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Arcana Coelestia # 9373

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9373. Come up unto Jehovah. That this signifies conjunction with the Lord, is evident from the signification of “coming up,” as being to be raised toward interior things (see n. 3084, 4539, 4969, 5406, 5817, 6007), consequently also to be conjoined (n. 8760). That it denotes conjunction with the Lord, is because by “Jehovah” in the Word is meant the the Lord, (n. 1343, 1736, 1793, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2921, 3023, 3035, 5663, 6280, 6303, 6905, 8274, 8864, 9315). A secret which also lies hidden in the internal sense of these words, is that the sons of Jacob, over whom Moses was the head, were not called and chosen; but they themselves insisted that Divine worship should be instituted among them (according to wh at has been said in n. 4290, 4293); and therefore it is here said, “and He said unto Moses, Come up unto Jehovah,” as if not Jehovah, but another, had said that he should come up. For the same reason in what follows it is said that “the people should not go up” (verse 2); and that “Jehovah sent not His hand unto the sons of Israel who were set apart” (verse 11); and that “the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel” (verse 17); and lastly that Moses, being called the seventh day, “entered into the midst of the cloud.” For by “the cloud” is meant the Word in the letter (n. 5922, 6343, 6752, 6832, 8106, 8443, 8781); and with the sons of Jacob the Word was separated from its internal sense, because they were in external worship without internal, as can be clearly seen from the fact that now, as before, they said, “all the words which Jehovah hath spoken we will do” (verse 3); and yet scarcely forty days afterward they worshiped a golden calf instead of Jehovah; which shows that this was hidden in their hearts while they were saying with their lips that they would serve Jehovah alone. But nevertheless those who are meant by “the called and the chosen” are those who are in internal worship, and who from internal worship are in external; that is, those who are in love to and faith in the Lord, and from this in love toward the neighbor.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.

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Apocalypse Explained # 483

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483. And shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.- This signifies, in Divine truths, as is evident from the signification of living fountains of waters, which denote Divine truths. By living is signified living from the Divine; by a fountain is signified the Word, and by waters are signified truths thence. Mention is frequently made of living waters in the Word, and by these are meant truths, which come from the Lord and are received. The reason why they are said to be living, is that the Lord is Life Itself, as He Himself teaches, and that which comes from Life Itself is alive; but that which comes from man is dead. The Lord, in order to give life to truths, flows into them, by means of good, and the good vivifies them. He also flows in from the higher or interior, opens the spiritual mind, and gives to it the affection for truth; and the spiritual affection for truth is the very life of heaven in man. This is the life which the Lord instils into man by means of truths. Hence it is evident what living waters and living fountains of waters mean in the following passages.

[2] Thus in Isaiah:

"The poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst. I will open rivers on the heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness (desertum) a pool of waters, and the dry land springs of waters" (41:17, 18).

The subject here is the salvation of the Gentiles by the Lord, and they are here called poor and needy from a want of and ignorance of truth; their desire to know truths from those who are in the church, where no truths existed, is described by their seeking water when there is none, and their tongue failing for thirst, water denoting truth, and thirst the desire thereof. That they shall be instructed by the Lord, is signified by, "I will open rivers on the heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys." To open rivers denotes to impart intelligence; on the heights denotes in the interior man; in the midst of the valleys denotes in the exterior man, and to make fountains signifies to instruct in truths. To make the wilderness a pool of waters, and the dry land springs of waters, signifies abundance of truth with those who were before in want of and in ignorance [of truth]. The wilderness denotes where there is no good because no truth, and the dry land, where there is no truth and thence no good; a pool of water and springs of water denote abundance of the knowledges of truth. From this it is evident that waters, fountains, springs, rivers, and pools of water, are not here meant, but the knowledges of truth, and thence intelligence, whence comes salvation.

[3] In the same prophet:

"Behold, your God will come with vengeance, and will save you. Then shall the parched place become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of waters" (35:4, 7).

These things also are said concerning the instruction of the Gentiles in truths, and their reformation by the Lord when He should come into the world. By the parched place becoming a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of waters, are signified things similar to those mentioned above, by which the wilderness shall become a pool or collection of waters, and the dry land springs of waters.

[4] In Jeremiah:

"They shall come with weeping; and with prayers will I bring them; I will lead them to fountains of waters in a straight way, let them not stumble in it" (31:9).

Here also the subject is the reception of the Lord by the Gentiles. That he would instruct them in genuine truths is signified by his leading them in a straight way, let them not stumble in it.

In Isaiah:

"They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the fountains of water shall he guide them" (49:10).

Here also the instruction of the Gentiles by the Lord is treated of. Instruction in truths is meant by leading them by the springs of water.

[5] The signification of hungering and thirsting, may be seen above (n. 480), and also of heat and of sun (481).

In Joel:

"And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine (mustum), and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of Jehovah, and shall water the stream of Shittim" (3:18).

The signification of "the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters," is explained above (n. 433:13). A fountain shall go forth out of the house of Jehovah, and shall water the river of Shittim, signifies truth out of heaven from the Lord illustrating the scientifics and knowledges which are in the natural man.

[6] In David:

"Thou bringest forth, O earth, at thy presence, at the presence of the God of Jacob; who turned the rock into a lake of waters, the flint into a fountain of waters" (Psalm 114:7,8).

The lake of waters, and the fountain of waters here also mean truths in abundance, by which the church is formed; for by the earth bringing forth is signified the commencement of the church, which is said to bring forth, when truths are produced there, the earth denoting the church.

[7] So again:

Jehovah "who sendeth forth fountains into rivers; let them run between the mountains. They give drink to the beast of the fields; the wild asses quench their thirst. By them the fowl of the heavens have their habitation" (Psalm 104:10-12).

To send forth springs into the rivers signifies to give intelligence by means of truths from the Word; their going between the mountains, signifies that they are from the good of love; fountains denoting truths from the Word, rivers the things which pertain to intelligence, and mountains the goods of love. The instruction of those who are in the good of the church is signified by the words they give drink to the beast of the fields; and the instruction of those in the church who desire truths is signified by the wild asses quench their thirst; that thence the understanding is perfected, is signified by the fowl having their habitation near them. The beasts of the fields, in the spiritual sense, mean the Gentiles who are in the good of life, and wild asses, natural truth. Thirst means a desire for truths; and by the bird of the heavens are meant thoughts from the understanding.

[8] That a fountain, in the highest sense, means the Lord as to Divine Truth, or Divine Truth from the Lord, consequently the Word, is evident from the following passages.

In Jeremiah:

"My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water" (2:13).

Here Jehovah, that is, the Lord, calls Himself a fountain of living waters, by which is signified the Word, or Divine Truth, consequently the Lord Himself, who is the Word; for it is said, "they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water," which signifies that they had framed to themselves doctrinals from their own intelligence, in which there are no truths. Cisterns denote doctrinals, broken cisterns denote doctrinals that are not consistent. That can hold no water, signifies in which there are no truths. Such are the doctrinals that are not from the Word, that is from the Lord through the Word (for the Lord teaches by means of the Word), but they are from man's own intelligence. That they were not taught by the Lord by means of the Word, is meant by the words they have forsaken the fountain of living waters.

[9] Again,

"All that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters" (17:13).

Here similarly Jehovah, that is, the Lord, calls Himself a fountain of living waters from the Divine Truth, which is from Himself. To be written in the earth signifies to be condemned, concerning which see above (n. 222:6).

[10] Again, in David:

"They shall be filled with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt cause them to drink of the stream of delights. For with thee is the fountain of life; in thy light we see light" (36:8, 9).

Fatness signifies the good of love, and the stream of delights, truth from that good; to cause them drink denotes to teach. With thee is the fountain of life, signifies that Divine Truth is with the Lord and from Him; because this is signified by the fountain of life, it is therefore added, "in thy light we see light," for the light of the Lord signifies Divine Truth.

[11] In Zechariah:

"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land" (13:1, 2).

Here also the subject is the coming of the Lord. That those who are in the kingdom of the Lord shall then understand the Word, or the Divine Truth contained therein, is signified by, "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem," a fountain signifying the Word, the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spiritual kingdom of the Lord with those in the heavens and on the earth who are in Divine Truths; for sin and for uncleanness, signifies the removal of evils and falsities by means of truths from the Word. Because a fountain means the Word or the Divine Truth therein, it is therefore said, "I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land." False religion is signified by idols, false doctrine by prophets, and the evils flowing from falsities of doctrine by the unclean spirit; for when man lives according to the falsities of religion and of doctrine, he becomes an unclean spirit.

[12] That Divine Truth from the Lord is meant by a fountain, the Lord Himself plainly teaches in John.

When He sat at Jacob's well in the land of Samaria, He said to the Samaritan woman, "Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life" (4:6, 13, 14).

Here it is evident that the water which the Lord gives, does not mean water, but Divine Truth, for it is said from the water which the woman of Samaria came to draw, that a man thirsts again, but not so from the water which the Lord gives. That there is life in that truth, is meant by that water becoming in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life. That there is life in truths when the Lord gives them, may be seen in this article above. The reason why the Lord said these things to the woman of Samaria, when He sat at the well of Jacob, was, that by the Samaritans the Lord meant the Gentiles, who would receive Divine truths from Him; and by the woman of Samaria, the church from them; and by Jacob's well He meant Divine Truth from Himself, or the Word.

[13] In Moses:

"Thus Israel dwelleth in safety alone at the fountain of Jacob" (Deuteronomy 33:28).

These words form the conclusion of the prophecy of Moses concerning the sons of Israel. Because in that prophecy Israel signifies the church which is in Divine truths from the Word, therefore it is said at the fountain of Jacob, which means the Word, and thus also the Lord as to the Word; for He is the Word, because He is the Divine Truth, as He teaches in John (chap. 1:1-3). These things are said at the end of that prophecy, because in it the Word is treated of. The same is meant by that fountain in the prophecy of the patriarch Israel concerning Joseph:

"The son of a fruitful one is Joseph, the son of a fruitful one near a fountain" (Genesis 49:22).

A fountain here means the fountain of Jacob, for the field in which that fountain was situated, was given to Joseph by his father (John 4:5, 6). What is signified by Joseph being the son of a fruitful one near a fountain, may be seen above (n. 448:6). By a fountain is also meant the Word, and by fountains Divine truths therefrom, as in David:

"Bless ye God in the congregations, the Lord, from the fountain of Israel" (Psalm 68:26).

In the Apocalypse:

"I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely" (21:6).

In Isaiah:

"Therefore with joy shall ye draw waters out of the fountains of salvation" (12:3).

In David:

"All my fountains are in thee," O Jehovah (87:7).

[14] Since most things in the Word have an opposite sense, and so also have the words fountain and fountains, in which sense they signify the doctrine of falsities, and the falsities of doctrine, as in Jeremiah:

"I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry" (51:36).

This is spoken of Babylon; and by her sea are signified her falsities in their entirety, and by her fountain the doctrine of falsity.

[15] So in Hosea:

"An east wind shall come, the wind of Jehovah shall come up from the wilderness, and his fountain shall become dry, and his spring shall be dried up" (13:15).

This is spoken of Ephraim, who there signifies the perverted understanding of the Word, by which falsities are confirmed by means of the Word; the destruction thereof is signified by his fountain becoming dry, and his spring being dried up by the east wind, the wind of Jehovah from the wilderness. A fountain denotes the doctrine of falsity, a spring, the false thereof, and the east wind from the desert the destruction of it from fallacies which are from sensual externals. For sensual external things, when they are not illustrated from things internal, destroy the understanding of man, because all fallacies are thence derived.

[16] Again, in David:

"Thou didst break up the sea by thy strength; thou brakest the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people of Tziim. Thou didst break through the fountains and the river; thou driedst up mighty rivers" (Psalm 74:13-15).

Here also, by fountains and rivers are signified the falsities of doctrine from man's own intelligence; the mighty rivers are confirmed principles of falsity thence. The sea monsters and leviathan signify the scientifics which pertain to the sensual and natural man, from which all falsity springs when the spiritual man above them is closed. Man's proprium resides in the sensual and natural man, therefore conclusions formed from these alone are formed from the proprium, or from man's own intelligence; for the Divine flows in through the spiritual man into the natural, but not into the natural when the spiritual above it is closed, whereas the spiritual man is opened by means of truths, and by a life according to them. The people Tziim to whom leviathan is said to be given for meat, signify those who are in infernal falsities.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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Arcana Coelestia # 2576

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2576. Behold it is unto thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee. That this signifies that rational truths are like a covering or clothing to spiritual truths, is evident from the signification of a “covering” (concerning which presently); and from the signification of the “eyes,” as being things intellectual (as is evident from very many passages in the Word); and also from the signification of “seeing,” as being to understand (n. 2150, 2325). Everyone can see that in everything in this verse there are arcana which cannot be revealed except by some interior sense; such as the statement that he gave a thousand of silver, and that this is said to have been given, not to her husband, but to her brother; that it was a covering of the eyes both to her and to all that were with her, and also with all; and that thereby she was vindicated. Many historical conjectures might possibly be drawn from the sense of the letter, but without having anything spiritual in them, still less anything Divine; and yet this is what the Word is.

[2] As regards rational truths being like a covering or clothing to spiritual truths, the case is this: Man’s inmost things are those of his soul, and his outer things are those of his body; the former are goods and truths, from which the soul has its life, for otherwise the soul would not be a soul: the latter draw their life therefrom, and are all like a body, or what is the same, a covering or clothing. This is especially evident from the things that appear in the other life; as from angels when presented to view; for their interiors shine forth from their faces; their exteriors being represented in both their bodies and their dress; and this so fully that everyone there can know their quality from their garments alone; for these are real substances, and thus essences in form. The same is the case with the angels seen and described in respect to their faces and dress in the Word, such as those seen in the Lord’s sepulcher (Matthew 28:3; Mark 16:5); and the four and twenty elders around the throne (Revelation 4:4); and others. Nor is this the case with the angels only, but also with all other things that are mentioned in the Word, even those which are inanimate; in all cases their exteriors are a covering or clothing; as for example the ark of the covenant and the tent that was round about it; the ark, being the inmost, represented the Lord Himself, for therein was the Testimony; and the tent outside of it represented the Lord’s kingdom. The clothing, that is, the veils and coverings, each and all represented the more exterior celestial and spiritual things in His kingdom, that is, in the three heavens; as is evident from the fact that the form of the Tent was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:9; 26:30). From this it had its holiness, and not from the gold, the silver, and the carvings, that were in it.

[3] Since rational truths are now treated of, as being a kind of veil or clothing to spiritual truths, and as the tent is described in Moses in respect to its clothing or coverings, and also in respect to its veils which were before the entrance, for the sake of illustration we may explain what was specifically signified by the veils; but what was signified by the encompassing coverings will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be told elsewhere. The veils of the tent were three: the first, which made the division between the holy and the holy of holies; the second, which is called the hanging for the door of the tent; and the third, which was the hanging for the gate of the court.

[4] Concerning the veil itself, which was the first, before the ark, we read in Moses:

Thou shalt make a veil of hyacinthine, and bright crimson, and double-dyed scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of a designer, thou shall make it with cherubim; and thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood, overlaid with gold, and their hooks of gold; upon four bases of silver; and thou shalt hang the veil under the clasps; and thou shalt bring in thither, within the veil, the Ark of the Testimony; and the veil shall divide unto you between the Holy and the Holy of Holies (Exodus 26:31-34; 36:35-36).

This veil represented the nearest and inmost appearances of rational good and truth, in which are the angels of the third heaven; which appearances are described by the hyacinthine, the bright crimson, the double-dyed scarlet, and the fine twined linen; in which the red color represented the goods of love, and the white its truths. The same is true also of the gold and silver with which the pillars were overlaid, and of which the hooks and the bases were made. (That colors are representative may be seen above, n. 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624; that “gold” is the good of love, n. 113, 1551, 1552; and that “silver” is truth, n. 1551, 2048)

[5] From this we can see what is signified by the veil of the temple being rent in twain (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45), namely, that the Lord entered into the Divine Itself by dispersing all appearances; and that He at the same time opened the way to His Divine Itself through His Human made Divine.

[6] Concerning the second veil, or the hanging for the door of the tent, we read in Moses:

Thou shalt make a hanging for the door of the tent, of hyacinthine, and bright crimson, and double-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; and thou shalt make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold; and thou shalt cast for them five bases of brass (Exodus 26:36-37; 36:37-38).

By this hanging were represented appearances of good and truth that are lower or more external than the former, that is, the middle ones of the rational, in which are the angels of the second heaven; which appearances are described almost in the same manner as the first, with the difference however that for this hanging there were five pillars and five bases, by which number is signified what is comparatively but little; for these appearances do not so cohere together, or are not so heavenly, as are the appearances of the inmost or third heaven. (Concerning the number five as meaning a little, see above, n. 649, 1686.) And because these appearances look to natural things, it was commanded that the bases should be cast of brass; for by brass was represented and signified natural good (n. 425, 1551).

[7] Concerning the third veil, or the hanging for the gate of the court, we read in Moses:

For the gate of the court shall be a hanging of twenty cubits, of hyacinthine, and bright crimson, and double-dyed scarlet, and fine-twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their bases four; all the pillars of the court round about shall be filleted with silver, their hooks of silver, but their bases of brass (Exodus 27:16-17; 38:18-19).

By this hanging were represented still lower or more external appearances of good and truth, which are the lowest ones of the rational, in which are the angels of the first heaven. As these appearances correspond to interior things, they are described in a similar manner, yet with the difference that these pillars were not overlaid with gold, but filleted with silver, and that the hooks were of silver, by which are signified rational truths that derive their origin immediately from memory-knowledges; and the bases were of brass, by which are signified natural goods. All this shows that there was nothing in the Tent that was not representative of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord’s kingdom, or that all things were made according to the type of celestial and spiritual things in the three heavens; also that the veilings or coverings signified the things that are like a body or dress around or without the inmost.

[8] Moreover that “veilings,” “coverings,” “clothing,” or “garments” signify relatively lower truths, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in Ezekiel:

Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was thy spread of sail; hyacinthine and bright crimson from the isles of Elishah was thy covering (Ezekiel 27:7); where Tyre is treated of, by which are signified interior knowledges of celestial and spiritual things, and consequently those who are in them (n. 1201); “broidered work from Egypt” denotes what is of memory-knowledge (that “Egypt” denotes this may be seen above, n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); “hyacinthine and bright crimson from the isles of Elishah, which was the covering,” denote the rituals that correspond to internal worship ( n. 1156).

[9] In the same:

All the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and put off their broidered garments; they shall be clothed with tremblings, they shall sit upon the earth (Ezekiel 26:16);

also speaking of Tyre “robes” and “broidered garments” denote knowledges derived from the contents of the memory [cognitionibus ex scientificis], and thus lower truths.

[10] In the same:

I clothed thee with broidered work, and shod thee with badger, and girded thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with silk; I decked thee also with ornaments, and put bracelets upon thy hands, and a necklace upon thy throat. Thou didst take of thy garments, and madest for thee high places with divers colors, and didst commit whoredom upon them; thou tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them (Ezekiel 16:10-11, 16, 18);

speaking of Jerusalem, which is the spiritual church, described as it was of old, and such as it was afterwards, when perverted: its lower spiritual things and its doctrinal matters are the “garments of broidered work, fine linen, and silk.”

[11] In Isaiah:

The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth doth take away from Jerusalem the whole staff of bread and the staff of water. Then shall a man take hold of his brother, of the house of his father-Thou hast a garment, be thou our prince. In that day he shall lift up his voice, saying, I will not be a binder up, and in my house there is neither bread, nor garment; ye shall not make me a prince of the people. The Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion; and in that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their anklets, and their network, and crescents, and their collars, and chains, and plates; and the headtires, and the ankle chains, and the sashes, and the soul houses, and the ear-drops; the rings, and the nose jewels, the festival garments, and the mantles, and the robes, and the satchels, the mirrors, and the fine linen, and the turbans, and the cloaks (Isaiah 3:1, 6-7, 17-24).

“Jerusalem” denotes the spiritual church; “Judah” the celestial church; the “staff of bread and the staff of water, which will be removed,” denote good and truth; the “garment which the prince should have,” the truths which are of doctrine; the clothing and various ornaments of the daughters of Zion, which are enumerated, all and each, the kinds and varieties of good and truth, of which they would be deprived. Unless everything here mentioned signified something peculiar to the church, they would not be of the Word, in every expression of which there is what is Divine; but they are predicated of the daughters of Zion, and by these are signified the things of the church, as may be seen above (n. 2362).

[12] In the same:

Awake! awake! put on thy strength, O Zion; put on the garments of thy beauty, O Jerusalem, the city of holiness; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean (Isaiah 52:1-2);

“Zion” denotes the celestial church; “Jerusalem” the spiritual church; and “garments of beauty” the holy things of faith. In the same:

Their webs shall not become a garment, neither shall they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity (Isaiah 59:6);

“webs” denote fictitious truths that do not become a garment; a “garment” denotes the exterior truths of doctrine and of worship; hence it is said, “neither shall they cover themselves with their works.”

[13] In the same:

Rejoicing I will rejoice in Jehovah, my soul shall exult in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).

The “garments of salvation” denote the truths of faith; and the “robe of righteousness” the good of charity.

In John:

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis that have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy; he that overcometh shall be clothed in white raiment (Revelation 3:4-5).

Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked (Revelation 16:15).

In the same:

Upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white garments (Revelation 4:4); where it is manifest that the “garments” are not garments, but the spiritual things of truth.

[14] So where the Lord said in reference to the consummation of the age that they should not return back to take their garments (Matthew 24:18; Mark 13:16), where that “garments” are truths may be seen above (n. 2454). Also in regard to the one not clothed in a wedding garment (Matthew 22:11-12). And concerning John:

What went ye out to see? a man clothed in bright 1 garments? Behold they that wear bright 1 garments are in kings’ houses (Matthew 11:8; Luke 7:25);

meaning that they were not in the externals of doctrine and worship, but in the internals; on which account He adds:

What went ye out to see? a prophet? yea, I say unto you and more than a prophet (Matthew 11:9);

a “prophet” denotes the externals of doctrine and of worship.

[15] As “garments” signified truths of every kind, it was commanded that the sons of Israel on going out of Egypt should borrow gold and silver, and garments, and put them upon their sons (Exodus 3:22; 12:35-36); also that garments of various kinds, or mixed garments, should not be worn (Leviticus 19:19; Deuteronomy 22:11); and that they should make for themselves fringes on the borders of their garments, and should put a blue thread there, and that when they saw it they should call to mind the commandments, and do them (Numbers 15:38-40).

[16] Formerly also they rent their garments (as is seen in Josh. 7:6; Judges 11:35; 1 Samuel 4:12; 2 Samuel 1:2, 11-12; 3:31; 13:30-31; 15:32; 1 Kings 21:27; 2 Kings 5:7-8; 6:30; 22:11, 14, 19; Isaiah 36:22; 37:1); by which was signified zeal for doctrine and truth, which was thus torn to pieces; and also humiliation, because there was nothing appertaining to them that is signified by the adornment of garments.

[17] That such things are signified by “veilings,” “coverings,” “clothing,” or “garments” is also manifest from the prophecy of Jacob, then Israel:

He shall bind his foal to the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he shall wash his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes (Genesis 49:11);

what these words signify can be known to none except from the internal sense; namely a “vine,” a “choice vine,” a “foal,” an “ass’s colt,” “wine,” the “blood of grapes,” “garments,” and “clothes”; but it is evident that they are predicated of the Lord, who is here called “Shiloh.” The subject spoken of is Judah, by whom is represented the Lord’s Divine celestial; and by the “garments he should wash in wine,” and “the vesture he should wash in the blood of grapes” are signified the Lord’s rational and natural, which He should make Divine.

[18] In like manner in Isaiah:

Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah; this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the multitude of his strength? Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garment like him that treadeth in the wine vat? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was none with me; their victory is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment (Isaiah 63:1-3); where also “garments” and “raiment” denote the Lord’s Human which of His own power He made Divine by combats of temptations and by victories; on which account it is said, “I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was none with me.” Isaac’s smelling the smell of Esau’s garments, and so blessing him (Genesis 27:27), involved the same.

[19] The Holy itself of the Lord’s Divine Human was also a garment which appeared as the light, and as white and glistening, when He was transfigured, concerning which we read in Matthew:

When Jesus was transfigured, His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became as the light (Matthew 17:2).

In Luke:

When Jesus prayed, the appearance of His countenance was changed, and His raiment became white and glistening (Luke 9:29).

And in Mark:

When Jesus was transfigured, His garments became shining, exceeding white like snow, so as no fuller on earth can white them (Mark 9:3).

The garments of holiness with which Aaron was clothed when he entered within the veil, and which were of linen, had a similar representation (Leviticus 16:2, 4): likewise the garments of holiness that were for glory and for beauty; and those of his ministry (Exodus 28:2 to the end}, and 39:1 to the end): for in these there was not one whit that was not representative.

Сноски:

1. Splendidis and splendida; but mollibus and mollia in n. 9372. [Rotch ed.]

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.