222. And I will write upon him the name of my God. That this signifies their quality according to Divine truth implanted in the life is evident from the signification of writing upon any one, when it is said to be done by the Lord, as denoting to implant in the life, concerning which we shall speak presently, also from the signification of name, as denoting the quality of their state (concerning which see above n. 148); and from the signification of God, as denoting Divine truth proceeding from the Lord in heaven, and thus the Lord in heaven (see n. 220); for the Lord is above the heavens, for He appears to those who are in heaven as a Sun (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell. n. 116-125). The Divine proceeding from the Sun of heaven, which is called Divine truth, and which constitutes heaven in general and in particular, is what in the Word is meant by God; hence it is that the angels are called gods, and that the term for God, in the Hebrew tongue, is Elohim, in the plural. From these considerations it is clear why the Lord here says, "the name of my God;" also above, "I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God" (n. 219), and in what follows, "I will write upon him the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God" (n. 223).

The reason why writing upon any one denotes to implant in the life is, that to write is to commit anything to paper from the memory, thought and mind, in order that it may remain; therefore, in the spiritual sense it signifies that which will remain in the life of man, inscribed and implanted in him. Thus the natural sense of this expression is turned into the spiritual sense; for it is natural to write upon paper, or in a book, but it is spiritual to inscribe on the life, which is done when it is implanted in faith and love; for love and faith constitute the spiritual life of man.

[2] Because to write signifies to implant in the life, therefore also it is said of Jehovah, or the Lord, that He writes, and that He has written in a book, by which is meant what is inscribed by the Lord on man's spirit, that is, in his heart and soul, or, what is the same, in his love and faith. As, in David:

"My bone was not hidden from thee, when I was made in secret; upon thy book were all the days written when they were formed, and not one of them is wanting" (Psalms 139:15, 16).

Again:

"Let them be blotted out of the book of lives, and not be written with the just" (69:28).

In Daniel:

"The people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book" (12:1).

In Moses:

"Blot me, I pray out of the book which thou hast written. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book" (Exodus 32:32, 33).

In the Apocalypse:

"A book written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals," which no one was able to open but the Lamb only (5:1).

Again:

"All whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb" shall worship the beast (13:8; 17:8).

And again:

"I saw that the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (20:12, 13, 15).

And again:

And none shall enter into the New Jerusalem except "those that are written in the Lamb's book of life" (21:27).

From these passages it is not to be understood that the persons referred to are written in a book, but that all the things of faith and love are inscribed on man's spirit (as is evident from what is said upon this subject in the work, Heaven and Hell 461-469).

[3] That to write, in the Word, signifies to inscribe and implant in the life, is also evident from other passages where it is mentioned; as in Jeremiah:

"I will put my law in the midst of them, and will write it on their heart" (31:33).

To put the law in the midst of them, denotes Divine truth in them, in the midst, signifies inwardly in man (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 1074, 2940, 2973); and to write it on their heart, is to impress it upon the love, for the heart signifies the love (see Arcana Coelestia 7542, 9050, 10336). In Ezekiel:

"The prophet saw the roll of a book written within and without, and there were written thereon lamentations, mourning and woe" (2:9, 10; 3:1-3).

By the roll of a book written within and without is signified the state of the church at that time, thus the quality of the life of those who belonged to the church; therefore the roll of the book here mentioned has a signification similar to that of the book of life mentioned above; and because their life was destitute of the goods of love and truths of faith, it is said, that "There was written thereon, lamentations, and mourning and woe."

By the law being written upon tables of stone, and with the finger of God (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 4:13; 9:10),

was signified that it must be impressed on the life (Arcana Coelestia 9416); for by the law, in the strict sense, the ten precepts of the Decalogue are meant, but in a broad sense, the whole Word (see Arcana Coelestia 6752, 7463). By stone is signified truth, and there it signifies Divine truth (see Arcana Coelestia 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376). The same is signified by

The words of the law being written upon the twelve stones taken out of Jordan (Deuteronomy 27:2-4, 8; Josh. 4:3, and the following verses).

[4] In Ezekiel:

"Son of man, take thee one stick and write upon it, For Judah, and for the sons of Israel, his companions: and take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel, and his companions. Afterwards join them one to another into one stick, that they may both be one in my hand" 37:16, 17).

What these things signify no one can know unless he knows what was represented by Judah, and what by Joseph. By Judah was represented the celestial kingdom of the Lord, and by Joseph his spiritual kingdom; and by writing for them upon two sticks of wood, was signified the state of the love, and thence of the life of both. Their conjunction into one heaven was signified by joining them one to another into one piece, that they might be one in my hand. The signification of this is similar to that of the Lord's words,

"Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd" (John 10:16).

The reason why the writing was to be upon wood was, because wood signifies good, and it is good which conjoins. (But these things will be clearer from what is shown in the Arcana Coelestia, namely, that the spiritual kingdom before the Lord's coming was not like it was after his coming, n. 6372, 8054: that the spiritual especially were saved by the coming of the Lord into the world, and that they were then conjoined with those who were of His celestial kingdom into one heaven, n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834, 3969, 6854, 6914, 7035, 7091, 7828, 7932, 8018, 8159, 8321, 9684. That there are two kingdoms, the celestial and the spiritual, and three heavens, and that they are conjoined into one heaven, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 20-28, and 29-40. That by Judah, in the representative sense, is signified the Lord's celestial kingdom, Arcana Coelestia 3654, 3881, 5583, 5603, 5782, 6363: that by Joseph is signified the Lord's spiritual kingdom, n. 3969, 3971, 4669, 6417: that by Ephraim is signified the Intellectual of the spiritual church, 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267, 6296: that by wood is signified the good of love, n. 643, 3720, 8354.)

[5] In Isaiah:

"This one shall say, I am of Jehovah; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall write with his hand unto Jehovah, and surname himself by the name of Israel" (44:5).

These things are said concerning the Lord and His Divine Human. By Jacob and by Israel, where the Lord is treated of, is signified His human; and that it was also Jehovah is meant by one saying, "I am of Jehovah," and by subscribing with his own hand unto Jehovah. (That, in the highest sense, Israel and Jacob denote the Lord, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 4286, 4570, 6424.)

[6] In Jeremiah:

"Jehovah the hope of Israel, all that forsake me shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters. Heal me, O Jehovah, and I shall be healed" (17:13, 14).

To be written in the earth, is to be condemned on account of the state of the life, because by earth is signified what is condemned (as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 2327, 7418, 8306).

[7] Hence it is evident what is signified by the Lord's writing with his finger on the earth, as recorded in John:

"The Scribes and Pharisees brought unto Jesus a woman taken in adultery; they said, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act." They asked whether, according to the law of Moses, she should be stoned. "Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the earth, and rising said, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the earth." These things being heard they went out one after another, and Jesus was left alone, and the woman to whom he said, "Where are thine accusers; hath no man condemned thee? And he said, Go and sin no more" (John 8:3-11).

By the Lord writing on the earth, is signified the same as above in Jeremiah, where it is said, "They that depart from me shall be written in the earth," namely, that they were equally condemned on account of adulteries; therefore Jesus said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

That the Lord twice wrote on the earth in the temple, signified, in the spiritual sense, their condemnation for adulteries. For the Scribes and Pharisees were those who adulterated the goods and falsified the truths of the Word, consequently of the church; and adulteries in the spiritual sense are adulterations of good and falsifications of truth (as may be seen above, n. 141, 161); therefore also He called that nation an adulterous and sinful generation (Mark 8:38).

9416. 'And I will give you tablets of stone' means the book of the law, or the Word in its entirety. This is clear from the meaning of 'tablets' as objects on which matters of doctrine and life have been inscribed, in this instance matters of heavenly doctrine and of life in keeping with it. The reason why those tablets mean the book of the law or the Word in its entirety is that the things which had been inscribed on them contained in a general way all matters of life and of that heavenly doctrine. This also explains why the things inscribed on them are called the ten words, Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 10:4. For 'ten' in the internal sense means all, and 'words' means truths that are matters of doctrine and forms of good that are matters of life. For the meaning of 'ten' as all, see 3107, 4638, 8468, 8540, and for that of 'words' as truths and forms of good that are matters of life and doctrine, 1288, 4692, 5272. This is why those tablets mean the Word in its entirety, just as the Law does, which in a restricted sense means the things which had been inscribed on those tablets, in a less restricted sense the Word that was written through Moses, in a broad sense the historical section of the Word, and in the broadest sense the Word in its entirety, see what has been shown in 6752. Furthermore the things which had been inscribed on those tablets belonged to the first stage in the revelation of Divine Truth; they were also declared in actual words uttered by the Lord before all the Israelite people. What belongs to the first stage means all the rest in their proper order; and the fact that those things were declared in actual words uttered by the Lord means direct Divine inspiration in all other stages of revelation as well. The reason why those tablets were made of stone was that 'stone' means truth, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, the lowest levels of truth, to be exact, 8609. The lowest levels of God's truth constitute the letter of the Word as it exists on this planet, 9360.

[2] There was not one tablet but two, to represent the joining of the Lord to the Church through the Word, and through the Church to the human race. This also is why they are called the tablets of the covenant, Deuteronomy 9:9, 11, 15, and why the words inscribed on them are called the words of the covenant, Exodus 34:27-28, also the covenant, Deuteronomy 4:13, 23. And the ark itself in which the tablets had been deposited was called the ark of the covenant, Numbers 10:33; 14:44; Deuteronomy 10:8; 31:9, 25-26; Joshua 3:3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17; 4:7, 9, 18; 6:6, 8; 8:33; Judges 20:27; 1 Samuel 4:3-5; 2 Samuel 15:24; 1 Kings 3:15; 6:19; 8:1, 6; Jeremiah 3:16. For a covenant is a joining together, 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778, 9396. This explains why those tablets were divided from each other yet were joined together by being laid alongside each other. The writing on them ran across continuously from one tablet onto the other, like the writing on a single tablet. It was not, as people ordinarily think, that some commandments were written on one tablet and some on the other. For a single object divided in two, and the two parts then brought together or given each to the other, means the Lord and man joined together. The establishment of covenants was therefore accomplished in similar ways, that with Abraham for example by parting down the middle a heifer, she-goat, and ram, and laying each part opposite the other, Genesis 15:9-12; in verses 6 and 8 of the present chapter by putting blood in bowls and then sprinkling it half over the altar and half over the people; and generally in all sacrifices by burning one part on the altar and giving the other part to the people to eat. The like was also represented by the Lord when He broke bread, Matthew 14:19; 15:36; 26:26; Mark 6:41; 8:6; 14:22; Luke 9:16; 22:19; 24:30-31, 35. Here also is the reason why 'two' in the Word means things joined together, 5194, 8423, here the Lord and heaven, or the Lord and the Church, joined together, thus also goodness and truth joined together, which is called the heavenly marriage. From all this it becomes clear why it is that there were two tablets and that both sides of them were written on, from edge to edge, Exodus 32:15-16.

[3] Furthermore when the writing and engraving on tablets is mentioned in the Word it means those things that must be imprinted in people's memory and on their life, and so remain there, as in Isaiah,

Write it on a tablet among them, and express it in a book, ¹ so that it may be for time to come forever, even to eternity. Isaiah 30:8.

In Jeremiah,

The sin of Judah has been written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it has been engraved on the tablet of their heart, and at the horns of your altars. Jeremiah 17:1.

In Habakkuk,

Jehovah said, Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that one running by may read it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; if it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come. Habakkuk 2:2-3.

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