6534. 'And horsemen' means intellectual concepts. This is clear from the meaning of 'horsemen' as things connected with the understanding; for 'a horse' means the power of understanding, 2760-2761, 3217, 5321, 6125. The meaning of 'horsemen' as things connected with the understanding becomes clear in addition from the following places: In Moses,

Jehovah alone led him; He caused him to ride over the heights of the land. Deuteronomy 32:12, 17.

This refers to the Ancient Church. 'Causing to ride over the heights of the land' stands for endowing with superior understanding.

[2] In David,

In your majesty ¹ climb into [your chariot], and ride on the word of truth and meekness and righteousness, and your right arm will teach you marvellous things. Psalms 45:4.

This refers to the Lord. 'Riding on the word of truth' stands for having a genuine understanding of truth. In the same author,

Sing to God, praise His name; exalt Him who rides on the clouds by His name Jah. Psalms 68:4.

This too refers to the Lord. 'The clouds' stands for the literal sense of the Word, preface to Genesis 18, and 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343 (end); 'riding on them' stands for being in command of the internal sense, in which truth resides with all the intelligence and wisdom it can bring.

[3] In Zechariah,

On that day I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness; and on the house of Judah I will open My eye. But every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness. Zechariah 12:4.

'Horse' stands for the power of understanding, and 'rider' or 'horseman' for the intellect. Does anyone not see that 'horse' here does not mean a horse, or that 'rider' does not mean rider, but that something else such as can be struck with panic and madness, and also with blindness, is meant? That something else, it is evident, is the understanding or intellect.

[4] By 'horses and horsemen' intellectual concepts are meant, and in the contrary sense reasonings and consequent falsities, as may be seen in John,

I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; to him a crown was given; he went out conquering. Then there came out another horse, fiery-red; and it was granted to him who sat on it that he should take peace away from the earth, and that men should slay one another. Therefore to him was given a great sword. I saw, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it held a balance in his hand. I saw therefore, and behold, a pale horse and he who sat on it, whose name was death. Revelation 6:2, 4-5, 8.

Here, as is evident from the details of the description, the horses and those seated on them mean things connected with an understanding consisting of truth, and in the contrary sense an understanding consisting of falsity. 'The white horse and he who sat on it' stands for an understanding consisting of truth gained from the Word; the one seated on the white horse is, as explicitly stated in Revelation 19:11, 13, 16, the Lord as to the Word. 'The fiery-red horse and he who sat on it' stands for reasonings resulting from desires for evil, which do violence to truths from the Word. 'The black horse and he who sat on it' stands for a destroyed ability to understand the truth, while 'the pale horse and he who sat on it' stands for damnation resulting from such destruction.

[5] 'Horses and horsemen' in the contrary sense stands for a perverted understanding and the falsities it produces, in Ezekiel also,

Oholah committed whoredom under Me and doted on her lovers - governors and leaders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. Her sister Oholibah was in love with the sons of Asshur - governors and leaders, her neighbours, clothed in perfect adornment, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. Ezekiel 23:5-6, 12.

'Oholah' stands for the perverted spiritual Church, which is Samaria, and 'Oholibah' for the perverted celestial Church, which is Jerusalem; for the Israelites who belonged to Samaria represented the spiritual Church, but the Jews who belonged to Jerusalem represented the celestial Church. 'The Assyrians' and 'the sons of Asshur' stand for reasoning against the truths of faith, 1186, 'horsemen riding on horses' for a perverted understanding, from which falsities are produced.

[6] In Habakkuk,

I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and headstrong nation, marching into the breadth of the earth, to inherit habitations that are not its own Its horses are swifter than leopards, sharper than the evening wolves, so that its horsemen spread out, and therefore its horsemen come from afar. Habakkuk 1:6, 8.

'The Chaldeans' stands for those governed by falsities, though to outward appearances they are governed by truths; thus 'the Chaldeans' stands for the profanation of truth, whereas 'Babel' stands for the profanation of good, 1182, 1368. 'Marching into the breadth of the earth' stands for destroying truths - 'the breadth of the earth' meaning truth, see 3433, 3434, 4482. From this it is evident that 'the horsemen who spread out and who arrive from afar' are things connected with a perverted understanding, which are therefore falsities.

Imibhalo yaphansi:

4966. 'The chief of the attendants' means which facts come first and foremost in explanations. This is clear from the meaning of 'the chief of the attendants' as the facts which come first and foremost in explanations, dealt with in 4790. Ones which come first and foremost in explanations are those which are pre-eminently suitable for explaining the Word, and so for coming to understand teachings drawn from the Word about love to God and charity towards the neighbour. It should be recognized that the factual knowledge of the people of old was entirely different from that existing at the present day. As stated above, the factual knowledge of the people of old had to do with the correspondences of things in the natural world with realities in the spiritual world. Knowledge which at the present day is called philosophical knowledge, such as Aristotelian systems and their like, did not exist among them. This is also evident from the books written by ancient authors, most of which consisted of descriptions of such things as were signs of, represented, and corresponded to more internal realities, as may be seen from the following evidence, and ignoring all else.

[2] They envisaged Helicon on a mountain and took it to mean heaven, and Parnassus on a hill below that, and took it to mean factual knowledge. They spoke of a flying horse, called Pegasus by them, which broke open a fountain there with its hoof; they called branches of knowledge virgins; and so on. For with the help of correspondences and representatives they knew that 'a mountain' meant heaven, 'a hill' the heaven beneath this, which is heaven as it exists among men, a horse' the power of understanding, 'its wings with which it flew' spiritual things, 'its hoof' that which was natural, 'a fountain' intelligence, while three virgins called 'the Graces' meant affections for good, and virgins who were named 'the Heliconians and 'the Parnassians' meant affections for truth. To the sun they likewise allotted horses, whose food they called ambrosia and whose drink they called nectar; for they knew that 'the sun' meant heavenly love, 'horses' powers of the understanding which sprang from that love, while 'food' meant celestial things and 'drink' spiritual ones.

[3] The Ancients are also the originators of customs that are still followed when kings are crowned. The king has to sit on a silver throne, wear a purple robe, and be anointed with oil. He has to wear a crown on his head, while holding in his hands a sceptre, a sword, and keys. He has to ride in regal splendour on a white horse shed with horseshoes made of silver; and he has to be waited on at table by the chief nobles of the kingdom. And many other customs are followed besides these. The Ancients knew that 'a king' represented Divine Truth that is rooted in Divine Good, and from this they knew what was meant by a silver throne, a purple robe, anointing oil, crown, sceptre, sword, keys, white horse, horseshoes made of silver, and what was meant by being waited on at table by the chief nobles. Who at the present day knows the meaning of any of these customs, or where the information exists to show him their meaning? People refer to them as symbols, but they know nothing at all about correspondence or representation. All this evidence shows what the factual knowledge possessed by the Ancients was like, and that this knowledge gave them a discernment of spiritual and heavenly realities, which at the present day are scarcely known to exist.

[4] The factual knowledge that has replaced that of the Ancients, and which strictly speaking is called philosophical knowledge, tends to draw the mind away from knowing such things because such knowledge can also be employed to substantiate false ideas. Furthermore, even when used to substantiate true ones it introduces darkness into the mind, because for the most part mere terms are used to substantiate them, which few people can understand and which the few who do understand them argue about. From this it may be seen how far the human race has departed from the learning of the Ancients, which led to wisdom. Gentiles received their factual knowledge from the Ancient Church, whose external worship consisted in representatives and meaningful signs and whose internal worship consisted in the realities represented and meant by these. This was the kind of factual knowledge that is meant in the genuine sense by 'Egypt'.