6335. 'And Jacob called his sons' means organizing the truths of faith and the forms of the good of love in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling' as arranging into order, for the reason why they were called together was so that the truths of faith and the forms of the good of charity might be set forth in that organized arrangement; and from the representation of 'Jacob' and 'his sons' as the truths of faith and the forms of the good of love in the natural, 'Jacob' being those truths and forms of good in general, see 3509, 3525, 3546, 3659, 3669, 3677, 3775, 3829, 4234, 4273, 4777, 5506, 5533, 5535, 6001, 6236, and 'his sons', or the tribes named after them, those truths and forms of good in particular, 3858, 3926, 3939, 4060. With regard to this organization of the truths of faith and the forms of the good of love that is meant here and is set forth in the internal sense of this chapter, it should be recognized that the twelve tribes of Israel represented in general all truths and forms of good in their entirety, thus all the truths and forms of good which come forth from the Lord, therefore those which exist in heaven and from which heaven exists. And since all in general are represented, so is each one specifically; for classes in general include all members specifically, just as general wholes do their individual parts.

[2] Forms of good and the truths deriving from them are what determine the varying intensity of light in heaven; and that varying intensity of light is what determines the varying states of intelligence and wisdom. This was how it came about that light glittered and flashed through the Urim and Thummim, doing so in varying ways in keeping with the state of the matter about which questions were being asked. This took place because the twelve tribes, by whom all truths and forms of good in general were meant, were designated in the breastplate or Urim and Thummim; for each precious stone stood for one particular tribe. The reason why they were precious stones was that spiritual and celestial truths are meant by them, 114, 3720, and good is meant by the 'gold' into which they had been set, ¹ 113, 1551, 1552, 5658. This arcanum is what was meant by the Urim and Thummim.

[3] The fact that the twelve tribes meant such things is evident from places in the Word where they are mentioned by name, in particular from the inheritances of the tribes in the land of Canaan, which are dealt with in Joshua, and from their inheritances in the Lord's kingdom, which are dealt with in Ezekiel - in the final chapters, in which a new land, a new Jerusalem, and a new temple are described - and also in Revelation 7:4-8. That the twelve tribes meant such things is also evident from the order in which they were arranged when they pitched camp in the wilderness, an order which was such that it represented truths and forms of good in their right and proper order. This was the origin of the prophetic utterance made by Balaam,

When Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes, the Spirit of God came upon him and he delivered an utterance, and said, How good are your tabernacles, O Jacob; your dwelling-places, O Israel! Like valleys they are planted, like gardens beside a river, like aloes Jehovah has planted, like cedars beside the waters. Numbers 24:2-3, 5-6.

See also what has been shown regarding the tribes and organized arrangements of them in 2129, 3858, 3862, 3926, 3979, 4060, 4603.

Footnotes:

270. (Verse 4) And round about the throne were four-and-twenty thrones, and upon the thrones I saw four-and-twenty elders sitting. That this signifies all truths from good in the higher heavens, arranged by the Lord before judgment is evident from the signification of the throne on which one sat, as being the Lord as to the Last Judgment (concerning which see above, n. 267; and that throne signifies judgment, see n. 253); and from the signification of four-and-twenty thrones round about it, and four-and-twenty elders upon them, as being all the truths of heaven in the aggregate, arranged before judgment. Twenty-four signify all, and thrones signify judgment, and the elders those who are in truths from good, and, in the abstract, truths from good. The reason why the higher heavens are here meant is that all those who are there are in truths from the good of love, and that in what presently follows the lower heavens are treated of. The reason why twenty-four signify all is that that number signifies the same as the number twelve, and twelve signifies all, and is said of truths (see Arcana Coelestia 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913). That the number twenty-four signifies the same as the number twelve is because it is its double, and the double signifies the same as the number from which it arises by multiplication (as may be seen, n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973).

[2] The same is signified by thrones upon which the twelve apostles were to sit, of which it is said in Matthew:

"Ye who have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (19:28; Luke 22:30);

where by the twelve apostles are signified all truths in the aggregate. Similarly in the following words in the Apocalypse:

"I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them" (20:4).

Judgment being given to those that sat upon the thrones signifies that judgment belongs to the Lord alone; for by elders in the Word are signified all those who are in truths from good, and abstractly, truth from good from which is judgment.

He who believes that by elders and apostles in the Word are meant elders and apostles is much deceived; for, in the spiritual sense of the Word, persons are not perceived, but things abstractly from persons; for what is spiritual has nothing in common with persons. The case is otherwise in the sense of the letter of the Word, which is natural; in this sense persons are not only mentioned, but also the idea of a person is implied in many expressions, in order that the Word in its ultimates may be natural, and thus form a basis for the spiritual sense. The same is the case with the signification of elders as with that of infants, children, young men, old men, virgins, women, and many things of the same kind. All are thought of, in the natural sense, as persons; but, in the spiritual sense, by infants innocence is meant; by children, charity; by young men, intelligence; by old men, wisdom; by virgins are meant the affections of truth and good, and by women, the goods of the church; and so in other cases. The same may be said of the natural and spiritual sense of the term neighbour. In the natural sense, by neighbour is meant every man; but in the spiritual sense are meant good itself, truth, sincerity and justice, which are in the person. Every one who thinks in himself may know that this is the neighbour in the spiritual sense; for who loves any one from anything else but the good that is in him? for good and truth constitute the man, and cause him to be loved, and not the countenance and the body. But to return to the signification of elders. That elders signify truths from good is evident from those passages in the Word where they are mentioned.

[3] As in Isaiah:

"Then the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, and Jehovah Zebaoth shall reign in the mount of Zion and in Jerusalem; and before his elders shall be glory" (24:23).

By the moon and the sun are meant their idolatrous worship, the falsity of their faith, and the evil of their love; by mount Zion and by Jerusalem are meant heaven and the church; by the elders are meant truth from good; therefore it is also said, that before them shall be glory; for by glory is signified the Divine truth in heaven, as may be seen above (n. 33).

[4] In Lamentations:

"My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity. I have cried to my lovers, they have deceived me; and mine elders have expired in the city" (1:18, 19).

The subject here treated of is the vastation of the church, over which there is lamentation, which vastation takes place when there is no longer any spiritual affection of truth, and consequently no intelligence in such things as pertain to the church, and hence when there is no truth. By the virgins which are gone into captivity is meant the spiritual affection of truth; by the young men intelligence; captivity denotes removal from those principles; by the elders who expired are meant the truths of the church.

[5] In Ezekiel:

"Slay to destruction the old man and the young man, and the virgin, and the infant and the women; begin from my sanctuary. Therefore they began from the men, the elders who were before the house" (9:6).

The subject here treated of is also the vastation of the church; and by an old man and a young man are meant wisdom and intelligence; by virgin is meant the affection of truth and good; by infant innocence; by women goods of the church. To slay to destruction signifies devastation; the sanctuary at which they should begin signifies the church as to the good of love and the truth of faith, which are the men, the elders who were before the house.

[6] In Lamentations:

"The faces of the old men were not honoured. The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their singing" (5:12, 14).

The old men signify the wisdom which is of good; the elders, the truths which are from good; the young men, intelligence. That the God of Israel was seen having "under His feet as it were the work of sapphire," by Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders, and not by the rest (Exodus 24:9-12), signified that the Lord is seen only by those who are in good, and in truth from good (as may be seen in the explanation of the passage in Arcana Coelestia 9403-9411). These are the things which the seventy elders of Israel represented, and which are signified by the four-and-twenty elders sitting upon as many thrones. The same things also are signified by the twelve apostles, concerning whom it is said that they should sit upon thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (That the twelve apostles signify all truths from good, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397; that the same are signified by the twelve tribes of Israel, n. 3858, 3926, 4060, 6335, and also by the elders of Israel, n. 6524, 6525, 6890, 7912, 8578, 8585, 9376, 9404.)