THE EXPLANATION of Isaiah Chapter 38

(Note: Rev. Smithson's translation of the Isaiah text is appended below the explanation)

1. In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came unto him, and said unto him, Thus says Jehovah, Give charge concerning your house; for you art dying, and shalt not live.

VERSE 1. As to "sickness" and "disease", see Chapter 1:6, 7, the Exposition.

Unto death. - By "death" and by the "dead" are signified those who are in evils and thence in falsities. Apocalypse Explained 899.

They who either pervert, or extinguish, or reject in themselves the Good which is of Love and the Truth which is of Faith, have not life in themselves; for life, which is from the Divine, consists in willing what is Good and in believing what is True. But they who do not will what is Good, but what is evil, or believe not what is True, but what is false, have a principle contrary to life; this principle. contrary to life is hell, and is called "death", and persons of this description are called "dead." That the life of Love and of Faith is called " life", and - likewise "eternal life", and that they who have it in themselves are called "living men"; and that what is contrary to life is called "death", - and likewise" death eternal", and that persons of this description are called "dead men", is manifest from many passages in the Word, and amongst others from John 8:21, 24, 51. Arcana Coelestia 7494.

You art dying. - [To denote that the Israelitish church was approaching to its end, or to its consummation.]

2. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Jehovah.

Verse 2. [It does not appear that Swedenborg has quoted this verse, but the spiritual signification, we submit, is the following: In the literal sense, by "turning the face to the wall in prayer", is implied retirement to "pray in secret", and undisturbed by those in the same apartment. But in the spiritual sense, according to correspondences, we apprehend that the idea involved in "turning the face to the wall" is to pray from the letter of the Word, and with "the face turned to it" signifies with the interiors of the mind imbued with its spirit and its life; for the "wall", both of the king's house, of the temple, and of Jerusalem, signifies the literal sense of the Word. (Arcana Coelestia 811, 1307, 1311)

All prayer, to be effective, should be full of "the life and spirit" of the Word, and expressed, as much as possible, in the language or literal sense of the Word; for the literal sense, being divine, has power to open heaven even unto the Lord Himself which is signified by Jehovah's saying "I have heard your prayer", etc. verse 5.]

3. And he said, I beseech You, O Jehovah, remember how I have walked before You in truth, and with a perfect heart; and have done that which is good in Thine eyes. And Hezekiah wept exceedingly.

Verses 3, 5. Hezekiah wept exceedingly, - I have seen your tears.

- As to "weeping" and "tears", see Chapter 25:8, the Exposition.

4. Wherefore the word of Jehovah came unto Isaiah, saying,

Verse 4. That the prophets were in one state when in vision, and in another state when they revealed the Word of Jehovah, see Chapter 1:1, the Exposition.

5. Go, and say unto Hezekiah, Thus says Jehovah, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears: behold, I will add unto your days fifteen years.

Verse 5. I have heard your prayer.

- As to "prayers" and "worship", see Chapter 18:7, also Chapter 1:11-19, the Exposition.

6. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.

Verse 6. That to "deliver out of the hand of the king of Assyria", is to deliver the members of the church from the influence and bondage of negative and false reasonings respecting the Truths of the Word, see Chapter 10:5, 7, 8, 24, 26; 30:31, 32; 36:1, the Exposition.

7. And this shall be the sign unto you from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do this word which He has spoken:

8. Behold, I will bring back the shadow of the degrees, by which the sun is gone down on the sun-dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. And the sun returned ten degrees, on the degrees [or sun-dial] by which it had gone down,

9. The writing of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered from his sickness:

Verses 7, 8. This sign was given to king Hezekiah for a testification that the Lord would "defend him and Jerusalem from the king of Assyria", as it is said in verse 6 of this chapter, by which "king" was signified the rational principle perverted, destroying all things of the church; wherefore by this "sign", in like manner, was represented the New Church, which was to be established by the Lord; but, in this case, that the time which was told to Ahaz, just above, should be further protracted. By "the retraction of the shadow which was gone down on the degrees of Ahaz", is signified the protraction of the time before it should take place. "The degrees [of the sun-dial] of Ahaz " signify the time until the advent of the Lord, and the shadow" denotes the progression of time from the rising to the setting: by its being "drawn backward ten degrees", is signified the prolongation of the time as yet by several years, for "ten" signify several or more; and by the "sun" which should go back, is signified the advent of the Lord. But this is to be further illustrated. The advent of the Lord took place when the Jewish church was at an end, that is, when there was not any Good and Truth therein remaining; this is understood by "when iniquity was consummated", and also by "the fulness of time" in which the Lord was to come. The entire time of the duration of the Jewish church was represented by "the degrees [on the sun-dial] of Ahaz"; the beginning thereof by the "first degree", which is when the sun is in its rising, and the end thereof by the "last degree" in the setting. Hence it is evident that by the "retraction" of the shade, from the setting towards the rising, is understood the prolongation of that time. The reason why this came to pass on "the degrees [of the sun-dial] of Ahaz", was, because Ahaz was a wicked king, and had profaned the holy things of the church, wherefore, if his successors had done in like manner, the end of the church would have been brought on shortly; but as Hezekiah was an upright king, the time was prolonged, for thereby the iniquity of that nation did not so soon arrive at its consummation, that is, at its end. Apocalypse Explained 706.

10. I said, when my days were about to be cut off, I am going to the gates of hell; I am numbered as to the residue of my years!

Verse 10. These are the words of Hezekiah the king, when he was sick; and by "numbered." is signified explored and concluded. That to "number" and be "numbered" have a different signification, in the spiritual sense of the Word, to that which appears in the letter, or the natural sense, may also appear from this circumstance, that with the angels of heaven numbers and measures have no place in their spiritual ideas, that is, they cannot think from numeration or mensuration, but from the quality of a thing, which thought of theirs falls into numbers and measures when it descends thence into a natural sphere; and yet the Word is written for angels as well as for man. Wherefore the angels, by "numbers" and by "numbering" in the Word, perceive the quality of the thing treated of, whilst men understand numbers and numbering. This may still further appear from this consideration, that every "number" in the Word signifies somewhat of thing or state. Apocalypse Explained 453. See also Apocalypse Revealed 364, and as to "numbering", Chapter 22:9, 10, the Exposition.

11. I said, I shall not see Jah, - Jah in the land of the living! I shall no longer behold man with the inhabitants of the world!

12. My age is departed, and is removed from me like a shepherd's tent: I have cut off, like a weaver, my life: He will cut me off from the loom: from day even unto night will You consume me.

Verse 11. Inasmuch as the "land" signifies the church, and where the "earth" or "land" is, there is heaven, it is therefore called "the earth or land of the living", and "the earth or land of life", as in the above words, and also in Ezekiel:

"Who caused terror in the land of the living", etc., (Ezekiel 32:23-27)

It is also called "the land of life" in David:

"Unless I had believed to see good in the land of life." (Psalm 27:13) Apocalypse Explained 304.

As to the meaning of "Jah", in relation to Jehovah or the Lord, see Chapter 12:2, the Exposition.

13. I quieted myself until morning; as a lion did He break all my bones: from day even unto night will You consume me.

Verse 13. To "break the bones" is to destroy Truths from the Divine, which are the ultimates in order, upon which interior goods and truths rest, and by which they are supported; which ultimates, if destroyed, all things built upon them fall to the ground. Ultimate truths in order are the truths of the literal sense of the Word, in which are the truths of the internal sense, upon which they are supported as columns upon their bases. Arcana Coelestia 9163.

14. Like the crane, or the swallow, did I twitter; I moaned like the dove: mine eyes failed [with looking] upward. O Jehovah, I am oppressed; be You surety for me.

Verse 14. [These words, which depict a state of distress and alarm, signify temptations, and especially as to the intellectual life signified by the "crane", the "swallow", and the "dove" distress. The "swallow" corresponds to natural Truth, (Apocalypse Explained 391) or to Truth from the Word in the natural mind; the "crane" corresponds, we apprehend, to Truth in the spiritual, and the "dove" to Truth in the celestial degree. Thus the entire mind, as to its intellectual life, is described as to temptations, when Good from the Lord is being united to Truth in the life, which is regeneration. Whilst in these states of oppression and temptation, the Lord is our only "surety", safety, and comfort.]

15. What shall I say? he has both spoken unto me, and He Himself has done it: I will go humbly all my years on account of the bitterness of my soul.

16. O Lord, by these [Your words] men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit: so will You recover me, and make me to live.

Verse 15. The "soul" here signifies the life of man's spirit, which is called his spiritual life. Apocalypse Explained 750. [See also in the same number the seven different significations which the term "soul" (anima) has in the Word.]

17. Behold, instead of peace there was bitterness to me, [yea] bitterness: You have, in love, delivered my soul from the pit of, destruction; for You have cast behind Your back all my sins.

Verse 17. You have cast behind Your back all my sins.

- [When sins are removed by repentance, they are, as it were, "cast behind the Lord's back", that is, not seen by Him: but when not repented of, and thereby removed, they are said to be "before Him, and in the light of His countenance." (Psalm 90:8). See True Christian Religion 510, 611-614.]

18. For hell cannot praise You; death cannot celebrate You; they that go down into the pit shall not hope in Your truth:

Verses 18, 19. From this passage it may appear what is signified by the "dead", namely, they who have not in themselves the the life of heaven, consequently, who are in evils, and thence in falsities. That in this passage "death" denotes damnation, and "life" salvation, is manifest. Forasmuch as "death" is damnation, it is also hell; wherefore hell, in the Word, is commonly called "death", as in the above words. Apocalypse Explained 186.

19. The living, the living, he shall praise You, as I do this day: the father to the sons shall make known Your truth.

Verse 19. Jehovah, in the Word of the Old Testament, calls Himself "THE ALIVE" and "THE LIVInG" because He alone lives; for He is Love itself and Wisdom itself, and these are Life. That there is but one only Life, which is God, and that angels and men are recipients of life from Him, has been shown by many things in the work entitled "Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom." Jehovah calls Himself "THE ALIVE" and "THE LIVInG" in Isaiah 38:18, 19; Jeremiah 5:2; 12:16; 16:14, 15.

The Lord also, as to His Divine Humanity, is Life, because the Father and He are one; wherefore He says,

"As the Father has life in Himself, so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself." (John 5:26)

"Jesus said, I am the Resurrection and the Life." (John 11:25)

"Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life", (John 14:6)

"In the beginning was the Word, and God was the Word; in Him was Life; and the Word became flesh." (John 1:1-4, 14)

Because the Lord alone is Life, it follows that from Him alone is Life, wherefore He says,

"Because I live, you shall live also." (John 14:19) Apocalypse Revealed 58.

20. Jehovah was for my salvation: therefore will we sing my songs to the stringed instruments, all the days of our life, in the house of Jehovah.

Verse 20. "Stringed instruments" are attributed to the spiritual things, and "wind instruments" to the celestial things of faith. Arcana Coelestia 418-420.

21. For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it bruised upon the boil, that he may live.

Verse 21. ["Figs" from correspondence, signify the natural good of man conjoined with the spiritual good, or the good of the natural or external man derived from the good of the spiritual or internal man, and thus from the Lord. It is this good which heals a man of his spiritual diseases and restores him to spiritual health. Hence it was from this spiritual signification of a "lump of figs" that Isaiah said, "Let them lay it bruised upon the boil of Hezekiah, that he may live"; whereas the good of the natural man, separate from the good of the spiritual man, is in itself evil, because it is only good in appearance, assumed by the natural man for the sake of self and of the world. At the period of Judgment this good is dispersed as "the fig falling off from the tree:" (Isaiah 34:4)

See also Jeremiah 8:13, 29:17, where it is said, "I will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil; "for there is nothing so vile as good assumed for the purpose of concealing evil and of carrying out its designs. See also Matthew 11:18-21, where "the barren fig-tree" is described, which, at the Lord's rebuke, "withered away", to show that the good of the natural man, separate from the spiritual man, "withers away" at the time of Judgment, and leaves him to his own condemnation. Apocalypse Revealed 334; Apocalypse Explained 403.]

22. Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Jehovah ?

Verse 22. As to the meaning of a "sign", and the difference between a "sign" and a "miracle" or wonder, see Chapter 8:18. Exposition. In respect to the "house" or "temple of Jehovah", and its important signification, see Chapter 6:1, the Exposition.

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Isaiah Chapter 38

1. In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came unto him, and said unto him, Thus says Jehovah, Give charge concerning your house; for you art dying, and shalt not live.

2. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Jehovah.

3. And he said, I beseech You, O Jehovah, remember how I have walked before You in truth, and with a perfect heart; and have done that which is good in Thine eyes. And Hezekiah wept exceedingly.

4. Wherefore the word of Jehovah came unto Isaiah, saying,

5. Go, and say unto Hezekiah, Thus says Jehovah, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears: behold, I will add unto your days fifteen years.

6. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.

7. And this shall be the sign unto you from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do this word which He has spoken:

8. Behold, I will bring back the shadow of the degrees, by which the sun is gone down on the sun-dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. And the sun returned ten degrees, on the degrees [or sun-dial] by which it had gone down,

9. The writing of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered from his sickness:

10. I said, when my days were about to be cut off, I am going to the gates of hell; I am numbered as to the residue of my years!

11. I said, I shall not see Jah, - Jah in the land of the living! I shall no longer behold man with the inhabitants of the world!

12. My age is departed, and is removed from me like a shepherd's tent: I have cut off, like a weaver, my life: He will cut me off from the loom: from day even unto night will You consume me.

13. I quieted myself until morning; as a lion did He break all my bones: from day even unto night will You consume me.

14. Like the crane, or the swallow, did I twitter; I moaned like the dove: mine eyes failed [with looking] upward. O Jehovah, I am oppressed; be You surety for me.

15. What shall I say? he has both spoken unto me, and He Himself has done it: I will go humbly all my years on account of the bitterness of my soul.

16: O Lord, by these [Your words] men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit: so will You recover me, and make me to live.

17. Behold, instead of peace there was bitterness to me, [yea] bitterness: You have, in love, delivered my soul from the pit of, destruction; for You have cast behind Your back all my sins.

18. For hell cannot praise You; death cannot celebrate You; they that go down into the pit shall not hope in Your truth:

19. The living, the living, he shall praise You, as I do this day: the father to the sons shall make known Your truth.

20. Jehovah was for my salvation: therefore will we sing my songs to the stringed instruments, all the days of our life, in the house of Jehovah.

21. For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it bruised upon the boil, that he may live.

22. Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Jebovah ?

569. Loose the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates, signifies the reasonings from fallacies pertaining to the sensual man, not before accepted. This is evident from the signification of "the angels at the river Euphrates," as being reasonings from the fallacies pertaining to the sensual man (of which presently); and because reasonings from such fallacies were not before accepted in the church these angels are said to be "bound" at that river, and they are said to be "four" because of the conjunction of falsity with evil, for this number signifies in the Word the conjunction of good and truth, and in the contrary sense, as here, the conjunction of evil and falsity (See above, n. 283, 384, 532). What precedes treats of the sensual man who is in the falsities of evil, and of the effect of the persuasions in which the sensual man is; therefore what now follows treats of the reasonings from the sensual. And because the sensual reasons only from such things as stand forth before the senses in the world, whenever it reasons respecting spiritual things, that is, the things of heaven and of the church, it reasons from fallacies, which are called the fallacies of the senses; therefore it is said here reasonings from the fallacies pertaining to the sensual man. But respecting these fallacies and reasoning from them more will be said in what follows.

[2] Here the state of the church at its very end is treated of, which is the state when the men of the church, having become sensual, reason from the fallacies of the senses; and when they reason from these respecting the things of heaven and the church they believe nothing at all because they understand nothing. It is known in the church that the natural man does not perceive the things of heaven unless the Lord flows in and enlightens, which influx is through the spiritual man; much less does the sensual man perceive these, for the sensual is the ultimate natural, to which the things of heaven, which are called spiritual things, are altogether in thick darkness. Genuine reasonings respecting spiritual things spring from the influx of heaven into the spiritual man, and thence through the rational into the knowledges and cognitions which are in the natural man, by means of which the spiritual man confirms himself. This way of reasoning respecting spiritual things is according to order. But reasonings about spiritual things that come from the natural man, and still more those that come from the sensual man, are entirely contrary to order; for the natural man cannot flow into the spiritual man and see anything there from itself, still less can the sensual man, since there is no physical influx; but the spiritual man can flow into the natural and from that into the sensual, since there is spiritual influx. (But on this see further in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 51, 277, 278.)

[3] From this what is meant by the things that now follow can be seen, namely, that at the very end of the church man speaks and reasons respecting spiritual things, or the things of heaven and the church, from the corporeal-sensual and thus from the fallacies of the senses; although therefore man then speaks in favor of Divine things he does not think in favor of them; for a man is able to speak in one way from the body while thinking in another way in his spirit; and while the spirit which thinks from the corporeal-sensual is unable to think in any other way than against Divine things, nevertheless from the corporeal-sensual it is able to speak in favor of them, and this especially for the reason that Divine things are to him the means of acquiring honor and gain. Every man has two memories, a natural memory and a spiritual memory, and he is able to think from either, from the natural memory when he is speaking with men in the world, but from the spiritual memory when he is speaking from the spirit; but man rarely speaks from the spirit with another, from the spirit he speaks only with himself, which is thinking. They who are sensual men are unable to speak with themselves from their spirit, or to think, in any other way than in favor of nature, consequently in favor of things corporeal and worldly, for the sensual man thinks from the sensual, and not from the spiritual; indeed, he is wholly ignorant of what the spiritual is, because he has closed the spiritual mind in himself, into which heaven flows with its light.

[4] But let us go on to explain these words, that "a voice was heard from the horns of the golden altar, saying to the sixth angel that he should loose the four angels bound at the river Euphrates." "The river Euphrates" signifies the rational, and thence also reasoning; this is the signification of this river because it divided Assyria from the land of Canaan, and "Assyria" or "Asshur" signifies the rational, and "the land of Canaan" the spiritual. There were three rivers, besides the sea, that were boundaries of the land of Canaan, namely, the river of Egypt, the river Euphrates, and the river Jordan. "The river of Egypt" signified the knowledge [scientia] of the natural man; "the river Euphrates" signified the rational which is in man from knowledges and cognitions; and "the river Jordan" signifies entrance into the internal or spiritual church; for "the regions beyond Jordan," where the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh had their inheritances allotted them, signified the external or natural church, and because that river was between those regions and the land of Canaan, and through it was the passage from one to the other, it signified entrance from the external church, which is natural, into the internal church which is spiritual. It was for this reason that baptism was there instituted, for baptism represented the regeneration of man, whereby the natural man is introduced into the church and becomes spiritual.

[5] This explains what these three rivers signify in the Word. All those places also outside of the land of Canaan signified such things as belong to the natural man, while those within the land of Canaan signified such things as belong to the spiritual man, thus the things of heaven and the church. Therefore the two rivers, "the river of Egypt" (or the Nile), and "the river of Assyria" (or the Euphrates), signified the terminations of the church, and also the introductions into the church. Moreover, cognitions and knowledges which are signified by "the river of Egypt," are what introduce, for without cognitions and knowledges no one can be introduced into the church nor perceive the things that belong to the church; for the spiritual man sees its spiritual things in knowledges [scientiae] by means of the rational, as man sees himself in a mirror, and recognizes himself in them, that is, its truths and goods, and moreover confirms its spiritual things by means of cognitions and knowledges, both those known from the Word and those known from the world.

[6] But "the river of Assyria" (or the Euphrates) signifies the rational, because man by the rational is introduced into the church. By the rational is meant the thought of the natural man from cognitions and knowledges, for a man who is imbued with knowledges [scientiae] is able to see things in series, that is, from first and mediate things to see the last, which is called the conclusion, and can therefore analytically arrange, turn over, separate, conjoin, and at length conclude things, even to a further end, and at length to the final end; which is the use that he loves. This, then, is the rational which is given to every man according to uses, which are the ends that he loves. Since everyone's rational comes into accord with the uses of his love, therefore it is the interior thought of the natural man from the influx of the light of heaven; and as man through rational thought is introduced into spiritual thought and becomes a church, so that river signifies the natural ¹ which introduces.

[7] It is one thing to be rational, and another to be spiritual; every spiritual man is also rational, but the rational man is not always spiritual, since the rational is in the natural man, that is, is its thought, while the spiritual is above the rational, and through the rational passes into the natural, into the cognitions and knowledges of its memory.

[8] But it is to be known that the rational does not introduce anyone into the spiritual, but it is only said to do so because such is the appearance; for the spiritual flows into the natural through the rational as a medium, and in this way it introduces. For the spiritual is the inflowing Divine, since it is the light of heaven, which is the Divine truth proceeding, and this light through the higher mind, which is called the spiritual mind, flows into the lower mind, which is called the natural mind, and conjoins this to itself, and through that conjunction causes the natural mind to make one with the spiritual; thus introduction is effected. Since it is contrary to Divine order for man to enter through his rational into the spiritual, therefore in the spiritual world there are angel guards to prevent this from taking place. This makes evident the signification of "the four angels bound at the river Euphrates," and afterwards the signification of "loosing" them. "The angels bound at the river Euphrates" signify the guard against man's natural entering into the spiritual things of heaven and the church, for thence would result nothing but errors and heresies, and at length denial.

[9] Moreover, in the spiritual world there are ways that lead to hell and ways that lead to heaven; also ways that lead from spiritual things to natural and thus to sensual things; and in those ways there are also guards lest anyone should go in the opposite direction, for thus he would fall into heresies and errors, as has just been said. These guards are set by the Lord at the beginning of the establishment of a church, and are also maintained, lest the man of the church from his own reason or his own understanding should invade the Divine things of the Word and thence of the church. But at the end, when the men of the church are no longer spiritual but are natural, and many are merely sensual, and thus there is no way open with the man of the church from the spiritual man into the natural, then these guards are removed and the ways are opened, and in these opened ways they advance in a contrary order, which is done by reasonings from fallacies. Thus ² it is that the man of the church speaks in favor of Divine things with the mouth, while in heart he thinks against them, that is, he is in favor of Divine things from the body and against them from the spirit; for reasoning respecting Divine things from the natural and sensual man has this effect. From this then the signification of "the four angels bound at the river Euphrates," and their being "loosed" can now be seen.

[10] That "the river Euphrates" signifies the rational, through which there is a way from the spiritual man into the natural, can be seen from the following passages in the Word. In Moses:

Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed I will give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river, the river Euphrates (Genesis 15:18).

In the sense of the letter this describes the extension of the land of Canaan, but in the internal sense it describes the extension of the church from its first boundary to its last; its first boundary is the knowing faculty [scientificum] which is of the natural man, the other boundary is the rational which is of the thought; the first, namely, the knowing faculty, which is of the natural man, is signified by "the river of Egypt," the Nile; while the rational, which is of the thought, is signified by "the river of Assyria," the Euphrates; to these two the spiritual church, which is signified by "the land of Canaan," extends itself, so too does the spiritual mind which is with the man of the church. Both these, the knowing faculty and the rational, are in the natural man, the one limit of which is the knowing and cognitive faculty, and the other is the intuitive and thinking faculty, and into these limits the spiritual man flows when it flows into the natural man; the conjunction of the Lord with the church by means of these is signified by the "covenant" that Jehovah made with Abram. Such is the signification of these words in the internal sense, while in the highest sense, they mean the union of the Divine Essence with the Lord's Human; according to this sense these words are explained in the Arcana Coelestia 1863-1866).

[11] In Zechariah:

His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth (Zechariah 9:10; also in Psalms 72:8).

This was said of the Lord and of His dominion over heaven and earth; and the "dominion from sea even to sea" signifies the extension of natural things, and "the dominion from the river even to the ends of the earth" signifies the extension of rational and spiritual things (See also above, n. 518).

[12] In Moses:

The land of the Canaanites and Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, behold I have given the land before you; go in and possess it by inheritance (Deuteronomy 1:7, 8).

In the same:

Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates even unto the hinder sea shall your border be (Deuteronomy 11:24).

And in Joshua:

From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, and even to the great sea, the going down of the sun, shall be your border (Joshua 1:4).

In these passages the extension of the church from one limit to the other is described; one of its limits, which is the cognitive and knowing faculty, is signified by "Lebanon" and "the sea;" and the other limit, which is the intuitive and thinking faculty, is signified by "the river Euphrates;" the extension of the land of Canaan means the extension of the church, for in the Word "the land of Canaan" signifies the church. "River" is twice mentioned, namely, "the great river, the river Euphrates," because "the great river" signifies the influx of spiritual things into rational, and "the river Euphrates" the influx of rational things into natural, thus the two signify the influx of spiritual things through the rational into natural things.

[13] In Micah:

This is the day in which they shall even come to thee from Assyria, and to the cities of Egypt, and thence from Egypt even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain (Micah 7:12).

This describes the establishment of the church by the Lord among the Gentiles, "this day" signifying the Lord's coming; the extension of the church among them from one limit to the other is signified by "they shall come from Assyria to the cities of Egypt and from Egypt to the river;" the extension of truth from one limit to the other is signified by "from sea to sea," and the extension of good by "from mountain to mountain. "

[14] In David:

Thou hast caused a vine to go forth out of Egypt; Thou didst drive out the nations and didst plant it. Thou hast sent out its boughs even unto the sea, and its shoots unto the river (Psalms 80:8, 11).

The "vine that God caused to go forth out of Egypt" means the sons of Israel, and signifies the church, for a "vine" signifies the spiritual church, and this was signified also by "the sons of Israel;" and because the church is called a "vine," it is said, "Thou didst plant it, Thou hast sent out its boughs even unto the sea, and its shoots unto the river," which describes the extension of the spiritual things of the church, the "sea" meaning one of its limits, and the "river," by which is meant the Euphrates, the other. The Euphrates:

As the fourth river that went out of Eden (Genesis 2:14);

also signifies the rational, for "the garden of Eden" (or Paradise) signifies wisdom. The signification of the other three rivers may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 107-121).

[15] As "the river Euphrates" signifies the rational, so in the contrary sense it signifies reasoning; reasoning here means thinking and arguing from fallacies and falsities, while the rational means thinking and arguing from knowledges (scientiae) and from truths; for the rational is cultivated always by knowledges, and is formed by truths, therefore one who is led by truths or whom truths lead, is called a rational man; but a man who is not rational has the ability to reason, for by various reasonings he is able to confirm falsities, and also to induce the simple to believe them, which is done mainly by means of the fallacies of the senses (of which below).

[16] Such reasoning is signified by "the river Euphrates" in the following passages. In Jeremiah:

What hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? And what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? (Jeremiah 2:18)

This signifies that spiritual things must not be searched into by means of the knowledges [scientifica] of the natural man, nor by means of reasonings therefrom, but by the means of the Word, thus out of heaven from the Lord; for those who are in spiritual affection, and in spiritual thought therefrom, see the knowledges [scientifica] of the natural man and reasonings therefrom as below them, but from these no one can see spiritual things; from above one can look down on lower things on every side, but not the reverse. To search into spiritual things by means of the knowledges of the natural man is signified by "What hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor?" and by means of reasonings therefrom is signified by "what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?" "Egypt and its river" signify the knowledges of the natural man, and "Assyria and its river" signify the reasonings from them.

[17] In Isaiah:

In that day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired in the crossings of the river, by means of the King of Assyria, the head and the hairs of the feet, and shall also consume the beard (Isaiah 7:20).

This treats of the state of the church at its end, when the Lord is about to come; that reasonings from falsities will then deprive the men of the church of all spiritual wisdom and intelligence is described by these words. The reasonings by which this is done are signified by "the king of Assyria, in the crossings of the river," namely, the Euphrates. The deprivation of spiritual wisdom and of spiritual intelligence therefrom is signified by "the hairs of the head and of the feet shall be shaven with a razor that is hired, and the beard shall be consumed;" for "hairs" signify natural things upon which spiritual things operate and into which they close; therefore "hairs" signify in the Word the ultimates of wisdom and intelligence, "the hair of the head" signifying the ultimates of wisdom, the "beard" the ultimates of intelligence, and "the hair of the feet" the ultimates of knowledge [scientia]. When these ultimates are not, there are no prior things, as when there is no base for the column, nor foundation for the house. Those who have deprived themselves of intelligence by means of reasonings from fallacies and from falsities appear bald in the spiritual world (See above, n. 66).

[18] In the same:

Behold the Lord hath made to go up upon them the waters of the river strong and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory; and he shall go up over all his channels, and shall go over all his banks; he shall go through Judah, he shall overflow and pass over (Isaiah 8:7, 8).

These words signify that each and every thing of the Word is to be falsified in the church by means of reasonings from fallacies and falsities; "the waters of the river strong and many, the king of Assyria," signifies reasonings from mere fallacies and falsities; "he shall go up over all his channels and over all his banks" signifies that by these each and every thing of the Word will be falsified; "Judah, which he will overflow and pass over," signifies the church where the Word is, and thus the Word.

[19] In Jeremiah:

Against the army of Pharaoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates which Nebuchadnezzar smote. Towards the north by the bank of the river Euphrates they stumbled and fell (Jeremiah 46:2, 6, 10).

This signifies the destruction of the church, and of its truths by false reasonings from knowledges [scientifica]; "the river Euphrates" signifies false reasonings; "Egypt and its army" confirming knowledges [scientifica]; "the north where they stumbled and fell," signifies the source of these falsities. (On this see above, n. 518.)

[20] In the same:

Jehovah told the prophet to buy a linen girdle, and to put it upon the loins, but not to draw it through water; and then to go to the Euphrates, and hide the girdle there in a hole of the rock. And he went and hid it by the Euphrates. Afterwards, at the end of many days, Jehovah said, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence. And he went and took it, and behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. Thus as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I made to cleave unto Me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, that they might be unto Me for a name, and for a praise, and for a splendor; but they would not hearken (Jeremiah 13:1-7, 11).

This represented of what quality the Israelitish and Jewish Church was and what it became; the "linen girdle which the prophet put upon his loins" signifies the conjunction of the church with the Lord by means of the Word; for the "prophet" signifies doctrine from the Word, and the "girdle upon the prophet's loins" signifies conjunction. Falsifications of the Word by evils of life and falsities of doctrine, and thence reasonings that favor these, are signified by "the girdle was marred in the hole of the rock by the Euphrates." For by means of the Word there is conjunction of the Lord with the church, and when the Word is perverted by reasonings that favor evils and falsities there is no longer any conjunction, and this also is what is meant by "the girdle was profitable for nothing." That this was done by the Jews is evident from the Word both of the Old and New Testaments. From the Word of the New Testament it is evident that they perverted all things written in the Word respecting the Lord, and all the essentials of the church, and that they falsified these by their traditions.

[21] In the same:

When thou hast made an end of reading this book thou shalt bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates; and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again (Jeremiah 51:63, 64).

The prophet's "book" which he read, means in particular the Word that was in that book, but in general the whole Word; "he cast it into the midst of the Euphrates" signifies that in process of time the Word was falsified through reasonings that favor evils by those who are meant by "Babylon," who are such as adulterate the Word.

[22] In Isaiah:

And Jehovah shall make utterly accursed the tongue of the sea of Egypt; and with the vehemence of His wind shall He shake His hand over the river Euphrates, and shall smite it into seven brooks, to make a way with shoes. Then there shall be a highway for the remnant of His people which shall be left from Assyria; like as there was to Israel when he came up out of the land of Egypt (Isaiah 11:15, 16).

This signifies that before those who are in truths from good from the Lord, that is, who are of the church, all falsities and reasonings from them shall be dispersed, and that they shall pass safely as it were through the midst of them; this is so in the spiritual world with those whom the Lord protects. This has a similar meaning as "the drying up of the Sea Suph before the sons of Israel." Those who will pass through under the Lord's protection are signified by "the remnant of the people which shall be left from Assyria," "those left from Assyria" signifying those who have not perished by reasonings from falsities. The following in Revelation has a similar signification:

And the sixth angel poured out of his bowl upon the river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings who are from the rising of the sun might be made ready (Revelation 16:12).

This will be more fully explained below in its place.

[23] From this it can now be seen that "the river Euphrates" signifies the rational by means of which the spiritual mind enters into the natural, and that in the contrary sense it signifies reasoning from fallacies and from falsities. But it is to be known that reasonings are in a like degree as the thoughts are, since they descend from the thoughts; thus there are reasonings from the spiritual man which might better be called conclusions from reasons and from truths; there are reasonings from the natural man, and there are reasonings from the sensual man. Reasonings from the spiritual man are rational, and therefore might better be called conclusions from reasons and from truths, because they are from the interior and from the light of heaven; but reasonings from the natural man respecting spiritual things are not rational, however rational they may be in things moral and civil, which are evident before the eyes, because they are from natural light alone; but reasonings from the sensual man respecting spiritual things are irrational, because they are from fallacies and thus from ideas that are false; these are the reasonings here treated of in Revelation.

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