THE EXPLANATION of ISAIAH 50

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

1. THUS says Jehovah, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or who is he among My creditors to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have you been sold; and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

VERSE 1. That the church is called a "mother", appears from the following passages:

"Jehovah said, Contend with your mother; she is not My wife , and I am not her Husband", etc. (Hosea 2:2, 5)

Again :

"You art your mother's daughter, that loaths her Husband." (Ezekiel 16:40)

Again,

"Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away?" etc. (Isaiah 50:1)

Again,

"Your mother was as a vine planted near waters, bearing fruit"; [Ezekiel 19:10) speaking of the Jewish church.

Again,

"Jesus stretching out His hand to the disciples, said, My mother and My brethren are they who hear the Word of God, and do it"; (Matthew 12:48, 49; Mark 3:33-35; Luke 8:21) by the Lord's "disciples" is meant the church. Again: There was standing by the cross of Jesus His mother; and Jesus seeing the mother and the disciple standing by whom He loved, says to His mother, Woman, behold your son! and He says to the disciple, Behold your mother! Wherefore from that hour the disciple took her into his own." (John 19:25-27)

By these words is implied that the Lord did not acknowledge Mary as a mother, but the church, wherefore He calls her "woman", and the "mother" of the disciple. The reason why the Lord called her the "mother." of this disciple, or of John, was, because "John" represented the church as to the Goods of charity, which Goods are the church in real effect; therefore it is said that "he took her into his own." That "Peter" represented Truth and Faith, "James" Charity, and "John" the works of Charity, may be seen in the Apocalypse Revealed 5, 6, 790, 798, 879; and that the "twelve disciples" together represented the church as to all its [principles], may be seen, Apocalypse Revealed 233, 790, 903, 915. Conjugial Love 119.

That the Jewish nation had not any conjugial principle, whether understood in a spiritual or in a natural sense, is very manifest from this consideration, that they were permitted to marry several wives; for where there is a conjugial principle, understood in a spiritual sense, that is, where the Good and the Truth of the church are, consequently where the church is, this is in no wise permitted; for a genuine conjugial principle is in no case given except with those with whom the church or kingdom of the Lord is, and with these only between two, Arcana Coelestia 1907, 2740.

Marriage between two who are in genuine conjugial love, corresponds to the heavenly marriage, that is, to the conjunction of Good and Truth, the "husband" corresponding to Good, and the "wife" to the Truth of that Good; also, when they are in genuine conjugial love, they are in that marriage. Therefore, where the church is, there it is never permitted to marry more wives than one; but whereas there was no church amongst the posterity of Jacob, but only the representative or type of a church, or the external of the church without its internal, Arcana Coelestia 4307, 4500, therefore with that posterity it was permitted.

And, moreover, the marriage of one husband with several wives would present in heaven the idea, or image, as if one Good might be conjoined with several Truths which are not in accord. with each other, and thus that Good was none; for Good becomes none in consequence of Truths not agreeing together, since Good derives its quality from Truths, and their agreement with each other. It would also present an image as if the church was not one, but several, and, these distinct among themselves, according to the Truths of faith, or according to doctrinals, when yet it is one where Good is its essential, and this essential is qualified, and, as it were, modified by Truths.

The church is an image of heaven, for it is the Lord's kingdom on earth; heaven is distinguished into many general societies, and into lesser ones subordinate to the general ones, but still they are one by virtue of Good, the Truths of faith being there according to Good congruously; for they regard Good, and are derived from it. If heaven was distinct according to the Truths of faith, and not according to Good, there would be no heaven, since there would be nothing of unanimity, for one principle of life, or one soul, could not be in its inhabitants from the Lord; this is only given in the principle of Good" that is, in love to the Lord; and in love towards the neighbour; for love conjoins all, and when the love of what is Good and True is in each, then there is a common principle which is from the Lord, thus the Lord, who conjoins all. The love of what is Good and True is what is called "love towards the neiqhbour", for the "neighbour" is one who is principled in Good and the Truth thence derived, and; in the abstract sense, Good itself and its Truth. From these considerations it may be manifest why marriage within the church must be between one husband and one wife; and why it was permitted to the posterity of Jacob to marry several wives; and that the reason of this was, because there was no church among them, and consequently the representative of a church could not be instituted by marriaqes, because they were in principles contrary to conjugial love. Arcana Coelestia 4837.

The bill of divorcement. - "But the Jews said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away; and Jesus answering, said unto them, For the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept." (Matthew 19:7, 8)

It appears from this passage, and especially from the divine command to Moses, to "hew him out two tables like unto the former", (Exodus 34:1) that the external of the Word, of the church, and of worship, was accommodated to the Jewish nation, and would therefore have been different if that nation had been of a different quality. For the sake of that nation, therefore, it was permitted to marry several wives, which was a thing altogether unknown in ancient times; and also to put away their wives for various causes; hence laws were enacted concerning such marriages and divorces which otherwise would not have entered the external of the Word. Therefore this external is called by the Lord [the external] of Moses, and is said to be granted on account of "the hardness of their heart." Arcana Coelestia 10603 Arcana Coelestia 10603[1-6].

Behold, for your iniquities have you been sold; and for your transgressions is your mother put away. - "Mother" is the church; to "sell" is to alienate. That to "sell", in the internal sense, is [when mentioned in a bad sense] to alienate those things which are of faith and charity, consequently those things which make the man of the internal church, is evident from this circumstance, that in the spiritual world there is no buying and selling such as there is upon earth; but it is the appropriation of what is Good and True which is understood by "buying", and the alienation [or removal] of them by "selling."

By "selling" is also signified the communication of the knowledges of what is Good and True, because by " merchandising" is signified the procuring and the communication of those knowledges, but then it is said, "selling, but not by silver." Arcana Coelestia 5886. See also Apocalypse Explained 840.

As to "merchandising", when mentioned in the Word, see above Chapter 23:18, the Exposition.

Your iniquities; - your transgressions. - In the Word evils are sometimes called "sins", sometimes "iniquities", and sometimes "transgressions"; but what is understood in particular by the one and by the other is only evident from the internal sense. "Transgressions" are evils against the Truths of faith; "iniquities", against the Goods of faith; and "sins" are evils against the Goods of charity and love; - the two former proceed from a perverse understanding, but the latter from a depraved will. The "mother" is the church, which is said to be "put away" when she recedes from faith. Arcana Coelestia 9156.

2. Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? and when I called, none answered? Is My hand so greatly shortened, that it cannot redeem? and is there no power in Me to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea; I make the rivers a desert; so that their fish putrefy, because there is no water; and they die for thirst.

Verse 2. See above, Chapter 41:28, the Exposition.

None answered. - That "not to answer" signifies not to receive and not to reciprocate, Arcana Coelestia 2941. See also the Exposition of Isaiah 36:21.

Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, etc. - To "dry up the sea" signifies a plenary defect of the common [or general] knowledges of Truth; to "make the rivers a desert", signifies the deprivation of all Truth, and thence of intelligence; "their fish will putrefy", denotes that the scientifics of the natural man shall be without any spiritual life, which is when they are applied to confirm falsities against the Truths of the church; "because there is no water", signifies because there is not any Truth; and to "die of thirst", means the extinction of Truth. That "rivers" signify such things as appertain to intelligence, may be seen in Chapter 30:25, 26; 33:20, 21; 41:17, 18, the Exposition; that "desert" signifies where there is no Good, because there is no Truth, see Chapter 35:4-6; 43:19, 20, the Exposition; that "fish" signifies the scientific [principle] which is of the natural man, see Chapter 19:8, the Exposition; that "water" denotes Truth, has been frequently shown above. To "die of thirst" signifies the deprivation of spiritual life from defect of Truth. Apocalypse Explained 270.

By "rebuke" is signified the desolation of all Truth; by the "sea" is denoted where Truth is in its ultimates; by "water" is meant Truth from a spiritual origin; by "dying of thirst" is signified desolation for the want of that Truth; by the "fishes of the sea becoming putrid" are understood those who are in the ultimates of Truth in whom there is not any life from a spiritual origin. Apocalypse Explained 342.

By the "rebuke of Jehovah" is understood the destruction of the church, which is when there is not any knowledge of Truth and of Good, or when there is not any living knowledge, because no perception; by "drying up the sea" is signified to deprive the natural man of true scientifics, and hence of natural life derived from spiritual; by "making the rivers a desert" is meant to deprive the rational man in like manner, whence he has no longer any intelligence; by "their fish putrifying because there is no water, and they die for thirst", signifies that there IS no longer any living scientific, because there is no Truth. "Fish" is the scientific; "water" is Truth' to "putrefy" is to die as to the spiritual life. Apocalypse Explained 513.

3. I clothe the heavens with blackness; and sackcloth I make their covering.

Verse 3. "Blackness" is the false of evil. Infernals who are in falsities from evil appear black in the light of heaven. Apocalypse Explained 412.

[The heavens in the spiritual world, as seen by those who are in the falsities of evil, appear black, or as covered with blackness.]

Sackcloth I make their covering. - In respect to "sackcloth" and its signification, see Chapter 15:3, the Exposition.

4. The Lord Jehovih has given me the tongue of the learned, that I might know how to speak in season a word to the weary: He wakens, morning by morning, He wakens mine ear, to hearken as the learned.

5. The Lord Jehovih has opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious; neither did I turn away backward.

6. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: my face I hid not from calumnies and spitting.

7. For the Lord Jehovih will help me; therefore I am not ashamed: therefore have I set my face as a flint; and I know that I shall not be confounded.

8. He that justifies me is near: who will contend with me? let us stand up together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

9. Behold, the Lord Jehovih will help me: who is he that shall condemn me? Lo! all of them shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall devour them,

Verse 4. [The tongue of the learned signifies those who are instructed in divine Truths.]

To speak in season a word to the weary. - To be "weary" denotes a state of temptation-combat. Arcana Coelestia 3318. See also 3321.

He wakens, morning by morning, He wakens. mine ear etc. - Inasmuch as "morning" signifies the Lord, His coming, likewise His kingdom and church, as also the Good of love which is from Him hence it may appear what is understood by "morning" in the above passage. Apocalypse Explained 179.

Verses 4, 5, 7, 9. The Lord Jehovih. - The Lord is called "Lord [Adonai] Jehovih" especially, when the help of His Omnipotence is sought for, and supplicated. Arcana Coelestia 2921. See also Arcana Coelestia 1793; and above, Chapter 3:15, note and Exposition.

10. Who is there among you that fears Jehovah, that hearkens unto the voice of His Servant; that walks in darkness, and has no light? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and stay himself upon his God.

Verse 10. To "fear Jehovah" is to worship Him from love; to "hearken unto the voice of His Servant" is to worship Him from faith; - when one is of the other then there is the celestial marriage. (Arcana Coelestia 2826 Arcana Coelestia 2826[1-14])

His "Servant" is the Divine Human. See above, Chapter 42:19, the Exposition.

As to the "fear of Jehovah", and as to "fear" as an element of worship, see Chapter 11:3, the Exposition.

Who is there among you that fears Jehovah, - that walks in darkness, and has no light! etc. - From this passage it may appear that by walking, in a spiritual sense, is signified to live, and because it signifies to live, therefore, when predicated of the Lord, Life itself is understood; for the Lord is Life itself, and all others are recipients of life from Him, as may be seen above, Apocalypse Explained 82, 84. Apocalypse Explained 97.

11. Behold, all you who kindle a fire; who encompass yourselves with sparks: walk you in the light of your fire, and in the sparks which you have kindled. This you shall have at My hand; you shall lie down in sorrow.

Verse 11. All you who kindle a fire, etc. - In respect to "fire" in a bad sense, as signifying the evil of lusts and cupidities arising from the love of self and of the world, see Chapter 9:17-19, 33:11, 12, 14, the Exposition.

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Isaiah Chapter 50.

1. THUS says Jehovah, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or who is he among My creditors to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have you been sold; and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

2. Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? and when I called, none answered? Is My hand so greatly shortened, that it cannot redeem? and is there no power in Me to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea; I make the rivers a desert; so that their fish putrefy, because there is no water; and they die for thirst.

3. I clothe the heavens with blackness; and sackcloth I make their covering.

4. The Lord Jehovih has given me the tongue of the learned, that I might know how to speak in season a word to the weary: He wakens, morning by morning, He wakens mine ear, to hearken as the learned.

5. The Lord Jehovih has opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious; neither did I turn away backward.

6. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: my face I hid not from calumnies and spitting.

7. For the Lord Jehovih will help me; therefore I am not ashamed: therefore have I set my face as a flint; and I know that I shall not be confounded.

8. He that justifies me is near: who will contend with me? let us stand up together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

9. Behold, the Lord Jehovih will help me: who is he that shall condemn me? Lo! all of them shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall devour them,

10. Who is there among you that fears Jehovah, that hearkens unto the voice of His Servant; that walks in darkness, and has no light? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and stay himself upon his God.

11. Behold, all you who kindle a fire; who encompass yourselves with sparks: walk you in the light of your fire, and in the sparks which you have kindled. This you shall have at My hand; you shall lie down in sorrow.

1025. That 'with your seed after you' means those who are being created anew is clear from the meaning of 'seed' and also from what follows. It is clear from the meaning of 'seed', in that in the literal sense 'seed' means descendants, but in the internal sense faith; and because faith, as stated often, does not exist except where charity does so, it is charity itself that is meant in the internal sense by 'seed'. And from what follows it is clear that not only the person inside the Church is the subject but also he who is outside the Church, and so the whole of the human race. Wherever there is charity, even among gentiles furthest away from the Church, the seed is there, for heavenly seed is charity. Indeed nobody at all can do anything good from himself; everything good comes from the Lord. The good that gentiles do, who in the Lord's Divine mercy will be dealt with later on, also comes from the Lord. That the seed of God is faith has been shown already in 255. By faith, there and in other places, is meant charity from which faith flows, for no faith that is really faith exists apart from faith that is an expression of charity.

[2] The same applies elsewhere in the Word where 'seed' is mentioned; for example, where the seed of Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob is referred to, love or charity is meant. Actually Abraham represented celestial love, Isaac spiritual love, both of which belong to the internal man, while Jacob represented the same as they exist with the external man. This applies not only in prophetical but also in historical sections. In heaven it is not the historical descriptions of the Word that are perceived but the things that those descriptions mean, for the Word has been written not only for the sake of man but also for that of angels. When man reads the Word and gains from it no more than the literal sense, the angels do not gain the literal sense but the internal sense. The material, worldly, and bodily ideas man has when reading the Word become with angels spiritual and celestial ideas. While man is reading about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for example, the angels do not have Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob in mind at all but those real things which are represented and so meant by them.

[3] The same applies with Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Angels have no knowledge of those people nor do they perceive anything else but the Ancient Church. More interior angels do not even perceive the Church, but the faith of that Church, and according to the train of thought they perceive the state of the things under discussion. Thus when 'seed' is mentioned in the Word, as here in reference to Noah, in the statement about the covenant being established with them and with their seed after them, angels do not perceive the descendants of those persons, for the man Noah never existed, only the Ancient Church bearing that name. By 'seed' angels understand charity, the essential constituent of the faith of that Church. The same applies to the historical details concerning Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; when their seed is mentioned angels in no way understand the actual descendants of those three but all people throughout the world - both those who are inside the Church and those who are outside - with whom heavenly seed, which is charity, resides. And indeed the more interior angels perceive love itself, which is the heavenly seed - by itself, abstractly.

[4] That 'seed' means love and also everyone who has love is clear from the following places which refer to Abram,

Jehovah said, To your seed I will give this land. Genesis 12:7.

And also,

All the land which you see I will give to you and to your seed even for ever. And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth. Genesis 13:15-16.

People who keep to the sense of the letter grasp no more than this - that 'seed' is used to mean Abram's descendants, and 'land' to mean the land of Canaan, especially as that land was given to his descendants. But people possessing the internal sense, as the whole of heaven does, perceive 'the seed of Abram' to be nothing other than love, 'the land of Canaan' as nothing other than the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth, and 'the land' being given to them as nothing other than its representative, which in the Lord's Divine mercy will be dealt with elsewhere. A similar usage occurs in another place which refers to Abram,

Jehovah brought him outside and said, Look up now towards heaven, and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And He said to him, So will your seed be. Genesis 15:5.

Here in like manner, because Abram represented love, which was saving faith, no other descendants are meant in the internal sense by 'his seed' but all people throughout the world who dwell in love.

[5] Similarly,

I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you. And I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an eternal possession; and I will be their God. This is My covenant, which you shall keep between Me and you and your seed after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. Genesis 17:7-8, 10.

Here too 'establishing a covenant' means the conjunction of the Lord with men throughout the world by means of love, a love represented by Abram. From this it is clear what his seed means, namely all people throughout the world who dwell in love. The covenant involved the circumcision mentioned here. By this heaven never understands circumcision of the flesh but circumcision of the heart - the circumcision received by people who dwell in love. Circumcision was a representative of regeneration by means of love, as is explained clearly in Moses,

Jehovah God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, so that you will love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Deuteronomy 30:6.

From these words it is clear what circumcision is in the internal sense. Consequently wherever circumcision is mentioned it is used to mean nothing other than love and charity, and the life deriving from these.

[6] That 'the seed of Abraham' means all people throughout the world who have love is also clear from the Lord's words to Abraham and to Isaac - to Abraham after he had shown his willingness to sacrifice Isaac as commanded,

I will certainly bless you and I will certainly multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your seed will inherit the gate of your enemies, and in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Genesis 22:17-18.

Here it is quite clear that 'seed' is used to mean all people throughout the world who have love.

[7] Just as Abraham represented celestial love, as has been stated, so Isaac represented spiritual love; consequently 'the seed of Isaac' means nothing else than all with whom spiritual love, or charity, resides. Of them the following is said,

Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your seed I will give all these lands, and I will fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham your father, and I will cause your seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and I will give to your seed all these lands, and in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Genesis 26:3-4, 24.

This clearly means all nations who dwell in charity. Celestial love was represented by Abraham as 'the father' of spiritual love represented by Isaac, for what is spiritual is born from what is celestial, as shown already.

[8] Since Jacob represented the external features of the Church which arise from those that are internal, and so represented all things in the external man that have their origins in love and charity, 'his seed' therefore means all people throughout the world whose worship is external containing internal worship, and whose charitable acts contain charity from the Lord. Concerning that seed Jacob was told, after he had seen the stairway in a dream,

I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you are lying I will give to you and to your seed, and your seed will be as the dust of the earth. And in you, and in your seed, will all the families of the ground be blessed. Genesis 18:13-14; 32:12; 48:4.

[9] That 'seed' has no other meaning becomes clear from the following places, in addition to those quoted from the Word in 255. In Isaiah,

You, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, My friend. Isaiah 41:8.

This refers to the regeneration of man. When the distinction is made between Israel and Jacob, as it is frequently, 'Israel' means the internal spiritual Church, 'Jacob' the external features of the same Church. Both are called 'the seed of Abraham', that is, of the celestial Church, because celestial, spiritual, and natural follow one another consecutively. In Jeremiah,

I had planted you as a wholly excellent vine, a seed of truth. How have you turned from Me into the degenerate [branches] of a strange vine? Jeremiah 2:21.

This refers to the spiritual Church, which is 'an excellent vine', whose charity, that is, faith deriving from charity, is called 'a seed of truth'.

[10] the same prophet,

As the host of heaven is unnumbered, and the sand of the sea immeasurable, so I will multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites ministering to Me. Jeremiah 33:22.

Here 'seed' clearly stands for heavenly seed, for 'David' means the Lord. The fact that the seed of David was not like the unnumbered host of heaven, or the immeasurable sand of the sea, is well known to everyone. In the same prophet,

Behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, and I will raise up for David a righteous branch and He will reign as King, act with understanding, and execute judgement and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell with confidence. And this is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says Jehovah, and men will say no longer, As Jehovah lives who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but, As Jehovah lives who brought up and led the seed of the house of Israel out of the land of the north. Jeremiah 23:5-8.

Here entirely different things are meant from those that appear in the letter - David, Judah, and Israel do not mean David, Judah, and Israel, but David means the Lord, Judah that which is celestial, and Israel that which is spiritual. Consequently 'the seed of Israel' means people who have charity, that is, faith inhering in charity.

[11] In David,

You who fear Jehovah, praise Him! all the seed of Jacob, glorify Him! stand in awe of Him, all the seed of Israel! Psalms 22:23-24.

Here 'seed of Israel' is used to mean no other seed than the spiritual Church. In Isaiah,

Its stump will be the holy seed. Isaiah 6:13.

'Holy seed' stands for remnants, which are holy because they are the Lord's. In the same prophet,

I will bring forth seed from Jacob, and from Judah the possessor of My mountains, and My chosen ones will possess it, and My servants will dwell there. Isaiah 65:9.

This refers to the celestial Church, external and internal. In the same prophet,

They will not generate in sudden terror. They will be the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them. Isaiah 65:23.

This refers to the new heavens and a new earth, that is, to the Lord's kingdom. People who are there, having been generated, or regenerated, from love, are called 'the seed of the blessed of Jehovah'.