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Isaiah 48:17

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17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

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Explanation of Isaiah 48

By Rev. John H. Smithson

THE EXPLANATION of Isaiah Chapter 48

(Note: Rev. Smithson's translation of the Isaiah text is appended below the explanation.)

1. HEAR you this, O house of Jacob; you, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Jehovah, and who make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in justice:

VERSE 1. The "house of Jacob and Israel" is the church; to "come forth out of the waters of Judah" is from doctrine out of the Word, for the church is from thence. That "waters" denote Truths of doctrine from the Word, may be seen above, Chapter 12:3, the Exposition. Apocalypse Explained 119.

The "waters of Judah" signify the Truths which are from the Good of love to the Lord; the Truths thence derived are the essential Goods of charity, which are called spiritual Goods, and which make the spiritual church, the internal of which is "Israel", and the external of which is the "house of Jacob." Hence it is evident what is meant by the "house of Jacob, called by the name of Israel, and come forth out of the Waters of Judah." Arcana Coelestia 3654.

Verses 1, 2. Who are called by the name of Israel, etc. - To "call by a name" signifies quality, · (see Chapter 4:1, the Exposition.) and to "call", without mentioning a name, signifies, in the internal sense, to be of such a quality, as in Isaiah:

"For they are called of the holy city"; (Isaiah 48:2) where, to be " called of [or from] the holy city", is to be of such a quality [as is signified by the holy city].

And in Luke:

"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; (Luke 1:32) to be, "called the Son of the Highest", is to be [the Son of the Highest]. Arcana Coelestia 3421.

Who swear by the name of Jehovah. - As to "swearing", see above, Chapter 45:23, the Exposition.

2. For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; Jehovah of Hosts is His name.

Verse 2. Jerusalem was called the "holy city", because it signified the church as to the doctrine of Truth, and the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord is what is called "Holy." That that "city", without such a representation, and consequent signification, was by no means holy, but rather profane, may be manifest from this consideration, that they rejected and crucified the Lord there; wherefore it is also called "Sodom and Egypt." (Revelation 11:8)

But whereas it signified the church as to the doctrine of Truth, it was called not only the "holy city", but also the "city of God", and the "city of the great King", Apocalypse Explained 223.

See above, Chapter 1:1, the Exposition, why "Jerusalem" signified the church as to doctrinals.

Jehovah of Hosts. - See Chapter 1:9, 24, the Exposition.

3. The former things from the beginning I declared: and from My mouth they went forth, and I made them known: suddenly I effected them, and they came to pass.

Verse 3. [The "former things" which the Lord declared, and which "came to pass", relate to the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, and which were fulfilled according to the divine predictions. These things or events are appealed to, in order to show to the Jews captive in Babylon, that their deliverance would also be effected, and that they should trust in the Lord for this purpose; but their unbelieving spirit is denoted by "their neck being a sinew of iron", and who would not believe these divine declarations, until at length. "suddenly", unexpectedly, the judgment would come. For although, in the literal sense, the judgment coming upon Babylon, through the attack of Cyrus, is understood, yet, in the primary idea, or in the spiritual sense, the judgment upon the church denoted by "Babylon" is meant.]

4. Because I knew that you wast obstinate, and that your neck was a sinew of iron, and that your forehead was brass;

Verse 4. In this and in the following passages, the "forehead" signifies that which is opposite to the Good of love, that is, the evil of the love [of self], and thence what is hard, obstinate, impudent, and infernal; - "hard" or "obstinate" in the above passage, also in Ezekiel:

"The house of Israel will not obey Me; for the whole house of Israel are obstinate in the forehead, and hard in the heart." (Ezekiel 3:7, 8)

"Impudent" in Jeremiah:

"The forehead of a woman that is a harlot remains with you; you have refused to be ashamed." (Jeremiah 3:3)

And "infernal" in the Apocalypse, 13:16; 14:9-11, 16:2. For as the Good of love is celestial, and thence mild, patient, and modest, so the evil opposite to that Good is infernal, hard, obstinate, and impudent. Apocalypse Explained 427.

5. Therefore I declared it unto you from the beginning; before it came to pass, I made you to hear it: lest you should say, Mine idol has done them; and my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.

6. You didst hear it [beforehand]; behold, the whole [is accomplished]: and will you not declare it? From this time I make you to hear new things, and hidden things which you have not known.

7. They are created now, and not from the beginning; and before the day when you heardest them not; lest you should say, Behold, I knew them!

Verse 5. That by "idols" and "graven and molten images" are signified doctrines from man's own intelligence, and not from the Word, see above, Chapter 40:18-20; 44:9-18; Exposition.

Since falsities and evils of doctrine, which are signified by "graven and molten images", are formed from man's own intelligence, when under the guidance of his self-love, therefore they are called in the Word "the work of man's hands", "the work of the hands of an artificer", and "the work of the hands of the workman or smith", as may be seen from Hosea 13:2; Deuteronomy 27:15; Psalm 115:4; 135:15. Arcana Coelestia 10406.

8. Yea, you have not heard; yea, you have not known; yea, from the first thine ear was not opened: for I knew that you wouldst deal very treacherously, and that you wast called a transgressor from the womb.

Verse 8. That to "see" signifies faith in science and in understanding, and to "hear", faith in obedience or in the will, is from correspondences in the other life, and hence from significatives. Those who are intellectual and in faith hence, belong to the province of the eye, and those who are obedient and in faith hence, belong to the province of the ear. This may be seen from the following passages in this Prophet, namely, Isaiah 1:19; 50:4, 5; 55:2, 3. Arcana Coelestia 3869 Arcana Coelestia 3869[1-14].

I knew that you wouldst deal very treacherously, and that you wast called a transgressor from the womb. - These things are said of the "house of Jacob", by which is signified the church perverted. To "deal treacherously" signifies against the revealed Truths; and to be "called by the name of a transgressor from the womb" signifies recession from Truths from the first time in which reformation could be effected. By being "called by a name" is signified quality as to such things; see above, verse 2. Apocalypse Explained 710.

9. For the sake of My name I will defer Mine anger; and for the sake of My praise I will restrain it from you, that I may not cut you off.

Verse 9. I will defer Mine anger, etc. - In respect to "anger", when ascribed to the Lord, see Chapter 9:12, 17, 21, the Exposition.

10. Behold, I have purified you, but not for silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.

11. For Mine own sake, for Mine own sake, will I do it; for how should [My name] be blasphemed? and My glory I will not give to another.

Verse 10. "Affliction" means temptations, for in the Lord's Word nothing else is signified by "afflictions." (Arcana Coelestia 1846)

What "temptations" are, see Chapter 43:2, the Exposition.

Verse 11. What is signified by "profaning and blaspheming the Lord's name", see Chapter 37:6, 17, 23, 24, the Exposition.

My glory I will not give to another. - "Glory", in the supreme sense, is the Divine Human, thus also the Divine Truth, because this is from the Divine Human, "Not to give glory to another" is only to the Divine Human, which is One with Himself. Arcana Coelestia 5922.

The reason why" glory" signifies the Divine Truth in its fulness, is, because everything magnificent in heaven is from the light which proceeds from the Lord, and the light proceeding from Him as the

Sun of heaven is in its essence Divine Truth. True Christian Religion 780.

12. Hearken unto Me, O Jacob and Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the First, and I am the Last:

13. Yea, My hand has founded the earth; and My right hand has spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

Verses 12, 13. By the "foundation of the world", (Revelation 17:8) in the sense of the letter, or in the natural sense, is understood the creation of the world, but in the internal spiritual sense is understood the establishment of the church; for the spiritual sense treats of spiritual things, and the natural sense of natural things, which are of the world. Hence it is that by the "creation of heaven and earth", in the first chapter of Genesis, is described, in the spiritual sense, the new creation, or the establishment of the first or most ancient church on this earth, as may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia. Moreover by "to create", in the Word, is signified to reform, and by "Creator", the Lord as the Reformer and Saviour. The establishment of the church is understood by the "foundation of the world", in Matthew 25:34; Luke 11:50; John 17:24. That the establishment of the church is understood by the "foundation of the earth", is further evident from the passages in the Word where "founding the earth" and the "foundation of the earth" are mentioned, by which the foundation or the creation of the earth is not meant, but the establishment or the creation of the church upon the earth, as in Zechariah:

"Jehovah stretches forth the heavens, and founds the earth and forms the spirit of man within him"; (Zechariah 12:1) where by "stretching forth the heavens" and by "founding the earth", is not understood to stretch forth the visible heaven, and to found the habitable earth, but the church, as to its internals, which are called spiritual things, and as to its externals, which are called natural things; to "found" the one, and to "extend" the other, is to establish [the church], wherefore it is also said that "He forms the spirit of man within him", by which his reformation and regeneration are signified. And in Isaiah 48:12, 13, where by "My hand has founded the earth, and My right hand has spanned the heavens", etc., are signified similar things. Apocalypse Explained 1057.

I am the First, and I am the Last: yea, My hand has founded the earth; and My right hand has spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. - By the "hand" and the "right hand" of Jehovah, or of the Lord, is understood Omnipotence; by "the earth which He founds", is denoted the ultimate; "the heaven which He stretches out or extends", is that which is between the First and the Last; to "call them, that they may stand up together", is to hold all interior things together by the ultimate, in connection and in form, that they may regard one end. The one End which they should regard is "the First and the Last", who is the Lord, us is evident from Revelation 2:8, where He is expressly called "the First and the Last." Arcana Coelestia 10044. See also the Exposition of Isaiah 44:6.

14. Gather yourselves together, all of you, and hear: which among them has declared these things? Jehovah has loved him: and He will execute His pleasure on Babylon; and His arm on the Chaldeans.

15. I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he will make his way prosperous.

Verses 14, 20. He will execute His pleasure on Babylon; - Come you forth from Babylon, etc. - 1n respect to "Babylon", and its significance in the Word, see above, Chapter 13 and 14, the Exposition.

16. Come near unto Me, and hear you this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time when it began to be, there am I. And now the Lord Jehovih has sent Me, and His Spirit.

Verse 16. The Lord Jehovih. - What is understood when the Lord is called by this name, see Chapter 3:15, note and Exposition; and what by His "Spirit", see Chapter 11:2, 3, the Exposition.

17. Thus says Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Jehovah, your God; who teaches you how to profit; who leads you in the way wherein you should go.

Verse 17. That it was JEHOVAH Himself who descended and assumed Human nature for the purpose of effecting the work of Redemption, see above, Chapter 43:11, the Exposition.

18. O that you hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had your peace been like a river, and your justice as the waves of the sea:

Verses 18, 22. For as much as " peace" can only exist with those who live according to the precepts of the Lord, and not with those who do not so live, therefore it is said, "O that you hadst hearkened to My commandments l then had your peace been like a river, and your justice as the waves of the sea. There is no peace, says Jehovah, to the wicked." "Peace like a river", signifies in abundance; "justice as the waves of the sea", signifies fructification of Good by Truths, "justice", in the Word, being predicated of Good, and the "sea" of Truths. Apocalypse Explained 365. In the Word mention is frequently made of "keeping and doing the commandments of God, and His precepts."

By "doing the precepts of God" is understood the same as by loving the Lord above all things, and our neighbour as ourselves; for whatever man inwardly, or from the heart, loves, that be wills, and what he wills, that he does; and to love God is to love His precepts, these being of God, insomuch that they are God. Hence it may appear how little the followers of Faith alone know what "love" is; they announce or affirm that faith lives from love, and that faith is dead without love, and yet they do not know that "love" and "deeds" are one; they say also that in faith there is love, and yet they are ignorant that there can be no "love" in "faith", if they do not live according to the precepts of the Lord contained in the Word; and that it is from thence, and from no other source whatever, that there can be any "love" in "faith", except what is natural only, which is not the love of the Lord and of the neighbour, but the love of self and of the world, and these loves are altogether destructive of faith, yea, they falsify the Truths which appertain to genuine Faith, which are contained in the Word. Apocalypse Explained 894.

Inasmuch as the church at this day does not know that conjunction with the Lord makes heaven, and that conjunction is effected by the acknowledgement that He is the God of heaven and earth, and at the same time by a life according to His precepts, it may therefore be expedient to say something on the subject. It may be asked by him who is uninstructed in this case "What is conjunction ? How can acknowledgement and life make conjunction? What need is there of these things, when everyone may be saved by mercy alone? What necessity for any other medium of salvation but faith alone? Is not God merciful and omnipotent?" But let such an one know that in the spiritual world knowledge and acknowledgement make all presence, and that the affection which is of love makes all conjunction; for spaces in that world are nothing else but appearances according to the similitudes of minds, that is, of affections and consequent thoughts; wherefore when anyone knows another either from reputation, or from communication with him, or from conversation, or from affinity, whilst he thinks of him from the idea of that knowledge, he is presented to view, although he was a thousand miles off as to appearance; and if any one loves another whom he is acquainted with, he dwells with him in one society, and if he loves him inmostly, in one house. This is the state of all throughout the spiritual world, and it derives its origin from this circumstance, that the Lord is present with everyone according to faith, and conjoined according to love; faith and the consequent presence of the Lord is given by the knowledge of Truths from the Word, especially concerning the Lord Himself there, but love and consequent conjunction is given by a life according to His precepts, for the ·Lord says, "He that has My precepts, and does them, he it is who loves Me; and I will love him, and make abode with him", etc. (John 14:2l-24.) But in what manner this is effected, it may also be expedient to say. The Lord loves everyone, and is willing to be conjoined to him, but He cannot be conjoined so long as man is in the delight of evil, as in the delight of hatred and revenge; in the delight of adultery and whoredom, in the delight of defrauding or stealing under any pretence whatever, in the delight of blaspheming and lying, and in the concupiscences of the love of self and of the world; for everyone who is in those evils, is in consort with devils who are in hell. The Lord, indeed, loves them even there, but He cannot be conjoined with them, unless the delights of those evils be removed; and they cannot be removed by the Lord, unless man explores himself, so as to know his own evils, acknowledging and confessing them before the Lord, and being willing to desist from them, and thus doing the act of repentance. This man ought to do as from himself, because he is not sensible that be does anything from the Lord; and this has been given to man, because conjunction, in order to be conjunction, must be reciprocal, of man with the Lord, and of the Lord with man. So far, therefore, as evils with their delights are thus removed, so far the love of the Lord enters, which, as was said, is universal towards all; and in such case man is withdrawn from hell, and brought into heaven. Apocalypse Revealed 937.

19. And your seed had been as the sand, and the offspring of your bowels like the gravel thereof: his name should not have been cut off, nor destroyed from before Me.

Verse 19. "Seed as the sand" signifies that if the church had obeyed the Lord's precepts, its Good would have so much increased; and "the offspring of your bowels" its Truths in like manner, for by "the issue or the offspring of your bowels" are signified those who are born of the Lord, or who are in love to the Lord and in charity to their neighbour. (See also the Exposition of Isaiah 63:15.) Arcana Coelestia 1803.

His name should not have been cut off, nor destroyed from before Me. - The "cutting off, and destroying of the name before Jehovah", denotes the quality of the state by which there is conjunction, which state is the spiritual state of those who are of the church which is signified by "Israel." Apocalypse Explained 148.

20. Go you forth from Babylon; flee you from the Chaldeans with the voice of singing: declare you this, and make it heard; utter it forth even to the end of the earth: say you, Jehovah has redeemed His servant Jacob;

Verse 20. As to "Babylon" and "Chaldea", see Chapter xiii., xiv.; also Isaiah 43:14; 47:1, the Exposition.

Verse 20, 21. Jehovah has redeemed His servant Jacob; they shall not thirst in the deserts, through which He unll make them go, yea, He will cleave the rock, etc. - That the "Rock" in Horeb, from which the waters flowed, signified the Lord, is known in the church, [1 Corinthians 10:4.] but that it signified the Lord as to Faith, and also Faith from the Lord, [was shown above, Chap, Isaiah 16:1, the Exposition.] Arcana Coelestia 8581.

21. They shall not thirst in the deserts, through which He will make them go: He will cause waters from the rock to flow for them; yea, He will cleave the rock, and the waters shall gush forth.

Verse 21. He will cause waters from the rock to flow for them, etc."Rock", in this passage, signifies the Lord as to Divine Truth, or, what is the same thing, Divine Truth from the Lord. Apocalypse Explained 411.

22. There is no peace, says Jehovah, to the wicked.

Verse 22. All restlessness arises from what is evil and false, and all peace from what is Good and True. At this day scarcely anyone knows what "Peace" denotes, when it is named in the Word, as in the benediction, "May Jehovah lift up His face upon you, and give you peace!" (Numbers 6:26, and elsewhere.) Almost everyone believes that "peace" consists in security from enemies, and in domestic and social tranquillity, nevertheless this peace is not there meant, but a "peace" which immensely transcends that peace, and which is the heavenly "peace" spoken of just above. No one can be gifted with this "peace" but he who is led of the Lord, and is in the Lord, that is, in heaven, where the Lord is all in all; for heavenly "peace" flows in when the lusts arising from the love of self and of the world are taken away, inasmuch as these lusts are what take away "peace", for they infest the interiors of man, and cause him at length to place rest in restlessness and peace in disturbance, because his delight is in evils. So long as man is in such evils he cannot in any way know what "peace" is; yea, he so long believes that the above "peace" is a thing of nought; and if anyone says that the above "peace" then comes to perception when the delights arising from the love of self and of the world are removed, he ridicules the idea, and the reason is, because he places peace in the delight of evil which is opposite to "peace." Inasmuch as "peace" is of this description, that is, the inmost of all happiness and blessedness, and thence the universal ruling principle in every particular, therefore the ancients adopted a common formula of speech, and said, "Peace be to you!" when they meant to wish anyone's welfare, and inquired whether he had "peace", when they meant to ask whether it.was well with him. Arcana Coelestia 5662.

In respect to heavenly "peace", its origin and its nature, see above, Chapter 9:6, the Exposition.

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Isaiah Chapter 48

1. HEAR you this, O house of Jacob; you, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Jehovah, and who make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in justice:

2. For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; Jehovah of Hosts is His name.

3. The former things from the beginning I declared: and from My mouth they went forth, and I made them known: suddenly I effected them, and they came to pass.

4. Because I knew that you wast obstinate, and that your neck was a sinew of iron, and that your forehead was brass;

5. Therefore I declared it unto you from the beginning; before it came to pass, I made you to hear it: lest you should say, Mine idol has done them; and my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.

6. You didst hear it [beforehand]; behold, the whole [is accomplished]: and will you not declare it? From this time I make you to hear new things, and hidden things which you have not known.

7. They are created now, and not from the beginning; and before the day when you heardest them not; lest you should say, Behold, I knew them!

8. Yea, you have not heard; yea, you have not known; yea, from the first thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thouwouldst deal very treacherously, and that you wast called a transgressor from the womb.

9. For the sake of My name I will defer Mine anger; and for the sake of My praise I will restrain it from you, that I may not cut you off.

10. Behold, I have purified you, but not for silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.

11. For Mine own sake, for Mine own sake, will I do it; for how should [My name] be blasphemed? and My glory I will not give to another.

12. Hearken unto Me, O Jacob and Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the First, and I am the Last:

13. Yea, My hand has founded the earth; and My right hand has spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

14. Gather yourselves together, all of you, and hear: which among them has declared these things? Jehovah has loved him: and He will execute His pleasure on Babylon; and His arm on the Chaldeans.

15. I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he will make his way prosperous.

16. Come near unto Me, and hear you this: From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time when it began to be, there am I. And now the Lord Jehovih has sent Me, and His Spirit.

17. Thus says Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Jehovah, your God; who teacheth you how to profit; who leads you in the way wherein you should go.

18. O that you hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had your peace been like a river, and your justice as the waves of the sea:

19. And your seed had been as the sand, and the offspring of your bowels like the gravel thereof: his name should not have been cut off, nor destroyed from before Me.

20. Go you forth from Babylon; flee you from the Chaldeans with the voice of singing: declare you this, and make it heard; utter it forth even to the end of the earth: say you, Jehovah has redeemed His servant Jacob;

21. They shall not thirst in the deserts, through which He will make them go: He will cause waters from the rock to flow for them; yea, He will cleave the rock, and the waters shall gush forth.

22. There is no peace, says Jehovah, to the wicked.

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Arcana Coelestia #3869

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3869. 'For Jehovah has heard' means in the highest sense providence, in the internal sense the will of faith, in the interior sense obedience, in the external sense the sense of hearing - faith in the will which is received from the Lord alone being meant here. This is clear from the meaning of 'hearing'. As regards 'hearing' meaning the sense of hearing, this needs no explanation; but that 'hearing' in the interior sense means obedience and in the internal sense faith in the will, this is clear from the many places in the Word that are referred to below. The same is clear also from the nature of the sense of hearing when compared with that of sight. Sight in the interior sense means the understanding and in the internal sense faith in the understanding, see 3863; and the reason why it has these meanings is that the essential nature of things comes to be seen by means of one's internal sight and with the aid of this comes to be grasped by a kind of faith, though such as exists only in the understanding. When however things that are heard penetrate to the interior parts they too are converted into something similar to sight, for things that are heard are then seen interiorly. Consequently that which is meant by the sense of sight is also meant by the sense of hearing; that is to say, that which is of the understanding and also that which is of faith is meant. But the sense of hearing at the same time convinces a person that the thing is true, for it has an influence not only on the understanding part of a person's mind but also on the will part, and so reaches more interiorly. That is to say, it reaches the will and causes that person to will that which he sees. This is why 'hearing' means the understanding of a thing and at the same time obedience, and why in the spiritual sense it means faith in the will.

[2] It is because these two - obedience, and faith in the will - lie thus within 'hearing' that these attributes are also meant in everyday speech by the phrases hearing, listening to, and paying attention to; for a person who 'hears' is one who is obedient, and 'listening to' somebody also means obeying him. For those entities which exist interiorly within something are sometimes included within the actual expressions a person uses when he speaks. These occur there because it is a person's spirit which thinks and which grasps the meaning of the expressions used by others when they speak; and his spirit is in a way in contact with spirits and angels among whom the first beginnings of verbal expressions exist. What is more, the whole range of man's experience is such that whatever enters in through the ear and eye, or hearing and sight, passes into his understanding, through the understanding into the will, and from the will into deed. So it is with the truth of faith. This first becomes the truth of faith present within knowledge, then the truth of faith within the will, and finally the truth of faith in deed, and so finally charity. Faith within knowledge or the understanding is meant by 'Reuben', as has been shown; faith in the will by 'Simeon'; and faith in the will when it becomes charity by 'Levi'.

[3] As regards 'hearing' in the highest sense meaning providence, this may become clear from what has been stated above in 3863 about 'seeing' in the highest sense meaning foresight, for the Lord's foresight is a seeing from eternity to eternity that a thing is so, whereas His providence is a governing that that thing should be so and a bending of a person's freedom towards good insofar as He foresees that that person is going to allow himself in freedom to be bent towards it, see 3854.

[4] That 'Jehovah heard', the phrase from which Simeon received his name, in the interior sense means obedience, and in the internal sense faith in the will acquired from the Lord alone, is evident from very many places in the Word, such as the following: In Matthew,

Behold, a voice from the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him. Matthew 17:5.

'Hearing Him' stands for possessing faith in Him, and obeying His commandments, and so possessing faith in the will. In John,

Truly, truly, I say to you, that the hour will come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice. John 5:25, 28.

'Hearing the voice of the Son of God' stands for possessing faith in the Lord's words, and willing them. People who possess faith that is part of the will receive life, and that is why the words 'those who hear will live' are used.

[5] In the same gospel,

The one entering by the door is the shepherd of the sheep; to him the gate-keeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:2-3, 16, 27.

'Hearing the voice' plainly stands for obedience resulting from faith that is part of the will. In the same gospel,

Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. John 18:37.

Here the meaning is similar. In Luke,

Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded if someone rose from the dead. Luke 16:29, 31.

'Hearing Moses and the Prophets' stands for knowing things contained in the Word and possessing faith in it, and so also willing those things. For possessing faith without willing is seeing but not hearing, whereas possessing faith together with willing is seeing and hearing. This is why both - seeing and hearing - are mentioned together in various places throughout the Word, seeing meaning that which is portrayed through 'Reuben' and hearing that which is portrayed through 'Simeon', since the two are joined together like brother to brother.

[6] The fact that seeing and hearing are referred to jointly is clear from the following places: In Matthew,

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because those who see do not see, and those who hear do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says, By hearing you will hear and not understand, and seeing you will see and not discern. This people's heart has become gross, and with ears they have heard in a dull manner, and their eyes they have closed, lest perhaps they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and with their heart understand. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it. Matthew 13:13-17; John 12:40; Isaiah 6:9.

In Mark,

Jesus said to the disciples, Why do you discuss the fact that you have no loaves? Are you still without understanding and do not understand? Do you still have your heart hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? Mark 8:17-18.

[7] In Luke,

To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but for everyone else in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not hear. Luke 8:10.

In Isaiah,

The eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be opened. Isaiah 35:5.

In the same prophet,

Then on that day the deaf will hear the words of the book, and out of thick darkness and out of darkness the eyes of the blind will see. Isaiah 29:18.

In the same prophet,

Hear, you deaf, and look and see, you blind. Isaiah 42:18.

In the same prophet, Bring forth the blind people, who will have eyes, and the deaf, who will have ears. Isaiah 43:8.

In the same prophet,

The eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. Isaiah 32:3.

In the same prophet, Let your eyes be looking at your teachers, and let your ears hear the word. Isaiah 30:20-21.

In the same prophet,

He who stops his ear lest it hears of blood, and shuts his eyes lest they see evil, will dwell on the heights. Isaiah 33:15-16.

In Ezekiel,

Son of man, you are dwelling in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see but they do not see, who have ears to hear but they do not hear. Ezekiel 12:2.

In these places both seeing and hearing are mentioned because one follows the other. That is to say, faith in the understanding, meant by 'seeing', is followed by faith in the will, meant by 'hearing'. Otherwise it would have been sufficient to mention only one. From this it is also evident why one son of Jacob was named from the expression 'seeing' and the other from 'hearing'.

[8] The origin of 'seeing' meaning faith within knowledge or the understanding, and 'hearing' faith within obedience or the will rests in correspondences in the next life and in meaningful signs based on these. People who have understanding and faith resulting from that understanding belong to the province of the eye, and those who are obedient and have faith resulting from that obedience belong to the province of the ear. The truth of this will be seen from what, in the Lord's Divine mercy, is going to be shown at the ends of chapters concerning the Grand Man and the correspondence with it of everything in the human body.

[9] So it is then that 'the eye' in the internal sense means the understanding, see 2701, and 'the ear' obedience. And in the spiritual sense 'the ear' means faith resulting from obedience, or faith in the will, as is also clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Even so, you have not heard, even so, you have not known; even so, from that time your ear has not opened itself. Isaiah 48:8.

In the same prophet,

The Lord Jehovih will arouse my ear to hear like those who are being taught. The Lord Jehovih opened my ear, and I was not rebellious. Isaiah 50:4-5.

In the same prophet,

Attend diligently to Me, and eat what is good, that your soul may delight in fatness; incline your ear and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live. Isaiah 55:2-3.

In Jeremiah,

To whom am I to speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot listen. Jeremiah 6:10.

In the same prophet,

This I commanded them, saying, Hear My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. But they did not hear, nor did they incline their ear. Jeremiah 7:23-24, 26

In the same prophet,

Hear, O women, the word of Jehovah, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth. Jeremiah 9:20.

In the same prophet,

You did not incline your ear, and you did not obey Me. Jeremiah 35:15.

In Ezekiel,

Son of man, all My words that I have spoken to you, receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. Ezekiel 3:10.

In the same prophet,

I will bring My zeal against you, and they will deal with you in fury. Your nose and your ears they will remove Ezekiel 23:25.

'Removing nose and ears' stands for removing the perception of truth and good, and the obedience that goes with faith. In Zechariah,

They refused to pay attention, and fumed a stubborn shoulder, and made their ears heavy so that they might not hear, and set their heart adamant, so that they might not hear the law. Zechariah 7:11-12.

[10] In Amos,

Thus said Jehovah, As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so will the children of Israel in Samaria be rescued, on the corner of a bed and on the end of a couch. Amos 3:12.

'Rescuing two legs' stands for rescuing the will for good, 'a piece of an ear' for rescuing the will for truth. It may be seen that 'a piece of an ear' has this meaning, as has been stated, solely from correspondences in the next life and from the meaningful signs based on these, with which the internal sense of the Word and also the ritual observances in the Israelitish and Jewish Church are in accordance. This explains why, when Aaron and his sons were to be consecrated for their specific function, Moses was commanded among other things to take some of the ram's blood and to put it on the tip of Aaron's ear and on the tips of the ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the large toes of their right feet, Exodus 29:20. This ritual act represented the will anointed by faith, into which also as priest he was to be initiated. Anyone can recognize that this ritual act was holy since it was Jehovah who commanded Moses to perform it, and so also that putting blood on the tip of the ear was holy. But what holy thing was meant cannot be known except from the internal sense of the things in the Word, which at this point is that the holiness of faith when applied to the will must be preserved.

[11] The meaning of 'the ear' as obedience, and in the internal sense as faith resulting from that obedience, is even more plainly evident from the ritual that was to be observed when a slave did not wish to go free, described in Moses as follows: If a slave or servant-girl did not wish to go free,

His master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost; and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever. Exodus 21:6; Deuteronomy 15:17.

'Piercing his ear with an awl at the doorpost' stands for serving and obeying for ever. In the spiritual sense it stands for having no wish to understand what is true, only a wish to be obedient to it. This, compared with an understanding of what is true, is not freedom.

[12] Since the obedience of faith is meant in the internal sense by 'the ears', and being obedient by 'hearing', one may see what is meant by the following words spoken by the Lord many times, He who has an ear to hear, let him hear, Matthew 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; 7:16; Luke 8:8; 14:35; Revelation 2:7, 11, 29; 3:13, 22.

[13] As regards 'hearing' in the highest sense meaning providence and 'seeing' foresight, this is clear from the following places in the Word in which eyes and also ears are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord; as in Isaiah,

Incline Your ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open Your eyes, O Jehovah, and see. Isaiah 37:17.

In Daniel,

Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes 1 and see our devastations. Daniel 9:18.

In David,

O God, incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech. Psalms 17:6.

In the same author,

Incline to me Your ear, and save me. Psalms 71:2.

In the same author,

Turn an ear to my prayers, on account of Your truthfulness; answer me, on account of Your righteousness. Psalms 143:1.

In Jeremiah,

O Jehovah, You heard my voice; do not hide Your ear at my sighing, at my cry. Lamentations 3:56.

In David,

O Jehovah, do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; incline to me Your ear; in the day I cry answer me. Psalms 102:2.

[14] It is well known that Jehovah does not have ears or eyes as man does but that some attribute which may be ascribed to the Divine is meant by the ear and the eye, namely infinite will and infinite understanding. Infinite will is providence, and infinite understanding foresight; and it is these that are meant in the highest sense by ear and eye when these are attributed to Jehovah. These considerations now show what is meant in each sense [of the Word] by 'Jehovah heard', the phrase from which 'Simeon' received his name.

Footnotes:

1. The Latin adds O Jehovah but this does not appear in the Hebrew or in Sw's rough draft.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.