10438. Into evil did He bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains. That this signifies that those who are in good will perish, is evident from the signification of “bringing forth to slay,” as being to destroy; but when said of Jehovah, who never destroys anyone, it denotes to perish by their own evil; and from the signification of “mountains,” as being heaven, and from this the good of love. That by “mountains” is signified heaven, is from the representatives in the other life; for there, as upon earth, appear mountains, hills, rocks, valleys, and many other things; and upon the mountains are those who are in celestial love, upon the hills those who are in spiritual love, upon the rocks those who are in faith, and in the valleys those who have not as yet been carried up to the good of love and of faith.

[2] From this it is that by “mountains” are signified those who are in the good of celestial love, thus who are in the inmost heaven, and in the abstract sense the goods of celestial love, thus the heaven which is in this love; that by “hills” are signified those who are in the good of spiritual love, thus who are in the middle heaven, and in the abstract sense the good of this love and the heaven which is in it; that by “rocks” are signified those who are in the good of faith and from this are in the ultimate heaven, and in the abstract sense this good and this heaven; and that by “valleys” are signified those who have not yet been carried up to these goods, thus to heaven. As such things appear in the other life, consequently such things are signified by them, therefore similar things are signified by them in the Word, and similar things are signified by the mountains, hills, rocks, and valleys in the land of Canaan, by which land was therefore represented heaven in its complex.

[3] That “mountains” signify the heaven where is the good of celestial love, is manifest from many passages in the Word, as from the following, in Isaiah:

In the futurity of days the mountain of Jehovah shall be at the head of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills (Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1).

The mountains shall bring peace, and the hills in righteousness (Psalms 72:3).

Praise Jehovah ye mountains, and all hills (Psalms 148:9).

A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; a mountain of hills is the mountain of Bashan. Why leap ye, ye mountains, ye hills of mountains; God did desire to dwell in it; Jehovah also shall dwell forever (Psalms 68:15-16).

Concerning the chief things of the mountains of the east, and concerning the precious things of the hills of an age; let them come on the head of Joseph (Deuteronomy 33:15-16);

besides in other places (see n. 795, 6435, 8327, 8658, 8758, 9422, 9434).

It is for this reason that the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai, and it is for this reason that the city of David was built upon a mountain, and that this mountain, which was called “Mount Zion,” signifies the inmost heaven; and for this reason also it is that the ancients performed the holy rites of worship upon mountains and hills (see n. 2722).

9422. Sit ye here for us. That this signifies that they should remain in it, is evident from the signification of “sitting here,” namely, in this place, or under the mountain, as being to remain in the external sense. “To sit” in a place denotes to remain in one’s state, and “under the mountain” denotes in the external sense of the Word; for by “sitting” is signified remaining, as will be evident from what follows. By “place” is signified state, and by “Mount Sinai” is signified the Law, or Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, thus the Word (see n. 9420); by its summit, where Jehovah or the Lord was (Exodus 19:20) is signified the highest or inmost of the Law, that is, of the Word (see n. 8827); by all the rest of the mountain that was below the summit is signified the internal of the Law or of the Word, such as it is in heaven; and by what was beneath the mountain, where were the elders and the people, is signified the external of the Law or of the Word, which is its external sense. Thus are represented in the Word the inmost, the interior, and the exterior, of the things signified by “the mountain;” here the inmost, the interior, and the exterior things of the Law or of the Word, for “Mount Sinai” signifies the Law, or the Word (n. 9420). From this it is plain that by “Sit ye here for us,” is signified that they should remain in the external sense.

[2] That it is said “sit” is because “sitting” signifies remaining in a state; for movements from place to place signify changes of state of the interiors, as can be seen from what has been already shown (n. 2837, 3356, 3387, 4321, 4882, 5605, 7381). Consequently “sitting” signifies a permanent abiding in the state of the interiors. Because “sitting” has such a signification, therefore to sit was one of the rituals received among the sons of Israel when they represented a permanent state of the interiors; as in the book of Judges:

The sons of Israel came unto Bethel, and wept, and sat there before Jehovah, and fasted that day until the evening (Judg. 20:26).

The people came to Bethel, and sat there till even before God, and lifted up their voice, and wept with a great weeping (Judg. 21:2).

Here by “sitting” is signified permanence in a state of grief.

[3] From this it can be seen why “sitting” is spoken of, and what it infolds in the following passages, in David:

Jehovah, Thou hast known my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou hast understood my thought afar off (Psalms 139:2).

Thou shalt not go into the house of feasting to sit with them (Jeremiah 16:8).

Then he shall stand and shall feed in the strength of Jehovah his God; and they shall sit (Micah 5:4).

Come down, and sit on the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the earth. Sit thou in silence, and enter into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; she saith in her heart, I shall not sit a widow (Isaiah 47:1, 5, 8).

In like manner in other passages: as “sitting in darkness” (Isaiah 42:7); “sitting in the assembly,” and “sitting alone” (Jeremiah 15:17); “sitting on the right hand and on the left” (Matthew 20:21), denoting to remain in a state of power over others; and “sitting on the right hand of the power of God” (Matthew 26:63-64; Mark 14:62; 16:19), speaking of the Lord, and denoting that the Divine omnipotence shall endure forever.