830. 19:16 And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written: "King of kings and Lord of lords." This symbolically means that the Lord teaches in the Word who He is, that He is the Divine truth of Divine wisdom and the Divine goodness of Divine love, thus that He is God of the universe.

The Lord's garment symbolizes the Word in respect to Divine truth, as in no. 825 above. The Lord's thigh symbolizes the Word in respect to Divine goodness. Because thighs and loins symbolize married love, and because that love is the fundamental love of all loves, therefore thighs and loins symbolize the goodness of love. That this is due to its correspondence may be seen in no. 213 above. Therefore, when a thigh is mentioned in reference to the Lord, it symbolizes the Lord in respect to the goodness of love, and here the Word as well in that respect. Having a name written symbolizes the character of the Lord, as in no. 824 above. "King of kings" means the Lord in respect to the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom, and "Lord of lords" means the Lord in respect to the Divine goodness of His Divine love. The Lord's kingdom and His dominion have the same symbolic meaning in places where both are mentioned (see no. 664 above).

[2] Because the Lord is called King of kings and Lord of lords, and this means the Lord in respect to both Divine truth and Divine good, therefore the name is said to have been written on His garment and on His thigh; and the name written on His garment symbolizes the Word in respect to Divine truth, while the name written on His thigh symbolizes the Word in respect to Divine goodness, both being contained in the Word. The Word's Divine truth is found in its spiritual sense, which is intended for angels of the intermediate or second heaven, who possess intelligence stemming from Divine truths; and the Word's Divine goodness is found in its celestial sense, which is intended for angels of the highest or third heaven, who possess wisdom stemming from Divine goods. But this latter sense is deeply hidden, being perceptible only to people who possess love toward the Lord from the Lord.

That the one on the white horse here is the Lord is explicitly said above in the book of Revelation:

These will do battle with the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings. (Revelation 17:14)

[3] That a thigh symbolizes the goodness of love, and in reference to the Lord, the Divine goodness of His Divine love, is clear from the following passages in the Word:

Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His thighs. (Isaiah 11:5)

...over (the cherubim's) heads was... the appearance of a man (on a throne).... From the appearance of His loins and upward..., and from the appearance of His loins and downward..., (there was) the appearance of fire and of brightness all around. (Ezekiel 1:26-28)

The man on the throne means the Lord. The appearance of fire from His loins upward and downward symbolizes His Divine love, and the brightness all around symbolizes the Divine wisdom emanating from it.

(Daniel saw a man) whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz. (Daniel 10:5)

The man was an angel having the Lord in him. Gold of Uphaz symbolizes the goodness of love.

The thighs or loins have the same symbolic meaning in Isaiah 5:27, Psalms 45:3, and elsewhere.

Regarding the correspondence of the thighs or loins with married love, which is the fundamental love of all loves, see Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), nos. 5050-5062.

20. And makes us kings and priests. (1:6) This symbolically means, who grants those who are born from Him, that is, who are reborn or regenerated, to be governed by wisdom from Divine truths, and by love from Divine goods.

People know that in the Word the Lord is called a king and also a priest. He is called a king owing to His Divine wisdom, and a priest owing to His Divine love. People who are governed by wisdom from the Lord are consequently called children of the king, and also kings, while people who are governed by love from Him are called ministers and priests. For the wisdom and the love in them do not originate from them, and so are not theirs but the Lord's. It is these people who are therefore meant in the Word by kings and priests. Not that they are kings and priests, but that they have the Lord in them, and He causes them to be termed such.

Such people are called also children born of Him, children of the kingdom, children of the Father, and heirs - children born of Him in John 1:12-13ff.), children of the kingdom in Matthew 8:12; 13:38, children of their Father in heaven in Matthew 5:45, and heirs in Psalms 127:3, 1 Samuel 2:8, Matthew 25:34. And being heirs, children of the kingdom, and children born of the Lord as their Father, they are therefore called kings and priests. Moreover, in Revelation 3:21 it is also said that they will sit with the Lord on His throne.

[2] The whole of heaven has been divided into two kingdoms - the spiritual kingdom and the celestial kingdom. The spiritual kingdom is what is called the Lord's kingship, and because all who are in it are governed by wisdom founded on truths, therefore it is they who are meant by the kings that the Lord will make those people who are governed by wisdom from Him. The celestial kingdom, on the other hand, is what is called the Lord's priesthood, and because all who are in it are governed by love arising from goodness, therefore it is they who are meant by the priests that the Lord will make those people who are governed by love from Him. The Lord's church on earth is likewise divided into two kingdoms. Regarding these two kingdoms, see nos. 24, 226 in the book Heaven and Hell, published in London, 1758.

[3] Someone who does not know the spiritual meaning of kings and priests may be deluded in regard to many things said in the prophets and in the book of Revelation about them. For example, in regard to these statements in the prophets:

The sons of foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you... You shall suck the milk of gentiles, even the breasts of kings you shall suck, that you may know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer... (Isaiah 60:10, 16)

Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their princesses your wet nurses. (Isaiah 49:23)

Also elsewhere, as in Genesis 49:20; Psalms 2:10; Isaiah 14:9; 24:21; 52:15; Jeremiah 2:26; 4:9; 49:3; Lamentations 2:6, 9; Ezekiel 7:26-27; Hosea 3:4; Zephaniah 1:8. Kings there do not mean kings, but people who are governed by Divine truths from the Lord, and abstractly, Divine truths themselves, from which comes wisdom.

"The king of the south" and "the king of the north" who waged war with each other in Daniel 11 do not mean kings either, but the king of the south means people who are governed by truths, and the king of the north people who are caught up in falsities.

[4] Likewise in the book of Revelation, which many times mentions kings, as in the following passages:

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared. (Revelation 16:12)

(With) the great harlot who sits on many waters... the kings of the earth committed whoredom... (Revelation 17:1-2)

...of the wine of the wrath of (Babylon's) whoredom all the nations have drunk, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her... (Revelation 18:3)

And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war with Him who sat on the (white) horse... (Revelation 19:19)

And the nations that are saved shall walk in His light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into (the New Jerusalem). (Revelation 21:24)

Elsewhere also, as in Revelation 16:14; 17:9-14; 18:9-10. The kings there means people who are governed by truths, and in an opposite sense, people caught up in falsities, and abstractly, truths or falsities themselves. The whoredom of Babylon with the kings of the earth means the falsification of the truth of the church. Obviously Babylon, or the woman who sat on the scarlet beast, did not commit whoredom with kings, but rather falsified truths of the Word.

[5] It is apparent from this that the Lord's going to make people who are wise from Him kings does not mean that they will be kings, but that they will be wise. The reality of this is also something that enlightened reason sees.

Likewise in the following:

You have made us kings and priests to our God, that we may reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:10)

That by king the Lord meant truth is apparent from His words to Pilate:

Pilate... said to Him, "Are You a king then?"

Jesus answered, "As you have said, because I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" (John 18:27, 38)

To bear witness to the truth is to be Himself the embodiment of truth. And because He called Himself a king by virtue of it, Pilate said, "What is truth?" - which is to say, "Is truth a king?

As for priests, we will see in later explanations that they symbolize people who are governed by the goodness of love, and abstractly, goods of love themselves.