298. The right hand, when said of the Lord, signifies both omnipotence and omniscience, because there the south is at the right in heaven, and the north is at the left; and by the south is signified Divine truth in light, and by the north Divine truth in shade. And because Divine good has all power by means of the Divine truth, therefore by the right hand, when said of the Lord, omnipotence is signified; and because as Divine good has all intelligence and wisdom by means of Divine truth, and to the right in heaven is Divine truth in light as has been said, therefore, by the right hand, when said of the Lord, is also signified omniscience. That the south is at the right in heaven and that there Divine truth is in light, and that those who are there are in intelligence and wisdom; and that the north is at the left there, and that there Divine truth is in shade, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell, where the four quarters in heaven are treated of (n. 141-153). That all power is from Divine good by means of Divine truth, may be seen in the same work, where the subject treated of is concerning the power of the angels of heaven (n. 228-235): also, that all intelligence and wisdom are from Divine good by means of Divine truth, may be seen in the same work, where the subject treated of is concerning the wisdom of the angels of heaven (n. 265-275): and concerning the wise and simple in heaven (n. 346-356).

[2] That the right hand, when said of the Lord, signifies both omnipotence and omniscience, and when said of men, power and wisdom, is evident from the following passage.

In David:

"The north and the right hand thou hast created them; Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name. Thou hast a mighty arm; strong is thy hand, and thy right hand shall be exalted. Justice and judgment are the support of thy throne; mercy and truth shall stand together before thy faces" (89:12-14).

That by the right hand is here meant the south, is evident, for it is said, the north and the right hand, thou hast created; and the south signifies the Divine truth in light, thus in the highest sense (in which the Lord is spoken of) the omnipotence and omniscience, which Divine good has by means of Divine truth, as has been said above. Because both, omnipotence as well as omniscience, are signified, it is therefore said, Tabor and Hermon, justice and judgment, mercy and truth. Tabor and Hermon here signify those who are in Divine good and in Divine truth: justice and judgment signify Divine good and Divine truth, and similarly mercy and truth; by both together, in the spiritual sense, is signified Divine good by Divine truth. Omnipotence and omniscience, which Divine good has by means of Divine truth, are signified by "Thou hast a mighty arm," and by "strong is Thy hand, and Thy right hand shall be exalted."

[3] Again:

"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget" (Psalms 137:5).

Jerusalem signifies the church as to the doctrine of Divine truth; and the right hand of Jehovah, Divine truth in light, because those are at the right hand of the Lord in heaven who are in light and in wisdom from Divine truth, as was said above: hence it is evident why it is said, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget."

[4] Again:

"I was foolish and ignorant. But I am always with thee; thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou guidest me by thy counsel, and afterwards receivest me in glory" (Psalms 73:22-24).

Forasmuch as by the right hand, when said of man, is signified wisdom which is from Divine truth, it is therefore said, "I was foolish and ignorant; Thou guidest me in thy counsel, and afterwards receivest me in glory." To guide by counsel, is to lead by means of Divine truth: and to receive in glory, is to bless with intelligence: for glory, when said of the Lord, signifies Divine truth and Divine wisdom, but when said of man, it signifies intelligence therefrom.

[5] Again:

"Jehovah is thy keeper; Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night" (Psalms 121:5, 6).

To be a shade on the right hand, signifies to be a defence against evil and falsity. Shade is used there for a shady place to preserve from hurt, and the right hand for power and wisdom from Divine truth, which would be hurt by evil and falsity unless the Lord defended. Because these things are signified, therefore it is said, "the sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." By the sun is there signified the love of self, and thence all evil; and by the moon the falsity of evil. (That these things are signified by the sun and moon, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 122, 123; and in the Arcana Coelestia 2441, 7078, 8487, 9755, 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702).

[6] Again:

"Let thy hand, Jehovah, be before the man of thy right hand, before the son of man whom thou hast made strong for thyself" (Psalms 80:17).

"Let thy hand, Jehovah," means for a guard from omnipotence and omniscience: "the man of the right hand" for whom there is a guard, signifies the wise; and "the son of man," the intelligent, both by means of Divine truth.

[7] Again:

"Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty, in thy grace and in thine honour. In thine honour, mount up, ride on the Word of truth, of meekness, and of justice; thy right hand shall teach thee wonderful things. Kings' daughters are among thine excellent; at thy right hand shall stand the queen in the best gold of Ophir" (45:3, 4, 9).

These things are said concerning the Lord. To gird the sword upon the thigh, signifies Divine truth combating from Divine good; wherefore it is said, "O mighty, in thy grace and in thine honour": by grace is signified Divine truth; and by honour, Divine good (as may be seen above, n. 131, 288). It is also likewise said, "In thine honour, mount up, ride on the Word of truth." In honour to mount up, signifies to combat from Divine good, and to ride upon the Word of truth signifies to combat from Divine truth, thus from Divine good by means of Divine truth. The Lord's omnipotence and omniscience are signified by "Thy right hand shall teach thee wonderful things." "The kings' daughters among the excellent," signify affections of truth, and "the queen who is at the right hand in the best gold of Ophir," signifies heaven and the church, and those therein who are in truths from good, the right hand denoting truth in light, and gold of Ophir the good of love.

[8] Again:

"The saying of Jehovah unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his anger" (Psalms 110:1, 5; Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42, 43).

That these things are said concerning the Lord is well known. Thereby is described the Lord's combat in the world against the hells, and the subjugation which was effected from Divine good by means of Divine truth. The right hand there signifies Divine truth; wherefore it is said, "until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet." By enemies are signified the hells: by making them the footstool of the feet is signified to subjugate entirely. The same is signified by "the Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his anger": the day of anger denoting a state of combat, and kings those who are in falsities from evil. (That the Lord, when He was in the world, put on Divine truth from Divine good, and that He thereby subjugated the hells, and disposed all things in the heavens into order, may be seen in the small work concerning the Last Judgment 46: and in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 293, 294, 301, 303.)

[9] In the Evangelists:

"Jesus said, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hands of power" (Matthew 26:63, 64; Mark 14:61, 62; Luke 22:69).

And in Mark:

"The Lord after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God" (16:19).

To sit at the right hands of power, and at the right hand of God, signifies the omnipotence and omniscience which belong to the Lord from Divine good by means of the Divine truth.

[10] In Isaiah:

"I have strengthened thee, I have also helped thee by the right hand of my justice. I, Jehovah God, strengthening thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I help thee" (41:10, 13).

"I have strengthened thee, I have also helped thee," signifies to give power and intelligence from the omnipotence and omniscience, which are from Divine good by means of Divine truth: hence it is said, "I have upheld thee by the right hand of my justice." By the right hand is signified Divine truth, and by justice Divine good. To strengthen the right hand signifies the power and wisdom which man has thence; because both omnipotence and omniscience, which belong to the Lord from Divine good by means of the Divine truth, are here meant, He is therefore called Jehovah God; for the Lord is called Jehovah from Divine good, and God from Divine truth. (As may be seen, n. 709, 732, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4287, 4402, 7010, 9167.)

[11] Again:

"Jehovah hath said to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings to open before him doors that the gates may not be shut" (45:1).

By Cyrus, in a representative sense, is meant the Lord. His omnipotence and omniscience from Divine good by means of Divine truth, from which in the world He subjugated all the hells, and afterwards keeps them subjugated for ever, is signified by "whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings": also, by "to open before him doors that the gates may not be shut." By the nations which should be subdued before Him, are signified the hells as to evils; and by the kings whose loins He should loose, are signified the hells as to falsities; by the doors which should be open before Him that the gates may not be shut, is signified that from omniscience all things are manifest to Him, and that from omnipotence He has the power of saving.

[12]By the right hand are signified the omniscience and omnipotence which belong to the Lord from Divine good by means of the Divine truth, also in the following passages:

In David:

"Jehovah continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved" (Psalm 16:8).

Again:

O God, "Thy right hand sustains me" (Psalm 18:35).

Again:

"O God, thy right hand is full of justice" (Psalm 48:10).

In Isaiah:

"My hand hath founded the earth and my right hand hath spanned the heavens" (Isaiah 47:13).

Again:

God "hath sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his strength" (62:8).

And in the Apocalypse,

The Son of man "having in his right hand seven stars" (1:16).

In David:

"The right hand of Jehovah doeth valour: the right hand of Jehovah [is] exalted" (118:15, 16).

[13] Because by the right hand, when said of angels and men, are meant the wisdom and the intelligence which they have from Divine good by means of Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, therefore

The angel of the Lord was seen by Zechariah standing at the right hand of the altar of incense (Luke 1:11).

And the angel was seen in the sepulchre where the Lord was laid, sitting on the right hand (Mark 16:5, 6).

And therefore also the sheep are said [to be] placed on the right hand, and the goats on the left (Matthew 25:33, 34).

By the sheep are here meant those who are in truths from good, or in the faith of truth from the good of charity: but by the goats are meant those who are in faith without charity, which faith is called faith alone, and, regarded in itself, is no faith.

[14] On account of this signification of the right hand, when Aaron and his sons were inaugurated into the priesthood, the blood was sprinkled upon their right ear and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of the right foot (Exodus 29:20). By the blood here is signified Divine truth from Divine good; by the right ear, the perceptive [faculty] of truth from good; by the right hand and the right foot are signified the intelligence and power of truth from good in the internal or spiritual man, and in the external or natural man; and by the thumb and great toe, what is full.

[15] Because as most things in the Word have also an opposite sense, so also has the right hand; and in that sense it signifies falsity from evil, and reasoning and combat thereof against truth from good.

As in David:

"Thou hast set up the right hand of his enemies" (Psalms 89:42).

Again:

"Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood" (Psalms 144:8, 11)

In Isaiah:

"That he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" (44:20).

In the Apocalypse:

"They should receive a mark in the right hand or in the foreheads" (13:16:14:9).

The right hand, when said of the evil, signifies falsity, and the resulting reasoning and combat against truth, because the quarters with those who are in evil are opposite to the quarters which are with those who are in good; and so at the right hand of the former truths are in dense darkness, but falsities as it were in the greatest light. (That the quarters in the spiritual world, with those who are in evil, are opposite to the quarters that are with those who are in good, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell (n. 151, 152): and the reason thereof, n. 122, 123.)

288. (Verse 9) And when the animals gave glory and honour and thanks. That this signifies Divine truth, Divine good and glorification, is evident from the signification of glory and honour, when said of the Lord, as being Divine truth and Divine good; glory denotes Divine truth, and honour Divine good, concerning which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of thanks, as being glorification. What is here meant by glorification shall be first explained. Glorification, when from the Lord, is the perpetual influx of Divine good united to Divine truth with angels and with men; and with both the former and the latter, glorification of the Lord is reception and acknowledgment in heart that all good and truth are from the Lord, and consequently all intelligence, wisdom and happiness; this is signified, in the spiritual sense, by giving thanks. All glorification also of the Lord which comes from the angels of heaven and the members of the church, is not from themselves, but flows into them from the Lord. The glorification which is from men and not from the Lord is not from the heart, but only from the activity of the memory, and so from the mouth; and what proceeds only from the memory and the mouth, and not by means of them from the heart, is not heard in heaven, consequently is not received by the Lord, but passes into the world like any other sonorous words. This glorification is not acknowledgment in heart that all good and all truth are from the Lord. It is said acknowledgment in heart, by which is meant from the life of the love; for the heart, in the Word signifies love, and love is a life according to the Lord's precepts. When man is in this life, then there is glorification of the Lord, which is the acknowledgment from the heart that all good and all truth are from the Lord.

This is also meant by being glorified in these words in John:

"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and that ye shall be my disciples" (15:7, 8).

[2] The reason why the four animals, which were cherubim, gave glory and honour and thanks, is that Divine truth and Divine good and glorification, which are signified by glory, honour and thanks, proceed and flow-in from the Lord; for those cherubim signify the Lord as to providence and guardianship (see above, n. 277). They were in the midst of the throne and about the throne (as is clear from the 6th verse of this chapter) and upon the throne was the Lord (verse 2). It is therefore evident that those things were from the Lord. But reception and acknowledgment in heart are meant by the words of the verse following, where it is said, that after these things were heard, "The four-and-twenty elders fell down before him that sat upon the throne, and worshipped him that liveth unto the ages of the ages, and cast their crowns before the throne."

[3] In the Word mention is frequently made of glory and honour, and glory everywhere signifies truth, and honour good. The reason why they are mentioned together is because in each particular of the Word there is the heavenly marriage, which is the conjunction of truth and good. And the reason why such marriage is in each particular of the Word is that the Divine which proceeds from the Lord is Divine truth united to Divine good; and because these together constitute heaven, and also the church, therefore they are together in every particular of the Word, and similarly, the Divine from the Lord, and the Lord Himself. This is why the Word is most holy. (That there is such a marriage in all things of the Word, may be seen above, n. 238, and in Arcana Coelestia 2516, 2712, 3004, 3005, 3009, 4138, 5138, 5194, 5502, 6343, 7022, 7945, 8339, 9263, 9314). That glory signifies Divine truth from the Lord, may be seen above (n. 33).

[4] That honour signifies Divine good, follows from what has been said concerning the heavenly marriage in every part of the Word; as is also evident from the following passages. In David:

"Jehovah made the heavens, glory and honour are before him, strength and beauty are in his sanctuary" (Psalms 96:5, 6).

By the heavens is meant the Divine which proceeds from the Lord, because the heavens are from that; and because the Divine which proceeds, and which constitutes the heavens, is Divine truth and Divine good, it is therefore said, "glory and honour are before him"; by sanctuary is meant the church; the Divine good and the Divine truth therein are meant by strength and beauty. (That the Divine of the Lord constitutes the heavens, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 7-12, and that the Divine of the Lord in the heavens is Divine truth and Divine good, n. 7, 13, 133, 137, 139, 140).

[5] Again:

"O Jehovah, God very great; thou art clothed with glory and honour" (Psalms 104:1).

By being clothed with glory and honour, when said of Jehovah, is signified His girding Himself with Divine truth and Divine good, for these proceed from Him, and thence gird Him, and thus constitute the heavens; therefore in the Word they are called His garments and covering (as may be seen above, n. 65 and 271).

[6] Again:

"The works of Jehovah are great. Glory and honour are his work" (Psalms 111:2, 3).

By the works of Jehovah are meant all things that proceed from, and are effected by Him; and because they have reference to Divine truth and good, it is therefore said, "Glory and honour are his work."

[7] Again:

"Generation to generation shall praise thy works, and shall declare thy virtues. I will speak of the honour of the magnificence of thy glory, and will meditate on the words of thy wonders, and I will make known to the sons of men his virtues, and the glory of the honour of his kingdom" (Psalms 145:4, 5, 12).

The honour of the magnificence of Thy glory, denotes the Divine good united to the Divine truth, and the glory of the honour, denotes the Divine truth united to the Divine good. The reason of this form of expression is that the union is reciprocal. For from the Lord proceeds the Divine good united to the Divine truth; but by the angels in heaven, and by men in the church, Divine truth is received, and is united to Divine good; hence it is said, the glory of the honour of his kingdom; for by His kingdom are meant heaven and the church.

[8] Again:

"Glory and honour thou wilt lay upon him. For thou makest him a blessing for ever" (Psalms 21:5, 6).

These things are spoken concerning the Lord, and by glory and honour upon Him are meant all Divine truth and Divine good.

[9] Again:

"Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O powerful one, in thy glory and thine honour; in thine honour mount, ride upon the word of truth" (Psalms 45:3, 4).

This passage treats also of the Lord; and to gird the sword upon the thigh signifies Divine truth fighting from Divine good (that this is signified by a sword upon the thigh, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 10488). And because from Divine truth He subjugated the hells, and brought the heavens into order, therefore it is said, O powerful one in glory and honour, and also, in honour mount and ride upon the word of truth. In honour mount and ride upon the word of truth signifies to act from Divine good by means of Divine truth.

[10] Again:

"Thou hast made him to lack a little of the angels, but thou hast crowned him with glory and honour" (Psalms 8:5).

This also is spoken of the Lord. His state of humiliation is described by causing Him to lack a little of the angels, His state of glorification by His being crowned with glory and honour. By glorifying is meant the uniting of the Lord's Divine itself with His Human, and the making this latter also Divine.

[11] In Isaiah:

"Be glad ye wilderness and dry place, and let the plain of the wilderness exult and flourish as a rose, in flourishing let it flourish and exult; the glory of Lebanon is given to it, the honour of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of Jehovah and the honour of our God" (35:1, 2).

Here the enlightenment of the nations is treated of; their ignorance of truth and good is signified by the wilderness and the dry place; their joy in consequence of instruction in truths and enlightenment therefrom is signified by being glad, exulting and flourishing; the glory of Lebanon which shall be given to them signifies Divine truth; and the honour of Carmel and Sharon signifies the Divine good which they receive. It is therefore said that they shall see the glory of Jehovah and the honour of our God.

[12] Again, in the Apocalypse:

"And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it" (21:24, 26).

This is said of the New Jerusalem, by which is signified the New Church in the heavens and on earth. By the nations therefore are signified all those who are in good; and by the kings of the earth are signified all those who are in truths from good; concerning both of these it is said that "they shall bring their glory and honour into it," by which is meant worship from the good of love to the Lord, and from the truths of faith which are from the good of charity towards the neighbour.