724. And she brought forth a male child.- That this signifies the doctrine of truth, which is for the New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem, is plain from the signification of a son, as denoting truth, and of a male (masculus) child, as denoting the genuine truth of the church, consequently its doctrine, for the truth of the church from the Word is its doctrine, since doctrine contains the truths that are for the church. But the genuine doctrine of the church is the doctrine of good, that is the doctrine of life, which is that of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour; still it is doctrine of truth, for doctrine teaches life, love, and charity, and so far as it teaches these it is truth. For when a man knows and understands what good is, what life is, what love is, and what charity is, he then knows and understands those things as truths, since he knows and understands what good is, how he ought to live, what love and charity are, and what kind of man he is who is in the life of love and charity. And as long as these things are matters of knowledge (scientia) and of the understanding, they are merely truths, and thus doctrines; but as soon as they, from being knowledge and understanding, pass over into the will, and thus into act, they are then no longer truths but goods, for interiorly man wills nothing but what he loves, and that which he loves is to him good.

From these things it is evident, that every doctrine of the church is a doctrine of truth, and that the truth of doctrine becomes good, and becomes that of love and charity, when from doctrine it passes into life.

[2] This doctrine, signified here by a male child, is especially the doctrine of love to the Lord, and of charity towards the neighbour, thus it is the doctrine of the good of life, but which is yet the doctrine of truth. That the doctrine of the good of love, and thence of life, is here signified by a male child, is evident from this, that the woman, who brought forth the son, was seen encompassed with the sun, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And the sun signifies love to the Lord, and the crown of twelve stars signifies the knowledges of good and truth; and from such a woman and mother, nothing could be born except what pertains to love and good, thus doctrine concerning them. This therefore is the male (masculus) child.

[3] That doctrine is for the New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem, because the woman treated of in this chapter is the one that is called the bride, the Lamb's wife, which was the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God (21:9, 10). This is why she was seen encompassed with the sun, for the sun means the Lord as to Divine Love, as may be seen above (n. 401, 525, 527, 708). The male child also signifies the doctrine of the church, because a son, in the Word, signifies truth, and the doctrine of the church is truth in its whole extent.

That a son, in the Word, signifies truth, is evident from what has been said before concerning the woman, the womb, and bringing forth, namely, that woman signifies the church, womb the inmost of love and the reception of truth from good, while to bring forth signifies the production and fructification of these. See above concerning woman (n. 707); the womb (n. 710); and bringing forth (n. 721). From this it follows that sons and daughters, since they are births, signify the truths and goods of the church, sons its truths, and daughters its goods; in a word, that all terms relating to marriage and thus to procreation on earth, signify such things as belong to the marriage of good and truth, thus father, mother, sons, daughters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandsons, and several other terms, signify goods and truths procreating, and goods and truths procreated, and in fact derivative goods and truths in their order.

[4] But it must be understood that goods and truths procreating are in the spiritual man, and those which are procreated are in the natural man; and that those which are in the spiritual man are like the father and mother, and those which are from these in the natural man are like brothers and sisters; and again that the truths and goods that are further procreated as if from sons married within marriageable limits, and from daughters married also within the same, are in the natural man, after these, as parents, have been raised up into the spiritual man. For all conception, and all travail or gestation in the womb take place in the spiritual man, but birth itself takes place in the natural man. The spiritual man is therefore continually enriched by the elevation into it out of the natural man, of truths and goods, which, like parents, will procreate anew; therein also all things are associated like the societies of heaven, according to the affections for truth and good, and their relationships and affinities. It is therefore clear that those spiritual procreations, like the natural procreations from a father and mother, are multiplied like families and houses on earth, and are made fruitful like trees from seeds, from which arise in the spiritual man gardens, called paradises, but groves and orchards in the natural, and shady forests in the sensual man.

[5] But because sons are mentioned in many places in the Word, and since it has not yet been known that they signify the truths of the church and of doctrine, out of many passages I will cite only the following for the purpose of proof.

In the Evangelists:

Jesus said, "He who leaveth houses, brethren, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall obtain the inheritance of life eternal" (Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:29, 30).

"Every one who cometh to me, and hateth not his father, mother, wife, children, brethren, and sisters, yea, his own soul, is not my disciple" (Luke 14:26).

Who cannot see that father, mother, wife, children, brethren, and sisters, also houses and lands, are not here meant, but such things as belong to man himself, and are called his own? For these things a man must leave and hate, if he desires to worship the Lord, to be His disciple, to receive a hundredfold, and to obtain the inheritance of life eternal. The things that are a man's own are those that are of his love, and thus of his life into which he is born, consequently they are evils and falsities of every kind; and because these are of his love and life, it is therefore said that he must also hate his own soul. These evils and falsities are signified by father and mother, wife, children, brethren, and sisters; for all those things, which belong to the love and life of man, or to the affection and the thought therefrom, or to the will and thus to the understanding, are formed and conjoined like generations, descending from one father and one mother, and are also distinguished as into families and houses. The love of self and consequent love of the world are their father and mother, and the desires arising therefrom, and their evils and falsities are the children, which are brethren and sisters. That this is the meaning is clearly evident from this, that the Lord could not desire that any one should hate his father and mother, or wife or children, or brethren or sisters, since this would be contrary to the spiritual love implanted in every one from heaven, which is that of parents for their children, of children for their parents, and also contrary to conjugial love, which is that of the husband for his wife, and of the wife for her husband, also contrary to mutual love, which is that of brothers and sisters for one another; in fact, the Lord even teaches that enemies must not be hated, but loved. It is evident from these things that the terms denoting consanguinities, affinities, and relationships in the Word, mean consanguinities, affinities, and relationships in a spiritual sense.

[6] In the same:

Jesus said to His disciples, "The brother shall deliver the brother to death, the father the son, and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall deliver them to death" (Matthew 10:21; Mark 13:12).

"The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law" (Luke 12:53).

That these things are not to be understood according to the letter is clear from what precedes, where Jesus says that He came not to give peace upon the earth, but division; and that "there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three," which signifies that falsities and evils will fight against truths and goods, and truths and goods against falsities and evils - which is the case when man comes into temptations and is being reformed; this combat is signified by division and rising up. That "the father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father," signifies that evil will fight against truth, and truth against evil, the father there denoting the evil, which is man's proprium, and the son the truth which man has from the Lord. That the desire for falsity will fight against affection for truth, and affection for truth against the desire for falsity, is signified by "the mother shall be divided against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother," mother here denoting the desire for falsity, and daughter affection for truth; and so on. That this is the meaning is also evident from the words of the Lord elsewhere, where He says, that in Him "they shall have peace," thus not division (John 14:27; 16:33).

[7] In Luke, the angel said to Zechariah concerning John,

"He shall go before" the Lord "in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons" (1:17).

And in Malachi:

"I will send to you Elijah the prophet, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh, that he may turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (4:5, 6).

John the Baptist was sent before to prepare the people for the reception of the Lord by baptism, for baptism represented and signified purification from evils and falsities, and also regeneration through the Word by the Lord. Unless this representation had preceded, the Lord could not have manifested Himself and taught and lived in Judea and Jerusalem, since He was God of heaven and God of earth under a human form, and could not have been in the midst of a nation which was in mere falsities as to doctrine, and in mere evils as to life. Unless therefore that nation had been prepared for the reception of the Lord by a representative of purification from falsities and evils by baptism, it would have been destroyed by diseases of every kind at the presence of the Divine Itself. This then is the signification of the words, "Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." That this would have been the case is well known in the spiritual world, for there those who are in falsities and evils are direfully tormented and spiritually die at the presence of the Lord.

[8] The baptism of John was able to produce such an effect, because the Jewish church was a representative church, and with them all conjunction of heaven was effected by representatives, as is also evident from the washings commanded therein. As for example all who became unclean had to wash themselves and their garments, and were then regarded as clean; similarly the priests and Levites washed themselves before they entered the tent of assembly and afterwards the temple, to perform their sacred duties; also Naaman was cleansed from leprosy by washing in Jordan. Washing and baptism did not themselves purify them from falsities and evils, but they only represented, and thus signified, purification from these; nevertheless this was received in heaven, as though they themselves had been purified. It was in this way that heaven was conjoined with the people of that church through the baptism of John; and when heaven was thus conjoined to them, the Lord, who was the God of heaven, could manifest Himself to them, teach them, and dwell among them. That Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region about Jordan went out to John, and were baptized by him in Jordan, confessing their sins, is evident in Matthew (chap. 3:5, 6), and that he said to them,

"O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come" (Luke 3:7).

That the Jews and Israelites were conjoined to heaven by means of representatives may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248).

This now was the reason why John was sent before to prepare the way of the Lord, and to prepare the people for Him. It may be concluded from these things what is signified by turning the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to the fathers, namely, that it means to induce a representation of the conjunction of spiritual goods with truths, and of truths with goods, thus of regeneration by the Lord by means of the Word. For regeneration is the conjunction of goods with truths, and of truths with goods, and it is the Lord who regenerates, and the Word which teaches.

[9] It was said of this John that he should go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, and that he was Elijah, because John, like Elijah, represented the Lord as to the Word, and thus signified the Word, which is from the Lord; and as there is Divine Wisdom and Divine Power in the Word, these are meant by the spirit and power of Elijah. That the Word is of such a nature may be seen in Heaven and Hell 303-310), and in the small work on the White Horse.

[10] That sons signify truths from the Word, is also evident from the following passages.

In David:

"Lo, sons are a heritage of Jehovah, the fruit of the belly a reward; as darts in the hand of a mighty man, so are sons of youth; happy is the man who hath his quiver full of them, they shall not be ashamed when they speak with enemies in the gate" (Psalm 127:3-5).

Sons who are a heritage of Jehovah, and the fruit of the belly which is a reward, mean the truths and goods of the church; sons mean truths, and the fruit of the belly means goods, for both of these are a reward and a heritage of Jehovah, that is, heaven, which is from truths and goods, namely, from the reception of them. Sons of youth, who are as darts in the hands of a mighty man, signify the truths of the Ancient Church, which were natural truths from a spiritual source; this church is meant by youth. And because these truths have all power against evils and falsities, it is therefore said, "As darts in the hand of a mighty man," darts signifying truths destroying falsities. Doctrine from truths is signified by quiver because it is also signified by bow; and as those who are in doctrine from those truths fear nothing from falsities, it is said, "Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed when they speak with enemies in the gate;" not to be ashamed denoting not to be conquered, and enemies in the gate the falsities of evil which are from hell.

[11] In the same:

"Deliver me out of the hand of the sons of the stranger, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is the right hand of a lie; for our sons are as plants, become great in their youth, and our daughters as cornerstones hewn out in the model of a palace" (Psalm 144:11, 12).

That the sons of the stranger here mean falsities is plain, for it is said, "Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is the right hand of a lie;" and that our sons signify truths is also plain, for it is said, "They are as plants, become [great] in their youth," plants also denoting truths, and youth denoting here, as above, the Ancient Church, which possessed genuine truths. Our daughters signify the affections for truth, which are therefore compared to cornerstones hewn out in the model of a palace, because a palace is a representative of the understanding in which truths are in a beautiful form, and they are in a beautiful form when they are from affection for truth.

[12] In Micah:

"Make thee bald and poll thee, because of the sons of thy delights; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle, for they have gone away from thee" (1:16).

Mourning because the truths of the church are destroyed is described by making bald, and by polling themselves, for the hair signifies truths in ultimates, and those who are without truths in ultimates are also without internal truths; for this reason those in the spiritual world who have no truths from good appear bald. That truths are destroyed is signified by "the sons of thy delights have gone away from thee"; they are called sons of delights from the love of truths and consequent delights.

[13] In Zechariah:

"He saw two olive trees at the right hand of the lampstand and at the left, and he said, These are the two sons of the olive standing by the Lord of the whole earth" (4:11, 14).

The two olive trees signify the two churches, the celestial church and the spiritual church, the former at the right hand of the lampstand, and the latter at the left; the sons of the olive signify the truths of those churches, which are doctrinals.

[14] In the same:

"I will bend Judah for me, I will fill Ephraim with the bow, and I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, with thy sons, O Javan; and I will set thee as the sword of a mighty man" (9:13).

The sons of Zion and the sons of Javan signify the internal and external truths of the Word, the sons of Zion internal truths, and the sons of Javan external truths. The signification of the rest of the passage may be seen above (n. 357:1, 433:8), where it is explained. Because sons signify truths, it is said, that they shall be set as the sword of a mighty man, the sword of a mighty man signifying truth effectually destroying falsity.

[15] In Isaiah:

"I will raise up against them the Medes, whose bows shall dash in pieces the young men, and they will have no pity on the fruit of the belly, their eye will not spare the sons" (13:17, 18).

Because the Medes mean those who make no account of the truths and goods of the church, it is also therefore, said, "Their eye will not spare the sons," for sons denote the truths of the Word and of the church; but these things may be seen explained above (n. 710:24).

[16] In Jeremiah:

"My tent is laid waste, and all my cords plucked away; my sons have departed from me, and they are not" (10:20).

The tent which is laid waste, signifies the church as to the good of love and worship from it, for all worship in ancient times was performed in tents, and afterwards in the tent of assembly, in memory of which the feast of tents or tabernacles was instituted. All my cords are plucked away, signifies that there is no conjunction of truth with good, or of truths with each other, which thus fall apart; and consequently no conjunction of heaven with the church. My sons have departed from me, and they are not, signifies that the truths of the church from the Word have been dissipated, and that man has thus removed himself from the Lord.

[17] In the same:

"Behold, I bring back the captivity of the tents of Jacob, and I will have pity on his dwelling-places, that the city may be built upon her own heap, and the palace shall be inhabited after its own manner, and his sons shall be as aforetime, and his congregation shall be established before me" (30:18, 20).

The tents of Jacob and his dwelling-places, signify all things of the church and its doctrine; tents signify its goods, and dwelling-places its truths; their captivity signifies spiritual captivity which exists when the truths and goods of the Word cannot be perceived, because of the dominion of falsities. To shake off falsities and to teach truths is signified by bringing back the captivity. That the city may be built upon its own heap, signifies doctrine from truths, which has become a ruin through falsities, city meaning doctrine; and the palace shall be inhabited after its manner, signifies the spiritual understanding of truths, as was the case with the ancients, palace denoting the understanding of spiritual truths; for in the understanding there are spiritual truths in their own forms, which appear like palaces when they are presented to the sight. His sons shall be as aforetime, and his congregation shall be established before Me, signifies that the truths of the church shall be as they were with the ancients, and that their forms shall remain as they did with them in a restored conjunction, sons here denoting truths, and congregation their conjunction and arrangement into forms, such as exists in the understanding of the man of the church, from which he has intelligence; after its manner and aforetime, mean as with the ancients.

[18] In Lamentations:

"Mine eye runneth down with waters, because the counsellor who refresheth my soul is far from me; my sons are made desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed" (1:16).

Mourning because the church is devastated is meant by Mine eye runneth down with waters; its devastation as to truths is signified by My sons are made desolate; that this is done by the falsities of evil, is signified by The enemy hath prevailed, - the enemy denoting falsity of evil and the hell from which it springs.

[19] In Isaiah:

"Awake, awake, rise up, O Jerusalem, who hast drunk out of the hand of Jehovah the cup of his anger; thou hast sucked out the dregs of the cup of trembling; there is none to lead her of all the sons whom she hath brought forth, nor any to take her by the hand of all the sons whom she hath brought up. Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets" (51:17, 18, 20).

The restoration of the church, which had fallen into mere falsities of evil, is signified by Awake, awake, rise up, O Jerusalem, who hast drunk out of the hand of Jehovah the cup of His anger, thou hast sucked out the dregs of the cup of trembling. Jerusalem denotes the church as to doctrine, to awake and rise up denotes its restoration, to drink the cup of anger denotes falsity, and the dregs of the cup mere falsities from which are evils, and to attract these is signified by drinking and sucking. There is none to lead her of all the sons whom she hath brought forth, nor any to take her by the hand of all the sons whom she hath brought up, signifies that none of the truths of the Word which she has learned and imbibed will lead her away from falsities, sons here meaning truths. Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, signifies that truths are dispersed by falsities of every kind; because sons denote truths, fainting signifies to be dissipated, and to lie at the head of all the streets signifies by means of falsities of every kind, for the streets of a city signify true doctrinals, here false doctrinals.

[20] In the same:

"Fear not, Jacob, I will bring thy seed from the east, and I will gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Keep not back, bring my sons from afar, my daughters from the end of the earth" (43:5-6).

This is not said of the posterity of Jacob, but of the Gentiles, of whom the church is to be formed. Jacob and his seed mean those who will be of that church. That it must be formed of those who are in falsities from ignorance, and thus in obscurity as to truths, is signified by I will gather thee from the west, and I will say to the north, Give up; and that these must not be repelled but accepted by those who are in the good of love and in the truths of doctrine in their lucidity, is signified by I will bring thy seed from the east, and I will say to the south, Keep not back; for the east signifies the good of love in lucidity, the south the truth of doctrine in lucidity, the west the good of love in obscurity, and the north the truth of doctrine in obscurity, such as those are in who, from ignorance of truth, are in falsities, and yet desire truths. Those quarters have such significations, because, in the spiritual world, all dwell distinctly in those quarters according to the light of truth and the affection for good in which they are. These things have a similar signification in Matthew, where it is said that the elect are to be gathered together "from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens, even to the ends of them" (24:31). That all those who are in falsities from ignorance, and yet in the desire for truth, are to be brought into that church, is signified by Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the end of the earth; sons denoting those who are in truths, and daughters those who are in affection for truths; thus also, in a sense removed from persons, they signify truths and their affections; and afar off and the end of the earth signify removal from the light of truth, because they are in falsities from ignorance, through not possessing the Word, and having no understanding of its meaning.

[21] In the same prophet:

"They shall hasten thy sons; thy destroyers and they that lay thee waste shall go out from thee; behold, I will lift up my hand towards the nations, and towards the peoples will I raise up my sign, that they may bring thy sons in the bosom, and carry thy daughters upon the shoulder" (Isaiah 49:17, 22).

This also treats of the establishment of a new church by the Lord. The sons whom they shall hasten, and whom they shall bring in the bosom, and the daughters whom they shall carry upon the shoulder, mean all those who are in truths and in affection for them, and in a sense removed from persons, truths themselves and affections for them with those who will be of the new church; destroyers and they that lay waste signify falsities of evil; that these must be removed is signified by They shall go out from thee.

[22] In the same:

"The isles shall trust in me, and the ships of Tarshish in the beginning, to bring thy sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them" (60:9).

This also is said of the church of the Gentiles; and the sons who shall be brought, signify those who will receive truths. The rest of the passage may be seen explained above (n. 50, 406:10, 514:5).

In Hosea:

"I will not destroy Ephraim, they shall go after Jehovah, like a lion he shall roar, because he shall roar, and with honour shall sons approach from the sea; with honour they shall come, as a bird from Egypt, and as a dove from the land of Assyria, and I will cause them to dwell in their own houses" (11:9-11).

Sons from the sea, signify truths scientific (vera scientifica) and rational truths; it is therefore said that "they shall come as a bird from Egypt, and as a dove from the land of Assyria"; Egypt signifying the Natural, and Assyria the Rational, both of them as to truths; but these things have also been explained above (n. 275:19, 601:7, 654:22).

[23] And in David:

"Hear this, all ye peoples, perceive in the ear, all ye inhabitants of the age, both the sons of man (homo) and the sons of man (vir), the rich and the poor together; my mouth shall speak wisdoms, and the meditation of my heart intelligences" (Psalm 49:1-3).

The sons of man (homo), signify spiritual truths which are from the Lord through the Word, and these are doctrinals, while the sons of man (vir), signify rational and natural truths, which are from the understanding, thus they signify the understanding of the Word; the rich and the poor, signify those who are wise from these in many things, and those who are wise in few things.

[24] In the same:

Jehovah, "return, look down from the heavens, and see and visit this vine, and the shoot which thy right hand hath planted, and upon the son whom thou hast made strong for thyself; let thy hand be for the man (vir) of thy right hand, for the son of man (homo) whom thou hast made strong for thyself" (Psalm 80:14, 15, 17).

This David said of the church and of himself, which is the sense of the letter, for by the shoot and by the son he meant himself; but in the spiritual sense, the vine and the shoot which Jehovah planted signify the spiritual church, represented by the sons of Israel. The son whom He made strong for Himself, signifies the truth of doctrine from the Word; the man of the right hand, for whom is the hand, and the son of man, whom He had made strong for Himself, signify the truth of the Word in the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter, and the truth of the Word in the spiritual sense, which is the internal sense.

[25] In Ezekiel:

"Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the greatness of my strength, the desire of your eyes, and the fondness of your soul; and your sons and your daughters, whom ye have left, shall fall by the sword" (24:21, 25).

This describes the devastation of all truth which those have who are of the church. The sanctuary which He will profane signifies the Word from which is the church, for this is the sanctuary itself, since it is Divine Truth; from its power against falsities and evils, which are from hell, it is called The greatness of the strength of Jehovah; from intelligence and heavenly life therefrom, it is called The desire of your eyes, and the fondness of your soul. That all truths with affection for them will perish through falsities is signified by Your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, - sons denoting truths, daughters, affections for truth, and the sword, falsity destroying the truth.

[26] In Moses:

"When the Most High gave the nations an inheritance, when he separated the sons of man, he set the bounds of the people, according to the number of the sons of Israel" (Deuteronomy 32:8).

This is said of the ancient churches which preceded the Israelitish, and of the establishment of these by the Lord; the nations mean those who were in the good of love, and the sons of man those who were in truths of doctrine from that good; that these had all truths and goods is signified by He set the bounds of the people, according to the number of the sons of Israel. That the twelve sons of Israel, or the twelve tribes, represented and thus signified the church as to all truths and goods, may be seen above (n. 39, 430, 657).

[27] In Jeremiah:

"Shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our childhood, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters; we lie down in our shame, and our reproach doth cover us" (3:24, 25).

In the same:

"Behold, I bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, which shall devour thy harvest and thy bread; it shall devour thy sons and thy daughters, it shall devour thy flock and thy herd, it shall devour thy vine and thy fig tree, it shall impoverish thy fortified [cities] in which thou trustest, with the sword" (5:15, 17).

These words in the spiritual sense, describe the devastation of all things of the church with the Israelites. The nation from afar, signifies the falsity of evil, which is the falsity of the sensual man, destroying truths; harvest, bread, sons, daughters, flock, herd, vine, and fig-tree, which that nation will devour, signify all things of the church; harvest and bread, its truths and goods in regard to nourishment; sons and daughters, its truths and goods in regard to generation; flock and herd, spiritual and natural truths and goods; vine and fig-tree, the internal and external spiritual church therefrom.

[28] In Ezekiel:

"Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in the midst of it, as I live, if they delivered their sons or their daughters, they only shall be delivered, and the land shall become a desolation; I will bring a sword upon the land, and I will cut off from it man and beast" (14:14, 16-18, 20).

By these words the devastation of the church is also described as to all the truths of good and the goods of truth, except with those who are reformed by means of truths from the Word, and by temptations; these are signified by Noah, Daniel, and Job. That with the rest all the truths of good and goods of truth will perish is signified by They should not deliver their sons or their daughters, but they only would be delivered; the devastation of the church by falsities is signified by The land shall become a desolation, and I will bring a sword upon the land, - land denoting the church, and sword falsity destroying truth. That all spiritual and natural truth will be destroyed, and that all intelligence and knowledge (scientia) of truth will consequently perish, is signified by I will cut off from it man and beast.

[29] In the same:

"The fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; I will execute judgments in thee, and all thy remnant I will scatter unto every wind" (5:10).

In Moses:

"[It was said] among the curses, that they should eat the flesh of their sons and of their daughters" (Leviticus 26:29).

The fathers shall eat the sons, and the sons the fathers, signifies that evils will destroy truths, and falsities goods, fathers denoting evils and goods, and sons falsities and truths; and because everything of spiritual life with man thus perishes, it is said that judgments will be executed, and the remnant scattered unto every wind, the remnant denoting the truths and goods stored up by the Lord in man from his infancy and childhood.

[30] We read also, that they led away their sons to idols to be devoured, and for food, and through the fire; as in the following passages.

In Ezekiel:

"Thou hast taken thy sons [and thy daughters] whom thou hast brought forth to me, and these thou hast sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter? Thou hast slaughtered my sons, and hast delivered them up, when thou madest them to pass through unto them. Thou art thy mother's daughter, and the sister of thy sisters, they loathed their husbands and their sons" (16:20, 21, 45).

These things are said of the abominations of Jerusalem. And by sacrificing their sons and daughters to idols to be devoured is signified to destroy and consume all the truths and goods of the church; to do this to truths from the Word, is signified by slaughtering the sons, and making them to pass through unto them; that the truths and goods of the Word are destroyed by falsifications and adulterations, is signified by whoredoms here and elsewhere in that chapter.

[31] In the same:

"I will pollute them with their gifts, in that they led through [the fire] every opening of the womb, that I might make them desolate. Wherefore ye offer gifts, when ye led your sons through the fire ye are polluted by all your idols" (20:26, 31).

To destroy truths by the evils of the love of self, and by desires from the proprium, is signified by leading the sons through the fire and [to destroy them] by falsities, is signified by being polluted with idols. That idols signify falsities of doctrine, and worship from [man's] own intelligence, may be seen above (n. 587).

[32] In the same:

Oholah and Oholibah "committed whoredom, and blood was in their hands, and with their idols they committed whoredom; their sons also whom they begat to me they led through unto them for food" (Ezekiel 23:37).

Oholah and Oholibah mean Samaria and Jerusalem, Samaria means the spiritual church, and Jerusalem the celestial, each as to doctrine. Falsifications and adulterations of the Word are signified by their committing whoredom, and by blood being in their hands; the falsities which thence spring up from [their] own intelligence are signified by their idols with which they committed whoredom; the signification of leading their sons through [the fire] to the idols for food, namely, that they destroyed the truths of the Word by falsities is therefore evident.

[33] As sons signify truths, therefore "the seeds which fell into the good ground" are called by the Lord "sons of the kingdom; " and "the tares" which denote falsities, sons of the evil (Matthew 13:38). Also those who are in truths are called "sons of light" (John 12:36); those who are in the marriage of truth and good from the Lord, are called "sons of the nuptials" (Mark 2:19); and those who are regenerated, "sons of God" (John 1:11-13). Because stones, in the Word, signify truths, John the Baptist said, "God is able of these stones to raise up sons unto Abraham" (Luke 3:8). That stones signify the truths upon which interior truths are based may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376).

[34] As sons signify truths, so in the opposite sense they also signify falsities, as in some of the passages quoted above, also in these words of Isaiah:

"Prepare the slaughter for her sons, for the iniquity of their fathers; that they may not rise and possess the land, and the faces of the earth be filled with cities. I will rise against them, and I will cut off from Babel the name and the residue, and the son and the grandson; and I will make her a heritage for the bittern, and pools of waters, and I will sweep her with the besom of destruction" (14:21-23).

This is said of Babel, which signifies adulteration of the Word and profanation. Here the total vastation of truth with those who are meant by Babel is treated of. That truths with them were utterly destroyed through adulteration of the Word is signified by Prepare the slaughter for her sons, that they may not rise and possess the land, and the faces of the earth be filled with cities; the land means the church in which there are truths, and cities mean doctrinals from mere falsities. That all truths from primaries to ultimates would perish, is signified by cutting off from Babel the name and the residue, the son and the grandson; that nothing whatever of truth would remain, is signified by she shall be swept with the besom of destruction.

[35] It must be understood that sons, in the passages above quoted, signify those who are in truths, or those who are in falsities. But because the spiritual sense of the Word has nothing in common with persons, therefore in that sense sons signify truths or falsities apart from the idea of personality. The spiritual sense is of such a nature, because the idea of person limits thought and its extension into heaven in every direction; for all thought that proceeds from affection for truth extends through heaven on all sides, nor has it any termination except like light into shade; but when a person is at the same time thought of, then the idea together with intelligence has its termination, where the person is; this is why sons, in the spiritual sense, signify truths or falsities considered apart from personality.

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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