2383. That 'they struck with blindness' means that they were filled with falsities is clear from the meaning of 'blindness'. In the Word blindness is used in reference to people who are immersed in falsity, and also to people who have no knowledge of the truth. Both kinds of people are called blind, though who are meant in any one place becomes clear from the train of thought, especially that in the internal sense. That those immersed in falsity are called 'blind' is clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark. Isaiah 56:10.

'Blind watchmen' stands for those who, because of reasoning, are immersed in falsity. In the same prophet,

We look for light, and, behold, darkness; for brightness, but we walk in thick darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind. Isaiah 59:9-10,

In Jeremiah,

They went astray blind in the streets; they defiled themselves with blood. Things which have no power they touch with their garments. Lamentations 4:14.

This stands for the fact that all truths have been defiled, 'streets' standing for truths in which they have gone astray, 2336.

[2] In Zechariah,

On that day I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. Every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness. Zechariah 12:4.

Here and elsewhere in the Word 'a horse' stands for what has to do with the understanding. This is why it is said that the horse would be struck with panic, and [every] horse of the peoples with blindness, that is, it would be filled with falsities.

[3] In John,

For judgement I came into the world, that those who do not see may see, but that those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees heard these words and said, Are we also blind? Jesus said to them, If you were blind you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see', therefore your sin remains. John 9:39-41.

Here the blind in both senses are referred to, that is to say, those who are immersed in falsity and those who have no knowledge of truth. With those inside the Church who know what the truth is, 'blindness' is falsity; but with those who do not know what the truth is, as with those outside the Church, 'blindness' is having no knowledge of the truth. The latter are blameless.

[4] In the same gospel,

He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart and I heal them. John 12:40; Isaiah 6:9-11.

The meaning here is that it would be better for falsities to exist with them than truths, for they lead a life of evil and if they received instruction in truths they would not only continue to falsify them but would also pollute them with evils. They would do so for the same reason that the men of Sodom were struck with blindness, that is, matters of doctrine were filled with falsities. Why this is done has been shown in 301-303, 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2426.

[5] Because 'blind' meant that which was false, therefore people were not allowed in the Jewish representative Church to sacrifice anything blind, Leviticus 22:22; Deuteronomy 15:21; Malachi 1:8. Also any priest who was blind was forbidden to approach and offer on the altar, Leviticus 21:18, 21.

[6] That 'blindness' is used in reference to those, like gentiles, who have no knowledge of the truth, is clear in Isaiah,

On that day the deaf will hear the words of the Book, and out of thick darkness and out of darkness the eyes of the blind will see. Isaiah 29:18.

'The blind' stands for people who have no knowledge of the truth, chiefly those who are outside the Church. In the same prophet,

Bring forth the blind people and they will have eyes; and the deaf, and they will have ears. Isaiah 43:8.

This refers to the Church of the gentiles. In the same prophet,

I will lead the blind in a way they do not know; I will turn the darkness before them into light. Isaiah 42:16.

[7] In the same prophet,

I will give You to be a light of the people, to open the blind eyes, to bring the bound out of the dungeon, from the prison-house those who sit in darkness. Isaiah 42:6-7.

This refers to the Lord's Coming and the fact that at that time people who had no knowledge of truth were to receive instruction. For those immersed in falsity do not allow themselves to receive such instruction, for they know the truth but have set themselves against it and have turned the light of truth into darkness which is not dispelled. In Luke,

The householder said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the lame, and the blind. Luke 14:21.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom. Not those who are literally poor, maimed, lame, and blind are meant but those who are so in the spiritual sense.

[8] In the same gospel,

Jesus said that they were to report to John: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. Luke 7:22.

According to the sense of the letter nobody else is meant by the blind, the lame, lepers, the deaf, the dead, and the poor than those who were so physically, for such cures did take place, that is to say, the blind received sight, the deaf hearing, lepers were restored to health, and the dead to life.

[9] But in the internal sense the same people are meant as are referred to in

Isaiah,

Then will be opened the eyes of the blind, and the ears of the deaf will be opened; then will the lame man leap like a hart, and the dumb man sing with his tongue. Isaiah 35:5-6.

This refers to the Lord's Coming and a new Church at that time called the Church of the gentiles who are described as being blind, deaf, lame, and dumb; they were so called as regards their doctrine and life. For it should be recognized that all the miracles which the Lord performed always embodied such matters and therefore meant the things which the blind, the lame, lepers, the deaf, the dead, and the poor are used to mean in the internal sense. Consequently the Lord's miracles were Divine, as also those performed in Egypt, in the wilderness, and all the rest described in the Word, had been. This is an arcanum.

9042. 'And inflict a blow on a pregnant woman' means injuring the good that is being formed out of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'inflicting a blow' as injuring; and from the meaning of 'a pregnant woman' as forming good out of truth. The reason why this is meant by 'a pregnant woman' is that a person's regeneration, which is the generation of spiritual life with him, is meant in the internal sense by the generation of his natural life received from his parents. When a person is born anew he is first conceived, then carried in the womb so to speak, and finally born. And since regeneration or the generation of spiritual life consists in the joining together of truth and good, that is, of faith and charity, 'carrying in the womb' means developing truth into good. From this one may see what 'a pregnant woman' means, namely a state in which good is being formed out of truths.

The womb means the place in which truth and good have been conceived and are lying, see 4918, 6433.

'Being in the womb, and 'going out of the womb' mean being regenerated, 4904, 8043.

'Generations and 'births' are those of faith and charity, 613, 1145, 1255, 2020, 2584, 6239.

[2] A state in which good is being formed out of truths is again meant by 'a pregnant woman', in Jeremiah,

Behold, I am bringing them from the north land, and I will gather them from the furthest parts of the earth, among them the blind one and the lame, the pregnant one and her who is giving birth, together. Jeremiah 31:8.

This refers in the internal sense to a new Church established by the Lord. In that sense 'bringing them from the north land' means bringing them away from obscurity of faith, 3708; 'the furthest parts of the earth' from which they will be gathered are the places where the Church's truth and good begin, 'the earth' being the Church, 566, 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 2928, 3355, 4535, 4447, 5577, 8011, 8732, and 'the furthest parts of it' being the places where its first and outermost boundaries are. 'The blind one' means those who have no knowledge of truth but accept the truth when taught it, 2383, 6990; 'the lame' means those who are governed by good, but not by genuine good because they have no knowledge of truth, 4302; 'the pregnant one' means those with whom good is being given form by means of truths; and 'her who is giving birth' means those leading a life of faith realized in action, 3905, 3915, 3919. It may be recognized that things of this nature are meant there from the further consideration that otherwise it would have been superfluous and pointless to mention 'the blind one and the lame, the pregnant one and her who is giving birth, together'.

8043. 'Whatever opens the womb' means which springs from charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'whatever opens the womb' as that which is born directly from someone who has been regenerated, thus which springs from charity, in accordance with what has been stated immediately above in 8042. For when a person is conceived anew he so to speak enters the womb again; and when a person is born anew he so to speak comes out of the womb again. But this time, what is conceived in and born from the womb is not the person as a person; rather it is faith, the offspring of charity. This faith gives the person a spiritual character; it so to speak remakes the person himself since his life is now begotten by it. From all this one may now see what is meant in the spiritual sense by 'whatever opens the womb'. Angels, whose ideas are solely spiritual ones, do not understand the expression in any other way. What 'the womb' means, and also what 'being in the womb' and 'coming out of the womb' mean, see 3293 (end), 3294, 3967, 4904, 4918, 4931, 5052, 5054, 6433.

[2] Since those things are meant by 'the womb', the Word speaks of the Lord as Him who 'formed from the womb', that is, who is the Regenerator, as in Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah who made you and formed you from the womb, who helps you, Fear not, O My servant Jacob, and Jeshurun whom I have chosen, for I will pour out water upon thirsty land, and streams upon the dry I will pour out My spirit upon your seed, and blessing upon your sons. Isaiah 44:2-3.

The Lord is spoken of as Him who 'made and formed from the womb' because He regenerates a person, making a spiritual person out of one who is natural. Since regeneration is accomplished through truth and good it says that He will pour out water upon thirsty land and spirit upon his seed; for 'water' means the truth of faith, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 7307, and 'spirit' means the good of charity, in the same way as 'water' and 'spirit' do in John,

Jesus said to Nicodemus, Truly, truly I say to you, Unless a person is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, How can a person be born when he is old? Can he come a second time into his mother's womb? Jesus answered, Truly, truly I say to you, Unless a person has been born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, but that which has been born of the spirit is spirit. Are you a teacher in Israel, and do not know this? John 3:3-6, 10.

[3] The Lord is again called the One who 'formed from the womb' elsewhere in Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb, I am Jehovah who makes all things, who spreads out the heavens Alone, and who stretches out the earth by Myself. Isaiah 44:24.

'The heavens' and 'the earth' are used to mean in a general sense the internal and the external Church, 82, 1411, 1733, 1850, 3355, 4535, and in a particular sense the internal and the external aspects of the Church with a person who has been regenerated; and 'spreading out' and 'stretching out' mean making or creating by the use of Divine power, 7673. This is why the Lord as Regenerator is referred to as Maker and Creator, and why regeneration is referred to as a new creation.

[4] 'Womb' is used in a similar way in the same prophet,

Hearken to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel who have been carried from the belly who have been borne from the womb. Isaiah 46:3.

And in David,

On You, O Lord Jehovih, I have been laid from the womb; You brought me out of my mother's bowels; You are my praise continually Psalms 71:6.

From all this one may now see what is meant in the internal sense by 'whatever opens the womb' and consequently by 'the firstborn'.