2781. And saddled his ass. That this signifies the natural man which He prepared, is evident from the signification of an “ass,” as explained in what now follows. There are in man things of the will and things of the understanding; to the former class belong the things of good, to the latter those of truth. There are various kinds of beasts by which the things of the will, or those of good, are signified; such as lambs, sheep, kids, goats, bullocks, oxen (see n. 1823, 2179, 2180); and there are likewise beasts by which intellectual things, or those of truth, are signified, namely, horses, mules, wild-asses, camels, asses, and also birds. That the intellectual faculty is signified by the “horse,” has been shown above (n. 2761, 2762). That by the “wild-ass” truth separate from good is signified, see above (n. 1949). That by the “camel” there is signified memory-knowledge in general, and by the “ass” memory-knowledge in particular, may be seen above (n. 1486).

[2] There are two things which constitute the natural with man, or what is the same, which constitute the natural man, namely, natural good and natural truth. Natural good is the delight flowing forth from charity and faith; natural truth is the memory-knowledge of them. That natural truth is what is signified by the “ass,” and rational truth by the “mule,” may be seen from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

The prophecy of the beasts of the south. In a land of straightness and distress; the lion and the old lion, ¹ and from them the viper and the flying fire-serpent; they carry their riches upon the shoulder of young asses, and their treasures upon the hump of camels, to a people that shall not profit; and the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose (Isaiah 30:6-7);

those are called the “beasts of the south” who are in the knowledges of good and truth, but who make them not of the life but of memory; of whom it is said that “they shall bring their riches upon the shoulder of young asses, and their treasures upon the hump of camels,” for the reason that “young asses” signify memory-knowledges in particular, and “camels” memory-knowledges in general: that the “Egyptians” are memory-knowledges, may be seen above (n. 1164, 1165, 1186); of whom it is said that “they shall help in vain and to no purpose.” That this prophecy has an internal sense, without which it is understood by nobody, is plain to everyone; for without the internal sense it cannot be known what the prophecy of the beasts of the south is, the lion and the old lion, the viper and the flying fire-serpent; and what is meant by these beasts bringing their riches upon the shoulder of young asses, and their treasures upon the hump of camels, and why it immediately follows that the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. The like is meant by the “ass” in the prophecy of Israel respecting Issachar, in Moses:

Issachar is a bony ass, lying down between the burdens (Genesis 49:14).

[3] In Zechariah:

This shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah will smite all the peoples that shall fight against Jerusalem; there shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of every beast (Zech. 14:12, 15).

That by the “horse,” “mule,” “camel,” and “ass,” are signified things of the understanding in man, which will be affected by the plague, is evident from all that precedes and follows there; for the plagues which precede the last judgment or consummation of the age are treated of, a subject also much treated of by John in Revelation, and by the rest of the prophets in many places. By these animals are meant those who will then fight against Jerusalem, that is, against the Lord’s spiritual church and its truths, and who will be affected by such plagues as to the things of their understanding.

[4] In Isaiah:

Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth the foot of the ox and the ass (Isaiah 32:20);

“they that sow beside all waters” denote those who suffer themselves to be instructed in spiritual things. (That “waters” are spiritual things, thus intellectual things of truth, may be seen above, n. 680, 739, 2702.) “They that send forth the foot of the ox and the ass” denote natural things which are to do service. The “ox” is the natural as to good (see n. 2180, 2566). The “ass” is the natural as to truth.

[5] In Moses:

Binding his young ass unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he hath washed his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes (Genesis 49:11);

this is the prophecy of Jacob, at that time Israel, concerning the Lord; the “vine” and the “choice vine” denote the spiritual church external and internal (n. 1069); the “young ass” denotes natural truth; the “ass’s colt” rational truth. The reason an “ass’s colt” denotes rational truth is that a “she-ass” signifies the affection of natural truth (n. 1486), the son of which is rational truth, as may be seen above (n. 1895, 1896, 1902, 1910).

[6] In old times a judge rode upon a she-ass, and his sons upon young asses; for the reason that the judges represented the goods of the church, and their sons the truths thence derived. But a king rode upon a she-mule, and his sons upon mules, by reason that kings and their sons represented the truths of the church (see n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069). That a judge rode upon a she-ass is evident in the book of Judges:

My heart is toward the lawgivers of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people; bless ye Jehovah, ye that ride upon white she-asses, ye that sit upon carpets (Judg. 5:9-10).

That the sons of the judges rode upon young asses:

Jair the judge over Israel had thirty sons, that rode on thirty young asses (Judges 10:3-4, and in other places).

Abdon the judge of Israel had forty sons, and thirty sons’ sons, that rode on seventy young asses (Judges 12:14).

That a king rode upon a she-mule:

David said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon the she-mule which is mine. And they caused Solomon to ride upon king David’s she-mule, and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king in Gihon (1 Kings 1:33, 38, 41, 45).

That the sons of a king rode upon he-mules:

All the sons of king David rose up, and rode each one upon his mule, and fled, because of Absalom (2 Samuel 13:29).

[7] Hence it is manifest that to ride on a she-ass was the badge of a judge, and to ride on a she-mule, the badge of a king; and that to ride on a young ass was the badge of a judge’s sons, and to ride on a mule was the badge of a king’s sons; for the reason as already said that a she-ass represented and signified the affection of natural good and truth, a she-mule the affection of rational truth, an ass or a young ass natural truth itself, and a mule and also the son of a she-ass rational truth. Hence it is plain what is meant by the prophecy concerning the Lord in Zechariah:

Rejoice, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a young ass the son of she-asses. His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth (Zech. 9:9-10).

That the Lord, when He came to Jerusalem, willed to ride upon these animals, is known from the Evangelists, as in Matthew:

Jesus sent two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village that is over against you, and straightway ye shall find a she-ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them unto Me. This was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold thy King cometh unto thee, meek, sitting upon a she-ass, and upon a colt the son of a beast of burden. And they brought the she-ass and the colt, and put their garments upon them, and set Him thereon (Matthew 21:1-2, 4-5, 7).

[8] To “ride upon an ass” was a sign that the natural was made subordinate; and to “ride upon a colt the son of a she-ass” was a sign that the rational was made subordinate. (That the “son of a she-ass” signified the same as a “mule” has been shown above at the passage from Genesis 49:11.) From this their signification, and because it belonged to the highest judge and to a king to ride upon them, and at the same time that the representatives of the church might be fulfilled, it pleased the Lord to do this: as is thus described in John:

On the next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. And Jesus, having found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold thy King cometh sitting on the colt of a she-ass. These things understood not His disciples at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things unto Him (John 12:12-16; Mark 11:1-12; Luke 19:28-41).

[9] From all this it is now evident that all and everything in the church of that period was representative of the Lord, and therefore of the celestial and spiritual things that are in His kingdom-even to the she-ass and the colt of a she-ass, by which the natural man as to good and truth was represented. The reason of the representation was that the natural man ought to serve the rational, and this the spiritual, this the celestial, and this the Lord: such is the order of subordination.

[10] Since by an “ox and an ass” the natural man as to good and truth is signified, many laws were therefore given in which oxen and asses are mentioned, which laws at first sight do not appear to be worthy of mention in the Divine Word; but when unfolded as to their internal sense, the spiritual meaning in them appears to be of great moment-as the following in Moses:

If a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall into it, the owner of the pit shall give money to the owner, and the dead shall be his (Exodus 21:33-34).

If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to remove it, removing thou shalt remove it from him (Exodus 23:4-5; Deuteronomy 22:1, 3).

Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox falling down in the way, and hide thyself from them; lifting thou shalt lift them up again (Deuteronomy 22:4).

Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. Thou shalt not wear a mixed web of wool and linen together (Deuteronomy 22:10-11).

Six days thou shalt do thy works, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest, that thine ox and thine ass may rest also, and the son of thy handmaid, and the sojourner (Exodus 23:12).

Here the “ox and ass” signify nothing else in the spiritual sense than natural good and truth.

Фусноте:

1164. That by “Cush” or “Ethiopia” are signified the interior knowledges of the Word, by which such men confirm false principles, may be seen in Jeremiah:

Egypt riseth up like a stream, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers, and he hath said, I will go up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. Go up ye horses, and rage ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth, Cush and Put that handle the shield (Jeremiah 46:8-9).

“Egypt” here denotes those who believe nothing unless they apprehend it from memory-knowledges, whereby everything becomes involved in doubt, denial, and falsity, which is to “go up, cover the earth, and destroy the city.” “Cush” here denotes more universal and more interior knowledges of the Word, whereby men confirm received principles of falsity. “Put” denotes knowledges from the literal sense of the Word which are according to the appearances of the senses.

[2] In Ezekiel:

A sword shall come upon Egypt, and there shall be grief in Cush, when the slain shall fall in Egypt; and they shall take her multitude, and her foundations shall be destroyed. Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all Ereb and Cub, and the sons of the land of the covenant shall fall with them by the sword (Ezekiel 30:4-5).

No one could at all know what these things mean except from the internal sense; and if the names did not signify actual things [res], there would be scarcely any sense. But here by “Egypt” are signified memory-knowledges, whereby men desire to enter into the mysteries of faith. “Cush and Put” are called “the foundations thereof” because they signify knowledges from the Word.

[3] In the same:

In that day shall messengers go forth from before Me in ships, to make confident Cush afraid; and there shall be grief upon them, as in the day of Egypt (Ezekiel 30:9).

“Cush” denotes those knowledges from the Word that confirm falsities which are hatched from memory-knowledges. In the same:

I will make the land of Egypt into wastes, a waste of desolation, from the tower of Seveneh, even unto the border of Cush (Ezekiel 29:10).

Here “Egypt” denotes memory-knowledges; and “Cush” the knowledges of the interior things of the Word, which are the boundaries as far as memory-knowledges go.

[4] In Isaiah:

The king of Assyria shall lead the captivity of Egypt and the captivity of Cush, boys and old men, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt; and they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope, and of Egypt their glory (Isaiah 20:4-5).

“Cush” here denotes knowledges from the Word, whereby falsities acquired through memory-knowledges are confirmed; “Asshur” is reasoning which leads men “captive.”

In Nahum:

Cush and Egypt were her strength, and there was no end; Put and Lubim were thy helpers (Nahum 3:9).

This is said of the church vastated, and here in like manner “Egypt” denotes memory-knowledges, and “Cush” knowledges.

[5] “Cush and Egypt” here denote simply knowledges and memory-knowledges, which are truths, useful to those who are in the faith of charity; thus they are here used in a good sense.

In Isaiah:

Thus said Jehovah, The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Cush, and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall pass over unto thee, and they shall be thine; they shall go after thee in fetters, they shall pass over and shall bow down unto thee; they shall pray unto thee; God is in thee only, and there is no other God besides (Isaiah 45:14).

“The labor of Egypt” denotes memory-knowledge; and “the merchandise of Cush and of the Sabeans,” knowledges of spiritual things which are serviceable to those who acknowledge the Lord; for all memory-knowledge and knowledge are for them.

[6] In Daniel:

The king of the north shall have dominion over the hidden stores of gold and silver, and over all the desirable things of Egypt; and the Lubim (Put) and Cushim shall be at thy steps (Daniel 11:43).

“Put and Cush” here denote knowledges from the Word; and “Egypt,” memory-knowledges.

In Zephaniah:

From the crossing of the rivers of Cush, My worshipers (Zephaniah 3:10),

denoting those who are without knowledges, that is, the Gentiles.

In David:

Great ones shall come out of Egypt; Cush shall hasten his hands unto God (Psalms 68:31).

“Egypt” here denotes memory-knowledges and “Cush” knowledges.

[7] In the same:

I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon as among them that know Me; behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Cush; this one was born there (in the city of God) (Psalms 87:4).

“Cush” denotes knowledges from the Word; and therefore it is said that he “was born in the city of God.” It is because “Cush” signifies the interior knowledges of the Word and the intelligence thence derived, that it is said that the second river that went forth from the garden of Eden “encompassed the whole land of Cush” (concerning which see n. 117).