840. Verse 17. And that no one be able to buy and ¹ to sell if he hath not the mark of the beast, signifies forbidding anyone to learn and teach anything but what has been acknowledged and thence accepted in doctrine. This is evident from the signification of "to buy and to sell," as being to acquire knowledges to oneself and to communicate them to others, thus to learn and to teach (of which presently). "To cause no one to be able" signifies to forbid. It is evident also from the signification of a "mark," as being an attestation and sign of acknowledgment that those who are in these so-called truths and goods of that faith are of the church (See just above, n. 838). From this it is clear that "to cause that no one be able to buy and to sell save he that hath the mark of the beast" signifies forbidding anyone to learn and to teach anything but what has been acknowledged and also accepted in doctrine. "To buy and to sell" signifies to acquire for oneself the knowledges of truth and good from the Word and to communicate them, or what is the same, to learn and teach, because "wealth and riches" signify in the Word the knowledges of truth and good; and "silver and gold," by means of which buying and selling are conducted, signify the truths and goods of heaven and the church; and this is why "buying and selling," and also "doing business and trading," are spoken of in the Word here and there, and why they signify spiritual buying and selling, and doing business and trading.

[2] As in Isaiah:

Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no silver, come ye, buy and eat; come, I say, buy wine and milk without silver and without price (Isaiah 55:1).

Everyone sees that by "buying wine and milk" is not here meant buying such things. And as "to buy" signifies to acquire for oneself such things as contribute to man's spiritual life, evidently the particulars here are to be spiritually understood; thus the "waters" to which everyone that thirsts may come signify truths for those that desire them; "waters," meaning truths from the Word, and "to thirst" meaning to desire them; that these are given freely from the Lord is signified by "he that hath no silver," also by "without silver and without price;" "to eat" signifies to appropriate to oneself; "wine and milk" signify spiritual truth and natural truth therefrom, both from good.

[3] In Matthew:

The prudent virgins said to the foolish, Go ye rather to them that sell, and buy oil for yourselves; but while they went away to them to buy the bridegroom came (Matthew 25:9, 10).

"The prudent virgins" signify those in the church with whom faith is conjoined to charity, and "the foolish" signify those in the church with whom faith is separated from charity; for "lamps" signify the truths of faith, and "oil" signifies the good of love; therefore "to go to them that sell and to buy" signifies to those who teach, and to learn or acquire for oneself. But as such had not acquired for themselves the good of love, and vivified by that means the truths of faith, while they lived in the world, but had acquired them afterwards, and as no one can acquire for himself the good of love after death and retain it, so these foolish virgins, by whom all who separate the good of love or the good of charity from the truths of faith are signified, were not admitted to the marriage feast nor received by the bridegroom. "The marriage feast" signifies heaven, and "the bridegroom" the Lord.

[4] In the Gospels:

Jesus entered into the temple, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers and the seats of them that sold doves (Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15; Luke 19:45).

"Those that sold and bought" here signify those who make gain for themselves out of holy things; the "tables of the money-changers" signifies those who do this from holy truths; and the "seats of them who sold doves" those who do it from holy goods; therefore it is afterwards said that they made the temple "a den of thieves," "thieves" meaning those who pillage the truths and goods of the church, and thus make to themselves gain.

[5] In Luke:

As it came to pass in the days of Lot, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded (Luke 17:28).

"To eat and drink" signifies here to live for self and the world, and to appropriate to oneself evils and falsities; "to buy and sell" signifies to acquire these and to communicate them to others; "to plant and build" signifies to confirm oneself in these, and to live in them.

[6] In the same:

Jesus said, Now he who hath a purse let him take it, and likewise a wallet; but he that hath no sword let him sell his garments and buy one (Luke 22:36).

What is meant by these words is evident from what follows there, namely, that "this which was written must be fulfilled in the Lord" (verse 37), thus that He was to suffer the cross; and since this must needs distract the minds of those who were then living, as well as the minds of the disciples, and lead them into doubts respecting the Lord and His kingdom, and thus into temptations, and these doubts could be dispelled only by means of truths, therefore the Lord says, "he that hath a purse and a wallet let him take them," that is, he that possesses truths from the Word, in which it is foretold that Christ must suffer such things, let him take heed not to lose them; for the purse and the wallet have a similar signification as the coins and money in them, namely, the knowledges of truth and good from the Word. "But he that hath no sword let him sell his garments and buy one," signifies let those who have no truths reject what is their own, and acquire the truths with which they may fight against falsities, "sword" signifying the combat of truth against falsity, and the destruction of falsity.

[7] As "Tyre" signifies the church in respect to the knowledges of truth and good, and thence also the knowledges of truth and good which belong to the church, and which are serviceable for its doctrine, so where "Tyre" is treated of in the Word, her "tradings" are also treated of, which signify the acquisition and also the communication to others of these knowledges, as in Ezekiel:

All the ships were for the trading of thy traffic; Tarshish was thy trader in silver, iron, tin, and lead; they traded for thy merchandise. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, these were thy merchants; they traded for the merchandise with the soul of man and with vessels of brass. The sons of Dedan were thy merchants, many islands were the merchants of thy hand. Syria was thy trader with chrysoprasus. But thy riches and thy tradings, thy merchandise, and they who trade thy traffic, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of thy fall (Ezekiel 27:1, to the end).

In Isaiah:

Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is devastated, whose merchants are princes, her traders the honored of the earth (Isaiah 23:1, 8).

Everyone can see that tradings and merchandise here do not mean tradings and merchandise; for what has the Word, which in itself is Divine and heavenly, and teaches man about God, heaven and the church, eternal life, and the like, in common with such things? Therefore who cannot see that all the particulars here signify spiritual things which pertain to heaven and the church, not only the names of the lands here mentioned with which trading was carried on, but also their special kinds of merchandise? But it would take too much space to explain here what the particulars in the spiritual sense signify; it is enough to know that "tradings" here signify the acquisition and communication of the knowledges of truth and good; and that "merchandise or wares" signify these knowledges; which are multifarious.

[8] That this is the signification is evident also from these words in Ezekiel:

In thy wisdom and in thine intelligence thou hast made to thyself wealth; and hast made gold and silver in thy treasures; by the abundance of thy wisdom in thy trading thou hast multiplied to thyself wealth (Ezekiel 28:4, 5).

This treats of the prince of Tyre, by whom the knowledges of truth from the Word, through which come intelligence and wisdom, are meant; and as these same knowledges are signified by "wealth," and the acquisition of them by "trading," it is said, "by the multiplication ² of thy wisdom in thy trading thou hast multiplied to thyself wealth."

[9] From all this it can now be seen why:

The Lord compared the kingdom of the heavens to a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it (Matthew 13:45, 46).

"Pearls" signify knowledges, and also truths themselves; and "the one of great price" signifies the acknowledgment of the Lord; and "to sell all that he had" signifies to set aside all things that are of one's own love, and "to buy it" signifies to procure for oneself that Divine truth.

[10] The like is meant by:

The treasure hidden in a field, which a man having found hid, and for joy he went and sold all things whatsoever that he had and bought the field (Matthew 13:44).

The "treasure" signifies the Divine truth that is in the Word; and the "field" signifies the church and its doctrine; and "to sell all things whatsoever that he had and buy the field" signifies here as above, to set aside what is one's own and to acquire for oneself the Divine truth that is in the Lord's church.

[11] As "trading" signifies the acquisition and possession of truths, the Lord spake by a parable:

Of a man going on a journey, who gave to his servants talents, that they might trade with them and make gain (Matthew 25:14-30);

and of another:

Who gave to his servants ten pounds, that they might trade with them (Luke 19:12-26).

"To trade," "tradings," and "traders," have the same signification elsewhere in the Word; also the contrary sense, in which they signify the reception and appropriation of falsities (as in Isaiah 48:15; Ezekiel 16:3; Nahum 3:14; Revelation 18:3, 11-24). So the church in which such things exist is called:

A land of trading (Ezekiel 16:29; 21:30, 31; 29:14).

Moreover, "to sell" and "to be sold" signify to alienate truths and to be alienated from them, and to accept falsities in their place, and to be captivated by them (Isaiah 50:1; 52:3; Ezekiel 30:12; Joel 3:6, 7; Nahum 3:4; Zechariah 13:5; Psalms 44:11-13; Deuteronomy 32:30). From this can be seen what is properly signified by "being redeemed and redemption," where the Lord is treated of; as in Isaiah:

Ye have sold yourselves for nought; therefore ye shall be redeemed without silver (Isaiah 52:3);

and in many passages elsewhere.

Footnotes:

1138. Verse 11. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, signifies the mourning and grief of those who acquire the things pertaining to that religious persuasion in order to gain honor and wealth. This is evident from the signification of "merchants," as being those who acquire the knowledges of the truth and good of the church, and in the contrary sense those who acquire the knowledges of evil and falsity, so here those who acquire the things pertaining to that religious persuasion for the sake of gain, that is, both honors and wealth. (That this is the signification of "merchants" may be seen n. 840, 1104.) Also from the signification of "weeping and mourning," as being to grieve and lament. There are four kinds of men of that religious persuasion that are here described, namely, those called "kings of the earth," those called "merchants of the earth," those called "merchants of merchandise," and those called "masters of ships with sailors." "The kings of the earth" are treated of in verses 9, 10, "the merchants of the earth" in verses 11-14, "the merchants of merchandise" verses 15-16, and "the masters of ships and sailors" verses 17-19.

(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord)

[2] From all this it is evident that the Lord can lead man to heaven only by means of these laws, although he has Divine love from which He wills, and Divine wisdom from which He knows all things, and Divine power, which is omnipotence, from which He can do what He wills. For these laws that are called laws of providence are laws of order respecting reformation and regeneration, thus respecting the salvation of man, and against these the Lord cannot act, since to act against them would be to act against His own wisdom and against His own love, thus against Himself. In respect to the first law, which is, That from sense and perception man cannot know otherwise than that life is in him; and yet he should acknowledge that the goods and truths which belong to love and faith which he thinks, wills, speaks, and acts, are not from him but are from the Lord. This law presupposes the second, namely, That man has freedom, and that this freedom also appears to be his, and yet he should acknowledge that it is not his, but is the Lord's in him.

[3] This law follows from the former because freedom makes one with life, for without freedom man cannot feel and perceive that life is as if it were in him; it is from freedom that he feels this and perceives this, for it is from freedom that everything that the life effects appears to man to be his own [proprium et suum], for freedom is the power to think, will, speak, and do from oneself, here as if from oneself. And it especially belongs to the will, for a man says, I have power to do what I will, and I will that which I have power to do; in other words, I am in freedom. Again, who cannot think from freedom that one thing is good and another evil, or that one thing is true and another false? Therefore freedom was given to man together with his life, nor is it ever taken away from him; for so far as it is taken away or lessened so far man feels and perceives that he does not live, but that another lives in him, and so far the delight of all things of his life is taken away or lessened, for he becomes a slave.

[4] That from sense and perception man knows no otherwise than that life is in him, thus that it is as if it were his own, has need of no other proof than experience itself. Who has any other feeling or perception than that he thinks from himself when he thinks, that he wills from himself when he wills, that he speaks and acts from himself when he speaks and acts? But it is from a law of the Divine providence that man should know no otherwise, since without such a feeling and such a perception he cannot receive anything to himself, appropriate anything to himself, or bring forth anything from himself; thus he would be neither a recipient of life from the Lord nor an agent of life from the Lord, but would be like an automaton, or like an upright image, without understanding or will, with the hands hanging down, awaiting influx that could not be given. For if life were not received and not appropriated as if by man, it would not be retained, but would flow through, and in consequence man from being alive would become like one dead, and from being a rational soul would become not rational, thus either a brute or a stock; for he would have no delight of life, that is, the delight that everyone has from receiving as if from himself, from appropriating and from bringing forth as if from himself, since delight and life act as one, and when you take away all the delight of life you grow cold and die.

[5] If it were not according to a law of the Divine providence that man should feel and perceive as if life and everything pertaining to it were in him, and should be left to acknowledge simply that good and truth are not from him but are from the Lord, nothing could be imputed to man, neither good nor truth, and thus neither love nor faith; and if nothing could be imputed, the Lord would not have commanded in the Word that man must do good and shun evil, and if he did good heaven would be his inheritance, and if he did evil hell would be his portion; nor even would there be any heaven or hell, for without that perception man would not be a man, thus would not be a dwelling place of the Lord. For the Lord wills to be loved by man as if by him; thus it is that the Lord dwells with man in what is His own, and this he has given him in order that He may be loved reciprocally; for the Divine love consists in this, that it wishes what is its own to be man's, and this could not be unless man felt and perceived what is from the Lord to be as if it were his own.

[6] If it were not according to the Divine law that man cannot from sense and perception know otherwise than that life is in him, no end for the sake of which man could act would be possible; this is possible to man because the end from which he acts seems to be in him. The end from which he acts is his love, which is his life, and the end for the sake of which he acts is the delight of his love or life, and the effect in which the end presents itself is use. The end for the sake of which he acts, which is the delight of his life's love, is felt and perceived in man, because the end from which he acts enables him to feel and perceive it; and that end is, as has been said, the love which is life. But to the man who acknowledges that all things of his life are from the Lord, the Lord gives the delight and blessedness of His love, so far as the man acknowledges this and performs uses. Thus when man by acknowledgment and by faith from love, as if from himself, ascribes to the Lord all things of his life, the Lord in turn ascribes to man the good of His life, which carries with it every happiness and every blessedness, and also enables him to feel and perceive interiorly and exquisitely this good to be in himself as if it were his own, and the more exquisitely in proportion as man from the heart wills that which he acknowledges by faith. The perception is then reciprocal, for the perception that He is in man and man is in Him is grateful to the Lord, and the perception that he is in the Lord and the Lord in him is gratifying to man. Such is the union of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord by means of love.