408. Verse 15. And the kings of the earth, and the great ones, and the rich, and the commanders of thousands, and the mighty, signify all internal goods and truths, and all external goods and truths, by means of which there are wisdom and intelligence. This is evident from the signification of "kings," as being truths from good in their whole complex (of which above, n. 31; from the signification of "great ones, and the rich," as being internal goods and truths (of which presently); from the signification of "commanders of thousands and the mighty" as being external goods and truths; "commanders of thousands" meaning such goods, and "the mighty" such truths (of which also presently). It is added, "by means of which there are wisdom and intelligence," because from internal goods and truths, which are spiritual goods and truths, there is wisdom, and from external goods and truths, which are natural goods and truths from spiritual, there is intelligence. Wisdom differs from intelligence in this, that wisdom is from the light of heaven, and intelligence from the light of the world enlightened by the light of heaven; this is why wisdom is predicated of spiritual goods and truths, and intelligence of natural goods and truths; for spiritual goods and truths are from the light of heaven, because the spiritual mind or the internal mind is in the light of heaven; and natural goods and truths are from the light of the world, because the natural or external mind is in the light of the world; but so far as this mind receives the light of heaven through the spiritual mind, so far it is in intelligence. He who believes that intelligence is from the light of the world only, which is called natural light, is much deceived. Intelligence means seeing from oneself truths and goods, whether civil, moral, or spiritual, while seeing them from another is not intelligence but knowledge [scientia]. Yet that it may be known how these things are to be understood, see what is said in a preceding article n. 406, namely, that man has two minds, the one spiritual or internal, the other natural or external, and that the spiritual or internal mind is opened with those who apply the goods and truths of the Word to the life, while in those who do not apply the goods and truths of the Word to the life, that mind is not opened, but only the natural or external mind; such are thence called natural men, but the former spiritual.

To this let it be added, that so far as the spiritual or internal mind is opened, spiritual light, which is the light of heaven, flows in through it from the Lord into the natural or external mind, and enlightens that mind and gives intelligence. The goods and truths that constitute the spiritual or internal mind are meant by "the great ones and the rich," goods by "the great ones," and truths by "the rich;" and the goods and truths that constitute the natural or external mind are meant by "the commanders of thousands and the mighty," these goods by "the commanders of thousands," and these truths by "the mighty." This makes clear that these words, in the internal sense, include all things that are with man; for the extinction of all these is treated of in what follows. All things with man as well as all things in the universe have reference to good and truth; it is from these and according to these that man has all wisdom and intelligence.

[2] He who looks only to the sense of the letter cannot see otherwise than that kings and the chief men in their kingdoms are here meant, and that so many are mentioned in order to exalt that sense; but in the Word no word is meaningless, for the Divine is in all things and in everything of the Word. So these must mean things Divine, which are of heaven and the church, and which are called, in general, celestial and spiritual, and from these the Word is Divine, celestial, and spiritual. Moreover, the Word was given that by it there may be conjunction of heaven with the church, or of the angels of heaven with the men of the church (See in the work on Heaven and Hell 303-310); and such conjunction would not be possible if nothing else were meant by these words than what stands forth in the sense of the letter, namely, that the kings of the earth, the great ones, the rich, the commanders of thousands, and the mighty, as also every servant and every freeman, were to hide themselves in caves and in the rocks of the mountains, for these are natural things; but when spiritual things are at the same time understood by these there is conjunction. In no other way could angels be conjoined with men, for the angels are spiritual because they are in the spiritual world and thus both think spiritually and speak spiritually; while men are natural, because they are in the natural world, and thence think naturally and speak naturally. This is said to make known that "the kings of the earth, the great ones, the rich, the commanders of thousands, and the mighty," signify also things spiritual. That these mean spiritual things, namely, "the great ones and the rich" internal goods and truths, and "the commanders of thousands and the mighty" external goods and truths, can be seen from their signification where they are mentioned in the Word.

[3] "Great ones" in the Word signify internal goods which are the goods of the internal or spiritual man, because "great" and "greatness" in the Word are predicated of good, and "many" and "multitude" of truth (See above, n. 336, 337). Internal goods are signified by "great ones," because these four, namely, "great ones," "the rich," "the commanders of thousands" and "the mighty" signify all the goods and truths that are with man, thus the goods and truths both of the internal or spiritual man and of the external or natural man; "the great ones and the rich" meaning the goods and truths of the internal or spiritual man, and "the commanders of thousands and the mighty" the goods and truths of the external or natural man; so it is added, "every servant and every freeman," "servant" signifying the external of man, which is called the natural man, and "freeman" the internal of man, which is called the spiritual man. Like things are signified by "great ones" elsewhere in the Word (namely in Jeremiah 5:5; in Nahum 3:10; and in Jonah 3:7).

That "the rich" signify internal truths, which are spiritual truths or those who are in such truths, is evident from what has been shown above (n. 118, 236). That "the commanders of thousands" signify external goods, which are the goods of the natural man, has also been shown above (n. 336); it is therefore unnecessary to say more respecting these. But that "the mighty" signify external truths, or truths of the natural man, is evident from many passages in the Word, where "the mighty" and "the strong," likewise "power" and "strength" are mentioned; this is because truths from good, and indeed truths that are in the natural man, have all power. Truths from good are what have all power, because good does not act of itself, but by truths, for good forms itself in truths, and clothes itself with them, as the soul does with the body, and so acts; it acts by truths in the natural man, because there all interior things are together, and in their fullness. (That truths from good, or good by means of truths, has all power may be seen above, n. 209, 333; and in the work on Heaven and Hell 231, 232, 539; and that all power is in ultimates, because the Divine is there in its fullness, see above, n. 346; and Arcana Coelestia 9836, 10044.) From this it can be seen that "the mighty" mean external truths, or truths of the natural man.