657. And they of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations shall see.- That this signifies with all who are in falsities and evils of religion, of doctrine, and of life, is evident from the signification of seeing, as denoting to know, to perceive, and to understand; and from the signification of peoples and tribes as denoting those who are in falsities of doctrine and of religion; for by peoples, in the Word, are meant all those who are in truths or in falsities, whether they are of the church or of some religion out of the church (see 175, 331, 625), and by tribes, in the Word, are meant all those who are in truths or in falsities of doctrine, for tribes denote all truths and falsities of doctrine (see above, n. 330, 430, 431, 454), from which it is evident that peoples and tribes signify all those who are in truths or falsities of religion and of doctrine, in this case those who are in falsities, because it is said that they shall see the bodies of the witnesses three days and a half, and shall not suffer them to be placed in sepulchres; and from the signification of tongues and nations as denoting those who are in evils of doctrine and of life, for by tongues are signified goods or evils of doctrine, and thus of religion (see above, n. 330, 455, 625); and by nations are signified goods or evils of life (see also above, n. 175, 331, 625); from which it is evident that tongues and nations signify all those who are in goods or evils of doctrine and of life, in this case those who are in evils, because it is said of them that they shall see the bodies of the witnesses upon the street of the great city, and shall not suffer them to be put in sepulchres.

1896. And her name was Hagar. That this signifies the life of the exterior or natural man, may be seen from what has been said, and also from the meaning of “Hagar,” which is “a stranger” or “sojourner.” Strangers represented those who were to be instructed, and sojourning represented instruction and also principles of life [vitae instituta], as shown above (n. 1463). When anyone’s name is stated in the Word, as here that “her name was Hagar,” it signifies that something is involved in the name to which attention should be given, for to “call by name” means to know a person’s quality (as before shown, n. 144, 145, 340). No syllable in the Word is there without a cause, or without a signification in the internal sense of some actual thing.