2466. That the things now set forth are signified in the internal sense, can be confirmed, and indeed as to each word; but most of them have been confirmed before, and besides, they are such as do violence to our ideas and give offense to chaste ears. From the summary explication we can see that by the things in question there is described the origin of such a religion as is signified in the Word by “Moab” and the “son of Ammon.” The nature of this religion will be told hereafter, where Moab and the son of Ammon are treated of. That it is adulterated good and falsified truth, is evident. The adulterations of good and the falsifications of truth are commonly described in the Word by “adulteries” and “whoredoms,” and are also so called, the reason of which is based on the fact that good and truth form a marriage with each other (n. 1904, 2173); nay, incredible as it may appear to most, it is from this marriage as from its genuine origin that there comes the sanctity of marriages on earth, and also the laws of marriages given in the Word.

[2] For the case is this: When celestial and spiritual things descend out of heaven into a lower sphere, they are there turned in the most perfect manner into some likeness of marriages, and this from the correspondence that exists between spiritual and natural things (concerning which correspondence of the Lord’s Divine mercy elsewhere). But when they are perverted in the lower sphere, as is done where evil genii and evil spirits are present, the same are then turned into such things as belong to adulteries and whoredoms. Hence it is that contaminations of good and perversions of truth are described in the Word by adulteries and whoredoms, and are also so named, as is very evident from the following passages in Ezekiel:

Thou didst commit whoredom because of thy name, and pouredst out thy whoredoms on everyone that passed by; thou didst take of thy garments and madest for thee high places decked with diverse colors, and didst commit whoredom upon them; thou didst take the vessels of thy adornment of My gold and of My silver, which I had given thee, and madest for thee images of a male, and didst commit whoredom with them; thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto Me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them. Was there but little of thy whoredoms? Thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt, thy neighbors, great of flesh and hast multiplied thy whoredom to provoke Me to anger; thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur, and hast committed whoredom with them, and wast not satisfied; and thou hast multiplied thy whoredom even unto the land of traffic, unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied therewith (Ezekiel 16:15-17, 20, 26, 28-29, etc.),

[3] where Jerusalem is treated of, by which is here signified the church perverted in respect to truths. Everyone can see that all these things have quite different meanings. That something of the church that has been perverted is called “whoredom” is quite evident; the “garments” here mentioned denote the truths that are being perverted; the falsities thence derived, which are worshiped, are the “high places decked with divers colors,” with which there was whoredom. (That “garments” denote truths may be seen above, n. 1073; and that “high places” denote worship, n. 796.)

The “vessels of adornment of gold and silver which I had given,” denote the knowledges of good and truth from the Word by which they confirm falsities; and when these appear as truths, they are called “images of a male” with which whoredom was committed. (That the “vessels of adornment of gold and silver,” denote the knowledges of good and truth, is evident from the signification of “gold,” as being good, n. 113, 1551, 1552; and of “silver” as being truth, n. 1551, 2048; and that the “images of a male” signify that they appear as truths may be seen above, n. 2046.) That the “sons and daughters” which they bore and sacrificed to them denote the truths and goods which they have perverted, is evident from the signification of “sons and daughters” (see n. 489-491, 533, 2362). That to “commit whoredom with the sons of Egypt,” denotes to pervert these truths and goods by means of memory-knowledges is evident from the signification of “Egypt” as being memory-knowledge (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462). That to “commit whoredom with the sons of Asshur,” denotes to pervert them by reasonings, is evident from the signification of “Asshur,” as being reasoning (n. 119, 1186). That to “multiply whoredom even unto the land of Chaldea,” denotes to pervert them even to the profanation of truth, which is “Chaldea” (n. 1368). All this makes clear what is the nature of the internal sense of the Word in the very sense of the letter.

[4] In like manner elsewhere in the same Prophet:

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom in Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth; Samaria is Oholah, Jerusalem is Oholibah. Oholah committed whoredom under Me, and she doted on her lovers, the Assyrians her neighbors, she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, the choice of all the sons of Asshur; she hath not forsaken her whoredoms from Egypt, for they lay with her in her youth. Oholibah corrupted her love more than she, and her whoredoms more than the whoredoms of her sister; she doted upon the sons of Asshur; she added to her whoredoms, and saw the images of the Chaldeans, she doted upon them at the view of her eyes; the sons of Babel came to her into the bed of loves (Ezekiel 23:2-5, 7-8, 11-12, 14, 16, etc.).

“Samaria” denotes the church which is in the affection of truth, and “Jerusalem” that which is in the affection of good; whose “whoredoms with the Egyptians,” and “with the sons of Asshur,” denote perversions of good and truth by means of memory-knowledges and reasonings, by which falsities are confirmed, as is evident from the signification of “Egypt” (n. 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462); and of “Asshur” (n. 119, 1186). That this was done even to profane worship, which in respect to truth is “Chaldea” (n. 1368); and in respect to good is the “sons of Babel” (n. 1182, 1326).

[5] In Isaiah:

And it shall come to pass at the end of seventy years that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her harlot hire, and shall commit whoredom with all the kingdoms of the earth (Isaiah 23:17).

It is the vaunting of what is false that is signified by the “harlot hire” and the “whoredom” of Tyre. That “Tyre” denotes the knowledges of truth may be seen above (n. 1201); and also that the “kingdoms” with which the whoredom was committed denote truths (n. 1672).

[6] In Jeremiah:

Thou hast committed whoredom with many companions; and return again unto Me. Lift up thine eyes unto the hills, and see; where hast thou not been debauched? Upon the ways hast thou sat for them as an Arab in the wilderness, and thou hast profaned the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness (Jeremiah 3:1-2).

To “commit whoredoms” and to “profane the land with whoredoms” denote to pervert and falsify the truths of the church (that the “land” denotes the church see above, n. 662, 1066, 1067).

[7] Again:

By the voice of her whoredom she hath profaned the land, she hath committed adultery with stone and with wood (Jeremiah 3:9);

to “commit adultery with stone and with wood,” denotes to pervert the truths and goods of external worship (that “stone” is such truth may be seen above, n. 643, 1298; and that “wood” is such good, n. 643).

[8] Again:

Because they have wrought folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with the wives of their fellows, and have spoken a word in My name that is false, which I commanded them not (Jeremiah 29:23);

to “commit adultery with the wives of their fellows,” is to teach falsity as from them.

[9] Again:

In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing, in committing adultery and walking in falsehood (Jeremiah 23:14); where to “commit adultery” regards good which is contaminated; and to “walk in falsehood” regards truth which is perverted. Again:

I have seen thine abominations; thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the foulness of thy whoredom upon the hills in the field. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem, thou wilt not be made clean; how long shall it yet be? (Jeremiah 13:27).

[10] In Hosea:

Whoredom, and wine, and new wine, have taken possession of the heart. My people inquireth of wood, and the staff thereof will declare it; for the spirit of whoredom hath led them astray, and they have committed whoredom from under their God; they sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under the oak, the poplar, and the terebinth [robore]; therefore your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery; shall I not visit upon your daughters because they commit whoredom, and upon your daughters-in-law because they commit adultery? For they divide with whores, and sacrifice with prostitutes (Hos. 4:11-14).

What each of these things signifies in the internal sense can be seen from the signification of “wine,” as being falsity; of “new wine,” as being the evil thence derived; of the “wood that is inquired of,” as being the good of the delight of some cupidity; of the “staff that will declare,” as being the imaginary power of their understanding; also of the “mountains” and the “hills,” as being the loves of self and of the world; of the “oak, the poplar, and the terebinth,” as being so many gross perceptions thence derived in which they trust; of “daughters” and the “daughters-in-law” as being such affections; all of which show what is here signified by “whoredoms,” “adulteries,” and “harlots.”

[11] In the same:

O Israel, thou hast committed whoredom over thy God, thou hast loved harlot hire upon all the corn floors (Hos. 9:1);

“harlot hire” denotes the vaunting of what is false.

In Moses:

Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they commit whoredom after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods; and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifices, and thou take of his daughters for thy sons, and his daughters commit whoredom after their gods, and make thy sons commit whoredom after their gods (Exodus 34:15-16).

In the same:

I will cut off all that commit whoredom after him, committing whoredom after Molech, from the midst of their people; and the soul that turneth unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto the soothsayers, to commit whoredom after them, I will set My face against that soul, and will cut him off from the midst of his people (Leviticus 20:5-6

In the same:

Your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your bodies be consumed in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33).

In the same:

Remember all the precepts of Jehovah, and do them, that ye seek not after your own heart, and your own eyes, after which ye do commit whoredom (Numbers 15:39).

[12] And still more plainly in John:

An angel said, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed whoredom, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her whoredom (Revelation 17:1-2).

The “great harlot” denotes those who are in profane worship; the “many waters” upon which she sits, are knowledges (n. 28, 739); the “kings of the earth” who have committed whoredom with her, are the truths of the church (n. 1672, 2015, 2069); the “wine” with which they were made drunk, is falsity (n. 1071, 1072). Because “wine” and “drunkenness” signify these things, it is said of the daughters of Lot, that they made their father drink wine (verses 32-33, 35).

[13] In the same:

Babylon hath made all nations drink of the wine of the fury of her whoredom, and the kings of the earth have committed whoredom with her (Revelation 18:3).

“Babylon” or “Babel” denotes a worship the externals of which appear holy, while the interiors are profane (n. 1182, 1295, 1326); the “nations that she makes to drink,” are the goods which are being profaned (n. 1259, 1260, 1416, 1849); the “kings” who committed whoredom with her, are truths (n. 1672, 2015, 2069). In the same:

True and just are the judgments of the Lord God, for He hath judged the great harlot, who corrupted the earth with her whoredom (Revelation 19:2); where the “earth” denotes the church (n. 566, 662, 1066, 1068, 2117, 2118).

[14] As “whoredoms” signify such things, and “daughters” signify affections, it was therefore forbidden so severely that the daughter of a priest should commit whoredom; concerning which we read in Moses:

The daughter of a priest, having begun to commit whoredom, she is profaning her father, she shall be burned with fire (Leviticus 21:9).

It was also commanded that they should not bring the hire of a harlot into the house of Jehovah, because it is an abomination (Deuteronomy 23:18). And for the same reason there was such an inquisitorial process concerning a wife whose husband had conceived a suspicion of adultery (Numbers 5:12-31), in which instance each and all things have relation to the adulterations of good. Moreover in the Word many different kinds of adulteries and whoredoms are spoken of, and still more varieties. This kind which is here described by Lot’s daughters lying with their father, is what is called “Moab” and the “son of Ammon,” now to be explained.

1066. And from these was the whole earth overspread. That this signifies that from them were derived all doctrines, both true and false, is evident from the signification of “earth.” “Earth” or “land” in the Word, is used with various meanings. In the universal sense it denotes the place or region where the church is, or where it has been, as the land of Canaan, the land of Judah, the land of Israel. Thus it denotes universally everyone that belongs to the church, since the land is predicated of the man who is in it, as we know in common speech. In ancient times therefore when men spoke of the “whole earth” they did not mean the whole globe, but only the land where the church was, and thus the church itself; as is evident from the following passages in the Word.

In Isaiah:

Behold, Jehovah maketh the earth empty; the earth shall be utterly emptied; the earth shall mourn and be confounded; the earth also shall be polluted under the inhabitants thereof; therefore shall the curse devour the earth; therefore the inhabitants of the earth shall be burned, and man shall be left feeble. The cataracts from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth do shake; the earth is utterly broken; the earth is clean dissolved; the earth is moved exceedingly; the earth reeling shall reel like a drunken man, and shall be moved to and fro like a hut, and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again (Isaiah 24:1, 3-6, 18-20).

The “earth” here denotes the people who are in it, and in fact the people of the church, thus the church itself, and the vastated things of the church, of which when vastated it is said that they are “emptied” “moved exceedingly” “reel like a drunken man” “move to and fro” and “fall, not to rise again.”

[2] That by “earth” or “land” is signified man, consequently the church, which is of man, may be seen in Malachi:

All nations shall call you happy; for ye shall be a delightsome land (Malachi 3:12).

That “earth” denotes the church is seen in Isaiah:

Have ye not understood the foundations of the earth? (Isaiah 40:21), where the “foundations of the earth” denote the foundations of the church.

Again:

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; Revelation 21:1).

“New heavens and a new earth” denote the kingdom of the Lord and the church.

In Zechariah:

Jehovah, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him (Zechariah 12:1), meaning the church.

Also, as before, in Genesis:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

And the heavens and the earth were finished (Genesis 2:1).

These are the nativities of the heavens and of the earth (Genesis 2:4), everywhere denoting the church created, formed, and made.

In Joel:

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon were darkened (Joel 2:10), meaning the church and the things of the church; when these are vastated, “heaven and earth” are said to quake, and the “sun and moon” to grow dark, that is, love and faith.

[3] In Jeremiah:

I beheld the earth, and lo a void and emptiness; and the heavens, and they had no light (Jeremiah 4:23).

Here the “earth” plainly denotes the man in whom there is not anything of the church.

Again:

The whole earth shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full consummation; for this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black (Jeremiah 4:27-28).

Here also the church is meant, whose exteriors are the “earth” and the interiors the “heavens” of which it is said that they shall be black, with no light in them, when there is no longer wisdom of good and intelligence of truth. Then the earth also is empty and void; and in like manner the man of the church who should be a church.

That by the “whole earth” is meant in other places also only the church, may be seen in Daniel:

The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces (Daniel 7:23); the “whole earth” denotes the church and what is of the church; for the Word does not treat, like profane writings, of monarchial sovereignties, but of the holy things and states of the church, which are here signified by the “kingdoms of the earth.”

[4] In Jeremiah:

A great tempest shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth; and the slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth (Jeremiah 25:32-33);

here “from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth” means the church and everything that is of the church.

In Isaiah:

The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; they break forth into singing (Isaiah 14:7),

where the “whole earth” denotes the church.

In Ezekiel:

When the whole earth rejoiceth (Ezekiel 35:14), where also the “whole earth” denotes the church.

In Isaiah:

I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth (Isaiah 54:9), where the “earth” denotes the church, because the church is there treated of.

[5] Because “land” or “earth” in the Word signifies the church, it signifies also what is not the church, for every such word has contrary or opposite meanings; as for example the various lands of the Gentiles; in general all lands outside the land of Canaan. “Land” is therefore taken also for the people and for the man outside the church, and hence for the external man, for his will, his Own, and so forth. The term is rarely used in the Word for the whole world, except when the whole human race is meant as regards their state, whether of the church or not of the church. And because the earth is the containant of the ground, which also signifies the church, and the ground is the containant of the field, the word “earth” signifies, because it involves, many things; and what it signifies is evident from the subject treated of, which is that of which the term is predicated. From all this it is evident that by the “whole earth” that was overspread by the sons of Noah, is not signified the whole world, or the whole human race, but all the doctrines both true and false that were of the churches.