9818. 'Whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom' means who have Divine Truth inscribed upon them. This is clear from the meaning of 'the spirit of wisdom', when used in reference to those governed by celestial good, as Divine Truth, dealt with below. People are said to be filled with it when it is inscribed permanently on them. The situation is that those in the Lord's celestial kingdom are acquainted with truths not as a result of coming to know and consequently believe them, but as a result of inward perception; for they are governed by the good of love received from the Lord, and this good has all truths rooted within it. The actual good itself has been implanted in the will part of their minds, and truth springing from it in the understanding part. And with these people the will and understanding parts act altogether as one, quite differently from the way the two parts act with those who are in the spiritual kingdom. So it is that the understanding part of the mind in those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom serves to give them not a knowledge but a perception of truths. For the good implanted in the will presents itself - its inward nature and its outward form - in the understanding, and in so to speak blazing light there. For those people the outward form of the good and its inward nature is truth, which they do not see, but instead perceive from good. For this reason they never argue about truths; they so avoid it that whenever there is talk about truths they say Yes or No, and no more than that. For if they said anything more it would not come from good. These are the ones who are meant in Matthew,

Let your words be Yes, yes; No, no; anything beyond this is from evil. ¹ Matthew 5:37.

The fact that those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom are like this, see 2715, 2718, 3246, 4448, 5113, 6367, 7877, 9166 (end), 9543. What the difference is between those who are in the celestial kingdom and those who are in the spiritual kingdom, see the places referred to in 9277.

[2] From all this people may now recognize what should be understood when it is said that Divine Truths have been inscribed upon someone. Many places in the Word use the term 'spirit', and when they use it in reference to a person his 'spirit' means goodness and truth inscribed on the understanding part of his mind and consequently on the life of that part of it. The reason why 'spirit', when attributed to a person, has this meaning is that inwardly a person is a spirit, indeed inwardly is in the company of spirits. See what has already been shown abundantly on this matter in the following places,

Spirits and angels reside with a person, and the person is governed by the Lord through them, 50, 697, 986, 2796, 2886, 2887, 4047, 4048, 5846-5866, 5976-5993.

A person is among spirits and angels such as he himself is like, 4067, 4073, 4077, 4111.

Every person has a spirit through which his body has life, 4622.

[3] From this one may know what 'spirit' means when used in reference to the Lord, namely that it is Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Good, and that when this Divine Truth flows in and is received by a person it is the Spirit of truth, Spirit of God, and Holy Spirit; for it flows directly from the Lord, and also indirectly through angels and spirits, see the places referred to in 9682. The fact that the Spirit of truth, Spirit of God, and Holy Spirit have this meaning will be seen further on below; for prior to that it must be shown that, when used in the Word in reference to a person, 'spirit' means goodness and truth inscribed on the understanding part of a person's mind and consequently means the life of that part of it. For there is the life of the understanding part, and there is the life of the will part. That of the understanding part consists in knowing, seeing, and understanding that truth is indeed truth and good is indeed good. But the life of the will part consists in willing and loving truth for truth's sake and good for goodness' sake. In the Word the life of the will is called 'heart', but that of the understanding 'spirit'.

[4] The following places in the Word show that this is so: In Ezekiel,

Make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? Ezekiel 18:31.

And in the same prophet,

I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit will I give in the midst of you. Ezekiel 36:26.

'A new heart' stands for a new will. and 'a new spirit' for a new understanding. In Zechariah,

Jehovah stretches out the heavens, and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. Zechariah 12:1.

'Stretching out the heavens and founding the earth' stands for the establishment of a new Church, this Church being meant by 'heaven and earth', see 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535. 'Forming the spirit of man within him' stands for regenerating a person as to his understanding of truth and good.

[5] In David,

Create for me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from before You, and do not take the spirit of Your holiness from me. Bring back to me the joy of Your salvation, and let a generous spirit uphold me. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. ² Psalms 51:10-12, 17.

'A clean heart' stands for a will that detests evils, which are forms of uncleanness; 'a steadfast spirit' stands for an understanding of and belief in truth; 'a broken spirit' and 'a broken heart' stand for a state of temptation and the consequent humbling of the life in both. The fact that 'spirit' means life is evident from every detail in these verses. Divine Truth, from which that life springs, is meant by 'the spirit of holiness'. In the same author,

A generation that did not make its heart right, nor was its spirit steadfast with God. Psalms 78:8.

'Heart that is not right' stands for a will that is not right, and 'spirit that is not steadfast with God' stands for an understanding of and belief in God's truth that are not steadfast.

[6] In Moses,

Jehovah God had hardened the spirit of Sihon king of Heshbon and made his heart obstinate. Deuteronomy 2:30.

Here also 'spirit' and 'heart' stand for the life in both parts, which is said to have been 'made obstinate' when the will has no desire to understand truth and good and put them into practice. In Ezekiel,

Every heart will melt, and all hands will hang down, and every spirit will shrink. Ezekiel 21:7.

Here the meaning is similar. In Isaiah,

Jehovah is He who gives soul ³ to the people on the earth, and spirit to those who walk on it. Isaiah 42:5.

'Giving soul to the people' stands for endowing with the life of faith, 'soul' meaning the life of faith, see 9050; and 'giving spirit' stands for providing with an understanding of truth. In the same prophet,

With my soul I desired You in the night; even with my spirit within me I waited for You early. Isaiah 26:9.

Here the meaning is similar.

[7] In the same prophet,

Conceive chaff, bring forth stubble; fire will devour your spirit. Isaiah 33:11.

'Spirit' which fire will devour stands for an understanding of truth, and so for intelligence; 'fire' stands for a craving which, because it springs from evil, is destructive.

[8] In Ezekiel,

Woe to the foolish prophets, who go away after their own spirit! Ezekiel 13:3.

In the same prophet,

What comes up onto your spirit ⁴ will not ever be brought about. Ezekiel 20:32.

In Malachi,

Not one has done so, nor those remaining who had spirit. Why then is there one seeking God's seed? Therefore take heed through your spirit, to see that it does not act treacherously against the wife of your youth. Malachi 2:15.

In David,

Blessed is the person to whom Jehovah does not impute iniquity; only let there be no guile in his spirit. Psalms 32:2.

In Matthew,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said to the disciples, Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is eager, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41.

In these places, as is plainly evident, 'spirit' is used to mean the actual life in a person. That the life of the understanding, or the life of truth, is meant becomes clear from the consideration that in the natural sense 'spirit' is used to mean human life and breath. And drawing breath, which is the work of the lungs, corresponds to the life of truth, which is the life of faith and consequently of the understanding, whereas the beating of the heart corresponds to the life of the will and so of love. For this correspondence of lungs and heart, see 3635, 3883-3896, 9300, 9495. All this makes clear what type of life is meant in the spiritual sense by 'spirit'.

[9] The fact that 'spirit' in the ordinary sense means human life and breath is clearly evident in David,

You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You gather up their spirit, they breathe their last. You send forth Your spirit, they are created. Psalms 104:29-30.

In the same author,

Answer me, O Jehovah. My spirit is consumed. Do not hide Your face from Me. Psalms 143:7.

In Job,

My spirit is consumed, my days are extinguished. Job 17:1.

In Luke,

Jesus took the dead girl's hand, saying, Girl, arise. Her spirit therefore returned, and she arose at once. Luke 8:54-55.

In Jeremiah,

Every person has been made stupid by knowledge; his graven image is a lie, and there is no spirit in it. Jeremiah 10:14; 51:17.

In Ezekiel,

He brought me out in the Spirit of Jehovah and set me down in the midst of the valley. And there the Lord Jehovih said to the dry bones, Behold, I am bringing spirit into you that you may live. Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe into these killed. And spirit came into them, and they were alive again. Ezekiel 37:1, 5, 9-10.

In the Book of Revelation,

The two witnesses were killed by the beast ascending from the abyss. But after three and a half days the spirit of life from God entered them, so that they stood on their feet. Revelation 11:7, 11.

[10] From these places it is plainly evident that 'spirit' is a person's life. The fact that more specifically it is the life of truth, which is the life of the understanding part of a person's mind, and is called intelligence, is made plain in John,

The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. God is a Spirit, therefore those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:23-24.

In Daniel,

... that there was in him an excellent spirit, both of knowledge and of intelligence. Daniel 5:12, 14.

In Luke,

John grew and became strong in spirit. Luke 1:80.

And regarding the Lord, in the same gospel,

The child Jesus grew and became strong in spirit, and was filled with wisdom. Luke 2:40.

In John,

He whom the Father has sent speaks the words of God, for God has not given Him the spirit by measure. ⁵ John 3:34.

Here 'the spirit' stands for intelligence and wisdom; 'speaking the words of God' means declaring Divine Truths.

[11] From all this it may now be seen what 'spirit' means in John,

Jesus said to Nicodemus, Unless a person has been born from water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, but that which has been born from the spirit is spirit. John 3:5-6.

'Being born from water' means [being regenerated] by means of truth, and 'being born from the spirit' means life from the Lord which comes as a result of this, called spiritual life. For the meaning of 'water' as the truth by means of which regeneration is accomplished, see 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8568, 9323. 'Flesh' however means the human proprium or selfhood, in which there is no spiritual life at all, 3813, 8409.

[12] Something similar is meant by 'spirit' and 'flesh' in the same gospel,

It is the Spirit which bestows life, the flesh does not profit anything. The words which I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. John 6:63.

'The words' which the Lord spoke are Divine Truths, the life which comes as a result being 'the spirit'. In Isaiah,

Egypt is man (homo), not God, and his horses are flesh and not spirit. Isaiah 31:3.

'Egypt' stands for knowledge in general, 'his horses' for factual knowledge supplied from the understanding, which is spoken of as 'flesh and not spirit' when it does not have any spiritual life at all within it.

'Egypt' is knowledge, see the places referred to in 9340, 9391. 'Horses' are the power of understanding, 2761, 2762, 3217, 5321. 'The horses of Egypt' are known facts supplied from the understanding, 6125, 8146, 8148.

Anyone who does not know what is meant by 'Egypt', what is meant by 'his horses', and also what is meant by 'flesh' and 'spirit', cannot possibly know what these words [in Isaiah 31:3] imply.

[13] Once people know what 'spirit' present in a person means they may know what is meant by 'spirit' when this term is used in reference to Jehovah or the Lord. Everything a human being has, such as face, eyes, ears, arms, and hands, also heart and soul, He is said to have. Thus spirit as well is attributed to Him, and in the Word it is called Spirit of God, Spirit of Jehovah, Spirit of His mouth, and Spirit of Holiness or Holy Spirit. The fact that the term is used to mean Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is clear from a large number of places in the Word. The reason why Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is meant by 'Spirit of God' is that all of a person's life comes from there, as does the heavenly life possessed by those who receive that Divine Truth in faith and love. The Lord Himself teaches in John that this is what 'Spirit of God' means,

The words which I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. John 6:63.

'The words' which the Lord spoke are Divine Truths.

[14] In the same gospel,

Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, If anyone thirsts let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. This He said about the Spirit which those believing in Him were to receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39.

'The Spirit' which those believing in the Lord were to receive from Him means the life coming from the Lord that is the life of faith and love, as is evident from the specific expressions used in these verses. For 'thirsting' and 'drinking' means the desire to know and understand truth; and 'rivers of living water' which will flow from the belly are God's truths. From this it is clear that 'the Spirit' which believers were to receive, also called 'the Holy Spirit', means the life brought by Divine Truth emanating from the Lord. This life, as stated just above, is called the life of faith and love, being the spiritual and heavenly life itself present in a person. The reason why it says 'the Holy Spirit was not yet because Jesus was not yet glorified' is that while He was in the world the Lord Himself taught Divine Truth; but when He had been glorified, which was after the Resurrection, He taught it through angels and spirits. That holy influence present with a person, emanating from the Lord through angels and spirits, whether in a discernible manner or an indiscernible one, is the Holy Spirit there. For in the Word Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is called that which is holy, 9680.

[15] This explains why the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth and why it is said that He would lead into all truth, that He would not speak on His own [authority], but speak what He hears from the Lord, and that He would receive from the Lord what He was to declare, John 16:13-14. It also explains why the Lord, when He was going to leave the disciples, breathed into them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit, John 20:21-22. 'Breathing' means the life of faith, 9229, 9281, so that the Lord's breathing into someone means imparting the ability to understand Divine Truths and thereby receive that life. So it is also that 'the Spirit', being a name derived from 'breathing', is a derivation also of 'blowing' and of 'wind'; and this is why the spirit is frequently called the wind. Breathing, which is the work of the lungs, corresponds to the life of faith, while the beating of the heart corresponds to the life of love, see 3883-3896, 9300, 9495.

[16] Something similar is meant by 'breathing into' in the Book of Genesis,

And Jehovah breathed into man's nostrils the soul of life. Genesis 2:7.

This is why in Lamentations 4:20 the Lord is called the Spirit of our nostrils; and since Divine Truth consumes and devastates the evil it says in David,

The foundations of the world were revealed at the blast of the Spirit of Your nose. Psalms 18:15.

And in Job,

By the breath of God they perish, and by the Spirit of His nose they are consumed. Job 4:9.

In David,

By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all their host by the Spirit of His mouth. Psalms 33:6.

'The Word of Jehovah' is Divine Truth, as is 'the Spirit of His mouth'. The fact that the Lord is that Word is clear in John,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made though Him. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:1-3, 14.

[17] The fact that Divine Truth, from which heavenly life comes to a person, is the Holy Spirit is further evident from the following places: In Isaiah,

There will come forth a shoot from the trunk of Jesse, and the Spirit of Jehovah will rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and intelligence, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah. Isaiah 11:1-2.

These words refer to the Lord, in whom there is Divine Truth. Consequently Divine Wisdom and Intelligence is called 'the Spirit of Jehovah', and in these verses 'the Spirit of wisdom and intelligence, counsel, strength, and knowledge'. In the same prophet,

I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth judgement to the nations. Isaiah 42:1.

These words too refer to the Lord. 'The Spirit of Jehovah' upon Him is Divine Truth, and consequently Divine Wisdom and Intelligence. Divine Truth is also called 'judgement', 2235.

[18] In the same prophet,

He will come like a rushing ⁶ river; the Spirit of Jehovah will place a sign on Him. Isaiah 59:19.

In the same prophet,

The Spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon Me, therefore Jehovah has anointed Me to bring good tidings to the poor. Isaiah 61:1.

This too refers to the Lord. Divine Truth, which was in the Lord when He was in the world, and which He was then, is meant by 'the Spirit of Jehovah'.

[19] The fact that 'the Spirit of Jehovah' means Divine Truth and consequently heavenly life that comes to the person who receives that Truth is further evident from the following places: In Isaiah,

... until the Spirit is poured out on us from on high; then the wilderness will become a ploughed field, then judgement will dwell in the wilderness. Isaiah 32:15-16.

The subject here is regeneration. 'The Spirit from on high' is life from the Divine; for the promises that 'the wilderness will become a ploughed field' and that 'judgement will dwell in the wilderness' mean the presence of intelligence where none existed previously, thus new life there.

[20] Something similar occurs in Ezekiel,

... in order that you may know that I will put My Spirit in you, in order that you may live. Ezekiel 37:14.

In the same prophet,

I will no longer hide My face from them, because I shall pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel. Ezekiel 39:29.

In Joel,

I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; and on men servants and women servants in those days I will pour out My Spirit. Joel 2:28-29.

In Micah,

I have been filled with strength by ⁷ the Spirit of Jehovah, and with judgement and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. Micah 3:8.

In Zechariah,

The horses going out into the north land have caused My Spirit to rest on the north land. Zechariah 6:8.

In Isaiah,

I will pour out waters upon the thirsty land, and streams upon the dry. I will pour out My Spirit upon your seed. Isaiah 44:3.

In these places it is evident that 'the Spirit of Jehovah' means Divine Truth and the life of faith and love which come through that Truth. It flows in directly from the Lord, also indirectly from Him through spirits and angels, see 9682 (end).

[21] Something similar occurs elsewhere in Isaiah,

On that day Jehovah Zebaoth will be a crown of adornment and a tiara of beauty for the remnant of His people, and a Spirit of judgement to him who sits in judgement, and strength to those ... Isaiah 28:5-6.

'A crown of adornment' stands for the wisdom that comes with good, 'a tiara of beauty' for the intelligence that comes with truth, and 'a Spirit of judgement' for Divine Truth, since 'judgement' is spoken of in reference to truth , 2235, 6397, 7206, 8685, 8695, 9260, 9383.

[22] In the same prophet,

The angel of Jehovah's face ⁸ delivered them; because of His love and His pity He redeemed them. But they rebelled, and exasperated the Spirit of His holiness; consequently He was turned by them into an enemy. He put the Spirit of His holiness in the midst of them. The Spirit of Jehovah led them. Isaiah 63:9-11, 14.

'The Spirit of holiness' here is the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, thus Divine Truth which comes from the Lord; 'the angel of His face' is the Lord in respect of Divine Good, for 'Jehovah's face' is love, mercy, and good. In the Book of Revelation,

The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. Revelation 19:10.

'The testimony of Jesus' is Divine Truth that comes from Him and has regard to Him, 9503.

[23] In David,

Jehovah God makes His angels spirits, ⁹ and [His] ministers flaming fire. Psalms 104:4.

'Making angels spirits' stands for making them recipients of Divine Truth; 'making them flaming fire' stands for making them recipients of Divine Good or Divine Love. In Matthew,

John said, I baptize you with water for repentance. But He who will come after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11.

'Baptizing' means regenerating; 'with the Holy Spirit' means doing so through Divine Truth; and 'with fire' means springing from the Divine Good of Divine Love. For the meaning of 'baptizing' as regenerating, see 5120 (end), 9088; and for that of 'fire' as the Divine Good of Divine Love, 4906, 5215, 6314, 6832, 6834, 6849, 7324.

[24] In Luke,

If you, being wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? Luke 11:13.

'Giving the Holy Spirit' means enlightening with Divine Truth and endowing with life from that Truth, which is the life of intelligence and wisdom. In the Book of Revelation,

The seven lamps of fire burning before the throne are the seven spirits of God. Revelation 4:5.

And in addition,

In the midst of the elders [there was] a Lamb standing, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Revelation 5:6.

It is self-evident that the word 'spirits' in these places is not used to mean spirits, since they say that the lamps and the Lamb's eyes are the spirits of God . For Divine Truths are meant by 'lamps', 4638, 7072; the understanding of truth is meant by 'the eyes', or Divine Intelligence and Wisdom when the expression refers to the Lord, 2701, 4403-4421, 4523-4534, 9051; and the power of truth derived from good is meant by 'horns' 2832, 9081, 9719-9721. From all this it is evident that Divine Truths are meant by 'the spirits of God'.

[25] When people know therefore that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, which is real Holiness, they may know the Divine meaning in the Word wherever the terms 'Spirit of God' and 'Holy Spirit' are used, as in the following places: In John,

I will ask the Father to give you another Paraclete, to remain with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans. The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and remind you of all that I said to you. John 14:16-18, 26.

And in another place,

When the Paraclete comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes forth from the Father, He will bear witness to Me. And you will bear witness. John 15:26-27.

And in yet another place,

I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. If I do not go away the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go away I will send Him to you. John 16:7.

[26] From these places it is again evident that the Divine Truth which emanates from Divine Good, or from the Father, is the Paraclete and Holy Spirit. This also explains why He is called 'the Spirit of truth', and why it is said that He will remain in them, teach them all things, and bear witness to the Lord. In the spiritual sense 'bearing witness to the Lord' means teaching about Him. The reason why [in the first of these quotations] it is said that the Paraclete, who is the Holy Spirit, is sent in the Lord's name from the Father, then [in the second] that the Lord Himself will send Him from the Father, and after this [in the third] that the Lord will send Him, is that 'the Father' means the Divine [Being] Himself within the Lord, so that the Father and He are one, as the Lord teaches explicitly in John 10:30; 14:9-11.

[27] In Matthew,

Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy of the Spirit will not be forgiven people. If anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come. Matthew 12:31-32.

'Speaking a word against the Son of Man' takes place when a person goes against God's truth that has not yet been implanted in or inscribed on his life; for 'the Son of Man' is Divine Truth, see above in 9807. But 'speaking a word against the Holy Spirit' takes place when a person goes against Divine Truth, especially Divine Truth concerning the Lord, that has been implanted in or inscribed on his life. Speaking against or denying that Truth when it has formerly been acknowledged is profanation; and profanation is such that it completely destroys a person interiorly. This is why it says that this sin cannot be forgiven. What profanation is, see 3398, 3898, 4289, 4601, 6348, 6960, 6963, 6971, 8394, 8882, 9298.

[28] And in the same gospel,

Jesus said to the disciples, Go and baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19.

'The Father' is the Divine [Being] Himself, 'the Son' is that Divine [Being] Himself in a human form, and 'the Holy Spirit' is the emanation from the Divine [Being], so that there is one Divine [Being] yet still a Trinity. The truth that the Lord is the Divine [Being] Himself under human form is His own teaching in John,

From now on you know the Father and have seen Him. He who sees Me sees the Father. I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. John 14:7, 9-10.

Footnotes:

3858. Since the subject in the verses that follow now is the twelve sons of Jacob, and since the twelve tribes of Israel were named after them as their fathers, let an introductory statement be made here about what the tribes mean and why there were twelve. Nobody as yet has known the arcanum lying within these considerations, for people have believed that the historical descriptions of the Word are purely history and hold nothing more of the Divine within them than their ability to be made to apply to matters of a holy nature when these are under discussion. Consequently they have also believed that the twelve tribes meant nothing else than the divisions of the Israelitish people into so many separate nations or general families, when in fact Divine realities are implied in those tribes. That is to say, those tribes mean so many universal divisions of faith and love and so mean things that constitute the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth, each tribe in particular meaning some universal division. But what exactly each tribe means will be evident from the verses that follow directly after this, where the subject is the sons of Jacob after whom the twelve tribes were named. In general the twelve tribes meant everything constituting the doctrine of truth and good, that is, of faith and love; for these - that is to say, truth and good, or faith and love - constitute the Lord's kingdom, since what are essentially matters of truth or faith constitute the whole of thought there, and what are essentially matters of good or love constitute the whole of affection. And because the Jewish Church was established so as to represent the Lord's kingdom the divisions of that people into twelve tribes therefore meant those things of His kingdom. This is an arcanum which has not previously been disclosed.

[2] Twelve means all things in general, as shown already in 577, 2089, 2129, 2130 (end), 3272, while 'tribes' means matters of truth and good, or of faith and love, so that 'the twelve tribes' means all of these. Let this meaning of 'the twelve tribes' be substantiated here from the Word before each one is dealt with individually. In John,

The holy city New Jerusalem, having twelve gates, and above the gates twelve angels, and names written which are those of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. He measured the city with the measuring rod, twelve thousand stadia. And he measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Revelation 21:12, 14, 16-17, 21.

'The holy city', or the New Jerusalem, means the Lord's new Church, as is evident from each detail of this description. Previous chapters refer to what the condition of the Church was going to be like before its end; this chapter refers to a new Church. That being so, 'the gates', 'the wall', 'the foundations' mean nothing else than things constituting the Church, which are those of charity and faith since these constitute the Church.

[3] From this it may be clear to anyone that 'twelve' used so many times in that description, also 'tribes', and 'apostles' too, are not used to mean twelve, or tribes, or apostles, but that 'twelve' is used to mean all things in their entirety; see what has been shown in 577, 2089, 2129, 2130 (end), 3272. The same is true of the number 'a hundred and forty-four', for this is twelve twelves. And since 'twelve' means all things it is evident that 'the twelve tribes' means all things constituting the Church, which, as stated above, are truth and good, or faith and love. The same is also true of 'the twelve apostles' who as well represented all things constituting the Church, that is, all things of faith and love, see 2129, 3354, 3488, 3857. That number is therefore called 'the measure of a man, that is, of an angel', by which is meant a state of truth and good. For 'measure' means state, see 3104, and 'man' means that which constitutes the Church, as is evident from things said about the meaning of 'man' in 478, 479, 565, 768, 1871, 1894, and also from the fact that the Lord's kingdom is called the Grand Man, which it is called by virtue of good and truth which come from the Lord, dealt with at the ends of chapters in 3624-3649, 3741-3750. And 'angel' has the same meaning, 1705, 1754, 1925, 2821, 3039.

[4] As in John, so also in the Prophets, in the Old Testament Word, is the new Jerusalem referred to, where in a similar way the Lord's new Church is meant, as in Isaiah 65:18-19, and following verses; in Zechariah 14; and in particular in Ezekiel, Chapters 40-48, where the new Jerusalem, the new Temple, and a new earth describe in the internal sense the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church. The contents of those chapters, plainer than anywhere else, show what 'earth', 'Jerusalem', 'Temple', and everything in them meant, and also what 'the twelve tribes' means. For the subject of those chapters is the division of the land and the inheritance of it according to tribes, as well as the city and its walls, foundation, and gates, and everything that was to go with the Temple there. From those chapters let simply matters relating to the tribes be quoted here,

The Lord Jehovih said, This is the boundary of your inheritance of the land, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. You shall divide this land according to the tribes of Israel. But you shall divide it by lot as an inheritance, and for sojourners sojourning in your midst. They shall cast lots with you for an inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Israel. Ezekiel 47:13, 21-23.

As regards the land, it will be for the prince as a possession in Israel. And the princes will no longer oppress My people, and the land they will give to the house of Israel according to their tribes. Ezekiel 45:8.

Concerning inheritances and how they were assigned to individual tribes which are also referred to there by name, see Ezekiel 48:1 and following verses; and concerning the gates of the city which are named after the tribes of Israel, verses 31-34 of the same chapter.

[5] Quite plainly, when the tribes are spoken of here it is not the tribes who are meant, for by that time ten tribes had long since been scattered throughout the whole world, and had not subsequently returned. Nor can they possibly return, for they have become gentiles. And yet reference is made to each individual tribe, and to how it was to inherit the land and what its boundary was to be. What the boundary for the tribe of Dan was to be is stated in verse 2; what the boundary for the tribe of Asher was to be in verse 3; what those of Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben, and Judah were to be, and concerning the inheritance of the Levites; and what the boundaries of Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, and Gad were to be in verses 4-29. In addition to all this that chapter declares that the city was to have twelve gates named after the tribes of Israel - three gates facing north, those of Reuben, Judah, and Levi; three gates facing east, those of Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan; three gates facing south, those of Simeon, Issachar and Zebulun; and three gates facing west, those of Gad, Asher, and Naphtali, in verses 31-34.

[6] From all this it is evident that 'the twelve tribes' means all things that belong to the Lord's kingdom, and so all that are matters of faith and love, for these constitute the Lord's kingdom, as stated above. Because the twelve tribes meant all things of the Lord's kingdom they also represented that kingdom by their encampments and by their travellings. In Moses it is said that they were to encamp according to the tribes around the Tent of Meeting - to the east, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; to the south, Reuben, Simeon, and Gad; to the west, Ephraim Manasseh, and Benjamin; and to the north, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali, and as they were encamped so they travelled, Numbers 2:1-end. In all this they represented the Lord's kingdom, as is quite evident from Balaam's prophecy,

When Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling according to tribes, the Spirit of God came upon him and he delivered his utterance, and said, How good your tabernacles are, O Jacob; your dwelling-places, O Israel! They are like valleys that are planted, like gardens beside a river, like aloes Jehovah has planted, like cedars beside the waters. Numbers 24:2-3, 5-6.

The fact that Balaam received from Jehovah these words spoken by him is explicitly stated in Numbers 22:8, 18-19, 35, 38; 23:5, 12, 16, 26; 24:2, 13.

[7] From this also it is evident what the inheritances of the land of Canaan according to tribes represented, in connection with which it is said in Moses that he was to take a census of the congregation of the children of Israel, according to their fathers' houses; a census of those twenty or more years old, everyone going into the army of Israel. The land was to be distributed by lot; according to the names of their fathers' tribes they were to receive an inheritance, Numbers 26:2, 7-56; 33:54; 34:19-29. And Joshua's actual division of the land by lot according to tribes is described in Chapters 13, 15, 19 of the Book of Joshua. From these particular details it is evident that the Lord's kingdom was represented, as has been stated; for the land of Canaan meant that kingdom, see 1585, 1607, 3038, 3481, 3705.

[8] The reason why they are called 'armies' and why it is said that 'they encamped according to their armies and travelled according to their armies', Numbers 2:4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 15, 19, 21-23, 26, 28, 30, is that 'an army' had the same meaning [as 'a tribe'], namely truths and goods, see 3448. And the Lord is called Jehovah Zebaoth or 'Jehovah of Armies (or Hosts)' 3448. They were for these reasons called 'the armies of Jehovah' when they departed from Egypt, as in Moses,

It happened at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, on that same day it happened that all the armies of Jehovah were to come out of the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:41.

Anyone may recognize that such people in Egypt, and after that in the wilderness, were not called 'the armies of Jehovah' except in a representative sense, for no good or truth was present in them, the worst of all nations.

[9] From this it is also quite evident what was meant by the names of the twelve tribes on Aaron's breastplate, which was called the Urim and Thummim. Concerning the breastplate the following is said in Moses,

There shall be four rows in it and twelve stones. These stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names. The engravings of a signet, for each one over its name, there shall be for the twelve tribes. Exodus 28:17, 21; 39:14.

For 'Aaron' represented the Lord's Divine priesthood, and therefore all the vestments worn by him as high priest meant Divine celestial and spiritual things. But the exact meaning of those vestments will in the Lord's Divine mercy be clear where they are the subject. Since the breastplate itself was most holy, the names of it were representations of all the essential characteristics of love and faith in the Lord. These are the Urim and Thummim. The reason why the names were engraved on the precious stones was that 'stones' in general meant truths, 1298, 3720, and 'precious stones' truths shining through from good, 114. And because the name of each individual tribe meant some essential characteristic, a specific stone was also allocated for each tribe, Exodus 28:17-20; 39:10-13, which expressed by means of its colour and transparence the characteristic meant by that tribe. This was how Jehovah or the Lord gave answers by means of the Urim and Thummim.

[10] The two shoham stones which were on the two shoulder-pieces of the ephod had a similar representation but in a lesser degree than the twelve stones on the breastplate. For 'the shoulders' meant all power, and so the Lord's omnipotence, 1085, whereas 'the breast' or heart and lungs meant Divine celestial and spiritual love - 'the heart' Divine celestial love, 'the lungs' Divine spiritual love, see 3635 and the end of the present chapter where the Grand Man and its correspondence with the province of the heart and the province of the lungs is the subject. The two stones on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod are referred to in Moses as follows,

You shall take two shoham stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of the names on one stone and the remaining six names on the other stone, according to their births. You shall put two stones on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. Exodus 28:9-12; 39:6-7.

[11] Because 'the tribes' meant what are essentially matters of truth and good, or faith and love, and each tribe meant some universal aspect of these, and since the tribe of Levi meant love, as will be evident from the explanation at verse 34 below, one can therefore recognize what was meant by their placing rods, one for each tribe, in the Tent of Meeting and by Levi's rod alone blossoming with almonds. All this is described in Moses as follows,

He was told to take twelve rods, one rod for each head of their fathers' houses, and these were to be left in the Tent of Meeting, the name of Aaron being written on the rod of Levi. Aaron's rod was placed in the middle of them. And the next day, behold, Aaron's rod for the tribe of Levi had blossomed; it had produced buds, ¹ so that it flowered and produced almonds. Numbers 17:2-8.

These occurrences meant that love was the essential, also the first and foremost, thing of all in the Lord's kingdom and that love is the source of all fruitfulness. And the reason why Aaron's name was on the rod was that Aaron represented the Lord as regards His Divine priesthood. For by the Lord's priesthood is meant Divine Good, which essentially is His love and mercy, and by the Lord's kingship is meant Divine Truth which stems from Divine Good, see 1728, 2015 (end), 3670.

[12] From what has been introduced so far one may now see what 'tribes' and 'the twelve tribes' mean in the following places: In John,

I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed out of every tribe of Israel - twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Benjamin. Revelation 7:4-8.

In Moses,

Remember the days of old, understand the years of generation after generation.

When the Most High gave to the nations an inheritance, when He separated the sons of man, He fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. Deuteronomy 32:7-8.

In David,

Jerusalem, built as a city which is closely compacted together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah, a testimony to Israel, to confess the name of Jehovah. Psalms 122:3-4.

[13] In Joshua, who was told,

The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass over before you into the Jordan. Take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. And it will happen when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. They will stand in one heap. Joshua 3:11-17.

And further,

Take out of the midst of the Jordan, from the places where the priests' feet stood, twelve stones which you are to prepare and carry with you. And let each man take a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, that it may be a sign that the waters of the Jordan were cut off. Moreover Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, beneath the places where the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant had stood. Joshua 4:1-9.

Also in the description about Elijah,

Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word had come, Israel shall be your name; and he built an altar to the name of Jehovah. 1 Kings 18:31-32.

[14] That 'the tribes' means the goods of love and the truths of faith is also clear from the Lord's words in Matthew,

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory. Matthew 24:30.

Here 'all the tribes of the earth will mourn' means that the acknowledgement of truth and the life of good will not exist any longer, for the subject in that chapter is the close of the age. Similarly in John,

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, and those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will wail over Him. Revelation 1:7.

What 'coming in the clouds of heaven' means, see Preface to Genesis 18. See in addition what I have been shown from experience about the number 'twelve', in 2129, 2130.

[15] The reason why all things of faith and love are called 'tribes' is that the same expression in the original language also means a sceptre and a rod. For 'a sceptre' and also 'a rod' mean power, as will in the Lord's Divine mercy be shown elsewhere. For this reason the noun 'tribe' entails the idea that forms of good and truth possess within them all power from the Lord. And angels too are therefore referred to as 'powers' and also 'principalities', for 'princes' means the first and foremost aspects of charity and faith, such as the twelve princes descended from Ishmael, Genesis 25:16, see 2089, as well as the princes who were leaders of the tribes, Numbers 7; 13:4-16.

[16] From what has been said up to now about the twelve tribes one can recognize why the Lord's disciples, who later on were called apostles, were twelve in number, and that like the tribes they represented the Lord's Church as regards goods and truths, 2129, 3354, 3488, 3857. 'Peter' represented faith, 'James' charity, and 'John' the works that flow from charity, see the Prefaces to Genesis 18, 22, and also 3750. This is also quite evident from the things which the Lord said about them and to them.

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