3322. Therefore he called his name Edom. That this signifies his quality therefrom as to good, to which were adjoined the doctrinal things of truth, is evident from the signification of “calling a name,” or of “calling by name,” as being the quality (see n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724, 3006); and from the representation of Edom. There is frequent mention in the Word of Esau, and also of Edom; and by “Esau” is there signified the good of the natural before the doctrinal things of truth have been thus conjoined with this good, and also the good of life from influx out of the rational; and by “Edom” is signified the good of the natural to which have been adjoined the doctrinal things of truth. But in the opposite sense, “Esau” signifies the evil of the love of self before falsities have been thus adjoined to this love; and “Edom” signifies the evil of this love when falsities have been adjoined to it. As has been frequently shown, most names in the Word have also an opposite sense, because the same things that in the churches have been good and true, in process of time through various adulterations degenerate into what is evil and false.

[2] That such things are signified by “Esau” and “Edom” may be seen from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in His apparel, marching in the multitude of His strength. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-press? I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the peoples there was no man with Me. I looked, but there was none to help, I was amazed that there was none to uphold, and Mine own arm brought salvation unto Me (Isaiah 63:1, 3, 5); where it is clearly evident that “Edom” is the Lord; and that it is the Lord as to the Divine good of the Divine natural is manifest, for the subject is the conjunction of good and truth in the Lord’s Human, and also the temptation combats by which He conjoined them. That “garments” here are the truths of the natural man, or truths relatively inferior, may be seen above (n. 2576); and that “red” is the good of the natural (n. 3300). That the Lord by His own power, through temptation combats, conjoined truths in the natural with good, is described by, “I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the peoples there was no man with Me. I looked but there was none to help, I was amazed that there was none to uphold, and Mine own arm brought salvation unto Me.” (That “arm” denotes power, see above, n. 878)

[3] In the book of Judges:

O Jehovah when Thou wentest forth out of Seir, when Thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, the clouds also dropped water; the mountains flowed down (Judg. 5:4-5);

to “march out of the field of Edom” signifies nearly the same as, in Isaiah, to “come out of Edom.” In like manner in Moses:

Jehovah came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them (Deuteronomy 33:2).

Again:

I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not nigh; there shall come up a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; and Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession of his enemies, while Israel doeth valiantly. And he shall have dominion over Jacob, and shall destroy the remnant from the city (Numbers 24:17-19);

treating of the coming of the Lord into the world, whose Human Essence is called a “star out of Jacob,” and a “scepter out of Israel.” “Edom” and “Seir,” which should be a “possession,” signify the Divine good of the Lord’s Divine natural; their being the “possession of his enemies” signifies that this should succeed in the place of those things which were before in the natural; dominion then over truths therein is meant by “having dominion over Jacob, and destroying the remnant from the city.” (That “Jacob” signifies the truth of the natural, see above, n. 3305; and that “city” signifies what is doctrinal, n. 402, 2268, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216.) Dominion is said to be had over these when they are subordinated and subjected to good; for before this they are called “enemies,” because they continually resist, as was shown above (n. 3321).

[4] In Amos:

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of eternity; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations that were called by My name (Amos 9:11-12).

The “tabernacle of David” denotes the church and worship of the Lord; the “remnant of Edom,” those who are in good within the church; the “nations that were called by His name,” those who are in good out of the church. (That “nations” are those who are in good, see above, n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849.) In David:

Upon Edom will I cast my shoe. Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will lead me unto Edom? Wilt not Thou, O God? (Psalms 60:8, 10); where “Edom” denotes the good of the natural, as is evident from the signification of “shoe,” as being the lowest natural (n. 1748).

[5] In Daniel:

At the time of the end shall the king of the south thrust at him; and the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind with a chariot, and shall overflow and pass through; and when he shall come into the beauteous land many shall be overthrown; but these shall be rescued out of his hand, Edom and Moab, and the firstfruits of the sons of Ammon (Daniel 11:40-41); where the last state of the church is treated of; the “king of the north” denotes falsities, or what is the same, those who are in falsities; “Edom,” those who are in simple good, which is such good as exists with those who constitute the Lord’s external church; in like manner “Moab” and the “sons of Ammon” (n. 2468); and because both, namely, “Edom” and “Moab,” signify those who are in good, therefore in many passages both are named together; but the difference is that “Edom” is the good of the natural to which are adjoined the doctrinal things of truth, while “Moab” is natural good such as exists with those in whom these have not been conjoined; the two appear alike in the external form, but not in the internal.

[6] From this it is now evident why it was said:

Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother; thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because thou wast a sojourner in his land (Deuteronomy 23:7);

as by an “Edomite” is signified the good of the natural, and by an “Egyptian,” the truths thereof which are those of memory-knowledge (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462), therefore both are mentioned in a good sense. This shows why Jehovah said to Moses that they should not contend ¹ with the sons of Esau, and there should not be given of their land to the sons of Jacob so much as for the sole of the foot to tread upon (Deuteronomy 2:4-6).

[7] But in the opposite sense by “Esau” and “Edom” are represented those who turn aside from good through the fact that they altogether despise truth, and are unwilling that anything of the truth of faith should be adjoined, which is chiefly owing to the love of self; and therefore in the opposite sense such persons are signified by “Esau” and “Edom;” as was also represented by the circumstance that the king of Edom went forth with a numerous people and a strong hand, and refused to permit Israel to pass through his border (Numbers 20:14-22). This evil of the love of self, which is of such a nature as not to admit the truths of faith, thus neither the doctrinal things of truth, is described in various passages of the Word by “Esau” and “Edom,” and at the same time the state of the church when it becomes of this quality; as in Jeremiah:

Against Edom. Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the intelligent? Is their wisdom become of an ill savor? Flee ye; they have turned themselves away, they have gone into the deep to dwell, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him. I will make Esau bare, I will reveal his hidden things, and he shall not be able to hide himself; his seed is laid waste, and his brethren, and his neighbors. Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in Me. Edom shall become a waste, everyone that passeth by it shall be amazed, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof (Jeremiah 49:7-8, 10-11, 17).

[8] In David:

They say, Let the name of Israel be no more in remembrance; for they consult together with one heart; against thee do they make a covenant, the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab, and the Hagarenes (Psalms 83:4-6).

In Obadiah:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih concerning Edom, Behold I have made thee small among the nations; thou art greatly despised. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, in the height of thy habitation; that saith in thine heart, Who shall bring me down to the earth? Though thou mount on high as the eagle, and though thou settest thy nest among the stars, I will bring thee down from thence. How are they of Esau searched out! their hidden things discovered! Shall I not in that day destroy the wise men out of Edom, and the intelligent from the mount of Esau? From the slaughter on account of the violence of thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble; and they shall enkindle them, and devour them; and there shall not be any residue to the house of Esau; and they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau (Obad. 1:1-10, 18-19).

In this passage “Esau” and “Edom” denote the evil of the natural man originating in the love of self, which despises and rejects all truth, whence comes its devastation.

[9] In Ezekiel:

Son of man, set thy face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and say unto it, Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, I am against thee, O Mount Seir, and I will stretch out Mine hand against thee, and I will make thee a waste and a devastation. Because thou hast had an enmity of eternity, and hast given over the sons of Israel to the hands of the sword, in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end. Because thou hast said, These two nations, and these two lands, shall be mine, and we will possess it, and Jehovah is there. And thou shalt know that I Jehovah have heard all thy blasphemies, which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel. Thou shalt be a waste, O Mount Seir and all Edom, all of it (Ezekiel 35:2-3, 5, 8-10 (Ezekiel 35:5)12, 15); where it is very evident that in the opposite sense “Edom” denotes those who despise, reject, and vilify spiritual goods and truths, which are the “mountains of Israel.”

[10] Again:

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, If I have not spoken in the fire of My jealousy against the remains of the nations, and against all Edom, which have given My land unto themselves for a possession, with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul (Ezekiel 36:5); where the sense is the same; to “give the land unto themselves for a possession” denotes to vastate the church, that is, the good and truth of the church.

[11] In Malachi:

The word of Jehovah against Israel. I have loved you, saith Jehovah; yet ye say, Wherein hast Thou loved us? Is not Esau Jacob’s brother? Yet I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated, and I make his mountain a waste (Malachi 1:1-3); where “Esau” denotes the evil of the natural that does not admit spiritual truth which is “Israel” (n. 3305), and what is doctrinal of truth which is “Jacob” (n. 3305); and on this account he is vastated, which is being “hated” (that “hating” is nothing else, is manifest from what was adduced above from the Word concerning Esau and Edom in a good sense); but when truth does not suffer itself to be adjoined to good, then evil is on the other hand predicated of Jacob, as in Hosea:

To visit upon Jacob according to his ways; according to his works will He recompense him; in the womb he supplanted his brother (Hos. 12:2-3).

Footnotes:

2851. And thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies. That this signifies that charity and faith shall succeed in the place where evil and falsity were before, is evident from the signification of “inheriting,” as being to receive the Lord’s life (see n. 2658); here, to succeed in the place, because when charity and faith are in the place where evil and falsity were before, then the Lord’s life succeeds there; from the signification of “seed,” as being charity and faith (see n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 1941); from the signification of a “gate” (explained in what follows); and from the signification of “enemies,” as being evils and falsities, or what is the same, those who are in evil and falsity: in the internal sense of the Word these are signified by “enemies” and “foes.”

[2] As regards the signification of a “gate,” there are in general two gates with every man; the one opens toward hell, and is opened to the evils and falsities therefrom; in this gate are infernal genii and spirits; the other gate opens toward heaven, and is opened to good and the truths therefrom; in this gate are angels. There is thus a gate which leads to hell, and a gate which leads to heaven. The gate of hell is opened to those who are in evil and falsity, and only through chinks round about above does anything of the light from heaven enter, by means of which they are able to think and reason; but the gate of heaven is opened to those who are in good and the truth therefrom.

[3] For there are two ways which lead into man’s rational mind-a higher or internal one, through which good and truth from the Lord enter, and a lower or external one, through which evil and falsity come up from hell. The rational mind itself is in the middle, and to it these ways tend. That mind, from the goods and truths which are in it, is compared in the Word to a city, and is called a “city.” And because it is compared to a city, and is called a “city,” gates are attributed to it, and it is often described as being besieged and stormed by enemies, that is, by evil genii and spirits; and as being defended by angels from the Lord, that is by the Lord. The infernal genii and spirits, with their evils and falsities, cannot come further than to the lower or outer gate, and in no case into the city. If they could get into the city, or into the rational mind, all would be over with the man. But when they come so far as to seem to themselves to have taken that city by storm, it is then closed, so that good and truth no longer flow into it from heaven except as was said some little through chinks round about. From this it is that such persons no longer have anything of charity or anything of faith, but make good consist in evil, and truth in falsity. From this also it is that they are no longer truly rational, although they seem to themselves to be so (n. 1914, 1944). And it is from this that they are called dead men, although they believe that they are more alive than others (n. 81, 290 at the end). These things are so because the gate of heaven is closed to them. That it is closed to them manifestly appears and is perceived in the other life; as also on the other hand that the gate of heaven is open to those who are in good and truth.

[4] As regards the “gate of enemies” in particular, which is treated of in this verse, it is with man in his natural mind. When man is wholly natural, or not regenerate, evils and falsities occupy the gate; or what is the same, evil genii and spirits flow into it with cupidities of evil and persuasions of falsity (see n. 687, 697, 1692); but when man becomes spiritual, or is being regenerated, then the evils and falsities, or what is the same, the evil genii and spirits, are driven away from the gate, or from the mind; then goods and truths, or charity and faith, take their place; which things are signified by its being said, “thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies.” This takes place in particular with every man when he is being regenerated; and in like manner in the other life with those who come into the Lord’s kingdom; and it also takes place in the general body, or in the church, which is composed of many.

[5] This was represented by the sons of Israel expelling the nations from the land of Canaan. The latter is meant in the literal sense where it is said, “thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies;” but in the internal sense are signified the things which have been told. Hence in ancient times it became customary to speak thus when blessing those who were entering into marriage; as is also manifest from the benediction of Laban to his sister Rebekah, when she was going away betrothed to Isaac:

Our sister, be thou thousands of ten thousands, and let thy seed inherit the gate of those that hate thee (Genesis 24:60).

[6] That such things are signified in the Word by the “gate of enemies” or of “those that hate,” may be seen from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

I will kill thy root with famine, and I will slay them that remain of thee. Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou art melted away, O Philistia, all of thee, for there cometh a smoke out of the north (Isaiah 14:30-31);

to “kill the root with famine, and to slay them that remain,” denotes to take away the goods and truths which had been stored up interiorly by the Lord. That “they that remain” mean these, may be seen above (n. 468, 530, 560-562, 661, 798, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284). The “gate” denotes access to the interiors, or to the rational mind; the “city,” that mind, or what is the same, the goods and truths in it (n. 402, 2268, 2450, 2451, 2712); “Philistia” denotes the memory-knowledge of the knowledges of faith, or what is the same, those who are in the memory-knowledge of them, but not in the goods of faith (n. 1197, 1198); “a smoke out of the north” signifies that there is falsity from hell (that “smoke” is falsity from evil, may be seen above, n. 1861).

[7] In the same:

The city of emptiness shall be broken down, every house shall be shut up that no one may come in; there is a crying in the streets because of the wine; all gladness shall be desolated, the joy of the land shall be exiled, that which is left in the city shall be desolation, and the gate shall be smitten with devastation, for thus shall it be in the midst of the earth, among the people (Isaiah 24:10-13).

The “city of emptiness which shall be broken down” denotes the human mind as being deprived of truth; that “every house shall be shut up,” denotes being without good (that a “house” is good, may be seen above, n. 2233, 2234; the “crying in the streets because of the wine” denotes a state of falsity (that a “cry” is predicated of falsities, may be seen above, n. 2240; also that “wine” is truth, of which the cry is that there is none, n. 1071, 1798; that “streets” are what lead to truths, n. 2336); “gladness which is desolated” is predicated of truth; the “joy of the land which is exiled” is predicated of good; hence it is manifest what is signified by “that which is left in the city shall be desolation,” and by “the gate shall be smitten with devastation;” the gate is said to be “devastated” when nothing but evils and falsities reign.

[8] In Jeremiah:

The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the appointed feast; all her gates are desolate, her priests do sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness; her adversaries have become the head, her enemies are secure, because Jehovah hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her children are gone into captivity before the adversary (Lam. 1:4-5);

“the ways of Zion mourning” denotes there being no longer truths from good (that “ways” are truths, may be seen above, n. 189, 627, 2333); “all the gates being desolated” denotes that all the approaches are occupied by falsities; “the enemies having become the head” denotes that evils reign.

[9] In the same:

Jehovah hath made the rampart and the wall of the daughter of Zion to lament; they languish together; her gates are sunk into the earth; He hath destroyed and broken her bars; her king and her princes are among the nations; the law is not; yea her prophets found no vision from Jehovah; all thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee; they hissed and gnashed the teeth; they said, We have swallowed her up; surely this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it (Lam. 2:8-9, 16);

“the gates sunk down into the earth” denotes the natural mind occupied by evils and falsities; “her king and her princes being among the nations” denotes that truths are immersed in evils (that a “king” is truth in general, may be seen above, n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069; also that “princes” are primary truths, n. 1482, 1089; and that “nations” are evils, n. 1259, 1260, 1849, 1868, 2588).

[10] In Moses:

A nation from far, from the end of the earth, shall straiten thee in all thy gates, in all thy land; thus shall thine enemy straiten thee (Deuteronomy 28:49, 52, 63).

This is among the curses which Moses foretold to the people if they should not remain in the precepts and statutes: a “nation from far from the end of the earth,” in the internal sense, denotes evils and falsities, or those who are in evil and falsity; to “besiege in all the gates” denotes cutting off all access to good and truth.

[11] In Nahum:

Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women, the gates of thy land are set wide open to thine enemies, the fire hath devoured thy bars; draw thee water for the siege; strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay and tread the mortar, make strong the brickkiln (Nahum 3:13-14);

“the gates of thy land being set wide open to thine enemies” denotes that evils occupy the place where there should be goods. In the book of Judges:

The highways ceased, and they walked through byways, they went through crooked ways, the villages ceased in Israel. He chose new gods; then was war against the gates; was there a shield seen or a spear in forty thousands of Israel? (Judg. 5:6-8).

The prophecy of Deborah and Barak; there being “war against the gates” denotes against goods and truths.

[12] In David:

They that dwell in the gate plot against me, they that drink strong drink sing songs (Psalms 69:12);

“they that dwell in the gate” denotes evils and falsities, and also the infernals.

In Ezekiel:

In the visions of God he brought me to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north. (He there saw the great abominations of the house of Israel.) He also brought me to the door of the gate of the house of Jehovah that looketh toward the north; he there also saw abominations (Ezekiel 8:6, 14-15);

“the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north” denotes the place where interior falsities are; “the door of the gate of the house of Jehovah toward the north” denotes the place where interior evils are (that the falsities and evils are interior ones, and that it is an interior sphere in which such spirits and genii are, may be seen above, n. 2121-2124).

[13] In David:

Lo, sons are a possession of Jehovah, and the fruit of the womb is His reward; as arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are sons of the youth. Happy is the man that hath filled his quiver with them; they shall not be ashamed, for they shall speak with the enemies in the gate (Psalms 127:3-5);

“to speak with the enemies in the gate” denotes to have no fear of evils and falsities, and thus not of hell.

In Isaiah:

In that day shall Jehovah Zebaoth be for a spirit of judgment to Him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn back the battle to the gate; and these also are insane through wine, and through strong drink are gone astray (Isaiah 28:5-7).

In the same:

They shall be cut off that make men to sin by a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate; and make the just to turn aside to a thing of naught (Isaiah 29:20-21).

In the same:

Elam bare the quiver in a chariot of a man, and horsemen; Kir uncovered the shield; and the choice of thy valleys was full of chariots and horsemen; placing they placed themselves at the gate, and he looked in that day to the armory of the house of the forest (Isaiah 22:6-8).

In Jeremiah:

Judah hath mourned, and the gates thereof languished; they have mourned to the earth, and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up; their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters; they came to the pits, they found no waters (Jeremiah 14:2-3).

In the same:

The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music (Lam. 5:14).

[14] It may be seen from these passages what is signified by the “gate of enemies,” namely, that it is hell, or infernal spirits, who are continually attacking goods and truths. Their seat with man as before said is in his natural mind. But when a man is of such a character as to admit goods and truths, and thus angels, the infernal spirits are then driven away by the Lord from that seat; and on their being driven away, the gate of heaven or heaven itself is opened. This gate is also mentioned in the Word in various places; as in Isaiah:

A song in the land of Judah. We have a strong city, salvation will He appoint for walls and bulwarks; open ye the gates, and the righteous nation that keepeth fidelities shall enter in (Isaiah 26:1-2).

In the same:

Thus said Jehovah to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and will make the crooked places straight, and I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron (Isaiah 45:1-2).

In the same:

The sons of the stranger shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee; they shall open thy gates continually, they shall not be shut day nor night; violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting and destruction within thy borders; and thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise (Isaiah 60:10-11, 18).

In the same:

Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way for the people, level, make level the highway; say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy salvation cometh (Isaiah 62:10-12).

In Micah:

They shall pass through the gate, and shall go out thereat, and their King shall pass on before them, and Jehovah in their beginning (Micah 2:13).

In David:

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; lift them up, ye everlasting doors (Psalms 24:7-10).

Praise Jehovah, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion: for He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates, He hath blessed thy children within thee (Psalms 147:12-13).

[15] From these passages it is manifest that the “gate of heaven” is where angels are with man, that is, where there is an influx of good and truth from the Lord; and thus that as before said there are two gates. Concerning these two gates the Lord speaks thus in Matthew:

Enter ye in by the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat; because strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it (Matthew 7:12-14; Luke 13:23-24).

Moreover the gates to the New Jerusalem and the gates to the new temple are much treated of in Ezekiel, and also by John in Revelation, by which nothing else is meant than the entrances to heaven (see Ezekiel 40:6-49; 43:1-2, 4; 44:1-3; 46:1-9, 12; 48:31-34; Revelation 21:12-13, 21, 25; 22:14; Isaiah 54:11-12). Hence Jerusalem is called the “gate of the people” (Micah 1:9; Obad. verse 13).