THE EXPLANATION of Isaiah Chapter 59

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

1. BEHOLD, the hand of Jehovah is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

VERSE 1. As to the meaning of "hand" and "arm", see Chapter 5:25; and what is meant by being "short of hand", see Chapter 25:11, the Exposition.

2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God; and your sins have hidden His faces from you, that He doth not hear.

Verse 2. Your sins have hidden His faces front you, etc. - For what is involved in these words, see Chap. 8:17; 54:8, the Exposition.

3. For your hands are polluted with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, and your tongue has meditated perverseness.

Verses 3, 7. "The hands polluted with blood, and the fingers with iniquity", signifies that in everything belonging to them there is the false and the evil of the false; the "hands" and the "fingers" signify power, and hence all things appertaining to them wherein there is any ability.

Inasmuch as these things are signified, therefore, it is also said, "Your lips have spoken falsehood, and your tongue has meditated perverseness"; "falsehood" [or lies] denoting falsities, and "perverseness" the evil of the false.

By "their feet hastening to shed innocent blood", is signified to destroy the Good of love and of charity, this being meant by "shedding innocent blood"; the Good of innocence is that from which is derived every Good and Truth of heaven and the church, as may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 276-283.

From these considerations it may appear what is signified, in the general sense, by "bloods" in the plural, namely, violence offered as well to the Truths of the Word and of the church as to the Goods thereof. Inasmuch as by "shedding innocent blood" is signified to destroy the Good of love and of charity, therefore every precaution was taken that "innocent blood" might not be shed", and if it was shed, that "the land might be expiated; " (see Deuteronomy 19:10, 13; 21:1-9) for the "land" signifies the church. Apocalypse Explained 329. That the "land", or the "earth", signifies the church, see above, Chapter 24, the Exposition.

4. No one calls in justice, and no one pleads in truth: trusting in vanity, and speaking lies; conceiving mischief; and bringing forth iniquity.

Verse 4. Trusting in vanity, etc. - "Vanity" signifies the falsity of doctrine and of religion, as may appear from the following passages:

"There shall be no more any vision of vanity, nor flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel"; (Ezekiel 12:24) a "vision of vanity" means a false revelation, See also Ezekiel 13:6-9. Arcana Coelestia 9248.

5. They hatch the eggs of the asp, and weave the web of the spider: he that eats of their eggs dieth; and when it is pressed, a viper breaks forth.

Verse 5. Speaking of evil men, who by treachery and craft seduce in things spiritual. The clandestine evils to which they craftily allure, are meant by "the eggs of the asp which they hatch"; the treacherous falsities are understood by "the web of the spider which they weave." The deadly hurt which they cause if they are received, is signified by "he that eats of their eggs dieth; and when it is pressed, a viper breaks forth." Inasmuch as the Pharisees were of such a quality, therefore they are called by the Lord, "serpents, a generation of vipers." (Matthew 23:33)

That the subtlety and malice of such could do no hurt to those whom the Lord protects, is signified by "The suckling shall play upon the hole of the viper; and upon the den of the basilisk shall the weaned child lay his hand." (Isaiah 11:8) Apocalypse Explained 581. See also Chapter 14:29, 30, the Exposition.

6. Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the deed of violence is in their hands.

7. Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; devastation and destruction are in their paths.

Verses 6, 7. Their works are works of iniquity, and the deed of violence is in their hands; their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood, etc. - "Violence" means violence against charity, as may appear from many passages; the same is also signified by "shedding innocent blood." See Chapter 60:17, 18, the Exposition.

8. The Way of peace they know not; neither is there any judgment in their goings: they have perverted to themselves their paths; one that goes therein shall not know peace.

Verse 8. In this and in many other passages "peace" signifies, in the supreme sense, the Lord; in the representative sense, His kingdom and Good from the Lord therein, thus the Divine Principle which flows into Good, or into the affections of Good, and which causes, from an inmost principle, joys and happiness. Arcana Coelestia 3780.

As to "peace", see above, Chapter 9:6; 48:18, 22, the Exposition.

9. Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we look for light, but behold darkness! for brightness, but we walk in thick darkness.

Verse 9. "Judgment is far from us", signifies that there is no understanding of Truth; "justice doth not overtake us", means that there is no Good of life; "we look for light, but behold darkness", signifies expectation of Truth, but behold the false; and "for brightness, but we walk in thick darkness", denotes the expectation of Goods by Truths, but behold the life of the false from evils; for "brightness" or "splendours " signify the Goods of Truth, because "light" signifies Truth, and Truth is resplendent from Good; "thick darkness" denotes the falsities of evil, and to "walk" signifies to live. Apocalypse Explained 526.

Verses 9, 10. We look for light, but behold darkness! for brightness, but we walk in thick darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind; we stumble at mid-day as in the twilight, etc. - In the Word "darkness" [tenebrae] and "thick darkness" [caligo] are named together. That "darkness" signifies the deprivation of Truth, and "thick darkness" the deprivation both of Truth and of Good, is evident from Isaiah 59:9, 10. "Judgment is far from us, neither doth justice overtake us", signifies that there is neither Truth nor Good; that "judgment" is predicated of Truth, and "justice" of Good, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 2235. To "look for light" means Truth, and "for brightness or splendours" means the Good of Truth; for the splendour of "light" [or Truth] is from Good. That "darkness" is there opposed to "light", and to "judgment", thus to Truth; and "thick darkness" to "brightness" and to "justice", thus to Good, is evident; wherefore "darkness" is the deprivation of Truth, and "thick darkness" is the deprivation both of Truth and of Good. (See also Amos 5:20; Joel 2:2) Arcana Coelestia 7111.

Here the "blind" denote those who are not in the understanding of Truths; "darkness" and "thick darkness" mean falsities. To "stumble at mid-day, as in the twilight", denotes to err in falsities, although they may be in the light from the Word. Apocalypse Explained 239.

10. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as those that have no eyes: we stumble at mid-day as in the twilight; we are among the living as dead.

11. We groan all of us like bears; and like doves we make a constant moan: we look judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.

12. For our transgressions are multiplied before You; and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us, and our iniquities we acknowledge;

13. By transgressing and lying against Jehovah, and by turning backward from our God; by speaking oppression and revolt, and by conceiving and meditating from the heart words of falsehood.

Verses 10-12. "We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as those that have no eyes", signifies that there is not any understanding of Truth; "we stumble at mid-day as in the twilight", signifies the lapsing into errors, although they are in the church where the Word is, from which they might come into the light of Truth; "we are among the living as dead", denotes that they might be in spiritual life by the Word, and yet are not, because they are in falsities. "We groan all of us like bears, and like doves we make a constant moan", signifies the grief of the natural man, and thence of the spiritual man; "we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us", denotes the hope of illustration of the understanding, and thence of salvation, but in vain. "For our transgressions are multiplied before You; and our sins testify against us", signifies by reason of falsities from evil. Apocalypse Explained 781.

14. And judgment is turned away backwards, and justice stands afar off: for truth has stumbled in the street, and rectitude cannot enter.

15. And truth is taken away; and he that shuns evil is accounted mad: and Jehovah saw it, and it was evil in His eyes that there was no judgment.

Verse 14. By "judgment" and "justice", in the Word, are meant Truth and Good. That these no longer exist, is signified by "judgment being turned away backwards, and justice standing afar off." The wandering from the Truths of doctrine, and there being thence no Truth in the life, which is Good of life, is understood by Truth has stumbled in the street, and rectitude cannot enter"; for all the Good of life is procured by Truths of doctrine, as man thereby learns how he ought to live; whereas "street" signifies where Truth leads, therefore it is said "Truth stumbles in the street." Apocalypse Explained 652.

Verses 14-16. Truth has stumbled in the street, and rectitude cannot enter, etc. - "No man" manifestly means no one intelligent, thus, in the universal sense, for no Truth; for this passage treats of the last time of the church, when there is no longer anything of Truth; wherefore it is said, "Truth has stumbled in the street; rectitude cannot enter; and Truth is taken away. That "street" is also predicated of the Truth, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 2336; in like manner "judgment", Arcana Coelestia 2335. Arcana Coelestia 3134. See also above, Chapter 41:28, the Exposition; and Arcana Coelestia 8273.

16. And He saw that there was no man; and He wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His own arm wrought salvation for Him; and His justice, it sustained Him.

Verse 16. That the Lord made His Human Divine from His own proper power, thus without the aid of any one, is evident from this, that because He was conceived of Jehovah, the Divine was in Him, and thus that the Divine was His; wherefore, when He was in the world, and made the Human in Himself Divine. He did it out of His own Divine, or out of Himself, which is described in the above words in Isaiah. The "arm" which wrought salvation for Him, is His own proper power, by which He subjugated the hells. Arcana Coelestia 5005, 9715.

How the Lord, when He was in the world, bore the iniquities of the human race, that is, fought with the hells and subjugated them, and thus acquired to Himself the Divine Power of removing them with all who are in Good, and that He thus became Merit and Justice, is described in Isaiah 59:10-20. Arcana Coelestia 9937.

He saw that there was no man. - See the Exposition of Isaiah Chapter 41:28.

There was no intercessor. - As to the meaning of "intercession", see Chapter 53:12, the Exposition.

17. And He put on justice as a breast-plate, and a helmet of salvation upon His head: and He put on the garments of vengeance for His clothing; and He clad Himself with zeal as with a mantle.

Verse 17. These words treat of the subjugation of the hells by the Lord. By "righteousness [or justice] as a breast-plate", is denoted His zeal of delivering the faithful from hell, and His divine love of saving the human race; and because it was zeal from Divine Love, and hence the power from which Ho fought and conquered, therefore justice is called a "breast-plate"; but by the "helmet of salvation" is signified Divine Truth from Divine Good, by which is salvation, for a "helmet" has a similar signification to the "head" with which it is clothed; and the "head", when said of the Lord, signifies the Divine Truth and the Divine Wisdom. Apocalypse Explained 557.

These things are said of the Lord, and of His combats with the hells; for when He was in the world He reduced all things in the hells and in the heavens to order, and this by Divine Truth from Divine Love. The "garments of vengeance" signify the Truths by which He fought; "zeal as a mantle" is the Divine Love from which He fought. Hence it may appear why the "mantle" is mentioned, namely, to signify the Lord's combating by Divine Truths from Divine Love. The "cloak of the ephod, with which Aaron was clothed, upon the borders whereof were pomegranates and bells", mentioned in Exodus 28:31-35, and in Leviticus 8:7-13, had a similar signification, as may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 9911-9929. Apocalypse Explained 395.

18. According to their deserts, accordingly will He repay: fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the islands a recompense will He repay.

Verse 18. To the islands a recompense will He repay. - Concerning the signification of "islands", both in a good and in a bad sense, see Chapter 42:15, the Exposition.

19. And they from the west shall fear the name of Jehovah; and they from the rising of the sun, His glory: when he [the adversary] cometh in like a rushing river, the Spirit of Jehovah shall raise up a standard against him,

Verse 19. In this passage, "from the rising and from the setting of the sun" signifies all who are in the Goods and Truths of heaven and the church. Apocalypse Explained 422.

What is signified by a "name", see Chapter 4:1; 26:8, the Exposition.

That the Lord is the "Sun" of heaven, see Chapter 30:26, the Exposition.

When he [the adversary] cometh in like a rushing river, the Spirit of Jehovah shall raise up a standard against him. - The Divine Truth which was in the Lord when He was in the world, and which then was Himself, is "the Spirit of Jehovah." Arcana Coelestia 9818.

20. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to them that turn away from transgression in Jacob; says Jehovah.

Verse 20. By "Zion" is understood heaven and the church, in which the Lord rules by His Divine Truth. Apocalypse Explained 850

21. And as for Me, this is My covenant with them, says Jehovah: My spirit, which is upon you, and My words, which I have put in your mouth; they shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your seed, nor from the mouth of your seed's seed, says Jehovah; from this time forth for ever.

Verse 21. As to "covenant", see Chapter 42:6, the Exposition.

My spirit, which is upon you. - As to "the Spirit of Jehovah", see Chapter 11:2, the Exposition.

My words, which I have put in your mouth; shall not depart out of your mouth, etc. - See Chapter 51:16, 17, the Exposition.

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Isaiah Chapter 59.

1. BEHOLD, the hand of Jehovah is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God; and your sins have hidden His faces from you, that He doth not hear.

3. For your hands are polluted with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, and your tongue has meditated perverseness.

4. No one calls in justice, and no one pleads in truth: trusting in vanity, and speaking lies; conceiving mischief; and bringing forth iniquity.

5. They hatch the eggs of the asp, and weave the web of the spider: he that eats of their eggs dieth; and when it is pressed, a viper breaks forth.

6. Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the deed of violence is in their hands.

7. Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed. innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; devastation and destruction are in their paths.

8. The Way of peace they know not; neither is there any judgment in their goings: they have perverted to themselves their paths; one that goes therein shall not know peace.

9. Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we look for light, but behold darkness! for brightness, but we walk in thick darkness.

10. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as those that have no eyes: we stumble at mid-day as in the twilight; we are among the living as dead.

11. We groan all of us like bears; and like doves we make a constant moan: we look judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.

12. For our transgressions are multiplied before You; and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us, and our iniquities we acknowledge;

13. By transgressing and lying against Jehovah, and by turning backward from our God; by speaking oppression and revolt, and by conceiving and meditating from the heart words of falsehood.

14. And judgment is turned away backwards, and justice stands afar off: for truth has stumbled in the street, and rectitude cannot enter.

15. And truth is taken away; and he that shuns evil is accounted mad: and Jehovah saw it, and it was evil in His eyes that there was no judgment.

16. And He saw that there was no man; and He wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His own arm wrought salvation for Him; and His justice, it sustained Him.

17. And He put on justice as a breast-plate, and a helmet of salvation upon His head: and He put on the garments of vengeance for His clothing; and He clad Himself with zeal as with a mantle.

18. According to their deserts, accordingly will He repay: fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the islands a recompense will He repay.

19. And they from the west shall fear the name of Jehovah; and they from the rising of the sun, His glory: when he [the adversary] cometh in like a rushing river, the Spirit of Jehovah shall raise up a standard against him,

20. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to them that turn away from transgression in Jacob; says Jehovah.

21. And as for Me, this is My covenant with them, says Jehovah: My spirit, which is upon you, and My words, which I have put in your mouth; they shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your seed, nor from the mouth of your seed's seed, says Jehovah; from this time forth for ever.

5147. There was some of every kind of food for Pharaoh' means full of celestial good for nourishing the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'food' as celestial good, dealt with below; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the interior natural, dealt with in 5080, 5095, and also the natural in general, since the interior natural and the exterior natural make one when they correspond. And because food exists to provide nourishment, 'every kind of food for Pharaoh' means full of celestial good for nourishing the natural. It is said that this food was in the highest basket, meaning that the inmost degree of the will was full of celestial good. For good from the Lord flows in by way of the inmost degree in a person; and from there it passes degree by degree, so to speak down a flight of steps, to what is more exterior. For in relation to other degrees the inmost one exists in the most perfect state, and can therefore receive good from the Lord directly, in a way the lower ones cannot. If these were to receive good from the Lord directly, they would either obscure it or pervert it, since they are less perfect in comparison with the inmost degree.

[2] As regards the influx of celestial good from the Lord and the reception of it, it should be recognized that the will part of the human mind is the receiver of good and the understanding part is the receiver of truth. The understanding part cannot possibly receive truth so as to make this its own unless at the same time the will part receives good; and vice versa. For one flows as a result into the other and disposes that other to be receptive. All that constitutes the understanding may be compared to forms which are constantly varying, and all that constitutes the will may be compared to the harmonies resulting from those variations. Consequently truths may be compared to variations, and forms of good may be compared to the delights which those variations bring. And this being pre-eminently the case with truths and forms of good it is evident that one cannot exist without the other, as well as that one cannot be brought forth except by means of the other.

[3] The reason 'food' means celestial good is that angels' food consists in nothing else than forms of the good of love and charity, and that these serve to enliven angels and to rejuvenate them. Especially when they are expressed in action or practice do those forms of good cause angels to feel rejuvenated, for they are the desires they have; for it is a well known fact that when a person's desires are expressed in action he feels rejuvenated and enlivened. Those desires also nourish a person's spirit when material food supplies nourishment to his body, as may be recognized from the fact that when no delight is taken in food it is not very nutritious, but when delight is taken in it, it is nutritious. The delight taken in food is what opens the meatus or channels which serve to convey it into the blood, whereas the opposite closes them. Among angels those delights are forms of the good of love and charity, and from this one may deduce that these are spiritual kinds of food which correspond to earthly ones. Also, just as forms of good are meant by different kinds of food, so truths are meant by 'drink'.

[4] In the Word 'food' is mentioned in many places, yet someone unacquainted with the internal sense will inevitably suppose that in those places ordinary food is meant. In fact spiritual food is meant, as in Jeremiah,

All the people groan as they search for bread. They have given their desirable things for food to restore the soul. Lamentations 1:11.

In Isaiah,

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1.

In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is near, and as destruction from the thunderbolt-hurler will it come. [s not the food cut off before our eyes, gladness and joy from the house of our God? The grains have rotted under their clods, the storehouses have been laid waste, the granaries have been destroyed, because the grain has failed. Joel 1:15-17.

In David,

Our storehouses are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks are thousands, and ten thousands in our streets. There is no outcry in our streets. Blessed are the people for whom it is thus. Psalms 144:13-15.

In the same author,

They all look to You, that You may give them their food in due season. You give to them - they gather it up; You open Your hand - they are satisfied with good. Psalms 104:27-28.

[5] In these places celestial and spiritual food is meant in the internal sense when material food is referred to in the sense of the letter. From this one may see how the interior features of the Word and its exterior features correspond to one another, that is, how what belongs inwardly to its spirit and what belongs to its letter do so; so that while man understands those things according to the sense of the letter, the angels present with him understand the same things according to the spiritual sense. The Word has been written in such a way that it may serve not only the human race but heaven also, and for this reason all expressions are used to mean heavenly realities, and every matter described there is representative of these realities. This is so with the Word even to the tiniest jot.

[6] Furthermore the Lord Himself explicitly teaches that good is meant in the spiritual sense by 'food': In John,

Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:27.

In the same gospel,

My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. John 6:55.

'Flesh' means Divine Good, 3813, and 'blood' Divine Truth, 4735. And in the same gospel,

Jesus said to the disciples, I have food to eat of which you do not know. The disciples said to one another, Has anyone brought Him [anything] to eat? Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. John 4:33-34.

'Doing the will of the Father and finishing His work' means Divine Good when expressed in actions or practice, which in the genuine sense is 'food', as stated above.