10199. 'Incense of spices' means a hearing and receiving with pleasure. This is clear from the meaning of 'incense' as the Lord's hearing and receiving with pleasure everything of worship that springs from love and charity, dealt with in 10177; and from the meaning of 'spices' as things that bring pleasure. Things bringing pleasure are meant by 'spices' on account of their odour; for 'odour' means perception, and therefore a sweet odour means a perception of that which brings pleasure, while an offensive odour means that which brings no pleasure. All things perceived by a person with the sensory organs of smell, taste, sight, hearing, and touch mean spiritual realities connected with the good of love and the truths of faith. Consequently smell means the perception of interior truth springing from the good of love; taste means perception and the desire to know and become wise; sight means an understanding of the truths of faith; hearing means perception resulting from the good of faith and from obedience; and touch in general means imparting, conveying, and being received.

[2] The reason why they have these meanings is that every reception of impressions by the outward senses begins in reception by the inward senses, which belong to the understanding and will, and so begins within the person, in the truths of faith and the good of love since these constitute the understanding and will within the human mind. Yet inward sensations, which belong properly to a person's understanding and will, do not feel the same as the outward ones, though they are turned into outward sensations when they flow in. For all the perceptions that a person receives by means of his outward sensory organs flow from inward powers of mind. The path all influx takes is from inward things to outward ones, not from outward to inward, since there is no such thing as physical influx - that is, influx from the natural world into the spiritual world - only influx from the spiritual world into the natural. A person's inner powers, which belong properly to understanding and will, exist in the spiritual world, and his outward ones, which belong properly to the bodily senses, exist in the natural world. From all this too it becomes clear what correspondence is and what the nature of it is.

[3] In general, smell corresponds to perception of some reality, as determined by the essential nature of the matter that is being perceived, see 1514, 1517-1519, 3577, 4624-4634, 10054.

Taste corresponds to perception and the desire to know and become wise, 3502, 4791-4805.

Sight corresponds to an understanding of the truths of faith, 3863, 4403-4421, 4567, 5114, 5400, 6805.

Hearing corresponds to perception of the good of faith and to obedience, 3869, 4652-4660, 7216, 8361, 9311, 9926.

Touch means imparting, conveying, and being received, 10130.

[4] ¹ The fact that such things as are perceived with pleasure are meant by 'spices' - the kinds that spring from love and charity, in particular interior truths since they spring from these - is clear from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

Instead of spice ² there will be rottenness, and instead of a girdle, a falling apart, and instead of well-set hair ³ , baldness. Isaiah 3:24.

This refers to the daughters of Zion, by whom the celestial Church is meant, a Church in possession of interior truths springing from the good of love to the Lord. 'Spice' here means interior truth, 'rottenness' deprivation of it; 'a girdle' means a joining together, and 'a falling apart' the dissolution of connection and order; 'well-set hair' means factual knowledge of truth, which is exterior truth or truth as the external man knows it, and 'baldness' deprivation of that truth.

'A girdle' means a joining together and a bond to ensure that everything is held in connection and has the same end in view, see 9828.

'Well-set hair' means factual knowledge of truth, 2831 ⁴ .

'Baldness' means deprivation of that truth, 9960.

[5] In Ezekiel,

A great eagle with [great] wings came on Lebanon, and from it took a twig of the cedar away into the land of Canaan ⁵ ; in the city of spicers he put the top of it ⁶ . Ezekiel 17:3-4.

This refers in the internal sense to the beginnings and growth of the spiritual Church, and then its corruption and end. 'A great eagle with [great] wings' means the interior truth which that Church possessed, 3901, 8764, 'wings' its exterior truths, 8764, 9514. 'Lebanon' is that Church, 'the cedar' there being the spiritual Church's truth. 'The city of spicers' is a place where teachings composed of interior truth are presented, 'cities' in the Word meaning religious teachings, see 402, 2449, 3216, 4492, 4493. It is called 'the city of spicers' by virtue of its interior truths.

[6] In the same prophet,

The traders of Sheba and Raamah with the best of [every] spice, and with every precious stone and gold, carried out ⁷ their dealings. Ezekiel 27:22.

This refers to Tyre, which means the Church in respect of cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth. 'The traders' are those who possess these and pass them on; 'Sheba and Raamah' are those with whom cognitions of celestial and spiritual things exist; 'the best of spice' is that which by virtue of interior truths brings pleasure; 'precious stone' is those very truths; and 'gold' is the good that goes with them.

Tyre means the Church in respect of interior cognitions of goodness and truth, and in the abstract sense those cognitions themselves, see 1201.

'The traders' are those who possess these and pass them on, 2967, 4453.

'Sheba and Raamah' are those with whom cognitions of celestial and spiritual things exist, 1171, 3240.

'Precious stone' is interior truth, 9863, 9865, 9873, 9874.

'Gold' is the good that goes with it, see the places referred to in 9874, 9881.

[7] From all this one may see what was represented by the queen of Sheba's coming to Solomon in Jerusalem with camels carrying spices, gold, and precious stones, 1 Kings 10:1-2, and by the offering of gold, frankincense, and myrrh which the wise men from the east made to the new-born Jesus, Matthew 2:11. Because 'spices' meant interior truths, thus those which bring pleasure, the incense and also the anointing oil, dealt with further on in this chapter, were scented with spices.

[8] By interior truths those truths which have become part of a person's life and affection, thus those inwardly present in him, should be understood, but not truths which are present solely in the memory and have not become part of that person's life. These truths in relation to the others are called external ones, since they have not been inscribed on the person's life, only on his memory. They reside in the external man and not in the internal. Truths of faith which have been inscribed on a person's life are present in the will, and what is in the will is present in the internal man. For by means of the truths of faith the internal man is opened up and contact with heaven is brought about. From this it is evident that the interior truths present with a person are ones that spring from the good of love and charity. Whether you say will or love it amounts to the same thing, for what composes a person's will composes his love. Therefore the truths inscribed on the person's life, called interior truths, are ones that have been inscribed on his love, and so on the will, from which they afterwards go forth when they pass into speech and action.

[9] For heaven, in which the internal man that has been opened up is present, does not enter truths directly but indirectly, through the good of love. But heaven cannot come in when a person's internal man is closed, because there is no good of love there to receive it. In the case therefore of those with whom the internal man has not been opened by means of truths springing from the good of love and charity hell enters with falsities arising from evil, no matter how many truths of faith, even interior ones, are residing in the external man alone, that is, in the memory.

From all this one may now see what should be understood by interior truths that bring pleasure, which are meant by 'spices', namely those which spring from the good of love and charity.

脚注:

10130. 'Everyone touching the altar will be sanctified' means whoever receives what is Divine and the Lord's. This is clear from the meaning of 'touching' as an imparting, conveying, and being received, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'the altar' as that which is representative of the Lord in respect of the good of love, at this point in heaven and in the Church, dealt with above in 10129; and from the meaning of 'being sanctified' as receiving what is Divine and the Lord's, also dealt with above, in 10128. The reason why 'touching' means an imparting, conveying, and being received is that a person's inner feelings are expressed by outward means, in particular by touch, and are thereby imparted and conveyed to another; and insofar as the will of the other is in tune and at one with his they are received. Whether you say the will or the love, it amounts to the same thing; for whatever a person loves he likewise wills. From this it also follows that the inner feelings a person has as a result of what he loves and therefore thinks are expressed through touch, and by means of it are imparted and conveyed to another. And insofar as the other loves the person expressing those feelings or loves the things which that person says and does, those feelings are received.

[2] This is especially apparent in the next life, for all people's actions there flow from the heart, that is, from their will or love. They are not allowed to act with gestures separate from their will or love, nor to speak with fraudulent lips, that is, separately from the thoughts of the heart. There it is evident how inner feelings are imparted and conveyed to another by touch, and how the other's reception of them is determined by his own love. Everyone's will or love constitutes the entire person there, and the sphere of life from it flows out from him like breath or an exhalation, envelops him, and constitutes an extension of himself, so to speak, around himself, in a way scarcely different from the emission around plants in the world, which is also detected at a distance through their odours, and also that around animals, which is actually detected by a dog with its keen sense of smell. There is a like emission from every human being, as also a wealth of experience makes known. But when a person lays aside the body and becomes a spirit or an angel that emission or exhalation is not material, as it was in the world; instead it is something spiritual flowing from his love. This love produces a sphere around him, which enables other spirits to detect at a distance what he is like. See what has been shown regarding this sphere in the places referred to in 9606.

[3] Since in their world this sphere is imparted and conveyed to another, and is received by him in accordance with his love, very many wonders occur there which are unknown to people in the world, such as,

1. People's presence with one another is always due to the likeness of their loves, and their absence from one another is always due to unlikeness.

2. All are brought into association with one another on the basis of their loves. Those governed by love to the Lord received from the Lord live in association with one another in the inmost heaven; those governed by love towards the neighbour received from the Lord live in association with one another in the middle heaven; and those governed by the obedience of faith, that is, those who do the truth for its own sake, live in association with one another in the lowest heaven. But those ruled by self-love and love of the world, that is, those who do what they do with selfish and worldly ends in view, live in association with one another in hell.

[4] 3. All turn their eyes towards those they love. Those who love the Lord turn their eyes towards the Lord as the Sun; those who love the neighbour with love received from the Lord turn their eyes towards the Lord as the Moon; and those who do the truth for its own sake act in a similar way. (Regarding the Lord as the Sun and as the Moon, see what has been shown in 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4321 (end), 5097, 5377, 7078, 7083, 7171, 7173, 8644, 8812.) And what is astonishing, whichever way they face, that is, whichever of the four quarters they turn towards, they still behold the Lord in front of them. The opposite is so with those in hell; the more they are ruled there by self-love and by love of the world, the more they turn from the Lord and have Him behind their back. And again this is so whichever way they face or whichever quarter they turn towards.

[5] 4. When an angel of heaven focuses his attention on others his inner feelings are imparted and conveyed to them, according to the amount and the essential nature of his love; and it is received by them according to the essential nature and the amount of their love. If therefore attention is focused by an angel of heaven on those who are good, it gives rise to gladness and joy; but if it is focused on the evil, it gives rise to pain and torment.

[6] But an imparting, conveying, and being received is also meant by touching with the hand because the whole body's capacity to act is concentrated in the arms and hands, and in the Word interior things are expressed by means of exterior ones. So it is that power is meant by 'the arms', by 'the hands', and especially by 'the right hand', see the places referred to in 10019, and what has been stated in 10023, 10076; and so it is that whatever resides with a person, thus the entire person in his capacity to act, is meant by 'the hands', see the places referred to in 10019. Furthermore all the outward senses of sight, hearing, taste, and smell are connected with touch, being varieties of touch, as is well known in the learned world.

[7] The meaning of 'touching' as an imparting, conveying, and being received is clear from a great number of places in the Word, of which let the following be brought to the fore: In Moses,

You shall anoint the tent of meeting, and the ark of the Testimony, and the table and all its vessels, and the lampstand and its vessels, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering and all its vessels, and the laver and its pedestal. Thus you shall sanctify them, that they may be the holy of holies. Everyone who touches them will be made holy. Exodus 30:26-29.

In the same author,

Everything that touches the remainder of the minchah and the remainder of the flesh from the sacrifices, which are for Aaron and his sons, will be made holy. Leviticus 6:18, 27.

In Daniel,

The angel touched Daniel ¹ and raised him onto his knees; and he touched his lips and opened his mouth; and again he touched him and strengthened him. Daniel 10:10, 16, 18.

In Isaiah,

One of the seraphim touched my mouth with the burning coal; he said, Behold, this has touched your lips, therefore your iniquity has departed and your sin is expiated. Isaiah 6:7.

In Jeremiah,

Jehovah put out His hand and touched my mouth, and said, I am putting ² My words into your mouth. Jeremiah 1:9.

In Matthew,

Jesus, stretching out a hand to the leper, touched him, saying, I am willing; be clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:3.

In the same gospel,

Jesus saw Peter's mother-in-law sick with a fever, and He touched her hand, and the fever left her. Matthew 8:14-15.

In the same gospel,

Jesus touched the eyes of the blind, and their eyes were opened. Matthew 9:29-30.

In the same gospel,

Jesus touched the eyes of the two blind men, and immediately they received sight. Matthew 20:34.

In Luke,

Jesus touched the servant's ³ ear and healed [him]. Luke 22:51.

In Mark,

They brought the sick to Jesus, that they might just touch the hem of His clothing; and as many as touched [Him] were made well. Mark 6:56; Matthew 14:36.

In Luke,

A woman suffering from a discharge of blood touched the hem of Jesus' garment; and immediately the flow of blood stopped. Jesus said, Who is it who touched Me? Someone touched Me; I perceived that power had gone out from Me. Luke 8:44-48.

In Mark,

They brought young children to Jesus, that He might touch them. And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them. Mark 10:13, 16.

[8] From these quotations it is evident that 'touching' means an imparting, conveying, and being received.

[9] This is similarly evident in places where uncleannesses are the subject, by which evils and falsities that come from the hells are meant in the internal sense, as in Moses,

Whoever touches the dead body of any person ⁴ will be unclean for seven days. Whoever touches a dead body, that of a person who has died ⁵ , and has not expiated himself, defiles Jehovah's dwelling-place; therefore this soul shall be cut off from Israel. Everyone who has touched on the surface of the field one slain with the sword, or one dead, or a human bone, or a sepulchre will be unclean for seven days. Whoever touches the water of separation will be unclean until the evening. Everything that the unclean person has touched will become unclean; and the soul who has touched it will be unclean until the evening. Numbers 19:11, 13, 16, 21-22.

In the same author,

He who touches unclean beasts, unclean creeping things, will be unclean until the evening. Everything onto which [any of them] falls will be unclean; whether it is a wooden vessel, a garment, water, an earthenware vessel, food, drink, an oven, a spring, a cistern, [or] a water-tank, it will be unclean. Leviticus 11:31-36.

The like occurs at Leviticus 5:2-3; 7:21.

In the same book,

[A person] who has a discharge is unclean. A man (vir) who touches that person's bed ..., if he sits on a vessel on which the person has sat ..., whoever touches that person's flesh [or] his garments ..., if someone suffering from a discharge spits on one who is clean ..., a seat ⁶ on which he rides ..., an earthenware vessel ..., a wooden vessel ..., he will be unclean. Leviticus 15:1-end.

So too one who touches a leper, Leviticus 22:4. In the same book,

If any of the carcass falls onto any sowing seed which is sown, it will be clean. But if water is put onto the seed, and the carcass falls onto it, it will be unclean. Leviticus 11:37-38.

[10] By these uncleannesses are meant various kinds of evils and consequent falsities coming from hell, which have been imparted, conveyed, and received. Each particular uncleanness means some specific evil; for evils are what render a person unclean, because they infect his soul. Also the evils in their hearts gush out of evil spirits and genii, and - depending on how convincing the false ideas accompanying evil are - they infect those who are present. This contagious influence is what is meant by touching uncleannesses.

[11] In Moses,

Of the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden you shall not eat, nor shall you touch it, or else you will die. Genesis 3:3.

In the same book,

The angel who wrestled with Jacob, seeing that he did not prevail against him, touched the socket of his thigh, and the socket of the thigh was out of joint. Genesis 32:25.

In the same author,

Moses said that they should not touch anything that belonged to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, lest they be consumed on account of all their sins. Numbers 16:26.

In Isaiah,

Depart, depart. Do not touch the unclean thing. Go out from the midst of her; be purified, bearers of Jehovah's vessels. Isaiah 52:11.

In Jeremiah,

They went astray blind in the streets, they are defiled with blood. Things which have no power they touch with their garments. Depart; he is unclean. They cry out to them, Depart, do not touch [us]. Lamentations 4:14-15.

In Haggai,

Behold, if a man carries ⁷ holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and his skirt touches bread, or wine, or oil, or any food whatever, still it will not be made holy. If one who is unclean from a dead body ⁸ touches any of them whatever still he will be unclean. Haggai 2:12-14.

In Hosea,

Perjuring, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery; they commit robbery, and blood touches blood ⁹ . Therefore the land will mourn. Hosea 4:2-3.

脚注: