725. The reason why a male child signifies the doctrine of truth for the church which is called the New Jerusalem, is, that son signifies truth as we have just shown above, and a male child truth of doctrine from the Word, consequently the doctrine of genuine truth which is for the church. It means doctrine for the church which is called the New Jerusalem, because the woman who brought forth the male child, means that church, as also shown above. The doctrine of truth which is for the church, is also signified by male in the following passages.

In Moses:

"God created man into his image; into the image of God created he him, male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:27):

"Male and female created he them, and blessed them, and called their name man (homo), in the day in which they were created" (Genesis 5:2).

What is involved in the things that are related in the first chapter of Genesis concerning the creation of heaven and earth, paradise, and the eating of the tree of knowledge (scientia), no one can know except from the spiritual sense, for these particulars are in the form of history; still they are holy, because all the particulars contained in them are interiorly, and in their bosom, spiritual.

[2] The subject there described is the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, which was the most excellent of all the churches on this earth; its establishment is meant by the creation of heaven and earth, its intelligence and wisdom are meant by the garden of Eden, and its decline and fall by eating of the tree of knowledge. It is therefore evident that man, who is called Adam and Eve, means that church, for it is said, Male and female created He them, and called their name Man; and as that church is meant by both, it follows that male means its truth, and female its good. So also male means doctrine, and female life, since the doctrine of truth is also the doctrine of love and of charity, thus the doctrine of life; and the life of good is also the life of love and of charity, thus a life of doctrine, that is, a life according to doctrine. These two are meant by male [and female], and, taken together and conjoined in marriage, they are called Man, and they also make the church, which, as said above, is meant by man. Again, Adam was so called from a word that means ground, and ground, from its reception of seeds, signifies the church as to truths of doctrine, for in the Word seeds signify truths; while Eve is from a word that means life, "Because she was to be the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20). These two, doctrine and life, taken together and conjoined as it were in marriage, are called Man (homo), and also make the church, because man is man from the understanding of truth and from the will of good, consequently from the doctrine of life, since this is of the understanding and from the life of doctrine, because this is of the will. The case is similar with the church, for the church is in man, and is the man himself.

[3] That these two, which are signified by male and female, are not to be two but one, the Lord teaches in the Evangelists;

"Jesus said, Have ye not read, that He who made them from the beginning of creation made them male and female, and they two shall be one flesh? Therefore, they are no more two but one flesh" (Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-8).

This also, as is the case with every part of the Word, is to be understood not only naturally, but also spiritually; and unless it is understood spiritually no one can know what is signified by male and female, or husband and wife, being no more two but one flesh, as is also said in Genesis 2:24. Here, as above, male and female signify, in the spiritual sense, truth and good, consequently also the doctrine of truth, which is the doctrine of life, and the life of truth, which is the life of doctrine. These must not be two but one, since truth does not become truth in man without the good of life, nor does good become good with any one without the truth of doctrine; for good becomes spiritual good only by means of truths, and spiritual good is good, but not natural good, without it. When these are one, then truth is of good and good is of truth, and this oneness is meant by one flesh. The case is similar with doctrine and life; these also make a man of the church one, when the doctrine of life and the life of doctrine are conjoined in him, for doctrine teaches how he must live and act, and the life lives it and does it. From these things also it is evident, that a male child signifies the doctrine of love and of charity, consequently, the doctrine of life.

[4] Since the truth of doctrine, or the doctrine of truth, is signified by a male, therefore a law was made that every male opening the womb should be holy to Jehovah (Exodus 13:12, 15; Deuteronomy 15:19; Luke 2:23). For from the marriage of truth and good, meant in the spiritual sense by the marriage of man and woman, as said above, truths and goods are born, and these are consequently signified in that sense by sons and daughters, truths by sons, and goods by daughters. And as every man is reformed and regenerated by means of truths - for without truths man does not know what good is, and what its nature is, nor, consequently, the way to heaven - this is the reason why the truth which is born first from the marriage of truth and good was sanctified to Jehovah. This truth which is first born is also the doctrine of truth, for that which is first is the all in what follows, thus it is all truth, and all truth is doctrine. But it must be carefully observed that the first-born signifies truth that belongs to the good of charity, it therefore signifies the good of charity in its own form and in its own quality, therefore truth; for the form of good and the quality of good are truth. The reason why this is signified by the first-born, is, that from the good of love, which is signified by the womb and the child therein, nothing else can be born but the good of charity; and this good does not become good until it is formed and qualified, that is until it is in the form in which its quality resides, and its form is called truth, but still is good in form.

[5] From what has been said above, it is evident why it was that every male should appear three times in the year before the face of the Lord Jehovah (Exodus 23:17; 34:23; Deuteronomy 16:16), namely, at the three feasts, which signified everything of regeneration from first to last. And as everything of regeneration is effected by means of truths of doctrine that become those of life from the Lord, therefore all the males, by whom truths were signified, had to present themselves before the Lord, that they might be cleansed by Him and afterwards led by Him. By three times in the year, is also signified continually, and by the face of Jehovah, the Divine Love by which man is led. And this was done because Jerusalem signified the church as to doctrine, and thus also the doctrine of the church.

[6] Since burnt-offerings and sacrifices signified celestial and spiritual things, burnt-offerings celestial things, and sacrifices spiritual things; therefore the law was given, that burnt-offerings should be of males that were without blemish, either from the flock or from the herd; but sacrifices might be either of males or females (Leviticus 1:2, 3; 3:1, 6). The reasons were, that celestial things are those that pertain to love to the Lord, thus to the marriage of good and truth, but spiritual things are those that pertain to charity towards the neighbour, thus not to the marriage but to the consanguinity of truth with good; and truths and goods in consanguinity are like sisters and brothers, but in marriage truths and goods are like husband and wife. This is why burnt-offerings were of males that were without blemish, which signify genuine truths from the Word, or from doctrine from the Word, which have been conjoined to the good of love to the Lord, this good being signified by the altar and its fire. The sacrifices were either of males or females, because males signify truths, and females goods, not conjoined by marriage but by consanguinity; and as both of these, like brothers and sisters, are from one parent, worship from truths was accepted equally as from goods, that is, from males equally as from females.

[7] Since all spiritual nourishment is from truths that are from good, therefore there was a law that a male among the priests should eat the holy things (Leviticus 6:18, 29; 7:6). The reason of this statute was, that males signify truths of doctrine, which are doctrinals (as above) and priests the goods of love, which are goods of the life; and their eating of the holy things that belonged to Aaron and his sons, signified spiritual nourishment.

[8] In Moses:

When they draw near "unto a city to fight against it, thou shalt invite it to peace"; if it accept not, "thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword, but the women, the little ones, the beasts, and the booty, thou shalt take" (Deuteronomy 20:10-14).

Every male in a city that did not accept peace was to be smitten with the edge of the sword, but not the women, the little ones, and beasts, because a city signifies doctrine, and a city of the Gentiles in the land of Canaan, doctrine of falsity, similarly the males of that city; and not to accept peace signifies not to agree with the truths and goods of the church, which were signified by the sons of Israel. The edge of the sword, with which the males were to be smitten, signifies truth destroying falsity. And because falsities alone fight against truths and goods, and destroy them, but not evils without falsities; therefore the women, the little ones, and the beasts, which as belonging to the Gentiles signified evils, were not smitten, since evils can be subdued, amended, and reformed by means of truths.

[9] In Jeremiah:

"Cursed be the man who brought glad tidings to his father, saying, A male child is born to thee, in gladdening he hath made him glad; let that man be as the cities that Jehovah overthrew" (20:15, 16).

This is said of those who are in a devastated church, in which nothing but falsities are accepted and rule; therefore Cursed be the man who brought glad tidings to his father, saying, A male child is born to thee, signifies he who acknowledges falsity and proclaims it as truth, thus the doctrine of falsity in place of the doctrine of truth; in gladdening he made him glad, signifies acceptance from affection for falsity. Let that man be as the cities that Jehovah overthrew, signifies that it shall be with the doctrines that are from mere falsities, which the Lord exterminated from the church, and destroyed as it was with the cities of the Canaanitish race which He destroyed; comparison is made with cities, because cities also signify doctrines.

[10] In Ezekiel:

"Thou didst take the vessels of thine adorning, of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest thee images of a male with which thou hast committed whoredom" (16:17).

This treats of the abominations of Jerusalem, which signify falsifications and adulterations of the Word, resulting from the application of it to the desires of corporeal and worldly loves. Vessels of adorning from the gold and silver of the Lord, signify knowledges of good and truth, which are the goods and truths of the sense of the letter of the Word. These are called vessels, because they contain in themselves spiritual truths and goods, and vessels of adorning, because they are the manifestations (apparentiae), and thus the forms of interior things; those things which are of gold signify those that are from good, and those of silver those that are from truth. Thou madest to thee images of a male with which thou hast committed whoredom, signifies falsities appearing as truths of doctrine, which are falsified, images of a male denoting appearances of truth which are nevertheless falsities, and to commit whoredom denoting to falsify.

[11] In Malachi:

"Cursed be the defrauder in whose flock is a male, and he voweth and sacrificeth unto the Lord a blemished thing" (1:14).

A male in the flock signifies genuine truth of doctrine from the Word; a blemished thing signifies what is falsified; and to vow and sacrifice signifies to worship, thus from things falsified when the truth is known; that such a worship, being fraudulent worship, is infernal, is signified by Cursed be the defrauder. From what has been now shown from the Word concerning the signification of a male, and concerning the signification of a son, it is evident that the male child, which the woman encompassed with the sun, and upon whose head was a crown of twelve stars, brought forth, signifies the doctrine of truth, thus the doctrine of love and charity for the church which is called the New Jerusalem, and which is treated of in the twenty-first chapter of this book.

342.(5:13) And every created thing which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying. That this signifies the acknowledgment and thence the glorification of the Lord by the angels who are in the lowest parts of heaven, is clear from the signification of every created thing, as denoting all who are reformed. That to be created signifies to be reformed and regenerated, may be seen above, n. 294. Hence created thing signifies what is reformed and regenerated; but with respect to the angels, concerning whom these things are said, it signifies those who were reformed in the world, that is, created anew, for all such are in heaven. By created thing is meant the same as by creature in Mark:

Jesus said to the disciples, "Going into all the world, preach ye the gospel to every creature" (16:15).

Here by every creature are meant all those who receive the gospel, and can thereby be reformed; the rest are not meant by creatures, because they do not receive, but hear and reject.

[2] From these considerations it is evident what the quality of the Word is in the sense of the letter, namely, that it is said creature, and that it is said every created thing, which is in heaven and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them. He who does not know that the sense of the letter is composed of such things as appear before the eyes, and that by these things spiritual [things] are meant, may easily be led to believe, that by every created thing which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, are meant the birds that fly in the heaven, the beasts that walk upon the earth, and the fishes that are in the sea; and the more so, because in various passages elsewhere in the Word, similar things are said of the birds of the heaven, the beasts of the earth, and also whales and fishes (as Ezekiel 39:17; Psalms 148:7; Job. 12:7, 8; Rev. 19:17; and elsewhere). But still those whose minds can be somewhat elevated above the sense of the letter, instantly perceive by interior sight that by those things are meant the angels and spirits who are in heaven and under heaven, and that these are those whom John heard when he was in the spirit; for it is said, "Heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever"; from which it is evident that the angels in the lowest parts of heaven are those who are meant by everything created which is in them. This indeed follows from the consideration, that in the verses which precede, the subject treated of is the angels of the higher heavens and the angels of the lower heavens, that they acknowledged and glorified the Lord (see above, n. 322, 355).

[3] It shall now be explained who are meant by those in heaven, who by those on the earth, and under the earth, and who by those in the sea; by all of whom are meant those who are in the ultimates of heaven, the higher there by those who are in heaven, the lower there by those who are on the earth and under the earth, and the lowest there by those who are in the sea. There are three heavens, and each heaven is divided into three degrees, and similarly the angels who are in them; therefore in each heaven there are higher, middle, and lower [angels]; these three degrees of the ultimate heaven are meant by those who are in heaven, who are on the earth, and such as are in the sea. (Concerning which distinction of the heavens and of each heaven, see the Arcana Coelestia 4938, 4939, 9992, 10005, 10017, 10068; and concerning the ultimate degree, n. 3293, 3294, 3793, 4570, 5118, 5126, 5497, 5649, 9216; and in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 29-40.) It ought to be known, that in the spiritual world, where spirits and angels are, the appearance of all things is similar to that of the natural world where men are, namely, that there are mountains, hills, earths, and seas (see above, n. 304). Upon the mountains dwell the angels who are in the third or inmost heaven, upon the hills there those who are in the second or middle heaven, and upon the earth, and under the earth, and in the seas, those who are in the first or ultimate heaven. But the seas in which the inhabitants of the lowest heaven dwell, are not as the seas in which the evil dwell; they differ in the waves. The waves of the seas of the lowest heaven in which are the well-disposed, are light and pure; but the waves of the seas in which the evil are, are gross and impure; thus the seas are altogether different.

[4] I have been sometimes granted to see those seas, and also to converse with those who are in them; and it was found that those were there who had been merely sensual in the world, but yet well-disposed; and because they were sensual, they could not understand what the Spiritual is, but only what the Natural is, nor could they perceive the Word, and the doctrine of the church from the Word, otherwise than sensually. All these appear to be as in a sea; but those who are there do not seem to themselves to be in a sea, but, as it were, in an atmosphere of a kind similar to that in which they lived when in the world; that they are in the sea appears only before those who are above them. At this day there is an immense number there, because so many at this day are sensual. This ultimate part of heaven corresponds to the soles of the feet. On this account it is, that seas are so often mentioned in the Word, and also the fishes therein; and by the seas there are signified the general things of truth which belong to the natural man, and by the fishes sensual scientifics, which are the lowest things of the natural man, consequently, those are signified who are of such a quality, or those who are in them [i.e. sensual scientifics]. (What sensual things, and what sensual men are, and that they are both good and evil, see the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 50.) From these considerations it can now be known what is meant by every created thing which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and which are in the sea, and all that are in them.

[5] Similar things are signified by seas and by the things that are therein, which are called fishes and whales, in the following passages. In David:

"Let the heaven and the earth praise" Jehovah, "the seas, and everything that creepeth therein. For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah" (Psalms 69:34, 35).

It is said also everything that creepeth therein, and those who are sensual are meant. By Zion which God shall save, and by the cities of Judah which He shall build, are meant the celestial church and its doctrine, - by Zion that church, and by cities the doctrine thereof. The same are meant by these words in David:

"Praise Jehovah from the earth, ye whales and all deeps" (Psalms 148:7).

The same are meant by whales. Hence also it is that Egypt is called a whale (Ezekiel 29:3); for by Egypt is signified the scientific part in the natural man, and by a whale the Scientific in general.

[6] Similar things are also signified elsewhere by those expressions. In the same:

"Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet; the flock and all herds; and also the beasts of the field; the bird of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea" (Psalms 8:6-8).

Here the subject treated of is the Lord, and His Divine power over heaven and earth; and by the flock and the herds, the beasts of the field, the bird of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, are meant men, spirits, and angels, as to their spiritual and natural [qualities]; and by the fishes of the sea those who are in the ultimates of heaven, as shown above.

In Job:

"Ask the beasts now, and they shall teach thee; or the birds of the heaven, and they shall tell thee; or the shoot of the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not from all these that the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this?" (Job 12:7-9).

[7] In Ezekiel:

"The angel brought me again unto the door of the house; where, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house towards the east. Then he said unto me, These waters issue out toward the eastern border, and descend into the plain, and come towards the sea; they are sent out into the sea that the waters may be healed; whence it comes to pass, every living soul that creepeth, whithersoever the rivers come, shall live; whence it cometh that there is exceeding many fish, because these waters shall come thither; and they are healed, that everything may live whither the river cometh. According to their kind shall the fish be, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. The miry places thereof and the marshes thereof are not healed; they go away into salt" (47:1, 8-11).

By the waters issuing from under the threshold of the house towards the east, are signified truths from a heavenly origin, the waters denoting truths; the east denoting the good of heavenly love, and the house denoting heaven and the church. The plain into which the waters descend, and the sea into which they come, signify the ultimates of heaven and the church, consequently, those who are in ultimates, concerning whom we have spoken above, namely, those who are in knowledges of truth only from the ultimate sense of the Word, and apprehend them naturally and sensually. These, when they are in simple good, receive influx out of the higher heavens, whence it is that they also receive the spiritual in their knowledges, and thence some spiritual life. This is meant by "the waters are sent out into the sea, that the waters may be healed; whence it comes to pass that every living soul which creepeth, whithersoever the rivers come, shall live." Likewise by these words: "Whence it cometh that there is exceeding many fish, because these waters come hither, and are healed." But those who are of such a nature, and not good, are meant by these words: "The miry places thereof, and the marshes thereof are not healed; they go away into salt." To go away into salt signifies not to receive spiritual life, but to remain in a life merely natural, which, separated from spiritual life, is defiled with falsities and evils, which miry places and marshes denote.

[8] Similar things are signified by the sea, and by the fishes of the sea, in Isaiah:

"Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers into a wilderness; their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst" (50:3).

By rebuke is signified the desolation of all truth; by the sea is signified where truth is in its ultimate; by water is signified truth from a spiritual origin; by dying for thirst is signified desolation from a lack of that truth; by the fishes of the sea are signified those who are in the ultimates of truth, in whom there is no life from a spiritual origin.

[9] Similar things are signified by the fishes of the sea in Ezekiel:

"In my zeal, in the fire of mine indignation I will speak; that the fishes of the sea may tremble before me, and the bird of the heavens, and the beast of the field, and every reptile that creepeth upon the earth" (Ezekiel [38]:19 ¹ , 20).

In Hosea:

"They rob on the highway, and bloods touch bloods; therefore the earth shall mourn, and everyone who dwelleth therein shall pine away, as to the beast of the field, and as to the bird of the heavens, and also the fishes of the sea they shall be gathered together" (4:2, 3).

And in Zephaniah:

"In consuming I will consume all things from upon the faces of the earth; I will consume man and beast; I will consume the bird of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea" (1:2, 3).

By man and beast when they are mentioned together, are signified the interior and exterior affections of good (see n. 7424, 7523, 7872). And by the fowls of the heaven and the fishes of the sea, are signified the affections of truth, and thoughts spiritual and natural, but, in the passages adduced, that they are about to perish.

[10] The reason that the sea and fishes signify such things is from the appearance in the spiritual world. All the societies there appear surrounded with an atmosphere corresponding with their affections and thoughts. Those in the third heaven, appear in an atmosphere pure as the ethereal [atmosphere]; those in the second heaven, appear in an atmosphere less pure, according to the nature of the air; the societies, however, in the ultimate heaven, appear surrounded with an atmosphere watery, as it were; but those who are in the hells appear surrounded with gross and impure atmospheres, some of them as in black waters, and others differently. It is the affections and the thoughts thence that produce those things around them; for spheres are exhaled from all, and these spheres are changed into such appearances. (Concerning those spheres, see the Arcana Coelestia 2489, 4464, 5179, 7454, 8630.) That those, however, who are in spiritual affection and the thought therefrom are signified by birds of the heaven, and those who are in natural affection and the thought therefrom, by fishes, is also from the appearance in the spiritual world; for there appear there both birds and fishes, over the earths birds, and in the seas fishes. It is the affections and the thoughts therefrom of those who are there that so appear. All know this who are in that world, and both the birds and the fishes have been often seen by me; that appearance is from correspondence. From these considerations it is evident why it is, that seas signify general things of truth, and whales and fishes the affections and thoughts of those who are in the generals of truth. That seas signify the general things of truth, may be seen in what was shown above, n. 275.

[11] The quality of those in the spiritual world who dwell in that watery atmosphere meant by seas, I wish to illustrate by one example only. Such, when they read these words in David,

"Everything that Jehovah willeth, he doeth in heaven and earth, in the seas and all deeps" (Psalms 135:6),

suppose that by heaven is meant the heaven visible before our eyes, and by the earth the habitable earth, and by the seas and deeps the seas and deeps, and thus that Jehovah does in them whatsoever He wills; and they cannot be led to believe that by heaven is meant the angelic heaven; by earth there, those who are below; and that by seas and by depths those there who are in ultimates. These things being spiritual, and above the sense of the letter, they are not willing, and scarcely are able, to perceive, because they see all things naturally and sensually.

[12] Hence also it is that by these words in the Apocalypse,

"I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away" (21:1),

it has been hitherto understood that the visible heaven and the habitable earth would perish, and that a new heaven and a new earth would appear; that by heaven here is meant the heaven where the angels are, and by the earth here is meant the church where men are. That they will become new, those who think merely naturally and sensually are unwilling [to admit], and, consequently, do not understand. For they do not suffer the mind to be raised out of merely natural light into spiritual light; for with them this is difficult, so much so that they can scarcely bear the Word to be understood otherwise than as the letter declares in its own sense, and as the natural man apprehends it. These persons are not unlike those birds that see and sing in obscure places, and in the light of day blink with the eyes and see little. The good among them are like those birds, and also like flying fishes; but the evil of that sort are like owls and horned-owls, which altogether shun the light of day, and they are like fishes which cannot be taken into the air without being deprived of life. The reason is, because with the good of that class, the internal spiritual man receives for a time spiritual influx from heaven, and hence some perception that it is so, although they do not see. With the evil, however, of that class the internal spiritual man is altogether shut; for every one has an internal and an external man, or both a spiritual and a natural; the internal or spiritual man sees from the light of heaven, but the external or natural man sees from the light of the world.

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