9372. And He said unto Moses. That this signifies that which concerns the Word in general, is evident from the representation of Moses, as being the Word (of which below); and from the signification of “He said,” as involving those things which follow in this chapter, thus those which concern the Word (see n. 9370). (That Moses represents the Word, can be seen from what has been often shown before about Moses, as from the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 4859, 5922, 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382, 8601, 8760, 8787, 8805.) Here Moses represents the Word in general, because it is said of him in what follows, that he alone should come near unto Jehovah (verse 2); and also that, being called unto out of the midst of the cloud, he entered into it, and went up the mount (verses 16-18).

[2] In the Word there are many who represent the Lord in respect to truth Divine, or in respect to the Word; but chief among them are Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist. That Moses does so, can be seen in the explications just cited above; that so do Elijah and Elisha, can be seen in the preface to Genesis 18; and n. 2762, 5247; and that John the Baptist does so is evident from the fact that he was “Elias who was to come.” He who does not know that John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, cannot know what all those things infold and signify which are said about him in the New Testament; and therefore in order that this secret may stand open, and that at the same time it may appear that Elias, and also Moses, who were seen when the Lord was transfigured, signified the Word, some things may here be quoted which are spoken about John the Baptist; as in Matthew:

After the messengers of John had departed, Jesus began to speak concerning John, saying, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed shaken by the wind? But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft things are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, even more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, Behold I send Mine angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee. Verily I say unto you, Among those who are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist; nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he. All the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye are willing to believe, he is Elias who was to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear (Matthew 11:7-15; and also Luke 7:24-28).

No one can know how these things are to be understood, unless he knows that this John represented the Lord as to the Word, and unless he also knows from the internal sense what is signified by “the wilderness” in which he was, also what by “a reed shaken by the wind,” and likewise by “soft raiment in kings’ houses;” and further what is signified by his being “more than a prophet,” and by “none among those who are born of women being greater than he, and nevertheless he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he,” and lastly by his being “Elias.” For without a deeper sense, all these words are uttered merely from some comparison, and not from anything of weight.

[3] But it is very different when by John is understood the Lord as to the Word, or the Word representatively. Then by “the wilderness of Judea in which John was” is signified the state in which the Word was at the time when the Lord came into the world, namely, that it was “in the wilderness,” that is, it was in obscurity so great that the Lord was not at all acknowledged, neither was anything known about His heavenly kingdom; when yet all the prophets prophesied about Him, and about His kingdom, that it was to endure forever. (That “a wilderness” denotes such obscurity, see n. 2708, 4736, 7313.) For this reason the Word is compared to “a reed shaken by the wind” when it is explained at pleasure; for in the internal sense “a reed” denotes truth in the ultimate, such as is the Word in the letter.

[4] That the Word in the ultimate, or in the letter, is crude and obscure in the sight of men; but that in the internal sense it is soft and shining, is signified by their “not seeing a man clothed in soft raiment, for behold those who wear soft things are in kings’ houses.” That such things are signified by these words, is plain from the signification of “raiment,” or “garments,” as being truths (n. 2132, 2576, 4545, 4763, 5248, 6914, 6918, 9093); and for this reason the angels appear clothed in garments soft and shining according to the truths from good with them (n. 5248, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216). The same is evident from the signification of “kings’ houses,” as being the abodes of the angels, and in the universal sense, the heavens; for “houses” are so called from good (n. 2233, 2234, 3128, 3652, 3720, 4622, 4982, 7836, 7891, 7996, 7997); and “kings,” from truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 6148). Therefore by virtue of their reception of truth from the Lord, the angels are called “sons of the kingdom,” “sons of the king,” and also “kings.”

[5] That the Word is more than any doctrine in the world, and more than any truth in the world, is signified by “what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet;” and by, “there hath not arisen among those who are born of women a greater than John the Baptist;” for in the internal sense “a prophet” denotes doctrine (n. 2534, 7269); and “those who are born,” or are the sons, “of women” denote truths (n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3704, 4257).

[6] That in the internal sense, or such as it is in heaven, the Word is in a degree above the Word in the external sense, or such as it is in the world, and such as John the Baptist taught, is signified by, “he that is less in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he;” for as perceived in heaven the Word is of wisdom so great that it transcends all human apprehension. That the prophecies about the Lord and His coming, and that the representatives of the Lord and of His kingdom, ceased when the Lord came into the world, is signified by, “all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” That the Word was represented by John, as by Elijah, is signified by his being “Elias who is to come.”

[7] The same is signified by these words in Matthew:

The disciples asked Jesus, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? He answered and said, Elias must needs first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias hath come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them. And they understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13).

That “Elias hath come, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they wished” signifies that the Word has indeed taught them that the Lord is to come, but that still they did not wish to comprehend, interpreting it in favor of the rule of self, and thus extinguishing what is Divine in it. That they would do the same with the truth Divine itself, is signified by “even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them.” (That “the Son of man” denotes the Lord as to truth Divine, see n. 2803, 2813, 3704)

[8] From all this it is now evident what is meant by the prophecy about John in Malachi:

Behold I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh (Malachi 4:5).

Moreover, the Word in the ultimate, or such as it is in the external form in which it appears before man in the world, is described by the “clothing” and “food” of John the Baptist, in Matthew:

John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, had His clothing of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:1, 4).

In like manner it is described by Elijah in the second book of Kings:

He was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins (2 Kings 1:8).

By “clothing,” or a “garment,” when said of the Word, is signified truth Divine there in the ultimate form; by “camel’s hair” are signified memory-truths such as appear there before a man in the world; by the “leathern girdle” is signified the external bond connecting and keeping in order all the interior things; by “food” is signified spiritual nourishment from the knowledges of truth and of good out of the Word; by “locusts” are signified ultimate or most general truths; and by “wild honey” their pleasantness.

[9] That such things are signified by “clothing” and “food” has its origin in the representatives of the other life, where all appear clothed according to truths from good, and where food also is represented according to the desires of acquiring knowledge and growing wise. From this it is that “clothing,” or a “garment,” denotes truth (as may be seen from the citations above; and that “food” or “meat” denotes spiritual nourishment, n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562, 9003; that “a girdle” denotes a bond which gathers up and holds together interior things, n. 9341; that “leather” denotes what is external, n. 3540; and thus “a leathern girdle” denotes an external bond; that “hairs” denote ultimate or most general truths, n. 3301, 5569-5573; that “a camel” denotes memory-knowledge in general, n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145, 4156; that “a locust” denotes nourishing truth in the extremes, n. 7643; and that “honey” denotes the pleasantness thereof, n. 5620, 6857, 8056). It is called “wild honey,” or “honey of the field,” because by “a field” is signified the church (n. 2971, 3317, 3766, 7502, 7571, 9139, 9295). He who does not know that such things are signified, cannot possibly know why Elijah and John were so clothed. And yet that these things signified something peculiar to these prophets, can be thought by everyone who thinks well about the Word.

[10] Because John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, therefore also when he spoke of the Lord, who was the Word itself, he said of himself that he was “not Elias, nor the prophet,” and that he was “not worthy to loose the latchet of the Lord’s shoe,” as in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The Jews from Jerusalem, priests and Levites, asked John who he was. And he confessed, and denied not, I am not the Christ. Therefore they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? But he said, I am not. Art thou the prophet? He answered, No. They said therefore unto him, Who art thou? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet. They said therefore, Why then baptizest thou, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet? He answered, I baptize with water; in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not; He it is who is to come after me, who was before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose. When he saw Jesus, he said, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man who was before me; for he was before me (John 1:1, 14, 19-30).

From these words it is plain that when John spoke about the Lord Himself, who was Truth Divine itself, or the Word, he said that he himself was not anything, because the shadow disappears when the light itself appears, that is, the representative disappears when the original itself makes its appearance. (That the representatives had in view holy things, and the Lord Himself, and not at all the person that represented, see n. 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4307, 4444, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.) One who does not know that representatives vanish like shadows at the presence of light, cannot know why John denied that he was Elias and the prophet.

[11] From all this it can now be seen what is signified by Moses and Elias, who were seen in glory, and who spoke with the Lord when transfigured, of His departure which He should accomplish at Jerusalem (Luke 9:29-31); namely, that they signified the Word (“Moses” the historic Word, and “Elias” the prophetic Word), which in the internal sense throughout treats of the Lord, of His coming into the world, and of His departure out of the world; and therefore it is said that “Moses and Elias were seen in glory,” for “glory” denotes the internal sense of the Word, and the “cloud” its external sense (see the preface to Genesis 18, and n. 5922, 8427).

9295. That this second feast, which was called “the feast of the harvest of the firstfruits of works,” and also that “of the firstfruits of wheat,” likewise “the feast of weeks,” signifies the implantation of truth in good, is evident from its institution, concerning which in Moses:

Say unto the sons of Israel, When ye shall come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, ye shall bring the first sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest; and he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah, to be accepted for you; on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And in that day ye shall offer a he-lamb for a burnt-offering; also the meat-offering and the drink-offering. But ye shall not eat bread, or parched ear, or green, until this selfsame day. Then ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day in which ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering, seven entire Sabbaths shall there be; even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new gift to Jehovah. Ye shall offer out of your dwellings the bread of the wave-offering, it shall be baked leavened, as firstfruits to Jehovah. Ye shall offer besides the bread seven lambs, one young bullock, and two rams, for a burnt-offering, with their meat-offering, and their drink-offering (Leviticus 23:10-18; Deuteronomy 16:9-12).

[2] That each of these things has a signification cannot be known except from their internal sense. In this sense the “seeds which are sown in the field” denote the truths of faith which are implanted in good; by “the harvest” is signified their coming to maturity when goods are produced; for “wheat and barley,” denote goods, and “the spike,” or “ear” in which they are denotes truths thus adjoined to goods; the “sheaf” denotes a series and collection of such things, for truths are arranged as it were into bundles; “waving” denotes vivification, for truths are not living in man until they are in good; the priest who waved the sheaf, that is, who vivified the goods of truth, represented the Lord, because everything of life is from Him; this being done “on the morrow after the Sabbath” signified the holiness of the conjunction of good and truth; that before this they were not allowed to “eat bread, or the parched ear, or the green ear,” signified that the life of good and its appropriation are no sooner; “bread” denotes the good of love; the “parched ear,” the good of charity; the “green ear,” the good of truth; and “eating,” appropriation; that they were to “count seven Sabbaths unto the feast,” which was made on the “fiftieth day” therefrom, signified the complete implantation of truth in good even to the beginning of a new state; the “leavened bread” which was then offered, signified good not yet fully purified; the “waving” of it signified its vivification; the “burnt-offering of lambs, a young bullock, and rams, with the meat-offering and the drink-offering,” signified the worship of the Lord according to the quality of that good. These are the things which are signified by this feast and by the particulars of its celebration; from which it is evident that the second state of liberation from damnation, which is the state of the implantation of truth in good, was thereby signified.

[3] As this feast was called “the feast of the firstfruits of the harvest” it should be known what is signified in the Word by “the harvest.” The “field” in which is the harvest, in a broad sense signifies the whole human race, or the whole world; in a less broad sense it signifies the church; in a sense more restricted, the man of the church; and in a sense still more restricted, the good which is in the man of the church, for this receives the truths of faith, as a field receives seeds. From the signification of the “field” it is plain what is signified by the “harvest,” namely, that in the broadest sense it signifies the state of the whole human race in respect to the reception of good by means of truth; in a less broad sense, the state of the church in respect to the reception of the truths of faith in good; in a more restricted sense, the state of the man of the church in respect to this reception; and in a still more restricted sense, the state of good in respect to the reception of truth, thus the implantation of truth in good.

[4] From all this it can seen what is signified by “the harvest” in the following passages; as in Matthew:

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the seed are the sons of the kingdom; the tares are the sons of the evil one; ¹ the enemy that soweth them is the devil; but the harvest is the consummation of the age; and the reapers are the angels (Matthew 13:37-39);

“the good seed” denotes the truths of faith from the Lord; “the Son of man” denotes the Lord in respect to the truths of the church; “the world which is the field” denotes the whole human race; “the sons of the kingdom who are the seed” denote the truths of faith of the church; “the sons of the evil kingdom who are the tares” denote the falsities of faith of the church; “the devil who is the enemy and soweth them” denotes hell; “the consummation of the age which is the harvest” denotes the last state of the church in respect to the reception of, the truths of faith in good; “the angels who are the reapers” denote truths from the Lord. That such things are signified by the above words of the Lord, can be seen from their internal sense, as set forth in these explications. From the above words it is also manifest in what manner the Lord spoke when He was in the world, namely, by means of significatives, to the end that the Word might be not only for the world, but also for heaven.

[5] In Revelation:

An angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud, Put forth thy sickle, and reap; because the hour is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is dried up. And he that sat on the cloud put forth his sickle into the earth; and the earth was reaped (Revelation 14:15-16);

here also “the harvest” denotes the last state of the church in respect to the reception of the truths of faith in good.

In Joel:

The priests, the ministers of Jehovah, have mourned; the field is laid waste, the land hath mourned because the grain hath been laid waste, the must is dried up, the oil languisheth. The husbandmen are ashamed, the vine-dressers have howled over the wheat and over the barley; and because the harvest of the field hath perished (Joel 1:9-11).

The vastation of the church in respect to the truths of faith and the goods of charity is here described by such things as belong to the field, the vineyard, and the oliveyard; the church itself is “the field;” and its last state, which was called by the Lord “the consummation of the age,” is “the harvest.”

[6] In the same:

Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great (Joel 3:13);

here also by “the harvest” is signified the consummation of the age, or the last state of the devastated church.

In Jeremiah:

Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest (Jeremiah 50:16).

The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor; it is time to thresh her; yet a little while, and the time of harvest cometh (Jeremiah 51:33);

“the time of harvest” denotes the last state of the church.

[7] In Isaiah:

Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for Tyre is laid waste, so that there is no house, nor doth anyone enter; the inhabitants of the isle are silent; the merchants of Zidon that pass over the sea have replenished thee; and through many waters the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her increase; that she should be the mart of nations (Isaiah 23:1-3).

The holy things of the church which are here described cannot be known to anyone except from the internal sense. Everyone knows that the holy things of heaven and of the church are everywhere in the Word, and that from this the Word is holy. In the sense of the letter the subject here treated of is the merchandise of Tyre and Zidon, which apart from the interior holy sense are not holy. But what they signify in this sense is clear when they are unfolded. “The ships of Tarshish” denote the doctrinal things of truth and good; “Tyre and Zidon” denote the knowledges of good and truth; there being “no house, nor anyone entering in,” denotes that there is no longer any good in which truth can be implanted; “the inhabitants of the isle who are silent” denote more remote goods; “the seed of Shihor” denotes memory-truth; “the harvest of the Nile her increase” denotes the derivative good outside the church.

Footnotes:

5044. And the prince of the prison house. That this signifies truth governing in a state of temptations, is evident from the signification of a “prince,” as being primary truth, thus the governing truth, of which presently; and from the signification of a “prison house” as being the vastation of falsity, and consequently temptation (of which above, n. 5038, 5039, 5043). What is meant by truth governing in a state of temptations must first be told. With all who are in temptations there flows in truth from the Lord, which rules and governs the thoughts and raises up the sufferers whenever they fall into doubts and even into despair. This governing truth is that truth and such truth as they have learned from the Word or from doctrine, and have confirmed in themselves. Other truths are indeed at such times also called to mind, but they do not govern the interiors. Sometimes the truth which governs is not presented visibly before the understanding, but lies hid in obscurity, yet it still governs; for the Divine of the Lord flows into it, and thus keeps the interiors of the mind in it, and therefore when it comes into light, the person who is in temptation receives consolation and is relieved.

[2] It is not this truth itself, but the affection of it, by which the Lord governs those who are in temptations; for the Divine flows only into those things which are of the affection. The truth which is implanted and rooted in a man’s interiors is implanted and rooted by affection, and not at all without affection; and the truth which has been implanted and rooted by affection, clings there, and is recalled by affection; and when this truth is so recalled, it presents the affection that is conjoined with it, which is the man’s reciprocal affection. As such is the case with the man who is in temptations, therefore no one is admitted into any spiritual temptation until he reaches adult age, and has thus become imbued with some truth by which he can be governed; otherwise he sinks under the temptation, and then his latter state is worse than the first. From these things it may be seen what is meant by truth governing in a state of temptations, which is signified by the “prince of the prison house.”

[3] That a “prince” denotes primary truth, is because a “king” in the internal sense signifies truth itself (see n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4789, 4966); hence “princes,” because they are the sons of a king, signify the primary things of that truth. That “princes” have this signification may be seen above in n. 1482089, but as this was not there proved from many other passages in the Word, some may be cited here.

In Isaiah:

Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the principality shall be upon His shoulder-the Prince of peace. Of the multiplying of His principality and peace there shall be no end (Isaiah 9:6-7);

which is said of the Lord. The “principality upon the shoulder” is all Divine truth in the heavens from Him; for the heavens are distinguished into principalities according to truths from good, whence also the angels are called “principalities.” Peace is a state of blessedness in the heavens, affecting with good and truth from the inmosts (n. 3780); hence the Lord is called the “Prince of peace,” and it is said that “of the multiplying of His principality and peace there shall be no end.”

[4] Again in the same prophet:

The princes of Zoan are foolish, the wise, the counselors of Pharaoh. How say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of the kings of antiquity? The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; and they have seduced Egypt, the corner stone of the tribes (Isaiah 19:11, 13);

treating of Egypt, by which is signified the memory-knowledge of the church (n. 4749), thus natural truth, which is the ultimate of order; wherefore also Egypt is here called the “corner stone of the tribes,” for the “tribes” are all things of truth in one complex (n. 3858, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4060). But in this passage “Egypt” is the memory-knowledge which perverts the truths of the church, thus truths in the ultimate of order falsified, which are the “princes of Zoan” and the “princes of Noph.” He calls himself the “son of the kings of antiquity,” because the memory-knowledges in Egypt were from the truths of the Ancient Church. The truths themselves are signified by “kings,” as was shown above, and the truths of the Ancient Church are signified by the “kings of antiquity.”

[5] Again:

Asshur thinketh not right, and his heart doth not meditate right; for his heart is to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. For he saith, Are not my princes kings? (Isaiah 10:7-8

“Asshur” denotes reasoning about Divine truths, from which come falsities, thus perverse reasoning (n. 1186). The truths thus falsified, or falsities, which are produced by reasoning and which appear as the veriest truths, are signified by his saying, “Are not my princes kings?” That “Asshur” is reasoning, and that his “princes who are kings” are primary falsities which are believed to be the veriest truths, cannot be seen and thence believed so long as the mind is kept in the historic sense of the letter, and still less if it is in the negative as to there being anything more holy and more universal in the Divine Word than what appears in the letter; and yet in the internal sense by “Asshur” nothing else than reason and reasoning is understood in the Word, and by “kings” truths themselves, and by “princes” the primary things of truth. Nothing is known in heaven of Asshur, and the angels also reject from themselves the idea of a king and a prince; and when they perceive it in man, they transfer it to the Lord, and perceive that which proceeds from the Lord and is the Lord’s in heaven, namely, the Divine truth from His Divine good.

[6] Again:

Asshur shall fall with the sword, not of a man; and the sword, not of a man, shall devour him; his rock shall also pass away by reason of dread, but his princes shall be dismayed by the ensign (Isaiah 31:8-9);

also said of Egypt, which is the memory-knowledge of the church perverted. Reasoning from memory-knowledges about Divine truths, from which come perversion and falsification, is “Asshur,” these truths perverted and falsified are the “princes,” the “sword with which Asshur shall fall” is falsity battling with and vastating truth (n. 2799, 4499). Again:

The strength of Pharaoh shall become to you for a shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt for a reproach, when his princes shall be in Zoan (Isaiah 30:3-4

the “princes in Zoan” denote truths falsified, thus falsities, as above.

[7] Again:

The pelican and the bittern shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein; he shall stretch over it the line of emptiness, and the plummet of a waste. The nobles thereof are not there, they shall call a kingdom, and all her princes shall be nothing (Isaiah 34:11-12).

The “pelican,” the “bittern,” the “owl,” and the “raven,” denote the different kinds of falsity which come into existence when the Divine truths that are in the Word become of no account. The desolation and vastation of truth are signified by the “line of emptiness, and the plummet of a waste;” and the falsities, which to them are primary truths, are signified by “princes.” Again:

I will render profane the princes of holiness, and I will give Jacob for a curse, and Israel for reproaches (Isaiah 43:28);

“to profane the princes of holiness” denotes to profane holy truths; the extirpation of the truth of the external and the internal church is signified by “giving Jacob for a curse, and Israel for reproaches”; that “Jacob” is the external church, and “Israel” the internal, may be seen above (n. 4286).

[8] In Jeremiah:

There shall enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariot and on horses, they and their princes (Jeremiah 17:25);

one who here understands the Word in the historic sense, cannot be aware that the words store within them anything more deep and holy than that kings and princes would enter in by the gates of the city in chariots and on horses, and he gathers from it that the duration of the kingdom is referred to; but he who knows what a “city,” “kings,” “princes,” the “throne of David,” and “riding in chariot and on horses” signify in the internal sense, sees there things more deep and holy; for the “city” or Jerusalem signifies the spiritual kingdom of the the Lord, (n. 2117, 3654); “kings” signify Divine truths (as shown above); “princes,” the primary things of truth; the “throne of David,” the heaven of the the Lord, (n. 1888); “riding in chariot and on horses,” the spiritual understanding of the church (n. 2760, 2761, 3217).

[9] Again:

O sword against the Chaldeans, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her princes and against her wise men. O sword against the liars. O sword against her horses and against her chariots (Jeremiah 50:35-37);

a “sword” denotes truth fighting against falsity, and falsity fighting against truth and vastating it (n. 2799, 4499); the “Chaldeans” denote those who profane truths; and the “inhabitants of Babylon,” those who profane good (n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1307, 1308, 1321, 1322, 1326, 1327 at the end); “princes” denote the falsities which to such are primary truths; “horses,” the intellectual of the church, and “chariots,” its doctrine, the vastation of which is signified by a “sword against the horses and against the chariots.”

[10] Again:

How doth the Lord in His anger cloud over the daughter of Zion! The Lord hath swallowed up, He hath not spared, all the habitations of Jacob; He hath destroyed in His wrath the stronghold of the daughter of Judah; He hath cast them forth to the earth; He hath profaned the kingdom and the princes thereof; the gates have sunk into the earth, and He hath broken the bars in pieces; the king and the princes are among the nations (Lam. 2:1-2, 9).

The “daughter of Zion and of Judah” denotes the celestial church, here this church destroyed; the “kingdom,” the truths of doctrine therein (n. 2547, 4691); the “king,” the truth itself, and the “princes,” its primaries.

[11] Again:

Our skins have been blackened like an oven, because of the storms of famine. They ravished the women in Zion, the virgins in the cities of Judah, the princes were hanged up by their hand (Lam. 5:10-12);

“the princes being hanged up by their hand” denotes that truths are profaned, for hanging represented the damnation of profanation; and because of this representation, it was also commanded when the people committed whoredom after Baalpeor and worshiped their gods, that the princes should be hanged up before the sun (Numbers 25:1-4); for to commit whoredom after Baalpeor, and to worship their gods, was to profane worship.

In Ezekiel:

The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with astonishment, and the hands of the people of the land shall be terrified; I will deal with them after their way (Ezekiel 7:27); where the “king” in like manner denotes truth in general, and the “prince,” its primaries.

[12] Again:

The prince that is in the midst of them shall be borne upon the shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth; they shall dig through the wall to bring out through it; he will veil over his faces that he see not the earth at his eye (Ezekiel 12:12).

That a “prince” here does not mean a prince, but the truth of the church, is very manifest; and when it is said of this that it shall be “borne on the shoulder in the dark,” it means that with all their might it should be conveyed down among falsities, for “darkness” is falsities; “to veil over the faces” denotes that truth should not be seen at all; his “not seeing the earth at his eye,” means that nothing of the church would be seen. (That the “earth” is the church may be seen above, n. 662, 1066, 1068, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 at the end, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535.) In Hosea:

The sons of Israel shall sit many days, there is no king, and no prince, and no sacrifice, and no pillar, and no ephod, and no teraphim (Hos. 3:4).

[13] And in David:

The king’s daughter is all glorious within; and of inweavings of gold is her garment, in needlework shall she be brought to the king; instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons, thou shalt set them for princes in the whole earth (Psalms 45:13-16).

The “king’s daughter” is the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, which is called His spiritual kingdom from the Lord’s Divine truth, here described by her garment of inweavings of gold and of needlework; “sons” are the truths of that kingdom which are from the Lord’s Divine, which must be “princes,” that is, primary truths. The “prince” who together with his possessions in the New Jerusalem and in the new earth is described in Ezekiel (44:3; 45:7-8, 17; 46:8, 10, 12, 16, 18; 48:21) signifies in general the truth which is from the Lord’s Divine; for by the “New Jerusalem,” the “new temple,” and the “new earth” there, is meant the Lord’s kingdom in heaven and on earth, which is there described by representatives such as are found in other parts of the Word.