3882. 'And she left off bearing' means the ascent up a stairway from earth even to Jehovah or the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'bearing' or birth as truth and good, for these are births in the spiritual sense, in that a person is regenerated or born anew by means of truth and good. Such truth and good is also what were meant by Leah's four who were born to her - Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. 'Reuben' meant truth as this exists on the first step in regeneration or rebirth - truth which is no more than knowledge, and so merely a knowledge of truth. 'Simeon' meant truth as this exists on the second step in regeneration or rebirth - truth present in the will, and so a will desiring truth. 'Levi' meant truth as it exists on the third step in regeneration or rebirth - truth for which one feels an affection, and so an affection for truth, which is the same as charity. But 'Judah' meant good which exists on the fourth step in regeneration or rebirth - good which is the celestial form of love. When a person who has been regenerated or born anew has come this far the Lord manifests Himself to him, for he has by now risen up from the lowest step, as if by a stairway, to the one where the Lord is.

[2] This stepping up is also meant by the stairway seen in a dream by Jacob which was set up on the earth, a stairway whose top reached to heaven, and on which the angels of God were going up and coming down, with Jehovah or the Lord standing above it, described in Chapter 28:12. From this it is evident that 'she left off bearing' has the meaning that has been stated. For explanations that the four conceptions and births spoken of meant an advance from what is external to what is internal, or from truth to good, that is, from earth to heaven, see 3860, 3868, 3874, 3879. Coming down is subsequent to this, for no one is able to come down before he has gone up. Coming down however is nothing else than surveying truth from good, as when one climbs a mountain and then regards the things that lie below. From that position he can, in a single survey of the scene, take in an incalculably greater number of things than people standing below or in the valley, as is evident to anyone. It is exactly the same with those who are governed by good, that is, by love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour. These can see incalculably more than those governed merely by truth, that is, by faith alone.

6534. 'And horsemen' means intellectual concepts. This is clear from the meaning of 'horsemen' as things connected with the understanding; for 'a horse' means the power of understanding, 2760-2761, 3217, 5321, 6125. The meaning of 'horsemen' as things connected with the understanding becomes clear in addition from the following places: In Moses,

Jehovah alone led him; He caused him to ride over the heights of the land. Deuteronomy 32:12, 17.

This refers to the Ancient Church. 'Causing to ride over the heights of the land' stands for endowing with superior understanding.

[2] In David,

In your majesty ¹ climb into [your chariot], and ride on the word of truth and meekness and righteousness, and your right arm will teach you marvellous things. Psalms 45:4.

This refers to the Lord. 'Riding on the word of truth' stands for having a genuine understanding of truth. In the same author,

Sing to God, praise His name; exalt Him who rides on the clouds by His name Jah. Psalms 68:4.

This too refers to the Lord. 'The clouds' stands for the literal sense of the Word, preface to Genesis 18, and 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343 (end); 'riding on them' stands for being in command of the internal sense, in which truth resides with all the intelligence and wisdom it can bring.

[3] In Zechariah,

On that day I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness; and on the house of Judah I will open My eye. But every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness. Zechariah 12:4.

'Horse' stands for the power of understanding, and 'rider' or 'horseman' for the intellect. Does anyone not see that 'horse' here does not mean a horse, or that 'rider' does not mean rider, but that something else such as can be struck with panic and madness, and also with blindness, is meant? That something else, it is evident, is the understanding or intellect.

[4] By 'horses and horsemen' intellectual concepts are meant, and in the contrary sense reasonings and consequent falsities, as may be seen in John,

I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; to him a crown was given; he went out conquering. Then there came out another horse, fiery-red; and it was granted to him who sat on it that he should take peace away from the earth, and that men should slay one another. Therefore to him was given a great sword. I saw, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it held a balance in his hand. I saw therefore, and behold, a pale horse and he who sat on it, whose name was death. Revelation 6:2, 4-5, 8.

Here, as is evident from the details of the description, the horses and those seated on them mean things connected with an understanding consisting of truth, and in the contrary sense an understanding consisting of falsity. 'The white horse and he who sat on it' stands for an understanding consisting of truth gained from the Word; the one seated on the white horse is, as explicitly stated in Revelation 19:11, 13, 16, the Lord as to the Word. 'The fiery-red horse and he who sat on it' stands for reasonings resulting from desires for evil, which do violence to truths from the Word. 'The black horse and he who sat on it' stands for a destroyed ability to understand the truth, while 'the pale horse and he who sat on it' stands for damnation resulting from such destruction.

[5] 'Horses and horsemen' in the contrary sense stands for a perverted understanding and the falsities it produces, in Ezekiel also,

Oholah committed whoredom under Me and doted on her lovers - governors and leaders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. Her sister Oholibah was in love with the sons of Asshur - governors and leaders, her neighbours, clothed in perfect adornment, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. Ezekiel 23:5-6, 12.

'Oholah' stands for the perverted spiritual Church, which is Samaria, and 'Oholibah' for the perverted celestial Church, which is Jerusalem; for the Israelites who belonged to Samaria represented the spiritual Church, but the Jews who belonged to Jerusalem represented the celestial Church. 'The Assyrians' and 'the sons of Asshur' stand for reasoning against the truths of faith, 1186, 'horsemen riding on horses' for a perverted understanding, from which falsities are produced.

[6] In Habakkuk,

I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and headstrong nation, marching into the breadth of the earth, to inherit habitations that are not its own Its horses are swifter than leopards, sharper than the evening wolves, so that its horsemen spread out, and therefore its horsemen come from afar. Habakkuk 1:6, 8.

'The Chaldeans' stands for those governed by falsities, though to outward appearances they are governed by truths; thus 'the Chaldeans' stands for the profanation of truth, whereas 'Babel' stands for the profanation of good, 1182, 1368. 'Marching into the breadth of the earth' stands for destroying truths - 'the breadth of the earth' meaning truth, see 3433, 3434, 4482. From this it is evident that 'the horsemen who spread out and who arrive from afar' are things connected with a perverted understanding, which are therefore falsities.

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