66. Verse 14. And His head and hairs white, signifies the Divine in firsts and in ultimates. This is evident from the signification of "head," when it refers to the Lord, of whom these things are said, as being the Divine in firsts (of which presently); and from the signification of "hairs," as being the Divine in ultimates (of which also presently); and from the signification of "white," as being what is pure. (That "white" [album] and "bright white" [candidum] mean what is pure, see Arcana Coelestia 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319.) "Head," in reference to the Lord, is the Divine in firsts, because the head is the highest part of man, and in it are his firsts, which are called the beginnings, from which are derived all things that have place in the body; for in the head are the understanding and the will, from which, as from their firsts or beginnings, flow the remaining things that relate to man's outer life, such as speech and all actions. But "hairs," in reference to the Lord, mean the Divine in ultimates, because hairs are ultimate things, for they grow out of the outmost parts of man, and first things terminate in them; when, therefore, "head" and "hairs" are mentioned firsts and ultimates are meant.

[2] Anyone who knows that in spiritual things also "head" signifies first things and "hairs" ultimates, and that first things and ultimates signify all things (as shown in n. 41), can know many arcana of the internal sense where "head" and "hairs" are mentioned; as that:

A Nazarite should not shave the hair of his head, for this, as it is said, was the Nazariteship of God upon his head, and when the days were accomplished, he was to shave it off and consecrate it (Numbers 6:1-21);

also that:

The strength of Samson was in his locks, and when they were shaven off he became weak, and when they grew again he came into his strength (Judges 16:13-31 tothe end);

also that:

Forty-two children were torn in pieces by bears because they mocked Elisha, calling him bald-head (2 Kings 2:23-24);

as also that:

Elijah was clothed with a garment of hair (2 Kings 1:8);

And John the Baptist with camel's hair (Mark 1:6);

furthermore, what "head," "hairs," "beard," and "baldness" signify wherever they are mentioned in the Word.

[3] That a Nazarite should not shave his hair, because this, as is said, was the Nazariteship of God upon his head; and that when the days were accomplished he should shave it off and consecrate it, was for the reason that the Nazarite represented the Lord in firsts and in ultimates, and His Divine in ultimates was His Human, which He made Divine even to the flesh and bones, which are ultimates. That He made it Divine even to the flesh and bones is evident from the fact that He left nothing in the sepulcher, and that:

He said to the disciples that He had flesh and bones, which a spirit hath not (Luke 24:39-40).

And when the Divine Itself is Divine even in ultimates, then it governs all things from firsts by means of ultimates (as can be seen from what was shown above, n. 41; especially from what was cited from the Arcana Coelestia, namely, that interior things flow in successively into exterior things, even into what is extreme or outmost, and there have existence and subsistence, n. 634, 6239, 6465, 9215, 9216; that they not only flow in successively, but also form what is simultaneous in the ultimate, in what order see n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099; that therefore all interior things are held together in connection from the first by means of the ultimate, n. 9828, and in the work on Heaven and Hell 297; that from this the ultimate is more holy than the interiors, n. 9824; and therefore in ultimates there is strength and power, n. 9836). These then are the reasons why the Nazariteship was instituted. The Nazarite was finally to consecrate his hair by putting it into the fire of the altar, because it represented the Divine holiness, and the "fire of the altar" signified that holiness (n. 934, 6314, 6832).

[4] From this it can be seen, moreover, why the strength of Samson was in his hair (Judges 16:13-31 to the end), for it is said that:

He was a Nazarite from his mother's womb (Judges 13:7; 16:17).

Moreover, for the same reason:

It was not lawful for the high priest and his sons, nor for the Levites, to shave the head and make themselves bald (Leviticus 10:6; 21:5, 10; Ezekiel 44:20).

Likewise:

With the Israelitish people to cut off the beard (which had a like signification) was disgraceful (2 Samuel 10:4, 5).

The forty-two children were torn in pieces by the bears because they mocked Elisha, calling him bald-head, for the reason that Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord in respect to the Word, which is Divine truth, the sanctity and strength of which are in ultimates from firsts, as was said just above. Because "baldness" thus signified the deprivation of these, this took place. "Bears," moreover, signify truth in ultimates. (That Elijah and Elisha represented the Lord in respect to the Word, see Arcana Coelestia 2762, 5247.) From this it is clear also why Elijah had a hairy garment and John one of camel's hair; for John the Baptist, like Elijah, represented the Lord in respect to the Word; for this reason also he was called Elijah (See Arcana Coelestia 7643, 9372).

[5] When these things are understood, it can be known what is signified in the Word by "head," "hairs," "beard," and "baldness," as in Isaiah:

In that time shall the Lord shave by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hairs of the feet, He shall also consume the beard (Isaiah 7:20).

In the same prophet:

On all heads baldness, every beard cut off (Isaiah 15:2).

In Jeremiah:

Truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. Cut off thine hair and cast it away (Jeremiah 7:28-29).

In Ezekiel:

Take a razor and pass it over the head and beard (Ezekiel 5:1).

Shame shall be upon every face, and baldness upon all heads (Ezekiel 7:18).

Every head was made bald (Ezekiel 29:18).

In Amos:

I will bring up baldness upon every head (Amos 8:10).

In David:

God shall bruise the head of His enemies, the hairy scalp of him that goeth on in his guilt (Psalms 68:21).

In these passages and in others, by "cutting off the hair of the head," "shaving the beard," and inducing baldness, is signified to deprive of all truth and good; since he that is deprived of ultimates is also deprived of things prior, for prior things have existence and subsistence in ultimates, as was said above. Moreover, in the world of spirits there are seen some that are bald, and I have been told that they are such as have abused the Word, and have applied the sense of the letter, which is Divine truth in ultimates, to wicked purposes, and therefore have been deprived of all truth. These are most malignant. Many of them are of the Babylonish body. Angels, on the contrary, appear with becoming hair.

9139. 'When a man devastates a field or a vineyard' means a stripping away of the Church's goodness and truth by evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'devastating' as a stripping away by evil desires, dealt with below in 9141; from the meaning of 'a field' as the Church in respect of good, dealt with in 2971, 3766, 4982, 7502, thus the Church's good; and from the meaning of 'a vineyard' as the Church in respect of truth, thus the Church's truth. The reason why 'a field' is the Church in respect of good is that the products of a field, such as wheat and barley, mean forms of good in the Church, internal and external ones, 3941, 7602, 7605; and the reason why 'a vineyard' is the Church in respect of truth is that 'wine', which is the product of a vineyard, means the truth of good, 1071, 6377.

[2] The origin of these meanings of 'a field' and 'a vineyard' lies in representatives in the spiritual world. For fields full of wheat and barley appear before the eyes of spirits when angels in a higher heaven are talking about an assembly of people governed by good; and vineyards full of grapes appear, together with winepresses in them, when angels are talking about an assembly of people governed by the truth of good. Those representatives are not due to the existence of such fields and vineyards on earth; rather, they are due to correspondences, in that wheat and barley, or bread made from them, nourish the body just as the good of love and charity nourishes the soul, and in that wine serving as drink nourishes the body just as the truth and good of faith nourish the soul. This is the reason why in the Word the good of love and the truth of faith are called food and drink; indeed in this sense they are heavenly food and drink, 56-58, 680, 681, 1973, 1974, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5576, 5579, 5915, 8562.

[3] The fact that 'a vineyard' means the Church in respect of the good and truth of faith, which is called a spiritual Church, is clear from places in the Word in which a vineyard is mentioned, as in Jeremiah,

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled down My field; they have rendered the field of [My] delight into a lonely wilderness. They have made it (the vineyard) into a solitary place. Jeremiah 12:10-11.

Here 'vineyard' and 'field' plainly stand for the Church; and since the Church is the Church by virtue of the truth and good of faith and charity, it is evident that in these verses 'vineyard' is the Church in respect of truth and 'the field' the Church in respect of good. In Isaiah,

Jehovah enters into judgement with the elders of His people and with its princes. You set alight the vineyard. Isaiah 3:14.

Here also 'vineyard' plainly stands for the Church in respect of the good and truth of faith; for 'the elders' with whom Jehovah will enter into judgement are the Church's forms of good, 6524, 6525, and 'the princes' are its truths, 5044.

[4] In the same prophet,

I will sing to my beloved a song of my friend regarding His vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard in a horn of a son of oil, ¹ which he surrounded [with an enclosure], and planted with the choicest vine. Isaiah 5:1-2ff.

This refers to the Lord, who is the 'beloved' and 'friend'. 'The vineyard' is His spiritual Church, 'the choicest vine' is that Church's good of faith, and 'a horn of a son of oil' is that Church's good of faith growing out of the good of love. The person who knows nothing whatever about the internal sense of the Word cannot possibly know what 'a vineyard in a horn of a son of oil' means. Nevertheless this expression has a meaning lying hidden within it such as no words can express. They contain a full description of the Lord's spiritual kingdom linked to His celestial kingdom, that is, of the second heaven to the third, consequently a full description of the good of faith in the Lord, which is the spiritual kingdom's, linked to the good of love to the Lord, which is the celestial kingdom's. 'The vineyard' is the spiritual kingdom; 'in a horn' is in power, thus in that kingdom, 'a son of oil' being the external level of the good of love in the celestial kingdom. The celestial kingdom, which is the Lord's inmost heaven, is called the olive or an olive-grove, for 'oil' means the good of celestial love, 886, 4582, 4638. It should be recognized that the Lord's kingdom on earth is the Church. As regards the existence of two kingdoms, the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom, and the fact that the spiritual kingdom constitutes the second heaven and the celestial kingdom the third, see 3887, 4138, 4279, 4286; and with regard to their being linked together, 6435.

[5] In the same prophet,

On that day, a vineyard of unmixed wine; ² respond to it. I Jehovah am guarding it; every moment I will water it. Isaiah 27:2-3.

'A vineyard of unmixed wine' stands for the spiritual Church. In Amos,

In all vineyards there will be wailing; I will pass through you. Woe to you desiring the day of Jehovah! What will the day of Jehovah be for you? It will be one of darkness, and not of light. Amos 5:17-18.

This refers to the final period of the Church, when the good and truth of faith do not exist any longer, that final period being meant by 'the day of Jehovah, which will be one of darkness, and not of light'. This is why it says, 'In all vineyards there will be wailing'. In John, in Revelation,

The angel sent his sickle into the earth and harvested the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Revelation 14:18, 19.

'Harvesting the vine of the earth' means devouring the Church's truth and good, 'the earth' being the Church. From all this one may now see why it is that the Lord likened the kingdom of heaven so many times to a vineyard, as in Matthew 20:1ff; 21:28-29, 33-41; Mark 12:1-13; and why it is that the Lord called Himself 'the vine' in John,

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; apart from Me you cannot do anything. John 15:1ff.

'The vine' is faith in the Lord, and for that reason is the Lord in respect of faith. For the Lord is faith because faith originates in Him; no faith is faith except that which originates in Him. So it is also that 'the vine' means faith that is faith in Him.

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