1675. The symbolism of the Horites on their mountain (Seir) as persuasive lies that result from self-love can be seen from the symbolism of the Horites and of Seir.
To turn to the Horites, they were people inhabiting Mount Seir, as indicated by Genesis 36:8, 20, and following verses, which mention Esau, who is also called Edom. In a positive sense, Esau (Edom) symbolizes and at the same time represents the Lord's human quality. Much evidence in both the narrative and the prophetic parts of the Word demonstrates this, as will be discussed later [§§3300, 3302, 3322, 3599, 4241, 4641], with the Lord's divine mercy. Because the Horites represented people who persuade themselves of falsity, and because representations in those days had tangible reality, the occasion on which Esau's descendants drove the Horites off Mount Seir represents the same thing [as the present verse].
[2] In Moses' words:
This too is considered the land of the Rephaim. The Rephaim lived in it before, and the Ammonites call them Zamzummim — a people large and numerous and tall as the Anakim. And Jehovah destroyed [the Rephaim] from before [the Ammonites] — and they took possession of them and lived [there] in place of them — as he did for the children of Esau living in Seir, in that he destroyed the Horites from before them, and they took possession of them and lived [there] in place of them. (Deuteronomy 2:20, 21, 22)
These details represent and symbolize the same thing as those given concerning Chedorlaomer here: that he and the kings with him struck the Horites on Mount Seir. Chedorlaomer, as I said [§1667], represents the goodness and truth the Lord had when he was young. As a consequence he represents the Lord's human side in regard to the goodness and truth he then had, which he used for demolishing persuasive falsities. That is, he used this goodness and truth for crushing hells filled with the Devil's persuasive crew, hells that tried their hardest to destroy the world of spirits and through it the human race by means of their convincing lies.
[3] Since Esau, or Edom, represented the Lord's human side, Mount Seir (and Paran 1 as well) represented attributes of his human side — namely, the heavenly qualities of love. This can be seen from Moses' blessing:
Jehovah came from Sinai and dawned from Seir on them; he shone out from Mount Paran and came with the holy myriads. Out of his right hand came the fire of a law for them. Yes, he loves the peoples. (Deuteronomy 33:2-3)
The sole thing meant by "Jehovah dawned from Mount Seir and shone out from Mount Paran" is the Lord's human nature. Anyone can see that dawning from Mount Seir and shining out from Mount Paran has to do not with mountains or their inhabitants but with divine matters. It symbolizes the heavenly qualities of the Lord's human nature and describes Jehovah as dawning and shining out from this.
[4] The symbolism of Seir as the Lord's human side can be seen from the song of Deborah and Barak in Judges:
Jehovah, when you came out from Seir, when you marched from the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens also showered; yes, the clouds showered water, mountains streamed down. This is Sinai, in the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel. (Judges 5:4-5)
The sole thing meant by coming out from Seir and marching from the field of Edom is likewise the Lord's human side.
[5] It is more obvious still in the prophecy of Balaam, who was one of the children of the east, or in other words, who came from Syria, where a remnant of the ancient church survived. The prophecy appears in Moses:
I see him, but not yet; I view him, but he is not near. A star will rise out of Jacob, and a scepter will spring up from Israel. And Edom will be an inheritance, and an inheritance will Seir be for its enemies. (Numbers 24:17-18)
Seeing him, but not yet, viewing him, although he is not near, is the Lord's arrival in the world. His human side is called a star that will rise out of Jacob, and it is also called Edom and Seir. Anyone can see that Edom and Seir would not be inherited. The statement that Seir would be the inheritance of its enemies, or the mountain of its enemies, is the same as the frequent insistence elsewhere that [Israel's] enemies be banished and their land taken [Exodus 34:24; Numbers 32:21; Deuteronomy 4:38; 6:18-19; 7:1, 17, 22; 9:1, 4-5; 11:23; 12:29; 18:12, 14; 19:1; 31:3; Joshua 23:9].
[6] Mount Paran, or El-paran — mentioned in the present verse — has the same symbolism as well, as can be seen from Habakkuk:
God will come from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran; selah. 2 His majesty covered the heavens, and the earth was filled with his praise. (Habakkuk 3:3)
It is important to know, however, that the mountains and lands take their symbolism from the residents living there — from the Horites, when they lived there; from the people who displaced them, when they were driven out; from Esau, or Edom; and from others too. This is true of both meanings, positive and negative. In a positive sense they stand for the Lord's human nature and in a negative sense for self-love. The Lord's human nature is heavenly love itself. Self-love opposes heavenly love. So the Horites here symbolize persuasive lies rising out of self-love.
[7] Persuasive lies result from self-love and from materialism. Those resulting from self-love are extremely putrid; those resulting from materialism are not as bad. Those resulting from self-love stand opposed to heavenly kinds of love; those resulting from materialism oppose spiritual kinds of love. Those resulting from self-love carry with them an urge for absolute power. Loosen their restraints and they run wild, so much so that they seek to lord it over the whole universe — even over Jehovah, as shown before [§257]. Consequently persuasions of that type are never tolerated in the other life. Persuasions rising out of materialism, on the other hand, do not run as wild. They only drive us crazy with dissatisfaction over our lot, so that we strive vainly for heavenly joy and seek to take the belongings of others for our own, with far less intent to control. But the differences between the two types of delusion are beyond counting.
Footnotes:
1. Paran is the same as El-paran, as Swedenborg indicates in subsection 6 below. [LHC]
2. Selah is a Hebrew word (סֶלָה [selā]) of uncertain meaning or function; sometimes it is taken as indicating a place in the readings where benedictions were to be inserted, sometimes as a kind of emphasis or closing similar to amen (see Brown, Driver, and Briggs 1996, page 700 left column, under סֶלָה [selā], Strong's 5542). Swedenborg transliterates rather than translates it here, as do most versions of the Bible. [LHC, RS]
