1120. For in her heart she saith, I sit a queen, signifies pride and boasting that heaven and the church are under their dominion. This is evident from the signification of "to say in their heart," as being boasting from pride, for "to say" signifies boasting, and "heart" signifies the love of self, thus also pride. Also from the signification of "sitting a queen," as being that heaven and the church are under their dominion. This is meant by "sitting a queen," because when the Lord is called "King" then "queen" means heaven and the church; just as when the Lord is called "Bridegroom and Husband" heaven and the church are meant by "bride and wife." It is said heaven, but the church in heaven is meant, that is, the church with the angels of heaven, which makes one with the church that is with men on earth; for there are governments in the heavens as on the earth, and consequently there are economical, civil, and ecclesiastical affairs as on the earth, though in a more perfect degree; therefore the church in the heavens is meant by "bride and wife," and when the Lord is referred to as King, then the church, which is the King's wife, is meant by "queen. "

[2] "Queen" means the church in David:

Kings' daughters are among thy precious ones, at thy right hand doth stand the queen in the best gold of Ophir (Psalms 45:9).

This Psalm treats of the Lord and His Kingdom; and "kings' daughters" among the precious ones signify the affections of truth, which are said to be "among the precious ones" because "precious" is predicated in the Word of truths; "the queen who stands at the right hand in gold of Ophir," signifies the church from the reception of good from the Lord; for all things with man that belong to his right side have reference to good from which is truth, and those belonging to the left side have reference to truth from good, and this is why it is said that "the queen stands at the right hand." Also "the gold of Ophir" signifies good. That things on the right side with man have reference to good, and those on the left side to truth, may be seen above n. 600; and that "gold" signifies the good of love n. 242. Moreover, woman is born to be affection which belongs to love, and man [vir] is born to be understanding; thus the woman is born to be good, for every good is of affection which belongs to love, and man [vir] is born to be truth, for every truth is of the understanding. Since, then, good belongs to the right side of man, and truth to his left, it follows that it is according to Divine order for the wife to be on the right.

(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord)

[3] It has been said that the Lord is the only Man, and that all are men according to their reception of Divine good and Divine truth from Him. The Lord is the only Man because He is life itself; while all others are recipients of life because they are men from Him. Between the Man who is life and the man who is a recipient of life there is a difference like that between the uncreate and the created, or between the infinite and the finite, a difference that admits of no ratio, for there is no possible ratio between the infinite and the finite, thus there is none between God as Man and any other as a man, whether angel or spirit or a man in the world.

[4] That the Lord is Life He Himself teaches in John:

The Word was with God, and the God was Word; in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word became flesh (John 1:1, 4, 14).

In the same:

As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26).

In the same:

As the living Father hath sent Me, and I also live through the Father (John 6:57).

In the same:

I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25).

In the same:

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).

As the Lord is life, so elsewhere in the Word He is called "the Bread of life," "the Light of life," and "the Tree of life," also "the Living God," and "He that liveth."

[5] As He is life, and every man is a recipient of life from Him, He also teaches that He gives life and makes alive, as in John:

As the Father makes alive, the Son also makes alive (John 5:21).

In the same:

I am the bread of God that cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world (John 6:33).

In the same:

Because I live ye shall live also (John 14:19).

Also in many passages, that He gives life to those who believe in Him. And for this reason God is called "the fountain of life" (Psalms 36:9), and elsewhere, "Creator," "Maker," "Former," also "Potter," and we "the clay, and the work of His hands." As God is life, it follows that in Him we live, move, and have our being.

9659. 'And there shall be eight boards and their bases [made] from silver' means support in every respect from good and through truth that springs from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'eight' as what is so in every respect, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'boards' as good that lends support, dealt with in 9634; and from the meaning of 'bases [made] from silver' as support provided through truth from good, dealt with in 9643.

[2] 'Eight' means in every respect because this number has the same meaning as two and four, being the product of these when multiplied together. 'Two' and 'four' mean being joined together, completely so, 5194, 8423, 8877, and consequently also mean what is complete, 9103, and therefore what is so in every respect; for what exists in completeness does so in every respect. Another reason why 'eight' means what exists in completeness and in every respect is that since 'a week' means a whole period from beginning to end, 2044, 3845, 'the eighth day' means a complete state, from which a new beginning then commences. This explains why males had to be circumcised on the eighth day, Genesis 17:12; 21:4, for circumcision was a sign of purification from foul kinds of love by means of the truth of faith, 2039, 2046 (end), 2799, 3412, 3413, 4462. The foreskin corresponded to the defilement of good by those kinds of love, 4462, 7045, 7225, and the knife of flint with which circumcision was carried out was a sign of the truth of faith by means of which purification was accomplished, 2039 (end), 2046 (end), 2799, 7044.

[3] What exists in completeness and in every respect is also meant by 'eight' following 'seven' in Micah,

When Asshur comes into our land and treads our palaces we will set up over him seven shepherds and eight princes of men (homo), and they will feed ¹ the land of Asshur with the sword; and he will deliver [us] from Asshur. Micah 5:5-6.

'Asshur' stands for reasoning on the basis of one's own intelligence about the Church's forms of good and its truths. Deliverance totally or in every respect from consequent falsity is meant by 'eight princes of men' who will bring destruction, 'princes of men' being the leading truths that rise out of good.

[4] The fact that 'eight' means completeness and in every respect is also clear from an experience I had involving the admission and reception of some communities into heaven, about which see 2130. I saw as many as twelve communities received first, and after them as many as eight more; for people admitted and received into heaven are those who have been purified from earthly things, that is, from all love of them, and have gone on to receive instruction. The number eight on that occasion was a sign of that which was complete.

[5] 'Eight' has a similar meaning elsewhere in the Word, for example where it says that the portico of the gateway was 'eight cubits' long from the house, and that there were 'eight steps' up to the house, in Ezekiel 40:9, 31, 41. The description there is of the new house, by which the Lord's New Church is meant, truths leading to good and from good back to truths being meant by 'the portico' and 'the steps'.

[6] Anyone who does not know that spiritual realities or real things are implied by the numbers used in the Word cannot possibly see any such reality nor thus anything holy in the measures and numbers where the tabernacle, Solomon's temple, and after these the new house, new temple, and new land in Ezekiel, are described, when yet not a syllable in the Word is devoid of spiritual meaning. Let all who have intelligence weigh up in their mind what the measures and numbers in Chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel really mean, also the measures and numbers in John, at Revelation 21:17, where it says that the angel measured the wall of the new Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, and that this measure was that of a man (homo), that is, of an angel, and also in the following, besides many other places,

Let him who has intelligence reckon the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man (homo), that is, its number is six hundred and sixty-six. Revelation 13:18.

For more about all numbers in the Word, that they mean spiritual realities or real things, see 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 4670, 5265, 5291, 5335, 5708, 6175, 7973, and places where the specific meaning of certain numbers has been shown.

Footnotes: