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Arcana Coelestia #9093

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9093. And they shall divide the silver of it. That this signifies that the truth thereof shall be dissipated, is evident from the signification of “dividing,” as being to banish and dissipate (see n. 6360, 6361); and from the signification of “silver,” as being truth (n. 1551, 2048, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917, 7999). That “to divide” denotes to dissipate, is because if those things which have been associated together are divided, they are also scattered, as he who divides his mind destroys it. For the mind of man is an association of two parts, one part being called the understanding, the other the will. He who divides these two parts scatters the things which belong to one part, for one part must live from the other; consequently the other also perishes. It is the same with him who divides truth from good, or what is the same, faith from charity. He who does this destroys both. In a word, all things which ought to be united in a one, if divided perish.

[2] This division is meant by the Lord’s words in Luke:

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will prefer the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13).

That is, by faith serve the Lord, and by love the world; thus acknowledge truth, and do evil. He who does this has a divided mind, from which comes its destruction. From all this it is evident whence it is that “to divide” denotes to dissipate; as is also evident in Matthew:

The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall divide him, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites (Matthew 24:50-51); where “to divide” denotes to separate and remove from goods and truths (n. 4424), thus to dissipate.

[3] In Moses:

Cursed be their anger, for it was vehement; and their wrath, for it was hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:7); where Israel speaks prophetically of Simeon and Levi. By Simeon and Leviticus are there represented those who are in faith separate from charity (n. 6352), by Jacob and Israel the church external and internal, and also the external and internal man (n. 4286, 4598, 5973, 6360, 6361). “To divide them in Jacob” denotes to expel them from the external church; and “to scatter them in Israel” denotes from the internal church; thus to dissipate the goods and the truths of the church appertaining to them.

[4] That “dividing” has this signification is also plain from the words written on the wall when Belshazzar king of Babel, together with his lords, his wives, and his concubines, drank wine from the vessels of gold and of silver which belonged to the temple that was at Jerusalem. The writing was:

Numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided (Daniel 5:2-4, 25-28); where “divided” means separated from the kingdom. In this passage it is plain how all things were at that time representative. In it is described the profanation of good and truth, which is signified by “Babel” (that Babel” denotes profanation, see n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326); “vessels of gold and of silver” denote the goods of love and the truths of faith from the the Lord, (n. 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917). Profanation is signified by “drinking therefrom, and at the same time praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone,” as we read in the fourth verse of the chapter, which denote evils and falsities in a series (n. 4402, 4544, 7873, 8941). By the “temple at Jerusalem” from which the vessels came, is signified in the supreme sense the Lord, in the representative sense His kingdom and church (n. 3720). The kingdom of Belshazzar being “divided” signified the dissipation of good and truth, and he himself being “slain that night” signified the loss of the life of truth and good, thus damnation; for “to be divided” denotes to be dissipated; “a king” denotes the truth of good (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148); the like is signified by “kingdom” (n. 1672, 2547, 4691); “to be slain” denotes to be deprived of the life of truth and good (n. 3607, 6767, 8902); and the “night” in which he was slain denotes a state of evil and falsity (n. 2353, 7776, 7851, 7870, 7947). From this it is plain that all things there were representative.

[5] It says in David:

They divided My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast a lot (Psalms 22:18).

They divided His garments, casting a lot; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet (Matthew 27:35).

The soldiers took His garments, and made four parts; and the tunic, the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore, Let us not divide it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:23-24).

He who reads these words and knows nothing of the internal sense of the Word, is not aware that anything secret lies hidden in them, when yet in each word there is a Divine secret. The secret was that Divine truths had been dissipated by the Jews, for the Lord was the Divine truth; and hence He is called “the Word” (John 1). “The Word” denotes Divine truth; His garments represented truths in the external form; and His tunic, truths in the internal form; the division of the garments represented the dissipation of the truths of faith by the Jews. (That “garments” denote truths in the external form, see n. 2576, 5248, 5954, 6918; also that “a tunic” denotes truth in the internal form, n. 4677.) Truths in the external form are such as are those of the Word in the literal sense; but truths in the internal form are such as are those of the Word in the spiritual sense. The division of the garments into four parts signified total dissipation, in like manner as the division in Zechariah 14:4, and in other passages; likewise the division into two parts, as we read of the veil of the temple (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38). The rending of the rocks also at that time (Matthew 27:51) represented the dissipation of all things of faith, for a “rock” denotes the Lord as to faith, consequently it denotes faith from the Lord.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia #10258

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10258. 'And cassia' means truth even more interior, springing from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'cassia' as the interior truth of the internal man. The fact that 'cassia' has this meaning is evident from what has been stated and shown above; for heavenly realities follow in that sequence, from outermost to inmost. Inmost truth therefore is what 'cassia' means, being the fourth in the sequence. The reason why 'cassia' means truth springing from good is that inmost truth emanates directly from good and acts jointly with good on lower levels, as is the case when the understanding acts altogether in unison with the will, so completely that one cannot tell whether an action springs from the will or from the understanding. Also, the more internal heavenly things are, the more perfect they are; for all perfection increases towards the more internal parts, and all perfection springs from good, that is, comes from the Lord through good.

[2] Cassia is mentioned as one of those wares that mean heavenly things, in Ezekiel,

Dan and Javan exchanged yarn in your dealings; wrought iron, cassia, and calamus were in your trading. Ezekiel 27:19.

This refers to Tyre, by which cognitions or knowledge of truth and good in the Church are meant, see 1201, and by 'Dan and Javan' those possessing the cognitions of heavenly things. 'Wrought iron' is last and lowest heavenly truth, and 'cassia' inmost truth.

[3] Cassia is not mentioned anywhere else in the Word, though 'kessia' 1 is in David, which also is a species of cassia,

God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness. With myrrh, aloes, and kessia [He has anointed] all Your garments. Psalms 45:7-8.

The whole of this Psalm refers to the Lord, in particular to the glorification of His Humanity. No one lacking knowledge of the internal sense of the Word can by any means know what is meant, when the Lord is the subject, by 'anointing all His garments with myrrh, aloes, and kessia'.

[4] It is evident that what should be thought of is not garments nor the myrrh, aloes, and kessia with which they were anointed, but the Divine Truths springing from Divine Good with which the Lord clothed His Human; for anointing was nothing other than a representative sign of the Divine Good within the Lord's Divine Human. Consequently 'myrrh, aloes, and kessia' means Divine Truths in their own proper order, emanating from the Divine Good that was within Him; and therefore His Divine Human is meant by 'garments'. Whether you say the Lord's Divine Human or Divine Truth, it amounts to the same thing, for while He was in the world the Lord was Divine Truth itself, and when He left the world He made Himself Divine Good, from which Divine Truth flows, see in the places referred to in 9199(end), 9315(end). Besides, the term 'garment' is used in the Word for that which clothes something else, whatever this may be. The Lord's garments in Isaiah 63:2-3, and elsewhere, have this kind of meaning. For the meaning of 'garments' as truths clothing good, see 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9093, 9212, 9216, 9952. From all this it is now evident that 'kessia' in the Psalm, which is a species of cassia, means Divine Truth, emanating directly from Divine Good, which truth is inmost truth.

Footnotes:

1. The Hebrew word which appears in Psalms 45:8 is q'tsi-oth, the plural of q'tsi-ah, while that in Exodus 30:24 and Ezekiel 27:19 is qiddah. Nowadays both Hebrew words are taken to mean cassia; but the unusual spelling kessia is used to show the difference.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.