie down in sackcloth and ashes; wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah? Is not this the fast that I choose, to loose the bonds of wickedness, to break thy bread to the hungry, and to bring the afflicted exiles to thy house, and when thou seest the naked that thou cover him?" (58:5-7).

In Joel:

"Turn ye unto me with your whole heart, and in fasting, and in weeping, and in wailing; and rend your heart, and not your garments" (2:12, 13).

288. (Verse 9) And when the animals gave glory and honour and thanks. That this signifies Divine truth, Divine good and glorification, is evident from the signification of glory and honour, when said of the Lord, as being Divine truth and Divine good; glory denotes Divine truth, and honour Divine good, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of thanks, as being glorification. What is here meant by glorification shall be first explained. Glorification, when from the Lord, is the perpetual influx of Divine good united to Divine truth with angels and with men; and with both the former and the latter, glorification of the Lord is reception and acknowledgment in heart that all good and truth are from the Lord, and consequently all intelligence, wisdom and happiness; this is signified, in the spiritual sense, by giving thanks. All glorification also of the Lord which comes from the angels of heaven and the members of the church, is not from themselves, but flows into them from the Lord. The glorification which is from men and not from the Lord is not from the heart, but only from the activity of the memory, and so from the mouth; and what proceeds only from the memory and the mouth, and not by means of them from the heart, is not heard in heaven, consequently is not received by the Lord, but passes into the world like any other sonorous words. This glorification is not acknowledgment in heart that all good and all truth are from the Lord. It is said acknowledgment in heart, by which is meant from the life of the love; for the heart, in the Word signifies love, and love is a life according to the Lord's precepts. When man is in this life, then there is glorification of the Lord, which is the acknowledgment from the heart that all good and all truth are from the Lord.

This is also meant by being glorified in these words in John:

"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and that ye shall be my disciples" (15:7, 8).

[2] The reason why the four animals, which were cherubim, gave glory and honour and thanks, is that Divine truth and Divine good and glorification, which are signified by glory, honour and thanks, proceed and flow-in from the Lord; for those cherubim signify the Lord as to providence and guardianship (see above, n. 277). They were in the midst of the throne and about the throne (as is clear from the 6th verse of this chapter) and upon the throne was the Lord (verse 2). It is therefore evident that those things were from the Lord. But reception and acknowledgment in heart are meant by the words of the verse following, where it is said, that after these things were heard, "The four-and-twenty elders fell down before him that sat upon the throne, and worshipped him that liveth unto the ages of the ages, and cast their crowns before the throne."

[3] In the Word mention is frequently made of glory and honour, and glory everywhere signifies truth, and honour good. The reason why they are mentioned together is because in each particular of the Word there is the heavenly marriage, which is the conjunction of truth and good. And the reason why such marriage is in each particular of the Word is that the Divine which proceeds from the Lord is Divine truth united to Divine good; and because these together constitute heaven, and also the church, therefore they are together in every particular of the Word, and similarly, the Divine from the Lord, and the Lord Himself. This is why the Word is most holy. (That there is such a marriage in all things of the Word, may be seen above, n. 238, and in Arcana Coelestia 2516, 2712, 3004, 3005, 3009, 4138, 5138, 5194, 5502, 6343, 7022, 7945, 8339, 9263, 9314). That glory signifies Divine truth from the Lord, may be seen above (n. 33).

[4] That honour signifies Divine good, follows from what has been said concerning the heavenly marriage in every part of the Word; as is also evident from the following passages. In David:

"Jehovah made the heavens, glory and honour are before him, strength and beauty are in his sanctuary" (Psalms 96:5, 6).

By the heavens is meant the Divine which proceeds from the Lord, because the heavens are from that; and because the Divine which proceeds, and which constitutes the heavens, is Divine truth and Divine good, it is therefore said, "glory and honour are before him"; by sanctuary is meant the church; the Divine good and the Divine truth therein are meant by strength and beauty. (That the Divine of the Lord constitutes the heavens, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 7-12, and that the Divine of the Lord in the heavens is Divine truth and Divine good, n. 7, 13, 133, 137, 139, 140).

[5] Again:

"O Jehovah, God very great; thou art clothed with glory and honour" (Psalms 104:1).

By being clothed with glory and honour, when said of Jehovah, is signified His girding Himself with Divine truth and Divine good, for these proceed from Him, and thence gird Him, and thus constitute the heavens; therefore in the Word they are called His garments and covering (as may be seen above, n. 65 and 271).

[6] Again:

"The works of Jehovah are great. Glory and honour are his work" (Psalms 111:2, 3).

By the works of Jehovah are meant all things that proceed from, and are effected by Him; and because they have reference to Divine truth and good, it is therefore said, "Glory and honour are his work."

[7] Again:

"Generation to generation shall praise thy works, and shall declare thy virtues. I will speak of the honour of the magnificence of thy glory, and will meditate on the words of thy wonders, and I will make known to the sons of men his virtues, and the glory of the honour of his kingdom" (Psalms 145:4, 5, 12).

The honour of the magnificence of Thy glory, denotes the Divine good united to the Divine truth, and the glory of the honour, denotes the Divine truth united to the Divine good. The reason of this form of expression is that the union is reciprocal. For from the Lord proceeds the Divine good united to the Divine truth; but by the angels in heaven, and by men in the church, Divine truth is received, and is united to Divine good; hence it is said, the glory of the honour of his kingdom; for by His kingdom are meant heaven and the church.

[8] Again:

"Glory and honour thou wilt lay upon him. For thou makest him a blessing for ever" (Psalms 21:5, 6).

These things are spoken concerning the Lord, and by glory and honour upon Him are meant all Divine truth and Divine good.

[9] Again:

"Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O powerful one, in thy glory and thine honour; in thine honour mount, ride upon the word of truth" (Psalms 45:3, 4).

This passage treats also of the Lord; and to gird the sword upon the thigh signifies Divine truth fighting from Divine good (that this is signified by a sword upon the thigh, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 10488). And because from Divine truth He subjugated the hells, and brought the heavens into order, therefore it is said, O powerful one in glory and honour, and also, in honour mount and ride upon the word of truth. In honour mount and ride upon the word of truth signifies to act from Divine good by means of Divine truth.

[10] Again:

"Thou hast made him to lack a little of the angels, but thou hast crowned him with glory and honour" (Psalms 8:5).

This also is spoken of the Lord. His state of humiliation is described by causing Him to lack a little of the angels, His state of glorification by His being crowned with glory and honour. By glorifying is meant the uniting of the Lord's Divine itself with His Human, and the making this latter also Divine.

[11] In Isaiah:

"Be glad ye wilderness and dry place, and let the plain of the wilderness exult and flourish as a rose, in flourishing let it flourish and exult; the glory of Lebanon is given to it, the honour of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of Jehovah and the honour of our God" (35:1, 2).

Here the enlightenment of the nations is treated of; their ignorance of truth and good is signified by the wilderness and the dry place; their joy in consequence of instruction in truths and enlightenment therefrom is signified by being glad, exulting and flourishing; the glory of Lebanon which shall be given to them signifies Divine truth; and the honour of Carmel and Sharon signifies the Divine good which they receive. It is therefore said that they shall see the glory of Jehovah and the honour of our God.

[12] Again, in the Apocalypse:

"And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it" (21:24, 26).

This is said of the New Jerusalem, by which is signified the New Church in the heavens and on earth. By the nations therefore are signified all those who are in good; and by the kings of the earth are signified all those who are in truths from good; concerning both of these it is said that "they shall bring their glory and honour into it," by which is meant worship from the good of love to the Lord, and from the truths of faith which are from the good of charity towards the neighbour.