THE EXPLANATION of Isaiah Chapter 17

(Note: Rev. Smithson's translation of the Isaiah text is appended below the explanation)

1. THE burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is rejected, so as to be no city; and it is become a heap of ruins.

Verse 1. Behold, Damascus is rejected, so as to be no city, etc. - By "Aram" or Syria [of which Damascus was the capital], are signified the knowledges of Good. The same appears also from Ezekiel:

"Aram was your merchant, in the multitude of your works: they occupied in your fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate"; (Ezekiel 27:16) speaking of "Tyre", or the possession of knowledges; where "works, emeralds, purple, broidered work, fine linen, coral, and agate", signify nothing else but the knowledges of Good. So in Hosea:

"Jacob fled into the country of Aram and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep; and by a prophet Jehovah brought up Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved; Ephraim provoked Him to anger with bitterness"; (Hosea 12:12-14),

where "Jacob" signifies the external church, and "Israel" the spiritual internal church; "Aram" denotes the knowledges of Good; "Egypt" denotes perverted science; and "Ephraim", perverted intelligence; - the signification of which names could never appear from the literal sense, but only from the internal sense, in which names signify things relating to the church, as has been already observed.

So in Isaiah :

"Behold, Damascus is rejected, so as to be no city; and it is become a heap of ruins: and the fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Aram [or Syria] shall be as the glory of the sons of Israel"; (Isaiah 17:1, 3),

where the "remnant of Aram" signifies the knowledges of Good, which are called "the glory of the sons of Israel"; "Aram", or Syria, signifies also, in an opposite sense, the knowledges of Good perverted, according to what is usual in the Word, where the same expression is frequently applied in a two-fold signification.

That "Aram" is thus used in the opposite sense, may be seen in Isaiah 7:4-6; 9:12; Deuteronomy 26:5. Arcana Coelestia 1232.

See above, as to "Syria", Isaiah 7:4, the Exposition.

How important it is to acquire the knowledges of Truth and Good [signified by "Syria" from the Word, may appear from the following considerations:

That by truths cometh love to the Lord,

- by truths we receive love to our neighbour,

- by truths we have heavenly intelligence and wisdom,

- by truths regeneration is effected,

- by truths man has power against evils and falsities, and consequently against hell,

- by truths there is purification from evils and falsities,

- by truths the church exists;

- by truths heaven exists;

- by truths is the innocence of wisdom;

- by truths a man has conscience;

- by truths order is established;

- by truths cometh the beauty of angels, and also of men with respect to the interiors of their spirits,

- and that by virtue of truths man is a man.

But by all this is meant truths grounded in good, and not by truths without good, and by good from the Lord. Hence everyone can see the great importance of acquiring the knowledges of Truth and Goodness. Apocalypse Revealed 161.

2. The cities of Aroer are deserted: they shall be for the flocks, and they shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

Verse 2. [" Aroer" was the plain of Syria, and its "cities" or towns, as subordinate to Damascus, signified various doctrinals of Truth and Goodness, which when thus "deserted and devastated", become the possession of those who can make a proper use of them, denoted by "the flocks that shall lie down, and by none making them afraid", of whom, as the "remnant of Syria", (verse 3.) a New Church can be formed. It does not appear that Swedenborg has quoted this verse. See above, Chapter 5:17, note, where a similar passage occurs. The "glory of the sons of Israel", are the knowledges of Truth and Good applied to the life for the purposes of salvation.]

3. And the fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the sons of Israel, says Jehovah of Hosts

Verse 3. As to the meaning of "Ephraim", see above, Chapter 7:2, the Exposition.

4. And it shall be in that day, the glory Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall be made lean.

Verse 4. To be "made thin" or slender, is to be deprived of the truths of faith; "the fatness of his flesh shall be made lean", signifies to be deprived of the good of charity. Arcana Coelestia 5200, 5204. b

[As to the theological leanness which prevails in the church at this day, from the want of the knowledges of Truth, see True Christian Religion 391.]

5. And it shall be as when one gathers the standing harvest, and his arm reaps the ears; or as when one gleans ears in the valley of Rephaim.

Verses 5, 6, 11. The subject treated of in this chapter is concerning the knowledges of Truth and Good appertaining to the church, has being destroyed. Those knowledges are siguified by "Damascus", which is here treated of, and by Aroer"; their being destroyed is described by gleanings being left in it, as in the shaking of the olive-tree; two [orJ three berrles on the head of the uppermost bough, four [orJ five on the fruitful branches; likewise by "the harvest being a heap in the day of possession", namely, that there shall be no more than one heap, wherefore it is also called "desperate sorrow." Hence it is evident that by "harvest" is here signified the last state of the church; that state is also signified by "morning", for when the last state of the church is at hand, it is then morning to those who will be of the New Church, and evening and night to those who are of the Old; that this is here understood by "morning", appears from the last verse of the chapter, where it is said "At the time of evening, behold terror! before the morning, it [terror] is no more." (Isaiah 17:14) "Terror" signifies destruction. Apocalypse Explained 911.

6. There shall be left gleanings in it, as in the shaking of the olive-tree; two [or] three berries on the head of the uppermost bough; four [orJ five on the fruitful branches, says Jehovah the God of Israel.

Verse 6. The devastation of the church is here treated of and this is said of the remaining few who are in Good and Truth. A comparison is made with "the shaking of the olive-tree", because by the "olive-tree" is signified the church as to the good of love and its "branches" the truths thence derived. "Two, three" signify the few 'who are in good, and thence in truths; "two" signify good, and "three" truths; and "four, five" signify the few who are in good; "four" those who are in good, and "five" a few; and because "four, five" signify the few who are in good, therefore it is said "Four, five on the fruitful branches"; for the "fruit-bearing olive-tree" signifies those in the church who are in good as to life. As these things are signified by those numbers, therefore it is said "two, three" and "four, five", and not "two and three" and "four and five." Apocalypse Explained 332. -

7. In that day shall a man regard his Maker; and his eyes shall look towards the Holy One of Israel:

8. And he shall not regard the altars, the work of his hands; and what his fingers have made, he shall not respect; nor the groves, nor the solar statues.

9. In that day shall the cities of his refuge be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left before the sons of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

Verses 7, 8. 10. The subject here treated of is concerning the establishment of a New Church by the Lord. That they shall then be led into goods of life, and informed in truths of doctrine, is understood by "a man in that day having regard to his; Maker, and his eyes looking towards the Holy One of Israel"; the Lord is called "Maker", by reason that He leads into goods of life, for these make a man: and He is called the "Holy One of Israel", by reason that He teaches truths of doctrine, wherefore it is also said- "In that day shall a man regard his Maker, and his eyes shall look towards the Holy One of Israel"; man being called "man" [homo] , from the good of life, and "eyes" being predicated of the understanding of truth, thus of the truths of doctrine. That in such a case there will be no worship from self-love, in which evils of life originate, nor from self-derived intelligence, in which originate falsos of doctrine, is understood by his "not having regard to the altars, the work of his hands, and not having respect to what his fingers have made." By "the altars, the work of his hands", is understood worship grounded in self-love, from which evils of life are derived; and by "what his fingers have made", is understood worship grounded in self-derived intelligence, from which are derived falsities of doctrine; by "the groves and solar statues of the groves" is signiiled the religious principle grounded in falsities and thence in evils; by "groves", the religious principle grounded in falsities, and by "solar statues", such as is grounded in the evils of the false. Apocalypse Explained 391.

Hence by these words is understood that the all of doctrine should be from the Lord, and not from the proprium of man, which is the case when a man is in the spiritual affection of Truth, that is, when he loves Truth itself, because it is Truth, and not principally because thereby he can acquire fame and a name. Apocalypse Explained 585.

10. Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the Rock of your strength, therefore shalt you plant plants of delights, and shalt set it with strange slips: .

11. In the day when you shalt have made your plants to grow, and in the morning when you shalt have made your seed to flourish; even in the day of possession shall the harvest be a heap, and there shall be desperate sorrow.

Verse 10. The Rock of your strength, etc. - See above, Chapter 16:1, the Exposition.

Verses 10, 11. Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, therefore shalt you plant plants of delights, and set stranqe slips, etc. That to "sow" the land or the field, signifies, in the Word, to teach and to learn the truths and goods of faith, which are of the church; and that the "increase of the field" are the goods and truths thence derived, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in Isaiah 17:10, 11; here such things as grow upon the earth are mentioned, and that the things of the church are understood thereby is evident, namely.by "planting plants of delights", as said of those who have " forgotten, the God of their salvation", are understood such things as favour the affections [of the merely natural man]; and that by "setting the earth with strange slips", is to teach truths which are not genuine, [the end of which will, be "desperate sorrow."] Arcana Coelestia 9272.

12. Woe to the tumult of many peoples, who make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the roaring of the nations, who make a roaring like the roaring of many waters!

Verse 12. Woe to the tumult, etc. - As to "what is meant by the denunciation "Woe!" see above, Chapter 1:4, the Exposition.

[" The tumult of many peoples, the noise of the seas, and the roaring of the nations", etc., signify, by correspondence, the tumultuous collisions and reasonings which take place at the time of judgment, when the external or natural mind is laid open, and its falsities and evils exposed and dispersed, as "chaff and stubble", by the power of divine Truth. See Apocalypse Explained 706.]

13. Like the roaring of many waters do the nations roar; but He shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far away; and they shall be driven like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the stubble before the whirlwind.

Verse 13. And they shall be driven like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the stubble before the whirlwind. - In the spiritual world, as well as in the natural world, there exist strong winds and storms; but the storms in the spiritual world exist from the influx of the Divine [Principle] into the lower parts of that world, where they are who are in evils and falsities. That influx, as it descends -out of the heavens towards the earths, which are below, becomes more dense, and appears as clouds, and with the evil, dense and opaque, according to the quantity and quality of their evil; these clouds are appearances of the false from evil, arising from the spheres of their life; every angel and spirit being encompassed by such a sphere. When therefore the Divine [Principle] is sent forth powerfully from the Lord as a sun, and flows in into these dense and opaque clouds, there arises a storm, which is perceived by the spirits there, in like manner as storms are perceived by men in the world. It has been given me sometimes to perceive these storms, and also the "east wind", by which the evil were dissipated and cast into the hells, when the last Judgment was performed. From these considerations it may appear what "storms", "tempests", and "impetuous winds" signify in the following passages. Thus in Isaiah :

"You shalt disperse them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the storm shall dissipate them." (Isaiah 41:16)

And in Jeremiah:

"From the storm of Jehovah anger went forth, and a whirlwind threatening to rush in; upon the head of the wicked it shall rush." (Jeremiah 23:19; 30:23)

And in David:

"I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest." (Psalmlv. 8.) Apocalypse Explained 419.

Like the chaff and the stubble, etc. - "Wheat" denotes the goods of love and charity; "chaff" signifies what contains nothing of good.. Arcana Coelestia 3941.

14. At the time of evening, behold terror! before the morning, it is no more. This is the portion of those that spoil us, and the lot of those that plunder us.

Verse 14. "Evening" signifies the last time of the church, when there is nothing but evils and falsities, which are called "terror", because they are hell; but the "morning " signifies the first time of the church, when evils and falsities are not; wherefore it is said, "Before the morning, terror is no more." Apocalypse Explained 677.

5. And the throne shall be established in mercy: and in truth shall He sit thereon, in the tabernacle of David, a Judge, searching out judgment, and despatching justice.

Verse 5. These things are said of the Lord. Heaven, which was established by Him, and the church thence derived, are signified by "the throne established in mercy"; that the Lord there reigns by Divine Truth from Divine Good, is signified by " sitting upon it in truth, in the tabernacle of David"; by "David" is meant the Lord as to His royalty, which is Divine Truth; find by his "tabernacle" is signified the Divine Good; by "judgment" is signified the truth of doctrine, because all judgment is from that truth; and by "justice" is signified the good of love, both from the Lord with those who are in heaven and in the church. Apocalypse Explained 799.

6. We have heard of the pride of Moab: he is very proud; of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his anger: vain are his lies.

Verse 6. By "pride" is understood the love of self, and the love and faith of what is false with those who are of the church. Apocalypse Explained 653, 675.

Vain are his lies. - "Lies" are the falsities of faith, because "Moab" signifies those who are in the evil of self-love, and who thence falsify Truths. Arcana Coelestia 8908.

7. Therefore shall Moab howl; for Moab shall everyone howl: for the foundations of Kir-hare-seth shall you moan; surely they are stricken.

8. For the fields of Heshbon are withered; [as to] the vine of Sibmah, the lords of the nations have broken down the branches thereof; they reached unto Jazer; they strayed through the desert; her branches are plucked up; they passed over the sea.

Verses 7-9. For Moab shall everyone howl; for the foundations of Kir-hareseth shall you make a moan, etc. - Very many of the prophecies, as the above, are of such a nature that, if they had not an internal sense, they would be of no use; whereas it is necessary that, as the Word is divine, it should contain within itself the laws of the heavenly kingdom into which man is about to come. Arcana Coelestia 2608.

9. Wherefore I will weep, as with the weeping of Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah: I will water you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh! for upon your summer fruits, and upon your vintage, the shout [of war] has fallen.

Verse 9. By "harvest" here also is signified the last state of the church, for by "shouting" is signified the end, when upon finishing the vintage and gathering in the harvest, they were wont to triumph and make a shouting, but in the present case to lament, because it is said "it has fallen." By "Jazer", the "vine of Sibmah", and by "Heshbon and Elealeh", are signified the men of the external church, who explain the Word to favour the loves of the world, for those places were given for an inheritance to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, by whom, inasmuch as they dwelt on the outside of Jordan, the external church was represented; the "vine of Sibmah" signifies their church; their destruction, when the Lord should come and accomplish judgment, is also described in this chapter. Apocalypse Explained 911.

10. And joy and gladness are taken away from Carmel; and in the vineyards they shall not sing, they shall not shout: in the vats the treader shall not tread out the wine; I have made the shouting to cease.

11. Wherefore my bowels for Moab like a harp shall sound; and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh.

Verse 10. In these words is described the taking away of celestial delight originating in Good, and the truths thence derived, in consequence of the deprivation of genuine Good and Truth. The Good of the church is understood by "Carmel", · and the Truth thence derived by "vineyards", and by the "treading of the wine in the wine-press"; the delights thereof, which are taken away, are signified by "joy, exultation, singing, and vintage-shouting"; for it was a custom to sing in the vineyards, and in the wine-presses, when the grapes were trodden into wine, on account of the representation of the delights derived from truths, which were signified by ", vine." Apocalypse Explained 376. See also Arcana Coelestia 1071; Apocalypse Revealed 316.

12. And it shall be, when Moab shall see that he has wearied himself out on the high place, that he shall enter his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.

13. This is the Word which Jehovah spake concerning Moab at that time :

Verse 12. He shall enter his sanctuary to pray, but he shall not prevail. - [These words imply that those represented by Moab who, at the period of Judgment, are in external worship without an internal principle of love to the Lord and their neighbour, will have recourse to their "sanctuary", or to externals of worship, in order to avoid the impending destruction, but "will not prevail"; as all prayers and all external acts of worship and piety, which have not an internal principle, will be of no avail to salvation. See below, Chapter 18:7, the Exposition, where the true nature of Saving Worship and Piety are shown; see also above, Chapter 1:11-19, the Exposition.]

14. But now has Jehovah spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab shall be reviled, in all his great multitude; and the remnant shall be few, small, and without strength.

Verse 14. By "Moab" are here understood those who are in falsities from evil; by his" glory", and by his "great multitude", are understood those falsities; by "the three years after which his glory shall be reviled", is signified what is complete and consummated; wherefore it is said that "the remnant shall be few, small, and without strength", by which is signified that it shall be no more. "Three years" are mentioned, whereby is understood consummation, thus, from beginning to end. It is to be observed that the same is signified by "three years" as by "three months, "three weeks, "three days", and "three hours", inasmuch as "times", in the spiritual sense, signify states, and "three times", whether greater or less, a full state. Apocalypse Explained 532.

Of a hireling. - They who learn and imbibe truths from the Word, or from the doctrine of the church, or from any other sources whatsoever, even from themselves by conclusions, for the sake of gain, that is, that they may gain honours or wealth, or likewise, that they may merit heaven, - these are they who, in the internal sense, are meant by "hirelings." To the man of the church, gains ought to be in the last place, not in the first; when they are in the last place, they are then servants; but if in the first place, they are lords. He who respects gains in the first place, is an inverted man, and also is represented as inverted in the other life, with his head in hell; but he who respects charity and faith in the first place, thus the Lord and his neighbour, he is an erect man, and also is presented erect in the other life, with his head in heaven. Arcana Coelestia 9180.

Within three years, as the years of a hireling, etc. - [These words involve the idea, by correspondence, that at the period of judgment, when the states of those in the church signified by Moab are consummated, as denoted by "three years", all such will be reduced to a merely hireling and mercenary condition, that is, they will study and embrace the truths of the Word from merely selfish motives, relating to honour and gain; when this is the case, the end is come and judgment ensues.]

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Isaiah Chapter 17

1. THE burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is rejected, so as to be no city; and it is become a heap of ruins.

2. The cities of Aroer are deserted: they shall be for the flocks, and they shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

3. And the fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the sons of Israel, says Jehovah of Hosts

4. And it shall be in that day, the glory Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall be made lean.

5. And it shall be as when one gathers the standing harvest, and his arm reaps the ears; or as when one gleans ears in the valley of Rephaim.

6. There shall be left gleanings in it, as in the shaking of the olive-tree; two [or] three berries on the head of the uppermost bough; four [orJ five on the fruitful branches, says Jehovah the God of Israel.

7. In that day shall a man regard his Maker; and his eyes shall look towards the Holy One of Israel:

8. And he shall not regard the altars, the work of his hands; and what his fingers have made, he shall not respect; nor the groves, nor the solar statues.

9. In that day shall the cities of his refuge be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left before the sons of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

10. Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the Rock of your strength, therefore shalt you plant plants of delights, and shalt set it with strange slips: .

11. In the day when you shalt have made your plants to grow, and in the morning when you shalt have made your seed to flourish; even in the day of possession shall the harvest be a heap, and there shall be desperate sorrow.

12. Woe to the tumult of many peoples, who make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the roaring of the nations, who make a roaring like the roaring of many waters!

13. Like the roaring of many waters do the nations roar; but He shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far away; and they shall be driven like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the stubble before the whirlwind.

14. At the time of evening, behold terror! before the morning, it is no more. This is the portion of those that spoil us, and the lot of those that plunder us.

532. As all numbers in the Word signify things and states, and the composite numbers derive their signification from the simple numbers of which they are composed, and the simple numbers are chiefly two, three, five, and seven, it is important to show what these numbers signify in the Word, and here what "three" signifies because it is said, "Woe, woe, woe, from the voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"

(That all numbers in the Word signify somewhat of thing and state may be above, n. 203, 429; and that the greater and composite numbers have a similar signification as the simple numbers from which they arise by multiplication, and that the simple numbers are two, three, five, and seven, may also be seen above, n. 430.)

[2] That "three" signifies in the Word what is full and complete, and thence an entire period, greater or less, from beginning to end, can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Within three years, as the years of an hireling, the glory of Moab shall grow vile with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and not strong (Isaiah 16:14).

"Moab" means those who are in falsities from evil; "his glory" and "his great multitude" mean such falsities; the "three years within which his glory shall grow vile" signify what is complete and finished; therefore it is said, "then the remnant shall be very small," which signifies that it shall be no more; "three years" are mentioned, by which is meant what is finished, thus from beginning to end. It is to be known that "three years" has a similar signification as "three months," "three weeks," "three days," and "three hours," since in the spiritual sense, times signify states, and "three times," whether greater or less, a full state.

[3] In the same:

Like as my servant Isaiah hath gone naked and barefoot three years, a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Cush, so shall the king of Assyria lead the captivity of Egypt and the crowd of Cush that is to be carried away, boys and old men, naked and barefoot (Isaiah 20:3, 4).

By "Egypt" and "Cush," Egypt and Cush are not meant, but "Egypt" means the external or natural in respect to knowledge, and "Cush" the external or natural in respect to worship, and when this natural has no internal spiritual, it also has no truth or good, for all the truth and all the good belonging to the natural or external man is from influx through the spiritual man from the Lord; and when the natural or external man has no truth or good it is like, in respect to the things in it, a man "naked and barefoot." That there will then be only reasonings from falsities, and that these will destroy, is signified by "the king of Assyria shall lead the captivity of Egypt and the crowd of Cush that is to be carried away, naked and barefoot." That all innocence and all wisdom will perish is signified by "the boys and old men whom the king of Assyria shall lead away;" their total and complete destruction was represented by the prophet's going "three years naked and barefoot," "three years" signifying an entire period from beginning to end, consequently total destruction.

[4] In Hosea:

Jehovah after two days will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up (Hosea 6:2).

"To revive after two days, and to raise up on the third day," signifies to reform and restore the church; "on the third day" signifying full reformation and restoration, therefore it is said that then "He will raise up." Evidently neither two days nor the third day is meant.

[5] As the number three signified what is complete even to the end, that number was adopted and employed in the representative church, whenever something complete was to be represented, as can be seen from these things in the Word:

They were to go a journey of three days and sacrifice (Exodus 3:18; 5:3).

In the third month after going out from Egypt they came to Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1).

They were commanded to be ready against the third day, for on the third day Jehovah would come down upon Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:11, 15, 16, 18).

For three days there was darkness in the land of Egypt (Exodus 10:22, 23).

For three years the fruits of the trees planted in the land of Canaan should be uncircumcised (Leviticus 19:23-25).

No part of the flesh of the sacrifice should be left to the third day (Leviticus 7:16-18; 19:6, 7).

The water of separation should be sprinkled upon the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day (Numbers 19:11-22).

They who touched any slain should be purified on the third day and on the seventh day (Numbers 31:19-25).

Joshua commanded the people that within three days they should pass over Jordan (Joshua 1:11; 3:2).

Jehovah called Samuel three times, and three times Samuel ran to Eli; and the third time Eli perceived that Jehovah had called Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1-8).

Jonathan said to David that he should hide himself in a field unto the third evening, and afterwards Jonathan should shoot three arrows to the side of the stone, and after that David bowed himself three times to the earth before Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:5, 12, 19, 20, 35, 36, 41).

Three things were offered to David, of which he should choose one, that a famine of seven years should come, or that he should flee three months before his foes, or that a pestilence should be in the land three days (2 Samuel 24:11-13).

Elijah measured himself upon the son of the widow three times (1 Kings 17:21).

Elijah told them to pour water upon the burnt offering and upon the wood three times, and they poured it three times (1 Kings 18:34).

Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights (Jon. Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40).

Daniel was mourning three weeks (Daniel 10:2-4).

The third year was the year of tithing (Deuteronomy 26:12).

The Lord said of the man who planted a vineyard, that he sent his servants three times, and afterwards his son (Mark 12:2, 4-6; Luke 20:12, 13).

The Lord said to Peter that before the cock crowed twice he would deny Him thrice (Matthew 26:34, 26:69-75 to the end; Luke 22:34, 57-61; John 13:38).

The Lord said three times to Peter, Lovest thou Me, and Feed My lambs and My sheep; and the third time Peter was grieved (John 21:15-17).

The Lord said that the kingdom of the heavens is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened (Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:21).

The Lord said, I perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I am perfected ¹ (Luke 13:32, 33).

The Lord said that He would be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights (Matthew 12:40).

He said that He would be raised up the third day (Matthew 16:21; 17:22, 23; 20:18, 19; Luke 18:32, 33; 24:46).

He said that he would destroy the temple of God, and build it in three days (Matthew 26:61; 27:40; John 2:19, 20).

Jesus in Gethsemane prayed three times (Matthew 26:39, 42, 44).

Jesus was crucified at the third hour (Mark 15:25).

Then there was darkness over all the land three hours, from the sixth hour to the ninth, when He said, It is finished, and expired (Matthew 27:15; Mark 15:33, 37; John 19:30).

The Lord rose again on the third day (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).

[6] From this it can be seen that the number "three" signifies what is finished or complete to the end, consequently an entire period, greater or less, from beginning to end. From this simple number many composite numbers derive their significations, as 6, 9, 12, 60, 72, which, from three, signify all truths and goods in the complex; in like manner the numbers 30, 300, 3000; for, as said above in this article, the composite numbers derive their significations from the simple numbers of which they are composed. Moreover, it is to be known that in the Word the number "three" is predicated of truths, and "two" and "four" of goods; for the reason that "two" and "four" signify conjunction, while "three" signifies fullness, and spiritual conjunction is love, and all good is of love; while spiritual fullness is formed by truths. One who does not know that all numbers in the Word are significative, when the numbers "two and three" or "three and four" are mentioned in the Word, has no other thought or belief than that two or three, or a few, are meant, instead of all who are in good and truth, as in the following passages.

[7] In Isaiah:

There shall be left in it gleanings, as in the shaking of an olive-tree, two three berries in the top of the bough, four five in the branches of the fruitful one (Isaiah 17:6).

This treats of the vastation of the church, and is said of the few remaining who are in good and truth; comparison is made with the shaking of an olive-tree, because an "olive-tree" signifies the church in respect to the good of love, and "branches" the truths therefrom; "two three" signifies the few that are in good and in truths therefrom, "two" meaning good, and "three" truths; and "four five" signifies the few who are in good, "four" meaning those who are good, and "five" a few. Because "four five" signifies the few who are in good, it is said, "four five in the branches of the fruitful one," "a fruitful olive" signifying those in the church who are in good in respect to life. Because of this signification of these numbers, therefore it is said "two three," "four five," and not two and three, four and five.

[8] In Amos:

Two three cities wandered unto one city to drink waters, yet they were not satisfied (Amos 4:8).

This treats of the lack of truth at the end of the church, when those who desire truth from spiritual affection will not find any truth in the doctrines, wherever they may search, and therefore it is said, "two three cities wandered unto one city to drink waters, yet they were not satisfied;" "two three cities" signifying those who are in the affection of truth from good, "city" signifying the truth of doctrine; "to draw waters" signifies to learn truths; "to wander" signifies to search; and "not to be satisfied" signifies not to find truth which in itself is truth; it is said "two three cities," because "two three" signifies those who are in good and in truths therefrom.

[9] In Zechariah:

It shall come to pass in all the land, two parts therein shall be cut off, shall expire, but the third shall remain therein. Yet I will lead the third part through the fire, and will prove them (Zechariah 13:8, 9).

This, in like manner, treats of the vastation of the church in respect to good; that every good will perish is meant by "in all the land two parts therein shall be cut off and shall expire," "in all the land" meaning in all the church, and "two parts" signifying every good. That something of truth would remain, but scarcely any genuine truth, is signified by "the third part shall be left therein; yet I will lead the third part through the fire and will prove them," "the third part" signifying the remaining truths; these must be proved whether they be genuine, which is signified by "they shall be led through the fire;" "to prove by fire" means by affection which is of love; if truth is not in accord with this it is not genuine truth, "fire" in the Word signifying love. When the good of love perishes in the church, truth becomes not truth, because all truth derives its essence from good.

[10] This makes evident what is signified by the Lord's words in Matthew:

Where two and three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).

Here two and three are not meant, but those who are in good and in truths therefrom; neither does the Lord's "name" mean His name, but all the good of love and truth of faith by which He is worshiped (See above, n. 102, 135).

[11] This makes clear what is signified by the Lord's words in Luke:

From henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three (Luke 12:52).

This means that after the Lord's coming, when He has become known, and the interiors of the Word have been revealed by Him and with Him, both in the church in general and in the man of the church in particular, there will be dissension between good and truth and between truth and good; this is meant by "there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three;" "house" meaning the church in general, and in particular with the man of the church, "three" meaning truths, and "two" goods; its being said that "five shall be divided" signifies that there will be such dissension with those who are reformed, consequently it is added:

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 (Luke 12:53).

"Father" signifies the good of the church, "son" the truth of the church, "mother" the truth of the church, and "daughter" the good of the church. Who cannot see that the numbers five, two, and three, would not have been used here unless they had been significative? In the Word, when "two" and "three" follow, "five" signifies all such; but when "ten" or "twenty" precedes or follows, "five" signifies some and few.

[12] Like things are meant in the commandment of the Decalogue by:

The third and fourth generation (or sons, thirds and fourths) upon whom God is to visit the iniquity of the parents (Exodus 20:5; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9, 10).

"The third and fourth generation" signifies all who are in falsities from evil, "the third generation" those who are in the falsities of evil and "the fourth generation" those who are in the evils of falsity; "three" in the contrary sense signifying falsities, and "four" evils. Who does not see that it would be contrary to the Divine justice to visit the iniquity of the parents upon the sons even to the third and fourth generation? For the Lord teaches:

The soul that sinneth, it shall die; the son shall not bear the iniquity of the parent, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him (Ezekiel 18:20; Deuteronomy 24:16; 2 Kings 14:6).

This makes evident that "the third and fourth generation" does not mean the third and fourth generation, but that which these numbers signify. Like things are signified by "three and four transgressions" in Amos (Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). From this it can be seen how great arcana lie hidden in the Word merely in its numbers, which no one can know without the internal spiritual sense.

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