1. Dat het Woord van het Oude Testament verborgenheden van de hemel bevat, en dat zowel het geheel als elke bijzonderheid daarvan op de Heer betrekking heeft, op Zijn hemel, op de Kerk, op het geloof en de dingen van het geloof, kan geen sterveling uit de letter opmaken. Uit de letter of uit de letterlijke zin ziet niemand iets anders, dan dat het in het algemeen gaat over de uiterlijke dingen van de Joodse Kerk, terwijl er overal een innerlijke zin is, dat nergens in het uiterlijke aan het licht komt, behalve dan het zeer weinige dat de Heer onthuld heeft en aan de apostelen heeft ontvouwd; zo bijvoorbeeld, dat de offeranden de Heer betekenen, het land Kanaän en Jeruzalem en ook het Paradijs, de hemel betekenen, waarom dan ook van het hemelse Kanaän en Jeruzalem gesproken wordt.

11. In the internal or spiritual sense of the Word innumerable things are hidden.

The Word in its internal sense contains many things which surpass human comprehension: 3085-3086. They cannot be expressed in words, and cannot be explained: 1955. They exist solely for the angels, and are understood by them: 167. The internal sense of the Word contains the hidden things of heaven, which have to do with the Lord and His kingdom in heaven and on earth: 1-4, 937. Those hidden things do not appear in the literal sense: 937, 1502, 2161. Many other things in the writings of the prophets, which appear as if randomly scattered, in the internal sense fit together continuously in a beautiful ¹ sequence: 7153, 9022. In its original language not a single word, not even a single jot, can be missing from the literal meaning without interruption of the internal sense; and for that very reason the Word, out of the Lord's divine providence, has been preserved so completely, down to the last tittle: 7933. There are innumerable things in each individual part of the Word: 6617, 6620, 8920. And in each and every phrase: 1869. Countless things are contained in the Lord's Prayer and in its individual petitions: 6619. And in the Ten Commandments; though in the external sense of these there are some ideas which are known to every nation without revelation: 8862, 8899. In every tiny little tittle of a letter of the Word in its original language there is something holy, revealed from Heaven, this may be seen in the work Heaven and Hell 260, where the words of the Lord are explained, that Not one jot or tittle shall be lost from the Law; Matthew 5:18.

Particularly in the prophetical part of the Word there are two expressions of the same thing, as it were, but one refers to what is good and the other to what is true: 683, 707, 2576, 8339. In the Word things relating to what is good and what is true are married together, to an amazing degree, but that marriage is evident only to one who is acquainted with the internal sense: 10554. So, in the Word and in its individual parts there are divine marriage and heavenly marriage: 683, 793, 801, 2173, 2516, 2712, 5138, 7022. Divine marriage, which is the marriage between divine good and divine truth, is thus the Lord in heaven, in whom alone that marriage exists there: 3004-3005, 3009, 4137, 5194, 5502, 6343, 7945, 8339, 9263, 9314. Through Jesus also there is signified divine good, and through Christ divine truth, and thus through both divine marriage in heaven is signified: 3004-3005, 3009. This marriage-and thus the Lord as regards divine good and divine truth-is in each individual part of the Word in its internal sense: 5502. The marriage of good and truth by the Lord in heaven and in the Church is what is called heavenly marriage: 2508, 2618, 2803, 3004, 3211, 3952, 6179. Thus in this respect the Word is heaven, so to speak: 2173, 10126. Heaven is likened to marriage in the Word from the marriage of good and truth there: 2758, 3132, 4434, 4835. The internal sense is itself the genuine doctrine of the Church: 9025, 9430, 10400. Those who understand the Word according to its internal sense know the true doctrine itself of the Church, because the internal sense contains that: 9025, 9430, 10400. The internal part of the Word is also the internal part of the Church, and so also of worship: 10460. The Word is the doctrine of love towards the Lord, and affectionate regard for your neighbour: 3419-3420.

The Word in its literal meaning is like a cloud, and its glory is in its internal sense-Preface to Genesis 18; also 5922, 6343-where there is explained that the Lord will come in the clouds of the sky with glory. Also 'cloud' in the Word signifies the Word in its literal sense, and 'glory' signifies the Word in its internal sense-Preface to Genesis 18: also 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8106, 8781, 9430, 10551, 10574. Things which are in the literal sense, compared to those in the internal sense, are like rough projections round a polished optical cylinder, from which nevertheless there exists in the cylinder a beautiful image of a man: 1871. Those who wish for and recognize only the literal sense are represented in the spiritual world as an ugly little old woman, while those who wish for and recognize at the same time the internal sense appear as a virgin finely clothed: 1774. The Word in all that it embraces is an image of heaven, because the Word is divine truth, and divine truth constitutes heaven, and heaven resembles one human, and in that respect The Word is an image of a human, as it were: 1871. That heaven in its total make-up resembles one human may be seen in the work Heaven and Hell 59-67. That divine truth proceeding from the Lord constitutes heaven, 126-140, 200-212. The Word is presented to the Angels in a beautiful and delightful way: 1767-1768. The literal sense is like a body, and the internal sense is like the soul of that body: 8943.

Consequently, life for the Word comes from its internal sense: 1405, 4857. The Word is pure in its internal sense, and it does not appear so in its literal sense: 2362, 2395. Things in the literal sense become holy from internal things: 10126, 10276. In the historical narratives of the Word also there is an internal sense, but within them: 4989. Thus the historical parts just as much as the prophetical parts contain hidden things of heaven: 755, 1659, 1709, 2310, 2333. The angels perceive these not in relation to history but in relation to doctrine, because they perceive them spiritually: 6884. The innermost hidden things in the historical narratives are less evident to humans than those in the prophetical parts for the simple reason that their minds are intent upon, and in contemplation of, the historical parts: 2176, 6597.

Moreover, the nature of the internal sense of the Word is shown: 1756, 1984, 2004, 2663, 3035, 7089, 10604, 10614, and it is illustrated by comparisons: 1873.

Fotnoter:

6343. 'You are my might' means that through faith comes the power which good possesses. This is clear from the representation of Reuben, to whom 'you' refers here, as faith in the understanding, referred to immediately above in 6342; and from the meaning of 'might' as the power which good possesses. As regards power - the power to think and will, perceive, do what is good, believe, dispel falsities and evils - it comes wholly from good through truth, good being its primary source and truth merely the channel through which it comes, 3563, 4931, 5623. The reason the power that good possesses is meant is that 'might' means that power, whereas 'strength' means the power of truth. Thus it is that 'the beginning of my strength', which comes next, means the initial power that truth possesses; for the word used in the original language to express 'strength' has reference in the Word to truth, whereas the word used to express 'might' has reference to good.

[2] The fact that the Word is holy, extremely holy in its inner senses, is plainly evident from the consideration that the heavenly marriage, which is the marriage of goodness and truth, thus heaven itself, is present within every detail of the Word. In the inmost sense every detail embodies the marriage of the Lord's Divine Human with His kingdom and Church; indeed the theme in the highest sense of all is the union of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human within the Lord. These extremely holy subjects contained in every detail of the Word are a plain indication that the Word has come down from the Divine. The truth of all this may be recognized from the consideration that where good is spoken of, so too is truth, and where what is internal is spoken of, so too is what is external. Also, there are expressions which always mean good, those which always mean truth, and those which mean both - both good and truth. Or if they do not mean them directly, they are nevertheless used with reference to them or else imply them. And such reference of those expressions to good and truth or their meaning them directly shows that every detail, as has been stated, embodies the marriage of goodness and truth, which is the heavenly marriage, and that the inmost and highest sense holds the Divine marriage which exists in the Lord, thus holds the Lord Himself, within it.

[3] All this reveals itself in every part of the Word, yet not plainly except in those places where the repetition of some matter occurs that is no more than a change of words, as in the present chapter, where Reuben is dealt with,

You are my might, and the beginning of my strength.

Also,

Excelling in eminence and excelling in worth.

Here 'might' is used in reference to good, and 'strength' to truth; 'excelling in eminence' is used in reference to truth, and 'excelling in worth' to good. Likewise in the next verse regarding Reuben,

You went up to your father's bed; at that time you profaned it - he went up to my couch.

Similarly further on, where Simeon and Levi are dealt with,

Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel. Verse 7.

Here 'anger' means a turning away from good and 'wrath' a turning away from truth. 'Jacob' is the external aspect of the Church and 'Israel' the internal aspect of it. Then where Judah is dealt with,

Your brothers will praise you; your father's sons will bow down to you. Verse 8.

Further on,

He binds his young ass to the vine, and the foal of his she-ass to the outstanding vine; he washes his clothing in wine, and his garment in the blood of grapes. Verse 11.

Where Zebulun is dealt with,

He will dwell at the haven of the seas, and he will be at the haven of ships. Verse 13.

Where Dan is dealt with,

He will be a serpent on the road, a darting serpent on the path. Verse 17.

[4] Similar examples occur frequently in the Psalms and among the Prophets, as in Isaiah,

Babel will not be dwelt in ever again, it will not be lived in even from generation to generation. Its time is near and about to come, and its days will not be prolonged. Isaiah 13:20, 22.

In the same prophet,

Search from above in the Book of Jehovah, and read: None of these will be missing, not one will not be left longing for its mate; ¹ for He has commanded with His mouth, and His Spirit has gathered them. The Same has cast the lot for them, and His hand has distributed to them by means of a measuring rod. Even for ever they will possess it, from generation to generation they will dwell in it. Isaiah 34:16-17.

More examples may be found in a thousand other places. Anyone who does not know that expressions are used in the Word to mean spiritual and celestial realities, and that some are used to refer to good but others to truth, will inevitably think that such usages are no more than repetitions that serve solely as fillers and so are in themselves meaningless. Thus it is that people who think ill of the Word also add this to the arguments they use in vilifying it. Yet utterly Divine things are concealed within those repetitions; that is to say, the heavenly marriage, which is heaven itself, and the Divine Marriage, which is the Lord Himself, are concealed in them. This [highest] sense is 'the glory' in which the Lord is present, while the literal sense is 'the cloud' in which that glory is present, Matthew 24:30; Luke 21:27. See Preface to Genesis 18, and also 5922.

Fotnoter: