9942. “要用细麻线的织工织内袍” 表从属天之爱的真理发出的属灵国度的至内在事物. 这从亚伦的衣服和 “细麻” 的含义清楚可知: 亚伦的衣服一般是指毗邻属天国度的属灵国度 (参看9814节), 内袍因是这些衣服当中最里面的, 故表示该国度的至内在事物,

“亚伦的内袍” 表示直接从神性属天层发出的属灵国度中的神性真理 (参看9826节);

“细麻” 是指来自一个属天源头的真理 (参看9469节). 论到这内袍, 经上说它要用织工来织, 织工是指编织工所织的东西;

“织工” 表示来自属天层之物 (9915节). 在原文, 表达 “织工” 的那个词也表示 “编织”.

这个内袍是织成的, 或用编织工的手工作成的, 这一点从出埃及记下面的经文明显看出来:

他们拿细麻线, 用编织工的手工为亚伦和他的儿子作内袍.(出埃及记 39:27)

内袍之所以是织成的, 也就是用细麻线织成的, 是为了让它可以代表直接从属天层发出之物; 相对之下, 它类似于属天层的一个延续. 事实上, 从属天层发出的事物类似从人心智的意愿发出之物; 因为属于一个人的理解力的一切事物都是从他的意愿发出的. 相对于那些由外在从意愿发出的事物, 那些由内在从意愿发出的事物可以说是从它那里延续来的. 因此, 那些由内在从意愿发出的事物主要有对真理的情感; 因为存在于理解力里面属于爱的一切情感都是从此人的意愿流入的. 天堂也有类似情形, 在那里, 属天国度对应于人的意愿, 属灵国度对应于他的理解力 (参看9835节). 由于亚伦的衣服代表毗邻主的属天国度的其属灵国度 (9814节), 所以内袍代表那里的至内在之物, 因而代表从属天国度发出, 离该国度最近之物; 因为内袍是最里面的衣服. 由此明显可知为何内袍是织成的, 或用织工作的, 又为何由细麻线来作. 因为 “织物” 表示来源于意愿或属天层之物 (9915节),

“细麻” 表示源于属天之爱的真理 (9469节).

圣言其它地方的 “内袍” (tunic, 或译内衣, 里衣, 上衣, 衣服等) 也表示从属天之物发出的属灵之物, 如那人和他妻子吃了知识树之后, 经上说耶和华为他们作 “皮衣” (创世记 3:20, 21). 没有人知道这些 “内袍” 表示来自一个属天源头的真理, 除非这个故事细节的内义被揭开; 所以有必要解释一下. 那里的 “那人和他的妻子” 表示属天教会, 作为丈夫的那人自己表示良善方面的属天教会, 他的妻子表示真理方面的属天教会; 这真理和这良善是属天教会的真理和良善. 但当该教会堕落时, 这种堕落通过基于记忆知识推理神之真理而发生, 在内义上由蛇的劝诱来表示, 属天教会堕落后的这第一个状态就是此处所描述的, 它的真理由 “皮衣” 来描述.

要知道, 在创世记第一章, 天地的创造在内义上表示并描述了那时教会成员的新造或重生, 因而属天教会的建立;

“园子” 表示并描述了那个教会的智慧和聪明, 吃知识树表示并描述了由于基于记忆知识推理神性事物所导致的它的堕落. 意思就是这样, 这一点从对这些章节的解释中关于这个主题的说明可以看出来. 因为创世记头几章所包含的一切事物都是虚构的历史, 就其内义而言, 是关于属天教会成员的新造或重生的神性事物, 如前所述. 这种写作方式在上古时代是惯常的, 不仅在属于教会的人当中是这样, 在教会之外的人当中也是这样, 如在阿拉伯人, 亚兰人或叙利亚人和希腊人当中, 这从那些时代的书籍, 无论圣的还是俗的明显看出来.

所罗门正是模仿这些书写了雅歌, 因为所罗门是从这些书中得到它的; 事实上, 这本书并不是一本圣书, 因为它不像圣书那样里面包含一系列天上的神性事物. 约伯记也是古教会的一本书. 经上, 如摩西五经 (民数记 21:14, 15, 27和以后的经文) 还提到现已遗失的古教会的圣书. 这些书的历史部分被称为 “耶和华战记”, 它们的预言部分被称为 “诗歌” (参看2686, 2897节). 被称为 “耶和华战记” 的历史部分的风格就具有这种性质, 这一事实从摩西所摘录并引用的部分内容明显看出来. 因此, 他们的历史叙述接近于一种预言的风格, 具有这种性质, 小孩子, 以及简单人可以将这些事物保留在自己的记忆中. 上面 (民数记 21章) 所提到的那些书是神圣的, 这一点从现存于21章28-30节的部分内容明显看出来, 可与耶利米书 (48:45, 46) 相对照, 那里有类似的话. 在教会之外的人当中, 这种风格是那时最常使用的, 几乎是唯一的风格, 这从那些教会之外的作家所写的寓言或神话传说清楚看出来; 他们将是非对错的道德观念, 或诸如属于情感和生命的那类事物都包裹在这些寓言或神话传说中.

在真实而非虚构的历史叙述中, 就是像创世记头几章虚构的历史章节之后出现在摩西五经中的历史, 以及出现在约书亚记, 士师记, 撒母耳记, 列王纪中的历史,

“内袍” (tunic, 或译内衣, 里衣, 上衣, 衣服等) 也表示从属天真理和良善发出的属灵真理和真理之良善. 要知道, 属灵真理和良善就是在中间或第二层天堂的属灵天使所享有的那种真理和良善; 但属天真理和良善则是在第三或至内层天堂的属天天使所享有的那种真理和良善 (参看9277节所提到的地方). 摩西五经提到, 约瑟的父亲以色列给了他儿子约瑟一件彩衣, 他的哥哥们为此感到恼火, 后来就剥了这彩衣, 把它染了血, 打发人送到他们父亲那里 (创世记 37:3, 23, 31-33). 这一切都真实的历史; 由于它们里面, 也就是其内义里面同样包含天堂和教会的神圣事物, 因而包含神性事物, 所以 “彩衣” (tunic of various colors) 表示约瑟所代表的良善和真理的状态, 这是一种从属天层发出的属灵真理和良善的状态 (参看3971, 4286, 4592, 4963, 5249, 5307, 5584, 5869, 5877, 6417, 6526, 9671节). 因为雅各所有的儿子都代表诸如属于天堂和教会, 在自己适当秩序中的那类事物 (3858, 3926, 4060, 4603, 6335, 6337, 6397, 6640, 7836, 7891, 7996节). 但在上面所提到的那一章, 他们代表对立面.

包含在圣言书卷, 无论历史书卷还是预言书卷中的一切事物都是神性属天和属灵事物的代表, 并用来表示这些事物, 所以在诗篇,

“王的女儿” 描述了对属灵真理的情感, 她的 “衣服” 描述了真理本身:

有列王的女儿在你尊贵妇女之中; 王后佩戴最美的俄斐金饰站在你右边. 推罗的女儿必带来供物, 民中的富人也必求你的脸面. 王的女儿在里面极其荣华, 她的衣裳是用金线织的. 她要穿刺绣衣服, 被引到王前.(诗篇 45:9, 12-14)

“女儿” 一般表示对属灵真理和良善的情感, 因而也表示教会 (参看2362, 3024, 3963, 9055节的末尾节); 当论及主时,

“王” 表示神性真理 (2015, 2069, 3009, 4581, 4966, 5068, 6148节). 由此明显可知, 该诗篇所讲述的关于王的女儿的这一切事物都表示教会中诸如属于对从主所获得的真理和良善的情感的那类事物. 经上说 “推罗的女儿必带来供物” 表示关于良善和真理的认知或知识,

“推罗” 表示这些认知或知识 (参看1201节).

“民中的富人” 所表相同, 因为 “富人” 在灵义上只表示关于良善和真理的认知或知识, 并不表示别的 (1694, 4508节). 由此明显可知 “王的女儿在里面极其荣华”,

“她的衣裳是用金线织的” 表示什么; 因为她的 “衣裳” 是指一件内衣或里衣 (tunic), 这从这个词在原文的含义明显看出来; 因为在原文, 这个词表示贴身的衣裳. 它是指一件内衣或里衣, 这一点清楚可见于约翰福音 (19:23, 24), 那里提到主的里衣, 这里衣在诗篇 (诗篇 22:18) 同样被称为 “衣裳”. 这一点也清楚可见于撒母耳记下 (13:18), 在那里, 经上说, 王的女儿 (经上译为公主) 穿着彩衣, 如下文所述. 诗篇中 “金线织的” 与 “亚伦内袍用织工织的” 所表相同, 原文用的是相同的词. 至于她被引到王前所要穿的 “刺绣衣服 (或刺绣内袍)” 表示什么, 可参看前文 (9688节).

由于王的女儿和她的衣服或内衣表示这类事物, 所以那个时代王的女儿或公主就穿这种衣服, 这清楚可见于撒母耳记下:

那时她玛穿着彩衣, 因为王的女儿都是这样穿的.(撒母耳记下 13:18)

由于内袍 (tunic, 或译内衣, 里衣, 上衣, 衣服等) 代表属灵良善和真理, 故可以看出 “亚伦的内袍” 表示什么, 以及本章下一节所提到的他儿子的内袍表示什么; 在那里, 经上说他们 “要为亚伦的儿子作内袍, 腰带, 裹头巾, 为荣耀, 为华美”. 由于他们的内袍代表这些神圣事物, 所以经上说, 亚伦的儿子拿答和亚比户因用凡火上香被天上的火烧灭, 他们穿着内袍被抬到营外 (利未记 10:1-5).

“凡火” 表示来自某个其它源头, 而非天堂之物的爱, 因为在圣言中,

“圣火” 是指天上或神性的爱 (6832, 6834, 6849, 7324, 9434节). 因此, 由于亚伦的儿子所做的事, 他们的 “内袍” 所表示的属灵良善和真理被玷污了, 这就是为何他们穿着内袍被抬到营外.

在弥迦书,

“里衣” (tunic, 或译内袍, 内衣, 上衣, 衣服等) 所表相同:

我的民因衣裳起来如仇敌, 你们剥去那些安然经过之人身上的里衣.(弥迦书 2:8)

在这段经文中,

“里衣” 在原文是用另一个词来表述的; 然而, 所表示的仍是属灵的真理和良善;

“剥去那些安然经过之人身上的里衣” 表示剥夺那些过着一种简单良善生活之人的属灵真理;

“因衣裳起来 (视人) 如仇敌” 表示由于他们所认为的真理而向他们行恶, 而事实上, 只要处于良善, 没有人会由于凡他以之为真理的而受到伤害 (1798, 1799, 1834, 1844节).

由此可见马太福音中的 “里衣” 表示什么:

耶稣说, 什么誓都不可起. 不可指着天起誓, 不可指着地起誓, 也不可指着耶路撒冷起誓, 又不可指着你的头起誓. 你们的话, 是, 就说是; 不是, 就说不是; 若再多说, 就是出于那恶者. 有人想要告你, 要拿你的里衣, 连外衣也由他拿去.(马太福音 5:34-37, 40)

人若不知道在主的属天国度的天使是何状态, 就不可能知道主的这些话是什么意思. 因为此处论述的主题是与主的属天国度的天使同在的良善和真理的状态, 对他们来说, 一切真理都住在里面, 铭刻在他们心上. 因为对主之爱的良善引导他们认识一切真理, 并且认识得如此透彻, 以致他们从来不像属灵国度里的天使那样去推理它. 因此, 当提到真理时, 他们只是说是, 是; 或说不是, 不是; 事实上, 在属天国度, 他们甚至不提信. 关于这些天使的状态, 可参看9277节所提到的地方. 由此明显可知,

“不可起誓” 这条禁令是什么意思; 因为 “起誓” 表示确认真理 (3375, 9166节), 确认真理在属灵国度通过运用理性和取自圣言的记忆知识来进行.

“告, 想要拿里衣” 表示争论真理, 以及想要说服别人相信某事不是真的;

“里衣” 表示来自一个属天源头的真理; 因为属天之人会让各人去持守各自的真理, 而不会和他继续理论.

在马太福音的另一处,

“里衣” (tunic, 或译内袍, 内衣, 上衣, 衣服等) 也表示来自一个属天源头的真理:

耶稣差这十二个人去传天国, 说腰袋里不要带金银铜钱; 途中不要带行囊, 不要带两件里衣, 也不要带两双鞋和两个拐杖.(马太福音 10:5, 7, 9, 10)

这些话代表那些处于从主所获得的良善和真理之人根本没有来源于他们自己的任何良善或真理, 相反他们所拥有的一切真理和良善皆来自主. 因为十二个门徒代表所有处于来自主的良善和真理之人, 在抽象意义上代表源于主的一切爱之良善和一切信之真理 (3488, 3858节的末尾,6397节).

“腰袋里的金银铜钱” 和 “行囊” 表示源于自我, 而非源于主的良善和真理;

“里衣, 鞋和拐杖” 表示来自主的真理和良善:

“里衣” 表示内层真理, 或来自一个属天源头的真理,

“鞋” 表示外层真理, 或属世层中的真理 (1748, 6844节),

“拐杖” 表示真理的能力 (4876, 4936, 6947, 7011, 7026节). 然而,

“两件里衣”,

“两双鞋” 和 “两个拐杖” 表示既来源于主, 也来源于自我的真理及其能力. 他们被允许有一件里衣, 一双鞋和一个拐杖, 这一事实明显可见于马可福音 (6:8, 9) 和路加福音 (9:2, 3).

一旦从这些例子知道 “里衣” 表示什么, 那么 “主的里衣” 表示什么就显而易见了; 对此, 我们在约翰福音中读到:

他们就拿衣服分为四份, 每兵一份; 又拿里衣. 这件里衣原来没有缝儿, 是从上头整片织成的. 他们就说, 我们不要撕开, 只要拈阄, 看是谁的. 这要应验经上的话说, 他们彼此分了我的外衣, 为我的里衣拈阄. 兵丁果然做了这事.(约翰福音 19:23, 24; 诗篇 22:18)

若运用在某种程度上被光照的理性想一想, 谁看不出这一切表示神性事物? 否则经上怎会在大卫诗篇中预言它们呢? 然而, 没有内义, 因而没有从内义所获得的知识, 没有人知道它们表示什么; 也就是说, 没有人知道 “衣服”,

“拈阄”,

“分它们”,

“里衣”, 它 “原来没有缝儿”, 或 “从上头整片织成”, 以及 “士兵” 分别表示什么. 从内义明显可知,

“衣服” 表示真理,

“主的衣服” 表示神性真理;

“拈阄” 和 “分它们” 表示把这些真理拆散并驱散它们 (9093节);

“里衣” 表示从神性属天层发出的属灵层的神性真理, 与 “亚伦的内袍” 所表相同, 因为亚伦代表主; 它 “原来没有缝儿”, 或 “从上头整片织成” 与描述亚伦内袍的 “织工” 所表相同. 里衣没有分开表示直接从属天层的神性真理发出的属灵层的神性真理无法被驱散, 因为这真理是圣言的内在真理, 就是诸如与天上的天使同在的那种.

当经上说 “兵丁做了这事” 时, 意思是说, 这事是那些本应为真理而争战的人, 也就是有圣言在中间的犹太人行出的, 但他们具有这样的性质, 他们会驱散它. 因为他们虽有圣言, 却不愿从圣言知道主就是弥赛亚, 是那要到来的神的儿子. 他们也不愿知道关于圣言内在意义的任何事, 只想知道外在意义; 他们还抽取外在意义用来服务于他们自己的爱, 这些爱都是对自我和世界的爱, 他们还由此用来支持从这些爱中涌出的欲望.

“分主的衣服” 就表示这些事; 因为凡他们对主所行的, 都代表那时在他们当中的神性真理和神性良善的状态; 因此, 他们对待神之真理的方式就是他们对待主的方式. 在世时的主就是神性真理本身 (参看 9199节的末尾,9315节的末尾节所提到的地方).

4844. 'Remain a widow in your father's house' means the alienation of this Church from the Jewish Church. This becomes clear from the fact that Judah's wish was that by doing this she would go away and not return to him any more. He did, it is true, say that she should remain there until Shelah his son was grown up; nevertheless he had it in mind not to give her to Shelah his son, for he said to himself, 'In case he also dies, like his brothers'. He gave further proof of his intentions by his actions, as is evident from verse 14 - 'Tamar saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife'. From all this it is evident that the words used here mean that he alienated her from himself. That is, the meaning in the internal sense is that he alienated the Church representative of spiritual and celestial things - the Church represented by 'Tamar', 4811, 4831 - from the Jewish Church represented by 'Judah'. The two could not be in agreement with each other because Judaism was not a representative Church, only a representative of the Church, 4307, 4500; for it acknowledged what was external but not that which was internal.

[2] 'A widow' also means the truth of the Church without its good; for in the representative sense 'a wife' means truth and 'a husband' good, 4823, 4843, and therefore 'a wife without a husband' means the truth of the Church without its good. This being so, when it is said in reference to Tamar that she should remain in the house of her father, the meaning is that the truth of the Church would be alienated, and also that it would not find acceptance in his house, even as the Jewish nation could not accept it because not good but evil was present among that nation.

[3] A widow is referred to many times in the Word; but anyone unacquainted with the internal sense inevitably thinks that 'a widow' means a widow. In the internal sense 'a widow' means the truth of the Church without good, that is, people who have truth that is without good but who nevertheless have a desire for good, who consequently love to be led by good; for 'a husband' means good which ought to take the lead. In the Ancient Church people like these were meant in the good sense by 'the widowed', whether they were women or men. For the Ancient Church distinguished the neighbour to whom charity was to be performed into many separate classes. Some were called the poor, some the wretched and afflicted, some the bound and in prison, some the blind and the lame, and others strangers, orphans, and widows. It performed different charitable works, whichever were appropriate to the character each class possessed. The teachings of that Church showed them what those works were, for that Church had no other teachings than these. Therefore whenever those living in those times either taught or wrote, they did so in conformity with these teachings, so that when they spoke of 'widows' they meant none but the kind of persons among whom truth existed without good but who nevertheless had a desire to be led to good.

[4] From this it is also evident that the teachings of the Ancient Church were ones that had to do with charity and the neighbour, and that all its religious knowledge and factual knowledge existed to enable people to know what was meant spiritually by external things. For the Church was representative of spiritual and celestial things, and therefore it was these spiritual and celestial things, represented and meant by that Church, that people came to know about through the Church's teachings and through its factual knowledge. But those teachings and factual knowledge have become at the present day completely wiped out, so completely indeed that there is no knowledge of their having existed. For their place has been taken by teachings to do with faith which, if widowed and separated from those to do with charity, have virtually nothing to teach. For teachings to do with charity show what good is, but those to do with faith show what truth is. Teaching what truth is without what good is amounts to walking like someone blind, it being good that is the teacher and leader, truth the one that is taught and led. Between the two kinds of teaching there is a vast difference, as great as that between light and darkness. If the darkness is not lightened by means of the light, that is, if truth is not lightened by good, or faith by charity, it is nothing but darkness. For this reason no one knows intuitively, nor consequently by perception, whether truth is the truth; he knows it only from what he was taught and what he absorbed in childhood and substantiated in adult years. This also explains why Churches are so much at variance with one another, one giving the name truth to that which another calls falsity, and are never in agreement.

[5] The meaning in the good sense of 'widows' as people who have truth existing without good but who nevertheless have a desire to be led by good may be seen from places in the Word where widows are mentioned, as in David,

Jehovah who executes judgement for the oppressed, who gives bread to the starving, Jehovah who sets the bound free; Jehovah who opens the blind [eyes]; Jehovah who lifts up the bowed down; Jehovah who loves the righteous; Jehovah who guards sojourners, upholds the orphan and the widow. Psalms 146:7-9.

This refers, in the internal sense, to those whom the Lord furnishes with truths and leads to good. But some of them are called the oppressed, some the starving, while others are called the bound, the blind, the bowed down, sojourners, orphans and widows, each name appropriate to the character of the ones to whom it is applied. No one however can know what each particular nature is except from the internal sense; but the teachings of the Ancient Church showed what any particular nature was. Here, as in many other places, sojourner, orphan, and widow are referred to jointly because 'a sojourner' means those who wish to be furnished with the truths of faith, 1463, 4444, 'an orphan' those with whom good exists without truth but who have a desire to be led to good by means of truth, and 'a widow' those with whom truth exists without good and who have a desire to be led to truth by means of good. These three are referred to jointly here and elsewhere in the Word because in the internal sense they form a single group, for all three together mean those who wish to be taught and to be led to good and truth.

[6] In the same author,

A father of the orphans, and a judge of the widows, is God in the habitation of His holiness. Psalms 68:5.

'The orphans' stands for those with whom, like young children, the good that goes with innocence is present but no truth as yet. The Lord is said to be 'a father' of these because He leads them like a father; He leads them by means of truth into good, that is to say, into the good constituting life or wisdom. 'The widows' stands for those who as adults know the truth but are not as yet doing good. The Lord is said to be 'a judge' of these because He leads them; He leads them by means of good into truth, that is to say, into the truth constituting intelligence. For by 'a judge' a leader is meant. Good without truth, meant by 'an orphan', is made into good filled with wisdom by means of teaching about truth; and truth without good, meant by 'a widow', is made into truth filled with intelligence by means of a life of good.

[7] In Isaiah,

Woe to those decreeing decrees of iniquity, to turn aside the poor from judgement and to carry off into judgement the wretched of My people, so that widows may be their spoil and so that they may make orphans their prey. Isaiah 10:1-2.

Here 'the poor', 'the wretched', 'widows', and 'orphans' do not mean those who are literally so but those who are spiritually such. Now because in the Jewish Church, as in the Ancient, everything was representative, so also was doing good to orphans and widows, for doing good to these represented in heaven charity towards those who are orphans and widows in the spiritual sense.

[8] In Jeremiah,

Do judgement and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor; and do not defraud the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow, and do not use force, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. Jeremiah 22:3.

Here also 'the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow' means those who are spiritually such. In the spiritual world or heaven they do not know who a sojourner, orphan, or widow is, for the condition of such persons there is not the same as what it had been in the world. When therefore these words are read by man, angels perceive the spiritual or internal meaning they possess.

[9] Similarly in Ezekiel,

Behold, the princes of Israel, each according to his power, ¹ have in you been intent on shedding blood; in you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have dealt with the sojourner by means of oppression; in you they have defrauded the orphan and the widow. Ezekiel 22:6-7.

Also in Malachi,

I will draw near to you to judgement, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against those who swear falsely, and against oppressors of the hireling in his wages, of the widow and the orphan, and [against] those who turn aside the sojourner, and do not fear Me. Malachi 3:5.

Similarly in Moses,

You shall not press down a sojourner or oppress him. You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. If you do indeed afflict him, and if he indeed cries out to Me, I will surely hear his cry, and My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, so that your wives become widows, and your children orphans. Exodus 22:21-24.

[10] This, like every other commandment, judgement, and statute in the Jewish Church, was representative. Also, members of that Church were tied down to things of an external nature so that they would observe that command, and by means of their observance of it they represented the inner spirit of charity, even though they themselves had no charity, that is, they did not act from any inner affection. An inner spirit flowed from an affection to furnish with truths those who were without knowledge, and to lead those people to good by means of truths. If they had done this, members of the Jewish Church would have been doing good, in a spiritual sense, to the sojourner, orphan, and widow. But so that what was external might be kept going for the sake of what it represented, the curses declared on Mount Ebal included 'turning aside the judgement of the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow', Deuteronomy 27:19. 'Turning aside the judgement of these' stands for doing the reverse, that is, leading through teaching and life to falsity and evil. Also, because taking goods and truths away from others, and then making them one's own so as to enhance one's own position and gain, was included among curses, the Lord therefore said,

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! for you devour widows' houses, and for a presence you make long prayers; on account of this you will receive greater condemnation. ² Matthew 23:14; Luke 20:47.

'Devouring widows' houses' stands for taking truths away from those who have a desire for them, and teaching them falsities.

[11] To leave for the sojourner, orphan, and widow that which remained in fields, olivegroves, and vineyards, Deuteronomy 24:19-22, was likewise representative. So too was the command that when they had finished paying the tithes of their produce in the third year, the people should give to the sojourner, orphan, and widow, so that they ate within their gates and were satisfied, Deuteronomy 26:12-13. It being the Lord alone who teaches a person and leads him to good and truth, it is said in Jeremiah,

Leave your orphans, I will keep them alive; and the widows will trust in Me. Jeremiah 49:10-11.

And in Moses,

Jehovah executes judgement for the orphan and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him bread and clothing. Deuteronomy 10:18.

'Bread' stands for the good of love, 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, and 'clothing' for the truth of faith, 4545, 4763.

[12] It is recorded in 1 Kings 17:1-17 that Elijah was sent, when there was a famine because there was no rain in the land, to a widow in Zarephath. He asked her for a little cake, which she had to make for him first and give it to him; after that she was to make one for herself and her son. When she did so her jar of meal was not used up and her cruse of oil did not run dry. All this was representative, like everything else recorded about Elijah, and in general throughout the Word. 'A famine in the land because there was no rain' represented truth laid waste within the Church, 1460, 3364; 'a widow in Zarephath' those outside the Church who have a desire for truth; 'a cake which she had to make for him first' the good of love to the Lord, 2177, whom, from the very little she had, she was to love above herself and her son. 'The jar of meal' means truth derived from good, 2177, and 'the cruse of oil' charity and love, 886, 3728, 4582. 'Elijah' represents the Word, by means of which such things are effected, 2762.

[13] The same is also meant, in the internal sense, by the Lord's words in Luke,

No prophet is accepted in his own country. In truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, while there was a great famine over the whole land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them, except to a woman - a widow - in Zarephath of Sidon. Luke 4:24-26.

That is, he was sent to those outside the Church who had a desire for truth. But 'widows' within the Church that had been laid waste, to whom Elijah was not sent, are those with whom no truth exists because no good does so; for where there is no good neither is there any truth. However much among those people truth seems to outward appearance like truth it is nothing more so to speak than a shell without any nut in it.

[14] Those among whom this kind of truth exists, also those among whom falsity exists, are meant by 'widows' in the contrary sense, as in Isaiah,

Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, the branch and the bulrush in one day. The old and the honourable in face is the head, and the prophet, the teacher of a lie, the tail. Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over its young men, and He will not have compassion on its orphans and its widows. Isaiah 9:14-15, 17.

In Jeremiah,

I will winnow them with a winnowing-fork in the gates of the land; I will bereave, I will destroy My people; they have not turned from their ways. Their widows are increased to Me more than the sand of the seas. I will bring to them, against the mother of the young men, one who lays waste at midday. She who bore seven languishes; she has breathed her last. Her sun is going down while it is still day. Jeremiah 15:7-9.

In the same prophet,

Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, our houses to foreigners. We have become orphans with no father; our mothers are widows. Lamentations 5:2-3.

[15] Because 'widows' meant those with whom no truth existed because no good did so, it was therefore shameful for Churches to be called widows, even those Churches governed by falsities springing from evil, as in John,

In her heart she said, A queen I sit, and I am no widow, and shall not see mourning. On account of this in one day will her plagues come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned with fire. Revelation 18:7-8.

This refers to Babel. A similar reference to Babel occurs in Isaiah,

Hear this, you lover of pleasures, sitting securely, saying in her heart, I am, and there is no one else like me; a widow I shall not sit, nor shall I know loss of children. But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day - loss of children and widowhood. Isaiah 47:8-9.

[16] From these quotations one may now see what is meant by 'a widow' in the internal sense of the Word. One may see that since 'a widow' represented and consequently meant the truth of the Church without its good - for 'a wife' meant truth and 'a husband' good - priests in the Ancient Churches, in which every single thing was representative, were therefore forbidden to marry any widow who was not a priest's widow, as the following in Moses declares,

The high priest shall take a wife in her virginity; a widow or a woman that has been put away or one defiled or a prostitute, these he shall not take, but a virgin of his own people shall he take as his wife. Leviticus 21:13-15.

And in the references to a new temple and a new priesthood in Ezekiel,

Priests the Levites shall not take as wives for themselves a widow or a woman that has been put away, but virgins from the seed of the house of Israel; but a widow who is the widow of a priest may they take. Ezekiel 44:22.

For 'the virgins' whom they were to marry represented and consequently meant the affection for truth, and 'the widow of a priest' the affection for truth from good, since 'a priest' in the representative sense is the good of the Church. For this reason also any widow [who was the daughter] of a priest and who had no children was allowed to eat some of the offerings or holy things, Leviticus 22:12-13.

[17] Those who belonged to the Ancient Church knew this meaning of 'a widow' from the teachings of the Church, for among them these teachings had to do with love and charity, which included countless matters which at the present day have become completely wiped out. From them they knew which particular kind of charitable act they were required to perform - that is, which service they ought to render towards the neighbour - for those who were called 'widows', for those who were called 'orphans', for those who were called 'sojourners', and so on. From their religious knowledge of truth and from factual knowledge they had a discernment and a knowledge of what the ritual observances of their Church represented and meant. The learned among them knew what it was that things on earth and in this world represented, for they recognized that the whole natural creation was a theatre representative of the heavenly kingdom, 2758, 2989, 2999, 3483. Such knowledge raised their minds up to heavenly things, and the teachings of their Church led the way to life. But after the Church turned aside from charity to faith, more so after it separated faith from charity, and made faith without charity and the works of charity the bringer of salvation, their minds could no longer be raised up by means of religious knowledge to heavenly things, nor be led by any means of the teachings of the Church to life. Indeed the decline has been so great that in the end scarcely anyone believes in a life after death, and scarcely anyone knows anything about heaven. Also, there is no belief at all in the existence of a spiritual sense of the Word which is not visible in the letter. In this way people's minds have become closed.

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